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Former Ram Isaiah Pead: The running back who can no longer run
- By Prime Time
- RAMS / NFL TALK
- 24 Replies
Click the link below to watch video.
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http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/new...1m36j6l?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
The running back who can no longer run: Isaiah Pead's new life is better than no life
By Alex Marvez
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Isaiah Pead had the word "Faith" tattooed on his left hand while preparing for an NFL career.
Five years later, it provides even more inspiration now that his playing days are over.
Pead is a running back who can no longer run.
His left leg was severed and right leg was badly damaged in a November car accident that left him just moments away from death. Eight subsequent surgeries have followed.
Login to view embedded media View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFXiSsjAG5o
A former high school track star whose top five times among running backs at the 2012 NFL Scouting Combine in the 40-yard dash (4.47 seconds) and three-cone drill (6.95) helped him become a second-round draft pick, Pead remains relegated to crutches until his prosthetic leg is fitted later this year. He now weighs 160 pounds, having dropped almost one quarter of his body weight from last fall when Pead last suited for the Miami Dolphins.
"I’ve got my muscles but I’m just light," Pead recently told Sporting News from the living room of his grandparents’ home in Columbus. “I went from four percent body fat, and I’ve probably got none now.
"But I still work out. I stay on my push-ups — my bread-and-butter right there. With me being so light, it’s easy … It’s just irritating."
Login to view embedded media View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1w-cDzkPNo
It would be understandable if Pead were consumed by self-pity. He's a 26-year-old whose entire world turned as topsy-turvy as the 2011 Cadillac CTS that tumbled 40 feet down an embankment after careening off the side of a highway.
Pead, though, has refused to wallow in it from the moment he awoke in the hospital and became aware of the accident and damage suffered.
"He was still talking the same way he was the day before, smiling and laughing and cracking jokes," said Ruby Bowman, Pead’s girlfriend and mother of their seven-month-old namesake son nicknamed "Deuce."
"It surprised me a lot. I was nervous and scared for how he would adjust no longer being able to have football. Everyone thought maybe he’s still in shock or doesn’t really know what happened and wouldn’t get it until living a normal life. But he's still going strong."
Pead will rely on that strength while trying to mount another type of comeback even more difficult than the one he completed in the NFL.
"Isaiah had already conquered football," Pead’s mother, Leshawna, said. “This is something totally new. It’s even more of a challenge in a good way.
"It’s like, 'Ooh, this is a new chapter. Let’s write it.'"
***
Isaiah Pead celebrates Cincinnati's win over Pittsburgh in December 2009. (Getty Images)
The book had almost closed on Pead’s NFL career before he pried it back open.
As the 50th player selected in his draft class, by the Rams, Pead never came close to being the same kind of difference-maker he was at the University of Cincinnati. A rough rookie campaign was followed by a disappointing second season that began with Pead serving a four-game suspension under the league’s substance-abuse policy.
Entering the 2014 offseason, Pead rededicated himself and worked harder to gain the trust of Rams coaches whom he believes had not shown much faith in him. A period of fasting followed by a dietary change — red meat was replaced by chicken and fish — led to Pead feeling his best during OTA sessions.
"I was nice," Pead said with a laugh. "I was shocking myself. The film didn’t lie.
"Nobody could deny it — and I had been being denied my entire time there."
But it wasn’t long before Pead was denied again. A broken pinkie that sidelined him early in training camp was followed by a season-ending knee injury suffered in his first game back.
The Rams cut Pead early in the 2015 season. Another chance with Pittsburgh later in the year ended with his release after less than a month.
Login to view embedded media View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEkMsRSLRkg
Pead’s NFL future remained in question until he drew attention from Miami during the 2016 offseason. Seeking depth at running back, the Dolphins signed Pead following an impressive workout.
Before the contract was signed, Miami’s hierarchy wanted to make sure Pead understood the chance he was being given.
"We said, 'Hey, just look at this as a fresh start,'" Dolphins coach Adam Gase recalled in a recent interview with Sporting News. "The past is what it is. Just do the right thing every day, come in here and work and compete. You’re going to get as fair of an opportunity as you can ask for."
The Dolphins were true to their word. After a strong preseason, Pead stuck on the 53-man roster. He debuted as a backup against Cleveland in Week 3, carrying five times for 17 yards, and followed that with snaps the following game at Cincinnati.
Following Miami’s 1-4 start, Gase settled on a tightened running back rotation, and Pead was released.
Still, Pead was back on the NFL radar, and a signing seemed inevitable after subsequent tryouts with Washington and Kansas City. Gase also said Miami probably would have re-signed Pead had injuries hit his team's running back crew.
"Just being able to come back and make a roster and figure out a way to compete at this position, he made it really tough on us as far as deciding who was going to play," Gase said.
Pead said he was scheduled to return to South Florida and resume training while waiting for another chance to play.
The trip was never taken because of what happened two days prior in the early morning of Nov. 12.
Wesley Richardson is the only one who can recount the details of exactly why.
***
Richardson first met Pead when both played at Cincinnati. They were Columbus natives a year apart in school. They had adjoining lockers and lived in the same apartment complex. Pead wore jersey No. 23; Richardson, a defensive back, was No. 24.
The two remained close after Pead pursued an NFL career and Richardson branched into a bank job involving money-laundering investigations. Returning home for the weekend after being stationed in Charlotte on a work assignment, Richardson met with Pead for what was planned as a night on the town.
The two hopped into Pead’s car — the one slated to receive a tire change the following week — but found nothing appealing at the spots they hit after getting off to a late start. Pead and Richardson then decided to meet with a group of friends at a Waffle House near the former’s house.
Pead said he wasn’t impaired, and the police report states there were no signs of alcohol or drug use. Pead, though, admits he was driving “a little over the speed limit" while approaching a curve heading eastbound on I-670 near the East 5th Avenue exit.
"I hit a bump and lost control," Pead said. "I lost consciousness. (Richardson) never lost consciousness so he tells me the story."
Richardson said the car hit a divot, which offset the weight distribution. Pead tried to correct the vehicle but fishtailed left and right before crashing through a guard rail and plummeting down a heavily forested area into the neighborhood park below.
"I had my seatbelt on and he did not," Richardson told Sporing News in his first interview about the accident. "It’s crazy because the paramedics who were the first responders told me the seat belt saved me, and him not having the belt on saved him, because they probably would have had to cut him out of the car and he would have bled out by the time they were done."
Richardson escaped relatively unscathed, with a concussion and some abrasions. He was discharged from a local hospital not long after his admission.
Pead wasn’t nearly as lucky. The guard rail that came through the driver's side severed Pead’s left leg and pinned his right one, causing all three knee ligaments and hamstring to tear. Pead was ultimately ejected and found 30 feet from a vehicle riddled with branches. The disconnected bumper was left hanging high in the trees.
Richardson said he initially did not know where Pead was once the Cadillac finally stopped.
"I was screaming to see if he’d respond," Richardson said. "I looked to my left and saw his leg right there in the middle of the car on the arm rest going toward the back of car. I didn’t know if he was punched into the back and his leg was sticking out, but the entire back of the car was smashed down. If anyone was sitting there, they would have been crushed."
Admittedly thinking "all bad things," Richardson climbed out of the gaping hole that was created on the driver’s side. Richardson then responded to the yelling he heard from women atop the embankment who had witnessed the accident.
The subsequent quick 911 call, combined with the quick actions of paramedics from a fire station located just blocks away from Cassady Park, saved Pead’s life. So did the surgeries and transfusions in the aftermath.
"They said I had about three-to-five minutes to live because I was bleeding out," Pead said.
Life, though, would never be the same.
***
Leshawna Pead knows her son doesn't take well to hearing "No" for an answer.
Each time he would awake from a drug-induced sleep, Pead would immediately begin trying to ask where he was and what had happened before choking on the post-surgical tube sticking down his throat. Pead would then be sedated again.
Less than two days into this cycle, Leshawna insisted on breaking the news to her son, with Richardson by her side, against the wishes of the hospital’s medical staff.
"Isaiah has always been a straight-to-the point kind of person," Leshawna said. "What you can't do is not answer him. They said, ‘Don't upset him. Don't tell him yet what’s going on,' but he was so relentless I told him.
"My son is not your average patient. You have to tell him or this wasn't going to stop."
Once the account was given, Leshawna said her son "closed his eyes for a minute and opened them back up." Pead then gestured for a pen and paper to communicate what he was thinking.
What happened next told Leshawna that Isaiah was going to be OK.
"He wrote, 'My whip game is proper,'" Leshawna said with a laugh. "It changed the whole mood of everything."
Richardson, too, was stunned at how Pead handled the situation.
"I was scared because I didn’t know how he would react when he woke up," Richardson said. “He was making a living with his legs. It’s not like somebody who can go back to a normal job and make money the way they had been. His entire life was about to flip upside-down. We honestly thought he was going to freak out and go crazy over it all.
"He did 20 times better than all of us combined."
Why?
"I’m used to performing under pressure, but this wasn’t pressure of a game,” Pead said. "This was, 'How am I going to respond with all these eyes that are looking at me but also counting on me?'
"My decision wasn’t rushed. It seems rushed, but I accepted it right then."
