ANOTHER DUCK IN CUFFS, TEBOW MAKES A SCORE & DO THE CHIEFS REALLY HAVE A WINNING STRATEGY?
Wow, has this been a very bad start for Oregon coach Chip Kelly's second year. Linebacker Josh Kaddu was arrested early Saturday morning for public drunkenness & a minor in possession of alcohol. I know this hardly makes him public enemy #1, but when your program is in the national spotlight for all the wrong reasons, making bad decisions like this only compound the problem. Kaddu was spotted trying to break into an SUV on a city street. When an officer approached, Kaddu didn't respond to commands to cease his efforts to open the locked car door. The SUV owner declined to press charges as there didn't appear to be any damage. Now Kelly has another P.R. mess to deal with & with each passing transgression, the heat gets turned up just a little more out in Eugene.
The Jacksonville Jaguars signed former Packer pass rush specialist, Aaron Kampman. Details of the contract weren't made public. Kampman didn't fit into the Packers new 3-4 defensive scheme employed by D-coordinator Dom Capers last season. He wanted to go back to a 4-3 weak side defensive end spot where he can tee off & go after the quarterback. He got his wish.
Dolphin nose tackle Jason Ferguson was suspended today for the first eight games of next season for PED's(performance enhancing drugs). The 35-year old Ferguson missed the last half of the season with a knee injury. He was an unrestricted free agent & made it clear he would either resign with Miami or retire. With this suspension, look for him to be retired sometime right after his suspension ends.
Tim Tebow hasn't taken a snap in the NFL yet, but he learned how to make a lot of money in a very short period yesterday. He was booked for a public appearance in Florida Saturday & to say he was a big hit is the understatement of the weekend. Nearly 1,500 showed up to pay $160 apiece for his autograph. Honest, one-hundred-sixty dollars per autograph. If you wanted your picture taken with the former Heisman Trophy winner, that was an additional $75. Now I'm a capitalist at heart & Tebow did make it clear a percentage of his fee would go to the Tim Tebow Foundation, apparently a charity, but let's do a little math. At $160 a pop, that's a cool $240,000 for signing 1,500 autographs. Let's say 20% of the autograph seekers also wanted a photo with their hero, that's another $22,500. So if Tebow got 50% of the take, he made $131,250 yesterday. Even after paying his agent, business manager & Uncle Sam, Tebow made at least $80,000. Want to know the truth about Saturday's windfall? Eighty-grand is just a drop in the bucket compared to what he'll make as an NFL player & product pitchman.
The more moves the Chiefs make or attempt to make, the more confused I become. I know they've got some sort of 'Secret Society' over at One Arrowhead Drive now, but c'mon man, what in the hell is going on over there? They resigned Terrance Copper yesterday, which was a BFD huh? Meanwhile Wade Smith, their offensive line swingman(he played 4 diff. positions last year) is booking appointments all over the league. Other than Brian Waters & Brandon Albert, Smith is the least expendable of their up front guys.
Also last night, they booked a visit for former Jet running back Thomas Jones on Monday. Jones has been a very productive runner, especially in the last five seasons with 6,378 yards on 1,541 carries. That's a lot of wear & tear. You also must factor in Jones will be 32 in August, which has to be taken into consideration, running back skill sets can literally fall off the table in less than a season. This is especially true in runners who have this many carries. I know Kansas City needs a dependable backup to Jamaal Charles, but is a 32-year old with nearly bald tires what they're really looking for, really?
There's also been talk that new Cleveland's 'Boss of Bosses', Mike Holmgren, isn't too enamored with nose tackle Shaun Rogers because he freelances too much. Would Romeo Crennell be interested in the 6-4 345-pound Rogers? He's kind of a head case, but when he's ready to play, he's the space-eating, run-stuffer a 3-4 defense needs. Ma'ake Kemoeatu is also a possibility if he can pass a physical before training camp. Ma'ake is recovering from Achilles tendon surgery & still hasn't been cleared to run.
