Throwback Thursday: Plan B

The National Football League has done a lot of things right in their 90+ years. That's easily seen in their fantastic success today. That success doesn't mean that every decision has been tip-top. One pretty stupid move was when the league introduced a pathetic form of free agency in February 1989. The owners didn't want anything to do with any sort of free agency. They didn't want the players to have that freedom of movement and they wanted to control salaries. They figured that open bidding for players would shoot player salaries through the roof. They were right. None of those concerns were of any concern for the players. They wanted that freedom and they weren't giving up the fight to get that freedom. The owners tried to pacify the players with a limited free agency and gave it the unfortunate name of Pan B. Very creative.

Plan B free agency permitted all teams in the league to preserve limited rights to no more than 37 players. A protected player was unable to sign with other teams without giving his old team the chance to sign him or forcing his new club to compensate his old club if he went elsewhere. The players that weren't among the 37 protected players were free to negotiate any team. They were the only players that were truly free agents. The Minnesota Vikings added former San Francisco 49ers running back Roger Craig through Plan B. That was pretty sweet but would have been sweeter if they could have added him about five years earlier. Needless to say the players hated this Plan B joke. They hated it so much that eight players sued the NFL saying that it violated antitrust laws. Mark Collins, Frank Minnifield, Dave Richards, and Lee Rouson were awarded monetary damages. The namesake of the suit, Freeman McNeil, wasn't awarded damages. Neither was Don Majkowski, Tim McDonald, and Niko Noga. It was determined that those four were paid enough that Plan B didn't restrict their earning ability.

Plan B was a joke. I knew then that unrestricted free agency was inevitable. The owners probably did too. Coming up with some half-assed scheme to put off the inevitable was a mistake. The league's decision makers looked like fools. This was one of the last moves that Pete Rozelle oversaw as commissioner. I'm still a little surprised that he let this one fly. It's not all on him. It may not have been on him at all. The commissioner may be the top dog on the league but he still answers to the owners. They pay his salary. Maybe, Plan B drove Pete Rozelle to his retirement. If nothing else, Plan B led to the inevitable unrestricted free agency. The, more or less, same free agency that starts in 12 days.

Flea Flicker Mock Draft v1.0

These damn things are always pointless and always fun. So, here's my first stab at this fun but pointless project.

1. Kansas City Chiefs  Geno Smith  QB  West Virginia
2. Jacksonville Jaguars  Luke Joeckel  OT  Texas A&M
3. Oakland Raiders  Sharif Floyd  DT  Florida
4. Philadelphia Eagles  Chance Warmack  G  Alabama
5. Detroit Lions  Dee Milliner  CB  Alabama
6. Cleveland Browns  Star Lotulelei  DT  Utah
7. Arizona Cardinals  Eric Fisher OT  Central Michigan
8. Buffalo Bills  Dion Jordan  LB  Oregon
9. New York Jets  Ziggy Ansah  DE  BYU
10. Tennessee Titans  Jonathan Cooper  G  North Carolina
11. San Diego Chargers  Lane Johnson  OT  Oklahoma
12. Miami Dolphins  Cordarrelle Patterson  WR  Tennessee
13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers  Jarvis Jones  LB  Georgia
14. Carolina Panthers  Sheldon Richardson  DT  Missouri
15. New Orleans Saints  Kenny Vaccaro  S  Texas
16. St. Louis Rams  Bjoern Werner  DE  Florida St
17. Pittsburgh Steelers  Alec Ogeltree  LB  Georgia
18. Dallas Cowboys  Bjoern Werner DE  Florida St.
19. New York Giants  Tyler Eifert  TE  Notre Dame
20. Chicago Bears  Manti Te'o  LB  Notre Dame
21. Cincinnati Bengals  Xavier Rhodes  CB  Florida St.
22. St. Louis Rams  Menelik Watson  OT  Florida St.
23. Minnesota Vikings  Keenan Allen  WR  Cal
24. Indianapolis Colts  Sylvester Williams  DT  North Carolina
25. Seattle Seahawks  Barkevious Mingo  DE  LSU
26. Green Bay Packers  Barrett Jones  OL  Alabama
27. Houston Texans  Eric Reid  S  LSU
28. Denver Broncos  Johnathan Banks  CB  Mississippi St.
29. New England Patriots  Tavon Austin  WR West Virginia
30. Atlanta Falcons  Jonathan Hankins  DT  Ohio St.
31. San Francisco 49ers  Desmond Trufant  CB  Washington
32. Baltimore Ravens  Datone Jones  DE  UCLA

I seriously doubt that the draft unfolds like this.

NFL Offseason Changes?

The NFL wants everything that they do to be big. They're always looking to make things bigger. This willingness to always embrace changes has kept the NFL way ahead of the rest of the professional leagues. It's mostly been a good thing but there are times when the NFL really needs to pump the breaks. They say that their willingness to change is to enhance the enjoyment of the fans. It's really to enhance the profits of the NFL. Everything is done to increase profits. I'd have a lot more respect for commissioner Roger Goodell and his bosses if they were a bit more honest about that.

