Busy Sports Line

Panthers rookie QB Clausen will compete for starting job

2010-07-26T01:54:00.000-07:00

The Carolina Panthers rookie quarterback Jimmy Clausen is not as hot topic as some other quarterbacks from the same round of the 2010 NFL Draft. Being compared to No.1 first overall draft pick Sam Bradford and the most high-profile Tim Tebow, Clausen has always been ignored when people are talking about the most prominent rookie quarterbacks. However, the Brett Favre jersey lover will possibly attract most attention when the regular season begins because he may be the first rookie quarterback of his class to get a starting job.

The Panthers had second-year quarterback Matt Moore replace starting quarterback Jake Delhomme late in 2009 season. While Moore did not make any significant mistake as a replacement, he neither showed much talent in dealing with the starting role. He is too young and has little more experience than a rookie quarterback like Clausen. With Delhomme leaving to put on Minnesota Vikings jersey, the Panthers do not have many choices in starting quarterback, and their best choice is one of the two young quarterbacks. So a competition between Moore and Clausen is inevitable any way.

So Clausen will enter the training camp to compete for a starting job. No matter who wins the job at last, the Panthers will just get a clearer view of both quarterbacks. The winner must be the stronger one and will give the team more chance to win.

Steelers OLB Woodley is upset about contract talks

2010-07-21T02:51:00.000-07:00

The Pittsburgh Steelers have not made any obvious posture on whether they are going to offer a contract extension to their Pro Bowl offensive linebacker LaMarr Woodley. By so far, they have only offered him a one-year restricted free agent tender, which will pay the fourth-year veteran $550,000 in base salary this season, no wonder Woodley said it more than once that he’d like to try his chance of putting on Saints jersey to play for another Super Bowl winning team.

"It’s kind of jacked up," Woodley told Yahoo! Sports. "Everything I’ve ever done for the Steelers, on and off the field, has been positive. Sometimes you don’t get the same thing back in return. I’m not going to lie—I was a little disappointed that they didn’t offer anything at all. I felt that was a little weird. I guess they decided they’re going to sit back and wait for the CBA and all that to play out.”

Woodley finished last season with 13.5 sacks, six passes defended, one force fumble, one fumble recovery and one touchdown, and was previously confident that he would get a good contract extension for the new season. But the team’s hesitance disappointed him. Perhaps the Steelers should learn how the Vikings treat their starting quarterback in Favre jersey to retain their cornerstone players.

JaMarcus Russell still wants to stay in NFL

2010-07-17T02:30:00.000-07:00

Although it seems that quarterback JaMarcus Russell has run out of his chances to join a team, the three years veteran still keeps his hope alive for staying with the league. And in order to stay, he even chose to turn down offers from other league, such as the United Football League.

Along with several other unemployed NFL players, Russell is listed on the Omaha Nighthawks' "provisional roster" after he was released by the Oakland Raiders in early offseason. The former first overall draft pick did not prove anything in his three-year tenure with the team. Weight issues and general ineffectiveness on the field caused him to lose favors with all supporters and is not considered one of the biggest draft pick bust. To make things worse, Russell was involved in a legal trouble last week, preventing even more teams from contacting him for possible cooperation.

Russell was last seen in a Brett Favre jersey with his lawyer, who has expressed confidence that the strong-armed former LSU star will be exonerated. Whatever, we will see if he can make it on July 20, when Russell is going to appear on court for a trial.

Dolphins NG Ferguson leaves NFL suspension behind by quitting football

2010-07-16T01:42:00.000-07:00

The Miami Dolphins nose guard Jason Ferguson is no longer worrying about the eight-game suspension he received from the National Football League. He is now actually an ex-NFL player as he has announced to retire on Thursday, saying farewell to the league and ending his 13-season career.

“You get what you put into this game," Ferguson said. "I would like to thank my family, the fans and the organizations that I have been a part of for their continued support throughout my career, it’s been an absolute blessing to play this long. I have built a lot of relationships, you develop an extended family playing this game; I would like to thank that extended family, the teammates, the coaches, the support staffs that have all played a part of a great ride.”

Finishing his career with 569 tackles, 21 1/2 sacks, 12 pass deflections, six forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries, Ferguson now feels relaxed and said he was going to watch some NFL games this regular season. He could be seen in his favorite Terry Bradshaw jersey while his wife and kids could be wearing Brett Favre jerseys as they are all loyal Vikings fans.

Cardinals added rookie QB Skelton officially to roster

2010-07-15T01:42:00.001-07:00

By signing him to a four-year, $1.97 million contract, the Arizona Cardinals added officially the fifth-round draft pick John Skelton to the team’s roster on Wednesday. By signing on the documents, the rookie contract was immediately paid $182,000 as signing bonus. It was absolutely a standard offer for a fifth-round draft pick, and Skelton now has four years to improve his value before asking for a more lucrative contract from the team.

By accepting the terms on the rookie contract, Skelton agreed to receive the standard base salaries of $320,000, $405,000, $490,000 and $575,000 as well as a fourth-year escalator clause that can significantly boost the maximum value of the deal. The former Fordham local football star was often seen in a Brett Favre jersey and using his strong arm to throw balls in his backyard when at home. At the height of 6 feet 5 and weighing 243 pounds, Skelton used to make appearance in the East-West Shrine all-star game.

Skelton’s statistics in college football career were 9,923 passing yards, 69 touchdowns and 36 interceptions with a 58.8 completion percentage. In 2009 season only, he passed for 2,708 yards, 26 touchdowns and 10 interceptions with a 64.4 completion percentage. It’s very likely for the rookie to earn a backup role in this upcoming 2010 season.

Dolphins want to bring LB Taylor back to Miami

2010-07-12T00:20:00.000-07:00

Although the Miami Dolphins just did not re-sign linebacker Jason Taylor when he became an unrestricted free agent and allowed him to sign with another NFL team that will return in regular season to play against Taylor’s former team, the Dolphins now seem to regret for the wrong decision and showed intention to bring the linebacker back to Miami, to receive the honor of being a member of the team’s Ring of Honor.

It was said by former Dolphins receiver Nat Moore, who will be a member of the selection committee. At least Moore’s words would clear Taylor’s worries on what response he would receive from his former fans when his current team New York Jets visits the Dolphins this September.

"Hopefully, some of the things I've done down here will earn me some equity,'' Taylor said."But it's the Dolphins playing the Jets and I won't expect much. My wife will be there, so she'll cheer wearing her favorite Brett Favre jersey. I've got a few friends I'm going to buy tickets for, so they'll cheer.'"

Besides, there were a lot of fans hoping the Dolphins to resign Taylor during this offseason and they won’t blame Taylor for leaving them. These fans will definitely offer some cheers for Taylor during the game.

Veteran LB Antonio Pierce retired to start new career

2010-07-09T23:31:00.000-07:00

Instead of putting on his former New York Giants uniform, unrestricted free agent linebacker Antonio Pierce was wearing his favorite Michael Irvin jersey when he announced that he was going to retire after spending nine years in the National Football League. He also promised that he would not disappear from the league as he had got a job from ESPN and will appear on NFL Live program from time to time.

Pierce had been with the Giants for five seasons since 2005 and used to be the team’s defensive captain and made great contribution to Giants’ Super Bowl win over the New England Patriots in 2008. However, he showed significant setback last season and played in only 9 regular season games, finishing the season with 55 tackles and only 1 sack. As a result, he was released by the Giants in early February.

Before joining the Giants, Pierce spent his first four NFL seasons with the Washington Redskins and established his fame of being an aggressive linebacker. His career numbers include 137 games, seven playoff games, 687 tackles, 9 sacks and seven interceptions.

Rookie WR Edwards received multi-year contract from Panthers

2010-07-09T01:28:00.000-07:00

The Carolina Panthers confirmed the value of rookie wide receiver Armanti Edwards by signing him to a three-year contract on Thursday, three months after they drafted the former Appalachian State star college player with a 89th overall pick. During the three months of observation, they got a great impression of the rookie’s versatility.

Aiming at putting on his favorite Saints jersey to join the champion team, Edwards worked hard at college to be an excellent quarterback. During his college football career, Edwards totally completed 768 of 1,180 passes for 10,392 yards and 74 touchdowns with 33 interceptions and rushed for 4,361 yards and 65 touchdowns on 755 carries, becoming the first player in NCAA Division I history to pass for more than 10,000 yards and rush for more than 4,000 yards. However, the Saints did not show much favor in Edwards and let the Panthers get him in the middle of second round.

Despite Edwards’ great performance as a college quarterback, the Panthers decided to convert him into a wide receiver, so Edwards’ main job during offseason workouts was to learn catching balls. They seemed to be satisfied with the rookie’s smooth switch and is now planning to try him as a punt returner on special-teams in training camp.

Steelers WR Ward wants to retire as a Steeler

2010-07-08T02:19:00.000-07:00

At age 34, the Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward has been playing with the team for 12 seasons and is ready to entering his 13th season. During a recent interview, he made it clear that he would play with the Steelers for as long as he could. If he retires, he would only like to retire as a Steeler.

Ward is now working hard to prepare for his 13th NFL season. He is on a strict diet and workout program, which includes time spent in a hyperbaric chamber. By so far, he is feeling good with his conditioning and is confident that the Steelers will have a much better season this year, although the team will have to start the new season with a less experienced starting quarterback than Ben Roethlisberger, who is suspended for the first six games of 2010 NFL season because of inappropriate off field behaviors.

Ward’s favorite player, however, is a former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver, and he was often seen in a No. 88 Michael Irvin jersey when not with the Steelers. Ward used to say that he admires Irvin for the Hall of Famer’s greatness in football and life-long loyalty to his former team, and Ward would like to follow Irvin’s example to stay with the Steelers till the least second of his NFL career.

QB Russell’s career is threatened by his off-field trouble

2010-07-07T02:17:00.000-07:00

The former Oakland Raiders starting quarterback JaMarcus Russell recently added some more obstacles to his NFL future by getting arrested for possession of codeine. The former first overall draft pick had been already devaluated after being cut by the Raiders but still had chance to negotiate with some weak teams interested in his talents. However, the recent legal trouble just caused all teams to shy away.

According to recent reports, Russell attracted more concerns on his incompetence as a quarterback. Previously, there were still reports saying that he could have chance to put on Saints jersey if he was willing to play as backup to Drew Brees. But now the Saints definitely have crossed his name off from the list of their options in backup quarterback. Nevertheless, it does not necessarily mean the end of Russell’s football career.

Russell could follow the example of former Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams, who also had drug issues but found refuge by joining a Canadian Football League. And it was reported that Russell has already attracted attention from a CFL team, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, who like to add Russell so that they could draw more attention and fans.

Colts safety Bullitt begins to attract more attention

2010-07-06T03:02:00.000-07:00

As a fourth year veteran, the Indianapolis Colts veteran safety Melvin Bullitt was previously known by little and seldom appeared to attract much attention. However, as most of this offseason has passed, people began to notice that Bullitt is now a key role of the team’s defense.

Bullitt has solidified the safety position as a hard-nosed tackler while former NFL Defensive Player of the Year Bob Sanders had to miss games and workouts with various injuries. Starting 21 games over the past two season, Bullitt never disappointed coaches when he was needed as he can do anything he was asked to do the best. Spending most of past three seasons as backup role, Bullitt has also been expecting more playing time. He resembles a lot his favorite NFL player, Archie Manning as he is always calm with whatever situation he is in. He collected a lot of Archie Manning jerseys when he was a young boy and he is now always wearing one to remind himself of how his idol dealt with career problems.

Bullitt believes that he can eventually be recognized as long as he does what he needs to do the best. He is proved to be right with that attitude. The Colts are not seriously considering giving him the starting job while Sanders will miss most of the 2010 season.

Late Bengals WR had head injury before death

2010-06-29T02:47:00.000-07:00

A lot of people regretted when late Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry died after an accident in his hometown. When we almost forget about this story, there came to be a report saying that Henry already had a head injury and it might affected his mental state and behavior and caused him to fall from a truck.

The tragedy happened after Henry had a quarrel with his fiancée, who started a pickup truck to drive away in anger and did not know that Henry jumped up into the back of the truck. Then Henry lost his balance and fell out, having his head hit on the ground. A Passer-by in Minnesota Vikings jersey found Henry and sent him to hospital immediately but the young man did not open his eyes again.

