Bill Polian's achievements as general manager of the Indianapolis Colts, among other teams, landed him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But even with his knowledge of the game, Polian couldn't pull the wool over one NFL writer's eyes with comments he recently made regarding New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.
While attending the NFL scouting combine, Polian was asked to name the quarterbacks he would have drafted 17 years ago if Peyton Manning weren't on the roster.
Sports Illustrated reported that Polian mentioned Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers at first, but he was apparently also high on Brady.
"Tom Brady would have been a guy, and we were very high on him. Our guys really loved him, but we weren't in the quarterback market, obviously. Those would be the guys I remember us giving solid, first-round, can-lead-you-to-a-championship grades," Polian said.
"And so a guy who belongs to a very exclusive club of football achievement has instantly become a member of a far bigger group: Those who claim they knew Tom Brady was going to become Tom Brady," Mike Florio wrote for Pro Football Talk on NBCSports.com.
"Frankly, Polian is either lying or admitting to a moment of gross incompetence. If Polian truly had a first-round grade on Brady, Polian should have drafted Brady. Any time a player with a first-round grade slides, you take him."
Florio then went on to list the quarterbacks drafted by the Patriots since they took Brady with pick No. 199 of the 2000 NFL Draft:
• Rohan Davey (2002, 4th round)
• Kliff Kingsbury (2003, 6th round)
• Matt Cassel (2005, 7th round)
• Kevin O'Connell (2008, 3rd round)
• Zac Robinson (2010, 7th round)
• Texarkana native and former Arkansas Razorbacks quarterback Ryan Mallett (2011, 3rd round)
• Jimmy Garoppolo (2014, 2nd round)
• Jacoby Brissett (2016, 3rd round)
"That's eight quarterbacks drafted since 2002, despite the presence of Brady," Florio wrote. "And when Brady was drafted, the Patriots supposedly had a franchise quarterback in Drew Bledsoe.
"Bottom line? If Polian truly believed that Brady was going to be a great player, Polian should have taken him at some point before the Patriots (a division rival at the time) got him with pick No. 199."
Mexico? Si! Cuba? No!
Seattle Mariners outfielder Leonys Martin celebrated his 29th birthday Monday. To mark the occasion, the Mariners surprised Martin with a live mariachi band, which followed him around all day.
"#Mariners center fielder @leonys27martin doesn't need backup when he's out there, but today, he's got it. #Mariachi," Mariners public relations man Fernando Alcala tweeted with a video of the band.
Pete Blackburn of FoxSports.com, however, noted how the gesture may have missed the mark with Martin.
"It's worth pointing out that Martin is Cuban, so he may not fully understand why his teammates went with a staple of Mexican cultural heritage to honor him on his birthday," Blackburn wrote. "Also, he was given a gigantic sombrero -- another symbol of Mexican culture -- to wear around, so maybe his teammates don't know him as well as they think they do."
Sports on 03/10/2017