6 comments MMQB Review: Russell Wilson Free Agency Panic Edition

Peter King did a insanely early power ranking of all the NFL teams in last week's MMQB, as well detailed how he was accosted by panhandlers on the streets of Seattle while he was handing out cash to some of these panhandlers. Where were the police to arrest these people who weren't committing a crime? Peter also detailed the Vikings and Adrian Peterson standoff which was resolved soon after he posted MMQB. This week Peter talks about how the Russell Wilson contract talks may be in trouble (I can't help but think this is the cousin to the "Will the Ravens let Joe Flacco walk?" discussion a few years ago), discusses the internal destruction of the 49ers, and hits his readers with the revelation that Canada is a big country. Seriously, Russell Wilson isn't leaving Seattle. It's not happening, so any discussion about why contract talks may be in trouble are pointless. The Seahawks have another year of Wilson's contract and then can franchise him for two years. Every negotiation hits tough points and Wilson isn't leaving Seattle, just like the Ravens weren't going to let Joe Flacco hit free agency after he won a freaking Super Bowl.

In my last column for a spell—hooray! (your emotion, not mine)—I’ve got a couple of annual events.

One week off, writes two columns, and then takes a month off. It seems Peter is on the "Bill Simmons Schedule of Column Writing." Now all Peter has to do is to promise weekly mailbags when he gets back from vacation, then get fired, and the similarities will be too eerie.

First: My collection of commencement speech snippets, from the Self-Depracating Graduation Line of the Year by former president Bush (the younger) at the Southern Methodist University graduation, to the best advice I’ve read from any speaker this year, by ABC News correspondent Martha Raddatz to the Kenyon College grads in Ohio. Second: Part one of the annual Fathers Day book review section, a really interesting book by St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny on the crisis in youth sports and his little-engine-that-could recipe to fix it.

I think I'm one of the few who don't like this book review and graduation speech section. The book section is more tolerable, but the only thing worse than hearing someone give a speech is having to read about that person's speech. People talk a lot already, and even when the speakers are giving out great advice, I tend to wish Peter would skip the commencement speech section. Alas, I tend to skip it.

Now, I didn’t want a 12,000-word June column, so the Matheny review is today and the rest of the books I plan to cover Wednesday in my weekly mailbag column.

Or you could just put the commencement addresses on a piece of paper in your desk, then lock the drawer. That seems like a good idea too.

While I’ll address the Niners here, I’m leading with another ominous note from an NFC West team that’s not getting much attention. And maybe it shouldn’t. Yet.

It shouldn't. Russell Wilson isn't going anywhere. He's staying a Seahawk. The team and Wilson have almost three more years to work a contract out if they choose to. This is a concern on the level of worrying the Ravens wouldn't re-sign Joe Flacco. It's simply not happening.

But something about the dragged-out negotiations, and apparently fruitless ones, between Seattle and quarterback Russell Wilson is starting to raise alarm bells.

Both sides are playing hardball until it's time to get serious and come to a real agreement. This type of thing happens all the time in sports. Wilson is pretending he will go play baseball, the Seahawks are trying to get him to sign a new favorable contract for them and Wilson wants to hold out for as much money as possible. The Seahawks aren't going to let Wilson become a free agent nor will they trade him immediately if negotiations are dragging out.

The Seattle quarterback is due $1.542 million this year, the final season of his four-year rookie contract. It’s been thought for some time that 2015 would be the time a new Wilson deal would get done, seeing that the first opportunity to re-do the deal of a third-round player who has monstrously out-performed his contract is in year four. That’s now.

And no contract was signed, so obviously there is a massive problem that is bigger than the fact these are simple negotiations on a long-term contract that may take some time to complete while each side takes a tough negotiating stance.

What Schneider said is something he’s said a thousand times, in various forms. No one is bigger than the team...Any general manager worth his salary would say that. And Schneider is one of the best in the game—maybe the best.

Which is why he won't let Russell Wilson just walk away when he still has some time to sign Wilson to a new contract and this isn't the time to start a panic.

I still don’t think it was a body blow to the negotiations, but imagine you’re Wilson.

Imagine that I'm going to get paid a lot of money, but I'm not sure who will end up paying me? Yes, it must be tough.

At North Carolina State, in each of your freshman and sophomore and junior years, you lead the Atlantic Coast Conference in touchdown passes, and in the spring before your senior season, while you’re playing minor-league baseball, your coach, Tom O’Brien, releases you from your scholarship so he can have backup Mike Glennon start for the last two years of his eligibility.

This Russell Wilson fable is getting to be like the Drew Brees fable. You know, the fable that the Dolphins didn't want Brees when they had legitimate worries about his shoulder being healthy, so he went with the team (the Saints) that believed in him the most. What that means is the Saints offered Brees the most guaranteed money. It was a decision about money, no matter how much the narrative dips into "The Dolphins didn't believe in him enough, so he went to New Orleans where he felt a connection to the people" territory.

Russell Wilson wouldn't stop playing baseball during the summer. Tom O'Brien wanted him to stop playing baseball, but (sound familiar?) Wilson wouldn't. So O'Brien chose to give Wilson the heave-ho and go with the quarterback who has more eligibility and a lot of talent, Mike Glennon. It was a decision made by Tom O'Brien that had merit at the time. If N.C. State can get two years of Glennon and Wilson won't commit to football full-time, then why not release Wilson from his scholarship? But it all started with Wilson refusing to choose football over baseball, which by the way, is something that Peter brought up when discussing Jameis Winston as a knock against Winston. Peter wondered if the Buccaneers were concerned Winston may want to play baseball at some point. It's interesting how the need to play baseball is suddenly forgotten when discussing Russell Wilson.

I threw 76 touchdown passes for him in three years, but O’Brien thinks Mike Glennon’s better than I am? I’ll show Tom O’Brien.

Except, you know, that wasn't the real issue at hand. The issue was that Wilson was playing baseball when O'Brien wanted him playing football.

I walk into Wisconsin in July, learn the offense in about 10 minutes, set the NCAA passing-efficiency record for a season, get the Badgers to the Rose Bowl, and five quarterbacks get picked before me? Brandon Weeden goes 53 picks before me? I’ll show the NFL.

Because Wilson would have been the first great college quarterback to fail in making the transition to the NFL, so how could every NFL team who passed on him not have known how good he would be?

He quarterbacks his team to the playoffs in each of his first three years, to the NFC title in two seasons, and to the Super Bowl title in one of those seasons. In all three years, he’s in the top 10 in the league in passer rating. He quarterbacks his team to more wins, overall, than any other quarterback in football—Wilson 42, Tom Brady 41, Peyton Manning 40—including playoffs. (I know quarterback wins can be a misleading stat. But if you play well enough to win big, and Wilson has, is that a number that should be ignored?) And by all accounts, Wilson and the Seahawks aren’t close to a deal. Oh, and Cam Newton, four games over .500 in the same three years that I’m 28 over, just signed a contract with $56 million coming in the first two years.

Yeah, but Cam was told at the University of Florida that they would rather have Tim Tebow as their quarterback. Then he went to a community college, won a championship, went to Auburn and won a national title, and then experts still said he couldn't be an NFL quarterback even after he was drafted #1 overall. Oh, poor him. He's so maligned.

My point is that every player has some slight that can get them motivated. Every player feels doubted at some point and the fact the Seahawks haven't immediately made Russell Wilson the highest paid quarterback in the NFL after Newton signed his contract means not very much.

My franchise had finished below .500 four straight years before I got here, and we’re 42-14 with two trips to the Super Bowl in my time, and we can’t get a deal done? I’ll show management.

I can't imagine Wilson is too concerned about a deal getting done. He knows there is time. I feel like Peter is creating a story where there isn't one right now.

In the past 10 years, one quarterback with legitimate franchise potential—Drew Brees, in 2006—hit the market, and that came in large part because of a serious shoulder injury in 2005 in San Diego. Quarterbacks of value always re-sign with their teams.

Brees also hit the market because THE CHARGERS HAD PHILIP RIVERS ON THE ROSTER ALREADY AND HOLY SHIT HE'S NOT BEEN BAD AT PLAYING QUARTERBACK.

There’s little question, to me, that Wilson will be the Seattle quarterback through the end of the 2016 season. If no deal gets done this year, he’ll play for $1.5 million in 2015, and if the two sides can’t agree after the season, Seattle’s very likely to franchise him the exclusive-rights number of about $24.5 million for 2016. That’s a best guess.

A deal is going to happen. I'm not sure why Peter is so concerned otherwise. It took Newton four years and five months away from free agency to get his deal. Wilson can easily get a deal done during the season. Just like the Ravens weren't letting Flacco hit free agency, Wilson will get a deal done with Seattle.

Rodgers said he didn’t think Newton’s deal was one that would force Wilson’s deal to get done, the same way he said Ryan Tannehill’s extension in Miami (he was drafted the same year as Wilson) wouldn’t be a spur to get Wilson’s deal done. Rodgers sounded conciliatory when I asked about the state of the talks. “There’s no deadline, no pressure,” Rodgers said. “Russell has a contract for this season, and he is fully prepared to play the season out if he does not sign another contract. It’s early June. They don’t report to camp till late July. I’ve always assumed this contract would take a while to get done.”

But Peter King will not hear of this. A deal has to get done and even though nobody but Peter King seems worried about a contract extension for Wilson not getting done, there is a real chance (so much so that Peter had to lead the column off with this non-story) that Wilson and the Seahawks won't be able to come to an agreement.

But beyond that, as we sit here a year and a half before that Molotov cocktail could be lobbed into the Pacific Northwest, I have some growing doubts about Wilson’s long-term Seattle future.

Three reasons why I think the talks between Wilson and the Seahawks could be in trouble:

Rodgers is a baseball guy, and it’s clear he loves the prospect of his players maximizing their value on the open market … some day. As does Wilson. I don’t know what Rodgers wants, but I can assume it must be close to making Wilson the highest-paid quarterback in football.

Baseball free agency is very different from football free agency. In the NFL, a quarterback needs to have an offense built around his specific strengths and weaknesses. Throw Russell Wilson into the Colts offense and I'm not sure he is successful, while if you put Albert Pujols on the Angels then there's not a ton of maneuvering that has to be done in order to help him be successful. There are more moving parts in the NFL when it comes to free agency and helping a quarterback (who plays under a salary cap with the contract not fully guaranteed) be successful. NFL teams know that. In baseball, a team with a decent outfield could still acquire an expensive free agent outfielder, while in the NFL, there are only 32 starting quarterbacks. So the entire league won't be bidding on Wilson, which means the market for his services is smaller. A smaller market means few bidders and fewer bidders with cap space means less of a chance to drive Wilson's price up to where he wants to be. The team with the most incentive to sign Wilson would be his current team. Hence, I don't think he's leaving Seattle.

Wilson’s $22 million average deal, if that’s anything near what he wants, would be for 15.4 percent of the Seahawks’ 2015 cap. I only say that because it’s fair to think Mark Rodgers would be taking into account the fact that teams have $20 million more to spend this year, and the cap is only going to go up.

This is true. The cap is going up. I think this means the Seahawks would have a good chance to sign Wilson just like every other NFL team interested in Wilson would have.

