When I think of Buzz Bissinger, the very first thing I think of is an angry old man screaming at bloggers. The second thing I think of is just how incredibly manly and tough he comes off as being on the television and in print. It's this very obvious toughness that caused him to write a column saying the NFL sucks, and even if it didn't suck, the sport is unwatchable because football doesn't require the players to be as tough as Buzz is. Actually, Buzz says the NFL has "Namby-pamby rules," so whatever that means, that's what Buzz really thinks about the NFL. Good burn, Buzz. Good burn.
The National Football League regular season ended Sunday …
Awaiting punchline...I'm sure it has something to do with the NFL being "namby-pamby."
If you were interested in the social ramifications of the murder-suicide by Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher (none),
It's almost been well two months since Jovan Belcher killed his fiance and then killed himself. That's not really that long of a time. Yet Buzz thinks the social revolution to ban all weapons and stop domestic violence entirely hasn't worked, so there's no point in continuing the fight. Buzz thought we could get all domestic violence stopped at the very most a week or two after Belcher killed himself and his fiance. Clearly no one cares anymore, since social change is so easy to do in such a short time span.
the continued debate over concussions (point taken), a possible rule
change to dilute a game already too diluted (terrible idea),
"We need to eliminate concussions as much as possible, but keep the game as violent as it currently is. There's no way these are contradicting statements."
and this amorphous thing called the NFL culture, in which players act violent off the field because they are violent on it (duh), then it was maybe the best regular season ever.
I love how Buzz takes "the NFL culture" that a small percentage of NFL players participate in and then uses it to just say players act violent off the field because they are violent on it, like this doesn't go for other sports as well. There are plenty of NFL players who don't act violent off the field, just like there are plenty of baseball players who act violent off the field even though they don't play a violent sport. I don't know if NFL players act more violently than athletes in other sports, but there are NFL players who aren't violent, and violent athletes who play other (non-violent) sports.
If you were interested in the quality of play—watched only out of
Pavlovian habit or fantasy football or gambling—then the 2012 season
ranks among the worst.
This is an opinion, not a fact. Don't pass off your opinion as if it were fact. I enjoyed the 2012 NFL season. Maybe that makes me a "namby-pamby" person.
Not as bad as the 2011 season, in which a Pop Warner second-stringer
could have passed for 5,000 yards because of defenses neutered by rule
changes and stripped of aggression. But close.
In conclusion, Buzz Bissinger thinks every NFL season sucks. So we should obviously listen very intently to him when he says the 2012 season was boring, since he has such an open mind and doesn't seem to just dislike the NFL.
On Monday seven coaches got fired, and it should have been eight, with the New York Jets’ beyond-bombastic Rex Ryan.
Let's try to hang with Buzz Bissinger as he desperately attempts to prove his next point. Buzz says seven head coaches got fired and it should have been eight head coaches that got fired. So based on this statement, Buzz seems to not have an issue with these seven coaches being fired, and actually thinks there should have been eight head coaches fired.
Owner impatience is one reason,
Wait, so if these coaches deserved to be fired then the owners really weren't being impatient were they? In fact, Buzz doesn't seem to think the owners were impatient enough because he also thinks Rex Ryan should have been fired. So he shouldn't say the owners were impatient when he thinks more head coaches should have been fired.
but so were listless teams that played such quarterback studs as Ryan
Fitzpatrick, Nick Foles, Brady Quinn, and roughly 35 different ones from
the Arizona Cardinals.
And the 2012 season was, of course, the first season where mediocre quarterbacks started any games for NFL teams...which is why the 2012 season was no good. No NFL teams had ever started shitty quarterbacks prior to this past NFL year.
The NFL is troubled. It’s not because of concussions or violence off the field
I think Buzz meant to type, "It IS because of concussions or violence off the field" because that's a much more accurate statement.
or the league’s own politically correct, pussy-whipped ad campaign for improved safety.
Apparently Buzz's solution to the concussion and violence off the field issues is to make the game less safe overall, which would decrease player's safety. I'm not sure how that makes sense.
I'm not going to argue the league isn't working hard to make it seem like they care about player safety, but the NFL isn't in trouble because of the ad campaign for improved safety. The NFL is (potentially) in trouble because the league has a violent product. The NFL has had to adapt based on the litany of ex-players who are having their lives changed for the worse physically because of the time they spent playing in the NFL. The NFL is in trouble because the public is realizing more and more football is an inherently dangerous game and players are going to be severely injured playing the game, whether it is in the short-term or the long-term, no matter what the NFL tries to do. I don't like the kickoff moving up five yards, but I get why the NFL did it. They have to try and adapt to make the sport 5% less dangerous, or otherwise the sport would really be in trouble. The product is still watchable, no matter what Buzz says.
It is because the product itself is largely unwatchable, too many dull teams playing too many other dull teams,
There are always dull or shitty teams. The product is still watchable. The NFL has had to balance the fact it is an inherently dangerous sport with attempts to improve player safety. It's not exactly easy to do, but the measures they have taken can be frustrating at times (like the discussion over whether an offensive player moved his head and caused the helmet-to-helmet contact a defensive player got called for), yet the product is still very much watchable. It had to be changed in response to the concussion issues that ex-players were experiencing after their playing career was over.
I'm not sympathizing with Roger Goodell, but this is the balance he has to strike. On one hand you have those like Bill Simmons who criticize him for not paying attention to concussion issues early enough or doing enough to prevent players from experiencing concussion-related issues. On the other hand, you have those like Buzz Bissinger who thinks the game is being pussified and the changes are making the game unwatchable. He has to keep the violent spirit of the inherently dangerous sport while also increasing the safety of the inherently dangerous sport. I don't sympathize with Goodell, but he can't and won't please everyone.
the only excitement now guessing the halftime entertainment at the Super
Bowl and which performer will trip or simply keel over from old age. Or
wondering if the day will ever come that Tim Tebow throws an incomplete
pass still in-bounds.
I hate to make a generalized statement (ok, I really don't hate it), but if you didn't enjoy the NFL this year then there is a possibility you don't like NFL football. This has been an exciting year for NFL fans. New stars have been drafted, new (and old debates) have started, and this is a year where there isn't one dominant team in either conference that seems destined to make the Super Bowl. So if Buzz doesn't find excitement in watching the NFL this season, it is possible he just doesn't like to watch the NFL. I am sure he would argue he does like the NFL, just not with the current rules, but that's a cop-out. The game hasn't changed all that much from five years ago. The NFL has cracked down on hits to the head, they don't allow defenders to man-handle receivers and are overall more concerned with player safety, but the game isn't unrecognizable.
Football is violent because it was designed to be violent. Football hurts because it is meant to hurt.
I 100% agree with this statement. Football is a violent sport that is designed to be violent and is difficult to play any other way. The problem that Buzz fails to grasp is that the NFL has to stay violent while also working harder to protect the NFL players. I'm not pushing the panic button, but the NFL had to make changes to save face in light of the concussion lawsuit brought by ex-players and the documented suicides of ex-NFL players caused by depression. Some of these suicides have been speculatively linked to concussions. Football is violent and to ensure the sport didn't go the way of boxing Roger Goodell and the NFL had to make tweaks to the game as opposed to putting their head in the sand hoping these concussion problems go away. Football is violent and that's the problem. If we want to still watch football on Sundays then the NFL had to change.
Hitting is not for the faint of heart, and I proudly number myself among
the cowards after getting slammed into the ground on a missed tackle in
eighth grade that I still remember.
Right, imagine getting slammed into the ground 20-30 times in a game by an overly-grown man (who weighs 220-300 pounds). That's the nature of the NFL. It is violent, but had to change slightly to endure as a sport. The fact Buzz admits he is a coward only shows that his tough guy act in calling the NFL "namby-pamby" is a farce.
But some of the referee calls this year in which contact was so clearly
incidental, defensive linemen gyrating into contorted ballet to not
touch the quarterback but still getting flagged, were ridiculous.
Like most things in life, we can blame Tom Brady for this. Defenders aren't allowed to make contact with a quarterbacks head or dive at his knees. The way the NFL protects quarterbacks was a big issue prior to this season, so Buzz's whining about how the NFL protects quarterbacks didn't cause the 2012 NFL season to be no good. Buzz is just being crotchety.
