From The 3s » Ernie Adams Award http://www.fromthe3s.com The Working Man's Sports Blog Sun, 05 Sep 2010 19:37:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 ERNIE ADAMS AWARD WEEK 16 http://www.fromthe3s.com/index.php/2009/12/29/ernie-adams-award-week-16/ http://www.fromthe3s.com/index.php/2009/12/29/ernie-adams-award-week-16/#comments Wed, 30 Dec 2009 02:37:38 +0000 Chad http://www.fromthe3s.com/?p=1862
Monday night’s game brought NFL fans a belated Christmas present with a gift that kept on giving. It was a battle throughout, and a tale of two halves that carried over into an exciting overtime which included a missed field goal, a lost fumble, and a 39 yard game winning touchdown pass.

The excitement culminated in an exceptional fourth down gaming tying touchdown catch, as the underdog Bears’ big first half lead was evened out during the Viking’s explosive comeback. It could have been easy to have missed Hunter Hillenmeyer ‘s 13 solo tackles, 2 assists, and broken up pass. What wasn’t easy to miss was his forced fumble in overtime. When Adrian Peterson broke open it looked as if this big gain was going to put the Vikings on the path to completing their huge comeback that would be crucial to their playoff positioning. In the matter of a moment, in fact even before Peterson had a chance to finish the impressive run, it all came crumbling down. That was not only the crushing blow for the Vikings hopes of a victory, but for their hopes of clinching a first bye that night as well as stealing the #1 overall spot. This dream crushing tackle and forced fumble was created by none other than this week Ernie Adams award winner and Chicago Bears middle linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer.
Hillenmeyer has played well since moving into the middle linebacker position vacated by injured Brian Urlacher and this performance he not only filled those big shows in a big way he managed to cast his own shadow on the big stage of Monday Night Football.

]]> http://www.fromthe3s.com/index.php/2009/12/29/ernie-adams-award-week-16/feed/ 0 WEEK 14 ERNIE ADAMS AWARD http://www.fromthe3s.com/index.php/2009/12/18/week-14-ernie-adams-award/ http://www.fromthe3s.com/index.php/2009/12/18/week-14-ernie-adams-award/#comments Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:44:00 +0000 Chad http://www.fromthe3s.com/?p=1810 cd

This week I’m going to do something a little different. Instead of my regular Ernie Adams award, I felt compelled to do a Conrad Dobler award. This is due to the resent release of St. Louis Rams guard Richie Incognito. Call me dirty, but I have a special place for player that goes out and tries to put a severe beating on their opponent.
Conrad Dobler was a nasty player that tried to get his job done at all costs. I think a lot of people would look at Dobler and Incognito being cut out of the same mold. At times these players went past the limit, but two things are for sure, they wanted to win as much as anyone and they were going to give their all to do it even if it took a little extra.
If you think there is no place for a guy like Incognito then consider the fact that Bill Parcells put in a claim for him off of waivers, and there is no question Parcells is a great if not the greatest evaluator of players in the game today.
Richie Incognito was recently asked about being voted the dirtiest player in the NFL by his peers, and he responded, “call me what you want I’m a hard nose football player and I’m going to bring my ‘A’ game every Sunday”. That is all you all you can ask out of a player if you ask me.

]]> http://www.fromthe3s.com/index.php/2009/12/18/week-14-ernie-adams-award/feed/ 0 WEEK 13 ERNIE ADAMS AWARD http://www.fromthe3s.com/index.php/2009/12/11/week-13-ernie-adams-award/ http://www.fromthe3s.com/index.php/2009/12/11/week-13-ernie-adams-award/#comments Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:46:49 +0000 Chad http://www.fromthe3s.com/?p=1788 jb
Jeremy Bridges

Sunday night matched the NFC’s sack leader against a journeyman that was getting his first start of not only the season, but first ever career start at left tackle. On top of that, he had the responsibility of protecting the banged up and historically fragile Kurt Warner. If you think this would lead to a colossal domination in the fashion of say a strung-out hippie after an all night Save The Possum rally up against a Marine Commando in one of those Chinese obstacle course game shows, you’d be RIGHT! The NFC’s leading pass rusher, Jared Allen, was not only held without a sack he did not even record a tackle – not even an assist. Of course, Bridges was helped by chipping running backs and double teaming tight ends. Nevertheless, when he was pitted one-on-one, the success continued.

