James Harrison will now be trying to help the Bengals rather than be a problem to solve. ( Jason Bridge-USA TODAY Sports)
The “Hard Knocks” series on HBO each summer is always a “good watch” and this year’s look at the Cincinnati Bengals is no different.
What was obvious after the first episode was linebacker James Harrison’s attitude toward the cameras. At one point, he gets into a little back-and-forth with a cameraman, and then later is seen walking into a room and making sure to close the door so the cameras can’t film.
Harrison, in his own fractured logic, told the Cincinnati Enquirer, “I don’t feel they deserve to be here. They did nothing to be here, other than want to be here. They didn’t put no blood, sweat and tears into none of this. All these men in here, they did that. They (the cameras) did nothing. No one deserves to see this, to come inside of this unless you’re a part of this. That’s why.”
In another scene, Harrison actually got into a car of someone he didn’t know, just to get away from the cameras.
He added, “It’s kind of like this: Everybody knows I’m getting into the car with him. There’s a bunch of cameras watching me get in the car. It wouldn’t be too smart. They’ve got his license plate and everything else. And plus, I think I can kind of handle myself. He’s driving and I’m behind him, so I think I’d be all right.”
Huh?
Generally, Harrison doesn’t care for the media. He told the Cincinnati press corps, “Nothing against you personally. You might be a good guy. I just don’t like your profession.”
Well, we’ll see if that remains the case after his career ends if he’s offered a job by a media entity.
Right, Sterling Sharpe?
Are They Soft?
ESPN analyst and former NFL general manager Bill Polian was recently asked about the notion that the Green Bay Packers are “soft.” That’s all it took to get Polian going. Read carefully.
Polian said, “Well, any observer who describes any NFL team as soft has never been on the field, that’s for sure, because it isn’t soft down there no matter what style you play. Our Indianapolis teams were hit with that label a few times, and it was completely false, and it’s completely false here. There are no soft teams in the National Football League.
“And by the way, who was it that the Green Bay Packers beat in the Super Bowl? Can anybody remember and tell me? Well, it was the Pittsburgh Steelers, wasn’t it? And I don’t think anyone would consider the Pittsburgh Steelers soft. To me that’s nonsense.”
Defending Romo
There is a school of thought in the NFL that has always confused me. Often, we will hear the statement that, “it might not be fair, but quarterbacks get too much of the credit when a team wins and too much of the blame when a team loses.”
Well, if it’s not fair, why does anyone say it? That makes no sense. Sure, having an excellent quarterback is important. But, what quarterback operates efficiently without a good offensive line, much less receivers that can get open?
Football is the ultimate team sport with 11 guys at a time attempting to beat the other 11. Yet, if something breaks down, focus somehow usually turns to one guy, “the one that handles the ball on every play.”
Please. Can’t we all be a little smarter than that?
So it is as another season approaches that focus on Dallas is whether quarterback Tony Romo can win a championship for the Cowboys. Not, help the team win, but win. After all, Romo hasn’t come through in big games, as if he is on the field alone.
Cowboys coach Jason Garrett explained it best recently when he was asked about Romo having a record of 1-6 in “win or go home” games.
Garrett said, “I think teams win ‘win or go home’ games. I think teams win playoff games. I think teams win championships. Certainly the quarterback has a big role in having a really good football team, a championship football team. Tony’s done a great job helping us get into some of those games, helping us get an opportunity to win the division, to go to the playoffs, and sometimes it hasn’t worked out for our football team.”
And a bunch of those had little to do with the quarterback.
Not a Bad Start
No one was expecting much when Norwegian kicker Havard Rugland showed up for Lions workouts after being signed in the offseason. Rugland has a trick-kick video (just Google kickalicious) that is amazing to watch. However, what he did was a whole lot different than actually kicking in an NFL game. Everything is a first for Rugland, including even putting on pads.
So it was, that in the Lions’ first preseason game, Rugland calmly went out and made field goals of 49 and 50 yards. Not only was it the first American football game he played in, it was the first he ever even attended.
Said quarterback Matthew Stafford, “He’s a great guy and it’s just refreshing to see how much fun he’s having. The guy is having a blast here and he’s doing a great job. Just watching him out there is refreshing for us. It might be his first football game he’s ever been to in his life and he’s in the NFL. He’s playing, kicking, making 50-yarders. It’s an awesome story and the guy is a pretty darn good kicker.”
In Case You Were Wondering …
How the Lisfranc foot injury that NFL players fear the most came to be named.
The injury is on the top of the foot, where the bone nears the toes at the tarsometatarsal joints. There are varying degrees of how serious it can be. Jets wide receiver Santonio Holmes has had two surgeries, and still isn’t ready to play.
During the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, French surgeon Jacques Lisfranc de St. Martin first discussed the injury when a soldier was injured after a fall from a horse.
