NFL
By Tim Peterson
Dennis Green was known for more than just pounding the lectern and yelling “The Bears are who we thought they were” after his Arizona Cardinals blew a 20 point lead and fell to Chicago in a Monday night game.
Green, who passed away of a heart attack July 21 at the age of 67, was the second African American to lead an NFL team after Art Shell who was hired to coach the Oakland Raiders in 1989. Green was the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings from 1992-2001 and later the Cardinals from 2004-2006. He had only one losing season in Minnesota and had an overall record of 97-62, including a 15-1 season in 1998.
The Vikings lost the NFC Championship game that year to the Atlanta Falcons. They also fell in the NFC Championship game to the New York Giants after the 2000 campaign.
Before his run in the NFL, Green was the head coach at Northwestern and Stanford. Most players, including receiver Randy Moss described him as a player’s coach. At every stop Green left the team in better shape than when he arrived.
Green was what we thought he was – a great coach.
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What happens when you haven’t had football for 22 years? You sell out season tickets in six hours as the Los Angeles Rams did for the 2016 season at the Coliseum. The Rams will begin selling a limited supply of single game tickets to the general public on July 28.
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With NFL training camps kicking off this week there are seven new head coaches. Only the NFC North and AFC West return all four coaches from last season.
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Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon has been reinstated by the NFL although he will still miss the first four games. Gordon has missed 27 of the last 32 games due to multiple suspensions. Gordon led the league with 1646 yards receiving in 2013 with nine touchdowns and averaged 117.6 yards per game.
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The Oakland Raiders haven’t made the playoffs or had a winning record for that matter in the last 13 years. However Raider fans might have something to get fired up about in 2016 with the addition of linebacker Bruce Irvin, cornerback Sean Smith (Blair High School) and safety Reggie Nelson. Also with young stars in quarterback Derek Carr and receiver Amari Cooper the Raiders should be fine offensively. Will the Silver and Black finally break through?
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Sure Aaron Rodgers is back in Green Bay. But after that there are plenty of questions surrounding the Pack. Defensive tackle B.J. Raji has stepped down and will take at least a year off. Receiver Jordy Nelson is coming back from a devastating knee injury and will running back Eddie Lacy show up this season? Rodgers can’t do it all himself although Green Bay did sign tight end Jared Cook to give him another target.
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$18 million per year seems like a lot of dough for a quarterback that played less than half a season and has yet to prove himself but that’s exactly what Houston is paying Brock Osweiler. The Texans no longer have running back Arian Foster, who signed with Miami, which puts more pressure on Osweiler. Also can defensive player of the year J.J. Watt return from back surgery? Things might not be that big in Texas in 2016.
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Surprise! Surprise! The NFL said it found no credible evidence that Peyton Manning was provided with human growth hormone or any other prohibited substances as alleged by Al-Jazeera America in a documentary aired last year.
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Looks like Pete Carroll is going to stick around Seattle for awhile. According to ESPN he signed a contract extension through 2019. He’ll be back but running back Marshawn Lynch won’t be as he announced his retirement earlier this year. The Seahawks are hoping Thomas Rawls will spell Lynch as he tries to come back from an ankle injury. Tight End Jimmy Graham also needs to bounce back from a knee injury that cut short his 2015 season if Carroll and the Hawks are to make another Super Bowl run.
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Things just keep getting worse for the Dallas Cowboys. Defensive end Randy Gregory now faces a longer suspension due to another violation of the NFL’s substance policy. Gregory now reportedly has checked himself into a treatment facility and will not be with the Cowboys as camp opens this week.
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We’re just 17 days away from the Rams exhibition opener at the Coliseum. They will kick off against Dallas at 8:00 p.m. On August 13. The game will be shown live on ESPN.
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