DG163

"Before and After" is the theme for DG163. No, these aren't going to be photos of players before and after they've cut off their dreads. I'm talking about before and after the game. Since you really need to wear a helmet when you play football, it's difficult to get a good look at what the players look like while the game is underway. But when those helmets come off before and after the game, it gives photographers plenty of opportunities to get some clear, close-up shots. In dread gallery #163 here are some of those shots, as we look at what some of the NFL's players with dreads were up to before and after their games during the 2015 season.

1. As I mentioned in my dreads focus reports, there certainly was no shortage shortage of sick dreads in the Buffalo Bills' secondary in 2015. CBs Mario Butler (#39), Stephon Gilmore (#24), and Ron Brooks - three of the seven DBs with dreads on the Bills' roster - head to the field for warmups at Ralph Wilson Stadium before playing their season opener against the Colts.
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2. I wish I had first seen this photo of WR Sammy Watkins warming up for the Bills' Week 17 game against the Jets before the game started instead of 6 months after it - it would have saved me a bunch of anxiety. As you might remember, sometime between the time this was taken and the game started Watkins put a balaclava on his head and managed to stuff his dreads inside it too; so to everyone watching the telecast of the game, it looked like he had cut his dreads off. Thankfully he only had them hidden as he caught 11 passes for 136 yards to help lead the Bills to a 22-17 victory that knocked the Jets out of playoff contention.
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3. Falcons S Kemal Ishmael, whose dreads ranked the 20th longest in the league according to my unofficial countdown, is shown here during warmups before the Week 15 game at Jacksonville. A couple of hours later he got his only INT of the season and returned it 84 yards to set up a FG in a 23-17 victory that ended the Falcons' 6-game losing streak.
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4. Water sprays off the dreads of LB Rey Mauluga during warmups before the Bengals' season opener at Oakland. He had 4 tackles (3-1) in the Bengals' 33-13 win in the first game of what turned out to be his last season with dreads. Unfortunately both he and fellow LB Vontzae Burfict agreed to cut off their dreads during the offseason. Mauluga at first resisted but finally followed through recently, apparently waiting until Burfict returned from his 3-game suspension before cutting them off: http://www.cincyjungle.com/2016/7/29/12326028/vontaze-burfict-rey-maualuga-made-pact-to-cut-off-dreadlocks
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5. Here are some more dreads you won't be seeing anymore ..... Falcons DE Tyson Jackson stands during the playing of the national anthem before the Week 9 game against the 49ers. When Jackson was drafted in 2009, he tied Larry Fitzgerald for the earliest - 3rd overall - that any player with dreads had been selected in a draft. But sadly, after playing his first 7 NFL seasons with dreads, the 2016 season is his first without them, as he cut them off sometime between minicamp in June and the start of training camp at the end of July.
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6.With dreads I ranked (unofficially, of course) 16th longest in the league, S Jahleel Addae says a prayer before the game on opening day of his 3rd NFL season. A full-time starter for the first time in 2015, Addae played well enough for the Chargers to re-sign him to a 1-year contract. But his 2016 season currently is on hold after he broke his collarbone (needlessly) in Week 2.
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7. After either being inactive or on the practice squad for the first 5 games of his rookie season, RB Terrence Magee shakes hands with a Ravens assistant coach (Matt Weiss?) while warming up for his 1st career game in Week 6 at San Francisco. Magee ended up playing in only 3 games in 2015 and carried the ball just twice (both in Week 15) for 5 yards. The only game he has played so far in 2016 was for the Seahawks in Week 3, but he currently is a free agent.
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8. I included a pregame photo of Redskins DE Ricky Jean Francois in my Week 18 report from last season; but he had his dreads reduced for that game. Here he is with his dreads looking much better before the Week 7 home game vs. the Buccaneers. After recording 25 tackles, including 2 sacks in 2015, Jean Francois is back for his 2nd season with the Redskins - and 8th season overall - in 2016.
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9. Teammates with the Rams for three seasons (2012-14), OT Joe Barksdale meets with WR Chris Givens before the Chargers face the Ravens at Baltimore in Week 8. As mediocre as the Rams were in those seasons (7-8-1, 7-9, 6-10), that still was better than the 2015 outcome for both Barksdale and Givens, as the Ravens went 5-11 and the Chargers finished 4-12.
