The Immaculate Grid of Football

Sports Reference yesterday launched an Immaculate Grid for football, an enjoyable quiz requiring amateur sports researchers to dig deep within the recesses of their brains for long-forgotten information, or make use of pro-football-reference.com, among other resources, to learn some new things. Today's grid was challenging, with an average score of just 5.6 as of this post, but research in pursuit of a high score can uncover some of those forgotten bits of trivia. In pursuit of a perfect score in today's game, one might find, as this blogger did, that in 2020 Adrian Peterson was Detroit's rushing leader with 604 yards on the ground, and that Terrell Owens was the top receiver for Buffalo in 2009. Regrettably, Owens was never a member of the Cardinals, Lions, or Jets, any of which would have filled a square on the left third of today's grid. There are far more simple ways to fill in the grid than guess and check, but where's the fun in that? Front Office Sports' David Rumsey writes that Sports Reference will add to its collection of games with more Immaculate Grids in the near future, and one can't help but imagine how much fun a college football or professional basketball version of the game might be.

Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Football: Baltimore's Big Free Agent Signing

*Note: This is the final post in a series of fictional installments that uses the MCU's Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as a jumping off point to football "what ifs." 

The old quarterback eases into the booth at ESPN Zone and smiles. A writer had offered to bring him to one of Baltimore’s best steakhouses, but he insisted on bringing his entire family here instead. He always vowed they’d come first, and they’re the reason he’s here after so many years in the bayou. He loves New Orleans, but with a rebuild coming, he knew that to live his dream of winning another championship, he’d need to move on.

That’s how Drew Brees ended up a Baltimore Colt.

Back in the 1980s, the Colts franchise considered leaving the city it’s called home since 1953.

“When Elway signed his rookie contract, that really changed the entire trajectory of this franchise,” said Colts owner Jim Irsay, whose father, Bob, was in talks to move the Colts to Indianapolis, Indiana, before John Elway inked a deal that guaranteed him $1.5 million per year over a 7-year period. “It set us up for years to come.”

After years of success without a Lombardi Trophy, Elway led the franchise to its first Super Bowl victory in nearly 30 years in 1998, as the Colts defeated the Packers thanks to Elway’s gutsy running and a Marshall Faulk plunge into the end zone late in the fourth quarter. The next year, with yet another future Hall of Famer in the fold, the Colts won a second straight Super Bowl, this time over the Falcons, prompting Elway to retire and hand the reins to his understudy Peyton Manning.

Manning won a title of his own before passing the baton to Andrew Luck, who in turn took the Colts back to the Big Game with a victory over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50. But when Luck abruptly retired following the 2018 season, the Colts were left without a true franchise QB for the first time in decades. Philip Rivers, Matt Ryan, and even Carson Wentz tried their hand at bringing one of the NFL’s proudest franchises back to the promised land, but none stuck. The Colts are hoping that this time will be different.

“Drew gives us as good a chance at winning a Super Bowl as we’ve had in a really long time,” said Elway, now general manager of the franchise he quarterbacked for 16 years.

Brees will be flanked by a two-headed backfield receiving monster of Jonathan Taylor and Nyheim Hines. Paired with Michael Pittman, the recently signed JuJu Smith-Schuster, and a still-prime Kenny Golladay, the Colts have the makings of one of the NFL’s elite offenses, the perfect opportunity for Brees to put a bow on a Hall of Famer career.

It still hurts for Brees that he left New Orleans. He was a fixture in the city for 15 years, providing relief in the form of a Super Bowl championship after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city. But with the Saints set to move to more of a downfield passing attack, the short game the team ran to perfection for so long was a better fit elsewhere.

“The city of New Orleans will always be a part of me,” said Brees. “And a piece of me will always belong to the city as well.”

It seems like ancient history, but Brees actually began his career on the West Coast, playing five seasons in the powder blues of San Diego before signing on with New Orleans after a shoulder injury caused the Chargers to look elsewhere for a QB in one of the ill-fated decisions in NFL history.

From there, Brees’ legend began to rise.

It began with a challenge to the then single-season record of 5,084 pass yards that Dan Marino tossed for the undefeated Miami Dolphins in 1984. Then, Brees took the Saints to the promised land after so many years of mediocrity, healing a city’s deep wounds, and being named Sports Illustrated’s “Sportsperson of the Year” in the process. He followed that up with three more seasons of 5000 passing yards. Now he can add to a hall of fame career and make it, quite possibly, a second-tier G.O.A.T. career, behind only recently-retired Tom Brady.

“I’m beyond excited to see what comes next. For the city, for this franchise…. It’s great to be a Colt,” said Brees.

For now, the old quarterback practices his short field passing at one of the arcade games, his oldest son tossing footballs alongside him in friendly competition. Every one of Drew’s tosses hits its intended target, a small opening in a plastic sheet where a wide receiver’s outstretched hands reach for the football.

The old quarterback still has it.

Long Snappers (?!) and the Pro Football Hall of Fame

I read Alex Prewitt's article in Sports Illustrated yesterday about long snappers in the NFL, and I couldn't help but think about whether the position deserves a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In the piece, Prewitt details how difficult contests became for teams that lost their long snappers midgame, such as the Cincinnati Bengals' defeat to the Steelers this year stemming from their long snapper's torn biceps. If a player is that valuable to his squad that his injury leads almost directly to a loss, shouldn't one of their fraternity at least be considered for induction into the Hall? It's a highly specific job no less important than kicker or punter, so I think it's time for someone to get a spot in Canton.

