Posts from the Nfl Category at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

Mike Sando of ESPN recently wrote about a survey of the league's dirtiest players and analyzed which teams received the most personal fouls. The Patriots' Rodney Harrison got the most votes for dirty play, and the Raiders received the most personal fouls.

The Houston Texans received the least personal fouls, but Sando got it completely wrong as it related to Texans defensive tackle Travis Johnson:

Former Patriots receiver Deion Branch drew a line between Harrison's hard-nosed play and the approach Houston Texans defensive lineman Travis Johnson took after knocking out then-Miami Dolphins quarterback Trent Green with a legal hit last season. Johnson stood over the fallen Green and taunted him.

"[Harrison] is not that type of dude, I promise you," Branch said. "He's not going to go into a game and try to hurt someone.

Uh, I'm guessing that Sando didn't actually see that play or maybe he just got his actives and passive mixed up writing about it. It was Trent Green who knocked himself out after Green intentionally blocked Johnson with a low but legal hit. If anyone was dirty in that play, it was Green who admitted he dove low, smashing Johnson's knee with his helmet, causing Johnson to somersault into the air and land on his head.

I'd put up some real speed video of this, but it no longer exists because the NFL pulled it. This slo-mo YouTube version above is all that exists.

This idea doesn't even sound good in theory: the Green Bay Press Gazette's Mike Vandermause thinks that if Brett Favre is really considering un-retiring, then he should have to compete for the starting job with Aaron Rodgers.

The Packers should welcome Favre back, but open the competition with Rodgers for the starting job. May the best quarterback win.

There are no guarantees in life, and the same should hold true in football. Instead of inheriting the job, Favre and Rodgers would be forced to earn it. Healthy competition would make the Packers better and avert a public relations nightmare at the same time.

No way that contrived competition ends badly. And when Vandermause writes that it "would make the Packers better and avert a public relations nightmare at the same time," yeah, I couldn't disagree more.

A competition between a future Hall of Famer with plenty of allies still on the team (many of whom are veterans) versus a fourth-year former first-round pick who has yet to play an entire NFL game? Splitting the locker room based on quarterback allegiance is an interesting way to bring a team together.

And I imagine the "public relations nightmare" would be anything but averted. For example. The media swarm during training camp would be unbearable, especially for Rodgers, who doesn't seem all that comfortable in the spotlight to begin with (and, frankly, I can't blame him).

Of course, this is all conjecture at this point; Favre has refuted the rumors, so as of right now, it's still Rodgers' team. Which means we should all get on board and shut our yaps.

Hat tip: Hashmarks

Willie Andrews will now have all kinds of time to pretend-shoot his fiancé. After being arrested for pointing a gun to the head of the future Ms. Andrews, the Patriots took the totally predictable step of releasing him. Obviously, buying illegal drugs is a much smarter career move. Or being something more than an easily replaceable fringe player.

On Tuesday, Josh Alper made the point that in the NFL, talent is always weighed against criminal activity, and yesterday, the Boston Globe's Bob Ryan wrote an entire column on the subject.

It's hardly surprising to learn that, despite the Al Saunders-playbook-length rap sheet, Dig Dug Jones can get another shot at redemption, but the NFL is all about winning and sometimes criminal activity takes a backseat to talent.

There's nothing new in all this. Seldom does honor trump pragmatism in the world of professional sports. Did I say "professional"? Make that sports, period. The late and truly great Abe Lemons was once asked why he didn't have a curfew for his Oklahoma City University basketball team. " 'Cause you always catch the wrong guys," he explained.

Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland had hoped to have all the 2008 draft picks under contract by July 1. Obviously, that didn't happen, but to be honest, it was an ambitious undertaking. Training camp is still some three weeks off, and there's plenty of time to ink second-rounders Phillip Merling and Chad Henne, and third-rounder Kendall Langford.

Yesterday, Ireland appeared on WQAM's Dolphins Tonight to discuss the state of negotiations, scouting the Arena leagues and the CFL, and the risks that go along with paying unproven players obscene amounts of money. I'm guessing owners love his plan to restructure NFL salaries, but the union might feel differently:

"You just wish you could pay them five or six thousand dollars and say, Go earn it, but it's not the same anymore," Ireland said. "But really it comes down to what we're trying to accomplish from a culture standpoint. You want guys that when you do pay them the big contract, they're going to go on and do the same thing they've done..."

Ireland's exaggerating to make a point, but the bottom line -- one that most people seem to support -- is that the rookie-wage scale is out of whack. Ireland, who worked for the Cowboys before taking the Miami job earlier this year, identified Jason Witten and Marion Barber as players teams "don't ... ever have to worry about" because:

So it looks like Brett Favre isn't planning a 2008 comeback despite ESPN's Chris Mortensen declaring otherwise. According to the Sun Herald's Larry Holder, Favre responded to the ESPN report by saying, "it's all rumor," and suggesting there was "no reason for" the media firestorm that followed.

Now we can all get on with our lives, Aaron Rodgers can prepare for the NFL season by acting crazy, and Mortensen can get to work on his next unsubstantiated rumor.

