Why NFL teams should forget about Jeff Fisher

With the regular season over teams are starting to get rid of their head coaches.  Raheem Morris and Steve Spagnuolo have already found out what it feels like to lose their jobs after having a horrible season with their team (Bucs go 4-12 after starting the season 4-2; Rams go 2-14 which was a tie for the worst record with the Colts).  That being said, a lot of the talk these days has been about Jeff Fisher. This is the guy who was coaching the Tennessee Titans from 1997-2010.  While this is a lot time to be coaching a single team (I believe it was the longest during his era) if you take a look at his records, you can see that his style of coaching is already run its course.  It is outdated because its not motivating anymore.  He is going to have to step into a situation at St. Louis where the players have not been playing for the coach for a few seasons now.  He has had success in the past at Tennessee, but lately the only success he has had was when he was using Vince Young at quarterback.  We all know how he felt about Young the entire time.  Had Young been mentored by a better head coach, I have no doubt that he would be a superstar right now.  Instead he had a mental break down of sorts and is now backing up Michael Vick (which you can bet is a much better position for him to succeed).  He has not gotten a team to the Superbowl since they lost to the Rams back in 2000.  He has had very little success with some very successful quarterbacks.  He has had 6 winning seasons, 6 losing seasons and 5 dead even seasons (8-8) in the 17 seasons that he has been a head coach of a football team.  I realize that he transitioned over from the Oilers to the Titans and that might have had an impact on a lot of their losing seasons, but with one Superbowl appearance in 17 seasons, I cannot understand why an NFL team would want to have him as a coach.  He is 5-6 in the playoffs and he successfully managed to run Vince Young out of town even though it pretty much cost him his job.  After a year off of football sources are reporting that he wants to come back to coaching now?  That he is supposedly ready for coaching again.  I think that any NFL team who looks at him and decides they want him as their new head coach has got to be very desperate.  They must be needing to fill the position as soon as possible.  With St. Louis and Tampa Bay having vacant seats at the moment, I am sure Fisher is licking his chops to get back into the game.  I just really feel that both of these teams would be better served with a coach that has a positive impact on players (especially with Sam Bradford struggling the way he is).

Brian Urlacher’s Mom died unexpectedly. Not sure when he will return.

ESPN is reporting that Brian Urlacher is not sure when he will return to the Bears because he is going to be concentrating on being with his family for right now. He had originally left the Bears today for personal reasons regarding her Mother. Later ESPN found out that his Mother had died unexpectedly in her home in Mount Pleasant, Texas. I can imagine how that phone call went considering I have dealt with a similar issue in my past. The family at SidelineBlog are all hoping and praying that he and his family stay safe and make it through unscathed through the battle of recovery. With Urlacher gone, this leaves lots of questions as to who will step up to take his place in the absence. I think there is more than ever a question of depth with the Chicago Bears.  You all know that we arent the biggest fans of the Chicago Bears but I feel as if this story hits me personally in a way and would like to express my condolences to the Urlacher family.  Brian Urlacher release a statement saying, “My first priority right now is to be with my family as we mourn her loss and make the arrangements to lay her to rest,” Urlacher said. “This is a very difficult and emotional time for us and I sincerely ask that you respect our privacy.” I am not exactly sure what this means as far as him playing in the game against the Saints this Sunday, but it does not sound good.  If he is going to play it could really go one of two ways.  He is either going to have a rough time trying to get into the game, or I am going to feel sorry for opponents who go up against him because he might be taking all of his frustrations out on them on the field.  What does this mean for the Bears?  This means a huge blow if they cannot get him playing this weekend, but what can they really do?  He had 10 tackles, an interception, and a fumble return for a touchdown in their season opener against the Atlanta Falcons so you can see how important he must be to their defense.  By the way, they ended up winning that game.  Jay Cutler is just going to have pull some tricks out of that old bag of his if they want to get another win.  The Saint are not exactly happy coming off a loss to the Green Bay Packers (a team who stuffed them last season to go to the Super Bowl…its like double ouch for the Saints).