How might we decide which player to cast in bronze? For starters, we need to know some of their names, as long snappers are some of the more anonymous players on the field. Zak DeOssie seems like an interesting choice following two Super Bowl victories with the New York Giants. He and his father were both mentioned by John Turney in "Top Holders and Long Snappers in NFL History" as top ten players all-time at the position. Don Muhlbach is also mentioned by Turney, and Kyle Meinke of mlive.com in this 2021 article. So while it's a little late for this year, maybe Muhlbach, one of the DeOssies, or one of the many other players mentioned by Turney is worthy of consideration in 2024. It's time the position got its due.

Now for the holders ....

Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Football: What if Colleges Played in the NFL's Offseason?

Last year, in a bit of a creative vomiting, I wrote down a ton of ideas for a series of blog posts called "Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Football." While some of my ideas were interesting to say the least, there is something I find rather intriguing regarding my plans for "Earth-4000." In my typed notes, I sketched a rough timeline for playing NFL football in the fall and NCAA football beginning about a week after the Super Bowl. Now that I review my ideas again, I find them to have some merit, along with a number of terrifying drawbacks.

Should the universe align for this type of setup, the entire year becomes a staggeringly packed feast of pigskins and potato chips, dramatic football nearly every weekend. Spacing the schedule out would allow summer holidays to be adorned with the likes of Ohio State and Alabama, Memorial Day weekend hosting conference championships and the College Football Playoff finals moving six months from their current spot in January to the Fourth of July. The NFL starts up again in early August with the preseason, giving the United States of Football only a month of pigskin-less weekends each calendar year. NFL coaches could focus themselves by worrying only about their teams during the season, while saving the spring for scouting.

Of course, while this idea would be fun for a little while, the sports-loving world would get burnt-out on football by, say, 2025 or so. Even though football is fun, the nation would be unable to sustain a year-round Super Bowl party in perpetuity. I'm not so sure the NFL would be pleased by the idea either. Part of its success is based on offseason coverage of events like free agency, the combine, and the NFL Draft. Where would the media look if the NFL Draft was Thursday night but Auburn played Alabama on Saturday afternoon? It'd definitely be interesting, but if Alabama's defensive star gets drafted a mere 48 hours prior to facing Auburn, would he really give up millions to play in a rivalry game?

That brings us to perhaps the biggest drawback of them all: nostalgia. The Iron Bowl is always played on Thanksgiving weekend. Army and Navy square off each fall in one of the most traditional rivals in existence. And even if the Rose Bowl is swallowed by the College Football Playoff, can we really imagine it being played in the heat of June or July instead of early January? So while the idea I came up with here is an intriguing one, I think it's best to leave spring football to the USFL and XFL, professional leagues that entertain us, but are less traditional and do somewhat less business, giving them the elasticity to schedule during a conventionally non-football time of year. If nothing else, at least they let us explore the possibilities of spring football without fundamentally altering our (sports) world. College football in the spring just won't work. It's too much to destroy not only the fabric of the sport, but also the business models of some of the biggest, most successful leagues on the planet. 

Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Football: Earth-838 Has Football on Summer Holidays

*Note: This is the first post in a series of fictional installments that uses the MCU's  Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as a jumping off point to football "what ifs." It contains spoilers for the newest Dr. Strange.

Dr. Stephen Strange and Miss America Chavez on May 6 traveled to Earth-838's United States while fighting the Scarlet Witch. During their trip, Strange and Chavez reported a number of significant differences between 838 and Earth-616, including key variations in the way football is played.

On 838, the United States has 72 professional football teams that are all part of the same organization, according to Strange and Chavez. The NFL has 36 franchises, and each major league team has an affiliated franchise in the Minor Football League (MFL).

"All of America was excited to see football on Memorial Day weekend, too," said Chavez. Each NFL team unites with its minor league affiliate for combined spring games on both Memorial Day weekend and the 4th of July, similar to what colleges and universities do in April and May here on 616, both Chavez and Strange said.

"It's really special for the fans to be able to come out and see a little football in the offseason," said 838's Roger Goodell, who like our Goodell has been NFL commissioner since the mid-2000s. "There are some differences from the regular season. Fans have the opportunity to really get up close and personal with their favorite players, something that just isn't able to happen from September to February."

During offseason games, fans are allowed to stand in designated areas on the sidelines and chat with players. Some teams have even allowed fans to try their hand at coaching.

"We give them specific plays to choose from, but fans have run our offense during spring and summer games in the past," said 838's Bill Belichick, head coach of the five-time Super Bowl champion Cleveland Browns. "They really seem to enjoy it."

Asked if the "fans as coaches" attraction was something the NFL could go to in this universe, 616's Roger Goodell said, "it's not something that's on the table right now, but we'd never rule anything out. Our number one priority is the fans, and if calling plays in preseason games is something they might like, we'll consider it."

In Defense of Tom Brady and the Unretirements of Legends

Tom Brady announced tonight that he will unretire and head back to Tampa Bay to help the Buccaneers franchise try for its third-ever Super Bowl title. While there are likely fans and pundits alike who believe the G.O.A.T. should have stayed in his rocking chair, Tom Terrific deserves to go out on his own terms.

When I told someone I know the news of Brady's comeback, he said when the quarterback finally does call it quits, we might remember that he used to be good, not that he still is. But a player who's won almost twice as many Super Bowls as any other quarterback in one of the most competitive sports leagues in the world has earned the right to try to be remembered in whatever way he wants to.

