Category Archives: NFL

This week’s Sports Illustrated: Jim McMahon’s battle with dementia

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I was a young reporter for the Chicago Tribune in 1985 when my ship came in. I was assigned to join the great Don Pierson as the No. 2 beat guy for the Bears.

Talk about great timing. Covering one of the great teams of all time always will be the highlight of my career.

Jim McMahon was No. 1 on a team full of memorable characters. He was a jerk to the media, but it didn’t matter. Chicago loved him because he played fearless football.

McMahon often led with his head, as evidenced by this Sports Illustrated cover from Jan., 1986. And we loved the way he head-butted his teammates in repeated celebrations. What a wacky goof, we thought.

I couldn’t help but think of those head-butts when I saw the latest cover of SI. It turns out McMahon, only 53, has paid quite a price for sacrificing his body for football.

Here a preview of the piece from SI:

Too often forgotten in the NFL concussion debate are the wives and girlfriends who bear the burden of caring for the suffering players—and watching the men they love slip away. Three of these women, Laurie Navon (girlfriend of former QB Jim McMahon), Mary Lee Kocourek (wife of former TE Dave Kocourek) and Mary Ann Easterling (widow of former safety Ray Easterling) share their personal stories with staff writer Melissa Segura.

Navon met McMahon, who has early-onset dementia, at a golf outing seven years ago. But the man she knows now is not the charismatic, sweet, funny, confident man she met that day. She began to notice a difference in McMahon’s behavior in early 2007, and since tests confirmed his dementia, she has done everything to make adjustments in both their lives.

Navon and McMahon are confronting the disease at the beginning of its development, while Mary Lee and Dave Kocourek are suffering through its final stages. Dave was a four-time Pro Bowl tight end in the 1960s, and in 2002, at age 64, he learned he had dementia. It’s been a rough road since around ’05. Mary says,“When you see a man that was so big and so strong and so nice and gentle, and he doesn’t know the difference between a toothbrush and a razor. He could have cut his mouth wide-open. After [he] got progressively worse, I had to watch everything he did. I couldn’t let him take a shower or do any of the things you need to do every morning without me being there. I couldn’t chance it.”

 

 

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Is it possible to get too much of this NFL? Are you kidding? Finally, real games

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Remember that scene in The Grinch Who Stole Christmas where the people of Whoville stand around the tree and sing that song that I now can’t get out of my head?

That’s how I feel about the start of the NFL season.

Fah who for-aze! Fah who for-aze!

Welcome NFL, Welcome football,

Come this way! Come this way!

Ah yes, our fest begins tonight and doesn’t end until Super Sunday in February. Dallas at New York Giants on NBC and away we go.

Now more than ever before, we can’t get enough of this NFL. The networks keep feeding us more and more, as if that 48-ounce steak they once served now is a mere appetitzer.

Endless pregame shows, endless during-the-week shows on various networks, and a new slate of Thursday night games. Picture Homer Simpson sucking up a dump truck worth of doughnuts. That’s us.

“If the Cowboys play the Giants in a parking lot in March, it’s still going to be tremendous,” said NBC’s Al Michaels. “Football is king right now. The NFL is hotter than any sport than any time in the history of this country. I can’t wait to get started.”

Michaels’ partner, Cris Collinsworth, agreed.

“You can’t give people too much of it,” Collinsworth said. “Look at all the shows, look at all the websites. Look at all the radio shows. How much more people can take? As much as we want to give them they want more and more and more. I just think the interest is not waning at all no matter what happens.”

The NFL felt bullish enough to expand the Thursday night schedule on NFL Network from 8 to 13 games this year, beginning next week with Bears-Green Bay on Sept. 13.

Obviously, an extra primetime game means one less game for CBS and Fox Sports on Sunday afternoon. When you factor in bye weeks, I asked Fox Sports president Eric Shanks if he had any concerns about the inventory of good games being diminished.

Publically, the answer is no, although I’m sure Fox would have liked that Bears-Packers game.

“You can sit around and poke holes at what (NFL scheduling guru) Howard Katz and his guys do,” Shanks said. “But every year they put together a schedule that blows everyone away. It’s magic what they do. They’ve got it down to a science. It’s really hard to throw stones at the NFL right now.”

Nope, all you can do is sing its praises and ask the NFL to keep on feeding us more. And you know they will.

Fah who for-aze! Fah who for-aze!…

 

Doing both Live! and Fox NFL Sunday: Strahan will log plenty of air time between New York and LA

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Here’s hoping Michael Strahan can sleep on a plane, albeit a private plane.

Apparently, Strahan is going to remain on Fox NFL Sunday along with co-hosting Live! with Kelly Ripa. An official announcement is expected soon.

It is going to set up Strahan for a killer schedule since Live! is in New York and his NFL buddies do their show in Los Angeles.