But Schneider watched Wolf make cold-hearted decisions when needed. He watched Thompson stick with the unproven Aaron Rodgers when the momentarily retired Brett Favre wanted to come back to the Packers in the summer of 2008. Schneider is proud as heck of sticking his neck out for Wilson, but his “we’d love him to be our quarterback but…” statement this spring sounds very much like a man who believes in sticking to the value the team sets for a player, whatever it is.

It also sounds like a man who understands Rodgers sat behind Favre for three years, so the Packers had a good idea of what they had. Schneider wouldn't necessarily have the advantage of drafting a quarterback to immediately replace Wilson with.

This opinion from Mark Rodgers: “Sometimes, the best deal is the deal you don’t do. For me, there would be a greater disappointment in taking a below-market deal than there would be in honoring the fourth year of a contract.” This is not how an agent talks if he’s thinking of taking a hometown-discount deal for his client.

This is a negotiating stance, Peter. Have you never negotiated something? EVER? Each side says stupid, outlandish shit as if they will hold out forever for a deal, until they get a deal close to what they want. Hence, Mark Rodgers acts like he's fine hitting the market with Wilson, but this doesn't mean this is the truth. It's a negotiating tactic. Is Peter this naive? Peter seems to consistently not understand how negotiations work.

But I’d ask you this: What if Wilson wants Aaron Rodgers money now, and a deal doesn’t get done, and what if Wilson in 2015 simply does what he’s done in each of his first three seasons—have a passer rating near 100, make the playoffs and get the team in or close to the Super Bowl? What happens then, when the cap will be at least $30 million higher than it was when Aaron Rodgers signed his deal? 

Then the Seahawks will be giving Wilson a huge deal or he won't be a Seahawk (which I doubt happens). It's hard to trust anything said during a negotiation. Both sides are going to be firm until they decide they will work a deal out. Concessions are made, deals get done.

Let’s just say I doubt the asking price will be the same next year as it is now. It’ll be higher.

So Peter is working under the assumption that another NFL team will give Wilson this deal. What if after the 2015 season the value of Wilson is very high, but there is no combination of teams with salary cap room to get Wilson under contract and the want to sign Wilson to the type of deal he wanted with the Seahawks? Wilson is also assuming that someone would pay the price he wants on the open market, when that may not be the case. Who knows? Yet, Peter acts like the risk is all on the Seahawks.

Luck will make $3.4 million this year and $16 million next year, and owner Jim Irsay—who absolutely, categorically, will not let Luck out the door—said earlier this year it’s likely the Colts will get serious on trying to get a long-term deal done with Luck early in 2016. Contracts for players taken after the first round do not have fifth-year options. So for Wilson, it’s either a new deal or some form of free agency in 2016.

Or he signs the exclusive rights as a franchise player tag with the Seahawks. I believe the Seahawks could tag him one year after that as well. I just don't think this is a huge issue right now. A deal will probably get done.

I don’t often write about contract stuff, 

Unless Marvin Demoff requests that Peter try and help a client get out from under a franchise tag that Demoff client's present team placed on him. Ask Alex Mack about this.

and I’m not convinced in any way that Wilson and the Seahawks are headed for splitsville.

Peter isn't convinced they are headed for splitsville, except 20% of this MMQB is about how they could be headed for splitsville.

If you had asked me for the 25 most important 49ers for the near future—and I’m talking players and coaches combined—six months ago, I’d have given you a list something like the one that follows. Look at the list, and see where the people are now:

Player/Coach	Current status
1. QB Colin Kaepernick	San Francisco
2. Coach Jim Harbaugh	Head coach, Michigan
3. LB Patrick Willis	Retired
4. Pass-rusher Aldon Smith	San Francisco
5. T Joe Staley	San Francisco
6. Def. coordinator Vic Fangio	Chicago
7. WR Michael Crabtree	Oakland
8. LB NaVorro Bowman	San Francisco (coming off serious knee injury)
9. G Mike Iupati	Arizona
10. T Anthony Davis	Retired/sabbatical
11. G Alex Boone	San Francisco
12. LB Chris Borland	Retired
13. TE Vernon Davis	San Francisco
14. S Eric Reid	San Francisco
15. DE Justin Smith	Retired
16. RB Frank Gore	Indianapolis
17. Off. coordinator Greg Roman	Buffalo
18. S Antoine Bethea	San Francisco
19. WR Anquan Boldin	San Francisco
20. LB Aaron Lynch	San Francisco
21. RB Carlos Hyde	San Francisco
22. P Andy Lee	Cleveland
23. CB Perrish Cox	Tennessee
24. CB Chris Culliver	Washington
25. Spec. teams coach Brad Seely	Oakland

In San Francisco: 11. Playing elsewhere: 6.
Coaching elsewhere: 4.
Retired: 4.

The retirements are odd. I admit that, but the 49ers had a coaching change, which results in all the coaches leaving...at least most of the time that's what this means. So some of this roster turnover is expected given from year-to-year, while I expected the coaches to go somewhere else six months ago if Harbaugh wasn't there. It's just how it usually goes. 

When your coach and three coordinators go … and two promising young players retire by the age of 25 … and your defensive leader retires … and your top wideout heads across town … and two good cover corners go … and a mauling guard goes to a division rival … and when you’re putting your franchise quarterback coming off a checkered season in the hands of a position coach (Steve Logan) who was doing a talk show for the past couple of years…

If the 49ers and Kaepernick end up having a great year then this will be a cutesy story about how Steve Logan was doing a talk show for a few years, but for now, it's a strike against him. The 49ers have had a tough offseason, there's no doubt about that.

Tomsula is well-liked by the players from all reports. But losing does funny things to relationships. The chemistry experiment in Santa Clara will be the most compelling one to watch in the NFL this year.

It's the most compelling chemistry experiment except for the one in Seattle where Russell Wilson is going to end up going into free agency, because each side is taking a hardline negotiating stance. The 49ers just feel like a disaster, though if Harbaugh was such a pain in the ass to play for as the players now claim he was, maybe the team isn't so screwed and all that young talent Trent Baalke has seemingly acquired will step up and fill the voids left behind.

Don’t get him a tie, or a gift card. Get him a book. Or put a book on his Kindle, or his tablet. Today and Wednesday, I’m going to recommend several books I’ve read in the past year. There’s a fascinating book on life behind the North Korean curtain—my favorite of the year. There’s a terrific page-turner by Bill Pennington on the life and times of Billy Martin; can’t recommend that one highly enough. And more. I plan to write about those two and the others on Wednesday.

Peter can't simply make book recommendations. He has to stretch the recommendations over a two column span.

The Matheny Manifesto: A Young Manager’s Old-School Views on Success in Sports and Life (Crown Archetype)
 
By Mike Matheny with Jerry B. Jenkins.

Apparently this is the greatest book ever written. Peter loves it. 

This is a self-help book that so many parents need. It’s so important today, with so many wacky stories about how win-at-all-cost coaches and driven parents are ruining the games kids play. You’ve got to know someone who could use this book. You’ve got to know 10 people who could use this book. They’ll thank you for getting it.

"Thank you for giving me this book about parents who are ruining games for kids, thereby making it seem like I'm a person who needs to change my parenting style to fit what this book states my parenting style needs to be. I appreciate you second-guessing how I interact with my children in the realm of sports. I enjoy your criticism of me."

By my count, this is the eighth year I’ve looked for good stories and lessons in the commencement addresses given to graduates. It’s a fun exercise, reading wisdom from Garry Kasparov and George Bush and Joyce Carol Oates. Not a lot of football in here, except from Matthew McConaughey, who recalled a painful moment for Houstonians.

"There's no such thing as forgiveness. People just have short memories." Then Matthew McConaughey walks off-stage. 

“Anthony Davis to retire.” 

And every New Orleans Pelican fan shits his/her pants. 

—A statement from the San Francisco 49ers Friday afternoon, surprising the football world by announcing the retirement of starting right tackle Anthony Davis at 25.

“After a few years of thought, I’ve decided it will be best for me to take a year or so away from the NFL. This will be a time for me to allow my Brain and Body a chance to heal … I’m simply doing what’s best for my body as well as my mental health at this time.”

—A statement from Anthony Davis later that same day.

Not so fast on the retirement thing.

Not so fast on the retirement thing, Peter? You just talked about how Steve Logan had spent some years as a talk show host, as if he can't come back and coach in the NFL after that. But Peter really thinks Anthony Davis can stay away from football and the NFL for a few years, come back from no longer playing at a high level of athletics, and then unretire and be successful again? Maybe, but I find it somewhat hard to believe. Davis is young, but if he does something else for a couple of years can he really come back to the NFL and have the same success he had previously? I think Peter should think Steve Logan can come back and coach if he thinks Anthony Davis can come back and play. I have a feeling Peter should be smarter than to believe this retirement thing for Anthony Davis may not stick.

I count 10 starters from last December’s Niners now gone: Iupati, Davis, Michael Crabtree and Frank Gore on offense (as well as part-time starter Jonathan Martin, whom I did not count);

Just last week Peter thought Jonathan Martin was too shaky to protect Cam Newton's right side, but this week when it's convenient to show how many quality players the 49ers lost in the offseason, Martin is all of a sudden one of the missing pieces on the 49ers offense.

Factoid of the Week That May Interest Only Me

As the New York Daily News pointed out Sunday, the last time there was a Triple Crown winner—Affirmed, on June 10, 1978—you could buy Wheaties at your grocery store with reigning Olympic decathlon champion Bruce Jenner on the box.

And now Bruce Jenner is a woman. Great factoid, absent the fact Peter still doesn't know exactly what a "factoid" truly is.

Mr. Starwood Preferred Travel Note of the Week

After the wedding of our daughter, my wife and I went on a cool 35th anniversary trip: VIA Rail’s Vancouver-to-Winnipeg train through the Canadian Rockies. Fifty-two really fun and relaxing hours, with some of the prettiest scenery you’ll ever see. The highlight was this announcement over the 24-car train’s intercom one day into the journey: “Ladies and gentlemen, on the left side of train you’ll see a black bear.” Sure enough, there was a large black bear, eating something in a field as we approached the Rockies.

A motherfucking bear. It was a bear. Astounding. Here's another little factoid. At the point Peter was on this train after his daughter's gay lesbian wedding between two women, Bruce Jenner still went by his male name and not by Caitlyn Jenner.

Good food on the train. Good beer. (Lots of it.) Day two of the trip, a long Sunday, was mostly through the plains from Saskatoon to Winnipeg. There’s not much out there. Good chance to get in a lot of reading. Then we flew from Winnipeg to Toronto and spent the last two days of our trip sightseeing in Toronto.
Canada is one huge and scenic country.

What? Canada is huge? No way. Peter is bullshitting his readers now. First, he talks about how he saw a bear and now he's saying Canada is a huge country.

I just love how Peter is so precocious (probable Peter King definition of the word) about things like this. He goes to Canada and his report back is that he saw a bear, the food was good, he got bored because there was nothing to see and Canada is big. It's like what a 10 year old would report back from a trip to Canada, thereby fulfilling behavior that is the opposite of precocious, but Peter would probably call it precocious anyway.

Ten Things I Think I Think

Which, as usual, has to be differentiated from all the other comments in this column that essentially consist of things Peter King thinks.

