love, I love, I love my calendar girl
Yeah, sweet calendar girl
I love, I love, I love my calendar girl
Each and every day of the year.
Geraldine “Gelly” Lirio obviously wasn’t born when Neil Sedaka crooned his hit tune in 1961. Heck, her parents were toddlers when Sedaka’s signature song was climbing the charts.
But Lirio is the Sea Gals’ “Calendar Girl,” as she graces the cover the squad’s 2012 calendar that will be unveiled Wednesday night at the Munchbar at Bellevue Square. The event starts at 7 p.m. and Lirio and the other 31 members of the squad will be there to sign calendars and model the outfits they’re wearing on its pages.
To say that being the cover girl caught Lirio by surprise only scratches the surface of her initial reaction to the honor.
“I did not have one clue,” she said. “Honestly, I got way more than I bargained for just making the squad. I’m still excited about that, and then when I heard I was going to be in a calendar it just flipped everything over for me.”
When Sea Gals director Sherri Thompson showed the calendar to the girls for the first time at a recent practice, Lirio admits, “I glanced at and said, ‘Oh, that’s a pretty cover.’ And then I went back to what I was doing.”
That’s when everyone else started glancing at her.
“All of a sudden it got kind of quiet and I see all these eyes looking at me,” she said. “I was like, ‘What?’ Someone said, ‘That’s you!’ I was like, ‘Oh my goodness.’ ”
Lirio still is “figuring out what I feel about it,” as she put it. “It’s definitely a huge change for me. Something really new. But nonetheless, I am so excited about it.”
This is Lirio’s first season on the squad and the 22-year-old “rookie” from Covington comes at it from an unusual background.
“This style of dancing that we do – Sherri calls it ‘The Sea Gal style’ – I love it, but it’s also new to me,” she said.
That’s because her training is in ballroom dancing. She started competing after attending Kentwood High School and she’s currently an instructor.
“I’m of Filipino decent, so it’s customary when girls turn 18-years old to have big Debutant Balls,” she explained. “So a lot of what I do is choreograph for those events.”
There is one similarity between ballroom dancing and 50-yard line dancing. “It’s all entertainment, which I love,” she said.
There’s also one huge difference.
“As far as the size of the audience, the crowds for even a large ballroom dancing competition is not nearly the size of the crowds at CenturyLink Field,” she said. “It’s such a big chance and I’m just loving every minute of it.”
When not dancing with the Sea Gals, or practicing with the squad, Lirio helps her parents with their property management business. She has completed her degree at Green River Community College and will enroll at the University of Washington for the winter quarter.
“Right now, I consider this my job,” she said of her Sea Gals’ duties.
The proceeds from the $15 calendar go to charity, which is an added plus for the cover girl.
“I am so excited about that, and the fact that I get to represent that girl on the cover and being someone who just wanted to try out a dream that I had and I made it happen,” she said. “I got more than I bargained for. I’m so grateful.”
Now, back to that Sedaka tune.
“Of course I know that song,” she said. “It’s actually a favorite karaoke song.”
Now it just has a new meaning for Lirio.
Amber Lancaster Was A Seattle Seahawks Cheerleader before The Price Is Right
Name: Amber Lancaster
Birthday: September 19, 1980
Nationality: American
Sun Sign: Virgo
Age: 37 Years
Born in: Tacoma, Washington, U.S.
Famous as: Actress, Model
City, States, Provinces & Districts: Washington
Net worth: $500,000 as Jan 10, 2017
Amber Lancaster is an American model and actress who is known for her
role in the game show ‘The Price is Right’. She has made guest
appearances in television shows like ‘Entourage’ on HBO, and was also
the official trophy holder at the Emmy Awards in 2009.
Amber Lancaster was born on September 19, 1980, in Tacoma, Washington,
USA. She attended Franklin Pierce High School in Tacoma. She started
participating in beauty pageants as a young girl and won the title of
‘Miss Washington Teen USA’ in 1998. Apart from modeling, acting, and
dancing, Amber loves to cook, get sun baked at the beach, watching
football games, and listening to some cool music. She is also a socially
active person. Being a supporter of several organizations including
ASPCA, NBA Cares, Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, Special
Olympics, and Safehaven, Amber takes an active interest in social
causes, and also fights for justice for women and children. As per some
sources, Amber is in a relationship with ‘Friday Night Lights’ star Zach
Gilford. She had made an
appearance at the Scream Awards in 2007 as well. Amber is a series
regular in the comedy show ‘The Hard Times of RJ Berger’ on MTV. She was
also a contestant in the reality show ‘Are You Hot – The Search for
America’s Sexiest People,’ and has been a part of the music video ‘The
Real Thing’. Passionate about dancing as well, Amber is on the lookout
for opportunities that will allow her to explore this talent of hers.
Already successful as a model and reality TV star, she is really looking
forward to play meatier roles as an actress. Let us wish her all
success in her future endeavors! Amber Lancaster
has been a natural performer and dancer since childhood. An attention
grabber from a young age, she used to put up talent shows for her
neighbors, just to entertain them. Needless to say, she was very popular
in her locality as a young girl! Being a natural charmer, she
effortlessly attracted people towards her. During her youth, she had
also managed to gain a position as a professional cheerleader for
Seattle Seahawks. Her
life changed after she moved to Los Angeles to purse her acting career.
From 2003 to 2006, she was a regular dancer on the syndicated dance
show 'Soul Train'. In 2008, Amber Lancaster rose to fame after working
on the longest running game show in TV history – ‘The Price is Right.’
She is still a part of the show. Her other notable performances are that
of Jenny Swanson in the comedy show, ‘The Hard Times of RJ Berger’
(2010–2010), and as Tara in HBO’s ‘Entourage.’’
Every April, Pete Carroll has his Seahawks go through an exercise. In the team meeting room, each player gets up from the seats they were in the year before and finds a new spot around different people.
The idea, quirky as it might be, is to send the message to everyone that when a new NFL season begins, a new identity, new roles and new relationships have to be forged, because the team itself is brand new. You’ve heard it before—what happened last season doesn’t matter, past accomplishments don’t count—and this is Carroll’s way of physically demonstrating it for his players.
The Seahawks went through with it again a couple months ago, but the reminder wasn’t really necessary this time around. Richard Sherman is a 49er. Michael Bennett is an Eagle. Cliff Avril is mulling retirement. Kam Chancellor is awaiting scans on his neck to see if he’ll be able to play. Earl Thomas has stayed away, and plans to keep staying away until he gets a new deal. And those five weren’t just a significant part of the team’s title core—they were also all under contract for 2018 just a few months ago, as five of Seattle’s 10 highest-paid players.
“I’m not saying I’m not more challenged this year than some other years,” Carroll said from his office the other day. “But I always feel like, ‘Man, this is my whole deal, to try to figure out how to recapture that.’”
Here’s the curveball: The roster turnover, the departure of all those core players, has actually made it easier for Carroll. Crazy? Not really. As he sees it, this offseason has been and will continue to be a chance, at age 66, to sell the bedrock of his program—competition—all over again. It got a little hard, as the above core came to prominence, to keep selling the idea that every spot was up for grabs. It’s not so difficult to sell anymore.
“It’s pretty plain to see, that when guys have established themselves for four or five or six years at a spot, and they’ve been really effective at what they do, it’s hard to convince the next guy that he’s going to take their spot,” Carroll said. “That’s for sure. So when opportunities are more open, it does create, in the truest sense, the best connection to what the philosophy and the approach is all about.
