It’s been almost 40 years, but if you love Thanksgiving Day football, then you definitely know who Clint Longley is. The unknown reserve quarterback, subbing for Roger Staubach, came up big in leading the Cowboys to a dramatic victory against Washington.
Longley would play in only nine games during a short three-year career. But sometimes all it takes is one game to make a mark.
Listen to the great music and voice of John Facenda as NFL Films tells this improbable story.
Saw this tweet from Tony Barnhart.
@MrCFB First Thanksgiving in my lifetime that Furman Bisher has not been here to do traditional column. This from AJC today.
Furman, who died in March, wrote a Thanksgiving Day column for 57 years. In his honor, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution ran his first Thanksgiving Day column from 1955. He was a true treasure, and is deeply missed by the sportswriting fraternity.
From Furman:
I’m thankful for the right to play the game you want to play and back the team you want to back, though it isn’t necessarily set forth as such in the constitution.
I’m thankful for a profession that gave us a Grantland Rice and the philosophy that came with him.
I’m thankful for the right to call an umpire a blind bum.
I’m thankful for drivers who dim their lights on the highway without waiting for you to dim yours.
I’m thankful for guys who hit home runs in the last of the ninth inning with the bases loaded, especially if they’re on our side.
I’m thankful for “September Song,” as recorded by Walter Huston. In tones hoary and uneven, but with a feeling that only he could give it.
And there’s more, much more. Thanks, Furman.
We got to watch him play on 10 Thanksgivings. Obviously, it could have been more considering he only was 30 when he retired.
But he left plenty of memories. Was he the best ever? You be the judge after watching some of his best runs.
In the no-surprise department, ESPN landed the rights to the new college football playoff, beginning with the 2014 season.
And the playoffs will be in ESPN’s possession for a long time, as in 12 years.
On an ESPN Front Row podcast, Burke Magnus, Sr. VP, College Sports Programming, explained why this deal is so much longer than the four-year run of the current BCS package.
“They thought it was important to lock in over the long term so fans and conferences could be familiar with the format and see how it plays out over time,” Magnus said. “From our perspective (the four-year BCS deal) was a short window. It felt like a presidential election, where you’re always running for re-election.”
ESPN now will have the new playoff system for more than decade. It plans to provide blanket coverage across all of its existing outlets and those that haven’t even been invented yet. Who knows what awaits in 2022?
“We are going to try to reinvent coverage of this property,” Magnus said. “It’s a new format. It will present a lot of opportunities for us.”
Magnus said the last two BCS championship games pulled in the biggest ratings ever on cable for any telecast (sports and non-sports). The potential is there for even bigger numbers with the buzz generated by college football’s first playoff.
Ultimately, ESPN wasn’t about to lose this package. The network has too much invested in college football. It needed the biggest games of the year to make it complete.
“Our commitment to college football is year round,” Magnus said. “We attempt to superserve the fans. With that kind of commitment to the college football enterprise, it was very, very important that we pay it off with this new and exciting playoff format.”
John Riggins truly was one of a kind as a player and remains that way as a person.
The latest edition of A Football Life examines Riggins’ Hall of Fame career (Wednesday, 8 p.m. ET, NFL Network).
“The biggest misconception is that he is a clown. He’s not a clown; he’s a showman instead. He knows intuitively the right thing to do and yet do it in a colorful way,” said John Kent Cooke Jr.
Here’s a link to the preview.
Here’s all the info from NFL Network:
NFL Network’s Emmy-nominated series A Football Life continues this week with a profile of the Hall of Fame running back John Riggins. Premiering Wednesday, November 21 at 8:00 PM ET, John Riggins: A Football Life explores the life of the running back known as ‘the Diesel,’ from his upbringing in Centralia, Kansas, to his NFL career with the Washington Redskins and New York Jets, and the colorful personality he was known and loved for.
