If you believe the argument that there are people out there who will target athletes, celebrities, etc, then it seems to me that these people have to be smarter about where they hang out and who they hang out with.

Now Ben may be guilty, I don’t know.  But I do know that  I have seen where celebrities and professional athletes end up being accused of something, and part of the problem was that they put themselves in a situation that just carried a lot of risk.   Especially considering that they are well known and rich.

Don’t get me wrong here.  I am not blaming Ben or anyone else who might end up being wrongly accused or in a situation where someone is just trying to get money.  But I do know that if you put yourself in certain situations, you are much more likely to end up where you don’t want to be.  That may sound judgmental.  I don’t mean for it to be, but when I read about these situations, I just keep shaking my head.

Now some analysts that I have listened to have picked Bradford, a former Heisman winner to possibly be part of a trade involving the St Louis Rams and the overall number one pick in the draft.

Personally, I am not convinced that Bradford is an overall number one or worth a number one pick.  Don’t get me wrong, he is an excellent quarterback and I believe he will do well in the pros.  But I don’t think he is number one caliber.  Sorry to all you sooners.

Another story line is the possibility of a defensive lineman being the number one pick overall. We are talking about Ndamukong Suh from Nebraska.  This guy is incredible and I think his upside is even better.

I’ll be writing more about the Draft and not just because we don’t have much football to talk about right now.  But I’d be interested in hearing from all you Football Nuts out there about your thoughts on the Draft.

Until next time.

I heard Mike Ditka and others say that you play them, that you always play to win and you don’t sit players.  And others weighed in on both sides of the issue. And there were good arguments on both sides, but I tend to come down on the side of rest them if it makes sense for your team.

Then here comes the injury to Welker who was so critical to the New England Patriots on the football field and boom, they are out in the first round.

But here is something that I do have strong feelings about.  It really bothered me when I heard that the NFL was “looking into” the issue.  What does the league have to do with this.  Since when can the head football coach and the individual teams not make their own personnel decisions?

So you may or may not agree that the Welker injury makes my point.  And that’s ok.  But when I look at the pounding that professional football players take week in and week out, I have to believe that come week 15 or 16 of the regular season, that they are more susceptible to injury than they were at the beginning of the season. And that’s why I say that it is probably good strategy to give your starters a break.

What do you think Football Nuts?

Well here are the likely targets according to the recent buzz:

Raheem Morris,  Tampa Bay–The Bucs finished 3-13 this year, but I believe that Morris is safe.  Only hired in January 2009, I believe that the Bucs are going to give him some time to see if his enthusiasm will rub off on his players.

Tom Cable,   Oakland– Oakland finished at 5-11 and showed some spurts in the second half of being a football team.  But I believe that Al Davis isn’t patient and Cable at this point has created too much of his own baggage.  I believe he will be packing his bags.

Eric Mangini,  Cleveland–Another 5-11 team will cost their coach his job.  As the line from the movie “The Replacements” went something like “It was between you and an $8 million dollar quarterback, who do you think is going to lose”.  I’m just thinking that Mangini’s strained relationship with players will be his undoing.

Jack Del Rio,  Jacksonville–Another mediocre season ends at 7-9 and I just think that Del Rio’s time has come to an end in Jacksonville.

Lovie Smith, Chicago– While Bear fans and management were disappointed with this year’s 7-9 finish, I think that Lovie gets another shot.  He won 11 games in 2005 and I think that management believes that he can do it again.

There may be a few more, but according to pundits, this should be a down year for firings because last year was a big year.  Who knows if that makes sense, but one thing is for sure.  Zorn was the first casualty this year, but he won’t be the last.

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As I said, we will probably never know the full truth.  But again to my point.  What is the lesson?  Well, everyone will have an opinion on this one and here’s mine.

I believe that college football is on the verge of a problem.  I believe that college football is on the verge of being a victim of it’s own success.  College football appears to riding a high of success and more programs (look at TCU, Boise State, Cincinnati) are starting to compete with the older established power football schools.