“And it feels like four or five years ago. It feels fresh and wide open, it’s more of an open competition for some of the spots. And that’s a really good thing for us, because it does feed into the whole approach.”
It’s a big week across the NFL—28 of the league’s 32 teams are in minicamps. The other four are wrapping up their offseason programs with one last set of OTAs. And by the time we get to next weekend, the NFL will be on its summer break. Therefore, there’s a lot packed into this week’s MMQB. We’re going to check in on the Browns, and how Hue Jackson has put last year in the rear-view. We’ll weigh in on the blow up between the Eagles and the White House. We’ll bounce around the league with nuggets on guys who have emerged this spring. And we’re going to share details on a visit Kobe Bryant took to Foxboro in May.
The Kobe visit was an interesting one, because of Bryant’s experience as an athlete who played 20 professional seasons. The Patriots have a guy like that—Tom Brady is approaching his 19th year, and he’s done it a different way in 2018, staying away from all voluntary phases of New England’s offseason program. He was back last week at the team’s mandatory minicamp, as you might have heard. And when he and I spoke afterward, the question that was lingering was what he took from spending the last seven weeks away. The answer was tremendously… normal.
“Just enjoying my time with my family, bringing my kids to school, supporting my family the best I can,” Brady told me. “They’ve been supporting me. It goes both ways. I wish I could be in five different places at one time, but that’s not life. I’ve enjoyed it. I’m never going to look back and regret spending time with my wife and my kids, and being a part of their life.”
And when I asked if this represented an unplugging of sorts, which I’d heard he wanted, he quickly combatted the idea, because it is not as if he disengaged altogether, nor did it look that way on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.
“I mean, I’m trying to get to ready to play, doing whatever I can do to get ready to play,” he continued. “I love this team, I love this organization, and I try to be a good example.”
We’ll get back to Brady and the Kobe connection in a bit. But we’re going to start with the Seahawks’ reset, and what it means for Carroll’s program.
Every April, Pete Carroll has his Seahawks go through an exercise. In the team meeting room, each player gets up from the seats they were in the year before and finds a new spot around different people.
The idea, quirky as it might be, is to send the message to everyone that when a new NFL season begins, a new identity, new roles and new relationships have to be forged, because the team itself is brand new. You’ve heard it before—what happened last season doesn’t matter, past accomplishments don’t count—and this is Carroll’s way of physically demonstrating it for his players.
The Seahawks went through with it again a couple months ago, but the reminder wasn’t really necessary this time around. Richard Sherman is a 49er. Michael Bennett is an Eagle. Cliff Avril is mulling retirement. Kam Chancellor is awaiting scans on his neck to see if he’ll be able to play. Earl Thomas has stayed away, and plans to keep staying away until he gets a new deal. And those five weren’t just a significant part of the team’s title core—they were also all under contract for 2018 just a few months ago, as five of Seattle’s 10 highest-paid players.
“I’m not saying I’m not more challenged this year than some other years,” Carroll said from his office the other day. “But I always feel like, ‘Man, this is my whole deal, to try to figure out how to recapture that.’”
Here’s the curveball: The roster turnover, the departure of all those core players, has actually made it easier for Carroll. Crazy? Not really. As he sees it, this offseason has been and will continue to be a chance, at age 66, to sell the bedrock of his program—competition—all over again. It got a little hard, as the above core came to prominence, to keep selling the idea that every spot was up for grabs. It’s not so difficult to sell anymore.
“It’s pretty plain to see, that when guys have established themselves for four or five or six years at a spot, and they’ve been really effective at what they do, it’s hard to convince the next guy that he’s going to take their spot,” Carroll said. “That’s for sure. So when opportunities are more open, it does create, in the truest sense, the best connection to what the philosophy and the approach is all about.
“And it feels like four or five years ago. It feels fresh and wide open, it’s more of an open competition for some of the spots. And that’s a really good thing for us, because it does feed into the whole approach.”
It’s a big week across the NFL—28 of the league’s 32 teams are in minicamps. The other four are wrapping up their offseason programs with one last set of OTAs. And by the time we get to next weekend, the NFL will be on its summer break. Therefore, there’s a lot packed into this week’s MMQB. We’re going to check in on the Browns, and how Hue Jackson has put last year in the rear-view. We’ll weigh in on the blow up between the Eagles and the White House. We’ll bounce around the league with nuggets on guys who have emerged this spring. And we’re going to share details on a visit Kobe Bryant took to Foxboro in May.
The Kobe visit was an interesting one, because of Bryant’s experience as an athlete who played 20 professional seasons. The Patriots have a guy like that—Tom Brady is approaching his 19th year, and he’s done it a different way in 2018, staying away from all voluntary phases of New England’s offseason program. He was back last week at the team’s mandatory minicamp, as you might have heard. And when he and I spoke afterward, the question that was lingering was what he took from spending the last seven weeks away. The answer was tremendously… normal.
“Just enjoying my time with my family, bringing my kids to school, supporting my family the best I can,” Brady told me. “They’ve been supporting me. It goes both ways. I wish I could be in five different places at one time, but that’s not life. I’ve enjoyed it. I’m never going to look back and regret spending time with my wife and my kids, and being a part of their life.”
And when I asked if this represented an unplugging of sorts, which I’d heard he wanted, he quickly combatted the idea, because it is not as if he disengaged altogether, nor did it look that way on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.
“I mean, I’m trying to get to ready to play, doing whatever I can do to get ready to play,” he continued. “I love this team, I love this organization, and I try to be a good example.”
We’ll get back to Brady and the Kobe connection in a bit. But we’re going to start with the Seahawks’ reset, and what it means for Carroll’s program.
Toward the end of last year, a couple things were happening with the Seahawks. There had been a rash of injuries that put a lot of the foundational pieces of the Carroll Era on the shelf. There was some fatigue on the part of the vets who actually were available to play, to the point where they’d tell younger players, “You should’ve seen what this place was like in 2012.”
Six years ago, the intensity, tension and dog-eat-dog ethos were palpable. And last season, the guys making the decisions heard what the vets were saying—that’s evident in the calls they made this offseason. It started with Carroll’s staff; he hired new coordinators (Brian Schottenheimer on offense, Ken Norton Jr. on defense) and a new O-line coach (Mike Solari). It continued with the players. And it permeated how they drafted.
In fact, if you look at the Seahawks’ rookies, you’ll notice they’re all hardened by something significant they overcame. Shaquem Griffin is the most obvious example, but not the only one. First-rounder Rashaad Penny had to earn his way onto the field at mid-major San Diego State, behind Donnel Pumphery. Third-round pick Rasheem Green battled injury at USC. Fourth-rounder Will Dissly was a zero-star D-line recruit who grew into a great blocking tight end. Michael Dickson went from Australia to Texas to punt.
“We really hit it across the board,” Carroll said. “This year was a really good year for connecting with the right kinds of guys to really compete and add to the mentality. I don’t want to say that we tried harder at it. As always, we refocused, and we did better this year collectively hitting it. That’s why camp is good, that’s why every day these guys are juiced and ready to roll. They just add a nice energy. You can feel it.”
Carroll has seen it with veterans too, most notably in how Russell Wilson and Doug Baldwin are working together. It’s there with a crew of running backs that Carroll calls “the most competitive group we’ve had,” with Penny fighting Chris Carson, Mike Davis and C.J. Prosise for snaps. And on defense, the addition of ex-Viking Tom Johnson has helped in pushing young D-linemen like Jarran Reed.
