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January 24, 2015 at 2:32 pm in reply to: Super Agent Lee Steinberg addresses the LA Rams fans today Jan 18th #17296
znModerator
Fans could hold key to new stadium puzzle
By David HunnST. LOUIS • The costs of National Football League stadiums are rising. The portion covered by taxpayers is dipping.
And that leaves team owners looking to an old source to fill the gap:
Their fans.
Across the country, owners are selling personal seat licenses to help fund new billion-dollar glass-and-steel arenas. The seat licenses aren’t game-day tickets. Instead, they give fans their own spot in a new facility, and the right to buy season tickets every year.
Seat licenses have long been used. St. Louis sold about $80 million worth when enticing the Rams from Los Angeles.
But now they’re providing nine-figure stadium funding — a source planners here will lean on again.
San Francisco 49ers officials said last week that their seat-license program, which charged $80,000 for a high-end seat, raised $530 million toward the team’s $1.3 billion arena in Santa Clara, which opened last year.
The Atlanta Falcons, now working on a $1.4 billion stadium to replace the Georgia Dome, recently revealed that top seat license prices will rise to $45,000.
And the Minnesota Vikings surpassed goals toward $125 million in seat licenses for the team’s $1.1 billion downtown stadium, set to open next year.
Lester Bagley, the Vikings’ executive vice president for public affairs and stadium development, said the team didn’t have much of a choice. It had to replace the Metrodome. “We were at the bottom of the league in virtually every revenue category,” he said. “We built the stadium because we could not have survived in this market in that stadium, long-term.”
Here, in St. Louis, seat licenses are a pillar in the nearly $1 billion proposal to build a new football stadium rising along the Mississippi River downtown.
Early this month, a two-man team appointed by Gov. Jay Nixon revealed preliminary details of a plan to build a new football stadium here, and, perhaps, keep the Rams in St. Louis.
The two, former Anheuser-Busch President David Peacock and current Edward Jones Dome attorney Robert Blitz, pitched a riverfront arena on largely vacant land north of downtown.
Peacock and Blitz leaned on financing in other facilities when they crafted their plan. They incorporated $200 million in NFL loans — as has each recent new building. They included a $200 million match from Rams owner Stan Kroenke, as is required by the NFL loan. They estimated that extending payments on debt for the 20-year-old Edward Jones Dome, where the Rams now play, could provide another $350 million or so.
And the last major contribution? The sale of as much as $130 million in seat licenses.
Peacock has declined to discuss the seat licenses. Will Jones Dome seat license holders get preferential treatment? Will they get discounts? How much will the new seat licenses cost? Can the team sell enough to raise that kind of cash?
“We don’t know yet,” Peacock said after the initial announcement. “We have an understanding of what the value could be. Teams have done a lot of things. I think we have to acknowledge existing seat license holders.”
It’s an uncertain proposition for some fans.
“I wouldn’t buy another one,” said Larry Austell, a current Rams season-ticket holder. “I can see why it benefits the city and everything. But the bottom line is — what are you getting out of this?”
SKYROCKETING STADIUMS
In the 1990s, the decisions of two teams had a profound impact on stadium financing, say league observers.
The Rams left Los Angeles for St. Louis. And the New England Patriots tried to leave Boston for Connecticut.
The moves made the NFL rethink stadium financing. “The league said, ‘We’ve got to find a way to help teams stay in larger markets, so they’re not enticed by smaller markets that would give them free stadiums, or a significant public subsidy,’” said Marc Ganis, a stadium consultant and president of Chicago-based SportsCorp.
In 1999, NFL officials built a new loan program. It has since provided millions of dollars to stadium upgrades and rebuilds, and allowed owners to pay them off with ticket revenue and club seat premiums that would have gone back to the league anyway.
At the same time, stadium prices began to rise.
In 2009, owner Jerry Jones opened a $1.2 billion stadium for the Cowboys in Arlington, Texas. The next year, the $1.6 billion MetLife Stadium opened in New Jersey, home to two teams — the New York Giants and Jets.
To cover the cost, the Cowboys sold about $500 million in seat licenses; the Giants and Jets, selling separately, raised more than $600 million between the two of them.
It’s a new world, said Mark Lamping, the former Anheuser-Busch and St. Louis Cardinals executive who spearheaded construction of MetLife and is now president of the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars. Fans don’t want a beer and a hot dog alone. They want to check their fantasy football teams online. They want instant replays — and not one, but several, from different angles. They want fine dining.
At its core, it’s about filling stands, he said.
“It makes the TV product better,” Lamping said. “Players tend to perform better in front of a packed house. And full stadiums also mean a reasonable amount of local revenue is being generated.”
Because so much of the NFL’s national television revenue is shared, dollars that aren’t shared — parking, beer, food, stadium sponsorships, premium seating — are really important to owners, Lamping said.
“The key to the Jaguars becoming a very stable, sustainable franchise in Jacksonville is growing our local revenue,” Lamping said. “So everything we do — stadium improvements, relationships with media, who handles food and beverage — all of our decisions are measured against the metric of what it’s going to do to local revenue.
“The more local revenue you generate, the more stable your franchise is going to be, the more valuable your franchise is going to be, the more profitable your franchise is going to be.”
The St. Louis plan, Lamping said, is reasonable. It includes a nice mix of funding.
But as a smaller market, he warned, it will take more public funding than New York or San Francisco or Los Angeles.
And a stadium in Los Angeles — where Kroenke has promised to build — could handle two teams, get twice the NFL loan and sell double the number of seat licenses for, perhaps, twice as much.
for comparison
Minnesota may provide a comparable example for St. Louis.
And Vikings officials fought for years to line up public money.
“We spent 12 years at the Capitol battling to try to solve the issue of financing a new stadium,” said Bagley, the vice president for stadium development.
Bagley and others argued that public support would keep the Vikings in Minneapolis.
“There are only so many NFL teams,” Bagley said, “and many cities that would like to have one.”
Team officials also lobbied the Legislature that a new stadium downtown would benefit the state and spur development.
After a fight, the state agreed to pay $348 million toward a new stadium, adding to $150 million from the city.
Bagley said last week that stadium supporters already have proved their point. The new stadium is still in construction, and the neighborhood around it is already booming. City staff told him companies have taken out $2 billion in construction permits in the area, of which only half represent the stadium itself.
Moreover, he said, the new stadium already has secured the 2018 Super Bowl, and is in the running for collegiate basketball’s Final Four, college football’s Bowl Championship Series and even a Major League Soccer franchise.
During the debate over funding in the Legislature, opponents trotted out studies and experts showing no economic benefit to football stadiums.
“That’s simply not true,” Bagley said. “In fact, everything we said is coming true.”
There’s a long way to go in St. Louis. Stadium opponents are already voicing heated opposition, talking to legislators and issuing press releases. Legislators are arguing that they won’t extend state payments.
But even if all of that works out, the future of the NFL in St. Louis may rest with fans like Austell, the season ticket holder.
Austell, a retired sheriff’s deputy who lives in East St. Louis, said he paid $2,500 per seat for two seats before the Edward Jones Dome even opened. To get equivalent seats this time, he guesses he’ll have to pay an extra $1,000 — when he could just buy tickets online for each game.
“Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy being a season ticket holder,” he said. “I love football. Football is my No. 1 sport.”
Then Austell paused for a minute. If the stadium actually happens, he said, and he then begins to see progress on the riverfront — well, he just might change his mind.
Especially, he said, if the planned open-air stadium would add one more luxury: a retractable roof.
He’s 61. He doesn’t like the cold much anymore.
January 24, 2015 at 1:00 pm in reply to: What American Sniper did is much, much worse than rewrite history #17293znModeratorI suppose I look upon movies differently. To me they are art. I don’t see them for historical accuracy or political lessons or even social commentary. Just art. I can appreciate a beautiful sculpture of Christ w/o a belief in the resurrection. As art the movie deserves consideration as one of the best films of the year.
Art always contains political messages. It just does. Humans make art. Are reflects people’s values and perceptions.
I mean would you say a japanese movie about WW2 which included the premise that the japanese attacked pearl harbor to retaliate for an american strike on japanese forces had no political message and should be seen only as art? Of course it would have a political message. It would also be art. The 2 things just aren’t mutually exclusive.
Simple example from the past about a classic. In Shakespeare’s macbeth, macbeth is portrayed as an ambitious wrong-doer who usurps the throne from the rightful heir, Malcolm, the son of Duncan. Macbeth murders Duncan to be king.
But the histories Shakespeare based that play on say that Duncan was an ineffective king, macbeth was a popular king, and the 11th century scots elected kings from a handful of eligible nobles, of which macbeth was one. There was no such thing as a rightful king by succession.
Yet at the same time the real king in Shakespeare’s time, James I, was scottish, and for propaganda purposes traced his lineage back to banquo, a scottish noble macbeth murders in the play. James I also claimed the english throne on the basis of succession.
So Shakespeare alters history to represent the current king, James I, in a flattering light, makes it clear that succession is based on lineage not election, and erases the fact that macbeth was for a long time an effective and popular king.
That’s politics.
It’s in everything. People can’t help it.
It is a lie that the USA went to war in iraq because of 9/11. It’s one of the lies that helped drive the war effort.
That means the movie took sides.
People who choose not to ignore that fact have a very strong point. They’re not just “failing to appreciate art.” They just approach all art as human and full of cross-purposes. Which it always is.
For example, to some, a statue of christ is by its very nature idolatrous. The protestant christ appears very different from the medieval catholic christ. And so on. That kind of thing is always part of it.
Birth of a Nation is a great film aesthetically. It also endorses the rise of the KKK.
znModeratorPeter King
Deflategate: The Pressure is Building
http://mmqb.si.com/2015/01/21/patriots-tom-brady-bill-belichick-deflategate-ball-controversy/
Don’t expect discipline before Super Bowl Sunday—the NFL desperately needs to get this one right. But if anyone in the Patriots organization is found to have tampered with a game ball, the punishment will be severe
Unless the NFL can find incontrovertible evidence that someone with the Patriots ordered air taken out of footballs Sunday in Foxboro, it’s more likely than not that commissioner Roger Goodell will defer ruling on the case until after the Super Bowl. Absent clear proof in the next few days that the Patriots cheated, there’s a simple reason: There is no rush. If Goodell decides that part of the sanction would be taking draft picks from the Patriots, the draft comes 12-and-a-half weeks after the Super Bowl, giving the league time after the season to investigate more thoroughly, particularly if that investigation does not have a clear conclusion by, say, this Friday. And it’s hugely important to the league to make the right decision here, not a more expeditious one.
Regarding the off-with-their-heads reaction: It’s too early to say what the league might do in this case. But I do know this: This has set off alarm bells inside the NFL’s Park Avenue offices in Manhattan. All hands are on deck, and there is an urgency about doing this investigation right, for the obvious right reasons about the integrity of the rules and a secondary reason: The NFL doesn’t want to risk botching this investigation and issuing a ruling it later has to amend, as happened in the Ray Rice case.
Plus, teams are allowed to put up a defense when charged with an offense affecting the competitive balance of the game. The NFL constitution and bylaws mandate that the commissioner give the team in question a proper hearing so that the team can contest the charges if it chooses. Remember the Saints’ Bountygate charges? There were actually two investigations, covering several months; the first found insufficient evidence to charge the Saints with any football offenses, but the second look—after the league used forensic methods to analyze emails and text messages and communications inside the Saints organization—resulted in heavy sanctions against coach Sean Payton and GM Mickey Loomis, and the loss of two draft picks.
That is why the NFL will be—and should be—deliberate in the investigation of whether someone connected with the New England Patriots doctored the footballs either before or during the AFC Championship Game.
Three points are important to keep in mind as this story develops:
1. I think it’s fair to assume—though it hasn’t been confirmed by the league—that the Patriots’ footballs that were tested at halftime Sunday had less air, and the Colts’ footballs were all found to be legal. Connect the dots. Chris Mortensen reported Tuesday that 11 of 12 Patriots football had approximately two pounds less pressure per square inch than the mandated 12.5 psi required by the NFL. In other words, the Patriots’ footballs were softer than allowed by rule. The obvious deduction is that all the balls, for both teams, were measured at halftime, and that New England’s footballs were found to be softer—or else the league would be investigating Indianapolis as well, and the league is clearly not doing that. This is important because it would render moot the theory going around that the cold weather could have caused the air pressure in the balls to decrease. It was the same weather on both sidelines.
2. There’s a difference that all these ex-quarterbacks are not taking into account when they say, “Every team doctors the footballs.” Former quarterback Matt Leinart tweeted something Wednesday that many quarterbacks were saying in different ways: “Every team tampers with the football. Ask any QB in the league, this is ridiculous!!”Every quarterback can tamper with the 12 footballs assigned to his team in the days before the game. In the NFL, each team is allowed weekly to break in 12 new footballs as it sees fit, according to the quarterback’s preference. That includes taking the shine and slipperiness off the new balls, and compressing them and working them in to soften the leather. By rule, those 12 footballs are then delivered to the officiating crew on site 2 hours and 15 minutes before the game begins.
At that point the head linesman inspects each football with one or more members of his crew. If need be, the officials will clean off the balls. Then they will insert a needle into the balls, one by one, to ensure the balls are inflated to the proper pressure: between 12.5 and 13.5 psi. If a ball is underinflated, an electric pump is used to fill it to the requisite level. Then all 12 balls are marked by silver Sharpie with a referee’s personal preference of a mark—Gene Steratore’s crew uses the letter “L,” for Steratore’s fiancée, Lisa—and put back into the bag, and zipped. The bags are handed to the ballboys minutes before the opening kickoff. If it’s raining, or bad weather is on the way, the officials might tell the ballboys to change the ball on every play, whether it hits the ground on the previous play or not.
To sum up: Yes, the quarterback or his equipment staff can break in the balls in whatever way they want a couple of days before the game. But no, the quarterback cannot dictate the level of air pressure in the ball. Or at least he cannot do it legally. And the low air pressure in the Patriots’ footballs is why this is a story.
