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Email Update 7/17/02 Volume 3 Issue # 33
1. David Dodds Gives Job the Boot
2. Subscription Information
3. Passing of Danny "Kestrel" Lamers
4. Brian Griese Revisited: Parts I & II
5. Class in session for Lions' Harrington
6. Six Dallas Receivers Clocked at 4.23 or Faster?
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David Dodds Gives Job the Boot
As owner of Footballguys.com I have decided to follow my dreams and
make my football obsession a full-time gig. No more long hours at
the "other" job. 100% of my work day will soon be dedicated
to making Footballguys.com the best it can be. I bring you this news
because I think it's important to emphasize how much we care
about providing our subscribers outstanding information
consistently. By giving my very best to Footballguys.com, I believe
we position ourselves to be even better now and in years to come. As
I write this paragraph, I am the bottleneck to a lot of great
material ready to be posted to the web. Once fulltime, I expect the
following improvements here at Footballguys.com:
- Quicker Posting of Material
- More Breaking Updates
- Writing of articles (I have 20+ ideas that I want to cover
including creating baselines, Inside Dynamic VBD, Auction Drafting
for winners)
- VBD App Enhancements
- Dynamic VBD Application
My last work day as an industrial engineer working for the Navy is
July 26th. I thank the countless subscribers to making this dream
possible. Because of you I am able to do what I love while spending
more time with my wife and daughter. Don't expect me to put my
feet up anytime soon though. Dreams come true with hard work and I
expect a lot from myself in the coming months to continue to make
this the best football website on the web. ESPN who?
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Subscription Information
Buy Subscription
We are getting closer and closer to the date that you will be
required to have a subscription to read the newest posted material.
That date is August 1st. All material posted before August 1st will
remain free through the season. But everything posted after that
date will require a subscription to access. If you are buying via
check or money order, you need to mail now to ensure you can access
the website by August 1st. We are now entering information within 1-
2 days of receipt so plan accordingly. Here is the link to pay by
check or money order:
Pay by check
Still need more convincing to what you will get:
Pre-Season Features
In-Season Features
and here are some question and answer links regarding subscriptions:
Changes
Q and A
and now over to Bob Harris for the news
David Dodds
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Passing of Danny "Kestrel" Lamers
Danny Lamers passed away unexpectedly at the age of 36. He was an
active member of our message boards (Footballguystalk.com) from early
on. He was Footballguy # 273. He was the Commish of the No Mercy
Leagues started on our message boards.
Dan passed away from a heart attack while sleeping. He was healthy as
an ox as far as any of us knew and was extremely athletic. Biking 30+
miles a day along with an hour of tennis was the norm for him.
Thoughts and Prayers go out to Kestrel's Family.
Joe Bryant and David Dodds
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(Following up on yesterday's Quote of the Day --
Brian Griese Revisited: Part I
Griese agrees to restructure contracts
Clipped from the article by the Rocky Mountain News:
Denver Broncos quarterback Brian Griese acknowledged Tuesday he has
agreed to restructure his contract for the upcoming season, but it's
only an accounting move designed to free up money to sign the team's
top draft picks.
The move will save the Broncos $860,000 against the salary cap this
year by dropping Griese to the minimum salary of $525,000. He will
earn his full amount, however; rather than paying him a $1.4 million
base salary, the Broncos will convert $875,000 of that and a $200,000
workout bonus into a guaranteed signing bonus, which can be prorated
over the remaining six years of his $39 million deal.
"Anything I can do to help them sign guys," Griese said. "I was happy
to do it."
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Brian Griese Revisited Part II
QB keeping head up, eyes downfield
Clipped from the article at the Denver Post:
Brian Griese is back. But then, you knew he would be. He's only two
seasons into a six-year, $39 million contract. Question is, will he
be back as the Denver Broncos' starting quarterback if the team
misses the playoffs for the third time in four seasons?
At 27, Griese faces a pivotal year in his NFL career. Pivotal. His
word, not ours. But after getting away for two months, he says he has
put the Broncos' nightmarish 2001 season behind him.
Griese has endured much since being named the starter before the 1999
season. Along the way, he has won an NFL passing title, something his
predecessor, John Elway, never did, and posted the second-best
touchdowns-to-interceptions ratio in NFL history (19-4 in 2000).
Now for the bottom line: The Broncos are 19-19 in games Griese has
started and have played one playoff game since the 1998 season.
Where does he go from here? To Greeley, for starters.
With training camp barely a week away, Griese sat down with The
Denver Post and discussed a variety of subjects, including enjoying
the game again after his toughest year in football, life in the fish
bowl, his relationship with coach Mike Shanahan and putting the long
ball back in the Broncos' offense.
