The Starting Five for 1/9/12: 10 Tim Tebow Passes for 316 Yards Equal A Denver Playoff Victory
He made plays…period
Watching Big Ben hobble like a Pouncey twin, Ryan Clark pace and Kasey Hampton look stoic along with Brett Keisel, you could see the miraculous about to unfold. Tim Tebow’s 80 yard pass and catch to Demaryius Thomas? on the initial play of OT…the first ever playoff game decided by the new overtime rules (actually a year old)…gave Denver the win and a date with Tom Brady and the New England Patriots next week.
Is this some sort of nighmare? That really happened? Nah seriously…that really happened? Come on fam…quit playing. That really happened? Put down the bottle, stop smoking that stuff or get some sleep or something because I know Tim Tebow did not do what I think he did.
Damn…what the…
Demaryius Thomas? caught 4 balls for 18, 349 204 yards against a Steeler secondary missing its top tackler and signal caller. Many will say referencing Ryan Clark’s absence is a Pittsburgh excuse, but looking at all the blown coverages (Dick LeBeau was out coached) and Tebow’s passes averaging 31 yards a pop, how can Clark sitting out not be a factor.
Ike…you had a bad game too bruh. Pick your face off the Mile High floor after that stiff arm.
I saw a Troy Polamalu bite so many times I thought he was Adam Pac Man Jones. Casey Hampton (knee) and Brett Keisel (groin) left in the second quarter with injuries (Eric Decker left with a knee for Denver as well), and the Steelers were down to three defensive linemen. There was virtually no pressure on Tebow as a result and maybe this was the reason Polamalu was fooled again and again. You give any qb that much time and your defense will get flummoxed.
Was everyone one on one? Damn man.
I mean this will all seriousness, Tebow made plays despite there being nothing difficult for him to read. He did not turn the ball over, ran for 50 and threw for 316 (quit it with the John 3:16) in his first playoff game on ten passes. Miracle stuff was the OT pass. Thomas got the hell out of dodge getting down the sideline. I don’t think he’s been tackled yet.
Ike?
Please discuss this game more thoroughly. I tell you what New England Patriots, you better step it up on defense or we’re gonna hear Tim Tebow’s name when we’re 392 years old…
The links…
Broncos, Tim Tebow stun Steelers in OT, win 29-23 in NFL playoffs. (Denver Post)
Giants rout Falcons 24-2: On 4th-and-1, Giants defense showed its mettle. (NYTimes)
Washington drops to 0-8 to start the season after 93-72 loss to Minnesota. (WaPo)
Thunder beats Spurs to win third game in three nights. (News OK)
B.C.S. Championship: With family as foundation, Alabama’s Richardson perseveres. (NYTimes)
Amir Khan’s allegations of ringside interference to be examined by WBA. (The Guardian)
You know the Tebow stuff is extra crazy when you see one of the main dudes on TBL say bullcrap like this in the comments section:
My response was:
Also, notice how the NBA is listed first in his “99% me-first knuckelheads”? Yeah….
I don’t want to take anything away from Tebow or the Broncos. When the kid was drafted, I said that he would have made a great Steeler (cruel irony). John Fox coached a great game. He took what was there. The game plan was to attack the secondary of the Steelers. In the first quarter, with Hampton and Keisel in the game, there was nowhere to run and there was no time to pass. Once those two guys came off the field, it was a wrap. The flood gates opened because even though Hood and Heyward held up well enough against the run, they couldn’t collapse the pocket and pressure the passer. Enter the double move.
The Broncos won with superior execution. Roethlisberger missed what might have been a touchdown on his very first pass to Mike Wallace. High snaps. Cotchery’s drop in the first half (with nary a Broncos defender in sight). Mundy’s blown coverage. There was enough blame to go around, but the Broncos simply made a lot of big plays and they were mentally tough throughout the game.
I don’t believe the absence of 5 starters was the reason that the Steelers lost. I don’t believe it was because Roethlisberger was injured. I think the game ultimately boiled down to that handful of big plays. If your defense is historically bad, you’re probably going to lose…so it is.
John 3:16. C’mon Mizzo — you can’t make that stuff up. The only missing would have been completions to 12 different disciples, er, um receivers — and a Sermon At Mile High during halftime.
@ Mizzo:
My “feeling” on Tebow is that the popular fascination with his exploits matters because it serves as incontrovertible proof of the racial pathology of American society.
