Before I get to my Divisional Round Preview, I’d like to send all of the losers from Wild Card Weekend off the only way I know how: By jabbing them one final time.
Atlanta Falcons: Hey Mike Smith and Mike Mularkey, his name is Jerious Norwood. He’s #32 and he’s one of the best playmakers on your offense. Might want to think about using him more the next time an opposing defense figures out how to shut down Michael Turner.
Indianapolis Colts: Seven trips to the postseason in the last seven years and you only manage one Super Bowl appearance with a three-time MVP at quarterback? Dear Barbara…
Miami Dolphins: Chad, I love you man and I love your story this season. But you can’t force passes down field into double coverage and expect good things. You should have kept doing what you did all season and what you did in your first possession of the game – hit the high-percentage passes and let your receivers get the yardage.
Minnesota Vikings: Did anyone else scratch their head when Brad Childress declined a holding penalty on third down early in the first quarter that would have moved the Eagles on the edge of field goal range? Instead, it brought up forth down and David Akers drilled a 43-yarder to give Philly a 3-0 lead. Childress basically said, “I’m not sure if my defense can hold the Eagles on 3rd and 14 – better give up the field goal so we don’t give up a potential touchdown instead.” You never give your opponents points in the playoffs. Never. Not even a field goal. Force them back, force them to make a play and force them to earn the points.
Myself: I went 1-3 with my Wild Card Predictions last week. Seriously? You went with the Colts in the playoffs? A rookie in Matt Ryan? The Vikings over everyone’s sleeper team in the Eagles? You’re a freaking bum. (Ironically I went 3-1 in a family football pool because I came to my senses and picked San Diego and Philly.)
Moving on…
Baltimore Ravens (11-5) at Tennessee Titans (13-3) Saturday, January 10, 4:30PM ET Opening Odds: Titans –3 Over/Under: 34.5 Game Outlook:
No disrespect to the Giants and Eagles or any other team playing this weekend, but this is easily the best matchup on the divisional playoff schedule. Did you see what Ed Reed and the Ravens did to Chad Pennington and the Dolphins last week? They held them to only 276 total yards, forced five turnovers and surrendered only 52 rushing yards. And although they used a lot of gadget formations throughout the season, it’s not like Miami’s offense was a dud this year. Granted, the Titans have the seventh best rushing attack in the league and rookie Chris Johnson brings an added dimension to the field, but Mike Heimerdinger has his hands full this week trying to come up with a game plan to move the ball against a Baltimore defense allowing just over 15 points a game this season. That said, it’ll be interesting to see how rookie quarterback Joe Flacco does against the seventh best defense in the NFL. Flacco passed with flying colors last week while playing mistake-free and running for the game-clinching score in the fourth quarter. But he’ll have to do a hell of a lot more than complete 9 of 23 passes for 135 yards against a Tennessee defense that could have DT Albert Haynesworth and DE Kyle Vanden Bosch back on their defensive line. If both players are in the lineup Saturday, Flacco is going to feel the heat up the middle and from the edges so he better get rid of the ball in a timely manner. Overall, this is the best defensive matchup of the year and this game will probably come down to who doesn’t turn the ball over. X-Factor:Chris Johnson, Titans RB
The only time the Dolphins found success last week was when they used the Ravens’ aggressive style against them and slipped backs out in the flats. Pennington was able to hit Patrick Cobbs and company for seven to 10 yard gains and the Titans could employ the same method. Johnson is a homerun threat and more than capable of taking one to the house every play. Tennessee has to get the ball in this kid’s hands and force the Ravens to miss tackles in the open field, which they have the penchant for doing at times. Prediction:Titans 16, Ravens 13.
I’m not going to bite on this potential upset. The Ravens’ defense is absolutely nasty, but Flacco worries me against a ball-hawking Tennessee secondary and I think the Titans are going to shut down Baltimore’s running game. This game comes down to which team makes fewer mistakes and I’ll take a veteran in Kerry Collins over the rook Flacco. (Word to the wise though, Kerry – stay away from Ed Reed’s side if you can.)
