Tom Brady Leaves Redskin Game With Shoulder Injury

Tom Brady was playing great Friday in the preseason game against the Washington Redskins.

However, the second quarter ended ominously. Albert Haynesworth fell on Brady and appeared to land with all his weight on Tom’s throwing shoulder. Brady got up moving his arm, wrist, and shoulder. He left the game at this time.

Brady came back onto the field at the beginning of the second half, but quickly retired to the locker room.

He didn’t address the press after the game. 

Belichick was so tight-lipped, he topped himself. When asked if Brady was hurt, he answered that Brady was banged up and bruised like every player would be.

Reporters asked what the team doctors had said. Belichick said Brady was never going to play the second half. There was zero natural flow to this conversation and no smiles on the Patriots’ sideline.

A further question about the injury prompted Belichick to say, “Who?” as though he had no idea who the press was asking about.

It’s 5:32 AM CST on Saturday here, and no new information. Many expressed concern when Matt Cassel was traded.

If Brady goes out, or has an injury similar to Brett Favre’s last year, what happens with the Patriots?

Brett: It’s OK If You Can’t Decide; the NFL Has Bigger Problems

The one reason I am grateful for the story about Big Ben and the allegations of sexual assault is that it has taken some of the spotlight off of Brett Favre.

Michael Vick’s situation is the same. Today, on a quick ESPN News they spent the first 3/4 talking about Michael Vick, no time on Ben (what’s up ESPN?), and then a very short amount of time on Brett deciding if he will play for the  Minnesota Vikings.

What does interest me is that there is no bandwagon vilifying Ben for the reports coming out of Nevada. Lots of insults have been hurled at his accuser, but much protection has been given Ben.

The nice thing is all the insults hurled at Brett Favre for NOT BEING ABLE TO MAKE UP HIS MIND have died down a bit as name-calling is blanketed on the accuser of Big Ben and towards Michael Vick.

Criminal allegations are something fans do debate and have strong opinions. They should pay attention to these.

What’s disturbing is that readers have treated Brett Favre to the same name calling that criminals have gotten, or women’s accusations against athletes.

I don’t know what he will decide on Friday (Or That he WILL decide Friday).

I hope we can all come to realize that choosing to play for a rival team when you have no chance for employment with your old team is not of the same magnitude as being accused of rape, being jailed for dog-fighting and gambling, testing positive for illegal substances, or killing someone when driving drunk.

Can we let Brett Favre off the hook now and see him just as a player wanting to play?

Can we stop calling him names? Can we appreciate the positive he has done in the NFL? Can we be glad he is just confused, not a criminal?

We can if we are ready to think rationally. I know we are passionate about our heroes. but if anyone deserves a break, especially in these tempestuous times, it’s Brett Favre.

Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger a Rapist?

Other articles here and many sports sites report that Ben Roethlisberger, quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers, is accused in a civil suit of several charges connected to an alleged rape that took place last July, 2008.

A senior shift manager who was in charge of VIP relations at Harrah’s filed suit last Friday against Ben Roethlisberger saying he had held her against her will and raped her during his stay at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe last July.

Normally the names of alleged rape victims are not identified, but the press has reported the alleged victim as Andrea McNully. She was a long time employee of Harrah’s and had just been promoted in the VIP department.

Roethlisberger’s attorney stated, “Ben has never sexually assaulted anyone, especially not Andrea McNully.” This statement was unfortunate as it makes it sound like the alleged victim was especially not worthy of an assault. While this statement was in reports early on the 21st of July, it was not being reported later in the day.

Ms. McNully reported the major part of her job as VIP shift manager was to be sure VIP’s such as Roethlisberger are content and happy with their hotel stay.

She had met him the night before as a VIP golf tournament began at the hotel. The next day, she claims, he called to say his television was not working. She states she could not find a technician and because it was her job to manage VIP relations (sic) she went to his room herself.

Once in the room she determined the sound on the television was working fine.

Allegedly, Roethlisberger blocked the door and did not allow her to leave, thus he is charged with one act of kidnapping, in addition to the sexual assault. He began to fondle her through her dress and then picked her up and threw her on the bed.

She states she was afraid because of his 6’5″ 240 pound frame and felt he could really hurt her.

She states she protested and even stated “I am not on any birth control. You do not want to do this.”

Ms. McNully also stated she did not file criminal charges because she was afraid management would take the side of the assailant and she would lose her job.

She did tell the Chief of Security who told her that crying and shaking was “overreacting” and that their boss would probably give her a bonus if she continued to have sex more often with Ben. Ben and the President of the company are good friends.

She reports he also said, “Why are you so upset? A lot of woman would love to have sex with the Steeler’s quarterback.”

She alledges there was then a cover up by Harrah’s employees, including by the President of North Nevada Harrah’s, who is a good friend with Roethlisberger. She named eight Harrah’s employees in the cover-up.

