Why a Brilliant Draft Can Yield Dynastic Qualities For Big Blue

For New York Giants fans, the 2008 season seemed almost too good to be true. Each and every week, the team overcame whatever adversity came their way, suffering only one loss in their first 12 games over the course of the season. Sure the Giants had holes, but nothing could restrain them, as they had an identity. Every opponent knew exactly what the Giants were going to do, they were simply helpless to defend it.

 

In the early morning of November 30th, The Giants lost that identity when receiver Plaxico Burress shot himself in the leg. He was as big a part of Big Blue’s offense as anyone in reference that ever important identity. After he was suspended for the remainder of the 2008 season, it seemed as if the Giants lost that identity.

 

The team looked defeated, worn out, and at times, lost.

 

Heading into the 2009 season, one can rest assured that Tom Coughlin has no intention of straying from the very identity which helped The Giants thrive in 2008. He will do whatever it takes, and attain whatever player it takes to establish an unmatched confidence which will catapult The Giants to a championship, and possibly a dynasty.

 

Whether New York sees a return of Plaxico Burress or not, they will be in the market for a receiver in April’s draft which can contribute on day one of the season. Windows for championship runs are short, and make no mistake about it; The Giants are smack in the middle of one of those windows right now. With few needs, Big Blue must be crafty in their approach to this upcoming draft as they look to build upon their success. One can rest assured though, New York is in great position in this upcoming draft, and with the right moves they can become an even better team than we have seen over the last two years.

 

While The Giants do have a need at receiver, they are also in a very unique position as a team in regards to their draft approach. Jerry Reese has made it known that he does not feel pressure to draft for “need”. All of this may still lead to the drafting of a wide receiver, as this crop of receivers is the most talented in years, with the likes of Michael Crabtree, Jeremy Maclin, Percy Harvin, Darius Heyward-Bey, Hakeem Nicks, and Kenny Britt.

 

The question here is what receiver can help The Giants immediately in this coming draft?

After examining closely each and every receiver prospect there is, one player stands out: Hakeem Nicks.

 

For Nicks, it isn’t about the measurable qualities though. He stands at six feet, three-quarter inches and ran a 4.5 second 40 yard dash. Neither are overly impressive numbers, but his skill set will make everyone forget about those numbers very soon.

 

On a consistent basis, Nicks catches the ball with the hands away from his body, using his long arms and strong hands to pluck the ball away from defenders and out of the air. He makes tough catches away from his body, and can also leap for passes in the red-zone. His concentration is unmatched by any receiver in this draft, as he once caught a pass behind his back and attempted to pass it between his legs while on the run with a defender hot on his trail. In that same game, he tipped a pass to himself in double coverage and dragged the defender 15 yards into the end zone with him.

 

So as one can see, Nicks is adept at making the spectacular play.

 

Possibly Nicks’ greatest trait though, is going over the middle of the field. Not many receivers even in the NFL can go over the middle and make as many tough grabs as Hakeem Nicks. He also possesses a trait that few on the Giant’s roster currently do, which is the ability to run after the catch. Nicks gets away from defenders at any cost, whether it is spinning, trucking, or jumping, he makes the play.

 

All of this begs to question; how do any of those said traits make Nicks an immediate contributor? Simply put, they don’t.

 

Nicks single greatest asset coming into this league is the style of offense that North Carolina played. The Giants themselves run a streak-read offense, meaning that both the receiver and the quarterback both look at the coverage and the openings in the defense as the play develops.

 

The receiver then essentially selects his route from a grouping of two or three options, and the quarterback is expected to know which route the receiver will run and deliver the ball. If it sounds difficult, that’s because it is. The streak-read is the toughest offense in the league to run successfully and thus it can make life very difficult for receivers coming into the NFL after spending years in a spread or option offense.

 

Nicks though, spent his college career in an offense where he ran the whole route tree on a consistent basis, as opposes to just bubble screens or fly routes. He is very adept at running the same type of routes that The Giants currently do and his learning cure will be small.