1. I think these notes caught my eye from the NFL’s announcement of its roster of officials for 2015:

a. Veteran Bill Leavy’s out as a referee. Mike Holmgren and Seattle fans won’t forget a couple of iffy calls in the Super Bowl loss to Pittsburgh nine years ago. Now Leavy will be an officiating supervisor for the league. The newest of the NFL’s 17 referees: ex-line judge John Hussey.

I like how Peter says Leavy is "out" as an official with the connotation being that Leavy was being punished or his performance didn't merit his being "in" as an official. Instead, he's an officiating supervisor now, which means he kind of got a promotion. Failing upwards is not what I think of when someone is considered "out" of a job.

b. As expected, Sarah Thomas, the first female official hired by the league as part of a permanent crew, will work on easygoing referee Peter Morelli’s crew. She is a line judge.

BUT HOW WILL SHE RESPOND WHEN BIG MEAN COACHES START YELLING HER? HOW EMBARRASSING IS IT GOING TO BE TO SEE A GIRL OFFICIAL CRY WHEN THIS HAPPENS?

4. I think one of the football stories we’ve paid far too little attention to this offseason is what the Eagles have done with their skill positions.

Wait, wait, wait. "We" haven't paid enough attention to what the Eagles have done with the offensive skill positions? The entire offseason discussion around the Eagles has surrounded how they have gotten rid of high-paid offensive skill position players and replaced them with guys Chip Kelly wants to have his system. This has led to a discussion of whether it is the player or the system that can make a team successful. If anything, the discussion about the Eagles during the entire offseason has only surrounded what they have done at their skill positions.

Added: running backs DeMarco Murray (the number one rusher in the league in 2014) and Ryan Mathews (number seven in 2013), first-round receiver Nelson Agholor. Subtracted: running back LeSean McCoy, wideout Jeremy Maclin. With Murray, Mathews and Darren Sproles—who, I’m told, is still a major favorite of Chip Kelly—I think you’ll see the Eagles be a top-three rushing team in 2015. That is: If they’re efficient at it, the Eagles will be in the top three in the NFL in rushing attempts this year.

Again, this is mostly what has been talked about when the Eagles have been discussed and Peter thinks far too little attention has been paid to it? Really?

5. I think you’re surprised by that, aren’t you?

No.

Don’t be.

Well, I am not.

I'm more surprised that Peter still doesn't understand how an outline works. This is the same topic that was being discussed in Topic #4, so it should not be Topic #5, but included as part of Topic #4.

With a quarterback, Sam Bradford, that the Eagles don’t want to expose to more punishment than necessary, and a potential workhorse back in Murray, the Eagles are strong candidates to run the ball more than half of their offensive snaps. That’s something no one thought Kelly would do as an NFL coach.

Chip Kelly has always run the ball a lot, even at Oregon. So the assumption is his team throws the football a lot, but reality doesn't bear this out. I'm still not surprised the Eagles will have a lot of rushing attempts this year, mostly because I know he does like to run the ball a lot.

7. I think this is the offseason that a storm cloud simply will not vanish from the airspace over Foxboro. That includes, apparently, a highway near Foxboro, where, on Sunday morning, an abandoned and damaged car was found after an unreported accident overnight. The car apparently belongs to former and current New England linebacker Brandon Spikes. Stay tuned for the developing story.

The Patriots released Spikes on Monday morning. I'm sure this seen as just another example of the decline of the Patriot Way.

10. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:

a. Two overtime games in the NBA Finals. One the Cavs should have won and lost. One the seriously undermanned Cavs should have lost and won. That’s what’s so great about sports.

Deep AND insightful.

b. The LeBron hatred by so many on Twitter and elsewhere is so foolish, such a waste of time. I don’t care how many shots he missed Sunday night. He willed that team to a win, along with a spunky little guard I never heard of until two days ago.

Right Peter, but you don't like or watch the NBA so it shouldn't be a surprise that you had never heard of that "spunky little guard" whose name you are too lazy to look up. How many times has Peter said he doesn't watch many NBA games, yet it's supposed to mean something when he says he had not heard of a Cavs player?

d. Really enjoyed the Belmont on Saturday. I was lucky to attend for the first time, thanks to some NBC ducats. I’m no horse racing fan, 

I like how Peter is always like, "I hate this sport, but here's some insight about this sport I hate..."

How hard it must be, to keep a lead in a race that long. This really impressed me: The horse has won its last seven races by an average of five-plus lengths.

By an average of five-plus lengths? That's almost as crazy as the unnecessary use of italics in this sentence. Even with Bill Simmons not writing, the unnecessary use of italics still lives.

 f. Beat Writer Stat of the Week, from the Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham, on Friday, in the midst of another crash-and-burn Red Sox season: “The Sox are 95-122 the past two seasons and 296-317 since the 2011 All-Star break. The ESPN ‘30 for 30’ documentary on how the 2013 Red Sox were one of the great outliers of all time will be fun to watch in 10 years. The Jonny Gomes quotes alone will be great.”

Cry me a fucking river and then get the hell over it. "How the 2013 Red Sox were one of the great outliers of all time..." "OUR OUTLIERS ARE MORE OUTLYING THAN YOUR OUTLIERS!"

The teeth gnashing around the 2015 Red Sox team from sportswriters is obnoxious to read.

i. Coffeenerdness: Toronto’s a huge coffee city. I bet there are more per-capita Starbucks outlets (and other independent shops) downtown than in Seattle’s downtown.

Well, Canada is a huge country.

k. This column will have guest writers for the next four Mondays. We’ll open next week with Jenny Vrentas, and Robert Klemko and Andrew Brandt will also be writing in the coming weeks. As for the fourth columnist, it’s still TBA, but I’m working on an option you’ll enjoy if it pans out.

MMQB won't be posted at all on the fourth Monday?

I’ll be back in this space July 13, ready for another season.

No Peter King, no Bill Simmons and no Gregg Easterbrook. Such a tough time the middle of the summer is.

The Adieu Haiku

Coach of the Year? Now? I’ll take Mike Zimmer. Easy.
Stood firm on AP.

Of course no Peter King means no Adieu Haiku. 

It's June and Peter is ready to give Coach of the Year to Mike Zimmer for holding firm on Adrian Peterson when just last week Peter thought the Vikings should give-in a little to Peterson. Of course, Peter holds these two fairly distinct points of view. He thought the Vikings should give-in a little, but also thinks Mike Zimmer did a great job of standing firm on Peterson.  

3 comments MMQB Review: Peter Talks About Tim Tebow, Not Because He Wants to, But Because One Anonymous Coach Said Tebow May Make the Eagles Roster

Peter King described Troy Polamalu as a pure safety in last week's MMQB in order to explain how safeties aren't often elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, then went out of his way to get quotes from Dick LeBeau and Joe Flacco that show Polamalu was more of a hybrid safety. He also spotlighted Sarah Thomas again and wondered if she could handle grown men yelling at her. Peter also continued his useless Adieu Haiku. This week Peter talks about Tim Tebow being signed by the Eagles (not that he is just another media member obsessed with Tebow of course), talks yet again about Malcom Butler's interception in the Super Bowl, and has some strong feelings about how the NHL does their draft lottery. Oh, and Peter thinks the Patriots should have done more homework on Aaron Hernandez prior to giving him a contract extension. That's easy to say now.

Timeline of Sunday night:

It's important that Peter breakdown the timeline here. We are about two weeks away from Peter mocking the Tebow-mania that goes on in the media. It's the same Tebow-mania he is guilty of himself, but he won't be self-aware enough to realize this.

6:34 p.m. ET: FOX’s Jay Glazer reports the Eagles will sign quarterback Tim Tebow, unemployed by any NFL team for the past 20 months, on Monday.

7:46 p.m.: ESPN’s Darren Rovell tweets, “98,000 Tweets on Tim Tebow in last hour.”
 
9:02 p.m.: Assistant coach in the NFL who knows Kelly but does not work with him says to me, “This is not a prayer. There’s a chance here. If there’s one coach in the NFL who could figure a way to use Tebow, it’s Chip. Maybe not every week, but in spots.”
Substitute the word "Belichick" for "Kelly," then "Bill" for "Chip" and I have heard this shit before. I believe it was previously Bill Belichick who could use Tebow on the Patriots roster and would figure out a way to utilize him best.

Tebow signing with most teams in the NFL today might not lead this column, especially because I’ve got two other items I really like. Tebow signing with the Eagles leads the column because, as my anonymous coach says, Kelly will give Tebow a legitimate chance to be one of his three quarterbacks this season. I say “chance,” because that is what this is.

Don't bullshit us, Peter. It's unbecoming. You have Tebow lead the column because putting "Tim Tebow" in the title of MMQB and leading off with it increases pageviews. Don't be a liar and don't use horseshit excuses. It doesn't make sense to write, "Well, I wouldn't normally lead the column off with Tebow, but I'm doing it because some anonymous coach says Tebow has a chance to be the third-string QB for the Eagles." So simply because some anonymous coach gives Tebow "a chance" to make the roster all of a sudden it's worthy of leading MMQB with this story? Please. Just say you know Tebow provides pageviews and that's why you are leading the column off with Tebow. You can find an anonymous coach to give credibility to any roster move if you really want to. Peter really wanted to find one, so he can act like it's worth leading off MMQB with Tebow. 

This morning, Kelly has five quarterbacks on his roster, which will expand to 90 players in the next two weeks, once the draft and the signing of free agents is done. Kinne might be gone then. Who knows? Barkley might be gone then, traded or released. But Chip Kelly wants to get a good look for himself at Tim Tebow in the offseason program and presumably at training camp for at least a while.

Thanks for the inside information there, Peter. This does seem to explain why the Eagles signed Tebow, to get a look at him. The fact Tebow has "a chance" to make the roster, doesn't mean all of a sudden this Tebow is story more important than it otherwise would have been. Just say you wanted to lead off the column with the story that provides the most discussion and pageviews.

I don’t blame him. I applaud him. You’ve got 90 spots on your roster. If you think a player has a chance to help your team win a game somewhere down the road this season, wouldn’t you want to take a look at him for a few months—for free? Because the Tebow trial will cost Kelly essentially nothing.

I don't think anyone is blaming Chip Kelly. Little defensive here, Peter?

In 2010 he was a first-round pick.

Stupidly he was, yes.

He has a skill set that fits in Kelly’s spread scheme with an emphasis on quarterback runs (at times). I still think Kelly wants to have a mashing-type running game, with a physical back (he has that now, in DeMarco Murray) and a quarterback who, at least occasionally, can be a running threat.

Tim Tebow could succeed. He may not succeed.

Let’s be real about what this is:

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh, Peter is about to get real!

It’s a trial. It’s a chance. It’s a coach who doesn’t care about the distraction of having Tim Tebow in his camp, because he thinks Tebow might help his team. And about that distraction thing: Did you ever hear Bill Belichick or Robert Kraft or Tom Brady talk about Tebow being a distraction in Foxboro in 2013, when Tebow was on that team for the whole of training camp? No.

Well, I partially didn't hear them complain because I don't cover football for a living nor am I around the Patriots team to where I could hear them complain. The fact a tight-lipped organization didn't publicly complain about distractions a player brought to the team doesn't really mean there was no distraction. Do I ever hear Brady, Kraft or Belichick complain about any player being a distraction? No? It doesn't mean that player wasn't a distraction.

