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 Random Shots and it's 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 some value for you.
We'll see. Now let's get to it.
J
The Cardinals record this year isn't what they'd hoped for.
But their pre game work has been Super Bowl caliber.
This week's Bucket Challenge loser Zac Dysert rocked the Big Baby outfit.
Ever wondered why Steelers LB James Harrison always wears sweats when he works out? Maurkice Pouncey has the answer...
That's Old Skool.
Miami WR Jarvis Landry is a high energy guy. Some complain he's too emotional and don't like his sideline behavior where he sometimes vents his frustration. But be careful before judging too quickly. Landry chose Cystic Fibrosis as his "cause" with his cleats this week and couldn't have been more cool with Sean Dugan here who's battling the disease.
Instead of the young man asking for something from Landry, he gave the WR his own jersey which Landry asked him to sign. That's rad.
Another game, another Justin Tucker "Are you not entertained?" pose.
Again, I don't hate kickers. And I won't argue Tucker's the best kicker going right now. But Gladiator and NFL Kicker don't belong in the same thought. If you need convincing, here's a reminder of the scene. Obviously, it's Gladiator. Audience discretion is advised.
Tucker's celebration feels more like...
At least Pat McAfee knows he's being funny. I think Tucker is serious.
But neither are as fun as Marquette King.
Thanks to Footballguy Jake Bryant for that one.
High School Football Note Of The Week comes from Del Oro High in California. Combining a trick play two point conversion with the Mannequin Challenge.
Mike Tomlin: Here you go.
If Will Ferrell and Popeye and Terry Bradshaw ever had a child...
Going to the top for this week's Music Note. Seth and Scott Avett of the Avett Brothers are my two favorite musicians. "In The Curve" is my favorite Avett Brothers song and this is my favorite recording of it. And not just because it's from my hometown of Knoxville. The audio quality isn't the greatest and you may or may not like the girl harmonizing (I like it) but I think this captures them well. From the sincerity to the rawness to Seth showing appreciation to the audience working Knoxville into the song. (He does this for each city they play.) Plus it has one of the greatest lines ever with "I'm loose but my steering wheel's tight".
You can see much more polished versions of the song here and here with the whole band. Rock on Avett Brothers.
And thanks to Footballguy Bob Harris for stoking the flame on this one.
Denver QB Trevor Siemian may not be doing everything right as he follows Peyton Manning.
But he nailed this.
Favorite Fan of the Week goes to this Matt Patricia Look Alike.
That's awesome.
If you grew up loving 80's movies, you're probably digging the Record Scratch, Freeze Frame, "You're probably wondering how I ended up here" memes.
Here's one from Sunday.
They're not football, but more fun here.
Dez Bryant with the snowcone catch Thursday night.
Which gives me a chance to re-post one of my favorite baseball pictures.
I've been talking up artist Kickasso like Picasso with the custom cleats. Sunday he made it onto ESPN Sunday Countdown with all the players sporting custom cleats.
I'm not certain, but I think this might be the first Megadeth sighting on Sunday Countdown.
Awesome.
Thanks to Footballguy Clayton Gray for that one.
Chicago rookie WR Daniel Braverman is 5'10 and weighs 185.
In the good news department, he got into his first game Sunday.
On the bad news side, he drew the job of blocking eleven year veteran linebacker Ahmad Brooks at 6'3" and 259 pounds.
Things went about as well as could be expected.
Texans TE Ryan Griffin with a rare Lambeau Leap for the visiting team Sunday.
Good to know we can count on the same inappropriate fan touching though.
Bills fans are hardcore.
But I'm not sure they were ready for the Raiders.
I'm not sure anyone is ready for the Raiders.
Can we say the Lions are for real?
Although I can't shake the feeling they're going to turn into Lucy on us...
She's already wearing the right color...
Cricket Note Of The Week. Sweet grab by this guy.
We're headed into Week 14 and only guys named Aaron have scored rushing touchdowns for Green Bay.
Yeah, I saw that coming.
The full list for anyone keeping score at home.
This is how things have been going for the Rams.
