Former San Diego Chargers safety Terrence Kiel, whose off-field problems prevented his enormous talent from coming to fruition, has died in a car crash at age 27.

Kiel was reportedly driving alone after leaving a party at about 10:15 Friday night when his car hit a wall, ejecting him from the vehicle. He died about an hour later. A police spokesman said friends had tried to keep Kiel from driving home from the party, and witnesses told police he appeared to be driving in the wrong direction when he crashed.

Kiel was a four-year starter at Texas A&M and a second-round pick of the Chargers in 2003. Three months after he was drafted, Kiel was shot three times in an attempted carjacking, but he made a complete recovery and played all 16 games as a rookie. During the 2006 season DEA agents showed up at the Chargers' headquarters to arrest Kiel for shipping prescription cough syrup to Texas as part of an effort to distribute a drink known as "lean," which mixes soft drinks with codeine cough syrup.

The Chargers released Kiel after he pleaded guilty to that charge, and he never played in the NFL again.

The best trash talkers in sports, from Muhammad Ali to Joe Namath to the Fab Five to Deion Sanders, have always had two qualities:

1. They're funny.
2. They can back it up on the field.

By those two standards, it appears that Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson may be developing into a great trash talker.

This week he was asked to name the toughest defense he had faced, and he answered, the San Diego Chargers. And then he added, "That was a joke."

Peterson, of course, ran for an NFL record 296 yards against the Chargers last season, and he drew a laugh with that comment. Somehow I'm guessing players on the Chargers won't find it funny.

Detroit Lions rookie Gosder Cherilus and San Diego Chargers rookie DeJuan Tribble were both ordered to serve one year of pretrial probation yesterday in connection with an incident that happened last year when they were Boston College teammates.

Cherilus and Tribble were both charged with assault and battery and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in connection with a fight at a bar. Cherilus, who was the Lions' first-round draft pick, was ordered to pay $52,000 in medical bills for a man who was injured in the fight; it's not clear whether he was ordered to pay the bills because he was more culpable than Tribble or because he will make significantly more money than Tribble, who was a sixth-round pick.

For the Lions, this news is particularly embarrassing coming on the heels of the revelation that second-round pick Jordan Dizon was arrested for drunk driving just before the draft. When your players are losers on the field and trouble-makers off it, that's not a good combination.

The Fantasy FanHouse team will occasionally debate pre-draft topics for your perusement and amusement. Any excuse for a Roundtable really. Today's topic: what to do with that first overall pick, should it fall your way.

Will Brinson: There are only two choices with the first overall pick -- LaDanian Tomlinson and Adrian Peterson -- unless you're in Chad Johnson's fantasy league. Then you draft Ocho Cinco first, hold him out from fantasy training camp and trade him to the real 85 for his first five picks. But since that horrible joke won't become reality isn't happening, you gotta pick LT or AP. So who ya got?

Matthew Greber: Well, it's not like the #1 pick always works out but this year that pick has the most uncertainty in a long time. But if I do get that pick, I'm probably taking LDT each and every time. (Note...not LT, that's a taken nickname, folks. Either LT2 or LDT.)

Matt Snyder: Has to be LDT. His rushing totals have gone 1236, 1683, 1645, 1335, 1462, 1815, and 1474 with an average of 16 TDs per season. Even if you think Peterson can exceed those numbers (which I don't), he won't garner the additional points LDT will through the air -- both as a receiver and a passer.

Joe Jurevicius has said this will be his final NFL season, and the Browns' No. 3 receiver might miss the start of '08 while he recovers from a knee injury. The Browns have Braylon Edwards, Donte' Stallworth and tight end Kellen Winslow, but have very little experience after that.

The team has given J.O.A.T.s Joshua Cribbs some work at wide receiver, and are pleasantly surprised with Travis Wilson's progress, but the front office could still make some moves prior to training camp.

The Chargers' Eric Parker could be that guy. San Diego signed return dude Mark Jones yesterday, which, as the San Diego Union-Tribune's Kevin Acee notes, "isn't a big deal in and of itself," but it could spell the end of Parker's career in San Diego. Apparently, the Chargers are willing to deal the 29-year-old wideout, and if the can't, they'll release him before training camp.

Enter Cleveland:

The Cleveland Browns, whose offensive coordinator is former Chargers tight ends coach Rob Chudzinksi, are among the teams that have shown interest in Parker. The Chargers are believed to be asking for a draft pick somewhere in the final three rounds.

Eh, something less than a third-round pick seems kinda steep, but the Dolphins got a second-rounder from the Chargers for Chris Chambers, so who knows sounds about right. Plus, if Parker is completely healthy and can contribute as the No. 3 receiver for three or four seasons, then maybe it's worth it.

That would be good news for Derek Anderson (scrub!) and the Chargers' Malcom Floyd. Kassim Osgood, however, is still bummed.

Former Chargers offensive tackle Shane Olivea, a free agent who once looked like one of the league's most promising offensive linemen, is currently without a team. Even if he signs with a team, he can't play until he serves a four-game suspension for violating the league's substance-abuse policy.

