Michael Vick, Daunte Culpepper and other random thoughts

Ok, first I must say that it has been quite some time since I've posted here (Monday night pool league has been keeping me pretty busy since I made my return to Maryland), but I have to comment on everything that has been going on lately in the league. First off, we come to Michael Vick. It's not bad enough that The Artist Once Known As Ron Mexico gave someone herpes, then was detained at Miami International Airport for a water bottle with a 'secret compartment' -- was later found 'not' to have marijuana residue -- he is now facing federal indictment for dog fighting and cruelty to animals in Virginia. The 18-page indictment lists his name some 50 times in relation to the events that took place. In accordance with the new NFL Player Conduct Policy put in effect by Commissioner Roger Goodell back in April, Vick should not play another down on an NFL field anywhere. Remember, the NFL policy is different from a court of law. Even a hint of indiscretion can be grounds for a suspension or any other kind of disciplinary action from the league office. If I never see him on a football field again, it'll be too soon for me. I sure as hell hope that he actually finished school at Virginia Tech or at least picked up some kind of skill while he was there, because he's going to need it.

In other league news, Daunte Culpepper was finally granted his wish when the Dolphins gave him his release last Tuesday. So the Fins sent a 2nd round pick to the Vikings and spent a few millions dollars for a man who knee was not -- and still not -- 100% and got a handful of games out of him before Nick Saban benched him. The Falcons have flat out said that they are not looking at him and even the Jaguars aren't interested even with offensive line coach and former Vikes head coach Mike Tice has been campaigning for the team to sign his one-time signal caller.

Looks like Marc Bulger and Tony Romo are going to get long-term extensions as they are the best bets at QB for their respective teams. Lance Briggs has decided to sign his franchise tender with the Bears. The deal maker was a $1 million in advance and a promise from the Bears not to slap him with the franchise tag before the 2008 season. Charles Tillman was also given a contract extension as well, which will give their defensive backfield stability for the time being.
Tarik Glenn has announced his decision to retire, which will have the Colts shuffling to find someone to protect Peyton Manning's blindside. The odds on favorite to take over is right tackle Ryan Diem. Their defense has taken some hits in free agency and now one of the anchors on the offensive line is calling it a career. They will have some difficulty in repeating as Super Bowl champions.

I'm glad to see that my Steelers inked Troy Polamalu to a four-year extension worth over $30 million, making him the highest paid Steeler player ever. He has certainly earned every bit of it too, with a couple of Pro Bowl appearance in his first four years and being a very integral part of the Super Bowl team two seasons ago. I'm also glad that the all of the draft picks have been signed before the start of training camp for the third straight year, which is a good thing, especially with Mike Tomlin's first training camp with the Black and Gold. As for Alan Faneca, I guess that there are some people you just can't reach. He'll finish out his year with the Black and Gold and then move on to another team to most likely finish out his career. While I certainly appreciate everything that he has done for the team, he has made it clear that he is done with the Steelers after his contract expires at season's end and I respect that. Guess that will be a position that the Steelers hope to fill in next year's draft.

Well, that's it for now. I hope to post more often.

Saints Home Games Determined

The New Orleans Saints now have one less issue to worry about as it was announced yesterday that they will play four (Miami, Chicago, Carolina, Tampa Bay) of their seven remaining home games at Tigers Stadium in Baton Rouge and the other three games(Buffalo, Atlanta, Detroit) will be played in the Alamodome in San Antonio. I was personally happy to see the Saints pull out the victory against Carolina on Sunday and I'm sure that the people of the Gulf Coast felt that they had something to celebrate about for a change. It would have made entirely no sense not to have any of their home games in San Antonio, seeing that the city has become their de-facto headquarters since the Saints left New Orleans before the arrival of Hurricane Katrina some three weeks ago. The NFL was initially opposed to having any of their home games being played in San Antonio, but decided in the best interests of all parties involved that it wouldn't hurt to have to Saints play roughly half of their home schedule in the Alamo City. I'm not exactly a big fan of San Antonio and don't exactly see them as a pro football town, but this would be a golden opportunity for the city of San Antonio to show that they can draw the kind of crowds that would be consistent with a pro football city, even with Dallas and Houston both being a couple hours away and having NFL franchises, and therefore could be a possible future home for an existing franchise looking to relocate (like the Saints were investigating about a month before Katrina hit) or even hosting an expansion franchise (very unlikely). At the very least, it'll be an interesting experiment and I look forward to see how it unfolds.

