– Bruce Smith: The fearsome defensive end will be inducted on his first year of eligibility. You can debate whether he or Reggie White is the best DE of all-time, but you can’t debate with this stat: 200 career sacks, an NFL record.
– Rod Woodson: The defensive back also made it in on the first try. Woodson will be remembered for all those interceptions, as well as the inspiration for filmmaker Cameron Crowe, who wrote “Jerry Maguire.”
– Derrick Thomas: Had he not died in an auto accident in 2000, Thomas might have retired as the best outside linebacker in NFL history. He posted 126.5 sacks during his career and, impressively, forced 45 fumbles.
– Ralph Wilson Jr.: Besides being the sole owner of the Bills, Wilson was was an original founder of the AFL.
– Randall McDaniel: The Vikings featured a potent offense throughout the 1990s (unlike most of this decade), and McDaniel, a guard, was a big part of that unit’s success. He played in 12 consecutive Pro Bowls.
– Bob Hayes: An Olympic gold medalist sprinter-turned wide receiver, Hayes was part of the first Cowboys dynasty. NFL.com’s bio of him says the bump-and-run defense was developed to slow him down.
Missing from this list is receiver Cris Carter, who surely will be selected next year; Richard Dent, who I think will make it someday; Shannon Sharpe, who I think is worthy but might be getting overshadowed by Tony Gonzalez’s success at tight end; and former commissioner Paul Tagliabue; who supposedly and oddly isn’t getting a lot of consideration. Wait ’til 2010, when Emmitt Smith and Jerry Rice are shoo-ins in their first year eligible.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell gave his traditional pre-Super Bowl press conference Friday, and amid minor sniping with the players’ union and talk of the economy came this idea to address overtime: Moving the spot of the kickoff up for the team that loses the coin toss.
It’s an interesting approach to fix overtime — Goodell said 47 percent of teams won on the first possession of OT this season. I still think a better solution would to just guarantee both teams an offensive possession and eliminate ties. And there’s always this quandary: A team that wins the coin toss defers rather than start with lousy field position. At least Goodell and the league is thinking about this — maybe there will be a better solution to overtime in a couple years.
Believe it or not, it’s the 20th anniversary of the first Bud Bowl! I remember watching that Super Bowl (XXIII, featuring “The Drive”) with friends and all of us cheering what was essentially a beer commercial.
There is a plethora of Bud Bowl videos on YouTube, but here is the finale of that first Bud Bowl (which got less entertaining year after year). Hopefully, this video isn’t spoiling the ending for many of you …
One game to go this entertaining season (the Pro Bowl doesn’t count). Hopefully, it will be an entertaining finale. The Steelers are a 6 1/2-point favorite, but don’t think they are going to cover.
PITTSBURGH VS. ARIZONA
Why the Steelers might win: Pittsburgh is simply the better team. The level of competition the Steelers have faced is superior, their defense is better, they have the experience, and they know how to win close games. Pittsburgh won the AFC North with a 12-4 record, then fended off the Chargers and Ravens (for the third time, no less) to reach the Super Bowl. This team is only three years removed from its last ring, with much of the same personnel on the field, starting with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. The Steeler defense might be the best in team history, even better than the Steel Curtain teams of the 1970s. If the D starts forcing turnovers (specifically, intercepting Kurt Warner passes), and if the entire team makes the most of its opportunities (remember, the Steelers could have easily blown out the Ravens were it not for a few squandered chances), Pittsburgh could run away with a record sixth Super Bowl victory. Why the Cardinals might win: Don’t let that 9-7 regular-season record (and December slide, after the NFC West had been clinched) fool you — Arizona is a good team. Knocking out Atlanta in the wild-card round was impressive; ousting Carolina in the divisional playoffs was a shock; defeating Philadelphia was a mere formality. Can the Cardinals prove the first two playoff victories weren’t flukes? Their defense has come through during the postseason, and coach and former Steelers assistant Ken Whisenhunt knows the tendencies of his old team. The offense is stellar, with Super Bowl veteran Kurt Warner defying his advanced age and elevating the passing game to fearsome. Running back Edgerrin James, going for his first Super Bowl ring, has balanced that offense in the postseason and will keep Pittsburgh’s defense honest. After decades of futility, perhaps the Cardinals have destiny on their side. The pick: Steelers 20, Cardinals 16. Arizona will move the ball, but Pittsburgh’s defense will bend but not break in allowing just one touchdown. The Cardinals’ defense overwhelmed Carolina a few weeks ago and will not let the Steelers put up big points. However, Pittsburgh’s offense will be efficient enough to convert its scoring chances, particularly if the Steeler D creates some of those chances with turnovers. It won’t be a blowout, but Pittsburgh’s defense will be the difference and capture that sixth Lombardi Trophy.
