A COUPLE OF QUICK NOTES ON A THURSDAY AFTERNOON
The NFL made a smart move for next week's Draft telecast, one that should make fans happy while also causing current players some heartburn. If you've ever watched the draft live, you know the Commissioner reads all 32 first round picks & if they're in-house, he greets them on-stage for a photo session that includes the player's family. Beginning in the 2md round, Gene Washington, NFL Director of Players, reads the draft selections. This year the 2nd round selections will be read by former players from all 32 teams. The list includes 10 Hall of Famers & another 5 or 6 that will be enshrined soon. The Chiefs' second round selection will be read by HOF middle linebacker Willie Lanier. Anthony Munoz, Shannon Sharpe, Barry Sanders, Marshall Faulk, Paul Warfield, even Green Bay Packer great Jim Taylor will announce their former team's selection. The move also drives a wedge further between the former & current players. A number of players from the past have filed lawsuits against the NFLPA for allegedly cheating them out of licensing revenue. They've also gone public with their complaints of how they've been slighted by the player's union by not even getting "an audience" with DeMaurice Smith. Nearly all of the players from the 50's thru the 80's have an axe to grind with the current player's union, decertified or not. Anyway, I like the idea from a fan's standpoint.
When will people stop using Nazis & slavery as metaphors to vilify an opponent?? The media uses them, people who perceive their argument as righteous use them to slam their opponents. Stop it already, there's very little in today's world that can be compared to Nazis or slavery, at least in this country. Former New York Giants' wide receiver Amani Toomer said today Commissioner Roger Goodell's lockout tactics are "Gestapo-like." Did the commissioner herd all the NFL players into a ghetto, take all their worldly possessions, starve them & then ship them off to be executed in a gas chamber? Stop it!! Playing in the NFL is not slavery & it's commissioner isn't an anti-Semite who is driven to rid the world of football players. Stop it, just stop it. It only shows just how little a person retained from that college education they earned by playing football.
Johnny Jolly, the Packer defensive lineman who was suspended all of the 2010 season for violating the NFL's drug policy, is probably finished as an NFL player. Today Jolly plead guilty to possession of 600 grams of pure codeine used to make "Purple Drank" a drink popular in the hip-hop community. He was sentenced to 5-year probation & immediate incarceration in a drug treatment facility for 90-days. Jolly's NFL career is effectively over, as soon as we get a new CBA, Green Bay will certainly release him & I don't see anyone spending any money on someone who is more loyal to his posse than his professional teammates. What a waste of an opportunity.
Auburn's Cam Newton & Mizzou QB Blaine Gabbert have both been in Denver this week at the request of the Broncos. Denver is in dire straits for defensive help, but new Vice President John Elway is leaning toward a quarterback & with the 2nd overall pick in the first round, they are assured of getting one of them if they decide to go that way. Elway might want to put his own stamp on the franchise he led for so long as a player. If I were in charge of Denver's draft, I'd choose either DT Marcell Dareus or OLB Von Miller. This year's draft is top-heavy on the defensive side, especially in the top-20 picks.
Pre-draft rumors concentrating on quarterbacks have gone wild. Much of what I'm hearing is that as many as six QB's could be taken in round one. I believe there are only two deserving a 1st round grade, Newton & Gabbert, but the NFL is a quarterback driven league & there are a number of teams in need of quarterbacks. So the "reaching" will commence right away next Thursday night. Washington's Jake Locker, Florida State's Christian Ponder, TCU's Andy Dalton, Nevada's Colin Kaepernick & Ryan Mallett of Arkansas are all candidates for the first round "reachathon." It helps those teams without QB needs by pushing better non-QB's down the draft boards.
When will people stop using Nazis & slavery as metaphors to vilify an opponent?? The media uses them, people who perceive their argument as righteous use them to slam their opponents. Stop it already, there's very little in today's world that can be compared to Nazis or slavery, at least in this country. Former New York Giants' wide receiver Amani Toomer said today Commissioner Roger Goodell's lockout tactics are "Gestapo-like." Did the commissioner herd all the NFL players into a ghetto, take all their worldly possessions, starve them & then ship them off to be executed in a gas chamber? Stop it!! Playing in the NFL is not slavery & it's commissioner isn't an anti-Semite who is driven to rid the world of football players. Stop it, just stop it. It only shows just how little a person retained from that college education they earned by playing football.
Johnny Jolly, the Packer defensive lineman who was suspended all of the 2010 season for violating the NFL's drug policy, is probably finished as an NFL player. Today Jolly plead guilty to possession of 600 grams of pure codeine used to make "Purple Drank" a drink popular in the hip-hop community. He was sentenced to 5-year probation & immediate incarceration in a drug treatment facility for 90-days. Jolly's NFL career is effectively over, as soon as we get a new CBA, Green Bay will certainly release him & I don't see anyone spending any money on someone who is more loyal to his posse than his professional teammates. What a waste of an opportunity.
Auburn's Cam Newton & Mizzou QB Blaine Gabbert have both been in Denver this week at the request of the Broncos. Denver is in dire straits for defensive help, but new Vice President John Elway is leaning toward a quarterback & with the 2nd overall pick in the first round, they are assured of getting one of them if they decide to go that way. Elway might want to put his own stamp on the franchise he led for so long as a player. If I were in charge of Denver's draft, I'd choose either DT Marcell Dareus or OLB Von Miller. This year's draft is top-heavy on the defensive side, especially in the top-20 picks.
Pre-draft rumors concentrating on quarterbacks have gone wild. Much of what I'm hearing is that as many as six QB's could be taken in round one. I believe there are only two deserving a 1st round grade, Newton & Gabbert, but the NFL is a quarterback driven league & there are a number of teams in need of quarterbacks. So the "reaching" will commence right away next Thursday night. Washington's Jake Locker, Florida State's Christian Ponder, TCU's Andy Dalton, Nevada's Colin Kaepernick & Ryan Mallett of Arkansas are all candidates for the first round "reachathon." It helps those teams without QB needs by pushing better non-QB's down the draft boards.
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