NFL News: Raheem Morris to interview for Browns defensive coordinator
January 16, 2013NFL News: Browns officially name Norv Turner new Offensive Coordinator
January 17, 2013While We’re Waiting serves as the early morning gathering of WFNY-esque information for your viewing pleasure. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email at tips@waitingfornextyear.com.
THE story blowing up Twitter and Notre Dame– “There was no Lennay Kekua. Lennay Kekua did not meet Manti Te’o after the Stanford game in 2009. Lennay Kekua did not attend Stanford. Lennay Kekua never visited Manti Te’o in Hawaii. Lennay Kekua was not in a car accident. Lennay Kekua did not talk to Manti Te’o every night on the telephone. She was not diagnosed with cancer, did not spend time in the hospital, did not engage in a lengthy battle with leukemia. She never had a bone marrow transplant. She was not released from the hospital on Sept. 10, nor did Brian Te’o congratulate her for this over the telephone. She did not insist that Manti Te’o play in the Michigan State or Michigan games, and did not request he send white flowers to her funeral.” [Burke/Deadpsin]
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“If there is anyone in the wrong about how they handled this situation, it’s Kelly. Whether he volunteered to or not, he turned this into another “Decision,” and that doesn’t gel too good with me. He was reportedly still recruiting guys two days ago — doesn’t that lead you to believe he was staying at Oregon? He had the power to say, “yes” any time to an NFL team, and yet he stringed people along. Oregon already put out a job posting for their head coaching position. This guy could easily succeed, or he could fail like no other and immediately go crawling back to the college ranks as soon as possible. Until he proves something, he doesn’t need to be put on a pedestal.” [Pokorny/Dawgs by Nature]
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“Conclusion: The Cavs are really bad around the basket. Despite being 9th in attempts, they are last in field goal percentage. One might think that perhaps they are getting jobbed by the refs until one looks at their assist% which is dead last in the league. There is a correlation between assist percentage and field goal percentage around the rim. Most of the fact that the Cavs are so bad around the rim is not because they’re not getting foul calls, it’s because they’re not finding open guys near the basket. Furthermore, the Cavs aren’t excessively good at offensive rebounding. They’re 10th in the league with a rate of 29.4. Denver attempts 35 shots per game around the rim, has an offensive rebound rate at 32.47 (best in the league), and still shoots 66.8% at the rim (8th). Yes, there is a thought that the Cavs could be getting fouled, getting offensive rebounds, and then getting fouled again, but I think the more likely culprit is that unassisted forays to the rim are more likely to get blocked (The cavs are 4th worst in the league at getting their shot blocked, at a rate of 7.8%) and less likely to get foul calls.” [Smith/Cavs the Blog]
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The brightest future among the NBA cellar dwellers? “Cleveland is undoubtedly the pick here, for precisely the reasons you mentioned, Ben. Irving is as compelling a prospect as they come, and though the Cavs have a long way to go before they put together a playoff-worthy roster, they already have a handful of useful pieces to build around, and their cap outlook is unbelievably clean. There isn’t a single player under contract beyond this season who shouldn’t be, and no asset on the roster that could even remotely be considered overpaid beyond Luke Walton and his $6 million expiring contract. That gives GM Chris Grant the opportunity to pursue all manner of free-agent targets in his efforts to round out this roster, and just as important is the ability to take on extra salary in a potential trade. Teams under the cap wind up being the ultimate facilitators due to the salary-matching rules, leaving Cleveland in a position to pick up some quality picks or players in exchange for little to nothing. It’s up to Grant to leverage that opportunity into something tangible, but the Cavs have only $27.5 million on the books for next season — a total roster payout that should allow Grant to make some moves and retain that flexibility in the process.” [Golliver/The Point Forward]
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Finally, a hilarious video on lip-reading the NFL. [Youtube]
33 Comments
I for one disagree with Porkorny. The Kelly mess is soleu Haslams fault. Anyone with (only) half a brain can easily use unsourced rumour to pass conjecture off as fact. And the fact is Haslim got schooled by Kelly worse than Sidney Dean got from Billy Hoyle. It is a crime that Haslum is wasting the support of the Greatest Fan Base in the world. I mean Kelly had to have been dying to come here and meet head on the uneducated poorly thought out opinions of a group of fans with both unrealistic and no expectations for succes. We basically deliver Kelly on a platter and Hasdumb cant close the deal because he is so poopy brained. We need no we deserve an owner to come in here and right the ship that Hasllump has steered so badly off course. Kelly has already won the battle of headlines which equals. 40000000 Super Bowl wins. If Hasbumbler Has half a brain he’ll trade every picl we have to move up to number one to make sure we can draft Teo. I dont know if is good at football but the man can grab healines and that is all that counts.
