Lisa Olson FanHouse

Spielmans' Special Story of Love and Life

Lisa Olson — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:30:00 EST

When Chris Spielman suffered a brutal neck injury, he said overcoming it was a breeze compared to most everything his wife Stefanie had faced. When her hair started falling out, when clumps of it began landing on the floor and in their toddler's hands, Chris decided to shave his own head, a soldier in solidarity. When it became apparent that more chemotherapy and a mastectomy -- breast cancer's evil twins -- were high on Stefanie's schedule, Chris bid a temporary farewell to the NFL, skipping an entire year so he could be with the woman he proposed to on the 18th hole of a Putt-Putt course.

None of the above should be considered exceptional behavior by husbands or partners forced to watch their loved one undergo treatment for cancer. But everything Chris did back in those gloomy days following his wife's diagnosis was regarded as unusual and, in some parts, emasculating.

Stefanie Spielman, 42, died Thursday after a lengthy battle with breast cancer. Chris Spielman, the NFL and Ohio State star, was by her side, along with their four children, and while she deserves a thousand hosannas and a billion thanks for her work in raising millions over the years to combat the disease, it should be noted that he was quite the trailblazer.

When they met at a teen dance in their hometown of Massillon, Ohio, Chris was a high school stud who soon would be featured on the cover of a Wheaties box; his football journey continued at Ohio State, where his bone-crunching hits as an All-American linebacker became legendary. By the time Stefanie found a lump in her right breast during a routine self-exam, they had been married 10 years and he was deep into an NFL career. This was 1998, and let's just say the world of sports was not as enlightened as it is now.

She was three months pregnant when she felt that lump, and later miscarried. Chris told her he wanted to skip his upcoming season with the Buffalo Bills so he could accompany her to doctor appointments, and hold her head when the chemo made her nauseous, and be a calming force as she underwent surgery to remove her breast. Eight stellar years with the Detroit Lions and another two with the Bills (he set a team and personal record in 1996 with 206 tackles) had given him much credibility with the football-crazed public, but how would they understand this kind of absence?

"Players just didn't leave the game unless they were injured or retiring on their own terms," Stefanie once told me at a fundraiser for Lance Armstrong's Livestrong foundation. "It seemed so simple to me. Just tell the fans your wife has breast cancer. Who knows? Maybe it will have some kind of trickle-down effect. Maybe one fan will go home and say to his wife, 'Honey, sweetheart, don't forget to make that appointment for your mammogram.'

"Cancer is never just about the person who has it. At least it shouldn't be. It's about everyone around that person. Chris made a selfless decision and I love him dearly for it."

He took the season off, shaved his head to match his wife's beautiful bald dome and still there were the grumps in the Neanderthal section wondering why a Pro Bowl linebacker had to go and mess up their Sunday fun. When Stefanie's treatment reached a manageable level, he returned to the NFL for the 1999 season, this time with the Cleveland Browns, but a second neck injury ended his NFL career.

"Nothing my body has gone through can begin to compare to what Stefanie deals with almost every day," Chris once said. "She's my hero."

Stefanie's plan, formed in the aftermath of her diagnosis, began on a small level, with a sign at Big Bear, the Spielman's neighborhood grocery story, asking shoppers to please donate money to Ohio State's James Cancer Hospital. A few thousand dollars, she said, would have made her delirious. Girl Scout troops and baseball teams and individuals and clubs from all across the community began offering their pennies, and within six months those pennies totaled $1 million.

The Stefanie Spielman Fund for Breast Cancer Research, along with the Stefanie's Champions awards, has since raised more than $6.5 million for the cause. She survived four bouts with cancer before a fifth, and final, recurrence in the spring left her wheelchair-bound. She accompanied Chris to Ohio State's season opener against Navy, when he was honored at halftime for his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame. Against a backdrop where Chris once played to phenomenal roars, the loudest applause, by far, came when Stefanie was introduced.

And in a cruel coincidence, on one of her last days came a report from a federal task force saying women should delay mammograms until they're 50, 10 years later than the medical community has traditionally recommended. Not to make the Neanderthals in the balcony squeamish, but if you, the sports fan, have a mother, a sister, a wife, a girlfriend -- or if you just happen to like healthy breasts -- this might be a subject worth discussing at halftime. There is one tough linebacker who'd appreciate it.

"Stefanie has gone home to be with the Lord," Chris Spielman said in a statement released by WBNS radio in Columbus, where he co-hosts a radio show. "For that, we celebrate, but with broken hearts. I want to thank everyone for their support over the last 12 years. Together, with your help, hopefully we made a difference in this fight."

We hear all the time about athletes who'd never win plaques for Father or Husband of the Year. They fail in the complicated tango between celebrity and sports, neglecting their human responsibilities in exchange for fame and an enlarged ego. But there are many more who quietly go about their business between the lines, before returning home and acting as good citizens, good partners.

Chris and Stefanie Spielman's story might have been one of the first public examples of an athlete doing the right -- dare we say, the manly -- thing. Thankfully, and in her memory, it won't be the last.

Spielmans' Special Story of Love and Life originally appeared on Lisa Olson FanHouse on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Titans Fumble One Away to Upstart Jets

Lisa Olson — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 22:10:00 EST

Filed under: NFL

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The loneliest man in the stadium sat alone on a bench, his thoughts drowning out anything the crazed blob of 70,000 might be yelling at him. How could he have let not one, but two kicks trickle through his hands on a day like this, when the Tennessee Titans so desperately needed a win? How could he wrap such perfect gifts for the New York Jets, his fumbles turning into touchdowns for the wrong team? His teammates tried to comfort him with arm squeezes or soothing words, but Ryan Mouton just squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head.

Mouton would offer the exact same gestures an hour or so later, this time as he stood in the visitor's locker room and tried to explain how he got pulled into a vortex that resulted in the worst game of his short professional career. The ball was covered in a fine slippery sheen on this rainy, messy afternoon in the Meadowlands, where the Jets beat the Titans, 24-17. Mouton, a third-round pick out of Hawaii, is a rookie still growing accustomed to fielding punts and kickoffs. Partial excuses flew at Mouton from all corners.

"Doesn't matter. It's on me. They're my mistakes," Mouton said. "I did a poor job."

The Titans' 0-3 start is nearly as stunning as the Jets' 3-0 mark out of the gates. While one rookie's awful day on special teams deflected attention from the Titans' other woes, another rookie's up-and-down day at quarterback sparked all sorts of delirium. Mark Sanchez passed for two touchdowns, ran for another, went through an entire quarter without hitting a receiver, coughed up a couple of nervous fumbles, was sacked three times, threw one interception, scared the hair off the owner's head by going nose first at the goal line rather than sensibly sliding -- and when it was over, he had become the first rookie QB in history to go 3-0 to start a season.

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"Each week, it seems like every phase has their moments in the game," said the newly mustachioed Sanchez, after completing 17 of 30 passes for 171 yards and TD tosses to Jerricho Cotchery and Ben Hartsock. "The special teams were huge. Two big-time plays for this team -- that was big for us. We're in this thing together."

The NFL is indeed a curious puzzle. Last season, the Titans won a league-best 13 games and sailed into the playoffs. Now Tennessee's desperation is as obvious as the bombs Kerry Collins throws over his receivers' outstretched hands. Last season, the Jets thought they had bottled magic in Brett Favre's arm, until the fantasy popped. Now the Jets have a quarterback fans can finally believe in, and a frothing, ferocious defense every bit as fine as its top rating suggests.

"No panic stage, nothing. We're going to keep working," said Titans coach Jeff Fisher, still clinging to the notion that must-win games occur only in the playoffs and not in September.

On a wet, sponge-like field, the Jets opened with a no-huddle offense, attacking early the weak Titans' secondary. It was an impressive first series for the home team, proving the Jets had no hangover from an emotional win over the Patriots one Sunday earlier. Sanchez, facing third-and-10 from the Tennessee 14. and looking more and more at home in the red zone, scampered, broke a tackle and took a shot from the Titans' Michael Griffin, but still spun across the goal line, head-first, for a 7-0 Jets' lead.

"That felt pretty good," Sanchez said. "That was a big-time hit on the goal line. I hadn't had a rushing touchdown probably since high school, at least a long rushing touchdown, and 14 [yards] is long for me."

Jets linebacker Bart Scott offered his own twist, ripping Griffin for failing to bring down the QB. "I think that guy should be embarrassed. Maybe Sanchez's post-rookie player card should have that run-over on the end of it," Scott said. "They should make it a Fathead."

Mouton's first mistake soon buried Griffin's blunder. Mouton returned the ensuing kickoff for 14 yards but was hit by Jason Trusnik, who forced the ball to squirt out and then recovered Mouton's fumble. Mouton did everything but hand the ball to the Jets in a blue box, because Sanchez orchestrated a quick drive from the Titans' 19-yard line. It ended five plays later, on a perfect play-action, with Sanchez faking a handoff and finding tight end Hartsock on an arcing soft toss in the end zone. In two touchdown drives, Sanchez connected with six different receivers, and somewhere Pete Carroll must have been wondering why he was suddenly noticing so many new frown lines in the mirror.

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New York Jets wide receiver Jerricho Cothery grabs a long pass as Tennessee Titans Jason McCourty defends in an NFL football game at Giants Stadium East Rutherford, New Jersey, Sunday, September 27, 2009. The Jets won 24-17. (Joe Rogate/Newsday/MCT)

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GLENDALE, AZ - SEPTEMBER 27: Running back Joseph Addai #29 of the Indianapolis Colts looks on before taking on the Arizona Cardinals during the game at University of Phoenix Stadium on September 27, 2009 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Joseph Addai

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CINCINNATI, OH - SEPTEMBER 27: Hines Ward #86 of the Pittsburgh Steelers runs up the field after catching the football against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium on September 27, 2009 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Bengals defeated the Steelers 23-20. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Hines Ward

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CINCINNATI, OH - SEPTEMBER 27: Carson Palmer #9 of the Cincinnati Bengals passes the football against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Paul Brown Stadium on September 27, 2009 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Bengals defeated the Steelers 23-20. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Carson Palmer

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CINCINNATI, OH - SEPTEMBER 27: Ben Roethlisberger #7 of the Pittsburgh Steelers looks on against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium on September 27, 2009 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Bengals defeated the Steelers 23-20. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Ben Roethlisberger

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SEATTLE - SEPTEMBER 27: Greg Olsen #82 of the Chicago Bears catches a touchdown pass against Cory Redding #94 of the Seattle Seahawks at Qwest Field on September 27, 2009 in Seattle, Washington. The Bears defeated the Seahawks 26-19. (Photo by Tom Hauck/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Greg Olsen;Cory Redding

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CINCINNATI, OH - SEPTEMBER 27: Head coach Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers argues with an official during the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium on September 27, 2009 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Bengals defeated the Steelers 23-20. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Mike Tomlin

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SEATTLE - SEPTEMBER 27: Jay Cutler #6 of the Chicago Bears is fumbles as he is sacked by Patrick Kerney #97 of the Seattle Seahawks at Qwest Field on September 27, 2009 in Seattle, Washington. The Bears defeated the Seahawks 26-19. (Photo by Tom Hauck/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jay Cutler;Patrick Kerney

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SEATTLE - SEPTEMBER 27: Quarterback Seneca Wallace #15 of the Seattle Seahawks rolls out to pass as he is pressured by Jamar Williams #52 of the Chicago Bears at Qwest Field on September 27, 2009 in Seattle, Washington. The Bears defeated the Seahawks 26-19. (Photo by Tom Hauck/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Seneca Wallace;Jamar Williams

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SEATTLE - SEPTEMBER 27: Jay Cutler #6 of the Chicago Bears throws a touchdown pass against Deon Grant #24 of the Seattle Seahawks at Qwest Field on September 27, 2009 in Seattle, Washington. The Bears defeated the Seahawks 26-19. (Photo by Tom Hauck/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jay Cutler;Deon Grant

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CINCINNATI, OH - SEPTEMBER 27: Head coach Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers looks on against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium on September 27, 2009 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Bengals defeated the Steelers 23-20. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Mike Tomlin

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After staggering to a 0-2 start, including that inexplicable loss to the Texans last week, the Titans looked defenseless. The ridiculous uniforms both teams were wearing in honor of the 50th anniversary of the AFL's inaugural season didn't help: The Jets were the 1960 Titans, the Titans were the powder-blue Houston Oilers, and the poor referees looked like they escaped from a Sesame Street skit. Fisher patrolled the sidelines in clothes no self-respecting high school coach would ever wear. But hey, who's complaining, as long as the NFL makes more piles of money from saps willing to buy throwback unis.

Sanchez's No. 6 is fast becoming a NY fashion do, but the kid still has his don't moments. Early in the second quarter, as the Jets were again driving, Sanchez had the ball stripped by defensive tackle Tony Brown. The fumble gave the Titans possession at their 45-yard line, and soon the Jets' defensive streak of going nine quarters without allowing a touchdown came to a halt. LenDale White, slimmed down considerably from last season, broke a couple of tackles from six yards out and rushed into the end zone with another defender clinging to his jersey.

Though it's not impossible to rebound from an 0-3 start and reach the playoffs -- think 1998 Buffalo and, true story, Detroit in 1995 -- Collins, the well-traveled Tennessee quarterback, knows the odds aren't kind. Playing with the sort of urgency befitting a desperate QB, Collins began firing dagger spirals on a field he knows well. He gave the Titans a 17-14 lead 3:26 into the second half when he hit Nate Washington on a pretty fade route for a 9-yard touchdown. "He made some throws that I couldn't believe. I sat back and said, 'Man, when did they get Johnny Unitas?'" Ryan said of Collins.

The Jets, brilliantly proficient in the first quarter, suddenly were an offense of three-and-outs. The fans, ludicrously loud all of last Sunday when the hated Patriots were in town, suddenly remembered who they were. Some began to boo. "I was booing myself," Jets coach Rex Ryan would say later. Soon, the Jets were punting again, and the rookie Mouton told himself to forget what happened two quarters earlier.

Steve Weatherford's booming punt traveled 58 yards, ending with the ball floating right through a retreating Mouton's arms. As he frantically tried to retrieve it, Brad Smith smothered Mouton. The ball bounced around until linebacker Larry Izzo recovered it for the Jets. Four plays later, as Mouton sat on a bench, the loneliest man in the stadium, Sanchez again torched the Titans' porous defense. He found Cotchery on a 6-yard slant in the front of the end zone, putting the Jets up 21-17. Jay Feely's 30-yard field goal made it 24-17 with 11:36 remaining.

The Titans keep finding creative ways to lose. That's not the mark of a playoff-hungry team, no matter how many happy faces Fisher tries to make. Mouton and the special teams dirtied the Titans' hopes, but it was the Jets' defense, rumored to be a bunch of gimmicks and loud mouths, that buried Tennessee for good. And what do you know, there was Scott, the linebacker who always seems to have much to say, growling, "For anybody out there who thinks that this is a gimmick defense and can't play smashmouth, how dare you?"

Dialing up the pressure and blitzing from all corners, the Jets defense put Collins through a fourth-quarter ringer. David Harris had an interception and a huge sack on Tennessee's final two drives, as Collins misfired on 13 straight passes. "By no means can we start pointing fingers and start pushing panic buttons," Collins said afterward. "We've just got to stay together and keep believing in what we are doing and we'll get it turned around."

History suggests it might be too late, even while the season is so young. But if the Detroit Lions can rebound from 0-3 ignominy and make the playoffs -- heck, if the current Lions can finally win a single game -- shouldn't hope spring eternal? Sunday's goat had the obvious answer.

"All I can do is keep working hard and do my best," said Mouton, whose two muffed returns led to 14 New York points. He headed up the ramp leading out of Giants Stadium, a lonely man eager to say good riddance to a miserable day.

Titans Fumble One Away to Upstart Jets originally appeared on Lisa Olson FanHouse on Sun, 27 Sep 2009 22:10:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Same Old, Same Old? Not These Jets

Lisa Olson — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 22:00:00 EST

Filed under: NFL

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Pump up the volume, Jets coach Rex Ryan had implored fans in a taped phone message, and so they did, until the Meadowlands was shaking like a thousand space ships about to launch.

Don't just beat them, Jets safety Kerry Rhodes had beseeched, try to embarrass them, and while we kept waiting for the visiting Patriots to make Rhodes regurgitate his bulletin board words, the Meadowlands kept getting louder and louder and louder and louder. "I actually felt the ground vibrating," Jets defensive end Shaun Ellis would say later, after experiencing a day like no other in Gang Green's tortured relationship with the Patriots.

The tumblers shifted just slightly Sunday in a division long dominated by New England. It's only Week 2 of the season, so caveats must be noted: surely Tom Brady won't always look so uncomfortable while getting hit from every angle, and Bill Belichick will crack a smile before he allows himself to again be outcoached, and the laws of football's universe suggest Ryan's bravado will eventually backfire, and New York's defense can't always gloss over the mistakes made by Mark Sanchez, their rookie quarterback.

