Dolphins running the Wildcat?

We're taking a break from the Big Ten for this post, and cutting up a much bigger fish (mammal - ed.) whatever. This weekend, as I was flipping around the NFL, I noticed that the Dolphins, pissed about tuna nets and the like, were slaughtering the Patriots. Normally this wouldn't be cause for a post, but it was the way in which they were doing it that was surprising. Why...they were using the Wildcat formation and turning a barely serviceable Ronnie Brown into LT at his most unstoppable!

Conventional wisdom says that the Rich Rodriguez/Urban Meyer/Wildcat Formation/gimmick offense won't work in the NFL. These offenses take advantage of defenses that are out of position and defensive players who are too slow to make adjustments and compensate for it. In the NFL, however, the defenses are too good to be caught out of position regularly, and are fast enough to compensate when they are. And if Pat White couldn't make it a season without getting injured while playing the Big East, think about what happens to a QB playing that way in the NFL.

That is the conventional wisdom. The Miami Dolphins, however, took conventional tossed it to the deep regions of space when they lined Ronnie Brown up at QB not just once or twice, but six times. Four of those went for touchdowns. Exactly how similar was it to the Arkansas Wildcat? Take a peek:



(via: phinphanatic)



Apologies for the poor quality in the Arkansas video - I'm having trouble coming up with a good video that accurately looks at just the wildcat formation. Regardless, it is very interesting to see an offense that is primarily used in college actually work in the NFL.

Could this be the first of a series of teams that look to implement aspects of the spread/zone read/wildcat? Or is this an isolated instance?

Either way, a team that was outmatched on paper used a gimmick offense to neutralize the oppositions superior talent, and it worked. Here's to the college game injecting some fun into the NFL!

Following Our Heroes; 2nd installment

With round one in the books and nary a complaint, we'll move on to round two, wrapping up the Big Ten...

Minnesota: Dominique Barber, safety, was drafted in the 6th round. He looks to make little impact on the Houston Texans, and will be lucky to see special teams duty - if he makes the team. Combine profile goes here. He is the brother of Dallas Cowboys RB Marion Barber, which will net him exactly zero points going into Houston's camp. Wait a second. Scratch that. It turns out one of the main reasons he was drafted was because his brother and dad played (plays) in the league...

"With (Dominique) Barber we feel like we have a player with a great bloodline. His dad played with the (New York) Jets; his brother now plays with Dallas. When you get into these kinds of rounds and you are going through and trying to decide who you are going to pick - a lot of things are good here, but it depends on who has a chance to really compete and try to make your football team at this stage. We think because of his bloodline with his dad and also with his brother that this guy will come in here and give everything he’s got because it’s in his family genes to make this football team."

That was Houston GM Rick Smith. So it turns out that the Texans took a flier on a kid because his brother worked out. Hmmmm...I wonder why Houston is perennially in the cellar...

Jokes aside, it sounds like Barber is well aware that if he is going to see the field, it's going to be on special teams:

"People know me as a safety, but I played special teams for four years at Minnesota. I look forward to doing that. I think it will help me to be able to play in so many different situations."

He warrants watching, but I doubt he becomes a super-contributer. There is a great write-up on Barber on a newly discovered, but appearing to be excellent Houston Texans blog called Battle Red Blog. Requisite hat tips and terrorist fist jabs to you, my friend.

Northwestern: There was nobody drafted, and as such, nobody to report on. If there was an undrafted FA, or something of that sort, please let me know.

Ohio State: Vernon Gholston is really the only choice here. Drafted in the first round by the New York Jets, he was last seen doing this:
Right. Combine profile goes here. Predraft chat with ESPN goes here. There is a small interview with Jets head coach Eric Mangini here that alludes to some sort of rule that kept Gholston out of Jet's camp for awhile. I wasn't aware that something like that had happened, but apparently Mangini isn't concerned. Gholston should be an immediate impact player on the defensive line for the Jets, and will be a lot of fun to watch develop as a player. He was one of those guys who was always going to be drafted high, but then tested off the charts at the combine. He went from a 15-25 overall pick type guy to a 1-10 overall pick. His knock at OSU was that he would disappear from games, going long stretches without impact. Did his combine effort put stars in GM's eyes? Time will tell.

