Grandma’s 91st birthday was celebrated with pizza, cupcakes, Coca-Cola, and her staying up until 10:30 p.m. – which is waaaaaay past her normal bed time. Good for her! She’s earned it!
This is really wild if you sit down and think about it:
Two things come to mind when thinking about Mitch Trubisky in this light. The first is that the Bears must really like his talent, athleticism, build, and upside. Obviously, they do because otherwise they would have gone in a different direction with their pick. But with limited tape, a player has to stand out for so many different reasons to merit being drafted where Trubisky was back in 2017. Trubisky must have really knocked it out of the park in every other facet of the evaluation process.
The other thought that dances in my head is how imperfect the quarterback evaluation is at the college level. One of the big knocks on Trubisky coming out of UNC was that he didn’t beat Marquiese Williams out for the job prior to that when he had a chance. But what we don’t often think about is how college coaches aren’t coaching to develop NFL talent, they’re coaching to win games now and secure their job long term. Knowing what we know about how conservative most football coaches are, it should come as no surprise that this was the case because it’s been going on in college football for as long as I can remember.
I was watching the NFL’s Mic’d Up year in review for the 2018-19 season that had been sitting in my DVR for a few days and noticed they caught a brief post-game conversation between Trubisky and Tom Brady. There wasn’t much to take from it other than Brady wishing Trubisky luck and to keep up the good work. But if there is any quarterback Trubisky should try to emulate, it’s Brady (and not for the obvious reasons, either). Think back to Brady’s college career where he was spent two years as a backup to Brian Griese, was put in a quarterbacking platoon with uber-prospect Drew Henson, but eventually emerged as The Guy in Ann Arbor. Brady’s story is one of perseverance, which is something Trubisky should be able to relate to if you think of his own path.
I’m not saying the Bears should sign any kicker from the Alliance of American Football just because he made an attempt. But I am saying that if the Bears’ search for a Cody Parkey replacement doesn’t touch all corners, then they’re doing it wrong.
Nick Novak went 4-for-4 on his tries for the Birmingham Iron on Sunday. He didn’t kick anywhere in 2018, but had a five-season stretch in which he made 87.6 percent of his attempts from 2012-16. Maybe he isn’t the answer, but you’ll never know if you don’t give him a workout.
While quarterback play and offensive firepower was mostly lacking in the AAF’s debut weekend, I feel strongly that someone is going to kick their way into the NFL because of the opportunity this developmental league has provided.
Hoping some of these AAF innovations make their way to the NFL in some capacity:
How can we get Steve Spurrier mic’d up for NFL action?
https://twitter.com/CBSSports/status/1094430584263319553
For those of you who care about television ratings, Jay Rigdon of AwfulAnnouncing.com notes the league made a strong debut in that area – but perhaps it’s too soon to pull strong conclusions from a weekend of games. You had to figure passionate football fans would be drawn into the AAF because of the shiny new toy factor or because of the lingering Super Bowl buzz. And maybe that helped boost the ratings higher than what might have otherwise been expected. We’ll see how things look next week and down the road.
Ah, yes. The XFL as a cautionary tale:
Lost in the shuffle of Super Bowl week was this from Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times, who shared the story of the journey of Walter Payton’s Super Bowl ring. I love tales of things that were lost, but then found.
I’m loving some of the unpacking and behind-the-scenes glances of the NFL’s 100th anniversary Super Bowl commercial.
Over at the Washington Post, long-time NFL guru John Clayton writes an offseason prediction piece that has me geared up for the league’s new year. Meanwhile, ESPN’s Bill Barnwell offers up the ripple effect that could happen with certain decisions that could very well dictate what happens the rest of the offseason. Down the rabbit hole we go!
Some birthday love for the long snapper:
https://twitter.com/ChicagoBears/status/1094966789853843462
The only time a long-snapper gets any recognition is when a snap on a punt, extra-point attempt, or field goal try gets botched. So while things haven’t gone totally smoothly at that position since Patrick Mannelly retired, it’s worth throwing out there that Scales has been pretty good in that role and deserves a tip of the cap. Happy birthday, #48.
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