Buckskins Might Be Better Name Than Redskins

I am a traditionalist.  I like to keep things the way they have been unless there is a compelling reason to change and I am usually politically incorrect.  I would rather the Redskins keep on being the Redskins, just because that is what they have been.  I believe that team mascots are revered above all to their followers, so being a fan of the Redskins means you hold them in high regard.  That said, there is no easy way to make the argument that the term itself isn't and wasn't derogatory from the start.  Having a specific race of people as a mascot, although it might represent a mighty and fierce force, it is a mascot on the same level with mostly animals and that is not a great comparison.  Pirates, Raiders, Cowboys and the like are not a race of people, but a characature of a lifestyle!

I have been doing some reading out of a bible that I purchased a few months ago called The Founder's Bible, by David Barton.  It details much of the history of America's founders and their struggle for independence from Britain and how so much relates to the bible.  It talks about George Washington and his struggles to keep a fighting force together and about his divine providence (a reference to Psalms 90).  How he was shot at many times by expert marksmen, but failed to be injured.  And how following these battles, he even met up with some of the enemy forces who told him that he was protected by God, because they had shot multiple times at him and couldn't hit him, even though they never missed a target like that and they just wanted to meet the man protected by God.

In one of the stories, Washington took BUCKSKINS into the battle with him.  Buckskins are horses with a beautiful tan color.  What a great replacement for the Redskins name!  Buckskins still hold the reference to color, but now it would be on a beautiful horse that had been used in battle to help save the revolution and create the United States of America!  There is no better mascot for the team in the nation's capital, named after the great general and President of the United States!  It would be a great change and it would end all argument.  Not only that, it would help preserve some history as many would do a little homework to find out about the buckskins!

I know many will put their nose up to this suggestion as well, as you can never please everyone, but I do believe it would be a change of which we could all be proud!  And if you don't like that one, how about just making them the Generals, once again referencing George Washington and the history of the successful battle for America and all Americans!

Patriots, Belichick Unsure How They Will Use Tebow

Players find different roles on their teams.  Sometimes a wide receiver becomes a kick-off return specialist and other players that don't find starting roles, find their niche on special teams, but rarely does a team sign or draft a player without knowing what they plan to do with him.  After being on the open market for a number of weeks without a suitor, Tim Tebow signed with the New England Patriots and Head Coach Bill Belichick said he doesn't know where Tebow will fit in.

The common thought is that the Patriots were one of the few places Tebow could go because of their ability to handle players that bring extra scrutiny, albeit the past players brought in had negative associations for their ability to get along.  Tebow gets along quite well it seems, but brings a storm of media no other player in the NFL does. 

With Tom Brady entrenched at QB, there is no story to write about Tebow moving in like everyday in New York.  The story is will offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels go out of his way to incorporate him into the offense in a way that will actually make Tebow the terror that he was in college?  Tony Sporano had no plan to integrate him into the offense and the weak effort to run a few spread option plays were pitiful. 

Remember back to the beginning of the "Wildcat" with Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown of the Miami Dolphins.  It was successful first because no one had seen it and it caught teams by surprise.  Secondly, it was successful because defenses were forced to defend two points of attack with two good runners.  The New York Jets could have been a force on offense if they had used Tebow as the Ronnie Brown runner coming in fast-motion across the formation past Brady.  Brady can give it to Tebow on the move to his left in a run/pass option, where the corner is threatened by a 250 pound fullback.  Come up to tackle Tebow and leave the receiver uncovered and Tebow will dump the ball just like he did at the University of Florida.  Stay back and cover the receiver and he will hurt you big-time on the ground.  After Tebow does that a couple of time, Brady fakes it to Tebow and pulls it back out and finds his receivers more open than usual because they had to react to Tebow taking the ball outside.  This offense would actually look a lot like what Tebow was doing with the Gators when he either gave it to Chris Rainey or Jeff Demps (two of the fastest guys on the planet) and pulled it out and ran it or threw it to an open Aaron Hernandez (yes, the Pats TE).  Josh McDaniels made Tebow a first round pick and caused much of this problem, because if Tebow had been a fourth round pick (where his QB ability justified his draft status), there would not have been nearly the expectations that have been on this player that if used properly can actually have the value of his original draft status, just not at the quarterback position!

New Football Camps for Girls Only!

Summer football camps across America number in the thousands for boys playing the nation's favorite sport!  But football camps for girls playing flag football number exactly zero!! 

Gridiron Girls is going to change that very soon.  At the end of June, Gridiron Girls will offer its first 3 day football camp exclusively for girls 10 and up (GirlsOnlyFootball.com) on the campus of Tampa Catholic High School.

Former NFL QB Jeff Carlson has teamed up with experienced flag football high school coach JJ Koski to give girls a chance to get the quality teaching, drills, techniques and strategies that until now have only been offered to boys. 

Title IX has been in place for 40 years now and opened an amazing door of opportunity for young women to explore their passion for sports at the collegiate level.  Unfortunately, flag football has not quite made the jump to college, but Gridiron Girls is hoping to be a major piece in the puzzle to breaking onto the collegiate scene very soon.  But in the meantime, let's get the girls game as good as it can be, so get out to the Gridiron Girls Football Camp on Friday June 28th (June 28-30).  Sign up today at GirlsOnly Football.com!

