Everyone who pays attention knows there’s a sleazy side of professional sports. College players and agents and money under the table …
Sports Illustrated has an account from Josh Luchs, formerly an NFL agent, where he comes clean on what it took for him to get started in the business and on his exit as well.
I can’t do it any more justice than the story did itself. Click here to go to the story.
The Green Bay Packers escaped Sunday afternoon with a tightly contested win over Detroit. It’s hard to win in the NFL and the Pack did, so despite the closer-than-expected score, it was a good day for the green and gold. The weekend ended even better for Green Bay fans when the New York Giants exposed Chicago on Sunday Night Football.
It’s been downhill since.
Tuesday opened with the news that safety Morgan Burnett had torn his ACL and would miss the rest of the season. This was a pretty good-sized blow for a secondary already missing Al Harris.
Still, the secondary has been pretty good this season. The Packers are seventh in the league in pass defense through four weeks, giving up 185 yards per game. And Atari Bigby will be back eventually, so Burnett’s loss alone won’t kill Green Bay’s chances to compete for a Super Bowl.
But the news got worse.
A few hours later news leaked that the Buffalo Bills had traded Marshawn Lynch. To Seattle. For a fourth round pick next year and a conditional pick in 2012. Really? Ted Thompson wouldn’t cough up a fourth round pick to improve a run game that, so far, has looked anemic since Ryan Grant was shelved after a week one leg injury?
The Packers are averaging 94.5 yards per game through the first quarter of the season, 22nd in the league. The team averages 3.9 yards-per-carry (tied for 19th) and 24 attempts per game (21st). They have four rushing touchdowns, which ties them for fourth in the league, but so far Brandon Jackson and John Kuhn are far from proving they can carry the load they’ve been asked to take over since Grant went down.
Randy Moss back to the Vikings? Who the hell knows.But the Internets are going wild so there is something to the rumors.
And if he does return to Minnesota it’s going to have some interesting fantasy ramifications.
For the Vikings, it returns Brett Favre to prominence. The offensive line has been a major part of the problem in Minnesota so far this season — but so has the lack of a downfield passing threat with Sidney Rice out and Percy Harvin struggling with various ailments. Moss isn’t the player he used to be but he still has plenty left and he will command coverage.
Everyone — yes, everyone (except Bernard Berrian) — on the Vikings offense will go up in value. Visanthe Shiancoe, Harvin, Greg Camarillo — they all go up in value. Some will go from zero value to a little (Camarillo) and others will go from matchup play to almost every week starter (Harvin).
Miami didn’t beat the New York Jets Sunday night but I found myself impressed with several aspects of the team.
Cameron Wake was a monster on defense, pressuring the quarterback and on one play fighting off a lineman attempting a cut block while maintaining enough balance to still jump up, knock down Mark Sanchez’ pass and almost intercept the deflection.
Brandon Marshall and Chad Henne finally found each other. The duo connected 10 times for 166 yards and almost gave the Dolphins a chance to tie the game at the end. Marshall finally justified the price Miami paid to get him this offseason and it looked to me like those two have a lot to look forward to the rest of the season.
But one thing the Dolphins didn’t do well was execute the so-called Wildcat offense. Every time someone other than Henne took a snap on Sunday night, the Jets appeared ready to stop the run. I don’t remember them gaining more than a yard or two on any run. They lost yards on a couple. And Ronnie Brown, on that fake run, drop back pass, looked like a panicked teenager surrounded by cops after getting busted on a late night beer binge before throwing a pass that landed about 15 yards over the receiver’s head.
The Wildcat was entertaining as a gimmicky offense when the Dolphins were otherwise undermanned. It helped them steal a couple games they shouldn’t have won, including the blowout over New England when Tony Sparano first unveiled the new offense.
But let’s be real. Miami has a strong-armed up-and-coming quarterback in Henne and some real weapons at wide receiver and tight end in Marshall, Brian Hartline, Davone Bess and Anthony Fasano. It’s not the strongest group in the league but it’s a good mix of players who have legit skills. They continue to have a solid two-back combo in Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, though the latter has not gotten on track yet.
And they’ve got one of the league’s best left tackles anchoring a line that seems to be sneaky good. Coupled with a defense that appears to be among the league’s better, there is less reason for the Dolphins to mess with the Wildcat, especially as it appears to be losing effectiveness.
During the game Sunday night, there were at least two occasions during which the Dolphins appeared to have some good momentum going. Then Henne went to the sidelines, Brown took some snaps and seconds later it was third and long.
It was entertaining and effective for awhile. But I don’t think the Dolphins need, nor are they better off, taking out their best personnel groupings for a high school-style offense that the league appears to have solved. Miami can now win without this kitten of an offensive strategy.
San Diego Chargers General Manager A.J. Smith is known for being a tough executive to negotiate with over player contracts. The team has spent years drafting well, using those players through the early years of their careers, then drafting their replacements and letting those mid-to-late career guys go on to other teams.
When Drew Brees’ deal was up, the Chargers let him go to New Orleans and promoted Philip Rivers. LaDainian Tomlinson was the face of the franchise for nine years. But as his value fell even he was shown the door. That’s just two examples.
It’s led to a number of tense situations. Linebacker Shawne Merriman has had a couple of verbal sparring sessions with Smith and, likely, he will be one of the next big-name players to find a new home soon — he very likely would have already if the collective bargaining agreement’s pending end hadn’t converted a couple hundred players from unrestricted free agents to restricted free agents last offseason.
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