“There’s just been a lot of highlights, a lot of spots that fire me up,” Carroll said. “I’m really looking forward to seeing how we come together when we get to camp.”
Of course, there’s another side to this, and that’s the fact that the previous crew was really, really good. It’s fine to be excited now. It’s another thing to actually win like those Seahawks did over the last six seasons. (A regular-season record of 65-30-1, five playoff appearances, three division titles, two NFC championships and a Super Bowl win.)
Carroll acknowledges that, of course, but he also doesn’t see this as a teardown. That brings us back to the other piece of last year to remember, which is the rash of injuries the Seahawks went through. It pushed onto the field a lot of guys who will be playing bigger roles this year, forcing them to get their feet wet. And what he saw then, and is seeing now, gives him hope that this could be 2012 again.
“It does feel like that,” Carroll said. “There was a time when our star players weren’t star players yet—they were just coming up, and it was exciting to see that emergence. That’s what we’re counting on in the next year, seeing these guys start to come to prominence and make a spot for themselves. I’m not even concerned about it. I just want to see what the timeline is. I hope it happens now. I want to see it happen right away.”
Last year a lot of people saw the changes looming and thought it was the perfect time for Carroll to walk away—he’ll be 67 in September, and after this year he’ll have been in Seattle as long as he was at USC. He sees it as a new start.
“I was clearly aware of what other people thought from the outside, because it was stated enough. Really, from my perspective, it turned me the other way,” Carroll said. “It made me more jacked up to get back into it, because we were taking all the right steps in the transition we were going to have to face, to make it work out.
“Somebody said, ‘You’re 65, are you thinking of retiring?’ or whatever it was. Who says at 65, you have to retire? What does that mean? It means nothing to me. I’m not old enough to retire. I’m not there at all. I do understand why people thought that. [But] we are not low on juice around here.”
It’s also the last he wants to hear about 2017. When he and I spoke on Thursday night, Jackson told me the players haven’t heard much from the coaches about it this spring. And they won’t either.
“It’s something we already know we were,” Jackson said. “We want to turn the page on that as fast as we can. Obviously we can’t get the taste out of our mouth until we start playing football games. We all know that and we respect that. But to talk about it, what does that do? It doesn’t do anything but bring up bad memories. We’ve pushed forward from that.”
The Browns’ minicamp this week will wrap up what’s been a much different offseason in Berea. After the Browns took an analytically driven, patient approach to building the roster in 2016 and ’17, new GM John Dorsey showed overwhelming urgency to get the team to 2018.
Yes, 0-16 is still there, but because of all of the activity, and because of Dorsey’s presence, to the people in Berea it feels like it happened longer than five months ago. That’s why I thought to reach out to Jackson this week. Here are a few nuggets from that conversation, straight from Hue to you…
Jackson wants the players to feel the urgency. “That’s the way John’s approached it. I know it’s the way our coaching staff has approached it. We want to get to winning as soon as we can, and the moves signal that. Tyrod Taylor’s our starting quarterback, we drafted a rookie quarterback, and I think it’s a great situation to be in—we don’t have to play a rookie quarterback right away, because we have a proven guy who’s played in the league, won games, played in playoff games. That’s exciting. I also think it sends a message, creates a narrative that this team is gearing up to win, that everything we’re doing is pointing towards winning.”
The talent is better… “If you look across the locker room, every position group has been upgraded with more talent. It’s everywhere. That in itself, when you look from one guy to the next, they can see it, there’s been more talent brought on to this football team. … I’ve been in this for a while, so there are things you can tell. I’m not ever going to say our team is not good enough, or we’re not this or not that. We’ll know when we get to training camp. But I do know there’s talent on this football team. And I think that’s obvious. If you look around the roster, there’s been some players who’ve been really good players on other teams.”
… so is the synergy between scouting and coaching… “When it’s like that—and it is now and has been since John has been here with us—we see things the same. So when you’re trying to acquire players, there’s a reason why we’re putting him on our team. There’s a reason why we’re doing everything that we’re trying to do in the offseason to get this team to be the best they can be. It doesn’t mean we agree all the time, but we have great discussions and great conversations about why. You gotta win your ‘why’ on why we’re doing this.”
… and so is the makeup of the team. “I really like my football team. I like all the acquisitions we’ve made to our team. I like the young players we’ve had, because they’ve improved, some of them are into Year 3, some are into Year 4. I think it’s a great blend of young talent and veteran talent. … A lot of these guys come from organizations where they won a lot of games, some have been to the playoffs, some didn’t do it as well. It’s a good blend, a good mix. But I think in the locker room, these guys know what we’re trying to do, what we’re trying accomplish. We’re trying to do something special.”
And the big question: Can Baker Mayfield win the starting job this summer? “That’s not in my mind. What’s in my mind is Tyrod’s our starter. We have two very capable players, one in Drew Stanton, who also has a ton of experience, and we have a young, emerging quarterback that’s got a lot of work to do, and has to learn a lot. I don’t want to put a ceiling on any player, but I already know where our pecking order is. And again, I’ve said this before, I’m not going to stop him from being the best version of him, I’m not going to stop him from working extremely hard. I just want to do everything I can so when he goes out to play for the Cleveland Browns, whenever that is, he’ll know and he’ll be ready to play.”
Perception might not match reality, but it sure feels like the New England dynasty is more vulnerable than it’s been at any point this decade. And so Bill Belichick’s handling of this offseason has been under the microscope. Along those lines, there was one move he made a few weeks back that was fascinating to me (and maybe only me): The 66-year-old coach brought in Lakers icon Kobe Bryant just after Memorial Day. Among Bryant’s talking points was the importance of training, and of studying other players, to his ability to play two decades in the NBA. The Patriots who were listening have another pretty good example of longevity in their own locker room, and they made the connection quickly.
“A hundred percent,” said fifth-year safety Duron Harmon. “When he was telling us about his training regimen, how he approached a day, a light bulb went off in my head: That’s Tom. You realize it’s no coincidence. That’s the reason why Kobe Bryant is Kobe Bryant. That’s the reason why Tom Brady is Tom Brady. [Brady’s] approach to the game, it’s totally different than the majority of the NFL, probably 99% of the NFL. And that’s why they have the success they have.”
New Patriot Jeremy Hill told me that Bryant’s study of Allen Iverson stuck out in the speech, because it was a result of Iverson lighting Bryant up early in his career. Bryant also relayed stories of incorporating elements of what Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Bill Walton, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson did as players and pros into his own routine.
And there were two keys. One was the aforementioned commitment. “There was no off-day, there was no, ‘It’s O.K., I’ll worry about it tomorrow.’ He approached every single day as a life-or-death situation,” Harmon said.
And the other was the constant thirst for knowledge. “With Tom and Kobe, you see they have totally different workout regimens, but you see it works perfectly for each one of them in a totally different way,” Hill said. “For me, and everyone in the locker room, whatever we can take from that and apply to ourselves to make ourselves better, even if it’s just a little better, that stuff is huge.”
I don’t know exactly why Belichick brought Bryant in, but I sense that the message Kobe delivered absolutely resonated. And given all that’s happened in Foxboro over the last six or seven months, and how much of it relates to Brady’s own training methods and their influence in the New England program, it’s pretty interesting how it lines up with the juicy storylines we’ve been following since January.
Player Justice @PlayerJustice1
I missed this a couple weeks ago, but it’s a pretty interesting point to make, especially in light of where the concussion settlement has gone. The Real Sports piece is well worth your time.
