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
What Russell Wilson appeared to be doing Thursday night:
What he really was doing:
On a serious note, Russell Wilson and Tyler Lockett are already awesome. But together they are ridiculous.
This statistic is nuts.
With DK Metcalf and Lockett both scoring first-half touchdowns, I was reminded of this picture from the summer. People went nuts over the "giant" Metcalf and the "tiny" Lockett.
Using that logic, I couldn't believe nobody was talking about how tiny the people in the stands are....
You didn't think I was going to stay serious there did you?
C'mon.
This official played it cool.
This reminds me of a story where a friend of mine went to an Appalachian Craft Fair type thing. There were a ton of booths set up with lots of displays and demonstrations. How they ground corn to cornmeal and how they kept bees for honey and such. One older man had a display set up with a still for making moonshine. The man looked and sounded the part with a long white beard and overalls and a gravelly drawl.
As he talked about how the still worked, it became pretty evident this guy knew a LOT about making and selling illegal moonshine.
A kid raised his hand and asked the question everyone was thinking, "Mister, how do you know so much about making moonshine?"
The Old Timer didn't bat an eye and said, "Son, it come to me in a dream..."
College Football Note. I live in Knoxville, Tennessee and the UT Football Team (yes the real UT, Gig Em) is not good this year. We're all kind of bummed about it but we accept reality.
But ESPN, this was just mean...
Thanks to Footballguy Clayton Gray for that one.
Finally a break in the Dallas case...
Oddly enough, it's a couple years old.
Hat Tip: Happy Gilmore
Interesting note from Axios before the games last week:
"On Sunday, the NFL will play its 25th regular-season game in London. And for the 25th straight time, the game will not feature 2 winning teams (3-1 Bears vs. 2-2 Raiders).
"Think about that: The NFL has been going to London since 2007 — the same year that the first iPhone debuted and "Superbad" came out — and they have yet to organize a single football game between 2 teams with winning records.
"In part that's because the NFL has tended to send teams to London that struggle to fill their home stadiums, and those tend to be the worse teams in the league," writes PFT's Michael David Smith.
"But it's also just been bad luck some years, with games that looked good on paper when the schedule came out becoming stinkers by the time the teams took the field."
The bottom line: Whatever the case, it's an absurd streak, and unless the Panthers (2-2) and Buccaneers (2-2) both win on Sunday, it will climb to 26 when they meet across the pond in 2 weeks.
Because I know you guys need to know this kind of thing.
The position of NFL Starting Quarterback continues to be difficult to fill.
Partly, because it's a tough job.
Hat Tip: Memes Of The NFL
When I tell people "I hope the bounces go your way", this is what I'm talking about.
Josh McCown wasn't taking any chances...
Thanks to Footballguy Keith Overton for that one.
Drew Brees may be on the sideline for now, but he's still fired up.
If I'm Sean Payton, I'm putting a giant glove over Brees' injured hand if he does this again.
How about those Raiders?
Is Vontaze Burfict Addition by Subtraction?
You tell me.
Darren Fells "Little Brothered" him here.
Leonard Fournette. We have questions.
If I ever hit writer's block for Random Shots, I could just do a montage of Philip Rivers faces.
Patrick Mahomes II rocking the sweet Satchel Paige before losing to Indianapolis throws a major wrench in my "Predict a player based on their pregame outfit" theory.
Another mark against my theory. If pre-game outfits mattered, Amari Cooper would've scored 8 touchdowns Sunday...
I remember thinking this summer how I bet Jon Gruden thinks he's made a mistake giving up the nice TV job and going back to coaching.
Watching stuff like this, I think I was wrong.
This guy is a Football Coach. Doing what he loves most.
Good for him.
Sorry. I know this has been a lot of Aaron Rodgers but he's one of my favorite players and the Cowboy stuff is too good.
Hat Tip: Memes Of The NFL
God Bless Mike Tomlin.
I love Patrick Mahomes II as much as the next guy. But Cris Collinsworth was tough to listen to Sunday night.
More Mahomes.