While every year has its own host of surprises, there are always those stories that simply fit the trend. Sure, it can get repetitive, but if we don’t look back at history aren’t we only doomed to repeat it? Every year has its fair share of stories that fell into this category, and 2008 was no different.
Our list of things we already knew this year includes the BCS’ continued suckiness (Texas-Oklahoma), how teamwork wins championships (KG, Pierce and Ray-Ray), and the #1 rule for carrying a handgun into a nightclub – don’t use your sweatpants as a holster. (Come on, Plax. Really? Sweatpants?)
The biggest story of the summer was all the drama surrounding Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers. This saga has been covered to death, but there’s one detail that never seemed to get that much play. At the start, it looked like the Packers were making a bad decision by moving on so quickly even when Favre decided he wanted to return. But when the news broke about Favre’s near-unretirement in March, the Packers stance became much more clear. They were ready to take him back after the owners’ meetings, but he called it off at the last minute. At that point, the Packer brass was understandably finished with Brett Favre, much to the chagrin of a good portion of the Packer faithful. – John Paulsen
The Chicago Cubs’ title drought is not a fans-only phenomenon.
The 2008 Cubs were easily the best team the franchise has assembled in decades, but they still couldn’t win a single game in the playoffs, and the reason is simple: the pressure finally got to them. Sure, they said the right things to the press about how they didn’t care about what had happened in the past, but don’t believe a word of it; there wasn’t a single person in that dugout that wasn’t fantasizing about being part of the team that finally, mercifully, ended the longest title drought in sports history. Once ESPN picked them to win it all, however, they were doomed. Ryan Dempster walked seven batters in Game 1, which matched his total for the month of September. The entire infield, including the sure-handed Derrek Lee, committed errors in Game 2. Alfonso Soriano went 1-14 with four strikeouts in the leadoff spot, while the team as a whole drew six walks and struck out 24 times. The team with so much balance in the regular season suddenly became the most one-dimensional team in baseball; take Game 1 from them, then sit back and watch them choke. And now that this group has lost six straight playoff games (the team has lost nine straight dating back to 2003), it isn’t about to get any easier. Get a helmet, Cubs fans. – David Medsker
If you’re going to wear sweatpants to a nightclub, leave the gun at home.
If winning a Super Bowl is the pinnacle of an NFL player’s career, than shooting yourself with your own gun in a nightclub has to be rock bottom. Case in point: Plaxico Antonio Burress. Just 10 months after helping the New York Giants beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg while at a nightclub. Apparently the (unregistered) gun was slipping down his leg and when he tried to grab it to keep it from falling, the lucky bastard wound up pulling the trigger and shooting himself. And that wasn’t the worst of it because as Plaxico found out, New York has some of the toughest gun laws in the nation. He was arrested, but posted bail of $100,000 and is scheduled to return to court on March 31, 2009. If convicted of carrying a weapon without a license, he faces up to three and a half years in jail. He shouldn’t expect special treatment, either. The mayor of New York wants to be sure that Burress is prosecuted just like any other resident of NYC. The Giants, meanwhile, placed him on their reserve/non-football injury list and effectively ended his season. While “Plax” definitely deserves “Boner of the Week” consideration for his stupidity, what’s sad is that in the wake of Washington Redskins’ safety Sean Taylor’s death, most NFL players feel the need to arm themselves when they go out. Maybe players can learn from not only Taylor’s death, but also Burress’s accident so further incidents can be avoided. – Anthony Stalter
Everyone wonder what really happened the night Plaxico Burress shot himself in a club? Well the guys at Bang! Cartoons have the lowdown, illustrated in their latest hilarious ‘toon. Apparently Burress had motivation to get hurt…
That jab at Shockey was great. Head on over to Bang! to check out all of their NFL cartoons and podcasts!
When the New York Giants placed wide receiver Plaxico Burress on the non-injury football list earlier this week and effectively ended his season, everyone said all the right things. The players said they could win with or without him and the media said the Giants were all about the team – both true.
