John Sweeney is an exceptional interviewer with a contagious sense of humor, and a knack for getting guests to open up regarding their personal experiences on the subject at hand. I was delighted to be invited as a guest on his Stories with Sweeney podcast.
John asked me to talk about my approaches to leadership and mental focus. We hit on a variety of areas in these subjects including listening to understand, putting a great team together [including recruiting people that ‘just want to kick your ass’], and how winning isn’t always defined on the scoreboard. When we landed on the topic of ‘process’, I was mentioned in the same sentence with Nick Saban! What an honor!
I hope you enjoy listening to this Stories with Sweeney podcast as much as I was thrilled to be on it. Listen to this podcast on You Tube at Stories with Sweeney – Discipline and Focus.
NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball finally gets its long awaited storyline. For the first time, a female head coach will be crowned the national champion as Katie Schumacher-Cawley’s Penn State University Nittany Lions take on Dani Busboom-Kelly’s Louisville Cardinals. Since the NCAA began awarding women’s volleyball titles, the champions have been led by male coaches. Both Schumacher-Cawley (known in brief by her initials KSC) and Busboom-Kelly will be more than worthy of being named a national champion head coach when the dust settles shortly after first serve at 3:00 pm today.
Both squads made it to the championship match in improbable fashion. Penn State was behind 22-16 and down 2 sets to 1 to an imposing Nebraska squad that had a more than capable offense, and the best defense in the country. Penn State put together a comeback for the ages, fighting off two match points, to prevail 28-26 in that fourth set, then pulled away for the victory in the deciding fifth. Penn State earned the recently coined ‘reverse sweep’ moniker having lost the first two sets, only to win the next three to advance to the final.
Louisville Head Coach Dani Busbooom-Kelly
Louisville’s victory was just as dramatic. Fellow ACC foe Pittsburgh had defeated the Cardinals twice in the regular season. Most pundits will say that it is difficult to defeat the same team three times in the same season. Pittsburgh concurred with this statement, as Louisville took them out in the National Semifinal. The Cardinal’s semifinal win is a match worthy of a story of its own.
Leading the match two sets to one, Louisville’s top attacker Anna DeBeer crumpled to the floor with an ankle injury early in the fourth set. Heroically substituting for the injured DeBeer, Payton Petersen ably put together two key kills along with two aces and a block, to support the Cardinals en route to the four set victory. For any average substitute to come on the floor in a crucial situation like this one, you’d expect a step down of skill and court impact. However, this was no average backup.
Payton Peterson’s volleyball pedigree is in the top 1% of backups in Division 1 Volleyball. Payton was a star at perennial Iowa High School powerhouse Dike-New Hartford. Her mother is long time University of Northern Iowa Head Volleyball Coach Bobbi Petersen. Payton’s three sisters all have played or are currently playing Division 1 Volleyball. Needless to say, Payton was prepared to step in for Anna DeBeer on Thursday night. Her clutch fourth set play catapulted Louisville to the national final.
Jess Mruzik – best live armswing in the finals
The Sunday final sets up in epic fashion, with notable players on each side needing to step up to bring home the title. Penn State’s Jess Mruzik has the best armswing of the remaining two teams’ attackers. With 26 kills in their comeback win over Nebraska, she’ll have to repeat that performance against Louisville’s stellar block. Caroline Jurevicius stood out on the right side for the Nittany Lions in the semis; her play will be critical in keeping the attention off of Mruzik and OH2 Camryn Hannah.
Perfect digging technique from All American Elena Scott
Louisville’s most heralded player this season does not attack the ball. 2024 All American Libero Elena Scott will have to pass nails to allow freshman setter Nayelis Cabello to spread the offense across all 30 feet of the net. Of particular importance, Charitie Luper will have to step up even more as a scorer with Anna DeBeer either sidelined or at less than 100%. Luper (like DeBeer) is an undersized Outside Hitter that can get super hot, but then go inexplicably cold for a swing or two. If not hot, Luper and company will be on thin ice in the final.
PSU Coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley
In sports, players, coaches and the media often use the term ‘going in to battle’ when talking about an upcoming game. Coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley however, is in a real battle, with breast cancer. Diagnosed in October, KSC has been battling cancer with grueling rounds of chemotherapy that leave her ill and weakened for days after treatments. Chemotherapy has also left her without her trademarked blonde hair; instead, a navy turban takes its place. In an interview prior to the national semifinal game, Emily Ehman asked how she is balancing coaching Penn State Volleyball while battling cancer. KSC said poignantly, “You can do anything, with a little help.”. If her coaching abilities alone don’t motivate you, watch that interview for enough inspiration to motivate you to run through a brick wall.
The matchup will be a well played affair, and both coaches will have their teams prepared. The teams are led by freshmen setters, and each have showed their youth for brief spurts in this tournament. Both will have to play with the steadiness of an upperclassman to give their teams a chance. Louisville’s defense on the block and in the backcourt will pose a stout test for Penn State. However, the Nittany Lions are at full strength on the offensive side of the ball. With the Cardinals at less than 100%, they don’t have quite enough to counter the PSU attack. I’m picking Penn State in four sets to win the title.
College football’s greatest beauty contest, the Heisman Award, will challenge this award’s voters more than it has in many years. Like kids at a toy shop, voters have tended to reach for the shiniest toy on the shelf when casting their ballot. Add in a dash of recency bias, and you have the recipe for a selection that is the coolest ‘now’ thing in football, not the nations best player for the entirety of the year. This year’s Heisman winner will certainly have had their winning votes cast with these flaws at the fore.
A picture that requires no caption.
The 2024 finalists include dynamic two way player Travis Hunter, explosive running back Ashton Jeanty, and quarterbacks Cam Ward and Dillon Gabriel. Twenty of the last twenty-four Heismans have been awarded to quarterbacks, so that eliminates Jeanty and Hunter; voters will just pick between Ward and Gabriel, right? In the great words of Lee Corso, “Not so fast, my friend!”
Cam Ward is a unique story of football perseverance. Ward began his career in 2020 with two lights out seasons at Football Championship Subdivision level University of the Incarnate Word. Having shown dominance with UIW, Ward moved on to College Football Playoff eligible Washington State University of the PAC-10 in 2022. Still shining individually, but without a strong enough supporting cast to generate a nationally contending team, along with WSU losing the musical chairs game that was the dissolving of the PAC-10, Ward took his talents to Miami.
Cam Ward made Miami a contender in 2024.
Ward’s heroics at Miami were superb all season. Without him in Coral Gables, the Hurricanes would not have been a relevant player in the ACC, or in the CFP rankings. His numbers on the field make him the best statistical quarterback on the ballot, but that won’t be enough to earn him the top trophy. Alas, enter recency bias. Miami crumbled down the stretch with November losses to Georgia Tech and Syracuse. Those two losses kept Miami out of the ACC championship game, locked them out of the CFP, and dipped Ward’s Heisman winning campaign hopes. Cam Ward may deserve better than the ballot results will show. I don’t foresee Ward hauling home the prize this evening.
