Some Football Thoughts

The world just felt like a better place with Muhammad Ali in it. RIP Champ.

The Minnesota Vikings will report to training camp at Minnesota State University-Mankato on July 28. The first practice will be the following day. The 2016 NFL Season is creeping closer.

The contract squabble between the New York Jets and quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick resembles something closer to a school-yard spat than anything professional.

The City of Minneapolis issued a certificate of occupancy for US Bank Stadium. The Vikings new home is ready six weeks ahead of schedule. This stadium looks spectacular.

I think that the Pittsburgh Steelers signing of tight end Ladarius Green in free agency could be one of the best new additions to any team this offseason. He should be a monster over the middle for Ben Roethlisberger. He can also stretch the field for a team that has a few field-stretchers.

Speaking of tight ends in new places, Martellus Bennett in an offense that already has Rob Gronkowski is scary. Very scary.

A potential Heisman running back duel between LSU's Leonard Fournette and Stanford's Christian McCaffrey could be one of the most interesting/exciting in quite some time.

It's often a riot to read media reports from OTAs. One report out of Philadelphia has rookie quarterback Carson Wentz already ahead of veteran Sam Bradford in new coach Doug Pederson's offense. Another report has Bradford as the best player on the Eagles practice field.

Another example of the media making an issue out of something that really isn't. Brock Osweiler declined an invitation to join his former Denver Broncos teammates at the White House to celebrate their Super Bowl title. Osweiler is with the Houston Texans now. He's practicing with his new team. A new team that he's expected to lead. I would have been more surprised if he had accepted the invite. Even beyond that, who really cares about this?

I'm glad that the Pro Bowl is going to be around for at least a little while longer. Even if it's in Orlando. I prefer Hawaii. The players probably do too.

A few years ago Zach Kline lost the Cal quarterback battle to true freshman Jared Goff. After sitting behind Goff for a year, Kline opted to transfer. He planned to attend Oregon State, but instead went to Butte College. After a year there, he transferred to Indiana State. He didn't start there and returned to Cal in order to graduate from the school. He did just that a few weeks ago. His plan was to remain at Cal as a graduate student and compete for the Cal QB spot, vacated by Goff's early leap to the NFL, this spring and summer as a walk-on. Those plans changed with the arrival on the Berkeley campus of Texas Tech transfer Davis Webb. Kline will now transfer from Cal for a second time. Transfer twice from the same school? That's inconceivable! The important takeaway from Kline's travels is that he remained on target to graduate. Many football players that bounce around in their mad dash to the NFL lose sight of their academics. Kline is a talented quarterback. A talented quarterback that I thought would win that battle with Goff. And it was a close battle as the nimble Kline did seem like a better fit for Sonny Dykes' spread/hurry-up offense. Kline showed then and has shown throughout his college travels that he's much more than a quarterback. Still, he just wants to play some ball while he can. I hope that he gets that chance. Somewhere.

Speaking of Cal football, a quick glance at the roster reveals that about a quarter of the players are from outside of California. There's even a player from outside the country. Punter Harry Adolphus is from Guilford, England by way of the Cranleigh School. It seems like it wasn't all that long ago that only a handful of the Cal football players came from out of the state. That started to change when Jeff Tedford finally brought some football success to Berkeley. It's increased even more under 4th-year head coach Sonny Dykes. His Texas roots puts a particular emphasis on that football-rich state.

Rob Ryan is out of his mind if he thinks that he did a terrific job with the New Orleans Saints defense. He had one decent season and two historically bad seasons. Injuries didn't do him any favors but a coach as skilled as Ryan claims to be finds a way. It shouldn't be a surprise that he now works for his brother.

Some Vikings fans and beat writers are declaring cornerback Trae Waynes a bust after a single season. Everyone expects first round picks to start immediately. It's not always that easy. Waynes probably could have started immediately and had a rookie season much like that of fellow Vikings corner Xavier Rhodes. Rocky at the beginning and showing improvement at the end. The difference between the rookie seasons of Waynes and Rhodes is that Waynes didn't have to start. The Vikings could ease the transition into the NFL of a rookie corner last year because of the presence of the ageless Terence Newman. Waynes was able to learn one of the NFL's most difficult positions from a player-coach in Newman, a player with a similar skill set in Rhodes, and a crack coaching staff in Jerry Gray and Mike Zimmer without the added pressure of being forced into the lineup immediately. Waynes contributed on special teams throughout the year. He also played some solid corner when injuries put him on the field late in the season. He was very good against the Seattle Seahawks in the playoffs. He even collected his first NFL interception in that game. Fans and beat writers should take from his first NFL season those solid moments rather the games that he didn't start. I expect Trae Waynes to open the season as the Vikings starting corner opposite Xavier Rhodes. It doesn't matter if Newman is still on top of the depth chart during OTAs.

Just thinking football.