But nobody could say following their 20-14 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday that the Giants couldn’t have used Burress. Eli Manning was just 13 of 27 for 123 yards and a touchdown, while no Giant receiver had more than four catches or 40 yards.
I don’t want to take anything away from the Eagles’ defense, because they blitzed and swarmed Manning the entire game. They also should have had at least one interception, but Asante Samuel and Brian Dawkins collided with each other and the pass fell to the ground.
That said, Manning looked completely out of sync with his receivers and Domenik Hixon dropped a perfect pass that could have been a touchdown. And once Brandon Jacobs left the game with a knee injury in the third quarter, the Giants could have really used a playmaker like Burress to breathe life into their offense.
Burress doesn’t deserve to be playing right now and it’s only fair he’s being punished for his selfish actions. But the idea that the Giants are a better team without him still remains to be seen and their loss Sunday proves that. They’re still the best team in the league and they will bounce back from their defeat. But it’ll be interesting to see whether or not the offensive woes that were on display on Sunday will reappear in the postseason without Burress in the lineup.
As for the Eagles, this was a massive win and it keeps their slim playoff hopes alive. With the Saints’ win over the Falcons, the final NFC Wild Card spot is up for grabs and if Brian Westbrook (203 total yards, 2 total touchdowns) and the Eagles’ defense plays as well as they did against the Giants, than Philly’s playoff hopes are far from dead.
The New York Giants fined and suspended Burress on Tuesday for four games — the rest of the regular season — after he accidentally shot himself in the right thigh over the weekend at a Manhattan nightclub. The team also placed him on the reserve non-football injury list, which means the wide receiver couldn’t come back for playoffs, either.
The team punished Burress a day after he was charged with illegal weapons possession, which carries a penalty of 3 1/2 to 15 years in prison. He is due back in court on March 31.
Burress arrived at Giants Stadium on Tuesday morning, and met individually with Giants president John Mara, general manager Jerry Reese and head coach Tom Coughlin. He left for a medical test and returned in the afternoon for another brief session with team officials.
“As we have said since Saturday morning, our concern is for Plaxico’s health and well-being,” Mara said. “This is an important time for him to take care of his body and heal up and also deal with the very serious legal consequences and other issues in his life. When I spoke with Plaxico he expressed great remorse for letting down his teammates.”
I applaud the Giants because they always think team-first. They realized that Burress would be a potential distraction for the remainder of the season and throughout the playoffs and they don’t need that in their quest for another title. At the same time, they’re a solid organization so I would be willing to bet that they support Burress as he goes through the legal process he’s about to face (his hearing is set for March).
The Giants are an organization that the Cincinnati Bengals should model themselves after.
#4 Glenallen Hill
Glenallen Hill is nicknamed “Spiderman” but not because he swings through the air or is a fan of the comic. The outfielder — who has coincidentally played for eight different teams — got his nickname from an incident spurred on by his significant arachnophobia. Early in his career while with the Blue Jays Hill was having a violent nightmare about spiders. Hill, while still asleep tried to escape from the phantom nightmare spiders fell into a glass table. This nightmare gave Hill cuts on his toes and elbows, carpet burns on his knees, landed him on the 15-day DL and gave him his nickname.
#3 Joel Zumaya
Detroit Tigers fireballer Joel Zumaya was unavailable for the 2006 ALCS due to a sore wrist, not an uncommon injury for a pitcher. But Zumaya wouldn’t be on this list if he suffered the injury in anything but a bizarre way.
Zumaya’s sore wrist was the result of playing too much Guitar Hero, the popular music-based video game on his Playstation 2. In fact, the Tigers were so concerned about his obsession that, to ensure that he would be ready for the World Series, they explicitly required him to stop playing.
#2 Bill Gramatica
Bill Gramatica’s injury was a perfect storm of egregiousness. An early field goal. The first points of the game. It wasn’t a turning point. There was no tackle. No cheap shot. No flag. Just a dumb exuberant little kicker and a torn ACL.