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10. Two weeks removed from his disastrous fumble that caused the Chiefs to lose their Week 2 game vs. the Broncos, RB Jamaal Charles includes this anti-fumbling drill during his pregame routine before the Week 4 game at Cincinnati. Jamaal finished with 145 total yards (75 rushing, 70 receiving) and no fumbles, but the Chiefs lost to the Bengals 36-21. The next week he tore his ACL and missed the rest of the season and didn't make his 2016 debut until the Chiefs' Week 4 game vs. the Steelers.
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11. Whether or not wearing the training mask improves your stamina and endurance like the company that manufactures it claims, evidently rookie WR Chris Conley thinks it does (either that or they paid him to wear it). Conley wears the mask during warmups both before his 1st NFL game (left photo) at Houston in Week 1 and before the Chiefs' game at Cincinnati (right photo).
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12. Another believer in the amazing power of the training mask, rookie RB Jay Ajayi warms up before playing his first home game for the Dolphins in Week 11. He had 13 yards rushing on 4 carries and 2 catches for 23 yards in the 24-14 loss to the Cowboys. Ajayi spent the first 8 weeks of the season on IR after breaking a rib in the final preseason game. He finished the season with just 189 yards rushing and figures to do much better than that it 2016.
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13. Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald greets Vikings radio sideline reporter Greg Coleman before the Vikings-Cardinals game in Week 14. Perhaps the two ran into each other a few times years ago, when Fitzgerald, a Minneapolis native, had a job as a sideline ball boy for the Vikings while he was in high school. Coleman, a punter for the Vikings in the 1980's, got to see Larry catch 5 catches for 41 yards on this night in the Cardinals' big 23-20 victory.
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FAN FRIENDLY: BEFORE

14. RB DeAngelo Williams taps fists with a young fan before playing his first home game in a Steelers uniform in Week 2 against the 49ers. Hopefully the little fella is old enough to remember the show Williams put on once the game began, as he gained 92 total yards and scored 3 TD in the Steelers' 43-18 win.
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15. Titans RB Dexter McCluster reaches out to catch an item being dropped by a fan so that he can sign it before the Week 6 home game against the Dolphins. A couple of hours later McCluster scored his 1st TD of the season; but it came in a 38-10 defeat.
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16. WR Dwayne Bowe's 1st season with the Browns included a return to his old stomping grounds - aka Arrowhead Stadium - for a Week 16 game against the Chiefs, the team he played for during the first 8 years of his career. Here he poses for a photo with some Browns fans before the game. The fan with the sign got her birthday wish - kind of - as Bowe played a season high 31 snaps; but he had only 1 pass thrown to him (it was incomplete) and the Browns lost 17-13. After having his hair in braids during all his seasons in KC, Bowe finally converted to dreads in 2015. Unfortunately it came too late. 2015 was the worst season of his career (just 5 catches for 53 yards), and now it's likely he'll never play in the league again.
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FAN FRIENDLY: AFTER

17. RB Eddie Lacy hands his gloves to a fan at FedEx Field after the Packers' 1st round playoff game in Week 18. He rushed for 63 yards and 1 TD on 12 carries in the 35-18 win over the Redskins.
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18. WR Julio Jones hands his glove to a Falcons fan after the Falcons' 10-7 road victory over the Titans in Week 7. Jones had 9 catches for 92 yards and 1 TD in the win. This was the first game Julio had his hair in dreads since he cut off his long dreads following his 2011 rookie season; and I was hoping it meant that he was planning on growing long dreads again. Unfortunately that was not the case, as he cut his hair short again during the offseason.
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19. Sammy Watkins, with his dreads hanging out from his balaclava (unlike in Week 17), finds a Bills fan to hand his gloves to after a disappointing road loss to the Chiefs in Week 12. Sammy had 6 catches for 158 yards and 2 TD; but all of his damage was done in the 1st half; and the Bills, who led 16-7 after his 2nd TD, ended up losing 30-22 to drop to 5-6.
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20. CB Dre Kirkpatrick takes away some of the disappointment of the Bengals' 33-20 loss to the Steelers in Week 14 for this fan at Paul Brown Stadium, as he hands him his cleats after the game.
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21. FB Boobie Dixon tosses some piece of gear into the crowd before exiting after the Bills' opening-day victory over the Colts 27-14. About a hour earlier he had scored on a 1-yard run for what turned out to be his only TD of the season.