Plus, it's not easy for any athlete who loves their sport to call it quits, let alone the G.O.A.T. I'm nowhere near as talented as Brady, but I remember feeling almost like I'd missed an appointment the first time fall rolled around and I wasn't on a football team anymore. Brady can control when he walks away as much or more than anyone who's ever played the game. The only football player who comes to mind as being able to walk away on his terms was John Elway, who ended his career with two straight Super Bowl wins. Why shouldn't Brady come back and give it another shot if retirement didn't feel right, especially after an early exit in last season's playoffs? The legend, after all, has more than earned the right to go out the way he wants to, not the way armchair general managers might tell him to.

Washington Now in Command

The NFL's Washington, D.C. football team today revealed its new nickname that replaces the racist moniker the team employed from 1933 until 2019. The team is now the Washington Commanders.

I like the new nickname because it feels important and powerful, as if the team is a group of leaders on a critical mission. At the same time, it's not overly important or stiff. "Commanders" is a dynamic military nickname, reminding me of the San Diego Fleet in the now-defunct AAF.

The uniforms are sharp, with a new stencil-style font for the "W" on the side of the helmet. The home jerseys declare "Commanders" on the front, using a line above and below the name to make it stand out.

My initial reaction upon seeing a leaked photo of a Commanders t-shirt last night was that the nickname would jibe with the American tradition more if the team's colors were red, white, and blue. But I'm happy the team's primary colors remain the longtime burgundy and gold. Perhaps the franchise can come up with an alternate uniform and logo that includes red, white, and blue to keep the team tradition alive and simultaneously bring an important piece of America to the franchise. They are based in America's capital, after all.

How Would an Aaron Rodgers Move to Denver Affect Fantasy Football Values?

Now that Nathaniel Hackett has been hired as head coach of the Denver Broncos, it's fair to ask whether Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers will follow his now former offensive coordinator from Titletown to Mile High. Should Rodgers suit up for Denver next fall, there would be a massive fantasy football impact on the Orange Crush.

For starters, the wide receiver room in Denver would get a huge boost. Denver's leading pass catcher last year was Courtland Sutton, with just 776 yards on 58 receptions, 46th-best in the NFL. Whether next year's team leader is Sutton or someone more along the lines of Jerry Jeudy, those numbers would figure to see a dramatic increase. Of course, it's unlikely that Sutton or Jeudy end up being Rodgers' top target. Pro Football Network tweeted a couple of days ago that, per Tony Pauline, Rodgers wants Davante Adams and Marquez Valdes-Scantling to play with him in 2022, so a Denver offense next year could include, say, Adams, MVS, and Jeudy and make Sutton and Tim Patrick irrelevant for fantasy purposes. In that case, Denver becomes Green Bay West, with Adams and Valdes-Scantling in their normal roles and Jeudy playing the part of Allen Lazard, still an upgrade from his 2021 season.

There's also potential for Noah Fant's stats to see an increase. In the past, tight ends have had big years catching passes from Rodgers, especially Robert Tonyan in 2020, who scored 11 times on just 3.3 catches per game. Like nearly all tight ends in the modern NFL, the fantasy role of a pass-catching tight end is far from a certain, but Fant could be a late-round flier who goes boom if the fantasy gods are feeling right. Tonyan is also a free agent, however, and could decide to follow Hackett, especially if Rodgers, Adams, and MVS head west too.

Finally, there's the running back room. Javonte Williams and Melvin Gordon combined for 1,812 yards on exactly 203 carriers apiece last year. Should both remain with Denver in 2022, their total combined rushes would likely decrease given what would be a heightened ability in the passing game for the team as a whole, thereby reducing their fantasy value as individuals. Gordon, though, is a free agent, and a new team for him would provide a significant increase to Williams' upside regardless of Rodgers' superb ability to get the ball to his pass catchers.

So while Denver's choice of QB for 2022 is still up in the air, the selection of Aaron Rodgers would have a huge impact on the fantasy football relevance of nearly every offensive skill player on the Broncos' roster. What ends up happening will ultimately determine the fantasy value of many Denver players in 2022.

Fantasy Drafts I'd Love

There's nothing quite like the annual rite of the fantasy football draft, and now there are websites like OnlineDraft that can make anything into a game.

I love the superhero drafts that the staff at The Ringer and Matthew Berry and Robert Downey Jr. have done in the past, and the tastiest draft of all might be the SB Nation Thanksgiving draft.

So what else can we make into a snake-style draft that can both thrill and cause copious eyerolls? Here are some ideas, mostly twists on the ones discussed above:

1. Easter foods - There's at least one draft for Easter candy, but there don't seem to be any drafts for Easter food. As one of my high school friends once noted, it's really a spring Thanksgiving. Ham is as big on Easter as turkey and stuffing are in November, so ham could be the Christian McCaffrey of draft day.

2. Holidays - All the major holidays like Christmas and the 4th of July will be taken well before the end of the first round, but there are more than enough holidays to fill out double-digit rounds, and I'm hearing that National Ice Cream Day is a solid fourth-round pick.

3. New Superheroes - We could narrow the player pool to only those heroes who appear in Marvel's "phase 4" or later. Or maybe a draft could include only X-Men characters. The possibilities for superhero drafts are sky high.

4. All-Time Fantasy Football - If we could find a way to get Jerry Rice, LaDainian Tomlinson, and Pat Mahomes into the same fantasy game, the first round of the draft alone would be epic! Would Jerry Rice go first overall? When would the first QB go off the board? We need to find a way to make this happen!