So how is that going to work? Here’s a scenario:

Strahan does Live! on Friday and then hops in a plane to join the Fox crew in LA on Saturday. He does the Sunday thing, leaving after The OT postgame show. He flies all night and arrives in time to do the Monday show with Ripa.

Makes me tired just thinking about it.

Perhaps Strahan should angle for a trade to CBS. NFL Today originates out of New York.

 

 

 

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The beat: NFL pushes back doubleheader times; ESPN locks up Rose Bowl close to forever

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Just in:

The NFL announced today it will push back starting times for the Sunday doubleheaders games from 4:15 p.m. ET to 4:25 p.m. From the NFL:

The 4:25 PM ET kickoff time will reduce instances in which fans miss the end of a 1:00 PM ET game telecast because they must receive the opening kickoff of their home team’s late-afternoon game. In addition, fans not in the cities of the late doubleheader opponents will be less likely to miss the beginning of the late doubleheader game.

In researching the kickoff time shift, the NFL analyzed games from the 2009-11 seasons and found that 44 games required part of the audience to be switched to a mandatory doubleheader game kickoff. With a 4:25 PM ET kickoff time, that number that would have been reduced by 66 percent to only 15 games.

Approximately 40 games over the full 2012 season will be impacted by the 10-minute kickoff time shift – with half of those moves coming in games played in Mountain or Pacific time zones with 1:25 PM or 2:25 PM local starts.

The move makes sense. However, I doubt NBC was pleased. It will impact its Football Night in America show, which airs at 7 p.m. ET.

A doubleheader game that finishes 10 minutes later means fewer viewers for football night during that period.

*****

All roses for ESPN. The network signed a 12-year extension to air the Rose Bowl through 2026. Here’s the interesting part. From ESPN:

Whatever is determined to be the exact post-season bowl rotation as part of the future format, ESPN will have the rights to the Rose Bowl Game each year.

That means if the Rose Bowl winds up as one of the semifinal games, which is likely, ESPN will get that game. Seems like a good deal for ESPN.

 

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Back by unpopular demand: Pro Bowl returns for 2013

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This is your fault, people. If you didn’t watch the Pro Bowl, there wouldn’t be a Pro Bowl.

But football fans do tune in. That’s the main, and perhaps only, reason why the NFL just announced that yet another Pro Bowl will be played on Jan. 27 in Hawaii.

From the release:

The NFL’s All-Star Game will be played the week before the Super Bowl for the fourth consecutive year. The 2012 Pro Bowl on NBC was watched by an average of 12.5 million viewers, the second most-watched NFL All-Star game since 2001 behind 2011’s game (13.4 million viewers). The Pro Bowl was the most-watched all-star game in all of sports in the 2011 season.

Yes, higher ratings than the Mid-Summer Classic, supposedly the best All-Star game in all of sports. NBC, which will air the Pro Bowl, won’t mind pulling in 12-13 million viewers on a Sunday night in January.

And then there’s this quote.

“The players believe that the Pro Bowl is an important tradition,” said NFLPA President Domonique Foxworth. “We worked hard with the league to make sure the best players in the NFL are honored for their achievements on the field.”

Yes, nothing like the tradition of seeing players at 1/4 speed trying to avoid turf burns.

Supposedly, the Pro Bowl was on life support. Guess not.

Long live the Pro Bowl.

 

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Just in: Did Dolphins sign on for Hard Knocks to help sell tickets?

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Looks like the Miami Dolphins are going to use HBO to help sell some tickets.

HBO just announced that the Miami Dolphins will be the subject of this year’s Hard Knocks. Many other teams turned down the opportunity to have their training camp overrun with cameras.

So why did the Dolphins say yes? Here’s a possible reason.

Last year, they ranked 28th in attendance in the NFL, averaging 60,886 fans per game. The Dolphins played to 81 percent capacity at whatever name they are calling their stadium these days; only Cincinnati, at 75 percent, had a lower percentage.

With expectations low for 2012, the Dolphins could use some help selling tickets. Nothing like a five-week national showcase to aid the cause.

So, surprise, surprise new coach Joe Philbin is thrilled to have HBO record his first NFL training camp as head coach.

In a release, Philbin said:

We are excited that the premier company in sports filmmaking history, NFL FILMS, and HBO Sports have chosen the Miami Dolphins to appear on their award-winning series Hard Knocks,” said Joe Philbin, head coach of the Miami Dolphins.   “We are looking forward to connecting with our many fans across the country as the program chronicles our 2012 training camp.  The series will highlight the outstanding men who comprise our team and represent our organization admirably, both on and off the field, as they compete for a coveted position on our roster.

