I understand that Bill Belichick has never been a fountain of personality when it comes to press conferences, quotes, and the media. In fact, the answers to the majority of his questions are about as vanilla as the wardrobe he sports on the sideline.

Let’s face it, he lets his ego get the best of him, to the point that winning is the only thing that matters. It’s his competitive edge, which I get to some degree, as certainly he’s not alone in having that desire to succeed. Yet, tonight I saw Bill Belichick stoop to what I would call a new low. A new low that by far eclipsed some of his past antics. To quote Fat Albert, he’s “like school on Saturday… no class”… and quite frankly, I think that’s putting it nicely.

In the wake of one of the more shocking upsets in NFL history, the focus of the cameras were deterred from the elation and joy that was about to explode from the sideline of the New York Giants, after their stunning 17-14 Super Bowl XLII victory over the “Artist formerly known as the undefeated New England Patriots”. Instead, the focus was pressed back on Belichick, who was able to trash the opponent’s newly earned spotlight just enough for the world to notice. At least, it certainly caught my attention.

Once Tom Brady’s final attempt to reach Randy Moss (on a 60-yard Hail Mary pass) fell incomplete, New England’s fate was sealed, and its perfect season had vanished quicker than the ’72 Dolphins could pop open their champagne bottles.

Still, in the final frenzy, players and media began to scatter onto the field, including Patriots coach Bill Belichick, albeit prematurely. Belichick did manage to give a brief congratulatory message to Giants coach Tom Coughlin, only to have a confrontation with the officiating crew shortly thereafter, in which we can only assume that he was informed that there were still two seconds on the clock, and another play would need to be run. Instead of pushing his team back to the sideline and restore order to the game, Belichick instead stormed off the field, exiting before the game clock hit zero, leaving his players to clean up the shocking mess that he left behind.

Quite honestly, this left me in complete disbelief. While on the biggest stage in all of sports, Bill Belichick, a three-time Super Bowl champion, didn’t have the decency to honor his opponent, and have enough class to remain on the field for a few more seconds. Just a few measly seconds. That’s it, that’s all it took.

There is no doubt in my mind that this was a tough loss for Belichick and the Patriots. Losing a Super Bowl is never an easy pill to ####. This one no doubt was tougher after not only losing a chance at another Super Bowl title, but also at a perfect season… “Superfection” if you will. Still, that doesn’t make his actions right.

No one can take away what Eli Manning, Tom Coughlin, and the rest of the New York Giants accomplished earlier tonight. New York’s performance was truly gutsy, inspirational, hard fought, and lucky, all wrapped into one Lombardi trophy-sized package. On a stage expected to present us with imminent perfection, the Giants instead created their own version of history, and did so in remarkable fashion.

No one can take that away from them. Even still, Bill Belichick and his classless actions certainly tried to in his own way. And as a fan of the game, that frustrated me.

Winning may be everything, but losing with dignity is definitely something as well. Someone please tell Bill Belichick that the next time they see him.


Photo Credits:
“Eli Pumped” – Via Fox Sports – Julie Jacobson / AP and “Belichick in Red” – Via Fox Sports – Paul Sancya / AP

All week on television, I keep hearing the “experts” chirping on and on as to how each believes that the Patriots moving on to the AFC Championship is a foregone conclusion, and taking care of the Jaguars was going to be a piece of cake. Therefore, I thought I would come in and not just throw that theory under the bus, but chain it up to the back of the bus and let it drag for a while. You see, not only do the Jaguars have a lot of talent on both sides of the ball, but also could find that history could possibly be on their side as well. To explain, let’s flashback to the NFL just over a decade ago…

And the Rest is History…

It was 1995, and the football world soon would learn that the city of Jacksonville, Florida was about to surprise many by joining Charlotte, North Carolina as the other city that year to be rewarded with an NFL franchise.

Unlike most expansion franchises of past and present, the Jacksonville Jaguars were immediately thrust into an eclectic mix of controversy, attention, and excitement. Right off the bat, the team not only was sued by the Ford Motor Company due to the similarity of the team logo (to that of the Jaguar car), the Jaguars also forced their way onto the NFL scene almost immediately by making the AFC Playoffs in only its second year of existence. This feat, of course, was matched by their youthful NFC counterparts, the Carolina Panthers. Yet, it wasn’t the way this team made the playoffs, but what they did once they got there that is pertinent. As you will soon see, the ’96 Jaguars have some eerie similarities to its 2007 counterpart.

On the Mark

The ’96 Jaguars were led by Mark Brunell, who at the time, was a slick-footed and mobile 26-year old quarterback. Brunell not only eclipsed the 4,000 passing yard plateau, but also had nearly 400 yards on the ground that year. David Garrard, the 2007 version of Brunell, while equally as mobile (nearly 200 yards during the season), is instead built like a tank, able to run over defenders like they’re a speed bump on the road. Furthermore, Garrard has made very few mistakes, tossing only three interceptions during 325 regular season attempts. Garrard’s mistake-free play and mobility is going to be key in competing with New England’s potent attack.

