OK, we don’t honestly believe that Zoneblitz.com inspired ESPN to release their All-Decade teams (offense) (defense) (special teams) for the ’00 decade–but we did have our Zoneblitz All-Decade Team up almost a full five months before their’s.

Of course, Bill Williamson and the ESPN crew probably had a lot more time and resources to devote to their team than Andy and I did–assuming they spent more than the morning before the Super Bowl hashing their lists out.

And frankly, that makes the comparison that more interesting…

On offense, there were only a couple of differences–we didn’t name a fullback, given the under utilization of the position, but Neal would have been our logical choice.  We matched their selection at QB, RB, WR, G, and one of the two OT spots.  The only differences were their taking of Walter Jones over Orlando Pace–which is fair, as Jones was our #3–and Olin Kreutz over Kevin Mawae, which is also a fair choice.

On the defensive side, things changed up a little bit more.  We matched defensive ends, but they went with Kris Jenkins and Warren Sapp at DT, while we selected only Kevin Williams–who didn’t even get a mention in their list.  We strongly considered Sapp, and I remember Jenkins and La’Roi Glover coming up in our coversation, but in the end we left them all off–mainly due to inconsistencies that we felt each had in the decade.

At linebacker, we matched on Derrick Brooks and Ray Lewis at our top two spots, but ESPN went with Brian Urlacher, who we (somewhat grudgingly) placed 5th, after Zach Thomas and Joey Porter.  I still believe Urlacher is one of the more overrated players in the league (as in, I think he’s a solid, not great player).

We matched our top CB in Champ Bailey, who seems like the only no-brainer CB out there for the decade.  We went with Ronde Barber as our second choice, mainly boiling it down to him or Ty Law, with Patrick Surtain and Sam Madison also making our consideration set.  I don’t think Troy Vincent came up–probably because we’ve been hearing so much about his role with the players association over the last year that we figured he’d retired too long ago to warrant consideration.  And frankly, based on his stats for the decade, I think we were right–only twice in the decade did he play full 16 game schedules, and in his last four seasons he missed 32 games.  Not sure how that warrants All-Decade.

At safety, we agreed 100% with their selections–although while we included Brian Dawkins in our mix, we left John Lynch out, arguing that while he gained some notoriety for big hits, he really never seemed to us to be that great of a player.

ESPN is announcing their specialists today–we’ll update the post if we remember and are inspired, but in the end, it’s just kickers and punters and returners.

It’s good to know that Al Davis has moved on, and is focused on re-building his team into something that is at least somewhat relevant in the world of the NFL.

Recently, an episode of ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” recapping the first six months of Lane Kiffin’s tenure at the University of Tennessee, showed former Raiders head coach possibly committing a recruiting violation–which would be in addition to the at least four minor violations that Tennessee has reported since Kiffin came aboard (which the University athletic director says ‘isn’t any more than the school usually reports’–which in itself seems problematic).

Davis, who fired Kiffin last September for what he described as acts of insubordination and lying, was contacted for a comment.  This statement was issued:

“Lane Kiffin is a flat-out liar. He lied to the team, he lied to the fans, and he lied to the media. He will try to destroy that university like he tried to destroy the Raiders, and will eventually clash with (women’s basketball coach Pat) Summitt and (men’s basketball coach Bruce) Pearl.”

It will be interesting to see what happens when Kiffin actually gets to coach a game.  And, if Tennessee actually has anyone worth drafting next year–I wouldn’t count on them ending up in the silver and black, even if they are the best player on the board (which, based on recent drafts, would make them even less likely to be taken by Davis).

Just read on Twitter (and USA Today) that EA Sports has announced who will be on the cover of Madden 2010–and for those of you that believe in the ‘Madden Curse,’ making your fantasy cheat sheets should be an interesting challange this fall.

EA Sports Madden 2010 Cover

The game will feature Larry Fitzgerald–considered by many the top fantasy receiver in the game and a likely top 12 pick in almost any draft–on the cover.