Penn State: Dan Connor makes sense here, as he continues the strong tradition of white PSU linebackers. He was drafted by Carolina in the third round. Combine profile goes here. This is, again, a sort of "wait and see" type player. He has impressed in camp thus far, but is slated to be a part of the team in a backup capacity. In this Tricity Harold article, he is described as being "physical and instinctive." The cliche train then rambles on for a few more paragraphs before it is awkwardly concluded with a jab at the Big Ten's recent failings to beat schools with 'dat suthern speed, boyah. It is...not so good.

Purdue: The last remaining first round pick, Dustin Keller, was taken by the New York Jets. Combine profile goes here. On Thursday (umm..yesterday) against the Browns, he caught one pass for 5 yards. Unlike Mike Hart, this does not warrent a youtube clip. However, he has impressed in camp (to the point where a Google search of "Dustin Keller Camp" brings out about 5 articles of effusive praise, far and away more than any other player profiled here) and he looks to beat out Bubba Franks and Chris Baker for the starting role. Add in Brett Favre, and you get what could be a very successful rookie season for Keller. From QB Kellen Clemens:

"He was interfered with and still made the play," Clemens said. "He's a smart kid. He'll help us out this year."

Operative words being "this year."

Wisconsin: Jack Ikegwuonu left Wisconsin after his junior year, getting drafted in the 4th round by the Eagles. He was then dealt to the Packers, where he got mired in some legal trouble (now dropped) and badly injured his knee. He is on the PUP list for camp, and will most likely contribute only on special teams. I would have loved to profile somebody else for this spot, but the other Wisconsin draftees included a kicker, and a defensive tackle - both in the 6th round. If Jack doesn't play, I'll update the kicker Taylor Mehlhaff.

So, that's the list. Hopefully after reading this you're primed, and I'll go ahead and update stats, etc. after each NFL game this fall. At the end of it all, I'll probably pull together some sort of synopsis of "who had the best rookie season" and hand out an arbitrary award for "Best Big 10 Rookie." This, of course, can be used for trash-talk in the same way that Michigan fans use Tom Brady; no specific relevance to collegiate athletics, but still pretty awesome.

Following Our Heroes

Following our Heroes is the newest and bestest attempt at regularly scheduled broadcasting from yours truly. Each Tuesday (where applicable) I'll put up a little ditty following one NFL rookie from each of the BXI's teams. That's right, folks, a motherfucking ditty. The goal, of course, is to allow you, the Big Ten fan, a glimpse into your past hero's new lives playing football in funny looking uniforms. You can't possibly follow each one on Sunday, so what I hope to create is a one-stop place where you can catch up on at least one of your favs. I've got the preliminary list of players that I'd like to follow below - one from each team where applicable. This is not necessarily the end list, and I'm sure that Following our Heroes is going to go through several rejiggerations before the final format is settled upon. In most cases, I've tried to pick the most interesting player drafted. In some cases, I've picked the only player drafted. If there is a more interesting player, or a player that you would like to see followed that is not included, please leave it in the comments section, or email me directly. The NFL isn't nearly as fun as the college game, but it's always cool to see your favorite players do well in the league. Without further ado, the first 5 players on the list. Look for the remainder tomorrow.


Illinois: Rashard Mendenhall Drafted #23 overall to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Scouting Report goes here, combine profile goes here. There have been some fluffy pieces written about the potential of Rashard in the Pittsburgh offense - most of which are completely spun towards the fantasy buffs, and none of which are actually that informative. I get it. Mendenhall is a number 3 fantasy back at best. Arrgh. That does absolutely nothing for me in terms of how the Steelers figure to use him next year. In my estimation, Willie Parker will still be the number 1 back for the Steelers, but given his rather small stature, and Mendenhall's rather bruising style, I would imagine that Rashard will get a fair number of touches in that Jerome Bettis 3rd down/goal line situation. Offensive Coordinator Bruce Ariens told CBS Sportsline that Rashard has looked good in camp, and figures to be utilized by the offense:

