FB: Northwest Conference

[RedandPurple]

d-train:
You're right, no surprises-no excuses. They know exactly what their getting into. Ditka in dreadlocks...what a hoot! I almost forgot about that. Thanks , I needed the laugh!

BRING BACK THE BAND!
BRING 'EM BACK AND TURN 'EM LOOSE!

[RedandPurple]

Foss:
Actual conversation between my wife and I:

Me: "Honey, reports in the paper say Vince Young scored a 6 out of 50 on the intelligence and decision making test at the nfl combine." 

My wife: "Maybe that's why he ran so much. You know, when you call the plays and then have to run them. Maybe he didn't know what he was calling."

GOTTA LOVE HER!

BRING BACK THE BAND!
BRING 'EM BACK AND TURN 'EM LOOSE!

[frank uible]

Foss: Dating far back Paul Brown was the father of the concept of administering intelligence tests for his players. I remember that one year (I believe that it was in the 1970s) a few moments after the end of that year's draft his coaching staff was participating in an informal overview of the results of the Bengals draft. One of his position coaches was questioning (based on low Wonderlic scores) the coachability of some of the players who had been drafted by the Bengals in that draft and whom that coach would be required to teach. Very tolerantly Mr. Brown ticked off a laundry list of players who had played for him,  had had low intelligence test scores and had been All-Pro (and in some instances were members of the Pro Football HOF).

[frank uible]

d-train: In 1999 the Saints traded all 7 of their draft picks to Chicago for the 5th pick in the first round , with which New Orleans chose Ricky Williams.

[Foss]

 

Foss:
Actual conversation between my wife and I:

Me: "Honey, reports in the paper say Vince Young scored a 6 out of 50 on the intelligence and decision making test at the nfl combine." 

My wife: "Maybe that's why he ran so much. You know, when you call the plays and then have to run them. Maybe he didn't know what he was calling."

GOTTA LOVE HER!

BRING BACK THE BAND!
BRING 'EM BACK AND TURN 'EM LOOSE!

Ha!

Foss: Dating far back Paul Brown was the father of the concept of administering intelligence tests for his players. I remember that one year (I believe that it was in the 1970s) a few moments after the end of that year's draft his coaching staff was participating in an informal overview of the results of the Bengals draft. One of his position coaches was questioning (based on low Wonderlic scores) the coachability of some of the players who had been drafted by the Bengals in that draft and whom that coach would be required to teach. Very tolerantly Mr. Brown ticked off a laundry list of players who had played for him,  had had low intelligence test scores and had been All-Pro (and in some instances were members of the Pro Football HOF).

frank,

I get the feeling you don't think it's that big of a deal then. Do you think it's more important for the QB position, one where a lot of decisions need to be made in a short amount of time, or not? Would you take a physical freak of nature with one of the worst scores reported (ie Vince Young) over a player with good physical talent who played the same position, say Matt Liehnert or one of the other top QBs (but not as good as Young, physically), but who had a good, or even average score?

[d-train]

d-train: In 1999 the Saints traded all 7 of their draft picks to Chicago for the 5th pick in the first round , with which New Orleans chose Ricky Williams.

Yeah, that's what I meant by "a ton of stock." I didn't remember the exact details, but I knew it was a bit crazy even before he flopped. Comparatively, the Dolphins weren't burned by Williams nearly as bad.

[d-train]

BTW, is Sinfield still looking for some help in the offensive backfield. This transfer would fit right into the Mac lifestyle:






Relax...it's a joke.

[frank uible]

Foss: Not surprisingly I expect that all or almost all "experts" believe that intelligence is more important (or less unimportant) for QBs than for other positions. There is no formula for X excess of intelligence makes up for Y deficiency in talent; it is a matter of evaluation judgment and will vary from "expert" to "expert" and from circumstances to circumstances..

[frank uible]

d-train: I'm so old that I don't follow any rules anymore - what can they do to me?

[Foss]

Oh frank, you had to give me that fair-balanced, democratic response stuff, didn't you?  Sometimes I think you are an ex-lawyer, rather than an ex-scout.

X excess, Y deficiency, and X/Y chromosomes aside, do you have a #1 pick this year? Who?

[frank uible]

Foss: Among other things I am an ex-lawyer. I don't know enough about the prospects themselves or the needs of teams  to allow me to pick intelligently, but if I had to vote on behalf of an unspecified team right now upon pain of having to listen continuously to hip-hop for the rest of my life, I would pick Leinart or Cutler - probably Cutler.

['Cats Fa Natic]

...Very tolerantly Mr. Brown ticked off a laundry list of players who had played for him,  had had low intelligence test scores and had been All-Pro (and in some instances were members of the Pro Football HOF).

Maybe that proves that in football, you don't have to THINK, you just have to ACT. You learn what you're supposed to do beforehand, then you just go out and DO it.

[Foss]

frank,

It sounds like Cutler's stock has really risen. If you were to tell me right after Young's announcement to go pro, considering his performance this season and all the hype surrounding him, that some guy named Jake Cutler might be picked ahead of him in the draft, I would have been pretty surprised. As it turns out, that might in fact happen. I guess we'll see.

[footballfan413]

...Very tolerantly Mr. Brown ticked off a laundry list of players who had played for him,  had had low intelligence test scores and had been All-Pro (and in some instances were members of the Pro Football HOF).

Maybe that proves that in football, you don't have to THINK, you just have to ACT. You learn what you're supposed to do beforehand, then you just go out and DO it.

That may work for offense but not so much on the defensive side of the ball.  Reactions and coverages are choreographed ahead for the most part but a player needs to be able to think on his feet, read offenses and anticipate.  Especially as the year rolls into post play and offenses may start to throw different formations and plays that may have been held back during the season and are hard to scout and prepare for.  I remember when my 7 year old son's youth football coaches sat the boys down the night before the first day of school and told them to study and do their homework because there was no such thing as a dumb football player!  I tend to believe that for the most part. 

['Cats Fa Natic]

That may work for offense but not so much on the defensive side of the ball.  Reactions and coverages are choreographed ahead for the most part but a player needs to be able to think on his feet, read offenses and anticipate.  Especially as the year rolls into post play and offenses may start to throw different formations and plays that may have been held back during the season and are hard to scout and prepare for.  I remember when my 7 year old son's youth football coaches sat the boys down the night before the first day of school and told them to study and do their homework because there was no such thing as a dumb football player!  I tend to believe that for the most part. 

I was under a bit of a time crunch yesterday and didn't say that well.  I didn't mean to imply you don't need to be smart to play football.  That's why I said you learned it ahead of time and then go out and DO it. It's not that you don't have to be smart, it's just that when you're out there, your instincts take over. Like when you're about to be in a car accident and everything you've ever learned about driving just suddenly washes over you so you're able to get out of it.

I think in Young's case, he's probably not the brightest bulb in the box. But he has good instincts on the field and he's a play maker.  I think he's probably one of those kids who has to study and study and study to get an A versus a kid who barely listens in class, never studies, and still gets them.  They both get the A, just different ways of getting there.