We’re three weeks removed from the culmination of the most tumultuous year the NFL has faced in recent memory. The NFL Combine is in full swing, with abnormally large men dressed in abnormally little clothing performing Herculean acts on the proving grounds of Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
For the 40 yard dash, a 4.3 means you’re a starting wide out, a 4.5 means you’re a slot receiver, and a 4.9 means you should maybe try the Canadian Football League, eh? The offensive lineman can run that fast. See Hobart and William Smith College’s Ali Marpet this year (4.92 seconds) and 2014 first round pick Taylor Lewan (4.87 seconds).
Teams are built through the draft in the NFL. It’s that simple. As the upcoming draft approaches, the Mariotas and Winstons of the world will be drafted in Chicago for the first time since 1964. That is, after NFL teams scour every inch of film and consult the entire regiment of the front office personnel, the coaching staff, and the medical personnel… most of the time.
The Off-Season
The stain from arguably the NFL’s darkest preseason to date was seemingly lifted, if only slightly, with a Super Bowl finish so memorable that Bob Kraft may need to fashion himself a new championship ring cufflink.
The off-season’s first blemish came from a March 16 arrest of Colts’ owner Jim Irsay on a drunk driving charge. Nearly six months after the arrest, he was suspended for six games, fined $500,000 and barred from doing interviews or using social media regarding his organization. Naysayers of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell began calling for swifter punishment, feeling that Goodell was looking the other way. If this were a player, surely rulings would be made in a more timely fashion.
The first images of the scene were disturbing. The video, somewhat grainy footage provided by sporting news giant TMZ (…wait), depicted Baltimore Ravens’ 5-foot-8-inch running back Ray Rice dragging the unconscious body of then fiancée Janay Palmer (now Janay Rice after their March 28 wedding) out of an elevator at Atlantic City’s Revel Casino. The NFL’s black eye began in this $2.4 billion resort, now struggling to sell for a measly six-figures after two cases of Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Declining a plea offer, Rice agreed to undergo pretrial intervention and anger management. On July 24, Goodell laid down the law.
A two, count em, t-w-o, game suspension was thrust on Rice from the commissioner’s office; just half of the league’s minimum performance enhancing drug suspension for first time offenders. The naysayers now included the National Organization for Women who called for the commissioner’s job.
The season’s first Monday Night Football double-header was marred with the earlier release of the chilling video from inside the elevator. A shove from the running back was met with a combination spit-slap in the face from his fiancée. His response was a destructive, lights-out left hook that looked fit for a boxing ring, not for someone with whom you share a ring.
Rice was released and suspended indefinitely.
Manziel, ODB, and Gordon
Amidst continuing questions about his character and actions in his first offseason after being selected 22nd overall by the Browns, Johnny Manziel rode the pine behind Brian Hoyer.
His otherwise inconspicuous off-season was filled with missed practices after nights spent partying and a middle finger extended toward the Redskins bench in the second week of the preseason out of frustration. Starting two games and making appearances in five, Manziel recorded a single rushing touchdown to go along with two interceptions.
The year’s brightest new star came in the small frame and inhuman hands of Odell Beckham Jr. An off-season hamstring injury sidelined Beckham until October, but the budding Giants star put the league on notice with video game-like statistics and even flashier catches. The Offensive Rookie of the Year raked in 1,350 yards on 91 catches in 12 games with as many touchdowns.
His quick rise to fame echoes that of Browns wide out Josh Gordon. However, Gordon has neglected the behavior required of a man privileged enough to lace up his cleats on Sunday afternoons for a paycheck. The former Baylor Bear faced discipline in college twice after two incidents both involving marijuana, the latter being a failed drug test resulting in his transfer to Utah.
The eventual second-rounder had a respectable rookie campaign with over 800 yards, but his all-pro sophomore season began with a two game suspension for using what he said was a cough medicine containing codeine for his strep throat.
The league suspended him for all of 2014 after another drug test found marijuana in his system. This was ultimately shortened from 16 to 10 games due to the league’s mid-season policy changes. Entering the league’s substance abuse program after a DUI in September of 2014, Gordon went on to test positive for alcohol this January.
His future in the league is, quite simply, his least worry. Chris Carter, who experienced early career problems similar to Gordon’s, openly acknowledges that a main factor in him turning his life around and embracing the position he was in was the Philadelphia Eagles releasing him. He needed to see that nobody needed him. Hopefully that is all Gordon needs.
Postseason
Seven of 12 playoff teams returned to postseason play, with the Seahawks, Patriots and Broncos reclaiming first-round byes. A postseason of controversy and awkward grown man celebratory hugs (looking at you, Chris Christie) was capped with the controversy of controversies. Deflategate captured the nation in the two-week frenzy leading up to Super Bowl XLIX.
Surprise! That’s all the coverage you get, one measly sentence! Eat your heart out, Beantown.
Otherwise, “Pretty Boy” Brady did his thing. Instant classic is the phrase, I believe. Backseat offensive coordinators and 12th man members across the country screamed in agony as Russell Wilson threw an interception on the goal line with the clock ticking under 30 seconds. This just seconds after Jermaine Kearse hauled in the second-most (see Odell Beckham Jr.) improbable catch of the season.
Cue the Pete Carroll play-calling jokes.
May your team draft the guard you need to plug up your dismal front seven, or the help in the secondary you so desperately need. Enjoy the end of the combine, and the fanfare that leads up to the draft beginning on April 26. If last offseason is any indicator, the NFL news may stain the entire calendar once again.
For Goodell and the league, let’s hope it’s a bit cleaner than last year.
