6 comments MMQB Review: What Would Marv Levy Do? Edition

Peter King talked about Johnny Manziel again in last week's MMQB. It seems to be his go-to discussion in MMQB these days, mostly for the pageviews I would assume. Peter also talked about the unpredictable draft, picked apart Ryan Mallett and his four career pass attempts, and criticized Don Jones of the Dolphins for his statements on Twitter. Peter thinks only a drunk asshole like Bernie Kosar could agree with Jones' comments. This week in MMQB, Peter talks about the Falcons trying to get back on top, thinks it's a good decision Michael Sam isn't doing his reality te---I mean documentary for OWN, doesn't like people exercising their free will and smoking at a bar, and again looks an athlete from a football-only perspective when he runs afoul of the law...which is different from how he treated Jim Irsay when he was picked up for drunk driving a month or two ago. It's interesting the different language used by Peter for players and owners when they run into alcohol-related issues.

Many things to do today, the pivotal offseason of the Atlanta Falcons, the state of the 2015 NFL draft, why Michael Sam and new BFF Oprah did the right thing, Gregg Williams being in the prefect place at the right time,

It's a story of redemption for Gregg Williams! That's a great way to spin. Snark aside, I'm glad Peter has finally acknowledged the infallible Rams have hired the architect of the bounty scandal as their defensive coordinator. It only took several months for Peter to acknowledge this happened.

So we’ve started this 10-week series at The MMQB. It’s about the history of pro football, with an eye on the future in every story we do. We dispatched young Emily Kaplan down to NFL Films in south Jersey to see a living, breathing NFL museum, the office of the late NFL Films impresario Steve Sabol, whose workplace was left precisely how he last worked in it, right down to his last lunch order. Emily Kaplan wrote vividly of the place, and photographer Jeff Zelevansky took a breathtaking GigaPan photo of the office—you can put your cursor on anything in the office, focus on it and POOF! There it is, full and vivid, on your screen.

Technology, everyone! I see Peter King has gone to the Bill Simmons School of Synergy where he uses his popular weekly column to publicize the future and past columns that will be/have appeared on THE MMQB (again, not to be confused with the MMQB Peter writes every week).

Look at the notes Sabol took after a long session watching Bill Parcells coach. Focus on it. Put your cursor on the binder with the Parcells notes, and you’ll see, down near the bottom of the page, what Sabol found after his Parcells experience.
“He’s more than old school. He’s a one-room schoolhouse with no lunch and no recess.”

Did Parcells have any quotes about how he is able to drum up interest in himself for NFL jobs by pretending to have interest in an NFL coaching job, lying that he has interest, backing out at the last minute and then taking another NFL head coaching job all while denying he is taking the job? Were there any notes on how he won only three playoff games his last 11 years of coaching? Probably not.

When coach Mike Smith and GM Thomas Dimitroff looked at their team in the last couple of years, there were things they didn’t like much. But when you coach and manage a team for five years, and you win 56 games and lose just 24, and you make the playoffs four out of five years, you tend to say, “We’re okay.”

So their sense of complacency was perfectly understandable and absolutely fine. They had made a couple of Super Bowls over the past five years, so there was really nothing to improve upon. It's not like there were any younger, competitive teams in the NFC who had proven they could beat the Falcons at home in the playoffs, so an extra week of vacation and no major roster changes are no problem at all.

Said Smith: “Human nature, when you’re getting positive results, is not to stress the negative. But when you get humbled, which happened last year, you’ve got to be realistic about your team.”

I guess it depends on your definition of "positive results" (though this is a typical Atlanta area team attitude like the Braves sometimes have had isn't it? "We made the playoffs, everything is good, no need to improve in the offseason."), doesn't it? Me personally, if I had lost a home NFC Championship Game I probably would be ready to fix any small hole in the roster with a sense of urgency and go back at it again the next year with a better team. Perhaps the Falcons thought they had done that.

As the house-collapsing 4–12 season of 2013 proved, the Falcons were most definitely not okay. The pass-rush stunk. The offensive line stunk. The secondary leaked. And every time they got into the playoffs—Smith’s playoff record: 1–4—a team with a strong pass-rush and good secondary frustrated Matt Ryan and sent the Falcons home early.

So maybe if the Falcons had a bad pass-rush and a bad secondary they could win a few playoff games and make it to the Super Bowl!

Now came the next piece of drama in the Atlanta draft room. New assistant GM Scott Pioli was a voice of calm in the room;

Will some NFL team just hire Scott Pioli as their General Manager so Peter King can stop reciting the virtues of his good friend? Scott Pioli was a voice of calm in the Kansas City draft room too. Unfortunately being calm doesn't immediately translate to being a good GM. But hey, Pioli knows Bill Belichick, so he has to be a genius!

Atlanta sat at 37, and wanted a pass-rusher—either a defensive end or an outside linebacker. The Falcons really wanted Ohio State linebacker Ryan Shazier, who went to Pittsburgh at number 15. That was too high for Atlanta. Then the object of their affection was defensive end Dee Ford, and he would have cost a third-round pick for Atlanta to move into the mid-20s. But Kansas City grabbed Ford at 23, and there went the two rushers Dimitroff liked.

No snark here, but if I were Atlanta and I was willing to move up to get Jake Matthews then I would also be willing to give up a third round pick to move up and get Dee Ford. It's not like their Julio Jones deal with Cleveland hasn't gone really well for them so far. Go confidently in the direction of your dreams, get that pass rusher you want!

The night before the draft, it was clear Dimitroff wanted one more impact guy out of this draft that he just wasn’t able to get. “This league is about now, and it’s about impact players,” he said. “What did Marv Levy say? ‘Depth is great until you’ve got to use it?’ ”

Perhaps I'm stupid, but this doesn't make sense to me. Depth is great and if you have to use it then that makes it doubly great, right? It's better than not having depth and having to use the depth you don't have isn't it? I get what Marv Levy is trying to say, but it really doesn't make sense because the alternative is to have no depth and have to use it. So depth is great, but it sucks if you have to use it.

Getting an impact guy in the draft is important, but the NFL is also about having depth on the roster. Just ask the Seahawks who didn't have a problem after losing Brandon Browner to suspension and won the Super Bowl despite not having the best two receivers on their roster healthy for most of the season. 

Soon after the season, Dimitroff and Smith had a summit meeting with owner Arthur Blank. “We have been the hardest on ourselves, and Mr. Blank was hard on us too,” said Dimitroff. “But I welcome that. We deserved it. I’ll be damned if I ever say adequate is okay.”

Except for last year when Dimitroff and Smith decided that making the NFC Championship was adequate and they admittedly got complacent and said they were okay.

“This is not in any way a quest to find excuses for why we went 4–12,” Dimitroff said. “It is just us being mindful to try to do everything we can to keep our players healthy and at a top performance level. And give credit to Smitty—he’s been on board with everything to try to be sure our players are playing at their peak.”

You wouldn't think a head coach would want his players playing at their peak and in great shape.

Mike Tice and Bryan Cox have been imported as assistants on the offense and defense, respectively, in part to instill a toughness that has been missing.

Hopefully Mike Tice won't try to install a "Julio Rule" or else Gregg Easterbrook will flip his shit and talk about what a diva player Jones is.

But if Matt Ryan gets whacked around like last year, and if Smith’s defense can’t pressure the quarterback, it’ll be a battle again to stay out of the NFC South basement. And Blank won’t be so patient then.

And then Scott Pioli can take over the Falcons team and lead them to the promised land! Peter and Pioli can drink the blood of Thomas Dimitroff and revel in the victory of calmness and genius over complacency and creating depth.

Gut feeling about the 2015 NFL draft: It will be in a city other than New York, and it will be a week earlier, starting on April 30 and running until May 2.

Gut feeling about NFL fans. They don't especially care where the draft will be held unless it's in their home city.

Why? It’s complicated.

Well Peter, I hope your reader's mini-sized brains can handle the complicatedness of the NFL Draft starting earlier and being in a different city. Just remember that very few of your readers are as smart as you are and avoid using big words.

Last year, Radio City delayed its decision about what dates were available in the spring of 2014, causing the NFL to put off planning for the 2014 draft. Then Radio City told the league the venue was going to be occupied in mid to late April by an Easter Spectacular show, something akin to the Radio City holiday show with the Rockettes. Okay, NFL officials said, we’ll push the draft back to the second weekend of May. Mother’s Day weekend wasn’t ideal, but what choice did the NFL have? Then, earlier this year, Radio City canceled the Easter show. The NFL seethed.

See, this irritates me. It makes perfect sense now why the draft was pushed back until May. Why didn't Peter King (if he even knew prior to the draft), the NFL or someone else just say, "Hey, Radio City was booked and we couldn't get a date until May." It makes sense and rather than have NFL fans and writers make comments about the NFL pushing the draft back until July, just state a completely understandable reason why the draft was pushed back until May 8-10. I have to admit though, I like that Radio City pissed off the NFL. The NFL not getting it's way does not displease me and I think it's good if the NFL is reminded from time to time they only control football in the United States, not everything related to sports in the United States.

now Radio City was going to be dark on the normal draft weekend. But the NFL couldn’t move the draft at that point, so the May 8-10 weekend went on as planned.

