Mike Martz: Raving of a Madman
Are Rams officials blackballing Mike Martz from the NFL?
To listen to Mad Mike these days, you would think so. Never mind that Martz has held two other jobs after leaving St. Louis. Never mind that he has had ample opportunity to rebuild his head coaching stock.
He is out of work these days and he blames former bosses like Jay Zygmunt for that.
“People are determined to keep me out of the league,” Martz told NBC.com. “It’s been going on for three years and at this point, I can’t fight it. I just can’t fight it. Three years of people putting it out there that I’m a high-maintenance lunatic.
“I keep asking, ‘Who says these things?’ No one will tell you. But I just put two and two together. But when you have a tag and the same damaging things get said two or three times it becomes very hard to shake that tag.”
Martz believes 2 + 2 = Zygmunt..
“Most of the perception came from St. Louis,” Martz said. “There was so much bitterness and anger and it all stems from my relationship with Jay. Really, it emanated from a couple people and I’ve now been dogged with it throughout my career.”
Actually, paranoia has dogged Martz in recent years. Even if Zygmunt wanted to tank Mike, it’s not like he is Bill Parcells. His word isn’t exactly gospel in league circles.
MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE
Questions to ponder while wondering where the Blues would be without defensive newcomer Carlo Colaiacovo:
- Who could have guessed that Mike Anderson could get his basketball teams this high in the rankings this late into this season?
- If the surgically repaired Jason Isringhausen wants to give it another shot, why wouldn’t the Cardinals take a look?
- If Chris Perez and Jason Motte would be unnerved by competing with Izzy – who had a 5.70 earned-run average last year – then how will they develop the mental toughness needed to close?
GETTING ON WITH THEIR LIVES
The intrepid crimestoppers in Richland County, S.C., are moving on to other investigation after failing to reel Michael Phelps into a major drug bust.
As it turns out, the much-publicized photograph of Phelps hitting a bong wasn’t enough to put all the partygoers behind bars.
“We had a photo and we had him saying he was sorry for his inappropriate behavior. That behavior could’ve been going to a party,” Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said, according to the Associated Press. “He never said, ‘I smoked marijuana.’ He never confessed that.”
HAUNTING NBA ALL-STAR IMAGES
BROADWAY JOE DISSES JETS QBS
When the New York Daily News spoke with Joe Namath recently, he seemed agitated where the Jets stood at quarterback after Brett Favre’s latest retirement.
Apparently young quarterbacks Kellen Clemens and Brett Ratliff don’t impress him.
“I’m curious. How do the players feel about (Clemens)?” Namath asked. “How do the coaches feel about him? If he’s not the guy, why is he still there? . . . It’s time for him to step up. The guy deserves a shot. If the team doesn’t feel that way, don’t B.S. everybody and keep dragging it out. It’s bull. Say what you mean. Do you have confidence in Clemens or Ratliff or not?
“From what I’ve been reading in the papers, some of the comments, the confidence level isn’t too high and it doesn’t look real encouraging for those quarterbacks. It seems no one has a lick of confidence in them. If that’s true, why have they been there?”
And . . .
“If you’re not sure, you trade for a guy. You get somebody,” Namath said. “Work it out. Don’t be spinning your wheels. You know what they can do by now. I’m assuming Clemens is there because he’s good. If not, they ought to get rid of him. How could he be on the team all this time if he’s not a good enough pro quarterback?”
QUIPS ‘R US
Here is what some of America’s leading sports pundits have been writing:
Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “We might be in a national recession, but the Marlins’ Dan Uggla was awarded a $5.35 million salary in arbitration. Cannot confirm that the ballclub immediately asked the federal government for a bailout.”
Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel: “Bud Selig says he is thinking about attaching an asterisk to Barry Bonds’ home run record and reinstating Hank Aaron as the home-run king. I’ve got a better idea. Why not just put an asterisk on Selig’s entire reign as the overseer of the sport. *Baseball presided over by clown commissioner whose head was in the sand the whole time.”
Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle: “That’s a heartbreaker, the news about David Beckham coming back to the United States. But it’s great for American soccer, and for all the fans of whatever American team Beckham played for when he wasn’t injured.”
Dwight Perry, Seattle Times: “Mets pitcher Mike Pelfrey, playing golf with four teammates in Florida last week, flipped the cart he was driving when a tire caught a sand trip. If you’re scoring at home, that’s one run, one hit, one error and nobody left on.”
MEGAPHONE
“I do feel like I have football life in me. I feel I can still contribute. I’m not sure what my role will be with another team. I’m not looking at it like I need to start and be the man . . . Hopefully, I’ll have some opportunities out there. I’m pretty sure there’s going to be something out there for me.”
Former Buccaneers quarterback Jeff Garcia, campaigning for work.