And although the league doesn't give specifics about past indiscretions, it's clear that whatever triggered this four-game suspension isn't the first time Olivea screwed up. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports:

All the Chargers would say when they released him in February was that Olivea had seemed to lose his motivation. But those around the team have known for some time that Olivea partied himself out of the league.

Acee also reports that Olivea is getting help. I hope it works. Olivea is only 26 years old and still has talent, even if, so far, that talent has gone to waste.

The Dallas Morning News' Albert Breer is not impressed with you, Tiger Woods. Sure, you had a double stress fracture and a torn ACL, walked more than 21 miles over five days, and gave one of the grittiest performances in major championship history, but, apparently, it wasn't enough. You want tough? How about ... Philip Rivers? Really?

Breer tries to explain:

...[L]et's stop with all the breathless homages. Put the Purple Heart away. While there was some appreciation for it, I don't remember all this slobbering over someone going on in January, after Philip Rivers did something far more impressive. He played in a football game, in freezing conditions, against a 17-0 team through a similar injury.

Well, I did my fair share of slobbering, and I'm not even a Philip Rivers fan. That said, I think it's ridiculous to compare the two. Breer admits to appreciating Tiger's accomplishment, and calls the feat impressive, but adds, "Is [comparing Woods to Philips] even close. No. Way."

He falls into the lazy trap of saying that all Tiger did was "hit golf balls," because "last time I checked, there are plenty of people who aren't in very good physical condition who can endure 18 holes." First, did you really check? I'm guessing no. Second, have you seen Grady Jackson, Sebastian Janikowski or Jared Lorenzen? Am I grossly oversimplifying things? Exactly.

But Breer's readers make my point better than I do:

Prior to his most recent legal troubles, Steve Foley was best known for taking three bullets from an off-duty police officer during a bizarre altercation in Sept. 2006.

Yesterday, the Houston Chronicle reported that Foley, out of football since the shooting, was "indicted on a charge of attack by a dog" after his two pit bulls attacked a woman and her puppy. Foley's lawyer called the incident an accident, sorta like that time Joey Porter's dogs inadvertently ate a small horse.

The indictment, a third-degree felony, was unsealed Wednesday. Foley is accused of failing to secure the dogs, which made an unprovoked attack on a neighbor on the afternoon of March 26, according to court documents. The neighbor, Twana Schulz, suffered serious bodily injury when she was bitten on the arms and face, the indictment said.

Foley's dogs have since been "seized and destroyed" (in "shock and awe fashion", no doubt, to send a message to the other would-be doggie offenders). Joking aside, it sounds like harrowing experience; Schulz's puppy was killed in the attack. If Foley is convicted, he could serve up to 10 years in the joint.

Responsible pit bull owners everywhere would like to take this opportunity to thank Foley for his negligence.

I haven't watched professional wrestling since the sixth grade, so I've missed out on all the truly must-see events featuring those athletes from the non-fake sports. Like these two clowns, or this guy, for example.

And while this seems like the perfect vehicle for Jason Taylor to transition from the NFL to Hollywood (hey, it worked for Dwayne!), he's a serious actor who would never betray the craft in such a vile manner.

Shawne Merriman feels differently, it seems. The Chargers linebacker was ringside at a recent WWE event (the best of the year, apparently), specifically, a Singapore cane match, and awesomeness ensued:

As expected, [The Big] Show dominates right from the get-go. Show misses an elbow on [Tommy] Dreamer and then all four grab canes from high atop the corner poles and work over Show before then going after one another. This match still doesn't seem right without The Sandman. Dreamer hits a pumphandle suplex on [John] Morrison with the cane in a nice spot. [CM] Punk and Chavo [Guerrero] go to the floor and Chavo blasts Merriman with the cane. Merriman then gets Punk's weapon and clocks Chavo.

No lights-out dance? What a fraud. Actually, it sounds pretty benign, although Norvell Turner might disagree.

But yeah, I couldn't agree more: no Sandman = no fun.

Hat tip: Hashmarks

There was a time when Shane Olivea looked like one of the most talented young offensive linemen in the NFL. That time has passed.

After the Chargers took him in the seventh round of the draft, Olivea started all 16 games on one of the best lines in the league as a rookie in 2004, and he was still a solid starter in 2005 and 2006. But last year he struggled and got benched, and this year he was sent packing.

He's now an unrestricted free agent, except that he has apparently already agreed to terms with some NFL team. The Press Democrat reports:

The 49ers have inquired about some possible veteran free-agent pickups. They asked about Shane Olivea recently, but were told that Olivea has already agreed to terms with another club. Olivea, who lost his starting job and fell out of favor with the Chargers, is expected to sign with that team in June.

It's unusual for a player to agree to terms with a team but not sign with that team, but Olivea has apparently decided his best fit is on a team that needs to clear some salary cap space. Which team could that be? Josh Alper speculates at PFT that it could be Baltimore, Carolina, Denver, Detroit or Oakland. Right now it's anyone's guess.