Pead would stay strong in the upcoming weeks while hearing from well-wishers and receiving surprise visits from guests that included Bearcats trainer Bob Mangine, who brought him a red No. 23 Cincinnati jersey, and agent Rick Smith. Upon getting released from the hospital, Pead began a rehabilitation program for his right leg with the same mindset that he used when recovering from his ACL surgery.
This time, thoughts of returning to the field were not inspiring him, but rather the son who was born shortly before Pead's accident.
"That’s my guy," said Pead, who babysits Deuce during the day while his girlfriend works. "Sometimes I get so tired of the crutches that I hop around. He'll fuss and cry and I'll come hopping around the corner. He’ll see me hopping and just start kicking and stuff. It’s the funniest in the world."
Pead also spends time working on expanding what he hopes will provide his post-football livelihood, a vehicle-moving service called Stampede Trucking. Another step in making the transition is buying a house and moving with his immediate family to the Columbus suburb of Pickerington.
Once he regains the mobility that will come with a prosthetic, Pead plans to become more active in trying to provide inspiration to others who have suffered a physical calamity.
"I want to continue to be a motivator to whatever I come across," he said. “That starts with myself, looking at myself in the mirror every day — a full body mirror.
"You can see, you know, half of me. I'm my own inspiration, literally."
What is inked on Pead’s hand strengthens that drive.
"I don’t think about the 'What if' because I don’t regret anything I went through when I had two legs," Pead said. "I came to work every day and put my best foot forward and let things fall where they fell. They just didn’t fall in my favor.
"I can accept that because I have faith in God who has a bigger plan. I'm just here to live it out."
****************************************
http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/new...1m36j6l?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
The running back who can no longer run: Isaiah Pead's new life is better than no life
By Alex Marvez
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Isaiah Pead had the word "Faith" tattooed on his left hand while preparing for an NFL career.
Five years later, it provides even more inspiration now that his playing days are over.
Pead is a running back who can no longer run.
His left leg was severed and right leg was badly damaged in a November car accident that left him just moments away from death. Eight subsequent surgeries have followed.
Login to view embedded media View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFXiSsjAG5o
A former high school track star whose top five times among running backs at the 2012 NFL Scouting Combine in the 40-yard dash (4.47 seconds) and three-cone drill (6.95) helped him become a second-round draft pick, Pead remains relegated to crutches until his prosthetic leg is fitted later this year. He now weighs 160 pounds, having dropped almost one quarter of his body weight from last fall when Pead last suited for the Miami Dolphins.
"I’ve got my muscles but I’m just light," Pead recently told Sporting News from the living room of his grandparents’ home in Columbus. “I went from four percent body fat, and I’ve probably got none now.
"But I still work out. I stay on my push-ups — my bread-and-butter right there. With me being so light, it’s easy … It’s just irritating."
Login to view embedded media View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1w-cDzkPNo
It would be understandable if Pead were consumed by self-pity. He's a 26-year-old whose entire world turned as topsy-turvy as the 2011 Cadillac CTS that tumbled 40 feet down an embankment after careening off the side of a highway.
Pead, though, has refused to wallow in it from the moment he awoke in the hospital and became aware of the accident and damage suffered.
"He was still talking the same way he was the day before, smiling and laughing and cracking jokes," said Ruby Bowman, Pead’s girlfriend and mother of their seven-month-old namesake son nicknamed "Deuce."
"It surprised me a lot. I was nervous and scared for how he would adjust no longer being able to have football. Everyone thought maybe he’s still in shock or doesn’t really know what happened and wouldn’t get it until living a normal life. But he's still going strong."
Pead will rely on that strength while trying to mount another type of comeback even more difficult than the one he completed in the NFL.
"Isaiah had already conquered football," Pead’s mother, Leshawna, said. “This is something totally new. It’s even more of a challenge in a good way.
"It’s like, 'Ooh, this is a new chapter. Let’s write it.'"
***
Isaiah Pead celebrates Cincinnati's win over Pittsburgh in December 2009. (Getty Images)
The book had almost closed on Pead’s NFL career before he pried it back open.
As the 50th player selected in his draft class, by the Rams, Pead never came close to being the same kind of difference-maker he was at the University of Cincinnati. A rough rookie campaign was followed by a disappointing second season that began with Pead serving a four-game suspension under the league’s substance-abuse policy.
Entering the 2014 offseason, Pead rededicated himself and worked harder to gain the trust of Rams coaches whom he believes had not shown much faith in him. A period of fasting followed by a dietary change — red meat was replaced by chicken and fish — led to Pead feeling his best during OTA sessions.
"I was nice," Pead said with a laugh. "I was shocking myself. The film didn’t lie.
"Nobody could deny it — and I had been being denied my entire time there."
But it wasn’t long before Pead was denied again. A broken pinkie that sidelined him early in training camp was followed by a season-ending knee injury suffered in his first game back.
The Rams cut Pead early in the 2015 season. Another chance with Pittsburgh later in the year ended with his release after less than a month.
Login to view embedded media View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEkMsRSLRkg
Pead’s NFL future remained in question until he drew attention from Miami during the 2016 offseason. Seeking depth at running back, the Dolphins signed Pead following an impressive workout.
Before the contract was signed, Miami’s hierarchy wanted to make sure Pead understood the chance he was being given.
"We said, 'Hey, just look at this as a fresh start,'" Dolphins coach Adam Gase recalled in a recent interview with Sporting News. "The past is what it is. Just do the right thing every day, come in here and work and compete. You’re going to get as fair of an opportunity as you can ask for."
The Dolphins were true to their word. After a strong preseason, Pead stuck on the 53-man roster. He debuted as a backup against Cleveland in Week 3, carrying five times for 17 yards, and followed that with snaps the following game at Cincinnati.
Following Miami’s 1-4 start, Gase settled on a tightened running back rotation, and Pead was released.
Still, Pead was back on the NFL radar, and a signing seemed inevitable after subsequent tryouts with Washington and Kansas City. Gase also said Miami probably would have re-signed Pead had injuries hit his team's running back crew.
"Just being able to come back and make a roster and figure out a way to compete at this position, he made it really tough on us as far as deciding who was going to play," Gase said.
Pead said he was scheduled to return to South Florida and resume training while waiting for another chance to play.
The trip was never taken because of what happened two days prior in the early morning of Nov. 12.
Wesley Richardson is the only one who can recount the details of exactly why.
***
Richardson first met Pead when both played at Cincinnati. They were Columbus natives a year apart in school. They had adjoining lockers and lived in the same apartment complex. Pead wore jersey No. 23; Richardson, a defensive back, was No. 24.
The two remained close after Pead pursued an NFL career and Richardson branched into a bank job involving money-laundering investigations. Returning home for the weekend after being stationed in Charlotte on a work assignment, Richardson met with Pead for what was planned as a night on the town.
The two hopped into Pead’s car — the one slated to receive a tire change the following week — but found nothing appealing at the spots they hit after getting off to a late start. Pead and Richardson then decided to meet with a group of friends at a Waffle House near the former’s house.
Pead said he wasn’t impaired, and the police report states there were no signs of alcohol or drug use. Pead, though, admits he was driving “a little over the speed limit" while approaching a curve heading eastbound on I-670 near the East 5th Avenue exit.
"I hit a bump and lost control," Pead said. "I lost consciousness. (Richardson) never lost consciousness so he tells me the story."
Richardson said the car hit a divot, which offset the weight distribution. Pead tried to correct the vehicle but fishtailed left and right before crashing through a guard rail and plummeting down a heavily forested area into the neighborhood park below.
"I had my seatbelt on and he did not," Richardson told Sporing News in his first interview about the accident. "It’s crazy because the paramedics who were the first responders told me the seat belt saved me, and him not having the belt on saved him, because they probably would have had to cut him out of the car and he would have bled out by the time they were done."
Richardson escaped relatively unscathed, with a concussion and some abrasions. He was discharged from a local hospital not long after his admission.
Pead wasn’t nearly as lucky. The guard rail that came through the driver's side severed Pead’s left leg and pinned his right one, causing all three knee ligaments and hamstring to tear. Pead was ultimately ejected and found 30 feet from a vehicle riddled with branches. The disconnected bumper was left hanging high in the trees.
Richardson said he initially did not know where Pead was once the Cadillac finally stopped.
"I was screaming to see if he’d respond," Richardson said. "I looked to my left and saw his leg right there in the middle of the car on the arm rest going toward the back of car. I didn’t know if he was punched into the back and his leg was sticking out, but the entire back of the car was smashed down. If anyone was sitting there, they would have been crushed."
Admittedly thinking "all bad things," Richardson climbed out of the gaping hole that was created on the driver’s side. Richardson then responded to the yelling he heard from women atop the embankment who had witnessed the accident.
The subsequent quick 911 call, combined with the quick actions of paramedics from a fire station located just blocks away from Cassady Park, saved Pead’s life. So did the surgeries and transfusions in the aftermath.
"They said I had about three-to-five minutes to live because I was bleeding out," Pead said.
Life, though, would never be the same.
***
Leshawna Pead knows her son doesn't take well to hearing "No" for an answer.
Each time he would awake from a drug-induced sleep, Pead would immediately begin trying to ask where he was and what had happened before choking on the post-surgical tube sticking down his throat. Pead would then be sedated again.