And, that, in and of itself, has nothing to do with Tebow as a player.
What his on field success (even at this juncture) is that if a coach (like John Fox) devises schemes to fit the player, anything is possible (especially if holding isn’t called when blockers are permitted to grab fistfuls of the opposing jersey). It means that folks who advocated for Black QBs all these years were probably right all along about their ability to succeed in the league — and that all of the media analysts, scouts, and “experts” were very clearly wrong.
The issue, today and tomorrow, is whether or not the success of Tim Tebow (possibly even more than the success of Cameron Newton) opens doors in the NFL to Black COACHES and players who’ve been running this offense (or variations of it) all their lives. I think that the answer is yes…and oddly enough, this may be the trend that brings a measure of physicality to football.
I’m trying to see the silver lining. LOL!
LOL man that shit is aluminum foil. The crumpled dollar store kind that tears easily (not Tebow, the fawning). Your point about Black coaches is well taken. It’s a discussion we’ve had here many times and for that reason, I can’t give it up to Tebow. Has nothing to do with the kid. I wish him very well but the ridiculous manster machine behind him is off fluffy like last year fruit cake. I want none of it. He made the throws. I’ll give it up to him but nothing past that last pass.
Many will say why are you making this a racial issue?
Because of what I said earlier people. There have been many Black qb’s who just didn’t get the chance. The league is littered with those cats who had to switch positions. Right this very second, Joshua Cribbs has one of the strongest arms in the NFL and he’s as far away from being under center as Terrelle Pryor is.
I can’t say anything positive so I’ll shut my mouf.
All right he made a damn play to a wide open receiver, too bad he missed the same one 20 minutes prior on 3 and 8 when the same WR was wide freaking open, my mother (who’s 68 years old) could have hit him with that pass. Dick Le Beau called the worst defensive game since last year’s Super Bowl. I will give the Broncos credit for stopping Big Ben and the Steelers offense when they had to but Coach Tomlin deserves criticism for the game plan they had against a QB who couldn’t hit the side of the barn and hit big plays.
Nice and concise, he did make plays, plain and simle. Gotta tip my hat. I just polished off my last couple of bites of crow a few minutes ago.
Not even Tebow winning can ruin my week. The Atlanta Chicken Hawks lost and only scored 2 points…..thats all the good news I needed this week.
Now Home Depot man can go trade first round picks in 2015 and 16 to get noodle arm some more WRs.
I’m with you Miz. It’s nothing personal to Tebow who seems nice enough, but the machine and reaction behind him are too hard to take. I’m not drinking the Shane Spencer.
He probably had his first all-around decent game, and it is time to sell his peaked stock. I’d be shocked if he ended next year as a starter. It has been a run with lots of stars aligning, and law of averages must take hold.
One of those stars was this stupid playoff rule that allows an 8-8 team get home-field advantage against a 12-4 team (and lose Ryan Clark) Getting in the playoffs as division winner should be reward enough.
—————–
Will Tebow lead to more opportunities for black QBs historically denied? I sure hope so Temple, but ultimately I don’t think Tebow will be successful which will hurt the cause for others who can pass better than Tebow and deserve that chance. But I don’t know what to do with a 46.5 completion %. Hard to fix that.
Mizzo great write up.
First let me say that I am tired of hearing about Tebow and Jay and Beyonce’s baby today. Can’t the media just leave these 2 issues alone.
Mizzo I totally understand where you are coming from on this Tebow stuff. The more the dude wins the more it proves my points that 1.) any QB can ne successful if the coach puts him in a position that plays up to his skills. 2.) That the careers of black QBs like Mcnabb, Mcnair and Cunningham were sabatoged because coaches refused to taylor their offenses around those QBs skill set.
What if Mcnair was allowed to use the same offense at Tennesse that he used at Alcorn. What if Mcnabb could have used that option attack that he used at Syracuse. Those men would have won 2 or 3 Superbowls if they were able to run their college offenses like Tebow has.
@ Modi – You and I had a conversation about Sanchez and Tebow back on the SOMM a few years ago. I said on there that even though Tebow and Sanchez weren’t going to be good pros. They were still going to have every opportunity to succeed (whether it was changing the playbook for them or giving them all the weapons they needed on offense) and make mistakes because these men had the golden boy looks and the all american boy persona that media and fans wanted and could relate to. IMO no black QB can compete with that……..there is no way the “Fan or paying customer” can relate to them on that level. The QB position in the NFL is too important to the white American Psyche.
