Bleacher Report - Articles by Stephen Zsiga

The Steve McNair Tragedy: The Double Lives that Athletes Live

Stephen Zsiga — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 17:45:53 -0400

Flashing lights, stadiums filled with tens of thousands of people with millions more watching around the world, television cameras, money, fame and the pressures that all come with the group package.

Athletes are constantly surrounded by ample opportunity to live any way they so desire, and with technology the way it is nowadays, they can do it in the privacy of their own minds. This is the speculation surrounding the slain former NFL MVP, Steve McNair.

The side of McNair that the average NFL fan or follower is aware of is his brute strength and toughness as a professional signal caller. In his prime, no one was tougher than Steve McNair.

Seemingly never practicing but always on the field come Sundays, McNair grew a reputation that had him at the top of everyone's All-Iron Man Team.

He had a very successful and accomplishment-filled NFL career, including multiple pro-bowl selections, rushing records, and a Super Bowl appearance in which he came up one yard short of potentially winning.

Whether it was the Titans for the majority of his career, or the Ravens for his final two years in the league, McNair always gave reason for concern to his opponents each and every Sunday.

Aside from his accomplishments on the field, he was also named NFL Man of the Year. He was a father of four, and presumably happily married for 12 years. However, as one dives into the eerie details of his recent homicide, one cannot help but wonder if he led a double-life.

When McNair was found dead next to Sahel Kazemi, a woman who had been rumored to have been having "dating relations" with McNair, it has been reported that the friend who found them dead, long-time pal Wayne Neeley, called Robert Gaddy before calling authorities.

Gaddy, who played with McNair at Alcorn State, then alerted authorities. Why would there be an alert to another in-circle friend prior to contacting authorities if there was not some type of foul-play or secondary plot behind it all?

If it was truly no more than just a homicide, or apparent murder-suicide (as McNair had four gunshot wounds yet Kazemi who only had one and had been found with the gun near her dead body), why wouldn't Neeley have gone through with things in presumable order?

Another side-story of this entire tragedy includes this: Earlier in the week, McNair and Kazemi were pulled over together in Kazemi's 2007 Cadillac Escalade, which was registered to both her and McNair. She was driving under the influence and was not permitted to drive the vehicle away from the scene. McNair was allowed to taxi home.

Not more than three days later, they both were found dead. Yahoo! had reported earlier that Kazemi fancied a Kia prior to her becoming involved with McNair, prior to acquiring the Escalade that was registered in both of their names.

Don Aaron, the Metro Nashville Police P.I.O., was asked at a press conference about the scene. "I'm not going to discuss the scene," said Aaron. "I'm not going to discuss the nature of the scene."

The question posed by the reporter involved the timeline of events following the shootings. Aaron had said that when Neeley arrived on the scene, he walked into the kitchen passing McNair and Kazemi in the living room area.

The reporter at the conference had asked how would Neeley not have seen blood all over the place immediately if there was four gunshot wounds to McNair and one immediately to the head of Kazemi. Aaron stood his ground not discussing the scene in detail.

One would like to think that within a man as accomplished as Steve McNair has been, both personally and professionally, such two-facedness and two-sidedness wouldn't have room for existence.

However, despite all that athletes are up against in the lime light, no matter how strong the apparent quality of the character of the individual, eventually karma will catch up and the truth will glare its ugly face.

Josh Freeman Must Start in Tampa

Stephen Zsiga — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:53:33 -0400

With the 2009 NFL Season right around the corner, the matters at hand begin to arise. It is especially the case in places like Cleveland, Detroit and Tampa, where, as they say, "If you have more than one quarterback, you have none."

Despite making offseason acquisitions including the signing of free agent Byron Leftwich, and the re-signing of Luke McCown, Josh Freeman needs to be the man in Tampa in 2009 and going forward.

Jeff Garcia was ousted from the Bay Area, as were a lot of other key veterans from the Bucs this past offseason. Moves such as the release of 11-time probowler Derrick Brooks, and the firings of GM Bruce Allen and head coach Jon Gruden show that the Bucs are heavily involved in the middle of a thorough youth movement.

With rookie head coach Raheem Morris now taking over the team, and rookie quarterback Freeman, whom Morris worked with at Kansas State, the pieces seem in place for a potential long-term relationship. After all, one would not draft a quarterback in the first round if the idea of "franchise" did not come to mind. That is what Morris and the Buccaneers feel Freeman can bring to the table.

As the offseason OTAs and mini-camps ran their course, Freeman began to win over the coaching staff with each passing practice. Heading into training camp, which for the Bucs kicks off Saturday, Aug. 1, the Bucs officially have their quarterback spot listed as "an open competition."

However, Freeman must be the starter moving forward and starting this 2009 season. Drafting the Junior with their first pick in the draft made a huge statement, especially with the pressing needs on the defensive side of the ball.

