If we can successfully take our opinion on the current salaries in the league out of our mind (and this is very hard to actually do), then here are my thoughts on the question.

I have really enjoyed watching the defenses adjust and adapt in recent years to the spread offenses.  And there are a number of things that defenses are having to do.  Disguise what they are doing with many different looks.  Devise new schemes and tactics to deal with the speed and spread of today’s offenses.  And one tactic in particular that seems critical is the ability to put pressure on the quarterback through a variety of new and creative blitz schemes.

Well, it seems to be a given that in order to blitz consistently, you have got to be able to have corners who can play man coverage.  And if you are going to really get after it, that means you are looking for a real shut down cover man like Darrelle Revis.

Now take this one step further.  When I look back over, say, the last ten years in football, I hear young football players planning their career as quarterbacks, wide receivers, running backs, or maybe even linebackers.  I have seldom heard them talk about being a “great cornerback”.

But that could change now.  From 2001 to 2009, cornerbacks’ percentage increase in salary was 138%, second only to wide receivers.  So now maybe more of your really outstanding athletes will want to focus on becoming a really good cover corner.  And what might be the impact?

Well maybe then, the quarterbacks, wide receivers, and offensive coordinators are going to have to get even more creative with their offenses.  Then the defensive coordinators will have to do the same.  And so on and so on and that could be really fun for football fans.

So, I guess in a way, yes the holdout by Revis may end up being good for the game of football in the long run.  Anyway, it will be interesting to see.

I never saw Leinart really lead that team.  I never heard his teammates really endorse him as a guy that they would follow.  Many talk about guys that have “it”, although “it” is hard to define.  For an NFL quarterback,  I believe it is that intangible that makes a guy a leader, someone that every football player on the team believes in and will follow when they step in the huddle.  And I just don’t believe that Matt Leinart has it.

Maybe I’m wrong.  Some would point out the success he had in college at USC.  But when you look at that part of his career, he was surrounded by huge talent, an excellent college coach, and a system that got the most out of the players.  Leinart didn’t have to take a team and carry them down the field sometimes at USC; he had a great team surrounding him.

Maybe I’m wrong and he actually has “it”.  I just haven’t seen or heard any evidence of it in the games I’ve watched him play.

Sorry Matt, but thank goodness you got the big money up front, because I think your NFL career is pretty much over at this point.

First, the offensive line has huge problems to be fixed.  And there really isn’t a playmaker receiver on the squad.  So beyond Steven Jackson, Bradford, if he starts, will be missing a supporting cast to be a winning quarterback in year one.  And he is liable to set an NFL record for number of times sacked if he starts all year.

He did  show in the first preseason game that he has strengthened his upper body and the surgically repaired shoulder when he took a hit and landed on the shoulder.  He got up with no apparent problems, letting the Rams breathe a sigh of relief.

So, if he does end up starting, it will be a long year for the Number one pick.  If he stays healthy through it though, he should have the chance to really take of in years 2 and 3 if the football team builds around him.

Good luck Sam.

Let’s first look at history.  T.O. always ends up throwing someone under the bus when things don’t go his way.  It ALWAYS happens.  And Ocho loves attention as much, if not more than T.O.  Someone in this duo will feel neglected.  Either with not enough passes to them or not enough attention.

And look at how they each view the pairing.  T.O. calls himself Batman with Ocho being Robin.  Ocho, on the other hand, calls himself Clyde and T.O. Bonnie.  Hmmm who’s leading this dance?

The bottom line is too much ego for one wide receiver corps and one football team.  I believe the explosion will happen before the halfway point in this football season.

Now from what I can tell, teammates flew down to Hattiesburg.  And people were apparently talking to him and they probably were talking to him and asking him to come back.  The team with him is in a position to win a Super Bowl.  But did he really have to make it sound the way he did?  I guess no one should be surprised.

The second thing was his announcement that he is back AND that he is retiring at the end of the year, almost in the same breath.  That, to me, means he wants to be the topic of discussion all year long.  You might disagree and that’s ok.  But given his history, I think he talked about it now just to get the attention.

