6
Feb
2012
Watch the Giants celebrate on their team flight home from the Super Bowl (VIDEO)
Via rookie LB Mark Herzlich‘s Twitter comes this sneak peek at the Giants team flight home from Super Bowl XLVI … and it’s about as raucous and celebratory as you’d expect.
Watch as RB Andre Brown leads the team in singing the hot new jam, “I got a ring”:
6
Feb
2012
Your Monday Morning Super Bowl XLVI Round-up
(Photo: Getty Images via ShutdownCorner)
Now that the dust has settled from last night’s thrilling Super Bowl contest, here are a few links to get you caught up what you may have missed:
- Eli Manning has silenced his critics by winning his second Super Bowl MVP, but Shutdown Corner makes the case that Justin Tuck deserved the award too, based on the pressure he applied on Tom Brady all day, including the 1st quarter safety
- Wes Welker’s dropped pass with just 3:46 left in the game is being singled out as the reason the Patriots lost the game, and based on their reaction yesterday, it’s safe to say some of his teammates probably agree
(via Gifninja.com)
- Gisele Bundchen was also not happy with the Patriots receivers after the game, pointing out that “My husband cannot (bleeping) throw the ball and catch the ball at the same time!”
- Steelers James Harrison and Ryan Clark took a couple shots at the Patriots via Twitter after their loss, with Harrison going so far as to say “Cheaters never win!!!”
- It was quick, so you might have missed it, but M.I.A. apparently flipped America the bird during the halftime show (VIDEO HERE)
- Somebody bet $1,000 that the first score of the game would be a safety. That person is now $50k richer
- In case it was too noisy at your SB party to watch all the much-hyped commercials, here are all the Super Bowl Ads for your viewing pleasure
- And unless you live in North Platte, Nebraska, you probably didn’t know that Will Ferrell appeared in a SB commercial for Old Milwaukee
- Giants rookie LB Greg Jones proposed to his long-time girlfriend on the field immediately following the game, with confetti still falling around them
30
Jan
2012
Giants LB Mark Herzlich is the feel-good story of Super Bowl XLVI (VIDEO)
(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
29
Jan
2012
Oh yeah, the Pro Bowl is today (LINKS)
Cam Rodgers (Photo: Dan Hicks via Twitter)
In case it slipped your mind (it almost did ours), the NFL’s finest players – minus the Giants and Patriots, of course – have gathered in Honolulu for a week of golf, beach time, goofing off and some half-assed preparation for the 2102 edition of the Pro Bowl.
Everyone knows the Pro Bowl is a joke as far as professional sports all-stars games go, since nobody – including the players – cares about the outcome, and therefore nobody really tries. And ever since they got rid of the NFL Skills Challenge in 2007, there’s even less of a reason for fans to tune into the week-long all-star festivities. I mean, has anyone ever gotten a decent explanation for why they stopped doing skills competitions? Instead of a half-speed football exhibition, wouldn’t it be far more compelling to watch these all-stars compete for the title of NFL’s fastest man, strongest leg, best hands, biggest arm, etc? Does anyone genuinely think there’s any more risk of injury here than with the game itself? Hell, I even tuned into the NHL’s All-Star skills competition yesterday just to check it out, and I don’t watch hockey at all.
But I digress. If you’re so inclined, the game itself starts at 7pm ET tonight, and you can watch all the non-action live online.
In the mean time, here are a few Pro Bowl links that caught our eye this week:
- Our banner pic (above) is Aaron Rodgers rocking his Cam Newton look earlier this week in Hawaii, from NBC’s Dan Hicks’ Twitter. Oh, and these are the shoes Cam is rocking this week
- The Jared Allen Experience gives you some insight into a Pro Bowl practice through the eyes of one of our favorite NFLers. Allen was not only mic’d up, but wearing a helmet cam for the day, and has plenty of fun with his fellow NFC elite while making sure not to work too hard. Best moments: Allen imitating the “Wide Nine” stance of Eagles DE Jason Babin, and jokingly asking Clay Matthews “How’d that Super Bowl run work out for you?” Matthews reply: “Shut up.”
- Nike released their brand new Vapor Jet gloves just in time for the Pro Bowl, and also in time to leak the Panthers new logo
- In an effort to increase the social profile for the game (and in stark contrast to their regular season policy), the NFL will allow players to use Twitter during the Pro Bowl game … but only from computers located in designated areas on each team’s sideline.
- Speaking of the NFL Skills Challenge, here are Ben Roethlisberger (2005) and Ken O’Brien (1991) competing in the QB Challenge from back in the day. This wasn’t actually a Pro Bowl week event, but was cancelled at the same time as the Pro Bowl Skills Challenge in a sweeping ban of all skills-based competitions by the league back in November of 2007. Yeah … after watching those, I guess it wasn’t that exciting after all. Even with the dramatic music.
