Summer is coming to a close so that can only mean one thing. No, not pumpkin spice everything but the return of the best sport this world has to offer: football. Before we start this wild, six month journey let’s set the table with a few stories to watch for this season.
A- Aaron Rodgers. Now that Jordan’s fifteen seconds of fame are over we can start paying attention to the most important Rodgers. The best quarterback in football takes the field with his best weapon, Jordy Nelson, coming back from an ACL tear. The Packers are one of the top teams in the NFC and Rodgers is the reason why.
B- Back-to-Back. First and foremost, shoutout to Drake. This isn’t a nod to him, though. This year Cam Newton will try to show that last year’s MVP campaign wasn’t a fluke. Life should be a lot easier now that Kelvin Benjamin is back in the fold.
C- Catch. With all the technology, sensors, HD screens, and replay officials the NFL still can’t definitively define what a catch is. LOLOLOL.
D- Dictator. Dictator Goodell just can’t seem to stop flexing his power whenever he feels like it. Last year it was chasing Tom Brady and this year his focus is on those mentioned in the Al Jazeera report not named Peyton Manning. James Harrison, Clay Matthews, and Julius Peppers refused to go to the principal’s office until the principal threatened to suspend them. It’s clear Goodell has nothing on these players but it doesn’t matter. That’s how dictatorships work.
E- ESPN’s Pre-Game Show. ESPN has made drastic changes to NFL Sunday Countdown and the Monday Night Football Crew. Mike Tirico left the MNF booth for NBC Sports and was replaced with Sean McDonough. The Sunday Countdown crew, on the other hand, is completely new. Chris Berman still holds down the host chair but his counterpart for 20+ years, Tom Jackson, has retired. Ray Lewis, Keyshawn Johnson, Mike Ditka and Chris Carter are gone while Randy Moss, Matt Hasselbeck, and Charles Woodson take over. ESPN has desperately tried to match the magic that Fox Sports has with Howie Long & crew. Hopefully this is the answer.
F- Fantasy. The best part about the NFL season outside of seeing your team win is playing fantasy. Need some advice? We have everything you need.
G- Gronk. With Tom Brady being suspended for the first four games the Patriots are going to need a heavy does of the Madden 17 cover-boy to survive. Gronk is the best tight end in the game and should feast no matter who is throwing him the ball.
H- Head Trauma. This will always be a story as long football is still the most violent game on the planet. Players are now taking concussions into account and many have retired early. This is a trend that will continue until a resolution can be found.
I- Injured Reserve. The two worst words in all of football. Injuries always find a way to shape how the season plays out and this year will not be different. J.J. Watt is already scheduled to miss time with a back issue and we’ve seen Tony Romo scare us with an awkward fall from their Seahawks game.
J- Josh Gordon. After a yearlong suspension Gordon returns to a made over Cleveland team. Hue Jackson is his new coach and former Baylor teammate RGIII is his new quarterback. The Browns invested a lot of picks in the past draft on wide receivers so Josh must walk the straight and narrow if he wants to continue playing for the Browns.
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K- Kickoffs. Rumor has it that both college football and the NFL have already discussed eliminating kickoffs. The ripple effect to how the game is played will be fascinating to watch.
L- Los Angeles. Football is back in LA for the first time since 1995. The Rams will play in the Coliseum until Farmers Field is complete. Hard Knocks has already given us a behind the scenes look of the move and everything since. That’s not all, either. The Rams traded up for Jared Goff and Todd Gurley tries to one-up his impressive rookie year. They also happen to employ the best defensive tackle in the game, Aaron Donald.
M- Madden 17. What’s football season without Madden? The EA Sports franchise has released the yearly staple and fans have swarmed. If you can’t be a professional football player then you might as well control them, right?
N- NRG Stadium. All roads lead to Houston. NRG Stadium will host Super Bowl 51 and the Texans will try to be the first team to play a home Super Bowl game. Will they succeed? That depends on if Brock Osweiler is the missing piece.
O- Odell Beckham Jr. The Giants lightning rod enters his third year in the league. He’s already one of the best receivers in the game but that has come with a price. He’s caught a lot of criticism from other players, especially Josh Norman, about his antics. Luckily for Beckham he’ll have a chance to play Norman twice a year now that he plays in Washington.
P- PEDs. Slowly but surely PEDs have become a huge story in the NFL. Lane Johnson has been suspended for ten games because of a supplement with an unapproved ingredient. This is Johnson’s second offense. Other big names like DeMarcus Lawrence have also been suspended for PED use. It will be interesting to see if the NFL’s PED problem explodes like it did in baseball.
Q- Qualcomm Stadium. The only thing good in San Diego right now is the weather. Their contract dispute with Joey Bosa has taken a front seat but Qualcomm Stadium is still a major issue. The old stadium is awful by NFL standards and the city needs to build a new one. The problem? The city can’t source the funding for a new stadium. The league has demanded a new stadium be built if San Diego wants to host another Super Bowl. Hey, at least it’s sunny there.
R- Rookie Quarterbacks. The Rams and Eagles traded a lot of assets to jump up and draft Jared Goff and Carson Wentz. Goff will be the day one starter for the Rams but Philadelphia is taking it slow with the North Dakota State product. He’s going to sit behind Sam Bradford and Chase Daniel for a year while he gets acclimated to the NFL. Not to be outdone, Dak Prescott has been putting on a show this preseason. The Cowboys may have gotten the steal of the draft if he pans out.
S- Suspensions. We’ve touched on suspensions due to PED use but there are far more reasons to miss games. Tom Brady is missing four games due to his involvement in deflategate. Martavis Bryant is serving a yearlong suspension due to substance abuse. Le’Veon Bell is serving a three game suspension for missing a drug test. It’s clear the suspensions may put some Super Bowl contenders behind the eight ball early.
T- Trades. Huge trades in the NFL are rare but still fun to talk about. The Eagles have already made a splash by trading Dennis Kelly for Dorial Green-Beckham and the Patriots have just taken Barkevious Mingo out of the Brown’s hands. Earlier this year the Patriots sent Chandler Jones to Arizona in what they hope to be the missing piece in bringing the Lombardi to the desert.
U- Umpires. What’s an NFL season without some umpire controversy?
V- Vegas. The raiders have filed trademark applications that will make the Las Vegas Raiders real. Photos of their new stadium surfaced and it seems all but official that they’ll be leaving Oakland. It’s going to be interesting to see how an NFL team will do while residing in Sin City.
W- Walking Dead. Seriously, who did Negan beat the holy hell out of?
X- XFL. It’s been 15 years since this roamed a field. R.I.P.
Y- Young Guns. The talent in college football right now is enough to make anyone want to hit fast forward to the 2017 draft. Deshaun Watson leads a class that will probably go down as one of the best in history. Leonard Fournette, Dalvin Cook, and Christian McCaffrey are the main attractions in a running back class that is truly special.
Z- Zeke. Ezekiel Elliott will take center stage in a Cowboys offense that has been yearning for a running back since DeMarco Murray left. They hope to recapture the magic that Aikman, Smith, and Irvin had during the “good ole days.”
There you have it, now you know your ABCs for the new season. Want to add your own? Shoot me a tweet @mattgarrett41.
As always, thanks for reading.
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