Airing of Sports Greivances

WTF was with the Orange Bowl last night? That was a BCS Bowl? Boise State could have played either of those teams with 19 hours off and named their score. I felt the same sense of guilt watching that game as when I was a fat and ate like 15 cookies my dad made in 10 minutes. Like why can't I quit bowl season? It's insulting to fans and alumni at schools, like you better wait to book that New Years trip to Jacksonville until we know if we're 3rd or 4th in this crap conference. I like how Green Bay is doing it: they're invading Glendale right now like Americans at pretty much any foreign tourist destination to see their team for which it is actually impossible to get tickets, leaving Siberian like conditions for high 50s at night.

And how can Arenas possibly be this retarded? I mean I hope the release the hell out of him, Vick-ify him. Vin Baker is sitting on his couch - ok, at a bar - toasting what a dumbass he is. You're healthy for two weeks in four years so you turn locker room into the bar from Unforgiven? What happens when Saunders asks him to play defense (I know, ha ha!) and he pulls a nine? And what's with Arenas not paying gambling debts? Didn't he take Stevenson for six figures shooting one-handed threes with his foot clearly on the line? Arenas was just suspended, by the way. I wanted to go to a game with a sign that had the word "Bullets" somehow, now it won't be the same.

And regarding Shanahan, I don't love Elway, so I'll never say he only won because of Elway. I'll say he only won because his team violated salary cap rules and had to forfeit 2 third rounders and $2 million. Plus his last two years the Skins won two more games than the Broncos. On the plus side Shanahan's last draft was his best (Clady 1, Royal 2, Hillis 7) and the Broncos shat the bed with their picks last year. Plus the Texans had the #3 offense in 08, #4 last year, so I'm on born with Kyle as OC. Here's what I'd consider an ideal draft for Washington: Okung 1, Colt McCoy 2. McCoy is perfect for his offense, rolling pocket over half the time, tons of boots in the red zone.

And how about Campbell lowering the boom on Portis? He's now my freaking hero. It was like a freestyle rap battle where the one guy goes first and it's lame, and then the next guy goes and everyone screams "Oooohhhhh" after like every line. Maybe CP will come out and blame an alternate personality that kisses the bosses ass and takes shots at coworkers, like Brownnose Bennie. On a Redskins Insider poll 3% sided with Portis, I don't think I've ever seen a poll with three choices where something got less than 3%. I mean Cerrato's approval rating had to be greater than 3%, and he was truly hated. Cutting Portis only saves the vet minimum (blame Snyder for guaranteeing him $7 million this offseason) and it still seems like there's no chance he's coming back.

Rack me.

Vinny Cerrato: Renaissance Man

Earlier this week, the Bog posted a video of Vinny Cerrato playing a hard boiled cop in a jean jacket.

Steinberg followed up with some screenshots and a link to the article that originally uncovered Cerrato's B-movie start, from the Washington City Paper. That writer uncovered the clip when looking into criticism from the Washington Post's ombudsman that Jason La Canfora's contest to come up with a nickname for the Washington Redskins that was "Cerrato-tinged." Apparently Cerrato and John Salamone of the National Italian American Foundation were outraged by some team names they perceived as offensive to Italians.

"Nickname suggestions such as Vinny the Chin, Vinny the Bull, Underboss, and others reinforce a negative and harmful stereotype of Italian Americans." Salamone said events kept him from writing promptly but he later sent his note to an e-mail list of foundation supporters.

Cerrato said, "I was disappointed. To me, anytime you're dealing with a person's name and nationality and heritage, it's not playful. To mock a nationality is uncalled for."

Does this guy realize he works for the Washington Redskins? The least politically correct team name this side of the movie BASEketball. For the most part I've been a Cerrato... maybe not a supporter but a defender, arguing George W. Bush: Dick Cheney:: Vincent Cerrato: Dan Snyder. But the unmitigated gall of these guys is ridiculous, and the media can't criticize them because if a news source loses access to the Redskins then it practically ceases to be a news source inside the beltway. And of course Snyder has a monopoly on sports talk radio in Washington.

Osaka vs Canton

Six years ago to the day that Steve Spurrier made his preseason NFL coaching debut in a 38-7 trouncing of the 49ers, the Redskins unveiled Jim Zorn's offense last night in the Hall of Fame game. No quarterback threw more than one incompletion in the 30-16 win, but the Colts outgained Washington by 55 yards. But this blog entry is about comparing the quarterbacks' performances.