Less than two days into this cycle, Leshawna insisted on breaking the news to her son, with Richardson by her side, against the wishes of the hospital’s medical staff.
"Isaiah has always been a straight-to-the point kind of person," Leshawna said. "What you can't do is not answer him. They said, ‘Don't upset him. Don't tell him yet what’s going on,' but he was so relentless I told him.
"My son is not your average patient. You have to tell him or this wasn't going to stop."
Once the account was given, Leshawna said her son "closed his eyes for a minute and opened them back up." Pead then gestured for a pen and paper to communicate what he was thinking.
What happened next told Leshawna that Isaiah was going to be OK.
"He wrote, 'My whip game is proper,'" Leshawna said with a laugh. "It changed the whole mood of everything."
Richardson, too, was stunned at how Pead handled the situation.
"I was scared because I didn’t know how he would react when he woke up," Richardson said. “He was making a living with his legs. It’s not like somebody who can go back to a normal job and make money the way they had been. His entire life was about to flip upside-down. We honestly thought he was going to freak out and go crazy over it all.
"He did 20 times better than all of us combined."
Why?
"I’m used to performing under pressure, but this wasn’t pressure of a game,” Pead said. "This was, 'How am I going to respond with all these eyes that are looking at me but also counting on me?'
"My decision wasn’t rushed. It seems rushed, but I accepted it right then."
Pead would stay strong in the upcoming weeks while hearing from well-wishers and receiving surprise visits from guests that included Bearcats trainer Bob Mangine, who brought him a red No. 23 Cincinnati jersey, and agent Rick Smith. Upon getting released from the hospital, Pead began a rehabilitation program for his right leg with the same mindset that he used when recovering from his ACL surgery.
This time, thoughts of returning to the field were not inspiring him, but rather the son who was born shortly before Pead's accident.
"That’s my guy," said Pead, who babysits Deuce during the day while his girlfriend works. "Sometimes I get so tired of the crutches that I hop around. He'll fuss and cry and I'll come hopping around the corner. He’ll see me hopping and just start kicking and stuff. It’s the funniest in the world."
Pead also spends time working on expanding what he hopes will provide his post-football livelihood, a vehicle-moving service called Stampede Trucking. Another step in making the transition is buying a house and moving with his immediate family to the Columbus suburb of Pickerington.
Once he regains the mobility that will come with a prosthetic, Pead plans to become more active in trying to provide inspiration to others who have suffered a physical calamity.
"I want to continue to be a motivator to whatever I come across," he said. “That starts with myself, looking at myself in the mirror every day — a full body mirror.
"You can see, you know, half of me. I'm my own inspiration, literally."
What is inked on Pead’s hand strengthens that drive.
"I don’t think about the 'What if' because I don’t regret anything I went through when I had two legs," Pead said. "I came to work every day and put my best foot forward and let things fall where they fell. They just didn’t fall in my favor.
"I can accept that because I have faith in God who has a bigger plan. I'm just here to live it out."
Peter King: MMQB - 6/19/17
- By Prime Time
- RAMS / NFL TALK
- 9 Replies
These are excerpts. To read the whole article click the link below. PK made it all the way to the very end of the article without mentioning his man-crush, the Patriots, but then he had a slip...keep coming back Peter.
Here is Step 1 of Obsessive Patriots Fans Anonymous:
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http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2017/06/19/peter-king-monday-morning-quarterback-nfl-randy-moss-commencement
On Randy Moss, Equality and Commencement Speeches
How the Vikings went from ‘the biggest mistake they ever made’ to now honoring their former mercurial receiver, with the help of an old friend. Plus more on NFL team leadership progress, a stunning Colin Kaepernick stat and the wise words heard at college graduation ceremonies this year
By Peter King
My last column before three Mondays off—you will love the substitutes, so come back on June 26, July 3 and July 10 for great prose and information. Today is a surprising hodgepodge, followed by my annual section of commencement speeches from campuses around the country. (Theo Epstein had a gem at Yale.) Enjoy the column.
* * *
The Greatest Thing I Saw This Week
Longtime Vikings writer Sid Hartman interviewed Randy Moss, who will be inducted into the team’s Ring of Honor this fall
Photo: Tom West/Minnesota Vikings
Look at this photo. Tom West, the longtime Vikings PR man, took it the other day in fellow PR man Bob Hagan’s office at the Vikings’ headquarters in Eden Prairie, Minn.
It’s beautiful. Hartman, 97, the longtime Minnesota columnist and radio host who is still working every week, is on the left, interviewing Moss, 40, who was in town to be told his number was being retired, and he would be enshrined in the team’s Ring of Honor.
The two have had an interesting relationship. When Moss was under fire as a Viking for playing hard when he felt like it, Hartman interviewed him, and Moss famously said, “I play when I want to play.” They clashed over that, though all Hartman was doing was quoting (and in effect excoriating) the best receiver in the game.
I talked to Moss about the photo, and asked him about the meaning of his meeting and his interview with the raspy, indefatigable Hartman.
“Respect your elders,” Moss said. “I love Sid.”
It was interesting to hear Moss talk about Hartman the day after he met him, and the day he was honored by the Vikings. If you recall, Moss was pretty ticked off when the Vikings dispatched him to Oakland after seven starry seasons in 2005. Moss had the best debut of any receiver in NFL history—he had 53 touchdown catches in his first four years.
When people thought he was a loafer in the twilight, at 30, he had the greatest season a wideout ever had, catching 23 touchdown passes at age 30 for New England in 2007. An amazing career, yet the petulance dogs him. He knows. And he’s matured about it all.
“All the flak I took, everything I dealt with coming from high school and college, and then for them to give this award, the Ring of Honor, I am speechless. I really am,” Moss told me. “It was such a great day. I am so honored. What it makes me realize is: I did something right.”
And Sid?
“When we talked, the conversation was so genuine,” Moss said. “I loved it, really. Good or bad, our relationship developed. Through everything, Sid showed me respect. To sum it up, I am speaking for a lot of the guys I played with here in Minnesota:
He earned his stripes. He earned our respect, by working, by being there. He’s done it, for so long, for so much of history. He’s seen so much. He’s old enough to be our great-grandfather.”
On Sunday morning from 9 to noon, Hartman hosted his weekly radio show on WCCO in Minneapolis. It’s been a community staple for more than 20 years. “People get out of church and turn on the radio to see what Sid’s saying,” Hagan said. “It’s been that way for years.”
Nice guest list this week: Moss, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer, Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau … and little old me. Hartman doesn’t hear as well as he used to, and sometimes the questions have to be re-asked to him. But he answers them. “Why,” I asked Hartman, “does someone your age who grew up in a different world than guys like Moss get along with them so well?”
“I can’t explain it,” Hartman said over the airwaves. “It’s just worked out from day one. The biggest mistake the Vikings ever made was trading Randy Moss.” Now Moss is back in the fold, sort of. Bygones have faded. And Hartman and Moss, 57 years apart, are left standing.
* * *
Unprecedented Equality in NFL Team Leadership
The Chargers’ Anthony Lynn is one of eight minority head coaches in the NFL
Photo: Denis Poroy/AP
John Wooten is 80 now. The 10-year NFL guard blocked for Jim Brown in Cleveland and, as the chair of the quality-advocacy Fritz Pollard Alliance for the past 14 years, fought for equal rights for minority coaches, scouts and front-office officials. He is the quintessential NFL lifetimer, a classic devotee of the game who, at the same time, who would consider his life diminished if he didn’t leave the game more egalitarian than he found it.
So after Washington president Bruce Allen named Doug Williams the team’s senior vice president of player personnel—the first African-American head of player acquisition in franchise history—Wooten had to be feeling some sense of pride. Not only had this franchise been the last team in pro football to integrate its roster (amazingly late, in 1962), but no minority had ever run the personnel side of the building in its 85-year history … until last week.
John Wooten
Photo: David Richard/AP
This is a historic day for the league, really. It’s a bit of an invented stat, but it’s true: The 32 NFL franchises now have a total of 15 minorities either coaching the team or running the personnel side of the team. Never in league annals have at least seven head coaches and general manager/personnel czars run teams. But this year there will be a total of 15 minorities coaching or running the personnel side. (It was 10 as recently as 2013.)
“It’s so gratifying,” Wooten said from his home in Texas over the weekend. “It tells me how far we’ve come as a league. I will never forget, years ago, when [Dallas president] Tex Schramm said to me, ‘You’re trying to tell us who to hire!’ I said, ‘No, Tex. We simply want a chance to interview for these jobs.’ And now, everyone is just trying to do what they can to make equal opportunity in coaching and the front office a reality.”
• The minority coaches (eight): Ron Rivera (Carolina), Marvin Lewis (Cincinnati), Hue Jackson (Cleveland), Vance Joseph (Denver), Jim Caldwell (Detroit), Anthony Lynn (Los Angeles Chargers), Todd Bowles (New York Jets), Mike Tomlin (Pittsburgh).
• The personnel czars (seven): Ozzie Newsome (Baltimore), Sashi Brown (Cleveland), Rick Smith (Houston), Reggie McKenzie (Oakland), Chris Grier (Miami), Jerry Reese (New York Giants), Doug Williams (Washington).
