Jean Fugett: Around the NFL

Jean Fugett: Around the NFL

By Jean Fugett; thanks to Charlie Campbell – @draftcampbell

WalterFootball.com is proud to partner with former Redskins and Cowboys tight end Jean Fugett, Jr. Esq. Fugett grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and attended Amherst College. He was the last pick of the 13th round in the 1972 NFL Draft. Fugett made the Cowboys as a backup to future Hall of Famer Mike Ditka. Fugett eventually became a starter for Tom Landry’s Cowboys and started in Super Bowl X. He made the Pro Bowl in 1977.

As a free agent, Fugett went from being the lowest-paid starting tight end to the highest-paid with the Washington Redskins. While playing for legendary Redskins coach George Allen, Fugett attended law school at George Washington University at night.

During and after his playing days, Fugett worked with CBS, the Washington Post and other media. He went on to serve as Director and Vice-Chair of the McCall Pattern Company Management Committee, founded a Baltimore law firm and partnered with Fanfone in Europe. After the death of his brother Reginald F. Lewis in 1993, Fugett took over TLC Beatrice International Foods, the largest black-owned and black-managed business in the world at the time. Fugett has served on committees with the NFL Players Association and on the Leadership Council for the American Diabetes Association Maryland Chapter.

WalterFootball.com would like to thank Redskins general manager Bruce Allen and senior vice president/executive producer of media Larry Michael for connecting us to Fugett. Now, let’s let Jean take over.

Editor’s Note: This article was posted late.

Offensive Players of the Week: Jeremy Hill, running back, Cincinnati Bengals and Dez Bryant, wide receiver, Dallas Cowboys

Defensive Player of the Week: Timmy Jernigan, defensive tackle, Baltimore Ravens

Coach of the Week: Chuck Pagano, head coach, Indianapolis Colts

Goat of the Week: Jay Gruden, head coach, Washington Redskins

If the playoffs started today in the AFC, the Patriots and Broncos would have the byes, plus the Patriots having home field advantage through the playoffs. The wild-card games would be the Ravens at the Colts and the Steelers at the Bengals. Three AFC North teams in the playoffs. A few weeks back, you may recall that we had three AFC North teams in the top five. It is fascinating to see those three all projected to make the playoffs with a Bengals-Steelers Round 3 to determine who will go on. In the NFC, the odds-makers have to be surprised to see the Cardinals and Lions as the top-two seeds. I’ll have to look at the preseason predictions, but I don’t recall many people saying the Cardinals would have the first seed, a bye and home field advantage, or that the Lions would have the second seed and a bye. In the wild card, you’d have the Cowboys going to Green Bay and Seattle going to Carolina. That is really fascinating. To me, it looks like we’re heading to New England versus Seattle in the Super Bowl. Looking back at this past week, the impact of special teams play was huge. Last week, Baltimore had a punt block returned for a touchdown. Kansas City and Buffalo returned punts for touchdowns. All three of those teams won and that is no accident. The teams that win this time of year usually feature strong special teams units. Special teams are so important and it was noticeably so last Sunday. Special teams come down to coaching and effort. Execution plays a role for the kickers, but it doesn’t play a role in coverage or returns. That comes down to coaching and desire.

Former Redskin and Cowboy tight end Jean Fugett was a Pro Bowler in 1977 and a starter in Super Bowl X.

Last Week in the AFC –

Kansas City, San Diego, Buffalo, Houston, Miami and Cleveland are still alive for the playoffs.

Johnny Manziel didn’t get off to a good start, but who really expected him to against Cincinnati. The Bengals players were really mean to him and need to take a manners course. They were not nice, they were saying mean things to him, using his signature “cash-money sign” to taunt him.

Meanwhile, Jeremy Hill is making a strong case for rookie of the year rushing for 148 yards and two touchdowns against a Browns defense that is usually pretty good. However, he did not do this against the real Cleveland defense. How good can you be when your two all-pro corners go out of the game in the first half?

Joe Haden almost made an incredible interception, but I think when he came down that was when he hurt his shoulder. I know as a receiver, when you dive for a ball, you must roll quickly, because if you land on your elbow it will be virtually impossible to hold onto the ball and you have a good chance of getting up with a separated shoulder as well.



Baltimore has control of its destiny and needs to keep winning. The Kansas City at Pittsburgh game is important. The Steelers continue to rack up the offensive statistics, but last week, the Pittsburgh defense showed up against Atlanta, at least for the first three quarters. Ben Roethlisberger threw for 360 to take him to a career high. Not many believed at the start of the season that the Steelers would have this kind of offense. They showed they will be a force to be reckoned with for the rest of this season and in the playoffs.

