The NFL took a small step forward from its customary stance of denial and obfuscation on the issue of brain injuries.
If I were a football fan, I'd be worried about the NFL season in 2011. That's what this tiff between the National Football league and the NFL Players Association over guaranteed benefits for the 2010 uncapped year and beyond tells me.
So here we go. The 28-week marathon to the Super Bowl is on. I leave for 21 days of camps tomorrow morning, and I'll try to set the table here with a few appetizers to get you ready for the 2009 season. Love this time of year.
According to multiple sources, the long-anticipated meeting between NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and suspended quarterback Michael Vick occurred on Wednesday afternoon at a small security firm in Allendale, N.J., where both men were seen leaving the premises separately.
Plaxico Burress' representatives believe that Monday's adjournment of their client's trial until Sept. 23 clears the way for the 31-year-old free agent to sign with an NFL team. They are particularly optimistic that teams will be interested because the trial may be adjourned again until after the 2009 season.
LOS ANGELES -- Leftovers from an all-business annual NFL meetings, with some news about an event to help the good Dr. Z heal thyself ... and with 26 days before the draft, what would MMQB be without a nugget or two about the fate of the Lions at No. 1:
Commissioner Roger Goodell's decision this afternoon to suspend Dallas cornerback Adam Jones for at least four games for violating the league's Personal Conduct Policy is the most predictable event of this most unpredictable season.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell did with his game officials Friday what a coach would do with a team of slumping but talented young players: He gave them a pep talk.
Roger Goodell sounded totally spent over the phone from Afghanistan, but he also sounded totally exhilarated at the same time. That's what taking a one-week trip to the twin war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan last week did for him.
With no football to play for the first time in 18 years, former pro Ross Tucker is passing the time reading about his favorite sport. What follows are a few links to NFL-related articles he found and his take on them.
The NFL took a small step forward from its customary stance of denial and obfuscation on the issue of brain injuries.
If I were a football fan, I'd be worried about the NFL season in 2011. That's what this tiff between the National Football league and the NFL Players Association over guaranteed benefits for the 2010 uncapped year and beyond tells me.
So here we go. The 28-week marathon to the Super Bowl is on. I leave for 21 days of camps tomorrow morning, and I'll try to set the table here with a few appetizers to get you ready for the 2009 season. Love this time of year.
According to multiple sources, the long-anticipated meeting between NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and suspended quarterback Michael Vick occurred on Wednesday afternoon at a small security firm in Allendale, N.J., where both men were seen leaving the premises separately.
Plaxico Burress' representatives believe that Monday's adjournment of their client's trial until Sept. 23 clears the way for the 31-year-old free agent to sign with an NFL team. They are particularly optimistic that teams will be interested because the trial may be adjourned again until after the 2009 season.
LOS ANGELES -- Leftovers from an all-business annual NFL meetings, with some news about an event to help the good Dr. Z heal thyself ... and with 26 days before the draft, what would MMQB be without a nugget or two about the fate of the Lions at No. 1:
Commissioner Roger Goodell's decision this afternoon to suspend Dallas cornerback Adam Jones for at least four games for violating the league's Personal Conduct Policy is the most predictable event of this most unpredictable season.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell did with his game officials Friday what a coach would do with a team of slumping but talented young players: He gave them a pep talk.
Roger Goodell sounded totally spent over the phone from Afghanistan, but he also sounded totally exhilarated at the same time. That's what taking a one-week trip to the twin war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan last week did for him.
With no football to play for the first time in 18 years, former pro Ross Tucker is passing the time reading about his favorite sport. What follows are a few links to NFL-related articles he found and his take on them.
I'm not sure what exactly has kept the dots from being connected yet in terms of the media or the public's collective attention spans, but has anyone out there noticed that the NFL's personal conduct problems are back with a vengeance this offseason?
There's so much good e-mail -- clearly one of the best e-mail weeks in the history of this column -- that I'm going to allow you to take it over. I'll just stay out of the way. On with the show:
Sen. Arlen Specter on Wednesday called for an independent investigation of the New England Patriots' taping of opposing coaches' signals
NEW YORK -- So, is it over? Is the nine-month Spygate nightmare finally over?
IRVING, Texas -- Musings, observations and the occasional insight as we put a wrap on the marquee day of the NFL's annual pick-fest, from our vantage point of deep in the heart of Texas....
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Once upon a time NFL Properties used to have a display room set up at the league meetings. When the meetings ended, Properties left the stuff there, not wishing to haul it back home. So they ran a grab bag. You waited outside in a sprinter's stance, and when the door opened, you charged. It got to be an incredible piggy scene, and they finally called a halt to it after one grotesque incident ... I think it was at the meetings out in Palm Desert.
PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Roger Goodell asked for some players' perspective on Hairgate. Here it is.
Before I get to this week's email, here's my take on Roger Goodell stripping the 49ers of a fifth-round pick and making the Bears and 49ers swap third-round picks in Chicago's favor in the wake of the tampering case involving Lance Briggs.
INDIANAPOLIS -- Spygate may be the story that never ends in the minds of fans and the media, but I'd say the NFL's Competition Committee is definitively over it. The league's governing body in terms of rules and regulations has been known to debate the most arcane issues for days or even weeks on end. The committee's attempts to define what constitutes illegal contact a few years back wound up just shy of involving forensic science.
Analysis: It may have caved in allowing all its fans to watch the Patriots play for an undefeated season, but the league network's battle with cable companies is far from over
• Also in this column: news from First Sergeant Mike McGuire.
If found guilty of violating the NFL's rules against video-taping an opposing team's signals, the New England Patriots could face a fine from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and/or have a 2008 draft pick taken away, league sources said Tuesday.
Three news items of the week, 10 days before the opening of the 88th NFL season:
Ten names interest me this morning.
As Roger Goodell nears his one-year anniversary as NFL commissioner, he's bugged that some members of the media describe him as a hanging judge who makes knee-jerk reactions and comes down hard on repeat offenders. "I don't like that,'' Goodell told SI.com in a wide-ranging, 60-minute interview in his Park Avenue office last Thursday. "I don't think I've been heavy-handed. 'Hanging judge' implies to me that someone has not been thoughtful or responsible in his actions, and I don't believe that's the case.''
I can't remember a time when the general misbehavior of athletes has been more widespread. This delinquency not only dominates the sports pages today, but the athletes are proudly managing to transgress in all the many and varied ways.
One quick headline, then the topic of the week:
Humpty Dumpty: When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less.
All you need is one look at the personal conduct policy that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell handed down on Tuesday to know that the man isn't playing around. Along with slapping a season-long suspension on Tennessee cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones and an eight-game punishment on Cincinnati wide receiver Chris Henry, Goodell sent a blaring message to the rest of the league's teams, coaches and players. That statement wasn't just about a first-year commissioner flexing his muscles. It was about a first-year commissioner doing some serious educating.
Roger Goodell had a big decision to make Tuesday morning, but in the end it was a fairly easy one. Other than Tennessee miscreant Pacman Jones and his agent, who in the football world thought Jones didn't deserve a major whacking? Even Chris Henry, known more for getting arrested than for his considerable receiving talent in Cincinnati, knew he had a major suspension coming.
NEW YORK (AP) -- The punishment was aimed squarely at Adam "Pacman" Jones and Chris Henry. The message went far beyond them, to all NFL players.
I didn't believe the NFL was on the verge of a major image problem until I watched a recent interview with Tennessee Titans cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones. Before that, I doubted a string of off-the-field issues could threaten the league's popularity. After it, I realized the fact that a discussion with a diminutive, dreadlocked, drama-prone football player could hold my attention for longer than 10 minutes had to say something about the state of the NFL. When problem children like Pacman can dominate the headlines this long, they eventually can taint an entire league.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- There will be sexier stories than commissioner Roger Goodell tweaking the player-conduct policy at the annual NFL meetings here this week. Like the announcement this afternoon of the first two prime-time games of 2007 on NBC, including Eli Manning opening his second straight season on the first Sunday night game of the year, this time against Dallas. (My, how Tony Romo's star continues to rise.) Like Ron Jaworski replacing Joe Theismann as Monday Night Football analyst.
The NFL may soon hand down the kind of decision that could highlight Roger Goodell's brief reign as commissioner and put the spotlight squarely on his efforts to strengthen the league's personal conduct policy. Sources within the league office say the NFL is likely to set an example with its punishment of troubled Tennessee Titans cornerback Adam "Pacman'' Jones, suspending him even before the legal process from a Las Vegas strip club brawl in February is complete. The suspension could wipe out his entire 2007 season.
In the wake of Darrent Williams' murder -- only the latest and most tragic instance of late-night violence and gunplay involving a well-known athlete -- I was struck by something NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said: "We've really got to get a handle on why there's such a proliferation of gun violence around our players.''
When the National Football League's 87th season kicks off on Sept. 7 in Pittsburgh, the league's erstwhile commissioner, Paul Tagliabue, will be packing for a much-deserved vacation to China.
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