This is an extremely physical game. World-class athletes play it at a high intense level. Some guys are lucky enough to weather the storm of injuries such as concussions, and some do not. With that said, these men are being paid millions to put it on the line for us, the fans. I applaud Buffalo Bills‘ AJ Tarpley for recognizing his inability to continue his career in the NFL due to his concussions. However, I will continue to love and watch the game because of guys like his teammate, Preston Brown.
LEAVE OUR GAME ALONE!
Upon looking at the stats from the 2015 season, and this announcement from Tarpley, I thought, “hmm for someone who played in 14-games and only made eight tackles, sack and a pair of interceptions, why is everyone making such a fuss about his retirement?” I will tell you why, and then I’m going back to football. It is because people are trying to take away our game. They are putting the football concussions on blast all over the media. There are plenty of articles out there about it. Heck Will Smith is even staring in a movie about it. I’m moving on, because I love the game too much. Now back to Mr. Brown.
Production, Production, Production!
I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE Louisville defensive players! With AJ leaving, the Bills will not miss a beat, due to Brown’s phenomenal play at inside linebacker. Last season, this beastly stalwart of the Buffalo Bills’ D racked up 120-tackles, 4-pdefs, 2-ints one forced fumble and a fumble recovery for team.
Lets his game do the talking
The play that immediately caught my eye from this young man is when the Bills were facing the Indianapolis Colts. Frank Gore, one of the toughest, most physical RBs in football, runs a dive up the middle and is met with a thunderous hit from Brown. Brown not only laid a hit on Gore, he stood him up and drove him backward into the turf. Check it out below.
Any player that plays the game with this amount of intensity consistently is going to dominate.
He “aint never scared”…
I’ll be honest, when Ray Lewis and Patrick Willis retired, I felt like the position would just go soft, due to the lack of aggressiveness at the position. You see players that play timid around the league; they are making smart business decision tackles, avoiding head-on collisions with tough mauling RBs and playing the position scared. However, then you see tough, thumping BAD-ASS (Excuse my French. It’s just what coach called the position) LBs, who plunge into battle, fearless and ready to rip the ball-carrier’s head off. Gee, I wonder which type puts fans in the stands? Guys like PRESTON BROWN do!
Rex wants a Leader
Rex Ryan has to be one extremely happy coach, knowing that he has the epitome of toughness at the center of his D, at such a young age, and a great price ($798K Cap hit for 2016). Rex knows there is some growth needed for this guy to be a pure leader. According to BuffaloBills.com Rex said:
“It’s not good enough to just know your job. You’ve got to be the quarterback back there. And he can do it. I expect Preston to take that step and he needs to.”
There is confidence in this young man going forward and it could lead to him being the next dominate leading LB in football.
Something about Browns
Ryan managed to pick up another talented ILB to co-star beside the former Cardinal in Zack Brown, who is coming off of a decent season as well, notching 77-tackles, 2-Ints and half a sack. Did I mention that is while only starting 5-games for the Tennessee Titans?
AJ may be the hot topic in news right now, but when opponents meet the Browns in 2016, it will make headlines for sure.
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Jermaine Lockett is a Writer and CEO for Couch Rider Report. Follow us on Facebook or twitter.