But for one shockingly raucous and rocking afternoon at Giants Stadium, the Jets sure did give their long-suffering fans a glimpse at how the other half lives. The Jets tagged a 16-9 loss on the Patriots, a final score that doesn't begin to illustrate the impact the victory could have on a franchise desperate for a cultural makeover.

Down by a touchdown, with less than two minutes on the clock and no timeouts left, the Patriots got the football back for one last series. Brady craves these moments like the rest of us crave air. He has engineered 29 comeback victories, a statistic much more relevant than the fact that the Jets hadn't beaten the Patriots in the Meadowlands since 2000, when Brady was a fourth-string scrub. And yet, as 78,000-strong rose and stomped their feet and emptied their lungs and turned into an even more powerful 12-man/woman/blob than Ryan had dreamed possible, the Jets knew.

"The game is over," is how wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery would later describe New York's sideline mentality. "With our defense, the way they played today ..."

The tumblers shifted, the culture transformed. Without receiver Wes Welker -- "He was inactive because he wasn't able to play," said Belichick, as if he were explaining Welker's injury to kindergartners -- and looking vulnerable on his surgically repaired left knee, Brady connected with Julian Edelman on an 18-yard pass. Football fans everywhere probably rolled their eyes and said, "of course, here he goes," but the Jets swear they knew otherwise.

For one shockingly raucous and rocking afternoon at Giants Stadium, the Jets sure did give their long-suffering fans a glimpse at how the other half lives.Soon it was third-and-10 on New England's 28, Brady in the shotgun, the Jets rushing five, with safety Eric Smith knocking the pass incomplete. Fourth-and -10, one last play, the Meadowlands louder than it's been since 2002, and now the Jets were blitzing again, forcing Brady to stagger on his back foot. Dwight Lowery, one of the many cogs in the Jets' revolving whirl of defensive backs, broke up Brady's pass intended for Joey Galloway, and who knows? Optimists -- and they were everywhere in the Jets' locker room -- might someday recall that as the point when the phrase "same ol' Jets" was officially retired.

"We put the team on our back and put it in the defense's hands and closed the show," Jets linebacker Bart Scott said.

Rhodes, having adroitly backed up his big mouth, said the old Jets -- you know, the ones who have compiled roughly 40 seasons worth of letdowns -- would have been less aggressive during that final drive, more "intent on bending and hopefully not breaking." These Jets? They've yet to surrender an offensive touchdown in the young season. They didn't embarrass the Patriots as Rhodes had hoped, but they did hold them to 299 total yards despite failing to sack Brady. Rhodes said he hadn't any regrets about talking tough throughout the week or the odd Twitter feud he sparked with ex-Patriot Rodney Harrison. Standing in front of his locker, Rhodes didn't end his sentences with LOL (his favorite tweet), but he did sound like a man pumped up by a crowd that let him know early they appreciated his bluster.

"Oh wow, that was great the way they were chanting my name," Rhodes said. "I felt like Rocky for a minute."

Ryan, the rookie coach who four months ago announced he didn't come to New York to "kiss Bill Belichick's rings," put the lid on the brazen rhetoric in his post-game interview. Ryan complimented everyone on the opposite sideline but the waterboys, shrewd words considering the Jets play in New England later this season, when Welker presumably will be available and the Patriots' defense will have overcome holes left from retirement and trades.

"That's the best quarterback and coach in the league," Ryan, having won two games as a head coach, said of Brady and Belichick. "I thought we had the best team today."

Down the hall, the coach who has 154 career wins and three rings, talked about being outplayed and outcoached. He used those words several times, and when someone mentioned his team's troubles communicating in an atmosphere where it was impossible to hear a person screaming in your face, Belichick glumly noted, "We didn't get the play off in time."

The Patriots had four delay-of-game penalties and one illegal formation penalty, assists going to the tens of thousands of fans who chose a fine time to intimidate Fireman Ed. The Jets had a brilliant, ferocious defense, and a quarterback who admittedly needed a quarter or two before he could exhale and relax.

The first home opener of Sanchez's career was a blur of 3-4 and 4-3 fronts and blitz overloads and combination coverages. Belichick's defenses famously eat rookie QBs for breakfast, but no matter how much USC coach Pete Carroll wishes Sanchez was around for another year, it thus far appears he and the Jets are a fine match.

His teammates teasingly call him "Sanchise," as in "franchise," though they might want to give the kid some time before changing the tag over his locker. The Patriots outgained the Jets 197-57 in the first half, but led just 9-3 in a contest of field goals. Whatever the Jets said to Sanchez during halftime, it worked, as he came out firing. Sanchez led the Jets on a 56-yard drive in three plays, hitting Cotchery on a tight slant that the receiver turned into a 45-yard gain, and then finding Dustin Keller deep in the end zone for the go-ahead score.

"It's more of a great catch than a great throw," Sanchez said, humbly. "There's no pressure when you play on a team like this. Look at the way we play, look at the way guys were excited playing for each other and our head coach, playing for the Jets organization and that logo and what it represents."

He compared the atmosphere in the Meadowlands to USC-UCLA, only "10 steps above." He kicked himself for making rookie blunders, like failing to perfect a pitch-and-catch throw to Chansi Stuckey in the end zone that would have given the Jets another touchdown. Stuckey managed to haul in the ball but couldn't keep both feet inbounds; Belichick's challenge reversed the TD.

"I don't care if I'm a rookie or in seventh grade, I need to make that throw, especially against them," said Sanchez, who completed 14-of-22 passes for 163 yards.

It was only one game, one ridiculously wild and rowdy game, and Sanchez has hundreds to go before he'll ever be near Brady's level. But considering Brady had come out on top in 12 of the previous 14 games he had started against the Jets, and considering the Meadowlands in recent seasons was about as comfortable for the Patriots as their home office in Foxborough, the shift was interesting.

"The pressure overall got him off his game," Rhodes said of Brady, who finished 23-of-47 for 216 yards and one interception. "He was throwing off his back foot. You can't do that in this league. I think he was a little uncertain."

It's been 40 years of franchise bumbles and near-misses since the Jets' Super Bowl III win. Only the insane Jets fan would start booking early-February tickets to Miami, or even looking beyond next Sunday's game against Tennessee. Still, there might be something happening in the Meadowlands, something promising and delightful.

"We're playing like Jets," Ryan said of the team's burgeoning identity, and for that he didn't need to apologize.

Same Old, Same Old? Not These Jets originally appeared on Lisa Olson FanHouse on Sun, 20 Sep 2009 22:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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No Reason to Root for Vick's Failure if He Stays on Straight and Narrow

Lisa Olson — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 01:13:00 EST

Filed under: NFL

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Society benefits the more Michael Vick thrives. Not that his success should be viewed through football's prism -- he can complete 7 for 11 passes for 26 yards, and rush for another 35, and occasionally inspire flashbacks with his elusiveness, as he did Thursday night in the Philadelphia Eagles' 38-27 preseason loss to the New York Jets, and the only people he truly impacts are those who inhale and exhale football.

However his gridiron career finishes, it will be a small footprint to the legacy Vick leaves. No, Vick's true worth should be found in moments beyond the 60 minutes when he earns his employ. This is why we should stand up and root for Vick to thrive, to create a positive ripple, to leave his little section of the planet better than he found it.

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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell made the right, just move earlier on Thursday afternoon when he announced the game plan to officially reintroduce the league's most troubled soul into what we consider civilization: Vick will be suspended for the first two regular season games, making him eligible to play September 27, when the Eagles host the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 3.

"Hopefully we can have a success story here, which would be good for society in general," Goodell said. "He's realistic about the challenges ahead. And anxious to play football."

There are certainly plenty of folks who'd rather Vick be treated with the same cruel indifference he showed packs of innocent animals during the years he ran an illegal dogfighting ring. These folks would prefer Vick be electrocuted, hung, abused and tortured -- karmic punishment for a man they consider beyond redemption. Reading and listening to their diatribes, you wonder why they bother to live in a country that considers it bad form to stone criminals in the town square.

It's not just a trite cliché to note that Vick served his time -- 18 months of a 23-month prison sentence in Leavenworth, not exactly Club Med -- and should be allowed to return to work as long as his employer agrees. The underlining subtexts here -- forgiveness, salvation, man's capacity to change and become better - are only the traits upon which America rests. If we can't root for those, what's the point of ever crawling out from under the covers each morning?

"I've been doing everything I could, doing all the right things and staying on course, and I was happy with the decision, " Vick said of his meeting with Goodell. "I'm changing my life for the better. [I'm showing Goodell] that I'm doing all the things that a professional athlete is supposed to do on an off the field. I can't get complacent. I have to continue to have faith in myself and trust myself, and I think he believed that."

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EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - SEPTEMBER 3: New York Jets fans stand in the crowd during the Jets game against the Philadelphia Eagles on September 3, 2009 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

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EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - SEPTEMBER 3: Mark Sanchez #6 smiles after his team scored a touchdown during the game against the Philadelphia Eagles on September 3, 2009 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Mark Sanchez

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EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - SEPTEMBER 3: AJ Feely #14 of the Philadelphia Eagles throws a pass during the game against the New York Jets on September 3, 2009 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** AJ Feely

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EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - SEPTEMBER 3: AJ Feely #14 of the Philadelphia Eagles is sacked by Jason Trusnik #96 of the New York Jets during the game against the New York Jets on September 3, 2009 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** AJ Feely;Jason Trusnik

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EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - SEPTEMBER 3: Erik Ainge #10 of the New York Jets waits during a time out during the game against the Philadelphia Eagles on September 3, 2009 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Erik Ainge

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EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - SEPTEMBER 3: Michael Vick #7 of the Philadelphia Eagles hands off the ball during the game against the New York Jets on September 3, 2009 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Michael Vick

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EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - SEPTEMBER 3: Michael Vick #7 of the Philadelphia Eagles lies on the ground during the game against the New York Jets on September 3, 2009 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Michael Vick

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EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - SEPTEMBER 3: Actor Jeremy Piven watches the New York Jets game against the Philadelphia Eagles on September 3, 2009 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jeremy Piven

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EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - SEPTEMBER 3: Danny Amendola #11 of the Philadelphia Eagles runs past the New York Jets defense during the game on September 3, 2009 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Danny Amendola

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This was after Vick did some good and not-so-good things on the field against a fine Jets defense, none of which really mattered beyond how they impact the Eagles' roster decisions in the next few days. He was sacked four times for 40 yards in a game where neither team had any interest in adhering to the unwritten code of no-blitzing during the final exhibition.

"I still think I'm a couple weeks away. I'll take this time to get in shape -- to get endurance and to continue to strengthen my legs and to work my mind with the offense, the mental capacity of the game," Vick said. "I just have to try to do all the right things to put myself in the position so that, when I'm called on, I can go out there and do my best."

None of us know whether Vick's core makeup is strong enough for him to overcome the sickening choices he made in the first half of his life, whether he has stopped lying and scheming to commit horrendous acts and surrounding himself with wicked sycophants. Goodell can't possibly know the answer, either, and neither can Tony Dungy, a good, righteous man who now heads Vick's entourage. But there has to be a place in our hearts where we allow for redemptive possibilities, which is the message Goodell seemed to hope to impart when he announced the terms of Vick's full reinstatement.

"Part of this was to help him in his transition from what has been a long and difficult experience for him," said Goodell, who originally planned to offer a decision on Vick's fate no later than Week 6. "I don't want him in a position where he's overwhelmed. He's still relocating his family to Philadelphia. I'm not interested in the football part of it. I'm interested in Michael as a person."

Already we've witnessed plenty of positive fallout in the wake of the abominable acts wrought by Vick and his cohorts at the Bad Newz Kennel. Even clueless idiots should now know that dogfighting is a federal crime in all 50 states. Donations earmarked for animal shelters and volunteer activism has skyrocketed in major cities. Rather than cloak their energy and resources in negative protests, animal rights activists in Philadelphia have mostly chosen to mark Vick's signing with the Eagles as a way to spotlight their noble, often thankless work.

If Vick still has evil instincts, we'll know soon enough. In their meeting Thursday, Goodell reportedly asked Vick to clarify why he became involved with dogfighting in the first place. For some reason, one of Vick's representatives was said to have attempted to explain Vick's role, as if anyone could ever truly articulate a reasonable answer. But at least Vick supposedly interceded, and again took responsibility.

"I have to use good judgment. That's what I've been trying to display and it's what I've been trying to do in my day-to-day walk of life," Vick said after Philadelphia's loss.

On a circuitous trip around the Meadowlands exterior before Philadelphia and New York met, only one lone woman stood out. She held up a sign that read, "Save Dogs, Not Vick," and said she was a Jets season ticket holder. But she wouldn't provide her name, and fans wearing green jerseys barely gave her a side look. If demonstrators want to protest Vick's presence at Giants Stadium or any other NFL fortress, they'll first have to pay outrageous parking and ticket prices.

Even the folks at PETA must realize they can make better use of their funds.

Jets fans greeted Vick's appearance as if he had just kicked their Doberman, which was to be expected. A half-filled Meadowlands booed and jeered Vick when he came in for his first play at quarterback, after backup Kevin Kolb took the first two snaps. (Starter Donovan McNabb sat out the final tune-up.)

Tom Brady has heard worse in these parts, and while the crowd wasn't exactly New York-rude, there were moments when Vick appeared rattled and unfocused. He is clearly still rusty from spending much of the previous two years in courtrooms or prison. But he offered enough flashes of athletic brilliance in a sea of mostly third- and fourth-stringers to remind fans why he once was the league's highest-paid player and one of its most fascinating commodities.

"Jets fans -- they're great," Vick said. "They go out and demonstrate what true fans are supposed to be. They boo, and that's part of the game, but at the same time, I felt some love. I understand it's a part of what I have to deal with. It's part of what any quarterback around the league has to deal with."

In the first half, Vick subbed in and out for Kolb, made several fine escapes from the New York rush, scrambled out of trouble on a second-and-five at the Jets 40 for six yards, scored a touchdown on a two-yard rush up the middle and actually made coach Andy Reid crack a smile.

In the second half, with Vick mostly running the offense, he scrambled in the wrong direction and got flattened by the Jets' Jamaal Westerman for a 22-yard loss, was shaken up on another blitz when Marques Murrell came in from the blind side untouched, got stripped for a fumble, took a couple more sacks and caused Reid to slam down his headset in disgust.

There were times when he evaded trouble, turning the open field into his playground and showing he has plenty of juice in his legs, and times when he failed to settle in and allow his receivers to get set in their routes.

His instincts need fine-tuning on the football field, but as long as he's got them under control off it, we really can't complain.

No Reason to Root for Vick's Failure if He Stays on Straight and Narrow originally appeared on Lisa Olson FanHouse on Fri, 04 Sep 2009 01:13:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Justice Prevails as Plaxico Gets Fair and Well-Deserved Punishment

Lisa Olson — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 20:48:00 EST

Filed under: NFL

NEW YORK -- Beyond their occupation and celebrity lifestyles and physical similarities, Plaxico Burress and Donte' Stallworth really don't belong in the same sentence. They committed different crimes in different states, and if both men are lucky enough to ever again play in the NFL, it will be interesting to see how the league skirts the pesky issue of convicted felons associating with other felons.

Until then, enough with the clueless comparisons between Stallworth's light sentence in Florida for committing vehicular manslaughter while drunk and Burress' heavy plea agreement for criminal possession of a weapon in New York. Just because Florida officials allow wads of cash to buy leniency, that's no reason other states can't legislate their own version of justice.

Don't want to abide by New York laws? Don't carry a gun, with a holster or without, in the city. There is no wiggle room in the tough law that has been on the books for a couple of years now, a law that most civic-minded citizens approve of wholeheartedly. If we didn't, we'd elect politicians who'd make our state more like Florida or Arizona. Here, if you're caught carrying a gun -- if, for example, the .40-caliber semiautomatic Glock you believed was licensed in Florida slips from the waistband of your sweatpants and discharges in a crowded Manhattan nightclub, the bullet narrowly missing a security guard and wounds you in the thigh -- you are going to be prosecuted like any other perp who believes the rules don't apply to him.

Money can't hide you from the law, thank goodness. Celebrity can't shield you from the consequences, hallelujah. Burress, the veteran wide receiver whose legendary playoff performances two seasons ago led the New York Giants to a remarkable Super Bowl win, pleaded guilty Thursday to attempted gun possession and will soon begin serving a prison sentence of up to two years.

Did Burress get a raw deal? Only if you fall into the erroneous trap of comparing the sad tales of Burress, Stallworth and even Michael Vick, just because they happen to share the same employer. Is Burress being singled out because he's another athlete behaving badly? Only if you think he ought to be treated differently than all the other mopes arrested for the same crime in the same city.