Question: Rod Smith is quoted in an ESPN the Magazine story as
saying, "Elway had a confidence, a glow. Brian needs to establish
that he's the guy with this team." Do you feel that way?
Answer: Well, we haven't won like we wanted to. So it's hard to have
confidence when you're not winning games. I have confidence in myself
and I have confidence in the guys on this team, and I think they have
confidence in me. It's just a matter of going out, having fun and
winning some ballgames. Then all of this stuff will go away.
Q. How do you define "all this stuff"? You seem comfortable with who
you are, but are you comfortable with what you are, as in the highest-
profile athlete in town because you're the Broncos' starting
quarterback?
A. I don't know if you ever get comfortable with it. I think anybody
who says they're comfortable with it is probably lying to you. But
there are pros and cons with the job. Every quarterback in the league
feels it every week of the season and in the offseason. You're either
in the penthouse or the outhouse. For me, I choose to live in the
penthouse. I'm always trying to get better, I have confidence in
myself, and I'm going to work on my game. I'm not going to let
anybody else's opinions of me put me in the outhouse. They might put
me there, but I'm not going to put myself there.
Q. You left town this offseason for two months. Did you do some soul
searching, and if so, what did you find?
A. You need to get away from it, I think, to maintain your sanity. I
wanted to get away from the game for a little bit and get back to the
person that I am outside of football. Because football sometimes can
make you not a very nice individual. I'm hard on myself all the time.
It's one of the things that I realize I need to work on. I need to
have more fun because I play better when I have fun. Now the
difficulty is, if you're not winning games, you're not having fun. So
it's difficult, but, at the same time, I'm going to make a concerted
effort to get back to the things I love about the game and having fun
doing them.
Q. What do you have to do to get this team back, to establish that
you're the leader? Or do you feel like you don't have to do that?
A. No, I don't, really. This is definitely a pivotal year for us, no
doubt about it. It's a pivotal year for me, as well. But I think
every year is going to be like that. Even if you win a championship,
you come back the next year and they're going to say you can't do it
again. So then that's a pivotal year. There's a lot of pressure on
us, we know that. But at the same time, we realize we have a lot of
guys in here who've done it before, who have great talent and great
character. But above all, rather than me trying to be the guy, which
I don't feel I need to be, I'd like to be able to foster some
togetherness on this team. Kind of like New England did a year ago.
They didn't have the best talent in the league by far, but they
played together.
Q. Have you asked Tom Brady how he did it?
A. No, because I know how they did it. They played for each other.
That's a powerful thing. People underestimate that. When you have 53
guys who don't care if they get the limelight, but care if they win
and care if the other guys do well, that's a powerful thing.
Q. Keith Burns is quoted in the ESPN story as saying, "No one knows
how to approach him. People are like, 'What's wrong with this guy?
Does he talk? What type of guy is he?' This is our quarterback. He
may not be outgoing, but that's what people need and expect from him
now." Your reaction?
A. I've gone bowling with Keith Burns. He knows what kind of guy I
am. We hang out, we joke around. I'm not like that all the time. I'm
a very quiet person, that's just my nature.
Q. Your dad says in the story, "If Brian were an offensive tackle,
he'd be fine. He's not a natural leader verbally." Would you say
that's true?
A. Yeah, I'm not a rah-rah guy. I don't think I need to be that. The
problem is that people look to me for leadership on the field. Two
years ago, it wasn't a problem. Last year, we didn't play very well,
so that's where the problem arises.
Q. Do you feel like you've totally escaped John Elway's shadow?
A. The ups and downs I've experienced have nothing to do with his
shadow. I haven't thought about him or me following him for two
years. In my mind, it doesn't have anything to do with my career.
Q. Do you feel like you've escaped Elway's shadow in the eyes of the
public?
A. I don't know. I just go about my business, you know? I knew it was
going to be tough. It was really tough the first year. The second
year was easier, but there were still tough times, learning
experiences. And then last year was awfully tough. But if you talk
with anybody in the league, they've had those kinds of years. Some
guys can't recover from it. The difference between them and other
guys is that other guys can handle the pressure, they can handle
learning from a bad situation and becoming a better player.
Q. Is depressed a fair word to describe how you felt last season?
A. No, I don't think that's a fair word. There's a lot of bitterness
that comes when things don't go well. It's tough because this is our
livelihood and we take a lot of pride in what we do. I take a lot of
pride personally in what I do. I try to be the best quarterback I can
be for my team, and I didn't feel like I did it last year. So there's
a lot of bitterness that goes with that. Frustration, I think, would
be the word.
Q. Was last year your toughest year in football?
A. It was my toughest year, yeah. It was hard. Everybody saw what we
went through. It was very difficult for me because we had such high
expectations at the start of the season. I really felt we could be
the best offense in the league, and it didn't turn out nearly what we
wanted it to.
