HEAV
06-26-2005, 11:18 AM
Another player who might not show up for the start of training camp is running back Travis Henry of the Bills. Henry wants to be traded because Willis McGahee has won the starting job and the Bills are willing to trade him for a first-day draft pick -- at least a third-rounder. When coach Mike Mularkey was asked if he thinks Henry will show up for training camp if he's not traded, he told Buffalo reporters, "He's required to be here. We'll see what happens.'' Of course, it doesn't help his value when he's threatening to become a holdout. Three AFC South teams, the Jaguars, Titans and Texans, have all been mentioned as teams that could make a run at him and it'll be interesting to see if one of them pulls the trigger.
Wonder how soon after July 15 the Patriots will sign Adam Vinatieri to a long-term deal. That's the date when the Patriots can get their franchise tag back so they can use it again next season; if they announce a deal prior to the 15th, they lose the franchise tag for the length of Vinatieri's deal. The fact that Vinatieri couldn't come to terms with the Patriots was strange, considering the longtime relationship between agent Neil Cornrich and Bill Belichick.
I once thought Tedy Bruschi would never play football again. I'm not so sure now. Considering that doctors have said he's OK, how good he feels after his workouts, and the fact that he loves the game so much, we may not have seen the last of him. The Patriots must use a designation on Bruschi by July 29, so that will be a good indication of where he is.
Hard to believe that Kordell Stewart has gone from one of the most intriguing and exciting players in the NFL to unemployment. One would think the 32-year-old Stewart could hook on with a team before training camp, but as one scout said the other day, ''You really have to have a flexible offense, one where you're using a different part of the playbook than your starter. Unless Michael Vick is your starter."
Former Saints and Falcons veteran Ashley Ambrose was one of four veteran cornerbacks who worked out for the Chiefs last week. Kansas City is desperate for cornerback help. The NFL is expected to suspend starter Eric Warfield for violating the league's substance abuse policy. Nickel back Julian Battle is out for the season with a torn Achilles tendon. That leaves little experience behind Karr alum Patrick Surtain and veteran Dexter McCleon. With that in mind, the Chiefs auditioned Ambrose, Dewayne Washington, Aaron Beasley and Terrance Shaw.
The Packers have turned their tradition into cash. They are the only team in the league to open their books, and the results were impressive when their made their annual report public last week. The Associated Press reported that the Packers' revenue of $200 million was an 11.4 percent jump from last year and kept them 10th in the league in revenue for the third consecutive year. The Washington Redskins are No.1 with a projected revenue this fall of $260 million. The Arizona Cardinals are on the bottom with projected revenue of $120 million. Since the renovation of Lambeau Field was finished in 2003, Green Bay is now a small-market team with big-market revenue.
O.J. Simpson was asked what his legacy will be? "My football legacy has taken care of itself," he says. "I just can't change some things in the past. I can only react to how the public reacts to me. I've accepted that some areas of the media will just focus on the negative. And I guess some people will, too. I always thought it's more newsworthy that I could walk into a bar and people love me."
"Let me tell you a story," O.J. Simpson says. "It's about Ernie Banks." Turns out O.J. is related to the Hall-of-Fame baseball player, a second cousin. It was 1959 and the Chicago Cubs were in town to play the San Francisco Giants. "I bragged to all my boys that Ernie Banks was my cousin," O.J. says. "We went to the game, he hits a home run. It was all amazing. After the game, I'm telling all my friends that I'm going to introduce them to Ernie Banks. He comes out and I'm saying, 'Hey, Ernie, it's me.' He said, 'Hey,' and just kept on walking. Man, my boys dogged me forever.
In a league with such high coaching turnover, it's remarkable that Walpole's Todd Collins, now 32, is entering his eighth season as a backup quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs. He's played for Marty Schottenheimer (1998), Gunther Cunningham (1999-2000) and Dick Vermeil (2001-present), and realizes it's rare to have stuck around for so long because coaches often like to bring in their own players. Another rare part of Collins' longevity in Kansas City is this nugget: The Chiefs have only called on a backup to start once over that time - in 2000 when Warren Moon replaced Elvis Grbac.