The recent nugget that popped out of the Scouting Combine was possible changes to the offseason schedule. The plan would be to move everything back about a month. The combine would take place in March. Free Agency would start in April. I've heard mention of some jackass idea of having a free agent signing day similar to college signing days. NFL Network would probably televise the team signings across the NFL landscape. The NFL Draft would be held in May. Finally, all teams would start training camp on the same day in July. I'm sure the coaches will be thrilled with that mandate. I'm not sure how offseason workouts would be impacted by this new schedule. My guess is that the workouts would be condensed. Instead of starting in late April and popping up every few weeks through mid-June, they'd likely be concentrated in June. This would be another slap at the coaches. More significantly, the NFL Players Association should blow a gasket. They just signed a CBA with a defined schedule of offseason workouts and now the owners are bouncing around the idea of hacking up that schedule. There has been much speculation that the schedule changes would be to accommodate an 18-game schedule. Ah, the 18-game schedule. I just love that the people most in favor of playing 18 games don't have to play 18 games. The commissioner and the owners really should listen to the players on this subject. It's seriously irresponsible to do otherwise.

It's not that I'm resistant to changes in football. I embrace any change that is good for the game. I like the pace of the offseason with the current schedule. I think that this free agency "signing day" is a stupid, forced event. I think that if fans had to wait until May for the draft they'd lose their minds. The pre-draft process is long enough for the incoming college players. Each year the NFL offseason gets bigger on it's own. It really doesn't need any pointless, ridiculous changes. Just leave the offseason alone and it will grow on it's own.

Media Driven Drivel

About a week ago an enterprising St. Paul sportswriter was in Florida covering the start of the Minnesota Twin spring training. He decided to take advantage of his location by setting up camp outside the home of Minnesota Vikings receiver Percy Harvin. This reporter wanted to ask the talented receiver, again, whether he'd be in Minnesota next season. The reporter got the some form of the "no comment" for his intrusion. Many Vikings fans applauded the the efforts of this reporter. I call it stalking.

The football offseason is supposed to be a time of reflection and hope. Most importantly, hope. Every team has a clean slate. Every team has a chance in the coming season. The offseason is a time for improving the team. Building from within or adding new players. It's a fun time. A peaceful time. It's frustrating when that peace is shattered by annoying extra stuff. Two years ago it was the lockout. That was the worst. Last year it was the Vikings stadium battle. This year it's the circus that the media has created around Percy Harvin. For months now, Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier and general manager Rick Spielman have stated that they expect Harvin to be in Minnesota this year. They want Harvin in Minnesota this year. No matter how many times that they answer the question, they are still asked, "Will Percy Harvin be traded?" It's ridiculous. I've never understood why the same question has to be asked so many times. This circus isn't Vikings-driven or Harvin-driven. This entire fiasco is media-driven.

Percy Harvin is team-oriented. He is well liked by all of his Minnesota Vikings teammates. The only problems that he had was being injured when his team was driving for the playoffs and how he has been used in the Vikings offense. The latter is a significant issue and needs to be resolved but I don't see it as an issue that can't be put to rest. I don't see it as anything close to an issue that would lead to Harvin's departure from Minnesota. He is the most versatile receiver in the NFL. He might even be the most versatile football player in the NFL. I wouldn't be surprised if he lined up at corner and excelled. While the Vikings use him in many ways they could use him in more. Despite his versatility, he's pigeon-holed as a slot receiver. Just because he stands under six-foot he's considered too small to play outside the numbers. Few force the same restrictions on DeSean Jackson and he's smaller than Harvin. When the Vikings do put Harvin out wide it's nearly always for a quick passes. They're often effective but it becomes predictable. He's rarely sent downfield. Outside receivers do not have to be a certain size. Talented players can make plays all over the field so let them. Before the explosion of three receiver sets, receivers of all sizes were sent downfield. Now, you have to over six-foot to go deep and under six-foot to run from the slot.

I've watched Percy Harvin play football for four years. I'm convinced that he has no limitations in an offensive game plan. He can do it all. He can line up inside, outside, in the backfield. He can catch, run, return kicks, block. He can score form anywhere on the field and has. He's also a very emotional football player. His intense competitiveness always has those emotions at the surface. The Vikings will be best served if Percy Harvin's immense football skills are unleashed.

Oh, and the media needs to shut the hell up.

Undefeated

With tonight being Oscars night it seemed like a fine time to draw some attention to a football movie that won an Oscar. Undefeated is a 2011 documentary directed by Daniel Lindsay and T.J. Martin. The movie had such a limited theatrical release that by the time I found a theater that had it, I was too late. I've waited ever since for it's DVD release. That finally happened last week and I finally saw it last night. It's terrific. The Academy thought so too as they awarded Lindsay and Martin the Oscar for Best Documentary. I had two years to build up the damn thing and I wasn't disappoint. I knew enough of the movie to find it interesting that it was about a team that was neither undefeated nor finished the season with a championship.

