Super Sad

I don't know why, after the great season the Colts had, that I'm writing in this forgotten blog of mine to discuss the heart ache of losing the big game last night. But I am.

As a fan I spent all season watching this team work it's magic. While the Colts certainly weren't dominant like some teams of the past, they won. Up until last night they won every game they had tried to win this season. And I watched with content. I wasn't ever blown away with how good they were but confident as hell that their machine like preparation and execution would serve them well no matter who they were playing.

I felt that way going into last night. I know the Saints are good but I figured if one team was to falter or make a couple of mistakes it would be the Saints. I, of course, was wrong.

I don't need to write about the game itself. You watched it, you saw what happened. What I need to get off my chest is the weight of losing. (Not that this is going to do that of course) If the Colts had won last night I would have been happy, woke up with a bounce in my step despite the hangover and gone to work with a smile on my face. But more than anything I would have just been relieved. Relieved that I didn't just spend the past 5 months fretting over nothing. I know from prior experience the elation is pretty finite and wears off after 12 hours or so and then turns to this relief.

Coming off os a loss is much uglier. Last night I was confused. I didn't understand how it happened. I kept thinking the game went by VERY fast. I went back in my head to figure out the big plays that took the game away and they all added up. But there were so many in between things I couldn't figure out.

This morning I didn't eat. I'm still not hungry. I'm convinced something terrible is going to happen today. I feel compelled to keep my mouth shut and not speak to anyone. I'm having a hard time staring at this computer screen and not going to nfl.com, espn or any other news site for that matter. It's what I've done for months during my down time at work. But today I can't bear having to see a Saint holding the Lombardi trophy. I know the blogs, reporters and analysts must be ripping Manning for the pick six in the clutch. Someone is writing a piece making comparisons to the Atlanta Braves for all of the regular season victories and only one championship. I know this is happening. I don't want to hear any of it. It will only make it worse.

What's the next stage? Defiance. Acting like I don't care. You know when you've been dumped by someone and though you're really hurting there's this little bit of weight off your shoulders? This feeling that you're now free to do whatever you want even if you do just want to sit around and sulk? Yeah well that doesn't happen with losing. With losing you're just a loser. I've gained no freedom, I've gained no new lease on life. And I just want to sulk.

By Wednesday I'll be better. And by better I'll mean defiant. If any of you want me to do something crazy in the next 365 days, call me this week. For it will be this week that I will be willing to try just about anything to prove to myself that things other than the Colts can get me riled up...

I hate football. At least until April.

Worst blogger ever...

I obviously can't keep up with a blog anymore....

Vick to the Eagles

Michael Vick is the newest member of the Philadelphia Eagles.

To quote Mike Singletary, “I’ll say this about that.”

No matter which team landed Vick the question was going to be the same. “What are they going to do with him?” Perhaps even more so with the Eagles because they have a perennial all pro with McNabb. It is strange but at the same time, from a football standpoint, any team with a little cap room won’t find a better bargain on the FA list. He’s an incredible athlete. There’s something that he can bring to your offense even if it’s just a few plays a game. His contract isn’t worth much unless he produces and stays out of trouble. AND he’s got the blessing of Tony Dungy who is respected to the utmost by NFL top brass. The Eagles will find something, a la “Wildcat” to do with him and make defenses not know what to expect. Even if he’s a decoy most of the time you have to put someone very athletic on him to keep the Eagles honest. Not to mention McNabb is bound to get hurt like he always does and what sounds better, Kevin Kolb or Michael Vick? Sure Kolb is a better passer, who isn’t? But Vick is a better competitor.

Do I agree that he deserves a second chance? Yes. Here’s why.
1.Regardless of how disgusting his crimes against animals, he did the time the legal system has in place.
2.He didn’t do anything to dogs that people working in slaughter houses do to animals we have no emotional connection with everyday on a mass scale.
3.There are current NFL players who have killed people while behind the wheel that served less of a punishment.
4.I believe in forgiveness. More than any other reason I say this is why he should play. There’s nothing more off putting to me than people who hold grudges.(Especially with people they don’t know) If Vick screws up then he’ll be gone forever. But I wish him the best.

