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Report: Cedric Benson will not be suspended by NFL

CINCINNATI - JANUARY 9: Cedric Benson #32 of the Cincinnati Bengals runs the ball alongside David Harris #52 of the New York Jets in the third quarter during the 2010 AFC wild-card playoff game at Paul Brown Stadium on January 9, 2010 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Roger Goodell is apparently getting soft in his old(er) age.

Like Titans’ quarterback Vince Young, it appears as though Cedric Benson will escape punishment stemming from an incident that occurred at an Austin bar late last month in which witnesses claim he punched an employee. According to Adam Schefter via his Twitter page, Goodell will not suspend the Bengals’ running back.

It’ll be interesting to see whether or not the Bengals sign Benson to a contract extension now that he’s in the clear. He was angling for a new deal before the news about his bar altercation broke, so maybe the team will feel more confident giving him an extension. That said, nobody could blame Cincy if it wanted to waited until Benson stayed out of trouble the rest of the year.

As expected, Young wasn’t suspended either after he punched a man in the face at a strip club last month. It was the first time Young had gotten into any off-field trouble, so it was expected that Goodell would go easy on him being a first-time offender. The reports out of Tennessee have been mostly positive about VY this summer, so it appears as though the strip club incident was only a small roadblock for the 27-year-old QB.

Why are people surprised that vets would want to play with the Super Friends?

Chris Bosh (L), Dwyane Wade (C) and LeBron James show 10,000 fans their Miami Heat jerseys after signing 6 year contracts with the Heat at the American Airlines Arena in Miami on July 9, 2010. UPI/Michael Bush Photo via Newscom

After LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh decided once and for all that they were going to team up in Miami, Ric Bucher was one of the ones (along with Jon Barry, let’s not forget him) that questioned what kind of supporting cast the Heat would be able to put around their three stars.

Now that the roster is complete with the signing of sharpshooter Eddie House, Bucher chimes in on Twitter:

Count me unconvinced the Heat are the L’s next champ. But as far as supporting casts built on very limited $, they did incredibly well.

Looking at the Heat’s roster — the key signings were Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem, which Miami got at a discount. Miller should thrive in open catch and shoot situations, while Haslem was convinced by his loyalty to the organization and to the team. Haslem is an undersized center, but right there, the Heat have the league’s strongest starting five, at least on paper.

The Heat knew they needed more shooters, so they re-signed James Jones and signed House, who are both career 39%+ from 3PT. Mario Chalmers is not on their level, but he’s a threat from deep and has played in pressure situations before (at Kansas, where he hit an amazing shot to send the title game against Memphis into overtime). Carlos Arroyo is still there as well, and hopefully he’s locked in a gym somewhere working on this outside touch.

Miami also added several bigs to shore up the front line around Bosh and Haslem. They signed veterans Juwan Howard and Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who are obviously at the ends of their respective careers, but they should still be able to give a few productive minutes off the bench. Jamaal Magloire is another big body who could contend with Dwight Howard in a possible matchup with Orlando.

They have some young bigs as well. Joel Anthony is a promising defensive center and the Heat drafted Jarvis Varnado, Da’Sean Butler and Dexter Pittman to round out the front line.

All in all, the roster came together very well, starting with the Miller and Haslem signings. Once those two were locked up, the rest was just gravy. Pat Riley did a wonderful job this summer.

Now they have to play the games.

Domonique Foxworth tears ACL, Ravens’ secondary dealt another blow

Jan. 16, 2010 - INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, UNITED STATES - epa01991519 Baltimore Ravens cornerback Domonique Foxworth (R) stops Indianapolis Colts tight end Dallas Clark (L) on a pass play in the first quarter of their American Football Conference divisional playoff game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA 16 January 2010.

It wasn’t three days ago that I wrote about the potential concerns that the Ravens had in their secondary heading into the 2010 season. Now it appears that yet another one of their starting corners has suffered an ACL injury.

Domonique Foxworth, whom the Ravens signed to a $27.2 million contract last season, is out for the year after tearing his ACL during Thursday’s practice. The news is devastating considering that both Fabian Washington and Lardarius Webb are trying to recover from the same injuries. Neither corner is expected to be 100% by the start of the season.

After signing his lucrative deal in the offseason, Foxworth became a constant target of fans and critics. Truth be told, if you watch the film he wasn’t as bad as people made him out to be, but it’s also true that he never came close to living up to the contract he signed. Furthermore, he seemed to save his worst performances against top opponents like the Colts (twice), Patriots and Bengals.

Assuming they make full recoveries, the Ravens should be able to get by with Webb and Washington as their starters. But given the uncertainty of their injuries and the depth behind them (i.e. Chris Carr, Walt Harris, Travis Fisher, etc.), it’s fair to question why GM Ozzie Newsome didn’t focus on the cornerback position more this offseason.

Shaq needs a reality check

NBA star Shaquille O'Neal challenges 2009 champion Kavya Shivashankar to spell a word before the final round at the Scripps 2010 National Spelling Bee in Washington on June 4, 2010. UPI/Alexis C. Glenn Photo via Newscom

Shaq is a 38-year-old center without a home and he’s holding out for a sign-and-trade hoping to get a deal that starts above the mid-level exception, which starts at around $5.8 million per season. But get this — he only wants to play for a legitimate contender.

That’s a short list of teams.

What follows is an open letter to Mr. O’Neal.

Shaq, you are one of the most dominating players the league has ever seen, and the NBA has been good to you. According to Basketball-Reference, you have made more than $290 million in your career. And that doesn’t even count the money you’ve made from sponsorships.

Don’t embarrass yourself by trying to orchestrate a sign-and-trade. If you want to keep playing, just sign for the veteran minimum and join the best fit of the short list of teams that are after your services. Everyone knows you are not the player that you once were, and haven’t been for the last few years, (when you were making $20+ million a season), so take the pay cut with a smile and put yourself in a position of relevancy to finish off your illustrious career.

Who knows, maybe you’ll be the difference in a playoff series for the Celtics or the Hawks, and people will look back on your final games and say — man, the guy could still play, even at 38-years-old.

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