5
Apr
2012
Listen to Gregg Williams’ bounty speech that should end any hope of a Saints appeal (AUDIO)
On the very day that Saints head coach Sean Payton and GM Mickey Loomis are appealing their suspensions with the NFL for their involvement in the bounty scandal, Michael Silver of Yahoo! Sports drops a bombshell that should effectively stop that appeal process in its tracks.
In it, Silver reveals that defensive coordinator Gregg Williams specifically directed his players to injure members of the 49ers prior to their post-season meeting in January, and made “hand gestures” signalling that he would pay money to whoever took out QB Alex Smith.
(Photo: Matthew Sharpe/Getty Images via BleacherReport)
Silver got the audio from filmmaker Sean Pamphilon of the United States of Football, who had access to Saints team functions for much of the 2011 season while working on a documentary. The speech in question came during a defensive team meeting the night before the Jan. 15 playoff game, in which Williams delivers a profanity-laced tirade intended to inspire his troops to battle. It would be the Saints last game of the season, and Williams would be fired two days later.
Perhaps most damaging to the Saints cause is the timing of Williams’ speech, which would have come well after the NFL had alerted the Saints that they were looking into the bounty program, and right after the league re-opened the investigation and specifically directed owner Tom Benson and Loomis to put a stop to it. The 49ers game was just two weeks later, and while you can’t actually hear the hand gestures, Pahmphilon says he believes “there’s no doubt at all” that Williams put a bounty on Smith in the meeting. And if that’s the case, it means that Loomis and Payton – who were not present at the meeting – clearly didn’t take enough action in policing their own staff.
UPDATE: The Saints are already trying to paint Williams as a “rogue” coach on his way out the door, who acted in defiance of his superiors. It’s clear that Payton and Loomis are going to set Williams up as the fall guy in an effort to lessen their own punishments, but we’ll see how much water that holds with Roger Goodell.
The relevant audio from Williams speech is below, but here are a few of the more notable gems:
QUOTES AND AUDIO AFTER THE JUMP
3
Apr
2012
New Nike NFL uniforms look pretty much the same (PHOTOS)
After much hype and build-up, the NFL unveiled new uniforms from Nike for all 32 teams today … and aside from the Seattle Seahawks, your favorite team will pretty much look the same next year.
(Photo: Nike)
There had been some concern among fans that Nike was going to redesign every team’s uniform to look like the Oregon Ducks, but in general the changes are barely perceptible.
The biggest change across the board is to the collar, where Nike added their “Flywire” design which supposedly helps keep the collar flat against the pads, and some teams have included a two-tone color scheme to go along with it. There are some other updates to the construction, fit, fabric and color shadings that I’m sure are huge differences to the uni-geeks over at Nike, but nothing the average fan would really notice.
The fine folks at uni-watch.com have a detailed team-by-team breakdown of changes to the uniform, and you can VIEW UP-CLOSE PHOTOS OF ALL 32 NEW UNIFORMS HERE.
It turns out the Packers, Raiders, Eagles, Falcons and Panthers passed entirely on the opportunity to update their unis, essentially rejecting Nike’s proposed modifications. But the Seahawks decided to go for it, re-vamping their color scheme to include neon green and updating the helmet logo for a completely new look. You can check out more detailed photos of the Seahawks uniform at this gallery, but it’s not nearly as bad as some people are making it out to be (photo below).
3
Apr
2012
LSU’s Morris Claiborne only scored a 4 on his Wonderlic test
At each year’s Scouting Combine, the NFL makes all of the top draft prospects sit down and take the fabled Wonderlic Test – a 50 question exam that must be answered in 12 minutes, and is meant to gauge the athletes’ basic reasoning skills and overall intelligence. The test isn’t necessarily a direct predictor of success at the pro level, and each team places their own value on the scores when building out their draft board … but in some cases, the Wonderlic scores can raise a red flag.
