Important news about the NFL on the website Football for Normal Girls.
The only thing I have to say today is that this is the best thing I’ve seen in awhile:
Does anything inspire more hope that the regular season will eventually arrive than seeing the Manning brothers hard at work (and hard at play) in the offseason?
146 Days to go.
Did it snow where you were this week? It snowed here in Upstate NY, and while that’s hardly news around here even in early April, it’s still unfortunate. I love snow, but come spring, it’s worn a hole in the welcome mat.
In other news:
The preseason schedule was released. Which, while preseason games are not generally cause for celebration, is actual game-news in early April, 3 months into the football dry spell. So it’s cause for unmerited celebration.
(Little known fact: teams schedule their own opponents for the last week of preseason. The Bears and the Browns have played each other in the final game for the past 10 years.)
Think the Pro Bowl could benefit from a little excitement? The NFL does too. (I actually love the Pro Bowl…but I think I’m the only one.) They’re thinking about implementing a draft-style format to the selection of teams. I’m not sure how much I love that idea, but I am definitely curious to know more.
Jason Hanson, who has been the only consistent piece of the Lions puzzle over the past two decades, has decided to retire after 21 years with the Lions. 21 years! That’s quite a career in the NFL, even for a kicker. In the end, it was a heel injury that ended things for him, otherwise he would have come back for year 22. Unreal.
Matt Flynn, the former Packers backup QB who after one great game was given an unbelievable contract by Seattle only to be beaten out by rookie phenom Russell Wilson, is now on his way to Oakland. Poor kid can’t buy a break.
Carson Palmer, now-displaced Raiders QB, is on his way to Arizona. He’s been named the starter already…even though the Cardinals staff brought in Matt Barkley, entering the draft from USC, for a workout this week.
What about the now-displaced Cardinals QB’s? John Skelton is out of a job, and Kevin Kolb is shuffling off to Buffalo. I’m not sure who bears the bigger burden.
And we could continue this trend and figure out who now-displaced Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick will be, in turn, displacing, but we’re going to pull the plug here because if history has taught us anything this offseason, it’s that this game could go on forever. The moves and rumors of moves are never-ending.
And that’s Friday.
Bits of Draft News:
Bits of League News:
Slow news week this week, gang. Anything to add? Go ahead and shout it out in the comments if so!
We’ve reached the portion of the off-season in which legitimate news that will actually matter come September is hard to come by but tabloid-style flashy news is everywhere.
It’s kind of fun.
Plenty of other things happened over the course of the last week, but these are the five categories of events that stood out most for me:
Weirdest: Last Friday, I was sitting on a friend’s couch, catching up on the week, when my iPhone lit up with “Elvis Dumervil takes pay cut to stay in Denver.” No big surprise there. Then, no more than a minute or two later, this: “Elvis Dumervil cut from Denver after missed contract deadline.” And that was quite the big surprise.
In what has to be one of the weirdest sports stories ever (although there have been quite a few hum dingers lately), Elvis Dumervil’s now former agent didn’t get his contract faxed over in time to meet the deadline, and the Broncos had no rational business choice but to cut him. Now, this isn’t quite as devastating as it might seem, because they can resign him if they want to (and most signs point to that happening), but still…wow. It raises a variety of thoughts. Among them: 1) Fax machines? 2) The business side of football in all it’s cut throat glory is the same for all players with few exceptions.
3) Fax machines.
Who knew?
Saddest: It takes a lot for me to say this as a Packers fan and thus a non-fan of the Bears and all their constituents…but it’s sad to me that the Bears wouldn’t resign Urlacher for a measly $3 million. I realize that I just used the phrase “measly $3 million” but when you’re talking about keeping one of your veterans for the duration of his career and the difference between giving him a one-team legacy and cutting him loose is about $1 million (they offered him 2, he said he would negotiate 3)…it just seems like class should prevail over business at that point.
And now we have Exhibit 700 as evidence to why I would be a terrible GM.
Angriest: Greg Jennings is now the millionth Packer to don the Purple. And who helped him reach that decision? The Vikings other recent big-time NFC North steal: Brett Favre.
You’re really not helping to orchestrate your hero’s welcome back to GB, 4.
Three guesses as to which team is reportedly trying to grab Urlacher now that he’s on the market?
The Purple We-Can’t-Find-Our-Own-People Eaters.
Seriously…burns my biscuits.
Best: Praise the Lord and Hallelujah, the Tuck Rule is no more. I think it’s safe to say that no one is more pleased than Charles Woods0n.
Best Intended: The new helmet rule is taking a lot of flack from fans and players alike, and it’s easy to see why. At first glance, it seems like this new rule – which is trying to increase player safety by penalizing running backs who make contact with the crown of their head in the open field – is the latest stop on the train to football’s demise, at least football as we currently know it. Trying to make an unsafe sport safe is a tall order. It’s also an impossible, highly important, order. And when changes are made to the fabric of the game, it’s an order that causes mass hysteria.
