A Final (?) Duck Tale

Duck Hodges

No Pittsburgh sports story of 2019, and certainly no Steelers story, was quite as surprising, as much fun, or one that ended with such predictability the story of Steelers rookie quarterback Devlin "Duck" Hodges.

You all know the story, undrafted, he signed as a fourth string "training camp arm", was cut at the end of camp, resigned to the practice squad, and then found himself, incredibly, starting for the Steelers after injuries to Ben Roethlisberger and Mason Rudolph.  Even more incredibly, Hodges actually won games for the Steelers, three of them as a starter and one when he appeared in relief of an ineffective Rudolph against the Bengals.

His engaging personalty and colorful nickname and back story (he got the name because he won a duck calling contest), Hodges became a mini-sensation in Steelers nation and even in national circles.  

But, as the saying goes, the other teams have coaches who study game films, too, and they were soon able to solve the riddle of Duck Hodges.   Talent, like water, always finds its own level, and Hodges' last three games of the season, all Steelers losses, were disasters.  It is quite possible that Duck Hodges may never play in another NFL game again.

Still, by all appearances, he remains a likable guy, and this quote from Hodges that appeared in Monday's papers following the Week 7 loss to Baltimore says a lot, I think:

“Yeah, it is tough, but at the same time, I really enjoyed the experience. Shoot, I am 23. If you asked a lot of people if I would be in this position, they would have said no way. I am blessed. I haven’t really had time to sit back and reflect, but I played with the Pittsburgh Steelers this year, one of the most historic franchises in the NFL, and it is so cool and amazing.”

Hardly the quote of a diva NFL superstar, is it?  Seems that Duck has no illusions of what lies ahead.  It also seems that he is humble and as amazed at his story as anyone, and that he will always value and appreciate his time in the NFL and with the Steelers, however brief it turns out to be.  

In his own way, he has become a Steelers legend, and I hope that he has a great life, and that he can get a lot of his lunch tabs picked up for him in future years because of what he accomplished in 2019 for the Steelers.

Hodges even inspired some Christmas gifts in 2019

Jets 16 - Steelers 10

Random thoughts on the Steelers woeful loss yesterday to the Woeful Jets......

• That loss effectively ended the Steelers hopes of making the playoffs in 2019.  Yeah, I know that they can still get there, but too many things have to happen for them to nail down that last wild card spot, beginning with them beating the Ravens next week, and do you really think that THAT is going to happen?
• Given the state of the Steelers offense, I'm almost - almost! - glad that they won't be in the Playoffs.  That wasn't going to lead to a pretty ending.

• The Devlin "Duck" Hodges story was a fun one to follow as he was somehow leading the Steelers to victories, but, as I knew was going to happen, the League caught up with the Duck beginning with the Bills last week and continuing with the Jets yesterday.  When you watched Hodges play, you just knew that he just wasn't that good, and now the chickens, or in this case, the ducks, have come home to roost.
• Still, Hodges has some stories to tell for the rest of his life.  There are not a whole lot of people in the universe who have played quarterback and won games in the National Football League, so good for him.
• If you spent a lot of money, or even a little bit of money, on the goofy duck hats and duck suits to sit in the stands at Heinz Field so you can get in television, how silly do you feel today?

• One thing that that game proved to me yesterday was that it is way too early to give up on Mason Rudolph becoming a good NFL quarterback, and possibly even an eventual replacement for Ben Roethlisberger. That pass to Diontae Johnson for a touchdown yesterday was a thing of beauty, and one that Hodges on his best day could not have made.
• I have written many times of James Conner in this Blog.  He is a talented football player, and his story is an inspirational one.  He will always be one of my favorite Pittsburgh athletes, but he has shown that he is unable to stay on the field because of his propensity to injury.  Durability as a skill every bit as much as speed or the ability to catch a pass, and Conner just doesn't have it.  One wonders if all of the chemo and radiation treatments that he had endure five years ago have contributed to his being so susceptible to injury.
• As a result, one of the Steelers top needs in the off season will be drafting or signing a reliable and good running back.
• I wonder what the NFL record is for completed passes that resulted in gains of five yards or less.  Surely, these '19 Steelers have to be challenging for that record.
• After that awful 1-4 start, the Steelers proceeded to win seven of their next eight games  and that made it exciting for a while before reality struck these past two weeks.  In retrospect, however, the Steelers season really ended for all practical purposes at this moment in Week 2 against Seattle when Big Ben went into the locker room in the second quarter with the elbow injury that would end his season.

Because tonight's MNF game between the Packers and Vikings is a game of consequence, the release of the Grandstander Power Rankings will be delayed until tomorrow.

Week 14 GPR and Other Sports Thoughts

The Grandstander Power Rankings for Week 14 of the NFL:

1. Ravens
2. 49'ers
3. Saints
4. Chiefs

Knocking at the door.....Bills, Packers, Patriots, Seahawks, Steelers, Vikings.

No change at the top; Niners jump two slots; Seahawks fall out; Chiefs are back; Steelers now knocking at the door.

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Speaking of the Steelers, we are destined to have nothing but anxiety-ridden experiences watching this team perform this season. No such thing as an "easy win."  I'm not sure what mirrors Duck Hodges is using in piloting this team to where they currently sit: 8-5 and in a playoff position.  The defense being played by this team is reminiscent of great Steelers teams of the past fifty years, and T.J Watt, if not the NFL Defensive Player of the Year, is easily the team's Most Valuable Player.

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The CFP semi-finals will be LSU-Oklahoma and Ohio State-Clemson.  The dual between Joe Burrow and Jalen Hurts will be fun to watch, and I'm not sure how to go in picking that second match-up.  Should be terrific game, and based upon the scare that Wisconsin put into the Buckeyes on Saturday, the smart pick just might be Clemson, but I'll be rooting for Ohio State (and who thought that I would have ever said that about the school the gave us Woody Hayes, Jim Tressel, and Urban Meyer?) for three reasons: (1) My niece Frances and nephew Brian are students at Ohio State, (2) who outside the state of South Carolina isn't getting tired of Clemson in the CFP every year?, and (3) I would love, love, LOVE to see Dabo Swinney get punched in the mouth, figuratively speaking, of course.

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The "Modern Era Committee" elected Marvin Miller and Ted Simmons into the Baseball Hall of Fame.  I have written about how Miller belongs in the HOF so often in the past that I'm not going to restate it all once more other than to say "It's about effin time."  As for Simmons,  he was for sure a good ballplayer, but nothing about him ever screamed "Hall of Fame" as I watched him play over the years, and you know that it wasn't his stint as Pirates GM back in the day that got him into Cooperstown.

Of local interest was the fact that Dave Parker once again fell short of getting elected, and the vote wasn't even close.  Twelve of sixteen were needed, and the Cobra only received seven votes.  Proponents said that Parker is Hall-worthy because for a "period of time", he was the best player in the game. True, but should a four or five season stretch of brilliance (and Parker was undeniably brilliant during that time) over a 19 year career qualify you for the HOF?  It is a point that is fun to debate.  I also remember how Parker acted when his time in Pittsburgh was coming to an end.  He let himself get fat, out of shape, and his recalcitrance with the media and the fan base left a sour taste in the mouths  of most everyone in Pittsburgh, and I remember THAT aspect of Parker every bit as much as I remember his MVP type seasons with the team.

To his credit, Parker has worked to make himself once again a part of the Pirates family and heritage over the years, and that has helped to make the bitter ending here recede quite a bit.  It would have been nice if he had made it, and, face it, there are guys in the HOF who are less deserving than Parker (like, say, Ted Simmons), but c'est la vie.

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The Pitt Panther football team is headed for the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit against Eastern Michigan on December 26.  Good luck to them there.  The big question is, will those  precious fifteen extra practice sessions they get from playing in bowl and that coaches love so much help propel them beyond another seven win season in 2020?

H2P.

Steelers 20 - Browns 13

In professional sports, all wins and losses count the same in the standings, statistically speaking.  Emotionally, however, it's a different story, and some wins are way, way sweeter than others.  The Steelers 20-13 win over the Browns yesterday was one of those, and we all know the reasons why.  To wit....

• It was the Browns, and it's always great to beat the heated rival from Cleveland.
• Those same Browns acted unbelievable chesty after their 21-7 win against the Steelers two weeks ago, so how great was it to see them humbled by the guy who, when training camp began, was the Steelers undrafted, free agent, training-camp-arm fourth string quarterback?
• The manner in which the Browns owners (Dee Haslam wearing that Myles Garrett stocking cap at last week's game), head coach (Freddie "The Buffoon" Kitchens wearing a "Pittsburgh Started It" t-shirt out in public, and at the Mr. Rogers movie with his family, no less), players (Garrett deciding eight days after the fact that, yeah, Mason Rudolph used a racial slur against him), and fans (the Mason Rudolph pinata in the parking lot last week), it all added up to making the Steelers comeback from a 0-10 deficit and sticking it to that team and all of those folks just so, so sweet
• (Browns owner Jimmy Haslam - Dee is his wife - was at one time a minority owner of the Steelers.  He obviously never learned anything about how to act graciously or how to effectively run a football team in those years that he was hanging around the Steelers' offices on the South Side.)

So the Steelers now sit at 7-5 and hold the sixth and final AFC Playoff spot "if the season ended today."  This is an almost unbelievable state of affairs given all of the circumstances that have surrounded the team this year, first and foremost being the loss of their bound-for-the-HOF quarterback at halftime of the second game of the season.  The Tomlin Haters, inexplicably, are still out there, but he has as strong a case to make for Coach of the Year as any other HC in the NFL this season.

And that fourth string quarterback?  

 Duck Hodges

Devlin "Duck" Hodges has now started two games and won them both.  He also came in relief in another one and pulled victory from the jaws of defeat last week in Cincinnati.  He has now developed a full scale cult following here amongst Steelers fans.  A colorful nickname and an underdog back story can do the for you.  I admit that I had no expectations for neither the team nor Hodges going into that one yesterday, which made the results all the more satisfying.

Of course, the season does not end today, so, what lies ahead for Rooney U?

•  @ Cardinals.  The Steelers should be favored in this one and should come away with a Win.
• Bills @ home.  The Bills are now 9-3 and had a coming out party on national TV against the Cowboys on Thursday.  When the schedule was released in April, this looked like a sure W, but now so much now.  Two terrific defenses going against each other.  Either team could win this one, but the final score might be 10-7 or 9-6.  Bet the "Under" on this one.
• @ Jets.  The Jets stink.  They lost to the Bengals yesterday, for God's sake.  This should be a W.
• @ Ravens.  Unless John Harbaugh decides to rest all his starters for the playoffs, the Steelers aren't going to beat Baltimore.  In fact, the Ravens could very well run the table right up to the Super Bowl in Miami in February.

The Steelers could, conceivably come out of this season at 9-7 or 10-6 and be playing in the Post-Season.  Would you have bet on that when they were at 1-4 with Big Ben out for the season?