Ok Brett here it is.  Great player, great quarterback, but I am through writing about you.  This is it.  The last time, I promise.  I just can’t do it anymore.  I just had to write this last one, I felt I owed it to the people, but after this many articles, I’m done………

But here is the deal.  Remember the old saying “There is no I in team”?  Well Terrell proved that there is  a “TO in idiot” with all of his antics.  But all the things he did never stopped teams from taking a gamble on him.  And most of the time, he produced.

But the question I would like to pose is this.  What if T.O. had not carried so much baggage?  What if he wasn’t such a disruption in the locker room?  If he had stayed with one football team and one solid quarterback for an extended time, what kind of legacy would he have?  What kind of numbers would he have produced?

All of that talent and how much did it end up being under utilized because of his antics and attitude? I really wish we could have seen what could have been.  I think that he had the talent to be one of the best ever, maybe THE best.

So yes, I believe he will land with a team.  Because the talent is there.  But it probably won’t be the team that he would choose.  And he won’t get the money that he wants.  All because of attitude.  What a shame.

I believe that mega conferences are coming, it’s only a matter of time (translate to money).  The TV revenues that a “mega conference” can offer will ultimately win out over local rivalries, tradition, and probably some common sense in some cases.

I hate to say it, but as Mr. Smith said to Neo in The Matrix  “Hear that? That’s the sound of the inevitable.” Or something like that.   I believe that the big dollars will just be too much to turn down.   So if it’s money, why didn’t it happen this time?  Well I don’t know for sure, but I can hazard a guess.

I think that once the SEC jumped into the fray competing with the Pac-10, someone or several someones at Texas, A&M, Oklahoma or all of the above said “Wait a minute, we don’t want to rush here.  We might leave money on the table if we make a rash decision.”

Call me cynical? You bet.  It’s going to happen.  And sooner, rather than later.

What has always impressed me so much about John Wooden was how he achieved success while impacting so many of his players in huge ways.  If you watch over the next couple of weeks, you will hear those testimonies pouring out.  And they are well deserved in my opinion.

He was intensely loyal.  He taught life lessons, not just basketball.  He was all about team, not the individual.  And he cared about his players immensely.  And he knew how to win, and in a big way regardless of the talent he had.

Basketball and sports in general have changed quite a bit since Wooden was at UCLA.   Many might say that he couldn’t achieve today what he did in the 60’s and 70’s.  I’m not convinced of that, but we’ll never know.

What I do know, or at least believe very strongly is that we won’t see another coach and man like John Wooden for a long time, if ever.

Thank you coach for all you did and taught to all of us!

Well, in my numerous years of watching the Super Bowl, there have been a lot more blow outs than really good, competitive games.  So are we really risking that much.  Or are we actually giving the Super Bowl a better chance for a competitive, close game than years past has?

And how many fans actually go to the game?  From what I can tell, it’s mostly corporate tickets and boxes these days anyway.  At the end of the day, I probably lean toward it being quite ok for an outside game in a cold weather site, but I’m really not that emotional either way.

I’d be interested for your comments to see what the majority of fans think.

Then as I listened to all the talk radio and to Tebow himself, I realized something.  If Tebow is going to make it in the NFL as a football player, particularly a quarterback, this is exactly what needed to happen.

If you have watched Tim Tebow during his career, he has mainly responded to challenges with a huge effort.  And now that most of the football world has criticized this pick and pretty much trashed him, I believe that Tim will use this to prove himself to everyone who doubted.

Now I’m not saying if he had gone third or fourth round as a lot of people expected,  that he wouldn’t be motivated.  He has a maniac work ethic.  But I think the current scenario is probably the one thing that could prompt him to an even harder, more focused effort to make it as a quarterback in the NFL, not a tight end or an H Back.

So what am I saying?  Well basically, I don’t think he was really a first round type of pick.  But having watched him in the SEC for four years, I’m saying that you had better not bet against him.  And I am saying that having listened to all the trash talk the last several days, that I’m actually looking forward to seeing how he does.  A weird turn for a Georgia bulldog.

I guess you never know