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22. And here's Boobie Dixon again after the final game of the season, again tossing something into the crowd (left photo) and then spending a moment with a longtime Bills fan (right photo). The Bills' 22-17 win over the Jets in Week 17 left them with an 8-8 record and out of the playoffs for the 16th straight season. They've finished last in the AFC East in 9 of those 16 seasons. It looks like this may have been Dixon's farewell appearance for the Bills. He was cut by the team during the offseason after the 2nd year of his 3-year contract, and surprisingly the 29-year old has not been signed by any other team yet.
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23. In his first season with dreads, rookie LB Eli Harold autographs a fan's 49ers team flag after a Week 9 home win over the Falcons 17-16. Harold, the 49ers' 3rd round draft pick, played about 30% of the defensive snaps during his rookie season and had 1 FR but no sacks.
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24. Seahawks fans make their way down to the front row to get autographs from CB Richard Sherman after Seattle's easy 38-7 road win over Minnesota in Week 13. Sherman had a quiet afternoon, finishing with just 1 tackle, in a successful day for the Seahawks' D. Vikings QB Teddy Bridgewater attempted 28 passes in the game but gained only 118 yards on them.
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25. RB Melvin Gordon stops for autographs, but DT Ricardo Mathews looks like he just wants to get back to the locker room after the Chargers win a game for the first time in nearly 2 months. The 31-25 road win over the Jaguars in Week 12 snapped a 6-game losing streak. Gordon finished with 60 yards rushing (his 2nd highest total of the season) on 14 carries, while Mathews had 2 tackles (1-1).
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26. TE Brandon Pettigrew takes a selfie with a fan after the Lions win for the 2nd straight game, improving to 3-7 with an 18-13 win over the Raiders in Week 11. Pettigrew played 43 snaps on offense and had 1 catch for 8 yards. If Brandon is going to play in 2016, it won't be until the second half of the season, because he started the season on IR while still recovering after undergoing knee surgery for a torn ACL late in 2015.
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27. CB Adam Jones asks for even louder noise from the Bengals fans occupying the front rows at FirstEnergy Stadium after an easy 37-3 road win over the Browns in Week 13. Jones had 3 tackles (3-0) as the Bengals improved to 10-2 and the Browns dropped to 2-10.
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28. There's a good reason DT Sharrif Floyd is smiling as he waves to someone after the Vikings' Week 12 game at Atlanta. It's because the Vikings have just won their 4th straight road game, improving to 8-3 after a comfortable 20-10 win over the Falcons. Floyd had 3 tackles (1-2), including 1 TFL, in the game. Actually I only included this photo so you could see that Sharif has started growing dreads again after he cut off the dreads that were just starting to get long during his 2011 sophomore season in college at Florida. Unfortunately for him, Floyd has been unable to contribute much to the great start by the Vikings in 2016. After missing most of the preseason, he played 25 snaps in the season opener before deciding to have surgery done on his knee (meniscus). He's out indefinitely.
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29. Another opposing player with dreads walks off after a victory at the Georgia Dome. This time it's CB Brian Dixon waving to the camera after the Saints finish the season at 7-9 after defeating the Falcons 20-17 on a last-second FG. Dixon had a season high 6 tackles (5-1) in the game, but almost all of them came on plays on which the Falcons made a 1st down. After playing all 16 games in his first two seasons, Brian didn't make the team this season and has mostly been on the practice squad so far in 2016.
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30. LB Pernell McPhee walks off with QB Jay Cutler after making it a very happy Thanksgiving for Bears fans. Just over a year after suffering a humiliating 55-14 defeat on their last visit to Lambeau Field, the Bears, with McPhee contributing 6 tackles (4-2) and Cutler contributing 0 INT (for a change), upset the Packers 17-13. At that point the Bears were 5-6 and threatening to get into the playoff picture; but they lost at home to the 49ers the next week and faded to a 6-10 finish. McPhee is on the PUP list to start the 2016 season while recovering from offseason knee surgery.
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31. Unable to make it on his own, S David Bruton is assisted by LB Danny Trevathan to the locker room after the Broncos' 34-27 road loss to the Steelers in Week 15. It turned out that Bruton played most of the game on a broken leg: http://www.denverpost.com/2015/12/21/david-bruton-suffered-broken-leg-early-vs-steelers-played-through-pain/
As I've mentioned before, the Broncos let both Bruton and Trevathan leave in free agency after last season, and things haven't exactly gone well for them in their new homes. After starting the first 4 games for the Redskins, Bruton recently went on IR after suffering a concussion; and Trevathan has missed time with the Bears due to an injured thumb.