- And last but not least, here is the biggest hit in the history of the Pro Bowl: Washington’s Sean Taylor destroying punter Brian Moorman on a fake punt:
VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP
27
Jan
2012
7-year-old fan writes heartwarming letter to Kyle Williams (PIC)
(via Huffingtonpost.com)
Following his two epic blunders in the NFC Championship game, 49ers returner Kyle Williams quickly became the scapegoat for Niners fans everywhere, even receiving death threats via Twitter by adults who have clearly lost their grip on reality. Here’s a sampling of some of the more vile messages directed at Williams:
@KyleWilliams_10 HOPE U RUN n2 A BULLET DA WAY U RAN INTO DAT BALL…
Jim Harbaugh, please give @KyleWilliams_10 the game ball. And make sure it explodes when he gets in his car.
@KyleWilliams_10. I hope you, youre wife, kids and family die, you deserve it
Well fortunately, as is often the case, our children are here to help put everything into perspective. Following the Niners’ loss, 7-year-old Owen Shure is a lifelong 49ers fan, and decided to write an old-fashioned hand-written letter as a show of support for Williams. You can see the letter itself in the banner pic (above), but in it, little Owen reminds his favorite player that he should be proud of everything he accomplished this season, and to keep his head up.
Let’s just hope some of the “adults” out there learn a thing or two from young Owen. It’s only a game, people. Let’s not forget that.
FULL TEXT FROM OWEN’S LETTER AFTER THE JUMP
20
Jan
2012
Patriots Rich Ohrnberger owns the funniest Twitter account in the NFL
Rich Ohrnberger is a little-used back-up guard for the New England Patriots who recently took to Twitter, and is quickly making a name for himself with his hilarious (and slightly bizarre) commentary:
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.
17
Jan
2012
This fan’s choice of nail polish is why the Packers lost (VIDEO)
You know those crazy-superstitious sports fans who insist that their gameday routine and attire somehow impacts the success or failure of their favorite team? Well, sometimes they’re right.
Poor Casey here – a die-hard Packers fan – apparently let her “friend” Megan convince her to apply sparkles to her nails and don a Clay Matthews jersey on Sunday instead of her normally-preferred Aaron Rodgers gear to the sports bar. And inevitably, Green Bay lost.
Here is Casey’s reaction to this chain of events::
UPDATE: Even Clay Matthews agrees: it’s all Megan’s fault
8
Jan
2012
Hakeem Nicks splits Falcons D en route to 72-yard touchdown (VIDEO)
(Photo: Nick Laham/Getty Images via Yahoo.com)
With second-year sensation Victor Cruz (and his salsa dance) getting all the press for the New York WRs dring the build up to this week’s Giants-Falcons Wild Card match-up, it was Hakeem Nicks who turned in the play of the day in leading the Giants to an impressive 24-2 playoff win.
After a defensive struggle in the first half, New York led 10-2 late in the third quarter when Nicks broke the game wide open with this 72-yard catch and run. Watch as Nicks splits no less than FIVE Falcons defenders at midfield and leaves them in the dust for his second touchdown of the game:
Nicks, who would finish with 115 yards receiving to go with his 2 TDs, added insult to injury for the Falcons by doing “The Dirty Bird” as his endzone celebration:
DIRTY BIRD GIF AFTER THE JUMP
7
Jan
2012
ReadAndReact’s 2011-2012 NFL Wild Card Playoff Picks
Arian Foster is sporting a fresh haircut for today's playoff game (Photo: Duane Brown via Twitter)
It’s Wild Card Weekend in the NFL, which means everyone and their mother are making playoff predictions … so we wanted to throw our hats into the ring and get our picks for this weekend’s games on the record, along with our choices to win it all.
As usual, we acknowledge up front that prognostication is not exactly our forte, and these picks are all straight win/loss. We don’t take any point spreads into account, nor do we recommend betting any real money based on our suggestions. This is purely for fun … (CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE):
So, we all see these first four games going pretty much this same, with only one dissenting vote for the Texans this afternoon from TheDarkHorse.
For our Super Bowl picks, Artie is fully drinking the Giants kool aid and hoping Eli, Cruz and the pass rush stay hot for a repeat of their 2007 run. Meanwhile, TheDarkHorse and COURTNEY are playing it safe with the Packers and Aaron Rodgers to repeat, and steverodgers is sticking with Belichick, Brady and the Pats to go the distance, despite their suspect defense.
Enjoy the games!
19
Dec
2011
Turn Out The Lights, the Party’s Over … Transformer Explodes at Candlestick Park on MNF (GIF)
Tonight’s 49ers-Steelers Monday Night Football contest was delayed prior to kickoff when a transformer exploded at Candlestick Park, plunging the stadium into darkness. The explosion was captured by ESPN’s aerial cameras, and was converted into glorious GIF format by the ever-awesome GIFulmination:
(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.
