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Acne Treatment Tips: 9 Simple Tips on How to Prevent Pimples!

2011-01-17T00:50:00.000-08:00

Acne Treatment Tips: 9 Simple Tips on How to Prevent Pimples!: "Pimples are quite a common problem especially with teenagers and most of us experience it at. Pimples make us conscious reducing the confide..."

The Real Needs For Happy Life

2011-01-17T00:33:00.000-08:00

The Real Needs For Happy Life

What Makes a Woman Attractive? | BeyondJane

2010-12-27T05:59:00.000-08:00

What Makes a Woman Attractive? | BeyondJane

Saints do not plan to pay RB Thomas much

2010-06-12T02:43:00.000-07:00

The New Orleans Saints running back Pierre Thomas was one of the key parts in Saints’ trio-RB scheme, but since becoming a restricted free agent earlier this offseason he has been asking for a salary raise and has not received anything other than a one-year, $1.7 million tender offer.

The No. 23 Saints jersey has not been seen in Saints’ practice facility for several days since the beginning of first minicamp. Comparing to Thomas’ positive attitude towards his contract at first offseason workouts, he is now far away from being happy and optimistic. He is not expecting a lucrative long-term deal like the one given to guard Jahri Evans, but he thinks he is at least worth a four-year, $11 million contract, which, however, on Saints’ side is too much for a backup running back.

Yeah, that’s the point. The Saints take Thomas as a backup running back, and the franchise has not tradition to pay much for a backup player. They know well that a backup player lacking starting experience could hardly find a new job of good pay with another team. And they are confident that Thomas will anyway return to the team, just like safety Darren Sharper. Even if Thomas is determined to leave, the team still has exclusive right on the restricted free agent and owns the right to negotiate any possible trade.

Man expelled from Harvard was accepted into Stanford

2010-06-10T02:16:00.000-07:00

23-year-old man Adam Wheeler was found to be a genius cheater and he had been successfully got trusts from different famous universities. Unfortunately, it seemed that he did not have supports from family and finally was sent to jail and expelled by the whole outside world.

The Delaware man first applied to Harvard in last October. Incredibly, he made it and was enrolled. If not a professor rechecked his application for a scholarship, he could have stayed in the Ivy League school for even longer. What’s more incredible was that he was accepted by another famous university, the Stanford University shortly after he was expelled by Harvard. But before he was enrolled, he was arrested by police. And the Stanford recently announced that they evoked Wheeler’s admission.

According to court papers, Wheeler also used to apply for Yale and Brown but at last failed because one of his parents told a Yale official calling his home for information that the young man’s application was not truthful and he had been thrown out of Harvard. Brown did not accept his application at all. It seemed that Wheeler was addicted to attending top class universities but he chose the wrong way to apply for a roster room. But how did Harvard and Stanford read his application and even accepted him? Both universities refused to comment on that. Wheeler was so good at selling himself, and he should have been a good business man. With the method he sold himself to Harvard and Stanford, he could even make a Bradshaw jersey the best seller of all NFL products.

Saints RB Pierre Thomas sipped minicamp

2010-06-05T00:03:00.000-07:00

The New Orleans Saints began the team’s first mandatory practices on this morning, but their leading running back Pierre Thomas was not seen, neither was two-time Pro Bowl left tackle Jammal Brown. Reports said that both skipped the minicamp for unhappiness with the slow negotiation on their new contracts.

According to Saints head coach Sean Payton, Brown was expected to be absent because he had been unavailable for the all the previous practices after having an offseason surgery, and Thomas’ absence was neither a surprise as he already skipped last weekend’s optional practices. Both of the absent players are restricted free agents yet to sign their tender offer while negotiating with the team on new contracts. Under such condition, the two won’t be fined for missing mandatory practices as they are not applied to any contract terms. However the head coach still hopes the two to wear back their Saints jerseys for offseason team practices as he does not think missing workouts is the best way to show unhappiness with contract.

To fans’ gladness, tight end Jeremy Shockey did appear for the minicamp. He suffered a seizure last weekend and was sent to hospital shortly afterwards. His absence from Friday’s practice caused a lot of doubts and now that he appeared for the mandatory practices, we could be assured that he has been really fine for the new season.

Michael Irvin does not expect Dez Bryant to get starting job

2010-06-03T01:53:00.000-07:00

As a rookie of the Dallas Cowboys, Dez Bryant has received a lot of praises on his talents and future from various people, including former Cowboys “the playmaker” Michael Irvin. However, Irvin does not think the talents Bryant is having are enough to earn him a starting job in his rookie season.

Irvin had a great impression on Bryant since their first meeting in Cowboys rookie camp. Bryant was given the number 88, which was on the back of Michael Irvin jersey during the 1990s, and Irvin himself completely agreed with his former team on that move. The Pro Football Hall of Famer had several private conversations with the rookie receiver and had always said good words of him with belief that Bryant would be better than he was. However, Irvin thinks that Bryant still needs a lot of things to learn before he is able to handle starting role.

Irvin still insists that Bryant is one of the best rookies of this year’s draft picks, and he is impressed with Bryant’s humbleness as a former college star player. Even though Bryant is not going to get the starting job, Irvin is confident that his successor will have big impacts on the offense in 2010 season.

Vikings counterattacked on Saints safety’s trash talk

2010-05-29T00:37:00.000-07:00

After Brett Favre had a surgery to repair his injured ankle last week, New Orleans Saints safety Darren Sharper made some trash talks on Favre’s ankle, saying that it would be the Saints’ attacking target again in 2010 season. Such comments surely made some Minnesota Vikings players uncomfortable and they volunteered to counterattack on Sharper using the same tool with him, the Twitter.

The first response was made by Vikings tight end Visanthe Shiancoe, who told reporters that Sharper also had surgery on his knee and the Vikings would also take it as attacking target. Sharper reacted soon, challenging Shiancoe to a bet in season opener on which team would make the first attack. While the tight end did not respond, his teammate, tackle Bryant McKinnie tweeted to Sharper that the Vikings offense would make Sharper regret for what he said now.

However, we should better not to take their disputes seriously, as Sharper, a former Vikings, had a friendly relationship with Shiancoe and McKinnie during the time he was wearing Minnesota Vikings jersey. Besides, although he left the Vikings before Favre arrived, he used to work with the quarterback for quite a long time in Green Bay Packers. Staying with the Packers from 1997 to 2005, Sharper had eight years spent with Favre, who spent 16 seasons with the Packers from 1992 to 2008.

Terry Bradshaw predicted Leftwich to replace Roethlisberger

2010-05-26T02:28:00.000-07:00

As the Pittsburgh Steelers original starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will have to serve a six-game suspension for the beginning of 2010 season, the team will have to name a replacing starter to do Roethlisberger’s job during his absence. Among the several optional quarterbacks, seven-year veteran Byron Leftwich received support from a former Steelers starting quarterback, Terry Bradshaw.

Bradshaw recently made public comments on Roethlisberger’s troubled career and said that at the moment Leftwich was the only qualified quarterback to replace at starting spot. Third-year Dennis Dixon still needs some more time to prove his ability and longtime backup Charlie Batch never did good job while replacing Big Ben when the starter had to have a break. By comparison, Leftwich previously spent one season with the Steelers in 2008, so he is familiar with the team’s scheme; besides, he used to play as starting quarterback for other teams like the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

As a four-time Super Bowl champion leader, Bradshaw surely knows well what makes a good starting quarterback. Even if he is no longer playing for the Steelers in his No. 12 Terry Bradshaw jersey, he is still able to help the team with some good advices. And it seems that Steelers coach Mike Tomlin does like Bradshaw’s idea and has already had Leftwich handle most of the first-team snaps during workouts.

Saints signed former Bears FB McKie

2010-05-24T02:14:00.000-07:00

According to latest reports, the New Orleans Saints finalized a contract with former Chicago Bears fullback Jason McKie over the weekend to add options in reserve full back behind starter Heath Evans. The addition is also expected to help the Saints improve their lowly ranked defense.

At age of 30, McKie has spent the last seven seasons with the Bears since ending his rookie season with the Dallas Cowboys in 2003. But he never played a key role in the Bears. Working hard to gain a promotion from practice squad to blocking specialist, McKie finished his tenure with the Bears after having totally 54 rushing yards and 364 receiving yards for six touchdowns. As the Bears had a new offensive coordinator Mike Martz this offseason, the team is unlikely to use a fullback much in 2010 season, and therefore McKie became expendable with decreased value, which caused the eight years veteran to be released in mid-March.

However, with a height of 5-11 and weight of 247 pounds, McKie could get significant playing time after putting on New Orleans Saints jersey, if he manages to win the backup job over veteran Zak Keasey and Marcus Mailei. As starting fullback Evans is coming back from a knee injury, his backup could get quite a few chances to play as replacing starter when Evans has to stay off the field for breaks.

Vikings coach Childress had no conclusion on Favre’s surgery

2010-05-21T23:26:00.000-07:00

After the media burst into crazy reports on Brett Favre’s surgery that was reported to be done on Friday morning, the Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress has been somewhat silent. He did not return any message to requests for the surgery’s indication, but did tell some friends that it was still too early to make any conclusion at the moment.

Earlier reports said that Favre’s doctor suggested the quarterback to have an ankle surgery before wearing back his Vikings jersey to play football again. However, Favre denied that the surgery would determine his decision on return or retire. However, on the day prior to the surgery Favre bet with his Alma Mater’s baseball team the Golden Eagles on the team’s playoff appearance. He said if the Golden Eagles managed to get a pass for the College World Series, he would return to NFL for his 20th season. Linking that bet with the surgery, a lot of people believe that Favre was actually indicating his possible career resuming.

However, Childress still insisted that he and the Vikings would wait for Favre’s final decision and would not push him even after the surgery. Indeed, the 40-year-old veteran, who is turning 41 in October, definitely needs more time for recovery than young players. He can still reserve his right to make a late decision.

Terry Bradshaw plans to forestall Favre with earlier private signing

2010-05-20T00:55:00.000-07:00

After knowing that the Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre will have a private signing in July, former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw also announced that he would also offer autographs to Steelers fans and he will make it happen one week earlier than Favre.

Bradshaw used to criticize Favre for running people around by changing his minds from time to time. And he recently said that he hated the way Favre squeezes money from his faithful fans by asking for hundreds of dollars to sign his name on the Favre-related items from fans. In order to prove that he could much more for fans than Favre, Bradshaw announced that he would offer his autograph for free on from July 7th and accepted anything related to his former team the Steelers and set the number limit twice as Favre’s to 200 items. What’s more attractive, the former NFL star quarterback said he would send a free Bradshaw jersey in return to the owner of the first item he receives.

However, I’m afraid Bradshaw will not receive more than 100 items from fans even though he does not ask for money. He has been no longer a popular star NFL player for long and his offer will not be taken seriously as he did not release any details on how his private signing will run and where the items should be sent.

Vikings are still likely to win without the Williams Wall

2010-05-17T00:02:00.000-07:00

Now that the Minnesota Vikings defensive tackles Pat Williams and Kevin Williams are very likely to face a four-game suspension for using banned substance, many people have worried that their beloved team would lose the season opener to the New Orleans Saints because of the Williams Wall’s absence.

Some other people took a closer look at the situation and made a different conclusion that the Vikings still have a great chance to beat the Saints for avengement. If the Williamses are set to serve the suspension, the Saints would also be without their defensive end Will Smith in the first four games for the same reason that keeps the Williamses out of the game, as Smith was caught up in the StarCaps case along with the Williamses. What’s more important, Smith’s importance to the Saints’ defense was similar to Williamses’to the Vikings, so the defenses of both teams would be equally weakened or the Saints’ could be even weaker.

The Saints’ defense ranked lower that 20th in 2009 season, and 13 of their 35 sacks were made by Smith. Losing smith would make the Saints’ defense even weaker, while the Vikings still have replacing defensive linemen for the Williamses. Even though they are going to face the defending champion, the Vikings are still very likely to win the season opener, and their chance would become greater if starting quarterback Brett Favre wears back his Vikings jersey to play the game.

