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It’s an unwritten rule as a player that you don’t talk about another person’s contract. This is a sport with no guaranteed contracts except for your signing bonus. Compared to other sports, it’s an owner’s dream not to have to be tied to an underachieving star for 7 years (*cough*Barry*Zito*cough*). And with a salary cap in place for years and still in place, it’s no wonder why the NFL is the most financially healthy league. It’s clear that players need to take theirs when and where they can.

So when the Pats’ Wes Welker said that “Asante Samuel Chose Money Over Championships” after he signed as a free agent with Philadelphia, a year after the Patriots refused to give him the kind of contracts they gave other free agents like Adalius Thomas - it brought back memories of Tiki Barber criticizing Michael Strahan over his contract negotiations:

I was listening to ESPNRadio this morning, and the host mentioned that Wes Welker was quoted as saying something along the lines of, “He chose money over championships”, in reference to Asante Samuel’s six-year, $57M contract with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Osi Umenyiora was on the air, and said that he would have done the same thing, due to the fact that feeding his family comes first. This is a point of view that I just can’t wrap my head around.

Anybody who isn’t a professional athlete looks at a six-figure salary and considers it a dream (in some cases, a dream come true). These guys act like their families will go hungry if they don’t make millions of dollars every year. Can somebody explain this logic to me?

I understand that a person who chooses a career in professional sports has a time window that is much smaller than that of an IT technician or a nurse. You will not be celebrating 30 years with the company when you’re getting ready to retire.

But honestly…these guys make more in one year than most people’s 401k plan amounts to over the course of their entire life.

This topic even spills over into the debate about whether or not an athlete should stay in college until they have their degree. If these guys are so concerned about feeding their families, then why is it that they bet the bank on a long, prosperous career in sports?

Had you stayed in school and earned a degree, your time window would suddenly become a whole lot bigger, since you can go out and get a normal job once your career in sports has ended.

It’s all about Fair Market Value. If you can get it, you take it. If you don’t take it, then you’re a fool. This is a business just like any other business. The owners don’t ascribe to these warm-and-fuzzy ideals about going for championships over money - if they did they’d risk cap hell for a year or 2 to load up on free agents and make a run. Only Dan Snyder is dumb enough to try that.

What they know and what Wes Welker has yet to figure out (you know, since he DIDN’T win a championship) is - nothing is guaranteed in sports on the field. If Asante came back and Tom Brady broke his leg - what then? He would have lost his FMV AND his championship and what would Wes say then?

And who’s to say Philadelphia won’t have an easier time getting to the Super Bowl than New England? Their offense has been figured out, their defense is getting older in the back 7. Nothing is guaranteed. Except when you sign a contract.

The reason you leave college early is because you think you have a low risk of earning a high amount of money. It’s what you would do if you graduated college and had a set of job offers to choose from. Why is the decision different before or after graduation? In the unlikely case where something happens to impair a star athlete from making a large amount of money, they can always GO BACK to get that degree. It’s harder, yes, but it’s not impossible so as to render them useless.

It’s amazing how people think professional athletes should act any different than any high money earner in this country. I’m sure Steve Jobs and Dick Cheney want to “feed their families” as well.

Here’s Jim Rome’s take on it:

Jim Rome’s Burn

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Ricky “What urine test” Williams gets reinstated and put back on the team in the same week that rookie John Beck is put in as the starter. Now I’m confident … that we have a great chance to go 0-16. Cam Cameron has made so many mistakes this season (dumping Daunte AND trading for Trent Green, signing Joey Porter to play in a 4-3 defense for $20M, picking Lorenzo Booker in the 3rd round and not using him all season, …) it’s almost comical. The defense is in shambles, the passing game has shown a severe lack of talent or stability and now, by waiting for Cleo Lemon to completely fuck up a winnable game and by welcoming back Ricky Williams, we’ve finally added a third ring to this circus. The Sun Sentinel’s Dave Hyde seems to think that Cam is swallowing his pride:

That John Beck is starting Sunday in Philadelphia is welcome and overdue and says Cameron’s first two hopes at quarterback failed. He’s down to playing the rookie he carefully plotted never to play this year. This is a coach whose expertise is quarterbacks, too.

That Ricky Williams is invited back says the Dolphins still have a dependency problem on him as much as he does on marijuana. Cameron talked tough in the spring about winning with “character” players. He talked about judging people’s future actions by their past actions.