Mizzo and Modi I don’t think Tebow winning will help Black QBs or coaches. I think if anything the league will look for more “Tebows”. Black QBs who wash out in the league won’t all of a sudden get OC jobs because Tebow can run an option. Nor will it stop black QBs from getting benched quicker then their white counterparts. Or fans calling for their heads after a few bad games. Or a GM refusing to surround them with talent but expecting them to play superman and become one man wreaking crews.
The best thing that black QBs can do is follow what dudes like Mcnabb, Mcnair, TJ, Josh Freeman, Cam and RG3 did. If a college team is not going to let you start (from the beginning) and showcase your skills you need to go to a team that will. The heck with sitting behind some golden boy. There are too many schools in college that will give you an opportunity.
If RG listened to the people at UT he would have been a DB. If Cam listened to the coaches at Goergia he would have been a TE. They both went to schools where the coaches were going to let them start and showcase their skills. Even Cam after seeing that he never would have a chance to beat out Tebow left. If he never left he would have never had the chance to start and go on to the NFL.
Another thing once these guys get a chance they must come out and dominate. They will not get drafted putting up college stats like Jake Locker, Stephen McGee or Charlie Whithurst. If they come out and win & dominate like Cam or RG3 then the league has no option but to draft these guys. IMO the more we have guys like this in college dominating and playing (especially at big colleges) well the more likely the league will draft them.
Now the hook will still be short and the goal post will still be moved when it comes to them playing the position. But the NFL has always been conservative when it comes to play on the field but I believe as more of these guys are successful in college (dominationg and winning championships and bowl games) the league will SLOWLY change. Just look what we have seen or are about to see with Cam going 1st and RG most likely going top 3rd or 4th overall.
I sense the Steelers are too rigid and stubborn a team, that is resistant to change, has a real hard time innovating in-game. there are all kinds of signs for this like Tomlins stubborn loyalty to Big Ben, which turned out to be not so great a liability second half
which was quite ineresting speculatively, relative to what Ben might have taken for the pain at half time
the Steelers were forced to introduce some youth this year due to injury and suspension. I am no expert but my impression is that steelers youth movement be speeded up, and be extended to their coaching staff.
the steelers need more on the spot coaching flexibility and innovation on their steady, time honoured basic way of playing football. it is probably time for eg., for Lebeau to be up-graded
Tebow’s passing yardage total (316) is the second-highest in NFL history by a QB with 10 or fewer completions.
Likewise, Thomas is only the third player in history to amass 200 or more yards on four or fewer catches. Others: DeSean Jackson @ Dallas last season and Redskins’ Gary Clark vs. Falcons, 1991.
I suppose you all could be correct about this pessimism re: the hiring future of the league, but I know that Patrick and I had this discussion several years ago when there were only 3 or 4 Black head coaches in the league.
At season’s end, there were 10. The day after the season ended, there were 9, but you get my drift. Two general managers who had spectacular seasons were Martin Mayhew in Detroit and the guy in Houston whose name escapes me. The Texans are in the divisional round of the playoffs and they made this run with a rookie QB and without Schaub or Mario Williams — and without a healthy Andre Johnson (still not 100%). They have outstanding talent on offense and defense (Foster, Barwin, Ryans, Cushing, Antonio Smith, JJ Watt, Johnathan Joseph).
When Black GM’s have that level of success, it matters. You can throw Reese from the Giants into that mix. He already has a Super Bowl ring…and this team is winning and looks great because of their free agent acquisitions and draft picks: Michael Boley, Jason Pierre-Paul, Antrel Rolle, Kenny Phillips…and the beat goes on.
On a percentage basis, Black GMs had a great season. Now the fleecing of that cat out in Arizona is another matter altogether. So, I remain optimistic that there are some “hidden hands” applying considerable pressure to shift the league from where that rabid white supremacist fan base wants the league to go.
I think Raheem Morris will get another shot to coach a team. I don’t know when or with whom, but I think he gets another shot. I am hopeful that Todd Bowles gets the job in Miami…assuming they can get it together in 2012. And there are jobs that are always going to open up because winning is so hard to sustain in this league. It’s in a constant state of flux.
