SportsNetUSA Blogs

Do you love the NFL Draft?  I do and there must be many out there like me.  The National Football League and ESPN have taken their show to prime time hours.  This is another sign that I am old and have no life.  Rounds two and three are on Friday night and I think to myself, perfect.  What could be better than watching this kind of exciting programming.  You have shots of guys on telephones and young guys wearing hats and holding up jerseys.  You also have guys telling me what my team needs and who is the best guy to fill those needs.  Does this kind of excitement get you pumped up?  If it does then you have got problems just like me.  So be it.

I admit the NFL has me hook line and sinker.  My only relief is in knowing that I am not alone.  The NFL schedule came out and it was the sports story of the day!  They do not do this for baseball nor basketball.  For professional football they announce early in the morning that the schedule will be announced later in the day.  I believe the draft means everything and it means absolutely nothing at the same time.  Let me explain.

You can never know if your team has had a good draft or a bad draft.  You may be elated that your squad got your favorite college player or that they have filled a huge need.  You can also be let down because you do not recognize the names nor the colleges some of your guys are coming from.  I would also suggest that you do not put too much stock in what the draft experts say.  Draft and expert are two terms that should not be used together.  Like expert and weatherman should never be used together.  I would say, draft best guesser would be more realistic.  Let’s take a look at some of some draft stories I came across.  There are millions, you may add your own.

We all love the famous stories of Joe Montana being drafted in the third round and Tom Brady being drafted in the sixth.  This illustrates that the draft can mean everything and nothing at the same time.  How could these two guys go that late?  Have you ever seen the pictures of Brady at the combine?  He was very slow running and very skinny.  Not only was he skinny but he did not have a defined muscle in his body.  He was also sporting that Dumb and Dumber haircut that Jim Carey made famous.  A few years later he wins Super Bowls and marries a Super Model.  Who knew.

My friend the Sports Dr. was so excited when the Colts drafted Peyton Manning because then his Chargers could draft Ryan Leaf.  The expert opinion that year was Manning was more polished but Leaf had the larger ” upside”.  Peyton wins a Super Bowl and will hold most passing records and Leaf disappears except on police blotters and biggest draft busts lists.  Many believe him to be the biggest draft bust ever.

In 1995 the 49ers drafted J.J. Stokes out of UCLA to be the heir apparent for Jerry Rice.  I believed Stokes was a can’t miss star as the 10th player taken that year.  Stokes career numbers: 342 catches for 4293 yards and 30 touchdowns.  In that same year there was a tiny receiver out of that football powerhouse Hofstra named Wayne Chrebet.  Chrebet was not even good enough to be drafted at all, not even in the last throwaway round.  He did not even qualify for Mr. Irrelevant status.  His career numbers: 580 catches for 7,365 yards and 41 touchdowns.  You just never know.  Terrell Davis was the 196th player taken that year.  Jamal Duff a defensive end from San Diego State and Foothill High School in Tustin was the 204th player taken by the Giants.  Jamal played a few years  and then went into acting.

My personal favorite draft story that I came across is the Brett Favre draft in 1991.  You see when you get old you forget things and you also just have more experiences so there is just more to remember.  Favre was the 33 player drafted that year out of Southern Miss. even though I had never heard of him.  I had heard of the quarterback drafted in the first round at number 24, Orange County’s very own, Todd Marinovich.  Is that amazing?  All of these years later I did not put those two together.  Todd was out of the NFL after the 1992 season and Brett…well we know that Grandpa Brett is coming back for season 2010.  Marinovich had career numbers of 8 touchdowns, 9 interceptions and 1,345 yards.

The funny thing is the team that drafted Favre, the Falcons traded the future Hall of Famer to Green Bay.  You just never know.  Other quarterbacks taken in that draft:  Dan McGwire( yes one of Mark’s brothers), Browning Nagle, Scott Zolak, David Hollas, Bill Musgrave, Craig Erickson, Pat Justin, Pat O’hara, Shawn Moore, Jeff Bridewell and Larry Wanke.  I am no draft expert but I am predicting there will only be one Hall of Fame quarterback from that years draft.  So I will enjoy the draft and all of the nonsense that goes along with it. I will also try to remember my own words, you just never know.

To be honest I was waiting for some of my fellow friends on SportsNetUSA.net to blog first.  I was hoping that someone would write in and smash Brett Favre and then I could respond.  So far it has not happened.  The week after the NFL championships is usually a slow sports week.  This week has been no exception and already I want to scream.  It has me thinking I want to find a classical music station and stop listening to so much sports talk.  I would like to take a look back and a quick look forward to the Super Bowl.  Somewhere another tradition has bit the dust with the Super Bowl now in February instead of January.  Just think if they go to an eighteen game schedule maybe we can get the Super Bowl pushed to March and keep the draft in April and cut down the months in which there is no NFL.