5. Pick Your Own - What else could we draft? Next Gen football stats, sports announcers, offensive linemen.... Just like Captain America, I could do this all day!

Improving on the Already Terrific NFL RedZone

NFL RedZone is one of the best inventions in the history of professional football, but there are ways that it could be even better. 

One of the things I find myself doing constantly during NFL Sundays is checking my phone to see how my fantasy team is playing. Am I winning my matchup? Has my player's long TD catch been accounted for yet? How many points, exactly, do my players have?

It's because RedZone only shows total fantasy points for full PPR leagues that I end up checking on that last question. But what if RedZone included point totals for multiple types of fantasy leagues? (1) Including half PPR totals on the bottom line during the broadcast in addition to full PPR stats would give fans easier access to a more diverse array of fantasy numbers.

And why stop there? NFL Network's marketing department can go to work to find out which fantasy formats are most popular or growing and cater to their largest fan bases the most while also spending time calculating stats for even the most unique scoring formats.

Maybe in the future the NFL will even develop its programming so fans can customize the stats they see while watching RedZone. Then every fan could get exactly what they ask for, and perhaps RedZone would increase its reported weekly viewership of 1 to 1.5 million (2). The sky is the limit for NFL RedZone when it comes to fantasy football.

1- Let's be honest, I'd still be checking my fantasy team on my phone, even if RedZone added these features.

2 - According to The Athletic's Richard Deitsch in "The Future of NFL RedZone beyond episode No. 200: Media Circus": NFL RedZone

Improving Fantasy Football

Every week, millions of Americans set their fantasy football lineups in hopes of a head-to-head victory over one of their friends. They check their score, root for their players, and banter jokingly over the best waiver wire pickups for the week. But despite the enjoyment that so many people take away from fantasy, there are still tweaks that can make it an even more interesting and equitable game.

To start, I'd like to add a little more flavor to the kicking game. I propose that leagues give kickers six full points for a field goal longer than 59 yards and award bonuses for game-winning or record-breaking field goals. The public league I play in already gives bonuses for field goals of 40-49 and 50+ yards, so why not reward special teamers who make even lengthier kicks? I also think fantasy players should receive an additional one-point bonus for any game-winning field goal. That 39-yarder as time expires? It gets you four. And when someone makes the first 67-yard field goal in NFL history, it should count for eight fantasy points: six for the kick and two for breaking the all-time record.

Speaking of breaking records, I would also like fantasy managers to earn bonuses for any record that is broken or milestone that is set by a player they manage during a game. Prominence of the record will play an important role in determining the amount of the bonus. Tom Brady's 600th TD earlier in the year would be worth somewhere around eight to 10 fantasy points, four for the passing TD and four to six for the milestone. Justin Tucker's 66-yarder would be a two-point bonus for the distance record, while an RB surpassing the all-time rushing record would earn somewhere around eight to 10 bonus points. Among other things, this adds to the intrigue and fantasy-relevance of players who are still legends on the field, but no longer produce in fantasy on a weekly basis. Drafts and waiver wires will be more competitive whenever record-breaking opportunities come up as fantasy managers compete for the players likely to receive large bonuses. Managers will need to make difficult roster decisions about who to keep or drop in favor of the legends of the game.

There is caveat here that needs to be addressed, and that's the fact that there could be leagues somewhere in this fantasy football multiverse that already use rules like these. There's no easy way to check an entire planet's leagues, although I have to admit there's something about the task that I find enticing.

As great a game as fantasy football is, it can still use a few tweaks. I think awarding kickers additional bonuses and giving out additional points for record-breaking and milestone performances will make the game even more interesting and add more skill-based incentives to the sport.

Julian Edelman and the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Julian Edelman this week retired from professional football after failing his physical with the New England Patriots. Chatter immediately began as to whether or not the former slot receiver was worthy of a spot among the immortals in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Edelman presents an interesting case as he seems to fall far short of enshrinement standards, but excelled when it mattered most in the postseason. Let's take a look at some arguments for and against the wideout.

Perhaps the best comparison to Edelman is Lynn Swann. Swann is the only Hall of Famer among Julian Edelman's pro-football-reference comparables. Like Edelman, he has relatively weak regular season statistics that were buoyed by excellent postseason play. In regular season scrimmage yards, Edelman bests Swann by just over 1700, though Swann has a huge leg up when it comes to average yards per touch thanks to a shorter career. Swann led the league in touchdown catches in his sophomore campaign, while Edelman has no black ink on his pro-football-reference page.

The differentials between their postseason numbers are similar to their regular season ones. Edelman leads Swann by nearly 600 in postseason scrimmage yards, despite playing just three more games, but Swann's touchdown and yards-per-touch totals are superior to the former Patriot's. So while Edelman and Swann are close, Swann has a little bit of an edge, so if he's a borderline Hall member, that bodes poorly for Edelman.

Edelman is also 156th all-time in receiving yards, sandwiched between fullback Larry Centers and 1960s wide receiver Charley Hennigan. (Hennigan perhaps isn't the worst Hall candidate himself, leading the league in nine categories over two seasons of AFL action).

So I don't think Julian Edelman is a Hall of Famer. These arguments can be looked at from dozens of viewpoints, so maybe there's something I haven't thought of that would give Edelman a better case. Regardless, I have him on the outside looking in right now, an all-time great who will live on in sports history forever, but who falls a little shy of Canton's standards.

