THE ASSASSIN DEAD AT 61, BCS WILL VACATE '04 CHAMPIONSHIP, CODY FLUNKS PHYSICAL & WELKER ON THE PUP
Jack Tatum, known as "the assassin" & ranked as the 6th biggest hitter in NFL history, died today after suffering a heart attack. The former Raider was truly feared. His devastating hit on Patriot wide receiver Darryl Stingley left him in a wheel chair for life. Tatum was a 3-time All Big-10 performer at Ohio State & 2-time 1st team All-American safety.
Former Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli will transfer to Ole Miss. Last season's PAC-10 first team QB was dismissed from the Duck's program by coach Chip Kelly after he plead guilty to burglary at an off-campus house. It wasn't penny ante stuff either, 2 laptops, an electric guitar & 2 video game consoles. Brilliant huh? Now he will be Houston Nutt's problem down in Oxford.
Iowa State co-captain & Big-12 'Newcomer of the Year' winner, David Sims, has been charged with theft & use of a credit card. No word on any discipline from the football program or university.
"If you believe this one, I have a bridge I'd like to sell you" is the lead-in here. Cowboy rookie wide receiver Dez Bryant, who refused to pack any gear belonging to veteran wideout Roy Williams, says today he had never heard of hazing or the ritual of carrying a vets' pads. He doesn't recall any of the hazing at Oklahoma State? This is completely new to Bryant? Sorry I'm not buying it. Twitter has come alive with veteran players league-wide warning rookies from their team to "do as they're told" & "if I tell you to carry my pads, I strongly suggest you do it." The latter coming from Steeler safety Ryan Clark. I wonder if Wade Phillips can hold this team together all year. He's a helluva nice guy, maybe too nice, especially existing in the gigantic shadow of owner Jerry Jones. By the way, it was Jones' grandson who ended up carrying Williams' pads yesterday, might be in Bryant's best interests not to slough off 'busy work' ordered by veterans onto the owners grandchildren, I'm just sayin'.
BCS Executive Director Bill Hancock said today if USC loses their appeal of NCAA sanctions stemming from the Reggie Bush "paid to play" era, the BCS will vacate the 2005 title game, won by the Trojans. Three teams finished the bowl season undefeated, USC, Auburn & Utah. USC crushed Oklahoma 55-19 in the title game & former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville has been lobbying for Auburn to be elevated to the vacant title. Hancock said that won't happen, there just won't be a BCS champion for the 2004 season.
The Jets have entered the Terrell Owens sweepstakes. They have asked Owens to give them an idea of what it will take to sign him to a 1-year deal. The more the Jets tinker with their roster, the less I like them as a playoff contender. They already have a receiver who consistently drops the ball in Braylon Edwards, why sign another? Couple them with Santonio Holmes, another starter, who has admitted to sparking up a joint before he even rolls out of bed in the morning. They already have 3 unhappy Pro Bowl veterans who want new contracts, they let Thomas Jones go & replace him with Ladainian Tomlinson, they traded for "father of the year" Anthony Cromartie(he has 7 children in 5 different states with 5 different women & needed a $500K advance to catch up on his child support) & now they're flirting with Terrell Owens? I can see all this blowing up in their faces this season. The Jets are a popular Super Bowl pick, but I'm beginning to have serious doubts about this team.
The Ravens continue to absorb body shots, their defense has absorbed a lot of punishment lately. Two cornerback coming off ACL surgery, another suspended, Ed Reed may start the season on the PUP list & miss six games. Yesterday the news brings the story of 2nd round pick Sergio Kindle falling down 2 flights of stairs & fracturing his skull. Kindle will not be available for training camp. Then today, their other 2nd round choice, Alabama nose tackle Terrence Cody, failed his physical. He has put 11 pounds back on since mini camp putting him at 360. The Ravens were looking for Cody to drop 14 pounds & come to camp weighing 335. He reportedly failed three different conditioning drills, so his training camp will consist of pushing & pulling a small sled with 300-pounds on it until he can pass the required drills & get his weight down. If you'll go back to the posts I wrote in March & April shooting holes in the hype surrounding Cody. The kid has always been overweight, he came to Alabama weighing over 400. He has never been in top-flight shape, never. If you watched 75% of the snaps he played in his 2 seasons at 'Bama, you'd see he wasn't the 'disruptor' you saw in highlight packages on "Sportscenter". As badly as the Chefs needed a quality nose tackle, I was relieved Cody wasn't part of their draft class.
The Cowboys backup tight end, Martellus Bennett, continues to embarrass himself & the Dallas franchise. This guy hasn't a clue as to what is inappropriate. He's posted a YouTube video of himself wearing an Osama bin Laden disguise doing a rap & mocking the U.S. He uttered several homophobic slurs in a sportstalk radio interview. He Twittered several disparaging 'Tweets' about Vince Young punching a strip bar patron last spring. Bennett has had to publicly apologize for each of these transgressions. Now he'll have to apologize yet again after full frontal nude pictures of himself have been posted on the internet by an ex-girlfriend. Seems Bennett thought it would be a good idea to text the nude photos of himself to his ex, in hopes of showing her just what she was missing. She wasn't impressed & posted them on the world wide web. If Bennett was a star, I could see the Cowboys turning their heads to ignore some of his shenanigans. But he's a backup, who has 38 career receptions in 3 seasons. I think Martellus might be humiliating some other franchise before the summer is over.
Patriot slot receiver Wes Welker has been placed on the PUP list, so he won't be able to practice with the team in training camp. For him to be removed from the list(physically unable to perform) the Pats will have to cut a player from the roster. Welker is recovering from major knee surgery & will be eased back into action by new England coach Bill Belichick. If Welker isn't ready to go by preseason game 3, expect him to be placed on the regular season PUP list, which would keep him inactive until at least game 6 of the season. Fantasy owner will need to follow Welker's progress carefully before they draft their teams.
Today's inspirational music was Van Morrison's double-live album "It's Too Late to Stop Now."
Former Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli will transfer to Ole Miss. Last season's PAC-10 first team QB was dismissed from the Duck's program by coach Chip Kelly after he plead guilty to burglary at an off-campus house. It wasn't penny ante stuff either, 2 laptops, an electric guitar & 2 video game consoles. Brilliant huh? Now he will be Houston Nutt's problem down in Oxford.
Iowa State co-captain & Big-12 'Newcomer of the Year' winner, David Sims, has been charged with theft & use of a credit card. No word on any discipline from the football program or university.
"If you believe this one, I have a bridge I'd like to sell you" is the lead-in here. Cowboy rookie wide receiver Dez Bryant, who refused to pack any gear belonging to veteran wideout Roy Williams, says today he had never heard of hazing or the ritual of carrying a vets' pads. He doesn't recall any of the hazing at Oklahoma State? This is completely new to Bryant? Sorry I'm not buying it. Twitter has come alive with veteran players league-wide warning rookies from their team to "do as they're told" & "if I tell you to carry my pads, I strongly suggest you do it." The latter coming from Steeler safety Ryan Clark. I wonder if Wade Phillips can hold this team together all year. He's a helluva nice guy, maybe too nice, especially existing in the gigantic shadow of owner Jerry Jones. By the way, it was Jones' grandson who ended up carrying Williams' pads yesterday, might be in Bryant's best interests not to slough off 'busy work' ordered by veterans onto the owners grandchildren, I'm just sayin'.
BCS Executive Director Bill Hancock said today if USC loses their appeal of NCAA sanctions stemming from the Reggie Bush "paid to play" era, the BCS will vacate the 2005 title game, won by the Trojans. Three teams finished the bowl season undefeated, USC, Auburn & Utah. USC crushed Oklahoma 55-19 in the title game & former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville has been lobbying for Auburn to be elevated to the vacant title. Hancock said that won't happen, there just won't be a BCS champion for the 2004 season.
The Jets have entered the Terrell Owens sweepstakes. They have asked Owens to give them an idea of what it will take to sign him to a 1-year deal. The more the Jets tinker with their roster, the less I like them as a playoff contender. They already have a receiver who consistently drops the ball in Braylon Edwards, why sign another? Couple them with Santonio Holmes, another starter, who has admitted to sparking up a joint before he even rolls out of bed in the morning. They already have 3 unhappy Pro Bowl veterans who want new contracts, they let Thomas Jones go & replace him with Ladainian Tomlinson, they traded for "father of the year" Anthony Cromartie(he has 7 children in 5 different states with 5 different women & needed a $500K advance to catch up on his child support) & now they're flirting with Terrell Owens? I can see all this blowing up in their faces this season. The Jets are a popular Super Bowl pick, but I'm beginning to have serious doubts about this team.
The Ravens continue to absorb body shots, their defense has absorbed a lot of punishment lately. Two cornerback coming off ACL surgery, another suspended, Ed Reed may start the season on the PUP list & miss six games. Yesterday the news brings the story of 2nd round pick Sergio Kindle falling down 2 flights of stairs & fracturing his skull. Kindle will not be available for training camp. Then today, their other 2nd round choice, Alabama nose tackle Terrence Cody, failed his physical. He has put 11 pounds back on since mini camp putting him at 360. The Ravens were looking for Cody to drop 14 pounds & come to camp weighing 335. He reportedly failed three different conditioning drills, so his training camp will consist of pushing & pulling a small sled with 300-pounds on it until he can pass the required drills & get his weight down. If you'll go back to the posts I wrote in March & April shooting holes in the hype surrounding Cody. The kid has always been overweight, he came to Alabama weighing over 400. He has never been in top-flight shape, never. If you watched 75% of the snaps he played in his 2 seasons at 'Bama, you'd see he wasn't the 'disruptor' you saw in highlight packages on "Sportscenter". As badly as the Chefs needed a quality nose tackle, I was relieved Cody wasn't part of their draft class.
The Cowboys backup tight end, Martellus Bennett, continues to embarrass himself & the Dallas franchise. This guy hasn't a clue as to what is inappropriate. He's posted a YouTube video of himself wearing an Osama bin Laden disguise doing a rap & mocking the U.S. He uttered several homophobic slurs in a sportstalk radio interview. He Twittered several disparaging 'Tweets' about Vince Young punching a strip bar patron last spring. Bennett has had to publicly apologize for each of these transgressions. Now he'll have to apologize yet again after full frontal nude pictures of himself have been posted on the internet by an ex-girlfriend. Seems Bennett thought it would be a good idea to text the nude photos of himself to his ex, in hopes of showing her just what she was missing. She wasn't impressed & posted them on the world wide web. If Bennett was a star, I could see the Cowboys turning their heads to ignore some of his shenanigans. But he's a backup, who has 38 career receptions in 3 seasons. I think Martellus might be humiliating some other franchise before the summer is over.
Patriot slot receiver Wes Welker has been placed on the PUP list, so he won't be able to practice with the team in training camp. For him to be removed from the list(physically unable to perform) the Pats will have to cut a player from the roster. Welker is recovering from major knee surgery & will be eased back into action by new England coach Bill Belichick. If Welker isn't ready to go by preseason game 3, expect him to be placed on the regular season PUP list, which would keep him inactive until at least game 6 of the season. Fantasy owner will need to follow Welker's progress carefully before they draft their teams.
Today's inspirational music was Van Morrison's double-live album "It's Too Late to Stop Now."
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