Recent Posts
Frustrated, agitated, and flat-out annoyed. If you were Carson Palmer, this is how you'd feel right about now. After a dismal season for the Bengals, it's clear to see why Palmer would want out. And it's not just because of the Bengals' abysmal 4-12 record.
Palmer is practically being held captive by the Bengals. At this point, there's not much he can do about it. Palmer has listed his house in Cincinnati for sale. He has a home back in LA that he will live in full-time for the upcoming months, back where he was the heisman winner at near-by Southern Cal.
Last month, Palmer's request to be traded away from Cinci was rejected by owner Mike Brown. Brown is slowly becoming the Don Sterling (Clippers owner) of the NFL. The Bengals were 52-108 in the 1990's, and 68-91-1 in the 2000's. Nothing is going to change there with Brown in command. When did Brown takeover ownership? 1991. This is not a coincidence.
People say that the Bengals have always been a horrible franchise. No they haven't. They were a combined 81-71 in the 1980's, right before Mike Brown took over. Palmer knows he'll never have long-term success there, because the owner won't try to put the pieces together. He'll pay for a few big names (Terrell Owens, Chad Ocho Cinco, and Palmer), but doesn't have any interest in building a successful team for years to come.
Palmer has done all he can do. Having Ocho Cinco and T.O. in his ear every game doen't help the least bit. They promised a Superbowl appearance, and ended-up in a pointing-fingers game, as most teams do when they're this bad. Except it's those two, which makes the situation three times worse.
To further exemplify why Palmer would want to leave, and why Mike Brown is such a fake, take in the fact that, even while doing a pretty atrocious job, Marvin Lewis is still the head coach. I don't think any other coaches would want to go to Cinci any way, but keeping Lewis was a bad move. The truth is, Brown probably knows that. That is what's so terrible.
San Francisco is a QB away from competing in a weak NFC west. Miami could contend for a wildcard with a better quarterback. Yet Palmer won't be under center for those teams unless something drastic hits Brown in the head and knocks some sense into him.
The Bengals will never consistently contend with well-run franchises like Pittsburgh and Baltimore in their division as long as Brown is at the helm. And some of the players they have brought in are locker room cancers. It only takes a few to ruin a team's chemistry.
In conclusion, Palmer may have to retire, sit out a year, then hit free agency come 2012. He'll still have a couple years in the twilight of his prime, and would be 100% healthy. That's about all he can do. One thing I do know, is that he will never be happy in Cinci again. Not with what this organization looks like, and who's running it.
Herschel Walker has a fight ahead of him...literally, with an MMA Strikeforce battle coming up this Saturday. He may be taking on an even bigger battle in the near future.
Walker, with his Greek god-like 6'1"-220 pound-plus physique, may be attempting a comeback to the NFL. He once was college football's poster child, one of the best to ever play on that level. He later went on to a successful NFL career.
After being an olympic bobsledder, and now an MMA fighter, Walker feels confident he can still play in the NFL. He will be 49 before next season starts, but may not want to play again till 2012, when he will be 50, and will have gone 15 years without being in an NFL huddle.
Walker was reported to have ran a sub-4.4., 40 yard dash last year. He's 48 for heaven's sake. There's no doubt in anyone's mind that he's still a physical freak and still has surpreme athleticism. But at 48, no matter how fit, can he take the pounding of the NFL day-in and day-out still?
Mental toughness will be just as much of a factor as physical in this situation. He looks close, to just as good, in shape as he was two decades ago. But even with the violence and physicality of MMA, it's not an everyday thing like NFL practices and games.
It's been done before in sports. George Foreman in boxing. Gordie Howe in hockey. George Blanda in football. All those guys have performed in their late 40's in extremely physical sports. But this is different from the rest.
Blanda played that long as a quarterback and kicker, not a runningback, a position that players don't last too long at in the NFL. While Walker is different from maybe any athlete to ever walk on this earth, the aches and pains will multiply much faster than 10, 15, 20 years ago.
Walker's nature is he's a very self-motivated, dedicated, focused person. You have to be to have the success that he's had. So with that said, I'm not taking him lightly, and no one else should either. Especially owners and GMs.
With that said, what teams would Walker want to play for? He had said he wanted to possibly make a comeback in Georgia, with the Atlanta Falcons. But would Atlanta want him with Michael Turner and Jason Snelling there? What about one of his former team, the Vikings?
I think the better question is, what teams would want to give him a chance?
"I 100 percent guarentee you I can help a football team out," said Walker. So who would take a stab? I think there's more teams than most people think that would atleast give Walker a tryout.
Surely some team would let him fight (not literally) for a spot, by giving him a training camp invite, right? I guess we'll find out soon enough. To think Ken Strong and the great Jim Thorpe were the only runningbacks over 40 to play in the NFL, is crazy when thinking about Walker.
But like Thorpe, Walker is another level of athlete. He may never be what he was, or even close, but if I'm an NFL team, it doesn't hurt anything by giving him a shot. You may say it sounds crazy to think a 50 year old guy playing in the NFL. But have you seen Herschel Walker. He is crazy.
Rex Ryan maybe one of the best coaches in the NFL today, but everyone knows that's not what he's most known for. Ever since he got the head coaching job in New York for the Jets, the coach has never shied away from the cameras, and has never been short of controversial qoutes against that weeks' opponent.
After saying his match-up with Peyton Manning was "personal", he took his shots this past week at Bill Belichick. He's had his share of pokes and prods at the New England coach, and Belichicks' quarterback, Tom Brady.
After the Manning remarks, and his and Antonio Cromartie's trash talk against New England, the Jets are still standing. But with Pittsburgh in front of them in the AFC Championship, the Jets are suddenly clamping down their yappers and shutting their pie-holes.