After putting the Cardinals up 3-0 in the first quarter in a 2001 game against the Giants, Gramatica jumped wildly into the air only to end his season upon returning to the ground.
Apparently, the Giants momentarily forgot about the scene that became a instant favorite on Sports Center — or perhaps they confused Bill with his older brother Martin. In 2004, they signed Bill Gramatica in the pre-season contract only to cut him a few weeks later.
Plax took the number one spot for those wondering.
I hate to say an injury was well-deserved, but something had to stop the elf-like Gramatica brothers from celebrating 25-yard field goals like they just won the Super Bowl.
“It’s pretty hard to argue the guy didn’t have a gun and that it wasn’t loaded,” Bloomberg said, lashing out at the man who caught the winning touchdown in the 2008 Super Bowl.
“You’ve got bullet holes in and out to show that it was there.”
Burress had a loaded Glock semiautomatic in his waistband at the Latin Quarter nightclub early Saturday, when it slipped down his pant leg and went off when he tried to grab it, police said.
New York law requires a minimum of 3-1/2 years in jail for a conviction of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, the charge Burress faces.
“I don’t think that anybody should be exempt from that,” Bloomberg said. “It would be an outrage if we don’t prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.”
I wanted to wait until (most of) the facts were in before giving Plaxico Burress this prestigious award.
For those that have been living under a rock for the past few days, Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg with an unregistered hand gun while at a Manhattan night club.
ESPN legal analyst Roger Cossack reported that Burress could face up to seven years in prison if convicted on the felony charge of carrying a concealed weapon without a permit.
Burress had a concealed-weapon permit issued to him in Florida but records show it expired in May and New York does not recognize out-of-state permits anyway, New York media have reported.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg called for a full prosecution of state law that requires mandatory prison for carrying a loaded handgun.
“I don’t think anybody should be exempt from that, and I think it would be an outrage if we didn’t prosecute to the fullest extent of the law, particularly people who live in the public domain, make their living because of their visibility — they’re the role models for our kids,” Bloomberg said.
Brandon Jacobs added this brilliant analysis:
“I called him and made a few jokes about the situation and his laugh is what I wanted to hear,” Jacobs said, according to Newsday. “If he didn’t laugh I knew he was going to be down, which he shouldn’t be down. It’s a mistake that happened, something that shouldn’t have happened and that’s that.”
Burress “shouldn’t be down”? “It’s a mistake that happened”?
On second thought, maybe Jacobs’ deserves this award. Mistakes just don’t randomly happen. People make mistakes. Accidents happen. Burress made the mistake of carrying an unregistered, concealed weapon around the streets of New York, which has the toughest unlicensed weapon laws in the country. When he shot himself in the leg - now that was an accident.
I don’t know why Burress was at a night club anyway. He has a leg injury, yet he has the mobility and is healthy enough to party into the wee hours of the morning? The Giants are paying him $35 million over five years to play wide receiver, yet the guy endangers his career by carrying an unlicensed, concealed weapon around New York City.
For this, he wins the Boner of the Week award. Congratulations, Plaxico.
New York Giants’ wide receiver Plaxico Burress turned himself into New York authorities Monday morning. He faces charges of criminal possession of a weapon after he was accidentally shot in the leg by his own gun Friday inside a club.
Burress arrived in a black SUV, wearing a black blazer, jeans and a collared shirt. One accessory he didn’t have was a pair of crutches. Burress was walking ably, an indication the gunshot wound he suffered was as minor as reported by the team and his lawyer, Ben Brafman, who escorted Burress into the station this morning.
Burress didn’t respond to one person who yelled, “Plaxico,” and didn’t acknowledge any of the reporters on the scene. According to police, he’s expected to remain inside for about an hour. There are also rumblings he might leave the building in handcuffs.
Brafman said Burress will plead not guilty to criminal possession of a weapon.
The NBC Sunday night halftime crew was talking about the possibility of Burress facing jail time if he’s convicted. It’s highly doubtful that would happen, although maybe he needs some time in jail to get his freaking mind straight. The Giants just handed him a contract extension to honor his great play and he’s been nothing but a headache since.
