The Long Wait Begins

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Scattershooting while wondering why it took so long to put the only man with five Super Bowl rings into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, it’s always hard to accept that football season is officially over.

I’m also wondering what the heck Pete Carroll was thinking on that last play call in last night’s Super Bowl (like everyone else), throwing a slant with Marshawn Lynch in the backfield and the Patriot defense crowding the line of scrimmage, but what do I know? If it wasn’t the worst call in Super Bowl history, it certainly set records on Twitter for most scrutinized play ever.

By the way, Seahawks, perhaps get some self control and lose with class. That skirmish at the end of the game was embarrassing. You want to go hit someone? Start with Carroll. OK, maybe don’t go slug your head coach, but he’s the reason why you don’t have two consecutive championships.

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super-bowl-catchOf course lost in all this was the fact that the Seahawks had to burn two of their timeouts as the play clock was running down, but the acrobatic catch by Jermaine Kearse at the nine yard line bailed them out. After the game Carroll said the match-up dictated throwing the ball on the interception play. Hogwash. You have three plays to get one yard. The clock was not an issue. Coaching lost this game for Seattle.

Back to my man, Charles Haley, who finally got his just due in being voted into the Hall of Fame. I guess it really doesn’t matter since he is now in, but goodness, seeing some of the players get voted in over him the last few years were head-scratchers. Warren Sapp before Haley? Sapp is a good and worthy player, but he had no business going in before Charles. Aeneas Williams? Please.

nfl_g_chaley_jh_300Haley wasn’t a spare on those five Super Bowl teams; he was a force to be reckoned with for those 49ers and Cowboys defenses. People can say what they want about him – that he was a jerk to the media when he was a player, whatever. All I know is he takes his weekly Sunday morning jog down my street in Dallas and always says hello to my kids. I’m just happy that now my kids will see an official Hall of Famer the next time they see him jog by.

It’s approximately 170 days before NFL Training Camps open up, but only about 20 until pitchers and catchers report. Meanwhile, the Mavs and Stars continue their respective playoff pushes, college basketball is at its peak and the NCAA Tournament will be here before we know it. Settle in and get ready to read about 4,763 articles and previews of the 2015 NFL Draft.

I also have a personal tradition every year, picking two teams to play in next year’s Super Bowl on the day after the season ends. It’s more of a gut feel call; no studying up on schedules or stats. Last year I picked the Cardinals and Colts (I came close with Indy). The year prior I took the Broncos and Seahawks (Not bad for a guy they call the “Reverse Barometer”). I thought about going with the Lions for this latest pick, but I did that once on a different call and they went 0-16, so they’re out. Maybe the Cardinals again? No, I don’t like their quarterback situation. Green Bay is a safe chgal-sure-john-cusak-jpgoice, but I don’t want to go there for some reason. In the AFC, I still like those Colts, but the Dolphins intrigue me for some reason. I’m not taking the Patriots to repeat, but Baltimore is another one of those safe picks. Logic says take the Packers and the Ravens. But, like The Sure Thing’s Walter Gibson, I’m the kind of guy who likes to live on the edge.

Give me the Cowboys and Colts in Super Bowl 50.

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Rob Scichili (shick-lee) has worked in professional sports for over 31 years in PR and communications, including time with the Dallas Stars, Anaheim Ducks, MLB.com, Minnesota Timberwolves and Dallas Mavericks. A journalism graduate of Texas A&M, he is co-owner and editor at ScoreboardTx and VP at Tony Fay Public Relations. Scichili is a consultant to New York Islanders ownership and was recently named to the Dallas Stars Hall of Fame Selection Committee.