We aren’t that excited about going 3-3 with last week’s playoff picks – missing on the Ravens, Browns and Rams.

For the Divisionals – we will go with Kansas City (convincingly) over Cleveland and Buffalo (flip a coin) over Baltimore in the AFC.  Green Bay wins on Saturday over the Rams in the NFC, and we think the third time is the charm for Tampa Bay at New Orleans.

NFC NORTH

DETROIT

RB ADRIAN PETERSON has money problems that just got worse.  Michael Rothstein ofESPN.com:

Detroit Lions running back Adrian Peterson has been ordered to pay almost $8.3 million in summary judgment to a Pennsylvania loan company after a defaulted loan in 2016, New York State Supreme Court records show.

DeAngelo Vehicle Sales LLC sued Peterson in 2018 after the running back failed to pay back an initial sum of $5.2 million, including interest, by March 1, 2017. Including interest in 2018 when the case was filed in New York Supreme Court, DVS asked for $6,546,448.32 — and then continued interest for every day he didn’t pay. That was over two years ago.

On Wednesday, DVS asked for $8,268,426.21, which includes continued interest of $2,207.12 per day on the loan that has not been repaid. The interest, which had been 16%, will be lowered to 9%, which is New York State law, going forward.

In the initial settlement agreement, which Peterson had notarized on Oct. 22, 2019, Peterson acknowledged “the existence and continuation of his default under the Loan and the applicable Loan documents, and that Peterson’s obligation under the Loan is immediately due and payable.”

Peterson did not pay back the loan by the initial agreed-upon date of March 1, 2017, and after DVS filed suit in 2018. In 2019, Peterson signed a settlement agreement, which called for him to make $50,000 payments on Oct. 18 and Oct. 31 of 2019, along with a $2.25 million payment on Nov. 11, 2019, and then a final $25,000 payment within 10 days of his option being picked up by the Washington Football Team for the 2020 season. If Peterson defaulted on the settlement agreement, he would have to pay the entire amount of the initial loan plus interest.

The attorney for DVS, Jeffrey Reina, said in court Wednesday that Peterson had paid back $165,000 of the initial agreement. Reina said in court that he had not heard from Peterson or Doug Wolfe, whom Hon. Paul B. Wojtaszek said was Peterson’s “last known representation.”

Peterson did not make an appearance in court and had no one there representing him. His initial attorney in the case, Scott Philbin of Bond, Schoeneck & King, withdrew in August 2020. Messages left for Philbin and for Lauren Renschler, who is Peterson’s publicist, were not returned to ESPN.

Peterson, according to Spotrac, has made $102,803,319 in his career, including $1.05 million last season from the Lions.

NFC SOUTH

ATLANTA

Apparently, Titans OC Arthur Smith can be the head coach of the Falcons if he wants it.  Turron Davenport of ESPN.com:

The Atlanta Falcons have made an offer to Arthur Smith to become their next head coach, sources told ESPN’s Dianna Russini.

Smith has served as the offensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans the past two seasons.

Smith, 38, would replace Dan Quinn, whom the Falcons fired along with general manager Thomas Dimitroff on Oct. 11 after an 0-5 start. Raheem Morris took over as interim head coach and led the Falcons to their only wins of the 2020 season en route to a 4-12 overall record.

The Titans ranked fourth in the league in scoring during the regular season, averaging 30.7 points per game under Smith. Tennessee finished the regular season averaging 396.4 total yards per game, good for third in the NFL. The Titans’ rushing attack posted 168.1 yards per game, second only to the Baltimore Ravens (191.9 yards).

Tennessee achieved rare balance under Smith. Running back Derrick Henry’s 2,027 rushing yards were the fifth-best rushing total ever, and he became the eighth player to surpass the 2,000-yard plateau. Titans receiver A.J. Brown finished with 1,075 receiving yards, while teammate Corey Davis ended the season 16 yards short of the 1,000-yard plateau.

Smith joined the Titans in 2011 as a defensive quality control coach; he has since served multiple roles in Tennessee, including offensive quality control coach, offensive line assistant and tight ends coach.

