John Harbaugh Likes Trump’s Politics

Obviously the name of this site isn’t “Political Insiders,” but on rare occasions the worlds of football and politics collide and we are there to pick up the pieces.

During a Saturday press conference, the former Super Bowl winning Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh was giving his best coach speak, and then the subject turned to officials and things got political. 

Harbaugh would like to have officials at practices and officials would also like to be there.  The problem has been compensation.

“Maybe talk to one another, solve a problem once in a while instead of creating a problem,” Harbaugh said. “Be more concerned about the country than you are your party. How about we do that? Let’s try to fix things around here in this country. That’s what made us great. … They get free lunch at the Capitol, too. Congress, they probably get free lunch there, too. Go eat your free lunch, then go sit in your corner and don’t solve anything. And who suffers? All of us suffer, because they can’t get along.”

Harbaugh, whose job it is to beat the New England Patriots sounds a little like a Patriot.  Then he took the political speech to a new level.

“I’m going [Donald] Trump here,” Harbaugh said. “Build a wall, it’s not that hard. You don’t have a border, you don’t have a country. You’re not a country without a border, right? At the same time, you got 12 to 15 million hard-working people here. Give them a shot. Give them a chance, right, to become a citizen so they’re paying taxes. All of us know that it’s not complicated. But this side doesn’t want to solve it and neither does this side. Solve the problem!”

Perhaps Harbaugh can be Donald Trump’s running mate?

Cardinals Ink CJ2K

After a difficult offseason which included Chris Johnson taking a bullet, the former 2,000 yard running back has finally found a home, signing with the Arizona Cardinals according to Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer.

Apparently Johnson is now fully recovered from his shoulder injury which stemmed from the gunshot wound he suffered in Orlando, Florida.

What will Johnson bring to the Arizona Cardinals?  Last season he seemed to have an aversion to contact as he posted career lows with the New York Jets with 155 carries for 663 yards and a single touchdown.  Johnson was so unproductive that he plummeted on the depth chart.

The immediate plan would be for Johnson to take some camp reps and hopefully eventually split carries with Andre Ellington.  The now 30-year old back from East Carolina University no longer runs his 4.24 second 40-yard dash and the odds that he’ll be much more than “just a guy” is slim.

What’s more interesting is that another team that is desperate for running back help opted against signing former Pro Bowler Ray Rice.  Rice is obviously coming off his NFL suspension for domestic violence and he’s done everything he could possibly do since to show great contrition.

Even the Reverend Jesse Jackson spoke out on Rice’s behalf.

“Ray did something terribly wrong and not only has he apologized with contrition, his wife forgave him, God has forgiven him, he wants to go on with his life,” Jackson said during an appearance on WBAL NewsRadio 1090AM. “Give him a chance to play. Why give him a lifetime sentence for that? It’s not fair.”

Sometimes life isn’t fair and if Rice didn’t average just 3.1 yards per carry in 2013 he would be employed by an NFL team right now.  If he averaged the 4.3 yards per carry that he has throughout his career we would hear an NFL team talking about, “not turning their back on a reformed man.”

Nobody wants the PR hit of signing Rice when he would likely be nothing more than a backup.

The Arizona Cardinals just proved that they’d rather have a backup who got himself shot.

Bucs Sign Former First-Round Pick

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers addressed some of their depth issues on the offensive line as they reportedly came to terms with former first-round pick Gosder Cherilus.

“Keep in mind, for me, we had him in for a visit,” Buccaneers head coach Lovie Smith said after Monday’s practice. “I went on to the practice field and now I’m getting off the practice field. I can’t talk an awful lot about him right now. I know you guys do a great job doing your work. You know all about him. He’s in for a visit. (Tackle) Demar (Dotson) went down. We needed some offensive line help. It’s good that a player like that is available. From my time in Chicago, we did a lot of research on him when he came out. Of course, I had a chance to play against him for quite a few years. Tomorrow I should be able to talk a little more about him.”

Cherilus was inked due to the preseason injury to Demar Dotson, the Bucs best lineman last season.  Dotson’s injury is being reported as a sprained MCL.

“We have the medical reports in, but I’m just not going into detail on things like that,” Smith said defiantly. “He’s out. We brought another player in. You saw Demar is on crutches right now. He’s not playing this week. He is going to be out for a period of time. Hopefully not a long period of time, but he will be out for a while. To be truthful that’s about all I really know.  Of course I know what the injury is and all that, but as far as what you guys need to know, he’s not going to be playing for a while and we have to move on.”

We would never accuse Lovie Smith of being dishonest with the media, but coaches have done worse things.  Smith was asked and reiterated that Dotson doesn’t need any type of surgery.

“No, he doesn’t,” the Buccaneers second-year head coach said.  “Really, I don’t want to talk about Demar anymore. He is not going to require surgery. He is out.”

There is an unconfirmed report by a former Tampa Bay Buccaneer that is suggesting otherwise.

https://twitter.com/IanBeckles

The Indianapolis Colts signed Cherilus to a pricey free agent deal two years ago and saw his production completely fall off after he was paid.  They let him go in the offseason after a knee scope.  Since he’s been a free agent, the former first-round pick of the Detroit Lions visited both the Buffalo Bills and his former team (Lions).

The saying “help is not on the way” comes to mind this time of year with offensive line injuries.  Teams rarely have a plethora of guys that can play and it’s not really a position where one team can pick up a valuable contributor after final cuts are made.  On top of that, good offensive lines work on cohesion and it’s difficult to gain that bringing someone new into the fold.