Sunday, February 9, 2020

XFAlpha Podcast Notes - Episode 14

We published back-to-back episodes this week including a season preview. I will be publishing limited notes for that one, but here are all of my notes on Episode 14 where we talk briefly about the Royal Rumble before taking a deep dive into every team's coaching staff. Also, I get super pissed at Jonah for being an absolute fool.
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HEAD COACH

  1. Dallas Renegades
    1. Bob Stoops - Head Coach and GM - Oklahoma Head Coach from 1999-2016. Was almost the Iowa Head Coach as he is a proud Hawkeye alum and was an All-Big Ten selection and started his coaching career there where he coached under Hayden Fry for five years. Stoops elevated the Oklahoma program with consistently great offensive teams and on the years they found defenses, they were on the elite level of college football. I’m guessing he is the highest paid coach in the league as he is allegedly receiving $1 million for coaching this season. 
    2. Hal Mumme - OC - The originator of the Air Raid, and the man that taught it to Mike Leach. His earliest college head coaching job was with Iowa Wesleyan, because all great things start in Iowa and then move on. His head coaching resume is a mixed bag, but he knows offense, so Dallas is very likely to put up points. 
      1. Scott Spurrier - Quality Control - Oh hell, yeah, the young ball coach. 
    3. Chris Woods - DC - A lot of smaller school experience and a brief stint as Texas State’s interim head coach in 2018. 
  2. St. Louis Battlehawks
    1. Jonathan Hayes - Head Coach and GM - Iowa tight end that played over a decade in the NFL. He learned under Hayden Fry and first coached under Bob Stoops. Has mostly been a tight ends coach but was the head coach during the East West Shrine Game in 2018. 
    2. Doug Meacham - OC - Former offensive lineman for Oklahoma State who has been an offensive coordinator at many different places. He was last at Kansas where he was fired in the middle of the 2018 season.
      1. Chuck Long - RB Coach - Iowa - Greatest quarterback in Iowa history. Should have won the Heisman in 1985 but lost what was the closest Heisman vote in history to some schlub running back from Auburn named Vincent Jackson. Jonah, do you remember anything about that running back? As for his coaching career, he started off as a defensive backs coach for Iowa before transitioning to quarterbacks and worked his way up to Oklahoma offensive coordinator before becoming head coach at San Diego State. It ended after three seasons, and then he spent a couple years as Kansas’s offensive coordinator but has not been coaching since 2011. 
      2. Az-Zahir Hakim - WR Coach - Hell yeah, Az-Zahir is the man. His only coaching job was wide receivers for the San Diego Fleet in the Alliance.
    3. Jay Hayes - DC - An Idaho graduate who is the brother of Jonathan Hayes, so that is quite the XFALpha connection there as both the Hawkeyes and Vandals are represented. Special Teams coach for four years before spending 15 years as a defensive line coach, 13 of those years in Cincinnati.
      1. Matt Raich - Co-Defensive Coordinator - Another long-time defensive assistant that did most of his work with lineman and linebackers.
  3. Tampa Vipers
    1. Marc Trestman - Head Coach and GM - Former Minnesota Golden Gopher QB before going on to Miami to earn a law degree and make Bernie Kosar great as his QB coach at both Miami, where they won a National Title, and part of Kosar’s stint in Cleveland. He’s worked with Steve Young, Scott Mitchell, Jake Plummer, and led Rich Gannon to his MVP season. I know Jonah must love Trestman, because he is a 3-time Grey Cup Champion, twice as Head Coach of the Montreal Alouettes and once with the Toronto Argonauts. Oddly, there is no record of him coaching from 2013-2014 so as far as I know this is his first head coaching gig in the United States. 
    2. Jaime Elizondo - OC - Also has a law degree. He spent his last three years coaching offense for the Ottawa Redblacks so there is the possibility of him calling punts on third down.
    3. Jerry Glanville - DC - Master’s Degree, and he’s 78 years young, was a head coach nine seasons with Houston and Atlanta but never won a division title. Is not only worse than Joe Gibbs at coaching but also NASCAR. His last head coaching job was with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, so I think Trestman may have really been banking on this league having CFL rules.
  4. Houston Roughnecks
    1. June Junes - Head Coach and GM - June Jones is a very good offensive mind who had some impressive success at Hawaii and SMU. His pro coaching career wasn’t quite as stellar, but he knows how to put points up with the run and shoot, so at least his team should be exciting. 
    2. Chris Miller - OC - The old Falcons quarterback which is how he knows June Jones so well. His only coaching experience above high school is a four-year sting with the Cardinals as a quarterbacks coach that ended in 2012. He hasn’t coached since. 