"The change-of-pace guy that when you take your starter out, you're putting in the same quality guy," Arians said of his rookie. "Mendenhall will give us the ability to keep doing what we're doing. He might work as our goal-line runner if he shows the vision and patience for that. And he'll kill the clock at the end of the game. ... He should have fresh legs at that point in the game." Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports Mendenhall struggled in goal-line drills during the first week of training camp and could lose that role, possibly to Willie Parker"

So there's that. I wouldn't put too much stock in the Post Gazette's story about Mendenhall struggling in goal line drills because, like, duh, a rookie is going to struggle in his first NFL practices. The Steelers are trying to fill the Jerome Bettis role. Mendenhall looks to be that guy.

Indiana: Remarkably, the Hoosiers had two players drafted in the 2nd round - Corner Tracy Porter, and Receiver James Hardy. For purposes of this piece, I'm going to focus on James Hardy because he's more interesting to follow than a Cornerback, and he's from my hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana, where this happens. Scouting report goes here, combine profile goes here. Hardy figures to help out the Bills, partly because of his perfect wide receiver build, but mostly because the Bills ranked 30th in passing last year, scored a franchise record low 20 TD's total, and need all the help they can get. If Hardy had gone to, say, Michigan or Ohio State, I have no doubt that he would have been a first rounder at least, and a Braylon Edwards type at best. Typically, it takes three years for NFL receivers to pupate from larvae to beautiful TD catching butterfly; witness the aforementioned Edwards for evidence. Hardy has been sidelined with a hamstring injury, and is questionable for the the first preseason game. My guess is that he will get PT immediately once the season starts, and will be a good option opposite Lee Evans.

Iowa: CB Charles Godfrey was drafted in the third round by Carolina. He figures to be that defensive back that will probably see action as a nickel guy, and will definitely play on special teams. Combine profile goes here, pre-draft chat conducted by ESPN goes here. The only really informative thing I can dig up on Godfrey is that he will most likely compete for for the FS position with free agent Terrence Holt. Godfrey has the size to play anywhere in the secondary, so it will be interesting to see how Carolina utilizes him.

Michigan: There are several players from which to choose here, but I think the most interesting will be Mike Hart, drafted in the 6th round by the Colts, if only because he's such an NFL enigma. He's slow and small, but that were a problem, how'd he set all those records at Michigan? We know, barring injury, that Jake Long will most likely have a long and prolific NFL career. If Henne ends up starting, he could be interesting to follow, but won't be much fun as a backup QB. Hart is a mystery, and will be fun to follow. Combine profile goes here. Fluff piece from HOF game in which Hart carried for 53 yards and caught the ball for another 28 goes here. The tail end of that article seems to suggest that Hart will have a tough time making the team. It should be noted that most Colts fans and people who know better than I do seem to think that Hart will end up making the team as the third option RB. Why do Colt fans think this? Dungy to clarify:

“(Rookie running back) Mike (Hart) ran and did everything in the (preseason opener) just about as he’s done in practice (rushing for times for 53 yards and catching three passes for 28 yards). It really wasn’t surprising. When you watch him practice and watch him work, we felt like he’d have a good game. He did everything he was called on to do. He had two pass-protection pickups. He handled those well. He caught the ball out of the backfield and ran and made people miss. It’s probably what he has been doing for eight or nine years.”

Highlights? Highlights.



Michigan State: WR Devin Thomas was selected with the 34th overall pick to the Washington Redskins. Combine profile goes here. The hype around Thomas was over the moon when Washington picked him up in the 2nd round - he was a projected first rounder. Now? Not so much:

"Redskins coach Jim Zorn said rookie receivers Malcolm Kelly and Devin Thomas on Tuesday need to improve their conditioning and said he anticipates the injured receivers will have a hard time having an impact on the offense early this season. Kelly, who has hamstring and knee injuries, and Thomas, who has a hamstring injury, were hurt early in training camp and are likely weeks from a full return. Kelly underwent arthroscopic surgery Monday to remove floating particles from his left knee, and Zorn said the early prognosis of a return in two weeks was "ambitious.""

