CHECK OUT THE RUMOR MILL ARCHIVES!

 

POSTED 9:28 p.m. EST; LAST UPDATED 10:53 p.m. EST, February 26, 2006

 

NFL STRUGGLES WITH CAPITALISM, SOCIALISM

 

Though we continue to hear that a new Collective Bargaining Agreement will be hammered out soon, the last link in this chain is the achievement of a firm consensus among NFL owners regarding the manner in which revenues will be shared.

 

Put another way, the NFL has to strike a balance between capitalism and socialism.

 

Currently, 80 percent of all revenue is shared by the 32 NFL franchises.  That's socialism. 

 

The problem is that the unshared 20 percent results in a large-and-growing discrepancy among the franchises.  That's capitalism.

 

The concern among the teams earning less is that, in time, the disparity will affect the league's competitive balance.  In other words, they want expanded socialism. 

 

Revenue sharing originally was intended to enhance competitive balance, preventing a baseball-type scenario in which the big market cities try to buy a championship every year.  For decades, the sharing of ticket revenues and television money has worked -- NFL champions have been determined without regard to the size of the city in which the teams play or the amount of money that the franchise earns.

 

And although we've generally tended to lean toward the notion of full revenue sharing among what we regard as 32 branches of a much larger business, we're now starting to believe that an expansion of current revenue sharing should not occur unless and until there is hard evidence that teams earning the most unshared revenue are disrupting the competitive balance.

 

As long as a salary cap -- and a salary floor -- are in place, the playing field generally will be equal.  Although the big-money teams can still overspend for coaches and front-office personnel, we've yet to see any clear correlation between the money invested into the non-player side of the business and on-field results.

 

(And if it's that big of a problem, how about a salary cap for non-football personnel, too?  Sure, it might be an antitrust violation.  But if the coaches don't have the will to unionize, they likely won't have the sack to sue, either.)

 

So since the owners making most of the big money continue to remind the media and their ownership colleagues that 80 percent of all revenue already is shared, why not base revenue sharing not on the sources of the revenue, but on the total amount of it?  In other words, we think that the 32 franchises should commit to sharing of 80 percent of all revenues, regardless of source.  This will protect the low-money teams against the possibility that the big-money teams will continue to exploit local revenues to the point that the unshared money begins to overtake the bulk of it that already is split up.

 

Of course, the fact that the new CBA apparently will be based on Total Football Revenues means that the team-by-team cap will skew the cap higher for the lower-earning teams and lower for the higher-earning teams. 

 

But that's where, in our view, capitalism should yield to socialism. 

 

If the teams making less money through luxury suites or ticket revenues don't like the fact that the salary cap is, for example, $5 million more than it would be because teams like the Cowboys and Redskins are raking in the dough, then it's time for the low earners to apply good, old-fashioned American business ingenuity and elbow grease and come up with new ways to create and enhance revenue.

 

The Bengals can sell the naming rights to their stadium.  The Steelers and Packers can raise their prices across the board.  The Jaguars can try to move if they can't lure enough asses into the seats.

 

And if they can't or won't, then their profits will be less than they otherwise would be.  So what?  They're all rich, and they're all getting richer. 

 

Thus, we think that the teams who have found a way to get even richer should not be penalized for their success -- until that richness begins to affect the on-field product.  With a firm commitment in place to share 80 percent of all revenue regardless of source, our guess is that, in the end, the consequences of the disparities in earnings will be felt only by the great-grandchildren of the guys who own the teams.

 

WHAT'S UPSHAW'S AGENDA?

 

Meanwhile, we're told that the players don't care whether or not the owners work out an agreement regarding the extent to which they'll share revenue.  All that matters to the players is the total pool of money that makes its way into the formula for determining the salary cap.

 

So why, then, has NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw insisted that a revenue-sharing plan must be in place before a new CBA can be finalized?

 

It's a question that many league insiders are asking, and it's intensifying rumor and speculation that Upshaw is working covertly with Commissioner Paul Tagliabue to solve the two biggest issues that threaten Tagliabue's legacy -- labor unrest and owner discord.

 

Why would Upshaw throw such a bone to Tagliabue?  By helping Tagliabue ride into the sunset with all of the major NFL issues put to rest, Upshaw arguably positions himself to get a strong recommendation from Tags to be his successor.

 

But the players don't care.  They want to get a deal done.  And if Upshaw's current job is to speak on their behalf, it might be time for him to abandon the notion that he won't do a deal until the owners sort out their own internal issues.

