Posted on September 11th, 2018
By DERON SNYDER (as published in The Washington Times)
You never know what you might find on the NFL scrap heap. Perhaps a serviceable body for special teams. A solid reserve for situational rotations. Maybe an upgrade at kicker and punter, as there’s always some of those to choose from.
But Washington found a rarity three weeks ago when it rummaged through the bargain bin: a Hall of Fame halfback with tread left on the tire.
We don’t know if enough remains for Adrian Peterson to last the entire season, but he had plenty of traction in Week 1. For at least one game, Sunday’s 24-6 victory against the Arizona Cardinals, Peterson showed the form that makes him the 10th-leading rusher in NFL history.
Dominating an opponent on the ground with a punishing runner sets a distinct tone. Screens, sweeps and quick posts can be nice and account for positive yards. However, they don’t make the same statement as sending your halfback through the heart of the line. That’s equivalent to punching a defense in the mouth.
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Posted on September 5th, 2018
By DERON SNYDER (as published in The Washington Times)
NFL football is back.
You just have to dig through all the noise, clutter and distractions to find it … if you still care.
This season opens like every other season and like no other season, both at the same time. As usual, there are questions about the defending champs’ ability to repeat, up-and-comers poised on the brink, and exactly how long Tom Brady can remain Tom Brady.
But as we approach Thursday’s opening kickoff between the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles, off-field matters obscure the product like crazy. At least for folks who allow themselves to be bothered.
For some of them, the issue of player safety has dampened enthusiasm for the game. They find it increasingly difficult to consume a sport that inflicts such damage on the participants. Not only the unseen toil of concussions and CTE, but also the stomach-churning visuals of knees bent in grotesque fashion.
But for others, their growing distaste has nothing to do with the game and everything to do with the business.
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Posted on September 3rd, 2018
By DERON SNYDER (as published in The Washington Times)
There’s nothing like a good quarterback controversy to get folks riled up.
The QBs don’t even have to be good – remember John Beck and Rex Grossman battling to be Washington’s starter? They just have to play the position and seemingly be no better or no worse than the next guy.
Who starts under the center is the No. 1 question fans have when the answer isn’t obvious. And if that’s the main thing fans want to know, you better believe it’s atop reporters’ list of queries. Coaches are asked to address situations at other positions, on either side of the ball, but responses regarding their signal-caller are the most urgent.
Having those explanations prepared and ready to go should be a no-brainer.
But every now and then, they’re caught off-guard or display frustration when interviewers seek this-very-second updates. That’s when coaches misinterpret media members as enemies of the people, instead of proxies for the fans (and gamblers).
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Posted on August 29th, 2018
By DERON SNYDER (as published in The Washington Times)
Maybe it’s time for Dallas to put Jerry Jones in the concussion protocol.
The Cowboys owner could be suffering from a hidden head injury, based on his recent comments regarding player safety and an expanded NFL season. Then again, maybe he’s just woozy from all the money he’s made since buying the club, and the thought of taller piles make him dizzier.
We’re not shocked that Jones favors an extended regular season. He has advocated an 18-game schedule for years. But his new lines of reasoning for turning two exhibitions into regular games raise questions about his lucidity.
“I think, candidly, it’s probably physically better for players than it is to have the longer preseason, the longer practicing,” Jones said Tuesday during an appearance on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas. “Our studies show that we actually have a ramped-up injury situation with players during preseason as opposed to the injury factor in the regular season.”
Jones said it’s “debatable” whether an 18-game season would actually create a safer game for the players.
By that logic, he can debate whether walking through more dark alleys is safer than fewer.
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Posted on August 28th, 2018
By DERON SNYDER (as published in The Washington Times)
The tweet from Paul Hembekides of ESPN Research says everything you need to know about the NCAA’s relationship with truth, justice and the American way:
“Terrelle Pryor: suspended 5 games for selling gear in exchange for tattoos.
“Todd Gurley: suspended 4 games for accepting $3,000 to autograph memorabilia.
