21 Fearless Predictions, 2013

It happens at the end of every season: I hear myself saying, "Sixteen weeks ago, if you told me [insert player's name] would have [fill in the blank], I'd have said you were crazy."

At this time last year, if I had told you Colin Kaepernick would lead the 49ers to the Super Bowl (and nearly win it) you would have said I was nuts.

That is part of what makes the NFL great.  Strange, unpredictable things happen.  And it's stupid to predict the unpredictable, but like we say here at Snot Bubble Football, "There's a fine line between stupid and clever."

It is time to walk that fine line.

Some of these predictions may seem a little far out, but hey, if I had told you last June that Adrian Peterson would come within a few yards of setting the all-time rushing record, you would have laughed.

What will happen in 2013?   Allow me to summon the football gods....

RB Eddie Lacy will break the Packers 42 year-old franchise record for most rushing yards by a rookie. (John Brockington, 1,105 yards, 1971).

Peyton Manning, at age 37, will break Drew Brees' single season passing record (5,476 yards), set in 2011.

Raiders rookie RB Latavius Murray (fifth round, Central Florida) will become be a fantasy star and a standout of the 2013 season, thanks to Darren McFadden's chronic owies.

By week 5, everyone will know who Patriots WR Aaron Dobson is.  You read it here first.

Giants RB David Wilson will be a top five running back, pounding the ground for over 1,300 yards.

Vikings QB Christian Ponder stuns the non-believers.  He will throw for over 3,800 yards and 25 TDs, becoming a legitimate fantasy starter.

Bills' rookie QB E.J. Manuel will be this year's Russell Wilson.  Only bigger, faster and stronger.

Redskins RB Alfred Morris will disappoint fantasy owners and rush for less than 1,000 yards, thanks to the return of Roy Helu.

TE Vernon Davis will lead the 49ers in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.

Ray Rice will be just the third RB in NFL history with 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving (Marshall Faulk '99, Roger Craig '85).  Despite this, the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens will not make the playoffs.

RB Rashard Mendenhall becomes relevant once again in his new Cardinals uniform.  He will rush for over 1,000 yards.

Bengals second year WR Mohamed Sanu will become an legitimate fantasy starter.

WR Darrius Heyward-Bey will shock the NFL world and grab 1,100+ yards receiving and 8 touchdowns at his new home in Indianapolis.  He will set the NFL record for most TD receptions from 50+ yards in a season.

Rams second year RB Isaiah Pead will be a workhorse and rush for 1,300 yards, despite his one game suspension.

QB Philip Rivers will be benched by new HC Mike McCoy.  QB Charlie Whitehurst becomes the starter in San Diego.

Never heard of Steelers rookie RB Le'Veon Bell?  By week 4, you will know him.

The Kansas City Chiefs will win their first playoff game since 1993.  Andy Reid will be named Coach of the Year.

Chip Kelly will struggle in his first year as head coach.  Michael Vick will be benched for Nick Foles. The Eagles will win just three games.  Fans will beg Andy Reid to "come back home."  

Texans RB Ben Tate will rush for more yards than RB Arian Foster.  Read it again.  Yes, you read that right.

In spite of a team loaded with talent, the Detroit Lions will again fail to make the playoffs.  Jim Schwartz, you're fired.

No quarterback on the Jets roster will throw for more than 1,500 yards.  In a desperate attempt to keep his job, Rex Ryan benches Mark Sanchez for Geno Smith; then benches Geno Smith for Greg McElroy.  Rex Ryan, you're fired.

2013 Fantasy Preseason Begins!

'Tis the first full week in June.  That means, of course, the fantasy football preseason has begun here at Snotbubble Football.  

These are my rules, folks.  I make 'em up as I go. 

I've been surveying the fantasy football horizon from the crow's nest and before I dip my toe in the waters of the 2013 season, it's time to reflect on the 2012 season. 

I played in three leagues last year.  I made the playoffs in all three (ultimately the goal each year).   I won two division championships (Borderless and More Beer).  Most total points (Borderless). And league champion (More Beer).  

Fantasy football truly was profitable for me last year. 

But before I break my arm patting myself on the back, my championship season in More Beer came about with me breaking every unwritten fantasy football rule in the book last season.   

And I had an extraordinary amount of old fashion good luck.  

Allow me to digress.  

This is the formula for how NOT to win a championship.  Yet somehow, I managed to do it in spite of myself. 

