Game Day

Cal lost to a very good Arizona St. team 27-17. The margin of victory could been so much greater. Cal couldn't get out of their own way. Very frustrating. Cal's offensive line provided little protection for a quarterback that often has serious accuracy issues. That's a terrible combination. Cal is sitting poorly at 1-4, 0-2 in conference. A decent UCLA team is up next. Head coach Jeff Tedford is probably on the hot seat. I've been wrestling with this possibility for a couple of years now. It's so hard to imagine. In my Cal lifetime the football team, except for a couple splendid seasons in the early '90s, has mostly kept to themselves at the bottom of the conference standings. In my three years at Cal the team won maybe 7 games. A Tedford coached Cal team gets that total in one season and it's considered a down season. Jeff Tedford has completely changed the football atmosphere and expectations at Cal. It's difficult to imagine that his job would ever be in jeopardy but it does seem that he has hit a plateau. Those that want him gone must have forgotten what it was like before he came to Berkeley. His own job security is likely shaky because of his own success. His success has filled the stadium. His success renovated the stadium. His success built the new athletic facilities. His success made people care about Cal football again. Not many people cared about Cal football when I was a student. Cal's biggest on field problem has been consistency at quarterback. No one has come close to playing the position like Aaron Rodgers. Few can. Perhaps one or more of the "elite" quarterbacks that Tedford has recruited recently will bring something close to the consistency of Rodgers. I hope that Tedford is there to coach that team. I can't forget what it was like in the 25 years preceding his time.

I like this quote from Michigan coach Brady Hoke on his experiences with the Harbaugh coaching family. He once worked for Jack Harbaugh, father of Jim and John. Hoke says that there's one Harbaugh that you don't mess with. "Jackie, the mother, probably knows football better than any of them. You didn't want one of your guys to mess, because you're going to get a finger in your chest (from Jackie)." Ah, the coaching Harbaughs.

I love hearing most of the stories of football families. Not all of them are great. Coaching is not an easy life. There is such incredible pressure to win at both the college and the professional levels. The  hours are brutal. The job security is never great. The families that handle it well are remarkable. The Harbaughs certainly seem to handle it better than most. Jennifer Allen, daughter of former Los Angeles Rams and Washington Redskins coach George Allen, wrote a terrific book about her family experiences in football. The football life is certainly an interesting one. It definitely is to me.

Houston Texans running back Arian Foster is one of the most intriguing football players that I've ever known. If I cared at all about Twitter, Foster would definitely be a football player that I'd follow. His views are always thought provoking. I hear that his tweets are a gas. He refers to himself as "an aspiring human being" on his Twitter profile. We should all be so realistic. In a recent interview with Dan Patrick I loved this question and answer:

DP: If you have to gain two yards, who is the defensive player you don't want to see in the hole.
AF: I don't want to see anybody in the hole.

So simple.

I guess that all the "experts" were wrong about the potential of Arkansas. I don't recall any college team that was supposed to be so great play so bad every week. There was preseason talk of the Razorbacks being title contenders. Certainly SEC contenders.

West Virginia knocks off Baylor by a score of 70-63. Two words. De fense. My goodness, I've heard of games getting away from teams. Sort of snow balling. I can't recall a game getting away defensively from both teams quite like that. I watched about two minutes of that game and saw three touchdowns. Crazy.

The Minnesota Vikings travel to Detroit today. The Vikings have lost eleven straight division games. Well, that's gotta end. It's gotta end today.

Go Vikings!!!!

Best In The League?

Minnesota Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway recently stated that teammate Percy Harvin is the best football player in the league. Greenway is probably a little biased but I tend to agree with him. I'm probably a little biased as well. Based on his play from the second half of last season and through the first three games of this season, Harvin should be in any conversation concerning the best players. His play has been amazing. What little offense the Vikings showed last season revolved around the incredible versatility of Harvin. Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier has often mentioned encounters with defensive coaches from other teams approaching him in the offseason speaking of the chore it is to defend Percy Harvin. Many teams will put a receiver in the backfield as a gimmick. A distraction. The Vikings can put Harvin in the backfield as a legitimate running threat. Harvin is second only to Adrian Peterson as a running threat out of the backfield on the team. The Vikings have three players listed as running backs on the roster. All three are power running backs. Most teams prefer having a back or two that is quick and shifty as a change of pace or as a receiving threat. The Vikings don't have to worry about carrying a back like that since they already have a receiver like that. He runs more like a back than any receiver that I have ever seen. He might even be more comfortable lining up in the backfield as he still seems to be in the process of learning the nuances of running routes. It should scare defenses to think that he could get even better as a receiver. Harvin's versatility is a nightmare for defensive coordinators. First they have to find him. Then they have to follow him. Then they have to catch him. Then they have to tackle him. Not one of those is an easy thing to do. At 5'10" and about 190lbs, Harvin is a little bull when he has the ball in his hands. If defenders don't wrap him up they won't tackle him very often. He doesn't go down easy. If they just try to hit him they'll end up on their back. Too many defenders have discovered this and few seem to have learned. It's amazing to watch him run. Not only is Harvin an offensive threat he's one of the best kick returners in the league. That's not the end of his skills. Last season he was awarded a game ball for his downfield blocking in a victory over the Arizona Cardinals. His impact really is all over the field. In all phases. Returning kicks, catching the ball, running the ball, blocking. Teams have to be so aware of Harvin's whereabouts that he can have a tremendous impact as a decoy. He does everything. Pretty much the only effective defense against Harvin has been his unfortunate migraines. He's suffered from them pretty consistently since childhood. Well, that defense appears to be at an end. Knock on wood. His doctors seem to have found treatments that work. He hasn't experienced a migraine in nearly a year. Sorry, defenses. Percy Harvin will be there on gameday.

In my opinion, Percy Harvin is playing football at a level rivaling that of any player in the league. If nothing else, he is the most difficult to defend player in the league. He's a beast.

They're Back!

For perhaps the first time ever the NFL officials received a standing ovation. At last night's Baltimore Ravens-Cleveland Browns game the fans showed their appreciation. It was the first game of the 2012 season for the real officials. Yes, they're finally back. It must have been a new sensation for those fellas in stripes to be greeted so warmly. Everybody involved with the NFL should be ecstatic about this return. Every fan should be ecstatic. It's a very good thing.

I will never understand labor negotiations in professional sports. When they get tense and last way too long, no one wins. The player lockout last year was ridiculous. Since it severely impacted the games, the officials lockout this year was even worse. They finally found some agreeable middle ground when they are forced to. Why can't they find it when they should. The NFL made the idiotic mistake of saying that the replacement officials would be fine. When those officials were obviously far worse than fine the NFL maintained their "everything is fine" stance. I'm not sure who they thought they were fooling. About thirty years ago the NFL thought that they could get by with replacement players. That was an even worse joke. They didn't learn then that there is no simply replacing the people on the field of an NFL game. I just don't understand how an organization that does so many things incredibly right can get some things so incredibly wrong. It should not have gotten this bad, Roger.

Welcome back, Officials. You've been greatly missed.

Throwback Thursday: Hall of Fame Quotes

The Pro Football Hall of Fame is celebrating its 50th Anniversary. To commemorate the occasion they put together a terrific book. Several excellent football writers and historians such as Bob Carroll, Joe Horrigan, Steve Sabol, Rick Gosselin, Peter King have contributed their thoughts on selected decades. Scattered throughout the book are quotes from players that played the game of football oh so well. Here are some of their words.

"Gosh, kicking a football to Red Grange would be like grooving a baseball to Babe Ruth. It's something to be avoided whenever possible."
       -Paddy Driscoll

"I liked the way I played it. You went the full sixty minutes. When I turned pro and joined the Duluth Eskimos in 1926, we barnstormed after the regular season. We went from September to January and from Maine to the Pacific Coast. In all we played twenty-nine games and we had only sixteen men on the squad. If the coach took a man out of the game for s substitution, he got mad. That's how much we loved it."
       -Ernie Nevers

"I love the game. That's why I play it. I might make more money in some other line of endeavor, so it is not the 'sugar' that keeps me at it."
       -Guy Chamberlain

"Running is like driving a car. When you drive, you're looking quite a ways down the street. The things that are close you take care of automatically with reflex action."
       -Earl "Dutch" Clark

"I always used my strength in football. I liked to meet guys head-on when I was carrying the ball. Then I'd drop my shoulder, and catch him with that, and then brush him off with my arm. It worked most of the time."
       -Bronko Nagurski

"Not too dang many funny things happened to me in football, on or off the field. I can't think of anything funny that ever happened on the field. When I walked on the field, I was serious. You've got to be. I wasn't a loner, I conversed with my teammates, but I was serious about my job. We had a good group of boys. We had fun during practice. I think at that time we had more fun than today. We enjoyed it more."
       -Sammy Baugh

"In those days the more things a player did, the more pay he could demand. I could run, kick, pass, and catch, and that made me a valuable property."
       -Charley Trippi

"I could make tackles until I'm fifty. Your body may go, but your heart doesn't."
       -Emlen Tunnell