The poor little NFL didn't get it's way. I bet Roger Goodell stomped his feet, said he hates everyone, ran up to his room and then refused to come out for dinner.

Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel spoke to Roger Goodell twice about having the draft somewhere there—gigantic McCormick Place near Soldier Field, for instance

That's a great idea, though I'm not sure the NFL would enjoy the draft prospects having a 15% chance of being murdered while attending the draft. I guess it would be interesting to see something like a real like "Hunger Games," but people dying is not cool.

When? NFL officials hear the beefs of teams that want the draft in April. NFL officials also see the 30-percent-plus increase in TV ratings with the draft moved two weeks later. I maintain it wouldn’t matter—with the Manziel mystery, the where-will-Michael-Sam go, the fact that four of the top five picks in the draft were totally unknown as the first round approached. But the NFL does not ignore the ratings.

No way! The NFL likes ratings? I could never tell from the Monday Night Football and Sunday Night Football matchups.

My guess: Chicago, with the first round April 30, 2015.

The benefit of this is so many idiotic Jets fans won't be in attendance to boo or stick their ugly-ass face in the camera whenever the Jets choose a player. The problem is I'm scared of Chicago right now.

In the end, Michael Sam did the right thing. He told coach Jeff Fisher and GM Les Snead that he was going to make his situation right, after the Rams were blindsided by the news of the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) planning a “docuseries” on his rookie year as the first openly gay NFL player.

Because the only documentary that should be allowed about the NFL is the one the NFL forces on an NFL team every summer called "Hard Knocks."

The meeting Friday was only positive, I’m told, because OWN was clear that the only way it would do the series is if Sam wanted it and the Rams wanted it. And it’s just as clear that, for both sides, the series would be best done beginning next off-season, assuming Sam makes the team and plays some this year.

I'm pretty sure OWN would need the consent of Michael Sam to do a documentary about him, so I think the fact OWN was going to do a series about Sam at all is a sign that he wanted it done. Unless OWN planned on filming Sam and hoping that he didn't notice what they were doing.

In some ways, it’s a shame we won’t see (at least now) the trials of Sam in this rookie year, the personal side of trying to be the first openly gay player fighting for a spot on the team. It would be compelling to see Sam at home with his boyfriend, and certainly a help to the LGBT community, dealing with what surely will be a stressful time in his life. But for Sam, it’s just better that it be postponed.

Why? Because Sam is a football player, a rookie trying to find his way onto a football team as an underdog low-round draft pick. Could it help him make the team, or help him make his mark? I don’t see how. But I do see how teammates could either resent him or be angry with him as a low man on the team totem pole.

This is probably good advice from Peter. Sam doesn't need more to worry about right now as a 7th round pick trying to adjust to the speed of the NFL. I personally didn't have an issue with his documentary or reality television show or whatever he wanted to call it. I thought if he wanted to be seen as a football player-only then this was a weird way to go about reinforcing this notion.

There is going to be enough of a sideshow—big media names and TMZ showing up at Rams Park, clamoring to get a Sam story or interview—without Sam voluntarily adding to it. At the scouting combine, Sam semi-pleaded with the media to see him as a football player and not as a gay football player. It would have been hypocritical for him, then, to seek that attention by having OWN cameras in his face off the field as he battled to succeed in his first year.

Yet Sam's hypocrisy would not have been quite as annoying as the NFL forcing an NFL team to participate in "Hard Knocks" when that team does not want to participate.

I’ve thought a lot about this story in the past week, as I’m sure everyone who follows football has. And the more I think about it, the more I think Sam landed in a perfect spot. Absolutely perfect. Three reasons:

Here in list form is why the Rams are so great, you guys. Let Peter tell you about why the Rams are the perfect spot for Michael Sam, no check that, the perfect spot for any NFL player to land. This list sponsored by Marvin Demoff. 

The Rams embrace the history of it. I can tell you with certainty that there was some regret in the Rams hierarchy that Sam’s rookie story won’t be told by OWN. Not enough to override the fact that the team really didn’t want it to be done. But the Rams are sure they’ll be a welcoming team and St. Louis a welcoming community for Sam. They’re fired up about the historical significance and the chance to show that a football team can be a change agent.

The Rams are really open-minded you guys. They are so open-minded about Michael Sam being gay, yet also really focused on him succeeding as a human being and a football player.

There are not two better coaches in the league, in tandem, for this task than Jeff Fisher and Gregg Williams. Williams especially.

This is true. Michael Sam knows that if he makes the Rams team he won't have to play much football after every early January, so he will have plenty of time to pursue his other interests. If he had landed on a team like the Patriots, Broncos, 49ers or even the Colts there was the risk that their NFL season could push the offseason back three weeks, maybe even four weeks, depending on how far the team advanced in the playoffs. Since Jeff "8-8" Fisher's teams have made the playoffs six times in his 18 full seasons (hey, that's how many winning seasons Fisher has as an NFL head coach too!) as an NFL head coach and he hasn't actually won a playoff game since 2003 then the future looks pretty bright for Sam to pursue his other interests in the offseason. What really seals the deal is Sam can make a few extra dollars during the season participating in Gregg Williams' bounty program that he will implement with the Rams. It motivates the defensive players and gives them some extra pocket change. So there's only a 33% chance playing under Fisher will result in an extended season, which is good news for the OWN documentary.

Gregg Williams has the kind of ego to believe he can take a player with limited athleticism but good college production at a high level and put him in position to make NFL plays. I can’t wait to see what he has planned, frankly. As for Fisher, he’s a staunch league guy. He knows this is good for football and great for the NFL. He will do everything to give Sam the best chance to make it.

If you put your head close to the keyboard, you can actually hear Peter King's conscience screaming out for a break from pimping out Marvin Demoff's clients. Alas, his conscience loses (much like Fisher's teams during the 12 seasons they have not made the playoffs) and Peter talks up the Rams coaching staff yet again this year. Remember last year when he painted Gregg Williams' son as an up-and-coming defensive assistant? This year Blake Williams (I think that's his name) has been relieved of his duties on the Rams coaching staff.

Not to mention, the Rams kept nine defensive linemen last year and they have only three must-keeps (Chris Long, Robert Quinn, William Hayes) at defensive end. Yes, Sam is in the right place,

Surely no doubt he's in the right spot. Maybe he can help lead the Rams to a 12-4 season, which will lead to a Jeff Fisher contract extension, followed by two straight seasons of the team having a 8-8 record. That would be great if that could happen.

Mike Tannenbaum was the general manager of the Jets for seven years before getting fired by owner Woody Johnson 16 months ago. In his former life, he traded for Brett Favre, hired Rex Ryan, drafted Darrelle Revis, starred in Hard Knocks, traded for Tim Tebow, was part of a team that won four road playoff games, watched in horror at The Buttfumble … in other words, did quite a few things to keep the Jets relevant, mostly successful and back-page-worthy.

He just did something else: As a rising star in the agent business, he represented Steve Kerr in negotiations to make him the new Golden State Warriors coach.

Clearly, Tannenbaum would like another shot at being an NFL GM, but he understands that despite his team’s 61 wins and three playoff appearances in seven years, often a general manager in the NFL gets only one shot. Look at the league now. Bruce Allen (Tampa Bay, Washington) is the only current general manager in his second life as a GM.

If only Tannenbaum was the son of an NFL legend and had the last name as that NFL legend, then maybe he could get another shot as an NFL GM. I mean it worked for Bruce Allen and even got Jay Gruden head coaching job with the Redskins. Unfortunately Mike Tannenbaum's name isn't Mike Parcells or Mike Schottenheimer.

One other non-football note. Wondering why Kerr chose Golden State?

No, I think it's pretty obvious why Kerr chose Golden State. The Knicks are a disaster and Kerr doesn't want to work for James Dolan. It seems like an easy decision to me.

NFL owners gather in Atlanta Tuesday for the annual one-day spring meeting, and they’re slated to pick a host city for Super Bowl 52 (I hate Roman numerals, but for you Augustans, it’s Super Bowl LII) on Feb. 4, 2018. The candidate cities are Indianapolis, Minneapolis and New Orleans. Here’s my tote board of favorites:

New Orleans: 2-1 

2018 is the tricentennial for the city, and no one hates a New Orleans game.

As long as they pay the power bill this time it sounds like a good idea. Plus, hearing about how great New Orleans is NEVER gets old.

Minnesota 7-2

Northern dome teams always get at least one Super Bowl per new stadium.

And I guess the Vikings are only planning on staying in the stadium for around 10 years, so that's why they should get a Super Bowl just a few years after opening their new stadium?

I personally want another outside Super Bowl up north so I can hear/read sportswriters whining about potential snow and weather that could affect the game. Hearing the cries of a potential crisis, as if the idea of football being played in the snow or (gasp!) rain was too frightening to even imagine, pleased me greatly.

Indianapolis 7-2

Indy did a superb job on the 2012 game. The city is so easy to negotiate.