Saints rookie OLB Coleman feels at home with Saints

2010-05-14T00:25:00.000-07:00

As a New Orleans native, the New Orleans Saints rookie outside linebacker Harry Coleman has been comfortable with playing in special teams for the Saints. Remaining undrafted after the 2010 NFL draft ended, he was a bit disappointed but soon later he happily received a call from the Saints and signed a free-agent contract with them.

"Yeah, I was a little disappointed because everyone wants to get their name called," Coleman said during the New Orleans Saints' rookie minicamp over the weekend. "But I got my phone call, so it doesn't matter how I got here."

Actually, Coleman’s agent was talking to some other NFL teams about a possible contract when Coleman received the call from Saints. He knows well his client, who grew up as a true Saints fan, would not consider any other team as long as there was an offer from the Saints. So, without any problem, the contract was signed soon and Coleman put on the Saints jersey he had been dreaming of for all his life.

At the height of 6-2 and weighing 215 pounds, Coleman was an excellent outside linebacker during his senior year in the LSU although he played at that position for only one season. He is highly expected to boost the Saints’ weak side linebacker.

Saints WR Meachem may return in time for training camp

2010-05-12T01:28:00.000-07:00

According to New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton, wide receiver Robert Meachem’s toe surgery would keep the player from attending some offseason workout program but he could be fine enough to participate in the training camp, which is due to open in late July.

All the things still appear to be under the control of the Saints, who decided last week to have Meachem undergo surgery to repair his injured toe on left foot. The second toe on the foot was injured during last season and had been bothering the Meachem all the time since then. Meachem appeared at the team’s practice facility on Monday and walked with the help of crutches and wearing a boot. He told reporters that the recovery was going on well, and Payton said it was hopeful that Meachem could wear back his Saints jersey for full practice before the training camp.

As the team’s leading receiver, Meachem finished last season with ten touchdowns, with nine being received and one being gained after he stripped Washington Redskins defensive back Kareem Moore. He is expected to return to help the Saints chase another NFL title in the 2010 season.

There is now new proposal for New Vikings stadium

2010-05-04T00:27:00.000-07:00

On Monday morning, a new proposal on how to collect money for construction of Minnesota Vikings’ new stadium was released by legislators, whose major plan is to ask those benefiting from the new stadium to pay for the cost of constructing and maintaining it.

According to estimation, it will cost about $791 million to build up and run the new stadium, and the Vikings franchise is asked to pay $222 million. Another $527 million will be paid over a 40-year period, and the remaining $42 million is to be collected through admission tax and concession surtax that are included in what Vikings fans pay for the tickets.

Among the $527 million to be collected through various sources, $31.9 million will be collected annually from sales of sports lottery tickets, taxes for hotels, rental cars and vendors who sell Vikings products like Vikings jerseys, caps or footballs. The annual pay means that the Vikings need to sign a 40-year lease to finish the pay. And even if the team chooses to leave Minnesota, they still have to pay out the remaining debt.

According to the authors of the proposal, the bill will offer jobs to 13,000 people and bring $300 million in new wages to Minnesota. And what’s more important, it will keep the NFL team with the city for at least another 40 years. However, protesters pointed out that it’s unreasonable to raise money though taxes on hotels and rental cars as it would actually means anyone who stays in hotel or rents a car, even not to visit the new stadium, will have to pay for the stadium.

CCU FB Fraser is invited to join Saints rookie camp

2010-04-30T01:06:00.000-07:00

Former Coastal Carolina University fullback Tommy Fraser finally got his first call since the beginning of draft day, from the New Orleans Saints, to invite him for a tryout in the team’s rookie training camp. You know, after suffering the frustration for not being called during the draft, how excited Fraser was feeling for having a chance to compete for a job with the defending champion team of this season.

"[I] watched the draft with my family, I was excited. Not too much happened during the draft," said Fraser. "About 30 minutes after the draft, my agent called and let me know we were going to camp with the [New Orleans] Saints."

Although it seemed that no team held much interest in picking Fraser, he was still a popular choice among the undrafted free agents. Beside the Saints, Fraser also received interest from the Atlanta Falcons, but to work with the Super Bowl XLIV winners is just anyway a much better idea. So Fraser is now preparing for the upcoming training camp by working out double time to keep shape. According to the young athlete himself, what attracted Saints was his speed and ability to catch passes, which are most important factors in a good fullback. So he is confident that he is very likely to be officially given a Saints jersey after the camp that will last two and a half days.

If adding Fraser, the Saints will have four fullbacks on the roster beside ten-year veteran Heath Evans, Zak Keasey and Marcus Mailei, and the latter two actually do not have much experience of playing in real game and are considered to have less offensive skills than Fraser.

Saints could have better choice of backup QB with Bulger

2010-04-28T01:29:00.000-07:00

After being released by the St. Louis Rams on Apr. 5th, 10-year veteran quarterback Marc Bulger is still available on market. And some New Orleans Saints fans suggest their team sign back the former 168th overall draft pick in 2000 to add a more reliable backup for starter Drew Brees.

Being picked by the Saints in the sixth round of 2000 NFL draft, Bulger did not wear the Saints jersey for long before being cut. He joined the Rams after being released by his second team, the Atlanta Falcons during the 2000 season. Comparing to another quarterback Tom Brady, who was drafted in the same year but thirty one picks later by the New England Patriots, Bulger has not had as brilliant career, but he still has had very impressive production during the ten seasons with the Rams. Actually, he used to be one of the top ten quarterbacks considering his completion percentage and yards per attempt from 2003 to 2006. He was also selected to Pro Bowl twice before his career went into descent because of injuries.

Bulger missed four games in 2007 season with a rib injury and a concussion. Meanwhile, All-Pro left tackle Orlando Pace missed all but one games with a serious injury and the whole Rams’ offensive line was jeopardized so badly that the team has not had a winning season since then. With Pace leaving Rams for the Chicago Bears in 2009, Bulger had even less production with the damaged offensive line.

On the other side, the Saints have an offense that ranked top last season, and Bulger could fit in much better than second-year quarterback Chase Daniel and rookie Sean Canfield. What’s more important, his experience of leading the Rams would make him a perfect backup that could take over the duty of calling signal immediately once the starter has to leave the field with injury or something else. Therefore, it will make a very good point if the Saints decide to reunite with Bulger.

Saints made last choice in NFL draft with QB Canfield

2010-04-26T01:44:00.000-07:00

The New Orleans Saints made their last choice in 2010 NFL draft on Saturday afternoon and Oregon State quarterback Sean Canfield became the latest one putting on the black and gold Saints jersey, being the 239th overall new player drafted this year.

With a height of 6-3 1/2 and weight of 222 pounds, Canfield fits the last season’s Super Bowl champion team perfect with his size. Besides, the left-handed young man had been signal-caller during his college football career with his strong arm and ability to read coverage, both necessary elements of being a good quarterback in the professional NFL. The addition of Canfield is expected to add more depth on Saints’ offensive line and offer more backups to starter Drew Brees.

If it was in last year’s draft, there would have been many doubts on whether the Saints were wise enough in selecting Canfield, who missed the whole 2008 season because of a torn labrum. But the young player quietly proved what he was able to do with great performance in 2009. At this moment, it’s still hard to tell what a brilliant career he could have in NFL, but if given time and chances, the rookie does deserve high expectations.

Saints guard Jahri will not attend workouts without long-term contract

2010-04-23T02:18:00.001-07:00

Being one of the six unsigned restricted free agent, the New Orleans Saints veteran guard Jahri Evans made it clear that he will not wear back his Saints jersey to take part in offseason workouts if the team is unable to offer him a long-term deal.

According to Evans’ agent Jerrold Colton, the guard has not yet planned to sign the one-year, $3.168 million tender offered by the Saints because he is hoping for a longer contract that they think a five-year veteran deserves. According to former Collective Bargaining Agreement, Evans would have been an unrestricted free agent with advantages in contract negotiation. Unfortunately, as the owners voted to let the 2010 season become a season without salary cap, Evans instead became a restricted free agent when this offseason began. However, the starting guard in Saints’ Super Bowl XLIV win still acts as if he is a UFA.

“From my standpoint, there’s no question that Jahri – I believe he’s the best guard in the league or that he certainly is in the elite category,” Colton said. “Even though his status as a RFA doesn’t give him the ultimate leverage, we would not be interested in doing a long-term deal that doesn’t recognize his status as an elite player, if not the best guard in the NFL.”

Colton also told reporters that the Saints are showing intention to sign Evans back as they are still having discussions about the possible contract. What’s more, progress has been made and we may expect Evans to wear back his Saints jersey and return to New Orleans soon.

Vikings signed QB Jackson while waiting for Favre’s decision

2010-04-21T03:58:00.000-07:00

Now the Minnesota Vikings are more confident with their quarterback plan for the 2010 season. While last season’s starting quarterback Brett Favre still needs more time to think about his playing status in the new season, the Vikings had backup quarterback Tarvaris Jackson sign his tender offer to remain in Vikings jersey.

Being a restricted free agent when this offseason began, Jackson received the tender offer worth $1.176 million from Vikings so that he could stay with the team as a backup quarterback for Favre, or even as starting quarterback if Favre eventually decides not to wear back his No. 4 jersey. But I guess Jackson would not have that high expectation this time to avoid the heavy disappointment he experienced last offseason when his starting job was taken away after Favre changed his retiring plan to join the Vikings.

As the day of 2010 draft is coming close, there is higher and higher expectation that Favre will make his final decision soon to end the speculations. However, as the Vikings have made it clear that their main targets in the draft would be cornerbacks and now they re-signed Jackson, it is just less necessary for Favre to make a fast decision. So while he is taking his time to enjoy family life, we could just take our time to make more guesses.

WR Bryant might lose his chance of putting on Browns jersey

2010-04-13T00:35:00.000-07:00

Being ranked the top wide receiver of this year’s draft, former Oklahoma State wide receiver Dez Bryant has to manage a list of teams that he is going to visit. However, his value seems dropped to some team like the Cleveland Browns, who were said to be no longer interested in the receiver.

According to some rumors, the Browns will cancel the visit of Bryant as they removed his name from the team’s list of acquirable players. One of the possible reasons is that the Browns would not like to take a player with checkered background and Bryant is well-known for his off-field issues. That is reasonable if we recall why the Browns released wide receiver Braylon Edwards, who was signed by the New York Jets two days after being cut and how they gave up tenth overall pick Michael Crabtree to the San Francisco 49ers.

The Browns under head coach Eric Mangini have a lot of reasons to be strict or careful with players’ background, but the problem is other teams are making bold move to acquire as good player as possible and the remaining players that are qualified to put on Browns jersey may be just less talented.

WR Holmes took off Steelers jersey to join Jets

2010-04-12T02:31:00.000-07:00

After spending all his first four career years with the Pittsburgh Steelers, wide receiver Santonio Holmes finally had to say goodbye to his No. 10 Steelers jersey. He was traded to the New York Jets by the Steelers on Sunday night for a fifth-round draft pick this month. While the Steelers felt getting rid of a trouble-causer, the Jets happily accepted a great help in passing game.

Being named the 2009 Super Bowl MVP, Holmes has 235 career catches for 3,835 yards and 20 touchdowns during the past career. However, he kept getting troubled off the field. The latest trouble is a lawsuit against him from a woman, who claims the 26-year-old receiver threw a glass at her, cutting her above the eye, in an Orlando nightclub. Before that he used to be arrested for possession of marijuana in 2008 and involved in a domestic violence incident in 2006.

Lucky for Holmes, what matters in Jets is only his talent in football. The team has shown an open mind to players with questionable backgrounds. They traded for receiver Braylon Edwards two days after the Cleveland Browns released him for punching a friend of NBA star LeBron James, and they also acquired cornerback Antonio Cromartie from the San Diego Chargers even though the back is dealing with paternity issues. They are even interested in bringing in former Giants receiver Plaxico Burress, who is serving a prison sentence for possessing unlicensed gun.