Williams never thought he’d get the shot. But he grew up being told opportunities would come because of merit, not color, and that was reinforced by his coach at historically black Grambling, where Williams played quarterback. “Eddie Robinson never said, ‘You can do this because you’re black,’” said Williams. “He said, ‘If you’re ever going to get a chance, you’re going to get a chance in America.’ And here it is.”
* * *
Cool Story of the Week
Photo: AP Photo
Robert Klemko of The MMQB polled 51 players in the Denver Broncos locker room toward the end of the 2016 season for a team census. “What, exactly, are you trying to prove?” then-Bronco Russell Okung asked Klemko.
Nothing, and everything. We were trying to find out the demographic of one NFL team Nothing more, nothing less. Whatever the results were, they were. A few responses were eye-opening, like the voting pattern of the locker room in an election that had much at stake for the country.
Thirty-four players, a full 66.7 percent, told Klemko they had not voted in the 2016 election. That’s disturbing to me. But other points, about life and background and beliefs, made this a very interesting read. (Thanks to The MMQB’s graphics team, and to editor Gary Gramling, for their work on it.)
This also was curious: Of the 24 players on the team who received 10 or more college scholarship offers, 13 received college degrees. Of the 19 players who got five offers or fewer, 17 got their degrees. Not sure what that means … it could be coincidental—or it could be that the less privileged among the players worked harder on academics in college.
* * *
Login to view embedded media View: https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/875772411320434688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fmmqb.si.com%2Fmmqb%2F2017%2F06%2F19%2Fpeter-king-monday-morning-quarterback-nfl-randy-moss-commencement
Floyd is due in court on June 26 after violating the terms of his house arrest, testing positive for alcohol on June 11. Floyd says his positive alcohol test was due to drinking Kombucha tea.
* * *
Things I Think I Think
1. I think as teams dispersed from practices and camps this summer, and prepare to take four or five weeks off from this demanding life, I urge all of them to take it. The game has become waaaaay too life-dominating. You need time off, folks.
2. I think these are a few quick thoughts I want to get on the record:
a. This website is losing one of our stalwart reporters, Emily Kaplan, to a new job. (She would prefer to make the announcement about her destination, and I am going to let her, at the time of her choosing.) We are sad about that, of course, because Emily is one of the best young journalists covering pro football. She’s helped us raise our game with her doggedness and her tireless reporting, and I know she’s going to have a great career.
More about Emily to come in the near future. But I’m glad to have had the chance to work with her as her career takes off. Emily’s a great example of a young person in a changing business who tried everything—video, podcasts, audio reporting, columns—and wasn’t content to simply be a classic sportswriter. She’ll be missed.
b. Congrats to both the PR staffs of the Texans and Ravens for the victories in the annual Pro Football Writers of America awards in helping football media do our jobs. Both groups are terrific. I want to point out the first female PR czar to ever win this award, senior director of communications Amy Palcic of the Texans, has come a long way by the sweat of her brow to be one of the best in the business.
Eight years ago, she was in essence demoted in Cleveland over an incident with tight end Kellen Winslow, and she wouldn’t stand for it. She left the Browns, ended up landing in Houston, and was promoted to this job two years ago. Good things come to those who work—and who prepare.
c. In 2015, U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) helped sponsor the Steve Gleason Act, a bill fashioned to help former Saint Steve Gleason making speech-generating devices easier to get and use for patients suffering from crushing disorders like ALS.
Scalise, from Metairie, site of the Saints’ training facility, is a huge Saints fan, often appearing at practices just to watch … he was there, in fact, in May to watch the team. That’s why the shooting of Scalise at a baseball practice last week hit the Saints’ franchise so hard, and why they sent—and continued to send—wishes, prayers and offers of owner Tom Benson’s plane to the family.
d. Kudos to the Dolphins, starting with owner Stephen Ross, in emphasizing voter registration with their players. A team spokesman said Friday that 90 percent of the players on the roster, helped by a team voter registration drive, are now registered to vote in general elections.
3. I think there’s a great lesson in Zach Strief, the Saints’ tackle, right now. Forward-thinking guy. I heard him on Albert Breer’s podcast this week. Strief on finding a post-career passion: “It’s been a series of guys, players who’ve been here who I respect highly, guys that I think the world of that are good guys—smart, intelligent, sharp—that have struggled with that transition.
It’s no different than if I came to you tomorrow and said, ‘Hey, Albert, sorry, it’s not your decision, but you can never be a reporter ever again, so figure something out.’ That’s a really tough reality for someone who has spent a long time doing one thing. It’s very difficult for guys mentally to deal with that, and I got to see that. I got to see some older players come back and say, ‘Hey, I’m struggling a little bit figuring out what I’m going to do.’
Or, ‘Hey, I’ve got some opportunities but I’m the intern, so I went from being a pro athlete to having a job that a 22-year-old with no work experience has.’ That’s tough for a 33-year-old man who’s grown accustomed to living his life a certain way. And so those realities hit home and I realized, hey, you need to be on the lookout for something.” Strief, his father-in-law and three other partners founded Port Orleans Brewing. (And no, I did not write about this just because it’s beer.)
4. I think I’m excited that we introduced a new feature at The MMQB last week. “The Exit Interview,” which will feature things learned and lessons passed on by prominent football players/coaches/front office people/media when they retire or lose their jobs. Our first episode: Bob McGinn, who, after 38 years covering the Packers, voluntarily left the beat for a new life in Michigan.
I always admired McGinn because of his work ethic, his brains, his fierce independence. He made me a better follower of football. Listen to his warning about the in-house nature of so much football writing and coverage these days: “Teams want to play the games and cover the games; they want to do both. All these team websites are just a pox on our business.
All the coverage is slanted. It’s all pro-team and the people who cover, who work for a network one way or another that is paying the league billions of dollars to broadcast games and be partners, everything they say I take with a grain of salt. It’s left all to beat writers and magazine guys apart from these teams and networks who have independence to dissect the game and look at things with an unbiased eye.” Strong words, and apt ones.
5. I think, however, there are some very good team-website features I’ve found. One is the inside-football reporting from former scout Bryan Broaddus on the Cowboys site. Check out his Wednesday practice report from minicamp. Two very interesting things:
First-round washout Jonathan Cooper spent the day on perhaps the best offensive line in football starting at left guard; that’s a eye-popper in itself. But also this from Broaddus’ practice report: “The one guy that is able to give Zack Martin trouble is Maliek Collins. It’s rare that you see Martin get knocked off balance against power, but that’s what Collins was able to do during the Team Period.” That’s good reporting.
6. I think, as an aside, this is what I think when I see that Maliek Collins is creating some havoc in drills at a Cowboys practice: I covered the Cowboys’ draft last year, and the team’s number one target as the first round went on (after the drafting of Ezekiel Elliott with the fourth overall pick) was Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch.
Dallas was offering the 34th and 101st overall picks for a low-first-round pick. Seattle wanted Dallas’ 34th and 67th picks. Dallas balked. Seattle traded with Denver, and it’s Denver who got Lynch with the 26th pick in the first round. So if Dallas had traded 34 and 67, three things would have happened:
• The Cowboys would have picked Lynch and not Dak Prescott. Judging by Lynch’s uneven first camp and season, and the fact that he’s a slight underdog to beat out Trevor Siemian this year, it’s almost inarguable that Prescott with the 135th overall pick was a better choice than Lynch at 26.
• The Cowboys would not have picked Collins to fortify the then-weakest position group on the team—defensive line.
• The Cowboys would not have picked Jaylon Smith at 34. He’s the Notre Dame linebacker who would have been a top-five pick in the draft had he not suffered a bad knee injury in his final college game.
There’s still no guarantee he’ll be a good NFL player, but he’s an intriguing prospect who, if he makes it, could be the Cowboys’ post-Sean Lee defensive team leader. So … overall, sometimes the best decisions are the ones you don’t make.
7. I think there are two long-gone players, above all those who have been on the ballot for years, who I would like to see elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame: wide receiver Cliff Branch of the Raiders and defensive lineman Joe Klecko of the Jets.
8. I think it was interesting to see that Pete Prisco of CBS Sports asked some Falcons the other day how they felt about the Patriots having 283 tiny diamonds on their Super Bowl rings this year. The meaning: 283, as in coming back from a 28-3 deficit to win Super Bowl 51. Prisco said he could tell the Falcons players didn’t like it. I say so what.
If I’m the Patriots, 283 is a tremendous point of pride, noting the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history. When I heard the Patriots had 283 diamonds on each ring, I didn’t take it in any way as a slap in the face to the Falcons. I took it only as a “look what we did” memento. If the Falcons are upset about it, maybe they should be. Maybe they should be reminded that blowing a 28-3 lead in the third quarter of a Super Bowl just doesn’t get swept under the rug. It’s real.
9. I think this is what’s it’s come to for Josh Freeman, the former first-round pick of the Bucs who blew out his career by being a laissez-faire practice player and poor off-season preparer: He had a tryout for Montreal of the Canadian Football League the other day.
He’s not good enough to be in camp with a CFL team—he’s got to try out for a spot in training camp. I’m not trying to jump on Freeman, but he knows now he blew his best chance to be a starting NFL quarterback by not working hard enough when he had the chance.
Here is Step 1 of Obsessive Patriots Fans Anonymous:
- We admitted we were powerless over our insane obsession with Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and all things Patriots – that our lives had become unmanageable.
