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NFL Draft 2017
- By flv
- SPORTSBOOK
- 7 Replies
The 1st wave of Sportsbooks are now up.
More will follow over the next few days, including Rams related Sportsbooks. Limits are currently set at a low $7K for now as there are no open markets yet for price guidance. If you see a price you like grab it quick before I see the error of my ways and cut it. If you want specific Draft bets post your Draft bet requests in this thread.
More will follow over the next few days, including Rams related Sportsbooks. Limits are currently set at a low $7K for now as there are no open markets yet for price guidance. If you see a price you like grab it quick before I see the error of my ways and cut it. If you want specific Draft bets post your Draft bet requests in this thread.
NFL draft WR Rankings: SB Nation 04/10/17
- By Florida_Ram
- NFL DRAFT / COLLEGE FOOTBALL
- 4 Replies
NFL draft WR rankings 2017:
Clemson’s Mike Williams leads a thin group
The three best wide outs are apparent, but after that the class is average.
by Dan Kadar Apr 10, 2017, 12:55pm EDT
Since the underlcassmen declaration date for the 2017 NFL draft, it was clear there was a top-three group at wide receiver and then a dramatic drop off in the position.
That top three is slotted differently if you talk to three different people. For me, the top wide receiver this year is Mike Williams. He’s not a flashy wideout, nor does he blow people away with speed. Instead, he’s an incredibly physical receiver. If you like Dez Bryant of the Dallas Cowboys, you should like Williams.
Corey Davis of Western Michigan holds down the No. 2 spot in the position. He’s a little less physical than Williams, but a little faster and more precise as a route runner. If speed is your thing, Washington’s John Ross is the choice. It’s not just that Ross is fast, though. He knows how to use it.
After those three, it’s hard to pinpoint a sure thing of a receiver in the draft this year. There are several good slot options like East Carolina’s Zay Jones, but he doesn’t profile as a true No. 1 wideout. The same can be said for Cooper Kupp of Eastern Washington. He’s an unbelievably productive player, but his lack of an elite athletic trait leaves you wanting just a little bit more from his game.
1. Mike Williams, WR, Clemson
When Anquan Boldin was at his best in the mid-2000s, he was a dominating and physical receiver who excelled at the catch point. Williams is exactly that type of player. Clemson could line Williams up on the outside and toss it up to him and more often than not he’d come down with the ball. On contested-catch situations — even those against multiple defenders — Williams can pull in catches because of his timing and body control. Few wide receivers play as angry as Williams does on the field. Williams’ get off at the line of scrimmage is good. Naturally, he can overpower defensive backs but he has a good initial burst to create separation.
Williams isn’t the type of elite super athlete we’ve seen at the position in the past, but he gets the job done with enough speed and leaping ability. Generally, Williams has reliable hands and consistently catches the ball outside his frame. He will sometime take his eye off the ball, though, and miss a catch. It’s not a regular thing, though. A neck injury caused him to miss all but one game of the 2015 season.
2. Corey Davis, WR, Western Michigan
If stats count for anything, then Davis has it. Just look at these stats in four years at Western Michigan: 332 receptions, 5,285 yards, and 52 touchdowns. Who cares if it was in the Mid-American Conference. No one else in FBS history has that many yards. Davis could have come out after his junior season and been a top-100 pick. In returning to Western, he turned himself into a first-round pick. Despite being put against two defenders, Davis excelled as a senior. He tightened up his routes every year at Western and has few flaws in his game. At just under 6’3 and 209 pounds, Davis has good size for the position to go along with good enough speed and agility.
The offense at Western put Davis all over the play, and he was just as effective out of the slot as he was outside. It helped that he had the same quarterback (Zach Terrell) for four seasons, and the pair had perfect chemistry. That allowed Davis to freelance a little bit on his routes, so he may face some timing adjustment in the NFL.
3. John Ross, WR, Washington
There are plenty of fast wide receivers every year in the draft. None of them are as fast as Ross and, more importantly, none of them know how to use it as expertly as the Washington star. Ross uses his 4.22 40-yard-dash speed not just on deep passes. On drag routes Ross gets up to speed in such a hurry that he creates separation going over the middle and the cornerback covering him often times can’t keep up. The acceleration Ross gets out of cuts also makes him a better red zone threat than you’d imagine for a 5’11 receiver. And when he hits a double move? A slow-footed cornerback has no chance. He’ll be an asset as a kick returner. At Washington he averaged 24.4 yards per return.
Ross is going to be good as long as his speed holds up. That’s why it’s noteworthy that he’s suffered a torn ACL in his left knee and a torn meniscus in his right knee. He also had to have surgery for a torn labrum after the NFL Scouting Combine. At 188 pounds, Ross doesn’t have a lot of power in his game, and when defenders get their hands on him he can be easy to take down.
4. JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR, Southern California
Sometimes in the draft you have to gamble on some potential. That’s what I’m doing with Smith-Schuster and why he’s rated so highly. Many of the same qualities Williams possesses, Smith-Schuster does as well. He’s a physical receiver who is hard to tackle and willing to go over the middle. After the catch he knows how to shake tacklers with his strength. That’s a good thing, because his speed for the position is only average and he’s not going to run away from a lot of defenders.
Smith-Schuster excels against zone because he can find a hole in coverage and let the pass come to him. He’s also really good at bringing in back-shoulder fades. In the red zone — particularly when his team has the ball within 10 yards — he should poach touchdowns. He’ll have to go to a team with a good wide receivers coach that will really drill route running, because he has a tendency to round out routes and take unnecessary steps. He’s not a great start/stop receiver because he labors a little and takes longer than other prospects to get back up to speed. One of the youngest players in the draft this year.
5. Zay Jones, WR, East Carolina
In today’s pass-happy NFL, the slot receiver is undervalued no longer thanks to players like Doug Baldwin, Randall Cobb, Jarvis Landry, and plenty of others. Jones is at his best when he’s lined up in the slot and can pick apart the middle of a defense. He has reliable hands and has an impressive catch radius. With 158 receptions in 2016, Jones caught nearly everything thrown his way. He can also be used on screens that take advantage of his quickness. At East Carolina, Jones wasn’t used as a deep threat, but the 4.45 speed he had at the combine means he could be used more in that fashion.
6. Cooper Kupp, WR, Eastern Washington
If you give Davis credit for his gaudy statistics, then same has to be done with Kupp even though he played in the FCS. Similar to Davis, he was used all over the field and finished his career with 428 receptions for 6,464 yards and 73 touchdowns. That includes 65 receptions for 788 yards and 12 touchdowns in five games against FBS teams.
Simply, Kupp catches everything. Kupp is a crisp route runner and knows how to set up defensive backs to create separation. Kupp only has average play speed and decent size, so he has to take advantage of his route running. After the catch he employs an effective stiff arms to push away tacklers.
7. Chad Hansen, WR, California
Sometimes a wide receiver evaluation can be hard because of the system they played in. That argument could be made against Hansen who is coming out of the California air raid offense. Hansen should be an exception. Although Cal only put him on the right side, he had 92 receptions for 1,249 yards and 11 touchdowns in nine starts and 12 games last season.
Hansen is a good all-around receiver who can adjust to badly thrown passes and pull in balls away from his frame. Although Hansen’s time speed is only above-average, he was a very good deep ball target in Cal’s offense and he knows how to work the sideline. He didn’t have to run a lot of complex routes at Cal, so there will be some catch up in that part of his game.
Best of the rest:
8. ArDarius Stewart, WR, Alabama
9. Dede Westbrook, WR, Oklahoma
10. Carlos Henderson, WR, Lousiana Tech
11. Taywan Taylor, WR, Western Kentucky
12. Chris Godwin, WR, Penn State
13. Amara Darboh, WR, Michigan
14. Shelton Gibson, WR, West Virginia
15. Ryan Switzer, WR, North Carolina
16. Travis Rudolph, WR, Florida State
17. Artavis Scott, WR, Clemson
18. Isaiah Ford, WR, Virginia Tech
19. Josh Reynolds, WR, Texas A&M
20. Travin Dural, WR, LSU
21. Mack Hollins, WR, North Carolina
22. Malachi Dupre, WR, LSU
23. Fred Ross, WR, Mississippi State
24. Gabe Marks, WR, Washington State
25. Noah Brown, WR, Ohio State
26. Jehu Chesson, WR, Michigan
27. Ricky Seals-Jones, WR, Texas A&M
28. Damore’ea Stringellow, WR, Ole Miss
http://www.sbnation.com/2017/4/10/1...ngs-mike-williams-john-ross-speed-corey-davis
Clemson’s Mike Williams leads a thin group
The three best wide outs are apparent, but after that the class is average.
by Dan Kadar Apr 10, 2017, 12:55pm EDT
Since the underlcassmen declaration date for the 2017 NFL draft, it was clear there was a top-three group at wide receiver and then a dramatic drop off in the position.
That top three is slotted differently if you talk to three different people. For me, the top wide receiver this year is Mike Williams. He’s not a flashy wideout, nor does he blow people away with speed. Instead, he’s an incredibly physical receiver. If you like Dez Bryant of the Dallas Cowboys, you should like Williams.
Corey Davis of Western Michigan holds down the No. 2 spot in the position. He’s a little less physical than Williams, but a little faster and more precise as a route runner. If speed is your thing, Washington’s John Ross is the choice. It’s not just that Ross is fast, though. He knows how to use it.
After those three, it’s hard to pinpoint a sure thing of a receiver in the draft this year. There are several good slot options like East Carolina’s Zay Jones, but he doesn’t profile as a true No. 1 wideout. The same can be said for Cooper Kupp of Eastern Washington. He’s an unbelievably productive player, but his lack of an elite athletic trait leaves you wanting just a little bit more from his game.
1. Mike Williams, WR, Clemson
When Anquan Boldin was at his best in the mid-2000s, he was a dominating and physical receiver who excelled at the catch point. Williams is exactly that type of player. Clemson could line Williams up on the outside and toss it up to him and more often than not he’d come down with the ball. On contested-catch situations — even those against multiple defenders — Williams can pull in catches because of his timing and body control. Few wide receivers play as angry as Williams does on the field. Williams’ get off at the line of scrimmage is good. Naturally, he can overpower defensive backs but he has a good initial burst to create separation.
Williams isn’t the type of elite super athlete we’ve seen at the position in the past, but he gets the job done with enough speed and leaping ability. Generally, Williams has reliable hands and consistently catches the ball outside his frame. He will sometime take his eye off the ball, though, and miss a catch. It’s not a regular thing, though. A neck injury caused him to miss all but one game of the 2015 season.
2. Corey Davis, WR, Western Michigan
If stats count for anything, then Davis has it. Just look at these stats in four years at Western Michigan: 332 receptions, 5,285 yards, and 52 touchdowns. Who cares if it was in the Mid-American Conference. No one else in FBS history has that many yards. Davis could have come out after his junior season and been a top-100 pick. In returning to Western, he turned himself into a first-round pick. Despite being put against two defenders, Davis excelled as a senior. He tightened up his routes every year at Western and has few flaws in his game. At just under 6’3 and 209 pounds, Davis has good size for the position to go along with good enough speed and agility.
The offense at Western put Davis all over the play, and he was just as effective out of the slot as he was outside. It helped that he had the same quarterback (Zach Terrell) for four seasons, and the pair had perfect chemistry. That allowed Davis to freelance a little bit on his routes, so he may face some timing adjustment in the NFL.
3. John Ross, WR, Washington
There are plenty of fast wide receivers every year in the draft. None of them are as fast as Ross and, more importantly, none of them know how to use it as expertly as the Washington star. Ross uses his 4.22 40-yard-dash speed not just on deep passes. On drag routes Ross gets up to speed in such a hurry that he creates separation going over the middle and the cornerback covering him often times can’t keep up. The acceleration Ross gets out of cuts also makes him a better red zone threat than you’d imagine for a 5’11 receiver. And when he hits a double move? A slow-footed cornerback has no chance. He’ll be an asset as a kick returner. At Washington he averaged 24.4 yards per return.
Ross is going to be good as long as his speed holds up. That’s why it’s noteworthy that he’s suffered a torn ACL in his left knee and a torn meniscus in his right knee. He also had to have surgery for a torn labrum after the NFL Scouting Combine. At 188 pounds, Ross doesn’t have a lot of power in his game, and when defenders get their hands on him he can be easy to take down.
4. JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR, Southern California
Sometimes in the draft you have to gamble on some potential. That’s what I’m doing with Smith-Schuster and why he’s rated so highly. Many of the same qualities Williams possesses, Smith-Schuster does as well. He’s a physical receiver who is hard to tackle and willing to go over the middle. After the catch he knows how to shake tacklers with his strength. That’s a good thing, because his speed for the position is only average and he’s not going to run away from a lot of defenders.
Smith-Schuster excels against zone because he can find a hole in coverage and let the pass come to him. He’s also really good at bringing in back-shoulder fades. In the red zone — particularly when his team has the ball within 10 yards — he should poach touchdowns. He’ll have to go to a team with a good wide receivers coach that will really drill route running, because he has a tendency to round out routes and take unnecessary steps. He’s not a great start/stop receiver because he labors a little and takes longer than other prospects to get back up to speed. One of the youngest players in the draft this year.