And yet, the Giants continue to win with or without him. That’s a testament to Tom Coughlin and the rest of the players on the team.
FoxSports.com is reporting that Plaxico Burress was a victim of an accidental gunshot wound on Friday.
Not only was he the victim, he was the shooter too.
The New York Giants wide receiver accidentally shot himself in the leg on Friday night, FOXSports.com has learned, not long after being ruled out of Sunday’s game against the Redskins with a hamstring injury.
He spent the night in the hospital and the injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. The team is still trying to gather further information on the incident.
I’ve heard of some unconventional treatment for leg injuries, but this is ridiculous.
Post columnist Steve Serby began his column in Monday’s editions with “Good for Tom Coughlin. Good for Coughlin for tightening the noose around Plaxico Burress.”
Burress has been fined and benched by the Giants for infractions including tardiness and missing practices. On Saturday, the wide receiver skipped a treatment for his neck, and was benched during the first quarter of the Giants’ win in Pittsburgh Sunday.
In criticizing Burress, Serby used a racially loaded and offensive term, Sharpton told the Daily News. “To make such a blatant racist statement about an African-American football player with a neck injury is completely unacceptable,” Sharpton said. “Clearly, the racial connotation is very disturbing. … This is the verbal reflection of a hanging noose.”
Sharpton said that if the Post did not acknowledge that the column was offensive, he would further highlight the issue but he did not specify what steps he would take. “They have to act swiftly,” Sharpton said. “If we don’t see action, I will lay out exactly what that is … we would like to talk to someone there about whether it was the writer or editor who let this in.”
Why any writer would even hint at anything that could be construed as racist is beyond me. And for an editor at the Post to not have the wherewithal to see that what Serby wrote could potentially be a problem is unconceivable, too.
But my understanding of the word “racism” is to have hatred towards another person because of their skin color. Now I don’t know Serby personally, but it’s probably safe to say that he doesn’t hate Plaxico Burress because of his skin color. He used an incredibly poor choice of words (seriously, there are millions of words in the English language and you go with noose?), but what he wrote is being taken out of context.
That said, the power of words can be incredibly damaging and Serby was flat out insensitive (and shortsighted for that matter). People should use their brains over their emotions to decipher what he meant, but still, I completely understand why Sharpton and others would be upset over this.
Forbes.com complied a list of the worst NFL choke jobs of all time.
Super Bowl XLII
New England finished the 2007 season with the league’s first-ever 16-0 regular-season record. Quarterback Tom Brady threw 50 touchdowns and receiver Randy Moss caught 23 of them–both league bests–to help the Patriots score a record 582 points. But despite their seasonal excellence, the Patriots lost Super Bowl XLII by three points to the underdog New York Giants. With most of the scoring in the fourth quarter, the Giants’ Plaxico Burress caught a 13-yard pass from Eli Manning for the final score of the 17-14 game.
The Comeback
In 1993, the Houston Oilers choked so badly the game got its own nickname. “The Comeback” saw the Buffalo Bills recover from a 35-3 deficit in the third quarter to beat the Oilers in overtime. True to its name, the 32-point comeback remains the biggest in NFL history. The Oilers management fired the defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach the next day.
Super Bowl XXV
In 1991, near the close of Super Bowl XXV, the Buffalo Bills trailed the New York Giants 20-19. A two-minute drive down the field by Bills quarterback Jim Kelly had set up kicker Scott Norwood for a 47-yard field goal attempt. Norwood kicked it wide right, lost the game and became the only kicker in history to have missed a last-second field goal when a Super Bowl was on the line.
Usually we as fans think about what a great win it was for the Giants in last year’s Super Bowl, or what an amazing comeback it was for the Bills in ’93. But you forget that you can go the other way with it too and note how bad the Pats choked after a 16-0 season or how the Oilers couldn’t hold onto a 35-3 lead. It’s kind of interesting to think about.