Since the city of Indianapolis is easy to navigate this means Peter won't have some ignorant immigrant who barely speaks English guiding him around town in a taxi. Peter will know where's going, so he can punch this taxi driver in the face and negotiate his own way to the nearest Starbucks. Peter won't be buying a latte at this Starbucks run like he normally does though. That story is later in this MMQB, so I don't want to ruin it now.

No question the league is inclined to return to central Indiana at some point in the future, but my guess is the owners will figure there’s not the urgency that New Orleans has in 2018. Wild card here will be the presence of owner Jim Irsay, who has been off battling his addiction issues and plans to speak as part of the Indianapolis bid. Will that help, hurt or be no factor?

I'm sorry, I thought Irsay's "addiction issues" have all been covered up and forgotten about. Are we still okay to talk about Irsay getting arrested for DUI and how the NFL hasn't done a damn thing in regard to punishing him? I wasn't sure. I also like how Irsay has "addiction issues" while Josh Gordon doesn't get the benefit of such doubt from Peter. Much like you are "eccentric" if you are crazy and wealthy (as compared to just being called crazy), an arrest for DUI/DWI while being a wealthy  owners means you have "addiction issues," while any NFL player who gets arrested for DUI/DWI is a moron who needs to learn to call a cab.

“This offseason has been very frustrating for me … [I wonder] Is this still the place for me?”
 
—Houston wide receiver Andre Johnson, who obviously thought the Texans would go get a quarterback in free agency or the draft (one better than Ryan Fitzpatrick and Tom Savage).

Houston coach Bill O’Brien is in a tough spot. He’s got a wideout who’s going to be 33 this season, who, despite the inconsistency at quarterback for the team, has caught 221 passes over the last two years and missed zero games due to injury. If Johnson’s not going to be with the program, is it worth trying to get a 2015 or 2016 first-round pick for him—which some contender (New England? San Francisco?) might be willing to do?

If Andre Johnson keeps running his mouth about how he doesn't want to be on the Texans team anymore he could end up helping the Texans lose any leverage they may have when trying to get a first round pick in return for Johnson. At this point, I'm not sure the 49ers even have room on the roster at the wide receiver spot to trade for another wide receiver. Who would be the fourth receiver on this 49ers team with a run-based offense? Stevie Johnson? Anquan Boldin?

“I think I’m a lot more ready than people think. I think people label me as a project simply off of stats. I can understand what they see, what they think … but when you think of a project you think of building something from the ground up. I feel like I have a basis. It’s just a few things I’ve got to get down. Everybody has things to work on. I don’t think mine are as crazy as people want to make them out to be.”

—Arizona quarterback Logan Thomas, a fourth-round pick in the draft.

All Thomas has to do is work on making better decisions and improve his accuracy, which is something he wasn't able to do at all during his college career. I think it sounds easy enough, plus he really, really looks like a quarterback and has all the measurables. That's all that matters. Maybe one day Thomas will wake up and just be more accurate throwing the football.

Three times as many TV households (671,000 to 225,000) watched the first round of the NFL draft on May 8 as watched the opening game of the Subway Series between the Mets and Yankees May 12.

That's crazy, because everyone wants to watch the first game of a regular season matchup between the Mets and Yankees. There is no more compelling game than a Subway Series (it is to be capitalized because it's that important) regular season game. 

Mr. Starwood Preferred Member Travel Note of the Week

Plumb forgot this one last week:

Well, golly gee! You plumb had it slip your mind.

So on a quick trip to Nashville a couple of days before the draft, I found myself having a beer and a bowl of turkey chili in a sports bar downtown. Ten minutes into my beer, I noticed it. Smoke.

My God, the place was on fire! Finish your bowl of turkey chili, grab the Brett Favre autographed computer case you carry, drain your beer and then get the hell out of there!

The guy and gal at the next table were both drinking and smoking—and they did neither casually.

This was opposed to Peter who was casually drinking his beer and casually eating his bowl of turkey chili. The difference is the loftiness and grace with which Peter drinks the beer and eats soup.

Now, where I live, New York, smoking has been banned in public bars and buildings for 11 years.

This is otherwise known as "civilization" where smoking has been banned, Big Gulps are banned and the people always respect each other's sense of privacy. New York is the utopia Peter King was looking for and has now found.

Smoking has been banned in city parks for the past three years.

“Surprising to see people smoking in the bar,” I said to my server. “Anybody ever complain?”

By the way, it took Peter 10 minutes to notice the smoke, either that or the people who were smoking didn't arrive until 10 minutes into Peter's beer.

“Not that I’ve heard,” the fellow said. “We’re pretty much still a smoking society down here.”
 
Bummer.

I don't know where "down here" is, but smoking has been banned in most public places where I live. There are even designated smoking areas at most places of employment. It sounds like Peter has been visiting some dive bars on his tour of Tennessee.

Well there goes a perfectly good Saturday in June I mean hooray for another Triple Crown try!
— Steve Politi (@StevePoliti) May 17, 2014

Sports columnist for the Newark Star Ledger, who presumably will be one of the (apparently reluctant) watchers of the Belmont Stakes in New York in 19 days, when California Chrome tries to become the first Triple Crown winner since 1978.

Ah, horse racing. A sport that isn't really a sport and something I have never understood the draw of.

Ten Things I Think I Think

And always try to remember that these are not things Peter knows, but things he thinks that he thinks. He isn't sure if he thinks them or not, but he thinks that he might. 

1. I think I would be surprised if we didn’t read the following headline on the web sometime late Tuesday afternoon: “NFL owners make progress on expanded playoffs.” My guess is a vote is unlikely but possible, and commissioner Roger Goodell wants to be sure he hears every ownership voice that wants to be heard before calling a vote on it...One of the reasons is the increased TV exposure and ratings and ad revenue associated with two more playoff games. I expect the new format to include two valuable entities the league now does not have: Sunday night and Monday night games on wild card weekend, with six wild card games filling the weekend instead of the current four.

Why doesn't the NFL just allow every team to make the playoffs? That would be much easier, increase exposure, ad revenue and ratings also, plus more NFL head coaches could claim they took their team to the playoffs.

2. I think no one asked me (who ever does?), but I think 12 playoff teams is plenty, and 14 waters down the significance of making the postseason. And what’s to stop the league five years from now saying, “The ratings for wild card weekend are so boffo that we should go to 16.”

Now that I agree with Peter King on this, I would like to change my mind. What's the harm in more playoff games? It allows more fans to be a part of the playoffs and if a team isn't good enough to make the playoffs they will simply lose early. More playoff football isn't a bad thing. There, I have changed my mind. I can not in good conscience agree with Peter.

3. I think one of the players I’m anxious to follow in training camp this summer is undrafted free-agent defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat of the Seahawks.

You mean the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year that went undrafted and nobody gave a shit or was all up-in-arms about it because he's not gay? That guy?

Surprisingly undrafted after a 33-start career at defensive end for Texas, Jim Jeffcoat’s son caught the eye of Pete Carroll at a weekend minicamp. He’ll have to be special to dent a very good defensive line, but anyone who accounts for 32 tackles for loss (19 non-sack tackles behind the line, 13 sacks) in that program could open eyes when the real practices start in July.

You mean there was a quality college football player that went undrafted purely based on his skill at playing football? No way, I have been told the only reason that would happen is because teams aren't brave enough to draft a player like this.

4. I think this is why they paid you the big money, Dave Gettleman. The Panthers general manager has to decide what to do, if anything, about a long contract extension for star defensive end Greg Hardy, just 25 years old and in his prime, after Hardy’s run-in with a girlfriend and his temporary jailing … and being ordered to turn in 10 guns to authorities.

Gettleman doesn't have to decide what to do with Hardy until after the NFL season if it even comes to that. He can wait to see how the season goes and then decide what to do with Hardy from there after the case has been adjudicated. It's not against the law to own guns (though if this were an NFL owner I'm sure Peter will say that Irsay has "gun addiction issues") and nothing has been shown positive or negative in the case yet regarding Hardy's guilt.

In addition, the judge in the case ordered Hardy to attend three Alcoholics Anonymous classes.

No mention of "addiction issues"? That's right, Hardy is an NFL player, not an owner. NFL players get suspended for violating NFL rules all the time, but Goodell is still hard at work thinking about the appropriate punishment for Jim Irsay.

This could be a very tough call for Gettleman, particularly if Hardy is cleared to play at the start of the season and tears up the NFC South as he did last year.

Hardy did have nine of his fifteen sacks last year against NFC South teams, but he got seven of those sacks in the last two weeks of the season and was completely shut out by Joe Staley in the playoffs.

10. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:

a. After the bitter Montreal-Boston series, TSN’s Aaron Ward reported that Boston’s Milan Lucic said to two Canadiens, “I’m going to —-ing kill you next year.” That’s nice.
 
b. Two days later, in front of the press, Lucic said, “I’m not apologizing for what was said in the handshake line.” That’s nicer.
 
c. I want to hear what Lucic thinks on July 19. Not May 19. If it’s the same, that’s not a guy I’d want on my team. Ridiculous Irony of the Week: Lucic recently released a book entitled, Not Cool to Bully in School.

