Derek Jeter can finally call A-Rod his equal in October. Photo by Flickr user chris.ptacek
Sunday is supposed to be the day for rest, but it was a day of two very big other R-words for some athletes and coaches: revenge and redemption. From New York City to Oak-Town, there were chips on shoulders all over the country. A rundown of who was looking to even the score Sunday.
Cedric Benson vs. the Chicago Bears: If you paid any attention to football at all Sunday, you heard this one about a billion times. Running back Benson was the No. 4 overall pick for the Bears in 2005, and to call his time there tumultuous would be an understatement. Coach Lovie Smith never seemed willing to make him the featured back, and after some alcohol-related arrests Benson was released in 2008.
Benson never was convicted of any wrongdoing, but his career was seriously derailed. He signed a one-year contract with Cincinnati in 2008 for $520,000, and no one expected very much from him. But Benson played well, and got a two-year, $7 million contract from the Bengals last offseason.
So far in 2009, Benson leads the league in rushing and no doubt wanted to run roughshod over the Bears on Sunday – and apparently, the Bengals were happy to comply. They handed the rock to Benson 37 times and he did not disappoint, racking up 189 yards and a touchdown against the team that spurned him.
Benson is only 26 and hasn’t had too many carries over his career (789), so the Bengals appear to be in for some very productive seasons from No. 32. Especially if they play the Bears every year.
Alex Rodriguez vs. himself: Is there a more troubled superstar in sports than A-Rod? He has been criticized for being obsessed with his image, had a very public divorce from his wife Cynthia, admitted to using steroids and was widely ridiculed when Madonna reportedly said he had the “heart of a poet.”
But the worst knock against A-Rod was his tendency to disappear in October. Rodriguez’s postseason career numbers were downright pathetic, and the man who plays on his left, Derek Jeter, casts a mighty big shadow. Jeter has been called "Mr. November" for his clutch postseason performances, while Rodriguez was once dropped to eighth in the batting order in a playoff game.
But A-Rod was a new man this postseason, and his bat was the most feared in the dangerous Yankee lineup. Rodriguez batted .400 in the ALCS, and was walked three times Sunday night in a pivotal Game 6. Twice this series A-Rod was walked intentionally in the ninth inning after he tied Game 2 with a long ball against erratic Angels closer Brian Fuentes.
Thanks to A-Rod’s bat and the pitching of C.C. Sabathia and Andy Pettite, the Yanks are going back to the Fall Classic for the first time since 2003. Watching his jubilation after the last out was recorded Sunday night, is there any doubt that no one in New York wanted the pennant as badly as he did? Rodriguez will still have to perform well in the World Series in order for the Yankee faithful to fully embrace him, but I don’t think anyone in the Bronx will be booing him again anytime soon.
Keith Brooking vs. the Atlanta Falcons: Sunday’s matchup between the 3-2 Cowboys and 4-1 Falcons was intriguing for many reasons. The Falcons looked unstoppable in their 45-10 dismantling of the 49ers two weeks ago, while the Cowboys looked anything but in a narrow 26-20 overtime victory in Kansas City.
But the rise of receiver Miles Austin (421 receiving yards, four touchdowns in the last two games) has propelled Tony Romo back into the pantheon of top quarterbacks, and Dallas was very impressive in a 37-21 victory over Atlanta. The Cowboy defense hassled and harassed quarterback Matt Ryan all day, and the Atlanta offense just never got going.
The game was of particular importance to Cowboy linebacker Keith Brooking. A native Georgian who went to college at Georgia Tech, Brooking spent 11 excellent years in Atlanta, where he was voted to the Pro Bowl five times and was an All-Pro selection twice. But the Falcons cut him loose in the offseason, and Brooking signed a three-year contract with the Cowboys. Unlike so many other athletes who give politically correct answers to reporters, Brooking did not mince words about facing the team he gave most of his career to.
"Obviously, it was a big game for me personally. I’d be lying if I told you it wasn’t,” Brooking told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. "We took it to them. We bloodied their noses, and then we stepped on them and kicked them to the ground. So that’s a good feeling.”
Brooking’s emotion was obvious on the sideline – the veteran linebacker hooped and hollered throughout the game, and had a huge grin on his face the entire fourth quarter when the game was already in hand.
This may not be his last chance to enact vengeance either – the Cowboys appear poised to make a run at the playoffs, so a rematch with the Falcons in January is a definite possibility. A message to Falcons offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey: If you see these guys again, I’d run all my plays away from Brooking.
And briefly, two others looking for revenge and redemption: Niner quarterback and NFL Draft bust Alex Smith played the second half of San Francisco’s game in Houston after Shaun Hill got the hook, and made the game close at the end. Overall, Smith had a pretty good game (118.6 quarterback rating) and played his way to a start next Sunday against Indianapolis. Will we finally see the emergence of the former No. 1 overall pick? Niner fans have heard this story before, and they know Smith has a way of teasing you with his brilliance, only to fall apart soon after. He won’t have many more chances to prove himself, so it’s put up or shut up time for Smith.
New York Jets coach Rex Ryan led his team to a 38-0 pounding of the Raiders, but the game had special significance to his family and his assistants. The Raiders previously fired Jets line coach Bill Callahan (Raider head coach from 2002-03) and Rex’s twin brother Rob (defensive coordinator from 2004-08), and Ryan admitted in his postgame comments that it was a significant win for both him and Callahan. Al Davis’ list of enemies just keeps getting longer and longer…
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