Some Football Thoughts

Here are some football thoughts that have recently been on my mind.

1. This one nearly stopped all thinking due to it's mind-numbing stupidity. As far as stupid goes, t's right up there with UCLA using Cal's fight song as if it's their own. Brian Billick was recently informed by the Baltimore Ravens that he will be inducted into the team's ring of honor this season. Congratulations. He deserves it. Won a Super Bowl. Through his induction I learned that the following are also in the Ravens Ring of Honor.

Raymond Berry
Johnny Unitas
Lenny Moore
Gino Marchetti
Art Donovan
John Mackey
Jim Parker
Ted Hendricks

Ok. There's so much wrong with this. What idiot thought including Baltimore COLTS players in the Ring of Honor of the Baltimore RAVENS was the proper thing to do? They aren't the same franchise. When the above football greats played for the Colts this Ravens franchise was the Cleveland Browns. Would the Chicago Bears even consider honoring as their own great Chicago Cardinals football players like Charley Trippi and Ollie Matson? Doubt it. Should the Minnesota Vikings add Ernie Nevers to their Ring of Honor? It wouldn't be a consideration for one simple reason. Teams don't honor players that never played for them.

2. OTA attendance. It seems like the biggest news of each NFL team's OTAs is always who's not present. OTAs are voluntary. So, the attendance shouldn't matter. It sure matters to the media because the attendance tops their daily reports. It probably doesn't matter much to the teams. Coaches might want every player present at their practices but they will always prefer to focus on the players that actually are. Players fighting to make the roster probably appreciate the opportunity for added reps. Personally, I don't understand why a player would ever consider skipping a football practice. Football is fun. I always thought practices were fun.

OTA attendance will soon be forgotten so the attention paid to it now seems like a waste of time.

3. The media sure wants the Vikings to trade Kyle Rudolph. The Vikings have said repeatedly that Rudolph is under contract and they want him on the roster beyond the 2019 season. Rudolph has said repeatedly that he and his family want to stay in Minnesota, that he wants to play his entire career with the Vikings. Yet, the media continues to craft a narrative that Rudolph is on his way to the New England Patriots, or some other team. I've seen the media pay less attention to situations involving a player that wants nothing to do with the team that employs him. Like the Washington Redskins and Trent Williams.

4. Speaking of the media. One would think that they'd be used to Adrian Peterson and his lofty goals. He's done it for nearly every one of his 13 seasons.

5. Beer-chugging. Aaron Rodgers would probably have been much better at chugging beer if he hadn't left Cal so damn soon.

6. More Rodgers. "Aaron Rodgers wants to throw the ball to Davante Adams more this year." I realize that it's early June but how is this a story? Getting the ball into the hands of their best players has been the objective of every team since the beginning of team sports.

7. Gerald McCoy's little free agency tour was a refreshing reminder of how player movement used to be. Players used to visit with teams, meet the coaches and staff, tour the facility, wine and dine. Now, deals are done with texts and dollar amounts.

8. Hercules Mata'afa. He was a pint-sized wrecker of offenses while at Washington State. At about 6'2" and 250 lbs, it looked like he was lost and wandered to the wrong part of the field when he lined up in the middle of the Cougars defensive line. The Vikings signed him as undrafted free agent in 2018. He tore his ACL in OTAs a year ago. He's back on the field at a more presentable 275 lbs and flashing. Without pads it's tough to truly judgement linemen but Mata'afa is opening the eyes of the coaches. Mike Zimmer mentioned Cincinnati Bengals undersized, ball-of-fury Geno Atkins when talking about Mata'afa. The competition at defensive tackle should be one of the most interesting of the Vikings training camp.

9. There are 11 unsigned first round draft picks. Six of those unsigned draft picks were selected by the Oakland Raiders and New York Giants.

Raiders:
Clelin Ferrell
Josh Jacobs
Johnathan Abram

Giants:
Daniel Jones
Dexter Lawrence
Deandre Baker

10. 35 of the 254 players selected in the 2019 NFL Draft remain unsigned.

By round:
1: 11
2: 7
3: 15
4: 0
5: 0
6: 1
7: 1

The third round continues to be a little slow. The lone unsigned seventh round pick is Air Force long snapper Austin Cutting. His playing status with the Minnesota Vikings has yet to be determined due to his service commitment to the Air Force.

Those are some of my football thoughts as we approach the last of the MANDATORY minicamps and then the one extended break of the NFL calendar.