Football still is football, but every year it edges closer to a
tamped-down ersatz version thanks to Roger Goodell, the Mother Teresa of
professional sports commissioners.
And yet, Buzz still misses the point that the NFL had to change or face more concussion-related lawsuits and a backlash from certain sectors of the public. Adapt or die. The NFL couldn't go allowing helmet-to-helmet hits to continue unabated while pretending to care about their player's safety. Of course that isn't the issue here. Buzzs think the NFL shouldn't have done anything at all to make the sport less violent, which not only isn't realistic, but also shows a fundamental ignorance of the player safety issues the NFL faces.
If Mother Goodell
Catchy nickname. I'd also like to point out Buzz is using a off-shoot of Mother Teresa's name in a negative light. Mother Teresa spent her lifetime helping out those less fortunate and more needy, but to Buzz Bissinger this just showed how pussified and weak she was.
has his way, don’t be surprised if “huddles” become “meditations,”
“timeouts” turned into yoga breaks, posturpedic mattresses placed in the
pocket to further protect the quarterback.
Buzz is the same guy who took one hard hit as an 8th grader and quit playing football forever. This is the guy who is complaining that football is becoming too soft. Admitting he is a wimp shouldn't cause the fact NFL players aren't wimps and this takes a toll on their body over the long-term to be ignored.
Now there is serious talk about banning kickoffs. Kickoffs are
adrenaline-spiked kamikaze, players running at full speed trying to
decapitate each other.
Based on that description I can't see why the NFL would look to ban kickoffs.
It seems that Buzz has a fundamental inability to understand how and why the NFL is trying to make the sport safer. Yes, football is an inherently violent sport and to remove this violence is to change the sport so basically it would no longer resemble football. Yes, I get there are people who think the NFL has gone too far to protect players, but this is something that needed to be done (dramatic voice inserted) to save the sport. Football will always be violent, but the last thing the NFL needed was the perception they don't care about the players, so they tweaked the game to make it a slightly safer sport.
Stop watching the sport if you don't like the changes. I used to love the NBA and rarely missed a game, but some of the rule changes and changes in the way the game is played makes it no longer my favorite professional league to watch. The NFL had to change in some ways. I don't always like it, but I also think the players understand the new rules and the sport hasn't been changed so much to me that it is no longer recognizable. Again, Buzz is being crotchety. I hate the new kickoff rule, but when Buzz describes it as,
"adrenaline-spiked kamikaze, players running at full speed trying to decapitate each other"
I can see this statement as an argument to eliminate the kickoff entirely.
Journeyman players whose only skill is total disregard for their bodies
become legends, albeit short-term ones. It’s part of the visceral
thrill, and no single play in football can shift momentum more than a
kickoff return for a touchdown.
And there still are kickoff returns for a touchdown. If you notice, Buzz has slowly changed this article from "The 2012 season stunk and the league is becoming namby-pamby" to "I hate change and the NFL is ruining the product, but I still think concussions are an issue yet want to ignore that because I have a 3pm deadline to meet and can't think of anything else to write."
If that’s the case, it is only fair that other sports surrender—no more
pitching inside in baseball for fear an errant throw might hit a batter,
no more body checks in hockey, no more headers in soccer, bowling balls
made of papier-mâché for the sanctity of those pins taking such brutal
beatings.
Let's hold back the reins a bit you little drama queen. None of these sports, outside of maybe hockey, have had so many documented cases of ex-players having experience health-related issues after their playing days like NFL players have. Terry Steinbach isn't walking around in a daze or threatening to kill himself because he got beaned in the head 20 years ago. Pele isn't in a wheelchair due to too many headers during his playing days.
The evidence does mount that not only concussions but repetitive hits in
football (how the hell are you going to get rid of that?) can have
terrible after-effects.
The NFL knows this, which is why they are cracking down on helmet-to-helmet hits and trying to make the game as safe as it possibly can be. Buzz can't acknowledge the effect of concussions on NFL players and then claim the league is becoming namby-pamby and protecting players too much. He has to see the financial and societal reason for the NFL making the rule changes.
The adoption of a new rule pushing kickoffs from the 30 to the 35-yard line did result in 20 concussions
in 2011 as compared to 35 in 2010. If you subtract kickoffs, the number
of concussions rose from 235 in 2010 to 246 in 2011, although part of
that increase may be due to more stringent reporting.
"May be due to more stringent reporting." May be? I would say this increase is directly and unequivocally connected to the more stringent reporting. Teams are becoming more and more aware of the signs of concussions and are focusing more on what concussions symptoms after a game is played can look like. With increased knowledge of concussions comes an increase reporting of concussion symptoms. There aren't necessarily more people with AIDS than there was 30 years ago, it's just there is a greater awareness of the disease.
Head injuries are an occupational hazard of the game.
I 100% agree players know what they are getting into. I also think the fact the players know what they are getting into isn't any reason to not try and make football safer.
A study by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health showed that pro players from the 1960s and 1970s, and 1980s had lower mortality rates than the male general population.
Well that just proves football is really safe then, doesn't it? What this study doesn't include is the assumption pro players are more physically fit than the male general population, which would explain the higher mortality rate of the general male population. Being fat and out of shape kills people too. This study also doesn't include the quality of life of pro players versus the general male population. I'm not sure how to include this, but just because pro players aren't dying doesn't mean their quality of life isn't worse than the general male population.
To improve player safety and still maintain the necessary bloodlust
spectacle of the game, the answer lies in better equipment, not in
continued politically correct dilution. Some say helmets cannot be
improved, but in the age of technology and advance medical discovery we
live in today, that’s balderdash.
Namby-pamby balderdash to be exact.
Goodell also has to get off the increasingly wearisome holier-than-thou
kick. He recently opposed instituting sports betting in Atlantic City.
It may please the holy rollers who also own an arsenal of semi-automatic
weapons for Armageddon, but football would be a higher form of bocce
ball without gambling.
This really has nothing to do with why the 2012 season wasn't very good. This is what happens when you give a crotchety old man a forum to complain, he can rarely stay on topic.
It needs gambling, given the swill we are forced to watch.
There
have been exceptions this season. Minnesota Viking running back Adrian
Peterson may go down as the best runner in NFL history, and the same
with Denver Bronco quarterback Peyton Manning after leaving the Indianapolis Colts.
How about the fact there are five outstanding offensive rookies that came into the league this year? How about the fact there are exciting second year quarterbacks in the NFL? None of this excites Buzz apparently. Things were better back in the good old days, whenever the hell that was.
But ponder the playoffs this weekend, and do you really want to see
Christian Ponder at quarterback for the Vikings (17th in the league with
a 53.8 total quarterback rating as calibrated by ESPN)?
Yes, I do. I saw Brad Johnson/Trent Dilfer win a Super Bowl and T.J. Yikes win a playoff game last year. Christian Ponder won't be the first or the last mediocre quarterback to lead his team to the playoffs. There have been plenty of other mediocre quarterbacks who have done this same thing in the past, so Buzz has no point.
As good as they have been, do you really trust two rookie quarterbacks in Robert Griffin III (6th) of the Washington Redskins and Andrew Luck of the Colts (11th), still young mixtures of exciting and woeful?
What the hell does it matter if I trust these quarterbacks or not? This doesn't make the NFL any less exciting to have two rookie quarterbacks (actually three) starting games in the playoffs. Does Buzz has some bizarre idea that the NFL can only be exciting when the best quarterbacks are all in the playoffs? Then why he didn't he like the 2012 regular season? All of the great quarterbacks played during the 2012 season, so Buzz should have thought the regular season was very exciting. You know, 2012 isn't the first year some NFL teams had shitty quarterbacks.
Does Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub (14th) do anything for you,
given that he has thrown three touchdowns in the past five games? Or
Andy Dalton of the Cincinnati Bengals (22nd)? Or Joe Flacco of the
Baltimore Ravens (25th)?
The playoffs are not just about what quarterbacks are matching up against each other. Football is a team game and the playoffs are exciting because of the teams that are playing each other. The playoffs can't simply be dismissed as boring because every quarterback in the playoffs isn't elite based on an ESPN rating for that quarterback.
The big guns—Manning and New England Patriot Tom Brady and Atlanta Falcon Matt Ryan (maybe)—have first-round byes.