The one-hour documentary features sit-down interviews with Riggins, his brothers Frank and Bill Riggins, former teammates Joe Theismann and Joe Namath, and former Redskins head coach Joe Gibbs, among others. John Riggins: A Football Life also includes footage from the infamous Salute to Congress Dinner Riggins attended in 1985, and his Hometown Hall of Fame plaque ceremony at Centralia High School from October, 2012.
A first-round pick of the New York Jets from the University of Kansas in 1971, Riggins played five seasons in New York before signing with the Washington Redskins. After sitting out the entire 1980 season, new Redskins head coach Joe Gibbs traveled to Kansas to convince Riggins to return to the team. Under Gibbs, Riggins flourished and had the best seasons of his career, which included a victory in Super Bowl XVII in which he was named MVP after rushing for a then-Super Bowl record 166 yards, and a season at the age of 34 when he rushed for a career-high 1,347 yards and a then-record 24 touchdowns.
John Riggins: A Football Life includes interviews with the following people:
John Riggins
Frank Riggins – John’s older brother
Bill Riggins – John’s younger brother
Lisa Marie Riggins – John’s wife
Joe Namath – New York Jets quarterback, 1965-76
Joe Theismann– Washington Redskins quarterback, 1974-85
Joe Gibbs – Washington Redskins head coach, 1981-92 & 2004-07
Pepper Rodgers – University of Kansas football coach
Len Mohlman – Centralia High School football coach
Emerson Boozer – New York Jets running back, 1966-75
Ron Saul – Washington Redskins guard, 1976-81
Jeff Bostic – Washington Redskins center, 1980-93
John Kent Cooke, Jr. – Former Washington Redskins President
Charles Robb – Former Virginia Governor
Emmy-nominated actor from CBS’ The Good Wife, Josh Charles, narrates.
Following are select quotes from John Riggins: A Football Life:
– “Football was never my life. The guys [and] the relationships were my life. I have an ability to relate to damn near everybody.” – John Riggins
– “I realized in that moment that physically speaking my talents were well beyond Joe [Namath’s] talents. So then I realized, ‘What am I doing here? This doesn’t make sense because it’s always going to be about Joe.’” – John Riggins
– “After that I was pretty much defeated. I look back on it and there were a lot of things going on, but to me it was like, ‘OK, this is as good as it’s going to get.’” – John Riggins on the loss to the Dallas Cowboys in 1979
– “He was just everything you want in a great, big running back. You didn’t hit John; John hit you.” – Joe Theismann
– “John even went to George Allen one time and said, ‘Hey, why don’t you give me a 60 [jersey] number since I’m only going to get the ball once or twice a game?’” – Ron Saul
Tonight is a big night for Jim Rome. His new Jim Rome on Showtime series will debut at 10 p.m. ET.
It is a weekly one-hour show featuring interviews with athletes and celebrities. Rome has an impressive guest list for the opener: Kobe Bryant, Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Perry, and Hollywood producer and franchise owner Peter Gruber.
But mostly it will be about Rome, as you can see in this clip.
Rome says, “I don’t think I’ve had my best broadcast moment yet. I’m still chasing it.”
The Showtime show is a big reason why Rome left ESPN for CBS earlier this year. The package includes a Monday-Friday show on CBS Sports Network and his radio show will be moving to the new CBS Sports Radio Network in January.
In a Q/A with me in May, Rome discussed his big move:
Am I a risk guy? Doing nothing would have been a greater risk. But I’m pretty calculating. Sometimes, you have to push yourself.
I’m trying to get in and hopefully make a difference. It’s a big swing. Guys like us who have done this a long time, you’ve got to take a shot.