And that is what I have to say about that.

Preseason!! #1

After a long and strenuous off season in which The Sunday Savant did almost nothing in terms of blogging, I’m back. I must say that this season will prove to be much tougher on me than last year because I have WAY too much going on that wasn’t happening last season. AND I will be away from the NFL during the Sunday afternoon games more often than not. However, I am bound and determined to cram my head with as much NFL knowledge and updates as humanly possible. I’m not going to let this season slip away because of a menial task like work.
I do apologize for the outright flatline on the blog during the summer. After the draft I have just had too many WONDERFUL things going on to write about my favorite game in the world. But, enough fluff and BS, let’s see where we are in the good ol’ NFL!

Two big distractions.
Brett Favre is dead. Not really, but in football terms he is. Good riddance. I like the guy but I’m glad he’s done and I’m glad no one will say anymore about him once the season starts. Or let’s hope.

Michael Vick is going to end up on a team it seems but who knows where? It’s looking like teams are waiting for the injury bug to hit them before they start flirting with Vick. I said it when this whole thing went down a couple of years back. He’s not a good enough QB to take a chance on especially after being in prison for 2 years. His completion % was paltry when he was throwing everyday for a living. How good could it be now? I’m sure he’s still a better athlete than 99% of the league, but where is a good fit? Will he play RB? If anyone else messes around with the Wildcat he’d be a prime candidate but that’s TBD. He’s not going away anytime soon but the uniform he wears this year is anyone’s guess.

Now that every team has reported to camp the real football buzz is back in the air. I think the best way to tackle this is to go by divisions and see who is on the way up or down. Let’s start with East’s.

NFC East

New York. The Giants to me are every bit as strong as the team that started last season 11-1. Except one glaring issue. No down field threat. Once Plaxico got gansta on his own quadriceps the G-Men’s offense completely sputtered. No one will know for sure if draft pick Hakeem Nicks will step up and take the reigns until the season starts. But it’s a good guess that they will be missing Plaxico in the early months this year as well. However, they have had an entire off season to adjust and Tom Coughlin is too good a coach to not fix his teams biggest concern. Whether it’s by strategy or personnel he’ll adjust for not having Plax. One thing is for certain, the defensive line is the best (on paper) in the league. Hands down, no questions asked. And having that on their side lets the Giants play with any team in the NFC. I really am concerned about how productive this offense is going to be though. Let’s say, 10-6 and a bubble team for the post season.

Philly. I notice that a lot of talking heads are picking Philly to be a juggernaut this year and compete for the NFC title…again. Fair enough, I see where that praise is coming from. They have a good (not great) QB. Brian Westbrook is the best all purpose back (when healthy) in the league. Both lines are very good and they have a great defense (except Jim Johnson just passed away and he was the genius that made them great). You see all of those parentheses? That’s my problem. Not to mention they’re coached by Andy Reid. No team in football has worse clock management than the Eagles. The little things always bite this team in the butt and I don’t see any big change from previous years to get them over the hump. Will they be in the playoffs? I think so. They’re not the best team in the NFC but I think they’ll win this division. 11-5

Washington. The Redskins should be a better team than last year mainly because QB Jason Campbell has more stability in the playbook than he’s had in his career. Jim Zorn is still molding his QB but Campbell is quite serviceable and capable of making big time throws all over the field. The defense for Washington got the best DT in the game when they picked up Albert Haynesworth in free agency. However as we’ve seen time and time again the Redskins get a big name free agent and their play drops off drastically. There is no rhyme or reason to it except that it’s a reoccurring theme. Barring injury to big Al though, I don’t see how the 3rd best defense in the NFC didn’t just get even more beastly. The problem with Washington, the two best defenses were the two teams I just talked about. IF the offense can gain a modicum of consistency then this team automatically becomes a legitimate threat to everyone they play…Notice the capital “IF”. The Detroit Lions averaged more points than these guys last year!! Only St Louis was worse. I hate to be boring but this team has 8-8 written all over it. Ok, 9-7.