According to ProFootballTalk.com, the top-rated cornerback in the upcoming NFL draft – LSU’s Morris Claiborne – reportedly scored just a FOUR on his Wonderlic. That’s right … a four. To give you an idea of just how bad that is, wunderkind Vince Young scored a six. So Claiborne has now officially achieved the lowest score ever recorded.
UPDATE: Since Claiborne’s score was leaked, reports have come out suggesting that he suffers from a learning disability that likely affected his score. So perhaps the Wonderlic should not be viewed as a direct indication of Claiborne’s intelligence.
(Photo: Joe Robbins/Getty Images via BleacherReport)
Now, as we mentioned, a low Wonderlic score shouldn’t necessarily scare teams off, and there have been plenty of less-than-bright athletes who have had successful careers in the NFL. Last year’s top CB Patrick Peterson only scored a 9, and had a tremendous rookie campaign. Wide Receivers AJ Green (10) and Hakeem Nicks (11) aren’t exactly rocket scientists either, and have turned out alright.
While a quarterback or offensive lineman who does poorly on this test should definitely be a concern, positions like CB and WR – that are mainly based on instinct and reaction – are probably less impacted by a low Wonderlic. So this probably isn’t as big of a deal as some people are going to make it out to be for Claiborne.
2
Apr
2012
Yikes … Ryan Leaf arrested for second time in four days (Photo)
Ryan Leaf is desperately crying out for help.
Just two days after being arrested for burglary and drug possession, the former #2 overall pick was arrested for a second time in Montana early Monday. And once again, Leaf was busted for … you guessed it, burglary and drug possession.
(Photo: thehollywoodgossip.com)
All of this trouble stems from Leaf’s long-running addiction to painkillers, which got him in trouble in 2008 while an assistant coach at West Texas A&M, ultimately leading to a 2010 drug and burglary indictment.
On Friday, Leaf was brought down in Montana for similar transgressions “after a month-long investigation that culminated with the former NFL quarterback breaking into an acquaintance’s home to steal prescription pain medication”.
31
Mar
2012
Watch Jon Gruden interrogate Andrew Luck (VIDEO)
(Image: ESPN via Orlando Sentinal)
ESPN’s Camp Gruden, where former coach Jon Gruden puts the top collegiate QB prospects through the ringer prior to each year’s draft, has become something of an annual tradition. We all remember last year when Cam Newton couldn’t name a single play from his Auburn playbook, which may have scared some people off from the eventual offensive rookie of the year.
This year’s edition of Gruden’s QB Camp kicked off this week with Stanford’s Andrew Luck, possibly the most hyped quarterback prospect since John Elway. Watch the clip below, where Luck takes us through a routine play from his college playbook, “Spider 2/3 Y Banana”. We get to watch Luck squirm a bit when Gruden shows a clip where Luck throws a pick-six interception against USC … on that very play.
Luck takes it all in stride, probably because Stanford ended up winning the game in triple overtime. But it’s at least nice to see someone putting the future Colt to the fire a bit, rather than slobbering all over him as perfect, “can’t miss” prospect:
VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP
29
Mar
2012
Check out the Giants new Super Bowl Ring (Photo)
UPDATE: Justin Tuck tweeted that the ring design is not final yet … so this might not be the finished product.
___________________________
Via back-up linebacker Clint Sintim, comes this image of the Giants Super Bowl XLVI Ring, featuring all 4 Lombardi Trophies the franchise has won:
Not too shabby. Apparently Sintim jumped the gun with his Twitter post, and an official statement from the team is expected later today.
27
Mar
2012
Browns superfan proposes adjustment to his season ticket package (VIDEO)
Cleveland superfan Mike Polk, Jr - previously of the epic “Factory of Sadness” rant - recently received a note from his beloved Browns franchise, reminding him to send in payment for his 2012 season tickets.
