Life in the NFL...

[Tatonka]

you know.. i thought i would just share this..

last night i got together with an old friend of mine.. we used to hang out all the time.. but since i got married we havent spent a whole lot of time together... i see him about once a month or so and we alway talk football..

I really enjoy talking football with him because he actually played in the NFL.. his name is Ken Brown, but everyone calls him KB. He went to a local highschool here and went to Virginia Tech on a full scholarship... he was an absolute beast there.. starting in his freshman season.

He ended up being drafted in the 4th round by the denver broncos.

We really got into an in depth discussion the other night.. and we were talking about the whole Drew Bledsoe debate (does he really suck that bad, or just kinda bad)... i was talking about rookie qbs and what not.. he got into the politics of the game. he was saying how the NFL is all about politics and scratching your buddies back... i always thought that the best player gets on the field.. eventually, if your good you will be the starter.. KB said that was completely untrue. he said that every team has guys sitting on the bench that should be starting but because the owner loves this guy or the coach loves that guy, that the guy behind him never gets a chance.

The thing with KB was kinda the same way. he was a hell of a LB. just mean as hell, and he was fast. well during his rookie season, his mother died. he came home and had a rough time dealing with that, as him and his mom were very close. he missed a game (which he would have been inactive for, and had team approval to miss) and called shanahan the next week and told him he was having a real tough time and asked if he could have one more week... shanahan told him he could. KB came back the next week and was on shanny's **** list for the rest of the year. they drafted mobley the next year and KB didnt make it through training camp.

Crazy to think how 90% of these guys in the nfl could go from NFL studs to just regular joes. i remember KB coming home during the bye week his rookie year and us going to the mall in his new land rover. he took out like 3k out of the bank and spent it like it was nothing... now he works construction and leads a normal life. the money is gone and nobody knows him.

after he was cut by the broncos, he walked away. i asked him why.. he said because he never loved the game. he played for his parent.. his mom specifically.. and when she passsed, he just didnt care anymore. i couldnt believe a guy that played his whole life could just not care.. and surprisingly, he said that most guys really dont love the game. they love the fame and money.

crazy, huh? just thought i would share..

http://www.jt-sw.com/football/pro/players.nsf/ID/07670042

something else I found funny..

Denvers 1995 draft...

4th round picks
Jamie Brown T Florida A&M
Ken Brown LB Virginia Tech

5th round pick
Phil Yeboah-Kodie LB Penn State

6th round pick
Fritz Fequeire G Iowa
Terrell Davis RB Georgia

7th round pick
Steve Russ LB Air Force
Byron Chamberlain WR Wayne State (NE)



Do you guys see anyone on our team that looks like they have lost their love of the game? sometimes i wonder about bledsoe... you guys still think he has that same passion.. judging from his face on the sidelines last year.. i dunno.

[The Spaz]

I don't think Bledsoe has lost his love of the game, I think it has to do with frustration and the fact that he feels he has things to prove that's IMO though.

[The Spaz]

Great story by the way as well! I feel that their are some people and organizations who act that way but I firmly beleive that Buffalo is not one who is run that way.

[Dozerdog]

I find it hard to beleive most guys who play in the NFL don't "love the game".

Football is the most emotional and physical sport out there. The money is big enough where guys could walk away if they weren't happy and still lead a comfortable life. If that were the case, Barry Sanders would be the rule, not the exception.

This buddy of yours sounds like he got disinfranchised that one tough season, and projects that onto other players. Obviously the guy is going to think better players ride the pine than get in because of "favoritism" when they think they are not the favorite.

Let me hear a coach, owner, or major star like Bret Favre make that claim before I put any creedence into it. No disrespect to your freind, but it does come across like sour grapes.

Now granted, if you have a Flutie/RJ situation where you have two guys with somewhat equall strengths/weaknesses and ownership or management settles on one over the other- there may be some other considerations going into the decision- but it's way to high a stakes game to sit guys because of "favoritism".

Shanny has to win to keep his job- here is no luxury of doing that IMHO.

[DATGUY52]

Maybe T is on to something. Bledsoe just didn't appear to have that "fire". If he's just trying to carry the offense (frustration) you would think it would boil over at some point. It looked more like he just gave up after the mid point of the season. At least, that looks like the case to me.

[Tatonka]

I believe they ended up winning the superbowl the next year too.. kb could have had a ring.. crazy huh.

[Tatonka]

Originally posted by DATGUY52
Maybe T is on to something. Bledsoe just didn't appear to have that "fire". If he's just trying to carry the offense (frustration) you would think it would boil over at some point. It looked more like he just gave up after the mid point of the season. At least, that looks like the case to me.

thing is.. bledsoe had said himself that he lost is passion for the game in NE.. maybe the initial success he had in buffalo was enough to relight that fire for a while, but suffering through the miserable season we just had.. why wouldnt those same feelings come creeping back in?

i am not saying he definately has.. i am just throwing it out there to see what you guys think.

[Dozerdog]

Well, when your boss sucks and puts you in a position to fail, I can see getting discouraged. DB could have picked it up- but then again he's always been a good soldier doing what he's told- so "fighting the system" probablty was not an option for him

[DATGUY52]

Originally posted by Tatonka
thing is.. bledsoe had said himself that he lost is passion for the game in NE.. maybe the initial success he had in buffalo was enough to relight that fire for a while, but suffering through the miserable season we just had.. why wouldnt those same feelings come creeping back in?
I agree. And, "not fighting the system" doesn't quite sound right. DB just didn't have the "look" of a qb that cared where the season was going.
i am not saying he definately has.. i am just throwing it out there to see what you guys think.

Originally posted by Tatonka
thing is.. bledsoe had said himself that he lost is passion for the game in NE.. maybe the initial success he had in buffalo was enough to relight that fire for a while, but suffering through the miserable season we just had.. why wouldnt those same feelings come creeping back in?

i am not saying he definately has.. i am just throwing it out there to see what you guys think.

[BuffaloRanger]

Originally posted by DATGUY52
Maybe T is on to something. Bledsoe just didn't appear to have that "fire". If he's just trying to carry the offense (frustration) you would think it would boil over at some point. It looked more like he just gave up after the mid point of the season. At least, that looks like the case to me.

Bledsoe doesn't seem like the kinda guy that would allow things to boil over. Me? I start to boil over when I have to wait 5 minutes for a taxi to pick me up. But DB seems to have alot more control than me. He gets down on himself and shows some frustration, but he'd never blast KG for a complex, outdated offensive game plan.

[eyedog]

What Bledsoe needs is to be a little more of a ***** on the field and in the locker room. He is to damn nice and easy going. After what was happening with this offense this past year he should of had it out with KG, GW, and some of those stiffs up front who are paid to block. The worse thing for him to do was nothing, and thats pretty much what he did.

[eyedog]

Remember when Kelly called out Howard Ballard for missing his block in Indy and getting Kelly injured. A lot of people and teammates were pissed off at Kelly. But guess what the message was sent and everybody was being held accountable.

[helmetguy]

The difference there was that Kelly called out a team mate, not his immediate boss. This past season, after particularly galling losses, there were hints of dissatisfaction coming from the locker room; subtle jabs about wanting to run the ball more, the OT tD scored by Henry against Cincy being an "attitude" thing the players lobbied for, etc. Reuben Brown's explosions in Week 16 were really the first open displays of frustration by anybody on the offense. Had any of this erupted earlier in the season, you can bet the media would have picked it apart, calling the players crybabies and such, and mocking the Bills for not being able to quell a mutiny. The same sort of thing happen in Oakland. It did nothing to improve the situation there and, eventually, made it that much more difficult for Al Davis to find Callahan's replacement (that's not to say that working for Al Davis is anyone's dream job, by the way).

It is true, Bledsoe COULD have been more of a ***** on the field-complete with the historionics and tantrums-but little would have been accomplished. To do so, his team mates would have seen through the sham. Bledsoe's faith in what they were being told to do was as lacking as anyone else's. All too often, the TV cameras found KG and Bledsoe on the sidelines when KG was talking and it looked as though Bledsoe was a thousand miles away. One can only guess what Bledsoe was thinking. Then, again, how many times did it happen that the Bills had to burn a time out, then, coming out of it, did it look as though the opponent's defense was in on the huddle? It is easy to seen, then, how the frustration just kept growing, to the point where the guys were just going through the motions. No matter what they did, it wasn't going to work; and no amount of *****ing was going to change it. It'd be my bet that, upon hearing the news of KG's departure, while being cool and professional on the outside, most of the Bills' offense was pooping champagne corks in private.

[eyedog]

All true Helmet, so what did they do ? As the season was going down the drain they just sat back and let the status quo keep on being. Maybe they needed a little mutiny. It was obvious they were riding a sinking ship after the Chiefs game. Do something/anything. Bledsoe needs to be more forceful imo. He's the one who should have stood up to GW @ KG. And I'm a Bledsoe backer, so this isn't one of those run Bledsoe out of town posts.

[ryjam282]

Tatonka, great post. I have a decent answer for you, I played with the Anaheim Angels for 3 years in the minor leagues and went to a few Major League Spring Trainings and am very familiar with the politics of the game and can definitely back your friends case that the best player isn't always on the field. I can also tell you this:

When I was in college (Florida Atlantic University) our team had a ton of success (we were 98-17 the 2 years I was there including a Division I NCAA record 34 game winning streak).

Well, in college your teammates are your friends and you hang out with them and laugh and whatnot. As soon as you are drafted to play pro ball, it all changes. The players on your team are no longer long time friends (most of the time) they are people you are competing against to make it to the next level. The front office doesn't give a rats ass if you hit .360 and the guy that got drafted 5 rounds ahead of you, and has a much higher signing bonus, hits .235 (ala Drew Henson). That other guy will get a better chance to make it the majority of the time.

I know there are some cases where a really low round guy makes it, Mike Piazza and others, but it is a very rare case and it causes a lot of players to lose there love for the game. They really might not know it until it is too late.

I know for me, my first year in rookie ball, I struggled learning how to hit with the wood bat. I finally picked it up at the end of the year and my next two years with them were decent. I made it to double-A and that is where it ended.

I was the #4 outfielder on the team and playing about 2-3 games a week. We had our centerfielder get hurt and I moved into his spot and played 39 straight games (in 41 days) and did pretty well. I hit .297 with 5 homers during that stint and stole about 12 bases. Not bad I think and the other guy got healthy and moved right back into his spot. He continued in his horrible slump (.194 for the season so far and about 250 ab's). So, then I get called into the coaches office, thinking I will be moved back to the starting position, WRONG, I got released. They told me that I was too old to still be in Double A and they thought I would have a better chance with another team. I was absolutely devastated. All I ever wanted to do since I was 4 years old was play pro baseball and now when I am 21 they tell me I was too old. I went home that day and I just realized how much I didn't want to go back. I was really content with being home and not around the polictics and stuff so I quit the game and really to this day, don't watch it or follow it that much either. Anaheim won the World Series the next year and a bunch of the guys I played with were on that Championship team too. Oh well

So, I can definitely relate to your friend KB and his situation and I bet we are not the only ones that have given up the game we loved because of front office personnel liking someone better then us even though we proved more on the field.

Sorry it is a long read, but I can relate.