The NFL continues to make news despite the Super Bowl already having been decided. New developments abound, including a new look for one of the league’s squads! So let’s look at what went down this week.
Tampa Bay Gets a Face Lift
(Image from Sports Illustrated)
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers unveiled a new look for the 2014 season and beyond on Thursday, as they revealed a refurbished logo and helmet, along with word of a uniform overhaul coming in a few weeks. (UPDATE: The date for the reveal of the new uniforms has been set for March 5. Mark your calendars, mateys.) Warren Sapp, AKA the best defensive lineman not named Lee Roy Selmon the Bucs have ever had, revealed the new helmet himself on NFL Network on Thursday evening. It’s a new, meaner look, to be sure, but…it honestly doesn’t look that new.
Granted, I wasn’t expecting something as radically new as the old logo was in comparison to Bucco Bruce, but at the very least Tampa could have made an effort to differentiate themselves and create a new identity for themselves to coincide with the radical changes they’ve been having to endure over the past two to three years. I will admit, though, this is a fairly good-looking redesign, all things considered. The skull on the flag actually looks pretty terrifying now, and in general the logo looks a lot cleaner than it did before. Maybe that isn’t the goal–after all, to my understanding a Buccaneer is supposed to be gritty and savage–but this new look is still pretty intimidating in its own way. Kudos to the front office for a good new design, but for me they could have done with a more novel approach.
Browns Offer Trade For…Jim Harbaugh?
(Image from BlackSportsOnline.com)
Rumors arose this past week about the Browns attempting to use their several draft picks to try to make a trade with San Francisco. Rather than making an attempt to lure one or more big players away from the 2012 NFC champs, however, Cleveland had a different target in mind: head coach Jim Harbaugh. Let me say that again in case you don’t think you read that correctly: THE BROWNS TRIED TO TRADE FOR JIM HARBAUGH. As in, the head coach of San Francisco 49ers who has led his team to three straight NFC Championship games. Yeah.
Of course, the Niners quickly declined the offer, and Cleveland wound up hiring Mike Pettine (if you already know who he is and you aren’t a die-hard Browns fan, I can’t decide if you need a cookie or if you need to go outside more often), but still, I don’t know whether that speaks more to the incompetence of the Browns’ front office or to the desperation of that same group. Trades involving coaches are fairly rare–the last one I remember was when the Raiders traded Jon Gruden to the Bucs in 2002, and we all know how that turned out for Oakland. Granted, if it worked for the Bucs, there’s no reason to think it couldn’t work for the Browns. Except, of course, that little setback known as Brandon Weeden. (But I digress.)
Scouting Combine Begins
(Image from Sports Illustrated)
The annual Scouting Combine began this past week, and with it came a whole load of storylines: Johnny Manziel, Jadeveon Clowney, Michael Sam, and a host of others. The Combine is usually a fairly accurate barometer of how a player will perform in a vacuum, but there’s always the question of nerves: how will the would-be rookies react to the heightened media attention and pressure? More importantly, can they perform under this pressure? Granted, for those who choke there’s always the Pro Days later in spring, but it’s cold comfort if, for example, a running back or receiver renowned for his breakaway speed manages only a 4.7 40-yard dash, or a supposedly incredibly strong lineman only manages seventeen reps at 225 pounds. The Combine is truly a make-or-break week for all prospects, so you can usually use its results to see an accurate picture of the player’s abilities.
Unfortunately, there’s always those who decide to be difficult and decline to participate in workouts at the Combine (much like a certain Texas A&M quarterback has decided to do this year). To these I say: You’re only hurting your own chances of getting drafted. Teams use the individual workouts to judge who would be a good fit for them in the coming seasons, and more often than not they don’t like taking too many risks. Not participating in position workouts at the Scouting Combine smacks of arrogance, laziness, and–in some cases–outright contempt for the entire process, because you’re essentially telling teams that you don’t care about their decision making methods. If you’re not working out, you’re basically assuming that you’re going to be one of the first players taken off the board, and there’s a certain famous saying about what happens when you assume things. (I won’t reprint it here, but you should be able to understand what I’m getting at.)
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That’s all for this week. See you all next Saturday!
