The Friday Five: Sal Paolantonio

1 day ago . 1 min

The Friday Five: Sal Paolantonio

Sal Paolantonio has been a mainstay of ESPN's NFL coverage since 1995. “Sal Pal” has covered 26 Super Bowls. He's also the author of four books, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee and has been host of NFL Matchup for 20 years.. We caught up with Paolantonio for this week’s Friday Five… 1. Who is your biggest mentor? My father, Vito. We spent a lot of time together when I was young, playing catch in the yard, talking baseball at the kitchen table late into the night. Once more, with feeling: “How many times did Joe DiMaggio strike out in his 13-year career?” “Only 369, dad.” Right, he said, the important thing is make contact with the baseball. My dad was my Little League coach. He was tough on me, of course. I wanted to be a pitcher. He used to say to me all the time, “Hey,...
Banner and Giddings Discuss the Fifth-Year Option Decisions

2 days ago . 1 min

Banner and Giddings Discuss the Fifth-Year Option Decisions

Due to the uncertainty of the cap that was caused by the pandemic, as well as the clause that now fully guarantees fifth-year options upon execution, teams had to be particularly careful with how they approached the 2018 first-round draft class this offseason. The deadline to exercise the fifth-year option was May 3. There were 22 first-rounders from the class of 2018 who saw their options picked up, including the likes of Baker Mayfield and Lamar Jackson. We sat down with former Eagles president Joe Banner and Mike Giddings, president of Pro Scouts Inc., a company that provides high level analysis to various teams around the league, to get their thoughts on the 2018 draft class. Were there any surprises in terms of guys that did not receive their fifth-year option for 2022? Banner: I thought the Cowboys would exercise Leighton Vander Esch, but I think they were smart not...
Joel Bussert on the Evolution of NFL Rules

2 days ago . 1 min

Joel Bussert on the Evolution of NFL Rules

When Joel Bussert retired from the NFL in 2015, his title was senior VP of player personnel and football operations. He worked at the NFL for 40 years (actually, he still maintains an office at league headquarters and remains involved). Bussert is a football historian, currently working on a book about the history of rules changes in the NFL. He shared some of his institutional knowledge on the subject during this week’s 33rd Team Call. “It helps you to understand, first of all, how we got to where we are, why we needed to get to where we are, and why it is that the National Football League has surpassed baseball and college football (in popularity),” said Bussert. From 1920 to 1931, Bussert explained, the NFL basically used the rules of college football. By 1932, league president Joe Carr believed the NFL needed to start developing its own style of...

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The33rdTeamFBThe 33rd Team@The33rdTeamFB·
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Joel Bussert worked at the NFL for 40 years. He is a football historian, currently working on a book... about the history of rules changes in the NFL. He shared some of his institutional knowledge on the subject during this week’s 33rd Team Call
https://www.the33rdteam.com/joel-bussert-on-the-evolution-of-nfl-rules/

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JFMcMullenJohn McMullen@JFMcMullen·
7 May

Best available CBs left per @The33rdTeamFB:
Richard Sherman (33)
Steven Nelson (28)
... Darqueze Dennard (30)
Nickell Robey-Coleman (29)
Brian Poole (29)
Bashaud Breeland (29)
Jason McCourty (34) - signed with #Dolphins
D.J. Hayden (31)
#Eagles

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The33rdTeamFBThe 33rd Team@The33rdTeamFB·
7 May

Here is the 33rd Team’s ranking of the remaining free agents — broken down by position, along ... with a look at teams that may have the greatest need to fill those positions

https://www.the33rdteam.com/ranking-the-top-free-agents-still-on-the-market/

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The33rdTeamFBThe 33rd Team@The33rdTeamFB·
7 May

There were 22 1st-rounders from the class of 2018 who saw their 5th year options picked up

We sat ... down w/ former Eagles president @JoeBanner13 and Mike Giddings, president of Pro Scout Inc to get their thoughts on the 2018 draft class

http://bit.ly/2RwVNbx

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