But if you look at this situation and you also look at the recent firing at Kansas, I believe you see something that is potentially the tip of the iceberg.  Let’s take a quick look at it.

College football players, now more than ever, are treated like professional superstars before they ever play a down in the NFL.  And it appears that with the money that is now coming into these schools as a result of football success, the pressure continues to increase to have a top notch football team that will compete for the BCS championship.

So add that pressure to succeed to the mix along with the egos of the players and the egos of the coaches and the intense pressure for the coaches to win immediately or be gone and you start to understand that you have a formula for conflict and bad situations to arise.

Now understand I am not defending either side in this situation because I don’t know the facts.  My only point is that the landscape of the college game is changing and not all of it is for the good.  And I think that the universities and the NCAA itself need to recognize what all of this means.  And personally I believe that the universities need to be prepared to take steps when coaches OR players cross the line.

As Roger Goodell found out in the NFL, it can get out of hand quickly.

Well, here is my bottom line question.  Is this really fair to his team and to potential Gator recruits?  I mean this year’s recruiting class won’t know who they are playing for until Meyer makes his mind up.  And in today’s competitve college recruiting world, this could spell big trouble for the Gator Nation.

At the end of the day, Coach Meyer sounds like he was trying to do right by his family, then got caught in a “guilt” trip based on his other family.  So who is Urban Meyer doing right by now?  Or is he doing right by anyone?

Opinions are cheap, but I think that he needs to go ahead and make up his mind one way or the other, no man can serve two masters as they say.

The football players many times leave for the NFL as soon as they can.  But the Universities only offer their scholarships on a year to year basis.  Coaches can be fired at any time and coaches accept jobs before the current seasons end.  College football, like it or not, has become big business.

Now I did have one problem with the way Kelly handled his communication.  Same way that Nick Saben handled his with the Dolphins a few years back.  Kelly told his team right before their big game with Pittsburgh that he wasn’t going anywhere.  But then when he accepts the Notre Dame job, he describes it as his “dream job”.

Well if his dream job was available and there was the slightest chance he would be considered (or probably had already reached out to him), he should never say an absolute that he isn’t leaving.  Players and fans aren’t dumb.  And statements like that, to me, just damage credibility.

So I don’t have a problem with him leaving when he did.  I don’t have a problem with the football players declaring early and getting their money.  And I don’t have a problem with coaches getting fired if they are not getting the job done.  But if the NCAA or the Universities are going to make any changes, then they need to be consistent.

If coaches are going to be required to finish out a season, then they shouldn’t be fired until a season is over.  But I don’t believe that any changes like this will be made.  So then, to me, it’s up to coaches to be straight up with their fans and players.  If there is a chance they will leave, don’t come out and say that they aren’t going anywhere.  As they say, “Man up” and shoot straight.

So I wish Brian Kelly success.  But he has no credibility with me going forward.

I think Alabama, after their defeat of then #1 Florida is definitely the clear #1 going into the National Championship game.  And I think that Texas deserves to be there as well.  Both these teams have been there and finished the job on their regular season.

You can argue about Cincinnati, Boise State, or TCU.  And I agree that the BCS system has flaws.  But it’s gotten better in recent years.  Not great, but better.   So to all you other football nuts out there, just sit back and enjoy the holidays and the bowl season!

So Peyton is not the career leader in these statistics, not yet anyway.  But when you look at the combination of all the statistics he has amassed and he has answered one of the big questions always asked about quarterbacks, can he win a Super Bow.  He’s done that.

Now back to the original question… is Peyton the best ever at his position.  And is it really crazy to ask that question at this point in his career.  Well, I asked the question, but I am going to say this.  I don’t think that we can declare Peyton the king just yet.  But given what he has accomplished, I believe that it is only a matter of time.  I’m not wimping out, I will go ahead and say that he will end up being declared the best quarterback ever to play football in the NFL.  I just don’t think it’s quite time yet to make that declaration.

But I do believe that what Peyton has done to this point in his career has positioned him to claim that title, even if he isn’t as productive for the rest of his career as he has been so far.

Ok, football fans, let’s hear you weigh in on this one.