The Bucs’ season ended horribly, and though Gruden’s firing was a surprise, it wasn’t as seemingly idiotic as when Marty Schottenheimer was fired after the Chargers went 14-2 a couple years back. Gruden will regroup, will learn from the good times and the bad times in Tampa Bay, and will coach another NFL team. He’s a Super Bowl-winning coach, and they don’t tend to stay unemployed for too long. Mike Shanahan will be hired again someday, too, because even though he and Gruden left their teams after struggling, they still know how to win, which is better than a good chunk of new coaches out there (Mike Tomlin and Ken Whisenhunt notwithstanding). It’s just a matter of time.
An ongoing study is finding football players who suffer multiple concussions are also suffering severe long-term brain damage, resulting in depression, memory problems or dying young.
As more evidence of this problem mounts, hopefully the NFL and the players’ union will take notice and take steps to address the situation. Football players are tough and know missing games can hurt their careers, but perhaps a mandatory sitting out one week after a concussion is a good (if unpopular) first step, at all levels of play. And hopefully, the NFL acknowledges its responsibility in dealing with these football-related injuries and not dismiss players’ problems as it did with Mike Webster.
Super Bowl media day is always a zoo, with the top players in those booths and ridiculous questions being hurled amid all the serious ones from actual sports journalists. Maybe it’s time to come up with a better alternative, especially after this year’s goofiness, which included a reporter in a dress.
Perhaps I should take a lighter view of media day, but as a career sports journalist, I know there are reporters who need to do their jobs and don’t need to be derailed by questions such as someone asking Hines Ward if he’s ever worn women’s lingerie. It’s amazing how little real news comes out of this day year after year.
It’s less than a week before Super Bowl XLIII, and the hype is in full swing. Is this the best Steeler defense ever, even better than the Steel Curtain? Can the underdog Cardinals pull off another upset? Isn’t it amazing a second-year coach is going to win a Super Bowl? Can Mike Tomlin continue to forge the path Tony Dungy blazed as a black coach of a Super Bowl winner? Does Kurt Warner have one more Super Bowl victory left in him?
Yep, the hype has begun. Sunday will be here soon enough.
With the Chiefs firing Herm Edwards last week (way to wait until the last minute, by the way), the NFL will feature 10 new coaches next season, 11 if you count Mike Singletary no longer being interim in San Francisco. That’s more than a third of the league someone new, and so far, only Eric Mangini brings any sort of head coaching experience to the mix.
We’ll see who the Chiefs and Raiders hire, but it will be interesting to see how much the league changes with so many first-time coaches taking over. I don’t think this mass turnover is going to be a trend, either. Take out new coaches in Seattle and Indy, installed after two retirements, and the firings don’t look so bad. Of the nine remaining teams, three suffered collapses and the other six went through particularly dreadful seasons (in my final regular-season rankings, these nine teams ranked Nos. 14, 15, 18, 20, 27, 29, 30, 31 and 32 — and the Seahawks were 28th). It was simply a lot of reckoning all at once.
The Chiefs better get on the ball and hire someone quickly. As for the Raiders, does it even matter who they hire?
Troy Aikman ripped on Tony Romo this week, and five different sources said the offense has lost respect for coordinator Jason Garrett. Adam Jones is gone, and Terrell Owens could be next.
I have to chuckle, because all this drama obviously has taken its toll on the team the past couple years. Yes, there was plenty of drama during the Jimmy Johnson years, but didn’t everybody at least get along (at least well enough to win a Super Bowl with Barry Switzer)? Unless things start settling down, enjoy the further drama when the Boys go 9-7 next season.
