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Best TEs of Our Time

 Now begins a new chapter on 4and26sports.com... From this point forward, I will begin listing the best at their position since I was cognizant and watching sports. I am a 20 year old journalism student, who cares more about sports than I do world hunger- trust me, I know what I'm talking about. And to quell the old timers, I will limit the conversation from when I was first aware of what was going on.. say, early 90's.. until now, as to not upset those who would swear by Casper and Winslow Sr. (don't worry, I know about them too... just never seen them in their prime).

Some ground rules: it's not just about statistics. It's about impact on the game, team leadership, and what they meant to the fans. It's the total package. We begin with tight ends:

5. Frank Wycheck
I considered placing Jay Novacek in this spot, but he was never the dominant receiving force on his team. As a defensive coordinator, who would you rather gameplan against: Derrick Mason, Steve McNair and Eddie George, or hall of famers Irvin, Aikman and Smith (not to mention the greatest offensive line of all time))? Wycheck it is. His statsitics are impressive enough (5126 yards, 28 tds), his consistancy is wonderful, and who could forget his instrumental role in the famed Music City Miracle? ... but he's a clear cut below the 1-4 on the list.

4. Ben Coates
Ben Coates, in short, was a monster. Sometimes, he simply seemed too large for the field. He was too big and strong to be guarded by a vast majority of defenders, and along with Curtis Martin, was the main point of attack on the AFC champion and largely successful Bill Parcells/Drew Bledsoe Patriots of the Mid 90s.  He dwarfs Wycheck on stats, but is laughably incompetent compared to the top three. However, if in a different circumstance, his 5500+ yards and 50 tds would probably be much larger. Remember he was part of an era where the tight end's stats weren't inflated beyond belief. I'm looking at you, Jason Witten and Dallas Clark.

3. Antonio Gates
Here come the big boys. All of the top three were considered at one point the absolute class of their position. Gates sometimes just looks like he's a pro playing against amateurs. Taking the torch from our number two in the mid 2000's as the premier tight end in the league, this Kent State basketball player-turned- all pro tight end just makes every defender look simply too small and too slow, meaning he's just too big for any corner to guard and just too fast for any linebacker or safety to guard. His stats and accolades back up this selection. 5066 yards and 51 touchdowns in only six years? Go and take a gander how long it took every other tight end to accumulate those stats. His only downfall his the fact that he hasn't been around as long as #2 and #1... but the scary part? He's done all of this and he's still only 29.

2. Tony Gonzalez
Ah, the undeniable master of statistics. He's got the most receiving yards among tight ends (about twice as many as Wycheck, Gates and Coates), the most catches among tight ends and the most touchdowns. He's the complete package. He as a slam dunk hall of famer and another great athlete at the position. He even has that "wow" factor with his amazing grabs, and he was the focal point of the offense. And he's still playing now! But go ask Marty Schottenheimer how the Cheifs did in the playoffs in the 90s. Not to take anything away from him, as he's still one the the best ever, but he's the Dan Marino of tight ends.

1. Shannon Sharpe
And if Tony is the Marino of TE's, say hello to the Joe Montana. He outclasses everyone in his generation at his position in his stats (10060 yards, 62 tds) except the great Tony Gonzalez.. but his trump card is his three Super Bowls.
    To clarify, to me, a super bowl ring means nothing on your resume unless you were a focal point of the team earning the ring. For every Desmond Howard, Dexter Jackson and Deion Branch who absolutely earned their ring, there's those who won theirs in spite of their poor performance, like Ben Roethlisberger (Super Bowl XL), Trent Dilfer and Eli Manning.
    Shannon Sharpe won three super bowls while being the absolute best receiving threat on his team. He was a destructive force. Sometimes he was so fortunate to make a grab, you had to wonder whether there was a higher power guiding his way (I immediately think of the bobbled grab with the Ravens in the '00 playoffs). He was so good, it seemed unfair. It's a travesty that he is not in the hall of fame. His back to back titles with the Broncos and his third with Baltimore cemented his legacy as the best TE of our time.
    And it doesn't hurt that he was entertaining. To put it bluntly, Shannon Sharpe never shut his mouth.  He was as boastful as Ochocinco, but unlike Chad, he could back up his mouth. You can still see him today on CBS's pregame show talking for a living. I leave you with my favorite Shannon quote. During a 34-8 beatdown of the New England Patriots in 1996, Sharpe found the nearest sideline camera and picked up a phone in front of it. For all of America to hear, he exclaimed:
"Mr. President, call in the National Guard! Send as many men as you can spare! Because we are killing the Patriots! They need emergency help!"

