[revrew]

A Match Made in … Heaven?
by Adam West, Sports Illustrated

Deep in the bowels of the Joker Field stadium in Des Moines, Iowa, a strange, almost sadistic laugh can be heard.

Jack Ledger, the eccentric, "Clown Prince" of social media and the NFL's most devil-may-care, bad-boy franchise owner, is positively giddy over the newest addition to his team. No, not another Iowa player (for Ledger refuses to sign any player to his Des Moines Dragons who didn't attend either high school or college in the state of Iowa), but a coach.

For nearly two decades, Dragons' New Head Coach Josh McDaniels has been the prime disciple, the Sith-Lord paduan, of none other than the evil Emperor himself, New England's coach supreme, Bill Belichick. Under the Hooded One's tutelage, McDaniels has won more than a handful of Super Bowl rings, while being fully immersed in the "Patriot Way" – a system of team-first, heartless, scheming dominance that some call brilliant, others accuse of breaking the rules, and still others just refer to as "The Dark Side."

Now, Darth McDaniels is striking out on his own once again, after two, earlier attempts at coaching an NFL team failed. In Denver, McDaniels enjoyed a short stint as head coach that ended after allegations of cheating. McDaniels' stay in Indianapolis was even shorter, after he backed out of the head coaching job almost immediately upon the of announcement of his hire.

For better than 10 years, McDaniels continued to soak in the Patriot system, biding his time.

But when Belichick, the most powerful coach in the NFL galaxy, at last retired … McDaniels did not ascend to take the Foxborough throne. It was that slight, some say, that drove him to a desperate alliance - that drove him to Des Moines.

In a coup that shocked the sports media, Ledger, the king of jokers, announced McDaniels as the Dragons' new coach. And then he once again, faded from the spotlight.

But like his mentor Belichick, McDaniels did not step into the light himself, preferring instead the dark. Short, clipped media appearances. Cryptic answers. Words revealing nothing. And a new hoodie, this time in Dragon green, instead of Patriot gray. While the microphones were shoved relentlessly in his face, begging to know whether McDaniels was granted Ledger's permission to finally open the Dragon roster to players from outside Iowa, the new coach was persistently tight-lipped. His eyes glistened with a deep, dark secret.

Rather than repenting of the Dragons' rebellious roster-building ways, McDaniels was about to double down on them.

"Some men," they say, "just want to watch the world burn."

And other NFL owners are definitely burning.

"They're making a mockery of the league and of our history," fumed Raiders' owner Mark Davis after the 2032 NFL rookie draft revealed the Dragons would continue their Iowa-only ways. "Daddy never would have approved this. I can't believe [NFL Commissioner James] Gordon is allowing it."

Gordon, however, may not have a choice. The financial boon Ledger's Iowa-only approach has brought to the NFL is credited with virtually saving not only the Dragon (former Detroit Lion) franchise, but the flailing NFL itself. At an NFL owners rules meeting last spring, efforts to sanction or disallow Ledger's teambuilding strategy were soundly defeated.

And thus, the Dragons are now a two-headed monster – Ledger and the Emperor's protégé.

Deep, down that creepy hallway, where Ledger makes his lair, an eerie, maniacal sound can be heard. The Joker is having the last laugh after all.