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 Random Shots and it’s 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.
J
Rest In Peace, Yogi Berra.
Thoughts from the Thursday night game.
Bud Light is the Official Beer Sponsor of the NFL. You know this.
Here's the Bud Light world they'd like to portray.
Here's the Bud Light world we live in.
What I'm dying to see is the shirt responsible for that tan line. Or maybe not...
What I do know is the two women next to Bud Light Guy lost the "Seat Lottery".
Unlike this kid who crushed the "Seat Lottery".
H/T Rebecca Grant.
My Andrew Luck thought for the week. Remember when Tom Brady forgot how to play quarterback for most of last September?
Here's a makeup from last week. I meant to include this pic from the FFPC event in Las Vegas from last year. It's a Father - Son team of Footballguys Brian and David Petrunich.
That's hardcore. I'll put our Footballguys up against anyone anywhere.
Another Thursday Night moment. The new Pylon Cam is awesome.
Almost feels like a video game.
Kansas City's Anthony Sherman is a fullback. And this is what fullbacks do. Jamaal Charles was involved in a skirmish right before halftime with Denver defensive players almost twice his size. Sherman did what he always does - protect his running back. This isn't macho or tough guy stuff. This is how different parts of a team work together.
I'm not the biggest Frank Caliendo fan but this skit with the video camera was sweet.
And I can't lie, the Mel Kiper - Sam The Eagle was good too.
Do the Bad Guys from Dick Tracy know Mike Ditka raided their closet?
I think most of Amerca felt like Wendi Nix...
More on Ditka and revisiting the Chicago - Minnesota - Green Bay Hate Triangle from last week.
ESPN flashed this bit of photoshopping Sunday morning.
And I'm not sure who loved or hated it.
Packers and Bears fans were
Andy Dalton. Born to be a Bengal.
It's hard to tell when his helmet is on.
San Diego QB Philip Rivers with that Uncle Rico throwing motion.
Nothing beats the real thing though.
Which leads to Breaking News from Dallas.
Thanks to Footballguy Erik Swanson for the help on that one.
Sean Payton going all Bill Belichick with the sleeves.
How the league fines players for not having their socks pulled up but coaches are allowed to hack off their sleeves just seems comical.
Photographer Guy was "Great, I've got the lens on that let's me see the surface of the moon and Marvin Jones is two feet from me. I guess I'll just look the other way and act like I don't see him."
The oh so rare but glorious "Eli Manning at full speed in the open field" shot.
It's the NFL equivalent of
Thanks to Footballguy Jeremy Johnson for that one.
Rookie offensive tackle Jake Fisher caught a beautiful 31 yard pass and rumbled down the sideline Sunday. Fisher is 6'6" and 306 pounds. That's a lot of inertia.
More fun playing on the infield in Oakland. Didn't seem to bother the Raiders though.
I bet the A's hate it though don't they?
Pope Francis is visiting the United States.
Not to be outdone, Dolphins coach Joe Philbin wore his hat too.
I think they make those hats special for Philbin.
And to be fair, the Pope usually wears this hat called a zucchetto.
I'm not Catholic but I think this Pope is pretty rad.
Stadiums fascinate me. Like who decided they needed to clarify "JAGUARS" in the end zone by adding "JACKSONVILLE"?
God Bless Florida.
Uniforms and gamesmanship fascinate me as well.
And can we finally put to rest any of the naysayers doubting the Cowboys' Navy Jersey Curse...
They got the win.
But also
and
and
and
We did get Jerry Jones talking about being lower than a "crippled cricket's ass" then giving us this on Weeden:
"He's a thing of beauty on throwing a football. His passing motion and his arm, frankly, you won't see a more gifted passer, power, accuracy, the entire aspect of it."
So I guess there's that.
This may be bad news for the Cowboys but probably good news for me writing this column. Weeden is much more likely to be caught under the big flag than Romo was...
