Archive for May, 2005

A Vote for Confidence

Sunday, 29 May, 2005

A Vote for Confidence
By Zack Cimini

To move forward as a franchise, any organization knows the progress starts at quarterback. So, when a team signs two quarterbacks to one year deals, obviously there is a hint of skepticism. The Arizona Cardinals did just that, by signing Josh McCown to a one year deal worth $1.5 million, and Kurt Warner to a one year deal worth $4 million. For the first few months of the off-season, Green announced that it would be a fair all out battle between the two quarterbacks. Just earlier this week though, Green made the decision that Kurt Warner will be the team’s starting quarterback, no questions asked.

Could Warner have impressed that much during drills, or has McCown digressed? Really, I think it just boils down to the fact that the Cardinals invested a trust fund in Warner, and are just giving him some confidence. Here is a guy has went from being a hero to being benched last year with the Giants with a winning record. All Warner wanted was a fair shot once again, and this opportunity is what could resurrect his career.

The Cardinals barely missed making the playoffs last season, and could have won the division with a 7-9 record. A big part of the problem was Dennis Green’s decisions to switch quarterbacks down the stretch. First he benched Josh McCown in favor of Shaun King. King’s performance was so absurd the following week, Green promoted third string quarterback John Navarre to first string. That type of chaos just can’t happen in the regular season, unless it’s due to injury.

A young quarterback is going to go through bumps and bruises, and you need to let him learn and adjust. Green felt that the Cardinals were suffering from McCown’s play, and that maybe one of the other quarterbacks would be a spark to get them in playoff contention. Green suffered a lot of bark from the media on his decisions, but like any great NFL coach you have to make questionable moves. He was gutsy enough to warrant McCown his starting status back, and he finished out the season with more confidence.

There is no excuses for Kurt Warner not to have a stellar season. He has a full arsenal attack, with Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, and Bryant Johnson. The only main concern may be a tight end threat, but the receivers are a top five crew. In fact, the crew is reminiscent of the combination of Bruce, Holt, and Hakim in Warner’s hey day’s with the Ram’s.

With the one year investment in Warner, the Cardinals could take a loss with Warner and not have it affect them. McCown may get another shot if Warner subsides and fails. The philosophy the Cardinals did in signing both to one-year deals is brilliant. If either performs and excels than the obvious long term deal will be offered. If the Cardinals season flops than they can go after a young quarterback with a high draft pick.

That shouldn’t happen though, as the Cardinals look like serious contenders to take the NFC West. Dennis Green better stay buckled up with his quick snap of decisions, and sit back and enjoy the bumpy ride. They aren’t going to win twelve to thirteen games, but nine or ten tough wins can still get the job done.

New Direction

Friday, 27 May, 2005

Sometimes the more severe consequences in life of being in self-confinement, can stir a different mind frame and personality to a person. In athletics crime is always a related statistic, and usually that player is never given another opportunity.

For Baltimore Ravens running back Jamal Lewis, the Ravens haven’t treated him with added baggage of a criminal athlete at all. He has been with the organization since 2000, and many people forget that he outplayed Priest Holmes as a rookie. Not only that, but the size and dominant speed of Lewis is unmatched in the league. The reverse psychology and support of the Ravens organization, has to make Lewis feel like he has a true family backing him and not just a place to work.

It isn’t the first time a Lewis in Baltimore has been in trouble with the law. Who can forget when Ray Lewis was in an orange jumpsuit, and facing murder charges? Jamal Lewis’s situation was totally different, and involved him making a drug deal over his cell phone. With the obvious evidence in his guilt, Jamal Lewis made the right decision by pleading guilty.

The punishment and severity of his crime obviously could have been a lot worse. But there is a lot of maturing and change Lewis went through from the year 2000. 2000, he was a pressured first round rookie with an unclear future, and made a bad mistake. In no way does that change the fact what he did, but the pattern of deals didn’t continue. If that were the case, Lewis would have been facing Nate Newton charges.

It’s still unclear why Lewis committed the act, as he was signed to a lucrative first round deal. The crime was indelible, like a permanent scar on one’s body from child hood. You have to admire how Lewis handled the whole situation, as he battled the duration of last season with the charges and still managed to have a solid year. The year also featured ups and downs for injuries for Lewis, which could have been a double dagger for him to give up. Instead he finished the year with a huge game against Miami.