Dallas. No T.O, no Jessica Simpson, new stadium, a coach on the hot seat and still one of the most talented rosters (on paper) in the NFL. There is NO excuse for Dallas not to make the post season with bells on this season. Then again there was no excuse last season. This team is the quintessential off the field drama llama of the NFL. Romo is a good QB. In the top half of the league for sure. When Marion Barber is healthy there isn’t a more entertaining RB out there for my money. On the other side of the ball Demarcus Ware is an absolute animal! This team can score points in bunches and has playmakers on defense. However, they found a host of ways to lose games last year and did one of the biggest choke jobs in recent history against Philly in week 17. I know, that was last year and for all of the reasons stated above the cancers of last year have left the building. Hopefully for Dallas fans this team starts to play the way it was built. I think they’re back in the mix this year finishing the season 10-6 and getting a wildcard.

AFC EAST

Buffalo. Speaking of T.O. Bills fans are excited about having the Owen Circus in town and who can blame them? Buffalo has been a model of boring football ever since the mid 90’s. But if T.O. thinks Jeff Garcia and Donovan McNabb are lousy QB’s what do you think he’ll do when Trent Edwards goes down with another injury (because he will) and JP Losman starts chucking him the ball? Oh the humanity! I think Dick Jauron is a really fine assistant coach but I’d gouge out an eyeball if that man takes his team (any team) to the promised land. He’s well under .500 as a head coach and his teams have made one post season appearance in which they lost. Buffalo also gets the unfortunate task of going to Foxboro for Tom Brady’s welcome back party in week 1. If they have any pride left after that one, the schedule should allow them to win 6 or 7 games. But let’s not forget that for the first three, Marshawn Lynch will be carrying out his three game suspension putting the offensive burden even more on the passing game. Yikes. Enough already! 6-10.

New York. The week before Thanksgiving last year the NFL was paradise for the Jets. And then they remembered they had a geriatric washed up “gunslinger” at QB. Cold weather is not good on old tired joints. The Jets and their QB lost 4 out of their last 5 including losses to Seattle and San Francisco. Pitiful. But now they have a rookie head coach in Rex Ryan who could be just what this team needs. Reports from camp have said that top draft pick Mark Sanchez is outperforming Kellen Clements for the starting job. Thomas Jones is a workhorse back who Sanchez (assuming he’s the starter) will be able to rely on as a safety valve out of the backfield. I like NY to compete all year long for a playoff spot and be right in the thick of things come January. Last year we had two rookie coach/QB tandems take their teams to the playoffs which bucked a trend that said the odds are highly stacked against you when that’s the case. Rex Ryan saw it happen first hand with the Ravens. We’ll see if he’s got the formula this year. 9-7.

New England. There's no doubt this is a completely loaded team that is finally addressing it's woefully old defense. In the past two drafts they've got some guys that can absolutely fly around the ball. Jerrod Mayo is set to have an extraordinary year in my opinion. The evil wizard is going to use this athletic player in all kinds of creative ways. They spent two 2nd Round picks on DB's Darius Butler and Patrick Chung who are both very physical players. Exactly what they needed. Tom Brady is back and by all reports looks as sharp as ever. The offense should be close to 07 form but of course the rest of the league will be a little less susceptible to the ridiculous amount of deep passes. The running game may get a kick from newly acquired Fred Taylor but I can't see the Pats being any more of a running team than they have been in the past two years. Nevertheless the Pats will dominate and they will be in the playoffs and will more than likely go deep. Assuming Brady's stays upright of course. Because Matt Cassell is no mas. 13-3. I still hate them if you were wondering.

