2007 NFL Thread

[Cmill216]

Where's Surf?

 

[Fran]

Who?

 

[Cmill216]

YOUR best friend

 

[Mister J]

Official

Soprano is in

Looking forward to Parcells beginning to shape the roster now.

 

[Fran]

YOUR best friend

Well, don't worry folks. YOUR Indianapolis Colts will be back next season.

D-Free will be healthy and ready to go. Bob will repeat as DPOY

:randomColtspictureirrelevanttotopic:

 

[kane9321]

the chargers are talking mad shyte for some unknown damned reasons... I want my pats to beat these bozo's by 20pts

 

[Dark Donnie]

Willie Parker-RB-Steelers Jan. 16 - 11:07 am et

Steelers director of football operations Kevin Colbert says the team may target running back as a position of need in the draft this off-season.

As early as the first round? "Heck yeah, absolutely," affirmed Colbert. Willie Parker's injury is not expected to be a factor, but the Steelers may be looking for a tandem partner after Najeh Davenport's poor showing against the Jaguars in the playoffs.
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Related: Najeh Davenport

 

[Mister J]

The Chargers are talking an awful lot of smack for a team that, not only lost in the playoffs last year, but also got obliterated earlier in the season.

I like a team having some swagger to them, but get a clue.

 

[Jerry!]

They've been talking the last two years, and at this point, what do they have to lose? They're most likely going to be playing with all 3 of their best offensive weapons not 100%.

 

[Mister J]

They don't have anything to lose; the prohibitive underdog rarely does. I don't believe stuff like that really affects the game, but it does change the framing of the talkative group from undaunted characters to braying jackasses. It puzzles me why anyone openly chooses to be the latter. Go out and beat somebody first. Just a personal thing.

 

[Showtime]

Anybody hear the Randy Moss press conference this morning?

http://cbs2chicago.com/sports/Moss.denies.allegations.2.631034.html

 

[Showtime]

They don't have anything to lose; the prohibitive underdog rarely does. I don't believe stuff like that really affects the game, but it does change the framing of the talkative group from undaunted characters to braying jackasses. It puzzles me why anyone openly chooses to be the latter. Go out and beat somebody first. Just a personal thing.

I never even heard of the player who was doing the trash talking.

 

[Excel]

Anybody hear the Randy Moss press conference this morning?

http://cbs2chicago.com/sports/Moss.denies.allegations.2.631034.html

Sounds like Kobe 2.0

Woman wanted to scare him into paying money or else she'd damage his repaired rep. Until actual charges filed or police look into it, its no biggie. Those orders are incredibly easy to get.

Please, this is such bs. The case will get thrown.

She expects people to believe "Randy hurt her and then wouldnt let her get treatment"

Explain how he wouldnt let you get treatment when he has practice and games ever day? The judge will use his head and realize she didnt get treatment on purpose so she could sue his ass. She'll lose all credibility and itll get thrown out.

I just hope the media doesnt go crazy over this...

 

[Showtime]

I just dont want this to turn into a distraction.

 

[Dark Donnie]

Posted it a page back....Oh Randy

 

[Excel]

My ass, Randy didnt do ****tt

 

[Dark Donnie]

My ass, Randy didnt do ****tt

Thanks.....you sound like a delusional fan.....


http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-patriotsprogress&prov=ap&type=lgns

Patriots to honor young fan booed in Indianapolis

By HOWARD ULMAN, AP Sports Writer
January 15, 2008

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) -- Patriots owner Robert Kraft sat behind his wide desk and marveled at how his team's jersey could be the target of so many boos -- even when it's worn by a 14-year-old girl.

This wasn't Randy Moss or Rodney Harrison hearing the catcalls. They're used to it.

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This was Anna Grant, a high school freshman who had worked hard to win the Punt, Pass & Kick competition in her age group as the team's representative.

When she was introduced along with the other winners before the fourth quarter of San Diego's playoff win last Sunday, she was the only one booed by the crowd in Indianapolis, home of New England's fiercest rival.

