FanHouse

All Hail Roger Goodell ... Or Else: A Look At the NFL Personal Conduct Policy

Stephanie Stradley — 2009-07-01T14:10:00 00:00

As reported earlier, Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports cites sources suggesting that Michael Vick and Plaxico Burress could be sitting out for a long time, due to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell's concerns about their legal matters.

Though the happy talk from the NFL is that the personal conduct policy is working (Donte Stallworth's victim notwithstanding, I guess), the players are not terribly comfortable with a system that has no specific rules and has no neutral arbiter.

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Will 10 Quarterbacks Top 4,000 Passing Yards This Season?

Stephanie Stradley — 2009-06-29T14:00:00 00:00

by Stephanie Stradley

Filed under: Arizona Cardinals, Chargers, Colts, Packers, Patriots, Saints, NFL Quarterbacks, NFL Predictions, NFL Analysis

Retired NFL quarterback Trent Green is the first-ever guest columnist of MMQB, filling in while Peter King is on vacation. Green provided an interesting read on subjects relating to the league's personal conduct policy, concussions and the expanded season. And of course it wouldn't be a MMQB without a healthy dose of Favre thrown in for good measure.

What jumps out of Green's article is his prediction that 10 quarterbacks will have over 4,000 yards passing this season. He says six are a lock to do it (Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Kurt Warner, Phillip Rivers and Aaron Rodgers), and seven have the potential to do it (Jay Cutler, Matt Cassel, Carson Palmer, Matt Schaub, Donovan McNabb, Tony Romo, Matt Hasselbeck).

Let's put this prediction in context:

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Tweeting with T.O. on Twitter Defamation

Stephanie Stradley — 2009-06-18T11:50:00 00:00

by Stephanie Stradley

Filed under: Bills, AFC East, NFL Media Watch

Like all of us, Bills wide receiver Terrell Owens just wants to have a home. Unlike most of us, he needs that home to be in the Buffalo area.

As was reported by ESPN, who apparently follows T.O.'s tweets, Owens thought he finally had a home lined up, but was unhappy that his leasing agent provided details about it to the media. ESPN says the agent talked about the home to AP, giving some details, but didn't disclose the address. A local TV station later showed video of the inside of the house.

Which led to T.O. and I tweeting about defamation after he called his leasing agent out on Twitter.

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Texans Kicker Kris Brown Signs Four-Year Extension

Stephanie Stradley — 2009-06-17T17:29:00 00:00

by Stephanie Stradley

Filed under: Texans, AFC South

The Texans signed kicker Kris Brown to a four year, $10 million dollar extension. This includes $2.5 million dollar guaranteed, making him one of the best paid kickers in the league.

This happens to refute linebacker DeMeco Ryans' recent contention that the Texans don't reward their own players. Ryans and the Texans are working on a long term deal, and Ryans is a little grumpy that TE Owen Daniels, CB Dunta Robinson and he don't have them worked out yet. Maybe they are next in line? After a kicker?

One question is whether Brown's accurate performance of the last two years is going to continue. As FootballGuys.com notes, Brown has improved in scoring performance every year as a Texan, especially so since his scoring opportunities improved after Gary Kubiak took over head coaching duties.

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Stallworth Resolves Criminal and Civil Claims (What Does This Mean?)

Stephanie Stradley — 2009-06-16T13:45:00 00:00

by Stephanie Stradley

Filed under: Browns, NFL Police Blotter

UPDATE: The Associated Press is now reporting that Stallworth will serve 30 days in jail, followed by two years of house arrest, in addition to eight years of probation.

If you kill someone with your car and blow a .126 on a Breathalyzer, it's difficult to get much better of a deal than what Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte' Stallworth got. It's still bad for him, but it could have been worse.

Stallworth has resolved all claims relating to the events of a March 14 car crash that killed a pedestrian. Police say he had been drinking at a hotel bar and struck construction worker Mario Reyes with his Bentley. Stallworth pled guilty to DUI manslaughter, resulting in a 30-day jail sentence. He also is subject to 10 years probation and 1,000 hours of community service. Stallworth could have received 15 years in prison.

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Should Daniels Be the Highest-Paid TE in The NFL?

Stephanie Stradley — 2009-06-15T12:40:00 00:00

by Stephanie Stradley

Filed under: Texans, AFC South, NFL Rumors

Texans tight end Owen Daniels signed his restricted free agent tender, worth $2.79 million, with the hopes he could still negotiate a longer-term deal with the team. ProFootballTalk is suggesting that the Texans aren't interested in further contract negotiations, given Daniels' expectations.

Typically, the Texans tend to keep contract negotiations pretty quiet, so judge this information as you will. The Houston Chronicle says that the Texans offered Daniels enough money to make him the second-highest paid tight end in the league. PFT, meanwhile. says the offer would make Daniels the fourth-highest paid at his position, but that Daniels wants to be the top-paid tight end in the league. Really?