VIDEO
lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
Pete Carroll’s Seahawks, It’s Time to Compete Again Any Seahawks Player Takes A Knee During National Anthem I'll Brake There Legs
The ‘Legion of Boom’ core is no more, but things have
taken on a 2012 kind of vibe in Seattle—and that’s just how Pete Carroll
likes it. Plus, Tom Brady’s taste of normalcy, Hue Jackson jumps in a
lake, Kobe Bryant talks to the Pats, Derrius Guice shines on the field,
Malcolm Jenkins shines off it, Manziel shines in another country, and
Durant, LeBron and Gronk the Horse shine in sports that aren’t football
Every April, Pete Carroll has his Seahawks go through an exercise. In the team meeting room, each player gets up from the seats they were in the year before and finds a new spot around different people.
The idea, quirky as it might be, is to send the message to everyone that when a new NFL season begins, a new identity, new roles and new relationships have to be forged, because the team itself is brand new. You’ve heard it before—what happened last season doesn’t matter, past accomplishments don’t count—and this is Carroll’s way of physically demonstrating it for his players.
The Seahawks went through with it again a couple months ago, but the reminder wasn’t really necessary this time around. Richard Sherman is a 49er. Michael Bennett is an Eagle. Cliff Avril is mulling retirement. Kam Chancellor is awaiting scans on his neck to see if he’ll be able to play. Earl Thomas has stayed away, and plans to keep staying away until he gets a new deal. And those five weren’t just a significant part of the team’s title core—they were also all under contract for 2018 just a few months ago, as five of Seattle’s 10 highest-paid players.
“I’m not saying I’m not more challenged this year than some other years,” Carroll said from his office the other day. “But I always feel like, ‘Man, this is my whole deal, to try to figure out how to recapture that.’”
Here’s the curveball: The roster turnover, the departure of all those core players, has actually made it easier for Carroll. Crazy? Not really. As he sees it, this offseason has been and will continue to be a chance, at age 66, to sell the bedrock of his program—competition—all over again. It got a little hard, as the above core came to prominence, to keep selling the idea that every spot was up for grabs. It’s not so difficult to sell anymore.
“It’s pretty plain to see, that when guys have established themselves for four or five or six years at a spot, and they’ve been really effective at what they do, it’s hard to convince the next guy that he’s going to take their spot,” Carroll said. “That’s for sure. So when opportunities are more open, it does create, in the truest sense, the best connection to what the philosophy and the approach is all about.
“And it feels like four or five years ago. It feels fresh and wide open, it’s more of an open competition for some of the spots. And that’s a really good thing for us, because it does feed into the whole approach.”
It’s a big week across the NFL—28 of the league’s 32 teams are in minicamps. The other four are wrapping up their offseason programs with one last set of OTAs. And by the time we get to next weekend, the NFL will be on its summer break. Therefore, there’s a lot packed into this week’s MMQB. We’re going to check in on the Browns, and how Hue Jackson has put last year in the rear-view. We’ll weigh in on the blow up between the Eagles and the White House. We’ll bounce around the league with nuggets on guys who have emerged this spring. And we’re going to share details on a visit Kobe Bryant took to Foxboro in May.
The Kobe visit was an interesting one, because of Bryant’s experience as an athlete who played 20 professional seasons. The Patriots have a guy like that—Tom Brady is approaching his 19th year, and he’s done it a different way in 2018, staying away from all voluntary phases of New England’s offseason program. He was back last week at the team’s mandatory minicamp, as you might have heard. And when he and I spoke afterward, the question that was lingering was what he took from spending the last seven weeks away. The answer was tremendously… normal.
“Just enjoying my time with my family, bringing my kids to school, supporting my family the best I can,” Brady told me. “They’ve been supporting me. It goes both ways. I wish I could be in five different places at one time, but that’s not life. I’ve enjoyed it. I’m never going to look back and regret spending time with my wife and my kids, and being a part of their life.”
And when I asked if this represented an unplugging of sorts, which I’d heard he wanted, he quickly combatted the idea, because it is not as if he disengaged altogether, nor did it look that way on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.
“I mean, I’m trying to get to ready to play, doing whatever I can do to get ready to play,” he continued. “I love this team, I love this organization, and I try to be a good example.”
We’ll get back to Brady and the Kobe connection in a bit. But we’re going to start with the Seahawks’ reset, and what it means for Carroll’s program.
The ‘Legion of Boom’ core is no more, but things have
taken on a 2012 kind of vibe in Seattle—and that’s just how Pete Carroll
likes it. Plus, Tom Brady’s taste of normalcy, Hue Jackson jumps in a
lake, Kobe Bryant talks to the Pats, Derrius Guice shines on the field,
Malcolm Jenkins shines off it, Manziel shines in another country, and
Durant, LeBron and Gronk the Horse shine in sports that aren’t football
Every April, Pete Carroll has his Seahawks go through an exercise. In the team meeting room, each player gets up from the seats they were in the year before and finds a new spot around different people.
The idea, quirky as it might be, is to send the message to everyone that when a new NFL season begins, a new identity, new roles and new relationships have to be forged, because the team itself is brand new. You’ve heard it before—what happened last season doesn’t matter, past accomplishments don’t count—and this is Carroll’s way of physically demonstrating it for his players.
The Seahawks went through with it again a couple months ago, but the reminder wasn’t really necessary this time around. Richard Sherman is a 49er. Michael Bennett is an Eagle. Cliff Avril is mulling retirement. Kam Chancellor is awaiting scans on his neck to see if he’ll be able to play. Earl Thomas has stayed away, and plans to keep staying away until he gets a new deal. And those five weren’t just a significant part of the team’s title core—they were also all under contract for 2018 just a few months ago, as five of Seattle’s 10 highest-paid players.
“I’m not saying I’m not more challenged this year than some other years,” Carroll said from his office the other day. “But I always feel like, ‘Man, this is my whole deal, to try to figure out how to recapture that.’”
Here’s the curveball: The roster turnover, the departure of all those core players, has actually made it easier for Carroll. Crazy? Not really. As he sees it, this offseason has been and will continue to be a chance, at age 66, to sell the bedrock of his program—competition—all over again. It got a little hard, as the above core came to prominence, to keep selling the idea that every spot was up for grabs. It’s not so difficult to sell anymore.
“It’s pretty plain to see, that when guys have established themselves for four or five or six years at a spot, and they’ve been really effective at what they do, it’s hard to convince the next guy that he’s going to take their spot,” Carroll said. “That’s for sure. So when opportunities are more open, it does create, in the truest sense, the best connection to what the philosophy and the approach is all about.
“And it feels like four or five years ago. It feels fresh and wide open, it’s more of an open competition for some of the spots. And that’s a really good thing for us, because it does feed into the whole approach.”
It’s a big week across the NFL—28 of the league’s 32 teams are in minicamps. The other four are wrapping up their offseason programs with one last set of OTAs. And by the time we get to next weekend, the NFL will be on its summer break. Therefore, there’s a lot packed into this week’s MMQB. We’re going to check in on the Browns, and how Hue Jackson has put last year in the rear-view. We’ll weigh in on the blow up between the Eagles and the White House. We’ll bounce around the league with nuggets on guys who have emerged this spring. And we’re going to share details on a visit Kobe Bryant took to Foxboro in May.
