Kevin Everett was on Oprah Thursday plugging his book Standing Tall. He was also on World News Tonight and Nightline. Friday morning he was on Good Morning America. That afternoon on ESPN radio, and ESPN TV has a SportsCenter special about him on Friday night. Today he will be a guest of commissioner Rodger Goodell and the NFL at the SuperBowl. Surely, that means he will be on Fox’s pre-game coverage. I’m guessing that there will be a number of more appearances over the next month. GOOD FOR HIM, and I hope his book goes on to be a best seller. This will be his fifteen minutes of fame. He should ride it out for as long as he can.
If you have been reading my blogs this season you know I am a Bills fan, and have been following his story. Little did I know that Kevin Everett and myself would end up sharing the experience of not being able to walk. I’m not going to repeat everything I wrote at the end of December except that his injury was much, MUCH, more severe than mine. We both have been doing physical therapy, and in two weeks I will be going back to work. Kevin Everett will not. He will never play football again. His livelihood has been taken away. So I hope his book becomes a best seller, and yes I am going to buy a copy.
I never get tired of hearing about Everett’s story. Especially the part when he says “I’m still trying to figure out what God is trying to tell me.” Because over the last few months I have said that same thing to myself. I don’t understand why God let this happen to Kevin Everett. I don’t understand why God let this happen to me. Maybe we were never meant to understand. All I know is that I’m a different person since this happened. A changed person for the better. I think Kevin Everett feels the same way.
So when the final gun goes off Sunday night either the Patriots will complete the perfect season or the Giants pull off one of the greatest upset. That will be the storyline as the 2007-2008 NFL season comes to an end. Than one of these teams will be Standing Tall at the end of the season. As the Vince Lombardi trophy is being presented to one of them take a second to think of Kevin Everett. Think of him up there in one of the NFL’s suites. Think of everything he had to overcome this past football season to be here at this very moment. Something feels so right about Kevin Everett looking down on this scene. Towering over everyone as he is Standing Tall.
* I have not picked a football game since Thanksgiving, but I can’t pass up the SuperBowl. I know your all at the edge of your seats. In a earlier post I said that I didn’t think New England would go 16-0 and the Dolphins had a better chance of going 0-16. Well, I was wrong on both counts. The Patriots are on a mission. To be the greatest team of all time. That was the challenge Bill Belichick gave his team during the bye week. That’s what kept them motivated during all those meanless games when they had nothing to play for. Granted they didn’t play great down the stretch, and even got lucky during the Baltimore game. They won ugly, but still won. That’s the bottom line. With two weeks to get ready I can’t see any reason to pick against them. The Giants deserve a lot of credit for getting this far. They have nothing to lose and will go out there and let it all hang out. This will make for a close game; Up to the 3rd quarter. Then I think New England will take over and turn it into a blow out. The Patriots will stamp their place in history as the best team ever. New England will be Standing Tall Sunday night as the greatest team ever.
Most of us don’t get very many second chances in life. How many times have you said “if I could do it over.” I know I have. I think that is why we love sports. Because no matter how bad a game you have there is always a next. Next at bat, next game, next week, next year, next time. This week’s games are full of 2nd chances, and it starts with my beloved Buffalo Bills.
Back in week five my Bills were 10 point underdogs at home to the Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football. Things could not be going worse for my team. Two weeks before my Bills lost their starting quarterback JP Losman on the first series in New England. The Pats went on and crushed Buffalo and my Bills fell to 0-3. With a rookie quarterback my Bills won the following game, but that was against the woeful New York Jets. The following week my Bills were going to play the undeated Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football. The first Monday Night Football game in Buffalo since 1984. Everyone knew why ESPN was showing that game. It was because of Dallas, not us. My Bills were ten point underdogs. Everyone, including me, didn’t think that they would win. Bills fans just hoped that they put on a good show, and boy did we ever. The team, the fans, and the city. We did Upstate New York proud. The only problem was we didn’t win the game. We let it slip away with no time on the clock. Another could of, would of, should of. What could have been the biggest upset of the year turned into the biggest comeback in Monday Night Football history. Who knew when we would be on national television again?
