Panthers beat Patriots on MNF

          It was tough. It was physical. It was a battle.
          It was everything it had been hyped up to be.
          And in the end, Cam Newton outplayed Tom Brady when it mattered most. A year ago most people would have laughed at anyone who wrote that. No one outplays Tom Brady in the clutch. Definitely not Cam Newton. He's immature, he pouts, he whines. He will never outplay the legend, the golden boy, Tom Brady.
          Then he did.
          But there was a flag. And if you've watched any NFL game in the past, you're well versed on the way this thing works. Penalty flags are as imprecise as the men in stripes who throw them. Depending on who you ask, it was the right call and the wrong call and the last call for alcohol. My opinion? Not touching it. I just think that perhaps the football gods are showing the Panthers some love after years of watching Jake Delhomme's old ass drive the team into the ground and Jimmy Clausen's goofy ass keep it there.
          The storyline of the night was unfortunately written in the final three seconds of the game. The headlines in the papers tomorrow will focus entirely too much on one play, when the real story was written by Cam Newton on the Panther's final drive of the game, and punctuated with Ted Ginn's touchdown catch.
          You could almost feel it. We've all seen it before. Cam Newton does just enough to lose by a touchdown. And when Tom Brady took over with three timeouts and about a minute left, it was already being written again. But when that final pass was intercepted in the endzone, and Tom Brady didn't win, everything felt right. Cam Newton won a big game against a big team on a big stage, for the second week in a row no less. San Francisco was a big win, but we all know that beating the 49ers with another young quarterback pales in comparison to taking down Tom Brady. Tom Brady beats Peyton Manning on a regular basis, and I'll go on record saying that Manning is the greatest of all time, but even Brady manages to outduel him.
          Tonight was the biggest win in Cam Newton's career, and I'll venture to say the biggest Panther's victory since they beat Donovan McNabb and the Eagles to get to the Super Bowl in 2003. It was a regular season game, I get it. But for a team that has mired in mediocrity for oh so long, this means a lot. More than can really be quantified in words I think.
          The Monday Night Football stage lights shined bright tonight. But when time ran thin, the star that Cam Newton has become shined brighter than them all.

It's more than a game

          The best stories in sports often don't happen when the game is on the line. Some of the biggest shots have been hit when the outcome of the game had already been decided, some of the best touchdowns can be scored in spring practice, and some highlight plays happen outside the white lines. It's times like these when it's way more than a game. When athletes and teams use their position to act not with their talents but with the kindness of their hearts.
          Plays like these sometimes don't get the recognition they deserve. Because while we will all remember Jadeveon Clowney leveling that poor, poor Michigan running back, that play means nothing compared to the stories I'd like to share with you today. They've all been shared before, and by no means am I picking the best stories, but I want to share a few that really resonate with me.
          Here is one of the best stories I've ever heard. I first read Rick Reilly's piece on it and instantly shared it on Facebook and Twitter. Chy Johnson is a young lady at Queens Creek High School with a brain disorder. Chy had been bullied all through school. That is, until the football team came to her side.

          It's a phenomenal story. The football team had no obligation to this girl. They wouldn't be shunned by society if they didn't help her. No one would've even noticed if they never lifted a finger. But they did. They took her in, and protected her from whoever was bullying her. And what makes it even more special is that the starting quarterback, who is a senior, has a little brother. And that little brother told his mom not to worry, because when his older brother graduates HE would take care of Chy.

          The next story 100% brought tears to my eyes. One of my friends shared this video with me, it's about a young man named Mitchell Marcus. While I could try to describe it, it's a story told much better in the video. 

          Magical. And again, that kid from the other team had no obligation to help that kid score. He could have gone about his business for the last few seconds by inbounding the ball to his teammate and running out the clock in a loss. But once again, he found it in himself to make that kid's day. Hell he probably made his life. His turnover was the play of the game.

          Last but not least, the most recent of the three, occurred during one of Nebraska's spring practices. It recently took down the aforementioned Jadeveon Clowney for SportsCenter's best of the best play. After 45 weeks on top, this is the play that beat Clowney.