 

Originally, I questioned the sensibility of drafting a receiver, until I finished my evaluation of all of the players, realizing how talented this class of receivers. Throw that on top of the fact that receiver is in fact a need for the G- Men, and it makes a lot of sense. Make no mistake about it, The Giants are committed to Eli manning and surrounding him with weapons, adding Nicks to the mix of Steve Smith, Domenik Hixon, and Mario Manningham should yield two solid starters with a stud slot receiver. If Plaxico Burress doesn’t return, Nicks and Smith would be the perfect playmaker-possession receiver combo, with Manningham a very dangerous slot receiver, as he can not be played physically (pressed) out of the slot. If opponents stack the box with extra defenders, Eli will use that lineup to burn them every time.

 

In my latest Giant’s mock draft (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/146053-a-stimulus-plan-for-the-2009-new-york-giants) I have the Giants trading up to get Rey Maualuga, and then selecting Kenny Britt with their early second round selection.

 

I am not getting away from my concept in suggesting that Nicks will be a good pick, it all depends on how Big Blue approaches their second round pick should they select Nicks first. The mix of names here should indicate that while I am very impressed by Nicks and intrigued Maualuga, I am not attached to any one name concerning who the Giants should select, but rather I am attached to the approach.

 

When a team has dynastic qualities, they are best maintained through building a great defense and running game. So whether they sit at the number 29 slot in round one, or trade up, the second round selection will be the key, whether they choose to sit at that slot or trade up.

 

There should be some surefire studs that fall out of the first round, as there are every year. With the sudden obsession with drafting offensive tackles, the studs that fall out of the first round this year are sure to be defensive players. Let’s examine who they may be.

 

James Laurinaitis, MLB, Ohio State– He slid down the board a lot from last season, but he remains very technically sound, good in traffic, and plays with sideline-to-sideline speed (regardless of 40-time). His straight ahead tenacity will be an asset, as will his coverage ability. Brian Westbrook, Jason Witten, and even Chris Cooley at times can give The Giants fits because our linebackers can’t cover well. Laurinaitis can give you that, and he provides the valuable asset that is the ability to play three downs, something that has been questioned among the USC linebackers.

As for his role with the Giants, he can come in and compete for the strong-side job this season, while eventually sliding to the middle with the departure of Antonio Pierce (which I hope is sooner rather than later). He would be asked to do the same thing he did at OSU, which is fight through traffic and make the tackle, as the Giant linemen would eat up majority of the blockers.

Michael Johnson, DE, Georgia Tech– You can never have enough pass rushers. Johnson is 6’7″ and ran a 4.49 and Georgia Tech’s Pro Day. Even though The Giants are stacked at defensive end right now, would his presence during passing situations and even on field goal blocks not make Big Blue’s defense the scariest in The NFL?

He could play some strong side linebacker and rotate down into the dirt at times. Johnson has the range and the speed to cover tight ends and receivers and he is a monster pass rusher.

New defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan will certainly have fun coming up with plays for 3rd-and-long situations with the likes of Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora, Chris Canty, Mathias Kiwanuka, Michael Boley, and Johnson on the field.

Clint Sintim, OLB, Virginia

I really don’t know why, but not too many people have talked about this guy. He may actually be the best fit of any linebacker for the Giants strong side job for years to come.

What Sintim brings is a spectacular set of physical tools to the Giant outside linebacker spot. He can take on blockers, blitz, and drop into coverage. In 2009, even if he doesn’t start at outside linebacker, he is a serious weapon on blitzes and beyond 2009; he has the look of a stud defender in this league. Remember his name on draft day. If New York keeps their eyes on these players, and follows an approach that resembles the aformentioned one, they will be one of the teams to beat in 2009 any for many years to come.

A Kinder, Gentler NFL?

Daily FaF Smear (3/29/09)

Rule Changes: NFL At It Again

This past week the NFL has made some rule changes and additions. Let’s take a look at a few of them.

 

• Video replay can be used to determine if a loose ball stayed in bounds or hit the sideline.

Could we not have saved trouble by just telling the officials to not rule a ball out of bounds unless they had actually seen it go out of bounds? I think this is more or less a “common sense” rule on the referees part.

 

• The draft order has been reworked to reflect playoff results, not regular-season results

I’m not so sure about this one. This stems mainly from the 2008 playoff incident where the San Diego Chargers (8-8) beat out the Indianapolis Colts (12-4) and made it farther into the playoffs. 

