NFL scouting, post Aaron Hernandez

Saw this tweet from Bruce Feldman sometime yesterday and then saw some backlash over it:

"Spoke w longtime NFL personnel man who said in wake of AaronHernandez teams may use police experts to check prospects tattoos"

Without fully opening up the can of worms, let's just twist the lid slightly. Is this a surprise? If you have a vested interest in an NFL team, does this bother you in any way?

With the money that these players make, I'm more surprised that this hasn't already been happening on a large scale. From the combine to the draft there are a lot of players to evaluate. And whether or not a tattoo on a bicep could mean suspected gang affiliation is not nearly as time sensitive as a 40 time. And while we may not mind gambling on NFL Sundays, executives and owners would rather not gamble on a draft pick that may or may not pan out off the field.

In short, I completely understand this from a business perspective as wanting to worry more about what happens on the field and leave the personal side of things to someone that may understand what they're seeing.

As for the civil liberties...is this really that much different than a CEO handing an interviewee a laptop and asking them to pull up their Facebook page?

Sanders Commings breaks collarbone in mini camp

It was his first practice as an NFL player. Damn.

Kansas City Chiefs safety Sanders Commings fractured his left collarbone in his first practice of training camp when he landed on it while trying to defend a pass. 

The fifth-round draft pick jumped to defend tight end Tony Moeaki and landed hard on one of the practice fields at Missouri Western State University on Tuesday. Commings immediately walked off the field and was taken for X-rays that revealed the break.

Commings wasn't wearing shoulder pads because players are barred from wearing them for the first three practices under terms of the most recent collective bargaining agreement. 

The Chiefs hadn't yet scheduled surgery Tuesday night, and a team spokesman said it wasn't known how long Commings will be out. He was expected to provide depth in a secondary that underwent a massive overhaul this past offseason.

Obviously he was really getting after it. Hope Sanders has a full recovery.

Dabo on "Clemsoning"

Clemson isn't playing Georgia in the opener. Just ask head coach Dabo Swinney.

"I tell our team all the time that everybody is a nameless, faceless opponent," Swinney said last week. "We're playing Clemson every week. That's our toughest opponent every single week - Clemson.

Dabo is saying all the right things. He pays reference to players in the past approaching one game differently than the next depending on rankings, television time slots and whether or not the opponent runs a high school offense if College Gameday is in town. He knows the reality is they are very much a program not far removed from an embarrassing Orange Bowl destruction of epic proportions and are perceived in the ACC as a team that should compete each year in the conference title. But there's always inexplicable losses, such as Georgia Tech in 2011, North Carolina in 2010, Wake Forest in 2008...(ad naseum...)...

But I suspect Dabo also has to convince himself of this "nameless, faceless opponent" each night. He's an emotional coach that is able to chest bump his players and trade media barbs with the state's horsey-sauced incumbent loud mouth.

This opener is getting bigger each and every day. We suspected this would happen. But now that media days have come and gone you can actually feel it. I'm still more nervous about the second game. But as we draw nearer to August 31st, this opener will have an identity of its own and the average fan like me will not be able to contain it as just another football game.

Dabo won't either. His players, and fans of his team, better hope he has another shtick.

Tajh Boyd stumps for Heisman

Sure, the ACC preseason player of the year (by the way, what is that exactly?) is just having some fun in a photo booth at ACC Media Days. Cute.

Suddenly the way UGA is handling Murray's (lack of a) campaign is looking even better.

Monday's Meatloaf - Nixon's Minions to open for the White Russian Hackers

11:59pm - mix up a "Caucasian": ice to the rim, two parts vodka, one part Kahlua, one part milk
12:01am - discover that Netflix no longer streams "The Big Lebowski"...YGTBGDKMMFers!!

 It really tied the room together.