But as a few level-heads have pointed out, this rule doesn’t change anything. No running back has ever been taught to hit with the crown of his head. Besides not making safety sense, it doesn’t make football sense. So this rule really shouldn’t be that big of a deal; in fact, it should be celebrated.
However, and this is an elephant of a however, the celebration pauses when we consider how in the world this is going to be officiated. The rule makes sense on paper, and it even makes sense on tape, but at game speed? When officials are keeping track of other factors and are trying to make their best judgement in real time in the mass of humanity that is stopping the run? That’s going to be rough. There will be lots of flags, lots of disgruntled people, and lots of throwing the baby out with the bathwater to the tune of, “They’re killing football!!!”
Don’t give up on this rule – or the future of football – quite yet. These changes aren’t being made to kill a game we love; they’re being made to make sure it doesn’t die of it’s own volition: an inherently violent nature and a refusal to adapt.
What do you guys think of the new rule?
As predicted, news this week was not hard to come by. I was working from Panera when free agency started at 4pm on Tuesday and TweetDeck became a waterfall of updates.
It was awesome.
Since there’s so much to discuss, let’s get right to it:
Free Agency Highlights and Lowlights : Division by Division
AFC EAST
Highlights: I’m not sure that “hog-wild” is the right expression for an aquatic-themed team, but whatever the comparable phrase would be, that’s what Miami is doing in free agency. So far Miami has signed WR Mike Wallace (Steelers), LB Dannell Ellerbe (Ravens), LB Phillip Wheeler (Raiders), and resigned their own DT Randy Starks and WR Brian Hartline. However, as we’ve seen all too often in the recent past, he who wins free agency does not automatically win the regular season (Philly, I’m looking at you).
Lowlights: I don’t know if it gets any lower than the Patriots letting Wes Welker get signed by the Broncos after offering him a low deal and then offering the Rams’ Danny Amendola a comparable deal as the Broncos offered Welker. There are a lot of unhappy people in New England this week.
AFC NORTH
Highlights: The Browns signed LB Paul Kruger (Ravens) and OLB Quentin Groves (Cardinals), so their linebacking core just got a whole lot better.
Lowlights: Enjoy this Super Bowl offseason, Baltimore fans, since the entire first string has been dispersed in free agency. Ray Lewis, of course, retired, as did Matt Birk, but losing Boldin and Kruger and Ellerbe and Pollard and Williams and almost definitely Reed…it’s mind-boggling.
AFC SOUTH
Highlights: Jets S LaRon Landry to the Colts is among the best deals of the AFC South so far, although the Titans breaking away from their traditional “sit back and watch” model to sign G Andy Levitre (Bills), RB Shonn Greene (Jets), TE Delanie Walker (Niners), and DT Sammie Lee Hill (Lions) made an equal or greater splash in the division.
Lowlights: S Glover Quin to Detroit looked like bad news for the Texans, but they are currently entertaining Ravens S Ed Reed, which could more than make up for the loss.
AFC WEST
Highlights: The Broncos getting WR Wes Welker for practically nothing has to be the best deal of the bunch here (they also signed DB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie from the Eagles, which is nothing to sneeze at, either). Watching how he and Manning work together will be one of the most anticipated parts of the 2013 season. As if the Broncos at Patriots game needed any more hype than Manning vs. Brady…
Lowlights: The Raiders…just the Raiders.
(Although they did get a slight nod from the world and all karma now that the Tuck Rule might be on it’s way out.)
NFC EAST
Highlights: It’s been crickets over in the NFC East so far in free agency, although the Giants signing DT Cullen Jenkins (Eagles) was a good pick up for them after losing DT Chris Canty to the Ravens.
Lowlights: Did I miss something? Why isn’t anyone more alarmed that the Giants cut their beloved kicker Lawrence Tynes, who single-leggedly sent them to two Super Bowls with winning field goals in the NFC Championship games? Perhaps I regard him with more awe since it was his game-winning kick that stole the Packers Super Bowl ticket in that first NFC Championship game, but really, I don’t understand this move at all.
(Lawrence, we’d welcome you into Lambeau with open arms…no hard feelings about 2008.)
NFC NORTH
Highlights: Da Bears signed two big names right from the get-go: TE Martellus Bennett (Giants) and T Jermon Bushrod (Saints), while resigning DT Henry Melton. The Lions getting RB Reggie Bush from Miami and S Glover Quin from Houston are huge signings for Detroit, too.