    3. Ted Cottrell - DC - He’s coached a lot of defense in his day with a consecutive run from 1973-2009. And in 2009, he got his first head coaching gig with the New York Sentinels of the United Football League, but they were 0-6 and so bad that they moved to Hartford the next year. He took a ten-year break before being a linebackers coach in the Alliance, and now he’s a full-fledged defensive coordinator again. Sometimes you don’t need to be good; you just need to stick around. 
  5. Seattle Dragons
    1. Jim Zorn - Head Coach and GM - Possibly the most successful player of all the head coaches as he was a quarterback for over a decade in the NFL. He helped get Matt Hasselbeck career years as Seattle’s offensive coordinator before spending two years as the Redskins head coach. Since it lasted only two years, I feel like you can guess that things did not go well. He last coaching gig was quarterbacks coach for the Chiefs. You may be thinking that he may have some of that Andy Reid magic who has been with the team since 2013, but Zorn was actually pre-Andy, as he coached there in 2012 under Romeo Crennel. Hopefully the game of football hasn’t changed in the last eight years.
    2. Mike Riley - OC - It’s not fair that I laugh every time I hear Mike Riley’s name, but hot damn, he had to have been the worst possible fit for Nebraska. He was a very good coach for Oregon State, but his style really didn’t fit the bigger stage as he also showed when he inexplicably became a NFL head coach with the San Diego Chargers for three years. He would probably say his Nebraska tenure was highlighted by his 9-win season, but I prefer the previous year where he won the Foster Farms Bowl despite Nebraska entering the game with only a 5-7 record because not enough teams were academically eligible to make bowl games that year. In all seriousness, he’s probably overqualified to be the offensive coordinator, especially considering he led the San Antonio Commanders to a 5-3 record in the only AAF season.
    3. Clayton Lopez - DC - This is his first coordinator position, and he hasn’t coached since 2013. 
  6. DC Defenders
    1. Pep Hamilton - Head Coach and GM - He’s never been a head coach, but he has coached Andrew Luck, and somehow getting Luck to be a good quarterback is enough to continue to give this man chances. I feel like he would have had a pretty hard time to not get that done, and considering Luck’s immense talent, I’m not even sure if he did a good job with him.
    2. Tanner Engstrand - OC - He was an offensive coordinator at San Diego before a year as an offensive analyst at Michigan. He retweets everything the DC Defenders account tweets out.
    3. Jeff FitzGerald - DC - Has extensive experience coaching linebackers. He hasn’t coached since 2016. 
  7. Los Angeles Wildcats
    1. Winston Moss - Head Coach and GM - May have been fired from the Packers for tweeting mean things about Aaron Rodgers. He’s also never been a coordinator at any level but did coach under Mike McCarthy for 12 straight seasons, so that is a thing that happened. 
    2. Norm Chow - OC - Was hailed a genius for developing an offense at USC that was effective as long as they had the best talent in the nation playing for them. That magic formula wasn’t so great at other stops and especially bad at his one head coaching job at Hawaii. His last coaching position was a high school assistant in 2016. 
      1. Jerry Fontenot was an old Bears offensive lineman, and now he’s coaching offensive line for the Wildcats so that’s cool. 
    3. Pepper Johnson - DC - Was a defensive coach with the Patriots for 14 seasons but this will be his first coordinator position. Another guy who was very good on Tecmo Super Bowl for the Giants. He got his name by putting pepper on his corn flakes. 
  8. New York Guardians
    1. Kevin Gilbride - Head Coach and GM - Has only been a head coach one time in his career and that was a two-year stint with the San Diego Chargers where he went 6-16 before getting fired less than half way through his second year. He is mostly remembered for getting in a fight with Buddy Ryan while they were coaches in Houston. He won two Super Bowls as the Giants offensive coordinator but hasn’t coached since 2013. This does not seem like the most ideal hire to me. 
    2. George Mangus - OC - Most recently was the offensive coordinator at Kutztown, but he has both played and worked under Steve Spurrier, so maybe he can finally uncover some of that Spurrier magic buried deep inside him. 
    3. Jim Herrmann - DC - He was the top college assistant in the nation...in 1997. He left Michigan in 2005 and has bounced around as a linebackers coach since. He was originally going to become Bowling Green’s Linebacker’s coach, but the XFL is so hard up for coaching talent that he is now a professional defensive coordinator.
      1. Cris Dishman (D-Backs Coach) was a stud on Tecmo Super Bowl.
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Friday, February 7, 2020

