Game Day

It was horrible to watch South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore go down with a brutal knee injury. He was just getting back to his brilliant self following a torn ACL last year. The seriousness of this injury was obvious. You can often see the quality of a person by the reaction of his friends and foes in tough times. When Lattimore was about to be taken from the field the entire South Carolina AND Tennessee teams came to him. It was one of the worst and best things that I've ever seen on a football field. I can't wait to see Marcus Lattimore running the football again like few can.

Utah was supposed to be the worst team in the Pac-12. Cal did about everything they could to change that opinion in a 49-27 loss. Directv and their idiocy may have saved my sanity by keeping this Cal game away from me once again. The best that Cal can hope for is a record of 6-6. They would have to beat Washington, Oregon and Oregon St. to accomplish that. That's a tough task.

This Alabama team might be able to beat some NFL teams.

From a Sports Illustrated players poll on the most overrated player in the NFL:

Tim Tebow      34% of the vote
Mark Sanchez    8
Tony Romo        8
Michael Vick       4
Ray Lewis          3

First of all, I don't really see how a backup quarterback can be considered overrated. Second of all, New York Jets fans must feel terrific about their team's quarterback position. Third of all, I don't see how a player as accomplished as Ray Lewis can be anywhere near this list. He's 37! He's not going to play like he's 25. Before his injury he was still playing linebacker better than most linebackers a decade younger.

"I've eaten burritos bigger than you."
                 -Texans defensive end J.J Watt to Ravens back Ray Rice

NFL Network's most recent episode of their fantastic "A Football Life" series documented the San Francisco 49ers days of Eddie DeBartolo Jr. Former 49ers executive Carmen Policy admitted that he was told to fire Bill Walsh 7 or 8 times.

"I'd rather fall down. I'd run by him. I don't even try to get close to him. If I ran into Peyton Manning in practice, they'd probably let me go. They'd probably let my position coach go."
                -Broncos linebacker Von Miller

Dan Patrick: When did you turn in your 49ers fan card?
Aaron Rodgers: April 23, 2005

I found this little nugget, talked about on Peter King's podcast, very interesting. At Tennessee, Peyton Manning's backup at quarterback was current Colorado Rockies baseball player Todd Helton. At Mississippi, Eli Manning's backup quarterback was current Oakland A's baseball player Seth Smith. Helton and Smith were teammates in Colorado for a while. Both Manning's, Helton and Smith were coached by David Cutcliffe during their college football careers.

It's always strange to have a football Sunday without the Minnesota Vikings. I'll find a way to survive. The NFL has seen fit to make it possible for me to watch the Vikings next two opponents in the very same game with Seattle visiting Detroit. Leslie Frazier wants me to do some advance scouting so I'll probably watch that game.