NFL Approves New Rule to Allow for Reviews of Pass Interference

The NFL reported that last night at the annual ownership meeting a new rule was approved that allows for offensive and defensive pass interference (including non-calls)  to be subject to review. According to the NFL, coaches can challenge those calls in the first 28 minutes of each half. In the final two minutes of each half, those calls will be subject to a booth review. This rule change is made on a trial basis only for the 2019 season.

The one play that was the most egregious non-call last year took place in the NFC Championship game. The Saints and Rams were tied late in the game (1:49 remaining), the Saints had the ball on third and 10. Drew Brees from just beyond the 20 yard line threw to his receiver Tommylee Lewis who was down field at about the 5 yard line. Clearly Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman tackled Lewis and made helmet-to-helmet contact before the football arrived. Two penalties could have been called. If pass interference was called, the Saints would have had the ball roughly a yard away from the end zone. Brees could have used up more clock and scored late in the game leaving the Rams with no time or very little time. The Rams went on to win the game in overtime. 

Based on that game, Saints owner Gayle Benson wrote a letter expressing her dissapointment: “No team should ever be denied the opportunity to reach the title game (or simply win a game) based on the actions, or inactions, of those charged with creating a fair and equitable playing field. As is clear to all who watched the game, it is undeniable that our team and fans were unfairly deprived of that opportunity yesterday."

Bears Will Play Packers in First Game of 2019

The Bears and the NFL both celebrating their 100th seasons this year (the early days of the NFL are discussed in our Pillars of the NFL book). 

The NFL will begin the season with a Thursday night game on September 5th featuring the Chicago Bears versus their arch-rival Green Bay Packers. Sure to be a very popular game in Chicago and nationally with many up and coming players on the Bears and their successful coaching staff.  On the other side of the field there will be many questions marks as Packer fans will like miss several of the personalities that have made the Packers--well, the Packers. First, the fiery Packer's coach Mike McCarthy is gone. McCarthy was that fit the city by the blue-collar bay.  

Then, eight year Packer veteran wide received Randall Cobb has signed with the Dallas Cowboys. And ten year veteran Clay Matthews has signed with the Los Angeles Rams. Cobb has been one of Aaron Rodgers's most reliable targets and was there when the hobbled Rodgers led the Packers to a come from behind victory at home in the first game of the season in 2018. Likewise, Bears fans may be glad to see the often-posing Clay Matthews who has certainly been a problem for the Bears over the years.  Some believe Matthews is "over-the-hill," but let's keep in mind stat-wise that the NFL was adjusting to new rules last year that hurt some players like Matthews.  Also there should be some benefit to Matthews playing more game in a warmer climate. The Rams are also written about as a team that needs depth and certainly the former USC great can help  fill that need. 

Papa Bear and the Chicago Bears Winning Ways

A Look at Papa Bear

As we are coming up to the new football season. First the draft and then before you know it, it will be training camp. It's a great time to remind readers that we have a small book that has tremendous value for kids that we have available as an eBook on Kindle. It is called Papa Bear and the Chicago Bears’ Winning Ways by Patrick McCaskey. “Papa Bear” George Halas was the owner of the Chicago Bears and one of the founders of the National Football League. He was also the author's grandfather. This is a short book about how he successfully managed the Bears during the 20^th Century. It’s also a book that focuses on some of George Halas’s sayings or “winning ways” that may help you and your children.  

Papa Bear and the Chicago Bears Winning Ways discusses some historical events that affected George Halas and many others. When we do this, we put certain words in italics and then we explain them for the reader in the Glossary in the back of the book. It's a simple easy to read book that kids will like. 

Guy Chamberlin Award Given

Guy Chamberlin won his NFL championships in the 1920s and he was also was a player-coach for championship teams that no longer exist: The Canton Bulldogs, the Cleveland Bulldogs, and the Frankford Yellow Jackets.  The NFL provides a tremendous amount of notoriety for players and coaches, but history is sometimes forgotten. And history for teams that don't exist today can be hard to find.

Guy Chamberlin has a fan base in Nebraska where the University of Nebraska Chamberlin Award has been given out each year since his death.  The University recently announced this years recipient, wide receiver Stanley Morgan Jr. 

At Sporting Chance Press we joined local efforts to work towards more "awareness" of the great Guy Chamberlin and we also published a great book on ten of the greatest coaches in NFL history: Pillars of the NFL: Coaches Who Have Won Three or More Championships. Chamberlin's grandson, Rob Sherwood, was a substantial help to us and he provided a few photographs. There were some hard-to-find newspapers stories and other sources that Rob helped point us toward. 

Folks back home at the Gage County Historical Society, the Wymore Library,  and his home town, Blue Springs have worked to see Chamberlin recognized and remembered.  A monument in Chamberlin's honor was recently constructed and placed on ground near where the High School that Chamberlin attended once existed. 

A Facebook page was created for the monument and many posts were added especially back in 2014. We still have a good supply of  Pillars of the NFL, a perfect way to preserve the legacy of Guy Chamberlin in the home and community.  His coverage in the book was certainly a labor of love by the author and many others who helped us along. 