When he was back the Ravens were soaring and came close to sneaking into the playoffs. The dexterity and definition of the Ravens without Lewis, is comparable to what the Dolphins were without Ricky Williams. With Lewis out of the lineup, Kyle Boller becomes a target as an adventure arcade experiment gone wrong. With Lewis in the lineup, Boller actually matured right in front of Brian Bellick and the Ravens as a quarterback. It took some time, but Boller’s confidence finally started to peep above with a representation of a leader that can follow, instead of Boller following a playbook with giddy steps.

The Ravens defense has remained strong, intact, and bread for battle for several years, but the finality of a breakdown is always around the corner. That won’t happen next season, but the repeat letdowns of offensive struggles have to disappear. Defense does win championships, but a little help from the offense goes a long way.

Jamal Lewis’s time in prison, has allowed him to re-find himself, and remember his roots. All the hard work he did to get where he is at was almost lost because of a stupid mindless mistake. Every human makes mistakes, but a mistake can propel into several or guide into perseverance. Word out of Baltimore camp is that Lewis has taken the time to his best use, and is mentally right and physically fit even more.

Lewis has been automatically a top five back every season, and notching the top three is a given this year. He averages almost five yards a carry, and has the blazing speed and vision to turn an opponent into a tipsy pretzel dominoe on the ground. New England and Indianapolis will have eyes glued on them, but the Ravens talent all around is hard not to stick near or around the Colts and Patriots.

Age Doesn't Lie

Tuesday, 24 May, 2005

Walking away from the game at your peak is often not a feat imaginable in athletics. So often a career is abruptly cut short due to injury or by losing the talent an athlete once possessed. The great athletes have the virtue of hanging around and padding their statistics, but eighty percent of the time they stick around too long. The true love of the game stays in them, and never goes away. Even when an athlete finally hangs up the uniform, they find another route to keep their sports high going with a different element of athletics.

Jerry Rice has had an illustrious career that has been a precedent for any receiver that plans to take a step on the NFL football field. He has worked relentlessly his entire career, and just like Michael Jordan, Rice has a strong attitude at working 100 percent and putting forth maximum effort. Throughout his twenty one years, he hasn’t changed up his routine at all in the off-season. Some athletes that take an extra hard beating to their body, will let the toll placed upon their body revitalize before pressing on.

It’s called rest and recovery, because too much stress with additional non needed exercise always equals to injury. Rice’s strenuous approach has been an exception, and has kept him as fit and chiseled with the body of a young athlete. There is one problem though for Rice. No matter how hard you work as an athlete, skills can only diminish as age progresses. It’s a natural fact, yet the mind game will always be there for Rice. Still, when your legs can’t move as quick as your mind is telling you, than it’s time to hang it up.

Who wants to play hot potato and be passed along like a baton in the latter stages of their career? Rice played with the 49ers the majority of his career, and if he continues to play football he’ll be on his third team in three seasons. The traveling of a journeyman in athletics isn’t a good sign. It means they’re always at the bottom of the totem pole, and barely contributing to a teams needs.

Stats don’t lie either, as in the past three years his numbers all around for receptions and yardage have dropped 1/3 every season. From his shocking season in 2002 with the Raiders in which he had ninety two catches for 1,211 yards; 2003, sixty three catches for 861 yards, and last season thirty catches for 429 yards.

If the trend continues, signing with Denver would be the worst mistake Rice would make in his career. Last season with Seattle he might have had the best hands, but he was drastically slower than he was even a year or two prior. If Rice truly wants to continue his career, he’ll have to play limited downs and be more of a mentor for the Broncos youth.

Contemplating his decision truly should fall solely on Rice’s shoulders. Opportunities come and go, and this could be the ending on his timeline as a receiver. He can prolong the inevitable but it truly isn’t necessary. He has distinguished himself to be the epitome of what a receiver is suppose to be. An automatic first time hall of famer, countless records, and multiple Super Bowl rings under his belt, is what should be defined as flawless. Let’s hope Jerry Rice makes the right decision, so that the youth of today’s world doesn’t get the wrong image in their head of Rice, as his career fades to black.