According to a result of a research done by researchers at West Virginia University, Henry already had chronic traumatic encephalopathy before the accident. Researchers said that that brain disease is not necessarily related to a concussion, which was never diagnosed on Henry during his NFL career, and the disease is always caused by multiple head impacts and is often found in professional football players.

Working at home could be hard, too

2010-06-28T02:35:00.000-07:00

Many people may think those earning money by working at home could have much easier life than themselves. But not all at-home jobs are easy and cost only brain cells. But considering that you can have your own time schedule so that you will not miss the NFL season and waste your money on Brett Favre jersey, working at home is still a better idea than commuting everyday to workplace.

Self-employed massage therapists should be taken as manual workers and their job really requires of hard physical efforts as well as good techniques. But in modern society, therapists are popular and needed by many people as they can help clients reduce stress, relax overworked muscles and recover from injury through various massage techniques. Still, manual workers earn much less than brainworker and a massage therapists average annual salary is around $40,000.

Comparing to massage therapist, self-employed customer service representatives is even a harder at-home job as we all know dealing with complaining customers is far from easy to do. Besides, companies hire at-home customer service representatives to cut cost so doing such a job means you earn less than those working in company offices. Their average annual salary is about $32,000.

Narcotics caused couple to sell their kid for $25

2010-06-26T02:36:00.001-07:00

Two women met a couple outside of Wal-Mart on Wednesday morning. To their surprise, the couple told them that they were willing to sell their baby for only $25. The little baby was in a large Minnesota Vikings jersey and deep in sleep, unaware of what was happening around it. Fortunately the two women were kind and smart enough and finally saved the baby from its parents, who were under the influence of narcotics.

Anyone who came across to such happening would thought the couple were joking, and so did the two women, but they found that the father of the child was too persistent to be joking and they got to know what was happening must be insane. They talked with the couple, pretending to be interested in the deal, and got to know enough information for tracking the couple to their home. After saying goodbye to the couple, the two women called the police, who arrived at the couple’s home and found that both the baby’s father and mother were under the influence of narcotics.

After being charged, the mother of the kid admitted that she had breastfed the infant even when she was taking drugs. Both of the couple were charged with child endangerment and being under the influence of narcotics, and the kid was sent to hospital for health examination.

Some snacks you can enjoy without worries

2010-06-25T02:59:00.000-07:00

I know it’s important to stick with a diet plan if I want to get rid of my extra weight to fit a real lady fan’s Archie Manning jersey, but I just can’t help stopping eating snacks. I’ve always been looking for some low-calories snacks that I can enjoy without worries on adding fat, and I do have found quite a few and I’m glad to share a list of them.

List A is for snacks holding less than 100 calories: 6-oz container Yoplait Light Red Velvet Cake Yogurt, holding 100 calories; 6 squares dark Bubble Chocolate, holding 100 calories; 4-oz cup Mott’s Health Harvest Summer Strawberry Sauce with 1 tbsp walnuts and a dash of apple pie spice, holding 98 calories; 21 mini-marshmallows with 1/3 cup Golden Grahams, holding calories; 6-inch tortilla with 1 tbsp salsa and 1 wedge The Laughing Cow Light Queso Fresco & Chipotle, 91 calories; Smartfood White Cheddar Cheese Flavored Popcorn, 100 calories, 1 cup fruit salad topped with 1 tbsp Cool Whip free, 98 calories.

List B is for snacks with even lower calories and it includes much fewer options. As far as I know, Crispy Green Freeze-Dried Pears hold only 39 calories, 1 Jello-O Sugar-Free Gelatin Snack with 1/4 cup whipped cream hold 49 calories and 10 strawberries rolled in confectioners’ sugar hold 71 calories.

Broncos CB Bailey is still waiting for contract extension

2010-06-24T03:02:00.000-07:00

The Denver Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey is now in his final year of his current contract with the team. The seven-year, $63 million contract is to expire following the 2010 season, so it’s reasonable for the 32-year-old cornerback to worry about the contract extension.

"Are we disappointed the Broncos have not approached us about a contract extension? Obviously, we are," Bailey's agent Jack Reale told the Post. "A player of Champ's caliber deserves to have the option of an extended contract. This is a guy who essentially was a six-time Pro Bowler [if not for an injury in 2008] in his six years there."

However, the Broncos do not seem likely to give the extension in near future. After all, Bailey is turning 32 years old and the team is still unsure whether he can perform well in the 2010 season, let alone the following seasons. Even if Bailey threatened that he was going to put on New Orleans Saints jersey, the team will not mind much. If they do have to trade Bailey to the Saints, I guess they would be glad to ask for a younger cornerback in return.

Rookie RB McKnight received lucrative contract from Jets

2010-06-23T02:50:00.000-07:00

The New York Jets made announcement on Tuesday that they have signed fourth-round draft pick, rookie running back Joe McKnight to a four-year contract that will pay McKnight a total base salary of nearly $2.36 million. The deal was considered a rare one a rookie can receive from his first NFL team.

Growing up as a faithful New Orleans Saints fan, McKnight previously hoped to join the defending champion team and put on the number 8 that used to be on his beloved Archie Manning jersey. However, he ended up wearing 25 with the Jets. So the big contract could also be signed to prevent McKnight from signing with another team. Although he was drafted 112th overall, McKnight’s performance during college was rather impressive. He rushed for 2,213 career yards at USC with 13 touchdowns and 66 catches for 542 yards.

It was weird McKnight was not picked by other team in higher round, and the Jets were really lucky. They may feel so and that was why they are willing to the rookie a base salary of $320,000 in his first season. Good player is worth good price.

How much do you have to save for a child?

2010-06-12T02:47:00.000-07:00

You could hardly believe how much you have to spend on raising a child nowadays. But research shows that you need to save every possible penny if you are planning to have a child in near future. No cigarettes, no club activity, no out dinner and even no Terry Bradshaw jersey even if you are eager to have one to watch your beloved team playing football game. Oh, yeah watch it on TV instead of buying the tickets.

According to recent research, raising a child to maturity will cost about $200,000 in nowadays. The costs include expenses on child care, education, health care, transportation and housing. Among these expenses, child care accounts for 17% of the total expenses, education accounts for 16% and housing makes up 30%. The money spent on housing is mainly used to add an extra bedroom for the child. The $200,000 only covers the spending on a kid under age 17, and your financial support to your kid before he/she lives independently could be another huge expense.

The high cost could be a good reason to explain the popularity of DINK family and it also supports DINK people’s opinion on their life style. For those who look forward to traditional family life, the high cost could serve as a strong motivation for them to work even harder.

Vikings Fans are raising money to help gulf residents

2010-06-10T02:10:00.000-07:00

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has attracted a lot of attention from the world, and a lot of people and groups are making their effort to help recover the communities there. Following the New Orleans Saints who visited the communities, the Minnesota Vikings fans are also raising money for the recovery.

According to reports, an online community of Vikings fans is selling members’ precious collection of Vikings products to raise money to help gulf residents recover from the oil spill. The autographed Brett Favre jerseys are most popular among the thousands of items related to Vikings. One such jersey on auction was bought by a long-time fan at a high price of $1,000. Some other jerseys of other Vikings players were bought at different prices. By doing so, the community hopes to raise as much as $50,000 to donate to the gulf recovery groups.

There are also other NFL teams doing what they can do to help these unfortunate residents. Even President Obama made statement on his attitude toward the incident and BP, the company who caused the oil spill. By so far, there has not been confirmative or apologetic claim from UK government and anger of Americans is increasing.

Peyton Manning returned to practice from neck injury

2010-06-05T00:11:00.000-07:00

As the Indianapolis Colts opened their first offseason minicamp on Friday, we were glad to see the starting quarterback Peyton Manning also participate in most parts of the workouts. It seems the neck problem is no longer bothering him and the leading role of Colts was ready to start a new wonderful season.

“I’m out here throwing and I’ll no longer have to get the treatment that I’ve been getting for the last four years. It’s a great relief,” Manning said Friday, assuring his fans that there is nothing to worry about his neck. “All my symptoms and issues that I’ve been dealing with for the last four years have subsided.”

Returning of Peyton lit up the hopes of Colts winning the Super Bowl XLV championship. The team lost the Super Bowl XLIV to the New Orleans Saints in February. Talking about the loss to the former team of his father, Archie Manning, Peyton said that he was grateful for father’s support and felt regretful for the loss. But he promised that he would win the new competition in 2011. He joked that his father had got ready to put on his Archie Manning jersey for celebration of son’s third Super Bowl victory.

Vikings Coach does not take Twitter trash talk seriously

2010-06-03T01:47:00.000-07:00

It’s been quite a few days since the New Orleans Saints safety Darren Sharper started the twitter trash talks with his former Minnesota Vikings teammates, however, the trash talk could be only for fun, as the Vikings head coach Brad Childress recently said that he was not concerned with the verbal war.

Childress said that the word exchanges in cyberspace was mostly for fun and he know well that Sharper had a good relationship with Visanthe Shiancoe, Sharper’s major rival in the verbal war. Besides, Sharper also used to be Brett Favre’s teammate in the Green Bay Packers, and he could not be serious when saying that Favre’s surgically repaired ankle had been an X Mark to him. “He should be happy for seeing the quarterback wearing back his No.4 Brett Favre jersey,” Childress said. “He was joking about the ankle because he knew that would attract attention.”

Childress did not seem worried at all that the twitter fight could affect Shiancoe’s playing status, even though the tight end missed Wednesday’s optional team practice. Inevitably, Childress was asked about Favre’s playing status, and the coach said that they were still waiting for the quarterback’s final decision.

Fans offer Terry Bradshaw tips on dating woman

2010-05-29T00:43:00.000-07:00

Having a successful football career as former Pittsburgh Steelers starting quarterback, Terry Bradshaw, however, has had three failures in marriage and been single since he devoiced with his third wife. His personal life has also been concerned by his long-time fans. Some of them sent Bradshaw Emails to offer tips on how to ask a woman out.

These fans pointed out that Bradshaw is no longer a star NFL player so dating with a woman is no longer as easy as it was when Bradshaw was a most popular man in Pittsburgh. They told Bradshaw to remember as many as ten dos and don’ts when asking a woman he likes out to have a date. On top of the list are being straightforward and making it clear what Bradshaw’s feeling with the lady he likes to go out with. The most interesting tip is that the former star quarterback should not wear his No.12 Bradshaw jersey when dating with a woman. Though the uniform could remind people of his great achievements in the past, wearing it shows casual attitude toward the date and would decrease woman’s impression on Bradshaw.

Bradshaw released some of the tips recently and expressed his gratitude to these warm-hearted fans. He also said that he surely would test the tips if he has a crush on someone, which he hopes to appear in near future.

Brett Favre was told not to retire by former teammate

2010-05-26T02:21:00.000-07:00

Brett Favre’s struggle with retirement actually began in 2006 offseason, after the Green Bay Packers finished the previous 4-12. At that time Favre was undecided for real sense and asked his former teammates for advices. He eventually returned as all his most respected teammates told him not to retire.

Frank Winters, Antonio Freeman and Santana Dotson were playing with Favre when he led the Packers to a Super Bowl XXXI championship. They all knew well that Favre loves fishing, hunting, golfing and especially football so much that retirement would cause him to fall into depression. They understood that Favre actually did not like the idea of walking away but he was only worrying about whether he was still able to win as people expected him to do. These former teammates’ advices worked well and Favre eventually work back his Brett Favre jersey for 2006 season as they made him to be more confident with what he could still do at age 37.

Nowadays, Favre needs no more advice from friends or teammates on his decision to retire or return. He has already proved that he could still win at age 40, so he is likely to return for his 20th NFL season, with different teammates. That could be the only thing his former teammates unwilling to see.

Terry Bradshaw showed interest in coaching job

2010-05-24T02:30:00.000-07:00

As a former star quarterback of the National Football League with an experience of leading the Pittsburgh Steelers to four Super Bowl victories, Terry Bradshaw recently thought he was qualified to work for the NFL again as a quarterback coach or something like that.

After retiring from the NFL, Bradshaw spent most part of his retirement life as a TV show host. He has been much less popular since taking off the honored No.12 Terry Bradshaw jersey and always appeared jealous when seeing new star quarterbacks attract much more attention to him. But he never gave up reminding people of himself and his past as a star quarterback. However, after some initial controversies on his harsh comment about other quarterbacks, people soon got fed up with his show. We can still hear of Bradshaw’s name sometimes, but it always appeared with another much more popular guy. So recently Bradshaw showed his intention to return to NFL to regain his popularity.

