Something Bigger than Football

We will be back with our weekly picks of who to cheer and jeer in the college and pros in a couple days but first I need to pause for a moment and reflect on the historic week we have all just been a part of. You know it must be a significant moment in the history of our country when even pro athletes are engaged by politics. Of all things though, it is ironic that in this most historic of times, I was actually reminded of a sporting event.

[NOTE: While it may appear that the following is simply a cheap attempt at finding an excuse to discuss (gloat about) the presidential election on a football site, there really is a tie-in. Just go with me for a moment.]

As I watched the throngs cheer in Grant Park last night while Turner and I instant messaged each other from hotel rooms in Seattle and Omaha, of all things I was reminded of January 25, 1998. The night that the Broncos won Super Bowl XXXII.

For that Super Bowl, I had invited friends over to help me produce enough empty beer bottles to bottle the output from my new home brew kit I had been given at Christmas. What better excuse for a party than my beloved Broncos playing some young up-and-comer named Brett Favre and his cheeseheads from Wisconsin?

As the game wound down, I cheered on my boys as they kept the game close and even scored a touchdown to take the lead with a few minutes to play. Having never even considered that the Broncos could win the game (see: Super Bowls XXI, XXII, XXIV), I remember all of a sudden realizing that the Packers had a fourth down near mid-field that would be the game of they failed.

As John Mobley knocked down Favre’s pass, the thought suddenly hit me for the first time in the entire game – the Broncos were going to win the Super Bowl.

Obviously I had been focused on the Broncos winning, but I had been so blinded by the details of winning a game (first downs, touchdowns, etc.), it never really clicked that this wasn’t A game – it was THE game – the Super Bowl. Only as John Elway and Shannon Sharpe came jumping and running on to the field, did it sink in what it really meant. The Broncos were World Champions.

Tuesday night was eerily similar. While I had been focused (obsessed) on the election contest for months, I had been focused on just that – the contest. I desperately wanted America to validate my choice, to see the greatness that I saw. Almost like my team being highly ranked in the polls. In short, I wanted my pick to win.

Only after the west coast polls closed and those interminable 43 seconds lapsed (approximate) before Obama was declared the winner did I actually pause. Obama hadn’t just won some contest. He was just chosen as the next President. His victory didn’t just mean a nice speech (‘This one’s for Toot’ replacing ‘This One’s for John’) and a lot of cheering and hugging by his supporters. It meant that this great man will be moving into the house Dubya has infected for the last eight years and begin to try to make things right.

Unlike the Broncos, his work is just beginning.

Sitting at my laptop I was struck absolutely dumb. A strange wave came over me – some combination of joy, optimism, relief…and yes, even hope. In fact, you could probably look through Turner’s AIM history and find some incredibly stupid, obvious and corny comment from the exact moment at which the realization really hit me.

There was no coming up with some sarcastic, cynical comment. It might have been the first truly earnest moment I have had since about age 17.

So, on this remarkable occasion I would just like to congratulate President-Elect Obama on his victory and wish him the greatest success in the next four years. I know you have a huge mountain to climb but, it seems that if any man is capable of climbing it, it is you.

Just know that all of us - and I really mean all -  are here to work for and support you.

It’s Always Darkest…

Have you ever had the experience where something bad occurs, whether it is a tragedy or just something you feel guilty about (like a car accident or a fight with a loved one) and over the next several days there is this vague pained feeling in the back of your mind?

No matter what you are thinking about or doing, no matter how happy you are, there is this little grey cloud following over your head like in all of those cartoons?

After a weekend in which my personal football teams performance could best be described as ‘apocalyptic’ that is where I am this morning. Let’s review (shortly, because this is painful):

• FSU lost to Georgia Teach by 3 after reaching the GT three yard line with 45 seconds left in the game when Marcus Sims fumbled the ball.
• The Broncos lost at home to the Chad Pennington led Dolphins and mustered a grand total of 7 yards rushing
• My fantasy team lost because I benched Thomas Jones (22 points!) for Joseph Addai (6 points).

Needless to say, the prospect of looking back and reviewing this weekend’s games isn’t too appealing to me at this moment.

Anyway, being the professional that I am (insert your own joke here), I will go ahead:

• I really don’t want to talk about the FSU/GT game so let me just say a couple things and then move on:

o        If you are tracking the most painful losses of my FSU supporting career, an initial top-nine off the top of my head would probably look something like (painful being some undefined combination of importance and manner in which they lost):

1.      1993 Notre Dame

2.      2000 Miami

3.      2001 OU (Orange Bowl / BCS Title game)

4.      1991 Miami (Wide Right #1)

5.      1997 UF (Sugar Bowl – National Title game)

6.      1995 UVA

7.      1999 Tennessee (Fiesta Bowl / BCS Title game)

8.      1997 UF

9.      2008 GT

o        Despite how they lost, FSU didn’t really deserve to win that game. The FSU defense has always (and when I say always – I mean ‘for decades’) struggled with mobile quarterbacks. A team of fast, aggressive defenders, they always tend to over-pursue and seem to lack the discipline necessary to shut down a triple-option attack (except when they used to dominate Nebraska every year in a bowl game in the late 80’s/early 90’s). The only reason that FSU was even in the position to rip the hearts out of all their fans was that GT’s starting quarterback Josh Nesbitt, twisted an ankle and left the game in the 3^rd quarter.

o      As for ‘the play that won’t be named’, I just don’t understand why it happened at all. Why was Marcus Sims (he of 19 carries all season) given the ball over Jermaine Thomas or Antone Smith? If Thomas was too tired to carry and Smith too banged up to carry twice, why not keep the ball in Christian Ponder’s hands? My favorite goal line play is a quarterback naked bootleg – putting the QB on the edge with a run/pass option. If you don’t want to put the ball in the air, how about our own option which had been used successfully earlier?

o      Last comment - I need to move on before I try to open the door and jump out of the plane and get beat down by my fellow passengers. Despite the pain of this game, in essence it did very little to impact FSU’s season. Even if they had finished the season with one-loss they aren’t in the BCS title mix. With 2 losses they still have a good shot at playing in the ACC title game (they need to win out and have Wake lose one more game – a team that got taken to overtime by Duke on Saturday). Kind of like a paper-cut, this game was very painful but in no way fatal.