"I was as big as the linemen I ran against, so I didn't worry about them. And once I ran over a back twice, I didn't have to run over him a third time. He had reservations by then."
       -Marion Motley

"I never said a word to a receiver who dropped the ball. I'll admit that I sure raised hell with the guy who blew an assignment, though. There's no excuse for that."
       -Bobby Layne

"There's no thrill in football like popping the ball to a receiver who has a step on his man in the open."
       -Bob Waterfield

"Coach Lombardi is very fair. He treats us all the same way...like dogs."
       -Henry Jordan

"I'm the best defensive end around. I'd hate to have to play against me!"
       -Deacon Jones

"This is like being a kid, having fun and being animated. If I didn't do any of this, I would be too mechanical, too uptight. I want to be loose. I am at my best when I am rolling and throwing. I am different, but I am consistent."
       -John Randle

Winning

I've always been amazed by the impact that a win can have on a fan. Especially a fan of an NFL team. College football too. Having only one football game each week allows for a few days of sheer happiness. There are too many games each week in the other major sports. Baseball is nearly nightly. There's so little time to savor a victory. You have a few days in football. We get so wrapped up in our teams. I know this as fact from my own personal experiences and emotions. The Minnesota Vikings just experienced their most significant win in over two years with their victory over the San Francisco 49ers. You have to go back to their 2009 playoff win over the Dallas Cowboys. This win over the 49ers was significant because of the low expectations that most had for the Vikings and the very high expectations for the 49ers. These were two teams at opposite ends of the NFL spectrum. The win showed that the difference between the two teams may not be as great as most assumed. Most Vikings fans that I know gave their team no chance. As a result all are walking tall right now. Some maybe in a state of shock. Soon they'll be crunching the Vikings chances against the Detroit Lions. That's what follows in the week after a big win. First, relishing in the shine of a win. Then, happily looking toward the new game. It wasn't that way last week. After the Vikings loss to the Indianapolis Colts these same happy Vikings fans were driving nails in their team's coffin and looking to the draft. What a difference a week makes. Sports fans are a fickle bunch. Sometimes I think that Vikings fans are more fickle than most. There have been so many close calls in the Vikings history. Close calls without that one final win. There are a lot of glass half empty Vikings fans. The happiness of any football fan is determined mostly by the results of the last game. Winning changes everything.

Official Mess

The NFL is really paddling in dangerous waters with the lockout of the officials. The league can't go on saying that the replacement officials are doing a fine job. They most certainly aren't. The games that I saw yesterday were a mess. The timeout fiasco in the Minnesota Vikings-San Francisco 49ers just can't happen. It wasn't a judgement issue. It was a not knowing the rules issue. My guess is that 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh strong armed the officials into making a mockery of the rule book. No matter how persuasive Harbaugh might be five timeouts to one team in one half has to raise some flags in the mind of an NFL official. It looked like a civil war was about to break out in the Baltimore Ravens-New England Patriots game. Funny that the this game also involved a Harbaugh. A coincidence really. Both brothers are excellent coaches. I didn't see all of the Ravens-Patriots game but going by the words of broadcasters Cris Collinsworth and Al Michaels as well as what I did see that game was an even bigger mess. It looked as if the officials were flipping a coin to determine whether a penalty should be called. The officiating looked completely random. Just when I was thinking that the officiating couldn't get any worse the mess becomes a disaster with the ending last night in the Seattle Seahawks-Green Bay Packers game. I have absolutely no idea what these officials are seeing. In three weeks the replacement officials have lost all respect from the players and the coaches. They've lost any control they probably never really had. The NFL can not let this mess continue. There's no dancing around the fact that the powerful NFL is failing miserably.

There are obviously two sides to every labor issue. The officials have one of the best gigs on the planet. They get to officiate an official game. It's a part time job as most maintain a full time job even during the season. There are demands beyond the time that it takes to play an NFL game but they can rush home to start the work week. Incredible. Even more incredible is that the average salary of the part time officiating gig is $149,000. They are very well compensated for their part time work. I can't imagine anyone being upset with that kind of arrangement. The offer on the table from the league increases that already hefty salary. My understanding is that the real issue is the retirement package. The officials had a very nice pension plan that was not market dependent. The NFL wanted to switch it to a 401K type plan. The officials want no part of this change. I side with the NFL on this as the officials are extremely well compensated for this part time work, even over compensated. I know of no other part time work that has retirement benefits like this. I don't think that the officials realize how great they have it. Still, there has to be some middle ground that can be reached. The quality of the play on the field is suffering. Both the league and the officials have to care about that.

Game Day Thoughts

"Steve Sabol is a badass."
               -filmmaker Peter Berg on Sabol's film making skills

"I was sold when he walked through the door."
               -Bill Belichick when Sabol approached him about wearing a mic for an entire season

"I don't think that he ever met a stranger."
               -Michael Irvin

We could go on forever talking about Steve Sabol. I hope that we do.

NFL Network had a nice remembrance of Steve Sabol in their pregame show. I always found it interesting that Sabol went all the way to Colorado College to play football. Same school as NFL legend Dutch Clark. While there Sabol played against Bill Parcells.

I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to visit NFL Films in June. Without actually having done so I feel that I have met Steve Sabol. It was an honor.

The Minnesota Vikings chopped down the best team in the league in their 24-13 defeat of the San Francisco 49ers.

The NFL is real lucky that the hacked up time out situation by the replacement officials didn't really impact the game. 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh called his third timeout and then challenged the play on the field that Vikings running back Toby Gerhart had fumbled the ball. Harbaugh didn't have the timeout to challenge anything. The officials allowed it and gave the ball to the 49ers. Fortunately the Vikings got the ball right back with an interception. Harbaugh later challenged but lost another play. So, Harbaugh ended up with five timeouts in the second half. That's ridiculous. Mistakes in judgement are one thing. Not knowing the rules is something that should never enter into a game. The lockout with the officials has to end. If it was in doubt before, it isn't now.

This could be the game that quarterback Christian Ponder and tight end Kyle Rudolph introduced themselves to the league.

The 49ers did a great job of tangling up the feet of Vikings running back Adrian Peterson at the line of scrimmage. It looked like he was a step away from breaking something several times but the 49ers didn't allow it. Peterson is getting stronger each week. He'll soon be stepping through those like the pre-injury Adrian Peterson.

Receiver/returner/running back Percy Harvin is a beast. No touchdowns yet but he's been the Vikings biggest difference maker through three games. The most difficult to defend football player in the league.

This was the best that the Vikings offensive line has played this season. The 49ers defense is a real chore. The Vikings gained about 150 yards on the ground. The 49ers don't allow that kind of yardage very often. They chased Ponder a few times but never sacked him.

As well as the Vikings offense played the defense was the real difference. They never allowed the 49ers to get in a rythym. Linebacker Chad Greenway was all over the field. He's had a real nice start to the season. When the defense was put in a difficult situation with the timeout fiasco they took the ball right back on an interception by rookie Josh Robinson and then a fumble recovery by Brian Robison. The interception by Robinson was the first by a Vikings corner in I can't remember how long. Jared Allen's first sack of the season forced the fumble that Robison recovered. When the Vikings needed a big play by the defense they often got one. Perhaps their best moment came after the second half kickoff. 49ers returner Kyle Williams took the kickoff back about 95 yards to the Vikings 14-yard line. The defense forced a field goal. They gave up points but they stifled the momentum caused by the big return.

The Vikings have now blocked two kicks on the season. Defensive tackle Letroy Guion blocked a David Akers field goal attempt yesterday. Rookie tackle Matt Kalil blocked an extra point in the first game. Kalil is playing great at left tackle and making an impact on special teams. If Guion had missed on the block it looked like Kalil might have been there to swat it away.

As smart as Ponder has been with the ball so far this season he's still had one throw in each game that is right in the hands of the defender. Fortunately the defenders have yet to hold onto the ball. Lucky. The lucky moment yesterday was due more to receiver Michael Jenkins slipping than a horrible throw. This luck won't hold for long in the NFL so Ponder has to be real careful.

The Vikings get a big boost next week with the return of suspended receiver Jerome Simpson. They haven't been real successful going vertical in the passing game. It's hoped that Simpson's speed and athletic ability will change that. The Vikings really need someone to pressure the defense opposite Harvin.

I was hoping that the Vikings would hit Simpson's return with at least a record of 2-1. I figured that the two wins would come against the Jaguars and the Colts.

I still think that the San Francisco 49ers are the best overall team in the league. They are strong in all phases of the game. The 49ers didn't really seem overconfident or anything like that. The Vikings just made plays. Mostly, I think that the Vikings are a better team than most thought. Week in and week out they aren't yet in the class of the 49ers or Green Bay Packers or Baltimore Ravens or Atlanta Flacons or New York Giants or Houston Texans but they can be a nuisance against any of the top teams. They are moving in the right direction as a team and as an organization. A win like this can get a young team that doesn't know any better on a roll.

I had pretty much written off 49ers receiver Michael Crabtree last year. His effort in the playoffs was pathetic. This season he looks like the football player that he was always meant to be. He's a very talented receiver.