I’m not sure working as a quarterback coach could help Bradshaw receive more attention from the public, but at least he could have authority to make comments on the quarterbacks he is going to coach, and what he says of his quarterback could be more taken more seriously by people. However, I don’t see his chance to be employed by any NFL team; after all, being a good quarterback does not necessarily mean the qualification to be a good QB coach. And Bradshaw could just be better fit for a TV show host.

Archie Manning and Brett Favre are fans to each other

2010-05-21T01:58:00.000-07:00

When Archie Manning was playing for the New Orleans Saints as a quarterback, Brett Favre was still a young boy living n southern Mississippi. Although Manning never managed to have a winning season, Favre still took the former Mississippi star college player as his favorite quarterback.

With Manning being his idol, Favre also attended the Ole Miss to be a college football player there. Years later, Favre became a professional NFL player and also developed into a star quarterback. Then he was finally recognized by his former idol, Archie Manning, who made public statement that Favre was as great quarterback his own sons, Eli Manning and Peyton Manning. Knowing that Favre was formerly his fan, Manning said it was now his turn to support his alumnus.

While Favre never played for the Saints and always met his favorite team as opponents with each other, he at least has managed to join the Minnesota Vikings and get the number four, the number on Archie Manning jersey when the ex-NFL quarterback was playing his last career season with the Vikings.

There is no new quarterback on way to Vikings

2010-05-19T01:59:00.000-07:00

Although the Minnesota Vikings have not had a starting quarterback confirmed for the 2010 season, they do not seem like to bring in some new quarterbacks from the open market or through a trade with another team. They are either still waiting for Brett Favre’s decision or observing backup quarterbacks Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels.

According to latest reports, Favre has not informed the Vikings whether he is planning to have a surgery. Still with one year left on his current contract with the Vikings, the Vikings fans are highly expecting Favre to wear back Vikings jersey and finish the contract before retirements. However, the 40-year-old man simply tells nothing about his decision either on the surgery or his playing status for 2010 season.

If Favre really does not return, there will be a competition for starting job between Jackson and Rosenfels. Already winning the starting job last year before Favre’s sudden arrival, Jackson is apparently with a better chance to win the starting job. But anyway, this is a new year, something may be different, and there have been a few rumors of Vikings asking for other teams’ quarterbacks. What the starting quarterback is to be still remains quite mysterious.

Guard Chester Pitts attracted interests from Vikings

2010-05-10T00:45:00.000-07:00

Still rehabbing from the knee injury suffered last September, the Houston Texans guard Chester Pitts is now on his way back to NFL, but it’s very unlikely for him to return with the Texans. According to recent reports, other teams have been in contact with the veteran, and one of them is the Minnesota Vikings.

Pitts recently told reporters that he received phone call from the Vikings last week and was asked about the rehab process. The Seattle Seahawks also contacted him, but it seems that the Vikings attracted more attention from the public because of their roster moves during the offseason.

After losing Artis Hicks to the Washington Redskins during free agency, the Vikings have been in lack of a qualified replacing offensive lineman. Although the drafted former Wake Forest lineman Chris DeGeare from the fifth-round of 2010 NFL draft, there is still a void in the starting line. Replacement for Hicks must be like the former starter, veteran and versatile, and that are the very traits making Pitts the best choice. Besides, having Pitts put on Vikings jersey would be cheap as he is just coming off a microfracture surgery. What’s more, Vikings head coach Brad Childress would like Pitts to be in his offensive line the 32-year-old veteran has been famous for being a finesse blocker instead of an overpowering one.

Holy Cross OL Aaron Jones got invitation from Saints

2010-05-07T00:29:00.000-07:00

Hearing nothing from any of the 32 NFL teams by the end of the three-day 2010 NFL draft, former Holy Cross defensive lineman Aaron Rodgers disappointedly thought he was completely a loser of the draft. However, two weeks later, he finally received a call from the best team of last season, the New Orleans Saints.

Graduating from South High School in 2006, Jones had been selected to All-Patriot League for twice while playing with the Crusaders. He also managed to earn second team honors in 2009 and first team honors in 2008. With is help, the Crusaders had leading record of score in the Patriots League with 34.4 points per game, 455.4 total yards on offense per game and 348.9 passing yards on offense per game. Attending both Pro Days at the University of Massachusetts and Boston College, he might have impressed some Saints coach in one of them.

Jones has been excited for being able to put on Saints jersey after a short while of surprise. Although a tryout chance is still far away from a real roster spot with the defending champion team, he made it clear that the chance itself is worth waiting and he will try his best to earn a real Saints jersey.

Vikings could have new stadium along Lake Elmo

2010-05-04T22:17:00.000-07:00

According to reports, the Minnesota Vikings have several choices of the new stadium’s site, and three of them are along the interstate dividing Lake Elmo and Woodbury. However, it is still early to make a choice as the bill on funding the building is still pending.

Lake Elmo officials confirmed on Monday that they contacted with the Vikings officials earlier this year on the possibility of locating the team’s new stadium in north of Interstate 94. According to city administrator Bruce Messelt, there are four areas in the city available to build up a new professional football stadium, beside the three sites along the interstate, there is a fourth site north of the Eagle Point Business Park. Each of the four sites is big enough to hold the new stadium.

However, Messelt also made it clear that the contract between representatives of Lake Elmo and the Vikings officials on the potential locations had been very limited, and it had been long since their last talks. So Vikings fans still have time to express their opinions on the new site, where they are going to watch Vikings games in Vikings jerseys after the 2011 season.

Rookie RB Gerhart is already familiar with some Vikings

2010-05-03T01:20:00.000-07:00

Being drafted by the Minnesota Vikings as a second-round pick from the 2010 NFL draft, running back Toby Gerhart seemed doomed to get linked with the team. Although he would put on Vikings jersey for the first time by the time of rookie camp, Gerhart has already known some of the Vikings long before.

The starting running back Gerhart is going to back up, Adrian Peterson has been the rookie’s idol for long. Winning the Heisman Trophy as one of the best college running backs, Gerhart’s career goal is just to become a running back like Peterson, who was a college star already when Gerhart was a freshman in college. Then he met the famous running back at a Super Bowl game and was excited enough to have a handshake with Peterson. Now he really puts on Vikings jersey and will play with his idol, and Gerhart just has more motivation than other rookies to do his best.

Except for Peterson, there is another Vikings a non-stranger to Gerhart. Running backs coach Eric Bieniemy used to be recruiting Gerhart to UCLA, but eventually Gerhart went to Stanford and Bieniemy joined the Vikings. So it’s interesting enough that finally the two still came to the same place to work for the same team.

Saints’ choices in 2010 draft are still worth expectation

2010-04-29T02:12:00.000-07:00

Although quite a few people think that the New Orleans Saints picked too many offensive rookies but showed somewhat ignorance with the defensive line, some other people, judging from the team’s success with draft picks during the past few years, believe that the Saints newly drafted rookies will prove they are the right choices.

Since 2006, the Saints have successfully turned low-round picks into popular star players who used to be selected into Pro Bowls and win Super Bowl rings. Such examples include former seventh-round pick Marques Colston, six-round pick Zack Strief, sixth-round pick Carl Nicks and fourth-round picks Jahri Evans and Jermon Bushrod. The team also managed to prove their high-round picks all deserve the original expectations. Former first-round picks like Jammal Brown, Reggie Bush, Robert Meachem and Sedrick Ellis were all with team in the Super Bowl XLIV victory over the Indianapolis Colts.

Now we can have a look at the rookies drafted by Saints from the 2010 NFL draft. Cornerback Patrick Robinson has proven he could be a playmaker with his performance in college football career; defensive tackle AI Woods is highly expected to develop into a great professional player; tackle Charles Brown is widely recognized as a talent young player and tight end Jimmy Graham has the potential to be another valuable weapon of the team. Therefore, the Saints fans do have quite a few reasons to get their beloved Saints jerseys ready with the belief that the team will have another winning season.

Saints did not make bad choices in draft

2010-04-27T01:22:00.000-07:00

Two days passed since the end of 2010 NFL draft and analysts begin to give out their opinions on teams’ different choices in the draft. As for the defending champions New Orleans Saints, who held late round picks with limited choice when it was their turn to pick, most professional analysts think that they did not make bad choices.

Best of all the choices made by the Saints was the selection of second-round pick Charles Brown, offensive tackle from the USC. He had been already a great player during college years and has potential to be a better one in the professional NFL. With great feet that are needed on offensive line, the young player is expected to compete for some playing time in his rookie season.

However, most people still doubt what the Saints were thinking about while making their first choice in the draft. Cornerback Patrick Robinson is great at doing his job and has the advantage of quick feet, but the addition of a new cornerback is just not considered to be necessary for the Saints. Some people point out that there is possibility for the team to move last year’s first-round pick, cornerback Malcolm Jenkins to free safety. There are also doubts that Saints picked a cornerback in first round again because free agent cornerback Darren Sharper could not wear back his Saints jersey.

Except for picking Robinson, Saints’ other choices all seem good and could offer necessary help. Taking center Matt Tennant as example, the 6-5, 300-pound young man had three-year experience of being a starter during his college football career in Boston and there is good chance for him to obtain the starting job again in the NFL within a couple of years. So generally speaking, the Saints have made the most use of the draft picks they had during the draft and the team will be better in the new season.

TE Graham became the first UM player to be drafted

2010-04-24T03:11:00.000-07:00

By the end of the first-round draft on Thursday night, none of the 12 eligible players from the University of Miami got drafted by any team. Even by the start of Friday night’s second-round draft, the twelve were still waiting. Eventually, near the end of third-round draft, which was also held on Friday night, one of them got a call from the Super Bowl XLIV champions New Orleans Saints.

Tight end Jimmy Graham was the lucky first. The young man with a height of 6-7 and weight of 280 pounds was the 95th overall pick in the third round and had been previously believed to be the first drafted Hurricanes player. There were only two other Hurricanes were expected to have equal chance- linebacker Darryl Sharpton and offensive tackle Jason Fox are likely to be drafted in early fourth and fifth rounds on Saturday night.

Being a huge Saints fan himself, Graham felt great honor for having the chance to put on his beloved Saints jersey as a real Saints player. Previously a college basketball player, Graham changed his career to football in his senior year and proved his talent on field soon with 17 catches for 213 yards and five touchdowns. The rookie is also feeling great for being able to play with Jeremy Shockey, who also played college football in UM before entering the professional NFL.

Saints RB Bush could reach out-of-court settlement with plaintiffs

2010-04-22T02:30:00.000-07:00

According reports by Yahoo Sports, former NCAA cornerback for USC Reggie Bush might have reached out-of-court settlement with the plaintiffs who filed a lawsuit against him asking the star running back, who is currently wearing No. 25 New Orleans Saints jersey, and his family to return nearly $300,000 in cash and gifts they accepted during Bush’s college football career with the USC.

According to attorney Brian Watkins, the depositions scheduled to be made by the suitors on Wednesday have been cancelled. The suitors, Lloyd Lake and Michael Michaels tried to attract Bush as a client for their marketing firm, New Era, while he was at the University of Southern California. While Bush did not sign with New Era, they filed a lawsuit against the running back to ask for the money to be repaid. Michaels reached an out-of-court settlement with Bush’s family in April 2007 that included a confidentiality agreement, but in late December Bush lost his bid to go to confidential arbitration to settle Lake’s lawsuit and did not show up for a deposition scheduled in February 2008.

The lawsuit also caused Bush to be a subject in the NCAA investigation into USC's athletic program as they though he received possibly illegal benefits and violated association rules. If the investigators find that Bush is retroactively ineligible and determines that the USC violated rules, the player could lose his 2005 Heisman Trophy and his former college would have to their national championships in 2004 and 2005. But if an out-of-court settlement is reached between Bush and the plaintiffs, the NCAA and Pac-10 Conference would have to stop investigation and every one will keep what they already have.

DE DeVries is to wear back Lions jersey

2010-04-12T01:00:00.000-07:00

One and a half months ago, defensive end Jared DeVries had to take off his No. 95 Detroit Lions jersey as the team considered him expendable and released him. But now his value to the team appeared to increase as he is going to be re-signed by the Lions on Monday.

