You know, sometimes we all have to wonder about the qualifications of some of these TV/Radio/Internet NFL pundits, myself included. Yesterday I received my weekly Sports Illustrated and like I usually do I open it to the NFL articles first. Yesterday I went right to the “Inside the NFL” section first because I was short on time. This section is done by Peter King and this week it included his All-Pro team. Obviously, because I’m writing this, it raised a little ire in my soul.
All in all, his All-Pro team is not too bad, some players here and there could have been flip-flopped, but one position stood out like a sore thumb. That position is cornerback. Maybe this was some kind of joke, I don’t know, but one of King’s choices for All-Pro cornerback was the Oakland Raiders Nnamdi Asomugha. OK, no problem, I have never heard of him really, but I’ll look him up. Not saying Charles Woodson should have been his choice, but being a Packers’ fan and considering the great year Woodson had, I thought I would compare Asomugha’s 2008 stats to Woodson, who we all know ended up second in the NFL with seven interceptions.
Here are the numbers:
Tackles: Woodson 62, Asomugha 40.
Sacks: Woodson 3, Asomugha 0.
Interceptions: Woodson 7, Asomugha 1.
Passes defended: Woodson 17, Asomugha 9.
Mr. King’s comment about Asomugha is this: “Became the league’s best CB this year”.
I have to wonder if King watched any other cornerbacks this year. He probably saw one Raiders game and Asomugha dazzled him so ergo, he gets the vote. That is the problem with most of these guys, they don’t see very many actual games. Only the big games or prime-time games, so their opinions are based on a half-dozen glances at a player or team, or less. They don’t have the luxury of watching every game like I do with NFL Ticket because most of the time they are working at the time. So I can understand a little, but to pick a guy like Asomugha over Woodson or probably a dozen other corners is absolutely ludicrous. I’ve lost a little respect for Mr. King.
And let me make this clear, this rant is not just about Woodson, hell, Tramon Williams probably had as good of numbers as Asomugha, in fact the other 31 teams all probably had a guy with better numbers than Asomugha. This is just about a guy getting paid a handsome sum to report on the NFL and obviously doesn’t do his homework or is being paid-off. I do think guys like King and Chris Mortensen of ESPN and Adam Schefter of NFL Network are always trying to one-up each other, at this point, and maybe because it is the NFL Network, Schefter has clearly become the top of the class. Schefter is usually the first to report and is always right. I would love to see his All-Pro team.
I don’t claim to be an expert by any means, but I know I see more games than most of these guys other than Shefter. So I think I know a little bit about the NFL, certainly not an expert but I certainly wouldn’t pick a guy like Asomugha to my All-Pro team, that is for sure. Most fans, when you think about it, see more different teams play than the network guys. A guy or gal who watches all the Packers games sees 10 different teams outside the usual six division games. My guess is a top-level network guy sees maybe half that many teams as they always following the top teams or games that are on their prime-time schedule. How many times have you heard an announcer group say “this is the fourth time we saw them this year and blah, blah, blah”, they focus on the big names and big teams only.
So the bottom line is don’t let these guys who don’t cover your team cause you any angst. They don’t know jack (I used to love that PC game). The opinions you get from the local guys from the Gazette and JS Online are much more realistic. Myself, I’m not a reporter, I’m not getting paid from anybody, I’m just a fan who loves to rant about my favorite team, and judging from your responses, you are too. If you look back at our rants over the past season, many of the things we thought needed to happen have now happened, whether it be during the season or since the season ended.
Who do you think is the most trusted or most despised columnist or reporter? P. King is moving up my despised list, obviously Schefter is on top of my trusted list. I also like Mortensen. Jay Glazer is also very good. Who do you trust?