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 president Bruce Allen and senior vice president/executive producer of media Larry Michael for connecting us to Fugett. Now, let’s let Jean take over.

My NFL 2015 Season Preview

Here we go for the 2015 NFL football season! … I looked at this season in all, and I looked at the material about the new rosters, the new coaches. Because we believe coaching still makes a difference in the National Football League, but you can’t coach unless you have the players. But if you have good players, and then you put in a system where they can succeed …

[Like] the defense of the great defensive teams like the Ravens in the past or like Rex Ryan’s teams are, you can have the biggest team. Or, on a team with a Peyton Manning, you can hope to outscore your opponent. But still, almost old-timers think that the key to getting to the Super Bowl is a great defense. The NFL rules-makers have done everything they can to neutralize or get rid of advantage.

When I really want to know what’s happening in the National Football League, I go to the Las Vegas oddsmakers. I see what they have to say because despite the NFL football reporters in the country, it seems like a handful of guys in Las Vegas really know week to week, day to day what’s going on. I can only suspect that they have better sources. But, there are some key statistics that will help you throughout the season; it helps in fantasy football, will certainly help you in your head. The key number is the over and under; that is how many total points to be scored in the game. I looked at the opening game starting this week and I saw that half the contests are called high-scoring games, meaning well over 50 points. Then, there’s a good number of teams that are what I call below 44. Again, this is not necessarily a rule of thumb, but it is certainly an indicator, and from what I see in the league continues to trend.

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

The league does everything they can to create more points, and they do not want to be Major League Baseball. So, they are making the rules in a manner that will help to score more points, except for the extra point. What that’s all about, moving the ball back from the 2-yard line? But, the rules people had to do something during the offseason. I guess that was the best they came up with. They change these rules, but they really don’t make any explanation as to if this is going to improve the game. And moving an extra point back does nothing but slow the game down and cause the other issues that come up.

Some of the teams that are really good defensively this year will win one or two more games than they normally would because most offenses are far superior to defenses nowadays, so an elite defense will be very valuable in a high-scoring league. You can almost count on one hand the teams that are really known for their defense as opposed to years ago when you had the Ravens, Buccaneers, Bears, Steelers, etc.



One of the best indicators of the potential of any team is the worries that their opponent will have. How many teams have one player that can score from anywhere on the field? That kind of player changes games and makes it difficult to game-plan for. Having a home-run hitter like that is a huge advantage. That’s a game-changer and can make the difference in a game or two.

The opposite of the game-changer on offense is how many teams have a player on the defensive line that cannot be blocked consistently by one player. We’re talking about players like J.J. Watt and Ndamukong Suh. Players that you have to double-team and be mindful of on every play. Anytime a line has at least one player that has to be double-teamed, that defense already has a numbers advantage over the offense that can be easily exploited.

Of course, there is no position more important in the National Football League than the quarterback’s because the quarterback touches the ball on every offensive play.



This offseason, a lot of attention has paid to Tom Brady and his suspension for deflating the football. I can tell you that back in my day we did deflate the football in cold weather. I’m a former receiver who had my fingers split more than once from a horrid, frozen ball. I remember a game in the late ’70s played in Buffalo that was so cold, that if you spit and it got on your beard, it would freeze; so, you can imagine how hard the ball was. When it was frozen, that ball would be both difficult to grab and difficult to catch. The skin on your hands would split with a hard-thrown pass, so we would let air out of the ball to make it softer. That stopped happening when they started keeping the balls heated and not laying around outside. A deflated ball is easier to grip, throw and catch. Certainly, Tom Brady and his teammates knew the balls were being deflated.

The NFL just reminded me that it was 40 years ago that I played in the Super Bowl. In honor of that, they are going to send a game ball engraved to my high school, but my problem was my high school no longer exists in Baltimore. So, we’re gonna find another recipient for the game ball. I’m hoping it goes to the high school named after my brother here in Baltimore, Reginald F Lewis.

Super Bowl Prediction

I am going with Ravens versus Cowboys for now.





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Jean Fugett: Jean Fugett's Around the NFL Week 12 Recap - 12/4
Jean Fugett: Jean Fugett's Around the NFL Week 10 Recap - 11/19
Jean Fugett: Jean Fugett's Around the NFL Week 9 Recap - 11/12
Jean Fugett: Jean Fugett's Around the NFL Week 8 Recap - 11/5
Jean Fugett: Jean Fugett's Around the NFL Week 7 Recap - 10/29
Jean Fugett: Jean Fugett's Around the NFL Week 5 Recap - 10/15
Jean Fugett: Jean Fugett's Around the NFL Week 4 Recap - 10/8
Jean Fugett: Jean Fugett's Around the NFL Week 3 Recap - 9/30
Jean Fugett: Jean Fugett's Around the NFL Week 2 Recap - 9/23
Jean Fugett: Jean Fugett's Around the NFL Week 1 Recap - 9/16
Jean Fugett's 2015 NFL Season Preview - 9/10






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