Having spent the entire of his 9-year career with the Lions, DeVries was cut loose in late February before the team was due to pay him the $400,000 roster bonus on the start of the new league year. However, DeVries has not shown any interest in joining a new team for the new season but been expecting to wear back the Lions jersey and continue to be the team’s solid locker room presence.

According latest reports, DeVries is expected to earn $4.7 million in 2010 season with the new contract and that is no increase from his previous contract, but DeVries is still as happy because it’s good enough of the team to ask him back, especially there are still concerns on his tendon injury that was suffered in last summer’s training camp.

Steelers retained veteran QB Batch on a two-year contract

2010-03-26T19:41:00.000-07:00

Thirteen-year veteran quarterback Charlie Batch is very likely to retire as Pittsburgh Steelers player as he just signed a new contract with team to remain in the Steelers jersey for another two year, and at age 35, he could end his NFL career when the contract expires.

Batch has been under contract with the Steelers for eight seasons, although he sat out 2004 and 2008 with injuries. He has thrown only two passes since 2007, and 135 overall during his time with Pittsburgh. He used to be a starter for the Detroit Lions during 1998 to 2001, but he has been only on the second stringer since joining the Steelers. After signing the new contract, he is expected to compete for the backup job with Dennis Dixon, who became the NO. 2 quarterback after Batch broke his left wrist on No. 22 while playing against the Kansas City Chiefs and started one game when starter Ben Roethlisberger was hurt last season. Now with the new chance to be the No. 2 quarterback, Batch should try his best to prove his worth before it’s too late.

Eagles may trade QB McNabb to Rams

2010-03-25T02:17:00.000-07:00

A trade seems likely to happen between the Philadelphia Eagles and the St. Louis Rams on quarterback Donovan McNabb, who could become a starter for the Rams instead of a backup with the Eagles if the trade succeeds.

According to reports, the Rams plan to sent their best defensive player, safety O.J. Atogwe, to Philadelphia, along with their 2010 second-round pick (33rd overall in the draft) in exchange for McNabb. Such offer would fill the Eagles’ need of an immediate impact playmaking safety.

As for the Rams, acquiring McNabb would bring them a powerful threatening weapon and improve their rank in the Weak NFC West, especially as the Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner has retired and the San Francisco 49ers are banking much on Alex Smith. With McNabb to put on the Rams jersey and team up with Steven Jackson, the Rams will definitely have a much better offensive line. Therefore, the deal is really a win-win one and seems very likely to happen soon.

Either WR Marshall or Owens has little chance to join Dolphins

2010-03-24T02:44:00.000-07:00

According to the Miami Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano, his team has little interest in free agent wide receivers Brandon Marshall and Terrell Owens, although each of the two receivers’ production in 2009 could almost equal to the total of the three receivers that played for the Dolphins last season.

Sparano told the media assembled at the owners meetings in Orlando, Fla. recently that he’s not sure if either Marshall or Owens would be a good fit for his team.

“I don’t know if they make sense for our ball club, one way or the other,” Sparano said Tuesday morning. “I’m happy with the group of players I have right now.”

It has been speculated for long that the Dolphins are in the free agent market looking for a big-play wide receiver that can help the team in the red zone. If neither Marshall nor Owens is their choice, they could plan to get young talent to put on the Dolphins jersey from the April’s draft with the 12th overall pick in their hand.

Center Langkow is fine enough now to returned to Calgary

2010-03-23T01:39:00.000-07:00

One day after leaving the game against the Minnesota Wild with fans being scared, the Calgary Flames center Daymond Langkow returned to team, wearing back his No. 22 Flames jersey to prepare for the next game.

The 33-year-old spent Sunday night in a St. Paul hospital following the Flames’ 4-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild, undergoing tests after taking a shot off the back of his neck. He seems all right now, but when he was taken off the ice on a stretcher, many were scared.

“I think everyone was just scared,” said forward David Moss, who watched as Langkow was strapped to a backboard and wheeled off the ice. “Not knowing what was going on, not seeing him move was a scary moment.”

The incident happened at 5:20 of the second period when Langkow was checked in front of the Minnesota net by Wild defenseman Greg Zanon. Unfortunately, his teammate defenseman Ian White fired a point shot while Langkow was heading down while falling forward, and the shot hit Langkow at the base of the neck in between his shoulder blades. Afterwards, the center lay still there on the ice for about ten minutes before trainers came to carry him off. All felt a great relief when they got to know that Langkow actually had feeling in all his extremities all along.

Former Dolphins LB Porter joined Cardinals on a three-year contract

2010-03-23T01:35:00.000-07:00

A three-year contract will keep four-time Pro Bowl linebacker Joey Porter in the Arizona Cardinals jersey for the 2010 season and the next two seasons. Finishing his eleventh season with the Miami Dolphins, Porter was released by the Dolphins in March and became a free agent before finding a proper job in Arizona.

Spending his first eight seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the last three with the Dolphins, Porter has had 92 career sacks and trails only Jason Taylor (127 1/2) among active players. He also has had 12 career interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown, 23 forced fumbles and nine fumble recoveries with two returned for TDs. One of the reasons for Porter to join the Cardinals could be that the team’s coaching staff includes several members of the Steelers’ staff when he was with Pittsburgh.

The first meeting between the linebacker and the team was held on March 11, and one of the familiars was Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was an offensive coordinator with the Steelers when Porter was playing for the Pittsburgh. The familiarity with the coaches just helped Porter made an easier decision to stay in Arizona and ruling out the other suitor the Washington Redskins.

WR Bess, PK Carpenter and TE Haynos re-joined Dolphins

2010-03-22T02:12:00.000-07:00

Three respective one-year contracts will keep wide receiver Davone Bess, punt kicker Dan Carpenter and tight end Joey Haynos in the Miami Dolphins jerseys for one more season. Thus the three exclusive-rights free agents all ended their free agency officially on Saturday.

Bess has been credited as a reliable wide receiver, who managed to lead the Dolphins with 76 catches and 758 yards receiving last season.

Carpenter hit 25-of-28 field goals and averaged 63.6 yards on kickoffs in 2009. He was named to the Pro Bowl when the San Diego Chargers punt kicker Nate Kaeding pulled out of the game with a groin injury.

As for the 6-foot-8, 270-pound Haynos, he caught 19 passes for 162 yards and two touchdowns last season, his second with the Dolphins, and was a starter at his position for eight of the season’s games.

Bills signed free agent DE with 4-year contract

2010-03-19T02:41:00.000-07:00

According to the latest reports, free agent defensive end Dwan Edwards will not wear back his No.93 Baltimore Ravens jersey for the 2010 season and even the following three seasons, instead, he is going to put on the Buffalo Bills jersey once a four-year contract is signed.

The six-year veteran was drafted by the Ravens as a second-round pick in 2004 and has spent all of his first five seasons with the Ravens. Missing the entire 2008 season with a neck injury, Edwards returned to the team last year to register 56 tackles and two sacks in 18 games, including playoffs.

As free agency began on March 5, Edwards did not receiver tender offer from the Ravens and had to join other free agents on the market to find new chance in a new team. he visited the Bills headquarters Tuesday, and reports said that the two sides have agreed on a four-year deal potentially worth close to $18 million.

There is likely to be a competition for starting job in Denver

2010-03-16T02:16:00.000-07:00

Now that the former Cleveland Browns quarterback Brady Quinn was wearing the Denver Broncos jersey after the Sunday trade, it just becomes inevitable to discuss on the Broncos’ starting quarterback for the 2010 season that will begin in six months.

A competition is very likely to happen between Quinn and Kyle Orton, who was previously believed to be still the team’s starter for the new season. However, Quinn has made it clear that he also intends to have the starting job.

“I’ll put it this way, I think every quarterback on our roster wants to play,” Quinn said. “Believe me, whether it’s Tom (Brandstater), Kyle, or myself, we’re all quarterbacks. We’re going to be team players first, but we all want to be out there playing.”

Winning the starting job through a competition after joining the Broncos in last April’s trade for Jay Cutler, Orton led the team to a 6-2 start but finished the second half with 2-6 last season. By comparison, Quinn finished the last season with the Browns on injured reserve with a severely sprained left foot. He passed his physical on Monday and began participating in the Broncos’ offseason training program. He will take his time to impress the new team in efforts to convince them that he deserves the starting job.

RB Tomlinson continues with free agency trip to Jets

2010-03-12T01:30:00.000-08:00

The free agent running back LaDainian Tomlinson just finished his visit to the Minnesota Vikings without any deal done, so he has to continue with his trip and the next stop is the New York Jets.

The former San Diego Chargers star running back reportedly enjoyed his meeting with the Vikings, and the team seemed like to have Tomlinson put on the Vikings jersey
to be a replacement for Chester Taylor, who was signed away by the Chicago Bears. However, it seemed that they did not make an offer that satisfied Tomlinson.

Well, I guess Tomlinson will still have to make another visit to another team after the Jets. The Jets released free agent veteran running back Thomas Jones despite objection from fans other players. Besides, they are still hopeful that starting runningback Leon Washington could return from his broken leg for the 2010 season. In that case, signing Tomlinson would not be a necessary move and even if they may decide to make an offer, that offer could not be a great one expected by Tomlinson.

Vikings added kickoff specialist Lloyd to roster

2010-03-10T01:45:00.000-08:00

Already with one of the top return threats in the league in Percy Harvin, the Minnesota Vikings now added one of the top kickoff threats in the league to their team. With the determination to be a better team in 2010 season, the Vikings singed kickoff specialist Rhys Lloyd on Monday.

Lloyd, who played in college at the University of Minnesota, was happy to put on Vikings jersey with the feeling of returning home. He will be banging kickoffs into the end zone for them. It’s a smart move by the Vikings. They just made their special teams unit much better.

Before announcing his decision to join the Vikings, Lloyd planned to get on plane and travel to New York on Tuesday to meet with the Giants, the second stop of trip since he became an unrestricted free agent after he did not receive any qualifying offer from his former team the Carolina Panthers as a restricted free agent.

Titans RB White wants starting job in new team

2010-03-07T23:49:00.000-08:00

The Tennessee Titans running back LenDale White has been unhappy with his backup role to All-Pro running back Chris Johnson. He wants to be a starter, and if the Titans will not give him the starting job, he would like to go for another team that would value him as a starter.

"I did good with it for a year; I didn’t complain," White told The Tennessean. "I backed up greatness, a guy who ran for 2,000 yards. But now that that’s over I feel like … it is time for me to start somewhere. And that is what I want to do. I want to be a starter in the NFL, not a backup. I would definitely be interested in a trade. I don’t know where, or how (the Titans) might view that, but that is what I am hoping for. I can’t see me sitting in Tennessee as a backup any more. And that goes as no disrespect to the Titans or C.J., but I feel like it is time for me to get out of there. … Sometimes, it is just best to part ways."

While second-year running back Johnson successfully set the record of 2, 000 rushing yards, the four-year veteran White had only 64 carries for 222 yards last season. And in the last six games he totally had only three carries for 14 yards. But before Johnson put on Titans jersey as a first-round draft pick in 2008 and even when Johnson was a rookie, White’s performance was much better, with 1,110 rushing yards in 2007 and 773 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns in 2008.

Jets officially released veteran RB Jones

2010-03-06T01:20:00.000-08:00

Just as many reports said earlier, the New York Jets released running back Thomas Jones, and the move was made officially on Friday. Along with Jones, cornerback Donald Strickland was also cut on the first day of free agency.

"I just want to start off by thanking Thomas for everything he’s done on and off the field," Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum said during a conference call today. "In terms of respect and admiration, I’d put Thomas up on the very short list of guys who’ve ever been through our program, not only because of what he’s done on the field but the leadership he brought as well and the passion he played with."

Jones finished last season with a career-high 1,402 rushing yards, and if he is indeed as good as Tannenbaum, why did the Jets still decide to release him?

Well, Tannenbaum said it was a “very difficult decision” after considering all factors including skill and budget, even though there will be no salary cap in 2010. The decision to release Jones has angered his teammates in Jets jerseys, but it was eventually made. However, Tannenbaum did not rule out having Jones wear back Jets jerseys but he said that Jones himself is looking at other opportunities.

Cowboys offered WR Austin the highest possible tender

2010-03-05T00:10:00.000-08:00

On the last before the deadline for free agency, the Dallas Cowboys made a long-expected move to retain restricted free agent wide receiver Miles Austin: they gave the receiver the highest possible tender on Thursday, allowing Austin to earn at least $3.168 million for 2010 season.

