ARE PUNTERS REAL FOOTBALL PLAYERS?

Here's what Mike Golic had to say last week...

Bravo, Mike, for saying what we all are thinking, in the wake of the NFL fining  Steelers linebacker Terence Garvin for his hard hit on Bengals punter Kevin Huber.

Garvin was not flagged on the play, but the NFL said afterward that he should have been.

According to NFL Vice President of Officiating Dean Blandino, punters ,  and kickers are considered defenseless players throughout the entire down, meaning they can’t be hit in the head or neck area.

Garvin’s helmet struck Huber’s chin. Huber suffered a broken jaw and a cracked vertebrae on the hit, ending his season.

This was a brutal hit.

If Garvin were being called out for unnecessary roughness, I might not have a problem with it.

But Huber was trying to make a tackle.

To call a professional football player making a tackle ‘defenseless’ is a joke.

If a kicker or punter is truly defenseless, they should be required to get off of the field after they kick.

Better yet-every kicker and punter should be insulted by the ruling from Blandino, a ruling that emasculated every punter and kicker who ever played the game.

Because Blandino just confirmed to be true what you have been fighting against your whole careers.

Blandino just said you are not real football players.

DESTINY

How many times have you heard something like this on ESPN?

Detroit's loss catapulted the Bears (8-6) into sole possession of first place and put them in control of their own destiny

or

The Eagles are a team of destiny

Now while I may wish it were my destiny to date one of the Eagles cheerleaders...

I doubt that destiny has much to do with the National Football League.

After all, what is destiny?

Destiny is a predetermined course of events.

So to say you control your destiny, while it sounds nice, is fallacy. If the events are predetermined, you cannot control them.

So the Bears were not in control of their own destiny when the Eagles gave them a full can of whup-ass on Sunday night.

They just lost the game.

But were the Eagles a team of destiny?

I would give them the same odds of me being destined to date the cheerleader. Slim and none.

If there is such a thing as destiny, it is set by either God, some other higher being, or the cosmos.

And I doubt that God, or some other being, or the cosmos, are paying that much attention to football.

That's Las Vegas' job.

So sorry Eagle's fans, and Eagles cheerleader fantasizers, there's no destiny going on here.

Merry Christmas, Eagles fans! The Birds are still in the hunt, and get to play Dallas for a playoff spot. From where they started the season, it may noit be destiny, but it's a heckuva run!

The Eagles may yet win the super bowl if they play well and are lucky.

But destiny will have nothing to do with it.

And as for me....well I never dated a cheerleader when I was a yewt, and at this point, I wouldn't want to date anyone who is not my side of forty.

But heck, I'm old, not blind! And I needed a picture on this post and isn't she way cuter than the average Santa-booing Eagle's fan?

Well....except maybe this fan...

Merry Christmas everyone!

FAREWELL, RENAISSANCE MAN

Todd Christensen, a five-time Pro Bowl tight end with the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders from 1978-1988,  died Wednesday at a hospital near his home in Alpine, Utah, from complications during liver transplant surgery. He was 57 years old.

Christensen, a devout Mormon, did not drink. His family believed the liver problems began 25 years ago after a "botched" gall bladder operation.

Christensen came out of BYU as a running back, but late Raiders owner Al Davis saw something else. "He was a hybrid tight end, an H-back before it came a football term," says former Raiders coach Tom Flores.

Playing at 6-3, 230 in the NFL, Christensen finished with 461 receptions for 5,872 yards and 41 touchdowns in the regular season, including 92 catches for 1,247 yards and 12 touchdowns in 1983.

"He brought a lot to table as a person and a personality, and also on the football field he could catch everything thrown his way basically," says Jim Plunkett, the former quarterback who teamed with Christensen on two Super Bowl runs. "He was a big, barrel-chested guy at one time, and he had knack for getting between the ball and the defender."