Jeremy Bridges spent the past three seasons with the Carolina Panthers. He was in training camp with the Washington Redskins before being released and subsequently signed by his old team, the Arizona Cardinals. Last Sunday he got into the starting lineup for the first time this season due to an injury to left tackle Mike Gandy. Bridges has played right tackle, right guard, and left guard throughout his career but this game was his first shot at left tackle. His first LT start was on the biggest stage with the brightest lights against the best competition and he played tremendously. His performance exemplifies what the Ernie Adams Award is all about.

]]> http://www.fromthe3s.com/index.php/2009/12/11/week-13-ernie-adams-award/feed/ 2 Ernie Adams Award Week 12 http://www.fromthe3s.com/index.php/2009/12/03/ernie-adams-award-week-12/ http://www.fromthe3s.com/index.php/2009/12/03/ernie-adams-award-week-12/#comments Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:45:16 +0000 Chad http://www.fromthe3s.com/?p=1765 mm
It might seem weird that a player with so high of a profile would get the award dedicated to behind the scenes players. You are right in thinking that a once top corner in the league who had a highly publicized trade and at one time didn’t fly under anyone’s radar should be left out of this award, but this one is different. Mike McKenzie was out of football completely and there was no word or talk about him being in the fold again. Then he does the unthinkable. He made his self-solicited campaign to be back with the Saints. He signs with the team and starts that week. Not only does he start, but against the high powered Patriot passing attack, he does an amazing job. He went from out on the streets in NFL terms to shining the brightest on the biggest stage against the highest competition. This guy came from COMPLETELY off the radar to all over it in one game and that is what this award is all about.

]]> http://www.fromthe3s.com/index.php/2009/12/03/ernie-adams-award-week-12/feed/ 0 WEEK ELEVEN ERNIE ADAMS AWARD http://www.fromthe3s.com/index.php/2009/11/26/week-eleven-ernie-adams-award/ http://www.fromthe3s.com/index.php/2009/11/26/week-eleven-ernie-adams-award/#comments Thu, 26 Nov 2009 14:17:40 +0000 Chad http://www.fromthe3s.com/?p=1737 bp

Bernard Pollard

Monday night’s game left Pollard on the losing end of the contest, but he never the less came up big in numerous spots. He recovered a fumble in the second half to help keep the Texans in the game, but on third downs he came up the biggest of all. He had a pass defense, big tackles short of a first down after the pass, and a huge one on one tackle on quarterback Vince Young to stop him from picking up a first down at a critical time of the game. This happened on a night in which Young was picking up yardage in key spots and was almost unable to be tackled without help. The Texans came up short, but Pollard was a big part of keeping them in the game, so for his performance he is awarded the week 11 Ernie Adams Award.

]]> http://www.fromthe3s.com/index.php/2009/11/26/week-eleven-ernie-adams-award/feed/ 0 WEEK 10 ERNIE ADAMS AWARD http://www.fromthe3s.com/index.php/2009/11/19/week-10-ernie-adams-award/ http://www.fromthe3s.com/index.php/2009/11/19/week-10-ernie-adams-award/#comments Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:00:26 +0000 Chad http://www.fromthe3s.com/?p=1711 vollmer
This week’s award goes to a player that has a truly interesting back story. He has found himself in the lineup due to an injury to veteran left tackle Matt Light, who has been the cornerstone of the Patriot’s offensive line for many years.
Sebastian Vollmer spoke almost no English when colleges lined up to sign him after noticing his performance in the 2004 Global Junior Championships. The 250 pound, highly touted tight end decided on the University of Houston. He actually did play some as a tight end in his redshirt freshman year, and that same season he started to make his conversion to the offensive line. As a senior, he gave up only one sack in 610 pass attempts as well as contributing to Houston’s plethora of offensive records.
In the 2009 NFL Draft, the Patriots selected Vollmer in the second round of the draft with the 58th overall pick. Some looked at him as a bit of a project, and most projected him as a right tackle. The suspected plan was for Vollmer to do some more preparing through observation for the meanwhile and not to throw him in the fire as a rookie. In week five, left tackle Matt Light went down with an injury and the plan quickly changed. Vollmer has taken his place in the starting lineup each game since then. He has not only held his own, he has far exceeded expectations at this point of his young career. Week ten brought a test most veterans haven’t been able to step up to, that is stopping four time pro bowler Dwight Freeney. In week ten, if Freeney recorded a sack, he would tie the league record of ten consecutive games with a sack. Vollmer had other ideas. He held Freeney without a sack for the first time this season, much of the time going one-on-one with one of the league’s best pass rushers. Vollmer’s success at left tackle will make it will be interesting to see what will happen when Light is back and healthy, which looks to be very soon. Vollmer may keep the left tackle position or even slide over to right tackle, either way it will be hard to keep him out of the starting lineup. One way or another it gives the Patriots a nice problem to have.

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