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Hi Folks,
We do a ton of insightful, thoughtful and serious features here at Footballguys with 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 manage. Here's hoping it has some value for you.
We'll see. Now let's get to it.
J
I've written here how much I respect the Patriots preparation and game readiness.
I apologize.
At least Bill Belichick saved the day in the post-game presser.
That's Gold, Jerry. Gold.
I could probably end this one right here and it would still be a top five Random Shots column.
One of the draws for College Football is the long-standing rivalries and traditions and pageantry. Few games have more of this than Army - Navy. They opened things Saturday with a combined choral rendition of the National Anthem. Sweet.
I've said before I'm not superstitious. However, I'm not stupid.
I'm not blaming anyone, but if I'm the Eagles, Kobe Bryant is DONE with the "motivational" messages...
Randy Moss' face when Charles Woodson said he didn't trash talk...
These two are fun together.
Hats off to Devin Hester who officially retired this week. Dude was a human cheat code. Especially in the old days at Miami.
We talked last week about Rex Ryan and his honest take on Geno Smith.
And how Smith took exception to Ryan's opinion:
"I did see one of my ex-coaches say he didn't want me to be his quarterback. That really upset me," Smith told reporters in Oakland. "I saved his job in 2013. We fought our ass off for him both years. For him to say that shows how much of a coward he is."
Then I said if not wanting Geno Smith as your QB makes one a coward, here's a look at most NFL fans...
You knew Rex Ryan wasn't going to let the "coward" shot go.
And you were right.
God Bless Bills Fans.
It does shed some light on the tailgating festivities.
The game was nuts though.
Baseball News. The Yankees made headlines obtaining slugger Giancarlo Stanton.
Boston responded with changes to Fenway Park.
That's pretty funny.
Adam Vinatieri just making sure everyone was paying attention on this 43-yard extra point.
Cam Newton is nasty.
He also might have a career in Soccer if this NFL thing runs out.
He's got a ways to go though...
Music Note Of The Week from long time favorite Jack White. This is a cool acoustic recording of Carolina Drama from the Raconteurs. Few artists tell stories in songs like Jack White.
Brent Celek honoring a fan who lost his leg serving in Afghanistan.
I know lots of you guys are excited about Star Wars this week.
Fun fact from USA Today: "The Cowboys wore white uniform pants with their standard navy road jersey for the first time in club history Sunday."
Because I know you guys need to know that kind of stuff.
Welcome back, Josh Gordon. The fact he's jumped back in and playing at this level after such a long time off is kind of ridiculous.
When defensive backs have nightmares, they look like this...
Everyone loves to talk about Marshawn Lynch "Running through tackler's mother####### face". Derrick Johnson had a physics lesson for Lynch.
Russell Wilson owners know...
James Harrison with his Ryan Shazier tribute Sunday night warming up shirtless as Shazier often did in Heinz Field.
As the Steelers took the field, Harrison led the team with an emotional "We Ride For 5-0".
That's about as close to a movie as real life gets.
On a side note, the Steelers Sunday night helped me clarify why I hated the Oklahoma "tribute" for "fallen" QB Baker Mayfield last month. The OU players solemnly carried his jersey to midfield for the coin toss while a sniffling Mayfield stood on the sidelines suffering the punishment of missing a series.
Cleveland's Hue Jackson has never won a game on Sunday as the Browns coach. Or Thursday. Or Monday. His one Browns win was last year on Saturday, December 24.
God Bless you Browns fans.
Thanks to Footballguy and faithful Browns fan Devin Knotts for that one.
My Sunday Morning:
Internet: "It's snowing in Buffalo! LeSean McCoy won't do anything today!"
Me: "You people freak out and overreact to weather".
Internet: "OMG! Look at that snow!!!"
Me: "OK. You're right. This is a blizzard and that's different than just snow. McCoy's in trouble."
Me two hours later: "You people freak out and overreact to weather".
Consistency is a challenge. I struggle with it too.
Interesting example this week from ESPN and College Football.
This.
Then.
This.
Then.
To be fair, after being called out for this, Herbstreit apologized. But it's a good example of how it's easy to get off track. If you guys see me doing this, don't hesitate to let me know.
Thanks to @rogerbadell1 for the images.
Golden Tate verbalizing what every Fantasy GM facing Antonio Brown was thinking...
We all saw the Michael Bennett thing Sunday.
I did love seeing rookie running back Leonard Fournette defending his lineman.
Then, of course, the ugliness afterward with the idiocy of fans throwing things at Seattle's Quinton Jefferson who then tried to climb into the stands.
Jefferson said later per USAToday, "I'm not going to let somebody disrespect me, throw a beer on me," Jefferson said. "Just because I'm playing football, I'm still a human being. I'm still a man."
Cleveland's Joe Thomas was having none of it.
Michael Bennett was asked about the cheap shot.
Revenge is sweet as Jaguars fans enjoyed the last laugh.
This quote from Michael Bennett from the spring was shared a zillion times this week.
Bennett in March of this year, talking about the rule change to limit players from diving over the line to block extra points:
"Most of the NFL games are decided by one point, unless you’re playing the Jaguars or something, then it’s decided by 50. So it’s one of those things. The one point, blocking that, it makes a big difference."
Nice.
Footballguy!
Thanks to Footballguy Phil Alexander for that one.
Wrapping with this one as I know you guys are into Star Wars. And I'm assuming you're into Football. Here's a merging of the two with Nick Foles and the Last Jedi. Don't worry - no spoilers.
That'll do it for this week, Folks. Thanks to Footballguys Doug Drinen, Clayton Gray, Keith Overton, David Dodds, Devin Knotts and Phil Alexander 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 while you love your neighbor and stick together. And may you find someone who hugs you like Aaron Rodgers hugged Aaron Jones.
Peace and Grace to you.
J