Nicknamed The Renaissance Man for his varied interests, Christensen left football for broadcasting, including at NBC Sports, ESPN and the CBS Sports Network.

"I remember Todd always using big words and quotes from famous authors and poets," Flores says. "He was comical at times because no one knew what he was talking about."

CAN AN NFL OFFENSIVE LINEMAN BE BULLIED?

Richie Incognito once bullied a teammate so badly that the teammate suddenly got up from the ground and stomped out of football practice.

 

It was early 2002 — long before Incognito was accused of similar behavior with the Miami Dolphins. Incognito was just a freshman at Nebraska, but that didn't stop him from picking fights or harassing teammates, in this case plowing into a teammate's back during practice, knocking him to the ground for no apparent reason. The teammate responded by getting up, grabbing his equipment and walking out.

 

Incognito's promising college career at the University of Nebraska ended as a result of anger (fights with teammates, opponents and random students led to suspension).

 

As a member of the Rams from 2006 to 2009, Incognito committed 38 penalties, drawing more flags for unnecessary roughness (seven) than anyone else in that span. The St. Louis Rams gave up on him after he head-butted two opponents in 2009, the latest of the 38 penalties he committed with the Rams in four seasons. The Buffalo Bills claimed him, but dumped him after three games.

 

Incognito was voted the league’s dirtiest player in a 2009 Sporting News survey of 99 NFL players.

 

How one can be voted to this honor and have no action taken against him by the league is beyond me.

 

Allegations this week that Incognito bullied a younger teammate, Jonathan Martin, who left the Dolphins, may be the last straw.

After all this, one might wonder why is he still employed in the NFL?

One word: Talent. In football, mean streaks can be assets as long as they stay under control. But that has always been the issue for Incognito: Can he control it this time after not being able to control it previously?

 

The answer appears to be no. Since his freshman year at Nebraska, all of his college and pro teams have ended up suspending him, cutting ties with him or both.

 

In previous interviews with reporters, Incognito and his father indicated other students ridiculed him for being overweight as a child. His father told NFL.com that he gave his son advice: "If you let anyone give you (expletive) now, you're going to take (expletive) your entire life."

 

"When somebody is bullied or there's any type of abuse in their life, we see the cycle of abuse repeated in many different ways," said Shana Alexander, a psychologist in California who has worked with sports teams. "They act out sometimes all the way through their lives. Unless that person can recognize they have issues and want to change that pattern, it tends to want to repeat itself."

 

I would counter to Ms. Alexander that the senior Incognito’s advice was similar to advice my own father gave me, but my father followed it up with strong words about never wanting to see me be a bully.

 

But when I was being bullied as a child and ran into the house, he made me go back out into the street and stand my ground. I took a beating that day….but made enough of a show that the bully looked for sport elsewhere the next day.

 

I do not condone Incognito’s behavior, but I wonder why Martin put up with it? 

 

After all, it is not like Martin is a cheerleader-he plays on the line as well, and looks like he can handle himself. 

 

 

While I think Incognito will deserve whatever punishment the league hands out, I have a problem with a three hundred pound man who cannot stand up for himself and crying "bully."

And where were the other linemen during all this? Isn’t the offensive line supposed to function as a unit?

Many of Martin's teammates seem to side with Incognito. Apparently, the two were inseparable off the field. Said one teammate, "If Richie was terrorizing him, he had a funny way of showing it."

People face bullies throughout their life. Usually as an adult, it is non-physical, but the willingness to stand one’s ground is (in my opinion), an integral part of the conflict resolution skill set. 

 

There may come a day when Martin will have no league official to fight his battle for him. I hope he is prepared.

 

And for Incognito? Sadly, some team will probably be desparate enough for a lineman that he will play again. I just hope he is faced with a rookie who hits him over the head with a chair. He needs to learn a lesson that he should have been taught a long time ago.

 

And that's not bullying....that's the School of Hard Knocks!

JACKED UP!