“9 UNC football players: suspended 4 games for selling sneakers in exchange for up to $2,500.
“Urban Meyer: suspended 3 games.”
There you have it: College athletes who make a little cash on the side, are treated harsher than college coaches who ignore domestic abuse allegations.
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Posted on August 23rd, 2018
By DERON SNYDER (as published in The Washington Times)
My friend John loves baseball. He knows baseball. He played in college and his brother works in baseball.
A lifelong Yankees fan living in metropolitan Washington, John has been amused by the Nationals’ struggles since they earned their first playoff berth in 2012. He also suffers from an obnoxious case of I-told-you-so.
“You still think the Nats GM is good or is it the Lerners? LOL,” he texted on the eve of last month’s trade deadline, after Washington – this sounds familiar – lost two consecutive games to the lowly Miami Marlins.
“They are accursed,” he continued. “The curse of Strasburg.”
“Haha,” I texted back, preferring to avoid another knockdown battle over Washington’s version of “The Decision.”
But more and more, I wonder if John is onto something.
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Posted on August 21st, 2018
By DERON SNYDER (as published in The Washington Times)
We’re getting closer to that day.
It will be accompanied by a chorus of howls. Fans will decry the development and declare the situation is out-of-order. Coaches around the country will survey the conditions and ponder their own fate. Administrators in high places will fret about financial repercussions and contemplate contingency plans.
What about you? How will you react when an amateur team – perhaps your favorite or alma mater – decides to sit out rather than suit up? What will you think about the players who choose to take a stand rather than take the field?
Before long, imagining won’t be necessary.
We’ve already seen it a notch below college football’s highest level and it’s just a matter of time before it rises.
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Posted on August 15th, 2018
By DERON SNYDER (as published in The Washington Times)
The dictionary has a new picture next to the word “inexcusable.”
There’s a turtle on its hind legs and clutching a red ‘M’ to its chest, while standing under a University of Maryland banner.
As a matter of fact, the identical image appears in three other places, alongside the definition of indefensible, reprehensible and unjustifiable.
Mistakes happen. But the circumstances of 19-year-old Jordan McNair’s death can’t be dismissed with a simple “my bad.” Maryland’s football staff betrayed the former offensive lineman so blatantly, it seems almost willful.
No, I don’t believe the team officials present at McNair’s fateful May 29 workout wanted him to die. I suspect that coach DJ Durkin, former strength and conditioning coach Rick Court, head athletic trainer Wes Robinson and other staffers on hand would claim they loved McNair like a son, because a football team is family.
But their inaction before, during and after McNair’s final team activity tells a different story.
It says they, literally, couldn’t care less.
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Posted on August 13th, 2018
By DERON SNYDER (as published in The Washington Times)
Maybe coach DJ Durkin’s supporters are correct about the anonymous sources behind ESPN’s shocking report on Maryland’s football program.
Maybe the current and former players who claim a toxic culture exists are disgruntled. Maybe they’re underachievers who rebelled against pushing themselves. Maybe their description of life under Durkin and strength and conditioning coach Rick Court are blown way out of proportion.
Maybe the former staffer who said “you wouldn’t want anybody talking to your son that way” was overly sensitive. Maybe a second former staffer who said he’d “never, ever, ever” allow his son to play for Durkin was upset that things didn’t work out professionally in College Park.
Each of the above suppositions could be absolutely true. But that wouldn’t make the following automatically false:
Durkin needs to go.
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Posted on August 8th, 2018
By DERON SNYDER (as published in The Washington Times)
To play or not to play. That was the question.
Was it nobler for the Las Vegas Aces to suffer the effects of 25-plus hours of travel before facing the Washington Mystics Friday night? Or was the road-weary WNBA team right to oppose the uncompromising, show-up-and-play notion?
The answer depends on whom you ask.
Each of us can say what we’d do in a given situation. But the Aces were on the clock, weighing real-life circumstances, not a hypothetical situation. They neither played nor showed up at Capital One Arena, and on Tuesday were slapped with the WNBA’s first-ever forfeiture.
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