5. Zay Jones, WR, East Carolina
In today’s pass-happy NFL, the slot receiver is undervalued no longer thanks to players like Doug Baldwin, Randall Cobb, Jarvis Landry, and plenty of others. Jones is at his best when he’s lined up in the slot and can pick apart the middle of a defense. He has reliable hands and has an impressive catch radius. With 158 receptions in 2016, Jones caught nearly everything thrown his way. He can also be used on screens that take advantage of his quickness. At East Carolina, Jones wasn’t used as a deep threat, but the 4.45 speed he had at the combine means he could be used more in that fashion.
6. Cooper Kupp, WR, Eastern Washington
If you give Davis credit for his gaudy statistics, then same has to be done with Kupp even though he played in the FCS. Similar to Davis, he was used all over the field and finished his career with 428 receptions for 6,464 yards and 73 touchdowns. That includes 65 receptions for 788 yards and 12 touchdowns in five games against FBS teams.
Simply, Kupp catches everything. Kupp is a crisp route runner and knows how to set up defensive backs to create separation. Kupp only has average play speed and decent size, so he has to take advantage of his route running. After the catch he employs an effective stiff arms to push away tacklers.
7. Chad Hansen, WR, California
Sometimes a wide receiver evaluation can be hard because of the system they played in. That argument could be made against Hansen who is coming out of the California air raid offense. Hansen should be an exception. Although Cal only put him on the right side, he had 92 receptions for 1,249 yards and 11 touchdowns in nine starts and 12 games last season.
Hansen is a good all-around receiver who can adjust to badly thrown passes and pull in balls away from his frame. Although Hansen’s time speed is only above-average, he was a very good deep ball target in Cal’s offense and he knows how to work the sideline. He didn’t have to run a lot of complex routes at Cal, so there will be some catch up in that part of his game.
Best of the rest:
8. ArDarius Stewart, WR, Alabama
9. Dede Westbrook, WR, Oklahoma
10. Carlos Henderson, WR, Lousiana Tech
11. Taywan Taylor, WR, Western Kentucky
12. Chris Godwin, WR, Penn State
13. Amara Darboh, WR, Michigan
14. Shelton Gibson, WR, West Virginia
15. Ryan Switzer, WR, North Carolina
16. Travis Rudolph, WR, Florida State
17. Artavis Scott, WR, Clemson
18. Isaiah Ford, WR, Virginia Tech
19. Josh Reynolds, WR, Texas A&M
20. Travin Dural, WR, LSU
21. Mack Hollins, WR, North Carolina
22. Malachi Dupre, WR, LSU
23. Fred Ross, WR, Mississippi State
24. Gabe Marks, WR, Washington State
25. Noah Brown, WR, Ohio State
26. Jehu Chesson, WR, Michigan
27. Ricky Seals-Jones, WR, Texas A&M
28. Damore’ea Stringellow, WR, Ole Miss
http://www.sbnation.com/2017/4/10/1...ngs-mike-williams-john-ross-speed-corey-davis
Peter King: MMQB - 4/10/17
- By Prime Time
- RAMS / NFL TALK
- 12 Replies
These are excerpts. To read the whole article click the link below.
****************************************************************
http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2017/04/10/tony-romo-nfl-broadcaster-cbs-dallas-cowboys-peter-king
Tony Romo, TV Underdog? Don’t Bet Against Him
The early days of the Cowboys quarterback’s career offer insight into why he could hit the ground running in his new job, Richard Sherman trade clues, an NFL-UK trip and more
By Peter King
Photo: Khampha Bouaphanh/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/MCT via Getty Images
I’m not saying Tony Romo will make it. I’m not saying he won’t make it. I am saying he’s a different guy, a unique case. And though I think doing football on TV is harder than the public thinks, and probably harder than Romo thinks, and though I think Romo’s got a huge bridge to build to ever get to be Cris Collinsworth II, I’m not betting against him.
A few reasons why, but let me tell you a story first. Actually, the story is from Asshole Face, Romo’s quarterbacks coach with the Cowboys when Romo came out of Eastern Illinois undrafted in 2003. Payton, quarterback coach. Bill Parcells, head coach.
This was Payton’s version of the story the way he told it to me Thursday night: “We’re at Oakland in the [2004] preseason. Fourth quarter, late, and we’re in a two-minute drill, driving, down a touchdown [actually 20-14].
We get down to, like, the one, and Tony’s the quarterback, and the clock’s running down, and Parcells yells, ‘Clock it! Clock it!’ So I tell Tony to clock it, and he runs to the line, and we all think he’s going to clock it. But he calls, ’98! 98!’ That’s the call for the quarterback sneak.”
… :11, … :10 … :09 … Snap to Romo.
Payton: “So Tony, instead of clocking it, does a Brady-like sneak and somehow he gets over the line, and we end up winning the game. After the game, I couldn’t really say, ‘Great job!’ If he didn’t make it, we’d have both been in trouble. Big trouble.”
That’s part of the story. On Sunday, Romo picked up the rest of it.
“That's so funny,” Romo told me. “The one thing they didn't know on that play was I called ‘98’ to quarterback-sneak it, but I was still planning on spiking it. I just wanted the option to sneak it if the defense wasn't aligned properly. If Oakland would have been aligned right and in their stances with intensity, you have to spike it. But they weren’t. It’s an educated guess I took.”
But if you were wrong?
“I'm pretty sure I'd have been on a bus back to Burlington, Wis., if I wasn't lucky enough to get in. It was pretty stupid at that stage to risk that. But hell, I was young and dumb.”
Imagine you’re fighting for a roster spot—Romo was behind Vinny Testaverde and Drew Henson in camp in year two of his career—and the only chance you get to prove yourself is in the preseason, and you choose, on the likely last play of a game, to go counter to what a future Hall of Fame coach (Parcells) and a future Super Bowl-winning coach (Payton) tell you to do.
You’re an unproven kid, a half-scholarship player at Eastern Illinois, uninvited to the combine, undrafted … and you make your own call at the goal line? How do you have the stones to do that?
“Man, I don't know,” Romo said. “You just want to win, and it felt like the percentages of me scoring were high. Not scoring never crosses your mind. So I never thought about the consequences, in that moment, of failing. If you fail, you fail, but I'll deal with the failure after the game and take the responsibility that comes with that. But you have no chance of being great if you can't be decisive. Make a decision and roll with it.”
Sounds exactly like Romo’s thought process this spring. Today, he could be on the verge of signing with the Houston Texans, a 42-minute plane flight from the home he does not want to upend in Dallas, with his wife and two children and a third on the way. He could have been the quarterback of a team with a Super Bowl defense, with Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt likely to return, and he could have showed the Cowboys what they’re missing.
If he could have stayed healthy for one season, which he knew too was absolutely no lock, this could have been his best shot at a Super Bowl, ever. (I’m projecting the Houston signing. I think it was likely, because the Texans know they can’t enter the season with Tom Savage and Brandon Weeden as their prime quarterbacks. No one’s told me Romo was a sure thing in Houston, but logic is logic.)
But despite that opening, Romo chose a pretty challenging world. As Romo told the Mike Krzyzewski podcast on SiriusXM Radio: “Right after the season I was playing football. That was a no-brainer for me at the time. And then I just, I feel like I do with all big decisions I've made in my life, you don't want to make them emotional or quick, you want to kind of just soak in it, think about it and take your time and things start to reveal themselves.
And you pray about it, go talk to your close family and people you trust, then you make the call.” Doing the number one job in the CBS NFL booth alongside Jim Nantz, he said, “feels right. It really does.”
Romo says he knows what he doesn’t know. I hope so. The NFL hasn’t announced the TV slate for the year, though a complicating factor for Romo will be that CBS is likely to have about nine weeks when the network will either have the Thursday night games simulcast on CBS and NFL Network, or the crew will do the games and they’ll be on NFL Network.
One game’s hard enough. Two? In 70 hours? In different cities? The one sane factor here: There will be some of those weeks, if CBS isn’t doing the national doubleheader game in the 4:25 ET late window, when Romo and Nantz could have Sunday off, seeing that there won’t be a true national game on CBS on Sunday.
Then there’s this, from former CBS sideline reporter (on the Simms/Nantz crew) Bonnie Bernstein, encapsulating Romo’s task on Friday to The MMQB’s Kalyn Kahler: “As an analyst in a two-man booth, you have to take every single play you see, be able to process the All-22 [full-field video replays], decide what to dissect on-air for the audience, and then, without stepping on your play-by-play guy, you have to provide perspective. Is that personnel package working?
What was wrong with that defensive back’s technique covering the back shoulder fade? And be able to provide perspective on a player’s history. Whatever the context of the moment requires. You have one shot to get it right and 15 seconds to do it—and if the offense is running hurry-up, you have even less time. You have all of this information at your fingertips, what you’re seeing, all of the insights gathered from players and coaches during our production meeting.
So, on Fridays when we get there, we meet with the home team head coach and coordinators and star players. You have all of this insight that you gather from the production meeting; essentially you are trying to flawlessly and cohesively stuff 50 pounds of information into a two-pound bag. Ask anybody who has tried it, and easy is the last adjective they will use.”
Of course, Romo has come this far before. Only difference: He had three years with training wheels on before he had to be The Man.
* * *
“You have no chance of being great if you can’t be decisive.”
Romo caught the Cowboy coaches’ eyes in 2003 at the combine. He wasn’t invited to participate, but he was asked to be one of two “camp arms,” basically. His job was to throw to receivers during receiver workouts. Payton met him there and found him to be a gym rat. Asking questions, trying to ingratiate himself with teams, making himself known. He went undrafted, to his chagrin.
“I recall we had a fifth-round grade on him,” Payton said. “In the sixth round and seventh round, we debated him as an option but chose other guys. I can imagine his disappointment, sitting home. You know, the neighbors are over, the cheese dip’s gone stale, the neighbors have all gone home. But we really wanted him as a free agent.”
As did Mike Shanahan in Denver. Funny story here. Mike Shanahan, former Eastern Illinois quarterback. Asshole Face, former Eastern Illinois quarterback. Tony Romo, now a former Eastern Illinois quarterback.
Denver’s QB depth chart: Jake Plummer, Danny Kanell.
Dallas’ QB depth chart: Quincy Carter, Chad Hutchinson, Clint Stoerner.
"I actually wanted to go to Denver a little bit more, I felt like I had a better chance of making the roster,” Romo said. “The money … Arizona, I believe, offered the most, probably around $20,000 or $25,000, which was like being rich at that time.
Denver came in and they were like 15 to 20, but they also had Mike Shanahan who I had strong respect for, and obviously the Cowboys came in. It was Mike Shanahan on one side and then Bill Parcells on the other. Sean would call in and then eventually he passed the phone to Jerry [Jones], so you went through the whole gamut.”
Dallas was at $10,000. Said Payton: “Parcells asked, ‘How we doing?’ And I was confident. I thought we had him. Jerry didn’t want to lose a player we really wanted over $5,000 or $10,000. I said, ‘Mr. Jones, I think we’ll get him at 10.’ And then Tony said he’d come, and Jerry said to me, ‘I don’t know you too well, but I sure am glad you just saved me $10,000.’”
Romo told me he went with his gut back then. That’s the same way he played quarterback, a dodging/diving poor man’s Favre who should not be remembered mostly for the fumbled PAT snap in the playoffs in Seattle, or his early-career hiccups in big late-season games, or for just two postseason wins.
Those are parts of his résumé, not the whole of it. And though he’s not going to go down as an all-time great, he’s going to go down as a great leader, an exciting player who lifted good but flawed teams, a prime example of today’s quarterback—a thrower/runner with a flair for knowing when to do both.
“The game I’ll remember,” said Payton, “is 2009, in New Orleans. I’m coaching the Saints. It’s a Saturday night, we’re 13-0, and Dallas comes in, and they’re fighting for the playoffs. Tony was magnificent. He started something like eight for 10 [exactly], and they just couldn’t be stopped. They beat us. Tony beat us. I just will always remember his consistent production, what a threat he was. I loved him as a player. He got better every year.”
In his new life, Tony Romo won’t have three years to make his mark. It’ll be great to get better every year. But in his new world, he’ll start as a green rookie, on one of the very big TV stages. One thing he’ll be, judging by the past 14 years: confident.
* * *
Our Tom Brady Jersey Story
Photo: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images
This week at The MMQB, and also in Sports Illustrated, you’ll read a piece by Robert Klemko and Jenny Vrentas, edited by Gary Gramling, on the two-country saga of the stolen Brady Super Bowl jersey. It’s a fun and rollicking and oft-surprising tale that asks and answers this multilayered question:
Who is Martin Mauricio Ortega, and how did he get away with Brady’s Super Bowl jersey, and how was he caught? The tentacles of the story, from Foxborough to Denver to Seattle to Houston to Mexico City, with geopolitical drama and contraband in black garbage bags, are sublimely fascinating.
A very short preview of the Klemko/Vrentas piece, from the Sunday morning when Mexican authorities made the big bust:
---
March 12: At 3 a.m. Mexican law enforcement officials arrive at Ortega’s doorstep. They have a search warrant for his home in this suburban, gated community in Condado de Sayavedra. But they will not execute it.
