| ProFootballWeekly.com asked
contributing editor Joel Buchsbaum for his thoughts on the news around the NFL. 
The XFL disbands
The XFL folded Thursday after one season that was a critical and television ratings
disappointment for the football league founded by the World Wrestling Federation and
jointly owned by NBC. The WWF said its share of after-tax losses will be about $35
million. NBC's loss should be similar. "Despite where our heart was, we just couldn't
make it work from a financial standpoint," WWF chairman Vince McMahon said. "We
tried to figure out every conceivable way to make this work."
PFW: What are your thoughts on the demise of the XFL?
Buchsbaum: Basically, what happened is they did too good a job of promoting themselves
before the first game, got most football fans to watch the first week, did a terrible job
of getting ready for the first week and put a God-awful product on the field the first
week. It was so bad that most people wouldn’t turn it back on again. The biggest
mistake they made — but shouldn’t have made — was not playing almost a half
season of exhibition games so they’d have legitimate teams that could function
together, because by the second half of the year, the football wasn’t nearly as bad.
The other thing this league seems to show is that the American people will not pay for a
Double-A-type product on national TV. They’re used to the best, and that’s all
they want. And the third thing it shows: In wrestling, you can fool enough of the people
enough of the time, but you can’t do that with football fans.
Panthers tell Bates he’ll be cut
Panthers KR Michael Bates was told by Panthers head coach George Seifert that the
Panthers will go with rookie WR Steve Smith as their kickoff return man this season. Smith
was a third-round selection from Utah.
PFW: What are your thoughts on this move by Carolina?
Buchsbaum: Bates was one of the best, if not the best, special-teams players in
football for a number of years. They feel he’s starting to slip and isn’t worth
the type of money he’s making. He feels he still is the best, and I think he’d
also like the opportunity for a little bit more action with the ball.
The Chargers’ rebuilding process
PFW: How are the Chargers progressing with their offseason rebuilding program?
Buchsbaum: So far, everything’s gone better than anyone could have possibly
imagined. Both LaDainian Tomlinson and Drew Brees were very, very impressive in their
rookie camp, as was Tay Cody. Everyone says, "Well, they have nobody to block for the
quarterbacks," but just remember one thing: In Buffalo, Doug Flutie was the best in
the league, compared to Rob Johnson, at avoiding sacks. Having a quarterback who can avoid
sacks and having a running back to take the pressure off the pass can do just absolute
wonders for the pass protection. Another factor is the Chargers do have quite a few
offensive linemen who are pretty good athletes and work very hard. And they are working
with one of the best, if not the best, OL coaches in the business in Joe Bugel.
On defense, they’ve just gotten stronger and stronger. They got Raylee Johnson
back. They added Marcellus Wiley, who may have been the best free agent available. Ryan
McNeil and Alex Molden are huge upgrades for them at the corners, and Carlos Polk, the
rookie linebacker from Nebraska, was also very impressive in minicamp.
On special teams, they really upgraded themselves with Tim Dwight. Field position is so
important in football, and Dwight is one of the best return men in the game. He’s a
lot like former Bill Steve Tasker in terms of toughness, but Dwight is faster and more
elusive than Tasker was.
There seems to be continuity, the veterans are happy now, there’s an upbeat
attitude there and they could be the biggest surprise team in the league, or at least the
most improved team. Plus, some of the young players who Bobby Beathard was blasted for
drafting are suddenly showing signs of coming on, such as backup TE Steve Heiden. |
