1
Dec
2010
VIDEO: Andre Johnson mic’d up for Finnegan brawl
(AP Photo via USA Today)
The NFL Network’s Sound FX program comes through in the clutch once again, having mic’d up Texans’ WR Andre Johnson for Sunday’s now-infamous clash with the Titans. In the piece, we get to hear the build up to Johnson’s brawl with Cortland Finnegan from AJ’s perspective.
Among the more juicy bites, we hear Johnson telling the refs to watch Finnegan hitting under his facemask, which brought us this exchange:
Johnson: “Hey ref, No. 31, when he gets frustrated …”
Referee: “Oh believe me, I watch him every play, everywhere.”
Later, we hear Kevin Walter telling Johnson, “you got 31 following you”, which he clearly is aware of by that point. And perhaps most interestingly, what appears to be right before the play where Johnson erupted, Matt Schaub warns his team not to get baited into anything by the notoriously chippy Titans:
“Listen up, keep your poise now. They’re gonna try and get us to do some dumb s#!t. Let’s keep mashing ‘em and keep your poise.”
Moments later, Johnson unleashed three haymakers to Finnegan’s head.
WATCH THE ANDRE JOHNSON SOUND FX VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP
29
Nov
2010
Andre Johnson avoids suspension for beating Finnegan; fans everywhere applaud
Andre Johnson dishes out some street justice to Cortland Finnegan (Photo: Karen Warren/Chronicle)
Let’s face it: Andre Johnson did the league a favor. When the all-pro WR beat Cortland Finnegan like he stole something during yesterdays Texans/Titans game, it somehow felt as though justice had been served.
Finnegan takes pride in being a dirty player. His entire game is getting inside his opponents’ heads until they finally snap and draw a penalty. The guy is a punk, plain and simple, who has openly boasted about wanting to be labeled the dirtiest player in the league. And so far this season, he’s done a fine job of building his reputation along those lines. But yesterday, Finnegan picked a fight with a much bigger dog, and he finally got what was coming to him. And as it happened, football fans around the world cheered.
Which is why it’s nice to hear that Johnson will not be suspended for his part in the brawl for it all, according to a report from Fox26. And the Houston Chronicle reports that both players have been fined $25k, but neither will face suspension for their actions. It actually seems like a particularly light slap on the wrist for both players from Roger Goodell, who up until now recently has handed out fines like Halloween candy. Richard Seymour was just fined the same amount last week for smacking down Ben Roethlisberger … and that was just one open-handed shot, while both were wearing helmets. So it seemed that a heavier punishment was in line for both players after their full-on brawl at the 40-yard line.
Johnson has been extremely contrite in apologizing for his actions yesterday, saying he simply lost his cool and would accept whatever punishment came his way. But Goodell apparently agreed with Mike Ditka, who went on the Mike and Mike radio show this morning and suggested that Johnson should be commended for his actions:
I wouldn’t suspend him. I would applaud him if I was the National Football League. Where does it say that if I snake bites you, you can’t step on the snake? And that’s exactly what happened to this kid.
That seems to be the general consensus.
WATCH THE FULL VIDEO OF THE BRAWL AFTER THE JUMP
28
Nov
2010
FIGHT! Andre Johnson-Cortland Finnegan throw punches, ejected (VIDEO)
A pedestrian tilt between the Houston Texans and Tennessee Titans devolved into ugliness on Sunday.
With the Texans leading 17-0 in the fourth quarter, Houston wide receiver Andre Johnson was escorted from the field after throwing punches at Titans cornerback Cortland Finnegan, in what became an all-out brawl.
The two got at each other at the end of a play, with Finnegan throwing a jab at Johnson, only to have his helmet ripped off by the wideout.
With the two entangled, circling around on the field, Finnegan ripped off Johnson’s helmet, launching it skyward, while being whipped to the ground by the wideout. Johnson then unleased a series of punches at Finnegan before the two were separated.
Both players were hit with 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and ejected. Johnson was pulled away by team personnel while Finnegan jogged off to the Titans’ locker room.
Johnson had few words after the game, and called the fight “just a buildup of things over plays,” according to ESPN.
“I would like to apologize to the organization, our owner, my teammates,” Johnson said. “What happened out there wasn’t me. I just lost my cool and I wish I could take back what happened, but I can’t. I’m pretty sure I’ll be disciplined for it, I’ll have to deal with it from there.”
ESPN reported that Texans owner Bob McNair called the fight in Johnson’s favor.
“I awarded it to Andre on points,” McNair said, shrugging off the notion of a suspension for Johnson: “I don’t know why there would be. The DB was all over him and he’s the one who initiated it and he’d been doing it the play before and the whole game. He just went a little too far and Andre’s the one who was on camera when the action heated up. That’s not Andre.”