Ronde Barber is getting old, as evident by him being burned several times during the 2008 campaign. Yet, he remains atop the Bucs depth chart with counterpart Aqib Talib for the 2009 season. Derrick Brooks, who despite being in his mid-thirties, came off a pro-bowl season, is still searching for a job.

With a change in the defensive scheme, going from the Tampa-Two to a more basic blitz-heavy defense, the types of players that the Bucs would need on defense has changed. However, after all of that evidence, the Bucs still felt moving forward that they needed that franchise guy, so they drafted Freeman.

By no means was this move a make-or-break move for Morris and the Buccaneers. Regardless of if Freeman is the starter in '09, he is on the Bucs' list for the future.

With offensive weapons such as newly signed Kellen Winslow and Derrick Ward, and returning stars such as Cadillac Williams, Earnest Graham, and Antonio Bryant, the Bucs have a strong base of talent to surround whoever their starter is in 2009. But when a first round pick is used on a quarterback, and when the team who selects this quarterback is in the midst of all around changes, why not wipe the entire slate completely clean and start the rookie in '09?

Looking back on '08 showed similar successful situations. Matt Ryan in Atlanta and Joe Flacco in Baltimore, both with rookie head coaches, led their teams into the playoffs last season.

Neither team had asked either signal caller for the world, but they put their guys in position to succeed, and that is exactly what they did. If Morris and the Buccaneers play their cards right with Freeman and his development in the National Football League, the Buccaneers could be that dark horse that strives despite the rest of the league expecting nothing from them.

Brett Favre Love Triangle Comes Full Circle as Jets and Bucs' Seasons End

Stephen Zsiga — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 12:40:03 -0500

Brett Favre's season came to an end in the unusually warm Meadowlands in New Jersey Sunday night, and perhaps his legacy did too.

For the past, oh let's just say, handful of seasons prior to being traded to the New York Jets, Brett Favre had played countless games of cat and mouse with the Green Bay Packers organization as to whether or not he would return to the team the following year, or retire.

The New York Jets and Tampa Bay Buccaneers were the main players in an off-season game of their own of who could land the savvy, play-making, veteran quarterback from the Packers. The Jets did, and the rest is history.

Both Favre and Buccaneers' quarterback Jeff Garcia are nearing the end of their playing careers in the NFL. For those who do not recall, the mistreatment of Jeff Garcia roots back to the 2007 season when Garcia was benched late in the year so that the team would not be responsible for incentive bonuses he was about to earn.

After the controversial benching, a first-round home game loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants, and some speaking out against the team by Garcia, the Bucs became a primary potential suitor for a deal for Favre. The Jets eventually were the top bidder, finalizing a deal for number four in early August. The Bucs retained Garcia as their starter as the relationship between himself and the Bucs' organization had reached the point of no repair.

With five games remaining on the schedule, the 8-3 Jets played awfully against the two-faced Denver Broncos who were traveling all the way from Colorado to scuffle at Giants Stadium back on the final day of November. The other contestant in the off-season Favre sweepstakes, the Bucs, had started out a very solid 9-3 before getting run all over by the Panthers at Carolina on a national television Monday Night game for 299 yards.

Both teams faded fast after those instances as the Jets went on to lose three of their last four finishing with a non-playoff worthy 9-7 record. That night in Charlotte the Buccaneers saw their once impressive defense fail and never regain its' once potent swagger, as that lead to four straight losses to close the season out.

So for the Jets, irony. More of the same dish but with a familiar server taking the honor of bringing his old team the delicacies in Chad Pennington erasing the Jets' playoff hopes for 2008. Not to mention Favre, for his second consecutive season, throwing an interception on his last pass attempt of the NFL year.

And as for the Bucs, it all-in-all was completely irrelevant whether or not the highly criticized and highly scrutinized move-that-never-happened came out like it did. Both teams fazed out like an old year on the calendar, or an old quarterback in the National Football League sharing similar thoughts: next season.

Arena Football Preview: Monday Night Match-Up of Unbeatens

Stephen Zsiga — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 14:11:33 -0400

Dorthy, this ain't Kansas anymore. It, is appropriately dubbed, the Broad Street Brawl. This isn't your normal mid-season clash of unbeatens, like the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts match-up always has potential to be. This isn't even an NFL match-up. It's only the first time ever this late in an AFL season that two unbeaten teams, Dallas (7-0) and Philadelphia (8-0), have met. And what a contest it should be.

Monday Night Football on the four-letter network takes a whole new stance tomorrow night, as the unbeaten Dallas Desperados visit the also unbeaten Philadelphia Soul at 8:00 PM ET on the deuce.

Dallas and Philly, just like in the real football league, are divisional rivals. Which adds even more hype to this contest. They will meet again in Dallas week 15 of the regular season. There is even more intrigue to this match-up for both teams. In spite of both being undefeated, both teams had lost their starting Quarterbacks for four games each this season, yet have both still found ways to keep winning.

Dallas has done it behind the leadership, even when he missed time, of maybe the best to ever play the game in Quarterback Clint Dolezel. With 884 career TD passes, Dolezel will soon reach the 900 TD mark, which is unmarked territory for anyone who's ever picked up a football.

Philadelphia has marched to their undefeated mark behind the stellar play of their wide receivers. Their top three wide outs, Chris Jackson, Larry Brackins, and Darius Watts, have combined this year for 48 touchdowns. Brackins and Watts both are former NFL entities, who struggled to produce in the League, but fit in very nicely in the AFL.

Keeping it real however, this is a football game in the middle of springtime, immediately following the conclusion of the NFL draft. So how important can this game really be? You be the judge. But one thing is guaranteed-A lot of scoring, a lot of fun and a very entertaining (indoor) football game.

Buccaneers Draft Preview: Who Needs To Come to Tampa

Stephen Zsiga — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:22:31 -0400

When the Bucs are announced by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to be on the clock, who exactly will be at the top of their draft board? The team has a few "need" positions which, with the offensive-Einstein Jon Gruden at the head of the war room, always seems to start with a Quarterback. This year Quarterback is the least of the teams worries on draft day. With veteran captain Jeff Garcia calling the signals, and a talented, young offensive line, if Gruden has a poor draft followed by a poor season, he may be out the door. Drafter: Beware.

With the loss of long-tenured Brian Kelly this off-season, Cornerback is a glaring need for the Bucs. Ronde Barber and Phillip Buchannon are the projected starters as of now, backed up by talented but careless Torrie Cox, along with Sammy Davis and Darrell Hunter (one year in the league). There has been talks lately that handcuff the Bucs and the Eagles in a trade for somewhat disgruntled CB Lito Sheppard to go to Tampa in exchange for a 2nd Round pick this year, and either a 5th Round pick in next years draft or a player. However nothing has been set in stone yet.

Wide receiver is also a top priority in this years draft for the Buccaneers. In order for Joey Galloway to continue to be productive, he needs a productive supporting cast running routes with him to create diversion and opportunity. Defenses keyed-in on Galloway last year, and his numbers including receptions, yards and touchdowns all dropped again for the second consecutive season since joing Tampa in 2005. Michael Clayton had a tremendous rookie year in '04 (80 catches, 1193 yards, 7 TD), but since has only had a total of 87 catches in 3 years, to go along with totals in yards and touchdowns from those 3 years combined that do not even match his rookie year numbers (1092 yards, 1 TD). Maurice Stovall is talented and has good size but is yet to truly mesh into Gruden's complicated West Coast offense. Stovall has been much more productive as a gunner on the punt team in recent times. Ike Hilliard had his best season as a Buccaneer by far in '08 (62 catches, 722 yards, 1 TD), but it most likely was a result of Galloway's declining numbers because of defenses than Hilliards' effectiveness, as he had more drops in key spots than usual. Not to mention he's at the ripe age of 32 in his 12th NFL season. If Jeff Garcia is going to be effective in Jon Gruden's pass-first offense, Earnest Graham needs to be consistant in running the football and the wide receiver position clearly needs to be solidified through this draft.

A couple of solid picks, as well as realistic picks for the Bucs at these positions could be Mike Jenkins, Cornerback from USF (1st Round, 20th Overall), and Donnie Avery, Wide Receiver from Houston (2nd Round, 52nd Overall).

Mike Jenkins will go in the first round, whether to Tampa or to another corner-needing team. Jenkins has solid technique to go along with good speed, which are both key in a Cover-2 defense. He is also very physical against the run, which in the Tampa-2 is a much coveted asset in a corner. Jenkins, although not as noteworthy as say a DeSean Jackson from Cal, also has the ability to return kicks. The Bucs must hope that Jenkins drops to 20, which is foreseeable as corner is one of the deeper posotions talent-wise in this years draft. Prospects such as Dominque Rodgers-Cromartie (Tennessee State), Leodis McKelvin (Troy), Aqib Talib (Kansas) and Brandon Flowers (Virginia) can all make first-round pick cases.

Donnie Avery is fast. Maybe even Joey Galloway fast with some work in the NFL and help from the ageless wonder. Avery ran a 4.28 40 at the combine and will be a deep threat no matter who ends up with the speedster from Houston. Avery is an outstanding route-runner, and despite being a little undersized (5'11'' 192 lbs) he is a tough matchup for cornerbacks who aren't as willing to fight for the ball on the pass as he is. Other top wide receivers who more than likely will not fall to the Bucs in round two include Limas Sweed (Texas), DeSean Jackson (Cal), Malcolm Kelly (Oklahoma), and James Hardy (Indiana). The Bucs must address corner in the first round if they wish to continue to be known for that vaunted Tampa-2 defense, which ranked #2 in the league last year only behind the Steelers. But with Gruden having a strong say as to what goes on behind closed doors in the Buccaneers war room, do not be surprised if the Bucs try to go offense in the first round.