Two of the best defensive players in the entire league play in San Francisco. I absolutely love watching linebacker Patrick Willis and defensive end Justin Smith play football. They play their respective positions as well as any player ever has. A real joy to watch. Linebacker Navorro Bowman isn't far behind.

Sports Illustrated's Peter King, always interesting in his NFL coverage, says that Houtson Texans' J.J. Watt will be the best 3-4 end in the league by the end of the season. Watt is awesome but I'll leave that title with Justin Smith until he retires.

I hope that Patrick Willis' ankle injury is nothing much.

Same goes for the knee injury suffered by New York Jets corner Darrelle Revis.

The hit that Denver Broncos linebacker Joe Mays put on Matt Schaub was ridiculous. Everything that the league is trying to get out of the game with the penalties, fines and suspensions was seen in that hit. Mays had only serious injury in mind. Leads with his head. Directed straight at Schaub's head. Zero intention to wrap up the player he's trying to tackle. It was a mess. Mays should be suspended for a while. Thankfully Schaub's head seems fine but he lost part of his ear.

Saints at 0-3 sure is perty. They spent too long playing their dirty little games. Serves them right.

I love watching Maurice Jones-Drew run.

Don't the Cardinals know that they are supposed to suck? 3-0 and knocking off the Patriots and Eagles in successive weeks. My goodness.

I only saw the end of the Patriots-Ravens game but the officiating had too great of an impact. Not in a good way at all. I'm not sure what game some of these officials are watching.

Interesting that this game ended on a Ravens field goal attempt just like the AFC Championship game. This time it went the Ravens way. Barely.

The Patriots have a losing record for the first time since 2003. Incredible.

Ravens receiver Torrey Smith had an amazing game under brutal circumstances. He learned of his brother's death in a motorcycle accident earlier in the day. My thoughts and prayers are with Torrey Smith and his family.

The officials lockout has to end! Now!

Next week is bad news for the Detroit Lions.

Game Day

This is the first Sunday in nearly fifty years that Steve Sabol won't be a part of the NFL Films production of the NFL. His presence will be missed everywhere.

"So they talk about heaven, and I don't know what is waiting up there for me. But I can tell you this:

Nothing up there can duplicate my life down here. That life cannot be better than the one I've lived down here, the football life."

-Steve Sabol

It's so difficult to imagine the NFL without Steve Sabol. I really hoped that I wouldn't have to. Fortunately for all of us the magic that he created at NFL Films extends to the people that he hired. The beautiful thing that Ed and Steve Sabol created will continue. It's impossible to be in the NFL Films building without feeling Sabol's impact and guidance. He'll live on in those that follow.

Thank you Steve for taking all the great games, the great players, the great teams and making them greater.

NFL Films would have had a blast presenting the terrific punt return by South Carolina's Ace Sanders against Missouri yesterday. His 49-yarder was one of the best returns that I've seen. I can even hear Ace Parker references in John Facenda's voice. It's a real shame that Sanders was knocked out of bounds just short of the end zone. Fantastic return.

So, I'm able to able to pick from Yale at Cornell, Lafayette at Bucknell and New Hampshire at Old Dominion among others on a college football Sunday. I'm not taking anything away from any of those excellent schools or games but it's absolutely ridiculous that I can view those on TV and not have a shot at Cal-USC. Directv is a joke. Settle this mess and get the Pac-12 Network. Ultimate sports provider is now the ultimate sporting poser.

It looks like that New Hampshire-Old Domionion game was something to see. Old Dominion won a shoot out by a score of 64-61. Taylor Heinicke put up truly outrageous numbers in the victory. 730 yards on 55 completions in 79 attempts. He only had five touchdowns. No interceptions. That's about three games worth of stuff.
 

As an NFL Network analyst, Michael Irvin's excitement for football can sometimes get in the way of his knowledge of the game.  You really need the volume control close when Irvin is loose on the set. Through his yelling you can sometimes find a decent nugget. When asked whether he would have taken Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III first overall, Irvin offered this, "If I'm playing wide receiver, I want Luck back there. If I'm just a fan. I would want RG3." Nice.

Oregon left tackle Kyle Long, son of Hall of Famer Howie Long, had this to say about dynamic teammate D'Anthony Thomas. "He's the next generation of position. He's not a running back or a receiver. He's a bullet." Thomas really is a player to watch. Just don't blink. He only gets a dozen or fewer touches a game but each covers a bunch of yards.

West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith is just going off. He started it last year and he's taken it to a whole other level this year. I think that he's been the top offensive player in the nation at this early stage of the season. D'Anthony Thomas would be right there with him but he has so few touches.

The new college rule that says that any player losing their helmet has to leave the game for a play is ridiculous. I'm fuzzy on the intent of the rule but the result is pretty annoying.

So, Cal loses to USC 27-9. I'm getting real sick of watching Cal lose to USC. Nine in a row now. Although yesterday I couldn't actually watch Cal lose to USC since Directv sucks. I had to go old school and listen to the game on the radio. I really do like listening to Joe Starkey and Mike Pawlawski on the radio mike. Despite serious offensive line issues and resulting quarterbacking inconsistencies the game was much closer than an 18-point margin. Cal was outgained by close to a 4-to-1 margin. It's difficult to win when yards are tough to gain. Quarterback Zach Maynard seemed to have left his confidence and game in Columbus, OH. He was terrific last week and it sounded like terribly inconsistent this week. Even with all these problems Cal put an itty bitty scare in those stupid Trojans.

Go Vikings!!!

Picture Perfect

In their September 17 issue, Sports Illustrated ran a picture of Indianapolis Colts rookie quarterback Andrew Luck from his first regular season game against the Chicago Bears. The picture says a lot about the football player that the Colts hope will return the team to the heights scaled by Peyton Manning.

Football people talk of a quarterback playing in a phone booth. Those that can play well when space is limited are likely the ones that will excel. In this picture, Luck is surrounded by three Bears pass rushers. One even looks to be going for the quarterback's throat. Inches away. There are no friendly Colts players between Luck and the Bears. Luck is on his own in what is left of the pocket.

He looks perfectly balanced on set feet. Arm cocked. Eyes downfield. Ready to throw. He likely wouldn't look any different if there were no Bears surrounding him. If I'm not mistaken Andrew Luck has a hint of a smile.

Redskins Pain

With the play and talent of rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III people have been skipping around pretty happy in the nation's Capitol. Last Sunday kind of changed things a little. Griffin was leading the Redskins to what looked to be a tying field goal at the end of the game against the St. Louis Rams. A pass to receiver Josh Morgan had the Redskins in terrific position for that field goal. Instead Morgan retaliated for some perceived injustice by flinging the ball at a Rams player. Probably cornerback Cortland Finnegan. If there's ever a dust up he's usually involved. For one of the dumbest acts that I've ever seen on a football field, rivaling that of a Gramatica field goal celebration, Morgan was called for unsportsmanlike conduct. The Redskins were penalized 15 yards. It moved the ball from a fairly easy field goal to a near impossible field goal. Redskins lose.

They lost even more. I later learned that linebacker Brian Orakpo was lost for the season with a torn pectoral muscle. Defensive end Adam Carriker was also lost for the season with a torn quad tendon. Those are devastating blows to the Redskins defense. I don't recall ever seeing a team lose two players of such quality for the season in one game. Last year the Kansas City Chiefs lost safety Eric Berry and running back Jamaal Charles early in the season. I don't recall if it was in the same game. That killed a promising Chiefs season. the Redskins need players to step up to avoid a similar fate. A lot was expected of their rookie quarterback. There might be a little more now.

Throwback Thursday: Wrong Way

Seeing as the Minnesota Vikings are hosting the San Francisco 49ers this weekend I figured that it would be a fine time to mention a memorable event in this rivalry. On October 25, 1964 at old Kezar Stadium, Vikings defensive end Jim Marshall snatched up a Billy Kilmer fumble and took off running. The only problem, for the Vikings, was that Marshall ran 66 yards in the wrong direction. He ended up in his own end zone. Thinking that he'd just scored a touchdown for his team he tossed the ball away in celebration. Instead of six points for the good guys Marshall handed the 49ers a safety and two points. Fortunately the Vikings still won the game 27-22 with the final margin of victory provided by a Carl Eller touchdown return of a fumble caused by a Marshall sack. Some consider this wrong way run to be one of the most embarrassing moments in all of professional sports. Personally I've always felt that too much has been made of this mistake. That could be simply a coping mechanism. Marshall later received a letter from former Cal football player Roy Riegels, infamous for a wrong way run in the 1929 Rose Bowl, stating, "Welcome to the club."

As for this coming Sunday I hope that all Vikings runs are the right way and the 49ers end zone is easily and frequently found.

Steve Sabol 1942-2012

The NFL lost one of it's true visionaries and its greatest storyteller yesterday. Steve Sabol lost his battle with brain cancer. When he was first diagnosed with cancer it seemed his only concern was whether he would make it to his father's induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011. He did and he should have made it to his own.