The “Who Are You” Crew

The Jacksonville receiving corps was a group of non-household names in 1996, yet featured players talented enough that they played themselves onto the NFL map. During the historic 1996 campaign, Keenan McCardell and Jimmy Smith established themselves in the NFL, as both eclipsed the 1,000 yards receiving mark that season. This year’s group of receivers in Jacksonville are once again not household names, yet possess enough talent to catch Garrard’s passes when the game is on the line. The Jags featured no 1,000 receivers in 2007, but successfully spread the ball out to players such as Reggie Williams, Ernest Wilford, Matt Jones, and Dennis Northcutt.

The Two-Headed Monsters

Having two feature backs on one team, also frequently referred to as the “two headed monster”, is a trendy and often used strategy in today’s NFL. The concept was infrequently used in the ‘90’s, but the Jaguars did implement it by using both James Stewart and Natrone Means during most games. Jacksonville’s 1996 two-headed monster combined for over 1,200 yards rushing. The 2007 version features veteran Fred Taylor alongside the youthfully talented Maurice Jones-Drew. Taylor and Jones-Drew combined for nearly 2,000 yards rushing this season.

The “Men of Teal”

On defense, the Jaguars are physical. A blue-collar group that consistently hits you in the mouth and tries to knock you off the line of scrimmage. Statistically, they’re not among the league’s elite, but they still cracked the top 15 in both 1996 and 2007. This stat was especially impressive for the 2007 team, who found themselves in a division with a trio of solid football teams, none of which ended the season with a losing record (Indianapolis – 13-3, Tennessee – 10-6, and Houston – 8-8). They’re a big, solid, and strong group, almost “Superman-like”. Therefore, one could easily refer to them as the “Men of Teal”, instead of the “Men of Steel”.

Elite and Greet

These two Jacksonville playoff teams (past and present) both were presented a meet and greet with the NFL’s elite team during that respective season. In 1996, it was the Denver Broncos, led by poster boy John Elway, who powered their way to a 13-3 regular season record. Alongside of Elway included a slew of other weapons, including RB Terrell Davis, TE Shannon Sharpe, WR Rod Smith, and WR Ed McCaffrey. In 1996, the Broncos were #1 in the NFL in total yards on offense, as well as #4 in total yards on defense. The 2007 counterpart is the story of the year in the NFL, that being the powerful New England Patriots, led by today’s poster boy Tom Brady. Vaulting their way to the first ever 16-0 regular season, the Patriots, run by head coach Bill Belichick, also featured their own arsenal of weapons, including WR Randy Moss, WR Wes Welker, ILB Tedy Bruschi, CB Asante Samuel, among others. Interestingly enough, like the ’96 Broncos, the ’07 Patriots were #1 in the NFL in total yards on offense, as well as #4 in total yards on defense.

Past and Present Day…

The 1996 Jags team entered the playoffs as the #5 seed, eventually holding off the Buffalo Bills 30-27 during Wild Card weekend. That set up the Divisional playoff matchup with the high octane Broncos team, when the Jags shocked the world by eliminating Denver at home by the same score (30-27). Today, here we are yet again. The Jaguars are the #5 seed in the AFC. They enter Saturday night’s showdown with New England as a heavy underdog, barely escaping with a narrow 31-29 victory in Pittsburgh last weekend. The Patriots, led by NFL Passing TD record holder Tom Brady, have the heavy burden of trying to complete the unimaginable, a perfect season since the NFL expanded to sixteen regular season games. Ironically, the 1996 Jaguars eventually lost the AFC Championship game that year to the Patriots.

A Simple Plan

The New England juggernaut is hanging on by a thread. If you can’t see it, your judgment is clouded. The Eagles, the Ravens… all teams that are inferior in talent this year, yet had their chances. There is only so many times a team can keep eeking out victories. Maybe if Rex Ryan hadn’t called that timeout in Baltimore. Perhaps if Eli hadn’t tossed that late interception in New York. If only the Colts and Giants could manage to hold on to each of their fourth quarter leads. Sure, it shows talent and poise to keep on winning, but the question remains, do the Patriots have three more games like this in them?

Beating the Patriots, believe it or not, requires a simple plan. Limit your mistakes and eat clock. The Jaguars have the players to make this happen. Jones-Drew and Taylor need to do their best impression of Willis McGahee and Brandon Jacobs. Run hard, run strong, and run efficiently, keeping New England’s offense off the field as much as possible. Because, the Pats will score. Garrard and the offense need to be in regular season form. The defense needs to be themselves… physical, smack the opposition in the mouth, while wreaking havoc for players like Moss right off the line of scrimmage. The tangibles are there. Execution is the only thing left. And oh yeah, you will have thousands upon thousands of wicked-loud fans to deal with up there in Chowda-land. Pressure? Nahhhh…

Easier said than done, that much is true. Yet, not out of the realm of possibility.