Once his Hamstring heals, he should be in good shape to contribute. As a rookie, however, losing those training camp days and conditioning drills hurts. A lot. Thomas was not eligible to play during the opening HOF game against the Colts.

Brett Favre: The Last Great One

We don't get too worked up about the NFL around these parts. That's not to say that the occasional "NFL" story doesn't crop up - but really, the NFL is just another league designed to allow us to watch our favorite college players play with oddly colored helmets. The true game is played for a magical 4 years (5,3, depending on who you are) on Saturday afternoons for a magical 4 months out of the year. The NFL, on the contrary, has gotten so over bloated with its own self importance that it's forgotten the truest emotion that has gotten the league on the top of the heap: Joy.

That's why, every now and again, a player who is mostly known for playing in that over-bloated league needs recognizing. Brett Favre never forgot that joy was his greatest weapon. He played for 17 seasons, had a near fatal car wreck in college, battled through a Vicodin addiction, supported his wife as she fought breast cancer, and channeled the memory of his father to the tune of 4 touchdowns on a magical Monday mere hours after he had passed. It would have been easy for football to have turned into a paycheck for Brett, as it has to so many other players. Through the strife, Brett never once forgot what the league as a whole has; that joy is the emotion that drives the game. It's not anger, not violence, but joy that you can't bottle and sell. It's joy that comes from celebrating each and every touchdown as if it were your first. Brett never lost that, and now he's mentally tired. His body can do the work, but the joy is gone. It was time to hang 'em up.

There are very few players who elicit the "you should have seen 'em" comment. You know what I'm talking about, when you're trying to describe what it was like to see Reggie Miller drain 2 three's and 2 free throws in 16 seconds against New York in 1995. You can't describe it, you can't even come up with words for it. All you say is "Man, you should have seen him." Mostly, these are the heroes of our childhood - a time where statistics were foreign, and all we knew was that certain men on the field were much, much more interesting than others. We didn't care about fantasy numbers, passing yards, who barked at who in press conferences - all we knew was..."man that guy could play." Those players are turning into ghosts. Montana, Elway, Rice, Sanders, Jordan, Miller, Magic...and now Favre. I bring this up to make a specific point. When you talk about the aforementioned players, never do statistics or records come into play. Not one bit. These players, and many more I'm too tired to name, not only played their game with joy, but they allowed us in our older years to recapture some of the youth-filled joyfulness that sports used to mean.

And anybody who can give the gift of youth back to us, if only for a second, is worthy of proper remembrance. Brett Favre. You shoulda seen 'em.

Mike Hart Speaks Out...

Finally, the reclusive UM running back, who quietly assumed the title of "all time rushing leader" his senior season, has spoken out. Well known for his humble attitude, and attention shunning demeanor, the soft spoken Mike Hart was interviewed in today's Free Press about the NFL, and his combine performance.

/opposite day.

Shocking, I know. It's mostly fluff, because if you know Mike Hart, you already know what he's going to say. Here are the more interesting tidbits:

"I think I'm one of the best running backs in the country. I don't think anybody is better than me," Hart said. "As a running back, that's how you have to think."

Again - shocking. Mike's always thought he was the best, and has backed it up. If he was healthy last season, and if Michigan didn't implode, he'd have won the Heisman going away. Of course, "if's" don't count for much do they? Besides, name one successful NFL player who doesn't think he's pretty damned good.

"If you hear things about me, my 40 time didn't surprise me," he said. "They're not saying Mike Hart is slow; they already knew what I was going to run when I was there. ... If they're interested in me, they're interested in me because of my game film, not because I was going to the combine and run a 4.2 or anything like that."

If you know Mike Hart, you already know this. It's nice to see him acknowledge it, but come on, he's not going to dazzle you with anything except maybe those blingin' sunglasses he likes to wear. Here's where fans are separated from casual observers. Unless you've watched Mike from his first hand off to his last carry, you don't know. You won't realize what he means to his team. The NFL - being full of self ritous, self proclaimed geniuses - will naturally have watched his film - from start to finish, and will evaluate as such. Mike's 40 time sucks. His leadership rocks.