Mets and Phillies

    Is there a more perfect union among logos than those of Philadelphia and Queens? Compare them adjacently. Very similar in style; they have more in opposite than in common. Superficially, the consistencies are plain to see: a nickname in cursive over a blue/white backround, with a baseball-themed backround.The differences are very subtle, yet also outstanding.
    There is the pride of having America's founding (objectified by the Liberty Bell) vs. the commerce and cultural capital of the world (skyscrapers and the bridge). While New York is ready to tell you that it is happening, and hip, and NOW, and popular, with big free agents like Johan, Beltran, K Rod, Putz and others, the Phillies are perfectly happy to say that it is fine being blue collar. Home grown world champions Hamels, Utley, Rollins, Howard and others support the claim. A monument to the country as a logo communicates a much more impressive message than that of a skyscraper, whereas producing champions out of a farm system is much more impressive than buying other team's star players.
    And the plate vs. the baseball? Hit that round one as much as you want when it doesn't matter, Metropolitans. The Phils were, and will continue to be, the ones that celebrate the pentagon (signifying runs and victories), whereas the Mets are, and will, continue to be the ones that celebrate the sphere (signifying nice stats and... not much else.)

Oh, and welcome back to 4th and 26. This one was for you, Joe Cann. I am commited to the blog again though; be back soon with another update. Sorry about the long hiatus, certain issues prevented me from publishing more.

The Greatest Sports Weekend

4th and 26 follows five teams very closely. And all five can be identified easily by simply observing the logo in the top left corner of this very page: Phillies, Eagles, Sixers, Flyers, and Nittany Lions. Four of those teams were in significant action this weekend. Four of them emerged victorious.

The weekend started innocently enough. The Flyers were winless, the Nittany Lions were in the precarious postion of battling a top ten opponent in an environment where they hadn't won in the past three decades, the Eagles were languishing at a middling 3-3 against an unusually fiesty 4-2 Falcons squad primed for an upset, and the Phillies had recently ceded their 1-0 lead with a sloppy 4-2 defeat in St. Petersburg.

But we should all be reminded: the Flyers were still playing with house money after the magical run to the Conference Finals last year, the Nittany Lions were top three and undefeated with an absolutely LOADED roster, the Eagles should count their lucky stars that they weren't skeeving around below .500 after the pitiful performances they've put forth this season, and the Phillies? Well, the Phillies were in the World Series.

I repeat: THE PHILLIES. IN THE WORLD SERIES. The losingest franchise in sports. I can't write or say that enough times to believe this isn't a dream.

My friends and I had a barbeque on Saturday. Needless to say, there was corousing and imbibing beginning early in the day. By the time kickoff rolled around in Columbus, there was not a soul around with the ability to operate heavy machinery. Why is this relevant? Well, I was born and raised in eastern PA. I am NOT used to seeing my teams succeed. We in the east are used to a team that has the potential to win it all, but yet consistently comes up short. We're used to the '94 PSU team that was denied the chance to even play for a title, to the late 90's Eric Lindros/John Leclair teams that always seemed to get shut down in the clutch, to the Allen Iverson led squads that played hard, yeah, but could never seal the deal, to the Donovan/Dawkins Eagles NFC-Championship-Game-losing-professionals, and of course, to Joe EFFING Carter.

So I was a little sauced, and a little pessimistic. The #3 Lions were losing 6-3 as Kevin Kelly squared up to kick what would be a tying field goal against the hated #9 Buckeys in the third quarter. The room we were sitting in fell silent, as his kick errantly sailed wide.

And I pronounced the Lions dead.

It's as if Penn State was a favorite sitcom. I had seen this episode before; this was the one where we choked against Ohio State. It's been a staple of my childhood, as reoccuring as the passing seasons. No matter what my friends told me, I assured them that this game was lost, and we'd better start preparing ourselves for another Outback/Capital One/ Alamo Bowl trip.

But then something happened. Terrelle Pryor faced a third and one at midfield. And Mark Rubin charged at him and punched the ball out. As the ball graced the turf, the momentum shifted completely from scarlet to navy blue. Navarro Bowman jumped on the ball and the Lions never looked back. Pat Devlin put away the Bucks with a well-timed quarterback sneak to put the nail in the coffin. Burgers were cooked, beers were raised, phone calls were made, and there was plenty of WE ARE with a resounding PENN STATE in return all around the house. Spirits were high. And to top if off, the inclement weather forced a late start to the Phillies game-meaning we could catch all the action.

From first pitch to last pitch, Jamie Moyer sure made good use of his first World Series start in what seems like a century-long career. The man was a professional when most of the Rays roster was in diapers. After two disgustingly horrific starts in the NLDS and NLCS, nobody, save nobody, expected him to play well. But the old man did his job stupendously, and even though the Phightins surrendered the lead completely by the ninth, CARLOS RUIZ of all people stepped up and hit the walkoff game winner. We raised one hell of a ruckus after that run came in; I have the bodily injuries to prove it. Am I sorry? Snowball's chance in hell. I wouldn't trade that night for anything, and we celebrated in style the rest of the evening.

