TackleDummy wrote:

“I wouldn’t have taken him,” Dungy told the Tampa Tribune. “Not because I don’t believe Michael Sam should have a chance to play, but I wouldn’t want to deal with all of it. It’s not going to be totally smooth … things will happen.”

I wonder if Dungy would have drafted the first black as the Rams did back in the ’40s. Or if he were in charge of the Dodgers back then if he would have signed Jackie Robinson.

Could that quote be “I wouldn’t have taken him,” Dungy told the Tampa Tribune. “Not because I don’t believe Jackie Robinson should have a chance to play, but I wouldn’t want to deal with all of it. It’s not going to be totally smooth … things will happen.”

Damn, that would be a great question for him. I hope someone asks it.

w
v

More La

===========================
Laram

People/athletes IMO are hardwired a certain way. There are people/players that like living on the edge, that are risk takers. They subscribe to the high risk, high reward theory.

Some athletes shy away from crunch time, others live for it. You have qb’s that instinctively look for the “kill shot”. They will look for that first, and must be trained to dial it back. It’s very difficult when it is in the reverse.

The “reverse” is the case with Bradford IMO. Go back and look at any college tape of Bradford, he immediately looks to a predetermined area short, and his receivers did the rest. That continues to be the case today, and the way he is wired IMHO. I don’t know if that can be changed.
=======================================

Winnbrad wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>wv wrote:</div>
He’s soft,
and I don’t think he
has good hands,
and I am disappointed
in that personnel decision.

I’d say the Finnegan and Cook signings
were major disappointments.

w
v

Agreed. Unfortunately, he’s still the Ram’s leading receiver. Doesn’t say much for the receiving corps.

I still haven’t forgotten the play where he allowed
the ball to be punched out of his hands at the goal-line.

There aint no forgett’in.

w
v

============================
Laram

Sam has taken hits that he could not avoid.

What they’re talking about is soft mentally.

When you get pressure on him if its a choice between hanging in the pocket waiting for somebody to clear or letting it go…he will let it go.

Sam has thrown 6 pick six’s in only 2 FULL SEASONS. That’s a lot, and is what Robinson meant by “he will throw us some”.

I have been told that teams gameplan Sam to get a rush in his face, and squeeze the underneath routes.

That is why we have seen so many underneath routes jumped, and taken to the house.

They’re sitting on those because that is his tendency.

They know in the face of a rush, he’s not going to hang in and let the longer routes develop.

At the NFC championship game I posted a pic of me, my seats and 9ers scouts sitting with me.

That is the book on him.
===================================

Smooth runner. Very smooth.

w
v

zn wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>wv wrote:</div>
So we have a former player saying Bradford is “soft”
and a former NFL QB saying Bradford lacks ‘courage’.

w
v

Here’s my response. Would anyone think either thing if they had not heard those words from 2 guys?

In this vid, watch Bradford on the throw to Cook starting at 5:55 in. That’s against Houston, which ended the season as a top 7 defense and before the Rams game was ranked 2nd.

<iframe src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/kl2CmsTjjTY?feature=oembed&#8221; allowfullscreen=”” frameborder=”0″ height=”360″ width=”640″></iframe>

I dunno. I wish the celebrity-interviewers would ask FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS. Ya know. Like “tell us more” and “what exactly do you mean?” and “why do you say that?” and “Did you think those things about Eli before his big year?” and “What about the OLine and WR situatons?” Etc, etc, etc.

I have talked about my questions about Bradford’s “Pocket presence” for a long time,
so I’m not surprised by what his critics say. I dont think its a ‘courage’ issue.
Not sure what ‘softness’ means, exactly. I tend to think critics minimize the
OLine and WR issues he’s had. And the change in coaches and systems.

