In an effort to distance himself not only from the turmoil of his troubled past (including his non-existent 2007 season) but from everyone's favourite Japanese arcade game, Adam Jones has requested that the media drop his "Pacman" nickname (ESPN Reports).
Wide-Right predicts a 2008 NFL season full of commentary including the phrase "the player formally known as Pacman" (if indeed the player formally known as Pacman is reinstated).
In other, unrelated news, Sadia Morrison - who was with Mr Jones at the time of the now infamous LA Strip Club incident - has been found dead in New York.
Her family believe that while she was murdered, it was not related to the 2007 shooting at the Minxx Strip Club.
Miss Morrison was a stylist, publicist and promoter and had styled several A-list celebrities, including 50 Cent and Kanye West.
Friday 20 June 2008
A happy Bear?
In what is a startling development today, DT Tommie Harris became the first Chicago Bear for over 40 years to actually have anything good to say about the team's front office.
Ok, a slight exaggeration, but it is refreshing to see something coming out of Halas Hall that doesn't reflect badly on the team's poor personel record over the last few years.
"We didn't try to go out there and talk about one another or dispute different things, and I feel like we did it all in-house," The league's best paid Defensive Tackle ever said today. A cynic might say that he has an extra $40m in his pocket and is obviously going to be happy, but the three time pro-bowler has every chance of being a Bear for life at this rate.
Harris has been a priority for the Bears as far as the recent contract disputes have been concerned. Certainly he is arguably as important as Brian Urlacher, who despite being the focal point of the team, is reliant on a skill set that could well decline rapidly in the next few years. Harris is still just 25, having entered the league aged 21. The one issue that could affect him is durability, but he has shown a willingness to play hurt, and has been effective in such situations, including a career best 8 sacks last year.
Where this leaves Urlacher is anyone's guess. Devin Hester is probably still above him on the Bears' list of contracts that need re-working, but it could be that they throw a token guaranteed payment to him in the next few months (a-la the Jets and Laveranues Coles), and Urlacher is finally 'educated' as to the value of his deal.
Ok, a slight exaggeration, but it is refreshing to see something coming out of Halas Hall that doesn't reflect badly on the team's poor personel record over the last few years.
"We didn't try to go out there and talk about one another or dispute different things, and I feel like we did it all in-house," The league's best paid Defensive Tackle ever said today. A cynic might say that he has an extra $40m in his pocket and is obviously going to be happy, but the three time pro-bowler has every chance of being a Bear for life at this rate.
Harris has been a priority for the Bears as far as the recent contract disputes have been concerned. Certainly he is arguably as important as Brian Urlacher, who despite being the focal point of the team, is reliant on a skill set that could well decline rapidly in the next few years. Harris is still just 25, having entered the league aged 21. The one issue that could affect him is durability, but he has shown a willingness to play hurt, and has been effective in such situations, including a career best 8 sacks last year.
Where this leaves Urlacher is anyone's guess. Devin Hester is probably still above him on the Bears' list of contracts that need re-working, but it could be that they throw a token guaranteed payment to him in the next few months (a-la the Jets and Laveranues Coles), and Urlacher is finally 'educated' as to the value of his deal.
Marshawn lynch to plead guilty
Bills RB Marshawn Lynch will plead guilty to an 'unspecified charge' according to an AP report today.
Lynch's deafening silence has possibly caused the issue to be blown out of proportion, but full credit to his lawyer for salvaging something from what promised to be an issue that could have gotten quickly out of hand, especially with team officials and players set to testify before a Grand jury.
Any charge will likely not be much more than a misdemeanour, but it certainly won't look good when Roger Goodell rings Lynch up for an explanation. Lynch likely won't face suspension (in our opinion) but could well find himself on a list of players that the league will be keeping an eye on in future.
Lynch's deafening silence has possibly caused the issue to be blown out of proportion, but full credit to his lawyer for salvaging something from what promised to be an issue that could have gotten quickly out of hand, especially with team officials and players set to testify before a Grand jury.
Any charge will likely not be much more than a misdemeanour, but it certainly won't look good when Roger Goodell rings Lynch up for an explanation. Lynch likely won't face suspension (in our opinion) but could well find himself on a list of players that the league will be keeping an eye on in future.