So the 2012 NFL season would be less boring if these elite quarterbacks didn't have a first round bye and had to play in the first round? Also, if both Brady and Ryan were playing with concussions this would prove they aren't namby-pamby pussy-boys and Buzz Bissinger would then feel like the NFL was worth watching again.
But last year’s Super Bowl winner, the wildcard New York Giants, tripped
into the playoffs with a record of 9 and 7. Two years before it was the
wildcard Pittsburgh Steelers. The last time the team with the best
regular season record won the Super Bowl was the Patriots in 2004.
Parity has become pariah.
Yes, it is terrible the NFL has a system set up where every NFL team feels like it can compete at the beginning of each year. As much as Buzz bitches about NFL parity becoming pariah, the Giants have won two Super Bowls in the last five years, the Patriots have been to two Super Bowls in the last five years, and there have been consistently good teams in both the AFC and NFC over the last decade. So there is parity, but it isn't like every NFL season is just a crapshoot. The NFL has good parity in that you know some of the these teams that will be good, along with teams that surprise and make the playoffs.
So just make sure your local bookie is on speed dial.
But gambling isn't endorsed by the NFL and this is why the 2012 NFL season was no good, boring, and namby-pamby. Well, along with the NFL trying small changes to prevent it's players from experiencing short and long-term health issues that Buzz acknowledges exist, yet can't seem to make the connection between the financial and societal repercussions these health issues could present if the NFL didn't make these small changes. I don't like all the changes, but the 2012 NFL season didn't stink because of these changes. If Buzz thinks the NFL stinks it could be because he doesn't like the sport.
Showing posts with label nfl hits. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nfl hits. Show all posts
Monday, February 4, 2013
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
4 comments MMQB Review: Bounties for Everyone Edition
I have started a Fantasy Baseball league and Fantasy NCAA Tournament Bracket in Yahoo if anyone cares to join. The league ID is 76959 and password is "eckstein" for the Fantasy Baseball league and the league ID is 5876 and password is "eckstein" for the NCAA Tourney bracket. We have about three spots left in the Fantasy Baseball league and feel free to give feedback on the set up of the league if you would like.
After two weeks of Combine (Andrew Luck/Robert Griffin III) coverage, Peter King is now focused on the Saints and the bounty program they were running. This story has dominated the news with ex-Saints and defensive players generally not seeing the big deal and offensive players generally thinking the bounty program was terrible. While I have a general distaste (that's putting it mildly) for the Saints, I know they aren't the only team who runs a bounty program. They just got caught. I don't hate they got caught because the Saints aren't one of my favorite teams. I really don't like them. The positive stench of having Saint Drew Brees on the team has masked a prescription drug scandal, Saint Sean Payton running up the score on the Falcons this year and the fact I've always thought they were a little dirty. Mostly because of plays like this one. Still, I know other teams run a bounty program, they just haven't got caught.
Peter talks at length about the bounty program in MMQB and he'll talk more about this bounty program in Sports Illustrated this week. So look forward to that. You will be able to easily locate Sports Illustrated by seeing the cover, which will undoubtedly have QB Broncos or Jeremy Lin on the cover. You may be asking yourself, "but Ben how does this bounty program affect Brett Favre?" I'm glad you asked this question. Naturally in MMQB, Peter manages to bring the bounty program back around to Brett Favre, because that's just what he does. Everything in Peter's world comes back to Brett Favre. Sure there is a famine throughout the world, but how does this famine affect Brett Favre?
I found myself thinking about this scene over the weekend, with the news that the Saints of defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, two years after Gleason left the team, began paying defensive players bounties to knock opponents out of games, and for making difference-making plays.
This does such a shameful disservice to Steve Gleason that I almost puke thinking about it.
It could also be the nine lattes and two trips to McDonald's before lunch that has Peter wanting to puke. I'm not going to suggest Steve Gleason had anything to do with the bounties on players and it certainly doesn't make his current situation less sad. Knowing Gleason's team intentionally put bounties on certain players and made an effort to injure a player at the exact spot where that player recently had surgery does a disservice to Steve Gleason. Football is a rough sport even without players being targeted for big hits.
"At times, players both pledged significant amounts and targeted particular players,'' the memo said. "For example, prior to a Saints playoff game in January 2010, defensive captain Jonathan Vilma offered $10,000 in cash to any player who knocked Favre out of the game.''
This the same Jonathan Vilma who was being protected on Twitter by George Atallah on Friday. Atallah said any person harassing Vilma over Twitter would be recorded by the NFLPA. Vilma is a big enough boy to offer $10,000 to knock players out of football games, but he needs the protection of the NFLPA from mean comments on Twitter once this allegation comes out. Words can hurt, I guess. Just leave Vilma alone! Can't he put a bounty out on a player and then not face an angry reaction from fans? I thought this was America. I thought Vilma could do whatever he wanted and never have to face any negative feedback for his actions. How unfair.
Anyone who thinks the Saints defense didn't go over the line to try to do just that wasn't watching the game -- and didn't see the three plays I reviewed over the weekend. Early in the game, Favre handed off to Percy Harvin, and after the handoff -- a handoff, mind you, a running play -- defensive lineman Bobby McCray ran at Favre and hit him flush in the chin. That brought a 15-yard unnecessary roughness flag from referee Pete Morelli and a fine from the league five days later.
In the third quarter, defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove got 15 yards for pile-driving Favre into the ground after a pass. Four plays later, Morelli missed an egregious high-low hit from McCray and tackle Remi Ayodele; maybe Morelli figured he'd just flagged Hargrove and he couldn't throw a flag every time Favre got mugged.
There is a difference in defensive players playing hard and accidentally causing injuries and defensive players intentionally trying to injure an opponent. The problem I have with pointing out every single play where an opposing player got hurt is we are judging the intent of the defender trying to make the tackle. Sure, these hits looked bad, but it is possible they were not a part of a bounty program. Of course, on the other hand they could have been a part of the bounty program. It is hard to judge intent, so it is entirely possible the Saints wanted to make Favre feel uncomfortable in the pocket and get some hits on him, regardless of a bounty on Favre's head.
In defense of the Saints, after spending three summers hearing Brett Favre stretch our patience thin with his "will he retire or won't he retire" decision I thought about putting a bounty on Favre's head. About the time Favre wanted more publicity for a decision he had already made simply to keep his name in the spotlight where he prefers it, I would have offered a bounty on Favre's head. So perhaps the Saints were just doing what 95% of NFL fans wanted to do to Favre.
Fair or unfair, whether everyone does it or not, the Saints got caught urging their players to hurt players on other teams -- and paying them through a players' slush fund to try to do it. It's beyond reprehensible. If Goodell doesn't come down very hard, just what will he come down hard on?
What would we consider to be coming down "hard?" Is this bounty scandal worth taking away draft picks? Should there be suspensions or heavy fines? Peter doesn't realize suggest much in regard to this, just says the NFL will come down "hard" on the Saints. This is a fairly unprecedented issue in the NFL, so I am not sure if an organization-wide punishment and individual punishment would be appropriate. I'm betting the NFL hits the Saints hard with fines, loss of draft picks, and suspensions. Goodell has to keep up the appearance of the NFL as a "safe" league.
He has to worry about the message he sends to other teams and make sure they scurry to stop all such off-the-books payment and bounty systems. He has to defend the league against head-trauma-related lawsuits and show that the NFL is aggressively trying to make the game safe.
The game of football is inherently unsafe. The sooner we come to terms with this fact, the happier we will all end up being.
And there's the specter (idiotic, in my opinion) of the 18-game schedule, which only has a chance if somehow the league can prove through safer equipment and maniacal attention to erasing things like bounty programs that more games won't be an overt safety risk to players.
I haven't met a person who wants the 18 game schedule any time soon. I think the only people who want the 18 game schedule are Roger Goodell and his close relatives. Other than that, a 16 game schedule seems to work for everyone else.
Vilma is going down, and I suspect other player leaders could be banned for games too. Not that they're all still Saints, but I have to wonder how the league will manage the suspension if, say, six Saints are banned for a game or more. Will Goodell stagger them?
