MMQB Review: There's Such A Thing As 'Overtrained Athlete' Syndrome? Edition

I have set up a Yahoo Fantasy Football League and those of you who have already expressed interest can feel free to join. Anyone else who wants to join can feel free to do so as well. I am planning on having a 12 team league and I have set up the league like last year's Yahoo league, but am open to any changes. The ID is 269298 and the password is "eckstein."

Last week Peter King gave us information after his first tour of NFL training camps. He also chastised AJ Smith, the GM of the Chargers, for not re-signing Marcus McNeill and Vincent Jackson. Peter informed us that Brandon Marshall is a completely different and responsible person now that he has that terrible ex-girlfriend out of his life who caused all of his problems. Way to take responsibility for your actions Brandon.

This week, Peter talks a little bit about the Hall of Fame and continues his updates on the training camp tours around the NFL. He tells us all about Nate Kaeding's personal problems and describes how deeply in denial the owner of the Texans truly is.

In this week's edition of MMQB Goes to Summer Camp:

Sam Bradford aces his first test.

Seriously, he aced his first test ever. He never had to take an exam or test at Oklahoma. Someone else always took the exams for him. Not this time though.

What test did Bradford ace? The test Bradford aced was his driver's test. Congrats Sam!

Nate Kaeding sees a shrink.

I am sure he wanted you to make that public.

The Texans back Brian Cushing, and give a reason (excuse?) why he tested PED-positive.

Denial.

The Most Valuable Coach on the Chicago staff this year? Not Mike Martz. Not Lovie Smith. Give you a clue: He bears a slight resemblance to Mike Stivic from All in the Family.

Oh...is the answer Jodie Sweetin? Wait, what are we talking about again?

On the Rams sideline Saturday night, during the club's first scrimmage of the summer, at woody Lindenwood University, all eyes were, of course, on rookie quarterback Sam Bradford, the first pick of the 2010 draft. "What's uncanny,'' said GM Billy Devaney, "is how he doesn't just complete the pass. He completes the pass most often where his guy can get it and the defender can't. Drives the corners crazy.''

What's also crazy is that the Rams have really, really shitty corners. Ron Bartell (okay, he isn't terrible), Bradley Fletcher, Jerome Murphy, and Kevin Dockery. I hate to be down on them because it is so easy to do, but it is not like Sam Bradford is going against the Jets defense in practice.

But when you've lost 42 of your last 48 games, and your passing game is probably the biggest reason why, you want any hope you can find. And in St. Louis, hope is spelled B-R-A-D-F-O-R-D.

I have always found it deeply interesting when a team gets excited that their defense is getting killed by their own quarterback in training camp. It is exciting to have a quarterback who can throw the ball well, but it also doesn't say a lot for the defense of the team. So it is sort of an exciting solution and a problem. Does Bradford just suck less than the defense of the Rams does? He's a rookie quarterback and is destroying the defense in practice. That can't be good for the Rams secondary.

You have to have a little perspective over what happened here Saturday night. On the first throw of third-string quarterback Keith Null's night, he rainbowed a bomb over corner Kevin Dockery to an undrafted free agent, Brandon McRae. The cornerback group, other than Bartell (Larry Fitzgerald calls playing Bartell his tough Sunday in the division), is a weak one, with injuries sidelining a couple of the presumptive members of the final roster.

It's so irritating when sportswriters do shit like this. Peter King goes bananas over Sam Bradford and titles this part of MMQB "This is not the second coming of JaMarcus Russell" and tells us all how Bradford is playing so well. Then he tells US to keep some perspective because the cornerbacks for the Rams aren't very good. No, no, no...YOU keep perspective because you are the one talking about great Bradford is playing. We are just reading what you write about Bradford and how great he will be.

Don't describe to your readers about how great a player will be and fawn over him and then tell your readers to keep perspective because he is not playing against great competition. You are the one telling us how great Bradford will be, so our perspective is based on hearing what you have to say about Bradford. Peter King frames our perspective with his descriptions of Bradford's practice exploits, so he needs to be the one to remember what kind of cornerback group Bradford is throwing against. Don't treat your readers like little school children who are learning the wrong things in school while you are the person supposed to be teaching those things to us.

"So far he's been the perfect package,'' Bartell said. Key words: so far. But it's easy to be optimistic about the Rams for the first time in a while, watching this kid.

