Category: NFL (Page 732 of 1282)

      Ex-teammate: ‘Favre is being selfish’

      May 8, 2009 /

      Even though the Jets have moved on from the 2008 experiment with Brett Favre, his ex-teammates still can’t help but to lob a few grenades in his direction while he flirts (flirted?) with the idea of joining the Vikings.

      To a man, the Jets said they weren’t surprised by the latest on Favre, and many wished him well, but there were traces of bitterness. After all, he quit after only one season with the Jets, claiming he was finished with football. Now there’s talk of him playing for the Vikings.

      The media-friendly Kerry Rhodes refused to discuss Favre, saying, “I don’t want to get into it.” Jerricho Cotchery said, “Before he came to us, the whole thing was he wanted to go to Minnesota. You kind of feel bad if you were the team he settled for.”

      Another player, who requested anonymity, launched this salvo at the future Hall of Famer: “I’m tired of being part of his soap opera. If he really wanted to win a championship, he’d be right here. Let’s call it for what it is: He wants to play for Minnesota so he can stick it to Green Bay twice a year. He’s just being selfish. I’m not surprised.”

      Late Thursday, Yahoo! Sports reported that Favre had informed the Vikings that he’s going to stay retired, although nothing official came from Favre – his agent told ESPN that Favre is retired but left the door open for a change of heart.

      I wasn’t around the situation to know for sure, but it seemed like Brett never embraced the Jets. Granted, maybe he never embraced the Jets because he felt as though they didn’t embrace him, but you got the sense that the Big Apple was just going to be a brief stint for him, which it inevitably turned out to be.

      I don’t blame Jets players for questioning Favre’s motives to play last year and his possible motivations for continuing to play. Does he really want to help a team win a Super Bowl or is he only continuing to play to fulfill some self-serving prophecy? Did he really want to help the Jets win last year or did he just want to prove to Ted Thompson and the Packers that he could still play?

      It seems that if he is going to come back, he’ll only do so if it’s the absolute best situation for Brett. I don’t know whether or not to applaud him for being smart (after all, what player in their right mind would want to join a situation where they might not succeed?) or join the unnamed Jets’ player and call him selfish.

      NFL

      Marvin Harrison has no plans to retire

      May 8, 2009 /

      Remember Marvin Harrison? Well, apparently the 37-year old receiver is healthy, has no plans to retire and wants to play in 2009.

      “I played in 15 games last year and a playoff game, and I intend to play again this season,” Condon said Harrison told him in a conversation Thursday afternoon.

      Harrison, who turns 37 in August, was released by the Colts after the 2008 season, in large part for salary-cap relief. Harrison, who didn’t agree to a restructured contract, was scheduled to count more than $13 million against the Colts’ 2009 cap.

      Last season, Harrison had just 60 catches for 636 yards and five touchdowns — the lowest full single-season totals of his career. He missed 11 games in 2007 because of a knee injury, catching just 20 passes and scoring one touchdown.

      There hasn’t been much interest in Harrison at this point, but Condon said he expects his client to sign with a team close to the time that training camps open later this summer.

      The knock on Harrison is that he won’t play for a veteran’s minimum salary, but considering no teams have showed interest in him to this point, he might change his tune once the season draws near. One would think that a receiver-needy team would have interest in a receiver of Harrison’s stature, but nobody wants to overpay for a 37-year old with knee issues.

      NFL

      Source: Favre turns down Vikings and will stay retired

      May 7, 2009 /

      According to a report by Yahoo! Sports, Brett Favre has turned down the Vikings’ attempts to sign him and will now stay retired.

      In a phone call that took place sometime in the last day, the source said Favre told Vikings coach Brad Childress that he wanted to remain retired. Favre is expected to publicly explain his decision soon.

      Favre, who announced his first retirement in March 2008 after spending 16 seasons with the Green Bay Packers, decided to resume his career last summer and was traded to the New York Jets in August. After one season in New York, Favre retired again and was subsequently released by the Jets on April 29.

      Just days after his release from the Jets, speculation began that the Vikings were interested in bringing in a veteran to compete with Sage Rosenfels(notes), who was acquired this offseason from the Houston Texans. Rosenfels is atop the depth chart heading into training camp, with Tarvaris Jackson and John David Booty(notes) also on the roster.

      The moment the Vikings step onto the field in Week 1 of the new season and I don’t see a No. 4 jersey with Favre on the back, then I’ll believe Brett isn’t coming back. For now, I’m just going to assume that he’s upset that Childress has asked him to show up to minicamp and he’s going to bide his time until most of the padded workouts are complete.