Dressed in his pajamas, his stunned wife looking on, Ortega was face to face with armed federal agents. A deal was presented: Hand over the Super Bowl jerseys and whatever else you’ve stolen, and you will sleep in your own bed not only tonight, but for the foreseeable future. Ortega fished a black trash bag out of a dresser drawer and gave it to the police, who took photos of the transaction to prove Ortega’s cooperation.
Agents didn’t tear up the floorboards, toss cabinets or pull kitchen appliances from their wall connections. They didn’t even search the lower floor. They simply asked, “Do you have anything else?”
He made a phone call to a friend who arrived shortly thereafter (Mexican police on the scene dubbed the physically stout newcomer with the helmet, Gordito, or “little fat one”). The friend brought with him an orange-and-navy-blue helmet with year-old scuffmarks on the crown: Von Miller’s Super Bowl 50 helmet.
To the Mexican authorities, the haul might as well have been a laundry pickup. They declined to search the rest of the house and left as quietly as they’d arrived, leaving the slumbering stallions at a neighboring horse farm none the wiser. To the American officials waiting back at the U.S. embassy, the trash bag and the helmet represented the culmination of a weeks-long, cross-continental search that had cost hundreds of man hours and tested the relationship between two countries.
---
Read the entire piece later this week at The MMQB. And listen to Klemko and Vrentas discuss the caper on my podcast on Wednesday morning.
* * *
Stat of the Week
Jimmy Garoppolo played at Eastern Illinois from 2010 to 2013 and broke school passing records previously owned by Tony Romo and Asshole Face.
Photo: Chris Anderson/Icon SMI/Corbis via Getty Images
The weirdo Eastern Illinois quarterback triangle that came into refocus with the news of Tony Romo stepping away from football to the TV booth. The 30-year connection, with their Eastern Illinois tenures: Asshole Face (1983-86), Romo (1999-02), and Jimmy Garoppolo (2010-13).
Eastern Illinois career passing records
Passing yards
1. Garoppolo: 12,595
2. Payton: 10,655
3. Romo: 8,212
Passing touchdowns
1. Garoppolo: 113
2. Romo: 85
3. Payton: 75
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Factoid That May Interest Only Me
The projected starting left tackle of the Los Angeles Rams, Andrew Whitworth, is 4 years, 1 month older than the Rams’ head coach, Sean McVay.
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Mr. Starwood Preferred Member Travel Note
The Amtrak Pacific Surfliner train travels past the the San Clemente pier at sunset.
Photo: Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
My buddy Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times told me such a good travel note at the NFL meetings that I asked him to note it for MMQB. Here it is:
One of things I’ll miss most about the San Diego Chargers is the NFL’s greatest road trip: riding Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner from Union Station in Los Angeles to the cool little town of Solana Beach. It was a convenient and comfortable way to beat the traffic, and get two uninterrupted hours to write, read, or just relax. The first hour of the ride is unspectacular, starting in the concrete rail yards of Los Angeles, and making stops in Fullerton, Anaheim, Santa Ana and Irvine.
But then the train traces the coast, riding right along the beach through San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente, Oceanside, and finally Solana Beach. Every glimpse out the window is a postcard. My folks live a couple towns south of that, in Del Mar, and typically I’d borrow one of their cars to go to Chargers games. It was an ideal arrangement.
Even though the Chargers are gone, I’ll keep making that train ride. Last weekend, while my wife and son were making a couple college visits, I took my 14-year-old daughter down to visit my parents. While doing some homework on the ride back up, she noticed something in a seam just below the window. She ran her pencil along that crack, then shrieked in horror. Her pencil tip pushed out a pile of wide, thick, yellowed toenail clippings.
A thoughtful present from a previous passenger. She recoiled as if a hand had come out of the wall. Even worse, one of the crescent-shaped clippings fell into her purple backpack, migrating to the bottom, naturally. We emptied the backpack, got the clipping out, then delicately swept the rest into a plastic water bottle and disposed of it.
We laughed about it, and wondered how gross you’d have to be to: a) cut your nails in public in those close confines, and b) hide the evidence for someone else to find. The train was crowded, so it’s not like we could move seats.
Eventually, we got back to L.A. and put our bags in the car. We were still laughing about the experience. It was a little chilly, so my daughter pulled on the red sweatshirt she had been sitting on during the ride north.
Moments later, she ran her hand through her long hair and felt something foreign. A twig? A leaf? No, a stranger’s toenail that had been hiding in the sweatshirt—a memento from a trip we won’t soon forget.
Sam! Now that’s what I call a good travel note!
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http://www.barstoolsports.com/barst...h-currently-at-the-raiders-practice-facility/
* * *
Pod People
This week: Indianapolis GM Chris Ballard and Falcons head coach Dan Quinn.
• Quinn on the specter of overruling new offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian on a play call, after letting former OC Kyle Shanahan call passes that helped take the Falcons out of game-clinching field-goal range in the Super Bowl:
“I totally recognize where you are going. I had [the authority to overrule Shanahan] before for sure. I don't know if I would say overrule, because obviously I am on the headset and I listen too. I would have felt comfortable saying at any point in the game, Hey let's think about this, let's go in another direction …
I knew where we were going [when Shanahan called for a pass that resulted in a sack with the Falcons in field-goal range and less than four minutes to play in an eight-point game] and I knew we were in field goal range and that was something that we discussed. But that was one for me learning. How do you mitigate some of those risks that take place?
But let's face it, there are all sort of moments that go into the game, but clearly, if you have do-overs, yeah you would say, ‘I would like a do-over at this, or at that.’ But at any point, I always have felt like over the last couple years, Kyle and I have a very good relationship and he has a real respect for the head coach relationship ... I don't regret being aggressive, I regret the result.”
• Ballard on having confidence in decisions as a scout:
“I go back to [Kansas City cornerback Marcus Peters, the Chiefs’ first-round pick in 2015. GM] John Dorsey and Trey Koziol, who is a West Coast scout for the Chiefs, they kept saying, Man, this guy is special. Trey kept saying he's misunderstood; he's not as bad as what everybody is making him out to be. So finally John goes, ‘We've got to see him.’ I said, ‘I'm going, I'm going to Oakland.’ And I went and spent a day-and-a-half with him, his parents, met his family, and we got very comfortable with his situation. I came back and said we're fine.
Marcus is a good guy. He's got a really good mom and dad who raised him right. When I understood what their values were, I knew what his values were. And they are still very involved in his life, dad is a high school coach, mom is a good lady, they are good people. When I saw Marcus interact with mom and dad, I felt very comfortable that he was going to be fine …
I don't live in fear. If you do the work, you make a decision and you move forward. I don't ever live with the worst of what can happen. I look at the best of what can happen. You can't do what we do and be scared about the outcome.”
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Things I Think I Think
1. I think there are five clues about the possibility of Richard Sherman being traded that lead me to believe it’s more likely than not he will be traded, and probably before the April 27 first round. I’ll give you those in a moment. But this is one of those be-careful-what-you-wish-for moments for the Seahawks.
Sherman’s still an excellent cornerback, clearly a top-five corner with the physicality and smarts to still be a shutdown corner, and the Seahawks are bereft of good cover guys after Sherman. That would suggest Seattle absolutely should not trade Sherman. But maybe the brain trust feels there’s no time like the present:
Seattle’s lucky to be in a quarterback lull in the NFC West right now, with only an aging Carson Palmer a current threat now that Brian Hoyer (Niners) and Jared Goff (Rams) are likely starters for the other two division teams. Now for the clues:
• Sherman’s aware of the trade talks, told our Albert Breer he’s not upset about it, and apparently wouldn’t mind it happening.
• GM John Schneider and coach Pete Carroll have both acknowledged it’s possible.
• Carroll said at the NFL meetings recently, “Richard went through a lot last year, and most of it self-inflicted,” referring to Sherman freaking out on the sidelines once, and rebelliously questioning an offensive play-call that drew the ire of Carroll. That quote really stuck with me. Pete Carroll very rarely says anything about his players remotely negative, and here he’s saying something negative about one of his biggest stars.
• The Seahawks have to know that they’ve been so empowering with their players that this could give them the chance to start fresh on the attitude front. Marshawn Lynch and then Sherman went too far with that freedom. With Lynch gone, getting rid of Sherman for a fair price could be the logical next step for Seattle.
• Sherman at 29 for $22 million over two remaining contract years might be too tempting for cornerback-needy teams to pass up.
But—and this is a big but—I find it interesting that the team often most interested in milking a couple of years out of veterans who’ve been great elsewhere apparently won’t bite on Sherman. The Patriots chose to give huge money to Stephon Gilmore, and I doubt they’d employ two corners each making in excess of $11 million a year. Just not their way.
2. I think the fact that passed gas has become a microscopic factor in the Phil Simms story could be the funniest note in the 20-year history of this column. Judge Jim Nantz’s reaction to this moment in the booth for yourself.
3. I think (and take this with a shaker of salt, not a grain, because I also work for NBC) the CBS move with its number one teams sure seemed like an awkward announcement, Tony Romo replacing Simms. The fact that this wasn’t totally buttoned up showed, when Simms wasn’t quoted in the announcement and hasn’t spoken publicly since. I’ve heard Phil Simms won’t mind making a new start (for at least the remaining two years on his contract), either on a lower team doing games, or in the studio. We’ll see.
4. I think there is only one message in the NFL’s one-year deal with Amazon to stream games this fall, the way Twitter streamed them last year: The experiment continues. There’s a reason that Roger Goodell and NFL executive vice president of media Brian Rolapp take a group of league employees to Silicon Valley every year, trying to keep current with the latest trends in the digital world. All of this is fact-finding that the NFL must do before the next broadcast rights negotiations four years from now.
Don’t be blinded or really very concerned by the fact that, according to Sports Business Journal, Amazon paid five times (approximately $50 million) what Twitter paid for the rights to stream some games last year. The most important thing is that by the end of the 2017 season, the NFL will have experimented streaming games via a website (Yahoo), a social-media platform (Twitter) and an all-things-to-all-people site (Amazon) through its Amazon Prime portal. Don’t be surprised if the NFL finds another new-media-world way to stream games in 2018.
Now, for all of you like me who still will want to find the games on television, I have this message for you: You can. The Thursday Night streaming games will be on CBS, NBC or NFL Network, depending on the week. Just remember that when you see some new Silicon Valley partner doing a deal with the NFL, it’s all about the future—much more than the present.
(And a reminder that the NFL and Amazon have worked together previously, on the All or Nothing series. Last year’s product, featuring the Arizona Cardinals in 2015, was a success. And this year’s version, which will feature the 2016 Rams, will likely be released this summer.)
5. I think if you’re looking for draft information (as I am every year about this time), I’ve got some recommendations:
• Dane Brugler’s 2017 NFL Draft Guide ($9.99). Cool thing about Brugler: He is good with being controversial, because he trusts his gut. He’s got Christian McCaffrey rated ahead of Leonard Fournette, questioning Fournette’s decision-making, instincts, pass-protection and receiving skills. Brugler’s detail reminds me of the late Joel Buchsbaum.
• Pro Football Focus Draft Pass ($19.95). What distinguishes the PFF product, to me, is the statistical detail, such as this: Pitt’s Nathan Peterman, the dark horse among the quarterbacks likely to be picked on day two, has a better adjusted deep-ball completion percentage (54.7 percent) than any of the top guys (Mahomes, Kizer, Trubisky, Watson) … and strangely, PFF writes, “Arm is limited,” and has “a limited ceiling.” It’s a brutally honest and revealing review of every player likely to be drafted.
• Dan Hatman’s 2017 ITP Draft Guide ($34.99). Hatman, a longtime NFL scout, has started his own scouting business now. His guide has some team-speak to it, so you’ll feel like you’re in a draft meeting sometimes. But like Brugler, Hatman is beholden to no one and gives opinions and gut feelings that are particularly valuable this time of year.
6. I think Oklahoma running back Joe Mixon is going to be one of the two or three stories of the draft. Get ready. I agree with what Albert Breer wrote the other day: I think he’ll be gone by the end of round three. That’s a significantly different story than the one we thought it’d be last fall, when Mixon—dropped for a season from the Oklahoma team after being caught on video punching a women in the face—was playing well but was so pockmarked by the horrendous event that some wondered if he’d be drafted at all.
The video, made public in December, gave the incident new life. But the fact that he’s making 15 visits to teams, and the fact that he has shown significant remorse, leads me to believe some team is going to take a chance on him earlier than the Chiefs with receiver Tyreek Hill after his domestic-violence arrest; Hill went in the fifth round.
I can tell you this: One team in the league believes, with no punch, Mixon and Leonard Fournette would be neck-and-neck for the number one back on its draft board. So we’ll see what happens 17 evenings from now.
7. I think that video will never go away. That’s the pitfall for the team that drafts Mixon.
8. I think if someone from Latvia asks you today, “What is this NFL thing? Why do people talk about it all the time, even when they are not playing?” You should tell this person something like: Well, NFL Network is this 24/7 NFL channel, and this afternoon at 5 Eastern, NFL Network will reveal the preseason schedule on a TV show.
The preseason schedule is 65 practice games no one cares about. And I mean no one. The aim of these games, aside from testing rookies and unproven players, is mostly for teams to come out of them uninjured. But there’s going to be a show with a reveal of the schedule of those games today.