Last month, it was soccer gone wild in Brazil, when, after an argument over a red card, the incident escalated into the stabbing of a player and the dismemberment of a referee in an amateur game.

It all started when the referee expelled the player from an amateur soccer game. 

The two got into a fist fight, then the referee took out a knife and stabbed the player, who died on his way to the hospital.

After the ref fatally stabbed the player, fans responded with his beating, stoning, murder and dissection, culminating with decapitating Silva and leaving his head on a stake in the middle of the field.

I guess there can be only one…

This week, an Australian man attending an Oklahoma college on a baseball scholarship was shot and killed in what police described Monday as a random act of violence by three "bored" teenagers who decided to kill someone for the fun of it.

If that is not proof that baseball needs more excitement, I don’t know what is.

Instead of punishing A-Rod, I say let’s bring back Barry Bonds and start doling out the ‘roids. 

Get these guys bigger and more aggressive. Give the people what they want!

Those Brazillian soccer fans know how to party!

From now on, when a pitcher hits a batter with a pitch, knock him out! 

And if the batter can still stand-he’s got a bat, go to town on the guy! After all, he's tagging you with that ball because he thinks you are feeble.

In football, when a kicker misses an extra point…well what they did on the field in Brazil would certainly serve as a long overdue notice to all those prima-donna kickers. 

All they have to do is kick a frickin’ ball!

Maybe seeing a kicker's head on the uprights would be a little incentive...

The NFL is spending all this time trying to make football less violent.

Why?

Soccer is the NUMBER ONE sport in the world!

Because they DECAPITATE THE REFEREES! That is must-see TV!

We’re following the world example with Marxism, socialized medicine, and a failing economy….when are we going to get in line with our sports?

Man up, America! Jacked up is going to take on a whole new meaning!

ARIZONA RATTLERS BACK-TO-BACK ARENA LEAGUE CHAMPS

The Arizona Rattlers became the second team to win back-to-back Arena Football League Championships with a win over the Philadelphia Soul in a rematch of last year's contest.

I have always liked the Arena league-it's a football fix during the NFL off-season, and it's a bunch of players who are not paid millions (many have to have day jobs) playing a game they love.

And no one props the league up (like the WNBA, which would fold if the NBA did not dump millions into it-if you're an NBA ticket buyer, you're keeping that league afloat).

I let my season tickets go a few years ago but have been toying with the idea of getting them back. It is an affordable game, and is fun.

Sadly, the Arizona media, which is a half-step above Mayberry, paid no attention to the Rattler's season. As usual.

Every story I found on the internet was from the Philadelphia media.

Way to support the home team, Arizona newspapers and television.

So you had to hunt to find the games, including the championship game.

But it was worth the hunt, and worth watching.

Congratulations, Rattlers!

I THOUGH THERE WAS NO CRYING IN FOOTBALL?

....alternate title "PHUC PHILADELPHIA"

All this bullshit political correctness makes me view my upcoming colonoscopy as a welcome diversion.

Okay, I get that Riley Cooper calling a black bouncer a "nigger" was maybe not a nice thing to do, and even more so an error for him since, as a Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver, he is in the public eye.

Recently, Philadelphia's mayor said that if Cooper worked in his office, he would seriously consider firing him.

Mayor Nutter says "all of us...should be offended by these comments."

Really?

Let's review.

Cooper was at a Kenny Chesney concert (maybe THAT is a firing offense), had an altercation with a bouncer and was captured on video saying he would "fight every nigger here."

And I will take it on faith he meant to offend.

First, Mayor Nutter, it was ONE comment. Apparently mayors do not need to know basic arithmetic in their roles.

And I certainly would not say that anyone should not be disappointed to hear of the incident.

But when the video surfaced almost TWO MONTHS LATER, all of America earned a collective  Oscar nomination for their faked shock and offense.

Why do I say faked?