The Kobe visit was an interesting one, because of Bryant’s experience as an athlete who played 20 professional seasons. The Patriots have a guy like that—Tom Brady is approaching his 19th year, and he’s done it a different way in 2018, staying away from all voluntary phases of New England’s offseason program. He was back last week at the team’s mandatory minicamp, as you might have heard. And when he and I spoke afterward, the question that was lingering was what he took from spending the last seven weeks away. The answer was tremendously… normal.
“Just enjoying my time with my family, bringing my kids to school, supporting my family the best I can,” Brady told me. “They’ve been supporting me. It goes both ways. I wish I could be in five different places at one time, but that’s not life. I’ve enjoyed it. I’m never going to look back and regret spending time with my wife and my kids, and being a part of their life.”
And when I asked if this represented an unplugging of sorts, which I’d heard he wanted, he quickly combatted the idea, because it is not as if he disengaged altogether, nor did it look that way on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.
“I mean, I’m trying to get to ready to play, doing whatever I can do to get ready to play,” he continued. “I love this team, I love this organization, and I try to be a good example.”
We’ll get back to Brady and the Kobe connection in a bit. But we’re going to start with the Seahawks’ reset, and what it means for Carroll’s program.
Toward the end of last year, a couple things were happening with the Seahawks. There had been a rash of injuries that put a lot of the foundational pieces of the Carroll Era on the shelf. There was some fatigue on the part of the vets who actually were available to play, to the point where they’d tell younger players, “You should’ve seen what this place was like in 2012.”
Six years ago, the intensity, tension and dog-eat-dog ethos were palpable. And last season, the guys making the decisions heard what the vets were saying—that’s evident in the calls they made this offseason. It started with Carroll’s staff; he hired new coordinators (Brian Schottenheimer on offense, Ken Norton Jr. on defense) and a new O-line coach (Mike Solari). It continued with the players. And it permeated how they drafted.
In fact, if you look at the Seahawks’ rookies, you’ll notice they’re all hardened by something significant they overcame. Shaquem Griffin is the most obvious example, but not the only one. First-rounder Rashaad Penny had to earn his way onto the field at mid-major San Diego State, behind Donnel Pumphery. Third-round pick Rasheem Green battled injury at USC. Fourth-rounder Will Dissly was a zero-star D-line recruit who grew into a great blocking tight end. Michael Dickson went from Australia to Texas to punt.
“We really hit it across the board,” Carroll said. “This year was a really good year for connecting with the right kinds of guys to really compete and add to the mentality. I don’t want to say that we tried harder at it. As always, we refocused, and we did better this year collectively hitting it. That’s why camp is good, that’s why every day these guys are juiced and ready to roll. They just add a nice energy. You can feel it.”
Carroll has seen it with veterans too, most notably in how Russell Wilson and Doug Baldwin are working together. It’s there with a crew of running backs that Carroll calls “the most competitive group we’ve had,” with Penny fighting Chris Carson, Mike Davis and C.J. Prosise for snaps. And on defense, the addition of ex-Viking Tom Johnson has helped in pushing young D-linemen like Jarran Reed.
“There’s just been a lot of highlights, a lot of spots that fire me up,” Carroll said. “I’m really looking forward to seeing how we come together when we get to camp.”
Of course, there’s another side to this, and that’s the fact that the previous crew was really, really good. It’s fine to be excited now. It’s another thing to actually win like those Seahawks did over the last six seasons. (A regular-season record of 65-30-1, five playoff appearances, three division titles, two NFC championships and a Super Bowl win.)
Carroll acknowledges that, of course, but he also doesn’t see this as a teardown. That brings us back to the other piece of last year to remember, which is the rash of injuries the Seahawks went through. It pushed onto the field a lot of guys who will be playing bigger roles this year, forcing them to get their feet wet. And what he saw then, and is seeing now, gives him hope that this could be 2012 again.
“It does feel like that,” Carroll said. “There was a time when our star players weren’t star players yet—they were just coming up, and it was exciting to see that emergence. That’s what we’re counting on in the next year, seeing these guys start to come to prominence and make a spot for themselves. I’m not even concerned about it. I just want to see what the timeline is. I hope it happens now. I want to see it happen right away.”
Last year a lot of people saw the changes looming and thought it was the perfect time for Carroll to walk away—he’ll be 67 in September, and after this year he’ll have been in Seattle as long as he was at USC. He sees it as a new start.
“I was clearly aware of what other people thought from the outside, because it was stated enough. Really, from my perspective, it turned me the other way,” Carroll said. “It made me more jacked up to get back into it, because we were taking all the right steps in the transition we were going to have to face, to make it work out.
“Somebody said, ‘You’re 65, are you thinking of retiring?’ or whatever it was. Who says at 65, you have to retire? What does that mean? It means nothing to me. I’m not old enough to retire. I’m not there at all. I do understand why people thought that. [But] we are not low on juice around here.”
Hue Jackson Jumped in a Lake; Now It’s on to 2018
A couple weeks back, Browns coach Hue Jackson fulfilled a promise to the fans in Cleveland, jumping in Lake Erie as a form of penance for going 0-16. He called it an “outstanding day for all involved,” in part because owner Dee Haslam was there, and in larger part because $30,000 was raised for his foundation.It’s also the last he wants to hear about 2017. When he and I spoke on Thursday night, Jackson told me the players haven’t heard much from the coaches about it this spring. And they won’t either.
“It’s something we already know we were,” Jackson said. “We want to turn the page on that as fast as we can. Obviously we can’t get the taste out of our mouth until we start playing football games. We all know that and we respect that. But to talk about it, what does that do? It doesn’t do anything but bring up bad memories. We’ve pushed forward from that.”
The Browns’ minicamp this week will wrap up what’s been a much different offseason in Berea. After the Browns took an analytically driven, patient approach to building the roster in 2016 and ’17, new GM John Dorsey showed overwhelming urgency to get the team to 2018.
Yes, 0-16 is still there, but because of all of the activity, and because of Dorsey’s presence, to the people in Berea it feels like it happened longer than five months ago. That’s why I thought to reach out to Jackson this week. Here are a few nuggets from that conversation, straight from Hue to you…
Jackson wants the players to feel the urgency. “That’s the way John’s approached it. I know it’s the way our coaching staff has approached it. We want to get to winning as soon as we can, and the moves signal that. Tyrod Taylor’s our starting quarterback, we drafted a rookie quarterback, and I think it’s a great situation to be in—we don’t have to play a rookie quarterback right away, because we have a proven guy who’s played in the league, won games, played in playoff games. That’s exciting. I also think it sends a message, creates a narrative that this team is gearing up to win, that everything we’re doing is pointing towards winning.”
The talent is better… “If you look across the locker room, every position group has been upgraded with more talent. It’s everywhere. That in itself, when you look from one guy to the next, they can see it, there’s been more talent brought on to this football team. … I’ve been in this for a while, so there are things you can tell. I’m not ever going to say our team is not good enough, or we’re not this or not that. We’ll know when we get to training camp. But I do know there’s talent on this football team. And I think that’s obvious. If you look around the roster, there’s been some players who’ve been really good players on other teams.”
… so is the synergy between scouting and coaching… “When it’s like that—and it is now and has been since John has been here with us—we see things the same. So when you’re trying to acquire players, there’s a reason why we’re putting him on our team. There’s a reason why we’re doing everything that we’re trying to do in the offseason to get this team to be the best they can be. It doesn’t mean we agree all the time, but we have great discussions and great conversations about why. You gotta win your ‘why’ on why we’re doing this.”
