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December 17, 2014The Cavs and Their Need to Improve Pick and Roll Defense
December 17, 2014This isn’t a rumor. It’s not news. This is fun with sports opinion from Rolling Stone (of all places). Greg Couch writes a speculative post setting a scenario that he has no factual proof of, but I found it so fun to read “Johnny Manziel’s Very Public Pantsing” that I’m sharing it here anyway.
Yes, Johnny Manziel was terrible Sunday. But the mistake everyone is making is thinking it was the Bengals who gave Manziel his comeuppance. Wrong, wrong, wrong. This was the work of Cleveland coach Mike Pettine. He pantsed Manziel in public. Intentionally.
I have no proof. But I recognize genius when I see it. Before the game, Boomer Esiason said on CBS’ The NFL Today that Pettine should have his head examined for starting Manziel. Others have called starting Manziel in such a big game one of the dumbest coaching moves ever. Nobody seems to recognize how perfect the timing was or how obvious the goals were.
Now, I obviously don’t know all the inner workings that went into the decision to start Manziel. I don’t know if there were some greater influences to the decision above Mike Pettine or whether it was just the obvious, organic choice after Hoyer was given one last chance against Indianapolis and failed.
I can’t rule out that starting Manziel would deliver a message to the young quarterback about preparation and the speed of competition in the NFL. I also can’t rule out that Pettine was sending a message to upper management or even ownership if they were pushing to have Manziel start.
Of course the most logical conclusion is just that Brian Hoyer was given every possible chance and it was simply time for the organization to give Manziel a chance to get his feet wet in the NFL. Still, that’s so much less entertaining than the possibility that Mike Pettine was publicly “pantsing” his brash rookie. For a few minutes at least, I’m just going to go with that one.
[Also See: Johnny Manziel admits slacking some as backup]
17 Comments
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Craig, this is all you needed to write: “Of course the most logical conclusion is just that Brian Hoyer was given every possible chance and it was simply time for the organization to give Manziel a chance to get his feet wet in the NFL.” This is not just the most logical explanation, it’s the only conceivable one.
Over the preceding month, Hoyer was one of the worst, if not the worst, QB in the National Football League. He stunk. The fact that he couldn’t finish off the Browns game against the Colts was a killer. It was a crushing defeat that we might not get past for the rest of the season.
Besides, Pettine doesn’t strike me as a “message” guy. I think if he’s got something to say, he says it.
The Rolling Stone article is uninformed poo-flinging at its worst, and it should embarrass everyone connected with it.
Sincerely,
University of Virginia
Seriously. But at least they put in the phrase, “I have no proof. But…”
They should really put that disclaimer in everything they publish.
Maybe it was like Days of Thunder and the Cinci game was JFF doing his 100 laps his way?
Thanks for having your article introduce the piece for what it is: a harmless, cutesy fantasy acknowledged by the writer as such. He was probably ordered by his editor to write something about Manziel. I didn’t find it particularly clever but it’s refreshing when fluff is acknowledged as such.
I’M NOT SAYING, I’M JUST SAYING
I have no proof, but, I think Rolling Stone is an Isis front trying to tear down the last great American institution – the Cleveland Football Browns.
Shawn Michaels was in a movie?
This literally makes no sense. A doctor doesn’t halfass a heart surgery to teach the patient a lesson about living a healthier life. A lawyer doesn’t refuse to put on a defense to teach his client a lesson about staying out of trouble. And a coach doesn’t throw away a game to teach someone a lesson about preparation.
while the analogy is a stretch (after all, it’s a game compared to some serious life/death, legal situations) I agree with your point. But I think you can combine the fact that Hoyer stunk with the fact that Pettine wanted to prove to Manziel how much work it takes to succeed in the NFL. I am betting that Pettine was hoping that Johnny would be better prepared, of course.
Does anyone even read Rolling Stone anymore? It’s got no clout in the music industry (Artist Of The Decade, Green Day), so it just tries to troll the old fashioned way.
Come on. Their semi-annual “Top 50 greatest guitarists of all time” pieces are totally relevant to readers in 2014!
Definitely hyperbole, but an effective way to convey my point.
An NBA Superstar doesn’t intentionally play with 10% energy, effort, and intensity just to prove a point to the emerging star PG……
Where’s Mike Singletary when we need him?
Love the movie, love the comparison!