• Speaking of fatal losses, for probably the first time ever I can commiserate with the Longhorns. What a brutal painful loss. Another game in which they didn’t really deserve to win yet had the chance in the final minute. It would be tougher to say who is more likely to never recover from their blunder Marcus Sims or Longhorn freshman safety Blake Gideon who dropped a gimme interception that would’ve clinched the win.
• I would also like to thank the Longhorns and Georgia Bulldogs who ensured that the FSU loss would barely be a footnote in the national media. I remember the days when an FSU loss was the lead story in any sports broadcast and it was pure misery. It’s nice that a loss barely registers – much easier to begin the healing.
• I haven’t read this anywhere so I hope I can claim first mover status by officially declaring that we all should begin preparing for a Penn State / Florida BCS title game. I don’t want to see it, you don’t want to see it but much like another High School Musical, we all know it is coming.
• Speaking of the Gators, it is clear from the phrases used by a few of you to find this site, that I am not the only one to notice ridiculous man-crush Gary Danielson has for Tim Tebow. For those of you that are interested, the comments that raised this site to the top of your search results are here and here (though my personal favorite line is a one-liner located here).
• Moving on to the NFL before I start throwing things, we have the Broncos.
• I know it is everyone’s favorite story line about how the Broncos have faded since their strong start. What we are all forgetting is that the Broncos are one botched call by a ref and a missed field goal from starting the season 1-3 rather than 3-1.
• You aren’t going to win many (ok, any) games when you account for 14 total rushing yards. Seriously has that ever happened in the NFL? That is one decent run. The last time I saw stats like that was an early season UF non-conference game.

o        While the stat in itself is shocking, the broader issue is how it changes how the Broncos are defensed. When you don’t have to worry about running, it is much easier for the defensive line to rush the quarterback (<cough> 3 sacks <cough>) and drop extra players into the secondary (<cough> 3 interceptions <cough>).

• As for the much-maligned Bronco defense, they actually didn’t play all that bad. Put in bad situations with 3 interceptions, they held the Dolphin offense to one touchdown (the other TD came on a pick-six). The Wildcat offense was so ineffective, that the Dolphins shelved it before the end of the first quarter. The biggest negative was that the defense couldn’t stop the Dolphins when they needed late. Pennington’s relentless dink-and-dunk offense allowed the Phins to burn clock with the running game being stuffed.

o      I am just glad that I didn’t make another bet with my friend Doug (huge Dolphins fan) like the last time these two teams played when, after the Broncos lost, I was supposed to wear a pair of Dolphins Zubaz out for a night out on the town (bet still not paid up).

• The other game we got in Denver was the Titans / Packer match up. Despite being an early jumper of the Titan bandwagon (if for completely wrong reasons), I am not really sold on these Titans. Can their defense-first, conservative time-control offense win throughout the playoffs? Normally I would say no, but this seems to be one of those changing of the guard years, as past dominant franchises begin to fade (Colts) and their younger counterparts haven’t matured quite yet (Bills). Have you seen any team in the AFC that you think the Titans would really struggle with? I haven’t.

o      What do we really know about the Packers (other than they made the absolute correct decision in choosing Aaron Rodgers)? Nothing about them has shown them to be anything but a mediocre NFC team yet they took the Titans to OT?

• In the NFC, the big match-up was the Giants / Cowboys. I didn’t get to see it but I think the stats pretty much say it all. The Cowboys had 183 yards of offense and 4 turnovers. Does any team win with that many yards and turnovers? Who knew how badly the Boys would miss Tony Romo (though they did lose 2 of their last 3 with Tony under center). The saddest part of all of this is that the Cowboys may lose so many games before Tony gets back that we won’t even get to enjoy Tony’s inevitable first round playoff flame-out.
• Also in the NFC, don’t look now but the Arizona Cardinals appear to be a lock to win their division. Sure, it is more due to abdication by every other team but still, the Cardinals? Winning a division? Might be time to start stocking the cellar with bottled water and Vienna Sausages.

While I am mopey and whiny about the performance of my football teams (and I didn’t even get into my fantasy team - oy), I am trying to look on the bright side. As I said, the Noles are still in a good position to play for the ACC title and the Broncos may still have a chance at the division given how bad all of the other teams in the AFC West are playing.

There is also one much brighter side just around the corner.

If god really is an accountant and I needed to suffer all of those losses over the weekend to ensure a win in a much, much more important contest to be decided on Tuesday then I guess I am happy to do my part.

As they say:

It is always darkest before the dawn and hopefully a new day is about to dawn.

Distant Replay

I know I have been absent for a few days but before diving into a new Hierarchy of Hate tomorrow, I want to make a couple final notes from last weekend.

Let’s recap my personal weekend first:

• FSU: 41, Miami: 39
• Mrs. Croyle’s Lover (my fantasy team): 143,  Stay Classy (Doug’s fantasy team): 97
• Broncos: 16, Buccaneers: 13

If God really is an accountant, I should expect a big, fat audit this week.

A couple additional comments on the FSU game:

1 – This is the first time in years that I remember in which FSU’s offense can legitimately respond to their opponents. In each of the last two weeks, CU and UM have scored a touchdown to shrink FSU’s lead and the offense has been able to immediately respond with a long, time-consuming touchdown drive. I had forgotten what it is like to see that. This must be what it is like to cheer for a good football team. I could get used to this. And I didn’t even have to sell out and jump on the USC, UF or OU bandwagon like so many others to enjoy it.

2 – While UM’s big comeback took maybe five years off of my life, it should be pointed out that it wasn’t UM coming back as much as FSU’s errors making it closer than it should’ve been. Dropped snaps on punts, fumbles, tipped ball interceptions. Without FSU miscues, that game remains a multi-touchdown win. At least, that is my story, and I am sticking to it.

3 – By the way, is there any chance that UM comeback falls short in the old Orange Bowl? I say no way. Good call on tearing that down, guys. Who cares about one of the best homefield advantages in football? It is much more menacing to play in a half empty stadium 45 minutes away from campus. Yep, that will bring you back to relevance.

