NFL news: On the field and off the field, a lot going on around the league

The NFL season just keeps rolling along. Things change every year, including for the Cleveland Browns, in a couple of ways.

I interviewed halfback Paul Hornung of the Green Bay Packers once in Las Vegas at a Hall of Fame show, working for the Beckett Football Price Guide. One of my questions was how different football was now versus in his playing days. He said one major thing he noticed was the rule about the ground not being able to

cause a fumble. He said in his day, a ball carrier had to be down for three seconds. In that span of hitting the turf, defenders could punch, gouge, hit, spit, and grab at the ball, and if it came out, it was a live ball.

Some of the original rules of the pro game were very odd. A punt could be recovered by either team. If the ball was fumbled out of bounds, whichever team brought it back into the field of play had possession. A field goal was worth five points because it was attempted straight back from the point the touchdown occurred, making some really difficult angles.

The universe of professional football has also attracted some unusual stuff. Here is what’s on my mind.

1. The United Football League fired the GMs of all of its eight member teams. The league stated that this move was part of a larger restructuring plan. They also announced that all of their head coaches would now be full-time employees of the league instead of seasonal. Also, they abandoned the two-conference setup and now all teams are in one division with the top four advancing to the playoffs. The ACC in college football did the same this year.

All of this is confusing to me. I never understood what their GMs did in the first place. The league owns all eight clubs, so there is no draft to be concerned about or scouting. All players are paid a set amount, so no agents to deal with or haggling with contract numbers.

All players are on a one-year deal anyway. The rosters are a revolving door of player nameplates each year, as some get picked up by NFL and CFL teams. With players coming and going, there isn’t really a need for a coach to be on staff all year long. No scouting is done, no college All-Star games to attend, or college games to watch.

The league has already cleared out of the three cities it is abandoning: San Antonio, Memphis, and Detroit. Leases are in place for their new digs in Columbus, Orlando, and Louisville. Both Texas teams have moved to soccer stadiums as the Houston Roughnecks changed their team name to the Houston Gamblers, an old USFL moniker.

St. Louis draws really well in their domed stadium and has proved they should be on the short list for the next round of NFL expansion. The rest of the league does poorly at the gate, with most games under 15,000. The season will begin in late March with the championship game in the middle of June. This allows players to compete and then have time before NFL training camps begin if signed.

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2. Well, last week, an NFL record became toast. Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Cam Little nailed a 68-yard field goal to break the record. The Jags were down 6-0 in the second quarter to the Las Vegas Raiders, who scored a touchdown but missed the PAT. Jacksonville began on its own 31-yard line with 35 seconds left in the first half. Two pass completions plus one incompletion, the Jaguars were now on the 50 with five seconds left. Out trotted Little. His kick had at least eight yards of clearance. Two months ago, in a preseason game, Little hit a 70-yarder against the Pittsburgh Steelers, which only counts as an asterisk because it was an exhibition game.

Little looks like he is still in high school and is still waiting to learn how to shave. He has a tremendous leg, obviously. He was taken in the sixth round in last year’s NFL draft out of Arkansas, where he was First Team All-SEC. He was named to the NFL All-Rookie Team after converting 27-29 field goal attempts and 27-27 on PATs.

The previous record was 66 yards in 2021 by Justin Tucker of the Baltimore Ravens. The longest tenured field goal was Tom Dempsey’s 63-yarder in 1970. It was the first successful field goal over 60 yards in NFL history. That record stood for 28 years until Jason Elam of the Denver Broncos tied it in 1998. Another Bronco, Matt Prater, broke that record with a 64-yard field goal in 2013.

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3. Have you seen the Penn State punter? The dude is huge. Gabe Nwosu is 6’-6” and 292 pounds. He is a senior and averages 46.4 yards per kick. He also performs all of Penn State’s kickoffs and is an accomplished kicker with a range of about 45 yards. And get this: he has earned Academic All-Big Ten honors every season.

Nwosu grew up in Maryland and was named First Team All-Conference twice. Was invited to play in the Blue-Grey All-American Bowl for advanced athletes. In high school, he was selected as an Honors Society member. Is of Nigerian descent.

