Eagles receiver Devon Allen, who recently ran the fourth fastest 110-meter hurdles of the year, believes he’s faster than any other man in the NFL.
Allen made that declaration recently to TMZ.com.
“I definitely am ,” Allen said. “I’m not gonna roast [Tyreek Hill and DK Metcalf] because what they did [in track appearances] was impressive. I raced Tyreek Hill when I was in high school. We raced and he smoked me when we were in high school and DK Metcalf ran a 10.3 a couple years ago is super impressive for a guy that’s six-three, six-four, 225, but I think especially at the top level — top-five, top-10 in the world — there’s a big gap in terms of just performance.”
The problem for Allen is that the gap he owns in raw speed he doesn’t own in raw football ability. He has yet to make a 53-man roster, and he’s 28.
In his defense, he deliberately took him off from football. He’s now getting back into it.
“The first whirlwind for me was training camp, getting thrown into the fire, and realizing this isn’t college anymore,” Allen said of his 2022 experience with the Eagles. “I played at the University of Oregon, which is high-level ball, but the NFL takes it the another level.”
The clock is ticking for Allen to get to that other level. And he ultimately needs to be much more than fast (as many past track stars have learned) to make it in the NFL.
With Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson at a career crossroads, there’s a question as to whether his subpar performance in 2022 was an aberration or a new, post-Seahawks normal. The question has prompted a closer examination of Wilson’s work habits and commitment to becoming the best player he can be — not based on what he chooses to highlight on social media, but based on the reality of what he’s truly doing.
In Seattle, Wilson tried to augment his understanding of the team’s offense by talking to Mike Holmgren, former Super Bowl-winning coach of the Packers and Super Bowl-qualifying coach of the Seahawks. Holmgren, who worked during Wilson’s Seahawks career as a radio analyst in Seattle, seemed to be interested in avoiding a political football when Wilson wanted Holmgren’s help.
“I kind of was keeping my distance there because when he was with Seattle, I got to know him and he would text me and ask me questions,’’ Holmgren told Chris Tomasson of the Denver Gazette. “I’m the old coach. I’ve got to be careful. You’ve got other guys coaching. Let’s keep it like that.”
Holmgren did sit down with Wilson, but it sounds as if his help was generic in nature.
“I remember one of my earliest conversations with him,’’ Holmgren said. “He wanted to sit down and talk to me when I was doing a show [at the Seahawks facility]. He seemed to be very attentive. I told him, ‘You’re going to be pulled in a million different directions in the league and you’ve got to learn to say no. You have to learn to focus on your football.’”
Wilson wanted to know from Holmgren what it was like to coach the likes of Joe Montana, Steve Young, and Brett Favre.
“He’s very curious,’’ Holmgren said of Wilson. “He was very inquisitive. I told him, ‘If I lived through Brett, I can live through anything.”’
Careful, Mike. You don’t want Brett to sue you.
Broncos fans might want the team to sue Wilson for a full refund if he doesn’t improve this year. If anyone can turn things around, it’s new coach Sean Payton, who aspires to do what Holmgren nearly did: become the first coach to win a Super Bowl with two different teams.
News continues to trickle out of ESPN’s on-air layoffs and another former NFL player is among the cuts.
Matt Hasselbeck has been let go from the company, according to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post.
Hasselbeck has been with ESPN since retiring from the league in 2016. He was an analyst on ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown pregame show, along with Randy Moss, Tedy Bruschi, Rex Ryan, and host Samantha Ponder.
A Packers sixth-round pick in 1998, Hasselbeck became a franchise quarterback with the Seahawks, helping lead the club to Super Bowl XL in the 2005 season. He is second on Seattle’s all-time list with 29,434 yards passing and third with 174 touchdowns in 138 games.
Hasselbeck was Tennessee’s starting quarterback in 2011, going 9-7. He finished his career with a three-year stint in Indianapolis, compiling a 5-3 record in eight starts in 2015.
ESPN’s NFL coverage is set to have a significantly different look in 2023, as the company has reportedly laid off Steve Young, Todd McShay, and Keyshawn Johnson. Longtime Monday Night Countdown host Suzy Kolber also announced she’s been let go.
The Jets will be the first team to hit camp as their veterans report on July 19. The Browns will get underway two days later and the two teams will play each other in the Hall of Fame Game on August 3.
The Chiefs and Lions are the next to get underway as they will play in the first game of the regular season. The dates for rookies and veterans to report to camp for every team can be found below.
Cardinals: Rookies and Veterans 7/25
Falcons: Rookies 7/18, Veterans 7/25
Ravens: Rookies 7/18, Veterans 7/25
Bills: Rookies 7/18, Veterans 7/25
Panthers: Rookies 7/22, Veterans 7/25
Bears: Rookies 7/22, Veterans 7/25
Bengals: Rookies 7/22, Veterans 7/25
Browns: Rookies 7/19, Veterans 7/21
Cowboys: Rookies and Veterans 7/25
Broncos: Rookies 7/19, Veterans 7/25
Lions: Rookies 7/19, Veterans 7/22
Packers: Rookies 7/21, Veterans 7/25
Texans: Rookies and Veterans 7/25
Colts: Rookies and Veterans 7/26
Jaguars: Rookies 7/21, Veterans 7/25
Chiefs: Rookies 7/18, Veterans 7/22
Raiders: Rookies 7/20, Veterans 7/25
Chargers: Rookies 7/18, Veterans 7/25
Rams: Rookies and Veterans 7/25
Dolphins: Rookies 7/18, Veterans 7/25
Vikings: Rookies 7/23, Veterans 7/25
Patriots: Rookies 7/21, Veterans 7/25
Saints: Rookies 7/18, Veterans 7/25
Giants: Rookies 7/18, Veterans 7/25
Jets: Rookies and Veterans 7/19
Eagles: Rookies and Veterans 7/25
Steelers: Rookies and Veterans 7/26
49ers: Rookies 7/18, Veterans 7/25
Seahawks: Rookies and Veterans 7/25
Buccaneers: Rookies 7/24, Veterans 7/25
Titans: Rookies 7/22, Veterans 7/25
Commanders: Rookies 7/21, Veterans 7/25
The Seahawks used the fifth overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft on Illinois cornerback Devon Witherspoon, and head coach Pete Carroll says Witherspoon is already proving that he is ready for the mental part of the pro game.
Witherspoon was slowed by a hamstring injury early in the offseason but was working with the starting defense once he got back to full speed. Carroll said that Witherspoon didn’t let the time off with the hamstring stop him from taking every mental rep.
“When we gave him the chance, he jumped right on it,” Carroll said, via ESPN. “He’s a really good football learner . He gets it, man. It makes sense to him, and he does things naturally really well, and that expedites the process.”
The Seahawks are counting on Witherspoon being able to start from Week One of his rookie year, and they think he’s going to be ready to do it -- both physically and mentally.