Hall of Disappointments

The NFL will announce the latest Hall of Fame inductions Saturday night. Some of the finalists will be shocked or disappointed with the way it worked out. Deion Sanders has recently said that there are too many members. Worthy candidates will not get in.

We saw that with the special Senior inductions of ten former players, two coaches and three contributors. For some, it was probably their last chance for induction like the great Cowboys WR Drew Pearson.

The worst part was the Senior selections were unveiled on the NFL Network on their morning show when nobody was watching. What were they thinking? Why didn't they do it in prime time?

Boring Brady Rumors

There has been too much discussion on Boston sports talk radio about the future of Tom Brady. There are so many unfounded rumors out there. Everyone is speculating over where he might land.

It's hard to believe that fans will be inundated with this until the start of free agency on March 18th.

He will ultimately make a decision that he will need to live with , whatever it is. Until then, fans are being bored to death.

It's as bad as the talk about the red Sox and Mookie Betts and his potential trade.

Rivers Might Not Flow There

Eli Manning and Phillip Rivers will always share a connection going back to the 2004 NFL draft. Manning was selected by the Chargers as the first overall pick, but made it known that he would sit out the season before playing for them. They completed a trade with the Giants for draft picks which resulted in the selection of Phillip Rivers.

Manning retired last Friday. Rivers will be a free agent and recently moved his family to Florida. He has been qiet about his future planes, but they won't involve the Chargers.

Rivers will get future discussion about the Hall of Fame, but probably won't make it in spite of playing 16 seasons with 8 Pro Bowls. His 59,271 passing yards and 397 TD's might not be enough to get him there.

Try 4th and 15

The NFL Competition Committee has studied a number of proposals over the years to make the game safer and more interesting to the fans.

Recent changes to the onside kick rules have moved it to the point where in the last two years only 10.5% (12 of 114) have been recovered by the kicking team. It seems to be done under total desperation.

A proposed test in the Pro Bowl allowed for the offense to keep the ball on their own 25 yard line with a 4th and 15 situation. When teams tried to convert under this scenario during the regular season, they were successful 16.2% of the time.

This rule change should be tried out in pre-season games to see if it's viable.

The Ultimate Trade

Today is the 20 year anniversary of the agreement between the Jets and Pats allowing Bill Belichick to become the head coach in Foxborough after resigning from the Jets with only one day on the job.

There was a great deal of negotiation going back and forth before the terms were announced. The Pats gave up their first round pick (16th overall) in the 2001 draft, along with their 4th and 7th. In return, the Pats got Belichick as well as the Jets 5th in 2001 and 7th in 2002.

It didn't work out that great for the Jets, but it certainly did for the Pats.

Playing It Safe

It doesn't really matter that the AFC beat the NFC 38-33 in the Pro Bowl. It's always the strangest game of the year with the way they tweak the rues. It's a good idea for player safety, but it's not what the fans watch every Sunday.

The most important thing is for players not to get hurt, especially those who will be free agents. We only need to look back to Pats RB Robert Edwards who suffered a devastating knee injury while playing a beach volleyball game which was part of the scheduled activities. He was never the same player after and it lead to a short career.



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A Time For Mostert

San Francisco 49er's RB Raheem Mostert had the game of his life against the Packers last Sunday in the NFC Championship game.

He rushed for 220 yards and four TD's, the second best in NFL history to Eric Dickerson's 248 yards in 1986.

Mostert immediately became the latest example of how talent is misjudged and overlooked throughout the league.

He was undrafted from Purdue in 2016. He spent time on the practice squads of the Eagles, Dolphins, Ravens, Browns, Jets and Bears before ending up with the 49er's.

After they signed him, he finished the 2017 and 2018 seasons on injured reserve. When he finally got a chance to play this year, he rushed for 772 yards in the regular season.

His performance can only help his future in the league.

No January Madness

After LSU defeated Clemson in the College National Championship game, critics were complaining about the team selection process for the playoffs. They want more teams involved to give other conferences a chance.

They have a valid point, but how many teams should be included? I have no issue with eight, but any more would be an issue of player safety after a 12 game season and playoff rounds to get there.

In the end, there is no good way to select these teams.

No More Checks For Eli

The future of Eli Manning in the NFL was looking very cloudy after March 19 when he would become a free agent. How many teams really want to sign a 39 year old quarterback who would command a huge salary? He had no desire to be a backup.

Many felt he should retire. He was healthy and avoided injuries that ended the careers of many other quarterbacks.

He has finally decided to call it quits and will retire tomorrow as a Giant. He can take comfort that his NFL career earnings of $252.3 million tops all players, just ahead of brother Peyton ($248.7 million).

He could be passed by free agent QB's Drew Brees ($244.7 million) and Tom Brady ($235.2 million) if they decide to keep playing, but Eli made his money and is moving on.

It Changed 26 Years Ago

It was 26 years ago yesterday that the fortunes of football changed forever in New England. Robert Kraft bought the Pats from James Orthwein for the unheard of price of $175 million. He was ready to move the team to St Louis. The franchise is now worth an estimated $2 billion.

Bill Parcells was in his first year of coaching the team. Eventually, he would leave after the Super Bowl loss of the 1996 team. He was followed by Pete Carroll who will coach in the Super Bowl in two weeks, but never made the playoffs.

In 2000, Bill Belichick came aboard and helped lead them to 19 Eastern Division tiles, 10 AFC Championship games and six Super Bowl wins.

The Hit That Probably Caused AB's Issues

Antonio Brown continues to post bizarre comments on social media. Some of his behavior is indicative of an individual who might be suffering from mental health issues.

His agent Drew Rosenhuas has said he will no longer represent him until he seeks help. Social media has questioned whether he might be suffering from CTE, especially after being knocked out in a January 2016 playoff game against the Bengals by LB Vontaze Burfict.

A review of the video shows a massive and devastating helmet to helmet hit on Brown. Many feel his behavior started to change after that moment.

It's up to Brown to seek professional help, but nobody could come out of that play without a brain injury.

Championship Sunday 2020

The AFC and NFC Championship games should be two great ones today. Pats fans took it for granted that their team would be there today, but looked what happened. Now they don't even know if Tom Brady will be with the team next year.

On the AFC side, I would like to see the Titans win as I have always been a fan of Mike Vrabel since he played for the Pats. It would be great to see WR Tajae Sharpe in the Super Bowl since he went to UMass.

The 49er's and Packers are two franchises with a rich history. Many fans would like to see Tom Brady's former backup, Jimmy Garoppolo play in the big game.

Hopefully, we see two very competitive contests.