Any defensive coordinator is worried about two things: a running quarterback and a deep ball. You know, don't get beat deep and don't let the quarterback run, because a big part of your defense can't account for the quarterback as a runner, so he gets a free run.
Interpretation
Defensive strategies in football must prioritize stopping both the running quarterback and deep passes.
In American football, defensive coordinators face unique challenges posed by quarterbacks who can run and teams that throw deep passes. John Madden highlights the dual threat these players create; when a quarterback can escape the pocket and run, they can exploit gaps in the defense, making it essential for defenders to account for this dual threat to prevent significant gains.
In practice
A sports analyst discussing game strategies might use the quote to emphasize the importance of defensive preparation.
Since 1981, I've spent every Thanksgiving Day broadcasting a game, and it is one of my favorite days. You can say, 'Woe is me, I never get to be part of the tradition,' or you can say, 'Heck, we've got our own tradition, and it's pretty good.'
Sometimes you can be one of the best, but you don't accept that if you don't get the ring or win the Super Bowl. There's a lot of good teams between the Super Bowl winner and other teams. Once the Super Bowl is over, we lump everyone into the other 31, and that's not fair.
Coaches have to watch for what they don't want to see and listen to what they don't want to hear.
Nobody, not even the head coach, would do anything to the football unilaterally, such as adjust the amount of pressure in a ball, without the quarterback not knowing. It would have to be the quarterback's idea.
I was an old tackle riding around talking to people about sports. Like I've said to a lot of people over the years, 'I only go where old tackles go, and if an old tackle does not belong there, I'm not going.'
You're not going to eliminate concussions. Anytime you hit your head, you have a chance of getting a concussion, in any sport, too. I think we have to learn more about it. Part of it is rules, part of it is equipment, part of it is medical studies, knowing more about the brain.
In my very first NFL game, I completed my first pass to Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk.
My approach to cricket has been reasonably simple: it was about giving everything to the team, it was about playing with dignity and it was about upholding the spirit of the game. I hope I have done some of that. I have failed at times, but I have never stopped trying. It is why I leave with sadness but also with pride.
You can win tournaments when you're mechanical, but golf is a game of emotion and adjustment. If you're not aware of what's happening to your mind and your body when you're playing, you'll never be able to be the very best you can be.
There are footballers who are very good playing on the outside but don't know what to do inside. Then there are players who are very good inside but don't have the physique, the legs, to go outside.
It makes great conversation to discuss what's wrong with open-wheel racing today.
Football is a simple game based on the giving and taking of passes, of controlling the ball and of making yourself available to receive a pass. It is terribly simple.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.