Obviously with the previous draft order the Colts would have picked farther down the line than the Chargers. Now, this order will be determined by how well a team does in the playoffs. 

How exactly does this help? I don’t feel that it does. It’s an “any given Sunday” scenario. It just depends on who is better prepared, better coached, and who makes the fewest mistakes during that particular game. For Indianapolis it just so happened that San Diego had the right mix of winning components. 

 

• A blindside block cannot be delivered with a helmet, shoulder or forearm to an opponent’s head or neck. That’ll be a 15-yard penalty.

We need our head and necks, they’re rather important wouldn’t you think? I think we can file this one under “common sense.”

 

• Contact to the head of a defenseless receiver will also draw a 15-yard penalty.

I thought this was already a rule, or maybe I was just using “common sense” when it came to seeing those hits. Regardless, this should be heavily enforced and I look for that to happen in the upcoming season.

 

• A defensive player on the ground may no longer lunge or dive at the quarterback’s lower legs

Also known as the “Brady rule” due in large part to Kansas City Chiefs player Bernard Pollard’s season ending injury on New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

At the time, the hit on Brady was legal and now it isn’t. 

I have a problem with this rule, being a Chiefs fan has nothing to do with it. My problem is that it gets its “nickname” due to the Brady hit. There have been other quarterbacks who have sustained hits like this and Tom Brady I’m sure will not be the last.

Now if they want to sack a quarterback, they just have to do it standing up. 

I know the NFL is just trying to make the game safer for all involved, but sometimes it just seems as if they’re taking all of the fun out of watching football.

I love the [legal] hits, a good solid defense, and an overall great game. I never want to see any player, no matter what team they play for, carted off the field or having to retire, as Priest Holmes did, due to a hit sustained on a football field. 

Remembering the AFL

Buffalo Bills B/R Community Newsletter Vol. 2

Welcome to the Buffalo Bills Community here on BleacherReport.com!

In case you missed the first newsletter, the point of these short write-ups is to bring the Bills community together and improve communications between all of the Bills fans here.

This newsletter will focus mostly on the community and some ideas to improve it. Included will be monthly/weekly awards during the regular season, ideas for writers, round-table discussion topics, and much more.

The newsletter will come out during both the offseason and the regular season.

Right now there is no set date for these newsletters to appear, but by the start of the preseason they will become a weekly event.

Also, there will be a few tweaks each time, based on your suggestions of what you want to see.

Without further adieu, lets get the second newsletter underway!

 

Looking for Bills Draft Roundtable

I told everyone that I would be bugging them again soon.

I am looking for members of the Bills community to give their take on what the Bills should do for the upcoming draft.

If you are interested, just make a post on my B/R profile or send me an e-mail at buffbillsfan517@yahoo.com. 

The draft is a little over 27 days away from the time I am writing this. For those interested, the post will come out about a week before the draft, giving the rest of the Bills community the chance to get their two cents in. 

There is also no set limit to the number of people who can participate. The more, the merrier!

 

Bills Community Online Talk Show

A Buffalo Bills online talk show is something that was sitting in the back of my mind for a while, and I think now is the time to get the views of the Bills B/R users on trying to start up a talk show about their favorite NFL team.

I have reviewed multiple sites and, seeing as how I want this to be a community event, I found out that blogtalkradio.com is the best site to use.  It comes with a free call-in number, allowing for multiple Bills fans to join the conversation online.

A date for the show has not been set, though I am guessing there will be a draft show if people are interested in helping out.

We’d like to start airing the show once a week, starting the first week of the preseason.

Now, seeing as this is for the community, there will be no set host. I might start it up for the first few shows, but after that it belongs to the Bills community here.

Again, this is only if people are interested. More information to come on this as well.

 

Bills Community Ranks at B/R

I don’t know if I was asleep every time I logged into B/R, but I just noticed a CL Lounge icon put on the top of the page when I log in.

Since we are trying to build a strong community here, I don’t see any point in keeping the community stats/ranks to myself. You guys are the ones who write articles and comments here, so why should I be the only one to see where we rank?

Here is the quick rundown of our ranks for the month of March out of the 32 communities:

 

• Ninth in Articles Written (116)
• 16th in Comments (614)
• 12th in New Members (20)
• 21st in Active Writers (1)

 

Not too shabby!

