RAIDERS CHOICE PUZZLES ME, HALEY'S PRESEASON RECORD NOT THE WORST, G-MEN WIN BUT LOSE & 1 DOWN, 24 TO GO.
That the Oakland raiders selected Terrelle Pryor in Monday's Supplemental Draft didn't shock me, in fact I thought they would be a player all along. I thought he'd go in the 3rd round as well, he did. What puzzles me about the pick is what the hell are the Raiders going to do with Pryor? He's at least two years away from being able to compete for a backup job. He's never played wide receiver, so he's at least a year away from competing for that position. But Al Davis has always tried to hoard exceptional athletes, especially ones with speed. Pryor fills those requirements. On a team that is still a long way from Super Bowl contention, drafting football players instead of guys who look great running around bare chested in shorts. Another wrinkle in the Pryor selection, he said he wouldn't appeal the NFL's 5-game suspension, then he decided he would, then the day before the draft he said he wouldn't. As soon as Pryor got on Sportscenter Monday afternoon, he changed his tune, "I would be willing to appeal the NFL's suspension if that's what the Raiders want me to do." Unfreakin-believable. This is like the child who goes to his mom, gets a no answer & then goes to dad & says "mom said for me to ask you." Regardless, now the Raiders are without a 3rd or 4th round selection in next April's draft. The 4th went to Washington for current Raider QB Jason Campbell.
In other Raider notes, their injury problems just got a little worse. Starting tight end Kevin Boss suffered a sprained knee & will be out at least 10-days & will be listed week-to-week. Jason Campbell suffered a mild concussion against the Niners & will be held out of practice until he's reevaluated Wednesday.
The story behind the violence surrounding the Raiders-Niner game Saturday evening has started to come out after police investigators talked to numerous witnesses. Several brawls between fans went on all over the stadium during the second half. A fan was found beaten unconscious in a rest room. Two Niner fans, worried for their safety, were escorted by a third in his pickup to their car. They didn't make it, four Raider fans allegedly attacked them. Their friend in the truck jumped out to help & was shot 4 times in the stomach. He drug himself back into his vehicle & headed to the gate. An alert stadium worker called for help & the young man will survive. Another Niner fan was shot in the face, the bullet grazing his cheek. Several Raider fans were seen wearing "F*** the Niners" t-shirts. Nothing like asking for trouble. What possesses a person to wear such a shirt? A stadium security supervisor said the shirt fell under the 1st amendment & there was nothing he or his officers could do about them. I told you after the fiasco in a San Diego courtroom last month, this sort of thing was going to be on the rise. Sadly it appears to be.
The Cincinnati Bengals have decided not to exercise their option on the contract of 2009 #1 pick, offensive tackle Andre Smith. The disappointing Alabama product has never lived up to the hype, often injured & never in top shape. The Bengals have had enough. By not exercising their option, his rookie contract goes from a 6-year deal down to a 4-year contract. Wonder of Tyson Jackson has that kind of contract?
Andre wows the scouts at his pro day
Everybody say eeewwwwww!
Two of the NFL's biggest knuckleheads, Tampa CB Aqib Talib & Tennessee WR Kenny Britt, have appointments with Commissioner Roger Goodell this week. Talib stands accused of shooting at his sister's boyfriend in a Dallas suburb. This is his third run-in with the law since joining the Bucs in 2009. Britt has been arrested 7 times since he was drafted in April of 2010. Two real quality individuals.
Everybody is griping about Todd Haley's 1-9 preseason record. The Chiefs' head coach makes no bones about his preseason strategy, which has little to do with actually winning games. The Indianapolis Colts, in their last 28 preseason games, is 4-24. Marv Levy lost 16 straight in the preseason & took his team to 4 consecutive Super Bowls. I'll admit I hate losing game after game, but I've learned to be satisfied with improved play week-to-week, that's about all we'll get out of Haley's team. As long as they're ready to roll September 11th, to hell with the preseason. That's my story & I'm stickin' to it.
Jared Gaither returned to practice Monday. The offensive tackle participated in everything except 11-on-11 full contact drills. All of the reports point to another dominating performance by Romeo Crennell's defense. Was it that good or is the offense way behind? Little of both would be my guess.
The Green Bay Packers will lose starting outside linebacker Frank Zombo for "an extended amount of time" according to coach Mike McCarthy. Zombo suffered a fractured scapula(shoulder blade). He will be replaced by Erik Walden.