The offer will require any team that wants to sign the Pro Bowl receiver to give up a first- and third-round draft pick as compensation to the Cowboys. On the other side, the Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones has said he would like to give Austin a long-term lucrative contract. So it is very likely that Austin will remain in Cowboys jersey with a satisfying deal being done.

The Cowboys also offered tenders to 11 other restricted free agents and signed another to a one-year contract, leaving only kicker Shaun Suisham to struggle with his career future. Defensive tackle Marcus Spears is the only other RFA to receiver a first-round tender offer but that was at the original draft choice level, meaning less salary than Austin and a second round compensation for his departure.

Dolphins offered tender to RB Brown

2010-03-04T01:53:00.000-08:00

With only two days left before the March 5 deadline, the Miami Dolphins are among the several teams who began to take actions to retain free agents. What they did was to offer a $3.97 million to running back Ronnie Brown and tender a contract at $1,176,000 to tight end Anthony Fasano.

Thus, the Dolphins would be owed a first-round draft pick should another team sign Brown and the Dolphins not match the offer. They will also have the right of first refusal plus the right to a pick in the player’s round if Fasano signs with another team and Miami not match the offer.

The 28-year-old Brown has a career rushing average of 4.4 yards per carry, so the first-round tender is still not enough to keep him in Dolphins jersey. Young and fast, he is still expected to be a hot pursue on the open market, so it really depends on whether the running back wants to stay with the Dolphins.

Raiders offered tender contracts to seven RFAs

2010-03-04T01:52:00.000-08:00

With only two days left before the March 5 deadline, the Oakland Raiders are among the several teams who began to take actions to retain free agents. On Wednesday, they tendered contracts to seven restricted free agents.

First of all it was quarterback Bruce Gradkowski, who received a second-round tender that will make him earn at least $1.759 million for continuing playing next season in Raiders jersey. And if he chooses to join another team, the Raiders will have the right to match the offer or ask for a second-round pick as compensation. Replacing JaMarcus Russell as the starting quarterback midway through last season, Gradkowski led the Raiders to comeback victories in two of his first three starts. He did not play the rest of the season since suffering a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee and a partially torn MCL in his right knee in the fourth start, but still had 54.7 percent of his passes with six touchdowns and three interceptions on the season. Therefore, the Raiders offer him a chance to compete for the starting job with Russell for 2010 season.

The other six RFAs who received tender offers on the same day included cornerback Stanford Routt (first and third-round tender), linebackers Thomas Howard (second-round tender), Ricky Brown (second-round tender), Kirk Morrison (third-round tender), Pro Bowl long snapper Jon Condo (second-round tender) and offensive lineman Chris Morris (original round tender).

Redskins LT Samuel will announce retirement this week

2010-03-02T00:22:00.000-08:00

According to reports by the Washington Post, the Washington Redskins left tackle Chris Samuel will take off his NFL jersey once and for all this week, announcing his expected retirement before the deadline for free agency.

Samuel suffered a neck injury in an October loss to the Carolina Panthers and speculation has spread since then that he will retire after 10 years with the Redskins. According the reports, Samuel will announce his decision on a press conference this week, right before the Friday deadline for free agency.

Actually Samuel made the decision after consulting with a team of doctors since sustaining the neck injury. And all the doctors advised him not to continue playing football because that could cause paralysis. With Samuel’s retirement, the Redskins and first-year general manager Bruce Allen and first-year coach Mike Shanahan will have much more work to do to improve the team’s offensive line.

Safety Rolle is likely to be cut by Cardinals this week

2010-02-28T23:34:00.000-08:00

Although the Arizona Cardinals would like to make their efforts to retain free agent safety Antrel Rolle, they may just let him to enter the free agent market this Friday as they are reluctant pay the $12 million Rolle’s current contract calls for his service in 2010 season.

“We will continue to work with him and treat him as if he is a free agent we are pursuing,” Cardinals general manager Rod Graves said. “We’ve always been under the impression Antrel wanted to remain an Arizona Cardinal. We have been able to develop him and we have seen him develop into an outstanding player and we want to keep that relationship going. We’re not looking to lose quality players, but again, all of those decisions have to make sense to us from a team standpoint. Obviously he is a top priority.”

Contrary to what Graves said, the Cardinals are actually losing quality players. Quarterback Kurt Warner has retired, linebacker Karlos Dansby is determined to join the free agent market and the club is determined to trade wide receiver Anquan Boldin. As the possibly best available safety, Rolle could expect great deal from several teams. To remain in Cardinals jersey could be the last choice.

Chargers may not plan to retain RB Sproles

2010-02-27T00:02:00.000-08:00

The San Diego Chargers have released starting running back LaDainian Tomlinson, and they may do the same thing with backup running back Darren Sproles, who is likely to join Tomlinson in free agent market as the chargers have decided not to tender a contract to him.

Sproles has said he believes he can be an every-down back. The Chargers have used him as a backup running back, return man and as a receiver out of the backfield. Valuing him as a multiple threat, the Chargers, however, hesitate to offer a long-term deal to Sproles because he is expensive. He made about $6.6 million last season after being tagged as a franchise player and would make about $7.3 million if the Chargers re-sign him.

If the Chargers give up Sproles, other team would be glad to have one more featured choice in the market. Sproles was second to Tomlinson last year with 343 yards and three touchdowns on 93 carries, fourth with 45 catches for 497 yards and four TDs. He was also one of the best punt returner. Whatever, since the Chargers did not feel pity for releasing Tomlinson, they may feel even less for having Sproles take off Chargers jersey.

Saints actually want RB Bush to stay

2010-02-26T01:37:00.000-08:00

Running back Reggie Bush was a key contributor for New Orleans Saints in the playoffs, so despite an $eight million salary in 2010, he remains in the Saints’ plans. Talks about new deal already began between the franchise and Bush’s agent Joel Segal.

Many league executives believed the Saints might ask Bush to restructure his deal or ultimately release him in an uncapped year, but the Saints do not seem likely to do that. Actually the club has tendered qualifying offers to 13 of 18 players slated to become restricted free agents next week. And with one week left before the start of free agency, the Saints may make more offers to retain more key players.

The Saints have had several conversations with Segal, who also represents Saints star safety Darren Sharper. It seems to take some time for the Saints to have some deals done, as these players have the right to see if they could receiver better offers from other teams before agreeing to continue wearing Saints jerseys.

Seahawks tagged kicker Mare

2010-02-24T23:51:00.000-08:00

With less than 24 hours being left before the deadline to apply franchise tag, the Seattle Seahawks took a safe action by placing the tag on kicker Olindo Mare, who made 24-of-26 field goals last season and will turn 37 in 2010.

It was called a safe action because first of all tagging a kicker isn’t a prohibitive thing when it comes to money- Mare will earn $2.814 million this season if a long-term extension is not worked out, and then kickers have proven they can be effective into their 40’s. Thus placing the franchise on Mare will not cost the Seahawks much but still help them retain an effective kicker.

Mare, the 13th-year veteran, spent all of his first ten NFL seasons with the Miami Dolphins and had his first best stretch in his career from 2000 to 2001, making 47-of-52 attempts as a kicker in Dolphins jersey. He spent one season with the New Orleans Saints before joining the Seahawks. And the stretch from 2008 to 2009 was considered to be his second best. He made 24-of-27 field goals in 2008 season and had 44 touchbacks in total over the last two seasons.

Titans are not yet ready to extend QB Young’s contract

2010-02-24T01:32:00.000-08:00

As the 2010 season will be likely an uncapped season, a lot of NFL teams are taking different approaches to retain player or cut salary cost. What the Tennessee Titans are taking is a wait-and-see approach, at least toward the contract of starting quarterback Vince Young.

Young is due a $4.25 million option bonus in March and a $7.5 million base salary with a $14.2 million salary-cap figure for 2010, if there was a cap governing this fiscal year. But by so far there have not been any talks between Young and the Titans about restructure or extension of Young’s current contract.

According to latest reports, the Titans seem like to wait and make sure that Young can do as good job in 2010 season as he did in 2009 season before they can promise to offer any long-term financial commitment to the former University of Texas star. So what is likely to happen is that Young has to perform his best for 2010 season in Titans jersey before gaining a new hefty contract from the team.

Chargers made final decision to release RB Tomlinson

2010-02-23T00:14:00.000-08:00

Not much to our surprise, the San Diego Chargers made an announcement on Monday on their official site that they released running back LaDainian Tomlinson. But it is just somewhat hard to Chargers fans to accept that one of their most beloved athletes will play in some other team’s NFL jerseys.

It was also hard to Chargers president Dean Spanos to tell the team’s decision to the 9-year Chargers running back, who helped revive the franchise with his brilliant performance on field.

"I told him that in the 26 years that I've been in this business, it was probably the hardest thing I've had to do," Spanos told The Associated Press. "I'm not close to a lot of the players, but there's a handful that I've been close with, and he's probably the closest. It was really difficult to tell him. But out of respect, I wanted to tell him earlier rather than later."

Tomlinson seemed prepared for the decision. Indeed the move had been expected for some time since he finished the 2009 season with career low 730 yards on 223 carries for an average of 3.3 yards per attempt, partly because of the injuries he sustained early in last season.

Turning 31 year old this summer, Tomlinson was due a $2 million bonus in early March and still has two years left on a contract with the Chargers. Appearing optimistic about his future in NFL, Tomlinson said that he was looking to the next step in his career and laying football for someone else.

LB Urlacher was named Bears’ Player of the Decade

2010-02-22T01:30:00.000-08:00

It is a hard job to choose from all those who are or were wearing Chicago Bears jerseys a best team of the decade, but to name the best of them, few people would disagree with the choice of middle linebacker Brian Urlacher.

Blessed by a rare combination of size and speed, Urlacher has been voted to six Pro Bowls in 10 seasons while anchoring a defense that helped the Bears win division championships in 2001, 2005 and 2006. Having at least 100 tackles in each of his first nine seasons before missing most of the 2009 campaign with an injury, Urlacher was also named NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2005.

His dominance burst onto the scene when he was a rookie after being picked in 2000 draft as the ninth pick. With team-leading 165 tackles and eight sacks, he was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year that year. The next year he was among the top five choices of MVP with team-high 148 tackles along with six sacks and three interceptions. Each of the following seven seasons was full of achievements. With the new reward, Urlacher is expected to return for 2010 season at full strength.

Patriots WR Moss could leave New England as contract expires

2010-02-21T01:16:00.000-08:00

2010 is the last year of the three-year contract between New England Patriots and wide receiver Randy Moss and Moss expects that the Patriots are likely to let him leave as the contract expires because a 33-year-old wide receiver could be expendable in the league.

"I don’t think they going to extend my contract here," Moss told reporters, per the Boston Globe, today while attending a charity softball game in Florida. "I understand the beast, the nature of it. I think that just with what I think and what I know I don’t think they’re going to re-sign me back. So, after this season if there is not a lockout I’ll be looking for a new team. I got a lot of respect for the Patriots and what they did for me and my family. So, the only thing I can do is just play this year out and see what my future holds after that."

With the contract, the Patriots should pay totally $27 million to Moss and the base salary in 2010 is $6.4 million. Catching 83 passes for 1,264 yards and 13 touchdowns last year, Moss does not expect the Patriots to pay much for retaining a receiver at his age. However, he believes quarterback Tom Brady will continue wearing the Patriots jerseys with a long-term contract.

Buccaneers CB Talib’s hearing is delayed

2010-02-20T01:26:00.001-08:00

It seems that the state attorney’s office has not been prepared to decide whether the Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Aqib Talib should be accepted into a re-trial intervention program that is usually reserved for first-time, non-violent offenders.

The cornerback is scheduled to have a hearing on Friday in Pinellas County but it was delayed. He was charged with simple battery for allegedly hitting cab driver David Duggan in the head. Many doubts if Talib is qualified to apply for the PTI program. The hearing was delayed perhaps because the state attorney’s office is concerned that it might strike as preferential treatment for an athlete if Talib is accepted into the program. The charges would be dropped if Talib was accepted into the program.

What’s more Talib was no way a first-time offender. He fought Cory Boyd at the FL’s rookie symposium, popped popping teammate Torrie Holt in the face with a helmet last spring when he was trying to hit another teammate Donald Penn. As a player always being seen in public wearing NFL jerseys, Talib should at least take responsibility for what he did.