That loss hurt. It hurt for awhile. It did not help that we had a bye the next weekend. So it stung a little bit longer. What must have stung for starting quarterback JP Losman was that even after getting healthy he was still left on the bench. His understudy Trent Edwards was going to play, and Trent wins too. Then Edwards gets hurt. So JP gets another chance, and he leads the Bills to three victories. Enough to get noticed by the network. The network talks to the league about flexing a game. NBC’s first choices must have been the Giants/Lions or Redskins/Cowboys games. Because both the Lions and the Cowboys have to play again on Thursday the league says no. So the league picks the Patriots. They’re the showcase team now. With a chance to make history. They are playing the Bills this week. Buffalo put on a good show a few weeks back. What do you say we give the Bills another chance?
So the game is set. My Buffalo Bills get a second chance. They will be playing the showcase team. The only undefeated team left in the league. On national television. This time it is a bigger audience because it is Sunday Night Football. John Madden, Al Micheals, Bob Costas, Andrea Kremer, and Peter King. You don’t need cable to see this game. Just a good pair of rabbit ears. Buffalo is huge underdogs again. This time by 16 points. JP Losman gets a second chance too. A chance to show what he can do on national TV against the team that cheap shot his knee a few weeks back. JP has a chance to play the game of his life. He will need to because Buffalo's star rookie running back Marshawn #### is out. So another rookie running back, Dwayne Wright, will get his chance. Also veteran running back Anthony Thomas will too.
There has been a buzz here in Upstate New York for the past two weeks. Ever since this game was announced. The buzz is bigger and louder that it was for the Cowboys game. Maybe because this one crept up on us. Maybe because it is a division rival. I believe that it is because Buffalo has been given a second chance. Another chance to show the country that we can overcome the odds, hang in there, and this time maybe, just maybe, win a big game. So as my upset of the week I am going to pick my Bills to upset the Pats. I guess I am using my heart instead of my head on this one, but I could never go against my team.
So the script has been set for the sequel. I just hope that this movie has a different ending. And to all you nice Pat fans from Boston who I have had the pleasure of meeting over the years. The ones who travel to Western New York to cheer on your team. The fans who came here even when your team was not winning Superbowls. The ones who I have shared a drink in the parking lot and have told me over the years that Buffalo has the best tailgating. (We do!) I hope you go back home a little disappointed tonight. If you don’t then I hope you go on to 16-0, and break Miami’s 1972 record. I also hope that the Dolphins go 0-16. So I’m taking the Eagles this afternoon too. Spoken like a true red, white, and blue Bills fan.
The rest of my picks. Remember I like my beer straight up. So I don’t use the points. QB Daunte Culpepper gets a second chance against the second team that gave up on him. He beat the Dolphins earlier in the season. Today he gets a chance against the Vikings in Minnesota. Oakland is the pick this afternoon while rookie sensation Adrian Peterson watches from the sidelines. Chicago quarterback Rex Grossman also gets his second chance this afternoon to start for the Bears in Seattle. There were stories in the Chicago papers this week about how last year NBC could not wait to flex them to Sunday Night football. Now they could not wait to flex them off. Lovie Smith should use this a motivation to fire up the Bears against a Seahawk team playing on a short week without their star running back. Chicago is the pick.
Carolina quarterback Vinnie Testaverde is given another chance this afternoon. He will start against the Packers in Green Bay. This movie will not have a happy ending. Green Bay is the pick. The clock is also about to strike midnight for the Detroit Lions with games coming up against the Cowboys, Chargers, and two against the Packers. That loss last week in Arizona hurt bad, and that was one they could not afford to lose. They were probably looking ahead to this afternoon when they play the New York Giants. I like the Giants defense against the Lions shaky offence line. The Giants are my pick.
Last week I went 2-4, and am 30-22 for the season. Since, I didn’t pick week one I am still two games behind because a couple of weeks I made bonus picks. A Millers High Life 7oz pony eight pack. (Do they still make them?) I’m going to do that again today because their are two big games this afternoon north of the border. In Toronto the Argonauts play the Blue Bombers and in Vancouver the Roughriders take on the Lions. The winners will play in the Grey Cup game next week. The Superbowl of the CFL. My picks are both home teams. Toronto over Winnipeg and British Columbia over Saskatchewan. In keeping with my theme this week this will give Toronto’s head coach Michael “Pinball” Clemons a chance to win his second Grey Cup and
the B.C. Lions a chance to win their second Grey Cup in a row…Enjoy the games everyone!
