POSTED 5:28
p.m. EDT; LAST UPDATED 6:24 p.m. EDT, June 30, 2007
ANOTHER CULPEPPER HEARING DELAY
Maybe NFLPA General Counsel
Richard Berthelsen shouldn't have publicly complained about the four-day delay
in the hearing on the grievance of Dolphins quarterback Daunte Culpepper.
A day after the hearing was moved
from June 29 to July 3, the arbitrator assigned to the case bumped the hearing
another 15 days, to July 18, according to Adam Schefter of NFL Network, who
periodically is sending in reports from his honeymoon (presumably unbeknownst to
his new bride). Schefter says that the delay is related to the
availability of witnesses.
"Every day the hearing is
postponed is one [Culpepper] misses from being on the free agent market,"
Berthelsen had said on Friday.
As we explained on Friday, the
delay is meaningless as long as the issue is resolved by the opening of training
camp, since Culpepper's argument is that he should be allowed to fully
participate in practice. The goal is to force the team to either use him
in drills (and risk that he'll suffer an injury that exposes them to owing his
full $5.5 million salary) or cut him.
A couple of readers have suggested
that our interpretation of the grievance is wr-wr-wr-incorrect, and that
Culpepper is actually trying to get a ruling that his contract should be
terminated. We disagree; if this type of violation permitted a guy to
become a free agent, quarterback Steve McNair would have won that right last
year, when the Titans locked him out of the facility in violation of the
Collective Bargaining Agreement.
TOP 25 LIST RAISING
TEMPERATURES
We've received some input from
more than a few readers regarding our piece on the USA Today countdown of
the 25 best pro football players over the past 25 years.
More than a few readers think Kurt
Warner's name shouldn't be on there. More than a few readers think that
Tom Brady's should.
Said one reader, "Did you
intentionally type 'Warren Moon' instead of 'Tom Brady' or was that just a very
long typo?"
Said another, "I don't normally
get too worked up about these things, but . . . you are suggesting Kurt Warner
and not Tom Brady? As much as I hate the Pats, were you just fried from
all the radio yesterday?"
Okay, we went with Warner over
Brady because Warner has won the NFL full-season MVP award twice.
Brady hasn't. Also, Warner was the quarterback of one of the most dynamic
offenses of all time. Brady's offenses have been good enough to win
championships when coupled with excellent defenses -- such as the one that
stifled the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI.
Other readers have advocated for
the inclusion of Bruce Smith over Howie Long. We added Long because he was
an interior defensive lineman, the only defensive tackle who would be on the
list. Smith is No. 3, in our view, behind Reggie White and Michael Strahan.
(UPDATE: We had just gotten up from a nap when we suggested
that Long was a defensive tackle. He was a defensive end. We knew
that. Sorry. We'll reconsider his status for our own Top 25 list.)
As a result of the emotions that
this list has generated on an otherwise ssslow Saturday, we're going to put
together our own Top 25 list and, in USA Today style, we're going to
bleed them out one per day.
No. 25 is coming tomorrow.
If you want to chime in with a list of your own,
you know where to find us.
On Thursday, the Washington
Redskins inadvertently offered "Club seat Partial Season Ticket Plans" in an
e-mail sent to folks parked on the team's season-ticket waiting list.
Specifically, the e-mail said:
"Fans asked for it . . . the
Redskins answered! Partial season ticket plans go on sale today . . . take
advantage of this unique opportunity to purchase the best locations at
FedExField for the 2007 season. For the first time ever, the Washington
Redskins are introducing Club seat Partial Season Ticket Plans.
Be at FedExField during the 2007 season . . . you pick your plan. Act now by
calling 1-301-276-6800, quantities are limited.
"Be a part of the excitement! Be a
part of the team! Bring a friend or client and experience VIP treatment with
the best tickets in the stadium, the Joe Gibbs Club Level."
The only problem? The team
said the next day that the e-mail never should have been sent.
Doh.
In an e-mail sent on Friday, the
team "clarified" the situation.
"In an error this week, an email
intended for internal discussion with a marketing partner of the Washington
Redskins was mistakenly sent to a number of people on the team’s waiting list
for seats at FedEx Field.
"The offer contained in the email –
partial season tickets for the team's Club seats – is not a valid offer.
"'The email went out by mistake.
One of our broadcast advertising partners was suggesting a potential program,
leading to some internal confusion,' said Mitch Gershman, the team's Chief
Operating Officer. 'We retract the email in its entirety. Seats at the stadium
are sold only on a full-season and multi-year contractual basis.
"'I apologize for the error and any
confusion or inconvenience it caused,” Gershman said, adding, 'There are just
over 300 premium seats available for
the upcoming season. The other 20,000 are all under long-term contracts.'
We're still trying to figure out
how an internal discussion with a marketing partner resulted in an erroneous
e-mail offering partial season ticket plans to folks on the team's season-ticket
wait list. As we see it, it's a good thing that the marketing partner
didn't send someone in the ticket office an e-mail with a pornographic video
attached to it.
On Friday, we think we actually
spent more time on the radio than we did working on the site. Beginning at
8:00 a.m. EDT and finishing up more than 12 hours later, PFT polluted the radio
airwaves on nine separate occasions on Friday.
We started with our first visit
with 104.5 The Zone in Nashville, at 8:10 a.m. Next up was a weekly spot
with Joe Rose of 790 The Ticket in Miami, at 8:30.
At 10:05 a.m., we checked in with
Gregg Doyel and Mo Egger of 1530 The Homer in Cincinnati. Beginning at
2:05 p.m., we had back-to-back chats with Al Keck of 1010 The Beast in Tampa and
our paisan Dino Costa of the Radio Colorado Network.
Come 4:30 p.m. and 5:25 p.m., it
was time for a weekly Florida invasion, first with the Terry Bowden and Brady
Ackerman Show and then with our old pal Mike "In
a Box" Dempsey at 1010 XL in Jacksonville.
At 7:40 p.m., we talked with Steve
Davis of WBAL in Baltimore.
In the nightcap, our newest
addition Michael David Smith made his radio debut as a PFT contributor,
appearing on Sporting News Radio at 8:30-ish to talk about the possibilities of
an NFL minor league.
Our weekly radio calendar is
always available right here.
Over the remainder of the week,
we'll talk with Tony Lombardi and his cohorts on ESPN Radio in Baltimore on
Sunday at 1:00, and then we'll return to FOX Sports Radio on Sunday at 4:30 with
Dan Moriarty and Denny Hocking for what will be, until further notice (i.e.,
until we screw it up or piss someone off) a weekly spot.
USA TODAY COUNTDOWN NEEDS AN
ASTERISK
During our visit with Steve Davis
of WBAL, we talked for a bit about the current USA Today online feature
that is counting down the best 25 football players of the past 25 years.
The first ten have been listed,
from
No.
25 to No. 16, and here's how they have fallen thus far:
No. 25: Eric Dickerson.
No. 24: Steve Young.
No. 23: Terry Bradshaw.
No. 22: Rod Woodson.
No. 21: LaDainian Tomlinson.
No. 20: Troy Aikman.
No. 19: Marshall Faulk.
No. 18: Ray Lewis.
No. 17: Mike Singeltary.
No. 16: Deion Sanders.
Um, folks, if the goal is to name
the best 25 players of the last 25 years, what in the hell is Terry Bradshaw
doing on the list?
