Opinion

Dolphins Coach Tony Sparano has been promised he won't be fired in the near term. But that's not how it sounded when he told the refs to review a call or else he would be fired. The Dolphins are in shamnbles.

If you’re here to make fun of Reggie Bush, get it out of your system cause that’s not what’s going to happen in this post. Sorry to disappoint. No I’m not.

I wanted to write a longer post looking at the Dolphins, but when I thought about it…it was kind of pointless. Why? Cause from my vantage point, the Miami Dolphins have 1. a lack of talent (which is just hard to overcome in any situation) and 2. aren’t disciplined on the field, which running back Reggie Bush pointed out yesterday.

It’s just embarrassing, I don’t know any other way to explain it,” Bush said. “It’s an embarrassing loss. Had no business losing that game.”

“We were up 15 points with what, five minutes left to go? And we couldn’t win it? It’s disgusting.”

“Right now, this team stinks.”

The Dolphins controlled the game for the first 55 minutes, but allowed Tim Tebow and the Broncos to drive 80 yards for a touchdown, recover an onside kick, drive 56 yards for another touchdown, convert a two-point conversion and kick a game-winning 52-yard field goal in overtime.

Bush said he and his teammates didn’t have any “fight” in the last five minutes.

“Just a lot of undiscipline on our part,” Bush said. “Played good – not great – for 55 minutes. Everybody’s got that relaxed attitude. We just didn’t fight towards the end. We didn’t have enough effort for 60 minutes. We had five minutes to win the game and we couldn’t.”

The coaching is a big part of this, but again, the Dolphins lack player talent, starting at Quarterback. Chad Henne was doing pretty well in passing, but Matt Moore (who has replaced Henne who’s out for the season) just isn’t very good. Neither are the best at making decisions. But the kicker is that the Dolphins’ offensive line has been horrendous in pass protection and are ranked 30th in the league.  On the run, they’ve been “okay,” respectable even. Bush is averaging 3.9 yards per carry, but his attempts are low. Because Miami’s stuffed rank is #2, I think Bush’s low numbers speak more to play calling than teams stacking up in preparation for Bush. Besides, he hasn’t warranted that consistently in years. Regardless, he should have more than 232 yards total for the season.

The Dolphins have remained competitive in games in the first half, including in their loss to the Jets. But the discipline issue is an issue. Throughout that Jets game, you could see a supreme lack of discipline from Miami’s primary star WR Brandon Marshall. Marshall has at times looked like he wanted nothing to do with the ball and less to do with contact even when running along the sidelines. Bush’s point about having no fight left in them is well-taken. Honestly, when you’re winless at this point in the season, your starting QB is out, it feels like why bother?

Sparano needs to find a way to get these guys motivated. The best scenario here is that the rest of their season is an advanced OTA in preparation for a better next season. But even that’s hard to rally around when you know your QB next year will either be Chad Henne or someone who will be starting from scratch. And even if it’s Andrew Luck, his last name is “luck” not “miracle.” The Dolphins need more of the latter than the former.

Still, the Dolphins just should not have lost to the Denver Broncos and I will never forgive them for increasing the hype around Tebow. They should be ashamed for that alone.

I wanted this shirt, but of course, they didn't have it in Falcons or Eagles. Just my luck. This would look sexy with leggings and thigh high boots.

I like to think of myself as a fashionista…well…not really. But I do know how to put together a banging outfit that looks good on me. But for some reason I am always tardy for the party when it comes to sports gear. I just ordered some stuff off of LadyFanatics.com. And they’re okay…except, it’s really just a mixture of what’s on different team fan shops.  think that’s why I ended up getting the wrong order-I got some Tennessee grad’s gear who lives in Texas. LF customer service was great though and shipped my stuff on Friday, it arrived on Monday.

Tonight I happened upon the site Junk Food Clothing and I like what they have. My favorite item wasn’t in the teams that I wanted, but I see a tank top that I want and another shirt I’m considering. The Minnesota Vikings and the Oakland Raiders’ gear on the site looks really good.

One day my dream will come true of designing NFL items for women who like to stop traffic (or at least command a look or two).

