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.
If I'm a Jacksonville fan, I'm not sure how comfortable I am with the team having an "Official Mover"…
It's good to know Pierre Garcon is ready if Washington needs a kicker in a pinch.
Peter King with a pretty wild Tweet: "@SI_PeterKing - Geno Smith's last touchdown pass was three days before the World Series started." God Bless Jets fans.
Another note from King: on what it's like to pull for the Jets: Their first-round pick, cornerback Dee Milliner and their second-round pick, quarterback Geno Smith, were both benched Sunday.
Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin was fined $100,000 for being on the field during Jacoby Jones' run back. And the league said possible draft pick forfeitures were sill being discussed.
Tomlin showed class after the penalty was handed down. "As I stated yesterday, I take full responsibility for my actions, and I apologize for causing negative attention to the Pittsburgh Steelers organization," Tomlin said in a statement. "I accept the penalty that I received. I will no longer address this issue as I am preparing for an important game this Sunday against the Miami Dolphins."
I'm neutral on the Steelers but that just might be the most ridiculous fine I've ever seen. Absolutely he was wrong. There's zero question of that. Throw the flag. Award Baltimore a touchdown for obstruction if they felt he was going to score (he wasn't). But a $100,000 fine and the threat of taking away draft picks is beyond absurd.
I'm sure the emails will pile up for that one. Oh well. Part of the deal.
At least I've got this.
Here's something else about as goofy. Two Reliant Stadium Security Guards were fired for taking a photo with Tom Brady.
From the article: "Joel Williams told KHOU he and another guard were terminated when a supervisor saw them posing for pictures with the Pats’ quarterback after the game. Williams, who says he took his part-time job “very seriously,” said he was confused by the decision since he had completed his duties for the day."
"A spokesman for CSC, the company that provides security for the Texans stadium, sent a statement to KHOU confirming the terminations. “It is strictly against CSC policy for its employees to request photos or autographs from players,” the statement read."
My question - could the Texans be any more of a dumpster fire?
Our friend Will Carroll @injuryexpert nailed it Sunday. The good news is that Mike Brown was active for the Jaguars. The bad news is he's still a Jaguar.
On that note, how about I stop picking on the Jags? They're 3-1 this month. That's a nice rebound for a team that has absolutely not quit when they had plenty of reasons to. Nice job.
I find Robert Griffin III and how the media portrays him fascinating. Sunday the ESPN personalities kept talking about all that's "happened" to Robert Griffin. What exactly "happened"? He took the league by storm as a rookie. He was injured. He tried to play through it and injured himself badly. He had surgery. He rehabbed. He came back from injury. He struggled. That story is repeated over and over in the NFL every single year. What exactly is the horrible thing that's "happened"?
Minnesota WR Cordarrelle Patterson may be lots of things. Shy isn't one of them.
Thanks to Footballguy Brad Lewis for that one.
Houston's Antonio Smith stirred things up after their loss to New England Sunday saying, "Either teams are spying on us or scouting us...I'm very suspicious. I just think it will be a big coincidence if that just happened by chance. I don't know for sure, but I just know it was something that we practiced this week."
He later said that he was joking. “Half the stuff I say is spontaneous and witty, and I don’t think anything else about it. I’m sorry I said the word spying. I was joking and having fun with it.”
Not surprisingly, some parts of the internet rushed to defend New England after Smith's original comments. I said I doubted it happened. But I'm also a realist. As good as the Patriots are and as much as I respect their team on the field, they've lost the benefit of the doubt when it comes to allegations of cheating.
Just another way Fantasy Football leads real Football. Indianapolis coach Chuck Pagano officially benched Trent Richarsdon last week in favor of Donald Brown. Something the guys in your league did a few weeks ago…
@FauxJohnMadden with his own zinger:
Interesting moment on ESPN radio Monday night. Former Viking Robert Smith did an incredibly revealing and vulnerable and pretty courageous interview on the Dan Le Batard show talking about battling the demons of alcoholism and how he was holed up in a hotel and "wanted to die" at one point. As they came back from the break, they did a live advertising read for a whiskey company. Awkward.
Going close to my heart this week on the Music with a shout out to my Knoxville friends, The Dirty Guv'nahs. And a way to help them create their next album.
Here's a fun video they did around Knoxville, Nashville and Bristol for Baby We We Were Young Here's another one filmed in Knoxville's own Preservation Pub where they do We'll Be The Light.
I know these guys well and love them. Check them out and if you like what you hear, do me a solid and preorder their upcoming album on their Kickststarter Project.
I'll give you a money back guarantee - you buy the album and if you don't like it when it comes to you, send it to me and I'll buy it from you for what you paid for it.
The Eagles are now 5-0 in games that Nick Foles starts and finishes. Hmmm
Here's how popular Mike Ditka is in Chicago. 2,000 folks came out and ran the Ditka Dash 5k Road Race.
Nice.
Here's a cool story about ESPN's Chris Mortensen. I met him several years ago at a conference in Minneapolis. Mort's a very friendly and personable guy - basically his on air personality matches his off air personality. As I was leaving to fly home the next day, Mortensen was sitting at my gate in the airport for the flight from Minneapolis to Atlanta. I sat next to him and we started talking. I asked him if he was on my flight. He said he was not on the flight yet but was trying to get on with stand by.
I said, "What do you mean, 'stand by', you're Chris Mortensen. You don't have to do 'stand by' do you?"
He said, "Sure. I'm just like all the rest of these people trying to get home on Sunday afternoon." He said he could probably make something happen not because of who he is or ESPN, but because he flies so much with Delta. But he said, "I'm not going to do that. Why should I get preference over these people?".
We talked for a while and then they called for boarding. I wished him good luck and he bid me the same. I took my seat on the plane and kept an eye on the aisle to see if he made it on.