His last season was the
strike-shortened 1982 campaign, and he retired after appearing only once in
1983. He has done nothing in the past 25 years. Nothing.
The Editors at USA Today
claim that
Bradshaw was eligible for the list because of those two seasons in which he
still was in the NFL. But that's a copout, and we think it's going to
invite criticism once the list is completed and other great players from the
'70s who lingered into the early 1980s are omitted.
Though it's hard to do a full
critique of the list until we see the whole thing, the last 15 spots should
feature the following names: Joe Montana, John Elway, Brett Favre, Peyton
Manning, Dan Marino, Kurt Warner, Warren Moon, Dan Fouts (under the Bradshaw
exemption), Emmitt Smith, Barry Sanders, Thurman Thomas, Marcus Allen, Walter
Payton (under the Bradshaw exemption), Jerry Rice, Michael Irvin, Marvin
Harrison, Kellen Winslow, Anthony Muņoz, Reggie White, Michael Strahan, Howie
Long, Lawrence Taylor, and Darrell Green.
Since that's 23 names and there
are only 15 spots left, we have a feeling that we'll be doing some loud
complaining once the final list is finished. Especially if a name other
than the 23 set forth above creeps onto the final 15.
POSTED 3:03
p.m. EDT, June 29, 2007
CULPEPPER HEARING POSTPONED
The grievance filed on behalf of
Dolphins quarterback Daunte Culpepper was scheduled to be heard on Friday, June
29. Instead, it will now occur
on Tuesday, July 3.
The postponement occurred because
the arbitrator's flight from New York was postponed due to weather.
"Every day the hearing is
postponed is one [Culpepper] misses from being on the free agent market," said
NFLPA general counsel Richard Berthelsen, who will handle the case on behalf of
Culpepper.
Though we understand Berthelsen's
frustration at having the plug pulled at the last minute, the notion that
there's a connection between a four-day postponement of the hearing and
Culpepper's ability to sign with another team is a tad disingenuous.
Culpepper's argument is that he should be allowed to fully participate in
practice. The thinking is that, if the Dolphins are forced to provide him with
access to team drills, the Dolphins will cut him. If, on the other hand, the
Dolphins can limit his practice reps to individual drills and other activities
that minimize the chances of suffering an injury that could put the team on the
hook for his entire base salary, the Dolphins might be inclined to hold his
rights deep into August, in the hopes of getting a low-round draft pick in
exchange for his services.
So even if the Dolphins were told
right now that they must give Culpepper full access to practice, the team's hand
wouldn't be forced until the next practice begins, which won't occur until
training camp opens.
Thus, the delay is, as a practical
matter, meaningless. By carping about the delay, Berthelsen only risks
alienating the arbitrator who'll be issuing the decision.
Meanwhile, we doubt that the
Dolphins will keep Culpepper beyond the first day or two of training camp, even
if the grievance fails. His ongoing presence will be an enormous distraction,
especially if he continues to send out e-mails to the media regarding his
unhappiness with the manner in which the team is treating him.
Though the organization will claim
(presumably with a straight face) that it does not believe that Culpepper's
malcontent affects the other players on the team, the powers-that-be privately
will be fretting that it does, or that it might. And none of them will sleep
soundly until Culpepper is gone.
That's why the team's smartest
move would be to cut Culpepper loose a day or two before the time comes to begin
in earnest preparations for the 2007 season.
PARCELLS WAS OK WITH PACMAN,
BUT NOT TANK, HENRY OR ODELL
by Michael David Smith
Disputing a previous report from
Matt Mosley of ESPN.com, Randy Galloway of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram
writes that the Cowboys have no interest in acquiring Tank Johnson, the
defensive tackle who was waived by the Bears this week and will have to serve an
eight-game suspension before he can play again.
"Any interest would be pretty
minimal right now," Cowboys director of scouting Jeff Ireland tells Galloway.
"There were a lot of issues coming out of college with this guy, and now it's
been compounded by what went on with the Bears.
I don't think we'd be interested at all."
The most interesting angle of
Galloway's piece is his insight into the Cowboys' preparations for the 2004 and
2005 NFL drafts. Per Galloway, then-coach Bill Parcells told the Cowboys'
scouting department in 2004 that he wanted Johnson in "The Box," which was the
term Parcells used for players he considered undraftable because of personal
issues. The Bears ultimately drafted Johnson in the second round.
Parcells proved to be right about
Johnson, and he was right again the next year, when he told the scouts he wanted
Georgia linebacker Odell Thurman and West Virginia wide receiver Chris Henry off
the Cowboys' board. The Bengals took Thurman in the second round and Henry in
the third; both have had significant off-field problems.
But as for the other high-profile
problem child from the 2005 draft? Galloway writes that Parcells was OK with
having West Virginia cornerback Pacman Jones on the Cowboys' board, adding, "The
Cowboys missed Pacman's assortment of problems in their character research for
the 2005 draft."
There's really no way that's true
-- Jones's off-field problems were widely reported before the draft, and it's
impossible that the Cowboys or any other NFL team could have gone into the draft
not knowing about them. A better way of saying it would be that Parcells knew
about Pacman's assortment of problems but thought his talent was so great that
he was worth the risk. As it turns out, no matter how great the talent, he
wasn't worth it. But it says a lot about that talent that a coach like Parcells
was willing to look past Pacman's problems.
CULPEPPER GRIEVANCE
HEARING TODAY
by Michael David Smith
An arbitrator will
hear Daunte Culpepper's grievance today, giving the quarterback the
opportunity to explain why he thinks the Dolphins should be forced to give him
his release.
The arbitrator will hear from
Culpepper and NFL Players' Association lawyer Richard Berthelsen, as well as
representatives from the Dolphins and the NFL Management Council. At issue is
the Dolphins' refusal to allow Culpepper to take part in practices.
"If he isn't being allowed to
practice, there is no way he can compete," Berthelsen said then. "He's being
employed as a skilled football player, and unless they're going to let him be
one, he should be released."
It has been clear since the
Dolphins first started making eyes at quarterback Trent Green that they had no
intention of going into the 2007 season with Culpepper as their quarterback, but
they'd like to hold onto his rights for as long as they can to see if they can
get anything of value for him in a trade. Arbitrator John Feerick is the same
arbitrator who ruled for quarterback Steve McNair in a similar grievance against
the Titans last year.
But the difference between the
cases is that last year, the Titans barred McNair from their facilities
completely. The Dolphins are willing to allow Culpepper to work out at the
team's facilities, but they say they haven't cleared him medically for practice.
No matter what happens with the
grievance, Culpepper won't be a Dolphin in September. But the arbitrator will
determine whether the player or the team gets to determine when Culpepper leaves
Miami and where he goes next.
We were nervous because Thursday
quotes from Chiefs G.M. Carl Peterson indicated that nothing was imminent.
And since he's never wrong, we thought that maybe our information was flawed.
But, for a change, it wasn't.
NFL Europa is no more.
THE NETWORK IS FAR MORE
IMPORTANT THAN THE PHONE
Picture, if you will, a Ferrari
with all of the latest bells and whistles crammed into the oversized casket in
which the driver squeezes his rear end.
But then, as you put your foot on
the gas, you realize that someone snuck a 1972 Volkswagen Beetle engine under
the hood.
Keep that image in mind if you're
thinking about buying what is being hyped by the "real" media as the greatest
. . . gadget . . . ever.
When going wireless, the phone is
only part of the equation. The bigger factor is the network on which the
phone operates.
And because the folks at Apple
were primarily interested in cashing in on the whole "i" brand, the only network
that ultimately opted to cave in to Apple's exorbitant financial expectations is
the network that, without a fancy device to lure people in, doesn't have much to
offer by way of speed and performance.