12:03am - compose scathing email to Netflix higher ups, incidentally click "Save" instead of "Send" and forget about it...
12:05am - discover that I'm hungry and prepare an advanced tactical move on the pantry
12:21am - clumsily complete tactical maneuver, retreat towards sofa
12:22am - rediscover that "The Big Lebowski" is no longer available to stream on Netflix
12:27am - begin another scathing email, sigh deeply but with a sense of accomplishment. Scratch myself while checking Twitter.
12:28am - piss off the edge of the deck and smile whimsically at my apparent grasp of the world
12:31am - decide to rewatch the Washington episode of "Drunk History"
12:41am - while laughing hysterically at Nixon's dumb ass, discover Lay's Sweet Southern Heat chips crumbs on my Drive By Truckers t-shirt. Curse. Much too loudly.
12:42am - Moan. Also too loudly. Lower volume on the remote by pressing the channel up button. Fall into the bottom a bucket of misery where I can't find the show I was watching and become increasingly convinced UVerse is a communiss organization corrupted by Nixon's minions
12:43am - decide Nixon's Minions is the best name for a punk band I've had since Jimmy Carter's Nutskins
12:47am - finish "cleaning" off my shirt
12:52am - begin search for lost remote.......
2:22am - wake up and take my clean shirt upstairs to brush my teeth and stuff

Today's Ingredients
- I'm certainly no Mark Emmert, but it appears to me that Spencer Hall has sufficiently investigated the FIU nekkidities.
-  Blutarsky looks at a concern that has been developing for quite some time. Also, it's good to have someone like Dr. Courson on staff.
- I've never seen Tyler in a Jeter jersey but I join him in dropping the ESPN channels from my cable package denouncing Colin Cowherd as one of the ones that was probably blathering about Tiger yesterday even as Phil was finishing one of the more remarkable rounds of golf ever seen.
- ICYMI, a terrific read about how Aaron Murray has managed his major and his quarterbacking/team leadership duties. DGD.
- DavetheDawg wraps up the Lamont Gaillard commitment succintly. And with a poll. Also, Chris Wilson is the next governor of Georgia. Probably.
- Andrew discovers that Clempson is good at math. Kind of.
- Terrific read by the ABH's Bowers on how Coach Diaz has made the UGA Tennis program a consistent powerhouse.
- And lastly, another great read by Garbin as to why the recruiting process is so fickle and confoundingly frustrating.

Verify our range to target. ONE ping only.

5:21am - awaken to relieve myself and pat myself on the back for remembering to let the dog out
5:23am - back in bed, wonder if I actually did let the do.....zzzzzZZzzz...
7:23am - roll over, moan
7:38am - awaken refreshed with a pulse, turn phone on and begin search for my shorts
7:38 and a half - phone alerts me to 24 new emails
7:39am - "TWENTY four new emails!! That's abuncha shit right there. Something hazza be up witf that...ugh..."
7:40am - read email from GMail team alerting me that some douchebag in Russia compromised my account and that my password was automatically changed but that I should change it again HELLO DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT WE HAVE TYPED TO YOU AT 3:33 IN THE FRIGGIN' MORNING?!??!?!
7:42am - read email from Google Team again but now with the understanding that they are not actually a Navy Seal Team operating from the middle of the Black Sea.
7:47am - Finally realize that my email has been hacked. Shit.
7:59am - Oh. OK. So this means EVERY contact has been exposed to some type of link telling them to lose weight, send their life savings to eastern Nigeria and satisfy their woman by enlarging their...
8:00am - OOOOOOhhhhhMMMMMMyyyyGGGGGGGooooDDDDDD!!!
8:01am - 8:32am - cry uncontrollably in the fetile position with my shorts half on while enjoying the cool temperature of the bathroom tile is a mixed bag of Life Blows and You Ball So Hard Bro.
8:33am - finish fastening my shorts into an acceptable and semi-fashionable position
8:35am - compose BookFace and Tweet of apology to those who suffered from my horribly inept password, that is now "MenudoRULZ!!"
8:36am - 12:31pm - wait for my Mom to text to see if I'm okay.

Moral: Netlix is communiss bastards that sell your password and killed Donny. Life sucks, but you're not dead yet so don't throw ashes into the wind.