The Miami Dolphins have long been synonymous with success on the fieled as evidenced by our five Super Bowl appearances and the only perfect season in NFL history,” added Philbin.  “That heritage serves as a constant reminder to our players and staff of the great legacy that has been left for us to uphold.  Our team embraces that rich past and looks confidently to the future as we begin this journey back to the top of the NFL.

All the decisions that have been made this off-season have had one guiding principle — will it help our players and organization reach its full potential?  This one is no different.  We are convinced that our affiliation with NFL FILMS and HBO will allow football fans everywhere an opportunity to comprehend the significant sacrifices and demands that our players endure each day along their journey in training camp as a Miami Dolphin.  We eagerly await the opening of training camp on July 26 and the 2012 NFL regular season that lies ahead of us.”

Showtime dumps Sapp from Inside the NFL

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Troubles continue to mount for Warren Sapp.

The former Tampa Bay star will not be back on Showtime’s Inside the NFL in 2012. His contract wasn’t renewed, according to Will Brinson of CBSSports.com.

As for his future, Brinson reports:

Sapp’s name has been in the news a lot recently — on Twitter he accused Jeremy Shockey of being a “snitch” in the Saints bounty scandal. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell later refuted that claim (as did CBSSports.com’s Mike Freeman) and though the NFL Network said he “clearly crossed the line,” they did not fire him for his comments.
It is not yet known whether or not Sapp’s contract with the NFL Network will be renewed when it reportedly expires in August.

 

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A first for sports TV: NBC’s Sunday Night Football first in primetime

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This news is all you need to know about the power of sports on television these days:

With the conclusion of the 2011-12 television season this week, NBC’s Sunday Night Football topped all primetime entertainment programming to become the first sports series to finish the full fall-spring TV season as the most-watched show in primetime, according to The Nielsen Company.

Sunday Night Football averaged 21.5 million viewers and 20.9 million viewers for its games during the official TV season which ran from Sept. 19, 2011 through May 23, 2012. American Idol ranked second.  Sunday Night Football was also the top-ranked primetime program for the television season in household rating, and all key adult and male demographics.

Additional TV highlights from the 2011 NFL season:

  • Super Bowl XLVI on NBC was the most-watched program in U.S. television history.
  • The AFC and NFC Championship Games accounted for the most-watched Championship Sunday in 30 years.
  • Divisional Playoff weekend was the most watched ever, with Giants-Packers on FOX ranking as the most-watched Divisional Playoff game in history.
  • The Steelers-Broncos playoff game on CBS was the most-watched Wild Card game ever.
  • FOX posted its most-watched NFL season ever.
  • CBS posted its second-most watched NFL season since acquiring the AFC package.
  • ESPN’s Monday Night Football was the most-watched series on cable for the sixth consecutive year.
  • NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football posted its most-watched season ever.

 

Junior Seau on SI cover; examines his suicide

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Junior Seau is featured on the cover of this week’s Sports Illustrated. Sporting a big smile, he seemed so full of life in the picture.

The issue examines his tragic death. From the release:

Senior writer Jim Trotter (@SI_JimTrotter), who covered Seau and the Chargers as a beat reporter in the 1900s, spoke with close friends and former teammates about who Seau was on and off the field. Seau grew up in the Oceanside section of San Diego, played professionally for the Chargers for 13 seasons and lived in San Diego until his death. His loyalty for the community was evident in his foundation, which since 1992 has dispersed nearly $4 million to aid disadvantaged kids and young adults in San Diego County, through programs such as Gangbusters (page 38).

Said former Rams and Bears lineback Pisa Tinoisamoa, “That saved my life. It had people around me and help set me straight…. June [Seau] was behind that. I saw him on my birthday last July, and he came in playing his ukulele and singing Happy Birthday. I didn’t get to tell him personally what he meant to me, but he knew. He saw the success I had, and he was proud of me. Whenever I saw him, he would talk about how good I was. He was always positive. That’s why everyone loved him. They felt they were friends with June. He had that status about him, but to us he was just a man of the people.”

Seau led by example. He was the first to the practice facility in the morning and provided helpful advice for his teammates. Seau ignored pain and insisted that if you could walk, you could play.

Former teammate LaDainian Tomlinson said, “I feel awful that Junior didn’t feel he was close enough to anybody that he could say, ‘Look, something isn’t right.’ He didn’t feel there was anybody, and we all need someone we can go to and say, ‘There’s something going on with me.’ That’s the sad thing, but that’s who Junior was. He didn’t want us to know he was hurting on the field, so off the field he certainly wasn’t going to say anything.”

Senior writer Peter King reflects on a time when he watched Seau play a game in 2000 with a severely pulled hamstring. Because Seau’s pain threshold was high, King held Seau to a higher standard, something King would think twice about doing again.

