The Cardinals Got It Right

All everyone is talking about this week in the NFL is domestic violence and not football.  The talk has become even more intense here in Arizona since the news of running back Jonathan Dwyer being arrested for domestic violence yesterday.  More details have emerged that don't paint a pretty picture of Dwyer.  This now put the Arizona Cardinals at the center of the NFL's domestic violence issue.  It left everyone wandering how the Cardinals would respond.


The Arizona Cardinals responded quickly, deactivating Jonathan Dwyer within hours of his arrest.  This morning they placed Dwyer on the non-football injury list.  According to head coach Bruce Arians, who held a special media session which is normally held by coordinators on Thursdays, Dwyer will not be apart of the team until he is completely exonerated.  The list the Cardinals put Dwyer on gives them the option to decide not to pay him.  For now the Cardinals will still pay him, but its nice to have the option available.


The Cardinals sent a message to the rest of the NFL in dealing with this case.  The message "We are not going to put up with domestic violence".  They sent this message by reacting so quickly after the arrest.  They also released another running back, Chris Rainey, who has a history of domestic violence.  The ironic part of that story is when Arians was decided whether or not to sign him a few weeks ago to the practice squad it was Jonathan Dwyer who put in a good word for him.  By cutting Rainey the Cardinals let it be known that they are not going to stand for any domestic violence by it's team members.  Perhaps they should have a few words with commissioner Goodell.

More To Talk About In The NFL

About 2:00 PM Arizona time there came more news from the NFL.  Yes you guessed it, another player was arrested for domestic violence.  For the second time this year it happened to the Arizona Cardinals.  Jonathan Dwyer, a running back, is being questioned by Phoenix Police regarding allegations that he beat his.  Early reports are saying that he broke his wife's nose during an argument they had.  The report also says that the incident occurred "awhile" ago and Dwyer's wife saved the reports of her injuries.


The arrest was confirmed by multiple sources.  Most people are probably wondering why she waited and is now coming out with the abuse.  The other question is what are the Arizona Cardinals going to do and how long will it take them to address the situation?  I expect the cardinals to cut Jonathan Dwyer.  If this happens and Andre Ellington's foot doesn't hold up it could get real interesting for the Cardinals who are already thin at the running back position.


Regardless of how the matter ends up in the court system the fact is Jonathan Dwyer hit his wife and needs to be dismissed from the Arizona Cardinals. The fact that this is the second Cardinal to be involved in domestic violence in the last year is more reason to set a president here in Arizona.  Michael Bidwill and Steve Keim have the opportunity to tell the rest of the NFL "We are not going to stand for domestic violence in Arizona".

Let's Just Play Football

We are in week three of the regular season and the big talk surrounding the NFL doesn't have anything to do with the actual game.  When people talk football nowadays they commonly use the names Rice, Goodell, Gordon, Sam and now Peterson.  We are not talking about the great plays made on the field, instead we are talking about what these guys are doing off the field.


These players are all involved in topics that need to be discussed, but with the exception of Michael Sam, they don't deserve all this attention that they are getting.  The media needs to just move on and worry about football.  We as fans deserve to see highlights when we turn on Sports Center or the local sports channel, not another press conference about a guy saying he's sorry and won't do it again.  Let's be real he'll probably do it again anyway.  So on behalf of the average NFL fan I say "Let's just play football".

The Friday Highlight: J.J. Lyons

This week we travel to Central Phoenix, home of the Phoenix Christian Prep Cougars.  Not only did they add "prep" to their name this offseason, they also added a new head coach, Stefan Demos as well.  Demos has the Cougars off to a 2-0 start as they prepare to face Higley High School later today.  The additions have already made a big difference.  Last year the Cougars got another addition that has made a great impact on team when J.J. Lyons moved in from Louisiana.

J.J. Lyons is now a junior and already has 12 catches for 163 yards and 1 TD in his first two games for the undefeated Cougars.  The 5'8 165 pound 17 year old does it all for the Cougars.  He plays Wide Receiver, Running Back, Defensive Back and he returns punts and kicks.  He plays all 48 minutes of the game on a typical Friday Night.

