Week 8 NFL Thread

well worth the time to read this piece. sensational.

 

How the hell does Jenkins keep getting these stories? It's a great one by the way. But it's a Washington paper covering a Denver QB who has no local ties to the area.

 

Sally Jenkins works for the Post but I believe her beat is National and she resides in NYC. A nice luxury for the Post

 

+1

Sure its hard to feel sorry for someone who's earned over $100M playing football, but his comeback from that physical adversity was special.

 

Agreed. And, you know what? If he had taken your advice, he'd be the most popular coordinator in the NFL. Instead, he's a douche.

Also, and I may have wondered this aloud on here before, but seriously, what's with football coaches and their "20-hour" workdays. Seriously? Are any of these guys actually at the facility from 5:20 a.m. to 11 p.m. four days a week? And, if so, what the fuck do they learn about a team while dissecting film at 10 p.m. that they didn't fucking see at noon?

Sorry, but breaking down game film and tendencies and putting together a game plan to finish 8-8 is not more difficult or time consuming than being President of the United States, running a successful restaurant or being a CEO of a Fortune 50 company. None of those people work 20 hours a day, four days a week. Not one of them. And, if I had to guess, not one of these NFL coaches logs the hours they all claim.

 

Regarding Shanny's return to Denver, I'm sure the bulk of Denver fans will give him polite applause. They did that when Dan Reeves returned to Mile High when he was Atlanta's coach, even though everyone knew about his dispute with John Elway (and the two didn't reconcile until some time after that game).

Yeah, they booed Jay Cutler in a preseason game but that game took place the same season Cutler and the Broncos had their falling out. Shanny didn't exactly leave Denver on good terms but it's not like the Denver fans wanted his head on a platter at the time he was fired.

Regarding KC, I watched the Chiefs against Houston and, while the talent is there, the team seems to be lacking a few things. The biggest one might be the lack of a true No. 1 wideout -- and no, Dwayne Bowe really isn't one. Plus, while Alex Smith is a solid QB, he is not a QB who will truly put a team over the top.

What's helping the Chiefs is that Andy Reid is a far better head coach than Romeo Crennel.

 

Some of them definitely work those hours.

 

They don't really like their wives.

 

I covered one HC who was there 18 hours a day easily from training camp through the end of the season. He demanded that from his assistants as well, and a few quit as a result. They didn't mind working the hours, but felt like they were shamed if they left the office for any reason. He had a lot of turnover from his assistants...

I remember when Spurrier mocked Gruden for working the hours he did. Spurrier's staff in Washington played golf during the season and were usually home by dinnertime, which is unheard of in the NFL.

 

Gruden: 95-81, five playoff appearances, five division titles, 1 Super Bowl championship

Spurrier: 12-20, 0 playoffs, 0 championships

Coincidence?

 

How many hours a day did Lombardi work? Not being snarky, really don't know. I am personally convinced that most of the ultra-long hours of coaching work are essentially wheel-spinning -- looking at the same things over and over again hoping for inspiration to strike. Sometimes it does, I'm sure, but I'll bet most of the time it doesn't.

 

And to crossthread for a moment, a lot of the ridiculous hours thing traces back to George Allen, who was really the first coach to become famous for being a maniacal workaholic. He was known for 16-hour workdays and for eating peanut butter and ice cream for dinner because it allowed him more time to work.

But while he was a fanatic about preparation (his training camps, for example, were legendarily long and grueling), Allen actually embellished some of that image. Marv Levy, a former Allen assistant, has said Allen had two cars while he was coach of the Redskins and always kept one of them in the parking lot at the team facility so people would think he was there even when he wasn't. And the janitors had a standing order to keep the light in his office on at all times.