Hart made sure to ask Mundy about the new U-M coaching staff, most of which was hired away from West Virginia.

"He said they're going to do good things, their system's great, they're going to put a lot of points on the board," Hart said. "The coaches are real cool, and it's a real family experience. ... It's a whole different system, so I think it might take time for players to learn it. After one to two years, it'll start to work."

Hart said at the combine that he had not talked with coach Rich Rodriguez, but he will when he trains at U-M.

"I have a lot of respect for him," he said. "I think he's a great hire, and I think he's going to do great things for the program."

Mike thinks the Rich Rodriquez hire is good. And that should be enough for Michigan fans. I'm sure that - if polled - most Michigan fans would have been happy to hand Mike Hart the clipboard as soon as he was done playing. So his endorsement should mean a lot.

If you're an NFL GM, you know you're getting a fighter in Mike Hart. For as much grief as he gets on opposing fan's message boards, the kid's a gamer. I, being one who has watched him his entire career, am glad to see that the confidence reserves are still tapped and flowing in Mike Hart.

If Combine Meant Concentration...

An Inmate with Number LB6 performs one of the many physically excruciating tasks at the "NFL Combine"

College should take at least 6 years. Hell, that's how long it took us - and that doesn't count the year we lived in the maintenance shed eating the Hub's leftover cheese toasties. That sounds like the easy life man, except that those cheese
toasties were cubed and recycled as croûtons before they got thrown out. Civil War hard-tac be damned, these things were like ice cubes of grease and cheese, which tasted exactly how you'd think they would - delicious. Don't believe us? We've got a smile like Lloyd Christmas to prove it.

Why on earth a young man who isn't living in the maintenance shed would want to actually cut his college experience shorter absolutely boggles the mind - and yet - around this time, hundreds of these young men are rounded up and herded into the RCA Dome in Indianapolis for the annual livestock show that is the NFL combine. Since we don't keep up too much with the professionals (their shiny teeth drive us to distraction), I thought I'd give a quick rundown of what this "combine" is all about, and let me tell you - it ain't pretty. In fact, from our basic understanding of the schedule, the "athletes" are processed, interrogated, forced to perform physical acts, then released. Those who don't perform are "cut." So follow us into the murky waters of the NFL combine, and Abandon Hope all Ye Who Enter Here.


Day 1:

Inmates...err...athletes are rounded up into a large room with concrete floors and harsh lighting. It is here that they are assigned a number. This number will be their name for the duration of their stay at the RCA Dome/Concentration Center.

Inmates are taken to a Hospital where x-rays and health examinations take place. This is the time that first "cuts" are made. Any inmate deemed too unfit to participate in the..ahem..activities is terminated.

Inmates are placed in a large holding cell and given the instructions that will allow them to survive the ordeal. Instructions include when tests are, what their "job" will be, when to show up for experiments, etc.

If an Inmate is lucky enough, an organization may be willing to sponsor him to compete in their gladiatorial contests without seeing many of the physical tests. In this case, the Inmate is shuffled into an interrogation room for questioning by the organization.

Lights out.

Day 2:

Physical Measurements are taken of teach inmate. These measurements include Height, Weight, Arm Length, and Hand Span. Those who do not make the "cut" are terminated.

Camp Officials then go over, in detail, every past injury of each inmate. There is no cut here, but those deemed "injury prone" are likely to be terminated.

High profile inmates who are guaranteed a sponsorship in gladiatorial contests are interviewed by the media for the fascination of the blood thirsty crowds. Panem et circenses, folks, panem et circenses. [ed. 10 points to the reader who leaves the history of that quote in the comments section]

Inmates are taken to "testing" rooms where highly secretive "wonderlic" psychological testing is done. A failure of the "wonderlic" psychological test could mean termination, depending on the result of the physical testing. One famously high profile inmate managed to escape termination despite sub-par "scores" on the "wonderlic" psychological test.

Again, inmates are interrogated by sponsorship organizations. Questions become more invasive, and those who answer wrong are terminated.

Lights Out.


This inmate RB39 was briefly sponsored before being terminated.


Day 3:

Inmates are herded into the same large holding cell where they are instructed with what they will have to do when they are selected for gladiatorial combat. The weary inmates have been so narrowed by now that many who remain will indeed be selected to compete in the arena.

These inmates are then issued more "wonderlic" testing, and interrogated by their potential sponsors.

Lights Out.

Day 4:

In this, the most physical day, many of the inmates will be terminated based on sub-par athletic performance. The inmates are tested based on 40 yard dash time, bench press, the diabolical three cone drill, broad jump, vertical jump, 20 yard shuttle, 60 yard shuttle. They are then sorted, often by height and weight, into "positions" based on the area that they are likely to be placed once in the arena. From here, they are given more drills to run based on what "position" they will occupy in the Arena. This lasts most of the day, with potential sponsors watching every move. Those who turn in sub par performances are terminated.

The remaining gladiators are then free to go until they are contacted by their sponsoring organizations during something called the "draft." Fame awaits them in the Arena. They are the lucky ones.

A Complete Waste of Time Part II

Well, the Giants had their time in the sun, which is more than can be said about Media Day, according to this

However, amidst a media contingent nearly double that of the Giants, the Pats players didn't stray much from addressing the one-game season, albeit with some "humorous" back-and-forth throughout the course of the day.

Reports were that the stadium EMPTIED when the Pat's left, and the Giants took the field for media day. Disrespect. It's quickly becoming the new cliche term of the NFL.

On to the Patriots roster:

Eric Alexander: LSU
Willie Andrews: Baylor
Kyle Brady: Penn State
Tom Brady: Michigan
Wesley Britt: Alabama
Troy Brown: Marshall
Tedy Bruschi: Arizona
Matt Cassel: USC
Kyle Eckel: Navy
Heath Evans: Auburn
Kevin Faulk: LSU
Jabar Gaffney: Florida
Randall Gay Jr.: LSU
Stephen Gostkowski: Memphis
Jarvis Green: LSU
Matt Gutierrez: Idaho State
Chris Hanson: Marshall
Rodney Harrison: Western Illinois
Ellis Hobbs III: Iowa State
Russ Hochstein: Nebraska
Larry Izzo: Rice
Chad Jackson: Florida
Nick Kaczur: Toledo
Dan Koppen: Boston College
Matt Light: Purdue
Logan Mankins: Fresno State
Laurence Maroney: Minnesota
Brandon Meriweather: Miami (FL)
Mel Mitchell: Western Kentucky
Rashad Moore: Tennessee
Randy Moss: Marshall
Stephen Neal: California State-Bakersfield
Ryan O'Callaghan: California
Lonie Paxton: Sacramento State
Jason Rader: Marshall
Asante Samuel: Central Florida
James Sanders: Fresno State
Junior Seau: USC
Richard Seymour: Georgia
Le Kevin Smith: Nebraska
Stephen Spach: Fresno State
Antwain Spann: Louisiana
Donte Stallworth: Tennessee
Adalius Thomas: Southern Miss
Raymond Ventrone: Villanova
Mike Vrabel: Ohio State
Ty Warren: Texas A&M
Kelley Washington: Tennessee
Ben Watson: Georgia NE
Wes Welker: Texas Tech
Vince Wilfork: Miami (FL)
Eugene Wilson: Illinois
Pierre Woods: Michigan
Billy Yates: Texas A&M

There it is. Witness its glory. The 18-0 Patriots.

Conference Breakdown:

non-BCS: 20 players
SEC: 12 players
Big-10: 7 players
Big-12: 7 players
Pac-10: 4 players
ACC: 3 players
Big East: 1 player

What does this tell us? Well - for starters - it's very interesting to look at the players that are "stars" for the Patriots. You'll see mostly big-name schools like Michigan, Georgia, Ohio State, and (the notable exception) Marshall. It appears, on first glance, that despite their reputation for mining talent out of nobodies, the Patriots rely heavily on BCS conference players. A full 12 SEC players dot the field for the Patriots, followed by 7 each from the Big 10 and Big 12. Compare this to the Giants, who have 10 players from the ACC - the most from any conference. Again, this is mostly irrelevant due to the previous "if you're good enough you'll play in the NFL" finding. It just happens to be that the Patriots get more production out of players who were good enough at major football programs. Oh - and the Patriots are probably the best NFL team ever assembled. Whether this is a coincidence, I leave up to you, the now informed reader.

Most Smartest Player:

Not a single Ivy Leaguer in the bunch, as compared to 2 from the Giants. In a battle of wits, the Pat's don't hold a candle to the Giants. Fortunately for the Patriots, and us, football is about two things, according to Vince Lombardi: blocking and tackling. Notice debate, essay contests, and reading comprehension aren't included. So who's the smartest on the Patriots? The award goes to Kyle Eckel for his enrollment in the Naval Academy. Take it from us, the Navy does NOT mess around when it comes to educating, hazing, lining up, hazing, and educating this nation's best and brightest. Mr. Eckel went there to play football. Voluntarily. While this may not speak volumes about his common sense, it speaks volumes to the fact that he was smart enough, and had to have gotten a senatorial recommendation. I once got a Janitorial recommendation. So Kudos Mr. Eckel - you're the most smartest. Just don't talk to Mr. Brown across the field, unless you want to join his Shakespeare club.

Biggest Locker Room Rivalry:

The obvious choice here would be Vrabel vs. Brady. The QB vs. the LB. Ohio State vs. Michigan. Blah, blah, blah. That rivalry isn't over-rated, it's the best in the country, but it lends itself to very little humor. I prefer the pure, unadulterated tension that must exist every time Tom Brady talks to Matt Gutierrez. Matt - if you can remember - was slated to start for the Wolverines after John Navarre graduated. That is, until his job was usurped by a young Chad Henne, forcing Matt to transfer to Idaho State if he ever wanted to see the field. The Patriots, figuring they'd had success with one low-round Michigan quarterback, decided to draft Gutierrez for their vacant 3rd string QB position. Two quarterbacks. Same school. One a superstar who dates Gisele, the other a 3rd stringer who had his once bright future yanked from him by a Freshman Chad Henne. You can taste the bitterness.

Oh - and they're both from California, and went to rival high schools.

A Complete Waste of Time

Here at State of Game, we don't really follow the NFL, which is to say that we watch it, but not with the same passion that we watch the College game. It's sort of like the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. Sure - it's fun, and you may even get a good shot of some body paint, but it's kind of weak next to that "Girls of the Pac-10" Playboy you've got right next to it (and trust us - the girls of the Pac-10 are the tops). The problem is that College Football shines like a supernova for a brief 3 months, then it's gone, baby, gone. Meanwhile, the NFL just keeps trucking, and on those lonely Sunday nights, we find ourselves being drawn to the bright lights - if only because we weren't able to get our hands on that Playboy.

So, it's become the pastime of ol' Beauford to endlessly annoy his lady friend - who is forced to watch NFL games - with streams of "He went to USC. He went to Penn State. He went to Georgia" and the like. Of course, these endless streams illicit equally endless streams of "oh" and "that's nice" and "are we really going to do this all day?"

So - in the absence the supernova/playboy (pick your metaphor), we've decided to break down the Superbowl rosters by college attended to see what we can see. It's kind of like trying to find the outline of the boob through all that body paint and airbrush. It's not going to tell us much, but it gets us through the rough times.

Giant's Roster:


Jay Alford: Penn State
Chase Blackburn: Akron
Kevin Boothe: Cornell
Kevin Boss: Western Oregon
Ahmad Bradshaw: Marshall
Plaxico Burress: Michigan State
James Butler: Georgia Tech
Barry Cofield: Northwestern
Jerome Collins: Notre Dame
Torrance Daniels: Harding
Russell Davis: North Carolina
Zak DeOssie: Brown University
David Diehl: Illinois
Kevin Dockery: Mississippi State
Reuben Droughns: Oregon
Jeff Feagles: Miami (FL)
Madison Hedgecock: North Carolina
Domenik Hixon: Akron
Brandon Jacobs: Southern Illinois
Michael Johnson: Arizona
Adam Koets: Oregon State
Jared Lorenzen: Kentucky
Sam Madison: Louisville
Eli Manning: Mississippi
Michael Matthews: Georgia Tech
Kareem McKenzie: Penn State
R.W. McQuarters: Oklahoma State
Kawika Mitchell: South Florida
Sinorice Moss: Miami (FL)
Shaun O'Hara: Rutgers
Antonio Pierce: Arizona
Geoff Pope: Howard
Fred Robbins: Wake Forest
Aaron Ross: Texas
Grey Ruegamer: Arizona State
Rich Seubert: Western Illinois
Steve Smith: USC
Chris Snee: Boston College
Michael Strahan: Texas Southern
Dave Tollefson: Northwest Missouri State
Amani Toomer: Michigan
Reggie Torbor: Auburn
Justin Tuck: Notre Dame
Lawrence Tynes: Troy
David Tyree: Syracuse
Osi Umenyiora: Troy
Danny Ware: Georgia
Corey Webster: LSU
Guy Whimper: East Carolina
Gerris Wilkinson: Georgia Tech
Gibril Wilson: Tennessee
Anthony Wright: South Carolina
Manuel Wright: USC

The Breakdown by Conference:

Non-BCS: 15 Players
ACC: 10 Players
SEC: 8 Players
Pac-10: 7 Players
Big-10: 6 Players
Big East: 3 Players
Big-12: 2 Players
Notre Dame: 2 Players

What does this tell us? Nothing much. The Non-BCS conference numbers are obviously skewed because of the much larger pool of schools from which to draw. We were surprised by the number of MAC schools producing for the Giants (4 Players). If anything, this simply serves to illustrate that if you've got talent, you'll end up playing on Sundays. Someone will "discover" you regardless of where you went to school. Take, for example, Michael Strahan. He's a star, he's a badass, and he went to Texas Southern. Brandon Jacobs? Southern Illinois. If you're good enough to play on Sunday, you'll play on Sunday. No individual school placed any more than 2 players on the team. They include Akron(?), Troy(??), Notre Dame, and Miami(FL).

Award for the most awkwardly intelligent player:

Kevin Boothe, an offensive guard, went to Cornell, which currently sits at 12th for overall academics according to the US News and World Reports. Kevin has the unique ability to talk shit at a level higher than any of his colleagues. We can imagine him knocking a Defensive End on his ass while saying "Fuck you, bourgeois motherfucker." Kevin just edged Zak DeOssie, who attended Brown, currently ranked 14th. They are the co-founders of the "Giant Shakespeare" club, and the club's only members.

Biggest Locker Room Rivalry:

This has to go to the Receiving Corp for the Michigan vs. Michigan State rivalry. Not only is this rivalry heated, but the two players in question (Toomer vs. Burress) play the same position. Combine that with the fact that Burress speaks a language all his own, and you've got the potential for scintillating locker room trash talk.

Toomer: My colleagues from Ann Arbor will most assuredly defeat the younger siblings down in East Lansing this year!

Plax: jkdflsa! aeirou, dahsfioosd, fjdkajdas! Motherfucker.

Toomer: Yes, be that as it may, the well documented economic strife of East Lansing leads me to conclude that Ann Arbor is a far superior area to attend classes.

Plax: fhkdjlajfkdal, uropeonvcn - eruifkldfa cocksuckerfjidauf!!


I'll bet Plax and Kevin Boothe have fantastic conversations.

UPDATE: Any player on injury reserve is not included on this list. Had they been included, nothing significant would have changed except Shockey would have increased Miami's presence by 1 player. 1 dirt eating player. Beauford's take is that if you're too big a pussy to play a full NFL season, you don't get counted.


COMING SOON - Patriots Breakdown, and (as promised) the State of the Big Ten.