God's Own Crunk

Ndamukong Suh, justifiably considered one of the dirtiest players in the NFL, is also one of the most generous with his money. Absent from this cut is that along with Nike’s $350,000 donation was Suh’s $250,000 donation. More after the cut:

Construction of a new artificial turf field and a new track surrounding it will begin soon and is expected to be finished before the football season starts. Nike also contributed $350,000, and Portland City Commissioner Nick Fish called the donations “an example of how we all benefit when private and public partners come together around a shared goal.”

via Ndamukong Suh donates $250,000 to his high school | ProFootballTalk.

If you don’t click over to PFT, the gist is this: Suh’s high school alma mater’s field was in such disrepair that said team had to play all of its games on the road. So, Suh donted a quarter-million, got $350K from Nike to match (it’s a Portland-OR school), and voila, feel-good story.

At least at PFT, no mention is made of the “public” part of this public-private coming together. $600,000, even in this day, will build a nice football stadium. I love the politician horning in on this, as though there is some marriage of altruism and grace – sounds to me like a private person and a – granted – publicly traded entity got together for a nice gesture, and an expensive one at that.

The other part of this story that interests me is the very visible dual personality of Suh. His on-field exploits of dirtiness are well-documented – whether by calculation or emotion, he’s a dirty player, his foot-stomps of downed players are well-known. Thus the question: how does a guy as smart as Suh – and watching him interviewed repeatedly in three short years, he is quite intelligent – play so visibly dirty yet lead such an altruistic off-field life?

No easy answers, of course. Off the field, so far as I’ve read, he leads a model life and is beyond-charitable with his wealth. A paradox, I guess (not exactly profound – far from it – but interesting to me and many others). /brex

These notices always catch my eye:

In a move that Jerry Jones deserves all the credit in the world for, the Cowboys have secured an important piece for the next five years.

According to Todd Archer of ESPNDallas.com, the Cowboys signed long snapper L.P. Ladouceur to a new five-year contract, which included a $600,000 signing bonus.

via Cowboys sign long snapper Ladouceur to five-year deal | ProFootballTalk.

I was recruited as a deep-snapper out of high school. Although I was a good football player, I was Forrest-Gump-with-a-ping-pong-paddle when it came to deep-snapping. I punted in seventh grade and was terrible at it, so when we needed a deep-snapper in the eighth grade, they tried us all out. From the first ball I rocketed back to the punter, I didn’t have one bad snap in five years until, of course, my last snap of all time.

True story: a coach that I hated was our special teams coach, and even though our kicker – who actually went to kicking camp – missed PAT after PAT while I was being recruited to snap at the D1 level, he had the gall to tell me before our first round playoff game (and yeah, our last game) “don’t screw up the snap.” So, late in the fourth quarter on the final snap of my career, I sent that rock through the goal posts.

As the punchline to my favorite joke goes: Clown, clown, fuck you clown.

My parents were flabbergasted that I didn’t entertain any of the recruiting offers. Even on natural talent alone, I didn’t have the drive to eventually make it to the League, but I could probably have played D-1AA if I didn’t hate practice so much.

Whatever – I love seeing deep-snappers get paid. It’s the best way for an “average” athlete to make it to the NFL, average of course compared to other NFL positions.

This business has a tongue firmly planted in z’cheek, but it’s worth noting:

As I said, the NFL’s bigger problem is longer term: As parents have fewer children and become more protective of them, are they really going to let Lil Johnny go out there and turn his brain to mush? And as fewer children go into football—and more children funnel into other sports—the talent pool will start drying up. The Pop Warner leagues may not wither, but high school teams certainly will. College programs will find it harder and harder to recruit competent players and the level of play will decrease. As fewer great athletes play college ball the NFL will have a harder team replenishing its talent pool. In a couple of generations the league may have degenerated to the point that audiences turn their attention to other, more interesting, better-played sports. Like boxing before it, football may end up relegated to niche status. Who wants play a game that’ll end up killing you?

via Football vs. Fútbol: Which Is in Bigger Trouble? | Washington Free Beacon.

The POTUS recently made headlines by noting that if he had a son, he probably wouldn’t let him play football, implying that a) Michelle would even leave that up to chance b) that Barack would have anything to say about it and c) on the outside chance that the Chief Beta Male had a son with his wife’s shoulders and hips and was a natural middle linebacker he wouldn’t make every gameday a national holiday.

Football, my favorite game, is doomed – we all know this. I quote the piece above because it’s a nice, wayside diversion and it also points out the damage done to futbol regarding its recent game-fixing scandal. As a man who watches a great deal of futbol, my conclusion is simple: except for obvious World Cup shenanigans, I can’t spot game-fixing and I don’t wager on z’Beautiful Game, so unlike Pro Wrestling and That Ref Who Never Seems to See That Guy With The Folding Chair, I don’t think it will be relegated to fake-sport anytime soon.

FWIW.