3. If Belichick is found to be culpable, I think Goodell will come down hard on him. It’s early. We don’t yet know where the trail on this investigation will lead. So this is presuming a lot. But in reporting a Goodell story four years ago, this anecdote stuck out to me. You’ll recall that after the 2007 Spygate investigation into the Patriots’ videotaping of opposing coaches’ signals that Goodell fined Belichick $500,000 and the franchise an additional $250,000, and he docked New England a first-round draft pick. As part of the discipline, Belichick would have to make a verbal apology in front of the press that week. Instead, the coach issued a printed statement and refused to answer any questions on the topic. “I was given assurances that [Belichick] would tell his side of the story,” Goodell said at the time. “He went out and stonewalled the press. I feel like I was deceived.”
Belichick said at the time, “I did not make any assurances about thoroughly discussing the subject publicly. I said I would address it following the league’s review. I then did that in a way I thought was appropriate. I don’t think that was deceptive.’’
Goodell did. I doubt there’s much benefit-of-the-doubt here if Goodell finds that Belichick was involved in the deflating.
As to what difference it made in a 45-7 game that the balls were deflated, seeing that the Patriots exploded for 21 third-quarter points with the balls evidently at proper inflation: irrelevant. Rules are rules, and if the Patriots broke a clear and indisputable rule, they must be sanctioned for it. The fact that the footballs made no apparent difference in the Patriots’ offensive performance doesn’t matter.
As to what would be a proper punishment if the Patriots are found guilty, I think it’s too early to say, because we don’t know everything about the story yet. But I believe if Belichick is found to be behind it, he should be suspended for some period of 2015. It’s hard to say for how long without knowing the full story, and there will be time to find that out.
And going forward, what should the league do differently in the future? Two things, I believe. One: Make the ballboys league employees, the same way clock operators and other ancillary game-day employees with influence on the game are. Put the ballboys through background checks—perhaps not as thorough as the checks game officials must go through, but just enough to ensure that their performance will not be compromised. Two: Tighten the chain-of-command between the officiating crew and the ballboys. I would suggest in the future that two of the game officials be assigned to personally deliver the bag of 12 footballs to each sideline, say, two minutes before the opening kickoff. I would also say that each ballboy should pass through a metal detector before the game and after halftime, to be sure he is not carrying any device that could be used to tamper with the air pressure of the footballs.
That all sounds pretty cloak-and-dagger. But the league should use this lapse in football protocol to do everything it can to see this is never an issue again.
znModeratorfrom off the net
—
PaulButcher59You can find starting guards in round 3 every year.
The more I look at this draft for the Rams, the more I am begging for a trade down or out of round 1. If they cannot trade down, they should go BPA, which could end up becoming a surprise pick (A DE to replace Long in the near future, a CB, etc) .
For them to get a good enough trade down offer, there will obviously have to be someone on the board worthwhile and a player the Rams may have to decide if he is worth passing on. Not saying he is going to be there, but maybe someone like Amari Cooper.
znModeratorYeah, I have my share of friends who ain’t candidates for scholarships to Cambridge, but are spooky gifted smart in an area or 2, like let’s say electronics. I believe there’s something like “football smart.”
I don’t know what that would be if there weren’t football.
Maybe, in classical times, they would be great archers or something. Or great hunters. Or lacrosse champions.
znModeratorAll I want for my birthday is a Rams post season appearance in 2015/16
Absolutely. All of us want that for your birthday, in fact.
January 24, 2015 at 4:01 am in reply to: What American Sniper did is much, much worse than rewrite history #17273znModeratorIt was a movie like most movies-designed to make dough.
Yeah, they all are. And also every single movie has a political view of life inside it. It can’t be helped. Humans make movies, humans see the world through their own political perspectives.
And in this one, one part of the political view is that 9/11 was tied to the war in iraq.
But it wasn’t. That was one of the lies used to get support for the war.
znModeratorRams give offensive linemen extra look
By Jim Thomas
MOBILE, ALA. • Fifteen minutes into the first Senior Bowl practice of the week, Rams general manager Les Snead stood maybe 10 feet from the North squad offensive linemen, watching intently as they went through drill work.
It is a telling indication of how important the offensive line is to the Rams in 2015. Yes, the quarterback situation is the No. 1 priority, but the Rams need blockers. And possibly more than one.
At a minimum we’re talking about a starting guard to replace Davin Joseph. At center, Scott Wells’ future in St. Louis may depend on what the new offensive coordinator thinks.
And then there’s right tackle Joseph Barksdale, a pending free agent. If he signs elsewhere, that’s another void.
So the Rams could be looking for as many as three starters on the offensive line for next season. Snead and others among the Rams’ contingent of coaches and scouts at the Senior Bowl are looking for potential answers in Mobile.
Although the practices are the most important part of the week for coaches and scouts, the game itself takes place today at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Kickoff is 3 p.m.
As is usually the case, there were a couple of well-known no-shows this week in Iowa tackle Brandon Scherff and Florida State center Cameron Erving.
Scherff is considered the best offensive lineman in the draft, and many feel Erving is the top center. But there was still plenty to look at in a still-muddled offensive line picture.
“There’s a good bunch of guys here,” said Russ Lande, former NFL scout and current football analyst for multiple outlets. “It’s a great class in terms of depth. If you’re in that second to third round, and you want to find a starting tackle who can start as a rookie, I think you can find that guy.”
Near the top of the list in Mobile, with both regarded as potential first-rounders, are tackles T.J. Clemmings of Pittsburgh and La’el Collins of LSU. And keep in mind, more and more college tackles seem to be getting converted to guards in the NFL these days.
Clemmings, 6-5, 305, was a defensive lineman his first three seasons at Pitt (including a redshirt season), then switched to offense, where he started in 2013 and ’14 at right tackle.
“I just wasn’t having success on the defensive line, or playing as much as I wanted to,” Clemmings said.
Paul Chryst, Pitt’s coach at the time, broached the subject by telling Clemmings his jersey wasn’t getting dirty on defense — because he wasn’t playing.
“He said we can’t waste your talent,” recalled Clemmings, who at first glance looks like the Rams’ Barksdale. “So why don’t you try the offensive line?”
Clemmings told the coach he needed a little time to think it over. About 15 minutes later, Clemmings was back in the coach’s office. He was ready to try offensive line.
Things didn’t go smoothly at first, particularly when you consider that Clemmings went against Aaron Donald every day in practice in 2013.
Donald, of course, went on to earn a Pro Bowl berth and Defensive Rookie of the Year laurels (by the Pro Football Writers) in 2014 for the Rams.
“Aaron made you want to play better — up to the next level,” Clemmings said. “He just brought intensity out all the times. Sometimes we’d get him; sometimes we wouldn’t.”
The two have stayed in contact, and Clemmings said Donald has given him some info and tips on the Senior Bowl and the overall pre-draft process.
“That was actually very helpful,” Clemmings said. “He just talked me through the whole process and what to expect for the next couple, three months.”
Despite playing right tackle in college, Clemmings got some work at left tackle this week in Mobile. According to some accounts, he still looks a little raw as a blocker.
Although Rams defensive tackle Michael Brockers is three years removed from his time at LSU, Collins remembers going against him in practice as well back in the day. Collins said he held his own in those sessions in Baton Rouge.
“Absolutely. There was always a high level of competition at LSU,” Collins said. “That’s why being here (at the Senior Bowl) kind of reminds me of home. Going against great quality players all the time.”
According to Collins, he was named La’el by his mother and grandmother, and it means “Belonging to God.”
