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.
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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. |
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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.
Offensive Player of the Week: Allen Robinson, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars
Defensive Player of the Week: Von Miller, OLB, Denver Broncos
Goat of the Week: Tom Coughlin, head coach, New York Giants
Coach of the Week: Pete Carroll, head coach, Seattle Seahawks
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Elimination List (Four or more losses except NFC East) Chicago Bears Detroit Lions New Orleans Saints Tampa Bay Buccaneers Dallas Cowboys* Philadelphia Eagles* St. Louis Rams San Francisco 49ers Baltimore Ravens Cleveland Browns Oakland Raiders San Diego Chargers Buffalo Bills Miami Dolphins Tennessee Titans Jacksonville Jaguars Top Seeding Here is my list of top NFC teams:
Charlie Campbell says his top four are:
In the AFC, this is how I would seed it.
Looking at the rest of the AFC, I think the Steelers and Raiders are right there with the Colts for the fourth seed. The Jets are also a candidate. Charlie has his top four:
Around the NFL It was hard to pick the offensive player of the week. Allen Robinson’s three touchdown receptions for the Jaguars was impressive. Doug Martin carrying the ball 25 times while gaining less than 100 yards for Tampa Bay is unique in a NFL game. 25 carries are a lot in any football game. And Martin didn’t get 100 yards, so that means he got hit pretty much every time he took a hand off. As for the quarterback position, week after week it now seems it is always easy to pick Cam Newton, and last week, he did it again. We could pick him every week this season with the way he is playing. I had a hard time picking the goat of the week choosing between the NFL officials or Giants head coach Tom Coughlin. Coughlin got the word for going for it on fourth down when a field goal could have won the game. Head coaches do make a difference. The coach of the week has to be Pete Carroll in Seattle. To blow out a good Minnesota team on the road was a phenomenal job by that staff and the Seahawks players. I had to put a star next to all teams in the NFC East like the Cowboys, Redskins, Giants and Eagles on our elimination list. At 4-8 for the Cowboys and 5-7 for the rest of the division, they should all, from the record standpoint, be eliminated from the playoffs. But this is the NFL and despite the NFC East being so bad, each team is alive with only four games remaining. More on that below. |
Former Redskin and Cowboy tight end Jean Fugett was a Pro Bowler in 1977 and a starter in Super Bowl X. |
AFC
The Patriots in the AFC East, the Bengals in the AFC North, and the Broncos in the AFC West are all locks to win their divisions – all now at 10-2. The AFC South is still up for grabs between the Colts and Texans both at 6-6. The Jaguars are two games out of first place but are a long shot at best to win the division, while the Titans are three games out and eliminated.
New England is now in disarray after that loss to Philadelphia. That loss illustrates how much stress and pressure the organization has been under trying to replace missing parts. That stress turned into a weakness on special teams, and I can’t recall seeing a Patriot team lose a game on special teams like last week against the Eagles. That is an indication that New England’s problems are mounting. Because of the injuries, the Patriots lost focus of some fundamentals on special teams. I believe that is a bad sign, and now their season is trending in a negative direction. Unless the Patriots get Rob Gronkowski back, they could fall out of my top four in the AFC and have difficulty in the playoffs.
As a former tight end in the NFL, I can tell you that I really tried to avoid getting hit on the knee like Gronkowski suffered. It usually takes about one month to return from a sprain. When he comes back this season, he won’t be 100 percent. when you get a sprained knee; that joint is so important, and when you are as big as he is, healing is a real problem. A smaller receiver might be able to get back faster; the bigger you are, the harder it is to come back from a knee injury because you put all your weight while going at a high rate of speed. You are not like an offensive lineman pushing off only. A receiver has to push off, run, and cut. It will be a very tough injury for Gronkowski to play with this season.
NFC
In the NFC, we still have the Panthers undefeated after 12 games, and they’ve clinched the NFC South with home-field advantage not far away. Then, we have the Cardinals securely at 10-2 in their division.
The Cardinals are a lock to win their division because they have a three-game lead against the Seahawks and there are only four games remaining. Seattle is getting hot at the right time, having won three straight, but the Cardinals continue playing at a high level with six straight victories. We expect the Seahawks to continue to win and make the playoffs as a wild card. They have an easy game coming up going to Baltimore this week.
In the other two divisions, we have a bunch of confusion. Looking at the NFC North, the Packers and Vikings are both 8-4, but both are not impressing lately. The Packers barely showed signs of life with their miracle last-minute play in Detroit. The Vikings had looked so strong, and now last week, looked so weak at home against Seattle. Which team is going to show up in the final month for Minnesota?
In the NFC East, every team is alive. Who can guess what is going to happen? Three teams at 5-7, with the Cowboys one game behind the other three. How are those teams trending? The Redskins lost their last game. The Eagles won their last game. The Giants have lost three straight and the Cowboys have won one. Good luck trying to predict who is going to come out on top of the NFC East. Believe it or not, while it is unlikely, the Super Bowl team from the NFC could in fact come from the East. Will the Panthers finally lose? Because if they do, it will be at the wrong time.
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