True, he probably lost that moniker back when his upstart Broncos beat Belichick and the Patriots in Week 5. But ever since then, the feisty first-year head coach hasn’t exactly been known for what he’s drawing up on the white board on the sidelines.
McDaniels has had a very eventful couple of weeks, and unfortunately, not much of it has to do with good things his team has done on the field.
Who said coaches are supposed to be level-headed, calm, even-keeled, and everything else that their adrenaline-filled players are not? McDaniels has proven the contrary. He’s not in Foxborough anymore. He doesn’t have to play that whole poker face game. He can be a person. He can have emotions. He can even taunt opposing players if he so chooses.
Which he does.
Who said coaches can’t swear on national TV? Well, actually, the FCC did, which is why the NFL Network had to issue a crisis PR apology for airing a clip that featured McDaniels giving an expletive-filled pep talk to his players during a Thanksgiving night matchup against the Giants.
Hey, anything to take the pressure off the orchestrator of that other prime-time live TV fiasco.
In other news, the Chargers’ Ryan Clark asks the commissioner for a bit of special permission in response to McDaniels’ unsportsmanlike conduct, and Damien Woody puts Mark Sanchez’s future in perspective.
"We own you."
–Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels to Chargers players before the start of a game the Broncos went on to lose 32-3
"Honestly, my thought on that is, I would like to petition Mr. [Roger] Goodell and say, if a coach can talk to me like that, I should be able to fight him."
–Chargers safety Ryan Clark, on ESPN.com, on being taunted by Broncos coach Josh McDaniels before a game
“When you’re doing baseball every day, I think your body is loosened up and more accepting to those motions you do. But when you come home for the offseason and everything starts healing up, that’s when a lot of time you start noticing scar tissue buildup in that area, and that’s when I was like, ‘Golly man, this is not not normal’.”
—J.D. Drew, on WEEI, on having left shoulder surgery
"Is he making a ton of mistakes? Yeah, but we win as a team and lose as a team. Nobody's perfect in this locker room."
–Jets right tackle Damien Woody, in The Associated Press, on quarterback Mark Sanchez
"Remember the scene [in Along Came Polly] when [Philip Seymour Hoffman] is playing basketball and going nuts, 'I'm burnin', I'm burnin’.’ That's how you feel. Then you have to get a second wind."
–Nets coach Lawrence Frank, in the AP, explaining what his team has felt like during its 0-15 start
"For the most part, we all get along. There are, what, 15 players on the team? Fourteen do."
–Wizards forward Gilbert Arenas, in the AP, taking a swipe at teammate Caron Butler
"It happened. It was a block, and he took advantage of it. But I guarantee you the next time we play them, it's going to be a different story. I'm making a point of emphasis to retaliate. That's the way I feel."
–Jets defensive back Donald Strickland, on NJ.com, on seeking revenge against 6-foot-7, 310-pound Patriots tackle Mark LeVoir
"If you can't take it, then become a punter.”
–Rams quarterback Marc Bulger, on ESPN.com, on the pressures of being an NFL quarterback
"His best play wasn't the last play, or the second-to-last. His best play was eluding four of our medical guys to get back onto the field.''
–Lions head coach Jim Schwartz, on SI.com, on Matthew Stafford’s return to the field for the last play of Detroit’s game against Cleveland
"I think he was always one of those guys — I love the way he worked. I love the way he approached the game. He was competitive. He was tough, and he was one of those guys you looked at and just said, 'If any guy deserves to be successful, it's this guy.'"
–Saints quarterback Drew Brees, on Boston.com, on former teammate Wes Welker
“I know that obviously he gets a bad rap supposedly, but I was around him every day and I know the real T.O. He helped me out a lot, personally.”
–Patriots receiver Isaiah Stanback, on Boston.com, on his appreciation for Terrell Owens
"Should be noisy in there.”
–Sharks forward Dany Heatley, on ESPN.com, expecting to be booed when he returns to Ottawa for the first time since he was traded this fall
“What do you want me to say? Pick us. Maybe I could get on the phone and call somebody and say, ‘You owe me one,’ or ‘You might find a horse’s head in your bed’.”
—Joe Paterno, on Yardbarker.com, on what he can do to help his team earn a BCS berth