Why the hell would Goodell stagger these suspensions? Isn't the point to deter other teams from starting bounty programs like the Saints did? Wouldn't suspending players for two games, but staggering the suspensions so as not to adversely affect the Saints (or whatever teams these players now play for) seem to go against the very reason to suspend these players? The suspensions are intended to serve as a deterrent and aren't supposed to be worked around a team's preferable schedule so as not to negatively affect their chances of winning a game.
Or will the Saints be missing half their defense for Week 1?
This is what should happen if suspensions are handed down. I see no reason why they would be staggered and the very idea of staggering suspensions goes against the idea of using the Saints as an example to deter other teams from starting (or continuing) their own bounty program.
Favre isn't that angry -- but he is glad the truth is coming out
Peter will use any excuse to get in touch with Brett Favre. Any excuse will do.
"I have to pee. I wonder what Brett Favre will think of this new development? (calls Favre 19 times until he reaches him."
I caught Favre at the end of a day planting soybeans on his ranch in southern Mississippi Friday.
Peter loves to paint Favre as a man of the land working on his ranch, getting dirt under his fingers and callouses on his hands. In reality, I can see Favre sitting on a recliner, playing Wii on one television and watching a continuous loop of highlights from his career on another television. Whenever Peter calls and asks what Favre is doing I get the feeling Favre makes up something about planting soybeans, putting up a fence, or building a spaceship to move to a world that isn't tired of hearing his name.
When I told him the extent of it, and the Vilma story, I waited for his reaction. "Hmmmm,'' he said, and paused. "That's about it.''
But we all know that isn't it. Brett Favre is a notorious liar. He is constantly saying, "That's about it" and then holding a press conference saying that isn't "it." There will be more. The rules holds true here. If Favre says, "That's all," there will always be more.
With Favre, the reaction is rarely three words long. "I'm not pissed,'' he said. "It's football. I don't think anything less of those guys. I would have loved to play with Vilma. Hell of a player. I've got a lot of respect for Gregg Williams. He's a great coach. I'm not going to make a big deal about it.
After reading these words, we now know Brett Favre will immediately make a big deal out of it.
Now, in that game there were some plays that, I don't want to say were odd, but I'd throw the ball and whack, on every play. Hand it off, whack. Over and over. Some were so blatant. I hand the ball to Percy Harvin early and got drilled right in the chin. They flagged that one at least.
It isn't a big deal, but the game was odd and it is clear Favre thought the Saints should have been flagged more often. But there's more from Favre about the Saints. Not that it is a big deal of course.
"I've always been friends with Darren Sharper, and he came in a couple times and popped me hard. I remember saying, 'What THE hell you doing, Sharp?' I felt there should have been more calls against the Saints. I thought some of their guys should have been fined more.''
So in summary...Brett Favre is not pissed, he doesn't think any less of the Saints, and he won't make a big deal out of it. Brett Favre also thinks there was something funny about the 2009 NFC Championship Game, he thinks the hits were blatant, he thinks there should been more calls against the Saints and they should have been fined more. But again, IT ISN'T A BIG DEAL. If you want, Brett can do another interview next week for Sports Illustrated about how these bounties were no big deal at all. He'll be glad to do another interview if you want. He'll do it, just ask him dammit!
We can all see that Favre's lying really didn't stop after he left the NFL. It seems he thinks these bounties are a big deal and he is still a little irritated about the 2009 NFC Championship Game.
The only thing that really pisses me off about the whole thing is we lost the game. That's the thing about that day that still bothers me. And that's the way it goes. If they wanted me to testify in court about this, they'd be calling the wrong guy.''
Not that Brett Favre will ever be called to testify about anything, but I like how Favre won't even show up if he is subpoenaed. Apparently Brett Favre doesn't consider himself to be subject to the rules of United States judicial system. There are no certain rules down where Brett lives in Mississippi. Only rules men of the land like Brett follow.
Can Peyton Manning's neck injury be traced to Gregg Williams?
What did Gregg Williams know about Hurricane Katrina before it hit New Orleans? Did he cause the levies to break?
What does Gregg Williams know, and when does he know it, about the rash of car bombings in the Middle East?
Can the Great Depression be traced back to Gregg Williams?
Abraham Lincoln's assassination? What exactly was Gregg Williams' role?
I wish we could avoid looking back at every injury caused by a Gregg Williams coached defense and link these injuries to a bounty that was on the player. Peyton Manning's neck injury very well could have been caused by the bounty on him. There may never have been a bounty on Manning. Injuries do happen in the NFL without a player getting paid $500 for a hit. So while I know it is a great story for the media to link the injuries of two Hall of Fame quarterbacks to the Saints bounty, the truth of this assertion has to be somewhat questioned.
I'm not defending the Saints or Gregg Williams, trust me, I would love to see every Saints draft pick taken away and Sean Payton get some karma thrown back on him. The whole prescription drug scandal involving Payton went away very quietly. I also believe this bounty is bad karma for having run up the score on the Falcons at home in Week 16 in order to chase personal achievements, when the Saints easily could have reached the personal achievements in Week 17 at home. I just want to avoid the hysteria of every injury caused by a Gregg Williams-led defense being blamed on a bounty program. This bounty program shouldn't be the boogeyman for every injury suffered by an NFL player.
Last fall, during an NBC telecast, Tony Dungy said Manning's current neck injury stems from that game. Manning's neck got wrenched and his helmet ripped off on a hit by two Washington defenders. We showed the highlight on our show. Manning, after being hit and crumbling to the ground awkwardly, lay there for a second, and when he rose, he stretched his neck and shook his right arm for a second, as if trying to get the feeling back in it.
Of course the head coach for the Redskins was Saint Joe Gibbs. We all know he NEVER would have approved of a bounty program because he is a saint and would never allow that to happen.
You'll be hearing a lot of Will Wilson in the next few weeks. He's Andrew Luck's agent.
I was saddened to learn Andrew Luck's agent isn't in fact Satan. So I was wrong in speculating about that in last week's TMQ. It would have made for a great story though.
Luck is Wilson's first client. Luck is also Wilson's nephew. Wilson, 44, joined the Wasserman Media Group of California as the executive vice president of football when Luck signed on with him. Luck is Wasserman's first client. Wilson, a veteran executive of several sports ventures (World League of American Football, Arena League, Major League Soccer, CART auto racing) got his agent certification within the last year and suggested to Oliver Luck, Andrew's father and the former NFL backup quarterback, that he be considered Andrew's agent.
Later in this MMQB, Peter will mention the large amount of first-time agents who have gotten into the business. He does this in a non-ironic fashion after detailing this story about Andrew Luck's agent who has never been an agent before this year and how this agent landed the executive vice president of football at a global media group immediately after signing Andrew Luck as his client. This doesn't seem to sound fishy at all to Peter. Peter seems to support the suggestion players drafted in the 3rd or 4th round don't need an agent. I guess Luck does need an agent since he is going to be the #1 overall pick. We wouldn't all those other newly certified agents to come in and use their personal connections with naive athletes in order to take advantage of them and try to advance their own careers. You know, like when a player hires a family member as his agent and then the family member-turned-agent gets a great job at a media company immediately after signing his relative as a client.
Fifty-one days 'til Christmas -- actually, the first round of the April 26 draft -- and here are my odds of who gets the big prize, Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III, via a trade with the Rams for the second pick in the draft:
1. Washington, 3-1. But this means GM Bruce Allen, as I suspect, will lose out on Peyton Manning because he won't bid as much guaranteed money as star-famished Miami owner Stephen Ross.
Plus, Mike Shanahan is a quarterback genius. He's a master at taking a quarterback and making him into the greatest quarterback in the history of the world...just like he did with John Elway, John Elway and John Elway.
5. (tie) Philadelphia and Kansas City, 25-1. Never eliminate Andy Reid in the quest for a quarterback. He loved RG3 when they met at the combine, as did Chiefs GM Scott Pioli.
Mike Vick can then teach Robert Griffin how to throw incomplete passes, get injured, and make excuses for why he doesn't do the work necessary off-the-field. This gets you two $100 million dollar contracts if you do all three of these things well enough.
"In a sick way, I guess it's flattering. If you had a bounty on you, you were a good player and they wanted to get rid of you.''
"It's a good thing he targeted our son, honey. It means our son was popular!"
