Random Shots From Week 10

Joe Bryant's Random Shots From Week 10 Joe Bryant Published 11/15/2023

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. Now, let's get to it.

J

Mike Tomlin doesn't play by your rules.

Not an actual quote. But all too real. And unfortunately, evergreen.

Browns HQ Wednesday morning...

In context.

Throwback Thought: Reggie White was a problem.

Some teams, like the Eagles and Titans, get cute dabbling with retro uniform stuff.

Kansas City wears the Classics every game.

Vince Carter was ridiculous.

Ladies and Gentleman, our Footballguys Podcasts hosts...

The Colts - Patriots game in Germany may have been a dud. But the stadium is rad.

"Feed Zeke" apparently translates.

As does John Denver.

I don't know Jonathan Taylor personally, and I don't know if there's a story behind this interaction, but I love how enthusiastic Taylor seems to be when meeting this fan. That kind of thing matters. A lot.

The Josh Dobbs Legend grows.

Entering his home stadium in Week 10, he had to be shown the way to the locker room.

Five seconds explaining what it's like to miss Tom Brady.

Joe Burrow not winning after rolling in with this jersey was my biggest surprise of Week 10.

There's still hope for you.

New York to Frankfurt Sunday Night:

Maybe Bill Belichick's next chapter is a Ted Lasso-type Soccer gig?

And can we stop with the "Belichick could be fired before the end of the season" nonsense?

Belichick and the Patriots may well part ways after Week 18. But short of him choking out Robert Kraft on National TV, he's not getting fired before the end of the season. That's ridiculous.

Jamaal Williams remains Random Shots RB1. He had to scold the camera guy here for filming too early.

This seems like a long time ago...

When coaches tell their offensive linemen to "look for work," this is what they mean.

Thanks to @rockpoltrock for that one.

If you're a regular reader, you know I love uniforms. If you do, too, check out the Bets Dressed Blog. Each week, they rank the uniform matchups for each game. It's fantastic.

Here's last week's rankings.

Oregon broke out the Shrinkinator.

Evidently, they let the Cardinals borrow it.

Maybe the Steelers, Jaguars, Steelers (again), Browns, Lions, Titans, Browns (again), and Cardinals should have held on to this guy...

Hang it in the Louvre.

All hail the PASSTRONAUT.

Incredible.

And two more for the Vikings.

Post-game goodness.

If they stay healthy, opposing quarterbacks can get used to this.

Play to the whistle.

Christian McCaffrey self-assesses after snapping his consecutive touchdown streak...

It's remarkable that catches like this are almost routine now. Still beautiful.

The struggle is real.

And Montgomery is fun.

College Station Monday.

Knock. It. Down.

Brandon Staley needs to go. Now. Justin Herbert and this offense deserve so much better.

That's a shame.

On that note, it feels like the win probability algorithm needs some adjustment for the Ravens.

Have a year, James Madison.

How bad are things in New England?

This bad.

Bingo.

"Adequate Arm".

I know nothing about Cricket, but this seems fun.

Warmup for those Thanksgiving Backyard games.

"Siri, show me an elusive quarterback".

Lebron James complaining about a flop is rich.

Music Note this week is a classic.

Jack White / The White Stripes / The Raconteurs are at the top of my favorite music.

"Carolina Drama" is an epic story from The Raconteurs.

The lyrics are classic poetry/storytelling, and I've copied them below.

If you're looking for an incredible live version, this one is killer as he's joined by mandolin legend Chris Thile.

Like all great stories, Carolina Drama has lots of intrigue. The final verses open new questions about the Milkman and there being more to the story. If you really want to go down a rabbit hole, some think it's connected to "Ask the Milkman" by The Pickens County Bandits.

And here's a fun blog post on the storytelling aspects of the song.

So good on so many levels.

