Lockout steals excitement from NFL Draft

It’s difficult to get excited about the NFL Draft when you don’t know when the season is going to start.  I can’t get pumped up to think about who is going to get drafted with the Number 1 overall pick when training camp is not scheduled.  It is really anticlimactic for a young guy to make his dream a reality and not be able to talk to his new coaches and formally practice with his new teammates.

In some ways, it’s also premature.  The current impasse between the players and the teams about labor issues prohibits free agency and trading.  If not for the lockout, teams would be filling some of their gaps with veteran players and strategizing draft picks.  No one knows what the landscape of a team will be when the labor issues are resolved.  If the season doesn’t start until half way through the regular season, surely a rookie will not play.

For these reasons, I’m not excited to watch the upcoming draft.  Who cares if Cam Newton or Blaine Gabbert is drafted first if we don’t get to see them play this fall?  Why bother watching them put on a hat when we may not even see them at training camp?  For the players, shaking Goodell’s hand and then starting their careers striking against him isn’t exactly a path to primetime.

Good thing for college football.  They may have a crazy way to determine their champion, but at least we know they are going to play this fall.

Ciao!

 Heels & Helmets®

Spring is here and so is college football

While the NFL is still battling on labor issues with its players, college programs started spring practice.  These practices symbolize that football is in full spring on college campuses.  Most programs culminate the spring training session of 15 practices with a big intra-squad scrimmage.  They are usually dubbed by the schools colors.  For example, Florida has the “Orange and Blue” game every spring.  At The University of Michigan, it is simply, “Michigan Spring Game.”

At some universities the scrimmage is just an open practice that allows students, alumni and fans to see the team run plays.  At the larger programs, it has become just as big as the first home game with all of the fanfare, tailgating and display of school pride that you see in the fall.  Last year, the Florida Gators attracted close to 51,000 fans to their scrimmage.  Ohio State packed over 65,000 fans in the Horseshoe to see them last spring.

These scrimmages provide a good snapshot at the team’s development as they transition from last season.  How is the new coach directing the team?  Are players buying into the new coach’s message?  How does the offense or defense look after losing several players to graduation and/or the NFL draft?  Who will be the starting quarterback?  These are some of the questions that fans look to get answers for watching the spring game.

A lot has happened since the BCS Championship game.  Here are a couple of spring games that I think are noteworthy.

1.     Auburn – The Tigers lost the foundation and strength of their offense to the NFL Draft.  How they will replace the speed, rushing yards and size of Cam Newton will be interesting.

2.     Nebraska – This will be the Cornhuskers first scrimmage as a member of the Big Ten.  They were the Big 12 North Champions last year, but everyone is curious to see how they will fare in the oldest football conference.

3.     Ohio State – With Terrelle Pryor and Head Coach Jim Tressel out for the first five games of the season, fans will want to see how the backups fill in.

4.     Michigan – After three years of being embarrassed on the gridiron, the wolverines have a “Michigan Man” back at the helm of the program.  Head Coach, Brady Hoke, has one mission - restore greatness back to college’s most winningest program.  He has been clear about his expectations to win Big Ten titles and beat Ohio State.  All eyes will be on Michigan Stadium on April 16 to see the strides that he is making.

Get information on every school’s spring practice schedule.

Ciao!

 Heels & Helmets®

NFL’s sacrifice for Lent

The NFL and its club owners decided to give up professional football for Lent.  The NFL and the NFLPA did not reach an agreement and stopped negotiations on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).  That means that right now football is dead. 

I am not fretting about it yet because we still have five months before the start of the pre-season.  However, if the players and owners do not resolve their issues soon and have a new contract, the season will not be the same.  Since the NFLPA has decertified and the NFL locked out the players, the teams and players cannot communicate.

Everything is on hold.  No free agency.  No conditioning.  No Organized Team Activities (OTA).  The only scheduled professional football event that will take place this spring if the lockout continues is the NFL Draft. 

If the labor negotiations are prolonged, the training and preparation that teams and players usually do during the off-season will not happen.  This will have a huge impact on teams, especially for clubs that have young players in skilled positions.   Teams such as the Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions and St. Louis Rams will not be able to work with their young quarterbacks.

Cleveland’s Colt McCoy and St. Louis’ Sam Bradford need to work with their coaches to be effective in their starting roles.  In Denver, Tim Tebow, will need more than informal workouts on his own to develop into being a starter.  Detroit’s Matthew Stafford has two years of experience leading the Lions, but he recently had shoulder surgery.  Rehabilitating privately is not the same as doing it with the team’s staff and equipment.  This will certainly have an effect on the team’s offensive plans.

Let’s hope that the sacrifice ends at Holy Saturday and the resurrection of professional football happens before the 2011 NFL Draft.  On second thought, it can happen sooner.  I don’t think that the “football gods” will be upset with the NFL for breaking Lent.  I think that they will be pleased to see the owners’ selfless act of forgoing an EXTRA $1 billion dollars to give the fans what they want.  After all, they are the people who made them billionaires.

