Tag: Brett Favre (Page 56 of 64)

More on Brett Favre, Jay Glazer and “Lionsgate”

SportsByBrooks chimes in with an interesting post about Brett Favre, the Detroit Lions and Jay Glazer.

And now Mike Florio at PRO FOOTBALL TALK is reporting that ESPN is not allowing on-air staffers to report the story – claiming that the tip by Glazer isn’t true.

Well that, as you might expect, didn’t sit well with Glazer. So he went on ESPNer Dan Le Batard’s radio show in Miami (on 790 The Ticket) to address the situation.

Glazer during the interview was passionate in defending the story and his credibility. He also noted that Detroit Coach Rod Marinelli refuses to deny the report. More interesting though was the reaction to the story – and ESPN’s subsequent embargo – by PTI fill-in host Le Batard.

Before Glazer came on the show, Le Batard weighed why ESPN wasn’t reporting the story, saying, “ESPN is ignoring the story entirely. It’s not their story. Their guy didn’t make that story. Or they haven’t been able to confirm it. Or maybe the story is wrong. ”

While talking to Glazer, Le Batard said, “I would think what ESPN is doing there is prideful. You know how this stuff works, you get beat on a story and then you don’t want to acknowledge that the story exists.

And after the interview, Le Batard remarked, “I’m siding with Jay on this one.”

Clearly, Le Batard believes the story and surprised ESPN is not reporting it.

All right, in the interests of full disclosure…

For 15 or so years, Brett Favre has been my favorite player. I want to believe the best about the man, but in recent months he has proven to be a little spiteful. I’m not having a problem believing the story. I think it’s sad and fairly pathetic – that he’d actively spend time helping another team beat his old team – but given the way things went down this summer, it wouldn’t surprise me if Favre still held a major grudge against Ted Thompson and would love to see him fail. After all, it was Thompson that made the final call on Favre. It was Thompson that said “no more.” And it was Thompson that shipped him off to New York.

Now to the story itself. No source (thus far) will go on the record, but Glazer stands by the truthfulness of the sources. In this case, I look to Occam’s razor…“All other things being equal, the simplest solution is the best.”

What are the odds that Glazer (or a bad source) would come up with this scenario…that a Hall of Fame QB would risk his legacy to help a team or two beat the team that decided to let him go? Nobody would believe it. In fact, a lot of people refuse to believe it, like our regular reader and fellow Packer diehard, Jeff. (I feel your pain, man. I do.)

So there are two choices: 1) Brett Favre feels so spiteful towards the team that traded him away that he is willing to help opposing teams game plan for the Packers or 2) Glazer/source(s) made up a story about Brett Favre helping teams game plan against Green Bay.

To me, it’s such a crazy idea that I doubt anyone could be creative enough to make it up. So, according to Occam’s razor, the first choice is more plausible and is probably the correct answer…

Crap.

Is Brett Favre undermining his old team?

Jay Glazer of FoxSports.com is reporting that Brett Favre spends his free time giving insider tips to upcoming opponents of the Green Bay Packers.

Several sources have told FOX Sports that Favre earlier this year phoned the Detroit Lions prior to their battle versus Favre’s old team, the Green Bay Packers, and gave them a rundown of the nuances of what Green Bay does on offense. According to the sources, Favre actually spent over an hour on the phone with Lions coaches, who were connected with Favre by then-team president Matt Millen.

While the Lions still lost and the Packers and Favre’s replacement Aaron Rodgers played well, it’s still baffling that the Packers legend would spend such a significant chunk of time giving tips to an opponent of his long-time franchise.

Other teams the Packers have played had also heard about the Favre coaching clinic with Detroit. In addition, there have been rumors that Favre has spoken to other teams giving them information, but most of those teams insist they have not heard from the famed gunslinger.

Glazer goes onto say that there’s nothing in the rule book that says Favre can’t do this, but that just doesn’t pass the smell test. If true, Favre is actively working against his old team, the franchise where he spent 16 years as the starting quarterback. Not only that, but shouldn’t he be spending his free time with his family? After all, that was one of the main reasons he gave for walking away from Green Bay in the first place.

We all know he still has a beef with Ted Thompson, but to work against Packer fans like this is simply beneath him. He’s getting into “tarnish the legacy” territory here.

Say it ain’t so, Brett. Say it ain’t so.

10/22 Update: Indeed, Favre did say it ain’t so. Keep up with the story by hitting our Lionsgate link.

Hey NFL coaches: The kicker freeze doesn’t work

Tom CableRemember when Mike Shanahan’s call-a-timeout-the-millisecond-before-the-kicker-attempts-a-field-goal strategy swept the nation last year? Yeah, well it doesn’t work anymore and coaches might want to think about scraping the idea after Raiders’ head coach almost cost his team a win Sunday against the Jets.

After Brett Favre somehow marched the Jets into field goal range with under 30 seconds to play in Oakland, Jay Feely set up to attempt a game-tying 52-yard field goal. He wound up booting the ball off one of the uprights, which should have given the Raiders a 13-10 win, but that trickster Cable fooled everyone and called a timeout. Of course Feely kicked his next attempt straight through the uprights to force overtime.

Granted, Cable still earned his first victory as a NFL head coach when the Raiders eventually won 16-13 on a remarkable record-setting 57-yard field goal by Sebastian Janikowski in overtime, but it should have never come to that. It seems that freezing the kicker backfires more than it benefits and in worst-case scenarios, it could wind up costing teams wins.

Kickers even admit that it helps them settle down and relax. So why continue to do it if you’re an NFL head coach?

