Embrace the Swag

Floyd Mayweather telling Larry Merchant off

Floyd Mayweather v Victor Ortiz quickly became the undercard for Mayweather v Merchant. During the post-fight interview, HBO’s Larry Merchant repeatedly asked Mayweather questions about his polarizing knockout of Ortiz.

Floyd got tired of Merchant re-phrasing his questions about the knockout and simply lost his cool. He felt that Merchant never gives him the respect he deserves as a fighter. An argument ensued and Floyd, among other things, told Merchant he “should be fired because you don’t know s--t about boxing."

Floyd may have went overboard on the 80-year old Merchant but it’s about time someone called him out. He’s been hating on black fighters for decades. His antagonistic journalism symbolizes the disdain America has for cocky black athletes.

It’s not just Merchant. It’s all of the fans and journalists around the country who vilify guys like T.O., LeBron and Kobe and praise Jeff Gordan, Larry Bird and Roger Clemens.

T.O. exercising for the media in 2005

Sure T.O. does sit ups for the media in his driveway and LeBron refers to himself as the King. At least they didn’t pull a Clemens and ask the team to allow them to take weeks off during the season to relax at home. Oh, and add in the demand for a $22-million dollar contract too. Talk about arrogance.

Plain and simple, the confidence of a black man is a scary sight for America. Maybe because “swag,” as we call it, is spreading like wild fire. Brash cockiness is no longer just in the ‘hood. It’s in suburban living rooms too.

Swag doesn’t mean a guy’s immoral. It just means he knows his capabilities and doesn’t have a problem letting you know all about them. It shouldn’t be seen as a threat. It should be embraced and shared to benefit the product on the field, court, and in the ring. Former NHL star Jeremy Roenick said it best.

“Yeah, I’m cocky and arrogant. But that doesn’t mean I’m a bad person.”

Jeremy Roenick was revered despite his arrogance

Yea you’re right Jeremy. As long as you’re not black.

More of the Top QB List

8. Troy Aikman        FTQBR - 39

How fitting for Troy to land at number 8 on my list. The golden boy starred for UCLA before being the number 1 overall pick of the Dallas Cowboys in 1989. After posting a 0-11 record in his rookie season, Aikman won 90 games and 3 Super Bowls in the decade of the 1990s.

Aikman’s 3 titles, which includes a game MVP, set him in exclusive company. Only 2 quarterbacks have won more. Surprisingly, Troy has very average stats, throwing just 165 touchdown passes compared to 141 interceptions. All in all, Troy was a winner whose leadership cannot be told by sheer numbers. Unless those numbers are 3, the number of titles he brought to Dallas.

7. John Elway        FTQBR - 39

No one did so much with so little as John Elway. This guy carried 3 different Denver Bronco teams to the Super Bowl when they had no business being there. A true clutch performer, Elway has 46 game winning drives on his resume. He guided the Denver Broncos to 148 wins with his 50,000 passing yards during his 16-year career.

Elway’s rifle arm led him to 399 career touchdown passes. On the other hand, that arm also produced 226 interceptions and a very mediocre 56.9% completion percentage. But I don’t remember him for his miscues. I remember him closing out his career with back-to-back Super Bowl wins. Talk about going out in style.

6. Brett Favre        FTQBR - 43

I’m not one of those guys who has a man crush on Favre. What no one can deny is that for 20 seasons no one played with the combination of toughness, exuberance, and joy quite like Favre did. He literally rewrote the record books and was as revered across the NFL as any other player in league history.

Favre retired with the most passing yards, completions, and touchdowns in league history. He also retired with the most interceptions (336) and, for all his success, just a 7-11 record in the postseason. His multiple retiring and un-retiring routines are well documented, but the guy deserves his props for winning 3 MVPs and playing sport’s toughest position for 298 straight games. That’s gangsta.

Top Quarterback list continued: numbers 11-9

11. Jim Kelly        FTQBR - 24
For 11 years Jim Kelly ran the K-Gun offense to perfection for the Buffalo Bills. The Hall of Fame quarterback led the Bills to 8 playoff appearances including 4 straight trips to the Super Bowl.

Kelly threw an impressive 237 touchdowns passes in his career, including his league leading 33 in 1991 when he was named to his only All Pro team. He would have had to win a couple of those Super Bowls to break into the top 10.