I think I speak for everyone though when I tell you that I hope Mr. Urlacher can come to grips with what is going on in his life, he should celebrate his moms life and maybe think about her when he is playing on the field and know that life is so precious that in an instant it can be gone.  Life changes and you have to roll with the pucnhes (and life will throw you some knock out style punches along the way).  Time will tell if this is a good or bad thing (was a great thing for Brett Favre). 

Peyton Manning out for the season?

We have been getting reports over the past couple of days and have just been confirmed that Peyton Manning will not only be missing the first game of the season, but that he has had yet another neck surgery a couple of days ago and will now be out for at least half the season. This leads me to believe that the Colts are going to be pretty insignificant this season with Kerry Collins. Just a couple of weeks ago, the guy was retired and no one can run the complicated Colts offense like Peyton Manning. I feel as if this could be the first season in a while they do not make it above .500.

Eagles and Michael Vick come to a 6-year deal.

If you thought Michael Vick was done with football whenever he went to jail, you we never so wrong.  He just managed to get a 9 figure deal from a team he really hasnt done much with yet.  I mean I am all for getting paid but that seems a little ridiculous if you ask me.   He is seriously back right at the top again though.  He is getting 40 million dollars guaranteed with his 6-year $100 million deal.  He only started in 11 games last season going 8-3 for the season.  Here is a list of career records last season with the Eagles (keep in mind that he played in 12 games instead of the normal 15 or 16 games like every other season with Atlanta):

• Passing Percentage:  62.6%
• Passing Yards: 3018
• Touchdown Passes: 21
• Rushing Touchdowns: 9
• QB Rating: 100.2
• Average Passing Yards: 8.1

If you take this into consideration you have to think that he has gotten even better since his Atlanta days.  I have a feeling there is going to be a lot of backlash in this whole process with him just a couple of years out of jail.  His previous deal with Atlanta was for 130 million dollars but over 10 years.  With this deal being even better, you can bet that people are going to come out ranting and raving about how we have not had enough time to see whether or not he has changed.  Look people, this dude grew up in an atmosphere of dog fighting.  Much of your middle-lower class in the South have all been to dog fights or at least heard about them.  I am not saying what he did was right or anything but I think you need to give the guy a break because he was just doing something that he grew up around and saw as entertainment on a Saturday afternoon.  He went to jail, paid his price…lost over 100 million dollars (most people don’t even make that much in the lifetime), his house, his team and came back stronger with a much better work ethic.  The point is that he came back and is now play even better than before.  He has a better supporting cast around him than he had in Atlanta which just goes to show that the Philadelphia Eagles will be a major threat to my Dallas Cowboys this season.

Michael Vick has offically turned his life around.

The comeback story of the decade has finally come to fruition.  It was the first time in sports marketing history that a company re-signed a player that had previously been fired.  Seriously, look it up.  This absolutely never happens…well I guess not until now.  Will Tiger Woods pick up his sponsors if he ends up turning his life around?  I think the answer to that question depends more on whether or not he can beat Jacks record.  Michael Vick is back because last season was his most prolific throwing season since he started in the NFL.   He ended the season with a QB rating of over 100 for the first time in his career.  He may have only run for under 700 yards, but that is still insane for a QB if you consider that Tony “uh oh” Romo has just over 400 yards for his career so far and Dan Marino finished his career with a total of 87 yards.   Some would say that this transition of his getting back into normal society has come “full circle” but I would argue that until he wins a Super Bowl or an MVP trophy its going to be hard to convince a lot of sports writers that he is completely back.  You would be remiss to think that this hype is not going to eventually get to a guy who was playing patty cake in prison just two years ago.  The point is that most people are looking at this as his welcome back into the ranks of the Elite but I could have told you that before he got out.  There really isnt much to do in prison other than work out and stay fit.  My next question honestly is where or not this opens up the doors for future convicted felons.  Are we going to just forgive and forget everything from now on?  Before Vick there was Kobe Bryant, Ray Lewis…so on and so forth.  Where do we as citizens and more importantly fans draw the line?  This is not about being black, white, rich, poor, or whatever, this is more about being a decent human being.  If you are going to set an example for our future, then set the example.  Here are some great Michael Vick commercials from the past.
This is a pretty good one.