In a weekend when there weren’t too many other compelling college match-ups (the best match-ups involved Vanderbilt and the Big Ten which pretty much sums it up), let’s move on to the NFL:

• The biggest story was the shocking bit of insanity emanating from Skeletor’s mouth out in Oakland. Even if some portion of what his letter said about Lane Kiffin were true (and quite frankly, I doubt any of it was), is there any coach that would want to work for a guy who has a more tenuous grasp on reality than Amy Winehouse? Of course, there is always Sarah Palin. She clearly doesn’t mind working for senile, decrepit old men and I have the sneaking feeling she may have some extra time on her hands come November.
• How about the Broncos winning a defensive struggle? Who knew? Of course, this may have more to do with the Bucs having an atrocious offense, but we will take what we can get here in Bronco country.
• And I would like to apologize for saying Matt Prater should be called Brian Griese back in the preseason. It is only appropriate that the original Brian Griese was back in town when Prater hit his second 50-yarder in two weeks. So, congrats, Prater you have a strong leg but can you write a jingoistic, Evangelical, football playing, terrorist fighting novel? Didn’t think so. Rookie.
• Do you think Bob Stoops was watching Monday Night’s game between the Vikings and Saints and wishing Gus Frerotte had been his quarterback in that 2004 BCS title game instead of Jason White, given that Gus actually helped A.P.  actually beat Reggie Bush? Too bad, White wasn’t able to watch it. You know, Mondays are a busy night at the Postal processing plant.
• The Chargers lost to the Dolphins….No joke here, just wanted to point out that the Chargers lost to the Dolphins. Clearly, this is not the Charger team every expert expected in the pre-season. Could one steroid-popping linebacker’s absence be that big of a difference? Only if he was moonlighting as a running back as well.

All in all, it was a relatively unexciting weekend of football – both on Saturday and Sunday. Now this week we get to look forward to two huge college games as well as some interesting NFL games. Back to let you know who to root for.

The Boys Are Back in Town

Before diving into the Cowboys/Broncos game from this past weekend, I have 3 comments on the Olympics I need to get off my chest:

• First a shout out of congratulations to Walter Dix. As someone who also spent many, many hours almost killing myself on the Mike Long track, I take immense pride in a fellow Nole coming up so huge on the largest stage in the world. Congrats Walter, good luck in the 200. Even Alachua county is rooting for you this time.
• Second, I am happy to report that despite hours of brainwashing by Al Trautwig and Tim Daggett I feel even stronger than ever that all judged events have no place in the Olympics. The ridiculousness that is endured on a nightly basis where no one can understand or explain why one competitor wins over another is absolutely ludicrous. Add in that whole tie-break fiasco and I most certainly won’t be counting the days until the next gymnastics meet. Since when would it be so bad that two competitors who performed equally well both get gold?
  • Can you imagine if this was applied to other sports? Like track? “Well, it looks like the two Jamaicans have tied for second in the women’s 100 here at the Bird’s Nest. And the judges have awarded the silver to Kerron Stewart for having a quicker start out of the blocks and maintaining better form over the first 50 meters.”
• Finally, did you see that coach for U.S. Pole Vaulter Jenn Stuczynski, after she won the silver? I won’t recap it here (this does a great job of summarizing both the incident and my reaction to it). Two points though:
  • Think what you will about gymnastics or diving (as I clearly do), you have to give the coaches a ton of credit. No matter how bad of a belly flop or face plant is performed by one of the athletes; the coaches are always there with a hug, high-five and words of encouragement. There is no underestimating how important that is to these athletes.
  • Jenn, since clearly your coach won’t say it, let me just say: congratulations. Fantastic job. There is no shame in losing to the greatest athlete of all time in your event (who set a world record during the event). You did a great job. When you come to your senses and ditch whats-his-name, try giving Dennis Nobles a call. As for coach, well let me just say I hope he finds some enjoyment from his time in Beijing. After that performance I can’t imagine a lot of world class athletes will be beating down his door.

Whew I feel better. Ok, on to the game.

With less than a week until my fantasy draft I find myself having a hard time watching football games without constantly looking at it from the fantasy perspective. With that in mind, I decided to review the game from the fantasy point of view.

Quarterback

Broncos – In case you haven’t noticed (and you probably haven’t), Jay Cutler is having a great pre-season. He started off against the Cowboys with 12 straight completions and finished 16 of 20 for 178 yards and a touchdown. Yes, this was against everyone’s Super Bowl favorite Cowboys defense. He picked them apart. While he may not be in the top tier of quarterbacks, with the Broncos weak schedule, he has to be a strong consideration for a spot start in case of injury or bye week. Especially after the first two weeks when he gets Brandon Marshall back.

Cowboys – I’m not sure if Tony confused ‘pre-season’ with ‘post-season’ but Romo didn’t look real sharp. While there was absolutely no pressure from the Bronco defense (shocking, I know), Tony still didn’t do much. He ended the day 6 of 9 for 33 yards. Part of this was the clock eating drives of the Broncos early in the game but clearly he had no luck going downfield in his couple drives (long of 10 yards). I know he is a top four fantasy quarterback, but I think fantasy owners are going to need to be willing to suck up a few dreadful weeks to get those outstanding weeks.

Running Back

Broncos – You got me. Seriously, I got nothing. I can’t even tell you who to talk about, let alone how they are going to do. Andre Hall and Selvin Young are both getting equal time with the first team and both look equally good. Based on his stats last year you would lean toward Young, but given his history of injuries and Mike Shanahan’s love of screwing fantasy running back owners, I don’t think either of these guys have upside worthy of wasting a high draft pick oh him. If someone gambles on Young way-too-early in the draft I might pick up Hall late (do you really need that second defense?) and stash him on the bench to see how many carries he gets those first few weeks. Don’t forget everyone’s summer crush Ryan Torain will be back just in time to ruin someone’s fantasy playoff performance and there is also Anthony Alridge who should get some of those valuable swing passes and sweeps each game.

Cowboys – Marion Barber is a consensus late first round pick. Call me as conservative as Bill O’Reilly but I tend to want my first round picks to be the clear number one on their teams. The more I have seen both Hard Knocks and the Cowboys play the more and more convinced I am that Felix Jones is going to be the scourge of all Barber owners. Jones is going to get carries and passes this season. Remember Duce Staley? Brian Westbrook’s rookie year, Duce had over 1500 yards from scrimmage. The following year he had 845. You think Jerry Jones will keep his fellow Arkansas alum off the field as much as Westbrook that rookie year? Sure Marion will get the majority of the goal line carries which helps his value but don’t say I didn’t warn you when he is right back sharing time with Felix Jones.

Wide Receiver

Broncos – In case you didn’t get the subtle hints from my training camp time, Brandon Marshall is going to see a lot of balls coming his way this year (Cowboy game: 6 catches, 59 yards and 1 touchdown in less than two quarters). If the Broncos can find another threat during Marshall’s suspension that will keep teams from focusing on him, Marshall should have a big year. On the other side, Eddie Royal has been one of the breakout stars of Bronco camp and the Cowboy game (2 receptions for 67 yards) and has the inside track to playing opposite Marshall all year. He better play well, as for the rest of his career I will be comparing Eddie to DeSean Jackson – a similar player with better collegiate career who the Broncos passed on for Eddie. DeSean had 6 catches for 70 yards in Philly’s game against the Panthers on Friday. Just sayin.