******************************************************************
http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2017/06/19/peter-king-monday-morning-quarterback-nfl-randy-moss-commencement
On Randy Moss, Equality and Commencement Speeches
How the Vikings went from ‘the biggest mistake they ever made’ to now honoring their former mercurial receiver, with the help of an old friend. Plus more on NFL team leadership progress, a stunning Colin Kaepernick stat and the wise words heard at college graduation ceremonies this year
By Peter King
My last column before three Mondays off—you will love the substitutes, so come back on June 26, July 3 and July 10 for great prose and information. Today is a surprising hodgepodge, followed by my annual section of commencement speeches from campuses around the country. (Theo Epstein had a gem at Yale.) Enjoy the column.
* * *
The Greatest Thing I Saw This Week
Longtime Vikings writer Sid Hartman interviewed Randy Moss, who will be inducted into the team’s Ring of Honor this fall
Photo: Tom West/Minnesota Vikings
Look at this photo. Tom West, the longtime Vikings PR man, took it the other day in fellow PR man Bob Hagan’s office at the Vikings’ headquarters in Eden Prairie, Minn.
It’s beautiful. Hartman, 97, the longtime Minnesota columnist and radio host who is still working every week, is on the left, interviewing Moss, 40, who was in town to be told his number was being retired, and he would be enshrined in the team’s Ring of Honor.
The two have had an interesting relationship. When Moss was under fire as a Viking for playing hard when he felt like it, Hartman interviewed him, and Moss famously said, “I play when I want to play.” They clashed over that, though all Hartman was doing was quoting (and in effect excoriating) the best receiver in the game.
I talked to Moss about the photo, and asked him about the meaning of his meeting and his interview with the raspy, indefatigable Hartman.
“Respect your elders,” Moss said. “I love Sid.”
It was interesting to hear Moss talk about Hartman the day after he met him, and the day he was honored by the Vikings. If you recall, Moss was pretty ticked off when the Vikings dispatched him to Oakland after seven starry seasons in 2005. Moss had the best debut of any receiver in NFL history—he had 53 touchdown catches in his first four years.
When people thought he was a loafer in the twilight, at 30, he had the greatest season a wideout ever had, catching 23 touchdown passes at age 30 for New England in 2007. An amazing career, yet the petulance dogs him. He knows. And he’s matured about it all.
“All the flak I took, everything I dealt with coming from high school and college, and then for them to give this award, the Ring of Honor, I am speechless. I really am,” Moss told me. “It was such a great day. I am so honored. What it makes me realize is: I did something right.”
And Sid?
“When we talked, the conversation was so genuine,” Moss said. “I loved it, really. Good or bad, our relationship developed. Through everything, Sid showed me respect. To sum it up, I am speaking for a lot of the guys I played with here in Minnesota:
He earned his stripes. He earned our respect, by working, by being there. He’s done it, for so long, for so much of history. He’s seen so much. He’s old enough to be our great-grandfather.”
On Sunday morning from 9 to noon, Hartman hosted his weekly radio show on WCCO in Minneapolis. It’s been a community staple for more than 20 years. “People get out of church and turn on the radio to see what Sid’s saying,” Hagan said. “It’s been that way for years.”
Nice guest list this week: Moss, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer, Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau … and little old me. Hartman doesn’t hear as well as he used to, and sometimes the questions have to be re-asked to him. But he answers them. “Why,” I asked Hartman, “does someone your age who grew up in a different world than guys like Moss get along with them so well?”
“I can’t explain it,” Hartman said over the airwaves. “It’s just worked out from day one. The biggest mistake the Vikings ever made was trading Randy Moss.” Now Moss is back in the fold, sort of. Bygones have faded. And Hartman and Moss, 57 years apart, are left standing.
* * *
Unprecedented Equality in NFL Team Leadership
The Chargers’ Anthony Lynn is one of eight minority head coaches in the NFL
Photo: Denis Poroy/AP
John Wooten is 80 now. The 10-year NFL guard blocked for Jim Brown in Cleveland and, as the chair of the quality-advocacy Fritz Pollard Alliance for the past 14 years, fought for equal rights for minority coaches, scouts and front-office officials. He is the quintessential NFL lifetimer, a classic devotee of the game who, at the same time, who would consider his life diminished if he didn’t leave the game more egalitarian than he found it.
So after Washington president Bruce Allen named Doug Williams the team’s senior vice president of player personnel—the first African-American head of player acquisition in franchise history—Wooten had to be feeling some sense of pride. Not only had this franchise been the last team in pro football to integrate its roster (amazingly late, in 1962), but no minority had ever run the personnel side of the building in its 85-year history … until last week.
John Wooten
Photo: David Richard/AP
This is a historic day for the league, really. It’s a bit of an invented stat, but it’s true: The 32 NFL franchises now have a total of 15 minorities either coaching the team or running the personnel side of the team. Never in league annals have at least seven head coaches and general manager/personnel czars run teams. But this year there will be a total of 15 minorities coaching or running the personnel side. (It was 10 as recently as 2013.)
“It’s so gratifying,” Wooten said from his home in Texas over the weekend. “It tells me how far we’ve come as a league. I will never forget, years ago, when [Dallas president] Tex Schramm said to me, ‘You’re trying to tell us who to hire!’ I said, ‘No, Tex. We simply want a chance to interview for these jobs.’ And now, everyone is just trying to do what they can to make equal opportunity in coaching and the front office a reality.”
• The minority coaches (eight): Ron Rivera (Carolina), Marvin Lewis (Cincinnati), Hue Jackson (Cleveland), Vance Joseph (Denver), Jim Caldwell (Detroit), Anthony Lynn (Los Angeles Chargers), Todd Bowles (New York Jets), Mike Tomlin (Pittsburgh).
• The personnel czars (seven): Ozzie Newsome (Baltimore), Sashi Brown (Cleveland), Rick Smith (Houston), Reggie McKenzie (Oakland), Chris Grier (Miami), Jerry Reese (New York Giants), Doug Williams (Washington).
Williams never thought he’d get the shot. But he grew up being told opportunities would come because of merit, not color, and that was reinforced by his coach at historically black Grambling, where Williams played quarterback. “Eddie Robinson never said, ‘You can do this because you’re black,’” said Williams. “He said, ‘If you’re ever going to get a chance, you’re going to get a chance in America.’ And here it is.”
* * *
Cool Story of the Week
Photo: AP Photo
Robert Klemko of The MMQB polled 51 players in the Denver Broncos locker room toward the end of the 2016 season for a team census. “What, exactly, are you trying to prove?” then-Bronco Russell Okung asked Klemko.
Nothing, and everything. We were trying to find out the demographic of one NFL team Nothing more, nothing less. Whatever the results were, they were. A few responses were eye-opening, like the voting pattern of the locker room in an election that had much at stake for the country.
Thirty-four players, a full 66.7 percent, told Klemko they had not voted in the 2016 election. That’s disturbing to me. But other points, about life and background and beliefs, made this a very interesting read. (Thanks to The MMQB’s graphics team, and to editor Gary Gramling, for their work on it.)
This also was curious: Of the 24 players on the team who received 10 or more college scholarship offers, 13 received college degrees. Of the 19 players who got five offers or fewer, 17 got their degrees. Not sure what that means … it could be coincidental—or it could be that the less privileged among the players worked harder on academics in college.
* * *
Login to view embedded media View: https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/875772411320434688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fmmqb.si.com%2Fmmqb%2F2017%2F06%2F19%2Fpeter-king-monday-morning-quarterback-nfl-randy-moss-commencement
Floyd is due in court on June 26 after violating the terms of his house arrest, testing positive for alcohol on June 11. Floyd says his positive alcohol test was due to drinking Kombucha tea.
* * *
Things I Think I Think
1. I think as teams dispersed from practices and camps this summer, and prepare to take four or five weeks off from this demanding life, I urge all of them to take it. The game has become waaaaay too life-dominating. You need time off, folks.
2. I think these are a few quick thoughts I want to get on the record:
a. This website is losing one of our stalwart reporters, Emily Kaplan, to a new job. (She would prefer to make the announcement about her destination, and I am going to let her, at the time of her choosing.) We are sad about that, of course, because Emily is one of the best young journalists covering pro football. She’s helped us raise our game with her doggedness and her tireless reporting, and I know she’s going to have a great career.
More about Emily to come in the near future. But I’m glad to have had the chance to work with her as her career takes off. Emily’s a great example of a young person in a changing business who tried everything—video, podcasts, audio reporting, columns—and wasn’t content to simply be a classic sportswriter. She’ll be missed.
b. Congrats to both the PR staffs of the Texans and Ravens for the victories in the annual Pro Football Writers of America awards in helping football media do our jobs. Both groups are terrific. I want to point out the first female PR czar to ever win this award, senior director of communications Amy Palcic of the Texans, has come a long way by the sweat of her brow to be one of the best in the business.
Eight years ago, she was in essence demoted in Cleveland over an incident with tight end Kellen Winslow, and she wouldn’t stand for it. She left the Browns, ended up landing in Houston, and was promoted to this job two years ago. Good things come to those who work—and who prepare.
c. In 2015, U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) helped sponsor the Steve Gleason Act, a bill fashioned to help former Saint Steve Gleason making speech-generating devices easier to get and use for patients suffering from crushing disorders like ALS.
