MAJOR RULE CHANGES PROPOSED BY NCAA, ROAF HAS A GOOD IDEA FOR THE HOF & THE STRANGE VIBE FROM HALEY'S PRESS CONFERENCE
The NCAA rules committee held meetings over the past two weeks & they've come up with a number of proposed rule changes. Like the NFL, the NCAA wants to move the kickoff out to the 35-yard line & along with that, keep the 10-men covering the kickoff at the 30 until the kicker passes them. Unlike the NFL, there's one more component to the rule change, all touchbacks will be brought out to the 25-yardline. They are essentially attempting to legislate kickoff returns right out of the college game. After Eric LeGrand became paralyzed covering a kickoff 2-years ago, college's sanctioning body has been moving in this direction.
Another proposed rule change involves helmets & I'm particularly on board with this one. If any player loses his helmet, he is out of the play immediately & will have to miss the following play as well. For far too long players have worn ill-fitting helmets that come of with one hand, taking a football helmet off should require both hands, pulling the ear holes outward to remove the helmet. A helmet that is fit properly is very difficult to knock off a players' head. A headgear that is too loose allows the head to bang around inside the helmet.
The third proposed rule change is also intended to reduce injuries. They want to restrict blocking below the waste to offensive players inside the tackle box. There is one exception, wide receivers or anyone outside the tackle box cam block below the waist straight ahead, nothing from an angle or the blindside. It is this type of block that put Eric Berry out for the year, too bad the NFL isn't willing to change this rule. It will be interesting to see how many of these proposals make it thru.
So the PGA's Pebble Beach Pro Am started on Thursday & a number of celebrities from the entertainment & sports world are playing the first two days. Forty-Niners head coach Jim Harbaugh is playing in it & he has a very special caddy. Do you recognize him?
Stanford wide receiver Chris Owusu has been cleared by doctors to return to football. He received his third concussion, second of the 2011 season, in October. He missed the final four games. The speedy Owusu also returns kicks & is extremely dangerous in the open field. The factremains he has a nasty history of concussions & I expect it will drop him 2-4 rounds in April's draft.
HawkMan1 bristled at my comment regarding former Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi. I said the reason he didn't play after Matt Cassel was placed on injured reserve was because he was not prepared or maybe he is simply terrible. I didn't say this during the season even tho he couldn't get on the field ahead of Tyler Palko. The fact that Stanzi isn't even mentioned by Romeo Crennel or new offensive coordinator Brian Daboll doesn't speak highly of his ability or his future with the Chiefs IMO. The fact that the Chiefs are discussing a free agent QB or maybe drafting one, the fact remains Ricky Stanzi doesn't appear to be in their future. Sorry HawkMan.
Plaxico Burress said on Thursday he'd be open to joining the Eagles. I'm sure Andy Reid is thrilled with that possibility. Burress had a very disappointing season with the Jets. He has one more season in his New York contract but I'm certain they'd like to dump him.
Willie Roaf has an excellent idea for the Hall of Fame selection committee. He said on Thursday there ought to be term limits for all of the 44-voters on the committee. As Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk mentioned on Wednesday there are two writers voting who are no longer employed as NFL writers. I have to say covering an NFL team should be a must. Many of the people on this committee have been on it 20-30 years. There is bound to be hard feelings with a few of this writers toward some of the people they're charged with voting for every January. Roaf said over & over how much respect he had for the committee, but if he really did, why would he be bringing this up four days after he was selected to be in the HOF. One question that is unavoidable, why was Roaf turned down last season on the first vote last season but have the shortest discussion regarding his HOF potential this year? Did he become a better candidate this off-season?
Both tight ends injured in the Super Bowl for the Giants will most likely begin the season on the PUP list according to New York GM Jerry Reese. The would be inactive for practice & games for the first 6-games of the season. Travis Beckum & Jake Ballard both sustained torn ACL's in Sunday's game.