My Giants are cleaning house. Although I don’t bitch when my team is within five years of a title (two in the last six, and we’re all counting) I like to see this type of moving when we miss the playoffs. The guys getting cut have been good Giants, but all played down this year. Corey Webster is likely to be the next to go:

The Giants are taking care of all family business.The team has announced the release of defensive tackle Chris Canty on Wednesday, running the number of veterans slashed from the roster in the last two days to three. Linebacker Michael Boley and running back Ahmad Bradshaw are also out after a 9-7 season that ended with the Giants missing the playoffs.

via Giants part ways with Chris Canty too | ProFootballTalk.

To his credit, Boomer Esiason of CBS expressed instant skepticism after the interview concluded.  “It’s a complex legacy that we’re talking about here,” Boomer said.  “This is a guy that was involved –”

“How’s it complex?” Sharpe said, interrupting Esiason with a clearly defensive tone.

“Well, I’ll tell you,” Boomer said.  “Because he was involved in a double murder.  And I’m not so sure that he gave us all the answer that we were looking for.  He knows what went on there.  And he can obviously just come out and say it.  He doesn’t want to say it.  He paid off the families.  I get all that.  That’s fine.  But that doesn’t take away from who he is as a football player.  And I appreciate you going down there and asking him that direct question.  I’m not so sure I buy the answer.”

We don’t buy it, either.  But the question wasn’t nearly as direct as it should have been.

via Ray Lewis once again dances around issue of Super Bowl XXXIV murders | ProFootballTalk.

Mr. Quick, a Niners fan and SF resident, comments on RSM’s admittedly strange post regarding the Devil and Ray Lewis:

I have to confess that I’m moderately surprised a socon like Stacy would be rooting for the Super Bowl team from the most godless, sin-drenched city in America.

via What On Earth Is Worse Than San Francisco In the SoCon Mind? | Daily Pundit.

My general view on this: anyone who views any NFL player as a hero or a goat doesn’t understand the purpose NFL players serve. As a fan of the highest order, I’m perfectly comfortable with saying and understanding they – NFL players – are strong, disciplined men who play a violent-ass game, and I can leave it at that. As uncomfortable as I am with the recent lionization of Ray Lewis, I’m equally disturbed by the notion that many people think he’s a murderer.

Like it or not, he wasn’t even accused of that, and what he was accused of, he was acquitted.

The man’s no saint, and he’s no murderer.

It came late in the game, but Dodge’s minimalist use of Paul Harvey’s “God Made a Farmer” brought the conversation at my Super Bowl party to a standstill. I think a two minute national ad buy for the Super Bowl this year was somewhere between $4 and $5 million, and if there’s such a thing as that much money well-spent. Combine this with Dodge’s risky and prophetic Clint Eastwood ad from last year, it appears that someone on the Dodge account gets the mood of the nation a helluva lot better than most of the forgettable ads last night.

PFT gets the scoop on what went down during the ‘Skins-’Hawks handshake where a visibly furious ‘Skins lineman took a shot at a ‘Hawk. It’s even better than I thought it could possibly be – read on:

Sherman wasn’t talking trash or otherwise agitating in the seconds before the confrontation with Williams, who is looming as Sherman turns from saying “nice work out there” in non-sarcastic fashion to Redskins defensive lineman Kedric Gholston, who publicly called Sherman a “cheater” in the days before the game.  Just before the exchange begins between Sherman and Williams, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson breezes by Williams and pats a hand on his chest.“What you goin’ do, boy?” Sherman asks Williams, who stands and glares at Sherman from behind a helmet and visor.“I’m gonna punch you in your goddamn face,” Williams says.“Well then do it then, boy,” Sherman replies.The strike comes quickly, appearing to be much more violent and potent than the angle captured by FOX.  Immediately after the punch, Redskins linebacker London Fletcerh and quarterback Robert Griffin III surround Sherman, who says, “He punched me in my face! . . .  I didn’t do nothing, he came up to me!”The video ends with Sherman and Griffin sharing a long hug, and with Sherman telling Griffin that Sherman is proud of the rookie.

via Video, audio surfaces of Williams-Sherman incident | ProFootballTalk.

Victor Cruz is arguably the most underpaid player in the NFL. Per PFT:

“Obviously, you never know, it’s all negotiations, but I feel positive that I’m gonna be in New York for a very long time,” Cruz said, via ESPNNewYork.com. “And I feel positive that myself and my agents will get something done with the management of the Giants. I feel comfortable where we’re at. I think I’ve done enough to show them I’m a good guy on and off the field, and that I’ve done everything positive up until this point to prove that I’m somebody that the organization will want to keep around for a long time. I’m positive things will come around and a positive outcome will come out of all this.”

via Victor Cruz is positive he’ll work out a long-term deal with the Giants | ProFootballTalk.

Now that everyone has seen/read The Blindside, even plebs know that the highest paid player on most teams is the QB, and the second is the Left Tackle. Third, just spit-balling, is the exciting, play-making receiver. In GiantsLand, that would be Victor Cruz.

Pay the man. He’s earned it. He’s played three seasons at the League minimum, and is one of the most dangerous down-field threats in the game, to say nothing of one of the NFL’s most popular receivers.

Pay. The. Man.