First of all, Cooper sounds to me like a young guy who showed poor judgment when lashing out at someone in anger. I am simply not convinced that this is more than that. This guy plays in a sport where blacks are represented far more than they are in the general population, and I would find it hard to believe he would harbor strong bigoted feelings after years in integrated locker rooms.

 Second, Cooper said what he said to one man. THAT man has every right to be offended.

I will even allow that any black within earshot has the right to be offended.

But all of the asswipes who saw the video two months after the fact and act like they were a victim do not have that right. 

Grow your sorry-liberal-politically-correct-go-along-with-the-crowd-ignorant-sheep-asses up!

Steven A. Smith on ESPN, evaluating whether the apology Cooper issued was "contrite" enough.

Piss off, you gelded, spineless corporate puppet! He did not call YOU anything, so he does not have to apologize to you. I just called you plenty and I'm not sorry about it.

Same to you Michael Nutter, who does not deserve to be mayor simply on the silly last name-if you fire someone who is good at their job for doing something perfectly legal (if in bad taste) while not at work, it makes you an ass.

I have to go to Philadelphia this week to settle some family affairs, but am tempted never to return until your sorry ass is out of office so I don't have to see your lame-ass face in that picture in the airport.

Cooper needed to apologize to the man at the concert, because he did react childishly and offensively.

And to his teammates, because he embarrassed the organization.

He did.

And that should be the end of it.

There would be some locker room and on-field antics until it fully was in the past, but it would eventually blow over.

And if the incident did not repeat itself, even those who felt hurt upon hearing of the slur, would move on.

Instead the team, in dire need of talent at wide receiver, suspends a man who would be a starter, which will also prolong this punk-ass drama in the media, where it has already received far more attention than it deserves.

America-why are putting a white sheet on this man? Lighten up and let it go!

FREEDOM OF POOR TASTE

The cast of an Atlanta sports radio show has been fired after mocking a former NFL player who has Lou Gehrig's disease, a station official said Monday.

The show, "Mayhem In The AM," was broadcast on 790 The Zone on Monday morning. In a statement, general manager Rick Mack said the station regrets comments made about former New Orleans Saints safety Steve Gleason.

The 36-year-old Gleason suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which he was diagnosed with in 2011. ALS patients lose the ability to speak, move and eat, which has happened to Gleason.

He wrote a column SI.com on Monday, using technology that allows him to use his eyes to write, detailing his life with the disease, his interactions with his 19-month-old son Rivers, and his efforts to help others with ALS.

"I am well into the disease progression. I am unable to walk, talk or eat. In some ways, this stage of the process is less frustrating than previous stages. I often feel normal. I forget that it's weird to eat through a tube or be in a wheelchair. Still, I can't deny that it's a struggle," he wrote.

Team Gleason, an organization named after the former NFL player, is geared toward finding a cure for ALS, raising awareness of the disease and connecting patients to technology, equipment and services tailored to fit their needs.

790 The Zone lists the hosts as Nick Cellini, Steak Shapiro and Chris Dimino. But Mack didn't give the names of those fired.

During the segment, two of the on-air personalities took a call from a third host who pretended to be Gleason by using a voice that sounded automated -- mimicking another ALS patient, world-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking.

The host pretending to be Gleason told a series of jokes and eventually asked the two others to do him a favor by smothering him.

All three took to Twitter on Monday evening to apologize to fans and others who criticized the segment. Listeners and critics turned to the station's Facebook page to call for the hosts' termination.

The Atlanta Falcons issued a statement on Monday denouncing the radio hosts' comments.

"The content concerning Mr. Gleason was completely inappropriate and is not representative of the views of the Falcons organization, nor does it represent the way we conduct our business on and off the field," the statement said. "To single out Steve the way he was this morning is totally lacking in taste and discretion."

Gleason played for the Saints between 2000 and 2006.

I’d heard an objection on a show this morning that the hosts should be protected by the First Amendment.

Sorry guys.

First off, sometimes a joke, no matter how funny it may be, shouldn’t be shared. This was in poor taste, and just mean. 