Smith also interviewed with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Detroit Lions, New York Jets and Philadelphia Eagles. The Jaguars hired Urban Meyer as their new head coach on Thursday.

The Falcons had a remote interview with Smith on Monday before flying him to Atlanta for a second interview on Wednesday. The team also interviewed Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Joe Brady and Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett.

CAROLINA

The Panthers reach into the Seahawks scouting staff for their new general manager.  Jeremy Bergman of NFL.com on 47-year-old Scott Fitterer who has been with Seattle since the Mike Holmgren days.

After a lengthy search, Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper has finally made his first major front-office hire.

Carolina is expected to hire Seattle Seahawks VP of football operations Scott Fitterer as its new general manager, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero reported Thursday, per sources. The team later confirmed that they offered the role to Fitterer.

Fitterer was one of 15 candidates to interview for Carolina’s general manager position, left vacant since Dec. 21 when the Panthers fired veteran GM Marty Hurney, and one of four finalists, along with Tennessee’s Monti Ossenfort, San Francisco’s Adam Peters and Kansas City’s Ryan Poles. Fitterer, a late addition to Carolina’s interview process, made a quick and positive impression on Tepper and Co., Rapoport reported.

There is still work to be done on the specifics of Fitterer’s deal, but the longtime Seattle sergeant is heading east.

Fitterer did not interview with any other teams this hiring cycle, though his name has been bandied about in recent years as a suitable GM candidate. The new Panthers GM had been with Seattle since 2001 and worked along respected GM John Schneider since 2010. Schneider, who signed an extension this week through the 2027 draft is going nowhere. The same cannot be said for Fitterer.

In Carolina, Fitterer will be paired with a second-year coach in Matt Rhule, who was in an arranged partnership with Hurney in 2020. The Panthers, coming off their second straight 5-11 season and third consecutive sub-.500 campaign, will be picking eighth in the upcoming 2021 draft.

Chief among the Panthers’ needs, and therefore atop Fitterer’s priorities, is locating a franchise quarterback. Carolina replaced former MVP Cam Newton with Teddy Bridgewater and P.J. Walker in 2020. With Bridgewater not necessarily the answer under center, the Panthers are expected to locate their QB of the future either in the draft or free agency this offseason. Carolina should also look to improve its mediocre defense and bolster its offensive line and weaponry.

From a broader perspective, Fitterer will be expected to be a culture-builder alongside the energetic Rhule, who has a long leash in Carolina, thanks to a seven-year deal signed last season that runs through the 2026 season. The two will be tied at the hip for the foreseeable future, at least half a decade Tepper likely hopes.

When he fired Hurney right before Christmas, Tepper said he wanted “a restart, a refresh” at general manager and desired an organizational structure and relationship between coach and GM that wasn’t, in his words, “stupid.”

In Fitterer, Tepper has his restart. Time will tell about his latter demand.

TAMPA BAY

Coach Bruce Arians says that RB RONALD JONES is a “gametime decision” and that in any case RB LEONARD FOURNETTE will take the starter’s role on Sunday night in New Orleans.

NFC WEST

SEATTLE

Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com are reporting that deposed Chargers coach Anthony Lynn could be the next Seattle OC.  Pete Carroll has spoken to him about the job.

Meanwhile, QB RUSSELL WILSON wants in on the pick.  Jelani Scott of NFL.com:

Russell Wilson’s professional career tacked on a few notable losses over the past week.

Three days after the 12-4 Seahawks lost to the Rams during Super Wild Card Weekend, Wilson lost his offensive coordinator of three seasons after Seattle parted ways with Brian Schottenheimer.

In an hour-long Zoom call with reporters on Thursday, his first since his OC’s departure, Wilson addressed a number of things, including a strong desire to be involved with the hiring process of his unit’s next leader.

“The next 10 years are super critical for everyone involved. It’s vital. Critical that I’m a part of that process. Coach [Pete Carroll] and I have talked about it, great dialogue about the thought process who we want,” he said, per KCPQ Seattle.