All I Need to Know, I Learned from Fantasy Football

When I was in high school, one of my teachers had a sign up in her classroom that said, "All I Need to Know, I Learned in Kindergarten." To some extent, I think that statement is true, and I also think it's true of a sport we all hold near and dear to our hearts. Yes, that's right, I'm talking about fantasy football. 

Fantasy football? A "sport" where people maneuver real players on a fake team to try and score more points than other similarly-obsessed managers who are also maneuvering real players on a fake team?

Yes. Fantasy football is a far more educational pastime than you think. Consider some parallels to life that I found in my years playing:

1. You have to take risks. I took so many risks in my draft this year, that Yahoo! projected me to finish in last place in my league. They thought my team was bad, though I disagreed ....

2. Sometimes things don't work out. Last year, I chose David Johnson as my first-round pick in a full-point PPR league, thinking that his pass-catching abilities combined with Kliff Kingsbury's offense would make him a top player.

They didn't. Johnson caught just 36 balls on the year, and only started in 9 of Arizona's 16 games. It's just like when I didn't get into my first choice of colleges, which is probably something that happens to a lot of people. So, yeah, sometimes things don't work out, but ...

3. ... sometimes they do! This year, I thought about choosing Clyde Edwards-Helaire with the fifth-overall pick, even with Alvin Kamara available. Luckily, I ended up celebrating as the Saint went marching into the end zone 21 times. It's kind of like when I got a job in sports media right after I finished grad school. Things worked out!

4. Life is a game of chance. At the end of the year, my team, despite the projections, went 13-3 and took home my first-ever fantasy championship, helped along by the aforementioned Kamara, super receiver Calvin Ridley and rookie standouts Justin Jefferson and Justin Herbert, not to mention late-season acquisition Jalen Hurts. But what if, say, Brandon Aiyuk had become the top rookie wide receiver instead of Jefferson? Or if I'd shed my early, risk-taking strategy and grabbed a more-proven Mecole Hardman off waivers instead of the newest star Viking wideout? It was all chance.

Fantasy football really is a fun game, and we are lucky to have the luxury of playing a game on our devices for fun. Its lessons were and remain a microcosmic reminder of the things life teaches us each and every day, and perhaps one of my bigger disappointments right now is that I have to wait until 2021 to do it all again. Until then, remember that sometimes things don't work out ... but sometimes they do!

Eleven Candidates for the Pro Football Hall of Fame

There are many good athletes in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and perhaps just as many additional candidates who could be discussed for induction. Players like Drew Brees, Tom Brady, and Peyton Manning look like slam dunks, while cases can be made for Don Coryell, Ronde Barber, and Clay Matthews, among many others.

Below, I've listed eleven candidates I think have a great case for a bust in Canton. This isn't necessarily a list of the best candidates, or the most deserving, but it is a list of players, and others, who I think should be strongly examined.

1. Philip Rivers - Rivers has been great in his career regardless of whether you like traditional or advanced stats. He's led the league in seventeen different categories at least once, including touchdown percentage, adjusted yards per attempt, and adjusted net yards per attempt, though he's also led in areas like interceptions. He's passed for 4000 or more yards ten times in his career, helping him rank eighth all time in passing yards. He'll be 38 in December, but threw for north of 4000 yards for a sixth year in a row in 2018. Regardless of when decides to hang up his cleats, he shouldn't have to wait long before he's making a trip to Canton.

2. Ken Riley - Riley played in 207 games in his career with the Cincinnati Bengals, picking off opposing QBs 65 times. He returned five of those interceptions for touchdowns. There are only four players in history with more interceptions, and each of those four is in Canton already. He's 16th all time among CBs in Pro Football Reference's approximate value (AV).

3. Julius Peppers - In my opinion, he should be a first-ballot inductee. He's fourth all time in sacks and second in forced fumbles, though neither stat was recorded through most of pro football history, and it's possible Deacon Jones, Lawrence Taylor, and others have more sacks. Still, Peppers' stats are very impressive, and his 183 AV ranks fifth all time among DEs and OLBs, one spot ahead of LT.

4. 1972 Miami Dolphins - Football is a team game, but there are no teams in the Hall. My vote, not that it actually counts, is to change that, and the first team that should get in is the famous 17-0 squad from South Beach.

5. 1985 Chicago Bears - They were scary. They were tough. And they were good. The 1985 Chicago Bears outscored opponents by 258 points in the regular season en route to a 46-10 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX. They also shut the Giants and Rams out in the playoffs prior to facing New England.

6. Isaac Bruce - He's the fifth-best receiver all time in receiving yards, behind only Jerry Rice, Larry Fitzgerald, Terrell Owens, and Randy Moss. His 91 career touchdowns lag behind some of the true legends of the game, but still put him in the company of the elites. He also won a Super Bowl with the Greatest Show on Turf, a standard for induction that will help him in the eyes of voters.

7. Frank Gore - Longevity, especially at the running back position, is difficult in the National Football League. Gore has achieved a long-lasting career and then some during his time as an NFL player, rushing for 14,748 yards over 14 seasons thanks in large part to nine seasons over 1000 yards. Gore has never had a truly bad season, and has played fewer than 14 games only once in his career.

8. Adam Vinatieri - Vinatieri has scored more points than anyone in league history, which by itself should be enough to get him in. It's hard to tell the story of a sports league without the top all-time scorer. Further boosting his case are his success in big moments and four Super Bowl rings.