So before jumping into the lemming
parade and plunking down a bunch of money on a grown-up's toy that might
convince the folks at the reunion that you somehow turned out to be "cool" after
all, do some
research and make a smart decision not just as to the phone that you
purchase, but as to the network on which it will operate.
We're confident that your research
will lead you to conclude that Sprint is the right choice. With a wide
array of phones that do as much if not more than the greatest . . . gadget .
. . ever and a superior, faster network, the folks who "get it" will be
getting (or keeping) Sprint phones.
Yeah, we're offering up this blurb
because Sprint and Nextel are the official telecommunications sponsors of
ProFootballTalk.com. But they don't tell us what to say or how to say it.
And we don't say anything that we don't personally believe.
As the fans of the New England
Patriots continue to anticipate the impact of receiver Randy Moss, yet another
reason has emerged for folks to eagerly await the coming show.
John Tomase of the Boston
Herald reports that an NFL scout who has watched Moss "extensively"
throughout his career believes that one of Randy's greatest strengths is
his ability to read defenses.
"It's
kind of interesting, because I hear people say he doesn't know how to run routes
and all this other stuff," said the scout. "But he's one of the few guys I
know of in this league who when defenses line up, he knows what coverage it is.
"[Cris]
Carter caught a whole lot of footballs by telling the quarterback what the
coverage was going to be. So to say the guy doesn't know how to run routes
and he's not this and he's not that, those things are totally false. I
don't know how many guys you know who can line up and tell the quarterback what
the coverage is, but Randy is one of them."
Though the scout disputes the
notion that Moss can be a problem in the locker room, we know from watching Moss
live, and from talking to scouts we know in the league, that one of his biggest
flaws is his pre-snap demeanor. When the ball is coming to him, he tends
to run out of the huddle. When the ball isn't coming to him, he saunters.
The fact that he still makes plenty of catches despite the fact that his
opponents surely know this is further evidence of his overall skills.
But he'd be even better if he ran
hard out of the huddle before every play. And if he ran hard off of the
line on every play.
TEXANS' SELLOUT STRING IN
JEOPARDY
Though the Houston Texans like to
boast about the fact that they've had 50 straight sellouts in five years of
existence, there's a chance that the number might not get much higher. Or
any higher.
Thanks to a head's-up from a
reader, it appears that the Texans are having trouble selling their season
tickets. Currently, "less
than 2,000" are available, which means that as many as 1,999 are left --
despite the prior existence of a "priority
wait list."
So the inference that can be drawn
is that, after a chunk of last year's season-ticket holders passed on renewing
and after the folks on the waiting list got their chance to buy tickets, there
are still about $1 million worth of unsold season seats.
But should any of this be
surprising to anyone? After three years of improvement, the Texans tanked
in 2005, and then committed the football equivalent of passing on Michael Jordan
and Magic Johnson by leaving Reggie Bush and Vince Young on the draft
board in April 2006. If either of those guys were playing in Houston, we
suspect that every 2007 game would be already sold out.
As it stands, it could be that the
only 2007 games that will be fully sold out will be those in which Bush and
Young will make their visits to town.
NEW GAME COULD CHALLENGE MADDEN
Though the commercials for video
football games can be misleading, the first look at the content of the coming 2K
Sports offering is intriguing.
Still, while the images are
impressive, the lack of NFL colors and logos is going to take some getting used
to, and could be enough to keep the thing from catching on.
For now, the focal point will be
the presence of former high-profile NFL players, as evidenced by
this commercial touting the return of Jerry Rice.
And the best way for the game to
take root might be to sign up not the retired players, but the future players.
Like LaVar Arrington did early in his career, incoming rookies can refuse to
surrender their marketing rights to the NFLPA, and they can then sell their
names and images to non-NFL products.
So if, for example, Madden 2008
didn't have JaMarcus Russell or Calvin Johnson or Adrian Peterson or Brady Quinn
-- and the 2K series did -- there would be less reasons for folks to upgrade
from Madden 2007, and more reasons to buy the new product.
Once upon a time, pro football
agent Ron Del Duca wrote an item for this site advocating the replacement of NFL
Europe with a true minor league system.
More than three years after the
fact, reality could be catching up with Del Duca's idea.
Under the plan first proposed by
Del Duca back in 2004, NFL Europe would be scuttled. In its place, a true
NFL minor league would be created, and it would play games in the fall.
The system would allow NFL teams to allocate players to the minor league, and
call them up as needed.
We're now told that a growing
number of NFL management types are in favor of launching such a venture.
The value is that the players would be able to fully participate in the
offseason program, and then get live game reps during football season, at a time
when they otherwise would be hanging around and waiting for guys on the 53-man
roster to get hurt.
The teams would be based in cities
that don't currently have NFL teams, and every team would allocate its practice
squad to the minor league. With 32 NFL franchises having eight guys on
their practice squads, that's 256 players right out of the gates. The rest
of the minor league could be made up of guys who have yet to make the cut in the
pros, and who otherwise might be fodder for the soon-to-be-former NFL Europa.
Eight teams would be an ideal
starting point, and the games could be played in the middle of the week.
Since Tuesday and Wednesday evenings typically feature no college or pro
football broadcasts, a middle-of-the-week television schedule would be ideal.
One of the potential barriers to
the creation of a true NFL minor league is the reported plan of a new league,
the UFL, to drop teams in several non-NFL cities and lure some of the same guys who would otherwise be courted by the NFL's junior circuit. The
mere establishment of an NFL minor league could be interpreted as a sign that
the NFL is worried about the UFL, and the NFL won't want to create that
impression.
So while we believe that it's a
great idea to develop a true NFL minor league, we think that it won't happen
unless and until the coming UFL experiment crashes and burns.
In other words, the NFL minor
league will launch in 2010.
MORE EVIDENCE OF COMING
DEPARTURE OF NFL EUROPA
Though a Thursday afternoon item
featuring quotes from Chiefs G.M. Carl Peterson suggests that NFL Europa is
dying but not yet dead (contrary to our report that the death certificate
will be dated June 29), there's more evidence that the NFL is poised to pull the
plug on its 15-year foreign experiment.
In a Wednesday item from the
Minneapolis Star Tribune, Vikings V.P. of player personnel Rick Spielman
hints at one of the devices that will be used to increase European interest in
the NFL once the European NFL league is no more.
"We may be involved with an
international player that would be joining us for the whole year and be a part
of our practice squad," Spielman told Sid Hartman of the Star-Tribune.
"It's kind of an
NFL initiative to develop European players, and our division is one of the
divisions that will host an international player, which gives you an extra
practice squad guy for the entire year."
As to NFL Europa, Peterson says
that some NFL owners want to scrap it. "We're
not in a place, very frankly, where we're breaking even," Peterson told
Bloomberg.com. Peterson also said that the NFL will be studying financial
reports before making any decisions about the league.
Of course, those two statements
are inherently contradictory. If it's been determined that NFL Europa
isn't breaking even, what further study of the financial reports needs to be
made? (Maybe Peterson simply hopes to trade NFL Europa to the NHL for a
second-round draft pick.)
Anyway, there would be no need for
the NFL to develop European players if there was a European league in
which they could be developed. So it's becoming more obvious that Europa
is finito, and we hope like hell that it happens on Friday since, you know,
we've kind of said that it will.
UPDATE:As it turns out, the NFL has been
allocating several international players to NFL practice squads
annually since 2004.
So there's no connection between the presence of international players in the
NFC North and the fate of NFL Europa. We apologize for the error.