Cowboys RB Jones could win starting job over Barber

2010-03-26T00:51:00.001-07:00

According to the Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, running back Felix Jones has a big chance to win the starting job over Marion Barber, who has been the starting running back in Cowboys jersey for the past two years. Felix’s winning chance is majorly resulted from his performance in the final six games of last season.

"That has been a consideration, and it certainly is a consideration," Jerry Jones told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "… Based on preliminary input from our coaches, you could certainly see Felix in there earlier."

Jones’ numbers in the final six games include 475 rushing yards, two touchdowns on 79 carries, 13 passes for 94 yards and 92 touches for 569 yards, while starter Barber had only 73 rushes for 281 yards and eight catches for 77 yards with a total of 81 touches for 358 yards in the same final six games.

Latest reports said Rams are not interested in acquiring McNabb

2010-03-25T02:26:00.000-07:00

While earlier reports said that the St. Louis Rams had already offered a second-round draft pick along with safety Oshiomoghe Atogwe for acquiring the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, the latest reports said it was definitely untrue.

Per the new reports, Atogwe is coming off shoulder surgery and ended the season on injured reserve, and would have to sign a tender offer before the Rams could trade him. He had made 60 consecutive starts and was the team’s second-leading tackler before getting hurt in early December. Instead of being interested in McNabb, the reports said the Rams actually are planning to take Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford with the first pick of the draft.

Well, by so far, there has not been any confirmation of either report from the Rams general manager Billy Devaney. But it’s just reasonable for this kind of thing to happen as the Rams, who ended last season 1-15, indeed need a big-name quarterback to improve their offense line, while the Eagles are believed to get rid of at least one of their three quarterbacks remaining on roster. McNabb is the oldest and thus unsurprisingly surfaced in such trade rumors.

Veteran OT Sims returned to 49ers on a one-year contract

2010-03-24T02:31:00.000-07:00

The San Francisco 49ers has brought back veteran offensive tackle Barry Sims with a one-year contract as part of the plan of bringing some continuity to a unit that was plagued by injury last season. That is to say, Sims could still play a fill-in role that he played for the 49ers last season.

“Yes, I assume that would be the case, to provide depth and with my experience, be able to play both sides and really help the younger guys develop a little quicker,” Sims said. “We have such a great group of guys, especially on the offensive line, which I really look forward to working with those guys.”

The 6-foot-5, 300-pound Sims has been wearing NFL jerseys for 11 years with the last two being spent with the 49ers. Appearing in 30 games and making 15 starts, he had eight starts at right tackle in 2008 as replacement to injured Jonas Jennings and seven starts last season replacing Joe Staley, who was sidelined with a knee injury.

Tom Brady will remain a part of the Patriots

2010-03-23T01:50:00.000-07:00

According to the New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, the team will keep both star quarterback Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichick as part of the franchise for a while. He is also confident that Brady would like to stay in Patriots jersey for the rest of his NFL career.

Brady’s current contract will expire after the 2010 season when he is to be 34 years old, whether he would continue playing in the league or announce retirement remains questionable. What’s more, under the uncapped year rules, teams are limited to giving veterans more than a 30 percent raise each year in new contracts. With a base salary of $5 million in 2009, Brady’s salary could rise to only $6.5 million in 2010 if any new contract is coming.

Under the current contract, Brady’s base salary for 2010 is $3.5 million. If he decides to leave for a new team next offseason, his base salary could start at $4.55 million. So apparently, it’s better for Brady to remain with Patriots before retiring as a whole-life Patriot.

Steelers do not plan to look for replacement to Roethlisberger

2010-03-22T02:04:00.000-07:00

Despite the lawsuit against the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, the Steelers seem confident that the quarterback will be fine enough to be available for the 2010 season and they do not have any plan to draft a quarterback using their high picks.

According to director of football operations Kevin Colbert, the job of starting quarterback is set to be given to Roethlisberger, who has been accused of sexually assaulting a 20-year-old college student in Milledgeville, Ga. and is receiving investigations.

Roethlisberger has not been charged with a crime yet and his attorney, Ed Garland, has denied that Roethlisberger has committed a crime. However, Steelers Coach Mike Tomlin expressed his concern about the situation, seeming less confident than Colbert about the quarterback’s returning. If the quarterback is charged with a crime, will the Steelers get a replacement quick enough to fill in? Let’s stay tuned.

Whitehurst trade was finished between Chargers and Seahawks

2010-03-19T02:51:00.000-07:00

One day after restricted free agent quarterback Charlie Whitehurst signed the offer sheet with the Seattle Seahawks, the trade of him from the Dan Diego Chargers to the Seahawks was finalized, and the Chargers received a second-round pick in next month’s draft and a 2011 draft pick as compensation for losing the little-used Whitehurst.

Whitehurst put on his first Chargers jersey in 2006 as a third-round draft pick but has never thrown a pass in the NFL and played in only two NFL regular-season games. However, he still received a two-year $8 million contract with incentives from the Seahawks, who are very likely to use him as backup for three-time Pro Bowl passer Matt Hasselbeck.

The Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll explained the reason for the team’s confidence in Whitehurst.

"We looked at the films -- he has played extensively in the preseason -- the kinds of throws he's made, the defenses he played against, all kinds of situations," he said during Thursday's news conference to introduce Whitehurst. "We thought we accumulated enough information. The fact that he is such a good athlete, that he runs so well, he has very good feet, good speed for the quarterback position, we think he enhances the style of play we want to put out there."

Seahawks’ new general manager John Schneider also said that Whitehurst would be part of the team’s draft class but he added that the team could add another quarterback to roster from next month’s draft with one of the two first-round picks in their hands.

Eagles signed free agent WR Baskett back from Colts

2010-03-16T02:07:00.000-07:00

Five-year veteran wide receiver Hank Basket ended his free agency on Friday by signing a one-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles, wearing back his No. 81 Eagles jersey after spending several months with the Indianapolis Colts.

Baskett was released by the Eagles last September after three seasons in Philadelphia. Finding his new job with the Colts, Baskett played totally 15 games primarily as a special teams player for the Colts, including the playoffs. He caught five passes for 34 yards with the Colts.

During the three seasons he played as an Eagle, Baskett totally played in 47 games with 71 catches for 1,046 yards and six touchdowns, including three longer-than-85-yard TD catches.

Jets signed free agent safety Pool with one-year contract

2010-03-12T01:38:00.000-08:00

Free agent safety Brodney Pool did not receive a second-round tender from his former team the Cleveland Browns; however, after becoming an unrestricted free agent, he received a one-year deal from another team, the New York Jets.

According to latest reports, Pool and the Jets have agreed in principle to the one-year contract worth $1.3 million on Thursday. And Pool’s agent Ben Dogra gold reporters that the deal also includes a $1.2 million guaranteed money.

“He’s going to sign there and have a great opportunity to play in a terrific defense under Rex Ryan,” Dogra said. “It was the No. 1 place for him and hopefully it’s the first year of many for him there as a New York Jet.”

At age 25, Pool was expected to replace Kerry Rhodes, who was traded by the Jets to the Arizona Cardinals last weekend. However, he has been suffering head injuries that caused him to miss the Browns’ final five games last season. Before that he had had at least three concussions.

Regardless of his health condition, Pool has done pretty good job since putting on the Browns jersey in 2005 as a second-round pick out of Oklahoma. He had 50 tackles, four interceptions and a sack before being injured at Cincinnati in Week 12. Having 11 interceptions and 4 sacks in five seasons, he also holds the Browns’ franchise record of interception return that went 100 yards for a score in a 2007-season game against the Baltimore Ravens.

Raiders released two veterans on Monday

2010-03-10T01:37:00.000-08:00

Two days after cutting ties with veteran running back Justin Fargas on Saturday, the Oakland Raiders continued dumping veteran players by releasing another two veterans: wide receiver Javon Walker and defensive end Greg Ellis.

Walker was a disappointment right from the start after signing a $55 million contract that included an $11 million signing bonus two years ago. He caught 15 passes for 196 yards and one touchdown in two injury-plagued seasons in Raiders jerseys, while receiving $14 million in pay. When they signed Walker, the Raiders’ expectation was to add a No. 1 receiver to roster because Walker’s previous performance was good enough to have a good deal. He had 89 catches for 1,382 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2004 for the Green Bay Packers and 69 catches for 1,084 yards and eight scores in 2006 for the Denver Broncos. After injuring his knee in 2007, he was totally a different player. He was out of shape at the beginning of 2008 season and was injured again in June during a robbery in Las Vegas. In his first season with the Raiders, he played in eight games before getting injured again and having to finish the season in injured reserve. He barely played in 2009 season while recovering from a knee surgery.

As for Ellis, he was offered a two-year contract by the Raiders after being released by the Dallas cowboys. Contrary to Walker, Ellis proved a strong veteran presence on Raiders’ defensive line by tying for the team lead with seven sacks last season. He was cut along with Walker partly because he got hampered by chronic knee problems in the second half of last season. Another possible reason is that he was due a $2.5 million salary for 2010 season but the Raiders do not want to pay him that money.

Browns got OL Pashos with three-year contract

2010-03-07T23:58:00.000-08:00

Finishing last season with the San Francisco 49ers, veteran offensive lineman Tony Pashos is ready to enjoy the new season in the new Cleveland Browns jersey. According to latest reports, the Browns have signed Pashos with a three-year contract worth $10.3 million.

When his free agency began last Friday, Pashos made a visit to the Washington Redskins, but didn’t progress to his liking. Then he flew to Cleveland on Saturday night and a deal was done on Sunday at Browns headquarters in Berea, Ohio. Thus the big, physical lineman from Illinois with a blue-collar mentality will fit in the offense line of the worst team in the AFC North.

Pashos’ experience as a pro:

His NFL career started in 2003 when the Baltimore Ravens drafted him as a fifth-round pick. He spent all of his first four seasons with the Ravens and then left for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Last season he joined the 49ers but only played in five games before going on injured reserve.

Safety Rolle now has more choices after being released by Cardinals

2010-03-06T01:13:00.000-08:00

By so far, being released by the Arizona Cardinals has not been a bad thing for safety Antrel Rolle, who is now a hot target of many other teams on the free-agent market. According to reports, he is now having at least four choices for the 2010 season.

The New York Daily News reported that the suitors for Rolle now include at least the New York Giants, Miami Dolphins, Chicago Bears and the Cardinals, yeah, the Cardinals are actually hoping that Rolle would wear back his No. 21 Cardinals jersey after being released for financial reason.

According to reports, the Dolphins have offered a five-year contract as the Giants did but for less money. And the Cardinals’ offer of six-year deal worth $32.6 million was refused by Rolle, causing a lot to guess if there is any possibility of Rolle’s return to Arizona. After all, he is now a free agent with the freedom to choose which team to join.

Rolle was drafted by the Cardinals as the No. 6 overall pick in 2005. Spending all of the past five seasons with only the Cardinals, Rolle had 72 tackles and four interceptions last season and has said that he wants to make $8 million annually.

Jets have acquired CB Cromartie from Chargers

2010-03-05T00:18:00.000-08:00

It was just a few hours before the March 5 deadline for free agency and the New York Jets had a deal done with the San Diego Chargers to acquire cornerback Antonio Cromartie, who will team with Darrelle Revis in Jets’ secondary to be possibly the best cornerback tandem in the NFL.

The Jets have confirmed that the two teams agreed in principle about trading Cromartie on Thursday night but no detailed information has been available. Earlier that day, the Jets released another cornerback Lito Sheppard, seeming to prepare for the joining of Cromartie, who was an All-Pro in 2007 but did not have good time during the last two seasons with the Chargers.

Putting on Chargers jersey in 2006 as the 19th overall draft pick, Cromartie has had 15 interceptions in the past four seasons but did not satisfy the Chargers with expected performance late last season and in the playoffs.

Cromartie also has troubles off the field. He has dealt with at least five paternity suits and fathered seven children by several women. He also had a bar patron claim that he hit him in the head with a champagne bottle hours after the team’s victory at Denver last November. To make it worse, he was disciplined by Coach Norv Turner for breaking team rules regarding tweeting from the team premises.

