So how about
that Super Bowl, huh? Wow I’m still reeling from it. I think Seattle’s defense
is still scoring. Wait, hold on, what do you mean that was months ago? It’s not
February? It’s July??? Training camps are starting? What happened, did I fall
into a time warp?
Actually
after taking the week after the game off, I ran into an escalating series of
hardware and software issues more complicated than Peyton Manning’s pre-snap
routine. By the time most were resolved, even the draft was over. So I figured,
eh, let’s enjoy a little baseball for a while.
But it’s been
productive since last we saw each other on a cold New York night. Technology
issues aside, I have had a wonderfully relaxing and productive off season. Lots
of exercise, career improvement, home improvement, weight loss, and a small
vacation have been the highlights of a positively excellent summer thus far.
Have you used this football free time to pursue some improvement, or enjoyment
as well?
So now
rested, relaxed and ready for the NFL season I am. Are you? I doubt it. I bet
most of you don’t even know what’s happening across the league. Hmmm, for that
matter neither do I. Well let’s remedy that.
I like to use
training camp and preseason to try out screwy concepts, and this season will be
no different. This year, let’s reacquaint ourselves with the NFL by touring
through the league by division to catch up with each team and find out what
they did during the off season, what they’re up to now, and maybe even throw in
a little football analysis, you know just to mix it up. Sound fun? Yeah, it
probably will be for the first few entries. We’ll see what it feels like by mid
to late August.
Let’s get
started, shall we? And for our first installment, let’s address general league
business first.
NFL
General Team News
The ownership
ranks became thinner this off season, with Detroit owner William Clay Ford passing away, and Bills owner Ralph Wilson also
passing away. The Lions will remain in the Ford family, but the Bills franchise
is now for sale. There have been more than a few names attached to the Bills
already, including musician and Philadelphia Soul owner Jon Bon Jovi and real
estate mogul and professional narcissist Donald Trump. Here’s what I can tell
you of what will happen to the Bills in the future.
1)
Trump
will not buy the team – Are you kidding? You think Goodell would allow that
level of trouble into his back yard? No way.
2)
Toronto
will see more Bills – either an expanded northern schedule will come about or
even a full move, but the NFL will instruct new Bills ownership to exploit the
market north of the border.
3)
Stadium
naming – I found it wonderful that Ralph Wilson Stadium was one of the very few
left that was not monetized by naming rights. That is guaranteed to come to an
end.
Brace
yourself good people of Buffalo. Change is coming.
I also
enjoyed this little nugget of fun, where the owners were ranked based
upon their public image. Number one on this comes as no surprise to yours
truly. But I do have three questions.
1)
Does
Dan Snyder send a gift basket of thanks to Jimmy Haslam and Jerry Jones, both
of whom are so terrible they keep him out of last place?
2)
Will
Cleveland EVER catch a break? (Spoiler alert, no.)
3)
In
lieu of the NFL’s Ray Rice debacle (more coming in a future installment), if
the poll was run again, would Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti fall further down
the ranking?
Lovie Smith –
Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Lovie took a year off, rested, regrouped and now finds
himself in a positive situation in Tampa with a young team full of potential.
He gets some decent quarterback play; he’ll have the most success.
Mike Zimmer –
Minnesota Vikings – Nice guy, one everyone rooted for in Cincinnati. But he
kept around special teams coach Mike Priefer, and Priefer’s behavior is abhorrent
at best, and locker room dividing at worst. And the minimum, the team’s
willingness to continue protecting Priefer, and refusing to reveal the results
of the investigation brought on by accusations by former punter Chris Kluwe are
distractions a team in transition does not need. Not a good start to his career
and I do not see success forth coming.
Jim Caldwell
– Detroit Lions – Considering what a mess Jim Schwartz was, no way Caldwell can
do worse. Actually I think he’ll do better than his last stop in Indianapolis.
He’s got a good team, great experience from his time in Baltimore, and a chance
to rectify the mistakes he made with the Colts.
Jay Gruden –
Washington Snyders – Has any head coach managed to be successful working for
Dan “I hate progress” Snyder? No. So what makes anyone think this first time
head coach will? More cannon fodder to take the fall in 2-3 years for Snyder’s
nonsense.