Move over Manny Ramirez – Plaxico Burress is taking over your philosophy. Gary Myers of The Daily News writes that in the wake of Burress returning to the team following a team-based one-game suspension that Plaxico is just being Plaxico.
He plays hurt, he plays great. He’s not getting arrested and he’s not testing positive for drugs. Not a bad investment, right? He’s just in his own little Plaxico world on issues like showing up on time and then acting indignant having to explain what he did to get himself suspended.
Plaxico’s Sept.22 predicament? He had to take his young son, who is not quite 2, to school that day. It sounds better than the dog ate his playbook, but not quite something that normally falls into the category of being the emergency he said it was. He indicated there were other circumtances involved, but would not elaborate.
He said “there is nothing to tell” about domestic disturbance calls from his house in June and August.
For anybody who has been faced with the dilemma of getting a child to school when you are the only option, it can be a challenging situation when you also have a job that requires your presence. But there are usually solutions: You drop them off and go to work, assuming they are going to school in the same time zone in which you live. Or in a household where transportation for a child is an issue, you hire a babysitter, which for those in Burress’ tax bracket, doesn’t put a strain on the checkbook. Or you ask a friend for a favor. At the very least, you call the boss and say the car pool broke down.
Not when Plax is being Plax.
“It’s not like I purposely missed out or that was my intention,” Burress said Monday. “It just seemed to happen that way and I didn’t feel any reason to explain to them what happened or why I missed because I don’t feel it is really anybody’s business. It is like I told them, if I had a decision to make as far as my family and my son and things like that, I wouldn’t change anything about it.”
Myers goes on to make a good point that while family comes before football, Burress could have gotten a babysitter or someone else to take his child to school that day. Of course, nobody knows Burress’s personal situation, so maybe he didn’t feel comfortable leaving his child in the hands of someone else.
But that isn’t Myers’ point anyway. His point is that Burress continues to do what he wants to do and sticks it in the Coughlin and the Giants’ faces. And what a shame too, because he’s a fantastic player on a fantastic team that could potentially win another Super Bowl this year.
The Dallas Cowboys might be the most talented team in the NFC East, but the New York Giants are clearly still the team to beat. And it’s amazing the way the G-Men continue to fly under the radar in the NFL.
The Giants crushed the Seahawks on Sunday. By crushed, I mean destroyed, hammered and routed. And it wasn’t flashy, either. They ran Brandon Jacobs down the Seahawks’ throat, played outstanding defense and Eli Manning took care of the football. The end result was a 44-6 drubbing of Seattle at the Meadowlands – without WR Plaxico Burress, by the way. (Nice fill-in job Domenik Hixon.)
Entering the season, the Giants were easy targets for a team that could potentially fall apart this year. Michael Strahan retired, Jeremy Shockey was traded, Burress was bitching about his contract and Osi Umenyiora didn’t even take one snap before his season ended due to a knee injury. But after five weeks, there might not be a more sound football team in the league, save for maybe the Tennessee Titans.
You fantasy geeks can appreciate touchdowns almost more than the players who score them. So here is a list you might be able to use ….the active leaders in receiving TDs. Some of these players are nearing the twilight of their careers, but a lot of them are still putting up numbers….
1. Terrell Owens, Dallas Cowboys (132)—As great as TO has been when he’s not hogging headlines off the field, his best years were in San Francisco. Consider 2001, when TO caught 93 passes for 1412 yards and a career high 16 touchdowns. He was also averaging 109 yards per game in 2005 for Philly when he was suspended and then benched by Andy Reid after seven games for disparaging remarks about teammates.
2. Randy Moss, New England Patriots (125)—Yes, Randy Moss had some great years in Minnesota, including 111 catches for 1632 yards in 2003. But nothing tops 23 TDs, an NFL record, in 2007. Except maybe a Super Bowl ring…oops, was that out loud?
3. Marvin Harrison, Indianapolis Colts (124)—Harrison has been one of the most consistent receivers over the course of his career. And he holds the record for receptions in a single season with 143, in 2002. But 2007’s injury aside, Harrison’s numbers have slipped a little ever since Reggie Wayne started lining up on the other side of Peyton Manning.