He was no longer the talented cornerback who set the Chargers’ franchise record with an NFL-leading 10 interceptions and added two more picks in the playoffs in 2007 season, when the Chargers made it to the AFC championship game. He had just two interceptions in 2008 season and three in last season, making the Chargers increasingly disappointed with him and finally made the decision to trade him.

No deal is done: Steelers safety Clark is ready to join market

2010-03-04T01:41:00.000-08:00

Although the Pittsburgh Steelers remain in touch with pending unrestricted free agent safety Ryan Clark, no deal has been done yet while it is only one day left before the March 5 deadline. Clark is getting prepared to hit the open market on Friday morning as a free agent.

"Right now, communication is open," Clark’s agent, Joel Turner, told National Football Post today. "We’ve agreed to stay in touch. Neither party has shut the door."

Steelers director of football operations said that Clark is a high priority during the NFL scouting combine. But it’s been more than a week since the Steelers locked up nose tackle Casey Hampton with a new contract and used a franchise tag to retain kicker Jeff Reed, and the Steelers and Clark have not agreed on a new contract.

Neither Clark nor Turner is worrying about anything. If the Steelers do not take action in time, they would be glad to hit the free agent market to test Clark’s value. It’s no need to regret for taking off Steelers jersey because there are more and better chances outside the Pittsburgh, they believe.

Patriots LB Thomas may land Jets soon

2010-03-04T01:39:00.000-08:00

As it has been expected that the New England Patriots will release linebacker Adalius Thomas during this offseason, Thomas himself has had a plan for the next team he is going to join after taking off the Patriots jersey: the New York Jets.

"I was hanging with Adalius Thomas for Super Bowl weekend," Jets linebacker Bart Scott told ESPN Radio on Tuesday. "He made it public that he’s expressed interest in joining (Coach Rex Ryan). I think some of his better years of his career have been a part of the Ravens’ defense and under Rex Ryan’s tutelage. It’ll be exciting."

Thomas will turn 33 in this August. It would be hard if the Patriots choose to trade him as his contract will make few teams like to make good offer. Due to earn $4.9 million this season and $5.9 million in ’11, the Patriots are likely to release him some time before they have to pay him the roster bonus.

Jets set to release RB Jones this week

2010-03-02T00:33:00.000-08:00

The New York Jets have told their running back Thomas Jones that they will cut ties with him when the league’s free agency period begins on Friday, letting the leader of the league’s top-ranked rushing offense become test his value in free agent market.

“Thomas joined us three years ago and has been a productive, passionate leader both on and off the field who has served as a positive influence for our younger players,” Jets General Manager Mike Tannenbaum said in a statement. “We were fortunate to acquire Thomas and wish him the best.”

If Jones continues playing in Jets jersey for 2010 season, the Jets will have to pay him $3 million roster bonus and a $2.8 million base salary. Failing to persuade Jones to accept a contract restructure, which means a pay cut, the Jets now have no other choice than letting him go. The 31-year-old is coming off a season in which he set career highs by rushing for 1,402 yards and 14 touchdowns while helping the Jets reach the AFC championship game against Indianapolis, and there must be a team that is willing to pay as much as he demands.

Rams said QB Vick is not on their top consideration

2010-02-28T23:25:00.000-08:00

Although it has been rumored for quite a while that the St. Louis Rams are planning to acquire quarterback Michael Vick from the Philadelphia Eagles, the Rams themselves are considering to use first overall pick to draft some standout quarterback from the draft.

According to Rams Coach Steve Spagnuolo, the Rams have not had any conversations with the Eagles about acquiring Vick as they are giving more and more consideration to drafting Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford, assuming his injured right shoulder checks out favorably and he throws well at his pro day. They can also chose to take Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh with the first overall pick. So there is only very small chance that Vick would put on Rams jersey for 2010 season.

Having a different opinion from the coach, Rams running back Steven Jackson considers it is better for the Rams to trade the first overall pick to get more second-rounder or third-round picks as that would bring more choices to the organization that is in need of big improvements.

Bengals expect OT Smith to return in two months

2010-02-27T00:10:00.001-08:00

It is hopefully that the Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle Andre Smith will wear back his Bengals jersey for return by May as he is making positive process in recovery after the repairing surgery. The Bengals are expecting him to anchor the right tackle position again in 2010 season.

"We took some dramatic steps to make sure it was not a lingering issue this coming fall," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said today at the NFL scouting combine. "At this point everything has gone very, very well and he’s on schedule, which is good. He was still having some pain at some different times last season that he wouldn’t admit to very often to many people but we wanted to get it addressed. We had him looked at by a lot of foot specialists and they all recommended that he get this addressed."

Smith suffered an injury just a few days after halting his training camp holdout last summer but managed to play in the final six games of last season. The repairing surgery was operated to prevent any future fractures. Although he was overweight when he was drafted by the Bengals in the first round and drew a lot of negative attention, Smith still managed to impress people with his effectiveness as a pro athlete.

Steelers gave tag to Kicker Reed after finalized deal with NT Hampton

2010-02-26T01:26:00.000-08:00

Instead of following the Patriots, 49ers and Packers to place franchise tag on nose tackles, the Pittsburgh Steelers turned to tag kicker Jeff Reed as they have agreed to a deal with nose tackle Casey Hampton in time before the deadline for franchise tag.

According to ESPN reports, the Steelers signed contract both with Hampton and director of football operations Kevin Colbert. Thus Reed will not become free agent but stay in Steelers jersey with a three-year and $21 million contract that also includes $11 million guaranteed money.

The Steelers should be happy to be able to retain both key players. Nine-year veteran Hampton had 43 tackles and 2 1/2 sacks last season and is expected to remain a Steeler for his rest of career. Eight-year veteran Reed made 27 of 31 field goal attempts last season. Their staying makes Steelers fan be hopeful that their beloved team will win more Super Bowl rings.

CB Robinson ended his relationship with Texans

2010-02-24T23:59:00.000-08:00

After spending all of his six seasons with the Houston Texans, cornerback Dunta Robinson thins it is time to say goodbye and he declared Wednesday that he will not play under franchise tag again in Texans jersey for 2010 season but to find new chance in free agents market.

Robinson disclosed his plans Wednesday in e-mail to KRIV-TV of Houston and the Houston Chronicle, saying that his departure is unsurprising “when you are dealing with a tough business like the NFL.” He also thanked Texans management and the city of Houston for their support in the Email. Texans general manager Rick Smith expressed appreciation his contributions in reply.

Robinson was the Texans’ first-round draft pick in 2004 and has been the team’s career leader in interceptions. Last season he was retained by the Texans with franchise tag and was paid almost $10 million for that.

Packers NT Pickett could be the next to receiver franchise tag

2010-02-24T01:24:00.000-08:00

The first two players to receiver franchise tags of this season have been two nose tackles: the New England Patriots Vince Wilfork and San Francisco 49ers Aubrayo Franklin. And the third one would be very likely to be also a nose tackle: Green Bay Packers NT Ryan Pickett and other teams could also follow the first three teams to use franchise tag for nose tackles.

According recent reports, the Packers could use the franchise tag on Pickett before the Thursday deadline for it as the negotiation about a long-term extension is still going on. A franchise tag will cost the Packers $7.003 million for having Pickett play football in Packers jerseys in 2010 season but will allow them to take time to consider Pickett’s demands for the contract extension.

Other reports have said that the Pittsburgh Steelers will also use franchise tag to retain their nose tackle Casey Hampton if contract negation does not go well by Thursday. And it is expected more teams will use the franchise tag along with the threat of a work stoppage in 2011 to retain their valuable players. If there is no football in 2011, the $7 million pay for franchise tag will be the only money an NFL player could earn in two years.

Jets RB Jones could follow LT to be cut

2010-02-23T00:22:00.000-08:00

As the San Diego Chargers finally officially announced they have released running back LaDainian Tomlinson after a low 2009 season, some begin to worry similar thing may happen to the New York Jets running back Thomas Jones.

Different from Tomlinson who finished the 2009 season with career low 730 yards on 223 carries for an average of 3.3 yards per attempt; Jones is still playing at a very high level, rushing for 1,402 yards last season. The uncertainties on his relationship with Jets are on other things.

Turning 32 year old, Jones is due a $3 million roster bonus and a $2.8 million base salary for 2010 season. It is just unlikely for any team to pay so much money for 32-year-old running back. Plus the Jets have young choices like Shonn Greene. They even do not need Jones as a backup if Leon Washington wears back his Jets jersey after full recovery from his leg surgery.

Giants DT Cofield expects to stay in New York

2010-02-22T01:21:00.000-08:00

The New York Giants defensive tackle Barry Cofield does not seem to worry about his future with the team although he is turning to be a free agent restricted by a potential lack of a new collective bargaining agreement. He is expecting and confident that he could continue wearing the Giants jersey no matter what kind of contract the Giants would offer to retain him.

"I’ll be around, I’ll be working out, and I love being with the Giants," Cofield told the Newark, N.J., Star-Ledger. "I wish it was a long-term thing. But the opportunity to be there for one year is a great opportunity."

The four-year starter has always been a reliable and hard-working man in Giants’ interior line rotation. Being an important part of new defensive coordinator Perry Fewell’s 4-3 scheme, it is just reasonable for Cofield to believe he will be retained by the Giants.

Former Giants WR Burress may lose home in Florida

2010-02-21T01:24:00.000-08:00

The former New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress still has to worry about things happening outside the prison as he may have no home to return if he fails to deal with things properly while still staying in prison.

The jailed Super Bowl hero and his wife, Tiffany, were hit with a $3.3 million foreclosure lawsuit on Jan. 22 from Deutsche Bank National Trust Co., as a trustee for a mortgage-backed securities fund, according to Broward County Circuit Court records. It concerns the $2.9 million mortgage Burress signed in 2005, covering his home in Lighthouse Point, just north of Fort Lauderdale.

While playing in Giants jersey, Burress caught the winning touchdown pass in the final minute of Super Bowl XLII to lead the Giants past the previously unbeaten New England Patriots and was rewarded a two-year contract extension at $7 million a year in 2008. Bad lucks began since November 2008 when he shot himself with a gun tucked in his pants. The next year he was charged with two counts of criminal possession of a weapon and one count of reckless endangerment and had to serve a two-year sentence in prison.

Titans and CB Harper begin contract negotiation

2010-02-20T01:18:00.000-08:00

Turning 36 year old in 2010, cornerback Nick Harper is also turning into an unrestricted free agent but it is very likely that he could remain a cornerback wearing the Titans jersey as the team has begun talk with his agent, Ian Greengross about new contract.

“We are talking, so we’ll see,’’ Greengross told the Tennessean. “I’ll put it to you this way: Mike Reinfeldt and I did talk about Nick’s future with the team and Mike said that Nick played very well before his season was cut short by injury, that he did a good job. You can read the tea leaves however you want from that.”

As the talks just began today, we cannot expect any imminent deal to be done but at least there is a start showing the team’s intension to keep the cornerback with them although Harper ended the 2009 season on injured reserve because of shoulder surgery.

Panthers DE Peppers could receiver offer from Patriots

2010-02-19T01:36:00.000-08:00

I am back from a seven-day holiday, but the Carolina Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers is still waiting for the team’s decision on his future. Well, there is indeed something new: some reports said that the New England Patriots was pursuing the defensive end again.

The Patriots was among the teams who asked for Peppers last season when he said he wanted to leave Carolina. However, Peppers’ final decision was to sign a one-year contract with the Panthers and put on the Panthers jersey again as the team’s franchise player. As for this year, it seems that there will be bigger chance for Patriots to obtain Peppers as the Panthers have not shown any intension to keep Peppers.

Similar to what he did last year, Peppers claimed at times that he was ignored by the Panthers and he wanted hard to leave the team. And this time the Panthers did something totally different from what they did last year. Having said that they will not put the franchise tag on Peppers again, they have seemed to let Peppers become an unrestricted free agent next month. So the Patriots, along with the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants, could feel free to give their offers to Peppers.

