The NFL announced on Monday their All-Decade Team for the 2010 decade, which featured 8 unanimous selections among the 42 players and two coaches.
Tom Brady, who was also an All-Decade Team member for the 2000’s, was named as one of the two quarterbacks, and joined DT Aaron Donald, LB Von Miller, RB Adrian Peterson, OT Koe Thomas, K Justin Tucker, DE JJ Watt and OG Marhsal Yanda as unanimous selections by the 48-member Pro Football Hall of Fame committee.
Not surprisingly given their success in the last decade, the New England Patriots led the way with nine selections, including coach Bill Belichick–Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Stephen Gostkowski, Logan Mankins and Chandler Jones made the list with more than 50 games played with the team, while Cordarrelle Patterson, Darelle Revis and Antonio Brown also made the list having played at least one game for the team.
Darren Sproles joined the list at two spots–punt returner and offensive flex player–just the fourth player in NFL history to do so, joining Mel Gray (punt and kick returner), Dante Hall (punt and kick returner) and Deion Sanders (cornerback and punt returner).
2010s ALL-DECADE TEAM ROSTER
* – denotes unanimous selection
OFFENSE
QB Tom Brady*
QB Aaron Rodgers
RB Frank Gore
RB Marshawn Lynch
RB LeSean McCoy
RB Adrian Peterson*
WR Antonio Brown
WR Larry Fitzgerald
WR Calvin Johnson
WR Julio Jones
FLEX Darren Sproles
TE Rob Gronkowski
TE Travis Kelce
OT Jason Peters
OT Tyron Smith
OT Joe Staley
OT Joe Thomas*
OG Jahri Evans
OG Logan Mankins
OG Zack Martin
OG Marshal Yanda*
C Alex Mack
C Maurkice Pouncey
DEFENSE
DE Calais Campbell
DE Cameron Jordan
DE Julius Peppers
DE JJ Watt*
DT Geno Atkins
DT Fletcher Cox
DT Aaron Donald*
DT Ndamukong Suh
LB Chandler Jones
LB Luke Kuechly
LB Khalil Mack
LB Von Miller*
LB Bobby Wagner
LB Patrick Willis
CB Patrick Peterson
CB Darrelle Revis
CB Richard Sherman
S Eric Berry
S Earl Thomas
S Eric Weddle
DB Chris Harris
DB Tyrann Mathieu
SPECIALISTS
P Johnny Hekker
P Shane Lechler
K Stephen Gostkowski
K Justin Tucker*
PR Tyreek Hill
PR Darren Sproles
KR Devin Hester
KR Cordarrelle Patterson
The new NFL league year kicked off with a bang today as word leaked around lunchtime that the Vikings were shipping Percy Harvin to Seattle.
That made Seattle the early leader in the race for “who had the best offseason” as long as the Seahawks can get Harvin signed to a contract that will keep the diva wideout’s whining to a minimum.
Not to be outdone, Super Bowl runner up San Francisco pulled the trigger a couple hours later on a deal that brought Anquan Boldin to the Bay Area in exchange for a sixth round pick.
Minnesota understandably got a better package for Harvin (A first and a seventh this year and, reportedly, a third next year) than Baltimore got for Boldin, but it was stunning to me that the Ravens couldn’t get more than they got for Anquan, who stepped up his play big time once Cam Cameron was replaced as offensive coordinator.
But the Ravens, coming off of a Super Bowl win, are cash-strapped and they got something for someone they otherwise would have cut. They are the day’s biggest loser, but they made a move they likely had to – the only question now is, with the Boldin trade and the retirements of Matt Birk and Ray Lewis, how far do they fall into rebuilding mode in 2013? (more…)
In a move that will likely be seen by many Jets fans as a move towards taking the AFC East division title, the New York Jets traded for Browns wide receiver Braylon Edwards this morning.
At first glance, the move would appear to make sense for the Jets–they’ve lacked a big name wide receiver this season, who can stretch the field and take some pressure off of the running game. Led by a defense that is ranked 3rd in points allowed and 4th in yardage allowed in the NFL and the effective (if not spectacular, for a rookie) play of QB Mark Sanchez, the team started 3-0.
But the Jets passing game is also ranked 27th in the NFL after four games, and Sanchez looked more like a rookie QB last week against the Saints, a team that, while improved defensively, has not had a reputation for having a stout defense in recent years. And while the running game is currently ranked 9th in the NFL by yardage, that can’t be expected to continue if the team can’t effectively move the ball through the air, as teams will start to put 8-9 guys in the box regularly to stop Thomas Jones and Leon Washington.
Edwards brings to the Jets a rare combination of size and speed, and the pedigree of being a #3 overall pick, in the 2005 draft. But to be honest, that’s about all the positivity that he brings to the table for the Jets.
Drew Rosenhaus (@RosenhausSports) has quickly become a big fan of Twitter, updating his 23,000+ followers of the status of several of his numerous NFL clients, like announcing his firm’s signing of Bryant McKinnie or that Mike McKenzie is healthy, has worked out for the Seahawks, and expects to sign somewhere soon.
I wonder, though, how teams will start reacting to his updates, when they may impact their attempts to improve their team. For instance, this morning, Rosenhaus tweeted:
“The Vikings have informed me that they will be waiving receiver Aundrae Allison by 5pm today if he isn’t traded first.”
As far as I can see, this tweet effectively eliminates whatever little leverage the Vikings may have had in a trade situation–after all, why would a team that’s short on WR and kick return talent give up a late round draft pick for a guy who’s going to hit the waiver wire in a little more than 7 hours?
It makes sense from Rosenhaus’ perspective–if his client is traded, he has no control over the team he lands with, and there is no new contract signed, meaning Rosenhaus doesn’t get another commission.
But if you’re the Vikings, would you put up with Rosenhaus announcing their intentions to the world? They may have informed Allison/Rosenhause merely in good faith, so it was clear why he wouldn’t be on the practice field today, since they wouldn’t want him getting hurt after the roster decision had been made.
Now, if I were the Vikings, I would consider not waiving him until the end of camp, merely to spite Rosenhaus.
Jurors in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California Monday awarded more than 2,000 former professional football players a $28.1 million verdict against the NFL Players Association and its licensing and marketing division, after determining that the union and its subsidiary, Players Inc., failed to market retired players’ marketing rights under a group licensing authorization contract.
The contract was supposed to cover licensing of electronic games, collectables, and other merchandise. The jury award included more than $7 million in actual damages and $21 million in punitive damages for the claim, which was originally filed by Herb Adderley.
Adderley wept following the announcement and told the Associated Press “I won three Super Bowls and this feels better than all of them combined.” NFLPA Acting Executive Director Richard Berthelsen told the AP the union planned to ask U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup to toss out the verdict. If that fails, the union intends to appeal.
On Sunday after the Cleveland Browns lost to Washington Kellen Winslow Jr. went public with details of the medical issue – a staph infection – that kept him out of the team’s game a week earlier.
He said he was upset with the team because it wanted to keep the infection quiet and blamed him for not wanting it revealed, and saved particular venom for general manager Phil Savage for not calling on him while he was hospitalized.
“I heard from [head coach] Romeo Crennel and I heard from my position coach [Alfredo Roberts] when I was in the Clinic. I heard from my teammates. But I never heard from the main man – Phil Savage – and that really disappoints me. Sometimes I don’t even feel a part of this team,” according to an Associated Press story posted at www.nfl.com (and linked to above).
On Tuesday the Browns issued a statement announcing that they have suspended Winslow without pay for one game.
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