FRAN THE FAN: Changing of the Guard

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Fran The Fan - FRAN THE FAN: Changing of the Guard

Posted On: 3/3/08

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Fran "The Fan" Vojik

As I drove home the other day, I heard the breaking news – the Ravens had released Mike Flynn. Often cited as the heart and soul of the offensive line, Mike had a steady, relatively injury-free career in Baltimore. A graduate of the University of Maine, he’s proof that football players from small schools can have long and productive careers in the NFL. He’s been the center for so long that fans tend to forget that he did not start for the 2001 Super Bowl Champions. (Pop Quiz –Who played starting center for the Ravens during the 2000 season and what was his number?)

I have another memory of Mike Flynn, and it rests on my old Super Bowl XXXV baseball cap. During the 2001 training camp I visited Westminster one afternoon and after practice I stood in line and got a couple of autographs on the hat. Some were easier to read than others – James Trapp, Reggie Waddell (remember him from the first season of HBO’s Hard Knocks?), and the forgettable Elvis Grbac. Mike wrote in big chicken-scrawl letters with a worn Sharpie. I still got it and I still wear it.

You know what else Flynn’s release means for me? I think the chances of Jonathan Ogden returning for another season just went from slim to nonexistent. J.O. always took pride in playing with his fellow trench mates and as long as the majority of that line stuck together you could count on his return. J.O. took Ed Mulitalo’s release last year pretty hard and now with Flynn’s departure, Ogden is the senior statesman on that line by nearly a decade. Nagging foot injuries, old friends gone, new coaching staff, living the good life in Las Vegas and playing 18 every day, what’s the point? I’m just waiting for the cap-friendly retirement announcement. See ya in Canton in 2013, J.O.

With Brian Billick’s removal, Kyle Boller has lost his biggest champion, and, his biggest protector. I expect John Harbaugh and Cam Cameron will review the QB situation with an open mind, but not with the protectionist mindset that Billick had with Kyle. Look for Boller to be playing or, more likely, holding a clipboard elsewhere in September.

NFL Combine a Waste of Time for Fans

My reading of NFL web sites comes to a screeching halt during Combine Week. It’s a waste of time because the media focuses on the wrong metrics. 40 yard dash speed, Wonderlic scores, bench pressing, and agility drills are not accurate predictors of success at the pro level. See Tony Mandarich and other “workout warriors.” The skills portion of the Combine should be reserved for players from smaller Division I schools and those that didn’t play in bowl games. Do scouts and general managers really have to see how Darren McFadden runs the 40? Like, they don’t know how fast he is? The evaluations of top flight talent should focus on medical and character evaluations, not what your sprint speed is, or if you can throw a ball 60 yards from your knees.

D.A. Staying Put?

After being tendered the highest restricted F.A. contract possible and entering free agency last night, Derek Anderson finally signed a long term deal for more guaranteed money to stay with the Orange and Brown. I wonder if this might be a sign and trade move, since the Brown lack a 1^st and 2^nd round draft choice and are looking at a budding QB controversy.

I hope the Ravens are not interested parties.

I don’t know where the Ravens are headed at QB, but we fans have to resist the temptation at this point to look at Derek Anderson as the One That Got Away. Not yet. Let’s have this conversation a year from now.

Billick on the Airwaves

I’ve heard Brian Billick interviewed on three separate radio outlets in the past week. It was another bravura performance by the ole’ “CompuCoach.” As I expected, Brian took the high road in most of his statements concerning his

termination and the future of the Ravens. I am slightly amazed by his puzzlement that Steve Bisciotti didn’t give him a reason for the termination. If by now Brian really doesn’t know or understand why he was let go, then it was indeed time for a regime change.

I fully support Billick’s interview boycott of the Baltimore Sun. It would have been nice to give a great beat writer like Jamison Hensley an interview but after years as serving as a hockey puck to Mike Preston’s repeated slap shots, enough is enough. As head coach, Brian had to talk to Maryland’s version of Pravda. Now he doesn’t.

Mike Preston and Bill Ordine, stuff it.

Oh yeah, that Pop Quiz Answer: # 60, Jeff Mitchell