The WWE Is Ruining... EC3

Why does the WWE hate EC3 so much? It’s the weirdest thing in that with limited exposure in WWE as Derrick Bateman, he still found a way to be very entertaining. Then, they released him, so he turned himself into a star as Ethan Carter III. Once he was a star for Impact, they resigned him again, and he immediately got over with the Full Sail crowd and was sent up to the main roster where he...sometimes chases the 24/7 Champion? I just found out in my research that he is actually a four-time champion. His reigns may not have lasted a combined minute, but four-time champion in the WWE is something that Roddy Piper can’t say.

But EC3 seems like a perfect WWE superstar. Good look, charismatic on the mic, probably only fine in the ring but definitely good enough. I like to take a look back and see how they have used guys. EC3’s last win on Raw or Smackdown was February 4, right after Dean Ambrose said he was leaving the company. They capitalized on that momentum by immediately having Ambrose get his win back the next week in under four minutes. His ONLY OTHER singles match on Raw was in September where he got beat by Rusev. It’s not like he’s been buried; it’s that they weighted him down and threw him to the bottom of the ocean, hoping to never see him again. He has been dealing with a concussion recently, but by far his high point of his time on the main roster was the one time Alexa Bliss briefly checked him out.

So my biggest way to improve EC3 is to...use EC3. Just putting him on television would be a great starting point. If you want to get fancy with it, you could actually let him talk on a microphone to accentuate his charisma, and eventually put him in a singles match with John Cena at WrestleMania. I mean, letting those two guys go at it on the mic is a perfect way to have a feud without Cena getting physical. That’s really not asking much, and using John Cena to put over a charismatic talent is probably the best use of both guys’ skill-sets.

EC3 vs. John Cena - Book it!

Other Wrestlers WWE Is Ruining
Aiden English
AJ Styles
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Thursday, February 6, 2020

Pro Wrestling and the Fascinating World of Free Agency

There has never been a better time to be a pro wrestling fan. Yeah, WWE main roster has some major issues, but NXT is fantastic, AEW is providing an interesting challenger, NJPW is still putting on ridiculous matches on their bigger cards, and NWA seems to get better every week. That doesn’t even include ROH, Impact, and MLW who have all been getting positive reviews. People may long for the good ol’ days, but there are just so many great options to watch right now that my only complaint is that I don’t have time to catch up on all of it.

There has also never been a better time to be a pro wrestler. There is a fit for every talented guy out there. If you’re looking to get the most exposure and have the highest potential for earnings, WWE is still the place to be. If you are looking for an international experience where you can work on a different style, the door to New Japan is open. If you are looking for the easiest schedule while having some flexibility in your bookings, both AEW and NWA have openings. Or you could do a sampler platter which appears to be the plan of Marty Scurll.

Everyone assumed that Marty Scurll would join his Elite friends and sign with AEW, yet he shocked the wrestling world and resigned with Ring of Honor instead. Now, with him signing the ROH deal, he was given freedom to work for the NWA and New Japan, and maybe others as well? At first, I questioned the decision, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense.

In AEW, Marty Scurll was stuck. He was so tied to The Elite that it could have put a ceiling on his potential. Cody and Kenny are your top guys, the Bucks are the tag team greats, and Page is the future star. Marty was the other guy. He was loved, but he also wasn’t seen as a top star since he did most of his work in six-man tags and the junior/lightweight division. He showed his potential in an amazing match against Kazuchika Okada, but it was going to be tough for him to leap over guys that everyone naturally saw him aligned with.

So he surprised everybody and chose not to go with the big wrestling companies on cable and resigned with ROH where he managed to have a very successful year without his Elite compadres. He’s not only making good money by all accounts, but he has the freedom to work with New Japan where he is challenging a former heavyweight champion and NWA where he is already in the title picture. Oh yeah, and he’s got a good amount of creative control in his home promotion of Ring of Honor.