Sage Rosenfels: 10/20, 172 yards, 2 TDs, 1 Int
Danny Wuerffel: 16/25, 269 yards, 3 TDs
Spurrier's QBs: 26/45, 441 yards, 5 TDs, 1 Int, 129.4 passer rating

Jason Campbell: 5/5, 61 yards, 1 TD
Todd Collins: 5/6, 32 yards
Colt Brennan: 9/10. 123 yards, 2 TDs
Derek Devine: 0/1
Zorn's QBs: 19/22, 216 yards, 3 TDs, 147.2 passer rating

Sunday Bloody Sunday

When does an NFL season begin? According to the NFL the first day of the league year is March 1. The preseason this year begins with the Hall of Fame game, three weeks from yesterday, featuring the Colts and Redskins. The regular season now opens on a Thursday (September 4, Redskins at Giants, coincidentally), but most teams open on that Sunday. But if you define the season starting when teams are allowed to start practicing in pads, the the 2008 NFL season began yesterday with the Washington Redskins first practice. It didn't go well.

The Redskins lost starting end Philip Daniels for the year an hour in. They also lost end Alex Busbee for the year and Fred Smoot for the day. By dinner they traded a 2009 2nd rounder and a 2010 6th rounder for 2006 Defensive Player of the Year and 2008 Dancing with the Stars runner up Jason Taylor. What I had heard during the draft was that the high bid for Jason Taylor was a 3rd round pick, which is a steal for a guy you can be reasonably certain will get you 10 sacks. It's generally accepted that a draft pick from the following year is worth a round less, so next year's 2nd is worth this year's 3rd, and a 2010 6th is worth less than a 7th this year. In other words, the Redskins package is the equivalent of what Miami turned down during the draft.

The most obvious result of the deal is that the Redskins now have arguably the best set of defensive ends in the NFL, with Taylor and Andre Carter. Mike Florio really breaks it down at Sporting News, and seems to favor the Dolphins slightly in the trade. Peter King is fascinated by how quickly the trade went down, and thinks that any package for Favre has to be greater than the one for Taylor. I think there is a far greater market for Taylor. Taylor step right in and can start on any team in the NFL; Favre would have to learn a new playbook and wouldn't start on at least five teams.

I think Washington went from being a 6-10 or 7-9 team to 9-7. Looking at the NFC East on paper, the only team that looks better than the Skins is the Cowboys. The Giants lose Strahan and have the subtraction by addition of Shockey. Washington was weak last year at receiver, and they really weren't generating a pass rush until late in the season. Now they add two of the top receivers in the draft and a top five defensive end.

The case for Favre in Washington

I'm going down the list of possible destinations for Brett Favre, and the Redskins are starting to look more and more like the most likely destination. Right away, you can eliminate Chicago and Minnesota, because Green Bay still controls his rights and there is zero chance they deal him within the devision. Miami has frequently been mentioned, but I can't see Favre renegotiating his contract to play on a team coming off of 1-15. Likewise Atlanta. Baltimore is a possibility, but the Ravens are focused on rebuilding and are downplaying their interest. The Jets are a logical destination, although they haven't been mentioned as prominently as the other teams and should be concerned about retarding the development of Kellen Clemens by potentially moving him to third on the depth chart. Tampa Bay is a strong contender, since Jon Gruden is a former Packers assistant coach and he loves to accumulate quarterbacks.

Mike Francesca today indicated he had heard Washington and Carolina were in the mix. Out of all of these teams, the Panthers are the only one with an above average quarterback, as Jake Delhomme was on his way to a career season last year before he hurt his elbow, and is expected to be back at 100% (or more) next year. Also, the Panthers have already traded their first round pick for next year, so they may be wary or trading another high pick. That leaves the Redskins. They don't seem to have the cap room, although that's never stopped them before. It may hurt the development of Jason Campbell but, again, that's never stopped them before.

Looking at the obvious problems with acquiring a starting quarterback for a single season (building cohesion with the receivers and offensive line, learning the playbook, fracturing the locker room), the two most likely outcomes for the Favre saga are Favre starting for the Packers in week one or staying retired. But since I didn't see the retirement story getting this far, I'll acknowledge Tampa Bay, Washington, and the Jets as the likely contenders.