If you listen long enough to Benjamin Brafman, Burress' lawyer, you'll start to believe his client is a few good deeds away from sainthood. Brafman is adept at spinning the truth and misdirecting the facts. He is a very loquacious, famous lawyer known for defending mobsters, rappers and Wall Street tycoons, and he wins far more often than he loses. The more he talked on the steps of the court house Thursday after Burress' surprise plea agreement, the more Brafman made it sound as if poor Plaxico was the only citizen tourist in the history of New York to ever be charged or sentenced for carrying a piece in the city.

"This is a very sad day, because I think a very good man, who is a brilliant athlete, is unfortunately going to spend 20 months in prison," Brafman said. "If Plaxico Burress were not a high-profile individual, there never would be a case. If he were just John Q Public, he could have walked out of the club and he never would have been arrested. This was never a level playing field."

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The Plaxico Burress Saga

On April 3, the Giants released Plaxico Burress, ending his turbulent four-year stay in New York. Click through to see more on how Burress' relationship with the Giants unraveled.

Jeff Zelevansky, Getty Images

Plaxico Burress Saga

On April 3, the Giants released Plaxico Burress, ending his turbulent four-year stay in New York. Click through to see more on how Burress' relationship with the Giants unraveled.

Jeff Zelevansky, Getty Images

David Tyree had the highlight reel catch of Super Bowl XLII, but Burress had the game-winner. It was easily Burress' top moment as a pro, but what followed was far less rewarding.

Jim McIsaac, Getty Images

Unhappy with his contract situation, Burress skipped the Giants' mandatory 2008 summer mini-camp and then sat out much of the preseason with an ankle injury. Then, shortly before the start of the regular season, the Giants agreed to a five-year, $35-million contract extension with the disgruntled receiver.

Evan Pinkus, Getty Images

No mandatory mini-camp, no preseason, no problem. In New York's Week 1 win over Washington, Burress made 10 catches for 133 yards.

Seth Wenig, AP

In a stunning Week 6 Monday night loss to Cleveland, Burress scored a touchdown but was otherwise shut down, all part of a sub-par season that saw Burress fail to top 100 yards receiving in any game other than the opener.

Diamond Images / Getty Images

Burress had a bit of a meltdown in the Giants' Oct. 19 win over San Francisco. The NFL fined him $45,000 for his actions in that game, when he verbally abused an official and threw a ball into the stands. That came just two weeks after the Giants suspended Burress for their Oct. 5 game for missing a team meeting.

Evan Pinkus, Getty Images

In an easy New York win over Baltimore during Week 11, Burress tweaked his hamstring, which had him set to be inactive in Week 12 against Washington - until he suffered a more serious leg injury.

Kathy Willens, AP

Out at a club, just hours after it was reported that he would be inactive against the Redskins because of his hamstring injury, Burress suffered a gunshot wound to his leg - self-inflicted by accident.

Stephen Dunn, Getty Images

Burress surrendered to police Dec. 1 and was charged with two counts of illegal handgun possession after shooting himself in the leg at a nightclub. The Giants also suspended him for the rest of the 2008-09 season.

Louis Lanzano, AP

Burress found himself the subject of a lawsuit in late December, allegedly for striking a woman with his car. Then in March, Burress was cited for four traffic tickets on one stop - speeding, improper display of tags, improper lane change and improper window tinting.

Chris McGrath, Getty Images

It was all hogwash, from the lawyer who hasn't done Burress many favors throughout the entire process. It took prosecutors more than six months to even convene a grand jury in the case, with Burress and Brafman both insisting he'd never do jail time for an incident in which only Burress was hurt. Again, the New York law doesn't make amends for intentions or casualties. It's simple and airtight: criminal possession of a weapon carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 3 1/2 in prison.

The New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services would not release specific statistics, but a spokesman did say that fewer than 10 percent of the people in New York City charged with criminal possession of a weapon were convicted of that charge. Some end up convicted of a lesser charge, others plea down and still others convince a jury of their innocence. Just as prosecutors were about to pull their offer from the table Thursday, Burress took the middle route. He plead to a lesser charge, like thousands of other people charged with the same crime.

Burress was awarded every opportunity and avenue given John or Josephine Public stuck in similar situations. In January, prosecutors came to his legal team with a plea deal that would have put Burress behind bars for 15 months, allowing him to be ready for the 2010 season. Now he'll be pushing 34 years old when he exits Rikers (or, if he's lucky, a facility not quite so stocked with warring gangs), and out of football for 30 months. The NFL will offer him a second chance at employment, as it should, and maybe by then the league will have developed its own feeder program from jails and prisons.

A public defender fresh out of law school might have encouraged Burress to take the January deal, especially considering the facts of the crime were never in question. Burress long ago stopped denying he brought the unlicensed semiautomatic Glock into the Latin Quarter Nightclub the night of November 28, 2008. He needed the gun for security, said his lawyer, having purchased it legally in Florida. So that makes it OK to disregard New York laws? It's not as if Burress couldn't have spent some of the $35 million the Giants awarded him just months earlier on bodyguards to provide licensed security. It's not as if Burress didn't surround himself with people who might know the law. His wife, now pregnant with his child, is a lawyer.

"This is a perfect example of how bad judgment sometimes has very bad consequences," Brafman said.

That's the line Brafman encouraged his client to push when Team Plaxico opted to take a highly unusual route and let Burress testify before a grand jury once it was finally convened. (Grand juries rarely take that long for John Q, by the way.) Burress appealed to the panel for "compassion and understanding." There had to be at least a few Giants fans sitting in that room who remember the delirious celebrations Burress inspired when he caught the Super Bowl-winning touchdown against the Patriots. Who knows, maybe Burress would connect with a panelist wearing a Harry Carson jersey.

"In order to humanize him, they needed to see who he was and what this man was about," Brafman had said, of his tactic allowing his client to appear before the grand jury. "My hope is now that they have seen and heard him, they will have a tougher decision."

Yep, Brafman hoped the grand jury would embrace Burress, the high-profile individual who brought great joy to the city one January night, and ignore the black-and-white statute. Those of us who have covered Burress will agree -- he can be charming and engaging. He's never been one to follow pesky team rules like arriving on time (the Giants' time always being five minutes ahead of real time), but he'd shrug, pay the fine and ignore another rule the next day. His irreverence was kind of cute.

But when the grand jury looked beyond Burress' charisma and indicted him on two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and one count of second-degree reckless endangerment, the game was all but over. If convicted at trial on all counts, Burress could have received up to 15 years. His ex-teammate Antonio Pierce would have been called to testify about his role in whatever happened that night after the gun went off in a room filled with people. Hospital workers would have to explain how Burress checked in under the name Harris Smith, told them he had been shot at an Applebee's restaurant and, once some of the workers recognized him as a Giants superstar, agreed to not report the gunshot wound, as required by law. Certain Giants officials would have been grilled about their role in those wee hours, when everyone seemed to be looking for blankets to cover up.

Brafman was right: This never was a level playing field.

"When I think about what [Burress] threw away just by making some poor choices, hopefully it's a lesson for the rest of our players to learn." Giants co-owner John Mara said. "The laws in New York are pretty strict for this type of offense and rightfully so."

It was a highly contentious case with grandstanding on both sides of the lines. Mayor Michael Bloomberg took to the airwaves and made Burress the poster child for gun control enforcement, the mayor's pet project. The Manhattan District Attorney's office couldn't agree on how Burress should be prosecuted. The case stalled and stuttered as Brafman, celebrity lawyer, collected his fees.

The only thing that never wavered was the law.

Justice Prevails as Plaxico Gets Fair and Well-Deserved Punishment originally appeared on Lisa Olson FanHouse on Thu, 20 Aug 2009 20:48:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Plaxico Burress Case a Window Into World of Privilege, Influence

Lisa Olson — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:15:00 EST

Filed under: NFL, FanHouse Exclusive

NEW YORK - Sycophants have Plaxico Burress' back, no matter where he turns. It's as if he has transported a gang of 300-pound offensive linemen, stuffed them in power suits, swapped their playbooks for legal briefs and mesmerized them with his shiny Super Bowl ring.

That some of these wannabe teammates draw paychecks from the Manhattan District Attorney's office is hardly surprising. Burress was, after all, on the receiving end of one of the greatest touchdowns in New York Giants' history. His fans are omnipotent, to the point where there have been serious internal disagreements within the DA's office over how to handle the criminal charges pending against the wide receiver, prompting NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to explore punishing Burress even while the case against him meanders along.

According to several sources close to the District Attorney, a few heavy hitters have lobbied hard on behalf of Burress, insisting he deserved special treatment because of his superstar athletic status. His crime -- accidentally shooting himself in the leg with an unlicensed gun, in a crowded New York nightclub - was luckily relatively harmless, they argued. And as ludicrous as that sounds, their voices were strong enough to slow the proceedings to a pace where it looked like Burress might actually play football this season, before he did any meaningful time before a jury.

Thankfully, common sense and public outrage have prevailed. More than seven months after a bullet from the illegal handgun Burress stashed in the waist of his sweatpants ripped a hole into his thigh, nearly hitting bystanders, a grand jury is finally being seated. Why it took this long is a mystery to many who do business in or around City Hall.

Leslie Crocker Snyder, who is running for Manhattan DA, calls the slow-motion offense, "just bizarre." Richard Aborn, on leave from his position as president of the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City and another candidate for the DA's office, said, "This shouldn't be a complicated case. There is no reason for it to move so slowly. There should not be one standard for the rich and famous and another standard for everyone else."

Robert M. Morgenthau, the longtime DA who is retiring in January, did not return telephone calls for comment. But in a letter to the New York Post, he wrote, "Should the grand jury return an indictment in July, the defendant will immediately be arraigned and the case will then take its normal course." This was in response to columnist Andrea Peyser, who wrote: "One faction inside DA Robert Morgenthau's lair wants to give Plax a break ... A conflicting faction wants Plaxico, who faces felony gun-possession charges, 'to be treated like everybody else,' said one source."

Who needs television scriptwriters when the scenes rip so easily from the headlines? Yes, big-city politics can be as nefarious and dirty as any generated by Small Town, USA. The characters with starring roles in Burress' case are colorful, captivating and very powerful. They eat lunch at Michael's in midtown with Manhattan's legal elite, drink martinis at Elaine's amongst media shakers. There is Burress' lawyer Benjamin Brafman, a loquacious charmer who has defended big-time mobsters and baby-faced killers. There is Drew Rosenhaus, the twittering agent who has convinced a few teams that his client "will be able to play unobstructed" this season, presumably because of the delays orchestrated by Burress' legal team.

On the edge of this tangled mess stands Goodell, the commissioner who is becoming a considerable player on the New York social scene. I am told he, too, is bewildered over the case's sluggish proceedings through the court system, and alarmed at reports of a war within the DA's office concerning how Burress should be handled. Burress has refused plea bargains that would mandate jail time, which is certainly his right, but the longer it took for a grand jury to be impaneled, the more it appeared as if the TV show Law and Order had invaded real life.

Goodell has thus started contemplating suspending Burress indefinitely through the league's Personal Conduct Policy, as first reported by Yahoo! Sports. Burress' next court date isn't until Sept. 23 (a formality unrelated to any grand jury indictment), and though it would be unusual for the commissioner to take action before the closure of legal proceedings, the NFL isn't hesitant to throw around its weight.

Yes, the league can play judge and jury with regard to its employees, just like most any other corporation. If Burress worked for Wal-Mart (or AOL, or the corner bodega) and he was charged with a Class C felony that carries a sentence ranging from 3 1/2 to 15 years in prison, his employer probably wouldn't keep his cubicle vacant. (The Giants did suspend Plaxico for four games following his gun mishap, before releasing him.) The DA's office probably wouldn't be bickering over whether bad judgment should equal jail time and the possible eradication of one's career, either.

"The discussions here have been wild," said a person close to the Manhattan DA's office. "Some people [in the DA's office] believe Plaxico should get a break. They argue he didn't hurt anyone but himself. They are football fans, but then there are other football fans that are tired of athletes getting special treatment. It's like conversations you'd have at the local bar. Like I said, it's been wild."

In another life, Goodell must have made a fine prosecutor. His tenure at the top of the NFL food chain has been highlighted by his get-tough stance with miscreants and law abusers. Goodell recently ordered the indefinite suspension of Cleveland receiver Donte' Stallworth following Stallworth's guilty plea to DUI manslaughter in the accidental death of a Miami man in March."Some people [in the DA's office] believe Plaxico should get a break. They argue he didn't hurt anyone but himself."
-- Source

Again, and Michael Vick surely knows this by now, the right to be employed is never mentioned in the United States Constitution. Our founding fathers must not have been football fans.

So, say the grand jury indicts Burress for felony gun possession, Burress continues to eschew any plea agreement and a trial date is set for some time next year. Brafman and Rosenhaus still insist the timing means their client will be able to play for whichever team dares to sign him. After sniffing around the possibility, the Jets have soured on bringing aboard Burress and all his baggage. Rosenhaus claims "several teams" are nonetheless interested, but the more Burress' agent and his lawyer play to the cameras, the more you wonder if their hubris might be hurting their client.

Goodell is backed by the NFL's collectively bargained playbook. Though it states under the Personal Conduct Policy "a first offense will generally not result in discipline until there has been a disposition of the proceeding," the exception to this provision is if the offense results in "bodily injury." The language does not specify if "bodily injury" includes self-infliction via mishandling an illegal firearm in a crowded nightclub.

This is where the lawyers will probably step in, again. Ripped from the headlines indeed.

Plaxico Burress Case a Window Into World of Privilege, Influence originally appeared on Lisa Olson FanHouse on Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:15:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Shades of Namath as Sanchez Treads Into Dangerous Territory

Lisa Olson — Fri, 22 May 2009 14:13:00 EST

Filed under: NFL

NEW YORK - All these years later, Joe Namath's scripted line still seems so naughty: "I'm so excited, I'm gonna get creamed," Namath says seconds before the feather-haired, mostly unknown starlet begins to suggestively caress his chin with shaving balm.

"Let Noxzema cream your face so the razor won't," coos Farrah Fawcett. "You've got a great pair of hands," Namath tells her, before ending the television commercial with a sly grin.

It sure was great to be quarterback of the New York Jets. The city craved a leading man, and Namath gladly embraced the role from the mid-1960s through the '70s. He was Broadway Joe, oozing charisma and delivering on Super Bowl guarantees. But before he went all sexpot for the cameras, before he made his lust for the foxes and the broads so blatantly public, Namath cleared a few key hurdles.

He completed some passes, won a few games. After that, New York devoured Namath like spun candy on a stick.

Mark Sanchez, the newest QB for the J-E-T-S, has only just begun wearing the red jersey in mini-camp. But glossy pictures of him are plastered all over the team's practice field, courtesy of teammates and coaches eager to poke fun at Sanchez's attempt to be the next David Hasselhoff.

Sanchez posed for a racy pictorial for GQ magazine a few months ago - "well before the draft," he said Thursday -- but the June issue only hit the stands this week. There he is on page 158, wearing nothing but tiny red swim trunks as he runs on a Southern California beach, looking like an extra straight out of Baywatch. He's a super-cool lifeguard in the next spread, a stud nuzzling bikini-wearing model Hilary Rhoda in other shots. The clothing Sanchez doesn't quite wear is a throwback to the '70s, the decade Namath owned.

It's all a bit too much for New York, a city that prefers its athletes prove themselves on the playing grounds before they strip down for the cameras. Local radio hosts and callers are aghast at Sanchez's brazen step over the line. He hasn't even completed an NFL down, they scream. Who does he think he is, they wonder? Tom Brady? Maybe USC coach Pete Carroll was onto something when he said Sanchez could use another year of maturation in college instead of leaping early into the professional pool.

The New York Post featured news of the GQ pictorial on the front page, and led their story with this: "Walking sex has a new name, ladies." The gossip pages report Sanchez might be dating Rhoda, an admitted fan of the Washington Redskins. It's all so -- yes, get used to it -- Namathish.

Mark Sanchez in GQ

Photos from the June issue of GQ with Mark Sanchez (and Hilary Rhoda). Issue is on stands nationwide on June 26. Carter Smith / GQ

Carter Smith / GQ

Photos from the June issue of GQ with Mark Sanchez (and Hilary Rhoda). Issue is on stands nationwide on June 26. Carter Smith / GQ

Carter Smith / GQ

Photos from the June issue of GQ with Mark Sanchez (and Hilary Rhoda). Issue is on stands nationwide on June 26. Carter Smith / GQ

Carter Smith / GQ

Photos from the June issue of GQ with Mark Sanchez (and Hilary Rhoda). Issue is on stands nationwide on June 26. Carter Smith / GQ

Carter Smith / GQ

(To see more photos of Sanchez and Hilary Rhoda, check out the full feature at GQ.com.)

