JACKSONVILLE – Let's get to it …
Wayne from Jacksonville
What made you become a sportswriter and when did you know that's what you wanted to do? Did you ever write about anything professionally prior to sports? Have a good one, Mr. O.
I wouldn't normally bore the readers with this level of detail, but I'm perhaps a bit reflective and self-indulgent this week. I didn't know I wanted to be a sportswriter very long before becoming one. It frankly seemed like something other people got to do. I also likely frustrated high school and college guidance counselors because I never had a remote idea of "what I wanted to be when I grew up." It's most accurate to say I didn't want to work and that I avoided fending for myself as long as possible. My first job out of the University of Florida was at Ferguson Enterprises in Jacksonville. It would be nice to say I left that job to follow a dream, but the truth was I left because I had to get up too early and work too long. Being entitled, lazy and unaware at the time, I quit the job after two weeks. My second job was at Suddath Van Lines in Orlando. I knew no one in Orlando and was lonely – and still believed the most important thing in life was drinking beer with my friends. I also was still entitled and unaware enough to believe I was supposed to wake up "happy" every day at 21 years old, so I quit that. The girl I was dating at the time worked at the Florida Alligator at Florida. She knew I liked sports to an unusual degree and suggested I try something in that area – and cautiously and relatively unenthusiastically suggested sportswriting as an option. I eventually found myself at the Florida Times-Union answering phones in the sports department on Friday nights for five dollars an hour, writing brief paragraphs on high school football games and getting yelled at by frightening, experienced men who I respected and feared – and who taught me more in a weekend than I had learned in four and a half years of college. That's when I became a "sportswriter." I knew I wanted to do it the moment I walked in the building at One Riverside Avenue, a building no longer there. I was still entitled and not all that aware, but I was no longer lazy. I was lucky enough to be OK enough for the frightening, experienced men I respected and feared not ask me to leave. Thirty-eight football seasons later…
Robert from Elkton
John, just for exercise, what do you think the max the Jaguars would be willing to pay running back Travis Etienne Jr. and linebacker Devin Lloyd under their predicted cap constraints and prognosticated restructurings? Do you think they would keep them for $8 million and $13 million respectively? What's your best no-inside-information-or-saw-a-memo-in-the-waste-basket guess?
My best no-information-or-saw-a-memo-in-the-waste-basket guess is that there aren't numbers that can be reached, and that neither Etienne nor Lloyd will play for the Jaguars in 2026.
Jesse from Texas
What was the deal with Maason Smith last season? He seemed to be listed out with mysterious injuries, and then he was a healthy scratch on later game days with no reason given. It seemed like there was no effort by the Jags media to get answers to this.
There's no mystery here. Jaguars defensive tackle Maason Smith, a second-round selection in the 2024 NFL Draft, missed multiple games early in the 2025 season with various injuries. He was a healthy scratch late in the season because the Jaguars believed other players at the position gave them the best opportunity to win. You don't necessarily give "reasons" for healthy scratches. You just play the other guys. I don't know what more Jaguars media was supposed to learn.
Scott from Jacksonville
Most of us couch potatoes can drunk text better than Armand, I'll bet.
It's probably a draw.
Chris from Roseville
I had a nightmare. It's January 2027 and ETN runs for 133 yards and adds another 72 receiving yards to go with three total touchdowns as Kansas City beats the Jaguars 33-23 on the way to lifting another Lombardi.
How do the Jaguars' running backs play in your nightmare? I'll bet Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes played OK, too.
Hobo from between the Lakes-Ontario & Erie
Does Dewey's future tie to Caleb Ransaw's recovery from injury?
I don't get the idea there's much mystery around Jaguars safety Caleb Ransaw's return from injury. He missed his 2025 rookie season with a foot injury and I've heard nothing to indicate he won't be healthy for the 2026 season. I expect the Jaguars will enter the 2026 season with Eric Murray, Antonio Johnson and Ransaw as their top three safeties. Jaguars safety Andrew Wingard is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent on the March 11 start of the 2026 NFL League Year. I expect Wingard may want to play somewhere where he will enter the season as one of the team's top three safeties. He has played long enough well enough to pursue that if he so chooses. I hope he returns. He's one of the good ones. Stay tuned.
Jim from Jagsonville
There are a few things Pedal Bin from Farnborough missed on his retelling of how you earned the illustrious title King of All Funk. First, former longtime Florida Times-Union sports columnist and Northeast Florida cultural icon/thought leader Eugene P. "Gene" Frenette could have pulled that bass from the stone anvil at any time. Most importantly, it was the groove that was laid down from your fingers to our ears ... that was the funkiest! I'm tearing up now just thinking about it.
Nailed it.
Fred from Naples, FL
Regarding the beginning usage of the term "King of all Funk," I am pretty sure Gary from St. Augustine never referred you as such.
Gary from St. Augustine, FL, is a visionary whose thoughts and approach to life are ahead of his time. Best we all not lose sight of that.
Charles from Riverside
Hello, John. Dube from Jacksonville brought up an interesting question in regard to the new roof going over EverBank Stadium and how much more of a noise issue will it be for visiting teams. There are acoustic consultants and engineers that specialize in the acoustic design of buildings. These experts analyze spaces, select sound-absorbing or reflecting materials and control noise to optimize sound quality for different venues like auditoriums, music venues, opera houses, etc. So, can we assume that the architects and engineers that designed the stadium could have some design input as to the noise control at the 'Bank? Also, wondering at what point is a higher noise level detrimental to the home team, remembered the Vikings had problems with super high disruptive noise in their covered stadium, particularly for the O-line?
I confess I haven't dug deep into noise levels in the new stadium. I expect a roofed Stadium of the Future to be louder than an unroofed EverBank Stadium. I expect the fact that the roof is a transparent membrane covering 90 percent of the seasons rather than being fully enclosed will mean it's not so loud as to be detrimental to the home team. I also expect that at $1.4 billion there's an element of just needing to get the thing built. I'll try to get a better feel for this before the stadium opens in 31 months.
JK from NY & Fernandina Beach, FL
Hello, John. A recent question about the potential availability of Jersey Nos. 0, 1 and 5 next season got me thinking about how players can influence for a lifetime how a number is perceived by fans. There is a generation of Jags fans that will always associate No. 16 with the cool, aggressive and polished style of quarterback Trevor Lawrence. I have been partial to No. 44 as a homage to the greatness and swagger of Reggie Jackson while on the New York Yankees. But I could not help but also admire the hard-nosed running of running back John Riggins, which furthered my affinity for No. 44, despite not being a fan of the Washington Football Club. The Jags' current No. 44 does the jersey proud, and he may be the last to wear it on the field. Do you have a favorite jersey number, and if, so why?
I don't know that I necessarily have a favorite number, though I always thought double zero was cool when wide receiver/Jacksonville native Kenny Burrough wore it for the Houston Oilers and center Jim Otto wore it for the Oakland Raiders. Riggins was my favorite player in the day when I counted myself as a fan, so No. 44 also was cool. But let's go with No. 23. That's the number I wore while playing basketball for Jacksonville Episcopal High School back in a day that gets further away by the day. You know … me and MJ.