Right now, you would have to say that Scurll is projected to have the most interesting 2020, and he did it by straying away from everything that people thought he would do. Before this, I think most assumed that top free agents would have two choices between WWE and AEW, but Scurll is showing that there are many doors to choose from, and for some top wrestlers, the best path may be the one less traveled.

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Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Matt Riddle and Grabbing the Brass Ring

Matt Riddle might be my favorite wrestler. Picking a favorite wrestler is more difficult than picking a favorite child, because I can flow from various guys depending on what is most current on my mind, whereas picking a favorite child is easy, because I only have one. Riddle is not only a phenomenal talent in the ring, but he was incredibly nice to everyone when I met him at a show before he got signed by WWE. Maybe the most awesome thing about him is that he really doesn’t give a shit. He proved it by continually smoking weed while in the UFC, he did his own thing on the independents and bounced around as opposed to signing exclusively with one company, and now he’s in the WWE where he very freely speaks his mind.

And WWE does not seem to be a fan of that.

Riddle is outspoken, and I can totally understand how that can rub people the wrong way. As a coworker, I might find him annoying, but even though he is ungodly talented, he also must be an incredibly hard worker to be this damn good at professional wrestling. He started calling out Brock Lesnar three years before he even stepped foot inside a WWE ring. Why? More like why not. If he would have put on a t-shirt that one of his goals was to retire Jinder Mahal, he would have just been seen as a dick, because he could probably very easily do that. Go for the biggest star in the business, and worst case is that it never happens but you get people talking.

So he did that and became a very sought after free agent. New Japan came very close to bringing him out for a tour which may have sped up the WWE’s decision making on bringing him into NXT. All he has done since joining NXT is put on awesome matches and became one of the most popular guys on the roster.

Oh, and he also continued to challenge Brock Lesnar...and Goldberg, and Chris Jericho, and Lance Storm, and kind of Booker T. I think that’s everyone.

So they finally put him in the Royal Rumble match which would have made total sense if he had finally squared off against Brock Lesnar. Instead, they waited for Lesnar to be eliminated and then brought him out, only to have him eliminated in a minute by Baron Corbin. Apparently, there was an “altercation” between Lesnar and Riddle before the show, but I feel like WWE could have convinced Lesnar to take a little offense and then eliminate him in a minute. Same end for Riddle but a way more exciting moment for wrestling fans. But instead they chose to punish him by bringing him out only to have him quickly eliminated to slam on the brakes for any main roster momentum that he might have.

And this is the problem with the WWE. They want guys to take chances and risks and become stars on their own and not depend on the machine, but when a guy like Riddle actually goes out and does it, they get mad at him because he didn’t do it through the right channels. Riddle was challenging Lesnar on the indies; it was a fun thing, but it’s not like anybody expected Lesnar to invade Washington Hall at some random Defy show in front of 500 people to actually take on Matt Riddle.

So now the WWE is telling NXT stars to not call out anyone on the main rosters, just creating a Matt Riddle rule to deal with things, because the WWE knows they have a special talent in Riddle so they can’t ever release him, no matter what he does. AEW would back up a Brinks truck in order to get Riddle on their roster, and they’d have Impact, ROH, and New Japan fighting to do the same thing.

So, you have Triple H who understands he has a generational talent on his hands, and Vince McMahon who only understands that some shitstain in NXT made Brock Lesnar unhappy, so he must be buried, even though he did that by grabbing for that brass ring and getting himself over where people would talk about him in a main event light, exactly what Vince McMahon preaches for young talent to do.

Hopefully, this is just a temporary blip in his career and not a grudge that the powers-that-be hold against him for no observable reason. Living down in Florida, I would selfishly like to see him stay in NXT for much longer as getting to drive five minutes to The Minnreg Hall in Largo, Florida and seeing the King of Bros put on a show is a pretty stellar Friday night. But I’m also a believer that people who are great at things deserve to be compensated for it, and this guy is a can’t miss star so I hope the WWE gives him tons of money to dominate in front of millions of people every week. This guy is BROver, and you’d have to be a BROfoon to not realize that.

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Tuesday, February 4, 2020

XFAlpha Podcast Notes - Episode 13

The XFL season is nearly upon us, and that means that we are dropping episodes like we're Pharrell, because trust me when I tell you that these episodes are hot. On this episode, we tackle our last position group, the safeties as well as talk about the biggest acquisitions or near acquisitions in the XFL. We've got kicker news and a guy joining the league who both Jonah and I believe is the best receiver in the XFL. Notes and download information below.