      I’m not going to believe anything until it comes out of Brett Favre’s mouth. And even then I’m going to question the hell out of what he says.

      NFL

      Report: Favre would have surgery to join Vikings

      May 7, 2009 /

      According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune (via an unnamed NFL source), Brett Favre would agree to have surgery in order to play for the Vikings next season.

      One key topic will be the condition of the partially torn biceps in Favre’s throwing arm that derailed his only season as a member of the New York Jets. But a resolution to that situation appears close — and the sides could reach a deal quickly.

      Favre, according to NFL sources, is agreeable to undergoing a minor procedure in which surgeons complete the cutting of the tendon. The recovery period would be quick, and Favre would be ready to go long before training camp.

      I urge everyone to take these reports with a grain of salt considering most of them (including this one) come from unnamed league sources. But either way, the Favre-to-Vikings rumors are heating up.

      One think that has intrigued me is how Favre wants to play with the Vikings in order to get back at Packers’ GM Ted Thompson. That’s ridiculous if it’s true (again, if it’s true), especially considering Thompson often had to wait several weeks to full months after seasons (plural) to hear from Favre about whether or not he was going to retire or come back to Green Bay. Favre essentially put Thompson (a GM mind you, who has to prepare for free agency, the draft and everything else in the offseason) through the ringer several times regarding his retirement plans, yet the one offseason Thompson plays hardball with him, Brett gets his feelings hurt. (And don’t forget that Thompson was still willing to take him back at one point last offseason, yet Brett changed his mind twice before stating that he wanted to be traded.)

      One thing Brett might want to consider is his fans in Green Bay. They treated him like an NFL god for over a decade and would gladly step in front of a bus for him at a moment’s notice. How are they going to feel the day he holds up that purple No. 4 jersey at his Vikings’ press conference? I hope his legacy in Green Bay takes a major hit the moment he steps onto Lambeau Field in a rival’s uniform.

      That said, from a pure football standpoint, he would be great for the Vikings’ offense. Minnesota has a tremendous running game thanks to a great offensive line and Adrian Peterson, a couple of solid receiving threats in Bernard Berrian and Percy Harvin, and Brad Childress employs an offense Favre is already accustomed to running. I just don’t know if his arm would hold up for an entire 16-game season, although the Vikings appear to be addressing that question by making him have surgery.

      NFL

      Manning to lose long-time coordinator Moore to retirement?

      May 7, 2009 /

      According to a report by ESPN.com, long-time Colts offensive coordinator Tom Moore is set to retire due to his dissatisfaction with the NFL’s revised pension plan for coaches. Indianapolis already lost its offensive line coach Howard Mudd to retirement over the same issue.

      Mudd has coached 35 consecutive seasons in the NFL and Moore has been an assistant for 32 years. Both are considered among the finest assistant coaches in league history and their 12-year Indianapolis union as offensive coordinator and line coach has been considered a major factor to the success of the Colts and quarterback Peyton Manning.

      NFL owners passed a resolution at the league meetings that allowed the 32 teams to opt out of a uniformed pension plan, which has been a generous incentive for coaches to remain at the pro level. Many teams have yet to decide on their specific plans for non-playing employees but Kennan painted a picture of betrayal.

      “Howard was already researching the strategy of when to take a lump sum payment when the owners pulled this fast one,” said Kennan. “Let me tell you something: The owners did this at the league meetings and they never informed me of anything. They didn’t notify the [coaches] within their own organizations, with the exception of two classy organizations — the Atlanta Falcons and Baltimore Ravens — that there were changes coming. No advance warning and no information after the fact.

      “So you take a guy like Howard Mudd, who is pretty diligent about everything, and he was already concerned about losing some money because the market index was going to change in July. Then you throw this at someone like that — and he finds out that several teams have not fully funded their pension plans at an 80 percent level, the mark they need to hit for any employee to take a full lump sum payment. …Well, Howard Mudd’s not waiting around to see what happens with all these signals. And he’s a guy that a lot of other coaches respect — especially Tom Moore — so they could follow his lead.”

      I don’t know enough about the league’s pension plan for coaches to comment on that situation, but I do know that losing Moore and Mudd would be a bigger hit to the Colts than people would generally think.

      One of the reasons Manning has been so successful over his career is because he has had the fortune to work with Moore year in and year out. Some quarterbacks have to work with three or sometimes even four coordinators throughout their careers and each time there’s an adjustment period. Yet Manning has the luxury of knowing Moore’s system as soon as he reports to camp every year and the two make a perfect pair on game days.

      Then again if Moore does retire, the Colts probably already have already been grooming his replacement, ala Jim Caldwell when Tony Dungy stepped down.

      NFL

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