Thursday, October 18, 2012

Former Michigan Athlete of the Week: Jay Feely


Jay Feely missed a 38-yard field goal that would have won the game for the Arizona Cardinals at the very end of regulation.  Instead of securing the victory, his team was forced into overtime and eventually lost to the Buffalo Bills, 19-16, giving the Cardinals only their second loss of the season.  That's not a great way to get named the former Michigan athlete of the week.

Then again, Feely's team never would have been in position to win the game if not for his incredible 61-yard game tying boot just one minute before.  The kick sets Arizona's franchise record for longest field goal and is only two yards short of the NFL record.  Only five kickers in NFL history have successfully kicked a field goal of longer distance.  

"You don't think there is any way a guy is going to make a 61-yarder," Buffalo Coach Chan Gailey said, "and then you think for sure he is going to make the short one and he doesn't."

Honorable Mention:  Mike Martin recorded six tackles, a tackle for for a loss, and a hit on the quarterback, as his Titans won over the Pittsburgh Steelers by a score of 26-23.  Martin helped his defense hold the Steelers to only 56 yards on the ground and a mere 2.5 yards per carry.  He came in for some praise from the Titans' head coach following the performance.
"I think when we drafted him we felt really good about him, and I think we all felt he could contribute right away like Casey did, like Klug did," coach Munchak said.  "He's hard to block.  That's why we like him.  He beats double teams, he's hard to block in the zone game when the center is trying to reach him on the back. . . .He's going to be a very good football player for us.  You saw flashes of that last night.  He was making plays.  Those (defensive tackles) are doubled a lot, and I think our defensive tackles have really all year played pretty good."
Miscellaneous:  
  • Tim Jamison tore his Achilles and was placed on the Texans' Injured Reserve.
  • Tom Brady put the ball in the air 58 times and threw for 395 yards in a 24-23 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.  Braylon Edwards caught his first touchdown pass of the season in the game.
  • Brandon Graham recorded one tackle and Jason Avant caught two passes for 21 yards as their Eagles lost to the Lions, 26-23.
  • Stevie Brown tracker continues:  he tallied four tackles for the Giants in their shocking 26-3 beat down of the 49ers.

7 comments:

  1. If I had a vote, it would go to Mike Martin. Failure + success = failure if you lose the game. The miss would have had to be less severe in terms of both yardage and consequence for it not to downgrade the performance.

    I love these posts, btw, it's great to highlight Michigan athletes' excellence on Sundays (or Mondays or Thursdays, I suppose).

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    1. I generally chose a player whose great performance helped contribute to a win, but I've been watching football for a long time and have never seen a 61 yard FG. I can see it going both ways, though - it's hard to argue with your equation.

      Glad you're enjoying the posts. It's fun keeping tabs on the NFL careers of guys many of us have seen go through the program.

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  2. Great to hear about Martin. It's not surprising to see him doing well, but it's great to see it so early in his career.

    I'm still shocked that Graham isn't a more productive NFL player. I know injuries are a factor there, but it's still very surprising.

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    1. Martin's stats through five games: 25 tackles, 2 sacks

      Graham's stats through five games: 8 tackles, 0.5 sacks

      That surprises me, too.

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  3. Can you comment on throwing the football nearly 60 times a game, then add in practice... Is there a such thing as arm fatigue for QBs as there is for pitchers in baseball? I understand, slightly different, but just curious.
    Willywill9

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    1. The motion of throwing a football isn't as taxing on the arm, I believe, and most pitchers throw just over 100 pitches in an average start. But putting the ball in the air 58 times over four quarters is still a hell of a lot.

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    2. There is certainly such a thing as arm fatigue. Lots of quarterbacks have "dead arms." Heck, I've had a dead arm while coaching during the season from throwing pass routes, throwing to defensive backs, etc. The mechanics of throwing a football are less taxing on the arm (as TTB Andrew said), which is why you don't see quarterbacks having Tommy John surgery, etc. as often as in baseball. But it's still tiring to throw a heavy object over and over and over again.

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