Category: NFL (Page 1244 of 1282)

In July, Paul Tagliabue will end his 16-year tenure as commissioner of the NFL.

The 65-year-old Tagliabue will leave the NFL in July with labor peace, unprecedented revenue through television deals and a place in the American consciousness where Sundays mean football.

His term will be remembered most for labor peace following strikes in 1982 and 1987. His close relationship with Upshaw finally led to a long-term agreement after five years without a contract.

But the bargaining was hard this time, with three straight deadline extensions needed. The agreement avoided the prospect of entering free agency this year with the possibility of an uncapped year in 2007.

It came at the expense of revenue sharing among the owners, an issue that had divided high-revenue and small-revenue teams and contributed to the deadlock. He did it with what has been considered his greatest skill as commissioner, patching together a coalition of nine teams with differing viewpoints to reach a compromise considered satisfactory by all but two teams.

He also oversaw a massive stadium building program. More than two-thirds of the NFL’s 32 teams are either playing in or building stadiums that didn’t exist when he took over as commissioner in 1989.

Tagliabue had a large hand in making the NFL the best run professional league in the country. With all due respect to MLB, the NFL is America’s game, and no other sport can match its popularity or widespread appeal. The salary cap has brought parity to the league, and this allows franchises to perform quick turnarounds from losers to Super Bowl contenders. While some argue it has lessened the quality of play in the playoffs, the parity does generate interest in every NFL city every September.

Let the soap opera begin. I’m not looking forward to all the “in-depth” coverage of this situation we’ll have to endure over the next year.

That said, Parcells might be the only coach who can handle this clown (others, like Belichick, wouldn’t bother trying). If Ron Artest can string together half a season in Sacramento without disrupting that team, perhaps T. O. can learn to keep his mouth shut as well and focus on football.

The Eagles parted ways with talented, yet troublesome wide receiver Terrell Owens and the Cowboys cut Keyshawn Johnson, fueling speculation that Dallas is going to make a run at T.O.. The Broncos are the frontrunner, but they appear to be proceeding with caution. Denver owner Pat Bowlen says he is “not sure” what interest his team has Owens. Not sure? You either want the guy or you don’t. If you haven’t figured it by now, I’m not sure what to tell you.

For T.O. to be productive, he needs to go to a team with a strong coach. Even though that didn’t work very well in Philly with Andy Reid, Bill Parcells or Mike Shanahan might have a chance to coax the best out of him. One key will be reworking his contract so that he’s fiscally happy.

On the Joey Harrington front, the Lions have signed Jon Kitna and Josh McCown, so it appears that Joey’s days are numbered. He’ll likely land as a backup somewhere, and get another chance to start down the line.

…for possession of crack cocaine. No shit.

NFL agent Dante DiTrapano, whose one and only client is Raiders receiver Randy Moss, was arrested in St. Petersburg, Florida on Tuesday for possession of crack cocaine.

Both DiTrapano and his wife face the charges. Three other persons were arrested at the same time, and are charged with possession of crack cocaine and a variety of other offenses.

Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Wait…it gets better. Click the link above and scroll down the page to see the mugshots of DiTrapano, his wife, and their three cohorts.

Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

A large number of Len Pasquarelli’s list of the 50 top unrestricted free agents have found homes for next season. Of the top 10, center LeCharles Bentley signed with the Browns, Edgerrin James with the Cardinals, linebacker Will Witherspoon with the Rams, Drew Brees with the Saints, defensive end Aaron Kampman with the Packers, defensive tackle Maake Kemoeatu with the Panthers and wide receiver David Givens signed with the Titans.

That leaves San Francisco linebacker Julian Peterson as the top remaining free agent, with kicker Adam Vinatieri and defensive tackle Ryan Pickett rounding out the top 10.

In all, 31 of the top 50 free agents have already signed for 2006.