Posted on September 4th, 2015
By DERON SNYDER
Is it over yet?
It’s hard to tell when you’ve been hunched over, eyes closed and your head in your hands, scared to look up because who-knows-what else might be coming next.
It’s hard to tell whether the nation’s laughter has stopped for good or everyone is just catching their breath, wafting for the next joke.
It’s hard to tell after the local NFL franchise has become an even bigger punching bag this week, absorbing enough head shots to warrant the concussion protocol.
Fans at FedEx Field Thursday night witnessed the fourth and, mercifully, final preseason game. Players on each sideline battled for final spots on the roster – or the practice squad at worse – with Jacksonville’s would-be reserves beating Washington’s would-be reserves, 17-16.
But more importantly than the final score or which players were Nos. 48-53, the exhibition season has reached its conclusion.
Thank goodness the NFL doesn’t play five such games.
The news cycle might’ve blown a fuse if Washington had another week to practice its dysfunction.
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Posted on September 2nd, 2015
By DERON SNYDER
The NBA is looking forward to Christmas Day, when a Finals rematch between LeBron James’ Cavaliers and Stephon Curry’s Warriors highlights a five-game showcase.
The NFL is circling Dec. 25, too, but with dread. That’s the release date for “Concussion,” a movie that will give the league a headache and black eye.
After the trailer debuted Monday on Sports Illustrated’s MMQB website, folks began talking about Will Smith as an Oscar candidate. Smith plays Dr. Bennet Omalu, the real-life pathologist who discovered chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
In response to the buzz, including reports that filmmakers altered the movie to appease the NFL, out trotted Jeff Miller, the league’s senior vice president of health and safety policy.
“We are encouraged by the ongoing focus on the critical issue of player health and safety,” he said in a statement Tuesday, apparently eying the Academy Award for Best Damage Control. “We have no higher priority.”
Guess he’s never heard of Deflategate?
The NFL’s first, second and third order of business is to protect “The Shield” and the $10 billion in revenue it produces. To achieve that goal, fan interest must remain high and player defection must stay low. In others words, the league wants eyeballs and fewer Chris Borlands.
“Concussion” could threaten both goals.
It’s not that Omalu’s story is new; he was featured in an 8,700-word GQ article six years ago. It’s not that CTE is a foreign concept; the neurodegenerative disease has been likened to boxing’s dementia pugilistica. It’s not that tragic repercussions for former players such as Junior Seau, Dave Duerson and Jovan Belcher are unnoticed; wrangling over a $900 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit continues.
But something about movies strikes a chord like nothing else.
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Posted on September 1st, 2015
By DERON SNYDER
I played my first and only season of organized football after high school, as a 17-year-old junior college student on a local club team.
Back then in the early ‘80s, a few NFL players were wearing gloves and wristbands adorned with a triangle logo, making a really cool fashion statement. I brought a pair of the gloves, leather-like and slick with no sense of feel as the ball arrived. If anything, the gloves made catching a little more difficult.
But I looked good.
Nowadays, gloves are as common as cleats and mouthguards. These gloves not only add sartorial splendor to uniforms, they help receivers make spectacular grabs like the one-handed doozy last year by the New York Giants Odell Beckham Jr.
Beckham graces the cover of EA Sports’ Madden 2016, looking like a hoops star doing a finger roll. Except he’s hauling in a football – not laying up a basketball – with with his outstretched left hand. It would be another insane reception if we saw it in real life.
Maybe he’ll replicate it in two weeks on Sunday Night Football against Dallas, the team he victimized in November for perhaps the greatest catch ever.
I’ve never given much thought to the benefits of modern gloves, which have “tackified” fingers and palm areas for a surer, more-secure grip when catching the ball. But considering how the NFL’s uniform code is roughly 4,000 words (with nearly 400 devoted to shoes alone), I’m shocked to discover Roger Goodell and the Masters of Minutia have left gloves largely unregulated.
“No one looks at those gloves,” John Madden told the Los Angeles Times in a story Sunday. “I saw them when I was at a meeting in Indy. They passed them around and somebody made the comment that, ‘Pretty soon, these gloves are going to be able to catch a ball without a hand in them.’”
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Posted on August 29th, 2015
By DERON SNYDER
BALTIMORE – In Saturday’s preseason game against Washington, Baltimore scored a touchdown on its fourth play from scrimmage.
Out trotted Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins, named the starter 24 hours earlier and eager to stay atop the depth chart.
He threw an interception on the team’s fourth play from scrimmage.
Immediately, thoughts of 2014 came to mind, when Cousins was intercepted nine times in five starts, including four in a shellacking against the New York Giants. Two-and-a-half games (and four picks) later, Cousins had thrown away his initial shot to prove he’s NFL-starter material.
Now he might has another opportunity, an unexpected opening brought about by Robert Griffin III, who was declared unavailable 24 hours earlier, going from concussed to cleared and back to concussed.
While Washington and the NFL pointed fingers to escape blame for the debacle, Cousins set his sights on the starting quarterback job.
He mostly looked the part following the first drive against Baltimore and finished with 20 completions in 27 attempts for 190 yards and one touchdown. He sensed pressure. He got rid of the ball quickly and on time. He spread the wealth.
There was a lot like as he led two touchdown drives in Washington’s 31-13 comeback victory after Baltimore jumped to a 13-0 lead.
“We took it down in the two-minute drill, there were no sacks, we came away at halftime with the lead,” Cousins said after the game, ticking off what stood out to him. “I felt like the ball was distributed to several different players – running backs, receivers and tight ends – and I felt like we converted third downs. There’s lots of positives to take away certainly.”
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Posted on August 27th, 2015
By DERON SNYDER
In Texas, for a situation much graver than stinky quarterback play, Robert Griffin III’s college coach is facing a question that’s often asked when trouble arises: “What did you know and when did you know it?”
Art Briles is being queried about his prior knowledge of Sam Ukuachu before the Boise State transfer arrived and went on to be convicted for sexually assaulting a Baylor student.
In Washington, it seems we’re headed to the point where Griffin’s current coach will make a crucial personnel decision and face a similar inquiry.
If/when Jay Gruden pulls the plug on RG3, we’ll ask what the coach saw that convinced him to give up and when he saw it.
The better question at this moment: What does Gruden see that everyone else is missing? Entering the team’s third preseason game, Griffin has shown few signs and inspired little confidence that he’s worthy of the starting job Gruden gave him in January.
RG3 has yet to lead a touchdown drive this preseason, settling for one field goal in seven possessions. Washington was contained to its own side of the field in the four drives he engineered against Detroit last week. That pitiful outing – eight dropbacks, six hits, three sacks, one fumble and one reported concussion – wasn’t entirely Griffin’s fault.
But he’s not blameless.
The Lions demonstrated that every area of concern about RG3 remains firmly in place, namely pocket presence and fundamentals under pressure, along with the ability to detect blitzes, orchestrate protection and deliver the ball quickly while avoiding unnecessary shots.
A multitude of observers believe they have seen enough and know enough right now, concluding that Griffin is a liability and Washington has a better chance of winning with Kirk Cousins under center.
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Posted on August 25th, 2015
By DERON SNYDER
Maybe, just maybe, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell isn’t a complete dunderhead.
Wouldn’t it be something if his ham-handed approach to various disciplinary issues over the years – Spygate, Bountygate, Deflategate and assorted domestic violence cases – was actually a diabolical scheme to goose up NFL interest? To make the league more like a maddening soap opera in which you hate the main character but can’t turn away?
That would be pure genius, which seems unlikely unless others are pulling Goodell’s strings. But no matter the silliness of his decisions, they effectively keep the spotlight away from the gravest issue the NFL wants to downplay: the mental plight players can face.
Former NFL quarterback Erik Kramer reportedly shot himself in a suicide attempt last week. His former wife told NBC News she believes his depression is partially a result of head injuries he endured during his 10-year career, primarily with Chicago and Detroit.
The incident occurred just one week after the late Junior Seau was inducted into the Hall of Fame and NFL officials were terrified that his daughter would detail the deteriorating psychological conditions that led to his suicide.
Earlier this year, four players aged 30 or younger decided to retire. Former San Francisco linebacker Chris Borland said long-term brain health was his motivation. “I just want to live a long healthy life and I don’t want to have any neurological diseases or die younger than I would otherwise,” the 24-year-old told ESPN.
Surely the NFL wants our scrutiny focused elsewhere, not on depressed, broken players and their concussion lawsuits. Those fellows make you question the adage that there’s no such thing as bad publicity.
At the very least, there are degrees of unfavorable attention and you can’t blame the league for welcoming a less-harmful diversion. Domestic violence did the trick until a “controversy” in the AFC Championship Game took over.
Excuse the pun, but this is a no-brainer: PSI beats CTE as a preferred topic of discussion.
