The coaching carousel is spinning and spinning and the biggest name on the market is former Titans head coach Jeff Fisher. The St. Louis Rams and the Miami Dolphins are reported to be the leading candidates. Many have been anticipating for days now which one Fisher will choose, however, Fisher insists neither team has offered him. [ESPN]
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The Politics of Pigskin The NFL playoffs are underway and we have already seen some fantastic matchups. So far the Saints out-offensed the Lions, the Texans just looked like the better team against the young Bengals, the Giants pounded the Falcons, and the Broncos stunned the injured Steelers. Here is your updated playoff schedule. [Fox Sports] Peter King does his weekly breakdown thang in the MMQB column. You don’t want to miss these. [Sports Illustrated] The Giants might have the best front 7 in football. They certainly were dominant against the Falcons. [Yahoo! Sports] The Broncos defied conventional wisdom to defeat the favored Steelers on the first play of OT. [CBS Sports] The Tampa Bay Bucs are reported to be in talks with Marty Schottenheimer regarding their vacant head coaching position. A bizarre choice if you ask me as they would be going from one of the youngest coaches in the league: Raheem Morris, 35, to one of the oldest in Schottenheimer, 68. But there you have it. [ESPN] 15 reasons why both Alabama and LSU will win the national championship tonight. [ESPN] An Alabama-LSU preview from the men at Football Outsiders using their innovative statistics. [Football Outsiders] Reports have come out that the Penn State football team has hired the Patriots offensive coordinator, Bill O’Brien, as their head coach to replace the legendary Joe Paterno. It is preliminary report so we don’t know any details of the deal as of yet. A formal announcement is expected to come on Sunday. [ESPN]
There is a perception that OJ Simpson in his vintage years, the mid seventies, was the last cultural icon who wore a football jersey. In contrast, it is said that the modern football era has yielded an array of physically gifted, prodigiously skilled athletes who have shattered records and redefined the limits of the game, but have made no deep imprint on the society that reveres their talent.
The last part is a true enough description of the largely impact free zone of the contemporary football star. The first observation, however, is flawed memory. It was not Simpson, for all his California glitter and celebrity, who was the last of a kind—it was a Mississippian who migrated north named Walter Payton. Jeff Pearlman, in his 2011 biography of the Chicago Bears Hall of Famer, “Sweetness”, reminds us that for about a decade, well beyond the normal career span of an NFL back, Walter Payton was the exemplary star who resonated well beyond his sport–especially if you were a Chicagoan eager for a hero in the aftermath of that city’s dismal decade of the seventies; an African American who relished the style of a charismatic HBCU grad effortlessly crossing racial barriers; or a lover of an underdog story who understood the depths in the South from which Payton ascended.  Click on image to purchase book Even for Americans who only dimly knew the fine print of Payton’s athletic feats, he was the 80s sports celebrity who died too early and through no fault of his own, and his demise in 1999 from a rare liver cancer at 46 provoked tributes fit for the civic legend he had become. “Sweetness” is a minutely researched, powerfully written narrative that gives the iconic side of Payton its due, but may be the most controversial sports biography of the past year. The football side of the account is not in dispute; to a degree not well remembered today, Payton was uncommonly good for an astonishingly long time. From 1976 to 1986, Payton amassed over 1200 yards each full season, topped the NFL record books for career rushing yards (and still ranks second, behind only Emmitt Smith), and at one point held the record for single game yards and consecutive 100 yard games. In a sport where the brutality of contact erodes skills quickly, Payton’s prolonged brilliance still arguably makes him the finest running back the NFL has produced. Read the rest of… The Politics of Pigskin The NFL regular season has concluded and our eyes have turned to the playoffs and the offseason. Peter King takes his MMQB column in the same directions and prepares us for the storylines and drama to come. [Sports Illustrated] The NFL Playoffs. Here are your final conference standing and playoff schedule to guide you through them. [Yahoo! Sports] Black Monday is traditionally the day after the last regular season Sunday on which organizations decide to make coaching or management changes and we see a slew of firings. Here is a ticker to help you keep track of who your favorite team may be looking at to fill their newly vacant coaching position. [CBS Sports] ESPN’s John Clayton and Jeffri Chadiha receptively break down the AFC and NFC using a Q&A format. [Clayton][Chadiha] On the amateur side of America’s game we have hit the home stretch of bowl games. There are only 6 games left including the national championship. Follow the link to get up to date on previous results and previews on the upcoming bowls. [ESPN]
Tom Brady has a left shoulder injury. While it does not seem to be severe, it was enough of a concern to have x-rays done. [ESPN] The Politics of Pigskin Check out the following link to get a preview of one of the better Monday Night Football games in a while. (You almost feel sorry for ESPN and the terrible games they scheduled). [Yahoo! Sports] Are good loses good for a football team? This is always the debate when a team flirts with going undefeated in any sport. Can taking a regular season loss actually help? [CBS Sports] The Football Outsiders have an interesting weekly post where you can read their running commentary during the Sunday NFL games. [Football Outsiders] On MMQB Peter King writes about the playoffs and the Green Bay Packers finally picking up a loss. [Sports Illustrated] Take a second to read Brian Billick, a coach who was fired not too long ago, write about the reasoning for firing a coach during the season. [NFL.com]
Chicago Bears WR Sam Hurd has been arrested on federal drug charges. He is alleged to have been attempting to buy large amounts of cocaine and marijuana from a supplier in Texas. It is reported that Hurd stated he is an established distributor in the Chicago area. It is unfathomable why an professional football player would see any reason or value in dealing drugs on the side, but here we are. [ESPN][Filed Court Complaint] The Politics of Pigskin Here are the numbers for playoff odds before the games from this weekend. Unfortunately, the new numbers have not been calculated yet, but these should give you an idea of where you favorite team stands. [Football Outsiders] Here is the Week 14 edition MMQB. Of course, the first topic of many is Timothy R. Tebow. [Sports Illustrated] Todd Haley is officially out as the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs. Romeo Crennel takes over in the interim. [Yahoo! Sports] The winner of the Heisman trophy was announced last night. The award went to Baylor QB Robert Griffin III. Now the question becomes where the newly crowned Heisman recipient fall on the 2012 draft boards? Can he beat out Stanford QB Andrew Luck? [CBS Sports] If you haven’t done it yet, now is a fine time to vote for you favorite players for the 2012 Pro Bowl. [NFL.com] A bit of a bummer is the news that rookie phenom DeMarco Murray has a broken ankle and will miss the rest of the season. Tough luck for a kid who was looking to make a late run at Rookie of the Year. [ESPN] If you missed the Thursday night game on NFL Network between the Steelers and Browns you missed a very gutsy performance by one, Ben Roethlisberger. After suffering a high-ankle sprain near the end of the second quarter he was carted off to the locker room to get x-rays. They came back negative for any breaks. He then proceeded to play the whole second half on his high-ankle sprain, which can sometimes take weeks to heal fully. The Steelers rallied behind their injured captain and walked away with a victory. [ESPN AFC North Blog] |
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