Wow…not even worth commenting on this…
Recognized your satire as soon as I caught the Old World spelling.
Tut tut, old man, your humour is in fine form today, fine form.
Brighter future than the Bobcats, Pistons, Wizards, and Raptors? I guess I feel a little better about the Cavs.
And yet you just did
Re Te’o, will a star defensive player’s apparent mental issues affect his draft status when he uniformly plays hard? I’m no mental health expert (as avatar always reminds me) but maybe it’s not bad if a LB is a little, you know, nuts.
So he has an active fantasy life and maybe got caught up when this lie went so viral that he felt there was no escape in the year before he was drafted. I’m wondering how he could not have lived this season terrified that the shoe would imminently drop and affect his team (that it went on with no verification says a lot about the standards of so-called sports “journalism, but that’s another topic). But he played really, really well.
Bottom line is that if our scouts think he can be an impact guy at this level I hope the Browns don’t hesitate. We need a playmaking LB badly, and a lot of those guys are crazy in some way. This way seems pretty benign.
Read it again. It totally is.
and I thought Burfict coming to Indy out of shape and trashing his ex-coaching staff at every turn was the craziest thing a LBer could do to torpedo their draft status.
alot of people like those Pistons w/ Drummond/Monroe frontline. I agree with the Cavs being setup better, but it’s at least good that others do as well. And, there is always a bottom team fighting it’s way up the ranks. I’d rather it be us than not.
you just explained why Teo is going to be a Cowboy. Jerry loves himself some headlines.
But that’s a guy unready to play. if Te’o comes to his pro day ripped, strong, agile and fast, but on the wonderlic refuses to answer a question about the age of a grandmother when the youngster is 19 and mom and grandma both gave birth at 22 because his family instead slowly developed within overgrown bean pods that they continue to inhabit, I ask him to draw me the pod and make sure it’s good to go when he reports for the first minicamp. Dan Gilbert did a lot more for LeBron.
and that’s a guy that despite being unready to play earned a starting job on a playoff team from the UDFA slot.
i understand the difference with Teo, but, honestly, Burfict seemed mentally unstable and that was a big part of why noone drafted him as well (his unsportmanlike penalties, losing temper constantly, etc.). So, that part plays in here.
If Teo is part of these shenanigans, then his stock will drop. He’ll still get a chance in the NFL (that’s just how it works), but I guarantee some teams take him off the board and others drop him because they suspect others will as well (and the draft is all about getting the value as late as you can).
If that fooled Te’o….just imagine what the play-action pass will do.
From Mani Teo on Twiter about his fake dead girlfriend’s fake alive sister: “One of the realest people I know.”
Haaaaahahahahahahahahahahahahaha……
so where do we disagree, if at all? Assume you don’t want him in the first round at #6 overall. (Not sure if I do, but that’s only b/c of the ‘bama game and not sure at all that particular game indicates a prob for him at the next level).
Browns don’t have a second rounder right now and surely he’s long gone by the third round. But what if a trade nets a second rounder. Take him there if he works out well? To me that’s wonderful value and I thank the person who finally broke yesterday’s story.
Geesh what’s this like your 7th T’eo comment. Little wrapped up in this no big guy? Let me guess, your into soap operas huh?