If you were just a little ‘jelly’ over Dillon Gabriel’s dapper shot, add Heisman finalist to his good looking resume.
Dillon Gabriel is the shiny toy on the shelf that the voting kids are staring at. Like Cam Ward, Dillon Gabriel has driven across the country with a few logo changes of his own. Starting at University of Central Florida, making a pit stop at Oklahoma, then settling in at the Oregon, Dillon Gabriel has made a name for himself with his efficiency for each of the teams he has played for. Gabriel holds the distinction of being the only Heisman candidate playing for an undefeated program. Dan Lanning’s leadership, recruiting, and on field coaching has undefeated Oregon in the drivers seat for a National Championship. I question whether or not Gabriel could have generated the same success as Ward had he instead played for the U. Dillon Gabriel has not done quite enough individually to woo the first place votes necessary to earn the beautiful bronze 45 pound paperweight.
”I like to say that I’m a Christian, cleverly disguised as an All-American running back.” The important and insightful words of Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty cannot be overlooked. If the award was given to the ‘most humble person who is also the best college football player in America’, then Jeanty would be a shoe in winner. His name has been bantered about with the likes of Barry Sanders, the best college running back of all time (and in my book, the best NFL running back of all time).
A sweaty Ashton Jeanty all smiles as he makes his case for the Heisman Trophy.
Jeanty’s play for the Broncos is the reason their team is in the CFP with only one blemish on their season record, a nail biting loss to Oregon in early September. While his numbers are in the Barry Sanders ballpark this year, Sanders encountered far better defenses week in and week out in his 1988 Heisman season playing with Oklahoma State, than Jeanty has for his Broncos from the non Power Four Mountain West Conference. I’d be thrilled if Jeanty is selected for the award, but in the end I don’t see him getting the nod as the voters are savvy to the competition factor for successful running backs.
Prime Time on the Colorado sidelines
Colorado Buffaloes football has been the equivalent of a movie studio since Deion Sanders came to Boulder as head coach. Bringing his sons Shadeur and Shilo with him from Jackson State University to rebuild a Buffs squad that had won just one game in 2022, Coach Sanders has returned Colorado to national relevance, narrowly missing out on the Big-12 title game in his second season on the sideline. Neon-Deion has not disappointed with his media shenanigans on display throughout his various coaching tenures, and he has been vociferous about his son Shadeur’s omission from the Heisman finalist list.
Shadeur’s play has been exceptional (and could have been even better had the Buffaloes secured an offensive line that could have better protected him). Coach Sanders might be right about Shadeur deserving to be on the list. However, there’s another Buffaloes player that is a finalist, and is my pick to hoist the trophy at the Lincoln Center in New York City tonight.
Travis Hunter in the Heisman drivers seat..
Travis Hunter hopped on the Colorado train with Shadeur and Shilo when Coach Sanders took the reins in Boulder in late 2022. Past college football players have played ‘two way’ ball including Coach Prime himself; Hunter deserves credit similar to what Deion garnered back in his day. Hunter’s play if only playing on one side of the ball would merit consideration as a top player. At wide receiver, his 14 touchdowns and more than 1,000 yards receiving made him a threat on nearly every offensive down. As Colorado’s #1 defender at cornerback, he was a velcro defender who could out high point just about any receiver’s catch attempt. Opposing quarterbacks played keep away from him most of the year, and yet Hunter still corralled 4 interceptions.
I am not a fan of the grandeur Deion Sanders and his team have generated at Colorado. Sanders and sons (and Travis Hunter) have done enough camera mugging to ensure they are not forgotten in the college football landscape. I’d prefer instead that the attention for any team be earned solely on the field. But along with the Deion Sanders circus, Colorado did get one of the most miraculous program turnarounds in the history of the sport, a huge leap in booster revenue, and developed a Heisman candidate like no other in Travis Hunter.
Travis Hunter with the classic pose.
The Heisman voters should elect Travis Hunter as the 2024 award winner. With respect to Michigan great Charles Woodson, Hunter is the best multi way player since 1991 winner Desmond Howard. If Deion Sanders’ season long media attention getting behaviors for Hunter were stripped away, and personal bias toward a great person in Jeanty forgotten, the committee would cast their votes based only upon play. In that idealistic world, Travis Hunter would surely earn the annual honor. Deion’s and Travis’ attention getting ways with the media this season have only augmented Hunter’s candidacy. If he doesn’t win, prepare for endless whining from Deion Sanders that the wrong player was chosen. I wouldn’t agree with the whining, but I’d agree that the Heisman committee missed the mark.
Communication between the dugout, catcher, and pitcher used to be an art form. Pitching coach signs wipes, taps, and touches that could easily be mistaken for parking a plane. The catcher’s fingers twitch freakishly between the legs; savvy catchers paint fingernail polish on their nails to ensure the pitcher’s view of the sign. A dissenting nod from the hurler indicates disagreement regarding the desired pitch, and the process starts over. Meanwhile, a runner on the base paths is watching studiously with the hopes of picking up the sign to relay to the batter that the slider is coming his way.
Jose Altuve, George Springer, and company pose with the 2017 World Series Commissioners Trophy
Sign signaling was a part of the game for about 150 years. Pitchers, catchers, and managers had to regularly switch their signs to prevent the batting team from stealing the code for a more predictable effort at the plate. Preventing an opponent from stealing signs was an intellectual effort that without great care, opposing offense’s averages would leap and catchers would occasionally jump out of their gear to stop a darting pitch that was misinterpreted by the tosser. The Houston Astros took sign stealing to the next level in 2017.
The Astros no so subtle sign stealing tool
The 2017 Astros were a team built for success and poised for a World Series run. From Justin Verlander to Dallas Keuchel, and Jose Altuve to George Springer, this team had more than enough on its roster to win the World Series fair and square. Instead of staying within the lines of the MLB rule book, these Astros took sign stealing to the next level. With the sneaky use of a camera in center field zooming in on the catcher’s signs, and a much less elaborate banging of a trash can, the Astros artificially stole signs to enable better at bats from their stars. With their camera tricks and trash can thumps, the Astros went on to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4 games to 3 for the World Series crown.
Thanks to the 2017 Astros, baseball has been officially dumbed down. What used to be an intellectual challenge for catchers and pitchers to encode a pitch to toss is now diluted to buttons on a wristband. Proponents of the PitchCom argue that it speeds the game up and limits sign stealing. However, what the MLB did was lower the bar on brain power for bench/catcher/pitcher to execute a pitch. Will a pitcher ever technically need to know why or what situation to throw which pitch? The 2023 pitch clock did far more for speeding up the game. What PitchCom effectively did was allow lower IQ pitchers to still make the grade in the majors.
The green dot signifies which player on the field has the helmet comm.
Helmet comms have long since been the norm in the NFL. Quarterbacks have had this communication device with plays and messages coming in from the coach since 1994. The defense was awarded a helmet comm in 2008. Helmet comm on defense is a much less useful tool. With the defense reacting to an offenses setup and motion, there’s little time for the Mike (the Middle Linebacker most commonly wearing the defense’s comm) to convey incoming messages to the rest of the team.
Joe “Joe Cool” Montana
The NFL applauds Quarterbacks for their combination of intellect, skill, and physical gifts. Even with the helmet comm in use, QBs still have plenty to process between plays. However, the amount of sophistication required to incorporate a play prior to 1994 was much more involved without the comm. A QB’s required memorization and understanding of the playbook are not nearly as daunting now with the helmet comm than that of QBs in the prior era. Joe Montana, Roger Staubach, and even Johnny Unitas in their day had to process much more than QBs with the helmet radio receiver.
On occasion, a radio connection to the QB comm fails. Screams of foul play from fans and the QB’s team alike become public before the game is even over. We actually learn more about that particular player and coaching staff during a technical failure like this one. How they cope with the momentary lack of technology immediately exposes their abilities and personality both good and bad. Usually the reaction sounds like younger years of pickup ball, “No fair, I’ll just take my ball and go home!”.
Stole a laptop, painted his own name on it, then threw it out the window. The “student” portion of student-athlete didn’t go so well at three different schools for him. Does this guy have as much success in the NFL as he would have without helmet comm? Doubtful.
Sure enough, the dumbing down of NFL football has trickled to the NCAA. In the upcoming season, comms will be introduced at the college level. While the literal application of the term student-athlete is already long gone, helmet comms (much like PitchCom in the MLB) will further erode the need to recruit a bright Quarterback. The NCAAs top teams already have a track record for recruiting players with limited intelligence and questionable character. As I’ve cited in prior articles, which of your favorite players would have been admitted to your favorite school if not for the massaging, errr… removing of academic standards for that, errr… student-athlete to play at your school? You get the picture…
Applying technology to modernize sports for athletes and viewers can be a good thing. Some great recent technological advances to name a few: better helmet design lending to greater safety of football players, camera review of key plays in most sports (I am a proponent of getting the call right, not a proponent of reviewing all plays), and net and goal cams in basketball, hockey, and volleyball. Applying technology in a manner that makes any of these games easier for the athletes is certainly not. Coaches are now picking the most athletic prospects, placing electronics on them, then doing the thinking for them.
Quarterback? No, its RoboCop!
I enjoy watching how great athletes handle mentally taxing situations. Look no further than tennis or golf, where each individual is left to their own devices before and after every good and bad shot. Mental gymnastics are lessened on Pitchers and Quarterbacks with PitchCom and helmet comm. These players are slowly being reduced to science fiction movie characters. We looked at characters like the Terminator and RoboCop and chuckled, “Unbelievable!”. In 2024 they aren’t just believable, they have infiltrated athletics.
The best college football rivalry has added spice this season. I’m not talking about the Bedlam series; there’s nothing rival about a game where one team has a 91 to 19 advantage over its opponent. It is not the Iron Bowl, although the Auburn/Alabama games have produced some entertaining results. The 2023 Egg Bowl was virtually unwatchable. The best college rivalry is “The Game”, Michigan versus Ohio State. The rivalry continues today as the #2 Buckeyes head to Ann Arbor to take on the #3 Wolverines.
This rivalry has produced epic games throughout its history, none bigger than “The Game of the Century” in 2006 pitting #1 OSU against #2 Michigan. OSU won that one narrowly 42-39. Unlike the lopsided Oklahoma advantage in Bedlam, Michigan edges OSU in the history of this game with a 60 to 51 advantage. If you exclude the 9 Michigan wins from 1901 to 1909 (the forward pass wasn’t even legal until 1906), then you have a dead heat amongst these two bitter foes.
The Game again puts the College Football Playoff and the Big Ten Conference in the balance. OSU and Michigan are tied for first in the Big Ten East Division, and #2 and #3 respectively in the College Football Playoff rankings. The winner has a clearcut path to the Big Ten Title (the winner will play offensively bereft Iowa), and to the CFP. And for the fan bases, bragging rights for another year. After OSU won 15 of the last 17 matchups – the 2010 vacated OSU victory included – Michigan has humbly won the last two.
Because saying your rivals name is taboo…
There is no love lost between Michigan and Ohio State. Die hard fans of either team refuse to say each other’s name. OSU coined the not so clever term “That Team Up North” [TTUN] to refer to Michigan. Wolverines fans don’t have unique references to Ohio State either, instead using the copycat “That Team Down South” [TTDS], or the crass and more un-clever “Suckeyes”. Ohio State likes to arrogantly include ‘the’ before their name. A true Michigan fan omits ‘the’ from any Ohio State reference.
This was already going to be the biggest test yet for either team. Michigan’s games this season have not provided a definitive challenge; their non conference schedule looked a lot like the dessert table at your family Thanksgiving dinner. Ohio State has made its undefeated run without a highlight reel quarterback. Their key wins include common opponent and ‘pretty good’ Penn State, and a nail biting victory over similarly decent Notre Dame. The challenge of this game is elevated another notch for Michigan, who will enter their fifth game of the season without their head coach Jim Harbaugh on the sideline. Harbaugh’s recent suspension is due to a sign stealing scandal that has fueled even more ire between these bitter rivals.
Connor Stallions wasn’t great in hiding his sneaky ways
Much has been made of Michigan’s sign stealing efforts. In a nutshell, a covert Connor Stallions attended future opponent’s games, took notes along with video of the plays and calls, then stood on the Michigan sideline providing tutelage for coordinator’s play choices in Wolverines games. This method of game prep is illegal by NCAA rule. Of course, U of M fans view this issue through maize colored glasses. They believe that every team is stealing signs in one way or another, and the Michigan teams have still been victorious with their exceptional play on the field. Undoubtedly, Michigan’s 2023 squad fields a team of top four and five recruits that should be dominant over their opponents without added advantage.
Stallions’ sign stealing gave the Wolverines an advantage that others did not have. The sign stealing gave J.J. McCarthy an advantage with improved play calls thereby giving him an unfair leg up on potentially earning the Heisman Trophy! J.J. McCarthy would not have been this good had he not had the benefit of errrr, well informed play calling from his sideline. The problem – we will never know if Michigan (or McCarthy) would have pulled through so well to this point in 2023 undefeated without the sign stealing.