Me thinks he doth protest too much

In the annals of NFL draft bust history, Micheal Westbrook's name is barely mentioned. I suppose he had one halfway decent season, in which he had 65 catches for 1191 yards and 9 TDs, and the following year he blew out his ACL in week 2 against Dallas. But the next receiver drafted was Joey Galloway, so even if Westbrook was able to accumulate decent stats for more than the 89 games he played in, he would come out looking pedestrian by comparison.

Well he's back in the news, and not just for his homoerotic Brazilian jujitsu hobby. He wants you to know he's not gay. If you thought he was, it's probably because he beat Stephen Davis like a red headed step child for calling him gay. IF I had any Photoshop skills I'd be putting an 82 jersey on Chris Cooper's character from American Beauty, because Westbrook is so deep in the closet he's finding Christmas presents.

Archuleta's chihuahua's killed by meatballs

Playmate Jennifer Walcott's chihuahuas were apparently poisoned while in the backyard of the mother former Redskins safety Adam Archuleta. Archuleta and his very attractive girlfriend were on Christmas vacation, leaving the Taco Bell loving pets in Scottsdale, where their corpses were found next to meatballs containing green pellets of strychnine.

Chandler police detective David Ramer said officers pursued several leads in the case but couldn’t identify any suspects.

I've got a suspect for you.

Would you like some cheese with that whine?

Jim Fassel has been talking to every media outlet that will have him about how the Redskins' coaching search went down, blaming Snyder, Billick, and bloggers. He told Clark Judge of CBS Sportsline

"I heard someone say there are no more George Youngs or Jim Finks in this league, people who really know the game. And I think that happened here. I don't think Dan surrounded himself with enough football people."

If it were my interview, the obvious follow up question is "I don't think Dan has surrounded himself with any football people," or perhaps "You mean Vinny Cerrato isn't enough football people for you?"

Fassel has also been doing the radio show circuit, telling Mike & the Mad Dog

"My biggest mistake was going to Baltimore," Fassel said. "That was the biggest mistake. I don’t think I needed to do that and when I went there and it was such a mess and got caught up in all that stuff."

I'm a little biased, but I think it was better for him to be the assistant coach of a potential playoff team as opposed to unemployed, but maybe I'm wrong. In all seriousness, the thing you have to realize about fired head coaches is that is they immediately take another job they're working for free. For example, when the Redskins fired Marty Schottenheimer they were required to pay him the rest of his contract minus whatever he made in coaching during the duration of that contract. So when he immediately took the San Diego job, Snyder owed him the terms of his contract minus the terms of his contract with the Chargers. But Fassel had sat out a few years and had fallen out of the rotation of guys who came to mind when a spot opened up.

He also told the John Thompson Show (whose motto is "occasionally with John Thompson") that the bloggers are to blame.

"When I got the New York Giants job I remember telling my family that, 'You know, you cannot hold the lead in these jobs in major markets.' Because you've got bloggers, and they're saying, 'No, this isn't the right guy, and that ain't the right guy,' and you can't hold the lead, because you are going to take the hit. I mean, when you're the lead dog, you're going to take the hit. And I think the longer it went, the longer it went, the longer it went..."

Besides sounding like the end of The Aviator there, now he just sounds whiny. Every single coaching hire this season has come under scrutiny, and most teams don't have the luxury of buying the fan sites. But what I found most telling is his description of what was asked by Snyder and Cerrato in the same interview.

"Everything. From the standpoint of ok, When we travel, how do you want the plane to be? Who sits up front? Who sits here? How are you gonna do this? When we travel do you have bed checks? Do you put the team in a hotel Saturday night? Practice, what do you think about practicing and training camp and all that stuff? Sometimes one question leads to another. I will say this, they are very organized, VERY organized. Vinny basically asks the questions and he's got about five pages of questions."

When I picture these interviews with potential head coaches, I never imagine being asked asinine questions like seating plans on the airplane. I could imagine asking if you believe the players should wear suits on the airplane, but I can't picture Dan Rooney asking Bill Cowher if Rod Woodson would sit next to Greg Lloyd on team flights.

