Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 31 of 1503)

      The Manning era is over in Indy but let’s enjoy Peyton’s presence while we still can

      March 7, 2012 /

      Even though this moment has been coming for a couple of months, it still seems sudden. Weird. Wrong even.

      I can still remember thinking that the Colts made a poor decision by drafting Peyton Manning instead of Ryan Leaf. “Look at this feet,” I used to say while watching Tennessee games. “He’s so jittery in the pocket. He’s going to be an erratic passer in the NFL.”

      Fifteen seasons, two Super Bowl appearances, four MVP awards, 11 Pro Bowls, and gobs of passing records later and the Peyton Manning era is officially over in Indianapolis. The moment hardly seems real. We’ve gotten so used to Manning peering through that blue facemask with the horseshoes on each side of his helmet that it’s hard to imagine him in any other uniform. I kind of figured he would just go on playing forever, barking out signals for the Colts well into his 80s.

      Nobody is at fault for this separation. This is life after all, where things ultimately come to an end. The Indianapolis Colts were around 45 years prior to Manning arriving in 1998 and they’ll be around long after he’s gone, too. Even for as much as he’s meant to the organization, Manning will inevitability be just one key figure in an organization that also had the pleasure of watching Johnny Unitas, Raymond Berry, and John Mackey don its uniform. The Colts are a rebuilding team now and rebuilding teams don’t pay $28 million roster bonuses to 35-year-old quarterbacks coming off multiple neck surgeries. Their horrific 2011 season has given them a chance to draft the next Peyton Manning and they can’t forgo that opportunity because they’re sentimentally tied to one of the greatest players their organization has ever seen. It’s time to move on.

      Manning will move on as well. As a football fan it’s exciting to listen to him talk about continuing his career, barring his health is okay, of course. We’ve never been treated to Peyton Manning the free agent and while he isn’t 26 anymore, it’s fun to read speculation about the Jets, Dolphins, and Chiefs being interested in his services. The storylines will be endless, especially if he winds up in New York with his brother.

      Many people assume that he’s damaged goods and maybe he is. Maybe he’ll never be able to throw a pass longer than 15 yards and maybe he’ll be a disaster next year. Maybe he should hang ‘em up so that he doesn’t risk more damage to his health.

      But what if he can still play? Can you imagine what he’d do for a team like the Jets, a team that has been starved for good quarterback play since Rex Ryan became their head coach in 2009? He may never be the Peyton of old but he doesn’t have to be in order to win another Super Bowl. The 1997 and 1998 Denver Broncos were Terrell Davis’ teams – not John Elway’s. But because Elway knew how to take a step back, the Broncos were very successful with him under center.

      Or maybe he won’t have an Elway-like finish to his career. So be it. Manning will still go down as one of the greatest quarterbacks to have ever played the game and people will remember him in Indy blue and white. But thanks to his decision to keep playing, football fans will be treated to a “bonus round” of sorts. It certainly won’t be the same as watching him orchestrate the Colts’ offense while dissecting defenses like a surgeon, but it’ll be something new and fresh.

      The Peyton Manning era in Indianapolis is over and sooner rather than later, the Peyton Manning NFL era will have concluded as well. But for now, I’m going to enjoy watching that jittery-footed Peyton give it one more shot in another team’s uniform.

      External Sports, NFL

      Report: Drew Brees “livid” about franchise tag

      March 6, 2012 /

      WIST-AM New Orleans is reporting that Drew Brees is “livid” about being franchised tagged and will not sign his tender.

      Drew Brees is “livid” about being franchise tagged and not receiving a long-term contract, according to WIST-AM in New Orleans. The radio station cites sources in the Brees camp that he will not sign the franchise tag deal. Brees and the Saints have until July 15 to hammer out a long-term deal. If a deal isn’t struck, Brees must sign the franchise tag deal or hold out.

      Brees doesn’t seem like the type to be “livid” about anything, so there’s a chance that this report isn’t accurate. But if it is, how bad could things continue to get in New Orleans?