Bills RT Butler retired after four NFL seasons

2010-02-19T01:27:00.000-08:00

At the age 26 and just finishing four NFL seasons, the Buffalo Bills right tackle Brad Butler decided to say goodbye to the football career. As a major in government studies at Virginia, the young man thinks his life should be spent in other area.

“My passion for education, country and community is something that I am ready to devote my full attention to,” he said in a statement released by the team on Thursday. “I believe the best way to pursue these spheres of interest is to step away from the game of football at this point in my life.”

Butler’s NFL career began in 2006 when he was drafted by the Bills in the fifth round. Wearing the No. 60 Bills jersey, Butler started all but two of the 33 games he played for the team, with only two games being played in 2009 as he sustained a serious knee injury in Week 2 while playing against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Vick did not do his best in Atlanta

2010-02-10T23:23:00.000-08:00

With his status for 2010 season still remaining a big question mark, the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick recalled some old days when he was playing for the Atlanta Falcons. And his comment was: I was somewhat lazy.

“I think if I woulda applied myself,” Vick said, “there was a lot more I could have done off the field and also in the film room that could have elevated my game to a totally different level. I was complacent at the time, somewhat lazy, and I kinda settled for mediocrity.”

What he said was really somewhat surprising. Vick, actually, had many accomplishments with the Falcons, including leading the first visiting team to win a playoff game at Lambeau Field in 2002. Well, as he admitted he may never perform with his 100 percent, what did he learn after putting on NFL jersey again to join the Eagles following his incarceration? There is hardly anything as Vick did not even get a chance to start a game, let alone nay accomplishment.

Lions QB Stafford hopes for full participation in the offseason program

2010-02-10T01:25:00.000-08:00

The Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford is hoping that he could take full part in the team’s offseason program, with the shoulder and knee injuries both being cleared. It seems likely as he has said that he is recovering well.

"Hopefully we’ll hit big again on the draft this year and get some guys that can really step in and play for us early," Stafford said on the team’s website. "I’m excited that we have the same head coach and both coordinators. It (will give) us a chance to grow in the system and hopefully we’ll play some better ball."

Stafford will be in Allen Park this week to check in with the team doctors and believes he will get good feedback. Hopefully his second season will be better than the rookie one that was hampered by the injuries. We can have a good guess on how long the quarterback in No. 9 Lions jersey will keep his starting job.

Saints will retain most key players

2010-02-09T02:03:00.001-08:00

As champion team of this year’s Super Bowl game, the New Orleans Saints will have a predictable offseason because of the new rules on uncapped 2010 season: key starters will stay and young defensive playmakers will be found in the draft.

As one of the final four playoff teams, the Saints are not allowed to sign any unrestricted free agents unless they lose their own. Actually they have only two real significant unrestricted free agents, safety Darren Sharper and linebacker Scott Fujita, both of whom are likely to stay with the Saints as the team will make their efforts to retain them. And the new rules of the uncapped year will make a number of core players restricted free agents instead of unrestricted free agents they would have been. So the Saints are expected to keep offensive tackles Jammal Brown, Jermon Bushrod and Zach Strief, guard Jahri Evans, running backs Pierre Thomas and Mike Bell, receiver Lance Moore, safety Roman Harper and defensive tackles Anthony Hargrove and Remi Ayodele.

The Saints could also keep running back Reggie Bush despite his $8 million salary because they still value him too much to cut him outright or trade him for a low-round draft pick. As for defensive end Charles Grant, if he wants to continue wearing his Saints jersey, he may have to rework his contract with the Saints who may opt not to pay him a $4 million salary.

Saints beat Colts to win Super Bowl

2010-02-08T01:12:00.000-08:00

Four-time MVP quarterback Peyton Manning failed to earn another Super Bowl MVP title after Sunday night’s Super Bowl game against the New Orleans Saints. The title was given to the Pro Bowl quarterback in No. 9 Saints jersey, Drew Brees, who led the team to a 31-17 win over the Indianapolis Colts.

Brees tied a Super Bowl record with 32 completions, the last a 2-yard slant to Jeremy Shockey for the winning points with 5:42 remaining. The Pro Bowl quarterback was chosen Super Bowl MVP. And the Saints won three postseason games for the first time- during the previous 42 years they won two postseason games at most. This franchise first championship came 4 1/2 years after Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans, making the Saints nomads for the 2005 season.

The Saints scored 107 points and allowed only 59 while Manning’s mistake caused the Colts to lose their lead during the first half. A pass from Manning turned out to be Tracy Porter’s 74-yeard interception return. He tried to chase but fell awkwardly as the cornerback zipped by. The Saints began celebration while Manning walked to the sideline with deep frustration.

Cowboys WR Irvin is facing one-million-dollar extortion

2010-02-06T00:34:00.000-08:00

Another woman filed lawsuit against another NFL player, seeking $1 million because of a rape happened two years ago. As expected, the lawyer for the player claimed that it was another story of extorting big money from sports figures.

This time the player getting involved is former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin. A Florida woman filed a lawsuit against him Thursday, claiming that Irvin and another man raped her more than two years ago.

The lawsuit claims that a woman referred to as Jane Doe met Irvin and another man at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino on July 4, 2007 and Irvin bought her drinks. The two men then raped her in Irvin’s hotel room, according to the suit.

Working as an analyst for NFL Network after officially taking off his NFL jersey, Irvin could not expect what would happen today when he was enjoying the amorous meet. Something may indeed happen, but calling it a rape more than two years later and asking for compensation just sounds unreasonable. No wonder Irvin’s lawyer called it extortion, the price one has to pay for fame day.

Tomlinson will leave San Diego for better chance

2010-02-05T01:28:00.000-08:00

The most valuable player of 2006, LaDainian Tomlinson has said that he had finished his career with the San Diego Chargers. If he still did not know what would happen a month ago, now he has been very sure that the Chargers will let him go and the only question let is about when they would release the running back.

There is still two years left on Tomlinson’s current contract with the Chargers, who is due to play him a $2 million roster bonus March 5 and $5 million in total salary in 2010. But recent reports said that the Chargers may plan not to pay that money and have Tomlinson take off his Chargers jersey
before the team has to pay him the roster bonus.

There has been no comment either from Tomlinson’s agent Tom Condon or from Chargers’ spokesman Scott Yoffe. And many have guessed the decision to release Tomlinson is to be made because of Tomlinson’s decreasing production in 2009 season. As the Chargers relied more on their high-octane passing game and the running back himself missed two games because of ankle injury, Tomlinson had career low 730 yards on 223 carries for an average of 3.3 yards per carry this past season.

Tomlinson may leave Chargers because of contract issues and teamwork problems

2010-02-04T01:41:00.000-08:00

The San Diego may let running back LaDainian Tomlinson leave because of some disagreements on salary cut, and Tomlinson himself may also choose to leave, not only because of money, but also because of teamwork problems.

In an interview with a San Diego radio station, Tomlinson said that he won’t let the team cut his salary, even though making sure he gets paid isn’t the driving force in the decision. What he concerns more about is how he was used this season. Without naming any name, Tomlinson also questioned the commitment of some of his teammates.

"I didn’t feel the unity and the togetherness in the locker room (this season). We’re at a point (in the NFL) where guys come into the league and it’s not about the same values anymore. … I just can’t deal with that type of stuff," Tomlinson said.

The Charges are obligated to play Tomlinson $2 million roster bonus in March, but there has been speculation that the Chargers may release Tomlinson before paying that. So, we may expect Tomlinson to wear another team’s NFL jersey in 2010 season.

Colts DE Freeney remains hopeful to play in Super Bowl

2010-02-03T01:24:00.000-08:00

The Indianapolis Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney has been confirmed to have a torn ligament in his right ankle and he was still unable to take part in any practice, but the All-Pro player remains hopeful that he would put on his Colts jersey to play in the Super Bowl game this Sunday.

“Hopefully, towards the end of the week it starts to get better,” Freeney said at Tuesday’s media day, wearing a pair of flip-flops with the injured ankle unwrapped. “The decision will come later on in the week. It’s kind of early now.”

Injuring the ankle in the AFC championship game against the New York Jets, Freeney admitted that the chances of working out later this week weren’t good. In order to get on the field in time, he has enlisted the help of chiropractors, slept in an oxygen chamber, used ice, regular therapy and anything else team doctors prescribed that may help to heal the ankle. If all the efforts fail, Freeney will be the only starter on either Super Bowl team to miss the game because of injury.

Thanks to Dolphins’ decision for today’s Saints and Brees

2010-02-02T01:26:00.000-08:00

During the NFL scouting combine in February 2006, the former Miami Dolphins Coach Nick Saban made a decision to sign free agent quarterback Daunte Culpepper rather than Drew Brees. Four years later to Feb. 7, Brees will come to in the home of Dolphins to pursue the Super Bowl title in New Orleans Saints jersey.

Brees just came off a surgery to his throwing shoulder after an injury in the San Diego Chargers’ season finale, and he was hoping to join the Dolphins at that time. Well, after two hours of weighing and consult with renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews, who had performed surgeries on Brees and Culpepper, Saban chose the latter, who came off a triple-ligament knee repair from the middle of the 2005 season with the Minnesota Vikings.

While Brees has become a star representing a Super Bowl team, Culpepper is now the symbol of someone hanging on, having just finished his second season as a backup for the hapless Detroit Lions. While the Saints are 38-26 in the regular season and 3-1 in the playoffs, reaching the Super Bowl this season and the 2006 NFC championship game since Brees’ arrival, the Dolphins have gone 25-39, making the playoffs only once since Culpepper joined them. And the Dolphins kept making wrong choices, starting seven different quarterbacks, hiring three head coaches, two general managers and having two different owners.

Colts are hopeful that DE Freeney will play Super Bowl

2010-01-31T23:57:00.000-08:00

Earlier last Sunday, there were some reports saying that Pro Bowl defensive end Dwight Freeney might be unable to play Sunday’s Super Bowl game against the New Orleans Saints because of torn ligament. However the Indianapolis Colts have cleared that Freeney’s injury is nothing more than a low ankle sprain and his playing status for Super Bowl remains questionable.

Freeney was injured with about 2 minutes left in last week’s AFC championship game against the New York Jets and has missed three consecutive days of practice from Wednesday to Friday. Even his teammates are uncertain whether he would put on his Colts jersey for the Super Bowl game.

“Dwight is one of our best players, we know that,” Colts quarterback Peyton Manning said during the Pro Bowl. “But all season long Coach Caldwell has talked about picking up the bayonet. Someone’s got to step up. If Dwight were not to be able to go that would be tough, but somebody else will step up and we’ll feel confident in whoever that is.”

Using his incredible speed, remarkable spin moves and leverage to attack opponents, Freeney finished this season with 13 1/2 sacks this season, the sixth time in eight NFL seasons Freeney has had at least 10 sacks. What the team is now concerning most is that if Freeney would be in his 100 percent by the time of the biggest game of the season. They remain hopeful because Freeney has history of healing fast- he returned seven days after hurting his quadriceps in late September.

Pro Bowl special team rosters

2010-01-30T01:54:00.001-08:00

Special teams for both AFC team and NFC team are equal to each other in number of star player. The AFC team has Joshua Cribbs from the Cleveland Browns at kick returner while the NFC has Chicago Bears wide receiver at the same position.

For the AFC team, Shane Lechler from the Oakland Raiders will be the punter, Miami Dolphins Dan Carpenter is to be placekicker, and Lechler’s teammate in Oakland will work as long snapper. San Diego Chargers wide receiver Kassim Osgood is to play as the special teamer.

For the NFC team, Andy Lee, a punter who wears No. 4 San Francisco 49ers jersey will work as the special-team punter. David Akers from the Philadelphia Eagles is to play as placekicker; Minnesota Vikings linebacker Heath Farwell is the special teamer and long snapper is Akers’ teammate’ in Philadelphia Jon Dorenbos.

Former Redskins coach Zorn may find job in Baltimore

2010-01-29T01:46:00.000-08:00

Failing to help the Washington Redskins make it to the postseason, Jim Zorn lost his head coach job in Washington, but still he has the chance to find a new job with another NFL team, like the Baltimore Ravens.

According to The National Football Post, Zorn will have an interview with the Ravens officers for the job of quarterback coach position. That means Zorn may be the one who is always seen with the quarterback in No. 5 Ravens jersey, Joe Flacco, after former quarterback coach Hue Jackson left to become the Oakland Raiders’ offensive coordinator.