J.J. carries a 2.7 GPA and has dual enrollment at Grand Canyon University where he is taking Advanced Placement classes.  He plans to become a Certified Physical Therapist and own a private outpatient rehabilitation practice.   He also has a goal of obtaining a college athletic scholarship in football, track, basketball, or golf.

He also has goals for his team.  He wants to win a state championship.  Under a first year coach that normally would sound like a reach, but with the talent they have it is very possible.  The Cougars play in division III after moving up from division V two years ago.

J.J. was inspired by his grandfather, John H. Lyons Sr., who would also tell him stories about when he played wide receiver.  He was also inspired by seeing his grandfather’s accomplishment when he played.

He is a game changer and wants the ball in his hands when the game is on the line.  He has an eye for the football and it shows with his stats thus far this early in the season.  He also knows that in order to be successful he needs to take it one play at a time.  He works as hard in the classroom as he does on the field.  He is a very respectful young man who works hard every day to be the best man he can be.

When asked to tell me something about high school sports that people may not know he said “Being a student athlete is not only fun but a vital thing to do in life, it teaches you honor, respect, loyalty and family.

What's Wrong With Thursday Night Football

So it's Thursday night, time for some football.  A few years ago the NFL stared having a game on Thursday nights in hopes to boost ratings.  This is the first season you can see the games on local T.V.  You can watch the games on CBS.  Like most players I don't like the NFL being on Thursday night.  I could give you many reasons, such as I work Friday and don't want to go to a sports bar to see it and be tired at work on Friday.  I could also tell you that it's because NFL seems to be more about making money than making fans.  But the real truth is this, I would rather watch high school football.
For those of you who don't know Cox Cable channel 7 shows a game every Thursday Night.  They call it the Game of the week and for the most part every game is a close exciting game.  High School football has become a very popular sport in Arizona and Cox has done a great job making it available to the public.  To me it is more exciting to see a kid playing high school football on T.V. for the first time, then an overpaid athlete that doesn't want to play on Thursday anyways.     

Roger, Over And Out!

The big news from the sports world today comes to us from the NFL.  Police officials say that the NFL was given a tape of Ray Rice back in April.  In the tape Rice is seen cold cocking his now wife during an argument.  Rice punched his wife so hard that maybe he should be fighting Floyd Mayweather this Saturday.  Rice was suspended by Commissioner Roger Goodell for two games after a first tape was released of Rice dragging the woman out of the elevator.  The second tape, or the knockout tape as I like to call it, came out a few days ago.  Goodell was on CBS just last night defending the NFL.  He says that he nor anyone else in the NFL never saw the tape until it was released by TMZ earlier this week. 
Today the news came out that the NFL was given a DVD copy back in April. A law enforcement official said the tape was sent in April and that there is a voicemail coming from a phone number in the NFL's offices with a woman's voice.  The Voice is heard thanking police for the tape and saying something to the effect of  "your right this is horrible".
In light of the news we heard earlier today regarding this situation Roger Goodell should be removed immediately.  He handled this situation wrong from day 1.  He even tried to save face by implementing a tough domestic violence policy that seems to be too little too late.  The fact of the matter is this no man should never put his hands on a woman out of anger, and it certainly should not be covered up by the boss.  I realize Ray Rice is in the wrong and there should be more focus on him.  We also need to hold the people accountable that can do something to help fix the problem.  I know Roger Goodell has said he will not resign so I hope the NFL decides to remove him as commissioner.  So to you MR. Commissioner I say "Roger, Over and out!

Carson Palmer: The Real Deal!

