This past weekend, Hall Of Fame inductee Deion Sanders hosted his 2nd annual youth football tournament, along with former Ravens/Browns RB Jamal Lewis, in Atlanta, GA. Teams from Dallas, TX, Baltimore, MD, Atlanta and Athens, GA took part in the weekend of football games that were separated in 3 age groups (10 and under, 12 and under & 14 and under). Sanders’ TRUTH team from Dallas, TX was there to represent.
During the tournament, I was able to sit down and have a conversation with Primetime. While the interview was great, it’s extremely hard to hear him due to his soft spoken demeanor (who knew?!).
Here are a few tidbits from his interview that are hard to hear:
On his reason behind the youth tournament:
I gotta reach [out to the youth], I gotta touch them, I gotta inspire them… hopefully to motivate them to get educated and to just dream….I think it’s a direct result of us [as adults], we stopped dreaming… we gotta get back to the roots, the basics, the core…and start spending time and loving [the children].. to let them know, they can make a difference
On the teams to watch for the 2011 season:
You have to fall back on the teams that faired well from last year… you gotta love New England because of Tom Brady, the Pittsburgh Steelers are always gonna be there as well as Baltimore in the AFC and I can’t sleep on the New York Jets…. when you move over to the [NFC], I like New Orleans…. Tampa Bay came out strong…the Atlanta Falcons, I always save the best for somewhat last and I cannot discount, the Dallas Cowboys
On a take your pick segment that I quizzed him on:
Nnamdi/Revis: I like Revis… he dominates and plays both sides of the field
Andre Johnson/Calvin Johnson: Andre Johnson, and it’s not even close. Calvin is a young, grown man who’s coming on strong, But Andre is a grown man already… one of the better receivers of the game
Chad Johnson/Chad Ochocinco: I like Johnson. Johnson put up better numbers than Ochocinco. Ochocinco is my boy, I love him….but when Chad Johnson was Chad Johnson (pauses) Whoo… he was on.
T.O./Randy Moss/Plaxico Burress: Plaxico ain’t even in that conversation. I love him… but, T.O.could go down in history as one of the greatest to ever play the game. Randy Moss, WILL go into the Hall Of Fame one day and statistically is one of thegreatest receivers to ever play the game.
Sanders also hosted a Red and Black Gala, to celebrate his Hall Of Fame induction. Those that came to celebrate his honor were NFL Network’s Jamie Dukes, Chilli from TLC, MLB player Brian Jordan and Keith Sweat, just to name a few. Sanders walked the red carpet with his gorgeous wife, Pilar. The event was a success, ending the night with Sweat serenading the audience with his old school hits (don’t judge me, I was amused!).
If you haven’t heard, former Giants WR Plaxico Burress is about to be a free man tomorrow. And if he can get to any form of his former self, his talents will be requested by a few NFL teams. The biggest question isn’t if he’ll be picked up, it’s WHO will pick him up. ESPN’s Cris Carter has a few ideas of teams he can possibly help out.
Carter also talks about reasons why teams may think twice about him due to his previous work ethic, before going to prison 2 years ago. Personally, I think Plax can go to Oakland, because Al Davis loves bad asses and they could use his services. While Michael Vick has expressed wanting to play with his hometown buddy, I’m not so sure Andy Reid wants to go there. Remember, he had WR issues in the past with Terrell Owens, so Philly may pass on Burress.
With the NFL Lockout STILL going on, we may not know his whereabouts for a while. So until the players and owners can come to an agreement, we’ll be playing the guessing game until free agency actually opens up.
Welcome home, Plax! (I’m a day early, so what!) Now go and get in football shape and get a job!
Ravens S Tom Zbikowski appeared on the Dan Patrick Show on Monday talking about his upcoming fight this Saturday, in Las Vegas (useless fact: former Ravens teammate and 49ers QB Troy Smith will lead him into the ring). During his interview, Zibby said that he would love to fight Bengals WR Chad OchoCinco, saying that #85, “talks like he can box”.
It didn’t take long for word to get back to the charismatic star, responding to Zibby’s request via Twitter:
Zbikowski then responded to Chad’s response, followed by yet another rebuttal from Ocho:
Well, alright!!!!