That's fine to say, but Peter's readers aren't idiots. The bottom line is that Peter writes several paragraphs about how accurate Bradford is and then tries to talk down to his readers by acting like we are the ones giddy with excitement over the future of the Rams and Bradford. I would have had no problem with Peter saying "I" need some perspective because he is the one reporting on Bradford's exploits.

Yeah, I am a little touchy today.

The owner of the Houston Texans, Bob McNair, told me he believes his young linebacker, reigning NFL defensive rookie of the year Brian Cushing, is not guilty of taking a performance-enhancer called hCG.

"My son would never take drugs! There's no way he would do that because that's not how we raised him. Quit hurling false accusations at the ones I love."

Bob McNair sounds like a parent and how many times have we all heard this from a parent?

In an interview here Friday, Cushing said he thinks he knows why he tested positive for elevated levels of hCG. "Everything points to that overtrained athlete syndrome,'' Cushing said, walking back to the Texans' locker room after their afternoon practice. "I'm pretty sure it is. I'm pretty positive. I didn't take anything. It's not a tainted supplement. So all roads lead to that.

There is another more obvious solution. Perhaps Cushing took a PED of some kind. I know it may seem shocking he did this, especially since the NFL is clean due to the drug testing that goes on...but it is possible since he tested positive for a PED.

The syndrome results from athletes training intensely for a long period, with the possibility of a testosterone imbalance resulting when an athlete stops training. I must stress the word "possibility,'' because no player in the history of the NFL substance-abuse program before Cushing tested positive for the higher level of hCG.

Cushing is the only NFL athlete to ever have this syndrome and test positive for hCG. This is what he wants us to believe.

Rumors of steroid use have dogged Cushing since his high-school days in New Jersey, and followed him to USC. Despite the evidence against him, Cushing has denied that he took hCG. And Friday, his employer agreed.

I've seen guys work out and gain muscle mass without steroids. I've seen guys work out and use some sort of steroid. I am not stupid and I know the difference.

These pictures of Cushing before and after he supposedly used steroids. It's suspicious. I know the article linked is from Bleacher Report, which is like a sports tabloid, but they are pictures that don't appear to be doctored so I don't think they can be too misleading.

"He shows no sign of ever having been on steroids,'' McNair said. "His weight hasn't changed appreciably since he's been with us. I've looked into it pretty thoroughly, and I haven't found anything that would lead me to believe that he has ever taken a performance-enhancing drug.''

Maybe he didn't use a PED. Maybe he did. I don't think weight is the big issue here, but what Cushing looks like and the fact he has a positive PED test are probably more important information right now.

But I know that the quickest way to answer all of this is by production on the field,'' Cushing said.

No. The quickest way to answer this is to provide actual scientific reasoning as to why the positive test was positive that doesn't sound like an excuse. Cushing's production on the field was great last year and that didn't really make me think he was clean. In fact, his great production actually ended up hurting him in some ways among people who use his production as proof he wasn't playing clean.

I expect Cushing to come back possessed. We all do. Whether there's anything to this latest wrinkle is something I'll be following up on in the coming days, but the only way fans will look at Cushing as a great player is if he stays clean. For years..

The truth is that no one really cares if Cushing is clean or not. Julius Peppers failed a test his 1st year in the NFL and no one remembers that.

The most efficient kicker in NFL history is consulting with a sports psychologist for his failings. Nate Kaeding, who had previously seen a mental-health professional to help with his mindset and found it helpful, has seen the guy "about six'' times this offseason, he told me, to help him deal with the aftermath of a head-case performance in the Chargers' three-point divisional playoff loss to the Jets at home Jan. 17.

(Nate Kaeding) "Please don't tell everyone I am seeing a shrink. Please Peter?"

(Peter King ignoring Kaeding and getting a phone call) "Hey Brett, it's ol' Petey who called you 12 times yesterday! How you doing? How's Breleigh and Deanna? (looks at Kaeding and yells 'Talk to you later' as he walks away) You still need help unloading some of that mulch Brett? I'm just a thousand miles away from you, I'll hop a flight and be there this afternoon."

And the fact that Kaeding can't make it right today or tomorrow is probably the worst part. It's going to eat at him until January, and there won't be a player in the NFL with more pressure on him entering the playoffs (if the Chargers make it) than Kaeding.

"Quite honestly, it still bugs the crap out of me,'' he said.