Wilson continued, “Imperative to my career as well. And as far as I want to go. Super excited to be in the mix of that conversation.”

The 2021 season marks Year 10 for the 32-year-old Wilson, a run that has included its fair share of ups and downs. Seattle’s recent season-ending defeat stands as one of those down moments.

Ever the optimist, Wilson indicated several times during his media session that the decision to move on from Schottenheimer was Carroll’s decision, but it is one he trusts if it leads to the team improving next season.

Another decision Wilson spoke on related to comments Caroll made on Monday involving his desire to run the ball more after defenses adjusted to Wilson’s hot start to this season and stifled the Seahawks offense down the stretch.

“We’ve been able to talk since that comment about running the football (more). Whatever it takes to win, I’m all in for … I do this to win Super Bowls. For our football team to be the best it can be,” Wilson said.

Caroll acknowledged taking the ball out of Wilson’s hands might not sit well with fans but early indications suggest Wilson wouldn’t be bothered by the change.

“Let Russ Cook” was a popular tagline for Seattle’s offense in 2020, one that grew in prominence after Wilson’s MVP-caliber showing through the first half of the season. When asked by team reporter John Boyle if he wants to see more of that next season, Wilson simply replied, “I want to see more wins, more championships.”

AFC WEST

KANSAS CITY

Scott Kacsmar tweets a warning to Chiefs fans:

@ScottKacsmar

Chiefs haven’t beaten anyone by more than 6 points since the Jets before the election.

AFC NORTH

CLEVELAND

Jake Trotter of ESPN.com on the first meeting between QBs BAKER MAYFIELD and PATRICK MAHOMES:

This weekend, Patrick Mahomes and Baker Mayfield will meet once again, this time in the AFC divisional playoffs.

Mahomes, the reigning MVP of the defending Super Bowl champs, has the top-seeded Kansas City Chiefs positioned to repeat. Mayfield just quarterbacked the Cleveland Browns to their first playoff victory in 26 years.

But before the two gunslingers became the faces of their franchises, Mayfield and Mahomes staged one of wildest shootouts in college football history as Big 12 rivals.

To those who were there in Lubbock that October night in 2016 to watch Oklahoma outscore Texas Tech 66-59, the record-breaking numbers remain almost unfathomable to contemplate.

The two teams combined for an FBS-record 1,708 yards of offense, while Mahomes and Mayfield combined for 1,279 passing yards, also most ever in a college football game.

Mahomes himself set FBS records with 819 yards of total offense and 734 passing yards, while attempting 88 passing attempts — despite playing through a separated throwing shoulder and fractured left wrist. Mayfield countered with an OU record seven touchdowns.

Mayfield vs. Mahomes, Round 1

MAHOMES                   MAYFIELD

52-of-88*                         27-of-36

734*            Pass Yards       545

819*            Total yards        564

5                Total TDs             7*

*School or NCAA record.

“We had to score every single drive in the second half to win that game,” Mayfield said this week. “It was an unbelievable game and unbelievable atmosphere. Just the back and forth is something that I will not forget.”

To this day, Mayfield and Mahomes remain friendly. In fact, not long before transferring from Texas Tech to OU, Mayfield actually hosted Mahomes during his official visit to Lubbock.

“It’s cool to get to play against him in such a big game, in the playoffs,” Mahomes said this week. “Known him for a long time, since I was a senior in high school and to be able to play on this stage is going to be special.”

– – –

The Browns will need to look for new motivation on Saturday.  G JOEL BOTONIO will not be missing.  Nick Shook of NFL.com:

The Browns are welcoming back a key member of their team at just the right time.

Cleveland officially activated guard Joel Bitonio from the reserve/COVID-19 list, the team announced Friday. Safety Tedric Thompson was waived in a corresponding roster move.

