Before my life becomes consumed by a blur of college athletics, lawsuits and fantasy football, here are five NFL headlines worthy of mention. Hopefully this becomes a weekly occurrence:
5. Terrell Owens is a career carpetbagger, and perhaps bi-polar, but that doesn’t distract from the fact that I will always come to the defense of the oft-vilified and seemingly indefensible wide receiver.
There’s no doubt about it: I am a Terrell Owens’ apologist. That said, I never really got over his unceremonious departure from Dallas, having been released only one year after he signed a four-year extension. That’s why I’m rooting for the Original 81 to get his career back on track with the Cincinnati Bengals, after a tragically forgettable season with Buffalo last year.
While Owens has largely been a victim of his own creations, (See: San Francisco, Philadelphia and Dallas) he is, in my eyes, a sympathetic hero and one of the most misunderstood athletes on the planet. It’s no secret that Owens never got over his release from the Cowboys, an organization he thought he’d be a part of until deciding to retire.
Always a conspiracy theorist, T.O. publicly stated in an interview session before the Bengals faced the Cowboys in this year’s Hall of Fame game that he isn’t convinced that it was owner Jerry Jones’ decision to release the controversial wideout. Was it in the best interest of the organization to part ways with Owens? Probably. Did Owens’ release coincide with Miles Austin becoming a bona-fide star? Yes.
All that considered, I still wish one of the NFL’s biggest draws was a part of one of its most storied franchises. Instead, the Cowboys will rely on Roy Williams (so far a bust), Austin and an über-talented experiment in Dez Bryant, who comes from a dysfunctional family and has had problems of his own, to deliver a championship this year.
At least now that Owens is in the AFC North, I don’t have to divide my allegiances. I can root for Owens and Chad Ochocinco to reach the Super Bowl, even though the Bengals have been chronic underachievers, without compromising my rooting interests.
4. By entertaining discussions of expanding to an 18-game format and doing away with games in preseason, but in the same breath making a concerted effort to pay attention to the degenerative effects of concussions on players, the NFL is engaging in a form of double jeopardy.
Subtracting violence and tacking it on at the end of the season doesn’t eliminate it from the equation. No matter what measures the NFL takes to enhance the safety of its players, concussions will always be an unfortunate ramification of an ultra-violent sport. Reducing the length of preseason will do little to curtail concussion or season-ending injuries.
If anything, should the NFL adopt an 18-game season, those injuries that were avoided
during the preseason will just migrate over to the regular season. In order to lessen the number of
injuries, a league-wide crackdown on organizations pressuring
players to play when they’re not fully health is in order. Many
players, including, more recently, former Cleveland Browns running back Jamal Lewis, have said that team trainers and doctors don’t always necessarily have the
players’ interests at heart.
3. Yes, this year’s Super Bowl will take place in Dallas’ billion-dollar, desert-diamond stadium, but, now more than ever, that probably guarantees that the Cowboys will be nowhere to be found come February.
Believe me. Nothing would thrill me more than to see the Cowboys win the Super Bowl in their own stadium. To be honest, I’d probably wet my pants. But if only because of the times I’ve dribbled down my leg in the past making Cowboy proclamations, I refuse to believe this year will be any different than years past. Dallas will storm to an 11-5 record, maybe win two playoff games, but Miles Austin will film a sex tape with Kim Kardashian before
Dallas wins the Super Bowl. And it’s only fair. Let’s be real. Cowboys’ fans are snooty ass clowns, and sometimes we deserve the agony we endure.
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2. Here’s something we can all look forward to: another Madden-less football season.
He’s a legend. I’ll continue to buy his newest video game
installment, but I, for one, won’t be missing Madden’s dull-witted quips in the booth. I’ve seen chimpanzees on the Discovery Channel who were more
suited to provide color commentary.
1. Rex Ryan is a journalistic wet dream and a breath of refreshing air in a mediascape dominated by Bill Belichicks.
For the love of football, please go and watch this year’s season of HBO’s “Hard Knocks,” a documentary-style film detailing the ins and outs of the New York Jets training camp. With Ryan, the Jets’ head coach, there’s never a dull moment. If he isn’t busy preaching to his team about “war p***y,” he’s making bold predictions. In a sport of control freaks and egomaniacs, Ryan possesses an aw-schucks attitude that endears him to viewers and journalists alike. His outspoken disposition isn’t likely to make him a bunch of friends in the league, and he’ll probably have to dole out a lot of money in fines, but I can’t help but admire his boulder-sized cojones.
