Hi Folks,
We do a lot of really insightful, thoughtful and serious features here at Footballguys with some very smart people thinking deeply for you. This is not one of those features.
This is a few pages of me downloading my goofy and dysfunctional mental hard drive that gets stuffed with way too many random items from too many hours watching, reading about and listening to football every weekend and throughout the week. It's the only way I keep relatively sane. Here's hoping it has a tiny bit of value for you. Let's go.
I confessed last week that while I like Chip Kelly and the Eagles, my main reason for rooting for Philadelphia was to keep the "Nick Foles as Napoleon Dynamite" shots rolling.
But I wasn't ready for "Nick Foles as Ron Jaworski"…
and
Wow.
Thanks to Footballguy Robert McGIrr for the help on that one.
More from Philadelphia.
Much to the amusement of the Washington players, their team bus was egged on the way to the stadium Sunday.
I'm surprised the guys were able to muster the courage to get off the bus…
I root for the Browns. I love the tradition and the hardiness of the fans. And I've always felt badly about how Art Modell ripped the heart out of the city. If you love the NFL, and haven't yet caught the NFL Films documentary, "Cleveland '95 - A Football Life", go find a way to see it now. Incredible.
It's awesome for lots of reasons. The unbelievable staff including Bill Belichick, Ozzie Newsome, Scott Pioli, Thomas Dimitroff, Mike Tannenbaum, Nick Saban, Eric Mangini and Jim Schwartz. And players like Steve Everitt as The Dude.
But watching Ernest Byner at the 5:36 mark of this clip and then seeing the players embrace the fans after the game is why Art Model and "Hall Of Fame" should never be spoken in the same sentence. Ever.
Off the soap box now.
Watching the pre game shows Sunday Morning, it looks like there are more people at Mile High Stadium eight hours before kickoff than there are in Everbank Field thirty minutes before a Jaguars game.
Brian Billick with a fun note Sunday morning: "The Lions haven't won in Pittsburgh since Dick LeBeau was a freshman at Ohio State."
That's a long time ago.
Dez Bryant with some much needed positive public relations this week. He hit up the Wal Mart on opening night for the new PS4 and bought several people in line a new console.
That's awesome.
Thanks to Footballguy Adam Van Eperen for that one.
Commercial of the Day.
Lots of little girls don't buy into the Pink Princess thing. Check out this killer ad from GoldieBlox.
The Beastie Boys cover makes it double awesome.
Thanks to Footballguy Barbara Lynn for this one.
I'm well aware he brings a lot of it on himself, but Rex Ryan just attracts ridiculousness. The latest fabricated "disaster" in New York is that he took the team to Dave and Busters Saturday before the Buffalo game.
He also made former Bills WR David Nelson a Jets team captain for the game. I love that.
The comical part to me is that when they lost, it was all about Ryan being disrespectful to the Bills and being flippant. If they'd won, it would have been how Ryan has such a great pulse on the team and knows all the right buttons to push.
That's life as a spotlight loving guy in the big city.
Lesson from last year. Don't be too quick to anoint young charismatic QBs like Colin Kaepernick and Robert Griffin III as great quarterbacks. Sometimes it's less about magazine covers and never missing an opportunity to be in front of a microphone and it's more about what you do on the field.
The hope for these guys though is Cam Newton 2013. Maybe there really is something to that sophomore slump for QBs and year three is the payoff. Let's see.
Sorry Jason Snelling. You should have been as good as Dwayne Bowe.
If you know what I'm talking about, you know what I'm talking about…
Some of you know I'm as much a Foodguy as I am a Footballguy. Especially BBQ and Southern Comfort Food.
Last Saturday, I found the best Fried Chicken in Nashville. Which means the best Fried Chicken in Tennessee (Sorry Gus). Which everyone knows means the best Fried Chicken in The World. Bolton's Spicy Chicken is the bomb.
Here's a Google 360 View of the inside. You walk into the dining room and don't see any employees. There is a sliding window in the back but it's totally blacked out. Next to the window is a pink (of course) door with a sign that says, "knock when ready to order". When you knock on the door, the black window slides open and the guy takes your order. Classic.
Here's what a Chicken Sandwich looks like at Bolton's.
It's a quarter chicken (either breast / wing or leg / thigh) on a piece of white bread, pickles on top and then another piece of white bread. It's not really a sandwich as the bones are still in the chicken and you eat it like normal fried chicken. Oh, and it's awesome.
I posted the pic on Twitter and had some people that wanted to argue. One reader replied, "Looks good but what's up with the white bread?"
I told him that's how we do Soul Food.
He replied back, "Are you telling me some potato bread wouldn't make that sandwich better?"
I replied, "I'm telling you someone who knows soul food would kick your butt putting potato bread on it. Or worse."
