The Weird, Wacky and Awesome World of the NFL - General Banter thread

Justin10 · 17-01-2013 11:57pm

Its crazy how close Manning and Leaf where, probably if anything Leaf considered better. No they are worlds apart.

Paully D · 18-01-2013 12:00am

Rochey18 wrote: »

Its crazy how close Manning and Leaf where, probably if anything Leaf considered better. No they are worlds apart.

14 out of 20 polled executives said they'd take Leaf over Manning.

davyjose · 18-01-2013 12:59am

Paully D wrote: »

14 out of 20 polled executives said they'd take Leaf over Manning.

But both the Colts and San Diego both preferred Manning. It seems insane not to have picked Manning first, but then, 6 QB's went ahead of Brady :eek:

kmart6 · 18-01-2013 1:01am

And really nobody can know the motives of those GM's...I'm sure some of them would have loved Manning to drop to them!

davyjose · 18-01-2013 1:06am

It takes a very special talent to go to one of the worst 2 or 3 teams in the league and make something happen. Sam Bradford (an excellent prospect in my opinion) is still scrambling to take his team to the next level. As we've seen, Andrew Luck is the only 1st overall pick at QB to go to the playoffs as a Rookie.

I wonder how things would have gone for Leaf if he'd been taken in the 20's.

Chucky the tree · 18-01-2013 1:08am

davyjose wrote: »

It takes a very special talent to go to one of the worst 2 or 3 teams in the league and make something happen. Sam Bradford (an excellent prospect in my opinion) is still scrambling to take his team to the next level. As we've seen, Andrew Luck is the only 1st overall pick at QB to go to the playoffs as a Rookie.

I wonder how things would have gone for Leaf if he'd been taken in the 20's.

He'd probably have been put in prison sooner but I'd say his NFL career would have been the same.

Some brilliant comments under the PFF article too.

Are the Bengals going to hold a spot for him too?

A sad turn? Its not like a girlfriend that he made up died…thats sad.

I think the picture was taken when Leaf was a replacement ref.

Son Of A Vidic · 18-01-2013 1:28am

Ryan Leaf is probably one of the most tragic cases in NFL history. Never has a player who could have had it all, lose it all so recklessly.

davyjose · 18-01-2013 1:33am

Corvus Maximus wrote: »

Ryan Leaf is probably one of the most tragic cases in NFL history. Never has a player who could have had it all, lose it all so recklessly.

Nah. Tragic is Eric LeGrand, or Kevin Everett. Leaf had it all and fcuked it away. I'm not unsympathetic, but the guy won life's lottery and he himself consciously made every decision that led him to where he is now.

Syferus · 18-01-2013 1:36am

JaMarcus Russell, anybody?

davyjose · 18-01-2013 1:39am

Syferus wrote: »

JaMarcus Russell, anybody?

Yeah, poor guy is probably wiping away his tears with thousand dollar bills right now.

Syferus · 18-01-2013 1:42am

I think he spent that on the purple drank.

HigginsJ · 18-01-2013 6:33pm

Corvus Maximus wrote: »

Ryan Leaf is probably one of the most tragic cases in NFL history. Never has a player who could have had it all, lose it all so recklessly.

Ah Jamarcus Russell

Chucky the tree · 18-01-2013 7:28pm

Jamarcus Russell was never really that talented though. Didn't know much about Leaf but from what I read he had the talent.

Son Of A Vidic · 18-01-2013 8:47pm

Chucky the tree wrote: »

Jamarcus Russell was never really that talented though. Didn't know much about Leaf but from what I read he had the talent.

As a Heisman trophy finalist Leaf definitely had the talent, but it all really started to go wrong once he went pro. He generally behaved like a right prick in his rookie season, marked himself out amongst his teammates and the rest from there is history.

TO. · 18-01-2013 8:57pm

Corvus Maximus wrote: »

As a Heisman trophy finalist Leaf definitely had the talent, but it all really started to go wrong once he went pro. He generally behaved like a right prick in his rookie season, marked himself out amongst his teammates and the rest from there is history.

The biggest tell for him was when the player interviews were done for the draft and the teams asked what would you do if you went No 1 overall pick. Manning answered go to the film room and study and Leaf said go to Vegas for a week and party.

To Leafs credit he was an outstanding QB in college. Absolute cannon of an arm and a very smart QB when it came to playing the game. His personal life and attitude is what let him down. Manning was more NFL ready QB but many teams preferred Leaf and thought he would go further than Manning in the Pros especially with that arm.

Itssoeasy · 18-01-2013 9:04pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zce-QT7MGSE

kmart6 · 18-01-2013 9:14pm

^^^^^^^

Already posted 2 pages back!

davyjose · 18-01-2013 9:18pm

Itssoeasy wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zce-QT7MGSE

Son Of A Vidic · 18-01-2013 11:10pm

TO. wrote: »

The biggest tell for him was when the player interviews were done for the draft and the teams asked what would you do if you went No 1 overall pick. Manning answered go to the film room and study and Leaf said go to Vegas for a week and party.

The same guy who decided to doss the last day of the rookie symposium. I can't remember how much, but he got slapped with a big fine from the league after that. A pretty poor start to his pro career. I wonder how big a mistake he made in skipping his senior year. What difference it would have made, if any, is hard to know. But he certainly wasn't mentally ready when he did go pro.

davyjose · 18-01-2013 11:23pm

TO. wrote: »

The biggest tell for him was when the player interviews were done for the draft and the teams asked what would you do if you went No 1 overall pick. Manning answered go to the film room and study and Leaf said go to Vegas for a week and party.

To Leafs credit he was an outstanding QB in college. Absolute cannon of an arm and a very smart QB when it came to playing the game. His personal life and attitude is what let him down. Manning was more NFL ready QB but many teams preferred Leaf and thought he would go further than Manning in the Pros especially with that arm.

This arm strength thing always gets me. Peyton had the ability to make all the throws. Andrew Luck got shredded by Phil Simms last year, and Tom Brady's Scouting report questioned his arm strength. To name but a few. These guys can all put serious zip on the ball.

My favourite story about Peyton's interview with the Colts is how he apparently told Irsay and Polian that if they didn't pick him, he'd kick their ass for the next 15 years. Class. :cool:

TO. · 19-01-2013 2:10am

davyjose wrote: »

This arm strength thing always gets me. Peyton had the ability to make all the throws. Andrew Luck got shredded by Phil Simms last year, and Tom Brady's Scouting report questioned his arm strength. To name but a few. These guys can all put serious zip on the ball.

There is huge difference in Arm strength with some QBs. Brady and Manning don't need pure power as they are accurate passers. They can zip them fast hard and accurately but Leaf shot them like a cannon. I have worked with many High School and College QB coaches and I can tell you there are guys out there who fire the ball like it was shot out of a cannon. No doubt Brady and Manning can zip the ball but trust me get on the end of different types of passes and you can tell the difference.

Jay Cutler is another example of a cannon arm. Difference with him he lacks the accuracy Brady and Manning have but his passes are harder and faster.

Arm strength isn't the major plus to QBs these days as it once was anyways.

Paully D · 20-01-2013 2:07am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoTEyxcxHuU

davyjose · 20-01-2013 5:31am

TO. wrote: »

Arm strength isn't the major plus to QBs these days as it once was anyways.

That's what I was getting at. We've seen guys in the past with fairly weak arms, but there are few in the league nowadays that don't throw it with a fair degree of pace.
Some folk, Ron Jaworski in particular, talk as though it's the be all and end all of being a QB in the NFL.