Football Cliches: Overused, but Still Great

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The 2013 Alabama Crimson Tide football season remains over 170 days away.  That does not mean we cannot look at the clichés sportswriters, announcers, fans, and yours truly will use during the best four months of the year.

“Laying the wood”

Often times, a person describes a hard hitting defender or defense as “laying the wood.”  What does this mean?  My best guess comes from the noise a piece of lumber makes when a person throws it down. Go grab the nearest 2×4 and throw it down. Hear that thud? See that vibration? It’s understandable if you thought that noise was Jadeveon Clowney hitting the person ten feet away from you. As we see here, Jadeveon Clowney “laid the wood” on Michigan’s Vincent Smith:

“Bringing the hammer”

Synonymous to “laying the wood,” football players bring the hammer when they make an outstanding hit.  Since you have that 2×4 on the floor, go get a nail and a hammer. Hammer the nail into the 2×4. Now, you know what it is like to “bring the hammer” like Oklahoma’s Ronnell Lewis in the 2010 Sun Bowl against Stanford:

“In the zone”

Fans enjoy describing a player having a great game as being “in the zone.”  Because I have never had a great game, I cannot tell you the address of “the zone.”  Watching plenty of sporting events leads me to believe “the zone” can only be found where the particular player is, which means I cannot give you a way to experience it like when you laid the wood or brought the hammer.  Just ask Mark Ingram what it was like to be in “the zone” on October 17, 2009 against South Carolina:

If you have any football clichés for me to discuss, please comment below or tweet them to me @RTRonClark.