I hate to say this, but it sounds to me like Kaeding is done psychologically. He is going to be thinking about those kicks for a while until he can redeem himself...and then will he be trying not to miss the next crucial kick or will he be trying to make the kick? If he is trying not to miss the kick, then that doesn't bode well for his NFL future.

Goodell and Madden got perspectives from players and coaches on, among other things, the 18-game-schedule proposal, the new player safety initiatives (about new helmets and the prospect of making pads mandatory), and what to do about the program of never-ending offseason workouts that have evolved in the league. "Clearly there's a cultural change going on,'' Goodell said, referring to the players' increasing awareness of the long-term effects of head injuries.

What Goodell actually meant was, "clearly the players have figured out that hitting other players as hard as you can could cause some short-term and long-term brain problems. The NFL has known this for years, but didn't want to tell anyone for fear the players would find out."

In Washington, DeAngelo Hall blistered Goodell after he left, telling the local press: "He just wants to say that the owners are over here, the players are over here and I'm in the middle, I'm for the game. But to ask him a question about anything, he couldn't answer,'' Hall said. "...We sat there and shot questions at him for 45 minutes, and pushed meetings back, and had to be here longer for nothing. A total waste of time.''

There's going to be a lockout and there isn't much anyone can do about it. I think I have accepted this and it doesn't make me very happy either.

The Tampa Bay management is getting creamed locally for not spending money -- the prevailing theory is that the massive financial problem of the Glazers, who own the Bucs, with British football power Manchester United is siphoning money from the operation of the Bucs -- but I get the strong impression Tampa Bay wouldn't have spent in free agency this year anyway. "We want to build a team through the draft and keep it intact,'' Dominik said. "Like Tony said when he coached: 'I don't want a revolving door. I want to show loyalty to the guys we brought in and build a team the right way.' That's the way Raheem and I are operating now. Now, with two draft classes, I think we're on our way.''

I think Tampa Bay is on the right track. My only issue is that I can't recall a time when building through the draft, drafting well and only spending free agent money on quality players was a bad idea. This isn't a new thing. Good teams draft well and use free agency as a way to build weak spots on the team, not as a way to build the entire team.

It's easier said than done, but drafting well and being smart with money is (in my opinion) the best way to build a team, yet somehow it seems so patient and smart when a team actually does it. It sort of makes me wonder why it is somewhat novel for a team to build through the draft.

Watching Leinart practice, the one thing that's apparent is he doesn't have the accuracy Warner did. Warner was a 65-percent passer in his five Arizona seasons; Leinart, in 29 career games, has completed 57 percent. Watching him last Thursday, he threw a couple in a row slightly behind Steve Breaston, then a low fastball to the ground to Early Doucet.

Leinart may have looked like Joe Montana if he could throw against the Rams defensive backs in practice. Therein lies the problem of judging a quarterback against his own defense.

But he also made two nice deep throws to Larry Fitzgerald.

I think I could make a few good throws to Larry Fitzgerald. There is only so much you can judge a quarterback on when he can't get sacked by rushers and is going up against his own team's defense.

We'll see how good in a relatively friendly September schedule (at St. Louis, at Atlanta, Oakland), against no killer pass-rushes.

Just last week Peter King said this about the Falcons defense:

I wonder: Is there a contender with more young, important players? Matt Ryan, 25, and middle linebacker Curtis Lofton, 23, are the offensive and defensive signal-callers. Thomas DeCoud and William Moore are the longterm safeties, in all likelihood; both 25. Kroy Biermann and Lawrence Sidbury could be the defensive ends of the future; they're 24. Peria Jerry and Sean Weatherspoon, both front-seven building blocks, are 25 and 22, respectively. Longterm left tackle Sam Baker is 25. And on and on.

I watched the morning practice with GM Thomas Dimitroff, and at one point, we watched the 6-2, 205-pound hitter, DeCoud, fly by. Last year, he middle-blitzed and sacked Drew Brees, and the Falcons are going to try to send him and others from odd spots like that to vary what offenses see.

Just last week Peter was very bullish on the Falcons chances of having a great defense this year. He seemed to believe the Falcons have all the building blocks in place with young, effective players. He also seemed to indicate DeCoud is going to be used very aggressively to get at the quarterback. This week he doesn't think the Falcons have much in regard to killer pass-rushers. I guess he never said the Falcons had killer pass-rushers last week, but he also seemed to indicate they could end up with a killer pass-rusher on the roster this year.