Ciao!

 Heels & Helmets®

Free me from CBA talk, PLEASE!

For the last few weeks, professional football fans have been held hostage digitally by the news on the progress of the mediation between the NFL and NFLPA.

Free me!

Nothing has changed.  The owners still want more money and regular season games.  The players still want to see the books.   Well, I guess I should not say “nothing” because the sides are talking now (A LOT) and they did not for months.  This still is not enough to warrant the hostage.

Free me!

The hostage wouldn’t be so bad if both parties were not sworn to secrecy.  At least we would have some insight on the progress, the tension in the room, and the perspective from each side.  I am not asking for cameras, but a fiery remark from Jerry Jones would be satisfying.  Instead we have mundane “updates” telling us the same thing.  I can’t take it anymore.

I’M BREAKING OUT!!!

Now that the CBA analysis is behind me, I will get to where our focus should be in March.  College “Pro Days.”  These are workouts at colleges that NFL personnel attend to continue their evaluation of players to prepare for the upcoming draft.  It is similar to the Combine, but not as vigorous.  Plus, players who were not invited to the Combine have a chance to make an impression on NFL Scouts.

Tomorrow, a couple of top quarterbacks will participate in their schools’ Pro Day.  Cam NewtonRyan Mallett (Arkansas) both will display their talent at their university.  Ryan did well at the Combine and demonstrated that he has a strong arm and is accurate.  This is an opportunity for him to build on that performance and show he can throw at the professional level.  Cam on the other hand was disappointing at the Combine.  Auburn’s Pro Day gives him chance to improve on passing drills and exhibit that he can handle the NFL. (Auburn) and

Check out when your school is having its Pro Day.

It feels sooo good to be liberated! 

Ciao!

Heels & Helmets®

Combine all about Cam

Last week the NFL’s 2011 Combine began in Indianapolis, Indiana.  Over 300 NFL hopefuls went to Lucas Oil Stadium to showcase their talents and interview for NFL personnel.  Most of the attention centered on Cameron “Cam” Newton.  The Heisman Trophy winner who led Auburn to a National Championship is expected to be one of the top quarterbacks selected in the upcoming draft.

Before Cam arrived at the Combine, the media was gushing over him.  This enthusiasm elevated when he entered to address the media on Saturday.  Unlike other players, he began with a prepared statement prior to taking questions from members of the media.  In anticipation of questions about his focus and arrogance, his remarks addressed a comment that he made a few weeks ago about his endorsement with Under Armour in which he asserted that he was an “entertainer-slash-icon.”  Cam explained that football is a priority for him, but since he is representing more than just football gear he wants to be the best ambassador for Under Armour. 

The other point that had the media salivating was his announcement that he would participate in all of the quarterback workouts including throwing.  This was a big deal because a lot of top quarterbacks do not throw at the Combine.  Many agents recommend that they save that for their school’s pro day, so they can throw to receivers that they are very familiar with.  This year all of the top quarterbacks threw except Blaine Gabbert from Missouri.

Yesterday Cam, completed his workout.  It was a lackluster performance.  He didn’t perform poorly, but like any high-profile athlete the expectations are lofty.  So, great from them just comes across as mediocre.  I was not surprised to see him complete just over 50% of passes (11 out of 21).  I was not expecting to see accuracy from a quarterback who barely threw in his college offense, but it was disappointing to see a guy who is known for jetting out of the pocket tie for third in the 40-yard dash.  Now a 4.58 in the 40 is really fast.  To put it in perspective, last year’s #1 pick was quarterback Sam Bradford who ran a 4.79 in the 40.  However, Cam is a runner, so I thought that he would be a little closer to Vince Young’s 4.48 time in the 40.

In my opinion, Cam exited the Combine the same way he entered.  He is full of talent, strength, and potential and has the gushing eye of the media.  I don’t think that this weekend diminished his draft stock or strengthened it.  He’ll have another opportunity to show off his arm next week at Auburn’s pro day.

Ciao!

Heels & Helmets®

Combine is here, but no one knows if the NFL season will happen this fall

The NFL combine is starting this week.  College players lucky enough to receive an invitation will be in Indianapolis for a four-day intense interview starting on Wednesday.  Usually, at this time, all of the talk is about how the players will perform at the Combine.   This year things are a little different because the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the NFL and NFLPA (NFL Players Association) is expiring next week at the end of the day on March 3.  As a result, the negotiation on a new deal is overshadowing the Combine and leaving a lot of fans wondering if the NFL season will actually happen this fall.

The NFL led by its Commissioner, Roger Goodell and the NFLPA headed by Executive Director, DeMaurice Smith spent the entire weekend in federally mediated negotiations.  Since Friday, representatives from both sides were in a room for at least six hours negotiating in front of George Cohen, Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service in Washington, DC.  Surprisingly, everyone has adhered to Cohen’s request that no one comment publicly on the negotiations.  So, we do not have any information on the outcome of the negotiations. 

