Another dose of “The Good Stuff” from Dan L
Jets defensive linemen to gather
Some members of the Jets defensive line will be getting together for drills this upcoming week. The announcement was made by the AP’s Dennis Waszak.
“Defensive tackle Sione Pouha told The Associated Press on Saturday that he and linemates Mike DeVito and Ropati Pitoitua will get together in New Jersey with others, possibly including first-round pick Mohammad Wilkerson and third-rounder Kenrick Ellis,” wrote Waszak. “Pouha says while many players are working out individually, ‘doing actual drills, making blocking reads and punching sled bags, well, that’s another thing.’”
Rex on Sanchez
Rex Ryan had this to say about Mark Sanchez during a public appearance in New York City this past week -
“His first year, he was kind of playing by the seat of his pants,” Ryan said. ”We kind of took the air out of the ball a little bit and it served us well. The next year, we came in and he really took ownership of our offense, the way he would sit in on every offensive staff meeting we had in the offseason. This guy’s dedication was phenomenal, like nobody’s I’ve ever seen.
“And now this year, it’s going to be about that leadership. I think that’s where you’re going to see the difference.
“Certainly he has the physical skills to be a top quarterback in this league. We have weapons around him. We’re not just going to be a West Coast offense. In the Northeast, you have to win when the snow flies and I think we’re built that way.”
A heaping helping of Dan’s Website Whispers
It’s obviously important for players to be careful about what they put on their twitter page.
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Drew Brees blasts NFL owners
This week in Sports Illustrated, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees laced into NFL owners over the lockout.
“Ever since Gene Upshaw passed away — I’m just going to lay it all out there — the owners saw blood in the water,” Brees told SI writer Jim Trotter. ”They felt like, ‘This is our opportunity to take a significant piece of the [financial] pie back at all costs, a piece that we will never have to give back again. This is our chance, while they don’t have leadership, while they’re scrambling to find a new executive director. This is our time.’
“I can point to about five different things to prove to you that they were ready to lock us out. They opted out of the last year of the [CBA] deal; they hired Bob Batterman [who oversaw a lockout of NHL players]. They tried to take the American Needle case to the Supreme Court to basically give them an antitrust exemption or single-entity status, but were defeated 9-0; they established new TV deals to pay them in the event of a lockout, but we were able to put a freeze on that money because they did not negotiate in good faith and broke the law. And they had an internal NFL document that was leaked — a decision tree — that said smack dab in the middle of it ‘financial needs in a lockout.’ That was in 2008, OK? So you’re telling me that they had no plans to lock us out and really wanted to get a deal done? I don’t think so.
“Their philosophy was, We’re going to give you a very subpar deal, a slap-in-the-face deal, and hope that you’ll accept it because hopefully we’ve intimidated you enough into thinking that this is a take-it-or-leave-it deal, and you’re just going to succumb to the pressure,” he said. “Well, guess what. We’re a lot more informed and educated than in the past, and we’re much better businessmen than you think and we’re going to stand up for what is right and what is fair. Fifty-fifty is fair. It’s been fair for the last 20 years and I think the game has done pretty well over the last 20 years. I think franchise values have gone up at a pretty good rate over the last 20 years. So you can’t sit here and tell me that the system is broken.
“If we miss football games because of this lockout, it would be the dumbest thing ever. It would be detrimental to this game. We’ve built the most popular game in the country; I mean, football means so much more to fans than just a form of entertainment or a game. You can walk around on any street in this city and pull a random person aside and ask him what the New Orleans Saints and football have meant to this town, and you’ll see tears and you’ll see how important it is.
“We know that bond, and we understand that football transcends just the playing field. By missing games, I think you’re making a huge mistake. I hope the owners understand that, I hope the NFL understands that. This lockout needs to end and we need to get back to playing football. We are always open to continued settlement discussions to end this antitrust case, but in the meantime the NFL needs to stop this lockout. That’s why we’re in court right now — to stop the lockout and get back on the field.
