SCHOOLED with "The Professor" John Clayton

Kevin Mawae was a unique center in the National Football League.

When the Seahawks drafted him, he struggled to maintain weight. His weight would slip to around 275 pounds, which is tough for a center trying to block in a division loaded with big defensive tackles. He got a little too heavy in year three. By the fourth year, he was able to resolve everything and have a Hall of Fame career. He joins us on Schooled with the Professor.

His story is a great one. Very few centers are able to pull on running plays outside the tackle but Mawae was one of the best in NFL history.  He was also relentless, he would block until he heard the whistle. That didn’t make him popular among defensive players.  

Kevin is now working with Herm Edwards at Arizona State. He talks about how tough it is get offensive linemen prepared for games in college.  He worries about the fundamentals blockers are using in the NFL and thinks it needs great improvement. We talk offensive line and Hall of Fame with Kevin Mawae on Schooled.

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This week we are joined by Dean Blandino, Fox analyst and former supervisor of officials for the NFL. Last week, NFL owners decided to alter the pass interference challenge rule that they approved in March. Blandino gets into the nuances of how difficult a task the Competition Committee has in getting things fixed. He also talks about the history of replay and how the intention was never to expand the number of plays that can be reviewed.  We also get into the difficulty officials have in a television age in which fans get such a great view of plays, often times better than the officials have. Dean schools us on the current state of officiating in the NFL this week on Schooled with the Professor.

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This is the time of year to plan for vacations and get ready for another NFL season. With former Seahawk center Kevin Mawae going into the Hall of Fame, Canton, Ohio, should be a great vacation destination in August.

On Schooled with the Professor, we talked to Pete Fierle, the Chief of Staff and VP of Communications for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Pete went into great detail of what is available for the fans. There are plenty of things to do, from the first pre-season game, to the parade and the Saturday night enshrinement.

Fierle talked about the selection process that I have been doing since 1988. He explains what we as voters go through every year. We go into the meeting the day before the Super Bowl with 15 modern day candidates. As Pete points out, more than 90 percent of them eventually get into the Hall of Fame. Each year, though, we have to say no to 10 of them and work on getting them back for the next selection.

Fierle takes us through what a Hall of Famer goes through from the time he learns of his selection to the time he speaks at the enshrinement ceremony. We talk Hall of Fame on Schooled.

 

 

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This is a big week for Akbar Gbaja-Biamila. He he celebrates his 40th birthday, heads Tacoma to shoot American Ninja Warrior, and launches his book `Everyone Can Be A Ninja'.

The book describes growing up in South Central Los Angeles as one of seven children. It also covers  his NFL career and how he made the transition into broadcasting. He applied the focus he learned growing up in South Central to his broadcasting career and now he’s a superstar.  

 On Friday and Saturday, NBC is shooting American Ninja Warrior at the Tacoma Dome, which is their first time holding tryouts in the Pacific Northwest.  Akbar talks football, life and being a Ninja on Schooled With The Professor.

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Everyone knew last weekend's NFL draft was going to be defensive, but it didn't play out as anticipated. This week, On Schooled with the Professor we turned to Bucky Brooks of the NFL Network and NFL.com.

The biggest surprise was the pass rushing defensive ends. It was considered a great draft for pass rushers but as it turned out, 12 defensive front seven players were taken in the first 19 picks and the list of quality pass-rushers ended quickly. Bucky goes into what happened to the drop-off of pass-rusher late in the first round and into the second.

We talk about how thin it was up top for running backs and the fact that receivers weren’t rated high but it was a deep draft for pass-catchers. He also discusses the Seahawks draft and the trend of more draft day trades. This episode has everything you want to know about the draft with Bucky Brooks on Schooled with the Professor.

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On the eve of the NFL draft, we caught up with Greg Gabriel, the former head of college scouting for the Chicago Bears.

For Schooled with the Professor, we hit the draft pretty hard. Greg educated us on the usual inside workings of the draft. As he said, normally teams are going to have first-round grades on 12 to 15 players and the next group may include 40 to 60 players who have second-round grades that are pretty close.

Gabriel explains how teams think. He discusses the flexibility of drafting for need or trading down to get more choices and talks about the nuances of this draft. He breaks down how good it is on defense and explains the effects of some of the injuries to players heading into the draft. Great draft stuff from Greg Gabriel, who writes for Pro Football Weekly and does radio in Chicago and Buffalo.

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The Russell Wilson contract extension was not only one of the biggest stories in Seattle this year, it was one of the biggest stories in the league.

This week on Schooled with the Professor, we talked to Bill Barnwell of ESPN.com. The two of us went in depth discussing the impact of having to pay quarterbacks and how it works in this cap era.

Bill recently wrote a story for ESPN.com about the next 11 quarterbacks who will get mega-deals. He accurately predicted that Wilson would get a four-year, $140 million contract. We spent plenty of time talking about how teams manage their caps with high-priced quarterbacks and how those teams make improvements. Plenty of in depth football talk on Schooled with the Professor.

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The NFL draft is two weeks away, so it’s time to start figuring out what’s going to happen. For the Seahawks.

John Schneider is likely to trade down from the 21st pick to get more draft picks, since they have only four. So, on Schooled with the Professor, we check in with Dan Shonka from Ourlads to study how far the Seahawks can move down and still get a quality defensive player.

Dan talks about how deep the draft is for edge pass-rushers, which is one of the team’s primary needs. Shonka breaks down how good some of the rushers will be at the end of the first round and into the second round. We talk about it being a bad year for cornerbacks. Even though two wide receivers could go in the first round, there may not be a receiver within the first-round of the draft.

Shonka puts in perspective how good this draft is for front seven defensive players. The draft is big in this edition of Schooled with the Professor.

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It’s double-header time on Schooled with the Professor!

First, we had a chance to talk to new Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper. David grew up in Pittsburgh. In fact, he graduated from the University of Pittsburgh two years after I graduated from Duquesne University. Both of us grew up in tough towns on the outskirts of Pittsburgh. Both of us were fortunate to learn and have great instincts growing up in that environment. Tepper became a billionaire. He bought a minority share of the Pittsburgh Steelers and then purchased the Panthers from Jerry Richardson. Many believe he’s going to be a dynamic owner.

At the NFL owners meetings, we caught up with former Seahawk Shawn Springs. Springs was a great cornerback for the Seahawks. He’s also become a great businessman. Springs won an award from the NFL for a company that is trying to make helmets safer in football. On Schooled, we talk player safety, Seahawks and Dwayne Haskins. Springs has worked closely with Haskins in the past few years because of his close relationship with the family. Haskins is expected to be a first-round selection at quarterback.

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The NFL's head of officiating Al Riveron sits down with The Professor at the owners' meetings in Phoenix, AZ in this week's SCHOOLED.

In a surprising move, NFL owners voted yesterday to approve a rule proposal that allows for offensive and defensive pass interference, including non-calls, to be subject to review. Saints coach Sean Payton led the charge to expand the replay system following a highly publicized missed call in the NFC championship game that many believe cost his team a trip to the Super Bowl.

On this week's episode, we discuss the rule change with the NFL's head of officiating Al Riveron. He explains how they plan to implement the new system and how much of an impact he expects it to have on the games this season.

We've got you covered with everything you need to know about this groundbreaking decision on Schooled with the Professor.

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