Steelers Win! Steelers Win! Steelers Win!

What can I say, I guess my concerns about the first team offense were answered pretty quickly yesterday (during the Steelers first drive, to be exact) and they continued to improve throughout the course of the game. The Black-n-Gold scored on their first six possessions and the defense held the Titans to just 97 yards on the ground, while forcing four turnovers. Unlike most Steelers games, the passing game actually opened things up for the running game. This was also supposed to signal the start of Big Ben's "Sophomore Jinx" season, but nothing could have been further from the truth, as he completed 9 of 11 passes for 218 yards and two touchdowns, throwing scoring strikes to rookie TE Heath Miller and WR Antwaan Randle El, and achieving a perfect QB rating of 158.3 (the first QB to do so since Trent Green did it on opening day two years ago). Former fourth-string running back Willie Parker, who got the start due to injuries to both Jerome Bettis and Duce Staley, had a career day as he racked up 209 total yards, including 161 on the ground and a touchdown, and may get the nod again as the Steelers travel to Houston to face the Texans this coming weekend.


Obviously, the Steelers passing game was solid yesterday and the running game, which was slow to get going, eventually took off. The offensive line did a commendable job of run and pass blocking and did not give up any sacks, even with injuries to Max Starks (who returned) and Marvel Smith (who did not). The defense, with the exception of the opening drive, was solid as well. The run defense (again, with the exception of the opening drive) was extremely punishing as they forced two fumbles and held Chris Brown and Travis Henry under 100 rushing yards. The amount of big plays let up in the pass defense was held to a minimum, but this area is still one of concern as the secondary has been something of an Achilles heel for the Steelers over the course of the last couple of seasons and something that the Steelers will need to address throughout the season. Bettis should be available this coming weekend and would most likely be used to spell Willie Parker.

All in all, I was very pleased by the Steelers performance and think they'll be able to build on it. I look forward to this coming weekend to see how they fare in Houston.

Are You Ready for Some Football ( I know I am!)

The day is finally upon us once again. What am I referring to, you may ask? The title of this post says it all. That's right, in less than 36 hours, the sport that I consider to be America's pasttime, will be back in full swing, when the Patriots host the Oakland Raiders. It will be exciting for me on many levels. To start, it's the official start of the 2005 football season. I haven't been a baseball guy for quite a while (about 10-15 years to be exact), have never really been into pro basketball and I'm very skeptical as to whether the NHL will recover from the damage caused by the season-long strike. Secondly, it should signal the end of the Patriots dynasty. Not to say that they have a good shot of losing to the Raiders, but I don't believe they'll make their way back to the Super Bowl. Finally, I'm looking forward to seeing the Pittsburgh Steelers in action after their almost fairy tale-like season which saw them compile a 15-1 record, only to fall one game short of the Super Bowl. I'll be able to watch the games in the comfort of my humble abode thanks to my "offseason acquisition" of DIRECTV and the subsequent purchase of their NFL Sunday Ticket package, which is especially comforting since I don't live in the Pittsburgh area. Well, as the Black Eyed Peas said on Super Bowl Sunday, "Everyone have a Happy Football!"

Maurice Clarett cut from Denver (and I'm not surprised)!!!

Everyone and their uncle, including Clarett himself, knows that he will not be a Denver Bronco for much longer (if he hasn't been cut already). Although it appears unfair that he hasn't had the opportunity to really showcase himself because of a groin injury, which has kept him out of all three of Denver's preseason games, there has been talk by some of his teammates that Clarett has not been making a concerted effort to rehab his injury. This is the sort of thing that kept 31 other teams from drafting him before Denver took a chance and selected him with the 101st pick (the final pick of day one) in the 2005 Draft. Head Coach Mike Shanahan played off Clarett's past problems and was hoping that like many other RBs before him, that Clarett would become one of the more productive backs not only in the Broncos organization, but in the league. Well, as the old adage goes, "a leopard never changes his spots", and in Clarett's case, this could not be more true. This guy knew that he was basically living on borrowed time and that if he did not change his ways, that his NFL lifespan would be cut short before it even began. Unlike Jason White, who had the werewithall to call it quits because he knew that it wouldn't work out for him, Clarett seems to be a glutton for punishment. He already has a good idea that he's going to be cut, but has not admitted obvious defeat. On top of that, his agent has even said that the market isn't looking too good for his client and, as a result, Clarett will most likely spend at least the 2005 season out of football, just as he has each of the last two years. If (and only if) Clarett were to re-dedicate himself to first, recovering from his injury, secondly, getting his weight and attributes into check and third, readjusting his attitude, then perhaps he will have a descent chance at making a football roster for 2006. Otherwise, his only real connection to football will be what he sees on Sundays in the fall.