Miami. I'm really interested in the Dolphins this year. I know that most of this interest is generated by my man crush on Pat White who graduated from a certain University in a certain Blessed state. The head of the company that I now work for also owns them along with a host of celebrities including Jimmy Buffett and Fergie. I wonder if Bill Parcells has to explain any football decisions to Fergie and Buffett? Can you imagine that conversation?! Aside from all that the Dolphins and QB Chad Pennington should absolutely compete for one of the AFC wildcard spots. They'll be a bubble team just because they don't have the easiest schedule in the league but all of the pieces are really falling into place. Solid defense, well coached and all of the crucial positions are manned by excellent players. I think they'll go 10-6 which unlike last year will be good enough to get in if all the tie breaks go your way.

Whew, I'm outta practice and winded. 24 teams to go.

Football in Spring

This weekend in NYC it was unseasonably warm. High 80's Low 90's. I'm not complaining one bit. It's a welcome change. It was also a warm oasis of happiness for yours truly and a few thousand other NFL devotees. The draft was in town and once again football was really more important than any other sport in the land. I always get a kick out of how the NBA playoffs are going on and baseball is in in full swing (pardon the pun) yet the DRAFT of the NFL gets most of the press. Beautiful. And just.

My weekend was broken into two parts. On Saturday, the biggest and shiniest day of the draft I was stuck about 20 blocks south of Radio City Music Hall working a wedding. Obviously the people who chose to get married on draft day are soulless heathens that will certainly pay or their transgression. Nevertheless, I needed the money so I had no choice but to cater (I do cater waiting) to their needs. Luckily I had people giving me the low down when anything big happened. My 49er's friend sent me a jubliant text about Crabtree, my football dork cohort sent me all the other pertinent information. Oh yeah, of course my Steelers friends felt the need to waste my precious monthly texts as well telling me they got Evander Hood. Thanks to you all. Even the Steelers peeps.
On Sunday my football dork cohort and I set out for the 3rd round. This was my first draft. And it was good. Besides escaping the 90 degree heat walking through the doors of Radio City felt delicious. Football was everywhere. The AFL throwbacks were on display. People were playing Madden, HD TV's in every direction showing clips and highlights of the new talent. Coach Lombardi's Trophy sat in a glass case surrounded by the first 42 Super Bowl rings. I kinda thought the Super Bowl 41 ring was the prettiest but that's just me. It was fantastic. Football in late April. It almost made me wish NFL Europe and Arena were still around.

Inside the theater it was all business. Nothing really exciting going on on stage. The fans themselves were the most entertaining. Bloggers were blogging away from their laptops, Jets fans were yelling at everything just because. Some Bills fans frothed at the mouth anytime anything Patriots related was mentioned by anyone. I understand that sentiment. The people who sit and watch round after round on the second day of the draft are special. We are the equivalent to the trekkie. Or the "storm troopers" who waited 24 hours to get to watch the digital enhanced Star Wars movies. Only we love football. Even I had my fill after two rounds and by the beginning of the fifth we were headed home. Some dork I am. When I watched the clip of Mr. Irrelevant (the last player picked in the draft. This year it was a kicker from South Carolina)
and listened to the chorus of jeers coming from the mezzanine I was amazed. It's one thing to watch the whole draft but it's an entirely different thing to have the stamina to care so much that you have an opinion about the Chiefs new kicker. It was from these jeerers where you find those true NFL fans, who like many trekkies, gamers and other dorks, have struggled to kiss the three girls they've kissed.

