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.
Say what you will about mascots, I'm cheering for this guy in Tennessee...
Here's what it's like to be a Browns fan. This was the opening series of the game Thursday night:
1st and 10, Willis McGahee rushes for 2 yards
2nd and 8 Brian Hoyer throws to Josh Gordon who drops an easy pass that he should have taken for a 70 yard TD.
3rd and 8, Brian Hoyer throws an incomplete pass missing Greg Little by a mile with the WR and QB not on the same route page.
Punt.
53 seconds later, Buffalo scores.
Browns fans were thinking. Here we go again. But not so fast...
And while I'm on Cleveland, I love the all Brown uniforms. Sweet.
You've seen of course all the players and officials wearing the pink gear. Always have to go to my Chris Berman throwback video for Breast Awareness Month.
Adam Levitan @adamlevitan was funny Sunday morning: "Bad timing with Jacoby Jones (knee, Sweet Pea) nearing health. "
Andrew Siciliano with some crazy trivia Sunday morning: "The last time the Lions won at Lambeau, Erik Kramer was QB and Michael Jackson's Black or White was atop the charts."
NFL Network's Rich Eisen was rolling too. "Calvin Johnson is out, P. Diddy is doubtful."
ESPN's Chris Berman mentioned that President Bush sent a note of encouragement to the Houston Texans. Cris Carter then went into, "I called up my boy Obama…"
I get it. But that's kind of lame I think.
ESPN ran a super cool feature on former Saints Special Teams hero, Steve Gleason and his battle with ALS. Gleason is a huge Pearl Jam fan and the band has connected with him.
Gleason blocking the Atlanta punt in the first game back in the Superdome after Katrina is still one of my all time highlights for watching football.
Gleason actually interviewed Eddie Vedder for the segment using the mechanical voice thing he's forced to use as he's unable to speak normally. Gleason is leaving video journals for his young son and he asked Vedder a thoughtful question about how the singer felt about not knowing his own father.
Vedder gave a fantastic answer and emotional answer.
And then deadpanned, "Steve Gleason, sitting in for Barbara Walters this week…"
Good stuff.
Note to defensive coordinators. It might be a good idea to put an extra guy on Jimmy Graham. I'm just saying...
The big knock on Seattle QB Russell Wilson was he's too short. Wilson had a ball tipped at the line at the line of scrimmage Sunday. The first one all year.
Glitch in the Matrix - think Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson were pretty evenly matched Sunday?
Thanks to Footballguy Jeremy Johnson for that one.
Somehow Andy Reid STILL has as many wins as the NFC East. Thanks to Footballguy Dustin Herrod for that one.
Tying the Commercial Of The Week from Mountain Dew with Music Note of the Week.
The band is The Crash Kings.
You can hear a little bit of Jack White in them but they're interesting to me in that they choose to go with no guitar. It's an interesting sound.
The song from the Mountain Dew commercial is Hot Fire. You may have heard Mountain Man and here's a pretty fun version of them covering Black Sabbath's War Pigs which is pretty crazy with no guitar.
Raiders running back Darren McFadden missed his 24th game. Twenty Four games. Lots and lots of NFL players don't have a career that lasts 24 games.
Thanks to Footballguy Alex Dowell for that one.
If I were a High School science teacher I'd use this video from Sunday to demonstrate physics and mass and inertia and force.
Seattle punter Jon Ryan isn't a small guy at 217 pounds. But Colts linebacker Mario Harvey weighs in at 264. With significantly more force.
Here's another as Cowboys RB DeMarco Murray ricochets back from the 'immovable force" that is his offensive lineman.
Hats off to the ground crews in Oakland who took the Oakland A's stadium and turned it into the Oakland Raiders stadium in about 20 hours. Here's a great time lapse video of how they did it.
Last week, I gave you happy Tom Brady.
This week. Not so much.
On the other hand, Eli Manning For Week 4
Looked pretty much like Eli Manning for Week 5…
But no quarterback gave us a gif that summed up his day better than Cam Newton.
How open was Peyton Manning on the naked bootleg touchdown?
So open that Peyton Manning could score on the naked bootleg touchdown.
I'd been missing Jerry Jones lately as he'd not been giving us much to work with.
Sunday, the JER was BACK.
And we were all better for it.