In Conclusion

Most involved with this 2007 Jacksonville team weren’t placed in the exact situation as the 1996 team, but the franchise as a whole has been. A franchise that has consistently maintained the same format and structure throughout its existence, from its inception in 1995 until today. This 2007 Jaguars team can build off that, and feed off it. A team with similar makeup and strengths able to make the unthinkable happen. It can happen again. Now, the 2007 Jaguars are in a position to make their own history.

As we have seen during the season, a near flawless game is needed to knock off the Patriots, and teams that have came close, simply made too many critical mistakes down the stretch, eventually relinquishing the lead to Tom Brady and crew. If the Jaguars should need any motivation at all, Coach Del Rio should pipe in highlights of those feisty ’96 Jaguars, who derailed pretty boy John Elway and Denver’s offensive onslaught.

The “Men of Teal” are here, and don’t be shocked if they spoil New England’s Super Bowl pahhty.

Sometimes, I really wonder about football fans in the New England area.  Yeah, I’m calling you out.  Are you real football fans?  I have to question it, specifically starting out with the individuals that run the local television stations.  But hey, now that I have everyone’s attention anyway…

 

I get it that your team was entering Sunday’s showdown with the Pittsburgh Steelers with an unblemished record.  I get it that you are gunning for a perfect season.  I get it that you have interest in watching your beloved team play.  I GET IT.

 

But shouldn’t it be OK to miss perhaps the opening kickoff and first few minutes of the game to see the completion of another?  Specifically one that has playoff implications and is about to go into overtime?

 

Case in point, yesterday’s game between the Tennessee Titans and San Diego Chargers.  Let me transport you to the waning moments of the game.  The Chargers were flat all game, with injuries being sustained to key players such as Philip Rivers, Antonio Gates, and Shawne Merriman.  Gates and Rivers fought through the pain and kept playing.  As a team, San Diego kept fighting, eventually clawing their way back, to the point where it was 17-10 in the final minutes, with the Chargers driving down the field for a game-tying score.  The once raucous Tennessee crowd was becoming uneasy, quieting from deafening cheers to borderline murmurs.  You could almost hear each fan squirming around in their seats.  With the game clock further ticking towards zero, Rivers lobbed a pass to the corner of the end zone, where star tight end Antonio Gates waited to try and win a jump ball situation.  As Gates reached up into the sky and snagged the ball, his feet came down near the sideline.  In slow motion, I watched in anticipation, as a fan of the game, and one who loves last second heroics.  The official slowly crept up from the side, and appeared to be raising his hands towards the sky to signal a touchdown when…

 

“… 0% down, come by and pick out your favorite model today…”

 

No, that wasn’t an advertisement geared at getting the attention of Tom Brady.  It was a car commercial.

 

I was now watching a local car commercial highlighting some cheesy jingle and an end of the season sale.  I kid you not.

 

The first thought that popped into my head was… “No, they didn’t… they couldn’t have.”

 

Giving the local executives the benefit of the doubt, I thought maybe it was a glitch with the TV programming, and the game was cut to commercial on accident, or just prematurely. 

 

They didn’t… they couldn’t have.

 

THEY DID.

 

New England pulled a “Heidi”.

 

Heidi, the lovable Swiss girl, also the focal point of a children’s movie that so rudely interrupted a tight matchup between the Jets and Raiders four decades ago next year.  That game was another matchup of two of the better teams in the league during that time.

 

The commercials finally ended, yet the battle between the Chargers and Titans was gone and off my television airwaves for good.  Instead, the pre-game for the Steelers and Patriots match replaced it faster than you can say “Spygate”.  I was officially thrust from the climax of one game with playoff implications, and into a pre-game chat filled with pointless banter.

 

Is there a legal contract here that something like this must happen?  Or is it that New England is so self-centered that no other game matters?  Contractual legality is the only thing I can come up with besides the fact that the head of the TV station is more of a “homer” than a football fan.  Either way you slice it, I see it as serving up a plate of “just plain ridiculous”.

 

Say what you want about it, but my message to the New England media is that you’re an absolute joke.  There, I said it.  What are you going to do about it, cut my cable line?!  You simply can’t block out the final minutes of an OT thriller (with playoff implications) to present the pre-game for the local team’s matchup.  That’s against “Football Viewing Code” if you ask me.

 

This further tells me that there could be a major event in our world today, good, bad, or tragic, and the local news stations would not dare report it because the Patriots or Red Sox were on TV.  I wouldn’t be shocked if it were only presented to me in the form of a ticker at the bottom of the screen.

 

And that, my friends, is my rant for today.  New England pulled a “Heidi” on me yesterday.  I wonder what they will do next.  My guess is something new happens by the final week of the season, when the locals do whatever it takes to get that Week 17 matchup against the Giants on local TV.  Remember, it’s on the NFL Network.  Attention New England: Since your beloved Patriots will be 15-0 at that point, why don’t you just put it on every station, much like the press a Presidential address gets.  You should put pre-game shows on during the 1 and 4 o’clock time frames too.  And yes, you can cut my sarcasm with a knife.

 

Who knows what will go on with the TV broadcast in upcoming weeks.  Stay tuned… literally.  With all my frustration, maybe I should just read a book.