Now that the dust has settled and everyone is giving their grades out to teams we can start to see who made real progress and who didn't. Do you think Dallas is happy about their trade for Roy Williams? Yikes! I'm not going to go into detail and grade every team because I don't know enough to do a good job with it. I know Green Bay, San Francisco and Miami should be very happy with themselves. All of those teams got better this weekend. No question. What happens next though is really important. Who is going to hold out? Who's going to be there next weekend at the rookie OTA's eager and wiling to soak up as much as possible. Teams that have less of the former and more of the latter will be in the best shape. No matter the name or the hype around a player. Every kid drafted this weekend is a FANTASTIC player. All of them are talented. It's the ones that work the hardest and make the transition the earliest that will have the best careers. This is a big reason why GM's are so concerned about character nowadays. Playbooks are thick. The time that is spent at team facilities is very demanding and kids that have relied on their talent all the way through college are in for a big surprise. Ask Vince Young.

Thank you NFL for giving us a shot of the good stuff in this time of need. It'll last me through the rest of the week for sure. And then I'll just watch some Arena ball...nope...damn. Ok yeah, I miss Arena Football.

Quarterback Influences

As the draft is getting closer I'm looking more and more at the various prospects and watching highlight films and whatnot. I'm getting excited aren't you? Well you should be. Especially if you need an offensive lineman. It's a deep class. All of our teams have a chance to get better and build a future which could go in any number of directions. Booyah!

But the point of this blog post is something that has bothered me in recent years but is reaching a point of utter ridiculousness. On NFL.com there is a feature talking about the top QB's in this years class and their influences. Almost all of them said Brett Favre. Most of them said John Elway. There's a Troy Aikman a Dan Marino in there as well. Aside from Favre all of these guys retired at least 9 years ago. There best years were well more than 15 years ago. 20 years ago in the case of Marino. These prospects are 21 or 22 years old. You do the math. How much did Troy Aikman really influence Matt Stafford from Georgia. Aikman won his last Super Bowl in 95-96. Yeah, I'm sure he was trying to emulate him during his pee wee football games. Marino's best seasons were in 84 thru 87. Stafford wasn't even finished suckling yet.

These guys have grown up,in their football playing years watching Brady,Manning and ok I'll give Favre but anyone that knows anything knows Favre's best years were in the mid to late 90's as well.

Running backs talk about Sanders and Payton. Wide receivers talk about Rice. Garbage. Maybe these players were the players they liked when they were 5 and 6 years old but an influence? Payton retired 22 years ago!! For some reason a lot of these players can't come to grips with the fact that the players they've grown up watching during their "football molding" years are the same veterans that could be their teammates. I wonder if their is a faux pas about idolizing your teammates. Perhaps. I can understand that. But when I hear a 21 or 22 year old telling me that the guys they grew up watching were the same guys I grew up watching, my head spins. Grant it I'm only 30 which gives me 8 or 9 years on these guys but 8 or 9 years in football terms is twice as long as the average NFL career.

I have no idea why this has caused me to get a bloggin' after so many big stories have broke since my last post. But there doesn't need to have another amateur jerk like me spewing his opinion about Jay Cutler or why TO got dropped from the Cowboys. But this little head scratcher inspired me.

Wide Receivers

Since I started watching football there has been no doubt that my dream would be to play wide out for the Colts. I've actually had dreams about this very thing. The wide receiver position has always fascinated me and very often my favorite players from the league happen to catch a ball for a living.

While receivers are the premadonna's of the NFL they are also some of the most physically gifted athletes in the world. It could be argued that fans pack the stadiums to see one of these 200 pound "ballet dancers" do something incredible to pluck a ball from the air. Anyone who watches the NFL knows that they do just that on a weekly basis.

The recent release of Marvin Harrison has made me nostalgic about some of the incredible catches he's made for Indianapolis in the past 13 seasons. Even if he comes crawling back to the team with his tail in between his legs I doubt we'll see the kind of aerobatics and sticky finger sideline catches that has lofted him into the top ranks of every receiving category.

