Month: June 2026

Several weeks ago, Packers’ running back Josh Jacobs was arrested for a domestic violence situation; reports then said there were five counts cited for the arrest including “strangling”.  That is not exactly a “judgement call”; “strangling” is never seen as socially acceptable.  Then there was radio silence on this matter for a couple of weeks; the team said they were aware of the situation and were monitoring it; the league said that this was a police matter and they would stand aside; that is pretty standard behavior in these situations.

Then, earlier this week there were reports that prosecutors are still considering whether to file criminal charges against Jacobs.  Obviously, Josh Jacobs – via his attorney – vehemently denies any and all allegations of wrongdoing on his part in this matter.  That too is pretty standard procedure in these sorts of situations.  But “strangulation” and “suffocation” are  pretty strong accusations for them to still be in the “consideration zone”.  But the local District Attorney says it is still too soon to make a final decision on filing charges there.

Several years ago, the NFL allowed players to put messages on the backs of their helmets.  One of the standard messages is:

• Choose Love

Might I suggest that Josh Jacobs not present that message on his helmet this season…???

Moving on …  There is another NFL player who got crosswise with the authorities recently even though he did not do anything proximally to that interaction.  Let me do a reset here.  Last year, KC Chiefs’ WR, Rashee Rice, plead guilty to multiple charges stemming from a street racing incident and leaving the scene of a crash.  As part of the plea deal, Rice was sentenced to 30 days in jail which was suspended based on five years of probation.  Considering there were about a half-dozen charges to be dispensed with there, that seemed to be a slap on the wrist for a punishment.  The NFL also suspended him for 6 games in 2025 for that incident and those guilty pleadings.

Fast forward to now.  Rashee Rice is in jail serving his 30-day sentence for violating his parole.  No, he was not back on the streets racing his car; what apparently happened is that he checked in with his probation officer as is normal and he tested positive for THC.  Evidently, drug use is not hunky-dory for people on probation in Texas where Rice was involved in the car racing that started this whole thing and that positive test flunked him out of probation and put him in jail in Dallas for a month.

Now, it is possible that Rice’s attorney neglected to advise Rice that marijuana use was off limits as per the probation and that he could be tested randomly in the normal course of his probation.  I would think that would be negligent on the part of the attorney, but it could have happened.  However, the more likely scenario is that Rice did not put two and two together well here.

• If they can test randomly, one way to do that is to test as you meet with your probation officer.
• Ergo if you are going to use cannabis in any form, don’t do it proximal to a meeting with your probation officer.

I have not seen any statement by the NFL if this latest incident might result in another suspension and I bring that up because it seems interesting to me.

• What Rice did a year ago merits a suspension by the league; I doubt anyone would argue with that.
• What Rice did this time is not a crime; testing positive for THC will not get any random Texan a jail sentence.  What he did was to violate the terms of the sentence he received such that he is now serving “Options A” instead of “Option B”.
• So, has he done anything that merits more games off by the league office?

Switching gears …  The Belmont Stakes will run tomorrow.  It will be run at a mile and a quarter this year at Saratoga instead of at a mile and a half at Belmont Park which is in the final stages of a “major renovation”.  Belmont Park is scheduled to re-open in September of this year.  Here is my trifecta box for this race – – building on my complete lack of success in presenting similar wagers for the Derby and the Preakness:

• I like 4 horses to be in the money for this race.  #2 is Powershift; #3 is Chief Wallabee; #4 is Renegade and #9 is Golden Tempo
• So, a $1 trifecta box of 2,3,4,9 will cost $24.

