Vikings fans might want to temper Favre expectations

by | Aug 18, 2009 | NFL News, NFL Random Thoughts

While it appears the on-again, off-again love-fest between Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings front office is on again, hopefully Vikings fans recognize that this move alone doesn’t guarantee a trip to Miami.

Assuming Favre’s bicep is sound, does he provide an upgrade at quarterback for the purple? Most likely yes.

But is this the Brett Favre of a few years ago who could seemingly at will pull rabbits from his helmet to produce victories for the Green and Gold? Not even close.

Let’s look at the game logs from the 2008 season. Everyone talks about the five game stretch that closed Favre’s campaign. It was a gross display of football, which reportedly coincided with the injured arm everyone is banking on being fixed.

Starting with the November 30 game against Denver, his last five games produced two touchdowns and nine interceptions, barely 1,000 yards passing, and four losses in five games.

So lets give him the benefit of the doubt on that final third of the season – it’s not like the rest of his season was stellar.

In fact, after a solid-to-sterling first four games, he spent the second quarter of the season playing almost as poorly as he did in the last five – before any reports surfaced of arm issues.
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Late Eagles coach Johnson worthy of Hall?

by | Jul 28, 2009 | Hall of Fame, NFL News

There are 21 coaches in the NFL Hall of Fame, all of whom were head coaches at some point in their careers.

There aren’t any who were known for their time as an assistant. But one could make a pretty strong argument that Philadelphia Eagles Defensive Coordinator Jim Johnson should be the first.

Johnson, who took a leave of absence from the team in May to fight a cancerous tumor on his spine, died, the team announced Tuesday. The 68-year-old coach designed an attacking defense that helped lead the Eagles to five NFC Championship games and a Super Bowl. They were generally among the league’s top defenses and he was considered among the top defensive minds in the league’s history.

According to ESPN, his 10-year tenure produced 26 Pro Bowl players and 390 sacks, good for second in the league during that time period. He was a master architect of blitzes and was revolutionary in his ability to keep offenses off balance. He never became a head coach in the NFL, but his proteges, John Harbaugh and Steve Spagnuolo, have head jobs right now.

The accolades for Johnson are pouring in from around the league at NFL.com and other locations.

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Vick may be back – if someone will take him

by | Jul 22, 2009 | NFL News, NFL Random Thoughts

ESPN.com is reporting that Michael Vick, fresh off being released from house arrest, will meet with Commissioner Roger Goodell soon and that its likely he’ll receive some sort of “conditional reinstatement” that will allow him to attend training camp while the commish reserves the right to impose future penalties.

That’s quite a change from speculation over the last few months where most “experts” in the media seemed to think Vick would be subjected to some league-imposed suspension beyond his incarceration for issues surrounding his dog fighting.

Should he receive this conditional reinstatement, any further penalty would likely be imposed by Sept. 1, according to the ESPN story, which was attributed to “sources” and included several on-the-record no comments from Vick’s agent and league officials.

So, if Vick is going to get the okay to play in 2009 the question shifts to which team will give him a shot? He’s never been a good passer but he is a game-changing athlete with running skills. Or he was, anyway. What he’s got left now is complete speculation at this point. Assuming he’s retained most of the athletic abilities, where does he become a good fit?

The minimum salary for someone of his playing tenure appears to be $620,000, so salary cap issues are mitigated to some extent as long as Vick is willing to take that kind of cash. And it’s not like he’s got a lot of leverage.

So, team-by-team, here’s the Zoneblitz.com take:
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Eli Manning Following in Peyton’s Footsteps Again

by | Jun 19, 2009 | Contract Squabbles, NFL News, NFL Random Thoughts

It seems like Eli Manning is always following in big brother Peyton’s footsteps.  He chose to play quarterback, he chose to play in the SEC (following Peyton’s offensive coordinator at Tennessee to Ole Miss), and he was drafted into the NFL with the first overall pick in his class.

In 2008, just one year after Peyton led his Colts to a Super Bowl victory, nabbing the MVP trophy for his efforts, Eli led the Giants to Super Bowl glory–and nabbed an MVP trophy for his trophy case as well, making them the first (and so far only) brothers to play quarterback in the Super Bowl and win Super Bowl MVP awards.

Along the way, like brother Peyton, Eli has managed to whore himself for numerous products, even working with Peyton on spots for Oreo and ESPN–although at $5 million in endorsements, he still has a way to go to catch Peyton’s $13 million.

And now, as the 2009 season approaches, Eli looks to be following in Peyton’s footsteps again, as his rookie contract is set to close out–by requesting a potentially team crippling contract from the team that has turned him into a star.

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Yahoo sues for free access to NFL player stats

by | Jun 3, 2009 | Business of Football, Fantasy Football, NFL News

Yahoo Inc. has filed suit in Minnesota alleging that the NFL Players Association has no right to charge for player pictures, biographies and statistics used to drive its fantasy football games.

According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the NFLPA has argued in the past that such information is proprietary.

This isn’t the first time the issue has arisen. CBS Interactive and NFL Players have been fighting over the issue in court since September 2008. CBS filed suit in Minnesota while NFL Players filed a countersuit in Miami a week later.

Richard Berthelsen, acting chairman of the NFLPA at the time, said in a September 2008 press release announcing the lawsuit that “It is just wrong for companies to use the rights of NFL players to generate revenues for their own benefit without any compensation to the players. NFL PLAYERS will take all steps necessary to protect its rights, and the rights of NFL players generally.”

Last year CBSSports.com announced that it would proceed with a college fantasy football offering after Major League Baseball Advanced Media lost a suit in which it claimed ownership of statistics generated by baseball players.

The U.S. Supreme Court in June refused to hear its appeal.

Harrison heading to NBC

by | Jun 3, 2009 | Hall of Fame, NFL News

Rodney Harrison is scheduled to make an announcement on his football future this afternoon, but the Boston Globe, the Boston Herald and Dan Patrick, on his Wednesday morning radio show, broke the news early.

The former Charger and Patriot safety will hang up his helmet and shoulder pads and join NBC’s Football Night in America.

I really like the move from a sports media standpoint. For a sport already short on good announcers that is already losing John Madden this season, Harrison can become one of the next generation of analysts. He’s well spoken, he’s a good analyst and I recall him bringing some humor along with his insights. This should be a very good move for him.

As a player he was a huge hitter, possibly the most intimidating safety of his era. He attempted to play one Super Bowl with a broken arm and yes, he was also injury prone through stretches of his career. He missed the last 10 games of his career with a thigh injury suffered last season.

He also had a reputation for being a dirty player and he was suspended at one point for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy, after which he admitted to taking human growth hormone to help him recover from injury.

On the Patrick show this morning, he acknowledged the mistake and that he knew what he was doing was wrong. “I put football in front of my family and in front of my life,” he said.

So there’s the long and short of Harrison. That makes Harrison a Hall of Fame candidate starting in 2014. Does he make it?