Nobody does the Bro Hug Double Fist Pump celebration like the Jones gang.
For the Non Football Note of the week (as if this column is really ever ON Football that much) we focus on the Olympics.
Much was made this week of the Olympic Flame arriving in Moscow.
The Flame had it's own seat on the plane:
The Flame received a Military Welcome at the airport.
Vladimir Putin showed up and made a speech welcoming the Flame.
The Flame was then escorted through Red Square toward the Kremlin.
And then things took a turn for the worse...
I'd love to have a breakdown of all the different "Social Media Experts" that are running the accounts for NFL teams. The buzz is already starting for the Denver - Jacksonville game with the Broncos talking.
Jacksonville responded with:
That should have been enough. Somebody should have told the Denver guy to dial the tool factor down. Not surprisingly with today's social media, that didn't happen.
Nobody, including me, expects the Jaguars to stay within a few touchdowns of Denver. But after this, I can't think of an upset I'd rather see.
Thanks to Footballguy Keith Overton for that one.
More social media geniuses.
Philadelphia's LeSean McCoy is evidently not a fan of Knowshon Moreno.
I'm not sure what's funnier. McCoys fascination with Moreno or the fact that he's following Skip Bayless.
Oh Shady….
Remember the old days when Monte Kiffin was a defensive guru?
More amazing physics stuff.
San Diego's offensive tackle D.J. Fluker threw 245 pound Sio Moore of the Raiders around Sunday night.
The rookie Moore is thinking he never saw that at Connecticut…
The referee sounded unamused announcing the penalty as “Unnecessary roughness, number 76 on the offense, with his body slam.”
Twenty-four quarterbacks scored more points than Tom Brady in Week 5. Including two Jacksonville Jaguars quarterbacks.
Let that sink in.
To be fair, the conditions in Cincinnati were less than ideal. Especially as the Patriots were trying to close the gap at the end of the game.
I bet the sun would have been shining if Tim Tebow were still a Patriot…
Chip Kelly is now the most tenured head coach in Philadelphia. I'll hang up and listen.
Philadelphia's DeSean Jackson had something for Victor Cruz Sunday.
Giants fans were not amused.
Big news Tuesday as Nike announced they were introducing new uniforms for the Pro Bowl.
This changes EVERYTHING.
If they want to recycle Oregon uniforms for the Pro Bowl. That's awesome. But the uniforms aren't the problem. Call me crazy, but I think the fact they play at 25% effort and speed is a bigger issue…
If David Wilson was as good at running back as he is back flips, things would be a lot different for Fantasy owners.
Best Doctor's Note Ever?
I think so.
NOW, this government shutdown business is going too far…
I'm not sure I want to live in a world where Ryan Fitzpatrick does the Superman. I'm with my buddy Matt Cox on this one - that move is officially over now.
The Sports Science features are usually good. Dez Bryant was incredible Sunday turning and catching balls from the Jugs Machine at nearly point blank range.
ESPN's Keyshawn Johnson did something similar but without the turn. He tried to set up right in front of the machine and Cris Carter wouldn't let him saying, "I'm going to save your television career."
A little later, Key rocked some new kicks on the set.
Few people can pull off the bow tie. Shannon Sharpe is not one of those people.
San Francisco's Mike Iupati with a sweet Breast Cancer Awareness tribute:
One more on Jerry Jones. Dude's a zillionaire. And still rocks a flip phone. Love it.
I'm not the biggest Clay Mathews fan. But the guy killed it with the Fathead Wisconsin handyman ads.
One of my favorite parts of the Monday Night game was watching how excited backup QB Mark Sanchez was to see Geno Smith play well and for the team to win. Classy move.
Hard Luck Awards for Week 5
And the Nullified Scores
JAC WR/PR Ace Sanders punt return Touchdown for 88 yards NULLIFIED by Penalty
JAC K Josh Scobee 23 yard field goal NULLIFIED by Penalty
OAK QB Terrell Pryor pass deep right to Denarius Moore for 33 yards, TOUCHDOWN NULLIFIED by Penalty.
CAR K Graham Gano 41 yard field goal NULLIFIED by Penalty
SD QB Philip Rivers pass deep right to WR Vincent Brown for 30 yards, 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, Dustin Herrod, Matt Cox, Keith Overton, Alex Dowell 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.
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.