The longest-tenured member of the Browns, Bitonio missed the team’s first playoff game since 2002 due to a positive COVID-19 test, which forced him to quarantine in his family’s basement and prompted him to write a heartfelt letter to his teammates and Browns fans ahead of Cleveland’s wild-card game against Pittsburgh. The Browns pulled off the upset while playing Michael Dunn, and for a brief stretch, practice squad promotion Blake Hance, in Bitonio’s place.

Bitonio was named a second-team All-Pro at the conclusion of the 2020 season, joining teammate and fellow guard Wyatt Teller on the second team, and sharing the honor of All-Pro with Browns tackle Jack Conklin, who landed on the first team.

Bitonio was drafted by the Browns in the second round of the 2014 draft and has been around for all of the nonsense and negative outcomes — Johnny Manziel, Hue Jackson, the 0-16 season — possible in the last seven years. He’ll get to enjoy his first taste of the postseason after clearing the COVID-19 hurdle.

AFC SOUTH

HOUSTON

QB DESHAUN WATSON and owner Cal McNair have had a text conversation.  Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com:

Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson is back from vacation and he’s back in communication with the team.

Texans owner Cal McNair confirmed that he’s exchanged texts with Watson and cornfirmed that Watson is not happy about how the team has gone about business in the early part of the offseason. McNair said Watson would be part of the process of hiring a new coach and General Manager, but Watson felt that was not the case.

“Deshaun and I connected over texts since he’s returned from vacation and I believe in dealing with the personnel issues directly with the players, but in conjunction with our general manager,” McNair said, via Mark Berman of FOX26Houston.com. “Deshaun, it’s no secret that he’s disappointed in the communication during the hiring process.”

McNair said he apologizes “for my actions or communications that have created mistrust” and that he wants Watson “in the loop” as the team moves forward with the search for a head coach. Watson reportedly advocated for Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, who did not initially get a call for an interview but the team has subsequently requested one.

While they requested and conducted other interviews prior to Nick Caserio being hired as the new G.M., McNair said that they were waiting on Caserio’s list before moving on the head coaching front. He said “picking the right head coach is more important than making a quick pick,” which is true even if it hasn’t made for a warm relationship with Watson this month.

JACKSONVILLE

Owner Shad Khan implies that the new Jaguars “GM” will be subservient to the wishes and demands of Coach Urban Meyer.

Jaguars owner Shad Khan has his head coach in Urban Meyer, but the team has yet to hire a General Manager.

From his comments at Meyer’s introductory press conference, Khan hired Meyer first because he wants a team centered around the head coach. Khan declined to specify who will have final say over the 53-man roster, but he made it clear Meyer’s voice and opinions will carry a lot of weight.

“Moving forward, I think the issue of roster control, it’s more technical or symbolic,” Khan said. “My whole aspect — and this started really about 15 months ago — [is] that we need to be a coach-centric team in our organization, where the head coach really has to lead the kind of players he wants, the kind of team we need to be. And the General Manager, myself, we have to support that vision. And somehow, someway that had been lost. And the idea here is more about transparency, collaboration, teamwork, and accountability.

Khan added that he and Meyer have discussed the G.M. role and who it should be, and the hope is that they’ll be able to hire someone in the next week or so.

Both Meyer and the G.M. will report directly to Khan.

“Everybody in the organization, we’re going to be carrying out, obviously, Urban’s vision of the team for the kind of players we want,” Khan said.

Dan Graziano and Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com have some thoughts on the Meyer hiring:

Graziano: This one was percolating for a couple of weeks, it seems, and now it’s happening. I don’t know. On one hand, the college guys without prior NFL experience haven’t been very good at this transition. On the other, there haven’t been many (some, yes, but not many) who have arrived with Meyer’s track record of success — especially at multiple previous stops. I think this comes down to whether you think Meyer is effective enough as a program builder for the skills to translate. Carolina (and others) felt that way about Matt Rhule last year, but even that one’s a tough comparison. Rhule didn’t have college success on the level that Meyer did, but he had at least some prior NFL experience.