Cutting Tebow was justified. Tebow didn’t deserve to be on that team. He might deserve to be a cog in the wheel in Philadelphia. We’ll see.

But more importantly, Peter didn't lead off this column with Tebow because he wants pageviews, it's because there's "a chance" Tebow makes the Eagles roster. That is enough to give Tebow the lede for this MMQB. Peter almost HAD to lead the column with Tebow or he wouldn't be doing his job as a serious journalist.

Tebow getting signed by the Eagles is not the decline of western sporting civilization.

No one said it was. Calm the fuck down.

It is a coach running an offensive system that’s a good fit for a mobile quarterback just looking into whether one of the best mobile quarterbacks in college football history—and one, by the way, who beat the Dick LeBeau-led Steelers defense in an NFL playoff game—can be That Guy.

Oh my God. How long is Tebow going to be given credit for beating the Steelers at home in a playoff game?

Hall of Fame GMs on Winston vs. Mariota

Before we learn the real story behind the Malcolm Butler interception, and why I think Big Ben is bound for the season-opener, and finally someone going on the record in San Francisco on L’Affair Harbaugh,two voices of sanity on the great quarterback debate of 2015.

Peter sort of already did this. I'll guess he'll do it again. The Super Bowl was over two months ago. There is nothing better to kill space than hearing the "real" story of Malcolm Butler's interception? Nothing else?

In August, Ron Wolf and Bill Polian will become the first general managers since 1995 enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Both are still active in the game. Wolf has been a consultant to several teams in recent years, most recently the Jets in a scouting and coach-and-GM-advisory capacity. 

Oh. He was involved with the Jets recently.

Polian works for ESPN as an NFL analyst, and has been watching tape of college players preparing to work the draft.

Bill Polian is like, "Draft Peyton Manning and then reap the benefits. That's my advice to the Buccaneers and Titans."

Polian had to choose between Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf in 1998 as general manager of the Colts, and between Kerry Collins and Steve McNair for the Panthers in 1995.

Hey, one for two isn't bad. Then Polian had to choose whether to build the Panthers for success for the future or build them for short-term success that would enable him to get a job somewhere else and I think I remember which option he chose.

I asked both Hall of Fame GMs over the weekend: If you had to choose between quarterbacks Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota in this draft, who would you take?
 
In fairness, both answered with asterisks, which I’ll explain.

In fairness, I'm going to need a fucking solid answer if I'm to believe these two Hall of Fame GM's aren't just going to say nothing in the hopes they won't be seen as wrong.

“I’d probably lean toward Mariota,” Polian said.
 
“If I had to pick, based strictly on what I know now, I’d pick Winston,” said Wolf.

Actually Ron Wolf, you will be allowed a five minute look into the future. Put your head into this metal contraption that looks like a bear trap, but is totally NOT a bear trap, so just stick your head in there and I'll let you make the decision based on what you know in the future. But you only get a five minute look!

Every single decision a GM makes is based strictly on what he knows now.

The provisos: Polian said it’s unfair to make a definitive choice without knowing everything your organization would know about the mental makeup and off-the-field behavior of the players. Wolf said “it isn’t fair” for him to judge Mariota with finality because he’s done much more work on Winston, even seeing him on the field in warmups before the Florida State-Miami game last fall.

Well great, I'm glad Peter asked your opinion then. Because I know Peter's readers are looking for an opinion with a huge asterisk beside that essentially says, "I don't know enough about this player to provide an opinion on this topic, even though I've been set up as an expert on the topic."

With those “yeah buts” out of the way, it was clear in talking to both men they have strong opinions on these players.

Strong opinions that they would prefer not to be held to, because their strong opinions are based only on what they know now and they can't predict the future so if they are right please remember they were right, but if they were wrong then let's forget about it and hey look remember Brett Favre and Peyton Manning?

“I’ve seen Mariota on tape—I’d have to see a lot more of him—and I’ve seen Winston in-person and on tape,’’ said Wolf. “I’ve been exposed to Winston more. I watched Winston versus Miami before the game, down on the field, and then will his team back from a 16-point deficit. He’s an imposing guy. He has everything you’d want in a quarterback. I thought he was superb. What I know about Winston I like a lot. I’d take him in a heartbeat.”

But this doesn't mean in the next heartbeat he wouldn't take Marcus Mariota.

I asked: “If the psychological report on Winston was clean, would it still be Mariota?”

Polian: “Very, very close. But I’d probably lean toward Mariota, as I said. It’s closer than Manning-Leaf was. Way closer. More like Collins-McNair in ’95. With Mariota, I don’t think playing from the pocket will be an issue; he did a lot of that in the eight or nine games I saw. And he didn’t throw 18 interceptions either. On 14 of those 18 interceptions, Winston didn’t see linebackers underneath or he zeroed in on the receiver regardless of coverage.

“But look, both guys have a chance to be successful. They’re both gifted.

Thanks Bill Polian! I feel smarter now knowing that you would choose Marcus Mariota.

And I’ve got to go with the more sure thing in my mind—Mariota.”

But this isn't a definitive choice of course.

Memo to Tampa Bay GM Jason Licht: The moral of this story, this year, is there isn’t a 100-percent sure thing, for a variety of reasons. You’d better go with your gut. The gut sounds like it’ll be Winston as we sit here, 10 days before D-Day.

Oh yeah, D-Day. That's the day that resulted in Peter King having a lot of chances to ask soldiers how many people they killed.

I hope I don't forget to remember Peter called the 10 days before the draft as "D-Day" the next time Peter gives a lecture to someone about taking football too seriously.

The inside story of how Malcolm Butler made that interception.

(Deep sigh)

The still-stunning play that decided Super Bowl 49, of course, was little-used nickelback Malcolm Butler’s interception of a Russell Wilson pass with 23 seconds left in the game at the Patriots’ goal line, preserving New England’s 28-24 victory. On a soon-to-be released video series, a part of which I recently got to watch, you’ll be able to see the rest of the story. Namely, why Butler made the play, and how the Patriots’ coaches made sure an error in Thursday’s practice by Butler would not be repeated.

I'm not still-stunned. Miraculously, I have managed to move on with my life.

The still-stunning play that decided Super Bowl 49, of course, was little-used nickelback Malcolm Butler’s interception of a Russell Wilson pass with 23 seconds left in the game at the Patriots’ goal line, preserving New England’s 28-24 victory. On a soon-to-be released video series, a part of which I recently got to watch, you’ll be able to see the rest of the story. Namely, why Butler made the play, and how the Patriots’ coaches made sure an error in Thursday’s practice by Butler would not be repeated.

It's almost like practice is useful or something.

We were anticipating a bunch of pick routes, rub routes [by Seattle],” Boyer says on the video. “We didn’t do a very good job at the point … Malcolm kind of gave some ground there. Garoppolo ended up hitting Josh Boyce for a touchdown. Obviously, as a coach, that doesn’t make you feel good. Coach Belichick, Coach Patricia, they’re like, ‘Malcolm, you’ve got to play this a little better  … You’ve got to stick your foot in the ground and go and not give any ground and beat him to the junction point and make a play on the ball.’ ”

In the Super Bowl, of course, Butler went around the attempted pick by the first man in the stack—Jermaine Kearse, who was being blocked by cornerback Brandon Browner—and powered into position for the interception. Butler blasted Ricardo Lockette and caught the Wilson pass simultaneously. The coaches’ point hit home.

It did hit home. It was a great play by Malcolm Butler and he learned from his mistake in practice. So the inside story seems to be that the Patriots practiced defending this play prior to the Super Bowl and it paid off in the Super Bowl. I'm pretty sure I had heard that Butler got burnt for a TD in practice on a similar play, so maybe this wasn't quite an "inside" story. But hey, I guess Peter can't talk about Tim Tebow throughout MMQB.

Pittsburgh at New England, Sept. 10.

I’ll tell you why:

Why Peter? What reason is it? Could it be some in-depth scheduling quirk the NFL doesn't allow the public to know about? Is this matchup traditionally one of the higher rated games?

Ben Roethlisberger.

Okay. So I guess that explains it then...I guess.

So what do we have as candidates in a relatively weak New England home schedule? Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, along with the refurbished Buffalo Bills and New York Jets. Tom Brady will be on one side, and the Patriots will be favored against any team on the other sideline that first night. But the one thing the NFL can’t have is a 24-3 game at halftime. Pittsburgh is the best insurance against that risk.

And Ben Roethlisberger is the only one who plays for the Steelers, so as the quarterback of the Steelers he is the key to the defense not giving up 24 points in the first half? It makes perfect sense to me.

Philadelphia, likely with new quarterback Sam Bradford, who has missed 25 of his last 32 games with back-to-back ACL surgeries in 2013 and 2014. What if he gets hurt again, or is rusty coming back to the game?

The Jets, with Ryan Fitzpatrick or Geno Smith. Could be a debacle by halftime.

Buffalo, with Matt Cassel or EJ Manuel. Less of a chance to be a debacle at halftime, but there’s still that chance. 

Pittsburgh, with two-time Super Bowl champ Roethlisberger at the controls, a gunslinger capable of playing a four-quarter shootout with Brady.

So basically it took Peter a couple of paragraphs to explain that he thinks the opening game will be Steelers-Patriots because the Patriots don't have too many good teams coming to play them in Foxboro and the Steelers are the best team with the best quarterback that is coming to Foxboro. Wow, it took me once sentence to say it AND I saved the dramatics that Peter attempted. 

One interesting point about the opener, if it’s Steelers-Patriots: Each team would be without a suspended running back from the same pot-smoking incident in August 2014—Le’Veon Bell for Pittsburgh and LeGarrette Blount for New England.

What a nugget of coincidence! 

I'm surprised Peter didn't write,

"Two key players from both teams will be missing that first game if it is Steelers-Patriots. I'll tell you why."

"Drugs, carousing."

"Le'Veon Bell and LeGarrette Blount are both in the same boat. A drug boat that is. Let me tell you why they are in a drug boat." 

"Suspensions." 

"Both Le'Veon Bell and LeGarrett Blount won't be present for the first game of the season due to being suspended and let me tell you why." 

"Drugs, cars. What does this have to do with LeGarrette Blount and Le'Veon Bell? I'll tell you." 

"They are both suspended for the first game of the season due to an incident they both participated in where they had drugs in a car. I'll tell you more in a second." 

"They were in the same car and will be suspended the same amount of time for the same drug violation. I'll tell you in a minute which team they were on when this happened and how it's relevant now." 

"They were both on the Steelers team at the time and they would be facing each other if the Steelers-Patriots play at a certain time during the season. I'll tell you which game that is." 

"The first game of the season." 

Peter has to extend those dramatic reveals a bit.

The schedule will be announced sometime this week. I’ve been wrong before, many times on many things. But Pittsburgh-New England makes the most sense to me.

Because this may be the most competitive home game for the Patriots. It's not complicated, yet Peter got a whole section of MMQB out of it.

Andrea Kremer has an insightful story Tuesday night on “HBO Real Sports” on Jim Harbaugh, who wore out his welcome in San Francisco and is now the University of Michigan coach. The piece has detailed quotes from Niners guard Alex Boone, who says Harbaugh gave the team a great initial spark when he got there in a time of major malaise for the franchise in 2011.