San Diego at San Francisco on Saturday is an important game for the Chargers, and they must win to keep their playoff hopes alive. The Chargers could get edged out of a playoff spot. Peyton Manning found a way to win. Denver has won four straight, but New England owns the tie-breaker over the Broncos, which gives the Patriots an edge if the two meet in the AFC Championship.



Last Week in the NFC –

The teams that are still alive for the postseason are Philadelphia, New Orleans and Atlanta. San Francisco, Minnesota and St. Louis all have higher seeds in the conference over the Saints and Falcons, but the latter two are still alive because of the weakness of the NFC South. The Atlanta at New Orleans game will be an elimination game for the loser, with the winner staying alive against Carolina.

Derek Anderson came through against his pet team. Both of Anderson’s victories at quarterback have been against Tampa Bay, but those wins could be the difference for Carolina making the playoffs. Anderson has proven to be a valuable backup for Carolina this season.

OUR TAKE ON THIS SATURDAY’S GAMES

Philadelphia has a must win over Washington on Saturday. The Eagle loss to the Cowboys was crushing for the Eagles. Was it a knockout blow?

Saturday’s game between the NFC East rivals, Eagles vs. Redskins, could be one for the books as Robert Griffin III, seeking redemption and unification with his new head coach Jay Greene Gruden, travels to Philadelphia. Kelly needs to stay alive in the battle for the NFC East and a chance to tie or beat the Cowboys. The Eagles have another shot at the Cowboys next week. Philadelphia must get over this Redskins hurdle. Playing a Washington team that is playing not only for Saturday, but playing for individual futures under a lot a lot of pressure. One must wonder what the meetings were like this week? The fact that Griffin will be starting the next two games of the Redskins almost knocked Cuba off the front page of the Washington Post; Just as Washington fans thought that they were going to have to get used to Colt McCoy, the rug has been pulled out yet again. In Washington, these are amazing, amazing, amazing times.

There is a lot of natural history between the Eagles and the Redskins; remember Sonny Jurgensen was traded from the Eagles to the Redskins. Chip Kelly, who could be the coach of the year, coaches this week versus a rookie coach. You would have to favor the Eagles in a game like this, unless … Griffin can pull a miracle like he did many times during his rookie year.

This game has a lot of interesting things going. The key may be the Eagles’ being contained by the Redskins’ defense, because not many see quarterback Mark Sanchez being the big difference in the game. The Redskins have great speed on offense that is equal to that of the Eagles. Who will score the most points on Saturday? That’s an easy question with a difficult answer. But, Washington should certainly be within 10 points when the game ends this weekend.

The San Francisco versus San Diego game – California, The North vs. South – features two teams going in two different directions. The Chargers just announced that they will play yet another year at Jack Murphy/QUALCOMM Stadium (ouch!) are in a must-win situation. For San Diego, this is a playoff game. In their division this year, what could the Chargers have hoped for this season?

What could they hope for with Kansas City and Denver also in their division? However, San Diego played those teams very tough this year and now must beat the 49ers. Maybe all the talk of where Coach Harbaugh will be coaching next year, with Michigan supposedly waiting in the wings with a 6-year deal, and the Niner quarterback not playing so well will help.

Woe to the 49ers fans because there is a lot of uncertainty with all that is in the atmosphere. It is quite difficult to imagine San Francisco will be playing very hard this week. The players are already wondering who will be their next coach. The 49ers are reduced to spoilers.

The New Orleans versus Atlanta game really be may be the most exciting games to watch this weekend with both teams putting everything on the line. Although Seattle and Arizona will also be a great game it is not an elimination game as the Falcon Saints game.





Jean Fugett: Around the NFL - 1/8
Jean Fugett's Around the NFL Week 15 Recap - 12/21
Jean Fugett's Around the NFL Week 14 Recap - 12/11
Jean Fugett's Around the NFL Week 13 Recap - 12/4
Jean Fugett's Around the NFL Week 12 Recap - 11/27
Jean Fugett's Around the NFL Week 11 Recap - 11/21
Jean Fugett's Around the NFL Week 10 Recap - 11/13
Jean Fugett's Around the NFL Week 9 Recap - 11/6
Jean Fugett's Around the NFL Week 8 Recap - 10/30
Jean Fugett's Around the NFL Week 7 Recap - 10/23
Jean Fugett's Around the NFL Week 6 Recap - 10/16
Jean Fugett's Around the NFL Week 5 Recap - 10/9
Jean Fugett's Around the NFL Week 4 Recap - 10/1
Jean Fugett's Around the NFL Week 3 Recap - 9/25
Jean Fugett's Around the NFL Week 2 Recap - 9/18
Jean Fugett's Around the NFL Week 1 Recap - 9/10
Jean Fugett's 2014 NFL Season Preview - 9/5






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