Ken
Whisenhunt – Tennessee Titans – Experienced, successful. Sure I could see this
working out. I could also see us finally realizing Whisenhunt is just a
mediocre head coach.
Mike Pettine
– Cleveland Browns – He took a job that other coaches turned down. So far, all
we know is he cannot keep his party animal rookie quarterback on a low profile.
He claims Brian Hoyer will be the starting quarterback at the beginning of the
season, even though everyone knows if there’s even a chance, Johnny Football
will start. His best receiver, and one of his best players, is suspended for
the season which seriously hamstrings the team from any potential improvement.
And considering how reckless Browns upper management is right now, he could go
6-10 and get fired in January. Yeah this isn’t going to end well.
Bill O’Brien
– Houston Texans – He’s a Bill Belichick protégé (strike 1) his top draft pick
is a player with a questionable work ethic and drive and if he fails it will
set back the team 5 years (strike 2) and he’s proven to be a man who will
promise the moon and stars, claim to be all in for the long haul, and urge
others to follow him through tough times, but will bolt whenever it becomes
convenient to him. (strike 3) I’m looking forward to watching him fail.
Player News
As if we
needed any evidence to prove it, the report came out on the
Incognito/Martin case.
To the surprise of no one, it showed Incognito to be a bully and a thug and a
rather large piece of crap. The report blew away all his grandstanding, media massaging
and claims of friendship, as well as the last vestiges of Jay Glazer’s
journalistic integrity for participating in the white wash. What blew my mind
during the off season was Incognito’s complete lack of self-awareness, where he
stated he wanted to return to the NFL, and still kept trying to reach out and talk with Martin. What a fool.
Former Saint
Darren Sharper is up on multiple charges of rape. If the allegations are true, Sharper
kept a sinister life hidden from everyone around him, family, teammates and
colleagues. This is a very bizarre story that is only going to get stranger,
and much sadder.
Professional
thug, former player and all around despicable human being Aaron Hernandez
threatened a guard while he is being incarcerated. Can we just call this guy
the criminal he is, lock him away and forget about it?
Speaking of
Hernandez, his former besties Mike “I like bullying with Richie Incognito”
Pouncey and his scumbag brother Maurkice are up to no good again. The thug life
loving brothers are being sued over an altercation at a Miami nightclub
where the gangsta wannabes were celebrating their birthday. The suit alleges,
amongst other things, that Maurkice punched out a woman during the melee.
Perhaps the Steeler should trade him to Baltimore where he would fit right in.
I’m just waiting for the day where evidence comes out that these two had
something to do with some of the criminal activity Hernandez was up to in
college. You just know that day is coming. I hope before that happens, the
Steelers wise up and get rid of this scumbag.
According to this article, the NFL is not doing enough to
monitor and take care of the mental health of its players. No shit.
In slightly
more positive news, former Steeler and Cardinal running back Rashard Mendenhall retired at age 26. I say this is positive,
because I find Mendenhall a fascinating person who perhaps never quite fit into
the world of professional football. I am curious to see what he will do and
become now that he is moving on to his life’s work.
Ok now
something to make me smile. Ochocinco is playing in the CFL!! Oh those Canadian fans
are so lucky! Who dey say gonna beat them Alouettes!
Super Bowl Related
Mayhem
So Seattle, a
preseason favorite, won the Super Bowl. What does this mean for Super Bowl
predictor? It means my theory remains correct, and this Super Bowl was the
exception that proves the rule. I hope.
Giants’ owner
John Mara stated after the success of the New York/New Jersey Super Bowl that
he wants another one. Well of course he does, with the New
Jersey sweetheart deals combined with all that extra Super Bowl revenue, how
much you think he pocketed? This was a cash cow for a man already swimming in
cash.
Philadelphia
mayor Michael Nutter says he wants the Super Bowl in Philadelphia.
Well that makes sense; New York had it, so now Philly wants it. And as I like
to say, Philly is New York with an inferiority complex.
The
videographer who recorded the Spygate video is selling his Patriots Super Bowl ring. I guess
taking the fall for Bill Belichick doesn’t pay well.
Everything Else
In shaking up
their NFL Today program, CBS hired newly retired Tony Gonzalez, and fired long
time stalwarts Shannon Sharpe and Dan Marino. Maybe Dan should have sprung for
some better Isotoners at last year’s Christmas party.