The NBA is in the midst of an ugly lockout that is showing no signs of ending any time soon. Two weeks of games have already been canceled (and, of course, training camp). I’ve seen some rumblings about extending the season so as to accommodate 82 games, but obviously stadiums are committed to other events and that would pose a challenge for many cities-especially popular ones like Los Angeles and New York.

One thing that has bothered me about the NBA season the past few years as my interest has waned is the 82 game season. I wondered how modern that was. I did some research and found:

For a historical perspective, the NBA (then the Basketball Association of America) opened with a 60-game schedule for the 1946-47 season. By 1958-59, it was an eight-team league with a 72-game schedule. By 1961-62, there were nine teams and an 80-game schedule.

The league went from 81 to 82 for the first time in 1967-68 because the league had expanded to 12 teams after adding Seattle and San Diego. With so few teams and so many games, it was easy to create rivalries. The Celtics played the Knicks nine times in the regular season.

In an earlier era, when travel was tougher and the game was more physical, coaches used their reserves more than they do today. Everyone was getting paid and most everyone played, which lessened the wear and tear on the stars.

So even when there were only 8 teams they had a 72 game schedule. I think the point about rivalries developing is a good one as it speaks to the point of revenue. The league won’t cut the season to 50 games because it decreases revenue when you assess the game as it is currently. But I wonder if creating more rivalries wouldn’t re-market the game in such a way that more revenue is generated.

Look at football for example. Although there are 32 teams, every team doesn’t play each other every year. Division rivalries are important which often take advantage of the geographical closeness. That means Pittsburgh Steelers fans can travel down 95 and see their team take on the Baltimore Ravens. New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles fans can attend their games. hell, even New England Patriots and New York Jets fans can do the same thing. The NFL even benefits from long distance rivalries like the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins.

Structured this way, rivalries are more personal and relevant to the fans in a particular area. The revenue potential increases, and so does the impact on local economies. I’m not suggesting that this is THE solution but perhaps one of many to consider. [Sidebar; isn't it funny to look at things throughout history and see a flurry of changes to an "institution" or something over the years until you get to about 1970 or 1980 and then things are basically the same until now? We once had the ability to adjust to changing conditions, what happened?]

On a personal level, I stopped watching the NBA in part because it just lacks a sense of urgency. And I’ve been spoiled by the constant urgency of the NFL with its mere 16 games and intense playoff structure. Some of it has to do with the fact that the NBA’s regular season is utterly inconsequential. I can start watching in February (sorta) or even just watch the playoffs and feel pretty caught up.

Now that football is so popular a large part of the NBA audience’s attention is tied up until February. And right when some of them turn the channel to the NBA, March Madness kicks up. And the NBA often loses the ratings battle to the NCAA as well. Again, I think urgency is a factor.

When I ran across this Carmelo Anthony video where he talks about the lockout (very eloquently, I might add) I noticed that he said his biggest fear in the lockout is that fans will lose interest.And I do think that should be the biggest fear because if fans can live comfortably without basketball until after the NCAA finals that could mean the league would have a lot of making up to do.

As I said during the NFL lockout, cutting expenses can’t always be the only solution. Sometimes you have to take a look at your competition for business, assess your business model, and see where you can generate more revenue and better compete. Cutting salaries is not the end all be all. But alas it is the corporate way for the past almost 40 years. And now here we are.

After weeks of Eagles missing tackles (13 in one game) they finally got back to fundamentals yesterday against their division rival Redskins. Even CB Asante Samuel, who is really not here for all that tackling and whatnot, hurt his back trying to take down Fred Davis. I hope this is a sign of what’s to come.

The biggest surprise tackle was the boom Nnamdi Asomugha laid on Chris Cooley which ended Cooley’s day and broke his hand. Reports are that Cooley’s hand will need surgery.

What I liked about Asomugha’s tackle is that it was textbook with no frills. A lot defensive players deliver hits that are “clean” by rules standards but fundamentally incorrect. I hate when I see a defensive player hit someone and then get up as shaken as the other player cause of over zealousness and/or poor technique. I mean, what’s the point of taking someone out if you take yourself out too? Who doesn’t remember when then Baltimore Ravens Safety Dawan Landry hit Tampa Bay Bucs RB Cadillac Williams and gave HIMSELF a concussion? No good.

If Asomugha keeps hitting like this, his teammates “might” actually learn to say his name.

