Mile High Monday: Rave reviews for Lock, Atwater gets the call
Feb 3, 2020, 6:42 AM
The Super Bowl is the end of the football season and it’s a huge celebration of the game. In fact, the entire NFL world descended upon Miami last week in preparation for the big game. Fans from all over the country – not just San Francisco or Kansas City Chiefs – were on South Beach having fun and sharing the love for the game we call football.
I like going to the Super Bowl and wrapping up my football season at the ultimate game. It’s truly a blessing to get to do this for a living, and I certainly appreciate the opportunity to cover the game for The Fan every year.
Setting up for #SBLIV @1043TheFan #FANinMiami pic.twitter.com/BnXvAjX0LF
— Cecil Lammey (@CecilLammey) February 2, 2020
I also like contemplating life and sports when driving around with the top down on my old Jeep TJ – even in February! The following is a result of those trips during the week.
Buckle up, let’s take a ride through my thoughts.
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They Are The Champions
The Chiefs won Super Bowl LIV by a score of 31-20. They started off the game slowly, as has been the case recently for Kansas City, but they turned things on late to score points in bunches and get the big win. It was fascinating to see the way the Chiefs kept fighting and pulled plays out of the play book we hadn’t seen before.
Good coaches take ideas from all levels of football. Good coaches look to the past to see if they can find wrinkles to help them today. Head coach Andy Reid went all the way back to the 40s for a play design they used on a fourth-down conversion early in the game.
This is how the Chiefs set up the first 4th and 1 conversion. It was a direct snap to Damien Williams: pic.twitter.com/KvOck5Anuu
— Dani Welniak (@KCTVDani) February 3, 2020
According to offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, the play came from the 1949 Rose Bowl in a game that featured Michigan versus USC. Teams have to do things differently or show things not yet on tape when it comes to winning a championship in the NFL. Reid and Bieniemy went back 70-plus years to do just that – and that play helped them win it all.
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Hang Your Hat
The Broncos have been looking for a franchise quarterback ever since Peyton Manning retired about their Super Bowl 50 victory. They have tried picking a quarterback everywhere in the draft to no avail. They have tried to sign veteran free agents to start but that hasn’t worked either.
Perhaps now they have their quarterback in 2019 second-round pick Drew Lock.
This week in Miami, I was able to catch up with some of my coaching buddies from across the league. One assistant coach in the AFC told me that Lock is a “hang your hat on” guy – meaning that Lock is the type of player you can build a franchise around.
Lock has impressed multiple scouts and coaches around the league that I talk to. When I ask what stood out most for Lock as a rookie, the most common answer is his athletic arrogance or his “swagger” as a quarterback. Those who work in the NFL know a great quarterback must be a leader of men, and from the outside looking in people around the league recognize how Lock’s teammates respond to him.
It’s that “swagger” that can be a draw for other players. Most in the NFL are the ultimate competitors and they don’t want to lose. In fact, the best players hate losing. When coaches or scouts outside of Denver look at Lock, they see a guy who wants to win – badly – and that attitude can be infectious for the players around him.
Broncos general manager John Elway has been looking far and wide for a quarterback. With Lock, he likely has someone to hang his hat on.
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Thank God for Progress
The Collective Bargaining Agreement in the NFL runs through the 2020 season. This past week in Miami, sources around the NFLPA indicated they may be closer to a new CBA than most would think. Some of the rumored proposals the NFLPA may push include a delay to the 17-game schedule the owners are pushing for. In addition to waiting for the new TV contracts in 2021, the league would also eliminate one or two preseason games to lessen the load on players. Another rumored proposal includes the elimination of marijuana from the banned substance list.
Sounds like the NFL and NFLPA continue to make progress on this. The optimism is high. https://t.co/uN7gheFyrS
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 1, 2020
I’m glad there is progress and hope the two sides can work out a new CBA before any work stoppage happens. The 2011 season was held back by the last lockout and the play early in the season suffered because there was no offseason training activities or minicamp.
Instead, the Hall of Fame Game was missed in the preseason and players came directly to training camp only to play about a week later in the preseason opener. The NFL is the “golden goose” in professional sports, and there’s plenty of money to go around to both the owners and the players. Hopefully, cooler heads prevail.
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The Smiling Assassin
One of the greatest players to play this great game was Broncos safety Steve Atwater. He roamed the field with an intimidating presence and was certainly a player that opponents feared – and for good reason. Atwater could hit with the best of them and his stop of Chiefs power back Christian Okoye could be the best stop in NFL history.
Even though he retired in 1999 with clear Hall of Fame credentials, Atwater was not yet bestowed with that honor. That all changed on Saturday night as it was announced that Atwater could be in the 2020 Pro Football Hall of Fame class.
Super happy for @SteveAtwater27 on getting named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Certainly HoF on the field but also a HoF man and friend. Great guy. So humble. So knowledgeable. Congrats Steve! #Broncos @1043TheFan pic.twitter.com/z1POB8QSgB
— Cecil Lammey (@CecilLammey) February 1, 2020
It’s great to see the Broncos get more representation in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Atwater has long been a Hall of Fame player and now he’s been officially recognized. Quite simply, it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.