Every Joe's got his thorn

So the second most valuable sports franchise in the western hemisphere is left to decide between Jim Fassel and Jim Zorn for their next head coach. Such is the fate wrought by Dan Snyder and Vinny Cerrato. I had come to grips with Fassel. He'd had some success in the regular season, taking the Giants to the Super Bowl in 2000, been coach of the year, and, most impressively, been to the playoffs with Dave Brown. During the Super Bowl I was sure Steve Spagnuolo had vaulted to the top of whatever list the Redskins are using, and I'm sure they could have had him for the $15 million they spent on Zorn. But Washington surprisingly promoted Zorn from offensive coordinator to head coach Saturday night, after about two weeks with the team. And Gregg Williams thought they didn't promote from within.

Profootballtalk believes that Cerrato was the biggest reason for the surprise hire, as he would have felt threatened by any kind of big name. Another popular school of thought is that no one wanted the job, because having Snyder and Cerrato control the roster was putting the coach in a position to fail. I was trying to come up with a worse hire than Zorn, and the first two I came up with were the last two hires by the Raiders: Lane Kiffin, who had been a college OC for one season, and Art Shell, who had been out of coaching for more than a decade. So that's what the Redskins have become: the Raiders of the east coast. A high spending version of the Raiders.

Here are my biggest concerns with the hire:

1. The Seahawks players and front office had seven years to get to know Zorn, and yet they still chose Jim Mora, Jr. over him as Holmgren's successor. Granted, the Redskins seemed to want Mora as well, but Washington had a relationship with neither coach. Seattle knew Zorn and went with Mora.
2. During the press conference it was incredibly obvious that Zorn was overwhelmed. I'm willing to give him a pass on calling the Redskins' colors "maroon and black," but you couldn't help but get the impression that Zorn didn't believe he earned the job. "I was taken aback, but not quite speechless because the first words out of my mouth were 'Certainly, I'd like to do that.' It was a little bit shocking." Tony Sparano and John Harbaugh have also never been coordinators, but they both gave the impression that they believed they should be head coaches. I'm not getting that from Zorn.
3. Zorn is expected to bring the West Coast Offense to D.C. It's not enough that Jason Campbell will be learning his seventh new offense in eight seasons going back to college. But the Redskins' personnel is suited to be a vertical offense as opposed to a diagonal offense. Their starters are both 5'10" and 200 lb or less, their top four wide receivers average 5'11" 197.5 lb. West coast receivers are expected to be larger, in order to shield the balls from defenders on slants.
4. Zorn was hired based on his reputation for working with quarterbacks. As head coach he could still serve the duties of quarterbacks coach and work hands on with Campbell. As head coach he has to be a CEO, taking away his strength as a teacher working with QBs. And now he needs to hire an offensive coordinator and a quarterbacks coach, after the most sought after position coaches have been hired by more organized franchises. Basically, would a combination of Fassel as head coach and Zorn as OC be more desirable than Zorn as head coach and whoever they can hire (Titans assistant Sherman Smith is reported to be the target) as OC?
5. Why did they feel the need to give him $3 million a year? The typical starting salary for a new head coach is $2-$2.3 million a year. The obvious answer is that the more Snyder spends on him, the more he can say "look how sure I am about my choice."
   

The new math

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He's got a new coach state of mind

There's a guy who does Weird Al style parodies on Youtube, who I would like a lot more if Mike & Mike didn't like him as much. A few of my previous favorites are Laser, Rocket Arm and Dogs in the Kennel. He takes on Daniel Snyder in his latest opus.

A million to one shot, doc

Danny boy is gassing up Redskin One and heading to Arizona, presumably to talk to Mariucci, among others. Who else, and why? Profootballtalk has suggested two possibilites:

1. Snyder was taken aback by the criticism of the imminent Jim Fassel hire and is trying to make the search look more thorough by interviewing as many candidates as possible, most notably the Super Bowl coordinators
2. They're making a run at Bill Belichick

The former sounds reasonable. The latter is a longshot. They mention that Belichick would want complete control, especially in picking his coaching staff. But it's worth noting that no one outside of the Patriots organization knows for sure how long Belichick is signed for, and that if he completes a 19-0 season with his fourth Super Bowl in New England he'll have no hill left to climb there.

More new names

Now that Gregg Williams has been formally eliminated from the Redskins' head coaching search, you'd think that there would be some indication about who the favorite was, or maybe a couple of guys for Snyder and Cerrato to decide between. Or at least an end to the interview process. But we've only just begun.