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32. CB Jason Verrett (left to right), OT Joe Barksdale, G D.J. Fluker, and LB Melvin Ingram trudge off the field after the Chargers' embarrassing 33-3 home loss to the Chiefs in Week 11 - their worst home loss to the Chiefs in 47 years - dropping their record to 2-8. All four of these players now have dreads btw, after Fluker started growing his during the offseason. And if you're wondering whose jersey that Verrett is holding as he walks off, stay tuned .....
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33. ..... RB Melvin Gordon also exits after the loss to the Chiefs, after rushing for just 37 yards on 15 carries. Wearing their throwback jerseys didn't bring the Chargers any luck at all this time.
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ALMA MATER

34. Stars on the 2013 UCF team that won the Fiesta Bowl, Colts rookie S Clayton Geathers and Jaguars QB Blake Bortles meet after the Jaguars' 51-16 win at Jacksonville in Week 14. Geathers recovered a fumble by Bortles in the game, but that was in the 1st half. In the 2nd half the Jaguars scored touchdowns on all five of their possessions and on a punt return to wipe out a 13-9 deficit. Geathers is now wearing jersey #26 in his 2nd season with the Colts, the same number he had at UCF.
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35. "Oh, so now you have dreads too?", asks Cardinals rookie LB Markus Golden as he shakes hands with Broncos rookie LB Shane Ray after their game in Week 4 of the preseason. Ray didn't have dreads during the three seasons he and Golden were teammates at Missouri. I guess it was fitting that Ray, the Broncos 1st round pick, and Golden, the Cardinals' 2nd round pick, both finished with 4 sacks in their rookie season.   
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36. Only if you're an Oklahoma Sooners fan would you be able to identify all of the players in this photo, taken after the Chiefs' 29-13 road win over the Broncos in Week 10. Left to right (and shortest to tallest) are Chiefs CB Jamell Fleming, Broncos LB Corey Nelson, Chiefs long snapper James Winchester, and Chiefs OT Donald Stephenson, all of whom were teammates at OU during the 2010 and 2011 seasons. Fleming played 22 snaps on defense and 21 on special teams in this game but had no stats.
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37. The three players with dreads from Georgia selected in the 2015 NFL Draft draft pose after the Week 4 preseason game between the Chiefs and the Rams. RB Todd Gurley, the Rams 1st round pick, didn't play during the preseason while recovering from knee surgery but went on to become the league's rookie of the year. After being picked in the 3rd round, WR Chris Conley (#17) improved slowly but surely during his rookie season and is now in the Chiefs' starting lineup. Wilson, drafted in round 4 and with dreads much shorter than they were at Georgia, had 20 tackles and 1 TD as a rookie but didn't make the team this season; but he is currently on the Chiefs' practice squad.
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38. Although technically they don't have the same alma mater, CB Trae Waynes and RB Melvin Gordon did play for the same team in high school - at Kenosha Bradford HS in Wisconsin. Waynes, the Vikings' 1st round pick in the 2015 draft (11th overall) and Gordon, the Chargers' 1st round pick (15th overall) greet each other after the Vikings' 16-10 win in Week 6.
http://www.chargers.com/news/2015/09/23/best-friends-nfl-foes-melvin-gordon-trae-waynes
http://www.vikings.com/news/article-1/Competitive-Spirits-Connected-Trae-Waynes--Melvin-Gordon/11d91a98-f144-4180-b7a1-5f4fff82a24c
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NFL JERSEY EXCHANGE

It used to be that NFL players played their entire careers with one team, and back then they mostly hated the guys who played for opposing teams. But ever since unrestricted free agency began in 1992 and players more often starting seeing their former teammates on the other sideline, things have been getting more and more friendly every year. Nowadays it's almost like they're having a family reunion after every NFL game. In the last couple of seasons or so the post-game friendliness increasingly more often has included the exchanging of jerseys between players from opposing teams. It's a tradition that has been going on for decades after international soccer games that all of a sudden has become very popular among NFL players. Including several of them with dreads .....