Did you ever really worry when the Colts fell behind the Jets?  I never once believed in that game that the Jets were going to win.  The Jets are what they are, an up and coming team.  The Colts are already there.  The Colts have become the model organization in football.  It helps when you have guys like Dungy, Manning and Polian.  I am happy they are in and I believe they will beat the Saints.  I just want to see a good game because like last week I have no hatred for either team.  Normally I like to be really for or really against a team but not in this one.

I was very happy for the Saints and the city of New Orleans to beat the Vikings.  It is nice to see long suffering franchises win sometimes.  The Saints defense was something to watch and what a whipping they put on Favre.  Turnovers were the difference.  I do not see them getting to Peyton like they did Brett.  If the Saints win the Super Bowl that would be fine with me too.

I have no interest in the Pro Bowl at all.  Do not care when they play it or where they play it.  It is a useless exhibition and a waste of time.  Of course I believe every professional All Star game in any sport is a waste.  I have some ideas on what would make the game more interesting but don’t want to go into that now.

This brings me to the past week and all of the nonsense about legacy and who is the greatest.  I must learn to change the channel when this kind of talk comes up.  Where does Peyton Manning rank with the all time greatest quarterbacks?  What will Peyton’s legacy be if he wins or if he loses?  Brett Favre has all kinds of records but he is not among the all time quarterbacks because he has only one ring and he always throws an interception in the crucial moment of a game. Give me some Bach or Beethoven right about now.

Remember when the standard was if you won a Super Bowl?  Well now a quarterback or coach has to win more than one or they cannot be called great.  That is garbage.  Where did all of this legacy stuff come from?  The greatest of all time talk is comparable to me to which came first the chicken or the egg?  It is useless and yet I cannot stop listening or getting ticked off.  Peyton Manning will, if he stays healthy, pass most of Favre’s records.  He is and has been a great quarterback for some time now.  He will be a great quarterback if the Colts lose.  Favre is a great quarterback despite the interception and the Vikings loss.  Did I mention the greatest back in the league kept putting the ball on the carpet in that game?  Remember in the NBA playoffs last year and I railed against the “what is Kobe’s legacy if he loses?”  Kobe haters were chomping at the bit to say, see he never won one without Shaq.  I heard a guy say that he was not sure how to rate Montana because Joe had Jerry Rice and great players around him!  What!  Shut off your mike since I can’t seem to change the station.

That is what we have to look forward to now.  Grainy films of Joe in the Super Bowl and HD pictures of the current greatest of all time, Manning.  You know if Peyton wasn’t tall, athletic, blessed with a strong throwing arm, a dad named Archie, football smart, had great coaching, have a great offensive line, have a great game plan, play in today’s pass happy game, never have a major injury, get to run the no-huddle, play in an indoor stadium and have great receivers….if he didn’t have all of that, I am not sure I could call him great.  I know this is not grammatically correct but I hope the point is made.  Chicken or the egg, Manning or Montana, enough, stop it.  Now, how about some music!

Oh that season of bickering and buffoons has fallen on us once again; yes the smell of football is in the air. It is that time of season where we watch players who are too young to relate to, too old to remember and those we never knew existed. Ah yes, that time of year where we see our first, punt, pass, kickoff return and say,” did you ever see (FILL IN THE BLANK) play? Now there was a football player”.Of course, before, during and after the game we argue for hours about who has seen the best and how nobody could ever touch one of our heroes. The sad aspect of these arguments is that most young people believe that the NFL started with the Super Bowl and that ever game, player, coach that came before it has no relevance to professional football today. SO LADIES AND GENTLEMEN hold on to your hats and programs because the Buddha of Babble is going to give you his top 10 quarterbacks of all-time:

WARREN MOON: joined the Canadian Football League in 1978, and promptly led his Edmonton Eskimos to the Grey Cup title in 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1982. In 1983, he set the single season passing yards record, and won the Most Outstanding Player award. Warren Moon, 9-time Pro Bowler and NFL Hall of Famer. He still ranks in the top five in NFL history in completions. Moon was a classic thrower, not a runner, and showed that black quarterbacks could run any offense — including the Run ‘N Shoot. In 1990 and 1991, Moon threw for an incredible 9,379 yards.

BRETT FAVRE: He holds every single passing record in the NFL and if he doesn’t hold them now he will when he ends his career. Plus he has a Super Bowl ring, something that seems to go unmentioned when people talk about his accomplishments in the NFL.

ROGER STAUBACH; People keep forgetting that roger the dodger started his career in the NFL late because of his duty to the UNITED STATES NAVY. He won titles for America’s team in 1971 and 1977 and also won passing titles in 1973, 1978, and 1979. Plus, this was another noted QB who could run, he rushed for over 2300 yards and 20 touchdowns, not bad for a Vietnam Veteran.