I'm not sure that's ironic because I don't think one grown man telling two other grown men he'll "fucking kill you next year" could qualify as bullying at all. First off, they are all grown men, and second, it is one person threatening two people. Can one person bully multiple people in this way?

h. Coffeenerdness: So I’ve been working a bit with a nutritionist, and after studying my diet (or lack thereof), she said, “No more lattes.” The horror!

How can a person be "a bit" of a nutritionist? I would think a person is either a nutritionist or not.

We reached a bit of a truce there. I shan’t give up my favorite warm beverage, but I think I can handle three a week, with brewed Italian roast the rest of the time. We’ll see.

Speaking of people who have "addiction issues," if Peter can't limit himself to three lattes a week then he should perhaps go to coffee rehab.

j. Donald Sterling stories: Zzzzzzzzzzzzz.

These stories are boring, but they certainly weren't boring a few weeks ago when he commented on the Sterling situation in two straight MMQB's. It's a boring situation once Peter is done commenting on the situation. 

The Adieu Haiku

Draft withdrawal sets in.
One hope I have this morning:
Mayock. Beach. St. Kitts.

Mayock certainly trolled hard enough when talking about Teddy Bridgewater to deserve a vacation. I mean, he ignored all of the tape he saw of Bridgewater and focused his entire evaluation on the bad Pro Day Bridgewater had. 

14 comments Everyone Hates Brett Favre

Guess what everyone? Brett Favre is back! He is playing for the Vikings this year! You didn't believe he could go an entire month without there being stories written about him and him keeping his name in the spotlight did you? I am not even going to link an article that says Brett Favre is back, we all have read about it and have discussed it. In the span of a little over one year I have gone from thinking Brett Favre is slightly overrated as a quarterback, to thinking he is a liar and an asshole for un-retiring, to knowing he is done as a quarterback because he can't play an entire season, to knowing he is a liar due to anything come out of his mouth being lie, and finally I am at the stage where I just want him to go away because I am tired of his waffling and spotlight chasing ways.

It's so bad Peter King has taken time away from taking out personal vendettas against the Westin with Tweet posts (like this one about the Westin) to slightly criticize Favre:

I've gotten 75-100 responses from people outraged at the hotel overbooking (including hotel employees). We won't be silenced.

Peter should just do what Martin Luther King did and stand up for what is right. I am not comparing those two of course, I am just using their name in the same sentence like Peter did with Jackie Robinson and Mike Vick yesterday.

You know things have gotten bad when Peter King criticizes Brett Favre at all. He only criticizes him about 10% as much as truly deserves to be criticized, but at least he does a little in his Tuesday mailbag.

"I'm sure I'll regret my decision down the road.''

--Brett Favre, to me, on July 28.

Down the road? That's a pretty short road. More like a driveway.

I wonder how it feels for Peter to hold Brett Favre in such high regard only to know Brett played him like he played every other journalist in America? It has to hurt his caffeinated feelings, wouldn't you think?

You would think I think this Brett Favre-to-Minnesota story is great, but I don't. I think it's wrong. I think it's a circus. And I think Minnesota coach Brad Childress is making a mistake.

See the angle Peter is taking here? He is sort of blaming Brett Favre, but mostly he is blaming Brad Childress for taking Brett Favre back...but not really blaming Brett Favre for retiring, again, last month and then telling the Vikings he wanted to play. It's a Catch-22 but if Favre did not say he wanted to play and then change his mind repeatedly, there would be no circus. Peter still refuses to acknowledge that Brett Favre's inability to make a decision pretty much led to this entire situation.

Peter is right, we do think he loves the Brett Favre to Minnesota story simply because he wrote 3 articles about it in a span of 24 hours when Favre last retired...and he brings up Brett Favre every damn week in his MMQB. You could see how his readers would think he liked the story.

If I were Childress, I'd have waited until Sage Rosenfels struggled -- if he struggled -- and then made the call to Favre. By doing it now, Childress loses Rosenfels and Tarvaris Jackson; how can they ever trust anything he says now?

Probably the same way we can't trust anything Brett Favre says at this point. It's two liars in Childress and Favre trusting each other in an effort to save the coaching job of the coach and the legacy of the player. If I were Rosenfels or Jackson I would demand a trade immediately. Sure the Vikings may not honor it but I wouldn't want to be in Minnesota anymore, that's for damn sure.

This move doesn't even make sense for the Vikings. Getting Favre for one year or two years will only make sure neither John David Booty and Tavaris Jackson never get a chance to develop as NFL quarterbacks and throws away the money and draft pick they spent on Rosenfels.

And the way Favre talked to me three weeks ago, there's a chance he won't last the season and Childress will have to turn to one of his angry quarterbacks.

I don't think you understand Peter. Brett Favre wants to play football and he has the passion to play? Why should lack of stamina and a diminished skill set prevent him from doing this? He always wants $12 million dollars to drag the team down. I don't think that is too much to ask for a quarterback who is coming off surgery and publicly said less than a month ago and he can't make it through an entire season. Gosh, the Vikings are getting a deal for $12 million.

I can't believe I fell for it and actually thought Favre would wait until midseason to join a team and be the savior. I actually believe him when he said he could not physically make it through an entire season. Either he lied about not being able to make it through an entire season or the Vikings are really going to get diminished returns on their Favre investment after about 8 games.

Childress has looked like a desperate man throughout this melodrama.

Yeah, Brad Childress has looked like the desperate man...not Brett Favre, he hasn't been desperate at all through this with his constant yearning for the spotlight and for his "comeback" to be set to his exact specifications. He gets a ton of money, can skip training camp, and doesn't have to compete with another player for the starting job.

Peter is only being semi-hard on Brett Favre here. Brett Favre is an incredibly desperate person and it has shown throughout this entire situation. The pathetic thing is that he has gotten his way the whole time.

Now the Vikings let him come back after the team has gone through training camp. Favre's the wishy-washiest player in memory -- and the Vikings are his enablers. It's ridiculous.

Finally, a little bit of the truth comes out of Peter's mouth. I have had my full of Brett Favre for the rest of my life. I rarely wish for others to fail, but I completely hope he fails. I want to see him fail and for the NFL to see him for the player and person he truly is, which is a selfish person who uses his past skills and achievements to get extort NFL teams into giving him exactly what he wants.

Now Peter turns to the only other topic that matters in the NFL right now. Mike Vick.

Plus, Dawkins is right about the competitive aspect. If Kolb is pushing McNabb, McNabb knows Kolb is not good enough to beat him out. But if Vick is pushing him, McNabb knows he could lose that one.

Kolb may not be good enough to beat McNabb out for the starting QB job, but I also really hope Mike Vick can't pop back into the NFL after two years away from the game and take over the starting QB job from McNabb either. McNabb has been playing in the Eagles system his entire career. What would they say about McNabb if it takes Mike Vick just a couple games of playing to take the starting QB job from McNabb who has been to 5 NFC Championships with the Eagles?

"That's right," said Dawkins. "Signing Michael means Donovan will make sure his game stays tight.''

I don't know whether I find it sad that McNabb needs to be pushed for the starting job to get him motivated or this is just human nature.

(Peter King on Todd Haley as the Chiefs head coach)

Ian, this is my belief: When a team stinks, as the Chiefs do, and a coach with a pretty good track record comes in, the only way you can judge the coach is if you get in the boat with him, row hard, and see where the sea takes you. Like him or not, the Chiefs have a smart coach who is an equal-opportunity abuser.

Two things: What track record does Todd Haley have as a head coach? Nothing at all. He has been an offensive coordinator with one team and that is about it, he hasn't had any football success other than that. The second thing is that I am going to argue the "smart coach" thing because it took him 3 quarters to open up the Cardinals' offense in the Super Bowl. I am hard on Todd Haley but only because he thinks he can be like Bill Parcells and berate players to get their respect. I am not sure he knows respect is earned, not yelled into submission.

(On whether Kyle Orton struggled in the first preseason game because he is not used to having a good offensive line)

I asked Orton on Monday about his first interception, the one by 49ers cornerback Nate Clements, when Clements was side-by-side with Denver tight end Daniel Graham in the end zone while Peyton Hillis ran free nearby when his cover man slipped. Orton said he'd already decided to throw to Graham, and what he should have done is throw the ball out of the end zone. I don't buy that. I know I'm doing a classic second-guess, but I believe Orton has to be able to make that split-second read to Hillis, especially with Graham closely guarded.

That has to make the entire city of Denver proud and completely non-nervous that even given a second chance to see what he did wrong, Kyle Orton still misses the fact he had a wide open man. This stuff is easier said than done I guess but I am sure Orton had watched the tape at that point and is surprises me he didn't say he would have thrown the ball to the open man.

I fucking hate Blogger. I hate it. I wrote an entire second half of this post and Blogger decided to not only not save what I wrote as I went along, but when I went to post it I got an error message which wiped everything I had written from here on out. I am not going to re-write the entire damn thing, it took too long. If I were Peter King I would whine about it and then start a boycott of Blogger.

Andrew of Philadelphia: "Is it too hard to believe that the Eagles are grooming Vick to be the next Donovan McNabb? McNabb has been in the league now for 10-plus years, he's been hurt multiple years and his career is waning. Andy Reid took a young agile yet inaccurate passer in McNabb and turned him into one of the best in the league. Vick can sit behind Donovan for two years (or less because of the injury prone McNabb), learn the offense and come in once McNabb has had his day in the NFL? Is that too far-fetched?''

This is the question that many Eagles fans have now, which is why I wasn't sure signing Vick was a great idea. They will clamor for him to be on the field if McNabb struggles. McNabb was drafted out of college by Andy Reid so he had a blank slate to work with concerning McNabb. Unfortunately I don't know how much "molding" of Vick can be done at this point. I don't really see Reid being able to turn Vick into one of the most accurate passers at this point in his career.

What says Peter?

Not at all. But I think it's a waste of time in this case to think much beyond this year. Reid made this decision ONLY when McNabb was an enthusiastic supporter of it; had McNabb not been on board, Reid wouldn't have done it.

Peter clings to the idea that McNabb was on board for this move. Whether it is true or not, if you take away the fact McNabb is on board there is not a whole lot of logical reasoning behind the Vick signing for the Eagles...that doesn't stop Peter from using the same "McNabb agreed to it" reasoning everytime a question is asked though.

Jay S. of Trenton: "Suppose the Broncos go 3-13 and end up with the NFL's worst record. Their first-round draft pick would belong to Seattle. Assuming that happens, has there been a bigger draft fleecing in the history of the NFL than Alphonso Smith for the first overall pick?''

I don't care how expensive 1st round picks are. Trading the 1st pick in the draft for a lesser value in Alphonso Smith is stupid. Especially for a team trying to rebuild. Usually draft picks and impact players are the best way to rebuild a team, so that 1st round pick may end up coming in handy.

I am not down on Alphonso Smith, I find it odd that Darrius Heyward-Bey's best game over this past college football season was against Alphonso Smith and Wake Forest. I don't know if Smith was actually covering Heyward-Bey or not, but I do find it odd the best game he had this year was against Smith. If I were having a gut reaction I would say Smith should have shut down Heyward-Bey or at least held him to his season's average, not give allow him to have the best game of his Junior year. It doesn't obviously mean Smith is not going to be a good NFL player, it just tells me he very well could not be worth a top 10 pick in the draft next year.

Peter?

But I am reminded about what that wise old football philosopher Randy Cross told me about Alphonso Smith after he studied him on tape last spring: "This guy might be the best cornerback in the draft, and he's definitely worth a first-round pick.''

Worth a first round pick, but not the first pick in the entire damn draft. A draft that will include tons of good QB prospects and players in the secondary like Taylor Mays and Eric Berry. There is a difference in him being worth a first round pick and the first pick in the draft. The first pick in the draft, no matter how expensive can be an impact player.

Now Peter whines about the Westin.

As of 7 a.m. today, I had more than 200 responses to my Westin situation in Tweets (mostly), phone calls and texts, plus another 1,000 or so in my SI e-mail. The general manager of the San Diego Westin has written a letter of apology on behalf of the hotel, and an old friend from high school now running the Westin Copley Place in Boston has done the same. I am grateful for the input, and I am not angry at any one person for the situation.

There is a line where complaining about the Westin's policy and trying to prove a point crosses over into just being obstinate and being difficult to please just to make yourself feel more important by causing a problem. Peter has crossed that threshold.

Peter travels a lot during the year. There are going to be bad examples of customer service and things are going to go wrong. Deal with it and quit complaining about it. I don't get to read Peter compliment a hotel when they give great service or have his precious freaking coffee ready every morning, but we always get to read about the bad shampoo and what the hotel did wrong from Peter.

The Westin has a messed up policy. Deal with it or choose a new hotel. Don't turn it into a high school drama where you act like your life has been altered in some immeasurable way in a negative manner.

This is the source of my anger: Let's say you have a 500-room hotel. Let's say it's a busy weekend, and you have sold out all 500 rooms with guaranteed reservations. Is the goal of the hotel to sell every one of its rooms every night? Yes -- or at least that's what the goal should be. I'm told by several emailers/Tweeters who work in the hotel industry that this isn't the goal of hotels. The goal, rather, is to sell more than 500 rooms by figuring an average of how many no-shows among those 500 reservations there will be. Let's say the hotel averages 20 no-shows per night for this time of year. Then the hotel will sell, for example, 515 rooms, and hope that it has at least 15 no-shows. So the hotel will earn, for example, about $3,000 more per night if it's a fairly upscale hotel by overbooking.

It stinks but this is exactly how businesses are run. Airlines overbook, salespeople double book their appointments and hotels overbook rooms to ensure they will make a profit. They are not running a hostel, they are running a business. An empty room is a sunk cost.

I'm not in this for free rooms or free anything and will accept nothing to "make it right.'' I want to see the policy changed. What possibly is the meaning of a guaranteed reservation if you get to a hotel at 11:15 at night and there's not a room for you?

It's a great question. They comped a room at another hotel for Peter and he himself acknowledges it was 11:15 at night, so as long as the room has a bed he should be fine for the time being. I would be annoyed also but I would also get over it and not try to bring the entire hotel industry down because I have been inconvenienced.

I'll decide this week and let you know what my plans are in Monday's column.

Please don't. It's so self important to actually believe you can change a hotel's policy by bitching. Maybe Peter will change the policy but it really should not be this big of a deal. Boycott the hotel and don't make a public display of it all.

Click here to pre-order Peter King's new book, "Monday Morning Quarterback: A fully caffeinated guide to everything you need to know about the NFL"

That's right, Peter has a book coming out. I bet 320 pages are about Brett Favre and the rest of the book is about his traveling problems.

-One more thing for the day. I am glad the Nationals and Stephen Strasburg were able to come to an agreement on a contract. It would have been incredibly stupid if they had not been able to. Strasburg needs to start pitching so he can make more money on another contract and the Nationals need to get fans butts in the seats somehow, outside of paying the fans to come to the game.

I thought for sure Scott Boras wanting tons of money and the general ineptitude of the Nationals front office would cause this deal to never happen. This was a huge win-win for both sides, though I am not sure what took so long, neither side had great alternative options.

6 comments MMQB Review: Peter Does PR for the Eagles

I always accuse Peter King of playing favorites and shading stories the way the NFL teams want him to shade stories. I still think that is true but I also think teams treat Peter like an innocent little child knowing no matter what bullshit information they feed him, he won't question that information and will print whatever they want said as the truth. So I am saying Peter may not shade the stories he writes one way he may just be too child-like and naive to understand what he is being told is a load of crap. This may or may not have happened again today.

Early Sunday morning, McNabb and Vick worked up a sweat side-by-side on two treadmills where the players work out.

I write this morning to dispel a myth and to illuminate the personal reality in Reid's life that led him to bringing the potentially combustible Vick onto this Super Bowl contender.

That personal reality? He doesn't want to get fired after this season so he will take any means necessary to win.

I believe there will be plays in which McNabb and Vick will be on the field together, and some plays (though not as many) in which Vick will be at quarterback and McNabb will be out of the game.

Like perhaps the rest of the season if McNabb starts playing poorly? Nah, I am sure the always forgiving Philadelphia crowd won't mind if one of the most exciting players in NFL history is sitting the bench if McNabb starts overthrowing his wide receivers and one hopping swing passes to the running backs.

No matter how sincere McNabb has seemed in backing Vick's return to the team, he couldn't really want him that badly. Why would one quarterback support the signing of another quarterback who might take his job?

The same reason Trent Edwards advocated signing Terrell Owens to the Buffalo Bills...desperation to win a Super Bowl.

I can't tell you all of the dynamics here, primarily because McNabb is not an open book.

Look everyone Peter can't tell you what is going on in Donovan's head but he can tell you that Donovan McNabb wants Mike Vick on the Eagles' football team and that he has zero problem with Vick being his backup.

Peter doesn't know the dynamics of the situation, like if there are other unknown motives for McNabb to want Vick on the team, or if he even really wants Vick on the Eagles' team...but he knows for 100% McNabb wants Vick on the team because someone else told him it was true.

"So many of the old guys are gone now," Reid said. "Donovan is taking it upon himself to do something that he feels is best for the team and best for Michael. I'm telling you, this is totally on the level.

Personally I am sold. I have never known an NFL coach to lie.

So when Reid met with Vick as he was trying to determine whether to offer him a contract, the most important factor to him was whether Vick was in that third phase. Could he look in Vick's eyes during a couple of long meetings and be convinced that Vick would never go back to his dogfighting days.

I wonder if Peter and his editor are aware that sentences in the form of a question end in a question mark? Actually, that last sentence, despite being an actual question, doesn't even need a question mark, it's a statement of fact. Andy Reid COULD look in Vick's eyes and know his dogfighting days were over. Vick is just sticking to trying to sneak marijuana past airport security and flipping off his home crowd from now on.

