DG173

We are just a few more ticks of the clock away from turning the calendar to 2019; but I'm still not done with 2017 yet. Not even close. All I can do is apologize for being so late; but it's just that I spent so much time saving photos from the NFL's 2017 season that I don't want to have done it for nothing. Therefore the next several dread galleries will feature lots of those photos. And in dread gallery #173 we'll be looking at lots of photos of players with their helmets off. The photos are from before, during, and after the game; and we'll do them in that order.

1. Falcons DE Takkarist McKinley's dreads had several different looks during his rookie season; but probably they never looked better than they did here on opening day, as he signs autographs for Falcons fans at Soldier Field before playing his first NFL game. Being eased back into action after recovering from offseason surgery on his shoulder, McKinley played just 14 snaps and finished with 2 tackles (1-1) in his debut as the Falcons defeated the Bears 23-17.

200 X 3 = 8

If you answered 'false' to the title of this post, good for you. You aren't clueless when it comes to basic arithmetic. But this ain't no math quiz. Instead it's my crystal ball's own special way of alerting me of the feat accomplished by a certain running back with dreads. Almost immediately after the end of the AAC championship game three weeks ago (on Dec. 1), CB2 was displaying something right for a change rather than one of its ridiculous predictions. In flashing blue and gray lights, no less, were the numbers that are nonsense to the mathematician but which make perfect sense to any Memphis Tigers football fan. The numbers indicated that RB Darrell Henderson (jersey #8) had just rushed for at least 200 yards in a game for the 3rd time this season. Obvious, right?

Fly Champion Fly

Before the start of the season they were 40 to 1 longshots to win Super Bowl 52. After they got off to a blazing start (10-1 in the season's first three months), some said it was only because they had played a weak schedule. When they lost their starting quarterback in Week 14 to a season-ending knee injury, they were written off, declared finished as contenders for the title. Then after finishing with the best record in the NFC despite losing their starting QB, they were underdogs in both of their NFC playoff games - even though both were at home. And finally in Super Bowl 52 the mighty New England Patriots marched up and down the field, ripping their defense to shreds while racking up a Super Bowl record 613 total yards; and yet they still could not be beaten. They, of course, were the 2017 Philadelphia Eagles, champions of the NFL after knocking off the Patriots 41-33 last February for the franchise's first ever Super Bowl victory.

Ace of all trades

I remember seeing a highlight of one of his touchdowns back in Week 2, and I saved a photo of him scoring another TD in Week 5 (first photo below on left); but it wasn't until a week after that, after reading an article from USA Today, that I started to take any notice of Laviska Shenault. With part of the article's headline reading "... football player chose his dreadlocks over hoops ...", I couldn't help but notice. That's the kind of headline I like to see.

Actually though, I hate it when an athlete is put in a position like that: cut off your dreadlocks, or else. I guess now, in this day and age of "anything goes" hairstyles for athletes, it happens much less often. But back when he was in high school in Texas a few years ago, it happened to Shenault. The school's basketball coach had a team rule that prohibited players from having their hair in dreads. And so Laviska, with his dreads too important to him to cut off, took the "or else" option, saying goodbye to basketball instead of his locks. And because he did, basketball's loss turned into football's gain, specifically the Colorado Buffaloes' gain.

FSU vs. The U? .... Nothin' new

For real this Turnover Chain thing the Miami Hurricanes have had going on these last two years has been so much fun that I'm surprised the NCAA hasn't passed a new rule that forbids it. For years college teams have rewarded players for making big defensive plays in various ways: perhaps with a WWE-style championship belt or a sledgehammer or any number of other things. But when The U introduced its Turnover Chain during the 2017 season, it pretty much left all other teams' devices of celebration behind in the dust.

Get an interception, or recover a fumble, or force a fumble that results in a turnover, and when you come off the field after the play a big, shiny, gold chain is draped around your neck. Weighing in at nearly 7 pounds, the Chain is too heavy to be a part of most players' personal collection of bling; but it's the perfect size to wear proudly on the sideline while celebrating your big play until it's time to take the field again. The Chain became nationally famous last year while the Hurricanes were racking up a whopping 31 turnovers, a total topped by only two other FBS teams. Evidently the lure of being honored so lavishly was too irresistible for Canes defenders to pass up.