There has been talk since week two that the New England Patriots are good enough to go 16-0. It heated up more this past week since the Pats knocked off the Cowboys last Sunday. So could it happen? Could the New England Patriots go undefeated and break the 1972 Miami Dolphins record for a perfect season. The answer to that is NO. The Pats could lose their first game in a few weeks when they play the Colts. Indy is flying under the radar this year and is enjoying the spotlight being on their arc-rivals. Instead of media focusing on them the Colts must be enjoying not being asked if they could go 16-0 or repeat as champs. The Colts are good enough to knock off New England in a few weeks. If they don’t then I still don’t believe that New England will go perfect for the year. The Patriots could have the AFC east wrapped up by week 11 or 12. Then they have back-to-back games against Baltimore and Pittsburgh. If they win them they will have the home field for the playoffs. Look for Bill Belichick to rest his starters for the last three weeks of the season. Belichick cares more about championships then he does records. Would you risk Tom Brady, and a few others starters, on a bunch of meaningless games at the end of the season. Face it, as great as it is going for New England this year this team is still just one injured quarterback away from becoming an average team. I think that the Miami Dolphins have a better chance of going 0-16 than the Patriots do of going 16-0.
With that being said here is my six-pack for this week. Remember, I like my beer straight up. The 16oz Icehouse make the best six packs. So my picks don’t include the points. New England will destroy Miami this afternoon. Don’t listen to all that talk that you heard this week about how the Dolphins always play the Pats tough at home. Miami has no defense. Their starting quarterback is Cleo Lemon, and his best weapon Chris Chambers was traded this past week. I smell a shutout. Look for the Patriots to send the Dolphins off to London with a bloody nose.
A tale of two quarterbacks; The Cardinals are down to their third string quarterback-Tim Rattay. He was just signed two weeks ago. Today, he goes up against a Redskins team that should still be angry for giving away another game. Washington is 3-2, but could easily be 5-0. They didn’t lose to the Giants and Packers. They lost to themselves. They won’t lose today. The Redskins at home are the pick. Atlanta is going to start Bryon Leftwich this afternoon. Another quarterback who was signed late, but did anyone really think Joey Harrington would last the season? Atlanta is coming off a short week and still licking it wounds from the Giants. They go in New Orleans who beat Seattle last week. The Saints need this game if they have any chance of getting back into the race. New Orleans at home is the pick.
I have three road warriors picks this week. I like Indy over Jacksonville on Monday night. On Sunday night I’ll take Pittsburgh over Denver in Mile Hiigh. My upset of the week is the Bucs over Lions in Detroit. Tampa Bay running game is still hurting, but I love Jeff Garcia’s mobility. I love the Buc’s defense too. This should make for an interesting game. Detroit’s head coach Rod Marinelli was the Bucs defensive line coach for ten years. Think he knows their personnel?
So much for upsets. Last week I went 1-5. I am 21-13 for the season. Speaking of upsets here are my final thoughts on the upset of the season that could have been. My beloved Buffalo Bills against the Dallas Cowboys two weeks ago on Monday Night Football. (No I didn’t take the bridge.) It was a great game, but the Cowboys deserved to win. My Bills didn’t seal the deal in the end. They let the Cowboys hang around. When you do that you get bit in the end, and the Bills did. Still, I thought that the Bills were going to lose by 20. Instead they lost by only one, and I am happy for Wade Phillips. He is a great coach and an even better man. Everyone knew how much he wanted that game after being fired seven years ago. The team game him the game ball. Wade showed a lot of class at the post game press conference. He could have bad mouth the Bills. Instead he thanked them. Wade said that he would not be where he is today if it was not for Ralph Wilson giving him a chance all those years ago. He would not have his dream job as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Something he wanted back when he started coaching at a Texas high school. Still, the Bills should have never fired him. Phillips should be celebrating his tenth year as Bills coach instead of his first season as the Cowboys.