The league
wants to do 4 games in London next season, up from the 3 they’ll do
this season. Let’s just move the Jaguars there and get it over with, since
that’s where this is heading.
The NFL is in
plans to have the draft travel to other NFL cities, instead of just being
hosted yearly in New York. Hmmm, do they have the hotel space for such an
endeavor in Green Bay?
Fox Sports “journalist”
Jay Glazer will introduce former Giant Michael Strahan when he is inducted into
the Hall of Fame this summer. Can we make the official designation that Glazer
is no longer objective media member with any semblance of journalistic
integrity and now is a of a positioned personality and brand who operates as a
mouthpiece for the NFL through their media partner Fox Sports? I think it’s
time to make that official.
Speaking of
Fox, the network further weakened their NFL broadcasting by demoting Pam Oliver
to the #2 broadcasting team for her 30th, and now final, season on
the sidelines, and promoted Erin Andrews to the #1 team. Good gravy why? Erin
is about as much of a journalist and reporter at this stage of her career as
Jay Glazer. Actually, I think she does more commercials than Glazer. Just another
media personality growing a brand, and little more.
…and Finally
There has
been good buzz about the NFL and the St. Louis Rams taking a step forward with
the drafting of Michael Sam, who is working to become the NFL’s first openly
gay player. I applaud the team for making this draft, and personally am rooting
for Sam to make the team. His inclusion in the NFL would go a long way toward
real progress, even if Goodell and his minions seem to be working to roll that
progress back in other areas.
But they are
not the only ones. Earlier this week NBC analyst and former head coach Tony
Dungy spoke on the Sam situation, claiming if he were a head coach, he would
not have drafted Sam because he wouldn’t want to deal with it. Dungy later attempted to clarify his
statement, saying he felt Sam should have the opportunity to play, but Dungy
wouldn’t want to deal with the distraction Sam would cause.
Sadly, this
is not true. There was no distraction caused by Sam. No one was even talking
about him until Dungy’s comments hit the media. And Dungy has not been shy of
dealing with distraction. He championed Michael Vick’s return to the NFL, and
calling that situation a distraction would be putting it mildly. Vick’s return
was a circus driven by powerful emotions and much vitriol surrounding a man who
tortured and killed dogs for his own pleasure. But Dungy felt his redemption
was worth the distraction, and he forged ahead as Dungy’s biggest supporter.
Unfortunately,
this is Dungy’s personal feelings dictating his professional stance. Dungy
would not have drafted Sam because he feels homosexuality is a sin, and Dungy
is using his Christian beliefs as a shield to avoid facing this vital issue.
And in doing so, Dungy is also missing the parallels of Sam’s struggles blazing
a trail to those Dungy himself had to face once upon a time.
Dungy is
entitled to his opinion, and he is as free as anyone in this country to express
it. But I believe he is wrong. Homosexuality is not a lifestyle, a choice or a
sin. It’s who some people are; just as some people are tall, and some are
short, some are gay and some are straight. Judgmental people who claim to be
devout Christians love to throw the sin word out there when discussing
homosexuality. But in their rush to judge and vilify, they conveniently seem to
forget the teachings of Jesus, who said we are supposed to love unconditionally
and refrain from judgment of others. These are the same tenants that Dungy
wanted an angry public to apply to Michael Vick, but apparently Michael Sam
does not receive the same consideration, even though all Sam has done is
strived to live his life openly and honestly.
It saddens me
to think that a man like Dungy, who has shown in his life to be a leader, to
reach out to those who are down, to see the best sides of others and to truly
try to make the world a better place, be so close minded and judgmental. It's
demoralizing and troubling that a man who spent his entire life battling
ignorance and discrimination while blazing a path for others to follow and
breaking down barriers by spreading enlightenment would now spend time building
those exact same kinds of barriers against another discriminated group. Instead
of spreading enlightenment, Mr. Dungy is now spreading ignorance.
Tony Dungy
was able to achieve all he has in life because a few special people gave him
the opportunity to shine. They turned their backs to prejudice, ignorance and
hatred and gave Dungy the opening to become the man and leader they saw he
could be. It’s a shame that Dungy cannot himself see past his own prejudices to
offer that same chance to a man and others like him who are still wrongly
discriminated against in our world.
Labels: Hernandez, NFL, preseason, Tony Dungy, training camp