Not that this would actually go down in real life, but I’d bet my year’s salary that Zibby would knock Chad out in 30 seconds, tops. Chad is very good at being a WR and a trash talker, but with his twitpics of his wardrobe and cupcaking of fiancee’ Evelyn Lozada, I think he’s more of a lover than a fighter. Add the fact that OchoCinco is still under contract, while Zbikowski has yet to sign his restricted free agent tender, and you have nothing but a verbal boxing match via Twitter. Chad knows it too, which is why he’s even entertaining Zibby’s request (well, him being an attention whore may also play a role in this as well). The fact that they are division rivals would make it something to watch, though.
Memo to Zbikowski: Find another loud mouth who’s not under contract to challenge. I’m sure Terrell Owens is free *shrugs*
I empathize with the people of Cleveland. The Indians haven’t done a whole lot since Manny Ramirez was on the roster, Bron Bron left the city for South Beach last year and the Browns haven’t been anything to write home about since their reinstatement over 10 years ago. It’s a sad sports city. But now, folks and fans are starting to take things a bit too far.
“I went from people expecting me to be a top cornerback in the league to receiving death threats,” Wright said. “It was a lot to deal with.”
Instad of calling the police, however, Wright said he didn’t put much stock into it, and looked at them as empty threats.
“I wasn’t fearing for my life. As serious as a death threat may be, I wasn’t going to let a few bad apples ruin the whole tree.”
With the Cavaliers being as bad as they are this season, I’m sure tensions are sky high and anti-depressants are flying off the shelves. But threatening someone’s life is NOT what’s hot in the streets.
There’s a thin line between passion and violence. I understand that fans just want a winner… SOME kind of winner in their city. But surely death threats aren’t the answer. Maybe it’s not Wright’s fault that folks had high hopes for him. If you want to blame anyone, blame Anquan Boldin, Santonio Holmes,Terrell Owens and the other WRs who just so happened to be better athletes than Wright. The Browns also had high hopes in Tim Couch, Derek Anderson, Kellen Winslow and Kamerion Wimbley, too. Look how that panned out.
I don’t think there’s any doubt that the NFL is America’s sport of choice. Anytime the Pro Bowl had numbers that competed with the MLB World Series, you know that football is king in the USA. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that while the people love the NFL, they also hate some who represent them just as much.
According to a survey done by E-Poll Market Research, 6 of the Top 10 Most Disliked Sports Figures come from… you guessed it… the NFL. Topping this year’s list was none other than Skeletor, AKA Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis. here are the 6 guys chosen to be hated by America (or at the very least, the people that were surveyed).
1. Al Davis
Why do folks dislike a guy that looks like he died 7 years ago???
2. Michael Vick
The guy did his time and even revived his football career. Can a brotha breathe???
3. Jerry Jones
I don’t care what people say about JJ, Jerry’s World is AWESOME! Y’all some haters!
6. Terrell Owens
Well………………………………
7. Albert Haynesworth
Fat Albert has made it impossible to like him during his tenure in DC
10. Randy Moss
*wonders how many Vikings and Titans fans participated in this survey*
If you missed last night’s Monday Night football game with the Vikings and the Bears, then you missed quite a bit. You missed Brett Favre making an unexpected return back on the field, a week after ending his 297 consecutive game streak. You missed the snowballs being thrown by the fans after the Vikings went up 7-0, early in the 1st quarter. You missed the Bears totally taking over the game after that. And you missed Favre’s head making an ugly connection with a cold, hard ground at TCF Bank Stadium. I’m sure this is common knowledge at this point, but I’ll go ahead and say it anyway: Last night was probably the last we’ve seen of Old Man Favre. Time for the Vikings to put him on IR, let him enjoy being Pop Pop for Christmas with his family, and start thinking about how many Wranglers he’s gonna sell from now on.
In addition to Favre calling it a career, the Vikings have called it a season. With the exception of Jared Allen, it seems they pretty much hung it up early, allowing Chicago to score 27 unanswered points before deciding to be a part of the game again. But the highlight of the night was Devin Hester’s 64-yard punt return for a TD.
Hester is now in the record books, as he set the NFL record with his 14th kick return touchdown. Why teams continue to kick to Hester or DeSean Jackson is beyond me, I thought we all knew by now how awesome they are on special teams.
In other news, The Chargers are thinking of putting the franchise tag on WR Vincent Jackson, Terrell Owens is done for the year with a knee injury while the Bengals said they likely won’t bring him back for the 2011 season and Cowboys QB Tony Romo may be put on IR for his shoulder injury. This just in, it’s TUESDAY and it’s 4 days until Christmas! Who the hell didn’t see any of this coming… seriously?!?!?!