The comparison to Broadway Joe is ludicrously premature, off course. But it's certain to haunt Sanchez, who has already shown flashes of Namath's charm and panache. Sanchez accepted his teammate's rookie hazing, laughing at the steamy pictures littering the training grounds. For a guy who hasn't officially won the starting job and has yet to sign a contract, he isn't shy about slipping into the starring role.

"I sure lobbed one up for them to hit it right out of the park," Sanchez said of the pictorial. "They had some good pictures up in the locker room. It was funny. They called me David Hasselhoff and all that, so it was good."

Why did he agree to participate in the photo shoot? In this American Idol generation, in this look-at-me world, the more apt question is probably, why not? After all, Sanchez was reared in Hollywood's shadow.

"I was getting ready to get drafted, and it is almost like one of the 'bucket list' kind of deals. You are going to do a photo shoot with a super model. Are you kidding me? That's one of those, you've-got-to [situations]," Sanchez said. "It was so long ago and the guys in here even told me, 'Hey, you earned it. You did well in college. You are in the spotlight. Have fun with it.' Now they know and the Jets know, or they wouldn't have drafted me, that I'm all about football. I told them ahead of time what was going to happen so we were all on the same page. It was a fun thing, but that's over. It's all about football."

Jets coach Rex Ryan says he's just happy it was the buff Sanchez posing for the pics "and not some of our linemen." Kellen Clemens, Sanchez's main competition for the starting job, went out of his way to praise the rookie's grasp of the playbook and noted he was also doing a fine job handling the teasing.

And what does Namath think of all the fuss over the guy who might -- and there's still a heavy emphasis on might -- someday be worthy of wearing the white cleats? Namath happened to be in the city this week when the Sanchez photos were released. Namath is working on sobriety, on keeping his surgically repaired body as healthy as possible, and he hasn't much interest in piling on. He dodged the subject as if it was a Baltimore Colt lineman, circa 1969.

"I'm excited for the Jets and to see what this young man can do," said Namath, who is in New York for the United Way's Gridiron Gala. "We saw last season in Atlanta and Baltimore how a young quarterback can led a team, so all things are possible. It depends on the structure of the team, on the people around him, on the coaches and front office, but certainly, this should be an exciting season for Jets fans."

Forty years have passed since Broadway Joe guaranteed the Jets would win Super Bowl III. He signed for $400,000 in 1965, a salary of epic proportions back then. The deal included a green Lincoln convertible, and after Namath added a Super Bowl ring and an MVP plaque to his etchings, he was bigger than anybody who wasn't a Beatle. Forever surrounded by broads and booze, Namath was the first athlete to truly cross over into media superstardom, a sex symbol playing the most glamorous position in American sports.

In his first training camp with a team that was then advertised as the "Go Go Jets," the boy from Beaver Falls, Pa., with a southern drawl acquired from his college days at Alabama, naively offered a reporter a glimpse into his personal life. "I love them all," Namath said. "A filly with brown hair is all right. So is one with black hair. But blondes, they come first."

Eventually the newspapers and magazines would be filled with stories about his carousing and late-night drinking. He never really tried to dodge the limelight, wondering if something could be considered a vice if he didn't try to hide it. Wasn't phoniness a greater sin? America's original bachelor sold shaving cream with Farrah, wore pantyhose in another commercial and hawked everything from La-Z-Boy recliners to sneakers (his model was aptly called "Swinger.") When he wasn't dating the world's most beautiful women and hanging in bars until sunrise, Namath somehow found time to throw 173 touchdowns, complete 1,886 passes for 27,663 yards and bring the Jets their lone championship.

The fantasy lifestyle is still a strong lure for athletes, its pitfalls all the more public. But posing for some harmless photos with a pretty girl in a men's fashion magazine hardly means Sanchez has succumbed to the siren's song. If Namath is a semi-cautionary tale (he won the sport's biggest prize while inflicting extraordinary damage on his body), Sanchez thus far seems determined to not be taken down by the game.

"I don't think [there would be] quite as much of a buzz in Jacksonville. No knock on their city, but this is New York," Sanchez said. As his airplane circled above the bright lights and headed home to Florida, Joe Namath might have been thinking the very same thing.

Shades of Namath as Sanchez Treads Into Dangerous Territory originally appeared on Lisa Olson FanHouse on Fri, 22 May 2009 14:13:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mark Sanchez Now Jets' Main Attraction

Lisa Olson — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 23:46:00 EST

Filed under: NFL

NEW YORK -- Thick in the huddle forming on the balcony of Radio City Music Hall, New York Jets fans found themselves caught in a delightful audible. They had been warming up for hours and now their lungs were quite lubricated, their vocals ready to stretch.

Praise Joe Namath and pass Fireman Ed's helmet, the Jets had finally done something right. They traded up 12 spots for a franchise quarterback, snagging Mark Sanchez with the fifth pick of the NFL Draft Saturday, and for a moment Jets' fans could see paradise from midtown.

But then came the announcement detailing what the Jets gave the Cleveland Browns for the first-round stud: three players -- defensive end Kenyon Coleman, quarterback Brett Ratliff and safety Abram Elam; and two picks -- a first-rounder (No. 17 overall) and a second-rounder (No. 52 overall). The mood quickly shifted. A few fans faked swan diving over the balcony, others booed lustily, as if Herm Edwards had just announced he had bought the Jets.

Jets fans generally are well-behaved wallflowers, so presumably they were hamming it up for the TV cameras hoping to catch a live body landing on top of Keyshawn Johnson, who was broadcasting on the stage down below. No such luck, and the peanut gallery quickly settled down once it realized a) Sanchez was a steal, despite the Jets parting with so much booty and b) Eric Mangini might have managed the tricky feat of losing again in New York, just months after he was fired as HC of the NYJ.

Really, either Mangini knows something nobody else knows about the three players he worked with during his time with the Jets, or he's determined to prove to Cleveland he's a genius draftnik. Mangini and the Browns were busier than card sharks working Manhattan's busy streets on this gorgeous Saturday; by the time the first round was over the Browns had orchestrated three trades, none splashier than the blockbuster deal with New York.

NFL Draft FIrst-Round Picks

1. Detroit Lions: Matthew Stafford, QB, Georgia

Jason DeCrow, AP

2. St. Louis Rams: Jason Smith, OT, Baylor

Paul Jasienski, Getty Images

3. Kansas City Chiefs: Tyson Jackson, DE, LSU

Doug Benc, Getty Images

4. Seattle Seahawks: Aaron Curry, LB, Wake Forest

Paul Jasienski, Getty Images

5. New York Jets (From Cleveland): Mark Sanchez, QB, Southern Cal

Mark J. Terrill, AP

6. Cincinnati Bengals: Andre Smith, OT, Alabama

Sportschrome / Getty Images

7. Oakland Raiders: Darrius Heyward-Bey, WR, Maryland

Matt Cilley, AP

8. Jacksonville Jaguars: Eugene Monroe, OT, Virginia

Paul Jasienski, Getty Images

9. Green Bay Packers: B.J. Raji, DT, Boston College

Jim Rogash, WireImage

10. San Francisco 49ers: Michael Crabtree, WR, Texas Tech

Tony Gutierrez, AP

Via the Jets, Cleveland got an undrafted quarterback who has yet to play a down in the NFL, a defensive end who has eight and 1/2 sacks in seven years and a safety about to join his fourth team in five seasons. No wonder Jets owner Woody Johnson was all a-twitter over the five-players-for-one deal.

"We have selected Mark Sanchez. Go Jets." And thus did Johnson announce the news on his Twitter page, and we can only imagine he then led his gated community in a rousing cheer of "J-E-T-S, JETS, JETS, JETS." Woody has every reason to channel his goofy side. It's been a tough go searching for a quarterback -- the Jets gave up on Chad Pennington, got burned in the experiment with Brett Favre, lost out on the fight for Jay Cutler -- and the charismatic Sanchez looks ready-made for New York.

He's got the poise and charm of a Broadway actor, and the arm and mobility of someone who has already mastered the pro-style offense. In just 16 starts for the University of Southern California, the 6-foot-2, 227-pounder threw for 3,965 yards and 41 touchdowns before coming out for the draft as a junior. Many scouts and draftologists consider Sanchez a notch above Georgia's Matthew Stafford, the No. 1 pick who went to the Detroit Lions.

On the eve of the draft, Stafford signed a six-year deal worth $78 million, with $41.7 million guaranteed, even though he might not play a down for the Lions next season. When NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced that Detroit had indeed made Stafford the top pick, the Radio City crowd booed and chanted "over-rated," and if Sanchez had been in the Green Room, he would have had his first real taste of New York sass.

Sanchez spent some of the previous week in New York, but after hanging with Stafford and the other draft hopefuls, Sanchez caught an early morning flight Saturday back to California, so he could be with his family in Irvine when the Browns or the Washington Redskins decided to make him the franchise. But really, the Jets were where he wanted to be, he said with a wink and a smile, before pulling on a green cap that just happened to be in his agent's office.

"Los Angeles is in a large media market so I know how to handle the interviews and conference calls like this, and television interviews. That's what this position is all about and it is expected at USC," Sanchez said later, on a conference call. "To be able to perform there under such scrutiny and pressure, with Heisman trophy winners ahead of you and national championship implications in every game, it's obvious I was ready for that."

In a couple weeks, Sanchez will graduate with a degree in communications from USC, but coach Pete Carroll had hoped his signal caller would hang around for another season of eligibility. Ostensibly the coach was thinking not of his own interests but of Sanchez's football future when Carroll criticized Sanchez for daring to leave the Trojan fold.

"He knows that coming out early is a tremendous challenge for a quarterback. And the statistics don't back up that it's easy to be successful the way he's going about it," Carroll had said. "I don't agree with (Sanchez's) decision."

Carroll might have just offered a four-word riff on junior quarterback busts: Ryan Leaf. Akili Smith.

Sanchez had another name in mind for critics convinced 16 collegiate starts hardly makes for an NFL career.

"I'd first bring up Matt Cassel, who didn't start at all at USC and didn't even start since high school, and look what he's doing," Sanchez said. "He's doing so well for himself. That would be one thing I'd say. I'd also say that when the Jets handed me their playbook I was pleasantly surprised to see that some plays in there had very similar concepts and ideas and reads. It's important to have that knowledge of their system already and just change around a couple of terms here and there and I'll be right at the same exact place."

The Jets quizzed him on their playbook last month during a top-secret rendezvous when Johnson, new coach Rex Ryan and general manager Mike Tannenbaum watched Sanchez during a workout at his alma mater, Mission Viejo High School. It was love at first glance. They snuck him through a back door of a California restaurant, for a dinner that was about as relaxed as the first time you meet your in-laws. The Jets knew they found Mr. Right.

"Whether they like you as a person or not, you've got to throw the ball well and I definitely did that so we just took it from there," Sanchez said. "We were at dinner with Mr. Johnson, Mr. Tannenbaum, coach Ryan, coach Cavanaugh and coach Schottenheimer, I felt like we really connected and had a blast together. We talked X' and O's with coach Schottenheimer and coach Cavanaugh and they sent me a playbook to go over and they put me on the board to test me on it and I did really well with that and the rest was talking with Mr. Johnson and him getting a feel for me and seeing what I'm like. Being a potential face for their franchise they wanted to grill me a little bit. It was a great interaction. "

It was a done deal, assuming they could finagle Mangini. The Jets didn't let their former coach know they coveted Sanchez until Friday night, but they never stopped believing.

"We saw the great feet, the poise and how confident he was," Ryan said of those secret workouts with Sanchez. "Brian [Schottenheimer] put him through every workout known to man and he passed every one of them with flying colors. We knew, I think, right then that this was the guy we really wanted."

Sanchez will still have to compete with Kellen Clemens in training camp for the starting job -- "We wouldn't have traded up for Mark if we didn't think he had the ability to compete for the starting position," Ryan said -- but to hear Sanchez tell it, this is a formality. His confidence stretches toward cocky, the perfect personality trait for taking over New York.

"The only thing I can say to that is I've never grown up dreaming of being a backup," Sanchez said. "That's what it's all about, and I'm sure Kellen Clemens feels the same way and that's what this position is all about is competing for your job and that's all I know how to do. It'll be a great matchup for us."

Sanchez is the quintessential California boy, comfortable straddling the dual Hispanic and Anglo worlds. He's forever smiling and offering his hand to strangers. His time in New York was a whirl of greasy hamburgers and trips to the Carnegie Deli and runs through Central Park. He had a blast, he said, and the folks who did recognize him said things like, "Hey if you make it out here we'd be happy to have you."

"They sounded like they were ready to give me a warm welcome," he said with another laugh. And did he offer them any guarantees or predictions? Sanchez might be new to this New York quarterback gig, but he's already warmed to the drill.

"Well, you never want to make a prediction," he said, breaking the hearts of every tabloid headline writer. "It's very similar to the questions at USC every year. Are you guys going to win the national championship? Are you going to win the Heisman? Things like that I can't promise. I can't promise we're going to win the division. I can't promise we're going to win the Super Bowl and that I'm going to be the MVP of the league. All I can promise is that I'm going to work hard. I know these fans expect a lot but no team will be coached better. Nobody is going to work harder and no group will have better rapport and team morale than we will. It's going to be a special unit and I feel like it's going to be an elite fraternity that I'm joining and a very tight-knit family. I'm excited to be a part of it. We're going to work hard, and whatever role I play it's going to be great."

Whew. Maybe it's best he skipped Radio City Saturday. Jets fans wouldn't know what to do with all this optimism.

NFL Draft Photos

Cleveland Browns general manager George Kokinis, left, and head coach Eric Mangini answer questions regarding the NFL Draft, Saturday, April 25, 2009, in Berea, Ohio. The Browns made three trades in the first round before selecting California center Alex Mack at No. 21. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Mark Sanchez, the New York Jets 2009 NFL Draft first round pick, speaks to reporters during a news conference in Anaheim, Calif. on Saturday, April 25, 2009. (AP Photo/Hector Mata)

Cleveland Browns general manager George Kokinis answers questions about the NFL draft, Saturday, April 25, 2009, in Berea, Ohio. The Browns made three trades in the first round before selecting California center Alex Mack at No. 21. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Mark Sanchez, the New York Jets 2009 NFL Draft first round pick, speaks to reporters during a news conference in Anaheim, Calif. on Saturday, April 25, 2009. (AP Photo/Hector Mata)

Mark Sanchez, the New York Jets first round draft pick, speaks to reporters during a news conference in Anaheim, Calif. on Saturday, April 25, 2009. (AP Photo/Hector Mata)

Mark Sanchez,the New York Jets 2009 NFL Draft first round pick, speaks to reporters during a news conference in Anaheim, Calif. on Saturday, April 25, 2009. (AP Photo/Hector Mata)

Mark Sanchez, the New York Jets 2009 NFL Draft first round pick, speaks to reporters during a news conference in Anaheim, Calif. on Saturday, April 25, 2009. (AP Photo/Hector Mata)

Cleveland Browns head coach Eric Mangini, right, listens as Browns general manager George Kokinis answers questions about the NFL Draft Saturday, April 25, 2009, in Berea, Ohio. The Browns made three trades in the first round before selecting California center Alex Mack at No. 21. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick discusses The Patriots 2009 NFL Draft choices during a press conference at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. Saturday April 25, 2009. (AP Photo/Stew Milne)

Mark Sanchez Now Jets' Main Attraction originally appeared on Lisa Olson FanHouse on Sat, 25 Apr 2009 23:46:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What Should Become of Michael Vick?

Lisa Olson — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 20:15:00 EST

Filed under: NFL

Michael Vick could be scrambling toward freedom any day now, as plans proceed for the disgraced quarterback to be relocated to a halfway house in Newport News, Va., the staging ground near so many of his repugnant crimes.

Most of his victims are dead, drowned or electrocuted and tortured at the behest of Vick and his crew, or they were humanely put down, their injuries and upbringing too horrific to overcome. Some managed to survive thanks to saints from animal rescue facilities across the country. If there is any karmic justice in the world, Vick will relive his evil deeds every time he hears a dog bark or sees a tail wag. He neither deserves nor should he be allowed to come within a football field of man's best friend, ever again.

But beyond that, what should become of Vick? He is nearing the end of a 23-month sentence at the federal penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kan., for his role in a felonious dogfighting conspiracy. Scheduled for release July 20, Vick, like many prisoners who have sufficiently abided by the government's sentencing demands, could spend the final few months of his term at a halfway house. Barring any legal setbacks, Vick's attorney Paul Campsen expects that move to occur "sometime very soon." Vick will be required to work at "an approved job."

By August, Vick could transition from janitorial duties to the thick of competition at NFL training camp. Will it be with the New York Jets, the Oakland Raiders, the Minnesota Vikings? Vick is still under contract with the Atlanta Falcons, but general manager Thomas Dimitroff has said the team hopes to trade Vick, assuming there are any takers. The Falcons have found a fine quarterback and good citizen in Matt Ryan, last season's rookie of the year.