Continues Boone: “He just keeps pushing you. And you’re like, ‘Dude, we got over the mountain. Stop. Let go.’ He kinda wore out his welcome. I think he just pushed guys too far.

I know. I hate it when NFL coaches are constantly trying to push professionals to be better than they think they can be. Lay off them, the 49ers had won a few Super Bowls. They were over the mountain.

There’s no question San Francisco owner Jed York wanted a little more of a kumbaya attitude with the front office out of Harbaugh that wasn’t forthcoming.

Jim Tomsula says the attitude around the team still isn't going to be all Kumbayan, it's going to be a straight American attitude. These Kumbayan people probably don't know how to motivate themselves like Americans do.

And now we see that some of the players—at least one, and I’ve heard reliably it isn’t just one—didn’t like Harbaugh as time went on in San Francisco either. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean he should be gone. I covered the Giants in the eighties, and Bill Parcells was hardly a players’ favorite in all corners of the locker room, even after the Giants won a Super Bowl.

Bill Parcells, Bill Parcells, Bill Parcells. The standard upon which Peter King compares all head coaches.

“The players have nothing to do with him getting fired,” Boone says to Kremer. “I think that if you’re stuck in your ways enough, eventually people are just gonna say, ‘Listen, we can’t work with this.’ ”

That's a great point. The 49ers had reached the mountain, so what else did they have to accomplish at that point? So Harbaugh should have just laid off knowing he had an incredibly successful team that achieved every team goal an NFL team could achieve. Every. Single. One. Mountain. Climbed.

“Why did Pete Carroll throw that ball? Seattle’s at the half-yard line. If anybody in the league can get a half-yard, it’s Beast Mode [Marshawn Lynch].”

—Spike Lee, speaking at the premiere of “The Greatest Catch Ever,” his half-hour documentary on the David Tyree catch in Super Bowl 42 that helped the Giants end the Patriots’ dream of a 19-0 season.

Well first off, Pete Carroll doesn't call the plays. He may have signed off on this play, but he isn't directly responsible for the play call. There is no second off. That is all. 

I was at the documentary premeire Sunday in New York, and three things occurred to me:

That you were subtlety trying to brag about being at the premiere of the documentary?

1. Lee kept coming back to this in a post-doc Q&A on stage. He was legitimately angry, confused and befuddled by the Carroll call, and no one in the theater could give him a smart answer on it.

If no one in the theater could give Lee a smart answer, then obviously the theater was full of sportswriters like Peter.

2. The star of the doc was Rodney Harrison, and I don’t say that just because I work with him.

Yes, Peter probably does just say this because he works with Rodney Harrison.

He was, well, just so moved, in a bad way, by the failure to dislodge the ball from Tyree. So moved, in fact, that when he went back to his hotel after the game, he said he holed himself up in the bathroom of his room and cried.

This is probably a typical response to losing the Super Bowl, though this catch didn't win the game for the Giants so Harrison would have had a few other chances to make up for not dislodging the ball. Like maybe he could have figured out a way for Plaxico Burress to be covered better in the end zone.

“I never want to kill the dream of playing two sports. I would honestly play two sports … I may push the envelope one of these days … I know I can play in the big leagues. With the work ethic and all that, I think I definitely could, for sure. And that’s why the Texas Rangers, you know, got my rights. And they want me to play. You know, Jon Daniels, the GM, wants me to play [baseball]. We were talking about it the other day.”

—Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson, in an interview with Bryant Gumbel for Tuesday’s “HBO Real Sports” show.

I personally find Russell Wilson to be a disingenuous person. He's a great quarterback and I don't think he's much worse than other pro athletes, but I don't buy the whole "nice guy" act he puts on. I think he creates his own reality at times (for example, his comment about being "kicked off" the N.C. State football team) and this quote is simply Wilson trying to get some leverage in negotiations with the Seahawks. That's all. Wilson chose to play professional baseball and that's why he got "kicked off" the Wolfpack football team in favor of a quarterback who had talent (Mike Glennon) and actually cared to be with the team during the summer. But of course Wilson sees himself as the victim there. Now he's pretending he can or would really play for the Rangers. I don't buy it for a second.

Very interesting. This quote will make the bulletin board of Seattle GM John Schneider, who is trying to get Wilson signed long-term. The two-time NFC champion quarterback’s contract expires at the end of this season, and the two sides are eligible to sign a new deal now, though no agreement is close.

This is all it is. A feeble attempt to pretend he would actually play baseball for the Rangers rather than play in the NFL. I don't buy it and Wilson will play football over baseball for the same reason he didn't play for the Rockies and chose to transfer to Wisconsin. That reason being he'd rather be a football player and knows it would be hard to make it in baseball at this point.

“I owe private apologies to a lot of people that I disappointed but a very public one to the Browns organization and the fans that I let down. I take full responsibility for my actions and it’s my intention to work very hard to regain everyone’s trust and respect. I understand that will take time and will only happen through what I do and not what I say.’’

—Part of a statement attributed to Johnny Manziel and released through the Cleveland Browns on Friday, after his three-month stay in a rehab facility for treatment of substance abuse.

The last part is most important: Manziel said a lot between February 2014 and December 2014 about his devotion to football and his maturity and—well, all the good stuff he had to say to convince everyone in the NFL he was worth a first-round pick, 

Yes, but the only ones who believed it were the ones who wanted to believe it. The idea Manziel would stop partying and get more serious about football just as soon as he gets paid to play the sport was just not realistic. This of course wouldn't matter if he performed on the field.

For the Why Would Philip Rivers Ever Favor A Trade To Tennessee crowd:

Rivers is a homebody.

He and wife Tiffany, both from northern Alabama, have their strongest family ties to the Deep South.

Yes, but Tennessee is not the Deep South. Maybe northern Alabama is, but Tennessee is not.

Rivers was born in Decatur, Ala., 114 miles south of Nashville.

Rivers was a high school football star in Athens, Ala., 97 miles south of Nashville. 

The closest NFL franchise to Athens, Ala., by far, is Tennessee. The Atlanta Falcons are twice as far away.

In his most accurate season as an NFL quarterback, 2013, Rivers’ offensive coordinator was Ken Whisenhunt, now the Titans coach and a fervent Rivers fan.

It makes sense, but the thought of Rivers in Tampa Bay with Evans and Jackson is terrifying to me.

Let me make it clear that I am not saying Rivers would rather play anywhere else but San Diego. But too many people wonder why he’d ever want to play for Tennessee. Those are a few clues.

"Tennessee bound for Rivers? Maybe. Why? Peter will get to this."

"Why would Philip Rivers like to play in Tennessee? I will tell you in a minute."

I should probably be happy that Peter didn't have any dramatics surrounding why Rivers would like to play in Tennessee.

Ten Things I Think I Think

1. I think there are two points about Aaron Hernandez that can’t be forgotten.

I should probably just be happy that Peter didn't write he has a few "bullet points" regarding items about Hernandez that can't be forgotten. Peter would write that, Richard Deitsch would defend him saying Peter takes too much shit and then Peter would apologize explaining that he didn't know guns shot bullets.

One, if a player has strong ties to a sordid past—either gang-related or simply sordid in some other way—it’s not very smart for that player to be playing in the backyard of his youth. Hernandez’s hometown of Bristol, Conn., is 115 miles from Foxboro.

Well Hernandez certainly wasn't going to request that he didn't play for the Patriots because he was afraid he would end up murdering someone. The Patriots probably didn't know the extent to which Hernandez had gang ties.

As Greg Bedard reported last month, Hernandez went to the combine in 2013, ostensibly to ask Bill Belichick for a trade to distance himself from some dangerous friends back home. Bedard couldn’t nail down the details of the story. Was Hernandez trying to start a new life and just couldn’t get out of his current one?

Hmmm...this seems like an action that was too self-aware for a guy who later committed murder.

Two: The Patriots can, and should, be faulted for their private-eye work, or lack of it, before giving Hernandez a rich contract in 2012. It’s true that teams can’t know everything about their players, but I’d think it’d be reasonable to expect that if you’re going to commit $40 million to a player on your team with a history of some transgressions off the field (and Hernandez did have them at Florida), you’d do more investigating than the Patriots did before signing him to the rich extension.

Perhaps the Patriots did what they thought was a sufficient amount of investigation into Hernandez prior to the draft and then prior to his signing an extension. I would imagine the Patriots looked into Hernandez prior to drafting him and then the organization saw him all the time when he was actually a member of the Patriots. In hindsight, more investigating makes sense, but the Patriots may have felt like they knew Aaron Hernandez. Besides, plenty of NFL players have gang ties and that doesn't mean they end up murdering someone. It's fun to fault the Patriots for what they should have known, but whether a guy will commit murder or not after being drafted by an NFL team isn't exactly predictable.

3. I think I’m starting to have my mind changed. I’ve thought all along that Adrian Peterson has likely played his last game for Minnesota, because he obviously doesn’t want to be there. But the question is: What team out there wants to commit $13 million in cash to a 30-year-old running back—albeit a great one—with salaries of $15 million in 2016 and $17 million in 2017 on the horizon?

That's a great question and one reason I thought it was a bit silly that Peter thought Peterson could force his way out of Minnesota. Peterson can hold out of camp all he wants, but he's only getting older and more expensive for whatever team trades for him. While Peterson has leverage over the Vikings, the Vikings have leverage in that Peterson understands if he wants to play in the NFL, time isn't on his side and he can't afford to hold out of training camp.

I don’t believe Vikings GM Rick Spielman will be pressured into a deal. And I don’t believe Peterson will choose to forfeit the weekly paychecks of $765,000 this season. So though it may get ugly, I think there’s an increasing chance the Vikings are not going to bend to Peterson by draft weekend unless the offer for him is a high pick or picks.

I feel sad for Adrian Peterson that he thinks this is going to work. Running backs are being devalued, Peterson is on the wrong side of 30, and he's a very expensive player with a weird history of tangling with the court system over the whipping of his kids. He's got baggage, so Peterson may want to just play for the Vikings.

5. I think if I were the Giants at No. 9, I’d take Trae Waynes over Brandon Scherff. Rare cornerbacks—and the 6-1, sub-4.4-in-the-40 Waynes is potentially quite rare—are harder to find than very good offensive line prospects. Pro Football Focushas Waynes

Is "Pro Football Focushas" the international version of "Pro Football Focus"?

with problems on change of direction, which would be a issue with a cornerback, so it’ll be interesting to see how teams factor that in—if they agree—as the first round approaches.

I can't imagine why a cornerback would need to change direction.

6. I think the Seahawks players did a smart thing, both in inviting new tight end Jimmy Graham along on a training/fun trip to Hawaii last week, and in poking public fun at the feud they had from the 2013 season with Graham. Before a playoff game, Bruce Irvin and Graham jawed at each other on the field, and last week Irvin sent out a photo on Instagram of Graham having to be restrained from fighting Irvin. They were play-acting.

Oh, so they were play-acting and weren't really going to fight? Thanks for clearing that up Peter. If you had not cleared it up then I'm sure your readers would have been so foolish as to think Bruce Irvin would Instagram a picture of him fighting one of his new teammates.

Also, Jimmy Graham IS soft. I don't want that to get confused.