Former Patriot Ty Law and Redskins linebacker LaVar Arrington are two of the more high-profile investors in a Ritz-Carlton resort on Turks and Caicos, an island group in the Caribbean, according to their agent, Carl Poston.
If you're a player, the lesson to be learned from Richard Seymour is: Don't sign a rookie contract for six years unless you get a hefty signing bonus. If you outplay the contract, as Seymour has, you could wind up in his predicament, with two years to go, making less than half the money comparable players are, with the team holding all of the cards. Many teams that sign players to six-year deals rework them after five years or cut the player if he doesn't pan out. Seymour is flexing his muscle a year early.
The licenses that the Ravens and some other National Football League teams require fans to purchase to buy season tickets - often to help pay for stadium construction or renovation - have gone from being what many regarded as an extortionary annoyance to what some now consider a dandy investment. For instance, when the Ravens' stadium opened in 1998, a permanent seat license ranged from $250 to $3,000, depending on the location of the seat covered by the license. Today, the same Ravens licenses cost $750 to $8,000 - up to a 300 percent increase - and that's if you can find one to buy. And indeed fans can buy PSLs from each other, in a completely above-board white market, on eBay or through newspaper classified ads. The global Internet bazaar has PSLs advertised daily for some of the 12 NFL teams that permit holders of the licenses to transfer them.
The Redskins, their coaches pledge and their star tailback seems certain, it will be different in 2005, and everyone involved points to Clinton Portis as the new offense's fulcrum. To highlight his speed and cutback skills, management signed smaller, faster wide receivers, and the coaching staff designed wider formations that should give Portis more room to run.
Free-agent safety Lance Schulters had what his agent described as a "productive" visit. "He was impressed with what the Dolphins are planning to do on defense," agent Brian Levy said. Schulters, released last week by Tennessee, is expected to make more free-agent visits in weighing his options for the 2005 season. The Dolphins also met with Southern California defensive tackle Manuel Wright, who is entered in the NFL's supplemental draft July 14.
Southern Cal coach Pete Carroll considers former Trojan defensive tackle Manuel Wright, who could be taken in the July 14 supplemental draft, a ''top-end" talent who ''struggled in school, but he hopes to make the best of this opportunity." Wright, 6 feet 6 inches, 330 pounds, was a top backup the last two seasons before running into academic problems. He had to sit out spring drills but has enough teams interested that he might be worth a second-round pick (which a team that picks him would forfeit in 2006).
Wonder how soon after July 15 the Patriots will sign Adam Vinatieri to a long-term deal. That's the date when the Patriots can get their franchise tag back so they can use it again next season; if they announce a deal prior to the 15th, they lose the franchise tag for the length of Vinatieri's deal. The fact that Vinatieri couldn't come to terms with the Patriots was strange, considering the longtime relationship between agent Neil Cornrich and Bill Belichick.
I once thought Tedy Bruschi would never play football again. I'm not so sure now. Considering that doctors have said he's OK, how good he feels after his workouts, and the fact that he loves the game so much, we may not have seen the last of him. The Patriots must use a designation on Bruschi by July 29, so that will be a good indication of where he is.
Hard to believe that Kordell Stewart has gone from one of the most intriguing and exciting players in the NFL to unemployment. One would think the 32-year-old Stewart could hook on with a team before training camp, but as one scout said the other day, ''You really have to have a flexible offense, one where you're using a different part of the playbook than your starter. Unless Michael Vick is your starter."
Former Saints and Falcons veteran Ashley Ambrose was one of four veteran cornerbacks who worked out for the Chiefs last week. Kansas City is desperate for cornerback help. The NFL is expected to suspend starter Eric Warfield for violating the league's substance abuse policy. Nickel back Julian Battle is out for the season with a torn Achilles tendon. That leaves little experience behind Karr alum Patrick Surtain and veteran Dexter McCleon. With that in mind, the Chiefs auditioned Ambrose, Dewayne Washington, Aaron Beasley and Terrance Shaw.