Chad Ochocinco is on the move. He announced yesterday he is planning to change his name back to Chad Johnson sometime this summer. Chad's getting married soon, I'm guessing his fiance wants to be Mrs. Johnson more than Mrs. Ochocinco.
I'm not a sensitive person, I've been called a lot of names over the years, many of them here on this website. I'm not a truly politically correct person either. I do however try to keep the hypocrisy down. Fomrer NBA player Jalen Rose appeared on Mike & Mike in the Morning today & he said something that screamed hypocrisy. Let me give you some background. Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski was photographed Sunday night, just a few hours after New England lost the Super Bowl, dancing shirtless onstage at a local club. There was some outrage, mostly by the media, but I thought so little of it, I didn't even mention it here. Rose said Thursday morning Gronkowski was acting like a "white boy wasted." It didn't bother me, Gronkowski is a big boy who can take care of himself. But what if say Mike Greenberg said on the air "Jalen Rose was acting like a black boy wasted?" Think he'd be on the air Friday morning? There would be such a sh*t storm overnight, one that Greenberg probably couldn't survive. That's what bothers me, the double standard we see everyday that has become so prevalent, you might not even recognize it. Think about it & if you think I'm way off base, leave a comment or drop me an email at rich@richsfootballreport.com.
Todd Haley was introduced as the Steelers new offensive coordinator on Thursday. Head coach Mike Tomlin introduced Haley & then left the room, refusing to answer any questions. Does anybody else think that's a little odd? The rumors are all over Pittsburgh that the Rooney's forced former O.C. Bruce Ariens into "retirement." Maybe Pittsburgh should have checked with with him to see if he would really retire & not go to St. Louis 2-days later. That was embarrassing. Another way to look at this situation is the Rooney's instructed Tomlion to interview & hire Haley. if that is the case, Tomlin, winner of the Super Bowl just three years ago & returned last year, losing to Green Bay. Does this sound like a coach that needs outside instruction on how to run the franchise? Yet another way to look at Haley's hiring is his history with Kurt Warner & Larry Fitzgerald. Neither one liked him the first year Haley was their coordinator, but both excelled the following year, having breakout seasons & going to play Pittsburgh in Super Bowl 43. Maybe ownership wants Ben Roethlisberger & the very young Steelers wide receivers that kind of coaching. Who the hell knows, but there's more to this than we're getting right now. I'll keep you posted.
Jim Harbaugh's caddy? His starting quarterback Alex Smith.
Another proposed rule change involves helmets & I'm particularly on board with this one. If any player loses his helmet, he is out of the play immediately & will have to miss the following play as well. For far too long players have worn ill-fitting helmets that come of with one hand, taking a football helmet off should require both hands, pulling the ear holes outward to remove the helmet. A helmet that is fit properly is very difficult to knock off a players' head. A headgear that is too loose allows the head to bang around inside the helmet.
The third proposed rule change is also intended to reduce injuries. They want to restrict blocking below the waste to offensive players inside the tackle box. There is one exception, wide receivers or anyone outside the tackle box cam block below the waist straight ahead, nothing from an angle or the blindside. It is this type of block that put Eric Berry out for the year, too bad the NFL isn't willing to change this rule. It will be interesting to see how many of these proposals make it thru.
So the PGA's Pebble Beach Pro Am started on Thursday & a number of celebrities from the entertainment & sports world are playing the first two days. Forty-Niners head coach Jim Harbaugh is playing in it & he has a very special caddy. Do you recognize him?
Stanford wide receiver Chris Owusu has been cleared by doctors to return to football. He received his third concussion, second of the 2011 season, in October. He missed the final four games. The speedy Owusu also returns kicks & is extremely dangerous in the open field. The factremains he has a nasty history of concussions & I expect it will drop him 2-4 rounds in April's draft.