I know he wasn't his normal self Sunday night. But this seems excessive.
Thanks to Footballguy Paul Schned for the help with that one.
Live look into Cowboys Headquarters...
I know he's not producing to match his draft spot. But I love JuJu Smith-Schuster.
This clip is one of those "so loaded" videos.
Smith-Schuster racing to his friend and seemingly shocked to see him down like this.
An 11-year vet in Ramon Foster clearly rattled while 10-year veteran center Maurkice Pouncey plays the older brother/dad trying to hold them together.
Oh Man.
Music Note of the week.
Old Crow Medicine Show's Wagon Wheel is maybe the most covered song I see regularly. And I'm ok with that. It's one of those communal anthems where most all the crowd sings loud and nobody minds. That kind of connection is one of the many things I love about music.
I still contend playing NFL Quarterback is the toughest job in sports.
But videos like this showing how a major league pitcher can put the baseball in such different places all from a similar release point make me stick to thinking hitting a major league baseball may be the most difficult task in sports.
Thanks to Footballguy Clayton Gray for the help with that one.
I just can't quit the Aaron Rodgers conehead.
I posted this a couple of weeks ago:
Then last week, Footballguy David Flinn sent me this.
Now Footballguy Brian Sumner sent me this from Spaceballs.
Video here if you're into Spaceballs.
Apple with the best $5,000 spent for advertising ever...
Fortunately, the real game for Nugent was better than the pre-game. But the pre-game was shaky.
Futbolguys Note.
If one bicycle kick is good, the double bicycle kick must be great.
Indianapolis guard Quenton Nelson is amazing. He's a big part of their offense.
He also wears #56 like he did at Notre Dame. But unlike college, the NFL has a strict guideline for what players can wear for jersey numbers and 56 is a number usually reserved for centers according to the NFL rules.
A little digging and I found the team lists him as a center/guard.
Bigger question is why do I notice these things?
Lamar Jackson accidentally ran over camerawoman Shelly Lipton Sunday and then helped her back to her feet.
But not before Lipton snapped this amazing photograph.
Wow.
Two thoughts.
1. If you're attending a game, don't be an idiot and run onto the field.
2. If you're an elite athlete like Cyrus Habibi-Likio wearing full pads and gear, don't blindside the guy in the back at full speed.
I get consequences and personal responsibility and all that. But that's bush league.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I offer you "Roughing The Passer In 2019".
And
Cam Newton Sighting! I miss Cam.
Gardner Minshew looking like the FBI agent...
Aaron Jones had better wear this every Sunday.
Colts social media is savage.
Dawson Knox with the dumbest/most awesome thing I saw Sunday.
Until I saw this...
God Bless Bills Fans.
Booger McFarland parlayed an excellent football career into a broadcasting career. But I'm afraid his days as a hand model are over.
Thanks to Footballguy Aaron Haslinger for the help with that one.
Have I told you how much I love Mike Tomlin?
With Jay Gruden's firing in Washington, Tomlin's name was mentioned as a possible replacement.
Reporters asked him about it.
Wrapping with this one.
Ellen DeGeneres and President Bush made a few waves this weekend as they were both guests at the Cowboys game.
The camera caught a glimpse of them seemingly having a nice time watching the game.
Predictably, the Internet reacted with lots of "huh".
There were a few takes I loved. Like Mindy Furano's
"Bush: Who ya textin’, Rosie O’Donnell?
"Ellen: Is that a gay joke or something?
"Bush: Man, I do love Baseball"
My take was more "It feels like a long time ago when it seemed like we got along better..."
Sadly, DeGeneres received pushback for sitting next to Bush and I think she handled it perfectly.
It's ok to be friends and to be kind to people we disagree with.
That's good advice for all of us. Now, more than ever.
Thanks to Footballguys Keith Overton, Clayton Gray, David Dodds, Bob Henry, Brian Sumner, Aaron Haslinger and Paul Schned for the help on this one. If you've got a Random Shot of your own, send me an e-mail at bryant@footballguys.com.
Thanks for playing along and 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