But first there is the very large matter of making nice with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Vick might have paid his debt to society, but that doesn't mean Goodell is inclined to immediately reinstate Vick, which is what needs to happen before any team starts talking draft picks with Atlanta, before his creditors start licking their lips over the $9 million he's due in 2009 (plus potential bonuses of $6.43 million), before the protesters pick up their signs.

Goodell won't review Vick's status until his legal obligations are settled. Presumably, that means we will have to wait until July to hear of Vick's professional fate, even if he relocates to a halfway house this month and starts working out with a broom. It is not a given that Goodell will automatically give Vick a reprieve, something Vick never considered offering his victims.

Like anyone with an ounce of humanity, Goodell is sickened by Vick's actions. But Vick's future hinges on far more than the cruel choices he made while running and financing the Bad Newz Kennels dogfighting ring. Though the terms of his plea agreement are nearly complete, and though Vick was a first-time offender under the league's Personal Conduct Policy, Goodell is said to be considering extending Vick's suspension because he was the key point man in an illegal gambling operation.

Gambling, in most any form, is one of the NFL's original sins, and even first-time offenders risk being banned for life. Vick admitted to providing the bulk of the funding for a criminal conspiracy in which blood-thirsty knuckle draggers placed bets on what innocent animal could most effectively, gruesomely kill another innocent animal.

I can't argue with those who believe Goodell has no obligation to show Vick mercy. Vick might have earned his legal freedom, but there is nothing in our constitution that says he has a right to work, or that his employer must take him back. Vick has already looked Goodell in the eye and boldly lied about not having knowledge of or involvement in the dogfighting ring, and he did not start telling the truth until the evidence against him was overwhelming. Goodell is under no legal obligation to give Vick another chance.

And yet we are a nation of redemption, a community built to believe sinners can turn around their lives. If Goodell decides Vick has kicked his problem with marijuana (the least serious of Vick's transgressions), and that he is truly sorry for his savage barbarity, and that, most important, he will never again place a single bet on even cockroaches racing, it is good enough for me.

Others, understandably, need some convincing. Animal rights groups have morphed into some of the nation's most influential lobbying groups, and their affiliation with sports teams is powerful. Wayne Pacelle, president of The Humane Society of the United States, says that while his organization believes "in redemption - that people can turn around and do better when it comes to dealing with animals ... Vick has never publicly apologized to the actual victims of his crimes, nor has he spoken out against dogfighting since being sentenced for his crimes. Therefore, The HSUS cannot at this time support Michael Vick's reinstatement to the NFL. We will only reconsider our position after he demonstrates -- through word and deed -- that he has changed for the better."

A spokesperson for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals says PETA has no immediate plans to boycott teams that trade for or sign Vick. But that could change, depending on the path Vick decides to take. While the judge in Vick's trial ordered him to pay $928,073 in restitution for the "past, present and long-term care of all the dogs," PETA chief executive Ingrid Newkirk would like to see Vick be more pro-active by filming a television commercial or program urging dogfighters to get out of the game.

If he is smart, if he is truly contrite and a different man than the one who callously tortured and murdered dogs, Vick won't need to hire Alex Rodriguez' army of media advisers to avoid another avalanche of vicious publicity. A-Rod spent an estimate $1 million on crisis counselors, for all the good that did. Unlike A-Rod, we know the gory details of Vick's crimes, and they were far more horrendous than anything A-Rod did to his own body, by his own choice.

Vick is next up in sports' conga line. Who will get the first interview and how many times will the quarterback cry? Will Atlanta entertain trade offers, or will teams wait for the Falcons to release Vick and then pounce? Which ones dare touch him, which ones dare TALK about him? One day after San Francisco 49ers coach Mike Singletary refused to rule out the possibility of acquiring Vick, the team Thursday emphatically stated they are not interested, no way, no how.

The safe, smart thing is to say nothing, until Goodell issues a decree from on high. Until then Michael Vick shuffles from the penitentiary to the halfway house, still unable to save himself.

What Should Become of Michael Vick? originally appeared on Lisa Olson FanHouse on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 20:15:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Super Bowl XLIII Needs a Broadway Joe

Lisa Olson — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 22:10:00 EST

Filed under: NFL, Super Bowl

With all due respect, the players and coaches participating in Super Bowl XLIII are wimps.

That's right, I wrote it. Ken Whisenhunt, Mike Tomlin, Larry Fitzgerald, Hines Ward ... scroll down the rosters of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals and show me one man brave enough to predict the unpredictable, one soul bold enough to step out on a ledge and bare their truth.

Where have you gone, Joe Namath? Give or take a week or two, 40 years have passed since Namath's brash declaration that his New York Jets, enormous 7-1 underdogs to the Baltimore Colts, would author the upset of the century.

"We're gonna win the game. I guarantee it," Namath told an audience at the Miami Touchdown Club, three nights before Super Bowl III. Because the hour was late, and because reporters could file by carrier pigeon and still make happy hour, Namath's prediction didn't land with much thud.

Still, Jets coach Weeb Ewbank later admitted he "could have shot (Namath) for saying it. But Joe always had a way of delivering. He didn't mind pressure. It seemed to make him play better. I figured if he said it, he would just have to back it up."

Namath famously did: the Jets beat the Colts, 16-7; Namath was the MVP. And from the Orange Bowl ashes, the world's greatest, most obscenely-covered sporting event was born. Every athlete who has ever licked his lips at the sight of a microphone owes Namath a hug and a fist bump.

This Super Bowl could use a Namath clone, more than ever. There's very little juice emanating from Tampa (hold the Mons Venus jokes), and the weak economy can't take the entire rap. If the most controversial Super Bowl story revolves around the Phoenix mayor doing mean things to Terrible Towels, then that tells us two things:

* the mayor and outraged Pittsburgh fans are idiots
* and the actual contestants in Sunday's contest really need to step up their game.

Of course, guarantees might and often will backfire. Of course, the player who dares voice an audacious declaration will be treated in most corners as an egomaniac. But aren't sports all about taking risk? And aren't all professional athletes automatically equipped with more ego than the average Joe or Josie?

Instead, we get Cardinals defensive back Antrel Rolle calling Arizona "beyond average." Not better than good, which the Cardinals surely are, and not great, which only a fool would suggest. But as long as Rolle and the rest of the Cardinals have defied reasonable expectation and haven't much to lose, why not make the adventure even more interesting by expressing bodacious proclamations? That's one way to get the folks in Kansas to sit up and take notice, long before Bruce Springsteen does his sound check.

Super Bowl Heroes and Goats

Goat: Eugene Robinson, Atlanta Falcons, Super Bowl XXXIII
Sure, Robinson (right) struggled in the Falcons' 34-19 loss to Denver -- including getting smoked on this 80-yard Rod Smith score -- but he made bigger news before the game. The morning prior to the Super Bowl, Robinson was arrested by an undercover cop for trying to solicit sex from a prostitute.

Tony Ranze, AFP / Getty Images

Hero: Joe Namath, New York Jets, Super Bowl III
Namath guaranteed an upset win over the Colts, then delivered. Broadway Joe won the MVP (despite not throwing a TD pass) after guiding the AFL's Jets to a stunning 16-7 victory.

Darryl Norenberg, WireImage

Goat:Scott Norwood, Buffalo Bills, Super Bowl XXV
Norwood's "Wide Right" moment is etched in NFL lore, alongside things like "The Catch" and "The Drive." Norwood's last-second miss in Super Bowl XXV gave the Giants the championship -- and Buffalo the first of four straight runner-up finishes.

Phil Sandlin, AP

Hero: Tony Dungy, Indianapolis Colts, Super Bowl XLI
Dungy took his Colts to the top of the NFL's mountaintop with a 29-17 victory over Chicago. In doing so, Dungy became the first African-American head coach to claim a Super Bowl crown.

David J. Phillip, AP

Goat: Neil O'Donnell, Pittsburgh Steelers, Super Bowl XXX
The Cowboys won their third title in four years on Jan. 28, 1996, but not without help from Pittsburgh's quarterback. O'Donnell chucked three interceptions, including a pair to game MVP Larry Brown, as the Steelers lost 27-17.

Doug Mills, AP

Hero: Terry Bradshaw, Pittsburgh Steelers, Super Bowl XIV
Bradshaw led the Steelers to four titles and won the Super Bowl MVP award in both Super Bowl XIII and XIV. In 1980, against the Rams, Bradshaw threw for 309 yards and two TDs -- one year after his three-touchdown performance beat the Cowboys.

Andy Hayt, Getty Images

Goat: Jackie Smith, Dallas Cowboys, Super Bowl XIII
In a back-and-forth matchup with Pittsburgh, Smith had a chance to tie the game at 21 in the third quarter. Instead, he dropped a wide-open touchdown pass, Dallas wound up kicking a field goal and the Steelers went on to win by four.

Focus on Sport / Getty Images

Hero: Joe Montana, San Francisco 49ers, Super Bowl XVI
Montana won his first of four Super Bowls -- and three game MVP awards -- in 1982 against the Bengals. The QB scored on a one-yard run early, threw a second-quarter touchdown pass and the Niners held on for a 26-21 win in Detroit.

Goat: John Kasay, Carolina Panthers, Super Bowl XXXVIII
Adam Vinatieri grabbed the spotlight with a game-winning kick, but Kasay's miscue may have cost Carolina the game. After the Panthers rallied to tie New England at 29 in a wild fourth quarter, Kasay booted the ensuing kickoff out of bounds, setting up the Pats' game-winning drive.

Andy Lyons, Getty Images

Hero: Adam Vinatieri, New England Patriots, Super Bowl XXXVI
On the final play of the game, Vinatieri drilled a 48-yard field goal, giving New England a surprising 20-17 win over heavily-favored St. Louis. Just for good measure, Vinatieri repeated the feat two years later, hitting a 41-yarder in the final seconds to knock off Carolina.

Amy Sancetta, AP

Over on the Steelers side, cornerback Ike Taylor was overheard this week saying he's going to tie together Fitzgerald's shoe laces and make the Arizona receiver play the fool. Oh, wait, that's a misquote. What Taylor really said was, "football is all about timing," and he went on to add he intends to disrupt the Cardinals' patterns, and hopefully re-route the offense to other areas of the field. It might have made the front page of every sports section in the country if it were, you know, interesting.

Nothing against Taylor, a fine player whose defense of Fitzgerald will indeed be fascinating come Sunday. But Taylor could have assured a million more eyeballs if had dared say the Steelers would hold Fitzgerald to under - and I'm just throwing out a random number -- 94.5 yards. That's not taunting, or engaging the Las Vegas bookies. It's merely taking part in a January tradition as American as Buffalo wings and half-time beer runs.

(By the way, I have the over on longest field goal (44.5 yards), Willie Parker rush (15.5 yards), food references by John Madden (1.5), length of Jennifer Hudson's national anthem (1 minute, 54 seconds) and Fitzgerald's total receiving yards; the under on the Nielsen TV rating (42.5); red on the color of Bill Bidwill's bow tie and the color of Gatorade dumped on the winning coach; God, the 1/1 favorite, as recipient of the MVP's first thanks; and "Glory Days," the 4/1 favorite, as Springsteen's final song at halftime ... All friendly bets, of course.)

There is, naturally, a downside to any player or coach who openly flirts with possibility and embraces risk. Anthony Smith, the Pittsburgh sophomore safety, sort of guaranteed a victory over the New England Patriots a year ago, saying if the Steelers did what they were trained to do, they would upset the then-undefeated Patriots. The Patriots, aided and abetted by a voracious media, spun it into a motivational ploy, and Smith still hasn't quite recovered from the burn marks.

But on the flip side, Jim Fassel, erstwhile coach of the New York Giants, used torture metaphors ("I am driving the train! This is a horse race ... this is a poker game. I'm shoving my chips to the middle of the table.") to assure a frothing fan base that the flailing team would still reach the 2000 playoffs, and indeed, the Giants made the Super Bowl.

More recently, upon arriving in Arizona last January for title game, Plaxico Burress declared the Giants would beat the Patriots, 23-17, and tabloid editors in New York rejoiced. Sadly for Burress, it wasn't the last time he inspired screaming headlines.

It's not that this week's participants lack confidence, because you know that both teams are peeling the paint from the walls in team meetings with shouts of being disrespected and cries of dominance. It's probably not that they fear their coaches' wraths, because Whisenhunt and Tomlin have no more power over a player's internal pride than Ewbank did four decades ago.

Namath was a teenage pool hustler out of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, a born risk-taker who basically conned the favored Colts. He was savvy enough to know they could be beaten, and cocky enough to announce it to the world -- which, in his case, was a room full of football fans, bookies and journalists on hand to see him win an award. Without Namath, the Super Bowl as we know it wouldn't be quite as much fun.

Namath's decree tipped off a new era of bravado and became two of the most famous sentences in sports. Please, for those of us who hold dear the Super Bowl and all its glorious gaudiness, won't someone mouth off just a bit?

Super Bowl XLIII Needs a Broadway Joe originally appeared on Lisa Olson FanHouse on Thu, 29 Jan 2009 22:10:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cardinals Defense Works to Justify Surprising Super Bowl Appearance

Lisa Olson — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: NFL, Super Bowl

TEMPE, Ariz. -- They held in their hands packets of Super Bowl tickets, items that, in this part of the world, were once as foreign as gems from the Lost Dutchman's gold mine.

"Today is the first day it kind of sets in. I've never even seen a Super Bowl ticket, and now here I am holding 15 of them. So it's pretty amazing," Arizona Cardinals center Lyle Sendlein said Saturday, after one final practice before the team departs for Tampa Monday and a date with Pittsburgh in Super Bowl Bowl XLIII on Feb. 1.

The gadget plays have been refined, Todd Haley and Anquan Boldin have engaged in a few man-hugs and Kurt Warner has offered sage advice to all the Super Bowl newbies ("Google Eugene Robinson," Warner has probably said). Sunday is a day to rest, recharge and roll down the roof on the convertible and scream, "We're going to the Super Bowl." Then comes the real work: defending their honor.

Most of the Cardinals haven't a clue about the force that's about to hit them when they land in Florida. The Arizona defense, especially, ought to be ready to snap out explanations and theories about how it is they belong here despite, to put it kindly, a season swimming in mediocrity. The media's interrogations will make Senate confirmation hearings seem like a tea party, and it's the Cardinals' own fault for giving the media such a juicy piece of meat on which to gnaw.

That 40-point loss to New England back in December? Expect the Cardinals to be grilled about it until their heads start to spin. Did they intentionally quit? Did they really think just because they had already clinched a playoff berth, it was reason to not care? Is it true half the Cardinals had never seen snow? (Stupid question, but stupid questions are as plentifully as strippers during Super Bowl week).

It's a testament to Ken Whisenhunt that he didn't give half his defense the Edgerrin James treatment the following week. The coach did threaten to bench players if they didn't practice well, and later said "somewhere in that week we found ourselves." An Arizona team that yielded 514 yards to the Patriots hasn't lost since, and in the playoffs shut down Atlanta and Carolina -- the league's No. 2 and No. 3 rushing teams -- with disciplined, turnover-inducing play.

Nonetheless, Whisenhunt shouldn't be shocked that the national media still has doubts about the Cardinals' ability to hold opponents to low double digits. Arizona has given up the most points of any team ever to make a Super Bowl. The Cardinals set a record for most points scored in the regular season, their grand total of 427 points exactly one more point than the defense allowed.

It's a wonder Nancy Grace isn't doing a week's worth of specials on the Cardinals' mercurial defense.

"I tell you what; it has been tough because every time you turn on the TV or read something, it wasn't very good." Whisenhunt said. "That kept you from not reading it or not paying attention to it. There wasn't anything in particular. You didn't have to look hard to find something that would motivate us."

