Chad Ochocinco Dances with the Stars

Football is in hiatus as the Owners discuss new OT rules (more on that later) and the fate of Big Ben.

In the meantime we are treated to the Cincinnati Bengals six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Chad Ochocinco joining the 10th season of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” and showing off his Cha-cha to a strangers.

Chad and his group of Twitter friends are hoping that he has the moves to advance in the contest. The big guy definitely did show some moves on the dance floor but the couple only got a score of 18/30.

He’s in good hands with his instructor Cheryl Burke, who has won a few of the DWTS events, but they will have to step up their game if they want to beat out the likes of Buzz Aldrin and Pamela Anderson.

Draft Preview: Ndamukong Suh

We are taking a look at some of the key players of the upcoming NFL Draft and one of the more compelling men whose name will be called in the first round is name that many people might not know how to pronounce.

Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh (pronounced En-dom-ah-ken Soo) became one of the Big 12’s most dominant defensive players during his junior season.  And with his senior season at the University of Nebraska he became an absolute terror to quarterbacks like Colt McCoy and Sam Bradford.

Ndamukong’s mother hails from Jamaica and his father from Cameroon. They lived in Portland, Oregon, when Ndamukong was born and his name in the Ngema tribe in Cameroon means “House of Spears.”

Suh looks to be one of the top defensive players drafted next month in the NFL and some speculate he could be the top pick overall for the Rams.  ESPN’s draft analyst Mel Kiper, Jr. even went so far as to describe Suh as “maybe the most dominating defensive tackle I’ve seen in 32 years.”

Wherever the talented player lands he will no doubt make an immediate impact.  After four years of playing for the University of Nebraska Suh was able to tally up a number of impressive awards including the Lombardi Award, the Outland Trophy Award, and the Bronko Nagurski Award. He also finished fourth in the 2009 Heisman voting.

Suh attended Grant High School in Portland, Oregon, where he earned Parade All-America honors and was voted the 2004 Portland Interscholastic League Defensive Player of the Year and the state Class 4A Defensive Player of the Year.

As a freshman at Nebraska in 2005, Suh played 2 games before injuring his knee and received a medical redshirt. His 2006 year was a strong comeback as Suh played 14 games as a backup defensive lineman and earned freshman all-conference honors from The Sporting News. Suh’s sophomore year in 2007 saw him take the field for the Cornhuskers for 11 starts, producing four games with four or more tackles.

It was his junior year that Suh broke into the spotlight and was the first Nebraska defensive lineman to lead the team in tackles since 1973, and his 76 total tackles were the most by a Husker lineman since 1992. He also tallied 7.5 sacks.

He exploded for a career game against Kansas, finishing with 12 total tackles, including five solo stops. He had 2.5 sacks for 18 yards in losses and four tackles for loss totaling 19 yards. His 12 tackles were the most by a defensive lineman in three seasons while the 2.5 sacks were the most by any Husker since 2003 and the four tackles for loss were the most by an NU defender in 38 games

Suh made five tackles, including two tackles for loss and a sack at Kansas State, then capped the regular season with three tackles and the crucial touchdown against Colorado. He closed his season in style in the Gator Bowl victory over Clemson. Suh made eight total tackles, including six solo stops. He tied his career high with four tackles for loss and had two sacks for 19 yards.

Suh also blocked a second-quarter Tiger field-goal attempt, his second blocked kick of 2008. [via]

Suh overall has the combination of size, skills and competitiveness to make NFL scouts drool. He is big man who is tough enough to hold down the middle yet has the quickness to move over to defensive end if he winds up in a 3-4 system.

NFL Rumors, Signings and Trades

We are looking at about a month until the big event of the NFL Draft and I can barely contain myself.  The pre-Draft board is constantly moving around as players shift around via free agency and trades.

This week was a busy one with the LT signing with the Jets and new QB’s in Arizona, Cleveland, Denver, and Seattle.

But my favorite news of the week is that the NFL is finally considering rule changes to the outdated OT system and they are going to be instituing a “Flozell Adams Rule.”

You know you made it in the NFL when they make a rule after you!

	Miami Dolphins Richie Incognito, voted the “Dirtiest Player in the NFL,” signs 1-year deal with Miami.  [...read...]
	Detroit Lions Calvin Johnson still believes in his team.  [...read...]
	Dallas Cowboys Flozell Adams “rule” coming soon.   [...read...]
	San Francisco 49ers SF says good-bye to their GM, kinda  [...read...]
	New York Giants Giants sign Australian punter [...read...]
	Miami Dolphins Dolphins QB Chad Henne thinks Tim Tebow is not an NFL Quarterback [...read...]

Walter Payton Poster from 1978

I still get a little nostalgic whenever I come across some old pictures of Walter Payton. Growing up as a kid I couldn’t imagine a more dominant force on the field.  I still can’t.

That’s why I was excited to come across this ’78 poster of Sweetness which looks like that was taped to the back of my bedroom door as a kid.

Sweet-ness!

Seattle Nabs Whitehurst and Cards Sign Anderson

Seattle and Arizona are shaking things up in the NFC West. The ‘Hawks have an aging and often injured quarterback with no backup while the Cards saw the leader Kurt Warner retire.

With Warner out of the picture the Cards were left with a huge question mark in former first round pick Matt Leinart who has never shown his potential. He will get a shot this year to be the starter but it won’t be easy.

That is because Derek Anderson was signed by Arizona today to a 2-year deal worth $7.25M.  While that’s a good deal of dough for a backup QB, the real money comes if Anderson can secure a starting position. As ESPN reports, the incentives of the contract could max out at $18.25 million which shows the Cards are bringing him in to compete for the starting position.

Two QB’s fighting for a job in Arizona all but dictated where San Diego restricted free agent Charlie Whitehurst would end up. 

