See, I don't get that at all, this whole preference a coach can have for "presence" and "leadership" over, well, a torn freaking tendon in someone's throwing wrist/arm. I don't think "presence" did Aaron Brooks much good when he was throwing it into the dirt in 2003. What a surreal scene that must have been: losing 9-7 to Carolina, with the playoffs one win away, in Week 17 with 50,000 Saints fans screaming, "We Want Jake". Jake Delhomme, by the way, was the 3rd string QB at the start of Jim Haslett's first training camp, behind the legendary Billy Joe Hobert (shows you what Haslett thought of Jake at first). With a guaranteed postseason spot a win away, the coaches refused to put the "unproven" Delhomme in. By the way, Jim Haslett, how did Jake turn out when someone actually gave him a chance? I'm getting old, so my memory's not so good anymore.
Aaron Brooks never had any presence or leadership abilities to begin with, and if the coaching staff (or ownership) of the Saints could recognize talent this wouldn't be a discussion. Coaches, and even team members, always talk about the importance of leadership ability in tough games. When the game is on the line & it is the heat of the moment, a coach wants a player that will step up to the challenge, and they need a player they know can do that. What if the coaches had put in Flynn, and he would have choked? Well then I imagine we'd have to hear about how stupid it was of the coaches to take out a proven leader because he could still play despite being injured. It's a tough call either way & it won't always work out the way we want it but that's why we pay them to make the decisions. Luckily, it turned out okay for us.
It's simple. Even with the torn tendon, the coaches still saw that JR was better that MF. They get to watch these guys everyday in practice as well as game play, and that was the decision.
They would have had to have thought that JR was worlds ahead of MF to keep him in. That contradicts everything the coaches said about the QB race, and what everyone saw in last years spring 'game' (both having the QBs in a virtual dead-heat). And clearly, as we saw in the Peach, anyone suggesting that JR was that far ahead of MF is grossly mistaken. And as I've said before, practice only shows you so much. You can take great lengths to simulate game situations, but you'll never see what a guy is really made of until he's being held to the fire.
I also returned in highshool and am goin to play Juco ball next year where i am planning on being a return man again. I agree with you most things except punt is more a reaction instead of thinking when the ball goes up you become a sitting duck you have alot to watch and it is very nerve racking. However it is easier to break a punt with only a few blocks because the people are slower on punt teams. Kick offs are great no threat of a big hit. They are much harder to break though.
Well it's the only logical explaination. Their sole purpose is to win football games and they obviously felt JR, injured or not, gave them the best opportunity to do so. And as far as the comments about the QB race, did you expect them to come out and say that MF is miles behind him and had no chance of seeing the field unless JR was unable to go? Of course not, then he would have no reason to work to both make himself better and keep JR on his toes.
We had a rule, that we did not field a ball inside the 15. My job in that situation was to give the appearance I was returning it. Not call a fair catch(like many do), but make it seem like I was catching it and off to the races. The idea was to make the coverage team follow me.
I agree, it is more of a reaction, because there really isn't time to think things through. However, with the team I was on, I broke more long kick-offs than I did punts. My blockers were much better on kick-offs. I scored 3 TD's on kickoffs in 3 years (2 in one game), and only one on punts (and that one was called back)
Jimbo didn't find out till halftime......wouldn't he have asked JR how the wrist feels on one of the telephone conversations they had?