There's only one guy on the line no one has to worry about -- Kreutz, returning from an Achilles injury that robbed him of strength last year. Chris Williams takes over for an over-the-hill Orlando Pace at left tackle, Williams returning to his natural college position. He should benefit from going against Peppers in practice every day.

Hell yes, he will benefit from playing against Peppers everyday in practice. If a team practices five times in a week that's a solid 1-2 days per week that Williams doesn't have to practice as hard because Peppers won't be trying. Of course there is the other 3-4 days when Peppers will be throwing Williams on the ground, throwing the running back aside and sacking the quarterback with one arm...so there is that.

Bears fans, welcome to the hell that is trying to understand Julius Peppers.

If I finish the 13.1-mile run, no matter the time, I will donate $1,000 to each of the charities. If I do not finish the run, no matter the reason, I will donate $2,000 to each charity.

As U2 might say, "MO-TIH-VA-SHUN.''

Then U2 would tell us all how we need to help the kids in Africa and promptly the entire band would move to the United States so they can avoid the high taxes in Europe. After that, U2 would go into the studio and work on their 6th album that sounded the exact same as "Achtung Baby" because they tried to deviate from the formula once and no one liked it.

2. I think there's a black cloud over the Broncos. Elvis Dumervil (torn pectoral), out likely for the season. Knowshon Moreno (hamstring) and Correll Buckhalter (back), out for much of training camp. Rookie wideouts Demaryius Thomas (ankle) and Eric Decker (ankle), both hurt hurt in the Invesco scrimmage Saturday night. No wonder Josh McDaniels cancelled practice Sunday -- he has to do something to break the bad-luck streak.

It's the Curse of Tim Tebow!

You mean to tell me that future Hall of Famer Demaryuis Thomas got hurt this offseason? Fortunately, he is completely ready to step in and be another Randy Moss so this shouldn't set him back in his rookie season at all. Thomas knows at least two of the routes on the "route tree" so I think he will be ready to catch 65 yard passes from Tebow in regular season games.

I'm sorry to pick on Thomas like that. I just feel strongly about his pro potential and can't really help myself.

4. I think, if you're in a 12-team fantasy league, Ryan Mathews should be a first-round pick. I stink at those things, of course, so take that advice with a shaker of salt.

"Here's some advice about fantasy football I would like for you to take from me despite the fact I am consistently wrong when it comes to giving advice about fantasy football."

6. I think Tim Tebow's a better man than I to take that haircut in stride. I'm told he laughed it off. I'd have gone postal.

Tim Tebow is a better man than everyone. Don't "think" this, fucking know it. Tim Tebow makes Gandhi look like a mid-80's Wall Street junk bond trader.

When the five-man Seniors Committee meets later this month to determine the two other candidates to be considered by the 44 voters next February, the names with the most traction would appear to be one at linebacker -- Chris Hanburger, Chuck Howley or Maxie Baughan (did you know Baughan was voted to the Pro Bowl eight more times than Ray Nitschke?)

Did you know that using how many times a player has been elected to the Pro Bowl is not a good way to determine if that player deserves to be in the Hall of Fame or not?

It's a huge popularity contest. I can't wait until someone uses statistics to turn the NFL upside down and show how some players were overrated or underrated.

b. Great to meet you in Flagstaff the other day, Brennan Smith. Work hard at Arizona State and you'll have my job someday.

Send an email, fax or letter to him. This is football column, not the best way to correspond with someone.

f. What can I say, other than, "Thank you, Mr. Onion?'' By the way, I write left-handed. You'll have to fix that photo.

I don't think it is "Mr. Onion." I am pretty sure The Onion is an organization of some type. I do think the article was funny...yet how could they have passed up one Brett Favre mention? Come on.

i. While we're praising writers, props to Ian O'Connor of ESPNNewYork (or however it's spelled) for his line on the New York Knicks reuniting with Isiah Thomas, who will do consulting work for the team: "It's like the Jets bringing back Rich Kotite.''

Props to the Knicks for attempting to drive away their fans permanently. I don't think this is a bad idea actually to have Isiah Thomas consult with the Knicks. As long as the Knicks consult with Isiah to see which players he would sign and what he would do to improve the team, and then do the opposite of that. If that's how they will consult with Thomas, I think it is great to use him as a sounding board for ideas so they can immediately rule those ideas out.