 

AJC CARRYING NFL'S WATER ON WONDERLIC MESS? 

 

The folks at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution have long been regarded in league circles as cheerleaders for the Falcons.  And it now appears that the publication is shaking its pom-poms for the NFL at a time when the league is wearing egg on its face for the burgeoning fiasco resulting from the Vince Young Wonderlic score.

 

The AJC attempts to dismiss the whole thing as "an Internet rumor," which Texans G.M. Charley Casserly honorably has debunked.

 

"I have been told that's inaccurate from a source good enough for me to stand up here and quote it," Casserly said on Sunday.  "Otherwise, I wouldn't just get up here and say it."

 

Casserly is right.  The test result was inaccurate.  But it wasn't because of some "Internet rumor" that we plucked out of our Wondercrack.  Instead, the account of Young's six was the buzz of the combine on Saturday -- and the number was being passed around as if it were fact.

 

First of all, we're not the only ones who reported on Young's six.  The Nashville Tennessean, a non-Internet publication, went with it.  As did The Sacramento Bee.  John Czarnecki of FOX also made a reference to rumblings of the low score.

 

Second, the report was accurate -- it's the guy who graded the test who was wrong.  As we've explained, the guy screwed up the scoring of Young's test, and someone leaked the number to the crowd at the combine before the error was spotted. 

 

Meanwhile, there's a growing wave of cynicism in league circles regarding the explanation that the league is now disseminating through informal channels.  Many suspect that Texas coach Mack Brown blew a gasket when he caught wind of the leak of the Young score, and that the league is now scrambling for a way to placate Brown.

 

Regardless of how all of this plays out, there's a good chance that Young will get another chance to take the test.  "If the test is below a certain line, we'll re-test players," Casserly said.  "It's not uncommon for players to be re-tested."

 

We have a feeling that, the next time around, Young will be slightly better prepared.

 

POSTED 5:56 p.m. EST, February 26, 2006

 

COMBINE OFFICIAL SCREWED UP VINCE'S WONDERLIC

 

A league source tells us that Texas quarterback Vince Young indeed scored a six on the Wonderlic test on Saturday -- but that the guy who graded the test screwed the thing up when determining how many were right, and how many weren't.

 

Combine officials, we're told, have re-scored the Young's test and the test of all other players who took it in his group.  NFL teams will get the official Wonderlic results for all players later in the week.

 

On Saturday, there was widespread chatter at the combine that Young got only six out of 50 questions right on the standard test used by the NFL to gauge player intelligence.  We caught wind of the score on Saturday afternoon.  The Nashville Tennessean corroborated the reports of the low score in its Sunday edition. 

 

Whether the actual number was 6 or 50 or something in between remains to be seen. 

 

It's a major embarrassment, in our view, for the folks who put on the combine.  Because it's inevitable that this information will get out (indeed, Pro Football Weekly got their mitts on the full Wonderlic results from the 2005 combine), it's critical that the folks charged with grading the tests get it right.

 

It's even more important that the scores are right before the information is leaked. 

 

We have a feeling that this one could get interesting.  Stay tuned.

 

POSTED 2:07 p.m. EST; LAST UPDATED 3:11 p.m. EST, February 26, 2006

 

COMBINE OFFICIALS RE-CHECKING YOUNG'S TEST?

 

There's talk around Indy that the combine folks are taking a closer look at the score of six generated by Texas quarterback Vince Young on the Wonderlic test.

 

They're supposedly checking to see whether Young's incomprehensibly low marks might be the result of errors made by Young in answering the questions.

 

But if this is true, isn't answering the questions properly part of getting the answers right?  And understanding how to take the test and answer the questions is a big part of what a seasoned agent can teach the guy.

 

Even if the combine folk find that there was some sort of a problem with Young's answers, and that he actually got more than six right, we're not quite sure what will happen.  We've never heard of this kind of thing before.  Then again, we've never heard of such a high-profile quarterback generating such a bad result.

 

BLOOM RUNS A 4.49

 

Receiver/kick returner Jeremy Bloom ran an unofficial 4.49 and a 4.50 in two shots at the 40-yard dash on the RCA Dome FieldTurf.

 

Bloom's primary asset is speed and explosiveness.  But plenty of guys have turned in faster times at the combine, both at the receiver position and at the running back position.

 

Bloom will run again on April 1 in Los Angeles.  He hopes to be closer to his playing weight of 185 (he weighed in at 173 on Friday), and he surely intends to shave a tenth of a second or so off of his time in the 40.