Cowboys – T.O. is….T.O. He had a relatively quiet night against the Broncos (3 catches, 20 yards) but by this point we know what we are getting from T.O. As long as Romo has as much time as he did against the Broncos, Owens will have a big year. It would be helpful if the Cowboys could find a partner for him to take some of the attention but I don’t think Patrick Crayton (big, fat goose-egg on the catches) is striking fear in the hearts of too many defensive coordinators. Miles Austin had the biggest play – a 37 yard touchdown pass from Brad Johnson but then got injured and can’t really be considered a fantasy option until he takes Crayton’s job.

Tight End

Broncos – To me this is the most interesting position for the Broncos. The fantasy experts love Tony Scheffler and I’m not sure why. Yes, he has finished the last two seasons on fire but throughout camp and the two pre-season games he seems to be the Broncos third tight end. First is Daniel Graham, primarily for his blocking ability, though he still had 24 catches last year. Second has been Nate Jackson, who actually has more rececptions than Scheffler so far this year. In fact, Scheffler didn’t really start getting lots of balls until Jackson hit the IR last year. If Jackson is a better blocker than Scheffler than won’t he get the majority of snaps when the Broncos are keeping run and pass options open (like, for example – inside the 5 yard line)? If Scheffler screams “PASSS” to the other defense, doesn’t that limit his effectiveness and fantasy value? I am no fantasy expert, what do I know. I just think when I am looking for a tight end I would rather have a clear number one like Heath Miller or Alge Crumpler, who are rated below Scheffler.

Cowboys – Speaking of clear number ones, the Cowboys have Jason Witten. While he didn’t do much against the Broncos (zero catches), Romo’s vacation buddy is clearly one of the top five tight ends in the game (is it getting monotonous saying that every Cowboy offensive player didn’t do much? Sorry, you should have seen the game – yawn). Interestingly, the break out player of the game for the Cowboys was Rodney Hannah who had 4 catches for 52 yards. I have no idea how the Cowboys would fit him in, but he looked darn good – big and quick.

Defense

Broncos – If you are seriously considering drafting the Broncos defense after their performance last season, you need more help than I could ever provide. Despite, the Cowboys struggles, you need to remember that the Broncos defensive line is young, suspect and ineffective; their linebackers are unproven and the secondary is a combination of new or unhealthy. Other than that they are really solid.

Cowboys – Much like everyone else on ‘America’s Team’ the Cowboys defense is heavily hyped. Not that allowing the Broncos to march up and down the field, putting no pressure on the quarterback and giving up fourteen points in a quarter will change the hype. But I would think at a minimum it has to give someone drafting the Cowboys defense a moment’s pause.

Kickers

Does it really matter? All kickers are pretty much the same. Argue with me only if you spent a draft pick on Mason Crosby a year ago knowing that he would be the highest scoring kicker in the league.

Having said that, Matt ‘Brian Griese’ Prater hasn’t exactly been a model of consistency so far this season.

Actually, strike that, he has missed the first field goal of both games so far, he has been very consistent.

The Hard Knocks Effect

This must be what middle age does to you.

Sure, I have not yet technically hit middle age quite yet but I have noticed some changes. Maybe not changes quite as obvious as the annoying hair like that last ‘change’ about twenty years ago but there are changes nonetheless.

The first hint was when I found myself on occasion rooting for a Steve Spurrier coached team.

I know – it scares me too.

Just a decade ago, literally my entire week could be made by a Spurrier visor being ripped off his head and thrown to the turf. There was nothing I loathed more in this world than Spurrier (well, almost nothing. Ever smell someone throw up? Yeech).

Even five years ago, when he joined me in D.C. as the coach of the Redskins and the Super Bowl hype went through the roof, I enjoyed nothing more than watch his pathetic press conferences as the never-ending arrogance was slowly chipped off him like the funk in that disturbing Axe body wash commercial.

But now that he has left the Swamp and Fed Ex Field behind and become the relatively harmless coach of the Gamecocks, I have come to enjoy his antics and his taunting.

If this is maturity…I don’t like it.

So now that I wear my visor in concert with Spurrier (occasionally), I have noticed another equally frightening development over the last week. I…. (gulp)…(deep breaths)…almost like the Cowboys.

Damn you HBO.

For those of you not willing to pay HBO’s extortionate rates, the Cowboys are the subjects of this year’s Hard Knocks, HBO’s sort-of annual behind the scenes look at one NFL team’s training camp. Last year we were subjected to Herm Edwards’ endless stadium step running and his underachieving, uninteresting Kansas City Chiefs. Given the Chiefs are the fierce rival of my boys in blue and orange it was never a concern I would find myself cheering for them. In fact, a full year later, still the only redeeming quality of my hours of Hard Knocks viewing was my introduction to Mrs. Brody Croyle. When Brody is inevitably waived and his NFL career ends, I will be here to console her.

But this year is different. While I have always hated the Cowboys and reveled in their annual playoff failures, I have found myself enjoying the series and have come to start to like some of the players, even T.O.. Yes, the scourge of the Forty-Niners, Eagles and Skip Bayless comes across almost exactly like you would almost never expect – relaxed, having fun and coming across as a good guy. His stuffing of Jerry Jones’ grandson in a bucket of ice water was one of the best moments on TV not involving Michael Phelps in the last month.  

NOTE: Did you ever think we would see a summer in which the two greatest sporting moments would be a tennis match and a swimming relay race? I don’t even know what to think about this. But I have to admit, I am a little frightened.

All of this begs the question – if even I can feel a small ember of warmth in the cold of my heart for the Cowboys, why don’t more teams give fans a behind-the-scenes look at the team, so we start to realize that these guys (despite all outward appearances) are human?

Brian Billick was a genius at this. As the participant in the initial Hard Knocks after the Ravens Super Bowl win in 2001 and then allowing John Feinstein unlimited access for the book Next Man Up during the 2004 season, Billick seems to have realized long ago that being open and honest with the media and your fans goes a lot further then being secretive and paranoid.

It could probably even be argued that Billick’s persona kept him in the job of Ravens coach for a season or two longer than he would have if he viewed the NFL on par with national secrets like some of his coaching brethren.

It is a simple fact that it is much easier to complain about and disagree with faceless football uniforms or maniacal coaches on the sideline than someone you feel like you know personally.

Look at the rise of the internet. It is a lot easier to be mean, rude and insulting from the safety of your keyboard – not that I know anything about that. In a face-to-face conversation a lot of those inept, incompetent and insulting comments posted on the internet would probably never see the light of day.