It sounded swell in theory. Only now it’s November, the Dolphins are 0-9, their top running back is hurt, they need every trading chip for the future and need a win even more than that.

Linebacker Joey Porter, another “character” guy, put it best and most honestly: “I don’t care who you get. If you get bin Laden and he could run the ball like Ricky, I’d do anything for a victory.”

I, on the other hand, think he’s in over his head, doesn’t know what he’s doing and is grasping at straws. If it was indeed his intention to not start Beck at all this year, a 26 year old graduate of BYU who spent his early-20s on a Mormon mission and one would think the maturity to lead a team that averages 5.2 yards per rush, then he’s either a bad judge of talent or coaching scared. Rookie Trent Edwards’ contribution in Buffalo proves that any imaginative OC could design an offense that can minimize the risks around a rooke QB.

If indeed this isn’t just a case of the rookie oops (and I’ll discount his career losing college head coaching record) then it proves once again that Wayne Huizenga, while providing unlimited resources to his credit, cannot form the correct organizational structure or hire accordingly to save his life. 4 head coaches in 3 seasons and they all suck. I hope I’m proven wrong next year.

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2 Great NFL PostSecret secrets from Kissing Suzy Kolber

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Tennis starlet Martina Hingis and Eagles head coach Andy Reid may both be seeing the end of the line - and both because of drugs.

Reid has almost always managed to put a good product on the field. But after last season, and on the same day, 2 of his sons were arrested - and not on the first time. Now it seems both will spend more than a year in jail. And of course a publicity seeking judge was there to pile on

A judge who sentenced Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid’s sons to jail on Thursday likened the coach’s home to “a drug emporium” and questioned whether his adult sons should live there.

“There isn’t any structure there that this court can depend upon,” Montgomery County Judge Steven O’Neill said before sentencing 22-year-old Britt Reid to up to 23 months in jail plus probation.

“I’m saying this is a family in crisis,” O’Neill said.

Then there’s the Swiss Miss. She dominated women’s tennis for a period in the late 90’s and had to retire early because of injuries to her leg. She started a comeback but it seems to have abruptly ended both on news of her retirement and of a positive test for cocaine.

Hingis then asked the reporter whether he thought she could get back close to the top. “Only if you are 100 percent committed, because the way things sound from you now, you already have one foot out the door and teenagers will blow right past you,” the reporter responded.

“That’s a problem,” she said. “Some days I just don’t know where the fire is.”

It’s very possible that, at that time, Hingis already knew that she had failed her drug test at Wimbledon, testing positive for cocaine.

On Thursday, the former No. 1 player announced her retirement, saying that “I have no desire to spend the next several years of my life reduced to fighting against the doping officials.” She added, “I’m now 27 years old, and realistically too old to play top class tennis.”

She also strenuously denied that she had used cocaine and said she had never taken drugs. “They say that cocaine increases self-confidence and creates a type of euphoria,” she said. “I don’t know. I only know that if I were to try to hit the ball while in any state of euphoria, it simply wouldn’t work. I would think that it would be impossible for anyone to maintain the coordination required to play top class tennis while under the influence of drugs. And I know one other thing — I would personally be terrified of taking drugs.”

Meanwhile - someone who isn’t terrified of taking drugs - Barry Bonds, it seems, may boycott the Hall of Fame over the whole asterisk on the 756 ball thing. Which is funny, because I’m pretty sure the Hall of Fame may boycott Barry Bonds for the exact same reason!

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I was inspired to write a Brit’s Guide To the NFL after chatting with an English friend of mine on Facebook about the impending arrival of our game on their shores. And no - preseason and NFL Europa doesn’t count. However, I’m not the only one attempting this feat. The guys at Kissing Suzy Kolber have written their own snarky guide - taking a different tack - here are some excerpts:

What You’ll Think Is Ace About The NFL:
-The Manning family. They’re just like the Royal Family, only somehow more inbred
-Gives Americans something to occupy themselves, delaying them from doing horrible things like invading sovereign nations and producing American remake of “Coupling”
-Fun to notice differences between Stuart Scott’s lazy eye and Thom Yorke’s lazy eye
-Stern NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell would be quite adept at quelling any Irish uprising (”Oh, I’m sorry! Our troops were supposed to use rubber bullets!”)

