THIS AND THAT..........THURSDAY MORNING
I posed the question yesterday whether Antonio Pierce would testify before a Manhattan grand jury & the answer is yes. Pierce will voluntarily testify Thursday & since Plaxico Burress claims he told the 'whole truth' when he testified on Wednesday, Pierce may be able to also tell the whole truth & not betray his former teammate. If, in fact, Burress did "tell everything & throw himself on the mercy of the court", as he claimed, Pierce volunteering to come forward & not wait on a subpoena, might be enough to get him off the hook in the illegal gun case. The New York Giants & Pierce's attorney claim "Antonio has cooperated to the fullest with New York authorities."
Vikings' coach Brad Childress said Tuesday night "there's no chance he'll reconsider signing Brett Favre". Favre said on the NFL Network he would continue to work out & throw, suggesting if the right situation came up, he just might consider coming out of retirement. Now every time a quarterback goers down with an injury, the media will begin all over again bludgeoning us with "is this the right spot for a Favre comeback"? And we certainly haven't had enough Brett Favre speculation this year have we? I for one hope he stays retired, if only to be able to watch a "Sportscenter" or an "NFL Total Access" without the lead story beating this dreadful tale to death yet again. So why can't he decide to retire & stick to it? He doesn't want to be a TV analyst & he doesn't own a business or have a job to go to, he just has his riding lawnmower down in Mississippi, a fishing boat & his shotgun. That seems like plenty to those of us who look forward to retirement, but we've never been in the national spotlight for years, never competed at the highest level in anything, never had the press hanging on our every word. It would be hard to walk away from that, at least apparently it is for Brett Favre.
Larry Johnson is talking again & what he's saying is somewhat surprising. He said Tuesday "I want to be here because of Scott Pioli's commitment to winning. There's a new excitement in Kansas City." On the surface it sounds great, in reality, Johnson knows this is his last best shot at making big money in the NFL. His current contract will be the last multi-million dollar deal he'll get as a professional & he's going to protect it. Let's see how he reacts when he's constantly taken off the field on 3rd down in the Todd Haley/Chan Gailey passing offense. I hope I'm dead wrong about Johnson, the Chiefs desperately need him to provide 1,200+ yards on the ground, helping Matt Cassel & Dwayne Bowe as the only impact skill position players on the Chiefs' offense.
Derrick Burgess, Oakland defensive end, was a no-show for the opening of training camp. Since Burgess is still under contract, the Raiders can fine him $17,000 a day everyday he's absent. Burgess, in the last year of his contract, was the subject of trade talks last spring & for a time it looked as tho he would land in New England. The Raiders recently signed ex-Cowboy Greg Ellis & made it clear he would start, so Burgess knew his days in Oakland were numbered. The 8-year veteran led the NFL in sacks in 2005 & was a Pro Bowl player in '05 & '06. He'd look great in a Patriot uniform, but really, he'd look good in about anything but the 'Silver & Black'.
Dale Hansen, a veteran reporter for ESPN Radio has resigned because he was told during his talk show to "knock off the Ben Roethlisberger talk". Hansen was a TV beat reporter covering the Cowboys & a regular ESPN Radio contributor. Hansen's fabulous 3-minute rant on the evening news in Dallas the day the Cowboys signed Adam 'Pacman' Jones made him persona non grata at Cowboy headquarters. Check it out on YouTube, it's a classic & he's 100% correct. I have to tip my hat to Hansen for walking, admittedly, he still has a TV gig, but finally, someone affiliated with ESPN has thumbed their nose in the direction of Bristol, Connecticut. Bravo!
USC incoming freshman linebacker, Frankie Telfort, will never don a Trojan uniform. It has been discovered Telfort has a genetic heart condition that 1 in 500 Americans suffer from & is the leading cardiovascular cause of sudden death in the world. Telfort was a 4-star recruit, according to Rivals.com, who was offered scholarships from Notre Dame, Florida, Tennessee, LSU, Ohio State, Duke & Stanford before signing with Southern Cal. He will remain on scholarship & is expected to major in pre-med.
