Today, May 2nd, Junior Seau was found dead in his home in Oceanside, CA. TMZ broke the story at 10 a.m. that Seau was found with a gunshot wound to his chest. Reports say that it was a suicide but police continue to investigate the cause of death. This is not the first time that Seau has possibly considered suicide. In 2010, he drove his car off a cliff but said he had just fallen asleep at the wheel. Whatever the cause of death, he will always be remembered as one of the greatest linebackers to play in the NFL.
Miami Dolphins
Whatever Arkansas and even college football fans think about the dismissal of Bobby Petrino as coach, it is done and over. Petrino made his bed, so to speak, and now he must lie in it.
Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long announced at a press conference Tuesday night that Petrino has been terminated for “abusing his authority” and “jeopardizing the integrity of the football program” following the aftermath of his motorcycle accident on April 1.
Speculators would say Petrino finally got what was coming to him. After years of less than scrupulous dealings with his bosses and players, those sins have come back to haunt him in the worst way possible.
So here is what we, as football fans, are looking at so far this year; a pretty good Super Bowl, a god among men leaves his team, new coaches everywhere, “Bounty-Gate” and the always revolving debate on who should go number one. This has been a ride so far and it’s just heating up.
There is no doubt the Cleveland Browns are as devoid of talent as any NFL team. They have struggled since re-entering the league in 1999, making the playoffs only once. Several General Managers, Coaches, Quarterbacks and players later, the Browns are still a consistent 4-12, 5-11 team.
However this year is bringing a ray of hope. Sunshine clearing out the clouds by the benevolence of the league itself. Monday it was announced the NFL awarded Cleveland four compensatory picks in this year’s draft, giving the Browns a total of 13. That is the most picks the team has had since the 1999 draft when they received extra picks for being an expansion team. The Browns selected Tim Couch, quarterback out of Kentucky as the first pick in the draft that year.
As of today the secret is out on who the New Orleans Saints want as their “replacement” coach for Sean Payton. It’s none other than Bill Parcells, Payton’s mentor. At first the name sounds a little far-fetched. But on second thought, it may not be so “out there.”
Parcells has been out of coaching since 2006. Yet he has stayed in the game as the President of the Miami Dolphins until last year, and then as a commentator on ESPN. Yet give me one person who has the intestinal fortitude to tell Parcells the game has passed him by.
So the Miami Dolphin fans are in an uproar. Stephen Ross bought the team over a year ago promising big things. Yet the big things have gone elsewhere and the fans are growing restless.
First the team released Chad Henne. The Michigan product had one good season as the quarterback of the Dolphins, but then never fulfilled what he showed. Mark him gone to the team up North, Jacksonville.
Then came the Peyton Manning negotiations. Or rather, lack of negotiations. Miami was expected to be a destination for Manning. After all it made sense that Manning would want a warm weather climate for his ailing neck. Yet he chose a cold weather city in Denver. So again, the Dolphins were left wanting.
The Miami Dolphins have been jilted again as former Green Bay Packers quarterback Matt Flynn went against common opinion and signed a three-year, $26 million deal ($10 million guaranteed) with the Seattle Seahawks instead of with the Miami Dolphins. Flynn was thought to be a shoo-in for the Dolphins as the new Miami head coach Joe Philbin was Green Bay‘s offensive coordinator from 2007-2011,
But instead he spurned south beach for the rain in Seattle, in what is a massive win for Pete Carroll and the Seahawks. Other than Peyton Manning, Flynn was the best free agent quarterback available.
The Peyton Manning derby continued into its second week with little sign of a decision being forthcoming. It’s almost like the hokey pokey, teams get in, teams get out, Manning flies himself all about.
After meeting with the Dolphins, Titans, Cardinals and Broncos early in the derby process, the Broncos forced the hand of two other teams when the Broncos put out exactly how much they were offering or alleged to be offering Peyton for his services. That figure, said to be around 50 million for 5 years, eliminated the Dolphins and Cardinals from contention. That left the Titans and Broncos. But wait, there’s more.
Everyone was expecting the big news today to be free agent signings, but the Chicago Bears got a jump on free agency by acquiring Pro Bowl wide receiver Brandon Marshall in a trade with the Miami Dolphins for the Bears’ third-round draft picks in 2012 and 2013, as first reported by Fox’s Jay Glazer.
This is a great move for the Bears, who were expected to target a high-profile free-agent receiver such as Vincent Jackson, but instead they reunite Jay Cutler with one of his top targets from his time in Denver.
If you have read any of my blogs here on Tim Tebow you should know two things. One, I think Tim Tebow is an outstanding person and two, I think Tim Tebow will never be an NFL quarterback. I believe John Elway thinks the same things.
I have long said that Elway does not believe Tebow can fix his mechanics. Like me, I believe Elway thinks that 20 years of mechanics cannot be corrected in any span of time no matter how motivated the person may be. I believe that Denver is NOT going to play a college style offense in the NFL. They tried to work with it this season and against some mediocre teams it had a little success. However, against the elite teams in the NFL that kind of play is never, ever going to work. Elway knows this.