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http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2017/04/10/tony-romo-nfl-broadcaster-cbs-dallas-cowboys-peter-king
Tony Romo, TV Underdog? Don’t Bet Against Him
The early days of the Cowboys quarterback’s career offer insight into why he could hit the ground running in his new job, Richard Sherman trade clues, an NFL-UK trip and more
By Peter King
Photo: Khampha Bouaphanh/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/MCT via Getty Images
I’m not saying Tony Romo will make it. I’m not saying he won’t make it. I am saying he’s a different guy, a unique case. And though I think doing football on TV is harder than the public thinks, and probably harder than Romo thinks, and though I think Romo’s got a huge bridge to build to ever get to be Cris Collinsworth II, I’m not betting against him.
A few reasons why, but let me tell you a story first. Actually, the story is from Asshole Face, Romo’s quarterbacks coach with the Cowboys when Romo came out of Eastern Illinois undrafted in 2003. Payton, quarterback coach. Bill Parcells, head coach.
This was Payton’s version of the story the way he told it to me Thursday night: “We’re at Oakland in the [2004] preseason. Fourth quarter, late, and we’re in a two-minute drill, driving, down a touchdown [actually 20-14].
We get down to, like, the one, and Tony’s the quarterback, and the clock’s running down, and Parcells yells, ‘Clock it! Clock it!’ So I tell Tony to clock it, and he runs to the line, and we all think he’s going to clock it. But he calls, ’98! 98!’ That’s the call for the quarterback sneak.”
… :11, … :10 … :09 … Snap to Romo.
Payton: “So Tony, instead of clocking it, does a Brady-like sneak and somehow he gets over the line, and we end up winning the game. After the game, I couldn’t really say, ‘Great job!’ If he didn’t make it, we’d have both been in trouble. Big trouble.”
That’s part of the story. On Sunday, Romo picked up the rest of it.
“That's so funny,” Romo told me. “The one thing they didn't know on that play was I called ‘98’ to quarterback-sneak it, but I was still planning on spiking it. I just wanted the option to sneak it if the defense wasn't aligned properly. If Oakland would have been aligned right and in their stances with intensity, you have to spike it. But they weren’t. It’s an educated guess I took.”
But if you were wrong?
“I'm pretty sure I'd have been on a bus back to Burlington, Wis., if I wasn't lucky enough to get in. It was pretty stupid at that stage to risk that. But hell, I was young and dumb.”
Imagine you’re fighting for a roster spot—Romo was behind Vinny Testaverde and Drew Henson in camp in year two of his career—and the only chance you get to prove yourself is in the preseason, and you choose, on the likely last play of a game, to go counter to what a future Hall of Fame coach (Parcells) and a future Super Bowl-winning coach (Payton) tell you to do.
You’re an unproven kid, a half-scholarship player at Eastern Illinois, uninvited to the combine, undrafted … and you make your own call at the goal line? How do you have the stones to do that?
“Man, I don't know,” Romo said. “You just want to win, and it felt like the percentages of me scoring were high. Not scoring never crosses your mind. So I never thought about the consequences, in that moment, of failing. If you fail, you fail, but I'll deal with the failure after the game and take the responsibility that comes with that. But you have no chance of being great if you can't be decisive. Make a decision and roll with it.”
Sounds exactly like Romo’s thought process this spring. Today, he could be on the verge of signing with the Houston Texans, a 42-minute plane flight from the home he does not want to upend in Dallas, with his wife and two children and a third on the way. He could have been the quarterback of a team with a Super Bowl defense, with Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt likely to return, and he could have showed the Cowboys what they’re missing.
If he could have stayed healthy for one season, which he knew too was absolutely no lock, this could have been his best shot at a Super Bowl, ever. (I’m projecting the Houston signing. I think it was likely, because the Texans know they can’t enter the season with Tom Savage and Brandon Weeden as their prime quarterbacks. No one’s told me Romo was a sure thing in Houston, but logic is logic.)
But despite that opening, Romo chose a pretty challenging world. As Romo told the Mike Krzyzewski podcast on SiriusXM Radio: “Right after the season I was playing football. That was a no-brainer for me at the time. And then I just, I feel like I do with all big decisions I've made in my life, you don't want to make them emotional or quick, you want to kind of just soak in it, think about it and take your time and things start to reveal themselves.
And you pray about it, go talk to your close family and people you trust, then you make the call.” Doing the number one job in the CBS NFL booth alongside Jim Nantz, he said, “feels right. It really does.”
Romo says he knows what he doesn’t know. I hope so. The NFL hasn’t announced the TV slate for the year, though a complicating factor for Romo will be that CBS is likely to have about nine weeks when the network will either have the Thursday night games simulcast on CBS and NFL Network, or the crew will do the games and they’ll be on NFL Network.
One game’s hard enough. Two? In 70 hours? In different cities? The one sane factor here: There will be some of those weeks, if CBS isn’t doing the national doubleheader game in the 4:25 ET late window, when Romo and Nantz could have Sunday off, seeing that there won’t be a true national game on CBS on Sunday.
Then there’s this, from former CBS sideline reporter (on the Simms/Nantz crew) Bonnie Bernstein, encapsulating Romo’s task on Friday to The MMQB’s Kalyn Kahler: “As an analyst in a two-man booth, you have to take every single play you see, be able to process the All-22 [full-field video replays], decide what to dissect on-air for the audience, and then, without stepping on your play-by-play guy, you have to provide perspective. Is that personnel package working?
What was wrong with that defensive back’s technique covering the back shoulder fade? And be able to provide perspective on a player’s history. Whatever the context of the moment requires. You have one shot to get it right and 15 seconds to do it—and if the offense is running hurry-up, you have even less time. You have all of this information at your fingertips, what you’re seeing, all of the insights gathered from players and coaches during our production meeting.
So, on Fridays when we get there, we meet with the home team head coach and coordinators and star players. You have all of this insight that you gather from the production meeting; essentially you are trying to flawlessly and cohesively stuff 50 pounds of information into a two-pound bag. Ask anybody who has tried it, and easy is the last adjective they will use.”
Of course, Romo has come this far before. Only difference: He had three years with training wheels on before he had to be The Man.
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“You have no chance of being great if you can’t be decisive.”
Romo caught the Cowboy coaches’ eyes in 2003 at the combine. He wasn’t invited to participate, but he was asked to be one of two “camp arms,” basically. His job was to throw to receivers during receiver workouts. Payton met him there and found him to be a gym rat. Asking questions, trying to ingratiate himself with teams, making himself known. He went undrafted, to his chagrin.
“I recall we had a fifth-round grade on him,” Payton said. “In the sixth round and seventh round, we debated him as an option but chose other guys. I can imagine his disappointment, sitting home. You know, the neighbors are over, the cheese dip’s gone stale, the neighbors have all gone home. But we really wanted him as a free agent.”
As did Mike Shanahan in Denver. Funny story here. Mike Shanahan, former Eastern Illinois quarterback. Asshole Face, former Eastern Illinois quarterback. Tony Romo, now a former Eastern Illinois quarterback.
Denver’s QB depth chart: Jake Plummer, Danny Kanell.
Dallas’ QB depth chart: Quincy Carter, Chad Hutchinson, Clint Stoerner.
"I actually wanted to go to Denver a little bit more, I felt like I had a better chance of making the roster,” Romo said. “The money … Arizona, I believe, offered the most, probably around $20,000 or $25,000, which was like being rich at that time.
Denver came in and they were like 15 to 20, but they also had Mike Shanahan who I had strong respect for, and obviously the Cowboys came in. It was Mike Shanahan on one side and then Bill Parcells on the other. Sean would call in and then eventually he passed the phone to Jerry [Jones], so you went through the whole gamut.”
Dallas was at $10,000. Said Payton: “Parcells asked, ‘How we doing?’ And I was confident. I thought we had him. Jerry didn’t want to lose a player we really wanted over $5,000 or $10,000. I said, ‘Mr. Jones, I think we’ll get him at 10.’ And then Tony said he’d come, and Jerry said to me, ‘I don’t know you too well, but I sure am glad you just saved me $10,000.’”
Romo told me he went with his gut back then. That’s the same way he played quarterback, a dodging/diving poor man’s Favre who should not be remembered mostly for the fumbled PAT snap in the playoffs in Seattle, or his early-career hiccups in big late-season games, or for just two postseason wins.
Those are parts of his résumé, not the whole of it. And though he’s not going to go down as an all-time great, he’s going to go down as a great leader, an exciting player who lifted good but flawed teams, a prime example of today’s quarterback—a thrower/runner with a flair for knowing when to do both.
“The game I’ll remember,” said Payton, “is 2009, in New Orleans. I’m coaching the Saints. It’s a Saturday night, we’re 13-0, and Dallas comes in, and they’re fighting for the playoffs. Tony was magnificent. He started something like eight for 10 [exactly], and they just couldn’t be stopped. They beat us. Tony beat us. I just will always remember his consistent production, what a threat he was. I loved him as a player. He got better every year.”
In his new life, Tony Romo won’t have three years to make his mark. It’ll be great to get better every year. But in his new world, he’ll start as a green rookie, on one of the very big TV stages. One thing he’ll be, judging by the past 14 years: confident.
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Our Tom Brady Jersey Story
Photo: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images
This week at The MMQB, and also in Sports Illustrated, you’ll read a piece by Robert Klemko and Jenny Vrentas, edited by Gary Gramling, on the two-country saga of the stolen Brady Super Bowl jersey. It’s a fun and rollicking and oft-surprising tale that asks and answers this multilayered question:
Who is Martin Mauricio Ortega, and how did he get away with Brady’s Super Bowl jersey, and how was he caught? The tentacles of the story, from Foxborough to Denver to Seattle to Houston to Mexico City, with geopolitical drama and contraband in black garbage bags, are sublimely fascinating.
A very short preview of the Klemko/Vrentas piece, from the Sunday morning when Mexican authorities made the big bust:
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March 12: At 3 a.m. Mexican law enforcement officials arrive at Ortega’s doorstep. They have a search warrant for his home in this suburban, gated community in Condado de Sayavedra. But they will not execute it.
Dressed in his pajamas, his stunned wife looking on, Ortega was face to face with armed federal agents. A deal was presented: Hand over the Super Bowl jerseys and whatever else you’ve stolen, and you will sleep in your own bed not only tonight, but for the foreseeable future. Ortega fished a black trash bag out of a dresser drawer and gave it to the police, who took photos of the transaction to prove Ortega’s cooperation.
Agents didn’t tear up the floorboards, toss cabinets or pull kitchen appliances from their wall connections. They didn’t even search the lower floor. They simply asked, “Do you have anything else?”
He made a phone call to a friend who arrived shortly thereafter (Mexican police on the scene dubbed the physically stout newcomer with the helmet, Gordito, or “little fat one”). The friend brought with him an orange-and-navy-blue helmet with year-old scuffmarks on the crown: Von Miller’s Super Bowl 50 helmet.
To the Mexican authorities, the haul might as well have been a laundry pickup. They declined to search the rest of the house and left as quietly as they’d arrived, leaving the slumbering stallions at a neighboring horse farm none the wiser. To the American officials waiting back at the U.S. embassy, the trash bag and the helmet represented the culmination of a weeks-long, cross-continental search that had cost hundreds of man hours and tested the relationship between two countries.
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Read the entire piece later this week at The MMQB. And listen to Klemko and Vrentas discuss the caper on my podcast on Wednesday morning.
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Stat of the Week
Jimmy Garoppolo played at Eastern Illinois from 2010 to 2013 and broke school passing records previously owned by Tony Romo and Asshole Face.
Photo: Chris Anderson/Icon SMI/Corbis via Getty Images
The weirdo Eastern Illinois quarterback triangle that came into refocus with the news of Tony Romo stepping away from football to the TV booth. The 30-year connection, with their Eastern Illinois tenures: Asshole Face (1983-86), Romo (1999-02), and Jimmy Garoppolo (2010-13).
Eastern Illinois career passing records
Passing yards
1. Garoppolo: 12,595
2. Payton: 10,655
3. Romo: 8,212
Passing touchdowns
1. Garoppolo: 113
2. Romo: 85
3. Payton: 75
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Factoid That May Interest Only Me
The projected starting left tackle of the Los Angeles Rams, Andrew Whitworth, is 4 years, 1 month older than the Rams’ head coach, Sean McVay.
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Mr. Starwood Preferred Member Travel Note
The Amtrak Pacific Surfliner train travels past the the San Clemente pier at sunset.
Photo: Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
My buddy Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times told me such a good travel note at the NFL meetings that I asked him to note it for MMQB. Here it is:
One of things I’ll miss most about the San Diego Chargers is the NFL’s greatest road trip: riding Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner from Union Station in Los Angeles to the cool little town of Solana Beach. It was a convenient and comfortable way to beat the traffic, and get two uninterrupted hours to write, read, or just relax. The first hour of the ride is unspectacular, starting in the concrete rail yards of Los Angeles, and making stops in Fullerton, Anaheim, Santa Ana and Irvine.
But then the train traces the coast, riding right along the beach through San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente, Oceanside, and finally Solana Beach. Every glimpse out the window is a postcard. My folks live a couple towns south of that, in Del Mar, and typically I’d borrow one of their cars to go to Chargers games. It was an ideal arrangement.