Active writers are those who write four or more articles a month about their community.  Our low number in that category shows we are getting articles from a wide range of people, which is good.

I have a strong feeling that as soon as the season starts, that active writer number will shoot up for us.

As for the member count, since the last writing of a newsletter we are up 38 new members! Great job by everyone out there spreading the word about the community!

 

Two Minute Drill

Your ideas, suggestions, and comments about this newsletter are greatly appreciated. 

Any ideas on how to strengthen the community would be great too!

If you need me for anything, you can contact me through my B/R profile or by sending an e-mail to buffbillsfan517@yahoo.com.

I am available at anytime for anything you need or any question to be answered.

Thanks for reading the second volume of the Bills Community Newsletter! Have a great day everyone, and…

LET’S GO BUFFALO!

San Francisco 49ers Turning Dreams Into Visions

In past years it has been clear that the San Francisco 49ers have been in a rut, with very few ups, and a tremendous amount of downs. However, recent developments point to a brighter future, and subsequently a new found legacy.

“When I look around the NFL I am amazed at how many people have a dream, and how few have a vision.” Mike Singletary stated in the “State of the Franchise” earlier this month. “I stand before you today just to have you understand that the 49ers of 2009 have a vision,” Singletary said moments later.

Now before we completely understand what Singletary means by this, we must first understand the 49ers of 2009.

The 49ers of 2009 have, like many teams in the NFL, made some changes; however, many of the changes taking place in San Francisco have left a buzz in the air of a playoff spot.  But do we actually have what it takes? 

For the answer, all you have to do is simply look to who we picked up in free agency. How many holes have the San Francisco 49ers eliminated before the draft?

The 49ers have already picked up talent for many positions. One causing a lot of hype is OT Marvel Smith, a 6’5″, 321 pound tackle, formally from the Pittsburgh Steelers. Yes the same ones who won the Super Bowl last year.

Now wait, before you get too excited, 30-year-old Marvel Smith does come with some baggage. Smith was limited to five games last season due to shoulder and back injuries; however, after a physical the 49ers said Smith performed healthy and looked to return back to his old Pro Bowl self by this season.

Another big grab for the 49ers is FB Moran Norris. Not only is he an explosive bloody, your nose player, but also is a force to be reckoned with when mixed with former teammate Frank Gore.

Continuing down the list of hopefuls, the 49ers restructured the late, not so great contract of Alex Smith. Now before you say anything, I am not the biggest Alex Smith fan out there but do have hope for his 2009 season.

Look how many QBs thrive in a new team environment and suffer in another. With all the changes the 49ers have made I can see giving Alex Smith one last shot at stardom, or at least backup.

Talking about free agents, the 49ers had a few of there own, resigning a select few. San Francisco re-signed KR/PR Allen Rossum, an explosive player on special teams, and LB Takeo Spikes, a force to be reckoned with when played along side of Patrick Willis.

Now to complete the list San Francisco also picked up S Lewis Baker, and LB Mark Washington, both former 49ers.

They signed DE Demetric Evans as an unrestricted free agent from the Washington Redskins, and veteran QB Damon Huard, who brings a lot of experience for a third string QB.

They picked up WR Maurice Price, and WR Micheal Spurlock, which in my opinion could be a potential waste of money seeing as we already have a wide array of wide receivers. Conversely, this can also work out to their advantage on special teams or backup.

The 49ers also acquired DB Jimmy Williams, who brings a lot of potential in the right hands, and last but not least WR Brandon Jones, formally from the Tennessee Titans. He is a great third down receiver and if played, can make the necessary plays deep down the field.      

We have newly appointed Team President Jed York, who seems to have been doing an excellent job so far. Vantz Singletary will serve as the team’s inside linebackers coach, Al Harris has been named as the club’s pass rush specialist coach, Jason Michael as the team’s offensive assistant, and Jason Tarver will continue to coach the outside linebackers. 

But, the real threat will be new running back coach, Tom Rathman.

Essentially the holes in the 49ers’ team (which has been plagued from bad picks, coaching, and injuries) have been filled in one swoop of free agency.  The 49ers of yesterday, might finally be no more.

The 49ers have a total of nine draft picks, which the 49ers intend to use very wisely. There is a possibility of picking up QB Mark Sanchez.

