MMQB Review: Peter's Book Club

I am back and have not paid attention to sports at all, except for seeing my certain favorite baseball team's slide back into mediocrity, so I am refreshed and completely behind what is going on in the sports world. I just hope I am not a little rusty. I am glad Fred went ahead and covered the baseball portion of MMQB because I am going to cover MMQB and Peter's Tuesday mailbag today.

Every year Peter recommends books to the readers of his MMQB, and it is much like Oprah's Book Club, except for the fact as of last week Peter had not read every book he was going to recommend. You may ask how Peter can recommend a book he hasn't read? Welcome to the world of Peter King.

I'm mostly going off Favre watch for a week (I can just feel the disappointment out there)

This is a bold face lie, we get an entire paragraph on Favre later. If Peter knows his readers hate hearing about Favre then why in the hell does he continuously update us on Favre's every move? That doesn't make sense to me.

to talk about some other quarterbacks, Donovan McNabb and Mark Sanchez most notably, and one of the left coast teams I've largely ignored this spring.

Since Peter probably considers Cleveland to be a left coast team, that is a lot of teams he has ignored. Everyone knows this team he is going to talk about will be Seattle anyway, so he may as well say it. They are one of the few West Coast teams Peter talks about.

A lone paragraph on Favre first: He'll be on HBO tonight with Joe Buck on his new show, Joe Buck Live, and it's a good get, obviously.

A lone paragraph on Favre? That's it? I am assuming there will be more information on other quarterbacks, not named Sanchez or McNabb, who are actually playing in the NFL later in the column...my assumption will be wrong.

I'm sure Buck will press Favre about why, and Favre will say it's not about revenge against the Packers. You have to decide if you believe that or not.

How biased and ignorant can you be? Favre said his comeback last year was about sticking it to the Packers. This year he is joining their division rival and we are supposed to think it is about anything else? You would have to be stupid to think it is about anything else.

Want to know why the Patriots are playing hardball with the Vince Wilforks of the world? Because soon they're going to have to pay very big for Tom Brady. Brady's due $14.5 million, total, over the next two years. Peyton Manning's due $29.8 million over the next two. Now McNabb's in line to make exactly $10 million more than Brady in 2009 and '10 combined. You tell me how laughable that is.

Considering McNabb has recovered from major injuries several times and played well last year and Manning has never suffered an injury major enough to make him miss NFL action...and Tom Brady is coming off serious knee surgery, excuse the Patriots if they are not running out giving Brady more guaranteed money.

Remember "team player Tom Brady," the guy who did not want a huge contract like Peyton Manning because he understood the value of having a good team around him? Is Peter King saying this good guy is gone now?

At any league meeting or Super Bowl, you're bound to see Goodell, at 5:15 a.m. or some similarly early hour, dripping with sweat in the fitness center of some hotel. Now we'll see if all the sweat equity pays off. In three weeks, he and close to a dozen community leaders in Seattle will attempt to climb the 14,411-foot peak at Mount Rainier to raise --they hope -- more than $1 million for the United Way.

The United Way...but why? None of that money is going to Dr. Z?

If this was Peter's charity he have people donate money so Peter could pay someone to climb Mount Rainier and all the money would go to one person.

Speaking of the Seahawks ... It's funny in this game. We tend to believe so strongly in everything we see now that we forget what we saw a short time ago.

We, we, we...no, it's you, you, you. I have not forgotten about the Seahawks in any fashion. They had massive amounts of injuries last year and their quarterback was also injured for part of the year. If they don't have those injuries there is a chance the Cardinals don't even make the playoffs last year. Don't lump everyone in with yourself on this issue. It annoys me when sportswriters do things like this. No one has forgotten the Seahawks...especially since they got the best defensive player in the draft.

Early on, Bradley knows he's going to have to get top pick Aaron Curry to rush the passer better than he ever did at Wake Forest.

Oh my gentle Jesus...I thought we were done with the feeble and pathetic argument that Aaron Curry could not rush the passer. I still don't see how this can be a major criticism of Aaron Curry. He wasn't in a scheme that allowed him to rush the passer, it's not his fault.

Curry never was put in position in college to rush the passer, but you don't pick a linebacker fourth overall in the draft and tell him to eat space or drop in coverage. You tell him -- at least in some obvious passing downs -- to go get the quarterback.

Which he will be able to do. It's not like he is paralyzed and can't run. He hasn't been asked to do that previously, but it doesn't mean he can't. This is such a weak criticism of a linebacker in a 4-3 system.

A few years ago, I began highlighting some books the week before Father's Day, hoping to give you an alternative to the tie or the dozen golf balls for the man who has 300 of each. This year, I've scaled it back to five books -- books I can heartily endorse because I think every one is special.

He was also going to heartily endorse two of these books without even reading them. If everyone recalls, last week Peter stated he could not put his Father's Day MMQB out a week early because he had not read two of the books he was going to recommend. The fix is in.

I'm concerned about how little I've read the last few years. Maybe it's e-mail, maybe it's the voluminous easy sites that magnetize you to them four or five times a day when 10 or 15 years ago I'd have sat down and read something of substance.