Browns have Gil Haskell to be team president’s senior adviser

2010-02-10T23:16:00.000-08:00

The Cleveland Browns president Mike Holmgren recently hired his former colleague Gil Haskell to be his senior adviser. The Browns made the announcement on Wednesday but did not specify what role 66-year-old Haskell would play with the team.

Before taking over as the Browns’ president last month, Holmgren served as an analyst for NBC's coverage of Super Bowl XLIII on February 1, 2009. Before that he worked together with Haskell for the Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers. Haskell served as Holmgren’s offensive coordinator for nine seasons in Seattle and spent the final two seasons as assistant head coach.

Before joining the Seahawks, Haskell worked for the Carolina Panthers as an offensive coordinator from 1998 to 1999 when Holmgren left Packers for the Seahawks. While working with Holmgren in Green Bay, Haskell’s job was to coach running backs and wide receivers in Packers jerseys.

Redskins Coach Shanahan will look for top-flight QB

2010-02-10T01:33:00.000-08:00

As quarterback Jason Campbell not to return with the Washington Redskins as a free agent, the team’s new coach Mike Shanahan has made picking a top-flight quarterback the most important plan for 2010 season. If possible, the Redskins will begin their rebuilding process with a franchise quarterback.

According to reports, Shanahan plans to use the fourth overall draft pick to draft Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford or Notre Dame’s Jimmy Clausen in the first round, although there are also needs to overhaul the offensive line. Well, the Redskins have to trust the former Broncos coach and general manager who has proved adept at finding good lineman throughout the draft.

Working with new GM Bruce Allen, Shanahan has kept his plans closed but a lot of people believe that he will help the Redskins catch up with the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants by firstly getting a quarterback like Tony Romo, Donovan McNabb and Eli Manning to put on Redskins jersey.

QB McNabb is popular in NFL now

2010-02-09T01:56:00.000-08:00

It has been reported that the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb is a hot pursuit in NFL now as many teams have contacted the Eagles to find out whether they have chance to get McNabb to their teams. Actually all the three quarterbacks on Eagles’ roster are having their own pursuers respectively. According to reports, backup Kevin Kolb has several and Michael Vick has three.

It is supposed that the Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns are among the teams that are asking about McNabb. And it is also supposed that they are just asking as it is time for teams to see what’s going to be available this offseason.

As the Eagles head coach Andy Reid has insisted, McNabb will remain the starting quarterback in No. 5 Eagles jersey next season and finish the last year of his current contract with the team. But it has been guessed at least one of the three quarterbacks will be traded before the 2010 season begins.

Eagles QB McNabb wishes Vick a starting job, somewhere else

2010-02-08T01:36:00.000-08:00

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb hopes his teammate Michael Vick could get a starting job in a new team as the quarterback wearing No. 7 NFL jerseys deserves an opportunity to start.

"I don’t know what particular team," McNabb said. "I just hope he has an opportunity to be a starter for another team. I think he definitely deserves that, and he has done a great job of getting himself together and preparing himself for this opportunity. And I think he is going to flourish in it."

To retain Vick, the Eagles will have to pay him a $1.25 million roster bonus on March 5. And it seems that they are unwilling to pay so much for a player who did not contribute much during the past season. McNabb’s wish appears to indicate that Vick will eventually leave Philadelphia. A popular guess for Vick’s next team is the St. Louis Rams, who need quarterback help and some kind of stimulating factor that may increase tickets sale after the team went 6-42 over the past three seasons.

WR Wayne is expected to play Sunday despite knee injury

2010-02-06T00:25:00.000-08:00

All-Pro defensive end Dwight Freeney is still questionable for Sunday’s Super Bowl game against the New Orleans Saints; another Colts starter got a scaring injury during Friday’s practice. It was wide receiver Reggie Wayne who had to leave practice 20 minutes early after hurting his right knee.

Coach Jim Caldwell said Wayne hurt the soft tissue below his kneecap. Wayne is listed as probable and Caldwell plans on him playing against the Saints in his No. 7 Colts jersey. Wayne got through the injury most of the season, and Friday’s hurt aggravated the injury.

Freeney continued missing practice and the Colts remain uncertain whether he would play the game. As Freeney said he would test the ankle Friday, Caldwell said Freeney might do some running or participate in a simulated practice later in the day. It’s likely that Freeney could work out Saturday.

What else can we talk about NFL at this time?

2010-02-05T01:35:00.000-08:00

Beside the Super Bowl game and the Super Bowl teams, what else can we talk about NFL at this time? It seems strange to ask such a question while most NFL fans are guessing whether New Orleans Saints or Indianapolis Colts are going to win the championship. I just ask and have a try to get answers.

Since the Pro Bowl game ended last Sunday, 80 percent of all reports have been all about the Super Bowl. And reports about the Indianapolis Colts tight end Dwight Freeney actually have lasted for a whole week since his injury on ankle was reported. A lot of time has been spent on guessing how serious the injury was, how long it would keep Freeney out and whether he would put on Colts jersey to play the Super Bowl game. And it has been long time since the last report about topic-king Brett Favre.

It’s hard to find long reports about any team other than the Saints and the Colts now. Well, I guess it’s reasonable to give something different than the Super Bowl. I guess some fans actually not supporting any of the two super bowl teams, and they would be grateful for being informed some really new news about their beloved teams.

Texans QB Schaub earns $10 million bonus

2010-02-04T01:33:00.000-08:00

A few days after leading the AFC team to a Pro Bowl victory over the NFC team, the Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub is glad to know that his team will pay him a $10 million option bonus this week as they agreed when signing him two years ago.

Schaub initially signed a six-year, $48 million contract with the Texans in March 2007. The deal also included an option bonus payment of $10 million due no later than five days after Super Bowl XLIV, which will be played this Sunday in Miami between the New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts. As Schaub led the league in passing yards with a franchise-best 4,770 in 2009 season and also managed to lead the Texans to first winning record of 9-7 in franchise history, Texans owner Bob McNair told reporters that his team planned to pick up the option in Schaub's contract not long after the season ended.

Although the Texans could wait until next week to pay Schaub the bonus, they have decided to pick up the option as early as Thursday or no later than Friday. And upon receiving the team’s official notifying letter, Schaub will have to keep his promise of playing in Texans jersey for the next three seasons to early about $28 million.

Colts owner can’t wait to give Manning contract extension

2010-02-03T01:31:00.000-08:00

Unlike other players’ requests for extension to be considered, negotiated or delayed, Peyton Manning’s contract extension could be what the Indianapolis Colts are eager to do now to keep the four-time MVP in his No. 18 Colts jersey.

With Manning’s contract to expire after the 2010 season, the Colts owner Jim Irsay made it clear that he wants to extend the deal as soon as possible.

“With one year to go, even having the franchise tag and all that sort of thing, we’d like to get something done, sooner than later,” Irsay said. “So once the season ends, we’re going to be talking about that and hopefully getting something done before next season begins. It’s something that’s going to get done; so honestly, those aren’t the ones you worry about.”

Just think about the records 34-year-old Manning has set and Irsay would like to keep the quarterback in Indianapolis for the rest of his career. Manning has won a record number of MVPs and one Super Bowl MVP. He is one of four quarterbacks to throw for more than 50,000 yards, and has third all-time in career TD passes with 366 and started 209 consecutive games including the playoffs.

I guess any owner of any team would like to keep a player like Manning by offering him the league-highest pay.

Brees worked as bellboy to greet teammates

2010-02-02T01:18:00.000-08:00

With six days left before the biggest game of the season, there is still enough time for the New Orleans Saints players to have fun. When the team arrived at their Super Bowl hotel on Monday, they were greeted by a group of bellboys, oh no, their teammates who arrived earlier to attend Sunday’s Pro Bowl but took off their Saints jerseys to wear the hotel staff uniforms.

“It was Sean’s idea and initially it was just going to be Sean, but the fact that the Pro Bowl guys were at the hotel and were planning on greeting the team anyway, he asked that we join in,” Brees said. “It didn’t go that far—it was just the appearance us waiting on the curve, ready to serve.” Brees added that he did not actually handle any luggage.

But standing at the entrance of the hotel pretending to serve itself was fun. And having fun is much better than being nervous and anxious about the upcoming game against the Indianapolis Colts for the Super Bowl title.

Saints DE Smith is to put pressure on Manning

2010-02-01T00:09:00.000-08:00

Although the New Orleans Saints defensive end Will Smith was kept out of practice last week because of a groin injury, he is still counted on to give necessary consistent pressure to Peyton Manning when the Saints are playing against the Indianapolis Colts for Super Bowl championship this Sunday.

Smith doesn’t get the same recognition as Colts DE Dwight Freeney, whose availability related to his ankle injury for the Super Bowl has caused a lot of speculations, but he is just as important to the Saints. Having 13 sacks in the regular season and four forced fumbles and two interceptions in the regular season and playoffs combined, Smith, in his sixth year playing football in Saints jersey, has had his best season and been lighter and faster than he was in rookie season.

As a nice combination of power and quickness, Smith is just the very defensive player the Saints need to put consistent pressure on Manning, who who’s hard to attack because of his quick decisions and quick throws. If unable to get sacks, he could at least do his best to disrupt Manning’s timing and rhythm. So what the Saints are doing now is giving Smith enough rest before he gets fully healthy for the game.

Former Steelers LB Olsavsky is to coach current Steelers

2010-01-30T01:45:00.000-08:00

The Pittsburgh Steelers may think that someone familiar with the team history and system could be more qualified to join the coaching staff than many others. With such belief, they named Jerry Olsavsky their new defensive quality control coach.

Jerry Olsavsky, age 42, seven-season linebackers coach for Youngstown State, and first-team Kodak All-American of 1998 as a senior at the University of Pittsburgh, spent nine of his ten NFL seasons with the Steelers. Putting on Steelers jersey in 1998 as a tenth round draft pick, Olsavsky played linebacker with the team from 1989 to 1997 and spent his last career season with the Baltimore Ravens.

Despite being considered undersized as a player, Olsavsky was known for being a fearless competitor and a tireless worker, who played in 108 games for the Steelers and made 227 tackles while also excelling on special teams throughout his career. In his new position with the Steelers, Olsavsky will assist all areas of the defensive staff in their daily operations.

Jets QB Sanchez may need surgery on left knee

2010-01-29T01:54:00.000-08:00

After having both knees examined by team doctors, the New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez may have to undergo a surgery on the left knee during the offseason. The surgery is to stabilize the patella ligament in his left knee, while the right knee, although sustained a sprained posterior cruciate ligament earlier this season, is fine enough not to face a scalpel.

According to the Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum, Sanchez would be ready to put on his Jets jersey in time for training camp if he decides to take the procedure, but he may have to miss some early offseason workouts during rehabilitation.

Sanchez’ injury could be traced back to his college career, dislocating his kneecap during the first week of fall practice before his junior season at Southern California. And he has been always wearing a brace on the knee since then. On a Nov. 29 game against the Carolina Panthers, he banged up his left knee, aggravating the lingering injury. His right knee injury was sustained when he dived headfirst on an 8-yard run early in the third quarter against the Buffalo Bills, a few days after Yankees manager Joe Girardi taught him how to improve his sliding technique, especially how to avoid making headfirst dive.

Wizards’ new owner is still early to be confirmed

2010-01-28T01:31:00.000-08:00

Since the death of longtime Washington Wizards owner Abe Pollin in November, it had been almost sure that Ted Leonsis will buy the team to be the successor. Well, it has been not so sue because of an internal e-mail.

According to The Associated Press, Leonsis’ group is “surprised and disappointed” about an internal e-mail among Wizards staff. The e-mail seeks to downplay the perception the Leonsis will be the inevitable new owner and says “there is no exclusive right for anyone to purchase the Wizards.”