Even though the Chargers are gone, I’ll keep making that train ride. Last weekend, while my wife and son were making a couple college visits, I took my 14-year-old daughter down to visit my parents. While doing some homework on the ride back up, she noticed something in a seam just below the window. She ran her pencil along that crack, then shrieked in horror. Her pencil tip pushed out a pile of wide, thick, yellowed toenail clippings.
A thoughtful present from a previous passenger. She recoiled as if a hand had come out of the wall. Even worse, one of the crescent-shaped clippings fell into her purple backpack, migrating to the bottom, naturally. We emptied the backpack, got the clipping out, then delicately swept the rest into a plastic water bottle and disposed of it.
We laughed about it, and wondered how gross you’d have to be to: a) cut your nails in public in those close confines, and b) hide the evidence for someone else to find. The train was crowded, so it’s not like we could move seats.
Eventually, we got back to L.A. and put our bags in the car. We were still laughing about the experience. It was a little chilly, so my daughter pulled on the red sweatshirt she had been sitting on during the ride north.
Moments later, she ran her hand through her long hair and felt something foreign. A twig? A leaf? No, a stranger’s toenail that had been hiding in the sweatshirt—a memento from a trip we won’t soon forget.
Sam! Now that’s what I call a good travel note!
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http://www.barstoolsports.com/barst...h-currently-at-the-raiders-practice-facility/
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Pod People
This week: Indianapolis GM Chris Ballard and Falcons head coach Dan Quinn.
• Quinn on the specter of overruling new offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian on a play call, after letting former OC Kyle Shanahan call passes that helped take the Falcons out of game-clinching field-goal range in the Super Bowl:
“I totally recognize where you are going. I had [the authority to overrule Shanahan] before for sure. I don't know if I would say overrule, because obviously I am on the headset and I listen too. I would have felt comfortable saying at any point in the game, Hey let's think about this, let's go in another direction …
I knew where we were going [when Shanahan called for a pass that resulted in a sack with the Falcons in field-goal range and less than four minutes to play in an eight-point game] and I knew we were in field goal range and that was something that we discussed. But that was one for me learning. How do you mitigate some of those risks that take place?
But let's face it, there are all sort of moments that go into the game, but clearly, if you have do-overs, yeah you would say, ‘I would like a do-over at this, or at that.’ But at any point, I always have felt like over the last couple years, Kyle and I have a very good relationship and he has a real respect for the head coach relationship ... I don't regret being aggressive, I regret the result.”
• Ballard on having confidence in decisions as a scout:
“I go back to [Kansas City cornerback Marcus Peters, the Chiefs’ first-round pick in 2015. GM] John Dorsey and Trey Koziol, who is a West Coast scout for the Chiefs, they kept saying, Man, this guy is special. Trey kept saying he's misunderstood; he's not as bad as what everybody is making him out to be. So finally John goes, ‘We've got to see him.’ I said, ‘I'm going, I'm going to Oakland.’ And I went and spent a day-and-a-half with him, his parents, met his family, and we got very comfortable with his situation. I came back and said we're fine.
Marcus is a good guy. He's got a really good mom and dad who raised him right. When I understood what their values were, I knew what his values were. And they are still very involved in his life, dad is a high school coach, mom is a good lady, they are good people. When I saw Marcus interact with mom and dad, I felt very comfortable that he was going to be fine …
I don't live in fear. If you do the work, you make a decision and you move forward. I don't ever live with the worst of what can happen. I look at the best of what can happen. You can't do what we do and be scared about the outcome.”
* * *
Things I Think I Think
1. I think there are five clues about the possibility of Richard Sherman being traded that lead me to believe it’s more likely than not he will be traded, and probably before the April 27 first round. I’ll give you those in a moment. But this is one of those be-careful-what-you-wish-for moments for the Seahawks.
Sherman’s still an excellent cornerback, clearly a top-five corner with the physicality and smarts to still be a shutdown corner, and the Seahawks are bereft of good cover guys after Sherman. That would suggest Seattle absolutely should not trade Sherman. But maybe the brain trust feels there’s no time like the present:
Seattle’s lucky to be in a quarterback lull in the NFC West right now, with only an aging Carson Palmer a current threat now that Brian Hoyer (Niners) and Jared Goff (Rams) are likely starters for the other two division teams. Now for the clues:
• Sherman’s aware of the trade talks, told our Albert Breer he’s not upset about it, and apparently wouldn’t mind it happening.
• GM John Schneider and coach Pete Carroll have both acknowledged it’s possible.
• Carroll said at the NFL meetings recently, “Richard went through a lot last year, and most of it self-inflicted,” referring to Sherman freaking out on the sidelines once, and rebelliously questioning an offensive play-call that drew the ire of Carroll. That quote really stuck with me. Pete Carroll very rarely says anything about his players remotely negative, and here he’s saying something negative about one of his biggest stars.
• The Seahawks have to know that they’ve been so empowering with their players that this could give them the chance to start fresh on the attitude front. Marshawn Lynch and then Sherman went too far with that freedom. With Lynch gone, getting rid of Sherman for a fair price could be the logical next step for Seattle.
• Sherman at 29 for $22 million over two remaining contract years might be too tempting for cornerback-needy teams to pass up.
But—and this is a big but—I find it interesting that the team often most interested in milking a couple of years out of veterans who’ve been great elsewhere apparently won’t bite on Sherman. The Patriots chose to give huge money to Stephon Gilmore, and I doubt they’d employ two corners each making in excess of $11 million a year. Just not their way.
2. I think the fact that passed gas has become a microscopic factor in the Phil Simms story could be the funniest note in the 20-year history of this column. Judge Jim Nantz’s reaction to this moment in the booth for yourself.
3. I think (and take this with a shaker of salt, not a grain, because I also work for NBC) the CBS move with its number one teams sure seemed like an awkward announcement, Tony Romo replacing Simms. The fact that this wasn’t totally buttoned up showed, when Simms wasn’t quoted in the announcement and hasn’t spoken publicly since. I’ve heard Phil Simms won’t mind making a new start (for at least the remaining two years on his contract), either on a lower team doing games, or in the studio. We’ll see.
4. I think there is only one message in the NFL’s one-year deal with Amazon to stream games this fall, the way Twitter streamed them last year: The experiment continues. There’s a reason that Roger Goodell and NFL executive vice president of media Brian Rolapp take a group of league employees to Silicon Valley every year, trying to keep current with the latest trends in the digital world. All of this is fact-finding that the NFL must do before the next broadcast rights negotiations four years from now.
Don’t be blinded or really very concerned by the fact that, according to Sports Business Journal, Amazon paid five times (approximately $50 million) what Twitter paid for the rights to stream some games last year. The most important thing is that by the end of the 2017 season, the NFL will have experimented streaming games via a website (Yahoo), a social-media platform (Twitter) and an all-things-to-all-people site (Amazon) through its Amazon Prime portal. Don’t be surprised if the NFL finds another new-media-world way to stream games in 2018.
Now, for all of you like me who still will want to find the games on television, I have this message for you: You can. The Thursday Night streaming games will be on CBS, NBC or NFL Network, depending on the week. Just remember that when you see some new Silicon Valley partner doing a deal with the NFL, it’s all about the future—much more than the present.
(And a reminder that the NFL and Amazon have worked together previously, on the All or Nothing series. Last year’s product, featuring the Arizona Cardinals in 2015, was a success. And this year’s version, which will feature the 2016 Rams, will likely be released this summer.)
5. I think if you’re looking for draft information (as I am every year about this time), I’ve got some recommendations:
• Dane Brugler’s 2017 NFL Draft Guide ($9.99). Cool thing about Brugler: He is good with being controversial, because he trusts his gut. He’s got Christian McCaffrey rated ahead of Leonard Fournette, questioning Fournette’s decision-making, instincts, pass-protection and receiving skills. Brugler’s detail reminds me of the late Joel Buchsbaum.
• Pro Football Focus Draft Pass ($19.95). What distinguishes the PFF product, to me, is the statistical detail, such as this: Pitt’s Nathan Peterman, the dark horse among the quarterbacks likely to be picked on day two, has a better adjusted deep-ball completion percentage (54.7 percent) than any of the top guys (Mahomes, Kizer, Trubisky, Watson) … and strangely, PFF writes, “Arm is limited,” and has “a limited ceiling.” It’s a brutally honest and revealing review of every player likely to be drafted.
• Dan Hatman’s 2017 ITP Draft Guide ($34.99). Hatman, a longtime NFL scout, has started his own scouting business now. His guide has some team-speak to it, so you’ll feel like you’re in a draft meeting sometimes. But like Brugler, Hatman is beholden to no one and gives opinions and gut feelings that are particularly valuable this time of year.
6. I think Oklahoma running back Joe Mixon is going to be one of the two or three stories of the draft. Get ready. I agree with what Albert Breer wrote the other day: I think he’ll be gone by the end of round three. That’s a significantly different story than the one we thought it’d be last fall, when Mixon—dropped for a season from the Oklahoma team after being caught on video punching a women in the face—was playing well but was so pockmarked by the horrendous event that some wondered if he’d be drafted at all.
The video, made public in December, gave the incident new life. But the fact that he’s making 15 visits to teams, and the fact that he has shown significant remorse, leads me to believe some team is going to take a chance on him earlier than the Chiefs with receiver Tyreek Hill after his domestic-violence arrest; Hill went in the fifth round.
I can tell you this: One team in the league believes, with no punch, Mixon and Leonard Fournette would be neck-and-neck for the number one back on its draft board. So we’ll see what happens 17 evenings from now.
7. I think that video will never go away. That’s the pitfall for the team that drafts Mixon.
8. I think if someone from Latvia asks you today, “What is this NFL thing? Why do people talk about it all the time, even when they are not playing?” You should tell this person something like: Well, NFL Network is this 24/7 NFL channel, and this afternoon at 5 Eastern, NFL Network will reveal the preseason schedule on a TV show.
The preseason schedule is 65 practice games no one cares about. And I mean no one. The aim of these games, aside from testing rookies and unproven players, is mostly for teams to come out of them uninjured. But there’s going to be a show with a reveal of the schedule of those games today.
Rams part with 4 scouts, 3 weeks before draft
- By Zero
- RAMS / NFL TALK
- 28 Replies
Rams part with 4 scouts, 3 weeks before draft
Posted by Michael Gehlken on April 9, 2017
Getty Images
NFL personnel department changes are fairly common in the spring, mainly because the scouting calendar does not end in the regular season as it does with coaches but instead continues through the draft.
That’s why the Rams’ moves are somewhat unusual.
With the draft less than three weeks away, Los Angeles has parted with four scouts. Those dismissed reportedly are director of pro personnel Ran Carthon and three area scouts: Evan Ardoin, Danton Barto and Sean Gustus.
Jason LaCanfora of CBS first reported Sunday that Carthon was among the dismissals. On Saturday, Neil Stratton of Inside The League first reported that four Rams scouts were let go, following it with Sunday’s full list.
Much of a club’s legwork for the draft now is already done. Pro days are over. Draft boards are all but set.
Moving on from these scouts now may assist their job search, although most jobs elsewhere won’t become officially available until May.
Carthon was the Rams’ director of pro personnel the past five seasons. The ex-Florida running back also worked with Rams GM Les Snead for five years as a Falcons scout.
Ardoin spent eight seasons with the Rams. Barto, a former Arena Football League head coach, and Gustus spent four and five years with the club, respectively.
The timing of the Rams’ decision is far from unprecedented.
The Browns dismissed six scouts at about this same time last year.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/04/09/rams-part-with-4-scouts-3-weeks-before-draft/
Posted by Michael Gehlken on April 9, 2017
NFL personnel department changes are fairly common in the spring, mainly because the scouting calendar does not end in the regular season as it does with coaches but instead continues through the draft.
That’s why the Rams’ moves are somewhat unusual.
With the draft less than three weeks away, Los Angeles has parted with four scouts. Those dismissed reportedly are director of pro personnel Ran Carthon and three area scouts: Evan Ardoin, Danton Barto and Sean Gustus.
Jason LaCanfora of CBS first reported Sunday that Carthon was among the dismissals. On Saturday, Neil Stratton of Inside The League first reported that four Rams scouts were let go, following it with Sunday’s full list.
Much of a club’s legwork for the draft now is already done. Pro days are over. Draft boards are all but set.
Moving on from these scouts now may assist their job search, although most jobs elsewhere won’t become officially available until May.
Carthon was the Rams’ director of pro personnel the past five seasons. The ex-Florida running back also worked with Rams GM Les Snead for five years as a Falcons scout.
Ardoin spent eight seasons with the Rams. Barto, a former Arena Football League head coach, and Gustus spent four and five years with the club, respectively.
The timing of the Rams’ decision is far from unprecedented.
The Browns dismissed six scouts at about this same time last year.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/04/09/rams-part-with-4-scouts-3-weeks-before-draft/
Tim Tebow’s 2nd Act
- By Prime Time
- GENERAL SPORTS TALK
- 4 Replies
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/09/...w-south-carolina-columbia-fireflies-mets.html
Tebow’s 2nd Act Has South Carolina Giving Him the 1st-Class Treatment
By DAVID WALDSTEIN
Tim Tebow and his Fireflies teammates.