Of course, that could change if the Cardinals move Anquan Boldin this weekend–or if you believe in that Madden Curse, which has struck Barry Sanders, Eddie George, Daunte Culpepper, Marshall Faulk, Michael Vick, Ray Lewis, Donovan McNabb, Shaun Alexander and Vince Young.

EA, in what might be seen as some as a move to try to counter the curse, will for the first time every feature two players on the cover, pairing Fitzgerald with one of his opponents from Super Bowl XLIII, Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu.

So you might want to knock the Steelers defense down a few pegs on your draft board as well.

UPDATE: Apparently this was an April Fools Joke that just didn’t get publicized until April 2nd.  I think the joke should be on the Seahawks–make them play in green!  Upon further review, it should have been obvious it was a joke–the Seahawks are amongst the teams advocating the annoying trend of monochrome uniforms, so for this to have been real, they would have needed green pants as well.  That would have been AWESOME!

The Seatlle Seahawks new alternate jerseys were leaked on Deadspin this morning–presumably not a late April Fools joke.  I have to agree with Deadspin as to the jersey’s being hideous–why would you put the blueish-grey stripes on a beautiful green jersey like that?

Seahawks New Alternate Jersey

I’m not a real fan of the trend of jamming so many blocks of colors and Nike swooshes onto jerseys–most of the jerseys teams are switching to these days are hideous, and belong in the arena league (where the “modern” look seemed to originate).

But I actually kind of like the green Seahawks jersey–it would be better without the blue sleeves–but then again, I also list the Buccaneers old creamsicle orange jerseys in my top 5 all time football uniforms.

Tony’s Top 5 “Ugly” Football Uniforms:

5. Houston Oilers powder blue jerseys

4. Buffalo Bills red helmet, blue facemaks combo

3. New England Patriots red jerseys with Pat the Patriot

2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers creamsicle orange jerseys and winking pirate…

1. Orlando Thunder flourescent green jerseys–had to be painful for opponents to look at during games.

What are some of the other best all time football uniforms out there?

Jim Donaldson, a writer with the Providence Journal, wrote today that he’s worried about Tom Brady.

He’s not worried that New England’s quarterback is struggling to recover from knee surgery. He’s not worried that Brady is aging. He’s worried because Brady got married to his supermodel girlfriend, Gisele Bundchen, last week.

“I’m worried that he may be thinking more about Dolce and Gabbana than the Jets and Dolphins,” Donaldson wrote.

(Dolce and Gabbana, he writes, were the brand of floral lace collars worn by Bundchen’s dogs were wearing at the ceremony.)

I typically stay away from the gossip columns when searching for Zoneblitz fodder. But this particular story needed to be mocked. If the story had indicated that Donaldson was worried about Brady’s recovery from a torn ACL suffered week one of the 2008 season, I could buy the story.

If the story had questioned his age, no problem. I’ve seen no sign of Brady’s abilities wearing down but that can happen suddenly, so such a story would have at least been based on a legitimate premise.

But he’s worried … BECAUSE BRADY GOT MARRIED!?!?!?

Good grief.

This is a guy who wasn’t a full-time starter in college who got to the NFL via a sixth-round draft pick and fought and fought to turn himself into a Hall of Fame caliber quarterback.

This is a guy who has said he is more than on track to play this season – and whose team is confident enough that is the case to have traded their backup plan to Kansas City last week.

Hell, he’s been dating Bundchen for years now – does Donaldson really think wedding her rather than just bedding her is going to change Brady’s outlook on the game?

It’s too bad the guys at FireJoeMorgan.com shut down their blog of media critiques a few months ago. They used to do some of the funniest, most cutting criticism of bad journalism, and this column would have been perfect fodder.

Tony P. brought up another good point in the Pro Football Hall of Fame 2010 Senior List post–since we’re coming up on the 2009 season, we might as well start looking forward to the Team of the Decade for 2000-2009.

So Andy and I put our heads together. We looked at past All-Decade teams and did some quick and dirty research on the past decade’s post-season profiles. Several positions had a glut of superstars while others were lacking. So we decided to not focus on naming a specific number of players from any given spot but on recognizing players with sustained stretches of great play.