9. Edgerrin James - He won an Offensive Rookie of the Year award when he led the NFL in rushing yards in 1999, and ranks 15th in career scrimmage yards. He's also tied with Bruce with exactly 91 total touchdowns for his career, short of true legend status, but also tied with Tony Dorsett, Bobby Mitchell, and Ricky Watters at 31st all time. James also led the NFL in rushing yards in his sophomore campaign with 1709.

10. Jeff Saturday - Overall, offensive lineman are underrepresented in the Hall of Fame. In general, there are five times as many linemen as quarterbacks on the field at any one time. Yet as far as Canton goes, there are 26 modern era quarterbacks in the Hall of Fame, compared to 46 modern era offensive linemen. The only offensive linemen ahead of Saturday in AV are current members of the Hall of Fame.

11. Alan Faneca - Faneca is just a few spots behind Saturday in AV, and was named to the All-Decade team for the 2000s. If I were a voter, I would have picked him for induction this year, though there were plenty of great candidates, and those who were chosen for enshrinement are more than worthy of the honor.

*All stats from the Pro Football Reference website, except for number of Hall of Famers by position, which came from the Pro Football Hall of Fame website, and Faneca's inclusion on the All-Decade team, which came from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.*

Why the Regular Season is Better than the Playoffs

It's Super Bowl season! We're just over a week away from the "Big Game," when people will be tearing open potato chip bags, laughing at commercials, and, hopefully, watching a great back-and-forth affair.

Those first few words, though, those are the ones that are almost painful. More than a week until the next truly meaningful game.

During the regular season, there are football games on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. For true junkies, there are even some Tuesday and Wednesday night college games. Then the best football of the year, in my opinion, comes from Thanksgiving through New Year's Day, when the race for the NFL playoffs goes full throttle and the NCAA holds most of its Division I bowl games.

Contrast that with the NFL playoffs, where there are just four games maximum each weekend.

I know some people reading this are rolling their eyes, but hear me out before you drag the mouse up to the little "x" at the top of the screen. There are up to 16 NFL games each week during the regular season. If a game isn't living up to expectations, you can turn it off and watch another one. Simple. That goes double for college football, with who knows how many games each weekend. Plus, there are additional options like NFL Network's RedZone. If the Super Bowl isn't competitive? Our next NFL game will be played in Canton, Ohio, in approximately six months. Plus, there is a 100% chance your favorite team is playing sometime between September and December. There are minor football leagues starting up, but it will still be some time until the best-played games return to TV.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the Super Bowl, but there are games that don't live up to their billing. The New York Giants suffered a huge Super Bowl XXXV loss at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens, and Super Bowl XLVIII was the same sort of game when the Seahawks crushed the Denver Broncos 43-8.

In the regular season, the viewer has multiple options. He or she can keep watching the blowout involving their favorite team, or shut it off and watch a more competitive game tomorrow. So let's watch some football, but if we have a choice, make it a regular season game. We'll have more options that way.

The Patriots Should Name Their Field After Bill Belichick

Bill Belichick is an all-time great coach and a surefire Pro Football Hall of Famer. After leading New England to a ninth AFC Championship as the Patriots head coach on Sunday, there's certainly some argument to be made for Bill Belichick as the greatest coach in the history of the NFL. Some have advocated for naming the Vince Lombardi Trophy after the elder statesman of pro football coaching, but I'm going to suggest something different: the New England Patriots organization should name the field at Gillette Stadium after Belichick.

I love some of the other ideas I've seen about honoring Belichick for his success, such as naming a wing in the Hall of Fame after him. He's an historic figure, and what better way to pay tribute to the man than by naming part of the complex that serves as the foremost vault to the history of the game after him? The Hall of Fame, though, sees under a quarter of a million visitors each year, while tens of millions watched the AFC Championship Game this past Sunday alone. Putting Belichick's name on the field would get it in front of millions and would help give more people a sense of his greatness, though there aren't any rules that say he can't have his name on both the field and the Hall of Fame.

Then there's the renaming of the Vince Lombardi Trophy. In theory, it's a great idea. Belichick's Patriots have won the Super Bowl five times with him at the helm, more than any other coach in league history, and have a chance for number six early next month. There's just one problem: the trophy is already named after someone. The late Vince Lombardi, who is already enshrined in Canton, has had his name on the trophy for nearly 50 years. Renaming it after Belichick, while certainly an appropriate honor for the long-time New England coach, would be an insult to Lombardi's memory, not to mention those members of his family who, I'm sure, hold his achievements in the highest regard.

Imagine instead Jim Nantz on a crisp October Sunday saying, "Hello friends, and welcome to Bill Belichick Field at Gillette Stadium." Then Al Michaels could say the same thing in November, before Joe Tessitore takes us home in late December, not to mention the cries of joy from the announcers in January when the Patriots grab home-field advantage. It makes his name more accessible to casual fans, and to greater numbers of fans, and I'd advocate for it as the number one option when it comes to honoring the all-time great head coach Bill Belichick.

Notes:

1 - Idea of naming a wing in the Pro Football Hall of Fame came from a Twitter poll. I will update with the specific poll if I can find it.
2 - Statistic on number of visitors to the Pro Football Hall of Fame came from the following New York Times article: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/28/sports/pro-football-hall-of-fame-canton-ohio.html
3 - Statistics on number of viewers for the championship games came from deadline.com: https://deadline.com/2019/01/rams-patriots-nfl-championship-game-ratings-rise-1202538653/
4 - Statistic on how long the Vince Lombardi Trophy has been named, well, the Vince Lombardi Trophy is from Sports Illustrated: https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/02/04/who-makes-vince-lombardi-trophy-super-bowl

NFL Personalities as Marvel Characters

Last night I had the incredibly creative yet somewhat crazy idea of comparing NFL personalities to Marvel heroes. I think the 13 connections I came up with worked well for the most part. If I have another Vision, perhaps I'll turn this into a series. Enjoy!

