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When it comes to the art of talking a lot without saying anything at all, few do it better than football coaches.
That might be why it’s been so refreshing listening to Broncos interim head coach Jerry Rosburg the past two weeks. Even when the longtime NFL assistant offers a diplomatic response to reporters’ questions — like the “highly, highly unfortunate” offensive pass interference call against Courtland Sutton — Rosburg says what he means.
Which is something we may not get from the next leader of Broncos Country — if recent events are any indication.
Jim Harbaugh — D+
We’re not sure what’s worse: The Michigan coach’s goal line offense in the Wolverines’ College Football Playoff loss to TCU, or his statement addressing reports that he may soon return to an NFL sideline.
For those who missed it, there’s only one sentence that mattered in the two-paragraph declaration tweeted out by the Michigan football program on Thursday afternoon: “As I stated in December, while no one knows what the future holds, I expect that I will be enthusiastically coaching Michigan in 2023.”
The Grading the Week staff may not know what the future holds, but we do know there’s enough outs in that statement to finish off a ninth inning at Coors Field.
That said, we sympathize with Harbaugh’s position.
Nobody wants to be seen as having a wandering eye by their employer. And after engaging in heavy petting with an NFL team (Minnesota) just one year ago only to be jilted at the altar, there can be no more dalliances for Harbaugh. Only consummation. Or his commitment issues could begin to affect the Wolverines’ recruiting.
All of which is to say, if the Waltons wish to throw a big bag of cash at Harbaugh’s feet to take over the Broncos, we suggest they do it surreptitiously. And soon.
NFL — A
It’s a rare instance when sports can actually be put into proper perspective.
In a country that spends billions of public dollars on sports facilities, yet can’t always find money to provide children with their own text books, it’s often the case that the games we play receive more attention and resources than they probably deserve. (And, yes, we fully grasp the hypocrisy of a full-time sportswriter making that observation.)
That’s what made the response in the minutes, hours and days after Buffalo Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin’s horrifying on-field cardiac arrest so heartening.
Almost immediately, from the players, to the coaches, to the fans inside the stadium and across the country, there was a sense that Monday night’s high-stakes game between the Bills and Cincinnati Bengals no longer mattered. Just the life of a young man that suddenly hung in the balance.
It is ironic that the first thing Hamlin asked when he first regained consciousness Wednesday night was who had won the game. Unaware of everything that happened after he collapsed on the Paycor Stadium turf, Hamlin assumed that the show must go on.
That it didn’t was the only right decision to be made.
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