For Eagles fans, I know the guy in the "IN CHIP WE TRUST" shirt wants to believe it. I'm just not sure he does. Nor do the people around him.
Maybe it's because 35 PLAYERS have more rushing yards this year than the Eagles have as a TEAM.
I guess we'll see soon enough. That's the great thing about the NFL. We don't have to wait a long time for resolution.
Buffalo fans were ready for New England.
But New England was ready as well. Julian Edelman had this for Bills fans after his touchdown.
Patriot fans were out in full force.
Rex Ryan's face at the post game press conference said all you need to know about how the rest of the game went.
Don't sleep on these Bills though. This is a good team.
Tom Coughlin's another case where you don't need a lot of explantion. This is what it looks like when you blow the second game in a row with another game rolling towards your team Thursday night...
There is no sympathy at this level. Saints coach Sean Payton said it this way.
Harsh? Yes. True? Absolutely
Johnny Manziel was happy after the game. He was asked if he was driven to shut up critics like Merril Hoge.
Manziel smiled and said, "I think Merrill Hoge needs to worry about his big necties."
Hoge was a good sport and broke out the big gun for Monday's show.
Cam Newton. You're pretty ridiculous.
Plus there's this...
Speaking of Newton, I'll never get the "mocking your move" thing. I maybe see a new guy like Ryan Mallet doing the Super Man thing. Maybe. Mallet's a nobody at this level. But J.J. Watt? Nothing says, "I'm in your head" like you trying to do my move. Just seems so lame.
Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick shaved Monday morning. This was his 6 o'clock shadow...
I think my favorite part of Monday Night's game was the Civil War General schtick.
Even Suze Kolber jumped on board.
After the game, General Fitzpatrick had the last word.
Hello Cole Beasley.
This was likely unintentional. It's just a tough game.
Jon Gruden explaining the "Bengal" look to Mike Tirico.
I love that guy.
Julio Jones proving once again you can wear anything you want as long as you deliver on the field.
Travis Kelce with another example.
Frank Gore will be receiving an envelope from the League Tuesday. Those socks might work at The U. But not at this level...
The Colts went with a jumbo fullback Monday night adding 310 pound tackle David Parry. That's a big fullback.
The game film on Sam Bradford was not pretty.
Cleveland Tailgating. The Octobong leads to this.
Although I'm with Emmitt Smith. "You never realize how much you love Cutler until Clausen comes in."
Well into the third quarter, this isn't exactly how we saw the Winston - Brees matchup...
Titans fans express their feellings about the Cleveland game...
I get the not allowing taunting penalties I guess. But this ref was just a little too eager.
Peter King wrote these words Monday morning: “the Ravens had no answer for Derek Carr.”
Think about that.
It's what Ferris and I always say, "Things move pretty fast around here".
I"m with Mark Maske.
Carlos Hyde's knees are made of rubber. I thought he was done after this shot.
The Slim Jim Amish Buggy commercial is easily my favorite spot of the week.
Jameis Winston's Dad wins Shirt Of The Week.
Wrapping this week with the kind of stuff I love. It's so easy with the NFL to marvel at the athleticism and the drama of the game. Athletes are called "heroes" for reasons not much better than they have the talent to run fast or jump high or the compusure to throw a football accurately under pressure or spot a hole in the line and explode down the field.
Warrick Dunn was one of those guys for years as a star running back for Florida State and then Tampa Bay and Atlanta.
But I'd argue it's pictures like this that make him a hero.
In news that will see very little attention, Dunn this week provided a new home to a single mom. This was the 139th home he's provided to a single parent. Dunn's mother was killed when he was 18 years old and through his Warrick Dunn Charities foundation, he pours his life into helping single parents and children.
Rock on, Warrick Dunn.
That'll do it for this week, Folks. Thanks to Footballguy Doug Drinen, Erik Swanson and Jeremy Johnson 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.
Thanks for playing along. I hope you make the most of whatever you're doing in your life. Love your neighbor and stick together.
J