Q. You called out some of your teammates to produce more last season.
Do you think it was fair how it was characterized? Rod Smith says in
the ESPN story that "There's a line and he crossed it." Any regrets
on how you handled things?
A. No. We had lost Ed (McCaffrey) and Rod was hurting, and people
asked me what we had to do. I said everybody has to step up to help
because we've lost two guys. You can take that however you want, but
that's the way it is. I don't have any regrets. I'm not about
criticizing my teammates.
Q. A local radio station has coined the terms Dog Nation for
Defenders of Griese, and Hog Nation for Haters of Griese. Do you ever
let the scrutiny get to you?
A. I can't. I didn't expect it to be this bad, but it's part of my
job. I understand that. At the same time, when things go well, there
are probably too many things credited to me. When I went to the Pro
Bowl, I wasn't playing as well as everybody thought I was. So it cuts
both ways. I just have to accept it and move on, and not let it
affect how I prepare for and play the game.
Q. You've had a 6-10 season, a Pro Bowl season, and a .500 season. Do
you wonder when the real Brian Griese is going to step up?
A. I don't think it's happened yet. I don't think about myself having
a breakout year. I'd rather have this team live up to its potential.
A lot of that has to do with how well I play, yes. But at the same
time, I would not go to the Pro Bowl and have this team go to the
Super Bowl in a heartbeat. Let people say bad things about me, that I
wasn't the catalyst to get us in the playoffs. That would be fine as
long as this team wins and gets to the ultimate prize. That's what
matters to me.
Q. Are you totally healthy going into camp?
A. I feel great. I'm excited about getting back to work and I'm
excited about the guys we've got on offense and the capabilities
we're going to have again that we didn't have last season.
Q. As we sit here with camp around the corner, what are your
expectations of this team?
A. I have no less expectations than I did a year ago. If I didn't
think that way, I shouldn't be the quarterback here. We've got the
guys to get to the playoffs and win the Super Bowl. It's just a
matter of us jelling as a team and finding a way to win games we
didn't win a year ago.
Q. Mike Shanahan pursued Steve Young after the 1999 season, then gave
you a long-term contract a year later. After a year like last year,
do you feel he's totally in your corner? How would you characterize
your relationship with him?
A. I have a good relationship with him. Our relationship is based a
lot on the X's and O's of football. I enjoy talking with him about
those, the strategy of the game, those types of things. I think he's
in my corner. But I'm going to do everything I can to get him further
in my corner. He saw me from the very start, my ability, and he was
the one who gave me a chance.
Q. Do you play golf with Shanahan?
A. Oh, yeah. Everybody talks about the kind of relationship that John
and Mike had. Mike was John's coordinator for a few years here, so
they were meeting every day in the same room and they knew each other
inside and out. Whereas I don't meet with Mike every day like I do
with Gary Kubiak. I know Gary's thoughts before he thinks them. I
have a close relationship with him just because I'm always meeting
with him and I know what he's thinking.
Q. What kind of impact will Shannon Sharpe have on the team and on
you personally?
A. I'm very happy Shannon is back, mostly because of his spirit, his
lightheartedness in the locker room. One of the things I've talked to
him about is getting back to the level of expectations of perfection
in practice that we had during the Super Bowl years. Shannon knows
the level of commitment it takes, and he can relate it to the younger
players as far as getting them to work hard in practice. Because
whenever we're perfect in practice, we play pretty good on Sunday.
Q. You've had some off-field incidents involving alcohol. Are you
concerned about perception and reality, that, even if you're a casual
drinker, there will be a perception that you're a problem drinker?
A. There's nothing I can do about that. I've got to worry about
myself and take care of myself. I can't worry about all those things.
If I did, I'd be going in a million different directions.
Q. What's at the top of your priorities list for Greeley?
A. I'd like to get back on track with my wideouts. ... I'd like to
get some of the timing things down and I'd like to work on throwing
my deep ball better. We didn't hit many go routes last year and that
may be because we had guys hurt on the outside. But we need to get
back to that, because that's an integral part of our offense. Having
that big play and not having to go 16 plays every time you go out
there.
Q. So we can expect to see the vertical passing game back in the
offense?
A. It's integral. You can't do that (throw short passes) and be
successful offensively. And we've got a guy now (top draft pick
Ashley Lelie) who can get down the field. . . . I want to work with
him, get him some passes at camp, throw him some deep routes and let
him use his talent. Because he's got a lot of it.
Q. Do you envision Lelie being the No. 3 receiver coming out of camp?
A. Yes. There's going to be a learning curve for him. He'll have some
tough times learning the NFL nuances, the bump coverages, reading
defenses ... but he has the talent to do it. It's just a matter of
having the will to succeed.
