Oregon doesn’t use its long snappers — true freshman Tanner Carew and redshirt freshman Connor Johnson — as much as other teams in college football use theirs. The long snapper is a specialist center, a hired cannon that is accepted as its own skill position within special teams. It is a job that requires repetition above anything else, and dedication of countless hours to develop muscle memory, form, …
So, our Ducks have had a very successful winning season (12-1), have various players that have won credible awards in college football including Marcus Mariota winning the Heisman and hold the Pac-12 Championship title. What else is there to do? We are not done yet Duck fans! Come January 1, 2015, our men will be taking the field in Pasadena, …
Well, there it is. The last game in Autzen Stadium for the 2014 season and the last time we got to see a chunk of our Ducks out on that field ever again. But what is really pulling at my heartstrings, and I’m sure many other fans, is the thought of that being the last time we would ever see …
To kick-off this article I think the fans would be interested to know that today is three birthdays for Duck players: Running back Kenny Bassett, Defensive back Juwaan Williams and our beloved QB Marcus Mariota! When our own FishDuck reporter Omar Garibay was interviewing Head Coach Mark Helfrich at the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex this morning he dropped this fun fact. To …
When Pharaoh Brown called his mother on graduation day, he sounded calm. Jeannetta Smith assumed her son was pulling another prank, but this one angered her. “This is not how you play,” Smith said. Brown wasn’t joking. His friend, Fred Zuber, had drowned hours earlier. He sounded calm because he was in shock. Brown, Zuber and three […]
Is it football season yet? I will have to ask that question every week until kickoff in August. Right now, all we get to hear about is police reports and coaches kissing pigs. We at least have the spring games going on, giving us a chance to speculate on how our teams will do come Fall. Let’s get to the news …
Relocation. It is a term that sports fans, particularly those in the Pacific Northwest, associate as a threat than with opportunity, the darkest side of pro sports fandom that makes college fans grateful their teams will always be a constant presence where they presently reside. Yet for all the negative experiences the Pacific Northwest fan base has faced regarding relocation …
Great football players inevitably face a choice between leaving school early for the NFL draft or completing their education. It’s a personal decision for each individual and most Duck fans support whichever direction the player goes, but the 2014 roster comes as a surprise to some of us. Some Ducks, such as DeAnthony Thomas (DAT), should have stayed. Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, …
from video In 2012, I had the honor of watching the football season with about 50 US Military Veterans. As the calendar flipped from August to September, the ratio of fans in that little group was about ten-to-one in favor of NFL ball over college. These were simply not college football fans, and to them, college was just not as much fun to watch as the more polished NFL. By the …
from video After careful analysis of expert opinions and game film, the lesson from Chip Kelly’s first NFL game is obvious: Suck It, Doubters. Pundits: “These college plays will never work in the NFL. Chip’s another Steve Spurrier. He doesn’t have the personnel. Mike Vick can’t run this offense. Cary Williams is a cancer. Riley Cooper will divide the locker …
Rafael Morán Chip Kelly’s play calling in his NFL debut was effective but not dramatic, with one striking exception. Late in the second quarter, Kelly called one of the crazier formations you’re ever going to see, perhaps for the first time ever in the pros. There were only three linemen up front, with a group of three players set wide …
Graeme Main/MOD It’s Go Time. The Eagles’ final roster is set, their carefully concealed offensive plays and defensive looks are being practiced in secret, and a much-hyped season opener will finally arrive Monday, September 9th, at 4 pm against Robert Griffin III and the Washington Redskins. (I’ll be at the McMenamin’s Backstage Bar, behind the Baghdad Theater in Southeast Portland, …