According to Adam Schefter, the Skins recently kicked the tires of Peter Carroll. It's likely that Carroll would want final say on personnel decisions (as would Bill Cowher, who the Redskins reportedly have also interviewed) and unknown whether Snyder would put that in writing. Schefter says the Redskins are deciding between Jim Fassel and Steve Spagnuolo, and that the performance of the Giants' defense in the Super Bowl will weigh heavily. Jason La Canfora thinks Steve Mariucci could be a candidate, but that's pure speculation at this point. Finally, Colts defensive coordinator Ron Meeks, the lone minority candidate interviewed, was brought back for a second interview.

Out of these choices, I could imagine Spagnuolo and Mariucci turning down the job. I'd tab Fassel the favorite at something like 3:1, Spagnuolo at 4:1, Meeks at 8:1, Mariucci at 10:1, Josh McDaniels at 20:1, and the field at 5:1.

Fail to the Redskins

I've been following football and the Washington Redskins most of my life and I've never seen such negativity around the team. As a fan of any team, there is nothing more disheartening than the sense that your team has no plan in place to compete for a championship. From Snyder's "if it ain't broke" comments defending Vinny Cerrato's promotion to a head coaching search that gets more random by the day, many Redskins fans feel as depressed about the last month as about Sean Taylor's death.

It appears Gregg Williams won't be on the Washington staff in any capacity. I've heard whispers that he delivered a Vinny or me ultimatum to Snyder, and whether or not it's true, the mere existence of the rumor could elevate Williams to folk hero status. I find it hard to believe that the Redskins are looking to replace Al Saunders, one of the highest paid assistant coaches in the NFL, but the Redskins have already interviewed two possible replacements before they've hired a head coach.

The big winner in all this? The Atlanta Falcons. They reportedly hired the general manager without an interview, and their choice for head coach as already been criticized by one of his former players. That has to be alarming, because typically you hear nothing but praise from players when their position coaches or coordinators get promotions.

With Senior Bowl practices going on and the pool of coordinators drying up, it's less than ideal to go into February without a head coach in place. But that eliminates the possibility of hiring an assistant coach in the Super Bowl. The only way the Redskins can spin this in a quasi-positive light is if they go after Josh McDaniels or, more likely, Steve Spagnuolo, a disciple of Jim Johnson. McDaniels has indicated he doesn't believe he is ready for a head coaching job, but money talks. Spagnuolo deserves a ton of credit for turning around a Giants defense that looked like a sieve the first two and a half games of the season. But the fact that the Giants' defense is completely based on getting a pass rusher from four down lineman does give me pause about his creativity. For example, if you look at a Gregg Williams, Rex Ryan, or, for that matter, Jim Johnson defense, blitzes show creativity and can come from anywhere. The Giants don't blitz as much because their ends are so explosive and their linebackers are decent in coverage.

Fassel? Seriously?

The Redskins seem to be thinking outside the box for their next head coach, with ex-Giants head coach and ex-Ravens offensive coordinator Jim Fassel now perhaps the leading candidate. First, in their defense, five of the final eight teams alive in the playoffs this year were coached by guys who have been fired (Bill Belichick fired by Cleveland, Tom Coughlin fired by Jacksonville, Norv Turner fired by Washington and Oakland, Wade Phillips fired by Buffalo, and Tony Dungy fired by Tampa Bay). Fassel also led an overachieving Giants team to the Super Bowl in 2000, a run which began with his famous "chips to the center of the table" speech. However, in his most recent job, the Ravens averaged 18.3 points in 2006 with Fassel as coordinator, 24.3 points after he was fired.

But he'd have to be a better choice than Jim Mora, Jr., who seems to follow in Larry Brown's wanderlust footsteps more than his father's. Mora got the pink slip from Atlanta for his musings about the UW job, and may have leveraged the Redskins' interest into becoming Holmgren's successor. And at this point it's safe to say Gregg Williams will be elsewhere next season, and (this is pure conjecture) a Gregg Williams/Rex Ryan swap isn't out of the question, based on what's transpired in their respective interviews.