Clarence Shelmon, offensive coordinator for the San Diego Chargers, may eventually emerge as a head coaching candidate. The media white out of his work is something to behold.
I like to think that the pipeline is growing because coaches like Tomlin and others are able to identify, cultivate, and promote high-quality candidates. Also, I believe that these guys have a powerful gift to share that is increasingly difficult to dismiss due to transparency and the speed at which information travels.
MODI:
In addition to the home field advantage (an unearned benefit) knocking Ryan Clark out of the game, it also limited what Antonio Brown could do in the return game. Brown is the first player in league history to have 1,000 receiving and kick return yards in the same season, and he set the franchise record for all-purpose yards this season (So long, Louis Lipps!!)
With that said, Ryan Mundy knows better than to make that play. He came up in run support much harder than he needed to — and he abandoned his principal responsibility on the play. And Ike Taylor was simply awful. He knows it. The world knows it.
During the game, I was thinking to myself that even if they won, they’d be in no position to beat the Patriots the following week. Casey Hampton has an injured ACL. Of course, Clark would have played (Wes Welker’s favorite safety! Ka-BOOM!!!), but without Mendenhall the fear factor in their run game was off the table. Redman is going to get his yards, but he’s not going crease the D, make 5 guys miss and finish a 50-yard run…so he allows defenses to play more conservatively. Still he was the one shining star for Pitt in that game.
Origin:
Looking for more “Tebows” will prove to be a fruitless endeavor. I guarantee it. For every Tebow, there are 10 Josh Cribbs’ and 15 Brad Smiths, and 8 Anquan Boldins’, and 6 Pat Whites’, and 22 Charlie Wards’. At the end of the day, the numbers game will dictate who goes where.
This is like looking for the next N’Sync. Good luck with that.
The fly in the ointment is that not every team is actually TRYING TO WIN GAMES. Fans really do not understand this concept. Usually, if your team isn’t winning it’s because that’s not their primary objective. Teams that don’t prioritize winning can easily wait out looking for the next Tebow and simply plug in a Matt Barkley type to drive their non-football related revenue (merchandise, sponsorship deals, etc.) Still, one could argue that Cleveland and Jacksonville were the worst teams/franchises in the AFC this year because they are bad year in and year out. The Colts were a complete surprise this season, but every other team in the entire conference won at least 6 games. And the Jags still beat the Ravens and fired their coach and replaced him with a Black candidate who may or may not keep the job.
In the NFC, those honors fall to the Rams and Redskins. I’m excluding the Bucs because they won 10 games last season and went knee-jerk reaction crazy this season, even though they have the youngest team in the league and should have been expected to take a step back (especially after their early loss to the Detroit team that knocked them out of the playoffs in 2010). The Redskins are in the middle of fleecing their fans while Shanahan and Bruce Allen preside over a changing of the guard to reduce costs in DC. That team is not actually interested in or capable of winning consistently…so they are what they are. Shanahan won’t be fired because he serves a larger purpose…his credibility was used to sell PSL’s and drive season ticket sales as he played “QB of the Hour” with the aspirations of their fan base. The Rams fired their coach and look to be heading down the same insane path by hiring Fisher. This franchise has always been a mess (Carol Rosenbloom anyone?), and was only saved from perpetual mediocrity by the purely accidental emergence of Kurt Warner. Vermeil had exactly ONE winning season with the Rams…just one.
For me, that means the league is a very high period of volatility. Teams are up and down….guys are hired and fired…so it places a priority on delivering quality. We’re in a transition period where guys who held coaching gigs forever are gone…the coaching ranks have already been made over almost entirely…what’s left is the assistant coaching ranks, and all the vertically integrated guys who manage the business of football. It’s happening…just look around.
We’ll see if Black QBs begin to make some headway as back up QBs around the league. So far, that’s been a sticky area. Not many teams have Black backup QB’s. Of course, the Steelers have 3. Tampa had 1. Philadelphia has 1. Minnesota has 1 who could probably be starting.
I agree that the stakes are high and that many people at different levels are hugely invested in preserving this position for “white” QBs (whether they’re traditional pocket passers or not — because they change their story to suit their needs (Bayless???)), but I’m not sure that that will be enough.
