Category: Guest Stars

After the Texans released him, wide receiver Andre Johnson told the Colts’ website that the ensuing process felt like “being recruited all over again.”
It turns out that his NFL courtship had the same result as his collegiate one.
Johnson signed with the team of Chuck Pagano, the same person who recruited him to the University of Miami.
The Colts’ ties to “The U” extend beyond head coach Pagano, who coached defensive backs and special teams at Miami from 1995 to 2000 and served as a graduate assistant in 1986, and Johnson, who played for the Hurricanes from 2000 to 2002.
“We have a lot of history,” Johnson told Colts.com. “I just felt so comfortable.”
That history includes Colts associate head coach Rob Chudzinski, the Miami offensive coordinator from 2001 to 2003 and the school’s tight end coach and graduate assistant prior to that.
As soon as the Texans released Johnson, Frank Gore, who played at Miami from 2002 to 2004, called his former college teammate, asking where the receiver was going to sign.
The duo then flew to Indianapolis on Colts owner Jim Irsay’s team plane.
Gore signed with the Colts first — for three years and $12 million — while Johnson mulled over his decision.
As part of his research into the team that coveted him, Johnson spoke to Reggie Wayne, who played 14 years for the Colts before getting released this offseason following an injury-plagued year.
Despite being jettisoned by the team, Wayne praised the organization. Perhaps in part due to Wayne’s advice, Johnson signed with the Colts for three years and $21 million.
It will mark the second time Johnson has replaced Wayne, who played for Miami from 1997 to 2000. His senior season — when he posted 755 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns — coincided with the freshman season of Johnson, who would go on to record 1,831 yards and 20 touchdowns over three years.
Prior to signing with the Colts, Johnson also spoke to running back Edgerrin James. The Colts’ all-time leading rusher played at Miami from 1996 to 1998.
Gore, one of James’ successors at the U, has rushed for 11,073 yards in 10 years with the 49ers, a comparable number to James, who rushed for 12,246 yards, including 9,226 yards during his seven years with Indianapolis.
Upon seeing James’ Colts jersey at his new team’s facility, Gore flashed The U sign with his hands.
Though Gore is proud of his time in Miami, another college — Stanford — played a major role in his signing with Indianapolis.
Gore thrived in San Francisco, playing behind the run-first, power football design of head coach Jim Harbaugh, who coached Stanford from 2007 to 2010, and 49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman, Stanford’s tight ends/offensive tackle coach from 2009 to 2010.
Current Colts offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton, the Stanford wide receivers coach in 2010 and offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach in 2011 to 2012, worked with both.
“That’s why I came here,” Gore said.
Despite the obvious Miami and Stanford connections, Gore nearly signed with Philadelphia, where most experts had him going.
“It was tough, man,” Gore said, “because they really wanted me.”
Indianapolis, though, really needs Gore. Following their failed Trent Richardson acquisition, the Colts averaged just 3.9 rushing yards per carry to rank 25th in the NFL last year.
The Colts’ lack of a bell cow back not only prevented Hamilton from capably running that same punishing Stanford offense, it also put more pressure on quarterback Andrew Luck, who threw for 16 interceptions, seven more than he did in 2013.
Luck will now have the benefit of throwing to a deep crop of wide receivers, including Johnson, T.Y. Hilton, Hakeem Nicks, Donte Moncrief and Duron Carter.
The 33-year-old Johnson is not as explosive as he once was. Last year he failed to post 1,000 receiving yards for the first time in his career when he played at least 14 games. He also averaged just 11 yards per catch.
He, however, remains an effective possession receiver who can go underneath and open up the deeper routes for the speedy Hilton and Moncrief.
How much gas Gore has left in the tank is up for debate. He surpassed 1,000 rushing yards for the fourth consecutive season last year, but before the 2015 regular season, he will turn 32, an age well past when most NFL running backs have washed up.
But Gore, a five-time Pro Bowler who overcame tearing his ACL in back-to-back seasons at Miami, is used to defying the odds.
If he matches his production with San Francisco, Indianapolis will go a long way toward shoring up its running game, one of its major weaknesses from last year.
Another issue was a porous run defense that gave up 4.3 yards per carry, including allowing third-string Patriots back Jonas Gray to rush for 201 yards and four touchdowns during New England’s 42-20 victory in November.
The Patriots have ended the Colts’ postseason the last two years. Perhaps Indianapolis, which has advanced further in the playoffs in each of the last three successive seasons, can narrow the gap between the teams even more by signing defensive lineman Vince Wilfork, who New England released this month.
A college teammate of Gore and Johnson’s, Wilfork played for the Hurricanes from 2001 to 2003.
Whether or not they sign Wilfork, the Colts hope their new members from the Sunshine State can take them to the promised land.
Follow Jeff on Twitter @JFedotin