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Twitter:  @XFAlphaPod


SAFETY

  1. St. Louis Battlehawks
    1. Herb Miller - FAU defensive back where he wasn’t even a starter. 
    2. Will Hill - Florida safety who reminds us that Twitter used to be good. Everyday Should Be Saturday broke down some of his greatest hits from 2010, and I just need to highlight some of those. Oh, as for football? Well, he was a three year starter for the Gators. He went undrafted but played four seasons in the NFL with the majority of the time being a starter and even got a pick-six on Drew Brees. Unfortunately, the Ravens released him when they learned he had failed a drug test and would be suspended ten games. That was his fourth drug related suspension. This is a guy who is slightly older but would probably still be in the NFL if he did not have drug issues. If he can keep things together, he’s likely the most skilled safety in the entire league. 
    3. D’Montre Wade - Murray State safety that had a two interception game against Missouri State one time. The Battlehawks are already referring to him as the real D-Wade. That’s bold. 
    4. Dexter McCoil - Safety out of Tulsa who did not get much love from NFL teams despite having 18 interceptions in college. He headed up to Canada where he dominated for the Edmonton Eskimos before the Chargers signed him, and he ended up playing 2016-2017 in the NFL. He’s bounced around practice squads since then, but this is a guy who has shown he knows how to produce, and he’s been very close to making it back in the NFL. He’s not super young, but I think he will be one of the better safeties in the league this season. Also, at 6’4” 220, he also has linebacker potential. He believes cocomelon is the wave. 
    5. Kenny Robinson - The best safety in the league. Robinson played the last two years for West Virginia where he was a first-team All-Big 12 selection but was dismissed from the team due to a code of conduct violation. Since he was only a sophomore, he couldn’t declare for the NFL Draft so has chosen to go into the XFL where he can raise his draft stock for April’s draft. This guy was a big-time performer in college and was likely headed towards being a mid-round pick and possibly higher if he impressed at the combine. He’s so young and still improving so it should be very interesting how things work out for him as it may influence future college players to make the transition to the XFL as a bridge to the NFL.
    6. Joe Powell - Maybe the greatest player in the history of Globe Institute of Technology. He has basically played in every minor league football organization out there since graduating in 2014. 
    7. Darius Hillary - Former Wisconsin Badger. 
    8. Harold Jones-Quartey - From the University of Findlay, so you know, he LOVES to fight. He played 29 games with the Bears, and I still remember nothing about him.
  2. Dallas Renegades
    1. Derron Smith - Fresno State safety that had 14 picks over his sophomore and junior seasons along with four sacks in his junior year. He came back for his senior year, the numbers dropped off, he didn’t get invited to the combine and fell to the Bengals in the sixth round. From 2015-2017, he still played in 38 games so he managed to stay fairly active, so this is a guy who stuck around for a while and is fairly recent to the NFL so I could see him doing well in the XFL, especially since the guy has a great nose for the ball.
    2. Kurtis Drummond - Michigan State safety who was two-time All Big Ten for the Spartans. He still didn’t get drafted but signed with the Texans where he primarily contributed as a special teams player from 2015-2017 but has not caught on since then. He’s recent enough that he’s an intriguing guy for me, especially with the success he had in the best football conference in the nation. Jonah, he had some good advice for you when he said, Stop doing it for the gram, and start doing it for yourself. 
    3. Montrell Meander - Grambling State defensive back.
    4. Doyin Jibowu - The pride of Fort Hays State, unable to make the Bears roster this past season.
    5. Ronald Martin - LSU Safety that was once traded by the Jets for a long snapper. That long snapper recently signed a four-year deal to remain with the Jets. 
    6. Jalen Harvey - Arizona State guy who didn’t play safety until his senior year in college. He managed 70 tackles, but no interceptions in 2018. His youth and newness to the position makes him a guy to keep an eye on. He could be a great success or could be one of the first cuts. 
    7. Marwin Evans - One-year starter at Utah State that played 32 games, primarily on special teams for the Packers from 2016-2017 but hasn’t made a roster since. 
    8. Ryan Moeller - Colorado safety that made a name for himself in the Alliance with two interceptions in his first two games. 
  3. Seattle Dragons
    1. Kentrell Brice - Louisiana Tech safety that who had a ridiculous pro day which helped get him signed by the Green Bay Packers. He played from 2016-2018 with the Packers before being a final cut with the Buccaneers this year. He’s very much a guy that is right on the edge of making an NFL roster, so I think he could be a very valuable addition for an XFL version of the Legion of Boom. 
    2. Cody Brown - Two-year starter at Arkansas State.
    3. Jordan Martin - Safety at Toledo before one year at Syracuse. 
    4. Tyson Graham - South Dakota safety. 
    5. Santos Ramirez - Arkansas Defensive Back. 
    6. Godwin Igwebuike - Northwestern safety that I can’t believe is not with the Seahawks as he set the damn combine on fire. He seems like a super athlete with great change of direction. He played with the Buccaneers and 49ers last year but was unable to make an active roster this year. And if you like genetics, his uncle was an NFL kicker for Tampa Bay in the 80s. 
  4. Los Angeles Wildcats
    1. Jordan Powell - Defensive back out of Widener. They are actually working him out at linebacker.
    2. Ahmad Dixon - Second-team All-American defensive back out of Baylor who crapped the bed at the combine and fell to the seventh round to the Cowboys. He managed to get in 11 games in 2015 and recovered a fumble for the Bears while purposely sabotaging the Vikings with zero stats. He’s been playing in Canada mostly since then. 