21
Nov
2010
Jets summon late-game heroics again, outlast Texans (VIDEO)
Santonio Holmes does "The Jet" after scoring the game-winning TD against the Texans (Image via nflgridirongab.com)
For the third straight week, the Jets snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, scoring a dramatic 30-27 victory over Houston at the New Meadowlands today. New York blew a 16-point fourth quarter lead and trailed 27-23 with less than a minute to go, setting the stage for Mark Sanchez to summon his late-game heroics once again.
Sanchez let the Jets offense 66 yards in :45 seconds on 3 plays – including a 42-yard pass to Braylon Edwards, giving them first and goal from the six with :10 to play … that’s when Sanchez looked to his new favorite target, Santonio Holmes:
WATCH THE VIDEO HIGHLIGHT AFTER THE JUMP
19
Nov
2010
WEEK 11 PICKS: STEVERODGERS EDITION
Winners in Bold
Buffalo @ Cincinnati: Pig City vs. the Home of Buffalo wings. Going with God’s favorite football snack on this one. I wonder if TO gets a little excited for this game – does he even remember playing in Buffalo? Did he buy a house? Regardless he is having a bang-up season.
Detroit @ Dallas: The media will needlessly hype Jason Garret because he is the Dallas Cowboys’ coach. However, in the end like all things Dallas he is wildly uninteresting and mediocre. There is no public transportation to Arlington. At least in Detroit you can still catch a bus.
Washington @ Tennessee: I have this strange feeling that Randy Moss and Jeff Fisher will get along. It might not translate into any wins, but I see them after the season on a road trip, two men searching for something intangible, maybe in a old convertible Mustang, listening to mixtapes with complicated cover art from college girlfriends, smoking cigarettes, picking up local girls at honky-tonks, emailing from local libraries along the way. At night they will drink beer and pass bourbon back and forth on the hood of the car. Silently they will stare into the twilight and let their dreams get lost amongst the stars.
Arizona @ Kansas City: I’d watch this game if I had to. Also the Chiefs coach seems very unlikeable. Take your lumps. If Belichik and Mangini can shake hands, you can too.
How Soon We Forget (source: NFL.com)
Green Bay @ Minnesota: The last hurrah. Brett Favre, the lion in winter. I find America’s newfound dislike of Brett Favre to be predictable and boring. This idea that athletes should know when to retire is daft. Athletes should play until they want to quit or they are cut. If someone wants to pay them a ton of money to play a game for our enjoyment then they should go for it. This game and season will be remembered briefly and then forgotten, and one day not far in the future the cynical adult in all of us will have a moment of clarity and we will remember #4 picking up Donald Driver after a touchdown and bouncing him up and down under a shower of Wisconsin cheers – a pure expression of joy in a sometime overtly serious league, and we will wonder why we decided as a nation to have a collective stick up our asses in 2010.
Houston @ NY Jets: The Texans are one of the teams that you just wonder why they are in the league. They have a Rothko museum in Houston. I can guarantee that staring at a Rothko painting for two hours would do more for your soul and wellbeing then watching the Jets paste this dead-on-arrival franchise on Sunday. Sanchise forever!
Oakland @ Pittsburgh: I am pretty sure that the Steelers will annihilate the Autumn Wind this weekend. I am only picking Oakland because I used to live there, in this old factory across from the Oakland Coliseum. The night they lost the Superbowl a few years back, I woke up to notice outside my apartment that someone had lit a car on fire. The car was burning alone by itself, flickering in the grey light. If Michael Mann were to film it a wolf would have walked by… things like that stick with you.
Baltimore @ Carolina: Do people really care about the Carolina Panthers? Do they have fans? I don’t get this team. Like the Texans, nobody cares.
Sometimes You Just Need a Chew (source: Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
Cleveland @ Jacksonville: Browns need to win this one to keep some solid momentum going. They are beaten up a bit, but hope springs in the steely gaze of rookie Colt McCoy and the Juggernaut Peyton Hillis. I have noticed as of late that Mangini has given up trying to not use Kodiak, now he has got a big chaw in during the game, spitting, getting Kodiak jammed up into his clipboard, in Josh Cribbs’ cleats, just saying to hell with it, and embracing his addiction. I am pretty sure the NFL will send him a memo soon, until then however, I am enjoying it.
Tampa Bay @ San Francisco: Will the Josh Freeman train continue to roll? Will the Troy Smith train get started? Will Mike Singletary deliver a fiery sermon about how only the devil can’t run the ball and then shoot lasers out of his eyes? I don’t know but I do like Troy Smith. I think a lot of teams will be kicking themselves for not picking him up when they had the chance.
