Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 841 of 1503)

      NFL Network furious with Gruden

      May 20, 2009 /

      According to Peter King of SI.com, the NFL Network is furious with Jon Gruden, who nixed a deal with them to replace Tony Kornheiser and join the cast of Monday Night Football.

      Do not invite Gruden and NFL Network czar Steve Bornstein to the same event anytime soon, or ever. Bornstein wants to wring Gruden’s neck. The NFL Network is furious with Gruden for jilting the network after he’d verbally agreed to a deal to work there. The former Bucs coach had been very good on the NFL Network, colorful and opinionated, at the NFL scouting combine and the NFL draft, and the network had finalized everything but the signature on the paper for Gruden to begin working there immediately. In fact, he was slated to be at NFL Films this week to begin his job full time. But ESPN swooped in, offered Gruden the Monday night seat vacated by Tony Kornheiser (how convenient), and Gruden took it.

      The NFL Network planned to put Gruden on the air all season, then move him to the Thursday night football booth alongside Bob Papa, replacing Cris Collinsworth. Now it’s back to ground zero in its search for a voice to pair with Papa.

      One of the reasons the NFL Network is so steamed, I’m told, is that no one from the Gruden camp called Bornstein to tell him. In many cases like this, the league might work with its TV partners to tell them, “Hey, hands off,” or “Play fair here,” but that didn’t happen here. ESPN got to Gruden too fast.

      Now there are two people who should have been NFL Network stars this fall — Gruden and ace reporter Adam Schefter — who will instead work for ESPN. And the NFL Network is not pleased about the defection of either one.

      The NFL Network has a tough roe to hoe when a bigger network such as ESPN comes a calling for some of their “players”, considering their reach and audience isn’t that big. If you got the opportunity to call a Monday Night Football game when you knew millions of people will be watching on a weekly basis, why would you stay at NFL Network calling late season Thursday night games for an audience of about 12 people?

      Still, if this report is true what a crappy move by Gruden. You have to at least have the decency to tell your employer that you’re moving on if you already had an agreement with them to stick around for a while. Either way, he’ll likely be back on the sidelines in 2010, so ESPN will be looking for his replacement soon enough.

      NFL, Television

      Tom Brady bouncing back from knee surgery

      May 20, 2009 /

      According to a report by The Sporting News, Tom Brady is showing no restrictions as he continues to recover from reconstructive knee surgery.

      Brady was able to return his normal rehabilitation schedule within “10 days to two weeks” after the follow-up procedures, the source said. That means the quarterback is roughly six months into the rehab process.

      “He’s full go,” the source said Tuesday. A second source confirmed that assessment.
      Brady hasn’t been shy about taking part in the club’s offseason program, giving teammates a close-up look at his progress. Most Patriots players are apprehensive about shedding too much light on player injuries and rehabs, but indications have been uniformly positive.

      Patriots coach Bill Belichick last month said Brady had been “doing his offseason work without any limitations.” Owner Robert Kraft has said Brady will wear a brace on the left knee, which is standard for players coming off this type of injury. Both Rivers and Palmer wore knee braces coming off their ailments.

      Even if Brady’s rehab is complete, it’s hard to say he has come full circle.

      There’s a significant mental mountain a player has to climb in returning to game action. Authorities in sports medicine say it takes roughly two months of live action for a player to fully learn to use his new knee.

      Brady has a long way to go, but this is definitely an encouraging sign for him and the Patriots. Obviously New England wouldn’t have traded Matt Cassel to Kansas City in the offseason if they didn’t feel Brady would fully recover from his knee surgery in time for the start of the season.

      If he’s fully recovered, there’s no reason to believe the Patriots won’t again be the team to beat in the AFC, as they were before Brady’s injury in Week 1 of last year.

      NFL

      Braylon Edwards reports to Browns’ minicamp

      May 19, 2009 /

      After sitting out most of April and early-May workouts, Browns’ wideout Braylon Edwards reported to minicamp on Tuesday.

      Browns receiver Braylon Edwards, who’s been the subject of trade talks this offseason, participated in the Browns voluntary minicamp Tuesday, a source close to Edwards said.

      Edwards, who participated in only the first few days of the Browns offseason program, has not been heard from all offseason despite the fact that Browns general manager George Kokinis admitted at the NFL Owners’ meetings in March that he had talked to the Giants about trading Edwards there.

      Edwards, who’s coming off a down year, is in the last year of his contract. There have also been rumors that the Jets might be interested in trading for him. The voluntary camp runs Tuesday through Thursday, with only Thursday being open to the media.