Sometimes, this is all you can do.
You can tell Fisher's laughing and covering his smile with the play card but he's also embarrassed knowing this will be shown repeatedly on shows and goofy columns like this. At that point, the right move is exactly how he played it here. Smile, own it and then move on.
Seen Sunday.
That might be the saddest thing I've seen today. I'd take Brady over Manning but how much does Peyton have to be in this dude's head for him to make a jersey?
Stuart Smalley would be proud.
More Jeff Fisher. He's a regular here on Random Shots so selfishly, I love the guy.
The extension talk was fun.
And the stuff with July 9th as Jeff Fisher day never gets old.
But Sunday, FOX ran a graphic comparing Fisher to Bill Belichick.
Naturally, the football world exploded with adjectives like "EPIC" or "BRUTAL" or "DESTROYED". Because, you know, that's what we do.
You know who wasn't saying a word? The other 30 NFL head coaches who have less than zero interest in comparing records with Bill Belichick.
22 years as an NFL Head Coach? That's pretty awesome. Rock on, Coach.
Football is hard. It's ok to pat yourself on the back every once in a while.
Well done, Golden Tate.
If this football thing doesn't work out, Rex Ryan could have a career as the subject for "Lip Reading For Beginners"
Not a lot left to the imagination there.
Scott Sabol is a Meteorologist for FOX8 in Cleveland.
Sabol pledged to grow his beard until the Browns won a game. Here's where we are.
The good news for him is he clearly stated from the beginning that he'd shave when the Browns won or when the season ended. Thanks to SBNation for that one.
My favorite part of the College Football Playoff announcement was how nervous Nick Saban seemed to be...
More College Football news.
2016 has been the year of T-Rex. His latest appearance was on the field after Western Kentucky won the Conference USA title.
It was a good run Titans Fans, but your season is over.
Tennessee fans everywhere responded:
I made fun a little of the folks ready to fit Carson Wentz for a gold jacket in September. But now it seems the pendulum's swinging too far the other way with articles calling him "Quietly Terrible".
When Dorian Green-Beckham and Nelson Agholor are your best wide receivers, anything better than "terrible" is pretty good.
When you miss the Fantasy Playoffs because your opponent had Dwayne Allen...
Thanks to @ESPNNFL for that one.
Although the "Let's Not Have Anyone Cover The TE" defense from the Jets was helpful.
Sadly, the best part of the Jets game was easily Kevin Harlan's call of the two guys taken down on the field.
Click here or on the arrow in the black box below for some video but mostly the audio.
One of my favorite things about sports are the goofy "homer" bets fans make with each other. Some variant of the loser wearing the winner's gear is usually involved.
Friends Dwayne Wade and LeBron James made such a bet on the Chicago - Cleveland World Series.
James paid off this week wearing a Cubs uniform.
One more reason to be careful on Twitter.
Benson Mayowa posted this after the Cowboy game:
"Seahawks Fan 81" felt compelled to respond with:
Seahawks Fan 81's problem was Benson Mayowa is Dallas Cowboys defensive end Benson Mayowa.
Mayowa let him off pretty easy.
Goofiest video of the week is Dontrelle Inman's magic helmet twist.
Inman was fine afterward but that was weird.
Ted Ginn Jr Jr. makes a lot of money. Ted Ginn Jr Jr. earns a lot of money.
Good grief.
Speaking of Ginn, he illustrated a Footballguys Rule Of Thumb.
On a deep route take a #19 covered by a #54. Every Time.
Wrapping with this one.
The last time Eric Berry was in Atlanta, he was there for Chemotherapy. Be it physically returning or returning interceptions for touchdowns then handing the ball to your mom, I'm not sure things get much better than this.
Hang in there. Times didn't always look this great for Berry. Fight on and stay in the game.
That'll do it for this week, Folks. Thanks to Footballguys Doug Drinen, Clayton Gray, Bob Harris, Jake Bryant and Keith Overton 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.
Thanks for playing along. I hope you make the most of whatever you're doing in your life. Love your neighbor and stick together.
Peace and Grace to you.
J