By the time the referees completely blew the "muffed punt" call by the Falcons against the Eagles the next day, I knew there were forces beyond my understanding at work. Brian Westbrook went off and straight demolished the Atlanta defense, and my boy Donovan got a standing O for RUNNING in a touchdown. (!) Yes, you read right, Donnie got a round of applause, and he did it the old fashioned McNabb way. The birds are above .500 and right back in the playoff hunt.

In all the excitement with the Iggles, Nits and Phightins, I had completely neglected the Flyers for the weekend. And with good reason; their winless record was a testament to their underwhelming start. But I assume the mojo from all the other area teams got the Flyer's heads on straight; two straight wins over the rival Devils! No better way to kickstart a run than by drubbing your least favorite division foes.

To top off the weekend, The Phillies utterly obliterated the Tampa Bay Rays Sunday night, taking a commanding 3-1 series lead. In a fantastic turn of events, Ryan Howard ripped two home runs and even Joe Blanton (who, earlier in the game, a knowledgeable baseball fan/friend of mine remarked, "He's the worst hitter I've ever seen in the bigs)" even cracked a homer. You can't make this stuff up.

So, in summation: sports are a crazy thing. For all I know, the Phils can blow three straight, the Birds could go 8-8, the Flyers miss the playoffs, and PSU could go undefeated and still be held out of the BCS championship. Conversely, the Phils could finish off the Rays tonight, the Eagles could catch fire, the Flyers could bring Lord Stanley home and JoePa can retire with another shiny National Championship trophy on his mantle. I hope for the latter.

All in all, it was a pretty good weekend. But we didn't get everything we wanted in sports. The damn Cowboys still won. Oh well, there's always next week.

Predictions and Some Tim Talk

What's good? 4and26sports is back for a little venting. First of all, though:
Phils over Dodgers in 6, Eagles over Niners 21-12, PSU over Wisconson 27-21.

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  If someone had asked me who has the top offense, yards wise, I would have guessed Texas Tech, Mizzou, Penn State, or Oklahoma. Well, they're ranked 2, 3, 9 and 5, respectively. Who's number one? Why, Tulsa of course, with mighty Houston sitting at four. Just goes to show you can't put too much stock in statistics in college, unlike the NFL; the level of competition is so varied as opposed to parity.
    Case in point- while an average Big XII team has to go through Texas, OU, Mizzou, OKST, Kansas, et al, while Tulsa has the pleasure of playing such patsies as Rice, U Texas El Paso, U Alabama-Birmingham, and Southern Methodist, yet when you measure who possesses the best offense in CFB, the stats point to Tulsa.
    Something esle to ponder: the yardage and TD's are horrificly skewed due to gimmick offenses and one man offenses. Seriously, are Mike Leach's "Let's throw 80 times a game" Texas Tech team and June Jones's old "Hey, Le'ts see if we can throw 90 times a game" Hawaii teams really that much better and more athletic than, say, a Pete Carroll pro-style USC team or a Bob Stoops conservative Oklahoma? No way, and if you disagree, you're kidding yourself- but the numbers suggest otherwise. Gimmick offenses work in CFB. Another thing that may skew totals, as noted above, is a one man offense.
    While pro football is dominated by a platoon system, i.e. Barber/Jones, McFadden/Bush/Fargas, Jackson/Grant, college football can be dominated by a good enough athlete. It's simple, really- in the pros, it's a lot more equal footing, and someone carrying the ball every play would be beaten down and out of the league well before they should be.
    Which brings me to my point- if you have an elite athlete (let's call him "Tim") against a large amount of good and above average athletes, and Tim's team is filled with just plain average athletes, there's no reason not to give Tim the ball every play. Since Tim gets the ball every play, he gets his numbers, but his team still isn't really that good because the opposing defense knows exactly what's coming and can stop it. And just because Tim scores a lot doesn't mean he's a great football player or a great leader. So even though Timmy can score 55 touchdowns by getting the ball every play and running QB draws by the goal line, Timmy has never had a 4th quarter comeback. Tim blew it against an inferior team on its last legs in his bowl game. Tim's team went 9-4 after winning a national championship where he was the backup, and got entirely too much credit for what he did on that squad.
    And Tim's going to realize that when he gets to the NFL he's not going to be able to truck overmatched defenders en route to another easy score in Urban Meyer's vaunted spread- he's going to get laid out, concussed and tossed aside like a taller, more religious Ryan Leaf. Go and ask Alex Smith how it feels to be the highly-touted, awesome Urban Meyer-spread Quarterback in the pros. Might be able to give Tim some good advice.
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Eagles Rams Preview

