D.J. Eberle steps in for an Ailing Angry Ward today. You can find D.J. on our partner site, RugbyWrapUp.com, every Sunday.
NEW ORLEANS, LA – Yesterday was NFL Media Day for this year’s Super Bowl, but the Weird & Wacky Stories started two days ago with the rumor that the New York Jets are interested in bringing in former #1 overall pick JaMarcus Russell. This comes on top of a veritable forest of NFL story trees to chop down, but we’ve got limited space here, so we’ll focus on just three.
JaMarcus Russell to the New York Jets: Russell is currently in the midst of making an NFL comeback. Yet, the former Oakland Raiders quarterback still weighs over 300 pounds. Either way, Russell has surrounded himself around the right people; Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk, former NFL quarterback Jeff Garcia and wide receiver Michael Clayton. After sitting out for a few years, Russell now misses the NFLand is working harder than ever to prove all of his naysayers wrong. Enter the New York Jets, who have reportedly started “exploratory discussions” about bringing in the overweight bust. Now, if I’m a Jets fan (which I’m not – Go Bills!) I’m scratching my head – to say the least. Jets ownership’s publicity stunt with Tim Tebow failed miserably. Now they are considering a QB who has won seven of the 25 NFL games he has started. If the Jets were smart, they would bring in an established quarterback like Alex Smith if they still don’t trust Mark Sanchez. Meanwhile, if I’m Russell I try coming back because America is a country of second chances; ask Tiger Woods, Michael Vick, and Alex Rodriguez. And as crazy as this sounds, if Russell can drop the weight, he does have the intangibles to be successful.
Joe Flacco is Dull: No that is not a misprint. According to Steve Flacco, Joe’s father, the Raven’s quarterback is a dull as a person can get:
“Joe is dull. As dull as he is portrayed in the media, he’s that dull. He is dull,” Father Flacco told the New York Times.
Now this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. What’s bad about this story is that Joe Flacco’s father publicly insulted him less than a week before the biggest game of his life. Either way you don’t want your team’s quarterback to be the one that is the diva, you’d rather that be your wide receiver or running back. The QB should be the leader of the offense, the guy who arrives at the stadium first and leave last. This is something QB’s like Carolina’s Cam Newton and Chicago’s Jay Cutler have had trouble with. I just find this funny that it breaks to the media just hours before Media Day began for the Ravens yesterday. If I was John Harbaugh, this is something I don’t want to distract Flacco right before the Super Bowl.
Ray Lewis & Deer Antlers: Need a way to suspend Ray for the last game of his professional career? Well, it leaked through Sports Illustrated yesterday that Baltimore’s Ray Lewis has been linked to performance enhancing drugs and was given deer-antler spray in order to help him recover faster from the torn triceps he injured in Week 6. The spray contains IGF-1, which is considered a PED. Lewis has denied using the spray and has never failed a drug test during his NFL career. I believe Lewis. I’ve always been a fan and consider him one of the best defensive players of his generation. And I guarantee that Lewis uses this as bulletin board material, just like he used the Boston billboards two weeks ago for the AFC Championship. My prediction is that the Ravens linebacker will win MVP of Super Bowl XLVII… a great way to end a great career.
Please leave your comments below and tune in tomorrow for Cam James.