"Why should a champion be booed?" the boss of the three-time Super Bowl winners said Tuesday. "She won an intensive competition. She's supposed to be honored."

His team is getting the same reaction -- not because of the spying incident in the season opener but because fans like to see teams at the top get knocked off, he said. If the Chargers can't do it Sunday, New England will be headed to its fourth Super Bowl in seven seasons.

But first comes the coin flip before the AFC championship and Grant will be out on the field for that, invited by Kraft, who felt badly that she had been booed.

"What I decided is that we would honor her here before this game," Kraft said in an interview in his office filled with photos, footballs and other memorabilia. "We will recognize her as the winner on the field. Our fans will know."

Grant returned from school Tuesday and heard a phone message from Andre Tippett, the Patriots' executive director of community affairs and a former star linebacker.

She called back and was ecstatic when Tippett extended the invitation -- plus tickets for her, her parents and two brothers -- to take part.

"I was just in shock," she said.

Kraft knows the hoots were not directed at the high school freshman from Stratham, N.H., about 20 miles north of the Massachusetts border. It's just that the jersey provokes an instant response, usually a negative one.

Grant also understands, and even smiled when she heard the boos.

"Before I went down there, my friends said, `You know, you'll probably get booed,"' she said in a telephone interview. "I was kind of waiting for it.

"It really didn't bother me at all," she added. "People at the game came up to me afterward and said, `It's not you. It's your jersey."'

It wasn't always that way.

When Adam Vinatieri's last-play field goal gave the Patriots their first championship as huge underdogs to the St. Louis Rams after the 2001 season, red, white and blue confetti -- not boos -- poured down in the Louisiana Superdome.

It came less than five months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"I remember saying when I hoisted the (championship) trophy, `We are all Patriots and tonight the Patriots are world champions,"' Kraft said. "We were the underdogs. No one expected (it). Now what's happened is, we've had a modicum of success.

"I noticed it with the second title that we went after. Already people had switched and I think people outside of New England want to see different (winners). It's sort of like the Yankees. There was a resentment, but a respect for the Yankees."

The Yankees have declined since their dominance of the late 90s. The Patriots are better than ever, perhaps the best team in NFL history.

"Jealousy and envy comes in the more you win and people say, `Give someone else a chance and let someone else do it,"' Kraft said. "I understand that."

It's better than the alternative.

Before he bought the team in January 1994, the Patriots had missed the playoffs for the previous seven seasons. In just his third year, they were in the Super Bowl -- losing to Green Bay in the same building where they would win their first title five years later.

At least fans care now, even if they boo.

"I see it as sort of respect in a way," Kraft said. "I think 15 years ago, 18 years ago, someone could have worn our jersey and I just think there would have been no reaction."

Grant plans to wear some Patriots apparel again Sunday, probably a hat. The reaction will be much warmer.

"In a way, the fact that this young lady was booed is a compliment to the New England Patriots fans because we're relevant," Kraft said. "And, we're good."

 

[Dark Donnie]

Suicide Watch on Surf DUI

Report: Dungy out as Colts coach, Caldwell in

Citing a league source, Profootballtalk.com reports that Colts coach Tony Dungy will step down and be replaced by assistant head coach Jim Caldwell.

Jan. 16 - 2:21 pm et

 

[Mister J]

I just dont want this to turn into a distraction.

If it was Moss' other teams, it might have been. The inmates were running those asylums. However, this is The Grey Hood's team we're talking about. They've got him pegged as a whole new Randy. Brady called him a team leader at some point and I needed help getting off the floor afterwards. They'll use this to rally around like everything else thrown at them this season. The bastards.

The only concern I'd have if it were to affect Moss, but he doesn't seem to be any more than bothered.

 

[Mister J]

Patriots to honor young fan booed in Indianapolis

Nice gesture from Kraft.

She's a fan and knew what's up. The Colts fans had the right idea. I'd have booed her too.

Report: Dungy out as Colts coach, Caldwell in

Our Indianapolis Colts are rumored to be losing their head coach.

