Monday, August 31, 2009

Lots of Screwy NFL Things

The NFL season officially begins in 10 days when the Tennessee Titans travel to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field. The only NFL talk going on right now should be preview-related; you know, who's going to the Super Bowl, who's winning MVP, all that nonsense that nobody can really predict (yes, sadly, including us) but try to anyway.

So why, every time you turn on your TV, is there another NFL storyline?

A few of the odd ones:

Brett Keisel signs an extension with the Steelers. I'm not one to challenge the Steelers front office; they have amassed 6 Super Bowls and I work at Burger King. It just seems that with their extensive list of 2010 free agents (Willie Parker, Casey Hampton, Hines Ward, Ryan Clark, William Gay, Dan Sepulveda), the Steelers would go out of their way to resign an average defensive end on the downside of his career.
And now Brett Keisel (pictured, left) is going to go to the Pro Bowl.

Ravens put Samari Rolle on the PUP list to start the season. At first glance, odd? No. Then you remember Samari Rolle was actually a free agent this offseason. The Ravens are stacked at cornerback - a recent SI article called their talent at the position "embarrassingly deep" - with starters Fabian Washington and Domonique Foxworth, ex-starter Frank Walker, nickelback Chris Carr and highly touted third round pick Lardarius Webb. Rolle hasn't even practiced yet. Sources close to the team are wondering whether he's going to play at all. So how does that merit the $3 million he's earning this year?

Brandon Marshall, the entire NFL world thinks you're a joke. Josh McDaniels, you're really not far behind. In suspending Brandon Marshall (pictured, right) for a puny 14 days, all McDaniels is doing is keeping him out of preseason and training camp - which nobody wants to go through anyway. Suspend the guy the entire season or trade him for a second round pick to some desperate time. How can you start a guy who basically boycotted training camp merely because he didn't want to be there? It would have been better if he didn't show up. Instead, he's there walking, batting down passes thrown to him, punting balls handed to him. He's six years old, and he gets a slap on the wrist.
Broncos: You're going to be terrible. Kyle Orton is an awful, awful quarterback. I still maintain you got the better end of the Jay Cutler deal - first round draft picks in the NFL are huge. That being said, this year ain't it. Develop Eddie Royal more. Brandon Stokley is serviceable. So is Jabar Gaffney. Point being: your receivers aren't that bad anyway, but it wouldn't matter if Randy Moss and Larry Fitzgerald were lining up for you, anyway. You would still be bad. Crack down on Marshall.

Now that that rant is done, Osi Umenyiora walks out of Giants camp because of a dispute with his defensive coordinator? I think I speak for everyone when I say ... please, please just let the NFL season start so we can have games to talk about.

Image Sources:
http://www.epicathlete.com/images/bodyImage_coachesKeisel.gif
http://www.roblongshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/brandon_marshall_blog1.jpg

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