NFL Draft QB Follow-Up

As I wrote before the draft, I didn't really believe any of the 2013 draft class was worthy of a first round pick.  The Buffalo Bills selection of Florida State's EJ Manuel in the middle of the round caught many by surprise, including me.  I wrote for JoeBucsFan.com that Manuel might be a good option for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the third or fourth round, after Oklahoma's Landry Jones.  I based that opinion on mechanics.  Jones has solid mechanics, maybe the best in the draft, while Manuel is inconsistent with his.  Manuel has a bigger upside, probably the biggest in the draft and that is why the Bills reached a little bit with the former Seminole signal-caller.

Geno Smith became this year's Dan Marino/Aaron Rogers, though both Marino and Rogers were actual possibilities to go early in the first round and fell.  It sounds as if Geno Smith was being misled into believing that he was not only first round worth, but early first round.  I didn't see it, as you can read in an earlier posting right here at AmericasBestQB.com, and neither did any of the 32 NFL football clubs.  After publicly saying he wasn't going to stay in New York for Day 2 of the draft, someone talked some sense into him and he stayed for the New York Jets to get some photo ops on the big stage as they picked him up with the 39th pick, an appropriate landing spot and the best place he could go for an early opportunity to take over!

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers made a relatively surprising 3rd round pick of North Carolina State's Mike Glennon.  The tallest QB in the draft is slightly bigger than Bucs starter Josh Freeman and while he shouldn't push for playing time this year, if Freeman falters in his contract year, Glennon may get a prime shot to take over in Tampa in 2014!

USC's Matt Barkley probably didn't think he would last as long as he did, falling to the fourth round and the Philadelphia Eagles.  I think Barkley could end up a solid starter in the league, but doubt that he will ever achieve greatness.  The New York Giants added Syracuse's Ryan Nassib, thought to possibly go to his college coach's Buffalo Bills, but he will get a chance to learn behind Eli Manning, a pretty nice place to be.

The Pittsburgh Steelers picked up the aforementioned Landry Jones, where he will be given the proper development time to start fighting Big Ben Roethlisberger in a couple years, the way it should be done.

Overall, this year's average crop of slingers fell into some pretty good situations for success in the coming years.  Geno Smith may not be too happy about what he has gotten himself into or how early he will be getting booed in New York, as I'm sure Mark Sanchez is still surprised how fast the wheels have fallen off of his career that looked so bright not too long ago.

QB's Struggle At All-Star Competition

I love compeitions.  That is why I named my company America's Best Quarterback.  I wanted to develop a series of competitions for all QB's (young and old, pro, x-pro and amateur) to compete across the country and see who was the best.  We had a great even a few years ago, but just didn't have the abitlity to grow it the way I had envisioned. 

I happened upon a college All-Star competition this afternoon that pitted "teams" against each other.  The NFL prospect QB's (EJ Manuel, Jordan Rodgers, Mike Glennon, Ryan Nassib).  Each of the four had issues dropping a single ball into a large net only 20 yards away and each of them had problems for different mechanical reasons.

EJ Manuel opened his body up to the throw (his chest was facing the target before his started his throwing motion) so that he reach back behind his head too far.  Stay "sqare" to the target with your your front hip and shoulder pointed at the target as long as possible (like a golfer) for the best accuracy.  You can see in the photo that he does this in real football as well.  Opening up like this reduces his accuracy and power.  He seems to have enough natural power, but even though his college completion percentage was very good, in the NFL, this mechanical flaw will haunt him.

Jordan Rodgers completed the task faster than the others, but he too had accuracy issues.  He drops the ball on first movement and then brings the ball behind his head and back, pointing the front end of the ball to the sky, creating an elongated delivery and making it hard to bring the ball back down the target in time.  He should watch his brother's mechanics a lot more closely and mimic those, where Aaron Rogers keeps the front tip of the ball facing the ground much more often by keeping his ball on top of his elbow with a straight wrist (which is the best way to throw).

Mike Glennon embarrassed himself in this meaningless competition.  He threw the ball short of the target many times because he was throwing directly at it and not giving it any loft.  This was an OK strategy as the ball would have gone in the net, but he was short and didn't correct his error.  The reason he was short was because he kept throwing with a stiff left knee.  Like shooting a free throw in basketball with stiff legs, the ball will be very flat.  To get proper trajectory, the shooter should have some bend in the knees, which fixes balance.  QB's should always have bend in their hips and knees.  The front knee bends even more after release and then goes straight after the ball is well out of the QB's hand.

Ryan Nassib had very much the same problem as Jordan Rodgers, but even more so.  He takes the ball so far behind his head he almost touches the ball to his back.  It is very difficult to bring the ball around in time to make consistently accurate throws and when he meets NFL quality competition, he and others that throw like him, will find that they don't have the luxury to take that much time throwing the ball.  These type throwers either get hit while throwing more often than others or decide they can't make the throw and pull the ball down more often, which causes more sacks and broken plays.

Ultimately these manufactured QB competitions don't prove anything about how a player plays when there are 22 guys on the field, but they are fun to watch and do

uncover some mechanical issues for them to improve so that their transition to the next level will give them their best chance at success!