8. I think Georgia running back Todd Gurley, five months after ACL surgery, got some good news the other day at the combine medical re-check in Indianapolis. So good, in fact, that one team interested in Gurley now thinks it’s legitimately possible he wouldn’t have to start the year on the physically unable to perform list; he could well be active. Seems little doubt Gurley will be a first-round pick.

Draft Todd Gurley or pay $45 million for three years of Adrian Peterson...I know which one I would take personally.

9. I think one name stands above others on the Mysteries of the 2015 Draft list: wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham. Boom or bust. Very big boom or very big bust. A GM who takes Green-Beckham in the first round is a GM who feels very secure in his job

Just write it Peter. You know you want to. List the same teams you always list that could draft a player like Green-Beckham and surround him with veteran players who will show him the right way. The Patriots, Seahawks, etc. Or have the Patriots been kicked off that list due to the whole "Aaron Hernandez committed murder so there goes the Patriot Way" issue?

10. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:

Quick joke for college football fans...did you know Nick O'Leary is Jack Nicklaus' grandson? You would think this could get mentioned every once in a while.

e. I’m not much of an NBA fan (in fact, I’m not one at all),

And here comes a conclusion based on Peter's lack of experience in watching NBA games. It's a guarantee Peter will come to a definitive conclusion after stating he doesn't watch the NBA.

but did anyone notice the Celtics finished the year on a 17-7 run and ended 40-42? Brad Stevens must be pretty good.

Yes Peter, Brad Stevens must be pretty good based on your observation the Celtics played well at the end of the year in a bad Eastern Conference. You don't watch the NBA at all, but you feel free to come to conclusions about players/coaches/teams in the NBA.

f. Paul Blart. One of the great, and most apt, names in film history.

Peter King. One of the lofty, and most apt, names in history for Peter's opinion of himself.

h. The Edmonton Oilers won the lottery to pick number one in the 2015 NHL draft. Okay. Shouldn’t sports leagues have some sort of rule how many times you can have the top picks in an X-year span? Since 2010, and including this year, Edmonton has picked (in order) first, first, first, seventh, third and first. This year they’re bound to take an incredible prospect, Connor McDavid. Edmonton must have taken some other incredible players the past five drafts, and the Oilers still stink. Why reward this?

What's the alternative, Peter? Be a problem solver, not just a problem spotter. The lottery is designed to allow the worst teams an opportunity to acquire the best players in the draft. If Peter thinks this shouldn't be rewarded, then I'm sure the NHL would love to hear suggestions on how to fix this. Suggestions that of course Peter doesn't have.

j. Maybe I’m wrong about this. Tell me if I am. But to continue to reward a team that simply can’t turn it around … It just seems wrong to me.

Says the guy who covers a sport where the Raiders have picked in the Top 10 over the last decade. What's the alternative that Peter prefers? A lottery like the NBA (a sport Peter doesn't watch) has? It's not like there aren't teams in the NBA who get Top 10 picks every year and still can't turn their team around.

k. Coffeenerdness: It’s okay on a warm afternoon to stray from coffee. You can have the occasional unsweetened iced green tea, and you’ll get the desired jolt. And the quenching of the thirst at the same time.

Thanks for the permission to drink unsweetened iced green tea. By the way, "unsweetened iced green tea" sounds like the way someone who is in the 1% of income earners like Peter is would drink iced tea. I can think of no loftier, more haughty way to drink iced tea.

n. Man, that Britt McHenry video is tough to watch.

She's on television, bitch.

o. This must have been weird: The Giants, riding an eight-game losing streak, got their World Series rings Saturday night.

It possibly could have been more motivational than weird. The Giants did win the World Series last year. It would be weird if there were few players from the 2014 World Series winning Giants team still on the roster when they got their World Series rings. 

The Adieu Haiku

Draft’s 10 days away.  
Still. Explain that. I beg you.
Thing should be in March.

Why would Peter's readers have to explain this? It's the NFL's decision. Also, the haiku is still pointless and useless. 

6 comments MMQB Review: Peter King Wimps Out On Choosing an MVP Edition

Peter King described what a terrible failure Johnny Manziel was the last time I covered MMQB. Peter also compared the upholding of Adrian Peterson's suspension with the suspension of a school teacher, which helps to show just how out of touch Peter can be. Peter also introduced us to Chris Harris Jr. of the Broncos and pointed out how Jadeveon Clowney probably won't be the same player after his microfracture surgery. This week uses his operative in the 49ers organization to report on Harbaugh's departure, thinks the Buccaneers should just go ahead and draft Marcus Mariota now (because when has anything changed in the draft from December to May?), gives spoilers on the podcast "Serial" as his travel note which blows my mind because it's a podcast and has nothing to do with travel, and empathizes with Jeff Fisher. 

So late Sunday night, as the Steelers were winning the final game of the 2014 regular season, completing the last bit of the playoff puzzle, I had a well-placed 49ers operative on the phone from California, 

We all know from Peter's "investigation" into the Ray Rice-elevator incident that Peter's operatives are never wrong, unless they are lying to him, in which case they will probably be providing incorrect information.

“This year was doomed from the start,” said the 49er smart guy. “It’s the classic example of, ‘A house divided against itself cannot stand.’ 

Not only is this operative well-placed, but he can provide fancy quotes as well. This isn't just a football guy, he's a SMART football guy.

it was always, ‘Sources say this, sources say that.’ You cannot run a successful organization with one side of the building leaking stuff to hurt the other side of the building. And it never stopped.”

Says the guy who is currently giving this quote to Peter King AS A SOURCE WHILE LEAKING INFORMATION ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION'S INNER WORKINGS. But I'm sure this well-placed operative never hurt the organization by leaking information. Never. It's totally different when he does it. Not that he would do it of course.

• Coaching carousel. (Always hated that phrase. A carousel is a place of fun. You think Mike Smith is having any fun today? Or his doomed staff in Atlanta?)

"I am going to choose to use a phrase and then claim I hate this phrase, even though there is no reason I should have to use this phrase if I don't want to use the phrase, but I will use it voluntarily and then claim I don't like using it."

If there is one takeaway from this MMQB, it's that Peter wants readers to know a carousel is a place of fun. Always remember that.

• I have made my choice (or choices) in the crowded MVP field. It’s a fun race in this I’m-right-and-so-you’re-an-idiot Twitter era,

Don't worry Peter, people thought you were an idiot way before Twitter came around. There was just no easy forum to express these feelings. It's not Twitter that created people who like pointing out you are wrong. But no really, keep blaming technology.

and I spent a few hours over the weekend divining my decision, and then it got messed up in the early Sunday window, and then messed up further in the late-afternoon window, but early this morning, the light bulb went off and … well, read on and you’ll see.

What's the opposite of waiting with baited breath? That's how I feel right now.

• What makes Khalil Mack tick?

His heart.

I like this guy.

It's okay to like Khalil Mack everyone! Peter King has given us permission to do so. Bless you Peter!

It’s been a long time coming. In retrospect, the Niners would have been smarter to cut the cord last winter if Harbaugh could have been convinced to take the Cleveland job; that way, San Francisco could have gotten compensation for him, and the rebuilding could have started earlier. Instead, this was a wasted year.

Yes, hindsight can be very useful. This is why building a time machine is so important. Because then the 49ers could go back in the past and do what they probably should have done one year earlier, but didn't know they should have done one year earlier. Of course, if the 49ers had gotten rid of Harbaugh a year earlier then without the benefit of hindsight football writers like Peter King would have criticized them for getting rid of a successful head coach. Once things got bad, this criticism doesn't seem to be prevalent. Rest assured, the 49ers would have gotten destroyed for trading a successful head coach coming off three NFC Championship appearances. Winning cures all.

In October, I ran into Ronnie Lott in Chicago. He was stunned the Niners seemed ready to divorce Harbaugh, and recalled how uncomfortable it often was playing for Bill Walsh. “Getting guys to play at their highest level is not always a comfortable thing to do, but that’s what Bill coached us to do,” Lott said. “I wanted a coach who’d get the best out of me, out of us. I didn’t want a buddy.”

Peter is about to make a comparison to Bill Walsh and it's not a good one. Many head coaches are hard to deal with, and when they are successful with the organization, then this difficulty can be dealt with. Jim Harbaugh wanted to get paid like a Super Bowl winning coach. He had not won a Super Bowl and the issue wasn't just with the players, but with 49ers management. That makes it different.

That led me to call Carmen Policy, team president/ombudsman during the Walsh era, who I recall was so often the referee between Walsh and many in the organization, occasionally owner Eddie DeBartolo. “There were times under Bill where it was a constant crisis-management situation,” said Policy. “But you’re winning, and so I’d say, ‘If we can just keep it together for the next month, month and a half, we’ll be okay.’ Eddie had this insatiable desire to win, and Bill did too.

And here is the difference that Peter isn't seeming to acknowledge. Jim Harbaugh acted like and wanted to get paid like a Super Bowl winning coach. Bill Walsh WAS a Super Bowl winning coach.

Jim Harbaugh is like, "Pay me as if I were a coach who won the Super Bowl."  

Trent Baalke is like, "But you haven't won a Super Bowl. That's not the end-all, but you haven't won a Super Bowl and want to be paid like you have. Also, you and I differ in ways that really are fundamental. You think I should draft different players and we don't always agree on the direction of the team."

It was all about winning, every day. I don’t know that any players loved Bill, but they had respect for him, and they knew he could lead them to the promised land.”

It's not the players that had the issue. It was 49ers management. In every business, when the fancy suits don't get along over the long-term and don't share the same vision a divorce will occur. This is how it is in business and life. Sports aren't different.

Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio will be interviewed, and he has a chance to get the permanent job; Fangio is very well-respected within the building, and in particular on the staff. I hear Baalke may have interest in UCLA coach Jim Mora, who was San Francisco’s defensive coordinator for five years (1999-2003). And I hear the offensive staff, at least most of it, is likely to be purged—though Baalke and/or York could make a couple of aides (offensive line coach Mike Solari, running backs coach Tom Rathman) part of the deal for the new coach.

I think Jim Harbaugh should still be the 49ers coach in a perfect world, but he isn't the only good head coach in the world, so the 49ers need to move on if that's what the situation requires. It's obvious with Peter's "Can't they just get along?" attitude that he hasn't worked in an office or organization where two or more people simply can't co-exist. Logic goes away and keeping a talented person becomes secondary to preventing a toxic atmosphere.

Fans don’t care who’s at fault. They don’t care that Harbaugh was increasingly difficult to get along with. They know that he, probably more than any single person, was responsible for taking the Niners from irrelevant to the Super Bowl. And so they’ll be watching, warily, as York and Baalke make a crucial hire for the future of the franchise.

It sucks. No doubt. Harbaugh wants to get paid and he didn't agree with some of the personnel moves that Baalke made over the past few offseasons and drafts. Winning cures everything and when the 49ers stopped going 12-4 and making the playoffs, a change was going to be made. If 49ers fans can't trust Baalke to make a good coaching hire then they shouldn't trust him to make smart decisions for the organization either. I don't see why 49ers fans wouldn't trust him. I think Baalke deserves some trust based on his record of player acquisition through the draft and free agency.

Think of it. Other than maybe the absence of the 49ers—which we’ve seen coming since midseason—and the presence of the Cowboys, is there anything that really shocks you about the playoffs this year?

Other than a team with a losing record hosting a playoff game? Other than the Cowboys being in the playoffs at all?

let’s take a look at the four matchups coming on the first weekend of the playoffs.

Okay! Let's!

NFC: Arizona (fifth seed, 11-5) at Carolina (fourth seed, 7-8-1), 4:35 p.m. ET, ESPN

The Cardinals need to repeat history here. In 2008, as the lower seed, they flew to Charlotte under very similar circumstances. They’d lost four of their last six in the regular season, just as they have this year. That season, Arizona was on the Super Bowl express, the classic example of a team with a big star getting hot (Larry Fitzgerald: 546 yards, seven touchdowns over four playoff games) at the right time. Big difference, of course, is that Kurt Warner was the quarterback then, and either Ryan Lindley or a gimpy Drew Stanton will be at the helm now. Carolina will try to run. It’s probably the Panthers’ only hope.

Yep, it's their only hope. If they can't run the ball, Ryan Lindley will tear the Panthers' secondary apart.

(Please don't let this happen. Please.)

AFC: Baltimore (sixth seed, 10-6) at Pittsburgh (third seed, 11-5), 8:15 p.m. ET, NBC

This could be the last game of a great rivalry.

What? The last game of a great rivalry? Did Ozzie Newsome say, "There will be some changes after the season" and Peter King thought this meant the Ravens would be folding as an organization or selling off all their players for beer money?

This could be the end for 37-year-old James Harrison, a mainstay in this game, as well as 33-year-old safety Troy Polamalu. On the other side, Ray Lewis and Ed Reed are gone, and Suggs is 32. So enjoy this test of wills on a cold Saturday night at the confluence of the Three Rivers. It’s the game of the weekend.

Because we all know that the Ravens and Steelers have proven terrible at drafting and finding young talent to replace the older talent that retires or leaves in free agency. It's the end of an era maybe, but it's not the last game of a great rivalry. Players will be replaced and the rivalry will continue. Don't be a drama queen.

AFC: Cincinnati (fifth seed, 10-5-1) at Indianapolis (fourth seed, 11-5), 1:05 p.m. ET, CBS.
 
This looks like the most even matchup of the weekend. Big question: Can Andrew Luck beat the Bengals by himself?

Andrew Luck is a pretty good quarterback, but he does need receivers to throw the ball to and an offensive line blocking for him. So no, I don't think Luck can beat the Bengals by himself. Fortunately, the genius Ryan Grigson has put a great team around Luck, right? Three seasons of ingenius drafting has put a great team around Luck. Isn't that what I hear?

The Colts have held two of their last three foes to 10 points, but they were offensive weaklings Houston and Tennessee. The last three playoff teams Indy hass played have scored 51, 42 and 42 points.

I don't hate Ryan Grigson, but I do chuckle a bit at how he has built the Colts team. They are obviously a great offensive team, but the question of how he's built the defense does hang in there in my mind. Grigson is very well-respected as a GM, but I'm interested to see how he continues to build the defense. He's seemed to focus solely on offense and helping out Andrew Luck. Which is a good idea, but the Colts have to stop opposing teams too. Playing Jacksonville, Tennessee, and Houston six times this year doesn't answer the questions too well for me.

First order of business: Will the league office see Ndamukong Suh’s stomp on Aaron Rodgers’ leg during the second half at Green Bay Sunday the same was as the Lions saw it—which is to say, inadvertent?

Nope. It was intentional and he should be suspended for the playoff game.

The Bucs should just turn in the card for Mariota now, and other draft/coaching/GM notes.

Brilliant idea! What could change between now and May? Absolutely nothing could change. Peter should be a GM and decide on his team's draft pick in December. I'd like to see that.

The Bucs will have a delegation, led by GM Jason Licht, at the Rose Bowl Thursday to see Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota duel Florida State’s Jameis Winston. I recently asked five GM/personnel types in the NFL about the two players, and it came out the way I thought: 5-0 in favor of Mariota, because of on-field and off-field things,

And those are the only two options for the #1 overall pick in the draft? It seems to be there are quite a few other options at #1 overall.

• The Browns may now be in the market for a quarterback—because of Johnny Manziel’s knuckleheadedness. They pick 12, 19 and 45, and have an extra four from the Sammy Watkins trade. If there’s a non-Mariota quarterback they like, they have the ammo to move up and get him if that’s what’s needed.

At some point the Browns will draft a good quarterback and will get credit for doing so. Sort of like how the Seahawks threw a bunch of shit at the wall in free agency and trades to find a quarterback before finding Russell Wilson and then he ended up paying off big time.

• So much of the draft predictions are impossible now, because several of the teams picking high in the first round could have different pickers, depending on the outcome of GM and coaching searches in the next couple of weeks.

But the Buccaneers need to draft Marcus Mariota. This is known for sure.

• I think the Titans will certainly consider a quarterback at No. 2. I don’t believe for a minute they’re all-in on Zack Mettenberger as their quarterback of the future. Not that this isn’t possible, but it cannot be a certainty.

No way. I can't believe the Titans aren't sold on their 6th round pick in this past year's draft. Usually 6th round picks develop quickly or not at all.

• I wonder if Stephen Ross is having buyer’s remorse this morning, having announced he is keeping Joe Philbin and then seeing the bizarre display Sunday in Sun Life Stadium. Not only did Miami lose to the rival Jets, but the loss was ugly, with NFL Network reporting Mike Wallace basically quit the game late in the first half when teammate Charles Clay caught a touchdown pass.

But Joe Philbin cared about the Dolphins players this year. Remember? He visited the players in their rooms and this brought everyone together? This was part of Peter's training camp report and how things would be COMPLETELY different in Miami this year.

Then Peter takes a long time to tell us who he chose as MVP, only to cop-out and choose two players. Why? Because, he's Peter King. Showing balls and making a concrete choice isn't something he is capable of doing.

The anatomy of a Most Valuable Player decision:

Are there people who read MMQB who really give a shit about Peter's thought process? Give us a sentence or two on the process and then give the freaking answer. Don't bore us, get to the chorus. It's amazing to me how Peter really thinks his readers need a thorough day-by-day accounting of how he came to his MVP decision.

Friday. Realized I’d better start coming close to a final decision, with the votes for the Associated Pressseason awards due in a few days,

I'm betting Peter broke out into a flop sweat at the thought of this deadline which he had known about for months. Life as a sportswriter is very stressful.

Watt, theoretically, could be having the best season by a defensive player ever, yet because his team was going to finish out of the playoffs, it seemed foolish to make give him my MVP vote. How much value can a defensive player have on a 9-7 team, particularly one that finishes in the bottom half of the defensive team stats?

This is stupid. How much value could a defensive player have on a team without other great defensive players and steady quarterback play? Gee, I don't know. The Texans could be 5-11 or 4-12 instead of 9-7.

Saturday night.

Too many great quarterbacks are having great seasons that while not indistinguishable are close in merit, and it’s impossible to pick one; so in this one season, I should pick the best player in football instead. That’s what I was thinking as the day dawned for Week 17.

What a revolutionary idea. Choosing the best football player as the MVP.

One other issue about the MVP race. I firmly believe that Peter was a little nervous about voting for Aaron Rodgers because a vote for Rodgers could give him an MVP award, which would in turn possibly make Brett Favre's accomplishments in Green Bay still look impressive, but also move Rodgers closer and closer to Favre's legacy in Green Bay. I absolutely believe this. I firmly believe Peter King would take his friendship with Brett Favre and Favre's legacy in Green Bay into account when voting for MVP.

Sunday afternoon. NBC Viewing Room, as the early games begin. If Watt overtakes Justin Houston for the sack title (entering the day, it’s Houston 18, Watt 17.5), and Romo and Rodgers are so-so, I’m thinking Watt’s the guy. In the first 11 snaps against the Jaguars, Watt beats the second pick in the ’13 draft, Luke Joeckel, for two sacks, one of them forcing a fumble.

Yeah, J.J. Watt should be MVP if he can beat some shitty Jaguars offensive lineman for a sack, while Rodgers plays the Lions' defense. Brilliant reasoning.

Then Rodgers injects heroism or some such trait into the derby in Green Bay late in the afternoon. With the NFC North title on the line, he goes down in agony with a strained calf while throwing a first-half touchdown pass. He has to come out of the game, then returns to a thunderous ovation and chants of “MVP! MVP!” early in the second half to lead Green Bay to a 30-20 victory. “Impossible choice,” I say to no one. “Just impossible.”

I wonder what Peter would do if he had to make decisions that really fucking mattered as part of his job. Choosing a player for a postseason award is "impossible," then what would happen if he made a decision like having to choose two employees to lay off? This teeth-gnashing from sportswriters is hilarious to me. It's a postseason award, not anything that is really important. Quit with the drama like you are choosing whose life to save.

A couple of times over the years with the AP, I have split my MVP vote. Once, famously. In 1997, I gave half to Brett Favre and half to Pittsburgh cornerback/safety Carnell Lake. Favre tied Barry Sanders that year for the award, preventing him from winning three straight MVPs outright. A few folks in his family weren’t very happy about that vote, and Favre kidded me about my good friend Carnell Lake a few times.

Long story short, Peter splits his vote between Watt and Rodgers. I told you that Peter considers his friendship with Favre as part of his MVP vote. Don't think Peter isn't aware of how a full vote to Aaron Rodgers would affect his good friend Brett Favre's legacy in Green Bay. A full vote for Rodgers means he is one step closer to eclipsing Favre's legacy in Green Bay. Friendship before all else.

The winner: a tie. I will split my vote between Aaron Rodgers and J.J. Watt.

I'm sure the Favre family appreciates it, Peter. You didn't even hurt anyone's feelings while making this "impossible" decision. Good for you. Now you and Brett Favre can have beers on the porch and you won't have to worry if he is a little angry with you. 

I have been impressed with how Oakland first-round pick Khalil Mack has carried himself this year. He gets it. He gets the football part, and he gets the off-the-field part, and he gets that he hasn’t accomplished anything yet because his team is at the bottom of the AFC West.

As long as Khalil Mack doesn't do something like get Greg Schiano fired or get injured then Peter will continue to like him.

The Fine Fifteen

1. Seattle (12-4). There are many reason why the Seahawks will enter the postseason as the most dangerous team, but this is the big one: During Seattle’s six-game winning streak, foes have scored three touchdowns. That’s one every eight quarters.

Remember Peter King's trepidation about the Seahawks even as he ranked them the 3rd best team in the NFL?

Seahawks 36, Packers 16, and the story line for the next week was something like this: Yeah, we know no one ever repeats in the NFL, but this year’s different. Seattle’s unstoppable. No weaknesses. Everyone who didn’t pick Seattle to repeat, change your picks now.

Seattle since the opener:
Record: 2-2.
Points scored: 97.
Points allowed: 97.

3. Seattle (3-2). Since opening night, mortality.

And my thoughts at the time:

The Seahawks have played the teams that are #1, #2, #4, and #9 on this list. They beat two of those teams. So I don't know if it is "mortality" any more than it is a really difficult opening schedule.

And what do you know? By the end of the season the Seahawks are ranked as the best team in the NFL by Peter!

2. New England (12-4).I don’t have a lot of confidence in either fifth seed Cincinnati (Oct 5 in Foxboro: Pats 43, Bengals 17) or fourth seed Indianapolis (Nov. 16 in Indianapolis: Pats 42, Colts 20) journeying to Foxboro in 12 days and beating the rested Patriots.

