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2011 Omaha Nighthawks

Posted: Wed May 25, 2011 10:39 am
by Brad
2011 Omaha Nighthawks

Just heard on the Raido that the Nighthawks are OFFICIALLY now playing in TD Ameritrade Park Omaha.

Posted: Wed May 25, 2011 2:11 pm
by Omaha Restaurant Examiner
Just visited the TD Ameritrade Park the other day, covering the new food menus.  Check out the article below.


http://www.examiner.com/restaurant-in-o ... park-omaha

Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 8:08 pm
by Coyote
Omaha Nighthawks giving look to former Husker Eric Crouch
Husker Extra wrote:Eric Crouch is giving pro football yet another try. The 2001 Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback from Nebraska is among 70 players participating in a minicamp this week for his hometown Omaha Nighthawks of the United Football League.
1620 was saying he was throwing better than they thought he could throw.

Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 10:47 pm
by Bosco55David
Hope he is trying out for receiver, because the dude sucks |expletive| as a quarterback.

Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 11:39 pm
by the1wags
Any wagers on him making the roster? Pub stunt 101.

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 12:57 am
by nebugeater
the1wags wrote:Any wagers on him making the roster? Pub stunt 101.

If he makes the roster then the UFL and Nighthawks loose a lot of credibility that I think they have banked.

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 4:39 am
by Bosco55David
the1wags wrote:Any wagers on him making the roster? Pub stunt 101.
As a quarterback? Somewhere between slim and none.

At another position? Still unlikely, but possible.

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 10:13 am
by Linkin5
He is going to make the team to exclusively run the Black 41 Flash Reverse Pass play in fourth quarter situations.

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 10:57 am
by HuskerDave
nebugeater wrote:
the1wags wrote:Any wagers on him making the roster? Pub stunt 101.

If he makes the roster then the UFL and Nighthawks loose a lot of credibility that I think they have banked.
I disagree.  As much as I think he lost huge credibility by playing the prima donna with the NFL; the guy was a tremendous quarterback.  They don't just hand those Heisman trophies out to anyone.

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 10:58 am
by HuskerDave
Bosco55David wrote:Hope he is trying out for receiver, because the dude sucks |expletive| as a quarterback.
He can't do much worse than Garcia did last year.  It was just painful to watch him turn the ball over 7 times in that final game.

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 11:14 am
by cp jay 07
nebugeater wrote:
the1wags wrote:Any wagers on him making the roster? Pub stunt 101.

If he makes the roster then the UFL and Nighthawks loose a lot of credibility that I think they have banked.
They already lost a lot of that credibility when they hired a coach who bought his way to become coach. Look at the other UFL coaches this season. In fact all the other 4 coaches have at least 100 NFL wins, ours has 0 head coaching wins at ANY level. I guess money can buy anything in this world.

They would lose all credibility if they let a swing set sales men become their QB. This will just be another thing Crouch can cry about and quit.

And he was not a great QB, he was quick, could complete a few passes and ran the option great, that's what got him the Heisman. He then was a 4th string QB in the CFL, I would not call that a great QB. A good option QB yes, a good QB no.

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 1:03 pm
by the1wags
I should have phrased that differently. He might go to camp and do some workouts, raise interest and maybe ticket sales from the Big Red faithful, then he will bail. He's there to get attention for the team and himself IMO.

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 7:06 pm
by Bosco55David
HuskerDave wrote:I disagree.  As much as I think he lost huge credibility by playing the prima donna with the NFL; the guy was a tremendous quarterback.  They don't just hand those Heisman trophies out to anyone.
He was a good option quarterback in the days when that offense was still effective. That's not going to fly at the pro level, and Crouch lacks the skill set to quarterback any form of a pro style offense.
cp jay 07 wrote:They already lost a lot of that credibility when they hired a coach who bought his way to become coach. Look at the other UFL coaches this season. In fact all the other 4 coaches have at least 100 NFL wins, ours has 0 head coaching wins at ANY level. I guess money can buy anything in this world.
To be fair, the guy spent quite a bit of time in the college ranks and rose to a coordinator position, so he's not quite the cubicle jockey buying his way in that people think. That said, he's still been out of the game a long time and I'm expecting an epic fail. The Nighthawks undoubtedly have the most pathetic coaching staff in the league.