Henry Stuck

Tuesday, 24 May, 2005

If there is one thing a common job seeker can say, it’s the fact that they can quit and move on from a job to another at any given point. You can always be a free agent, looking for the best qualified offer. In athletics, when you’re unhappy with a contract you can voice your opinion like a little kid and still get no results. At the end of the day, your contract binds you to obey and fulfill until it expires. Few complaints can be brought up if you want to participate in the sport and earn a pay check.

Travis Henry’s situation is starting to get ugly, and the Bills are doing all the shopping they can to unload him. Henry hasn’t shown up to mini camp, and shouldn’t risk injury for a team that doesn’t want him. That’s fully understandable, as his future for the next two to three seasons is on the line.

Patience is the best virtue plan for Henry. There were three different time frames in the off-season that a deal could have been done for Henry. One was in the early stages of free agency and another was draft day. Of course neither happened, and it wasn’t as if Buffalo wasn’t attempting. They were doing everything possible to work out the long negotiated talks between the Cardinals for LJ Shelton. Obviously a certain side didn’t think the trade offer was rational or needed, as just a week ago Dennis Green unloaded Shelton into the free agent market.

The third and last stage that Henry can and will likely be traded is during the important summer months of June, July, and maybe even August. Coaches are always on the hot seat, and maybe a running back drafted or coming back isn’t setting a solid approval expectation for the 2005 season. That or a serious injury happens to a team’s star running back, and all of the sudden it’s time for the emergency backup plan. It’s not a matter of when that’ll happen to one of the thirty one teams in the NFL, it’s a question of when.

It happens every year, and when it does, Henry would automatically be the first ding-ding and best solution for a team’s short term problems. He is an all-pro running back that’s contract will be expiring after the upcoming season. So basically, he’ll have the opportunity to market himself for the big dollars. We all know how an athlete can respond when a contract year comes along. All of the sudden each week turns into a career day, and late season fatigue, fumbling problems, and the whole nine are absent.

The Buffalo organization also isn’t stupid. They know that if they let Henry sit, he is going to waltz out of Buffalo like he never had been there. So they might as well get what they can for him now, before they let him walk away empty handed. A third round draft pick may be the best offer they can get, but who knows who that pick could end up meaning to the Bills franchise.

Henry has been a strong back throughout his career, even though he still tends to fumble too much. His short size and strength is parallel to Ahman Green, and he may even possess more speed than the shifty Green.

When the 2005 season kicks off, there is absolutely no doubt that Travis Henry will be wearing a different uniform.

Welcoming Back

Monday, 23 May, 2005

There may not be a team that’s lost their identity among the football’s elite teams like the Miami Dolphins. In 2000, the team was forced to make an abrupt change with the stepping down of Jimmy Johnson and Dan Marino. The downfall expected didn’t happen, as Jay Fiedler came in and led Miami to successful campaigns, even though they all resulted in quick playoff exits. Prior to last year though, the two previous years resulted in a couple of late season collapses reminiscent to Dolphin struggles of the past.

Then came the summer of 2004, when Ricky Williams abruptly stepped down, and Miami was forced to sit back and wait for a chaotic season of hell to unfold. That’s exactly what happened, as AJ Feeley and Jay Fiedler traded starts without fully grasping the team in the right direction. It ultimately led to Dave Wannstedt stepping down, and Miami’s veterans in a frustrated frame of mind. They blamed the entire losing season on Ricky Williams, and didn’t want his name mentioned in a Dolphins uniform ever again.

Now, there is a new boss in Nick Saban but he can’t forget that many of the players still on the Dolphins team have hardcore animosity towards Williams. If Ricky Williams was to be dropped in the Dolphins locker room, there is no telling what could happen. Obviously these athletes are grown men and business is business. There are plenty of professional jobs were people don’t like each other, and just keep to themselves. That’s exactly what is going to happen in the Dolphins locker room, and unity will be out of the question.

