Speed of the essence
NFL: WEEK 2 10 NFL games came in under 3 hours in Week 1
The NFL took steps to eliminate dead time in games and, as an offshoot, to shorten the length of them. Judging by Week 1, it’s working.
Ten of the 15 games were played in under three hours, a first since 2009. And, as NFL communications vice-president Joe Lockhart points out, the 3:24 for the Chiefs-Patriots match came in a “compelling game.”
“We’ve made a concerted effort to take out dead time and reduce the commercials,” Lockhart says. “Research had told us our fans were willing and open to the breaks being slightly longer if they were less frequent.”
Lockhart notes that viewers seemed satisfied with the double box the networks used at times when there was a replay review.
“We got good feedback on the double box with the official looking at replay while in commercial break,” he says. “The reviews tend to lend themselves to that; one of the changes we made was we would tend to wait until we came out of a commercial break for the official to announce whether a play was upheld or overturned. This year, we’re not necessarily waiting and the networks know that. One option for them is to go to the double box so at least the fans know there is a ruling coming.”
At least one coach, Tennessee’s Mike Mularkey, mentions it can be challenging for the team to get acclimated to a quickerpaced game.
“I think the pre-season helped us kind of get a feel for how the pace was,” Mularkey says. “We’re getting advanced notice of when there’s a TV timeout, when there’s not, when the clock is starting. There’s much more information being passed along to us on the sidelines that allows us to get our guys ready to go.
“But the players have been the ones that have adapted probably the most. They understand — and again, I talked to them even (last) Saturday night about excessive celebrating. That can play a big part into affecting a special teams play right after a score. They’ve been talked to enough about it, I feel good about our guys and the tempo we go at.”
BEHIND THE SHIELD:
In a combined 65 years as two of Al Davis’ most trusted personnel executives, Jon Kingdon and Bruce Kebric were privy to almost all the major player moves for the Raiders during Davis’ final three decades as owner of the team.
The two have teamed with former Raiders beat writer Steve Corkran on a revealing look at Davis’ Raiders in a new book titled “Al Davis: Behind the Raiders Shield.”
The book shares details of how the Raiders ended up with Todd Marinovich and Nick Bell instead of Hall of Famers Brett Favre and Aeneas Williams in the 1991 draft; talks about the decision to draft JaMarcus Russell first overall in 2007; and explains how Davis made both good and bad decisions during the end of his Hall of Fame career.
ROSAS’ DOUBLE DEBUT:
Making his NFL debut wasn’t the only exciting thing that happened to New York Giants place-kicker Aldrick Rosas this past weekend.
Hours before the Sunday night game in Dallas, Rosas’ girlfriend, Tiffany Lopez, gave birth to their first child in California. He watched the birth on his phone at 4:15 a.m. CDT after a four-hour labour.
“The whole day I went to the game and felt pretty special to have my first child on my first NFL game,” Rosas said. “Kind of two dreams coming true.”
Rosas’ girlfriend had planned to be induced Monday, but the baby arrived early which necessitated him watching on FaceTime. “It was a little grainy,” the 22-yearold said. “It was good to kind of be there in support. It was an amazing feeling.”
Rosas, who kicked a 25-yard field goal on his only attempt, went to California after the game, getting a ride on co-owner Steve Tisch’s private plane from Dallas to Burbank. He then flew to Sacramento to hold his daughter (Karsyn) for the first time Monday. He rejoined the Giants on Wednesday.
“What a day,” said Rosas, who beat out veteran Mike Nugent for a job. “I am never going to forget it. The best day I could have as my first NFL game.”