What You’ll Think Is Absolute Shite About The NFL:
-The padding. Yes, yes, rugby players are tougher because they don’t wear pads and play exclusively in hot pants (nice kit!). Whatever. I’m sure Ray Lewis wouldn’t last one second playing for Leicester. You keep on believing that
-For Welsh fans: distracting amount of vowels in player’s last names
-Not enough advertising on uniforms or field

Players That Will Appeal To British Sensibilities:
-Suspended players Chris Henry and Pacman Jones will happily reenact the drunken escapades of Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley
-Persistent fuckup Michael Vick like a black, mobile Pete Doherty
-Dhani Jones. Literate linebacker could pass himself off as lead singer of Bloc Party if need be

Last year I wrote A Chick’s Guide To Football which is a bit more in depth but today I’ll try to take a different approach. To understand American football just compare it to rugby. The scrummage in rugby is the scrimmage in NFL. The try in rugby is the touchdown. Touching down only has to cross the goal/try line - not actually touch down. It’s 6/1 instead of 5/2 points for TD/try and conversion. And the conversion is always from the middle of the field. The drop kick is actually still legal in the game, but no one ever does it because of the slimmer shape of the ball. Someone tried it last year for the first time in 30 years.

The chip kick (I think that’s what it’s called - when a guy will kick the ball forward to himself or to a teammate) is like a forward pass - only if it’s not caught before it hit’s the ground - it’s back to the scrimmage from the same point - the Line of Scrimmage. You can only do one forward pass per play. Every other pass has to be lateral or behind - but they can be overhand passes. There’s no line out. If you kick it into touch it’s the other team’s ball. If you run into touch it’s still your ball - you go back to the line of scrimmage.

The biggest difference is the gridiron itself. You have 4 plays (downs) to get 10 yards. Penalties can make that more or less. Usually on the 4th down you kick to the other team (punt) or place kick (field goal) - both of which can be blocked by the other team. If you try to complete the 10 yards on 4th down and fail, the other team gets the ball right there. If/when you make the 10 yards - you get another set of downs to go 10 more yards. If you’re less than 10 yards to the goal line, then you just need to score.

And blocking/obstructing is an integral part off the game.

The other difference is the tackling. I think in rugby there are restrictions on how you tackle - below the waist or something. In NFL there are helmets because there are no rules. Well, there are some now like leading with the crown of the helmet, pulling down by the back collar of the jersey (which cannot be ripped), and launching yourself at a defenseless player. But since there’s padding - everyone tees off on everyone else. The one exception is the quarterback (QB) - he’s given much more protection because he is usually defenseless while looking to throw and is the face of the team in most cases.

In this game you’ll likely see most of the tackling coming from the Giants - since they’re 5-2 and we’re 0-7 and just lost 3 of our best players to injuries and trade (transfer). If we have anything going for us it’s that a) we have to win sometime - and b) the jetlag!

Because there’s a stoppage of play between getting tackled and starting the next play, the game becomes more strategic. Every play is a set play. Groups of players will come on and off for every play or a set of plays. It’s not common for someone to play both offense and defense anymore. That went out in the 60’s.

You’re opposition’s play calling is studied on film the week leading up to a game by the team staff (separate for offense and defense) and personnel and positioning is targeted usually to the personnel of the other side, the formation that the other side is in, and the down and distance to the next first down (second down with 2 to go usually means run whereas 3rd down with 8 to go usually means pass). Offenses aim to trick the defense using a designed set of plays to lull them into complacency or leading them to gamble one way. The pass receivers have their steps timed so the quarterback knows where they’re supposed to be for that play and many times will throw the ball to a spot with the understanding that the receivers will be there when the ball arrives. The combination of routes that each receiver runs is designed to force the defense to move a particular way such that someone to be open to catch the ball.

Defenses aim to confuse the quarterback by showing him one formation but at the last minute switching to another. They may try to rush more guys at the quarterback to rough him up and unsettle him (think Blackburn vs Arsenal) or they may play coverage (trying to put enough men in the passing lanes) to make sure no receiver has an easy catch to make. Or they could fake one and do the other. There’s a fine set of things to look for on every play that could tip the balance, on both sides, to what the other is doing. That’s why there are lots of analogies to war with the quarterbacks as the field generals, the running backs and offensive linemen as the tanks and infantry and the wide receivers as the air force. Don’t know where the Navy would fit in, though.

re:the communications - yes - and it became a big deal over here recently. The game and the strategy has evolved so much to the point now where plays are no longer called by the quarterback - they are instead sent in from the coaching staff. They used to use hand signals, but now rely on the radio comms to the quarterback’s helmet (you’ll notice the green dot indicating he has a radio). The defense doesn’t have such an advantage, so they have to use hand signals - usually to middle linebacker (equivalent to the delensive midfielder in position), he then relays the call to the other delenders and can, as i said belore, change up based on the way the offense looks.

