(via mocksession.com)

The first outage came at 5:19pm local time, delaying the start of the game for 20 minutes before power returned. But early in the second quarter, with the 49ers leading 6-0, the lights went out again. This time, the delay lasted 16 minutes before play resumed.

Steelers LB James Harrison, serving his one-game suspension, chimed in via Twitter:

If I cant play then can’t nobody play… Lights out!

RIP Don Meredith.

(Image via ESPN)

This package about 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis aired on ESPN’s E:60 this week, and it’s likely to change the way you look at the NFL’s most tenacious defender.

In it, we learn of Willis’ troubled upbringing in Tennessee, where he and his three younger siblings were abandoned by his mother, and suffered at the hands of an abusive, alcoholic, drug-abusing father. Forced to grow up too early, Patrick became the leader of the household, eventually standing up to his father Ernest at the age of 17 and getting his brothers and sisters into foster care. All four kids were taken in by Patrick’s high school basketball coach (a story in and of itself), where he was finally able to be a kid for the first time, and get his life on track.

Today, the all-pro with a huge new contract still holds out hope for his father’s redemption, despite his abusive upbringing. It’s an amazing display of forgiveness, and you can’t help but respect the way Willis has dealt with all the obstacles in his life, and the grace with which he has carried himself throughout.

VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP

(Photo: NYDailyNews.com)

We’ll be honest, we didn’t really watch last night’s Jets-Dolphins game, and by most accounts it was a major suckfest with the Jets proving to be less sucky, so we don’t feel too bad about that.

But when we heard that ESPN enlisted Jets superfan “Fireman Ed” Anzalone to do the Monday Night intro honors, we knew we had to see what they came up with. In their continuing effort to replace the erstwhile Hank Williams’ Jr., ESPN has switched gears from his rauckus theme song to focus on the host cities with more solemn spoken word tributes.

This week’s effort focused on the passion and loyalty of the Jets fans, with the 52-year old retired New York firefighter doing the honors:

VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP

Not bad, but it doesn’t quite have the impact of Barry Sanders’ intro from last week. ESPN might be better served sticking with former players, who have a real emotional connection with the viewers.

(Image via ESPN.com)

Every once in a while, the Worldwide Leader will produce a package that takes a different approach to the usual sports analysis, and thus stands out from the pack. Usually, we can rely on our boy Kenny Mayne to bring the off-center humor to the party, but this time Trey Wingo steps up with his feature on the trials and tribulations of Tony Romo so far this season.  In it, he and NFL Live co-host Marcellus Wiley go for a ride on the “Romo Coaster”, which promises to simulate the thrills and spills of a game with the much maligned Cowboys’ QB at the helm.

Watch as Wingo somehow manages to provide a perfectly cogent breakdown of Romo’s successes and failures while riding the coaster, while Wiley mainly tries to keep his lunch down:

VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP

(Photo: thepenaltyflagblog.com)

Following the big Hank Williams Jr. controversy from last week, ESPN dropped the popular singer and his long-standing theme song from Monday Night Football, leaving the nation wondering how they would get ready for some football each week moving forward.

Well for last night’s Lions-Bears game, former Lion great Barry Sanders handled the intro duties for MNF, narrating over the sights and sounds of Detroit. It’s a format that ESPN is likely to employ for the remainder of the season, and let’s just say the piece more than sufficed on such short notice. It wasn’t earth-shattering or anything, but I’m not sure anyone ever tuned in to hear Hank Williams Jr., and this puts the focus back where it belongs – on the game, and the host cities for each contest.

Here’s what Sanders’ had to say in the intro:

“Detroit’s soul isn’t in the streets of the city. It’s in the hearts of the people. I know. I played here for 10 years. 

“Right now for the Lions, life is good. But like this town, they won’t rest. They’ll work, they’ll sweat, they’ll fight.

“Detroit doesn’t pat itself on the back, it gets the job done. Especially tonight, on ‘Monday Night Football.’ “

WATCH SANDERS’ MNF INTRO AFTER THE JUMP

Meanwhile, ol’ Hank was out re-writing one of his more right-leaning songs, “Keep The Change” to call out ESPN and Fox & Friends for mistreating him so, and call for a boycott of both networks. Get your free download HERE!

That includes you too, Estefan (Photo: Zimbio.com)

In a move that may leave it’s viewers woefully unprepared for some football, ESPN and Hank Williams, Jr. have ended their relationship on the heels of the Monday Night Football theme singer’s controversial comments earlier this week. In case you missed it, Williams compared President Obama to Hitler on Fox News Monday Morning (video). From ESPN.com:

In an interview Monday on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends,” Williams, unprompted, said of Obama’s outing on the links with House Speaker John Boehner: “It’d be like Hitler playing golf with (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu.”

 Asked to clarify, Williams said, “They’re the enemy,” adding that by “they” he meant Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

This, not surprisingly, didn’t sit well with a lot of people. So after pulling his iconic “Are You Ready For Some Football?” theme song from that night’s broadcast, the network has officially cut ties with Bocephus, his song and his rowdy friends, with both parties taking credit for the decision.

ESPN relased this statement on Thursday:

“We have decided to part ways with Hank Williams, Jr. We appreciate his contributions over the past years. The success of Monday Night Football has always been about the games and that will continue.”