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4. Dallas Cowboys DE Marshawn Kneeland has passed away on Wednesday night at the age of just 24 years old. He was a second-round pick last year out of Western Michigan and part of the Cowboys’ effort to rebuild the defensive line. The players are on their bye week and are not scheduled to practice again until Monday.

If you watched the Cowboys versus the Arizona Cardinals on Monday Night Football, after the blocked punt, it was Kneeland who recovered the ball in the end zone for the touchdown.

According to the Frisco (Texas) Police report, they were in a chase to bring Kneeland’s vehicle to a stop as the defensive end evaded State Troopers during a pursuit. His vehicle entered the city limits of Frisco at 10:39 p.m. CT and then subsequently crashed. Kneeland fled the scene on foot, and officers searched the area with help from K-9 and drone units. The gruesome final details are in the video above if you would like to know them.

May God bless his soul and allow his family to find peace.

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5. A lot of ink has been dedicated to the Philadelphia Eagles and their “Tush Push.” Ever since Pee Wee Football, this has been called the “Quarterback Sneak.” Back in the day, it was illegal for a player to assist another player. Officially, the rule is called “Helping the runner” and was first enacted in the late 1890s. Essentially, the rule makes it so that another player can’t assist the runner by pushing, pulling, carrying, or lifting him off the ground.

The ”Tush Push” works with QB Jalen Hurts going forward, and two players lined up in running back spots, basically push the hell out of Hurts as the offensive line dives down at the shins of the defensive linemen. So, why isn’t this rule being called on the Eagles?

The NFL is always looking to give the offensive side of the ball an edge. It would not shock anyone if the league eventually passed a rule where the defense could only play 10 players. In 2005, the NFL altered the rule that a penalty would be called if the ball carrier was pulled or carried, but not pushed from behind.

Every time the NFL owners get together, they discuss this play and vote on making it illegal. But so far, that has failed. The problem is, it succeeds in a very high percentage. It is gold for a one-yard gain. In one game, the Eagles had a first and goal at the three-yard line, and performed three straight “Tush Push” plays until they were in the end zone.

And of course, the play is an issue with 31 owners. Nobody has figured out its Achilles heel. The method to stop it is to go back to the origins of the rule and not allow anyone to assist the runner by pushing him forward. For the Eagles, they can’t see why the play must be condemned if no other defensive unit can stop it.

What isn’t being talked about is Arizona Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett. He is a master of gaining one yard on the QB sneak, also with a high percentage of conversion. He started 11 games for the Cleveland Browns back when QB Deshaun Watson was on suspension. When Watson returned to the starting role, any time one yard was needed, out came Brissett for the conversion.

But Brissett doesn’t get the exposure or notoriety of his success the way the Eagles have. I offer that when Brissett is lined up for a QB sneak, they should call it the “Busch Push.” This is in honor of the franchise’s time in St. Louis, where they played in Busch Stadium for 27 years.

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6. EDGE rusher Myles Garrett is recognized as one of the premier pass rushers in the league. We all know this. In Week 8 against the New England Patriots, he terrorized QB Drake Maye all game. Even lining up a tight end for the second half to chip Garrett didn’t help much.

Garrett had five sacks in this game. A lot of players don’t have five sacks for the entire season, yet here was Garrett beating tackles, guards and tight ends for most of the game. In the Patriots first drive, he had a sack on third down that ended a drive and forced a field goal. He added another in the second quarter on a third-and-six. He had three in the second half.

Yet, when the AFC Defensive Player of the Week nod came out, Garrett was absent for the weekly award. He had five sacks. In one game. He also tallied six tackles, a forced fumble, five QB hits, and five tackles for loss.

Instead, Miami Dolphins LB Jordyn Brooks took home the honor with 10 tackles, one sack, one QB hit, and three tackles for loss. What am I missing?

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7. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was all smiles after trading for New York Jets DT Quinnen Williams. Dallas traded a 2026 second-round pick, a 2027 first-round pick, plus DT Mazi Smith.

Williams is a really good defensive player. But he is known for his ability to stop the run. The Cowboys were in great need of a pass rusher. I really don’t get the trade. It appears the Jets made out. The first round selection they got is the higher of Dallas’ two first-round picks that year.

What was odd was the fact that the Cowboys are ranked #32 in pass coverage, yet stood pat on getting in some help. I do like the trade they made for LB Logan Wilson. He is a good tackler and can cover a tight end.

Suddenly, Dallas now has three defensive tackles who are making at least $20 million. That seems a bit much, eh? And they still can’t cover a pass.

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8. Antonio Brown is one of those players who was taken late in the draft (Round 6) and then became a star receiver in the league while with the Pittsburgh Steelers. After Pittsburgh, he became known as a knucklehead. We all know receivers are the “look at me” guys on every team, but Brown went to uncharted territory to get noticed.

Brown has now been arrested in Dubai on attempted murder charges from an incident involving a shooting in Miami after a celebrity boxing event. U.S. Marshals traveled all the way to Dubai in order to take him into custody. Supposedly, on his social media accounts, he has posted from there over the past few months.

He is accused of grabbing a handgun from a security staffer after the match and then firing two shots at a man with whom Brown had gotten into a fistfight. One of the bullets grazed the man’s neck. His charges carry a maximum of 15 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine if convicted.

Charges and being in trouble are nothing new for Brown. He has had several domestic violence charges, was arrested for failure to pay child support, and was accused of battery of a truck driver.

But you have to admit, his video of him while a member of the Bucs taking off his jersey, shoulder pads, and gloves, while waving to the crowd half naked, tossing his sleeveless shirt into the crowd along with his gloves, still makes you laugh. I still have never seen anything like that.

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9. Ever since the Cardinals defeated the Cowboys on Monday Night Football, it seems that is all that every sports talk show and podcast are talking about. They act like Arizona was a chump team because of their 2-5-0 record.

But the Cardinals were winning or tied in every single game late in the contest. They came back from 20-6 against a very good Seattle Seahawks team to tie them with 28 seconds left, yet lost. The Cards were ahead of the San Francisco 49ers 15-13 with 1:46 remaining after several dropped passes could have altered the game. Arizona was up 21-6 against a hapless Tennessee Titans club looking for their first loss, only to have their offense not be able to run out the clock, punt with 1:53 left, and lose on a last-second field goal.

They led the Green Bay Packers, one of the league’s best teams, all game and had a 23-20 lead with 5:58 on the clock, only to let it go 27-23. Another good team, the Indianapolis Colts, was getting beaten 27-24 with 4:32 left, but pulled it out 31-27.

Against the Cowboys, during the broadcast late in the game, analyst Troy Aikman stated, “Arizona Cardinals are the best worst team in the NFL.”

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10. Strange to see where Browns TE David Njoku was happy he wasn’t traded. The most likely trade partner was the Packers (Editor’s note: I can confirm that Green Bay at least called Cleveland about a deal for the tight end. Uncertain how far that conversation went) after they lost starting TE Tucker Kraft, who was having a terrific year. Njoku would have moved from a team that could end up with double-digit losses for two consecutive seasons to a playoff contender. This is his ninth year in the league. Usually, after five seasons, players are looking for better clubs so that they can at least experience a Super Bowl in their lifetime instead of inviting friends and family over for a Super Bowl party.

Njoku went through that 0-16 year and this past draft, the team used a third-round pick on Harold Fannin, the nation’s top receiver despite playing the tight end position. Fannin could be seen as a compliment or Njoku’s replacement. He is in his final contract year, and so far, no extension has been offered. All of these are negatives that he could have avoided.

Of course, some of that sentiment means he no longer has to sell his home, find a new place, get new doctors, pack up the family and enter his kids in a new school, and go from chilly Cleveland to frigid Wisconsin.

He is known for making the tough catch, and his yards after contact numbers are always in the Top 5 each year. In an interview after the trade deadline came and went, a reporter asked him if he was sorry he didn’t get traded, to which he yelled, “Jesus Christ. No!” Sometimes, a person can’t be dazzled with jewelry.