I am not one to rant a whole lot. It is not my thing in general. I will rant about being patient, about Antrel Rolle, about the wave in baseball and now about a term I hate hearing on TV broadcasts. The thing is that in the past two games for the Arizona Cardinals, the TV team used it several times.
The term "deceptive speed" or saying a player is "deceptively fast" is what has me fired up.
The past two weeks, the Cardinals TV guys used the terms to describe two Cardinals players in particular -- rookies DeMarco Sampson and Robert Housler.
I get that these guys are rookies and really well known, but it was the Cardinals TV team. And it is simply incorrect to use the term to describe these guys.
When someone says "deceptively fast," it should mean that the guy isn't particularly speedy but somehow outruns people or creates good separation. Sampson and Housler should not be in that category.
These guys are plain fast. That is where the issue is. Sampson logged a pair of 4.41 40-yard dash times at the NFL combine. Housler ran a 4.46. While those are not Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie fast, they certainly are clearly fast times.
When I think deceptive speed, I think of a guy like Jerry Rice. He was not a burner by any means, but he somehow was always able to outrun people and get behind defenses. Sampson is a big guy and Housler is a tight end. I guess the intent of the term is to say that they are "surprisingly fast," either because of size or position.
Not all deep threats are skinny fast guys. All you have to do is look at a player's scouting report.
When guys are fast, they should be acknowledged as such. Don't make them deceptive if they have true speed.
And that concludes this rant....you may carry on with whatever it was that once occupied you.