But Williams released his own statement on his website, where he says he’s packing up his song and going home, citing First Amendment infringement:

“After reading hundreds of e-mails, I have made MY decision. By pulling my opening Oct 3rd, You (ESPN) stepped on the Toes of The First Amendment Freedom of Speech, so therefore Me, My Song, and All My Rowdy Friends are OUT OF HERE. It’s been a great run.” — Hank Williams Jr

Regardless of whose decision it was, this leaves MNF without a theme song, having used Williams’ “All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight” as the basic for their intros since 1989, with the lyrics changing each week for each specific matchup. And once again, Stephen Colbert is here to put things into perspective:

VIDEO, INCLUDING WILLIAMS’ ORIGINAL COMMENTS AFTER THE JUMP

(Image: NY Post via SportressofBlogitude)

Following Sunday’s loss to the New York Giants – which he left early with an injured right hand - Eagles QB Michael Vick took some time to complain about the officiating in the game, wondering why the hits he takes don’t draw the 15-yard penalty flags that most quarterbacks in the league get.  Since that time, pretty much everyone in the world – including most current and former NFL QBs – have been rolling their eyes at Vick, and suggesting that he keep his mouth shut.  The banner pic above was the back cover of today’s NY Post, in which the Giants players show no sympathy for Vick, and expresses what a lot of us have been thinking for the past two days.

Leading the charge is former super-bowl winning QB and ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer, who seems to be making it his personal crusade to make sure that everyone knows how out of line Vick was with his comments. Yesterday, Dilfer went on The Herd with Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio to call Vick out, saying that a simple look at the numbers would prove that Vick draws as many penalites, if not moreso than the rest of the QBs in the league. He also suggested that Vick broke every QB man code in the book by complaining about hits, especially in a league that goes out of its way to protect quarterbacks.

And on last night’s Monday Night Countdown, when Tom Jackson and Keyshawn Johnson started to defend Vick’s statement, Dilfer launched into another tirade, pointing out video of a helmet-to-helmet hit on Falcons QB Matt Ryan from last week that didn’t draw a flag, and essentially calling Vick a big pussy:

“Michael Vick does not have a case here. It’s perception vs reality. He’s not taking any more hits than anybody else is taking from the pocket. It happens all the time, it’s a subjective call, and it’s not happening more to Michael Vick than anybody else. Frankly, I’m a little disgusted that a quarterback’s going to get up there and complain about that after the game when the Eagles have other issues.

But Dilfer is not alone in his opinion. Former NFL VP of officiating Mike Pereira went as far as to call Vick’s complaints “ridiculous”, and launched into a tirade of his own:

“He’s a quarterback that’s on the move, he’s going to get hit more,” Pereira said. “Yes, there are a couple that may be missed but the fact that a ton of them are missed and that he’s hit late all the time is absurd. And he comes out and kind of does the mea culpa yesterday but at the same time what did he say? ‘I was being too candid.’ Well, that doesn’t sound to me like much of an apology. And also the damage is done. I don’t want to be the referee that goes in there now next and works with him. If he calls a roughing the passer penalty for a hit on Vick everybody’s going to say, ‘Well, Vick taunted him into that.’ If he doesn’t [call it] there’s going to be more criticism. So I think it was a bunch of bull and it didn’t sit well with me and it still doesn’t.”

For his part, Vick has since backed off his statement, saying “You won’t hear me complaining about it no more”.  Smart move.

I don't think Falcons DC Brian Van Gorder said "C'mon Man" (Image: 30fps.com)

The weekly “C’mon Man” segments on ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown have become a favorite here at R&R, mainly because they allow us to catch any funny moments from each weekend’s games that we might have missed. And although it’s clear that Berman, TJ and the boys are continuing their downward slide into cartoon territory, we don’t mind pulling these lowlights from the worldwide leader for your viewing enjoyment.

This week’s edition includes a few moments from Sunday that we would be remiss not showing you, in particular the Chicago Bears pulling off the best trick punt return in NFL history (negated by a phantom holding call), Matt Cassel struggling to put his hat on, and a ref taking a tumble during the Raiders-Jets game:

VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP

Alabama RB and former Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram found himself waiting the longest to hear his name called in the draft’s green room, as he slid farther and farther down the board. But after being selected #28 overall by the New Orleans Saints, Ingram was overcome with a sense of relief and emotion, as ESPN’s Suzy Kolber shared an email she received from Ingram’s father, Mark, Sr.

Ingram, Sr was also selected #28 overall back in 1987 by the New York Giants, and went on to be an integral part of the club that won Super Bowl 25. He is currently serving a 7-year federal sentence for bank fraud and laundering. When Kolber shared the father’s message to his son, Ingram, Jr. simply couldn’t hold back the tears:

With the addition of Ingram, the Saints now have a crowded backfield, with Pierre Thomas, Chris Ivory and Reggie Bush already in the fold.  Shortly after the draft, Bush sent out this tweet, indicating that he’s aware of the writing on the wall:

(Photo: mjbnewsonline.com)

As you may have noticed, we here at R&R have been feeling a bit disenchanted with the ol’ NFL these days, what with the lockout and ongoing labor discussions hanging over the game like a black cloud of death. I mean, it’s pretty tough to get excited about the off-season activities of your favorite team (let alone muster a blog post about it) when you have no assurances that there’s even going to be a season next season.

But fortunately, the NFL Draft is upon us to return a sense of normalcy to our lives! Beginning this Thursday night, we can forget about all the extra-curricular nonsense and get back to talking football. Once again, we can take refuge in the league’s greatest annual event, where fans of even the worst teams come away with a feeling of hope for the future. A place where we await war room updates from Ed Werder with baited breath, and find comfort in the cocksure smirk of Mel Kiper and the sweaty mess that has become Chris Berman. Although apparently, ESPN has removed Tom Jackson, Steve Young and Keyshawn Johnson from this year’s draft coverage team, which might actually mean someone will get a word in edgewise this year.  Either way, we’ve been partial to NFL Network’s draft coverage in recent years, so we’ll probably be switching back and forth.

And I don’t know about you, but it just gives me a warm fuzzy feeling in my heart to know that I’ll be seeing this at some point this weekend:

Jets fans are always good for a draft meltdown (Image via rolandopastor.com)