LaDainian joins the BBC's NFL love in.
While Reggie Bush has been in almost every news outlet during the last few days here, LaDainian Tomlinson (You know, the guy who justifies his contract?) has also been interviewed by the BBC's Tim Love
Getting past the usual schtick about looking forward to experiencing the London nightlife, LT does reveal one difference between the Chargers and the two teams who played last year. 'I can tell you now we'll be here from Monday Morning', Tomlinson told Love. Compared to the Giants and Dolphins, who both appeared on the Friday of game week, this perhaps shows one of the lessons learned by the two east coast teams regarding acclimatising to the British weather.
One other factor could be that both teams have road trips that make it simpler to catch a direct flight to London. Certainly for the Chargers (who are in Buffalo) it couldn't be any further from home, so going home to San Diego would be a ridiculous trek. The Saints are in Carolina, and even without any explicit confirmation, we'd expect the team to go straight to London.
Getting past the usual schtick about looking forward to experiencing the London nightlife, LT does reveal one difference between the Chargers and the two teams who played last year. 'I can tell you now we'll be here from Monday Morning', Tomlinson told Love. Compared to the Giants and Dolphins, who both appeared on the Friday of game week, this perhaps shows one of the lessons learned by the two east coast teams regarding acclimatising to the British weather.
One other factor could be that both teams have road trips that make it simpler to catch a direct flight to London. Certainly for the Chargers (who are in Buffalo) it couldn't be any further from home, so going home to San Diego would be a ridiculous trek. The Saints are in Carolina, and even without any explicit confirmation, we'd expect the team to go straight to London.
More from Reggie...
Reggie Bush must be exhausted. Fresh from his interviews with Radio 1 and Talksport radio, he has been on BBC TV apparently singing David Beckham's praises regarding a potential NFL career. Bush and Beckham filmed an advert for Adidas together last year.
'He was er... fast!' Reggie points out regarding Beckham's physical skills. Some of us may not remember his speed as his greatest attribute, but fair enough. His kicking? 'He nailed a 60yd field goal... I told him if his soccer career doesn't work out he can come and play kicker for us' says Reggie, a budding General Manager.
He also describes some Saints fans as 'disappointed' with the team losing a home game at the expense of the Wembley adventure. We can understand where they're coming from, even if (for purely selfish reasons) we're glad they've decided to.
We'll have something from LT, who is also over here promoting the game, soon.
'He was er... fast!' Reggie points out regarding Beckham's physical skills. Some of us may not remember his speed as his greatest attribute, but fair enough. His kicking? 'He nailed a 60yd field goal... I told him if his soccer career doesn't work out he can come and play kicker for us' says Reggie, a budding General Manager.
He also describes some Saints fans as 'disappointed' with the team losing a home game at the expense of the Wembley adventure. We can understand where they're coming from, even if (for purely selfish reasons) we're glad they've decided to.
We'll have something from LT, who is also over here promoting the game, soon.
DeAngelo Williams, Half a Running Back.
The Panthers shipped out veteran fumbler DeShaun Foster to the 49ers in the offseason, leaving DeAngelo Williams - their first round pick in 2006 draft - as their premier back for the first time in his career.
Despite out-performing Foster for long stretches in his first two years, Williams was never given starting duties by coach John Fox, and the addition of another first round back (Oregon's Jonathan Stewart) into the Panthers' backfield equation would hardly seem to be a glowing endorsement of the former Memphis standout.
Williams himself, however, is philisophical about the move. "Everybody is going to the two-back system," Williams said. "Whether I start or he starts, we'll both get the same amount of carries" he told Panthers.com.
Of course, it's much easier for the current incumbent in these situations to make nice in the media. If Williams sees a significant drop in carries, it will be interesting to see what his stance on the two back system is. We suspect, much like Maurice Jones-Drew, he is destined to forever split carries, wherever he plays.
Despite out-performing Foster for long stretches in his first two years, Williams was never given starting duties by coach John Fox, and the addition of another first round back (Oregon's Jonathan Stewart) into the Panthers' backfield equation would hardly seem to be a glowing endorsement of the former Memphis standout.