J.J. Watt <--> Thor

Concerned about the well-being of others. Seemingly limitless strength. I bet Watt could even lift the Mjolnir.

Larry Fitzgerald <--> War Machine

Slightly underrated, yet truly a pinnacle of consistency, not to mention a surefire Hall of Famer.

Tom Brady <--> Tony Stark

Extremely wealthy with lots of shiny toys. Almost never loses in a professional setting.

James Harrison <--> Winter Soldier

Goes unwillingly over to the dark side for a time before returning to his roots and fighting for justice.

Sarah Thomas <--> Captain Marvel

Pioneers in the world of sports and superheroes.

Russell Wilson <--> Black Panther

Kindness, honor, and reason. Stay clear if angry and in full uniform.

Bill Belichick <--> Nick Fury

The mastermind behind everything. Always has a reason, even if it's a secret one. Very guarded about feelings.

Saquon Barkley <--> Vision

Inexplicable power, though perhaps Barry Sanders knows how Barkley makes people miss.

Tyreek Hill <--> Quicksilver

One word: speed.

Drew Brees <--> Hawkeye

Deadly accurate, plus superb skills as a brave leader of family and team.

Wade Wilson <--> Wade Wilson

I don't know anything about Wade Wilson the quarterback's personality, but once I found he played in the NFL ... how could I ignore this?

Baker Mayfield <--> Spider-Man

Young underdog who always finds a way to get the job done. Written off early by some only to come back and win big in the end.

Pam Oliver <--> Shuri

Impressive intelligence and vast depth of knowledge in craft.

Choosing Nicknames for the New XFL Franchises

The XFL on Friday in response to a fan's tweet asking when the "new" league will have franchise nicknames said that each of the eight teams set to kick off in 2020 will be named in "a few months." I figured I'd get the party started early with some suggestions, so I listed two potential nicknames for each city's squad, along with a few bonus options at the end of the post. Many, if not most, of the monikers below were used by other sports teams at some point over the last 100 years, which I did mainly to honor said previous teams, though I also tried to be original when possible.

Dallas:

Desperados - The name of an arena football team that played from 2002 to 2008. I also like the alliteration.

Demons - This was the nickname of the San Francisco franchise in the first XFL. I'd love to see it re-purposed, which, as above, would create an alliteration.

Houston:

Comets - It stays with the space theme of multiple Houston sports teams, like the Houston Rockets. The name "Houston Comets" also sounds a little like a high school that's local to me, which also has the nickname "Comets."

Galaxy - More space-themed nicknames! Plus, the Frankfurt Galaxy played in NFL Europe, and the other football has the LA Galaxy in the MLS.

Los Angeles:

Xtreme - The nickname of the first XFL team that called Los Angeles home, the same one that Tommy Maddox played for between stints in the NFL. Would also have the same acronym, LAX, as the Los Angeles International Airport.

Crushers - It's tough, good for a new football team. It also stays with the "LAC" abbreviations of the Clippers and Chargers.

New York:

Titans - Pays homage to the original name of the New York Jets, who played as the Titans from 1960 through 1962. It sounds powerful and tough, like New York itself.

Night Hawks - There are birds in New York City, though I'm not sure if night hawks are actually animals or not (a few quick Google searches make me lean towards "no," though there is a painting, plus various other sports teams). New York Night Hawks is catchy and there's a certain satisfaction in having each of the four words in the team's name be exactly one syllable.

Seattle:

Seals - It uses the technique of alliteration, which so many Seattle franchises employ. If hockey doesn't take it, I think the XFL should. SBNation's Satchel Price wrote a post about a year ago in which he said he'd pick this name for a hockey team, and I agree that it sounds good for an NHL franchise.

Slew - Not sure if this would be allowed, but it would be a fantastic tribute to a great (animal) athlete from another era.

St. Louis:

Spirits - I'll admit this isn't really a tough name, and we are talking about football, but the franchise would share a name with an ABA franchise from the 1970s. Maybe they could have ghosts on their helmets.

Skyhawks - The St. Louis franchise would also share a nickname if the XFL went with "Skyhawks," but the fictional (I think) bird seems to make more sense than my alternative, Soul. A quick Google search suggests there is a music scene in the Missouri city, but not quite enough to make me think such a moniker would truly fit a sports team based there.

Tampa Bay:

Bandits - The Tampa Bay Bandits were a USFL team. Also, pirates! Sort of ....

Mutiny - Another soccer nickname, they played in MLS from 1996 to 2001. I also love that it keeps with the pirate theme of the Buccaneers.

Washington:

Senators - A pro football team that played three games in 1921 and obviously fits in with the city's functions. If the XFL doesn't use it, I think it's a good candidate to be a new nickname for the NFL franchise located in the nation's capital.

Capitals - Speaking of capitals, I'm going to copy off the NHL for the Washington team's second nickname option. That's a little bit of a cop-out, but the backups are Federals (yuck!) and Americans (I just don't like the sound of "Washington Americans." It's almost redundant).

Bonuses:

St. Louis Stallions - I thought I had heard this somewhere before, and I also thought it was brilliant. A little bit of research, and I learned it was supposed to be an NFL franchise, and I thought we could finally bring it to life in the XFL. KMOX agreed. Then I realized the Salt Lake Stallions are set to begin play in about a month when the Alliance of American Football kicks off for the first time. Well, at least the AAF franchise's name has a nice ring to it.