Here are some important points on the negotiation as I see it.

1. Perception that players get a bigger piece of the profit than owners is inaccurate.  60% of revenue is after owners get their money for operating expenses ($1B); so players are not getting more money than the owners now.  Both sides get about 50%.

2. Owners want to increase their expense credit to $2B and give the players less money.
3. NFL and its owners claim a decrease in profits, but won't share evidence to support this.  However, we know sponsorship is up and they were able to secure higher media deals.  With higher prices, Super Bowls ads for this year's game were completely sold out last October.  That’s three months prior to the game!  Plus, there is more ad time.  Ads during the Super Bowl have increased from 40 minutes to over 48 minutes.  The NFL is making money.
4. Players contracts are not guaranteed.  They make money only when they play.  Amount of pay during an injury depends on several factors including how many games were played prior to the injury.

5. Owners want to add two more games to the regular season while the players take a decrease in pay and increase their chances of injury.

The element that confuses me the most is that the NFL will not show financial information to validate their claim that profits are down.  In a special letter to ESPN.com, Greg Aiello, the NFL's Senior Vice President of Public Relations, wrote: “NFL players have an extremely favorable revenue-sharing deal and full access to all information on revenue and a great deal of information on costs, including the largest cost, which is for players.”

A “great deal”?  I think that this is very telling.  Why not share the entire story?

Let me explain it this way.  If I told my mortgage company that I needed to modify my loan because of financial hardship, they would require ALL of my financial information and expenses to make a decision.  A “great deal” would not be enough to even get my request considered.

This leads me to a deeper issue that I don’t think a lot of people observe and discuss.  The NFL and its club owners do not regard the players as equal business partners.  Their actions toward them illustrate a superior attitude.  They feel as if they don’t have to prove anything.  Players should just believe what they say simply because they said it.  In any other business negotiation, the partner would show the evidence of their claims and move forward with the negotiations.  No one makes a good business decision without ALL of the facts. 

Smith is law man, not a football man like his predecessor Gene Upshaw.  He does not know football, but he does know the law and how to negotiate.  With a background in litigation, he wants the best for his members and that is not just money.  With less than two years on the job, he is still new to sports; but he is not going to be bullied.  It’s a good thing for players that he isn’t afraid to stand up to “the shield” and demand facts to make a sound decision.

In short, it appears to me that the NFL is asking the players to work more for less money.  So, I propose this question that I feel is at the crux of this negotiation: 

Would you be willing to work more hours for less money while your partner reports record sales?

Ciao!

Heels & Helmets®

Super Bowl is over, but football is just getting started

Yes, we have our Super Bowl champs, but the conversation about professional football is not over; It is just getting started.   This is the time of the year when NFL teams start planning for the upcoming season.  The office chatter turns from what their teams did on Sunday to what their teams need to do to improve for next season.  A big part of this is who they think their teams should select in the NFL Draft. 

Before we get to the draft, we have to talk about the NFL Scouting Combine, referred to simply as “The Combine.”  It is the annual job fair for prospective NFL players.  This year it takes place from February 24 – March 1.  I describe the week-long process as an intense, invitation-only interview for the best college football players to get a job in the NFL.  Over 600 NFL personnel will analyze prospective NFL players as they participate in physical and psychological exams, interviews, tests and drills.  The athletes work hard to show all of the coaches, general managers and scouts from all 32 NFL teams that they are tough enough mentally and physically to handle a job in the NFL. 

I am sure that you have exciting plans this evening, so I will not go into the details of the top players today.  I am just going to explain the drills that are conducted at the combine. 

1. 40-yard Dash – Known as “the 40,” this is the most popular event at the Combine.  Players are timed running 40 yards.  Like track sprinting events, this drill is all about speed. 

2. Bench Press – This test is for strength and endurance.  Players bench 225 pounds as many reps as they can.  This will show who really spent time in the weight room in college.

3. Vertical Jump – Players stand straight up and stretch their hand to the sky.  The measurement of this point is the reach.  The player then jumps to hit a flag.  He must jump without running or rocking.  The difference between the reach and the flag is the measurement for “the vertical.”  This will show scouts the strength of the lower body.

4. Broad Jump – This is like a long jump without running.  Players stand and jump frontward as far as they can.  This is not only about the distance. The key is landing and not falling.  Scouts are looking for good balance.

5. 3 Cone Drill – Players run around 3 cones in an L shape and back.  This is to test an athlete's ability to change directions at a high speed.

6. 5-10-5 – The actual name is the Shuttle Run.  Basically the player has to run 5 yards to his right and touch the yard line, run 10 yards to his left and touch the yard line, then run a final 5 yards to the right to finish.

If anyone brings up a college player entering the draft, you can ask them how they think that player will do in “the 40.”  Otherwise, you can start the conversation by asking, “Who do you think will have the fastest 40 this year?”  For comparisons, review the highlights from the 2010 NFL Combine.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Ciao!

Heels & Helmets®