  

39. Jets G James Carpenter and Bills DT Marcell Dareus, teammates in college at Alabama in 2009 and 2010, exchange their color rush jerseys after the Bills' 22-17 win on Thursday night in Week 10. With them both being interior linemen, the two 310+-pounders probably were slamming into each other on several plays throughout the game.
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40. In Week 14 James Carpenter exchanges with another one of his former Alabama teammates. He and G Chance Warmack, who were starters on the Crimson Tide's O-line in 2010 (when Carpenter was a senior and Warmack a sophomore) meet after the Jets' 30-8 victory over the Titans.
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41. Also after Titans vs. Jets ..... Jets CB Buster Skrine and Titans S Da'Norris Searcy (his short dreads hidden underneath his cap) didn't go to the same college and haven't been teammates in the NFL; so I had to do a little digging to try to find out why they might be exchanging jerseys. They both were born in the Atlanta area but went to high schools 45 miles apart. More likely they became acquainted at the 2011 rookie symposium, after Searcy was drafted in the 4th round by the Bills and Skrine in the 5th round by the Browns.
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42. A month earlier Da'Norris Searcy, his dreads visible this time, does find a former teammate he can exchange with after the Titans' 27-10 home loss to the Panthers - although he and Panthers S Tre Boston were teammates for only the 2010 season at North Carolina, when Searcy was a senior and Boston a freshman.
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43. Sorry, but the only photo I could find of Kendrick Lewis exchanging jerseys is this one where he has his dreads reduced. Lewis and Eric Berry, both safeties and both drafted by the Chiefs in 2010, meet after the Chiefs' 34-14 road victory over the Ravens in Week 15. Berry, a 1st round pick, and Lewis, a 5th rounder, were teammates for the first 4 years of their careers, often starting aside each other in the Chiefs' secondary. But after Lewis' rookie contract was up, he was allowed to move on, while Berry remained in Kansas City.
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44. And now, for those of you who stayed tuned after photo #32 ..... A couple of NoCal CBs - and Pro Bowl CBs too - sign and swap their #22s after the Chiefs defeat the Chargers in Week 11. Jason Verrett, the Chargers' 1st round draft choice in 2014, is from Fairfield, which is about halfway between San Francisco and Sacramento; while Peters, the Chiefs' 1st round pick in 2015 - who was named NFL defensive rookie of the year after the season - is from Oakland.
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45. One week later Jason Verrett finds another #22 to exchange jerseys with after the Chargers' road victory over the Jaguars. Verrett and CB Aaron Colvin were never teammates; but what they have in common is they both were named 1st team all Big 12, both in 2012 and 2013, while they were in college - Colvin at Oklahoma and Verrett at TCU.
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46. Seahawks CB Tye Smith and 49ers WR Torrey Smith end up with jerseys with their own name on them after the Seahawks' 20-3 road victory on Thursday night in Week 7. The two are not related (that is, I don't think they're related; I have found nothing on the internet that says that they are). This was after one of only 4 games that Tye played during his rookie season. He is currently on the Redskins' practice squad after failing to make the Seahawks' roster this summer. Torrey, who as you remember had dreads when he played for the Ravens' championship team in 2012, seems to have become a non-factor in the league since signing with the 49ers as a free agent in 2015.
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47. Star Ss Reggie Nelson and Eric Weddle exchange their jerseys after the Bengals' 24-19 home victory over the Chargers in Week 2. Really, Reggie, couldn't you have at least taken your mouthpiece out? The two were the 3rd and 5th safeties picked in the 2007 draft - with Nelson being picked by the Jaguars 21st overall in the 1st round and Weddle going to the Chargers 16 picks later in round 2 - and both are still going strong after 9 seasons in the league. Weddle has been selected to the Pro Bowl 3 times, while Nelson made it for the first time in 2015.
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48. LBs Kelvin Sheppard and Perry Riley want to exchange their jerseys after the Dolphins' 17-10 win over the Redskins in their season opener, but getting Sheppard's jersey off of his shoulder pads is proving to be easier said than done. The two were college teammates at LSU for three seasons (2007-09). Sheppard, drafted in the 3rd round by the Bills in 2011, is now playing for his 4th different team in just 6 seasons. After two seasons with the Bills, one with the Colts, and two with the Dolphins, he's now with the N.Y. Giants.
