Intelligence And Football?

[offiss]

I read an interview with Doc Walker and what he felt was a big problem with the Skins last season was that plain and simple they were too dumb.

I believe, or I am hoping the players that we had last season are smarter this year with a year to digest the playbook, and the new players we brought in are quick learners, [except Campbell of coarse ]I think Gibbs went out of his way to find players who are smart and all about focus and learning, who will be able to digest his playbook in a hurry, case and point this kid White, I just read an article about this kid's work ethic and desire to get better, now there's a Gibbs type player if I ever saw one.

The big question is, is Gibbs offense to complicated for today's NFL, When you consider free agency and all the flip flopping players do from team to team these day's? Will it take to long for players to pick up on the run so to say, or will the core player's who are familar with the system help speed up the maturation process for the new players coming in so that not everything is left to the coaches having to explain every last detail?

[GoSkins!]

Yeah, he did put the blame on the players for the offsides and the motion penalties. Not smart football. The good thing is that those problems were working themselves out by the end of the year. We should be much better at playing smart football this year.

[FRPLG]

Originally Posted by offiss

The big question is, is Gibbs offense to complicated for today's NFL, When you consider free agency and all the flip flopping players do from team to team these day's? Will it take to long for players to pick up on the run so to say, or will the core player's who are familar with the system help speed up the maturation process for the new players coming in so that not everything is left to the coaches having to explain every last detail?

I think if anything both offenses and defenses have gotten exponentially more complex since the early 90's. Gibb's was I think progressive for his time in complexity but is probably run of the mill today. where it presented problems was in that it was/is vastly different than most other offenses and guys were learning a entire new way of conducting an offense. Plus complex offenses just take a little while to get smoothed out. The ended up looking so vanilla because they couldn't run anythign well last year.
They be better this year and I'd bet the bank on it.

[Longtimefan]

What is this (Except Campbell of course)? One more than one occasion it seems reference has been made to Campbell not being intelligent and I don't know where that came from except maybe for some stupid "Wonderlink" score. There can be no doubt about the intelligence of a player who has been an Honor Roll student throughtout his academic tenure. Maybe if one compares that to Football smarts could be a different digest, however that remains to be seen. But to refer to him as not smart would allow one to draw varied conclusions and be insulting depending on the readers view.

[Redskins8588]

I really dont think that the wonderlick test means that much, I mean what did Dexter Manely get on his with his great reading ability?

[BrudLee]

Originally Posted by Longtimefan

What is this (Except Campbell of course)? One more than one occasion it seems reference has been made to Campbell not being intelligent and I don't know where that came from except maybe for some stupid "Wonderlink" score. There can be no doubt about the intelligence of a player who has been an Honor Roll student throughtout his academic tenure. Maybe if one compares that to Football smarts could be a different digest, however that remains to be seen. But to refer to him as not smart would allow one to draw varied conclusions and be insulting depending on the readers view.

I took his comments to mean that he doesn't want Campbell to have an impact on this season, since it would mean either serious injuries or horrible play.

I have no idea what Campbell's Wonderlic score was, but he impressed the football minds in our organization enough to make them go out to get him. That's enough for me.

[skinsguy]

It's funny, but Gibbs' offense was pegged as too simple last year. I don't believe the offense this year is going to be any more complicated than the other offenses in the NFL.

I believe Doc has a point. You can fuss and fight with the players all ya want, but it comes down to them playing smart on the field, and the Skins did make alot of dumb mistakes last season.

But, as I have been saying, let's forget about last season! I am ready for this season to begin!

[Sociofan]

An interesting post. I was watching ESPN Classic last night and they were showing interviews with players back in the 1980s. What struck me was that in all of them, the players appeared so much more poised, mature, and intelligent than what I see today. Just my imagination? Or has anyone else noticed the phenomenon? Is it the money? Are lower calibre characters being attracted to the NFL today? Are colleges failing to turn players into good citizens as well as great players these days? Of course that is not a blanket statement, but the sheer number of incidents on and off the field and the things I hear coming out of players' mouths tell me that character "ain't what it used to be!"

[SmootSmack]

I don't think athletes are worse. I think there's just less of a filter between what happens internally within a team and what the media lets the public know. Primarily because of the Internet and 24 hour sports networks we feel the need to know something new about our beloved team every five minutes. And the media feels an obligation to provide it.

And the thing is that the "negative" stories are the ones that attract the attention and keep people talking. But it's not like they necessarily consitute the majority of the players.

Take the Skins for example, the "stories" are LaVar and Sean Taylor. But those two are just two people (and Taylor still hasn't been found guilty of anything), yet no one talks about the solid player/citizens like Brandon Noble, Shawn Springs, Joe Salave'a, Matt Bowen, Marcus Washington, Renaldo Wynn, etc.

[Sociofan]

True. But even in the 80s, the stories were Art Monk's unparalleled work ethic, Darrell Green's philanthropic activities, The Hogs' bonding after practice. Even when Dexter was having his problems, we still thought of him as the guy overcoming illiteracy and speaking before Congress. And Riggo--he was just a colorful character.


Perhaps you are right. Maybe the media have changed direction and act more like sensationalist tabloids now. It just makes it harder for kids to have sports heroes anymore when the good things that Noble, Wynn and others are doing is constantly overshadowed in the press by the players more obsessed with guns, drugs, and money than with being a good teammate. Still, I wonder if the football mills have lowered their standards over the years (giving in to the pressures of making money at the college level) and are now churning out very talented players who would not have found a seat in the classroom 20 years ago. The UNLV-ization of football.

[skinsguy]

Originally Posted by Sociofan

An interesting post. I was watching ESPN Classic last night and they were showing interviews with players back in the 1980s. What struck me was that in all of them, the players appeared so much more poised, mature, and intelligent than what I see today.

That's also the magic of television and editing. Probably also, the players didn't have as much freedom to move around in the league like they do now. By that fact, players who had starting positions or just a roster spot on the team probably seemed rather lucky!

[wolfeskins]

you've hit the nail on the head Sociofan, and just think how bad it would be if the nfl followed the nba and started drafting high school kids. thats why i was so relieved when the courts sided with the nfl and blocked clarrett from entering the nfl early.

[monk81]

Originally Posted by Sociofan

An interesting post. I was watching ESPN Classic last night and they were showing interviews with players back in the 1980s. What struck me was that in all of them, the players appeared so much more poised, mature, and intelligent than what I see today. Just my imagination? Or has anyone else noticed the phenomenon? Is it the money? Are lower calibre characters being attracted to the NFL today? Are colleges failing to turn players into good citizens as well as great players these days? Of course that is not a blanket statement, but the sheer number of incidents on and off the field and the things I hear coming out of players' mouths tell me that character "ain't what it used to be!"

To prove your point Sociofan........
The Titans had 5 players arrested this offseason and the club even had a policeman come talk to the club about staying out of trouble :rolleyes

I think SOME colleges look the other way with character issues as long as their college is winning and this just transcends on to the NFL.........

Some colleges, for example I'm a Notre Dame fan (yeah Joey T, Renaldo Wynn and Jerome Bettis), ND has very high academic and character standards.....but ND isn't winning like they used to, because they can't get the best athletes because of their tough admission stands. They refuse to compromise so recruits are going elsewhere, and so is winning, and thus the NFL..ND used to be one of the top colleges for players drafted in the NFL.... sad state of affairs...

[Sociofan]

Funny that you mention Notre Dame. I was just listening to a press conference with Charlie Weis where the question about winning came up. Although he said that winning was how he would be judged, he also made mention of the fact that attracting top talent to ND is difficult because of the high academic standards. They would do the best they could with what they had and he believes that having a smart team is critical to football success, equating ND to the Patriots. The Fighting Irish for pete's sake! With a coach wearing 3 Super Bowl rings! How could you not attract talent there as in years past? It must be one of two things: 1) The overall pool of talent is just not of the academic and character calibre of years past, or 2) Other schools have lowered their standards so much that athletes don't worry too much about academics anymore. This is NOT a knock on Jason Campbell since I don't even know the guy. From what I have heard, he has tremendous character and work ethic. That's a great start in my book. As a football fan, I just don't want the NFL to develop this "thug" image that destroyed my interest in the NBA.

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by Sociofan

True. But even in the 80s, the stories were Art Monk's unparalleled work ethic, Darrell Green's philanthropic activities, The Hogs' bonding after practice. Even when Dexter was having his problems, we still thought of him as the guy overcoming illiteracy and speaking before Congress. And Riggo--he was just a colorful character.


Perhaps you are right. Maybe the media have changed direction and act more like sensationalist tabloids now. It just makes it harder for kids to have sports heroes anymore when the good things that Noble, Wynn and others are doing is constantly overshadowed in the press by the players more obsessed with guns, drugs, and money than with being a good teammate. Still, I wonder if the football mills have lowered their standards over the years (giving in to the pressures of making money at the college level) and are now churning out very talented players who would not have found a seat in the classroom 20 years ago. The UNLV-ization of football.

Well it's a good point about Notre Dame that monk81 brings up. But on the professional level I think we're essentially saying the same thing, Sociofan. It's not necessarily that are fewer upstanding player/citizens it's just that it's not reported as much. And it's a shame.