4. Isaac Bruce, San Francisco 49ers (85)—He was the main receiver for Kurt Warner in the Greatest Show on Turf…and now he’s reunited with offensive coordinator Mike Martz at the age of 36 in San Francisco. I wouldn’t bet against the old man reaching 100 TDs maybe next season.
5. Joey Galloway, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (77)—This guy is 37 and still beating defenders to the ball. Good for him.
6. Torry Holt, St. Louis Rams (72)—Torry Holt formed one of the best 1-2 punches at receiver along with Isaac Bruce in St. Louis, and then became the main man for a few seasons. He’s still the main man, but on a very bad Rams team.
7. Hines Ward, Pittsburgh Steelers (68)—Have you ever seen a guy smile as he’s being tackled the way Ward is? That, and the guy is a hell of a football player.
8. Tony Gonzalez, Kansas City Chiefs (67)—Gonzalez is the only tight end on here, and he’s on here because his career numbers rival that of any great wide receiver. But like Holt, he plays on a very bad team in 2008.
9. Muhsin Muhammad, Carolina Panthers (56)—Muhammad made the Pro Bowl twice and played on a Super Bowl with the Panthers, then went to Chicago for a year, which is the equivalent of a barbecue chef being sent to cook in a vegan restaurant. So here he is, back in Carolina, catching passes from Jake Delhomme again.
10. Plaxico Burress, New York Giants (52)—This guy’s career has blossomed in New York, as he has become Eli Manning’s favorite target. But his suspension for missing practice is eerily familiar for those who followed Burress’ career in Pittsburgh.
- The New York Giants have suspended WR Plaxico Burress one game because of insubordination. Burress didn’t show up for a team meeting on Monday and then wouldn’t answer his phone Tuesday. The Giants are on a bye this week and Burress will not play next Sunday in Seattle. (FoxSports.com)
Update: Burress has filed a grievance against the Giants for docking him two weeks of pay.
- The Rams released starting CB Fakhir Brown. Less than a week ago Brown had replaced Tye Hill in the starting lineup, so the news of his release is surprising. Although at this point, nothing should surprise any of us about the Rams. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
- The Bears cut former second round draft pick, Mark Bradley. The former Oklahoma product was productive early in his career but after tearing his ACL, Bradley just never recovered. (ChicagoBears.com)
- It’s official: Browns’ head coach Romeo Crennel will stick with QB Derek Anderson this week when the team travels to Cincinnati. Anderson lit up the Bengals last year, but he’ll be on a short leash this week. Brady Quinn is warming up as I type. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
Growing up in the shadow of a famous father can be overwhelming for a child, and the challenge of following the footsteps of an older sibling can also be harmful for a kid’s ego. Then, there is Eli Manning’s childhood; his father (Archie Manning) was a football hero in the Deep South and his brother (Peyton Manning) is the advertising face of the NFL with countless commercials. And all he does is become the MVP of Super Bowl XLII, in which he led the New York Giants to an upset victory over the previous undefeated New England Patriots.
While having a successful senior year as a high school football player, Manning was still undecided on which university to attend in the fall. That changed after receiving a call from David Cutcliffe. The Manning family was familiar with him, as Cutcliffe was offensive coordinator at the University of Tennessee, and helped older brother Peyton elevate his overall game. He was named Head Coach of the University of Mississippi football team, and was hoping Eli Manning would become his first prize recruit in rebuilding the Rebel program. Upon hearing Cutcliffe’s recruiting pitch; Manning followed his father’s footstep, and became starting QB at Ole Miss.
Manning’s collegiate career was a lot like his personality: quiet but successful. He set or tied 45 single-game, season, and career records at Ole Miss. In his senior year, Manning won the Maxwell Award as the nation’s best all-around collegiate player, the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, and finished in third-place for the 2003 Heisman Trophy Award behind eventual winner Jason White, quarterback of Oklahoma, and University of Pittsburgh wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.
Baltimore Ravens (11-5) at Tennessee Titans (13-3)
