The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

Over the past couple of years, I've often times found myself disagreeing with ESPN writers and analysts regarding large contract extensions for young NFL quarterbacks. While quarterbacks tend to be the "face" of the franchise, a lot more goes into running a successful program and making a Super Bowl run than just a good quarterback. Like in baseball where the best pitching staffs often find themselves in the playoffs, the same is true in football with the top defenses. This is also true with regard to the top offensive lines in the league. A great offensive line can make average quarterbacks and tailbacks look like Pro Bowlers, and on the other end of things, a bad offensive line can make Pro Bowl-worthy quarterbacks and running backs appear average. Over the past couple of years, the following three quarterbacks received big contract extensions, and while 95% of ESPN felt these were good moves, I pulled a Lee Corso and said, "Not so fast my friend!": Joe Flac...

Until the NFL completes its investigation on the Miami Dolphins and offensive linemen Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin, I won't be commenting on the case directly. However, in light of the stories coming out about the Dolphins, I have found some of the public's commentary regarding it to be quite disturbing and thought I'd comment on that. While I don't feel it's wise for me to fully conclude on the matter yet, the story has caught my attention; I've read several articles about it and have also read people's comments below the articles. Many of the comments read as follows: - "Be a man! Stand up for yourself!" - "Crying home to mommy again, I see..." - "Punch him in the face!" - "Fight!" - "You're, what, 300 lbs.? Get into the guy's face and take care of it!" - "This is football! Be a real man!" - "Pansy!" - "Deal with him and he won'...

San Francisco 49ers starting quarterback Colin Kaepernick has received some criticism in recent days due to him being spotted wearing a Miami Dolphins hat during a 4th of July celebration. Kaepernick responded to the criticism by tweeting the following message: "I'm goin wear what I want regardless of what you think, all you need to worry about is the fact that I grind for my teammates and the 49ers! I plan on doin this until they won't let me in the building! #ridiculous #y'allmustbebored" I guess my response is, who the heck cares? It's not like Kaepernick is a free agent or trade bait or thinking about heading elsewhere at the moment. He likely wore the Dolphins hat just due to fashion -  he liked the colors, how it looked, etc. It means absolutely nothing as far as his loyalty to the San Francisco 49ers is concerned. If when playing against the Dolphins, he hands the ball off to a Miami defender several times during the course of a game and applauds ...