What Is New Orleans Waiting For?
Drew Brees is coming off one of his best seasons in the NFL, passing Dan Marino’s single-season passing yards mark last year. This has been one of the craziest off seasons that the NFL has ever seen; from the Saints Bountygate to almost the entire management being suspended. To me, Bountygate is over. It happened, the punishment was handed out to those involved, and it’s time to get over it. The thing that I can’t get over is the fact that the Saints will not pay Drew Brees.
Brees completed 71 percent of his passes, passing for 5,476 yards, and throwing for 46 touchdowns last year. Brees has meant more to that team than any other team except for maybe Peyton Manning to the Indianapolis Colts. I think people sometimes forget how good this guy really is. When he first arrived in New Orleans in 2006, it was a real mess. The city was literally a mess from Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans seemed lost and Brees helped the community find itself. He put in hours and hours of service for that city. He stepped into a leadership role right when he got there to provide aid to the football team and to the society.
Another reason to sign Drew Brees is that he is a Super Bowl Champion. He played a huge part in beating the Colts in 2009. How many Super Bowl winning quarterbacks are out on the free agent Market? None, and no, Brett Favre doesn’t count.
Just last year, it was Brees who was getting 30 to 40 guys together to practice while the NFL was in a lockout. He can throw for 2,000 yards next season, but it’s those little things like calling teammates and scheduling unorganized practices that are invaluable to the franchise.
Vince Young trying out for Bills
The Buffalo Bills announced yesterday that they will be bringing in quarterback Vince Young to try out for the backup position behind current starter Ryan Fitzpatrick. The workout will take place today, 5/2, at the Bills facility. Young believes that this could be the perfect landing spot for him as coach Chan Gailey knows how to utilize mobile quarterbacks. Gailey is the former coach of Kordell Stewart.
Dolphins answer at Quarterback?
Since the retirement of Dan Marino after the 1999 season, the Miami Dolphins have suffered through 16 different starting quarterbacks. SIXTEEN! With the draft only 2 days away the Dolphins are strongly considering drafting Texas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill with the 8th overall choice. He is a dynamic athlete as he spent two-plus college years as a wide receiver before becoming the starting quarterback. He may not be ready to start immediately in the NFL but with the Dolphins low expectations for 2012 it really shouldn’t matter. The team desperately needs a spark and a reason for fan interest after losing their biggest offensive threat, Brandon Marshall, in a trade to Chicago this offseason.
The Dolphins have recently had a bad string of quarterback luck. They used a 2nd round draft pick in 2008 on Chad Henne, brought in highly regarded free agents like Daunte Culpepper, Joey Harrington, Trent Green, and Chad Pennington, and also tried their luck with journeyman QB’s Cleo Lemon, AJ Feeley, Jay Fiedler, Gus Frerotte, Sage Rosenfels, Brian Griese, Ray Lucas, John Beck, Tyler Thigpen, and Matt Moore.
NFL Schedule 2012
The NFL schedule was released today and we have some very interesting match-ups to look forward to. We go from week 1 where the 49ers will head to Lambeau to face the Packers to week 17 when the Eagles play the Giants. There are many meaningful playoff type games in every week of the season.
Some intriguing quarterback match-ups here:
Week 1: Peyton Manning vs Ben Roethlisberger
Week 3: Aaron Rodgers vs Matt Flynn
Week 4: Drew Brees vs Aaron Rodgers
Week 5: Tom Brady vs Peyton Manning
Week 6: Peyton Manning vs Phillip Rivers
Week 8: Drew Brees vs Peyton Manning
Week 9: Ben Roethlisberger vs Eli Manning
Week 12: Cam Newton vs Michael Vick
Week 14: Matt Schuab vs Tom Brady
Week 16: Matt Ryan vs Matt Stafford
Week 17: Carson Palmer vs Phillip Rivers
New NFL Jerseys by Nike Released!
Nike released the new NFL jerseys that will be used starting with the new 2012 NFL season. Of the new jerseys, 31 of the 32 NFL teams won’t see much of a change. Meanwhile, the Seattle Seahawks got a bit of a makeover, and early responses by the public on Facebook and Twitter have proved them to be the fan favorite. What do you think about your favorite team’s new jerseys? Click the link below, check them out, and then have your say in the comments sections below!
