By Eric Emery
I’m convinced that football coverage is much like any sort of coverage, in that some outlet gets hold of a story, and others say “I’m not sure if this is actually going to make the world a better place, much less if it’s true, but it might get people talking.” So they ride the “story” until complete exhaustion. Sports radio has a lot of hours to fill.
If the story doesn’t have legs, there is always the carpet bomb approach – throw out as many provocative statements as possible and hope something strikes a group frayed nerve.
All told, it’s hard to seperate what is really important in football – especially when it comes to the Bears. That’s where we come in. We’re here to help. That’s what Over/Under is all about.
Overhyped: Practice
Since we cannot talk about the game, we have to talk about practice.
As you may have noticed in the past ten days, ESPN is the worst violator. Should there be four preseason games? Should starters even play? Why don’t they just eliminate the first two games of the regular season so players don’t get injured at all? And so on. You see, if you make each question a five-minute segment on every 30-minute show, you have filled four hours of programming. This is important so you never have to bring back Australian Rules Football to fill airtime. Pity.
But driving the general questions about preseason into the ground only goes so far. You offset that by manufacturing a “story” you can also drive into the ground. How do you do that? You focus unerringly on a single team, coach, and/or player until a problem develops. And then you pounce. Relentlessly.
Of course, you have to be careful who you pick. Tom Brady? Too cute. Dominick Davis? On a bad team. Best bet? Somebody who talks in the third person and never turns down interviews.
T.O.’s gonna score!
Underhyped: One Team’s Trash Is Another Team’s Treasure
In five to seven years, the NFL will induct Marshall Faulk and Jerome Bettis into the Hall of Fame. You might say, “Wow, the Rams and Steelers really drafted well. Bravo.” Actually, they the Colts and Rams, respectively, really drafted well. Long forgotten is the fact that Faulk and Bettis landed on the teams they are best known for through trades. For the Rams, Marshall Faulk was a bit of a mulligan, given they shipped Bettis to Pittsburgh and turned their running game over to Lawrence Phillips. Oops.
At the time, Faulk and Bettis were perceived as trash.
So who is today’s trash and tomorrow’s treasure? Perhaps the answer can be found in these trashy trades.
* The Eagles replace T.O. with a young underachieving WR (Donte Stallworth) who also will not listen to the coaching staff, and the Saints get an old overachieving LB (Mark Simoneau ) who the team will not listen to. Here are the players the Saints have taken in the 4th round, starting in 2000:
2000: Terrelle Smith, FB. Starts in Cleveland. Touched ball 99 times in 91 games
2001: Moran Norris, FB. Played five games for the special teams, released the following year. Special teams player for Houston next four years.
2002: Keyuo Craver, CB. Out of football
2003: Montrae Holland, G. Started 30 games, now pencilled in as a backup.
2005: Chase Lyman, WR. Did not play rookie year
At least Simoneau sounds Cajun.
* The Packers traded Javon “I have no interest in being a Packer” Walker to Denver for a second-round pick. Walker helps Denver by making sure Jake Plummer is not one of the top three talented players on offense. The Packers traded the pick they got for Denver to Atlanta for several lesser picks, getting, in effect, Boise State offensive tackle Daryn Colledge for Walker. Colledge entered pre-season as the starting left guard, but it wasn’t long before he was demoted to second string, meaning he may not develop in time to play his assigned role in Brett Favre’s “Neverending But Getting Embarrassing Tour.”
* The Vikings traded Daunte Culpepper to Miami for a second-round pick. Culpepper is big, bad, and has a bad big celebration. He also has hands to small to get around a football, and seems to perform less well when the likes of Randy Moss aren’t around to catch his bombs. But the Vikings used the pick they got from the Dolphins to select New Mexico offensive lineman Ryan Cook – who was projected as a second-day pick.
All of these players look like trash right now, but one of them may make the Hall of Fame one day. Which one do you think it is?
Posted on September 3, 2006