RAVENS SECONDARY TAKES ANOTHER HIT, BRADFORD SIGNS, DEZ OUT 4-6 WEEKS & CHIEFS' CAMP UPDATE
Baltimore suffered another hit to their secondary, a part of their team that was already stretched very thin. Starter Dominique Foxworth tore his ACL near the end of the Ravens morning practice & will be lost for the 2010 season. A month ago the Ravens were going to be my AFC Super Bowl pick, but since then safety Ed Reed admitted he might have to go on the PUP list to start the season, OLB Sergio Kindle fractured his skull falling down 2 flights of stairs last Thursday night, CB's LaDarius Webb & Fabian Washington are both on the preseason PUP list after having off-season knee operations & OLB Brendon Ayanbadejo is also missing training camp on the PUP list. Add reserve cornerback Cary Williams to the mix with a 2-game suspension to start the season for violating league conduct policies. These setbacks to their defensive back-7 keep mounting & their depth was somewhat iffy to begin with.
The Rams & their #1 draft pick, quarterback Sam Bradford from Oklahoma, have agreed on a 6-year deal worth a reported $78 million with $50 million guaranteed, a league record. The first player selected in April's draft will report with the veterans tomorrow.
Witchita native Bryce Brown, one of the most highly rated recruits in the country, has requested a release from his commitment to the University of Tennessee. Brown changed his mind, he wants to play for Kansas State, so he texted his resignation from the program. He signed with Lane Kiffin's Volunteers after an exhausting 2009 recruiting season, engineered by his father Arthur, that frankly left several schools glad they didn't end up with him. Vol football coach Derek Dooley has refused to release Brown from his commitment, meaning Brown would have to sit out a year before being eligible to play for the Wildcats. But if he transfers, he would have to enroll in school & attend class a full year with his own money before joining the football program. At that time he could receive a scholarship. Arthur Brown said Friday evening he intends to sue to get his son's release from the Volunteer program. If that release is granted, he would be immediately eligible for a scholarship & to play for K-State.
I told you yesterday about Bengals' tackle Andre Smith, the 7th overall pick in last years' draft. He held out, came in way late, overweight & out of shape. He soon broke his foot & had about zero impact his rookie year. He came in overweight & out of shape again this year. His foot is causing him trouble & Cincinnati has said he'll be out 2-3 more weeks. Today, off-the-record type stuff began leaking out at Bengals camp about Smith. The point was made that Smith has a contract de-escalator. This guy held out for 8-9 weeks & then signed one of the worst contracts ever offered a top-10 pick. because of his history lacking in self-discipline, a few of these de-escalators were written into his deal. If he is unable to keep his weight under 350 pounds, once the game checks start coming, he can lose up to 50% of each game check. He could forfeit nearly half a million dollars. I'm somewhat of an overweight slob myself, but if somebody were to wave 10K in my face, the pounds will literally fall off of me, I promise, it wouldn't take 500-large.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell lowered the well deserved boom on Detroit Lions President Tom Lewand today. Lewand was suspended for 30-days & fined $100,000 for his DUI this summer. Being suspended during training camp isn't a good thing, he can't be in camp or in contact with other team officials during his suspension. A lot of decisions are made during the next 30-days & they'll be made without Lewand's O.K.
The commish was in Kansas City the last two days, Friday for the dedication of Founder's Plaza at the newly renovated Arrowhead Stadium. The plaza, on the stadium's southside, celebrates the 8 original AFL franchises, in fact there's a fountain for each one. In the middle of the walkway is a diagram of the fabled "65 Toss Power Trap", the play Hank Stram called on the goal line to bust Super Bowl IV wide open, Mike Garrett scoring a touchdown to put the Chiefs ahead 16-0. The diagram is huge & it's dyed into the concrete. Dedicated today was a large bronze statue of Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt. After the dedication, Goodell answered a few questions from the assembled media. He said he would be at Arrowhead for the opening Monday Night game versus the Chargers on September 13th. He also put a quick kibosh on the subject of a Kansas City Super Bowl. He praised the newly renovated stadium & called it one of the league's best venues now, but the cities' infrastructure will eliminate K.C. from Super Bowl consideration. There aren't the required 25,000 hotel rooms. I saw a league spokesman tell the fine people of Green Bay the same thing just two days ago. They have but 3,000-some hotel rooms within the allowed 40-mile radius, I'm guessing Kansas City to be in something like 18K-20K range, a long way from the minimum. He met with players & staff yesterday but wouldn't discuss the subject of his conversations.
Chris Oberholtz/The Kansas City Star
The Cowboys celebrated rookie wide receiver, Dez Bryant, is already out of action & team owner Jerry Jones is steamed about it. Byrant sustained a high ankle sprain on his last repetition of a drill. Missing most of training camp will stifle Bryant's attempt to become a starter as early as opening day. Jones bemoaned Bryant's injury & even questioned why he was being worked so hard. "Did this young man need to be working this hard at the very end of a practice?" Yes Jerry, that's the way it works, everybody has to work hard, regardless of how high they were drafted. Jones was a co-captain on the 1964 Arkansas national championship team, he must have forgotten what it takes to become a champ. But honestly, this is quite a blow to the Cowboy offense.
Washington Redskins' defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth failed his conditioning test for the 2nd day in a row, keeping him from practicing with the rest of the team. Coach Mike Shanahan admitted today Haynesworth is the only veteran player required to pass the conditioning test. Is this retribution for not attending the OTA's with the rest of the squad? Is he serving some penance for snubbing the new coach? Will this tactic persuade a few other vets to reconsider Haynesworth's side in this feud?
Tennessee Titan head coach Jeff Fisher isn't happy with Lane Kiffin's interpretation of the lawsuit filed against USC, Kennedy Pola & Kiffin. After listening to Kiffin's bizarre ramblings at a PAC-10 media day news conference where he said "this lawsuit has more to do with the acrimony toward me in Tennessee than with the legal merits of the case." Fisher responded with "I think that is absolutely ridiculous, absurd, he just doesn't get it." That's exactly what I've been saying about Kiffin for nearly a year, he doesn't get it, the guy is clueless when dealing with the media or his peers.
The first day reviews of the new training camp facilities at Missouri Western University in St. Joseph are even better than expected. From Scott Pioli to Todd Haley to the Kansas City media, the new digs seem to be a big hit. The part that everyone was most excited about was the fans, nearly 2,000 on Friday. Haley said the players loved having such a big crowd & they expect nearly 5,000 both Saturday & Sunday. We'll be there the week of August 15th, giving you daily updates from the scene. Coach Todd Haley said after the first workout all of his players passed their conditioning tests despite rumors to the contrary. It had been reported Brian Waters, Dion Gales & Ike Ndukwe were relegated to exercise bikes until they could pass the test, but Haley refuted that in his after practice press conference. "Brian Waters is in awesome shape, he worked very hard in the off-season & it shows, he looks great" Haley said. Haley also singled out Brandon Flowers, Jamaal Charles & Maurice Leggett for "their dedicated rehab this off-season." He expects Eric Berry to be at practice on Saturday. The dollar figures on Berry's contract were revised by NFL.com to $34 million guaranteed on his 6-year deal. If you're going to St. Joe soon to watch the Chiefs, one prospect you might take a look at is #69 Jeffrey Fitzgerald from K-State. He showed he could get to the quarterback, something the Chiefs are in dire need of, so I believe Fitzgerald will get a serious look even tho he wasn't drafted.
The Rams & their #1 draft pick, quarterback Sam Bradford from Oklahoma, have agreed on a 6-year deal worth a reported $78 million with $50 million guaranteed, a league record. The first player selected in April's draft will report with the veterans tomorrow.
Witchita native Bryce Brown, one of the most highly rated recruits in the country, has requested a release from his commitment to the University of Tennessee. Brown changed his mind, he wants to play for Kansas State, so he texted his resignation from the program. He signed with Lane Kiffin's Volunteers after an exhausting 2009 recruiting season, engineered by his father Arthur, that frankly left several schools glad they didn't end up with him. Vol football coach Derek Dooley has refused to release Brown from his commitment, meaning Brown would have to sit out a year before being eligible to play for the Wildcats. But if he transfers, he would have to enroll in school & attend class a full year with his own money before joining the football program. At that time he could receive a scholarship. Arthur Brown said Friday evening he intends to sue to get his son's release from the Volunteer program. If that release is granted, he would be immediately eligible for a scholarship & to play for K-State.
I told you yesterday about Bengals' tackle Andre Smith, the 7th overall pick in last years' draft. He held out, came in way late, overweight & out of shape. He soon broke his foot & had about zero impact his rookie year. He came in overweight & out of shape again this year. His foot is causing him trouble & Cincinnati has said he'll be out 2-3 more weeks. Today, off-the-record type stuff began leaking out at Bengals camp about Smith. The point was made that Smith has a contract de-escalator. This guy held out for 8-9 weeks & then signed one of the worst contracts ever offered a top-10 pick. because of his history lacking in self-discipline, a few of these de-escalators were written into his deal. If he is unable to keep his weight under 350 pounds, once the game checks start coming, he can lose up to 50% of each game check. He could forfeit nearly half a million dollars. I'm somewhat of an overweight slob myself, but if somebody were to wave 10K in my face, the pounds will literally fall off of me, I promise, it wouldn't take 500-large.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell lowered the well deserved boom on Detroit Lions President Tom Lewand today. Lewand was suspended for 30-days & fined $100,000 for his DUI this summer. Being suspended during training camp isn't a good thing, he can't be in camp or in contact with other team officials during his suspension. A lot of decisions are made during the next 30-days & they'll be made without Lewand's O.K.
The commish was in Kansas City the last two days, Friday for the dedication of Founder's Plaza at the newly renovated Arrowhead Stadium. The plaza, on the stadium's southside, celebrates the 8 original AFL franchises, in fact there's a fountain for each one. In the middle of the walkway is a diagram of the fabled "65 Toss Power Trap", the play Hank Stram called on the goal line to bust Super Bowl IV wide open, Mike Garrett scoring a touchdown to put the Chiefs ahead 16-0. The diagram is huge & it's dyed into the concrete. Dedicated today was a large bronze statue of Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt. After the dedication, Goodell answered a few questions from the assembled media. He said he would be at Arrowhead for the opening Monday Night game versus the Chargers on September 13th. He also put a quick kibosh on the subject of a Kansas City Super Bowl. He praised the newly renovated stadium & called it one of the league's best venues now, but the cities' infrastructure will eliminate K.C. from Super Bowl consideration. There aren't the required 25,000 hotel rooms. I saw a league spokesman tell the fine people of Green Bay the same thing just two days ago. They have but 3,000-some hotel rooms within the allowed 40-mile radius, I'm guessing Kansas City to be in something like 18K-20K range, a long way from the minimum. He met with players & staff yesterday but wouldn't discuss the subject of his conversations.
Chris Oberholtz/The Kansas City Star
The Cowboys celebrated rookie wide receiver, Dez Bryant, is already out of action & team owner Jerry Jones is steamed about it. Byrant sustained a high ankle sprain on his last repetition of a drill. Missing most of training camp will stifle Bryant's attempt to become a starter as early as opening day. Jones bemoaned Bryant's injury & even questioned why he was being worked so hard. "Did this young man need to be working this hard at the very end of a practice?" Yes Jerry, that's the way it works, everybody has to work hard, regardless of how high they were drafted. Jones was a co-captain on the 1964 Arkansas national championship team, he must have forgotten what it takes to become a champ. But honestly, this is quite a blow to the Cowboy offense.
Washington Redskins' defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth failed his conditioning test for the 2nd day in a row, keeping him from practicing with the rest of the team. Coach Mike Shanahan admitted today Haynesworth is the only veteran player required to pass the conditioning test. Is this retribution for not attending the OTA's with the rest of the squad? Is he serving some penance for snubbing the new coach? Will this tactic persuade a few other vets to reconsider Haynesworth's side in this feud?
Tennessee Titan head coach Jeff Fisher isn't happy with Lane Kiffin's interpretation of the lawsuit filed against USC, Kennedy Pola & Kiffin. After listening to Kiffin's bizarre ramblings at a PAC-10 media day news conference where he said "this lawsuit has more to do with the acrimony toward me in Tennessee than with the legal merits of the case." Fisher responded with "I think that is absolutely ridiculous, absurd, he just doesn't get it." That's exactly what I've been saying about Kiffin for nearly a year, he doesn't get it, the guy is clueless when dealing with the media or his peers.
The first day reviews of the new training camp facilities at Missouri Western University in St. Joseph are even better than expected. From Scott Pioli to Todd Haley to the Kansas City media, the new digs seem to be a big hit. The part that everyone was most excited about was the fans, nearly 2,000 on Friday. Haley said the players loved having such a big crowd & they expect nearly 5,000 both Saturday & Sunday. We'll be there the week of August 15th, giving you daily updates from the scene. Coach Todd Haley said after the first workout all of his players passed their conditioning tests despite rumors to the contrary. It had been reported Brian Waters, Dion Gales & Ike Ndukwe were relegated to exercise bikes until they could pass the test, but Haley refuted that in his after practice press conference. "Brian Waters is in awesome shape, he worked very hard in the off-season & it shows, he looks great" Haley said. Haley also singled out Brandon Flowers, Jamaal Charles & Maurice Leggett for "their dedicated rehab this off-season." He expects Eric Berry to be at practice on Saturday. The dollar figures on Berry's contract were revised by NFL.com to $34 million guaranteed on his 6-year deal. If you're going to St. Joe soon to watch the Chiefs, one prospect you might take a look at is #69 Jeffrey Fitzgerald from K-State. He showed he could get to the quarterback, something the Chiefs are in dire need of, so I believe Fitzgerald will get a serious look even tho he wasn't drafted.
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