I was sitting in a greasy spoon in downtown San Francisco last weekend, digging into my order of fish and chips, when I noticed a Dallas Cowboys-Denver Broncos game on the diner’s flat screen television.
As Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo jogged onto the field to take a few requisite snaps, my brain did a somersault. “Is it time for football already? “ I thought, perplexed. Then I thought, “Wait, why are these guys even playing?”
For a time, it looked like it would be an endless summer for the National Football League. However, despite a divisive battle between the players’ union and owners that became a protracted lockout, it’s back to business as usual. One of the issues owners and players locked horns on over the past six months was cutting the preseason down to two games, and adding two more regular season games. The players balked, as, for the most part, they take to the preseason like gun-shy Army privates, just hoping to make it through without suffering a major injury.
Don’t get me wrong; I love watching NFL football. These days, it’s probably the only televised sport I can sit through without napping midway, but even then, the hype over preseason evades me. Yes, football is back, but why anyone would want to pay a full ticket price to watch a team’s No. 1 quarterback and superstars play three series and hit the showers is unfathomable. And no, finding out whether or not a team’s seventh-round draft choice is actually going to make the team isn’t enough drama to keep me interested. Note to the NFL: Make the preseason games free to fans and treat them like the scrimmages they are, not as a way to squeeze out some extra revenue. Rant over.
So anyway, on July 25, the gods said let there be football, and after all the hoopla around the bargaining table finally died down, a bum rush of trades and free agent signings, which had been waiting in the wings for months, was unleashed in a torrent of shifting bodies.
The Philadelphia Eagles came out of the bonanza looking like the Showcase Showdown winners of the NFL, and, with maybe the exception of the defending champion Green Bay Packers, should be considered the front-runner in the NFC.
The Eagles scored a coup when they lured Pro Bowl cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha from the Oakland Raiders for $60 million, and followed that move up by trading for Arizona Cardinals’ standout cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. The newcomers join Pro Bowler Asante Samuel in the Eagles’ defensive backfield, creating a formidable trio for any quarterback to face.
Besides shoring up the defense, the Eagles also landed ex-Miami Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown and former Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young. Young will be the primary backup for Michael Vick, and as far as talent goes, the possibilities are limitless in the City of Brotherly Love. Will the new offensive weapons keep their heads together or implode like a star into a black hole? Stay tuned.
Replacing Brown in Miami is running back/jilted Kim Kardashian-lover Reggie Bush, who is taking his game to South Beach a la LeBron James. As a Dolphin, Bush will either prove to be the overrated player everybody thinks he is or flourish in new offensive coordinator Brian Daboll’s spread offense. My bet is on the latter, but Bush has disappointed his fans before. Remember the Weapons of Mass Destruction debacle? No, I’m thinking of a different guy.
In New Jersey, wide receiver Plaxico Burress is out of jail and ready to put his gun-toting escapades behind him, signing a one-year deal with the New York Jets in July. In joining recent Jets signee and former Pro Bowler Derrick Mason, and the brilliant-but-troubled Santonio Holmes in the receiving corps, the Jets look to have one of the league’s best passing attacks in 2011, if their egos can stay in check. The new guys are replacing Braylon Edwards and Jerricho Cotchery, and it remains to be seen how fast they can fill their fleet cleats.
Over the summer, the New England Patriots asked the question, “What’s a Haynesworth?” They apparently got their answer: a fifth round draft choice. That’s what the Pats gave up to acquire once-dominant defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth from the Washington Redskins, who have become the Bermuda Triangle for high-priced free agents. Ever the troublemaker, Haynesworth joins a revamped Pats roster including Pro Bowl defensive end Shaun Ellis (who hightailed it out of New Jersey in the offseason), and receiver Chad Ochocinco, who took his mouth—and his game—to Foxboro.
Though Ochocinco’s move does propel him from the wasteland of Cincinnati into the upper echelons in terms of media exposure, on the field, I don’t see this as being a good fit for either player or team. Regardless, the Patriots are still the cream of the crop in the AFC, and probably will remain there as long as Tom Brady is still tossing the pigskin. With Brady, it just doesn’t seem to matter who he has around him, as long as girlfriend Gisele is nowhere near the stadium on game day.
So who am I going to put my money down on to win the Super Bowl the next time I’m in Vegas? Well, I’m glad you asked. I’m going with consistency over new blood, familiarity over flavor of the week, and picking the Pittsburgh Steelers to return to their championship ways in 2012. They’re healthy, they’ve cast away their malcontents, and, with any luck, they’ve moved on from past drama. The Steelers may not be the sexiest of picks at this point, but in football, as in life, sometimes the best decision is to stand pat with what you’ve got.
But what do I know? I’m just a bum. And that’s my view from the bleachers.
The Bleacher Bum was locked out of his car for a while there. Contact him at jthomas@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Aug 18-25, 2011.