Marve Gets Out of the U

I wrote in October that there was no way for both freshmen quarterbacks at the University of Miami to finish their careers at the school. After news last week that Robert Marve would be suspended from their bowl game for missing classes, today it was announced that he would be transferring schools. Miami has given Marve his release, but with stipulations that he not tranfer to any ACC, SEC or other Florida schools.
This has infuriated Marve's father Eugene, a former teammate of mine with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Reports say he wants to go to the University of Florida, LSU or Tennessee and the Marve's don't understand why the SEC if off limits.
Robert Marve was the Player of the Year in Florida after leading his Plant High School team to the state title in 2006. He redshirted last year after a major car accident left him with a non-throwing wrist injury. He will have to sit out next year as part of transferring to another division I school.

Wild, Wacky Windup to NFL Season

2008 has been a wild ride for the NFL. There have been many firsts and a bunch of only happened once before type of scenarios played out this season. Chad Pennington leading the Dolphins from a 1-15 season a year ago to the AFC East Championship. The 4-8 Chargers charging into the playoffs after polishing off the division leading Broncos in the final week. The 11-5 Patriots not making post-season play. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers going 9-3 and dropping their final four to sit home for January. There are more stories of triumph and collapse including the Cowboys win and in chance at Philadelphia, only to drop the biggest egg in recent memory, including the first 0-16 team in league history.
I'm excited for these playoffs, because each match up looks intriguing before kick-off and that is the way I like it as these final 12 teams head out on the road to Tampa.

Titans Win Titanic Matchup With Steelers

I have never been much of a Kerry Collins fan. As a practitioner of proper fundamentals, I've never liked the way he throws the football and in this photo he doesn't even use the threads. Doesn't matter, credit due to the long-time veteran who just led his Titans to the homefield advantage in the AFC, routing the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-14.
No one could have seen this coming. No one saw the Vince Young meltdown earlier this year either, but it happened and Collins deserves much credit. He won't get as much as he deserves, like Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh, the strong running game is credited with their success, but there is plenty of room to pat the 15 year vet for the Titans "run" to the top of the AFC.

Favre still great at 39

I didn't want much to do with Brett Favre when the rumors had him landing in Tampa this summer. I still don't think it would have been the right thing for the team, but he sure would have made Jon Gruden's horrific offense much more entertaining. He is still special and took the New York Jets from a lower echelon team to probably the AFC East Champs and I don't think there is another QB in the league that could have done that.
He is now heading to his 10th Pro Bowl, first in the other conference and he deserves it. Good luck to him as he leads the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets into the final weeks of the season.
Aloha Brett.

Oklahoma's High Powered Offense Powers Bradford

Congratulations to Sam Bradford and the Oklahoma Sooners for adding another Heisman Trophy winner to their roles. Oklahoma's offense scored more points in more consecutive games in college football history and Bradford made it look easy most of the time. His "helicopter" move near the end zone a few weeks back probably helped his profile as well. However, blowing Texas Tech and their high level QB off the field probably sealed the deal.
Tim Tebow came in a close third, in fact, the closest voting between first and third ever with Colt McCoy in at number two. He also got the most first place votes, which is fitting, as the sitting trophy holder and has his team playing Bradford's for the biggest title.
It was a nice presentation and program and it seems like the three best players in college football this year are the three nicest kids in the world as well.

No Heisman Invitation for Top QB

Graham Harrell's senior season is one for dreams. The only blemish was a blowout loss to Oklahoma in which he looked rather ordinary under extreme pressure. That loss to OU overshadowed the win over Texas earlier in the year, when he outbattled Colt McCoy, who will be in New York City Saturday night for the awards presentation.
Tim Tebow, last year's winner and Sam Bradford, probably the odds-on-favorite to win it, along with McCoy are the only players invited on the trip. This is a terrible shame! Harrell is right in this mix of QB's this year and should be standing next to them when the winner is announced.
No, I don't think he should win the award, but he definitely deserves to be in the room.

