Check out Jon Tamari from the Inquirer’s simple breakdown of the NFL lockout ruling that happened today. Judge Susan Richard Nelson decided to end the lockout and side with the players, but the owners aren’t giving up very easy. There is still a lot that has to be settled before football is played. At least it’s a step in the right direction.
Author Archive for Stephen Watson
Let’s be honest, Michael Vick has not made the best decisions in life.
He paid his price for the dog fighting escapade by serving 18 months in jail. Since then, No. 7 has improved his public image during his rehabilitation process by giving back to the community and becoming an animal rights activist.
I don’t know how I haven’t seen this video until now, but it’s going to make you wonder what Vick (and his public relations rep) were thinking after answering this question: is there anything you would change about your life?
The answer will baffle your mind.
While the lockout continues to transpire, many NFL athletes that aren’t named Michael Vick or DeSean Jackson are struggling to make ends meet financially. ESPN’s Rick Reilly gave a unique look into the majority of players that aren’t financially set through massive contracts.
Relating specifically to the Philadelphia Eagles, Reilly highlights wide receiver/specialist Chad Hall. The 24-year-old received minimum salary last season after playing in 11 games. If there is no NFL season in 2011, he plans to open a wings restaurant in Atlanta with his sister’s boyfriend, Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford.
To read the complete article, click: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=6388708
Check out Sheil Kapadia of Philly.com’s organized list of every player that visited and worked out with the Eagles this offseason:
From Philly.com:
“The Eagles received two seventh-round compensatory picks Friday, giving them 10 selections in next month’s NFL draft.
The Eagles’ 10 picks are: first round (No. 23 overall), second (54), third (85), fourth (104), fourth (120), fifth (149), fifth (153), seventh (228), seventh (236), and seventh (239).”
For the complete article, click here.
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Kevin Kolb has been a hot commodity around the NFL trade rumors as of recent. The Eagles backup, who head coach Andy Reid is listening to offers for, could be out of Philadelphia if the ‘Birds can get a first round draft pick.
According to reports from Comcast Sportsnet, the Arizona Cardinals are leading the charge for No. 4. The Cardinals reportedly contacted Reid and expressed interest in giving up a first round pick for the 27-year-old quarterback.
From CSN: According to Peter King of SI.com, one team is willing to offer a first-round pick for Kolb. A league source has told CSN’s Derrick Gunn that a number of teams have made significant offers for Kolb. The source wouldn’t confirm or deny whether a first-round pick was offered.”
Other teams that are in need of a quarterback are: Vikings, Redskins, Panthers, 49ers, Seahawks, Cardinals, Bills, Dolphins, Browns, Bengals, Broncos, Raiders, Jaguars, Titans. The problem? Most of these teams, like the Cardinals, have top ten picks that may be worth more than Kolb.
If the reports are true, this could be a heck of an opportunity for the Eagles. Arizona has the fifth overall pick in the draft. I doubt they’re willing to give a pick that high for Kolb, but one can always dream.
Let’s face the hard and depressing reality–it seems, now more than ever, that a lockout is coming in the National Football League.
In the final day of meetings, the NFL Players Association decertified its union today. What does this mean? To put it simply, the NFLPA has given up trying to reach a deal with the owners. Instead they will file class-action lawsuits that could last well into the 2011 season. According to ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter, the NFL plans to announce a lockout at some point tonight or over the weekend.
How long will this lockout last?
ESPN wrote: “In the end, it appeared the sides were about $185 million per year apart on how much money owners would get up front during the new collective bargaining agreement — well down from the $1 billion that separated them for so long. The union refused to budge any further without getting detailed financial information for each team.”
This goes to show how capitalism drives every industry. It’s a battle between millionaires and billionaires, between greed and greedier. The reason for the sport, which is to provide entertainment, has lost its value because of personal gain. There may be no more Sunday’s on the couch with Fox/CBS/ESPN, no more fantasy football, and no more Super Bowl parties this upcoming season. That was not an easy sentence to write.
The Philadelphia Inquirer published the reactions to a number of Eagles players, who may find themselves off the field and on the golf links this upcoming season.
“I cringe every time I hear it,” said Eagles center Mike McGlynn, one of the team’s union representatives. “I just want to jump through the TV screen and say, ‘I’m not a millionaire!’”
