WHO SELLS MORE JERSEY'S THAN ANYONE? CAN BEN ROETHLISBERGER EVER REPAIR HIS REPUTATION?
The NFL Shop announced yesterday there was a new leader in jersey sales. The leader in March was Donovan McNabb, fresh off his trade to the Washington Redskins. I'm guessing his Eagle jersey's were reduced for clearance. April's leader? Why none other than Denver rookie quarterback Tim Tebow. He was one of 4 rookies ranked in the top-20. Considering Tebow didn't become Bronco property until April 22nd, that's an amazing feat. In only 8 days he was the month's leading seller. Following him in the top-10, McNabb, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, LaDainian Tomlinson, Tony Romo, Ndamakong Suh, Sam Bradford & Troy Polamalu. Chiefs #1 draft pick, Eric Berry, ranked 18th for the month. Long time top-20 seller, Ben Roethlisberger fell completely out of the rankings for the 1st time in 4 years.
St. Louis Rams running back Steven Jackson underwent a "minor" back operation on Monday. A club spokesman said they expected him to miss the upcoming OTA's but Jackson should be back for most of training camp. Ross Tucker, a former NFL player & contributor at SI.com, made a great comment, "I've never heard of a minor back operation." As a back patient of some 30 years, I have to agree with Tucker. If you could see the way I go up & down stairs or the position I have to get into before I can go to sleep, you'd know just how bad a back condition can be. Very seldom is it fixed in a minor operation, hell, for that matter, it very seldom fixed, period. I've followed Jackson since he attended El Dorado High School in Las Vegas before moving onto Oregon State. He has always been a punishing runner, a guy that doesn't shy away from contact. His running style may have contributed mightily to his back problem. Here's hoping a very talented performer will be able to continue his career.
Another All-Pro, Raven safety Ed Reed, underwent what a Baltimore spokesman called "a hip procedure." That's as vague as the description of Jackson's surgery. Reed missed four games last season with hip ailments & when time didn't heal it, he had the "procedure" done. Reed has missed a lot of time since the Ravens drafted him in 2002, but he's also been named to the Pro Bowl 6 times. The spokesman said they expected him to be fit by the opening of training camp.
Once again a team is going to stick it's neck out for Adam "PacMan" Jones. The Cincinnati Bengals are going to sign the troubled cornerback no later than this weekend. Drafted in 2005 by Tennessee, Jones has had numerous run-ins with the law, suspended several times, once for a full season & has shown he has little regard for those who attempt to help him. After sitting out the entire 2007 season because of a suspension, the Dallas Cowboys decided to sign Jones. He was assigned a bodyguard(in reality a babysitter) to watch over him. He was suspended at mid-season for brawling with his bodyguard in a Dallas hotel. As a 2007 shooting incident at a Las Vegas strip club, that left an employee paralyzed, came closer to critical mass, the Cowboys decided to pull the plug on the "PacMan" Jones experiment. After not playing since December of 2008, the Bengals have made the choice to add him to their band of merry men, many of them headcases & lawbreakers. I have to say, I sincerely doubt defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer will go very far with any shenanigans from Jones regardless of head coach Marvin Lewis' patient demeanor. One wrong step & you'll see Jones sent packin' or Zimmer might walk.
Now for the biggest trainwreck in the NFL, Steeler quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger. He was sued last spring by an employee of Harrahs in Lake Tahoe Nevada. I defended Big Ben, mostly because of the inconsistencies in his accuser's stories. She didn't ever file a police report in an alleged incident from 2008. She told co-workers about the "awesome sexual experience" she had with Roethlisberger. She wrote in emails she would be moving back to Pittsburgh so she could be close to Ben. At the time I said there was little doubt there had been a sexual encounter of some sort between these two but the many directions she went afterwards left me wondering as to who was telling the whole truth if in fact, either of them were telling anything truthful. But his recent run-in with Millegeville Georgia police for an alleged sexual assault was indefensible in my opinion. Plying 20-year old coeds with an evening of free drinks & then steering one of them into a tiny bathroom left me cold. Once again there is no doubt in my mind there was sexual contact between the two. After a lengthy investigation, the district attorney refused to bring charges against Roethlisberger since "I doubt I can prove it beyond a reasonable doubt." He referred to the woman as "the victim" over & over. It told me Big Ben was guilty, they just couldn't prove it in a court of law.
If you can get your hands on the newest Sports Illustrated, due out Friday, I highly recommend you read the article written by Jack McCallum, I read it last night & it bothered me a lot. McCallum & three other reporters traveled extensively to compile this story. What they found was very disturbing, the way Roethlisberger treats the common folks was very disturbing & the arrogance & cruelty he exhibits was as well. He was one of those celebrities whose first word was always "do you know who I am?" I dealt with people like that for 20 years working in Las Vegas casinos. To an obviously pregnant waitress at TGIFridays Roethlisberger said "what happened, did your boyfriend forget to pull out?" Sadly this is very typical of the kind of behavior reported in this story.
A second article, a companion piece to McCallum's is written by David Epstein. It's much shorter but goes at Roethlisberger's behavior from a totally different perspective. After interviewing several neurologists & a neuropsychologist, Epstein puts forth the theory that Roethlisberger's behavior could be from head injuries to the frontal lobe of his brain. He had a motorcycle crash in 2006 when he wasn't wearing a helmet. He underwent 7 hours of emergency surgery after shattering a windshield with his head. Add to that trauma 242 sacks, 4 known concussions & there is a possibility his behavior stems from these injuries.
The doctors said that the frontal lobe of a young man's brain isn't fully developed until he is well into his twenties. The frontal lobe dictates personality as well as "appropriate behavior." If a frontal lobe is injured before it is fully matured, it can further delay the maturation process. It can make a person say totally inappropriate things, cruel things. It can also confuse the decision making when it comes to interaction with the opposite sex. All of these symptoms apply to Roethlisberger.
What started this line of questioning was when McCallum & Epstein heard much different stories from people in his hometown of Findlay Ohio or those who knew him as a college player at Miami of Ohio. Almost to a person, they had nothing but kind things to say about him, not like the stories they heard from people who had encountered Ben in the last few years. I would be remiss if I neglected to say it's entirely possible the $102 million extension he signed helped make him aloof & arrogant with a sense of entitlement, absolutely.
Roethlisberger was sent for "an evaluation" over the past weekend. What was being evaluated is unknown, but the league did say he spent 3 days being evaluated. It could be for possible brain injuries or maybe they were looking deep inside his psyche to see where this attitude, behavior & decision making has manifested itself in Ben Roethlisberger. Even if his troubles can be traced back to brain injuries, Ben Roethlisberger's fall from grace is a fall from which he may never recover.
If you don't have access to the magazine, go online to SI.com where you can read it under David Epstein's byline.
St. Louis Rams running back Steven Jackson underwent a "minor" back operation on Monday. A club spokesman said they expected him to miss the upcoming OTA's but Jackson should be back for most of training camp. Ross Tucker, a former NFL player & contributor at SI.com, made a great comment, "I've never heard of a minor back operation." As a back patient of some 30 years, I have to agree with Tucker. If you could see the way I go up & down stairs or the position I have to get into before I can go to sleep, you'd know just how bad a back condition can be. Very seldom is it fixed in a minor operation, hell, for that matter, it very seldom fixed, period. I've followed Jackson since he attended El Dorado High School in Las Vegas before moving onto Oregon State. He has always been a punishing runner, a guy that doesn't shy away from contact. His running style may have contributed mightily to his back problem. Here's hoping a very talented performer will be able to continue his career.
Another All-Pro, Raven safety Ed Reed, underwent what a Baltimore spokesman called "a hip procedure." That's as vague as the description of Jackson's surgery. Reed missed four games last season with hip ailments & when time didn't heal it, he had the "procedure" done. Reed has missed a lot of time since the Ravens drafted him in 2002, but he's also been named to the Pro Bowl 6 times. The spokesman said they expected him to be fit by the opening of training camp.
Once again a team is going to stick it's neck out for Adam "PacMan" Jones. The Cincinnati Bengals are going to sign the troubled cornerback no later than this weekend. Drafted in 2005 by Tennessee, Jones has had numerous run-ins with the law, suspended several times, once for a full season & has shown he has little regard for those who attempt to help him. After sitting out the entire 2007 season because of a suspension, the Dallas Cowboys decided to sign Jones. He was assigned a bodyguard(in reality a babysitter) to watch over him. He was suspended at mid-season for brawling with his bodyguard in a Dallas hotel. As a 2007 shooting incident at a Las Vegas strip club, that left an employee paralyzed, came closer to critical mass, the Cowboys decided to pull the plug on the "PacMan" Jones experiment. After not playing since December of 2008, the Bengals have made the choice to add him to their band of merry men, many of them headcases & lawbreakers. I have to say, I sincerely doubt defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer will go very far with any shenanigans from Jones regardless of head coach Marvin Lewis' patient demeanor. One wrong step & you'll see Jones sent packin' or Zimmer might walk.
Now for the biggest trainwreck in the NFL, Steeler quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger. He was sued last spring by an employee of Harrahs in Lake Tahoe Nevada. I defended Big Ben, mostly because of the inconsistencies in his accuser's stories. She didn't ever file a police report in an alleged incident from 2008. She told co-workers about the "awesome sexual experience" she had with Roethlisberger. She wrote in emails she would be moving back to Pittsburgh so she could be close to Ben. At the time I said there was little doubt there had been a sexual encounter of some sort between these two but the many directions she went afterwards left me wondering as to who was telling the whole truth if in fact, either of them were telling anything truthful. But his recent run-in with Millegeville Georgia police for an alleged sexual assault was indefensible in my opinion. Plying 20-year old coeds with an evening of free drinks & then steering one of them into a tiny bathroom left me cold. Once again there is no doubt in my mind there was sexual contact between the two. After a lengthy investigation, the district attorney refused to bring charges against Roethlisberger since "I doubt I can prove it beyond a reasonable doubt." He referred to the woman as "the victim" over & over. It told me Big Ben was guilty, they just couldn't prove it in a court of law.
If you can get your hands on the newest Sports Illustrated, due out Friday, I highly recommend you read the article written by Jack McCallum, I read it last night & it bothered me a lot. McCallum & three other reporters traveled extensively to compile this story. What they found was very disturbing, the way Roethlisberger treats the common folks was very disturbing & the arrogance & cruelty he exhibits was as well. He was one of those celebrities whose first word was always "do you know who I am?" I dealt with people like that for 20 years working in Las Vegas casinos. To an obviously pregnant waitress at TGIFridays Roethlisberger said "what happened, did your boyfriend forget to pull out?" Sadly this is very typical of the kind of behavior reported in this story.
A second article, a companion piece to McCallum's is written by David Epstein. It's much shorter but goes at Roethlisberger's behavior from a totally different perspective. After interviewing several neurologists & a neuropsychologist, Epstein puts forth the theory that Roethlisberger's behavior could be from head injuries to the frontal lobe of his brain. He had a motorcycle crash in 2006 when he wasn't wearing a helmet. He underwent 7 hours of emergency surgery after shattering a windshield with his head. Add to that trauma 242 sacks, 4 known concussions & there is a possibility his behavior stems from these injuries.
The doctors said that the frontal lobe of a young man's brain isn't fully developed until he is well into his twenties. The frontal lobe dictates personality as well as "appropriate behavior." If a frontal lobe is injured before it is fully matured, it can further delay the maturation process. It can make a person say totally inappropriate things, cruel things. It can also confuse the decision making when it comes to interaction with the opposite sex. All of these symptoms apply to Roethlisberger.
What started this line of questioning was when McCallum & Epstein heard much different stories from people in his hometown of Findlay Ohio or those who knew him as a college player at Miami of Ohio. Almost to a person, they had nothing but kind things to say about him, not like the stories they heard from people who had encountered Ben in the last few years. I would be remiss if I neglected to say it's entirely possible the $102 million extension he signed helped make him aloof & arrogant with a sense of entitlement, absolutely.
Roethlisberger was sent for "an evaluation" over the past weekend. What was being evaluated is unknown, but the league did say he spent 3 days being evaluated. It could be for possible brain injuries or maybe they were looking deep inside his psyche to see where this attitude, behavior & decision making has manifested itself in Ben Roethlisberger. Even if his troubles can be traced back to brain injuries, Ben Roethlisberger's fall from grace is a fall from which he may never recover.
If you don't have access to the magazine, go online to SI.com where you can read it under David Epstein's byline.
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