Credit Travis Dove for The New York Times
COLUMBIA, S.C. — In the autumn of 2007, Tim Tebow came to this town to deliver a crushing blow. Then the Florida Gators’ dynamic quarterback, Tebow cemented his destiny as that year’s Heisman Trophy winner by accounting for seven touchdowns against the University of South Carolina Gamecocks.
Sitting in the stands in Williams-Brice Stadium that day, and watching glumly, was the Honorable Stephen K. Benjamin, who at that point was still three years away from being elected mayor here. At the end of Tebow’s display, Benjamin remembered having one thought: He was glad that Tebow was leaving town and hoped he was gone for good.
Now, a decade later, Mayor Benjamin is thrilled to welcome Tebow back.
“We are so glad he is finally on our side,” Benjamin said. “It’s a heck of a story.”
Mayor Steve Benjamin of Columbia, S.C., greeted Tebow in the dugout.
Credit Tom Priddy/Four Seam Images
Tebow departed Columbia 10 years ago as an enemy in shoulder pads. But this past Thursday, he returned as a hero with a bat, bringing his remarkable, and sometimes polarizing, appeal to a town — and a region — ready to embrace him.
In his very first at-bat for the Columbia Fireflies, the Mets’ Class A affiliate in the South Atlantic League, Tebow added another chapter to his enduring story by blasting a home run, delighting the 10,000 fans who had come to watch him, many of them wearing Tebow jerseys in all sorts of colors.
Jeff Reed, 56, a lawn care specialist from nearby Blythwood, was in the crowd. Reed had actually been a fan of Tebow the football player despite living in a rival Southeastern Conference city. When Reed’s wife went to Denver a few years back, she returned with a No. 15 shirt that Tebow wore when he played quarterback for the N.F.L.’s Broncos. And for Tebow’s first game with the Fireflies, Reed wore it to the ballpark.
“As soon as we heard he would be playing here, we bought tickets,” he said.
So have fans from around the South Atlantic League, which includes teams from the Carolinas, Georgia, Kentucky and West Virginia, places where college football is king and where Tebow is revered for his gridiron prowess, his persona and, for many, his Christian faith.
Tebow during a game. His development must be accelerated into a shorter time frame than the typical Class A player.
Credit Travis Dove for The New York Times
His baseball abilities are another matter.
Still, Jason Freier, the owner of the Fireflies, said the team had been hoping for months — ever since the Mets signed Tebow last September on what almost seemed to be a whim — that he would be assigned to Columbia. In the end, Freier got his wish.
Actually, Columbia was a logical place for Tebow, 29, to begin his professional baseball career. The South Atlantic League is a fairly low rung on the minor league ladder, making it a less challenging environment for an athlete who had been away from the sport for 12 years.
But even if it made perfect sense for Tebow to start here, the Fireflies took nothing for granted. Over the past few months, they have been in constant communication with the Mets — in part at the urging of Benjamin, who said he pestered the Fireflies’ team president, John Katz, nonstop to prod the Mets.
Freier said even fellow owners around the league were asking when the decision would be made official. They, too, were eager to start marketing their Tebow ticket packages for the dates when the Fireflies would visit their towns.
Students at the University of South Carolina wore different Tebow jerseys to the game.
Credit Travis Dove for The New York Times
Now, that marketing is in full force.
“They tell me they have been selling well,” Freier said of the league’s other owners. “As soon as the announcement was made last month, about 20-25 friends in the business called and told me: ‘You won the lottery. It’s a marketing bonanza.’ It is as unique a set of circumstances as you will find.”
Freier, who owns two other minor league clubs, said that before Tebow arrived here, he and members of his staff researched the next-closest set of circumstances: Michael Jordan’s foray into minor league baseball in 1994 for the Class AA Birmingham Barons.
They read articles about that chapter of Jordan’s life, watched an ESPN documentary and spoke to people who were in Birmingham at the time.
With that as preparation, they then welcomed Tebow to Columbia – the capital of South Carolina, with a population exceeding 130,000 — and got ready for the whirlwind he seems likely to stir up, some of it financial.
“Does anybody think he is a legitimate baseball prospect?” said Robert Boland, the director of Ohio University’s sports-management program. “Probably not. But Tebow will likely have an enormous effect on ticket and merchandise sales in a very powerful way.”
Normally, minor league teams market a family-friendly experience rather than individual players, because those players often spend no more than one season at a given minor league stop.
Tebow, as is often the case, is the exception. However long he is in Columbia, he is almost certain to be the focus.
The Fireflies’ souvenir shop sells T-shirts with only one player’s name on them — Tebow’s. Freier said that in 11 years owning three teams, he has seen such treatment extended to just one other minor leaguer.
In that instance, a player named Josh Van Meter had been a star at Norwell High School in Indiana, and when he joined Freier’s Fort Wayne TinCaps, Freier made up shirts with the hometown hero’s name.
Tebow, of course, is in a far different category. Freier said that when it became clear Tebow would be joining the Fireflies, national media executives told him that Tebow was second only to Tiger Woods over the past few decades when it came to measuring the appeal of an athlete in terms of online page views, clicks and overall video content.
On a micro level, local businesses are hoping Tebow’s arrival radiates all the way to their cash registers. Scott Hall owns the Bone In BBQ food truck that parks outside the Fireflies’ stadium. While not a devout sports fan, he knew enough to compute Tebow’s potential impact on his business.
“At first I was like, ‘Wait, isn’t this the wrong sport?’” Hall said. “But we’re really excited he’s here. We want to get him out here and get a ton of barbecue in him.”
For Hall and others, the hope is that Tebow can thread the needle of being good enough to stay in the Fireflies’ lineup but not so good that the Mets quickly promote him. And despite his home run Thursday, a quick rise in the Mets’ system for Tebow seems unlikely. In his first two games, Tebow went two for 10 with four strikeouts as the Augusta Greenjackets quickly figured him out at the plate.
Credit Travis Dove for The New York Times
In front of a little over 5,000 people on Friday, Augusta even intentionally walked the bases loaded to have a lefty pitcher face the left-handed Tebow, and he popped out to end that inning.
By then, most of the two dozen members of the news media that had assembled for Tebow’s debut on Thursday were gone, leaving behind a famous athlete looking to settle into a more-or-less normal baseball routine while figuring out if he has what it takes to somehow make it all the way to the major leagues. That verdict may take a while, but not that long.
“This is the ultimate up-or-out business,” Freier said.
Clay Rapada, a former major league pitcher and the Augusta pitching coach, said he could see that Tebow had a plan when he got into the batter’s box. But Tebow’s development must be accelerated into a shorter time frame than the typical Class A player.
“He hit a mistake,” Rapada said of the home run. Still, he noted, “that’s what the big boys in the major leagues get paid a lot of money to do.”
Tebow, who endured intense scrutiny playing in places like Gainesville in Florida or big cities throughout the N.F.L., knows that people are watching him again but shrugs off the pressure now back on his enormous shoulders.
“All of my sports experiences helped me for a moment like this,” he said. “They all help.”
And after Thursday’s home run, and a football-sounding 14-7 victory by the Fireflies, Tebow gave a rousing speech to a roomful of coaches and teammates.
One of them was Dash Winningham, a 21-year-old first baseman who is the Fireflies’ real on-field star. He grew up in Ocala, Fla., a short drive from Gainesville. When Winningham was a boy, Tebow was his favorite football player; he was not alone.
“Where I come from, Tim Tebow is like a god,” Winingham said. “But he is really just one of the guys. A little older, maybe, but totally down to earth. Looking around during pregame introductions, it was pretty surreal to think that all of a sudden, we’re teammates.”
Tebow and teammates at the end of a game.
Credit Travis Dove for The New York Times
As part of those opening-night ceremonies on Thursday, Benjamin threw out the first pitch, then went to the home dugout to shake hands with the man who made his Saturdays so miserable a decade ago.
But now, Benjamin sees Tebow as a real attraction for his city, and maybe even for the sport Tebow is now trying to master. At least that was the prevailing feeling after Thursday’s game.
“When you think about what he represents,” Benjamin said, “even in a Class A minor league system, he may in fact be the new face of baseball.”
That would seem to be an overstatement, but then again that’s what a little bit of Tebowmania can do to you.
Tebow’s 2nd Act Has South Carolina Giving Him the 1st-Class Treatment
By DAVID WALDSTEIN
Tim Tebow and his Fireflies teammates.
Credit Travis Dove for The New York Times
COLUMBIA, S.C. — In the autumn of 2007, Tim Tebow came to this town to deliver a crushing blow. Then the Florida Gators’ dynamic quarterback, Tebow cemented his destiny as that year’s Heisman Trophy winner by accounting for seven touchdowns against the University of South Carolina Gamecocks.
Sitting in the stands in Williams-Brice Stadium that day, and watching glumly, was the Honorable Stephen K. Benjamin, who at that point was still three years away from being elected mayor here. At the end of Tebow’s display, Benjamin remembered having one thought: He was glad that Tebow was leaving town and hoped he was gone for good.
Now, a decade later, Mayor Benjamin is thrilled to welcome Tebow back.
“We are so glad he is finally on our side,” Benjamin said. “It’s a heck of a story.”
Mayor Steve Benjamin of Columbia, S.C., greeted Tebow in the dugout.
Credit Tom Priddy/Four Seam Images
Tebow departed Columbia 10 years ago as an enemy in shoulder pads. But this past Thursday, he returned as a hero with a bat, bringing his remarkable, and sometimes polarizing, appeal to a town — and a region — ready to embrace him.
In his very first at-bat for the Columbia Fireflies, the Mets’ Class A affiliate in the South Atlantic League, Tebow added another chapter to his enduring story by blasting a home run, delighting the 10,000 fans who had come to watch him, many of them wearing Tebow jerseys in all sorts of colors.
Jeff Reed, 56, a lawn care specialist from nearby Blythwood, was in the crowd. Reed had actually been a fan of Tebow the football player despite living in a rival Southeastern Conference city. When Reed’s wife went to Denver a few years back, she returned with a No. 15 shirt that Tebow wore when he played quarterback for the N.F.L.’s Broncos. And for Tebow’s first game with the Fireflies, Reed wore it to the ballpark.
“As soon as we heard he would be playing here, we bought tickets,” he said.
So have fans from around the South Atlantic League, which includes teams from the Carolinas, Georgia, Kentucky and West Virginia, places where college football is king and where Tebow is revered for his gridiron prowess, his persona and, for many, his Christian faith.
Tebow during a game. His development must be accelerated into a shorter time frame than the typical Class A player.
Credit Travis Dove for The New York Times
His baseball abilities are another matter.
Still, Jason Freier, the owner of the Fireflies, said the team had been hoping for months — ever since the Mets signed Tebow last September on what almost seemed to be a whim — that he would be assigned to Columbia. In the end, Freier got his wish.
Actually, Columbia was a logical place for Tebow, 29, to begin his professional baseball career. The South Atlantic League is a fairly low rung on the minor league ladder, making it a less challenging environment for an athlete who had been away from the sport for 12 years.
But even if it made perfect sense for Tebow to start here, the Fireflies took nothing for granted. Over the past few months, they have been in constant communication with the Mets — in part at the urging of Benjamin, who said he pestered the Fireflies’ team president, John Katz, nonstop to prod the Mets.
Freier said even fellow owners around the league were asking when the decision would be made official. They, too, were eager to start marketing their Tebow ticket packages for the dates when the Fireflies would visit their towns.
Students at the University of South Carolina wore different Tebow jerseys to the game.
Credit Travis Dove for The New York Times
Now, that marketing is in full force.
“They tell me they have been selling well,” Freier said of the league’s other owners. “As soon as the announcement was made last month, about 20-25 friends in the business called and told me: ‘You won the lottery. It’s a marketing bonanza.’ It is as unique a set of circumstances as you will find.”
Freier, who owns two other minor league clubs, said that before Tebow arrived here, he and members of his staff researched the next-closest set of circumstances: Michael Jordan’s foray into minor league baseball in 1994 for the Class AA Birmingham Barons.
They read articles about that chapter of Jordan’s life, watched an ESPN documentary and spoke to people who were in Birmingham at the time.
With that as preparation, they then welcomed Tebow to Columbia – the capital of South Carolina, with a population exceeding 130,000 — and got ready for the whirlwind he seems likely to stir up, some of it financial.
“Does anybody think he is a legitimate baseball prospect?” said Robert Boland, the director of Ohio University’s sports-management program. “Probably not. But Tebow will likely have an enormous effect on ticket and merchandise sales in a very powerful way.”
Normally, minor league teams market a family-friendly experience rather than individual players, because those players often spend no more than one season at a given minor league stop.
Tebow, as is often the case, is the exception. However long he is in Columbia, he is almost certain to be the focus.
The Fireflies’ souvenir shop sells T-shirts with only one player’s name on them — Tebow’s. Freier said that in 11 years owning three teams, he has seen such treatment extended to just one other minor leaguer.
In that instance, a player named Josh Van Meter had been a star at Norwell High School in Indiana, and when he joined Freier’s Fort Wayne TinCaps, Freier made up shirts with the hometown hero’s name.