2017 NFL House Calls

If you were to glance at a list of the NFL players who scored the most touchdowns in 2017, you would (if you were like me) notice that there was a player with dreads at the top of the list, and another one in the #2 spot on the list, and another one in the #3 spot, and another one tied for the #4 spot. You also would have noticed that of the 11 players who scored 10 or more TD, more have dreads (6) than not (5). Those 6 players with dreads combined to score 79 TD last season, and 46 other players with dreads had a combined 140 TD, meaning that a player with dreads took one to the house 219 times during the 2017 regular season. The total of 219 is just under 18% of the 1,225 touchdowns scored by everybody in 256 games.

Kentucky finally beats Florida!

It has been as sure a thing as death and taxes ... and Clemson losing at North Carolina in basketball. And if you're a Kentucky Wildcats football fan, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Ever since the beginning of time it seems Kentucky has been a basketball school; but I'm sure there are a few of the UK faithful out there dreaming of the day the football team reaches the same lofty heights as the basketball program (which has won 8 NCAA championships). That day is not going to come this season (and probably no other season either), but nevertheless the 2018 season already has become a memorable one, because of what happened last Saturday night. What happened? The Wildcats beat Florida, that's what, with the final score of 27-16 at long last bringing to an end their streak of 31 consecutive losses to the Gators.

.... And We Gon Win That Bitch

For a change Jalen Ramsey didn't have too much to say; but in the few words he did say he actually said a whole lot: "We goin to the Super Bowl and we gon win that bitch." (If you'd like to hear it right from the source's mouth, here it is on this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbrqOEEFaKo

The photo of Ramsey (on the right, from the Jaguars' 1st round playoff game vs. Buffalo on Jan. 7) is just perfect, because it's a shot of the Jacksonville Jaguars' cocky, trash-talking, Pro Bowl cornerback with his mouth open. It may not be open 24/7, but Ramsey's mouth is certainly open often, especially when there's a microphone or an opposing receiver in front of it. On the night it said the Jaguars were going to win the Super Bowl he was speaking to the fans who had come to the stadium to welcome the team home following their 45-42 road win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2nd round of last season's playoffs back in January, the franchise's first playoff victory in 10 years.

NFL '17 Dread News - Week 22 - Part 1

"I guarantee you we are going to win the Super Bowl next year."

               Alshon Jeffery 1/1/ 2017

Pro athletes in all sports make predictions and guarantees so frequently nowadays that whenever you hear the latest one, your reaction is usually like ... yeah, whatever. It's in one ear and out the other, especially when the one talking about winning the Super Bowl is a member of the Chicago Bears. But every once in a while, one of those predictions actually comes true. Jeffery uttered his now famous guarantee shortly after the Bears' loss to the Minnesota Vikings in the final game of the 2016 season; and he made it while not knowing which team he would be playing for in 2017, since he was set to become a free agent during the offseason. I suppose then that you have to give all the credit to the Philadelphia Eagles for recognizing that Alshon was serious about keeping his New Years's resolution. After he signed with the Eagles, was their ever any doubt it was going to be satisfaction guaranteed for Eagles fans?

NFL '17 Dread News - Week 22 - Part 2

And now, the rest of my Week 22 report, featuring a dread gallery of Super Bowl 52, between the Eagles and the Patriots. There were a handful of key players with dreads on the field for both teams. Unfortunately most of those players had their dreads reduced for the game. Thank goodness, at least, for Jay Ajayi for not having his dreads reduced. And for that he'll be getting more air time here than anyone else.


DG

1. It isn't often that LB Dannell Ellerbe's hair gets overshadowed, but this might be one of them. It's impossible to not notice Ellerbe (#57) with his extra long dreads; but in this shot even more noticeable is the green hair of CB Jalen Mills. Ellerbe, Mills, and their teammates - all with their phones, of course - are introduced before the Eagles begin their one hour session at Super Bowl Opening Night (formerly known as Media Day) on Jan. 29, six days before the game.

All in the Family

With apologies to Archie and Edith Bunker and the Meathead, this post has nothing to do with the successful sitcom that aired on CBS Television back in the 1970's. I just thought the title of that show (reruns of which are still being shown today) also would be the perfect title this year for my annual preview of the NFL Draft. What? You didn't think the small matter of the Draft already being held two months ago was going to keep me from doing a preview, did you? No way! And doing it this way is going to make this my best preview ever. I mean, it's going to be kind of hard to go wrong on my predictions of which day of the Draft all the players with dreads will be selected. Seriously though, since we already know which teams drafted which players, I thought I'd do kind of a draft preview and review all at the same time.