I also think analysts like to see Rothlisberger-type plays in the clutch. They
like to see a QB escape the rush with his own moves. And then make big plays with
his arm. That takes Arm skills, leg skills, and Escapability Skills, or “pocket-awareness” skills.
I’m just not sure what to think of Bradford’s “pocket awareness” skills. I’m just not sure.
At times he’s looked good and at time’s I’ve gone “hmmmm.”

In general though, i think he can be a low to mid 90’s QB. Which is good enough to “win” with.
Dunno if its good enough to win it “all” with. No-one knows, of course.

w
v

======================
So, why did it take as long as it did for him to get his opportunity? Running backs coach Ben Sirmans told the Post-Dispatch, “Sometimes you wish you would’ve figured out what you had a little earlier. Based off Zac’s success at Vanderbilt in the top conference in college football, we knew he had talent. But he was a little banged up in camp, and we had Daryl and Isaiah getting the bulk of the reps. They were the guys we’d seen, guys who had actually played in the NFL.
“It can be really difficult to get a true indication of what you have in a player until you see him in live situations.”
====================

Makes sense. Lotta things happened. Richardson hurt the toe in game one. SF and Dallas defenses
played really well. Neither Pead or Bennie C really stepped up. I think Bennie was hurt too, maybe.
And then Stacy gets to start against the Worst (by far) team in the NFL at that time.

I think Stacey is a topnotch back when he’s healthy. Very impressed with him.

w
v

zn wrote:

Yeah I am ahead of you. Look back at the post just before yours. I already said later on in the thread that though at first I thought he meant Bradford, the 2nd time around when I did the transcript, I realized he probably meant Austin.

I wonder if he means ‘mentally’ soft, like he can be intimidated — or does he mean, Bradford’s body
is easily taken-out.

Clemens is a tough QB and ‘he’ looked totally discombobulated against
the Seahawks in that game in Seattle. The Legion of Boom made a lot of QBs look soft.

w
v

• This reply was modified 10 years, 6 months ago by wv.

Well, that was interesting. He thinks Bradford is a little “soft.”

w
v

No ram fan will ever forget that game.

That was the “they are officially for real” game.

99 had so many memorable moments.

Faulk for a 2nd Round Pick
The Trent Green Injury.
The Drive against Atlanta.
The 49er game.
The first Titan game.
The Holt-Hakim relay.
The Hit against Jeff George
The Catch by Proehl.
The Warner-to-Bruce plays.
The Tackle.

We wont see that kind of team again.

Maybe Fisher can build the Greatest Defense on Turf.

w
v

• This reply was modified 10 years, 6 months ago by wv.

Mackeyser wrote:

I’d say his head wasn’t screwed on straight, but that presumes any kind of neural connection was present…

I think he should argue he’s a zombie and addicted to bath salts…

Seriously, he needs help. Why he’s still on the streets is beyond me.

Yeah, i would say, he’s probably
not gonna make my
All-Role-Model Team,
this year.

w
v

Just in general, can they ‘come together’ as a
team in Year 3
and make clutch plays on offense and defense
to win close games.

Ya know. Can the defense finally start making
the big Clutch plays on third down.

Can the offense finally start making the
big clutch plays on third down.

Obviously there are a gazillion sub-issues
that go into those two general topics (Bradford,
OLine, Secondary, Shottenheimer, WRs, etc)
but in general i want to see a team
that makes big plays on Third Down
on offense and defense.

w
v

• This reply was modified 10 years, 6 months ago by wv.

Yeah, JJ is a bit of a mystery. Is he a budding star? Over-rated? Was he mis-used last year?
Does Greg Williams know how to use him?

Not sure we really know who JJ is going to be.

w
v

If the account is true,
I wonder why he wouldn’t step aside
to let the medics help her,
if he wanted to help her.

On the other hand,
maybe the cops were being
jerks.

“Pretrial diversion” btw, to oversimplify,
is essentially
where a case gets dismissed if the defendant
just behaves himself for a year or so.
Generally.

w
v

• This reply was modified 10 years, 6 months ago by wv.