Season-ending injuries

The preseason has been rife with season-ending injuries. The two that are truly sad stories are those of Chicago Bears QB Rex Grossman and Philadelphia Eagles RB Corell Buckhalter. Both of these guys are having to sit out a second consecutive season while their teams try to move on without them. I feel that Grossman's loss will adversely affect the Bears more than Buckhalter's will the Eagles. Although Buckhalter has played a role in the Eagles' offense, Grossman was to be the centerpiece for the Bears offense, as he had fully recovered from a ruptured right knee ligament which sidelined him in Week 3 of the 2004 season, suffered a broken left ankle in the Bears preseason loss to the St. Louis Rams on August 12. He's expected to miss three to four months, which means he would most likely be able to return in the mid-December. This means that journeyman QB Chad Hutchinson, who was highly ineffective in his five starts last season, will be calling the signals for a 2nd straight year. This doesn't even include the fact that the Bears first-round pick Cedric Benson is still holding out and is in danger of not even suiting up in navy and orange for the 2005 season. Benson could be the one to jumpstart an offensive unit that finished 32rd in total offense last year (if he ever reports). If the situation doesn't change, the Bears offensive production looks to stay pretty much where it was last season, even with the offseason acquisition of former Carolina Panthers WR Muhsin Muhammed, and they will most likely remain in the cellar of the NFC North for the second straight year.

Buckhalter has gone down for the 2nd straight year with a torn right patella tendon in his knee, the same injury that kept him out of action for all of the 2004 campaign as well. Buckhalter's loss, while tragic to a team that has already lost two of it's receivers to season-ending injuries and a third receiver who is becoming more of a distraction day-by-day, the Eagles aren't a team that lives and dies by the run (this was evident when they did not retain the services of their then-most productive rusher in Duce Staley after the 2003 season). Brian Westbrook is clearly the starter with Ryan Moats and Reno Mahe backing him up, even though the Eagles again will lack a physically punishing back like Buckhalter. The Eagles should be able to continue to dominate the NFC East and are a favorite to move deep into the playoffs for a fifth consecutive year.

T.O. has gone too far!

Ok, I can honestly say that Terrell Owens (T.O.) has officially crossed the line into idiocy. I can say this after the televised interview that he gave during halftime of ESPN's coverage of the Chargers-Packers preseason game. This man cares about nothing but himself and only used this opportunity in an attempt to give
the Eagles organization a black eye (namely Head Coach Andy Reid and teammate QB Donovan McNabb). I'm sure that everyone isn't surprised as this was bound to happen sooner or later (my money was on sooner). I've felt from the first day that I
heard T.O. gripe about how he deserves more money that he should just shut up and play football. The man just signed a long-term contract with a team that rescued him
from a trade to the Baltimore Ravens. Any player certainly has the right to voice their concerns with management, but when coaches and teammates are dragged inot the frey, that's where it crosses the line. Donovan McNabb was one of T.O.'s biggest fans in trying to persuade the Eagles front office to make the trade happen that so that McNabb would have one of the top five receivers in the league in the huddle with him. Well, the honeymoon ended almost a year to the day from when the deal was done and I can just see hordes of Eagles fans calling for Owens to either be traded or given his outright release. Neither of those options will happen, because 1) No other team would want someone who is seen as a cancer in the lockerroom and 2) The Eagles would take a hefty salary cap hit (one which they'd most likely be paying for in 2007 or 2008) for someone that wouldn't be on the team any longer. I don't see too many folks taking T.O.'s side on this one other than his family and his hired gun
Drew Rosenhaus. But the fact of the matter is that T.O. has now alienated
himself from yet another football team and another city. I hope he's happy.