Mike Dussault

Back to back linkage for Jerry, had to post this response to yesterday’s Shaugnessy article that I linked to…

Sure, Shank could look at the NFL in 2012 and see what it’s become. That it’s a throwing league first, last and everything in between.  That 3 different guys had over 5,000 yards.  Ten had 4,000, including a rookie who had no offseason training.  That Aaron Rodgers had an ungodly 122.5 Passer Rating. Or that the defenses that were 1-2-3 in Most Passing Yards allowed went 15-1, 13-3 and 13-3 on the season, respectively. And most of all that NFL passing yards are the most inflated stat in all of sports right now.  But that would require growth and learning. It would mean understanding how the game has evolved.  And it’s easier to just say “You gotta be able to run the ball” and  “Defense wins championships” like you did back when you were doing features on John Riggins and Refrigerator Perry back in the day.

Great stuff from Jeff Howe on this epic Welker article. Must read!

“The biggest foreshadowing of [Welker’s success] would be the first meeting when we had the freshmen in there,” Leach said. “We’ve got these guys who are all-state, all-conference, they look like Greek gods. Some of them have really good track times. Then you have Wes Welker sitting there who is shorter than all of them. Some of those other guys are looking down, there’s a certain amount of doubt in their eye. They’re not sure. They’re a little overwhelmed by college. This guy has his head high, this glare and look in his eye, total confidence. And just reading his face, you could tell there was no doubt in his mind that he was better than all of these guys. He was literally fearless and confident.”