Super Bowl 46: NFL’s premier franchises collide
Super Bowl 46 includes the NFL’s premier franchise, the Patriots. This is New England’s fifth Super Bowl in the last 11 seasons, a mark of consistent excellence thought impossible in the free-agent era.
But the Patriots’ opponent also is regal, even recently. It’s hard for any franchise in the NFC to stand out. These Giants ended one of the great streaks in modern sports history. In the 10 seasons from 2001-10, 10 franchises won the NFC. In order: St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Carolina, Philadelphia, Seattle, Chicago, the Giants, Arizona, New Orleans, Green Bay. And look how close we came to making it 11-for-11, with the 49ers. That would have been mind-blowing.
But also look just beyond the streak, on both ends. The same franchise that ended the streak is the same franchise that kept it from starting earlier. The Giants. The G-Men beat Minnesota (look, the Vikings aren’t on the 10-for-10 list) in the 2000 NFC title game, and now are in Super Bowl 46.
That’s three Super Bowls in 12 years for the Giants, which is no dynasty, except in the context of the ultra-parity world of the National Football Conference. Then it’s virtual domination.
The crazy world of the NFC goes back even further. In ’99, the Rams won the NFC. In ’98, the Falcons. Go from the 1998 season through 2010, the NFC had 13 champions, won by 11 franchises, with the Rams and Giants winning two. The Giants this year get to three in 14 years.
If you want to go back 20 years, give Green Bay two more and Dallas three (that’s right; the Cowboys haven’t won the NFC since the 1995 season. Haven’t even been to an NFC title game since January 1996).
It’s still a parity-driven conference, but the Giants clearly are the elite franchise in the NFC. Their consistency is superb. In the last 25 years, the G-Men have been to Super Bowls under three head coaches and three quarterbacks. They haven’t had a losing season since 2004. The only NFC franchise that comes close to that is Philadelphia (2005).
The status of New England is clear. The Patriots under Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and Robert Kraft have been the league’s standard of consistency. But the Giants have been the long-time class of the NFC. And now they meet again, in Super Bowl 46.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
Super Bowl 46: Prediction time
Super Bowl 46 arrives Sunday with a rematch. Patriots vs. Giants. New York won 17-14 four years ago in Super Bowl 42, and this is a rematch because the primaries remain. Same coaches, Tom Coughlin/Bill Belichick. Same quarterbacks, Eli Manning/Tom Brady.
The way rosters overturn these days, even a rematch from the previous year’s Super Bowl would have a ton of new faces. If you’ve got the same quarterbacks and same coaches dueling, that’s a rematch in this day and age.
How many Super Bowl rematches have we had? I would say just two:
* Cowboys/Steelers. Pittsburgh won Super 10 over the Cowboys 21-17, then three years later won Super Bowl 13 over Dallas, 35-31. Those rosters didn’t have a ton of turnover. Largely the same teams.
* Cowboys/Bills. Dallas beat Buffalo in back-to-back seasons, 52-17 and 30-13, in Super Bowls 27 and 28. Virtually the same teams.
But 49ers/Bengals was not a rematch. The ’81 49ers and ’89 49ers had the same coach (Bill Walsh) and quarterback (Joe Montana), but Cincinnati did not: coach Forrest Gregg and quarterback Ken Anderson in ’81, coach Sam Wyche and quarterback Boomer Esiason in ’89.
Neither was Washington/Miami a rematch. They played 10 years apart, after the 1972 and 1982 seasons. Don Shula coached both Dolphin teams, but George Allen coached the ’72 Redskins and Joe Gibbs the ’82 Redskins. In Super Bowl 7, Miami won 14-7, with Bob Griese quarterbacking the Dolphins and Billy Kilmer the ‘Skins. In Super Bowl 17, Washington won 27-17, with Joe Theismann quarterbacking the Redskins and David Woodley the Dolphins.
So really only two Super Bowl rematches.
Only eight Patriots remain from their Super Bowl 42 roster: Brady, flanker Wes Welker, tailback Kevin Faulk, guard Logan Mankins, center Dan Koppen, left tackle Matt Light, nose tackle Vince Wolfork and kicker Stephen Gostkowski. Koppen is on injured reserve. Hixon is on injured reserve.
But 17 Giants remain from Super Bowl 42: Manning, tailbacks Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs, guard Chris Snee, left tackle David Diehl, right tackle Kareem McKenzie, center Kevin Boothe, receiver Domenik Hixon, cornerbacks Aaron Ross and Corey Webster, kicker Lawrence Tynes, linebackers Chase Blackburn and Mathias Kiwanuka, deep snapper Zak DeOssie and defensive ends Dave Tollefson, Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck.
Of course, since Super Bowl 42, the revamped Patriots have played at a higher level than have the Giants. Including this season. But not including the last month.
The revitalized Giants have stormed through the playoffs, dominating Atlanta in the Jersey Meadowlands before winning at Green Bay and at San Francisco.
Both teams barely escaped their conference title games. It’s not far-fetched to imagine a Harbaugh Super Bowl — Jim’s 49ers vs. John’s Ravens. Instead, we’ve got this rematch.
Judging the Giants on how they’ve played since Christmas Eve — dismantling the Jets, then dominating the Cowboys on New Year’s Night — New York has been the best team in football. The Giants have a vastly superior defense than does New England, and with Eli Manning playing at such a high level, New York’s offense isn’t too far behind the Patriots’.
Let’s go with another Giant victory in this Super Bowl rematch, 27-23.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
Oklahoma State football: More on Robert Nunn
I received a lot of good feedback from my Robert Nunn column in the Friday Oklahoman. Nunn is the former OSU linebacker who now coaches defensive line for the New York Giants. You can read the column here.
I heard from a variety of people giving me additional perspective on Nunn.
I heard from long-time Oklahoma high school football coach Ray Goldsby, who was coaching at Moore when Nunn graduated from Apache High School.
“Thanks for the great article concerning Robert Nunn. I was fortunate enough to coach Robert in the Oil Bowl his senior year. Many people questioned us on why we would pick up a kid from Apache to play in the Oil Bowl. August Deets had been his coach in Apache, and in my opinion August had always been right up front with coaches, and his word was good. So when he said Robert could play, that was good enough for me. He then started for us at linebacker in the Oil Bowl and we beat a heavily favored Texas team that year. The rest is history, but it could not have happened to a better young man.
“He is and was just as the people described him in your article. I just feel privileged to have him be a part of my coaching career.”
I also heard from long-time Lawton Constitution sports editor Joey Goodman, who is the uncle of Maury Tate, Nunn’s lifelong friend.
“Good piece on one of the really great guys from Southwest Oklahoma. Remember when he was growing up, ornery little redhead who was always getting into something. His family and our family went to the same church, and I had a great time watching him growing up, first with his high school career and then at OSU.
“Obviously I’m proud of what he’s accomplished, knowing him like I do. He and Maury were always together and many times I was right there with them trying to provide guidance.
“One of the best stories he didn’t tell you about was his four sons and how they love to go ‘home’ to Grandpa Bill’s barn and hunt rats. Bill told me they can kill more rats than any old cat.
“He also didn’t tell you about the cookie story. Mom Ann makes a heckuva chocolate-chip cookie and she sends some to Robert before every Giants home game. He told me that if they win, the linemen get the cookies, if they lose the coaches or staffers get them. (Jason) Pierre-Paul has been known to literally grab them out of the hands of the other linemen.
“The more things like that you hear, the more you learn that Robert makes playing for him fun. He tries to make practice tough but interesting and not boring. Obviously he’s done a great job in that area and the Giants are the beneficiary of his efforts.”
Our Super Bowl correspondent, Josh Weinfuss, also supplied some further thoughts from Nunn at Super Bowl Media Day.
On living in New Jersey, compared to Apache: “It’s a little bit different (laughing). Just a tad different. But you know what, it’s like everywhere else. There’s good people wherever I’ve been. Our next-door neighbors are just as good of people as I grew up with. It’s been a great experience and been a fun ride. Eating at the café in Apache is a little less expensive than going down to eat at any restaurant in New York. Like I said, we make the best of it. My family likes it, like the people we’re around. My kids go to school there. We’re enjoying it.”
On routinely talking with his father, Bill, an Apache farmer: “We talk about everything. Talk about the grandkids. It starts with the grandkids, then it goes into football, then farming, the weather, my brothers, the rest of the family. It’s usually on Fridays. It’s the day we kind of slow down and I’m usually always driving home in traffic.”
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
Oklahoma State football: Mike Gundy still swinging
Mike Gundy came late to the campaigning party. His declaration before Bedlam that Alabama deserved to be No. 2 in the rankings showed that Gundy hadn’t learn to play the game demanded of coaches vying for a spot in the Big Bowl. But since the final gun of Bedlam, Gundy has been promoting his Cowboys and popping those who prevented OSU from playing LSU.
