Game Day Thoughts

"Every play can be your last one so make it a good one."-Jim Brown

One year ago tomorrow Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson suffered a knee injury that ended his season. Some thought that it would mark the end of the running that made Peterson such a unique back. He has rushed for 1812 yards so far this season without the knee brace that marks every other running back that has shredded a knee. He is within reach of 2,000 yards and even Eric Dickerson's NFL record of 2,105 yards.

I thank the Oakland Raiders, Detroit Lions, Cleveland Browns, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Arizona Cardinals and Washington Redskins every day for passing on Adrian Peterson in the 2007 NFL Draft. The Lions and Browns are likely happy with receiver Calvin Johnson and tackle Joe Thomas but the selcetions of JaMarcus Russell, the late Gaines Adams, Levi Brown and LaRon Landry in front of Peterson make the others cringe. Actually, it's not just Peterson. That 2007 Draft was incredible. The four unhappy teams could have selected not only Peterson but also Patrick Willis, Marshawn Lynch or Darrelle Revis. Johnson, Thomas, Peterson, Willis and Revis are among the best at their positions that I've seen in my lifetime. Lynch isn't bad either.

If Peterson can have a career best day against the Houston Texans today, he'll break the NFL game and season record. Perhaps even on the same run. He set the single game rushing record in his rookie year with 296 yards against the San Diego Chargers. He's 294 yards behind Eric Dickerson's record.

Today would be a fine day for Peterson to have a career day. First of all, he's been playing at a ridiculous level. The game is in Houston. Peterson is from Texas and spends a decent part of his offseason in Houston. The number of family and friends in the stands has soared past 100. And, he's playing football at a ridiculous level.

If the playoffs started today, the Vikings would be the #6 seed in the NFC. Due to the screwy nature of the tie breaking procedures, they could win their final two games and not make the playoffs. They need help but the only thing that really matters is that they win these final two games against the Texans and Green Bay Packers.

Former Detroit Lions offensive tackle Lomas Brown admitted in a radio interview to allowing a pass rusher to get through to hit and hopefully injure a struggling Scott Mitchell. He wanted Mitchell out of the game and didn't see his coach making that move. That's about as pathetic as anything I've ever heard take place on a football field. Making it even more pathetic, Brown sounded fairly proud of this. Lomas Brown is also one of the former players that is part of the head trauma lawsuit against the NFL. What a tool.

Steve Young was sure looking snappy in his Christmas coat during the ESPN Monday Night pregame show on Saturday night.

Congratulations to Detroit Lions receiver Calvin Johnson on breaking Jerry Rice's season receiving yardage record. He's put himself about a chip shot away from 2,000 receiving yards. Outstanding football player.

New Cal coach Sonny Dykes hired Barry Sacks as his defensive line coach. I can think of no better name for a defensive line coach.

Dykes is putting together a coaching staff well versed in recruiting. In addition to the nicely named Sacks, running backs coach Pierre Ingram, special teams and inside receivers coach Mike Tomerdahl and secondary coach Randy Stewart have all spent time as recruiting coordinators at various stops in their careers. Stewart was actually a recruiting coordinator at Cal over a decade ago. It's certainly not unusual for long time college assistant coaches to have spent time as recruiting coordinators. That experience is nice to have. Especially for a program that is going through a coaching transition like Cal.

The college bowl games continued yesterday with a couple of good ones:

Yesterday's R& L Carriers New Orleans Bowl turned out to be a terrific game. Louisiana-Lafayette defeated East Carolina 43-34. The big Bowls get all of the attention but these smaller Bowls are often the most entertaining. I remember the days when my Dad always looked forward to the fireworks of the Holiday Bowl. This was back in the late '70s and early '80s when BYU was a Holiday Bowl staple. BYU-SMU in 1980 was one of the most thrilling Bowl games ever played.

In the Maaco Las Vegas Bowl, Boise St. defeated Washington 28-26. Boise St. intercepted a pass in the closing seconds to seal the game. The one disappointing thing to come out of this game was the announcers mentioning that 8 of the 12 Pac-12 teams were playing in bowl games. I didn't have to be reminded that Cal was one of the four with nothing to do this time of year.

Go Vikings!!!