Could this be Tom Brady’s finest season yet?

What Tom Brady has been able to achieve this season with essentially spare parts at the offensive skill positions has been absolutely amazing. Could we be witnessing perhaps Brady’s finest season as a New England Patriot thus far?

Tom Brady - By Keith Allison from Baltimore, USA, via Wikimedia Commons

It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a big surprise that the New England Patriots stand as the sole obstacle to Peyton Manning and his All-Star crew making the Superbowl. NFL pundits, fans and the Las Vegas bookmakers all had the Patriots as 4th, 5th and even lower ranked AFC Champion favourites at various points of this crazy NFL season.

The Bengals, The Colts, Chargers, Ravens and Chiefs all received more plaudits than the Patriots at various junctures of the season, and many picked Indianapolis to walk into New England and upset the Patriots in last weekend’s divisional playoff game. However, like a stone cold vampire, like an Egyptian Mummy or any other of the army of the undead, the Patriots keep coming back from seemingly impossible situations, and forcing themselves into the spotlight time and time again.

In seasons past they have done so with a smattering of good-to-great players on defence and a couple of legitimate superstars on offence, all working in tandem with future Hall Of Fame Quarterback, Tom Brady. Name check time. Wes Welker, Rob Gronkowski, Jerod Mayo, Big Vincent Wilfork and Aaron Hernandez among others combined to make the Patriots a dangerous football team last season. Welker and Hernandez are gone, Mayo, Wilfork and Gronk are injured and will take no further part in this season. The heart was ripped out of the Patriots skill positions in particular before this season got meaningful.

Nevermind, the Patriots won the AFC East yet again and qualified for the playoffs with a first round bye to boot. How did this happen? Well, you can’t really say the defence has carried the team in the absence of any big name offensive players. Instead, the defence has had to overcome its own rash of injuries, and has managed to survive without breaking completely only because of some herculean performances from kids who weren’t drafted and the proverbial guys off the street (free agents picked up and thrown in at the deep end). That and the brilliant defensive scheming of Bill Belichick, of course.

The real reason the Patriots have been a playoff calibre team, despite massive obstacles, is the man at the rudder, Tom Brady. He has been a bright, shining light of consistent play all season long. His efficient, calm leadership has kept the Patriots scoring points despite the fact they are lacking literally any big name offensive presence.

Statistically the numbers are good, not great. Brady does manage to hang in around the NFL passing leaders in a few areas though. 4th in completions, 6th in total yards, a good TD/Int ratio of 25/11, and 7th in Yards per game average with 271, Brady has managed to hang around the leader-board despite the fact he had, you know, basically no one of note to throw to.

Achieving ‘good’ statistics when you are throwing to Wide Receivers that would barely make the cut on the Jaguars squad is an incredible feat in itself. Brady has efficiently led a very high scoring offence (The Patriots rank third in the NFL in 2013 with 444 points scored) despite the fact he is playing without a Tight End of note, with several small, slow slot receivers and with absolutely zero deep threat receivers.

A closer look at the gentlemen who fill out the Patriots Wide Receiver depth chart is illuminating.

Danny Amendola figured to be the jewel in the crown, yet has struggled to stay on the field. The Patriots best offensive player other than Tom Brady has probably been hard-nosed, hardworking Julian Edelman. However, and we’re desperate not to insult such a hard working player, it is fair to say Edelman would probably find it hard to get on any other squad in the NFL right now, particularly any playoff squad.

The names at the WR position after those two gents are underwhelming to say the least. Thompkins, Dobson, Collie and Slater are trying their best (when not injured) and again, you hate to insult anyone, but seriously, have a look at that list and consider Brady’s stats above.

It is literally miraculous that the Patriots scored 444 points in 2013.

Furthermore, Brady has done this with little more than the illusion of a running game behind him, with a group of running backs that either can’t stop putting the ball on the ground (Ridley), players no one has ever heard of (Bolden) or players the game of Football had more or less given up on completely (Blount).

In short, you can say with authority, while Peyton Manning lorded it with a cast of super star Pro Bowl types around him, Tom Brady played the 2013 season with, effectively, the bare minimum around him at the skill positions.

The amazing thing is the Patriots managed some very high point totals in ’13 (43, 55, 34 three times) and that is almost entirely down to the skill, experience and competitive tenacity of Tom Brady. He basically willed the Patriots offensive forward.

Here’s the thing, and it’s a great thing and a clue as to why the Patriots are where they are.

Brady himself would absolutely balk (vociferously) at the suggestion that he has not had a supporting cast around him in 2013. He would probably reject the suggestion outright and respectfully point to the various strong points of the players who have been toiling away for the Patriots this season. That’s Brady all over, a consummate leader, a terrific team-mate.

Add to that the experience that Brady and Bill Belichick have together leading the Patriots to 3 SuperBowls, 2 near misses, countless big game wins and a plethora of statistical wonders, and it is a little easier to understand why the Patriots are where they are today, standing once more on the brink of greatness.

Whatever happens this coming weekend In Denver, the 2013 season has been a personal triumph against the odds for Tom Brady.

Then again, when a guy is a 6th round draft pick and climbs to where Brady is at right now, nothing should surprise us.

Tom Brady - by Mongomez93

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Bookies release odds on Johnny Manziel staying at Texas A&M

All the talk on the Texas A&M campus right now is around whether Quarterback Johnny Manziel will stay for another year at the collegiate level, or if he will take his talents to the NFL instead. We talked to one of the bookmakers who has set odds on this very question.

Johnny Manziel

Texas A&M Quarterback Johnny Manziel led his team to one last big win last night, hammering Duke 52-48, and as soon as the game ended the questions started, will Manziel stay at the college level next season or will he join the ranks of the NFL?

The speculation is voluminous, to say the least. From Twitter threads to the sports pages, to Texas A&M forums filled with sad fans trying to convince each other he's staying, like passengers on the Titanic convincing each other the ship isn't going down.

To cut through the noise and get closer to a logical answer to the question, we approached a well known bookmaker to ask him, what are the odds of Johnny Manziel staying in school next season?

Viktor Jerkoffavitch of Back Alley Sports Betting had this to say;

''We took a number of things into consideration while setting these odds. After lengthy analysis it was clear to us that money, fame and, well, money, are probably more important to Manziel than anything else. So with that in mind we are offering 2,500/1 that Manziel will stay at Texas A&M.''

Manziel. Money.

''Of course there is also the fact that, you know, he hates being there, too.''

What these odds of 2,500/1 means is that it is rather unlikely that Mr Manziel will be staying in college for another year. Essentially there is, as they say, a snowball's chance in hell.

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Why is it okay for Manning to run the score up when Brady was slated for same?

Peyton Manning is scooping up awards and accolades at the same rate Matthew Stafford throws picks, and in general receiving positive press for doing something Tom Brady and the Patriots were widely scolded for doing in 2007: Namely, running up the score. Why the different attitude 6 years on?

Peyton Manning

In 2007 the New England Patriots set the NFL alight with some absolutely stunning football. In a perfect fusion of attacking, offensive football and smothering, point vulturing defence, the Brady Bunch swept all before them in the regular season, driving hard to a perfect 16-0 record. Some of the scorelines are, to this day, shocking. 

Only 4 times all season did the Patriots fail to score 30 more more. They scored over 40 4 times and over 50 twice. From weeks 6 through week 8 they scored a stunning, 48, 49 and 52 points. The Patriots offence was like a hungry Great White shark in a tiny swimming pool with fat, lazy salmon. It was no contest.

The reaction?

At first a kind of a stunned silence. Then some rather angry accusations of running the score up, particularly from teams and writers that were beaten by the bigger scores, for example here and also here.

Scoot forward a few years to 2013, and Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos are setting records that are actually breaking the ones the Patriots set, for example the total Touchdowns thrown, 50 by Brady, now 51 and counting by Manning. The Broncos have put up several lopsided scores and have continued throwing late into games also.

The reaction? 

Nothing short of sycophantic. The mainstream media have been involved in a season long Manning love-fest that is in danger of spiralling out of control. Manning is everywhere, goofily grinning down from billboards, ads and interviews, joking around with Ron Bergundy and basically being rammed down our throats by ESPN and the rest 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The man can do no wrong, even when repeating exactly what Brady did a few years ago, something that, at the time, people declared it very wrong indeed.

Why is this the case? Why can Peyton Manning get away with it?

Perhaps it is his goofy demeanour and enormous forehead? Manning admirably has no issue whatsoever making fun of himself in the National media. He seems like a pretty decent chap, and it would appear that long gone are the days where Manning would throw his own team mates under the bus, as with the Colts a few times after bitter losses (mostly to the Patriots).

Manning's forehead has its own zip code

Whatever about Manning's enormous forehead, perhaps the most logical reason people in general aren't as intimidated by the '13 Broncos as by the '07 Patriots is, Denver just aren't that good. Not only have they lost 3 games, which is 300% more than the '07 Patriots, they have lost to Brady and the most recent, very flawed version of those very same Patriots. Basically, Denver are a circus freak show, they can put up points on a record pace when the situation is in their favour, however when push comes to shove they will most likely fold under the pressure of a relatively predictable offence (stick 9 near the line of scrimmage and Manning has nowhere to go) and a frankly horrendous defence.

They just aren't that scary. 

Unlike the '07 Patriots, who sucked the very life out of several franchises on their way to that stunning 2007 regular season.

Maybe it's the Broncos 3 losses and inability to stop even the worst opposition scoring on them, maybe it's Manning's gigantic rectangular forehead and effortless goofiness. 

Whatever it is, it's fascinating to watch the media sycophantically pour adulation on Manning for doing exactly what Brady did 6 years earlier to, at that time, choruses of boos and angry scribes bashing on their keyboards.

It's amazing what a difference 6 years can make.

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Peyton Manning unveils new hot tub safety helmet

With millions of Americans retreating indoors from the cold to their hot tubs, the issue of hot tub safety is obviously a massive concern right now. Thankfully, one of the most safety aware professional athletes in the United States is on the case. 

Peyton Manning

When Steve Funkensloppen  of The American Hot Tub Safety Association (AHTSA) started his search for a Hot Tub safety awareness endorsement candidate, he wrote one name down on a piece of paper and brought it to his superiors. That name? Peyton Manning. Funkensloppen knew from the moment he was tasked with finding a suitable safety awareness star that Manning was his man.

Funkensloppen has always been a Denver Broncos fan and he was elated when Manning was brought on board to push the Broncos to the next level. Watching the veteran QB give classic displays of how not to get hit as a QB, Funkensloppen  put one and one together and knew he had his Hot Tub safety awareness superstar.

"Have you ever watched Manning drop like a dead animal every time an opposition linebacker gets within five yards of him? That’s veteran awareness, that’s veteran safety awareness right there," an excited Funkensloppen told us in an exclusive interview. "His entire career, Manning has dropped, safely, to the ground, avoiding sacks and showing kids all over America how to put safety ahead of you know, toughness and winning, and stuff like that."

Manning was delighted to be approached by Funkensloppen and together with the AHTSA they have come up with a number of Hot Tub safety tools, for example the NFL team branded Hot Tub safety helmet in the above picture. Manning can be seen in the same picture watching his favorite cartoons on a modified, water-proofed iPad with smooth, protected edges so veteran QBs won’t cut themselves while playing in the Hot Tub.

Unfortunately the great man himself, Peyton Manning, could not be reached for comment, as he was preparing for the San Diego game on site shooting a Papa John’s Pizza commercial.

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Offensive NFL sign outside restaurant just a symptom of a larger problem

A racially offensive sign outside a restaurant chain in Belton, Miss has caused a storm on the social networks. However, what’s the point of attacking the idiot who put it up, when several major professional sports teams are allowed to use racially insensitive logos and mascots?

1860 would be so proud

The Sonic Drive-in restaurant chain has been forced to apologize for a very  offensive sign that was displayed outside one of its branches last weekend.  The sign, which was put up outside a Belton, Miss., branch, read, 'KC Chiefs' Will Scalp the Redskins Feed Them Whiskey Send -2- Reservation," As it turns out, it was technically correct, in that Kansas did indeed overwhelm Washington on Sunday. Still, that’s no excuse for the pretty pathetic, childish and offensive sign.

The chain has released this statement;
‘’ The remarks posted on this message board were wrong, offensive and unacceptable. In a misguided effort to support his football team an independent franchise owner allowed passion to override good judgment. The owner has reinforced with his employees the boundaries of what is acceptable and unacceptable. On behalf of the franchise owner and our entire brand we apologize for the offensive remarks.’’

Here’s the thing, the restaurant employee idiotic simpleton who created this sign is not the problem.

We, namely society in the United States, are the real problem.

If you are going to be stupid enough as a society to play deaf, dumb and blind and allow a professional sports team to use an outrageously racist nickname (and if you don’t  think it is racist, answer this simple question, would a racially insensitive African American nickname be acceptable? No it would not) then this is the kind of garbage we are going to have to put up with.

There’s zero point in attacking idiots like this, when bigger idiots like Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder continue to stubbornly refuse to admit they are offending an entire race with their pathetic old nickname.

Ask yourself one quick question. If that sign had been making fun of traditional, racist African American stigmas (slavery etc), do you think this would be being treated like a joke? Obviously no, it would not. The person who put the sign up and the manager of the branch would have been sacked.

We just don't care as a society about racially abusing American Indians.

Until we take seriously various groups efforts to have offensive American Indian mascots and logos usage discontinued, we're all in on this.

We're all writing offensive signs on a Sunday.

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Guinness Book Of Records confirms: Seattle Seahawks have easily the most annoying fans

While attending the Monday Night Football game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New Orleans Saints, to check if the home town team could break a fan-noise record, the Guinness Book Of Records staff chanced upon another amazing discovery.

Seattle fan: Awful.

The elite Guinness Book Of Records ‘fact checking team’ was in the house last night to catch Monday Night Football and New Orleans at Seattle. They were there with bundles of highly tuned, expensive audio testing equipment to measure the home crowd noise and see if the Seahawks fans could break the World Record, and indeed a few ear drums, for crowd noise during a game.

Seattle fans: Really annoying

While testing the audio levels one of the highly trained fact checkers stumbled upon an astonishing discovery.

The Seattle Seahawks have, easily, the most annoying fans in all of professional sports.

The Guinness Book employee, Gunther Fartgarten, breathlessly takes the story up;  ‘Yes, I was checking my audio equipment when I looked up at the stands, and it kind of just came to me. I thought to myself ‘My God, these fans are really annoying’ at which point I grabbed a copy of the book of records and thumbed through it. Previously the most annoying fans in the World were St Louis Cardinals fans, but clearly everyone feels kind of sorry for them now, so Seattle fans are obviously in pole position now’.

The Guinness Book uses a complicated algorithm to calculate Crowd Annoyance Levels (CAL) and they maintain a level of secrecy around this, although Mr Fartgarten did say; ''I mean, did you see that one guy dressed as the Hulk? How annoying was that? That was worth 2 CAL points right there. Did he think it was still Halloween? Idiot.''

Seattle fans: Hulk smash.

Sadly Seattle's noisy fans have failed to break the World Record for noise levels during a game. Of course they can be content in the fact they have taken another title, that of The Single Most Annoying Fans In The World.

Seattle: Grammatically challenged.

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Panthers unveil dominant new defensive play to win against the New England Patriots

Monday Night Football did not disappoint, with a thrilling encounter between the host Carolina Panthers and the visiting New England Patriots. The titanic matchup will go down as a classic and even has its own signature play attached, a little something the Panthers worked on before the big showdown. Sometimes, practice makes perfect

Luke Kuechly wraps Gronkowski up

They had been practicing it all week. When the time came, the Carolina Panthers' young star linebacker Luke Kuechly knew exactly what to do. With the game on the line and future Hall of Fame Quarterback Tom Brady knocking on the door, the Panthers resorted to a new play recently added to their defensive playbook. Kuechly says that after a tough week of training, he was allowed by Panther coaches to name the play and decided upon 'Center bear hug tight.'

Defensive holding? Of course not!

The Patriots last minute drive was in danger of ruining the night for the hosts, and jostling the NFL’s desired narrative of the home team coming good at the end, when in stepped Kuechly. His perfect execution of ’Center bear hug tight,’ – grabbing on to Patriots tight-end Rob Gronkowski and holding him in, well, a bear-hug, while the ball was in the air – saved the day for the home side.

Brady's pass was picked off for an interception as Gronkowski watched helpless, unable to intervene as  Kuechly executed a perfect bear-hug on him.

Panthers coach Ron Rivera was positively glowing about Kuechly after the game;  ‘That kid works so hard, we just love him to death, we asked him to do a job, and you could all see that bear-hug, there’s no way Gronk was catching that ball, that’s all we ask of Kuechly right there’.

When asked what the Panthers had planned if the referees threw a flag, Kuechly said 'That’s okay, we knew they would pick it right back up.'

Luke Kuechly getting the job done

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Is President Obama preventing Rob Gronkowski from playing for Patriots?

Group releases documentation they say proves the President is the force keeping the Patriots star off the field of play.

Is Obama behind Gronk's inactivity?

The New England Patriots dramatic comeback win over the Saints on Sunday last has been overshadowed somewhat by the drama surrounding the return to action of Tight End Robert Gronkowski. ‘Gronk’ missed his sixth straight game on Sunday, resulting in thousands of calls to sports talk radio from irate Boston area callers, demanding to know what the hold-up was.

A shroud of mystery has hovered over Gronkowski’s inability to play so far this season, while he recovers from offseason arm and back surgeries. The main problem would appear to be that everyone linked to the big Tight End would appear to be indicating that either he is ready to play, or they are okay with him waiting until he is ready. Thus the question, where’s this ‘problem’ that the sporting media are referring to?

Starting with the team itself, Tom Brady has gone on record to say ‘I don’t think there’s any resentment’ in regards Gronk not taking the field as yet. Patriots owner Robert Kraft has sternly insisted that he is 'completely behind' Rob Gronkowski’s rehab. No problem there, right?

In terms of his own family, Gronkowski’s mother, Diane, told The Boston Herald that her son is “dying to play.” She went on to say; "All I can say is Robbie is dying to play. He wants to get out there. He's doing what he has to do to get back playing. He doesn't like it. He wants to play. It really bothers him that he's not playing." Initial reports tried to link his father, Gordy, to the fact he hasn’t played as yet, however those reports have been strongly rejected by both family and team.

Finally, the doctor involved in the surgery, Dr. James Andrews, is reported to have given the player the all-clear to ‘suit up’.

So where exactly is the blockage?

Republican think-tank group ‘America for Americans’ has released a report that links clearly the current President of The United States to the Patriots superstar Tight End not being on the field of play, despite being healthy. The 350 page document holds ‘damning evidence’ that President Obama is the mysterious, nefarious force keeping the Patriots best offensive weapon off the gridiron. The group, funded by the infamous Koch brothers, is perhaps best known before now for sending 5,000 ‘Obama did it!’ t-shirts to American troops in the Middle East.

Noted Republican thinker Michele Bachmann said of the report; ‘’This is just another clear set of evidence that Obama is tearing the very fabric of American society down, brick by brick. Would ‘Gronk’ be stopped from playing if he was black? If ‘Gronk’ was Muslim, would he have been allowed play by Obama? I am just asking questions.’’


When pressed on the subject Bachmann shouted 'How can we know Obama is NOT behind Gronk's inactivity?!'

Patriots team officials have refused to comment on the report, and the player himself has refuted all allegations that the President is stopping him from playing. However, Gronkowski was seen talking to men in black suits after the game last weekend. These men may have been reporters, or they may have been Secret Service agents informing Gronk that the President is still not allowing him play.

We’re just asking questions.

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Is Washington's NFL team's nickname racist? A handy guide

Worried about your answer to the topical question as to whether the Washington NFL team's nickname and logo are racist or not? Can't find the time to figure it out for yourself? Our handy guide can help you come up with an answer in seconds!

It's hard to find time to progress even the most simple of tasks in this crazy, Internet fuelled, whirlwind World we live in today. More often than not, the more philosophical of tasks often fall by the wayside, a victim of time management issues and the importance of updating your Facebook page.

One of the questions which many of us just don't have time to 'get into' orbits around the Washington NFL team, and if you think their nickname and logo are racist, or not.

We're here to provide you with a simple questionnaire which will tell you what you should respond with on this topical question, if anyone asks you about it.

Breeze through these few questions and answer Yes or No to each, and then consult our handy chart at the bottom to find out which category you fit into! 

Q1. Do you think that this picture could be described as racist? Yes or No.

 

Q2. Do you see a problem in a professional team using a stereotype as it's nickname/logo in general? Yes or No.

Q3. Can you see any potential irony at all in this picture? Yes or No.

 Q4. Would you be in theory against a team from, for example, South Boston, calling itself the 'Ginger haired potato farmers'? Yes or No.

Q5. Do you agree that this picture might be slightly offensive to some minorities? Yes or No.

Q6. Do you see any issue with this picture from a couple of years ago of the entire Spanish men's basketball team making 'slanty eyes' to the camera? Yes or No.

Q7. Would you be against a team from San Francisco 'celebrating' it's Asian populace and culture by using the below as their new logo. Yes or No.

Q8: Can you see how the below logo for a New York sports team might be offensive to some parties? Yes or No.

Q9. Finally, do you see any problem at all with the below proposed logo for the Washington team? Yes or No. 

Answer

If you answered mostly 'Yes' to the above questions: You are offended, like all normal people, by racial stereotyping. You should answer 'Yes' when asked if you think the Washington NFL team's nickname and logo are racist.

If you answered 50/50 Yes and No to the above questions: You are officially on the fence, and should basically change the topic if anyone asks you if you think the Washington NFL team's nickname and logo are racist.

If you answered 'No' primarily to the above questions: Congratulations! You are a steaming, flaming pile of racism! No doubt you and Chipper Jones are best buddies, and we are probably distracting you from the latest Paula Deen cook book as we speak. Go forth and conquer, and don't worry about education, decency, dignity, compassion or understanding of other people or races or anything like that. Leave that up to those lefty, cry baby, hippy liberals!

Right - A primarily 'No' voter

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New England Patriots lose Tom Brady to disabled list with 'Lost mind'.

The Patriots just about handle the Jets at wet and windy Gillette Stadium, but lose their MVP level quarterback for a potentially long period to a broken brain related injury. 

Tom Brady - lost his mind

Last night the New England Patriots may have won a battle however they also may have lost the war. In brutal weather conditions the Patriots handled the Jets 13-10 to go 2-0 on the fledgling NFL season but in doing so may have lost their future Hall Of Fame quarterback to injury.

Brady was not seen to be in any trouble leaving the field, however early post-game reports indicate Brady is already listed as doubtful for the Sunday 22nd game against Tampa.

Brady is on the injury report as; Doubtful: Lost his mind. 

Sources indicate the injury may have occurred during any one of the number of drops of Brady passes by his terrified rookie wide receivers.

Dr. Alfonso Marquez, a leading expert in lost minds with a masters from the Cancun University of Good Medicine, spoke to reporters after the news came out that Brady was on the disabled list.

''Basically if you watch the game tape you can actually see the moment Brady loses his mind, as it were. Sometimes if you are near the person you can hear an audible 'pop' as they actually lose their mind'

Dr. Marquez went on to say that 'although unusual, players often do lose their minds in stressful situations, and they can be very tricky to get back'.

As usual the Patriots are keeping very tight lips about the situation, and Bill Belichick had no comment after the game. In other NFL news, Denver have announced that former Patriot receiver Wes Welker has been downgraded to  'probable' for Sunday's game against the Giants, after pulling a muscle in his backside while laughing at the TV last night.

More updates on that situation to follow.

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UGG shoe line brings out new commercial featuring Tom Brady

Five trips to the Superbowl? Three Superbowl wins and two Superbowl MVP awards? Forget all that junk. Tom Brady may have pulled off what was previously thought impossible in the United States. He's made men want to buy UGG shoes! New commercial from Australian company features Patriots quarterback and is actually pretty stylish and creative.

Patriots trigger man Tom Brady in the new commercial

Okay, at the end of the day we're talking about a commercial here, but in the case of this UGG shoes commercial at least a bit of thought went into it, and at least there is a strong sporting theme running through it.

The Australian shoe company's new commercial, titled “For Gamechangers” is basically a walk through the key elements of Tom Brady's sporting journey, told in great detail via a walk through a team bus. If you look closely you will catch references to Brady's;

• High school QB career (with a gentle nod to the fact he almost played baseball instead of football)
• His Michigan Wolverines career
• The fact Brady was the 199th pick of the 2000 NFL Draft
• Brady's Super Bowl MVP turns
• His current NFL career

Enough with the chit-chat, here's the video itself




As you can see, a lot of work went into this pretty stylish commercial. It was shot by filmmaker Spencer Susser on a custom-built 250-foot set on a sound stage in Los Angeles, which took two weeks to design and erect.

The attention to detail is admirable. Junipero Serra football jerseys and baseball uniforms, University of Michigan helmets and then apparently Mr. and Mrs. Brady's 1990's era living room.

Patriots fans will enjoy the finer points of the shot, and fans of other teams will no doubt have fun mocking the New England QB, as they place an order for their first pair of UGGs.

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How to succeed at your NFL fantasy draft

Reading this in Ireland and new to NFL fantasy drafts? Seasoned pro and running late on getting your draft prep work done? Sitting on your lunch break looking for some sleepers for your draft night? Whoever you are, hopefully the From The Bleachers 2013 NFL Fantasy Draft report can help you prepare. 

A winning NFL fantasy team does not have Mark Sanchez on it

The last couple of seasons more and more Irish, UK and European sports fans are playing Fantasy NFL. It’s growing at an exponential rate, in part due to the increased exposure on TV over here, partially no doubt as a result of that whole ‘Internet’ thing. Pretty much anyone with Internet access can get their eager little paws on all the information, news and statistics they need to run a successful fantasy NFL team. Then, when you have picked your squad, you can follow the action online or on TV. The NFL is perfect as a fantasy sport, with its stop-start style of play, enabling players time to devour new truck loads of statistical information that is uncovered on every single play.

The NFL is probably the single most suited sport in the World to fantasy games. Yes, even more so than baseball (The 162 MLB season can grind down even the most invested of fantasy team owners).

With that in mind, some of you might be approaching it for the first time, perhaps a friend has invited you into a league or something along those lines. Maybe selecting your first team is a daunting exercise. Fear not! With a little tiny bit of guidance you too can pick a competitive squad for this season’s NFL fantasy go-round.

Where can you get that guidance? Right here. This guy. Your author isn’t absolutely guaranteeing you a championship, however he spent the last few weeks doing his research, and, furthermore, he won the league he played in last season.

Let’s put it this way, you won’t be any more NFL-draft-stupid after reading the below.

We’re going to have a quick look at the basics in terms of pre-draft strategy, we’re going to take a look at in-draft strategy too, and we’re going to have a look through the positions, focussing on some strong players and hopefully giving you some ideas for sleepers also.

The content of the below is based on a 10 team, head-to-head format league, with essentially standard scoring across the positions.

Buckle up, here we go.

General guidelines

Know your league

The key to winning your league is knowing your league. Understand fully the format you are playing in (is it points passed or head-to-head, for example). Most importantly, ensure you understand they type of players you need to win the league. To do this, simply have a look at the player rankings from previous seasons. Your league might value certain players higher than others. Make sure you know who, before the draft. More on this shortly.

Do your reading.

With all due respect to my buddy Jason, half reading one Fantasy NFL article on the LUAS on the way to your live draft is not doing your reading. If you are planning on winning your league, it’s time to get started now. You really have no excuse as there are absolutely stacks of entertaining and informative articles readily available on the subject. Most of the big US sports sites carry some sort of Fantasy Football preview, but with a little bit of digging you can bring up some interesting nuggets on your own. Here are a couple of links to articles I enjoyed pre-draft.

• Let’s start with the all-encompassing, all singing, all dancing Sports Illustrated 2013 draft preview. It has everything, and all in a nice, easy to use graphical format. Don’t be fooled by the glossy presentation, there is some meaty stuff under the images and headings. The positional previews are excellent. 
• Mathew Berry of ESPN has a fun love/hate list which has a few interesting pieces in it. No need to wade through the opening article, just dive right down to the players! 
• ESPN also has a pretty interesting ‘sleepers and busts’article you might find interesting, although it is pretty detailed for new players. 
• If you like fancy charts and numbers then the NFL.comresearch page is for you. Some nice stats to pick through and get an idea who you should be picking for your squad 
• This author isn’t the World’s biggest Bleacher Report fan, however every so often one of their Hobgoblin slaves writers comes up with something decent, for example this nice look at some interesting Running Backsfor this season 

That’s enough for now, and frankly if you get through half of the above, you should be all set! One last note on pre-draft reading. Do not pay cash money to read anyone’s draft guide!! There is enough free quality information on the Internet without paying cash money for same!

Have a pre-draft plan.

What we mean here is, know exactly what type of players you want to go after first. Not only that, have an idea what positions you want to fill on your team sheet first, which you rank highly and which you are not so concerned about. For example, perhaps your league values RBs a little higher than QBs. Obviously you should therefore be looking at getting RBs early. There are certain positions that are less valuable than others, and yes, we are talking about kickers. At the end of the season your kicker is not going to be what decides if you win your league or not, so don’t draft one too early!

Have an in-draft plan

Imagine you have your cheat sheet prepared and you know exactly who you want, and, when you want them. Imagine then someone picking your guy just before it’s your turn in the draft. Take a deep breath, all is not lost. Don’t deviate from your plan. There are generally pretty good alternatives to your desired player. Don’t let someone snagging your guy just before you throw you off course. Have a list of suitable alternatives ready.

Take notes

Have a pen and paper available, so you can make short lists and change your tactics in-draft. The draft is a living, moving, breathing creature that changes often. You should always have alternative players jotted down for situations where someone else gets him first. Besides, just like studying for exams, writing and being interactive keeps your more focussed. Having said that, this all goes out the window after your ninth beer.

My strategy

Here’s my squad post draft. Obviously I have a bit of work to do, however I’m happy enough for starters. Have a look and see if you can spot the strategy I went for pre and in-draft. 

Basically because of the league I play in, I went RB heavy, even taking two for the bench positions. Stocking up, I believe they call it! I went for one premium QB and was hoping to get Alex Smith in the late rounds for my second guy, but ended up with Jake ‘Hurt’ Locker. I took a gamble and sold out early on TE and D/ST also. I found last season that having dominant defences definitely helped, and thus chose two premium ones. More on those later. You may disagree with the players, but remember it is a competition, obviously I didn’t get everyone I wanted. What I did do, is fill out the positions I wanted with quality as early as possible. As you can see from the above, I’m taking a huge gamble with the WR position. That’s how you win though, take a gamble, if it pays off, you generally end up on top.

If you use the links I gave you above you should have no problem preparing a cheat sheet of the players you want, but you will still want to find some late round value. We can hopefully help you with that. Let’s have a look at the players, by position.

Quarterback (QB)

The premium guys are generally worth going after, if not before the premium RBs, definitely in around them. Remember, make sure you figure out how valuable each position is in your league before your draft. If QBs are as valuable as in my league, then you are going to want to grab one or two of Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Cam Newton, Peyton Manning or Drew Brees. Those are the established point-scorers that you might want to sell out on, if it’s your turn to pick and they are available.

We’re talking about value here though, so let’s look at some guys that you might get a little later who should still help your team win. Mathew Stafford is set for a big season. Detroit have been balancing on the edge of a big breakout season for seemingly years now, and, once again all the pieces are in place. Stafford has guys to throw it to (Like Calvin ‘Megatron’ Johnson’) and, finally, a guy to hand it off to, too. Reggie Bush’s arrival in Detroit might be the final piece of the puzzle for an already high scoring Detroit team to really explode. Colin Kaepernick is oddly trending quite low in terms of selection placing, however you can’t ignore the physical attributes he brings to the table. A dynamic runner with the ball, he also has an absolute cannon of an arm. Perhaps people don’t think they saw enough of him last season to warrant a high draft pick, but if you end up with Kaepernick sitting there available in your draft, grab him.  

Alex Smith is a guy I really wanted. He is a steady hand at the rudder and has the players around him in Kansas to lead to big fantasy points. Dwayne Bowe is an exciting receiver and stud RB Jamaal Charles will keep the opposition defence guessing. Smith is trending very, very late, and represents a nice late round pick.

Running Backs (RB)

The premium position in many leagues, RB is crucial in my league also. The top guys you are going to want to be in a position to take a shot at are Adrian Peterson, Arian Foster, Doug Martin, C.J. Spiller, Ray Rice, Jamaal Charles and the premium back I ended up with was Seattle’s Marshawn Lynch. Again, we’re looking for late round value here, so, let’s have a look at a couple of those guys.

The chances are most of the guys in your league will know that Steven Jackson is now playing for the Atlanta Falcons. This information seems to be slow getting across however and Jackson is being drafted as low as 20^th in some leagues. His average selection appears to be around 13^th in RBs and that to me is still too high. Jackson will be the feature back in a very successful Falcons offence and will, by end of season, be in the top 10 fantasy points scorers across the board positionally.  

Montee Ball might be a rookie, but he’s going to be the feature back in Denver, and will be in great hands with Peyton Manning calling the shots. Ball was one of the top college RBs the last two seasons and can hit the ground running in the NFL.