Leonsis and his Lincoln Holdings group has owned 44 percent of the Wizards and the rest of Pollin’s Washington Sports & Entertainment empire since Pollin welcomed him into the WS&E family in 1999 by selling him the NHL’ Washington Capitals. As the former AOL executive, he was also anointed by Pollin his successor. So Leonsis has the inside track to purchase the other 56 percent and would have to fail to clear all of several hurdles not to do so.

However, the e-mail written by WS&E president of business operations Peter Biche says there’s nothing to keep the Pollin family from marketing the Wizards to other potential buyers “at this time.”

At this time, the Wizards star guard Gilbert Arenas has been suspended for the remaining season and will not be in his No. 0 Wizards jersey until next season begins. At this time, an exclusive appraisal process is ongoing. The Pollin’s family has chosen an appraiser to value the team, so does the Leonsis group. If Leonsis’ group is willing to offer the price offered by the appraisers, in case they value the team for the same price, or a price offered by a neutral appraise in case the two appraisals fail to yield a mutually agreeable sale price, the new owner is to be Leonsis; if not, other buyers could make their offer, but Leonsis’ group has the right of first refusal to match any offer the Pollins or Washington Sports receive.

Eagles will trade one of their quarterbacks in offseason?

2010-01-12T00:01:00.000-08:00

At first rumors said that Donovan McNabb was to leave the Eagles either by being traded or retiring, then it was said that McNabb or Michael Vick could be traded, and now the latest guess is about McNabb and Kevin Kolb. But one thing seemed for sure: the Eagles will anyway trade one of their quarterbacks to get some defensive help.

McNabb only has one more year left on his contract and it seems that he's done basically everything that he can do in Philadelphia over the last 11 seasons. Although Head Coach Andy Reid said that he expected McNabb to be back with the Eagles, someone suspected that he said that only to drive up the veteran’s trade value.

The other two suspects just have the same chance as McNabb in getting traded. Vick is having only a one-year, $1.6 million contract with a one-year team option exceeding $5 million, and Kolb is also having only one year left on his contract. Who of the three is going to take off his Eagles jersey or will another name be added to the suspects list? Who knows!

Lakers ended losing streak by beating Bucks 95-77

2010-01-11T01:25:00.000-08:00

Kobe Bryant knew he was not playing his best basketball but he and his supporting cast still tried best to play better and managed to end their two-game losing streak by beating the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday night.

Still putting on his No. 24 NBA jersey despite broken right index finger, Bryant had 12 points on 4 of 21 shooting, his fourth consecutive sub-par shooting performance. But his teammates did quite good job. Andrew Bynum became the top performer by having 17 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, Shannon Brown added 19 points, Jordan Farmar scored 17 points and Derek Fisher had 11.

Milwaukee’s 77 points were the fewest the team has ever scored against the Lakers. Their top performer Jodie Meeks had only 12 points and 5 rebounds. Hakim Warrick had 14, Brandon Jennings, Luke Ridnour and Charlie Bell each added 10 points.

Will McNabb leave Eagles?

2010-01-09T01:42:00.000-08:00

With still one season left on the Philadelphia Eagles’ contract with their NO.1 quarterback Donovan McNabb, there have already been rumors saying that McNabb will take off his Eagles jersey during or after next year. Someone even believes that the Eagles may trade McNabb this offseason.

Why do they think so? Reason No. 1: His contract is going to expire at the end of 2010 season and by so far the Eagles have not shown any intension to offer extension or any job to keep McNabb in Philadelphia. Reason No. 2: After watching the quarterback closely for 11 seasons, Eagles fans are not expecting anything new from McNabb.

However, more people believe that McNabb will stay on Eagles’ roster at least for the Next season. What is most likely to happen is that McNabb will retire at the age of 35 as the contract expires. Kevin Kolb or Michael Vick will fill in to be the new starter. Thinking about McNabb’s role in pushing the Eagles to sign controversial Vick, I am surer that McNabb is making his final efforts to help his team, which he never left since joining in 1999 as the second pick of first round.

Again, Eagles QB McNabb blamed himself for team’s loss

2010-01-06T01:10:00.000-08:00

Two days after the Philadelphia Eagles lost Sunday’s season finale 24-0 to the Dallas Cowboys, the five-time Pro Bowl quarterback Donovan McNabb pointed the finger at himself for failing to lead the team to a win.

“It all starts with me. I have to raise my level of play, and everyone else has to as well,” McNabb said. “What I meant is, we have a young team, and a lot of things we were doing just were very uncharacteristic of what we did all throughout the year. I wasn’t blaming it on anyone, by any means.”

If beating the Cowboys, the Eagles would have clinched their sixth NFC East title in nine years and secured the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye. But now what they’ve got is only a wild-card playoff berth. A lot of people criticized McNabb for subpar performance against the Cowboys in one of his finest seasons, and McNabb accepted it, although several important passes were dropped by receivers, especially the one dropped by Jeremy Maclin, who is in his first year of playing pro football in NFL jersey. Maclin dropped a slightly off-target pass that should’ve been caught for a big gain and possibly a score.

As the team’s leader who has led the Eagles to five NFC championship games and one Super Bowl in his 10 seasons, McNabb should have been given more honor than critics.

Steelers won season finale but failed to reach playoff

2010-01-05T00:21:00.000-08:00

The Pittsburgh Steelers ended their season at 9-7 by winning Sunday night’s season finale 30-24 over the Miami Dolphins. Here it is an end in real sense, as Baltimore Ravens’ 21-13 victory over the Oakland Raiders eliminated Steelers’ chance to play into playoffs.

The reigning Super Bowl champions lost their advantage earlier after a late-season five-game losing streak, losing three games respectively to the woeful Chiefs, Raiders and Browns in a span of 19 days.

But anyway the Steelers did not fail their fans so much as they ended the season with a win. Plenty of Steelers fans stayed with their team until the end. Many in the stadium wore black and gold Steelers jerseys to cheer for the visiting team, who sent two Miami quarterbacks to the sideline, including Pat White with a head injury.

The Dolphins also lost their chance to enter playoff. With two minutes left in their season finale against the Steelers, the Houston Texans beat the New England Patriots to remain alive for the playoffs. Winning the AFC East last season, the Dolphins did their best to climb to 7-6 from a 0-3 start. But they ended the season with another three-game losing streak.

Saints Coach Payton cares most who is able to play

2009-12-31T23:16:00.000-08:00

Losing two streak games after starting the season 13-0, the New Orleans Saints are under pressure. People are worrying that they may lose the season finale against the Carolina Panthers and got to 13-3. The fans who love Saints jerseys a lot fear that their unbeaten team will slide on. And as the head coach of the team, what is in Sean Payton’s mind now?

“The one thing we do know is a factor is injuries,” Payton said. “We know that that is something that you have to be mindful of.”

Indeed, what always matters is who’s able to play. The worries, the statistics and the eager to restore some momentum, all are uncertainties. The certainty is the healthy players are better than injured ones. Payton plans to learn from their experience in 2006, when the Saints were locked into the second seed in the NFC and pulled their starters early in their final regular season game, which also was against the Panthers. Although losing the game 31-21, the team managed to beat the Philadelphia Eagles in a home playoff game two weeks later.

So, before the playoff, all what we can do is to keep expectation with the Saints.

More than 200 NFL players to lose status if no salary cap

2009-12-30T22:36:00.000-08:00

If the league and its union can’t agree on a new labor contract, 2010 will become an uncapped year when a player would need at least six years in the NFL to be an unrestricted free agent who is able to sign with any team. And the current minimum for being unrestricted is four years.

That would mean quite a difference to as many as 212 players, who are entering their fourth year of playing football in NFL jerseys. The names on the list include Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Miles Austin, Denver Broncos receiver Brandon Marshall and six other Pro Bowl picks.

If they lose out on the chance to become unrestricted free agents this offseason, players might not get as big a payoff as they could have been expecting. They also won’t have the luxury of moving freely anywhere in the league.

2010 Pro Bowlers of AFC team-Defense

2009-12-29T23:26:00.000-08:00

In Miami on Jan. 31, the players listed below from different teams will be wearing the same version of NFL jerseys as teammates of the AFC team in the 2010 Pro Bowl game.

New York Jets Darrelle Revis will start at cornerback for the AFC along with Oakland Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, and Denver Broncos Champ Bailey will be a backup cornerback with his teammate Elvis Dumervil to be starting outside linebacker. Pittsburgh Steelers James Harrison and Texans Brian Cushing will both backup Dumervil.

Both starting defensive ends are from the Indianapolis Colts: Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis, who will be backed up by Houston Texans DE Mario Williams. Ravens Haloti Ngata and Patriots Vince Wolfork will start at interior lineman, with Steelers Casey Hampton to be the backup. Inside/middle linebackers will be Ravens Ray Lewis and Texans DeMeco Ryans. Ed Reed of the Ravens will start at free safety with Bills Jairus Byrd to be backup. Eagles Brian Dawkins will start at strong safety.

Specialists include Chargers kicker Nate Kaeding, Raiders punter Shane Lechler, Browns kick returner Joshua Cribbs and Chargers special teamer Kassim Osgood.

Dolphins LB Crowder ended season with foot injury

2009-12-29T00:59:00.000-08:00

The Miami Dolphins inside linebacker Channing Crowder will not play any game in Dolphins jersey for this season as he has been placed on injured reserve with a right foot injury, meaning the Dolphins may have smaller chance to go to the playoffs.

The Dolphins cling to only the faintest playoff hopes going into Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. With Crowder being hurt on the second play in last Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans, the Dolphins missed as many as 10 tackles in the first half alone, falling behind 27-0, giving up 306 years in the first half, and losing the game eventually at 27-20.

Crowder, a fifth-year starter, ranks fourth on the Dolphins with 52 tackles. With a contract that will keep him through 2010 season, he may return well enough to help the Dolphins for next season. But for this season, veteran Reggie Torbor will play in his position for the remaining games.

Peyton Manning has record-season again

2009-12-24T00:57:00.000-08:00

Peyton Manning is the key to keep the Indianapolis Colts jersey hot on sale. Never failing his fans, he just keeps breaking records just as an excellent quarterback should achieve in his 12th season of NFL career. New York Jets Coach Rex Ryan’s wish to Santa Claus of making Manning not to play Sunday’s game shows how much threaten the star quarterback means to rivals.

Breaking John Unitas’ franchise record for wins, passing Fran Tarkenton for third on the all-time touchdown list, moving past Warren Moon and John Elway for third on the career completions chart, Manning now needs to throw only 159 yards on Sunday’s game to be become the fourth member of the NFL’s 50,000-yard club. Very likely he will achieve that for sure, if he plays enough time.

With the Indianapolis Colts wrapping up the AFC’s top seed two weeks ago, the team may feel it necessary to keep their starters healthy for the playoffs, so it remains unsure how long Manning will play this Sunday and whether it will be long enough for him to throw as many as 159 yards.

Browns QB Quinn was placed on IR

2009-12-22T23:53:00.000-08:00

The Cleveland Browns quarterback Brady Quinn lost his chance to impress new Browns president Mike Holmgren as he was placed on injured reserve Tuesday with an unspecified foot injury which he sustained while scrambling for 24 yards in the fourth quarter of Cleveland’s 41-34 win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

Browns coach Eric Mangini gave no specifics about Quinn’s injury but said his recovery could “take a little while.” Mangini said the team did not yet know if surgery was necessary and that it was unclear on film how Quinn, who was tripped up as he neared the sideline, was injured. And the quarterback himself was not available for interviews as he did not put on his Browns jersey to work out with teammates Tuesday.

During Quinn’s absence, Derek Anderson will start at quarterback for this Sunday’s game against the Oakland Raiders. The former Pro Bowler went 1-4 in five starts after Quinn was benched 10 quarters into the season.

Russell’s chance of getting starting job back is still small

2009-12-22T01:28:00.000-08:00

Throwing the game-winning touchdown pass with 35 seconds left in a 20-19 victory over the Denver Broncos, the Oakland Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell apparently got the springboard he need to win his starting job back. However, the Raiders Coach Tom Cable still consider him the last choice to start at quarterback for this week’s game in Cleveland.

