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Chuck Burton/AP
The Maturation of Cam
Training camp tours are full of surprises, and there was a big one in Carolina. Plus, Joe Philbin's knuckles are getting a workout, Devin Hester starts anew in Atlanta and a new NFL practice trend has loudly announced its presence
By Peter King
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Nothing of note on the Rams today but here's something on Steven Jackson and believe it or not the return of Larry Marmie...yes that's right, Larry 'Freakin' Marmie. To read the entire article click the link.
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This is why “Hard Knocks” is like that Cosmo Kramer portrait.
Remember the “Seinfeld” episode when the society lady sees the oil painting of Kramer and says, “He is a loathsome, offensive brute, yet I cannot look away?” Well, the Falcons’ “Hard Knocks” series, five one-hour shows between now and the final cut of the roster, debuts Tuesday night on HBO (10 p.m. Eastern Time), and the producers have more than 400 hours of footage to cull down for the first hour.
One scene very likely to make the final cut is this one:
Steven Jackson is entering his 11th season, second with the Falcons. (John Bazemore/AP)
Running back Stephen Jackson, 31, has his running-back/fullback group clustered around him before the first practice of camp. The group finishes a pre-camp prayer, and Jackson indicates to the eight players around him—all of them younger—that he wants to speak.
“Hey man—I just want to say one thing too,” he begins, and all eyes go to the 10-year vet.
“It’s a lot of y’all’s first training camp. Nothing different, man. Football’s football. When you get between the lines, your God-given ability’s going to take over. All I do is encourage you to be confident in yourself. Motivate one another. Push and try to be better. Competition’s going to bring the best out of everybody. At the end of the day, only so many men gonna make this team. But at the end of the day we can still be brothers. At the end of the day we can still uplift each other. That’s what life is about. Know what I’m saying? Regardless what your paycheck reflects, you’re cared about amongst your brotherhood here and not just what you can do for a coach or an organization. Know what I’m saying?
“I made a lot of money in my career. Had a lot of success. But at the end of the day, I appreciated when somebody genuinely cared about me. I will do that for you. I want you to know, whatever you need, whatever you ask me, I will try to make sure you HAVE that information. And if I don’t know, I will try to find a resource to help you with it.
“When we walk on the field, we compete. When we walk OFF the field, we brothers. Know what I’m saying?”
“I take responsibility for being the leader of this room. Can’t nobody relate to us but this circle of people right now. We miss a block, we gonna make it right. We gonna make it right together. There’s no isolation. We gotta make it happen together. All right?”
Hands in the middle of the group now, one on top of another.
“RBs on three. One-two-three …”
Nine voices: “RBs!!!!”
Pretty good TV right there.
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The Bucs have an assistant coach assigned to coach nickel backs. They have separate meetings with the coach, Larry Marmie, a 71-year-old football lifer. I do believe this is the first time a team has assigned a coach to handle the nickel, or slot, corners. “Why not?’’ said Tampa Bay GM Jason Licht. “That’s a position where the guy might play 65 percent of your snaps.” The nickel backs meet and talk all about the unique position of slot corner, with its emphasis on physicality and playing in traffic that is separate from the outside corners.
It’s an interesting story. Marmie coached Lovie Smith as a collegian 36 years ago, at Tulsa, and later hired Smith to be on his coaching staff when he was the head coach at Arizona State. Smith felt the position—with in many cases a more physical player ping-ponging on the slot receiver inside the formation, as opposed to outside corners who can afford to be less physical—had become so important.
“We coach the nickel like he’s one of the 11 starters,’’ Marmie told me after practice Thursday, “because he’ll play more snaps in a game than some starters. The nickel plays not just on third down now, but on first and second downs if you’re matching up against a team that throws a lot.’’
In practice, Marmie said, “I take them every day and do individual drills away from the corners, away from the safeties. In some cases the drills are like linebacker drills. You want a guy who can play the passing game and be strong in coverage, and who can sort the routes out, and who also can play the run because he’s playing inside.’’
The Bucs’ nickel back in 2013, Leonard Johnson, played 711 of the team’s defensive snaps last year, which ranked 10th on the team. Johnson is competing for the spot this year and is favored to keep it. At 5-11 and 202 pounds, he jams and bumps more physically in practice than the outside corners.