Not sure where "Favre's coming back!" ranks, but it only seems fitting for the same guy who told us:

• Michael Vick was unlikely to get indicted
• Eli Manning would be out 4-6 weeks
• Matt Leinart would be the Cardinals' starting quarterback

And then there's this hilarious paragraph from Gregg Easterbrook's February 15, 2008 column (yes, evidently, Easterbrook can still be funny):

I Knew All Along -- I Just Forgot to Say So: "While Norv Turner remains the leading candidate to be the next head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported Wednesday that another candidate has emerged: Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera." So read ESPN.com on Feb. 1, 2007. A few days later, after Wade Phillips got the Boys post, Mort said on the air that he had always known the job would go to Phillips.

Knowing ESPN, I fully expect Mortensen to make an on-air apology for being wrong (again) and then he'll be promptly suspended for his incompetence. Or, the World Wide Leader will just pretend like nothing happened, Mortensen will get a raise, and everybody will have a good laugh about it at the company 4th of July bash.

There are a lot of things that ESPN can be rightfully slammed for--Who's Now will live in our nightmares for years to come. But there is one summer series worthy of praise. Not only is the My Wish series good TV, it's also a great experience for the kids who get to fulfill their dreams..

If you're a Steelers fan and you haven't seen the story of paralyzed teenager Akeem Havens' day as a Steeler, it's well worth checking out. After watching him score a touchdown, maybe Willie Parker should be worried.

A fight broke out between two teammates Wednesday at the NFL Rookie Symposium, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk is reporting.

The annual Symposium is supposed to be the place for the 252 rookies who were drafted in April to learn how to conduct themselves as professionals. But yesterday it was the setting for a fight between the Buccaneers' first-round draft pick Aqib Talib, and seventh-round draft pick Cory Boyd.

The fight apparently broke out during a session on personal finances Wednesday, but the two players had been jawing at each other throughout the Symposium, which began on Sunday.

Both players have been in trouble before. Talib, a Kansas cornerback, was suspended two games in 2007. Boyd, a South Carolina running back, was suspended for the entire 2005 season.

If you go to eBay right now you can bid on an autographed rookie card of Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson. No surprise there.

But it is a little surprising that the seller, identified as cooley717523, is none other than Washington Redskins tight end Chris Cooley. Cooley explains on the Shutdown Corner blog that he has always loved football cards, and he and his wife are now becoming collectors and sellers:

At home with hundreds of cards, we decided that it would be fun to create our own account on eBay and sell them. We tried to take great pictures and then describe the cards. Christy wants to describe every card as beautiful. I don't know if that's a great way to describe a card, but it seems catchy enough.

We have our first cards listed for sale and three of them have bids already. I'm pretty sure we'll spend way more money buying cards than we'll ever make on them, but we've had a blast giving it a try.

Cooley has set the starting bid on the Peterson card at $150.

Hear that? It's the pitter-patter of fantasy football season approaching. Fantasy FanHouse is here to get you ready by previewing every team from a fantasy perspective.

Meet The ...
David who slayed Goliath ... and you know how that goes in the world of fantasy football. At least you should. The residue of a strong post-season run by a team almost certainly means several players are going to be overrated the next fantasy season. I'm looking right at you, Thomas Jones. So the question with the Giants is, can you look past the post-season and judge flatly on what you think they'll do in this regular season? Imagine the Giants had lost in the first round at Tampa Bay. Now judge their fantasy players. That should be an accurate rating system. For example, settle down about Eli Manning. Sure, you can believe he's taken a giant (pun unintended, but I'm keeping the word choice) step forward in terms of maturity and taking care of the football. You also should remember that 13 QBs outscored him in fantasy points in '07. His last name doesn't do him any favors either. Hypnotize yourself into believing that Eli Smith lost in the first round to the Bucs. Now do you like him as a top ten QB? Me neither.

The Breakout
Brandon Jacobs ... I already covered him.

In totally believable news, Brett Favre, retired for most of the spring, apparently wants to play one more year. According to ESPN's Chris Mortensen, Favre has relayed this very important nugget to head coach Mike McCarthy, but we'll all have to wait patiently to see how the most predictable comeback in sports plays out.

While we twiddle out thumbs, PackerReport.com provides some context, and it sounds like some people in the organization are ready to move on without Brett.

According to Mortensen, the Packers source said the team would be reluctant to allow him to return because "Brett retired for the right reasons." Plus, the Packers have spent the offseason tailoring the offense to Rodgers' strengths, and selected two quarterbacks in April's draft.

Still, it's not entirely out of the realm of possibility; as PackerReport.com notes, Favre's salary no longer counts toward the cap, the Packers didn't spend the freed-up money this offseason, and seventh-round pick, quarterback Matt Flynn, could move to the practice squad if Green Bay decided to rejigger the depth chart to accommodate Favre.

UPDATE: Hmm. Evidently, Favre wanted to come back, the Packers said, no thanks, prompting Favre to ask to be released. The Packers again said, no thanks. Weird (via Pancake Blocks).