"Few men in the league have had a longer run. None have had a better one." -Rich Eisen

Ed and Steve Sabol have probably done as much as anyone to enhance the image of the NFL and present it to the public. They changed how we view the game. All that we love about football can be found in the beautiful art created at NFL Films. It started out as a little family business with huge ideas. Fifty years later NFL Films is a big family business with even bigger ideas.

The Sabols and their NFL Films are the keepers of the flame. The life of the game we love. I know of few people that have ever put as much of themselves into what they do as Steve Sabol put into his creations. It's said that love is art's accomplice. Without love there is no art. Sabol lived his life's work with that in mind. He did everything at NFL Films. He was part of everything. He's the only person to win Emmys for cinematography, editing, writing, directing and producing. He won over forty Emmys in all including one for lifetime achievement in 2003.

I visited NFL Films this past June. It is one of the most remarkable places that I have ever seen. Steve Sabol has created a football paradise in Mt. Laurel, NJ. He decorated the place himself. He even created a little "board" room that was filled with vintage football board games. The walls are covered with incredible football photographs and memorabilia and even some of Sabol's own pop art creations. The building was mostly empty on a weekend but I noticed that his office door was open. It may not have even had a door. I wish that he was there. I'm sure there will be a lot of that sentiment in the coming years. There was just a very welcoming feeling surrounding the entire place. In addition to the incredible art produced there it looked to be an incredible place to work.

My thoughts and prayers are with his family and all those that lost their friend and their guide. I wish that I could have chatted with him and heard some of his stories. I can not even begin to imagine the football landscape without Steve Sabol.

RIP Steve.

Mooch

I enjoy most of the NFL Network's cast of characters. They seem like a fun bunch that routinely brings serious football talk to their audience. Sometimes they, Rich Eisen, bring a little too much of the gossip. The side stuff of the game. I guess that's their job but I don't really see the need to create stories. The play on the field should be the story. Still, the best football on TV between the games is found on NFL Network and the characters that bring it are at least half of the fun. One of those is Steve Marriucci. Mooch.

I first became aware of Marriucci while he was the University of California Golden Bears offensive coordinator under Bruce Snyder from 1990-91. That 1991 Cal team featured an unpredictable, explosive offense called by Marriucci. They dismantled Clemson in the Citrus Bowl to earn the #8 ranking in the final AP poll. As he would be throughout his coaching career Marruicci was loved by his players. His success at Cal led to an NFL job as the quarterback coach of the Green Bay Packers and a young football player named Brett Favre. Marriucci made a home in Green Bay and earned the trust and appreciation of Favre. In fact, Favre offered to pay the difference in salary to keep him in Green Bay when Cal came calling in 1996 with an offer of their head coaching job. Marruicci made the move up the coaching ladder by taking the top job at Cal. He was an offensive coach that was clearly drawing a lot of attention. His name was so hot that he was only at Cal for one puzzling year. His Cal team got off to a fantastic start in going undefeated through the first half of their schedule. They never won again, including their bowl game. Not long after that season ended the San Francisco 49ers got rid of the always unappreciated George Seifert to hire that rising star at Cal. This move always bothered me. I didn't think that Marriucci was ready. His one, way up and way down season showed that. I also thought that he could do some great things at Cal. I really just didn't want him to leave Berkeley so soon. Still, I never thought that Cal would have him for long. I just thought that it would be longer. You can't fault Marriucci for jumping at the opportunity. Worst of all, I thought that what the 49ers did to Seifert was ridiculous. He deserved better. The 49ers obviously felt that Marriucci wouldn't be available for long. They had to move. It's a business. Marriucci had an up and down coaching career with the 49ers. Much like his one year at Cal he had some excellent moments and some fairly low moments. After six years he moved on to the Detroit Lions for three mostly low years. It's hard to fault him for that as the Lions were in the middle of being destroyed by general manager Matt Millen.

All that leads me to his current time at NFL Network. I've always liked Mooch. It started with his early days in charge of a terrific offense at Cal. I didn't care much for his days with the Packers but was ecstatic about his hiring as Cal's head coach only to be disappointed with his jump across the Bay a year later. Marriucci has an infectious, almost Madden-like presence about him. He loves football and it's so clear on the NFL Network set. He fits in well with that goofy, football-loving group. I love hearing the stories of the backstage high jinks. I love hearing about Mooch never passing by the catered tables of food. He's a funny football lifer and I'm glad that he's with a group that appreciates what he brings. I certainly appreciate what he does.

Game Day Thoughts

Didn't see much of the games outside of the Minnesota Vikings-Indianapolis Colts game. Colts take that game by the tearful score of 23-20 on a field goal with about 10 seconds to play. It looked like the Vikings had forced overtime for the second week in a row with a Christian Ponder to Kyle Rudolph touchdown pass to tie it up at 20. Andrew Luck proceeded to complete a couple passes that the Vikings didn't seem to care to defend and before we knew it Adam Vinatieri was lining up a 52-yard field goal to win.

Unlike last week the Vikings played some offense in the first half of this game. They only ended up with a couple field goals. That was a major factor in losing this game. They have to finish drives with touchdowns. The inability to score touchdowns forced Ponder to lead a frantic comeback at the end of the game.

More than any one thing penalties cost the Vikings this game. Some were simply stupid. A roughing the punter penalty early in the third quarter gave the ball back to the Colts which led to a field goal. Those three points ended up being huge in a game that came down to the end. Replay showed that the punter was never touched but in real time it had to be called. It was unfortunate but it was a huge break for the Colts. The Vikings had 11 penalties for 105 yards. The Vikings win if they played smarter football.

The defense left much to be desired. The defense on the Colts game winning drive was nonexistent. Same at the end of the first half. They have to make stops and get off the field on third down. They have to force turnovers. They're failing on both counts too often.

Tight end Kyle Rudolph has to be targeted more.

The good from the game was Christian Ponder and especially Percy Harvin. Ponder has really shown the ability to rally the team late in a game. He's been efficient. Harvin was brilliant. He battled what look liked cramps most of the game but kept coming back. A simply amazing football player. The Vikings need someone to step up and help Harvin in the passing game. Rudolph will help. Getting receiver Jerome Simpson back in week four from a suspension will hopefully bring a potent deep threat.

For the Colts:

Luck looks very good and is going to be great. He doesn't play anything like a rookie. Seeing him play a bunch at Stanford, I've known for a while that he's an elite quarterback.

I like that itty bitty rookie receiver T.Y. Hilton.

Defensive lineman Cory Redding was a beast.

Other games, shockers around the league. Patriots losing to the Cardinals. Seahawks thrashing the Cowboys. Dolphins taking apart the Raiders. Saints losing another division game. They haven't even played the Falcons yet. Surprises all over.

Redskins receiver Josh Morgan was the dumbest player in the league yesterday. Cost the Redskins a real chance at a second win.

The NFL day started with replacement official Brian Stropolo being booted from working the New Orleans Saints-Carolina Panthers game. Turns out his facebook profile showed him as a serious Saints fan. Funny to see facebook be a factor in a game.

Next week is bad news for the San Francisco 49ers. No fooling!

Finally

Finally, I got to see a Cal game yesterday. Directv's now pathetic college football package had shut me out until this Cal-Ohio St. game. The doors close again until the November 2 game against Washington. Get it together Directv and get the Pac-12 Network. You suck on Saturdays until you do!

Despite the 35-28 loss to Ohio St. this was, by far, the best that Cal has played this year. Since I could not actually see the first two games that is more of a guess on my part. A b.s. downfield holding call in the first half that brought back a Cal touchdown was the difference in a seven-point game. That touchdown that wasn't and three horribly missed field goals were devastating. Kicker Vince D'Amato has to get his confidence. Either that or aim every kick way right and pray. The kicks were ridiculous. Not even remotely close to their target. Quarterback Zach Maynard played his best game as a Bear. He was terrific under consistent pressure. Unfortunately his last throw to the wrong team sealed the loss. Cal has some nice weapons in the passing game but Maynard missed injured tight end Richard Rodgers. Cal's biggest offensive surprise was sophomore running back Brendan Bigelow with a dazzling 81-yard touchdown run and a more pedestrian 59-yarder. He had over 160 yards on only four carries. I have a hunch that he'll see more carries going forward. Even with some significant offensive line issues Cal's offense looked great. Keenan Allen is a beast! Cal's defense also played well, for the most part. Ohio St. had difficulties moving the ball consistently. Especially in the second half. Unfortunately there were some way too costly breakdowns in coverages that allowed big plays, deciding scores. It's frustrating to play fantastic on consecutive plays only to see it all go for not with one mistake. That's football. They have to clean it up. Cal played well enough to win. Now they have a pissed off USC team next week.

It was awesome to finally see my California Golden Bears. Thank you Directv for seeing fit to make ABC available. Nice work, clowns. It was also great to see Cal play well, for the most part, in a good game that they could have won. If Cal can continue to progress through the season they'll be tough in conference play. Nearly any success hinges on Maynard's consistency. Hopefully his game yesterday, except for that last throw, is a sign of things to come. Go Bears!

Directv Sucks! On Saturdays.

A very happy birthday to the incredible Mrs. Flea Flicker. She's my inspiration and my motivation. Perhaps the only one that can pull me away from football and not miss it at all. You are the best!