While Stevan Ridley will carry the ball the most in New England, Shane Vereen still warrants a mention in that the Patriots seem to like him as an impact, passing situation back. Furthermore Brady seemed to enjoy hooking up with him out of the backfield towards the end of last season, which is as good a reason as any to grab him in a late round as a potential sleeper. Why has Maurice Jones-Drew  slipped so far? This time last year he was going in the top 5. He appears fully healed and ready to go. If he is available late in your draft, grab him with both hands. Reggie Bush and Lamar Miller are both guys you can take a chance on, and both are linked somewhat. Bush is going to get a chance to play in a high octane offense in situations that suit his skill set even more than in Miami last season. Bush leaving means the RB slot is open for Miller to exploit, and he will be Miami’s feature back, which means plenty of touches and touchdowns. Both warrant a strong look, particularly as late round value picks.

Reggie Bush

Wide Receivers (WR)

This is a strange position in my league, basically WRs don’t collect many points, and you definitely need to grab the TD scorers, as opposed to guys who get more ‘touches’. With that in mind I took a gamble on WRs and took them very late. Obviously I had to look for value, so hopefully some of these guys might help you have a successful draft. Look beyond Calvin Johnson, Wes Welker, Brandon Marshall and take a gamble on one or two of these guys.

Torrey Smith is primed for a huge season in Baltimore. With Boldin gone and Pitta out for the season, someone has to catch Joe Flacco’s passes, and Smith has shown to be a go-to-guy the last couple of seasons. Smith has a chance to have a huge season and yet is being drafted very late. If he’s available, go get him, with confidence. Now for two gents directly associated to the Manning brothers.  Victor Cruz isn’t a sleeper but he’s still going surprisingly late in early drafts. This is something of a surprise as he’s going to be Eli Manning’s main man yet again. Cruz won’t let you down. Demaryius Thomas is an absolute physical freak and it will be scary to see what he can accomplish in year two of the Peyton Manning experiment.

Antonio Brown will be Ben Roethlisberger's first option this season, now that the Steelers have let Mike Wallace walk. It is not often you can get the top receiver on a high scoring team with a good QB this low down in the draft. If he’s available, grab him. Tampa Bay’s Mike Williams is a solid addition to any receiving corp, and has a particularly strong nose for the end zone.

Tight End (TE)

Jimmy Graham is the man this season, particularly with Rob Gronkowski potentially playing at less than 100%. Tight End won’t win you your league, but the position could certainly lose it for you! With that in mind, a couple of low risk, high upside guys for you to look at.

Greg Olsen and Owen Daniels, of Carolina and Houston respectively are good enough that you should grab them if they are available in a value position in your draft. Both will put up very competitive points from the TE spot, and indeed should finish higher up the TE rankings than 7^th and 8^th respectively before seasons end. Jordan Cameron is an intriguing prospect in Cleveland. He has the size and skill to take advantage of the fact he will probably get to play straight away, and will probably get plenty of touches. If you are stretching for a TE late in the draft, Cameron might offer a huge payout points wise for very little risk.

Kickers (K)

Throw a dart at a board of the top 10 kickers. Whoever you get, awesome! You’ll do just fine!

Defence/Special Teams (D/ST)

Defences are a tricky little prospect. Do you value them or not? Depends really on if you are willing to take a chance or simply go with the flow and accept a very low return on your defences. A low tier defence will chip in a few points here and there but won’t win you any weeks. A good defence can be a game changer. Two good defences can see you take titles.

Seattle and San Francisco are the two elite, premium NFL fantasy defences. Get one of these, and you are going to have a good time. Both are elite because they are built to dominate. They are both stacked with sensational defensive talent, and are both threats to score multiple touch downs. As you get into the later rounds, be brave, grab one of them a little ahead of time. One of these defences can be more valuable to you than some late round scrub player.

I am intrigued by the Denver defence. First of all, it’s damn good, full of pace, talent and touchdown capability. Second, when they play at home, they have something of an unfair natural advantage from being used to the high altitude. This is a huge game changer late in the fourth quarter as opposition offensive linemen crumble against the relentless, fresh, Denver pass rush. Finally, do yourself a favour and check out Denver’s schedule. They have quite simply the easiest schedule in the NFL this season, and should cruise into the playoffs with shocking ease. Denver’s opponents combined to have a disgusting -784 points difference last season, meaning they conceded -784 points combined more than they scored. Nasty!

Finally, the New England defence might be the Patriot’s ace card this season. Last year it was young, talented and somewhat inexperienced. They have added a few parts and players like Hightower, Jones and Mayo are a year wiser. The Patriots might have to win a few low scoring games, and here’s betting defensive guru Belichick will find a way to do that. 

Good luck, enjoy your draft, and if you have any questions, drop me a line on Twitter @BostonIrishBlog

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