I like Dungy. If this is true, I'm glad he's leaving on his terms.

However, outside of Reggie Wayne and Marlin Jackson, **** everybody associated with the Colts.

 

[Dark Donnie]

Nice gesture from Kraft.

She's a fan and knew what's up. The Colts fans had the right idea. I'd have booed her too.

It is a nice gesture....but that would have happened in most stadiums if there rival was shown on the jumbotron....it probably would have happened in Foxboro if the circumstances were reversed.

 

[Fran]

Come to St. Louis, Tony!

 

[Dark Donnie]

Hmm - Garrett not interested???

Garrett's rookie mistake
Not taking job shows that assistant has much to learn
Mike Preston
Baltimore Sun
January 16, 2008

If Jason Garrett becomes the Ravens' head coach, let's hope he won't show as much inexperience during the season as he showed yesterday.

Garrett spent most of the day interviewing with top Ravens officials about their vacant head coaching position and walked away from their offer, one of the most coveted jobs in professional sports.

The Ravens and Garrett are still negotiating, and Garrett said all the right things as he met briefly with the media. But he didn't answer a lot of questions. Maybe it was best he didn't because he had a lot on his mind.

Or maybe Garrett really doesn't want to become a head coach. If he was really passionate about becoming a head coach, Garrett would have taken the job.

But Garrett is just 41 and is in only his third season as an NFL assistant. He is just three years removed from being a player.

There was some panic in his eyes yesterday and apparently some concern about the Ravens' job. But if Garrett had done his homework, he would be the new Ravens coach.

Yesterday should have been a formality instead of more screening. Garrett should have known the Ravens have one of the best front offices in the NFL, and an owner in Steve Bisciotti who is passionate about winning.

The Ravens have problems, but they care enough about winning to try to cover them up. But he doesn't know general manager Ozzie Newsome or Bisciotti well, or how badly they want to win.

He certainly knows Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones well. Jones has been in a similar position with the Ravens before. In 1997, the Ravens had agreed in principle to a contract with Cowboys linebacker Broderick Thomas. While Thomas was sleeping at his hotel room in Baltimore, Jones called him, got him to agree to a new deal with the Cowboys, then sent out his private plane to bring the linebacker back to Dallas.

Jones loves Garrett, hand-picking him to become the Cowboys' offensive coordinator this season with hopes of him one day becoming Dallas' head coach.

I can imagine Jones calling Garrett several times yesterday, increasing his pay by perhaps $1 million to $2 million a year. I can see him doing everything imaginable to keep Garrett in Dallas.

Garrett was expected to be in Atlanta today to interview for the Falcons' head coaching job. He'll probably be given another contract offer.

This all has to make Garrett nervous. He has never been through anything like this. I'm sure he wants to play these teams against each other, but I'm not sure he has been around the league enough to pull it off.

No one really wants the Atlanta job. The Falcons' franchise quarterback is in prison. Their starting running back is old. Their former head coach left them before the regular season was completed.

Dallas is very attractive. The Cowboys are in their peak years. They have a good defense, a franchise-caliber quarterback, two good running backs and a go-to receiver.

But the one thing that the Cowboys can't give Garrett right now is a head coaching position.

The Ravens can, but they do have problems. They have older players on defense, no long-term solution at quarterback and a grumpy set of veterans with big egos. Their best player, linebacker Terrell Suggs, is unsigned.

The stiff-arm by Garrett put the Ravens in a bad position. They would like to lure Indianapolis assistant coach Jim Caldwell from the Colts, but he probably won't leave until Tony Dungy decides early next week whether he wants to retire as the team's head coach.

But don't count the Ravens out as far as Garrett. Bisciotti is rich, and the organization doesn't like to be told no. Bisciotti will remain in contact with Garrett, and he'll be in a bidding war with the Cowboys and the Falcons.

But after yesterday, the kid from Princeton didn't seem to have a real clue about what was going on.

I'll chalk it up to inexperience because a veteran coach would have completed the deal here. Either that, or maybe he is in coaching for the money. And the Ravens don't need that anymore.

Exit Garrett, enter Harbaugh?

If Cowboys coach shuns job here, Eagles assistant could receive offer
By Jamison Hensley | Sun Reporter
January 16, 2008

When Jason Garrett didn't accept the Ravens' head coaching offer and left team headquarters yesterday, the Dallas offensive coordinator likely opened the door for Philadelphia Eagles secondary coach John Harbaugh, a league source said.

While the Ravens are still making a run at Garrett and are continuing to negotiate with him, the team understands that landing its top candidate might have become more difficult because he is being pursued by the Dallas Cowboys and the Atlanta Falcons.

According to the source, the Ravens are ready to hire Harbaugh as head coach over the next couple of days if Garrett is unavailable.

Harbaugh, 45, was the only candidate interviewed by the Ravens who was neither a coordinator nor an assistant head coach. He became the Eagles' secondary coach after spending nine seasons as the special teams coach.

Considered the dark-horse candidate, Harbaugh impressed the Ravens' coaching search committee with his energetic coaching style and charismatic personality. A finalist for the UCLA job last month, Harbaugh is the brother of former Ravens quarterback Jim Harbaugh.

The Ravens aggressively tried to hire Garrett yesterday, meeting with him for seven hours at team headquarters. But Garrett left for a second interview with the Atlanta Falcons, who have already offered him their coaching job, according to the NFL Network.

The Cowboys are also in the hunt to keep Garrett as their offensive coordinator. According to a league source, Dallas owner Jerry Jones made a counteroffer to match the contracts of the Ravens or the Falcons.

"I'm going to continue through this process that I'm in right now," said Garrett, 41, on leaving the Ravens facility. "At some point, we'll make some decisions on both sides."

The Ravens will continue with their second round of interviews, but they aren't scheduled to meet with anyone today because general manager Ozzie Newsome will be in Houston watching college prospects practice for the East-West Shrine Game.

Newsome declined to comment on the coaching search, and Bisciotti was not available to comment.

"We had a good day of interviews," Ravens spokesman Kevin Byrne said. "It's the start of our second round. [Garrett] is the first one in for the second round. We have more interviews in the second round coming up later in the week. And that's what we have to say right now."

According to a league source, the Ravens have ruled out veteran coach Marty Schottenheimer, which means Harbaugh is the team's next option.

Harbaugh could travel to Baltimore as early as today.

Asked if Schottenheimer would coach this season, his agent, Trace Armstrong, said yesterday: "There is a possibility. As Marty has said and I have said, it's about fit. He still has a passion for coaching, and he's got top-notch assistants that expressed interest to be a part of any staff that he'll assemble. He's enjoying retirement, but if there's a place with the right fit, he definitely would be interested."

While Garrett spent the day with the Ravens, former Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan interviewed for a second time yesterday morning in Atlanta. He returned to Baltimore unannounced and crossed paths with Garrett at Ravens headquarters.

If Garrett returns to being a coordinator in Dallas, Ryan likely would be hired by the Falcons. If Garrett is hired by the Falcons, it probably would eliminate Ryan's best shot at becoming a head coach this season.

Garrett arrived in Baltimore on Monday night and had dinner with the Bisciotti family and members of the organization. He came to Ravens headquarters yesterday at 9:57 a.m. and was greeted by team president Dick Cass.

While team officials met with Garrett, his wife, Brill, was given a tour of the facility by Cass and then was driven around to see the area. Before Garrett left, he met one last time with Cass, who is a Princeton graduate like Garrett.

But Garrett decided to leave without becoming the Ravens' head coach.

"It's been an exciting time for me to be here and be around this organization," Garrett said. "I heard nothing but great things about it prior to coming here, and everything I've seen since I've been here has really been off the charts. It was a great second visit with these guys, and I really enjoyed the process of doing that."

Harbaugh is a damn good coach

 

[Fran]

yikes, I'm surprised he didn't take it.

Looks like he wants to be the next Cowboys coach...

 

[Dark Donnie]

Kind of a dumb move on his part, nothing is certain