Category: NFL (Page 153 of 1282)

      NFL will insist on HGH testing of players

      March 25, 2011 /
      Ticket windows at Qualcomm Stadium , the home of the NFL’s San Diego Chargers, is shown in San Diego, California March 15, 2011. The antitrust suit filed by NFL players against the league will be heard on April 6 in a federal court in Minnesota, according to court documents released on Monday. The hearing is to be heard by Judge Susan Nelson with the players asking for an injunction against the lockout declared by the NFL on Saturday. REUTERS/Mike Blake (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL)

      Former Lions’ linebacker Richard “Dirt” Jordan (a friend of mine whom I also worked with at WDFN in Detroit) once told me that players can’t even take cold medicine without first running it by a team doctor. So I find it a little silly that the NFL hasn’t been testing players for HGH use over the last couple of years.

      Cold medicine = check with team.

      HGH = have at it, hoss. Oh, but it’s frowned upon.

      But that will all change if the NFL has anything to say about it. According to a report by FoxSports.com, the league is insistent upon there being HGH testing in the next CBA. Under the late Gene Upshaw, the NFLPA has expressed resistance to blood testing and no urine test has been developed for HGH, so this report should go over well with the players and do wonders for the current labor dispute. (See you in 2012, fans.)

      “We want it. We think it’s necessary,” Adolpho Birch, who runs the league’s drug-testing policies, told Marvez. “We’re going to ensure that it’s done. That’s something very important to us and the integrity of our game. We believe some of the basis for going slowly on it before has been addressed. At this point, it’s proper for it to be an active part of our program.”

      Funny how the league is so concerned about the integrity of the game, yet the players are locked out and are free to do whatever they want when it comes to supplementing this offseason. As long as they properly cycle out whatever substance they’re putting into their bodies before the lockout ends and the league starts testing them again, they’re fine. (Look at me sounding like your neighborhood steroid distributor – you like that?)

      If HGH testing is so important to the NFL, does it know that players aren’t being tested now? If HGH testing is so important to the NFL, why doesn’t it convince the owners to end the lockout and get back to the negotiating table so that there’s a season next year?

      External Sports, NFL

      Cardinals to take Blaine Gabbert if he falls?

      March 24, 2011 /
      Missouri Tigers quarterback Blaine Gabbert runs onto the field for a game against the Oklahoma Sooners at Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri on October 23, 2010. UPI/Bill Greenblatt

      I must admit, some of that faded excitement that I had for the draft is returning now that the rumors are flowing. Even though the NFL is trying to ruin the holiday with this CBA mess, little by little the draft is starting to creep back into my heart.

      ESPN’s Chris Mortensen tweets that if the Cardinals “can get” Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert at No. 5 next month, “they will.” Owners Michael and Bill Bidwill took Gabbert to dinner on Tuesday night and Arizona’s coaching staff held a private workout with him on Wednesday. It appears, for all intents and purposes, that the Cardinals are putting on a full-court press for the former Tiger.

      Now the question is whether or not he’ll fall to the Cardinals at No. 5. If the Panthers pass on Cam Newton, they could take Gabbert at No. 1. If the Bills don’t take him at No. 3, the Bengals could certainly nab him at No. 4 depending on how they want to handle the Carson Palmer fiasco. With three quarterback-needy teams picking ahead of the Cards in the first round, Gabbert might not fall.

      But if you’re a Cardinal fan and you want Gabbert, it’s easy to look at the situation and stay optimistic. Carolina could take Newton, Buffalo may address its defensive line and Cincinnati owner Mike Brown reiterated on Monday that he wants Palmer back, so maybe the Bengals go with either A.J. Green or Julio Jones. In that scenario, Gabbert would slip to the Cardinals at No. 5.

      Either way, Arizona needs to acquire a signal caller at some point this offseason and given how there’s no free agency, the Cards would be wise to take one in the draft. John Skelton showed flashes last season but on a whole, the quarterback situation was an absolute mess in the desert last year. Gabbert is a big kid with a strong arm and would be a good fit in Ken Whisenhunt’s balanced offense (which also features elements of the spread).

