(via Twitter.com)

Mind = Blown.

It really makes you wonder why anyone would ever want to be on the cover of Madden at this point … let alone campaign for it like Rob Gronkowski did this off-season.

Fortunately for Pats fans, Gronkowski got knocked out of this year’s voting in the quarterfinals by Calvin Johnson, who will now square off against Aaron Rodgers in the semis, prompting Packers Nation to flood the voting for Johnson to keep Rodgers away from the cover.  On the other side of the bracket, favorite Cam Newton is up against surprise #11 seed Patrick Willis, who narrowly defeated Victor Cruz to advance in the quarters, much to the delight of Giants fans everywhere.

I’m not sure if this is quite what EA Sports had in mind when they opened the cover up to fan voting, but it at least makes things interesting.

CHECK OUT A LIST OF MADDEN CURSE VICTIMS AFTER THE JUMP

• Garrison Hearst, 49ers – 1999: Broken ankle, out for two seasons
• Barry Sanders, Lions – 2000: Retired before the season. Never played again
• Daunte Culpepper, Vikings – 2002: Broke single season record for fumbles, 23 INTs in 2002
• Michael Vick, Falcons – 2004: Broken fibula in pre-season, played 5 games that year. Later sent to prison for dog fighting ring
• Donovan McNabb, Eagles – 2006: Sports hernia in first game of season, torn ACL and meniscus ending his year
• Shaun Alexander, Seahawks – 2007: Broken foot, missed six games. Never returned to form
• Vince Young, Titans – 2008: Injured his knee in first game of season. Benched for Kerry Collins and didn’t start again that year
• Brett Favre, Packers – 2009: Came out of retirement to play for Jets. Embroiled in sexual harassment scandal after texting pics of his junk
• Troy Polamalu, Steelers – 2010: sprained MCL in first game of season, missing four games. After returning, suffered a torn PCL ending his season.
• Peyton Hillis, Browns – 2011: hamstring injury in first game forced him to miss 6 games and was in the doghouse all season in contract disputes. Released without an offer.

Watch as RB Andre Brown leads the team in singing the hot new jam, “I got a ring”:

(Photo: NFLMocks.com)

Giants rookie linebacker Mark Herzlich has already defied the odds.

Two years ago, as an All-American at Boston College, Herzlich was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma – a rare form of bone cancer – and was told by doctors that he might not ever walk again, let alone play football. Well, after beating the cancer, returning to play his senior season and making it to the NFL as an undrafted free agent with New York, Herzlich continues to prove the doubters wrong. He played in eleven regular season games this year for the Giants, starting two (including a week 11 showdown against the Eagles), and making an immediate contribution on special teams.

But Herzlich’s tweet from today really put things into perspective as to just how far he’s come in so short a period of time:

(via LarryBrownSports)

Even though he hasn’t played since week 12 due to an ankle injury and illness, Herzlich hopes to take the field for the Giants at Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday to complete his utter & total domination of cancer. And regardless, if you’re not inspired by Herzlich’s journey thus far, you may have no soul.

Back in September, NFL Network had Steve Mariucci sit down with Herzlich for this excellent in-depth interview:

VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP

With just 33 tweets since Jan 7th, @Ohrnberger has already racked up 16k+ followers with his unique, off-color views on life and the world we live in. And although none of his tweets have anything to do with the NFL, Ohrnberger clearly isn’t afraid to tread into territory not all athletes are willing to go … and more importantly, the dude is just plain funny.

Even his teammates Chad Ochocinco and Rob Gronkowski have endorsed Ohrnberger, with Ocho going so far as to call him the “funniest athlete on Twitter”, and Gronk revealing that the 3rd year lineman is the “funniest dude on the team” and “claims his followers will never be disappointed!”.  Based on what we’ve seen so far from Ohrnberger, that seems like a pretty good bet.

Here are a few choice Ohrnberger-isms, in addition to the nuggets presented in the banner pic above:

• Does anybody know if there are any gyms/sports clubs in the Boston area that offer intramural ribbon gymnastics classes for plus size men?
• Just got out of a cab that smelled like an egg salad sandwich got gang-raped by a half dozen brussel sprouts, the cabbie was very nice tho
• I wish aggressive yo-yo-ing was still cool. That was the last real hobby I was good at prior to the invention of internet pornography.

[@Ohrnberger = Followed]

Since he won’t be taking the field on Sunday against the Ravens, hopefully Ohrnberger can at least use his rapier wit to help keep his teammates loose heading into the big game.

(Photo: Twitter.com)

From Ray Rice’s Twitter page comes this incredible photo of Ravens fullback Vonta Leach’s helmet, which needs to be replaced due to the beating Leach has put it through this season.  

(Image via ShutdownCorner)

Yikes. This image gives you just a hint of the punishment Leach delivers on opposing defenders week in and week out.  These helmets are generally built to take a beating, but there’s no question that Leach plays the game in a far more brutal fashion than most, and is a throwback to the olden days of the gridiron.

Let’s just be thankful that the players aren’t still wearing leather helmets, or Leach would be caving in skulls on a regular basis.

(Image via PatsPropoganda.com)

This hilarious Lethal Weapon 3 poster spoof – with Chad Ochocinco, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick playing the roles of Danny Glover, Mel Gibson and Joe Pesci, respectively - is apparently the new avatar for Ochocinco’s Twitter account.

Good stuff, but this new partnership hasn’t exactly proved to be “lethal” so far. Unfortunately for Chad, it seems as though he’s spending way more time on Twitter than he is studying the Patriots playbook, netting just 11 catches for 201 yards and 0 touchdowns this year. And while it’s definitely cool, let’s not pretend that Chad actually tried his hand at photoshop and created this masterpiece himself … I’m guessing it’s a piece of fan art from one of his nearly 3 million (!!!) followers.