HawkMan1 bristled at my comment regarding former Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi. I said the reason he didn't play after Matt Cassel was placed on injured reserve was because he was not prepared or maybe he is simply terrible. I didn't say this during the season even tho he couldn't get on the field ahead of Tyler Palko. The fact that Stanzi isn't even mentioned by Romeo Crennel or new offensive coordinator Brian Daboll doesn't speak highly of his ability or his future with the Chiefs IMO. The fact that the Chiefs are discussing a free agent QB or maybe drafting one, the fact remains Ricky Stanzi doesn't appear to be in their future. Sorry HawkMan.
Plaxico Burress said on Thursday he'd be open to joining the Eagles. I'm sure Andy Reid is thrilled with that possibility. Burress had a very disappointing season with the Jets. He has one more season in his New York contract but I'm certain they'd like to dump him.
Willie Roaf has an excellent idea for the Hall of Fame selection committee. He said on Thursday there ought to be term limits for all of the 44-voters on the committee. As Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk mentioned on Wednesday there are two writers voting who are no longer employed as NFL writers. I have to say covering an NFL team should be a must. Many of the people on this committee have been on it 20-30 years. There is bound to be hard feelings with a few of this writers toward some of the people they're charged with voting for every January. Roaf said over & over how much respect he had for the committee, but if he really did, why would he be bringing this up four days after he was selected to be in the HOF. One question that is unavoidable, why was Roaf turned down last season on the first vote last season but have the shortest discussion regarding his HOF potential this year? Did he become a better candidate this off-season?
Both tight ends injured in the Super Bowl for the Giants will most likely begin the season on the PUP list according to New York GM Jerry Reese. The would be inactive for practice & games for the first 6-games of the season. Travis Beckum & Jake Ballard both sustained torn ACL's in Sunday's game.
Chad Ochocinco is on the move. He announced yesterday he is planning to change his name back to Chad Johnson sometime this summer. Chad's getting married soon, I'm guessing his fiance wants to be Mrs. Johnson more than Mrs. Ochocinco.
I'm not a sensitive person, I've been called a lot of names over the years, many of them here on this website. I'm not a truly politically correct person either. I do however try to keep the hypocrisy down. Fomrer NBA player Jalen Rose appeared on Mike & Mike in the Morning today & he said something that screamed hypocrisy. Let me give you some background. Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski was photographed Sunday night, just a few hours after New England lost the Super Bowl, dancing shirtless onstage at a local club. There was some outrage, mostly by the media, but I thought so little of it, I didn't even mention it here. Rose said Thursday morning Gronkowski was acting like a "white boy wasted." It didn't bother me, Gronkowski is a big boy who can take care of himself. But what if say Mike Greenberg said on the air "Jalen Rose was acting like a black boy wasted?" Think he'd be on the air Friday morning? There would be such a sh*t storm overnight, one that Greenberg probably couldn't survive. That's what bothers me, the double standard we see everyday that has become so prevalent, you might not even recognize it. Think about it & if you think I'm way off base, leave a comment or drop me an email at rich@richsfootballreport.com.
Todd Haley was introduced as the Steelers new offensive coordinator on Thursday. Head coach Mike Tomlin introduced Haley & then left the room, refusing to answer any questions. Does anybody else think that's a little odd? The rumors are all over Pittsburgh that the Rooney's forced former O.C. Bruce Ariens into "retirement." Maybe Pittsburgh should have checked with with him to see if he would really retire & not go to St. Louis 2-days later. That was embarrassing. Another way to look at this situation is the Rooney's instructed Tomlion to interview & hire Haley. if that is the case, Tomlin, winner of the Super Bowl just three years ago & returned last year, losing to Green Bay. Does this sound like a coach that needs outside instruction on how to run the franchise? Yet another way to look at Haley's hiring is his history with Kurt Warner & Larry Fitzgerald. Neither one liked him the first year Haley was their coordinator, but both excelled the following year, having breakout seasons & going to play Pittsburgh in Super Bowl 43. Maybe ownership wants Ben Roethlisberger & the very young Steelers wide receivers that kind of coaching. Who the hell knows, but there's more to this than we're getting right now. I'll keep you posted.
Jim Harbaugh's caddy? His starting quarterback Alex Smith.
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