Here's Peter when listing the assumptions "we" thought were correct, but really weren't.  
Ten things we think we thought about the 2014 season before this weekend:

The Patriots would have their usual AFC East stroll to a playoff bye, and the other three division stumblebums would fight for second place.

Yep and it happened that the Patriots ran away with the AFC East again.

7. Detroit (11-5).The 24^th straight loss to the Packers in Wisconsin means the sixth seed in the NFC, and this daunting road to the Super Bowl, if favorites hold the day: at Dallas, at Green Bay, at Seattle. Not sure there’s been a tougher road recently.

I'm sure Peter has said this before and there are always upsets along the playoff road. So I don't know if form will hold.

11. Arizona (11-5).Last six games: 2-4. Last six games: 12.2 points per game. They played very competitively against a beat-down 49ers team Sunday, but it’s hard winning playoff games when you can’t score past the teens.

I try not to be Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead (he loves to link his old articles on Twitter when he's right about something) and point out every time I am right, but isn't this something that a few people (myself included) saw coming? The Cardinals have to score points to get to the Super Bowl. Fortunately, they are playing a fairly inept Carolina offense, but still, if they can't run the ball and can't throw the ball they aren't going to win a Super Bowl with Drew Stanton.

12. Carolina (7-8-1).On a neutral field, I’d like Arizona, narrowly. At Charlotte, I like Carolina.

The Panthers have lost two straight home playoff games to NFC West teams.

Offensive Player of the Week
Aaron Rodgers, quarterback Green Bay. John Wayne-like. The numbers in the 30-20 NFC North title game over Detroit were so very Rodgers (17 of 22, 226 yards, two touchdowns, no picks), but it was how he did it too. Rodgers aggravated his left calf strain in the second quarter while throwing his first touchdown pass of the afternoon at Lambeau Field, then returned in the second half to get the save against the Lions. Quite a performance. Was it an MVP-ensuring performance?

Not in Peter's opinion it wasn't.

Defensive Player of the Week

J.J. Watt, defensive end, Houston. With his umpteenth signature game of the season—three sacks, a safety, a forced fumble, six tackles—Watt kept the Texans’ playoff hopes alive until the Ravens rallied to beat Cleveland. The Texans finished 9-7 and out of the money, but now we’ll see if one of the best defensive seasons will be good enough to earn Watt the MVP award.

Not in Peter's opinion it wasn't.

I believe splitting your MVP vote is not making an MVP vote at all. When Peter chooses two players for an individual award, he isn't making a choice at all. He's choosing to not make a choice and this shouldn't be allowed. I'm sorry that choosing an MVP is so hard, but a choice has to be made.

Goats of the Week
Justin Gilbert, Josh Gordon, Johnny Manziel, Cleveland Browns. Three words: Grow up, gentlemen.

But Manziel is so different now! Doesn't Peter remember how he had lunch with Manziel that one time before the NFL Draft? It was a whole new Johnny Manziel and not at all an image makeover to help his draft status.

“Is the NFL going somewhere?”
—Jim Harbaugh, after his final game as the 49ers coach, asked if he would miss the NFL.

I can't wait for Jim Harbaugh to come back to the NFL in three years after he wears out his welcome in Michigan and an NFL team throws a ton of money and power at him. This will happen.

In the past five seasons, the Patriots have won the division by 3, 5, 5, 4 and 4 games.

But after Week 1 Peter said the assumption the Patriots would run away with the division was a fallacy. Whoops.

Mr. Starwood Preferred Member Travel Note of the Week

So the Christmas break allowed the King family to gather in northern Connecticut on a stormy Christmas Eve for a family dinner.

If asked where Peter King would meet his family for Christmas dinner then Connecticut would be my answer. For me, Peter King and the stereotype of rich, white, out-of-touch Connecticut go hand-in-hand. 

We got to binge-listen to eight episodes of “Serial,” back and forth to dinner. This is the 12-episode podcast describing in great detail the 15-year-old murder of a Baltimore high school student, Hae Min Lee, that resulted in her former boyfriend, Adnan Syed, being handed a life sentence for her death—a killing he said he didn’t commit. Syed participates by phone from his prison in Cumberland, Md., and host Sarah Koenig and her intrepid staffers find the rest of the key characters in the stale murder case they bring to life. I finished the last episodes over the long weekend.

I won't cover this much because I don't listen to this podcast, but I don't think giving spoilers and opinions on a podcast is a travel note. If there is no note that actually involves traveling, then perhaps don't have a travel note. If MMQB is a buffet like Peter King insists then don't put chocolate covered strawberries on the menu as "fruit" for a salad because you think there needs to be fruit for a salad on the menu.

@JManziel2 Didn't ask for it, but I'll throw it out there. If being the best doesn't consume your every waking thought, do something else.
— Curt Schilling (@gehrig38) December 25, 2014

Curt Schilling doesn't think Johnny Manziel could evolve into an NFL quarterback because Schilling doesn't believe in evolution and thinks that it's Obama's fault Manziel hasn't succeeded in the NFL so far.

Week 17 in Seattle. Again. Why do I feel like I will run into Ned Ryerson on the street tomorrow morning?
— Kevin Demoff (@kdemoff) December 27, 2014

Sunday marked the 10^th straight loss for the Rams in Seattle. Three times in this current December streak of games, the loss foiled the Rams’ effort to finish .500 or above.

I'm sure Rams fans feel that way too when they are told the team is "on the rise" and the team commits itself to a quarterback who can't be relied upon. But sure, it's not like Jeff Fisher is paid as if he is an elite coach or anything. Next year, that's the year Fisher finally finds a reliable quarterback. Just give him time and a contract extension.

Ten Things I Think I Think

1. I think this is what I liked about Week 17:

o. CBS crew (Steve Tasker/Steve Beuerlein/Andrew Catalon) reporting Rex Ryan won’t take a defensive coordinator job.

Why would Ryan take a defensive coordinator job when he can sit out of football for a year and take a broadcast job that will automatically make the media put his name in the hat for any NFL head coaching vacancy? There's no point in actually coaching when Ryan can become a hot coaching candidate simply by not coaching.

p. Good Florio stat Sunday: If Florida State beats Oregon on Thursday, Jameis Winston will be 28-0 as a collegiate starter.

I guess that is a stat which is interesting. If you know Florida State hasn't lost in two years then you would know Jameis Winston hasn't lost as the FSU starter too.

s. Greg the Leg, good from 52, and it would have been good from 62, at Seattle.

Sure the Rams don't have a quarterback really and their head coach and GM make personnel moves like they know there isn't a real sense of urgency to win immediately, but Greg the Leg could play for the Rams for the next decade. That's something to build on.

2. I think this is what I didn’t like about Week 17:
 
What Peter liked:

g. Jordan Matthews, a good draft choice by the Eagles, with a rookie season that in most years would be a superior one—67 catches, 872 yards, eight touchdowns.

What Peter doesn't like:

b. Kelvin Benjamin had a good rookie year, but two drops in the NFC South title game? Not good.

I completely agree these two drops were terrible, it's interesting that this is what Peter focuses on since Benjamin has 73 catches for 1,008 yards and 9 TD's on the year. Matthews' drop percentage is 5.8% while Benjamin's is 5.5%. But Matthews had a superior rookie year in most seasons, but it isn't superior because another rookie wide receiver had a "good" rookie year.

d. Jay Cutler’s look, wrapped up on the freezing bench in Minnesota, pregame: Get me outta here!

While Cutler has been terrible, can you blame him? His coaching staff has thrown him under the bus.

5. I think if I’m John Schneider, who is not a what-could-have-been guy, I have to ask myself at least occasionally: Why didn’t I take Golden Tate for half the money and zero compensation over Harvin? (I know they happened 10 months apart, but if Seattle passed on Harvin, they’d have saved about $5 million in cap money annually, plus first-, third- and seventh-round picks.)

Again, this is complete hindsight. The Seahawks couldn't have known Harvin wouldn't be a better receiver than Golden Tate two years ago and it's not like Harvin didn't contribute in the Seahawks' Super Bowl victory. This is annoying. These weren't moves made by the Seahawks at the same time and Peter wants the Seahawks to predict the future and know Golden Tate is going to be a great receiver for the Detroit Lions and choose not to trade for Percy Harvin. Just totally using hindsight to unfairly second-guess John Schneider.

c. Tom Brady at Peyton Manning. It’ll be their 17^th meeting, assuming both return in 2015.

My reason to live continues to exist.

Some of the best matchups, of course, won’t be known until we see where (if anyplace) Rex Ryan lands, what happens in Chicago, and where the surprise change is made. There’s always one. Or three.

See? There is no sense in Ryan taking a coaching job. His not being employed in the NFL will have the football media pushing him as name for a head coaching job until he takes another head coaching job.

9. I think Rams owner Stan Kroenke must be thinking (though how would we know what he thinks—the man never speaks) this after the team’s 11^th straight non-winning season:

Why am I paying Jeff Fisher $8 million per year and not getting good results?

Of course not! It's not Fisher's fault and isn't Les Snead's fault and certainly isn't Kevin Demoff's fault. Nothing is.

I empathize with Jeff Fisher never having a good quarterback situation to deal with.

Really? You empathize with Fisher that he and Les Snead have chosen to do nothing with the quarterback position and continue to rely on Sam Bradford, a guy the Rams aren't even certain should be the quarterback of the future, to be the starter going into the season with little competition for his job? The conscious choice to waste the time and money of Rams fans by relying on a player who consistently can't stay healthy, you empathize with Jeff Fisher about that? I personally think decisions like that are why coaches and GM's get fired. There would be a good quarterback situation to deal with if Fisher and Snead had not relied on Austin Davis and Shaun Hill to be the options at quarterback if Bradford got injured.

The excuses for Fisher...they kill me. It's nice to have friends in the media.

But for all the resources and draft picks the team has had, 20 wins over three years just isn’t enough, which makes 2015 a vitally important year for Fisher’s future coaching the Rams.

This is an understatement. Snead and Fisher need to run the Rams like they will get fired if the team won't improve, not like they have 5-7 years to fumble around and then get a contract extension should they get it right for one year. But that's how it is. Jeff Fisher hasn't won a playoff game in a decade, and hasn't had a winning record with the Rams, but the 4th year of his mediocrity may be the time to start evaluating the job he's doing?

10. I think these are my non-NFL thoughts of the week:

b. Stupid me. I didn’t get to any movies in the last week. Unbroken and Selma are first in the queue.

Thanks for the update. Feel free to not do it again.

e. Central Park on Christmas: Like the highways around Los Angeles at 4:30 in the afternoon. That was amazing, to see hundreds in line to go ice-skating and hundreds more just hanging around in the park in the middle of Christmas afternoon. I don’t know what I expected, but I thought Christmas was more of a homebound holiday.

People choosing to go outside on Christmas Day. What an amazing and marvelous sight.

The Adieu Haiku

So long Jim Harbaugh.
They say you were a big pain.
Hmmmm. Bill Walsh was too.

They also say that Bill Walsh was a pain who won Super Bowls. Jim Harbaugh has only had four seasons with the 49ers, but he wanted to be paid like Bill Walsh when he isn't quite Bill Walsh yet.