Collins, 6-5, 321, worked at both left and right tackle during the practice week. In today’s college game, many tackles operate out of 2-point stance, and Collins looked a little uncomfortable operating out of the traditional 3-point stance.
Overall, it looked like the South squad had the better talent among offensive line prospects.
Although it’s not considered a great year in the draft for centers, Dillon Day of Mississippi State and Shaq Mason of Georgia Tech had their moments.
At guard, Alabama’s Arie Kouandjio isn’t considered as athletic as twin brother Cyrus — now with the Buffalo Bills — but is a physical blocker at 6-5, 315.
Donovan Smith of Penn State has been compared to D.J. Fluker. Although he still had a year of college eligibility remaining, Smith was allowed to compete at the Senior Bowl because he already has his college degree. He’s considered a prospect at both guard and tackle.
Jamal Douglas of Arizona State started two years at guard and one season at tackle, and is known for his quick feet and mobility.
Some consider Colorado State tackle Ty Sambrailo the most athletic offensive lineman at the Senior Bowl, but some question his physicality.
znModeratorInside Manziel’s rocky rookie season
Browns sources reveal that celebrity quarterback was a turbulent presence in ’14
By Jeremy Fowler and Pat McManamon | ESPN.com
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/1…struggled-commitment-preparation-sources-saidBEREA, Ohio — The name on the card that night in May seemed to draw as much anxiety as it did excitement.
Johnny Manziel, Quarterback, Texas A&M.
The former Heisman Trophy winner had been passed over 21 times, prompting a text from Manziel to then-Browns quarterbacks coach Dowell Loggains that he wanted to “wreck this league” in Cleveland. The words were actually more R-rated, but the implication was clear.
Twitter erupted at the selection. A Cleveland radio host cheered and screamed openly on air. Manziel gave his “money” sign as he walked onstage to greet Roger Goodell.
By season’s end, cheering had turned to frustration and anger as Manziel struggled mightily in almost six quarters as a starter, then was fined for being AWOL the final Saturday of the season. Offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan resigned with two years left on his contract. Loggains was fired. The Browns openly discussed Manziel’s viability as the franchise’s quarterback at a wide-ranging postseason staff meeting about the roster. And at least a couple of Manziel’s teammates were joking his text should have read “wreck this team.”
Now the Browns point to 2015 with a talented but misguided quarterback who must repair the wreckage done in his own locker room.
Interviews by ESPN.com with nearly 20 Browns sources, both on the record and on condition of anonymity, along with several NFL personnel sources reveal the Manziel-related problems run deep.
Those who spoke talked of a year-long pattern that showed a lack of commitment and preparation, a failure to be ready when given a chance in his first start against Cincinnati and a continued commitment to nightlife, which affected his preparation and work while in the team facility.
As one player put it, Manziel throughout the entire 2014 season was a “100 percent joke.”
Some said it should not have been a surprise, that the Browns were well aware what they were getting.
“During the draft process, not one person interviewed by the team said he was going to grow up,” said one source directly involved in the drafting of Manziel. “You can’t blame Johnny. This is who he is. The team knew that.”
ESPN.com requested to interview coach Mike Pettine or general manager Ray Farmer about Manziel, and made several attempts to reach Manziel through intermediaries. The Browns and a Manziel rep from LRMR Management referred specific questions about the quarterback to the interviews all parties gave after the season.
“I need to start doing every single thing and everything the right way and if I don’t I’m going to be exposed,” Manziel said shortly after the season.
The theme from Pettine and Farmer in postseason news conferences was blunt: It’s time for Manziel’s actions to back up his words. Farmer did not mention anything from 2014 when asked what made him believe Manziel can succeed. His belief, he said, is based on “everything he did in three years when he was in college.”
People close to Manziel say he’s a well-intentioned 22-year-old who wants to be great but needed an NFL season to realize natural ability isn’t enough.
Some teammates doubt he can ever change. Others are hopeful.
“People make mistakes,” cornerback Joe Haden said. “I’m all about giving second chances.”
Words and actions
The sequence reeked of contradiction during the last week of the season.
On that Tuesday, Manziel stood in front of about 20 media members and outlined his plan to become the Browns’ answer at quarterback. He wanted to be “the guy” for Cleveland, he said, and would do so by taking his job more seriously. He was more animated than he’d been all year, eager to declare his intentions.
Four days later, stories in the Browns’ facility began to circulate. Manziel was not present the morning before the season finale. Team security drove to Manziel’s downtown home to check on him. The Browns were packing up for the season finale at Baltimore on Dec. 28.
Two team sources said security found a player who they felt clearly had partied hard the night before. One source used the words “drunk off his a–.”
The official word was that Manziel was “late,” but players said they didn’t see Manziel until the Browns’ chartered airplane prepared to take off in the afternoon, that he was not present all morning. The team fined Manziel for missing treatment on his injured hamstring, then had him sit in the locker room during the season finale in Baltimore.
“Johnny’s his own worst enemy,” one source said.
Monday after the season, Manziel had another news conference, saying many of the same things from six days earlier — actions must support words. That night he was featured in Instagram photos on Miami Beach, a few days later at a club in Houston and a few days after that on a mountain in Aspen, Colorado.
“I brought this on myself,” Manziel said the day after the Baltimore game. “I brought these cameras and all these people that are in this locker room right now and I don’t think it’s fair to myself, I don’t think it’s fair to anybody in this locker room the distractions I’ve brought at points in time.”
None of his teammates talked about disliking Manziel personally. In fact, a “good guy” theme is prevalent with him. Some players vouch for his work ethic. Left guard Joel Bitonio said “you can tell” Manziel wants to be good and “works his tail off” in the weight room.
But several Browns sources say privately Manziel’s words to the media — he’s not the same Johnny Football, he’s learned how to be a pro — simply didn’t always match his work.
“He’s competitive,” said tight end Jordan Cameron, a free agent. “So I’m hoping that competitive nature will get him past all the other stuff. Hopefully he does, and hopefully he figures it out.
Results matched preparation
The Browns have an honor system with fining players for tardiness to team activities — $250 for first offense, $500 for second, etc. The money can go to charity.
It’s uncertain how much coaches collected from Manziel, but one source said Manziel was late often enough that it was never a surprise when he was.
One Browns staffer said he believed Manziel didn’t get tough love when attention to detail wasn’t there, that the team did not always hold him accountable when he was late.
“He’s a kid that I think wants to do well but needs to be shown how, and he didn’t always get that help, in my opinion,” one Browns staffer said.
Manziel’s on-field results were, at best, mixed.
In his first game, in Buffalo in relief of a struggling Brian Hoyer, he led a touchdown drive on his first possession.
But readiness became an issue once Manziel got the starting job the following week. Several sources said Manziel either didn’t know the plays in the huddle or didn’t call them correctly. The Browns tried to get him comfortable by using shotgun and pistol formations on about 80 percent of his downs and by simplifying the offense.
But more than once, teammates corrected the play-call in the huddle, or headed to the line hoping things would work because the call was wrong. Sometimes, the offense would get lined up wrong because Manziel forgot to read the whole play or got the verbiage wrong (saying “left” instead of “right,” for example).
Manziel’s stat line from his first start: 10-of-18 passing for 80 yards, two interceptions and a 1.0 QBR.