McCoy was celebrating here…but in slo-mo it doesn’t look like it. The video is cut off after the punch, but you can see Corner back Asante Samuel coming over to pat Reid up as he recovers from McCoy’s unexpected “assault.”

I have asked God to PLEASE give me the strength to stop calling this man "Lil Baby Sproles." So far my prayers have gone unanswered. Hello God, are you there? It's me, J Danielle!

A couple weeks ago I gave you 5 things in the NFL that must be stopped. I wasn’t planning to make it a series, but what the hell. Here’s my volume 2.

1. Andy Reid and Juan Castillo. I can’t even go on and on about this anymore. Just make sure you’ve read this and this. I hear they “might” be hiring a defensive consultant soon. I guess that’s better than nothing.

2. Former players talking about their former teams’ players. Yes, I wrote an entire post on this but I feel it bears repeating. Cause it’s important. You know, I once had a boss who said that people never took him seriously and his “solution” to this was to say “I’m Serious” whenever he was serious. Needless to say, I never took him seriously again. But maybe I should have. Cause I’m sure people thought I was kidding when I wrote my post. I wasn’t. I’m serious.

3. NFL refs. I don’t know what happened at the referees’ last meeting with Goodell but something has these dudes shook. I’ve seen more flags through week 5 than a Puerto Rican Day Parade. The refs were particularly trigger happy in the Monday Night Football game between the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears. The refs also got a few calls wrong such as the one fumble call that was pretty costly for the Jets in their loss to the Patriots on Sunday. Funny fact, apparently, when refs get it wrong, the team gets a letter. Too bad that the letter most teams want is a W!

4. Jay Cutler’s over zealous detractors. Rex Grossman, you think you have haters?  Try living Jay Cutler’s life for a minute. You take your team all the way to the NFC chip while laying prostrate for most of the season, and you still can’t get no respect. I have no issue with anyone being criticized, but it seems there’s a whole lot of jumping overboard when it comes to Cutler. I think it’s time to rein it in. Just because he doesn’t put on a happy face every time someone talks to him doesn’t mean he should be trashed.

Let’s say you gave me a list of the best “okay” quarterbacks, for fun how about Jay Cutler, Matt Ryan, Tony Romo, Eli Manning, Mark Sanchez and Joe Flacco…and told me I could only have one for game day and I have one hour to decide. I’d spend 59 minutes laughing at the fact that you think I’d choose anyone other than Cutler from that group, and spend the last minute grabbing Cutler’s bags. “Sir, you’re coming with me.”

The thing that bothers me about Cutler’s biggest critics is that they just don’t like him as a man. And they don’t even have the common decency to try to hide it. When Rick Reilly wrote his  ”Jay Cutler is No Teddy Bear” column the quotes from Cutler’s detractors sounded like the proverbial scorned woman trying to shriek her way back into her lover’s life. What I gather is that we’re supposed to hate Cutler because he doesn’t care for celebrity, isn’t star struck by former NFL greats like 99% of men on the planet, might be a tad socially awkward, and isn’t the least bit interested in keeping up a false pretense (Heeeey Tom Brady). I wonder if any of this would be an issue if Cutler played for the Raiders?

The list of stupid things I’ve heard people say about Cutler ranges from not seeing his passion on the field (is this football or the Oscars?) to saying he’s soft (hmm sacked 6o+ times in a season and still carried team to NFC championship, if only more men were so dainty).

I hate to be the bearer of bad news cause i know that men don’t like rejection. But it’s important that I tell you fellas something…

Jay Cutler is just not that into you

5. Me referring to  New Orleans Saints Running Back Darren Sproles as “Lil Baby Sproles.” Yes, it’s true! I had to add my own damn self to the list of things that must be stopped. After reading up on space players, I was led to google Sproles. He has a pretty boring past but in my quick search I found out that Sproles is…MARRIED.  I then felt a little bit guilty about referring to this apparently grown man as “lil baby.”  I must be stopped…but sadly, I don’t think I can be. If anyone knows Sproles, please ask him if this offends him in any way. Maybe if he says it’s offensive it will help me stop (I doubt it).

By the way, did you know that for a spell Sproles WASN’T the littlest teeniest (see how I act? smh!) player in the NFL? Until October 5th, that honor was held by Trindon Holliday, who is the same height as Sproles but 25lbs lighter. I don’t know who in the hell can find a Wide Receiver that small. WWCJS!!! (What Would Calvin Johnson Say?)

I have petitioned Congress to pass a law, effective immediately, that would hereby prohibit former NFL players from commenting on their former team’s current players. I’m sure that representatives from New England, Wisconsin, and the Dallas, Texas area will agree as they are the latest to have former players say things that didn’t need to be said.

First Tedy Bruschi unleashes an unprovoked attack on the Patriots’ Ochocinco. Then Brett Favre says he can’t believe it took Aaron Rodgers “so long” to win as many Super Bowls as Favre did (1). Then Deion Sanders said that he is “done” with Romo and off the emotional rollercoaster. Now, all we have to wait for is for Aaron Brooks to pop out of the woodwork and say Drew Brees needs to make better decisions with the ball.

Let me clear something up.

The absolute WORST sports fans to talk to EVER are the ones that only watch their team’s games. Why? Because they have no perspective on the game in totality! That’s why most team message boards are full of comments like this one from Jay, a frustrated Atlanta Falcons fan:

Why would anyone pay to see this crappy team. Blank needs to clean house. Sack the coachs and trade anyone with some market value, incl ryan, turner, white, bosher (no market value). scratch that, get rid of all of them except: abraham, douglas, babinuax, gonzalez and bierman. start over again, and again, and again.

These guys suck! not wasting any more time watching them this year!!!!!!!

Yes, you read right. Not only does he want the team dismantled after week 5, he wants to deal Roddy White, Michael Turner and presumably Ray Edwards. There isn’t crack strong enough to justify that kind of foolishness. And how much time is he really wasting on football when he clearly watches ONE game a week. He should try the 4-5 I catch.

There is NOTHING wrong with only watching a sport to see what your team is doing. There is EVERYTHING wrong with only watching to see what your team is doing and then feeling confident enough to weigh in on how your team stacks up versus everyone else. You WILL sound crazy. People who only follow their teams have no clue where their organization stands in comparison to the rest of the league beyond their record. And their emotions are too tied up in wins and losses to be rational cause once their team loses there’s no other football joy for them. You can always tell this type of fan from a lover of the entire sport.

I’m not saying that these former players aren’t watching the entire NFL, but you know that particular attention is being paid by them to their former teams, and their emotions are certainly tied to the success of the organization. And just like any other fan, it throws their perspective out of wack just enough that the crazy comes out here and there. Ever try listening to Cris Collinworth call a Bengals game and discuss their Wide Receivers? If not, don’t rush and do that. I refuse to listen to Marshall Faulk talk about the Rams, Rodney Harrison discuss the Patriots or former Colts Coach Tony Dungy talk about Indianapolis.

This brings to mind another issue…the pervasiveness of former athletes and coaches in broadcasting. Can I be honest? Most of them aren’t very good! This is in some ways a separate issue…but if the networks hire one more charisma-deficient former player I’m gonna be done with TV for good!

But speaking specifically to the issue of commentary, I get why they’re there. With the NFL being such a complicated sport and the obsession we have with celebrity-and-controversy-over-everything the emergence of a gazillion former athletes as commentators is no surprise. But if they’re going to be kept relevant by the broadcasting world they should be challenged to broaden their ability to contribute commentary that is more accurate and in keeping with the sense God gave a goat.

The late Raiders owner and general bad-ass Al Davis in younger days.

A lot of wonderful pieces have been written on Al Davis since he passed away. Up until Ice Cube’s 30 for 30 documentary aired I knew a little about the Davis and the Raiders’ storied franchise-but not a whole lot. And it’s a shame too, because Al Davis has contributed to two major things of interest to me: Vertical offense and creative marketing.  The marketing side of his contributions is covered fairly well in the 30 for 30 documentary. And reporters are doing a great job explaining his impact on the NFL’s passing game. I think that this is the best description (fairly brief and easy to understand) that I’ve seen.

In short Davis help change offenses from stretching the field horizontally to stretching the field vertically. That means rather than covering the field side-line to side-line, Davis looked to cover it from the line of scrimmage to the end zone. Before Davis started extensively using rarefied (at the time) formations and strategies offenses weren’t really in the business of “attacking.” Offenses looked for ways to exploit defenses, sure, but Davis wanted defenses to work for every stop.

What does all of that mean today? Well, I’d say a few things.

Stretching the field from the LOS to the end zone makes football way more watchable. Some of the most boring games we see today are ones that involve a lot of short screen passes, stifled runs down the middle, and Wide Receiver jams that should have resulted in deep plays. The more of play action that takes place at the LOS the less watchable football is-especially when you’re watching on TV. Bringing football the length of the field puts more of what’s happening in view.

Think about the fact that even with modern broadcasting abilities, we probably see about 1/100th of what happens on that field. When all of play action is smash mouth running, covered blocking, and crowds of bodies blanketing the play there’s not a whole lot to see. Vertical offense helped take football from a game you kinda have to love and be there to appreciate to a game with broader appeal. Without  guys like Al Davis and Don Coryell and, to an extent Bobby Bowden, I doubt we’d be seeing receivers like Calvin Johnson do much stuff like this. And I doubt there’d be such a stage for guys like Lil Baby Darren Sproles (I gotta stop calling him that!), LeSean McCoy and other pass-catching running backs that rely on space to make it do what it do if not for Davis inspiring more use of the slot.

I feel confident in crediting Davis and the aerial pioneers with my love of the NFL. The ideas they implemented created a ripple effect. Once offenses were altered, defenses followed suit. And being obsessed with defense the way that I am, I love that the emphasis on the passing game has caused defenses to present a variety of looks for my personal enjoyment!

For a great article on Davis, check out this one from SI’s vault.

Steve Jobs contribution to the NFL is actually sort of related if you’re thinking about “modernization” of the game. NFL teams are starting to move their playbooks to the ipad. I’m interested to see which teams will be the slowest to embrace the new technology. I think the use of the ipads is a great thing. I haven’t seen exactly how the playbooks look on ipad and I don’t know all the capabilities, however, I can fully imagine players getting somewhat of a second life experience with the ipad letting them more fully envision their roles, the moves of other players, draw on the screen the way that coaches draw on the chalk or white erase board. Seeing little men on a screen sounds so much better than dry ass Xs and Os.

And then there’s this:

In a lot of ways, this is exactly what tablets are meant for: easy access to data via wireless networks, high-quality photos, and portability. And from a coach’s or player’s perspective, imagine being able to quickly sort through a large set of plays, look at them in a stylish graphical presentation, see animations of them in action, and more-or to download a photo of the last play seconds later.

A year ago today, I bought the domain name PlayerPerspective.com. I did it on somewhat of a whim. I just needed somewhere to put my thoughts. I had no idea whether I’d stick with it or not. In fact, in the beginning I didn’t even bother having it designed…I used a free wordpress template and kept it moving.

A year later, I feel like this site is hitting its stride and as every blogger says “I have some new and exciting things coming up that I can’t discuss right now.”

DON’T YOU WHEN PEOPLE SAY THAT? WHY BRING IT UP IF YOU CAN’T TALK ABOUT IT!

sorry

So what can you expect from me this season and going forward?

First let’s start with what I’m not…

A GOSSIP BLOGGER

Generally speaking I don’t care  to post about who got married, stabbed, fought their roommate (EPIC SIDE EYE), copped a DUI or sent a picture of their penis to someone besides the woman they married. This really ain’t the place for all that. Sometimes, I’ll admit, it’s tempting. The public has an insatiable lust to know everything about anyone who is remotely famous, even if their fame level is Z minus. And the best way to get your blog numbers up is to serve up some of that TMZ swagu! But there’s plenty of things in life I already have to do out of obligation that I don’t want to (like pay bills) I don’t want to carry that over to my hobby.

Besides, Cris Collinsworth has tweeted me FIVE TIMES since he’s been on twitter. What would he say if he dropped by my blog and saw trashy posts? OH THE HORROR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I would be mortified!

THE MEAN STUFF

Hello, this blog is called PlayerPerspective. I’m not saying I won’t criticize players if you read the blog you know I will and have. But if you’re looking for slander played at high volumes in residential areas this really isn’t the place. I watch football for analysis, strategy, story lines, and personalities. And that’s basically the bulk of what you can find on my blog. I try to stay true to what I do. I do have jokes though. Quite a few. And you’re welcome to say whatever you want in comments as long as it doesn’t offend my delicate sensibilities. Yes muthaf*cker, I am a southern belle!

AN UNBIASED JOURNALIST

I dropped Communications as major my second semester of my FRESHMAN year. That means I knew right away I wasn’t about that reporting life. I’m not reporting news. I don’t have NBC propping me up like ProFootballTalk does. I don’t have ESPN money. Therefore, I am highly unlikely to break a story first and as such I am not here to report the news. I am also vehemently opposed to running to my blog to hurry and copy what a real reporter wrote as though I was up on the story too. I’m here to read the news and hate on analyze it. I am also NOT here to recap games (read your local newspaper or ESPN blogs for that) or to pretend like I don’t wish the New Orleans Saints would go completely up in flames.

SO THEN WHAT CAN FOLKS EXPECT?

MORE ON THE EAGLES AND FALCONS

Those are my teams! No, I do not care that you’re supposed to only like one team. No, I don’t care that both are in the NFC! I have liked both teams since I was a kid. I have never, and will never, watch the Eagles and Falcons play each other. But I will probably dedicate more posts to both teams than I do for any other teams and somebody around here is going to learn to like it.

STANNING

I have loved Demarcus Ware, Mathias Kiwanuka, Kerry Rhodes, James Harrison, and Asante Samuel for a really long time. And I refuse to hide it! I will probably mention them too much and give them undeserved credit for things and extreme benefits of the doubt. Oh well, at least I’m honest. I’m excited about my newest addition to my “stan list.” Ladies and gentlemen: Patrick Willis! Hey, Patrick, my name is Stanley!

A LOT OF DEFENSE

I’m not here for offense. I’m just not. I am learning more about it, and I probably already know more than most, but defensive schemes are more my thing. And when it comes down to analysis I’ll probably lean heavily toward talking about defenses. But I see this as a good thing. When my dream of hosting a show with Jon Gruden comes true, he can handle the offense and I can handle the defense. We’ll be the NFL’s version of Ebony and Ivory but with Eminem and Waka Flocka performing our theme song rather than Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney. Yall know Gruden celebrates hip hop culture Friday-Tuesday. SWAG SWAG SWAG SWAG!!

COMMENTARY

Okay this is a blog so obviously that should be a given. But I hate when I click on a headline to a blog, and the post is basically the headline with a picture. There’s no commentary whatsoever. Search Engine Optimization has really made bloggers lazy. I’m not a lazy blogger. No matter how stupid you may think my posts are, I promise you I think about what I’m saying, right up until I hit “publish.” And then “edit post” “update” “edit post” “update.” Yeah it beez that way sometimes. Long story short, my headlines almost NEVER give the entire post away.

VLOGGING AND PODCASTING

Believe it or not, I like vlogging better than blogging. But I get really really anal about my vlog editing whereas the writing just comes to me with ease. Once I conquer this issue, there will be a nice mix of written posts and video posts of my series “5 Minutes with Jdan” where I either talk about something I think is important or interview somebody I think yall would benefit from hearing. The shows will also be available as a podcast. Yes, I realize that everyone has a podcast (and a vlog for that matter) but I am under the impression that I have something new to bring to the table. And therefore, I am going to put it on the table and see if people eat it. Or whatever.

WHAT I WANT FROM YOU

As a Pisces female only child it wouldn’t be right if I didn’t ask for something from you. What do I want? Feedback. Comments and such. I read all comments though I rarely respond (unless a commenter asks me to elaborate on something) BECAUSE I’ve made my point in the post and I don’t want people to think I’m stepping all over their counterpoint. And if you like the blog PLEASE share it with others. Or, if you HATE it, please share with others how much you hate it. Don’t forget to include a link!

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In the category of interviews-that-are-less-like-interviews-and-more-like-sucking-someone-off, 60 minutes’ “profile” of Drew Rosenhaus was an embarrassment to journalism. The piece consisted of about 14 minutes of Scott Pelley verbally making out with Rosenhaus and feeding into every storyline  the sports agent has ever created about himself. It’s no wonder the segment was sponsored by viagra.

Through this piece, we learned:

• Rosenhaus is the hardest working sports agent in the NFL
• The NFL needs him and would “fall apart” without him
• His clients are the best served in the NFL
• He’s on call 24/7 no matter what sacrificing his personal relationships for the sake of his clients who are like his “family.”

Not a word of his canned talking points was challenged. What a fluff piece. And it angers me because sports agents and their relationships with their clients aren’t the stuff that fluff is made of. Sports agents have been responsible for players’ careers successes, but also in many cases their downfalls and advice that led to bad financial decisions. It’s an industry that deserves a deeper look in the mainstream media, not a fluff piece designed to enhance the image of someone who’s already filthy rich.

Rather than do the work of providing a complete picture of Rosenhaus,  60 minutes decided to allow its show to be used as some promotional tool for Rosenhaus Sports. Pelley even went so far as to try to prove to the viewer that Rosenhaus’ exuberant way of speaking is natural and not “put on” for the cameras. There seemed to be a concerted effort on the part of CBS to wrap Rosenhaus’ flaws into a a ball of eccentricities without which he would not be successful. In other words, who cares about personality defects when errytime I come aroun’ yo city bling bling? It’s the American way!  [Side note: It felt like the piece was consistent with America's utter disinterest in questioning charismatic white men about their actions. Like, isn't this how old ladies get conned into giving up their pensions? Isn't this why people are occupying Wall Street?]

Pelley interviewed NO ONE else for the Rosenhaus story except  New York Jets Wide Receiver Plaxico Burress. Yes the same Plaxico Burress who is forever indebted to Rosenhaus for finding his financially troubled ass a job post-incarceration. None of Rosenhaus’ former clients, no other agents, no one in the NFL, no one who objectively covers the business side of the NFL commented for this piece. Pelley did mention that Rosenhaus has been sued for poaching clients by other agents, but again, other agents weren’t contacted to provide context. The lawsuits were glossed over with a dismissive wave of Pelley’s oddly flirtatious hand-though he did find time to mention that Rosenhaus has won every case filed against him with the NFL Players Association.

The crux of the “profile” is that Rosenhaus is the most financially successful sports agent because he’s smart and works hard. Nothing else. No other reason. He’s just smarter and works harder than anyone else. The story lends ZERO time to the realities of being a sports agent such as towing ethical lines, advancing players money, wooing them from other agents, helping them hide their cheating and addictions from significant others and any other host of things that  most agents get involved in on some level. I’m not sure whether you file all of those under “smart” or “hard working,” but I’d be hard pressed to believe that Rosenhaus’ ability to navigate those murky waters whilst staying in the favor of the NFLPA isn’t a big part of why he is successful. Pelley did mention Rosenhaus sending clients to rehab, but that was under the umbrella of how much Rosenhaus cares. **insert girly sighs**

Of course, I’m not saying that Rosenhaus doesn’t work hard. It’s clear that he does, and I respect that. Though I’d be just as remiss as CBS if I didn’t point out that most sports agents do whether they’re powerhouses in the stratosphere of Rosenhaus or whether they run boutique agencies. It’s really not a business that much lends itself to laziness.

But I’d like to take issue with what 60 minutes allowed Rosenhaus to portray as “dedication.” When Rosenhaus says that he works out with clients and parties with them too, I didn’t get the sense that that was a result of being hardworking so much as having a twisted sort of fascination with the guys he works for. And, not to mention, no personal life of his own. When Burress said he had to tell Rosenhaus not to call every day, I got what Buzz Bissinger described as “psycho sexual” Nevin Shapiro vibes all up and through that piece. There will ALWAYS be something odd to me about older white men who insist upon inserting themselves deeply into the lives of young strapping black dudes.

But who wants to discuss all that when you can watch the King of Men Drew Rosenhaus split fiery bricks with his texting hand. aye carumba!

Just so it’s clear, my frustration with this piece has nothing to do with Drew Rosenhaus. He is undeniably supremely talented and a master at the game of business. My annoyance lies with the 60 minutes broadcast using a light hand to draw a heavy character in a shape of his own choosing.

Shout out to Drew though. His name formed the basis for my alias. I am now known as SHREW Rosenhaus. I like it.

If you missed 60 minutes’ airing of the Drew Rosenhaus sex tape…er…I mean interview, you can see it here: