NFL Takeaways: Los Angeles Was Always the Next Draft Spot
By Erik Lambert
It looks like the NFL draft will have a new home and a new starting time in 2015. What other takeaways come from the latest headlines?
Roger Goodell likely had L.A. over Chicago from very beginning
It isn’t a conspiracy theory but anybody with half of brain likely saw through the screen the NFL tried to put up about their next draft location. It was insisted the race was between Chicago and Los Angeles, but the subtlety commissioner Roger Goodell has always tried to operate with is failing him. There has been talk for the past couple seasons about when the league will get a franchise back in L.A. So, playing the simple logic card, what better way to get fans used to the idea than by hosting one of the biggest annual events there?
Never mind the city failed to keep two teams once before and also would have the luxury of being able to host Super Bowls in the future. Chicago is unlikely to have that honor after what happened in New York. They also house one of the cornerstone franchises with an enormous media market of their own. The only way Los Angeles would be the “front runner” for the draft is because the league sees it as the perfect stepping stone to their master plan of getting a team out there sooner than later. Follow the money as they say.
Marty Schottenheimer belongs in Hall of Fame
Whenever his name comes up, the first thing that NFL fans have flash through their minds is slideshow of brutal playoff defeats that include iconic titles like “The Drive,” “The Fumble,” and “The Strip.” Marty Schottenheimer endured some of the most harrowing losses in the history of pro sports, not just football. Yet it is not those defeats but how he continued to find success after them that makes up what was actually a superb coaching career. From 1984 to 2006, he led four different teams to a total of 200 victories and 15 winning seasons. Also, like the great Bill Parcells, he developed a reputation for turning teams around.
In 1984, the Cleveland Browns started 1-7. Head coach Sam Rutigliano was fired and Scottenheimer took his place. Two years later the team went 12-4 and reached the AFC championship. In 1988 the Kansas City Chiefs were 4-11-1. They went 8-7-1 the next season when Marty Ball came to town. That same trend repeats with every new destination he landed in. Yes, there is something to say for not winning a championship, but Marty would not be the first head coach to make the Hall of Fame without one. Considering he has more victories than any of those guys, the writing is clearly on the wall that he belongs.