TOM BRADY: Yes Big E, this one is for you, and I am sure he is not far enough down on my list for you. Yes I know he has won multiple Super Bowl Titles and if it was not for him Bill Belichick wouldn’t be coaching in the NFL today. Before Brady, Belichick was 48-52, after Brady he looks like an absolute genius, plus there’s also been one clutch fourth-quarter performance after another, almost single-handedly capturing victory from what appeared to be certain defeat time and again.

JOHNNY UNITAS: I guess when football fans talk of all time greats they think of Johnny U and for some younger fans they remember the Unitas Colt team as the first NFL team to lose to the AFL before the merger. His 1959 is thought of as one of the all time best, 32 touchdowns to 14 interceptions in a 12 game season. Those 32 touchdowns that year set a new NFL record.

STEVE YOUNG:　　Okay Rahshaun you get the first taste of your double dip in my top 10. Nothing can be tougher than following a legend especially a legend who knew how to win world championships, Steve Young not only followed Joe Montana but he had to live with the fact that Montana brought the Super Bowl trophy home to San Francisco. Not only did Steve Young accomplish that task, he may have been the better in Super Bowl performances. The greatest Super Bowl performance in history: a 67-percent, 325 yard, 6-TD, 0 INT explosions in a 49-26 victory over overwhelmed San Diego in Super Bowl XXIX.

PEYTON MANNING: Peyton might be the quarterback who breaks all of Brett Favre’s records. Manning so far is that quarterback who seems to rack up more impressive stats at a quicker pace than any other quarterback before him. If you were compare Peyton to Dan Marino (whom at least I know a few that thinks he should be on this list) you will find that Peyton is far ahead of the legendary Dolphin quarterback. The knock on Peyton was he was great during the regular season, but did nothing during the post season, but that changed when he picked up his Super Bowl title and was named MVP of the Super Bowl. If Brett ever retires, this may be the quarterback that would break Brett’s consecutive game record. Peyton, the new IronMan.

OTTO GRAHAM: This quarterback might have been the Tom Brady of my dad’s generation. As a matter of fact, in his 10 year career, Graham played in a Championship game in every one of those years; he won 7 of them in two different leagues. Otto Graham also led his team to 6 consecutive appearances in the NFL Championship game from 1950-1955 a record that still stands today.

JOE MONTANA: Corey/Rahshaun/Erik, guys I got him as close to the top of the heap as I could. In the era that most young fans can relate to, the Super Bowl Era, Joe Montana is deemed untouchable. He won four Super bowls and in three out of the four he was named the MVP and if that is not enough his passer rating in the biggest game combined is an outrageous 127.8. Plus Joe is known for one of the more spectacular drives in a Super Bowl, a 92 yard drive against the Bengals in Super Bowl XXIII which ended in a pass to John Taylor with 34 clicks remaining on the clock. Not only was he spectacular in great post season games but in 1989 he completed over 70% of his passes and threw 26 touchdowns to 8 interceptions.

*Sammy Baugh: you have to put him in here some place, but I’ll leave it to you to decide where.

BART STARR: Year after year I have to listen to “who is the greatest?” and the answer varies and in all those answers, do I ever here the name BART STARR? No, not from the so-called experts. I guess it was best said by a sports writer and I quote: “History has done a grave disservice to the legacy of Starr, the 17th-round draft pick out of pre-Bear Bryant Alabama who turned into the most clutch and most cruelly efficient passing assassin of his or any other generation.” If you want to talk stats, then I guess we will have to see how Mr. Starr would match up: He led the NFL in passer rating five times. Johnny Unitas led the league in passer rating just twice. Ditto for Joe Montana. Only Steve Young surpassed Starr’s mark with six. Starr averaged a remarkable 7.85 YPA over the course of his entire career better than that of a slate of quarterbacks who are generally regarded as the best passers in history, including Dan Marino (7.37), Joe Montana (7.52), Roger Staubach (7.67), Dan Fouts (7.68), Sonny Jurgensen (7.56), Fran Tarkenton (7.27), Y.A. Tittle (7.52), Terry Bradshaw (7.17) and Joe Namath (7.35). Plus do not forget that Bart Starr was the quarterback in one of the most shown championship games in NFL history, the ICE BOWL. He also was the 1st NFL quarterback to win a Championship ring (5) for each digit on his throwing hand not to mention that three of those championships came in a row, still an NFL record.

Did I leave off many quarterbacks that could have been listed? Yes. Did I list everyone’s stats? No. But once again I have given fodder to all of us who are sports fans that will cause us hours of pain, constant complaining, whining and dissertations about WHO IS THE NUMBER 1 GREATEST QUARTERBACK of ALL TIME, I guess that is why I am the Buddha of Babble