    3. Jerome Couplin - William & Mary safety who played in 18 NFL games over 2014-2015 but has not been back since. 
    4. Marsean Diggs - Stefon Diggs’s brother so Jonah is going to be way too high on him for that reason alone. Went to Iowa Western before transferring to UAB. At 6’3”, he’s pretty tall for a safety.
    5. Jaleel Wadood - 5’9” DB out of UCLA where he started all four years. Just graduated in 2017 but failed to make an NFL team, but this is a guy who may have been overlooked because of his size but can still make a big impact.  
    6. LaDarius Wiley - Three-year starter at Vanderbilt who just graduated in 2018. 
    7. Brandon Bryant - Played at Mississippi State and left for the supplemental draft. He’s been clocked at 4.24 seconds for a 40 yard dash. I don’t believe that time, but it does probably mean he’s fairly fast.
  5. DC Defenders
    1. Rahim Moore - Second round pick by the Broncos out of UCLA in 2012. During his sophomore year, he had ten interceptions, so the guy would seem to be a bit of a ballhawk. He had nine interceptions over five seasons in the NFL but hasn’t been able to make an active roster since 2015. It’s tough to see much potential in Moore at this point.
    2. Tyree Kinnel - Michigan safety who recently became a father to a baby girl. 
    3. Carlos Merritt - The pride of the Campbell Camels. 
    4. Matt Elam - Matt Elam was a pretty damn good safety for the Florida Gators before leaving after his junior year and getting drafted by the Ravens with the last pick of the first round in the 2013 NFL Draft. He had a strong rookie year where he was a full-time starter but did struggle with injuries and his playing time decreased with his last action being in 2016. Then we get into the issue of multiple arrests, the first being caught with 126 grams of marijuana which seems like a lot, but it’s only slightly over a quarter pound of weed. Weed does not weigh much, so that’s a lot, but it’s not like this guy is a drug kingpin. Maybe he just wanted to get really, really high. He also was charged with battery and theft when he tried to steal his ex-girlfriend’s cell phone. He did get the phone, but in the scuffle, she ended up with his phone, so he basically just ended up with a phone trade. That’s not great, but also not terribly worrisome as there was nothing terribly violent about the exchange, just some scrapes. And he’s a perfectly average height guy at 5’10”. Okay, that’s a little tall, but I’ll still represent for him.
    5. Max Redfield - Was a big time prospect at Notre Dame before transferring to Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He started two years for them and had some time in the Alliance, so he’s young enough and has been successful enough to be slightly intriguing.
    6. Tre Sullivan - Out of Shepherd U who played for the Eagles and won a Super Bowl ring. He was at least at one time a big wrestling fan as he posted a birthday picture from his younger years where he has a wrestling shirt, had wrestling plates and napkins, and even a birthday hat with The Rock on it. 
  6. Tampa Vipers
    1. Marcelis Branch - Safety out of Robert Morris. He is fairly woke on Twitter.
    2. Micah Hannemann - Safety out of BYU that just graduated in 2017 but is also already 25 years old. Appears to be related to Cub outfielder, Jacob Hannemann. 
    3. Robenson Therezie - Went to Auburn before playing for the Falcons in 2015-2016 and even got an interception against Jonah favorite, Zach Mettenberger. He’s been on some practice squads since then. Like all Auburn players, half of his tweets are War Damn Eagle. 
    4. John Green - I wrote this dude’s name down and now can’t find any information on him.
    5. Robert Priester - 5’9” safety out of Wyoming. 
    6. PJ Locke III - Texas safety that likes to play video games and just graduated last year. He’s mildly intriguing. 
  7. New York Guardians
    1. Dravon Askew-Henry - West Virginia Mountaineer who played Bandit Safety after starting nearly all four years in school. Fresh out of college, so he’s one of the more intriguing safeties out there. 
    2. Demetrious Cox - Started his last two years for Michigan State and played in four games for the Panthers in 2017. He had to pay over $1,000 to resolve an assault where he set his burrito down so he could repeatedly punch the cab driver when he was very drunk.
    3. Andrew Soroh - Defensive back out of FAU. 
    4. Max Lyons - Southeastern Louisiana product that has fun hair and had three picks his senior year in 2017. 
    5. Wes Sutton - Northern Arizona safety that graduated in 2018 so at least he’s fresh.
    6. Aaron Taylor - Safety out of Ball State.
    7. AJ Hendy - Safety out of Maryland. He managed to play one game for the Dolphins in 2016. 
  8. Houston Roughnecks
    1. Trae Elston - Went to Ole Miss and played in 14 games in 2017 before not making the league the last two years. 
    2. Marqueston Huff - Three-year starter at Wyoming and had a big senior year which helped get him drafted by the Titans in the fourth round. He played from 2014-2016 in the NFL but has not been back since. These are the type of guys that I tend to have my doubts about their ability to make it back. 
    3. SaQwan Edwards - New Mexico safety that was once arrested for rape but the charges were dropped.
    4. Ed Reynolds - Stanford safety that I thought would make a good pro. I was wrong. He won the Jack Tatum award his junior year for best college defensive back, stayed another year when all of his stats fell off and was drafted in the fifth round by the Eagles. All of that production in college never translated to the pros as he played in just 16 games over three years with his last action being in 2016. This is a name we know, but not a name we’ll need to know this year in the XFL.
    5. Kendall Adams - Former Kansas State safety. He’s 220 pounds so I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a move to linebacker in his future.
    6. KJ Dillon - West Virginia safety that was a fifth round pick by the Texans in 2016. He played in just five NFL games that year and has not played since. If you ever see him in the forest fighting a grizzly bear, help the Bear. He also loves chicken tender subs from Publix. People LOVE Publix.
    7. Fred Payne - Western Carolina safety, proud Catamount. 
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Monday, February 3, 2020