With NFL Free Agency kicking off, we’ve reached the point in the offseason where teams really begin taking shape for next year. Between free agency and the draft, a franchise can fill needs, stock up on depth, or create a whole new identity. In the last few years, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have taken a lot of big-time swings in free agency that haven’t exactly hit.
Carl Nicks suffered a toe injury that he never recovered from; Eric Wright was plain terrible; and don’t even get me started on the disasters that were Josh McCown (HOW DID YOU GIVE HIM A RAISE CLEVELAND!?), Michael Johnson, and Anthony Collins. That said, to give credit where credit is due, Clinton McDonald and Vincent Jackson have proven to be good signings.
But here we are in 2015. The Buccaneers hold the first overall pick in the draft and have a boatload of cap space. They can create more space by making certain moves, or they can also keep cash by cutting Johnson, even though his cap hit remains the same. To say that this team doesn’t have an identity would be putting things lightly (I guess they lose a lot, that’s an identity).
Their lack of identity is why I think the Bucs really should embrace their team name and its pirate ship “yo-ho” lifestyle this off-season and just say, “Screw it, we’re going to be the Seahawks East and create an unstoppable force of hate-able awesomeness.” Look at the Super Bowl-winning Buccaneers team. I know many fans like to point at Derrick Brooks and Ronde Barber as the signs of textbook professionalism, but looking at that team in that regard is kind of missing the point a bit—that team was NASTY.
Warren Sapp, Simeon Rice, Michael Pittman, Keyshawn Johnson, Dwight Smith, John Lynch, and the young fireball that was Jon Gruden (before he moved to TV and decided he loved everyone). If you want to hear some of the most colorful NFL language you can imagine, watch the Buc’s Super Bowl video. It’s basically three hours of trash talk and bleeped out expletives. I have a plan to bring back the nastiness that defined the 2002 Buccaneers and revive the fire that this team seemed to have lost since placing their trust in the blank expressions of Josh Freeman, Mike Glennon, and Lovie Smith.

1. Adrian Peterson – Give the Vikings Doug Martin and then play around with draft picks to make this reasonable. AP may only have a couple years left of real productivity, but the same can be said for Vincent Jackson. Peterson adds a dynamic weapon to the Tampa Bay backfield.
   
2. Greg Hardy* – Try to get him on an incentive-laden deal if he can keep himself out of trouble. I’m sure Hardy would enjoy taking it to the Panthers twice a year and keeping the division crowns out of their hands. Throw this pass rusher next to McCoy and Jacquies Smith, and BOOM CITY!
3. Ndamukong Suh – McCoy and Suh were BORN to play with each other. They tore up the Big 12 during their college careers and were drafted one spot apart from each other. Now, I know that you’re not supposed to invest so much money in one position, but when you consider the fact that McCoy has only finished two seasons in his career not on injured reserve, the risk might be worth it. Plus, how sick would that D-line be?
   
4. Jameis Winston – You know what a team that has zero fire or in-your-face intensity doesn’t need? A quarterback with a soft-spoken demeanor who hasn’t led a huddle in four years. Mariota can step aside because it’s the Jameis Show in Tampa. Of all the moves I’d like to see, this is the one that I am pretty sure is actually going to happen. The team has already begun to form a PR campaign to handle the potential hit that this could do in the mind of some fans, and allegedly, Winston has been in touch with a local respected religious figure to help integrate himself into the community smoothly. Winston is clearly the best QB in this class for a pro-style system and has the demeanor and tenacity to bring life to a team that desperately needs it.
   

So that’s it. That’s what I want to see when I look back on the Buc’s offseason in a few months. I want fire, I want meanness, I want HATE-ABILITY. Create an identity—you will hate us, we will beat you, and we will let you know that we beat you. A Super Bowl is only a hop skip and a jump away at that point.
 
* I don’t want Greg Hardy anywhere near my team, and I hope he never gets another shot in the NFL again.

Deion Sanders was there as part of his NFL Network duties. And the Sept. 18 game took place in Atlanta, where “Primetime” began his career.
So after returning a punt 62 yards to break Sanders’ all-time return record, Devin Hester mimicked the Hall of Famer by high-stepping the last 10 yards into the end zone.
But showing no sense for the moment or that the current Falcons returner was paying homage to the former Falcons great, officials gave Hester a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.
“It is unfortunate that the NFL won’t allow for that kind of celebration,” said Patrick Mannelly, Hester’s special teams teammate from 2006 to 2013. “I mean it’s an NFL record.”
With its stringent rules regarding touchdown celebrations, the NFL is once again living down to its notorious nickname — the “No Fun League.”
“We’re out there having fun,” said Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. “If you get in the end zone, you deserve to celebrate. It’s what we work for. So, once we get in there, I love to see guys just have fun, enjoy themselves, be a kid again.”
Though the NFL likely won’t relax its rules to allow for more frivolity, the competition committee would have to submit such proposals to NFL executives at the league’s annual meeting in Phoenix late March.
The Unsportsmanlike Conduct Rule
Currently, in Rule 12, Section 3 of the by-laws, the NFL lumps in such seemingly innocuous celebrations with other prohibited acts, including punching an opponent or making unnecessary physical contact with a referee, which results in a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty.
 