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49. A couple of Michigan Men, Jaguars' RB Denard Robinson and Panthers WR Devin Funchess, smile for the camera after the Panthers' 20-9 road victory on opening day. Robinson threw TD passes to Funchess 3 times during their only season as teammates with the Wolverines in 2012.
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50. Rookies selected 19 picks apart in the 2015 draft, LB Shaq Thompson of the Panthers (1st round, 25th pick overall) and LB Hau'oli Kikaha of the Saints (2nd round, 44th overall) pose with each other's jerseys after the Panthers' thrilling 27-22 home win in Week 3. Thompson had a season high 7 tackles in the game, while Kikaha had 6, including 1 sack apiece. The two were college teammates at Washington the previous three seasons but now are on NFC South teams that consider themselves enemies.
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51. Playing his first season with dreads, Eagles LB Najee Goode and Giants LB J.T. Thomas, whose second edition of dreads are now long enough to be visible when his helmet is on, swap jerseys after the Eagles' 27-7 victory on Monday night in Week 6. Goode had 1 tackle in the game, while Thomas started and finished with 5 tackles. The two were college teammates at West Virginia for three seasons (2008-10), where Thomas started growing dreads in 2009 but cut them off after just one season. He started his second edition in 2013, which he played with the Jaguars after being cut by the Bears. After two seasons in Jacksonville, he started 11 games in his first season for the Giants in 2015; but his 2016 season is already over after suffering a knee injury in the season opener. Goode, for the second straight year, was cut by the Eagles at the end of the preseason before being re-signed soon after.
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52. Two of the many stars on the Florida State team that won the 2013 BCS national title game exchange jerseys after their first meeting in the NFL - Falcons RB Devonta Freeman, who rushed for over 1,000 yards and scored 15 TD for the Seminoles in 2013, and Buccaneers rookie QB Jameis Winston, who threw 40 TD passes that season to win the Heisman as a redshirt freshman. Freeman arguably has enjoyed the more individual NFL success so far; however, after the Bucs' 23-20 win in overtime here in Week 8, another win in Week 13, and another win in the 2016 season opener, Winston is 3-0 against Freeman so far on Sundays. 
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53. Monday Night Football on the west coast: it's 8:40 and the game is already over ..... Chargers LB Melvin Ingram, playing his first season with dreads, and Bears WR Alshon Jeffery exchange after the Bears came back from a 16-7 deficit in the 4th quarter to win 22-19 in Week 9. Ingram had 5 tackles in the game, including a strip-sack that resulted in a turnover with the Bears in the red zone, while Jeffery finished with 10 catches for 151 yards. The two played in bowl games in all three of their college seasons together at South Carolina (2009-11); but after being drafted in the 1st and 2nd rounds respectively in 2012, Ingram and Jeffery have just one NFL playoff appearance between them (Chargers in 2013) in their first 4 years in the league (and their 5th year isn't exactly starting off too well either, is it).
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54. S Jonathan Meeks, in his first season with dreads, and LB Jadeveon Clowney do their exchange after the Bills' 30-21 home victory over the Texans in Week 13. One of Clowney's 3 tackles in the game was a sack. Meeks played 21 special teams snaps and had no stats. They are both products of the Rock Hill (SC) football factory but have been on opposing teams throughout their careers - Meeks at Rock Hill HS, Clemson (2009-12), and the Bills (5th round draft choice in 2013); and Clowney at South Pointe HS, South Carolina (2011-13), and the Texans (first player selected in the 2014 draft).
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55. A couple of Tampa products swap after facing each other in Week 10 - Redskins RB Matt Jones (Seffner Armwood HS) and Saints DE Bobby Richardson (Plant HS). You can forgive Richardson for not being in the mood for smiling, as he was a starter on the defense that Jones ran wild against. Matt had the best game of his rookie season, finishing with 56 yards rushing on 11 carries and 3 catches for 131 yards, including a 78-yard TD, in the Redskins' 47-14 rout.
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56. What? You didn't think that Trae Waynes and Melvin Gordon were going to meet (photo #38) without exchanging jerseys, did you? Gordon had 51 yards rushing on 14 carries, and Waynes was on the field for 52 plays and finished with 5 tackles (4-1) and 1 PBU as the Vikings defeated the Chargers 31-14 in Week 3. If both remain with their current teams, their next meeting won't be until 2019.