NFL Domination: How the league took over the entire month of March
As the month of March comes to a close it has been dominated by nothing else then the NFL. Usually around this time Spring Training is getting ready to draw to a end and the MLB season is about to get under way. In the NBA coming off the trade deadline the games begin to heat up more as it gets ready for the playoffs, but the NFL is usually is quiet just reviews of the upcoming draft and free agency well that all changed this month. This month we had Peyton going to the Broncos, Tebow to the Jets and the Saints bounty punishments which resulted in Sean Payton being suspended for the whole year and the Redskins rolling the dice to get RGIII. This month the NFL showed why its king of all the sports leagues as it dominated the front page headlines every week this month.
Peyton to the Broncos: The decision day came and the Manning was let go by the only team he played for the Indianapolis Colts held in a joint press conference with Jim Irsay by his side Manning said his goodbyes and the wildfire of press speculation ensued. The Titans,Broncos,49ers,Jets,Seahawks,Redskins,Texans, Dolphins and Cardinals were all linked to the soon to be Hall of Fame QB but after visiting 3 teams Manning made his choice the Denver Broncos. This left the Broncos with no choice but to do the one thing John Fox and John Elway wanted to do without making themselves look bad and that was ridding themselves of Tim Tebow.
Wes Welker Wears Depends
While most NFL fans are focusing their attention on Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III and the rest of the soon-to-be NFL draftees, the wily old veterans are out there having some fun. Three of them in particular just partook in one of the more bizarre ad campaigns. Wes Welker, DeMarcus Ware and Clay Matthews recently appeared in a commercial for adult diapers. Yes, the Depends that old people have come to know and love. It is for a very good cause though as Wes Welker revealed on his Twitter page:
Watch the video by clicking the link below, and then let us know if this is the most bizarre commercial you’ve ever seen involving professional athletes.
I guess it really just Depends on what you find bizarre…
New NFL Rules for 2012
It certainly seems like the NFL owners’ meetings went well today. Starting in the 2012 NFL season there are two definite major changes and potentially a third in the works by May. Let’s take a look at what will be different once the 2012 season kicks off.
1. Overtime Rules – Last season we had to deal with different overtime rules in the postseason compared to during the regular season. During the regular season last year, overtime was strictly sudden death. Meanwhile, overtime was only sudden death if the team who possessed the ball first in overtime scored a touchdown on their very first possession. If they did not, then even if one team scored during the extra frame in a later possession, the other team would have one chance to tie or win the game. For the 2012 season and every other season from here on out, overtime rules will be the same during the regular season and postseason. Whether you agree with the new overtime rules or not, at least there is consistency over the course of the whole season.
2. Instant Replay on Turnovers – Last season the NFL implemented a rule where all scoring plays are automatically reviewed. This made it so coaches didn’t have to challenge controversial scoring plays. That seemed to work really well last season, so this season the NFL is expanding this rule to all turnovers. This makes it so coaches no longer have to challenge controversial turnover calls as they will automatically be reviewed upstairs. Not only is this good for the integrity of the game as the NFL will have even more correct calls, but it allows coaches to use their challenges more strategically since they no longer have to challenge scoring plays or turnovers.
3. Trade Deadline – One change that was widely discussed, but will be ruled on at a later date, was the thought of pushing the trade deadline back from Week 6 to Week 8 of the season. The owners decided that they will discuss this potential change further most likely in May. This change would make it so teams would have a better idea of what their rosters would look like heading toward the playoffs in case they need to make any changes. This gives teams an extra two weeks to fill holes and tweak their team if any players go down with season-ending injuries and make changes to round out their team for a Super Bowl run.
2012 NFL Draft Order Released!
Today the NFL released the order for the 2012 NFL Draft. This years draft will start on April 26th and go until April 28th. One of the most widely anticipated events of the NFL calendar year, the Draft will be held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Make sure to check out where your favorite NFL team is drafting!
Parcells to Coach Saints?
In a shocking bit of news this afternoon, ESPN’s Chris Mortenson reported today that Saints head coach, Sean Payton, has spoken with Bill Parcells about potentially coaching the Saints during the 2012 NFL season while Payton is serving his one-year suspension for his role in “Boutygate”. Mortenson reported that it would just be on an interim basis. Adding Parcells to the coaching staff for the coming season would certainly help to rejuvenate a Saints team that could use a pick-me-up after all of the backlash from the NFL’s investigation into their bounty system. Stay with NFL 24/7 as we continue to cover this story and see if anything more legitimate becomes of this news.
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