Finally, this definition from the Official Dictionary of Sarcasm:

“Olive Garden:  The only authentic Italian dining establishment where you  pay someone to microwave a frozen dinner for you.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………

 

 

A note from a reader yesterday afternoon asked why I did not call out June 2^nd as “Lou Gehrig Day”.  The answer is that it simply slipped my mind and it should not have.  June 2^nd is important because two events took place on that day:

• June 2, 1925:  Lou Gehrig pinch hit in a game for the Yankees; that was game 1 of his consecutive games streak that stretched to 2130 and that record stood until the mid-1990s when Cal Ripken Jr broke it.
• June 2,^, 1941:  Lou Gehrig died from complications caused by Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis – – known in the medical profession as ALS and by baseball fans as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease”.

            A cursory look at Gehrig’s career and stats points to his greatness.  He was a member of the 1927 Yankees’ team – – considered by some to be the best team ever.  Don’t get wrapped around the axle in that debate but consider this:

• In 1927, Babe Ruth batted third for the Yankees and hit 60 home runs and drove in 164 runs.
• In 1927, Lou Gehrig batted fourth for the Yankees – – hitting with no one on base at least 60 times to be sure – – and Gehring hit 47 home runs while driving in 175 runs and hit .373.

Lou Gehrig is also the first player in MLB to have his number retired by his team.  That happened on July 4, 1939 – – at the ceremony made famous by Gehrig’s declaration that he was the “luckiest man on the face of the Earth”.

Baseball is a game of numbers and another “number” that seems to be out of reach involves the 1971 Baltimore Orioles.  In that season, the Orioles had 4 starting pitchers who each won 20 or more games in the season:

1. Mike Cuellar:  24-8  ERA = 3.43   Complete Games = 21
2. Pat Dobson:  20-8   ERA = 2.90   Complete Games = 18
3. Dave McNally: 21-5  ERA = 2.89   Complete Games = 11
4. Jim Palmer:  20-9   ERA = 2.68   Complete Games = 20

Those four starters threw 70 complete games in 1971.  For the 2025 MLB season, the total number of complete games in the 2,460 MLB games was 29.  Moreover, no one threw more than 2 complete games in the entire 2025 season.

One more baseball oddity today.  Back in 1993, José Canseco was patrolling the outfield for the Texas Rangers.  A fly ball destined to hit the wall bounced off Canseco’s noggin and went over the fence for a home run.  Wordsmiths hopped all over that event naming the home run a “dome run” and a hearty chuckle was had by all.  Well, it happened again this week with an added element of unusualness.  Jo Adell was in centerfield for the Angels, and a long fly ball nicked the edge of Adell’s glove and then bounced off Adell’s head and then hit the wall over the yellow line making it a home run.

When I was a kid playing HORSE, you had to call your bank shots.  I have not seen any reports that the batter – – TJ Rumfield – – called that bank shot.  That would have started a kerfuffle on the playground…

The mention of José Canseco makes me realize that we have not heard of any outrageous statements or actions by him for quite a while.  Forget a complete list, just recall that Canseco’s life events include:

• Aliens have taught him to time travel and that all it takes is quantum physics and consciousness.
• He met Bigfoot and Bigfoot let him know that Bigfoot is an alien.  And for a fee of course, Canseco will introduce you to Bigfoot.
• Canseco shot his finger off while cleaning a gun; doctors were able to reattach the finger but somehow it fell off again in the middle of a poker game.

And now you can see why I miss having José Canseco in the news cycle…

Finally, back in December 2015, there was a “Twitter Exchange” where people were to offer up New Year’s Resolutions in 5 words.  Here is Canseco’s contribution to that “Twitter Exchange”:

“Merge the Great Lakes”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………

 

 

Since today is June 3^rd, please join me in a moment of silence in remembrance that today is the day that Billy Joe McAlister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge.   Thank you …

Earlier this week, I reviewed Heisman Trophy winners from 1935 to 1999 and how they performed in professional football.  I labeled that time as the Heisman Era of the Running Back with about two-thirds of the Heisman winners coming from that position.  And then starting in the year 2000, it is as if someone flipped a switch and the minds of the Heisman voters changed focus and only focused on QBs; since 2000, the Heisman winner has been a QB in 22 of the 26 years.  Here are the winners in the current Heisman Era of the Quarterback:

• 2000 Chris Weinke – – QB:  Five marginal seasons in the NFL
• 2001 Eric Crouch – – QB:  No NFL games but played in CFL, AAFL and UFL
• 2002 Carson Palmer – – QB:  Fourteen solid seasons in the NFL
• 2003 Jason White – – QB:  Never played pro football and was not drafted by any NFL teams
• 2004 Matt Leinart – – QB:  Six mediocre NFL seasons
• 2005 Reggie Bush – – RB:  Eleven “good-not-great” seasons in the NFL
• 2006 Troy Smith – – QB:  Four underwhelming seasons in the NFL
• 2007 Tim Tebow – – QB:  Three years in the NFL; one decent season
• 2008 Sam Bradford – – QB:  Eight mediocre seasons in the NFL
• 2009 Mark Ingram – – RB:  Twelve  years in the NFL; three Pro-Bowls
• 2010 Cam Newton – – QB:  Eleven years in NFL: three Pro Bowls; one All-Pro; one MVP
• 2011 Robert Griffin III – – QB:  Excellent rookie season then six mediocre years due to injury
• 2012 Johnny Manzeil – – QB:  Two bad years in NFL; played in CFL and the AAFL
• 2013 Jameis Winston – – QB:  Eleven decent years in the NFL – – and counting
• 2014 Marcus Mariota – – QB:  Eleven decent years in the NFL – – and counting
• 2015 Derrick Henry – – QB:  Ten excellent NFL seasons; one All-Pro and five Pro Bowls
• 2016 Lamar Jackson – – QB:  Eight NFL seasons; three All-Pros; four Pro Bowls; one MVP
• 2017 Baker Mayfield – – QB:  Eight NFL seasons “good-not-great”.
• 2018 Kyler Murray – – QB:  Seven NFL seasons; two Pro Bowls; “Prove-it” contract this year
• 2019 Joe Burrow – – QB:  Six NFL seasons; twice Comeback Player of the Year
• 2020 Devonta Smith – – WR:  Five solid NFL seasons
• 2021 Bryce Young – – QB:  Three “good-not-great” NFL seasons; the jury is still out…
• 2022 Caleb Williams – – QB:  One mediocre NFL season and one very good NFL season …
• 2023 Jayden Daniels – – QB:  Excellent rookie season then injured in season number two
• 2024 Travis Hunter – – DB/WR:  Injured in middle of rookie season …
• 2025 Fernando Mendoza – – QB:  TBD

Once again, the performances by the “best college football player in the country” at the professional level seems a bit thin.  I have a theory as to why that is the case; I believe it is baked into the selection process.  Recall:

• Over 800 sports journalists get a vote.
• Prior Heisman winners each get a vote
• Fans collectively get one vote.

Only in an extraordinary circumstance will the tallies of the fans and the previous Heisman winners matter at all; the overwhelming likelihood is that the sports writers will determine the winner.  And the problem there is that sports writers already have full-time jobs and even if you were to narrow down the worthy Heisman candidates to a half-dozen candidates, most sports writers would not have the time to spare to watch each of the candidates play in three or four games to get a full measure of their performance levels.  Do the math:

Six candidates X 3 games per candidate X 2 hours per game = 36 hours.

That does not count time to find the games to watch on the Internet or the time to make notes and reflect on what the game tape shows.  Elections work best when there is an “informed electorate” and I doubt that happens with Heisman voting simply because those voters do not have the opportunity to do an evaluation with their own eyes.

I watch a lot of college football, and I know I do not see enough of any Heisman candidates to begin to rank order the nominees.  I cannot imagine that sportswriters with deadlines to meet have the time to do what I as a retiree cannot do.