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57. Two weeks earlier all-Big 10 RBs Melvin Gordon (1st team) and Ameer Abdullah (2nd team) exchange jerseys after their 1st NFL game. In their final college meeting Abdullah had watched helplessly from the sideline as Gordon rushed for a record 408 yards as Wisconsin trampled Nebraska 59-24. This time Abdullah won the battle, finishing with 94 total yards and 1 TD as well as 105 yards on 3 kickoff returns to 51 yards on 14 carries (his same numbers as Week 3) for Gordon; but Gordon again won the war, as the Chargers defeated the Lions 33-28 ..... By the way, the other all-Big 10 1st team RB was Tevin Coleman.   
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58. Just think, and it's a scary thought - RBs Isaiah Crowell and Todd Gurley were almost teammates in college; but Crowell left Georgia after his excellent freshman season in 2011. He was hardly missed though, as Gurley arrived in 2012 and turned out to be one of the best RBs in SEC history. The two exchange jerseys after their first NFL meeting, in which Gurley rushed for 128 yards and scored his first 2 NFL touchdowns as the Rams defeated the Browns 24-6 in Week 7. Crowell had a tough time of it, gaining only 9 yards on 8 carries. Gurley, of course, went on to be named the league's offensive rookie of the year, while Crowell has averaged a respectable 3.9 yards per carry in his first two seasons with the Lowly Browns (I capitalized the L because Lowly Browns ought to be their official nickname, not just Browns).
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59. Redskins WR DeSean Jackson, in his first season with dreads, and Bills WR Sammy Watkins, whose dreads already were long when he was in high school, sign their jerseys before exchanging them after their game in Week 15. They both made the dread stars list, as Jackson had 6 catches for a season high 153 yards and 1 TD, while Watkins finished with 5 catches for 111 yards and 2 TD. Washington won 35-25, the 2nd win in a 4-game winning streak that carried them to the NFC East title. Watkins and Jackson have no connection other than being two of the fastest and most talented receivers in the league .....




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60. ..... But Sammy Watkins most definitely has a connection with Texans WR DeAndre Hopkins, shown here after their game in Week 13. During their college careers at Clemson, Hopkins (2010-12) and Watkins (2011-13) left their names all over the school's record book. Meeting in the NFL for the 2nd straight year, the two are even 1-1 after the Bills' 30-21 victory. Hopkins finished with 5 catches for 88 yards; while Watkins had 109 yards on just 3 receptions, including a 3-yard TD on which a defender grabbed his dreads in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent him from making the catch. For the season Watkins topped 1,000 yards receiving and Hopkins finished over 1,500 yards receiving; but things haven't gone very well for either so far in 2016.
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61. Browns CB Tramon Williams and Raiders S Charles Woodson reminisce about their seasons as teammates in Green Bay (2007-12) after Woodson's INT with :38 remaining in the game sealed the Raiders' 27-20 road win in Week 3. Surrounded by a slightly less talented supporting cast in his first season with the Browns than he had with the Packers, Williams finished 2015 with only 1 INT and 8 PBU, his lowest totals since his rookie season in 2007 ..... In the background btw is Raiders DE Denico Autry (#96) meeting with Browns FB Malcolm Johnson, his college teammate at Mississippi State.
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62. Before meeting up with Trae Waynes after the game in Week 3 (photos #38 and #56), Melvin Gordon meets his idol, RB Adrian Peterson. With jersey #25 already taken when he was drafted by the Chargers, Gordon selected #28 because of Peterson. So Melvin ending up taking home two Vikings' jerseys after the game. Too bad he didn't get the win: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sports/chargers/sdut-chargers-melvin-gordon-adrian-peterson-2015sep30-story.html
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63. WR Julio Jones contemplates whether or not he wants to take up CB Josh Norman's offer to shake hands after the Falcons hand the Panthers their 1st loss of the season in Week 16. Given Norman's ability to talk trash just as well as he covers receivers, Jones probably has something other he'd like to do to him than shake hands. Julio was named NFC offensive player of the week after catching 9 passes for a season high 178 yards; but Norman will be the first to remind you that he wasn't assigned to cover Jones on the play he made his spectacular 70-yard TD catch that put the Falcons ahead to stay in the 3rd quarter of their 20-13 win.