Fowler: For sure, college-to-the-NFL transitions hardly resemble Jimmy Johnson success. Meyer has a few things working in his favor, though. He’s a known program builder. He understands what it takes to surround talented players with the right resources and coaching. No NFL franchise needs a program rebuilt — and reinvigorated — more than Jacksonville. He’s also a deft motivator, good game manager and was on the cutting edge of offensive trends early in his college career. My questions are more about handling an NFL locker room and whether he’s built for the league long-term. But with likely No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence and loads of cap space and draft picks, what better place to find out?

Graziano: So yeah, on Lawrence, I think one of the big questions people are going to have is “Who’s going to run the offense?” Who is Meyer bringing in to coordinate his offense, and who is going to be directly in charge of Lawrence’s development? Obviously, the quickest and easiest way for this arrangement to fall apart is if Lawrence doesn’t pan out. I don’t know anyone who thinks the Clemson quarterback won’t, but the league is littered with examples good and bad of how important situation and circumstance are to the development of young QBs. Any thoughts on how Meyer should or will approach this?

Fowler: Finding the right offensive coordinator to maximize Lawrence will be one of Meyer’s most crucial early decisions, no doubt. While he will lean on his Florida and Ohio State connections for assistant coaches, I expect Meyer to target NFL pedigree on this one. One exception would be Clemson’s Tony Elliott — he coached Lawrence, but I expect him to stay at Clemson for now. Lawrence reminds me of Justin Herbert, so it doesn’t hurt to check in on the Shane Steichen-Pep Hamilton battery, now that the Chargers coaches are in transition. Meyer is more of a run-heavy offensive mind than some people think coming from the spread, so don’t be surprised if he looks for some Packers or 49ers influence. There are lots of directions he could go. (As of Thursday night, former Dallas Cowboys and LSU offensive coordinator Scott Linehan had emerged as a prime candidate.)

Graziano: And then my only question would be longevity in the role. Meyer has left other stops prematurely, sometimes citing health concerns. If I were hiring Meyer and (as I presume they are) paying him an eight-figure annual salary to turn around my program and make it relevant, I’d be a little bit leery about the possibility that he might not be there as long as I’d like him to be. Figure that’s a risk/reward proposition, given the upside of a move like this if he proves to be as successful as he was at his college stops?

Fowler: That’s a legitimate concern. No one takes losing well, but he really takes it poorly. One loss at Florida or Ohio State would cause him to shut down for days. Moving on to the next play is huge in the NFL — especially in Jacksonville, which has averaged about 12 losses per year over the last decade. If he has recalibrated his expectations and focuses on building a winner over time, he’ll be good. Maybe, at age 56, he has improved in that area.

Grades for Jacksonville hiring Meyer

Graziano: A. The concerns we discussed are legit but secondary. The Jaguars just hired a proven winner who also brings the bonus of making this perennially irrelevant team quite interesting. There isn’t going to be any talk of moving the franchise or playing more home games in London as long as this guy is there. And in Jacksonville, that stuff matters.

Fowler: B-plus. The failures of former college coaches at the NFL level is jarring, so this can’t be a stadium-clearing home run. Too many unknowns. But he has won wherever he has been, and the Jaguars need relevance. Meyer is microwaved interest. The Jags matter again. That’s big.

Bucky Brooks of NFL.com likes the move:

‘A lot’ of people around the league don’t think Urban Meyer hire will work out

Sure, the doubters will point out that building an NFL team through the draft and free agency is far different than gobbling up five-star prepsters off recruiting lists, but I contend that talent evaluation and acquisition is about identifying top prospects and projecting their potential within a team’s system. In addition, the college game is also about player development, and Meyer’s experience as a supreme program-builder at various stops gives him unique perceptive on how to put the pieces together in an NFL outpost like Jacksonville. Yes, Meyer enjoyed significant advantages while working for the powerhouse programs at Ohio State and Florida, but he also transformed Utah and Bowling Green into regional powers. As the successful leader of two underdog programs, he has done more with less. Meyer’s ability to transform imperfect rosters into championship-caliber outfits — don’t forget, he guided Utah to a perfect 12-0 season and final AP ranking of No. 4 in 2004 — speaks volumes about his developmental process.

