BIG BEN TO MEET WITH THE COMISH, KING CARL CRUISING FOR A JOB & IS THERE GOING TO BE A COLD WEATHER SUPER BOWL?
Ben Roethlisberger's 2nd run-in with a woman who has accused him of sexual assault has gotten the attention of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Expect him to be summoned to New York as soon as the owners meetings in Orlando are completed. Goodell said today he is very concerned about Big Ben's nightlife & how it is he keeps getting into these situations. He has already spoken to Arthur Rooney & coach Mike Tomlin about Roethlisberger. As you know, Goodell has shown little tolerance for behavior like this or the decision to be in a place where trouble can find you. I have no idea if there is any merit to either charge, but you have to wonder now that there's been a second charge. After his meeting with Goodell, I expect Roethlisberger will become a home-body.
The NFL approved a new deal with Verizon to be their wireless regular season game provider. For a subscription, you can call up any NFL telecast all season on your Verizon cell phone. The 4-year deal is worth a whopping $724 million. Even with the league taking a nice piece off the top, it still works out to over $20 million a team. Pretty impressive selling NFL telecasts on media we didn't even know would exist just a few years ago.
Another rule change has come out of the competition committee for the commissioner to approve. No more head-on collisions with the deep snapper on punts, field goal & extra point attempts. If a player lines up across form the deep snapper, he cannot hit him until after the kick is gone. The deep snapper is obviously vulnerable with both hands on the ball & his head down looking directly at the punter or holder. Here again the league is trying to limit the chances for head & neck injuries, especially concussions, which is a good thing.
Late last week, Seattle signed restricted free agent quarterback David Whitehurst for a 3rd round pick & a position swap in the 2nd round. Seattle's pick was 8th in the round while San Diego was picking 28th, so this is quite a coup for Charger GM A.J. Smith. The Seahawks have signed Whitehurst to a 2-year $8 million deal. The last meaningful pass Whitehurst completed was in 2005 as Clemson's starting QB. Whitehurst might work out, but Pete Carroll was banished from the NFL in 1999 for making just these kind of personnel decisions. As many of you who have been here for a while know, I'm not a Carroll fan. How this team drafts interests me to no end.
Speaking of the draft, Atlanta GM Thomas Dimitroff said today when asked about drafting one of the top-rated safeties in the 1st round, "The record of drafting safeties in the top-10 hasn't been good lately, I was talking to Scott Pioli last night & I mentioned Eric Berry(Tennessee safety) might very well be there for him to pick with the 5th overall pick. He told me 'you know how I feel about drafting a safety that early." So does that mean the Chiefs won't consider Berry at #5? Personally, I want an offensive tackle in this spot. Look at the 5 safeties taken with a top-10 pick since 2002. LaRon Landry(2007), Michael Huff & Donte Whitner(2006), Sean Taylor(2004) & Roy Williams in 2002. Taylor was murdered in 2007 & he was elected to two Pro Bowls, I won't criticize this pick, but the others didn't play up to their draft position. During the same period there have been 9 offensive tackles taken in the top-10 picks. All nine are NFL starters currently, Joe Thomas, Jake Long, D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Bryant McKinnie & Jordan Gross have 8 Pro Bowls between them. The top safeties in football right now, Ed Reed(22nd), Troy Polamalu(16th) & Bob Sanders(2nd round) weren't selected that high. Let's take a tackle.
King Carl was cruising the lobby this morning at the Orlando Ritz Carlton, site of the NFL owner's meetings. He's looking for gainful employment as is former Viking/Dolphin/Raider/Lion quarterback Dante Culpepper. I don't like their chances in 2010.
Chiefs' owner Clark Hunt made a pitch today to secure an opening weekend nationally televised game so he can show the new Arrowhead to the rest of the country. Since the Thursday game will be hosted by New Orleans, that leaves the Sunday night contest & the Monday night doubleheader. I can't see them getting any of these, so the best they could hope for, in my opinion, is a Sunday game & even that probably won't happen.When you win 10 games in 3 years, it's hard to get the league to budge when you're risking national TV ratings.
The owners will here Super Bowl proposals for the 2014 season. The New York teams have come together to pitch their peers on a Super Bowl XLVIII(48) in New Jersey. The Giants & Jets will debut their new stadium this season & they really want a Super Bowl. So they have been granted a one-time exemption to the 50-degree average temperature rule so they can bid. So if they are awarded the Super Bowl, can bids from other cold-weather cities be far behind? I doubt it, if the league does in fact award the New York teams with a Super Bowl, it's a cinch they're going to take a wait & see position until the game is played. If the game is played in sub-freezing temps, it will be the last cold-weather Super Bowl ever. If it is 50ish, then maybe, just maybe, the league will entertain another cold weather site. But don't hold your breath, even the northern domed stadiums have had a couple of nightmare Super Bowl weekends & are at best, back-burner options. Nope, it's Florida, New Orleans, Texas, Arizona & California pretty much all the time now.