Top 10 Active NFL Punching Bags (Most Times Sacked)

Usually sacks are kept track of statistically by the guys who are the sacker, not the sack-ee. In today’s NFL, that means guys like Aaron Kampman, John Abraham and Justin Tuck. But when you think about it, that’s a lot of punishment on the guys who are being brought down to the ground, usually with 300 pounds or more on top of them. Ouch. Here is a list of the active leaders in the “sacked” department:

1. Brett Favre, New York Jets (451)—Well, if you play the game long enough, this is sure to happen, right? Still, Favre paid the price in 1996, the year he led the Packers to a Super Bowl title, hitting the ground a career high 40 times.

2. Donovan McNabb, Philadelphia Eagles (309)—In a full season, McNabb is typically brought down 35-40 times, and mainly because he’s mobile, meaning he’s being chased. Still, I bet he’s still seeing stars from that game last season in which the Giants sacked him 12 times.

3. Kerry Collins, Tennessee Titans (306)—At 36, this is another example of longevity. But when you hang in the pocket for as long as Collins does sometimes, this is bound to happen.

4. Jon Kitna, Detroit Lions (302)—Kitna played a few years in Seattle and a few years in Cincinnati before signing with Detroit before the 2006 season. He was welcomed with a sieve for an offensive line, taking 63 sacks in 2006 and 51 in 2007. Again, ouch.

5. David Carr, New York Giants (262)—Here is where this gets a little painful even to write about. David Carr has only been in the NFL since 2002, the first year of the expansion Houston Texans. That year, Carr broke an NFL record by being sacked 76 times. With 249 total sacks in 5 seasons, Carr has enjoyed the view from the sidelines in Carolina and now in New York (Giants), as a backup.

6. Trent Green, St. Louis Rams (255)—And we wonder why the guy has struggled to get on the field due to concussions. This is one of those sad truths about playing in the NFL.

7. Matt Hasselbeck, Seattle Seahawks (237)—Chunky Soup sure doesn’t help Hasselbeck or McNabb get away from a pass rush.

8. Kurt Warner, Arizona Cardinals (223)—Fantasy owners don’t care about this number. They only care about the Arena League type numbers Warner keeps putting up, even now at the age of 37.

9. Marc Bulger, St. Louis Rams (215)—It’s a sure sign that the mighty Rams have fallen when a guy like Bulger hits the ground 49 times, as he did in 2006.

10. Tom Brady, New England Patriots (203)—The only one that New England fans remember is number 203, the one that knocked Mr. Brady out for the 2008 season in the opener last month.

Source: Pro Football Reference

NFL Week 7 Primer

Peyton ManningSunday’s Best: Colts (3-2) at Packers (3-3), 4:15 PM CBS
There are some brutal matchups this week, so this one wins by default. The Colts will try to carry the momentum from last weeks blowout win against Baltimore into Green Bay this Sunday, but will be without running back Joseph Addai. Dominic Rhodes gets the start, but head coach Tony Dungy has said that Clifton Dawson and Chad Simpson will see some opportunities as well. Peyton Manning played his most complete game of the season last week and might get the opportunity to exploit a banged up Packers’ secondary if Al Harris (spleen) continues to be hobbled (although word is Harris might play). The Packers meanwhile, have not had much success running the ball this year with Ryan Grant, which is unfortunate given that Indy’s main defensive weakness is stopping the run. If Green Bay can’t get the running game going, they’ll again rely on QB Aaron Rodgers to make big plays to wideouts Greg Jennings and Donald Driver in the passing game. This is a huge game for both teams, especially for the Colts considering they’re currently looking up at the 5-0 Titans in the AFC South.

Upset Watch: Jets (3-2) at Raiders (1-4), 4:15 PM CBS
It’s incredibly hard to back the mess that is the Oakland Raiders right now, but they still have a ton of talent on their roster and the Jets have been awfully inconsistent this season. One week they look like playoff contenders and the next they’re getting drummed. Even though they walked away with a victory, New York didn’t play that well against Cincinnati and Brett Favre continues to turn the ball over. The Jets haven’t been able to run the ball successfully of late either, managing just 66 yards per game in the last three weeks. If Oakland is going to pull off a victory in Tom Cable’s home debut, they’ll need to run the ball effectively themselves. Because clearly QB JaMarcus Russell isn’t ready to lead this team on his own yet.

Tony RomoIntriguing Matchup: Cowboys (4-2) at Rams (1-4), 1:00 PM FOX
The biggest question on everyone’s minds (especially fantasy owners) is whether QB Tony Romo will play or not. Despite breaking his pinkie finger in the loss to the Cardinals last week, all indications are that Romo will in fact play. He’ll have a new weapon to throw to in Roy Williams, who the team recently acquired from Detroit at the trade deadline. But not only will it be interesting to see how effective Romo can be with a broken finger, it’ll also be intriguing to watch the many personalities the ‘Boys have on offense now that Williams and T.O. have to share looks in the passing game. Dallas has not played well since their Sunday night win against the Packers early in the year and the Rams proved last week in a win over the Redskins that they won’t be pushovers now that Jim Haslett is running things.

Other Notable Games:
Saints (3-3) at Panthers (4-2), 1:00 PM ET FOX
While everyone is focusing on the East being the best division in the NFC, the South doesn’t have any teams below .500 right now. Some still believe the Saints are the best team in the division and they’ll get the opportunity to prove it this week in Carolina.

Browns (2-3) at Redskins (4-2), 4:15 PM ET CBS
What was the bigger fluke from Week 6 – the Browns beating the Giants or the Redskins losing to the Rams?

Titans (5-0) at Chiefs (1-4), 1:00 PM ET CBS
The Titans get to put their undefeated record on the line this week in Kansas City and fortunately for them the Larry Johnson-less Chiefs shouldn’t provide much of a challenge.

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