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Posted on August 20th, 2015
By DERON SNYDER
Myles Jones was a typical sixth-grade athlete on Long Island who played football and basketball year-round. When a friend’s father suggested that Jones should try lacrosse, the young lad was like: “What’s that?”
Ten years later, Jones is one of the sport’s biggest stars. He owns the Duke University record for career points as a midfielder and has a year left to bolster it. He was a first-team All-American last season and won the national award given to the top midfielder. He stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 240 pounds, making him a strong, fast and athletic specimen more commonly found on football fields and basketball courts.
But it’s not enough that Jones discovered lacrosse and the sport opened doors for him.
He wants to ensure that other African-American kids are at least introduced to the game and perhaps give it a try.
To that end Jones has become an ambassador of sorts. He was the star attraction at a youth lacrosse clinic in Brooklyn last month and at another one in Baltimore last week.
“I love telling kids my story about not even knowing what lacrosse is,” Jones said Tuesday in a phone interview from campus, where he had just finished helping freshmen teammates move in. “Fast-forward 11 years later, and lacrosse could be my job and I could make a really comfortable living doing it. I feel like it would be selfish to keep the secret to myself.
“I want to speak about it to other kids, especially kids who look like me.”
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Posted on August 18th, 2015
By DERON SNYDER
For several summers during my childhood, my sister and I would leave Brooklyn and spend up to six weeks at Harmony Heart Camp in Jermyn, Pa. The counselors went by “Uncle John,” “Aunt Vickie,” etc., and they were charged with instilling or reinforcing Christian values in the campers.
We tolerated the lessons and songs in exchange for the bucolic setting, enjoying the lake, woods, arts & crafts, gymnasium and corral. The latter was my absolute favorite. In spending so much time there, I was allowed to assist in grooming and saddling the ponies and conducting rides for fellow campers.
One year, we had a “rodeo” with competition in several events. I won multiple ribbons, which came in blue (first place), red (second place) and white (third place). The blues stand out in my memory and engended the most pride, but the red and white ones were better than nothing.
Not that anything was wrong with nothing. That was the reward for finishers outside the top three and they seemed fine with the arrangement.
Nowadays, I guess everyone would receive a ribbon, just one difference between life in the ‘70s and modern times.
Recognition for participation is the norm; results are secondary. Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison isn’t a fan of that philosophy, as evidenced by his Instagram rant over the weekend.
“I came home to find out that my boys received two trophies for nothing, participation trophies!” Harrision wrote. “While I am very proud of my boys for everything they do and will encourage them till the day I die, these trophies will be given back until they EARN a real trophy.
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Posted on August 11th, 2015
By DERON SNYDER
Robert Griffin III and Johnny Manziel have a few things in common.
Both had electrifying college careers that were big on improv and solos. Both won the Heisman Trophy at outlier schools in Texas. Both were expected to become franchise quarterbacks (under coaches no longer in place).
And the questions out-number the answers regarding both.
But two years behind RG3 in experience, Manziel wants to limit similarities down the road. He can’t go back to last year, rewind his rookie season and produce an award-winning campaign that results in a playoff berth like Griffin did right out the gate. Nothing that has transpired in Washington since then holds no interest.
Griffin started with a bang and is trying to re-ignite his flash.
Manziel has been a dud who’s trying to sparkle for the first time.
In five games, including two starts, he completed 18-of-35 passes with no touchdowns and two interceptions. Johnny Football was deflated.
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Posted on August 11th, 2015
By DERON SNYDER
At least two pro athletes had a bad week last week.
They were central figures in incidents that occurred in the wee hours, leading to police investigations and undesirable headlines. The players entered the news cycle for off-the-field matters, rarely a positive development, and they can count on related questions indefinitely. Their pro resumes have new footnotes that demand attention amidst the sea of stats and other facts.
But there’s a huge difference in the cases of Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane and former San Francisco 49ers sackmaster Aldon Smith. Half the population doesn’t notice the distinction while the other half doesn’t care. It has nothing to do with the NHL versus the NFL and it’s not about one action versus another.
Police in Santa Clara, Calif., arrested Smith on Friday morning for a hit and run, DUI and vandalism. Police in western New York announced on Friday that Kane is being investigated for an alleged rape.
Actually, police didn’t mention the exact cause in the latter case. The statement referred to “an incident that allegedly occurred at the residence of NHL player Patrick Kane last weekend.”
But we already knew what it entailed. A day earlier, The Buffalo News cited two law enforcement sources in reporting that Kane “is the target of a rape investigation.” The paper said sources said a local woman said Kane sexually assaulted her.
That’s abhorrent if true, repugnant if false.
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