Showtime now gives him the best platform to pull it altogether. He could reach a large audience and won’t have to work within the constraints of conventional television. “Unconventional” is a word Rome uses over and over in describing the show.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Rome said:
One of the biggest pieces of the puzzle is the Showtime show. I think it’s going to work. It’s different in a lot of ways, far and away the most challenging show I’ve ever taken on … there’s nothing else like it on television. I’ve always done that daily topical half-hour show, come in, rant, interview, panel, rant, thanks for coming. That’s not what this show is. It’s nice to know if I want to go to another place and push another envelope, I can do that. There’ll be a crossover element. People in the arts, politicians, literary people … who have an opinion on sports.
And Rome added this comment to Eric Deggans of the National Sports Journalism Center:
“I can go with an f-bomb if I need it,” he said, laughing again. “I never felt the need to go with that on the air before. But it’s nice to know it’s there if I need it.”
A successful Showtime show could help him attract viewers to his daily show on the CBS Sports Network. While he already has a healthy radio audience, Showtime provides him with a chance to reach new listeners.
Yet pulling off this kind of hybrid sports/entertainment vehicle isn’t easy. If it is a flop, it will be a big black mark on his move to CBS.
Rome, though, is confident he can get it done. If there’s one thing he doesn’t lack, it’s confidence.
Should be interesting to see if he can pull it off.
The SI cover jinx doomed Kansas State last week. Will Notre Dame fall victim Saturday?
Brian Kelly said he has bigger worries. The Notre Dame coach was asked about the SI cover jinx during his weekly appearance with Jack Arute and Dan Hawkins on SiriusXM’s College Sports Nation:
“Manti [T’eo] was on the cover this year and that seemed to be okay for us. So we’re going to take it as we’re much better off if we’re on the cover of Sports Illustrated because you don’t want to look at it any other way. And the reality of it is for our guys, they know that at the end of the day this is still about how you execute on Saturday, and they’ve been programmed that way. So I hope I can put a little bit of the angst to rest but I think there will be enough people out there wringing their hands.”
They sure will.
Much has been made of the concussion situation in the NFL. Yet the more signficant problems could be taking place in college football and lower levels of the game.
Tonight, HBO’s Real Sports (10 p.m. ET) has a sobering report from Bernard Goldberg.
DEREK OWENS, WHO PLAYED AT CENTRAL ARKANSAS: “You’re in shoulder pads and helmet, literally, every day except for the day before the game .”
BERNIE GOLDBERG: “You’re takin’ hits three or four times a week? You were having more contact practices than the guys in the pros do.”
DEREK OWENS: “Uh-huh.”
DOMONIQUE FOXWORTH: “I think that it’s more difficult to be a college football player in this day and age than it is to be an NFL player.”
BERNIE GOLDBERG: “Because?”
DOMONIQUE FOXWORTH: “ The amounts of hits.”
The Big Ten will announce the addition of Rutgers this afternoon as its 14th school. Once again, there will be all sorts of talk about the possible $100 million financial windfall for the conference’s Big Ten Network.
The Big Ten is hardly alone. The shifting college landscape is all about TV money. And who are the big winners?
The coaches. Their salaries are exploding.
In case you missed it, Armen Keteyian documented the insanity of college sports finances last Sunday on 60 Minutes.
USA Today has a report on college football salaries today. From the story:
The average annual salary for head coaches at major colleges (not including four schools that moved up to the Football Bowl Subdivision this season) is $1.64 million, up nearly 12% over last season — and more than 70% since 2006, when USA TODAY Sports began tracking coaches’ compensation.
Coaches’ pay has even outpaced the pay of corporate executives, who have drawn the ire of Congress and the public because of their staggering compensation packages. Between 2007 and 2011, CEO pay — including salary, stock option value, bonuses and other pay — rose 23%, according to Equilar, an executive compensation data firm. In that same period, coaches’ pay increased 44%.
Alabama’s Nick Saban is the highest paid at $5.5 million, and he is one of four Southeastern Conference coaches among the top eight. Texas head coach Mack Brown, of the Big 12, is the second-highest, pulling in $5.4 million.
And then there are assistant coaches. The market is soaring for them as well.