          Jack Hoffman, the speedy runningback clad in the #22 jersey, is a 7 year old with brain cancer. He nearly died in 2011 of a seizure that lasted nearly 30 minutes. He's undergone 2 surgeries on the tumor in his brain, and much of it is gone. He is currently near the end of a 60-week long chemotherapy session. Again, here's a spring game where a team is trying to get ready for the season. Yet they took one play off to help Jack Hoffman scratch off an item on his bucket list.

          It's always fantastic when stories like this emerge, I wish it happened more often. But the best part of all of these things is that it can renew faith in humanity. When many star athletes are in the news for drunk driving drug use and even murder charges, it's always nice to see that there are some who enjoy helping others. And that's when it's way more than a game.

Vince Young

          There is an obvious change occurring in the NFL today, a makeover that was many years in the making has finally come to a head. It is the evolution of the quarterback position. Sure, Michael Vick, Donovan McNabb, Dante Culpepper and even as far back as Randall Cunningham were anomalies of the position. Not particularly for the color of their skin, though it seems that is often the case, but more for their incredible athletic prowess. Today the NFL is littered with quarterbacks who fit this physical prototype. Lightning fast, quick on their feet and generally they're equipped with cannons for arms. Cam Newton, Robert Griffin III, Colin Kaepernick and Russell Wilson are a few names that come to mind. However I'd like to take a moment to talk about the superstar that almost happened. Vince Young.

Vince Young after the Rose Bowl win

          Vince Young was a highly touted quarterback out of the University of Texas in 2006. He was fresh off an undefeated season where he lead the Longhorns to a National Championship in one of the most exciting football games I've ever seen. His performance in that game was nothing short of magical. He was 30/40 for 267 yards through the air, and still had the time to run 19 times for 200 yards and 3 TDs. Absolutely phenomenal. He was the Heisman runner-up that year to a man whose name is no longer on the trophy (*cough Reggie Bush) and he was essentially on top of the world. Young was drafted by the Tennessee Titans 3rd overall, behind only Mario Williams and Reggie Bush, and was set to become a potential franchise player. Sure, his side-arm delivery created some accuracy issues and scouts weren't exactly sure he was ready to lead a team of men just yet, but it is rare that a quarterback can come straight out of college and instantly be a field general.

          However here is where the fairy tale begins to unravel. Young had a head coach named Jeff Fisher. Fisher was and is a great football coach, but the overarching opinion is that Fisher wasn't on the Vince Young bandwagon when he was drafted. Yet Young was still the starter when opening day came around and that team went 8-8. Young would start the nest season as well, only his second year, and lead the team to 4 remarkable comeback victories that drove them into the playoffs with a 10-6 record. His stats weren't mind blowing, in fact they were mediocre at best, but the kid could make plays and win big games. The key here is this, the offense he was playing in was nothing like the offense he played in at Texas. The read option, Young's bread and butter, was not a huge facet of the offense, and most of Young's runs were simply because he was running for his life due to an offensive line that was sub par. Fisher never catered his offense to Young's talent. Instead he tried to mold Young, a 6'5" 229 lb athlete with 4.5 speed, into a pocket passer. And it failed.

          What did anyone expect? Young was never a pocket passer, that's not why he was drafted. Young was a playmaker who was at his best when he was making defenders look silly with ball fakes and juke moves. I won't sit back and pretend to be free of bias, because I'm not. I was a huge Vince Young fan while he was at Texas and I wanted him to succeed in the NFL. He had his chance and he missed it. But imagine that same Vince Young coming out of college today, the same 4.5 speed with a body that can withstand the contact and a rocket for an arm, coming off an undefeated national championship season. That remind you of anybody? It should, because it happened about 2 years ago. His name is Cam Newton. Newton is an NFL starter, who had an offense catered to his talents, and a coach who was on board with an offensive overhaul.
          Now look around the rest of the league. Mike Shanahan and Robert Griffin III. Harbaugh and Colin Kaepernick. Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson. All of these coaches have something in common, they were willing to change to suit the talent they had. They're also winning football games. Had Vince Young been given that same opportunity coming out of college, a coach who wasn't so set in his ways that he overlooked a diamond in the rough, I believe that Young would have been the one to set the NFL on the path toward the read option offense. Now I'm not suggesting that Vince Young can come onto a team right now and create the kind of success that the new crop of quarterbacks have, perhaps that would be too much to ask of a 29-year-old journeyman quarterback. My question however, is why the hell does Vince Young not even have a job?