 

Elsewhere at the position, receiver Chad Jackson of Florida ran an official 4.32 on Sunday, the fastest speed yet for this year's talent show of incoming NFL rookies.  Jackson already is regarded as a likely first-round pick; his time on Sunday will only cement that status.

 

The only running back to crack the 4.4 level was UCLA tailback Maurice Drew, whose official 4.39 was adjusted downward from an unofficial 4.41.

 

SUNDAY ONE-LINERS

 

Jason Cole of The Miami Herald suggests that the league has swept positive drug results under the rug in past cases and explains that, once a guy's failed test has been publicized, it's nearly impossible for him to get a pass.

 

Here's a shocker -- another owner of one of the high-revenue teams blames the absence of a CBA extension on something other than the ongoing squabble regarding the expansion of revenue sharing.

 

With a $3 million roster bonus possibly due as soon as March 3, it probably makes sense for Lord Favre to defecate or get off the throne.

 

Bills WR Eric Moulds doesn't intend to take a pay cut, which means that he'll soon be taking a hike.

 

Chiefs coach Herm Edwards had some positive words regarding Jets QB Chad Pennington.  (But isn't it tampering to talk about a guy who's under contract with another team?  But then again do the Chiefs really give a crap about tampering when it comes to guys -- like Edwards -- who are under contract with the Jets?)

 

The Redskins have given QB Patrick Ramsey permission to seek a trade.  (But are draft picks from the Arena League transferable to the NFL?)

 

Boston College DE Mathias Kiawanuka thought that a question from the media about whether he loves "sacks" was actually about "sex."

 

The future of RB Priest Holmes is still murky.

 

Here's some corroboration from a legitimate media source (unlike us, as some still believe) regarding Vince Young's pick-six.

 

There's more and more talk of T.O. landing in Big D.

 

It's now obvious that the Colts won't try to re-sign K Mike Vanderchogt.

 

It's hard for us to think that the Jets are disrespecting DE John Abraham, given that with the stroke of a ball point they'll pay him a guaranteed $8.3 million for one year's work.

 

The Vikings and Cardinals are interested in a Seattle running back not named Alexander.

 

The 49ers front office apparently is still a mess.

 

POSTED 1:18 p.m. EST, February 26, 2006

 

SHAUN MIGHT GET SHORTCHANGED

 

Early talk at the combine was that running back Shaun Alexander, the 2005 NFL MVP, wants a contract with $22 million in guaranteed money and a total value of $80 million.

 

It's far more than Alexander legitimately should command on the open market.  We're now hearing that the actual number that he will receive is dropping, not rising, as teams spend more time making plans for 2006.

 

The perception in some circles is that Alexander has the propensity to be a turd (the actual word we've heard is far less charitable than "turd" -- but the actual word does have four letters, the second of which is "u").  And the fear is that he was on his best possible behavior in 2005 and that once he cashes in he'll resort to being a chump.

 

It wouldn't be unprecedented.  Plenty of guys during the free agency era play and behave well the year before hitting the market, but then go south once the check for the bonus money has cleared.

 

Another guy who some league insiders think might fall into this pattern in 2006 is defensive tackle Gerard Warren, a career underachiever who suddenly woke up in his contract season.

 

As to Alexander, we'd heard multiple times that the team was leery about signing him to a new deal during the 2005 season due to concerns that, once he got paid, he might no longer be as effective.  It sounds like other teams might be starting to develop similar concerns.

 

POSTED 10:32 a.m. EST, February 26, 2006

 

NEW AGENT COMING FOR VINCE?

 

In the wake of Vince Young's incredibly low score of six on the Wonderlic test, league insiders are predicting that Young soon will fire agent Major Adams -- or, at a minimum, add another more experienced agent to the team.

 

Adams has very limited experience in the agent business, and none when it comes to managing a guy who's likely to go at the top of round one.  As a result, Young wasn't ready for the intelligence test that every incoming NFL player takes.

 

"The experienced [agents] will jump all over that," said one league source.  "The next chapter will be interesting."

 

Still, the source predicts that Young won't go lower than fifth overall in the draft, despite predictions by other league sources that Young could drop out of the first round.  "Teams that are interested will interview him and bring him in to their facilities to spend as much time as they can with him," said the source.  "They will find out that he is okay."