Super Bowl XLIII Images

I large balloon version of the Vince Lombardi trophy is seen at the NFL Experience as part of Super Bowl XLIII Saturday, Jan. 24, 2009, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Arizona Cardinals quarterbacks Kurt Warner, left, and Matt Leinart, right, stretch out during football practice Saturday, Jan. 24, 2009, at the team's practice facility in Tempe, Ariz. The Cardinals will play the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa on Feb. 1. (AP Photo/Paul Connors)

Injured Arizona Cardinals runningback J.J. Arrington jogs with teammates during football practice Saturday, Jan. 24, 2009, at the team's practice facility in Tempe, Ariz. The Cardinals will play the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa on Feb. 1. (AP Photo/Paul Connors)

Luke Sullivan, 5, of Tampa, Fla., poses for a picture behind an oversize football uniform at the NFL Experience as part of Super Bowl XLIII Saturday, Jan. 24, 2009, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner, right, follows center Lyle Sendlein, left, on a quarterback sneak during football practice Saturday, Jan. 24, 2009, at the team's practice facility in Tempe, Ariz. The Cardinals will play the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa on Feb. 1. (AP Photo/Paul Connors)

Arizona Cardinals tight end Ben Patrick makes a reception during football practice Saturday, Jan. 24, 2009, at the team's practice facility in Tempe, Ariz. The Cardinals will play the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa on Feb. 1. (AP Photo/Paul Connors)

Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator Todd Haley tosses a football with quarterback Kurt Warner, not shown, during football practice Saturday, Jan. 24, 2009, at the team's practice facility in Tempe, Ariz. The Cardinals will play the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa on Feb. 1. (AP Photo/Paul Connors)

Arizona Cardinals wide receivers Anquan Boldin, left, and Larry Fitzgerald, right, chat while stretching out during football practice Saturday, Jan. 24, 2009, at the team's practice facility in Tempe, Ariz. The Cardinals will play the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa on Feb. 1. (AP Photo/Paul Connors)

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald makes a catch during football practice Saturday, Jan. 24, 2009, at the team's practice facility in Tempe, Ariz. The Cardinals will play the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa on Feb. 1. (AP Photo/Paul Connors)

Arizona Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt grins as he talks with player as they stretch out during football practice Saturday, Jan. 24, 2009, at the team's practice facility in Tempe, Ariz. The Cardinals will play the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa on Feb. 1. (AP Photo/Paul Connors)

The Cardinals defense during the regular season hardly inspired Super Bowl cred: Arizona finished 28th in points allowed and, despite creating a respectable amount of turnovers and having above-average speed, was too often manhandled and outcoached. Now the Cardinals are facing a quarterback who is playing in his second Super Bowl in five years. Ben Roethlisberger is cool and efficient, a perfect balance to a Steelers defense that is better even than the one that led Pittsburgh to nirvana a few years ago.

Roethlisberger is bigger and more mobile than Philadelphia quarterback Donovan McNabb, who was sacked twice by the Cardinals in the NFC title game. If the Arizona defense can limit Pittsburgh's running game and keep Roethlisberger from scampering out of the pocket and finding an open receiver, the Cardinals offense won't have to be one-dimensional and throw on every down. The Cardinals' constant defensive pressure, their ability to come at Roethlisberger from different angles while remaining disciplined, will determine whether Arizona returns to the desert with its first Super Bowl championship.

"We have to be physical. We have to be physical at the point of attack. That is their [Pittsburgh's] mindset, so you have to have the same kind of mindset," said linebacker Karlos Dansby. "You have to fly around, be disciplined. They wait on you to make mistakes. We have to be solid all the way around."

The Cardinals defense has never been shy about doing back flips in the end zone, or flexing like bodybuilders after making a simple tackle, or yapping up a storm. Much of their antics seem ludicrous, considering.

They win in Tampa and all is forgiven

Cardinals Defense Works to Justify Surprising Super Bowl Appearance originally appeared on Lisa Olson FanHouse on Sat, 24 Jan 2009 20:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There's More to Fitzgerald's Phenomenon

Lisa Olson — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 21:45:00 EST

Filed under: NFL

TEMPE, Ariz. - Larry Fitzgerald should lug around a telephone booth, to step in and out of whenever he feels the need to change personalities.

The Arizona Cardinals' incomparable wide receiver moves smoothly from Superman to Renaissance man, depending on the situation. On the field he is fearless, a human marvel who possesses keen eyesight and the ability to leap over double coverage and tall buildings. Off the field, he's a seeker, an adventurer, and, incongruously, a man who would rather walk across hot coals than talk about where he has been or how he got there.

Fitzgerald didn't exactly have to be forced to the podium Friday afternoon, after the Cardinals went through another practice in preparation for Super Bowl XLIII. But it was clear this was perhaps the one place on the planet where he felt uncomfortable, maybe even out of his element.
Put Fitzgerald in the whirl of the Cardinals' vibrant offense and he's the apex around which all the pieces revolve. He amassed 419 yards in three playoff games, surpassing the postseason record previously held by Hall of Famer Jerry Rice. But nudge Fitzgerald into the limelight, a limelight almost every other Cardinal is gleefully soaking up in this extraordinary chapter in Arizona sporting history, and Fitzgerald stutter steps.

Pittsburgh secondary take note: the most dynamic player in all of football has a weak spot, but it's only apparent when he rips off the Cardinal red and goes all Clark Kent.

"If people ask what makes me tick, I would say winning. That definitely gets me excited and makes me happy," Fitzgerald said. "To be in this position is truly a blessing for everybody in this locker room. We've worked a long time, really hard, to be in this position. This is a fabulous opportunity, one that is not guaranteed to ever happen again. I think everybody in the locker room realizes that and is really dedicated to getting it done."

He's too modest to publicly explore an inner core that makes him one of the most fascinating of all professional athletes. At 25, he has already hiked the Inca Trail and climbed Machu Picchu in search of spiritual guidance, and challenged his inner fears by bungee-jumping in New Zealand. Great wealth and occupational downtime allow him luxuries most of us can only imagine, but what really sets Fitzgerald apart from his contemporaries is his old school 'tude.

Watch him after he scores (which is often), and gently flips the ball to an official. It's a humbleness and grace inherited from his mother, Carol, a health-care worker who died in 2003, after a seven-year battle with cancer. When she passed, Fitzgerald said he thought about getting a tattoo in her honor, but instead chose to let his dreadlocks grow so he might be reminded of her every time he looked in the mirror.

Watch him tongue-trip around the word "I" in interviews, deftly changing the subject to "we" and "team." It's a selfless trait he learned as the son of a sportswriter and broadcaster. Larry Fitzgerald, Sr., the longtime columnist for the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder and host of three sports talk radio shows in Minneapolis, used to take his young son to work, and by grade school Larry was a ball boy for the Vikings. For six seasons, Larry hung around and studied veteran receivers Cris Carter and Randy Moss, building a catalogue of experience before he ever played an NFL down.

Fitzgerald is hardly the fastest or the tallest receiver in the game today. His 40-yard-dash time of 4.83 seconds in the 2004 scouting combine was considered mediocre; his average leaping ability doesn't begin to explain how he accumulated 1,431 receiving yards this season, or became the youngest player ever to record 400 career receptions. Ask Fitzgerald how, despite his athletic limitations, he still manages to pluck passes out of the heavens while being sandwiched by defenders, how he has developed flawless timing and pinpoint positioning that enables him to tip the ball to himself, and he intuitively grimaces. It's easier to evade safeties than escape using the "I" word.

"I wasn't blessed with blazing speed." Fitzgerald said. "I'm not like Santonio Holmes or Nate Washington. I'm not running 4.2 and stuff like that like those guys, so I had to develop other things that were going to be able to help me win down field. My jumping ability is definitely one of those, and my hands, I have strong hands to be able to pull it away from guys. I think those are definitely two of the strengths of my game."

Watch Fitzgerald closely -- or, better, examine a photograph of one of his catches -- and the true genius of his gift comes into focus. On many occasions, he's actually pulling down passes with his eyes closed. It's another skill he learned at a young age, after his grandfather, Robert Johnson, the founder of a Chicago optometry clinic, trained Fitzgerald to do complicated hand-eye drills while balancing on beams and wobbly boards.

Designed to improve the first grader's attention span and grades, the spatial exercises, honed over summer trips to Chicago, helped Fitzgerald achieve what is called "visual dominance" and elite athleticism.

"He used to do vision therapy with me, just a lot of different drills he would do to strengthen my hand-eye coordination," Fitzgerald said. "I think those skills definitely are paying dividends for me. My eyes are good, seeing the ball pretty well, and I think he had a hand in helping me get here."

Pittsburgh's defense led the NFL in pass defense, shutting down most every receiver it has faced this season. Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, with two weeks to prepare, is cooking up some schemes Warner and Fitzgerald haven't seen on tape. LeBeau jokes that his safeties are carrying around stepladders, to keep pace in the air with the high-flying Fitzgerald.

"I think it's going to be a little bit of a chess match from the standpoint of rolling coverage to Larry as well as us moving Larry around, trying to put him in positions where he can avoid that." Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said. "Their secondary is playing very well. They've done a nice job in the past games that I've watched on tape. I'm sure that they'll have some different coverages where they'll be doubling Larry or rolling coverages his way. We're going to have to move Larry a bit and see if we can be successful."

There's a reason Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner has been reborn in the desert. He has more options at his fingertips than he did all those years in St. Louis, when he won his first Super Bowl: there are 1,000-yard receivers Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston, running back Edgerrin James who, now that he's no longer banished to the bench, can mold a zero-yard gain into a couple of yards and, especially, Fitzgerald, Warner's favorite target.

"I know what it takes for Larry to be open. I can put it in certain places where only he can get it or a place where I know he can get it," Warner said. "With that you have the ultimate confidence. If you put it in the right spot, he's going to make a play on the ball. I've seen him do it time and time again. All he has to do is get a step on you and he's so big and strong and athletic that he's going to get it. I understand what it means for different guys to be open and for Larry to be open. We try to take advantage of that."

The other day, someone asked Warner why Fitzgerald had turned down a slew of opportunities that surely would enhance his Q rating, make him the most recognizable athlete in the Valley. Warner's answer was simple, perfect.

"Because Larry doesn't need all that attention," Warner said. "He's very content with the person that he is."

Super Bowl XLIII Images

Tickets for Super Bowl XLIII are displayed in front of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers pirate ship in Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., Friday, Jan. 23, 2009. The NFC champion Arizona Cardinals will play the AFC champion Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII on Sunday, Feb. 1. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (7) pulls on his helmet while listening to offensive coodinator Bruce Arians during football practice in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009. The Steelers face the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII on Feb. 1, in Tampa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Steelers punter Mitch Berger (17) participates in during football practice in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009. The Steelers face the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII on Feb. 1, in Tampa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Nate Washington participates in football practice in Pittsburgh, Friday, Jan. 23, 2009. The Steelers face the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII on Feb. 1, in Tampa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, right, talks with safety Troy Polamalu before football practice in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2009. The Steelers face the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII on Feb. 1, in Tampa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coodinator Bruce Arians, right, talks with quarterbacks coach Ken Anderson during the football team's practice in Pittsburgh Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2009. The Steelers face the Arizona Cardinals in the Super Bowl XLIII Feb 1, in Tampa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback coach Ken Anderson participates in football practice in Pittsburgh, Friday, Jan. 23, 2009. The Steelers face the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII on Feb. 1, in Tampa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Mewelde Moore (21) participates in football practice in Pittsburgh, Friday, Jan. 23, 2009. The Steelers face the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII on Feb. 1, in Tampa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward helps with a receiver's drill during football practice in Pittsburgh, Friday, Jan. 23, 2009. The Steelers face the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII on Feb. 1, in Tampa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

There's More to Fitzgerald's Phenomenon originally appeared on Lisa Olson FanHouse on Fri, 23 Jan 2009 21:45:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cards Adjusting to Life in Limelight

Lisa Olson — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 21:50:00 EST

Filed under: NFL, Super Bowl

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Todd Haley's players are worried about him. He's dropping weight, looking gaunt. How will he ever defend himself when the inevitable happens, and one of the Arizona Cardinals tires of Haley's rants and slugs the offensive coordinator?

"Oh, that would be all over YouTube, wouldn't it?" safety Adrian Wilson said with a hearty laugh Thursday afternoon at the team's practice facility, after the Cardinals emerged from two days rest, saw their shadow and realized their Super Bowl fantasies weren't a mirage but the honest-to-god reality. "Todd better start pumping weight. We don't want him to be embarrassed on national TV."

It's a running joke, this give-and-take between players on the NFC champions -- yes, the Cardinals' invite to Super Bowl XLIII against Pittsburgh has yet to be revoked -- and their feisty coach. Ever feel like screaming at your boss, maybe telling him or her where to go and who to bring? Some of the Cardinals do it every day -- in practice, at meetings, during games -- and Haley always has a blistering retort, wins the argument, and challenges the doubter to come back when they have something better.

A sideline encounter with Haley is not for the frail or shy. Haley's players know what kind of gum he chews, whether he's wearing cologne, when he last showered. He was raised to worship at the pew of Bill Parcells; his football lineage - father, Dick, was an architect of the great Steelers' teams of the 1970s and one of the most well-respected personnel men in NFL history -- is as much a part of Haley's DNA as his blood type.

For eons Cardinals fans entertained themselves by mixing "boo" into their quarterback's names -- Stan Gelbaugh, Steve Beuerlein, Gary Hogeboom, Tim Rosenbach. Hey, it beat poking one's eye out with cacti.. In these heady days, when even Bill Bidwill can leave home without being taunted, fans get their kicks by eye-stalking Haley, to see which player might get the rough end of his proverbial wooden spoon.

Usually it's Kurt Warner, but the sideline spats with the soft-spoken, Bible-toting quarterback mostly fade into the scenery. Warner's wife Brenda seems to be the only one who pays much notice, often asking her husband what he and Haley fought about in the last few minutes. For some reason, the dozens of Kurt Warner vs. Todd Haley confrontations haven't caught America's fancy.

Ah, but Anquan Boldin vs. Todd Haley is a completely different Internet/media/fan obsession. Their latest conflict, and subsequent fallout, was still a hot theme Thursday, causing a mixture of bemusement and eye-rolls amongst the Cardinals. (What, they'd rather we ask how it feels to be disrespected, overlooked and laughed at by the genius NFL community? That's a topic for the next 10 days, promise).

Boldin, the Arizona wide receiver who this season has been alternately brilliant, a warrior, injured and teed-off, was caught in high-definition angst in the fourth quarter of the Cardinals' 32-25 NFC-title clinching victory over Philadelphia, screaming at Haley on the sidelines after Haley chose to exclude Boldin in a personnel grouping.
The theory is that Haley wanted to save Boldin for later in the game, or that Haley didn't trust Boldin's explosiveness, or that Haley was auditioning for a spot on "Gossip Girl." Hey, he calls the plays, he gets to decide where the chess pieces move.

The Cardinals, who have suddenly discovered a football is also a fine thing to tuck under the arm and run with, used only one receiver on nine of their final 14 plays against the Eagles, and that receiver was not named Anquan. His spat was childish, unprofessional, selfish ... and understandable. That apoplectic media-types who are now comparing him to Terrell Owens (an erstwhile Haley foe) or, good grief, Plaxico Burress, proves how great the divide is between professional athletes and those of us who merely watch them.

"I was mad because they took me out of the game. I think any competitor would have the same reaction," Boldin said Thursday, explaining again his side of the quarrel. "A game of that magnitude, how close the game was and us potentially driving to score a touchdown - I want to be in there. That's just the type of guy I am.

"Every week someone on the sidelines gets in an argument. But it's in the heat of the moment, it's a part of football and once it's all done, it's dead on both sides. Like I said, it's not something I wish to dwell on or will let distract this team, because that's not my priority."

In some minds, Boldin committed a greater crime when he snuck away from the on-field celebration Sunday, as his teammates hugged and cried and six decades of organizational failure evaporated into the night. He was under no contractual obligation to stay and cheer, but he sure did miss a cool party.

"I celebrated and I celebrated with my teammates - I just tried to avoid this (the media)," Boldin said of his quick post-game bolt. "But me leaving earlier than everybody else seems to have made it worse, but it is what it is. The guys in the locker room know what kind of guy I am and they know exactly what went on."

Super Bowl XLIII Images

** FOR STORY SLUGGED: CHINA NEW YEAR WEBCAST BY MIN LEE ** A worker stretches near lion dance props prepared for a webcast new year gala in Beijing, China, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009. The alternative, amateur program that will be shown on the Internet as a small but bold challenge to "Spring Festival Gala," a propaganda-laden program that typically draws 800 million viewers _ about eight times more than America's Super Bowl. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

**FOR STORY SLUGGED: CHINA NEW YEAR WEBCAST BY MIN LEE ** Zhou Changchun, a stunt cyclist shows off his skills in Beijing, China, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009. Zhou plans to take part in an alternative, amateur program that will be shown on the Internet as a small but bold challenge to "Spring Festival Gala," a propaganda-laden program that typically draws 800 million viewers _ about eight times more than America's Super Bowl. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

** FOR STORY SLUGGED: CHINA NEW YEAR WEBCAST BY MIN LEE ** Human beatbox rapper Wu Mohan is pictured during an interview in Beijing, China, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009. Wu plans to take part in an alternative, amateur program that will be shown on the Internet as a small but bold challenge to "Spring Festival Gala," a propaganda-laden program that typically draws 800 million viewers _ about eight times more than America's Super Bowl. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

In this image released by America's Milk Processor's in Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has his milk moustache touched up my an artist as he is photographed for a "Body by Milk" advertisement on Tuesday, Jan 20, 2009 in Pittsburgh. Roethlisberger and Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner will appear in the upcoming advertisement leading to Super Bowl XLIII on Sunday Feb. 1, in Tampa. (AP Photo/America's Milk Processor's) ** NO SALES **

In this image released by America's Milk Processor's on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009, Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner is photographed for a "Body by Milk" advertisement on Wednesday, Jan 21, 2009 in Phoenix. Warner and Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will appear in the upcoming advertisement leading up to Super Bowl XLIII on Sunday Feb. 1, in Tampa. (AP Photo/America's Milk Processor's, Paul Connors) ** NO SALES **

Arizona Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt approaches the podium during a news conference after football practice at the team's training facility Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009, in Tempe, Ariz. The Cardinals face the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, Fla., on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2009. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Arizona Cardinals' Russ Grimm answers during a news conference after football practice at the team's training facility Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009, in Tempe, Ariz. The Cardinals face the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, Fla., on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2009. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner answers questions during a news conference after football practice at the team's training facility Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009, in Tempe, Ariz. The Cardinals face the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, Fla., on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2009. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Arizona Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt answers questions during a news conference after football practice at the team's training facility Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009, in Tempe, Ariz. The Cardinals face the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, Fla., on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2009. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Arizona Cardinals' Anquan Boldin smiles and pauses before answering a question during a news conference after the Cardinals NFL football practice at the team training facility Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009, in Tempe, Ariz. The Cardinals will face the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, Fla., on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2009. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

As always, the Cardinals can't help but exhale drama. Must be the desert air. Boldin, like running back Edgerrin James, has a like-hate relationship with the team. During training camp, Boldin, angered over a contract dispute, accused management of lying to him and said he would never re-sign with the Cardinals. He requested a trade, said he had no relationship with head coach Ken Whisenhunt -- and then lived up to his word that the contract issue would not affect his play by hauling in 89 receptions for 1,038 yards and 11 touchdowns in the regular season despite missing four games with injuries, including an awful helmet-to-helmet collision in a game with the Jets in which Boldin's sinuses ended up in his toes.