There is a reason no one listens to Joe Theismann and many of us are glad he isn't calling Monday Night Football anymore.
Sad to see the Steelers divest themselves of Hines Ward as a cap casualty. While we wait to see if he plays somewhere else in 2012, it's interesting to compare Ward to his two Pittsburgh predecessors who made the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Lynn Swann and John Stallworth. Each was a better deep threat than Ward. Ward blocked downfield better than either. And though they played in different eras (mostly) -- Stallworth retired in 1987, 11 years before Ward was a rookie -- it's notable that Ward caught more passes than Swann and Stallworth combined.
It is not odd. Lynn Swann should not be in the Hall of Fame compared to the statistics put up by modern receivers. I recognize it was a different game when Swann played, but if we compare Swann's statistics to every receiver up for the Hall of Fame, we are going to have a lot of receivers in the Hall of Fame. That's the issue I have with comparing Hines Ward in any way to Lynn Swann.
Lynn Swann played nine seasons, had 336 receptions, 5462 yards, and 51 touchdowns in his career. He is in the Hall of Fame.
Muhsin Muhammad had 578 receptions, 7951 yards, and 44 touchdowns during the first nine seasons of his career. He is not a Hall of Fame receiver.
So yes, it was a different time, but that's also my point. Swann should not be used as a comparison for modern receivers. For God's sake, Calvin Johnson has been in the NFL for five seasons and had more receptions and receiving yards than Lynn Swann had for his entire career.
"Dolphins' Joe Philbin, in the row behind me on flight home, spent hours reading Pat Riley's The Winner Within, taking notes on yellow pad.''
"People who tell me they're tired of reading about Peyton are same ones who said they got tired of OJ coverage -- and watched every minute''
1. I think I'm more convinced than ever: The Patriots, who need major help on defense, should be at the front of the pursuit pack for Mario Williams, assuming the Texans don't put the franchise tag on him.
Why? The Patriots era of domination is over. Haven't you heard? It's been all over the Interwebs. There's no future in New England.
2. I think if any of the 22 players implicated in the Saints' bounty program ever ends up in one of the burgeoning concussion or football-as-long-term-damage lawsuits 10 years from now, I hope the judge takes one look at the suit, chuckles, and says, "Are you kidding? Get out of here.''
Just don't ask Brett Favre to attend this court proceeding...because he's not fucking coming nor is he testifying. He has some televis---some corn to plant and ten houses he has to have built by the end of the week by using his own two hands.
Just remember -- in 1998, the Chargers moved up one spot, from three to two, in the first round by dealing two ones, a two, a three and a Pro Bowl running back. Ryan Leaf was talented with baggage. Griffin is talented with no baggage.
Just remember--Ryan Leaf was neck-in-neck with Peyton Manning among many draft boards and Andrew Luck is most likely the consensus #1 overall pick. So there is a difference in the perception of Manning-Leaf as compared to the perception of Griffin-Luck. Just remember this too--Leaf's baggage wasn't as apparent to everyone before he was drafted as it was after he was drafted.
7. I think the admirers for Ryan Tannehill continue to grow, despite the fact he was a part-time wide receiver at Texas A&M. This from GM John Schneider of the Seahawks: "The guy was a quarterback in high school, just a football player. First and foremost, that's what we're looking for. Especially at that position. Guys that have always been in the quarterback schools, the special camps, and all that kind of stuff -- they make me a little nervous to a certain extent.
Riiiiiiight. I love some of the shit that comes out of a GM's mouth this time of year. I can't help but think it is bullshit that guys like Andrew Luck make John Schneider nervous because he has always focused on playing quarterback his entire life, while Ryan Tannehill doesn't make him as nervous because he hasn't always focused on playing quarterback.
This guy is a real football player. He played defense.
Is this as opposed to a fake football player? Also, how is having played defense qualify a player to be a better quarterback?
You could see him last year when he stepped in, he just went out and played. He had this natural toughness about him that the players really rallied around and went on a winning streak. And he did a great job.''
I'm not a Ryan Tannenhill fan. Perhaps I should be, but I'm not. I simply don't buy that his being a wide receiver for some of his career at Texas A&M will make him a better quarterback.
8. I think that was a good hire of Bill Polian, ESPN. You'll be able to get him to talk, and about important things.
Oh good, Bill Polian will still be in our lives. Just don't put him on set with Chris Berman. Two egos of similar size would cause the ESPN set to spontaneously combust.
9. I think this comes from one agent, who is ready to retire early because of the sharkiness of the business (235 new agents are registered this year in an already-jam-packed pool: "After about the first 15 picks in the draft, the rookies don't even need agents. The slotting system for every pick eliminates the need until a player is finished with his rookie deal. Pretty soon, the smart kids are going to realize they should just pay an attorney $750 to go over the contract just as insurance. It's a myth that we're going to be able to get more money for a kid picked in the third or fourth round.''
It is a myth that you can get more money for a kid picked in the third or fourth round, but an agent's job is to negotiate other contracts (endorsements, etc) and possibly convince a team to draft his player or go from drafting a player in the 3rd round instead of the 4th round. So in regard to contracts, this guy has a point, but otherwise I think having an agent isn't a bad deal. Maybe I'm wrong. It seems this agent just doesn't like all the competition.
c. Dick Ebersol has urged me not to mention anything about politics in this presidential-election year. And so I won't. But as a college grad and father of two college graduates and a husband of a college graduate, boy, am I dying to.
And boy, am I dying to tear apart what thoughts Peter has about politics.
e. I can't believe you didn't know who Adrian Gonzalez was, Adam Schefter.
Yes, Adam Schefter how dare you not know who a Red Sox player is. In fairness, to Schefter, Peter probably didn't know who Adrian Gonzalez was until he got traded to the Red Sox. I say that because in this MMQB Peter says this about his fantasy team:
As usual, I've done no homework on the draft, and the only non-Sox thing I've read about baseball in the last couple of weeks is that Mike Stanton is now calling himself Giancarlo Stanton. I'd better get on with the serious business of draft prep.
So it is obvious Peter isn't always up on baseball matters that don't involve the Red Sox. I can't believe you don't know any other baseball news, Peter King.
g. I've seen a couple of ads for the Masters, which starts a month from today. After going last year and crossing it off my bucket list, I strongly, strongly urge any of you who've thought twice about doing it to act on it, if you can afford it.
Peter can afford to go to the Masters by the way. He makes a ridiculous amount of money you know.
i. Trading Rondo, Danny Ainge? Linsane.
So now we are making Jeremy Lin puns in reference to events that have nothing to do with Lin or the Knicks? Also, trading Rondo isn't insane because he probably has the most value and could get the Celtics the most in return.
k. I am either old or out of touch with modern sports or both, because these first two paragraphs of a USA Today story confused me: "This weekend's title bout for Strikeforce will mark the first time a major promotion leads a card using a women's division with staying power. Bantamweight champion Miesha Tate and challenger Ronda Rousey will enter the cage Saturday (10 p.m. ET, Showtime) at Nationwide Arena more than 2 years after Christiane 'Cyborg' Santos defeated Gina Carano in the main event of s Strikeforce card in August 2009. This time the women have a realistic chance of producing future headliners.''
I can't believe you don't understand anything about MMA, Peter King!
But I still have no idea what the first sentence in this story means. I guess I must be lower than the lowest common denominator the paper is trying to reach. I don't get it.
So in summary, Adam Schefter is out of touch and lacks knowledge for not knowing who Adrian Gonzalez is. Peter King just isn't trashy enough to understand anything about MMA. If Peter weren't better than you, he would understand what that sentence about MMA said.
This is the old "everyone should like and know the things I like, but if I don't know something other people know then it must be incredibly stupid and irrelevant because I have knowledge of everything that has relevance in this world" train of thought. So MMA is about the lowest common denominator, so it doesn't matter Peter knows nothing about the sport, but baseball is awesome so Adam Schefter should know who Adrian Gonzalez is.
m. Beernerdness: Don't know how good you've had it until you walk into a restaurant in Manhattan, far from Portland, Maine, and they have Allagash White on the beer menu. Heavenly.
It's better than planting soybeans on a warm spring day in Mississippi.