It’s not easy for rookies to learn plays, and some struggle. Shanahan’s system was by no means simple. Some Browns coaches felt Manziel would have transitioned better with a redshirt season.
When asked recently about rookies transitioning to the NFL, Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt said taking snaps under center and learning new terminology takes time for many rookies, though he noted his former quarterback in Pittsburgh, Ben Roethlisberger, adjusted quickly.
Players said the problems they saw in the huddle and on the field against the Bengals were similar to what they saw in practice. Several sources said he did not practice well leading up to his first start, completing fewer than 50 percent of his passes during the week.
Also that week’s practices were not full-speed as Pettine tried to rest veterans, which further compounded uncertainty.
Manziel’s preparation was marginally better for his second start, at Carolina, although the numbers didn’t reflect much of an improvement with a 4.8 QBR.
Some veterans “clearly didn’t want to play for [Manziel]” because of the lack of readiness, and they responded better to undrafted rookie Connor Shaw in part because he knew the plays, sources said. It wasn’t lost on players that Shaw played through a dislocated finger on his left hand and a rib injury that had him passing blood after the season finale, while Manziel played six quarters before hurting his hamstring, then missed treatment on the injury on the final Saturday because he was still in bed.
One source stressed Manziel worked much harder in his two weeks as a starter than in the previous three months, but it was more like cramming for a test and he could not make up for his lack of work before the starts.
Farmer said Manziel thought he was ready, but once he encountered the speed of the game he realized in a hurry he wasn’t.
“He had a positive notion going in, but then it was turned around on him,” Farmer said.
Did Farmer believe he was ready? “Sure,” Farmer said.
Pettine said he played Manziel hoping for a spark, that Hoyer was struggling to the point he felt he had to make the move.
“We knew that Johnny, for us, was the big unknown,” Pettine said the day after the season ended. “It obviously didn’t work out.”
Shouldn’t have been a surprise
The biggest on-field concern with Manziel as he moved into the NFL was whether he could master the nuances of a pro system. At Texas A&M, the emphasis was on tempo, calling plays in a hurry and getting to the line to run plays quickly. In the NFL, pre-snap reads, protections and coverages matter more than tempo.
At A&M, the center made protection calls and Manziel’s job was, in part, to find mismatches, often throwing to dominant 6-foot-5 receiver Mike Evans or scrambling when plays broke down.
“The way we talked about him in meetings, the kid never put in the time he needed to — studying film, organizing workouts, 7-on-7 workouts — he didn’t do it,” said one NFC scout with a Southeastern Conference focus. “His thing would be he’s going to show up on Saturdays, ‘I’m a gamer.’ He’d show up for practices and games but that’s about it. Johnny thought he was an NFL superstar before he came [into the league].”
One A&M source said Manziel’s attitude is catching up to him. Manziel was lax in preparation unless the Aggies were playing a top-tier opponent, such as Alabama or Auburn, when “you couldn’t get him out of the film room,” the source said. Against Rice or Sam Houston State, not so much.
Neither owner Jimmy Haslam nor new offensive coordinator John DeFilippo has committed to starting Manziel in 2015, and with Brian Hoyer an impending free agent, the future of the Browns’ quarterback position is in doubt.
Farmer will not reveal where any player is ranked on the team’s draft board. Sources, though, said Shanahan liked Jimmy Garappolo, now with New England, or Tom Savage, now with Houston. Debate existed among assistant coaches about Manziel’s draft ratings, with some not giving him a first-round grade.
One personnel exec said Manziel is a “talented, unconventional quarterback” whose skill set is wasted when used in traditional NFL sets.
Another exec likened him to a young Brett Favre — he’ll go out and have fun and is confident enough in his ability to offset the nightlife. In one particular draft room, the exec recalls a discussion that Manziel might be a “model citizen” in year one but could revert to partying in year two.
“It takes focus and commitment [to succeed in NFL], which he clearly didn’t have,” the exec said.
Can Manziel become a franchise cornerstone?
John DeFilippo, who succeeded Shanahan as the Browns’ offensive coordinator, did not commit to Manziel during his introductory conference call on Thursday.
“We’re not sure if our starting quarterback is in the building or not,” DeFilippo said. “If he is, great. If he isn’t, great too.”
Later that evening, owner Jimmy Haslam echoed those remarks while speaking to reporters at an awards banquet.
“We’ve got to get a quarterback and got to get it fixed,” he said.
The Browns stand behind their statement that “actions speak louder than words.”
“To me, there should be no sense of entitlement [that] because he was drafted where he was drafted, therefore he is the starter,” Pettine said shortly after the season. “We’re not going to connect those dots.”
The Browns held wide-ranging staff meetings in early January, and coaches and personnel staffers openly discussed Manziel. The meetings did not produce a strong push to cancel the Johnny Football project.
“I think there’s an opportunity for the guy to make changes,” Farmer told media in late December, believing Manziel can be a “solid starter” in this league. “It’s up to him if he’s going to make those changes.”
One former NFL assistant coach familiar with developing quarterbacks said it was a mistake to draft Manziel, but it would be a bigger mistake to let him go.
Others, though, maintain the problems balloon when a team sticks with an uncommitted player. At least one candidate to replace Shanahan believed Manziel was not the answer, according to a source.
Opinions on Manziel are so varied — one league insider says “think Steve Young,” while ESPN analyst Merril Hoge says think “sixth-round talent” — that making judgments on his long-term value is still difficult.
Manziel still has support in the building, particularly on the business side because of the attention he commands in stadiums and merchandise lanes. Though the team said football decisions were made without influence or pressure, some coaches and many players had the clear perception the business and marketing end of the team favored the guy whose jerseys would sell.
Manziel led the NFL in jersey sales in July, before taking a training camp snap. His off-field star power is uncommon for most rookies: His super-friends include Drake and LeBron and Bieber.
“What Johnny has to understand is [if] he has another year like he just had, he’s not going to be famous anymore,” one NFL team exec said. “LeBron James is going to lose his number.”
znModeratorw
vWilson better than young Brady
Why Russell Wilson looks like a better version of the early Tom BradyBy Scott Kacsmar
Tom Brady and Russell WilsonGetty Images, AP ImagesTom Brady and Russell Wilson are both trying to add to their legacies in Super Bowl XLIX.
There was a time when Tom Brady’s statistics were indistinguishable from the likes of Marc Bulger and Trent Green, let alone Peyton Manning and Brett Favre. This was years before an MVP season with 50 touchdown passes. If you saw an accolade for Brady back then, it was probably related to the Patriots winning games, independent of his performance.
New England carved out a dynasty built on defense, timely special teams and gutting out close wins against teams deemed to have more talent. Before shifting gears to an offense-heavy approach in 2007, the Patriots’ unparalleled success in close games established a reputation for Brady as the most “clutch” quarterback in the league.
Fast-forward to the present day, and the Seattle Seahawks and Russell Wilson have the chance to sail the same waters the Patriots did as the last team to repeat as Super Bowl champion. Every decade has had a different dynasty in the NFL, so it is only fitting that Super Bowl XLIX features the Seahawks trying to take down the old guard that basically wrote the blueprint for them.
