TV RATINGS SKYROCKET, SENIOR BOWL NEWS & REPRESENTATIVE RUNYAN?
The folks at 280 Park Avenue in New York have to be ecstatic with the Nielsen ratings for Championship Sunday. They were the highest in 28 years, going back to the "Ice Bowl" game in Cincinnati with San Diego, followed by the famous Dallas-San Francisco game that featured 'the catch' by Dwight Clark. I remember that Sunday, we were having an ice storm in Kansas City & our cable went out. We had to drag out an old 10" black & white TV with rabbit ears to watch the 4th quarter of the Dallas-Frisco game. The average rating for the 7-hour block was 53 million viewers this past Sunday. The Vikings-Saints game was the highest non-Super Bowl primetime television ratings since the "Seinfeld" finale in '94.
Braylon Edwards was the only dissenting voice in the Jets locker room after their 30-17 defeat in Indianapolis Sunday. Big Surprise, here's a guy who drops as many passes as anyone in the league & he's going to start criticizing the coaching staff, most notably, offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. He claimed there wasn't the aggressiveness in the second half & there weren't enough plays to him. While his coach & teammates were saluting the Colts, talking about what it would take to get back to the playoffs next season, Edwards was whining about the coaches.
The news out of the Senior Bowl practices in Mobile for some is good, for others it's been devastating. Bad news first, Wisconsin DE/OLB O'Brien Schofield suffered a torn left ACL in his first practice on Monday. He will miss the NFL combine, quite possibly summer camp & the preseason with the team that drafts him. After his performance in the East-West Shrine game last week, Schofield was moving up draft boards after he showed he can adapt to an OLB spot in a 3-4 defense. Terrence Cody, a DT from Alabama, looks to be this year's Andre Smith. Long time readers will recall my pictures & description of Smith running the 40 on his pro day. He needed a very large sports bra weighing in at nearly 360 pounds that day. Cody clad in just gym shorts, elicited an audible gasp from the assembled scouts & coaches at the weigh-in. Cody tipped the scales at 371 & displayed a very sloppy upper body that rivaled Smith's. USC safety Taylor Mays hasn't had a good Senior Bowl week so far. He looks stiff & has been slow reacting in drills. Mizzou's Danario Alexander hasn't done well either. He has had great difficulty getting off the line when jammed & he's dropped several passes. Wisconsin's Garrett Graham's week has been a disaster, dropped passes, poor routes & he's been manhandled in blocking drills. Florida QB Tim Tebow spent Sunday night in the hospital with strep throat & a fever. He missed no practice time & plans to play Saturday. Tebow has struggled taking snaps from under center as opposed to catching them in the shotgun formation. His elongated throwing motion has caused coaches & scouts to cringe, he needs a lot of work on his fundamentals, I think the former Heisman winner is no higher than a 3rd round pick.
There were quite a few prospects who have really stepped up their game, making sure the scouts & coaches notice them. Cincinnati's WR Mardy Gilyard has done everything right, gets off the jam, runs good routes, catches the ball with his hands & has shown his speed. He looks to be a high 2nd round pick in my mind. Three guards have looked good in one-on-one drills as well as in 11 on 11. Alabama's Mike Johnson, Arkansas' Mitch Petrus & Arizona State's Shaun Lauvao have all held their ground in pass blocking drills & moved people around when it was needed. Johnson looks very athletic with pretty decent feet in pass blocking. Oregon's LeGarrette Blount looks ready for the NFL right now. The time he spent on suspension from the Duck program left him rested & in great shape, he looks absolutely chiseled, plus he catches the ball very well out of the backfield. Oklahoma State cornerback Perrish Cox has been the best cover corner so far, he's very quick with good closing speed & excellent instincts. Illinois TE Michael Hoomanawanui(honest) has blown everyone away with his excellent blocking & for a short to medium depth route runner, he uses his huge frame(6-5 267) to totally shield defenders from the ball. He has caught everything even close. The only drills I saw Mizzou's Sean Weatherspoon run were blitzers vs. running backs. Poor Joique Bell of little Wayne State drew 'Spoon' every time. The smaller Bell(5-10 223) was run over the first few times facing the larger(6-1 245) Weatherspoon. He did better the last 2 times, but was still tossed aside. Cincinnati's Tony Pike has been the most accurate quarterback in Mobile. He looks positively skinny at 6-6 212. He needs about 20-25 lbs. of muscle, he's already suffered thru a broken left arm twice in two years. Boise State corner & punt returner, Kyle Wilson, has really made an impression so far. He's a physical player who doesn't back down from bigger receivers or in run support.