After two weeks of Combine (Andrew Luck/Robert Griffin III) coverage, Peter King is now focused on the Saints and the bounty program they were running. This story has dominated the news with ex-Saints and defensive players generally not seeing the big deal and offensive players generally thinking the bounty program was terrible. While I have a general distaste (that's putting it mildly) for the Saints, I know they aren't the only team who runs a bounty program. They just got caught. I don't hate they got caught because the Saints aren't one of my favorite teams. I really don't like them. The positive stench of having Saint Drew Brees on the team has masked a prescription drug scandal, Saint Sean Payton running up the score on the Falcons this year and the fact I've always thought they were a little dirty. Mostly because of plays like this one. Still, I know other teams run a bounty program, they just haven't got caught.
Peter talks at length about the bounty program in MMQB and he'll talk more about this bounty program in Sports Illustrated this week. So look forward to that. You will be able to easily locate Sports Illustrated by seeing the cover, which will undoubtedly have QB Broncos or Jeremy Lin on the cover. You may be asking yourself, "but Ben how does this bounty program affect Brett Favre?" I'm glad you asked this question. Naturally in MMQB, Peter manages to bring the bounty program back around to Brett Favre, because that's just what he does. Everything in Peter's world comes back to Brett Favre. Sure there is a famine throughout the world, but how does this famine affect Brett Favre?
I found myself thinking about this scene over the weekend, with the news that the Saints of defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, two years after Gleason left the team, began paying defensive players bounties to knock opponents out of games, and for making difference-making plays.
This does such a shameful disservice to Steve Gleason that I almost puke thinking about it.
It could also be the nine lattes and two trips to McDonald's before lunch that has Peter wanting to puke. I'm not going to suggest Steve Gleason had anything to do with the bounties on players and it certainly doesn't make his current situation less sad. Knowing Gleason's team intentionally put bounties on certain players and made an effort to injure a player at the exact spot where that player recently had surgery does a disservice to Steve Gleason. Football is a rough sport even without players being targeted for big hits.
"At times, players both pledged significant amounts and targeted particular players,'' the memo said. "For example, prior to a Saints playoff game in January 2010, defensive captain Jonathan Vilma offered $10,000 in cash to any player who knocked Favre out of the game.''
This the same Jonathan Vilma who was being protected on Twitter by George Atallah on Friday. Atallah said any person harassing Vilma over Twitter would be recorded by the NFLPA. Vilma is a big enough boy to offer $10,000 to knock players out of football games, but he needs the protection of the NFLPA from mean comments on Twitter once this allegation comes out. Words can hurt, I guess. Just leave Vilma alone! Can't he put a bounty out on a player and then not face an angry reaction from fans? I thought this was America. I thought Vilma could do whatever he wanted and never have to face any negative feedback for his actions. How unfair.
Anyone who thinks the Saints defense didn't go over the line to try to do just that wasn't watching the game -- and didn't see the three plays I reviewed over the weekend. Early in the game, Favre handed off to Percy Harvin, and after the handoff -- a handoff, mind you, a running play -- defensive lineman Bobby McCray ran at Favre and hit him flush in the chin. That brought a 15-yard unnecessary roughness flag from referee Pete Morelli and a fine from the league five days later.
In the third quarter, defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove got 15 yards for pile-driving Favre into the ground after a pass. Four plays later, Morelli missed an egregious high-low hit from McCray and tackle Remi Ayodele; maybe Morelli figured he'd just flagged Hargrove and he couldn't throw a flag every time Favre got mugged.
There is a difference in defensive players playing hard and accidentally causing injuries and defensive players intentionally trying to injure an opponent. The problem I have with pointing out every single play where an opposing player got hurt is we are judging the intent of the defender trying to make the tackle. Sure, these hits looked bad, but it is possible they were not a part of a bounty program. Of course, on the other hand they could have been a part of the bounty program. It is hard to judge intent, so it is entirely possible the Saints wanted to make Favre feel uncomfortable in the pocket and get some hits on him, regardless of a bounty on Favre's head.
In defense of the Saints, after spending three summers hearing Brett Favre stretch our patience thin with his "will he retire or won't he retire" decision I thought about putting a bounty on Favre's head. About the time Favre wanted more publicity for a decision he had already made simply to keep his name in the spotlight where he prefers it, I would have offered a bounty on Favre's head. So perhaps the Saints were just doing what 95% of NFL fans wanted to do to Favre.
Fair or unfair, whether everyone does it or not, the Saints got caught urging their players to hurt players on other teams -- and paying them through a players' slush fund to try to do it. It's beyond reprehensible. If Goodell doesn't come down very hard, just what will he come down hard on?
What would we consider to be coming down "hard?" Is this bounty scandal worth taking away draft picks? Should there be suspensions or heavy fines? Peter doesn't realize suggest much in regard to this, just says the NFL will come down "hard" on the Saints. This is a fairly unprecedented issue in the NFL, so I am not sure if an organization-wide punishment and individual punishment would be appropriate. I'm betting the NFL hits the Saints hard with fines, loss of draft picks, and suspensions. Goodell has to keep up the appearance of the NFL as a "safe" league.
He has to worry about the message he sends to other teams and make sure they scurry to stop all such off-the-books payment and bounty systems. He has to defend the league against head-trauma-related lawsuits and show that the NFL is aggressively trying to make the game safe.
The game of football is inherently unsafe. The sooner we come to terms with this fact, the happier we will all end up being.
And there's the specter (idiotic, in my opinion) of the 18-game schedule, which only has a chance if somehow the league can prove through safer equipment and maniacal attention to erasing things like bounty programs that more games won't be an overt safety risk to players.
I haven't met a person who wants the 18 game schedule any time soon. I think the only people who want the 18 game schedule are Roger Goodell and his close relatives. Other than that, a 16 game schedule seems to work for everyone else.
Vilma is going down, and I suspect other player leaders could be banned for games too. Not that they're all still Saints, but I have to wonder how the league will manage the suspension if, say, six Saints are banned for a game or more. Will Goodell stagger them?
Why the hell would Goodell stagger these suspensions? Isn't the point to deter other teams from starting bounty programs like the Saints did? Wouldn't suspending players for two games, but staggering the suspensions so as not to adversely affect the Saints (or whatever teams these players now play for) seem to go against the very reason to suspend these players? The suspensions are intended to serve as a deterrent and aren't supposed to be worked around a team's preferable schedule so as not to negatively affect their chances of winning a game.
Or will the Saints be missing half their defense for Week 1?
This is what should happen if suspensions are handed down. I see no reason why they would be staggered and the very idea of staggering suspensions goes against the idea of using the Saints as an example to deter other teams from starting (or continuing) their own bounty program.
Favre isn't that angry -- but he is glad the truth is coming out
Peter will use any excuse to get in touch with Brett Favre. Any excuse will do.
"I have to pee. I wonder what Brett Favre will think of this new development? (calls Favre 19 times until he reaches him."
I caught Favre at the end of a day planting soybeans on his ranch in southern Mississippi Friday.
Peter loves to paint Favre as a man of the land working on his ranch, getting dirt under his fingers and callouses on his hands. In reality, I can see Favre sitting on a recliner, playing Wii on one television and watching a continuous loop of highlights from his career on another television. Whenever Peter calls and asks what Favre is doing I get the feeling Favre makes up something about planting soybeans, putting up a fence, or building a spaceship to move to a world that isn't tired of hearing his name.
When I told him the extent of it, and the Vilma story, I waited for his reaction. "Hmmmm,'' he said, and paused. "That's about it.''
But we all know that isn't it. Brett Favre is a notorious liar. He is constantly saying, "That's about it" and then holding a press conference saying that isn't "it." There will be more. The rules holds true here. If Favre says, "That's all," there will always be more.
With Favre, the reaction is rarely three words long. "I'm not pissed,'' he said. "It's football. I don't think anything less of those guys. I would have loved to play with Vilma. Hell of a player. I've got a lot of respect for Gregg Williams. He's a great coach. I'm not going to make a big deal about it.
After reading these words, we now know Brett Favre will immediately make a big deal out of it.
Now, in that game there were some plays that, I don't want to say were odd, but I'd throw the ball and whack, on every play. Hand it off, whack. Over and over. Some were so blatant. I hand the ball to Percy Harvin early and got drilled right in the chin. They flagged that one at least.