The Packers have turned their tradition into cash. They are the only team in the league to open their books, and the results were impressive when their made their annual report public last week. The Associated Press reported that the Packers' revenue of $200 million was an 11.4 percent jump from last year and kept them 10th in the league in revenue for the third consecutive year. The Washington Redskins are No.1 with a projected revenue this fall of $260 million. The Arizona Cardinals are on the bottom with projected revenue of $120 million. Since the renovation of Lambeau Field was finished in 2003, Green Bay is now a small-market team with big-market revenue.
O.J. Simpson was asked what his legacy will be? "My football legacy has taken care of itself," he says. "I just can't change some things in the past. I can only react to how the public reacts to me. I've accepted that some areas of the media will just focus on the negative. And I guess some people will, too. I always thought it's more newsworthy that I could walk into a bar and people love me."
"Let me tell you a story," O.J. Simpson says. "It's about Ernie Banks." Turns out O.J. is related to the Hall-of-Fame baseball player, a second cousin. It was 1959 and the Chicago Cubs were in town to play the San Francisco Giants. "I bragged to all my boys that Ernie Banks was my cousin," O.J. says. "We went to the game, he hits a home run. It was all amazing. After the game, I'm telling all my friends that I'm going to introduce them to Ernie Banks. He comes out and I'm saying, 'Hey, Ernie, it's me.' He said, 'Hey,' and just kept on walking. Man, my boys dogged me forever.
In a league with such high coaching turnover, it's remarkable that Walpole's Todd Collins, now 32, is entering his eighth season as a backup quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs. He's played for Marty Schottenheimer (1998), Gunther Cunningham (1999-2000) and Dick Vermeil (2001-present), and realizes it's rare to have stuck around for so long because coaches often like to bring in their own players. Another rare part of Collins' longevity in Kansas City is this nugget: The Chiefs have only called on a backup to start once over that time - in 2000 when Warren Moon replaced Elvis Grbac.
Former Patriot Ty Law and Redskins linebacker LaVar Arrington are two of the more high-profile investors in a Ritz-Carlton resort on Turks and Caicos, an island group in the Caribbean, according to their agent, Carl Poston.
If you're a player, the lesson to be learned from Richard Seymour is: Don't sign a rookie contract for six years unless you get a hefty signing bonus. If you outplay the contract, as Seymour has, you could wind up in his predicament, with two years to go, making less than half the money comparable players are, with the team holding all of the cards. Many teams that sign players to six-year deals rework them after five years or cut the player if he doesn't pan out. Seymour is flexing his muscle a year early.
The licenses that the Ravens and some other National Football League teams require fans to purchase to buy season tickets - often to help pay for stadium construction or renovation - have gone from being what many regarded as an extortionary annoyance to what some now consider a dandy investment. For instance, when the Ravens' stadium opened in 1998, a permanent seat license ranged from $250 to $3,000, depending on the location of the seat covered by the license. Today, the same Ravens licenses cost $750 to $8,000 - up to a 300 percent increase - and that's if you can find one to buy. And indeed fans can buy PSLs from each other, in a completely above-board white market, on eBay or through newspaper classified ads. The global Internet bazaar has PSLs advertised daily for some of the 12 NFL teams that permit holders of the licenses to transfer them.
The Redskins, their coaches pledge and their star tailback seems certain, it will be different in 2005, and everyone involved points to Clinton Portis as the new offense's fulcrum. To highlight his speed and cutback skills, management signed smaller, faster wide receivers, and the coaching staff designed wider formations that should give Portis more room to run.
Free-agent safety Lance Schulters had what his agent described as a "productive" visit. "He was impressed with what the Dolphins are planning to do on defense," agent Brian Levy said. Schulters, released last week by Tennessee, is expected to make more free-agent visits in weighing his options for the 2005 season. The Dolphins also met with Southern California defensive tackle Manuel Wright, who is entered in the NFL's supplemental draft July 14.
Southern Cal coach Pete Carroll considers former Trojan defensive tackle Manuel Wright, who could be taken in the July 14 supplemental draft, a ''top-end" talent who ''struggled in school, but he hopes to make the best of this opportunity." Wright, 6 feet 6 inches, 330 pounds, was a top backup the last two seasons before running into academic problems. He had to sit out spring drills but has enough teams interested that he might be worth a second-round pick (which a team that picks him would forfeit in 2006).