RETIREMENT? I AIN'T BUYIN' IT, SUH SIGNS, STEELER NATION HEADS TO CANTON & JOEPA IS SLIPPIN'
Retirement? I ain't buyin' it, not for a second. The hysteria that swept over all the ESPN networks & the internet on Tuesday was just that in my opinion, hysteria. The speculation of how 'his' retirement would affect the Vikings, what team was now in a better position to make the playoffs now that Minnesota would have to rely on Tavaris Jackson. Hooked on the hype, I watched this "breaking news" all day long, shows you how exciting my day was. The fact that one single word on #4's retirement was received by the Vikings, not one word from agent Bus Cook or the player himself tells me it's time to start the watch. Get out the helicopters & start buzzing his property to see if he's mowing his lawn or playing with his kids. Let's go with the Lindsay Lohan/Paris Hilton-type coverage, it's the worst in cable news, let's go there with ESPN. God, I hate this crap. I'll enter the world of pure speculation with this notion, Favre will not retire, the Vikings will put him on the PUP list so he can come back after week six if his ankle is sufficiently healed. Oh yeah, the Vikings will pony up another $3-4 million in guaranteed base salary for this season even if he goes on the PUP list, making him ineligible for the first 6 games. Just like Lindsay Lohan & Levi Johnson coverage, there's much more real news out there without covering these media hogs, yes he's a hog, one I used to love, now I can hardly stand to talk about him anymore. So until he files retirement papers with the league or the helicopter spots the Vikings' private jet landing in Hattiesburg Mississippi to retrieve him, I'm thru covering this miserable story.
In real football news:
Lions 1st round selection, Nebraska defensive tackle Nsamakong Suh, signed a 5-year deal on Tuesday. He's missed four practices, but unless he gets nicked up, he'll be in the starting lineup opening weekend when Detroit squares off with the Bears in Chicago.
Jeremy Maclin suffered a hyper extended left knee on Tuesday but the Eagles wideout was lucky, no damage that would require surgery. He sustained a bone bruise & will be day-to-day. The Eagles are already missing their other starting wide receiver, LeSean Jackson, with a back injury. His timetable for return isn't known yet.
Miami rookie A.J. Edds tore his ACL during a Tuesday morning practice & will miss the entire season. The former Iowa Hawkeye was selected by the Dolphins in round four & was expected to provide pass rush help off the edge.
Yesterday I said BIG-10 Commissioner Jim Delaney was going to propose a 9-game conference schedule for the 2011 season, not so. The conference clarified the scheduling concept, saying the 9-game league slate could begin as early as 2012 or as late as 2014.
On Saturday night, the Pro Football Hall of Fame will induct Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith, Rickey Jackson, Russ Grimm, John Randle, Floyd Little & Dick LeBeau. After a Saturday morning practice the entire 80-man roster, coaching staff & front office will board buses for the 4-hour trip from Latrobe Pennsylvania to Canton Ohio to support LeBeau, their longtime defensive coordinator. He was elected by the old timers committee & frankly it's long overdue. As a player, LeBeau played 171 consecutive games as a cornerback(a league record) & he's 7th all-time with 62 interceptions. As a coach, he's credited with many defensive innovations including the zone blitz. He's spent 12-years as the Steelers' defensive coordinator & at 72-years of age, he appears to have a lot left in the tank. He is one of the most revered & respected coaches in the league, his players love him & every one of them will be there Saturday evening to celebrate his induction.
I'm hearing a lot of bad reports out of Chiefs' training camp about cornerback Brandon Carr. The word is a practice doesn't go by that Chris Chambers doesn't light him up for a score on a fly or go route. Is this a good news, bad news item? Does Chambers still possess the deep speed to stretch defenses league-wide or has Carr regressed in this, his 3rd Chiefs' training camp? I've been told Chambers has really made Carr look beatable. This isn't good, the Chiefs want a corner with Carr's size covering the weakside, let's hope he can turn it around very quickly. We'll be at camp on the 16th for a few days & I'll tell you everything I see up in St. Joe.
I watched a webcast of some of the BIG-10 media day press conferences & after Joe Paterno took his turn at the podium, I was feeling sad. College football's all-time victory leader sounded old, tired & somewhat confused. The 83-year old winner of 394 football games said he hoped he could coach from the sideline all year, he's spent extended time coaching from the press box the past two years. Paterno, who's been the Nittany Lions' head coach since 1966, will never retire, but his 15-minutes behind that podium couldn't have been encouraging for State fans. He looked frail & admitted he recently had "about two months of a lower intestinal problem." I've always respected the Penn State program Paterno runs, never in trouble & almost always a tough opponent. He helped foster the BIG-10's invitation to Nebraska when he said a couple of years ago "the BIG-10 goes into hiding every December while every other conference is all over TV with conference championship games. He was right, I believe he's also right in his belief that all student athletes should receive a small stipend. Paterno believe, as I do, this would drastically reduce some of the financial problems student-athletes encounter, especially those from lower income families. Paterno has been a giant of the college football world for over 40-years, I don't believe anyone wants to watch him continue to fade away on the sideline.
The Lake Sun & WestSide Star have both published two interviews with me in the last 3 weeks, for that I am very appreciative & I'm looking forward to hopefully doing a few more in the near future beginning with a Big-12 preview. Rance Burger of The Lake Sun got the ball rolling & I hope to work with him in the future. I'm always trying to expand my readership so that I can actually make a meager income from all these words I pump out daily. I will never make this a pay-sight or require a subscription, never, if I can't get a few advertisers to see the value in being on this site, I don't expect my readers to cough up cash to visit daily. I have a few marketing ideas for our trip to training camp hoping to find more people to become regular visitors here at rfr.com. If you plan to be at camp the same week we are, drop me an email, maybe we can talk some football over an adult beverage.
In real football news:
Lions 1st round selection, Nebraska defensive tackle Nsamakong Suh, signed a 5-year deal on Tuesday. He's missed four practices, but unless he gets nicked up, he'll be in the starting lineup opening weekend when Detroit squares off with the Bears in Chicago.
Jeremy Maclin suffered a hyper extended left knee on Tuesday but the Eagles wideout was lucky, no damage that would require surgery. He sustained a bone bruise & will be day-to-day. The Eagles are already missing their other starting wide receiver, LeSean Jackson, with a back injury. His timetable for return isn't known yet.
Miami rookie A.J. Edds tore his ACL during a Tuesday morning practice & will miss the entire season. The former Iowa Hawkeye was selected by the Dolphins in round four & was expected to provide pass rush help off the edge.
Yesterday I said BIG-10 Commissioner Jim Delaney was going to propose a 9-game conference schedule for the 2011 season, not so. The conference clarified the scheduling concept, saying the 9-game league slate could begin as early as 2012 or as late as 2014.
On Saturday night, the Pro Football Hall of Fame will induct Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith, Rickey Jackson, Russ Grimm, John Randle, Floyd Little & Dick LeBeau. After a Saturday morning practice the entire 80-man roster, coaching staff & front office will board buses for the 4-hour trip from Latrobe Pennsylvania to Canton Ohio to support LeBeau, their longtime defensive coordinator. He was elected by the old timers committee & frankly it's long overdue. As a player, LeBeau played 171 consecutive games as a cornerback(a league record) & he's 7th all-time with 62 interceptions. As a coach, he's credited with many defensive innovations including the zone blitz. He's spent 12-years as the Steelers' defensive coordinator & at 72-years of age, he appears to have a lot left in the tank. He is one of the most revered & respected coaches in the league, his players love him & every one of them will be there Saturday evening to celebrate his induction.
I'm hearing a lot of bad reports out of Chiefs' training camp about cornerback Brandon Carr. The word is a practice doesn't go by that Chris Chambers doesn't light him up for a score on a fly or go route. Is this a good news, bad news item? Does Chambers still possess the deep speed to stretch defenses league-wide or has Carr regressed in this, his 3rd Chiefs' training camp? I've been told Chambers has really made Carr look beatable. This isn't good, the Chiefs want a corner with Carr's size covering the weakside, let's hope he can turn it around very quickly. We'll be at camp on the 16th for a few days & I'll tell you everything I see up in St. Joe.
I watched a webcast of some of the BIG-10 media day press conferences & after Joe Paterno took his turn at the podium, I was feeling sad. College football's all-time victory leader sounded old, tired & somewhat confused. The 83-year old winner of 394 football games said he hoped he could coach from the sideline all year, he's spent extended time coaching from the press box the past two years. Paterno, who's been the Nittany Lions' head coach since 1966, will never retire, but his 15-minutes behind that podium couldn't have been encouraging for State fans. He looked frail & admitted he recently had "about two months of a lower intestinal problem." I've always respected the Penn State program Paterno runs, never in trouble & almost always a tough opponent. He helped foster the BIG-10's invitation to Nebraska when he said a couple of years ago "the BIG-10 goes into hiding every December while every other conference is all over TV with conference championship games. He was right, I believe he's also right in his belief that all student athletes should receive a small stipend. Paterno believe, as I do, this would drastically reduce some of the financial problems student-athletes encounter, especially those from lower income families. Paterno has been a giant of the college football world for over 40-years, I don't believe anyone wants to watch him continue to fade away on the sideline.
The Lake Sun & WestSide Star have both published two interviews with me in the last 3 weeks, for that I am very appreciative & I'm looking forward to hopefully doing a few more in the near future beginning with a Big-12 preview. Rance Burger of The Lake Sun got the ball rolling & I hope to work with him in the future. I'm always trying to expand my readership so that I can actually make a meager income from all these words I pump out daily. I will never make this a pay-sight or require a subscription, never, if I can't get a few advertisers to see the value in being on this site, I don't expect my readers to cough up cash to visit daily. I have a few marketing ideas for our trip to training camp hoping to find more people to become regular visitors here at rfr.com. If you plan to be at camp the same week we are, drop me an email, maybe we can talk some football over an adult beverage.
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