50 NFL News and Notes While You Were Gone

Photo credit: philadelphiaeagles.com

It's been a long few months since the lockout started. The NFL has gone on virtual shutdown since the dreaded expiration of the previous CBA. With the recent good news of the NFL going back to business, a lot has happened in the past month or so. Here's a quick rundown of things (mostly off the top of my head) you may have missed:

1. After about 130 days of no football, the lockout finally ended!
2. Deion Sanders, Marshall Faulk, Shannon Sharpe, Richard Dent, Ed Sabol, and Les Richter were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
3. Most memorable line from the induction ceremony was provided by Shannon Sharpe: "I'm the only pro football player that's in the Hall of Fame, and the second best player in my own family."
4. Most memorable moment: A tie between Ed Sabol's last film and Deion Sanders' bust do-rag.
5. The Hall of Fame game between the Chicago Bears and St. Louis Rams was cancelled, the only repercussion of the NFL lockout.
6. The NFL schedule was released featuring numerous intriguing matchups (Sept. 11 games, Lions first Monday Night game in a long time, the Harbaugh and Ryan Bowls, etc).
7. The Philadelphia Eagles went crazy in the abbreviated free agency period, picking up prized cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, jilted Titan Vince Young, veteran end Jason Babin, Super Bowl champ Cullen Jenkins, and Wildcat quarterback Ronnie Brown, among others.
8. Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison made some inflammatory comments against Commissioner Goodell, as well as his own quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger. Typically, Harrison said the comments were "taken out of context".
9. Steelers receiver Hines Ward was arrested on drunk driving charges.
10. Several Steelers participated in filming for the newest upcoming Batman movie, posing as the Gotham Rogues.
11. Numerous players suffered torn tendons or broken bones during the first few days of practice.
12. Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning has still not taken the field.
13. The New England Patriots made several interesting free agency moves, picking up wide receiver Chad Ochocinco and defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth, among others.
14. In quarterback moves, Donovan McNabb went to Minnesota, Kevin Kolb went to Arizona, and Matt Hasselbeck went to Tennessee.
15. Kyle Orton, on the other hand, did not move anywhere, in a continuing chess match between Orton, the Broncos, the Dolphins, and anyone else (and backup quarterback Tim Tebow is stuck in the middle of it all).
16. Runningback Tiki Barber has not signed with any teams yet.
17. The Buffalo Bills unveiled new uniforms that salute the retro "standing buffalo" unis of the 60s.
18. Dallas defensive coordinator Rob Ryan wants to "beat the asses" of the "all-hype team" (presumably the Eagles).
19. Rob's brother Rex got a new tattoo on his calf.
20. Brett Favre might have retired.
21. Carson Palmer might have retired (but still technically remains in Cincy).
22. Qwest Field is now CenturyLink Field (zzzz...).
23. Hey, at least CenturyLink is better than O.co Coliseum....
24. The NFLPA has re-certified.
25. Cleveland runningback Peyton Hillis is on the cover of Madden.
26. The Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers got their rings.
27. Terrelle Pryor has been prepping himself for the supplemental draft.
28. A memorable moment from the post-lockout press conference: Colts center and NFLPA representative Jeff Saturday hugs Patriots owner Robert Kraft, mere days after Kraft's wife Myra passed away.
29. Cam Newton wears the number 1 during camp (typically, NFL quarterbacks aren't allowed to wear the number by their coach due to the tendency for it to get to their heads).
30. Randy Moss has retired.
31. Plaxico Burress "returns" to New York after being incarcerated for the last few years.
32. Braylon Edwards goes from East Coast to West Coast.
33. Vincent Jackson is denied $10 million.
34. It's Grossman vs. Beck in D.C.
35. The UFL continues to barely survive.
36. Mark Herzlich, the Boston College star whose cancer story inspired us all, finally gets a chance in the NFL (along with the hundreds of other undrafted rookies).
37. HGH testing...yeah....
38. Several veteran centers shift around (Shaun O'Hara, Olin Kreutz, etc).
39. The Broncos are switching their home jerseys from blue to orange.
40. Speaking of unis, next season Nike will replace Reebok as the official supplier of NFL equipment.
41. The Seahawks steal some Raiders (TE Zach Miller and OL Robert Gallery) and Vikings (QB Tarvaris Jackson and WR Sidney Rice).
42. Los Angeles?
43. Breaking news: the Eagles snagged Steve Smith from the Giants...wow.
44. Ochocinco is gonna live with a fan?
45. Speaking of Ocho, what ever happened to that alligator wrangling?
46. Apparently Bears don't like natural grass.
47. Cam Newton, the 1st overall pick in April's draft, takes a massive paycut (compared to last year's number 1 pick Sam Bradford) in his rookie contract.
48. The Reggie Bush project is over (in New Orleans).
49. Speaking of Reggie's new home in Miami, the atmosphere at Dolphins camp is simply chants of this: "We want Orton!"
50. Did we mention that the lockout is over?

Undoubtedly I missed a few things, but it doesn't matter...football is back, baby!

The Lockout and Draft Updates

By now many of you have heard of the NFL's failure to negotiate a new deal that resulted in the disenfranchising of the Players Union and the lockout of the NFL pertaining to team operations. A blink of hope came during draft week when U.S. District Judge Susan Nelson lifted the lockout under the assumption that a delayed or cancelled season would be very detrimental to NFL and non-NFL related business, among other things, including player opportunities and such. The NFL challenged this in the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, being granted a stay that essentially restarted the lockout and once again cut off communications between teams, coaches, and players. Now, players have begun to organize private collective workouts, as the traditional start of minicamps and OTAs draw near. Although some believe that the lockout will be resolved during the summer, the truth is that it has already been a painfully black stain on the league. The loss of any games would be especially distressing, especially the 10th anniversary September 11th games, considering the momentous feat that was achieved only a few days ago. At this point, the owners and players should try to settle their differences rather than stake out their claims and try to get the most bang for their buck. A supposed contingency plan (no division games in first few weeks and several bye weeks between conference finals and Super Bowl) that the NFL has put in place is still not enough, since any missed games would already be a failure to compromise. Screw the 18 game season, just give us 16 per team and I'm sure everyone will be fine. This lockout has undoubtedly hurt the fans the most, so once they return to the negotiating table, they'd better figure out a solution to earn our trust back as well.

Also, in other news, we at UTTQ watched the draft this weekend (our first round mock got 6 slots right). There were many surprises, as we would expect, but frankly we can't necessarily assign grades to each team. Who knows how many Marques Colstons or Tom Bradys are out there? Same goes for the Charles Rogers and Akili Smiths. It's impossible to know just how well a team will do with their draft prospects, since potentially better ones could come through free agency (once that begins). If we ever get to doing a team-by-team analysis before the start of next season, we may allude to the rookies who have made it that far and could have a great impact on their respective clubs. That is, if there is a next season....