Just don't wear a mouthguard, you pussy!
On the seemingly innocent "hit" (or, "collision" more accurately) that knocked Michael Vick out of the game last Sunday against the Falcons, it turns out that Vick was in fact, NOT wearing a simple mouthguard.
Alex Marvez of Fox Sports.com...
A FOXSports.com video analysis of the game telecast shows Vick wasn’t wearing a mouth guard while playing against the Falcons, including during the accidental collision with Eagles right tackle Todd Herremans that knocked him from the game. The impact left Vick with a concussion and lacerated tongue — both of which may not have occurred had he been using that piece of protective equipment.
The Eagles declined comment through a team spokesman and Vick wasn’t available Tuesday to comment on whether he was wearing a mouth guard.To be sure, a mouthguard is no magic forcefield. In fact, scientific studies are inconclusive on the ability of one to prevent or mitigate severity of concussions.
But hello, simple logic would say having one in, is at least BETTER when it comes to keeping your skull from hitting "tilt." If nothing else, it's doubtful Vick would have cut up his mouth as he did on that play.
Of course, these are the NFL players who executed the worst bluff ever in the history of collective bargaining. Right when they had the league freaking the fuck out about missing even ONE full week of pre-season games, they caved and took a rollback in salaries for a league that is riding a rocketship of popularity and television rights.
Now I find out the players successfully "negotiated" to NOT make knee pads and mouthpieces mandatory. Wow. What a coup, DeMaurice!
Going forward, it's increasingly obvious Vick simply can't play a full season without getting killed. He's too quick and athletic to simply take a 5 step drop and dump the ball to his first or second read. And his instincts to extend plays - even if just moving around WITHIN the pocket - will inevitably lead to the one time a defender can just shake loose as a play is breaking down, and crush the wideout sized QB into a fine pile of tangled ligaments and broken bones.
The first thing I would do if I was Andy Reid - besides removing every mirror in my house - is stop running Vick on idiotic gadget plays like he did on the first series on Sunday night. Secondly, I would take every advantage of spelling him in games that are essentially decided.
For example: At 31-13 in the Rams game, with 8:56 left, Vick should be done. Gone. Instead, Vick played two more series, one of which was three knees in the victory formation. Still, the previous series was un-necessary.
Football machismo, however, and coaches absurd adherence to superstition over logic, will dictate that they don't do sensible things like this, because it makes them look "weak" or "scared." Coaches will fall back on the logic of "well, you can get hurt anytime" or the old "the NFL injury rate is 100%."
Whatever.
If I have a $100 millon Ferrari of a player, I'm not going to drive it over gravel roads if I can avoid it, or take it out in the snow or heavy rain, just to be safe.
And you could call me a pussy all you want.
Anyone else worried that the dude has documented herpes and is spitting herpie blood on the turf?
ReplyDeleteI hear what you are saying Czabe, but I disagree with some of what you said. I agree about the gadget plays, and I think that Reid needs to run the ball more to take some pressure off of Vick, but running is a huge part of Vick's game, and it makes no sense to neuter him by taking that part of his game away. McNabb was a top 3-5 QB from 2000-2004, but then he decided that he didn't want to be known as a "running" QB and pretty much became an average, one dimensional player. Vick was hurt while standing in the pocket. Cunningham's biggest injury came while standing in the pocket as well. McNabb got injured all the time, but I don't recall any of his injuries happening when he was hit while on the run. Injuries are going to happen no matter what. The opposing team's objective is to kill the QB.
ReplyDeleteThe best thing to do if you're Andy Reid is let Vick loose and let him realize his full potential. If he gets hurt, so be it. If you want a pocket passer, then you might as well play Kafka because he's bigger and can take more of a beating. He might be a more accurate passer than Vick anyway. What makes Vick special is his ability to extend plays. I agree that he's gonna get hurt a lot and won't have a long career, but if you paid for a $100 million Ferrari, you might as well put the foot on the gas and see where it takes you.
Czabe, Quarterbacks don't wear mouthpieces because you can't call the signals with plastic in your mouth. Even when I was in little league and we HAD to wear them, the quarterback would take it out, or else "Yellow 40 razor!" sounded like "Wewwoo Fowwwooo wooowooooo"
ReplyDeleteThey make custom mouthpieces that are nearly invisible and do not get in the way of speaking, so there's no reason for any pro not to wear one. It's not like the old days when you had to boil a big blue hunk of rubber and fit it into your mouth. However, mouthpieces will not prevent concussions.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Vick as a runner wins regular season games against average teams, but will not beat a good team in a big game running around crazy. He needs to be able to throw from the pocket, which he still can't do.