TOO MANY DAMN CHIEFS….

Charles Barkley said it best. There are just too many damn sports shows with an over abundance of analysts, contributors & so called experts talking, squawking & over-analyzing. They believe their word is bond & everyone should take it as truth. Their opinions are so frickin’ nauseating that it makes you throw up, then reach through the TV screen & punch these ass hole know-it-alls straight in the face.

There are many examples of players, teams, coaches, etc that the sports media like to deify, hate or tear down. The most blatant display of this behavior is the NFL Draft. Every talking head chirps about their “brilliant” analysis of what teams are looking for. This is where too much opinion can sway the public’s perception on draftees because of the narratives that entities such as ESPN, Fox Sports & NFL Network manufacture due to soundbite reporting & lack of true fact finding.

Let’s use Connor Cook as an example. The winningest quarterback in Michigan State Football history. 34–5 as a starter. Won the Big 10 twice. MVP of the 2014 Rose Bowl. Led a tremendous comeback to win the 2015 Cotton Bowl. Has led the only team to beat Ohio State since Urban Meyer became its coach. Never lost to MICHIGAN (along with Kirk Cousins btw). His name is being dragged thru the proverbial mud like a dog with Maize & Blue fleas on it because he wasn’t voted a captain & had some alleged issue with Archie Griffin snatching the Big 10 trophy from him. These incidences, especially this so-called “why wasn’t he voted a captain” bit, is just some smoke & mirror bullshit to hype up network ratings while creating unfair public perceptions about one of the best college QBs (the best one in my opinion) in the draft. The “story” being created about Cook is that he’s not a leader, can’t be trusted & is an ass hole because of how he grabbed the Big 10 trophy. WTF?!?!?

Meanwhile, muppets like ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr & Todd McShay, & NFL Network Draft Analyst Guru Mike Mayock, parade around their “good guy” stories about Carson Wentz & Jared Goff, the alleged top QB prospects from North Dakota State & California respectively. These guys cream over Wentz & Goff like Cool Whip on top of an ice cream sundae. Wentz, who went up against talent nowhere near the caliber of what Cook faced, and Goff, who came from a mediocre Pac-12 program and to my knowledge, never won the conference. These are the dudes “annointed” to be the kings of the draft while Cook is deemed to be the “bad”, the “question mark”, the “can he”. And Kiper, McShay & Mayock don’t understand the perception they create in my opinion.

If you want to compare numbers between these QBs, here are their career stats:

Wentz - 64.1% CMP (completion percentage), 45 TDs, 14 INTs.

Goff - 62.3% CMP, 96 TDs, 30 INTs.

Cook - 57.5% CMP, 71 TDs, 22 INTs*.

So if you’re a stat stuffer, yeah the annointed guys look better than Cook. But I say again, what about the level of competition??? What about leading the team to comeback victories????What about winning the big time games??? Does any of that count??? K, M & M say Wentz & Goff have the “intangibles” to be a QB in the NFL, but how can you say that when the level of competition they played against is average to less than??? What analysis did they use to determine this intangible quality???

I’ll admit that I’m not an NFL scout, analyst, former team president or coach. But I do have what they all have, which are eyes. And my eyes showed me that Cook was among the best college QBs in the nation. Beyond his stats, his play backed it up & his gamesmanship backed it up. And again, it was against top notch competition. Maybe I’m somewhat bias because I’m a graduate of MSU, but I think I’m being quite objective here in making my point. Too many sports shows with too many talking heads giving too many opinions that shape the perception about players. It’s understandable if a player has noticeable questions of “character”, but to create doubt based on what you THINK the NFL is looking for is the concern. And guys like Kiper, McShay & Mayock lead the way in the madness.

*Stats taken from Sports Illustrated & Washington Post