Williams has been away from football since December of 2003, so his legs should be fresh and in the state of a reborn athlete. That could make him a big time dangerous back, and that’s probably the main reason why Miami doesn’t want him to get away that easily. If they can get him to come back for a year, and backup or lead Ronnie Brown, it’d benefit them in the 2005 off-season. Teams like the Raiders with multiple first round picks, may want to take the gamble and unload a first round pick on Williams.

Right now that proposition isn’t available, as no team in their right mind would risk even a third round pick for Williams. He is going to have to prove himself, and that can only happen in Miami. He still faces a four game suspension, so he’ll literally not step onto the NFL football field for almost two full seasons. From December 2003 until mid October, he’ll have went unscathed from NFL defenses.

Word out of Miami is that Gus Frerotte is out performing AJ Feeley for the quarterback position, and if Miami has solved some questions on the offensive line that watch out. A dynamic duo running back field has been the key to any successful team. Just look at the four teams in that made it to their respective championship games. Atlanta has Duckett-Dunn, Pittsburgh Staley-Bettis, Philadelphia Westbrook-Buckhalter (even though injured most of last season), and New England with Dillon and Kevin Faulk. Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams together would automatically be a top five duo, and alleviate a high percentage of stress on Frerotte or Feeley. Still, if the offensive line is dismal, than 3.0 yards per carry isn’t going to cut it.

Regardless the situation with Ricky Williams is going to be the most entertaining story heading into the 2005 season.

Don't Overevaluate

Monday, 23 May, 2005

Anytime an athlete isn’t present for mandatory workouts it generates a quick swirl of buzz in a concerning way. Usually the main reason for a skip out in mini camp’s has to do with a disgruntled athlete concerned with the dollar sign on their contract. Either that or the athlete is a rookie scrapping away at trying to earn every dollar they can. In Indianapolis the atmosphere has already been circulating on the fact that this could be the last go around for the big three offensive stars. Peyton Manning, Edgerrin James, and Marvin Harrison have made offense look easy in all phases of the game, but good things always have to come to a close.

Manning and Harrison look like a combo that will remain intact for the time being, but James has a big question mark hanging around his future. When the Colts 2004 season was over, there were huge rumors that the Colts were trying to trade James. When nothing resulted after talks, the Colts did what any team would do and that’s franchise a star player. James was angry, as he should have been, but knew he would have to abide to a one year contract.

So taking a look at James decision to skip mini camp serves as a balancing out. It’s like you did me wrong, so I’m going to do you wrong as well, as long as I can. Heck, the one year contract he received is worth it at eight million, but James is smart enough to know that he won’t be wanted or needed after next season. Still, he is a loyal teammate and will surely do his best to help Peyton Manning. Effectively running the football, to setup Manning’s lethal play action passing is a priority to be a Colts running back.

Neither Tony Dungy nor any Colts fans should be worried about James current absence. Mini camp is mainly for rookies to get trained and developed more, and for veterans to get back in the swing of things. James has been through enough mini-camps that it would be like re-teaching a kindergartner the alphabet. He should be in shape, and if he isn’t he knows that Dominic Rhodes or James Mungro is capable of stepping up.

James isn’t getting any younger, and this year the Colts may decrease his carries early on in the season to save him for the long strides in the playoffs. Someone has to catapult to the top over the Patriots, and the Colts have been the problem child for a few years but keep falling short. It takes the right frame of mind to keep taking knockdowns, and still come back a little stronger. The Patriots are just an ever growing monster that keeps feasting off each NFL game, and aren’t going anywhere.

Maybe the Colts organization should ante up the fines for skipping mandatory workouts, because $1,000 is definitely not up to par with the current athletic salaries of today. That might have been an acceptable fine for the 70’s or 80’s, but it’s absurd that players are gleaming with money, but the discipline has sloped in the opposite direction. Even the substance abuse policy should be stricter, as first time offenders only get a warning and a notification isn’t even made available to the media.

If I was in James shoes I’d kick back in Hawaii until late June. Throw an extra $30,000 dollars on my tab of fines, what type of percentage loss is that on an $8 million dollar contract. While, I’m in Hawaii, I’d send a special thank you to my agent Drew Rosenhaus for increasing my price value to remain a top ten back. Which is what I was worth three years ago and amazingly was still able to demand. Aw, the life of an NFL star running back.