NFL News and Notes
There is some good NFL News out there, you just have to know where to find it. Here’s what I’ve found around the web.
One under the radar story is that the Eagles may no longer be looking for draft picks for Kevin Kolb and instead could be focused on getting a key veteran in exchange for Kolb to try and finally win the superbowl. According to a tweet from Ross Tucker
ESPN’s Sal Pal on SiriusXM: Eagles think “this is their year”. Mentioned Nnamdi, Haynesworth, J. Babin, 2011 player for Kolb, etc.
I think Nnadmi Asmougha makes a ton of sense for the Eagles. They play in a division with very tough wide recievers, it’s a huge need and they have a ton of cap space. Now, it’s tough to swallow having so much money invested in two cornerbacks (Samuel and Asmougha) but that would definitely allow them to blitz as much as they want to while being able to play man coverage effectively behind the blitz.
Wes Bunting Breaks down the 2012 NFL Draft Class for linebackers
It’s not a huge depth look at linebackers, but this class is worlds better than the 2011 class as it stands now, especially for 43 linebackers. We took a look at the top 25 inside and outside linebackers.
Let’s take a moment to look at some stories about players doing charity work during the lockout. We (the media) always publicize all the negativity and crimes that players commit, so let’s take a moment to showcase the positive.
Dolphins players and coaches do charity work.
“The most important thing to come out of this thing is that people get a good buzz about the Miami Dolphins and about football again,” Sparano said. “I know that right now out there people are unsure, but eventually it’s going to happen, we’re going to get back out there on the field. This thing is going to get going and we’re going our players back in our building and the Miami Dolphins are going to get back in that stadium again against the New England Patriots” for their Sept. 12 opener.
Aaron Kampman and Russell Allen of the Jaguars realize how lucky they are after visiting El Salvador
“It doesn’t matter to the people that you’re an NFL player,” Allen said. “They don’t know who you are; the NFL doesn’t register with most of them. What they know is that you’re there for them, that’s all, and that you want to help.
“But the most gratifying thing is that you go there intending to make people’s lives a little better, and you’re the one who ends up feeling the best.”
Like many out there, Matt Spaeth of the Steelers is organizing a Golf Tournament
“I kind of started it knowing that I wanted to give back to the community in some way, and this was a good way to do it. The golf tournaments are a pretty fun way to raise money,” Spaeth said. “I guess, really, I didn’t know what I was getting in to. It’s a lot of work on the organization end. So that first year, it was pretty interesting. But we were able to raise some money for the football program.”
The first-ever tournament brought a huge financial gift to STMA Youth Football and the high school program, which was Spaeth’s original intention. But, as the second tournament rolled around, he wanted to spread the wealth.
“I actually felt a little guilty giving it all to football, even though I wanted to help them first because really, it was youth football that got me to where I am now. But my parents and I were at church one weekend, and they were talking about the Hanover Food Shelf, and I thought that would be another great charity to get involved,” Spaeth said
Former Gators including Percy Harvin, Louis Murphy, and Joe Haden are trying to do a little bit of charity. Nothing huge, but still nice.
The Kansas City Chiefs have been helping clear the debris in Joplin and vow long term aid.
Allene Wallace was on the phone with a friend when dozens of people dressed in red suddenly swarmed her property Thursday in tornado-stricken Joplin.
“Guess what?” Wallace told her friend. “The Kansas City Chiefs are at my house cleaning up my backyard.”
Wallace laughed as she recounted the episode, but many of the more than 130 players, coaches and staff who traveled to the city in four buses Thursday had trouble finding the words to describe their awe at seeing the devastation for the first time.
“It’s overwhelming,” Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli said. “I was on the bus with all the coaches and players, and it went from a talkative bus to dead silence.”
“The reality really sits in when you come over that hill,” said quarterback Matt Cassel. “You see a 2- by-6-mile radius of pure destruction. It’s like a nuclear bomb went off.