Lowlights: Minnesota, or the place where former Packers go to retire. Seriously, this bothers me to no end. Here’s the short list of former Packers the Vikings have highjacked or attempted to highjack: Brett Favre, Ryan Longwell, Darren Sharper, Robert Ferguson, James Jones, Aaron Kampman, William Henderson. And now they’re going after Greg Jennings. Let me tell you…it gets my blood boiling.
If Jennings does end up in Minnesota, looks like he’ll be receiving passes from QB Matt Cassel (Chiefs), who was brought in on Thursday to be the starter, demoting former starter Christian Ponder to the backup role.
NFC SOUTH
Highlights: The Falcons get to keep TE Tony Gonzalez for another season, which is without a doubt the best action in the division so far. They are also keeping LT Sam Baker, which is huge for them, and just signed Steven Jackson (Rams) as well. The Bucs have had a pretty impresive free agency, too, signing S Dashon Goldson from San Francisco and are the leading contender for CB Darrelle Revis (Jets).
Lowlights: I might have overlooked something, but there really isn’t much to report here. It’s been all quiet on the Southern front as far as (apparent) jaw-dropping errors in judgment are concerned.
NFC WEST
Highlights: And we’ve saved the best for last! I love it that there is always room for another rivalry in the NFL, and the one brewing between the Niners and the Seahawks continues to get better and better. Aside from the fact that the head coaches have been career-long enemies, the teams are now sitting atop the NFC West as the best teams in a division that was once laughably bad. That rivalry was shown in full force when the Seahawks signed WR Percy Harvin from Minnesota…and the Niners answered by signing WR Anquan Boldin from the Ravens. Touche. Next: the Seahawks signed DE Clif Avril (Lions)…while the Niners signed DE Glenn Dorsey (Chiefs). And the arms race has officially begun.
Lowlights: Losing WR Danny Amendola to the Patriots and RB Steven Jackson subtracts some of the offensive prowess the Rams might have been able to boast previously, but then again, it hasn’t really done much for them in the past few seasons, anyway.
And undoubtedly by the time this gets posted at 6am tomorrow morning…there will be even more signings to report.
That’s free agency: better than any award winning movie! Enjoy the craziness while it lasts!
We’re kind of in that awkward middle school stage of offseason news. The combine is over, the draft hasn’t happened yet, some guys are getting contracts, some guys are getting cut. The real season of change – free agency – doesn’t start until March 12. So this was a bit of a limbo week. The notable events were as follows:
Shawne Merriman Retires
Merriman had a good career; most of his highlight reel will come from his days as a San Diego Charger. He’ll retire as a 3-time Pro Bowler with 45.5 sacks. While he certainly contributed to the defense in Buffalo, he hasn’t really been the Shawne Merriman of old for the past few years, likely due to knee injuries.
(This loss is still unfortunate for the Buffalo Bills defense, which also lost Chris Kelsay to retirement this offseason. 2013 Optimism for Buffalo is on a steady decline already…and that’s saying something.)
Dwayne Bowe Makes Money
The Chiefs wide receiver signed a 5 year, $56 million dollar deal this week.
And if you think that’s a good pay day…
Joe Flacco Makes A Lot of Money
The Ravens quarterback signed a 6 year, $120 million dollar deal this week.
That’s unfathomable to me. And more than a little absurd. But let’s move on…
Revis Is On His Own Island
Clearly, he no longer resides on the alternate universe known as the Jets headquarters. (Revis, I have to say, I don’t think that’s a bad move. It’s crazy over there.) The only question is his forwarding address, since the rumors about a move to San Fran or Atlanta seem to be unsubstantiated.
Roger Goodell, Defined
For anyone who has a hard time understanding why the Commish is the way he is, perhaps this article will help. It’s an interesting and educational look inside the man who rules pro football. As someone who is trying to beat down doors in my own career journey, I really appreciated learning about the way he got his start:
Goodell began by writing letters to all 28 teams. He also sought a job — any job — from the NFL commissioner, Pete Rozelle. “Dear Mr. Rozelle,” Goodell wrote on July 2, 1981, “I’m writing to you in reference to any job openings you may have in your offices.” Over nine months, Don Weiss, the NFL’s executive director, received nearly a dozen letters from Goodell beseeching him for an interview. In April of 1982, Goodell got a phone call from Weiss asking whether he was in the New York City area. Goodell was seven hours away but said yes and made it for an interview the next day. He landed an internship in the secretarial pool, clipping newspaper articles and fetching coffee for the league’s public relations department.
Mr. Goodell, you can be expecting my call/email/letter/carrier pigeon.
Another week, another sign we all have too much time on our hands in the off-season:
Star Wars Connections in the NFL.
Is it September 5th yet?
(Although, I have to say, Brett Keisel as Chewbacca might be one of the best things I’ve seen this week.)
