JIM MORA, JOSH ROSEN…AND AN INTELLECTUAL CHALLENGE
Did Jim Mora, Jr. really think he was helping Josh Rosen? Did he think he was helping one of Rosen’s potential NFL suitors? Did he think at all?
Or does he just like the sound of his own voice and the glare of the spotlight, feelings with which his father was familiar and could have been accused of harboring?
When the red light of the camera is illuminated, watch out. Things can get a little grisly.
On November 25, 2001 Jim Mora the elder’s Indianapolis Colts were spanked by the Steve Mariucci-led San Francisco 49ers 40–21 in Indianapolis, dropping the Colts record to 4–6. Afterward Mora, Sr. gave one of the more epic press conference homilies known to man.
“Well, I’ll start off by saying this: do not blame that game on the defense, OK? I don’t care who you play — whether it’s a high school team, a junior college team, a college team — much less an NFL team. When you turn the ball over five times — four interceptions, one for a touchdown, three others in field position to set up touchdowns — you ain’t going to beat anybody I just talked about. Anybody. All right?
And that was a disgraceful performance in my opinion. We threw that game. We gave it away by doing that. We gave them the friggin’ game. In my opinion, that sucked.
Ah. You know? You can’t turn the ball over five times like that. Holy crap! I don’t know who the hell we think we are when we do something like that.
Unbelievable. Five turnovers. One of them for — We’ve thrown four interceptions for touchdowns this year. That might be an NFL record! And we’ve still got six games left, so there’s no telling how many we’ll have. That’s pitiful! I mean it’s absolutely pitiful to perform like that.
Pitiful!”
Thus far, pretty standard fare from an exasperated NFL head coach after a frustrating loss.
But what made this particular press conference most memorable was Mora Sr.’s peroration in response to what he thought was a ridiculous follow-up question.
A reporter asked him how he would assess his team’s playoff chances at that point. In a high-pitched tone of voice laced with fury, Mora ranted:
“What’s that? Ah — Playoffs? Don’t talk about — playoffs? You kidding me? Playoffs? I just hope we can win a game! Another game.”
Jim Mora, Sr. was the head coach of the New Orleans Saints (1986–1996) and the Indianapolis Colts (1998–2001) in the NFL, following his tenure as the leader of the Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars (1983–1985) in the USFL.
His career head coaching record in the NFL was 125–112 (.527) including the playoffs where he failed to win a game (0–6) (.000).
He is tied with Marvin Lewis for the NFL record for career regular season wins (125) without a playoff victory.
In an interview with Peter King of MMQB, Jim Mora, Jr. remarked when queried about quarterback Josh Rosen, “Josh, I think, without a doubt, is the number one quarterback in the draft. He’s a franchise-changer. He’s got the ability to have an immediate impact. His arm talent, intelligence, and his ability to see the game and diagnose the game is rare. He’d come to the sidelines after a play and it was uncanny — he could right away say exactly why he made every decision.”
A glowing endorsement from the man who coached Rosen for three years (2015–2017) at UCLA.
But reminiscent of his father seventeen years earlier, Junior caused a bit of a stir and certainly muddied the waters when he expounded further.
“[Rosen] needs to be challenged intellectually so he doesn’t get bored,” Mora explained as he began to dig his own grave.
“He’s a millennial. He wants to know why. Millennials, once they know why, they’re good.
Josh has a lot of interests in life. If you can hold his concentration level and focus only on football for a few years, he will set the world on fire. He has so much ability, and he’s a really good kid.”
As his dad made famous I borrow, “you kidding me?” Seriously.
Personally I should just ask, “Whaaaaat?”
Young Mora did not do Rosen any favors here.
Or did he?
One theory albeit far-fetched suggests that Mora Jr. said what he said to dissuade the Cleveland Browns from selecting Rosen with the first overall pick.
By extolling the virtues of the other sheriff in town, USC’s Sam Darnold and proclaiming him a better “fit” for the Browns, perhaps Mora was saving Rosen from Cleveland — with or without the latter’s knowledge and consent.
“Because of fit, I would take Sam Darnold if I were the Cleveland Browns,” Mora said. “I think [he has] that blue-collar, gritty attitude. I think his teammates will love him. I think the city will love him. He’ll say the right things. He’ll come in and represent the city well. I think he kind of represents what Cleveland is.”
During his tenure at UCLA — he was fired prior to last season’s final contest against Cal. — Mora’s teams faced Darnold twice and lost twice.
But Mora Jr. doesn’t think any less of Rosen, in fact unwilling to concede that he is less talented than Darnold.
Rather he is of the mind that the Giants and the Jets, holding the second and third picks of the draft respectively — and both in the market for quarterbacks — should be salivating over Rosen. “If I was one of the New York teams, I’d take Josh like that. I think they’re both going to be great pros,” he concluded.
Josh Peter of USA TODAY Sports believes that the former Bruin coach unwittingly accepted the “intellectual challenge” of which he spoke pertinent to Rosen, and lost by a first-round knockout.
Incredulous, Peter described Mora’s explanation of his remarks as “disingenuous, delusional, dumb or all three.”
When apprised of Mora Jr.’s rather weak attempt to set the record straight telling the NFL Network, “Listen, I have been very clear, very consistent and, I believe, very complimentary toward Josh Rosen. I don’t think I’ve made a negative statement about him,” Peter blanched.
And then he may have hurled.
Parried Peter, “How could his comments be considered anything short of betrayal after Mora coached Rosen for three seasons at UCLA only to suggest the crosstown rival[’s] quarterback is better suited to be the top pick in the NFL draft?
For Mora to believe that is perfectly acceptable. But for him to say it publicly is indefensible — and surely will be used against him if he’s ever recruiting quarterbacks again.”
As for Rosen, he limited his remarks to a pair of tweets, demonstrating a maturity and wisdom well beyond his years. Waiting two or three days before dignifying the brouhaha with a response, his first post asked, “Why? #why.”
He followed that up later the same day with simply this: “Opinions?#ThingsPeopleTakeToo Seriously.”
Various 2018 NFL Mock Drafts are in agreement that potentially four signal-callers could be selected within the first ten picks. In play will be Darnold, Rosen, Josh Allen of Wyoming and Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield of Oklahoma. 2016 Heisman winner Lamar Jackson of Louisville is projected to go late in the first round. It is widely believed that Darnold (Browns) and Rosen (Jets) will be chosen #1 and #3 respectively.
What impact if any, Jim Mora, Jr.’s verbosity has had or will have on this remains open to question.
But words matter and once spoken they can not be taken back.
For better or for worse.
[Editor’s Note: This piece was written by Mr. Kaplan in early April 2018.]
Addendum: Four quarterbacks were selected among the first ten players drafted in Round 1: Mayfield went first overall to Cleveland; Darnold was #3 to the Jets; Allen went seventh to Buffalo; and Rosen was chosen tenth by Arizona.
Of the four Rosen has been the least impressive thus far.
Lamar Jackson was the 32nd and final pick of Round 1 by Baltimore. He was named the 2019 NFL MVP earning all 50 first-place votes, making him only the second unanimous MVP in NFL history (Tom Brady, 2010).