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Texans WR David Anderson Teaches the Conan O'Brien String Dance

Stephanie Stradley — 2009-06-13T13:30:00 00:00

by Stephanie Stradley

Filed under: Texans, AFC South, NFL Video

David Anderson is a backup wide receiver for the Houston Texans who has scored exactly three touchdowns in his career. He's made the most of those touchdowns, as he got the attention of Conan O'Brien for doing a Conan string dance as a touchdown celebration. Above is a bravely funny instructional video Anderson recently did to teach others his sassy string dance moves.

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Via Facebook: Owen Daniels Begins Contract Holdout

Stephanie Stradley — 2009-06-09T17:10:00 00:00

by Stephanie Stradley

Filed under: Texans, AFC South, NFL Training Camp

Houston Texans tight end Owen Daniels joined cornerback Dunta Robinson in skipping out of voluntary OTAs as a contract holdout. His Facebook page explains:

"Decided not to show up for practice because of my contract situation. I would much rather bet there, but I'm not getting the fairness I was hoping for on the business end of things. I really hope we can agree on something soon."

Actually, it was somewhat surprising that he attended all the OTAs without a new contract given that he risked injury by doing so. Negotiating an extension for Daniels is difficult because of the absurd money that Tampa Bay gave Kellen Winslow.

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Video of NFL Offensive Linemen Getting Destroyed on Game Show

Stephanie Stradley — 2009-06-02T12:15:00 00:00

by Stephanie Stradley

Filed under: Lions, Texans, NFL Video

If you channel surf any, I'm sure you have seen at least promos for the ABC show, Wipeout. The website for the show describes it as the "world's largest extreme obstacle course designed to provide the most spills, face plants and wipeouts ever seen on television."

Ellen DeGeneres recently invited her two favorite NFL offensive linemen, Ephraim Salaam (Detroit) and Chester Pitts (Houston) to go through the Wipeout obstacle course for her show. Imagine what she would have asked them to do if she didn't like them. (Painful hilarity ensues after the jump)

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Be Afraid: Andre Johnson Expected to Be Better in '09

Stephanie Stradley — 2009-06-01T12:15:00 00:00

by Stephanie Stradley

Filed under: Texans, AFC South, NFL Coaching

On May 27, Texans offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan spoke as part of a coaching clinic held at the All-Access event the team holds for its fans. Shanahan spoke on a number of topics, including his belief that receiver Andre Johnson has room to improve his game over the next year. Given that Johnson led the league in receptions and yards, and was second in yards per game, that can't be good news to the rest of the league.

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Lions 2008 Offensive Line: 'Chickens With Their Heads Cut Off'

Stephanie Stradley — 2009-05-26T12:40:00 00:00

by Stephanie Stradley

Filed under: Bills, Lions, NFC North, NFL Rumors

Former Detroit and current Buffalo offensive linemen, Jonathan Scott doesn't have kind things to say about the chaos that was the 2008 Lions offense. He claims that there was a lack of communication between the offensive line coach and the offensive coordinator. With one coach telling the linemen to do one thing, and the other saying something else, the players were like "chickens with their heads cut off."

It's not uncommon for players to dump their old team in the dirt when they depart, especially if that team was an O-fer. But this article suggests that Detroit may have a lot of teaching to do with their line to keep their quarterbacks, expensive or otherwise, upright.

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Vince Young Making It Rain?

Stephanie Stradley — 2009-05-26T10:30:00 00:00

by Stephanie Stradley

Filed under: Titans, AFC South, NFL Video, NFL Rumors

Titans quarterback Vince Young is dedicating himself in the offseason to regaining his starter role. Or not.

According to a TMZ.com video and article, Young decided to make it rain at a Nelly concert in Houston last week by pulling out a roll of money and showering a crowd with dollar bills. The longer, cuss-worded version of the evening is on the YouTubes and includes an interview with Vince Young. He gives his support to Houston rapper Willie D of the Geto Boys, who was recently arrested for alleged iPhone scam.

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Houston Texans Get A+ in Rick Gosselin's Draft Grades

Stephanie Stradley — 2009-05-01T11:00:00 00:00

by Stephanie Stradley

Filed under: Texans, AFC South, NFL Draft

Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades.

Longtime NFL reporter Rick Gosselin, like most writers, knows that readers like draft grades. He grades a draft, and then re-grades it after the season. He's a tough grader, and gives most teams average grades.

Surprisingly, this year the only team that received an A+ in his grades were the Houston Texans. He thought the picks made sense for the team, and I agree. I don't know how they will perform on the field, but the selections were good value and fit key needs.