The New York Giants pounded the Chicago Bears 41-13 on Monday Night Football. The Bears finally scored a touchdown with :24 left in the 4th quarter. It was ugly Bears' fans. Giants' backup QB David Carr picked the Bears apart in the 2nd half going 9 for 11. The G-Men ran the ball well too, highlighted by Da'Rel Scott who took a handoff in the Bears endzone, almost fell down, keeping his balance by putting one hand on the ground & then shot thru a gap & took it 97-yards for a score. The Giants have retooled their offensive line after releasing long time starters Rich Seubert & Shaun O'Hara but you'd never know it. They ran for 218-yards, gave up no sacks or quarterback hits. Very impressive, but there was bad news for New York. Starting cornerback Terrell Thomas suffered a torn ACL & will be lost for the season. This puts the Giants in a bind at this position. Their #1 pick, Prince Amukamara, sustained a broken foot about 4 weeks ago & he might not be ready on opening day. They had already lost Bruce Johnson, their dime back, so with Thomas gone for the year, their depth at cornerback is almost non-existent. I was thrilled to see Mark Herzlich make three tackles & grab the only interception of the game. The linebacker beat a rare form of cancer two years ago & went from a top-10 pick to an undrafted free agent. Undaunted, he's working hard to make the Giants & I like his chances. Bears' fans who thought the addition of Roy Williams would bolster their wide receiving corps, had to be pretty disappointed as the former Lion, former Cowboy, dropped two 3rd down passes.
San Diego lost inside linebacker Stephen Cooper to a season-ending torn biceps muscle.
The Browns signed the best left tackle in football, Joe Thomas, to a new 7-year contract worth $84 million, $44 million of it guaranteed. With two left tackles going down last Thursday night, The Steelers decided to reinvest in some experienced offensive line help. They resigned guard Trai Essex, who's been a part of Pittsburgh's last three Super Bowl appearances. Good move, now where's Flozell Adams?
Peter King of SI.com had an interesting piece of trivia today in his column that I had to pass along on to you. Did you know, in his 46-years as the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions, only one of his players has ever gone on to coach in the NFL? Tennessee's Mike Munchak is the only Paterno-coached player to achieve this status. I thought that was unbelievable.
My post yesterday about Terrelle Pryor being drafted by the Raiders was my 1,000th since starting this blog in March of 2009. I've written nearly 2,000,000 words here too. I love doing it & after my radio debut last night, I think I'm going to love that as well. It wasn't without it's shaky moments, but I'll get better every week, or at least I better improve weekly. I received a lot of emails last night after the show, I sincerely appreciate it, thank you. One down, twenty-five to go. Thanks Bob & J.R. for all your help.
In other Raider notes, their injury problems just got a little worse. Starting tight end Kevin Boss suffered a sprained knee & will be out at least 10-days & will be listed week-to-week. Jason Campbell suffered a mild concussion against the Niners & will be held out of practice until he's reevaluated Wednesday.
The story behind the violence surrounding the Raiders-Niner game Saturday evening has started to come out after police investigators talked to numerous witnesses. Several brawls between fans went on all over the stadium during the second half. A fan was found beaten unconscious in a rest room. Two Niner fans, worried for their safety, were escorted by a third in his pickup to their car. They didn't make it, four Raider fans allegedly attacked them. Their friend in the truck jumped out to help & was shot 4 times in the stomach. He drug himself back into his vehicle & headed to the gate. An alert stadium worker called for help & the young man will survive. Another Niner fan was shot in the face, the bullet grazing his cheek. Several Raider fans were seen wearing "F*** the Niners" t-shirts. Nothing like asking for trouble. What possesses a person to wear such a shirt? A stadium security supervisor said the shirt fell under the 1st amendment & there was nothing he or his officers could do about them. I told you after the fiasco in a San Diego courtroom last month, this sort of thing was going to be on the rise. Sadly it appears to be.
The Cincinnati Bengals have decided not to exercise their option on the contract of 2009 #1 pick, offensive tackle Andre Smith. The disappointing Alabama product has never lived up to the hype, often injured & never in top shape. The Bengals have had enough. By not exercising their option, his rookie contract goes from a 6-year deal down to a 4-year contract. Wonder of Tyson Jackson has that kind of contract?