But you got your first amendment privileges and were able to do the routine on the air.

But the First Amendment does not guarantee you a job. So when advertisers, fans and Atlanta officials started exerting pressure, the axe had to fall.

Want to see my impression of an out-of-work morning sports radio host? It’s a riot!

GROWING UP BRADY

 

Kurt Warner is my favorite NFL player ever.

He had handled so much adversity with class, maturity, and heck-grace!

His well-published long road to starting quarterback and Super Bowl champion, being demoted from starter time and again, criticism over his public expressions of faith, being demoted from starter time and again, criticism over his wife’s comments to the St. Louis media, criticism over his “toughness.”

 

He handled the criticism and adversity with class, never disparaging his teammates or coaches, and kept on plugging, traded first to the Giants and then to Arizona, retaking the starting job and leading the Arizona Cardinals, a perennial sad sack franchise, to their first Super Bowl appearance.

On so many levels, he is a class act, and I think his on-the-field play warrants Hall of Fame consideration.

But this post is not about Kurt Warner. It is about his first nemesis.

Tom Brady.

 

As Kurt put it on an ESPN special, the Rams-Patriots contest that year turned Tom Brady into TOM BRADY.

 

I have never forgiven Tom Brady for beating Warner in the Super Bowl (not to mention going on to beat the Eagles, and then making me root for the Giants, not once-but twice).

But after the story broke this week about Brady’s contract extension, I have to begrudgingly admit that Brady is one heckuva team player.

Now I do not want to paint him as Mother Theresa-he is after all, a millionaire several times over, and married to a wife with a pretty lucrative modeling career of her own. I do not think they have to worry about how to fund college for little ones Ben and Vivian.

But this is the second time Brady took a considerable amount less on his market value to allow the team owners more salary cap room to build a championship team around him.

After all, he is certainly worth more than Drew Bress, who milked the Saints for every penny he could.

You could argue Brady should be the highest paid quarterback in the league...at $15 million, he’s not in the top five for 2013.

Stafford, Lions-$20.8M

Manning, Giants-$20.4M

Manning, Broncos-$20.0M

Brees, Saints-$17.4M

Rivers, Chargers-$17.1M

Since the Patriots will undoubted spend the salary cap room saved on this renegotiation in free agency, the Patriots, who looked pretty formidable in 2012 up until facing the Ravens in the AFC Championship game.

So when Brady says (and he did this week), "I just want to win," you tend to believe him.

Not only do I think the Patriots are still a dynasty...I would not bet against them to win it all next year!

A GOOD DAY TO LIVE STRONG

A couple of months ago I'd posted about the doping scandal surrounding Lance Armstrong and the media pile-on.

I was torn then, because I'd given Armstrong the benefit of the doubt.

I was wrong-he did cheat.

While I certainly do not condone cheating, or even him lying about cheating, there was behavior Armstong exhibited that is even more deplorable.

And I'm not talking abouit him getting in between me and Sheryl Crow (although I really think I had a chance except for the fact that the closest I ever got to her was the lawn seats at Phoenix's Desert Sky Pavillion).

Lance Armstrong went after people who accused him of doping like a mad dog.

He has filed lawsuits for defamation of character and libel, been sued for behavior described as "systemic bullying and harassment," and earned a vicious reputation for going after people who went after him, to the point of  damaging the reputations of people who, as it turns out, were telling the TRUTH.

And last week, Armstrong went on Oprah to "confess."

No one goes to Oprah to confess. They go to Oprah to get all misty-eyed and act contrite and win back the approval of the people.

Lance, you are full of shinola.

I read an interesting post this morning from C'est La Vie discussing whether it was acceptable to support the Livestrong charity, or whether that was simple an attempt by Armstrong to buy himself some respect.

I do believe it is acceptable to separate Armstrong's deplorable behavior from his good behavior, and in fact, even if his involvement in Livestrong was a ploy, Livestrong does some good, so I think people should go on supporting the organization.