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The Perfect Draft: Houston Texans

Stephanie Stradley — 2009-04-17T14:30:00 00:00

by Stephanie Stradley

Filed under: Texans, AFC South, NFL Draft

With the draft approaching, we ignore projections and identify the dream scenario for each team in a series we call The Perfect Draft.

The Texans have been an 8-8 team for the last two years -- a record I find astonishingly good considering how terrible their defense has been.

Allegedly, this is the year that the defense gets fixed.

The Texans fired the defensive coordinator, the defensive line coach and the defensive backs coach, mostly because they can't fire all the players who aren't particularly good. (Though they did get rid of a number of them.) In short, this is a defense that needs more playmakers.

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Linebackers Karlos Dansby, DeMeco Ryans Fire Agent Kirk Wood

Stephanie Stradley — 2009-04-07T00:55:00 00:00

by Stephanie Stradley

Filed under: Arizona Cardinals, Texans

Apparently, it has been a rough month for NFL agent Kirk Wood.

The Arizona Republic reported that Cardinal linebacker Karlos Dansby fired Wood last weekend. Dansby has been trying to get a long term deal for a while, but has been franchised two years in a row.

And then on Wednesday, John McClain of the Houston Chronicle reported in his blog that Texans linebacker DeMeco Ryans has fired Wood too. Ryans and CB Dunta Robinson are sitting out voluntary workouts, hoping to get the Texans to negotiate again. Ryans is under contract but was hoping to renegotiate to receive a longer term deal with the team.

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Goodbye NFL Network, Hello Congress!

Stephanie Stradley — 2009-04-01T17:20:00 00:00

by Stephanie Stradley

Filed under: NFL Media Watch

If you have been watching the NFL Network lately, you may notice a scroll that indicates that Comcast customers will be without the station as of May 1. This is a bummer to a huge number of NFL fans, including me. Comcast is the only viable option where I live, and many apartment dwellers and others are in the same situation.

Apparently, Comcast's contract is up with NFL Network, and the NFL doesn't want Comcast to continue to provide NFLN on a special tier. The NFL claims that Comcast is yanking the network, but Comcast maintains that it won't pull the plug on NFLN unless the league insists on it.

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Officer Apolgizes for 'Poor Judgment' in Ryan Moats Incident

Stephanie Stradley — 2009-03-29T11:15:00 00:00

by Stephanie Stradley

Filed under: Texans, NFL Police Blotter, NFL Media Watch

At this point, you have probably seen the disturbing video of Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats being delayed from seeing his dying relative. At first, it seemed like everyone was shocked about Dallas police officer Robert Powell's behavior, except the officer himself.

Initial media reports indicated that Powell told his supervisors that he did nothing wrong during his traffic stop of Moats and his family outside of a Dallas emergency room. Powell's lawyer claims that those reports aren't true, and Powell has issued an apology (in part).

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Police Officer Prevents NFL Player From Seeing His Dying Relative

Stephanie Stradley — 2009-03-26T12:55:00 00:00

by Stephanie Stradley

Filed under: Texans

Rules for police officers: The first rule of jerking around people you are ticketing is not to do it in front of the hospital where their relative is dying. The second rule is not to mess with people who have some measure of fame, at least enough to get the media interested. And the third rule is to remember that your dashboard camera is on.

This Dallas Morning News story (with video) is very disturbing. Last week, Ryan Moats, a running back for the Houston Texans, drove his wife and other family members to a Dallas area hospital to be with his dying mother-in-law. He violated some traffic rules getting there, and was pulled over by a police officer in front of the hospital. Instead of giving an obviously distressed person a break, the officer gives him a huge load of grief and a lecture about manners.

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Sage Rosenfels + Vikings = Rosencopter Technoviking Mashup

Stephanie Stradley — 2009-02-27T13:30:00 00:00

by Stephanie Stradley

Filed under: Texans, Vikings, AFC South, NFC North

The Texans and Vikings officially agreed to trade quarterback Sage Rosenfels to the Vikings for a fourth-round pick. Minnesota negotiated a two-year, $9 million dollar extension with him, and I think he will be a good addition to the Vikings. In honor of this trade, I created this video in hopes that it ends up being a win-win for deal for both teams. Enjoy!

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Houston Texans Continue Salary Dump: Release 3

Stephanie Stradley — 2009-02-25T17:23:00 00:00

by Stephanie Stradley

Filed under: Texans, AFC South

The Houston Texans shed two large salaries already, and today announced the release of defensive end Anthony Weaver, model safety Will Demps and left tackle Ephraim Salaam. In summary: Weaver's play in a 4-3 never came close to justified his salary, Demps lost his starting job last year, and Salaam wasn't happy splitting minutes with rookie Duane Brown.

In looking at the salary dump, Texans blogger/salary cap junkie deluxe, Keith Weiland of InTheBullseye.com weaves an interesting and actually semi-plausible scenario: That maybe the Texans are going after Julius Peppers.

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