Tebow Takes Florida To SEC Title

Tim Tebow, without the services of Percy Harvin, took the Florida Gators from a 4th quarter deficit to an SEC title against the #1 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide. The TV even showed the gargantuan receiver Cornelius Ingram (sidelined all year) on the sideline. Wow, what if he wasn't injured?
Colt McCoy has an unbelievable completion percentage and fantastic numbers overall and I believe is the best pro QB prospect of this year's crop--if he decides to go to the NFL--but Tim Tebow is still the best football player in college football today.
Sam Bradford just led his team to another 60+ point performance for the Sooners and Graham Harrell gave Texas Tech a shot at the national title that they have never had before, but Tim Tebow is the best football player in college football today.

Ryan and Flacco Revive Teams

The Rookie of the Year honor will have to be split by twins split at birth, or so it seems. Both Matt Ryan of the Falcons and Joe Flacco of the Ravens have led their teams to 8-4 records with one month left to go in the season, but what is uncanny is their stats thus far.
Ryan has completed 203 of 333, while Flacco is at 202 of 331. Right now Ryan has more passing yards (2625 to 2276), but both of their completion percentages are exactly 61%. Ryan's QB rating is 91.2 versus 82.3 based on interceptions. Flacco has 9 to date while Ryan has just 6 to go along with one more TD at 13.
The Ravens are second in the AFC North behind the Steelers, while the Falcons are third in the NFC South behind the Buccaneers and Panthers, but are lurking only one game back.
There will only be one rookie of the year, but it will be hard to choose between them. The nod may go to Ryan because the Falcons needed a savior just a bit more than the Ravens and he has delivered, but Flacco has done the job in Baltimore just as well.

Day of Thanks

It is easy to be thankful each and every day for many, many things living in America, but because this is a football website, let's count just a couple of QB blessings.
1. Thankful for football on Thanksgiving--even if it is the Lions.
2. Thankful that the Heisman race is all about the QB this year.
3. Thankful for offensive linemen (for without them, there would be no QB's).

God bless you and your families!

Vick Pleads Guilty Again

Michael Vick was back in a courtroom Tuesday, pleading guilty to state dogfighting charges in hopes of getting out of jail faster and back on the football field as soon as possible. I'm no apologist for Michael Vick and his life of deception regarding illegal activities and the Joey Porter's of the world need to keep quiet trying to justify his actions, but Vick should not be treated more severely than his former NFL chums that ran afoul of the law. He has been suspended from the NFL since August of 2007--that's already two full football seasons. I'm not sure what team is going to jump in and take the public outrage over signing him, or the coaching staff that wants to change their team's offense to fit his style, but let's not hang him from a higher horse than the rest of us. Upon release he will have paid his debts as the state and federal government laid before him. He has taken responsibility and apologized to the public for his crimes and as long as Commissioner Roger Goodell doesn't try to go even further, he should be reinstated and given a second chance just like everyone else in the NFL, because that is "The American Way."
God bless you and your families this Thanksgiving.

Oklahoma Unstoppable with Bradford

There is a nationally ranked high school team here in the Tampa area that is undefeated and looks to be unstoppable on their way to another state title. The Oklahoma Sooners looked like national champions against the overmatched Texas Tech Red Raiders Saturday night, but what bugged me was the similarity between the Tampa high school team and the Sooners.
Both teams come up to the line of scrimmage on offense and get ready to snap the ball, then everyone on offense stops, looks to the sideline, the QB backs away from center and calls another play and then they go. Unfortunately both of these teams are extremely successful right now, so what can you say other than more teams are going to start doing it and that is a terrible thing for the game of football at any level.
Players play and coaches coach, but when the coaches coach right up to the snap of every play, it is a bit much. It takes away the players' abilities to think for themselves and most coaches probably want that, but I hate how it stops the flow of each play. Call me a purist, but when the whole team looks to the sideline to be told what to do, its just not a game anymore. We all know the plays come in from the sideline and the NFL put headphones inside the helmets of its QB's to stop the sideline signs or the running in of plays, but even they cut off the signal with 15 seconds to go before the snap, so the coach can't talk all the way to the snap.
On Saturday night, Sam Bradford had a wonderful game, but there once was a rule that the QB could not put his hands under center and then take them back out or else it was a penalty. Don't know when that was taken out of the rule book, but he does it every play. I may be the only one right now that cares, but wait until a few more teams do it (and you know they will because of the copycat clause in sports) and you too will be pulling your hair out like me. Thank goodness I still have plenty to yank on!