Also in this week’s SI:

THE RUSSIAN QUESTION – MICHAEL FARBER

The 2012 NHL playoffs have been filled with intensity and excitement, but many of the biggest story lines have been about the missteps of players from the former Soviet bloc. The Predators’ Alexander Radulov and Andrei Kostitsyn missed a team curfew and were suspended for Game 3 and scratched for Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals. Alexander Ovechkin, a two-time Hart Trophy winner, has seen significantly less ice time in the playoffs. Ilya Bryzgalov, who signed a nine-year, $51 million contract with Philadelphia in the off-season, has been inconsistent for the Flyers (page 56).

There have been a few bright spots, but mainly, it’s been an uneasy postseason for Russian players. Some believe it could have an impact on the Edmonton Oilers, who have the first pick in this year’s NHL draft, and will likely choose Nail Yakupov. Terry Jones, a columnist for the Edmonton Star, tweeted last week, “The way the Russians are going in Stanley Cup playoffs, Oilers better give a real, real, real, real good hard think about Nail Yakupov, huh?”

WHERE DOES GREATNESS COME FROM? – CHRIS BALLARD (@SI_ChrisBallard)

You might assume that Kobe Bryant inherited his talent for basketball and his burning need for success from his father, former NBA and Italian league player Joe (Jellybean) Bryant. But Joe and Kobe are strikingly different, and while the son got some gifts from his father, he got his fire from an unexpected source, his mom.  When Kobe was 14 years old he tried to dunk on his mom in a backyard game, and she leveled him with a forearm. Kobe said, “She would drop you. Oh, yeah, she was rough. My mom’s the feisty one. She has that killer in her.”

Joe Bryant has been married to the same woman for 38 years, and has close relationships with his children and grandchildren. He travels around the world, immersing himself in new experiences, and is generally loved by the players he coaches. After playing for 10 pro teams in three countries over 18 years, he has coached in the WNBA, the ABA, Japan, Mexico, Italy and now in Bangkok. Joe may never be great, but he is happy. Kobe Bryant may never be happy, and perhaps that’s what makes him great (page 60).

 

SI’s Deitsch knocks Berman; examines Twitter in draft analysis

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Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch channeled his inner Peter King. He wrote a 4,000-plus word analysis of the networks’ coverage of the NFL draft.

Imagine if the draft was 17 rounds like it was in the good old days. He’d be the Leo Tolstoy of the NFL draft.

Deitsch started his treatise by dumping on ESPN’s Chris Berman:

The bellowing never stops. It pummels you over the head like a hard rain, and  it’s forever accompanied by outdated references (“Mel Kiper, to quote Stan  Laurel, ‘Here’s another mess you have gotten me into, Ollie.’ “) and long-winded  intros that last nearly as long as a Presidential campaign. Mostly, there is  Chris Berman simply talking and talking and talking.

It’s a shame, really, that Berman remains the ringmaster for ESPN during the  first two days of the NFL Draft, because the network has terrific draft assets  and a first-rate production.

Berman obviously is getting touchy by the criticism. Later, Deitsch detailed this weird exchange:

I think, during a discussion on Memphis nose tackle Dontari Poe prior to the  Chiefs selecting him at No. 11 overall, this exchange happened on ESPN:

Berman: “Maybe they are reading Edgar Allen Poe’s short stories. I  don’t know. There are some good ones, you know.

Gruden: He’s got a lot of Poe-tential

Berman: See, now if I had said that, I’d be ripped for about three  years. You can go with it. You are a rising star.

Gruden: I learn quick from you, Chris.

Why was the exchange particularly amusing? Because last week Berman told USA Today that he doesn’t pay attention to  criticism. Show me a person in sports television who doesn’t read stuff about  them and I’ll show you a Kardashian who can act.

Deitsch also got into the whole impact of Twitter on the draft coverage, with picks being tipped in advance by the networks’ reports. He had this passage:

I think it’s interesting that NFL Network executive producer Eric Weinberger  told La Canfora to back off tweeting picks during the draft. “Mike Lombardi and  Jason could have tweeted every pick Thursday night but they didn’t,” Weinberger  told SI.com in an interview Sunday. “We sort of unleashed Jason on Friday and he  was doing it, he was picking off picks on Twitter. And the reason we were able  to do it is the picks were coming in so fast that there were backups of three  picks at some times. So there was more time to get the information out  there.

“But after following him on Twitter and me watching the show, we told Jason  to pull back. And I don’t think at this juncture it’s as simple as saying,  ‘Don’t follow him on Twitter.’ It’s what people do. It’s hard to say turn your  tablet off. Everyone is watching TV with a tablet. We have to find ways to  continue to grow these sporting events and this is becoming an obvious one: The  viewer wants it to be a TV show and the way they like it now is they want to see  it on the podium.”