Shorter NFL Draft?
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is toying with the idea of shortening the time between picks in the NFL Draft:
This year's draft included the longest first round in history, at six hours and eight minutes. It also had the longest first day, with the first three rounds stretching 11 hours, four minutes.
Good Lord, yes it did. I'm all for this - especially the Friday night primetime idea. Great way to get even more interest for what is already a huge event. By the way, the idea is to reduce times from 15 to 10 minutes in the first round, 10 to 7 minutes in the second and go 5 minutes for all subsequent rounds. Sounds like a plan to me.
Why I Love Ricky Williams
I love Ricky Williams because he's made the Dolphin franchise miserable since 2003 - we're going on four glorious years of Misery in Miami. New Dolphins coach Cam Cameron has had enough:
"The easiest predictor of future behavior is previous behavior," Cameron said. "Could I have made that statement 15 years ago? Absolutely not. I was trying to save every guy in the game. Ultimately it comes down to the team. You want to be as fair as you can be, but no individual comes above the team."
True that. What an utter waste of talent.
Bears DE Brown Seeks Trade
Bears defensive end Alex Brown, a starter for last year's Super Bowl team, wants out of town:
"We're just trying to see what's out there," Brown said. "That's what we're trying to do. It's not the Bears. They don't want to get rid of me. It's just that I want to see what else is out there.
"If it was up to me I'd get a new contract here and play the rest of my career here. I totally understand some of the things the Bears are saying. We're handling this in a real low-key fashion and that's the way we want to keep it."
Weird. This trade demand doesn't make sense at all to me - three years left on his deal? I suggest playing a year or two of that out, Mr. Brown. Good luck in Chicago this season. Reaction from Windy City Gridiron
The NFL and their sponsors are a touch stubborn
Colts rookie wideout Anthony Gonzalez has been barred from the Colts' first mini-camp. Here's why:
Gonzalez initially declined the invitation, intent on participating in minicamp. When a few other players followed suit, the NFL's Management Council stepped in and sent memos to all 32 teams. The "invitation'' would be honored. Even if a player decided not to participate in the sponsor-related event, he could not attend his team's minicamp.
This is absolutely ridiculous, in my opinion. Naturally, BigBlueShoe from Stampede Blue agrees:
It's an invitation dumb asses! If a person doesn't want to go, he doesn't have to. Gonzalez is not under contract yet, so he has no obligation to the NFL or any of its stupid events. Basically, it isn't an invitation, because invitations can be declined. This was an order from the NFL. The reason the NFL wants Gonzalez to go is because this event is a big deal for the NFL. Reebok is a huge sponsor.
Sorry, but that's not good enough for us fans. We don't give a crap about Reebok, its shoes, or how much money it gives the NFL. Reebok doesn't pay to watch the NFL games, buy NFL merchandise, or keep this league above leagues like the MLB and NBA.
We fans do.
And we fans want to see Anthony Gonzalez in mini-camp catching passes from Peyton Manning, not selling shoes for friggin' Reebok. This is a complete joke, and if I'm the Colts and Jim Irsay I'm livid. It would make more sense for the Colts to just tell Gonzalez to skip the event. If the NFL fines him, the Colts pay the fine. If the NFL suspends him, sue the NFL. I'd love to see their defense both in the eyes of the public and an arbitrator.
Precisely. This is pretty ludicrous. I think BBS hit it on the head; the NFL is making a mistake here. If the backlash is loud enough, Goodell would be stupid not to listen.