Graziano suggests that the Eagles could show interest in running back Ronnie Brown and that the Giants will consider DeAngelo Williams and Cedric Benson if they let Bradshaw go via free agency. The Redskins could be in line for Joseph Addai.
Matt Williamson of ESPN held a live draft chat
Topics of interest: He thinks that Peyton Hillis numbers will go down this year because of last year’s draft pick Montario Hardesty. He also believes that the Broncos owe Tebow a chance to succeed. On top of that Williamson also expects Dwayne Bowe’s numbers to take a dip this season.
Doug Free is the number one priority for the Dallas Cowboys this off-season if he becomes a free agent based on the new collective bargaining agreement.
Mike Francesa and Tiki Barber have a big argument on Francesa’s show on the Fan.
Here is some of what was said:
Barber: “I think you’re throwing a little bit of hyperbole out there, Mike, because I didn’t have a ‘big failure’ in broadcasting. I think if you laid the stage as you and Chris at the time tried to, that I was (to) be the next Matt Lauer, yeah, you could say it was a failure. But I had a lot of fulfillment at NBC. I did a lot of great stories that I think had impact over the three years that I was there.”
Barber: “You’re putting it in simple terms. And if that’s how you need to do it, Michael, fine, you put it in simple terms. But I don’t consider my time at NBC a failure.”
Francesa: “The guys at NBC, and I know all of them, they felt that you did a bad job and they said that they thought you were entitled. I mean, they were not complimentary about your work. Let’s not run away from that, this is part of the story.”
Barber: “If you tell me who it was and you get that person on air, I will have a debate with them. I think that’s cowardly of someone to talk behind someone’s back and not tell them, because the truth of the matter is, I don’t know what I could have done better at NBC.
Former Tennessee Vols quarterback Erik Ainge is done with Football at the age of 25
Big Ben would embrace a reunion with Plaxico Buress
I’ve talked to Plax a number of times in the last couple of weeks,” Roethlisberger said at his youth football camp. “I told him, ‘Hey, if you came back here that would be awesome, but I’m just happy to see you playing again’ because he’s a good guy.”
What does this mean? Absolutely nothing. Rarely do players say anything bad about former players even if there were strained relationships.
The Baltimore Ravens have canceled training camp at their usual site in Westminster
The first training camp casualty of many I expect. I’m hoping this gets worked out soon. The Buffalo Bills training camp happens right at my old college (St. John Fisher College) and about 10 miles from my current residence. I’d love to go check out how the rookies do in training camp and report it back to all of you guys. So here’s to hoping this silliness ends soon.
Westminster, the Carroll County town that dresses up in purple each August, became one of the early casualties of the NFL lockout Wednesday when the Ravens cancelled this year’s training camp at McDaniel College.
Citing the uncertainty surrounding the lockout and the potential for a reduced training period, the Ravens announced they will practice at their Owings Mills facility this summer. While Westminster figures to take a hit of as much as $2.2 million without training camp, the big losers appear to be Ravens fans. Their only chance to see the team in action before the regular season will be preseason games or open workouts at M&T Bank Stadium.
There’s a petition out there in Minnesota against the Vikings building a new stadium in Arden Hills.
A Shoreview City Council member has started a petition against building a Minnesota Vikings stadium in neighboring Arden Hills.
As of Wednesday afternoon, about 86 people had signed council member Blake Huffman’s petition, which he posted online Friday.
The idea was prompted by the slew of emails he was getting about the stadium, Huffman said, which is slated to be built on a portion of the abandoned Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant in Arden Hills.
“They were coming in about 20 to 1 against it,” Huffman said. “One of them said, ‘I don’t like it, but I guess there is nothing I can do about it.’ That bothered me….How sad is it that we live in a culture where someone feels totally powerless to stop something that is happening in their own back yard?”
The issue of tax payers paying for stadiums is a difficult one; one that I don’t have enough empirical information on to make a fair judgement. Does it bring enough jobs into off-set the costs? Probably not. It’s nice to see people taking action and using the democratic system properly. Whether or not it’ll eventually make a difference remains to be seen.
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