Huddle Up : Ochocinco’s Bullride, The Pope and Tampa’s Hard Knocks

Gather up. It’s time to take a look at some of the news in the world of football.

Hail to the King, Baby!

With as much praying as the Saints teams and fans did to win the Super Bowl a couple of years back you’d think that team owner Tom Benson would automatically add the Pope to the list of people getting a Super Bowl Ring.

Turns out the Pope was left out and had to admire Benson’s ring when Tom Benson and wife, Gayle, attended a papal audience at St. Peter’s Square during Holy Week. As is custom, Benson kissed Pope Benedict XVI’s Fisherman’s Ring. Then Benson showed the pope a ring of his own.

Troy Polamalu Gets Him One Of Them Edumacations

The 30-year-old Troy Polamalu finally got his degree from the University of Southern California. With a little free time thanks to the lockout, Polamalu attended the graduation ceremony and talked about finishing his education on his website.

I’m thrilled to announce that on this cool, sunny Friday morning I donned a cap and gown, walked across the stage in the beautiful Alumni Park at University of Southern California, and was handed my diploma. I’m officially a USC graduate! While I feel excited and fulfilled, that’s not really what I want to focus on in this message — I want to talk about the reason behind my decision to go back and finish what I started.

The majority of top picks in the NFL get drafted before they complete their college education. I truly love football and it’s such an immense blessing and privilege as an athlete to be given the rare opportunity to use those talents at the highest professional level, but it’s certainly not a replacement for an education. So I decided to finish what I started and walked that stage today not only because it was very important to me personally, but because I want to emphasize the importance of education, and that nothing should supersede it.

D.C. media Debates McNabb’s Lack of Play-calling Wristband

It’s a slow news day in D.C. as the media picks up a rather crazy thing to pick on QB Donovan McNabb. Today, it’s the play-calling wristband. It started when news came out that Donovan McNabb refused to wear a wristband to help him remember plays, according to this report.  The debate about whether or not McNabb thought the wristband made him look stupid or not is now up for debate with the rest of the media.  Begin the fun and please, hurry up the lockout.

Raheem Morris, Bucs Say “No” to HBO’s “Hard Knocks” Television Show

Citing the need to focus on training for the upcoming season, the powers that be in Tampa gave HBO a nice “No Thank You” when offered to be the team of focus for this year’s “Hard Knocks,” a series that focuses on an NFL team getting ready for the season. The popular series followed the New York Jets last year to give us an insight into the dirty mouthed coaching staff and players.

But in the end, the Bucs said they would like to keep the cameras out of Tampa for now. The organization has been the focal point of several arrests in the offseason this year and stated they would be up to be on the show at a later date.

The Bucs, in announcing their decision, said they hoped to “keep the focus on the field and what we hope to accomplish in 2011.” That’s, perhaps, a suggestion that the show would be a distraction — one of the main concerns of any team weighing this option. Another concern for the Bucs is their growing list of off-the-field concerns with a number of recent arrests. That list is highlighting by the pending charge of aggravated assualt with a deadly weapon against cornerback Aqib Talib(notes), a case that could be playing out right about the time the show gets underway in August.

Don’t Blink! You’ll Miss Ochocinco’s Bull Riding Career

Chad Ochocinco is keeping busy during the NFL Lockout. First, he tried his hand at soccer. Now he’s trying professional bull riding. Next week I expect to see him at my local roller derby.

The cool thing is Ocho made the most of it as he usually does and donate the $10,000 prize for showing up and attempting the ride to charity. Soon other sponsors showed up to boost the prizes including a new Ford truck. Thankfully, it wasn’t a prize awarded for him staying the full 8 seconds because Ocho barely made it out of the gate and last just 1.5 seconds. “A” for effort though.