Whitehurst is a backup with no snaps in the regular season but that did not stop Seattle from negotiating a trade that would see the ‘Hawks get Whitehurst and swap 2nd round picks with San Diego (dropping Seattle down 20 spots!) and also giving up Seattle’s 2011 3rd round pick.

Pete Carroll and Company clearly did not see enough potential in the early round rookie QB’s like Colt McCoy and Tim Tebow to gamble a draft pick. Think of Whitehurst as a 4-year rookie. He has no snaps but he does have the teachings of Norv Turner and Phillip Rivers under his belt.

All of this was created when Seattle traded their backup QB, Seneca Wallace, to Cleveland last week which in turn freed up the Browns to release Anderson.   Seneca Wallace was clearly not the answer at QB and the move to land Whitehurst, although costly, is a solid decision.

Tim Tebow Learns To Throw

The NFL Draft is just over a month away and one of the biggest question marks is University of Florida QB Tim Tebow with his slow, cumbersom throwing motion.  While no one is questioning Tebow’s athleticism or talent, when it comes to being a quarterback in the NFL many scouts think that Tebow’s lack of throwing skills will hinder him on the professional level.

Tim Tebow then began working on his new throwing motion and quicker footwork with coaches which he debuted during pro day in Gainesville, Florida.  Coaches and media were on hand to judge Tebow  including Carolina’s John Fox and Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin.

Tim Tebow has picked up some speed but his throwing motion is still a little ‘funky,’ as Yahoo! Sports correctly describes.  The super long windup is gone and he no longer drops the ball down near his waist which are two huge positive improvements.

But for now Tebow will remain a project and a gamble for the team that banks on him in the draft next month.  He’s definitely going forward in his training and my guess is he’ll last long enough in the Draft to get picked around the late 2nd or early 3rd rounds by someone with a little patience to sit him while he learns.

Retro Video: Herschel Walker Debuts with Minnesota Vikings

It was simply known as “The Trade.”

The Minnesota Vikings and the Dallas Cowboys exchanged 18 players and draft picks 5 games into the 1989 season with Herschel Walker being the pivotal piece of the puzzle.  Most of the draft picks and players headed to Dallas and the Cowboys were able to capitalize on the draft with future stars like Emmitt Smith and Darren Woodson to help guide them to their Super Bowl Dynasty of the ’90s.

Sadly, Herschel Walker would never blossom in Minnesota and many critics have labeled “The Trade” as one of the worst ever in professional sports.

Here’s a retro video of when Herschel debuted with the Vikings against the Green Bay Packers on October 15, 1989. The crowd was excited about the prospect of Walker and dreams of a Super Bowl as they watch Walker make huge kick returns and gain big yards rushing in his first game.

Walker would finish the game with a solid 148 yards rushing.  But he would never again be the force he was in Dallas and he left the Vikings after only a couple more seasons.

Vote Lane Kiffin for the Sexiest Woman Alive!

You like March Madness and you like women. That’s the push for Esquire’s chick bracket to determine the Sexiest Woman of the Year.

And if you know someone in Tennessee you will want to hook them up with a link to their website.  That is because visitors can soon vote on the Sexiest Woman Alive and one of the lucky girls in the running is former Vols coach Lane Kiffin!

Lane is seeded at #16 but I doubt he will have trouble getting the votes needed once word gets out of his Beauty Queen dreams.  It could be quite the upset of the tournament.

Even if Lane slips past the LPGA’s Natalie Gulbis there is pretty much no way he can beat out Internet Queen Erin Andrews.  Or can he….?

The brackets are printable right now at Esquire and voting begins shortly.

LaDainian Tomlinson Lands With Jets

Think of it as LT2. Former Charger LaDainian Tomlinson has signed a 2-year contract with the New York Jets to fill the vacancy created when RB Thomas Jones was released from the team.

Jones was apparently too old and expensive to keep around so the Jets went and signed LT, who was let go from the Chargers for the same reasons.

OK. That might not make much sense but it is a sexy pickup by the Jets. The addition of the veteran LT to the Jets backfield compliments the young Shonn Greene and gives Mark Sanchez another target out of the backfield.

Tomlinson wanted a chance to play for a contending team and he had narrowed down the choices between Minnesota and New York before heading to the Big Apple.

Tomlinson will also get a chance to work again with Jets offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer who had spent four years in San Diego as an assistant coach. Add that into a Jets team already loaded with a great offensive line and some young running backs to take the bulk of the load and it seems like LT got a pretty good gig as a 3rd down back.

LT wanted a chance to play in a Super Bowl and he may of found his best shot. Sadly, Thomas Jones signed a 2-year deal with Kansas City so the only way he’ll get to enjoy the Super Bowl is in front of a big screen TV.

Verizon In, Sprint Out In NFL Deal

There’s bad news for NFL fans on the Sprint network. The NFL has officially taken on rival Verizon as the official wireless service of the NFL for a whopping $750 Million deal over the next four years. Sprint users will no longer be able to stream live media on their phones effective this April.

Verizon users now have the privileged of watching select games live on their mobiles as well as the popular RedZone Channel which switches between live games on Sunday when teams are in scoring range. As part of the deal users will also be able to stream the NFL Network, live Sunday Night and Thursday Night games, and events like the NFL Draft which is held this April 22-24.

Other features include game highlight clips, on-demand analysis, live radio broadcasts of season and playoff games for home and away teams, fantasy info, customizable NFL alerts, and ringtones and games.

All of this mobile coverage begins with the NFL draft on April 22 to 24; additional information of specific phones and pricing will come sometime before August.(via appscout.com)

It looks like us iPhone users (and future iPad users) will have to stick with the trusty Slingbox for now.

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