Cable’s No.1 choice remains Bruce Gradkowski if he would wear back his Raiders jersey after fully recovering from his two sprained knees, and the second choice would be Charlie Frye, who sustained a concussion during last Sunday’s game and left Russell the chance to lead the comeback.

Cable is still waiting and declined to give a sure answer to question about whether Russell’s game-winning drive proved that he can still be the quarterback to lead the Raiders in the future.

Eagles won over 49ers through snow storm

2009-12-21T01:20:00.001-08:00

Sunday’s game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the San Francisco 49ers was pushed back three hours because the city was still recovering from the second-largest snowfall it has seen since records began in 1884. But team still had the advantage of playing home game and beat the 49ers 27-13.

Donovan McNabb threw for one touchdown and ran for another, DeSean Jackson had 140 yards receiving and the Eagles beat the 49ers 27-13 Sunday to clinch a playoff berth for the eighth time this decade. Thus the Eagles (10-4) have won five straight games and have a one-game lead over Dallas in the NFC East. Philadelphia visits the Cowboys in two weeks.

Some fans wearing Eagles jersey started throwing snow in the fourth quarter to celebrate after Eagles running back LeSean McCoy scored on a 2-yard TD run to put the Eagles ahead 27-13. They stopped throwing snowballs aimed at 49ers fans when a warning was flashed on the video screen.

Young players helped Thunder win

2009-12-18T22:59:00.000-08:00

The Oklahoma City Thunder keeps finding that young players in their first year of wearing NBA jerseys are contributing to the team’s improvement. And Friday night’s win over the Detroit Pistons proved that again.

Kevin Durant scored 27 points, and a pair of rookies led Oklahoma City on a key run in the fourth quarter as the Thunder snapped a three-game losing streak with a 109-98 victory over the Pistons on Friday night.

With Durant and the other starters failing to play with the energy, Coach Scott Brooks was seeking, turning to his bench, and he had rookies James Harden and Serge Ibaka to lead the way in a tight game.

“Those two rookies, they came in and did a great job of controlling the game in the fourth quarter,” Brooks said.

Harden scored Oklahoma City’s first seven points of the fourth quarter to help the Thunder stretch their lead, and Nick Collison’s tip-in pushed the advantage to 86-77.

After Charlie Villanueva scored the next five points for Detroit, Harden and Ibaka combined on a 9-0 run to give Oklahoma City its largest lead of the night, 95-82. Harden hit a 3-pointer and then assisted on back-to-back baskets by Ibaka.

Harden totally scored 14 points and had career-high eight assists while Ibaka scored a career-high 12. Thus the Thunder won their first game after losing their last two home games against the Dallas and Denver respectively.

Raiders QB Russell is unlikely to start again

2009-12-18T00:30:00.000-08:00

When quarterback JaMarcus Russell put on his No.2 Raiders jersey after signing a six-year deal with $30 million of guarantee money in 2007, he might be expecting a star career to begin.

As the No. 1 overall pick in the draft that year, Russell had the reason to believe that he was a sure thing. But things don't seem to be what he had been expecting. Charlie Frye is getting the starting job for this weekend’s game against the Denver Broncos. Russell did not make good use of his chance when he was named the starter for last weekend’s game to replace injured Bruce Gradkowski but he only gave a poor performance, which caused the team to turn to Frye.

And Gradkowski has not been put on injured reserve yet, although the team described his injury as torn MCLs. And it seemed that the team is planning to have him return by Dec. 27 and start against the Cleveland Browns. With Gradkowski getting back his starting job, it is just even more unlikely that Russell could be starter again.

Falcons DT Babineaux said sorry for possessing marijuana

2009-12-17T00:52:00.000-08:00

The Atlanta Falcons defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux admitted Tuesday that he smoked pot and is facing a felony marijuana possession charge. He said Wednesday he is sorry “for being a distraction” to his family and the Falcons.

Babineaux said he is embarrassed and included Falcons owner Arthur Blank, general manager Thomas Dimitroff and Coach Mike Smith in his apology.

“First and foremost, I want to apologize for being a distraction to my family, to my teammates,” Babineaux said in his first public statement since his arrest Thursday night.

“I want to apologize to Mr. Blank, Coach Smith and Thomas Dimitroff and also the fans, most importantly. I’m embarrassed to be standing here in front of you guys, but as you guys are all aware, it’s an ongoing legal matter and I can’t talk about it or answer any questions. Thank you.”

Babineaux previously insisted that he was innocent and did not smoke and any marijuana although marijuana was found in his car. But Tuesday Gwinnett County police released a report which stated Babineaux told officers he was smoking marijuana while driving with a friend.

Babineaux still put on his Falcons jersey and started Sunday in Atlanta’s loss to the New Orleans Saints despite the drug issue. He is also listed as a starter on the team’s depth chart for this week’s game against the New York Jets. According to NFL rules, the Falcons do not violate any policy by starting Babineaux before NFL commissioner Roger Goodell makes any decision on the player because of the arrest.

Six Colts players skipped Tuesday practice because of injuries

2009-12-16T01:09:00.000-08:00

While the Indianapolis Colts Coach Jim Caldwell insisted that his healthy starters will all put on their Colts jerseys to play this Thursday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, several of them have missed Tuesday practice because of injuries.

Those injured players playing last Sunday’s game but missing Tuesday practice included Pro Bowl defensive ends Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis, both were supposed to be the starter with the Colts for Thursday’s game. The others were cornerback Jerraud Powers, safety Antoine Bethea, defensive lineman Eric Foster and left tackle Charlie Johnson.

Another four players did not play last Sunday’s game and continued missing practice. They were Anthony Gonzalez with knee injury, kicker Adam Vinatieri with knee injury, running back Donald Brown with chest injury and safety Aaron Francisco with ankle injury.

Broncos signed safety Fox to replace rookie McBath

2009-12-15T01:16:00.000-08:00

As the Denver Broncos had to place rookie safety Darcel McBath on injured reserve because of broken forearm, they signed back Vernon Fox, who was cut by them during camp but now wears back Broncos jersey to replace McBath.

McBath was a second-round draft pick out of Texas Tech, and had been the most productive of coach Josh McDaniels’ inaugural rookie class aside from tailback Knowshon Moreno. He also filled in at times this season for both starter Renaldo Hill and Brian Dawkins. The rookie broke his arm in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts while playing safety in place of Hill, who left the game with an ankle injury.

As for Fox, who will play in McBath’s position for this Sunday’s game against the Oakland Raiders, Coach McDaniels believes that the eighth-year safety can do what the team expects him to do as he has the brightness to understand his role very well.

Vince Young is questionable for Sunday game with aggravated knee injury

2009-12-12T00:50:00.000-08:00

No matter how much the Tennessee Titans fans want quarterback Vince Young to wear back his Titans jersey and lead the team to start a new winning streak, they have to wait until Young’s injured knee feels all right to work.

Young watched the Friday’s practice and Kerry Collins was again seen in the first-team. But according to Titans Coach Jeff Fisher, missing practice has nothing to do with Young’s playing status for this Sunday’s game against the St. Louis Rams. Young just needed rest after tweaking the knee on Thursday and aggravated the knee injury he originally suffered during last Sunday’s loss to the Indianapolis Colts.

Fans can remain optimistic about Sunday’s game against the Rams, as running back Chris Johnson practiced fully Friday and receiver Kenny Britt also took full part in the practice after being listed on Thursday’s injury report with a back injury. Fullback Ahmard Hall, tight end Jared Cook, receiver Nate Washington, linebackers David Thornton and Collin Allred all returned to practice on the same day.

Brady’s injured finger not ready to throw

2009-12-10T22:39:00.000-08:00

It remains unclear what was happening among the New England Patriots. Several key defensive players were sent home and starting quarterback Tom Brady seemed not ready to practice yet, listed on practice reports with injuries to right finger, right shoulder and rib problems.

But none of the listed reasons was serious enough to prevent the quarterback from putting on his Patriots jersey and throwing a 58-yard touchdown pass to Randy Moss on the first series of last Sunday’s 22-21 loss to the Miami Dolphins. Despite an arm injury, Brady did not miss a play and finished 19 for 29 for 352 yards and two touchdowns last weekend.

The Coach kept silent on the reasons for sending players to home or keeping quarterback out of practice. And Brady’s response was a smiling, some kind of gesture showing his happiness after his wife gave birth Tuesday to their first son.

Now who is the best quarterback?

2009-12-09T00:15:00.000-08:00

After led the Minnesota Vikings to the second loss of the season, quarterback Brett Favre failed to move up to be the most valuable player of the league. Instead, the starting quarterbacks of the two unbeaten teams are now much more competitive than the quarterback wearing No.4 Vikings jersey.

Leading the New Orleans Saints to the season’s 12th win by throwing for 419 yards, Drew Brees received the most votes for Meter MVP. Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts helped the team to win their 21st regular-season game and he is the No.2 choice for the MVP.

With still four games left for the season, Favre may still have the chance to show he is the best. But it is the same with Drew Brees and Peyton Manning, let alone quarterbacks ranking behind Favre. Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers and Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers surely would not like to stay out of the top 3 candidates.

Titans hope and need to start new streak to finish season

2009-12-08T01:15:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday’s loss to the unbeaten Indianapolis Colts ended the Tennessee Titans winning streak, which started after the team lost all of the first seven games. But the Titans still keep the hope of winning all the remaining games of the season.

That means they will have to beat the St. Louis Rams, the Miami Dolphins, the San Diego Chargers and the Seattle Seahawks. None of the last three teams looks easy to win over. But since Vince Young could lead the 0-7 Titans to win five consecutive games by beating the Jaguars, 49ers, Bills, Texans and Cardinals, it is just reasonable for all those who love Titans jerseys to be optimistic toward the remaining games.

The Titans will play three of their final four games at home. The first one is to play against the St. Louis Rams and it would be simplest part of achieving new streak as the Rams is 1-11 now. Good luck for Titans.

Unbeaten Colts unsurprisingly won their 12th game by beating Titans 27-17

2009-12-07T01:20:00.000-08:00

Already being the best always urges you to keep being the best, and that may be why the Indianapolis Colts still keep their winning streak. Sunday night’s 27-17 victory over the Tennessee Titans marked the Colts’ 21st consecutive regular-season win.

And without exception, they set records. This time there were four: matching the New England Patriots’ record of winning consecutive regular-season games set from 2006 to 2008; breaking their own NFL record of 6 consecutive 12-win seasons- they now have seven such seasons; remaining undefeated along with the New Orleans Saints and it was for the first time two teams remain unbeaten this late in the season; tying the 1990s San Francisco 49ers’ record of most wins in a decade with winning 113 game totally.

Those records have seemed commonplace to those who wear Colts jerseys. They celebrate the win just as they usually did: strolling toward midfield and then shaking hands and trotting into the locker rooms. But something should be different. The Titans was the last team to beat the Colts in 2008 and have hoped to end Colts’ winning streak and keep their own winning streak, but failed. That is another story to tell.

Texans RB Slaton is unsure whether to play until game time

2009-12-05T01:09:00.000-08:00

Because of an injury on right shoulder, the Houston Texans running back Steve Slaton missed Friday’s practice and remains doubtful for this Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Chris Brown and Ryan Moats are preparing for taking Slaton’s job in case he would not play.

According to Texans Coach Gary Kubiak, Brown would be the starter in Slaton’s absence and Moats could share some job with Brown. It won’t take long for Brown to get used to the starting role as has seen increased action after Kubiak benched Slaton because of fumbling problems. His performance has not been bad, rushing for 234 yards and two touchdowns this season, with 56 carry yards and one touchdown made during last week’s game against the Indianapolis Colts.

As for Slaton, he has been bothered by the shoulder injury for about three weeks and been experiencing numbness in right thumb from time to time. But he himself did not think the injury serious and is still expecting to play in his Texans jersey for this Sunday’s game.

Colts DE Freeney returned to practice and may play Sunday

2009-12-04T01:24:00.000-08:00

After missing last week’s game against the Houston Texans, the Indianapolis Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney returned to practice Thursday in his Colts jersey and is expected to play his role in this Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans.

