Tag: Football

Tom Brady Loses His Shit After Dropping a Game of Ping Pong; Cements Reputation as Legendary Competitor

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Yahoo Sports – “He’s the best teammate,” Amendola said of Brady. “He’s so competitive and what-not. I remember one story. It was my first week in the building. He wanted to play some ping-pong. I didn’t really know how to go about it. I know I was better than him. I didn’t want to beat him too bad because I wanted him to throw me the ball. “I knew I was better. Needless to say, his competitive nature unleashed a broken paddle by the end of it. It the reason why we love him, and the reason why he’s the best quarterback.”

What a phenomenal story; Tom Brady losing in a game of ping pong and just losing his shit and smashing the paddle into 1,000 pieces. It only adds to the legend that is Tom Brady. Listen, anyone can win 4 Super Bowl titles, multiple MVPs and Super Bowl MVPs, but it comes down to the uber, ultra competitive guys that go down as legends. Like Michael Jordan doing anything necessary to win, playing mental warfare with guys like the time he wrecked Muggsy Bogues’ career by pulling up in a playoff game and telling him “Shoot it you fucking midget.”

Or how about Kobe Bryant now that he’s retired legit naming his new company “13.” Chris Sacca shared a story of how Kobe landed on that name on Bill Simmons’ podcast relaying,  “Can you believe they drafted 12 other motherfuckers before me? He still wears that, man.”

And then of course, the classic story of a young Dustin Pedroia training at the famed Athletes Performance Institute in Arizona playing ping pong and shit talking 6’4″ Brady Quinn: “I’m going to rip this ball right off your throat,” Pedroia told him.

I want guys on my teams that lose their minds about losing in anything. Not the JD Drew’s and Adrian Gonzalez’s of the world who could give a shit.

P.S. – I’d be remiss to not mention Rajon Rondo just hammering little kids in Connect Four. Savage.

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The NFL is Moving Touchbacks to the 25 Yard Line and Devin Hester is Bullshit

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Yahoo Sports – Say, did you remember that the NFL is moving kickoff touchbacks to the 25-yard-line this year? Devin Hester did, and he’s none too pleased. “It’s like taking away a job from people,” the Falcons return man told ESPN, and by “people” he means himself. Hester is one of the most notable return men in NFL history, boasting five kickoff returns for touchdowns and a dramatic TD return to start Super Bowl XLI.

I would be bullshit too if I was Devin Hester. Dude was once one of the most electric players in all of the NFL, despite only playing in a fraction of the game. He was legitimately feared and only touched the ball a handful of times a game. Definition of an X-Factor.

So now in an effort to reduce the number of players smashing their brains in, the NFL is moving touchbacks out to the 25 yard line this season. For a guy like Hester who averages 24.9 yards per kickoff return this essentially negates his effectiveness. Sure he might pop one off for a TD, but now the difference between a bum averaging 18 yards per return and a stud averaging 24.9 yards per return is nil because teams will just encourage guys to kneel it. Kneel it and we’re 25% of the way to scoring. So kickoff return specialists are going to die a slow death until the NFL just removes the kickoff entirely. Better work on your punt returns, Devin.

Opportunity for Jimmy Garoppolo Could Have Huge Payoff for the Patriots

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Yahoo Sports – Jimmy Garoppolo finds himself in a good situation. He can prepare all offseason as if he’ll be the New England Patriots’ starting quarterback for the first four games of the season, thanks to Tom Brady’s deflate-gate suspension…Think about Brock Osweiler, who was looking at the possibility of going into free agency with almost no regular-season snaps on tape. But Peyton Manning got hurt, Osweiler showed enough in seven starts with the Denver Broncos last season to get a $72 million deal from the Houston Texans, and now he’s their starter.

It’s tough to admit, but the whole Deflategate witch hunt may end up being a good thing for the Patriots. Regardless of all the other shit, it’s looking more and more likely Tom Brady is going to miss 4 games. It’s unlikely that Jimmy Garoppolo is going to play well enough for Belichick and the Patriots to give Brady the Drew Bledsoe treatment, but that’s why this may pay off even better for the Pats. Most people kind of scratched their head when the Pats took Garoppolo in the 2nd round back in 2014. For one, it was the highest Belichick had ever drafted a QB with the Patriots and two, it seemed a year too early.

We all know the Brady decline is going to come eventually, but it doesn’t seem like we’re quite there yet. So the Pats wasted a draft pick right? That may have been true if NFL head coaches didn’t get borderline aroused about young QB’s with potential. I mean look at all the absolute scrubs that have swindled huge contracts from teams based on nothing but potential and limited snaps. If you don’t have a great QB in this league it’s damn hard to be successful so coaches and GMs are willing to roll the dice continuously hoping to strike gold. That’s how guys like Matt Cassel, Matt Schaub, Matt Flynn and most recently Brock Osweiler have landed mega deals with virtually no real playing experience.

Which brings me back to Belichick, this guy is always five steps ahead of the rest of the league. Sure he couldn’t have known Brady would get suspended and give Jimmy G a 4 game audition as trade bait, but we all know TB12 ain’t retiring any time soon. So the Garoppolo pick was definitely made with the ulterior motive of flipping him for even more draft capital. If Garoppolo comes in and plays well, you could very easily get a 1st round pick for a young, promising QB who’s spent the past few years being groomed by the best coach and QB in the game. Jimmy gets paid, Belichick gets TWO 1st round picks in 2017 (giving Gooddell the finger in the process), Brady continues doing Brady things and we start this process over again with Jacoby Brissett, who is more likely on the track to eventual Patriots starter down the line.