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 7:20 pm
by Coyote
Nighthawks Unveil 2011 UFL Schedule
Our Sports Central wrote:Omaha Nighthawks schedule

Week 1 Sunday, August 14 at Sacramento
Week 2 Sunday, August 21 VIRGINIA
Week 3 Saturday, August 27 at Las Vegas
Week 4 Friday, September 2 at Virginia
Week 5 Bye
Week 6 Sunday, September 18 SACRAMENTO
Week 7 Friday, September 23 at Hartford
Week 8 Friday, September 30 LAS VEGAS
Week 9 Bye
Week 10 Saturday, October 15 HARTFORD

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 9:34 pm
by Linkin5
Bosco55David wrote:
HuskerDave wrote:I disagree.  As much as I think he lost huge credibility by playing the prima donna with the NFL; the guy was a tremendous quarterback.  They don't just hand those Heisman trophies out to anyone.
He was a good option quarterback in the days when that offense was still effective. That's not going to fly at the pro level, and Crouch lacks the skill set to quarterback any form of a pro style offense.
cp jay 07 wrote:They already lost a lot of that credibility when they hired a coach who bought his way to become coach. Look at the other UFL coaches this season. In fact all the other 4 coaches have at least 100 NFL wins, ours has 0 head coaching wins at ANY level. I guess money can buy anything in this world.
To be fair, the guy spent quite a bit of time in the college ranks and rose to a coordinator position, so he's not quite the cubicle jockey buying his way in that people think. That said, he's still been out of the game a long time and I'm expecting an epic fail. The Nighthawks undoubtedly have the most pathetic coaching staff in the league.
Its not that the option wouldn't be effective anymore its just nobody really runs it outside of Georgia Tech and a handful of other teams.  Everything in college football is cyclical, I guarantee in years to come there will be some team that comes out with what is considered a cutting edge option scheme.  I remember reading a Joe Paterno interview when he was talking about how in the 1960s the spread offense was huge and then dissapeared until it got big again in the late 1990s/early 2000s.

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 9:55 pm
by Bosco55David
Linkin5 wrote:
Bosco55David wrote:
HuskerDave wrote:I disagree.  As much as I think he lost huge credibility by playing the prima donna with the NFL; the guy was a tremendous quarterback.  They don't just hand those Heisman trophies out to anyone.
He was a good option quarterback in the days when that offense was still effective. That's not going to fly at the pro level, and Crouch lacks the skill set to quarterback any form of a pro style offense.
cp jay 07 wrote:They already lost a lot of that credibility when they hired a coach who bought his way to become coach. Look at the other UFL coaches this season. In fact all the other 4 coaches have at least 100 NFL wins, ours has 0 head coaching wins at ANY level. I guess money can buy anything in this world.
To be fair, the guy spent quite a bit of time in the college ranks and rose to a coordinator position, so he's not quite the cubicle jockey buying his way in that people think. That said, he's still been out of the game a long time and I'm expecting an epic fail. The Nighthawks undoubtedly have the most pathetic coaching staff in the league.
Its not that the option wouldn't be effective anymore its just nobody really runs it outside of Georgia Tech and a handful of other teams.  Everything in college football is cyclical, I guarantee in years to come there will be some team that comes out with what is considered a cutting edge option scheme.  I remember reading a Joe Paterno interview when he was talking about how in the 1960s the spread offense was huge and then dissapeared until it got big again in the late 1990s/early 2000s.
In college, maybe. There is a reason that the option has never, and never will be used at the pro level.

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 10:09 pm
by Coyote
Bosco55David wrote:In college, maybe. There is a reason that the option has never, and never will be used at the pro level.
I don't know whether to agree or not with this. Pro level as in the NFL - no - even though they still draft a Tebow or Newton. Vick could have been - but he never studied or tried hard enough. Vince Young flamed. Steve Young ran well back when.

But the number one reason this wouldn't work in the NFL is the salary of the QB. One hit and your $20 mill QB is out for the season.

Now I think the UFL is different. Put Masoli and Crouch and one other running QB on your roster and I think you could put together an offensive scheme that would work.

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 5:12 am
by Bosco55David
Coyote wrote:I don't know whether to agree or not with this. Pro level as in the NFL - no - even though they still draft a Tebow or Newton. Vick could have been - but he never studied or tried hard enough. Vince Young flamed. Steve Young ran well back when.
There is a place for scrambling quarterbacks in the league, but no option.
But the number one reason this wouldn't work in the NFL is the salary of the QB. One hit and your $20 mill QB is out for the season.
$20 million these days is a league average starter. For reference, Peyton Manning signed a 7 year/$99 million dollar contract back in 2004.
Now I think the UFL is different. Put Masoli and Crouch and one other running QB on your roster and I think you could put together an offensive scheme that would work.
Highly doubtful. The UFL is full of borderline NFL talent and even that is head and shoulders above the college ranks where the option is a viable. These guys are simply too big and too fast for that offense to work.

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 8:02 am
by Brad
Anyone catch Marvin Sanders on the sidelines yesterday?