The Chiefs new coordinators were both in attendance at the practice sessions. Charlie Weis & Romeo Crennel were sitting together, taking notes both days.
The Chiefs' Brian Waters is a finalist for the NFL's Walter Payton Award for off the field charitable work. The other two finalists are Buffalo's London Fletcher & Cleveland DB Mike Furrey. Former Chiefs Will Shields & Derrick Thomas are past winners of the prestigious award.
The NFL released it's list of their top selling jerseys. No big surprise here, #1 Favre, #2 Peyton Manning, #3 Brees, #4 Adrian Peterson & #5 Troy Polamalu.
It appears Mizzou is going to sign Wentzville offensive tackle Nick Demien, a 6-6 295-pounder who is rated in everybody's top-100 recruits nationally.
Federal election officials were investigating the Fiesta Bowl Committee last December for irregularities regarding the reimbursement of bowl employee political contributions if they were made to the right candidates. Bowl Committee Chairman Alan Young stated the week of the game, the investigation had been called off & there was nothing worth pursuing. The Arizona Republic began their own investigation & now the Arizona Attorney General's office is snooping around. The AG's office was prompted by the the newspaper & PlayoffPac, a political action committee aiming for a college playoff system(Hallelujah!). This could be interesting.
The Tampa Bay Bucs interviewed former Buc, former Charger, Redskin, Jaguar & Cleveland Brown, Keenan McCardell for their WR coaching vacancy. The 40-year old appeared to be a natural last week coaching the West receivers in the Shrine All-Star game. Scouts said his guys were noticeably improved after 5 days under his tutelage. McCardell caught 883 passes for 11,373 yards & 83 touchdowns in his 17-year NFL career. The former UNLV Rebel, a 12th round draft pick who didn't have breakaway speed but he had superior hands & ran near-perfect routes. He earned Super Bowl rings with the Redskins & Bucs. He's a really decent guy too, I used to talk to him from time to time while I was working in Vegas.
Former Titan, Eagle & Charger, offensive tackle Jon Runyan, is planning a run for the U.S. House of Representatives in New Jersey's 3rd Congressional district. Runyan, a Republican, will enter the primary in hopes of squaring off with Democrat John Adler. Runyan has been planning this move for about three years now.
Braylon Edwards was the only dissenting voice in the Jets locker room after their 30-17 defeat in Indianapolis Sunday. Big Surprise, here's a guy who drops as many passes as anyone in the league & he's going to start criticizing the coaching staff, most notably, offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. He claimed there wasn't the aggressiveness in the second half & there weren't enough plays to him. While his coach & teammates were saluting the Colts, talking about what it would take to get back to the playoffs next season, Edwards was whining about the coaches.
The news out of the Senior Bowl practices in Mobile for some is good, for others it's been devastating. Bad news first, Wisconsin DE/OLB O'Brien Schofield suffered a torn left ACL in his first practice on Monday. He will miss the NFL combine, quite possibly summer camp & the preseason with the team that drafts him. After his performance in the East-West Shrine game last week, Schofield was moving up draft boards after he showed he can adapt to an OLB spot in a 3-4 defense. Terrence Cody, a DT from Alabama, looks to be this year's Andre Smith. Long time readers will recall my pictures & description of Smith running the 40 on his pro day. He needed a very large sports bra weighing in at nearly 360 pounds that day. Cody clad in just gym shorts, elicited an audible gasp from the assembled scouts & coaches at the weigh-in. Cody tipped the scales at 371 & displayed a very sloppy upper body that rivaled Smith's. USC safety Taylor Mays hasn't had a good Senior Bowl week so far. He looks stiff & has been slow reacting in drills. Mizzou's Danario Alexander hasn't done well either. He has had great difficulty getting off the line when jammed & he's dropped several passes. Wisconsin's Garrett Graham's week has been a disaster, dropped passes, poor routes & he's been manhandled in blocking drills. Florida QB Tim Tebow spent Sunday night in the hospital with strep throat & a fever. He missed no practice time & plans to play Saturday. Tebow has struggled taking snaps from under center as opposed to catching them in the shotgun formation. His elongated throwing motion has caused coaches & scouts to cringe, he needs a lot of work on his fundamentals, I think the former Heisman winner is no higher than a 3rd round pick.