The Chiefs are also working overtime to resign Chris Chambers if that gets you excited. Just seems like more of the same to me. For a team that realistically needs a safety, 3 linebackers, nose tackle, left offensive tackle, guard-center combo player, tight end, backup running back that can actually play in the NFL(as opposed to Jackie Battle) & at least 2 wide receivers, they seem to be going in the wrong direction. If this trend continues, Todd Haley's 'process' is going to take a helluva lot longer than it should. With a talent infusion from the draft, a couple of quality free agents & a favorable 2010 schedule, I honestly thought they could be at least 8-8. Now............well I reserve judgment until I see if Scott Pioli can pull a rabbit out his hat on draft weekend.
The Jacksonville Jaguars signed former Packer pass rush specialist, Aaron Kampman. Details of the contract weren't made public. Kampman didn't fit into the Packers new 3-4 defensive scheme employed by D-coordinator Dom Capers last season. He wanted to go back to a 4-3 weak side defensive end spot where he can tee off & go after the quarterback. He got his wish.
Dolphin nose tackle Jason Ferguson was suspended today for the first eight games of next season for PED's(performance enhancing drugs). The 35-year old Ferguson missed the last half of the season with a knee injury. He was an unrestricted free agent & made it clear he would either resign with Miami or retire. With this suspension, look for him to be retired sometime right after his suspension ends.
Tim Tebow hasn't taken a snap in the NFL yet, but he learned how to make a lot of money in a very short period yesterday. He was booked for a public appearance in Florida Saturday & to say he was a big hit is the understatement of the weekend. Nearly 1,500 showed up to pay $160 apiece for his autograph. Honest, one-hundred-sixty dollars per autograph. If you wanted your picture taken with the former Heisman Trophy winner, that was an additional $75. Now I'm a capitalist at heart & Tebow did make it clear a percentage of his fee would go to the Tim Tebow Foundation, apparently a charity, but let's do a little math. At $160 a pop, that's a cool $240,000 for signing 1,500 autographs. Let's say 20% of the autograph seekers also wanted a photo with their hero, that's another $22,500. So if Tebow got 50% of the take, he made $131,250 yesterday. Even after paying his agent, business manager & Uncle Sam, Tebow made at least $80,000. Want to know the truth about Saturday's windfall? Eighty-grand is just a drop in the bucket compared to what he'll make as an NFL player & product pitchman.
The more moves the Chiefs make or attempt to make, the more confused I become. I know they've got some sort of 'Secret Society' over at One Arrowhead Drive now, but c'mon man, what in the hell is going on over there? They resigned Terrance Copper yesterday, which was a BFD huh? Meanwhile Wade Smith, their offensive line swingman(he played 4 diff. positions last year) is booking appointments all over the league. Other than Brian Waters & Brandon Albert, Smith is the least expendable of their up front guys.
Also last night, they booked a visit for former Jet running back Thomas Jones on Monday. Jones has been a very productive runner, especially in the last five seasons with 6,378 yards on 1,541 carries. That's a lot of wear & tear. You also must factor in Jones will be 32 in August, which has to be taken into consideration, running back skill sets can literally fall off the table in less than a season. This is especially true in runners who have this many carries. I know Kansas City needs a dependable backup to Jamaal Charles, but is a 32-year old with nearly bald tires what they're really looking for, really?
There's also been talk that new Cleveland's 'Boss of Bosses', Mike Holmgren, isn't too enamored with nose tackle Shaun Rogers because he freelances too much. Would Romeo Crennell be interested in the 6-4 345-pound Rogers? He's kind of a head case, but when he's ready to play, he's the space-eating, run-stuffer a 3-4 defense needs. Ma'ake Kemoeatu is also a possibility if he can pass a physical before training camp. Ma'ake is recovering from Achilles tendon surgery & still hasn't been cleared to run.
The Chiefs are also working overtime to resign Chris Chambers if that gets you excited. Just seems like more of the same to me. For a team that realistically needs a safety, 3 linebackers, nose tackle, left offensive tackle, guard-center combo player, tight end, backup running back that can actually play in the NFL(as opposed to Jackie Battle) & at least 2 wide receivers, they seem to be going in the wrong direction. If this trend continues, Todd Haley's 'process' is going to take a helluva lot longer than it should. With a talent infusion from the draft, a couple of quality free agents & a favorable 2010 schedule, I honestly thought they could be at least 8-8. Now............well I reserve judgment until I see if Scott Pioli can pull a rabbit out his hat on draft weekend.
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