Scalise, from Metairie, site of the Saints’ training facility, is a huge Saints fan, often appearing at practices just to watch … he was there, in fact, in May to watch the team. That’s why the shooting of Scalise at a baseball practice last week hit the Saints’ franchise so hard, and why they sent—and continued to send—wishes, prayers and offers of owner Tom Benson’s plane to the family.
d. Kudos to the Dolphins, starting with owner Stephen Ross, in emphasizing voter registration with their players. A team spokesman said Friday that 90 percent of the players on the roster, helped by a team voter registration drive, are now registered to vote in general elections.
3. I think there’s a great lesson in Zach Strief, the Saints’ tackle, right now. Forward-thinking guy. I heard him on Albert Breer’s podcast this week. Strief on finding a post-career passion: “It’s been a series of guys, players who’ve been here who I respect highly, guys that I think the world of that are good guys—smart, intelligent, sharp—that have struggled with that transition.
It’s no different than if I came to you tomorrow and said, ‘Hey, Albert, sorry, it’s not your decision, but you can never be a reporter ever again, so figure something out.’ That’s a really tough reality for someone who has spent a long time doing one thing. It’s very difficult for guys mentally to deal with that, and I got to see that. I got to see some older players come back and say, ‘Hey, I’m struggling a little bit figuring out what I’m going to do.’
Or, ‘Hey, I’ve got some opportunities but I’m the intern, so I went from being a pro athlete to having a job that a 22-year-old with no work experience has.’ That’s tough for a 33-year-old man who’s grown accustomed to living his life a certain way. And so those realities hit home and I realized, hey, you need to be on the lookout for something.” Strief, his father-in-law and three other partners founded Port Orleans Brewing. (And no, I did not write about this just because it’s beer.)
4. I think I’m excited that we introduced a new feature at The MMQB last week. “The Exit Interview,” which will feature things learned and lessons passed on by prominent football players/coaches/front office people/media when they retire or lose their jobs. Our first episode: Bob McGinn, who, after 38 years covering the Packers, voluntarily left the beat for a new life in Michigan.
I always admired McGinn because of his work ethic, his brains, his fierce independence. He made me a better follower of football. Listen to his warning about the in-house nature of so much football writing and coverage these days: “Teams want to play the games and cover the games; they want to do both. All these team websites are just a pox on our business.
All the coverage is slanted. It’s all pro-team and the people who cover, who work for a network one way or another that is paying the league billions of dollars to broadcast games and be partners, everything they say I take with a grain of salt. It’s left all to beat writers and magazine guys apart from these teams and networks who have independence to dissect the game and look at things with an unbiased eye.” Strong words, and apt ones.
5. I think, however, there are some very good team-website features I’ve found. One is the inside-football reporting from former scout Bryan Broaddus on the Cowboys site. Check out his Wednesday practice report from minicamp. Two very interesting things:
First-round washout Jonathan Cooper spent the day on perhaps the best offensive line in football starting at left guard; that’s a eye-popper in itself. But also this from Broaddus’ practice report: “The one guy that is able to give Zack Martin trouble is Maliek Collins. It’s rare that you see Martin get knocked off balance against power, but that’s what Collins was able to do during the Team Period.” That’s good reporting.
6. I think, as an aside, this is what I think when I see that Maliek Collins is creating some havoc in drills at a Cowboys practice: I covered the Cowboys’ draft last year, and the team’s number one target as the first round went on (after the drafting of Ezekiel Elliott with the fourth overall pick) was Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch.
Dallas was offering the 34th and 101st overall picks for a low-first-round pick. Seattle wanted Dallas’ 34th and 67th picks. Dallas balked. Seattle traded with Denver, and it’s Denver who got Lynch with the 26th pick in the first round. So if Dallas had traded 34 and 67, three things would have happened:
• The Cowboys would have picked Lynch and not Dak Prescott. Judging by Lynch’s uneven first camp and season, and the fact that he’s a slight underdog to beat out Trevor Siemian this year, it’s almost inarguable that Prescott with the 135th overall pick was a better choice than Lynch at 26.
• The Cowboys would not have picked Collins to fortify the then-weakest position group on the team—defensive line.
• The Cowboys would not have picked Jaylon Smith at 34. He’s the Notre Dame linebacker who would have been a top-five pick in the draft had he not suffered a bad knee injury in his final college game.
There’s still no guarantee he’ll be a good NFL player, but he’s an intriguing prospect who, if he makes it, could be the Cowboys’ post-Sean Lee defensive team leader. So … overall, sometimes the best decisions are the ones you don’t make.
7. I think there are two long-gone players, above all those who have been on the ballot for years, who I would like to see elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame: wide receiver Cliff Branch of the Raiders and defensive lineman Joe Klecko of the Jets.
8. I think it was interesting to see that Pete Prisco of CBS Sports asked some Falcons the other day how they felt about the Patriots having 283 tiny diamonds on their Super Bowl rings this year. The meaning: 283, as in coming back from a 28-3 deficit to win Super Bowl 51. Prisco said he could tell the Falcons players didn’t like it. I say so what.
If I’m the Patriots, 283 is a tremendous point of pride, noting the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history. When I heard the Patriots had 283 diamonds on each ring, I didn’t take it in any way as a slap in the face to the Falcons. I took it only as a “look what we did” memento. If the Falcons are upset about it, maybe they should be. Maybe they should be reminded that blowing a 28-3 lead in the third quarter of a Super Bowl just doesn’t get swept under the rug. It’s real.
9. I think this is what’s it’s come to for Josh Freeman, the former first-round pick of the Bucs who blew out his career by being a laissez-faire practice player and poor off-season preparer: He had a tryout for Montreal of the Canadian Football League the other day.
He’s not good enough to be in camp with a CFL team—he’s got to try out for a spot in training camp. I’m not trying to jump on Freeman, but he knows now he blew his best chance to be a starting NFL quarterback by not working hard enough when he had the chance.
-
Poll
Jake Ellenbogen's All-Time Rams Roster: Quarterbacks
- By JKBOGEN
- RAMS / NFL TALK
- 31 Replies
Jake Ellenbogen's All-Time Rams Roster: Quarterbacks
In this renewed series Jake gives you a complete all-time Rams roster going through each position. Here we start at quarterback where there were will be one starter, two backups, and an honorable mention.
Starter: Kurt Warner
(50 starts, 35-15 record, 66.4 comp %, 14,447 yds, 102 TDs, 97.2 QB Rating w/ Rams)
(2x MVP, 3x Pro Bowler, 2x All-Pro, 1x Super Bowl Champion w/ Rams)
We all know the fairytale career of Kurt Warner. The one who bagged groceries dominated the NFL Europe League and the Arena League. The leader that went from being behind Brett Favre in Green Bay to going to the Rams and backing up Trent Green.
Warner may have had some luck in the form of Rodney Harrison's dirty hit that knocked Green out of the starting job in preseason, but Warner had paid his dues and when the time came he took over the job and ran away with it. Many may disagree with this choice, but the Rams only Super Bowl came from a team that was quarterbacked by Warner. Not just quarterbacked, but led in a way we had never seen, leading a team that truly changed the game by shattering records across the board including setting a new record for team offense points scored until the recent Patriots dynasty broke that.
The Rams were bad before this magical run with a magical quarterback, a phenomenal offensive mind and offensive weapons that would give defenses nightmares. It didn't end the way we all may have wanted, but there is no denying that Warner is a Rams legend and with his 32,344 passing yards, 65.5 completion percentage, 208 passing touchdowns and career 93.7 quarterback rating in 116 games as an NFL starter. It's easy to understand why this newly enshrined Pro Football Hall-of-Famer would be starting on my all-time Rams roster. Warner added two MVP awards, two All-Pro awards and four Pro Bowl team appearances to his resume of an impressive career.
No.2 QB: Norm Van Brocklin
(65 starts, 42-20-3 record, 53.3 comp %, 16,114 yds, 118 TDs, 74.7 QB Rating w/ Rams)
(1x MVP, 6x Pro Bowler, 1x All-Pro, 2x NFL Champion w/ Rams)
The Dutchman, as they called him, had one of the most prolific careers for an NFL quarterback. The crazy thing about Norm Van Brocklin was the fact he was drafted to a team that already had a legendary quarterback in Bob Waterfield. Can you even imagine that today? Waterfield was 29 years of age when the Rams made the gutsy selection of Van Brocklin. That's like if you took Aaron Rodgers and how much of a superstar he is today and drafted the top overall quarterback because you couldn't pass up on him.
Now, with that being said The Dutchman was picked in the fourth round of the draft due to concerns he would ultimately give up playing football. The Rams clearly grabbed the bull by the horns and pulled the trigger on an opportunity they felt they could not pass up. Rams Head coach Joe Stydahar had a plan and as crazy and diabolical as it gets, he platooned the rookie Van Brocklin with the star veteran Waterfield.
During this time they became the "Greatest Show on Grass". Stydahar turned out to be a genius with the way he utilized two would-be Hall of Famer's. The team set the crippling average of 38.8 points per game back in 1950 which has never been broken and in this day in age seeing the Greatest Show on Turf and the New England Patriots dynasty offense, I believe it will stand the test of time. Van Brocklin ended up going to six Pro Bowls and was able to end up winning two NFL Championships with the Rams. The Dutchman threw for 23,611 yards in his career to go along with a whopping 173 touchdowns through the air in 101 games started. To add to all of that his 554 passing yard record remains as the most yardage thrown for in a single-game.
No. 3 QB: Bob Waterfield
(57 starts, 14-8 record, 50.3 comp %, 11,849 yds, 97 TDs, 61.6 QB Rating w/ Rams)
(1x MVP, 2x Pro Bowler, 3x All-Pro, 2x NFL Champion w/ Rams)
The only quarterback who has had his number retired by the Rams organization falls to third-string on my roster. This, however, is not a knock on Waterfield himself. It doesn't help that we are trying to narrow this down when talking about three Hall of Famer's. Now, Waterfield's stats do not pass the eye test at all seeing as he actually had more interceptions than touchdowns which in today's league would get you a spot on the wall of shame.
Do not let the stats deceive you. First off, he was 100% Rams and he proved that playing his whole entire career there and then when he stopped playing he coached the Rams. Today's game is completely different to when Waterfield was playing. Waterfield was one who single-handedly carried the Rams to wins in their seasons. Waterfield not only dominated with his arm, but he also dominated with his leg.
How dominant was Waterfield you may ask? So dominant, the Rams owner Dan Reeves decided to make his the highest paid player in the league in just his rookie season after leading his team in his rookie year to win a championship over the Washington Redskins. Again, the stats may not look pretty, but Waterfield is a Hall of Famer and a two-time NFL champion.
Honorable mention
Roman Gabriel
This is one of the tougher honorable mentions on this roster. Roman Gabriel was fantastic with the Rams, he isn't quite a Hall of Famer, but led the Rams to a 74-39-6 record as a starter in 119 games over a span of 11 years. Gabriel was, of course, a former MVP and thus had to be mentioned in this piece in some facet. It will likely hold him back that he never won a championship like the top three mentioned, but you know your team has had a nice rich history if an MVP at QB is an honorable mention. This is the pick I expect to receive plenty of disagreement on.
What are your thoughts Rams fans? Are you okay with this position group or do I need to make some shakeups? Let me know! Be sure to stay tuned for the next article in this when we tackle running backs.
In this renewed series Jake gives you a complete all-time Rams roster going through each position. Here we start at quarterback where there were will be one starter, two backups, and an honorable mention.
Starter: Kurt Warner
(50 starts, 35-15 record, 66.4 comp %, 14,447 yds, 102 TDs, 97.2 QB Rating w/ Rams)
(2x MVP, 3x Pro Bowler, 2x All-Pro, 1x Super Bowl Champion w/ Rams)
We all know the fairytale career of Kurt Warner. The one who bagged groceries dominated the NFL Europe League and the Arena League. The leader that went from being behind Brett Favre in Green Bay to going to the Rams and backing up Trent Green.
Warner may have had some luck in the form of Rodney Harrison's dirty hit that knocked Green out of the starting job in preseason, but Warner had paid his dues and when the time came he took over the job and ran away with it. Many may disagree with this choice, but the Rams only Super Bowl came from a team that was quarterbacked by Warner. Not just quarterbacked, but led in a way we had never seen, leading a team that truly changed the game by shattering records across the board including setting a new record for team offense points scored until the recent Patriots dynasty broke that.
The Rams were bad before this magical run with a magical quarterback, a phenomenal offensive mind and offensive weapons that would give defenses nightmares. It didn't end the way we all may have wanted, but there is no denying that Warner is a Rams legend and with his 32,344 passing yards, 65.5 completion percentage, 208 passing touchdowns and career 93.7 quarterback rating in 116 games as an NFL starter. It's easy to understand why this newly enshrined Pro Football Hall-of-Famer would be starting on my all-time Rams roster. Warner added two MVP awards, two All-Pro awards and four Pro Bowl team appearances to his resume of an impressive career.
No.2 QB: Norm Van Brocklin
(65 starts, 42-20-3 record, 53.3 comp %, 16,114 yds, 118 TDs, 74.7 QB Rating w/ Rams)
(1x MVP, 6x Pro Bowler, 1x All-Pro, 2x NFL Champion w/ Rams)
The Dutchman, as they called him, had one of the most prolific careers for an NFL quarterback. The crazy thing about Norm Van Brocklin was the fact he was drafted to a team that already had a legendary quarterback in Bob Waterfield. Can you even imagine that today? Waterfield was 29 years of age when the Rams made the gutsy selection of Van Brocklin. That's like if you took Aaron Rodgers and how much of a superstar he is today and drafted the top overall quarterback because you couldn't pass up on him.
Now, with that being said The Dutchman was picked in the fourth round of the draft due to concerns he would ultimately give up playing football. The Rams clearly grabbed the bull by the horns and pulled the trigger on an opportunity they felt they could not pass up. Rams Head coach Joe Stydahar had a plan and as crazy and diabolical as it gets, he platooned the rookie Van Brocklin with the star veteran Waterfield.
During this time they became the "Greatest Show on Grass". Stydahar turned out to be a genius with the way he utilized two would-be Hall of Famer's. The team set the crippling average of 38.8 points per game back in 1950 which has never been broken and in this day in age seeing the Greatest Show on Turf and the New England Patriots dynasty offense, I believe it will stand the test of time. Van Brocklin ended up going to six Pro Bowls and was able to end up winning two NFL Championships with the Rams. The Dutchman threw for 23,611 yards in his career to go along with a whopping 173 touchdowns through the air in 101 games started. To add to all of that his 554 passing yard record remains as the most yardage thrown for in a single-game.
No. 3 QB: Bob Waterfield
(57 starts, 14-8 record, 50.3 comp %, 11,849 yds, 97 TDs, 61.6 QB Rating w/ Rams)
(1x MVP, 2x Pro Bowler, 3x All-Pro, 2x NFL Champion w/ Rams)
The only quarterback who has had his number retired by the Rams organization falls to third-string on my roster. This, however, is not a knock on Waterfield himself. It doesn't help that we are trying to narrow this down when talking about three Hall of Famer's. Now, Waterfield's stats do not pass the eye test at all seeing as he actually had more interceptions than touchdowns which in today's league would get you a spot on the wall of shame.
Do not let the stats deceive you. First off, he was 100% Rams and he proved that playing his whole entire career there and then when he stopped playing he coached the Rams. Today's game is completely different to when Waterfield was playing. Waterfield was one who single-handedly carried the Rams to wins in their seasons. Waterfield not only dominated with his arm, but he also dominated with his leg.
How dominant was Waterfield you may ask? So dominant, the Rams owner Dan Reeves decided to make his the highest paid player in the league in just his rookie season after leading his team in his rookie year to win a championship over the Washington Redskins. Again, the stats may not look pretty, but Waterfield is a Hall of Famer and a two-time NFL champion.
Honorable mention
Roman Gabriel
This is one of the tougher honorable mentions on this roster. Roman Gabriel was fantastic with the Rams, he isn't quite a Hall of Famer, but led the Rams to a 74-39-6 record as a starter in 119 games over a span of 11 years. Gabriel was, of course, a former MVP and thus had to be mentioned in this piece in some facet. It will likely hold him back that he never won a championship like the top three mentioned, but you know your team has had a nice rich history if an MVP at QB is an honorable mention. This is the pick I expect to receive plenty of disagreement on.
What are your thoughts Rams fans? Are you okay with this position group or do I need to make some shakeups? Let me know! Be sure to stay tuned for the next article in this when we tackle running backs.
Rams fans already seem to hate the team's updated uniform combination
- By Memphis Ram
- RAMS / NFL TALK
- 78 Replies
LOOK: Rams fans already seem to hate the team's updated uniform combination
The minor modifications to the Rams uniforms are majorly unpopular with fans
If the Rams are looking for something to do between now and the start of training camp, they might want to consider redesigning their uniforms again because their fans already seem to hate the most recent changes that the team made. Back in March, the team announced that it would be making some minor modifications for the upcoming season. Most notably, the Rams said they would be getting rid of the color gold from both their helmets and their pants.
When the Rams originally announced the changes, the new look was unveiled in a series of illustrations. It wasn't until this week that fans actually got to see what the uniforms would look like on an actual player, and let's just say things didn't go well when the team unveiled the new look.
Here's a look at Connor Barwin modeling the uniform in a Facebook post that the Rams shared on Flag Day.
After the picture was posted on Facebook, the negative reaction was almost immediate.
ew image on Twitter
https://twitter.com/SosaNFLDraft
Follow
Sosa Kremenjas @SosaNFLDraft
Why the hell do the Rams have 3 different shades of blue on their uniform? Only they could mess up a damn uniform
4:00 PM - 14 Jun 2017
This guy clearly doesn't like the Rams' new look Facebook
"I'm sorry but the new temporary uniforms look ridiculous," one fan wrote. "The helmet, jersey, and pants are all completely different from each other. The Rams should have just stuck with the old unis until the complete redesign when the new stadium opens."
That guy's opinion seemed to be the general sentiment of every fan on the Rams' Facebook page.
"These uniforms are horrible," another fan wrote. "They look like the freshman football team where everything is hand me downs and nothing matches."
