Things in football so improbable that you’ll probably never see it happen again:
In 1999, the Jacksonville Jaguars were possibly the best team in the NFL. They got off to a quick 2-0 start and then faced the newly rebranded Tennessee Titans Week 3. They held a 17-3 at the beginning of the 4th quarter after picking off Titans’ QB Neil O’ Donnell and returning it for a TD. The Titans ended up rallying to win the game 20-19.
After their heartbreaking loss against Tennessee, Jacksonville managed to win 11 games in a row. Their defense was absolutely dominating holding opponents to 10 or less points in 7 of those games. Then in Week 16, they made the trip to Nashville to face the Titans yet again.
The cliche is “it’s hard to beat the same team twice”. Well the Jaguars surely made it easy on Tennessee. The Titans absolutely routed them 41-14. Steve McNair threw for 5 TDs and Eddie George ran for over 100 yards.
The Jaguars managed to beat Cincinnati in Week 17 and secured the #1 seed in the playoffs. In the divisional round, they absolutely routed Miami 62-7. It Is unsurprisingly still the largest margin of victory in a playoff game in the Super Bowl era.
Their reward? They got to face the Titans yet again in the conference championship game on their home turf. This was it. This was their shot for the Super Bowl. The outcome? They got absolutely trounced 33-14 as they watched their division rival go to the Super Bowl.
Remarkable. They somehow managed to beat every single team on their schedule, except the Titans. They are the only team in the Modern Era to lose to a team 3 times in a single season and go undefeated against everyone else on their schedule. Something so improbable we will probably never see it again.
I remember asking assistant coach Mo Cheeks, what’s harder to do? Workout after practice or before?? I only asked cuz by time I would get to the gym, Russ was already done in the morning and I usually got mine in after practice. Mo like, “coming in before practice is probably harder”…since then, it’s been my routine….a lot of people looked at the emotions on the court and thought Russ was loud, nah to me, he was quiet and methodical. He lead by example and once the lights were bright, he let everything out and experienced pure freedom. It was inspiring as his teammate and everywhere I went, I seen it inspire people from all walks of life, crazy thing is, he didn’t say much, he just showed up. For 18 years. This basketball life is sacred to us as professionals, what we put into that court means everything. Some of us wish we could go back and do things with a little more intent and some can just wipe their hands and be satisfied with the time spent. Who u gonna be? We know what zero was on…keep inspiring in the next phase of life champ. I don’t care what happens, can’t erase what it was…The first YNs, finals run in our early 20s, all star games, seeing each other get injured and bounce back, the bus rides, plane rides, card games, jokes and arguments, the whole thing, memorable!! …to the whole Westbrook family, Nina, the kids, mama Westbrook, big Russ, Ray, Donnell, everybody from luezinger high and ucla and many more that I’m forgettin, much love and Congratulations on a iconic career.