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 10:15 am
by Greg S
Bosco55David wrote:
Coyote wrote:I don't know whether to agree or not with this. Pro level as in the NFL - no - even though they still draft a Tebow or Newton. Vick could have been - but he never studied or tried hard enough. Vince Young flamed. Steve Young ran well back when.
There is a place for scrambling quarterbacks in the league, but no option.
But the number one reason this wouldn't work in the NFL is the salary of the QB. One hit and your $20 mill QB is out for the season.
$20 million these days is a league average starter. For reference, Peyton Manning signed a 7 year/$99 million dollar contract back in 2004.
Now I think the UFL is different. Put Masoli and Crouch and one other running QB on your roster and I think you could put together an offensive scheme that would work.
Highly doubtful. The UFL is full of borderline NFL talent and even that is head and shoulders above the college ranks where the option is a viable. These guys are simply too big and too fast for that offense to work.

Will be interesting to see if the talent level in the UFL is as good this year.  With the money troubles last year and the players almost going on strike at the end of last year, there may be some residual effect.  I know some players that played in the UFL last year cited money troubles and went to the CFL....

Greg

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 10:50 am
by HuskerDave
Coyote wrote:
Bosco55David wrote:In college, maybe. There is a reason that the option has never, and never will be used at the pro level.
I don't know whether to agree or not with this. Pro level as in the NFL - no - even though they still draft a Tebow or Newton. Vick could have been - but he never studied or tried hard enough. Vince Young flamed. Steve Young ran well back when.

But the number one reason this wouldn't work in the NFL is the salary of the QB. One hit and your $20 mill QB is out for the season.

Now I think the UFL is different. Put Masoli and Crouch and one other running QB on your roster and I think you could put together an offensive scheme that would work.
Apparently the Nighthawks are planning on trying something "innovative" in their offense this year.  Not sure what it is, but a triple option isn't entirely out of the realm of possibility.

I think the only reason the option isn't used more in the pros is that old standby "we've always done it this way."

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 11:27 am
by Stargazer
I don't think you could find a QB durable enough to make it work in the NFL... perhaps in a short UFL season.

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 11:31 am
by HuskerDave
Stargazer wrote:I don't think you could find a QB durable enough to make it work in the NFL... perhaps in a short UFL season.
That's a good point.

Personally, I'd love to see an NFL team take a chance on a less-traditional offensive scheme, and perhaps use a $5 million QB, instead of the pass-happy $25 million guys.  I'm sure there would be a long line of overlooked QBs who were tough as nails running the option in college.  It's tough to be successful in the NFL if you can't run the ball effectively, so maybe the option would work...

I have a feeling they'd be successful, even against the bigger, faster defenses in the NFL.

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 11:39 am
by Big E
HuskerDave wrote:I think the only reason the option isn't used more in the pros is that old standby "we've always done it this way."
I'd be hard pressed to send my $100 million franchise quarterback full steam head first into Ray Lewis or Brian Urlacher 300 times a season.

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 5:23 pm
by Bosco55David
HuskerDave wrote:Personally, I'd love to see an NFL team take a chance on a less-traditional offensive scheme


Watch the Broncos, Patriots or Rams then. Josh McDaniels took the Erhardt-Perkins offense and fused it with the Urban Meyer's Zone Read Option. That's the first true offensive innovation we've seen in over a decade and only those three teams even attempt to run it.

Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 10:22 pm
by cp jay 07
Bosco55David wrote:
HuskerDave wrote:Personally, I'd love to see an NFL team take a chance on a less-traditional offensive scheme


Watch the Broncos, Patriots or Rams then. Josh McDaniels took the Erhardt-Perkins offense and fused it with the Urban Meyer's Zone Read Option. That's the first true offensive innovation we've seen in over a decade and only those three teams even attempt to run it.
And how did the Broncos do?  :;):

Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 6:17 pm
by Bosco55David
cp jay 07 wrote:
Bosco55David wrote:
HuskerDave wrote:Personally, I'd love to see an NFL team take a chance on a less-traditional offensive scheme


Watch the Broncos, Patriots or Rams then. Josh McDaniels took the Erhardt-Perkins offense and fused it with the Urban Meyer's Zone Read Option. That's the first true offensive innovation we've seen in over a decade and only those three teams even attempt to run it.
And how did the Broncos do?  :;):
Ranked 7th in passing with the league's leading receiver.

Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 10:59 pm
by Linkin5
Bosco55David wrote:
cp jay 07 wrote:
Bosco55David wrote:
HuskerDave wrote:Personally, I'd love to see an NFL team take a chance on a less-traditional offensive scheme


Watch the Broncos, Patriots or Rams then. Josh McDaniels took the Erhardt-Perkins offense and fused it with the Urban Meyer's Zone Read Option. That's the first true offensive innovation we've seen in over a decade and only those three teams even attempt to run it.
And how did the Broncos do?  :;):
Ranked 7th in passing with the league's leading receiver.
and you had jebus on your side.

Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 11:25 pm
by Bosco55David
Linkin5 wrote:and you had jebus on your side.
Still have, actually.  :;):

Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 11:58 pm
by cp jay 07
Bosco55David wrote:
cp jay 07 wrote:
Bosco55David wrote:
HuskerDave wrote:Personally, I'd love to see an NFL team take a chance on a less-traditional offensive scheme


Watch the Broncos, Patriots or Rams then. Josh McDaniels took the Erhardt-Perkins offense and fused it with the Urban Meyer's Zone Read Option. That's the first true offensive innovation we've seen in over a decade and only those three teams even attempt to run it.
And how did the Broncos do?  :;):
Ranked 7th in passing with the league's leading receiver.

I must have missed the Ponies playoff game while I was at the Chiefs playoff game. My bad.

Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 7:21 am
by Bosco55David
cp jay 07 wrote:I must have missed the Ponies playoff game while I was at the Chiefs playoff game. My bad.
Silly me. I figured that when you interjected yourself into a discussion about offensive schemes that you were asking about the success of that particular scheme. But, since you want to just make team on team smack talk I figure now would be a good time to point out that anyone born on the day of the last Chiefs playoff victory is about 6 months away from reaching voting age.

Food for thought.  :;):

Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 11:52 am
by Swift
Has there been a discussion here of the long term viability of the UFL and the correlation with the attendance success of the Nighthawks in relation to possibly getting an NFL team or having the team absorbed by the NFL should the UFL fail or get bought out?

That scenario is the only reason I'm hoping the lockout remains in place through out the season...to increase the value of the UFL to the point where the NFL decides to pull another AFL merger.

Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 7:01 pm
by Bosco55David
I highly doubt we'll see any NFL expansions in the near future. We saw one just less than a decade ago that got us to 32 teams and required re-alignment of divisions, so I doubt they will want to go down that road again for awhile. Even if they do expand, they seem to have their eyes on either L.A or San Antonio markets. I could see the UFL being absorbed into the NFL as the sort of minor/developmental league that they've been missing since NFL Europe went under.

Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 7:04 pm
by Coyote
We will have to see about LA with the NFL expansion talk. LA will have a team in the next few years.
Will Charlotte or St Louis move? or will they get an expansion team.
After this lock-out, the NFL getting what, $500 mill from an expansion team into the coffers...

Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 7:23 pm
by Coyote
Recently there were 5 teams that would be open to movement - those 2 were the only ones I could see moving. I did not hear of the info about St Louis that you mentioned. Do after that I can only see Jacksonville or an expansion team going to LA. I still see a team in LA within a few years. I can't remember what corporation/money is behind this - but there is huge bucks ready to go there.

Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 7:28 pm
by Bosco55David
Coyote wrote:Recently there were 5 teams that would be open to movement - those 2 were the only ones I could see moving. I did not hear of the info about St Louis that you mentioned. Do after that I can only see Jacksonville or an expansion team going to LA. I still see a team in LA within a few years. I can't remember what corporation/money is behind this - but there is huge bucks ready to go there.
I could see Jacksonville moving. They have horrible fan support and have had to close off entire sections of their stadium to avoid blackouts. I went to the season opener when they played Denver last year and even despite Tebow (Jacksonville native) being there, there were alot of empty seats and us Bronco fans almost outnumbered the Jaguars fans.

Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 7:32 pm
by Coyote
Bosco - I am too lazy to look it p this evening...
Who is the man behind bringing NFL back to LA?

Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 8:14 pm
by Bosco55David
Coyote wrote:Bosco - I am too lazy to look it p this evening...
Who is the man behind bringing NFL back to LA?
There are a couple different players behind that. I know both Al Davis and the Chargers owner (forget his name) are using L.A as a bargaining chip to get better stadium deals where they are. There is also a businessman (or men, I forget) that have been pushing for another expansion team, but I forget their names as well.

Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 8:40 pm
by Linkin5
Bosco55David wrote:
Coyote wrote:Bosco - I am too lazy to look it p this evening...
Who is the man behind bringing NFL back to LA?
There are a couple different players behind that. I know both Al Davis and the Chargers owner (forget his name) are using L.A as a bargaining chip to get better stadium deals where they are. There is also a businessman (or men, I forget) that have been pushing for another expansion team, but I forget their names as well.
I can't see the Raiders ever going back.  One of the major reasons they left is because of LA gangs' adoption of the team and the fan scene at the games being pretty scary which Al Davis did not like.  I am thinking at this point the most likely team that will uproot is going to be the Chargers, would be a shame for that city though.

Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 4:16 am
by Bosco55David
Linkin5 wrote:I can't see the Raiders ever going back.  One of the major reasons they left is because of LA gangs' adoption of the team and the fan scene at the games being pretty scary which Al Davis did not like.  I am thinking at this point the most likely team that will uproot is going to be the Chargers, would be a shame for that city though.
I would call bullshit on that, but Al Davis is batshit crazy, so I could see him believing that.