I said Zorn has the chance, but not was confirmed, because the Ravens have other names on their interviewee list. Team consultant and longtime NFL coach AI Saunders will also be interviewed for the job.

Vikings CB Griffin will probably not return in time for next season

2010-01-28T02:05:00.001-08:00

The Minnesota Vikings cornerback Cedric Griffin might not be seen in his No. 23 Vikings jersey for quite a long time while he is to rehabilitate after the surgery he will undergo to repair an injured left knee next week.

Griffin was hurt while covering the overtime kickoff in Vikings’ loss to the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship Game. Coach Brad Childress said Tuesday that the cornerback needs to have a surgery and the recovery may take long enough to keep Griffin out for the beginning of the next season, six to nine months.

With starting cornerback Antoine Winfield missing two months with a broken right foot, Griffin led the Vikings with four interceptions this season and helped stabilize the secondary team.

Middle linebacker E.J. Henderson may also miss some part of next season because of badly broken left thigh bone. So it seems that the Vikings need some plan B with defensive starters for next season.

Bucks forward Redd was done for season with knee injury

2010-01-12T00:37:00.001-08:00

The Milwaukee Bucks forward Michael Redd underwent an MRI on Monday in Phoenix and was told that his injured left knee needs another surgery, meaning that he had to end this season early again because of the same injury to the same ligaments.

Redd had a surgery in March after tearing the ACL and MCL in his left knee last January, and after less than a year, he tore the same ligaments again on Sunday night in the second quarter of Bucks’ 95-77 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Redd, a member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic team, will have surgery later this month and begin rehab as soon as possible. Because of the problems with the knee, he had mostly struggled this season and missed 16 games, averaging just 11.9 points in 18 games, 12 starts.

Putting on NBA jersey as the second-round pick by the Bucks in 2000, Redd had been the team’s top offensive threat, averaging 20.3 points per game for his career and moving up this season to fourth on the franchise’s career scoring list with 11,510 points.

McNabb or Vick to leave?

2010-01-11T01:19:00.000-08:00

As previous rumors said the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb may leave the team during 2010 season, to retire or be traded, latest guesses are that McNabb may continue wearing his No. 5 Eagles jersey, but Michael Vick may be traded during offseason.

All because Eagles Coach Andy Reid said that he expects McNabb to be back with the team. But someone also doubts that Reid said so in purpose of driving up the veteran’s trade value. After all, losing last Saturday’s playoff game to the Dallas Cowboys, the Eagles may need something or someone new to keep fans hope alive.

Either McNabb or Vick leaves, one thing is for sure: Kevin Kolb will be back with the Eagles for 2010 season and is a popular choice to replace McNabb to be the No. 1 quarterback. As for Vick, who threw a TD pass to Jeremy Maclin in Saturday’s loss, may remains the No. 2 quarterback.

Three players were fined for penalties in season finale

2010-01-09T01:50:00.000-08:00

The NFL announced Friday that they fined the New England Patriots defensive back James Sanders, Arizona Cardinals linebacker Chike Okeafor and St. Louis Rams defensive end Chris Long each $7,500 for violation to league rules during Sunday’s season finale.

The reason for the fine to Sanders was unnecessary roughness. He hit a defenseless receiver wearing the Houston Texans jersey during last week’s loss to the Texans. The Texans player was hit on the back was he was falling in a try to make a catch in the end zone.

Okeafor and long’s fines were for similar reason. Okeafor hit Green Bay Packers quarterback Matt Flynn with a facemask during last Sunday’s game, and Long was fined because he had a head-butt to San Francisco 49ers tackle Chris Patrick.

Cowboys RT Colombo returned to practice and may play Saturday

2010-01-06T01:00:00.000-08:00

The Dallas Cowboys right tackle Mark Colombo did not put on his Cowboys jersey to play the last seven games of the regular season because of a broken left leg, but may be able to play for the team in the Saturday’s playoff against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Colombo broke his leg and sustained ligament damage in his ankle on Nov. 15 while playing against the Green Bay Packers. He returned to practice Tuesday. According to Cowboys Coach Wade Philips, Colombo worked some with the first-team offense during practice in preparation for starting Saturday’s playoff. Before being hurt, he had started 57 consecutive games.

Two other starters who were injured may not be able to play Saturday. Running back Tashard Choice sustained a concussion in last Sunday’s season finale against the Eagles and was held out of Tuesday practice but worked on the side with a team trainer. Safety Pat Watkins missed the past three games with a sprained left knee but took full part in practice.

Vikings WR Harvin will play Pro Bowl as a kick returner

2010-01-05T01:21:00.000-08:00

In his first year since putting on NFL jersey, the Minnesota Vikings rookie wide receiver Percy Harvin made it to his first Pro Bowl game, and he himself becomes the Vikings’ second kick returner to make the Pro Bowl NFC team, joining Koren Robinson, who played as kick returner in NFC in 2005.

Harvin was added to the NFC roster on Monday by the NFL, and his joining made the Vikings stretch a league-high total of Pro Bowl players to nine. Harvin was added later than other Pro Bowl players because the position was taken previously by the Philadelphia Eagles DeSean Jackson, who occupied bother wide receiver and kick returner in the NFC team before the league made a decision on who could fill the spot.

Jackson received the least voting points for the kick returner spot, and the league used his team at the spot and planned to find a best player to fill the void. The player turned out to be Harvin, who returned two kickoffs for touchdowns and finished fourth in the NFL with an average of 27.5 yards per return as well as set Minnesota’s single-season franchise record for all-purpose yardage.

49ers WR Bruce may retire after this season

2009-12-31T23:06:00.000-08:00

The San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Isaac Bruce said he was "75 percent" sure that he will retire after this Sunday’s season-ending game against the St. Louis Rams, a team he used to play for from 1994 to 2007.

The career he may end in New Year is worth remembering. Bruce has the second-most reception yards (15,208) in NFL history and holds the fifth spot on the list of most receptions in NFL history with 1,024. So it seems to be a good time to take off NFL jersey once and for all.

At age of 37, Bruce just has even more reasons to leave the league. He was replaced by Josh Morgan halfway through this season and wasn't even in uniform for six of the last seven games. And seemingly Coach Mike Singletary will have the four-time Pro Bowler and one-time Super Bowl champion play the season finale simply to give him a chance to end career on field, a perfect ending to a professional football player.

Regretful or not, not one represent Bengals in Pro Bowl AFC team

2009-12-30T22:48:00.000-08:00

Three of the four AFC division champions each have more than one representative in AFC team to play the Pro Bowl game. Only the AFC North champion, the Cincinnati Bengals, has no player picked for the all-star game, for the second straight year, joining the 3-12 Kansas City Chiefs to be the only AFC teams not represented this season.

“I don’t even know what to think about it,” said running back Cedric Benson, representing most of those in Bengals jersey. “That was a bit surprising. There’s been a lot of great plays made, a lot of guys have played consistent for us to be where we are, winning our division. So I don’t know. I can’t put my finger on it. I know sometimes it tends to be the known names in the league get in that thing. That’s all right. We still have a chance to get to the Super Bowl.”

The Bengals originally thought someone from their defense, like cornerbacks Johnathan Joseph and Leon Hall, would get chosen as the team has given up the fifth-fewest points in the league and ranks fourth in yards allowed. All got disappointed.

Jim Zorn is to be fired next week?

2009-12-29T22:51:00.000-08:00

According to the Washington Post, the Washington Redskins current head coach Jim Zorn will soon have to look for a new job. A interview with secondary coach Jerry Grady seemed to confirm the rumor that the Redskins will get rid of Zorn soon.

Gray's interview fulfills the team's need to interview a minority candidate for any major position with the club, as the Rooney Rule requires. The rule is named for Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney, chairman of the league's diversity committee and was set in 2003.

Those who interviewed Gray included a few bigwigs in the club: owner Dan Snyder and the team's former executive vice president of football operations, Vinny Cerrato. And as a formality, the team’s new general manager Bruce Allen may also interview Gray soon. Whatever the result of the interview may be, the interview itself just showed enough of the team’s intension to have a new head coach. So for all those playing pro football in Redskins jerseys, get ready to be coached by some white guy like Mike Shanahan.

Buccaneers RB and DE will miss season finale

2009-12-29T01:07:00.000-08:00

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Earnest Graham and defensive end Jimmy Wilkerson will not be available in their Buccaneers jerseys for this Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons, because both have suffered injuries during last Sunday’s victory over the New Orleans Saints.

Graham tore a ligament in the big toe on his right foot Sunday. Wilkerson tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. Both were placed on injured reserve Monday. Tight end Ryan Purvis was promoted from the practice squad to fill one of the roster openings, as for the other, no decision has been made.

Eagles RB Westbrook is expected to play against Broncos

2009-12-24T00:36:00.000-08:00

Running back Brian Westbrook puts on his Eagles jersey in time for the playoffs and makes the Philadelphia Eagles even more dangerous. According to Eagles Coach Andy Reid, Westbrook was cleared to play after recovering from two concussions.

Reid said on Wednesday that Westbrook did “perfect” on his testing and is expected to return for Sunday’s home game against the Denver Broncos. Playing only six games for this season because of the concussions, the former All-Pro running back is “ready to roll” for the NFC East-leading Eagles (10-4).

Westbrook missed the last five games after suffering his second concussion in three weeks during the game against the San Diego Chargers on Nov. 15. His first career concussion came on Oct. 26 while playing against the Washington Redskins. Sitting out two games, he returned prematurely against the Chargers to sustain the second concussion.

DeSean Jackson has become top playmaker as replacement to Westbrook by having 11 touchdowns this season, including eight that were 50-plus yards. Westbrook’s returning gives Philadelphia another option and forces defenses to be aware of another threat, although the previously starting running back will likely only have a limited role in the offense.

Chiefs signed Lawrence back to roster

2009-12-23T00:02:00.000-08:00

The Kansas City Chiefs announced Tuesday that wide receiver Mark Bradley had been released and signed back Quinten Lawrence, who was cut by the team just three days ago after playing four games in Chiefs jersey.

Lawrence was a sixth-round pick by the Chiefs in the 2009 NFL Draft. He totally returned 12 kickoffs for 237 yards, had one carry for 16 yards and a nine-yard reception. In the four games he played with the Chiefs before being cut.

Bradley joined the Chiefs as a free agent in 2008 after spending nearly four seasons with the Chicago Bears. For this season only he played in 13 games, with six starts, for the Chiefs, catching 24 passes for 320 yards with two touchdowns as well as two carries for 20 yards and seven kickoff returns for 123 yards.

Westbrook may start this Sunday against Broncos

2009-12-22T01:19:00.000-08:00

This Sunday the Philadelphia Eagles will play against the Denver Broncos and welcome back one of the greatest players in team history to their stadium as seven-time Pro Bowl safety Brian Dawkins will start the game, wearing his Broncos jersey, against the Eagles, a team he spent 13 seasons with before signing with the Broncos.

And the Eagles are also ready to welcome back another great Eagles player who may start at running back, in Eagles jersey as Brian Westbrook has been fine enough to practice with his teammates.

Westbrook has been out since suffering his second concussion in three weeks, Nov. 15 against the San Diego Chargers, with first concussion being suffered in a Monday night game against the Washington Redskins on Oct. 26. He returned to practice last week but was inactive for Sunday’s win over the San Francisco 49ers.

“I think he’ll be pretty fresh,” Eagles Coach Andy Reid said about Westbrook’s possibility to play Sunday’s game. “He’ll have fresh legs out there. Obviously he’s not going to play the whole game. (We will) make sure we keep track of how many plays he plays if it comes down to that.”

Knicks may start new winning streak

2009-12-21T01:30:00.000-08:00

With Wilson Chandler scoring a season-high 26 points and Danilo Gallinari adding 21 and a huge block in the closing seconds, the New York Knicks found their way to win another game and beat the Charlotte Bobcats 98-94 on Sunday night.

“You work every day on everything, not just on your offense,” Gallinari said. “I think we are definitely playing better. We are playing I think really good defense (for) 48 minutes.”’’

David Lee finished with 15 points and 15 rebounds for the Knicks, who won for the sixth time in eight games. They would have had another victory in that stretch, but they were outscored 15-2 over the last 2:33 of a 94-87 loss at Charlotte on Tuesday night.