Ergo some of the voting must be done based on reports from other sports writers and from stat sheets.  Well, it is a lot easier to find stats for QBs and RBs than it is for other positions and it is a lot easier – and more commonplace – to find paeans of praise for QBs and RBs than it is for other positions.  In the last 90 years, isn’t it possible that the “best college football player” was an Offensive Tackle?  But unless most of the voters got to see such a player live and in color, how would the voter begin to “discover” this player?

This is not a “problem” that “needs fixing” because – truth be told – it does not matter much at all if the Heisman winner goes on to greatness as a pro football player.  Let me invoke a cliché here:

“It is what it is.”

The Heisman selection process is much more like a beauty contest than it is like an objective deductive procedure.  And there is nothing wrong with that.

Here are two data for NFL GMs as they develop their “Draft Boards”.

1. Ten Heisman winners so far have made it to the Pro Football Hall of Fame
2. Ten Heisman winners so far never played a down in pro football.

Finally, here is a cogent observation by Mark Twain:

“A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………

 

 

Raymond Berry died last week; in the early days of the NFL, “Unitas to Berry” was a commonplace event in any Baltimore Colts game.  Berry was not big and he was not fast; he was selected by the Colts in the 20^th round of the NFL Draft in 1954.  In today’s parlance, he was an excellent “route-runner”.  Raymond Berry is in the Hall of Fame; in his 13-year NFL career, he led the league in receiving yards 3 times, made the Pro Bowl 6 times and was named All-Pro 3 times.  Not bad for a 20^th round pick …

Rest in peace, Raymond Berry.

With the MLB season more than one-third in the books, it is interesting to look at the standings in both leagues to see that there are 5 teams in the American League with records above .500 and 11 teams in the National League with records over .500.  That seems like quite an imbalance to me and part of that is due to the situation in the NL Central where every team is over .500 as of this morning.  Moreover:

• The Phillies are 1 game over .500 with a run differential of minus-26 – – and – –
• The Reds are 1 game over .500 with a run differential of minus-39.

Strange numbers there …

Sticking with baseball for a moment, the MLB owners and the MLBPA have both presented their opening positions regarding a new CBA to take effect in December 2026.  These positions are more of a wish-list for both sides; there is a lot of “performance art” contained therein.  Do not take anything presented by either side as cast-in-concrete at this point; each side presents its positions as the essence of virtue and the other side’s positions as demonic-at-best.

I was surprised by one element of the owners’ opening salvo there.  To no one’s surprise, the owners presented a salary cap as a central part of their proposal; it was proposed at $245.3M; what surprised me were two ancillary parts of the proposal.

1. The salary floor was proposed at $171.2M.  According to Spotrac.com, fifteen teams were under that proposed salary floor with their opening day payrolls in 2026.  In fact, six teams were $75M or more below that salary floor figure.  I am surprised that the opening gambit from the owners was as high as it was.
2. The owners proposed a 50/50 split of the league revenues.  I imagine that the owners would like the final split to be 50/50 or better for them; so, I am surprised that they opened with that number.

The union proposal had no cap, but it had the moral equivalent of a salary floor in it.  Teams who did not spend a certain amount on team payrolls would be “taxed” and teams would be required to spend any shared revenue dollars on salaries and not something else.  Willie Shakespeare said that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet; in this case, a salary floor by any other name would cost as much.

Moving on …  The Canadian Football League will begin their regular season on Thursday of this week when the Montreal Alouettes visit the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.  Because there are an odd number of teams in the CFL, there is always a team on a BYE week.  The defending Grey Cup champions – – the Saskatchewan Roughriders – – have the first week off and will begin their defense of that championship status on June 13^th when the BC Lions travel to Regina for a game.