… and so is the makeup of the team. “I really like my football team. I like all the acquisitions we’ve made to our team. I like the young players we’ve had, because they’ve improved, some of them are into Year 3, some are into Year 4. I think it’s a great blend of young talent and veteran talent. … A lot of these guys come from organizations where they won a lot of games, some have been to the playoffs, some didn’t do it as well. It’s a good blend, a good mix. But I think in the locker room, these guys know what we’re trying to do, what we’re trying accomplish. We’re trying to do something special.”
And the big question: Can Baker Mayfield win the starting job this summer? “That’s not in my mind. What’s in my mind is Tyrod’s our starter. We have two very capable players, one in Drew Stanton, who also has a ton of experience, and we have a young, emerging quarterback that’s got a lot of work to do, and has to learn a lot. I don’t want to put a ceiling on any player, but I already know where our pecking order is. And again, I’ve said this before, I’m not going to stop him from being the best version of him, I’m not going to stop him from working extremely hard. I just want to do everything I can so when he goes out to play for the Cleveland Browns, whenever that is, he’ll know and he’ll be ready to play.”
Kobe Drops In On the Patriots
It was a big news week in Foxboro, with Brady and Rob Gronkowski back, and word emerging on the final day of the Patriots’ minicamp that Julian Edelman failed a PED test and, pending appeal, will be shelved for the first four games of 2018, delaying his return from ACL surgery.Perception might not match reality, but it sure feels like the New England dynasty is more vulnerable than it’s been at any point this decade. And so Bill Belichick’s handling of this offseason has been under the microscope. Along those lines, there was one move he made a few weeks back that was fascinating to me (and maybe only me): The 66-year-old coach brought in Lakers icon Kobe Bryant just after Memorial Day. Among Bryant’s talking points was the importance of training, and of studying other players, to his ability to play two decades in the NBA. The Patriots who were listening have another pretty good example of longevity in their own locker room, and they made the connection quickly.
“A hundred percent,” said fifth-year safety Duron Harmon. “When he was telling us about his training regimen, how he approached a day, a light bulb went off in my head: That’s Tom. You realize it’s no coincidence. That’s the reason why Kobe Bryant is Kobe Bryant. That’s the reason why Tom Brady is Tom Brady. [Brady’s] approach to the game, it’s totally different than the majority of the NFL, probably 99% of the NFL. And that’s why they have the success they have.”
New Patriot Jeremy Hill told me that Bryant’s study of Allen Iverson stuck out in the speech, because it was a result of Iverson lighting Bryant up early in his career. Bryant also relayed stories of incorporating elements of what Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Bill Walton, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson did as players and pros into his own routine.
And there were two keys. One was the aforementioned commitment. “There was no off-day, there was no, ‘It’s O.K., I’ll worry about it tomorrow.’ He approached every single day as a life-or-death situation,” Harmon said.
And the other was the constant thirst for knowledge. “With Tom and Kobe, you see they have totally different workout regimens, but you see it works perfectly for each one of them in a totally different way,” Hill said. “For me, and everyone in the locker room, whatever we can take from that and apply to ourselves to make ourselves better, even if it’s just a little better, that stuff is huge.”
I don’t know exactly why Belichick brought Bryant in, but I sense that the message Kobe delivered absolutely resonated. And given all that’s happened in Foxboro over the last six or seven months, and how much of it relates to Brady’s own training methods and their influence in the New England program, it’s pretty interesting how it lines up with the juicy storylines we’ve been following since January.
Player Justice @PlayerJustice1
It’s no accident that the NFL announced the banning of kneeling today, effectively muting any pick up of @RealSportsHBO story on the concussion settlement. The NFL are masters at manipulating the press for self serving purposes.
I missed this a couple weeks ago, but it’s a pretty interesting point to make, especially in light of where the concussion settlement has gone. The Real Sports piece is well worth your time.
VIDEO
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So far, so good for Hamilton Tiger-Cats QB Johnny Manziel. It’s not much yet, but in the clips I’ve seen, he looks like the smooth, natural athlete he was as a collegian.
QUOTE
"I'm tired of the narrative being about the anthem, about the White House or whatever. The issues are the issues. And the reason that we're doing any of this is because we have these huge disparities in our criminal justice system; we have this issue of mass incarceration; we have issues of police brutality; our children and access to education and economic advancement is nonexistent in communities of color. And these things are systemic; there are ways that we can change them.”
—Eagles S Malcolm Jenkins to ESPN’s Tim McManus
I remember a conversation I had with then-Ohio State coach Jim Tressel nine years ago, when Jenkins was entering the draft. Tressel called him one of the two or three best leaders he’d ever coached. All of that has been on display over the last year in how Jenkins has taken a guiding role in the players’ ability to get their message out, and use some of the political collateral they’ve accumulated to make a difference.
TEN TAKEAWAYS
1. If you’d told me on the morning of April 26 that Derrius Guice would wind up being the seventh back taken in this year’s draft, I’d have called you crazy—and that would have been even with the knowledge that he was facing off-field questions. But that happened, and now it looks like the Redskins are the beneficiaries of murky rumors emerging on Guice during draft week, which precipitated his fall 27 picks into the second round. Washington coaches love what they’ve seen from Guice so far. Yes, it’s non-contact spring work, but his vision, patience, explosiveness and hands have been apparent. Even better, they see a passion for football in him, which is one thing teams look for in players who’ve had maturity issues (Guice has) as an indicator that they’ll grow past them. Obviously, Guice still has a long way to go, but if he keeps putting it together like he did over the last month, he should be a factor in the fall.2. Speaking of impressive springs, you can also mark down new Rams receiver Brandin Cooks. You might have seen the video of Sean McVay lusting over Cooks’ ability—“How about how fast Cooks looked on that strike? … You see how fast Cooks is? Oh God!” The truth is, the team had a pretty good idea of what the fifth-year pro would bring to the table. What they’ve learned for themselves since is of his great attention to detail, practice habits and work ethic. And it ties into what Patriots OC Josh McDaniels told McVay as the trade was going down: Cooks didn’t miss a single practice rep last year in New England. A first-round pick was, of course, a hefty price to pay. But early indications suggest L.A. won’t regret it.
3. A slow-developing safety market has been a part of the Eric Reid storyline. And we’re still where we’ve been on that. On Thursday, Reid, Kenny Vaccaro and Tre Boston—starting-level players—will hit the three-month mark as free agents. It’s crazy, and an indication of a widening gap in how teams value corners and pass rushers vs. players elsewhere on defense. A lot of teams believe, right or wrong, that they can get by with less at safety. That said, it’s worth mentioning that the two Super Bowl teams invested pretty heavily in versatile pieces at the position—Malcolm Jenkins in Philly, Devin McCourty in New England.
4. The Bills are a good example of a team that made it work at safety with less. Last year Buffalo got better ball production out of its starters at the position (10 interceptions) than any other team in football. Those starters, Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer, are back, and veteran Rafael Bush was added to the group, and I’m told the Bills are ecstatic with their safety situation given how those three worked together in the spring. The cost? Hyde is making $6.1 million per, Poyer is at $3.25 million per, and Buffalo pried Bush from the Saints for $3.5 million over two years. So the Bills are paying a total of $11.1 million per year for two starters and a top backup at the spot, which is less than the franchise-tagged Lamarcus Joyner will make for the Rams this year, and almost $2 million shy of Chiefs S Eric Berry’s APY.