In spite of her fears of losing her job, she was unable to continue anyway and was hospitalized later for depression.

 

Psychologist’s Opinion

I spoke with a local psychologist with experience in sexual assault cases.

She stated, “He said-she said cases are always hard to prove. The alleged assailant also has unlimited funds to defend himself which makes the case lopsided.”

“In general, women do not make these claims frivolously because their whole life will be exposed, most often with a negative slant.”

However, the psychologist emphasized, she had no personal knowledge of any party to this case and could not speak to the veracity of the woman’s claims.

“I do know,” she said, “That her pattern of behavior is not atypical. Women think they can put these incidents in the past, but they find out soon that depression and anxiety and a sense of betrayal on the part of her employers will disrupt her life.”

“On the other hand,” she said, “Men with the wealth and fame of Roethlisberger are sitting ducks. My advice to them would be to never close the door when they are in a hotel with a woman they do not know well.”

This case is sure to be a distraction during the current NFL season. After today’s headlines about Michael Vick’s release it will be interesting to see if this story receives the same publicity as incidents with NBA star Kobe Bryant and others.

 

 

Brett Favre To Play for 29 NFL Teams B/R confirms: The Rest of the Story (NOT)

The news was broken late Friday by John Breech, Reporter Extraordinaire (Level Seven) of the BleacherReport.com that Roger Goodall has been secretly talking to Brett Favre, formerly of the Green Bay Packers, New York Jets, and the Mississippi Rumor Mill about playing for all NFL teams this year.

For clarification, Brett will not be playing this year for the Packers, the Jets, or, as was reported by John, the Lions.

Editorial staff has held onto this piece of the story while waiting for sources at the NFL, ESPN, Yahoo, FOX, CIA, and Wal-Mart to be certain there could be absolutely no primary, secondary or tertiary source connected to the story.

In this economy it had been decided at the owner’s meeting that if Favre is really retired, the loss of No. 4 merchandise sales, in particular jerseys, would result in the layoff of another 120 employees throughout the NFL.

Fans and media alike have noted that Favre was released from the Jets after Mark Sanchez was drafted. However, the draft this year was about picking the best available man whose popularity would sell thousands of team jerseys.

This week Reebok confirmed that Sanchez jerseys had sold to the tune of 20,000, making them the biggest seller of this draft pool.

Only then could they let go of Brett Favre, the player who has sold more Jerseys than any player in the NFL for more years than anyone else has played in the NFL.  Yes, your favorite quarterback also sells a lot but just not quite enough to keep everyone employed.

They called upon Manny Rodrigues’ rules interpreter to comb the rules of the NFL to determine how to keep Favre involved enough to keep those jerseys selling. It was determined that any rule could be made with less than (4x + 9y/2 squared) blackballs.

A hot topic was the fact that Green Bay had wanted to be the chief licensee for Brett Favre products. Since sales of jerseys are divided evenly in the NFL, it was felt it just could not be trusted to the smallest (though best, fastest, and coldest) franchise in the NFL.

Stories were leaked that Favre might be coming back to maintain interest in sales.

It was determined that Reebok would produce a No. 4 Favre jersey replica of every participating franchise. Conveniently, Minneapolis papers published pictures of Brett in purple so Goodall could see that a variety of colors do, in fact, compliment Favre’s complexion.

Favre, then, would dress with the team, throw out the first pass, and then sign jerseys around the stadium. Several of the weaker teams hoped he could sell some PSL’s during this time, too.

X-rays of Farve’s damaged right shoulder were requested to be sure he could lift his arm often enough to put on and off all 29 different jerseys. It had already been determined putting on the pants did not aggravate his shoulder.

Starting Quarterbacks in several franchises have expressed concern. The NFL may insist that for each game Brett signs a “Do Not Compete” clause so he will, in fact, leave the field after throwing out the first pass.

Collectors have already been clamoring to have these jerseys sold in a complete set for a discount.

In an unusual moment of candor, Roger Goodall stated, “If it will help us make a few more bucks, you can be sure we will find a way to do it.” He added he hoped they could find a way where it would fairly rip off NFL fans.

While this plan is still locked in a safe in NFL’s offshore bank, when Reporter John Breech of B/R broke the news of Brett’s itinerary, it was time to tell you…

The rest of the story.

Private Jet Heads To Hatttiesburg: Is Brett Favre On The Move?

Rich Cimini of “The Jets Stream” reports that today a private jet from Minneapolis landed at the Hattiesburg, Mississippi airport. This is the same airport that the Jets used when they flew down to pick up Brett Favre to whisk him away to New York.

Rich states that the private jet landed at 9:11 AM and departed back to Minneapolis at 4:11 PM.

He does not draw any conclusions, nor will I. No one knows if it were a group of Minnesota Vikings Execs travelling down to woo Brett Favre, or the flight had nothing at all to do with Favre. Four other planes landed that day in Hattiesburg—of course, none from Minneapolis.

When it was announced that the Jets had released Favre, the door opened to a lot of possibilities (and rumors):

1. Brett has stated he wants to retire as a Packer and is ready to have his number retired in Green Bay. Plausible.

2. About a month ago Eric Mangini, fired coach of the New York Jets, now head coach of the Cleveland Browns, said he was regularly talking to Brett about coming to training camp to give his quarterbacks some pointers.

Mangini emphasized he was not hiring Brett because he was still a New York Jet and he could not hire him.

Is Brett going to become a quarterbacks consultant? That is possible putting these pieces together.

3. You fill in the blank._______________The world is full of possibilities for a living legend.

Just a Few Thoughts

It would seem surprising that Favre would sign to play with the Minnesota Vikings. He asked for that last year in reaction to the Packers telling him they did not want him back. He left the Jets because his throwing arm had a torn bicep tendon and refused surgery.

If the arm has healed, there was not much else to criticize about Favre’s play last year. He was as good a quarterback and arguably better than any in the league before his injury.

My philosophy is, you only go around once in life so do it all while you can. Whatever Favre decides will be how he chooses to use his time and talents.

I hope his fans and detractors can just settle back and wait until it is clear what’s up. The “here we go again” comes when we, the fans, start wildly speculating when we have little information.

I do realize I have violated that very rule by reporting the private jet from Minneapolis to Hattiesburg.

You’ll have to excuse me; it’s 1:00 AM here and I just had to tell someone…

NFL Millionaire Players and Owners With Outrageous Salaries Abandon Fans

How was YOUR raise this year?

Ben Roethlisberger signed for $102 million over eight years, with $20 million guaranteed. Kellen Winslow sings for 36.1 million, with 20.1 million guaranteed. San Diego’s Antonio Gates signs for $24 million for six years. Jeremy Shockey at New Orleans for $26 million for five years. James Harrison just signed with the Steelers for $51.75 million over six years. Albert Haynesworth breaks into eight figures.

Expected to ask for more: Jacksonville tight end Mercedes Lewis; Houston tight end Owen Daniels; and Oakland tight end Zach Miller. This list goes on.

Owners are escalating salaries to top talent and salaries of the rest of the players follow suit.

At the same time, player’s agents are watching the market, and when one tight end makes a fantastic deal, they start making demands for their player.

Players claim if they don’t receive these salaries, owners will pocket the increased profits from new stadiums and stronger, winning teams. Players also claim they needed high salaries because their playing life was limited.

Owners and Players Fight Over Money – But Who Fights for the Fans?

In that conversation, I never hear talk of the fans. Why not, instead of spending more and more money on salaries and into the pockets of the owners, lower ticket prices to the fans. If you have no fans you have no money to divey up. At this time, fans stretch our pocket books to make a game, but many have already been excluded due to prices.

Risk of Injury

Players argue they need high salaries because of the risk of injury and because their playing life is so short. This is probably the one legitimate claim.

Calculating Player’s Salaries

I calculated that, say, I make $200,000 a year and I work 30 years. My life income will be $6 million.

On the NFL Web site, they claim the average NFL player plays five years (seems like it should be more, but I guess Brett Favre has spoiled us).

Accepting this figure of five years, I divided the six million I might make in my whole lifetime by five, and came up with an annual NFL player salary of 1.2 million paid per year over five years. This would equal the $6 million a well paid worker would make in 30 years.

I haven’t taken into account endorsements. Players who make it past the five years will earn more than the $6 million, which I would give them for resiliency. I also did not temper the $200,000 a regular person could make for the years it would take to get to that salary.

So what would be the effect if top players were paid maximum 1.2 million a year? How much could owner’s lower ticket prices and maintain a acceptable profit margin? How much of a profit is enough for Owner’s when it is us, the fans being fleeced?

I challenge the NFL to appoint a fan Ombudsman to represent fan interests. I challenge owner’s to consider a lower profit margin and lower ticket prices. How about a reasonable ticket so I can take my niece every game?

Finally, I challenge the players to remember why they are there. To the players it is all about winning, but your fans are rooting for you no matter. You are where you are because of the fans who love you or your team. Because of fans who reach deep into their budgets so they can see you, buy a beer and maybe a T-shirt or a jersey.

Many fans are shut out. Many more will be shut out as prices escalate.

Football: a game for the elite and wealthy? It wasn’t meant to be.

Please, owners, agents, and players, make one giant step forwards towards the true roots of football as an All-American game. Get together to talk over salaries and owner’s profits and do something constructive. Remember your fans. Make adjustments needed for lower ticket prices.

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