Well what an eventful start of the week it has been for the National Football League. First, the Miami Dolphins ended their trade-bait tango with defensive end Jason Taylor, who spent his off season on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars." Dolphins president Bill Parcells shipped the league's 2006 defensive player of the year to Washington for the Redskins 2009 second round draft pick as well as a sixth rounder in 2010. Such news was proof that the Tuna is willing to hold out until he gets the deal that he believes he deserves, and it was also proof that Daniel Snyder can't go an off season without making a news splash, but boy did he have us fooled. Taylor's 117 sacks is the most among active players.
While we're on the topic of trades, it only took three months for the New Orleans Saints to convince the New York Giants to send disgruntled pro bowl tight end Jeremy Shockey their way. The Saints had offered the Giants second and fifth round picks in April's draft, but the Giants declined, only to take the Saints current offer of, get this, second and fifth round picks in next April's draft. A complicated scenario to get the big easy their big target. Shockey has compiled 371 receptions for 4,228 yards and 27 touchdowns in his six year career.
Speaking of complicated, somebody explain to me why it took the Chicago Bears so long to settle the contract dispute with linebacker Brian Urlacher. The team gave Urlacher a six million dollar signing bonus as well as an extra million dollars a year for the remainder of his current contract. The Monsters of the Midway kept the face of their franchise by pleasing the thirty year old linebacker.
In Cincinnati, a few Bengals players were opening their mouths on the radio, one somewhat surprising and one not at all. The former, quarterback Carson Palmer, decided it would be a good idea to go on a Los Angeles radio station and openly blast the Ohio State Buckeyes. Palmer has every right in the world to defend his alma matter, the USC Trojans, who face the Buckeyes September 13th in a much anticipated match up. The problem, of course, is that Palmer plays in city and state that take their college football very seriously, and giving ticked off Bengals fans more ammunition against an underachieving team was a bad idea. The other Bengal to open their mouth was receiver Chad Johnson (gasp). Johnson went on The Dan Patrick Show and said something along the lines of "I'm going to take my "F***ing team to the playoffs." First of all Ocho Cinco, where do you get off calling the Bengals your team when you so badly wanted off the squad all off season before realizing the team wasn't going to trade you? I have a suggestion, watch the language, come back and play second fiddle to T.J. Houshmandzadeh.
This Sunday, we will get a taste of the Arena Football League at its best as the San Jose Sabercats (13-5) face the Philadelphia Soul (15-3) in ArenaBowl XXII. The Sabercats have captured three previous ArenaBowl titles, XVI, XVIII, and XXI and can become the first team since Tampa Bay in 1995-1996 to repeat as champions. Quarterback Mark Grieb, who was the starter for two of those previous titles can start to pressure former Tampa Bay quarterback Jay Gruden as the Joe Montana of the AFL with a victory. It won't be easy however as the Soul offer a star quarterback of their own in Matt D'orazio. D'orazio won ArenaBowl XX as the gunslinger for the Chicago Rush, but the team let him go before this season in favor of aging veteran Serderick Bonner and D'orazio caught on with the Soul to be backup to Tony Graziani. Well, the way things work this day in age, you need two quarterbacks, and with Graziani injured most of the season, D'orazio has stepped up and become the man for Soul as the five year old franchise looks to capture it's first title.
This week, University of Florida head coach Urban Meyer called Tim Tebow "the greatest player of our era," and I totally back him up. Tebow helped guide Florida to a championship as a freshman, albeit as half of a two-headed quarterback system with Chris Leak, but he couldn't top it off as a starter could he? All he did was become the first underclassmen to ever capture sports most prolific individual award, the Heisman Trophy. He is a new hybrid of quarterback at 6'3" and 238 pounds with the speed to get outside and the rocket arm to put the ball anywhere on the field, much in the fashion of Steve Young, perhaps just better. With two years of college left, expect Tebow to prove that his coach was correct.
And on the Brett Favre "saga"....spare me.
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