LoL good one! I’m a little bummed tho ‘cuz I liked T’eo, the player, and thought he’d look good in a Browns uniform. I still kinda do but to say he’s hurt his draft position would be an understatement eventhough we don’t know the entire story.
i was just making a stretch argument to correlate with Burfict is all.
i thought Teo was mid-1st before the Bama game, late 1st – early 2nd afterwards. at present, i’d say he for sure drops into the 2nd round with a chance he tumbles further depending on some of these “details”
he reminds me a bit of a Lance Briggs type guy, so I would be happy for the Browns to get him in the late 2nd / 3rd
How low can you go, how low can you go, to feel better huh?
I don’t watch afternoon “stories” but, yes, I am intrigued by this story. I just cannot make sense of the “why” and am completely fascinated by how this will all turn out.
Harv excuse mgbode he’s giddy like Skip Bayless probably was this morning!
That video is hilarious. “I want Cake. I want cake NOW!”. Definitely brightened this crappy day.
I liked the kid as a football player I don’t know him obviously but you know the wolves are howling, the sharks are circling and Twitter is probably exploding. I’m not into that in fact it detests me. The same people who jumped all over his story will be the ones leading the mob with their torches. It’s how America heck society works now.
apparently, Lovie would rather make $$$ on sabbatical than be a DC in ’13. I don’t blame him but it’s a shame we won’t get him.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/-daily-jolt/news/20130117/daily-jolt-january-17/?sct=hp_t2_a2&eref=sihp
well, he lied. he perpetruated a lie and continually lied throughout the season in something that he gained fame and awards. it’s supposed to be all about the on-field, but i guarantee voters let his whole story play into things (it was hard not to). and, that is even assuming that he was fooled.
now, the question is “why” and there has yet to be any answer. Perhaps there isn’t one. But, it’s a fascinating question in that there do not seem to be any concrete motives to fool this guy (yet). An elaborate 3+ yr prank including phone calls and pictures and constant communication? Seems crazy, right?
The fame monster, all this 24 hour news media and talking heads who knows in the end who cares he probably isn’t the first and he won’t be the last. I’m sure it was an accident that someone felt the need to investigate the existence of a dead girlfriend on or around the time of the Heisman hoopla.
Kind of ironic this happens at the same time Lance Armstrong reportedly admits to taking PEDs. We may never know why they did what they did but hey lets face it Ray Lewis went from a very low place to practically being the poster/choir boy for the NFL playoffs. Maybe T’eo will do the same! It’s America, anything is possible and we do love a good comeback story right?
(On a side note – Go Patriots!)
Careful. Despite the fact that the Eagles landed Chip Kelly and the Browns didn’t, you don’t know the facts of what happened. None of us do. (Man, I feel like I’ve been typing this a lot lately.) I can envision exactly such a scenario wherein T’eo is not culpable. While it may seem fantastic, I don’t think it is at all out of the realm of either possibility or probability.
does anyone else no give a care about this Manti Te’o thing?
Just don’t start callin’ him “Hillbilly Jim” ‘cuz I’m saving that one for the first real debacle!
that was my point. even if he wasn’t culpable, he still lied. he mentioned meeting her after a Stanford game, her visiting in Hawaii, etc.
that only works if someone posing as this girl actually went as far as meeting him as her too (which is not what ND is saying)
Well, of all of the stories told, I think ND’s is the least relevant. I’m more concerned with what Te’o says himself. It is possible that (1) he met a girl who later visited him (all under false pretenses), (2) that ND’s story would, for any number of reasons, omit or deny this, and (3) that T’eo is not lying, and never did. The possibilities are as numerous as the holes. As is my position on most things, I’m reserving judgment, including on the question of whether Te’o “lied.”
fair enough. to get there you have to discount ND’s statement though. Teo himself has not yet officially said he never met the girl except through ND channels.
Yeah. I guess that’s my point.
ND’s statement could mean anything and everything. They could be trying to protect Te’o from further embarrassment (foolish move, if you ask me), or they might have their wires crossed on the facts (wouldn’t at all surprise me), or . . .
At the end of the day, the harder story for me to buy is the one that says Te’o did all of this for publicity and attention. At the same time, I’m not sure I can quite come to grips with any 22-year old – particularly a world-class athlete at arguably the most prominent university in the country – being THAT naive, trusting, gullible, socially inept, etc. I imagine that the truth lies somewhere in between, and I have my own theory.