Feel free to let us know what you think.

Offense
QB: Tom Brady
QB: Peyton Manning
Comments: Guys like Brett Favre, Drew Brees and Daunte Culpepper popped up a couple times but Brady and Manning are clearly the class of the decade.

RB: LaDainian Tomlinson
RB: Shaun Alexander
RB: Edgerrin James
Comments: Curtis Martin, Larry Johnson and Brian Westbrook garnered consideration but these three guys had greater consistency and longer stretches of greatness. Marshall Faulk’s great days were behind him by 2002.

WR: Marvin Harrison
WR: Terrell Owens
WR: Chad Johnson
WR: Randy Moss
Comments: Considered Torry Holt, Reggie Wayne, Steve Smith, and Hines Ward.

TE: Tony Gonzalez
TE: Antonio Gates
Comments: Jason Witten popped up more than we expected but these two were a cut above in terms of Pro Bowl appearances and All-Pro teams.

T: Jonathan Ogden
T: Orlando Pace
T: Walter Jones
T: Willie Anderson
T: Willie Roaf
Comments: This was one of the toughest positions to judge so we took five. There were several others whose names popped up in post-season awards but none that stood out like these guys.

G: Steve Hutchinson
G: Alan Faneca
G: Will Shields
Comments: Brian Watters and Marco Rivera also had spells of greatness but they didn’t last as long as the three we selected.

C: Kevin Mawae
Comments: Four other guys stood out: Matt Birk, Tom Nalen, Olin Kreutz, and Jeff Saturday all had similar postseason profiles. None matched Mawae and singling out one or two of the four proved difficult.

Defense
DE: Michael Strahan
DE: Jason Taylor
DE: Richard Seymour
Comments: Julius Peppers and Dwight Freeney are also great players with an opportunity to crack the team with productive 2009 seasons. Jared Allen has been great the last two years but his career hasn’t stacked up with the other five players … yet.

DT: Kevin Williams
Comments: Warren Sapp popped up a lot at the beginning of the decade but not much in recent years. Albert Haynesworth, Kris Jenkins and Jamal Williams have all had stretches of greatness but due to injuries, inconsistency, and the occasional meat-grinding of opponents’ faces with cleats, all three have also completely disappeared at times.

LB: Ray Lewis
LB: Derrick Brooks
LB: Zach Thomas
LB: Joey Porter
LB: Brian Urlacher
Comments: Lewis and Brooks exhibit the sustained greatness that will move them from this discussion to the Zoneblitz Hall of Fame discussion threads the day they announce their retirements. Zoneblitz has always contended that Urlacher is somewhat overrated, but you can’t argue his postseason profile. Keith Brooking, James Farrior, Keith Bulluck, Shawne Merriman and DeMarcus Ware also warranted discussion but didn’t quite match the five we named.

CB: Champ Bailey
CB: Ronde Barber
Comments: Ty Law, Patrick Surtain and Sam Madison were also in the mix. There have been a lot of “very good” players but sustained runs of excellence at this position have been more rare than we expected.

S: Ed Reed
S: Troy Polamalu
S: Brian Dawkins
Comments: Adrian Wilson gets little notoriety playing for Arizona but he is approaching this level. Rodney Harrison also has had great moments during the decades but also has been injured far too often.

Special Teams
K: Adam Vinatieri
K: David Akers
P: Shane Lechler
P: Todd Sauerbrun
Returner: Dante Hall
Returner: Devin Hester

Coaches: Bill Belichick
Tony Dungy
Bill Cowher
Comments: I’d watch out for Mike Tomlin as a possible coach of the 2010s.

The NFL has danced around reality television for the past few years, with former players in need of money appearing on shows like “Pros vs. Joes,” wannabe stars showing up on “The Bachelor,” and current and former stars who wanted to break into the entertainment world appearing on “Dancing with D-List Celebrities.”

Closer to the league, there have been series around making NFL Cheerleading teams (always dramatic),and of course, HBO’s Hard Knocks series, which followed a few teams through training camp over the years.