And also don't make White Russians at 11:59am.

Bernie

Five star DT Lamont Gaillard commits to Georgia

A huge commitment for Coach Richt and his staff. Gaillard (6'4", 300lbs) is one of the top overall prospects in the nation and ranked #2 at his position. He's from Fayetteville NC and has chosen Georgia over Alabama, Clemson and Florida, among many, many others.

Even if you don't put much stock in "commitments" or recruiting in general, this is pretty big news for Dawg fans. That can't really deny. For one it shows that despite a small class in 2014 that is down to its last few spots available, Georgia continues to target top players and convince them Athens is the place to be. And also, Chris Wilson is becoming quite a force in recruiting overall and as a coach that can sell his position.

And from what Gaillard's high school coach says ($), you can see why Wilson really wanted North Carolina's top prospect.

“For a big guy, he runs very well,” Sochovka said. “He has great lateral movement down the line of scrimmage. There is one play on his highlight tape where, when I saw it, I told him jokingly before all this exploded, ‘That is going to be the one that gets you recruited.’ He came down the line of scrimmage, fought off a double-team, the play went outside and he made a tackle three or four yards downfield. He said, ‘But I didn’t make the sack.’ I told him it wasn’t about that. ‘You did everything you were supposed to do and you caught the guy from behind. That was a great effort and what they want to see.’ ” 

...

“They are going to get a player that can play all three downs,” Sochovka said. “He’s good enough on the pass rush and quick enough off his explosion that you don’t have to bring in a smaller, quicker guy to give you an inside pass rush. He is definitely a guy who can play all three downs at the college level.”  

Fear and loathing in an Arby's

Taken from Clowney's Instagram. Not at all surprised that opposing quarterbacks aren't the only ones "scared" of him. Check out the dude with his kid in the corner.

Things Richt will NOT say in Hoover this morning

Like you I'm sure, I'll be watching as Richt, Murray, Lynch and Smith descend on SEC Media Days and own it like a boss. You can follow me on twitter for instantaneous reactions. But here's a collection of things I do not expect to hear from Richt's podium:

• "Gonna have to make this quick. I'm standing a pool of Muschamp's tears here."
• "Yeh, I'm scared of that Clowney kid too....scared he's gonna actually be asked to attend a class! AmIRight?!?"
• "Shut the f--- up Bianchi!"
• "Let spurrier talk pretty. We're gonna do prison ward-yard time things to him come September 7th."
• "My wife's hotter than Freeze's. With or without a visor!"
• "But yes. I did in fact recruit Driskel as a water girl."
• "It's a shame Manziel can't hold his wine coolers. Damn shame."
• "Yeh, Garner tried to turn me in for butt dialing a recruit once. Look where he ended up. Effin' auburn."
• "Wait. Missouri is a conference opponent? I thought that was just an cute non-SEC BCS home and home. Cheer the eff up Pinkel."
• "Shut the f--- up Dodd!"
• "I'm not leaving until I hear Coach Gotdamn Stoops bark like a Dawg!"
• "You're asking me about a schedule like I give a shit. We play football son. Whoever shows up better line up."
• "Yes. It's true. My daughter once had a doll named Manziel."
• "Steve Shaw is Latin for 'Dial is my girlfriend'."
• "Shut the f--- up Saban! You're not on til 11:20."

If I'm wrong I can only imagine the ajc headlines tomorrow. But, a Dawg can dream can't he?

SEC's Steve Shaw on "instantaneous fast acts"

SEC Coordinator of Officials Steve Shaw is trying to keep up with the speed of the game down here y'all.

That last statement about the quarterback remaining a defenseless player after a turnover, and the opposing players have to "stay off his head"...hmmm...

As Emerson mentions, that play was not one of the examples Shaw brought to SEC Media Days for everyone's consumption. Even though it seems like the perfect example of both the rule change alteration and the speed of the game. On a play when there's a possession change no less.

Muschamp admits eternal futility

The first step to acceptance and recovery is admitting you have a problem.