However, I believe it will be used to further strengthen either our defense, which is already stirring up talk of top five, or we will use it to enhance the offensive line. Everything else will fall into place.

Our QB situation is vague to a lot of people, thus I believe it has already solved itself.

QB Shaun Hill finished last year with a top QB rating, and has something the 49er organization hasn’t seen in many years, “heart”.  Not to mention Hill more than proved himself for the starting position.

I am 100 percent certain Hill can and will be what the 49ers need to get back to their Super Bowl ways. Hill has received almost no credit for the games he won. Sure, he made some mistakes, but they also won because he fought through them.

I honestly don’t hate Alex Smith I just think we landed our hopes substantially higher then his overall capability, and keeping him as a stable back up taking strain off of his injuries will keep the 49ers offence strong and stable.

In recent months, there have been numerous changes and additions to the San Francisco team we have all come to know. From new coaches, players, or even Hamstring Hill, A pile of dirt about 2,500 tons. It is about 15 feet high 45 feet long, angling from top to bottom on the longer side. One side has a 30-degree angle of approach; it’s 40 degrees on the other.

The San  Francisco 49ers not only expect a new stadium nearing 2012, but with much sooner results have announced that April 25th we will be revealing our newly upgraded jerseys. It sounds like the feel of a big change as well.

Right now the San Francisco 49ers have all the tools necessary to not only change our loosing ways, but to subsequently bring us back to Super Bowl glory. Coach Mike Singletary has already begun to instill the mindset necessary to build boys into men, athletes into football players.

Thanks to Coach Mike Singletary, the 49ers now have what in the past years has been lost, and that is a vision. No longer will 49er fans look back on a season and say “Maybe next year.” No longer will we dream about getting the good coach, or having a good team, because as of this year, we have them both.

The 49ers of 2009 have a vision. 

Many people out there may not see it, but the true fans of the San Francisco 49ers feel it. If not this year then within the next few, we will have yet another Super Bowl.

Bottom Line: The Raiders Will Take the Best Receiver in the Draft

This is a long article, so bear with me.

I want to start doing my own little segment called “Bottom Line,” where I will pull up anything I can find around the web such as stats, comments, articles, videos, and things of that sort. And I will happily provide links so you can see these things for yourself.

As an avid Raider fan, I’ll start out on one subject that has sparked many fiery comment wars among the Raiders page: What should we do with the No. 7 overall pick?

I have firmly stood by the idea of taking Michael Crabtree, even though I am not working in the front office, I know the Raiders will take the phenom that is Crabtree.

But many non-belivers among my Raider brethren believe that he is only the product of a gimmicky spread offense, but I know better.

I spent a lot of the day watching film on the young receiver, courtesy of my main source YouTube, and any other sites I could find on the web.

First thing I want to address is the infamous spread offense. Sure, the gameplan consists of all sorts of screen type plays, and it bolsters stats like receptions, but people want to ignore all the things he does with the ball after he makes the catch. He is incredible with the ball in his hands.

What other people don’t realize is, the Raiders run a West Coast offense, which does not require elite speed. The philosophy behind it is “Pass to set up the run” and I guarantee 98 percent of the people do not know what that entails.

When a team runs the West Coast offense, 80 percent of those passes don’t go farther than 15 yards, which requires a receiver to have sure hands because a lot of his touches would be in traffic, not a guy who might drop the ball half the time or catch it and go 80 yards.

Some fans like to base there opinions on what Al Davis prefers, rather than what is fact. It’s no secret he loves speed. But he’s not stupid enough to sacrifice talent just because the guy is a blazer; even so-called experts seem to make this mistake.

You can’t say “Al Davis is senile and stupid because he took the best player on the board, instead of this guy who went 10 or 20 picks later and surprised the NFL by having a non-expected great year.” That is unfair simply because the guy can’t see into the future. Can you?

Raiders aren’t going to take an O-lineman in the first round; why would anybody sign two tackles in free agency if they are planning to sign an OT to a fat contract, the Raiders don’t have a lot of cap to be wasting like that. And they supposedly said that the tackle positions would be a competition between Henderson, Pears, and Barnes.

And we won’t take a D-linemen because there are only two that are worth taking in the top ten: Orakpo and Raji.