Full lyrics:

I'm not sure if there's a point to this storyBut I'm going to tell it againSo many other people try to tell the taleNot one of them knows the end
It was a junk-house in South CarolinaHeld a boy the age of tenAlong with his older brother BillyAnd a mother and her boyfriendWho was a triple loser with some blue tattoosThat were given to him when he was youngAnd a drunk temper that was easy to loseAnd thank god he didn't own a gun
Well, Billy woke up in the back of his truckTook a minute to open his eyesHe took a peep into the back of the houseAnd found himself a big surpriseHe didn't see his brother but there was his motherWith her red-headed head in her handsWhile the boyfriend had his gloves wrapped around an old priestTrying to choke the man
Ah Ah Ah
Billy looked up from the window to the truckThrew up, and had to struggle to standHe saw that red-necked bastard with a hammerTurn the priest into a shell of a manThat priest was putting up the fight of his lifeBut he was old and he was bound to loseThe boyfriend hit as hard as he couldAnd knocked the priest right down to his shoes
Well, now Billy knew but never actually metThe preacher lying there in the roomHe heard himself say, "That must be my daddy"Then he knew what he was gonna doBilly got up enough courage, took it upAnd grabbed the first blunt thing he could findIt was a cold, glass bottle of milkThat got delivered every morning at nine
Ah Ah Ah
Billy broke in and saw the blood on the floor, andHe turned around and put the lock on the doorHe looked dead into the boyfriend's eyeHis mother was a ghost, too upset to cry, then
He took a step toward the man on the groundFrom his mouth trickled out a little audible soundHe heard the boyfriend shout, "Get out!"And Billy said, "Not till I know what this is all about""Well, this preacher here was attacking your mama"
But Billy knew just who was starting the dramaSo Billy took dead aim at his faceAnd smashed the bottle on the man who left his dad in disgrace, andThe white milk dripped down with the blood, and theBoyfriend fell down dead for goodRight next to the preacher who was gasping for airAnd Billy shouted, "Daddy, why'd you have to come back here?"
His mama reached behind the sugar and honey, andPulled out an envelope filled with money"Your daddy gave us this, " she collapsed in tears"He's been paying all the bills for years""Mama, let's put this body underneath the treesAnd put Daddy in the truck and head to Tennessee"Just then, his little brother came inHolding the milk man's hat and a bottle of gin singing
La la la la, la la la la, yeahLa la la la, la la la la, yeahLa la la la, la la la la, yeah
Well now you heard another side to the storyBut you wanna know how it ends?If you must know, the truth about the taleGo and ask the milkman

Wrapping with this one.

Ravens tight end Mark Andrews is one of the best players in the game.

He's also a Type-1 Diabetic.

Here's a clip of him on the sidelines.

This makes me think of a couple of things.

One, that's badass is that Andrews is able to overcome a serious obstacle like Diabetes. It's a credit to him and his attitude and work ethic to see him not just deal with it but perform at a world-class level with it. It's easy, at least for me, to look around at successful people and imagine in my head that they've had the perfect situation dropped in their lap. I imagine they've had the ideal "hand of cards" in life dealt to them while I've got to overcome obstacles. The reality for almost everyone is we all have to overcome obstacles. Obviously, some are greater than others. But it helps me realize lots of people are overcoming.

The second point is a bit more nuanced and less obvious: Andrews is a great example of how we often don't know what the other person is dealing with. Andrews doesn't wave a special flag or draw extra attention to his Diabetes. I'd guess tons of NFL fans don't know he has it. And that's fine. But it's an illustration of just how many things and people are often right in front of us in plain sight, and we don't realize or understand their personal challenges. The guy who cuts you off in traffic might be in a toxic relationship. The woman who's rude to you in the store might be worried about a sick child. The kid that's bullying another kid might be bullied themselves somewhere else. You often just don't know.

And extending some grace and patience and kindness and empathy, even when it feels undeserved, is almost always the right move.

Rock on.

Thank you for being part of this goofy journey with us.

And thanks to Footballguys Keith Overton, Jake Bryant, and Clayton Gray for the help. If you've got a Random Shot of your own, email me 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

Photos provided by Imagn Images
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