Just to be clear, reading email, Twitter, columns on web sites, and anything else Internet related is still actual reading and should count as reading...but I see what Peter is saying in regards to reading novels and other books.

(I read 5 books on my vacation and one of them was by KC Joyner and he was trying to do sabermetrics for football and it is a pretty good book. I did notice that Gregg Easterbrook had written a blurb on the back of the book which made me nervous...then the first chapter was about how the LT is overvalued because LT sack totals and rushing yards per attempt are dependent on the rest of the offensive line. If the rest of the line is good then the LT will be attacked more thereby causing him to have more sacks against him...or something like that. So Joyner says because LT are a subset of the entire OL it is overvalued. I would have liked to seen numbers on how many turnovers were caused by sacks against the LT vs. the rest of the line. My bet would be that a sack against the LT is more likely to cause a turnover than a sack when coming from the middle against a Center or Guard. I digress...)

I'm not going to get into Peter's book recommendations, but I will say I would read Jeff Pearlman's new-ish Roger Clemens book. As usual for Pearlman, it is great.

"When we were looking at taking Mark, I studied all the great generals to see what those men were like early in their careers, see how they reacted. It's all about how they reacted in battle, what happened when the action was really live. You see that in Mark, his calm.''-- New York Jets owner Woody Johnson on rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez, who agreed to a five-year, $50-million contract with the team on Wednesday.

I realize you get excited about your players, particularly about the man you believe is the next long-term quarterback in franchise history, but that is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard an owner say.

It was a dumb comment, but obviously Peter has not re-read some of his older columns or anything he has written about baseball. Then he would have new standards for the dumbest things he has ever heard anyone write or say.

"I love Favre and I think he's been a phenomenal talent for a long time. But when I think about it now, I say, 'Stop it already.' I don't mind that you still want to play football, but do you want to play so much, and do you want to get back at Ted Thompson so much, that you're willing to go back into Lambeau and hurt those fans who supported you for so long?''

-- Michael Irvin, to Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times, opining on Favre's desire to return to pro football, in part, Irvin thinks, for vengeance against Green Bay GM Thompson.

What other reason would Brett Favre come back to the NFL and play for? He is going through a lot, surgery and all, to get back to the NFL and it is not because of his extreme love for the game. Peter needs to quit being so blind and biased. Let's think about this for a second. Favre wanted to play for the Packers but they had already moved on because he retired previously, so he demanded a trade and admitted he played last year to show Ted Thompson he can still play. This year he retires again and then tries to come back to play for the Vikings who play in the same division as the Packers and play them twice a year. He is putting the Packers fans in a position to have to cheer against Brett Favre. I just think it is an asshole thing to do and if any other quarterback in the league did it, Peter King would publicly verbally rip that person a new asshole...but he doesn't because it is Brett Favre.

That's not the first time I've heard Young talk about not wanting to play football anymore. When he missed the plane to Philadelphia as a rookie and got disciplined by coach Jeff Fisher, he went into a funk and had to be talked into even playing in the game against the Eagles. Dude: You're a professional football player. There are ups. There are downs. Face them. Take them.

What's the difference in Vince Young saying he doesn't want to play football anymore because he doesn't have the passion and Brett Favre saying he did not want to play football anymore because he doesn't have the passion? Is it different because Favre is more accomplished or played longer? Either way they are expected to be team leaders. I personally don't see a huge difference in Vince Young not having the will to play and Favre not having the will to play anymore...except for the fact Young is less talented and is not expecting to be handed the starting QB position.

7. I think the Rex Grossman signing in Houston says one thing to me: The honeymoon's over for Dan Orlovsky as the walk-in, no-doubt backup to Matt Schaub.

That ladies and gentlemen is the back up quarterback situation for the Houston Texans. Not only is that pretty useless information for any Texans fan, but will also be the last we will hear about Houston from Peter for a long time. I hope you enjoyed your Texans insight from the master insider, Texans fans.

Also, what does Peter have against Dan Orlovsky? He made a comment about the Texans signing him in the first place and now he is busting his chops for not having the backup job sealed up in mid-June.

8. I think I knew it was getting to be summer vacation for football players yesterday when, after 1 in the afternoon, Kerry Rhodes of the Jets Twittered that he wondered if he should get out of bed yet.

Wasn't it just last week that Peter was railing the NFL for making the players work too hard for too long? I just wanted to be sure Peter was contradicting himself here. NFL players work hard but they are not overworked in any fashion and I think the fact Kerry Rhodes has nearly the entire next month off should help prove that.

Peter King needs to shut up and think about his audience more often.

i. Coffeenerdness: Settled into a good routine here in Boston at night, working or TV-watching in the last couple of weeks before vacation, and brewing a small pot of Peet's Major Dickason's Blend decaf. That's some great coffee. Sounds like the script for a commercial.

Do you need a vacation if your work consists of you traveling places all year, working AND watching television, and drinking coffee? It doesn't sound like you need much of one to me.

I think I am just going to miss Peter so much.

"So you know I was a Drill Sergeant for three years and a Drill Sergeant Leader. My thought is that with all these in-shape super-hard NFL players, we should take a couple of them, work them out and do a two or three day In the Life of a Basic Training Soldier.

