Category: NFL (Page 1238 of 1282)

Nick Saban and the Miami Dolphins took a chance last season by signing pothead Ricky Williams off the streets and their taking a similar risk this season. They recently signed Virginia Tech QB Marcus Vick to a free agent contract. The Dolphins are welcoming Michael’s brother into camp as a “quarterback-wide receiver-specialist”. The younger Vick’s off the field issues have been well documented and was a large factor in him not getting drafted in April. However, Miami feels Marcus is worth the risk.

“As an organization, we did an enormous amount of research, including consulting with professionals in detailed, in-depth analysis to feel comfortable that giving Marcus an opportunity as a free agent is a risk worth taking,” Dolphins coach Nick Saban said in a statement released by the team.

Personally, after allowing Ricky Williams back on the team last year and now signing the troublemaker in Vick, the Dolphins are sending the wrong message to their team. Williams just up and left the team because he was more interested in smoking dope than playing football and Marcus seems to think he’s invincible because he’s Michael’s brother and he can do whatever he wants. It will be interesting to see if Marcus makes the team.

After a 21-year career, Doug Flutie has decided to hang up his cleats for a microphone. The former Charger, Bill, Bear and Patriot (x2) quarterback will join ABC/ESPN as a college football analyst.

The former Heisman trophy winner has had quite an interesting career. After being selected by the Los Angles Rams in the 11th round of the 1985 draft, he decided to play for the USFL’s New Jersey Generals. Flutie thought that the style of play better suited his free wheeling attributes.

Flutie later joined the NFL, but never found his footing until playing in the CFL. It was there that he would find most of his success by throwing for 41,355 yards and 270 touchdowns in eight seasons with British Columbia, Calgary and Toronto. Flutie won the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player award six times and the league’s Grey Cup championship three times.

Flutie would make one final return to the NFL and did end up in a starters role. He also made quite a lasting impression as a kicker.

Flutie finishes with 14,715 passing yards and 86 touchdowns in the NFL, spending most of his time as a backup. Last season, he converted the league’s first drop kick for an extra point since the 1941 NFL title game.

“If that ends up being my last play, it wouldn’t be bad,” Flutie said after the game, a mostly meaningless regular season-ending loss to the Miami Dolphins.

The kick was something, but it will never rival Flutie’s last second heave to Gerard Phelan on a desperation 48-yard touchdown pass that propelled Boston College over Miami in 1984. That play is shown on ESPN almost daily when the bowl season starts approaching.

Not to bring up a sore subject on the man’s retirement day, but I’ll always remember the look on Flutie’s face when he watched the Music City Miracle play from the Bills sideline in the 1999 NFL season. He leads Buffalo to a playoff berth only to watch then head coach Wade Phillips hand the starting role over to Rob Johnson right before the game.

This guy got passed over his whole career and still is memorable.

In an effort to land the 50th Super Bowl (in 2016), architect Bob Corna is resurrecting an idea to breathe life into lakefront development – he wants to build a roof on Cleveland Browns Stadium.

Corna, an architect who helped develop Shooters restaurant and the West Bank of the Flats, wants to pitch the National Football League on Cleveland as the site for Super Bowl L. But first, he will have to show the league that the city has a plan to build an estimated $90 million retractable roof on the city-owned stadium.

To devise such a plan – and pay for it – he will need City Council, the mayor and Browns owner Randy Lerner on board.

If he can get their backing, he wants the city to ask Cuyahoga County commissioners to pay for a study that would look at how much revenue an enclosed stadium, which could be used year-round, could generate.

Corna said future revenue could help cover a large chunk of the roof’s construction cost. The rest, he said, could be paid for by the Browns and with a parking tax, event fees and surcharges on luxury suite owners. He said he has no plans to ask taxpayers to foot the bill.

Someone once said that “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.” Indoor football in Cleveland? That seems pretty hellish. Let’s leave that to soft teams, like the Lions, the Colts and the Vikings.

First they traded for Daunte Culpepper, now the Dolphins have acquired Joey Harrington from the Lions.

The Dolphins had been searching for a backup to Culpepper and targeted Harrington, the former No. 3 overall pick who didn’t live up to expectations in four years as the Lions’ starter. Harrington had expressed his desire to play with the Dolphins.

Miami gave up an undisclosed conditional draft pick for the beleaguered Harrington, who will no doubt be much happier in South Florida than he was in the Motor City. Culpepper’s knee injury was severe and there’s no guarantee that he will be ready for the start of the season, so Harrington is effectively an insurance policy.

After the Texans’ miserable 2005 season and their controversial number one pick, Charley Casserly will step down as general manager of the team. Casserly took a lot of heat for passing on Reggie Bush and Vince Young, taking DE Mario Williams instead. He will officially resign June 1 and possibly pursue a job in the NFL’s front office.

“I have an interest in doing other things right now,” he said. “This was not an easy decision, but it was a decision I felt I had to make at this point in time.”

Casserly really screwed the franchise and the city over. Not only would taking Reggie Bush have been the right decision, it would have woken up a city that has witnessed the Texans sitting in the league’s cellar for most of its five year existence. Their fans finally would have someone to cheer for in Bush and would get a player that would make it worthwhile coming to the stadium. However, Casserly chose to go defense in Williams. Consequently, the fans and media have been outraged and they now find out they are losing their GM, which puts pressure on team president Bob McNair to find a replacement. Passing on Bush? Losing their GM? Sounds like they are headed in the right direction.