Fourth and Long: Stealing Signals
Back in 2007 and 2008, I wrote a weekly online pro football column dubbed “Fourth and Long” for the late Football for Breakfast website. One hopes the gentle reader will enjoy this blast from 9/19/07…
Remember when everyone spoke in hushed and reverent tones about the ‘Patriot Way’?
Not anymore.
In the past four and half months, the Patriots have signed Randy Moss, the most disrespectful player in the league (and that’s saying something); Patriots defensive leader Rodney Harrison, SI’s Dirtiest Player of the Year in 2004 and 2006, has admitted to using HGH; and now Bill Belichick has been sanctioned $500,000 by the commissioner for cheating.
So much for the Patriot way.
Yet some pundits have argued that Spygate is much ado about nothing.
Everyone does it. You still gotta play the game. It doesn’t help much.
But the point these pundits are missing, it seems, is that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell expressly reiterated to teams in the offseason that it was illegal to videotape signals. Period.
With the knowledge that this reminder was sent specifically to stop the Patriots from continuing their rumored spying operations, Bill Belichick still ordered Matt Estrella to illegally videotape the Jets defensive signals in plain sight of everyone.
It was an arrogant and brazen flaunting of the rules and as such needed be punished to ensure that no one would ever attempt this again. If players are to be held to a higher standard, then organizations and coaches certainly should be, too.
Was the penalty too harsh? Well, half a million dollars is nothing to sneeze at. And a first round draft pick ain’t chump change. But Belichick should have been suspended for at least one game. The level of hubris he exhibited certainly deserved a more public humiliation. And a suspension is about as close to a 20th century version of the pillory that exists.
Or at the very least, Belichick should have been forced to hold a one-hour prime-time press conference on ESPN where he was required, with Goodell sitting next to him, to answer every question posed to him from the press.
None of this ‘I’m moving on’ or ‘I’m focused on the Chargers’ crap.
Make no mistake. Bill Belichick allowed this to happen.
He needlessly opened himself and the Patriots to this criticism, giving everyone who hates the Patriots the ammunition to take shots at them. Ammunition that they did not have 4 1/2 months ago.
Winning the Super Bowl may diminish the volume of the critics. Anything less will not.
And Bill Belichick has no one to blame but himself.
‘Larry King’ Ramblings
It seems we have learned an important lesson in the first year of Roger Goodell’s reign: Don’t mess with him. The NFL landscape is littered with the remains of players and coaches who took him lightly. Pacman Jones. Tank Johnson. Michael Vick. Rodney Harrison. Wade Wilson. And now future Hall of Fame coach Bill Belichick. Who’s next?
What’s up with LT this year. Wasn’t this the guy who was praised for just handing the ball to the referee after a touchdown? Now he’s posing just like everyone else. And the Chargers did an awful lot of talking in the buildup to the Patriots game. Talking that they did not back up. Say what you will about Marty Schottenheimer, but the Chargers showed a lot more class with him in charge.
Speaking of Chargers coaches, why did Norv Turner need to make such a big deal out of spying? He even went so far as to change the team’s routine by holding back the offensive gameplan until the morning of the game. Doesn’t that just take focus away from the game? And why are the Chargers relying so heavily on Philip Rivers? Last year, the Chargers were successful running the ball with LT, then opening up the pass. If I remember correctly, it worked out pretty well for them. Maybe Schottenheimer and Cameron knew something that Turner doesn’t.
Did anyone else notice that the Jaguars game was blacked out in Jacksonville? This after they closed up 10,000 seats following the 2004 season. Not a good sign for the franchise. Don’t be surprised to see the Jaguars playing somewhere else in five years.
The Heidi Chronicles
Talk about dominance. Sunday Night Football beat the Emmy Awards in the ratings… I admit I have been critical of NBC’s Football in America, so I was happy to see improvements this week. And it didn’t hurt to have Bob Costas interview Roger Goodell. Good stuff… Monday Night Football is fun again thanks to chemistry between Jaworski, Kornheiser and Tirico, but Charles Barkley stole the show in the third quarter. In one particularly funny exchange after Tirico claimed the Eagles should have beaten the Packers in week one, Barkley responded, “If I didn’t eat so much, I wouldn’t be fat.” ESPN should bring him back every week.