UNFORTUNATE FOOTBALL COMMERCIAL
OF THE DAY
We've finally figured out, only
after a year or so of trying, how to paste YouTube clips into this page.
So like a kid with a new toy, we'll be playing with this thing for a while.
Until we get sick of it.
Anyway, a reader pointed out this
Snickers commercial from yesteryear, which likely wouldn't see the light of day
given the new sensitivity to concussions.
Evans was arrested Saturday on
multiple charges, and it was later revealed that he pleaded guilty to marijuana
possession earlier in the year.
On the heels of the arrest, Fins
coach Cam Cameron issued an ominous statement, indicating that Evans would not
escape scrutiny in the same way that linebacker Joey Porter did after he was
charged with battery in Vegas, due to beating the stripes off of Bengals tackle
Levi Jones.
Evans is the latest NFL player to
be cut by his team following an arrest. The fact that the NFLPA has not
challenged the decisions of teams to cut guys like Ahmad Carroll and A.J.
Nicholson and E.J. Kuale and Richard Seigler and Tank Johnson suggests to us
that the union realizes that a team has the right to terminate the contract of a
player who gets in trouble off of the field. Not long ago, it was widely
believed that individual teams did not have that authority, and that discipline
for off-field antics was within the exclusive domain of the Commissioner.
NOW WE KNOW WHY THEY CALL HIM
"WOODY"
Since it's a sssslow football
week, we can take a break from our usual habit of talking about the NFL and
goofing on the media that covers it to, well, goof on the media that covers
it.
The plaintiff, Rita Ragone,
alleges that she was fired after complaining about crude comments from host Jay
Crawford and pinching and fondling from Woody Paige.
Paige allegedly grabbed Ragone's
backside so forcefully on one occasion that she was "propelled forward and
into the air." (Maybe his new nickname should be "The
Catapult." Or maybe just something simple like "Unfunny
Allegedly Dirty Old Man With A Turtle Neck, But No Sweater.")
She also claims that Paige made
vulgar comments about her appearance, and that Crawford repeatedly made sexual
advances to her.
Paige told the AP by e-mail
that the allegations are untrue, and ESPN issued the perfunctory "the suit
is without merit" statement.
And, for all we know, the suit
very well could be without merit. But we can't think of a single company
that has ever said "oh crap, she got us" in response to a lawsuit.
POSTED 12:32
p.m. EDT, June 28, 2007
CONGRESS WILL CONSIDER
LEGISLATION TO FORCE NFLPA'S HAND
by Michael David Smith
The NFL Players Association and
its executive director, Gene Upshaw, frequently say there are limits to what it
can do for retired players because, by law, the union only represents active
players.
That's what Douglas Ell a lawyer
representing the NFL's disability plan, said in Congressional testimony Tuesday.
But when you tell Congress you can't do something because of the law, Congress
can tell you they'll be more than happy to change the law.
"I understand 'legally,'" U.S.
Rep. William Delahunt told Ell when Ell said there were limits, legally, to what
the retirement plan can do. "We
can change the law. We can change the law here. That's what we're doing."
Alan Schwarz of the New York
Times reports today that three members of the
subcommittee on Commercial and
Administrative Law say they
would consider legislation if the league and the union don't improve their
treatment of retired players.
Chairwoman Linda Sanchez
(D-California) was measured in her comments but indicated that Congressional
action is possible. Sanchez told Schwarz, "I think they do need to be worried
that they've got someone looking over their shoulder. I don't want to threaten
them and say we've got this legislation lined up, because that's not the case at
this point. We're still in a very preliminary stage. We're giving them the
opportunity, and I hope they’re taking it."
Per Schwarz, NFL spokesman Joe
Browne said of Delahunt, "If he and other members want to change the National
Labor Relations Act for retired N.F.L. players and retired employees in other
industries, that is their prerogative."
SHOWDOWN LOOMING FOR
STEELERS, POLAMALU?
by Michael David Smith
John Harris of the Pittsburgh
Tribune-Review raises the question today of whether the Steelers should be
worried about Marvin Demoff, the agent who represents safety Troy Polamalu.
Harris notes that
Polamalu's contract expires after the 2007 season, and that the Steelers
would prefer to get a deal done before the season. Harris says the Steelers
won't negotiate during the season, so the September 9 opener is the deadline for a
deal to get done, or else the Steelers would have to slap the franchise tag on Polamalu in 2008 or risk losing him as an unrestricted free agent.
But there doesn't seem to be much
news here, other than the fact that, like all players, Polamalu would like to be
well compensated and that, like all teams, the Steelers would like to keep one
of their top players without breaking the bank.
Harris draws a comparison between
Polamalu and Rod Woodson, another Demoff client, who held out before signing his
rookie contract with the Steelers in 1987. But the Woodson case couldn't be more
different. Woodson held out until late October of 1987 for two reasons that have
no bearing at all on Polamalu's situation: First, Woodson and Demoff wanted to
see how the 1987 NFL players' strike would affect rookie salaries, and they
thought they'd be in a better bargaining position once the league and the union
had resolved that issue. Second, Woodson was a two-sport athlete who had the
option of running track professionally in Europe, which at the time could
provide a salary competitive with what the Steelers were offering him.
The NFL players aren't about to go
on strike, and Polamalu isn't about to start playing a different sport, making
any comparison with Woodson's 1987 situation meaningless.
Bottom line: A contract extension
for Polamalu should be a high priority for the Steelers and is an issue to keep
an eye on, but we're still a few months away from the point where anyone needs
to worry about a contract stalemate.
POSTED 9:52
a.m. EDT, June 28, 2007
A WORLD WITHOUT A WORLD LEAGUE
A league source tells us that the
death of NFL Europa will be announced on Friday, June 29.
Auf wiedersehen, adieu, ciao, hasta
la vista, aloha, and all that crap.
It's been a poorly-kept secret of
late that the NFL is ready to pull the plug on its 15-year effort to export the
game of American football to the land of hairy, stinky armpits (the men need to
work on their hygiene, too).
The original idea was to drop
quasi-NFL teams on foreign soil and hope that the presence of the sport would
cause fans in other nations to discover the greatest pastime on the
planet. Instead, the fever has spread only a bit faster than democracy in
the Middle East.
Still, the league formerly known
as NFL Europe and before that the World League and before that the World League
of American Football served its purpose. Unlike our temporary fascination
with Australian Rules Football back in the 1980s, when ESPN was making the
gradual transition from tiddly winks to major league sports, the NFL acted on
the interest that was rising in other countries by creating a minor league that
played there.
The real challenge will be to get
folks in Europe (and elsewhere) to respond to the "real" version of
the greatest sport in the world. If they do, the NFL could eventually do
to soccer what it has done in the U.S. to baseball.
BENOIT SITUATION RAISES
QUESTIONS FOR NFL, WRESTLING
We've received some great e-mails
this week from readers who have raised some interesting issues in the wake of
the murder-suicide involving pro wrestler Chris Benoit.
From the perspective of pro
wrestling, did multiple concussions suffered in the ring contribute to the
condition that caused Benoit to snap?
From the perspective of the NFL,
how much does the steroids issue contribute to the difficulties currently
experienced by former players suffering from a broad variety of physical and/or
emotional maladies?
At a time when baseball has been
the primary focal point of discussions regarding the use and abuse of steroids,
it's easy to forget that, in past years, the use of such substances was rampant
in the NFL. So now that the players who were part of the steroids era are
experiencing problems with their bodies and their brains, we think it's more
than fair to consider whether the current condition of former players is due in
whole or in part to past performance enhancement activities.