Another sad note regarding a USC player. I told you last month of the comeback of Kenechi Udeze, a former 1st round pick of the Minnesota Vikings in 2004. Udeze sat out last season while battling leukemia. He had gained back 20 of the 40 pounds he had lost. He attended most of the OTA's & the Viking mini camp last month. The positive reports of his comeback were very encouraging. It came as a surprise today when Udeze, thru his agent, announced his retirement. I have no idea if his fight with leukemia isn't going well or if he just doesn't want to play football anymore, but I wish him nothing but the best with the rest of his life, he's a great young man.
Vikings' coach Brad Childress said Tuesday night "there's no chance he'll reconsider signing Brett Favre". Favre said on the NFL Network he would continue to work out & throw, suggesting if the right situation came up, he just might consider coming out of retirement. Now every time a quarterback goers down with an injury, the media will begin all over again bludgeoning us with "is this the right spot for a Favre comeback"? And we certainly haven't had enough Brett Favre speculation this year have we? I for one hope he stays retired, if only to be able to watch a "Sportscenter" or an "NFL Total Access" without the lead story beating this dreadful tale to death yet again. So why can't he decide to retire & stick to it? He doesn't want to be a TV analyst & he doesn't own a business or have a job to go to, he just has his riding lawnmower down in Mississippi, a fishing boat & his shotgun. That seems like plenty to those of us who look forward to retirement, but we've never been in the national spotlight for years, never competed at the highest level in anything, never had the press hanging on our every word. It would be hard to walk away from that, at least apparently it is for Brett Favre.
Larry Johnson is talking again & what he's saying is somewhat surprising. He said Tuesday "I want to be here because of Scott Pioli's commitment to winning. There's a new excitement in Kansas City." On the surface it sounds great, in reality, Johnson knows this is his last best shot at making big money in the NFL. His current contract will be the last multi-million dollar deal he'll get as a professional & he's going to protect it. Let's see how he reacts when he's constantly taken off the field on 3rd down in the Todd Haley/Chan Gailey passing offense. I hope I'm dead wrong about Johnson, the Chiefs desperately need him to provide 1,200+ yards on the ground, helping Matt Cassel & Dwayne Bowe as the only impact skill position players on the Chiefs' offense.
Derrick Burgess, Oakland defensive end, was a no-show for the opening of training camp. Since Burgess is still under contract, the Raiders can fine him $17,000 a day everyday he's absent. Burgess, in the last year of his contract, was the subject of trade talks last spring & for a time it looked as tho he would land in New England. The Raiders recently signed ex-Cowboy Greg Ellis & made it clear he would start, so Burgess knew his days in Oakland were numbered. The 8-year veteran led the NFL in sacks in 2005 & was a Pro Bowl player in '05 & '06. He'd look great in a Patriot uniform, but really, he'd look good in about anything but the 'Silver & Black'.
Dale Hansen, a veteran reporter for ESPN Radio has resigned because he was told during his talk show to "knock off the Ben Roethlisberger talk". Hansen was a TV beat reporter covering the Cowboys & a regular ESPN Radio contributor. Hansen's fabulous 3-minute rant on the evening news in Dallas the day the Cowboys signed Adam 'Pacman' Jones made him persona non grata at Cowboy headquarters. Check it out on YouTube, it's a classic & he's 100% correct. I have to tip my hat to Hansen for walking, admittedly, he still has a TV gig, but finally, someone affiliated with ESPN has thumbed their nose in the direction of Bristol, Connecticut. Bravo!
USC incoming freshman linebacker, Frankie Telfort, will never don a Trojan uniform. It has been discovered Telfort has a genetic heart condition that 1 in 500 Americans suffer from & is the leading cardiovascular cause of sudden death in the world. Telfort was a 4-star recruit, according to Rivals.com, who was offered scholarships from Notre Dame, Florida, Tennessee, LSU, Ohio State, Duke & Stanford before signing with Southern Cal. He will remain on scholarship & is expected to major in pre-med.
Another sad note regarding a USC player. I told you last month of the comeback of Kenechi Udeze, a former 1st round pick of the Minnesota Vikings in 2004. Udeze sat out last season while battling leukemia. He had gained back 20 of the 40 pounds he had lost. He attended most of the OTA's & the Viking mini camp last month. The positive reports of his comeback were very encouraging. It came as a surprise today when Udeze, thru his agent, announced his retirement. I have no idea if his fight with leukemia isn't going well or if he just doesn't want to play football anymore, but I wish him nothing but the best with the rest of his life, he's a great young man.
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