Grothe Taking Look at NFL Draft Status

I had to chuckle to myself this week when a story in The Tampa Tribune reported University of South Florida quarterback Matt Grothe saying he forgo his senior year if he was projected to be drafted in the NFL by the third or fourth round. He plans on exploring that option after the season.
I chuckled because not only is Grothe not close to being an NFL quarterback (yet), his team has greatly underachieved this year, is barely bowl eligible and he has been far from stellar. What does it say for an undersized, underarmed, running QB from a disappointing team to want to leave his school for the fourth round of the draft?
Head Coach Jim Leavitt must be scratching his head about his team's signal caller trying to get out early when he has no shot of success at the next level.

McNabb Lost in OT

There haven't been many ties in the National Football League, in fact 17 in all, but there have been plenty of games get to "sudden death". First team to score wins, everyone knows that, but what only about half the league knows is that if no one scores in the extra 15 minute period, it is a tie.
I was completely blown away that Donovan McNabb didn't know what would happen after the extra period or that there was no discussion on the sideline with the coaches. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised as the Eagles are the same team that in the Super Bowl a few years ago, acted like they didn't know the object was to score more points than the other team. That performance prompted Terrell Owens to make derogatory comments about McNabb and got him to Dallas. The fact that long time veteran receiver Hines Ward agreed that he didn't know the rules either is also befuddling, since he played in the last game that ended in a tie! Ben Roethlisberger circled the wagons for Donovan as well, but it doesn't do much for the image of the league for some of its biggest stars to admit they don't have a clue about their rules that most couch potatoes do.

Standout QB's at NFL's Halfway Point

Kurt Warner's heyday was last century with the Ram's Super Bowl win! He had some other pretty good years in this century as well, but was written off in Arizona as Matt Leinart was thought to be their future. The Phoenix arose from the ashes and is putting together a memorable year for himself and giving the Cardinals hope in the second half of the season and that is something we can all get excited about in this climate of doom around the country regarding the economic mess.
Tyler Thigpen has also ignited some excitement in Kansas City. Too early to tell if he will become a great one, but his athleticism at QB and quick release give hope in a city that has none on the football field.
Brett Favre! Holy cow man. Down here in Tampa, I wasn't too hip on the idea of him coming in for a year with Jeff Garcia coming of a good year and already building good comrarderie with his club. But after Thursday night's OT win over the Patriots and a couple of other superb performances, he has won me over again. His 39 year old enthusiasm is contagious and the Jets have caught it!
Although they lost a thriller to the Jets, Matt Cassel (first QB in NFL history to throw for 400 yards and run for 60 in a game) has filled in admirably for Tom Brady this season and while the Pats are 6-4 at this point, they can beat anybody.
Matt Ryan has surpassed everyone's expectations! Well, maybe not his own, but regardless, the Falcons are a team to be reckoned with down the stretch. Even if they don't finish well, he has allowed the Atlanta area to forget about what's his name.