Reid is going to play his Vick-game-plan cards close to the vest for now. He was encouraged over the weekend that Vick knows much of the Eagles' base West Coast offense, like the snap count, some of the exact play calls and the footwork fundamentals.

We all know how well Mike Vick played in Atlanta in Gregg Knapp's West Coast offense. He was like Steve Young out there, if Steve Young couldn't complete 58% of his passes and couldn't run the West Coast offense effectively.

At some point, some fan or heckler in the street or some columnist is going to say something or write something that will make Vick fume. Vick is going to have to be Jackie Robinson when that happens.

Wow, really? Jackie Robinson and Mike Vick in the same sentence! Is JemeHill writing this column? You have to be one ignorant asshole to even think to compare these two in one sentence. Jackie Robinson and Mike Vick have nothing in common. Absolutely nothing. One is a hero and a brave gentleman, while the other called himself Ron Mexico because he got an STD and needed an alias for treatment.

I'm not comparing the two;

Even though you literally just did compare the two. Shame on you asshole...

I have just seen my first Matthew Stafford semi-wobbler, 90 minutes into the morning practice.

To be fair, the Lions receivers are used to catching wobblers, so this may have been for their own benefit.

Game management? No clue. Accuracy? Good in college but not great, which raises a red flag for me. Huddle management? I think good. Jim Schwartz told me that's impressed him. "He owns the huddle, from what I've seen,'' he said.

This is what irritates me about the Matt Stafford/Mark Sanchez debate. People seem to have questions about Stafford concerning his time as a starter in college, even though he was a starter for a couple of years and played in the toughest conference in the nation. I don't feel like anyone has those questions about Mark Sanchez even though he had much more talent around him and only started for one year at USC. I just don't believe this is fair.

So the draft history book says either Stafford or Mark Sanchez, but not both, will succeed. That's not set in stone, particularly with Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco playing boffo last year as rookies. But I'll be surprised if Stafford tanks.

Can I be honest with everyone? Joe Flacco wasn't that great last year in the playoffs. I think that may be a sign of things to come. He was great for a rookie, but it was pretty brutal to watch. I am not as high on Flacco's future as I am Ryan.

"I'm gonna kind of whisper this because I don't like rookies to read anything I say. But I think [third-round BYU receiver] Austin Collie's got a chance. He can run. He can really run. He is working the slot only. We haven't had anyone since Brandon Stokley to work the slot only. That's all he practiced. He doesn't have to worry about anything but the slot.

This is Peyton Manning speaking about the Colts new wide receivers. If Collie is only learning one position then what happens if Gonzalez or Wayne get injured? I know receivers normally only learn one position at first but they generally know what the other WRs on the field are doing as well. It doesn't seem that Collie would know what to do if he had to play another WR position.

"The other young guy, Pierre Garcon, can run, too. He's an outside receiver only. What we're doing a better job of with the young guys is we're saying, 'This is your position. You don't have to learn everything.'

Again, same thing. I am assuming these are the #3 and #4 guys. What happens if Gonzalez or Wayne go down?

Me: "And if the left guard has a golf tournament, the quarterback has to go.''

Manning: "Right.''

Me: "Jim Johnson died of melanoma. You're pretty fair-skinned. You take precautions against skin cancer?''

Manning: "I do. My dad always worried about it.

Me: "What's the SPF of the stuff you use?''

Manning: "Fifty.'

Peter: Will you put sun tan lotion on my back?

Manning: What??? You are wearing a shirt.

Peter: Brett Favre used to do it for me.

It's hard enough to last 12 years in the NFL anywhere, let alone in a place where in your first year you killed someone in your new pro town. But ask anyone here about the leaders on this team, and Little's name comes up quickly.

It IS hard to make it in a town where you killed someone. Take it from me. I know exactly what Leonard Little is going through. I remember when I was drunk and killed someone while driving my car. Everyone in the neighborhood kept glaring at me and looking at me like I wasn't a victim too. Fortunately I persevered through my struggles and was able to rise above all the hatred people had for me. Gosh, it's amazing how people turn on you when you kill someone while driving drunk and get no jail time. It's not like I have done it since either, so everyone should be proud of me and stop treating me like a pariah.

(End sarcasm)

In fact, he's tutoring (and schooling on the field) first-round tackle Jason Smith in the tricks of how to joust with the top defensive ends in the game. "There is no let-up in Leonard, and he's the perfect guy to be working with Jason,'' said Devaney.

Leonard Little is a good guy because he is teaching his teammates how to play the game of football! If I had known Little was going to tutor rookies on the game of football I wouldn't have been so hard on him all these times I have been.

"Something happened early in my career that I will always regret,'' he said, "but every since then, I've just tried to be the best player I can every day I come to work, and the best person I can be.

Read this sentence and notice how he is redeeming himself by listing that he tried to be the best player he could be and THEN listing that he also tried to be the best person he could be. I bet Leonard Little knew if he played football well there is a certain percentage of St. Louis that would forgive him for anything he did the off the field.

That first year, I thought my career might be over. I was out looking for a job -- a real job, not in football. At first, I didn't think people would ever allow me to forget what happened.''

A real job??? Oh God no, what horrible a thing to have to do. Go find a real job that doesn't pay millions a year?

Are we supposed to go cue the violins for him now? He says he didn't think people would ever allow him "to forget," not "get past," but actually fucking FORGET what happened. He not only doesn't want people to bring it up, he wants to have people let him forget what happened. You can clearly see what an impact the event had and how sorry he truly is since he is trying to play the victim here and actually wants people to let him forget what happened. I truly greatly dislike Leonard Little.

"Did you do it?'' I asked Urlacher. "You call him the P word?''

"Never said it. Guaranteed,'' he said, and he laughed

After this extremely harsh and tough line of questioning, Peter immediately drops the issue with Urlacher and relays an entire marathon conversation he had with Urlacher. Is there anything more pointless and wasteful of space in MMQB than Peter's relaying conversations he had with football players? I tend to skip them. They are so boring and useless. It's not like you learn anything new. If the player had a bad year, he wants to get past it and so he tells us how he will do so, and if he had a good year he wants to repeat it and will tell us how he will do so. Isn't it time to play football yet and quit talking?

I sidle up to Cutler and shake his hand and he says, "Howyadoin!'' I quasi-yell that he never returned my calls or texts back in the spring, and I just wanted to tell him I ripped the crap out of him then for the way he left Denver, and if there's anything he wanted to say to me, here's the chance.

This is the part where Jay Cutler blows Peter King off. Jay Cutler clearly read what Peter wrote about him during the Cutler-McDaniels soap opera, and in the spirit of being the baby Jay Cutler is, he is being a baby about it and will go about pretending he can't hear him. How did Peter hear what Cutler said but Cutler can't hear what Peter said? It doesn't make sense to me. There were people yelling his name but it's not like they were in the middle of a stadium with loud yelling fans. Cutler had to hear what Peter King was saying.

But I could tell he didn't hear everything I said. Maybe he heard nothing. How could he? And now he was being pulled in other directions, and so I just shook his hand again and said see you.

The Bears PR guy even called Peter later saying Cutler didn't hear what Peter said, but that is bullshit also. The Bears PR guy was probably covering for the incident and didn't want Peter to write that Cutler blew him off. Cutler probably heard Peter and blew him off because Peter "ripped" him in the off season, though it really wasn't that much of a ripping. The Bears PR guy saw or heard it happened and then went into full "Cutler didn't hear you" mode. That's my theory.

The lesson: Jay Cutler is still a little bit of a baby and Peter King is naive to think Cutler couldn't hear him.

5:15, p.m. Friday(Denver-San Francisco preseason game, Candlestick Park): I haven't been here in years; I can't remember the last time I saw the 49ers live at the Candlestick wind turbine.

For those people that think I am nitpicky and stupid when I am talking about how Peter only pays attention to East Coast teams, I think this last sentence speaks for itself. There are 32 teams in the NFL that Peter covers and he not only hasn't he been to the 49ers home stadium in years, he can't remember the last time he was there. It could have been a decade or more. When he says things like this last sentence, this is exactly why I am so hard on him for having an East Coast bias.

Almost half the jerseys I see pay homage to the defensive cornerstone of the franchise, the number 52 worn by linebacker Patrick Willis. I do not see a single Michael Crabtree jersey.

Considering Crabtree hasn't signed a contract with the 49ers and hasn't even been assigned a jersey number yet, I would think it could be hard for a person to wear a jersey with Crabtree's name and number on it at this point.

Gut feeling: I believe in the defense, which is totally sold on coordinator Ron Rivera's schemes and the teaching of the Rivera staff. If Philip Rivers gets protected well, and the Tomlinson/Darren Sproles/Jacob Hester (the big back who hurts you when he hits you) combo platter stays mostly healthy, no team will come within four games of the Chargers in the AFC West.

This may be less a testament to how good the Chargers can be this year and more of a testament to how bad the AFC West is going to be this year. If the Chargers can't win this division by at least two games then there is something wrong.