And finally, I found a pretty cool video of Patriots RB and rising star Danny Woodhead, pretending to be a Modell’s employee. Woodhead is there for an hour, trying to sell his own merchandise. Some of the responses are pretty funny. But overall he sold 14 Woodhead items while he was on his “shift”. Pretty impressive for a guy that no one knew about until 2 months ago!
If ever a time my Ravens needed to step up and win big, yesterday was the day. The Saints were coming to town with their high powered offense (ranked 6th overall) and their intimidating, hard-hitting defense (which boasted 4th in pass defense). The Saints were on a roll, looking to win their 7th straight victory, while the Ravens were under major scrutiny after losing a big lead to the Houston Texans last week. Baltimore had yet to play a complete 60 mins of football and having New Orleans come to town was a major concern.
The Ravens, though, came out swinging and had control for much of the football game. After New Orleans went up 7-0 early in the 1st quarter, the Ravens took charge of the game and never looked back. Ravens RB Ray Rice was the star of the show, with a 233-total yards day, 153 of them on the ground. For the first time in a while, the Ravens played smash mouth football. It was a great sight to see and if the Ravens play the way they did yesterday for the rest of the season and even the playoffs, they can play toe-to-toe with just about anybody in this league.
After yesterday’s Eagles-Giants crazy game, how can you NOT love football and get excited about it?! The Eagles were pretty much left for dead in the 4th qtr, when the Giants went up 31-10 with 8:37 remaining. But the Eagles scored 28 points in the final 7:18 of the game, including the play that everyone is calling, “The Miracle In The New Meadowlands”
Not to take away anything from Michael Vick, he had a great game as well, throwing for 3 TDs while rushing for 130 yards and scoring another TD on the ground. But DeSean Jackson is AWESOME!!! Awesome is actually an understatement of how awesome he is. Dude is balling out of control… and Philly becomes more and more dangerous as the weeks go on.
OT: If you’re the Giants and their fans, you have to be drinking Pepto Bismol like it’s water. I can’t imagine trying to sleep after a gut wrenching loss like that. Giants head coach Tm Coughlin was seen going off on punter Matt Dodge for not kicking the ball out of bounds (which, is what EVERYONE wants to know right about now), but it shouldn’t have even gotten to that point. Giving up a 21-point lead midway that you had midway into the 4th qtr is unacceptable, PERIOD! This may be a hard loss to overcome. But the Giants are a veteran team, they should be able to move on… eventually.
XP: The Vick-Dog fighting references are old… real old! Stay classy NY!
All the Jaguars had to do was win against the Colts and they were in. The division would have been won and they would have been in the playoffs. But the Colts had other plans in mind. Even after being dismantled by so many injuries, Peyton Manning is still the captain of the horseshoe ship. They not only beat Jacksonville, they took over 1st place of the AFC South and all they have to do is win their final 2 games to secure their playoff spot. I knew I should have waited until the end of the season to show the Jags some love. You know the old saying, though. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…………….
After everything that the Redskins have gone through last week with the McNabb benching and tasteless manner in which they handled it, is it safe to say that Rex Grossman didn’t look half bad? From a fantasy football standpoint, Grossman had a very good day, throwing for 322 yards and 4 TDs. But on the reality side of the game, he threw 2 INTs, one which sealed the deal in the Redskins loss to the Cowboys. I still believe that McNabb is a better option than Sexy Rexy, but in a fill-in role, Grossman did alright. Guess we’ve seen the last of McNabb in a Redskins jersey……..
Let me go through some shout outs of players/teams that have done the NFL and their respected fans proud this week:
Shout out to the Detroit Lions for finally winning a road game, after losing 26 straight. That’s a huge monkey to get off of their backs. They have also won consecutive games for the 1st time since 2007. The Lions are on the come up, and with consistency at QB (meaning, one that can stay healthy) and a few more pieces, the Lions can become relevant again. Yeah, I just said that………………. weird to read, wasn’t it?!
On the other hand, Tampa Bay has lost 3 of their last 4 games. Shout out to them for being better than most folks expected. But right now, the Saints and Falcons are still the teams to beat in the NFC South.
Shout out to Tim Tebow for doing well in his QB debut against the Raiders. Even though the Broncos fell short in a victory (what’s new.. the sky is blue, as well), Timmy had a good day, throwing for a TD as well as rushing for one. No one said that Tebow had all of the physical tools to be great. But his passion and leadership alone could get him far. Think about it like this: Would you rather have Tim Tebow, physical flaws and all… or a fat JaMarcus Russell who has all of the capabilities in the world but is lazy as hell and loves to floss fugly chains all day??