"A Football Life"

NFL Network's excellent series "A Football Life" continues. Yes! This time with the faces of Tim Tebow. Rarely has an NFL player gotten so much attention having done so little. Despite some heroics last year he's a backup quarterback right now. Now he's the subject of an episode of "A Football Life." Nearly everyone has an extreme opinion of Tebow. I actually see no reason for anyone to hate him. The only thing that bothers me about Tebow is the attention paid to him. That's hardly his fault. He's certainly of high character, has an incredible passion for the game and he's actually a terrific football player. He just has some work to do as a quarterback. Unfortunately he plays quarterback.

NFL Films is the production behind "A Football Life." They are always great. This faces of Tebow is no different. They took an interesting approach to this profile. As the description suggest they look at five different aspects of Tebow and his game. His faces. They brought in five former quarterbacks to talk about a particular face.

1) Fame-Joe Namath knows a thing or two about this face. Tebow and Namath have zero in common off the field. On the field they were quarterbacks. The old one threw the ball a lot better. Each had fame, attention and women follow them everywhere. I always find Namath hilarious when he talks of his days in the game. There always seems to be a fun mix of pride and disbelief about his career.

2) The Outsider-Doug Flutie had a bunch of interesting things to say about quarterbacks that don't fit the typical mold. He also seemed a little bitter about his treatment as a talented but little quarterback. His comment, "A 6'4" or 6'5" quarterback has to prove that he can't play" was terrific and unfortunate. Quarterbacks like Flutie and Tebow have to prove, often throughout their entire career, that they can play the position of quarterback.

3) Faith-Roger Staubach was a terrific choice for this face. He may not have been as outspoken as Tebow about his faith but he would still speak easily about it. I prefer devout players like Aaron Rodgers or Jared Allen that will freely talk about their faith if asked. It's just not the first thing that you get from them.

4) Football Player-Kordell Stewart took this face. It was an interesting choice. Like Tebow, Stewart could do many things on a football field. Stewart never showed the sustained consistency to play quarterback. I actually think that Tebow has a better chance to play the position than Stewart ever did mostly because I think that Tebow will work harder to get there.

5) The Quarterback Within-This one was the most interesting as Steve Young always has great things to say about football. He's a bright guy and is very well spoken. He sees the quarterback that Tebow could become. Young sees the flaws now but sees the potential. He says that whatever team has Tebow must be patient. At the same time he says that Tebow has to do whatever it takes to be consistent, be great. He has to put in the work. The things that have most intrigued me about Tebow is that he is simply a terrific football player, his passion for the game is incredible and most importantly his work ethic seems to have no end. He will do whatever it takes to succeed. If he fails to ever become a competent quarterback it absolutely won't be due to a lack of effort.

Once again, "A Football Life" is excellent. Whether you love Tebow or hate Tebow, this was a very interesting look at the hopeful quarterback. They brought in five quarterbacks that know some things about what Tebow is going through. It was very well done.

Next week "A Football Life" tackles Ray Lewis. That should be awesome!

Go Bears(Cal)!

Bears-Packers

Whenever the Chicago Bears-Green Bay Packers game pops up on the schedule everyone starts popping off about it being the oldest rivalry in league history. NFL Network even ran commercials leading up to last night's game stating as much. I wish that everyone would stop. It's irresponsible of the NFL to advertise this rivalry as something that it's not. The Bears-Packers rivalry is not the oldest rivalry in league history. They've played each other a bunch. They just haven't played as long as another rivalry. The Packers didn't join the new league until 1921. The Bears and the Chicago Cardinals started their heated rivalry over Windy City bragging rights in 1920. Of course that rivalry lost what little luster it had when the Cardinals moved to St. Louis in 1960 and then Arizona in 1988. Bears-Cardinals just doesn't have the appeal of Bears-Packers. Bears-Packers just screams football. It's probably the most historically significant rivalry in the league history. It's just not the oldest.

Last night's edition of the second longest rivalry in league history went the Packers way. Good thing too. If the San Francisco 49ers take care of the Detroit Lions and the Minnesota Vikings take apart the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, the Vikings will be on top of the NFC North. WooHoo!

Throwback Thursday: Art Modell

Since his passing last week I've thought a great deal about former Cleveland Browns/Baltimore Ravens owner Art Modell. Mostly because he moved his iconic team from Cleveland to Baltimore I've had difficulty respecting the man. His firing of both Paul Brown and Bill Belichick only strengthened that disrespect. You'd think with all that going against him it would be easy to cast his impact on the NFL aside. It should be easy to view Art Modell as an overrated NFL figure. Some recent events have forced me to view some of his sins differently.

I've started to view the man differently. The NFL that we know today would be far different if not for the impact of Art Modell. The explosion of the NFL on the television scene would not be the same if not for Modell. Since the early '60s the league's financial backbone has been its television contracts. As commissioner, Pete Rozelle has always gotten much of the credit for these advances but it was always with Modell's guidance. Modell's experience was in television and advertising. He knew people. He knew how it all worked. Monday Night Football was his baby. Television has made football in the last fifty years. Art Modell was behind all of that.

Art Modell was a joker. He was also honest. More than most successful businessmen. In a league filled with assholes and egos among the ownership group Modell brought something a little lighter. When things got tense in meetings he could make it lighter. It's hard to get a bunch of rich guys to agree on anything. Modell's humor and honesty must have helped. If not the decision making certainly the atmosphere. Despite his football inexperience he carried some weight. Being tight with Pete Rozelle certainly helped that.

Personally, his firings of Paul Brown and Bill Belichick were the most difficult to get past in judging Art Modell. On the surface they seem to be the dumbest football decisions ever made. Belichick and Brown are right there with Vince Lombardi and Bill Walsh as the greatest coaches to walk an NFL sideline. When you look past the surface the firings do make some sense. Paul Brown was too powerful in Cleveland. There was no way a working relationship between Brown and Modell was ever going to succeed. Modell liked being around the players while Brown was always kept his distance. Modell had the ear of the players and Brown was always suspicious. The team was on the verge of exploding. Brown's rules and ways were becoming too restricting at a time when players were looking for more freedoms. Modell likely saw no other choice but to fire Paul Brown. That decision gains traction when a more relaxed Blanton Collier takes that fading Browns to a title a couple of years later. The Belichick firing is bashed more for what the coach did in his second head coaching gig. Prior to that last lost season it looked like Belichick and his incredible coaching staff were starting to get something going in Cleveland. The Browns were 5-11 in that last season but that season was a mess. Modell's intentions of moving to Baltimore had been revealed during that season. Everything fell apart from there. Few thought twice of a novice Belichick being fired after a 5-11 season. Most see the move as foolish now but few saw it as foolish then. I also imagine that Modell wanted to start with a clean slate in Baltimore.
The move. This is viewed by nearly everyone, especially those in Cleveland, as Art Modell's greatest sin. Modell probably even saw it the same. My guess is that it weighed heavily on the man ever since. After seeing the ridiculous shit that the Minnesota Vikings owners, the Wilf family, have had to plow through to get a new stadium I can better understand the frustration that forced Art Modell's decision. The Vikings could not survive in this NFL in Minnesota without a new stadium. Modell couldn't survive in Cleveland in the mid '90s without a new stadium. The Vikings stadium situation got so bad that I wouldn't have blamed the Wilfs for leaving town if it had come to that. They had been fighting for a new stadium since they bought the team in 2005. I would have blamed the idiot politicians for a Vikings move before I'd even think of blaming the Wilfs. Seeing and hearing some of the politicians in Minnesota through the whole stadium ordeal was mind numbing. It's a miracle that anything ever gets done. My guess is that this mess that we call the political process is the same everywhere. Including Cleveland in the '90s. The people of Cleveland should have blamed the decision makers among them. They sure coughed up the money and the interest after Modell left town probably never thinking that he would. It ended up costing Cleveland far more for the new team than it would have to keep the Browns in the first place. One thing that many people don't seem to realize is that Art Modell was not a wealthy man. He had some money but he knew people that had more. As he famously said. Most NFL team owners, especially those that we see now, made a ton of money elsewhere and then bought a team. Modell bought the Browns with a bunch of money from his friends. He was initially only the face of the ownership group but he gradually gained more control of the team. He never had that fantastic pot of money. He never had the resources of Jerry Jones, Robert Kraft or even the Wilfs. Modell had to take out a 5 million dollar loan to pay free agent receiver Andre Rison's signing bonus in Cleveland. Modell would have had to file for bankruptcy if the team had stayed in Cleveland. He didn't choose to leave. He had to leave. Moving the Cleveland Browns was devastating to many, many people. Including Art Modell. I wish that Cleveland could forgive him.

RIP Art Modell

Losing

Perhaps the one thing that everyone can agree on in football is that losing sucks. As a Minnesota Vikings fan I've been pretty happy that they haven't had many losing seasons. When they have been down they haven't been down for very long. The longest stretch of consecutive losing seasons that the Vikings have had is only three. Something that they are trying to avoid matching this season. Since 1961, their first season, the Vikings three consecutive losing seasons is the shortest that the NFL has seen. Those three losing seasons were their first three seasons. Here are the longest stretches of losing of the teams since that 1961 season.

Longest Consecutive Losing Seasons
Vikings 3
Jets 4
Browns/Ravens 4
Cowboys 5
Packers 5
Redskins 5
Chiefs 6
Titans 6
Bears 7
Bills 7
Chargers 7
Eagles 7
Patriots 7
Raiders 7
49ers 8
Giants 8
Steelers 8
Cardinals 9
Colts 9
Rams 9
Broncos 10
Lions 10

In their 51 years the Vikings have had only 15 losing seasons. Tied with the Dallas Cowboys for fewest in that time.

Total Losing Seasons
Vikings 15
Cowboys 15
Steelers 16
Raiders 16
Browns/Ravens 17
Packers 17
Patriots 18
Broncos 18
Colts 19
Chargers 20
Titans 21
Redskins 21
Chiefs 21
49ers 21
Giants 22
Jets 23
Rams 25
Eagles 25
Bears 26
Bills 27
Lions 31
Cardinals 32

It's really no shock that the Lions and Cardinals are at or near the bottom of both lists. Fans of recent top teams like the Giants and 49ers might be surprised to find their teams with as many losing seasons as they have. Both lists is of course interesting to me as the Vikings top both. It really doesn't mean much as those winning seasons never ended with that one big win. It's actually pretty frustrating. Still, it's been fun that the Vikings contend nearly every year. That final big win will come. Hopefully soon!

New Vikings Stadium

It's so hard to believe that a new Minnesota Vikings stadium is a reality and no longer a hoped for proposition. Ground breaking is still many months away. Maybe even a year away. There's still a ton of work to do to even get to the point of needing a shovel. The long wait isn't just for the snow to melt and the ground to thaw. There might be some of that. It is Minnesota after all. There's just a lot of work. A lot of decisions. Never having built a stadium, I'd imagine that this is the fun work. Especially compared to the usually fruitless, frustrating work of the past decade spent dealing with political clowns. The Vikings owners, the Wilf family, are developers. While not moonlighting as owners of an NFL team, the Wilfs build things, develop land. It's what they do. It's what they know. They want the best that their money can buy. Since they are footing the bill on nearly half of the $975 million project they want it done right. The Metrodome was built on the cheap nearly thirty years ago. That won't happen this time. Last Thursday, five architecture firms presented the resumes and ideas to gain the 30 to 50 million dollar job. Here are the contestants and some of their work:

-HKS Inc. of Dallas-designed NFL stadiums for the Dallas Cowboys and Indianapolis Colts
-Ewing Cole-a Philadelphia based firm that drew up the plans for the $1.6 billion MetLife Stadium
-HNTB Corp of Kansas City-architect of the $1.2 billion stadium being built for the San Francisco 49ers
-AECOM-a Los Angeles firm that designed the Seattle Seahawks stadium
-Populous-a Kansas City based architect that designed the Twins' Target Field, Xcel Energy Center in
                 St. Paul and University of Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium

The Wilfs have long admired the Colts stadium so my guess would be that HKS would be the front runner. Populous would certainly bring some Minnesota sports facilities symmetry. I just don't know if they have much experience with large domed facilities. There's also the continued possibility that the Wilfs will spring for a retractable roof.  That would certainly impact the decision. That decision could come as soon as the Sept. 14 meeting of the new Minneapolis stadium authority. I can't wait to see the plans and hear of all of the amenities. All stadium talk is fun stuff now. That is such a welcome change.

Game Day Thoughts

Quite a finish in the Minnesota Vikings-Jacksonville Jaguars game. Jaguars take a 23-20 lead with 20 seconds remaining. Vikings force tie and win in OT, 26-23. Incredible finish. The refusal to quit in the Vikings was nice to see after the ridiculous second half collapses that marked the start of last season. Nice win. Nice start to the 2012 NFL season.

Welcome back Adrian Peterson!!! My goodness, it was nice to see him back. 84 yards and 2 TDs. He looked real close to his usual awesome self.

Jaguars safety Dawan Landry should be penalized, fined, even kicked out of the league for grabbing onto and holding onto Peterson's left leg. That just ain't right.

Defensive end Brian Robison was terrific. With the attention paid Jared Allen, Robison could have a huge year.

Percy Harvin: no migraines in over a year. Knock on wood! In his three seasons, migraines have been the only thing to slow him. He's a beast!

The Vikings can not afford another slow start to a game like they had yesterday. Quarterback was shaky, at best, until the last drive of the first half. He was clutch the rest of the way. Touch throws and incredible poise. It's was beautiful to watch him calmly move the team into field goal position in the last 10 seconds of regulation time. Those two throws were the difference between a 1-0 and an 0-1 start to the season. He looked like a veteran in OT.

Linebacker Chad Greenway was all over the field. Especially at the end of the game. It may have been the most fired up that I've ever seen him. He wanted to tear something up during the OT coin toss.

It's incredible to see an active, smart, sure tackling Vikings secondary. Antoine WInfield is a nice stabilizing, veteran presence. It's the youngsters that are a revelation. Corners Chris Cook and Josh Robinson and safeties Harrison Smith and Mistral Raymond could be together making an impact for a long time. The secondary has been a complete disaster for two ugly years. What a relief!

Receiver Michael Jenkins made some nice plays. The Vikings are trying to bide their time as best they can unitl explosive Jerome Simpson comes back from a three game suspension. One down. Jenkins made the plays to keep drives alive. It was nice to see.

Oh my, those Vikings rookies :

Matt Kalil had a perfectly quiet game. Pretty much what you want to see from your left tackle. He also blocked an extra point.

Safety Harrison Smith knocked down a pass in OT that prevented a first down and perhaps much more. He played smart and he made tackles.

Josh Robinson made a key third down stop. He may have secured the nickel job. Speed can make up for many of the mistakes that a rookie corner might make. Robinson has elite speed.

Kicker Blair Walsh may have had the best game of them all. Four field goals doesn't even begin to describe his impact. One of those, a 55-yarder, forced OT. The last of those four, s 38-yarder, won it in OT. Except for a late squib kick, all of his kickoffs were deep in the end zone. Incredible start.

None of these kids looked like rookies out there. Before this year is done, I expect fellow rookies, receiver Jarius Wright and tight end Rhett Ellison, too make their presence felt.

Blair "frickin" Walsh!!!

There was another team on that Mall of America field.

Blaine Gabbert looks like a completely different quarterback from last year. He has a very bright future. Thankfully, his nice late game drive wasn't the game winner that it appeared to be. With dynamic rookie Justin Blackmon, Laurent Robinson, Mercedes Lewis, Rashad Jennings and the incredible Maurice Jones-Drew, Gabbert has some real nice weapons. With an already solid defense, especially the front seven, the Jaguars are an ascending team.

Wow! Washington and Robert Griffin III made a week one statement with their win over the Saints. It's way too early but the Saints loss and the Falcons dismantling of a real talented Chiefs team might be a sign of a change in the NFC South. The Falcons and the Saints have traded punches for a couple of years. It's one of my favorite rivalries right now. You never count out a Drew Brees-led team but I still put the Falcons as the team to beat down there.

It's tough to follow much of the action opposite a Vikings game but I try. The Redskins-Saints game was a mild surprise. No upset is really a surprise when a young talented team like the Redskins gets on a roll. RGIII will do some damage as a rookie. The Jets taking apart a Bills team with high expectations was a bigger surprise for me.

Great game between the Packers and 49ers. Wouldn't be too much of a shock to see these two teams play for the conference championship. Still, I like that the Packers are looking up at the Vikings in the division.

Shocking. 49ers receiver Michael Crabtree actually looks interested in playing football. He looked a little bit like the playmaker that he was drafted to be. That guy is a puzzle. A talented puzzle. If he can play to his talent, the 49ers could be as scary on offense as they already are on defense.

The Madden/PS3 commercials with Ray Lewis and Paul Rudd are hilarious.

I love watching Aaron Rodgers throw the football. I loved it more when he did it for Cal. Even the one he threw right to Navarro Bowman was pretty. It's been a while since I've seen him make a throw right to a player he shouldn't.

I really like Packers receiver/returner Randall Cobb. He returned a punt for a TD yesterday that was aided by an illegal block that was called then not called. That big play pumped some life into the Packers. Cobb is a difference maker. On a team filled with playmakers, he scares me the most.

49ers safety Donte Whitner is going to get a bunch of fines. He's a big hitter but he takes a lot of shots when players shouldn't.

Frank Gore rarely ceases to amaze me. He doesn't look like he runs well but he always does.

It's great to see Peyton Manning playing football again. Playing great too.
Manning ran for 10 yards better than I've ever seen him run. Those neck surgeries might have made him a better athlete.

It still fascnitates me how nimble Ben Roethlisberger really is.

Broncos running back Willis McGehee has been running for a while now. He still runs hard.

The Broncos and Steelers capped off a terrific day of football with a terrific football game.

The NFL should go back to one Monday Night game on the opening weekend. Sunday is the best day for football. Always has been. Always will. The more games on Sunday the better.

Excellent words from Bob Costas on the legacy of former Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens owner Art Modell.

I don't think that I've ever seen more 2-pt conversion attempts in one day of football.

Like the Wednesday night game, I was pleasantly surprised by the replacement officials. There were some missed calls but there always are. The mess that we saw through most of the preseason was nicely missing. The play wasn't disrupted by indecision. In the action that I saw they all seemed to know what they were doing. The lockout still has to end as soon as possible but my worries about the replacement officials is greatly lessened.

Blair "frickin" Walsh!!!

Woohoo, Vikings are 1-0! Next week is bad news for the Indianapolis Colts.

Game Day!

Directv is still keeping me away from my Cal football. Directv sucks!

Southern Utah was a real pain for about three quarters yesterday in Berkeley. It wasn't until the fourth quarter that Cal was able to put the Thunderbirds away. From what I could tell from the radio broadcast, since there was no TV for me, Southern Utah quarterback Brad Sorensen is a terrific pigskin thrower. He could be playing professionally somewhere next year. Cal's own quarterback, Zach Maynard, needs to be more consistent. You never know what you're gonna get from him. It could be fantastic. It could be brutal. Some games there is far more brutal. He's got some really nice receivers in his brother, Keenan Allen, and freshmen Bryce Treggs and Chris Harper as well as tight end Richard Rogers. Cal wins 50-31. Cal can't give up 31 to Ohio St. next week. That game will be on ABC so I can finally see a Cal game. Directv sucks!

Today is a different day. Directv is bringing me my Minnesota Vikings football. Directv rocks!

The real opening day of the NFL brings a terrific triple header.

Vikings vs Jaguars in the morning
Packers vs 49ers in the afternoon
Broncos vs Steelers in the evening

That's a fantastic start to the 2012 season. Especially that morning game.

Opening day opens with hope for all 32 NFL teams. Well, most of the 32 NFL teams. Even those with faint hope this year have hope that they can move closer to where they want to be. Coming years might be better years. Most in the media present little hope for the Vikings. Most in the media are idiots. The Vikings have a bunch of young talent. They need that young talent to be ready immediately. There is no easing into the NFL for them. Play making talent like Adrian Peterson, Percy Harvin, Jared Allen, Kevin Williams and Antoine Winfield make good things possible even against top teams like San Francisco, Houston, Green Bay, Detroit and Chicago. It's possible! Minnesota's biggest obstacle to any kind of 2012 success is making their way throught their own division. It's a tought one. All four games against the Packers and the Bears come after Thanksgiving. They have to get off to a good start. It can happen! It all starts today.

Go Vikings!!!

Couple Trojans

I've been skeptical of USC quarterbacks. Mostly because they chose to attend USC but also because I've found them to be highly overrated since Carson Palmer. Matt Leinart was surrounded with so much talent that he would have had to try to fail in order to not succeed. Mark Sanchez started only one season. He had two redeeming games, a bunch of mediocre ones and a horrible performance against Cal. When he couldn't beat out John David Booty the year before I really knew all that I ever needed to know about Mark Sanchez. Without even giving him a chance, I had tossed current quarterback Matt Barkley into that same overrated basket. I believe that I was wrong to do so.

Barley's posted great numbers. I wrongly put those numbers more on the offensive system that he plays in and the fantastic receivers he throws to. Much like Leinart before him. He also has the difficult task of playing through my issues with USC in general. I'm leaning more to the current diversity of the USC offense being more a product of Barkley's talents. Andrew Luck got a bunch of attention and praise for calling many of his own plays. Apparently Barkley has similar freedoms. He's got skills. More than I gave him credit for. He also has a greater football mind than I thought. He truly gets "it." I thought that he was just another USC quarterbacking clown. Generally I just didn't give Matt Barkley any of the credit that he deserves. Another thing that impressed was an interesting friendship that he formed at USC.

Louie Zamperini is a walking history lesson. He was an excellent runner at USC in the '30s. He approached the four minute barrier in the mile over a decade before Roger Bannister broke it. Maybe he would have broken it first if world events hadn't gotten in the way. Zamperini earned a spot on the 1936 Olympic team where he roomed with Jesse Owens. Like Owens, Zamperini's Olympic performance caught the attention of Adolf Hitler. The German leader requested a meeting with the runner from USC. Zamperini went on to fly a B-24 bomber in World War II. He was shot down over the Pacific, spent 47 days avoiding sharks in a bullet-riddled raft, and then spent the next two years in Japanese prison camps. His life was one so striking that it was profiled in Laura Hillenbarnd's terrific book Unbroken. Through a professor of Barkley's, the past and present USC athletes met. The two have been friends ever since. Barkley would rather hang out with a 92-year old former USC runner than the Hollywood peeps favored by previous USC quarterbacks. I'm impressed and I'm going to pay more attention to Matt Barley's senior season at USC.

Simple, Elusive Math

In a recent "Hard Knocks" episode, Miami Dolphins running back Reggie Bush spoke of his personal football goals for the coming season. In doing so he showed off that USC education. He wants to lead the league in rushing. That's an excellent goal for a back. That's probably the top individual goal of every back in the league. He should have stopped there. Bush went on to say that he wanted to average four yards every time that he carried the ball. I wondered first if he knew what he was saying. Then I wondered if simple math eluded him. He went to USC so maybe math does miss the mark. There's also a better than decent chance that Bush rarely ventured into a USC classroom. Let alone a math class. If so, the academics at the school can't be blamed.

Shooting for four yards per carry isn't shooting very high. That mark is considered only average at best. In order to lead the league in rushing at a rate that average, Bush would likely break the season attempts record. That's a lot of attempts for a back like Bush. Likely, way too many attempts. He's more of a big play type running back. Speed and elusiveness are more his game. He should be aiming towards averaging at least five yards per carry.

Despite Bush's somewhat shaky grasp of numbers, I have been impressed with his football work in Miami so far. He's much more the dependable back, even every down back, he ever was with the New Orleans Saints. He's far closer to the back that the Saints always hoped that he'd be. He's been very effective on the field. He also seems to be a team leader on a team that's kinda searching for one. He should just stay away from some of that math.

Game 1 Thoughts

The first game of the season should be on a Sunday. Not on a Thursday and certainly not on a Wednesday.

I sure was envious of the New York Giants marching out their Lombardis before the game last night. I'd be envious of one Lombardi. I just think that it would be more intimidating if the team across form them didn't have five of those things.

Giants defensive lineman Jason Pierre-Paul is a tremendous football talent. It won't show up on a stat sheet but it's amazing how fast he gets up off the ground whenever he might be knocked to it. Just amazing.

When he's trying, Dez Bryant sure is fun to watch. Too bad he's such an ass. He also disappeared again in the second half.

I haven't seen a ton of his games but that might have been the best that I've seen Tony Romo play. The Giants were beat up in the secondary but Romo still had to make the throws. He did. If he can keep this up and the Cowboys can keep Bryant in line and motivated on the field, Dallas might have something this year. DeMarco Murray is a very nice back. His running opens up that offense for Romo. Receiver Miles Austin and tight end Jason Witten are terrific when healthy. 3rd receiver Kevin Ogletree stepped up last night especially when Bryant disappeared in the second half. The line needs to gel some. Defensive coordinator Rob Ryan has some nice pieces on defense. DeMarcus Ware is a beast. Brandon Carr and rookie Morris Claiborne were great additions at corner.

The Giants were outplayed but they'll be there at the end.

The replacement officials did a fine job last night. Much better than I expected after a horrible preseason. There was a missed defensive holding on the Cowboys in the end zone that might have allowed the Giants to get a touchdown rather than a field goal in the first half. That's significant but it wasn't a blatantly bad call. This crew had none of the mind numbing delays and indecisions that plagued the replacements in the practice games for the past month. If the rest of the crews perform like this, I'll be very relieved.

Can't wait for Sunday when this game should have been played.

RIP Art Modell.

Welcome Back Football!

I love that football is back but I don't really like having the kickoff on a day other than Sunday. I didn't like it on Thursday and I certainly don't like it on Wednesday. It's just not natural. The NFL will tell you that it's because the fans can't get enough football but the real reason is that the NFL can't get enough money. Just like their desire for an 18-game schedule it's always about the money. Despite my complaints I look forward to the real professional football game being played by the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants tonight. It's great to have the NFL back. In honor of that here are my predictions for the playoff teams and the rest of what takes place at the end of this season.

NFC Division Champs
San Francisco 49ers
Green Bay Packers
Atlanta Falcons
New York Giants

NFC Wildcard
New Orleans Saints
Chicago Bears

AFC Division Champs
Denver Broncos
Baltimore Ravens
Houston Texans
New England Patriots

AFC Wildcard
San Diego Chargers
Cincinnati Bengals

Super Bowl
Patriots over Packers


GO VIKINGS!!!

Your 2012 Minnesota Vikings

With all of the end of preseason roster tweaking finally done here's what we got. For now.