      I don’t think there’s a chance in Hades that the Saints don’t figure out a way to lock up Brees long term, but they’re facing some major issues right now. They’re currently awaiting punishment from the league for their “bounty program” fiasco, their best offensive lineman (Carl Nicks) and No. 1 receiver (Marques Colston) are about to hit the open market, and Brees’ contract situation is a mess. They’re even scheduled to work out Randy Moss on Tuesday for cribs’ sake.

      The Saints have been a NFL powerhouse for the last three years but their roster could look very different come next fall. Don’t forget that along with Nicks and Colston, Robert Meachem is also a free agent and there’s talk that middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma will be released. The team did well to hire Steve Spagnuolo to replace Gregg Williams as their next defensive coordinator but their linebacker corps remains weak and outside of Will Smith, the cupboard isn’t exactly stacked with quality pass rushers.

      Things will eventually start to stabilize again in New Orleans. But by that point, will they have forked over a couple of draft picks and watched some of their top players depart in free agency?

      External Sports, NFL

      Is the Saints’ “bounty program” issue being overblown?

      March 5, 2012 /

      ESPN’s John Clayton believes that the Saints’ “bounty program” is worse than Spygate. His colleague Ashley Fox writes that Sean Payton and Mickey Loomis deserve to be fired.

      Others have stated that the program is a moral or ethical issue. They want to see Gregg Williams and Gregg Williams-types abolished from the game.

      But the last time I checked, it’s not illegal to hit an opponent so hard that he gets carted off the field. It’s not illegal to put a shoulder pad into an opponents’ legs and force them from the game with an injury. Quarterbacks and ball-carriers know they’re going to be hit. It’s not like they signed up for beach volleyball and are now shocked that 6-foot-6, 280-pound defensive ends are coming to take their heads off.

      It’s apparent to me that what’s wrong about the “bounty program” is the under-the-table compensation. NFL bylaws state that there are to be no non-contract bonuses and that, my friends, is the root of the issue. Everything else just makes for one dragged-through-the-mud discussion.

      What’s funny is that defensive players are paid millions of dollars every year to hit, tackle, and otherwise inflict pain on opponents throughout the NFL season. Now some are up in arms because several Saints players were trying to knock Brett Favre out of the 2010 NFC championship game. If those people were being honest with themselves, they’d admit to not being upset about the act as much as they are with the monetary motivation. If the Saints didn’t have a bounty program in place and Darren Sharper came out after the game and said, ‘We were trying to take Brett Favre out. We knew we had to get to him in order to beat them,’ his comments wouldn’t be that jarring. Heck, what he said may have even been acceptable to some people who demand that the players they root for be tough and ferocious. But because there was bonus money in play, hey, now it’s an issue of ethics.

      Look, I’m not trying to make light of the situation. Let me state for the record that I believe Williams’ program was wrong and that the Saints should be punished. Football is a violent game but the NFL has rules and Williams and the Saints broke one. Thus, if Roger Goodell wants to hinder other teams from using similar programs by taking away draft picks and suspending the men involved, then so be it. As a lifelong Falcons fan, I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing the Saints lose a couple of hundred draft picks over the next 10 years. (Maybe then Atlanta could finally shrink the gap between itself and New Orleans on the field.)

      But if anything, this situation should be more embarrassing and ridiculous than one that needs to be sensationalized as an issue of moral fiber (or lack thereof). Think about it: the NFL and NFLPA are constantly trying to come up with new ways to make the game safer but in the meantime, their own players are putting bounties on one another. How undeniably absurd.

      Furthermore, how stupid do these players have to be to participate in a program that could wind up costing them more in the long run? If I were a Saints player that saw Jonathan Vilma slap $10,000 on the table while stating “This goes to the man that takes out Brett Favre,” I would tell him thanks but no thanks. If he asked me why, I’d point out that fines for late hits range anywhere from $7,500 to $50,000. Thus, the math doesn’t add up.

      Why not play the game aggressively and violently, and then let the chips fall where they may? Why even have a “bounty program?” I would think that being able to play the game legally for millions of dollars would be all the motivation that these athletes needed not to want to hurt one another. After all, isn’t the NFL supposed to be a brotherhood? I’m shocked somebody hasn’t told Williams that playing the game aggressively yet legally while trying to win was all the motivation they needed.