Though we're not suggesting that
currently disabled players who used steroids, and whose present health problems
might be due to doing so, aren't entitled to NFL disability benefits, their
plight becomes far less sympathetic if it can be determined that they would be
doing better in their post-football lives if they hadn't used them.
Of course, the NFL and NFLPA
public relations machine can't employ this device in the ongoing feud with
former players, since to do so could cause all sorts of unwanted complications.
For years, the NFL has somehow avoided the steroids stigma; using the subject as
a stick against former players could finally pry open that can of juiced-up
worms.
From pro wrestling's perspective,
suspicions of steroids use is the knee-jerk public reaction to any bizarre
behavior that occurs, primarily because use of the substances has never been
regulated by the "sport". But at a time when the NFL is learning more than
it might care to regarding the consequences of concussions, it's hard not at
least consider the possibility that Benoit's behavior arose in part from a brain
that has been banged around for years.
Resolution of these issues
is for the medical experts. But even if steroids use doesn't cause bodies
to later break down and/or noggins to malfunction, it doesn't take a
Norman Einstein
to understand that guys who are hepped up on roids will be more willing to
ignore their own short-term and long-term health in the name of getting onto the
field or into the ring, and to absorb any further bodily punishment that goes
along with it.
FORMER NINER SUES DISABILITY
PLAN
Ben Lynch, an offensive lineman
who spent four years with the San Francisco 49ers, has
filed suit against the NFL's disability plan, which is administered jointly
by the league and the NFL Players Association.
The suit arises from the fact that
Lynch has yet to receive a ruling from the plan's appeal board, even though he
made the request on September 29, 2006. Under the federal law that governs
disability plans, responses to appeals are required to be made in a timely
manner.
He tore an ACL during training
camp with the Texans in 2003, had it surgically repaired, and developed a staph
infection. Following removal of the new ACL and multiple additional
surgeries, Lynch developed "complex
regional pain syndrome," which causes random burning pain sensations.
The lawsuit will likely get far
more attention now than it would have received a year ago, given that the
disability plan has become a major point of contention for former players,
prompting a Congressional subcommittee hearing earlier this week. And,
frankly, it's good to see that Lynch is willing and able to take advantage of
the legal avenues available to address problems with the process, in lieu of
having a guy like Mike Ditka spout off in a language that remotely resembles
English.
Though the Atlanta Falcons are
saying nothing about the resolution of defensive tackle Grady Jackson's lawsuit
against the team, Jackson coincidentally has received an adjustment to his
contract.
But, in the short term, it's not
worth much.
Per a league source, Jackson
received a $250,000 signing bonus and a new $250,000 roster bonus for 2007.
The roster bonus is due on September 7; thus, if Jackson is cut before then, he
won't get it.
At the same time, his base salary
was reduced from $1.5 million to $1 million. So, for now, he merely
received a $250,000 advance on his 2007 pay.
Also, a $2 million roster bonus
was added to his 2008 compensation, due on the first day of the league year.
It means that either Jackson will get the money, or he'll get a shot at hitting
the open market in March. For next season, his base salary was reduced
from $1.5 million to $1.0 million.
The Falcons also added a year to
the deal, with a $2 million roster bonus due on the first day of the 2009 league
year, and a $1 million base salary.
So, as a practical matter, Jackson
extended his commitment by a year and can make an extra $4.5 million in roster
bonuses and salary. (There's also a $1.25 million escalator provision, but
as we see it the higher his salary goes the greater the likelihood that he gets
cut loose.)
It's still possible that the
Falcons made a separate payment to Jackson in order to resolve his claims.
However, we don't know whether such a payment could be made separate and apart
from the salary-cap system. On one hand, Jackson asserted rights
completely unrelated to his football wages. On the other hand, money is
money, and the best approach is for all money paid to a current player to count
under the salary cap, in order to avoid potential abuses.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT ONE-LINERS
It's not summer unless someone is
having a USFL reunion.
LOCAL AUTHORITIES NOT MOVING ON
VICK CASE by Michael David
Smith
When federal authorities announced
on June 8 that they were investigating dog fighting on property owned by Falcons
quarterback Mike Vick, the local authorities said they were continuing to move
forward with their own investigation.
It's been more than two weeks
since the local authorities said they would have that meeting, but today the
Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that
authorities have not held a second evidence review. They also haven't gathered any additional evidence from the property. That
raises the question of how, exactly, they can say they're moving forward when
they haven't reviewed the evidence that they already had or gone looking for any
new evidence.
This is the latest example of why
anyone who wants the truth to come out in this investigation should be thankful
that the feds got involved. Vick's property was raided in April, and for more
than two months we've heard conflicting stories from Poindexter about what his
office would do with the evidence gathered at that raid. Every time Poindexter
opens his mouth, he comes across as more clueless.
The feds, wisely, are keeping
quiet and keeping Poindexter out of their investigation.
POSTED 1:08 p.m. EDT, June 27, 2007
UNION NEEDS TO STATE ITS CASE
BETTER by Michael David
Smith
ESPN.com legal analyst Lester
Munson kept a close eye on Tuesday's Congressional hearing into benefits for
retired NFL players, and he came away concluding that the witnesses' testimony
and Congressional questions
led to nothing
that will change any laws or solve any problems.
In Munson's opinion, NFL Players
Association Gene Upshaw hasn't gotten as much credit as he deserves for progress
the union has made, especially in 1993, when the players finally got free
agency. And Munson writes that many of the players who have told horror stories
of their post-NFL lives are blaming Upshaw when they should blame themselves for
poor decisions related to everything from divorce litigation to when they take
their pensions.
But it's hard to shake the feeling
that if Upshaw hasn't gotten enough credit, he has no one to blame but himself.
"The league and the union could do
a better job of explaining what they do for disabled players," Munson writes. "Neither Commissioner Roger Goodell nor Upshaw chose to appear at the hearing. The league sent its masterful PR wizard, Joe Browne, and one of its top lawyers,
Dennis Curran. The union sent attorney [Douglas W.] Ell and its disability
expert, Michele Yaras-Davis, and produced an impressive package of data on its
disability program. But personal appearances by Goodell and Upshaw might have
changed both the atmosphere and the substance at the hearing."
That goes back to what has been
said many, many times -- here and elsewhere -- about Upshaw. A big part of his
job should be acting as the public face of the NFL players, and in that role, he
fails. In his ESPN.com article, Munson clearly articulated an argument that the
union is already doing plenty. So why doesn't the union have someone in Upshaw's
position who could have made the same argument before Congress Tuesday?
BEARS SHOULD HAVE DONE MORE TO
PREPARE FOR LOSING TANK by Michael David Smith
No one in the Bears' front office
or coaching staff could have known that defensive tackle Tank Johnson would get
stopped by police less than 24 hours after leaving Chicago at the end of the
team's offseason activities. But given his past history, they had to know there
was a good chance that Johnson would get in trouble at some point during the
offseason, and that such trouble would prevent him from playing a down in 2007.
So why didn't they do more to
bolster their defensive tackle rotation this offseason?
Mike Mulligan writes in Wednesday's
Chicago Sun-Times that the loss of Johnson is
no big deal because the Bears already have four defensive tackles they like: Tommie Harris, Anthony Adams, Antonio Garay, and Dusty Dvoracek. But how
confident can the Bears really be in that defensive tackle rotation? Harris is
coming off a serious hamstring injury. Adams, a free-agent addition from the
49ers, lost his starting job in San Francisco last year and will be learning a
new defense. Garay has played in eight games in his career. Dvoracek has never
played in an NFL game.
