ESPN's Trent Dilfer on "Sunday NFL Countdown" yesterday blasted the protest by 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick, leading some to claim Dilfer was speaking for 49ers GM Trent Baalke. Dilfer said of Kaepernick, "Football is the ultimate team game. You want to be a championship teammate, you fully want to be bought into having your team with the best chance of success, then you put your team above yourself. No matter how passionate you are, no matter how much of a burden you have for a social issue, you don't let it get in the way of the team. The big thing that hit me through all this was this is a backup quarterback whose job is to be quiet and sit in the shadows and get the starter ready to play Week 1. Yet he chose a time where all of a sudden he became the center of attention and it has disrupted that organization. It has caused friction. And it’s torn the fabric of the team. Although I respect what he's doing and I respect the passion and burden he has for this issue, a massive issue, I do not respect the fact that he put himself and his stance above his team because he's not the only one that's passionate about big social issues” (“Sunday NFL Countdown,” ESPN, 9/11). In San Jose, Tim Kawakami writes Dilfer and Baalke are good friends, which means viewers "get to hear what the very sheltered and media-shy Baalke is really thinking." That is what Dilfer is "going to give us on any and all 49ers topics," and yesterday, he "did not fail his buddy." Kawakami: "I don't believe Dilfer's screed came from owner Jed York, who has been supportive of Kaepernick's stance in public and behind-the-scenes" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 9/12). The S.F. Chronicle's Ann Killion on Twitter wrote Dilfer is Baalke's "mouthpiece." Killion: And @Kaepernick7 knows that. Happy times! ... Been stated before but if there was ever a backup who didn't stay quiet it was Dilfer. Hypocrite" (TWITTER.com, 9/11).
INITIAL REVIEW: "Countdown" this season has a new set of analysts, with Charles Woodson, Matt Hasselbeck and Randy Moss joining Dilfer and host Chris Berman, and SI.com's Richard Deitsch wrote the crew's chemistry "obviously needs work," as they "talked over each other a lot" yesterday. There also was the "annoying boys-will-be-boys laughter that permeates all of these NFL pregame shows." But the discussion on Kaepernick was "authentic, honest and tension-filled television given how different Moss and Woodson viewed Kaepernick's actions compared to Dilfer." The show also "might have been Berman's best Countdown show in years." He "mostly stayed out of the way during serious discussion." ESPN also did an "excellent job incorporating" fantasy expert Matthew Berry into its Sunday programming, especially "NFL Insiders." When that show does "not junk up its programming with Stephen A. Smith-style segments," it is "at the top of all NFL studio shows." Smith "won't appear on this year's Sunday version, which is an immediate credibility boost." Meanwhile, the new opener for "Countdown" was "super-slick, felt modern, and a great promo for the show" (SI.com, 9/11). In N.Y., Bob Raissman writes it is "too early to pass judgement" on the new "Countdown" crew. However, it is "not too soon to say without Tom Jackson, football Sundays will never be the same" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 9/12). USA TODAY as part of its 40 NFL things we learned feature writes fans "already miss Jackson on ESPN," as the show "doesn't seem the same" (USA TODAY, 9/12). The AP's Ralph Russo tweeted, "Half-watching NFL Countdown. I like this crew better than the old one" (TWITTER.com, 9/11).
BLIND APPROVAL: The N.Y. DAILY NEWS' Raissman writes it was "stunning" that NFL Network's Steve Mariucci and Brian Billick "gave their seal of approval over how the 'concussion protocol' was administered" to Panthers QB Cam Newton after he took a blow to the head late in Panthers-Broncos on Thursday. This was a "case of the two voices going in the tank for the NFL." Raissman: "Their blind approval of what went down with Newton, without any concrete evidence to support it, was highly disappointing" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 9/12).