It's all good now: Boldin says his head and hamstring are fine, he's cool with Haley, Haley's cool with Boldin and the other Cardinals don't understand all the fuss because Haley yells at everyone. They ought to get used to answering questions about their brick-chewing offensive coordinator and his tempestuous on-field relationship with players, because the YouTube clips can't be erased, and the beast that is the Super Bowl needs to be fed.

"The one thing I can say is that the people who know him - the guys in the locker room - know who he is and know that what happened on the field is what happened on the field and it's over," Warner said of Boldin. "We love the guy and we know what a character guy he is. The funny thing is you see what he's done all year and the character he's displayed all year and one instance, that I've had six times this year, becomes a defining point of the season is crazy. He's too great of an individual."

Haley stayed on the fringes Thursday, the players cracking wise about his shrinking body, his need to buff up in case of a duel. They seem to get a buzz from his antics, mostly. He's rumored to be in line for the top coaching spot with the Kansas City Chiefs, a team that can use a bit of whatever the Cardinals have discovered in the drinking water. The Chiefs can catch some of Haley's audition tape, all over the Internet.

"He's gotten into it with a couple of guys. Like I said, it's normal. He gets into it with Kurt, he gets into it with defensive players, he gets into it with tight ends and he gets into it with other coaches," Boldin said. "It's common around here. So for me to be getting calls from everyone saying, 'everyone is blowing it up and making a big deal out of it,' - it was funny to me ...But I don't really pay attention to that, because it was a minute thing and people took it and ran with it."

Boldin and Haley haven't been around the Cardinals long enough to realize, any pub is good pub. They really should be soaking it up.

Cards Adjusting to Life in Limelight originally appeared on Lisa Olson FanHouse on Thu, 22 Jan 2009 21:50:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ghost of Joe Bugel Forever Exorcised

Lisa Olson — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: NFL, Super Bowl

PHOENIX -- As much as we journalists try to maintain a strict professional distance, a self-imposed objectivity, sports can still be intensely personal. So when Arizona Cardinals owner Bill Bidwill weaved his way onto the stadium grass last Sunday, dodging premature confetti and mischievous ghosts, I admit to instinctively clutching my gut.

Cardinals fans have been trained to anticipate disaster, to steel for the inevitable heart ache. It's a darn miracle Bidwill wasn't hit by a comet right then and there, before he could get anywhere near the Halas Trophy awarded the NFC champion.

You have to understand: I'm a fourth-generation Arizonan, reared on disappointment. We no more expect wins than snow in January. We have survived Joe Bugel and Buddy Ryan, Cliff Stoudt and Dave Krieg. Our bodies bear the scars that come from resting against scorching hot tin cans in 100-degree weather. Our post-game memories are marred by ritualistic run-ins with gloating globs of fans from Oakland, Philadelphia, Green Bay or -- somebody please restrain us -- Dallas.

It was ridiculous when invading snowbirds easily snapped up tickets during the dry years (which, for the most part, include all but the last five minutes). It was insulting when our neighbors and friends in the Valley continued to mock those who embraced the Cardinals after the team migrated to the wilderness from St. Louis in 1988.

At least disciples of the New Orleans Saints had paper bags to hide their contempt. There was no sunscreen powerful enough in Arizona to mask the shame of empty swaths of seats over the years (or, worse, the maddening occupation by fans from visiting teams), no broad-brimmed hats to shield the disgust at the perennially bad product the Bidwills forced on consumers.

Latest NFL Photos

Arizona Cardinals running back Tim Hightower, front, and wide receiver Sean Morey, rear, greet Phoenix Coyotes fans before the Coyotes faced the Detroit Red Wings in an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009, in Glendale, Ariz. The Cardinals will play the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl NFL football game on Feb. 1. (AP Photo/Paul Connors)

In this photo provided by the Chandler Police Department, Chandler resident Rex Perkins, 37, poses for a mug shot, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2009 in Chandler, Ariz. Two Arizona Cardinals fans, Perkins and co-worker Ryan Hanlon, 28, admitted they hung their team's flag in a tree and burned "Go Cards," "Go Kurt," and "I heart AZ" in McNabb's yard with diesel fuel, Chandler police Sgt. Joe Favazzo said Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Chandler Police Department)

In this photo provided by the Chandler Police Department, Ryan Hanlon, 28, poses for a mug shot, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2009 in Chandler, Ariz. Two Arizona Cardinals fans, Hanlon and co-worker Rex Perkins, 37, admitted they hung their team's flag in a tree and burned "Go Cards," "Go Kurt," and "I heart AZ" in McNabb's yard with diesel fuel, Chandler police Sgt. Joe Favazzo said Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Chandler Police Department)

Baltimore Ravens' Willis McGahee, left, and Edgar Jones talk as they clean out their lockers on Monday, Jan. 19, 2009 in Owings Mills, Md. The Ravens lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC championship NFL football game on Sunday. (AP Photo/Gail Burton)

Baltimore Ravens' Bart Scott talks with the press as he cleans out his locker Monday, Jan. 19, 2009 in Owings Mills, Md. The Ravens lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC championship NFL football game on Sunday. (AP Photo/Gail Burton)

Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Derrick Mason packs up his belongings as he cleans out his locker Monday, Jan. 19, 2009 in Owings Mills, Md. The Ravens lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC championship NFL football game on Sunday. (AP Photo/Gail Burton)

Baltimore Ravens' Ray Rice carries garbage bags filled with stuff from his locker Monday, Jan. 19, 2009.in Owings Mills, Md. The Ravens lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC championship NFL football game on Sunday. (AP Photo/Gail Burton)

The official Super Bowl XLIII game balls are assembled together at the Wilson Sporting Goods football factory Monday, Jan. 19, 2009 in Ada, Ohio. The factory began making the game ball Sunday night immediately after the conclusion of the NFC and AFC championship games. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

And so, dear Internet traveler, please pardon this trip down memory lane. I swear on my credential I'll try very hard not to ever again go all nostalgic on you. The Cardinals are heading to the Super Bowl, and I keep waiting for the universe to combust.

Back when Phoenix was a sports wasteland, when the Suns were the only professional option in town, my dearly departed father Chuck was one of the original Cardinals season-ticket holders, trading in his ducats to Arizona State University games for the dubious honor of watching in person a vagabond team that last won a championship in 1947.

All too often, he was alone in his misery. When he couldn't cajole a loved one to spend a grim Sunday at Sun Devil Stadium (where he considered it an honor to bake in the desert heat, an imperative to swear at disloyal intruders, an obligation to depart muttering at the Cardinals' abject failure to do most everything), he'd leave an extra ticket on the windshield of some stranger's car at the local Fry's.

These strangers were randomly selected on their choice of meat cuts, or maybe their sympathetic nods at my dad's old-school Phoenix Cardinals T-shirt. Rarely did they ever bother to show as my father's guest. Who could blame them? If the Cardinals weren't failing to spend money, they were bringing in a rotation of aging veterans stopping by for one last paycheck before shuffling off to a nearby retirement village.

They are who we thought they were? Dennis Green's infamous rant during his unfortunate incarnation as Arizona coach had been uttered thousands of times before, a mantra reverberating off the walls of every Cardinals fan as they tossed another flip-flop at the television. We had long been conditioned: Buddy Ball in truth was Cruddy Ball; Neil Lomax was no more a solution than Gary Hogeboom; Garrison Hearst bled into Emmitt Smith. Pity the poor souls who dared enter my father's red-hued airspace, especially when he was dueling chemotherapy.

My brother Michael writes, "(The Cardinals) were playing the Bears and Chicago fans (were) like the SNL skits. The Bears were winning and that made it seem even worse. I could see Dad getting more and more steamed and by the fourth quarter he yelled, "Go home you ugly bastards" to a group of Bears fans right next to us. A few of them followed us out to the concourse and one of them started grabbing Dad and they were pushing each other. Dad was maybe 140 lbs and had been on chemo at that point. I stepped in between them and yelled "WTF are you doing man, he's on chemo?" and the Bears fan says, "Well, he started it".

"But what was extraordinarily painful back in those days, was being the very last fans to leave the game even when the Cards were down by 30 or 40 points. Dad just wouldn't leave early, ever. And then he had to immediately put on his transistor radio to hear the post-game report as we would walk out of the stadium virtually alone every time. And then he would get home and write an editorial to the Arizona Republic defending the Cards or slamming Bill Bidwill!"

Another brother writes, "My favorite game with him was on Christmas Day in 1995 against the Cowboys, which turned out to Buddy Ryan's last game. Ryan even ran to the tunnel with a couple minutes left (I think the score was like 35-14 or some rout) because the fans were booing him so badly and I'm sure the cops told him to get there to be safe. Dad was booing with the best of them and went hoarse yelling, 'You bum, Ryan!'

He went hoarse just about every game, but would be in his own little world because he would put on the oversized headset and tune in to KTAR's broadcast team to listen to the play-by-play wearing his favorite Cardinals red T-shirt and black Cardinals jacket and greasy old Cardinals red cap that he bought for a couple
bucks at Fry's. It would also drown out the sounds from the other team's fans, because we would typically be the only Cardinals fans in the seats surrounded by the other NFC East team's fans."

At our father's funeral, we ignored Catholic protocol and decorated the church with Cardinals' gear, with programs and banners and the greasy old clothes he wore to every home game. Honestly, it made everyone in the congregation cheer.

That's the beauty -- or horror, depending on your post-game trek -- of sports. Families share their waves of joy, their fabulously misplaced dejection. I lived in Australia during many of the Cardinals' brutal moments, and knew better than to phone my father on Mondays during the season, because his mood would still be foul.

There were brief snapshots of euphoria: the Cardiac Cards' era, for all the good that did; and local stud Jake "The Snake" Plummer's energizing 1998 season, which culminated with a magical wild card playoff win in Dallas. But enormous sadness trails the Cardinals in the narrative of Pat Tillman, the star safety who in the peak of his football career retired suddenly to join the Army in 2002, and was later killed in Afghanistan.

The worst, most dysfunctional franchise in football history -- sorry, Lions fans, but you're still runners-up -- has finally recovered from a skid that spanned six decades, nine name changes, three cities (four, if you understand it's quicker to drive from Manhattan to Philadelphia than Tempe to Glendale) and trillions of on-and-off-the-field fumbles.

The Cardinals' new home, built with voter approval in 2000, rises like a spaceship in what was once the western tumbleweed-strewn part of town. The air-conditioned University of Phoenix, with its retractable roof and futuristic appeal, still welcomes its share of fans from opposing teams, and a few weeks ago the locals had to paper the house to achieve selling out the first postseason football game in Arizona. Forgive Cardinals fans for needing time to get used to such bliss.

And please, feel free to mock the woeful NFC West, and express doubts that linger from Arizona losing three of the last five regular season games by an aggregate 130-41. Cardinals fans have heard much, much worse.

It's impossible not to be captivated by humble all-everything wideout Larry Fitzgerald, and touched by the dogged perseverance of quarterback Kurt Warner, and awed by Ken Whisenhunt, the coach who in two years has flipped a crumbling culture into a championship season. But what really hits home, even for those of us who no longer reside in the desert's womb, is the echo of former Cardinals safety Larry Wilson.

In the giddy bubble of last Sunday's 32-25 win over Philadelphia, as the Stadium exploded in rapturous delight, Wilson cackled to anyone who would listen, "It's a cold, cold day in hell." One small quibble: the Bidwills should have opened the stadium roof, so Cardinals fans near and far could look down on the moment and rejoice.

Ghost of Joe Bugel Forever Exorcised originally appeared on Lisa Olson FanHouse on Wed, 21 Jan 2009 08:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Step Aside Champs, Hungrier Eagles Deserve the Spotlight Now

Lisa Olson — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 22:15:00 EST

Filed under: NFL

NEW YORK -- There were only a few minutes remaining on the clock when Donovan McNabb lost his mind. This time, McNabb can be forgiven; his silly sin didn't crush his team, didn't send Philadelphia fans into a blind rage. McNabb's Eagles had all but wrapped a green bow around the NFC divisional playoffs Sunday at Giants Stadium -- so when the quarterback decided he'd celebrate the win over the New York Giants a bit early by mocking the defending Super Bowl champs, the gesture seemed more comical than hurtful.

After scrambling around a defense that hadn't touched him much all afternoon, McNabb landed on the sideline, picked up a phone that connects upstairs and pretended to make a call. Hello, Giants? Your reign is over. Move aside for a hungrier, better, sharper team.

"That was a dumb mistake on my part. Shouldn't have done it," McNabb said, once the Eagles put the finishing touches on a stirring 23-11 beatdown of their ancient foes. "I think I was caught up in the moment, obviously, but it shouldn't have happened."

McNabb was slapped with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for his sideline caper, adding a slight blemish to what otherwise was a transcendent showing by the Eagles as they won their second playoff game on the road, and added another juicy spin to the anybody-can-win-it NFL playoffs. In a week we'll learn if the Arizona Cardinals' defense really is a mirage, if McNabb can synchronize his rhythm and his focus again in enemy territory.

The NFC title game between the Cardinals and the Eagles might be a contest of two unlikely teams, a rematch of a lopsided affair that was dominated by Philadelphia earlier this season, but one thing we can say with utmost certainty: The Giants, seeded first on the NFC side of the ledger and considered by many gridiron gurus to be the cream of the regular season, did not deserve a return trip to the Super Bowl.

It wasn't just that they've lost four of their last five games, or that they were severely hurt by Plaxico Burress' reckless, illegal behavior. Something has been missing from Tom Coughlin's bunch for weeks now. It would have been nearly impossible to duplicate last season's remarkable, five-week stretch of brilliance, but is it too much to ask for a fourth-and-inches completion now and then? While Philadelphia's bone-crunching, ball-crazy defense deserves mucho credit, is it too much to expect that the Super Bowl champions might score more than three field goals and a safety?

It was as if the Giants were spooked by hosting a playoff game at home, an honor they never held last season all the way to the crazy, beautiful win over unbeaten New England in the Arizona desert. The Giants' first home playoff game in three years began in Sunday's wee morning hours, with piles of snow and ice dotting the creaky Stadium grounds and creating one massive, fight-filled log jam of humanity -- and ended with the harsh cries from hordes of green-faced Philly fans, braying their dominance all the way down the Turnpike.

Yes, New Yorkers, dig in for a harsh winter. First the Phillies win the World Series, now the Eagles are stomping in the same footprints the Giants laid last year. And guess what? The folks who wear the New York uniforms have already planted their allegiance.

"They just beat the only team that had a chance to beat them. I'm on their bandwagon," said Giants running back Brandon Jacobs, voicing a theme heard again and again throughout the home team's dejected, but not shocked, locker room.

Participants from both sides don't mind the parallels that keep popping up between today's Eagles and yesterday's Giants. An improbable playoff berth has gained steam on the road, and now the Eagles are a confident bunch, convinced Jim Johnson's defensive genius coupled with Andy Reid's steady hand (admit it, Eagles fans, the coach hasn't made a wrong move in eight whole quarters) and McNabb's burning desire to prove wrong an entire city of know-it-alls might just result in another Philly championship.