Jones had his hair in beginner dreads for about half of the games during his 1,871-yard, All-Pro season in 2015. But after he cut them off after the season, I've decided I'm not welcoming him to the house again in 2016. Only if he has dreads on opening day in 2017 will he prove to me that he's serious about growing dreads. Only then will I welcome him back again.
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64. DeAndre Hopkins probably would have been successful no matter which team had drafted him; but it certainly didn't hurt to have a great player like Andre Johnson to show him the ropes during his first two seasons in the league. Hopkins meets Johnson after Andre plays his first game ever against the Texans after playing his first 12 seasons for them. Johnson had 2 TD catches in the Colts' 27-20 win in Houston in Week 4. Hopkins had 11 catches for 169 yards for the Texans. Among Johnson's franchise records he set while with the Texans are his career totals of 1,012 receptions, 13,597 yards receiving and 64 TD catches; so DeAndre finds the bar set really high if he intends to get those records for himself.
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65. Apparently there are no hard feelings between Seahawks CB Richard Sherman and Ravens WR Chris Matthews after the Seahawks' 35-6 road win in Week 14. Sherman's laughing now but probably wasn't less than an hour earlier, after his INT return early in the 4th quarter came to an abrupt halt when Matthews, his former teammate, grabbed a hold of his dreads to make the tackle. Matthews, as you might remember, had that outstanding performance in the Super Bowl loss to the Patriots but was released by the Seahawks the following November after catching just 4 passes in 9 games. After being signed to the Ravens' practice squad, he was activated the day before the game against the Seahawks - just in time to make Sherman's day.
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66. Steelers LB Bud Dupree walks off the field for the final time in his rookie season after the tough 23-16 road loss to the Broncos in the 2nd round of the playoffs. The team's 1st round draft choice, Dupree finished the season with 26 tackles (17-9), 4 sacks, and 1 PBU. In my 2016 season preview I mentioned that he was on the IR list after having surgery done on his abdomen. Recently the Steelers also put CB Senquez Golson, another key player, on IR; and that means that Dupree, who's not going to be ready to play until December, probably won't play at all this season. At this point Golson is the most likely to be the one player the Steelers are allowed to active off of IR; and if that happens, Dupree will have to stay on IR all season and unfortunately will not be in uniform when the Steelers raise the Lombardi Trophy in February. 
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67. "Are you crying? ... There's no crying in football!" ..... Uh, maybe there is. Of course, if you were one game away from the Super Bowl and were getting beat the way Cardinals DT Ed Stinson and his teammates were, you might be crying too. Actually this photo wasn't taken after the game. No, the game is still in progress and Stinson is already reduced to tears, as the Cardinals do very little right on offense, defense, or special teams in their 49-15 defeat at the hands of the Panthers in the NFC championship game. Maybe next year, Ed.
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68. Old friends Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin greet each other after the Cardinals defeat the 49ers 47-7 in Week 3. Fitzgerald, drafted in the 1st round in 2004, and Boldin, a 2nd round pick one year earlier, spent 6 seasons together as the Cardinals' starting WRs, with the high point being that near miss in Super Bowl 43, when they barely lost to the Steelers. Boldin left the Cardinals in 2010 (and got a Super Bowl ring in 2012), while Fitzgerald is now in his 13th year with the team. Both are still going strong and likely to one day end up in the Hall of Fame.
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69. Just in case his grandchildren don't believe him, LB Willie Young has proof he was on the same field as the great Calvin Johnson when the Lions' Hall of Fame bound WR played his final NFL game. Young spent the first 4 seasons of his career as Johnson's teammate after being drafted by the Lions in 2010 and before signing with the Bears as a free agent in 2014. Johnson had 10 catches for 137 yards in his final game as the Lions avoided last place in the NFC North with a 24-20 victory at Soldier Field in Week 17. Interestingly Young, who finished the season with 30 tackles, 6.5 sacks, and 1 INT, didn't have any tackles in either of the games against his former team. Johnson called it a career after topping the 1,000-receiving yard mark in 7 of his 9 seasons, including the last 6. But just like with Barry Sanders nearly 20 years earlier, he found trying to lead the Lions to the Super Bowl to be an exercise in futility and just got tired of all the losing. The Lions finished with a losing record in 7 of his 9 seasons; and both times they made the playoffs they lost in the 1st round. That's right, no matter how great Johnson was, no matter how hard he tried, not once did he ever win a playoff game. No wonder he retired.