Lindsay and Martin spent the 2009 football season with the Manassas High Tigers in north Memphis. Head coach Bill Courtney and his staff were volunteers. Courtney was a former high school coach turned lumber salesman that volunteered to help a school in a lost neighborhood. He and his fellow volunteers turned a perennial whipping boy into a team that couldn't be defeated. The kids, so used to giving up, learned to never give up. Lindsay and Martin did a terrific job of introducing the viewers to the coaches and a handful of the players. Tackle O.C. Brown's story is unusually similar to that of another huge, talented tackle from the Memphis area. That would be Michael Oher and his better known story told in The Blind Side. Brown was taken in and helped by an affluent white family but his stay wasn't as permanent as Oher's stay. Fellow Tigers lineman Montrail "Money" Brown stole Undefeated for me. Perhaps I could recognize with his partially torn ACL blowing up his senior football season. Perhaps it was his happy personality and self-awareness. He loved playing football but was at total ease with being to small for college football. He knew that high school football was it for him despite his love for the game. He simply wasn't as huge or as talented as O.C. Brown. Still, he was desperate to get back on the field for his final football games. Like Montrail, the film ends with you wanting more football games. You become so used to this miracle moving along that you want it to continue. Manassas hadn't won a Tennessee state playoff game in it's 110-year history. You want them to get that win. For them and for you.

Great flick. The Flea Flicker says check it out.

Farewell Matt Birk

For me, the best thing about the Baltimore Ravens winning this past Super Bowl was seeing Matt Birk leave the NFL on top. The former Minnesota Vikings center retired from the NFL yesterday. The only thing that was missing from his fifteen-year career was a title. No more. I obviously would have preferred for that elusive title to come while he was in Minnesota but that was not to be. It was still great to see him leave the game with that final prize.

The Vikings drafted Matt Birk out of Harvard in the 6th round of the 1998 NFL Draft. He was a tackle then. The combination of Birk's work and the line coaching of Mike Tice made the position switch seem easy. Within two years Matt Birk was the Minnesota Vikings starting center. That 1998 draft is best known for receiver Randy Moss. I always found it interesting that two players so different had the same beginning in Minnesota. Birk's impact may not have been as flashy as that of Moss but it may have been as great. Birk was a leader on and off the field. Perhaps more so than any other position, the Vikings have had an incredible succession of centers. Birk only added to that line. Mick Tingelhoff started it all and he seemed to play forever. 17 years. He handed the torch to Dennis Swilley who passed it to Kirk Lowdermilk who passed it to Jeff Christy and then on to Birk. John Sullivan currently carries it very well. Six centers in over 50 years. Incredible. All six made the position a strength. Matt Birk was a fantastic football player. On and off the field, Birk made a memorable impact. He was a six-time Pro Bowler and won the Walter Payton Award for his work in the community. With his great sense of humor his interviews were always enjoyable. Humor goes a long way.

Although John Sullivan was ready to take over it was difficult to see Birk leave Minnesota in 2009. As with past Vikings greats Alan Page, Carl Eller, John Randle, Cris Carter and others, it was painful to see Matt Birk play in the uniform of another team. Despite that I couldn't help but be happy for the former Vikings center when I heard the final gun of Super Bowl XLVII.

Scouting Combine

Mike Mayock calls it the "underwear olympics." He just wants to differentiate it from the real football but it's pretty accurate. Most know it as the NFL Scouting Combine. Indianapolis hosts it and each year it seems to get bigger. The players started arriving Wednesday and it finishes up next Tuesday. Over seven days, 333 college football players go through four days of poking, prodding, testing, running, jumping, pressing and questioning.. It's the biggest job interview of their lives.

National Football Scouting president Jeff Foster is running his eighth scouting combine. He deals with everything from getting the players to Indianapolis, out of Indianapolis, and everything in between. It includes coordinating with local medical facilities. 350 MRIs were performed on 333 players last year. It's an incredible piece of scheduling and Foster and Indianapolis has it down to a science.

While NFL people rarely agree on anything they absolutely agree that the medical exams and the interviews are the most important parts of the combine. The fans see it differently but they rarely see football realistically. The fans love the running, the jumping, the numbers. That's why NFL Network televises the NFL Scouting Combine. I'm actually more interested in Manti Te'o's interview and Keenan Allen's knee than who runs the fastest 40. Mayock calls it the "underwear olympics" to lessen the importance that many put on it. It's not football. That's not to say that the on-field combine portion is pointless. It's just to say that it should always be a supplement to what the player has done on the football field for a handful of years.

A growing aspect of the combine that annoys many in the NFL is the decision by some players to skip the on-field workouts. It's mostly a few quarterbacks that pull this stunt. Supposedly they do so on the advice of their agents. These agents and their quarterback clients want to script the workouts, at familiar facilities, with familiar receivers at a later date of their choosing. They want to control the process. It's like going into a job interview and handing the interviewers a list of scripted questions. In the competitive world football choosing not to compete is pathetic. If I was an NFL decision maker, I'd look at a quarterback choosing not to throw the equivalent of throwing a bunch of passes straight into the Indianapolis turf.

The pace of the football offseason is nice. Two weeks after the Super Bowl there's a little hunger for some more football. The NFL Scouting Combine provides a little taste. If nothing else, it introduces to many of us the college football players that will be NFL players in a couple of months.