Category Archive for ‘Ron Wolfley’ at Doug & Wolf Blog

Character matters when you vote for an athlete to be inducted into a Hall of Fame. If it didn’t, we would not be human but mere beasts of the field, snorting for roots in an open field.

As Homo-sapiens, we have the ability to decipher right and wrong, the knowledge of good and evil. What is right for one person is wrong for another but, unless you’re a nihilist, there is a line of right and wrong for all of us.

We make moral judgments every day of our lives and those decisions are different for each and every one of us. But no matter our vocation, no matter our lot in life, no matter our dogma, our morality (or lack thereof) governs the decisions we make.

It is morally reprehensible to vote a convicted serial killer into the Hall of Fame because he won 350-games as a pitcher in the Major-Leagues. Better still, it is sub-human. To do so places greater emphasis on a man’s athletic prowess than on our ability to reason, to think and to be human.

If a man was caught in the act of raping a 12-year-old girl, killed her and threw her body into a river, would you still vote for him to be inducted into the Hall of Fame because he hit 800 home-runs? Please…tell me you wouldn’t. Of course you wouldn’t!

A character line has been drawn, hasn’t it?

If you would vote for Mr. 800 to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, you just put the dignity of humanity under the thumb of some stupid rule that says the Hall of Fame is about what a player did on the field. In fact, that stupid rule just became your moral compass, your god.

In the above example, you would have made a moral decision to ignore the actions of a convicted child-killer in favor of honoring a stupid rule about Hall of Fame credentials being confined to a field or diamond. You would have placed more moral import on adhering to the rules than being human – unless you think killing children isn’t wrong.

And that doesn’t make you feel like a caveman? You can’t see there MUST be a character line – albeit an extreme line?

The Hall of Fame is about what a player did on the field or diamond. But that’s only because we haven’t had a player convicted of some horrific crime while being considered for the Hall of Fame. A player with great character should not be voted in because of said character, but a player that rapes a 12-year-old girl should not be considered based on our ability to know what is evil…and be strong enough to stand and call it as much.

I would never vote a player into the Hall of Fame if he was convicted of some heinous act.

Does that make me a moralist? No, it makes me human.

Wolf: Grading the NFL Draft

Published by Doug & Wolf on April 26, 2008 in Column and Ron Wolfley. 0 Comments

2008 NFL DRAFT

ROUND 1 (1-16):

1) MIAMI:
JAKE LONG (OT, MICHIGAN) 6-7, 315, 5.29
Bill Parcells believes in building a team on the strength of the line-of-scrimmage. He did it in New York (twice) and he did it in Dallas. I thought he might actually go with a DE (Chris Long or Vernon Gholston), trying to recreate a Lawrence Taylor/DeMarcus Ware scenario, but Jake Long will be the starting tackle for the Dolphins for the next decade.

This pick could have been five different players. Nobody would have batted and eye if Chris Long, Matt Ryan, Darren McFadden, Glenn Dorsey or Vernon Gholston would have been selected with this pick.

I love this pick because NFL games are won and lost on the line-of-scrimmage. Jake Long will win many more battles than he loses.

2) ST. LOUIS:
CHRIS LONG (DE, VIRGINIA) 6-3, 278, 4.75
This pick was a toss-up between Long and Glenn Dorsey. Ironically, the player they would pick may have been based on the Rams first-round selection of a year ago, Adam Carriker. Carriker played over the center last year but many experts believe his natural position is at DE. If the Rams wanted to move Carriker to DE, they probably would have selected Dorsey. But apparently, they like the job Carriker did at nose so they picked Chris Long.

Chris Long has got the motor of a Mustang Shelby-Cobra 500! The kid will flat-out ball and has an outstanding pedigree (his father is Howie Long). Every great pass-rusher has two qualities: athleticism and a relentless determination to get to the quarterback. Long has got both in spades.

It’s hard to argue this pick unless you think Carriker is a better DE than NG.

3) ATLANTA:
MATT RYAN (QB, BOSTON COLLEGE)
This pick threw a wrench in the machine. Many thought this would be Glenn Dorsey. In the end, a wounded franchise decided to heal itself.

What’s the best way to put an era behind you? Start a new one. That’s exactly what the Falcons did with this pick. Not only do they get a very talented, smart, franchise quarterback, but they officially put the Mike Vick era behind them.

Ryan reminds me of Tom Brady. His throwing mechanics are eerily similar to Brady; he has the same body type and athleticism as Brady. And most importantly, the same brain as Brady.

I LOVE this pick by Atlanta. Ryan should develop into a Pro Bowl QB but it took courage to select – and pay – another franchise quarterback so early in the draft.

4) OAKLAND:
DARREN McFADDEN (RB, ARKANSAS) 6-2, 210, 4.33
What a shocker here…a player with character questions ends up in the silver-and-black! But Al Davis had to ake this pick. McFadden may be the biggest freak in the draft and no team is more susceptible to freaks than the Raiders.

McFadden is Adrian Peterson with more speed. I thought he was a better back than Peterson after watching him play this year. Experts are worried about his skinny legs and upright frame but he’s powerful and runs with great authority. This guy is the best athlete in the draft and should help Lane Kiffin deliver on his promise to “bring an explosive offense” to Raider-Nation.

This pick makes perfect sense but one wonders how McFadden will fair off the field going to LA from Little Rock, Arkansas?

5) KANSAS CITY:
GLENN DORSEY (DT, LSU) 6-1, 313, 5.0
Merry Christmas, Coach Edwards! This had to be the most implausible scenario the Chiefs could have imagined when they ran through their mock-drafts. Many experts believed Glenn Dorsey may have been the best player on the board. When the Falcons passed on Dorsey, the Chiefs draft room must have exploded, knowing the Raiders would most likely take McFadden at four.

Dorsey can play the 1-technique (shaded on the center) or the 3-technique (shaded on the weak-side guard) equally well. He has the bulk and strength to hold the point and the speed and quickness to get up the field and disrupt blocking schemes. He is without question the best interior defender in this draft and the Chiefs got a steal at five.

6) NEW YORK JETS:
VERNON GHOLSTON (DE, OHIO STATE) 6-3, 266, 4.58
In my opinion, Gholston is the BIGGEST freak in this draft. I had him number one on my board. Knowing the Patriots were drafting behind them and knowing that Belichik covets versatility in a player, the Jets had to take Gholston even if they weren’t crazy about him