TUESDAY COMMENTARY – FLY UNDER THE RADAR

(Listen daily for the Rod Pedersen Commentary on Cat Country 98 & Rock 98.5 FM)

TODAY’S COMMENTARY IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY … AT&T. IN A MINUTE, YOU’LL SEE WHY.

THE SPORTS WORLD IS SCREWED UP FOLKS. MAYBE IN A WAY IT ALWAYS HAS BEEN BUT WE’RE GETTING A REAL SNAPSHOT OF IT TODAY ON THE NFL’S FINAL CUTDOWN.

IF YOU’RE A FOOTBALL FAN AT ALL, YOU’LL REMEMBER THE NAME CHRIS STREVELER. HE HELPED WINNIPEG END A 30-YEAR GREY CUP DROUGHT AT QUARTERBACK A FEW YEARS AGO (HE’S THE ONE IN THE FURCOAT, COWBOY HAT AND 12-PACK OF BEER IN THE PARADE).

STREVELER’S BOUNCED AROUND THE NFL SINCE BUT REALLY MADE A NAME FOR HIMSELF THIS SUMMER WITH NEW YORK, LEADING THE JETS TO THREE STRAIGHT COME-FROM-BEHIND VICTORIES IN THE PRESEASON.

HE DID IT AS THE FOURTH STRING QUARTERBACK, PLAYING IN THE SECOND HALVES AND PRIMARILY THE FOURTH QUARTER. NEW YORK COACH ROBERT SALEH CALLED IT PERHAPS THE GREATEST PRESEASON BY A PLAYER IN NFL HISTORY.

AND TODAY HE’LL BE CUT BY THE JETS.

WHY?

BECAUSE – AS I’VE NOTICED MORE THAN EVER THIS NFL PRESEASON – THE TEAMS HAVE ALREADY BEEN PICKED. THERE ARE RARELY ANY POSITION BATTLES AMONG THE 32 NFL TEAMS.

THIS ISN’T TOTALLY UNHEARD OF. I RECALL IN 2016 THE ROUGHRIDERS HAD A ROOKIE RECEIVER/RETURNER NAMED RICKY COLLINS JR WHO FUMBLED A PUNT IN THE LAST PRESEASON GAME AT THE OLD TAYLOR FIELD.

ONE OF MY ANALYSTS, MIKE ABOU-MECHREK, SAID FUMBLING IN THE PRESEASON IS AKIN TO PEEING ON THE CARPET IN A JOB INTERVIEW.

(I’VE ALWAYS HAD THE BEST ANALYSTS)

BUT NO, RIDERS ASSISTANT GM JOHN MURPHY SAID COLLINS HAD ALREADY MADE THE TEAM, NO MATTER HOW HE’D PLAYED. AND GOOD FOR RICKY, HE’S GONE ON TO A PRETTY GOOD CFL CAREER.

BUT THAT GOT MY RADAR UP AND WAS WHEN WHEN I FIRST NOTICED THAT THE PRESEASON ISN’T ABOUT MAKING THE TEAM ANYMORE.

IT’S ABOUT HOW MUCH MONEY YOU MAKE.

I PUT THIS THEORY TO NFL RADIO HOST ZIG FRACASSI ON MONDAY’S RP SHOW AND HE SAID THAT IS INDEED CORRECT.

DUE TO THE SALARY CAP, THE JETS – AND PRETTY MUCH EVERY OTHER NFL TEAM – HAD THEIR ROSTER FIGURED OUT MONTHS AGO DUE TO THE COMPLICATED GAME OF WHAT I CALL “SALARY TETRIS”.

POOR STREVY NEVER HAD A CHANCE. HE WAS NOTHING MORE THAN A CAMP BODY TAKING UP SPACE.

NOW THE SOUTH DAKOTA PRODUCT HAS TO SIT BY THE PHONE AND HOPE FOR A CALL FROM ANOTHER NFL TEAM OR ELSE HIS NFL CAREER MAY BE OVER. THIS AFTER HE WAS THE BEST PLAYER IN THE ENTIRE NFL IN THE PRESEASON.

THANK GOD FOR AT&T.

THAT’S TODAY’S ROD PEDERSEN COMMENTARY

(The Rod Pedersen Show airs daily at 12 pm ET & 10 pm PT on Game+ TV across Canada and the USA. Call your cable provider to subscribe. You can also watch on YouTube Live or listen 24/7 at RodPedersen.com/ListenLive)