After Harris and Johnson, the next
two members of last year's defensive tackle rotation were Ian Scott and Alfonso
Boone. Both signed elsewhere as free agents, meaning the Bears are one Harris
injury away from being without their top four defensive tackles from 2006.
Before Johnson was sentenced to
jail for a probation violation in March, coach Lovie Smith took the witness
stand to say, "Tank
Johnson's a good guy." Even if he really believed that, and really believed
Johnson wouldn't get in trouble again, Johnson had done enough that Smith and
the Bears' front office should have had a backup plan in place.
TEN MONTHS LATER, STEVE FOLEY
'NOT IN A GOOD PLACE' by
Michael David Smith
The NFL career of Chargers
linebacker Steve Foley ended early in the morning of September 3, 2006, when he was
shot three times outside his home by an off-duty police officer who had seen him
driving drunk and pursued him for 30 miles.
In a great piece of broadcast
journalism, NFL Network did a lengthy report on the Foley shooting Tuesday
night, and although Foley wouldn't go on camera to talk to NFL Network, others
close to Foley were quoted as saying he is "still shaken" and "not in a good
place."
The NFL Network report provided an
evenhanded look at what transpired that night. It showed sympathy for Foley,
whose injuries will prevent him from ever playing football again, but it also
noted that Foley's blood-alcohol level that night was 0.233, nearly three times
the legal limit, that he pled guilty to misdemeanor DUI in connection with the
incident, that it was his sixth run-in with the law, and that he had been in the
league's alcohol-treatment program.
It also closely examined the
actions of Coronado police officer Aaron Mansker, who shot Foley. The report
left the strong impression that Mansker was overly eager to make the traffic
stop, noting that Mansker followed Foley in his personal, unmarked car, and that
he was neither wearing a uniform nor displaying a badge as he tried to get Foley
to stop. The report even played a recording of a conversation between two police
dispatchers talking to each other after Mansker informed them that Foley
initially pulled over for him but then drove off. One dispatcher told the other,
"I'm surprised he got him to pull over. I wouldn't pull over for him."
At the same time, Mansker's
eagerness to stop drunk drivers is motivated by the fact that his father was
killed by a drunk driver. And Mansker was correct in thinking that Foley was
drunk and therefore a danger to other drivers on the road, and it's possible to
understand, given everything that happened, why Mansker feared for his life once
he finally stopped Foley outside his home. (Foley's companion that night
was just
ordered to serve 180 days in jail for
assault with a deadly weapon after driving Foley's car at Mansker.)
Foley was placed on the
non-football injury list last year, which means he was not paid for the 2006
season. He'll never collect another NFL paycheck. Whether you have sympathy for
Foley and think Mansker overstepped his bounds, or whether you think Foley has
no one to blame but himself, the NFL Network report was a powerful look at a
horrifying series of events.
TROY VINCENT KNOWS HOW TO
CONDUCT HIMSELF
by Michael David Smith
After the NFL Players Association
took a beating before Congress Tuesday afternoon, it was interesting to note
that the union representative who came forward to speak in television interviews
was not executive director Gene Upshaw but union president Troy Vincent.
And it was interesting to note
that Vincent handles criticism a lot better than Upshaw does.
Instead of saying he'd like to
break the neck of people who disagree with him, Vincent gave broadcast
interviews in which he was calm, rational, and fair in explaining the union's
side of the story. Vincent said current players do feel a responsibility toward
retired players who are now disabled, but he said he thinks the active players
have done more for retired players than they get credit for, and that labor
contracts and retirement plans are much more complex than the typical media
portrayal would suggest.
Vincent, a veteran defensive back
who is not currently under contract with any team, might not be on the
correct side of this issue, but he at least states his case in a way that makes
the union look good. And that raises the question of whether the players
wouldn't be better off replacing Upshaw with Vincent.
There's no reason that the head of
the NFL players' union needs to be a former player. Although Upshaw is a Hall of
Fame offensive lineman, the Major League Baseball players haven't felt the need
to go the former player route in hiring their representatives. In 1966, baseball
players hired a union head, Marvin Miller, whose past experience was in
negotiating contracts for steelworkers, and Miller dramatically improved the
players' bargaining position with the owners.
But if the NFL players ever decide
to replace Upshaw and feel the need to pick one of their fellow players for the
job, Vincent sure seems like he'd be an improvement.
POSTED 7:21
a.m. EDT; LAST UPDATED 8:01 a.m. EDT, June 27, 2007
DOES VASHER DEAL HURT SAMUEL?
Christopher Gasper of the
Boston Globe raises an interesting point regarding the contract extension
recently signed by Bears cornerback Nathan Vasher.
Gasper points out the superficial
similarities between the two players. Vasher is 25, Samuel is 26.
Both were fourth-round draft picks. Both have started in a Super Bowl.
Both have returned two interceptions in the regular season for touchdowns.
But Vasher has been to the Pro
Bowl; Samuel hasn't. In contrast, Samuel steps up his stats in the
postseason.
"Vasher's deal has nothing to do
with us," Samuel's agent, Alonzo Shavers, told the Globe. "It was
an innovative move to lock him up with another year on his deal. The Bears
were being proactive and doing what a good organization will do. It was a
good business move. Vasher obviously agreed to terms, so congratulations
to him and their organization."
We agree with Shavers. What
a guy can get (and is willing to take) in June before the final year of his deal
is a different proposition than what a guy can get (and is willing to take) in
March of his first year of free agency. If, for example, Nate Clements had
re-upped with the Bills in June of 2006, he would not have received an
eight-year, $80 million deal -- or a seven-year, $64 million contract, which is
the true term and value of the Clements contract.
Vasher's alternative was to play
for $850,000 in 2007, and to assume the risk that an injury will wipe out his
market value come March 2008. Also, Vasher and his agent surely have been
paying attention to the headstrong manner in which the Bears have handled the
Lance Briggs situation. Briggs turned down the team's best offer last
year, and now Briggs must get through the 2007 season uninjured (at a $7.2
million salary tender) before getting a chance to hit the market in March . . .
unless the Bears tag him again.
Samuel is in a much different spot
than Vasher. Samuel has leverage; he can withhold services without
consequence (other than giving up $458,000 per week in game checks), show up in
Week Ten, play out the rest of the year, and take his shot at the open market in
March, if the Pats don't tag him again. Vasher doesn't have the luxury of
holding out without being subject to a five-figure daily fine.
But Samuel shouldn't expect to get
from the Pats right now what he could get on the open market in March 2008.
Even in March 2008, he shouldn't expect to get from the Pats what he could get
elsewhere. Many of the players who are signed off of the open market each
March are grossly overpaid, and New England has proven that it won't overpay
anyone.
So while Vasher's deal doesn't
lock Samuel into the same numbers, Samuel needs to be more realistic if he wants
to stay in New England. If he doesn't want to stay, he'll eventually get
his shot at the open market. Meanwhile, he needs to ask himself whether he
wants to give up weekly game checks that are each worth nearly as much as his
entire salary for 2006.
JOHNSON THROWING CARR UNDER BUS
Texans Pro Bowl receiver Andre
Johnson is embracing new quarterback Matt Schaub. And, in so doing,
Johnson is taking a jab or two at former Texans quarterback David Carr.
Stephanie Stradley of AOL's
FanHouse
points out some Johnson comments from earlier in the month regarding the
differences between Schaub and Carr.
"When you look at, the differences
that I see is that with David [Carr]
you had to
wait on the ball a little bit more," Johnson said. "With Matt, he's
pretty decisive with what he's doing. He's going to get back in his drop
and let the ball go. When you're in your rout[e], you don't have to wait
on the ball or anything like that."
Though Johnson's words don't quite
fall into the "we
would have been undefeated with Brett Favre" category, the fact that they
initially appeared on the team's official web site suggests that the franchise
is happy to aid and abet any knocks on the guy whom the franchise selected as
the No. 1 overall pick in the 2002 draft.
BERNSTEIN GETS IN ON SUNSHINE
ACT, TOO
We've received word from a couple
of readers in the wake of our Tuesday night item regarding Mark Schlereth's
backhanded slap at Joe Theismann on ESPN's NFL Live that the grown man
who answers to the nickname "Stink" isn't the only one who was having a laugh at
Joey Sunshine's expense.
Apparently, Bonnie Bernstein (who
has been anchoring the set of late in what could be a subtle shot across the bow
at the nauseatingly perky Suzy Kolber) also delivered the same "you must not
have done television" line to Ron Jaworski, reinforcing the notion (in our
opinion) that the whole thing was an L.T.-style shot at Theismann, who recently
expressed concern for the Monday Night Football broadcast because
Theismann's replacement, Ron Jaworski, "hasn't done television."
Are we mentioning this repeatedly
in the hopes that the pissing match will escalate?
The recent disclosure of the
previously unknown
February 2007 arrest of Fins DT Fred Evans raises an interesting point --
did Evans bother to disclose the incident to his team?
"Ditka" apparently does not mean "subtle"
in any of the European languages.
POSTED 10:19
p.m. EDT; LAST UPDATED 11:17 p.m. EDT, June 26, 2007
EVANS WAS ALREADY ON PROBATION
As if Fins defensive tackle Fred
Evans wasn't already facing enough problems, what with the arrest for going
Pacman on a cop and the ominous statement from coach Cam Cameron suggesting that
the word "former" will soon accompany Evans' title with the team, the South
Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that
Evans was already on probation when he was busted on Saturday.
The probation arises from a
marijuana charge in Texas. Apparently, Evans was busted in February 2007
for marijuana possession, and pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor charge.
But he was placed on supervised probation for a year, and the year hadn't
expired when he was arrested in Florida.
The arrest most likely will result
in a hearing into whether Evans has violated the terms of his probation, and
likewise could result in his incarceration.
Meanwhile, the Fins will pick up
four additional Turd Watch points for the previously unknown arrest and no
contest plea, which occurred after the game started on February 5.
SCHLERETH GOOFS ON SUNSHINE
A couple of readers have pointed
out to us an intriguing exchange from Tuesday's NFL Live on ESPN.
Though we didn't see it for ourselves, we're told that, after Ron Jaworski
finished making a point during an inane "it's a slow week so we've got to talk
about something" debate, Schlereth said to Jaws, "You must have never
done television before or something," or words to that effect.
The statement was a direct slap at
their mutual ESPN colleague Joe Theismann, who recently expressed concern about
the quality of the Monday Night Football broadcast this season because,
in Joey Sunshine's version of reality, Jaworski (who has done extensive studio
work and many live games) "hasn't done television."
Hey, we think it's hilarious that
Schlereth threw the dig at Sunshine, but it only proves our point that ESPN
should just bite the bullet and politely invite Theismann to get the hell out of
town. We predict that Theismann will catch wind of the exchange, will be
pissed off about it, and will continue to publicly gripe about his belief that
he was in some way wronged when he was unceremoniously dumped from the MNF
broadcast.
TUESDAY NIGHT ONE-LINERS
The lawsuit filed by DT Grady
Jackson against the Falcons has been "resolved,"
which is legal code for "Grady's gonna get paid."
COULD COWBOYS BE INTERESTED IN
TANK? by Michael David
Smith
Add the Cowboys to the list of
teams that could have an interest in suspended defensive tackle Tank Johnson,
who was waived by the Chicago Bears Monday.
Matt Mosley of the ESPN Hashmarks
blog reports that a member of the Cowboys organization told him
that Johnson would be
a "perfect
fit" in new head coach Wade Phillips' 3-4 defense. The Cowboys apparently
consider it a positive that Johnson has spent his entire three-year career
playing in a 4-3 defense, as they think 4-3 tackles have the kind of versatility
to make them good fits for Phillips' defense.
Per Mosley, the Cowboys see
Johnson as a versatile enough player to line up at nose tackle or at either of
the defensive end spots. And Mosley notes that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones isn't
afraid of taking chances on troubled but talented players.
Johnson is certainly
talented. As Gil Brandt noted before the 2004 draft (in an item that, so far as
we know, he wrote all by himself), Johnson was
the fastest defensive tackle in that year's draft class,
running a 4.69-second 40-yard dash -- an
excellent time for a guy who weighed 304 pounds.
That kind of talent is hard to
overlook, but so is a looming eight-game suspension that could be lengthened
depending on the outcome of Johnson's most recent run-in with the law. It seems
unlikely that Johnson will play in the NFL in 2007, but there's apparently some
interest around the league.
POSTED 2:43 p.m. EDT, June 26, 2007
NFL GETS A BLACK EYE BEFORE
CONGRESS by Michael David
Smith
As testimony about benefits for
retired NFL players continued before a House judiciary subcommittee today, there
can be little doubt that the reputation of the country's most popular sports
league is taking a hit.
Five consecutive witnesses told
horror stories of the way injuries suffered on the playing field can lead to
consequences for the rest of players' lives.
Former Vikings offensive lineman
Brent Boyd, who has
headaches, depression, fatigue, and dizziness caused by what his doctors
diagnosed as post-concussion syndrome, compared the NFL's denial of a link
between concussions and long-term mental problems to the tobacco companies
denying a link between smoking and cancer.
Hall of Fame tight end and former
Bears and Saints coach Mike Ditka said the NFL makes it so hard for retired
players to qualify for benefits that many of them simply give up. "The system
does not work," Ditka said. "If you make people fill out enough forms, if you
discourage them enough, make them jump through enough hoops, they're going to
say, 'I don't need this.'"
Hall of Fame Giants linebacker
Harry Carson described his post-concussion syndrome and the back pain caused by
injured discs and said he worries that brain damage would always be a part of
the game of football.
Former Raiders guard Curt Marsh
described the series of injuries he suffered in his playing days, and said that team
doctors were interested only in his ability to get back on the field -- rather
than his long-term health -- and that his football injuries ultimately led to
him having his foot amputated.
And Cyril Smith, a lawyer who
successfully represented the family of Hall of Fame center Mike Webster,
criticized NFL Players Association executive director Gene Upshaw. Even though
a court ruled in
favor of Webster's estate and said he should have received full disability
benefits after he retired, Smith said Upshaw still didn't think the union should
have done anything differently to help Webster.
"It's unfortunate that Mr. Upshaw
can't be here today to explain his comments," Smith said.
[Editor's note: Unfortunately, Tuesday's are Upshaw's designated neck-breaking days.]
POSTED 1:48 p.m. EDT, June 26, 2007
CONGRESSIONAL HEARING GETS OFF
TO PARTISAN START by
Michael David Smith
The House Judiciary subcommittee
hearing on the NFL's system of benefits for retired players is going on now, and
it can be viewed live on the
Judiciary Committee's web site.
The hearing got off to a
contentious start today, even before the first witness testified, and the source
of the contention had to do with Sid Williams, a retired NFL player who so far
hasn't had anything to do with the longstanding controversy about whether
retired players are properly compensated for disabilities stemming from their
playing days.