Williams himself, however, is philisophical about the move. "Everybody is going to the two-back system," Williams said. "Whether I start or he starts, we'll both get the same amount of carries" he told Panthers.com.
Of course, it's much easier for the current incumbent in these situations to make nice in the media. If Williams sees a significant drop in carries, it will be interesting to see what his stance on the two back system is. We suspect, much like Maurice Jones-Drew, he is destined to forever split carries, wherever he plays.
Chad Johnson
As reported on the official Bengals website, Chad Johnson seems slightly more accepting of his position in Cinci. This could be the end of what promised to be a long and tedious summer of Johnson's whingings vs Marvin Lweis's hardball stance.
Many people have speculated that Ocho Cinco's potential holdout was primarily motivated by money, but hold on a minute, there's a few facts that have been overlooked in that theory. The first, and simplest, is that Chad would have been better off money-wise, if he'd have continued with the eccentric genius act of seasons past. A Wide receiver who has 4-5 years left in the game (that's presuming he even wants to play that long) would be better served keeping the public, especially those in his 'home market' onside. The money he can make after football - not to mention his constant craving for attention - should both be factors in a decision to hold out at this stage of his career. His recent appearances on the NFL Network looked relatively strained, and even genial host Rich Eisen struggled to induce much more than a 'spoiled brat' attitude from Johnson.
So what is the most important thing to Chad? We'd argue that recognition is probably his overriding concern as he enters the autumn of his career. Remember this? The public reaction was more one of laughter, rather than acknowledging any sentiment behind the move. Couple this with Randy Moss shooting up the list of potentially Canton-bound players, and you have one slighlty miffed Bengal.
Johnson is 30. Moss is 31. It's not hard to see his thinking here. Remember that Moss could have sat in a mediocre side (Vikings anyone?) and racked up the big numbers (Cris Carter anyone?), but as we found out with Carter, that is definately no guarantee of Hall of Fame membership. With this in mind, Moss engineered a trade to the Raiders, but after just a year was already making noises about jumping ship. The undervalued contract he signed with the Pats reflected not his desire to make money, but his desire to play on a championship winning team.
So now Moss is a consensus Hall of Famer five years after he retires. Sure he doesn't have the ring, but he went 18 and 1 on one of the greatest teams to ever play, not to mention that the Pats have the potential to add another couple of championships before he retires. Johnson on the other hand, is painted as an outgoing, loveable character, with some brilliant statistics, but ultimately not one of the greats of his generation.
Without a ring, that '20??' prediction may need to be put on hold.
Many people have speculated that Ocho Cinco's potential holdout was primarily motivated by money, but hold on a minute, there's a few facts that have been overlooked in that theory. The first, and simplest, is that Chad would have been better off money-wise, if he'd have continued with the eccentric genius act of seasons past. A Wide receiver who has 4-5 years left in the game (that's presuming he even wants to play that long) would be better served keeping the public, especially those in his 'home market' onside. The money he can make after football - not to mention his constant craving for attention - should both be factors in a decision to hold out at this stage of his career. His recent appearances on the NFL Network looked relatively strained, and even genial host Rich Eisen struggled to induce much more than a 'spoiled brat' attitude from Johnson.
So what is the most important thing to Chad? We'd argue that recognition is probably his overriding concern as he enters the autumn of his career. Remember this? The public reaction was more one of laughter, rather than acknowledging any sentiment behind the move. Couple this with Randy Moss shooting up the list of potentially Canton-bound players, and you have one slighlty miffed Bengal.
Johnson is 30. Moss is 31. It's not hard to see his thinking here. Remember that Moss could have sat in a mediocre side (Vikings anyone?) and racked up the big numbers (Cris Carter anyone?), but as we found out with Carter, that is definately no guarantee of Hall of Fame membership. With this in mind, Moss engineered a trade to the Raiders, but after just a year was already making noises about jumping ship. The undervalued contract he signed with the Pats reflected not his desire to make money, but his desire to play on a championship winning team.
So now Moss is a consensus Hall of Famer five years after he retires. Sure he doesn't have the ring, but he went 18 and 1 on one of the greatest teams to ever play, not to mention that the Pats have the potential to add another couple of championships before he retires. Johnson on the other hand, is painted as an outgoing, loveable character, with some brilliant statistics, but ultimately not one of the greats of his generation.