First, my teams avoided the injury bug.  This was something I had no control over. It just turned out that way. 

Second, I had excellent luck with not one, but two unproven rookie running backs (Doug Martin and Alfred Morris).  You are never supposed to rely on rookie running backs.  Stupid, but I got away with it. 

Third, I had absolutely no depth behind my two rookie running backs.  You must always have running back depth.  I was playing chicken with a freight train, tempting the fantasy gods.  Stupid, but I got away with it. 

Fourth, my starting quarterback struggled in a sophomore slump (Cam Newton).  When a player comes off a hot rookie season, chances are likely he will struggle the following season.  I knew that.  I drafted him anyway.  And guess what?  He struggled.  Stupid, but I got away with it. 

Fifth, I blew my first round pick (Chris Johnson).  I ended up benching him.  Eventually traded him away.  Somehow I still found a way to win.  Stupid, but I got away with it. 

Yes, part of my ability to rally had to do with my preseason preparation; part of it had to do with paying attention during the season, studying players and doing meticulous research.  

But most of it had to do with luck. 

And it also proves that you can do pretty much everything wrong during a season - you can screw up, you can make mistake after mistake - but as long as you keep your head above water and keep paddling, some times you can find a way to win. 

I wouldn't recommend taking the path I wandered down.  But holding that championship trophy at the end of the year takes care of everything.  

Much more fantasy football talk on the way!!

Team Logo History: Ravens

I've always wondered what Cleveland Browns fans think.  After all, the Baltimore Ravens are actually the Cleveland Browns - when the Browns moved to Baltimore, the players on the field in Ravens uniforms in 1996 were in Browns uniforms the previous year.

Five seasons later, the Ravens were Super Bowl champions.

What a tangled web we weave.

After the Baltimore Colts quietly exited the city in Mayflower moving vans in the dead of the night in 1983, heading west to Indianapolis, the city of Baltimore was left without a pro football team for the first time since 1953.  

A decade passed before Baltimore attempted an expansion team in the early 1990s (which was rejected by the NFL, thus opening the door to the Browns move).  They were going to be called the Baltimore Bombers; here is a prototype helmet:

The Baltimore Bombers would have had a red, white and dark blue color scheme.

The Bombers were to be named after the World War II bomber, the B-26 Marauder (which was designed in Baltimore).

But it was not to be.  The Baltimore Bombers, Memphis Hound Dogs and St. Louis Stallions were all rejected by the NFL (the Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars were accepted, however).

In 1995, an agreement was in place to send the former Browns to Baltimore.   The Browns were allowed to keep their team name, logo, colors, and records.  As a result, the Baltimore franchise would be considered its own NFL entity with no history or heritage to fall back on, only the long tradition of pro football in Baltimore.

Now to come up with a nickname.

The finalists were: the Americans, the Marauders and the Ravens.

The Ravens won the popular vote.  The name comes from the Edgar Allen Poe poem, "The Raven."  Poe lived in Baltimore (and is buried there), so it's actually a pretty cool connection with the city's history.

The team colors were determined to be black, purple, gold and white.

The Ravens used this decal on their black helmets for the first three years of the franchise's history, which I vastly prefer to the current design:

The original Ravens helmet logo.

However, back in 1995, after finding out Baltimore was acquiring an NFL franchise, an amateur artist had submitted a design to the Maryland Stadium Authority:

Fred Bouchat's original sketch, which he smartly copyrighted.

It does not take a judge to see where the Ravens got their helmet logo idea from.  Instead of giving Fred Bouchat credit for the design, the NFL stole it, leading to a lawsuit.  This led to a new search for a helmet logo in 1999.

An alternate helmet logo considered in 1999.

Another alternate

Yet another alternate

Finally, after fan voting, the current design was preferred.  Owner Art Modell insisted the a "B" appear somewhere in the logo, which I personally think could have been left out.

But I still wonder what Browns fans think.


 Images courtesy: www.sportslogo.net, uniformdatabases.com, logoserver.com, helmethut.com

Team Logo History - Jaguars

Entered the League:  1995

Before Jacksonville was awarded an expansion franchise, the city initially tried to lure the Colts away from Baltimore in the early 80's - a bid that Indianapolis eventually won.

In the late 80's, the city very nearly became the new home of the Houston Oilers, before the team was lured to Nashville. 