NFL '17 Dread News - Week 21

In the comments posted under this YouTube video someone sarcastically wrote "Is this wrap up or tackle". At least I think it was sarcastic. Now more than two months later still nobody has replied to that comment with an even more sarcastic one (although one would have been appropriate). But unless whoever left that comment was totally ignorant rather than sarcastic, they already knew the answer to the question - because this video was a video of the 2018 edition of the NFL's All-Star Game - aka the Pro Bowl. And anyone actually hanging around to watch the whole thing already knew - or should have known - that tackling isn't allowed in the Pro Bowl. Just kidding, of course. Tackling is allowed; but just wrapping up not only suffices, it's preferred.

NFL '17 Dread News - Week 20

All they did was delay the inevitable. All they really did was make it easier for their opponent. All the Minnesota Vikings did when they miraculously defeated the New Orleans Saints in the 2nd round of the NFC Playoffs was give their fans false hope. Anybody who saw the improbable ending of that game and concluded that the Vikings must be some sort of "team of destiny" obviously hasn't followed them long enough. One week later, with a chance to become the first team ever to play in a Super Bowl on their home field, the Vikings turned back into who we thought they were - the same old Vikings. The ones that always find a way to break their fans' hearts. This time it was in the form of a no-doubt-about-it 38-7 beatdown by the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship Game on Jan. 21. DE Vinny Curry (photo above, raising the George Halas Trophy) and RB Jay Ajayi (first photo below) were just a small part of the huge celebration going on after the Eagles clinched the franchise's first NFC crown in 13 years.

NFL '17 Dread News - Week 19

It's difficult enough in the NFL just defeating your opponent; but when you're fighting history as well as the team on the other sideline, the wins are twice as hard to come by. Two teams found themselves in the unenviable position of trying to beat history in the two NFC 2nd round playoff games on the weekend of Jan. 13-14 - the Atlanta Falcons and Minnesota Vikings. History - and I'm talking about a combined 73 years of history - says that they couldn't both win. Because if they did, then they'd be facing each other in the next round, and one of them would advance to the Super Bowl. And that would mean that either the Falcons would end the 22-year streak of Super Bowl losers failing to return to the Super Bowl the following season, or the Vikings would end the 51-year streak of teams never playing in the Super Bowl on their home field.

NFL '17 Dread News - Week 18

It was so obvious that Alvin Kamara was going to be a special player on Sundays that even I could see it. But little did I know when I spotlighted Kamara in my preview of the 2017 NFL Draft that there actually were going to be two Special K's in this year's class of rookies with dreads. About 90 minutes or so after the New Orleans Saints picked Kamara in the 3rd round of the Draft, another running back whose name begins with K was the 3rd round choice of the Kansas City Chiefs. I actually was hoping the Chiefs would get Kamara; so at first I wasn't as excited when the RB with dreads they picked was some guy by the name of Kareem Hunt. That was just ignorance on my part. Having seen several of Kamara's games during his junior season in college at Tennessee, I was already familiar with what he could do. But having noticed halfway through his college career that Hunt's hair actually was in braids, not dreads (he's got dreads now, of course), I didn't watch any of his games at Toledo; so I didn't realize until this season how great a player he is too.

NFL '17 Dread News - Week 17

It was so unlikely and unbelievable that you would have thought it was something that only my crystal ball could have cooked up. As CB2 would have put it ......

With Ravens clinging to 3-point lead over Bengals in Week 17 nail-biter at Baltimore, Andy Dalton passes to Tyler Boyd for 49-yard TD on 4th and 12 with 44 seconds to play to give Bengals victory that knocks Ravens out of playoffs and allows Bills to clinch first playoff berth in 18 years.

I mean, that's a scenario worthy of inclusion in one of my NFL previews posts, right alongside all the other crazy and impossible Week 17 finishes that CB2 predicts every year that never ever happen. But unfortunately for Ravens fans and as you've probably heard, the impossible actually happened last Sunday (I saw it with my own eyes). Boyd really did score a 49-yard TD on 4th and 12, with the Bengals' 31-27 victory sending veteran LB Terrell Suggs (photo above), DT Michael Pierce (photo below on left), and all of Ravens Nation into devastation, and all of Western New York into jubilation. No doubt all the New Year's Eve parties in Buffalo and everywhere else that Bills fans were gathered together had a little more juice to them than normal after their favorite team clinched their first playoff appearance of the 21st century.