Sez Me …
I did not look directly at the eclipse, which is how I watch atomic bomb flashes and the NBA.
But something caught my eye that burned into my brain and it remains a resident, kind of like a LaDainian Tomlinson run for six. I can’t get it out of there, because I’ve never heard anything close to it. Especially from a notable Pro Football Hall of Fame tailback.
The tale is somewhat cautionary because, on his way out of town after a brilliant career with the NFL Team That Used To Be Here (you know, the Judases/L.A. Lodgers), pouting LT burned more figurative bridges than Pittsburgh has literal ones.
To put it mildly, he was an ass, and he hadn’t been an ass. But his release affected him deeply. He was an absolute football god here.
I did not like the departing LT, and he no longer was prince of the locker room.
Anyway, Tomlinson went on “The Pivot” podcast last week and offered a new perspective on the Judases’ infamous 24-21 loss to the Patriots in the 2006-07 divisional playoff round in a San Diego Stadium that no longer exists. Safety Marlon McCree’s critical interception and subsequent fumble flub of a Tom Brady always has been in front of the reason-for-defeat line. Although it involved more than that.
It sure did to LT, who has come up with a stunning one.
On that podcast he basically said the playoff game was rigged by San Diego offensive coordinator Cam Cameron.
I can see how LT saw this in his dreams.
His team had gone 14-2 and thus had home field playoff advantage. It had the best personnel in the NFL — by far. LT had a record-setting touchdown year. He was MVP. Head coach Marty Schottenheimer — who would get fired — had career playoff troubles, but the front office basically had stripped him of all game-day duties, with Cameron (offense) and Wade Phillips (defense) calling game-day shots.
But Marty, who that week told me in so many words that he was haunted by his postseason failures, did get involved in that playoff game, which he seemingly had in the bag.
Both coordinators were in line for head coaching jobs. Wade eventually went to Dallas, Cam to Miami, which is what brought out the ire in LT.
He had a big first half in that game, rushing 14 times for 79 yards and a score, and catching two es for 64 yards. After intermission, with a lead, he carried nine times for 44 yards and a TD.
LT’s problem: saying Cam did it purposely to get out of town, before the Dolphins had to wait for him to become available (under NFL rules) to hire him, is an unprovable stretch too far.
“In my mind,” LT said. “Did we just throw the game? For a head coaching job? How do I not get the ball?”
Strong accusations.
But . Marty loved to mother-hen leads. Hence Martyball. And Schottenheimer was in panic mode. No one knows exactly what happened. Marty may have decided to go against his M.O. What he had done in the past didn’t work (and he’s not in the Hall of Fame because of it).
LT pouted after the game (as he did during the AFC Championship loss in which he didn’t participate). Why wait so long to bring this up?
With Marty being involved, I’m having a hard time believing LaDainian’s accusation. Miami was waiting for Cam.
Cameron did go to the Dolphins in 2007, where he got in over his head and slept with the fishes. Record: 1-15. …
Is Caitlin Clark the greatest women’s basketball player? How do we know? How many among us have seen them all? Don’t lie to me. …
Must winning a title be a part of the criteria? Well, I haven’t seen 10 basketball players the equal of Elgin Baylor, and he never won one. …
Tell you what, Caitlin is a draw. The women’s finale out-ratinged the men’s, which was not unattractive. …
If Iowa had a bench, it was at the school bus stop. …
So good to see the great Paopao athletic family name keeping on keeping on. Te-Hina goes to South Carolina and wins a championship. …
Tara VanDerveer retires. One of the best basketball coaches, any gender, any level. Pioneer. …
John Calipari, who has done less with more than every college basketball coach since Dean Smith, is leaving Kentucky for hardly impoverished Arkansas, the home of Wal-Mart Waltons and Tyson chicks. …
Calipari had 52 first-round draft picks at Kentucky. One title. Smith, coaching remarkable talent at North Carolina from 1961-97 — and before the one-and-dones Calipari recruited — won two. …
Incredible. I saw a men’s collegiate basketball player flash the traveling signal to a ref. How could he possibly know what that signal looks like — or the official who’s never called it? …
Costco sample size: J.J. McCarthy threw 34 fourth-quarter es, one for a touchdown during Michigan’s national championship season. …
Tom Brady says he’s not opposed to a late-season return to duty. Nor is Napoleon. …
Yogi Berra on Joe DiMaggio’s marriage to Marilyn Monroe: “I don’t know if it’s good for baseball, but it beats the hell out of rooming with Phil Rizzuto.” …
To Ribbon Cutter/Bicycle Mayor and his Ham & Eggers: Housing homeless in a building at the corner of Kettner and Vine is an idea that proves City Hall has completely lost it. It is beyond stupid. Hundreds of families live close by. The wrong place. Is anything studied? Maybe the residents will complain about airport noise. …
The Masters is my favorite sporting event. But I hate to see everything Tiger does after he gets up in the morning. Augusta is too hilly. He can’t win there in his condition. …
More Great Stats: Pete Rose could come back and go 750-for-750 and Tony Gwynn still would have a higher career batting average. …
Ha-Seong Kim absolutely can’t have a bad year with the glove. Great fielders field — and win games. …
We haven’t reached the ides of April, but these Padres can come from behind. Found a center fielder who can hit. …
According to ESPN’s highly reliable Jeff an, Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is accused of making 19,000 wagers between December 2021 and January 2024. Nearly 25 bets per day on average. The records say wagers ranged from $10 to $160,000 per bet. After all was said and done, Shohei lost close to $41 million. And didn’t know about it? …
RIP, Eric Sievers. A vital engine part of Air Coryell, and a fine man. He wasn’t just Kellen Winslow’s apprentice. Eric was good. …
“Sporting goods companies pay me not to endorse their products.” — Bob Uecker …
NBC gushes that it already has gathered $1.2 billion in advertising for the Paris Olympics. Oh, no! This means the network has the money to bring back “Good Morning, Miami.” …
I enjoyed the finale, but in the end, Larry David curbed his enthusiasm. …
O.J. Simpson was the greatest football player I’ve seen. The evil he did lives after him. And I’ll leave it at that.