Culpepper Back With The Lions

Daunte Culpepper has been a non-factor in the NFL for a few years now, was out of the league this year until the winless and hapless Detroit Lions came calling. Culpepper was ready for the right price and his shot to start, who cares about his shot to win a game.
When Brett Favre was being shopped this summer, some wondered about his ability to digest the playbook in a few weeks. Not to worry for Culpepper as he signed and started inside of a week. The outcome of the Lions game didn't change with their "just off the couch" and expensive new signal caller. Don't look for it to get any better either, as Daunte hasn't been able to get anything going for the Dolphins or the Raiders without Randy Moss in his prime.

2008 Heisman Watch Update

Colt McCoy continues to impress even with the loss to Texas Tech. He is the most NFL ready arm in school, but that doesn't always make you the Heisman Trophy front-runner, since it is an award for the nation's most outstanding college football player.
Graham Harrell of the still undefeated Red Raiders is making it look too easy, but his short and soft throws don't impress me very much. Not taking anything away from him, but no one has figured out how to get to him before he gets rid of the ball and they are putting up unreal numbers. I think he is better than Ty Detmer for BYU back in the day, but I don't think he is the best in the land.
Tim Tebow isn't being asked to carry his team on his back this season, but as far as football player's go, he is still the best football player at the college level. He doesn't have the biggest upside for being an NFL signal caller, in fact, he has a bigger chance of playing a fullback/tight end hybrid than QB, but his toughness on the ground allows his reciever to get wide open through the air and the Gators are in position to win another national championship if they beat Alabama in the SEC title game. The lefty won't have the numbers of last year, but he should walk away with the same trophy in December.

Johnson Best For Cowboys

Forty year old quarterback Brad Johnson is now 1-1 as the starting QB until Tony Romo's pinkie is ready to go. After another minimal offensive effort from Johnson and the 'Boys, Head Coach Wade Phillips had a tough time saying the former Super Bowl winning QB Johnson would remain the starter in Big D.
Brooks Bollinger is their only other option at this point and to me, that is really no option at all, so stick with the guy that can't throw it in front of his receivers on "fly" patterns, but will get rid of it to his outlet receivers to keep his team out of a lot of long yardage situations.
Brad Johnson hasn't had the physical ability to be the everyday starter since he was replaced in Tampa the season following the Super Bowl, but he has the savvy to be the "stop gap guy" to keep the Cowboys in the hunt for another week or so.
Watch out for the Cowboys offense when Romo gets back in there. With Roy Williams and Terrell Owens on the outside and Whitten at tight end, they will be a high flying circus once again.

Canes Fresh QB Problem

Randy Shannon made it clear at the start of the season that both Robert Marve (redshirt freshman) and Jacory Harris (true freshman) would play a lot of QB for Miami this season, but named Marve "the starter".
It has been more up and down for Marve and seemingly more up for Harris so far as the Hurricanes try to quickly get their program back up to national relevance and eventually one day to national prominence. The problem is that two QB's playing significant time will not work for two guys with four years of eligibility. One will need to find another school at some point. Chris Leak and Tim Tebow coexisted to a national title because they were so different and used so differently and there was the senior-freshman part as well. Prime-time players won't stand (or sit on the bench) for part-time play their entire careers, but how does it play out?
Robert Marve is a Tampa guy that is more drop-back and traditional and Jacory Harris is from Miami and more athlete than QB. My guess is that the Miami recruiting grounds is much more important to the Miami program that ultimately Harris will be "the guy" and Marve will be looking for a new U.

McCoy Bests Daniel in Head-to-Head Heisman Race

Chase Daniel was having a perfect first half of a season and was the leading candidate in the "chase" for the Heisman Trophy, but with a second Mizzou loss this season and McCoy leading the #1 team to the big win over Sam Bradford and now Daniel in successive weeks, the Longhorn's signal caller is the odds-on fave for the hardward come December.

Florida, South Florida and their QB's fall

The reigning Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow and a name just popping up on the Heisman radar screen Matt Grothe of the South Florida Bulls weren't able to keep their teams unbeaten this past week. Both played at home and both played against teams that didn't look to be the biggest stumbling blocks on their respective team's schedules.
The Gators let Ole Miss stop them on a fourth down conversion in the fourth quarter that had 22 men at the point of attack, including Tebow who had nowhere to go even though he was a few yards deep in his own backfield.
In a nationally televised Thursday night game for the USF Bulls, Grothe played a back and forth game with the Pitt Panthers. I spoke with Head Coach Jim Leavitt at a local high school game last night and he didn't make any excuses saying, "We got outcoached and outplayed."
Last Saturday's loss put the Bulls ahead of the Gators in the rankings for a week, but the 10th ranked Bulls will certainly fall significantly, unless a bunch of teams fall this Saturday.
Tebow isn't being asked to carry the load on the ground for Florida nearly as much this year and it would have been a good call to use their speed to convert that fourth down call instead of trying to barrel to down the Rebels' throat, but who can blame offensive coordinator Dan Mullen when it worked every time last year--maybe that is the problem--when it works in the previous year, teams work on that and prepare.
For USF, their great defensive end George Selvie wasn't in to help make the stops and sacks that he usually is, but with Grothe just making into some discussions about greatness, his team falls to one that isn't.

Rodgers Hurt, Favre Heaves Record

The Green Bay Packers have been pretty happy with their choice to keep Aaron Rodgers at the helm of their franchise and let Brett Favre move on to the "Big Apple", but last Sunday in Tampa, Rodgers went down with a hurt shoulder and lost the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Meanwhile, Favre had a career record day as far as TD passes go. He was working on a gimpy ankle, but the Cardinals "D" was defenseless after staying on the east coast all week, following their loss to the Redskins.
Two different pictures of QB's, but I still believe the Pack did the right thing and moved on with their young gunslinger. Rodgers is going to be very efficient over the long haul. The Bucs threw some beautiful and unique blitzes at him. He wasn't going to have a great day against a great defense, but he got hurt scrambling and landing with his right arm stretched out above his head. The problem for Green Bay is that Matt Flynn is their #2 and he looked like a high school kid filling in. Don't know what the problem is with Brian Brohm, but its really bad when your seventh round pick beats out your second rounder. And even worse when Flynn looked like he did. Here's hoping Rodgers isn't seriously injured.

Don't Get Chucky Mad

Jeff Garcia made Chucky mad and is sitting on the bench as the third-string QB. I guess that is what happened in the off-season when Garcia went to the radiowaves with his displeasure over missing out on a million bucks or so when he was held out at the end of the year as the Bucs waited for the playoffs to begin after Garcia directed the team to a divisional title with 3 weeks left in the regular season.
Garcia continued to stay active in the off-season conditioning program, putting team ahead of personal issues, but when training camp came, Garcia was at his father's junior college alumni event. His two day absence from camp was excused we thought, but then came a calf injury that kept Jeff out for the majority of summer camp. He played poorly in one preseason appearance, hurt his pinky at some point between the pre and regular season and then hurt his ankle in the season opening loss at New Orleans. He didn't play great, but his performance would not have lost his job in 31 other NFL cities I guarantee you.
The Bucs found money for Ernest Graham their starting running back, Greg White their leading defensive lineman, but not for the guy they screwed out of money even after leading them back to a division title and saved Gruden's and Bruce Allen's (General Manager) jobs.
Chucky says Garcia doesn't have the swagger or zip on his passes that he used to and won't get his job back until he sees a change in both. Gruden gave Brian Griese (traded from Chicago in off-season, but had 5-1 starting record for Bucs in 2005 before knee injury) the starting job over Luke McCown who has been here the last few years and won a critical game at New Orleans last year. He went out and beat the Atlanta Falcons on the strength of the Bucs defense, which is how most Bucs games are won, but gave up a sack-fumble in the red zone as well.
The rumors have Jeff Garcia on the trading block. Gruden says no to the rumors, but he has a history of playing dumb. Free agents beware!! Don't make Chucky mad or you too could be out after a one game opportunity, even if you went to the Pro Bowl the year before!

Get Ready Billy

I didn't see much of the game live, but on highlights of the San Diego Chargers and Seattle Seahawks monday night, it doesn't look like Phillip Rivers will be playing much football this year. From the highlights, he actually looked better than he usually does throwing the football, but his grimaces and noticeable limp in the pre-season isn't going to get better as the season goes along.
Billy Volek has proven to be a great back-up QB, an insurance policy that the Chargers will be cashing in by Week 2 unfortunately.

The Spread Offense-College's new trend

It has been said for a long time that the NFL is a copycat league. The 46 Defense of Buddy Ryan that led the Bears to a Super Bowl was copied until offenses figured out how to beat it regularly and it went away. Tony Dungy's (Monte Kiffin's) Tampa 2 has dominated the league for more than a decade and many have tried to produce similar results with it far away from Tampa, Florida. The Tampa 2 will be around for much longer, because it is a more sound way to play defense, but the same trend happened on the offensive side of the ball with the West Coast Offense--so called because Bill Walsh put it together in San Fransisco. It has taken on many forms as time has moved forward, so much that if a coach that passed by Bill Walsh at some time in the past, he is branded as running a WCO. Jon Gruden's offense is far from what Joe Montana was doing with Jerry Rice, John Taylor and Roger Craig in the 80's, but he supposedly is running the WCO.
In the college game, the spread option is the new West Coast Offense. When Urban Meyer took the University of Utah to an undefeated season a few years ago and it made Alex Smith the #1 pick in the NFL draft, it got plenty of attention. Others had been running completely shotgun offenses for some time (Jim Leavitt has had something similar as the University of South Florida has made its rise to national prominence since the program began in 1997). With Tim Tebow running Meyer's show and winning the Heisman as a sophomore, Dennis Dixon's success at Oregon and West Virginia's stay in the national title hunt, the spread continues to grow in popularity. The reason for this is the multiple dimensions that the defense has to defend. Colleges have been able to dominate other schools as only a few teams gathered the biggest recruits, but as we have seen a diversification of talent across the nation, physical size domination isn't always guaranteed and the spread gives more teams a chance to make big plays by created space on the field with different options for the football. Tim Tebow carried the load for the Gators on the ground in 2007, but they have improved their skill positions to have more options for him and may not need to pound their superstar so much this year, lest he end up on injured reserve. His threat to run the ball from the QB position gives the offense one more blocker to help up front, but also makes defenders commit to stopping the running QB, while opening bigger passing lanes when the runner stops and can toss accurate passes down the field. So, as usual, the critical player is the QB and to be sure, the spread offense won't be going anywhere anytime soon in college football, nor will it be coming to the NFL ever. Those spread QB's will still need to learn how to take a snap from center, drop back with good footwork and learn pocket presence if they want to make it in the NFL.

Bears Go With Orton In Opener

I haven't seen a single Chicago Bears practice, but could have made a pretty good guess that in an open competition, Orton would be the final choice. One thing I learned through my years as an NFL quarterback is that coaches want players that play within the system. Great ability that is uncontrolled is not worth nearly as much as good ability that is dependable. While the Atlanta Falcons were willing to deal with Michael Vick's lack of consistency in the passing game because of his unbelievable ability in the scrambling game, not many other teams would have been. Offensive coordinators design plays to be executed according to design. The ability to improvise when the plan goes awry is a plus, but making the plan go awry too early drives a coordinator nuts!
Rex Grossman can make great plays, but as we have all learned over the years, the great plays don't outweigh the bonehead plays that cost games. Kyle Orton has better technique and mechanics than Grossman which usually contribute to more accurate, on-time passes within the design of the play. Orton can play his way out of the starting line-up, but around the league, count on the guy getting the ball out of his hand on time being the starter.

Brett is Back

Brett Favre can't say goodbye. When he said to Terry Bradshaw that he wasn't sure he was the guy that wanted to the ball in his hand with two minutes left, I said he should go ahead and hang 'em up. Now the guy officially retires, lets the Green Bay Packers and Aaron Rogers, his heir apparent, move on with their lives. HOLD ON, not so fast, Brett has gone done to Biloxi or Hattisburg or somewhere in Mississippi and realized he does not want to live there full time quite yet.
This puts the Packers in a real tough spot. The organization was moving on after Favre ended his career on a high note, playing the best football he had in a few years. It was a feel good ending for everyone--Packer fan or Favre fan or neither. But now #4 just can't put the cleats away and walk away gracefully. Today it was announced that he officially asked for his release from the Green Bay Packers. A separation like this hasn't been seen since Joe Montana headed to the AFC's Kansas City Chiefs, but the potential of Favre playing for anybody but the Pack is of far greater shock than an oft injured Montana (with Steve Young in the wings) leaving the 49ers even with more rings than Favre has generated for Green Bay.
What is the motivation to return? Did he go back and check his legacy chart and see that Peyton Manning is on course to break his records if he stays healthy and want to make it just a little bit harder for Manning if he sticks around for another year or two? The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in the conversation for acquiring his services because they are always on the radar screen with Jon Gruden's love of every quarterback not on his roster.
There is so much to be lost for Brett Favre in his return as far as legacy and nothing to be gained. A few more yards, touchdowns and interceptions are not worth pictures of #4 in another team's jersey. Let's not kid ourselves with thoughts of adding another Lombardi trophy with a new team, so unless Michael Jordan personally told him it was a great ending with the Washington Wizards, then please Brett, please stay home and enjoy your incredible legacy!

2008 QB Draft Preview

This year's draft class of QB's isn't very sexy. Matt Ryan made a big move up the board with a tremendous performance and great throw at the end of the game to be Virginia Tech. He has good skills, but not exciting and unless a team is in real need, may be a mid first rounder, even though I have heard many "draft gurus" talk very highly of him.
Brian Brohm is this year's Matt Leinart. He was annointed the first pick of next year's draft after his junior year, but his senior year fell way off. Leinart had a much better senior year, but Vince Young emerged with the national title trophy and had a heisman type night to show what athleticism can do for a team. I still believe Leinart is a better "quarterback" for managing his team and the game, but he still needs to grow up and become the team leader that Arizona desparately needs. Brohm, on the other hand, has even less physical tools than Leinart, but should still become a very solid player in the NFL, but he like Leinart gave up millions of dollars staying in college.
No one ever heard of Delaware's Joe Flacco, even after playing in the national championship game (Division I-AA). He is big and athletic and has a nice fluid drop and delivery and tight spiral. Could easily and probably should be picked ahead of Brohm for potential, that will be one to watch on Saturday night.
Chad Henne never impressed me in college. I didn't spend a lot of time evaluating him, but he never jumped out at me as a top prospect when I watched Michigan play and to lose to Appalachian State at home is a tough one to swallow.
Andre Woodson from Kentucky has a horrible throwing motion with elbows all over the place. Don't know who taught him that technique, but he needs to get with a good teacher and reconstruct that delivery and then let the big, athletic ability take over.
Colt Brennan may throw the tightest spiral in the draft, but his small size and shoulder level delivery make it tough for him to be successful unless he plays in a similar style as his college program. One big problem, no one in the NFL has a similar style and his poor mechanics were exposed against Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. He has impressed me on many, many throws, but probably won't get much of a chance for a while in the pros.

Brett Rides Off Into The Sunset

Congratulations Brett! After thinking he should retire about three years ago, when he said in an interview that he did not know if he still wanted the ball in the last two minutes, Brett Favre says goodbye to the NFL after 17 remarkable seasons. He also leaves the game with fans remembering the great Brett Favre, not the one that struggled for a couple years in the latter part of his Hall of Fame career.
The true maverick quarterback, gunslinging his way to a Super Bowl victory and a lot of other big playoff games, even in losses.
He owns all the major passing records now, but you wouldn't teach your 8 year old to throw the ball like he does, because he owns some horrendous mechanics as well, but like Frank Sinatra, he did it his way.
Good job Brett, see you in Canton.

Super Game

I expected the Super Bowl to be a good game, not the 12 point differential that the oddsmakers predicted, but I did not expect the Patriots to play so conservatively or miss so many opportunities to save the win or win it outright.
Congratulations definitely go out to the Giants for their tough performance, but please don't tell me that they "stomped them out", as Michael Strahan pronounced at their victory rally a couple days later.
Eli Manning proved all personality styles can be great quarterbacks, it comes down to executing the offense and he did that very well throughout the playoffs and including the biggest game of all.
The most unbelievable thing of all is that back to back Super Bowl MVP's grew up in the same house. Way to go Archie!
And I will admit that I was wrong last March when I predicted the Pats would win the Super Bowl, but I will go on record now and say they will win it in Tampa next year! I reserve the right to update that prediction after free agency.

Patriots Will Win!

The Patriots cannot be beaten in perfect weather and the weather is guaranteed to be perfect on Sunday!

Conference Championships

Congratulations to Eli Manning for getting the piano off his back. It took a Super Bowl win for Steve Young to get the weight of Joe Montana's multiple rings off his back, but Eli got Peyton's weight off, just by taking the Giants further than the Colts this year. A Super Bowl win will have to be in Eli's future, but for now, a conference championship appearance is satisfactory--which is why the New York Football Giants will surely lose this weekend in Green Bay.

On the AFC side, the Patriots have been anointed since September and there ain't no way the Chargers are going to slay this dragon. Tom Brady's bunch are a far superior team even if San Diego was at full strength and at this point Phillip Rivers and Antonio Gates are out with injuries. It was great to see Norv Turner take an impossible situation and succeed, but the joyride ends Sunday night.

Eli Advances, Peyton Relaxes, Patriots Stand Pat

The NFL Divisional playoffs were quite entertaining and quite surprising even for the "experts" on the pre-game shows. Not too many on TV or not predicted that Eli would last longer than Peyton, but the younger Manning is "money" on the road and Lambeau is the next stop.
I am happy for Norv Turner to make it to the AFC Championship game because he is a pretty nice guy (he was the WR coach when I was in Los Angeles with the Rams), and because he took a no-win situation following the Chargers 14-2 2006 season, but after a slow start, they are playing for a chance to go to the Super Bowl.
Tony Romo took his weekend off and spent it with his buddies--and Jessica-- in Mexico, but that had nothing to do with the loss at all. Too bad they couldn't block well enough and Crayton dropped a great sidearmed throw by Romo that would have been a big play and kept the drive alive instead of a punt from deep in their own territory. The McQuarters' 36 yard punt return didn't help either.
Tom Brady was, well, Tom Brady on Saturday night. The Patriots had to play hard to take out the game Jaguars, but New England is just too sound throughout the organization. I am a David Garrard fan as well as Brady and felt bad for him, but thought Jacksonville represented themselves well and will be a team to be reckoned with for years to come.
So Brett Favre won another snowy game at home--I thought he should have hung 'em up a couple of years ago (only because he was questioning himself and if he still wanted the ball with 2 minutes left), but he sure has added to his Hall of Fame resume and his legend with this entire season. Good for him!
Brady welcomes Rivers to town--no contest--Patriots win easily.
Favre in his swan song taking on "little" Manning. It was great to see Eli win a couple playoff games and get that monkey off his back, but Brett won't lose this one with another chance at a ring hanging in the balance.
Good luck to Tony Dungy as he retires and moves back to Tampa--just a prediction, but a pretty good one I think.