NFP»Columns»Notes from Lombardi»Tavern Talk
RSS

National Football Post Tavern Talk

I watched the 49ers defense yesterday and continue to be amazed at the play of Patrick Willis. He is all over the field and extremely productive. But the 49ers cannot be too happy with the play of Justin Smith. Michael Lombardi

Bookmark and Share Print This Send This October 02, 2008, 03:18 PM EST
32 Comments
                   

FROM MICHAEL LOMBARDI ON BEHALF OF ALL OF US HERE AT THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL POST….

Someone brought this to my attention and I feel like this is one area I do need to address for my own credibility, dignity, self-respect and for our site, The National Football Post.  The article below appeared in ProFootballTalk written by the owner, Mike Florio.  I have never talked to him, as I do not respect the manner in which he is constantly used by his sources to be a mouthpiece for their own interests.  I do know which Raider source is using Florio for his agenda and have heard the gossip transpire first hand. 

I have maintained my distance from his site as I like football much more than I like gossip.  For someone with no experience in the NFL or in any sports league, his personal attack was perpetrated with the recklessness that defines his site.  His is the type of gratuitous malice that the National Football Post strives to avoid in our pursuit of rich content unburdened by agendas and pettiness.  Yesterday, amid his unabashed praise for Al Davis (the ONLY person on the web, in print media, or on television who can be found taking that viewpoint) and his negative comments about people like Bill Belichick, Pete Carroll, and myself, Florio wrote the following:

“It wouldn’t surprise us to learn that Lombardi gave Belichick an unsolicited head’s up about Moss, which then contributed to Belichick’s ultimate pursuit of him.  If that happened, it technically wouldn’t be tampering by the Patriots.  It would be an act of treason by Lombardi against his employer at the time, but it wouldn’t be tampering by the Patriots.

This comment screams of ignorance.  As Florio would know if he had any genuine experience, to get a team interested in making a trade there has to be some form of selling the player before the transaction may actually happen.  This exchange occurs with every team and in every trade ever made in the NFL.  Had Mike Florio ever actually had experience in being part of a trade in the NFL, he would know this was not an act of treason but acting like an NFL executive.  When I traded wide receiver Doug Gabriel to the Patriots for a fifth-round pick the prior year, does Florio believe I told Belichick that Gabriel couldn’t play prior to commencing the trade?  It is hard to know the point that Florio was trying to make.

This story is typical of the type of stories thrown up on that site as “news,” such as his story last summer that Randy Moss might get cut, before he went on to score 23 touchdowns.  And since he never mentions our site nor links our breaking news we assume he will never read this story.  If that is the case, we hope he understands our intent here is not to engage in a war of words, but simply to defend against a baseless accusation.

Now that we have cleared that up, we move on to the football items....

1.     I loved the fact that Chris Johnson got voted rookie of the month.  My thought when I read that was that Joe “The Tipper” Fortenbaugh should be fantasy draft guru of the month.  No one was pushing Johnson, Jonathan Stewart, or Steve Slaton harder than our own Tipper. 

2.     I would have a hard time believing that the Skins can come into Philadelphia and win on the road without Shawn Springs playing corner.  I know I have been wrong about the Skins this year, but what was clear to me watching tape yesterday was the fact that I have NEVER seen Springs play any better in his entire NFL career. 

3.     I watched the 49er defense yesterday and continue to be amazed at the play of Patrick Willis.  He is all over the field and extremely productive.  But the 49ers cannot be too happy with the play of Justin Smith.  From what I gather watching tape, he does not seem to be the rusher they had hoped he would be for them.  He does not pressure or dominate for the amount of money they spent on him.  He needs to step up his game. 

4.     When I watch the 49er offense, I am not sure who is a better receiving tight end, Delanie Walker or Vernon Davis.  Walker looks like the more complete player.  Davis really struggles to be effective in the blocking, run, and protection aspects of the game. 

5.     With Big Ben missing another practice, I am sure he will find a way to play.  The biggest question is, who will play on the line for the Steelers this week in Jacksonville?  Here is the report from the Steelers web site. 

There hasn’t been any decision who will start at right guard for Kendall Simmons, who was placed on injured reserve after suffering a ruptured Achilles. Darnell Stapleton and Trai Essex are both in the mix, but Stapleton has seen more reps with the first team this week. “He has more recent history at the position in terms of practice,” said Tomlin. “Trai has been concentrating on swing tackle. Both guys will get work. We haven’t made a final decision there. We really don’t have to until Sunday night.” 

Amazing that Max Starks cannot break into the line-up and move Willie Colon over to guard.  At some point, Starks needs to earn his pay check. 

Comments

Add a Comment
sweet charlie
Oct 02, 2008
03:30 PM

florio is a BOOB. last season he literally cut and pasted a Boston globe story by mike reiss and posted on his website as his own original piece, then he went on to bash Belichick for stealing signals. Plus I love florio’s sprint ads that double as stories. profootballtalk is a virus

Chris in CT
Oct 02, 2008
03:37 PM

The Steelers coaches have been very high on Stapleton ever since they kept him on the team all of last year as an undrafted free agent. Guess we'll find out if they were right or not in their belief in him.

