National Football League

The Glazies: Mike Zimmer's toughness, DeMarco Murray's grit and the Seahawks' stones

Published Oct. 20, 2014 4:30 p.m. ET

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What happens when the NFL's top insider combines his sage knowledge with strong opinions about some of the hot stories around the league? You get The Glazies! Every Monday during the regular season, Jay Glazer will give out five awards with a unique twist and insight shaped by two decades of being around the NFL's biggest names. Here is the debut installment of The Glazies for Week 7. And the winners are ...

The Lomas Brown Tough Guy of the Week Glazie: Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer

Zimmer coached Sunday's loss to Buffalo with kidney stones. That's crazy. If you've never had kidney stones before, trust me: They're the most painful thing on the planet to try to pass. Attempting to do this while coaching is beyond ridiculous.

Why Lomas Brown? Legend has it that when he was with Arizona in the late 1990s, Lomas played with a catheter in him to try to pass kidney stones DURING THE GAME. His teammates would crowd around him while Lomas dropped his pants to attempt to pass the stones. The Cardinals weren't even in the playoff hunt at the time. They were a losing team.

That type of dedication means "Zim" is in some great company. If only some of his Vikings players would take on his attitude, they wouldn't be sitting at 2-5 in the NFC North basement.

The Steel Trap Glazie: Dallas Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray

I say "steel trap" because that's exactly what DeMarco's mind is. In the preseason, DeMarco told me he wanted to sign a new contract but it wasn't going to get in his head. Most other players in his situation heading into the final year of their deals say the same thing. For the majority, it does get in their head and can negatively affect their performance.

Not DeMarco. I talked with him about it the other day and he said it to me again: "I told you it was not going to affect me. I told you that's the way I am. If I can't control something, it doesn't get in my head."

That's as impressive as the season he's having. He's the runaway leader in total rushing yards with 913 so far.

Message of the Week Glazie: Seattle trading Percy Harvin to the New York Jets

This was a ballsy, ballsy move by Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider. Harvin was one of Seattle's best players. But as we've reported after breaking the trade news for FOX Sports, there were major issues and attitude that came with that.

This is a lesson that the whole league should take to heart if someone acts like they're bigger than the team. Kudos to Carroll and Schneider for getting Harvin off of their team.

Coach of the Week Glazie: St. Louis Rams special teams coach John Fassel

The Seahawks weren't the only ones fooled by two big-time special teams plays in the Rams' upset win. A lot of the Rams starters didn't even know head coach Jeff Fisher had called the fake punt that iced the game in the final moments. Fassel made sure his unit executed it to perfection.

We also need to give a Best Supporting Actors Glazie to the St. Louis punt return unit for fooling the Seahawks into thinking that Tavon Austin was going to field a Jon Ryan kick. Instead, Stedman Bailey caught the ball on the other side of the field and returned it 90 yards for a touchdown.

The Tough Luck Glazie: Washington Redskins linebacker Brian Orakpo

Orakpo finally had recovered from two torn pectoral muscles on the left side of his body only to tear his right pec Sunday against Tennessee. Orakpo is out for the season and now will be coming off injured reserve when he heads toward free agency in the 2015 offseason. A guy who's such a tough competitor deserves better.