He never did. I can only assume he had to wait for a later flight.
I've always thought that was super cool to see a guy who could have thrown his weight around instead stay humble.
Contrast that with Delta and the University of Florida Basketball Team. The team's private charter plane had trouble Sunday after Thanksgiving. So Delta cancelled an entire commercial flight Sunday and let the basketball team use that aircraft.
USA Today wrote "That decision displaced 50 passengers, who had to scramble to arrive at their destinations on one of the busiest traveling days of the year. Some didn’t leave Gainesville until Monday."
Delta spokesman Michael Thomas told The Gainesville Sun in an email that the passengers from flight 5059 were accommodated on other flights and given vouchers valid for use through Delta for future trips."
The Gainesville Sun wrote "A passenger who was supposed to be on the flight to Atlanta before it was canceled and did not want to be identified told The Sun passengers were told there was a mechanical difficulty, but some of them noticed the Gators basketball team boarding the plane meant for them out the window.
"People were upset as they scrambled to rearrange their travel schedules and some had to be driven to airports in Jacksonville, Orlando and Tampa to catch other flights, she said. A passenger who was moving from Salt Lake City to New Jersey was going to miss the moving truck, so he had to find someone else to meet the driver instead. A student's father had to drive her to Atlanta so she wouldn't miss an event she needed to make. Another passenger missed a funeral."
That's so lame.
Upside to the story is that karma remains something not to be taken lightly. The mighty Gators gagged the next day on a buzzer beater losing to UConn 65-64.
And perennial powerhouse Georgia Southern University is still serving fried Alligator Tail in the cafeteria celebrating their football win.
I love Anchorman as much as the next guy. But can this thing possibly be more overexposed?
I'm with my buddy Bob Harris in that it feels like I've seen the movie three times already…
What's more fun than Pete Carroll? Robber Baron Pete Carroll.
That's awesome.
This is what's wrong with the Chargers.
That's just creepy.
In case you haven't heard, Auburn beat Alabama Saturday. I could write an entire column on the fun stuff connected to this one from Nick Saban coaching blunders to squalling Alabama fans to Auburn guys pulling their shorts up, it was a target rich environment.
But I'll go old school and stick to something I haven't seen everywhere with the Tecmo Bowl Replay.
Sweet.
Denver running back Knowshon Moreno cries better than you do anything.
Asked for an explanation, Moreno really didn't have anything specific.
“I don’t know, I guess the slow motion made it look a little worse than it was.”
"Moreno insisted that he’s just an emotional guy, and he gets “fired up” to play."
“Excited to play this game, excited to be a part of this team, definitely blessed and privileged to be able to play this game,” Moreno said."
Moreno continued to deliver once the game started.
The Good News: Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew threw a touchdown Sunday.
The Bad News: He's now tied with Blain Gabbert and only trails Chad Henne by five touchdowns...
Glitch In The Matrix from Peter King: "Denver’s most recent four foes are a combined 32-16. Next four: 16-32."
Vernon Davis is pretty good at Football.
Toronto mayor Rob Ford was supporting the Bills and powering down Buffalo Wings Sunday.
If I'm reading this right, he apparently took some guy named Matt Mays' seat.
Have we really come to this as a society where a guy takes your seat at the Bills game and you have to tweet the internet asking what to do?
I wonder if Superman knows Cam Newton is seeing other people with the Batman cleats Sunday…
Panthers coach Ron Rivera said he prefers his nickname to be "Analytical Ron".
Two things, Coach:
#1. You don't pick your own nickname. Sorry.
#2. You're not going to do any better than Riverboat Ron anyways.
Christmas Season Note. They don't make Christmas Wish Lists like they did when I was a kid…
I told you about the Cheese Grater Head guys in Chicago a few weeks back. Detroit seemed to take it up a notch.
Note to Matt Cassel: The "Movember" part of the mustache thing means you wear it in November. It's December now.
But the dude can tackle.
Vikings fans understand…
NBA Note of the week. Charlotte's Gerald Henderson is not a good passer.
Props for the nice recovery on Twitter though…
I googled "second effort" and got this gif of New England's James Develin from Sunday.
You'd probably get the same result searching for third and fourth effort…
I don't know if Oregon State kicker Trevor Romaine is any good. But if he makes it to the NFL I can envision him becoming a Random Shots regular.
Easy there EagleGuy…
Ray Lewis is still in the Steelers' heads.
My Buddy Tom Wiklund going all Jason Witten / Carson Palmer on us in this year's Young Guns Turkey Bowl.
With all the talk about player safety, here's something I don't get. Why are there any slick concrete surfaces anywhere along the sidelines.
I'm amazed we don't see injuries from this all the time.
Why am I not surprised Chris Berman carries a George Castanza wallet?
I should say "carried". This picture came from a super cool segment where a young who girl who'd received a heart transplant and was befriended by Russel Wilson made a wallet for the Seahawk QB and then made a wallet for Berman.
More ESPN goofiness.
Coach Ditka working with some first aid on his glasses Sunday.
This side was ok.
Why do I notice these things?
Here's a summary of Green Bay the last few weeks.
How is Calvin Johnson this wide open?
Think Bill Belichick takes fumbling seriously? Ask baseball cap wearin' Stevan Ridley.
LeGarrette Blount got the message.
Hard Luck Awards for Week 13
And the Nullified TDs
- DAL RB DeMarco Murray right end for 8 yards, TOUCHDOWN NULLIFIED by Penalty.
- KC QB Alex Smith pass short middle to WR Dwayne Bowe for 8 yards, TOUCHDOWN NULLIFIED by Penalty.
- PHI PR DeSean Jackson for 54 yards, punt return 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, Tom Wiklund, Bob Harris and Brad Lewis 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.