2 Eastern PA verbal commitments

U of Pittsburgh just received this past week two more verbal commitments from the class of 2011. First one is from Harrisburg, PA powerhouse Bishop McDevitt coached by veteran Coach Jeff Weachter. The player is highly experienced Jameel Poteat. Poteat can play a multitude of positions. At 5'11"/205 Poteat is a solid running back for McDevitt who has the necessary speed to transfer his talent to running back at the collegiate level. But his skills do not stop there. He can catch the football, he has potential to become a free or strong safety, and his aggressive style of play could dictate him becoming a will linebacker in time. The other Eastern Pennsylvania recruit is athlete Terrell Chestnut from Pottstown, PA Pottsgrove High. Chestnut can play a variety of positions but after watching film on him I am sold on Chestnut as being a shut down corner. At 5'10"/185, Terrell Chestnut can back pedal with speed, flip his hips, and run with receivers. His ball skills are very good and he is willing to come up, make tackles, and support the run. Chestnut has been well coached by veteran Coach Rick Pennypacker. Pitt is doing an excellent job recruiting the Eastern part of PA. With the efforts of recruiting co-ordinator Bob Junko and TE Coach Brian Angelicho and OL Coach Tony Wyse doing the recruiting in Eastern PA, the Dave Wannstedt staff continues to make noise in the talent laden Eastern Pennsylvania region.

The next George Blanda

Is Brett Favre going to be the next George Blanda? Blanda is another in the long line of quarterbacks from the Western Pennsylvania region. Blanda is from Youngwood, PA which is between New Stanton and Greensburg. Blanda played professional football for 26 seasons until the age of 48. Favre will be 41 this October. When the season is over, Favre probably thinks outloud that I am finished. But once he relaxes, heals up, and spends time doing some non-football things, he is re-freshed and ready to come back. Favre, like numerous other NFL veterans, does not enjoy going to training camp. Training camp is vital for the preparation of the regular season. If the NFL shortens the pre-season to 2 contests, then training camp will probably be shortened and maybe the Spring OTA's will be made mandatory. As long as Brett Favre can run the offense, throw the ball with accuracy, and orchestrate the running game, then why should be retire. Favre can still take a pounding, he does not miss many plays, and basically he loves the game of football with a passion. Deep down inside, he wants a Super Bowl Ring with the Vikings. If he accomplishes that goal, then Brett Favre will probably hang up his spikes. But why get out of the game. I think Favre would be an excellent quarterback coach at the NFL or collegiate levels. He could be a guy like former Indianapolis Colts QB Jim Harbaugh. Jim Harbaugh is one of the elite coaches in college football with NFL Head Coach potential. That could be Brett Favre when he decides to retire.

Terrell to Chad

Born in Alexander City, AL, Terrell Owens entered UT Chattanooga in the early 1990's as a fledging swing man, a mix of forward and a big guard who was an effective rebounder and a scorer. A 6'3.5"/200 guy, Owens also was a track guy at UT Chattanooga. Being smart Terrell Owens opted to play football for the Moccasins of UTC and the rest is history. Owens will be 37 years old this early December and is in great physical condition. He still has real good top end speed but his take-off the line of scrimmage is not what it used to be. He comes out of his receiver breaks pretty well and more or less in his last few seasons has become a body pass catcher. His hands are not like they used to be and he uses his body to shield off smaller defender to make plays. He is about 220 now with a great reach but does not utilize that reach to his advantage like in prior years. Watching him closely, Owens has been dropping passes of late. He feels more comfortable catching the ball up against his body. Randy Moss is doing the same thing. Throwing him in the Bengals mix with Chad Johnson, Antonio Bryant, Matt Jones, and Andre Caldwell, the Bengals have some experienced good looking big wide outs. QB Carson Palmer has to get them the ball and the Bengals offensive line must protect Palmer with precise pocket assurance. Do not forget Carson Palmer had the serious knee injury a few season's ago vs. the Steelers and has lost some mobility. One thing Coach Marvin Lewis needs to accomplish is to not listen to the verbal rhetoric from Terrell Owens. The one positive is that Owens and Chad Johnson may neutralize themselves by rapping to each other on the sidelines. The other bright point of Owens is that he is a real good blocker in the secondary. If the Bengals develop a good running game, Owens can be a presence on running plays. The AFC North is becoming a talented conference. The Steelers can be real good when all is in order, the Ravens are on the RISE, if the Bengals can put it together, they can be dangerous, and the Browns may beat some teams they shouldn't. By the way, it is still not in me to call Chad Johnson Chad Ochocinco. He will always he Chad Johnson to me. It would be like changing the name of your golf partner from John Doe to John Snowman because he shoots so many 8's on numerous golf holes.

Rookie Salary Cap

The NFLPA(National Football League Players Association)and the compliance departments from numerous East Coast schools have their work cut out for them prior to the beginning of the 2010 College Football Season. It has been reported on a player's Twitter page that some top prospects from colleges along the Eastern Seaboard have been seen at a party in Miami, Fl with reference to a sports agency sponsoring the party. The NFLPA rule for college players with eligibility is very simple: a college player with eligibility remaining can meet with an agent or someone from an agency but cannot accept anything of value or sign a contract with that agency until his final game is completed. Merely accepting a sandwich from a local hamburger chain is a violation as long as the player has eligibility remaining. Isn't this the norm where a few back door guys ruin IT for the large majority that follows the rules in not only the agent business but in many other areas. When the first choice in the draft is getting 39million guaranteed dollars like LSU QB JaMarcus Russell did, then the agencies feel that in order to get involved with a guy like this, they need to step it up a few notches. The maximum an agent can charge his client is 3% but you figure it out what 3% of 39 million is less the agencies expenses which can be substantial. Plus if the player becomes a superstar, then the agency may get involved into another huge contract(his second contract). It is not complicated. What is complicated to me is how much the NFL pays unproven rookies. A rookie Salary Cap needs to be established. Look how many flops there have been from the first round in the past 10 years. It is incredible. A rookie salary cap would open up more money for performance based payments to veterans that have had solid careers. God Bless QB Sam Bradford from Oklahoma for he may pull in 43 to 45 million guaranteed dollars from the St. Louis Rams before he steps out onto the field for his first regular season game. Plus do not forget, Sam Bradford had a serious injury to his throwing shoulder which sidelined him the latter half of the past season. Not to deprive rookies of signing bonuses and salaries, but it looks to me that a Rookie Salary Cap is an excellent business decision.

Cheerleading

There are varying degrees of professional opinions on whether Cheerleading is classified a Sport or a school activity. A dictionary definition of a Sports is as follows: an activity usually involving physical exertion and having a set form and body of rules, a game. Does cheerleading follow this definition? Answer is no. To me, a guy who has been active in sports through coaching and scouting, is that sports and athletic events, which basically are games, is defined by one short statement, when you keep score it is classified a competitive sport. No score is kept in cheerleading. But there exists competitive cheerleading events amongst schools and group of schools. Cheerleading is an excellent activity. In schools today, it is very organized, highly competitive, and the girls at the high school level work hard as a unit. In matter of fact, starting mid-August, these young ladies get up early, practice hard, runs laps, lift weights, and work out with intensity getting ready for the season. Least we forget, cheerleading is not strictly designed for football only. Cheerleading encompasses the entire high school sports season. It carries over into basketball and sometimes into the spring sports including both men and women sports. It can be grueling and the girls need to be in tip top physical condition and maintain excellent standards of flexibility. The cheerleading coaches at the high school level put in a tremendous amount of time and energy but their pay is not that spectacular. The cheerleading coaches do it for the love of the activity. Cheerleaders and the staff members deserves a tremendous amount of credit and recognition for the positive enthusiasm and great outlook that cheerleaders and the school band possess no matter if there team is losing or winning.

Western PA. Quarterbacks

Steve Sabol of NFL Films has put together a segment on the Top 100 Players of all time in the National Football League. With a tremendous amount of research and detailed discussions with the right people close to the game, this Top 100 of all time can be fairly accurate. John Steigerwald's JustWatchTheGame Blog has a segment on this. John's piece is very interesting to say the least. I would have to agree with John that MLB Dick Butkus of the Chicago Bears may be the best and most dominate player of all time on the defensive side of the ball. 2 running backs were just off the chart in Bears Walter Payton and the Lions Barry Sanders. Another player that probably in there is RB Earl Campbell from the Houston Oilers. On the flip side, this can be difficult to accomplish. The speed of the game since the late 1970's has been the most noticeable difference in this great game and also the size and agility of the big guys. I hope OLB from the Steelers Jack Ham is on the list for he is a player that would be able to play at any time. Just my opinion, but my top QB of all time would be Monongahela, PA Joe Montana of the San Francisco 49ers. He is another in the long lines of products out of this region that produced some of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game. Joe Namath from Beaver Falls, Dan Marino from Pittsburgh Central Catholic, and John Unitas of Mount Oliver who developed in the sandlot leagues in this area. Why has Pennsylvania especially Western Pennsylvania produced so many good quarterbacks? There has to be a reason for this. Least we forget Jim Kelly who was born in Pittsburgh but played his high school football in the Western PA community of East Brady.

Flaccotime

Recruited by the Walt Harris staff at the U. of Pittsburgh, Joe Flacco signed with Pitt back in February, 2003 coming from Audubon, NJ High School. Flacco rarely played at Pitt in his 2 year stint for the Panthers. I caught a glimpse of Joe Flacco in the Pitt Spring Game at Heinz field in April, 2004. I watched him take the snap from under center, makes his 3, 5, and 7 step drops and throw from the shotgun and I also said WOW! I told myself this guy has talent, now I know why Walt Harris recruited him. Flacco played behind solid Pitt QB Tyler Palko and opted to transfer after the 2004 season. Flacco played for the U of Delaware in 2006 and 2007 and now after being the 18th overall choice in the 2008 NFL draft, he plays for Steelers rival Baltimore Ravens. Joe Flacco has the talent to be a very effective QB in the league. The important cog for Flacco's success are these 5 guys, Jared Gaither, Tony Moll, Matt Birk, Marshall Yanda, Michael Oher, and a few more Offensive linemen that may crack the line-up. Baltimore Offensive linemen need to play lights out this season not only to administer the running game but to paas protect for Joe Flacco. The Ravens have bolstered their receiving corp by adding Anquan Boldin and Donte Stallworth. The Ravens receivers had a lot of key drops in 2009 and remember the one wide open Derrick Mason had vs. the Steelers in the end zone. It was handed to him on a platter and he still dropped it. This is a huge season for Joe Flacco and the Ravens. What a great rivalry the Ravens-Steelers games have become. Sunday October 3rd with a 1 PM starting time will be a very interesting Ravens Steelers game even without Big Ben playing.