Let's Slow Down on the Kobe Love

Hoo boy, I’m coming in with a hot take today. That’s why I have waited over a week to post it, but I have to post it because this shit has gotten out of control. We need to slow down on the Kobe love.

Now first off, I get it. Kobe, and eight other people dying in a helicopter crash is no doubt a tragedy, especially since there were children involved. I loved watching Kobe Bryant play basketball, and I think he’ll forever be the closest player to Michael Jordan in skill and competitiveness. Also, Kobe was a guy who did a lot to try to promote the advancement of women’s basketball which I think is great.

But Kobe Bryant was a rapist, and you can’t erase that because it doesn’t fit your happy little narrative. It’s especially offensive when you hear about people talking about the Mamba Mentality, and not making the connection of a man who pushed for more, more, and more. It’s horrifying to think about, and I would hope it’s impossible to ignore, but so many people seem to be doing just that.

I don’t know how the NBA and various teams can look at honoring him, because this shit is not going to age well. Random teams retiring his number, an All-Star game being dedicated to him, he was a great player, but you can’t overlook the other thing forever. It’s not a matter of if but when a giant uprising forms for teams and the league to rescind all of these Kobe dedications, so what is the gain in doing this?

Again, I liked Kobe as a player, and what happened was no doubt a tragedy. But let’s get some perspective here, Kobe did something awful and if you’re going to recognize the good, you have to recognize the very bad that goes with it. You can respect his game, but you don’t have to honor him.

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