The Joe Pisarcik Award
This week’s award has to go to ESPN for erroneously reporting that Eli Manning would miss four to six weeks with a separated shoulder. To make matters worse, when the Giants disputed the report, Chris Mortenson and John Clayton stuck to their guns and implied the Giants were lying. The proof is in the pudding. Eli Manning started Sunday, going 16-29 for 211 yards and 1 TD.
Playoffs?!? Don’t Talk About Playoffs?!?
With apologies to Jim Mora, it’s never too early to talk playoffs…
AFC Playoff Seeds
1) Indianapolis Colts (2-0): The Titans always play the Colts tough. Until they lose, I shall be ranking the defending champions as the top seed.
2) New England Patriots (2-0): Wow. 19-0 anyone?
3) Pittsburgh Steelers (2-0): Two wins to start the Tomlin era. A fairly easy schedule bodes well.
4) Denver Broncos (2-0): Another win eked out. But you can’t argue with 2-0.
5) Houston Texans (2-0): Winning after being down 14-0 on the road is huge. Very impressive win.
6) Cleveland Browns (1-1): The Brady Quinn era is put on hold in an offensive explosion (554 yards in total offense, 5 TD passes). Derek Anderson for MVP!
NFC Playoff Seeds
1) Dallas Cowboys (2-0): Another impressive offensive show. The Bears will be a good test to see how good the Cowboys really are.
2) Green Bay Packers (2-0): Brett Favre becomes the all-time winningest QB, but more importantly, the offense earns this win. But going 2-0 against opponents with a combined record of 0-4 may be misleading. The big test comes this week against the Chargers.
3) San Francisco 49ers (2-0): They may not be impressive, but they are undefeated.
4) Carolina Panther (1-1): Panthers or Buccaneers? Gotta go with the Panthers for right now, but losing at home after being up 14-0 is not a good sign.
5) Detroit Lions (2-0): Kitna may not be crazy after all.
6) Washington Redskins (2-0): Tremendous improvement over last week. Winning in Philly on a Monday night is nothing to sneeze at.
The John Madden Wayback Machine
As John Madden has repeatedly said, the NFL needs to embrace its heritage the way baseball does. So every week I hope to bring back a fond memory or share of a forgotten moment from football seasons past, beginning with the College All-Star Game.
From 1934 to 1976, the NFL champion would face off against College All-Stars in an annual charity game, traditionally at Soldier Field in Chicago. The game was a competitive affair in the 1930s and 1940s when the National Football League was still in its infancy, but in the 1960s and 1970s, the games tended to be more one-sided.
Interestingly, the last College All-Star victory came in 1963 when Otto Graham lead the collegians over Vince Lombardi and the Green Bay Packers! By 1976, crowds had begun to dwindle, and the final game was called in the third quarter with the Pittsburgh Steelers up 24-0 due to a driving rainstorm and unruly fans.
In the final tally, the NFL champions went 31-9-2.
For a more complete history of the College All-Star Game, make sure to visit Mark Bolding’s great Chicago Charities All-Star Game page.
The Battle for Brian Brohm (or Darren McFadden or Whoever the #1 Pick Will Be)
Winless teams in the running to ‘earn’ the top pick in the 2008 draft…
#1 – Atlanta Falcons (0-2): Best chance for victory slips away. Will Leftwich and 47-years-young Morten Anderson make a difference?
#2 – Miami Dolphins (0-2): Not a very good team.
#3 – Kansas City Chiefs (0-2): Ditto.
#4 – New Orleans Saints (0-2): Probably unfair to put them here, but they were 3-13 two years ago and have not looked good this year.
#5 – Buffalo Bills (0-2): Very emotional game. But not an auspicious start to the season.
#6 – St. Louis Rams (0-2): You can’t start the season with two home losses.
#7 – NY Jets (0-2): Justin McCareins drops two TDs in the final minute to seal the loss.
#8 – NY Giants (0-2): Eli shows his courage and gains the respect of the whole team, but 0-2 is 0-2.
#9 – Oakland Raiders (0-2): Another heartbreaking loss. I’m really starting to hate these last milli-second time outs.
#10 – Philadelphia Eagles (0-2): I doubt they will stay on this list for long, but they are tied for the worst record in the league.