Also, Happy Birthday to Ralph Wilson jr. Last Wednesday he turned 89 years young. Just when you think you have seen it all that Monday night game came along. Sure a victory would have been a nice, but I guess it was just not meant to be. Still, thank you for bringing football to this area all those years ago. As one of the original owners of the AFL. Fall in Upstate New York would not be the same without football. Yes, even with the heartbreak. Because there has been more good times at One Bills Drive instead of bad. Like the last two times Dallas came here. I was at both those games. In which those underdog Bills teams pulled the upset. So it is my fault that they lost this time. I’ll take the blame as my gift to you. So thank you Mr. Wilson for everything you do on and off the field. Just ask Kevin Everett. All that money that you have donated to the Miami Project sure paid off for him. This past week we heard that he took a few steps with the help of a walker. The news just keeps getting better. As I wrote after week one losing a football game on a last second field goal is not the end of the world…enjoy the games everyone.
Begin humming the Mission Impossible theme now. Good morning Mr. Belichick. Voice on tape is Robert Kraft. This man Eric Mangini, Belichick takesout a picture from an envelope, is a traitor to our organization. As you know he has left our club and is now working for one of our chief rivals. He must be taken down at all costs. And we already know that this can’t be done in just one encounter. We understand that there will be many battles with this man, and his group, in the future. At least two per season, and one of them will be this week. Our success depends on having the upper hand. Your mission Bill if you choose to accept it is to not only win the first contest this Sunday, but also figure out a way to get the upper hand for future encounters. As always if any of your members of your staff are caught or killed we will deny any knowledge of you actions to this man, Belichick takes another picture out of an envelope, Commissioner Roger Goodell. This tape will sel####estruct in five seconds. Good luck Bill. Tape burns up. Hum the end of thetheme the loudest now.
I guess it is just me, but when I heard about the whole Bill Belichick spying story I thought of an episode of Mission Impossible. You know the one with Peter Graves. Not the terrible movies with Tom Cruise. Because doesn’t this whole getting caught video taping signals story sound like a spy mission. My reaction to this was Big Deal.
This has been going on for years. The late great George Allen use to buy up the top floor of hotels so his staff could watch other teams practice. At old Veterans stadium there were holes in the walls so members of the Eagles’ staff could spy on the opposition. Raiders owner Al Davis went so far as to bug the visitors locker room to learn what adjustments they were going to make at half-time. (No doubt inspired by Richard Nixon and Watergate.) How many coachs do you see on the sidelines that cover their mouths while calling plays. So that their lips can't be read. So is it any surprise that technology has caught up with the NFL spy ring.
When Belichick apologized this past week it sounded more like I’m sorry that I got caught instead of I’m sorry for what I did. The truth is that Belichick’s game plan failed. He thought that he could use the old hide in plain sight philosophy. What is the old saying among thieves? If you are a fugitive then pretend to be a blind man and sell pencils in front of the police station. The cops will look everywhere but there. In front of their own house, or in their own backyard.
Spies have been using cameras in the stands for years. And with all the camera on the sidelines these days who can blame Belichick for taking a chance. Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying Belichick was right, but I don’t blame him either. The NFL has become a win at all costs, what have you done for me lately, league. There is too much money involved. Way too much! What is a sport to us is a business to them. A big $$$ business. There really is no such thing as rebuilding years. Instead it is called a plan, and if your plan does not work in a few years then your out. And yes, this does go for a coach who has even brought a team a couple of world championships. Just look at the hot seat Mike Shanahan has been on the last few years.
JOE’S SIX PACK-My six best bets for the day. Sorry, no points given or taken. I like my beer straight up. I like the Chargers tonight on the road in Boston. They have revenge in their hearts. If they only win one game all season this is the one they want. I also like the two teams that had ten days off, but they are on the road, Indy and New Orleans. I will also take Dallas on the road and Denver at home. Since it looks like I am a road warrior this week my upset of the week is my beloved Buffalo Bills over the Steelers in Pittsburgh. Hey, I will never go against my Bills. Besides after the week the Bills had who knows. They might bring a victory back home for Kevin Everett. Stranger things have happened. Like me! After not writing a blog for over a year I wrote two in one week. Enjoy the games!