I want to explain this as simply as possible.  Brian Orakpo is going to be an outside linebacker in the NFL, he is a pass rusher, a pure pass rusher, meaning he can’t cover a PB&J with a Ziploc bag, so he would mostly be effective in a 3-4 scheme where he could blitz a lot in a game, much like Demarcus Ware. Too bad the Raiders run a 4-3 defense…

BJ Raji wouldn’t work out in Oakland. He is much like the over-hyped, Glenn Dorsey and Shaun Ellis the so-called “unblockable” DT’s. Also, he got to pile up stats off of Ron Brace. Brace to the double teams while Raji got the stats.

That’s why a lot of top-end from a 4-3 defense DT’s aren’t that good lately. This is off topic but the 2002 draft provided a load of the best talent on the D-line today (look it up).

And finally, the false hope that Al  Davis will trade down. It is not in recent memory thta Big Al has ever traded down, nor will he start.

Even if he wanted to, the sad truth is, teams don’t necessarily want any of the top ten picks anymore, because of the inflation of rookie salaries in recent years. Plus, for a team with two picks in the first round would ask for more that just the No. 7 pick.

And to those who say they want quantity over quality. When you say Quality, that means a starter, pro bowler, leader, play-maker…When you say Quantity, that means Back-up, non-pro bowler, follower, average.

Read this excerpt from an article on Crabtree concerning him during his freshman year in college:

“This summer, Wells, who says he has worked security for some of the Dallas Cowboys, arranged for Crabtree to work out at Deion Sanders’ football camp in Dallas. For two days, Crabtree ran routes against Pacman Jones and other NFL defensive backs while Sanders and his pal Michael Irvin gave him pointers.

“Crabtree says Irvin showed him how to beat press coverage and maneuver through a defensive backfield. The NFL players say Crabtree showed them a few things too. “Man, he’s a helluva player,” says Omar Stoutmire, an 11-year NFL vet.

“The way he goes up and fights for the ball—you won’t find many receivers who can do it like that. I saw him make three catches against some of the best cornerbacks in the NFL. That’s all about attitude.”

Just in case you want to check, the paragraph at the end of the article:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3531059

We need guys who can play…

Watch this video, and tell me if you’ve changed your mind…

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPz7caPqoJE

 This is only true if he falls to the Raiders in the first place.

Dallas Cowboys News: Voluntary Workouts Start Monday

Well, the 2008 season may be over, but the sting still lingers for many Cowboys fans. However, starting on Monday there is promise of a new day—voluntary workouts begin.

Strength and conditioning coach Joe Juraszek said, “March doesn’t look much different from December at Valley Ranch.  We’ve had anywhere from 15 and 30 people showing up and working out for the last 10, 11 weeks, which is a large number of players. Many of our guys live here and they’ve been in and out working. We’ve had the rehab guys in and we’ve had younger guys doing things for themselves.”

The offseason workouts will consist of 56 different set workouts, each designed for specific players, positions, and age.

The program will last all the way until June, just before the start of training camp. The Cowboys are focused on more team activities while maintaining individual workouts.

This is certainly refreshing news to Cowboys fans, considering it feels as if there is still a negativity surrounding the Cowboys since the sudden release of Terrell Owens. Not to mention they just came off perhaps the most disappointing season in franchise history.

The Cowboys seem excited to put last season behind them and look focused coming into the upcoming season. It may only be March heading into April, but the season is slowly approaching, and this is where champions are made.

My Weekend with the NFL Department of Fandemonium

Late last week I learned that I was one of 32 finalists to compete for the first annual position of the NFL Director of Fandemonium.

Days later, I would be on my way to New York City (all the way from north Jersey) to experience something that I may never have the opportunity to do again.

As I mentioned in my first article regarding the contest all of the finalists had already won season tickets to the team of their choice along with a custom jersey with the same criteria.

The lucky winner of the competition will get a signing bonus of $100,000, as well as key roles in the NFL Draft, International Series, Thanksgiving game, Wild card game, Pro Bowl, Super Bowl, as well as other NFL events.

Thursday marked the first day of the competition, with all the contestants and myself arriving at the Marriott Eastside from all over the US, including a Vikings fan from Hawaii.