It isn't a big deal, but the game was odd and it is clear Favre thought the Saints should have been flagged more often. But there's more from Favre about the Saints. Not that it is a big deal of course.
"I've always been friends with Darren Sharper, and he came in a couple times and popped me hard. I remember saying, 'What THE hell you doing, Sharp?' I felt there should have been more calls against the Saints. I thought some of their guys should have been fined more.''
So in summary...Brett Favre is not pissed, he doesn't think any less of the Saints, and he won't make a big deal out of it. Brett Favre also thinks there was something funny about the 2009 NFC Championship Game, he thinks the hits were blatant, he thinks there should been more calls against the Saints and they should have been fined more. But again, IT ISN'T A BIG DEAL. If you want, Brett can do another interview next week for Sports Illustrated about how these bounties were no big deal at all. He'll be glad to do another interview if you want. He'll do it, just ask him dammit!
We can all see that Favre's lying really didn't stop after he left the NFL. It seems he thinks these bounties are a big deal and he is still a little irritated about the 2009 NFC Championship Game.
The only thing that really pisses me off about the whole thing is we lost the game. That's the thing about that day that still bothers me. And that's the way it goes. If they wanted me to testify in court about this, they'd be calling the wrong guy.''
Not that Brett Favre will ever be called to testify about anything, but I like how Favre won't even show up if he is subpoenaed. Apparently Brett Favre doesn't consider himself to be subject to the rules of United States judicial system. There are no certain rules down where Brett lives in Mississippi. Only rules men of the land like Brett follow.
Can Peyton Manning's neck injury be traced to Gregg Williams?
What did Gregg Williams know about Hurricane Katrina before it hit New Orleans? Did he cause the levies to break?
What does Gregg Williams know, and when does he know it, about the rash of car bombings in the Middle East?
Can the Great Depression be traced back to Gregg Williams?
Abraham Lincoln's assassination? What exactly was Gregg Williams' role?
I wish we could avoid looking back at every injury caused by a Gregg Williams coached defense and link these injuries to a bounty that was on the player. Peyton Manning's neck injury very well could have been caused by the bounty on him. There may never have been a bounty on Manning. Injuries do happen in the NFL without a player getting paid $500 for a hit. So while I know it is a great story for the media to link the injuries of two Hall of Fame quarterbacks to the Saints bounty, the truth of this assertion has to be somewhat questioned.
I'm not defending the Saints or Gregg Williams, trust me, I would love to see every Saints draft pick taken away and Sean Payton get some karma thrown back on him. The whole prescription drug scandal involving Payton went away very quietly. I also believe this bounty is bad karma for having run up the score on the Falcons at home in Week 16 in order to chase personal achievements, when the Saints easily could have reached the personal achievements in Week 17 at home. I just want to avoid the hysteria of every injury caused by a Gregg Williams-led defense being blamed on a bounty program. This bounty program shouldn't be the boogeyman for every injury suffered by an NFL player.
Last fall, during an NBC telecast, Tony Dungy said Manning's current neck injury stems from that game. Manning's neck got wrenched and his helmet ripped off on a hit by two Washington defenders. We showed the highlight on our show. Manning, after being hit and crumbling to the ground awkwardly, lay there for a second, and when he rose, he stretched his neck and shook his right arm for a second, as if trying to get the feeling back in it.
Of course the head coach for the Redskins was Saint Joe Gibbs. We all know he NEVER would have approved of a bounty program because he is a saint and would never allow that to happen.
You'll be hearing a lot of Will Wilson in the next few weeks. He's Andrew Luck's agent.
I was saddened to learn Andrew Luck's agent isn't in fact Satan. So I was wrong in speculating about that in last week's TMQ. It would have made for a great story though.
Luck is Wilson's first client. Luck is also Wilson's nephew. Wilson, 44, joined the Wasserman Media Group of California as the executive vice president of football when Luck signed on with him. Luck is Wasserman's first client. Wilson, a veteran executive of several sports ventures (World League of American Football, Arena League, Major League Soccer, CART auto racing) got his agent certification within the last year and suggested to Oliver Luck, Andrew's father and the former NFL backup quarterback, that he be considered Andrew's agent.
Later in this MMQB, Peter will mention the large amount of first-time agents who have gotten into the business. He does this in a non-ironic fashion after detailing this story about Andrew Luck's agent who has never been an agent before this year and how this agent landed the executive vice president of football at a global media group immediately after signing Andrew Luck as his client. This doesn't seem to sound fishy at all to Peter. Peter seems to support the suggestion players drafted in the 3rd or 4th round don't need an agent. I guess Luck does need an agent since he is going to be the #1 overall pick. We wouldn't all those other newly certified agents to come in and use their personal connections with naive athletes in order to take advantage of them and try to advance their own careers. You know, like when a player hires a family member as his agent and then the family member-turned-agent gets a great job at a media company immediately after signing his relative as a client.
Fifty-one days 'til Christmas -- actually, the first round of the April 26 draft -- and here are my odds of who gets the big prize, Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III, via a trade with the Rams for the second pick in the draft:
1. Washington, 3-1. But this means GM Bruce Allen, as I suspect, will lose out on Peyton Manning because he won't bid as much guaranteed money as star-famished Miami owner Stephen Ross.
Plus, Mike Shanahan is a quarterback genius. He's a master at taking a quarterback and making him into the greatest quarterback in the history of the world...just like he did with John Elway, John Elway and John Elway.
5. (tie) Philadelphia and Kansas City, 25-1. Never eliminate Andy Reid in the quest for a quarterback. He loved RG3 when they met at the combine, as did Chiefs GM Scott Pioli.
Mike Vick can then teach Robert Griffin how to throw incomplete passes, get injured, and make excuses for why he doesn't do the work necessary off-the-field. This gets you two $100 million dollar contracts if you do all three of these things well enough.
"In a sick way, I guess it's flattering. If you had a bounty on you, you were a good player and they wanted to get rid of you.''
-- Former Washington quarterbacks Joe Theismann, to the Associated Press.
Sure, Joe. It's flattering. Just like it is flattering when a school shooter kills all the jocks while going on a shooting rampage."It's a good thing he targeted our son, honey. It means our son was popular!"
There is a reason no one listens to Joe Theismann and many of us are glad he isn't calling Monday Night Football anymore.
Sad to see the Steelers divest themselves of Hines Ward as a cap casualty. While we wait to see if he plays somewhere else in 2012, it's interesting to compare Ward to his two Pittsburgh predecessors who made the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Lynn Swann and John Stallworth. Each was a better deep threat than Ward. Ward blocked downfield better than either. And though they played in different eras (mostly) -- Stallworth retired in 1987, 11 years before Ward was a rookie -- it's notable that Ward caught more passes than Swann and Stallworth combined.
It is not odd. Lynn Swann should not be in the Hall of Fame compared to the statistics put up by modern receivers. I recognize it was a different game when Swann played, but if we compare Swann's statistics to every receiver up for the Hall of Fame, we are going to have a lot of receivers in the Hall of Fame. That's the issue I have with comparing Hines Ward in any way to Lynn Swann.
Lynn Swann played nine seasons, had 336 receptions, 5462 yards, and 51 touchdowns in his career. He is in the Hall of Fame.
Muhsin Muhammad had 578 receptions, 7951 yards, and 44 touchdowns during the first nine seasons of his career. He is not a Hall of Fame receiver.
So yes, it was a different time, but that's also my point. Swann should not be used as a comparison for modern receivers. For God's sake, Calvin Johnson has been in the NFL for five seasons and had more receptions and receiving yards than Lynn Swann had for his entire career.
"Dolphins' Joe Philbin, in the row behind me on flight home, spent hours reading Pat Riley's The Winner Within, taking notes on yellow pad.''
-- NFL.com's @JeffDarlington, on his plane-mate on the way home from the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis last week.
Do you know what was sad about Joe Philbin spending hours reading this book? The book is only 50 pages long and he was taking notes with a crayon."People who tell me they're tired of reading about Peyton are same ones who said they got tired of OJ coverage -- and watched every minute''
-- @bkravitz, columnist Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star, on the apparently insatiable desire of his readers for more Peyton Manning coverage.
Great point, Bob Kravitz. I like how you used your over-generalization to prove a point that supports you shouldn't change the way you are currently writing.1. I think I'm more convinced than ever: The Patriots, who need major help on defense, should be at the front of the pursuit pack for Mario Williams, assuming the Texans don't put the franchise tag on him.
Why? The Patriots era of domination is over. Haven't you heard? It's been all over the Interwebs. There's no future in New England.
2. I think if any of the 22 players implicated in the Saints' bounty program ever ends up in one of the burgeoning concussion or football-as-long-term-damage lawsuits 10 years from now, I hope the judge takes one look at the suit, chuckles, and says, "Are you kidding? Get out of here.''
Just don't ask Brett Favre to attend this court proceeding...because he's not fucking coming nor is he testifying. He has some televis---some corn to plant and ten houses he has to have built by the end of the week by using his own two hands.
Just remember -- in 1998, the Chargers moved up one spot, from three to two, in the first round by dealing two ones, a two, a three and a Pro Bowl running back. Ryan Leaf was talented with baggage. Griffin is talented with no baggage.
Just remember--Ryan Leaf was neck-in-neck with Peyton Manning among many draft boards and Andrew Luck is most likely the consensus #1 overall pick. So there is a difference in the perception of Manning-Leaf as compared to the perception of Griffin-Luck. Just remember this too--Leaf's baggage wasn't as apparent to everyone before he was drafted as it was after he was drafted.
7. I think the admirers for Ryan Tannehill continue to grow, despite the fact he was a part-time wide receiver at Texas A&M. This from GM John Schneider of the Seahawks: "The guy was a quarterback in high school, just a football player. First and foremost, that's what we're looking for. Especially at that position. Guys that have always been in the quarterback schools, the special camps, and all that kind of stuff -- they make me a little nervous to a certain extent.
Riiiiiiight. I love some of the shit that comes out of a GM's mouth this time of year. I can't help but think it is bullshit that guys like Andrew Luck make John Schneider nervous because he has always focused on playing quarterback his entire life, while Ryan Tannehill doesn't make him as nervous because he hasn't always focused on playing quarterback.
This guy is a real football player. He played defense.
Is this as opposed to a fake football player? Also, how is having played defense qualify a player to be a better quarterback?
You could see him last year when he stepped in, he just went out and played. He had this natural toughness about him that the players really rallied around and went on a winning streak. And he did a great job.''
I'm not a Ryan Tannenhill fan. Perhaps I should be, but I'm not. I simply don't buy that his being a wide receiver for some of his career at Texas A&M will make him a better quarterback.
8. I think that was a good hire of Bill Polian, ESPN. You'll be able to get him to talk, and about important things.
Oh good, Bill Polian will still be in our lives. Just don't put him on set with Chris Berman. Two egos of similar size would cause the ESPN set to spontaneously combust.
9. I think this comes from one agent, who is ready to retire early because of the sharkiness of the business (235 new agents are registered this year in an already-jam-packed pool: "After about the first 15 picks in the draft, the rookies don't even need agents. The slotting system for every pick eliminates the need until a player is finished with his rookie deal. Pretty soon, the smart kids are going to realize they should just pay an attorney $750 to go over the contract just as insurance. It's a myth that we're going to be able to get more money for a kid picked in the third or fourth round.''
It is a myth that you can get more money for a kid picked in the third or fourth round, but an agent's job is to negotiate other contracts (endorsements, etc) and possibly convince a team to draft his player or go from drafting a player in the 3rd round instead of the 4th round. So in regard to contracts, this guy has a point, but otherwise I think having an agent isn't a bad deal. Maybe I'm wrong. It seems this agent just doesn't like all the competition.
c. Dick Ebersol has urged me not to mention anything about politics in this presidential-election year. And so I won't. But as a college grad and father of two college graduates and a husband of a college graduate, boy, am I dying to.
And boy, am I dying to tear apart what thoughts Peter has about politics.
e. I can't believe you didn't know who Adrian Gonzalez was, Adam Schefter.
Yes, Adam Schefter how dare you not know who a Red Sox player is. In fairness, to Schefter, Peter probably didn't know who Adrian Gonzalez was until he got traded to the Red Sox. I say that because in this MMQB Peter says this about his fantasy team:
As usual, I've done no homework on the draft, and the only non-Sox thing I've read about baseball in the last couple of weeks is that Mike Stanton is now calling himself Giancarlo Stanton. I'd better get on with the serious business of draft prep.
So it is obvious Peter isn't always up on baseball matters that don't involve the Red Sox. I can't believe you don't know any other baseball news, Peter King.
g. I've seen a couple of ads for the Masters, which starts a month from today. After going last year and crossing it off my bucket list, I strongly, strongly urge any of you who've thought twice about doing it to act on it, if you can afford it.
Peter can afford to go to the Masters by the way. He makes a ridiculous amount of money you know.
i. Trading Rondo, Danny Ainge? Linsane.
So now we are making Jeremy Lin puns in reference to events that have nothing to do with Lin or the Knicks? Also, trading Rondo isn't insane because he probably has the most value and could get the Celtics the most in return.
k. I am either old or out of touch with modern sports or both, because these first two paragraphs of a USA Today story confused me: "This weekend's title bout for Strikeforce will mark the first time a major promotion leads a card using a women's division with staying power. Bantamweight champion Miesha Tate and challenger Ronda Rousey will enter the cage Saturday (10 p.m. ET, Showtime) at Nationwide Arena more than 2 years after Christiane 'Cyborg' Santos defeated Gina Carano in the main event of s Strikeforce card in August 2009. This time the women have a realistic chance of producing future headliners.''
I can't believe you don't understand anything about MMA, Peter King!
But I still have no idea what the first sentence in this story means. I guess I must be lower than the lowest common denominator the paper is trying to reach. I don't get it.
So in summary, Adam Schefter is out of touch and lacks knowledge for not knowing who Adrian Gonzalez is. Peter King just isn't trashy enough to understand anything about MMA. If Peter weren't better than you, he would understand what that sentence about MMA said.
This is the old "everyone should like and know the things I like, but if I don't know something other people know then it must be incredibly stupid and irrelevant because I have knowledge of everything that has relevance in this world" train of thought. So MMA is about the lowest common denominator, so it doesn't matter Peter knows nothing about the sport, but baseball is awesome so Adam Schefter should know who Adrian Gonzalez is.
m. Beernerdness: Don't know how good you've had it until you walk into a restaurant in Manhattan, far from Portland, Maine, and they have Allagash White on the beer menu. Heavenly.
It's better than planting soybeans on a warm spring day in Mississippi.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
2 comments Another Terrible Rule Change
Another step in the NFL's feigned attempt at player safety has come upon us. In the proposed change, kickoffs will happen on the 35 yard line and returners who kneel it in the end zone will allow their teams to take the field at the 25. They have also outlawed the wedge block. Because clearly this will eliminate the high speed collisions that highlight every kick off.
I'm all for player safety. I like the football players, so I'd like to see them continue breathing. But we're hurting the product changes that will have minimal effect. Players will still be required to run full speed at each other. 3rd team linebackers will still try to make a name for themselves with SportsCenter hits. The damage will be 95% of what it is already.
Besides the NFL's obvious attempts to strengthen their bargaining position in the current childish standoff, the return team is getting a distinct advantage. Sure, the kickers may boot more touchbacks, but the 25-yard-line is hardly a penalty for the offensive team. And with the new rules, we're off-setting the defensive advantage with a five-yard bonus.
Long story short, I'm tired of the NFL's vain attempts at player safety. And if you're going to actually make a serious attempt, don't totally change the product.
I'm all for player safety. I like the football players, so I'd like to see them continue breathing. But we're hurting the product changes that will have minimal effect. Players will still be required to run full speed at each other. 3rd team linebackers will still try to make a name for themselves with SportsCenter hits. The damage will be 95% of what it is already.
Besides the NFL's obvious attempts to strengthen their bargaining position in the current childish standoff, the return team is getting a distinct advantage. Sure, the kickers may boot more touchbacks, but the 25-yard-line is hardly a penalty for the offensive team. And with the new rules, we're off-setting the defensive advantage with a five-yard bonus.
Long story short, I'm tired of the NFL's vain attempts at player safety. And if you're going to actually make a serious attempt, don't totally change the product.
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