1
May
2009
The Matt Stafford Song, Cooley’s Wang & Berman’s Swampass
The fans in Detroit have a right to be skeptical about the future of the franchise. How many times have they seen can’t miss, first-round draft picks fail at the NFL level, leaving Detroit to wallow in league-worst crapitude. With that in mind comes this little gem of a number about Lions’ #1 draft pick, Matt Stafford.
Enjoy (song by Ryan Parker):
A few more totally awesome links we found this morning:
- SI.com has an interview with our favorite NFL H-back/Blogger, Chris Cooley, which reveals that the NFL made him undergo psychiatric evaluation after he accidentally exposed himself in a photo on his blog.
- The National Football Post has a great piece on rookie salaries in the NFL, and whether or not they’re ruining the integrity of the game.
- The Big Lead speculates that the Tennessee Titans may have signed Arkansas QB Alex Mortensen (Chris Mortensen’s son) to try and gain favorable coverage from ESPN
- And who would have guessed that Chris Berman would be the winner of the annual Charlotte Pro-Am Golf Swampass Challenge (With Leather)
Chris Berman is a unpaid endorser of "Oops! I Crapped My Pants"
28
Apr
2009
Matt Stafford does Letterman
As has become tradition, #1 pick Matt Stafford paid a visit to David Letterman last night to count down the top 10 things that went through his mind during the draft:
25
Apr
2009
Countown to the NFL Draft – 0 days!!!
Ladies and Gentlemen, your #1 pick! Photo: KissingSuzyKolber
I woke up this morning like a kid on Christmas morning, expecting the NFL draft to start at it’s normal time (12noon ET/10am MT where I live), so I could roll out of bed, eat breakfast, and settle in to full-on geek mode for the day (our love for the draft is well-documented). But then I find out they moved the draft start time back 4 hours … so now I’ve got like 5 hours to kill before this thing gets underway. Uggh. Will the build-up never stop?!?
The biggest news this morning – the drama over who will be the #1 pick in today’s NFL Draft has come to an end:
The Lions have agreed to contract terms with Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford and will make him the No. 1 overall pick in Saturday’s draft … It is a six-year, $78 million deal, with $41.7 million guaranteed. Stafford’s agents confirmed the agreement.
Well, that mean Stafford gets the most guaranteed money in NFL history. Good for him. It also makes the next 5 hours a lot less interesting for the ESPN and NFL Network crews. Stafford will go to Detroit and team up with WR Calvin Johnson … and they’ll still suck.
The St. Louis Rams are now on the clock!
A few morning draft links:
-
Ramses Barden could be a sleeper at WR in this draft
NFL Fanhouse’s 6 Hours To Go, 6 Things I Don’t Believe heading into the draft
- Pro Football Weekly’s has posted their final Mock Draft, and their Draft Needs Chart identifies the top 5 needs for each club.
- The Bleacher Report has a good slideshow of their 2009 NFL Draft Sleepers.
- Check out Draftguys TV for videos on 51 of the top prospects
We’ll be posting our Live Read And React Draft Log once things get underway, so tune in to watch us get progressively bored, drunk and feisty as the day the draft wears merrily forward. And let’s face it, by time the Giants pick comes around at #29, it’s going to be like 7pm, so I might be pretty hammered by then. Should be good times.
23
Apr
2009
Countdown to the Draft: 2 days
Ah, Spring … baseball season is underway, its playoff time in the NBA, the flowers are in bloom, the smell of fresh cut grass is in the air, college co-eds are shedding layers of clothing, and the NFL Draft is almost upon us! Honestly, is there a better time of year? (Video via Kissing Suzy Kolber)
Here are a few draft-related links to get you in the mood for this weekend:
- Pro Football Weekly has posted a new Draft Value Chart, which gives a position-by-position breakdown of where they think players will be selected. It’s pretty helpful to get an idea of who a team might at a position of need, and where certain players will fall – especially in the later rounds.
- Wake Forest LB Aaron Curry is slashing prices just in time for this weekend’s draft! NFL.com reports that Curry is willing to take less money from Detroit as the #1 overall pick than Jake Long received from the Dolphins last year. Most reports have the Lions taking QB Matt Stafford with the first pick, but according to MLive.com, they have also completed a deal with Curry if a deal with Stafford can’t be reached.
- Finally, the NY Daily News is reporting that the Giants/Browns deal for Braylon Edwards is dead. Honestly, I’ve heard so many different reports over the last few weeks, I don’t know what to think anymore. And at this point, both sides are throwing up so much smoke, nobody really knows what’s going to happen until draft day. For my money, I still say Edwards will be a Giant by Saturday night. I think all of the leaked info over the past few months has been posturing by two stubborn GMs, and when the Browns go on the clock with the #5 pick, it’ll get done.
18
Apr
2009
Matt Stafford hates plates!
Georgia QB and top draft prospect Matt Stafford was on Jimmy Fallon earlier this week showing off his throwing skills, and since I refuse to watch that dufus who’s always laughing at his own jokes, I just saw this clip for the first time.
Its still unclear where Stafford will land in next weekend’s draft – although all signs point to Detroit with the #1 pick – but regardless of where he goes, the city’s chinaware district is going to be living in fear from now on.
31
Mar
2009
Tuesday evening notebook
As posted earlier this evening, the Broncos have made the decision to trade their overly dramatic quarterback Jay Cutler (who doesn’t mix well with their seemingly overhwhelmed head coach). Per PFT, interested teams appear to be the Jets, the Browns, the 49′ers, the Bears, the Lions, the Redskins, and the Bucs. Pat Bowlen is fuming.
http://www.profootballtalk.com/2009/03/31/six-teams-and-counting-interested-in-cutler/
The Lions obviously have a need. But if they pull the trigger, they’ll most likely be forced to deal the first pick in the draft (what else can they POSSIBLY offer). Recent reports suggest that they’re impressed with Georgia QB Matt Stafford. Would Denver then turn around and pick up Stafford? (Is Stafford honestly worth the number one pick?) (With Chris Simms on the roster, if Denver went a different route in the draft, it could potentially shake up the top five quite considerably.)
Option two: There is a steady stream of whispers suggesting that Brady Quinn will be shipped to Denver for Cutler in a multi-player, or player-picks swap. This seems feasible, especially considering how deeply enamored Mangini was with Cutler when he entered the league. If they join the fray, the Browns will give up much more than Quinn, no doubt. Additional scenarios suggest that a third team would be involved in the trade (one rumor had the Browns giving away Quinn to Denver, the Broncos shipping Cutler to Washington, and the Browns somehow ending up with Jason Campbell and a coffee maker.) (Editor’s note: I will stab myself if the Browns do something like this.)
Instead of Quinn, would the Browns ever ship Derek Anderson in a trade? Would the Broncos ever fall for this? Unlikely. Anderson had a sensational 2007 season, and showed what he can do with a solid offensive line and some weapons on offense, but he was horrid in 2008, and sunk swiftly with the rest of the team. In relief, Quinn showed grit and promise, but ultimately failed to turn the ship around before getting injured. That said, Quinn appears to have more promise–or, at least, we’re not sure he’s a bust.
The question that needs to be asked is whether we view Cutler as a guy ready to lead an NFL team into the future. Physical skills aside, his self-centered behavior, and flashes of immaturity over the past three years, leave you wondering if he can suddenly become a stable and team-oriented presence in a new lockerroom.