Wolverines Head Coach Jim Harbaugh all smiles when denying any benefit of Connor Stallions sign stealing
Connor Stallions will not be on the sideline today, nor will Michigan’s beleaguered coach Jim Harbaugh. Harbaugh has been suspended from the final three games of the season. For context, the NCAA also suspended Harbaugh for the first three games of the season for level I and II NCAA recruiting violations. U of M chose to accept both rounds of Harbaugh suspension because they don’t have a case to deny any of this program’s countless shenanigans. If Michigan were to win The Game, and complete its season undefeated with a CFP title, do they even deserve these titles considering the height of Michigan’s undisputed cheating? Does Michigan’s star quarterback J.J. McCarthy deserve a trip to New York to possibly hear his name called for the Heisman Trophy? This is a big problem.
Ohio State is no patron saint. ‘Tattoogate’ in 2010 had OSU athletes selling their memorabilia for cash and free tattoos. What’s the big deal? Nowadays, Name, Image, and Likeness rules allow this. However at the time, this was considered major ‘extra benefit’ provided to the athletes – an absolute no-no in the eyes of NCAA regulation. The advantage for OSU here was clear – come to OSU and get extra money and tattoos. In 2010, providing this enticement to come to Columbus that other schools could not provide created an unfair recruiting advantage for Ohio State. Ohio State’s entire slate of 12 wins were vacated, along with a three year probation period and a host of other penalties.
Ohio State fans are livid that their Tattoogate earned a bevy of penalties, but to date, Michigan is only penalized with their coach being banned from the sideline for three games. If ‘The Game’ weren’t incentive enough for the Buckeyes team, a soft penalty to the Wolverines for cheating certainly provides more bulletin board material for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State Head Coach Ryan Day preps to solve the problem
Ohio State has a major opportunity here to get a leg up on the Big Ten and CFP title opportunities, and more importantly, to solve the problem. Buckeyes coach Ryan Day has been a vocal proponent of the Big Ten and NCAA instilling major sanctions upon U of M for this scandal. Coincidentally, Day is under significant pressure to win The Game after losing twice in a row to the Wolverines. Day and company simply need to win it. The best penalty of all for U of M football would be to lose The Game. An OSU victory would silence the Day naysayers who proclaim that Day cannot win the big one. An OSU win would propel them to the Big Ten Championship Game and a shot at the National Championship.
A Buckeyes win today could put much of the hand wringing about Michigan’s scandal to bed. J.J. McCarthy might be a good kid, but he doesn’t deserve a sniff of the Heisman ceremony. Michigan has a fantastic football tradition, but this year it cheated its way to an 11-0 record. Ohio State needs to solve the problem. The Buckeyes need to win The Game against TTUN, and put this discussion to rest. I for one will be pulling for the Scarlet and Gray to solve the problem.
Dramatic departures, attention grabbing hold outs, and a few smart signings will punctuate the NFL quarterback carousel of 2023. The league and the individual QBs themselves have successfully parlayed this off season’s quarterback shuffle in to a media blitz. This year’s QB shuffle has been more compelling than most, but it has also shined a light on what the NFL (and football in general) doesn’t want to admit. Some of these guys aren’t really even quarterbacks at all.
The New Orleans Saints signing of Derek Carr marks the smartest move by both an individual quarterback and his new team so far this off season. Carr was unceremoniously benched by Las Vegas Coach Josh McDaniels in 2022. McDaniels’ second go around as head coach (after an epic failure with the Broncos) will now be highlighted with another bad move. Giving up on Carr speaks more about McDaniels’ lack of communication skills and myopic view of football than it does about Carr. Derek Carr is not the next coming of Drew Brees for the Saints, but he gets the job done at his position while pouring his heart and soul in to leading his team, and gasp… he is a top 15 quarterback year in and year out. Carr and the Saints are a perfect match, and remember – Saints coach Dennis Allen was the head coach for Derek Carr in Carr’s inaugural 2014 season when the Raiders were in Oakland; Carr’s relationship with Allen already has a foundation for potential success.
Deshaun Watson and Daniel Jones are diametrically opposite signings (though Watson’s signing with Cleveland was in 2022). While I strongly disagree with the massive contract offered to Watson, it is clear that Cleveland was taking a long game splash. Watson is much maligned for his 20+ allegations of sexual assault and otherwise unsavory behaviors with women. He has served his suspension, and now is expected to deliver the Browns several playoff appearances over the course of his immense contract. Watson is a fantastic quarterback who is plenty capable of taking the Browns to the playoffs.
Daniel Jones’ off field resume is squeaky clean, and on the field he has developed in to a reliable quarterback for the New York Giants. Jones just signed a four year contract to stick with the Giants. Jones won’t amaze you with fourth option read throws or evasive on the run tosses, but what he will do for the Giants is continue to manage games to the tune of playoff qualification. As long as NYG maintains some semblance of a running game (Saquon Barkley has been franchise tagged for the season and will likely remain a Giant when the tag is permanent in July), Jones and company should regularly compete in the NFC East for relevance.
On to Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory’s Violet Beauregarde, errr drama monger Aaron Rodgers. The Green Bay Packers made a massive mistake in March of 2022 signing Rodgers to a three year contract worth upward of 150 million. Rodgers was in his late 30s at the time, but had just come off of an MVP season. Instead of analyzing the normally diminishing skills of an aging quarterback and offering much less (or letting him go), the Packers kowtowed to Rodgers after one of his best seasons and ponied up. The glaring mistake the Packers made in signing this silly agreement with Rodgers is clear: he is an unmotivated, attention craving diva set on luring the media to attend to his antics. Green Bay management has worked with Rodgers his entire career. Did they not observe these behaviors in advance of signing on the dotted line for the silly Rodgers contract? Clearly when Rodgers doesn’t get everything he wants, he pouts like a child with folded arms. Even Wonka’s spoiled brat Violet would be proud of his antics!
Since Rodgers signed that contract with Green Bay, he has complained that the Packers haven’t put proper players around him (duh… they cannot afford to after the Rodgers guarantees) while simultaneously underperforming in a 2022 season that included falling twice to the upstart Detroit Lions. Recently he has gone to a supposed ‘dark room’ to deplete external distractions while pondering what to do with his career in football. In his dark room, I doubt that Aaron Rodgers pondered why he stole millions from Green Bay last season while putting forth subpar effort on the gridiron. If Rodgers retires, the Packers will be relieved of these dramatic woes. If Rodgers moves on (the New York Jets appear to be the popular suitor), good luck to the Jets if Rodgers, err. Violet signs then doesn’t get every piece of bubble gum he begs for.
Lamar Jackson is an actor miscast in the live action play we call the NFL. Contrary to the roster listing, Lamar Jackson is not a quarterback. That’s no hallucination, you read it right, Lamar Jackson is NOT a quarterback. He never has been. He is an exceptional athlete with top of the line running skills and could have made a fantastic running back or wide receiver. Instead, Jackson’s athleticism – which happens to include a physically strong throwing arm – has him cast as a quarterback. The Ravens have admitted to creating a roster and playbook that allows for Lamar to run often, and throw less. It is evident that the Ravens coach and management have assessed that Jackson does not possess the in game smarts to handle a normal team’s offensive playbook otherwise they would have asked him to throw more, and run less. Jackson earned the MVP in 2019 for his running skill combined with a reasonably good season in the air, not the other way around.
Jackson’s miscasting as quarterback has come to a head as he looks for a new contract. His issue is magnified as he has chosen to represent himself in his effort to secure a long term contract. Jackson would be wise to get an agent who understands the lay of the land and has regular dealings with upper management.
Lamar Jackson is confirmed on the 2023 Ravens roster with a 32 million dollar non-exclusive franchise tag agreement. As of the posting of this article, Lamar Jackson has not yet secured a deal beyond 2023; he values himself too high in todays QB market. Run first (or run priority) quarterbacks don’t deserve the money that pure QBs do – one bad hit will sideline Jackson for multiple games or even a career. Robert Griffin III comes to mind here. So the Ravens have gotten this assessment just right, smartly pumping the brakes on long term deal talks with this actor who really should have pursued starring roles as running back or wide receiver all along. I suspect that Chicago’s Justin Fields will suffer the same fate in just a few years.
Florida Gators quarterback Anthony Richardson is in the early stages of Lamar Jackson’s misguided path. Richardson is considered a generational athlete; the media is hyping his draft status as he moves his way up the draft chart for his physical gifts. Richardson has been shoe horned in to the position of quarterback because of his athleticism.
He has not demonstrated an iota of NFL quarterback capability beyond his obvious athletic attributes. His sub 50% completion percentage is not even in the top half of SEC quarterbacks. Scouts will tell you that many things can be coached in a quarterback but accuracy seldom is one of them. And, he has yet to prove he is a winner. (Did you watch University of Florida football this year? Yuck.) Richardson is praised in interviews for being a good guy, but there’s no evidence yet that he is a top of the line leader, or that he can pick up a sophisticated pro playbook and execute when decision making is limited to fractions of seconds.
It is not too late for Anthony Richardson to look at these examples as he attempts to frame his game to pro level caliber. So far, Richardson has steered clear of Aaron Rodgers’ Violet-esque persona. He also must learn from Lamar Jackson’s soon to be career mistake. He should stay in college one or two more years in an attempt to change positions on the field. Otherwise he should work on developing his game in the mold of Mahomes, Carr, Jones, and the game [only] of Watson to sharpen his accuracy and decision making as a pocket passer. Then he can apply his vast running capability more sparingly when dashing away from sack pressure. Otherwise, I’ll have to include Anthony Richardson in my NFL Quarterback Conundrum 2024 essay.
For years and years, the adages ”Respect is earned, never given”, and ”Let your actions do the talking”, have been taught as words to live by. Many top pro athletes are taking the exact opposite approach to these philosophies. The result has fostered a generation of players who appear more as prima-donnas rather than the role models we looked up to years ago. Kevin Durant recently set the media abuzz with two huge ovations that have crowned him as the NBA’s top prima-donna.
OKC’s superteam – Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, and James Hardin
While playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder, Kevin Durant had two other soon to be perennial all stars on his team in Russell Westbrook and James Hardin. This was a ready made power team with enough talent to be dominant for years. Rather than patiently developing their game priming an OKC team for years of success, all three of the players departed for other teams. The world would find out later that Westbrook and Hardin were in the running for Durant’s prima donna crown too. KD moved on to Golden State in search of a championship ring.
Moving to Golden State was a safe bet for KD in 2016. After all, the Warriors had already earned the title in 2015 and retained its core of top players from that team. Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green were a ’big three’ to be reckoned with regardless of the addition of Durant in 2016. Durant picked up championship rings with the Warriors in 2017 and 2018, and missed out on one in 2016. Interestingly enough, the Warriors’ 2016 finals loss is attributed to Draymond Green’s absence (suspended for game five of the finals series).
Much maligned Kevin Durant as the wheels come off of his Brooklyn Nets superteam project
Since then, KD went on to the Brooklyn Nets in 2019 to unite with Kyrie Irving, another franchise hopping trainwreck. KD’s attempt at assembling a superteam in Brooklyn went off the tracks in 2020 adding James Hardin to the mix. Surely a Durant, Irving, Hardin superteam would result in the Nets regularly competing for titles, right? All three players individually are super, but Nets’ management forgot about the team component with this squad. Having these three selfish players all on the same team resulted in the spontaneous combustion of the Brooklyn Nets. Winning seasons in 20-21 and 21-22 with prompt playoff departures were all that the Nets could answer for their investment in these three attention hungry players.
Now KD wants respect; he’s attempting to earn it in the court of public opinion. KD’s social media posts and interviews have demonstrated his selfish mindset which clearly does not mesh with the needs of the teams he plays for. His efforts to convince the NBA and its fans that he deserves respect are backfiring horribly.
KD recently stated that while this year’s 2022 Warriors team (sans Durant) was capable of winning the title without him, the 2017 and 2018 Warriors titles would not have been had if KD weren’t on those teams. Calling these comments petty would be a vast understatement. Of course we will never know if those teams would have won titles without KD, but here’s what we do know. The 2016 team (with KD on it) lost the title when Draymond Green was missing. Green actually has a better case for the ’if I weren’t on the team…’ argument than KD has, though he’s never made that case publicly.
Dray takes umbrage to confrontational talk from KD
While Green’s personality and antics are a handful, what Green understands that KD does not, is that it takes a cohesive TEAM to win a title. A superteam only works if that squad of top players can play as a TEAM. KD has not figured this out yet. Durant has now requested a trade from the Nets superteam that he configured himself. Evidently, playing with Kyrie Irving and James Hardin was not enough to catapult KD’s Nets to championship success. Without a doubt these guys are top notch individual players. However, they are selfish headcases who have long since forgotten that it takes teamwork and practice to become a championship caliber unit.
Kevin Durant is in the upper echelon of the best players of his generation. Sometime this summer, Durant will likely assemble another superteam (there are rumblings that he may try to stay with Kyrie Irving when heading to the next team), and he may even win another title. Regardless, he has cemented his legacy not as a great player or winner of multiple championships but instead as a whiney spoiled star whose attitude is more suited for an individual sport. KD should have taken up elite level swimming instead. He could have done all of the complaining he wanted underwater, and the rest of us would not have had to listen to it.
The Queen of Soul – Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin’s famous song “Respect” sings the tune of a woman warning a man that if she doesn’t get his respect, he will come home one day and see that she is gone for good. Throughout his career, Kevin Durant has sung the same song to the franchises he has hopped to, only to leave them to pick up the pieces after raiding their financial coffers. Mostly though, his departures have done big favors for the franchises he has left. While Durant brings great individual play, he also brings big headaches to the squads he plays for; the Nets migraine will be over later on this summer for sure. He would be better off letting his game play earn respect, rather than asking for it in the form of disrespectful social media posts and passive aggressive interviews. The Queen of Soul is turning in her grave as Kevin Durant sings in woeful karaoke of her timeless anthem.
There was a time when conflicts amongst athletes, coaches and their administrations were held behind closed doors. Opposing parties said their peace, and even if unsatisfied, came out on the other side mostly unscathed. Nowadays those classy meetings are few and far between, making way for conflict resolution held in the court of public opinion, several of which have made headlines in recent weeks. Back and forth he said/she said in modern day social media has degraded the once esteemed athlete from a role model to a checklist on how not to play nice with others.
I have panned the LA Lakers for several years for their continued efforts to assemble the super team. (They aren’t the only ones…) Their recent title was accomplished in a challenging pandemic riddled season; I certainly give them credit for persevering through that epidemically curtailed season. Russell Westbrook was added to the super team this past season with the hopes that he, along with LeBron James and Anthony Davis could march again to a championship. Westbrook came in to tinsel town with the mindset that he should have the ball as the point guard and essentially ’run the show’. Frank Vogel thought otherwise in a league with ball handlers a plenty where most teams are bringing up the ball with any number of three or four players on any given team.
Vogel and Westbrook were never on the same page
The result was an unhappy Russell Westbrook from the get go. Should Russ have asked Coach Vogel about his point guard game philosophy before inking his deal with the Lakers? Should Vogel have asked Russ about his mindset as a teammate? (In defense of Vogel, in today’s selfish NBA, staffs are seldom bothering to ask about players’ capabilities as teammates anyway.) Should Lakers General Manager Rob Pelinka have pressed these questions before signing Westbrook to a forty million plus per year contract, bumping the team payroll to over one hundred sixty million? Hmmm. That would be yes, yes, and, what the… 40 MILL?, uhhh YES!
Add the complaining Westbrook to an injury prone Anthony Davis and a LeBron James who is still great but not the best in the game anymore, and you have a recipe not for a super team, but for a team that cannot make the playoffs. LeBron’s excuse that the Lakers weren’t good was, ”We weren’t on the damn floor together.”. In the end, the fall guy is Frank Vogel who was fired unceremoniously at the end of the season. With cries of foul from Westbrook along with a lack of support from James and Davis, Coach Vogel is probably breathing a sigh of relief knowing he won’t have to deal with this trio again next season.
The Cleveland Browns have been in the basement of the AFC Central for years, minus their trip to the playoffs in 2020 led by quarterback Baker Mayfield. In 2021, Mayfield played through injury for the bulk of the season. His injury set back the Browns squad squashing a reprise of the Browns relevance the season before. Mayfield’s labrum tear prompted honest questions from the Browns front office. The promise from management – Mayfield is the starter for 2022 but the team will search for upgrades – wasn’t well received when he learned that the team was pursuing Deshaun Watson. Watson is a wonderful talent, but he is still under suspension from the NFL due to his, count them, 22 civil lawsuits pending against him for sexual assault.
Mayfield heads to the public to air his grievances
The Browns could do better in their search for a new quarterback. The signing of a player that may not even be eligible this season doesn’t solve the problem for the Browns at QB. Mayfield feels disrespected that he would actually be replaced, and further disrespect is that his replacement comes from a legal trash heap. I understand his sentiment, but none of this should have played out in public. Mayfield’s ne’er do well public whining will actually cost him money on his next contract anyway. The other problem, Baker doesn’t grasp the fact that we are all replaceable. Labrum repair surgery is not exactly fool proof for a 100% recovery. The Browns absolutely needed to search for a plan B, or at best a plan 1a.
Acuna and Freeman caught in a rare happy moment together
Ronald Acuna Jr. went on a podcast recently and panned his former Atlanta Braves teammate Freddie Freeman. Acuna stated that he wouldn’t miss Freddie Freeman now that he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ronald Acuna Jr. claimed there was friction between he and Freeman especially during Acuna’s rookie season, and that Freeman wasn’t someone Acuna could talk to, ever. Acuna’s feelings were hurt, pooooor Ronald.
If Acuna had so many issues with his teammate, then why didn’t they sit down and talk? A baseball season is 162 games long spanning more than six months; baseball has the longest road trips in all of professional sports. With these long road trips come tons of idle time. Free time is available at every turn as the players travel to and from games, rest in hotels and restaurants, and prep in the dugout between batting and fielding practices. Acuna and Freeman are supposed to be grown ups. There was plenty of time for these two to iron out their issues. Instead, Acuna aired his dirty laundry in an Instagram Live interview. So now Acuna is happy that Freeman is gone, the same Freeman that played with Acuna to the tune of a World Series championship. Can a Ronald Acuna Jr. team win another World Series without Freddie Freeman? My magic 8 ball reads ’Outlook not so good’.
These are bleak examples of detestable role models in the pros. Search hard enough though, and you will find rays of hope for sportsmanship and doing the right thing in high level athletics. First, look to a perennially successful NCAA Division II baseball program in South Carolina. The Francis Marion University Patriots are led by longtime coach Art Inabinet; his squad has a dynamic third baseman named Todd Mattox. Mattox’s story is unique in that this season, he was just 9 games shy of the NCAA Division II record for most consecutive games reaching base. He was at 79 games consecutively reaching base before facing off against in state non-conference rival Lander University in mid April.
With Mattox already 0-4 in the game without a walk or hit by pitch against Lander to his credit, the FMU Patriots team headed to extra innings providing Mattox with another chance to extend his streak. With a runner aboard in the tenth inning, Inabinet made the right baseball call and Mattox followed it with a sacrifice bunt. Inabinet or Mattox could have selfishly opted for Mattox to swing away, but the correct play was for the sacrifice attempt. This call improved the Patriots chances for victory but would restrict Mattox from another chance to extend his streak. Mattox successfully laid down the bunt with a sacrificing out to advance the runner. Ultimately that runner scored, extending the game.
The Patriots would go on to win the game in the 12th inning. Coach and player were on the same page – play a team game, and do all you can to help your team to victory. Inabinet and Mattox are high class personified. I know Coach Inabinet personally and know that this just one of many examples of his selfless coaching and teaching of his team. I don’t know Todd Mattox, but my guess is that he’s cut from the same cloth.
The Los Angeles Dodgers made a similar ’for the team’ decision earlier this season. Clayton Kershaw has been the team’s ace for years, and he picked up the ball for his first start of the season last week. Kershaw proceeded to throw a perfect game through seven innings tossing 80 pitches in the process. Kershaw was plagued with injury in 2021 so preserving Kershaw for a solid season is paramount to Coach Dave Roberts’ responsibilities as the skipper for the team. Roberts pulled Kershaw at the end of the seventh, to the dismay to selfish fans and players nationwide.
Coach Roberts and Kershaw aim for another World Series
Roberts has to play for the game win, but also has to play for the season overall – pulling Kershaw is the right baseball move. Pundits complain that Roberts robbed Kershaw, and the nation of the possibility of a great feel good story, the first perfect game since Felix Hernandez tossed one for the Mariners in 2012. Postgame, Roberts made his case to the media. Then the media pressed and coerced Kershaw with the hopes that he would complain about his coach. Kershaw foiled the starved interviewers by backing Roberts’ statements that this was the proper coaching move saving Kershaw’s shoulder for a long season. Kershaw and Roberts are in lockstep in their pursuit of another World Series title; their approach is leadership by example – the Dodgers clearly are aiming for team success above personal acclaim.
In a sports landscape that is becoming more drama than substance, we have to search harder to find role models we can look up to in athletics. Selfishness and individual negativity always seem to grab the headline ahead of a story about selfless play and day to day sportsmanship. In the 1990s we were told to ’Be like Mike’. In the 2020’s there’s no need to be like Russ, Baker, or Ronald. Be like Art and Todd, be like Dave and Clay.
Commitment means everything in college sports. Coaches will tell you that buy in means the world to the success of their programs. Without buy in, practices have less energy and focus, and ultimately teams cannot meet their potential in competition. College athletes are asked to sign a National Letter of Intent committing to play a particular sport for the school they attend, in exchange for a promise from the school to pay for portions of (if not all) tuition, room and board, and now even a stipend. More and more, the football athlete is not holding up their end of the bargain.
With 44 bowl games this season involving 86 teams (two teams will play a second bowl game – the CFP Championship game) you now have more than half of the FCS teams scheduled to play in a bowl. High profile players from these teams are now choosing to quit on their teams prior to these bowl games. Select college football athletes are quitting at the end of their team’s regular season (but prior to the bowl game) to avoid playing one last game where the result could harm their professional draft status, either by injury or by a poor game performance.
The media has softened the terminology for these athletes quitting on their teams to the more palatable (but no less selfish) term ’opting out’. Individuals opting out of their seasons leaves the remainder of the team and coaching staff in a lurch to fill key positions, and retool strategy with players missing. The college football bowl season is beginning to lose its luster due to the opting out of key athletes prior to the bowl games.
One key bowl game impacted by this trend is the Peach Bowl, pitting (I had to do it) Michigan State University against the University of Pittsburgh. Kenneth Walker III for Sparty, and Kenny Pickett for the Panthers are each team’s top individual by far, and most pundits see both making significant impacts on Sundays in the NFL soon. Both Walker and Pickett opted out, reducing the Peach Bowl from must see TV, to just a really good game with a couple of reserves auditioning for starting roles in the fall of 2022.
An athlete’s fear of the risk of a lowered draft selection resulting in millions of dollars lost is understandable. Jaylon Smith’s devastating injury in the Fiesta Bowl in 2016 is an extreme case. However the risk of injury is no less during the season, it actually may be higher during the season. The stakes are high mid-season when the team is vying for relevance and conference supremacy, and aiming for more lucrative bowl games. With those high stakes are heavier and harder tackles, and split second decisions gone wrong posing just as much risk to the athlete as a bowl football game would. So where is the commitment from the athlete to finish the season? It is now non-existent really. An athlete can opt out at any time, and its not even called quitting any more.
Athletes who are positioned for a favorable draft result (like Walker and Pickett) have much to owe to their schools; without being recruited to one of these teams, the athlete would not have a draft status. I have iterated in previous posts that these athletes get a free college education as part of their agreement. Some of these athletes would not have even been accepted to their respective schools to get that degree if not for the massaging of institutional acceptance standards for top notch athletes. In the event of an injury, the best pro-players can still ’fall back’ on a college degree to have a career.
So what does Walker owe to MSU, and Pickett owe to Pitt for quitting, errrr opting out? I think they owe that semester’s tuition, room and board, and stipend back to the school. This should be a drop in the bucket to each of them if they believe they will be getting millions in the NFL draft. The NFL is culpable here too. If an athlete quits on their collegiate commitment, shouldn’t their draft status drop too? (NFL teams ideally should not want to draft an athlete who has proven to quit on their team.) Alas NFL scouts suffer from FOMO; taking a pass on an athlete that becomes a star on another team is a black eye to the scout, and to the team in general. The NFL teams will draft both Walker and Pickett without much concern for their already demonstrated capability to quit on their teams for selfish gain.
Like freedom of speech, I am all for free markets and freedom of choice. However the freedom of choice for an athlete does not justify freedom from consequences. Right now there are no significant consequences for opting out of a football season. Until there are consequences, there is no end in sight to the quitting of these players when the teams need them most. That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet. Quitting, called by another name – opting out – still stinks.
Professional sports is being overrun by the bad guy. Social Media, Television, and Talk radio fuel the flame for pro sport punks. Turn on any sports show and you will learn about one guy who said this, one other guy who wants to leave his team because of that. Is there still room for the good guy in professional sports?
Tim Tebow – Two Time NCAA Champ, Philanthropist
The media recently made a strong statement rejecting the good guy. Tim Tebow has nothing but good guy on his resume. Set aside his various sporting accolades (two NCAA Football National Championships with the Florida Gators, first round NFL draftee finding playoff success for the Denver Broncos, baseball player excelling as high as AAA in the professional baseball system), and you are still left with a man who lives his motto ‘Living a Life of Significance’. Tebow’s philanthropic ventures speak for themselves including hosting annual prom events for mentally disabled teens, initiating aid for the needy, and countless other selfless efforts.
Tim Tebow was invited by the Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer (coincidentally – his former college football coach) to try out for the team as a Tight End. For Tebow not ever having played the position before, the coach’s decision to invite him is curious but not surprising. Tebow played quarterback in college, but most media members and coaches alike said at the time that he was built more for the Tight End position anyway. Further, players not on existing rosters are bemoaning Tebow’s invitation exclaiming that they have more experience, and that Tebow is being invited due to privilege. News to anyone reading, with Coach Meyer’s job on the line, he’s not giving a cursory invite to Tebow because he’s a nice guy. Tebow is a fantastic athlete that all along could have trained as a tight end, and oh yea, he is a fantastic leader. Tebow is being panned for what appears like a “‘fingers in the dimples’ good golly guys I just want to play ball”, mindset. He’s also being panned for being outwardly Christian. Would Urban Meyer risk putting anyone on his tryout squad if they could not help his team succeed? If you think so, then you don’t understand how fickle the NFL coaching carousel actually is. The NFL and the media should embrace him for setting a much better example than many of the attention getters in the NFL.
The bad guy is even seeping in to the most unlikely of sports – the gentleman’s game of golf. Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka are heating up a petty rivalry in the PGA; these two seem to be artificially trying to become bad guys on the tour. While Brooks was mid interview during the 2021 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, Bryson stomped by loudly with his spikes clicking in stride during his golf day. Brooks rolled his eyes during the interview, and the spat continued. Bryson about Brooks’ lack of abs in a Sports Illustrated magazine, Brooks’ response with a photo of his four major title trophies. The PGA loves it because the brush up draws attention to a sport desperate to get eyeballs while their famed Tiger Woods fades into the sunset of modern golf. DeChambeau and Koepka have each remarked that the rivalry is good for the sport. I disagree. The rivalry may be good for them as individuals (attention equals a hefty bump in endorsements) but it is also a black eye on the face of the sport of golf.
Phil ‘Lefty’ Mickelson on his way to the PGA Championship
Enter to the scene (or return to the scene), golf great and renown good guy Phil Mickelson. At the PGA Championship, the same event as the DeChambeau/Koepka spikes brush up, Mickelson was the darling of the tournament. Having not qualified for the event, he had to unceremoniously accept an exemption just to get in to the tournament. The fifty year old turned around nine days later and won the tournament, nearly wire to wire. With crowd size limits relaxed as the COVID-19 pandemic is hopefully drawing to a close, Phil could barely make it down the slope during his victorious walk to the 18th green on the final hole of his round. The gallery encroached on him nearly to the point of physically knocking him over as he made his way to the green to make his tournament clinching putts. Phil decided to get in on the twitter shenanigans recently when he tweeted a brief video reminding everyone that he won the PGA Championship. Even with his goofy twitter reminder, I’ll count his win as a score for the good guys.
More and more, bad guys are getting all of the attention in the NBA. Individuals are eschewing their current teams to create super teams hoping to multiply their chances for a title. Television stokes this mindset as it doesn’t advertise team matchups anymore. “Tonight watch as the Nets take on the Celtics” has been replaced with “Tonight watch as Kevin Durant and the Nets take on Jayson Tatum and the Celtics”. Individuals are now highlighted over the teams themselves. What is this, Tennis? As individuals in the NBA continue to selfishly collude to create super teams that can make pushes to the NBA finals, I will continue to argue that this is individualism and ‘bad guy-ism’ at its worst. The Brooklyn Nets are a leading recent example, and they are ending up with egg on their face. When a key member of their super team (see Kyrie Irving) was injured, the three legged stool that is the Nets was left with two legs and fell flat. The Nets team that clearly relied too much upon its stars rather than its overall team concept was left with a hefty salary burden and a team that will not win the title.
Tim Duncan, Gregg Popovich, and Becky Hammon
The Association has had good guys to lean on. Tim Duncan is a Hall of Famer that simply went about his business. Throughout his career, he played a strong game, and the most negativity you would see from him was a sneer before posting up again and again for the San Antonio Spurs. Like Tebow, Duncan is dedicated to helping others, and has done so both during his playing career and after. The Tim Duncan Foundation aids in the areas of health care and education, both in the continental 48, and in the US Virgin Islands where he was born. Much credit goes to the Spurs longtime coach Gregg Popovich. There are few NBA teams that coach to team (rather than coaching to the individual) but the Spurs are one.
The players who have played for him admire him, and so do the coaches. I had a few minutes to chat several years ago with a former assistant from one of Popovich’s camp programs, and I just asked him – what is Pops like? Accolades spouted regarding leadership, coaching the sport, and caring for the individual. Whether it is an individual invite from Popovich to visit and share his favorite wine, or a phone call from him during a great moment (birth of a child) or a dark day (death of a parent), the former aide explained that Popovich’s coaching was clearly motivated by leading and developing the whole individual, not just growing the parts that could help the Spurs win a title.
Popovich doesn’t talk much about a ‘Spurs Way’. However his teams generally show it with their effort and class; the Spurs are a direct reflection of their coach. Kawhi Leonard was a member of the Spurs who sat out most of a season due to a variety of unclear ‘injuries’. Leonard was clearly mentally on his way out of San Antonio. Popovich took the high road. Not much commentary positive or negative, but he also didn’t beg him back to the team. Kawhi left for an upstart Toronto team where he could be the top dog – he led the team to a title in his lone season with the Raptors. Popovich could have slammed Kawhi for his selfishness, instead he simply let him go. Popovich is a rare NBA coach that develops and encourages the good guy. “But Kawhi won the title in Toronto, what’s wrong with that!”, you say? After that lone year in Toronto, Kawhi bailed again landing with the LA Clippers. So much for staying to help a team or build a lasting champion. Popovich = Good Guy. Kawhi = quiet guy, still a bad guy.
Steph ‘Chef’ Curry – surefire NBA Hall of Famer
Stephen Curry is the ultimate good guy champion on the Golden State Warriors (and coincidental to Tebow, also an unashamed Christian). The Warriors are a group that was assembled with great teammates, first coached by Mark Jackson then later by Steve Kerr. (Jackson set the table for Kerr to take the next step with the Warriors to the championship. That discussion may be worthy of its own post.). Throughout his career, Steph Curry has just gotten better and better. With multiple championships to his name, and becoming the NBA’s career leader in three point shooting, he is a shoe in Hall of Famer. He continues to display good guy status in rough times; he stuck with his Warriors team even during teammates injuries and other issues the past two years. Many stars would have departed at the drop of a hat if immersed in the same situation.
Steph got some attention in 2020 when Ja Morant (a solid upstart in the NBA) posted some smack talk on twitter. “… iann scared of him” . Only problem is – at the time, the Memphis Grizzlies (Ja’s team) hadn’t yet played the Warriors with Steph Curry. Curry took the banter in 2020 lightly, then lit up the scoresheet in May of 2021 when the Warriors played the Grizzlies. 46 points for Curry, and the 46 points on that night clinched the NBA scoring title for him. Thanks to Larry Brown Sports for an article that lays out the tiff. Needless to say, Curry got the last laugh without coming off as a jerk.
If you listen to talk radio, you won’t hear nearly as much about Steph Curry as you will about lesser ability NBA athletes. Steph Curry is about his team’s successes, he’s not all about himself. Tim Tebow doesn’t play the social media game to get more personal attention. Gregg Popovich is never going to get the most likes or shares on social media. Tim Duncan has never made for must listen radio, nor did he sell many television advertisements. Regardless, there’s still room for the good guy. The good guys make for what should be good, the games.
Paul MacDonald - Sports Broadcaster 