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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.
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.
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?
It was reported earlier this week that the Minnesota Vikings had reached an impasse in talks on a contract extension for cornerback Antoine Winfield.
Not a huge issue, was my first thought. There’s plenty of time for both sides to meet in the middle and hammer something out – though the organization’s strategy in dealing with former center Matt Birk in a similar situation made me a bit squirmy.
But now Charley Walters at the St. Paul Pioneer Press is reporting that the Vikings may be struggling to decide between extending Winfield and signing Brett Favre.
Now, let’s breathe a minute first. Walters often gets some interesting tidbits but his column is also known for its speculative nature, especially regarding some of his efforts to establish players’ market values regarding salaries or trades.
Nonetheless, if the Vikings are having a hard time choosing between Winfield and Favre, I will attempt here to break it down for them. Winfield is a 31-year-old cornerback who is a tackling maven in run support coming off arguably his best season. Favre is a 39-year-old quarterback coming off a terrible five game slide to end the 2008 season – a season during which he played with an as of yet unfixed torn bicep muscle.
Can someone please, please explain why there is even a discussion here? If you can bring in Favre at a reasonable price (I would argue the $10 million mentioned in Walters’ column is perhaps too high) to run the offense for a year or two, I guess it’s a liveable deal if he is healthy. But if bringing in Favre in any way jeopardizes the team’s ability to keep Winfield, I’m sorry, it’s not a deal worth making.
Favre, if he’s not washed up already, is close. He’s perilously close to becoming one of “those guys” who hangs on too long at the end. Winfield, as evidenced by his play last season, still has a lot of good years left.
Newly acquired Kellen Winslow Jr. skipped out on the Bucaneers first voluntary wokouts on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.
Winslow, acquired from the Browns in February and given a $42 million contract with over $20 million guaranteed, apparently informed the Bucs he would miss the practices, and team officials and players didn’t seem concerned.
Quarterback Luke McCown, likely battling for the starting spot, offered this gem:
“Kellen is a professional, he’s a Pro Bowler, he knows how to get his body ready. I talk with Kellen weekly and make sure we’re on the same page.”
Really? A quick chat on the phone to make sure you’re “on the same page” sure is going to help your timing on routes.
Former Buc Warren Sapp, like Winslow a former Miami Hurricane, offered a different view:
“So when your team fires up OTA’s and you’re not here, I guess you’re being misunderstood again, right? Your past don’t equal your future, but it will damn sure give me some reflection of what you might do. I’ll leave it at that.”
Apparently Winslow’s excuse for missing the workouts is that he is moving his family to Tampa. Apparently, despite two months notice and several million dollars in his pocket, and this week just happens to be the only time Winslow could move his family.
New offense, new coach, unsettled quarterback situation, and one of the guys expected to be featured in the offense–a guy who has a checkered past when it comes to being able to stay on the field during the regular season, and who said after the trade that he was ready for a new beginning and that as “I stand here before you now, I think I’m a changed man,” and he’s already skipping practices with a lame excuse.
Yep, good luck in Tampa Bay this season. You might need it.
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