Williams is married to
U.S. Rep Maxine Waters, and
because of that, the Democrats on the subcommittee wanted Watters to be allowed
to participate in the hearings, even though she isn't a member of the
subcommittee. The Republicans objected and ultimately succeeded in blocking
Waters' participation.
That led to a series of bad puns
from both the Democrats and the Republicans, with one Democrat saying the
Republicans were engaging in "unsportsmanlike conduct" and a Republican
countering that the GOP was just attempting to play "zone defense."
When the hearing itself began,
Douglas W. Ell, counsel to the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Players Retirement
Plan, spoke forcefully in defense of the NFL's benefits. "Much of what
has been said or written about the benefits available to NFL players has been
wrong or misleading," Ell said. "I am amazed by some of the things written or
said about our disability benefits."
Several retired NFL players are
scheduled to testify later in the afternoon.
POSTED 12:30 p.m. EDT, June 26, 2007
BILL ROMANOWSKI DISCUSSES
CONCUSSIONS by Michael
David Smith
Most league officials would
probably be just as happy never to hear the name "Bill Romanowski" again. Romanowski, who spent 16 years as an NFL linebacker, was a good player, but as
his career wore on he became known for his erratic behavior (punching teammate
Marcus Williams, spitting on opponent J.J. Stokes, etc.) and his relationship
with Victor Conte, the head of BALCO who spent four months in prison in one of
the largest steroid investigations in American history.
So the news from Daniel Malloy of
the Boston Globe that
Romanowski is marketing his own line of supplements is probably something
the NFL would rather not hear. And Romanowski's supplement-peddling web site,
nutrition53.com, is probably
something the NFL would rather not be associated with.
However, Malloy's article is worth
reading if for no other reason than it provides yet another perspective on the
growing problem of NFL players suffering concussions. Romanowski tells Malloy
that concussions are the reason he retired, that he still suffers from the
effects of concussions, and that NFL teams treat veteran players with a history
of concussions as liabilities.
"Basically, [the doctors] said,
'Do not put a helmet on and run into people anymore,'" Romanowski said. "They
also said, 'We can't tell you if you'll end up like Muhammad Ali.'"
When Jose Canseco came out with
his book about steroids in baseball, the response was usually along the lines
of, "Canseco's a jerk, but he's a jerk who's exposing a serious problem in
baseball." If Romanowski keeps talking about concussions, we may need to start
saying, "Romanowski's a turd, but he's a turd who's exposing a serious problem
in football."
TROY SMITH QUERIED ROGER
GOODELL by Michael
David Smith
We noted this morning that a
player at the NFL's Rookie Symposium asked commissioner Roger Goodell some tough
questions about why he doesn't focus more on the positive when he speaks about
the league and its players. Now at least part of that exchange -- with Baltimore
Ravens rookie quarterback Troy Smith quizzing Goodell -- is available as a video
on NFL.com with a heading that says, "NFL Network
looks at the 11th annual rookie symposium."
Early in the video, NFL Network's
Rich Eisen reports that Goodell gave a 10-minute speech and that the speech was
followed by "quite a lively question and answer period." It then shows Smith,
who won the Heisman Trophy last year at Ohio State, speaking up.
The video shows Smith saying to
Goodell that every time he has seen Goodell speak, he has spoken about the need
for more discipline. Smith then asks, "When and where is the positive stuff from
you going to come out?"
Goodell replied, "Well, when you
say positive stuff, I walk around talking about players and what they do in
their communities every place I go. Unfortunately the media hits you with the
negatives, and the commissioner has to deal with a lot of the negatives. But I promote our players every chance I can about what we are doing in our
communities, what the players are doing in their communities. It reflects on
that shield [meaning the NFL logo]. When I talk about that shield I talk about
that shield because everyone here has an interest in it, Troy. It is not just
about your individual team. It is not just about where you come from, Ohio State
University. It's about what you represent as an NFL player right now. And we all
represent that shield."
Unfortunately, the NFL.com video
does not show Smith's follow-up, in which he apparently told Goodell, "You
haven't answered my question." But the video does show an interaction that makes
the league look good if for no other reason than it is willing to address
controversial issues head-on.
Smith comes away looking confident
and poised (as a Heisman Trophy winner he obviously has more experience with
public speaking than almost anyone else at the Symposium). Goodell holds his
ground and doesn't pretend everything is rosy inside the league. An open
exchange of ideas is never a bad thing.
POSTED 10:52
a.m. EDT, June 26, 2007
TOUGH QUESTIONS FOR THE COMMISH
A league source tells us that,
after NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell droned on and on in his best Paul Tagliabue
monotone for nearly a half of an hour at the Rookie Symposium on Monday, one of
the attendees asked the Commish to explain why he is so focused on the league's
off-field conduct problem, and why he isn't talking publicly about the NFL's
many positive aspects.
Per the source, Goodell gave a
non-answer answer to the question, prompting the player who asked the question
to say, "You haven't answered my question."
Though we admire the moxie of the
player who asked the question (and, coincidentally, we really wanted to
work the word "moxie" into a story today), we're not so sure that it
is Goodell's job to serve as a cheerleader for the sport.
The NFL's value is obvious, and
needs no P.R. polish. The Commish's current job is to ensure that the
warts don't cause people to overlook the beauty marks. Since his
predecessor didn't do much to stamp out the growing problem of off-field
misbehavior, Goodell is hoping to send a strong message to the league as a whole
that this stuff will not be, and should not be, tolerated.
We think it's working. Many
players want to see the bad guys weeded out. Teams are now empowered to
cut players who have been arrested; the release of Tank Johnson isn't the start
of a new trend, but a continuation of a process that began earlier this year
with the terminations of Ahmad Carroll and A.J. Nicholson and E.J. Kuale and
Richard Seigler.
Goodell's goal is (we believe) to
make sure everyone realizes that this is a serious issue, and in the process to
get people to change their behavior.
When that happens, Goodell can sit
back and let the league's many virtues continue to speak for themselves.
With all that said, we like the
idea that players are willing to raise hard questions in a respectful and
appropriate manner, and we expect that Goodell will encourage others to join in
the dialogue. Though Goodell has been portrayed by some as an agent of
doom and gloom, we think that he's simply being honest about the existence of
the things that could eventually damage the sport, and diligent about repairing
them.
POSTED 7:26
a.m. EDT; LAST UPDATED 8:22 a.m. EDT, June 26, 2007
WHAT NEXT FOR TANK?
With Tank Johnson dumped by the
team that acquired him via a second-round pick in the 2004 draft, the next
question is whether he'll find another NFL home.
The biggest problem is that he has
an eight-game suspension to serve, and he can't serve it until he has signed a
contract. That dynamic contributed in the past to the premature exile of
players like receiver Andre Rison, who couldn't find a home with a four-game
suspension hanging around his neck, and safety Mark Carrier, who had no takers
with a two-game suspension for his umpteenth illegal hit.
Still, Johnson has only three
years in the league, and a guy who can play defensive tackle effectively is
likely to find work. Several readers have predicted that the Broncos will
take a chance on Tank, primarily since the Broncos employ a Statue of Liberty
approach when it comes to rounding up defensive linemen whom other teams have
abandoned.
But we're not so sure that even
Coach Kevlar will mess with a guy who has a history of weapons charges,
especially in light of the shooting death of cornerback Darrent Williams on New
Year's Day.
If not the Broncos, then who?
Bucs coach Jon Gruden is in full-blown desperation mode this year, as evidenced
by the addition of tight end Jerramy Stevens. Or maybe the Raiders, who
seem to be tr