Bless his heart.
Sunday was the third time in nine months the Ravens have had a game delayed. Because I know you guys need to know that kind of thing.
I told you not to sleep on the Eagles. But here's a crazy stat. Sunday's win was the first regular season home win for them in 412 days. 412 days. That floored me.
Philadelphia is sneaky effective. As of this week, their offense is:
- #1 in Rushing
- #2 in Total Yards
- #5 in Total Points
Hands down the best dance celebration of the week goes to Seattle's Brandon Mebane.
That's a dude secure in his own skin there.
Thanks to Footballguy Andrew Garda for that one.
Balancing the fun and edgy line with effectiveness is always the challenge for advertisers. I can't recall an ad hitting that balance out of the park better than the new Joe Boxer K-Mart spot.
Love it. If I'd been directing it, I'd have made the last guy at the end with the high note be a super macho looking guy.
Not a big surprise as these are the folks that brought us the Ship My Pants and the Big Gas Savings commercials. I told you I was twelve…
ESPN's Colin Cowherd made an interesting observation about parity in the NFL this week. Most Americans shun the idea of Socialism. Yet our favorite sport is very socialistic in how it operates. Thoughts?
Music Note of the Week is Scott H. Biram.
Biram's an interesting cat. He's a One Man Band citing a "a need to avoid the politics of being in a band."
His music is a combustive mix of just what you'd expect from a Central Texas guy influenced by Lead Belly, Lightnin' Hopkins and Slayer. I've been a fan for a few years but have never seen him live until this week.
One of the advantages of loving non mainstream musicians is you often get good seats at the shows. This was my vantage point Wednesday night for Biram's show at the lovely Pilot Light in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Pilot Light atmosphere is intimate with character. Or really tiny and old depending on how you see it. Fun show though.
I Want My Mojo Back is a good introduction that's nice and clean and polished. This Muddy Waters cover of The Same Thing shows a little personality.
But his live stuff is another layer. Hit The Road has some definitely NSFW language but it's a little more about what he's like live. I've been to shows where they slam dance. I've been to Blues shows. But up till now, I've never been to shows with both.
All in all, super fun show and talking to him before he went on, he seems like a good guy. He called this his "Pay My Property Taxes Tour" where he said he was hitting ten dates so he could write the city of Austin a check for $7,500. You don't get that kind of honesty from lots of musicians. Catch him if you can.
Cleveland's Chris Ogbonnaya looks like he's going to be a consistent player. Great. Just what I needed - another name I can't spell that I'll need to type regularly.
I think people are now seeing why I love Ben Tate…
If you're tired of the negative stories, here's a nice college football note. These two North Carolina State Football players noticed a student sitting by himself in the cafeteria and sat down with him.
Two things:
#1. Good on those guys. We need more people like them.
#2. And those people are me and you. Let's not turn this into a "restoring my faith in humanity" thing. Let's see it for what it was - A couple of guys who saw something they could help with and did a cool thing. This isn't curing cancer. You and I have multiple opportunities every day to do stuff like this. Let this story move you to action. If you wind up with a good story from it, send it to me.
I never get tired of the Bill Belichick Post Game Pressers.
Looking at the 1:00 and 2:00 mark, it looks like they should have Rolaids sponsoring instead of Gillette.
Some nice stats from USA Today.
Total questions from the press: 21.
Average words per answer: 22.7.
Number of times Belichick said “I don’t know”: 6
Number of times Belichick knew, but figured “I don’t know” was preferable than saying what he was actually thinking: 6
Number of answers Belichick gave that were less than seven words: 8
Number of times Belichick answered a question with a question: 8
Favorite answer #1: “So what’s the question?”
Favorite answer #2: “You Sure That’s the Question You Want to Ask?”
More on the Patriots / Carolina non call. In a word, Ridiculous.
Or if you needed a still shot:
Brady had the right attitude after the game "I don't know whether it was a good call or a bad call,'' said Brady, who was 27 of 40 for 296 yards and one touchdown. "We shot ourselves in the foot too many times."
Patriot Fans? Not so much...
One of Peyton Manning's Papa John's Pizza Restaurants was robbed during the Broncos - Chiefs game. In case you care about that sort of thing.
Anyone else as tired of hearing Cris Carter talk about the Hall of Fame as Keyshawn is?
Here's what it's like to be a Bills fan, the giant American Flag stretched across the field ripped during the National Anthem.
The win made up for it though.
On a more serious note, Bills fans - don't slide down the rail on the upper deck.
The man who fell was ok but injured people he landed on. But he won't be coming back to any more Bills games.
@FauxJohnMadden with a good one Sunday morning: "BREAKING: Trent Richardson stranded at team hotel because the team bus is 20 yards away from entrance."
