For
the past few years, I have watched and more recently recorded in my opinion the
best pregame show during the NFL season. ESPN’s “Sunday NFL Countdown,”
presented by Snickers a jam packed show full of insight and analysis of each
game from injuries to key players to what that particular contest means to each
team to the most in depth insider information. In those past few years the show
has been piloted at the desk with Chris “Boomer” Berman as the lead pilot.
Former linebacker great of the Denver Broncos Tom Jackson; two of the best wide
receivers to fly up and down the field in Hall of Famer Chris Carter and
Keyshawn Johnson. Rounding out the crew at the desk was Hall of Famer as a
player and former head coach Mike Ditka. This season the show as well as
“Monday Night Countdown” got a facelift with four new faces at the desk
flagging Berman.
The
new additions which made their debut this past Sunday morning were the 1997
Heisman Trophy winner, nine-time Pro Bowler, four-time First-Team All-Pro and
Four-Time Second-Team All-Pro Charles Woodson who played defensive back for 17
seasons with the Oakland Raiders and Green Bay Packers, who he won Super Bowl
XLV with back in 2010.
Also
new on the block is one of the most prolific wideouts in NFL history in Randy
Moss. The former NFL analyst for FOX Sports on Sunday mornings the past three
years reached six Pro Bowls, was a four-time First-Team All-Pro; led the NFL in
touchdown receptions on five occasions in his 14-year career; is second in NFL
history with 157 touchdown receptions, sixth all-time in receiving yards with
15,292, 10th all-time in receptions with 954 and his 64 career
100-yard receiving games is second in NFL history.
Rounding
out the crew at the anchor desk are 13-year signal caller who played for the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Baltimore Ravens, Seattle Seahawks, Cleveland Browns and
San Francisco 49ers Trent Dilfer, who led the Ravens to a victory in Super Bowl
XXXV and has been with ESPN since 2008 and 18-year veteran quarterback with
Packers, Seahawks, Titans and Indianapolis Colts Matt Hasselbeck, who led the
Seahawks to Super Bowl XL where they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers 21-10.
Matt becomes the second member of his family to work for ESPN as his brother
younger brother Tim also works for ESPN as the co-hosts of Fantasy Football Now
which airs during the NFL season on ESPN 2.
Watching
the debut of the new four additions alongside Berman, Wendy Nix and NFL Insider
for ESPN Adam Schefter, there was a different excitement and energy. The
analysis was spot on, fun and enjoyable and the discussions were very
insightful.
The
other thing that these four new additions bring to the table is that they are
not too far removed from the game. They can bring an analysis to the table that
is more updated and fresh.
Both
Woodson and Hasselbeck are just a few months removed from playing although they
were a part of two teams in the Raiders and Colts that missed the playoffs.
The
biggest thing that Hasselbeck and Dilfer bring to the show is an analysis of
the quarterback position that they played very well in. How to read defenses; the
kind of focus that the so-called leader of team and face of the franchise must
bring from the meeting room to the practice field to game day week in and week
out.
One
analysis that I am looking forward to from Hasselbeck is his insight on his
former teammate Andre Luck, who he served as his backup the prior three
seasons.
The
other analysis that I cannot wait to see is the receiving crews versus the
defensive backs of Woodson and Moss as well as the demos.
During
his eventual Hall of Fame career, Moss went against every single defense
possible from press coverage to Cover 2 to nickel and dime and these are the
kinds of defensive schemes that made Woodson a soon to be Hall of Famer
collected 65 interceptions, ranked sixth all-time in league history and
finished tied with current Raiders defensive backs coach and 16-year defensive
back Rod Woodson, who was also a part of the Ravens Super Bowl title team and
former Packers and Vikings safety Darren Sharper with 13 defensive touchdowns.
Beyond
the analysis and opinions of the players and the games themselves is dealing
with heavy topics like what is going on with 49ers backup QB Colin Kaepernick
and his stance against standing for the national anthem.
As
I am sure many of you have heard or have been following, since the middle of
this past preseason, Kaepernick has been taking a stand against standing for
the national anthem in protest against how our country has been treating
African Americans in recent months with headlines of law enforcement falsely shooting
and killing innocent lives.
Woodson
pointed out during a segment on this past Sunday’s show that many African
Americans look at “The Star Spangled Banner” as very hypocritical because the
author of it Francis Scott Key was a slave owner.
“Now
when I’m thinking about the national anthem, and I hear that line, ‘for the
land of the free,’ he wasn’t talking about me,” Woodson said. “So when we talk
about Colin Kaepernick and the stand that he’s taking, he’s saying, ‘Look, let
there be justice for all of us.”
Dilfer,
a Saratoga, CA resident and aforementioned former 49er had a whole different
view of the situation when he said two days ago, “The big thing that hit me
through all this was this is a backup quarterback whose job is to be quiet and
sit in the shadows and get the starter ready to play Week 1.”
“Yet
he chose a time where all of a sudden he became the center of attention. And it
has disrupted that organization. It has caused friction. And it’s torn at the
fabric of the team.
Yet
in the team’s season and home opener against the Los Angeles Rams, the back end
of the doubleheader to open the Monday Night Football schedule on ESPN, the
team as well as the fans in Levi Stadium treatment of Kaepernick was the
complete opposite in their 28-0 victory.
Starting
free safety Eric Reed kneeled right beside Kaepernick during the anthem this
past Monday night and when he was on the field for pregame warmups he was
greeted well by the fans taking signing autographs and taking pictures.
In
response to Dilfer, outside linebacker Eric Harold said on twitter @EliHarold_,
“Trent Dilfer you are an idiot. You really pissed me off.”
The
cherry on this Sunday came when Moss, Kaepernick’s former teammate on the 49ers
2012 team that reached the Super Bowl gave a stoic glare that was a combination
of anger and displeasure that trended across the internet.
Woodson
also said during this segment, “I actually applaud him for having the gall to
stand up when he knew what kind of ridicule he was going to get, when most
people would not do it, when he knew the backlash he was going to get.”
“He
sat down in peaceful protest. And if I was somebody in the military, and I
looked there and seen this young man protesting in peace, I would actually feel
proud…that the freedom that I got across these waters to fight for-that’s it,
right there, exercised.”
One
thing is for sure if this crew is as insightful, captivating and profound as
the previous combination was, Sunday NFL Countdown will be a must see pregame
show as it has always been and that was because of what Carter, Johnson, Ditka
and Jackson brought to the table week in and week out. They were themselves and
if Moss, Hasselbeck, Woodson and Dilfer are that, the viewers will like myself
will be very happy.
Information, statistics and quotations are
courtesy of 6/21/16 www.espnmediazone.com story,
“Trent Dilfer Expands NFL Studio Role in New ESPN Deal,” by Bill Hofheimer;
9/11/16 www.mercurynews.com story, “Colin Kaepernick Told by ESPN’s Trent
Dilfer to ‘Be Quiet, Sit In The Shadows,” by Cam Inman 9/12/16 www.rawstory.com story, “People Who Still Don’t Get Kaepernick’s
Protest Need to Watch This NFL Legend’s Perfect Example,” by Brad Reed; http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trent_Dilfer; http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Hasselbeck; http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Woodson; http://en.m;wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Woodson; http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Moss.
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