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OXSports.com, Updated 1 day ago STORY TOOLS:
After the editing screw-up that changed my prediction of a Colts rout over the Saints, I'm staying away from any game predictions this week. Of course I knew my beloved Colts would kill the Saints.
Anyway, here are my NFL Truths for the week:
10. Buffalo tight end Kevin Everett's neck injury is the reason there will never be wide-spread criticism among football players concerning performance-enhancing drugs.
Don't misunderstand. Steroids and HGH do not help prevent devastating injuries. In fact, you could argue that performance-enhancing drugs have only made football collisions more violent because the players are bigger and faster.
But Everett's injury justifies in the mind of many players that they have a right to do and ingest anything that will help them compete, survive and earn money in a sport that has brutal consequences.
In a player's mind, it is easy for members of the media and fans to complain about steroids and the amount of money pro athletes make. The media and fans do not take the risk that players do.
I don't condone steroid use. I never used the drugs in high school or college. Wendy's was my drug of choice. But I've always understood and sympathized with the mindset of a user. An athlete desperately wants to compete at the highest level. In this era, there are enormous financial incentives for participating in a physically dangerous game. It's the perfect recipe for illegal drug use.
We're never going to shame athletes into avoiding steroids. And I doubt we'll ever drug-test them into avoiding performance-enhancing drugs. Most athletes are too young and too desperate for financial security to listen to sound reasoning about performance-enhancing drugs.
This is a problem with no solution.
9. Nothing bugs me more than the way media and Marvin Lewis coddle Chad "Flava Flav" Johnson.
Hey, I don't mind a little good-natured showboating. I was a huge Deion Sanders fan. Loved it when he'd high-step into the end zone.
Chad Johnson's orchestrated celebrations don't strike me the way Deion's showboating did. I like ESPN's new "Monday Night Football" crew. Ron Jaworski and Tony Kornheiser have far better chemistry than Kornheiser and Joe Theismann. The new crew works quite well. It's a success.
Still, I was embarrassed listening to Kornheiser, Jaworski and Mike Tirico make a big deal out of Johnson's buffoonery after scoring a touchdown. Johnson, with the help of Bengals personnel, unveiled a fake Hall of Fame sports jacket on the sideline.
Johnson had promised a big celebration before the game, and the "MNF" crew acted like Johnson's props. Even more embarrassing is the fact that Marvin Lewis has to stand on the sideline and pretend that he's good with Johnson's Flava Flav routine.
8. While I'm on the subject of broadcast teams, could someone please break up NBC's Sunday Night Football studio show?
Wow! Michael Irvin is probably sitting at home blazing a phat one thinking, "Hell, on my worst day off the wagon, I could improve that show."
Seriously, by midseason, the studio show should be trimmed to Bob Costas, Cris Collinsworth and Tiki Barber. Keith Olbermann, Jerome Bettis and Peter King just don't work.
Olbermann is trying too hard to be clever, and it's not working. He blamed Tom Coughlin for something Jim Fassell did. Bettis freezes up every time he tries to say something insightful. I don't need King to tell me who he just got off the phone with and how they told him the exact same thing they would've told an NBC intern. (And for the record, I love Olbermann as a broadcaster, Bettis as a football player and King as a sports writer.)
NBC has created a hot, jumbled mess. If I see one more shot of the back of Collinsworth's head as he talks to Costas, I'm going to go on a total rampage against this show. The little "players' lounge" puts Collinsworth in the role of eliciting insightful comments from two guys — Bettis and Barber — who aren't near as clever or ballsy as Collinsworth.
7. The Chicago Bears are absolutely silly for not signing Byron Leftwich.
Big Byron is the perfect quarterback for the Bears. When he's properly supported and happy, Leftwich is a warrior and winner. He knows how to manage a game. He's not about posting big numbers. He can excel in a ball-control offense.
He'd flourish under Lovie Smith's nourishment. The Bears should sign Leftwich and hope he's ready for the last month of the season if Rex Grossman continues to struggle.
6. Now that Bill Belichick and the Patriots have been caught cheating (videotaping defensive signals), there will be calls to install radios in the helmets of linebackers. I disagree.
I'd like to see rules implemented to lessen communication between coaches and players on the field. Teams should be limited to three headsets — one for the head coach and two for coaches in the booth — and one sideline phone.
The game needs to be given back to the players. Let the quarterbacks call plays. Let the coaches "prepare" their teams and then send them out to battle.
5. Bad news for Houston Texans fans: Mario Williams, the 2006 No. 1 pick ahead of Reggie Bush, did not have his breakout game against the Chiefs.
Williams was credited with two sacks and ran a fumble recovery in for a touchdown. The TD was a definite fluke. Williams was simply standing in the right place at the right time and benefited from a questionable ruling that Kansas City's Kris Wilson fumbled.
Williams' two sacks weren't a product of good moves. Good coverage and pressure from other Texans defenders produced Williams' two sacks. I didn't see anything from Williams that made me believe he'll be a star in this league. Consider me unimpressed.
4. There's a lot of talk about Charlie Weis and Tyrone Willingham. I'm more interested in this debate: Who's the bigger fraud, Weis or Romeo Crennel?
Seriously, which team will win a game first in 2007, Weis' Fighting Irish or Crennel's Browns? And will Belichick take either coach back as a coordinator?
3. In terms of stature and appearance, JaMarcus Russell reminds me of Doug Williams, a man who belongs in the pro football Hall of Fame.
Unfortunately, I think Russell is going to experience the same problem Williams experienced. Al Davis' Raiders are as poorly run as the Tampa Bay franchise that had Williams and failed to appreciate his greatness.
No way the Raiders should've allowed Russell's rookie season to be ruined by this lengthy holdout. The holdout and the inexperience of head coach Lane Kiffin could doom Russell's formative years.
2. FYI: For those of you who had to watch Notre Dame-Penn State on TV, I'd just like for you to know that freshman QB Jimmy Clausen doesn't walk on water.
I realize Mike Patrick and Todd Blackledge did everything in their power to convince viewers that Clausen took on the Nittany Lions all by himself and performed miraculously. It's not true.
For three quarters, Clausen's inability to read a defense or trust what he saw in the pocket killed Notre Dame's offense. Clausen held the ball way too long and was fearful of making a mistake. Clausen may very well develop into a great player. But we saw little evidence last Saturday. We saw a scared freshman who was spoon-fed easy completions on his first possession and melted after that.
Why Patrick and Blackledge anointed Clausen, ignored his obvious shortcomings and scapegoated his supporting cast is a mystery to me.
1. How many years does Baltimore's offense have to stink before people realize Brian Billick is not an offensive "guru"?
And when do people recognize he might be the worst head coach to win a Super Bowl?
The other candidates? Jon Gruden and Barry Switzer.
LINK
After the editing screw-up that changed my prediction of a Colts rout over the Saints, I'm staying away from any game predictions this week. Of course I knew my beloved Colts would kill the Saints.
Anyway, here are my NFL Truths for the week:
10. Buffalo tight end Kevin Everett's neck injury is the reason there will never be wide-spread criticism among football players concerning performance-enhancing drugs.
Don't misunderstand. Steroids and HGH do not help prevent devastating injuries. In fact, you could argue that performance-enhancing drugs have only made football collisions more violent because the players are bigger and faster.
But Everett's injury justifies in the mind of many players that they have a right to do and ingest anything that will help them compete, survive and earn money in a sport that has brutal consequences.
In a player's mind, it is easy for members of the media and fans to complain about steroids and the amount of money pro athletes make. The media and fans do not take the risk that players do.
I don't condone steroid use. I never used the drugs in high school or college. Wendy's was my drug of choice. But I've always understood and sympathized with the mindset of a user. An athlete desperately wants to compete at the highest level. In this era, there are enormous financial incentives for participating in a physically dangerous game. It's the perfect recipe for illegal drug use.
We're never going to shame athletes into avoiding steroids. And I doubt we'll ever drug-test them into avoiding performance-enhancing drugs. Most athletes are too young and too desperate for financial security to listen to sound reasoning about performance-enhancing drugs.
This is a problem with no solution.
9. Nothing bugs me more than the way media and Marvin Lewis coddle Chad "Flava Flav" Johnson.
Hey, I don't mind a little good-natured showboating. I was a huge Deion Sanders fan. Loved it when he'd high-step into the end zone.
Chad Johnson's orchestrated celebrations don't strike me the way Deion's showboating did. I like ESPN's new "Monday Night Football" crew. Ron Jaworski and Tony Kornheiser have far better chemistry than Kornheiser and Joe Theismann. The new crew works quite well. It's a success.
Still, I was embarrassed listening to Kornheiser, Jaworski and Mike Tirico make a big deal out of Johnson's buffoonery after scoring a touchdown. Johnson, with the help of Bengals personnel, unveiled a fake Hall of Fame sports jacket on the sideline.
Johnson had promised a big celebration before the game, and the "MNF" crew acted like Johnson's props. Even more embarrassing is the fact that Marvin Lewis has to stand on the sideline and pretend that he's good with Johnson's Flava Flav routine.
8. While I'm on the subject of broadcast teams, could someone please break up NBC's Sunday Night Football studio show?
Wow! Michael Irvin is probably sitting at home blazing a phat one thinking, "Hell, on my worst day off the wagon, I could improve that show."
Seriously, by midseason, the studio show should be trimmed to Bob Costas, Cris Collinsworth and Tiki Barber. Keith Olbermann, Jerome Bettis and Peter King just don't work.
Olbermann is trying too hard to be clever, and it's not working. He blamed Tom Coughlin for something Jim Fassell did. Bettis freezes up every time he tries to say something insightful. I don't need King to tell me who he just got off the phone with and how they told him the exact same thing they would've told an NBC intern. (And for the record, I love Olbermann as a broadcaster, Bettis as a football player and King as a sports writer.)
NBC has created a hot, jumbled mess. If I see one more shot of the back of Collinsworth's head as he talks to Costas, I'm going to go on a total rampage against this show. The little "players' lounge" puts Collinsworth in the role of eliciting insightful comments from two guys — Bettis and Barber — who aren't near as clever or ballsy as Collinsworth.
7. The Chicago Bears are absolutely silly for not signing Byron Leftwich.
Big Byron is the perfect quarterback for the Bears. When he's properly supported and happy, Leftwich is a warrior and winner. He knows how to manage a game. He's not about posting big numbers. He can excel in a ball-control offense.
He'd flourish under Lovie Smith's nourishment. The Bears should sign Leftwich and hope he's ready for the last month of the season if Rex Grossman continues to struggle.
6. Now that Bill Belichick and the Patriots have been caught cheating (videotaping defensive signals), there will be calls to install radios in the helmets of linebackers. I disagree.
I'd like to see rules implemented to lessen communication between coaches and players on the field. Teams should be limited to three headsets — one for the head coach and two for coaches in the booth — and one sideline phone.
The game needs to be given back to the players. Let the quarterbacks call plays. Let the coaches "prepare" their teams and then send them out to battle.
5. Bad news for Houston Texans fans: Mario Williams, the 2006 No. 1 pick ahead of Reggie Bush, did not have his breakout game against the Chiefs.
Williams was credited with two sacks and ran a fumble recovery in for a touchdown. The TD was a definite fluke. Williams was simply standing in the right place at the right time and benefited from a questionable ruling that Kansas City's Kris Wilson fumbled.
Williams' two sacks weren't a product of good moves. Good coverage and pressure from other Texans defenders produced Williams' two sacks. I didn't see anything from Williams that made me believe he'll be a star in this league. Consider me unimpressed.
4. There's a lot of talk about Charlie Weis and Tyrone Willingham. I'm more interested in this debate: Who's the bigger fraud, Weis or Romeo Crennel?
Seriously, which team will win a game first in 2007, Weis' Fighting Irish or Crennel's Browns? And will Belichick take either coach back as a coordinator?
3. In terms of stature and appearance, JaMarcus Russell reminds me of Doug Williams, a man who belongs in the pro football Hall of Fame.
Unfortunately, I think Russell is going to experience the same problem Williams experienced. Al Davis' Raiders are as poorly run as the Tampa Bay franchise that had Williams and failed to appreciate his greatness.
No way the Raiders should've allowed Russell's rookie season to be ruined by this lengthy holdout. The holdout and the inexperience of head coach Lane Kiffin could doom Russell's formative years.
2. FYI: For those of you who had to watch Notre Dame-Penn State on TV, I'd just like for you to know that freshman QB Jimmy Clausen doesn't walk on water.
I realize Mike Patrick and Todd Blackledge did everything in their power to convince viewers that Clausen took on the Nittany Lions all by himself and performed miraculously. It's not true.
For three quarters, Clausen's inability to read a defense or trust what he saw in the pocket killed Notre Dame's offense. Clausen held the ball way too long and was fearful of making a mistake. Clausen may very well develop into a great player. But we saw little evidence last Saturday. We saw a scared freshman who was spoon-fed easy completions on his first possession and melted after that.
Why Patrick and Blackledge anointed Clausen, ignored his obvious shortcomings and scapegoated his supporting cast is a mystery to me.
1. How many years does Baltimore's offense have to stink before people realize Brian Billick is not an offensive "guru"?
And when do people recognize he might be the worst head coach to win a Super Bowl?
The other candidates? Jon Gruden and Barry Switzer.
LINK