          With all of the read option offenses in the league, and all the small fragile quarterbacks who are running them, you would think that some coach would want some sort of a plan B. Cam Newton's backup is Derek Anderson, who probably timed his 40 yard dash with a sundial. Colin Kaepernick's backup was a guy named Alex Smith, but he's since been traded and I can't even name their backup. Russell Wilson's backup was also a very immobile Matt Flynn, who has since been traded. So with all of these open jobs as a backup in an offense that Young knows like the back of his hand, why is his phone not ringing off the hook to come in and be a backup. At least with Young coming in there would be no need to redo your entire offense should your starter get injured.
          Yet he still has no job. And maybe it's because he had some off the field issues that coaches want to stay away from. Or maybe his report card says he doesn't play nice with others. Maybe NFL coaches have blackballed Young because he tried to "retire" after 3 seasons, or because he declared the Eagles the dream team that ended up being a nightmare. Hell maybe it's because he really can't read NFL defenses that well and frequently throws horrible interceptions. But I would imagine he'd be at least worth one phone call, one tryout. What is there to lose?

Ray Lewis: Hall of Famer?

          Yes, I know what you're thinking. "Kev, you put a question mark up there by mistake." Actually I didn't. This isn't a post to argue statistics, because Ray Lewis has them all. This is merely to describe a hypothetical situation. The Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio has halls lined with the busts of all time greats. Coaches like Vince Lombardi and Bill Walsh and players like Bart Starr and Steve Young, the names that resonate with fans of the game. A 46 member selection committee is charged with the task of determining who belongs in the Hall of Fame. From the Pro Football Hall of Fame website, "The Committee consists of one media representative from each pro football city with two from New York, inasmuch as that city has two teams in the National Football League. A 33rd member is a representative of the Pro Football Writers of America and there are 13 at-large delegates." These men and women determine who belongs in the halls of Canton, and anyone who gets 80% 'Yes' votes gets in. Which brings me to this question, should they pick Ray Lewis?
          Before I answer that question, let's examine how baseball selects their hall of famers. In order to be on the selection committee for baseball, you must have been a member of the Baseball Writers' Association of America for at least 10 years, and last year there were 573 votes cast. Anyone with 75% 'Yes' votes gets in. But here is where I make my point. According to the website for the baseball hall of fame, "Voting shall be based upon the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played." And according to those criteria, apparently no one deserved to be elected this year. This was undoubtedly due to the prominent use of steroids in the era, and being linked to steroids has no doubt kept Clemens, Bonds and others out of the Hall in recent years because their use of steroids defies the "sportsmanship" portion of the criteria which I have no problem with.

Lewis in his court appearance in 2000

            The NFL doesn't seem to have this specific criteria. Only that each player will be evaluated thoroughly in the election process. Which finally brings me to Ray Lewis. Ray Lewis has been one of the most dominant defensive players that this game has ever seen. He is the only player in NFL history with 40 sacks and 30 interceptions in his career, and has anchored a feared defense for 17 seasons. His numbers are mind boggling and are certainly worthy of Hall of Fame recognition. But if the NFL followed suit with the baseball Hall of Fame voters, would Lewis get in? The reason I ask this is because of an incident that happened after the super bowl in Atlanta in 2000, causing Ray Lewis and two other men to be indicted on charges of a double murder. To make a long story short, Lewis plead guilty to misdemeanor obstruction of justice charges in exchange that he testify against his two friends who end up being found not guilty (You can read the whole story here). Lewis got only a year of probation and served no jail time.
          Now in no way am I arguing that Ray Lewis was guilty of murder, though there are plenty who still feel he is. What he is guilty of, is being involved in a very messy situation, one that does not present a good image for the NFL and certainly does not teach children a good lesson about the game. To get back to my question, after being involved with such and incident, should Ray Lewis be rewarded with the Hall of Fame? In baseball, Pete Rose received a lifetime ban for allegedly betting on the game of baseball. Rose was not implicated in a murder charge, he was making money on the side by influencing the games one way or another. The all time hits leader won't make the hall of Fame because he bet on the game and "ruined its integrity." And very soon (should Lewis retire this season) another type of 'hits' leader will be eligible for selection to his respective Hall of Fame. There isn't a doubt in my mind that Lewis will be selected, and probably in his first year. But if the tables were turned, would we be so sure? Does Ray Lewis' past demonstrate character, integrity and sportsmanship? The real answer is I don't know. What I do know is this: in this day and age with sports being as prominent as they are (especially the NFL), voters should not turn a blind eye to off the field conduct. Because we should not reward athletes who have escaped the arms of the law with a slap on the wrist because of their fame.
          And now, the Ray Lewis dance we've all seen for 17 years and wondered what the hell he was actually doing...

          And on a more positive note, something we can all take away from Ray Lewis, "If tomorrow wasn't promised, what would you give for today?"

Lance Armstrong: Hero or Villain?

          I've been thinking a lot about Mr. Armstrong and his career as of late, obviously because of the black cloud of controversy that's hanging over his head. His career accomplishments are (officially) nothing, since he was stripped of all seven of his Tour de France titles after he refused to fight the accusations of steroid use any longer. But he did actually win all of those races, and he did that after recovering from testicular cancer. He won the world's most arduous, intense and physically demanding cycling race after recovering from cancer, and then he won that same race six more times. This is a feat that no one has come remotely close to, so without a doubt this is a tremendous accomplishment.

Lance Armstrong, during his record seventh Tour victory

          Yet here is where we come to the fork in the road, where people have diverged down two different paths in regard to Armstrong and his career. Down one path are those who value, above all, athletic integrity. The people who believe also that Pete Rose doesn't belong in the baseball Hall of Fame because he bet on baseball, the same people who will always consider Hank Aaron the home run king and not the steroid inflated Barry Bonds. And their opinion is completely valid. Armstrong will apparently be admitting to the Queen of personal interviews Oprah Winfrey that he took performance enhancing drugs, and for some that discredits his entire career. Fair enough. Then the other path people will take is more of a accepting path. These people generally accept that this era in sports will be defined by performance enhancing drugs. They probably also have a mindset that believes that Armstrong wasn't alone in his use of steroids, just like Bonds wasn't alone in his, and that these athletes were still the best of their era. They believe that, while Armstrong cheated, so did many many of his competitors, and by that logic he was still the best.

          I'm actually still standing at the fork in the road. I had traveled down the path of most, complete adoration of Armstrong because of his incredible dominance of a sport that honestly isn't very interesting. But since the supposed admission to using steroids, after years and years of denying it, has me backtracking my opinion. For me the jury is still out. But here is what is undeniable. Lance Armstrong, steroids or not, made riding a bicycle incredibly interesting. If it wasn't for him, I would've never taken the slightest interest in the Tour de France. I know for a fact that I am not the only one who tuned in just to see if Lance was going to pull out another astonishing victory. Since Lance has left the sport, ESPN's coverage of the event has gone from highlight worthy to mere afterthought. Not only has Armstrong done incredible things on two wheels, but also off of the bike as well. He started an incredible organization known as Livestrong, which raises money for cancer research. If you never owned or saw a yellow bracelet bearing the word Livestrong then you probably lived in a closet for about 10 years. The Livestrong foundation has raised nearly $500 million for cancer research, and has obviously raised awareness about the terrible disease. These are the facts, and they are undeniable. Critics have gone so far as to say his work with Livestrong is discredited because "He lied to everyone who believed in his story". I find that ridiculous. Armstrong lied about using steroids, yes. But even if his legacy reads "Cancer survivor wins Tour de France seven times while using steroids in an era that is already marked by widespread steroid use," he's still an inspiration to anyone afflicted with cancer. This man was at the apex of his sport after surviving a killer disease. Most patients want to survive, but Armstrong showed them all that not only can they survive, they can thrive.

          It is because of his incredible achievements, both on and off the bicycle, that I am still unsure about where I stand on Armstrong. I find it hard to accept his repeated denial. And it also hurts to think that all the time I admired him he was not abiding by the rules of his sport. I wouldn't want my (future) children admiring an athlete who cheated to gain success. But I am certainly not ready to admit that he is a compete fraud, because I DO want my (future) kids to admire a man who beat adversity, and against all odds did something that had never been done and will never be done again.

What a weekend

          Wow. Simply wow. What a weekend in the NFL. Easily one of the best weekends of football I have watched in a long time. All four losing teams scored at least 28 points, and in the game that was the least competitive we saw Colin Kaepernick break a single game record. It was both heartbreaking and triumphant. Extreme emotions flowed from both ends of the spectrum, depending on which team had your support on the day. But if we look at the games simply as a spectator it was an incredible weekend to be a football fan.       

          I personally had my heart ripped out of my chest with the mind blowing shocker in the mile-high city. I am unashamed in my support of Peyton Manning. I firmly believe he’s the greatest quarterback of all time, but I will also admit that there are plenty of very reasonable arguments for other signal callers (especially that super model’s husband in New England). I was devastated to see Manning do everything he needed to win the game, only to have it ripped from his hands by what could be called the WORST play by a safety in recent memory. I also firmly believe that John Fox blew the game by being the most conservative coach EVER. He decided to run the ball three straight times to try and milk the clock for every second and to leave the Ravens with as little time as possible. That is absolutely the correct strategy if Jake Delhomme is your quarterback. But let me do you a favor Fox, and introduce you to PEYTON MANNING. You know, the bionic man who led your team to 11 straight wins, holds innumerable records and is quite possibly the man with the highest football IQ the game has ever seen. But no, good old John Fox put away his man parts in the fourth quarter and made the cardinal sin in the NFL. He played to not lose the game. Allow me to quote Mr. Herm Edwards, who once said so convincingly that “You play to win the game.” Fox apparently missed that day in NFL coaching class, and instead left it up to Flacco to not come up big. Turns out Flacco has a rocket launcher for an arm and Jacoby Jones can run kinda fast. Then John freaking Fox decides that 30+ seconds and two timeouts and Manning at quarterback isn’t enough time to try anything, so he takes a knee. The expletives that flew from my mouth at that moment were enough to make a sailor blush. I’ll paraphrase by saying that Fox has the same genitalia as a Ken doll. Yes my hero Manning did throw the game away in OT with that bonehead interception, and ultimately I guess you can blame the loss on him. But if you did blame him, you’d be wrong.

Flacco's miracle heave (Sorry, best quality I could find)

          The Patriots won, despite losing the little engine that could Woodhead and the “Half man half hulk” who seems to have hit the next level of the evolutionary chain, known to most simply as Gronk. Any of this sound familiar to anybody? Because it should. The boys from the North do this all the damn time. It’s sickening, but admirable. They just win, and as the lovably loquacious Billy Belichick always says… wait he never has anything to say. This section is short because there’s nothing unique to say about this game. It’s January, in the NFL playoffs, Tom Brady and the Pats won. In other news the sky is blue and the sun rose today.

This one is for the ladies

          The Atlanta Falcons, the number one seed that nobody thought was any good. All we heard all week was the team that tied for the best record in the NFL had no chance. Matt Ryan was a choke artist and the Falcons never show up in the playoffs. I’ve got news for you, that’s not true anymore. Ryan jumped all over Seattle, giving his team a 20-point lead early in the game. Then, as if it was scripted for Hollywood, the Seahawks charged back led by the rookie quarterback who was “too small to be a pro.” But the Boston College product known to Atlanta faithful as Matty Ice put that Hollywood finish on hold, surprising the shit out of everyone by driving his team into field goal range in the blink of an eye and watched as Matt Bryant silenced all of the Atlanta critics… for now.

Falcons got a nice cold glass of Matty Ice

          Then we have the 49ers. What an interesting story, Alex Smith leads the team to the conference finals last year, and was in the top five in the NFL in QBR until a little bump on his head changed everything. A young man named Colin Kaepernick ripped Smith’s job away in about 4.43 seconds, which happens to be Kaepernick’s 40 yard dash time. But what would the second-year pro do in his first playoff game? He’d probably fold under the pressure of the big stage, right? Wrong. He ran for an astonishing 181 yards, an NFL single game record for a quarterback, and discount double checked Aaron Rodgers and the Packers all the way back to Green Bay. Can Kaep keep this show rolling? Only time will tell.

Yes it's corny, but oh so true

          I guess I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about the Ravens, who hung around long enough in Denver to pull out a miraculous win. Led by the future hall of famer Ray Lewis, who is on his farewell tour, the Ravens have found a way to win. On the football field it is undeniable that Lewis is an emotional leader, and maybe the greatest middle linebacker in NFL history. Off the field is another story, but I’ll leave that topic untouched. Joe Flacco has been one of the most criticized quarterbacks in the NFL for a while now, because he “doesn’t win big games.” However, Flacco is the only NFL quarterback to win a playoff game in his first five seasons. The sound of critics being silenced was apparent on Saturday, as Flacco made throw after throw, hitting Torrey Smith on repeated deep throws and of course the absolute bomb to Jacoby Jones to tie the game with only a few ticks on the clock. Then Flacco and the Ravens took advantage of Manning’s mistake in OT to win the game on a field goal. All allegiances aside, it was an impressive performance and Flacco deserves a lot of credit for the win.

Apparently this is what "shit luck" looks like

          Sitting here with my fingers on the keyboard I can still feel every up and down of the emotional roller coaster that these games took me on. I can only hope that anyone reading this had half of the emotional excitement that I did watching these games, because it’s my opinion that sports have the ability to make someone forget about the world we live in. From kickoff to the final whistle, it can take your mind off of all the trials and tribulations this crazy ass world puts us through, and I believe that’s pretty special.

Week 5: The highs and lows of another week in the NFL

          

          First thing's first, what the hell Panthers. Cam is 6'5", 260 pounds and we run a bootleg pass on fourth and goal? Williams got stuffed earlier in the series, but we have a solid goal line back in Stewart and the human bowling ball Tolbert who we signed specifically to be a big goal line threat. Yet we run a bootleg on fourth and goal? Hell it almost worked, except Cam tossed a knuckle ball that fell five yards in front of his intended receiver. Overall it was an abysmal performance by the offense anyway. Cam was under 50% completions and under 150 yards through the air, and our entire team had a measly 82 rushing yards. Cam forced the ball to Steve Smith way too much and seemingly forgot about Greg Olsen until it was too late. If not for an interception return by Captain Munnerlyn the Panthers would have gone the entire day without scoring a touchdown. Unacceptable from a team with an offense as high powered as ours.

Wonder how this convo went after Luck beat him...

          How about Andrew Luck? Leading a game-winning drive against the Packers while throwing for 362 yards to earn his second NFL win. And who watched that barn burner between the Chiefs and the Ravens? A total of 15 points scored in the game put it on the excitement scale somewhere between going to the dentist and watching paint dry. If Flacco wants to be an elite quarterback maybe he should try to make his games interesting enough to keep the audience awake. Michael Vick still hasn't realized that turning the ball over isn't the strategy to win games. In the words of the infamous coach Dennis Green, the Cardinals "are who we thought they were," and that is not a great team. The Browns are still terrible, the Bears defense is still great, the Falcons are still winning and the Saints finally got off the winless train.

Now for 5 key things from the NFL weekend you should know:

1. Drew Brees broke a record that was about 50 years old this weekend when he threw a touchdown in his 48th straight game. He did so against his former team, the San Diego Chargers, which must have been pretty sweet considering they dumped him in favor of cry baby Phillip Rivers. No matter who it was against, this was a great accomplishment and Brees adds another record to a career that seems like it will end with a bust in Canton.

2. In a head-to-head matchup featuring the two greatest quarterbacks of our generation, and possibly two of the greatest ever to play the position, Tom Brady and the Patriots beat Peyton Manning and the Broncos 31-21 on Sunday. The matchup just doesn't feel the same without Manning wearing a horseshoe on his helmet. Manning may have needed a lucky horseshoe on Sunday, considering he is now just 4-9 against Brady and the Pats.

3.While the 49ers may not be undefeated, they are still one of the teams to beat in the NFL. Their offense gained 621 yards in the 45-3 thrashing of the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, showing that San Francisco isn't just a defensive team. The 49ers became the first team to have 300 yards rushing and 300 yards passing in the same game, which means that defensive coordinators are now having nightmares about how to stop this team's balanced attack.

4. You never, EVER cheer for an injury. But that's exactly what happened in Kansas City when Matt Cassel went down with a concussion. Ok, so maybe Cassel sucks, but damn people he's still a human being. Anyone who would actually cheer for an injury should be ashamed of themselves and reevaluate their morals.

5. RGIII needs to learn that he's not in Baylor anymore. And after getting leveled on the sideline in Sunday's game, maybe he'll get the message. These defenders are bigger, faster, stronger and they're playing for money. So next time you see a 280 pound man running at you like a runaway train, do the smart thing and step out of bounds.