It just may be that the folly of passing on “the next Cam Newton” is greater than the “synergistic marketing and merchandising opportunity presented by [fill in the name of Golden Boy X].”
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d825d897c/article/pioli-new-coach-crennel-brought-different-energy-to-chiefs?campaign=Ext_Email_1st10_Daily
Crennel is in with the Chiefs.
This is a significant hire for many reasons. The Chiefs fired Herman Edwards and replaced him with Todd Haley, but have replaced Haley with Crennel. It’s also Crennel’s second shot at a top spot.
Mel Tucker (Jax) may be headed to Minnesota.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d825dfd6e/article/vikes-request-to-interview-tucker-for-defensive-coordinator-role?module=HP11_headline_stack
Well Temple……………Hue Jackson just got fired.
Tenple, didn’t consider homefield impact on Antonio Brown…
As for black back-up QBs, this year has been a travesty. Vince Young should have easily been a starter somewhere considering his record of winning. One year Troy Smith is sharing snaps with Alex, next moment he is out of the league. Donovan doesn’t get picked up by Bears? WTF? (Probably why GM got fired)
BTW, if Hue Jackson got fired for his coaching, then it is unfair. If he got fired for his insistence on giving uphigh draft picks for Palmer, then it is fair. By doing so, Jackson tied himself in a position to tie himselfand Raiders future to Palmer no matter what. Raiders may have had to cut their losses.
MODI, I think he got fired for giving up a number one pick for a truly washed- up Carson Palmer who has nothing left since he got hurt in 2005 and has been gun- shy since. He could have gotten Mc Nabb for a song and still probably would have beaten the Chargers instead the now weak- armed Palmer who can’t get his passes off without a DB intercepting him. The Bengals for once in their miserable existence actually did something right when they let Palmer go and rebuild with A.J. Green and Andy Dalton though time will time if Dalton will pan out at QB. That’s a trade I don’t think Al Davis would have made when he could have had VY or Mc Nabb before the deadline.
Jacksons failure was quick and total..including coaching.
by the end of the season I doubt very much the Raiders team were listening to Jackson or playing for him..
Jackson displayed most unsophisticated conduct, openly, obnoxiously grabbing for power.
also making a ridiculous trade for Palmer displayed a great lack of imagination that precluded a proper assessment of his own situation and that of the team, at the fall of Jason Campbell, and the death of Davis senior.
unless Jackson could aquire a fit and ready to go, competent qb the Raiders season was over. all the way up in Canada here I could see that Carson Palmer, a year on the bench would not, could not take the Raiders to the play-offs.
that being the case the price Jackson paid for Palmer was outrageous, ridiculous, silly. Palmers aquisition at the price mean he had to win now, make the play-offs. that was impossible.
Jackson had to have been able to see that quite easily, go get a cost effective alternative… and that alternative of course would have been McNabb.
Jackson could have very cost effectively, pried McNabb from Minnesota and tried to get into the play-offs with him.
and if McNabb did not work out that would be ok for it would have cost nothing much.
Jackson could have written off the year with no pain other than the losses through injury, reloaded with his draft picks, and some free agency if that was found necessary, and come back far more powerful next season.
the way jackson went about the business of running the team and reaching for power was ridiculous, obnoxious and suicidal. it seemed to he was a hari kari looking to happen. and it did.
Jackson literaly committed suicide in a nice job…coach of the Oakland Raiders.
from McKenzies language, that both he and mark davis were on the same page on jackson, suggests that Davis wanted Jackson out before he went and got McKenzie
from the minute a GM search was initiated publicly I was certain Jackson would be toast as soon as the new man was installed. he was.
indeed I am truly disappointed
Mapoui,
Palmer has not been the same since he got hurt in the playoffs in 2005, all he has been playing off is the rep of his first 4 years when he was a franchise QB. Jackson should have seen that because no team wanted him because after the injury his arm gave and out and if you gave me a choice I would have had weak- armed Chad Pennington at QB instead of Palmer because he quit on his team. It’s sad another Black Coach is gone but like Raheem Morris his team quit on him and stopped listening to what he was saying as Coach.
It does matter that Hue Jackson was fired by Reggie McKenzie. If we’re playing a numbers game, then the hiring of a black GM and the firing of a black coach are not indicative of a negative trend. In fact, it suggests what I think may be occurring…that transparency, the pace of information, and the overall volatility of the league (# of teams that go from up to down in a year or two) is such that “white-washing” the league is decreasingly sustainable.
