The NFL isn’t for everyone

by | Jul 30, 2008 | Where are they now

As training camps get up and running teams rosters are full of unheralded guys chasing dreams of fame and fortune on the gridiron. Many will fulfill these dreams. Others will fade into history and move onto other professions.

One feature Zoneblitz plans to pursue as we get up and running is a periodic “Where are they now” segment aimed at tracking down some former NFL players and updating readers on how they’re getting by in their post-football lives.

We didn’t anticipate starting this feature up quite yet. But we stumbled by accident while doing the day job today onto a guy who never made it to the NFL regular season, but has ultimately done quite well for himself in the aviation industry instead.

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Pittsburgh punter tears ACL

by | Jul 30, 2008 | NFL Breaking News

In 2007 Pittsburgh traded up to draft punter Daniel Sepulveda, a two-time winner of the Ray Guy award while playing college ball at Baylor.

On Tuesday the Steelers announced that he had torn the ACL in his right knee and will miss the season, according to various media reports.

How does a punter tear his ACL? For the second time in three years? The first time it happened while he was playing pickup basketball at Baylor. No word at this point on how he damaged the knee this time around.

Why does Zoneblitz care about an injury to a punter? Well, mostly because it’s our site and we post what we want to post. And we are addicted to the sound of our own words.

But Sepulveda, who also has kind of a cool sounding name, did average 42.4 yards per punt and put 28 of 68 punts inside the 20 yard line as a rookie. The team claimed former Denver punter Paul Ernster to take Sepulveda’s spot.

Thomas Jones launches record label

by | Jul 30, 2008 | Business of Football, Fantasy Football

New York Jets running back Thomas Jones has launched a new, independent record label called Outta Pocket Entertainment.

Jones, who told, well, he told someone that he listens to all different varieties of music, wants the label to tackle all the genres as well. The company has signed its first act, pop/R&B singer Myko.

“We met three years ago in Miami and I knew instantly that I wanted to invest time and finances into his singing career,” Jones told AllHeadlineNews.com. “He has great charisma, personality, and is a natural singer and songwriter.”

AllHeadlineNews.com cites an interview with Jones in Allhiphop.com where the back says, “I want to put out classic music that individuals will appreciate for years to come.”

Good for Jones. After his career got off to a slow start he kept his mouth shut, worked hard and managed to make good out of his career, and is now amidst a three-year run of 1,100-plus yard rushing seasons.

I don’t have the foggiest idea what Jones’ music tastes are or whether or not I’ll ever buy an album put out under his label. But it’s nice to hear stories of athletes with plans for their lives beyond their sport of choice. Don’t count Jones out on the field this year either.

The Jets overspent on some free agents this offseason, but in doing so they added aging-but-still-good guard Alan Faneca and tackle Damien Woody to an offensive line that was, well, fairly offensive at times last season. They also added fullback Tony Richardson who is close to done, but still should be able to open a hole or two for Jones.

Jones still managed 1,119 yards behind that group last year. He should put up at least similar yardage this year and improve greatly on his single touchdown effort. He may not have sleeper written all over him, but it scribbled in erasable ink somewhere.

McCarthy didn’t like Rodgers in San Fran?

by | Jul 30, 2008 | NFL Random Thoughts

We here at Zoneblitz are huge fans of Pro Football Weekly. It’s 30 issues annually are among our favorite NFL fodder and it’s because the Arkushes and the rest of its writers get people to tell them things that other reporters either don’t get or won’t write.

In the August issue’s Audibles section PFW quotes an anonymous NFL figure saying that when he was in San Francisco, Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy was the leading proponent for drafting Alex Smith ahead of Aaron Rodgers because he didn’t think his current quarterback was a leader.

McCarthy thought Rodgers “was too ‘into himself,” according to the source, who speculated that was why old-timer Brett Favre never warmed up to him.

People change and three years of maturity gained while sitting on the bench has likely left Rodgers  in a better spot than Smith. He’s probably more ready to play than Smith was when forced to take the helm almost immediately – in fact he could very well become the poster child for why a rookie quarterback should sit for a year or three before being thrust into the starting job.

But Rodgers’ statements to Sports Illustrated about how Packers fans should “Get on board or shut the hell up” show he’s still got a ways to go in the maturity department. That’s not to say he’s going to be  a bad quarterback or a good one. But those words coupled with the thoughts of the PFW source definitely lend an eye into why Rodgers dropped on draft day.