There were quite a few prospects who have really stepped up their game, making sure the scouts & coaches notice them. Cincinnati's WR Mardy Gilyard has done everything right, gets off the jam, runs good routes, catches the ball with his hands & has shown his speed. He looks to be a high 2nd round pick in my mind. Three guards have looked good in one-on-one drills as well as in 11 on 11. Alabama's Mike Johnson, Arkansas' Mitch Petrus & Arizona State's Shaun Lauvao have all held their ground in pass blocking drills & moved people around when it was needed. Johnson looks very athletic with pretty decent feet in pass blocking. Oregon's LeGarrette Blount looks ready for the NFL right now. The time he spent on suspension from the Duck program left him rested & in great shape, he looks absolutely chiseled, plus he catches the ball very well out of the backfield. Oklahoma State cornerback Perrish Cox has been the best cover corner so far, he's very quick with good closing speed & excellent instincts. Illinois TE Michael Hoomanawanui(honest) has blown everyone away with his excellent blocking & for a short to medium depth route runner, he uses his huge frame(6-5 267) to totally shield defenders from the ball. He has caught everything even close. The only drills I saw Mizzou's Sean Weatherspoon run were blitzers vs. running backs. Poor Joique Bell of little Wayne State drew 'Spoon' every time. The smaller Bell(5-10 223) was run over the first few times facing the larger(6-1 245) Weatherspoon. He did better the last 2 times, but was still tossed aside. Cincinnati's Tony Pike has been the most accurate quarterback in Mobile. He looks positively skinny at 6-6 212. He needs about 20-25 lbs. of muscle, he's already suffered thru a broken left arm twice in two years. Boise State corner & punt returner, Kyle Wilson, has really made an impression so far. He's a physical player who doesn't back down from bigger receivers or in run support.
The Chiefs new coordinators were both in attendance at the practice sessions. Charlie Weis & Romeo Crennel were sitting together, taking notes both days.
The Chiefs' Brian Waters is a finalist for the NFL's Walter Payton Award for off the field charitable work. The other two finalists are Buffalo's London Fletcher & Cleveland DB Mike Furrey. Former Chiefs Will Shields & Derrick Thomas are past winners of the prestigious award.
The NFL released it's list of their top selling jerseys. No big surprise here, #1 Favre, #2 Peyton Manning, #3 Brees, #4 Adrian Peterson & #5 Troy Polamalu.
It appears Mizzou is going to sign Wentzville offensive tackle Nick Demien, a 6-6 295-pounder who is rated in everybody's top-100 recruits nationally.
Federal election officials were investigating the Fiesta Bowl Committee last December for irregularities regarding the reimbursement of bowl employee political contributions if they were made to the right candidates. Bowl Committee Chairman Alan Young stated the week of the game, the investigation had been called off & there was nothing worth pursuing. The Arizona Republic began their own investigation & now the Arizona Attorney General's office is snooping around. The AG's office was prompted by the the newspaper & PlayoffPac, a political action committee aiming for a college playoff system(Hallelujah!). This could be interesting.
The Tampa Bay Bucs interviewed former Buc, former Charger, Redskin, Jaguar & Cleveland Brown, Keenan McCardell for their WR coaching vacancy. The 40-year old appeared to be a natural last week coaching the West receivers in the Shrine All-Star game. Scouts said his guys were noticeably improved after 5 days under his tutelage. McCardell caught 883 passes for 11,373 yards & 83 touchdowns in his 17-year NFL career. The former UNLV Rebel, a 12th round draft pick who didn't have breakaway speed but he had superior hands & ran near-perfect routes. He earned Super Bowl rings with the Redskins & Bucs. He's a really decent guy too, I used to talk to him from time to time while I was working in Vegas.
Former Titan, Eagle & Charger, offensive tackle Jon Runyan, is planning a run for the U.S. House of Representatives in New Jersey's 3rd Congressional district. Runyan, a Republican, will enter the primary in hopes of squaring off with Democrat John Adler. Runyan has been planning this move for about three years now.
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