Earlier this year the New England Patriots got caught trying to video record the signals of the defensive coaches - something that was forbidden. Happened the same time as the FAI scandal. Does it happen without the technology? - yes. Stealing signs is a part of all sports here. But since the technology angle was specifically banned and that ban was breached the Patriots were fined and now there’s talk that the linebacker will have the radios next season,

The problem there, again, is the platooning - since there’s no real defined general on defense as there is on offense. But I’m sure they’ll come up with something.

but regarding the plays - yes it can get very complicated. Atypicak playcall might sound like “Triple-flank, Omaha-zoom, tango-twins, XY on 2!” - and that’s an easy one. A lot of times you’ll see the QBs (especially the less seasoned ones) referring to a laminated armband with plays on it. You can’t be stupid to play in the NFL. Well, you can’t be a slow learner. You can still be stupid (Michael Vick, registered dogfighter).

There really is a lot being made of this game both on the NFL side and on the footie side. There’s a push perhaps to expand the season to 17 games to allow every team to play one game internationally - perhaps a weekend with one city getting 2, 3 or even 4 games for the season. London, perhaps Germany (where NFL Europa had it’s most success), Mexico, Toronto, Japan and China.

The question is - with Yank owners now in the Premiership, they might want to do the same eventually. One pundit over here thinks that they might start with something like the Community Shield that is competitive, yet still not part of the season. But I’d have to think the fans would riot if that happened.

For what it’s worth, while the NFL is the biggest sport in the US, the fan support for some teams is lagging. I believe you’re beginning to see the same thing with the Wigans and Boltons over there. Even that Chelsea Rosenborg game. But even so there is not as much history and passion of the fans in the NFL (at least not in most cities).

Miami is one of the worst offenders. This game is actually a home tame that the Dolphins are losing yet the outcry isn’t very great. We seem to only support the team if it’s winning. Our baseball team, despite being less than 15 years old, has won the World Series twice! And their last home game didn’t have more than 500 people in the stands! The Faroe Islands draws more than that!

As far as the NFL, the most storied teams are the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears - they’ve been around since the 1920’s, Remember that Chick’s Guide To Football - the game started out at the college level over here - one school playing another - so that’s where most of the passion is. So which team should you support? The team with the most recent relative success would be the Patriots Bill Belicheck is kind of like Mourinho in that people hate him and he treats the media with disdain. But he dresses very sloppily. Bob Kraft, the owner, isn’t like Roman Abromavich, but on a trip to Moscow last year, he took off his Super Bowl ring (imagine the biggest gaudiest ring ever - it’s been tradition that the winning team gets a big ring and they’ve been getting bigger and gaudier every year) - so he took it off to show ol’Vlady P and Putin decided put it on - and walk away with it! The Patriots later said that it was a gift - sure it was. Anyway - they look to be the runaway favorites, so that doesn’t really fit the Chelsea mold.

The Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones fits the mold of Abramovich in that he like to spend money on players and tries to influence the team selection and strategy. Their coach last year, Bill Parcells, had success in previous stints and is probably more like Mourinho in personality and ego. But he resigned last year because of what is assumed to be a falling out with the owner over, among other things, the owner’s signing of a Sheva-class player with a Mido-like attitude in Terrell Owens. But Owens’ production didn’t drop off as rapidly as Sheva’s - he’s only been a malcontent.

If I were to compare to the Premiership, I’d say Liverpool is the Green Bay Packers, Man United is the Pittsburgh Steelers, Chelsea is Dallas, Arsenal are the Patriots, Newcastle are the Philadelphia Eagles. But no comparison is absolute. Miami are probably equivalent to Leeds at this point. They posted the only perfect season in NFL history back in 72, and are now mired in a 5 year spiral headlined by a 10 game losing streak.

Hope this helps.

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