Andre wows the scouts at his pro day
Everybody say eeewwwwww!
Two of the NFL's biggest knuckleheads, Tampa CB Aqib Talib & Tennessee WR Kenny Britt, have appointments with Commissioner Roger Goodell this week. Talib stands accused of shooting at his sister's boyfriend in a Dallas suburb. This is his third run-in with the law since joining the Bucs in 2009. Britt has been arrested 7 times since he was drafted in April of 2010. Two real quality individuals.
Everybody is griping about Todd Haley's 1-9 preseason record. The Chiefs' head coach makes no bones about his preseason strategy, which has little to do with actually winning games. The Indianapolis Colts, in their last 28 preseason games, is 4-24. Marv Levy lost 16 straight in the preseason & took his team to 4 consecutive Super Bowls. I'll admit I hate losing game after game, but I've learned to be satisfied with improved play week-to-week, that's about all we'll get out of Haley's team. As long as they're ready to roll September 11th, to hell with the preseason. That's my story & I'm stickin' to it.
Jared Gaither returned to practice Monday. The offensive tackle participated in everything except 11-on-11 full contact drills. All of the reports point to another dominating performance by Romeo Crennell's defense. Was it that good or is the offense way behind? Little of both would be my guess.
The Green Bay Packers will lose starting outside linebacker Frank Zombo for "an extended amount of time" according to coach Mike McCarthy. Zombo suffered a fractured scapula(shoulder blade). He will be replaced by Erik Walden.
The New York Giants pounded the Chicago Bears 41-13 on Monday Night Football. The Bears finally scored a touchdown with :24 left in the 4th quarter. It was ugly Bears' fans. Giants' backup QB David Carr picked the Bears apart in the 2nd half going 9 for 11. The G-Men ran the ball well too, highlighted by Da'Rel Scott who took a handoff in the Bears endzone, almost fell down, keeping his balance by putting one hand on the ground & then shot thru a gap & took it 97-yards for a score. The Giants have retooled their offensive line after releasing long time starters Rich Seubert & Shaun O'Hara but you'd never know it. They ran for 218-yards, gave up no sacks or quarterback hits. Very impressive, but there was bad news for New York. Starting cornerback Terrell Thomas suffered a torn ACL & will be lost for the season. This puts the Giants in a bind at this position. Their #1 pick, Prince Amukamara, sustained a broken foot about 4 weeks ago & he might not be ready on opening day. They had already lost Bruce Johnson, their dime back, so with Thomas gone for the year, their depth at cornerback is almost non-existent. I was thrilled to see Mark Herzlich make three tackles & grab the only interception of the game. The linebacker beat a rare form of cancer two years ago & went from a top-10 pick to an undrafted free agent. Undaunted, he's working hard to make the Giants & I like his chances. Bears' fans who thought the addition of Roy Williams would bolster their wide receiving corps, had to be pretty disappointed as the former Lion, former Cowboy, dropped two 3rd down passes.
San Diego lost inside linebacker Stephen Cooper to a season-ending torn biceps muscle.
The Browns signed the best left tackle in football, Joe Thomas, to a new 7-year contract worth $84 million, $44 million of it guaranteed. With two left tackles going down last Thursday night, The Steelers decided to reinvest in some experienced offensive line help. They resigned guard Trai Essex, who's been a part of Pittsburgh's last three Super Bowl appearances. Good move, now where's Flozell Adams?
Peter King of SI.com had an interesting piece of trivia today in his column that I had to pass along on to you. Did you know, in his 46-years as the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions, only one of his players has ever gone on to coach in the NFL? Tennessee's Mike Munchak is the only Paterno-coached player to achieve this status. I thought that was unbelievable.
My post yesterday about Terrelle Pryor being drafted by the Raiders was my 1,000th since starting this blog in March of 2009. I've written nearly 2,000,000 words here too. I love doing it & after my radio debut last night, I think I'm going to love that as well. It wasn't without it's shaky moments, but I'll get better every week, or at least I better improve weekly. I received a lot of emails last night after the show, I sincerely appreciate it, thank you. One down, twenty-five to go. Thanks Bob & J.R. for all your help.
Stop putting up that gross-out picture of the guy with man-boobs. As bad as you think we are, the Raiders are a lot worse aren't they?
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