10. Drew Brees        FTQBR - 33
Drafted by San Diego, Brees developed into a Pro Bowl quarterback before the Chargers let him walk due to injury. He signed with the Saints and brought a Super Bowl to the Katrina ravaged city of New Orleans.

Brees put up big career numbers across the board with a 91.2 rating, 239 touchdown passes and a 65% completion percentage. Add a first team All Pro selection and a Super Bowl MVP award with those numbers and Brees is well on his way to a bust Canton.

 
9. Dan Marino        FTQBR - 39
Now we are firmly into the upper echelon and who better to start with than Dan Marino. He set the world on fire in 1984 when he was league MVP, setting single records for touchdowns (48) and passing yards (5,084). With his quick release, Marino retired holding every major career passing record. His play earned him a first ballot Hall of Fame selection.

Unfortunately, Marino was never able to have the same success in the postseason. He had just a 5-10 playoff record after winning 147 games in the regular season. The biggest blemish on his resume` is his lack of a Super Bowl title, but still Dan Marino was truly an all time great and deserves this top 10 spot on my list.

New KD on the Block; Kevin Durant is quickly becoming the best in the game

Durant dunks in 2010 playoffs

First it was the 66 points at Rucker Park. Then he gave Melo and “King” James 59 points last week in Baltimore.  I guess it’s all in a summer’s work for Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant. The two-time scoring champ’s assault on the game has him quickly approaching the title as the NBA’s best.

Who else is in his way? Kobe’s declining, LeBron and D-Wade can’t close and Carmelo is inconsistent and one-dimensional. Add the underwhelming post game of Dwight Howard and who do you have left?

“What about Dirk?” you ask. Dirk clearly has come a long way at closing games and shedding the “soft” label, but he’d even tell you that he’s not the complete package that Durant is. Durant's 6-10, can shoot from anywhere on the floor, he finishes in every way possible and is improving his playmaking and defense every day.

In his four year career Durant has been Rookie of the Year, MVP and gold medalist at the World Championship, two-time scoring champ and he got the Thunder to the Conference Finals just two years after the team won 23 games. In the 2011 playoffs, Durant singlehandedly eliminated the Nuggets, and who knows what would have happened if Russell Westbrook had just passed the damn ball!

KD is the epitome of a gym rat. The dude’s just never satisfied. He continues to live in the gym working on his game despite his superstar status. To top it off, he's already signed an extension, showing his loyalty to Oklahoma City. The boy’s skills are immeasurable, he works his tail off and he’s loyal to the organization that gave him a shot at the NBA. You can’t make this stuff up! No offense to Paul Pierce, but Kevin Durant is the truth.  

Top Quarterbacks of the last 30 years

Who’s the greatest quarterback of the last 30 years? It’s a never-ending debate in the sports universe. What exactly is the criterion? Is it the guy with the best stats? Is it the number of Super Bowl titles? What about wins and unforgettable moments. Of course it’s got to be a combination of all of those things. Just because a guy like Jim Plunkett won two Super Bowls doesn’t make him a better quarterback than say Dan Marino or Jim Kelly.

Over the next few days I will be ranking the best quarterbacks in the NFL dating back from 1980 up to now using my own FTQBR system, which is the Fanatical Truth Quarterback Rating system. I added the statistics that best show a quarterback’s value and subtracted the sum by the total of negative plays. Remember, the bulk of his career has to be played after 1980 (sorry Dan Fouts). Also, the quarterback had to be a starter for at least 9 seasons.

I used everything from touchdowns and championships to losses and interceptions. I weighted Super Bowl wins heavy, giving 5 points for each. I also gave the same amount of points for making First Team All-Pro as I did for MVPs. Like an MVP award, making 1st team All Pro means that you were the best quarterback in the NFL for that season.

On the other hand, I gave the lowest amount of points for Pro Bowl selections because the value of being a Pro Bowler isn’t as high as it used to be. I mean, who knows who actually was chosen for the game and who only got there as an injury replacement?

I also gave bonus points for Comeback Player of the Year awards and Hall of Fame inductions. Obviously making it in the Hall of Fame is huge and I liked that players got through some adversity and came back to perform at a high level.