Lance
Oct 02, 2008
03:53 PM

Ditto what Charlie says. His love of Al Davis has hurt his credibility enormously. It's just a matter of time before even the stupid bubba's catch on that's he's more gossip than football. He's already irrelevant.

Rob
Oct 02, 2008
04:07 PM

Michael, the 49ers have not gotten good play out of the offensive line so far this year. Who do you think is or has been the better player between Joe Staley and Tony Ugoh so far? Their careers will always be linked because of the 07 draft, did the 49ers make the right move to go get staley or should they have stayed put and taken Ugoh?

Thomas Bonneau
Oct 02, 2008
04:19 PM

All you have to do is read the comments on PFT vs. NFP to know where people with intelligence prefer to get their football news.

PFT's comments are only a notch above YouTube's, and those posters are the mouthbreathers of the Internet.

michael
Oct 02, 2008
04:25 PM

staley is much better than ugoh....no doubt...

Uncle Rico
Oct 02, 2008
05:15 PM

I really can't believe this clown keeps getting more mainstream, getting linked and quoted and interviewed by 'credible media outlets'. I swear it's getting harder to distinguish anymore. That's why I really appreciate this site, and make it a daily stop. A friend of mine just informed me your old cohort Ted Sundquist is doing some pre-game for PFT. That's just sad.

I've always been curious about last years draft. I know Denver targeted 3 of the bigger turds in round 1 07, moving up to get arguably the turdliest of the 3. Sundquist said in the Denver Post after the draft he tried to get Pittsburgh to trade back from 1.15. Did Denver offer them their R1 and R3a or the same deal Jacksonville took? And was this all predraft or did they try again during the draft?

CJ
Oct 02, 2008
05:44 PM

PFT is the amalgamation of babblings and misguided ideas emanating from the confused and reckless cranium that is Florios.

Mr.Murder
Oct 02, 2008
06:15 PM

If a friend remembers a PFT rivalry with another website, maybe I can keep this discussion.

They made some false assertions and fell off my reading list.

Maybe he can remember what it was that went down.

Staley was a cap steal for a premiere line pay position where he was drafted.

His play can improve, but he's young, and he still has done well. Most of the time a sack is the QB holding the ball too long. The skill players always make the blocker right.

Ugoh, I was not high on him, having seen him play for the Hogs. That said, I hope the man does well on his return. He has got the measurables to become a force at the position. Maybe his feet and technique eventually match that.

You have got to love what Al Davis did for the game. He helped weld the AFL to the NFL. Davis made the sport much more exciting to watch as a legacy to the legendary Gillman coaching tree.

If you wanted to be commish of the No Fun League, Davis was not your man. It's sad to see the state of the Raiders at this time, he took the team to the summit of sports excellence.

He will remain an Icon to modern America's sports pantheon. He's always been a man of the future, even with such a celebrated past.

He has some amazing talent on his team at this time. To me, a guy like Coach Cable can get this thing lined out. you might not win all of them, but you sure as hell let others know what you are. He can give these guys some chance to establish identity and that was missing.


This what we are. Let's run it. We'll find out who can do that and who can't. Cable has this kind of approach on power football. He might not be the yeller or screamer, but that is something a player is more apt to do and be effective at it.

WC
Oct 02, 2008
06:47 PM

Thanks for that.

As a football fan, this site has become my haven from sensationalism and gossip. The insights and real football knowledge here are unmatched. I've been watching the site, waiting for the gossip, sources, and manipulation to start creeping in...I can now safely assume it will never come.

In my humble opinion, this is the best sports site, period. Florio is a joke, a leech.

Tom
Oct 02, 2008
08:24 PM

Thank you for your daily analysis! This is definitely the best site to get real football analysis, not the 'he said-she said' locker room crap that is the primary subject of other web sites (insert PFT joke here).

Sounds like you've been blessed in your life (two sons, rewarding career in the NFL, etc.), so keep up the good work since you must be living right!

DL
Oct 02, 2008
09:12 PM

Unfortunately, there have not been many sites that had daily NFL content in the past in a blog style (rather than an "ESPN news" style). That helped make PFT popular - not because the content was good, but because they churned league news so quickly.

I first found out about National Football Post from PFT. I'm sure they won't be linking to this site again (tee hee). PFT is based on being wannabe-pundits and rewriting of press releases (what do you know, these are the same things that make certain music review sites bad).

National Football Post is a great, great site and if you guys continue with it I have no doubt that it will rightfully surpass rumor-mongering crap like PFT in popularity in time. I read it with genuine interst in the stories, opinions and observations you provide rather than simply scanning for headlines and AP blurbs.

What I'm saying is that you have an audience that has been wanting a site like NFP for a long time. As part of that audience, I thank you.

Next 1 - 12 of 32 Prev COMMENTS

Add a Comment

* Required - Keep track of your comments Login or Register with NFP
(will not be published)