Coordinating value

I've been mulling over Jason Garrett's contract, especially when compared to Gregg Williams' contract. There's really no comparison in terms of their track record as coordinators. Both have presided over a top three unit wherever they've been, but Gregg Williams actually has a track record. In four out of his last five seasons as coordinator Williams' defense has ranked in the top nine. I included the Bills defense when he was head coach because it showed that maybe he wasn't ready to be a head coach at first, but managed to show improvement. NFL rank refers to the teams' ranking in yards allowed defensively for the Williams teams and yards gained offensively for the 2006-07 Cowboys.

	NFL Rank
Williams named DC in 1999
1998 Titans	16
1999 Titans	17
2000 Titans	1
Williams named HC in 2001
2000 Bills	3
2001 Bills	21
2002 Bills	15
2003 Bills	2
Williams named DC in 2004
2003 Redskins	25
2004 Redskins	3
2005 Redskins	9
2006 Redskins	31
2007 Redskins	8
Garrett named OC in 2007
2006 Cowboys	5
2007 Cowboys	3

Be careful what you wish for

Before Wade Phillips got another opportunity in Dallas, the Bills were 29-19 in three season under his leadership. He was replaced by Gregg Williams, who was 17-31 as Buffalo's head coach. Granted, it was Williams' first job and Phillips' third, although Phillips' first job was four games as an interim coach of the Saints.

Pasquarelli is a huge (as in fat) jerk

ESPN's Len Pasquarelli took some parting shots at Joe Gibbs yesterday, the most bitter of the many sportswriters who were scooped by Jay Glazer regarding Gibbs' return to the NFL.

Counting playoff appearances, the Redskins went 31-36 under his stewardship, five games under the break-even point. His winning percentage of .463 was roughly one-third below the .683 standard Gibbs set during his earlier 11-year reign... He was, simply, too old to handle his players, to understand their perspectives, to push their buttons in this era of salary-cap football (remember, Gibbs didn't have to worry about the salary cap during his first stint). And the wear and tear of a season is hard on any coach, much less one who qualifies for senior citizen discounts at your neighborhood cafeteria.

At no point does he mention that the Redskins made the playoffs twice in his four year stint. He also fails to mention that with Vinny Cerrato and Dan Snyder the de facto general managers, the Redskins have the most fundamentally flawed front office in the NFL. Although most teams would find making the playoffs half the time acceptable, it's harder to accomplish in Washington than in Baltimore, Philadelphia, or Pittsburgh, who have successful front offices. In Washington it's Herculean.

Huzzah, Joe Gibbs, huzzah

Joseph Jackson Gibbs called it a career today, three days after a 21 point loss in Seattle. The Redskins made the playoffs eight times in 12 seasons in his first tour of duty, made the playoffs once in eleven seasons after he retired the first time, and have made the playoffs twice in four seasons this time around. Since the franchise was founded in 1932, the Skins have made the playoffs 10 times in the 16 seasons Gibbs has coached, and 11 times in the 49 other seasons.

After Washington finished 6-10 in Gibbs' first season (they had gone 5-11 the season before under Steve Spurrier) it seemed inevitable that the Hall of Fame coach would tarnish his legacy by coming back. But late season runs in 2005 (five wins in a row to close out the season) and 2007 (four in a row) locked up two wild card spots and may have added to his legacy. He retires with the Redskins in better shape than they were when he got there, even after losing their most talented player in the middle of the season.

This is why it's not surprising that Gibbs opted not to finish out the five year deal he signed in 2004. This was the kind of season that can take months or years off of your life as a head coach, with Sean Taylor, Ron Springs' coma, the agonizing loss to Buffalo, the 45 point loss to New England, and a glut of injuries on offense, including 40% of the line for most of the season. Also, as close as Gibbs is to his players, he probably doesn't want to have to make the tough roster decisions that Washington will have to make to get under the salary cap.

Collins should start until the Skins lose

Jason Whitlock made a tremendous point about the quarterback situation in Washington. With Al Saunders as offensive coordinator, in 1997 the Chiefs were 6-2 when Elvis Grbac got hurt in week 10. Rich Gannon came in, went 5 for 5 to beat the Steelers, lost his next start, then won the next five. The Chiefs started Grbac in the last game of the season, then lost 14-10 to Denver in their first playoff game after going 13-3. Gannon played one more season in Kansas City before signing with Oakland, making them a legitimate Super Bowl contender for the only time in the last 15 season. The moral is you want continuity going into the playoffs, and you frequently see NFL quarterbacks turning their career around after the age of 30.