I am as critical on Mike Shanahan as anyone and much of that can be traced directly to his secrecy and his seeming belief that he knows better than anyone else all of the time. A little transparency and openness might make his decisions a little easier to understand.

Unless he keeps reading playbooks while on vacation. That is just sad.

Just reading the book mentioned the other day – A Few Seconds of Panic – provides more understanding of Shanahan and the decisions he makes than anything else we as fans ever get to see. I still may not agree with some of his decisions but I have a better understanding of how he arrived at them.

Isn’t that all we ask for as fans?

So while I still may think that Wade Phillips and Tony Romo will never lead the Cowboys to a Super Bowl title, I can at least understand why this team improved drastically under Phillips last year and I can understand why despite his public antics, T.O. is one of the best receivers in the game.

And to answer the un-asked question:

Yes, I think Bill Belichick would still be a total jerk if New England participated on Hard Knocks.

It’s a Lone Star State Showdown!

Password: new england clam chowder

That’s right kids, I am back from my weeklong backwoods retreat. I must admit it is quite liberating to get away from your cell phone and laptop for a few days. Life is much simpler when your biggest concerns are the weather on the horizon, avoiding jet skis in your kayak and identifying the right lure color or fly pattern.

Of course, it figures that I am gone when the national crisis also known as the Brett Favre situation is resolved. The Jets huh? Maybe the Jets figure the only way to beat New England and their AARP-card carrying defense is to have a quarterback that is even older.

At least in New York, Brett’s every move won’t be scrutinized by the press. We should put the over/under on the number of weeks into the season the New York Post makes some horrible pun about the Favre era being a disappointment on its back page. I set it at week 4 right now.

Oh and for all you idiots that set a single day record for buying Favre Jets jerseys on NFL.com? I have a Joe Namath - Rams jersey, O.J. Simpson – 49ers jersey, Tony Dorsett – Broncos jersey, Jerry Rice - Seahawks jersey, Joe Montana – Chiefs jersey, and Emmitt Smith – Cardinals jersey for you. All for the low-low price of $299 each.

Anyway, no reason to beat a dead Favre, that is old news. Last night we had our first live action of your Denver Broncos, in a riveting pre-season game against the Houston Texans (and our old friend head coach Gary Kubiak – or Koobs to some of us). So what did we learn? I’m glad you asked.

• While it is hard to learn much from the two short series by the offense there were a couple things that jumped out at me.
  • Where was the running game? Selvin Young’s 3 yards on 4 carries didn’t exactly inspire confidence that the Broncos running game has returned to its former glory.
  • As if by admission that they couldn’t run, there were a lot of short passes into the flats, especially to running backs out of the backfield. I’ve send this offense before. It is the ‘running game’ that FSU used to run. No, not the offense in those 14 straight years of top-five finishes. That would be the offense in those two straight years of 6 losses. Not that I am saying that is what could happen to the Broncos. There is little chance they have only 6 losses this year.
  • Now that the suspension has been handed down by the Commish it is interesting to see the Broncos make the conscious effort to not throw to Brandon Marshall. Young and Eddie Royal (promoted to starter with Darrell Jackson moving over to Marshall’s position) just jumped about 2 rounds in fantasy drafts this coming week.
• How about poor Matt Prater? Misses his first field goal attempt – a thirty yarder – causing roughly 437,896 Bronco fans mutter ‘I knew we never should’ve let Elam go’. Should we just nickname him Brian Griese right now? Ok, done.
• Speaking of former Bronco quarterbacks, I am reading Stefan Fatsis’s book ‘A Few Seconds of Panic’ right now. A fascinating look at the 2006 Broncos by a Wall Street Journal writer who spent training camp as a kicker with the team. Highly recommended reading, but I just read a chapter focusing on Jake Plummer (this was the year they had just drafted Cutler to replace Jake after he guided the team to the AFC Title game). It was nice to see that my long held feelings about Plummer (here and here) were validated. As were my feelings about Mark Kiszla, the second worst sports writer in Denver (congratulations Bernie Lincicome!).
• I haven’t spoken to Turner yet but I am sure he was thrilled with former Sooner Larry Birdine making a nice defensive play in the last minute. Unfortunately Gary Miller, probably the worst play-by-play announcer in all of pre-season football screwed up his number so his moment of glory was short lived.
• Not to toot my horn but – toot, toot – my two early picks for sleepers of camp played well (and even got mentioned by Woody Paige today, the best sportswriter in Denver). Anthony Alridge accounted for 40 yards of offense and another 23 on a kick-off return, flashing that 4.3 speed for the home folks. The only blip was a fumble, but if he can keep it from becoming a habit he should be ok. My boy Christian Morton accounted for six tackles and a sack in a secondary that was depleted with injuries and resting starters. Next week when he shuts down T.O. you will see (ok, that probably isn’t happening).
• My final note is a shout out to Wesley Woodyard, the leading tackler for the Broncos, a rookie out of Kentucky. Why are we still surprised by productive college players who don’t have the ‘right’ measurables looking good in the pros? Woodyard was the defensive leader on last year’s resurgent Wildcat team and recorded over 100 tackles in each of his final 3 seasons in college in the SEC (as we are told 453 times each fall, the best conference in college football).
• So why did he go undrafted? Apparently he is considered small (6’0”, 230 lbs) and a little slow (4.5 40-yard dash). Hmm, let’s pick a random former Bronco linebacker for comparison.
  • There was one player that was close to his size (6’0”, 240 lbs) and speed (4.56 40-yard dash coming out of college) and was the defensive leader for a strong SEC team (ironically that also beat FSU in a bowl game in the player’s senior year).
  • But why would we want another player to have a career like Al Wilson? He was a total bust – only a 5 time Pro-Bowler and the heart and soul of an AFC championship game team. Nah, why would anyone want that type of guy on their team.