“I know we stand together,” Eagles player representative Winston Justice said. ”We’re not just fighting for ourselves now. We’re fighting for the future of the NFL and its players.”
If there is a lockout, players won’t be able to have contact with the team, their coaches or be permitted to use team facilities. So not only are the players losing their potential to play, but also their practice facilities to stay in shape and rehab as well as their relationships with their teammates. It extends past the owners and the players; it’s the coaches, scouts, office workers all potentially being laid off. It’s the concessions, the restaurants, the merchandising companies. And most of all, it’s the fans. All for an extra buck for the already billionaire owners.
Since it seems no deal will be reached by midnight tonight, we can only hope and pray that an agreement comes in the near future before disrupting the discourse of the NFL season. If not, I hope ESPN starts carrying more English Premier Soccer games or the UFL is ready to step into prime time. Ugh, this makes me sick.
03
Mar
11
EAGLES: Michael Vick is…Jesus?
In case you didn’t hear it, Michael Vick’s latest media frenzy came the other day on a Washington D.C. radio station. Michael Muhammad, the chairman of the Southeastern Virginia Arts Association, has decided to honor Vick with an award later this month for his success off the field since being released from jail.
In an interview with WAVY-TV, Muhammed said:
“”People talk about the fact that Michael Vick was a convicted felon. Well, so was Jesus Christ, yet he was able to do things above and beyond the naysayers,” Muhammad recently told the station.
Not the right choice of words Mr. Muhammad.
First Vick is given the keys to Dallas, the most rivaled football city to the Eagles. Then he is asked to go onto Oprah, in which he ended up canceling last second. Now he is being compared to Jesus Christ?! Granted he brought all of this on himself with his actions of a few years ago, but can’t the man catch a break?
Here is a lengthier article from the Philadelphia Inquirer about Muhammed’s comments and reaction to the comparison.
Many of you have heard the name Gabe Carimi a lot recently as an option for the Eagles with their first hand draft pick. In the last four years at the University of Wisconsin, I’ve had the pleasure of watching the lineman develop into a top-notch offensive tackle. Due to his physical prowess (6-foot-7, 314 pounds), versatility and grinding mentality, Carimi is a great fit for the struggling Philadelphia Eagles offensive line.
Gabe Carimi would bring a ton of experience to Philadelphia
In his senior season, Carimi won the Outland Trophy, given to the nation’s top interior lineman. He anchored the left side of the line along with guard/center prospect John Moffitt. They led the way for the nation’s most dominant running game, led by John Clay, Monte Ball and James White. If you look at film, Carimi is always one of the first players in the secondary blocking for his backs, something the Eagles lineman always seem to fail at when blocking for LeSean McCoy.
One of the bigger concerns for the Wisconsin native is his speed. Can he handle blocking for Michael Vick, who requires speedy offensive lineman to keep up with him? Carimi is not the fastest, but he makes up for it with his intelligence and never-give-up mentality.
In his senior season alone, Carimi faced a number of NFL-ready defensive ends, all of which he had success against. For Iowa it was Adrian Clayborn and for Purdue it was Ryan Kerrigan, who are both top-5 defensive ends heading into the draft. He also matched up against Cameron Heyward from Ohio State, ranked as a top-8 defensive end. In his junior season, he was forced to contain current Eagle and then Michigan standout Brandon Graham. Case point: he has the experience against NFL-ready defensive linemen and he has had success against all of them.
During the Senior Bowl, Carimi also tried out left guard. He said he would be willing to make the conversion to the next level, which might as well be music to the ears of Howie Roseman. For an Eagles offensive line that may lost Nick Cole and Max Jean-Gilles to free agency, getting a top-tier offensive lineman is a must.
The combination of his experience as the best run-blocking offensive lineman in the country with his work ethic and willingness to convert to guard if need be, Gabe Carimi is the right fit for the Eagles. If he happens to fall to the Eagles in the 20’s of the first round, then I think it is a great pick considering the struggles the Eagles have faced at that position. Call me biased, but he certainly was fun to watch at Wisconsin.
Watch Carimi (#68) match up with Adrian Clayborn (#94) on the left side of the O-line
Carimi (#68) vs. Cameron Heyward (#97)
Alex Cohen
Ian Stancato
Josh Getzoff
Stephen Watson
Zach Field