Section 3 Unsportsmanlike Conduct
Article 1: Prohibited Acts. There shall be no unsportsmanlike conduct. This applies to any act which is contrary to the generally understood principles of sportsmanship. Such acts specifically include, among others:
(a)  Throwing a punch, or a forearm, or kicking at an opponent, even though no contact is made.
(b)  Using abusive, threatening, or insulting language or gestures to opponents, teammates, officials, or representatives of the League.
(c)  Using baiting or taunting acts or words that engender ill will between teams.
(d)  Prolonged or excessive celebrations or demonstrations by an individual player. Players are prohibited from engaging in any celebrations or demonstrations while on the ground. A celebration or demonstration shall be deemed excessive or prolonged if a player continues to celebrate or demonstrate after a warning from an official.
(e)  Two or more players engaging in prolonged, excessive, premeditated, or choreographed celebrations or demonstrations.
(f)  Possession or use of foreign or extraneous object(s) that are not part of the uniform during the game on the field or the sideline, or using the ball as a prop.
(g)  Unnecessary physical contact with a game official.
(h)  Removal of his helmet by a player in the field of play or the end zone during a celebration or demonstration, or during a confrontation with a game official or any other player.
Note 3: Violations of (b) will be penalized if any of the acts are committed directly at an opponent. These acts include, but are not limited to: sack dances; home run swing; incredible hulk; spiking the ball; spinning the ball; throwing or shoving the ball; pointing; pointing the ball; verbal taunting; military salute; standing over an opponent (prolonged and with provocation); or dancing.
 
Who do football players hurt with these excessive celebrations that result in unsportsmanlike penalties?
Moreover, the semantics of the rule can make it difficult to interpret and legislate. Hester’s touchdown was excessive, but the Lambeau Leap is not?
The Husain Abdullah Penalty
Perhaps the most glaring screw-up in penalizing for excessive celebration occurred during the late September Monday Night Football contest between the Chiefs and Patriots.
After a Pick-6 against New England quarterback Tom Brady, Chiefs safety Husain Abdullah kneeled in the end zone in Islamic prayer and received a 15-yard penalty because he was “on the ground,” an activity outlawed in part D of Section 3, Article 1.
“That was just an errant call in my mind. Heck, a guy going to his knees and praying?” Abdullah’s teammate, Travis Kelce told NFP. “You can’t really say anything bad about that. It shouldn’t have been a flag.”
Kelce was right. The NFL admitted it messed up the call because, though Abdullah was going to the ground, it was part of a religious expression — no different than Tebowing.
Kelce, the dynamic Chiefs tight end entering his third year, is known for his touchdown celebrations, including The Nae Nae, The Shmoney Dance, The Bow and Arrow and even one that honors WWE wrestler Ric Flair.
“I do have some fun when I do get in the end zone,” Kelce said. “That’s for sure.”
One of the NFL’s most prolific celebrators is no fan of the restrictions.
“I really don’t agree with half of them,” Kelce said. “You got to abide by ’em … whether you like them or you don’t.”
Prior to Kelce, several players engaged in memorable celebrations that would be penalized today.
Chad Johnson performed CPR on a football and used an end zone pylon as a putter. Steve Smith pantomimed rowing a boat.
“When I was younger, I was big fan of Ochocinco and T.O. and Steve Smith and all the guys,” said Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans.
Evans, who scored 12 touchdowns during his rookie year, wishes he could celebrate in a way that reflects on his impressive prep basketball career, which led to numerous scholarship offers from Division-I schools.
“I wanna be able to dunk the ball,” Evans said.
Before the 2014 season, however, the NFL said dunking over the crossbar — something Saints wide receiver Jimmy Graham did regularly — would result in the 15-yard penalty.
This change to the rule by the NFL competition committee, though, made some sense. In previous instances dunking over the goalpost bent it, causing a delay in the game while it was reset.
The Odell Beckham Jr. Penalty
Making less sense is what happened to Beckham.
The rookie receiver was penalized 15 yards after he spun the ball and danced behind it following a first-quarter touchdown — his 10th score of the season — against the Rams in late December.
“I don’t think spinning the ball in front of myself is taunting anybody,” Beckham said. “That wasn’t directed to anybody. I spun the ball in front of me. I don’t think it was even past my feet.
“I didn’t quite understand the penalty.”
And neither do I.
Follow Jeff on Twitter @JFedotin