Random Shots From Week 16

Joe Bryant's Random Shots From Week 16 Joe Bryant Published 12/29/2021

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 brain 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.

J

We lost a legend on Tuesday with John Madden. I think one can make the case no other person has made a more positive impact on this game we love than John Madden.

Well done, Coach.

You will be missed.

Boom. Let's Go.

It's college football bowl season. So we get this.

Clemson's Dabo Swinney and Iowa State football head coach Matt Campbell.

The Internet approved.

It's late in the season and old quarterbacks are dusting off the workout gear. Matt Flynn speaking truth.

I'm not overly superstitious. But if I'm an NFL GM looking for my next QB, I keep driving right on past South Bend...

Thanks to Footballguy Devin Knotts for that one.

Live from Santa Clara...

As if we needed more reasons to like Buffalo WR Isaiah McKenzie. Here's a classic Christmas Eve story from TheAthletic:

"For the trip to New England, McKenzie had to take his 5-month-old pit bull, Papi, to the boarder. He hoped to grab a burger at Forty Thieves Kitchen & Bar while he was out.

Bummed to discover the restaurant was closed, he posted an Instagram plea at 8:43 p.m.

“Anybody got food at they house? Cause I’m hungry!”

Chris Uba invited McKenzie to join their family gathering in the Park Meadow neighborhood in North Buffalo.

“I responded to it almost as a joke, with my uncle’s address,” Uba said. “I DM Josh Allen once a week and get no answer, so I thought there was no way he would see it.”

McKenzie replied, “Say no more.”

In less than 15 minutes, McKenzie pulled up in his Mercedes SUV.

...

McKenzie walked into a traditional Polish holiday party. The family of 16 already had eaten, but plenty of pierogi, tenderloin and a certain other family dish remained. They seated McKenzie at the head of the table and brought him plates.

“It was like I was a family member, an uncle or something,” McKenzie said. “It felt good, being there at their dinner table. I got to watch them open gifts.

“It was awesome to be around people who just want to hang out, be normal and enjoy Christmas Eve instead of sitting alone.”

...

“Such a nice man,” said Garrett Timms, Uba's uncle, and a St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute grad. “He was talking away. He just fit right in.”

McKenzie was asked for a single autograph. Nobody pestered him for photos.

McKenzie found the Polish fare slightly peculiar, struggling a couple of days later to remember what everything was called or how to pronounce it.

...


“The poor guy had nowhere to go and was looking for something to eat on Christmas Eve,” Uba said. “We would have been ecstatic if he had just acknowledged the offer, but the fact he came over was just awesome.

“We hope he had a nice time because it made our Christmas.”

McKenzie glowed as he reflected on a special weekend.

“Everything fell into place,” McKenzie said. “I got some food. I got to make some people happy on Friday. On Christmas, I got to ease my mind for Sunday and make a lot more people happy to come out with the win.

“I felt like that was a pretty successful weekend.”

As they say, "That's so Buffalo".

Thanks to Footballguy Aaron Rudnicki for that one.

Cordarrelle Patterson saves the day.

Thanks to Footballguy Keith Overton for that one.

Stefon Diggs played Rock, Paper, Scissors with fans and then stuck to his word coming back to sign the jerseys after the game.

During the game, he didn't make many friends with Patriot fans though...

NBA Note for the week.

Thanks to Footballguy Clayton Gray for that one.

2021 needed this.

His teammates are into it too.

Adrian Phillips' cleat game = Strong.

Thanks to Footballguy Clayton Gray for that one.

It's been this way for a while, but in case anyone needed to know: The Offense Has The Advantage.

I know everyone loves to rag on Baker Mayfield and I've done my share too. Some of it's the never-ending commercials and clearly, he's underperformed on the field. But I respect owning it here.

If it feels like Jonathan Taylor is always through the line of scrimmage and into the secondary, it's not your imagination.

Don't give up.

I barely know these golfguys. But this is fantastic.

Music note this week is from a rad band called Great Grandpa. They're an indie rock band from Seattle and they're one of the bands on the equally rad label Double Double Whammy. Check them out.

This is the time of year where watching the waiver wire is important.

Once you see it...

C.J. Uzomah won the walk-up.

The look on the face of this young man was so good.

Listening to the analysts after Buffalo's win over New England, apparently, "if you really want to win" a team just needs to go for it on every fourth down.

Who knew?

Dog Racing at halftime is always a winner.

I'm with Jimmy Traina, this may be the bravest reporter I've ever seen.

Tom Brady agreed.

It's time.

Earlier last week, Ravens defensive coordinator Wink Martindale suggested we pump the brakes a bit before anointing Joe Burrow a Hall Of Famer.

Burrow went out and hung this on Martindale's defense.

When asked whether it was on his mind as he threw for 525 yards, Burrow replied with a grin: "Maybe."

Can a defensive coordinator win Coach Of The Year?

Cooper Kupp has the coachspeak DIALED IN.

Malik Turner nailed the Home Alone touchdown celebration.

Spot on:

You folks that are into writing might know Joan Didion recently died. You might enjoy this article talking about her and some of her writing techniques. It's easy to see the Hemingway influence with the punchy no-nonsense style. Good stuff here. What I Learned About Writing From An American Master.

We put the spotlight on Christian Wilkins last week...

But this is not new...

He's quickly becoming the Poster Guy for Random Shots.

Wrapping with this one.

I know of few other things more powerful and life-changing than gratitude.

It's as simple as intentionally seeking to acknowledge the things we're grateful for. It's a shift in focus from a never-ending list of things you want to instead being happy with what you have. And that often starts for me with literally naming things I'm thankful and grateful for.

That doesn't mean blissful ignorance or delusion. These last couple of years have been tough on lots of people. Some excruciatingly so. But if you can, don't let that overwhelm you. I think Rodgers is spot on here. Be thankful.

And one thing I'm super thankful for is you. You give us the gift of your time to hang out with us on these sometimes ridiculous walks through the week. Thank you. And rock on.

That'll do it this week. Thank you for being with me on this goofy journey.

Love your neighbor and stick together.

Peace and Grace to you.

J

Photos provided by Imagn Images
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