Tebow, of course, is in a far different category. Freier said that when it became clear Tebow would be joining the Fireflies, national media executives told him that Tebow was second only to Tiger Woods over the past few decades when it came to measuring the appeal of an athlete in terms of online page views, clicks and overall video content.
On a micro level, local businesses are hoping Tebow’s arrival radiates all the way to their cash registers. Scott Hall owns the Bone In BBQ food truck that parks outside the Fireflies’ stadium. While not a devout sports fan, he knew enough to compute Tebow’s potential impact on his business.
“At first I was like, ‘Wait, isn’t this the wrong sport?’” Hall said. “But we’re really excited he’s here. We want to get him out here and get a ton of barbecue in him.”
For Hall and others, the hope is that Tebow can thread the needle of being good enough to stay in the Fireflies’ lineup but not so good that the Mets quickly promote him. And despite his home run Thursday, a quick rise in the Mets’ system for Tebow seems unlikely. In his first two games, Tebow went two for 10 with four strikeouts as the Augusta Greenjackets quickly figured him out at the plate.
Credit Travis Dove for The New York Times
In front of a little over 5,000 people on Friday, Augusta even intentionally walked the bases loaded to have a lefty pitcher face the left-handed Tebow, and he popped out to end that inning.
By then, most of the two dozen members of the news media that had assembled for Tebow’s debut on Thursday were gone, leaving behind a famous athlete looking to settle into a more-or-less normal baseball routine while figuring out if he has what it takes to somehow make it all the way to the major leagues. That verdict may take a while, but not that long.
“This is the ultimate up-or-out business,” Freier said.
Clay Rapada, a former major league pitcher and the Augusta pitching coach, said he could see that Tebow had a plan when he got into the batter’s box. But Tebow’s development must be accelerated into a shorter time frame than the typical Class A player.
“He hit a mistake,” Rapada said of the home run. Still, he noted, “that’s what the big boys in the major leagues get paid a lot of money to do.”
Tebow, who endured intense scrutiny playing in places like Gainesville in Florida or big cities throughout the N.F.L., knows that people are watching him again but shrugs off the pressure now back on his enormous shoulders.
“All of my sports experiences helped me for a moment like this,” he said. “They all help.”
And after Thursday’s home run, and a football-sounding 14-7 victory by the Fireflies, Tebow gave a rousing speech to a roomful of coaches and teammates.
One of them was Dash Winningham, a 21-year-old first baseman who is the Fireflies’ real on-field star. He grew up in Ocala, Fla., a short drive from Gainesville. When Winningham was a boy, Tebow was his favorite football player; he was not alone.
“Where I come from, Tim Tebow is like a god,” Winingham said. “But he is really just one of the guys. A little older, maybe, but totally down to earth. Looking around during pregame introductions, it was pretty surreal to think that all of a sudden, we’re teammates.”
Tebow and teammates at the end of a game.
Credit Travis Dove for The New York Times
As part of those opening-night ceremonies on Thursday, Benjamin threw out the first pitch, then went to the home dugout to shake hands with the man who made his Saturdays so miserable a decade ago.
But now, Benjamin sees Tebow as a real attraction for his city, and maybe even for the sport Tebow is now trying to master. At least that was the prevailing feeling after Thursday’s game.
“When you think about what he represents,” Benjamin said, “even in a Class A minor league system, he may in fact be the new face of baseball.”
That would seem to be an overstatement, but then again that’s what a little bit of Tebowmania can do to you.
Rams mailbag: Looking for who will become go-to receiver, how the offensive line is coming together
- By Zero
- RAMS / NFL TALK
- 1 Replies
Rams mailbag: Looking for who will become go-to receiver, how the offensive line is coming together and more
The Rams, under new Coach Sean McVay, begin their off-season program Monday.
The team traded, released or did not re-sign several players from the 2016 team that finished 4-12, including receiver Kenny Britt, defensive end William Hayes, tight end Lance Kendricks and safety T.J. McDonald.
They added free-agent receiver Robert Woods, offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth, cornerbacks Kayvon Webster and Nickell Robey-Coleman, running back Lance Dunbar, linebacker Connor Barwin and center John Sullivan among others.
Now, on to your questions. Keep them coming at @latimesklein or gary.klein@latimes.com
Nothing like a fill-in-the-blank question to get things rolling. This is almost as much fun as Merriam-Webster online games. (Warning: They can become addictive).
The Rams still lack a tall wide receiver that can tower over or outjump cornerbacks and safeties in the end zone.
But they gave Robert Woods a free-agent contract that includes a guaranteed $15 million, so that’s one option. The last time Woods played regularly in the Coliseum — for USC — he showed a knack for getting open in the end zone.
Tavon Austin? Last season, he did not demonstrate the ability to get open and catch balls in tight spaces. Perhaps McVay’s scheme will create more room for him to operate.
Tight end Tyler Higbee has the size, but he struggled last season to advance past the initial impression he made as a rookie early in training camp.
There are reasons why receiver will be a priority for the Rams in the draft. Your question addresses one of them.
Mark Barron played safety in college at Alabama, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected him with the seventh overall pick in the 2012 draft.
Barron, however, morphed into a hybrid linebacker under former Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, and he will stay at inside linebacker in new coordinator Wade Phillips’ 3-4 scheme. At least, that’s the plan.
But you are onto something regarding Lamarcus Joyner.
After playing well as a slot corner, Joyner will get a look at safety during off-season workouts and organized team activities.
First, let’s do the numbers.
Rob Havenstein, who has started the last two seasons at right tackle, is No. 79. Greg Robinson, the starting left tackle for most of the last three seasons, is No. 73.
With the addition of veteran left tackle Andrew Whitworth, McVay has said that Robinson will compete with Havenstein at right tackle. Havenstein is expected to get a look at right guard, and I would not be surprised if Robinson does as well.
You make a good point though: Havenstein played well as a rookie in 2015 before struggling last season.
If he can recapture that form, perhaps Robinson moves permanently inside.
I wore various numbers throughout my athletic career. I was No. 10 as a grade school flag-football quarterback, No. 86 as a Pop Warner receiver/defensive end and had several different numbers as a baseball, basketball and water polo player.
My main number is 132. That’s the seat I’ve occupied in the Coliseum press box for 15 years.
Receiver Nelson Spruce signed with the Rams as an undrafted free agent, made a big impression early in training camp and in the first exhibition — and then was sidelined for the season because of injuries.
The Rams never put him on waivers because they feared another team would claim him.
My guess is that Spruce has spent the last few months working with quarterback Jared Goff and that he will show up for the off-season program in top shape and ready to make an impression on McVay, offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur and receivers coach Eric Yarber.
In the time since you submitted this question, the Rams signed veteran center John Sullivan.
Sullivan, 31, was an outstanding player for the Minnesota Vikings for seven seasons until he suffered a back injury. He sat out in 2015 season, was released before last season and then signed with the Washington Redskins, where McVay was the offensive coordinator.
Cornerback Trumaine Johnson is set to earn nearly $17 million after getting the franchise tag for the second year in a row — but he is regarded as a tradeable asset.
The Rams want to see how he fits with Phillips’ scheme before deciding whether to enter serious discussion about a long-term deal.
The Rams added two cornerbacks since the end of the season. Webster comes over from the Denver Broncos. The Rams on Friday signed Robey-Coleman, who played the last four seasons for the Buffalo Bills.
There was a large turnout of high school and college coaches last year when former coach Jeff Fisher opened a practice during workouts in Oxnard.
McVay and the Rams have not publicly detailed plans regarding those kinds of events, but the Rams are considering doing it again.
If they do, I will tweet it and also post it on our website and in print.
OK, someone apparently weren’t reading the Rams mailbag last November.
This was my answer:
“Well, someone definitely wants to sell more hot dog buns.
“I know I have fallen victim to the ploy.
“You buy the extra bag of buns so you have enough for the hot dogs, keep the leftovers in the bag on the kitchen counter and then find them covered in mold days later.
“Whoever came up with that buns-to-dogs ratio must surely be in the marketing hall of fame.”
http://www.latimes.com/sports/rams/la-sp-rams-mailbag-nfl-20170407-story.html
The Rams, under new Coach Sean McVay, begin their off-season program Monday.
The team traded, released or did not re-sign several players from the 2016 team that finished 4-12, including receiver Kenny Britt, defensive end William Hayes, tight end Lance Kendricks and safety T.J. McDonald.
They added free-agent receiver Robert Woods, offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth, cornerbacks Kayvon Webster and Nickell Robey-Coleman, running back Lance Dunbar, linebacker Connor Barwin and center John Sullivan among others.
Now, on to your questions. Keep them coming at @latimesklein or gary.klein@latimes.com
Nothing like a fill-in-the-blank question to get things rolling. This is almost as much fun as Merriam-Webster online games. (Warning: They can become addictive).
The Rams still lack a tall wide receiver that can tower over or outjump cornerbacks and safeties in the end zone.
But they gave Robert Woods a free-agent contract that includes a guaranteed $15 million, so that’s one option. The last time Woods played regularly in the Coliseum — for USC — he showed a knack for getting open in the end zone.
Tavon Austin? Last season, he did not demonstrate the ability to get open and catch balls in tight spaces. Perhaps McVay’s scheme will create more room for him to operate.
Tight end Tyler Higbee has the size, but he struggled last season to advance past the initial impression he made as a rookie early in training camp.
There are reasons why receiver will be a priority for the Rams in the draft. Your question addresses one of them.
Mark Barron played safety in college at Alabama, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected him with the seventh overall pick in the 2012 draft.
Barron, however, morphed into a hybrid linebacker under former Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, and he will stay at inside linebacker in new coordinator Wade Phillips’ 3-4 scheme. At least, that’s the plan.
But you are onto something regarding Lamarcus Joyner.
After playing well as a slot corner, Joyner will get a look at safety during off-season workouts and organized team activities.
First, let’s do the numbers.
Rob Havenstein, who has started the last two seasons at right tackle, is No. 79. Greg Robinson, the starting left tackle for most of the last three seasons, is No. 73.
With the addition of veteran left tackle Andrew Whitworth, McVay has said that Robinson will compete with Havenstein at right tackle. Havenstein is expected to get a look at right guard, and I would not be surprised if Robinson does as well.
You make a good point though: Havenstein played well as a rookie in 2015 before struggling last season.
If he can recapture that form, perhaps Robinson moves permanently inside.
I wore various numbers throughout my athletic career. I was No. 10 as a grade school flag-football quarterback, No. 86 as a Pop Warner receiver/defensive end and had several different numbers as a baseball, basketball and water polo player.
My main number is 132. That’s the seat I’ve occupied in the Coliseum press box for 15 years.
Receiver Nelson Spruce signed with the Rams as an undrafted free agent, made a big impression early in training camp and in the first exhibition — and then was sidelined for the season because of injuries.
The Rams never put him on waivers because they feared another team would claim him.
My guess is that Spruce has spent the last few months working with quarterback Jared Goff and that he will show up for the off-season program in top shape and ready to make an impression on McVay, offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur and receivers coach Eric Yarber.
In the time since you submitted this question, the Rams signed veteran center John Sullivan.
Sullivan, 31, was an outstanding player for the Minnesota Vikings for seven seasons until he suffered a back injury. He sat out in 2015 season, was released before last season and then signed with the Washington Redskins, where McVay was the offensive coordinator.
Cornerback Trumaine Johnson is set to earn nearly $17 million after getting the franchise tag for the second year in a row — but he is regarded as a tradeable asset.
The Rams want to see how he fits with Phillips’ scheme before deciding whether to enter serious discussion about a long-term deal.
The Rams added two cornerbacks since the end of the season. Webster comes over from the Denver Broncos. The Rams on Friday signed Robey-Coleman, who played the last four seasons for the Buffalo Bills.
There was a large turnout of high school and college coaches last year when former coach Jeff Fisher opened a practice during workouts in Oxnard.
McVay and the Rams have not publicly detailed plans regarding those kinds of events, but the Rams are considering doing it again.
If they do, I will tweet it and also post it on our website and in print.
OK, someone apparently weren’t reading the Rams mailbag last November.
This was my answer:
“Well, someone definitely wants to sell more hot dog buns.
“I know I have fallen victim to the ploy.
“You buy the extra bag of buns so you have enough for the hot dogs, keep the leftovers in the bag on the kitchen counter and then find them covered in mold days later.
“Whoever came up with that buns-to-dogs ratio must surely be in the marketing hall of fame.”
http://www.latimes.com/sports/rams/la-sp-rams-mailbag-nfl-20170407-story.html
Rams trying to work out a long term deal with CB Trumaine Johnson?
- By RamsFlash80
- RAMS / NFL TALK
- 79 Replies
http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nfl/7530/trumaine-johnson
Player Page
Los Angeles Rams
Age / DOB: (27) / 1/1/1990
Ht / Wt: 6'2' / 208
College: Montana
Drafted: 2012 / Rd. 3 (65) / LAR
Contract:
LATEST NEWS
RECENT NEWS
The Rams are now open to signing franchise player CB Trumaine Johnson to a long-term deal.
