The Wednesday Chat Has Begun

DIESEL02 · Post by **DIESEL02** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 9:19 am

Are the Detroit Lions being pumped up...? with most of the offensive starters with less than three years experience I would say so...although Rogers did play well until being injured...

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 9:21 am

The one thing I always admired about Sterling (and this is why his teammates respected him) was that the guy showed up every Sunday and played his ass off. He had one season with a turf toe injury that was literally repulsive to look at. The guy could barely walk, he didn't practice all week, but he showed up on Sunday and caught more than 100 passes that season. He was the definition of a gamer. People can say what they want about him because he is loud and abrasive at times, but the guy never cheated his team or the fans or anyone when he was on the field. Ultimately, that's all you can ask from a teammate.

I'll tell you a good Sharpe story -- you can owe me the beer in NY . When he threatened to hold out prior to the 94 opener, two interesting things happened:

1. Favre went out and basically said "s**w him, we'll play without him." It was one of the biggest defining moments of Favre's career in my opinion because it really signalled that Favre had arrived and was ready to make the Packers his team. And trust me, that wasn't an easy thing to do with Sterling there - especially since Sterling spent a couple of years being just about the only guy worth a damn on that team before the Holmgren/Wolf era. But at that moment, Favre told everyone this was his team and Sharpe could either come join the fun or the hell with him. For someone who was still basically just a kid, this was really a major moment to defy Sharpe like that publically.

2. What people didn't know was that Sharpe had his contract renegotiated quite a few times during his career. It always went on behind the scenes. The difference that time, though, was Sharpe went public and Wolf and Holmgren were not happy at all. Holmgren was the one who got Sharpe to end his holdout in return by basically ordering him to his office, telling him to knock that holdout s**t off and get back and be ready to play and the team would take care of him (which is what happened). Of all the people in the organization at that time, the one guy Sharpe respected the most was Holmgren, so when Holmgren dropped the hammer on him, Sharpe listened.

It was a pretty crazy day, though. I remember that.

[ August 11, 2004, 03:26 PM: Message edited by: Tom Kessenich ]

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 9:22 am

Originally posted by DIESEL02:
Are the Detroit Lions being pumped up...? with most of the offensive starters with less than three years experience I would say so...although Rogers did play well until being injured... First, you'll have to deal with your co-owner.

I like the Lions' talent at the skill positions quite a bit (keep an eye on Streets as a Red Zone threat -- you heard it here ). But I have some major questions about Harrington. I'm just not convinced he's the real deal. He has everything there for him this year, however, so if it's going to happen we should see some signs now. If it doesn't happen, I wouldn't be surprised if Mooch started hunting for another QB in the off-season next year.

DIESEL02 · Post by **DIESEL02** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 9:39 am

Hey Tom I'll be you the beer for that story..seems as if Marc has the alligator arm syndrome....lol

DIESEL02 · Post by **DIESEL02** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 9:39 am

I meant buy

DIESEL02 · Post by **DIESEL02** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 9:45 am

it'll be interesting in the next few weeks to see who wins jobs at rb...everyone is jumping on the rookie rb bandwagon....where's all the cowboy fans that jumped on the Jones bandwagon now that George is there....it's hard for rookies to learn that huge offensive play book...and running those huge sweeps in college is different when you got a linebacker that can run almost as fast as the rb side to side

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 9:47 am

I've talked to a number of GMs, coaches and scouts over the years and they actually say RB is possibly the easiest position for a rookie to learn because you basically take the ball, find the hole and do your thing. The toughest adjustment for many rookie RBs comes in terms of pass blocking and blitz pickups since they rarely are asked to do that at the college level.

DIESEL02 · Post by **DIESEL02** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 9:59 am

That's very true about the running part...but as you expanded that was what I meant... with knowing where to be and who to pickup on an audible is totally different....great talking to you...

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 1:14 pm

Strike that sigh of relief for Bolden owners. This is the latest from Denny Green and it isn't good: "Anquan had an arthroscopic procedure earlier today to repair what his
MRI initially indicated was a slight meniscal tear,” said head coach
Dennis Green. “Unfortunately, a more intricate examination during surgery revealed a more significant tear than first thought and this required a surgical procedure to repair. The good news is that the surgical procedure went very well and Anquan will be back on the field as good as ever this season. It’s a bit premature to estimate a precise timetable right now because it varies greatly from individual to individual but we are looking at what is typically an 8-12 week injury.”

Diesel · Post by **Diesel** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 2:44 pm

I hope Rob Moore and Frank Sanders are still available for Arizona...lol