I was blogless last week. This week is…well, maybe not better, but different.
Sunday was a record-setting day in the NFL. The Denver Broncos had a player, sixth-round draft pick rookie Spencer Larson, start at fullback, middle linebacker, and special teams. This was the first time in the forty-eight year history of the Broncos that they had the same player start on offense and defense ever, let alone in the same game.
The Steelers beat the Chargers 11-10, the first time that was a final score in the history of the NFL, thanks to more botched calls by the zebras. At least the screw up didn’t influence who won or lost, just the final score. The Eagles and the Bengals played to a 13-13 tie, the first in the NFL since 2002. A week or two before some QB (can’t even remember which one, but a young one) was the first to pass for over 300 yards (I think) and rush for over 30 (?) in the same game.
Three weeks ago we had the first time a left-handed punter kicked to a left-handed receiver and then tackled that receiver to save a touchdown in the fourth quarter of a tie game.
Okay, I’m kidding on that last one. But all too soon, we’re going to be getting stats like that.
It used to be that baseball was the stat freaks’ game of choice. Every little nuance of the game could be subjected to some kind of statistical review. The sports nerds could research pitch counts, players that batted righty and threw lefty or vice versa, players’ performances in specific innings with specific counts, men on base, number of outs, ad nauseum.
Football is headed that way. Who the heck knew that an 11-10 score had never happened before, and how did they find out? Where the heck is the source for that kind of thing? The same for yards thrown and yards rushed in the same game by a QB.
Yet, obviously those subtle little tidbits of statistical trivia are out there and accessible. And if they can be seen, they must be shared over television with the largest possible audience. Count on it.
All too soon, while simply trying to watch a good football game (or one involving the Raiders, Chiefs, or Lions) we will be gleefully informed that some play marked the first time that a second-year receiver drafted after the fifth round has caught a first down pass from a quarterback traded three times in two years and playing only because the first and second string QBs were knocked out of the same game on a Thursday night in December in a year ending in an odd number.
Won’t that be grand?