Things have not been very sunny around here in Western New York the last few days. The rain started last Sunday morning, opening day of the NFL season, and has not stopped since. The weather is not the only thing that has been gloomy around here for Buffalo Bills fans like me. And it has nothing to do with the fact that my favorite team lost by one point to the Denver Broncos on a play that looked like a keystone cops routine. Bills fans lost a much bigger game back in 1990 by only one point. The difference was that game was the last game of the season. That Bills team missed a field goal as the clock was running down instead of watching another team made one.
A lose is a loss. It does not matter if it is the first game of the season, or the last. The one for all the marbles. It still hurts, and this one hurt bad. The Bills lost four players in that game against Denver. Some of them for the season. And I am sure everyone reading this knows the name of one of the members of the Buffalo Bills who got hurt on Sunday. Tight End and Special Teams player Kevin Everett got hurt on the opening kickoff of the second half. He went down and never got up.
Just a few minutes before, in the drizzle, another special teams player for the Buffalo Bills was getting his name put up on their Wall of Fame. Steve Tasker played on that Super Bowl team in 1990. The one that lost by one point. He also played on three other Bills teams that went to the Super Bowl. In one of those game he even blocked a punt that lead to a touchdown. I lost count on how many times I watched him fly down the field on a kickoff and crash into somebody. The difference is that Tasker always got up. Kevin Everett did not.
As Everett laid on the field a lot of prayers were said. Including the whole Bills team at mid-field. The next day the prayers continued, and so did the rain. Bills fans were a little bit down about the team losing their first game. The newspapers and the sports radio talk shows didn't beat them up to much. That's because the news about Everett was not very good. It was not would he ever walk again, but would he live to see another day. Would he live to see Tuesday 9/11/07, or would become another one to die on that date. A date in which so many lost there lives six years ago.
The rain continued at 5:00PM when the Bills held a press conference. The doctor who performed the emergency surgery on Everett did not have much good news to share. If Kevin Everett lived chances are that he would never walk again. He would also need a machine to help him breathe. One like the late Christopher Reeves used. He did say that Everett was talking. He asked to see his mother and was worried about her. He was worried about her.
Kevin Everett survived the night. Now would he survive another day? This day-9/11. The rain continued and I'm sure so did the prayers. There were lots of prayers today. Prayers and tributes to so many who did not survive this day six years ago, but at some of those services there were people who did survive. At one ceremony I saw there was a fireman and the person who he saved six years ago. So miracles do happen on 9/11, and it happened again today.
At about 6:00PM the sun came out, and about 6:15 all the local stations had breaking news. Kevin Everett's condition has improved. So much to the point that that he will not only live, but that he should make a full recover. The doctors are calling it a minor miracle. I call it a 9/11 miracle. One that reminds us again that God does answer prayers, and what a special gift life is.
The rain did not stay away for very long. While writing this blog a good thunderstorm kicked up. Things look kind of stormy for the Buffalo Bills too. The next two games are on the road at Pittsburgh and New England. My Bills could very well start out the season 0-3. Funny, how wining or losing a football game does not mean all that much to me anymore. As far as the rain, well at least the farmers are happy.
FYI- The sun is shining here in Upstate New York today. In more ways than one! JoeSportsmanship@hotmail.com 9/12/07
I Love Sports, all Sports! I also love Words. My dream is to become a writer, but I lack confidence in my writing. So I'm hoping that blogging will help me out, and maybe even get me noticed. My teams are the Bills, Sabres, Lakers, and all NL Baseball teams. I don't hate the DH rule, but I don't love it either. I live in Upstate NY with my wife, 2 dogs, and cats. I am very lucky because besides major league pro-sports I am surrounded by lots of minor league sports. Everything from hockey, soccer, indoor and outdoor lacrosse, arena football, and baseball. (Single A ball to triple AAA) Plus tons of great high school and college sports. Most nights you can find me at either a stadium or an arena. I love the passion and sportmanship I witness, and hope to share those stories with you. Enjoy!