I could very well be proven wrong in that regard, but I’m hopeful that franchises like Minnesota, Oakland, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Tampa, Miami and others continue to seek out Black folk to fill these positions.
E.D>:
McNabb had his shot to beat the Chargers in Week 1 and threw a pick on his very first pass of the season. While I prefer him to Carson Palmer, I don’t think he would have been such a great addition in Oakland, especially with McFadden out.
Then again, Mac still throws a nice deep ball. Who knows. Maybe he and DHB and Denarius Moore might have hit it off really well.
The Raiders need to think about getting Mr. Pryor ready to run their entire show. Time for the Face of the Franchise training program to kick in.
@ mapoui:
There should be a place for Jackson in Cincinnati. He can go over there and coach up those draft picks he traded away.
ED – agreed! Not picking up McNabb may have gotten both Chicago GM and Hue fired.
I suspect, that whoever Hue Jackson got signoff from on Palmer deal looked him in the eye and said something to the affect of: “if you want me to make this deal instead of go waiver wire, then Palmer must deliver.”
Jackson obviously let his past relationship with Palmer get in the way of his assessment…
Modi, Mapoui ED you guys are right Hue set himself up to get his head cut off. Its his fault he should have traded for VY or Mcnabb.
The Raiders lost many of their games by a few points. One of the difference was the constant turnovers that Palmer had. Mcnabb would not have turned the ball over that much. With the running game (even without Mcfadden) and speed WRs that the Raiders had I guarantee Mcnabb would have lead the Raiders to a better record then Palmer.
Anyway the best news that happened this week is Chud did not leave Carolina. As great as Cam is he might have been in a world of trouble if Chud left for the Jaguars.
Oh well I HOPE that Pryor gets an opportunity but I am not sure with all the picks they gave up for noodle arm Palmer.
Hmm so the players on the Jets are questioning Sanchez work ethic…..so says the media.
A golden boy’s work ethic being questioned……….I guess there is a first time for everything.
@ED – I remember you speaking on the racial dynamic with Sanchez before with the pass he gets with not looking like Tego Calderon or George Lopez.
But he may be getting his wake up call this week.
@ Origin: Romo’s work ethic was questioned as well.
And no doubt the one complaining most loudly about Sanchez, in anonymous fashion like the true coward he is, is the laziest and worst Jet teammate of them all: Santonio Holmes. But naturally TSF supports anonymous attacks if on the receiving end it’s a guy like Sanchez who’s a little too white for your tastes. Curious how TSF never devotes any articles to bums like SHolmes who quit on their teams. God forbid Tebow or Sanchez doing that. It’d be open season on them around here. Racially selective much? Isn’t the photonegative scenario exactly what you guys are always blubbering about?
Its been retread central today around the league.
BTW….Where is Denny Green?
Straight from the “Who Gives a Fuck About Julius Files”:
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d825e92b9/article/jets-players-insist-they-still-believe-in-maligned-qb-sanchez
If the O-line supports a guy, he’s probably doing what needs to be done. When they are silent, it’s time to move on. Mangold’s in. Jets fans should be all in, too.
Julius, Holmes took a beating last week by MSM and was the scapegoat for much larger problems. What is the point of having a blog devoting time to such matters? Blogs such as TSF are responses to skewed mainstream narratives. I’m not sure what the point would be in replicating what is already out there.
MODI,
Julius wants us to “jump on the nigger” instead of complaining about WHITEY !!!
Julius I bet you still stink after you take a shower. Go ahead with that dumb trash. Where are your articles? You write something. I’ll give you the platform.
Miranda Denny Green has his own problems. Read this about his son…Jeremy…formerly of ESPN.
Raheem Morris to Washington:
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d825eb39e/article/redskins-hire-exbucs-coach-morris-to-mentor-defensive-backs
Morris told the newspaper that Redskins coach Mike Shanahan will not prevent him from seeking an opportunity as a defensive coordinator next season.
“Mike has my best interest at heart, there’s no question,” Morris said. “And that was part of the selling point, it makes me want to be part of an organization with a man like that who can look you in the face and tell you he’s got your best interest at heart and you can believe in those things he’s telling you. In this profession, that’s rare, and I’m just grateful for the opportunity to learn from him.”