Shout out to the Buffalo Bills for finally finishing games and spoiling people’s playoff chances. I really could’ve used you a few weeks ago against the Steelers, but I won’t continue to hold that against you.
Shout out to the Jets for finally getting out of your slump and beating the Steelers in Pittsburgh. I’m here to tell the fans of Gang Green, the excuses will start to roll in. There was no Polamalu, No Heath Miller, no this or that.. But I don’t care and neither should you. A win is a win. It helped you solidify your playoff hopes and it made us Ravens fans happy as hell! Thank you for making a great football day epic in Bawlmer!
Shout out to the NFC West for being the laughing stock of the league. Those teams are a joke… Literally and figuratively.
Shout out to the fat stinky lineman Dan Connolly of the New England Patriots for giving me the biggest laugh yesterday. No one… and I mean NO ONE, wanted to tackle that dude and I don’t blame them. This play made my night complete!
Terrell Owens tore a meniscus in his knee during yesterday’s game against the Browns and will miss the remainder of the season. Vegas has now opened up bets to see what team Owens will be on next year, since it clearly won’t be with Cincy.
More like STFU! I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of Terrell Owens and his mouth being in everyone else’s business this season. I haven’t told someone to sit their ass down in a minute, so this is the perfect time to do so.
The Bengals WR once again has found a way to be relevant in off-the-field NFL news, despite being on a team that’s 2-8. Just a week ago, Owens criticized Redskins QB Donovan McNabb after Washington was embarrassed by Philly on MNF, 59-28, asking how do you justify a $78 million contract with that type of performance. And now the insults just keep on rolling in.
Speaking to reporters this Tuesday, Owens came out and said that Jets WR Darrelle Revis is, “an average corner”. Revis will be playing opposite Owens during Thursday Night’s game, as the Bengals take on the Jets.
Oh……………………………….okay!
But T.O. didn’t stop there. When talking about the Richard Seymour-Ben Roethlisberger incident, Owens called Big Ben soft, saying that a hockey player would keep on ticking.
And in case you didn’t watch last Sunday’s Bills-Bengals game, Owens was seen jawing at CB Leodis McKelvin, whom he had beat twice (the Bengals were still in a comfortable lead).That was enough to spark anger amongst the Bills, who eventually defeated the Bengals, 49-31.
I’ve had enough of this buffoonery. But before I go in on this topic, let’s get this out of the way about Owens. Terrell Owens is a great WR and athlete overall. He’s having another good year to further pad his stats for a HOF bid when he retires. One can never question his dedication and passion for football.On the field, Owens is still a force to reckon with, without a doubt.
Now to the reality….. while you’re padding your stats, you’re on an underachieving team that sucks major ass right now. The Bengals were supposed to be making a Super Bowl run, instead they are one of the worst teams in the NFL with a 2-8 record. To put your mouth in other people’s business isn’t a good look right now.
Why do you care about McNabb so much, even after all these years? If I had to guess, McNabb could care less about what you do. Why is one grown man into another grown man’s pockets and/or business? Worry about what YOUR pockets will look like after this season, when you become a free agent.
As for the Revis comment, I understand it. They are the Bengals next opponent and he wants to get under their skin. But as for Roethlisberger, what did you want him to do, charge back at Seymour? Get up and slap him back? Maybe in hockey they keep on ticking, but football isn’t hockey. And with all of the rules implemented now, any kind of retaliation from Ben could have possibly led to an ejection also. Why take the risk, especially if you’re in the thick a playoff hunt, something the Bengals know NOTHING about? Did anyone call you soft when you were pretending to be a model during Fashion Week looking like this down the runway??
Okay… maybe they did. But we didn’t hear about it. That’s because folks minded their business! Instead of voicing your opinion on everything else going on, it’s time to voice your opinion on why your own team is now considered one of the worst in the league, even with the abundance of talent they possess. Worry about that!
If you are a Ravens fan that was in Charlotte this past weekend for the Ravens-Panthers game, chances are you were at the Whiskey River, tailgating with other Ravens fans.
Fans got together to congregate and meet up with other fans and in the midst of doing so, had a Ray Lewis Dance-Off. Each person had to imitate the famous Ravens MLB for his pregame dance that’s very well known for.
