I drew this cartoon for Universal Press (my syndicate) in the almost near stupor of completing my Super Bowl Cartoon Marathon for ESPN.com on Sunday night/Monday morning. I must admit. All-nighters are much harder than they used to be but there simply is no other way to do the 10 cartoons I needed to do (9 for the SB blog and the 1 for the syndicate.) Any way, I hope you enjoy. And if you know a Patriots fan, it’s the perfect little “in your face” cartoon to e-mail every few days or so until the start of next season. Just a thought.

Two old Geezers,
standing by the bleachers,
chewing their players out all day.
They’re pouting and sulking,
snarling and hulking,
Two Asses who grimace and bray.

They can’t stand to grin,
They can’t stand to win
They whine when they can’t get their way.
They have absolutely no fun
I can’t wait til they’re done
With this upcoming Super Bowl day.

“For when the One Great Scorer comes
To write against your name,
He marks-not that you won or lost-
But how you played the game.”
― Grantland Rice

There are so many different ways I could have approached this cartoon. I find it terribly sad that Paterno ended his time at Penn State with a horrific scandal. But I feel terribly sad for the victims it claimed. Joe Paterno once stood for everything that is right about college athletics. He preached integrity and honor and commitment to a larger cause. He taught young men to excel, not only on the field but off it as well. I almost used the Grantland Rice quote in this cartoon. I think perhaps it fits Paterno’s legacy more than any other quote I can think of. But the simple imagery of a stoic figure on the edge of eternity, with his trusty companion at his side seemed an apt tribute to the man and his mission. So today, at the passing of a coaching legend, I choose to remember him with dignity. I think, perhaps, he deserves at least that much. And more.

Every cartoon I draw is a judgement call. Whether it’s during the initial stages of thought process where I weed through all of the ideas I’m mulling over to find the one I think works best, or with an editor looking over roughs I send him who then helps me to pick the best one, it often comes down to the luck of the draw (no pun intended) as to which cartoon sees the light of day. I often have multiple “layers” of roughs I keep in the drawing program I use with the computer tablet I draw on, that usually get tossed once I draw the final cartoon. This time I thought, what the heck, it’s the end of the Broncos season, so why not ink and color one of the roughs I didn’t use for 9News on Sunday night. So you here you are. One from the cutting room floor. Enjoy.

So much for the “BIG” match-up of Aaron Rodgers vs. Drew Brees. The NFL is crazy that way. You can never count on anything to happen the way you think it will. That said, after seeing this weekends games I feel like no one will be able to beat the Patriots. Their tandem of tight ends is unreal. If the NFL is looking to outlaw something next year they can start with Rob Gronkowski. I’ve never seen a tight end that has the intangibles that he has. The guy should be illegal.

So the Broncos are done for this year, but there are tons of questions that need answers going forward. But there is a lot of time to deal with those. I personally just want to reminisce over the great season it has been. The NFL network had a terrific Tebow-in-review piece that played over the weekend. Great stuff if you can catch it playing again.

I want to thank everyone who offered some feedback on the site. So you can see I made yet another change here, bringing back the scrolling through cartoons from top to bottom and obviously a color change. Sometimes I just need to mix it up a bit. If you like it let me know. If not please do the same. There’s a pretty good chance I will add a permanent slider at the top of the blog so you can scroll through 10 or 12 of the most recent cartoons. But I need to play with that a bit first before I add it. Thanks again for your input.