Posted on 14 September 2011. Tags: Belichick, breaks, coach, Derrick Mason, Documentary, Ed Sabol, everything, Films', getty images, ground, Kansas City Chiefs, Nfl, Nfl Films, Sideline, work
In 1970 Ed Sabol convinced Kansas City Chiefs coach Hank Stram to wear a microphone throughout Super Bowl IV, and the result was an NFL Films documentary that gave fans an unprecedented appear inside the mind of a coach. It took 4 decades, but NFL Films may possibly have lastly topped itself.
Bill Belichick: A Football Life, an NFL Films documentary that premieres on NFL Network Thursday night, is structurally diverse from the Super Bowl IV video but comparable in the level of insight it provides: Unless you’ve been on an NFL coaching staff, you haven’t seen an NFL coach like this prior to. In the course of the 2009 season Belichick gave NFL Films access to everything — the locker room, the sideline, team meetings, discussions with Patriots owner Robert Kraft, quiet moments with Belichick’s son, almost everything — and the resulting documentary is fairly extraordinary.
Among the most interesting moments are the ones when Belichick talks to or talks about opposing players. At one point in the course of a Patriots-Ravens game, Baltimore receiver Derrick Mason approaches the New England sideline and says something to Belichick, to which Belichick replies, “Why don’t we speak after the game, alright? Just shut the f-k up.” But with footage from game-preparing sessions, viewers can see how considerably Belichick respects certain opposing players, notably Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis and Ravens safety Ed Reed.
When Belichick gets angry on the sideline, it is typically simply because something he addressed in those game-planning sessions does not get executed correctly on Sunday. Footage of Belichick telling his staff in a meeting that the defense has to be prepared for passes to the Jets’ Jerricho Cotchery and Dustin Keller in the seam are interspersed with the Jets successfully passing to Cotchery and Keller in the seam.
“That’s two down the seam,” Belichick barks soon after the Jets’ large plays. “That’s what we were talking about all week.”
But Belichick is also surprisingly funny on the sidelines, ribbing Wes Welker about Julian Edelman becoming the Wally Pipp to Welker’s Lou Gehrig (a reference Welker didn’t get), and telling officials who had been wearing orange-striped AFL throwback uniforms, “You should have seen the s-t they tried to put me in.”
In a moment from 2009 that feels particularly compelling in light of the Patriots’ surprising decision in 2010 to trade Randy Moss, Belichick can be heard complaining to his coaching staff that the team’s wide receivers do not have a powerful sufficient work ethic. Belichick said he wished his receivers would have taken it upon themselves to remain after practice to do added work with Tom Brady.
“Wednesday practice is over and where do the receivers go? Straight in,” Belichick said. “‘We’ve got it all down. We do not require additional function.’ That sums it up for me.”
Not almost everything about Belichick is challenging-nosed, nonetheless. Belichick is shown fighting back tears when he reminisces about his years as an assistant with the Giants, saying, “It’s tough not to get choked up about it.”
It is challenging not to love access like that. NFL Films delivered in a huge way with Bill Belichick: A Football Life.
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Posted in NFL News and Rumors
Posted on 24 July 2011. Tags: “Hard, Challenging, com, knocks, Knocks”, Lockout, news, Nfl Films, Peter King, taking into consideration, televsion, There, this, year
It’s probable that the lockout will only expense us 1 preseason game. Unfortunately, it will also kill 1 of the finest shows on televsion for a year.
Peter King of SI.com reports there will be no Challenging Knocks this year.
The news hardly comes as a surprise considering the timing of the end of the lockout. NFL Films also seemed to be struggling to get a team to agree to do the show.
Let’s just hope it returns in 2012.
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Posted in NFL News and Rumors
Posted on 12 June 2011. Tags: Cam Newton, Could, edition, Getty, getty images, Greg Cosell, Jerry Mcdonald, Nfl Films, Perfect, Pryor, quarterback, Raiders, Terrelle
In Sunday morning’s edition of the Oakland Tribune, Jerry McDonald makes a compelling case for former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor to join the Silver and Black.
The Raiders were identified to be exceptionally high on 1 athletic quarterback in April’s draft, and Pryor is expected to be obtainable for the supplemental version. McDonald calls it “a slam dunk” that Raiders owner Al Davis need to take a flier on Pryor if he’s offered in the third round or later.
McDonald believes that Pryor resembles No. 1 overall pick Cam Newton “in a lot of approaches,” from athleticism to stature to “comparable arm strength.” (NFL Films guru Greg Cosell would disagree.) As a three-year college starter, Pryor also has much much more expertise than Newton entering the pros.