As bad as I thought the dance was coming from Ray himself, it’s about a million times worse coming from random people.
One guy looks like he’s having a seizure. The other guy looks like he practices the dance in the mirror every time he gets out of the shower. But alas, it was the 12 year-old in the Anquan Boldin jersey that won the contest (why was he at a place called Whiskey River anyway??? I’ll leave that alone……..).
Looking at the video and watching yesterday’s game, it’s safe to say that Ravens fans had taken over the city of Charlotte. CBS analyst Solomon Wilcots commented during the game that there were a, “contingent of Ravens fans” at the game, with some estimating close to 25,000 fans cheering for black and purple. It was noticeable enough so, that Charlotte Observer writer Tom Sorensen even commented on the abundance of fans,
Baltimore fans so overwhelmed their Carolina counterparts that the concession stands should have sold crab cakes. When is the Preakness again? Where was Babe Ruth born? And have the Orioles been mathematically eliminated?
In the meantime, this is what Ravens fans do to kill time. The best Ray Ray impersonation by far, is the one Terrell Owens did when he scored against the Ravens back in 2004.
If anyone can do such a ratchet dance, it’s Ray. Let him keep this pregame contraction, please and thanks LOL!
Wade Phillips has finally been put out of his misery. After Sunday night’s debacle in Green Bay, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said that people would suffer. And Phillips was #1 on the suffering list. On Monday, after repeatedly saying he would not make any coaching changes in-season, JJ thanked Phillips for his time and showed him the door. Wade is officially fired as the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Offensive coordinator Jason Garrett will become the interim coach in place for Wade.
Jerry Jones has said that Garrett would be the successor to Phillips in due time, even overpaying Garrett to stay in Dallas when teams like Baltimore and Atlanta contacted him 2 years ago. I’m not a Cowboys fan, but I don’t know if it’s going to change much. The players have seemed to give up on the season. But we’ll find out if Garrett has the head coaching ability that Jones thinks he has.
In the meantime, if I’m Wade Phillips, I’m stealing all of the good staplers and strutting right out of that place.
He can now sleep at night in peace, and he’s still getting paid for sitting home, eating Twinkies all day. Wade, you’re winning right now!
Random: Does anyone else wonder why the hell Brad Childress still has a job? Me neither…………..
The Bengals………… Every time you think they’ve turned a corner, they show you how once again, they’ve reverted back to being the Bungles. Last night’s game was sloppy, sloppy, sloppy. Missed FGs, blocked punts, kickoff fumbles. And yet, you only lost by 6 points to the Steelers, with a chance to win at the end of the game. Carson Palmer still looks like he’s regressed, and it doesn’t help when he has Chad Ocho Cinco breathing down his neck because he’s not getting the ball.
Memo to Chad: You asked for Terrell Owens to be a Bengal and you got your wish. Now you’re mad because T.O. is getting the ball and you’re not. Whomever didn’t see this coming is either in denial, slow or just plain stupid. Marvin Lewis may get his walking papers after this season, but maybe it’s time for Cincy to cut ties with Ochocinco too. If Palmer is going to be your QB, it will be hard for the two of them to co-exist.
I feel bad for Lions fans. Every time they get their hopes up, something bad happens. Lions QB Matthew Stafford may be out for the year with a shoulder injury. SI’s Peter King tweeted this morning that this is Stafford’s 4th injury in 1.5 years. While the offensive line hasn’t done a great job of protecting their QB (Lions backup QB Shaun Hill was knocked out of a game with a broken arm this season as well), one has to question Stafford’s durability. If I’m the Lions front office, I’m drafting a mid grade QB from this year’s draft, for insurance purposes. It’s hard for this team to move forward when your QB can’t stay healthy.
Extra Point: I’m gonna need the Lions to find a better option at backup kicker than Ndamukong Suh. Watching him attempt an extra point kick was painful…. and comical, all rolled into one.
OT: Possibly the greatest video of the week comes from a middle school football game in Corpus Christie, TX. The trick play isn’t fancy. But it is epic, especially because the entire defense was asleep behind the wheel.
Dallas is right up the road, maybe Jerry should recruit him. His services are much needed in the Big D right now.
NOTE: Tonight On Gridiron Gals Radio, We will have the Dallas Cowboys Show, talking all Cowboys everything. Tune in at 9PM http://www.blogtalkradio.com/gridirongals or call in at (646) 595-4844.
