:Between the Rows

When Darrelle Revis signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2013 off-season, several NFL fans, including myself, expected great things. Along with the Revis signing, the Bucs also snagged free-agent safety Dashon Goldson. Essentially, two the most highly touted defensive backs in the league headed to Tampa.

The issue, however, is that the coaching staff hasn’t necessarily played to the strengths of their newly acquired stars. Revis, who had earned the nickname “Revis Island” for his ridiculous shutdown skills in man coverage, has been delegated nothing more than a place holder in a zone scheme. This has made some fans mad. Really mad. Several of them showed up at the Buc’s practice facility, more than willing to demonstrate to the coaching staff how to use Revis and his skill-set.

This article, in all honestly, is a few weeks late in my opinion. A secondary with insane talent finds itself shredded at the end of every Sunday. All the talent on the field means nothing if the coaches don’t put them in position to make plays. The author made several solid points, and the fact that fans actually showed up at the facility cracked me up. I thought it was well written, and the only thing missing was a couple quotes from Revis, himself. The featured video tied in nicely, and basically, if the Buccaneers don’t start winning games, Revis will be under new management anyway.

10 Comments

NFL Fantasy Football has been growing in popularity since its first inception in a New York Milford Plaza Hotel in 1963.

Fantasy football is based upon a scoring system for yardage and touchdowns, and all based upon the statistical performance of professional athletes. It is now available in several different formats, from yahoo.com to NFL.com, all of which have the capabilities to live-score each and every match-up for each team.

An average of four hours are spent each week making roster moves, surfing the waiver wire, and looking for that one player that just might score enough points to put you over the edge.

According to a surprisingly insightful article from the folks at turbotax.com, here are some interesting statistics about America’s new obsession:

• 39% of male fantasy football players admitted they’d be willing to give up beer to win their fantasy football league
• 8% of men’s relationships end due to their obsession with fantasy football
• 75% of male fantasy football players are willing to wager money on their matchups
• An estimated 22.3 million workers spend more than an hour working on their fantasy team while on the job

CNN recently reported that the industry has now reached an approximate value of nearly 2 billion dollars, and is expected to rise even higher in the coming years. The explosion of social media has certainly helped drive the pastime along, enabling friends and co-owners to communicate and trash-talk each others’ teams without much difficulty.

The phenomenon of the game is that team performances don’t necessarily matter; the results of your match up rely simply on the performance of an individual. For instance, “The Vikings can get beat by 40 as long as Adrian Peterson scores a couple touchdowns.” It’s a selfish reality, coupled with a nonchalant attitude toward that actual outcome of the game.

Not only is the industry valuable, but it’s everywhere, and readily available to all who want to access it. The ever-so-intriguing “Bleacher Report” points out the available sites with fantasy football opportunities include: ESPN.com, NFL.com, yahoo.com, and CBS.com. It’s painful to throw out cliches, but sometimes the shoe fits: “If you build it, they will come.” The NFL has built the industry, and Americans are coming.

There’s little doubt that Fantasy Football is a pastime that will stand the test of time.

Fantasy Football: America's New Pastime

http://blog.turbotax.intuit.com/2012/09/18/americas-obsession-with-fantasy-football-infographic/

http://www.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/football/01/06/fantasy.football.moneyball.sabermetrics/index.html

107 Comments

The Cleveland Browns shocked the football world on Wednesday afternoon by dealing 2012 first round draft choice Trent Richardson to the Indianapolis Colts for their 2014 first round draft pick.

In order to understand the magnitude of this move, let’s travel back in time.

When Cleveland selected Trent Richardson with the 3rd overall pick in the 2012 NFL draft, there was finally reason for optimism in northern Ohio. The franchise, and more importantly, the fan-base finally had found a face to associate with all things Cleveland Browns.

With the addition of Oklahoma State quarterback, Brandon Weeden, Cleveland had seemingly retooled its offense. Fans were excited. They dawned their number 33 jerseys with pride, and finally flocked back to the FirstEnergy Stadium.

With the dealing of Richardson, and the announcement that Brandon Weeden is no longer guaranteed his starting job at quarterback, it seems the fan base will have to once again struggle through mediocrity and wait until next year. Unfortunately, for a franchise that hasn’t reached the playoffs since 2002, the fan base has to shoulder the disappointment once again.

From a purely football standpoint, the move makes sense. Richardson doesn’t fit newly hired head coach Rob Chudzinski’s scheme. Weeden is nearly 30 years of age, and still only in his second full professional season. For a fan base however, it’s difficult to fathom finally getting your face of the franchise, and watching him pack his bags for a contender just a few short months later.

There is no question that this team is moving in the right direction. They have a solid, young defense. They have weapons in place on the offensive side of the ball. The question remains whether the fans will follow the direction the team is going. For the Browns’ front offices’ sake, they’d better hope so.

For more information, visit the links below.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000246821/article/trent-richardson-traded-to-colts-from-browns-for-pick

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000246887/article/why-the-browns-trent-richardson-trade-makes-sense

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000246908/article/trent-richardson-trade-is-for-browns-future-ceo-says

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9690728/cleveland-browns-trade-trent-richardson-indianapolis-colts

15 Comments

Ndamukong Suh is at it again. It seems his negative headlines flood the press more frequently than attacks on Gotham City called the Dark Knight into action. While his talents are certainly worth the headache in the right organization, one has to wonder just how many more hits his reputation can take before serious action is taken.

Let’s hop in the time machine. Let’s take it back to Thanksgiving day of 2011. Many sat nestled around a television with piles of tender turkey, creamy mashed potatoes accompanied by thick gravy, and Grandma’s carefully constructed stuffing. Suh, on the other hand, was busy trying to feast on quarterback, Aaron Rodgers. Clearly frustrated; held to a singular tackle, he made his biggest mistake.

Suh stomped on Packers offensive lineman, Evan Dietrich-Smith nearly halfway through the 3rd quarter. He was flagged, ejected, and publicly ridiculed for the remainder of the season. To view footage of the incident, visit the link below.

Until recently, Suh had behaved according to the rules.

According to NFL Network analyst Ian Rapoport, Suh and his agent, Roosevelt Barnes, may have a point.

“Suh’s recent good behavior isn’t being taken into account by the league,” Rapoport said.

On Sunday, Suh made what some would consider a controversial block on Vikings offensive lineman Johnathan Sullivan. The block came during an interception return, and it looked highly unlikely that Sullivan had any possibility of catching DeAndre Levy as he streaked toward the end zone.

Below are a few articles to give you more insight into the situation, so that you may form your own opinion on the former Nebraska star. According to his agent, Suh is being unfairly persecuted by the league.

The relevance of Suh being in the news again, is that the league has placed such a high priority around player safety. The spotlight is shining bright, and the future players of the NFL are watching. If actions speak louder than words, Suh has a lot of explaining to do.

ESPN article from the Thanksgiving incident: http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7276717/ndamukong-suh-detroit-lions-ejected-denies-stomped-green-bay-packers-lineman

Suh issues apology for illegal block: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000242597/article/ndamukong-suh-apologizes-to-detroit-lions-players

Is Suh being persecuted by league?: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000242895/article/agent-ndamukong-suh-persecuted-by-nfl-media

20 Comments

Football is a game. Plain and simple, it’s a pastime; something to enjoy. The National Football League is by far the most popular medium, with 32 teams garnering the allegiance of nation-wide fan bases.

The newest epidemic sweeping these fans is fantasy football. In essence, players receive points for yardage and touchdowns. The popularity of the NFL has skyrocketed in recent years, and many point to the simple scoring system that began its development in the New York Milford Plaza Hotel in 1963.

In talking to several students around the Morningside campus, it was apparent that fantasy football was their Sunday focus. Students can be overheard talking about how many points their players score in almost all common areas.

In speaking to Josh Porcher, a Mustang football player said it best. “As a fan of the game, I can’t enjoy watching the actual game itself. I’m too busy wanting one player to do well instead of the whole team. In fantasy football, wins don’t matter. You only care about individuals.”

And that raises an interesting question. Has the inception of fantasy football dimmed the game itself? Have fans surrendered their team colors for a set of players and a complex scoring system.

Reviews are split amongst the fans. Just ask Eric Draper of the Morningside wrestling team.

“I’m definitely more interested now. I’ve never really been interested in the NFL, but now that I’m playing fantasy football, I feel like I’m a part of the action.”

Chris Stevenson, a business accounting major from LeMars, Iowa, also gave his point of view on the topic. “I f*cking love fantasy football. The fact that you can watch football and win money without picking a final score…I love it.”

Stevenson also pointed out a major issue with the system. “Let’s say I like the Vikings, and I’m playing against Adrian Peterson in my weekly matchup. Now I have to root against one of my favorite players. That part sucks.”

Fantasy football has brought a new flare to the game, but in doing so, it has shined a spotlight on the individual performance. If money is what the league is after, they have found another way to gain subscribers and interest. If the NFL is about the sanctity of the game, Fantasy football may very well be a danger to the sport itself.

12 Comments

The Tebow train may have come to sputtering stop in the NFL. According to a recent ESPN.com article, Tebow’s skill set wasn’t worthy of one of the extremely valuable final 53 roster spots in New England. Siting a rough pre-season the included a only 11 completions out 30 attempts, it appears that “Tebow Time” has come to an end. This story garners its importance because of the nature of the subject. Tim Tebow is as polarizing a figure as the NFL has seen, at least those without a championship ring. Constantly creating a media frenzy, Tebow developed a habit for pulling through in the clutch, but his unconventional style and inability to fit into a typical pro system made him an impossible to harness.

In critiquing this article, I find it hard to believe that no one was available for comment. With a roster full of 53 players, surely one of them could give insight as the the preseason and how it unfolded. Bill Belichick and Tom Brady w0uld definitely bring some flare to this article between the quotation marks, and I just feel that an article like this based on purely factual information doesn’t do this situation justice. Afterall, statistics have never been Tebow’s strong suite. He wins. That’s what he does. Now, he may have to look toward the CFL or Arena League to add a few W’s in the column.

For reference purposes, I have included the link to the ESPN story below:

http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/71599/tebows-skills-not-enough-for-patriots

8 Comments

State of the Sanchize: A Look at the Jets’ QB Troubles

Mark Sanchez is not the answer. He’s no longer even a question. The Jets know what they have in the former first round pick out of Southern Cal: They have a sixth overall selection who never quite rose to the expectations his team had for him. To quote one NFL analyst, they have a “butt-fumbling pick machine.” In his first two years in the league (09-10) they had a game manager and a steady running game, and now the Jets find themselves delegated to relying on a former 4^th string New Orleans Saint to carry the load.

Franchises usually follow one of two general principles when deciding on their future signal-caller. The first: the organization can choose to support a quarterback, putting weapons around him and giving him the resources to succeed. The second: cut ties, start over, and draft a young man you have some level of comfort with. I’d like to personally congratulate the Jets for doing neither. This article is not meant to slam the Jets staff and owner, Harry Wismer. It is simply to express my frustration with this so-called controversy brewing amongst the Gang Green.

In several articles over the past couple months, (including the couple linked below), you can see the underlying issue of a serious riff growing between a stubborn coach and a stubborn owner. The Jets drafting Geno Smith in the second round alludes to the fact that Sanchez’s days is numbered as number one on the depth chart. Then again, who could blame them for moving on? Considering his sporadic, and sometimes comical play, it seems highly unlikely that “The Sanchize” will suddenly morph into a Manning-esque field general and lead the Fighting Rex Ryans back to the promised land. The issue at hand, however, comes with the injury sustained by Sanchez in week three of the preseason.

After a dismal performance by Smith in the first three quarters, including a mere 199 yards while completing 16 of 30 passes. He ran out of the back of the endzone in one of the most impressive displays of ignorance in recent memory, and threw three interceptions, half as many as he had thrown his entire senior year at West Virginia. to win the game, and possibly boost morale, Coach Rex Ryan re-inserted the incumbent starter into the lineup. Sanchez went down not too long after with an injured right throwing shoulder and is listed as day-to-day.

The moral of this story is that there is no winner. As an organization, you have to draft a kid that fits your system. If you’re going to run a ground-and-pound offense, then drafting a pure shotgun quarterback doesn’t really make much sense, especially without any weapons around him. I’m personally a fan of Rex Ryan, mostly because of his press conference shenanigans, but if they don’t get this situation handled, or at least DECIDED soon, this season is going to be just another disaster. Consider this team wrapped in caution tape. Save yourself and just stay away.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000234697/article/rex-ryan-reportedly-has-final-decision-on-jets-qb

http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2013/7/15/4524760/the-jets-quarterback-controversy-is-the-story-weve-all-been-waiting

No Comments