Wilson is an odd character in the sense that he actually desires moments such as overtime. He is one of the very few quarterbacks who talks about being clutch as a goal and as part of being a really good quarterback. Before last postseason started, Wilson relayed that point about his next opponent. “You think about the Tom Bradys of the world, and that’s what makes him one of the best quarterbacks of all time, just because he’s been clutch in the playoffs.”
While that may sound naive, those close playoff wins were actually the foundation for Brady’s rise to stardom. Wilson is headed down a Brady-like path, but if we analyze the other parts of his game, Wilson actually looks like a better version of a young Brady.
Let’s take a deeper look at why.
Following the early Tom Brady blueprint
Two of the most common traits in dynasties are a young quarterback and a large amount of talent procured in a short period of time. Having the quarterback play on his smaller rookie salary is a major luxury in building the rest of the roster, which the 2001-04 Patriots and current Seahawks have enjoyed in the salary-cap era. Seattle has copied a few more ideas from the Patriots.
Start with head coaches like Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll who were seeking a second (or in Carroll’s case third) shot at glory in this league. Enter the quarterback who passed up a pro baseball career after some success in a Big Ten football program, only to wait his turn on draft day.
znModeratora continuous conversation, with people wondering about all sorts of things over time. Fun stuff, in other words.
High-caliber football discussion is not about “fun.”
It’s a life or death struggle to see who is right, and who in contrast must be consigned to the dustbin of evolutionary extinction.
Which, come to think of it…IS fun…
January 23, 2015 at 6:40 pm in reply to: Some clarification on Chudzinski & other coordinator search news #17250znModeratorAlex Marvez @alexmarvez
I’m told Rob Chudzinski’s @colts contract expires Monday. Expect @49ers & @STLouisRams to interview him for OC jobs @NFLonFOXznModeratorPro Bowl Draft Recap
Listen to defensive monsters Aaron Donald and Robert Quinn breakdown the 2015 Pro Bowl Draft.
http://www.stlouisrams.com/videos/videos/Pro-Bowl-Draft-Recap/3f19a7d0-742a-44db-9396-b1ccbc35cbae
znModeratorSo how come Bradford never did that? Hmmm?
See, no competitive edge.
znModeratorNew England Patriots might go unscathed — and that’s deflating
http://www.latimes.com/sports/nfl/la-sp-nfl-deflategate-plaschke-20150123-column.html
Bill Belichick played the rumpled dunce, wrinkled sweatshirt, rolled-up sleeves, the world’s most detailed football coach shrugging and sighing and professing to have no idea about footballs.
“I had no knowledge of the various steps involved in the game balls,” he said.
Tom Brady played the smiling fool, nifty ski cap, form-fitting sweats, slick and genial, one of the world’s greatest passers claiming he wasn’t always sure about the football he was passing.
“I’m not squeezing the balls, that’s not part of my process,” he said.
The two central figures in the New England Patriots football deflation scandal took two different approaches in separate news conferences Thursday, but the perception was the same.
They both came across like street-corner cheats.
Belichick was the old guy sitting at the card table with the shells. Brady was the young guy leaning against the wall with the dice. Their obliviousness was obviously orchestrated, yet they spun it in the cocksure manner of those who have done this before and know they will never get caught.
And, of course, they’re right. The worst thing about the news that the Patriots allegedly deflated 11 of 12 footballs by two pounds per square inch during their AFC championship game against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday — a clear violation of NFL rules — is that the league will let them get away with it.
You really think a league that has shrugged off domestic violence will actually care about pigskin poisoning? Oh sure, the Patriots might be fined a few bucks after the Super Bowl and, yeah, an equipment guy will probably eventually take the fall as with the USC deflation scandal, but the almighty duo of Belichick and Brady will remain untouched.
From the rule-breaking videotaping of opponents’ signals to unethical last-second substitution deceptions, the Patriots have created such a culture of subterfuge that before games, some opposing coaches put locks on their locker room doors. Yet with owner Robert Kraft protecting them by serving as a mentor to Commissioner Roger Goodell — why do you think Goodell amazingly destroyed the “Spygate” tapes? — Belichick and Brady will proudly march to Arizona next week to stare down Seattle and attempt to win their fourth Super Bowl championship together, equaling records for both coach and quarterback.
Go, Seahawks.
The deflated footballs, which were less than their minimum weight of 12.5 pounds per square inch and generally improve grip on cold and rainy days, were certainly not the reason the Patriots wiped out the Colts, 45-7. In fact, once the deflated footballs were discovered, they were replaced at halftime with the Patriots leading 17-7.
The deflated footballs had little to do with that specific game, but they have everything to do with the rules. Even for just 30 scoreboard minutes, even with a dominant team that didn’t need the edge, the rules were broken and an advantage was taken. We have to wonder: How often have the Patriots been doing this, anyway? Just saying, but the Patriots running backs did not lose a single fumble this season, and their team was the second-best in the league in ball protection with just four fumbles lost.
The weight of the football is governed by a rule, and how is breaking that rule any different from a baseball hitter’s using a corked bat or a pitcher’s throwing a ball covered in pine tar? Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs was once suspended seven days for the bat, and the New York Yankees’ Michael Pineda was kicked out for 10 days for the pine tar. If a similar punishment were assessed in football, either Belichick or Brady would be forced to miss the Super Bowl. Yeah, and Janet Jackson is going to make a surprise appearance at the halftime show.
Quarterbacks have been scrambling out of the woodwork this week to claim that everyone alters footballs. Critics of the rule have quickly observed that the NFL fines teams only $25,000 with potentially more discipline for breaking the rule. But it’s still a rule, and it was still broken by team that seems consistently to skirt the rules, and at what point does the NFL decide that fair play outweighs gross revenue?
In his news conference, Belichick described in detail how he doctors the practice footballs to make them as difficult to handle as possible. But when it comes to the 12 footballs from Sunday’s game, he said he had no idea how they looked. Huh?
“I can tell you that in my entire coaching career, I have never talked to any player [or] staff member about football air pressure,” he said, adding, “We play with what’s out there.”
No wonder that even the circumspect former Dolphins coach Don Shula refers to Belichick as “Belicheat.”
In his ensuing news conference, the detail-oriented Brady said he likes footballs at exactly the 12.5-PSI minimum, but then he said he never really notices their size. Really?
“I get the snap, I drop back, I throw the ball,” he said. “I don’t sit there and squeeze it and try to determine that.”
Meanwhile, on Dallas Sports Radio 1310, former Super Bowl champion quarterback Troy Aikman simply said, “For the balls to be deflated, that doesn’t happen unless the quarterback wants that to happen, I can assure you of that.”
The overall assurances from Belichick and Brady on another dark day in the history of the New England Patriots were far different.
Said Belichick: “I never touched a game ball. It’s not something that I have any familiarity with on that.”
Said Brady: “I have no idea what happened.”
There is no questioning the football abilities of the greatest coach-player combination in NFL history. But sadly, their legacy will be stained with their belief that they are bigger than the league, bigger than the sport, big enough to stretch their entitled culture far beyond its rules.
Once again, when it comes to the integrity of the great Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, you can stick a pin in it.
znModeratorConversation about Wilson reminds me a bit
of the conversations about Joe Montana over
the years. Montana was surrounded by an allstar
cast, and he didnt have the big arm,
but he was clutch, and tough and smart, etc.