Marvin's craft is what has made him such a great player. There are countless guys who are better athletes than Marvin Harrison but none of them were as good at getting open than Marvin in his prime. In 2002 he caught 143 balls which obliterated the previous mark held by Herman Moore by nearly 20 catches. Shut down corners Champ Bailey and Asante Samuel have been quoted in saying that Harrison is the hardest receiver in the league to cover because he makes every route look exactly the same until the very last second. Check out this short clip of Harrison during training camp making now starting CB for the Titans, Nick Harper, look absolutely silly.





I could write all day about Marvin Harrison. A guy who is literally only 10 pounds heavier than yours truly and maybe an inch shorter. But played so HUGE on Sundays. But instead I'm going to give you this montage and move on to other things.



When I was growing up the gold standard of wide receivers was Jerry Rice. That still stands today. Rice's records, rings and performances in the biggest games have secured his reign as the best at his positition like few other players have. People have debates about who was the greatest running back, quarterback, lineman, linebacker etc. But nobody ever debates whether Jerry Rice was the greatest receiver. There simply is no argument. Rice, like Harrison was not the best athlete on the field but he certainly possessed enough speed and body control to terrorize DB's for 20 seasons. His work ethic and route running made him so much better than everybody else in the league. My favorite Jerry Rice story is about how when he was a child he helped his father, a mason, on the job by catching bricks that were thrown at him and putting them into place. Little did his dad know that he was not only building structures but he was building a legend.

Consider this. Jerry Rice has a career 22,895 yds. The closest to him on that list is Isaac Bruce who doesn't even have 15,000. He has 197 TD's. in second place is T.O with 139. Sorry Owens, but you're not catching 60 more touchdowns before you hang em up. He's got 1,549 receptions. Harrison is second with 1,102. Again, this is not getting broken anytime soon. Statistically, Rice set the bar so high that my grandchildren may not see these records fall.

(At this time I would like to put a highlight reel of the great Jerry Rice. However the internet is failing me and I don't know why this is so difficult. If you find a good one please send me the link and I'll put it right HERE.)

When we think of the greatest plays in NFL history it's no surprise that many of them are clutch TD's by wide receivers. All of the good one's have made that catch in the end zone when their team needed it the most. Whether it was in the playoffs or regular season these plays often defined a players career. Take for instance David Tyree's catch in Super Bowl 42. If ever a player is to be defined by one single play that would have to be it. Tyree didn't play a down last year and may never again. He's had health issues and really isn't that great a WR. But, in that game he rose WAY above anything ever expected. Not only did he make the greatest non TD catch in Super Bowl history but he caught a pretty ball in traffic earlier in the game to take the lead. Those 30 minutes of Super Bowl 42 will live on forever and David Tyree's "helmet catch" will be the play most remembered.

We've been fortunate enough to see the past two Super Bowls decided on a last minute TD by a wide receiver. And while it pains me a little to say it the catch Santonio Holmes made in Super Bowl 43 is the greatest catch in NFL history. In two other Super Bowls (23 and 42) a wide out made a catch with under a minute remaining for the go ahead score. But both John Taylor and Plaxico Burress were open and the ball was put right in the bread basket. This was not the case with Holmes. If you watch the tape Ben Rothlisberger is seemingly about to choke. He's throwing the ball into double coverage and Holmes is coming off the last play where he let one go right through his hands. Bad idea. But as we all know by now Holmes made a picture-perfect-two-toe-tap in the back corner of the end zone and kept possession as his body slammed onto the turf. It's really incredible. Really. In fact go out side and find a patch of grass. Then put a football in your hands and have a friend hold you up as you lean forward a little bit. Then when they let go of you and you slam down face first on the ground see if you can hold onto the ball. That's kind of how it was for Holmes. Only he had to catch a ball coming at around 45mph, make sure his feet were in the right place and land face first after jumping high in the air. None of these things are things you should try at home. You are not a world class athlete.

That being said I'll leave you with what I think is the best highlight reel of crazy catches on youtube. It also doesn't have cock rock music like some people like to put to their montages. All of these plays are from college which is unfortunate, but you'll notice some of the players are now in the NFL. (Calvin Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald)