How Much Is Enough?

More, more, more....

The NFL is always looking for more. More money. It is a business so I guess that it should be expected. The owners greed means that there's never enough. In this case, it's playoff expansion. This might be the last season in which only 12 teams make the playoffs. Starting in 2015, seven teams from each conference might move on to postseason play. This plan could be approved by the owners as soon as next month.

One more team from each conference doesn't seem like much but that's how is starts. In another year, or three, it will probably be up to eight from each conference. 16 playoff teams. Half of the league. Although, we might have 40 teams by then. One of them in London. How much is enough? While it's the owners that will ultimately decide whether the playoffs are to be expanded, this really has Roger Goodell's fingerprints all over it. He's the one that always seems to think that more is best. The owners paid the commissioner over $44 million in 2012 to decide what's best for the league so they seem to like what he's doing. Roger says that the fans want more football. I'm not so sure that they do. The playoffs have been great. Without a doubt, the fans want that to continue. Diluting the playoffs won't make them better. More football doesn't always mean better football. A 14-team playoff format would mean that only one team from each conference would be rewarded with a bye in the first round. That would also mean that there would be six playoff games in that first round. One guess as to the logistics has two playoff games on Saturday, three on Sunday, one on Monday Night. So, the team that won on Monday night would be entering the second round a day short in preparation and recovery. That doesn't sound too fair to me. The more likely scenario would be to put three games on each day of that first playoff weekend. That's a lot of football. I love a lot of football but only if it's great football. I don't think that expanding the playoffs is a guarantee of great football.

The thing that has always bothered me about Roger's ideas is that he always says that the fans want them. He's long had a strong interest in stretching the regular season to 18 games. He says that the fans want this. I know of no fan that wants this. A reduction in the preseason is often a part of Roger's regular season expansion ideas. Now, fans are interested in this. Many fans hate the preseason. They hate preseason games mostly because NFL teams charge regular season prices for them. Teams force season ticket holders to pay full price for these practice games as part of the package. The fans don't necessarily want more regular season games. They want fewer practice games. Or, they want the practice games at a cost that reflects the quality of the game. The fans provide the billions of dollars that drive the NFL. Roger should not assume that the fans want more football. He can assume that the fans want great football. Who wouldn't? I have serious doubts that diluting the playoffs is the best way to continue presenting great football. I don't think that half of the teams in the league should be making the playoffs and that's where it's heading. I'd actually cut back to 10 playoff teams before I'd take a crack at 14.

Throwback Thursday: NFL 101 Awards

Not to be outdone by the Oscars, it's still awards season in the NFL The NFL 101 Awards Banquet is the nation's oldest awards event dedicated exclusively to professional football. It's also the least known. The Kansas City Chiefs have long had some of the most passionate fans in all of the NFL. Leave it to them to come up with something like this. The Kansas City Committee of 101 was founded by Jack Wheeler. Membership was limited to 101 and it cost $1,000 to join. The group began presenting it's annual awards in 1969. Chiefs fans were a jolly bunch that year as that was the year that their team won Super Bowl IV. For that one year they awarded NFL and AFL players. Since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970, they have awarded the top players and coaches of the NFC and AFC. All proceeds from the annual event benefits the Kansas City Chiefs Charities. The "Committee of 101" is now a national media committee of 101 sportswriters and sportscasters, who cover the NFL, and are asked to vote on the top offensive player, defensive player, and coach of the NFC and AFC. The committee reads like a "Who's Who" of those people that cover the NFL. It's a fine group. I should be a part of it.

Reading the early recipients of the NFL/NFC defensive player of the award brought me some happy tears. They brought back memories of some of the best days of Minnesota Vikings football. Vikings defensive end Carl Eller won the "101's"  first NFL defensive player of the award in 1969. Defensive tackle Alan Page won the award three of the next five years. Great players. Great times. In 2007, the NFL 101 Awards created the Lamar Hunt Award for Professional Football. Named for the Kansas City Chiefs original owner and the founder of the AFL, the award is now presented annually to an individual or group that has played a role in helping the NFL become the preeminent pro sports league in the nation. The first recipient of the Lamar Hunt Award for Professional Football in 2008 was "The Foolish Club." This was appropriate since Hunt was the man behind the club. "The Foolish Club" was the name placed on the very rich guys that started the American Football League. They were considered foolish in 1959 but soon became some of the most significant men in the history of the National Football League. Tony Dungy (2009), "Monday Night Football" (2010), NFL Films (2011), Roger Staubach (2012), and Don Shula (2013) have won the Lamar Hunt Award since Hunt's group won the first one.

The 2014 recipient is another Kansas City legend. Chiefs Hall of Fame quarterback Len Dawson will be given the Lamar Hunt Award for Professional Football at the 44th Annual NFL 101 Awards dinner this Saturday night in Kansas City. Dawson was the quarterback of the Chiefs team that defeated the Vikings in Super Bowl IV. He's one of several great, Hall of Fame quarterbacks from the 1950s and 1960s that had a stuttering start to their NFL careers. Despite being the 5th pick of the 1957 draft, Dawson floundered with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns before finding a home with the Chiefs. Bobby Layne, Y.A. Tittle, Johnny Unitas, and Bart Starr all had surprisingly slow starts in professional football before finding their groove. After his playing career, Dawson became a nationally known sportscaster. He was host of the groundbreaking HBO program "Inside the NFL" from 1978-2001. He was a game analyst for NBC for several years. He served as sports director at KMBC-TV, starting in his playing days in 1966 and continuing on until 2011. He's been an analyst for Chiefs radio broadcasts since 1985. Len Dawson was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987. In 2012, he was awarded the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Pete Rozelle Award for Radio-Television, joining Dan Dierdorf and Frank Gifford as the only individuals in the Hall of Fame as both players and broadcasters. Dawson has spent nearly his entire life in, around, and promoting professional football. Congratulations Len Dawson!

Here are the rest of the 101 Awards honorees:
AFC Offensive Player of the Year-Peyton Manning, Denver Broncos
NFC Offensive Player of the Year-LeSean McCoy, Philadelphia Eagles
AFC Defensive Player of the Year-Robert Mathis, Indianapolis Colts
NFC Defensive Player of the Year-Luke Kuechly, Carolina Panthers
AFC Coach of the Year-Andy Reid, Kansas City Chiefs
NFC Coach of the Year-Ron Rivera, Carolina Panthers

I'll go out on a limb and predict that Andy Reid will be nicely received.

Congratulation to all of the 101 Award winners and to the great fans of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Draft Hopes

Many fans of NFL teams are coming up with their hopes for the 2014 NFL Draft. Fans of teams that experienced less than stellar 2013 seasons have been refining those hopes for a while now. Led by the Senior Bowl, the college all-star games are the first step of the long draft process. That process is even longer this year as the Draft is a couple of weeks later than it has been. The NFL Scouting Combine is the event that really starts forming the draft hopes of fans. The 2014 edition of the Scouting Combine concluded yesterday. The draft hopes of many are taking shape. There are still the respective Pro Days of each player. Those are most important for the players that chose not to compete at the Combine or couldn't compete due to medical issues. These Pro Days also give players that might have fared poorly at the Combine a chance to redeem themselves. The last bit of judgement that impacts the draft hopes of so many fans is actually the least accurate. The media. Mock drafts are the lifeblood of every fan drooling through the long days before the real draft. The supposed experts rarely know as much as we all believe that they do. Some of these "experts" might get some information directly from the teams but you should never believe anything that an NFL teams says before the draft. It's always fun to ponder the possibilities of the draft but believing anything that you read or hear is often a mistake. The draft is a crap shoot and anyone's guess is only a guess. Those guesses help all of us form our hopes for our team's draft.

The Minnesota Vikings have significant needs at quarterback and at pretty much every level of their defense. That's pretty bad. It's fairly shocking that the 2013 Vikings were about a half dozen plays away from turning a 5-10-1 record into a 11-5 record. Many of those "experts" predict that the Vikings will take a quarterback with the 8th pick of the draft simply because they need a quarterback. I don't think that they will take a quarterback with the 8th pick because I don't think that there will be value in taking a quarterback there. The top three quarterbacks in this draft are Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel, Louisville's Teddy Bridgewater, and Central Florida's Blake Bortles. All three should be off celebrating with their new teams by the time that the Vikings are on the clock. All three might be gone by the 5th pick. While I like all three of those quarterbacks, I think that there are some real nice quarterbacks available later in the draft. At least, that is the hope of all fans of the Vikings. My hope, right now, for the Vikings first pick in the 2014 NFL draft is Buffalo linebacker Kahlil Mack. I had never seen Mack play until Buffalo played Ohio St. at the start of the 2013 season. He was the best football player on that field. I hope that he's still on the board when it's the Vikings turn to pick. I'm starting to think that he won't be but there is still hope. I believe that Manziel, Bridgewater, and Bortles will be among the top seven players picked. Two of the most talented football players in this draft are South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney and Clemson receiver Sammy Watkins. Clowney could and probably should be the top pick by the Houston Texans. They also need a quarterback.  Quarterback usually trumps any other need but you never know. Clowney is one of those freak talents that is rarely seen. I believe that Watkins and Clowney will be among the top seven picks. The St. Louis Rams, with the 2nd pick, and Atlanta Falcons, with the 6th pick, could use a franchise left tackle. This draft has two of those in Aurburn's Greg Robinson and Texas A&M's Jake Matthews. Manziel, Bridgewater, Bortles, Clowney, Watkins, Robinson, and Matthews could all realistically be selected by the Vikings pick. That would leave Kahlil Mack still on the board. That's my hope. Mack would be a fantastic addition to the Minnesota Vikings defense.

As for my hopes for the rest of the Vikings draft. I hope that they find that quarterback, a defensive tackle too, a cornerback, maybe a couple of offensive linemen, another linebacker wouldn't hurt. Right now, I hope that Georgia's Aaron Murray is that quarterback. If not for a knee injury last fall, Murray might be among the quarterbacks at the top of the draft. Pitt defensive tackle Aaron Donald would be an excellent pick but I don't think that's possible with any pick other than their 8th pick. I think that they have too many needs to pay the price to trade back into the first round but I'm hoping that he's still there when they pick in the second round. Florida St. linebacker Telvin Smith would be a terrific choice in the third. Hopefully, Nebraska cornerback Stanley Jean-Baptiste would still be available in the fourth.

Here's my Minnesota Vikings draft hopes through four rounds (for now):
1. Kahlil Mack  LB  Buffalo
2. Aaron Donald  DT  Pitt
3a. Aaron Murray  QB  Georgia
3b. Telvin Smith  LB  Florida St.
4. Stanley Jean-Baptiste  CB  Nebraska

I have serious doubts that Mack or Donald will be available when the Vikings are on the clock in those rounds but one can hope. Fortunately, this a very talented, deep draft. There will be talented players available at all of those picks. I hope that the Vikings find them.

"Blown Up, Sir!"

Construction is ongoing on the stadium that will be the new home for the Minnesota Vikings. It looks like some of those big cranes have gone up! While that is taking place on the footprint of the old stadium, that old stadium, the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, is being destroyed in a fairly extended manner. I'm really no demolitions expert, not even close, but this seems to be taking a long time. The roof came down soon after the the last game was played. That was fairly exciting. They blew up some of the stadium's structure soon after. That was even more exciting. Blowing stuff up is always exciting. They were slowly taking down more of the structure when a beam fell unexpectedly. Thankfully, no one was hurt. Still, that caused a delay as they searched for the cause. The delay in the destruction of the old stadium did not slow the construction of the new stadium. It seems that the new stadium is going up faster than the old stadium is coming down. That could become a problem at some point. That pace changed this past Sunday. A lot of what was still standing was blown up. It was quite exciting. Blowing stuff up is always exciting. For whatever reason, some of the outer wall of that old stadium is still standing. Again, I am no demolitions experts but I can not understand why some of that stadium is still standing. I don't understand why they are taking so long to bring all of that dump down. On the bright side, that means that there could be more explosions coming. Blowing stuff up is fun!

Competition

Ah, the Scouting Combine. It's hard to believe that the NFL Scouting Combine was done in secrecy for decades. Now it's televised, covered, reported, dissected, put back together, and packaged. NFL Network shows it round-the-clock. It's a very strange job interview for the football players. The potential employees are introduced to possible employers in their skivvies. Very strange. The Scouting Combine is also a competition. Typically, high-level athletes thrive on competition. The best against the best brings out the best. They seek out competition. Not so at the Scouting Combine. Especially among the quarterbacks. I don't understand why any college football player would choose not to compete against their peers. I blame the agents. I'd like to think that if the choice was their's alone, that the players would choose to compete. Too often, the top quarterbacks choose not to throw. Among the top quarterbacks this year, only University of Central Florida's Blake Bortles is throwing. Louisville's Teddy Bridgewater isn't throwing or running the 40. Worry not. Bridgewater is jumping in Indianapolis. Good for him. The agents always stress that their clients are throwing at the respective Pro Days. They want to control the throwing environment for their client. They want the location to be familiar. They want the receivers to be familiar. Too bad the clients aren't allowed to take those familiar conditions with them to the NFL. The agents that instruct their clients not to throw and the quarterbacks that choose not to throw conveniently ignore that the NFL people are looking at the mechanics, the footwork, the release, the timing, the accuracy, etc. of the quarterbacks. It doesn't matter what the receivers do at the other end of the throw. I don't believe the agent's thinking that throwing at the Scouting Combine can only hurt their client. I think that not throwing hurts the player more than it helps. It shows a reluctance to compete. That reluctance has become the norm for the quarterbacks at the top of the draft boards. It's a damn shame.

Most of the quarterbacks that are afraid to throw at the Scouting Combine are quick to say that they are throwing at their Pro Day. As if that makes it all okay. They rarely say any more on the topic. This year, Fresno St.'s Derek Carr said a little more. He explained his thinking on not throwing. Few have ever done even that. Carr said that he's spent the nearly two months since the end of his college football career concentrating on the running and jumping drills. He's concentrating on some of the things that often ignores as a quarterback. It actually makes some sense. At Fresno St., Carr threw the football as much, or more, than any quarterback in the nation. He's giving his arm some rest while he focuses on something that could use some work. After he's through in Indianapolis, he'll go back to working on his moneymaker, his arm. He'll be getting the arm loose in preparation for his Pro Day. At least Carr didn't dodge the issue like so many of the other quarterbacks.

I simply don't understand football players backing away from some competition. It's perhaps the only time that these guys will be tangling one-on-one with their peers in drills. Who's the fastest, the strongest, jumps the highest, farthest? Johnny Maziel wants to be the first pick in the draft. So does Teddy Bridgewater. Prove it. Compete on the same field. Throw the football. It may not be the perfect test as to which is the best quarterback entering the draft, performance on the football field always is, but it's the competition. These guys have competed all of their lives. Why stop now?

More Drama

The football world has been all aflutter with the story reported by Pro Football Talk and supposedly confirmed by Chris Mortensen that the Cleveland Browns were close to a deal with the San Francisco 49ers for head coach Jim Harbaugh for some draft picks. I think that trading draft picks for coaches is one of the most ridiculous transactions there is. Draft picks are the currency of the NFL but they are meant for player acquisition only. They always have been. They always should be. I actually thought that league no longer allowed the trading of coaches after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers acquired Jon Gruden from the Oakland Raiders in 2002. Then I remembered Herman Edwards going from the New York Jets to the Kansas City Chiefs for draft picks. It's still a joke to deal coaches like this. Anyway, I call b.s. on the reported near-trade of Harbaugh. First of all, it makes no sense for the 49ers or for Harbaugh. I don't care if tensions exist in the 49ers facilities. I don't care if Harbaugh and general manager Trent Baalke have an often tense relationship. It's probably expected when two strong personalities have the same goal but different ideas on how to get there. The 49ers are a talented football team. Three straight NFC Championship game appearances. One Super Bowl. No Super Bowl wins but the 49ers are a stable, talented team that is a contender every year. It makes a lot of sense for the Browns. That franchise is a mess. Jimmy Haslam has owned the Browns for about 16 months. In that time he's fired two head coaches and as many general managers. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk stands by his sources. As does Chris Morternsen. Despite that, 49ers CEO Jed York and Harbaugh have both said that the reports/rumors are bogus. At least from the 49ers side, only Baalke would be considered as solid of a source. I don't buy this story.

Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News posed a very plausible explanation for this ridiculous drama. Seven coaches entered the offseason looking for a new coach. Most of those seven teams went through the 49ers while conducting their coaching search. They wanted to talk to 49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, and/or defensive line coach Jim Tomsula. The Minnesota Vikings talked to all three. Many teams did. Kawakami dropped the possibility that then Browns general manager Mike Lombardi called the 49ers looking for permission to talk to their assistant coaches. The person that answered that phone call could very well have been assistant to the head coach Mick Lombardi, son of the Browns general manager. Mike Lombardi and Jim Harbaugh have a football past from their time together with the Oakland Raiders. The senior Lombardi probably doesn't even have to go through his son to get a an accurate read on Jim Harbaugh and any tension that might be in the building. The simple fact that there is an esteablished relationship between Mike Lombardi and Jim Harbaugh is often enough of a reason to ignite a rumor. Add in the fact that the son of the Browns general manager is right there in the office of the 49ers head coach and you have a full-blown fire. The Browns were desperate for a splashy coaching hire. Especially after the chaos that's reigned since Haslam bought the team. While I seriously doubt that the 49ers and the Browns ever came close to agreeing to this Harbaugh trade, I seriously suspect that there was some discussion. Those discussions were likely pretty one-sided to the Cleveland side. Ignoring the Browns would just be rude. One-sided talks immediately became full-blown drama in the hands of Pro Football Talk and Chris Morternsen. It adds a little spice to the behind-the-scene-talks at the Scouting Combine taking place in Indianapolis.  It doesn't really matter now. The Browns hired Mike Pettine. They might not have made a splashy hire but they hired a terrific football coach. Not only that, Haslam has since fired Mike Lombardi. Maybe, he was fired for talking about trading draft picks for a certain head coach under contract with another NFL team. So much drama.

Coach Speak

I've been sold on Mike Zimmer as the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings since he emerged as a candidate for the job. Actually, I was sold on Mike Zimmer as the next Vikings head coach as soon as Leslie Frazier's hold on the position turned shaky. I was absolutely thrilled when Mike Zimmer was hired as the Vikings coach. It was the best Vikings coaching hire since Bud Grant came out of retirement for one more season nearly thirty years ago.

The defenses that Mike Zimmer built in Dallas and Cincinnati grabbed my attention. His appearances on HBO's "Hard Knocks" kept my attention. In the month since he arrived in Minnesota, I've been able to better know Mike Zimmer, the coach and the person. Each time I hear Zimmer talk and interviewed, I come away more impressed. And, I started out very impressed. He makes coaching simple. He's in Minnesota to win football games. Simple as that. He wants to put a smart, physical football team on the field. He wants to present a football team to Minnesota that's fun to watch. He wants a football team that's not fun for another team to play. The fun stuff will play out if he wins football games. He wants to be a teacher. He hired coaches that are teachers. He's going to teach his football players how to play and understand football. Renovations have been initiated at the Vikings' Winter Park facilities. The team meeting room is being converted to theater seating. An arrangement that Zimmer believes is more conducive to teaching. The Vikings new coach has coaching ideas built on his life as a coach's son. Playing football. Coaching football for over thirty years. His whole life has been filled with football. He's waited a very long time to get his first shot at head coaching job. Actually, he's waited too long. The Vikings got lucky when no team was smart enough to give him that first shot. Zimmer easily mentions that his father won high school football games with the wishbone, run-and-shoot, power I-formations, the spread. He taught high school football players to win games with schemes that suited their talents. He found the best way to win football games with the players that he had. Mike Zimmer learned that lesson. Eight years ago, Brad Childress marched into Minnesota and forced his west coast offense and a cover-2 defense on his Vikings players. He had his scheme ideas before he'd even seen his team on a football field. Childress wasn't the first coach to do something like that. He wasn't the last. Zimmer doesn't want to commit to anything until he sees his new team with his own eyes. He might get some ideas from watching film but he's not going make any judgement until he gets the players on a practice field. He wants to see how they learn, how they respond to teaching, how they practice, how they play. So simple. Everything that Zimmer says about coaching football seems so simple. It makes so much sense. When his first 53-man Minnesota Vikings team comes out of training camp, he's not going to fret about anything that he doesn't have on his team. He's going to find a way to win football games with the 53 players that he does have. There are so many ways to win football games and he's going to find a way to win games with the players that he does have. If the Vikings still don't have that "franchise quarterback," he's going to find a way to win with the quarterback that he does have. Maybe with the wishbone.

Victory Is Theirs!

The order of the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft wasn't completely decided with the Seattle Seahawks victory over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII. The final touches on the complete draft order weren't made until this week. The Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens had come up tied on all counts for the opportunity to make a selection with the 16th pick. All that was known was that one would pick 16th and the other would pick 17th. In my first mock draft of this offseason, I flipped a coin to decide which team picked in which spot. The Ravens won my coin toss and I had them picking Florida St. receiver Kelvin Benjamin with the 16th pick. A fine football player. The Cowboys lost my coin toss and I had them picking Alabama safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix with the 17th pick. Another fine football player and a fantastic name. His given name is HaSean but Ha Ha is fun. Fortunately for the Dallas Cowboys my coin flip has no bearing on the actual draft order. This week the NFL held the coin flip that actually counts. They even minted a commemorative coin for the occasion. It's a beauty and there is only one. The Cowboys won the toss and they will pick 16th in the 2014 NFL Draft in May. The Baltimore Ravens will pick 17th.

One joker joked on Twitter that this victory was the Cowboys first in the postseason in a fistful of years. Nice.

Throwback Thursday: Visiting Canton

Traveling to Canton this past August to attend the Class of 2013 inductions into the Pro Football Hall of Fame was one of the great adventures of my life. Canton had been a dream of mine since my discovery of professional football, and it's history, in the 1970s. It took me nearly 40 years to finally get there. I attended this particular edition of the inductions to see Cris Carter get his much deserved honor. Carter was one of my favorite football players from the moment I saw him catch a football for Ohio State. Even more so when he started catching footballs for the Minnesota Vikings. He caught a lot of them. No one did it better. I had to see him finally honored with this induction. I had to see Canton. It was better than I ever imagined. And, I have quite the imagination. I can't wait to go back.

Seeing the busts of all of the football greats. Seeing the exhibits. Seeing the history. It was all surreal. I wanted to spend the night in the bust room to see if John Madden's thoughts of the greats talking to one another were true. It was truly fortunate to attend the inductions of the 50th anniversary of the Hall of Fame. This significant anniversary brought back more football greats than any before. I'm sure that the Hall of Fame visits are a real treat on any day of the calendar year. The presence of so many Hall of Famers make the induction weekends the best. You can literally see the busts of a Hall of Famer and turn around and see the actual mug of that Hall of Famer. It's simply incredible to see so many of the all-time greats walking around you. As I was making my first pass through the bust room, I turned and saw Warren Sapp being prepped for an interview with the NFL Network peeps. Sapp's bust was yet to be put on display but his real person was right there in front of me. Incredible. All of the busts are grouped by their induction classes. From the 17-member class of 1963 to the 7-member class of 2013, I could spend hours going from class to class and just staring at those busts. Each one means so much to the life that I have led. As soon as my wandering mind landed on football as a kid, I was a Minnesota Vikings fan. Most thought it odd that a California kid fell for a Minnesota football team. It just sort of happened. At the time, the Vikings history went back a little more than a decade. With the help of my father, I went back to 1920. My father was born in 1920. About a month before the birth of the NFL. Last August I found the Canton location of the league's birth. It's no longer Ralph Hay's Hupmobile dealership but I imagined that it was. My father had seen or lived through most of what I was starting to love. I was fascinated by my father's tales of the All-America Football Conference, the football teams that he saw, the games, the 1958 NFL Championship game, the football players that he saw, all of it. I'm watching Terry Bradshaw as he watched Sammy Baugh. Earl Campbell for me. Bronko Nagurski for him. He was a student at the University of San Francisco in 1951. I could never get enough of his stories about that incredible football team. I spent so many hours looking at his Dons yearbook. Looking at football pictures, team pictures, class pictures of Ollie Matson, Gino Marchetti, and Bob St. Clair. I saw the busts of those players this past August at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Pete Rozelle too. I've spent over forty years reading about the history of the NFL. In August I actually saw the history of the NFL. It was simply incredible. And, I didn't just see it.

I went to Canton to see Cris Carter finally enter the Hall of Fame. I met Alan Page. I had a brief, excited, conversation with Page. Shook his hand. Not too much. It was incredible! In all my days as a Vikings fan, Alan Page and Cris Carter have stood out as my favorite Vikings players. It was simply incredible to see one of them honored and meet the other. I talked to, then, Hall of Fame president Stephen Perry. I asked him about job opportunities. He said that my commute could be troublesome as I'm still in California. I talked to Forrest Gregg. All induction weekend, I saw football greats. I saw Steve Young and Jerry Rice zip by in golf cart. I saw Marv Levy walk right by me. I turn around and there's Roger Staubach. I walked past a concession stand and saw a woman ask Willie Lanier to sign her book about Willie Davis. Lanier was very polite in pointing out the error. The fact that the mistake could legitimately be made was fantastic. Willie Davis was around somewhere. I saw the NFL Network crew of Deion Sanders, Michael Irvin, and Marshall Faulk milling about before the induction ceremonies. I was in Fawcett Stadium with Jim Brown! The only thing that could have made the weekend better would have been a Bud Grant appearance. Fran Tarkenton too. I wish that Deacon Jones had made it to many more induction ceremonies. I'd heard that he'd enjoyed them all. Except when quarterbacks were honored.

In June of 2012, I had the great opportunity to visit NFL Films. I'd grown up on the incredible work of Ed and Steve Sabol and all of those talented artists. It was an honor to see the fantastic place that the Sabols have built. After visiting NFL Films and the Pro Football Hall of Fame, I feel closer to the game that I love than I ever have before. I feel like I'm a part of it like I never have before. It's a very, very nice feeling. I will get back to Canton. If I don't get back there before, I'll definitely go there to see the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction of Adrian Peterson.

Vikings Offseason

Fans of NFL teams do a lot of stupid things. Among them is planning/predicting their team's offseason plans. For one thing, it really doesn't matter. The teams will, hopefully, do whatever it takes to get better, to get closer to a Super Bowl win. The real decision-makers may have an entirely different view as to how best get to the Super Bowl than the fans. It's also easy for the fans to play with other people's money. Even if it's the fans that supply that money. Anyway, no matter how pointless it is for fans to map out their team's offseason path, we still do it. I do it. Every year since free agency provided a means for offseason player movement I've done it. Here's my early plan for the Minnesota Vikings 2014 offseason. It changes often. Even daily.

New head coach Mike Zimmer joins the Vikings decision-making team. He's never been a head coach so his views on team building is something of mystery. What isn't a mystery is that the Vikings have to get better at quarterback and on defense. All of the defense. Here we go:

Re-sign:
DE Everson Griffen
CB Chris Cook
QB Matt Cassel
G/C Joe Berger
CB/PR Marcus Sherels
DT Fred Evans
WR Jerome Simpson

While Matt Cassel isn't the long term answer at quarterback, I think that he's the best veteran option this offseason. He knows the Vikings offensive players and I think that he'll adjust well to new offensive coordinator Norv Turner. I wish that the Vikings could keep running back Toby Gerhart but he deserves a shot at being the top ball carrier for a team.

Sign:
CB Alterraun Verner  Tennessee Titans
DT/DE Arthur Jones DE/DT Baltimore Ravens

For a while, I've felt that the Vikings needed a big-body defensive tackle to plug up the middle of the offense and take blockers away from linemates and linebackers. The Vikings have been missing that type of player since Pat Williams retired/was let go. We don't yet know what sort of football players Zimmer wants on his defensive line. I'm guessing that his players might be more versatile than set in one position. I'm thinking that he might go quicker over bigger. I'm thinking that a defensive tackle like Arthur Jones might fit Zimmer's plans better than a big guy. Lamarr Houston of the Oakland Raiders might be another player like that. The Raiders have a ton of cap space so if they have interest in keeping Houston, and they should, he'll likely be off the market. At 315 lbs, Jones isn't all that small. And, at 300+lbs, Houston isn't either. Both are versatile. Either one would be a terrific addition. Alterraun Verner might be headed for a real big payday in the next month. I'm not sure that the Vikings will get in a bidding war for any player. I've been intrigued by Verner since his UCLA days. Right now, he's my top choice if the Vikings make a big splash in free agency. A corner like Sam Shields of the Green Bay Packers or Captain Munerlyn of the Carolina Panthers might be more realistic. I could see the Vikings adding a safety, maybe a guard, maybe a change-of-pace back but I think that adding a veteran quarterback (Cassel), re-signing Griffen, and adding a couple of defensive players are the Vikings top priorities in free agency. Then we get the draft. The best event of the NFL offseason.

Draft:
1. C.J. Mosley  LB  Alabama
2. Aaron Donald  DT  Pitt
3a. Zach Mettenberger  QB  LSU
3b. Stanley Jean Baptiste  CB  Nebraska
4. Deone Buccanon S  Washington St.

Predicting the draft at any time is ridiculous. This early in the process is just nuts. But, there it is. With the hiring of Mike Zimmer, this draft, and the additions in free agency, I think that the Vikings defense will be greatly improved. Even if Cassel starts in 2014, while a youngster, like Mettenberger heals, learns, and develops, I think that the Minnesota Vikings will be in the race for the division title.

A Very Early Mock Draft

Mock Drafts are fun. Here's my first, of many, attempts at taking a stab at predicting the 2014 NFL Draft:

1. Houston Texans  Blake Bortles  QB  Central Florida
2. St. Louis Rams  Greg Robinson  OT  Auburn
3. Jacksonville Jaguars  Jadeveon Clowney  DE  South Carolina
4. Cleveland Browns  Johnny Manziel  QB  Texas A&M
5. Oakland Raiders  Teddy Bridgewater  QB  Louisville
6. Atlanta Falcons  Jake Matthews  OT  Texas A&M
7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers  Sammy Watkins  WR  Clemson
8. Minnesota Vikings  Khalil Mack  LB  Buffalo
9. Buffalo Bills  Eric Ebron  TE  North Carolina
10. Detroit Lions  Darqueze Dennard  CB  Michigan St.
11. Tennessee Titans  Anthony Barr  UCLA
12. New York Giants  Mike Evans  WR  Texas A&M
13. St. Louis Rams  Marqise Lee WR USC
14. Chicago Bears  C.J. Mosley  LB  Alabama
15. Pittsburgh Steelers  Louis Nix  DT Notre Dame
16. Baltimore Ravens  Kelvin Benjamin  WR  Florida St.
17. Dallas Cowboys  Ha Ha Clinton-Dix  S  Alabama
18. New York Jets  Austin Seferian-Jenkins  TE  Washington
19. Miami Dolphins  Zack Martin  OT  Notre Dame
20. Arizona Cardinals  Derek Carr  Fresno St.
21. Green Bay Packers  RaShede Hageman  DT  Minnesota
22. Philadelphia Eagles  Calvin Pryor  S  Louisville
23. Kansas City Chiefs  Brandin Cooks  WR  Oregon St.
24. Cincinnati Bengals  Justin Gilbert  CB  Oklahoma St.
25. San Diego Chargers  Kyle Van Noy  LB  BYU
26. Cleveland Browns  Cyrus Kouandjio OT  Alabama
27. New Orleans Saints  Jarvis Landry  WR  LSU
28. Carolina Panthers  Jason Verrett  CB  TCU
29. New England Patriots  Jace Amaro  TE  Texas Tech
30. San Francisco 49ers  Steven Tuitt  DT  Notre Dame
31. Denver Broncos  Dee Ford  DE  Auburn
32. Seattle Seahawks  David Yankey  G  Stanford

There you go.

Franchise Season

Today marks the opening of the two-week window during which NFL teams can use the franchise tag. This allows teams the ability to apply some restrictions on an otherwise unrestricted free agent each year. There are two versions of the franchise tag. Any player that receives the nonexclusive version may still negotiate with other teams. An offer sheet may be signed. The franchise player's current team has seven days to match the offer sheet. If the team doesn't match, the contract becomes effective and the new team gives the former team two first round draft choices. A pretty steep price. The exclusive version is simply that. The franchise player may not negotiate with any other team. Each franchise tag has a corresponding price dependent on the position of the player. The nonexclusive franchise tag is determined by calculating the average salary-cap percentage of the franchise tag in five prior years. This keeps the growth of the tag from outpacing the growth of the cap. Basically, the nonexclusive tag will bring a nice one-year salary for the player but it won't necessarily put them among the highest paid in the game. The exclusive franchise tag is typically much higher. The player receives an amount equal to the five highest-paid players at the position in the current year, as of late April.

The franchise tag has always been something of a puzzle. By definition, it seems like a franchise designation would be a compliment to a player. It certainly comes with a very nice one-year salary. It also comes with restrictions. As a result, players typically hate it. The players aren't allowed to negotiate with other teams. The nonexclusive version allows for some testing of the market but the cost of two first round picks prevents anything serious from actually happening. Most importantly, for the tagged player, the one year franchise contract has no signing bonus. Especially since the last CBA, the second contract is the best contract. Often, it's the best contract that the player ever sees. The franchise tag puts that contract and the often big signing bonus off for another year. It's a nice one-year deal but it's just that. It doesn't bring the longer term security that all players seek.

The franchise tagged player and the franchise usually have a mutual interest in getting something settled. As a result, I've never really understood the inability to do so. Perhaps it's because I've never had an opportunity to have serious discussions over dollars like this. I don't know. I do know that the player wants some long term security and the team wants the player on the team for the next several years. So, just come to an agreement. Easy? Right?

Anyway, franchise tagging season begins today. The biggest name that might bring the franchise tag is probably New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham. It doesn't sound like he's too thrilled about the possibility. The one player on the Minnesota Vikings that might be a tagging target is defensive end Everson Griffen. I doubt that it happens as I'm pretty sure that the Vikings will get Griffen signed before the start of free agency on March 11. Players whose tagging possibilities interest me are Tennessee Titans corner Alterraun Verner, Baltimore Ravens defensive tackle Arthur Jones, and Oakland Raiders defensive tackle Lamarr Houston. I wouldn't mind seeing some combination of those players on the Vikings defense in 2014.

Coach's Kid

It's probably true of all team fan bases but Minnesota Vikings fans rarely agree on anything. The hiring of Mike Zimmer as the Vikings head coach was one of those rare occasions when nearly everyone was in agreement. They were thrilled. They should be. It was the most greatest coaching hire since Bud Grant returned to the team nearly thirty years ago. They were so thrilled that they had to really struggle to find something to upset them. Vikings fans are truly uncomfortable when they aren't unhappy. One target for some manufactured frustration was the hiring of Scott Turner as quarterbacks coach and Adam Zimmer as linebackers coach. Seriously? Vikings fans are complaining about position coaches nine months before a real game is even played. If the fans are thrilled with the choice of Mike Zimmer as the head coach of their team, one would think that they would trust his choice for coaches on his staff. He's worked decades for this opportunity. Why would he make risky choices?

The real reason that the fans question the choices of Turner and Zimmer is nepotism. Scott Turner is the son of new offensive coordinator Norv Turner. Adam Zimmer is the son of the new head coach. The fans love the addition of senior Zimmer and senior Turner. They question the addition of the juniors. Well, many question it. I still maintain that Zimmer would never hire coaches that will bring down the quality of the coaching on his team. That's just stupid. Again, why would he work so hard for so long to monkey with his first shot at a head coaching job? It makes no sense. If the fans trust the coach, they should trust his choices. I like that Adam Zimmer and Scott Turner grew up in the coaching business. They both started their coaching careers separate from their fathers. Scott Turner played some quarterback at UNLV. He was a graduate assistant at Oregon St. Coached at the high school level at South County Secondary School in Lorton, VA. Returned to the college level as assistant on Dave Wannstedt's staff at the University of Pittsburgh. Moved to the NFL as quality control/offensive assistant with the Carolina Panthers. Last year he coached the receivers coach of the Cleveland Browns. Adam Zimmer played defensive back at Trinity University in San Antonio. He started his coaching career in the NFL as an assistant coach with the New Orleans Saints. He was with the Saints team that won the Super Bowl in 2009. He moved on to the Kansas City Chiefs. He was the Cincinnati Bengals last season. Each made their own way as coaches for nearly a decade until they joined their fathers with Ohio NFL franchises last year. Each has earned this opportunity. Besides, Bill Parcells once said that you can't go wrong when you hire a coach's kid.

Richie Roger

With the amount of money in and around the NFL, I shouldn't be too surprised by much. I was surprised to see that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell made $44.2 million in 2012. The CEO of Walmart was paid $20 million. Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle, was the highest paid executive at a public company, bringing in $96.2 million in 2012. This puts "the Goods" among the best-paid executives in the nation and perhaps the highest paid leader of a nonprofit organization.

The fact that the NFL is a nonprofit organization simply sounds strange. Profits are soaring. In 1966, when the NFL agreed to merge with the American Football League, Congress gave the NFL certain antitrust exemptions and the same benefits as business trade groups and chambers of commerce not organized for profit. The National Hockey League, the Ladies Professional Golf Association, and other sports groups have similar status. Apparently all of the money that goes into the NFL goes straight to the 32 NFL teams. While the NFL might be nonprofit, the commissioner of the league is definitely making a nice profit.

I recall a Chris Rock routine in which he differentiates between the rich and the wealthy. By Rock's definition, Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning is rich. Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen is wealthy. The NFL is a runaway success. Everyone is making money. 23 of the 32 franchises are worth more than $1 billion dollars. Every team is profitable. If the owners weren't wealthy, by Rock's definition, when they entered the league they likely are now. The old football families like the Halas', Mara's, and Rooney's weren't too wealthy when they bought into the struggling NFL of the 1920s and '30s. The Bidwill's were a little closer to sitting pretty when they joined in the fun. Back then they only needed the kind of money that their descendants now might keep in their wallets. All of the those football families that survived the tough early days were richly rewarded when football exploded all over the nation with television. The owners are simply rewarding Roger Goodell for all of the riches coming their way and the resulting stability of the league. The NFL gets stronger each year. Everyone involved is benefiting.

Goodell's income for 2012 may have been $44.2 million but $9.1 million of that was in the form of a bonus and pension payment that he deferred two years ago. So, his total compensation for just 2012 was just $35.1 million. I don't think that he struggled mightily those two years. His total compensation was nearly all performance-based. His base salary is $3.5 million. Sometimes it seems that everyone could sit back and watch as the NFL could run itself. There's really no way of knowing if anyone else could lead the league quite as well as Goodell. The most remarkable thing about the NFL is the fact that they have had the perfect person in charge at every step of its history. Joe Carr's passion and vision was perfect for the difficult early years. Bert Bell guided the league to the level of baseball and college football in popularity. Pete Rozelle introduced the NFL and television. Paul Tagliabue effectively led the league through a player-owner minefield and the introduction of free agency. Roger Goodell is taking the league to ever-dizzying heights. If any one of those men was off of his game in the decade plus that they led the league, we likely have a less strong league now. If Carr was off, we might not have an NFL at all. The owners are extremely happy and Roger Goodell is benefiting from that happiness.

For some reason, I can't believe that Roger Goodell has been commissioner since 2006. He's signed an extension to remain in office through 2018. I think that he has the job for as long as he wants the job. Personally, I'd be quite happy to run the league for much, much less than $44.2 million, let alone $35.1 million. All things considered I think that Goodell is doing a fine job. There's no doubt that he has the best interest of the league in all that he does. Unfortunately, that interest is often measured in dollars rather than football. The NFL is a business so the bottom line is the most accurate measure of success for him and the people that pay him. I just wish that he would stop saying that the fans want the changes that he proposes. He talks of the interest in expanding the regular season to 18 games. He says that the fans want it. The fans don't want it. The fans that I know are overwhelmingly against it. The only thing that the fans are for in that discussion is the cutting of the exhibition games down to two. I actually don't mind four exhibition games but I don't think that the league should charge regular season prices for those games. The players are definitely against 18 games. Their vote should count. I don't think that the playoffs should be expanded. Playoff games are fantastic. That doesn't mean that we have to force more games into them. The most important aspect of the playoffs is that the teams involved are the elite of the league. Adding more teams only dilutes that. The NFL grows every year simply by being great. The play on the field is the selling point. Why jeopardize that. How much is enough?

Scorching Hot Mess

There's always at least a little surge of excitement in the fan base surrounding a change of ownership of an NFL franchise. Most of the time it's simply the natural excitement of something new. I remember the rise of "Purple Pride" when Texas rich-man Red McCombs bought the Minnesota Vikings in 1998. That excitement lasted about as long as Randy Moss was happy. If the fans of the Cleveland Browns found some excitement in Jimmy Haslam paying Randy Lerner in excess of $1 billion for the team in October of 2012, I wonder how they feel now. I've never before seen so much change and chaos surrounding a single team in such a short window of time.

Haslam bought the Browns in the middle of October. By the end of November, Mike Holmgren was no longer President of the Browns. Haslam brought in Joe Banner as CEO. Before December was over, head coach Pat Schurmur was fired after two seasons and nine wins. General Manager Tom Heckert was fired after three seasons. It's certainly not unusual for a new owner to clean out the office and bring in his own hires. Besides, it's his team. Ten days after the firing of Schurmur, Haslam hired Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski to be the first head coach of his choice. Haslam then pairs coach Chudzinski with General Manager Michael Lombardi. CEO Banner said then that Lombardi will be a perfect compliment to owner Jimmy Haslam and new head coach Rob Chudzinski. Ray Farmer was hired as Assistant General Manager. The Cleveland Browns are now set for the Jimmy Haslam era! Injuries force the Browns through a revolving door at quarterback throughout the 2013 NFL season. Despite a difficult 4-win season, the Browns were an emerging, competitive team. Six players were sent to the Pro Bowl. There was talent in Cleveland. It's been a while since that could be said. Instead of building on something promising, Haslam tore it down. Chudzinski was fired after only one season. The front office of Haslam, Lombardi, and Banner conducted a search for a new head coach. Seven teams were doing the same thing. The Browns were the last to fill their coaching vacancy when they hired Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Mike Pettine to be their new head coach. About two weeks later, General Manager Michael Lombardi and CEO Joe Banner were shown the door. It was the first time that an NFL team had ever fired their head coach and general manager after only one season. Maybe Banner was canned because of his belief that Lombardi and would be a perfect compliment to Chudzinski. Whatever, Ray Farmer was promoted from assistant general manager to general manager to replace Lombardi. Maybe Farmer will be the perfect compliment to Pettine. The curious thing about the pairing is that Farmer wasn't part of the head coach interview process. A general manager typically likes to hire his head coach. Jimmy Haslam is the owner. He can do what he wants with his team. I think that Jimmy Haslam is out of his mind. In 16 months he's fired two head coaches and two general managers. I don't know all of the particulars of the respective severance packages of Schurmur and Chudzinski but it's possible that Haslam is paying the salaries of three head coaches. He might have the most expensive coaching staff in the history of professional football. Even in his most impatient days, Al Davis showed more patience with his coaches.

Cleveland Browns fans must be on the verge of collapse. If I was a football coach looking for an NFL head coaching job, I wouldn't set foot in Cleveland. Even if there are only 32 of those jobs, it's just not worth it. Haslam's interest in hiring head coaches, or any front office position, seems to be more about his enjoyment in firing them.

Throwback Thursday: Redskins Come To Washington

The Washington Redskins have been under a great deal of fire recently for their offensive name. I've often wondered if the criticism would be as intense if the name was associated with a football team that didn't play it's home games in this nation's capital. The offending team made the move to Washington D.C. on this day 77 years ago. On February 13, 1937, the NFL approved the transfer of the Boston Redskins to Washington D.C. The Redskins were an instant hit in Washington D.C which was a great improvement over the apathy that the team found in Boston. It definitely helped that the team was able to add TCU quarterback Sammy Baugh in the 1937 NFL Draft. Baugh immediately became an impact player all over the field. Not only was he one of the best quarterbacks that the game has sever seen, he was an excellent defensive back and a tremendous punter. As a rookie, Baugh led the new Washington Redskins to their first NFL title in 1937.

In 1932, George Preston Marshall led a group of investors, including Vincent Bendix, Jay O'Brien, and Dorland Doyle, that was awarded a new NFL franchise in Boston. They signed a contract to play their home games at Braves Field, home of the National League baseball team, and were called the Boston Braves. His partners left the team after one season, leaving Marshall in control. In 1933, Marshall moved his team to Fenway Park and renamed them the Boston Redskins. The team might be in much less of a fire now if Marshall had kept that Braves name then. Braves might be a little offensive to some but Redskins is very offensive to many. The Redskins never could gain any traction with the fans in Boston. Attendance was always low even as the team became competitive. In 1936, the Redskins earned their first shot at a title. Because of poor attendance, Marshall moved the NFL Championship game between the Green Bay Packers and his Boston Redskins from Fenway Park to the Polo Grounds in New York City. It's stunning that the lack of fan support was such that Marshall would rather play the championship game at a neutral site than on his home field. The Packers won the game 21-6 and Marshall gave up on Boston as the home of his football team. Two months later, on February 13, 1937, the Boston Redskins became the Washington Redskins.

The word most often used to describe George Preston Marshall then, and still, is flamboyant. Racist works as well. The name of his football team is an indication of that. So to was his adamant stand against blacks playing in the NFL. He was the last owner to integrate his football team. He finally managed to do that in 1962 after President John F. Kennedy forced him to do so. If you can get past the racist part of Marshall, he actually did quite a bit to improve professional football. As soon as he got an NFL team, he pushed for dividing the league into two conferences and playing a championship game. He pushed for more liberalized rules that opened up the passing game. He certainly benefited from that when he drafted Baugh four years later. Leaning more towards his flamboyant side, he saw the value of putting on a show for those that attend football games. Before his Redskins even played a game in Washington D.C., Marshall formed the Washington Redskins Marching Band, an all-volunteer ensemble. Marshall's goal was to entertain fans from the moment that they entered the stadium until the time that they went home. With a band, he had to have a fight song. We were then blessed with "Hail to the Redskins." Marshall would even rent trains to take thousands of Redskins fans to away games. In the 1950s, Marshall was one of the first owners to embrace television. He built a huge television network to broadcast Reskins games across the south. It's no wonder that the fans supported him and continue to support his team now. Tradition is so strong with the Redskins that it's really no surprise that so many are so reluctant to give up their offensive name.

If my vote counted, and it should, the Washington Redskins should change their name to the Washington Braves. It's far less offensive and still leans on the team's fine history. No matter what happens in the future, the NFL's Washington D.C. football team was born on this in 1937. So, Happy Birthday Washington Redskins.

Super Bowl XLVIII Revisited

In the days leading up to Super Bowl XLVIII several Seattle Seahawks players spoke, bitched really, of a perceived lack of respect. It seemed manufactured as the Seahawks have been Super Bowl favorites since the beginning of the season. They rarely stumbled during the season and their place among the favorites never wavered. They were right there with the San Francisco 49ers, Denver Broncos, and New England Patriots all season long. The Broncos might have been favored in the Super Bowl but the Seahawks were the favorites of most of the "experts." I didn't see every prediction but of the ones that I did see most, by far, had the Seattle Seahawks winning Super Bowl XLVIII.

So, where was all that lack of respect. I really have no idea. Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman has recently bitched about the "trash talk" from Wes Welker during Super Bowl Media Day. Welker had the nerve to say that he wanted to face Sherman in the big game. Oooh, burn! "Don't talk about me...," cried Sherman. Top athletes tend to relish competing against other top athletes. Most see facing the best to be part of becoming the best. Welker's words were complimentary. To Sherman, it's an insult. All of this lack of respect for the Seahawks seemed to be manufactured within the Seattle locker room. It's impossible to criticize the strategy of the Seahawks. They thrashed, mauled, muscled, and bitched their way to a championship. They convinced themselves that everyone outside of Seattle was against them. Even if it was imagined more than real, it worked. Head coach Pete Carroll made a similar fantasy work at USC. Seahawks general manager John Schneider and Carroll have put together a fantastic football team. Everyone knew it before the Super Bowl win. Everyone admitted it before the Super Bowl win. There has been nothing but respect for the Seattle Seahawks since the end of their 2012 NFL season. I don't even think that there would have been too much surprise if the Seahawks had scrapped their way into Super Bowl XLVII, let alone dominate their way into Super Bowl XLVIII.

As annoying as the Seahawks self-manufactured lack of respect has been the excessive fawning over the production of their late-round draft picks. It's as if the 2013 Seattle Seahawks are the first team to find productive football players from all rounds of the NFL Draft. Every Super Bowl champion and every pre-Super Bowl NFL champion since 1936 has found success in the NFL Draft. It's impossible to build a champion without successful drafts. A successful draft is measured by success through all rounds of the draft. The manner in which the media has fawned over the Seahawks late-round draft picks and undrafted players you'd think that no team had ever done it before. The Seahawks needed undrafted receivers Doug Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse to step up because 4th-rounder Kris Durham, 3rd-rounder Chris Harper, and big-money free agent Sidney Rice hadn't produced to the round that they were drafted or the amount of money that they were paid. The media talks little of the six defensive starters that were drafted in the first four rounds. All that you hear about are the five starters that were selected in the last three rounds, or not at all. For each of their fifth round stars (Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor) there's a first round standout (Earl Thomas and Bruce Irvin). You'd think that the Seahawks were a champion built without the benefit of first round picks. They have first round starters on both sides of the ball. Thomas, Irvin, Marshawn Lynch, Percy Harvin, Russell Okung, and James Carpenter. Every front office decision in Seattle hasn't been golden since Schneider and Carroll came on board. If Schneider had been more successful at adding playmakers at receiver, he wouldn't have had to spend a bunch for Sidney Rice in free agency. He wouldn't have had to give up first, third, and seventh round picks for Percy Harvin. According to the fawning of the media, that seventh round pick is as good as a first in Seattle. Prior to the emergence of Russell Wilson, Schneider had been flailing around trying to find a quarterback to replace Matt Hasselbeck. He traded a third(!) for Charlie Whitehurst. He signed Tarvaris Jackson and Matt Flynn as free agents. All three were supposed to be "the guy" at one time. Even Wilson wasn't taken until the third round. If Schneider was convinced that Wilson was going to be as good as he has become, why take a chance that he'd still be available in the third? The Seahawks lucked into Wilson just as the Patriots lucked into Tom Brady. Each team is thought to be brilliant because they found a franchise quarterback in a round other than the first. Really, each team was lucky that so many teams fall in love in love with measurables every year and forget all that truly makes up a standout football player. John Schneider has done a terrific job building a champion Seattle Seahawks football team. Pete Carroll, no matter how annoying he is to watch on the sideline, has done a terrific job of coaching a champion Seattle Seahawks football team. They have not rewritten any book on how to build a champion football team. They have only written their book. Every championship team has been created differently. Even repeat champions are created a little differently than the year before. Many in the media are talking dynasty with this Seahawks team because they are so young. Schneider and Carroll's next task is staying on top, keeping this team together as much as possible. In only a few days time, free agent-to-be receiver Golden Tate has gone from saying that he'd give the Seahawks a home team discount to saying that he might not. Everything is smiles in Seattle right now. Some of those smiles might flatten when March 11 rolls around and dollars start counting more than titles. Getting to a championship is a fantastic accomplishment. Staying there for a while will be truest sign that Schneider and Carroll have written a book that might be better than the rest.

Big Leap Forward

"We look forward to welcoming and supporting Michael Sam in 2014."
                                            -the NFL


I was stunned, then very happy, when I saw that University of Missouri defensive end Michael Sam had announced that he is gay. I knew that we were getting close to the day that an openly gay football player would be stepping on an NFL field but I was still a little stunned when that day turned out to be this past Sunday. It was a good day. It will be an even better day when news like this is really no news at all. I thought that Sam's timing was perfect. He's only days away from the Scouting Combine and the start of the marathon that is the draft evaluation process. He's controlling the situation. He's getting ahead of the story. He's giving the NFL scouts, general managers, and coaches the news now so they don't have to ask him probing questions later. I'm sure that they'll still have some but now they won't have to be poking around at rumors. I was a little disappointed when I later learned that Sam and his advisers were forced to make the announcement on Sunday because some parasites in the media were on the verge of breaking the story for themselves. Most everyone around the Missouri football team has known that Michael Sam is gay for a while. He came out to his team before the start of the 2013 football season but many teammates already knew. While everyone in Columbia was respectful of Sam's little secret it's hard to keep it a secret for long. Several NFL teams already knew or knew enough to be suspicious. When the media gets wind of something like this it becomes a race to be the first to break the story. The desires and needs of the subject of the story rarely matters much. While I think that it's great that Michael Sam came out before the Combine, I don't like that he felt forced to do so.

So, we now have an openly gay football player. An openly gay football player that will be entering the NFL in a few short months. I'm not quite sure why but I always assumed that the first player would be an established NFL player. Maybe I just never really thought about the particulars of when it finally happened. Maybe I simply assumed that no player would be so bold and brave to come out during the draft evaluation window. Now that a player has come out, it just seems perfect that the first player has put all the cards on the table from the beginning. We've heard from one anonymous general manager that he doesn't think that a football team is ready to deal with an openly gay teammate. That seems like a ridiculous statement as the Missouri football team just dealt with one for an entire season. A very successful 12-2 football season. A very successful season in which an openly gay football player played a significant role. As has always been the case, ignorant people fear the unknown. They'd rather hide the issue than deal with it. I think that a football team is receptive of any football player that helps the team win. I think that a football team will always accept a teammate that is gay over a teammate that is an asshole.

Las Vegas already has an over/under on the spot at which Michael Sam will be selected in the 2014 NFL Draft. Currently that spot is set at 125.5. That's just past the midpoint of the fourth round. He's an excellent pass rusher so there will be a spot for him in the NFL. At about 6'1" and under 260 lbs, Sam doesn't have ideal size for a defensive end, the position that he played at Missouri. He's sort of caught between a 3-4 outside linebacker and a 4-3 defensive end. His size is comparable to that of Baltimore Ravens linebacker Elvis Dummervil. Prior to arriving in Baltimore, Dummervil was a pass rushing demon at defensive end for the Denver Broncos. I think that Sam is better coming forward as a defensive end than backing up as a linebacker. The strength of Sam's character and resolve is certainly without doubt. All it takes is a shot and I think that Michael Sam will get his. I think he will make the most of that opportunity and I don't think that his teammates will care that he's gay.

The NFL will be a far better place with Michael Sam in it. One day, an openly gay professional football player will not be an issue at all. It takes one football player stepping forward to start the process of getting to that day. We now have that football player. Marion Motley, Bill Willis, Kenny Washington, and Woody Strode made similar first steps that started the return of black players to professional football. Michael Sam just wants to play football on his terms. We'll all be better for that.

What's In A Name?

Cleveland Browns linebacker Barkevious Mingo is a terrific football player. He also has a terrific name. As soon as I discovered Barkevious Mingo, the football player and the name, while he was playing for LSU, I wanted him on the Minnesota Vikings. It didn't matter that he didn't quite fit the Vikings defensive scheme. I just wanted him in Minnesota so that I could talk about Barkevious Mingo as a matter of routine. Barkevious. Mingo. Barkevious Mingo. Yes!

The name of another has pulled my attention away from Barkevious Mingo. It wasn't an earth-shaking hire when the Detroit Lions announced that Jim Bob Cooter will coach the quarterbacks under new head coach Jim Caldwell. The name of the Lions new quarterback coach grabbed my attention. Come on! Jim Bob Cooter. Fercryinoutloud?!? Is there a better name in football than Jim Bob Cooter? Jim. Bob. Cooter. Jim Bob Cooter. Jim Bob. Cooter. JimBobCooter! Where's this guy been? I had to look it up. He's been an offensive assistant/quality control coach in all of his five years in the NFL. Caldwell gave him his first shot with the Indianapolis Colts from 2009-11. He was with the Kansas Chiefs in 2012 and the Denver Broncos last season. So, he's spent four of his five NFL years with Peyton Manning. That can spoil an offensive coach. Like Manning, Jim Bob Cooter played quarterback at Tennessee. Unlike Manning, he played in only six games at Tennessee, but Jim Bob Cooter was Academic All-SEC four times. Jim Bob Cooter. What a name!

Jim Bob Cooter.

Jim Bob.

Cooter.

New Lead Jackrabbit

Long Beach Polytechnic High School has sent more players to the NFL than any other high school in the country, sending over 60 throughout the history of the school. Gene Washington, Tony Hill, Mark Carrier, Leonard Russell, Willie McGinest, Marcedes Lewis, Winston Justice, DeSean Jackson, and Jurrell Casey are a few of the former Jackrabbits that found success in the NFL. It just seems fitting that a former NFL player coaches future NFL players. This past week, former Washington Redskins and New York Giants middle linebacker Antonio Pierce was hired as head coach at Long Beach Poly. Pierce may not have played high school football at Long Beach Poly but he played at nearby Paramount High. He grew up in the area. He knows the lives led by the Jackrabbit football players.

While Antonio Pierce has a strong football background and may have been something of a coach on the field, he has no coaching experience. His free youth camps in the Long Beach area have been a popular draw for several years. He may already know some of the players that he'll be coaching. The shoes that Pierce will be stepping into at Long Beach Poly will be hard to fill. Raul Lara won a school-record five CIF titles in his thirteen years as the Jackrabbits head coach before stepping away in December. Before Lara, Jerry Jaso won four Section championships. Pierce is following the two winningest coaches in school history. Pierce is the team's first hire from outside the program since Troy Winslow was named head coach in 1971. Pierce was hired over current Poly assistants Jeff Turley and AJ Luke.

Sources say that Pierce will bring in his own staff, but also retain some of the current assistants. That plan might include Luke and defensive backs coach Doc Moyle to remain a part of the program. As always, there will be football talent at Long Beach Poly. Defensive back Iman Marshall is an All-American candidate. Running backs Jeremy Calhoun and James Brooks, linebacker Omari Lyles, and defensive lineman Joseph Wicker are likely make Antonio Pierce a happy first year head coach.

Antonio Pierce's lack of head coaching experience, the Jackrabbit's powerful football tradition and history of hiring within the program have some people a little skeptical of this hire. His NFL playing experience, Super Bowl ring, and national fame make this a flashy hire but wins and titles are all that really matters at Long Beach Poly. It's also not helping that Pierce plans to continue working as an analyst with ESPN. So, he'll be bouncing back and forth between Long Beach and Bristol, CT throughout the football season. One thing that always struck me about Antonio Pierce, the football player, was his serious, business-like nature and on-field leadership. I don't think that he'd be jumping into high school coaching without a serious commitment to it. If I was a Jackrabbit, I'd follow Antonio Pierce.

Combine Invites

In two weeks, general managers, coaches, and scouts will be converging on Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis for the "underwear olympics." The Scouting Combine is the next big event on the NFL offseason calendar. 335 players were invited to this year's event. Among those 335 players will be a record 85 underclassmen. The 85 underclassmen is thirteen short of the total number of underclassmen that declared for the 2014 NFL Draft. That's not a promising development for those thirteen players. Most notable among the underclassmen not invited is Wyoming quarterback Brett Smith. Many of the draft "experts" have Smith more highly rated than a handful of the nineteen quarterbacks that will be in Indianapolis. It's possible that he could be added between now and February 22.

It comes as no surprise that Alabama has the most invitees with 12. A few of those should be selected in the first round of the draft. LSU is right behind Alabama with 11 players invited, followed by Notre Dame and Florida St. with nine each, and Stanford with 8. Cal has 3.

Here's the 335 invited players, by position:

QUARTERBACKS
*Bortles, Blake, Central Florida
Boyd, Tajh, Clemson
Bridgewater, Theodore (Teddy), Louisville
Carr, Derek, Fresno State
Fales, David, San Jose State
Garoppolo, James (Jimmy), Eastern Illinois
Lynch, Jordan, Northern Illinois
*Manziel, Johnny, Texas A & M
Mathews, Jeffrey (Jeff), Cornell
McCarron, Raymond (A.J.), Alabama
Mettenberger, Zachary (Zach), Louisiana State
Morris, Stephen, Miami
Murray, Aaron, Georgia
Renner, Bryn, North Carolina
Savage, Thomas (Tom), Pittsburgh
Shaw, Connor, South Carolina
Thomas, Logan, Virginia Tech
Vaughan, Dustin, West Texas A & M
Wenning, Keith, Ball State 

Running Backs
Andrews, Antonio, Western Kentucky
Archer, Dri, Kent State
*Atkinson, George, Notre Dame
*Bibbs, Kapri, Colorado State
*Blue, Alfred, Louisiana State
*Carey, Ka'deem, Arizona
Copeland, Javoddron (J.C.), Louisiana State
Cornett, Timothy (Tim), Nevada - Las Vegas
*Crowell, Isaiah, Alabama State
Flanders, Timothy, Sam Houston State
Fluellen, David, Toledo
*Freeman, Devonta, Florida State
Gaffney, Tyler, Stanford
Grice, Marion, Arizona State
Hewitt, Ryan, Stanford
*Hill, Jeremy, Louisiana State
Hyde, Carlos, Ohio State
*Johnson, Westleigh (Storm), Central Florida
*Josey, Henry, Missouri
*Mason, Tre, Auburn
Mc Kinnon, Jerick, Georgia Southern
Millard, Trey, Oklahoma
*Muema, Adam, San Diego State
Perkins, Ladarius, Mississippi State
Redd, Silas, Southern California
*Sankey, Bishop, Washington
*Seastrunk, Lache, Baylor
Sims, Charles, West Virginia
*Smith, Jerome, Syracuse
Taliaferro, Lorenzo, Coastal Carolina
*Thomas, De'anthony, Oregon
*Westrrance, Towson
White, James, Wisconsin
*Wilder, James, Florida State
Williams, Andre, Boston College
Williams, Damien, Oklahoma 

Tight Ends
*Amaro, Jace, Texas Tech
Blanchflower, Robert (Rob), Massachusetts
Burton, Lawrence (Trey), Florida
Denham, Anthony (A.D.), Utah
Duncan, Joseph (Joe Don), Dixie State
*Ebron, Eric, North Carolina
Fedorowicz, Colton (C.J.), Iowa
Gillmore, Crockett, Colorado State
*Grimble, Xavier, Southern California
*Jacobs, Nicholas (Nic), McNeese State
Jensen, Marcel, Fresno State
Jordan, Reginald (Reggie), Missouri Western State
*Leonard, A.C., Tennessee State
*Lyerla, Colt, Oregon
Lynch, Arthur, Georgia
*Murphy, Jake, Utah
Najvar, Jordan, Baylor
*Niklas, Troy, Notre Dame
Pedersen, Jacob (Jake), Wisconsin
*Rodgers, Richard, California
*Seferian-Jenkins, Austin, Washington
Tialavea, Donald (D.J.), Utah State 

Wide Receivers
Abbrederis, Jared, Wisconsin
*Adams, Davante, Fresno State
*Beckham, Odell, Louisiana State
*Benjamin, Kelvin, Florida State
*Boyd, Christopher, Vanderbilt
Brown, Corey (Philly), Ohio State
Brown, John, Pittsburg State
*Bryant, Martavis, Clemson
Burse, Isaiah, Fresno State
Campanaro, Michael, Wake Forest
*Coleman, Brandon, Rutgers
Colter, Theodis (Kain), Northwestern
*Cooks, Brandin, Oregon State
Copeland, Damian, Louisville
Davis, Michael (Mike) Texas
*Ellington, Bruce, South Carolina
Enunwa, Onochie (Quincy), Nebraska
*Evans, Mikexas A & M
Evans, Shaquelle (Shaq), UCLA
Fowler, Bennie, Michigan State
*Franklin, Austin, New Mexico State
Gallon, Jeremy, Michigan
Grant, Ryan, Tulane
Hazel, Charles (Matt), Coastal Carolina
Herron, Robert, Wyoming
Hoffman, Cody, Brigham Young
Huff, Joshua (Josh), Oregon
Hurns, Allen, Miami
Janis, Jeffrey (Jeff), Saginaw Valley State
Jones, Tailer (T.J.), Notre Dame
*Landry, Jarvis, Louisiana State
*Latimer, Cody, Indiana
*Lee, Marqise, Southern California
Lucas, Marcus, Missouri
Matthews, Jordan, Vanderbilt
*Moncrief, Donte, Mississippi
Norwood, Kevin, Alabama
Powell, Walter (Walt), Murray State
Reesevin, Baylor
*Richardson, Paul, Colorado
*Robinson, Allen, Penn State
Saunders, Jalen, Oklahoma
*Snead, Willie, Ball State
*Stewart, Josh, Oklahoma State
Street, Devin, Pittsburgh
Washington, L'damian, Missouri
* Watkins, Sammy, Clemson
Wilson, Albert, Georgia State 

Offensive Linemen
Armstrong, Matthew (Matt), Grand Valley State
Bitonio, Joel, Nevada
*Bodine, Russell, North Carolina
Boffell, Conor, Iowa
Britt, Justin, Missouri
Dozier, Dakota, Furman
Edwards, Kadeem, Tennnessee State
Feiler, Matt, Bloomsburg
*Flemong, Cameron, Stanford
Fulton, Zachery (Zach), Tennessee
Groy, Ryan, Wisconsin
Halapio, Jonathan (Jon), Florida
Harrison, Jonotthan, Florida
Henderson, Seantrel, Miami
Hurst, James, North Carolina
Ikard, Gabriel (Gabe), Oklahoma
Jackson, Gabriel, Mississippi State
James, Ja'wuan, Tennessee
Johnson, Wesley, Vanderbilt
*Kouandijo, Cyrus, Alabama
Larsen, Tyler, Utah State
Leno, Charles, Boise State
Lewan, Taylor, Michigan
Linder, Brandon, Miami
Linsley, Corey, Ohio State
Long, Spencer, Nebraska
Lucas, Cornelius (Luke), Kansas State
*Martin, Marcus, Southern California
Martin, Zachary (Zack), Notre Dame
Matthews, Jacob (Jake), Texas A & M
Mewhort, Jack, Ohio State
Moses, Morgan, Virginia
Paradis, Matthew (Matt), Boise State
Patchan, Matthew (Matt), Boston College
*Richardson, Antonionnessee
Richardson, Cyril, Baylor
Richburg, Weston, Colorado State
*Robinson, Greg, Auburn
Schofield, Michael, Michigan
Steen, Anthony, Alabama
Stone, James, Tennessee
Stork, Bryan, Florida State
*Su'a-Filo, Xavier, UCLA
Swanson, Travis, Arkansas
Thomas, Brandon, Clemson
*Turner, Trai, Louisiana State
Turner, William (Billy), North Dakota State
Urschel, John, Penn State
Watt, Christopher (Chris), Notre Dame
*Yankey, David, Stanford 

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN
Carrethers, Ryan, Arkansas State
Clarke, William, West Virginia
*Clowney, Jadeveon, South Carolina
*Crichton, Scott, Oregon State
*Ealy, Kony, Missouri
Edeball, Kasim, Boston College
Enemkpall, Kemefuna (I.K.), Louisiana Tech
Ford, Donald (Dee), Auburn
Gayle, Jacon (James), Virginia Tech
Hart, Taylor, Oregon
Jeffcoat, Jacksonxas
*Jernigan, Timmy, Florida State
Jones, Howard, Shepherd
Kerr, Zachariah (Zach), Delaware
*Lawrence, Demarcus, Boise State
*Lynch, Aaron, South Florida
Manumaleuna, Eathyn, Brigham Young
Marsh, Cassius, UCLA
Martin, Kareem, North Carolina
Mauro, Joshua (Josh), Stanford
Mimsvin, South Florida
Moore, Zachary (Zach), Concordia
Newsome, Jonathan, Ball State
*Nix, Louis, Notre Dame
*Pagan, Jeoffrey, Alabama
Ramsey, Kaleb, Boston College
Sam, Michael, Missouri
Smith, Chris, Arkansas
Smith, Marcus, Louisville
Stinson, Edward (Ed), Alabama
*Tuitt, Stephon, Notre Dame
*Uko, George, Southern California
Webster, Larry, Bloomsburg
Westbrooks, Ethan, West Texas A & M 

DEFENSIVE TACKLES
Bromley, Jason (Jay), Syracuse
Coleman, Deandre, California
Donald, Aaron, Pittsburgh
Easley, Dominique, Florida
Ellis, Justin, Louisiana Tech
*Ferguson, Ego, Louisiana State
Hageman, Ra'shede, Minnesota
Hyder, Kerryxas Tech
*Johnson, Anthony, Louisiana State
Jones, Daquan, Penn State
Mc Cullers, Daniel (Dan), Tennessee
Palepoinny, Utah
Pennel, Michael (Mike), Colorado State - Pueblo
*Quarles, Kelcy, South Carolina
Reid, Caralin, Princeton
Stephen, Shamar, Connecticut
Sutton, William (Will), Arizona State
Thomas, Robert, Arkansas
Thornton, Khyri, Southern Mississippi
Urban, Brent, Virginia
Whaley, Christopher (Chris), Texas
Wynn, Kerry, Richmond 

LINEBACKERS
Attaochu, Jeremiah (Jerry), Georgia Tech
Barr, Anthony, UCLA
Barrow, Lamin, Louisiana State
Borland, Christopher (Chris), Wisconsin
Bradford, Carl, Arizona State
Brown, Jonathan, Illinois
Brown, Michael (Preston), Louisville
Bullough, Max, Michigan State
*Fortt, Khairi, California
George, Jeremiah, Iowa State
Hitchens, Anthony, Iowa
Hubbard, Adrian, Alabama
Jackson, Andrew (Drew), Western Kentucky
Jones, Christian, Florida State
Kennard, Devon, Southern California
Kirksey, Christian (Chris), Iowa
Lokombo, Boseko, Oregon
Mack, Khalil, Buffalo
Morris, James, Iowa
Mosley, Clinton (C.J.), Alabama
Murphy, Trenton (Trent), Stanford
Pierre-Louis, Kevin, Boston College
*Powell, Ronald, Florida
Reilly, Trevor, Utah
*Shazier, Ryan, Ohio State
Shembo, Prince, Notre Dame
Skov, Shayne, Stanford
*Smallwood, Yawin, Connecticut
Smithlvin, Florida State
Starr, Tyler, South Dakota
Tripp, Jordan (Jordie), Montana
Unga, Devin (Uani'), Brigham Young
Van Noy, Kyle, Brigham Young
Williamson, Avery, Kentucky
Zumwalt, Jordan, UCLA 

DEFENSIVE BACKS
Alexander, Maurice (Mo), Utah State
Allen, Ricardo, Purdue
Bailey, Dion, Southern California
Belue, Deion, Alabama
Benwikere, Bene', San Jose State
Berhe, Natneal (Nat), San Diego State
Boston, Jayestin (Tre), North Carolina
*Breeland, Bashaud, Clemson
Brooksrrence, Florida State
Bucannon, Deone, Washington State
Carrie, Travis (T.J.), Ohio
*Clinton-Dix, Ha'sean (Ha Ha), Alabama
Cockrell, Ross, Duke
Colvin, Aaron, Oklahoma
Davis, Christopher (Chris), Auburn
Dennard, Darqueze, Michigan State
Desir, Pierre, Lindenwood
Dixon, Ahmad (A.D.), Baylor
Dixon, Brandon, Northwest Missouri State
*Dowling, Jonathan, Western Kentucky
Exum, Antone, Virginia Tech
Fuller, Kyle, Virginia Tech
Gaines, Edwin (E.J.), Missouri
Gaines, Phillip, Rice
Gilbert, Justin, Oklahoma State
Goodson, Demetri (Meech), Baylor
Hal, Andre (Dre), Vanderbilt
*Hampton, Victor, South Carolina
Huff, Marqueston, Wyoming
Jackson, Bennett, Notre Dame
James, Kendall, Maine
Jean-Baptiste, Stanley (Stan), Nebraska
Johnson, Dontae, North Carolina State
Joyner, Lamarcus, Florida State
Ladler, Kenneth (Kenny), Vanderbilt
Lawson, Nevin (Nevo), Utah State
Lewis, Isaiah, Michigan State
Loston, Craig, Louisiana State
Mc Dougle, Dexter (Dex), Maryland
Mc Gill, Keith, Utah
*Mitchellrrance, Oregon
Price, Jabari, North Carolina
*Pryor, Calvin, Louisville
*Purifoy, Loucheiz, Florida
Reaser, Keith, Florida Atlantic
*Reynolds, Ed, Stanford
Reynolds, Rashaad, Oregon State
*Roberson, Marcus, Florida
*Roby, Bradley, Ohio State
Sorensen, Daniel, Brigham Young
Southward, Dezmen (Dez), Wisconsin
*Sunseri, Vinnie, Alabama
Thomas, Jemea, Georgia Tech
Vereen, Brock, Minnesota
Verrett, Jasonxas Christian
Ward, Jimmie, Northern Illinois
Washington, Todd, Southeastern Louisiana
Watkins, Jaylen, Florida
Westbrooks, Lavelle, Georgia Southern 

LONG SNAPPER
Heit, Marcus, Kansas State 

PUNTERS
Clark, Steven, Auburn
Hocker, Zachary (Zach), Arkansas
Hornsey, Thomas (Tom), Memphis
Leone, Richard (Richie), Houston
Mandell, Cody, Alabama
O'Donnell, Patrick (Pat), Miami 

KICKERS
Boswell, Christopher (Chris), Rice
Fera, Anthony, Texas
Santos, Cairo, Tulane 

*Underclassman