Without a ring, that '20??' prediction may need to be put on hold.
Steve Foley's trial begins
Steve Foley, the former San Diego Charger, appeared in court this morning for the first day of his Civil lawsuit against the officer who ended his career
One interesting point not made in the article is that the officer in question, Aaron Mansker, was rewarded in 2007 for Making 57 Drunk-Driving related arrests.
We're not sure why there is an award for 'Oustanding DUI Officer of the year', but fair play to the young officer involved - he doesn't discriminate between people who are drunk, and people who are drunk and could very easily kick the crap out of him.
One interesting point not made in the article is that the officer in question, Aaron Mansker, was rewarded in 2007 for Making 57 Drunk-Driving related arrests.
We're not sure why there is an award for 'Oustanding DUI Officer of the year', but fair play to the young officer involved - he doesn't discriminate between people who are drunk, and people who are drunk and could very easily kick the crap out of him.
Wide Right's Mandate
Another NFL blog? What's new?
Yeah, we've trawled through a thousand different blogs in our time too, so there's no reason to look at this one.
OR IS THERE?
Here at Wide Right, we're going to give a uniquely British perspective on the NFL, especially the upcoming 'International series' events, which we are of course, in an ideal position to cover. Above all though, this is a blog, and a blog is about opinions. Contrary to popular belief, there are thousands of NFL fans in Britain and Europe who follow their teams just as passionately as their counterparts across the Atlantic.
And of course, in a development that will amaze Channing Crowder, we'll be doing it all in English.
Feel free to post comments on the site, and don't forget to click through the ads you see on here. Every little helps and we may one day not make a complete financial loss on the upkeep of this site. Hell, we might even open up a forum one of these days...
Yeah, we've trawled through a thousand different blogs in our time too, so there's no reason to look at this one.
OR IS THERE?
Here at Wide Right, we're going to give a uniquely British perspective on the NFL, especially the upcoming 'International series' events, which we are of course, in an ideal position to cover. Above all though, this is a blog, and a blog is about opinions. Contrary to popular belief, there are thousands of NFL fans in Britain and Europe who follow their teams just as passionately as their counterparts across the Atlantic.
And of course, in a development that will amaze Channing Crowder, we'll be doing it all in English.
Feel free to post comments on the site, and don't forget to click through the ads you see on here. Every little helps and we may one day not make a complete financial loss on the upkeep of this site. Hell, we might even open up a forum one of these days...
Reggie Bush speaks on BBC Radio 1
Reggie Bush has been 'doing the rounds' in London this week - alongside LaDainian Tomlinson - to promote the NFL's International Series game at Wembley, which takes place on October the 26th.
Here's a link to an interview on BBC Radio One.
We'd advise fast forwarding about an hour into the show, unless you particularly enjoy inane banter. Some interesting quotes from Reggie there, not least his description of the Draft as 'not good for the athlete'. Wide Right would suggest that the former number two overall pick has precisely 26.3m guaranteed reasons to be fully behind the current draft process.
Much of the interview focuses on Bush's relationship with Kim Kardashian, including at least one quote which we think might come back to haunt Reggie: 'I've never said this about any other girl before, but I can definately see myself getting married to her'. Kim's Father is Robert Kardashian, possibly best known as part of O.J Simpson's defence team. That fact is completely unrelated to Bush's massive personal income.
Here's a link to an interview on BBC Radio One.
We'd advise fast forwarding about an hour into the show, unless you particularly enjoy inane banter. Some interesting quotes from Reggie there, not least his description of the Draft as 'not good for the athlete'. Wide Right would suggest that the former number two overall pick has precisely 26.3m guaranteed reasons to be fully behind the current draft process.
Much of the interview focuses on Bush's relationship with Kim Kardashian, including at least one quote which we think might come back to haunt Reggie: 'I've never said this about any other girl before, but I can definately see myself getting married to her'. Kim's Father is Robert Kardashian, possibly best known as part of O.J Simpson's defence team. That fact is completely unrelated to Bush's massive personal income.
Welcome to our blog.
It's always difficult knowing how to open a new blog.
But we say 'start as you mean to go on'.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