Gundy did it again this week. Concerning Alabama’s 21-0 victory over LSU in New Orleans, Gundy said he has no idea what would have happened in an OSU-LSU game, but “if we’d have played, we’d have thrown it 60 times. I don’t know what kind of game it would have been, but it would have been fun to watch.”
LSU had just five first downs and 92 total yards against Alabama. LSU coach Les Miles had a close-to-the-vest gameplan and stuck with it. LSU threw just 17 passes the entire game.
Alabama gave up just 1,449 yards in 13 games. Only two teams threw for more than 150 yards — Arkansas 209, Florida 207. The Crimson Tide rarely was tested in the air.
Penn State threw 39 passes in a 27-10 loss, but the Nittany Lions completed just 12. That’s not a sophisticated passing game. Auburn completed just 11 of 20 passes in a 42-14 home loss to Bama. Florida completed 14 of 23 passes in a 38-10 home loss to Bama. Tennessee completed nine of 18 passes in a 37-6 loss at Alabama. And on and on it goes.
Arkansas was more like OSU. The Razorbacks completed 24 of 40 passes against Bama. Alabama won that game 38-14 in Tuscaloosa. But OSU was better than Arkansas and wouldn’t have been playing in Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Outside of the Razorbacks, Alabama wasn’t tested in the air. And it’s the same with LSU.
I’m not saying OSU would have beaten Alabama or LSU. I think the Tide or the Tigers probably wins that game. What I’m saying, and what Gundy is saying, is that Alabama never was put outside its comfort zone. At least LSU was, with non-conference games against Oregon and West Virginia, neither in Baton Rouge.
The SEC argument that OSU never saw a defense like Alabama’s or LSU’s is true. But the counter argument is true too, that Alabama never saw an offense like OSU’s.
That’s all Gundy is saying. The national championship game ended up a regional championship. We didn’t get the matchup that would have answered some questions. Instead, those questions remain.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
Oklahoma football: Are OU, OSU recruiting enough Okies?
OU and OSU signed eight Oklahomans on Wednesday. That’s eight total.
The Sooners signed Edmond Santa Fe defensive end Mike Onuoha, Jenks tailback Alex Ross and Heritage Hall flanker Sterling Shepard. The Cowboys signed Tulsa Washington (and Navarro Junior College) defensive tackle Calvin Barnett, Madill tailback Caleb Muncrief, Wagoner cornerback Kevin Peterson, Broken Arrow tight end Zac Veatch and Stillwater kick returner Jesse Vester, though Vester might not qualify academically.
Now, both schools offered scholarships to a variety of other Oklahomans. Norman tailback Donovan Roberts. Heritage Hall tailback Barry J. Sanders, Owasso receiver Keon Hatcher. Maybe others.
But still, that’s not a huge haul. And it’s been the trend for several years. Both the Sooners and Cowboys are signing fewer and fewer Oklahomans. And Mike Gundy says that might be a mistake.
“I think we mess it up sometimes,” Gundy said. “There’s better players here than sometimes we think. It’s like the girl who lives down the street isn’t as pretty as the girl who lives across the country. We’re not doing a good enough job. We look hard at Oklahoma kids. But sometimes, when we feel somebody else is better, because of that, they’re like, ‘fine. Whatever.’ We need to do a better job combing with a fine tooth comb.”
OU walkon tailback Dominique Whaley is Exhibit A. Coming out of Lawton MacArthur, Whaley drew little interest. So he went to Langston University, was a backup tailback there, then transferred to OU without a scholarship.
In 2011, the Sooners also had the following in-state players contribute: flanker Ryan Broyles, guard Gabe Ikard, defensive end Ronnell Lewis, safeties Aaron Colvin and Jevon Harris, tight ends Trent Ratterree (another walkon) and Austin Heywood, defensive tackle Stacy McGee, cornerback Gabe Lynn, kicker Jimmy Stevens, deep snapper James Winchester and punter Tress Way. That’s a decent amount of in-state players.
You could argue either way, depending on perspective. The Sooners have been winning Big 12 titles (four in the last six years) without much in-state talent. Or you could say, some of the OU off-field issues came from players not caring enough about the program, which generally is not the case with homegrown talent.
What’s really happening at OU is a commitment to more national recruiting. The Sooners signed players from 11 states on Wednesday.
Bob Stoops didn’t apologize for the coast-to-coast approach, though he did say, “To recruit regionally is something you always want to do.”
OSU is not recruiting nationally so much, though the Cowboys have gone hard into Georgia and went West to Arizona and California this time. But OSU has focused primarily on Oklahoma and Texas, with more and more of that focus in Texas.
Still, the Cowboys had their share of in-state contributors in 2011, starting with three all-Americans: quarterback Brandon Weeden, receiver Justin Blackmon and offensive tackle Levy Adcock. Also from Oklahoma were receiver Josh Cooper, safety Daytawion Lowe, tailback Jeremy Smith, defensive tackle Cooper Bassett, receiver Tracy Moore, defensive tackle Christian Littlehead, offensive tackle Michael Bowie, fullback Kye Staley, receiver Colton Chelf, linebacker Tyler Johnson and center Casey LaBrue.
“Oklahoma players have been great for us,” Gundy said. “We’re finding, in in our league, guys coming out of Oklahoma are doing really well.”
In recent years, OSU’s ascension has garnered more respect outside the state than inside. Gundy said he thinks that is changing, with the Big 12 title and the Fiesta Bowl victory. “There’s some truth to the respect,” Gundy said. “More respect in the state of Oklahoma and other states. It’s something you have to earn. Recruiting is about being persistent. These young men want to be in a program where they have a chance to win it all. They want to be in the action.”
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
Oklahoma State football: Gundy won’t coach special teams
Mike Gundy looked at us like we each had three noses when he was asked if he would start coaching the OSU kicking units.
The loss of Joe DeForest to West Virginia left three big holes: recruiting in Houston, defensive backs coach, special teams coordinator. The first and last of those figure to be the most difficult to replace.
Some had speculated that Gundy might coaching the special teams himself. Uh, don’t count on it.
“Are you crazy?” Gundy said. “I had enough of it (criticism) as offensive coordinator. Do I want them on me for punt block?”
Gundy said, “I’m not smart enough to coach special teams.”
Over 11 seasons, DeForest built a reputation of excellent kicking units, from the kickers and punters themselves to returners.
Of course, DeForest also will be missed in the Houston area. The Cowboys signed three Greater Houston players on Wednesday — offensive lineman Paul Lewis from Galena Park North Shore, defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah from Houston George Bush and wide receiver Blake Webb from The Woodlands. OSU also signed two players from just outside the Houston area — offensive lineman Chris Grisbhy from Clute, via Blinn Junior College, and wide receiver Jhajuan Seales from Port Arthur Memorial.
“It’s never smooth when you lose a guy like Joe,” Gundy said. “We divided some guys up. Certainly we’ll miss Joe. Wish him the best.”
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
Power Lunch: Chat with Berry Tramel
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
Oklahoma football: Stoops brothers tag-team in Florida
The departure of coaches Brent Venables and Willie Martinez hurt the Sooners’ recruiting efforts with some prospects, but the addition of Mike Stoops to the staff didn’t seem to hurt. OU finished strong by signing most of the players whose destination was undetermined, including the signature of St. Petersburg, Fla., cornerback Gary Simon.
The Stoops brothers took a recruiting trip to Florida. They visited Simon and linebacker Eric Striker of Seffner, Fla. Both signed with OU. They also went to the home of Tampa receiver Nelson Agholor, but Bob Stoops decided not to have Mike join the visit. “”He doesn’t know you,” Bob told Mike. “He’ll think we want him to play defensive back.”
“He sent me off to the bar,” Mike Stoops said. “I went to the golf course. Watched the Golf Channel and had lunch.”
Turns out, Mike joining in couldn’t have hurt. Agholor signed with Southern Cal. “Two out of three’s not bad,” Mike Stoops said.
Mike Stoops said the transition to recruiting for OU after eight years away was “easy … position coaches are important, but Oklahoma is Oklahoma. This is one of the premier places, and Bob is one of the premier coaches. Those pieces aren’t going to change. This is a place you can win championships.”
Bob Stoops said his brother had an “excellent impact” on recruiting but that too much is made of individual coaches’ recruiting. “We all recruit; your program recruits. All our guys hustle. Mike has a great reputation of his time here and at Arizona.”
Bob Stoops also said that new linebackers coach Tim Kish — Mike Stoops’ defensive coordinator at Arizona — did a good job recruiting.
OSU coach Mike Gundy said he hasn’t filled the void on his staff left by the departure of Joe DeForest because he wants to devote the right amount of time to the decision. Bob Stoops said he didn’t hire Kish to meet some recruiting deadlines, but because he knew Kish was who he wanted to hire.
“Tim has an excellent track record and experience,” Stoops said. But Stoops said it was good that Kish was able to get on the road the last week or so. “I figured him having an opportunity to meet with Eric Striker (OU’s lone linebacker recruit) would be a positive in the end.”
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
Oklahoma State football: Uniforms a topic in recruiting
At his recruiting press conference Wednesday, I asked Mike Gundy if the signing of Jeremiah Tshimanga meant that Nike had been contacted about reducing the font size for the names on the backs of the jersey. I went for the laugh and mostly got it from the 400 or so Cowboy fans assembled. Much appreciated.
But Gundy said learning some of the pronunciations is “a little scary,” considering OSU signed Victor Irokansi, Emmanuel Ogbah, Dominic Ramacher, Jhajuan Seales and Jeremiah Tshimanga. Gundy said as far as he’s concerned, Tshimanga’s new nickname is “JT.”
And in all seriousness, I asked Gundy if the new Nike uniforms, which certainly drew national attention during the 2011 season.
“Sadly enough, yes,” Gundy said. “Truthfully, recruiting is very entertaining. As a coach, you go in, you’ve got everything lined up that you want to say. I might talk 45 minutes and never mention football. I’ll talk about developing as a man and education and what you’re going to be doing in 10 years.
“You can have a speech ready, and you can go in a home, fire it out for about 15 minutes, and you get stopped by a parent. ‘You changing your uniforms or are you going to wear what you had last year?’”
Gundy said the Californians that OSU recruited particularly were curious about the uniforms. “It was a huge hit out there with those guys,” Gundy said. “They’re fired up about the uniforms.”
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
Blake Griffin dunk: Remember when it was against the rules?
Blake Griffin’s dunk-of-the-year Monday night against the Thunder has spawned all kinds of discussion about basketball’s most popular play. Including our man Darnell Mayberry discussing exactly what constitutes a dunk. His very interesting blog can be read here:
Basically, RFD says that if your hands don’t hit the rim, it’s not a dunk. If your hands hit the rim, it’s a dunk. Seems solid to me. But it made me think about the evolution of the dunk rule. You remember when college basketball disallowed the dunk? The great image of those days was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Bill Walton rising above the rim and dropping the ball through, careful not to touch the iron.
The no-dunking rule was a marketing anvil. It painted college basketball as a regressive sport. The rule was instituted in 1967 and wasn’t changed until 1976. 1976 was a watershed year in college hoops. It was the season that signaled the end of the UCLA dynasty — Indiana went unbeaten and won the NCAA championship, and UCLA didn’t win again until 1995. A few years later, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson came along, and college hoops was off and running.
The dunk rule wasn’t the spark that launched college basketball, but it was indicative of the new thinking in college basketball. The old ways were gone. New thinking, new ideas carried the day. Some of college basketball’s most famous teams came from that era, defined by what they did at the rim. Louisville’s Doctors of Dunk. Houston’s Phi Slama Jama. Jim Valvano running around crazy, looking for someone to hug, because Lorenzo Charles dunked at the buzzer.
To imagine college basketball today without the dunk is like imagining college basketball played by guys in short shorts. It’s silly. You could sell 21st-century fans on games played on Mars before you could sell them on games without dunks.
But I have one question. Are we certain that college basketball had it wrong from 1967 through 1976? Not from a marketing standpoint, but from a basketball standpoint.
Is dunking fair? Defenders can’t touch the rim or even the net. It’s goaltending if they do. But a certain offensive player — the guy with the ball — can touch the rim. The dunk is basically a suspension of a long-existing rule.
In the same way that Jabbar (as Lew Alcindor) provoked a rule change (no dunking), Bob Kurland of Oklahoma A&M in the 1940s provoked a rule. Goaltending. The rim became neutral territory. A veritable Switzerland. Stay away from it. Can’t touch a shot on its way down, and can’t touch the rim or the ball when it’s on the rim. It’s a great rule. It’s a rule that has to exist, for the game to continue in any form of sanity.
And yet, that rule is suspended in the name of marketing. Dunks, which by definition are offensive goaltending, which by definition are someone with their hand on the rim or their hand on the ball while it’s on the rim, are allowed.
I’m not arguing to go back. It would be a marketing disaster, in college and the NBA. Fans have come to expect dunks. Fans have come to demands dunks. Dunks are much like the extra step on layups. They’ve become part of the game, in the name of offense, and to change things would disrupt the cosmos too much. An entire cottage industry within the NBA exists on dunking.
The Dunk Doctors are in the NBA now, not on college campuses, and dunks A’s popularity are a reason for the NBA’s popularity of the last 30 years. Julius Erving, Michael Jordan, LeBron James. Generation after generation of stars have soared through the air, thrown down the ball and lit up NBA box offices. You don’t go messing with that cash cow.
But just remember what the dunk is, at the core. A suspension of the rules. An exception to the accepted order of the game.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