      At the end of the day, a coach and his players decided to provide extra motivation for one another by coming up with an illegal program to reward themselves for hurting opponents in an already violent game. While other players and teams might have their own bounty programs in place, the Saints were the ones who were caught and now have to be punished. Even though the Saints wound up winning the Super Bowl, the entire thing was unnecessary and hopefully Williams sees the error in his ways.

      Other than that, why inflate this situation into something bigger than what it is?

      External Sports, NFL

      Browns unwilling to part with the No. 22 pick to move up in NFL draft?

      March 4, 2012 /

      When the Cleveland Browns traded the No. 6 overall pick in last year’s NFL draft, they received quite the haul from the Atlanta Falcons (who used that pick to select Alabama wideout Julio Jones). And now the Browns seem unwilling to part with one of the key pieces from that deal in order to move up in this year’s draft.

      According to a report by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Redskins continue to be the “frontrunner” to acquire the Rams’ No. 2 overall pick. That’s apparently because the Browns are unwilling to part with the No. 22 overall pick, which they acquired from the Falcons last year in the Jones trade. (Cleveland also owns the No. 4 overall pick this year.)

      The Redskins are reportedly willing to part with both their 2012 and 2013 first-round picks in order to move up to the No. 2 spot, but don’t want to trade their second-rounder.

      A deal with the Dolphins, meanwhile, appears to be “dead in the water” according to the Post-Dispatch. After losing out to St. Louis in the Jeff Fisher sweepstakes, Miami isn’t too eager to make any deals with the Rams. The Seahawks aren’t a realistic trade partner either, as the Rams don’t want to deal with the prospect of facing Robert Griffin III twice a year from here on out.

      Thus, it appears as though the Rams’ best two options remain the Browns and the Redskins. And if Washington were willing to part with two first-round picks, it would behoove St. Louis to make a deal with the Skins. But per the above report, Washington’s unwillingness to part with its second-rounder is “unacceptable” to the Rams, so you get the feeling that this storyline will only get more intriguing the closer we get to April’s draft.

      NFL, NFL Draft

      Former DC Gregg Williams, Saints in hot water over “bounty program”

      March 3, 2012 /

      ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the New Orleans Saints are potentially facing discipline from the NFL because of former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams’ “bounty program,” which was designed to pay players for taking out certain opponents.

      According to Schefter, the league’s investigation began in 2010 when members of the Saints’ defense began targeting opposing quarterbacks Brett Favre and Kurt Warner. One of the main culprits in the “bounty program” was middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma, who allegedly put $10,000 in cash on a table and said, “This goes to the guy that knocks out Brett Favre.”

      Williams, who is now the defensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams, had this to say in wake of Schefter’s report:

      “I want to express my sincere regret and apology to the NFL, Mr. Benson, and the New Orleans Saints fans for my participation in the ‘pay for performance’ program while I was with the Saints. It was a terrible mistake, and we knew it was wrong while we were doing it. Instead of getting caught up in it, I should have stopped it. I take full responsibility for my role. I am truly sorry. I have learned a hard lesson and I guarantee that I will never participate in or allow this kind of activity to happen again.”

      The NFL’s investigation concludes that in some cases, “the amounts pledged were both significant and directed against a specific opposing player.” Four former Redskins players, including defensive end Phillip Daniels, told The Washington Post that Williams had a similar system in place when he was Washington’s defensive coordinator from 2004 to 2007. Former Redskin Matt Bowen even stated that he didn’t regret taking part in the program because, “You do what he (Williams) wants: play though, push the envelope and carry a swagger that every opponent sees on tape.”

      It has been reported that head coach Sean Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis knew about the bounty program but failed to stop it when directed to do so by team owner Tom Benson. ESPN’s John Clayton now speculates that the Saints will face a hefty fine as well as a loss of “multiple draft choices,” and it has also been rumored that Vilma (who is due $5.4 million in 2012) will be a salary cap casualty this offseason.

      It’s realistic to believe that Williams and the Saints aren’t the only coaches/players that have a “bounty program” in place to injury fellow opponents. But that doesn’t make the situation just. In fact, it’s rather embarrassing for the NFLPA that they continue to battle the NFL for better medical benefits when their own players are putting up massive amounts of cash in order to hurt each other.

      External Sports, News, NFL

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