5. I know what Julian Edelman posted on Instagram in the wake of the suspension news (“I don’t know what happened”) came off as a little weird, but there is an explanation for it. I was told Edelman’s result was triggered by a substance that wasn’t immediately recognizable, and there are scientists analyzing it. And as to the timing, the test did happen during the offseason (a couple months ago), which means it’s not for any kind of stimulant. You might remember the rash of players saying they got popped for Adderall—the rules have changed now so that offseason use of stimulants falls under the substances of abuse policy, rather than the PED policy.
6. I don’t know what’s left to say about what happened with the White House last week, other than that these national anthem decisions are now being made based on business. For Donald Trump, this is about the business of getting re-elected, and having this red-meat issue to engage his base. For the NFL, its (sloppy) effort to find an exit strategy is about the business of its sport, which is best when the league appeals to the largest audience possible. Would the NFL like to see all of this come to an end? Absolutely, which is why the main talking point coming out of Atlanta centered on the owners wanting to put the focus back on football. Unfortunately for those guys, they’ve got a pretty powerful foe who wants to prevent that from happening.
7. If Julio Jones wants an adjustment to his contract, it would be tough to blame him. He’s now making less than Mike Evans, Sammy Watkins, Jarvis Landry and Davante Adams. Jones is three years into the deal he signed in 2015, meaning he’s out of the guaranteed money, with three years left. He has an extensive injury history, and he turns 30 next February. There will come a time, of course, when Jones’s skills will erode, and Atlanta will come looking to give him a financial haircut (like Arizona once did with Larry Fitzgerald) or his walking papers (like Dallas did with Dez Bryant). So he might as well see what he can get before all that happens.
8. Ditto for Earl Thomas. He’s had a litany of injuries, and he turns 30 in less than a year. There will come a time, and soon, when his value starts to nosedive. I’ll never blame a football player in that situation for trying to leverage a team.
9. I have trouble getting worked up over Terrell Owens’ plan to skip the Hall of Fame induction ceremony. I wouldn’t advise a player to do it, but I look at this the same way I look at top prospects deciding whether or not to attend the draft: It’s amazingly difficult to get there, and each guy should have the right to celebrate how he sees fit. And the idea that this act by Owens makes him any less deserving of induction is patently absurd.
10. I thought the surprise in Detroit over new coach Matt Patricia making his players run laps was way overblown. For one, people there I know have said that the guys who worked under Jim Caldwell were a pretty disciplined group to begin with—it was a hallmark of how Caldwell wanted his teams. It’s not like Patricia and his players were starting from zero. In fact, Caldwell would assess fines, rather than penalty laps, and you can guess which method the players wind up preferring. And then there’s where Patricia came from, which makes this predictable. Just this week, in fact, Bill Belichick assessed penalty laps for mental errors on two occasions, in plain sight of the media, and then wrapped the minicamp by making his players run hills. That isn’t treating guys like they’re in high school. That’s conditioning them for an NFL season.
OFF-FIELD ISSUES
1. You can believe that Kevin Durant had every right to make the decision he did two summers ago, while also believing that jumping into a moving Ferrari like he did has given the titles he’s won a totally different feel than they would’ve had if he’d won with a team that wasn’t already a burgeoning dynasty. It’s O.K., I don’t think you’ll hurt too many people’s feelings.
2. And so here we go with the Summer of LeBron III. It would be cool to see him stay in Cleveland. But at this point I think he has to think of going to a place where there are young superstars that he can eventually pass the baton to, once age starts to strike (and who knows when that’ll happen?) and he has to reinvent himself as more of a complementary piece.
3. Alexander Ovechkin has a shot to rival the post-Cup summers enjoyed by Patrick Kane and Brad Marchand. And by the time it’s over, we’re going to wish that Lord Stanley could talk, because he’d have one heck of a story to tell.
4. We just had our anniversary weekend in Nashville, and I had no idea that something called CMA Fest was going to be there while we were. And that whole thing was one incredible bleep-show. I saw … a lot of hilarious things. And it felt like every bachelorette party on the planet was there the last three days, too.
5. Justify crushed it, no question. But what an impressive comeback bid at the Belmont by Gronkowski’s horse … Gronkowski. Gronk the Horse looked like he didn’t belong coming out of the gate, fell way behind, and somehow came as close to beating Justify as anyone at the Belmont, after missing the Derby and the Preakness with an injury. And now Gronk the Horse gets to go live the life his owner would have for him.
FIVE-DAY FORECAST
Aaron Donald isn’t expected at Rams minicamp. Khalil Mack’s status for Raiders minicamp is up in the air. Le’Veon Bell still hasn’t signed his franchise tender, so he won’t be at the Steelers’ mandatory work. Earl Thomas plans to miss this week. We’ll see about Julio Jones. Everyone will be watching Odell Beckham Jr.’s involvement at Giants minicamp closely, too.
And this is what we’ll be talking about this week. The maximum fines for missing the three days of minicamp are as follows: $14,070 for the first day missed, $28,150 for the second day, and $42, 215 for the third day, bringing the grand total to $84,435. (Bell isn’t subject to the fines since he’s unsigned, but the others are.)
Is skipping worth it? Maybe this is just what I remember of the last few years, but it seems teams aren’t often moved much by players missing work in the spring. The summer, of course, is a different story—that can make management squirm a little. We’ll all make a big deal—probably too big a deal—of these things this week. If any of these wildcat contract strikes are still going on six weeks from now, well, then that actually would be a big deal.
Amazon to feature NFL's first all-female broadcast team on 'Thursday Night Football'
NFL anthem policy problem not going away: Burgess Owens
Fmr. NFL Super Bowl champion Burgess Owens argues the NFL’s anthem protests will impact another season.
Amazon’s
live streams of 11 NFL “Thursday Night Football” games will feature the
first all-female broadcast booth in league history, the company
announced on Tuesday.
Andrea Kremer, a longtime
NFL reporter and recent Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, will
announce the games alongside Hannah Storm, an ESPN “SportsCenter” anchor
and “Monday Night Football” pregame show host. The duo will make their
debut on Thursday, when the Los Angeles Rams face the Minnesota Vikings
on Amazon’s “Prime Video” subscription service.
“NFL
fans will hear history made this season -- bringing two female
announcers together to call an entire NFL game has never been done
before,” said Greg Hart, vice president of Prime Video. “Our customers
around the world love to stream football -- we are thrilled to have
Andrea and Hannah bring their extensive knowledge of the game to fans on
Prime Video.”
Amazon said viewers will have the
option of listening to four separate broadcast teams while watching NFL
games on Prime. Since the live streams are simulcasts of Fox’s
television broadcast, customers can also choose to listen to Fox
announcers Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, a Spanish language broadcast or a
United Kingdom broadcast.
Last offseason,
Amazon extended its agreement to air “Thursday Night Football” games in a
deal said to be worth $65 million annually. A full explanation of
Amazon’s NFL streaming deal can be viewed here.
Question or comment? Email us at talkback@themmqb.com.
Feb 4, 2018
https://www.nfl.com/super-bowl
Sunday, February 4, 2018
6:30 pm ET
U.S. Bank Stadium
The Backstory
Is there much left to say about this Super Bowl #rematch? The New England Patriots are back where they belong, in the big game for the eighth go-around this millennium. The Philadelphia Eagles, for the first time since Bill Belichick's first dynasty shuttered their dreams for a first Lombardi Trophy in 2005. The jersey colors are the same, but other than that, there is little that links this title game to Super Bowl XXXIX. That is except for one player and one coach.