This is his response:
[H/T Scene & Heard]
27
Mar
2012
26
Mar
2012
Tim Tebow is really, really, really excited to be a Jet (VIDEO)
(Photo: Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images via BleacherReport.com)
The New York Jets introduced Tim Tebow as their backup quarterback today, which means that the circus has officially rolled into town for Rex Ryan & Co.
The anonymous player quotes and speculation as to whether Tebow will compete for starting time with the newly re-upped Mark Sanchez have already begun, and we’re months away from the start of training camp. Just wait until Jets nation gets a real taste of Tebowmania …
For his part, let’s just say that Tebow is “excited” to be a Jet. In fact, let’s let Timmy say it … a total of 44 times during his 30-minute session with the media:
VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP
24
Mar
2012
Andrew Luck throws a 75-yard bomb into the wind at impressive pro day (VIDEO)
Stanford QB Andrew Luck put on a show at his pro day yesterday, turning in a near-perfect performance in Palo Alto and cementing his position as the top quarterback in this year’s NFL draft.
And when he was finished with his 48 scripted throws, Luck answered requests for one more deep pass by showing off his arm strength. Check out this perfect bomb into the wind that traveled about 75 yards in the air, and was unfortunately dropped by his receiver at the goal line:
Don’t get me wrong, there’s no such thing as a sure thing in the draft, but I’m starting to understand what all the hype surrounding Luck is all about.
A Jets fan weighs in on the Tebow trade: “I just don’t get it”
In an effort to present the viewpoints of passionate fans from around the NFL, ReadAndReact will occasionally elicit special guest commentary from some of the more rabid fans we know. We’ll ask them to share their thoughts on the biggest news stories of the day, unfiltered and without limit, for your reading enjoyment.
GUEST COMMENTARY FROM A JETS FAN
Ok, now that I have had time to take it all in … I am still a little confused. I just don’t get it.
Mind you, I have been a Jets fan all my life, and have continually been baffled by what the team does both in the off season and on the field. Being a Jets fan is always like living on a roller coaster of emotions. Something will happen to spark hope, a glimmer of greatness if you will (two consecutive AFC championship appearances). But then reality sinks back in and we end up with the same ol’ Jets! I thought that all of our off-season moves were going pretty well — signing valuable players and filling needed positions at safety and back up QB and then … BAM. Tebow time.
(Photo: Businessinsider.com)
As a displaced Jets fan living in Denver, this was like the nausea that arrives after you have been swiftly kicked square in the nuts. It sucked. But theres nothing I can do so I am trying to see the value and not try to understand the “why”. One thought I just can’t shake out of my head is that Woody made the decision to fill seats and sell jerseys. I went to a few home games in New Jersey last year and the stadium was maybe three-quarters full. I know that Tannembaum and Rex are really pushing to “win now”, as it’s likely that their fates are in line with the success of this season, but picking up Tim Tebow doesn’t really seem like the team’s golden ticket.
That being said, maybe that was never the Jets intent. Maybe they just saw an opportunity to bring value to the team at little perceived cost. With the media surrounding Tebow and New York being what it is, maybe we are just blowing this whole thing way out of proportion. If the Jets made this move to get back, say, Brad Smith, no one would be making such a huge fuss about it. Brad was a QB in college and took over 10 snaps in wildcat formation in many games for the Jets. The big difference was his fit on special teams and in other positions. If Tebow is really willing to do what ever it takes to help the team like he said in his press conference he could prove to be very valuable for the Jets.
The major thing that is keeping me from jumping on the Tebow band wagon is the 4th and 6th round pick we traded away. Will the looks the Jets get with Tebow, combined with his unknown in special teams, be better than the other positions we could have filled in those spots? How bout some offensive linemen? Some pass-rushers perhaps? I guess the draft and the season are the only ways to tell, and it never does anyone any good to play the what-if game. He’s here, he’s a Jet, and now we can just wait and see.
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Tags: guest commentary, Jets fans, Mike Tannenbaum, New York Jets, Rex Ryan, Tim Tebow
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