Quarterback
Christian Ponder
Joe Webb
McLeod Bethel-Thompson

Running Back
Adrian Peterson
Toby Gerhart
Matt Asiata

Fullback
Jerome Felton

Receiver
Percy Harvin
Jerome Simpson
Michael Jenkins
Devin Aromashadu
Stephen Burton
Jarius Wright

Tight End
Kyle Rudolph
John Carlson
Rhett Ellison
Allen Reisner

Offensive Line
Matt Kalil
Charlie Johnson
John Sullivan
Brandon Fusco
Phil Loadholt
Joe Berger
Geoff Schwartz
Mark Asper

Defensive Line
Jared Allen
Kevin Williams
Letroy Guion
Brian Robison
Everson Griffen
Christian Ballard
Fred Evans
D'Aundre Reed

Linebackers
Chad Greenway
Jasper Brinkley
Erin Henderson
Marvin Mitchell
Tyrone McKenzie
Larry Dean
Audie Cole

Cornerbacks
Antoine Winfield
Chris Cook
Josh Robinson
AJ Jefferson
Marcus Sherels
Brandon Burton

Safeties
Harrison Smith
Mistral Raymond
Jamarcus Sanford
Robert Blanton
Andrew Sendejo

Kicker
Blair Walsh

Punter
Chris Kluwe

Long Snapper
Cullen Loeffler

Receiver Jerome Simpson is suspended for the first three games of the season. So, one of the above will have to go when Simpson returns to the team. Seven linebackers is more than expected. Eight offensive linemen is a little light. There can be no injuries with that unit. Hopefully no injuries anywhere.
Perhaps the biggest surprise cut was that of quarterback Sage Rosenfels. I thought that his experience was a benefit to the team. He was like an extra coach for Ponder and Webb on the sideline and in the meeting room. Bethel-Thompson showed tremendous promise in practices and in the preseason games. That potential obviously trumped the experience that Rosenfels brought.

Only three years ago the Vikings were one of the oldest teams in the league. So much has changed since then. They are now one of the youngest. That inexperience obviously shows in the general expectations that the supposed experts have for the Vikings. The good thing about this youth is that they don't believe that they have to suck. I think that the Vikings will surprise a lot of people this year. The most challenging task in front of them is making their way through a very difficult division. It will also be the most fun.

Next Week: Looking at the hidden gems of the Minnesota Vikings Practice Squad!

Seattle Issues

Few team's fans bother me more than those of the Seattle Seahawks. Desptite a Super Bowl appearance the Seahawks have had less to cheer than pretty much every other team that has taken the field. The fans have very nice enthusiasm but little direction. For whatever reason the Seahawks, and as a result their fans, have had a very unhealthy relationship with the Minnesota Vikings. It's rarely worked out well for the Seahawks when they get together but it's been dyanmite for the Vikings.

First of all, Hall of Fame defensive linemen Carl Eller and John Randle ended their amazing careers with forgettable seasons with the Seahawks. More must have been expected but they got what they got. The Seahawks were hatched in the mid '70s and started their steady thirst for former Vikings players immediately, the Seahawks traded receiver Ahmad Rashad for backup defensive lineman Bob Lurtsema. That Seattle team couldn't get away from those Vikings defensive linemen. Rashad might have been a Hall of Famer if he'd played all his career like he spent his Minnesota years. #28 was warming that jersey for the current #28. He warmed it well. Ahmad Rashad was a fantastic receiver. This one-sided trade started a trend of shaky judgement when it came to Seattle's dealings with Minnesota.

Seattle was no bother for a few decades and then, without notice, they became a pain in the ass to nearly all things Vikings. In 2006 the Seahawks had a talented team with an awesome offensive line led by tackle Walter Jones and guard Steve Hutchinson on the left side. The Seahawks completely hacked up the negotiations with free agent Hutchinson. The team had shown all kinds of love to their other star players but showed little to Hutchinson. They assumed that he'd fall in line and placed the transition free agent tag on him just to save a little money. The Vikings stepped in with a unique plan. Months earlier Minnesota's salary cap and negotiations whiz Bob Brzezinski warned the NFL about the possibility of including a "poison pill" in a contract. The NFL didn't seem to care so the Vikings decided to take advantage. They signed the unhappy Hutchinson to a $49 million contract. A very nice contract for a guard. As a transition free agent the Seahawks had a week to match the contract and retain Hutchinson. Brzezinski included a clause that would guarantee the entire $49 million if Hutchinson wasn't the highest paid offensive lineman on his team. That was the case with Vikings. That wouldn't be the case with the Seahawks. Walter Jones' contract was more. The moment the Seahawks matched the Vikings offer to Hutchinson the entire $49 million would be guaranteed. So, the Seahawks cried, and cried and cried all the way to the NFL offices. They filed a grievance over the Vikings dirty tactics. An arbitrator ruled in favor of the Vikings and Hutchinson moved to Minnesota and the Seahawks received no compensation. The Seahawks cried some more. Then they decided to get back at those mean Minnesota Vikings. They signed Vikings restricted free agent receiver Nate Burleson to an offer sheet that contained their own "poison pill" clause. They were so creative in their thinking that they used basically the same clause as the Vikings contract with Hutchinson. Only the numbers were different. The Vikings didn't match the offer to Burleson but as a restricted free agent they received a third round pick as compensation. Burleson was a nice receiver but Hutchinson and a third round pick for Burleson is a landslide in the Vikings favor. Seahawks fans exploded with hatred toward the Vikings. I found it misdirected anger seeing as the Seahawks basically did everything wrong in their negotiations with Steve Hutchinson. The fans should have been upset with their own team. If Hutchinson had been given the respect and attention that he deserved as an impact player and team leader, he'd still be in Seattle. It was sad to see and Seahawks fans couldn't see it.

Five years later the Seattle-Minnesota issues continued when the Seahawks hired former Vikings offensive coordinator Darrell Bevel. Then they went after Vikings free agents when they added quarterback Tarvaris Jackson and receiver Sidney Rice. Rice hurt the most and continues to hurt. When they added Jackson, Seahawks squirrelly head coach Pete Carroll started taking shots at the Vikings over their handling of their former quarterback. He said they never gave Jackson a chance. Right or wrong, it's really none of his business how another team deals with their players but Carroll never really knows how to mind his own business. Instead of acting as he preaches, Carroll goes on to treat Jackson just he accused the Vikings. He never gives the quarterback a chance. Carroll signs Matt Flynn a year after he makes Jackson the starter. Then he drafts Wisconsin's Russell Wilson in the third round of the draft. To cap it all off, Carroll trades Jackson to Buffalo. Doesn't look like he ever gave Jackson a chance.

I'd be pretty happy if the Vikings never deal again with the Seahawks. It's just too annoying to hear from any of those fans. Fortunately the brilliant play of Ahmad Rashad and Steve Hutchinson make it so much easier to deal with those fans. I'm not sure anything can soften the annoying ways of Pete Carroll. It just goes to show that you never go to USC to find a coach.

Championship!

Here's the fantasy football team for this here fantasy football participant for this year. Drafted yesterday and ready to dominate.
QB
Eli Manning
Phillip Rivers
Christian Ponder

RB
Adrian Peterson
Maurice Jones-Drew
Toby Gerhart
Mark Ingram

WR
AJ Green
Brandon Marshall
Steve Smith
Vincent Jackson
Jerome Simpson

K
Robbie Gould
Blair Walsh

Defense
Patriots
Vikings

Nice. Right?
If Peterson and Jones-Drew show up and run with the ball like only they can, I will have a fine team. Expecting both to reach career years might be a stretch but I like the odds. I like this team. But, who really knows at this stage of the game.

Fantastic Football

Today is draft day for my fantasy football league. I've always enjoyed this ridiculous sideshow that is fantasy football. My history with this passion goes back over thirty years. I was the general manager for a team in a league of junior high school teachers. Some had even been teachers of this little Flea Flicker. It's always shocking to see teachers on the other side of the school grounds. I'll let other blogs tackle that one. My time in that league only lasted a few years but it was enough to reveal to me that fantasy football has little to do with real football. I also found it to be a lot of fun. Real life and college separated me from fantasy football for several years. My best pal brought me back over twenty years ago and we've been in a league and eventually our own league ever since. Today will be our fourteenth draft with pretty much the current band of football nuts. In person drafts are always the best. Good friends. Good times. Fantasy football. Getting together this year was a bit more problematic than any other year. If we ever get to the point of having the draft through modern technology it's time to step out. Getting together is always worth the hassles that may result in getting together.

Most fantasy football enthusiasts that I know pursue the game much more intensely than I do. Some to the extent that the outcome of their fantasy game is more important than the real games. For me it's always been a little bit of football on the side, right or left, of the real thing. Something to perk up my interest in a particular game that may not otherwise interest me as much as others. I don't study for the draft and I don't dwell on my lineup each week. I draft the players that I like and not from a list in a magazine or a website. I only vary my lineup when there's an injury. I don't care much about matchups. Basically, I'm a horrible fantasy football competitor. I don't win much but sometimes I win it all. I like it and it's fun. I've enjoyed every season of fantasy football. My current league being the best that I've known.

Good luck to fantasy football enthusiasts everywhere.