They have until July 15, the point after which no franchise players can be signed to extensions. The Rams tried shopping Johnson in trade talks, but no teams were willing to meet their demands. A big motivation for extending Johnson's deal is that it would lower his albatross of a cap charge ($16.742 million). Apr 9 - 2:14 PM
Source: ESPN.com
Player Page
Los Angeles Rams
Age / DOB: (27) / 1/1/1990
Ht / Wt: 6'2' / 208
College: Montana
Drafted: 2012 / Rd. 3 (65) / LAR
Contract:
LATEST NEWS
RECENT NEWS
The Rams are now open to signing franchise player CB Trumaine Johnson to a long-term deal.
They have until July 15, the point after which no franchise players can be signed to extensions. The Rams tried shopping Johnson in trade talks, but no teams were willing to meet their demands. A big motivation for extending Johnson's deal is that it would lower his albatross of a cap charge ($16.742 million). Apr 9 - 2:14 PM
Source: ESPN.com
- Rams now open to long-deal with Johnson
Apr 9 - 2:14 PM - Rams likely to keep Trumaine Johnson?
Apr 6 - 12:40 PM - Report: Browns could target Trumaine Johnson
Mar 7 - 5:01 PM - Report: Rams shopping Trumaine Johnson
Mar 7 - 2:55 PM
Rams add another Assistant Coach for McVay (Dollar Bill Nayes)
- RAMS / NFL TALK
- 4 Replies
Literally Bill Nayes will be McVay's personal assistant and some of his duties will include....Orcherstating all travel arrangements for the team, organized team mini-camps and training activities, and creating / managing team operational schedules...Now no offense to Mr. Nayes, but I truly believe I could have handled these duties for Coach McVay, however, Nayes probalbly has the ability to focus only on those duties as many of us would be trying to bust in the war room on draft day....Welcome Bill Nayes as I copy his Linked in info.
Bill Nayes
Football Operations at Los Angeles Rams
Greater Los Angeles Area
Sports
Current
Previous
Websites
Bill Nayes
Football Operations at Los Angeles Rams
Greater Los Angeles Area
Sports
Current
Previous
- San Francisco 49ers,
- North Carolina State University,
- University of Wisconsin
Websites
Casinos, Arm-Wrestling, and the NFL
- By Prime Time
- RAMS / NFL TALK
- 8 Replies
https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...-policy-tested-arm-wrestling-event/100206930/
What happens in Vegas ... NFL gambling policy tested by arm-wrestling event
Jarrett Bell , USA TODAY Sports
Nearly three dozen NFL players are in Las Vegas this weekend for a competition that classically captures the macho spirit of football: Arm wrestling.
Dubbed the inaugural “Pro Football Arm Wrestling Championship” — with heavyweight and light heavyweight crowns in play — it’s a made-for-TV deal, to air on CBS over two weekends later this spring.
But arm wrestlers beware. Roger Goodell and Co, lurk for a strong-arm takedown.
That the event is being staged at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino has captured the attention of the suits at NFL headquarters on Park Avenue. The NFL’s gambling policy, of course, prohibits players from appearing at casinos as part of promotional events.
According to the NFL, players participating in this specific event — without pre-approval — are in violation of the gambling policy and subject to discipline.
“Had we been asked in advance if this was acceptable, we would have indicated that it was in direct violation of the gambling policy,” Joe Lockhart, the NFL’s executive vice president for communications and public affairs, told USA TODAY Sports. “No one sought pre-approval.”
Uh-oh.
With discipline perhaps coming in the form of a fine, the stage may be set for another skirmish between flamboyant Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison and his friends in New York.
Harrison, a vocal critic of Goodell who has had a series of differences with the NFL over a range of issues, is coaching one of the teams in the event. His counterpart is Marshawn Lynch, the free-spirited running back who received permission from the Seattle Seahawks this week to visit the Oakland Raiders as he contemplates coming out of retirement.
Other notable participants: Miami Dolphins receiver Kenny Stills, San Francisco 49ers linebacker NaVorro Bowman, Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey, Raiders punter Marquette King and defensive end Mario Edwards, and New England Patriots safety Patrick Chung.
And what event at a casino would be complete without the presence of a guy nicknamed, “Lucky,” as in Dallas Cowboys receiver Lucky Whitehead.
“This is great exposure for all involved,” said Alan Brickman, co-owner of the California-based company, Encinal Entertainment, that is putting on the show.
In addition to funneling half of the $100,000 in first-place prize money to charity, with the Give Back Foundation charged to support foundations in the players’ names, Brickman sells the TV package as a chance “to get to know the players behind the scenes.”
Interestingly, Brickman disputes the contention that pre-approval wasn’t sought from the NFL. He told USA TODAY Sports that, beginning in January, he engaged with two different departments within the league and tried to strike a deal to include the NFL as a partner with the event.
Obviously, the NFL didn’t sign up. Yet Brickman maintains that during communication with the league, guidelines were suggested that included showing no images during the broadcast of any gambling-related activities or any alcohol. He said the power was turned off on gambling machines in the vicinity of the events being taped.
“With a team coming here, I’m sure they’re branding it as a family destination,” Brickman said from Las Vegas on Friday night.
In the big picture, the arm wrestling event is a fresh test of the mettle of the NFL’s gambling policy.
Remember, two years ago the league essentially shut down a fantasy football convention that was connected to then-Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, warning players of fines and/or suspensions if they participated in the event in Las Vegas that wasn’t even to be actually held at a casino — although it was to be staged at a venue owned by a casino, Sands.
It would have been consistent with the Romo case for the NFL to try to squash the arm wrestling, too. But apparently, there was some communication breakdown as league officials insist that they were unaware of the event until the middle of this week.
In any event, as it stands now, even with the Oakland Raiders formally approved last month for a move to Las Vegas in 2020, the NFL is hardly relaxing a gambling policy that prohibits association with casinos or other gambling establishments.
“We did not change any of our gambling policies in the context of the Raiders relocation,” Goodell said in late March, as the NFL owners meetings wrapped up in Phoenix. “It wasn’t necessary and the Raiders didn’t ask us to do that. We don’t see changing our current policies.”
The NFL has a long history of opposing gambling, particularly sports books, which is why any association with casinos is frowned upon. Yet there’s seemingly a much grayer area in play now, with the Raiders headed to Las Vegas.
A few years ago, the NFL would have never dreamed of putting franchise in the gambling capital of the USA. But times change, and the Raiders move is fueled by the type of cash that always gets the NFL’s attention — $750 million in public funds to build a stadium.
As the Raiders situation progressed, several NFL owners told me that they were not concerned about gambling influences in Las Vegas, given how technology and the spread of casinos has many teams in proximity to such establishments. The league, after all, stages games in London, which has casinos.
Las Vegas, though, is gambling on steroids, so to speak. Moving into a market where gambling is the major industry could force the NFL to constantly re-establish its resolve against such a backdrop.
As Goodell acknowledged, “That is a major risk for us. We have to make sure that we continue to stay focused on making sure that everyone has full confidence that what you see on the field is not influenced by any outside factors. That is our No. 1 concern. That goes to what I consider the integrity of the game. We will not relent on that.”
It might be a stretch to associate an event such as the arm wrestling competition as a threat to the integrity of NFL games, but this is about optics.
Yet with the NFL planting a flag in Las Vegas, there will surely be more events like the arm wrestling championships at casinos and related properties, looking to connect with the NFL.
For example, shortly after the Raiders move was approved, a Nevada brothel owner revealed a plan to open a Raiders-themed brothel. That prompted a question to Goodell about whether special policies will be needed for the Raiders in Las Vegas. He seemed to have an open mind. Sort of.
“We have policies in place now and obviously we’ll continue to evaluate those policies,” he said. “If we think something specific needs to be done in Las Vegas, or any changes to our policy, we obviously retain the right to do that. We will continue to look at that.”
In other words, what happens in Vegas doesn’t necessarily stay in Vegas. It resonates on Park Avenue, too.
What happens in Vegas ... NFL gambling policy tested by arm-wrestling event
Jarrett Bell , USA TODAY Sports
Nearly three dozen NFL players are in Las Vegas this weekend for a competition that classically captures the macho spirit of football: Arm wrestling.
Dubbed the inaugural “Pro Football Arm Wrestling Championship” — with heavyweight and light heavyweight crowns in play — it’s a made-for-TV deal, to air on CBS over two weekends later this spring.
But arm wrestlers beware. Roger Goodell and Co, lurk for a strong-arm takedown.
That the event is being staged at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino has captured the attention of the suits at NFL headquarters on Park Avenue. The NFL’s gambling policy, of course, prohibits players from appearing at casinos as part of promotional events.
According to the NFL, players participating in this specific event — without pre-approval — are in violation of the gambling policy and subject to discipline.
“Had we been asked in advance if this was acceptable, we would have indicated that it was in direct violation of the gambling policy,” Joe Lockhart, the NFL’s executive vice president for communications and public affairs, told USA TODAY Sports. “No one sought pre-approval.”
Uh-oh.
With discipline perhaps coming in the form of a fine, the stage may be set for another skirmish between flamboyant Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison and his friends in New York.
Harrison, a vocal critic of Goodell who has had a series of differences with the NFL over a range of issues, is coaching one of the teams in the event. His counterpart is Marshawn Lynch, the free-spirited running back who received permission from the Seattle Seahawks this week to visit the Oakland Raiders as he contemplates coming out of retirement.
Other notable participants: Miami Dolphins receiver Kenny Stills, San Francisco 49ers linebacker NaVorro Bowman, Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey, Raiders punter Marquette King and defensive end Mario Edwards, and New England Patriots safety Patrick Chung.
And what event at a casino would be complete without the presence of a guy nicknamed, “Lucky,” as in Dallas Cowboys receiver Lucky Whitehead.
“This is great exposure for all involved,” said Alan Brickman, co-owner of the California-based company, Encinal Entertainment, that is putting on the show.
In addition to funneling half of the $100,000 in first-place prize money to charity, with the Give Back Foundation charged to support foundations in the players’ names, Brickman sells the TV package as a chance “to get to know the players behind the scenes.”
Interestingly, Brickman disputes the contention that pre-approval wasn’t sought from the NFL. He told USA TODAY Sports that, beginning in January, he engaged with two different departments within the league and tried to strike a deal to include the NFL as a partner with the event.
Obviously, the NFL didn’t sign up. Yet Brickman maintains that during communication with the league, guidelines were suggested that included showing no images during the broadcast of any gambling-related activities or any alcohol. He said the power was turned off on gambling machines in the vicinity of the events being taped.
“With a team coming here, I’m sure they’re branding it as a family destination,” Brickman said from Las Vegas on Friday night.
In the big picture, the arm wrestling event is a fresh test of the mettle of the NFL’s gambling policy.
Remember, two years ago the league essentially shut down a fantasy football convention that was connected to then-Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, warning players of fines and/or suspensions if they participated in the event in Las Vegas that wasn’t even to be actually held at a casino — although it was to be staged at a venue owned by a casino, Sands.
It would have been consistent with the Romo case for the NFL to try to squash the arm wrestling, too. But apparently, there was some communication breakdown as league officials insist that they were unaware of the event until the middle of this week.
In any event, as it stands now, even with the Oakland Raiders formally approved last month for a move to Las Vegas in 2020, the NFL is hardly relaxing a gambling policy that prohibits association with casinos or other gambling establishments.
“We did not change any of our gambling policies in the context of the Raiders relocation,” Goodell said in late March, as the NFL owners meetings wrapped up in Phoenix. “It wasn’t necessary and the Raiders didn’t ask us to do that. We don’t see changing our current policies.”
The NFL has a long history of opposing gambling, particularly sports books, which is why any association with casinos is frowned upon. Yet there’s seemingly a much grayer area in play now, with the Raiders headed to Las Vegas.
A few years ago, the NFL would have never dreamed of putting franchise in the gambling capital of the USA. But times change, and the Raiders move is fueled by the type of cash that always gets the NFL’s attention — $750 million in public funds to build a stadium.
As the Raiders situation progressed, several NFL owners told me that they were not concerned about gambling influences in Las Vegas, given how technology and the spread of casinos has many teams in proximity to such establishments. The league, after all, stages games in London, which has casinos.
Las Vegas, though, is gambling on steroids, so to speak. Moving into a market where gambling is the major industry could force the NFL to constantly re-establish its resolve against such a backdrop.
As Goodell acknowledged, “That is a major risk for us. We have to make sure that we continue to stay focused on making sure that everyone has full confidence that what you see on the field is not influenced by any outside factors. That is our No. 1 concern. That goes to what I consider the integrity of the game. We will not relent on that.”
It might be a stretch to associate an event such as the arm wrestling competition as a threat to the integrity of NFL games, but this is about optics.
Yet with the NFL planting a flag in Las Vegas, there will surely be more events like the arm wrestling championships at casinos and related properties, looking to connect with the NFL.
For example, shortly after the Raiders move was approved, a Nevada brothel owner revealed a plan to open a Raiders-themed brothel. That prompted a question to Goodell about whether special policies will be needed for the Raiders in Las Vegas. He seemed to have an open mind. Sort of.
“We have policies in place now and obviously we’ll continue to evaluate those policies,” he said. “If we think something specific needs to be done in Las Vegas, or any changes to our policy, we obviously retain the right to do that. We will continue to look at that.”
In other words, what happens in Vegas doesn’t necessarily stay in Vegas. It resonates on Park Avenue, too.