That hits a little too close to home for Richardson owners.
Apparently, Mike Shanahan doesn't mince words.
Mike Jones asked Washington WR Josh Morgan for an interview and reported this:
Can we say it? Terry Bradshaw's getting kinda scary…
Jason Babin with just one more reason why running backs and long hair don't mix.
Andre Ellington had this returned to him after the game.
Cam Newton - you're ridiculous.
Reminds me of the Michael Vick Experience.
God Bless Bear Fans
Have you heard? Peyton Manning has an injured ankle…
It feels to me like that if 90% of the QBs in the league had the exact same injury, we wouldn't hear a peep. Guy has an injured ankle, he moved around fine and wore an ankle brace with tape over it. But the media played it up to the point that I was ready for the analyst to suggest amputating his foot was a possibility.
It felt as if we were nearing Curt Schilling drama level here...
Do we live in a great time in history or what? Tat Man can become an internet sensation and nail a sideline pass.
Matt Schaub yelled at Andre Johnson after the game Sunday.
Two things.
#1. If you're Matt Schaub, you're not yelling at anyone.
#2. It takes a lot to make Andre Johnson mad. I don't think I'd want to be around a mad Andre Johnson.
Erik Walden received a one game suspension for the head butt of a helmetless Delanie Walker.
He got off light if you asked me. That might be one of the lamest moves I've ever seen on a football field.
The Dolphins are getting their groove back.
I kind of get what Shannon Sharpe's trying to do with the gloves. But I'm going to have to put that under the "not really working" category.
Whether you think it was a penalty or not (it was), it's hard to deny that these players don't take a beating.
Amazingly, Brees didn't seem any worse for the wear after the game.
That's pretty funny.
Here's something not as funny (but accurate) for San Francisco fans.
Chicago may be the Windy City but Buffalo gave Nick Folk all he wanted Sunday.
Here's an idea: Don't wave your team flag in front of the opposing player in the end zone.
Just a thought.
Especially a guy that wears a Raider vest before the game.
Did you know his nickname is "Shady"? Insert Rolleyes here.
I'm not sure what I liked most about Marshawn Lynch winging a ball up in the stands. The fact he did it or the fact the kid who caught it didn't really know what happened.
And the fact this is an automatic $5,000 fine for the player (which doubles on the second "offense") is beyond stupid. Let him buy a new football.
I've always got room in this column for Von Miller rocking a sweet cowboy hat after the game Sunday night.
I'm not sure why but this picture struck me as one of those things after the movie credits are rolling and you get an "update" on where the characters ended up.
Vikings fans may like this one.
Refereeing isn't easy.
New Orleans defensive back Corey White intercepted a Colin Kaepernick pass and dove into the end zone for a pick six. The ball came loose though for a touchback.
As the officials sorted things out, Kaepernick was signaling for the touchback.
Center Jonathan Goodwin was lobbying for a safety.
No wide receiver should ever be this open.
Especially not Calvin Johnson.
The Jaguar helmets kind of freak me out. Looks like these guys play for different teams.
Regular readers here know that Tom Brady's high five troubles are well documented.
From Week 6
From Week 9
Brady, always resourceful, moved to elbow high fiving this week with great success.
It's what makes him one of the special ones…
Hard Luck Awards for Week 11
And the Nullified TDs:
- CIN LB James Harrison 21 yard interception return TOUCHDOWN. NULLIFIED by Penalty.
- SD QB Philip Rivers pass to TE Antonio Gates for 4 yard TOUCHDOWN. NULLIFIED by Penalty.
Sometimes it's better to just not know...
That'll do it for this week, Folks. Thanks to Footballguy Doug Drinen, Robert McGIrr, Barbara Lynn, Andrew Garda, Joe Candaffio and Adam Van Eperen for the help on this one. If you've got a Random Shot of your own, shoot me an e-mail at bryant@footballguys.com.
Note for you folks inclined to pray or those that care enough to read all the way down this far. This season of Random Shots is dedicated to my close friend Mike Wenger who apparently has decided to upstage Chuck Pagano this year. Mike's been diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia and is undergoing aggressive chemotherapy. Much Love, Buddy. Mad Respect. Go Chiefs.
A ton of you folks have been so kind to reach out with nice comments for Mike. I wanted to let you know that we've got a cool fund raiser we're doing for the family where our good friends at Slantshirts.com have printed up MIKESTRONG shirts for us.
Click Here to order. Profits from the shirt sales will be donated to the Wenger family to help offset bills. Plus there are lots more cool shirts on Slantshirts.com . Much thanks.
Thanks for playing along. I hope you make the most of whatever you're doing in your life. Love your neighbor and stick together.