Michael Vick cops a plea and Larry Johnson makes a deal of his own. Training camp injuries and roster cut down casualties. These and the Field Position Fantasy Football Listeners Leagues!

RSS Feed
Direct Download Mp3

Enjoy!

Fantasy Football Listeners Leagues are open for registration! Lots of training camp and preseason info. A little about Pacman Jones and Mike Vick. But only a little bit.

RSS Feed
Direct Download Mp3

Enjoy!

It’s well documented that former San Francisco 49ers Head Coach Bill Walsh was sick for quite some time, and that he was losing his fight with Leukemia. Everyone focuses on the “Walsh Tree” or the “Parcells Tree” of coaching. Walsh came from a tree as well. He was a student of the late Paul Brown, who led the Cleveland Browns to numerous titles during the “Golden Age” of pro football. It was a fellow assistant on Brown’s staff who had an impact on Walsh. He was Blanton Collier.

Never heard of him, you say? Well, you have football highlights and game study footage because of Blanton Collier. Walsh took much of Collier’s development of film study and molded it into his own planning. Walsh was a master of planning going back to his days as head coach of the Stanford Cardinals. Walsh served as an assistant with Brown in Cincinnati before resigning to become an assistant to Tommy Prothro in San Diego. Then it was on to Stanford for Walsh. There, he made wine out of water until the NFL came calling again.

Walsh would say years later that he never wanted to come back to the NFL, but he loved a challenge. The 49ers were just that. He was 47 when he took over in the bay area. In just a decade the Niners went from the bottom to the top. They won 3 Super Bowls, including two over Walsh’s former pupil Sam Wyche of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana said, “Outside of my own dad [Walsh] was the closest person to me. The most influential person in my life. I am going to miss him.”

Another who spoke on the condition that he remain nameless told us late Monday night, “I never met a kinder gentleman in my entire life. I was truly blessed to know him even briefly.”

Many said that Coach Walsh had a temper. But it only came out when something truly angered him. He was once so enraged at a player for a cheap shot in a practice that he cut him on the spot. Then following him with a security guard to the locker room screaming “Don’t even let him get a f—— shower!”

The most prolific quote however comes from Seattle Head Coach Mike Holmgren who says, “He was an artist. The rest of us were blacksmiths.”

Some said that Walsh was falling behind the times when the 49ers lost to the Giants 49-3 in a 1986 playoff game. Attending that game personally, I scanned the sidelines looking for the coach to see if he was visibly upset. If he was he didn’t show it. Walsh just shrugged it off and reloaded the Niners again. Many will miss him, and all loved him.

Thanks for reading.
Bill

A subtle and tasteful introduction to Pacman Jones’ wrestling alter-ego. A look at Mike Vick, and a salute to Bill Walsh. Players making an impression in camp and prospects for your fantasy roster. As we sail into training camps …

RSS Feed
Direct Download Mp3

Enjoy!

Buh-bye Tank. Former Eagles DT Darwin Walker was traded by Buffalo to Chicago for a conditional draft pick. The Bears defensive interior just got even scarier.

Tommie Harris is already scary enough. Darwin Walker is a tackle cut of the same cloth. He’s quick, athletic, instinctive. Walker can play the run, collapse a pocket, and he is paired up with on of the few tackles in the league that is arguably as good or better than he is.

The Bears suffered mightily when Harris was lost to injury. With Walker on the roster, the defensive front has another pressure player who does the same kinds of things and has caused the same kind of havoc throughout his career. If the two are both healthy and start side by side, the Bears will have an push up the middle rivaled by very few teams in the league.

So the Bears waved good bye to Tank Johnson after he proved too much trouble off the field. I don’t think anyone in Chicago is going to realize he’s gone. Those that do, will be glad to say they don’t miss him.

Former first round draft pick Tim Couch was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars for the veteran minimum of $595,000. After entering the league with high expectations, Couch suffered through five disappointing seasons with the Cleveland Browns. He will be on an NFL roster for the first time in two years.

In Cleveland, Couch never had a chance. He got pummeled regularly behind an awful offensive line. He had no running game to lean on. He battled injuries to his throwing arm that were never allowed to heal. Then Browns Head Coach Butch Davis played head games with Couch and back up Kelly Holcomb. Couch was given every opportunity to fail. Fail he did.

After a short stint in Packers training camp, Couch fell away from football but he never stopped working. He had surgeries on his throwing arm. He worked on his mechanics. He stayed in shape. In 2006 he worked out for two teams but neither signed him.

Now, Couch is a wild card. Coming out of college, Couch was considered one of the best. He has a strong arm. He was accurate. Much better than his 55% completion numbers in Cleveland indicated. Couch has ability and if his head is right, if he has shaken those awful beatings he took in Cleveland, he is a contender.

Byron Leftwich is the anointed starter for the Jaguars. But most agree that Leftwich’s job security is tenuous at best. David Garrard has proven he is a solid back up but no more than that. Couch, if he is at all back to his former self, could threaten Garrard as the second quarterback. If Leftwich continues to struggle with turnovers, Couch could conceivably be a starting quarterback in the NFL again.

I don’t know what to expect from Tim Couch. But I love a good Rocky Balboa story. Couch has worked hard to get this chance. To make more of it in Jacksonville is a major long-shot. But given their quarterback situation and Couch’s potential, it’s a situation worth paying close attention to.

Join Bill Chachkes as he covers the headlines from around the NFL and welcomes training camp!

RSS Feed
Direct Download Mp3

Enjoy!