And he may be able to cooperate with cornerback Kelvin Hayden, who practiced Thursday for the second straight day since he injured a knee four weeks ago. While Freeney only missed last week’s game with an abdominal injury, Hayden has missed as many as four straight games. So returning of both players may bring more advantages to the 11-0 Colts in this Sunday’s game.

Perhaps we should not be very optimistic as seven of the Colts’ 23 players on its practice report did not appear in practice for both Wednesday and Thursday, including wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez, kicker Adam Vinatieri, running back Donald Brown, defensive tackle Keyunta Dawson and left tackle Charlie Johnson.

Browns RB Lewis may play no more football

2009-12-03T00:20:00.000-08:00

Someday if you deal with a trucking company in Atlanta and is told that the boss is Jamal Lewis, that Lewis possibly is the very Lewis who used to wear No.31 Cleveland Browns jersey from 2007 to 2009 and Ravens jersey from 2000 to 2007.

Yeah, Lewis has ended his NFL career, a bit earlier than he announced last month. And he is looking forward to life away from football, a life that includes doing some lucrative businesses like running a trucking company based in Atlanta.

Announcing that he would retire following this season, Lewis was placed on injured reserve Wednesday because of post-concussion symptoms, along with Brodney Pool. So Lewis had to end his season earlier than expected and went to retirement earlier, too.

The career he ended on Tuesday is worth remembering. With a bruising style that flattened would-be tacklers, Lewis rushed for 10,607 career yards. Rushing for 2,066 yards while playing with the Baltimore Ravens, he won the title of the league’s offensive player of the year in 2003. Signing with the Browns as a free agent in 2007, he rushed for 1,304 yards that season, and except for Hall of Famer Jim Brown, no else Browns back has ever achieved that record.

Where is your favorite player in Pro Bowl votes rank?

2009-12-02T01:08:00.000-08:00

With three weeks to go and 2010 Pro Bowl voting still continuing on NFL.com/probowl, are you aware where is your favorite player in the votes rank now? If you are a fan of Peyton Manning, you will be glad to know that the quarterback wearing No. 18 Indianapolis Colts jersey is now ranking No.1 with 853,565 votes.

The top three are all quarterbacks, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees is ranking second with 848,624 votes and Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre is ranking the third with 840,498 votes.

The other players ranking top 10 are: the fourth Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, the fifth Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, the sixth New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, the seventh Cincinnati Bengals running back Cedric Benson, the eighth Indianapolis Colts tight end Dallas Clark, the ninth Houston Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson and the tenth Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne.

Fans can buy tickets to the 2010 Pro Bowl at www.NFL.com/probowl and www.TICKETMASTER.com or by calling 800-745-3000.

Ravens DE Edwards does not accept league fine and plans to appeal

2009-11-20T22:55:00.001-08:00

The NFL fined the Baltimore Ravens defensive end Dwan Edwards $5,000 Friday for hitting the Cleveland Browns wide receiver Joshua Cribbs during Monday’s game. But the player does not want to accept it and plans to appeal.

During the Monday’s 16-0 win, Edwards struck Cribbs with a forearm to the facemask on the final play. But the reason for the fine is that he hit Cribbs at a time when Cribbs “supposedly shouldn’t have reasonably expected it.” And he has already talked with Cribbs and the latter was convinced that Edwards was not trying to injure him and defended the DE on Friday when saying that he may be able to play Sunday’s game against the Lions.

Other fined players include Browns quarterback Brady Quinn, who had to play $10,000 for blocking alinebacker in Ravens jersey duruing Monday's game, Steelers defensive Reggie Nelson, Titans cornerback Cortland Finnegan and linebacker Keith Bulluck.

Ravens DE Edwards does not accept league fine and plans to appeal

2009-11-20T22:55:00.000-08:00

Tony Dungy will lead communication between NFL and its players

2009-11-19T22:19:00.000-08:00

Tony Dungy, retiring as coach of the Indianapolis Colts after last season, is now a special adviser to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. And he will also take a lead role in improving communication between the league and players by leading a new NFL player advisory forum.

The forum will meet with players, who wore or wear NFL jerseys, about league policies, programs and issues that affect their lives on and off the field, including player health and safety, personal conduct, game rules and procedures, career transition and player development. Both Goodell and union officials have been invited to attend the meetings.

Dungy expects as many as 50 players from all age groups will take part in the meetings. By so far it has been confirmed that Pro Bowl players Kurt Warner, Ray Lewis and Brian Dawkins are among the players to attend.

Browns WR Cribbs missed Wednesday practice but still hopes to play Sunday

2009-11-18T22:15:00.000-08:00

While the Cleveland Browns quarterback Brady Quinn was fined for chop block on the Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs, the Ravens defensive end Dwan Edwards also has to pay for a shot on Browns wide receiver Josh Cribbs, who was held out of Wednesday practice with a neck injury and concussion.

Cribbs pitched the ball on a pass play and was leveled by Edwards, who delivered a forearm and shoulder to Cribbs’ chin. Cribbs spent a few hours at the Cleveland Clinic undergoing tests. Afterwards, the team said the results were negative, indicating the team may have to play this Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions without the top playmaker.

But what Quinn did to Suggs is no less serious. The three-time Pro Bowler could miss significant time with a knee injury for the first time in his seven-year career of wearing NFL jersey, ending his streak of 105 played games.

Confirmed: Dolphins RB Brown will not play against Panthers Thursday night

2009-11-17T22:30:00.000-08:00

As the Miami Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown has been ruled out for Thursday night’s game against the Carolina Panthers, his injured right foot also made his status for the rest of the regular season uncertain.

According to Coach Tony Sparano, the team’s leader rusher needed to see a specialist for further evaluation, and it is hard to say when he could wear back his Dolphins jersey. Ricky Williams will start at running back in Brown’s absence. Then the Thursday’s game will be Brown’s first missed game since his season-ending knee injury in 2007, and Williams’ first start for this season.

And 32-year-old Williams is the right replacement to Brown, as the 1998 Heisman Trophy winner and 2002 NFL rushing champion has rushed for 558 yards and is averaging a career-best 5.3 yards per carry. Also, he is confident that he will do the starting job well on Thursday.

Seahawks RB Jones may not play against Vikings because of bruised lung

2009-11-16T23:30:00.000-08:00

The Seattle Seahawks running back Julius Jones bruised lung during the first quarter of Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals. And the injury will likely prevent him from wearing back his Seahawks jersey and playing this Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings.

He did not fly back to Seattle with his teammates Sunday but stayed behind overnight in an Arizona hospital as a precaution.

“He’s OK,” Coach Jim Mora said. . “They just took the proper precautions in not having him travel with that injury. At this point, I would say it would be unlikely that he would be cleared to play on Sunday.”

Jones had only two carries before leaving the field because of the injury, and his replacement Justin Forsett finished the game with only 123 yards on just 17 carries. If Jones are not to play with the injury, Forsett may have to share the role with third-stringer Louis Rankin for next games.

Dolphins RB Brown will stay on crutches for quite a few days

2009-11-16T00:20:00.000-08:00

The Miami Dolphins did not become the second team being beaten by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but they won Sunday’s game at the cost of running back Ronnie Brown, who injured his right ankle in the third quarter of Sunday’s game.

Brown watched the end of Dolphins’ 25-23 win in the locker room after limping off the field with assistance from teammates. He might feel fortunate that his lost fumble before leaving field did not result in significant drop. But not being part of the winning team was still something frustrating.

“I kind of rolled my foot to the inside,” he said. “It’s tough coming out of the game. Fortunately we were able to get a W. I just don’t like being on the sidelines.”

He was replaced by Ricky Williams who ran for a season-high 102 yards for the remaining of the game. And Brown ran for 82 yards and a touchdown before leaving field still wearing his Dolphins jersey. The Dolphins’ leading rusher this season will have some tests to determine how long he will have to stay on crutches.

Browns Coach Mangini denied player’s complaint of being overworked

2009-11-13T22:50:00.000-08:00

The Cleveland Browns running back Jamal Lewis said Thursday that Coach Eric Mangini was overworking his players, indicating that the coach’s policies should be blamed for Browns losses. As having been expected, his comments gained quite a lot of support from other Browns players.

But the coach did not plan to accept the rant from players and tried to defend the length and intensity of his practices after Lewis had complained that players in Browns jerseys are being worked too hard to play effectively in real games.

“I feel good about the way we practice, the time we practice,” said Mangini, 1-7 in his first season with Cleveland. “Two hours of work on the field is a very reasonable time. The only time that practices are extended is if we don’t execute something the right way.”

Mangini also said he and Lewis had conversation about their differences. After finishing Friday’s workout, Lewis confirmed the conversation and said the media had twisted his comments, which originally were not critical of the coach.

Titans WR Gage broke bones in lower back

2009-11-12T23:49:00.000-08:00

After running a variety of X-rays and CAT scans on wide receiver Justin Gage’s back, the Tennessee Titans are far from being optimistic about the player’s status for this Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Bills.

There are several broken transverse process bones in Gage’s lower back. He got the injury when he fell to the ground after making a leaping catch to set up the go-ahead touchdown in last week’s 34-27 win at San Francisco. But it was after the game that Gage began to feel pains. He still managed to finish the game with a season-high 97 yards receiving.

Coach Jeff Fisher has not ruled Gage out against the Bills but said that he did not expect him to wear back Titans jersey and to play this week. Tests showed that there were several fractures but no crucial injury to the spine. Gage said Wednesday that he could move his hands and feet without problem. So it seemed that it won’t take long for him to be fully recovered.

49ers Coach Singletary will face former team Bears in easy manner

2009-11-12T00:25:00.000-08:00

The San Francisco 49ers Coach Mike Singletary will face his former team, the Chicago Bears, just as 49ers Coach, not a Hall of Fame linebacker who played in 1985 Super Bowl wearing Bears jersey. It is not the first time he and his 49ers play against the Bears, so it is not necessary to feel tough or nostalgic.

“The Bears will always be a team that I love,” Singletary said. “The Bears, so many friends, family, memories, that goes without saying. … I’m glad this is not the first time I am playing the Bears because that would be tough. Now that I have played them a couple times, it’s just a matter of going out there and competing against a good football team and trying to do the best I can.”

Believing that the 49ers will take an impressive climb to get back on track, to lead the NFC West again as they did in the first games, Singletary will just try his best to achieve a win over the Bears to be playoff team.

Seahawks Tuesday moves on roster

2009-11-10T23:45:00.000-08:00

The Seattle Seahawks promoted defensive end Derek Walker from practice squad to their active roster. Meantime, they released wide receiver Mike Hass, who was inactive for last Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions.

Hass was formerly a star at Oregon State and signed to the Seahawks’ practice squad on Sept. 7. He was promoted to active roster on Nov. 3 but it eventually did not turn into his chance as he was inactive for last weekend’s game. He was rleased along with guard Brian De La Puente, who had been staying in Seahawks’ practice squad.

Walker was originally on Seahawks’ active roster after training camp ended. But he was not among the players who wore Seahawks jerseys and played in the season-opening game and soon was released. The team did not seem like to give him up and signed him back to practice squad on Sept. 15.

Larry Johnson did not return to Chiefs after cut suspension

2009-11-09T22:38:00.000-08:00

When his agent Peter Schaffer managed to have the Kansas City Chiefs cut the suspension caused by a gay slur into half, Larry Johnson may not expect that the team was planning to get rid of them. No wonder they cut the suspension without hesitation- they just did not expect the running back to return.

Although being the power-running Pro Bowler and having back-to-back 1,700-yard seasons, Johnson now had to face the trouble caused by his careless talking. After being released by the Chiefs, he became a free agent whose ability attracts a lot of interest but his off-field troubles cause coaches to reconsider.

By the ending of his Chiefs career, Johnson had 5,996 yards rushing and 55 touchdowns and caught 151 passes for 1,369 yards and six TDs. And he has only 75 yards away from breaking Priest Holmes’ team rushing record. He may have to break the record in other team's NFL jersey.