The NFL approved a new deal with Verizon to be their wireless regular season game provider. For a subscription, you can call up any NFL telecast all season on your Verizon cell phone. The 4-year deal is worth a whopping $724 million. Even with the league taking a nice piece off the top, it still works out to over $20 million a team. Pretty impressive selling NFL telecasts on media we didn't even know would exist just a few years ago.
Another rule change has come out of the competition committee for the commissioner to approve. No more head-on collisions with the deep snapper on punts, field goal & extra point attempts. If a player lines up across form the deep snapper, he cannot hit him until after the kick is gone. The deep snapper is obviously vulnerable with both hands on the ball & his head down looking directly at the punter or holder. Here again the league is trying to limit the chances for head & neck injuries, especially concussions, which is a good thing.
Late last week, Seattle signed restricted free agent quarterback David Whitehurst for a 3rd round pick & a position swap in the 2nd round. Seattle's pick was 8th in the round while San Diego was picking 28th, so this is quite a coup for Charger GM A.J. Smith. The Seahawks have signed Whitehurst to a 2-year $8 million deal. The last meaningful pass Whitehurst completed was in 2005 as Clemson's starting QB. Whitehurst might work out, but Pete Carroll was banished from the NFL in 1999 for making just these kind of personnel decisions. As many of you who have been here for a while know, I'm not a Carroll fan. How this team drafts interests me to no end.
Speaking of the draft, Atlanta GM Thomas Dimitroff said today when asked about drafting one of the top-rated safeties in the 1st round, "The record of drafting safeties in the top-10 hasn't been good lately, I was talking to Scott Pioli last night & I mentioned Eric Berry(Tennessee safety) might very well be there for him to pick with the 5th overall pick. He told me 'you know how I feel about drafting a safety that early." So does that mean the Chiefs won't consider Berry at #5? Personally, I want an offensive tackle in this spot. Look at the 5 safeties taken with a top-10 pick since 2002. LaRon Landry(2007), Michael Huff & Donte Whitner(2006), Sean Taylor(2004) & Roy Williams in 2002. Taylor was murdered in 2007 & he was elected to two Pro Bowls, I won't criticize this pick, but the others didn't play up to their draft position. During the same period there have been 9 offensive tackles taken in the top-10 picks. All nine are NFL starters currently, Joe Thomas, Jake Long, D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Bryant McKinnie & Jordan Gross have 8 Pro Bowls between them. The top safeties in football right now, Ed Reed(22nd), Troy Polamalu(16th) & Bob Sanders(2nd round) weren't selected that high. Let's take a tackle.
King Carl was cruising the lobby this morning at the Orlando Ritz Carlton, site of the NFL owner's meetings. He's looking for gainful employment as is former Viking/Dolphin/Raider/Lion quarterback Dante Culpepper. I don't like their chances in 2010.
Chiefs' owner Clark Hunt made a pitch today to secure an opening weekend nationally televised game so he can show the new Arrowhead to the rest of the country. Since the Thursday game will be hosted by New Orleans, that leaves the Sunday night contest & the Monday night doubleheader. I can't see them getting any of these, so the best they could hope for, in my opinion, is a Sunday game & even that probably won't happen.When you win 10 games in 3 years, it's hard to get the league to budge when you're risking national TV ratings.
The owners will here Super Bowl proposals for the 2014 season. The New York teams have come together to pitch their peers on a Super Bowl XLVIII(48) in New Jersey. The Giants & Jets will debut their new stadium this season & they really want a Super Bowl. So they have been granted a one-time exemption to the 50-degree average temperature rule so they can bid. So if they are awarded the Super Bowl, can bids from other cold-weather cities be far behind? I doubt it, if the league does in fact award the New York teams with a Super Bowl, it's a cinch they're going to take a wait & see position until the game is played. If the game is played in sub-freezing temps, it will be the last cold-weather Super Bowl ever. If it is 50ish, then maybe, just maybe, the league will entertain another cold weather site. But don't hold your breath, even the northern domed stadiums have had a couple of nightmare Super Bowl weekends & are at best, back-burner options. Nope, it's Florida, New Orleans, Texas, Arizona & California pretty much all the time now.
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