Tom Brady might look younger now than back in '05 -- he can thank Alex Guerrero and walnut meat for his everlasting boyishness -- but at 40 years of age, he's a far different, far better quarterback now. While many of his contemporaries from the early aughts have fallen victim in Father Time's cruel ax (Peyton Manning, Mike Vick, Carson Palmer), Brady is aging like a fine wine, reminding scribes every Sunday that age ain't nothing but a number. Already the winningest quarterback in Super Bowl history, Brady is left competing only against himself.
After completing the greatest comeback in Super Bowl, nay, sports history in Super Bowl LI, having done the impossible in the process, the question has been asked in whispers this season: Are there any doubters left to silence? What else is there to play for? What's left to prove?
In the aftermath of the Deflategate controversy and his fifth title, Brady responded with a brilliant age-40 season, a historic feat and one that will likely earn him his third MVP award Saturday at NFL Honors. In winning a sixth Super Bowl this Sunday, Brady would raise the G.O.A.T. bar higher, approaching Michael Jordan-esque levels of legend never before experienced in modern football, an untouchable status of godly proportions. What's at stake, what's left to prove this weekend is a legacy, not just in the sport of football and not just Brady's. The Patriots, led by the man-boy wonder, can reach Yankees-like pinnacles in the minds of global sports fans -- impossible dominance in a league designed to discourage it.
With a sixth Super Bowl victory and in completing their second of three-in-four dynasties, the New England Patriots can become what Brady has pined and still pines to be: Immortal.
Philadelphia likes to think of itself as an underdog city, and its football team made clear this week it feels the same way. Despite winning the NFC East with a 13-3 record and securing the top seed in the conference, the Eagles entered the postseason as surprising underdogs, having lost MVP-candidate quarterback Carson Wentz to an ACL tear and replacing him with supposed also-ran Nick Foles.
But something magical, or at the very least unexpected, happened over the course of two weeks. Driven by the national perception that they were doomed, the Eagles embraced the "underdog" role, going so far as to don spooky German Shepard masks as a taunt to their many skeptics, and slew Atlanta and Minnesota in back-to-back weeks.
"Underdog" is a moniker barely warranted by their performance all season, but one that was well worn during the gauntlet that is Super Bowl week. This mentality was best described by Eagles coach Doug Pederson, who before his second season in charge in Philly had his fair share of detractors: "I've been an underdog my whole career, my whole life. Everything I've done, I either haven't been good enough or something negative has been written or said, and I just blow it off. I have confidence in these guys and this team."
The Eagles are taking this personally. Every pregame pick against them, every knock against their quarterback, every shot across the bow of their emotional fan base is a snipe at the individual players wearing midnight green and black. Despite the fact that Philly boasts one of the league's best-constructed rosters, one arguably better built than that of their Super Bowl opponents', many see the Eagles as inferior. Beating the supposed greatest quarterback, coach and organization of all-time would be the ultimate validation of Philadelphia's resolve and city-wide spirit
Players to Watch
Nick Foles, QB, Eagles: The once-mocked, now-celebrated Wentz fill-in is the most surprising, under-prepared quarterback to play in a Super Bowl since Chicago's Rex Grossman in XLI. NFL Network's Gregg Rosenthal ranked Foles 57th out of 60 quarterbacks to start a Super Bowl, ahead of Sexy Rexy, David Woodley and Tony Eason.
Foles' return to form has been fascinating to watch. Cast off by the Eagles in 2015 following an outstanding 2013 season, Foles was about to give up football altogether and become a pastor after unsuccessful stints in St. Louis and Kansas City. But Philly reacquired him in the offseason to back up Wentz, and Foles was called into duty when the starter went down for the count. Foles shrugged off a poor close to the season with two stellar playoff starts, including his unbelievable NFC Championship Game performance; according to Pro Football Focus, Foles had the fifth-best playoff game by any QB since 2006 in the Eagles' blowout win over Minnesota. So the looming question over Minneapolis this week is can Foles do it again? Is this moment, so distant from his mind just half a year ago, too big for him?
From a football standpoint, the book on Foles is this (we think): He performs poorly under pressure (64.2 passer rating), has outstanding success on run-pass option plays (93.8 comp. pct.) and only recently found his deep ball (158.3 rating last week; 7.5 rating entering the title game). In New England, Foles faces a steadily improving pass rush and a secondary that no longer gives up the big plays it did during the season's first quarter. Still, Foles is the ultimate wild card; there's no telling how Foles will react to the big stage against a team that has had two weeks to game-plan for him. His teammates believe in him, but it's fair to wonder: Will we see the flea-flicking gunslinger or the tepid journeyman?
Dion Lewis, RB, Patriots: This is a quasi-revenge game for the former Eagles back. Drafted in 2011 by Philadelphia and jobless by 2014, the undersized and underappreciated Lewis found a home in New England, where he has developed into a top-10 back. His special combination of elusiveness, speed and YAC-ability made him the Patriots' go-to back in a deep stable of runners down the stretch; his game-clinching third-down conversion against Jacksonville was a picture-perfect look at what makes "The Weapon" special.
Last year, James White got the glory -- and 20 touches -- during New England's comeback attempt. This year, with LeGarrette Blount now on the opposing sideline, the onus will be on Lewis to pick up five yards a touch (his league-leading average in 2017), keep the pressure off Brady and keep New England out of a multi-score hole. Set to be a free agent after 2017, Lewis can prove his worth to New England, the league and his former team in one fell swoop
Key matchup
It's too easy, and even incorrect, to say this crucial clash will be determined by Philly's front seven versus New England's offensive line. "But that's how you beat Brady! Knock him on his ass! The Giants and Broncos did it!" Shut your face, figment of my imagination. No QB has been better than Brady under pressure this season (95.5 passer rating, per PFF), and Tommy Boy has finished in the top five in passer rating under pressure in the past three seasons.
The more interesting matchup with those units is between New England's receiving weapons and Philly's young corners. As Danny Amendola's title-game performance proved, Brady can dice up any secondary in the league, even without Gronk on the field, as long as he trusts his receivers and anticipates their timing. Amendola reaped the benefits against Jacksonville, but Brandin Cooks, Chris Hogan and even Philip Dorsett all played pivotal roles. With Gronk good to go against Philly, New England has a healthy crew of receiving options to attack an Eagles secondary greatly improved since Ronald Darby returned from injury.
After frustrating Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs, can Philly's back line (Darby, Jalen Mills, Patrick Robinson) hold up against New England's dink-and-dunk attack, led by the most incisive quarterback of his generation?
Prediction
Philadelphia boasts the better roster, the hotter defense and the sexier story. If Wentz was healthy and under center, the Eagles might even be favored in the minds of Nevadan lever-pullers. But he isn't, and regardless of how Foles has played the past games, Philly has a significant disadvantage under center.
In a QB-driven league, where so much of a team's fortunes in-season and in-game rely on the split-second instincts of one individual, New England holds the ultimate trump card in Brady, a smoothie-sucking cyborg who can overcome any game situation, whether he is up by one score at halftime or down 25 points with 18 minutes to play.
It sounds cliche, but Brady, Belichick and the Patriots will win their sixth title because they have been here before, more often than any QB-coach pairing in NFL history. Their in-game awareness and ability to adapt mid-game or -drive is unparalleled and lethal. Against this dynasty, all teams have been, are and will be underdogs. The Eagles, regardless of how they feel, are no different.
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