St. Louis Rams at Philadelphia Eagles
Latest Line, as of Friday: stl   +7    PHI

Breakdown
The St. Louis Rams are going to get waxed on Sunday. That's all there is to it. But since I'm obligated to tell you how, when, why and in what fashion the Eagles will maul the billy goats, here are a few things to ponder:

Rams
    Gone are the days of Marshall Faulk (now on TV), Issac Bruce (now toiling in obscurity in the bay area) and Kurt Warner (now slaving away in the desert). The new-look Rams are about as exciting to watch as paint drying, grass growing or your daily ESPN Brett Favre update (actually, that last one far exceeds anything in recent memory on the boring scale. I'm yawning thinking about it).
    The Rams went 3-13 last year. "But 4and26, maybe they had a tough schedule!!!1!!1" No. They played in the NFC West. Let me repeat that: The NFC West. What's the only division that can make a claim against the NFC West as worst in football? If you said NFC South, pat yourself on the back. Why is that relevant? That's the division they played interconference. So, to break it down for you, they started off the season losing 8 straight, including losses to the Panthers, Niners, and Ravens. Oh, and worst of all, they were inexcusably SWEPT by the Cardinals, including a 48-19 steamrolling in the finale. So, to put it bluntly, they were tragically awful last year.
    Tory Holt is still one of the best receivers of all time. It's such a shame for someone of his caliber and stature to be playing on a team that probably wouldn't be favored heavily to beat the in-state college team, the #6 Mizzou Tigers. He STILL managed to start all 16 games and haul in 93 balls for 1189 yards. His consistency is remarkable. Keep in mind that it was a hurt and ineffective Marc Bulger and the ancient Gus Frerotte throwing him passes. The sad part is that he drew double teams so Randy McMichael and Drew Bennett could possibly do some damage, and they just fell flat on their faces. Drew caught 33 balls last year. Go back to Tennessee, you bum.
    The offensive line is aging and/or terrible, and Orlando Pace just keeps fading away from his glory days. 4and26 laughs at his predicament, because Orlando is an Ohio State graduate. Anyway, Steven Jackson's still good, but he keeps facing 8 men in the box. He'll get his yards, but he won't get his TD's. The secondary is banged up and suspect, and the D Line is either too young or too old.
    The bottom line? This is a 3-13 team that made very little improvement. They ranked 28th in ppg and 31st in points allowed pg. They can't cut it until their youngsters get some more experience.

Eagles
    Donovan McNabb looked like his old self in the last few games of 2007. Don't look for anything more than 200 yards in this one, though. Low estimate? Consider that the top two Eagles receivers (Curtis and Brown) are banged up, and that the birds will be most likely running the ball consistently because Brian Westbrook, the most complete back in the league, will be looking to start off 2008 with a  bang. Look for the mighty one from Nova to accumulate, at a minimum, 150 yards total (90 rushing, 60 receiving sounds about right) and a touchdown or two. The Rams should get a steady diet of Buck and Zo as the game wears on to keep 36 fresh. The Rams ranked 20th in run defense in 2007, and start no players in their prime on the defensive line (Carriker and Long are raw, and you need to use carbon dating to figure out the age of Laroi Glover and Leonard Little.) Mix that with the fact that the Eagles offensive line has no holes, and you have a trench war that was over before it started. William, excuse me, Tra Thomas will absolutely manhandle Chris Long, the Rams highly touted first round pick from UVA.
    Hank Baskett, Jason Avant and DeSean Jackson could be the top three receivers on the depth chart on Sunday. As usual, all eyes will be on the electrifying rookie from Cal. He'll get a few passes thrown his way, sure, but watch out for him on punt returns. He makes professionals look like amateurs with his side stepping, spins and jukes, not to mention his world class speed. He and Demps turned the return game, which was a backbreaker last year (please god, no more Reno Mahe), into a gamebreaking strength.
    The Eagles defense is disgustingly awesome. Bunk and Patterson are as good as it gets at DT. The rotation at DE should be frightening- just when you've had enough of Parker and Cole, here come Abiamiri and Clemons. The LBs are all homegrown, fresh, young, athletic, big, fast and ready for action. Bradley, Gaither and Gocong will make a solid linebacking corps for years to come. And what else needs to be said about the secondary? Mikell may be a little young, and Dawk a little old, but they both excel. And it is, without question, the best group of cornerbacks in the league. Sheppard, Samuel and Brown, even with all the drama thats enveloped them, should be lights out. Steven Jackson will be swallowed in the box, Tory Holt will be blanketed, Marc Bulger will be pulverized.
This won't be close.

Philadelphia 27, St. Louis 6