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Traina Thoughts: Daniel Jones Is Why Sports Are Great
1. One of the staples of being a sports fan—perhaps, the main staple—is to overreact to everything. Enter, Giants rookie quarterback Daniel Jones.
On draft night, April 25, fans and media reacted as if the world was burning down when New York selected the Duke signal-caller with the sixth overall pick.
Yes, tons of draft picks generate plenty of scorn and laughs and groans, but bashing the Jones pick took on a life of its own.
Cut to Sunday. Jones makes the first start of his NFL career and he completes 23 of 36 passes for 336 yards, throws two touchdowns, runs for two other touchdowns, including the game winner, and doesn't throw a pick, leading the Giants to a 32-31 win over the Bucs for their first victory of the year and New Yorkers can't stop saying, "DANNY DIMES" over and over and over.
Now, cold water can be thrown on this performance by saying it was the Bucs and it's only one game and opponents don't have film yet on how to defend Jones, yadda, yadda, yadda, but this is not the day for that kind of negativity. This is a day to remember that nobody knows anything about sports and that's why sports are great.
It's also a day to remember just how insane the reaction was to Jones getting picked sixth overall by New York. EVERYBODY thought it was bizarre that the Giants would take him so high. There was nobody on the other side of the debate. This led to relentless bashing.
There was this hilarious video with the Benny Hill theme song dubbedd over Jones's selection and Giants fans' reactions.
The local CBS station in New York did a hard-hitting investigative piece on Jones's selection as if they were reporting on a national catastrophe.
And this was the reaction inside the Giants' home stadium the second Jones was drafted.
Now, just five months later, Jones is a New York hero, people have him in the Hall of Fame and the overreaction swings the other way.
In other words, sports.
2. As someone who bet the Rams on Sunday night to bail out of a terrible day, I'd just like to thank Browns coach Freddie Kitchens for running a 4th-and-9 draw play.
3. George Kittle is a huge WWE fan, but if I'm being totally honest, his Rock impression needs a little work.
The "smelllllllll" needs to be dragged out much more and he has to twirl those Ls at the end.
4. This is the equivalent of someone with a regular job claiming they have the stomach flu on a summer Friday or any Monday. You HAVE TO be more creative than this if you're Jalen Ramsey.
5. With all due respect to college football and the NFL, this was the single-best highlight of the entire weekend.
6. The latest SI Media Podcast features an interview with Troy Aikman, who pulled no punches while discussing the NFL's officiating problem, gave us the inside scoop on what happened with FOX higher-ups after he blasted colleague Doug Gottlieb, and broke down what it's like to call two NFL games each week.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Stitcher.
7. RANDOM YOUTUBE VIDEO OF THE DAY: On that podcast with Aikman, he told me his all-time favorite wrestler is the "Macho Man," Randy Savage. I've always been amazed Savage didn't pass out while doing the vintage interview after he turned heel on Hulk Hogan.
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on iTunes, Spotify or Google Play. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter and Instagram.
IN CLOSING: I'm not sure how you can bet anything but under 40.5 for tonight's Bears-Redskins game.