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The Washington R-Words Live to See Another Day After Latest Report

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ESPN – A new Washington Post poll found that 90 percent of Native Americans aren’t offended by the Washington Redskins’ nickname and an overwhelming majority consider it an unimportant issue.

Daniel Snyder is definitely just sitting in his office laughing like a maniac rubbing his hands together. “See NFL? Native Americans don’t give a shit what we call our crappy football team?” Reports don’t lie (unless it’s of the Wells variety). Super racist name? Of course. But if they change the name, that will deprive me of referring to them as the Washington R-Words and I’m not ready to give that up just yet. In all seriousness this name should absolutely be changed eventually because it is blatantly racist, but if 90% of Native Americans don’t care, I don’t think people need to push their Irish Guilt onto those that this truly might matter to. Snyder and his politically incorrect collection of trademarks live to see another day.

Amendola Takes a Hair Cut to Keep Winning with the Patriots

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CSNNE – Asked how he came to make the decision, Amendola repeatedly explained that there was nowhere else he wanted to be. In order to remain with the Patriots, he was willing to cut his base salary down from $5 million to $1.25 million.

Carports for everybody! Danny Amendola you beautiful sonofabitch. Amendola took a pretty substantial pay cut to stay with the Pats because he loves the team, the coach, the city, but above all else the dude wants to win. Amendola spent a longg time in St. Louis when the Rams were a glorified college team just pissing away the prime years of a lot of guys. No way he’s going back to a hell hole like that to make a few more bucks.

Rumblings started surfacing again this offseason after Amendola restructured his deal last offseason too. What originally was put into place as a replace Wes Welker deal, was starting to seem a little rich for Belichick and co. Danny’s a smart dude, he banked a lot of money the first season plus where he was largely hurt or ineffective. So maybe in his head it all evens out. But after putting in the work with TB12 and finally getting right physically he’s been money and is now one of Brady’s most trusted targets and rarely even drops a ball, unlike some other guys.

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Never forget the Edelman to Amendola touchdown against the Ravens either; that one goes into the Patriots Porn Hall of Fame.

Plus Kay Adams ain’t too bad of an incentive.

NFL No Longer Accepting Draft Prospects If They Can’t Cook

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Yahoo Sports – “A college prospect had to defend his cooking skills, which were criticized by an anonymous scout, the day before the NFL draft…”I worry about him because of off-the-field issues. The kid has no life skills. At all. Can’t cook. Just a baby. He’s not first round for me. He scares me to death.”

A college student who can’t cook. That’s what NFL scouts are concerned with these days? When I was a freshman in college I used to buy these little packages of tuna because I had no idea how to use a can opener.

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Ride the shuttle to Wal-Mart and stock up on Red Barrons (bootleg Mama Celeste), popcorn chicken and any other food I could microwave. Sure Apple may need to upgrade his diet from Goldfish and Beers for dinner, but I think he’ll be fine playing some football without a degree from Cordon Bleu.

 

Troy Smith’s DUI Arrest Makes Me Sad for His Madden Glory Days

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I’ve always had a fondness for mobile QB’s who enter the league and wind up as journeymen backups and I think that probably goes back to my Madden Glory Days. Pick a team with a fast backup QB and then wreck havoc on everyone. Now keep in mind this was before the Russell Wilson/Cam Newton/Colin Kaepernick wave of QB’s entered the league. This was back when the only starting QB that could really move was Vick, which obviously got worse over time. But take the Ravens, bench Flacco’s bum ass and insert Troy Smith. Go five wide and wait until you find the edge or just destroy people with screens and slants, basically just run the Ray “Voodoo” Tatum spread offense. I had roommates firing clickers off the wall because these terrible real life QB’s just dominated in Madden. Smith, Vince Young, Tebow, even going back to Doug Flutie’s Chargers days. Overall rating of 68? As long as your Speed and Acceleration are over 75, don’t give a shit, I will take you to victory. Poor Troy Smith, we’ll always have Madden even if that NFL career didn’t pan out like I had hoped.

NFL Teams Meeting With Free Agents Solely Because Patriots Were Interested

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via Patriots.com

via Patriots.com

ESPN – “One agent whose free-agent client recently had a workout with the Patriots shared the following: When word of the player’s visit to New England had become public, four teams called that day to express some level of interest. Up to that point, interest in the player around the league had been dormant … this was one example of how their actions can sometimes spark movement from other clubs who are more likely to be reactive than proactive.”

For a second I thought this was a Jerry Thornton article, and Mike Reiss is a pretty straight shooter so this is not a pro-Patriots puff piece. These stories continue to come out about how the Patriots are just smarter than everyone else. Whether that’s actually even true or not doesn’t really matter because perception is reality my friends.

When fans say it, it comes off as “arrogant” and “cocky,” but when legit reporters are writing about how other teams are dialing up prospects they’ve never even heard of simply because Belichick and co. took a look at them, that is gold. Knowing Belichick this could very easily just be smoke and mirrors. He could probably make teams think the next stud NFL QB is going to come from a triple-option offense out of Navy.

Don’t fool yourselves, for as much as execs around the league bitch and moan every time the Pats do something new (looking at you John Harbaugh), they all take notes and do everything they can to replicate the Pats (again; looking at you John Harbaugh). That’s why the Belichick Coaching Tree, no matter how many former BB assistants fail to survive on their own, will never dry up as long as Bill is still coaching. Just keep throwing darts and hope that you stumble onto the next Belichick. Hell I wouldn’t be surprised if Steve Belichick gets an offer sheet for a head coaching gig next offseason.