On Monday the Arizona Cardinals pulled off an impressive win over the visiting San Diego Chargers on the national stage of Monday Night Football.. There was great play on both sides of the ball, but what was the most impressive?  To me hands down it was quarterback Carson Palmer.  He looked spectacular the last nine games of last season and looked just as good in the preseason.  With all the hype over Andre Ellington and the speedy receiver corps. Palmer has been a bit overlooked coming into the 2014 regular season.
Palmer's performance was just short of amazing.  It wasn't his 24 of 31 passing, or his 304 yards passing with no interceptions that was impressive.  It wasn't even his two touchdown passes, including a game winner.  It was his feet.  Yes I actually said Carson Palmer's feet were the main reason for his great performance on Monday Night Football.  Carson Palmer is a pocket passer and when he does have to scramble he usually throws the ball away.  That wasn't the case Monday.  He escaped the grasp of the great Dwight Freeney on two consecutive plays.  He actually made Freeney look bad, which is really hard to do.  Palmer's ability to gain yardage when he scrambled allowed him to not only extend plays, but also drives with his feet.  Palmer's football smarts is probally his best characteristic, he uses his brains where most quaterback's use there talent.  Palmer started the season slow last year.  Unlike last year Palmer isn't learning a new system and from new coaches.  The fact that he has some experience in this offense should be enough to keep defenses worried about what he can do to them.  If Palmer continues to play the way he did on Monday the sky is the limit for the Arizona Cardinals.

.

D-Backs Fire Kevin Towers

Yesterday in a move everybody saw coming the Arizona D-Backs fired General Manager Kevin Towers.  The surprising thing was the way the situation was handled.  Towers was told he was being let go as GM, but was offered a position in the organization.  Towers  told the D-Backs that he wanted to wait until the new GM is hired before he decided if he was going to stay or not.
Here's where I have a problem with this story.  It's obvious that the D-Backs weren't happy with Towers as GM.  I get wanting to demote the guy, but don't tell him "your fired, well you can stay if you want" it sends a message that your organization cannot make decision.  I say move on.  Towers wants to wait and see who the next GM will be, but lets be  honest it doesn't really matter who it is.  Tony LaRussa is going to be the next General Manager for the Arizona D-Backs, even if he hires someone else for the position.  Either way this whole GM situation puts the D-Backs farther apart from their division counterpart in Los Angeles.

The Friday Highlight: Skylar Johnson

Our First edition of The Friday Highlight takes us to the San Tan Valley.  There you will find a school called Combs High school.  The Comb’s Coyotes traveled to Globe last week and won 17 – 0.  The thing that impressed me the most wasn’t the score.  It was 15 year old Skylar Johnson reaching out to me and letting me know that his team had won their season opener.  He didn’t mention that it was his first varsity football game.  He didn’t even mention his stats.  I was overly impressed so much that I decided to look a little closer at the quarterback from Combs High School.  I was even more impressed to find out that he is an active member of the LDS Church and holds a 2.8 GPA.     When asked about his long term goals Johnson said he will improve his GPA and attend college where he hopes to be able to continue his athletic career.  Johnson also has a short term goal.  It’s to become the starting quarterback for the varsity team.  Johnson split reps last week at QB and had a solid outing.  With his families support Johnson keeps working harder and harder each day to be the best QB he can be for his team.   Johnson has played Pop Warner and was on both the freshman and JV teams last year.  Johnson is a prime example of a student athlete.  He gives a 100% on and off the field.  “The brotherhood of a football team is almost as import than the sport itself” said Johnson.  Johnson is an impressive young man who you will hear good things about in the future.  He seems to be a very humble athlete who is waiting to hear the public address announcer at Combs High say “And now the starting quaterback for your Combs Coyotes #5 Skylar Johnson”. 

Here Comes The Friday Highlight

Starting tomorrow I will be doing a weekly segment on high school football players.  I am calling it The Friday Highlight.  This column will highlight a different high school football player each week.  My goal is to show the diversity within the Arizona high school football community, so please nominate anyone you want to whether they are a starter, superstar or are just on the team.  Nominations can be sent, along with a bio of the athlete, including a pic to rellesabeytia100@gmail.com.  I appreciate all the feedback and hope this column opens up your eyes to the great student athletes we have here in the state of Arizona, on and off the field.