Another fan said that it looks like a toddler handled the redesign.
"This uniform concept looks like it was thrown together by a pre-schooler," the fan wrote.
Another fan simply wrote, "Trash."
I'm assuming he was referring to the uniforms and not the way the team played last year.
The Rams started wearing all-white uniforms at home in 2016, and you can see what that combination looked like last year.
Tavon Austin shows off the Rams' uniforms from 2016. USATSI
For the upcoming season, the gold stripe on the pants and the gold horns on the helmet have both been eliminated. Instead, the horns on the helmet will be white and the pants will only feature one giant blue stripe.
The reason the uniform is kind of weird looking this year is because the Rams are in the process are in a complete overhaul. Unfortunately though, they're not allowed to modify for their jersey top this year due to NFL rules. The team is hoping to unveil a new jersey top when the Rams' new stadium opens in 2020, which means Rams fans could be staring at uniforms they hate for the next three seasons (The team had originally planned to unveil the new uniform tops in 2019 when the new stadium was originally slated to open, but now, they'll likely delay the new look since the new stadium has been delayed).
The Rams chose to wear a blue and white helmet as a nod to their past. The team wore blue and white helmets from 1964 to 1972, a period that included the birth of the team's "Fearsome Foursome" defensive line.
Anyway, the small irony in all of this is that the fans did have some say in the uniform. Back in February, fans voted on the pants (one blue stripe or two) and the color of the facemask on the helmet (white or gray).
Of course, the one thing they didn't get to vote on was whether or not all the shades of blue would be the same.
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/l...o-hate-the-teams-updated-uniform-combination/
The minor modifications to the Rams uniforms are majorly unpopular with fans
If the Rams are looking for something to do between now and the start of training camp, they might want to consider redesigning their uniforms again because their fans already seem to hate the most recent changes that the team made. Back in March, the team announced that it would be making some minor modifications for the upcoming season. Most notably, the Rams said they would be getting rid of the color gold from both their helmets and their pants.
When the Rams originally announced the changes, the new look was unveiled in a series of illustrations. It wasn't until this week that fans actually got to see what the uniforms would look like on an actual player, and let's just say things didn't go well when the team unveiled the new look.
Here's a look at Connor Barwin modeling the uniform in a Facebook post that the Rams shared on Flag Day.
After the picture was posted on Facebook, the negative reaction was almost immediate.
ew image on Twitter
https://twitter.com/SosaNFLDraft
Follow
Sosa Kremenjas @SosaNFLDraftWhy the hell do the Rams have 3 different shades of blue on their uniform? Only they could mess up a damn uniform
4:00 PM - 14 Jun 2017
Dozens of fans shared their opinion about the new look on Facebook, and from what I can tell, almost all of them hated the new uniforms.
This guy clearly doesn't like the Rams' new look Facebook
"I'm sorry but the new temporary uniforms look ridiculous," one fan wrote. "The helmet, jersey, and pants are all completely different from each other. The Rams should have just stuck with the old unis until the complete redesign when the new stadium opens."
That guy's opinion seemed to be the general sentiment of every fan on the Rams' Facebook page.
"These uniforms are horrible," another fan wrote. "They look like the freshman football team where everything is hand me downs and nothing matches."
Another fan said that it looks like a toddler handled the redesign.
"This uniform concept looks like it was thrown together by a pre-schooler," the fan wrote.
Another fan simply wrote, "Trash."
I'm assuming he was referring to the uniforms and not the way the team played last year.
The Rams started wearing all-white uniforms at home in 2016, and you can see what that combination looked like last year.
Tavon Austin shows off the Rams' uniforms from 2016. USATSI
For the upcoming season, the gold stripe on the pants and the gold horns on the helmet have both been eliminated. Instead, the horns on the helmet will be white and the pants will only feature one giant blue stripe.
The reason the uniform is kind of weird looking this year is because the Rams are in the process are in a complete overhaul. Unfortunately though, they're not allowed to modify for their jersey top this year due to NFL rules. The team is hoping to unveil a new jersey top when the Rams' new stadium opens in 2020, which means Rams fans could be staring at uniforms they hate for the next three seasons (The team had originally planned to unveil the new uniform tops in 2019 when the new stadium was originally slated to open, but now, they'll likely delay the new look since the new stadium has been delayed).
The Rams chose to wear a blue and white helmet as a nod to their past. The team wore blue and white helmets from 1964 to 1972, a period that included the birth of the team's "Fearsome Foursome" defensive line.
Anyway, the small irony in all of this is that the fans did have some say in the uniform. Back in February, fans voted on the pants (one blue stripe or two) and the color of the facemask on the helmet (white or gray).
Of course, the one thing they didn't get to vote on was whether or not all the shades of blue would be the same.
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/l...o-hate-the-teams-updated-uniform-combination/
Farting Dust
- By RamFan503
- RAMS / NFL TALK
- 47 Replies
I realize that this should probably go on Off Topic but.... Nah - it's going here.
Our own @Selassie I turns 50 today. And as anyone over 50 knows, it's all down hill from here. So let's have a moment of silence in respect for youth gone under.......... OK.... That's enough of that shit.
I just wanted to wish one of my great friends here on ROD and in the real world, a very happy birthday. George and I finally got to actually meet a few years ago when we traveled to FL. And I can't think of anyone who would have kick started our vacation like he and his wonderful wife Cammy and son @Ramrasta . We cruised, we partied, smoked ribs for the Tampa tailgater, and just had a great time with them.
Happy Birthday George. Wish we could be there celebrating it with you. You could hear my obnoxious laugh again.
A really bad video of part of our cruise on the Intercostal. And no... I didn't say titties.
Login to view embedded media View: https://youtu.be/jjVuPbYnJZo
Opening day in St Louis when we stuffed Lynch on fourth and one.
George photo bombing the lovelies after the Tampa game.
Shortly after arrival in St Louis with a few of you ROD freaks. Guess @CGI_Ram and his wife hadn't arrive yet.
Checking out the Arch
At the memorial for Rich Harter RIP Rich
I could add a bunch more and may just do that. But here's to you George. Have a great birthday and we'll get out there to see you guys again soon.
" HAPPY FATHER'S DAY EVERYONE!!"
- By DaveFan'51
- OFF TOPIC
- 11 Replies
Happy Father's to all you Dad's out there in ROD Land!! You young non-Dad's don't know what your missing!! Enjoy Your " One Day a Year, you get some R_E_S_P_E_C_T!
And don't forget 'Gramps' either!
Seriously, Remember, you gave up all right to privacy, or freedom from worry the second you became a Father!
And a SPECIAL Happy Fathers day to MY Dad!! This is My favorite photo of Him! And My Mom!
This photo was taken on their Wedding Day June 25th 1932! Where the alive today, they would be 106 years Old! God bless them Both!
Seriously, Remember, you gave up all right to privacy, or freedom from worry the second you became a Father!
And a SPECIAL Happy Fathers day to MY Dad!! This is My favorite photo of Him! And My Mom!
RIP Stephen Furst
http://variety.com/2017/film/news/s...imal-house-babylon-5-st-elsewhere-1202469695/
Stephen Furst, best known for getting his start in “Animal House,” has passed away due to complications with diabetes, Variety can confirm. He was 63 years old.
Furst died in his Moorpark, Calif. home on Friday. His sons Nathan and Griff Furst confirmed their father’s death on Facebook Saturday evening.
“Steve has a long list of earthly accomplishments,” began his boys. “He was known to the world as a brilliant and prolific actor and filmmaker, but to his family and many dear friends he was also a beloved husband, father, and kind friend whose memory will always be a blessing.”
Those other accomplishments include the National Lampoon spinoff “Delta House,” as well as starring roles on “Babylon 5” and “St. Elsewhere,” to name a few. In 2016, the actor made headlines for protesting the Academy’s rule change. Furst was also a spokesperson for the American Diabetes Association.
“To truly honor him, do not cry for the loss of Stephen Furst,” requested Furst’s sons. “Rather, enjoy memories of all the times he made you snicker, laugh, or even snort to your own embarrassment. He intensely believed that laugher is the best therapy, and he would want us to practice that now.”
Furst’s wife Lorraine Wright also died in 2017.
Stephen Furst, best known for getting his start in “Animal House,” has passed away due to complications with diabetes, Variety can confirm. He was 63 years old.
Furst died in his Moorpark, Calif. home on Friday. His sons Nathan and Griff Furst confirmed their father’s death on Facebook Saturday evening.
“Steve has a long list of earthly accomplishments,” began his boys. “He was known to the world as a brilliant and prolific actor and filmmaker, but to his family and many dear friends he was also a beloved husband, father, and kind friend whose memory will always be a blessing.”
Those other accomplishments include the National Lampoon spinoff “Delta House,” as well as starring roles on “Babylon 5” and “St. Elsewhere,” to name a few. In 2016, the actor made headlines for protesting the Academy’s rule change. Furst was also a spokesperson for the American Diabetes Association.
“To truly honor him, do not cry for the loss of Stephen Furst,” requested Furst’s sons. “Rather, enjoy memories of all the times he made you snicker, laugh, or even snort to your own embarrassment. He intensely believed that laugher is the best therapy, and he would want us to practice that now.”
Furst’s wife Lorraine Wright also died in 2017.