Scoring is as follows:
Career wins – 50-80=2 pts, 81-100=5 pts, over 100=7 pts
Playoff wins – 1-5=2 pts, 6-10=5 pts, 11-15=7 pts
Touchdown Passes – 100=2 pts, 101-200=5 pts, 201-300=7 pts, over 300=10pts
Completion % - 55=2 pts, 56-60=5 pts, over 60=7pts
Passer Rating – 75-85=2 pts, 86-90=5 pts, over 90=7 pts
MVP awards – 1=5 pts, 2=7 pts, 3=10pts, 4=12 pts
1st Team All-Pro – 1=5pts, 2=7pts, 3=10 pts, 4=12pts
Pro Bowls – 1-3=1 pt, 4-6=pts, 7-10=3 pts, over 11= 4 pts
Super Bowl MVPs – 1=2 pts, 2=5 pts, 3=7 pts
Hall of Fame = 5 pts (bonus)
Comeback Player of The Year = 1 pt (bonus)
Losses – 50= -2, 51-80= -5, 81-100= -7, over 100= -10
Playoff Losses – 1-5= -2, 6-10= -5, 11-15= -7, over 16= -10
Interceptions – 50= -1, 51-100= -2, 101-150= -3, 151-200= -4, over 200= -5

Let the debating begin!

Young Guns
These are the guys who deserve to be mentioned on this list, but do not have the required years as a starter (9).

Ben Roethlisberger  FTQBR – 29
The two time champ does nothing but win

Aaron Rodgers  FTQBR – 20
The Super Bowl MVP last season. The arrow is pointing way up.

Phil Rivers  FTQBR – 20
He is a prolific passer and a big time leader.

Tony Romo  FTQBR – 18
When he isn’t busy dating actresses and singers, he’s putting up big numbers in Big D.

Mike Vick  FTQBR – 5
Vick is the most explosive quarterback in league history.
 
The List 

#16 Warren Moon     FTQBR – 11 
I had to include Warren Moon even though I intended to only rank the top 15. His 11 rating is a little miscued because it doesn’t include his career as a Canadian Football League (CFL) star. He came along at a time when the NFL hadn’t had many black QBs and had to go to Canada to continue to play the position. He ended his CFL career with 5 championships, an MVP, and 144 touchdown passes in 6 seasons.

Unfortunately, this is the best quarterbacks in the NFL since 1980. Warren Moon is the NFL’s first African American star quarterback. His rating was aided by his Hall of Fame (HOF) induction, 291 touchdown passes and his 102 wins. But his 101 losses, lack of playoff success and high interception total (233) heavily contributed to his low ranking.

#15 Randall Cunningham    FTQBR – 15
Randall dazzled Eagle and Viking fans for year and was once dubbed the Ultimate Weapon. He had a gun for an arm and the ability to run pass even the fastest defenders. He has an MVP award from The Sporting News but the only official MVP award is given by the Associated Press, so I couldn’t count it.

His 207 touchdown passes, first team All Pro selection (1) and bonus point for his Comeback Player of the Year award help is case. But his pedestrian 81.5 rating and only having 3 playoff wins in 10 seasons as a starter do him in.

#14 Boomer Esiason    FTQBR – 15

I give Boomer the tiebreaker over Randall due to his Super Bowl appearance.  He was gun slinging lefty who led the Bengals, yes the Bengals, to a Super Bowl in 1988. The second round pick out of Maryland was the 1988 NFL MVP and he was voted 1st team All Pro that same year. What hurts him is his 93 loses and, due to his gun slinging, 184 interceptions.

#13 Donovan McNabb    FTQBR – 16

Throw out last season and all Donovan McNabb has done is win football games. The Eagles were a mess when they drafted him and they’ve been to 5 NFC championship games since.

The underappreciated quarterback has won 7 playoff games and won 230 touchdowns in his 11 years as a full time starter. However, he falls because he was never an MVP, 1st team All Pro or a Super Bowl champion. 

#12 Phil Simms    FTQBR – 16

Simms owns the tie breaker over McNabb due to his Super Bowl title. Phil Simms, along with Bill Parcels and Lawrence Taylor, brought championship football back to the Giants. His 22-25 for 268 yards and 3 tds performance in Super Bowl XXI remains as legendary today as it was then.

Simms FTQBR was greatly impacted on his Super Bowl title and game MVP honors. But his completion percentage (55%) and passer rating (78.5) are just average.