My Week at Summer Camp – Day Three, Part Two

Note: This week, after realizing that planned (and desperately needed) vacation time coincided with the opening week of Bronco training camp, I decided to head down to Dove Valley for several days this week. I will be providing nightly updates on what we have learned about your 2008 Denver Broncos.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

We are back with our final posting from Bronco training camp. After attending the morning session and taking a lunch break we picked up Turner’s son Jacob and headed back for the afternoon session.

o        We are immediately struck by the differences between the morning sessions and the afternoon session. First (and most important) the grassy berm where we are herded is in the shade, making it feel probably 15 degrees cooler than this morning. Second, the players seem ready for a nice siesta in the shade too. The shoulder pads from this morning are gone and the players are in jerseys and shorts. Looks like Darrell Jackson is safe from getting blasted again.

o        The other thing that we notice is that there are a group of guys who are apparently learning the proper technique for calling a fair catch. Seriously, they are practicing waving their arms while a ball is in the air on the way to them. I don’t know about you, but I learned this highly complex skill about my sophomore year of high school.

o        The punt drill does provide some entertainment in that Jacob has found a new favorite Bronco during the drill. That’s right, Jacob is now a huge fan of the Jugs machine sending the balls skyward.

o        As the players stretch even more casually than in the morning session (if that’s possible), we notice Champ Bailey hanging out in a grey t-shirt talking to Dre Bly while Dre chews on sunflower seeds. Champ is on the sidelines and Dre thinks he is hanging out in the Rockies dugout. Yes, this is going to be a tense practice.

o        Thanks to their status as long-time veterans and Pro-Bowlers both Champ and John Lynch are excused from practice. In fact, I don’t even remember seeing Lynch, hmmm.

o        Well, here you go. For the second time in a week we are posting some breaking news at profootballblogger. That’s right, John Lynch has left Bronco training camp. Apparently unsatisfied with being a part-time starter (the part time when the other team isn’t expected to pass), Lynch is debating about hanging up the cleats.

§         It is hard to have anything but admiration for Lynch. He was the consummate professional; a smart, tough player who made every team he played on better. With the Broncos losing Rod Smith and (possibly) Lynch in the span of one week, there is a huge gaping hole in this team at the position of ‘leader’. It is time for D.J. Williams, Champ Bailey and Jay Cutler to take over or a 0-3 start (a distinct possibility if you ask me) could end this team.

o        Back to the actual action on the field….oh wait, even during practice there wasn’t much action on the field.

o        After stretching, the offense heads to the far field (a perennial PR gripe of mine. Why wouldn’t you have the offense near fans? Turner hypothesizes it is to keep Cutler away from the groupies stalking him from the berm). We are left to watch the defense do walk-throughs against a scout offense.

§         As riveting as this sounds, let me tell you, it isn’t. Basically the players line up in their positions and get yelled at by their coach. The ball is then snapped by the scout team and everyone takes about 5 half-jog, half-walking steps to where the would go based on the play run. We watched this for an hour. Thank goodness for the shade, this would have been torture in the sun.

§         The only thing I learned is that Jarvis Moss is even skinnier than he appears in pads (seriously, he might be less built than LeBron James) and he could be the starting defensive end this year. Even if he is a pass rush specialist, if I am an offense I would just run straight at him every time he comes in and let my tackle barrel over him, regardless of down and distance.

§         The only thing Turner learned was that his boy Larry Birdine playing an offensive lineman through the whole practice didn’t get him much closer to making the team as a defensive lineman.

·         Though the CFL scout sitting near us may have been very impressed. Pack your mukluks Larry.

·         Seriously, how sad is that? The man is a professional football scout and he couldn’t get a better seat than about 10 feet from us?

§         The only things that Jacob learned was that Diet Coke tastes good and makes you feel happy and that none of these guys throw as well as the jugs machine.  

o        The highlight of the practice, for me at least, was when the punt team came out and practiced their blocking assignments. Seriously, this was fascinating. I guess I never really spent a lot (or any) time thinking about it but the up-backs really have to read how the receiving team is going to rush and dictate out the blocking assignments. As with everything in the NFL, these calls are very complex and in code. I spent much of the practice trying to decipher how the code words aligned with the rush patterns. I failed. I guess, I can scrap that job with the New England Patriots.

§         At least I have CFL scouting to fall back on.

o        After the riveting punt practice interlude (a phrase I would have been 94.3% sure that I would never type), we returned to the defensive walk-throughs. Thankfully at this point, Jacob had grown a little tired of the walk-throughs and challenged me to tic-tac-toe. Much like Joshua learned, there are no winners in Tic-Tac-Toe.

o        Suddenly after a short hour and twenty minutes the defense came together, gave a team “Broncos” and headed to the locker room. That was apparently the end of my week at camp with the Broncos. Not exactly going out with a bang.

So, that’s it for me. I hope this has been as fun and informative for you as it has been for me. And you didn’t have to risk skin cancer. Anyway, I am taking the next week off and getting away to enjoy the best thing about living in the west (outside of 10 am college football of course) – the wilderness.

Have a good week and I will check in right around the time we get to see these Broncos play another team. If they are playing at 25% speed in no pads, I would put my money on the Broncos.

There is a chance that we could have a guest poster or two in my absence. Remember, even if something is posted under the name ‘David’ it isn’t me unless I use the secret password: ‘new England clam chowder’.

My Week at Summer Camp – Day Three

Note: This week, after realizing that planned (and desperately needed) vacation time coincided with the opening week of Bronco training camp, I decided to head down to Dove Valley for several days this week. I will be providing nightly updates on what we have learned about your 2008 Denver Broncos.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Welcome back to our exclusive outside-the-ropes, back-row view of Denver Broncos Training Camp. Joined by our Hierarchy of Hate and Roundtable compatriot Turner, we decided to suck it up and go to both ends of the Broncos two-a-days today. As this will be my final day in Dove Valley this week, I decided to break this one into two posts. Today will be the morning session, tomorrow come back for the afternoon session. On to the sights and sounds of Dove Valley:

• On the way in, we check out the mini-Bronco store to see if there are any jerseys we should pick up for Turner’s son who will be joining us this afternoon, figuring maybe he is our ticket to getting a ball and meeting some players. Unfortunately the sale rack is about 90% Travis Henry jerseys (along with an assortment of Javon Walker and Simeon Rice jerseys – wonder why these are on sale?). While there are plenty of basements in the greater Boulder area where a Henry jersey would be highly sought, we both agree it probably isn’t the best jersey for a four year old.
• As we take our spots on the grassy berm (not to be confused with the grassy knoll in Dallas where nothing occurred in 1963), we are entertained by the local ‘security’ in charge of keeping the wild crowd under control. This mostly consists of asking people to put away their phones and keeping them out of the ‘VIP Lounge’. I have high hopes that the ‘Lounge’ has a bar at the back and some waitresses in Bronco cheerleaders to take your order. Alas it is just a square area on the berm at mid-field roped off by red and white striped rope.
  • After a long day we have begun to feel close with the two rope minders, one we called Big Jake and the other whose name we learn is T.J. Big Jake looks disturbingly like the white guy from that Red Stripe commercial who learns to dance and T.J. is a dead-ringer for Boyd Tinsley, Dave Matthews’ violin player (who coincidentally is not on their current tour…hmmm.). Big Jake spends most of the day talking to a blond with big hair in the VIP section. Turner and I are convinced she is there in a desperate attempt to become Mrs. Jay Cutler.
  • For the record, we don’t think she is alone in this goal among the crowd.
• The first highlight from the action on the field is Darrell Jackson getting absolutely blown up on a short pass in the flats. This is noteworthy first because he is a Gator (it is still surprisingly satisfying even in a Bronco uniform) and second with all players in shoulder pads and shorts hitting typically is a nice smack on the shoulders and that is about it. Poor Darrell is the exception, not only does he go airborne but his helmet goes flying! The crowd eats it up, momentarily forgetting that he is probably going to start opposite Brandon Marshall this season.
  • I wish I could tell you who hit him but I have had this problem all week that I get Jamie Winborn (#51) and Nate Webster (#58) confused constantly. Part of it is their similar size (5’11” – 6’0”, 230 lbs) and part of it is the similar roles they have played for the Broncos in recent years: back-up linebackers occasionally seeing defensive plays while being special teams stalwarts. That is pretty much all it takes to confuse me, especially on my third straight morning slowly baking in the sun.
• Speaking of Brandon Marshall, I can’t stress enough how big of a year he could have this season.

NOTE: After the suspension of course. Which brings up an interesting question: what round is he drafted in fantasy leagues with the suspension looming? Here is what Turner and I agree: no suspension – 3^rd round, 2-game suspension – 5^th round, 4 game suspension - 6^th - 7^th round. Interested to hear any other fantasy perspectives).

o       It is amazing how much Cutler looks for Marshall, it was practically a running joke for Turner and I. Every time Marshall split out left, you could almost see the third string corner on the left side deflate, knowing that the pass was coming his way and he was pretty much powerless to stop it.

o       Cutler averaged about 29 passes per game last year. If I had to break down how those 29 passes will be distributed this year (post suspension), I would guess:

o       5 passes – running back out of the backfield (Torain, Young, A.A.)

o       5 passes – tight ends (Sheffler, Graham, N. Jackson)

o       4 passes – slot and other wide receivers (D. Jackson, Stokley, Royal)

o       14 passes – Marshall

o       0 passes – Keary Colbert

o       1 pass – cutest girl in the bar after the game

o       We had several scrimmages again. This time the goal line play was replaced with a four minute drill. Unfortunately, the results were very similar. Lots of (simulated) time for Cutler on his back side.

o       It is never good when your offense faces a 3^rd and 16 in what is supposed to be a hurry up drill.

o       It is even worse when said offense decides to run the ball on that 3^rd and 16.

o       Unless that 4-minute drill was actually held with the offense holding 10 point lead. This point was never clearly articulated to the crowd.

o       To be fair, the offense did sustain a nice long drive at one point after the clocks were turned off. So they have that going for them. One drive for every 5 hours of practice.

o       To separate the four minute drill from the next scrimmage we had our first glimpse of punt coverage (and – spoiler alert! - it won’t be our last). It would be easy to dismiss this as time filler but after the show the offense has put on, the punter could be a highly critical role for the Broncos this year.

o       That is about it for the morning session, other than one unfortunate incident when Turner was taken down by T.J. and Big Jake when he tried to storm the field and have Larry Birdine, the sole Sooner in camp, sign his bare chest. But we don’t want to get into that. It is best for everyone if we try to forget that sight.

We will be back tomorrow to wrap up our time with the Broncos and re-cap today’s afternoon session. I will choose to skip over our lunch when we dominated one of those network trivia games. Krusty, Fred and EHomer had no idea that JTDMac would interrupt their usual game with absolute and total domination.

My Week at Summer Camp – Day Two

Note: This week, after realizing that planned (and desperately needed) vacation time coincided with the opening week of Bronco training camp, I decided to head down to Dove Valley for several days this week. I will be providing nightly updates on what we have learned about your 2008 Denver Broncos. Note #2: Given that I recently celebrated a 33^rd birthday and have been ‘with’ the Broncos longer than some of these players have been alive (Ryan Clady, born: September 6, 1986) I have accepted Mike Shanahan’s offer to long time veterans to only participate in one of the two-a-day practices each day.

Monday, July 28, 2008

• Back for morning number two and it is just as hot and crowded as Sunday morning. What is with that? Don’t these people have anything better to do with their Mondays? Huh? What’s that? Why I am sacrificing for you dear reader that’s why. I am a giver.
• Let’s go back to the running backs
  • I said yesterday that Ryan Torain wasn’t overly impressive; however I will say that today he looked much better. He was quicker to the line, made a single cut and hit the hole. In fact, after Ryan broke off a long run, a starry-eyed optimist could even imagine him as a taller Terrell Davis. Thankfully, I am not a starry-eyed optimist so I saw it as a nice run on the 4^th day of training camp…by a guy with skills to make us forget Travis Henry, Mike Bell, Tatum Bell, Quentin Griffin, Reuben Droughns and Olandis Gary. Damn, that kool-aid tasted really good after a hot day in the sun.
  • My boy A.A., Anthony Alridge, looked good again, cutting back against the grain and busting down the sideline for another long run.
• There was one overriding story in my mind today and that was the match-up of the offense and defense, and the defense’s domination.
  • Let’s start with two interceptions – one for each of Domonique Foxworth and Champ Bailey when they were both able to jump curl routes (which in fairness was practically all the offense ran).
  • When he wasn’t throwing picks, Cutler was running for his life. He would have been on his back on almost every drop back if the defense was allowed to hit the quarterback. The only entertainment was the half of the crowd that thought he had successfully avoided the rush and cheered wildly when he chucked it down field. These poor fans are going to be in for serious disappointment in that first game “How is Jay not getting away from this rush like in training camp? This Raider defense must be really good!”
  • Beside the two long runs above, there was only one highlight for the offense – a long pass to Brandon Marshall on the first play of a #1 offense vs. #2 defense scrimmage. Just a little glimpse of what we can look forward to after Marshall returns from his suspension to begin the season for all of his off-season fun. Sorry fantasy players, I forgot to mention that little fact when telling you how good Marshall looked yesterday. A clever ploy to get you to draft Marshall three rounds too early, or mere stupidity? Guess you will never know.
  • So the real question is: what does the defense’s domination tell us? My guess, not much. We all thought the Broncos had a great defense last year, until they got lit up in the first two pre-season games. So, all we know is that right now the Bronco defense is better than the Bronco offense. Who knows how they stack up against actual other teams.
• That’s it for today. Tomorrow we will be joined by Turner and will actually be sucking it up and sweating through both ends of the two-a-days.

My Week at Summer Camp – Day One

Note: This week, after realizing that planned (and desperately needed) vacation time coincided with the opening week of Bronco training camp, I decided to head down to Dove Valley for several days this week. I will be providing nightly updates on what we have learned about your 2008 Denver Broncos. Note #2: Given that I recently celebrated a 33^rd birthday and have been ‘with’ the Broncos longer than some of these players have been alive (Ryan Clady, born: September 6, 1986) I have accepted Mike Shanahan’s offer to long time veterans to only participate in one of the two-a-day practices each day.

Sunday, July 27th

o       I arrive at Dove Valley 30 minutes early with my Denver Post sports section and a Propel and find a spot high on the tree-lined berm lining the side of the practice field. Despite, expectations that temperatures will reach nearly 100 today, the place is packed. Clearly, I am not the only one that is already over baseball and looking forward to football.

o       As the first drops of sweat say hello, I realize that morning workouts may be a tactical error. I am facing due east into the rising sun and there is nowhere to hide.

o       I am about to begin whining about the folly of drowning in my own pool of sweat while watching 80 enormous humans sort-of, kind-of stretch when a Bronco official comes over and asks a young girl sitting in front of me wearing a Jay Cutler jersey (one of the Jessica Simpson pink ones for the record) if she would like to receive a ball from Jay. She agrees and to a round of applause from the crowd she walks across the field, meets Jay, shakes hands with him and while handing her the ball in his hands, he introduces her to Patrick Ramsey. A Vandy guy and a Tulane guy? There is about a 97.6% chance that girl is marrying a guy who wears a ratty old ball cap, khakis and a polo some day.

o        For the record, big props to the Broncos for making training camp as fan friendly as possible. They now allow you to bring in a personal drink, hand you a roster as you walk in so you know who you are looking at, open up for autographs (not to mention the above little girl). They also sell drinks right on the premises and a bottle of water only costs a buck! If this was Rockies training camp there is no way that water costs anything less than $4.

o       On to the actual play on the field. I have decided to pick a few positions and focus on them each day. Today: running backs, wide receivers and secondary

o       The Running back battle is probably the most interesting position battle in Bronco camp this year.

o        Selvin Young enters as the favorite and didn’t do anything to dissuade that opinion. He played well if not spectacularly. Outside of one move that absolutely embarrassed some poor second string DB and even elicited hoots and hollers from teammates. Those are always fun.

o        Further down the list of possible starters is Ryan Torain, probably the most anticipated 5^th round pick in Bronco history. Ryan looks very impressive in person – he is big and tall (6’1”, 225 lbs) and looks like he should be a star. I have to admit, after hearing about him since mini-camps he was a little underwhelming

§         I’m not sure whether it is his size but he doesn’t look like he is running real hard a lot of the time. He did put one ankle-breaker on a DB but for the most part he seemed to jog up into the line and get swallowed up by the linebackers and linemen.

o        On the other hand, my first sleeper of camp is Anthony Alridge, an undrafted free agent signed out of Houston. He is small (5’8”, 185 lbs) but extremely quick (reportedly a 4.3 40-yard dash). Not only did he look like he was going full speed, there were several times they sent him on a sweep around the corner and he flew past the defense.

§         One of the guys sitting near me, hopes that they can use him as a Glyn Milburn type, a third down specialist, too small to play every down. I have two problems with this. First, clearly this guy is not familiar with a man named Warrick Dunn (5’9”, 180 lbs, 10,181 career rushing yards). Second, while I appreciate the Milburn comparison (if for no other reason than its relative obscurity), can’t we aim a little higher for Alridge? Milburn accounted for less than 700 yards rushing and 1,050 yards receiving in his three years with the Broncos (2 of which occurred in the Wade Philips, so we can’t hold that against him). If we are going to compare him to smaller guys who are much more valuable in point-per-reception leagues….umm…I mean who are dual threats, let’s hope Alridge can play more like W.D. or Brian Westbrook (5’8”, 200 lbs.)

§         Not only was A.A. (as I call him) showing game when he was handed the ball he also got up in front during stretches and got both the crowd and players to start a rhythmic clap and boo the Chargers. Clearly, this guy is ready to play the role of Tulo in an unlikely Bronco up-rising in 2008!

·         Before Turner pulls a groin jumping to write a comment mocking my homerism, I don’t actually expect an unlikely Bronco uprising in 2008.

·         However a few more days in the sun with these guys and I may be convinced/sun stroked into believing it.

o       At the wide receiver position, there were two big off season storylines: the Jerry Springer-esque life of Brandon Marshall and the endless line of re-treads brought in by Shanahan to complement B-Marsh (as someone who I bludgeoned repeatedly calls Marshall).

o        First, just in time for all of those fantasy football drafts, I am happy to report that Marshall showed no signs of any lingering effects from the cut he took to his arm. He looked great today, catching everything and using his size to absolutely abuse Champ Bailey in one-on-one goal line battles.

o        On to the second question, I can tell you who I think will be the one left standing in this game of wide receiver musical chairs. That would be one Keary Colbert formerly of the Carolina Panthers and USC Trojans. Colbert did not have his best day today. He couldn’t get open, seemed to be tentative on where to go and when the ball got to him, he couldn’t catch it.

§         Besides the bad play, he wore long pants during practice, showing a remarkable lack of common sense.

o        One of the other receivers in is Darrell Jackson (or D-Jack to those that despise his underachieving ways in Seattle and San Francisco). I can’t say whether he will become that other receiver, but I will say he has the kickingest beard in camp.

o        I am also withholding opinion on second round pick Eddie Royal. At a minimum I will say he could be a great addition as a slot receiver replacing Brandon Stokley after his inevitable injury.

o        In the secondary much of the focus has been on whether John Lynch’s role will be reduced to mostly running downs with the arrival of Marlon McCree from the Chargers. Well, they may have forgotten about someone as Roderick Rogers was the defensive star today with two tipped ball interceptions.

§         My other sleeper of the draft also made his presence known in the secondary today. Free Agent Christian Morton, looked great both in the one-on-one goal line drills and in the broader seven-on-seven and full team drills.

o        Of course all of these opinions were based on one 2 hour practice. I am sure that by the time the regular season starts these will look almost as bad as that whole ‘the-Giants-are-a-joke thing’ from last year.