Factoid of the Week That May Interest Only Me

Tom Brady and Peyton Manning played golf together at Cypress Point in Monterey, Calif., recently. On the first hole, both slightly sliced their shots on the border of the first fairway and the club's driving range. Uh-oh. Needle-in-haystack, lost-ball time.

But it didn't take long to find them. Brady was playing a Titleist 12, Manning a Titleist 18. Get it -- 12, 18? Talk about your unique-to-one-person golf balls.

This could very well be the greatest story I have ever heard. Give me more Tom Brady and Peyton Manning stories, I don't get enough of those during the NFL off season and season as it is. Also, golf balls with the numbers #12 and #18 on them are not unique-to-one-person because any person in any sport who also wears those numbers in their sport could also have those golf balls. If Peter is saying with these specific two people those golf balls are specific to only them, but if one person used a Titleist 3 and another person used a Titleist 2 then those balls would be specific as well. There I go being nitpicky again.

Aggravating/Enjoyable Travel Note of the Week

Peter goes into a big long story about the Westin and how they overbooked and had no rooms available for him and then gave him the wrong directions to the hotel they had comped for him. Then Peter asks the public whether he should boycott the Westin or not.

Can't he make the decision for himself? I think the most aggravating part of the travel note is hearing Peter constantly complaining about being aggravated. You travel all the time. Things are going to go wrong. Fucking deal with it.

Enjoyable/Aggravating Chicago Travel Note of the Week II

And so I get to my room at the Hilton at O'Hare Airport Thursday evening, just in time to rush through a Michael Vick reaction story and hurry it on to SI.com, and I log onto the wireless in my room.

For $17.50.

I complained so loudly about the Providence Westin charging me $10 to use an elliptical machine a few years ago that it got onto my Wikipedia bio. But this is worse. Online for two hours, max, for $17.50. Shame on you, Barron Hilton, or whoever it is charging people $239 for a room and robbing them further to get online.

Sure it is a dick thing to do to charge people to use the Internet, but Peter is not actually paying for this use. I am sure he is going to be reimbursed for this charge and if he doesn't like this he can probably go to any cafe or library in the area and use the Internet for free. It's not like the hotel room is his only option for Internet.

Peter is the king of complaining about situations where there are other options to choose but he doesn't choose those other options because he is too lazy to do so. Another example is when there wasn't coffee ready in the hotel lobby at 6am. He very easily could have made his own coffee in his room or bought coffee somewhere, but he complained because he was being inconvenienced.

1. I think the Minnesota Vikings, should they struggle at quarterback, will call Brett Favre. It's a pretty strong feeling, based on knowing the people involved and based on the desperation of the Vikings to do more than win a division this year.

You would have to be ignorant to think this wouldn't happen. We all know Favre is going to come back in the middle of the season to play hero for some team. It's just a question of who.

You didn't really think we could go a whole week without Peter talking about Brett Favre did you?

With the exception maybe of Daunte Culpepper, neither team has fielded a top quarterback in the last 10 years. That's why a potential Cutler-Favre matchup on Nov. 29 or Dec. 28 is so appealing.

Culpepper had some pretty good years in Minnesota. That's a pretty big exception. That's like saying outside of Matt Hasselbeck, the Seahawks haven't had a good quarterback in the last 20 years.

5. I think one of the good things about preseason football (and there aren't many) is watching the maturation of the top rookies. The education of Aaron Curry was in progress Saturday night at Qualcomm in his first game at outside linebacker for the Seahawks. My observation: You can tell he's still swimming, trying to be in the right place at the right time.

Why does Peter hate Aaron Curry? He goes out of his way here to talk about how Curry looked lost in his first preseason game. First, he criticized Curry for not getting sacks and now he is criticizing him for not being on top of things in his first preseason football game.

b. The first play of Mark Sanchez's NFL career is one he'll remember for a while -- the 48-yard bomb called by offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer to speedy David Clowney while fans were still filing in from the parking lot. Said Sanchez: "I was joking with Coach Schottenheimer; I told him, 'I'm coming off the bench cold and shooting three-pointers. What's the deal?' It was a great call and we executed well.''

c. How Sanchez doesn't win the starting job ... that's beyond me.

I am not saying Sanchez did not play well, I am saying it was one preseason game, he played one series and Erik Ainge and Kellen Clemens played well also.

Why does everyone love Mark Sanchez so much? Is it because he is such a dreamy looking guy? SportsCenter actually broke into a program this weekend announcing that Sanchez will start a preseason game for the Jets. A PRESEASON GAME! Not a real game, but a preseason game. Then the anchor said, "...and he may not relinquish that spot for a long time." What? Is this all based on his performance in training camp and one series against the Rams in the preseason? Let's get a grip here people and have him show something before we crown his ass.

n. I can think of about 10 teams that need the special-teams presence and leadership of David Tyree if the Giants whack him.

d. I've never seen anything quite so violent in baseball as the line drive off pitcher Hiroki Kuroda's head Saturday night. I can't believe he's OK. After the second replay, I just couldn't watch it anymore.

Let me get back on my soapbox. Notice how Peter didn't mention anything about Kinsler and Wright being hit in the head, though they sort of got hurt as well. It's because there is a much greater threat to pitchers from a batted ball than a hitter getting hit by a pitch. I wish the media would just be quiet about all of these beanballs in baseball right now. They act like it is a new epidemic.

I think Bryce Florie getting hit was the most violent thing I have seen in baseball lately. It's weird Peter as a Red Sox fan doesn't agree with me. He had to have been watching the game where Florie got hit.

1 comments Drama Queen

Already, if you have read some of my posts here, you have probably realised I hate sensationalism. I mean, I understand these guys are selling papers, webspace, advertising, whatever, I understand there's a level of competition in the marketplace that demands they seek out attention. I'm fine with that really - to a point. It's when we get to the "Who's Now" level that I become physically ill. It also is, to me, deeply ironic that the media is now belittling blogs for being marginalised and extreme, when so much of sportswriting is commercially motivated. It is being painted by it's advocates (in this faux war with blogs) as being somehow pure, unadulterated and "old school", and yet it is appropriated by many different people. The gap between actual reporting and what you see on your computer or television screen is very great indeed. It seems to take a lot of gall, from that position to take a shot at people like myself and tens of thousands like me for not having insight, when we write simply for the love of the game. I assure you, there is no grandstanding going on.

Anyway, no sport is more susceptible to this dramatisation than the NFL. The two most overhyped events in the sporting universe in my opinion are the Superbowl and, especially, the NFL draft. But not too far behind is the NFL season in general, when sportswriters go to great pains to tell us how irrelevant the pre-season is and we all get frustrated waiting for the action to start, to see how teams will use their new toys. How Jonathan Vilma will work in the 4-3, what cool stuff Jim Johnson will do now he has Asante Samuel and Lito Sheppard (IMO the 2nd and 3rd best CB's in the league) in the backfield, he could blitz every down! These and many more, would make great pre-season articles.

This, by Alex Marvez, does not.

America's Team has become Hollywood's team

OXNARD, Calif. - There's just one problem with the Dallas Cowboys bringing their training camp back to California.

The locale is 55 miles too far west.

Hollywood should be the spot for what is a ready-made soap opera. Even Cowboys owner Jerry Jones describes his roster as a "great cast of characters."

I'm pretty sure he means "great bunch of guys that should work well together as a team" and not "combustable, smouldering loose cannons ready to lock horns over social supremacy and engaging in intricate power battles - with sexy results" but who knows, fine, go on.

This version of "Dallas" features the handsome quarterback (Tony Romo) and the starlet girlfriend (Jessica Simpson) who recently wrote a song about her squeeze called, "You're My Sunday."

*yawn* you're about 18 months late dude.

Terrell Owens is the flamboyant wide receiver who adores the spotlight.

alright, let's deal with this once and for all and I will try not to dwell on it over the course of the upcoming NFL season. Simply being Terrell Owens is not grounds for drama. OK? He's been FINE the last two years, seriously, aside from one hospital incident, basically nothing at all is happened. I know you guys are dying for him to cover himself in goats blood or something, but I can literally go through every team in the NFL and pick out an example of a player causing way more trouble for his team and attracting "the spotlight" (ie. you guys, the media), or at least trying to. In fact, I fucking will;