Was he as pure a passer as Marino or Bert Jones
or the stud-athletes? Nah.I wouldn’t put Wilson in Montana’s class…not even a little. Montana was a smooth, smart, heady qb quarter by quarter who could engineer a great passing game and did it early on WITHOUT Craig or Rice. Montana had already played on a superbowl team 2 seasons before they drafted Craig and 5 seasons before Rice. The 1981 SF offense is Montana, Ricky Patton, Clark, Solomon, and Earl Cooper at FB. He did it while SF was 9th in passing attempts and 19th in rushing yards. They too (in 81) had a top-ranked defense.
Wilson is a gamer in an offense that does NOT depend on him to throw from the pocket 4 quarters. That makes him a perfect fit for an offense that takes advantage of his read-option skills while limiting his throws.
The Rams have regularly matched up with Seattle because short of the occasional Ogletree screw-ups, they are set up to both limit Lynch and contain Wilson, making him a pocket passer. When that works…it works, though they haven’t had the qbs the last few games to take advantage (Clemens, Davis, Hill).
Meanwhile the strategy of just containing Montana would never have worked like that. He was too quick-minded and savvy as a passing qb.
Now people can argue that being clutch is tops, and that a read-option qb isn’t really to be judged the same as a more pure pocket passer (and compared to Wilson that’s what Montana was).
So he belongs to a different category, and is perfect for Seattle’s situation.
But my instinct is, put Luck on Seattle and they thrive, put Wilson on the Colts and they struggle.
znModeratorWilson complements his offense and defense, and has nowhere near the pressure to come through pass by pass those guys do.
Doesn’t matter though. He played his part by being clutch in do it or die time. I have always counted clutch play highly in evaluating a qb.
You know in 2012, when Softli was still on the air, he used to rave about Wilson around draft time. Just loved him.
January 22, 2015 at 11:11 pm in reply to: Some clarification on Chudzinski & other coordinator search news #17188znModeratorfrom off the net
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CoachOWe live in an instant gratification society now. With the media saturation that has become the norm, fans today think things should happen YESTERDAY or its not soon enough. But Jeff Fisher has been doing this long enough, and has built a reputation around the league, as being thorough.
Just go back to the beginning of his tenure here, and see the quality of experienced and very well respected coaches he was able to bring here. Mike Wauffle is arguably the best d-line in football. Greg Williams, Chuck Cecil, Frank Bush, Ray Sherman, Paul Boudreau, Dave McGinnis, Rob Boras, John Fassel. Even Schottenheimer was considered a quality experienced coordinator.
Not since the days of Dick Vermiel has the league seen this assembly of coaches on one staff.
Fisher has instant credibility. I trust that when he makes his decision, it will not be a knee jerk type of thing. Does that mean he always “gets his man”? NO. But he will be comfortable with his choice. And as we saw with Walton, if its not the right fit, he will fix it.
On Boras. Every day of training camp, the TE unit was the FIRST on the practice field. They went thru their stretching on their own, but Boras was never far away.
He is “detail oriented”, he would work with each and every TE in the unit on the smallest details in blocking techniques, running routes, hand position, etc. Every day, they would work on the scripted plays to be run that day on the 11 on 11 drills. He would break down footwork, which shoulder to punch, hand height, and virtually every technique for each play. And he did with whether it was Jared Cook, Lance Kendricks, Corey Harkey right on down to Brad Smelley, one of the practice squad guys.
He’s not a screamer like G. Williams, or even Boudreau. But the players respond to him, and he definitely gets his message across. IMO, they could do worse than Rob Boras.
There is also Frank Cignetti, who is a very accomplished play caller. He served in the Offensive Coordinator role in various college stops in his career prior to coming to the Rams as the QB Coach. In many ways, he may be a more logical choice than Boras.
znModeratorHe always just seems to be giving
yer basic conventional wizdom.Yeah 101 has done gone stale on us.
Used to be, you would look forward to it. (Granted I liked Softli.)
Now it’s “enh.”
znModeratorSorry to hear that Mack.
Keep us filled in.
Kidney stones are not happy events.
znModeratorBritt – Three Years, $15 Million
Barksdale – Three Years, $9.1 Million
Kendricks – Two Years, $4.6 MillionLet’s say that avgs. out to 10.3 for 2015.
Is that too hefty? Can they do that?
Interesting thing to watch as it happens.
January 22, 2015 at 8:47 pm in reply to: Grayson, Hundley, Petty, Carden etc. … the qbs this year #17154znModeratorfrom off the net
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alyoshamucciCarden is my favorite, with Petty second.
I want to stress again the four things I need to see from a QB to evaluate him fully.
1). Play well while getting beat up and hit a lot.
2). Throw intro tight windows/trust his receivers
3). Comeback from a game changing mistake (pick 6 usually)
4). Throw accurately with garbage around his feet and a collapsing pocket.Carden has done the best job of that. In fact, it’s not close. Petty comes in second.
I am not sure how many comebacks each of these guys have, Petty had a big one. But Carden had 3 big ones if memory serves, and two where his INTs led to points. Kid is a leade3r, and he has the psychological makeup I want in a QB. I don’t doubt him, and I’d take him in round 2. Petty needs to show me he can make multiple reads, Carden has done that for me.
Hundley is a career backup. A good one to have, but he will never be a starter because there is a way to beat him, and terms will find it pretty quickly. Grayson is decent, but again, I don’t know if he’s anything more than a backup.
Petty needs a year, and a system that plays to his strengths.
Bridge needs a QB coach and at LEAST a year on the bench. Pittsburgh?
January 22, 2015 at 4:28 pm in reply to: Some clarification on Chudzinski & other coordinator search news #17140znModeratorRams still searching for offensive coordinator
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/15642/rams-still-searching-for-offensive-coordinator
EARTH CITY, Mo. — With Adam Gase officially headed to the Chicago Bears to become their offensive coordinator, the St. Louis Rams are down one more possible candidate for their vacancy for the same position.
The Rams never even got to interview Gase but, as we reported Tuesday night, if he had made it out of Chicago, things would have gotten serious with the Rams. Alas, Gase never made it out of Chicago.
Which leaves the Rams still searching in an ever-thinning pool of candidates. To this point, they’ve also expressed interest in Green Bay quarterback coach Alex Van Pelt and Indianapolis special assistant Rob Chudzinski. But the Packers and Colts denied the Rams permission to interview either. Although Chudzinski’s contract with the Colts is up next week, Indianapolis could look to increase his role to keep him and, barring that, the Rams could have competition from San Francisco for his services.
Among other known prospects, the Rams also missed out on Greg Roman and Kyle Shanahan, who took the coordinator jobs in Buffalo and Atlanta, respectively. So what’s left for the Rams?
