By Julie Buehler
Every year there’s a steady stream of training camp storylines that football fans love to wrap their hope around. But please realize that with the 24-7 sports media cycle, it’s a requirement to post religiously and rigorously and keep feeding the voracious appetite of said football fans. And so, ladies and gentlemen, we have the yearly ritual not uniquely called “Training Camp Hype.”
It’s like the whole NFL has HBO Hard Knocks personnel waltzing through their camps with pen and paper ready to jot down any complimentary phrase or reason to believe YOUR team is going to be THE team THIS year.
So the next few weeks I’ll be here to let clue you in on some training camp storylines more likely than Hollywood breakups and ones that are as real as a Kardashian marriage.
Hype To Believe:
1) The Raiders Will Be Good. Sure they’ve been bad, really bad, pathetically bad actually, for the past decade plus. And sure, there’s been some level of optimism in year’s past. (DISCLAIMER: Mainly by deranged Raider fans who don’t know the difference between a football and an actual animal bladder.) But this year IS different. First, the team has a quarterback that actually puts the football where his receiver is rather than where the defense is. So that’s like the difference between life before and after Edison invented the light bulb- there can be light at the end of the tunnel! Derek Carr is a solid- not great- but solid quarterback that has a gifted receiver in Amari Cooper, revamped offensive line and a Trent Richardson, formerly known as a first-round running back. While I’m not endorsing any hype around Richardson in particular (and there will be some, that’s how you know it’s training camp), I am endorsing the hype around the Raiders new secondary, second-year linebacker Kahlil Mack and new head coach Jack Del Rio. Now before you think I’ve been spending too much time watching The Bachelorette, please consider that Del Rio took the Jaguars to the playoffs. The Jaguars. And then never accuse me of watching that terrible show again. Ever. I’m not saying the Raiders will be a playoff team, but they can say good bye to being a laughing stock and depending on how well the new pieces gel, it would not surprise me to see them as a playoff team.
2) Adrian Peterson Will Be Good. See Alex Rodriguez. Actually ARod is more of an anomaly than what Peterson could do this year. ARod, beofre his remarkably productive year, took a whole year off coming down from ‘roids and recovering from injury. Peterson took the year off after a child-abuse scandal rocked the NFL and he was placed on the Commissioner’s Exempt List- i.e. the NFL didn’t know what else to do but pay him to be out of the public eye. Point is, he’s going to be fresh, motivated and reports are coming out of Vikings’ camps that his workload will get “heavy.” And why not, those legs haven’t been trucking through the NFL for a year. Additionally, his quarterback should be making large strides in improvement as well. Teddy Bridgewater was the highest rated passer over the last 5 games of the season and considering his college stats, where he improved in every major statistically category year in and year out, and you can understand why there’s so much optimism in the humidity-drenched summer headlines. Feel free to believe it.
3) Jen Welter As The First Female Coach In The NFL. I love, LOVE, this story. Sure it gives me hope that one day I’ll be hired as the linebackers coach for my beloved 49ers, but more importantly, Dr. Jen Welter is HIGHLY deserving of this hire regardless of gender. I’ve known Dr. Welter for years and she is one of the rarest of individuals who is the same person whether she’s talking to a 5th grader grabbing a slurpee at a 7-11 or breaking down her path to a doctorate degree in a room of academics. She’s real, authentic, kind and intensely passionate about football. And she’s that way with every breath, not just when there’s cameras on. It’s not surprising that the Arizona Cardinals head coach, Bruce Arians, a man whose integrity is unquestioned and who’s irreverence to convention is unbridled, would be the man to hire the NFL’s first female coach.
It’s currently an internship, but don’t be surprised if Dr. Welter opens a number of doors for other women whose intense passion and love for football catapults them through and beyond any glass ceiling. She’s certainly someone to root for. I always have and will continue to do so.
Next week’s column we’ll cover some stories about Hype That’s Just Hype:
1) Tim Tebow Has New Throwing Motion. Yeah, and I’ll give up my beer on Sundays. Some habits diehard (like beer and football) and some habits don’t die (like a decade-plus of a bad throwing motion).
2) Anything With Jameis Winston In The Headline. Not only is Winston willingly fanning any flames of hype, but the Buccanears’ franchise has been so starved for so long of a franchise savior, they wouldn’t know one if Mike Alstott ran him over.
3) The Broncos “Running Game” Will Change Peyton Manning’s Game. This one makes me laugh. Last year he threw the 3rd most attempts of his career. So yeah, he’ll throw less, but that’s like saying a Ferrari is faster than a 6-Series BMW.
So tune in next week for Part II of Training Camp Hype: To Believe Or Not To Believe?
In the meanwhile, catch me on KMIR News every night. We hope to be your home for high school in the fall and the best local sports features you can find!
Julie Buehler hosted the Coachella Valley’s most popular sports talk radio show, “Buehler’s Day Off” every day for 3 years, but now she can be exclusively seen on KMIR sharing the coolest stories in sports. She’s an avid gym rat, slightly sarcastic and more likely to recite Steve Young’s career passing stats than American Idol winners. Tune in to KMIR’s nightly news or KMIR.com for her sports reports.