      Whether Edwards wants a new contract or wants to be traded (or both), it doesn’t benefit him to sit at home and pout. He’s much better off showing up to camp and working his ass off so either the Browns invest more money in him or trade him to a team that will. Outside of one season, it’s not like Edwards has set the NFL world ablaze with his play. So it behooves him to show that he’s committed to becoming a better player or else his next contract is going to be below market value for a supposed No. 1 receiver.

      NFL

      DeAngelo Hall: Al Davis didn’t know Tom Cable

      May 19, 2009 /

      Current Redskin and former Raiders’ cornerback DeAngelo Hall appeared on a Washington D.C. based radio show recently and told an interesting story about Oakland owner Al Davis not knowing who Tom Cable was when he hired him.

      The funniest Al Davis story from his time in Oakland?

      “Probably the funniest thing, I was pretty close to Lane Kiffin…and after they fired Lane and were about to announce who the next coach was – I don’t know if you guys saw this in the media world, but I was actually sitting there live, me and a couple other players there in the back. And [Davis] went through this whole spiel of what happened…and said our next coach is Tom Cable, he’s going to be our interim coach. When everybody paused for Tom to come in, like a breakoff. [Davis] goes to the media guide and not even whispering says ‘hey, anyone got any information on this Tom Cable guy, I don’t know where he comes from.’ That’s just vintage Al Davis. Making a move, not really knowing why, no real justification for doing it. But just saying, ‘hey, I want this guy, let’s get him, I’ll figure everything else out later.’ And that’s just how Al Davis is.”

      His thoughts on being out of Oakland:

      “Oh, it’s a weight off my shoulders, just that whole situation out there and the way they did things. I’m not knocking it but it wasn’t what I was accustomed to, what I was used to, and I just started just not caring like a bunch of other guys, you know. It kind of rubs off on you. They say you go to Oakland as a player to die..You can definitely go there and have fun towards the end of your career, but to go there during the prime of your career, that’s just not a place you want to be. I felt the same when I was out of there – just a sigh of relief to get out of there.”

      For as zany as Al Davis is, I highly doubt he would hire a head coach not knowing who he was. I also highly doubt that Davis would say what Hall says he did in front of an entire media staff. (And loud enough for Hall to hear it in the back, but not loud enough for the media members to hear it in the front.) It just sounds like Davis didn’t know where Cable was from (i.e. where he was born, raised, bred, etc.), which isn’t as big of a deal as Hall making it sound like Davis hired Cable not knowing who he was.

      His second comment is vintage Hall and vintage Raiders. Hall isn’t saying anything that former Raiders haven’t said before about the situation in Oakland, but it doesn’t surprise me in the least that he says that he stopped caring. The Raiders handed him a $70 million contract and $24 million in guaranteed money and he couldn’t even make it half a season without throwing in the towel. I know the situation in Oakland lends to guys quitting, but it pisses you off when you hear about guys making millions of dollars to play football and they just go through the motions. (Especially in this economy.)

      NFL

      Cutler reaches out to Plaxico Burress

      May 19, 2009 /

      According to a story by the Chicago Tribune, new Bears’ quarterback Jay Cutler has reached out to free agent Plaxico Burress.

      Cutler has reached out to Burress, and agent Drew Rosenhaus recently said at least two teams are seriously interested in signing the former New York Giant. The Jets are likely one of them.

      “Are we one of those two teams? No,” Angelo said.

      Burress, released by the Giants on April 3, has a June 15 hearing stemming from felony gun charges. He accidentally shot himself in the thigh in November at a Manhattan nightclub. He could face jail time and if not, at least a league suspension.

      “He could help any team,” Angelo said. “His play, his production speaks for itself. Everybody would love to have him on their team, including the New York Giants.

      “But obviously, they are things that have to happen now for him to play in the league, get on with his life. There are a lot of hurdles to cross before you can really seriously sit here and use that as a viable option.”

      Cutler should back off and let Angelo do his job. He’s the quarterback – not the GM.

      The Bears’ wideout situation looks bleak on paper, but it might not be as hopeless as some make it out to be. Devin Hester isn’t a No. 1 receiver, but he’s a legit deep threat and his speed will always create opportunities in the passing game. Angelo also drafted Juaquin Iglesias and Johnny Knox and don’t forget that Greg Olsen is essentially another receiver at the tight end position. (He’s arguably the Bears’ best receiver.)

      The wild card is 2008 third round pick Earl Bennett, whom Cutler had a great on-field relationship with at Vanderbilt. Bennett didn’t catch a pass last year, but is expected to start over incumbent Rashied Davis and could blossom if he ever learns the playbook.

      The bottom line is that the Bears have options and therefore signing Plax shouldn’t be a priority. Plus, nobody knows how his legal situation will play out and he could still face a suspension even if he is allowed to play next season. A team would have to be awfully desperate to sign Plax and despite popular belief, I don’t think the Bears fit that category.

      NFL

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