Well, there’s now only one known outside candidate remaining in the form of former Buffalo offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. Hackett has spent time with the Rams in the past 24 hours. For those unfamiliar with Hackett, here’s a quick scouting report from ESPN Bills reporter Mike Rodak:
“Hackett took some heat from fans and reporters the past two seasons for a Bills offense that was among the NFL’s worst. An energetic, young coach, Hackett began the 2013 season running an up-tempo, option-style system that he and Doug Marrone brought along from Syracuse. Slow development from EJ Manuel — hampered by multiple knee injuries his rookie season — forced Hackett to slow the pace and narrow the scope of his game plans by the end of his first season. Manuel never emerged this past season, leading to Kyle Orton taking over his job by Week 5. The carousel at quarterback — the Bills had five different starters between 2013 and 2014 — and a reliable defense led Hackett to be more conservative with the offense than he wanted. At best, he’s a bright offensive mind who was strapped by a brutal quarterback situation in Buffalo. At worst, he was in over his head with the Bills and might need more time as a position coach before he’s ready to return as a play caller.”
There are those around the league who believe Hackett better fits the best case of that scenario, but it also leads to the question of whether he’d be inheriting a situation in St. Louis much better than the one he’s leaving in Buffalo. The Rams quarterback situation has no obvious solution aside from hoping for health from quarterback Sam Bradford and some major repairs are needed on the offensive line.
Beyond Hackett, the Rams also still have in-house candidates like tight ends coach Rob Boras and quarterbacks coach Frank Cignetti. And given the secretive and deliberate approach Rams coach Jeff Fisher has taken to the whole process, it wouldn’t floor anyone if he had a surprise candidate or two up his sleeve
January 22, 2015 at 3:39 pm in reply to: Some clarification on Chudzinski & other coordinator search news #17137znModeratorJason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora)
Former Bills OC Nathaniel Hackett interviewed for the Rams OC job yesterday. Rams have been considered Rob Chudzinski as well among others.====
Nathaniel Hackett interviewing for Rams offensive coordinator on Thursdayby Josh Alper
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co…g-for-rams-offensive-coordinator-on-thursday/
The Rams got rebuffed in their attempt to interview Rob Chudzinski and Alex Van Pelt for their offensive coordinator vacancy, so they’ve moved on to a candidate not currently employed by another NFL club.
Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Nathaniel Hackett is interviewing for the job on Thursday. Hackett spent the last two years as the offensive coordinator with the Bills after going to Buffalo with Doug Marrone, who hired him in the same role at Syracuse University.
There weren’t many raves for the Bills Offense over the last two years, which certainly had something to do with the team’s lack of a strong starting quarterback and may have had something to do with Marrone’s own offensive preferences.
The Rams have Sam Bradford returning from a second torn ACL and have said they’d like to have him compete with someone else for the starting quarterback job this offseason, although Bradford will probably need to adjust his contract since he stands to make nearly $13 million after playing just seven games the last two years.
January 22, 2015 at 9:07 am in reply to: Some clarification on Chudzinski & other coordinator search news #17131znModeratorBoras is well-respected at Rams Park, particularly by Fisher, and probably would get the nod over Cignetti if the team stayed in-house to replace Brian Schottenheimer.
The truth is, most of us don’t know much about the promotable position coaches in a coordinator search. Our eyes are always on the fired coordinators and fired head coaches. But the guys we covet among the recently fired coordinators were all once position coaches. Someone saw their value and made them coordinators. Is Boras a guy like that? A guy ready to take the next step? Sure it’s absolutely possible. The advantage with Boras is–same system on offense.
January 22, 2015 at 8:49 am in reply to: Some clarification on Chudzinski & other coordinator search news #17129znModeratorSearch for offensive coordinator continues
By Jim ThomasMOBILE, ALA. • The Rams’ list of offensive coordinator candidates continues to dwindle. Former Denver coordinator Adam Gase decided to reunite with former Broncos head coach John Fox in Chicago, taking the same position Wednesday.
Coach Jeff Fisher, who as usual is not attending the Senior Bowl, spoke on the phone with Gase on Tuesday night about the possibility of joining the Rams. Had the Chicago opportunity fallen through, Gase’s next stop on what was a series of job interviews probably would’ve been St. Louis.
A day earlier, the Rams were denied permission by Green Bay to interview Packers quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt, and denied permission by the Colts to interview Rob Chudzinski, who is special assistant to the head coach in Indianapolis.
Teams can block interview requests in every instance for coaches under contract except in the case of a head coach interview.
Interestingly, Chudzinski’s contract expires at the end of next week — or just after the Super Bowl. After that point he can interview wherever he wants, so he could still be in play for the Rams.
By denying permission to the Rams — and reportedly to San Francisco, which also is eyeing Chudzinski for its OC opening — the Colts may simply be engaged in a stalling strategy for a couple of weeks. Coordinator jobs are filling daily around the league as teams try to avoid being left empty-handed.
Besides Chudzinski, former Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett remains on the Rams’ radar and it’s still possible he could be brought in for an interview according to league sources.
And keep in mind, the Rams feel they have a pair of strong in-house candidates in tight ends coach Rob Boras and quarterbacks coach Frank Cignetti. Boras is well-respected at Rams Park, particularly by Fisher, and probably would get the nod over Cignetti if the team stayed in-house to replace Brian Schottenheimer.
Cignetti interviewed earlier this week in Cleveland for the coordinators’ job that went to John DeFilippo on Wednesday.
It’s always possible that Fisher is considering an unknown candidate or two as well.
znModeratorfrom off the net
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thehammersenior Bowl week
players who caught eye so far
oline day 1 starters
saw someone posted Rams were talking to Max Garcia…good, started a thread about him 2/3 weeks ago..great practice and a day one starter at centerwant a day one starter at rt? Haverstein and either Daryl Williams…..Haverstein has looked very good so far
G Laken Thomlinson..only olineman strong enough to handle Shelton…doesn’t run well, struggles to hit players on the 2nd level but absolutely rules his turf inside the pocket…..also Tre Jackson looks to be a day one starter..surprised how well he has handled speed in 1v1 drills
OT..Lael Collins as looked good and Clemmings as really struggled..Myers and Marpet look to be good developmental prospects…Day and Shepherd are nice players
TE best Clive Warfold ..looks very good best later rd guy Boyle
LB Stephone Anthony a 3 down at mlb..Luc as a 2 down thumper, Hauoli Kikaha, Lorenzo Mauldin
FS …Damarious Randall ..elite cover skills for a fs…great fit for the rams
WR great list….Justin Hardy, Devin Smith,Sammie Coates, Tyler Lockett, Antwan Goodley, Vince Mayle, Phillip Dorsett, Rannell Hall and Jamison Crowder ..outstanding group of wideouts
RB Ameer Abdullah(even looked good blocking lbers) David Cobb, Jeremy Langford
DT Danny Shelton(easily best player ), Carl Davis elite measureables and play
DE Za’Darius Smith ..want a lde?
CB none have looked great Imoan Claiborne has size and a nice burst..Quentin Rollins looks very raw..question his deep speed
January 22, 2015 at 8:04 am in reply to: Grayson, Hundley, Petty, Carden etc. … the qbs this year #17118znModeratorfrom off the net
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thehammerSenior Bowl week
best qb? so far a 2 man race between Grayson and Mannon..Petty has struggled with the transition and Carden just looks bad..Grayson and Mannion just look like nfl starting qb’s..
January 21, 2015 at 7:36 pm in reply to: Wagoner: Could Rams end up in mix for Adam Gase? answer: no #17097znModeratorIan Rapoport @RapSheet
The #Bears are hiring Adam Gase as their offensive coordinator, source said. It’s a 3-year deal. -
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