Tomlinson
NFL MVP and San Diego Charger workhorse LaDainian Tomlinson has been nominated for four ESPYs, the most of any NFL player this year. Tomlinson is nominated in the categories for Best Male Athlete, Best Record-Breaking Performance, and Best NFL Player as well as the HUMMER Like Nothing Else Award. Tomlinson set the league touchdown record last year for running backs, shattering the previous record set just a two years prior by Shaun Alexander of the Seahawks.
Not that the ESPYs actually mean anything or that anyone actually watches or cares about the ESPYs particularly, but this is kinda cool. Tomlinson had a monster year last year and should be acknowledged with a few more rewards. These awards are particularly special because they are voted on by the fans, and don’t simply confine Tomlinson to football greatness, but rather overall sports greatness for the year. So if you want to see Tomlinson win an ESPY or four, start voting now.
You can buy all your NFL tickets at www.stubhub.com.
Rookies Show Up for their Symposium
In what is probably one of the most oddly named events in the entire NFL, espn.com is reporting that for the third straight year, the NFL Rookie Symposium had perfect attendance. No word yet on whether the rookies will be getting a field trip for ice cream on the last day of school. The Symposium, despite the name, does not involve the rookies playing violin concertos or doing ballet. It does involve 225 men - all of them technically adults - being sat down and told how to act and how not to get into trouble. And inevitably, some of them still manage to screw up.
However, it should be noted that this program is, overall, a very very good thing. Going from being a young man in college to a professional football player is not exactly normal, and many of these men now find themselves handling more money than most people will ever see in one place. The fact that the NFL and NFLPA have joined forces to help make that transition easier for all their players is most certainly a feather in their cap. Let’s just hope it sinks in for all 225 rookies in attendance, even though everyone knows that’s just wishful thinking.
You can buy all your NFL tickets at www.stubhub.com.
Fantasy Football Just Around the Corner
ESPN.com has published their annual projections for players you should draft in Fantasy football, so get ready for your productivity at work to reach “near-fireable” lows. San Diego has the number one running back on the board in LaDainian Tomlinson, and the number one tight end in Antonio Gates. Peyton Manning is the number one QB and Steve Smith of the Panthers is listed as the top wide receiver. The Ravens have the best defense, and I didn’t bother to check what they said about the kickers.
The only thing that jumped out at me about the rankings immediately was Calvin Johnson as the number three receiver. I mean, I know Mike Martz loves the long ball and everything, and I know Johnson is a physical freak of nature, but he does play for the Lions, and last I checked, the Lions really suck. And I’m pretty sure they have an unproven QB, which leads me to believe that you’d be better served taking a more proven receiver with a stronger offense.
But then again what do I know know? I’ve never actually played fantasy football because I think it’s for people who hate going outside and/or live in places where the weather sucks during football season. As for me, I live in southern California, where it’s pretty much shorts weather all year long, so in lieu of playing fantasy football, I believe I’ll spend time trying to pick up women at the beach. In December. Seriously.
You can buy all your NFL tickets at www.stubhub.com.
NFL Players Appeal to Congress
Espn.com is running a story reporting that several former NFL players, including Bears legend Mike Ditka, have appeared before the United States Congress to ask for their assistance in spurring the NFL to action in putting together a better pension and disability program for retired players. The players put forth their case to Congress, who may very well become involved if the NFL Player’s Union doesn’t do something to improve the current system. The NFL Player’s Union continues to claim that the system is fine and Congress doesn’t need to step in.
This is completely ridiculous. You have players who are homeless, battered beyond the ability to work, who played 20 and 30 years ago, when salaries were not nearly at the level they’re at now. The system is obviously screwed up. The NFL basically pays men to suffer debilitating injuries that have been proven to have very unfortunate long term effects to say the least. I would say it’s most likely not out of the question for NFL players to demand that they receive better benefits after they retire. It really bears noting here that many men who work in the NFL don’t have an extremely long shelf-life, are put out of the game by some sort of injury, and don’t make a ton of money while they’re in the league. Something must be done. The Player’s Union would do itself a favor to do something themselves rather that make Congress get involved.
You can buy all your NFL tickets at www.stubhub.com.
Bears Waive Tank
Espn.com is reporting that the Chicago Bears have released Tank Johnson. Johnson, who was already suspended by the NFL for half the 2007 season, was pulled over late Friday night for speeding, possibly under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Though the results have not yet returned from a blood test Tank took on Friday down at the station after he was pulled over, the Bears simply decided this was the last strike for Tank, and today, they waived him.
This marks a tragic end to Tank Johnson’s career as a Chicago Bear. Though it may strike some as odd that the Bears would stick with Tank through all his problems in 2006, then release him after a routine traffic stop in what may have simply been an incident of racial profiling (not saying it was, just saying, those things do happen), this may simply have been the straw that broke the camel’s back. Or it may have just been the fact that the Bears are not, at present, right in the thick of a Super Bowl season in the National Football League, and now Tank is a bit more expendable. I, for one, don’t care which it is. I simply hope that this talented individual can now focus all his energies on getting his life on track and reclaiming his NFL career.
You can buy all your NFL tickets at www.stubhub.com.
Troubled Bear in trouble again.
According to reports on espn.com, Tank Johnson has had another run-in with the law. Tank was apparently pulled over for speeding at night in Arizona. According the the report, Johnson was going 40 in a 25, and his driving led the officer who pulled him over to believe that Johnson was impaired. Johnson apparently cooperated with the officers, who took a blood sample. The results of the blood test are not expected for two weeks.