This quote is from Mike McGuire. Do we really need these overworked players having to do any more work in the off season? I think not. They are already so overwhelmed in their "off season." Also, I really doubt any NFL players would do this. I could be wrong, but maybe it would only be Ray Lewis who volunteered.

That would be awesome. I talk with my wife all the time about what I would do to them and see just how good of shape they are in.

I think they are in good enough shape to do it, but there is a large difference in training to play in the NFL and basic training. I don't know if this would be that brilliant of an idea, but of course Peter thinks it is absolutely insanely brilliant.

k. Mike McGuire, NFL Network programmer. You've got a retirement job, Mike.

Exactly.

Let's look at Peter's Tuesday mailbag.

The Brandon Marshall story is starting to smell like the Jay Cutler fiasco, with one exception: The Broncos are clamming up. During the Cutler thing, Josh McDaniels was an open book, talking to me four or five times at length about everything -- how he had nothing against Cutler, how he didn't offend him (in his view), about how he wanted Cutler to be his quarterback. But Monday night, I texted McDaniels, who is a big texter. Nothing. Texted his assistant and got back that the coach is laying low and had nothing to say for now. Texted Marshall, who's also a texter. Nothing. So this one's going to be contested below ground, it appears.

Either that or they don't like Peter King at all anymore.

Didn't everyone say that McDaniels should have handled the Cutler situation a little better and kept it more private? It seems that he is doing that with the Marshall situation.

What do players have against Josh McDaniels?

Brett Favre's interview with Joe Buck hit all the notes we thought it would. He's going to play if healthy -- and if the Vikings will deal with all the distractions, which I'm sure they will. I credit Buck for asking him everything, except perhaps the question about whether he was coming back to stick it to the Packers.

So basically Joe Buck asked him a bunch of softball questions? I think the one question everyone wants to know was not asked. I am not sure how that is good journalism. People want answers from Favre and if a journalist gets an interview with him I think he should ask him whether (or why) he is coming back to stick it to the Packers. Of course Favre would lie like he always does, so it doesn't matter if the question was asked or not, but I would still like the question posed.

Steve of New Berlin, Wis.: "In all honesty, do you think Favre's coming back for spite or for the love of the game? I'm a 40-year-old former Favre fanatic and shareholder of the Packers. I taught my son to look at Favre for what is good about sports. Now I'm ready to take all of his stuff and pitch it. Most Packer fans I've talked to believe it's out of spite. He's shown us his true colors and in my opinion doesn't care about Packer fans. His upcoming signing with the Vikings proves that.''

Sounds to me like this is a group of accurate sentences. Let's let Peter King defend Favre.

I think Favre is doing this more because he wants to play football than because he wants to stick it to the Packers. Not that he doesn't feel some of that emotion, for sure. But I believe it's more that he wants to play for a coach (Darrell Bevell) who was one of his all-time favorites, and in a system he knows by heart and on a team that has a legitimate chance to contend for a Super Bowl if the quarterback plays well.

I wonder if Peter actually believes what he is typing write now or he is such a lover of Brett Favre and all things Favre he is just so used to making excuses for him. If he loved football so much then why did he not tell the Jets he wanted to play football again? Why did he retire again? It doesn't make any sense. If Brett Favre loved football so much he would have never let the Jets release him. It's not like he was a free agent or getting paid a small amount of money. He was going to make around $11 million if he had told the Jets he was playing again this year.

Matthew Edwards of Spring, Texas: "Does Rex Grossman really scare Dan Orlovsky? As a Texans fan, Grossman scares me. BOTH of them scare me. Wasn't there anyone better to replace Sage Rosenfels?''

I was shocked the Texans paid legit money -- a $2.4-million bonus -- for Orlovsky, a guy there wasn't much competition for out there.

Peter King hates Dan Orlovsky. Maybe Orlovsky should retire and unretire a few times to make Peter love him.

Brian Faulkner of Clifton Heights, Pa.: Why wouldn't the Patriots let Brady and his high payroll go and promote some unknown QB? With the system in place they would still be successful. Your thoughts?''

Sort of a dumb question.

Belichick views Brady as a selfless offensive coordinator on the field, and barring some ridiculous scenario I cannot envision, Brady's going to be a Patriot for the rest of his prime.

Apparently Peter can't envision a contract scenario where other players at the same position who are less accomplished are getting paid as much as or more than Tom Brady and Brady wants more money...or as I call it, the exact same scenario that Peter himself brought up Monday in his MMQB.

And remember one thing: With the prospect of a capless 2010, the Patriots, who are one of the highest-revenue teams in the league, won't be worried about what they have to pay to keep Brady.

So what was the point to even bring up the Brady contract situation in regards to Peyton Manning and Matt Cassell yesterday? Did Peter not feel right not mentioning Tom Brady only once in his column? So our NFL insider sees a potential problem on the rise with how much Brady is getting paid because of the Wilfork situation, doesn't think Brady will leave the team and thinks the Patriots will pay whatever it takes to keep Brady. He sort of contradicted his own story after one day...and he gets paid to do this.