Martz can say whatever he wants, his body of work speaks for itself. It doesn’t matter what anyone is saying about him – good or bad. What rational GM is going to hire a head coach who doesn’t pay attention to two of the three facets of the game? Martz NEVER considered defense or special teams worthy of attention and look at the results. How much better would his record have been? I would argue that he pissed away 10 -15 games easy over his tenure plus a Super Bowl title.
No organization is going to hire a coach that makes the same mistakes over and over again while continuing to say “shoot we’ll fix that”. You had your chance jackass and if you would have handled things a little differently you would probably still be the coach here.
The Cardinals have said multiple times (both the GM and Manager) that they are moving on from Izzy. Well, these are the same two who also said Kennedy was the starting 2nd baseman just a few weeks ago as well. I guess that means Izzy will be signing on any day now.
Got to love how the Blues continue to compete night after night, no matter how the rest of the season plays out. They have no reason to hang their heads, the effort has been great and that’s all you can ask for.
Nice, nice win last night by the Note. Mason has looked pretty damn impressive in 2009.
Martz can still run an offense. His head coaching days are done I think, but everytime he gets an OC job that team starts scoring more points. The guy knows offense.
Question for the Tipsheet faithful: Why do we always boo Pronger? I must have missed something he said in the paper because I never had a reason to boo the guy…
S.W. and Gordo are correct about Martz.
In life, especially in the NFL, it is all about results. No one in the NFL takes the Rams seriously, either the front office or the product on the field (at least not yet). The only impact Zygmunt had was embarrassing the organization.
The best news I’ve heard this week is that Albert will not waste his time playing in the World Baseball Classic.
Memories are short. But how can you forget Marshall Faulk was League MVP and Co-MVP under Mad Mike. He used his “talents” to the fullest, including a fantastic and beautiful to watch running game. So please - no more comments about Mad Mike ignoring running the ball.
Warren, your point is valid, but also don’t forget that Marshall had a large chunk of his total yards from receiving, not rushing.
It would be interesting to see how many 100 yard rushing game he had as a Ram…
From the Ram website…in six seasons with Rams, Marshall Faulk has set team record for touchdowns (85), and has gained 10,947 yards, posted 24 100-yard rushing games, three 200-yard rushing games, three 100-yard receiving games, one 200-yard receiving game, nine two-touchdown games, five three-touchdown games, and five four-touchdown games
bring garcia to the rams…he’s durable, seems to be a leader, and seems to be a winner. dump green and bring garcia in. god knows our #2 is going to have to play, no qb lasts 16 games anymore, bulger certainly won’t.
as for martz…it seems he’s a talented headache. rams, lions and 9ers offenses all improved with him, yet he gets booted everywhere. rams may blacklist him, but detroit and sf gave him a shot and he obviously blew those shots. i will say this, though, the rams were never, ever boring with mad mike around - they weren’t irrelevant. hopefully, that all changes this year…Go Rams!
There is no denying that Mike has issues and should probably see a therapist, but I have never — nor will probably ever see — more exciting STL football than when Mike was a part of it here.
You bashers out there sure have short memories and probably also nned to get your heads examined. Sure, the Rams had their problems while Martz was here. Sure, Mike had blind spots. Yes, he is not an ideal head coach. But the guy is not a total idiot or tool, either.
Even with all the drama and problems, “the greatest show on turf” was just…plain…fun to watch! Period. If you can’t take enjoyment from those years, then I pity you.
After the drudgery and heartbreak and futility that was Cardinals football and after remembering the Rich Brooks and Scott Linehan eras with little fondness, I can at least be thankful for some awesome years of football in the Loo — thanks, in part, to Mike.
Defense wins games. Martz wasn’t interested in defense or special teams. Martz was only interested in being a QB coach and chief playcaller. Martz did not have a clue about players or the types of players needed to perform his offense. Martz cut FB Hodgins, brought in TE Brandon Manumaleuna to replace Ernie Conwell, and Brandon was a bust. Martz trained Bulger to be the robot (brass monkey) he is today.
I don’t think Martz realizes, that it was HIS behavior that turned everybody off on him. Mike Singletary is a lot like Dick Vermeil. Dick had enough power to keep Martz reeled in. The Rams biggest mistake was not talking Dick into staying another 2 or 3 seasons.
I agree with truefan. I wish the Rams would sign Jeff Garcia to replace Trent Green. From what Garcia is saying, it sounds as if he would be agreeable to that role. He is something St. Louis football teams haven’t had– a mobile qurterback. As such, he might cut down on the sacks and QB injuries. I would love to see him on our team.
Regarding Mike Martz, it’s true he has his faults, but I agree with those that have said we had exciting football under Martz. I loved it. Then when people were calling for Martz to be fired, I kept saying, “Be careful what you wish for.” Once Martz was fired the team got progressively worse.