Before we even get started, you need
to see this:
That is NFL stars Ray Rice, Desean
Jackson, and Chandler Jones doing a dance called the Terio. Terio is a young
man who was made famous by a video his older cousin posted on Vine this summer,
and if you don’t know what Vine is I’m weeping for you. There’s no conspiracy
here, you just need to know this dance, get used to this dance, and most
importantly do this dance as much as you can. As Roger Goodell would say, ooh
kill ‘em!
Last Sunday night, Jay Cutler took
off on a run during the Chicago Bear’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers,
which they won. A big reason why they won was because of what happened on this
particular play. At the end of his run, Jay Cutler saw a defensive back coming
to tackle him and lowered his shoulder, his throwing shoulder, into the DB,
knocking him clean off his feet. After the game, reporters made it seem like
Cutler had made a dumb decision that he was lucky not to have been injured
from. Well, those reporters are wrong, because a quarterback truck-sticking a
DB is the greatest thing ever and should happen at least once a week. Thank you
Jay Cutler, we appreciate you.
Now, on to more hard-hitting issues,
shall we? In case you hadn’t heard, 49ers star Aldon Smith was committed to a
rehab facility last week after running into a tree and being charged with
(definitely not his first) DUI. Once it was decided that Smith needed help for
his alcohol problem, San Francisco agreed that he should deal with his
addiction…after their game against the Colts. In light of past incidents, like
Smith being stabbed at a party, it was clear that the young playmaker was in a
bad place. However, that all took a backseat to the 9ers winning on Sunday,
which in any case they did not. So why was Smith allowed to play? The media
will tell you that because he was on the active roster, he had to suit up, but
in fact a head coach can make any player inactive at any time. Even if Smith did
have to suit up, he in no way needed to see the field. Did the 49ers want to
give him the opportunity to play with his team one last time before rehab, or
was winning just more important than a player’s well-being? Either way, let’s
hope that we’ll never have to ask this question again after Smith returns.
In the first 3.1 weeks of the season,
Peyton Manning has made himself the clear MVP favorite. But I ask you, should
he be? Quite simply, no, no he should not. The real MVP is in New England,
probably yelling at Aaron Dobson right now, even as I type this article. You see,
Peyton’s numbers look great, but Tom Brady really is the most valuable player
to his team. The solution to this equation is the same as the key to the “Best
of All Time” argument that rages between these two, Brady makes receivers while
receivers make Manning. Tom Terrific has won three Super Bowls, five AFC
Championships, and set all kinds of records while throwing to guys like David
Givens. The talent around him has never limited his potential because he
elevates the level of everyone around him. Wes Welker was nothing more than a
semi-talented return man until Brady got his hands on him. Randy Moss was
troubled and washed up until he Brady revived his career.
On the other hand, Manning reflects
the talent he’s given. Marshall Faulk, Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, Pierre
Garcon, Edgerrin James. All these players carried Manning into GOAT contention
by allowing him to throw for all kinds of yards and touchdowns year after year,
even though nobody wants to point out that he flopped in the playoff year after
year, coincidentally losing a few times to Brady and his no-name receivers. In fact,
when the Colts managed a huge comeback to win the 2006 AFC Championship, they
did so only because James has been added to the offense that year, adding to
Manning’s long list of highly-talented options. Of course, Peyton won the Super
Bowl that year, but that was a year where all the AFC had to do was show up.
Rex Grossman was never going to win the Super Bowl.
So how does this affect the current
season? Well, Manning is once again finds himself in a situation with oodles of
talent all around him. In fact, the receiver that Brady spent the last five
years turning into a superstar, Wes Welker, is now making Manning look even
better. On the other hand, Tom Brady is 3-0 with receivers who only know about
half of the playbook and don’t seem to be sure if they’re supposed to catch
that brown thing flying towards them. Even so, with the running game barely
contributing, Brady has thrown touchdowns to Aaron Dobson, Kenbrell Thompkins,
and Julian Edelman this season. You don’t know who those people are, and that’s
okay. Does Manning have 12 touchdowns in three weeks without Demaryius Thomas,
Wes Welker, and Eric Decker? I really doubt it. Embrace your true 2013 MVP, Tom
Brady.
I’m sure you’ve realized by now that
RGIII was not 100% healthy coming in to week 1, as he had announced. He’s been
immobile and unable to even plant his foot before throwing, directly
contributing to Washington’s 0-3 record. However, how would we have perceived him
if he was still resting and recovering? Adrian Peterson may have recovered from
a torn ACL in record time and come back better than ever, but that’s nowhere a
fair expectation for any human being. Instead, let’s look over into the
basketball world, specifically at one Derrick Rose. Rose has been seemingly
recovering for years after tearing his ACL, and has been mocked in every way
because of it. However, that’s worth it if he comes back truly at 100% and
never has to deal with the injury again. Really, RGIII has to ask himself if he’d
rather get this:
Chances are that if you’re a human in
2013, you have an opinion about college football players and whether or not
they should be paid. The reality is, the NCAA is making billions and billions
of dollars off of these athletes, but punishes them if someone even mentions
money within their hearing range, and it’s ridiculous. Schools profit from
ticket sales at each game, games that people attend because of the players,
concession sales at the stadium, jersey sales, sales of other apparel such as
shirts and hoodies and sales of other items like posters, etc. even with all
this money floating around, it is illegal under NCAA rules for players to be
given money just to feed themselves. What? How is that even allowed to happen? Even
worse is that when a coach is discovered to have been helping his players
financially, he is painted as a cheater. Why, because he cared about the young
men placed under his leadership? Many players come from poor families, going to
college to one day be able to improve their living situation.
Really, the only problem here is that
the NCAA’s tyranny has gone unchallenged. They hand down huge punishments on
players and schools that are accused of giving players money, and justify it
with “because we can”. Can somebody please explain to me how money correlates
to a player’s performance on the field? Because according to the NCAA, Reggie
Bush’s family accepting money from USC is the reason he won the Heisman, and
therefore he did not deserve the award. Is anyone upset just from thinking
about this?
There you have it, folks. The whole
truth and nothing but the truth. Have your own deviations from mainstream media’s
spoon-fed ideas? Feel free to drop your knowledge in the comments section or tell
me about it on Twitter, @GSRudy. If you have an idea for something I should
write about or just want to ask a question, have a conversation, or anything
else, you can email me at gyasi.redding@gmail.com.
Until next time!
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