      External Sports, NFL, NFL Draft

      Should the Falcons trade up for A.J. Green?

      March 24, 2011 /

      Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes that the Falcons should do everything in their power to move up to select Georgia receiver A.J. Green in next month’s draft. He also appears to be confused on the CBA rules.

      It would take a lot for the Falcons to move up from 27th in the draft to get Green: at least this year’s and next year’s first-rounder pick. He’s worth it. There were 48 NFL scouts at Georgia’s Pro Day Tuesday. The only time they looked disappointed was when a bizarre league rule forced them to leave the field when Green ran pass routes.

      Next year’s “first-rounder pick”? Something that Schultz either fails to mention or fails to realize is that without a CBA, there is no draft next season – let alone draft picks to trade. As it stands today, teams can’t trade their 2012 draft picks because they don’t exist without a CBA. So the Falcons couldn’t include a package with their first rounder next year even if they wanted to. (This rule is also lost upon Schultz’s AJC co-worker D. Orlando Ledbetter, who seems to think that the Falcons might be able to move up by trading away their first two picks this year and their second rounder in 2012. Again, without a CBA in place, the Falcons couldn’t trade their 2012 second round pick.)

      Now, maybe Schultz and Ledbetter do know the rule and they’re basing their assumption that there will be a CBA in place by the draft next month. But if that’s the case, then why didn’t they just say they were working under this assumption? Furthermore, what’s transpired over the last month to make either of them believe that the owners and players are getting closer to agreeing to a new deal?

      Did these two not do their homework or am I missing something here? One would think that writers at a major newspaper such as the AJC would understand the situation before discussing what it would take for a team selecting at No. 27 to move all the way into the top 10 (where Green will undoubtedly be selected) when the league is in the midst of a labor dispute.

      Trading up for Green would seem highly unlikely unless the Falcons were willing to part with their entire draft this year. And considering their needs along the offensive line (three of their five starters are free agents), at defensive end and at nickel back, the Falcons can’t mortgage their draft for one player – even if it is someone as talented as A.J. Green.

      External Sports, NFL, NFL Draft

      What will the NFL Lockout do to Las Vegas?

      March 23, 2011 /

      Many fans are sweating the ridiculous fight between the owners and the NFL players as they try to divide billions of dollars in one of the few business areas thriving in this down economy, but the pain will be felt by many others as well if a settlement is reached.

      One casualty would certainly be Las Vegas, as betting on NFL games drives a huge amount of business for the Vegas casinos. The Vegas casinos have been having a very difficult time throughout since the financial crisis of 2008, and the last thing they need is losing waves of bettors who are addicted to the NFL spreads. Of course college football will still be a draw, but the NFL turns boring Sundays into big events in Vegas. It’s not just Vegas, as fantasy football sites and online gambling in general will also suffer as well. On the other hand, it could be a big opportunity for others, as players addicted to football will be looking for other ways to generate excitement and spend their gambling dollars.

      Let’s see if it comes to that.

      External Sports, NFL

      Which DTs were most productive in 2010?

      March 22, 2011 /

      Other positions: QB | RB | WR | TE | DT

      When doing a postmortem on any fantasy football season, I like to look at how a particular player performed on a per game basis adjusted for his strength of schedule (SOS). DTs are no different, except that they all played the same number of games. SOS will have an impact, but the per game aspect of it won’t make much of a difference.

      Keep in mind that I used the following scoring system:

      DT/ST TD = 6 points
      Safety = 2 points
      INT = 1 point
      Fumble = 1 point
      Sack = 1 point

      Defensive Points Allowed
      Shutout = 10
      2 – 6 = 8
      7 – 10 = 6
      11 – 14 = 4
      15 – 19 = 2
      20+ = 0

      Here’s a look at how the 32 DTs stack up against each other when SOS bias is removed:

      Continue reading »

      External Sports, Fantasy Football, NFL

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