Assistants don’t take pay cuts to come to Clemson these days. The school’s compensation pool for assistants has more than doubled from $1.9 million in 2009 to $4.2 million.
Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris is the nation’s most highly paid assistant at a public school. Morris makes $1.3 million, more than 10 times what he was getting three years ago as a high school coach in Austin.
“I’m not complaining, not hurting at all,” Morris says.
Brent Venables, Clemson’s defensive coordinator, makes $800,000, almost double what he was making a year ago as Oklahoma’s defensive coordinator.
“It’s embarrassing to a certain degree,” Venables says.
More TV money simply means more money for the coaches. The Big Ten has two coaches in the top six in salaries: Ohio State’s Urban Meyer at $4.3 million and Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz at $3.83 million.
I don’t want to get into a debate over how much money the coaches bring into the school. I just know colleges still would exist without football coaches. Stadiums still would be full if you knocked a zero off their salaries.
The upcoming college football playoff could generate upwards of $500 million per year in TV money. It would be great if administrators would say, “You know, we’re going to use that money for something else besides paying our football coaches.”
And there’s no chance of that happening. Instead, thanks to the new TV money, the $10 million per year college football coach is just around the corner.
I took the family to a Bears game a few weeks ago. I froze despite wearing long underwear; I had limited perspective with seats in the endzone; and somebody forgot to put the chocolate in the hot chocolate I ordered at the concession stand.
And I loved being there.
There has been some concern of late that the TV production quality for NFL games is so superior that people will choose the comforts of their couch over popping for those high-priced tickets. None other than commish Roger Goodell said: “One of our biggest challenges is the fan experience at home. HD is only going to get better.”
ESPN’s Outside the Lines dedicated Sunday’s show to the issue with a report from Darren Rovell. ESPN.com’s Rick Reilly gave more reasons to skip the drive to the stadium. He writes:
7) The yellow first down line.
8) Your comfy couch. Have you sat in an NFL seat for three-and-a-half hours lately? They’re approximately the size of American Girl Doll tea chairs. This makes no sense. American seats are getting wider while American stadium seats are getting narrower?
I’ve heard all the arguments, and I saw the fans in Rovell’s report who gave up their tickets to watch the games at home.
And I’m here to say that it is not the same.
Watching the game at home still is a mostly passive experience compared to being in the stands. I could doze off or watch 20 minutes of Rudy while channel surfing.
If I really care about the game, I’m definitely focused in. But I’m not nearly as engaged as being there.
I’m not standing up with 60,000 of my new friends on third and 1. I don’t feel the emotional swings of the game as intensely.
I’m not taking in all the colors on the field and in the stands, a scene that can’t be replicated on television. There’s still something unique about walking up the ramp and seeing everything for the first time on that particular day. Watching Chris Berman during the pregame definitely doesn’t compare.
In my mind, TV has been good for a really long, long time. Probably since the NBC peacock announced the upcoming game would be shown in “living color.” The fact that it has improved dramatically only makes it that much better.
I bow to the alter of Scott Hanson and NFL RedZone, the best creation since….beer?
But it isn’t the same as being at a game.
As Rovell pointed out in his report, the NFL needs to enhance the fan experience to keep up with the times. At the game I attended at Soldier Field, I required better Internet access to follow my terrible fantasy team. During breaks, I wanted to see more RedZone-like highlights on the video board. There were too few of them.
And I wouldn’t have minded some chocolate in my hot chocolate.
I’m not saying I want to go to every game. I’m fine with one or two a year and definitely not in late November or December.
I know it can be a hassle with traffic and parking. And sometimes you might sit next to an idiot.
Some things in life, though, are worth making an effort. I think plenty of people agree. Despite the Bears’ horrid effort last night, the cheapest tickets for the Chicago-Minnesota game at Soldier Field Sunday are listed at $120 for high endzone on Stubhub. There’s still something special about being there.
I will be watching from the comforts of my couch Sunday. And I know it won’t be the same.