Here is a short one

Here is my favorite one:

Brett Favre is Retiring for a Third Time

Yes for real this time, Brett Favre has decided not to return to the Minnesota Vikings more than likely due to his surgery not going as well as he had first thought.  Brett Farve has reportedly been sending retirement text messages to all of his teammates this morning.  Is this really for good though?  We have a long time until September.  Being a Cowboys fan this is music to my ears honestly.  I was kind of tired of hearing all about whether or not he was coming back but I do find it interesting that everyone in the media just assumed that he was coming back when he had his surgery and then he ends up not coming back.   He ends his career with the following staggering stats:

Brett Favre Career Stats

Superbowl Champion	1996
Pro Bowl	11x (1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009)
First-team All Pro	3x (1995, 1996, 1997)
Second-team All Pro	3x (2001, 2002, 2007)
NFL MVP	3x (1995, 1996, 1997)
NFC Player of the Year	5x (1995, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2007)
NFC Champion	2x (1996, 1997)
Consecutive Starts	285

Plaxico Burress placed on Non-Injured Reserve List

The New York Football Giants have suspended Plaxico Burress after he shot himself in the leg at a local night club.  The Superbowl star has had a lot of problems with his life lately.  The public and media have not been nice to him since he skipped a couple of team meetings.  To give you an idea of what I am talking about I will give you a timeline and you can see whether or not you believe he should be suspended and removed from the Giants (because essentially thats what they did when they put him on the Non-Injured reserve list), and by the way, he is also looking at 3 1/2 to 15 years in prison for his little stunt and not having a permit for his weapon.  I think the worst part about his situation is the fact that the Mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg came out and told the public he wanted Plaxico Burress prosecuted to the fullest extent.  I feel bad I guess…because the dude is a good guy for the most part.  He has some issues he needs to work out and I think his ego has gotten the better of him.  What I am confused about is he is only suspended for 4 games which is the “rest of the season” but what about the playoffs…the Giants will clinch a spot with a win this weekend.  Who knows…but something tells me that you have seen the last of Burress in a Giants uniform.  I think he is a talented enough guy to get one a team somewhere else, but he wont be in New York more than likely.

Mike Nolan fired Early

Well apparently the 49ers organization couldn’t wait until after next weeks game to fire head coach Mike Nolan.  Offical reports were that unless something spectacular happened next game, Mike Nolan would be fired afterwards.  They had a bye week this week, and it really made me wonder why they would do something like that.   I mean if you have a bye this week, then use that to get the new coach ready.  I know Mike Singleterry is the Assistant Coach but its not like he can just step in and get it done.  I think this is a smart move if you were going to fire him anyway although I think the 49ers have bigger problems than just the head coach.  I think that Singleterry being an ex player will be a great motivation to the players but I wouldn’t expect them to be contenders anytime soon (maybe next season).

Mike Nolan might be retarded, but if he is good at something, its being a coach.  Yes he has had his “miscommunications” with several players and probably isn’t the best fit for the Niners, but I think he would make a great head coach in other parts of the world lol.  No, when it comes to Mike Nolan, I just see a man who wont listen.  Alex Smith was hurt, he told Nolan he was hurt, yet Nolan kept going to the media saying Smith’s problems had nothing to do with his injuries.  Arnaz Battle told him why he was not going to be at some of the practices, and Nolan told the media he had no clue what was going on and why Battle was not there.  Don’t get me started on Josh Morgan and his stalph infection.  Nolan should not be learning from reporters about his player.  Anyways, I feel this is a good call but still don’t think this gets deep enough into their problems.