St. Louis Soul - The franchise would share a nickname with arena football's Philadelphia Soul.

Los Angeles Express - It was a USFL franchise, but it's also going to be used by the AAF's Memphis Express.

New York Empires - It's the Empire State, so it makes perfect sense! But there are already at least two New York sports teams with the nickname "Empire," so I didn't want to copy, but the more research I do, the more I think that none of the nicknames I came up with are actually original.

Dallas Texans - The original name for the Kansas City Chiefs franchise when it first kicked off in 1960, among others, but, again, I tried not to copy too many other active professional sports teams' nicknames (i.e. the Houston Texans).

Houston Gamblers - A USFL team whose nickname I considered somewhat strongly for the XFL thanks to the growing acceptance of gambling, but I ultimately wanted to go with the space theme instead.

Tampa Tamarins - Tamarins are a type of monkey that do, in fact, reside at Busch Gardens in Tampa, and I liked the alliteration, but the pirate theme is already established. Plus, a team named after monkeys just doesn't seem to fit with football or sports.

Seattle Sharks - I'm not sure why I didn't consider this more strongly, though I do like "Slew" and "Seals" as solid options.

Washington Federals - I mentioned this above, and I'd also like to point out it was a USFL franchise.

Washington Americans - A football team based in Buffalo, New York used the nickname "All-Americans" during the early 1920s.

Hoping for a New AFC Representative in Super Bowl LIII

It all started on January 14, 1996. The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Indianapolis Colts by a 20-16 score to clinch a trip to Super Bowl XXX.

Nearly three-quarters of the Super Bowls since that AFC title game have featured one of three teams: the New England Patriots, the Pittsburgh Steelers, or the Denver Broncos. Two of those Bronco teams were represented by Peyton Manning, the same quarterback who helped take the Colts to Super Bowls XLI and XLIV.

So for the most part, we've been getting the same teams in the Super Bowl on the AFC side. In the cases of Manning, and the Bill Belichick-Tom Brady tandem, we've also been getting the same characters. I appreciate the intelligence of Belichick and the future Hall of Famer's domination over the NFL the past two decades, but I think it's time for some new blood now that Super Bowl LIII is on the horizon. My fingers are crossed that this is the year.

The Chiefs and Chargers have already clinched playoff spots, while the Texans, sixth in the AFC in pro-football-reference's Simple Rating System (SRS) entering today, are likely winners of the AFC South. The Patriots have looked beatable at times this season, and, though I won't count them out until the very end thanks to Brady and Belichick, that bodes well for teams like Kansas City and the Chargers, my personal favorites to end the reign of dominance by the AFC elite. Miami, Indianapolis, and Tennessee are still "in the hunt," and even Cleveland has a tiny itty-bitty smidge of a chance to make the playoffs (fivethirtyeight.com has the Browns at a two percent chance at the postseason after tonight's victory).

Just over 40% of the last 44 Super Bowls have featured an AFC team besides the Patriots, Steelers, or Broncos. Perhaps Super Bowl LIII is the one where the Chargers, Chiefs, or Texans break through. The Chiefs and Chargers could make deep runs, while other AFC squads are up-and-coming and could make a stab at the playoffs for the first time in a long time.

But even if not, there's always next year. After all, those Browns are definitely getting better.

*Thanks to pro-football-reference.com for providing the score and information on the Steelers-Colts AFC Championship Game, and for the Excel spreadsheets that helped me figure out the frequency of AFC Super Bowl participants. The sports-reference sites are excellent and highly recommended!*

Derrick Henry vs. Marshawn Lynch: Who Had the More Beastly Run?

Derrick Henry last night ran for 238 yards and four touchdowns, averaging 14.0 yards per carry on just 17 total rushes in a Thursday Night Football performance that helped officially knock the Jacksonville Jaguars out of the playoff hunt. His night included a 99-yard touchdown run that tied Tony Dorsett for the longest in the history of the NFL and drew a comparison by a large sports media company to former Seattle Seahawk running back Marshawn Lynch's 67-yard "Beast Mode" run in the 2011 NFL wild-card round. I don't mean to disrespect either athlete's skills and accomplishments, but I have to agree with those who thought the Lynch run was better.

Henry's rush had the edge in pure stats, with him running 99 yards compared to Lynch's 67, but that's one of the few advantages the former Heisman winner has over Beast Mode, and it's a relatively poor argument at that. As multiple others pointed out, Lynch has the advantage in game leverage, since his rush came in the first round of the playoffs. By contrast, Henry's run came on a Thursday night during the regular season between two teams fighting for their playoff lives. Not only that, but Lynch's rush came in the fourth quarter of a close playoff game, and extended his team's lead to 11 points.

Then there's the sheer physicality of Lynch's run: he broke through multiple tackles on the play, whereas it didn't really seem like anyone wanted to try bringing Henry down. By my count, Lynch broke three to seven good, legitimate tackle attempts. Henry didn't break any, though he still deserves credit for strong-arming Leon Jacobs without the benefit of proper leverage.

In the end, Lynch's run was just better. He had the benefit of situational leverage in a postseason game, and ran with more power and physicality than Henry, though both athletes certainly earned a place in the game's history in the pantheon of great NFL runners.

*Stats on Lynch's Beast Mode run courtesy pro-football-reference.com play index.*