10 Thoughts

Here are 10 football thoughts that have been banging around my head recently.

1. CBS Sports went with a shaky clicker this week that read: "Five questions QB Kerry Collins must answer in his first season with the Vikings."
I don't know about the five questions for Collins but I do have one question for CBS. When did the Vikings sign Kerry Collins?

2. I've been reading Upton Bell's Present At The Creation: My Life in the NFL and the Rise of America's Game. Bell is the son of former NFL commissioner Bert Bell so he's been right there for nearly all of the league's history. The junior Bell had his own career in football as a scout for the Baltimore Colts, GM of the New England Patriots, and owner of a WFL team. It's a terrific, informative read and this comment by Bell on a transitioning 1970s NFL has stuck with me.

"The league was going from a football organization that does business, to a business organization that does football."

This is the very thing that has worried me about Roger Goodell's reign as commissioner. I hadn't thought of my concerns in such a precise manner but it's so obvious. Football has become an afterthought to the NFL's business. Expansion of the brand has become more important than the play on the field. Bell saw this transition taking shape in the 1970s and it truly set sail when Paul Tagliabue defeated Jim Finks in the commissioner vote to replace Pete Rozelle in 1989. Prior to Tagliabue, every President/Commissioner of the NFL had been a football man first. Finks would've continued that. Instead, a Washington lawyer in Tagliabue and a marketing executive in Goodell have led the league for the last thirty years. It's a damn shame.

3. The Minnesota Vikings signed Washington State defensive tackle Hercules Mata'afa as an undrafted free agent soon after the draft. He immediately became the most intrguing player on the Vikings roster. At about 6'2" and 250 lbs he won't be playing defensive tackle in the NFL. He probably shouldn't have been playing it in college but he wrecked game plans. It's likely that he went undrafted because teams had no clue as to where to play him. The Vikings currently list him as a linebacker. It's likely that he'll line up all over the front seven. He should also make a significant impact on all of the special teams units. I saw him play in college a few times and he was a blast to watch. Except when he played against Cal. I'm looking forward to seeing what the Vikings coaches have in mind for him.

4. When LeBron James mentioned recently that he takes breathers while the game continues around him, the media and fans barely noticed. For the past two decades Randy Moss has been roasted for his "I play when I want to play" comment. In his Hall of Fame bid earlier this year it was the one repeated criticism of his career. For most it was the only criticism of his career. At least it wasn't enough to keep Moss out of Canton in his first year of eligibility.

5. I still can't believe that Kirk Cousins is the quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings.

6. After the Vikings selected Auburn kicker Daniel Carlson in the fifth round beat writer/controversy-seeker Chris Tomasson was immediately on the phone with incumbent kicker Kai Forbath. Tomasson was quick to mention on social media that Forbath hung up on him. Vikings coaches and players hate talking to Tomasson during the best of times. I've been thinking about this sort of poor timing quite a bit recently. The media has spent days hashing, rehashing, and hashing again Ben Roethlisberger's thoughts on the Steelers drafting of his possible/eventual heir in Mason Rudolph in the third round. No player wants to have their playing mortality thrust into their face. Especially right after their employer has hired their possible successor. What's wrong with giving the player some time? Is creating that drama more important than some decent courtesy? Stupid question.

7. During this time of the year it's easy to point to the rookie wage slotting as the best thing to come out of the 2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement. There's really nothing to negotiate so the rookie contract agreements are a breeze. The Vikings had seven of their eight draft picks signed before the draft was a week in the past. First round cornerback Mike Hughes is the only unsigned draft pick. The agents for first round picks can always find something to haggle over (usually the offset language). Pre-2011, we saw negotiations with rookies often starting in July. Now, nearly every draft pick is signed before July. It's beautiful.

8. Hercules Mata'afa might be the most intriguing player in Vikings training camp. The most intriguing training camp competition might be the battle for the third running back job. That battle might come down to two undrafted players. Mike Boone and Roc Thomas.

More from Upton Bell.

9. In his book, Bell ranked his Top 10 quarterbacks in league history.

1.   Johnny Unitas
2.   Tom Brady
3.   Dan Marino
4.   John Elway
5.   Joe Montana
6.   Otto Graham
7.   Peyton Manning
8.   Sammy Baugh
9.   Roger Staubach
10. Terry Bradshaw (with Aaron Rodgers closing in fast on the top ten)

Lists like this are obviously one opinion, or a collection of opinions. These lists are supposed to be fun but they often stoke fury. I like seeing these lists from someone like Upton Bell. As a scout, personnel director, and general manager it was his job to judge and give opinions on football talent. He's seen more than most and he knows more than most. Bell added that when he ranks quarterbacks he thinks like a scout and looks at them like a personnel director. Will this quarterback make my team better? Will he help my team win a title? That's a little different than someone that bases their opinions solely on numbers.

I found it funny that Bell felt like he had to defend his inclusion of Otto Graham. Anybody that understands what Graham did in his incredible 10-year career doesn't need to have his inclusion as one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play explained. 10 Championship games in 10 years with seven wins. No quarterback has done anything like that.

It's real clear after reading Bell's chapter on the quarterbacks that he has Unitas and Brady and then everybody else.

10. Bell's Best Coaches

1.   Paul Brown
2.   Don Shula
3.   Bill Belichick
4.   Bill Walsh
5.   Vince Lombardi
6.   Chuck Noll
7.   Tom Landry
8.   George Halas
9.   Joe Gibbs
10. Tie-Bill Parcells and Curly Lambeau

And those are ten of my football thoughts on this Saturday in early May.