"We haven't made it there yet but we know all know we're a dangerous team. A very dangerous team," Eagles defensive end Trent Cole said amidst a locker room that was subdued and calm, even while Philly fans raged outside the stadium, a lunatic fringe gone wild. Someone asked Cole if he was tempted to join in the celebrations taking place on the other side of the doors. He's a brave man, but not that brave. "Maybe in a few more weeks," Cole said, "we'll be able to participate. But we got too much to do before we start talking about how good we are."

Cole and his compadres on defense did a fine job of harassing Eli Manning, applying pressure with revolving blitzes and limiting his ability to stretch the field. The Giants failed to score on three trips to the red zone, were 3-for-13 on third downs, a killer 1-for-3 on fourth downs and clearly missed Burress. If it weren't for that fateful night last autumn when Burress chose to be socially irresponsible -- and probably criminally liable -- by taking a loaded gun into a nightclub and accidentally shooting himself, the Giants would have had a deep threat, perhaps even found a way into the end zone. They might not admit it publicly, but the Giants' quest for back-to-back titles ended with gunfire in the LQ nightclub.

"You know, we just didn't play well today. It's not about Plaxico," said Manning, who went 15-for-29 for 169 yards with two interceptions, his spirals either gobbled up by the wind or sailing over the head of his targets. "We had opportunities. We have players that can make plays and do things. It's not the issue. I have total confidence and faith in the guys we had out there today. I could have hit them on a few more plays and we could have made something happen."

Manning's rocky afternoon won't elicit sympathy from Jake Delhomme, but it will inspire another winter of obsession from loud pockets of New Yorkers who still haven't warmed to Eli. Coughlin's critics have mostly gone underground, but the coach gave them reason to grouch again with some head-scratching play calling and a challenge that probably caused Jimmy Hoffa to roll over. Trailing 20-11 with 12:39 remaining in the fourth quarter, Coughlin sent Manning up the middle on a fourth-and-one from the Giants' 44, when a strong cough by running back Jacobs might have translated to a first down.

"I was very surprised. I was waiting for him," Cole said of Jacobs. "But he never came."

Jacobs, asked why he didn't get the rock on such a key down, shrugged and said, "Coach calls the plays." He quickly added, "They wanted it more than we did. We didn't match their intensity. I have no idea why."

The Eagles, smaller and quicker on the line, were rougher in the trenches, getting the extra pushes, the harder hits. The Giants had another shot to make it a two-score game a few minutes later, after the Eagles went three-and-out, but after a few long runs by Derrick Ward off tackle, and a shotgun pass from Manning to forgotten friend Amani Toomer, NY faced fourth-and-two from its own 47 -- and when Jacobs went lateral, picking up only a yard, there went the season. The Eagles would score again, on David Akers' 18th consecutive field goal, a record in the playoffs.

Quintin Mikell celebrates his interception with a pair of Eagles teammates

Coughlin's postseason magic touch took a brutal hit.

"Well, would you not have gone for it on fourth and an inch? Would you not have gone for it on fourth-and-two with the game where it was? Would you not have kicked a field goal?" the Giants coach said in the interview room, where he was gently interrogated. "The legitimate, logical calls were made. Were they successful or not? You have to take it case by case."

McNabb, meanwhile, earned a brief reprieve from the cackling of Monday morning sages. He was deft and nimble against the Giants, tumbling in for one touchdown, throwing for another and picking apart the NY secondary on several momentous key third downs to land himself in the NFC Championship for the fifth time.

His 22-for-40 afternoon took place mostly in the pocket, his 217 yards spread amongst seven receivers.

Philadelphia's inspiring run took shape with a December victory on this alien field, in front of a similarly bloodthirsty crowd, but its guts can be traced to Thanksgiving, with a 48-20 win over Arizona.

"Well, we've got another week of work," said McNabb. "I guess for old guys and guys who really don't want to see us anymore, they'll be watching for another week."

The Eagles' bandwagon got a little heavier Sunday afternoon, when the defending Super Bowl champs got beat up on their own playground. If the Giants couldn't touch McNabb, they might as well root for him to hoist the trophy they partied with not so long ago. It's the neighborly thing to do.

"Hopefully they'll win the Super Bowl and keep it in the NFC East," said Ward, the NY running back, uttering words thought incomprehensible when the season began, when the Giants were still champions.

Step Aside Champs, Hungrier Eagles Deserve the Spotlight Now originally appeared on Lisa Olson FanHouse on Sun, 11 Jan 2009 22:15:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It's Yankees-Red Sox ... but Bloodier

Lisa Olson — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 03:01:00 EST

Filed under: NFL

The helicopter, caught in vicious wind currents that are expected to hang around all weekend, dipped and swerved over Giants Stadium on Friday, catching the attention of several Giants as time expired on a spirited practice. Some players, like defensive end Justin Tuck, became nauseous just from watching the aircraft's struggle to stay aloft.

"Those things scare me," Tuck would say later. Others, like linebacker Antonio Pierce, wondered if the pilot or passengers were spies in the sky.

"Who was it? Andy Reid?" Pierce asked, once the helicopter had vanished, its occupants still unclear. He was joking, of course, because everyone knows Reid and the Philadelphia Eagles haven't much reason to snoop on the Giants, a team the Eagles know as well as an image in the mirror.

Not much mystery cloaks Sunday's NFC divisional playoff game between these two ancient foes, the Giants and the Eagles. Even Bill Belichick's psychic could predict most of the expected plot lines: The collisions will be volcanic; the wind will gobble up the quarterbacks' spirals; Giants coach Tom Coughlin's face will catch fire; Reid will mutter something to or about Donovan McNabb from behind a clipboard, and Eagles' fans will obsess over whether or not the coach and the quarterback are BFF; Brian Westbrook won't have any alone time; the side with the most prolific running game will win. And bet your David Akers bobblehead doll the game will come down to the fourth quarter, possibly even overtime.

"It always seems that way, doesn't it?" defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka said, a few minutes after the Giants had bolted off the field, many of them leaping to bang the cold walls of an empty stadium, as if the joint needed to be shaken awake after a two-week slumber. The top-seeded Giants, rested and predominantly healthy (Tuck and running back Brandon Jacobs included), have decided to recast themselves. They aren't so much the defending Super Bowl champions as they are the team America has already forgotten. The first play from scrimmage Sunday should rectify that.

It makes sense, if you are familiar with the Giants-Eagles' rivalry. Think Yankees-Red Sox, except everyone ends up getting their socks bloody. Four of the last eight games between New York and Philadelphia were decided on the final play, and it's a given that pretty much every down in every game since the series started in 1933 has had its share of teeth-rattling hits.

"It's a brawl," Tuck said, when asked to provide a tutorial of the rivalry to fans who haven't had the pleasure of watching a game in which the body recoils in a perpetual cringe. "It's two teams that are going to try to overpower each other, maybe throw the ball here and there depending on how the game goes, but when you're looking at the lines up front, that's what people should key on. If you're not used to this matchup, it's just an all-out brawl."

These are not the same Giants who blitzed through the playoffs last season, capturing a nation's heart as plucky team-first, no-drama players with wins on the road in Tampa, Dallas and Green Bay, before upsetting undefeated New England in the Super Bowl. Those Giants had Michael Strahan, Plaxico Burress and Osi Umenyiora. These Giants, after clinching the NFC East, lost three games in December and have somehow convinced themselves that last year's underdog slippers still fit nicely. Perhaps it's because they're facing a team high on a four-game winning streak, one that hasn't benched its quarterback in more than a month.

"We still feel that a lot of people are picking the Eagles, honestly. I think they are the hot team. They are the '08 version of the Giants," said defensive tackle Barry Cofield. "I don't know what happened , we're still here and we'd like to be the only Giants around. It's a situation where we still feel a little bit of a slight. We're the No. 1 seed and at home, but a lot of people have faith in the Eagles. They are a good team, but we are still confident in our ability and we feel that if we can play our best then we should win the game."

It would take pliers and a water board to force the Giants to openly spout any bulletin-board material about the Eagles. Buried underneath the macho bouts that occur twice every season (and, when we're lucky, again in the playoffs) is a deeply entrenched respect between the two sides. Seriously, why else would McNabb keep winking at Pierce when the teams break from their huddles?

There are winks, and grins, and sometimes Pierce swears McNabb is ready to engage the New York defense in an on-field discussion about Obama's plans for global warming. It's odd, Pierce admitted, when the opposing quarterback is so friendly, especially when the chip on his shoulder and desire to please an unforgiving Philly fanbase ought to lead to a permanent scowl.

"He always smiles at me. It should be the opposite," Pierce said. "And the winks, what is that?"

The equivalent of throwing kerosene into a bloody wound? In their last heavyweight bout, a 20-14 Eagles' win at Giants Stadium the first Sunday of December, the New Yorkers were roughed up, on both sides of the trenches. If they weren't going three-and-out on offense, they were reeling on defense. Brian Westbrook gained 203 yards from scrimmage, burning Pierce on two big touchdowns. Coincidentally -- or not, probably - the Giants had just been through a tumultuous, draining week because Burress, the team's most potent offensive weapon, had allowed his inner selfishness to shine once again, this time by bringing a loaded gun into a city nightclub and shooting himself in the foot. Pierce, who was present when the gun went off, is involved in the ongoing investigation, and though he insists the ordeal had no bearing on his performance against the Eagles, his words fail to erase the lasting image of Westbrook cradling a third-and-11 pass from McNabb and floating past a flat-footed Pierce to the end zone.

Does that loss, those embarrassing four quarters, have any meaning now that the Eagles are about to make a return trip 90 miles up the Turnpike, this time for a game that means everything? Pierce pleads the fifth.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said. The reporter rephrased the question, got the same clipped retort. "Yesterday is irrelevant, as well," Pierce said. "Get my point?"

Pierce is right. This rivalry is too convoluted, too rich with backstories and great games and last-second heroics and bruised bodies, to hinge on anything that occurred last month. It is expected to be miserably cold when Sunday breaks, icy and windy enough to ground all helicopters. Watch for spirals to suffer quick deaths, for Pierce to stalk Westbrook, for McNabb's surreptitious wink, for Brandon Jacobs' knee to be secured in bubble wrap. Jacobs missed three of New York's final six games with a knee injury. It would take a king's army to make him miss Sunday's.

"I'm wired, I think everyone in here is as wired as I am," Jacobs was saying Friday, in the middle of the defending Super Bowl champs' boisterous locker room. "If you can't get up for a game like this, against your huge rivals, you have no business being here. It's the playoffs, for crying out loud. The Eagles are coming. We're ready, you better believe we're ready."

It's Yankees-Red Sox ... but Bloodier originally appeared on Lisa Olson FanHouse on Sat, 10 Jan 2009 03:01:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Canton Can Find Place for Tillman

Lisa Olson — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:08:00 EST

Filed under: NFL

There are scoundrels in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, drug abusers, wife beaters, some real bottom-feeders you wouldn't want camping two towns over.

O.J. Simpson's legend lives in Canton, Ohio, home of gridiron's hallowed shrine, and Paul Hornung's gambling ghost has the run of the place. Good citizenship is not a requirement for selection in the Hall.

It is a museum for football's elite, a spot to honor select souls who have made invaluable contributions to America's most brutal sport.

If Pat Tillman were handed a key he had not earned to this wing of the Hall of Fame, everything we know about him suggests he'd refuse to try the lock.

I have a sneaking suspicion Tillman would laugh at all this fuss and probably be embarrassed by the growing push to induct him now, 10-plus years after he was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals as the 226th pick, seven years removed from playing his final NFL game, four years and eight months following his death in the Afghanistan mountains.
Cris Collinsworth's passionate pleas during Saturday's Arizona-Atlanta wild card game have sparked spirited discussions in the blogosphere and around the water cooler, which is wonderful, because Tillman's memory needs to be preserved, his story told again and again and again.

Just not via a Hall of Fame ballot.

"He's gonna come up this year for a Hall of Fame Vote. And if Pat Tillman doesn't belong in the Hall of Fame, who does?" Collinsworth, a commentator for NBC, asked his booth mates and a national audience.

"Here's a guy that turned down millions of dollars, a three-year, $36 million deal, to go fight for our country. I hope that that is the vote that they will take. This guy is the very essence of what we all hope the NFL and its players will ultimately be."

That last sentence is not debatable. Tillman, at age 27, died a reluctant hero -- a word he'd despise, his brother Richard told me at Pat's memorial service -- the victim of friendly fire deep in Taliban strongholds in Afghanistan.

In the spring of 2002, with the country still numb after three planes plunged into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Tillman, a Cardinals defensive back, and his brother Kevin, a second baseman in the Cleveland Indians organization, put their professional sporting careers on hold and volunteered for the Army.

Though the Tillmans eschewed interviews, their family and friends said the brothers wanted to repay the country they loved by pursuing the enemy that attacked it. The Tillmans, millionaire athletes who gave up wealth and fame and all the trappings, dug latrines and did the grunt work, while we in the media molded them into ideal patriots.

Eventually Pat and Kevin joined the same elite Ranger platoon, and off they went to fight a secret war. Kevin escorted his brother's body home from Afghanistan.

So by all means, praise and cherish the memory of Pat Tillman, tell your kids and grandkids his complete, colorful story. He was a rebel, an iconoclast who dared to challenge the norm. He quoted Emerson, read the Bible and the Koran, graduated from ASU Summa Cum Laude in three and a half years.

He'd engage his teammates in discussions about gay football players (Tillman didn't see why it would be an issue) and talk to his fellow soldiers about whether America should have invaded Iraq (Tillman had his reservations).

I'd be the first to raise my hand to help build schools and ballparks in Tillman's name. I'll admit he's a bit of an obsession, perhaps because my brother Craig gave up a cushy career (as a chief financial officer) and a nice life in Arizona to re-enlist in the Army after 9/11. He, too, is an Army Ranger, likely to be rotated back to the Middle East sometime this year. Tillman's legacy touches me in ways I can't quite explain.

There might come a time when the Pro Football Hall of Fame changes its standards and adds a code-of-conduct clause.

Baseball's Hall of Fame requirements are far more nebulous, relying on elements like "character, integrity and sportsmanship." Football's bylaws state, simply, "The only criteria for election is a nominee's achievements and contributions as a player, a coach or a contributor in professional football."

The 44-person Board of Selectors (one media representative from each pro football city, with two from New York) have consistently interpreted this to mean a player's ethos should have no bearing on selection; all that matters is what he accomplished on the field.

We'll never know how the arc of Tillman's football career might have expanded if our country hadn't been attacked. Would he have morphed from a good safety to a great one, made the Pro Bowl and won several Super Bowls?

Across four seasons and 60 career games, he had 331 tackles (242 solo), 2 1/2 sacks, three interceptions for 37 yards, three forced fumbles, 16 pass deflections and two fumble recoveries. He was a fine player, just not a Hall of Famer. These are the cold hard facts selectors must consider when they meet later this month to chose new members from a carefully-culled roster of 17 final candidates.

It is possible for Tillman and all he symbolizes to be glorified in Canton, without the selectors being guilted into betraying 45 years of tradition. Separate from the voting process, the Hall's Mission Statement is "To honor individuals who have made outstanding contributions to professional football ... To educate the public regarding the origin, development and growth of professional football as an important part of American culture ... To promote the positive values of the sport."

The Board of Trustees (which includes commissioner Roger Goodell) might never again tackle such a no-brainer: Give Tillman a wall-size memorial, perhaps a room or an enclosed eco-friendly garden where busloads of retirees and school children can learn about the sacrifices he and a handful of other veterans made by swapping the turf for real battlefields.

Already there's a plaque saluting Bob Kalsu, the Buffalo Bills guard who went from a promising NFL rookie to an Army second lieutenant, losing his life in 1970 while defending Ripcord Base in the jungles of Vietnam.

We know the Army has proven it can not be trusted when it comes to preserving Tillman's legacy; its initial portrayal of Tillman's death wasn't only a lie, it sparked investigations that hinted at a cover-up singing the highest levels, and prompted Pat's mother Mary to fight her own government's self-serving fictions with a book, "Boots on the Ground by Dusk: My Tribute to Pat Tillman."

I caught up with Mary Tillman last summer, after a book signing. Clearly she was a reluctant author, with no interest in joining the celebrity talk circuit. Her mission, she said, was to portray Pat fully, his life and his death.

We chatted briefly about the message from her son's memorial service that hot summer day in 2004, when the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden crackled with tale after tale about how Tillman, on the field and in the classroom and in the military bunkers, was forever pushing his companions to "challenge yourself."

The Tillman family, and the legions of friends and followers he left behind, could regale the folks who run the Pro Football Hall of Fame with similar anecdotes featuring Tillman's courage and compassion, his wanderlust for adventure and his quest for authenticity. All anybody in Canton has to do is ask.

Tillman the football player wasn't a Hall of Famer. Tillman the human being should be celebrated in the Hall of Fame, properly and without varnish.

Canton Can Find Place for Tillman originally appeared on Lisa Olson FanHouse on Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:08:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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