The CFL regular season will end on October 24^th; the playoffs take less than a month and the 2026 Grey Cup game will be on Sunday November 15^th.  This year, the Grey Cup game will be in Calgary; tickets are already on sale …

Finally, insight from Will Rogers:

“Everything is funny, as long as it’s happening to somebody else.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………

 

 

At the end of every college football season since 1935, the Heisman Trophy has been awarded to the “top player in college football”.  So, how is that “top player” identified?  It is an election of sorts; there are three categories of voters:

1. Sports journalists who are presumed to be “informed” and “impartial” in the process.  You can now take a moment for a hearty laugh at that presumption.  Currently there are 870 sports journalists who are Heisman voters;
2. Previous Heisman Trophy winners each have a single vote.  That makes sense to me and since there are only about 50 previous winners still alive, this is usually an unimportant voting bloc.
3. Fans get a vote using the Internet.  After all the fans put in all their votes for all their favorites – – “impartiality” anyone? – – the fans get a total of 1 vote in the process.  Maybe this makes fans feel good, but it is really nothing but a corporate promotion having nothing to do with the ultimate honoree.

I mention all this because what will appear below – – and then again in a later rant this week – – is a list of all the Heisman winners going back to 1935 with a note as to how those “top players in college football” fared in professional football after they graduated.  Here is a bit of foreshadowing:

• It is not a particularly pretty picture.

Today, I will cover the period from 1935 to 1999.  I choose that break point because I call that the Heisman Era of the Running Back.  In those 64 years, the top player in college football was identified as a Running Back 41 times (64% of the time).

Here are the Heisman Trophy winners by year:

• 1935 Jay Berwanger – – RB:  Never played pro football
• 1936 Larry Kelley – – TE:  Never played pro football
• 1937 Clinton Frank – – RB:  Never played pro football
• 1938 Davey O’Brien – – QB:  Two seasons in the NFL – led NFL in passing yards in 1939
• 1939 Nile Kinnick – – RB:  Never played pro football
• 1940 Tom Harmon – – RB:  Two mediocre seasons in the NFL
• 1941 Bruce Smith – – RB:  Four mediocre seasons in the NFL.
• 1942 Frank Sinkwich – – RB:  Two mediocre seasons in NFL and two more in AAFC
• 1943 Angelo Bertelli – –  QB:  Three underwhelming seasons in AAFC
• 1944 Les Horvath – – RB:  Two underwhelming seasons in in NFL and one more in AAFC
• 1945 Doc Blanchard – – RB:  Never played pro football
• 1946 Glenn Davis – – RB:  Two underwhelming seasons in the NFL
• 1947 Johnny Lujack – – QB:  Four seasons in NFL; made All-Pro team once.
• 1948 Doak Walker – – RB:  Six excellent seasons in NFL; All-Pro six times; Hall of Fame
• 1949 Leon Hart – – TE:  Eight years in NFL: made All Pro team once
• 1950 Vic Janowicz – – RB:  Two mediocre seasons in NFL
• 1951 Dick Kazmaier – – RB:  Never played pro football
• 1952 Billy Vessels – – RB:  One undistinguished season in NFL
• 1953 John Lattner – – RB:  One undistinguished season in NFL
• 1954 Alan Ameche – – RB:  Six years in NFL; Pro Bowl 4 times; All-Pro once.
• 1955 Howard Cassady – – RB:  Eight mediocre seasons in the NFL
• 1956 Paul Hornung – – QB:  Nine NFL seasons; twice All-Pro; once MVP; Hall of Fame
• 1957 John David Crow – – RB:  Ten solid seasons in NFL’ four times in Pro Bowl
• 1958 Pete Dawkins – – RB:  Never played pro football
• 1959 Billy Cannon – – RB:  Ten seasons in AFL/NFL; twice in Pro Bowl and twice All-Pro
• 1960 Joe Bellino – – RB:  Three less-than-effective seasons in AFL
• 1961 Ernie Davis – – RB:  Died of leukemia before he could play in the NFL
• 1962 Terry Baker – – QB:  Three undistinguished seasons in the NFL
• 1963 Roger Staubach – – QB:  Eleven seasons in NFL; six times Pro Bowl; Hall of Fame
• 1964 John Huarte – – QB:   Six undistinguished season in NFL
• 1965 Mike Garrett – – RB:  Eight seasons in AFL/NFL; twice in Pro Bowl; once All-Pro
• 1966 Steve Spurrier – – QB:  Ten mediocre seasons in NFL
• 1967 Gary Beban – – QB:  Two seasons in NFL
• 1968 OJ Simpson – – RB:  Hall of Fame
• 1969 Steve Owens – – RB:  Five seasons in the NFL; Pro Bowl once
• 1970 Jim Plunkett – – QB:  Fifteen “good-not-great” seasons in NFL; Pro Bowl once
• 1971 Pat Sullivan – – QB:  Four less than effective seasons in NFL
• 1972 Johnny Rodgers – – WR:  Four excellent seasons in CFL; NFL career ended in injury
• 1973 John Cappelletti – – RB:  Nine “good-not-great” seasons in NFL
• 1974 Archie Griffin – – RB:  Seven ordinary seasons in NFL
• 1975 Archie Griffin – – RB:  Only two-time winner of the Heisman Trophy
• 1976 Tony Dorsett – – RB:  Twelve NFL seasons; All-Pro once; five Pro Bowls; Hall of Fame
• 1977 Earl Campbell – – RB:  Eight NFL seasons; All-Pro thrice; five Pro Bowls; Hall of Fame
• 1978 Billy Simms – – RB:  Five productive NFL seasons; Pro Bowl three times
• 1979 Charles White – – RB:  Eight NFL seasons; one great season; All-Pro and Pro Bowl once
• 1980 George Rogers – – RB:  Seven NFL seasons; All-Pro once and Pro Bowl twice
• 1981 Marcus Allen – – RB:  Sixteen seasons in NFL; Hall of Fame
• 1982 Herschel Walker – – RB:  Twelve solid season in NFL; Pro Bowl twice
• 1983 Mike Rozier – – RB:  Seven solid NFL seasons; Pro-Bowl twice
• 1984 Doug Flutie – – QB:  Eight years in CFL; twelve “good-not-great” years in NFL
• 1985 Bo Jackson – – RB:  Four very good NFL seasons; injury ended his career early
• 1986 Vinny Testaverde – – QB:  Twenty-one solid  years in the NFL
• 1987 Tim Brown – – WR:  Seventeen years in the NFL; Pro-Bowl nine times; Hall of Fame
• 1988 Barry Sanders – – RB:  Ten years NFL; ten Pro Bowls; five times All-Pro; Hall of Fame
• 1989 Andre Ware – – QB:  Four non-descript  years in the NFL
• 1990 Ty Detmer – – QB:  Eight mediocre NFL seasons
• 1991 Desmond Howard – – WR:  Eleven ordinary-at-best seasons in NFL
• 1992 Gino Torretta – – QB:  Two useless seasons in the NFL
• 1993 Charlie Ward – – QB:  Chose to play in the NBA rather than the NFL
• 1994 Rashaan Salaam – – RB:  Four NFL seasons inflicted with injuries
• 1995 Eddie George – – RB:  Nine years in the NFL; four times Pro Bowl; once All-Pro
• 1996 Danny Weurffel – – QB:  Six undistinguished seasons in the NFL
• 1997 Charles Woodson – – DB:  Eighteen NFL seasons; 9 Pro Bowls; 4 All-Pros; Hall of Fame
• 1998 Ricky Williams – – RB:  Eleven solid NFL seasons; one Pro Bowl; one All-Pro
• 1999 Ron Dayne – – RB:  Seven ordinary NFL seasons

The “top player in college football” did not always pan out as a professional football player even accounting for those grads who chose not to play pro football at all.  In fact, of the 41 running backs identified as the “top player in college football” only 7 of them made it to the pro football Hall of Fame; that is only 17% of those running backs who were the best player in college for at least one season.

I will offer an explanation for this puzzling statistic in the rant that covers the period 2000 – 2025 later this week.

Finally, until then, here are words from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr,:

“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………