“We can argue all we want about the 2006 deal, but it was good for both sides. Our point here is, in our offer to them we took pretty good setbacks in a lot of areas. The emphasis that we made in our counterproposal to them all had to deal with money that was going to the retired players’ pension as well as player health and safety measures, future medical care.
“We told them that over the next four years, in our proposal, you’ll get a lot of money back in your pocket, and then after four years we’ll reset [the revenue split] back to 50-50. They don’t want the reset. After four years they want to keep it at their 60 percent and we’re at 40 percent, which over the course of four years, if you do the math at 8 percent growth, which is what the league has experienced for the last decade, that’s $4 billion that they get back. I can tell you that as part of our deal to them, at 8 percent growth, they would get about half of that — with no financial justification for anything.
“What we were basically saying was, ‘You know what? You haven’t given us any information to really show us proof of your situation, but we’re willing to make this work, so we’re willing to step out here for you.’ Yet for three years they’ve done everything they can to [prepare to] lock us out. They’re going to follow through with it. That is their goal, that is their objective. But they’ve lost four court cases in a row, not including a temporary stay. The fact of the matter is, when you break the law and do things that at the end of the day are not right and not fair, you get caught.”
The 18-game season debate
Linebacker Scott Fujita, who is very involved with the union, tweeted today - “Roger, enough with the 18 games already. No one’s interested.”
Listen, I understand why many players are against an 18-game season due to the violent, physical nature of the sport.
But this concept that the fans are against it, I’m not totally buying.
Most NFL season ticket holders are forced to buy two preseason games at full price.
As we know, preseason game, for the most part, are a lousy product.
So you are telling, Mr. Fujita, that those season-ticket holders, wouldn’t want to swap those two meaningless games, for two meaningful ones, at the same cost.
Of course many of them would.
So while an 18-game season isn’t great for the players, I’m tired of hearing that the fans are against it.
I’m sure there are fans against it, but I’m sure there are many season-ticket holders who would be for it.
That is just common sense.
Joe Linta wants to see the NFL’s offer
Early this week agent Joe Linta (who reps Vlad Ducasse among others) asked the NFLPA if he could see the NFL’s last offer to the players.
“I’d like to see it myself so when I talk to my 45 guys, I can show them what it is – since there is no union,” Linta told Ed Bouchett of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I would like (Pittsburgh Steelers president) Mr. Rooney to forward the offer to me. I represent two percent of the union, I’m not insignificant. Let me ask you something, who has the players’ back more, the players union or the player’s agent? Why can’t I get copy of this and disseminate it to my players?”
Linta doesn’t seem to think the players are getting good direction from the NFLPA.
”These guys are driving these players right off a cliff right now,” Linta told Bouchette. ”I told a father of one of my players who got drafted, it’s 50-50 this season is not going to happen. These coaches are starting to go looney-toon too.”
Meet Brick Ferguson!
New York Jets Offensive Lineman D’Brickashaw Ferguson will visit a Manhattan, GNC to interact and educate customers about the Gatorade G Series PRO line of products designed for elite athletes. Ferguson will also work behind the counter, sign photos of himself and pose for pictures with fans (both provided by Gatorade, no other items will be signed). Originally, the G Series PRO line of products were only available to professional and collegiate athletes. Now, elite athlete athletes in Manhattan and across the country will have a chance to train like a pro.
When and Where:
Tuesday, May 31
12:00-3:00 PM EST
GNC
28 W. 57th St.
Manhattan, NY 10019
The Edwards decision is a no-brainer
Throughout the off-season, one topic bandied about in Jets Nation is whether the team will bring back both Santonio Holmes and Braylon Edwards.
This should be a no-brainer.
If Jets management is truly serious about being a Super Bowl contender in 2011, they absolutely have to bring him back both.
There is no gray area here.
Mark Sanchez needs both Holmes AND Edwards, not one or the other.
Holmes gives him a requisite deep threat, and Edwards the big target he desperately needs due to his inconsistent accuracy.
Big, physical receivers can be a quarterbacks best friend – throw it to an area, and the good ones can come down with it. The QB doesn’t always need to be perfect with his throws.
So it’s bizarre to me that this issue is even debatable.
Both receivers need to be re-signed.