CHAMPS CONTINUE TO WHINE, TROJAN POINTS A FINGER AT TEAMMATES & MCNABB TRADE RUMORS CONTINUE TO SWIRL
The New Orleans Saints just can't shake their inferiority complex despite winning the Super Bowl. Coach Sean Peyton has bitched & complained about the league's new overtime rules for a solid week. He's pretty steamed at owner Tom Benson for voting yes. Even if Benson had voted no, the proposed rule change would have passed 27-5 instead of the 28-4 margin. Now his players are publicly whining, linebacker Jonathan Vilma said this morning "What the league & the other owners are saying is we shouldn't have beaten Minnesota with an overtime field goal. If the Vikings had gotten a possession, who knows what would have happened?" Who knows indeed? That doesn't take away from your triumph, relax, enjoy the spoils of being champs. If the Saints players & some of their fans truly believe this rule was aimed at them, they really need to seek extensive mental counseling, they apparently think they're still the "Ain'ts" of the old days. I never saw a league champion with such a huge chip on it's shoulder. Even the 1985 Royals, given the Don Deckinger gift of a safe at first call for Jorge Orta, didn't look over their shoulders. They went out the next night & beat large lumps on the St. Louis Cardinals, 11-0 & then celebrated for a week. I never heard one single word about the Saints being an undeserving champion. Get over it already
Tight end Rob Gronkowski of the Arizona Wildcats will have his long awaited pro day tomorrow in Tucson. The 6' 6" 262-pound Gronkowski missed all of last season after undergoing back surgery. At the combine he only participated in the bench press(23 reps) despite claims his back was 100%. There are rumors he is suffering from Spinal Stenosis, which could end his football playing days. Before the injury last spring, he was in the top-3 at his position. Good blocker, excellent route runner with very reliable hands & the smarts to find openings in zone coverage made him a high 2nd round to low 1st round choice before the injury. It will be interesting to read the reports that come out of Arizona tomorrow evening. Boise State cornerback Kyle Wilson solidified his spot in the lower half of round one with his pro day workout this morning. I really like this kid, he's a press corner who is very physical. He's quick, is very fluid changing directions & flipping his hips & running downfield. An excellent tackler in run support, he's tough mentally & physically. Wilson ran 4.42 & 4.45 this morning & looked good in every position drill.
Marc Tyler, a former USC running back said many of his teammates quit near the end of the season last year when they knew they wouldn't get to the BCS Championship game. "It was like they said, I'm going to take care of myself, get ready for the draft. It was easy to tell they weren't going all out to win every week once we lost to Washington. Then it got worse & we lost as many games as we had in the last 3 years, I don't know man, it was sad to watch." To correct Tyler, USC lost 4 games last year & 5 total from 2006-2008, but we get your meaning.
Larry Johnson may change teams, but it seems like he'll always be the L.J. we've grown to dislike. He had scheduled a "meet & greet" with the Washington D.C. media on Wednesday at 11AM. The assembled reporters sat for half an hour before a Redskin spokesman announced Johnson's agent called to say he wasn't going to make it. Some things never change, never, ever, never.
The Donovan McNabb trade rumors continue to fly all over the place. There have been denials by the Rams. General manager Billy Devaney is mad as hell the talks included his team & a player he claims to be in negotiations with, safety O.J. Atogwe. He wants whoever started the rumor to stop including the Rams & Atogwe. The Raiders are supposedly in the mix now, at least the rumor mix anyway. I have to believe McNabb could put stop to any Raider talk with a simple "Hell no I won't go." I mean a guy has to draw a line in the sand sometime right? The Eagles have danced around the rumors as has McNabb, but not entirely. McNabb's agent, Fletcher Smith(yes Chiefs' fans, that Fletcher Smith), said today his man wanted to finish his career in Philly or someplace like Minnesota. Huh? What would this do to the dreaded "Favre Watch" we suffer thru every spring? Smith claims he & the Eagles have had no talks regarding a trade but he'd like to hear what their intentions are at this point. Stay tuned, I think there's a possibility McNabb's playing days in Philadelphia could be over very soon.
Tight end Rob Gronkowski of the Arizona Wildcats will have his long awaited pro day tomorrow in Tucson. The 6' 6" 262-pound Gronkowski missed all of last season after undergoing back surgery. At the combine he only participated in the bench press(23 reps) despite claims his back was 100%. There are rumors he is suffering from Spinal Stenosis, which could end his football playing days. Before the injury last spring, he was in the top-3 at his position. Good blocker, excellent route runner with very reliable hands & the smarts to find openings in zone coverage made him a high 2nd round to low 1st round choice before the injury. It will be interesting to read the reports that come out of Arizona tomorrow evening. Boise State cornerback Kyle Wilson solidified his spot in the lower half of round one with his pro day workout this morning. I really like this kid, he's a press corner who is very physical. He's quick, is very fluid changing directions & flipping his hips & running downfield. An excellent tackler in run support, he's tough mentally & physically. Wilson ran 4.42 & 4.45 this morning & looked good in every position drill.
Marc Tyler, a former USC running back said many of his teammates quit near the end of the season last year when they knew they wouldn't get to the BCS Championship game. "It was like they said, I'm going to take care of myself, get ready for the draft. It was easy to tell they weren't going all out to win every week once we lost to Washington. Then it got worse & we lost as many games as we had in the last 3 years, I don't know man, it was sad to watch." To correct Tyler, USC lost 4 games last year & 5 total from 2006-2008, but we get your meaning.
Larry Johnson may change teams, but it seems like he'll always be the L.J. we've grown to dislike. He had scheduled a "meet & greet" with the Washington D.C. media on Wednesday at 11AM. The assembled reporters sat for half an hour before a Redskin spokesman announced Johnson's agent called to say he wasn't going to make it. Some things never change, never, ever, never.
The Donovan McNabb trade rumors continue to fly all over the place. There have been denials by the Rams. General manager Billy Devaney is mad as hell the talks included his team & a player he claims to be in negotiations with, safety O.J. Atogwe. He wants whoever started the rumor to stop including the Rams & Atogwe. The Raiders are supposedly in the mix now, at least the rumor mix anyway. I have to believe McNabb could put stop to any Raider talk with a simple "Hell no I won't go." I mean a guy has to draw a line in the sand sometime right? The Eagles have danced around the rumors as has McNabb, but not entirely. McNabb's agent, Fletcher Smith(yes Chiefs' fans, that Fletcher Smith), said today his man wanted to finish his career in Philly or someplace like Minnesota. Huh? What would this do to the dreaded "Favre Watch" we suffer thru every spring? Smith claims he & the Eagles have had no talks regarding a trade but he'd like to hear what their intentions are at this point. Stay tuned, I think there's a possibility McNabb's playing days in Philadelphia could be over very soon.
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