Arizona Cardinals - Matt Leinart partying with underage girls and the subsequent time share with Warner, Anquan Boldin throwing a hissy fit.
Atlanta Falcons - seriously?
Baltimore Ravens - Brian Billick is self appointed offensive genius and how dare you imply otherwise.
Buffalo Bills - they are so fucking beige as a team, I suppose I could do some Losman joke, but it's like shooting fish in a barrel at this stage.
Carolina Panthers - honestly, can't do this one...
Chicago Bears - This guy or this guy or this guy. They all work.
Cincinnati Bengals - Ocho Cinco, the human trade demand.
Cleveland Browns - besides the whole Brady Quinn is gay bit there's nothing to see here folks, move along.
Denver Broncos - I'm not gonna go there with that poor kid and the drive by, and I don't need to, because Travis Henry is a stoner.
Detroit Lions - let's just say when you type in "Matt Millen" into google, this is the second most clicked on result.
Green Bay Packers - see Falcons, Atlanta.
Houston Texans - kept their noses clean, I got nothing here.
Indianapolis Colts - this was all very unexpected.
Jacksonville Jaguars - generally pretty cruisy, but this was, to say the least, a bit awkward for a while.
Kansas City - I know he was awesome but still, total distraction.
Miami Dolphins - I'll get abstract for a moment and just reference the entire 2007-2008 season.
Minnesota Vikings - either the boat thing or Koren Robinson. You decide.
New England Patriots - yyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeah, I'm gonna assume you're all caught up on this one.
New Orleans - that flood stuff obviously has kept everyone feeling bad for releasing their inner total fuckwit, but for how long?
New York Giants - Michael Strahan is kinda a dick and this wasn't exactly ideal either.
New York Jets - who cares really? But Pete Kendall didn't make things easy last year.
Oakland Raiders - him or him
Philadelphia Eagles - again, I won't touch the Andy Reid thing, but there's always enough Donovan McNabb hating to go around.
Pittsburgh Steelers - Alan Faneca threatened a hold out
San Francisco 49ers - this guy.
San Diego Chargers - patron saint of stupid dances and steroids.
Seattle Seahawks - he is no longer, but Jerramy Stevens wiki entry lists no fewer than seven legal incidents. And that doesn't even include his recent "extreme DUI"
St.Louis Rams - like two day ago would have gotten a pass, but what's this?
Tampa Bay Buccaneers - were going to cause a fuss but they were too busy playing canasta and taking mid afternoon naps.
Tennessee Titans - now that they've gotten rid of Pacman, they are really quite nice...when Albert Haynesworth isn't trying to kill people.
Washington Redskins - it fucking sucks, but I'm just saying, it caused drama and turmoil and that's what happens in the NFL.

My point - every team on the NFL (or nearly) has amazing levels of drama on a nearly daily basis. When you get 54 high level athlete-testosterone fueled-millionaires and big business, it's gonna happen. To put this all on a few individuals is ridiculous. It's just soundbyte style journalism, it's lazy and it's boring, Foxsports also has a story on Manny this week, enough. Your gay little jokes about T.O. being T.O. and Manny being Manny are played the fuck out.

There's the disgruntled (wideout Terry Glenn)

again, you will find a dissatisfied player on every single team.

the delinquent (still-suspended cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones)

I'll give you this.

the "deer-in-the-headlights" (which is how Cowboys cornerback Terrence Newman has described embattled strong safety Roy Williams' reaction to some pass plays).

yes, the Dallas safety is infamous for bad reads in coverage. Ho-ho-ho! What a colourful bunch they are. Also, how fucking awkward is "the deer-in-the-headlights" and how is that a soap opera caricature? Are we still doing your terrible forced metaphor Alex? I can't really follow.

The ensemble includes 14 other players with Pro Bowl pedigree and the beleaguered head coach who has to massage all these egos for team success.

so they have good players, this is a bad thing? Also, I haven't heard much criticism from Wade Phillips at all, in fact, he's a relatively anonymous head coach compared to Parcells.

There is even the real-life embodiment of J.R. Ewing in Jones. The former oilman has doled out more than $80 million in guaranteed contracts this offseason trying to recapture the prize that has eluded him for the past 12 seasons.

"We wouldn't have committed the money had we not had the expectations that we have a chance to be the best," Jones said at a Thursday news conference. "We all know what 'best' means — the very best."

how controversial! This Jerry Jones character sounds like a hard taskmaster, wanting his highly paid players to play well and enthusiastically backing them with his chequebook. I speak sincerely when I say I think we would all like Jerry Jones running our team. He spends money, he is devoted to the team and is genuinely interested in the sport and not just money (although I'm sure primarily money). He rarely speaks badly of individual players and leaves the coaching to the coach, as far as I can see.

Compare this to the Atlanta Hawks, or the Detroit Lions, or the Seattle Sonics, or the Florida Marlins, or Baltimore Orioles.

But unlike in previous years when predicting his team's fortune, Jones says he won't use the two words that epitomize being the NFL's best.

"Maybe I've lost my credibility in that area about saying we're going to go to the Super Bowl," a laughing Jones said. "We all know if I could just think it and get it done, we wouldn't be sitting here as interested in what we're doing."

I dunno much about J.R., I never watched Dallas, but Jerry Jones has always seemed pretty nice to me, including this article. I did a quick wiki of J.R. and found this;

" J.R. was a covetous, egocentric, and amoral oil baron, who was constantly plotting subterfuges to plunder his foes and their Texas-sized wallets."

I don't think there is much in common except they both deal in oil and are related to the city of Dallas in radically different ways. I understand Jones has had explosive relationships with his staff in the past, but I think in the last ten years he has been pretty reasonable.

This preseason drama began in earnest Thursday when the Cowboys arrived at the nearby Point Mugu naval air station. Of all the football talent on that monstrous charter, who should step out first?

Four Cowboys cheerleaders with pom-poms shaking.

bet that wasn't all that was shaking, if you know what I mean, am I right people? Am I right? This guy...this guy right here knows what I'm talking about (I'm talking about her tits).

"We didn't have anything like this in Miami," said awe-struck linebacker Zach Thomas, who spent the previous 12 seasons playing for the Dolphins.

said focused linebacker Zach Thomas...no

said enthusiastic linebacker Zach Thomas...no

said pumped up linebacker Zach Thomas...no

said wide eyed hick Zach Thomas, a tear rolling down his cheek as he thought of his Pa, a humble corn farmer, and all the folks down in the town, Mary-Jo from the milk bar and Thomas, the stablehand. It was just like old Granny Agnes had said, the big smoke was all a-glowing and a-shimmering, like a greased up pig at the fair...too much

awe-struck, perfect

Thomas and his new teammates spent an hour mingling with roughly 1,000 fans inside the hangar base of the famed VR-55 "Minutemen." Hundreds waited in line for an autograph at the table where Romo and a bouncy blonde cheerleader — no, not Simpson — were stationed.

"look Alex, they aren't gonna let you publish "surgically enhanced, white trash cockwhore", you have to be more subtle in your mysoginy these days. We'll just put "bouncy blonde", don't worry, everyone will get the picture."

Befitting of a team considered the trailblazers in maximizing all revenue streams, Cowboys merchandise was being sold at a small table. One fan, though, found his own way of expressing Cowboys love: A giant homemade red-and-white striped popcorn box that paid homage to Owens and his kernel-inspired touchdown celebration.

"You've got the team, the quarterback, the receiver, the running back. This is what you want," J.J. Jiminez said. "Give me the second round of the playoffs, at least."

it's this kind of unfettered access and insightful writing that makes sports journalism so many thousands of times more valuable than bloggers. On behalf of the blogging community - we surrender.

So why would Jones heap even more attention onto his club by once again giving HBO unlimited training camp access for its "Hard Knocks" show? Jones insists the ancillary benefits — particularly team exposure — far outweigh any behind-the-scenes drama that might unfold on camera.

"I've never thought on the basis that what went on off the field relative to attention, celebrity and that type of thing had one thing to do with how somebody blocks, tackles, throws or runs with the football," Jones said.

is that logic? WITCH! BURN HIM!

Romo should be relieved.

He was publicly savaged...

by who? More misleading over dramatisation, people fucking love this kid.

for having taken a quick getaway with Simpson to a Mexican resort the weekend before the Giants loss. Romo became the symbol of a Cowboys squad that appeared far too laid back entering the playoffs after a 12-1 start.

hindsight is fucking 20-20, seriously, they looked fine. How about those Colts in 2007? Yeah, they looked hunky-dory in the second half of the season.

Coach Wade Phillips still continues to insist that wasn't the case, telling one reporter during a Thursday news conference that he was "making something out of not a whole lot." Phillips grew increasingly irked at questions asking what lessons could be learned from his first season as Cowboys head coach and whether such a collapse was preventable, which infers he wasn't stern enough with his players.

"Everybody comes up with reasons," Phillips said. "It happened. We're going to move on. Hopefully we learn from it.

Alex Marvez is getting visibly irritated that everyone around him is being level-headed and sensible; "why won't this story just write itself dammit!" Yes, Alex, it's much harder to write a story when the facts don't fit what you'd like the story to be.

"This isn't last year's team. It's this year's team. I think that's where you go."

Or else Phillips may go, especially with the NFL's highest paid coordinator (offensive wunderkind Jason Garrett) waiting in the wings. It's yet another storyline for a franchise that Jones proudly touts as the "No. 1 television team in (U.S.) sports."

Whether that's for the right or wrong reasons will be evident soon enough.

I dunno man, I don't think you have much evidence for this "Wade Phillips is on the hot seat" thing. I mean, I guess all non Tony Dungy/Bill Belichick coaches of good teams are one season away from losing their job (see Billick, Brian) but I see no reason why Wade Phillips is on thinner ice than say, Jack Del Rio, or Marvin Lewis, or Andy Reid, or Lovie Smith or whoever. And I'm sure if and when that ice cracks, you, Alex Marvez, will be there, licking your lips to capitalise on all the delicious, juicy, tender drama.