But now, thanks to Michael Irvin and the Dallas Cowboys, reality TV may be making it’s biggest foray into making the NFL a laughing stock–the Hall of Fame Wide Receiver announced on Thursday that he is launching an American Idol style show, in which one of 12 “football neophytes” will win a roster spot for the Cowboys 2009 training camp.

That’s right–one of the 80 spots at the Cowboys training camp will be the winner of a reality show contest.  Apparently Jerry Jones is so hard up for cash and/or drama that he is willing to sacrifice a roster spot in an attempt to draw more attention to his club.

I can only assume that the 12 contestants will have some football experience beyond starting 12 career high school games at 4 different offensive line positions–if not, feel free to drop me a line Michael–but still, for the Cowboys to latch on to this idea, and the league to allow it, seems to have the potential to do more damage to the league’s reputation than good.

Then again, given how many people tune in to watch crappy reality stars, I suppose it might actually take off.

Watching the Lions-Titans debacle earlier today, I thought it strange that the halftime show featured Jesse McCartney–an act that seemed better suited for teenage girls than the typical NFL fan base (one member of my family asked “Is he related to Paul McCartney?” To which I had to admit, I didn’t know, since I had barely heard of Jesse McCartney–but I assumed not, since presumably a child of Paul’s would have more sense and musical talent than needed to join a boy band).

At the time, I figured it was just another thing that the Lions organization managed to screw up.

Then, during the afternoon game, The Jonas Brothers were featured in the halftime show at Texas Stadium–complete with a throng of screaming teenage girls surrounding the stage.

This has left me wondering, who in the hell is in charge of setting halftime shows up?  In recent years, Super Bowl halftime acts have featured U2, The Rolling Stones, Tom Petty–and this year Bruce Springsteen.  These are huge acts that make more sense with the demographic of NFL fans.

Heck, even before those acts, when they didn’t make as much sense (ie, the MTV years), you had Janet Jackson flashing the world, and NSYNC at least had Britney skanking around the stage, and Aerosmith playing with them.

But Jesse McCartney and the Jonas Brothers?  Who is the NFL expecting to tune in to watch that?  And who will be the halftime show at tonight’s Eagles/Cardinals matchup–maybe New Kids on the Block?  Miley Cyrus?  The cast of High School the Musical?

Detroit Lions running back Rudi Johnson says Tatum Bell, who was released to make room for the former Bengal, took two of his bags containing boxers, cash and credit cards.

The Lions have the incident on tape. Bell says he grabbed the bags by mistake, thinking they were another former teammate’s belongings.

Johnson, according to ESPN.com, doesn’t believe Bell’s version of the events.

Strange situation. Johnson doesn’t plan to involve the authorities. A female friend of the former teammate’s returned the bags – sans the contents – to the Lions’ practice facility.

Lions coach Rod Marinelli, who might be close to returning the Lions to competence, declined to comment on the situation for ESPN. Probably wise. They might be onto something good this season – they’re probably a step or two short of the playoffs yet, but they could push or even nudge slightly past .500 this year. And if youngsters like Calvin Johnson and Kevin Smith fulfill their potential, the Lions might make the news for more than luggage theft.

The Gun sent Zoneblitz this clip from ESPN.com just as the All-Favre, All-the-Time network showed video of Brett Favre being introduced, yes, it’s true, at City Hall.

It would seem that the Jets’ new toy would have better things to do like, umm, study his new playbook. But Mayor Michael Bloomberg in fact took time to introduce Favre during an apparently well attended press conference and gave him a couple of cheesecakes, among other gifts.

Favre laughed but looked slightly uncomfortable in front of the crowd while holding a Broadway Avenue street sign. He unveiled his Jets number four jersey and then, hopefully, went right to work.

“I’m happy to be here, I really am,” Favre told the crowd. “I wish the Packers well and I really wish the Jets well. … It’s much different. And it’s very exciting.”

To borrow a phrase from the late Chris Farley’s Saturday Night Live days, “Well, La De Frickin’ Da!”