No one is all "good" or all "bad."

Well maybe Mother Theresa and Ghandi were all "good."

Maybe Hitler and Saddam Hussein were all "bad."

But Hitler liked dogs. And Saddam's children probably loved him.

Life is not black and white.

You had to know I was going to find a way to justify a Sheryl Crow picture in this post, right?

Sheryl Crow said that it would have been difficult for her ex-fiance, former cycling champion Lance Armstrong, to keep his doping secret any longer.

"I think that honesty is always the best bet and that the truth will set you free," Crow told ET's Nancy O'Dell. The musician told ET she only saw "bits and pieces" of Armstrong's confession interview with Oprah Winfrey. "To carry around a weight like that would be devastating in the long run."

Ms. Crow is right-the confession is a good start, assuming it is truly a confession and not a public relations ploy.

Armstrong has lost a lot.

Of all that he has lost, I believe his integrity is the most precious commodity.

With time, he may be able to win that back.

SAY OW!

The family of Junior Seau has sued the NFL, claiming the former linebacker's suicide was the result of brain disease caused by violent hits he sustained while playing football.

The wrongful death lawsuit, filed Wednesday in California Superior Court in San Diego, blames the NFL for its "acts or omissions" that hid the dangers of repetitive blows to the head. It says Seau developed chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) from those hits, and accuses the NFL of deliberately ignoring and concealing evidence of the risks associated with traumatic brain injuries.

Seau, a linebacker who played 20 seasons in the NFL and retired in 2009, died at age 43 of a self-inflicted gunshot in May. He was diagnosed with CTE, based on posthumous tests, earlier this month.

Helmet manufacturer Riddell Inc., also is being sued by the Seaus, who say Riddell was "negligent in their design, testing, assembly, manufacture, marketing, and engineering of the helmets" used by NFL players. The suit says the helmets were unreasonably dangerous and unsafe.

Plaintiffs are listed as Gina Seau, Junior's ex-wife; Junior's children Tyler, Sydney, Jake and Hunter, and Bette Hoffman, trustee of Seau's estate.

The lawsuit accuses the league of glorifying the violence in pro football, and creating the impression that delivering big hits "is a badge of courage which does not seriously threaten one's health."

It singles out NFL Films and some of its videos for promoting the brutality of the game.

"In 1993's 'NFL Rocks,' Junior Seau offered his opinion on the measure of a punishing hit: 'If I can feel some dizziness, I know that guy is feeling double (that),' " the suit says.

You know what is missing in the above text, which came from ESPN’s site? 

The fact that no one held a gun to Seau’s head to force him to make MILLIONS playing football.

In fact (let me apologize in advance for this one), the only one who held a gun to Seau’s head was SEAU!

I’m sorry-his death was certainly regrettable, and a tragedy for the family, but for them to act like the NFL was covering something up means that they are saying it was unforeseeable for them that all of those collisions and concussions might cause future problems.

Seau is not accountable for his choices-it's all the fault of the NFL, Riddell, and NFL Films for leading poor little choirboy Junior astray.

As far as I am concerned, the lawsuit makes the NFL's case by quoting the “NFL Rocks” video! 

Seau was PROUD of delivering those punishing hits! 

He REVELED in his "Say-Ow" nickname! 

He LOVED being on the weekly highlight reels!

If Gina Seau and Bette Hoffman truly believe that Junior Seau was a victim, they are stupid, and I do not think they are stupid.

I know that after a death, people reach out for someone to blame, and I am saddened for their loss.

But I would have had more respect for them if they would have reached out to the league to set up some sort of resource for former players.

The lawsuit claims money was behind the NFL's actions. 

Well, money is certainly behind the lawsuit, and that’s a fine footnote to the Junior Seau legacy

Sorry, but in my mind, the greedy bloodsucking leeches in this story are the millionaires who filed this lawsuit.