In Jacksonville, Meyer would walk into a small-market team that doesn’t have the glitz and glamour of many other NFL franchises. He’d also inherit a roster that is young, inexperienced and lacking confidence. The Jaguars have lost 10-plus games in nine of the past 10 seasons, including a 1-15 mark in 2020 with 15 straight losses to close out the campaign. Meyer would need to heal those scars while showing a young team how to win games in a competitive division featuring hard-hitting squads with franchise quarterbacks.

That said, Meyer would face a steep learning curve moving up from the collegiate ranks to the NFL. He’d have to adjust to a different game and adapt to coaching pros who might be set in their ways. Also, he would have to recalibrate everything to the lengthier, more grueling NFL schedule, which would undoubtedly feature some gut-wrenching losses that could take a toll on his mental state and overall wellness, based on his competitive nature and past health issues. Finally, he’d need to have a trusted personnel executive within his inner circle to help him navigate the player acquisition process in the NFL.

While learning the NFL ropes is certainly challenging, I watched Jim Harbaugh take on a similar situation in San Francisco and promptly guide the 49ers to three straight NFC title games (with one Super Bowl appearance). He quickly transformed the Niners into heavyweight contenders utilizing a program that served him well at Stanford (and the University of San Diego). Given Harbaugh’s immediate success, I wouldn’t discount Meyer’s chances of turning around the Jaguars despite his lack of NFL experience.

If Meyer can assemble a balanced coaching staff with some of his trusted assistants from the college ranks and some veteran NFL coaches with a similar vision, he could really jump-start the Jaguars with a proven plan that’s worked at every previous stop. It certainly wouldn’t be easy, but Meyer’s track record suggests he could get it done in Jacksonville.

AFC EAST

NEW YORK JETS

49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh is the next domino to fall as the head coach of the Jets.  Charean Williams of ESPN.com:

The Jets have hired Robert Saleh as their new head coach, the team announced Thursday night. Saleh’s deal is for five years, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.

Saleh, 41, will become the 20th head coach in franchise history. He replaces Adam Gase, whom the team fired Jan. 3 after two seasons.

He was considered the favorite for the job after the Jets flew him to town for a second interview Tuesday. Saleh initially had a virtual interview Jan. 8.

Saleh has served as the 49ers’ defensive coordinator since 2017.

He is expected to take 49ers passing game coordinator Mike LaFleur with him as his offensive coordinator, Schefter reports. LaFleur is the brother of Packers head coach Matt LaFleur.

The Jets also have held virtual interviews with Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, Panthers offensive coordinator Joe Brady, Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, Saints secondary coach Aaron Glenn, former Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis, Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith and Rams defensive coordinator Brandon Staley.

Saleh also had interviews with the Falcons, Lions, Jaguars and Chargers in this coaching cycle.

Dan Wetzel of YahooSports.com on the cultural significance of Saleh’s hiring:

Fordson High School in Dearborn, Michigan stands tall and handsome, made of granite and sandstone, with a soaring tower that during World War II served as a lookout for enemy aircraft that might attack nearby factories.

For nearly a century it has served as a beacon while educating the kids of the tightly packed neighborhoods that surround it in this suburb on Detroit’s west border.

Fordson is no typical American high school, although it would like to be considered that. And Dearborn is no typical American city, although it is every bit as American as any place else in this country.

Among its nearly 100,000 residents is the nation’s largest concentration of Muslims and largest community of Middle Easterners – both direct immigrants and descendants of immigrants. Many reside on the city’s east side, where Fordson serves as the local high school.

And it just happens to love football as much as any school out in West Texas or South Georgia or Northeast Ohio. The game is the lifeblood of the place. It has been for decades.

“Fordson High School is over 90 percent Middle Eastern,” Robert Saleh, a 1997 graduate, said last year. “And it is one of the top-10 winning programs in the history of the state of Michigan public schools.”

He beamed with pride as he spoke.

“It’s a very unique school,” he continued. “It’s a very unique city. But it is a city with an amazing heart that just loves football.”

Late Thursday, the New York Jets hired Saleh to be their head coach. The 41-year-old was the defensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers.

With that, Saleh became the first Muslim head coach in NFL history and fourth of Arab-American descent (following Abe Gibron and Ed Khayat, who coached the Bears and Eagles respectively in the 1970s and Rich Kotite, who led both the Eagles and Jets in the 1990s).

The hiring represents not just the checking of another diversity box. It serves as a beacon to an American community that is too often marginalized as not really American, or, even worse, as a threat to America itself.

Dearborn has long been a pinata for xenophobic politicians and broadcasters from around the country who claim it is run by Sharia Law (it isn’t) or filled with dangerous would-be terrorists (it isn’t).

It is actually a typical middle-class suburb, full of factories and business, with close-knit neighborhoods that surround schools and ballfields and houses of worship. The central business district along Michigan Avenue is like any other, except the stores and restaurants might have signs written in Arabic.

“The people of Dearborn are just trying to assimilate and be part of this country and make a living just like everybody else,” Saleh said.

That long ago included embracing football. It was originally played by Italian, Polish and Irish immigrants who arrived in the early 1900s seeking work in Henry Ford’s auto factories. When Middle Easterners began settling in the city in the latter part of the century, they quickly embraced a game built on toughness, discipline and teamwork.

“The eastside of Dearborn is a blue-collar area and I think football just has always connected with people there,” said Fouad Zaban, who has coached Fordson for the past 15 seasons. “The community just rallies around football. You’d have to come here to even understand it.”

That included Saleh’s father, Sam, who was a bruising linebacker in the early 1960s and earned a scholarship to Eastern Michigan. As more Middle Easterners moved in, the team’s fortunes increased.

At one point, Fordson posted 34 consecutive winning seasons, routinely winning conference and district, and even state championships.

The Saleh family was large and became prominent in Dearborn — “I have 84 first cousins, just on my dad’s side,” Robert says with a laugh. From 1961 (Sam’s first year on varsity) to 1997 (Robert’s last) there was at least one Saleh playing for Fordson.

“It’s a fun sport,” Saleh said, noting its universal appeal. “You get to run around and hit people and not get in trouble.”

Through the decades Fordson teams heard plenty of taunts, plenty of slurs and plenty of doubt. Can they play when fasting? Are Arab-American kids tough? Can Muslims even be any good at football?

They found there was no better way to shut someone up than by winning. Slowly the skepticism of this predominantly Middle Eastern football team in the middle of the Midwest morphed into enduring respect.

It has been a long, long time since anyone in Michigan high school football took Fordson lightly.

THIS AND THAT

WHO HAS HIRED PEOPLE OF COLOR?

Some teams have done differently from others when it comes to hiring persons of color.  Nancy Armour, Mike Freeman and Tom Schad combine on a report at USATODAY:

With the NFL currently having just three coaches of color and two Black general managers, the Atlanta Falcons seem to be sending a message that teams really do understand it’s no longer enough to pay lip service to diversity.

In need of both a coach and a GM, Atlanta’s interview list is filled with Black and brown men. While the Rooney Rule requires teams to interview at least two people of color for coaching openings, the Falcons have interviewed four. The five candidates who interviewed for the GM job are all Black or brown, and the Falcons do not plan to interview anyone else. 

It’s promising. It’s also out of character for the Falcons.

The Falcons have never had a person of color as their full-time coach or GM.

But the Falcons are not alone, according to USA TODAY Sports analysis of NFL hiring practices since 1990.

Four franchises – the Arizona Cardinals, Cleveland Browns, Las Vegas Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers – are responsible for 32% of all the Black and brown coaches and GMs hired in the past 30 years, while Atlanta and six other teams have not had a single person of color in either of their two most important positions.

“We’re stuck,” said Tony Dungy, the Hall of Fame coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Indianapolis Colts. “I don’t know if you can force people to make good decisions.”

When Art Shell became the first Black head coach in the NFL’s modern era in 1989, the hope was that his hiring would lead to more opportunities for other coaches of color, as well as general managers. People who would have the power and influence to create a pipeline of talent so NFL owners couldn’t fall back on the excuse that there weren’t any good Black and brown candidates.

But results since then have been abysmal. Of the 327 full-time coaches and general managers hired since 1990, USA TODAY Sports found that 40 were Black or brown.

For the purpose of this project, USA TODAY Sports looked at full-time hires made from 1990 through the start of this season, and classified a general manager as someone who had control over the coaching staff in addition to the 53-man roster.

Even the adoption of the Rooney Rule in 2003 has not brought greater diversity. There were a record-tying eight coaches of color in 2018 – a quarter of the 32 teams in a league where about 70% of players are Black – but that dwindled to three when the Los Angeles Chargers fired Anthony Lynn after the recently concluded regular season.

It is the divide that is most startling, however. Among USA TODAY Sports’ findings:

►Ten franchises have hired more than one person of color, accounting for 62% of the 40 Black and brown coaches and GMs hired since 1990. The Browns lead the way with four, two coaches and two GMs, while the Buccaneers, Cardinals and Raiders have had three each.

The Detroit Lions, Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings and New York Jets each have had two people of color as their coach or GM. Indianapolis went from one Black head coach, Dungy, to another, Jim Caldwell.

“What I benefited from both in Tampa and Indianapolis was that I worked for people who didn’t just talk about hiring the best people, and having a diverse staff, but actually worked to do it,” said Dungy, now an analyst with NBC.

►The Falcons, Dallas Cowboys, Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Rams, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints and Tennessee Titans have never had a person of color as either their coach or general manager.

Collectively, they have made 60 hires since 1990, 41 coaches and 19 general managers.

►The Green Bay Packers, Philadelphia Eagles and Seattle Seahawks have not hired a person of color since 1999. Each of the teams has had one head coach of color – Tom Flores for the Seahawks and Ray Rhodes for both the Eagles and Packers.

Two of the other teams that have never hired a person of color as head coach or general manager do have long-term stability at those positions. Bill Belichick has been coach and de facto GM of the Patriots since 2000, and Mickey Loomis became Saints GM in 2002 and hired Sean Payton four years later.

But the Patriots hired four coaches between 1990 and 2000, and the Saints hired two coaches and a GM prior to Loomis and Payton.

Jerry Jones has been his own GM since buying the Cowboys in 1989. He’s hired seven coaches since then, including Mike McCarthy, whose hiring last year after a cursory search raised eyebrows.

Getting to know you

Andy Reid used to sit in on owners’ meetings when he coached the Philadelphia Eagles, giving him a chance to get to know some of the other owners. It also gave him an opportunity to think about who he might like to work with, should he ever leave Philadelphia, and the Hunt family in Kansas City was at the top of his list.

Fast forward to 2012. Reid was fired by the Eagles on Monday. He was hired by the Chiefs on Friday.

It’s those kinds of personal connections that are essential to overcoming the NFL’s diversity failings, said Bill Polian, the Hall of Fame executive who hired Dungy and Caldwell in Indianapolis and, years earlier, was responsible for Elijah Pitts being elevated to assistant coach in Buffalo.

“If you get to know a person, if you can put a face with a name, if you have an impression, however fleeting, it’s very different than just hearing a name for the first time. Or reading about them,” Polian said.

“These decisions are not at the league level, they’re made in 32 different team offices,” he said. “The introduction to 32 different owners and 32 different general managers and team presidents is really what’s important.

“If you get to know a person and become familiar with them, they’re not a label anymore. They’re a person. They’re an individual.”

Then, when people of color are in position to influence, they can pull others along. Dungy recalls being in Tampa and asking his scouts for recommendations on a new assistant, and them giving him Lovie Smith’s name.

Dungy hired Smith, whose experience to that point was in the college ranks, as his linebackers coach. Eight years later, Smith became the Chicago Bears’ first Black head coach.

“We had a diverse staff,” Dungy said. “That diversity meant there were a lot of open minds.”