After check-in we had a brief moment to get settled into our rooms where a few gifts awaited us such as a respective conference fandemonium jersey and a official NFL football signed by the single-season record holder for sacks, ex-New York Giants DE Michael Strahan.

Up next was an unofficial meet and greet followed by our first on-camera interview and pictures with NFL Films.

Later that evening, a reception was held where we had the opportunity to introduce ourselves and the team we represented as well as meet the people behind the competition.

A short but semi-hectic day was over as some contestants ventured out into the big city while others opted to catch up on their sleep.

Friday was by far the busiest day of the competition with all the participants being paired up into teams with their respective divisions and their conference counterpart. (i.e., NFC and AFC East)

My team faced off against the NFC/AFC West in the trivia challenge, hosted by none other than Michael Strahan, with the winning team destined for the next and final round.

The questions varied from most appearances on Thanksgiving to which conference holds the record for points in a Pro Bowl.

Of course there were also questions concerning Strahan’s career, which even he himself found too easy.

Somehow the other team caught up and were forced to answer a question created by our team in order to force a tie.

Given the situation and the handsome host our team came up with “How many sacks did Strahan have in his career?”

Their answer was 141 which we too thought was the correct response, however Strahan told them they were wrong only to revoke his statement and turn to the judges/directors. The actual answer was 141.5, giving our team the win and a place in the second round.

In that round we faced off against the NFC/AFC North in the physical challenge which included a coin toss and through the gap toss inspired by none other than the gap between Strahan’s teeth.

The coin toss consisted of simply making your coin land on the point board with the condition of flipping it over your shoulder. My flip was too high as it bounced of the microphone stick causing Mr. Strahan to call an interference penalty and award me a re-flip.

Our team grabbed a 9-8 lead heading into the second challenge. Since they were behind, the North were awarded the opportunity to go first in the the through the gap toss.

In this challenge each contestant was allowed five throws with each made ball counting for three points. The north would only get three balls in for a total of 20 points overall.

Our team made one ball with only three people remaining. Enter Brett Miledin, with my first three throws being way off the mark and Strahan looking to the last contestant representing the Dolphins as the savior.

I managed to get one ball in to pull within one to clinch. Even Strahan tried to ice me but to no avail, as I would sink the last throw for the win and have him and my teammate Mark jump on my back in celebration.

Afterwards I dedicated the win to Strahan for which he thanked me for and proceeded to cry into my shoulder in happiness. Up next was the locker-room challenge with Rob Riggle of SNL and Daily Show fame.

Riggle asked me questions about being Russian and my ties to NFL Europe as well as singing Iron Maiden thanks to my Trooper shoes.

He would proceed to have a fake heart attack after learning I had little time for tailgating since I never seem to have a parking pass.

Lastly we had our motivational speech challenge in front of both Riggle and Strahan where we were asked to preform either a pep-talk or celebration dance.

For whatever reason, I was chosen to dance but having a background in ballroom dancing I managed to pull off a samba meets rumba meets the Harlem shake to much of the enjoyment of the judges, Strahan in particular.

That evening, just like the previous one, ended with a reception dinner where we learned our scheduled time to meet with the NFL and Monster.com brass on Saturday.

Since many of us had later times I acted as an ambassador of NYC and showed the two handfuls of out-of-towners the sites and sounds most tourists come to see in Manhattan.

On Saturday I had the pleasure of going with the last group to the NFL headquarters and getting everyone’s take on the sit-down prior to my own. While their we waited in the Lombardi room and I happened to catch a glimpse of the heralded trophy later on.

I was then mic’d up just like the previous day and entered the board room. While inside I was interviewed by Rich Eisen of the NFL Network, John Buzzeo and Mike Pereira of the NFL, and Jeff Greenler VP of Global Marketing for Monster.

The questions varied from officiating, to the draft, as well as general interview questions. Afterwards, I was driven back home with only the memories to last me a lifetime.

I would like to extend the biggest possible thank you to everyone associated with the event especially those who worked ever so diligently in arranging the little things to help us through.

MEC Acess, BBDO, Ketchum, the NFL, NFL Films, Monster.com, Avalon, and Marriott East side, a huge thank you for everything.

Good luck to all the contestants as well.

The official site can be found here. A Twitter of the events as they happened can be found here.

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