14
Nov
2010
Jaguars beat Texans on hail mary “play of the year” (VIDEO)
Mike Thomas in the right place at the right time (Photo: Getty Images via FanHouse)
It’s already being called the “play of the year”. The Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Houston Texans 31-24 today on a last-second, 50-yard touchdown pass from David Garrard to Mike Thomas. The Jags got a little help from above on the play, with Thomas reeling in the hail mary attempt after it was batted down by Texans DB Glover Quin. Glover did exactly what all football players are taught by trying to knock the pass down … unfortunately he knocked the ball right into Thomas’ awaiting arms.
The game was tied at 24 and looked to be headed to overtime, but Garrard took one last shot with three seconds left on the clock, heaving the ball toward the end zone as time expired. Here’s the play, complete with Gus Johnson hysterics:
Afterwards, the Jaguars claim that it was a play they run regularly in practice, with Thomas playing the role of “scoop” guy, trailing the play in case of any deflections. The 5’8″ Thomas is the (edit:) second-smallest player on the Jaguars roster, but he was the biggest guy on the field this afternoon, finishing with eight catches for 149 yards (both career highs) to go with the game-winning score.
The win lifts Jacksonville to 5-4 and keeps them in the hunt in the tight AFC South, where Houston (4-5) now resides at the bottom of the barrel after three straight losses.
14
Sep
2010
Packers RB Ryan Grant out for the season; Colts S Bob Sanders out indefinitely
(Photo: Evan Siegle/Press-Gazette)
And the hits from Week 1 of the NFL season keep-a-comin’! This time, the NFC favorite Green Bay Packers fall victim, as their starting RB Ryan Grant will miss the entire season with an ankle injury.
Grant was hurt in the first quarter of yesterday’s 27-20 victory over the Eagles, and was wearing a protective boot on his foot afterward. He was initially thought only to have suffered a sprain, but was placed on injured reserve today after the severity of the injury was determined. Grant will require surgery to repair torn ligaments in his ankle, and is expected to be on crutches for 10-12 weeks.
(Photo: Getty Images via Sportshaze.com
UPDATE: Wow, the carnage continues. Adam Schefter is reporting that Colts S Bob Sanders is out indefinitely with a torn bicep, “if not for the season”. This is a huge blow to the Colts defense, who simply aren’t the same without Sanders on the field.
Sanders – the NFL’s defensive player of the year in 2007 – was injured during the Colts 24-24 loss to the Texans. It was on the first defensive series of the season, when Sanders landed awkwardly on his left arm. In an ironic twist, Sanders tore his right bicep last season. He will meet with Dr. James Andrews later this week to determine his future, but there are early whispers that his career could be in jeopardy, if not just the season.
6
Nov
2009
Texans WR David Anderson impersonates Jaws
(Original Photoshop/hack job by ArtieFufkin)
No, not that Jaws. We’re talking about Monday Night Football color commentator, noted creepy smiler and former Philadelphia Eagles QB, Ron Jaworski. Check out Houston Texans WR David Anderson’s spot-on impression of Jaworski during one of his famed NFL film breakdown sessions:
[Via Hot Clicks]
25
Oct
2009
NFL Gameday: ReadAndReact Buffalo Wing Summit
mmmmm ... wings
Several of your faithful ReadAndReact staffers – TheDarkHorse, Artie Fufkin and steverodgers – will convene in a suburban Denver sports bar this morning to take in this week’s NFL action. Many wings will be eaten. Many beers will be drunk (drank?). Many laughs will be shared. It is a cold, snowy Sunday in Colorado. A perfect day for football.
We’ll be keeping an eye on the Vikings/Steelers and 49ers/Texans as the best early match-ups, along with the Browns/Packers for strictly masochistic reasons. Falcons/Cowboys is the best late game, with the Giants/Cardinals closing things out tonight, in what could be a shootout.
We’ll do our best to share ongoing commentary via iPhone, and you can be assured it will get progressively sloppy as the day wears merrily forward. Enjoy the games!!!
1
Sep
2009
That old man playing QB for the Vikings sure is dirty
Here’s the highlight that everyone’s talking about from last night’s Vikings/Texans pre-season tilt. Minnesota’s new/old QB (who we still shall not name … at least until he plays in a regular season game), throwing a low crackback block on Eugene Wilson. The hit knocked Wilson out of the game, and drew the ire of the MNF crew. But more importantly, it showed that the wily veteran still thinks he’s above the rules, and is now doing everything possible to tarnish his once pristine image:
