Loose ends, high tides and green grass…

I'm all over the place today. Dave Spadaro would call it a "cleaning out the notebook" blurb… but I'll be honest— I am just confused.

I'm a little vexed at the lack of coverage by NFLN and ESPN of the punters and kickers at the Combine.

To Eagles fans it doesn't much matter, as we have a pretty good young kicker (Alex Henery) and a journeyman Aussie punter (Mat McBriar) in the wings. And if things get crazy, Chas Henry is most likely on speed-dial at punter position, too.

My biggest beef about McBriar is he can't tackle. He looks like he should be tethered to a child's car-seat in a tackling situation. Pardon my French, but I need to know my punter or kicker can rise to the occasion to save a game-winning touchdown by the opposition's return man. Sav Rocca and David Akers could at least fight through a block to make a game-saving tackle. It's a critical aptitude to have in a punter or a kicker.

It's one of those little areas of vulnerabilities in a team that can ruin a season.

So I am a little concerned about the Eagles' overall punting profile. (Alex Henery is such a good placekicker that he gets a pass on the whole issue of tackling and fighting off blocks.)

Yet almost completely ignored by Rich Eisen and his NFLN cronies were the punting and kicking workouts in Indy.

They virtually poo-poo'ed the athletic measureables of the punters and the kickers at the Combine…and oh yes, the long snappers, too. This is important to me because these measureables give some hint of a punter's or kicker's (or long snapper's) ability to chase down or tackle an opponent— a critical component of competition on a punt or kickoff.

While the position workouts were the primary focus for kickers and punters at the NFL Scouting Combine, several players did participate in the following day's optional athletic drills:

• 24 LS Luke Ingram, Hawaii
• 13 P Josh Hubner, Arizona State
• 11 P Dylan Breeding,

• 4.74 K Dustin Hopkins, Florida State
• 4.74 P Dylan Breeding, Arkansas
• 5.05 LS Luke Ingram, Hawaii

• 33.5 K Dustin Hopkins, Florida State
• 29.0 P Dylan Breeding, Arkansas

Broad Jump Distance (inches)

• 116 K Dustin Hopkins, Florida State
• 110 P Dylan Breeding, Arkansas
• 106 LS Luke Ingram, Hawaii

Here were your top kicking, punting and long-snapping specialists at the Combine in 2013:

• Anthony Cantele (Kansas State): Selected to the 2008 Kansas Shrine Bowl… Also lettered four years in soccer, leading his team to a state runner-up finish on two occasions… Was a three-time first team all-state, all-city and all-metro player, and the 2008 Kansas State Soccer Player of the Year.
• Dustin Hopkins (Florida State): Was the consensus top-rated kicker in the country coming out of high school…two-time Texas 5A All-State selection…USA Today first team All-American as a senior…participated in the Under Armour All-America game.
• Brett Maher (Nebraska): A Kearney native, Maher was one of five former walk-ons who were awarded a scholarship for the 2012 season. Maher made 20-of-27 field goals, while connecting on all 59 of his PAT attempts. His 20 field goals as a senior are second on the NU season chart, bettering his 2011 total by one. Maher scored 119 points to set a Nebraska record for most points scored in a season by a kicker.
• Quinn Sharp (Oklahoma State): Over his final three seasons, he was named a first-team All-American as a kicker or a punter — or both … In 2011 he became the first person in the history of the Big 12 to be named all-conference as a punter and kicker, then he repeated that feat in 2012 … Led the nation in touchbacks on kickoffs each of his four seasons.
• Caleb Sturgis (Florida): The 28 field-goal attempts during the 2012 season were the second-most for a Gator, just shy of the record of 30 he set back in 2009…Compiled a 79.5 field goal percentage over his career, the second-most in school history, 10th in SEC history (min. 50 attempts) behind Jeff Chandler (83.8%).

Long Snapper:

• Luke Ingram (Hawaii): Appeared in all 12 games during senior year…recorded three tackles… started all 52 games of his career…did not record one bad snap that resulted in a miss or blocked kick over his career.
• 
  The fourth and final day at the NFL Scouting Combine for the specialists included a few drills for some, watching their teammates, packing and heading home…
   
• Quinn Sharp (Oklahoma State): Had a good time this week in Indy, great experience #combine pic.twitter.com/csFaeHxUlA
• 
  Ryan Allen (Louisiana Tech): NFL Combine… It's been REAL, It's been FUN.. But hasn't been REAL FUN!! Haha Jk what an amazing opportunity!! #BlessedButTired
•  
• Brad Wing (LSU): So grateful to have gone through the experience of the NFL combine. Learned so many valuable things in 3 days. Truly blessed.
• Arrived with no bags, leaving with 2 full ones. #combine  http://instagr.am/p/WFL8ORlSBV/
• Anthony Cantele (Kansas State): Headed home after a long week. What a great experience! Good luck to my brothers @THEChrisHarper @ckleincat7 @bradenwilson37 and @abrown_jr!
•  
  Scott Kovanda (Ball State): 

  • I had an awesome (and stressful) few days in Indy but always feels good to head back home!
  • I think I should be good on shoes for a while…. Blessed to have the opportunity to attend the combine! http://instagr.am/p/WFrchLG7MB/
  Jeff Locke (UCLA): The #NFLCombine was a great experience! Good luck to the @UCLAFootball and @athletesfirst guys out there the next few days
   
  Alex Dunnachie (Hawaii): 

  • Combine is officially over for me. Now I'm about to sit back and watch Luke run his 40. #beastmode #NFLCombine
  • My boy and Long Snapper Luke Ingram doing it big! #smashedthe40 pic.twitter.com/bLXZO9l156 
     
  Josh Hubner (Arizona State): Getting on a plane in a few hours to come back home. What an experience. #ReadyToBeBack

  Brett Maher (Nebraska): Off to catch my flight home! Glad I had this experience! Thanks to everyone again for the support.

  
  WHAT THE ALEX SMITH TRADE TO THE CHIEFS MEANS TO THE EAGLES….
  According to Jay Glazer of FOX Sports, the Kansas City Chiefs have completed a trade with the San Francisco 49ers for quarterback Alex Smith, a move that would all but end the chance Nick Foles reunites with Andy Reid. The deal cannot be completed until the new calendar year starts for the NFL on March 12th. Compensation is not yet known, although multiple reports say it was at least a second-round pick, and possibly more.
  
  The Chiefs (reportedly) giving up a second-round pick would seem to insinuate that the asking price was not the issue when it came to trying to acquire Foles. Reports indicated that the Eagles were looking for at least a second-round pick for Foles, a price many felt would keep teams away. It did not, however, keep the Chiefs away from Smith, who is older and has no experience working with Reid.

  With the Eagles restructuring Vick's contract earlier this month, Foles heading out the door seemed to be a forgone conclusion. Foles has said himself he is not the ideal fit for a spread offense, which Chip Kelly is expected to run now that he is head coach.

  Does Smith's likely going to the Chiefs end the chances of Foles getting moved? Not completely, but it's hard to imagine a team giving up a high pick for Foles if Reid, his former coach, was not willing to. Which means we could have a real quarterback competition this summer…

  FINALLY, DID YOU EVER WONDER HOW RICH THE ESTATE OF THE GUY WHO INVENTED FOOTBALL COULD BE IF HE HAD PATENTED OR TRADEMARKED THE GAME?
  I was just musing about this subject to myself today as I pondered how Bill Gates and Sunbutts have made their money…
  Imagine you had come up with the blueprint for what has become the most popular sport in America and much of Europe—and were legally able to license its usage to every future pro team or college or high school that would incorporate it into their revenue streams…

  My guess is that the descendants of the great ancestor of American football— Walter Camp— are probably kicking his tombstone in resentment over his apparent failure to foresee what a gold mine of royalties and licensing fees he could have reaped for his future estate.

  Walter Camp was born April 17, 1859, in New Haven, Connecticut. He attended Yale from 1876 to 1882, where he studied medicine and business. Walter Camp was an author, athletic director, chairman of the board of the New Haven Clock Company, and director of the Peck Brothers Company. He was general athletic director and head advisory football coach at Yale University from 1888-1914, and chairman of the Yale football committee from 1888-1912. Camp played football at Yale and helped evolve the rules of the game away from Rugby and Soccer rules into the rules of American Football as we know them today.

  One precursor to Walter Camp's influence was William Ebb Ellis, a student at the Rugby School in England. In 1823, Ellis was the first person noted for picking up the ball during the soccer game and running with it, thereby breaking and changing the rules. In 1876, at the Massosoit convention, the first attempts at writing down the rules of American football were made. Walter Camp edited every American Football rulebook until his death in 1925.

  Walter Camp contibuted the following changes from Rugby and Soccer to American football:

  • one side retained undisputed possession of the ball, until that side gives up the ball as a result of its own violations…
  • the creation of the line of scrimmage…
  • 11 on a team instead of 15…
  • created the quarterback and center positions…
  • forward pass…
  • standardized the scoring system, including numerical scoring…
  • created the safety, interference penalty, roughing penalties, and the neutral zone….
  • introduced tackling as low as the knee – 1888….
  • a touchdown increased in value to six points and field goals went down to three points – in 1912….

   The NFL (or the original National Football League) was formed in 1920. Walter Camp never thought to patent or license his rules of engagement for the professional sport that would one day become the multi-million dollar revenue darling of the mass media. Combine that with the untold billions of dollars in licensing fees from football programs in colleges and high schools worldwide had he copyrighted his system…His heirs must be in a persistent state of shock as they watch the NFL Channel or ESPN today.