The question is, why would you change something that seems to be working? Well, the fact that he probably doesn't have anything on Steelers coach Mike Tomlin might factor in. But what about Ben Roethlisberger? There's plenty of off-field things to pick on him about. But that might seem a bit elementary, even for Ryan.
Not only is there no trash talking going on, but Ryan and the Jets are complimenting the Steelers, with Ryan saying how hard Roethlisberger is to bring down and gameplan for, and showing ut-most repect to Tomlin.
So is this a big love-fest between these two teams, or just reverse-psychology? And even weirder question would be, should the Steelers feel disrespected for not being bad-mouthed by the Jets and Ryan?
My guess is Pittsburgh could care less if Ryan was talking trash or not this week, and I'm going with them to win. In fact, I don't even know why I would write a blog about this. Anyway, preparation and execution will be the keys as always, not the words (or lack of) coming out of Ryan's mouth.
Joe Namath was the NFL's first true glamour quarterback, and was considered to have changed the position to the media darling that it is today. That's real good and all, but ask yourself this: Should one promise put you in the Hall of Fame?
Joseph William Namath should of never been inducted among the great ones. Because he wasn't great. He was barely good, and only in his heyday. Sure, he didn't just lead the league in photos taken or news paper qoutes. He was a quarterback, and a pretty good one, one that brought the NFL more towards the passing era and helped create the merger of the NFL and the AFL
[ Click here to read more ]
Ferocious. Vicious. Fierce. Those are good ways to describe the two AFC playoff games that will be held this weekend. "...It'll be fun," said Ravens QB Joe Flacco. Blood baths always are.
The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens have become the most behind-the-woodshed rivalry in the NFL. Take one look at guys like Ray Lewis, James Harrison, Troy Polamalu, and Haloti Ngata, and you'll understand that. It's two very physical, very high-motored, and very big teams
[ Click here to read more ]
It's hard to believe it when you first hear it, but the 6th-seed in the NFC just might be the team to beat in the conference playoffs. The Green Bay Packers left Phili out in the cold of their own city, having beatin' the Eagles and comeback player of the year Michael Vick, whose interception in the waning moments left the Eagles and their boisterous crowd stunned and silent. There would be no comeback here.
Meanwhile on the other side were the Packers, maybe the hottest team there is right now, celebrating their win over the 3rd-seed. Along with being a scorcher team, nothing less can be said for the outstanding play of quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who had three touchdown passes to finally pick up his previously elusive first playoff win
[ Click here to read more ]
Finally, the Tampa Bay Rays had a no-hitter go their way. After being no-hit and perfect-gamed in the past year, the Rays at last had one of their own, thanks to Matt Garza, who went on to win 15 games last year as the Rays won the AL east. After a series of moves and losses this off-seaon, the AL East title chances for next season were long gone. And now, so is Garza.
Everyone knew Carl Crawford was going. The same with Rafeal Soriano. Carlos Pena was the first of two players who will now play in Chicago next season. The bullpen demolished with the losses of Joaquin Benoit, Randy Choate, and Dan Wheeler to go along with the loss of Soriano. And then to put the cherry on top, Jason Bartlett and Garza, two major pieces brought in that helped the Rays rise to the top of the AL in 2008, were traded away
[ Click here to read more ]
Andrew Luck is returning to Stanford University to complete his degree in architectural design. Someone please tell him the only thing he needs to build is an NFL career, and the only thing that needs designing is the Carolina Panthers offense.
Why would he do this? What's going through his mind? What in the world is he thinking? Many sports fans are probably asking these questions this morning, why wouldn't they? The top player on every team's draft board just decided to hit the books instead. First of all, I have amazing respect for Luck, so this is more weighing pros and cons than bashing him, because I believe whatever decision he made, he thinks it's the right one. But was it, really
[ Click here to read more ]
It was a spectacle for all to see, admire, and drop their jaws to. I remember it as maybe the best college football game I've ever watched, and I think many would agree. Texas and Southern Cal, January 4th, 2006. With the national championship on the line and already having a super-natural type of game, there he was, trotting into the endzone, making a situation and a play so tough, look so, so very easy. At that moment, Vince Young was on top of the world.
Flash-forward just over 5 years later, and here we are, contemplating if this Vince Young, once considered to be a player that would change the game forevor, will ever start in the NFL again. He was going to be Randall Cunningham and Michael Vick combined. He was going to finally take Tennessee to the promise land of lifting the Lombardi Trophy. Those hopes have long-sinced vanished
[ Click here to read more ]
Although it may not be as heated-up as we once thought it would be, the process of firing and replacing NFL coaches is still on fire. You would think it wouldn't be such a big deal seeing as the NFL may not ever get going in the fall of 2011 any way. This has caused a few teams to take a more conservative approach, with the Vikings removing the interim tag from Leslie Frazier and the Cowboys likely staying in house with Jason Garrett. That wouldn't exactly be the norm for Jerry Jones, but then again, the next year could be the least normal one for the NFL in a long time.
Many, including myself, are still surprised that some coaches retained their jobs. Marvin Lewis, even though I think he's a great guy, shouldn't still be in Cincinnati. I'm still scratching my head about Gary Kubiak being welcomed back by the Texans. The New York Giants and Jacksonville Jaguars also held on to their coaches, with the always seeming hot-seat members Tom Coughlin and Jack Del Rio staying employed respectively
[ Click here to read more ]
|
|
|
Comments (1)
Add Comments
Read More
Comment by Dustin Hull
on Herschel Walker: What to Make of His Comeback Attempt
Football Times
Diamond Press