Chandler and Gallinari wouldn’t let the Knicks blow this one, both hitting big 3-pointers in the final quarter. But Gallinari’s biggest play came on the other end, when he blocked a layup by the point guard in rival team’s NBA jersey with 4.9 seconds left and New York up by two.

Starting the season at 1-9, the Knicks now have improved to 10-17 and won both games on a five-game homestand by limiting their opponent below 100 points for the seventh straight game.

Jets QB Sanchez will be able to start against Falcons

2009-12-18T22:47:00.000-08:00

Quarterback Mark Sanchez will wear back his Jets jersey to start for the New York Jets this Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons after missing one game with a sprained posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

According to Jets Coach Rex Ryan, the rookie quarterback was medically cleared by team doctors after participating in team practices for three straight days. Sanchez took all of the snaps with the first-team offense Friday after taking 75 percent of them Thursday, and that improvement has made the Coach confident that Sanchez is fine enough to play again.

Missing the Jets’ 26-3 victory last Sunday at Tampa Bay for injuring the knee during the game against the Buffalo Bills on Dec. 3, Sanchez was replaced by Kellen Clemens. But he returned to practice Wednesday and experienced no setbacks during the week, a sign of Clemens losing starting job again.

Having already been wearing one on the left from a previous injury, Sanchez will wear custom-fitted braces on both knees, and Ryan said the team will also prepare Sanchez for his first game in wintry weather as it is expected to be snowy with near-freezing temperatures at the Meadowlands on Sunday.

“We put some of the UGG boot stuff in his helmet, so he’s going to be warmer,” Ryan said, referring to the wool-lined footwear. “I’m not kidding. Look at his helmet. He’s got some of that in there. We try to make sure our guys are comfortable and healthy and protected.”

Yao Ming plans to return to NBA next season

2009-12-18T00:39:00.000-08:00

On Friday, Chinese NBA player Yao Ming told reporters that he will wear back his NBA jersey next season after having enough time for his bones to fully heal following the operation to repair a hairline fracture in his left foot.

The 2.29-meter Houston Rockets center suffered the injury in a May 8 playoff game against the Los Angeles Lakers. And the seriousness of the injury had raised doubts, especially in his native China, about Yao’s playing future. But he cleared the doubts by saying that his NBA return time should be next season when he was in Shanghai to support the launch of a new public service advertisement by the San Francisco-based conservation group WildAid on protecting sharks.

“I’m definitely recovering and the recent results of my checkups allowed me to make this long trip back to Shanghai from the U.S.,” he said. “I might be completely recovered by next season, but so far I don’t know exactly what day it starts. The game schedule hasn’t come out yet.”

James scored 36 points, leading Cavaliers to fourth straight win

2009-12-17T00:41:00.000-08:00

LeBron James had another James-type night on Wednesday while playing against the Philadelphia 76ers, one of the worst teams in the NBA. Going 12 for 26 from the floor, he got hot in the fourth and silenced another road crowd, some wearing No.23 LeBron James jerseys, that packed the place just to watch him play.

LeBron James hit two clutch 3s in the fourth quarter and scored 36 points to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 108-101 victory over the 76ers on Wednesday night. Roy Halladay , Phillies’ newly acquired ace, was watching the game from a suite.

The crowd chanted “We Want A.I.!” with Iverson on the bench as the Sixers made a fourth-quarter charge that put them ahead against a team that has 13 more victories. Andre Iguodala ‘s 3-pointer with 5:50 left stretched the lead to 94-90. But James came right back and sank his own 3. He then matter-of-factly hit another one that made it 96-all.

Mo Williams hit back-to-back shots in the fourth that gave the Cavaliers a lead they would never relinquish and scored 12 points. Iguodala led the Sixers with 26 points, and Thaddeus Young and Allen Iverson each had 16. The Sixers have lost 13 of 14 games.

NFL determined there was no tampering in Redskins-Haynesworth deal

2009-12-16T01:18:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday, the NFL ruled that they “cannot conclude” that the Washington Redskins committed any tampering violation before signing defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth last offseason as the player’s former team, the Tennessee Titans indicated.

The Titans sent information to the NFL indicating the Redskins might have contacted Haynesworth and his agent when the tackle was still playing in Titans jersey, before his free agency began on Feb. 27. Such behavior may violate the league’s anti-tampering policy and result in fines and forfeiting draft picks.

But after conducting “an extensive review” of the Haynesworth case, the league said Tuesday that the Redskins “assured” the NFL that the team will “re-emphasize with club executives the importance of abiding by the anti-tampering policy and ensure compliance with those rules.”

Raiders QB Gradkowski may not play Sunday against Broncos

2009-12-15T01:07:00.000-08:00

As the Oakland Raiders quarterback Bruce Gradkowski tore medial collateral ligament in both knees during last Sunday’s game against the Washington Redskins, a lot began to guess who would start for the Raiders this week against the Denver Broncos.

According to Raiders Coach Tom Cable, former starter JaMarcus Russell and third-stringer Charlie Frye have equal chance to get the starting job if Gradkowski is unable to wear back his Raiders jersey to start Sunday’s game. The coach said he will have a decision by Wednesday.

Gradkowski completed 10 of 18 pass attempts for 153 yards in the first half against the Redskins, leading the Raiders to 10 points. And the Raiders only managed three points and 39 yards in the second half with Russell replacing Gradkowski on the quarterback. So if it is any way possible, the Raiders would still like to start Gradkowski, who won two of his three starts, engineering comeback victories against Cincinnati and Pittsburgh before the injury.

Now Peterson began to surpass Favre in catching attention

2009-12-14T01:14:00.000-08:00

Since he decided to get out of retirement and accept Brad Childress’ invitation to put on Vikings jersey, Brett Favre has been mentioned too much when people were talking about every Vikings’ game. We know running back Adrian did as great job, but we were just so busy talking about Favre that we forgot to mention that.

Peterson just ran. He helped take pressure off the quarterback in the second half and eventually put away Cincinnati. He provided some tough, effective running that worked the clock and got him into the end zone twice.

So it is time believe that the Vikings would be even better if they make their offense more about Peterson and less about Favre, to trust Peterson to be the man who can take advantage of what has become a vulnerable Saints run defense if the teams meet in the NFC title game.

Vikings WR Harvin missed third straight practice

2009-12-12T01:31:00.000-08:00

Although not willing to rule the rookie receiver out for this Sunday’s game, the Minnesota Vikings Coach Brad Childress is just 100 percent confident that Percy Harvin could appear in the game against the Cincinnati Bengals, wearing his Vikings jersey and playing as good as before.

Harvin, dangerous as a receiver and kick returner, missed practice time before the San Francisco and Green Bay games earlier this season and responded well in both. Besides four catches for 51 yards, he returned a kickoff for a touchdown against the 49ers, and had five catches for 84 yards and a touchdown against the Packers.

The Vikings have 14 players listed on injury report, with 13 of them starters. Injuries are bothering running back Adrian Peterson, right tackle Phil Loadholt and left guard Steve Hutchinson. Even starting quarterback Brett Favre was limited in Friday’s practice, not because of injury but a coach’s decision.

Believe or not, 1-11 Browns beat Steelers 13-6

2009-12-10T22:22:00.001-08:00

No matter how badly the fans want them to win, the Pittsburgh Steelers just keep losing. And they lost to the team they were most likely and expected to win at least. Thursday night’s game against the Cleveland Browns turned to be the fifth straight loss of the Steelers.

No Steelers in playoffs for this season now after they became the Browns’ first stepstone to end their 12-game losing streak. Disappointing, frustrating, disgusting, but we have to accept that the Steelers are now so vulnerable that even the weakest team can beat them without scoring much. Do not expect much for the next three games. None of the Packers, the Ravens and Dolphins seems like an easier team than the Browns to win over. Get ready to mourn instead of cheering while watching the games in your beloved Steelers jersey.

I am just too disappointed to write down above words. I am not actually a Steelers fan, but it is just unacceptable for any fan, ok except for the Browns fan. A former champion team now has broken its own record of longest losing streak in six years, and I have to say the remaining hopes for them to appear in playoffs has gone away.

Steelers star safety Polamalu may not return this season

2009-12-09T00:12:00.000-08:00

With only four games left for the season and his left knee still not fine to work on field, the Pittsburgh Steelers star safety Troy Polamalu begins to feel that he may not be back on field for the rest of season.

Although his latest injury to his posterior cruciate ligament was originally considered to be less severe than the anterior cruciate ligament injury that kept him out of the Steelers’ second through fifth games, it has already kept him out for the Steelers’ last three games and will keep him out for fourth consecutive game when the Steelers play against the Cleveland Browns on Thursday night.

After the game against the Browns, Polamalu will have 10 days to prepare for the next game on Dec. 20 against the Green Bay Packers. But by so far the No. 43 Troy Polamalu jersey has not appeared in any Steelers practice, so it remains uncertain whether the star safety could return on field before the season ends.

TE Klopfenstein rejoined Bills two weeks after being released

2009-12-08T01:18:00.000-08:00

The 4-8 Buffalo Bills took action to improve the defense by re-signing tight end Joe Klopfenstein and releasing defensive tackle Corey Mace on Monday, and they are not much more confident to prepare for this Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

In his fourth year of wearing pro NFL jersey, Klopfenstein signed with the Bills originally on Nov. 18. But the following weekend he was listed as inactive for the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars and was released after the game. By signing the defensive end back, the Bills now have three healthy tight ends to play against the Chiefs this weekend.

As for Mace, he has totally only appeared in two games for the Bills for this season. The last one was the game against the Miami Dolphins two weeks ago, and he contributed only an interception to the Bills’ 31-14 victory.

8-3 Cardinals became the second team to beat Vikings

2009-12-07T01:16:00.000-08:00

Neither the Pittsburgh Steelers nor the Arizona Cardinals has given a performance that could be called perfect for this season, but both teams managed to achieve other teams have not achieved by so far of this season: they beat the Vikings.

With a 6-0 start, the Vikings lost their first regular-season game to the Steelers, but they soon cleared doubt about their future by winning four consecutive games, but (but again) the Cardinals did not allow them to continue with the winning streak. Kurt Warner made it to 22 of 32 with no interceptions and no sacks, while the guy wearing his No. 4 Brett Favre jersey was picked off twice and sacked three times.

Hard to say which team surprised us more. The Vikings has kept their power rank at No. 3 following the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints for weeks, but they failed. The Cardinals lost last week’s game to 3-6 Tennessee Titans when they were still 7-3 and caused many to think that they would begin a loss streak when encountering the Vikings, but the team won.

The Vikings may win again in next game, and the Cardinals may lose again, but for now, Cardinals fans should cheer loudly for their beloved team for they really have done a good job.

Falcons’ No. 2 quarterback may start this Sunday

2009-12-05T01:12:00.000-08:00

While the Atlanta Falcons No. 1 quarterback Matt Ryan is nursing his toe injury, the team’s No. 2 quarterback Chris Redman sees some hope in making a first start since putting on Falcons jersey in 2007. This first start would be against the Philadelphia Eagles.

To Redman, the job itself is not the difficult part as he played all but the first drive as Ryan’s replacement in last weekend’s 20-17 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and overcame five sacks, an inconsistent running game and two dropped touchdown passes by Roddy White. The difficult part is to get the chance. And now he has the chance, and the veteran quarterback feels anxious all this week.

"Yeah, pretty much," he said. "You kind of just go through your routine that you've stuck with over the years. Just try not to get to nervous and go out there and have fun."

Against the Buccaneers, Redman completed 23 of 41 passes for 243 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Hopefully he would do better while playing against the Patriots.

From left knee to right, Sanchez got hurt again

2009-12-04T01:18:00.000-08:00

During last Sunday’s 17-6 win over the Carolina Panthers, the New York Jets starting quarterback Mark Sanchez injured his left knee, so he had been learning to use his right leg during this week’s practice, however, the right knee was injured, too, during Thursday night’s game against the Buffalo Bills.

Sanchez appeared to be hurt when he dived head first to end an 8-yard run on New York’s second possession of the second half on Thursday night. It seemed that Jets Coach Rex Ryan’s plan did not work, and having Yankees manager Joe Girardi teach Sanchez sliding proved to be ineffective.

Fortunately, his touchdown pass to Braylon Edwards before hurting the knee was just enough to help the Jets win over the Bills at 19-13. Kellen Clemens replaced him for the rest of the game after he limped off the field without taking off his Jets jersey.