[[[[[[[[[[[[[ OUR VIEW ]]]]]]]]]]]]]
Make no mistake about it: Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan fully
expects Griese to rebound nicely in the wake of last year's rather
lackluster performance. In fact, speaking publicly about his
quarterback in May Shanahan said Griese is facing a critical season,
one that possibly could be career-defining.
"We'll find out this year if he likes to be the quarterback and likes
to be the underdog and likes a little pressure on him," Shanahan said
at NFL owners meetings in Florida.
The coach went on to express confidence in the former University of
Michigan star's ability to meet those expectations just a year after
his game sank to new lows.
"I expect him to have a great year," Shanahan said. "I expect him to
rebound from last year. I think we had a disappointing year,
especially offensively. We went from second in the NFL to 22nd.
There's a lot of blame to go around.
"We had a bunch of guys go down (to injuries), which is very tough on
the quarterback, when you lose that timing and continuity. But we've
got some high expectations for this year and hopefully we'll get
there."
The Broncos had similar expectations for Griese last season, but he
never fulfilled them. Instead, after the Broncos lost running backs
Terrell Davis and Howard Griffith, and wide receivers Ed McCaffrey
and Kevin Kasper to injury, Griese's performance dropped off as much
as the talent surrounding him.
That said Shanahan is looking for improvement from the whole team.
"In reality, you don't throw 30 touchdown passes and five
interceptions (as Griese did during his first two-plus seasons) and
then lose a number of people and all of a sudden go 50-50 with
touchdown-and-interception ratio, and blame it all on one guy. Does
Brian have to play better? Sure, he does. But so do the other guys."
He's right. But that doesn't change the fact that Griese has a lot to
prove this season -- both on the field and in the locker room.
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Class in session for Lions' Harrington
Clipped from an article in the Detroit Free Press:
Joey Harrington, the Lions' first-round draft pick, is expected to
report today with the rest of the team's quarterbacks for pre-
training camp classroom work -- with or without a contract.
"We've been told that Joey is planning on being here," Lions vice
president Bill Keenist said Tuesday.
Although the Lions declined to comment on the exact status of
negotiations with Harrington, Keenist said the discussions with
Harrington's agent, David Dunn, are ongoing and have been "very
productive."
Harrington has said since the Lions made him the No. 3 pick in the
April 20 draft that he would be signed in time for the start of
training camp.
Training camp opens Monday for quarterbacks, rookies and selected
veterans but coach Marty Mornhinweg is bringing in his quarterbacks --
Mike McMahon, Ty Detmer, Scott Dreisbach and Harrington -- to begin
classroom sessions today.
Harrington would not be considered a holdout unless he misses the
rookie reporting date Monday. The full team is due to report July 25.
[[[[[[[[[[[[[ OUR VIEW ]]]]]]]]]]]]]
Detroit News staffer Daniel Mears said it best when when recently
reminded readers that Detroit didn't make Harrington the third pick
overall in this year's draft to hold a clipboard and run the scout
team in practice.
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Team speed may be strength
As reported by Dallas Morning News writer Chip Brown on Sunday, July
14
---
Ask players around the Cowboys locker room about second-year receiver
Randal Williams, and they all but bow to him.
That's because Williams ran a 4.04 in the 40-yard dash during the
Cowboys' timing day nearly two weeks ago. Three clocks � one hand-
held and two automated � were used to time the players, and an
average of the three times produced the final result.
"I had to do a little something on the track to try and get a job
around here," said Williams, one of six receivers to run a 4.23 or
better. "There's not too many guys my size with that kind of speed."
Williams, 6-3 and 214 pounds, was a key player on special teams last
year as a gunner, recording a tackle in all seven games he played.
But Williams has been a project as a receiver after catching only 20
passes in college at New Hampshire.
The other receivers to turn in a 40-time of 4.23 or better were Joey
Galloway, Raghib Ismail, Ken-yon Rambo, Reggie Swinton and Bashir
Yamini.
[[[[[[[[[[[[[ OUR VIEW ]]]]]]]]]]]]]
C'mon now. ... Even if I bought those six sub-4.3's, I have a really
hard time swallowing Williams' 4.04.
As FoxSports.com columnist Clark Judge noted in an article written
last April: "The fastest starter I ever saw was sprinter Ben Johnson,
and at the 1988 Seoul Olympics track and field's fastest starter ran
the 100 meters in a blistering 9.79 seconds, a time that later was
disallowed after Johnson tested positive for steroids. Know how fast
he covered the first 40? It was 4.69 seconds. Forty meters is
approximately 44 yards, which means Johnson ran the first 40 in 4.26."
So a chemically-enhanced Johnson would have come in seventh in a race
against the Cowboys receivers that day? Puhleeaaaze�
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That's all for now. ... Catch ya next week.
--
Bob Harris
Editor/Webmaster -- TFL Report
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