When it was announced a new expansion NFL team would kick-off in Jacksonville in 1995, the city began searching for a nickname.

The finalists were the Stingrays, Sharks, Jaguars and Panthers.

The Jaguars won the popular vote and the team colors were selected to be teal blue, black and gold.

The original Jaguars helmet logo.

Hmm... look familiar?

An early, prototype logo (never used).

When the Jaguars prototype helmet was unveiled, it looked significantly different than what we see today.

The Jaguars prototype helmet was gray with black, gold and teal center stripes.

Original owner Wayne Weaver with an early Jaguars prototype jersey.

Before the Jaguars took the field, the helmet underwent a total face lift.

The inaugural Jaguars "game day" helmet.

An alternate logo.

The original Jacksonville wordmark, 1995

Jacksonville's inaugural jerseys emphasized teal blue as the team's primary color:

HOFer Tony Boselli in the teal of yore.  Personally, I loved these uniforms.

In recent years, the Jaguars began to phase out teal and adopt black as a primary color.  Here, MJD is in the "black out" uniform.

In April 2013, the Jaguars introduced a brand new look, including new logo, helmet and jersey design:

The new Jaguars logo.  Classy.

The new Jaguars two-toned helmet.  Not so classy.

A few examples of the new Jaguars home uniforms.  Or, as I call them, "ugly," "uglier" and "ugliest."

Well, folks, that will do it for Snot Bubble Football's NFL Logo and Uniform History.  Thank you for joining me on this little journey through NFL history.

Now it's time to dig into the 2013 season.  Check back often, the site will be updated often with my thoughts, opinions and commentary.

And thank you for laughing with me.  Not at me.

Images courtesy: www.sportslogo.net, uniformdatabases.com, logoserver.com, helmethut.com

Team Logo History - Bengals

Entered the League: 1968

Long before the current Cincinnati Bengals were introduced to the football world, another Cincinnati Bengals team existed, which has been lost to history.

These Bengals were members of the original American Football League (an early rival to the NFL) back in 1937 and they played professional football for five seasons before folding in 1941.  They were completely unrelated to today's Bengals.  But the name stuck.

The city of Cincinnati would have to wait until 1968 to finally get another pro football team.

By 1968, Paul Brown was already enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  He had parted ways with his namesake team, Cleveland Browns, and was anxious to get back into professional football.

He purchased the Cincinnati franchise, which was the last expansion team added to the AFL before the NFL/AFL merger in 1970.

Having Paul Brown in the upstart league legitimized the AFL once and for all.

Brown dubbed the new team the "Bengals" in honor of the aforementioned team that played in the city 30 years prior.  Black, orange and white were team colors, obviously the colors of an actual Bengal tiger, although many said the Bengals uniforms looked too much like the Browns.

Bengals original logo, 1968.

 The Bengals had a few initial ideas for helmet designs, including this prototype:

This replica of the 1968 prototype looks very similar to pattern the Bengals would adopt in 1981.

Legendary head coach Paul Brown holding the prototype helmet, 1968.

Bengals wordmark 1968-1970

Instead of a revolutionary "striped" design, Brown decided to go with a no frills approach to the Bengals helmet:

Taking the no-nonesense approach.  At least for a while.

Kenny Anderson and the Bengals look of mid-1970s.  Did they look too much like the Browns?  A lot of people thought so.

Bengals logo, 1970-1980.

Virgil Carter in road whites, 1972

Then, in 1981, the most boring helmet in the NFL underwent a shocking change:

Wow.  Um, that's a lot of... um... stripes.  I remember my dad thinking this was obnoxious.  Oh Dad, if you could only see the Oregon Ducks or Maryland Terrapins.

The Bengals still use this same basic helmet and uniform design today, although the shoulder stripes have lowered.

The Ickey Shuffle in the original stripes....

Anthony Munoz in road whites.

Alternate logo since 1997

Bengals official logo since 2004.

Ocho Cinco in the modified versions of the Bengals uniform.

There is speculation that the Bengals may be considering a new helmet design using the reverse color scheme of their current helmet.  (An actual prototype helmet of this design was seen behind Marvin Lewis in an interview a couple of years ago):

I say bring back the old 1970s design.  There was something boringly cool about it.


Up next, my last installment in this series:  Jacksonville Jaguars

 Images courtesy: www.sportslogo.net, uniformdatabases.com, logoserver.com, helmethut.com