Increasing Awareness of Guy Chamberlin and His Contributions to Football

Guy Chamberlin won his NFL championships in the 1920s and he was also was a player-coach for championship teams that no longer exist: The Canton Bulldogs, the Cleveland Bulldogs, and the Frankford Yellow Jackets.  The NFL provides a tremendous amount of notoriety for players and coaches, but history is sometimes forgotten. And history for teams that don't exist today can be hard to find.

Chamberlin has a fan base in Nebraska where the University of Nebraska Chamberlin Award has been given out each year since his death.  At Sporting Chance Press we joined local efforts to work towards more "awareness" and we also published a great book on ten of the greatest coaches in NFL history: Pillars of the NFL: Coaches Who Have Won Three or More Championships. Chamberlin's grandson was a substantial help to us and he provided a few photographs. There were some hard-to-find newspapers stories and other sources that Rob helped point us toward. 

Folks back home at the Gage County Historical Society, the Wymore Library,  and now his home town, Blue Springs have worked to see Chamberlin recognized and remembered.  A monument in Chamberlin's honor was recently constructed and placed on ground near where the High School that Chamberlin attended once existed. 

A Facebook page was created for the monument and many posts were added especially back in 2014. We still have plenty of books in case anyone wants to buy them. Pillars of the NFL is a perfect way to preserve the legacy of Guy Chamberlin in the home and community.  His coverage in the book was certainly a labor of love by the author and many others who helped us along. 

Pillars of the NFL: A Superb HIstory

A Superb History of the NFL

The pillars of the NFL include George Halas, Guy Chamberlin, Curly Lambeau, Paul Brown, Weeb Ewbank, Vince Lombardi, Chuck Noll, Bill Walsh, Joe Gibbs, and Bill Belichick. These are the coaches who have won 3 or more NFL Championships and the subject of our book, Pillars of the NFL. We have connected with several families of the NFL pillars. Our book is written by Patrick McCaskey who is a Chicago Bears executive/owner and the grandson of Papa Bear George Halas. I don't want to drop names, but another grandson of another Pillar was presented with a copy of the book and then came back and ordered more. So I am happy about how the book was received by the families. 

Since we published the book in 2014, Bill Belichick just keeps on winning championships, but the Pillars remain the same. There is no  active coach who is close to joining the list. 

I am proud of the Pillars book because it provides a history of the NFL from the perspective of the lives of the best coaches and their teams. You might be a big NFL fan, but if you don't know anything about the history of the game, you are missing some information that you might find compelling. The beginning years of the game were rough. Football fans will likely find it fascinating in the same way baseball fans find interest in the early days of baseball. Some things are similar to today's game, many things are not, but the players, coaches, and owners had winning on their mind.  

As publisher, I spent a long, long time, working on Pillars. And it remains one of those books that I refer to often. Buy a copy, you won't be disappointed. 

Patrick McCaskey's 10th Commandment of Football

Times Are Tentative in Sports and Life

The title of this post is actually Patrick McCaskey's 10th Commandment of Football: Game Times are Tentative and Subject to Flexible Scheduling. Patrick uses the 10 Commandments often in his speaking engagements and we have included them in a few of our books. Some of Patrick's Commandments are funny, some have reference to an Original Commandment, but all have a meaning and message. 

If we cut to the chase with this post, the underlying message of this commandments is that in order to succeed we need to be flexible and adapt to change. We are all subject to many changes in our modern lives. Even in huge sports events there are changes to scheduling. I have no personal insight on TV and professional football like my author, but I can just imagine how it might be to change directions when you have all these organizational elements in place. But, I suppose for a professional team, its organization, coaches and players, you must be used to the drill because it happens often. 

This past year in professional football, most of the NFL fans and writers knew that the Philadelphia Eagles were a very strong team. When Carson Wentz went down with a season-ending injury, it must have been scary for a lot of Eagles fans, but at the same time it was a call to action for the entire team. It wasn't just Nick Foles who rose to the occasion, although his performance was tremendous, but everyone in the organization made adjustments that kept the team on track. In the end, the Eagles did nothing less than win what many people argue is the greatest championship in sports, the Super Bowl. 

We've all been through the drill in our own lives. Sometimes the adjust can get us to a better place, a large success or new opportunity.  But sometimes the adjustment is about survival for a family.

It reminds me of times when I was a kid when a family lost a Dad. At the time, most of the Moms didn't work, but when a death occurred you would see an entire family scrambling to make it all work. I remember one family that I knew where the Dad must have had a bad heart and the oldest boy who was my age was constantly being shown by the Dad how to manage things around the house.  How to take care of the lawn mower and do so many projects that his dad at the time would have performed. The family was a large family and the oldest boy was being groomed to take over. We didn't understand it, but just knew that so many times when we called on him to play ball, he was unable to break away from something that he was doing with his dad. His dad did die, and as planned he took over at home. He never displayed any resentment over his fate, he just accepted it, did what he had to do and helped his younger brothers and sisters. It was an amazing story of adjustment to change and a heroism and the unselfish behavior that went with it. 

Larry Norris is the publisher of  Sports and Faith Book 2 and Pilgrimage by Patrick McCaskey. Norris is also the author of Callaghan Goes to St. Cajetan on Kindle and The Brown and White in paperback and on Kindle.