Whether or not you agree with McDonald’s Pryor-Newton comparison, the Pryor-Raiders connection makes plenty of sense. Pryor has the measurables that Davis covets, and the Raiders’ pre-draft infatuation with Colin Kaepernick confirms that they are indeed looking for a developmental quarterback. 49ers G.M. Trent Baalke was “convinced” that the Raiders had been trying to trade up in the draft for Kaepernick.
It’s worth noting that the Raiders already traded away their 2012 second- and fourth-round picks. Since supplemental selections price a team the corresponding pick in next year’s draft, the Raiders would not be eligible to draft Pryor in either of those rounds.
But they could take him in the third or fifth.
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Posted in NFL News and Rumors
Posted on 29 May 2011. Tags: Challenging, down, Hard, Hbo, knocks, Mistake, Nfl, Nfl Films, Obtaining, Paul Pioneer Press, problem concern, St Paul Pioneer Press, turn, Vikings', Zygi Wilf
Discovering the appropriate team to participate in Challenging Knocks on HBO is excellent. But make no mistake: Locating any team willing to invite NFL Films to training camp can be a challenge.
In an interview with the St. Paul Pioneer Press, owner Zygi Wilf confirmed the Vikings have been 1 of the teams approached to do the show. They turned HBO down.
“We have other problems – the stadium and football – and we need to focus on those,” Wilf says.
The producers for the show have an issue with both the lockout and lack of interest from teams thus far. At some point, the network will possibly have a “drop dead” date that the lockout would need to be resolved just before show goes away for a year.
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Posted in NFL News and Rumors
Posted on 27 May 2011. Tags: “Hard, Challenging, coach, Knocks”, Mike, Mike Tannenbaum, nail, Nfl, Nfl Films, profane, Rex Ryan, Ryan, ryan and co, showed, Steve Sabol, Tannenbaum
Rex Ryan is a profane blowhard who also happens to be an exceptional coach, beloved by his players. At least, that’s how he was portrayed on Challenging Knocks, and 1 of the men who works with Ryan each day says the Challenging Knocks portrayal hit the nail on the head.
Jets General Manager Mike Tannenbaum stated in an interview with ESPN 101 in St. Louis that the portrayal put forward by NFL Films was completely accurate.
“Steve Sabol and his crew at NFL Films, they do a great job and truly what you saw with Rex is who he is,” Tannenbaum stated, via SportsRadioInterviews.com. “He’s dynamic. He’s funny. He’s self-deprecating. That’s really who he is and I feel the players can relate to his authenticity.”
Tannenbaum had absolutely nothing but good things to say about Hard Knocks, how it showed off the Jets to the league and inspired players to put in their finest effort with the cameras on. Given that — and given how entertaining Ryan and Co. were — it’s too poor that the Jets won’t consider performing it once again this year.
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Posted in NFL News and Rumors
Posted on 30 April 2011. Tags: available, draft, Greg Cosell, guru, headlines, look, Nfl, Nfl Films, noon, players, quarterback, Ricky, Stanzi, third day, three
Days one and two of the 2011 draft have come and gone. But plenty of projected day-two picks remain available heading into day three. The third day of the draft begins at noon eastern. Here’s a look at eight interesting players left: 1. Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi: NFL Films guru Greg Cosell has likened Stanzi’s…
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Posted in NFL News and Rumors
Posted on 14 April 2011. Tags: Blaine Gabbert, Brady, Buffalo, Coach Brian Billick, Documentary, Dolphins', Don Banks, Florida State Qb, Jacquizz Rodgers, Jets, Mock Draft, Mocks, morning, Nfl Films, One Liners, oneliners, Oregon State, Ravens, Rb, Thursday, Thursday Morning, Weei
SI.com’s Don Banks mocks Missouri QB Blaine Gabbert to Buffalo at No. 3. This mock draft has the Dolphins picking Florida State QB Christian Ponder at No. 15. WEEI.com reviews NFL Films’ “The Brady 6” documentary. Here’s a look at the Jets’ preseason schedule. Former Ravens coach Brian Billick scouts Oregon State RB Jacquizz Rodgers.…
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Posted in NFL News and Rumors
Posted on 04 April 2011. Tags: about, Anthony, Brains, Brethren, Castonzo, Cosell, Espn, Greg, Greg Cosell, Greg Smith, gushes, Love, Nfl Films, Nfl Matchup, Rotoworld, Singing The Praises, Smith, Tyron, Tyron Smith
Greg Cosell of NFL Films, one of the brains behind the excellent NFL Matchup show on ESPN, has taken to Twitter. (We’d love to know what his Uncle Howard would have to say about that.) Greg, as noted by our corporate brethren at Rotoworld, has posted a message today singing the praises of the top…
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