This is just all around not good news for Johnson. If what these officers are claiming is true, and Johnson was in any way impaired, that would not only be a violation of his probation, but the terms of his suspension as well, and could lead to further disciplinary action both from the league and from the law. It should be noted that going 40 in a 25 is something nearly everyone has done in their lifetime, and, sad as it is to say, in a lot of parts of this country, being big and black and behind the wheel of a car past a certain hour is enough probable cause for an officer to think you’re “impaired.” Here’s hoping that Tank was not in the wrong, and this all blows over.
You can buy all your NFL tickets at www.stubhub.com.
Urlacher Playing Number Games
In an odd twist on a story that has been full of crazy shenanigans, Chicagosports.com is reporting that Brian Urlacher wore holdout teammate Lance Brigg’s number 55 jersey in the last day of mini-camp. Urlacher didn’t say anything about it, and no one seems to know if this was meant as a jab at the Bears, at Briggs, or just Urlacher stirring up a bit of controversy because he was bored. There is obviously no shortage of opinions on the matter, and those opinions will be allowed to swirl for at least five weeks, when Urlacher will most likely resurface and smirk about the whole ordeal at training camp.
This is absolutely hilarious and just speaks to the ludicrous nature of how insane Americans are for the NFL. Somebody wears a hold out player’s number in spring practice and it’s actual news. The NBA Draft is what - a week away? And literally, I’m not sure I know one person who even cares. And yet I had 4 friends of mine, only one of them from Chicago, send me some kind of message with this link, saying “Did you see what Urlacher did?” Only in the NFL, my friends. Only in the NFL. You gotta love a sport that steals headlines from other sports during its off-season.
You can get all your NFL tickets at www.stubhub.com.
More Pacman Problems
Pacman Jones is going to be charged with two felonies, both stemming from that whole Las Vegas strip club shooting debacle that left multiple people injured and one person paralyzed, according to espn.com. Though the police were not able to directly link Jones to the shooting, they have charged him with two counts of coercion, felony chargers that could land Jones in prison for 8 years if he is found guilty. There has been no word yet on whether or not these charges against Pacman will have any affect on his year-long suspension from the NFL due to multiple problems the defensive specialist has had off the field since entering the NFL.
You remember when you were playing Pacman as a kid, and you were trying to get the last of the dots, and you got stuck in a corner, and the red ghost was barreling at you from one side, and the blue ghost was coming at you from the other, and there was no way for you to get out? That’s pretty much what it’s like to be Pacman Jones right now. To his credit, these charges are the kind of b.s. that cops trump up when they realize they don’t actually have a concrete case against someone. Mostly likely this will either be the type of thing Pacman pleas down for probation time. That being said, it will be interesting to see what the commish has to say about this.
You can get all your NFL tickets at www.stubhub.com.
Bad News for Pacman Jones
According to a report on espn.com, Pacman Jones is an idiot. Less than a week after dropping the appeal of his season-long suspension, Jones is making headlines for all the wrong reasons, after a gun fight involving friends of his and some guys they didn’t like has piqued the interest of the local cops. The story so far is that Pacman was at a strip-club with some friends. There was an argument. Pacman left the club in one car. His friends left in another. The group that did not include Pacman Jones was the group that allegedly fired the first shots. The police simply want to question Pacman as to who these men may have been, so that they may further investigate the matter.
So far, the NFL has yet to rule on whether or not this violates the stipulations of Pacman’s suspension. Does it really even matter at this point? Should the NFL even care? Look, after what happened the last time this guy was at a strip club, what the holy hell was he doing at another one? Seriously? Really? You like strip clubs that much? At this point, I think we should be less focused on keeping Pacman out of trouble with the law and much more focused on helping him deal with his raging strip club addiction. Memo to Pacman. If you like strippers that much then just call up a stripper for hire service, get a stripper pole installed in your living room, and have some of your buddies over to the house. This way, you’re less likely to get into trouble.
You can buy all your NFL tickets at www.stubhub.com
NFL to discuss concussion polices
In yet another very swift and no-nonsense move by new NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, the NFL’s next round of league-wide meetings will be their most comprehensive concussion summit ever, according to Len Pasquarelli at espn.com. The meetings will include agenda items such as “Does concussion lead to pugilistic dementia and Alzheimers?”; “The role of neuropsychological testing in return-to-play decisions”; and “Multiple concussions: When is enough enough?” This summit will also reportedly be the first to openly invite men and women who study concussions from outside the realm of the NFL’s “Concussion Mafia,” a group of doctors convinced that head trauma doesn’t really “hurt that bad.”
This is a huge step for the NFL and will actually go even further than Goodell’s new player conduct policy in cementing Goodell’s early legacy as a great leader for the NFL. For far too long players have been put back into games when they had no business playing. A person’s chances of getting a concussion increase exponentially after their first one, especially immediately after their first one. Not only that, but the NFL has long ignored studies that have linked multiple concussions with long-term health issues that many of their players suffer from, and Goodell seems intent on changing this as well. It’s good to know that Goodell is not being hypocritical in his cleaning up of the NFL’s issues, as he has not only targeted the players, but the organizations as well. He seems to want to run a very tight ship, and I for one commend him for it.
You can buy all your NFL tickets at www.stubhub.com.
.