 

Back to the test, there definitely are ways that players can get themselves in position to get their highest scores.  Incoming seniors take the test in conjunction with their pro day workout in order to establish a baseline number.  Then, they take it again at the combine.  We've heard rumors over the years that some agents have access to one or more versions of the test, and many league insiders attribute significant increases in scores from one year to the next to the aggressive efforts of the agent to get the guys ready to take the test.

 

And even if there's cheating involved, we've heard in the past from management-side sources that it's no big deal.  If a guy can memorize multiple versions of the Wonderlic, they've explained, the player will have no trouble figuring out the playbook.

 

In Young's case, he has only taken it once.  At the combine.

 

Pro Football Weekly has a comprehensive look at last year's Wonderlic scores, which includes a comparison between the combine score and the score generated in the prior year.  Some of the low scores included a nine for receiver Chris Henry, a nine for defensive end Eric Moore, a nine for defensive tackle Mike Patterson, a nine for cornerback Lamont Reid, an eight for cornerback Cedric Williams, and a six for running back Frank Gore.  Guard Willie McNeill got a zero. 

 

The lowest quarterback score was Brock Berlin's 13.

 

But Berlin more than doubled up on Young. 

 

So that gave us an idea.  We printed out the 15 sample questions that we posted on Saturday, and we asked Florio Jr. (who is in the third grade and whose class has yet to delve into the multiplication tables) to sit down and give the thing a try.  We gave him five minutes, which admittedly is a slightly greater questions-per-minute average than the NFL types get to answer 50.

 

Florio Jr. got five of them right. 

 

Five out of 15 for a third-grader.  Six out of 50 for a guy who attended multiple years of college, without failing out.

 

One reader suggested to us that Young's low score suggests that he might have a learning disability.  That's fine, but how does a guy with such a disability remain academically eligible at a major institution like the University of Texas?

 

Stay tuned.  This thing raises a ton of questions, and we have a feeling that it eventually will mushroom into a far bigger story than it already is (especially since, you know, we're the only ones talking about it).

 

MARCUS SAYS HE HAD NO GUN

 

Former Virginia Tech quarterback Marcus Vick recently denied that he had a gun in his possession during a January incident that left him facing three misdemeanor charges for brandishing a firearm outside of a McDonald's restaurant.

 

Vick claims that he had a cell phone in his hand, not a gun.

 

"That situation got blown way out of proportion," Vick said.  "I don't carry guns.  I don't affiliate with people who carry guns. . . .  I didn't even think that was going to be a situation until detectives came to my house at 3 in the morning."

 

These statements conflict with our January 10 report that Vick had been seen with a gun in the weeks leading up to his arrest.  We were told that, on one occasion, a gun fell out of Vick's belt and struck the ground.

 

Marcus also addressed inevitable comparisons to his brother, Michael, a grossly overrated passer and incredibly gifted runner.  Marcus claims that he's a better pocket passer than big brother.

 

"I tend to go through my third and fourth progressions before I take off and run with it," Vick said.  "He kind of plays a wild style of football where he's going to get nagging injuries all throughout the year. . . .  After he hurt his knee, he called me and said, 'See, that's what you get when you stay in the pocket.'"

 

We've seen Marcus play in person, and we agree that he's a better pocket passer than Michael. 

 

Then again, that ain't sayin' much.

 

WILF SAYS HE'LL PAY DAUNTE

 

Vikings owner Zygi Wilf said on Saturday that he plans to pay quarterback Daunte Culpepper a $6 million roster bonus.

 

Of course, Wilf also said that no one should believe anything he says this time of year.

 

"You have to understand something," he said.  "Right now is the combine, everything is very sensitive, everything is very important that we keep that low[-key]. . . .  Being a first-year owner, I realize it's very important to keep things during the combine and draft close to the vest.  It's a matter of gamesmanship in terms of how you approach the draft, how you approach free agency and how you approach your own players."  (Emphasis added.)

 

Wilf was vague regarding the question of whether there have been trade talks involving Culpepper, even though Culpepper recently has said that Wilf told him there have been no trade talks, period.

 

Said Wilf on Saturday of the trade talks:  "I don't know," he said.  "I'm not involved with anything like that. . . .  It could be just speculation, it could be other teams asking about him, it could be a lot of things."

 

Hey, Vikes -- we're starting to think that maybe the Triangle of Authority should be expanded to a four-sided Square, and that Culpepper should have a seat at the table.  He's the only guy, after all, who has been able to project to the media the kind of unequivocal clarity necessary to maximize the organization's leverage in trade talks that have indeed happened.