[H/T Pats Propaganda]

Today, at least according Kluwe’s latest whiteboard bomb, the league issued a memo to players banning the use of iPads 90 minutes prior to gametime, for any reason. As you may have heard, a lot of teams are using iPads as playbooks and game film tools in today’s Jobs-ian society (RIP Steve), and the tablets have become ubiquitous in NFL locker rooms.

So, with his Vikings at 0-4 and nothing better to do, Kluwe decided to have a little fun with Goodell again, posting this new fake memo to Twitter, ostensibly from his iPad:

“The front office was kind enough to send us another memo! Whiteboard time!”

(Image via Lockerz.com)

If Kluwe is to believed (we haven’t seen any other news of this memo elsewhere), apparently Goodell is getting twitchy about these iPads being hacked into in order to access an opponent’s gameplan prior to kickoff … or something like that. And whether or not you believe that’s a realistic concern, this is the latest instance of der commissioner trying to control his players’ every move. Kluwe also made a follow-up post, wondering how the league would enforce the new rule, and if they’d install a “mandatory Net Nanny for all NFL employees’ electronic devices”.

This probably isn’t Kluwe’s best stuff (although the Depends crack made us chuckle), but you certainly have to question the timing of the memo from Goodell, especially given this week’s passing of Jobs, and the ensuing cultural firestorm it has created. Unless this is all just a timely satirical social commentary by Kluwe, and there was no real memo to begin with. In which case, Chris is way more clever than we gave him credit for, and we tip our hat to him.

(Photo via Twitpic @55Berger)

UPDATE: The NFL has notified all 32 teams that players will not be fined for wearing 9/11 tribute gear this Sunday. Well what do you know? Common sense seems to have prevailed.

________________________________

This Sunday, on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, several NFL players will be sporting special red, white & blue tribute equipment, despite the threat of potential fines from the NFL.  Bears LB Lance Briggs was the first to reveal his brand commemorative new cleats & gloves (banner pic), which were produced by Reebok specifically for the occasion. From Briggs’ Twitter account:

Reebok great job on these gloves and shoes..looks like I’m getting fined this week. Lol! By far the best fine I will ever have to pay. Thanks…Fines for gloves could be as much as 5k..the shoes 8-10k I think. not 100% on the shoe fine.

Other players, including Chiefs RB Jamaal Charles, Titans QB Matt Hasselbeck and Redskins TE Chris Cooley (via a Tweet from his wife) have indicated that they also plan to wear similar 9/11 gear, and it seems that all are fully prepared to pay any fines levied by the league.  The NFL has yet to speak out on the subject, but based on their past history of zero-tolerance for unauthorized uniforms, it’s safe to assume they won’t turn the other cheek here, regardless of the emotion associated with the day.

(Image via Twitter @Hasselbeck)

It seems odd that the league hadn’t already planned to wear some sort of commemorative ribbon or patch for the day, considering the sheer volume of approved patches players will be wearing this season, commemorating such football luminaries as Joe “The Pet” Perry and Myra Kraft.  And when an entire month is dedicated to wearing pink in support of breast cancer awareness, why wouldn’t the NFL encourage, let alone allow players a similar tribute on the tenth anniversary of one the most tragic days in our nation’s history?

Quite simply, this is a potential PR nightmare for the league.  C’mon Roger … do the right thing here.

No-fly zone: CJ2K appears serious about a lengthy holdout. (TitansGab.com)

Chris Johnson’s lengthy contract dispute with the Tennessee Titans took an ugly turn Wednesday when he lashed out at fans urging him to get back to work.

Tweeted Johnson:“Can these fake Titan fans STFU on my timeline I don’t have a regular job so don’t compare me to you and I can care less if uthink I’m greedy”

Earlier Wednesday, Johnson had thanked followers for their concern amid his quest for more money: “I like to thank everyone who have me in their prayers thru my situation, it’s much needed.”

The situation between CJ2K and the team appears to be growing uglier. Players often argue that football contracts mean nothing, seeing as a team can cut you at a moment’s notice. From that angle, Johnson is being no more fickle than the team he plays for, especially after accounting for 4,598 rushing yards and 38 total touchdowns in just three seasons.

Trust seems to be an issue here. The Titans said earlier this month they would get a contract done if Johnson reported to camp. He decided against it, leaving the Titans searching for someone to carry the ball until this mess gets figured out.

Thanks to Twitter, we get to hear the unfiltered thoughts of our favorite pro athletes. This can be both a good and bad thing (mostly bad). And now, thanks to the NFL lockout, quite a few of these athletes have WAY too much free time on their hands … which has led to an abundance of ill-advised tweets over recent weeks.

While most players will tell you they’re itching to get back on the playing field, Reggie Bush came and and told the world how he really feels in this tweet from last night (pic above). Turns out all this time off is cool with the former Heisman Trophy winner and future Saints castoff  … which, while not exactly something your publicist probably wants broadcast to the world, is also probably something that a lot of players are thinking. I mean, who could blame a player for not missing two-a-days???

But Bush wasn’t finished digging there, as he went on to further explain his lack of enthusiasm for OTAs in his next tweet:

You tell ‘em Reggie!

But before anyone could go and gets all upset about his allusion to slavery, or his clearly perverted definition of “nothing” (last I heard, NFL players got compensated pretty well for their effort … as do star players at USC), Bush was quick to point out in his final tweet on the matter that he was just joking, telling his followers to “relax”, and to “cry me a river, why don’t you …”.

Ah, if only we could all be as relaxed as you, Reggie.  Must be nice.