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NFL Players Will Spend Suspensions Training in MMA

Posted: Sep 5th 2009 9:42AM by Michael David Smith (author feed)
Filed under: Jets, Saints

While NFL players serve league-imposed suspensions, they're ineligible to practice, work out at the training facilities, or participate in any other team activities, which means it's up to them to stay in shape on their own. But for three players who are suspended for the start of the 2009 season, they'll be training at former UFC champion Randy Couture's mixed martial arts gym in Las Vegas.

Rich Cimini of the New York Daily News reports that Jets outside linebacker Calvin Pace and Saints defensive ends Will Smith and Charles Grant -- all of whom will serve four-game suspensions for using banned supplements -- are going to spend that time working out at Xtreme Couture, a gym widely regarded as one of the best MMA training facilities in the world.

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Calvin Pace, Another NFL Drug Cheat -- Where's the Outrage?

Posted: Jul 2nd 2009 6:00PM by Dan Graziano (author feed)
Filed under: Jets, NFL Media Watch, NFL Analysis

18 COMMENTS

Jets linebacker Calvin Pace is suspended for performance-enhancing drug use. Why isn't this a bigger deal?

Not to pick on poor Calvin Pace, who claims today to be the latest NFL victim of those sneaky, nefarious over-the-counter supplements, but come on here, people. At what point is it fair to start calling out the NFL on the performance-enhancing drug issue? This guy's no superstar, but he's an important player on a New York team. The baseball equivalent would be somebody like Ryan Church on the Mets or Hideki Matsui on the Yankees. Imagine if one of those guys had been suspended today for steroids? Would ESPN even think about leading SportsCenter with anything else?

More Coverage: Pace Suspended 4 Games

Continue Reading Calvin Pace, Another NFL Drug Cheat -- Where's the Outrage?

Calvin Pace Suspended for First 4 Games of NFL Season

Posted: Jul 2nd 2009 3:30PM by Josh Alper (author feed)
Filed under: Jets, AFC East

39 COMMENTS

The NFL announced that Jets linebacker Calvin Pace will miss the first four games of the 2009 season while he serves a suspension for violating the league's policy on performance-enhancing drugs.

Latest NFL Images

From left, Dick Mitchell, Babe Parilli, Clayton Webb, Bob Fry, and George Blanda greet each other upon arriving at a Paul "Bear" Bryant reunion at the Crown Plaza, Campbell House in Lexington, Kentucky, Friday, June 19, 2009. Kentucky football players who played for the famed coach get together every other year. (Pablo Alcala/Lexington Herald-Leader/MCT)

MCT

Babe Parilli, gets a bear hug from Dick Mitchell during a Paul "Bear" Bryant reunion at the Crown Plaza, Campbell House in Lexington, Kentucky, Friday, June 19, 2009. Kentucky football players who played for the famed coach get together every other year. (Pablo Alcala/Lexington Herald-Leader/MCT)

MCT

Former NFL football quarterback Troy Aikman, right, talks with San Diego Padres pitcher Chris Young, left, before throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at a baseball game between the Houston Astros and the Padres, Thursday, July 2, 2009, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

Former NFL football quarterback Troy Aikman throws out the ceremonial first pitch before a baseball game between the Houston Astros and the San Diego Padres, Thursday, July 2, 2009, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and his girlfriend Jessica Simpson talk on the number one tee after opening ceremonies for the AT&T National golf tournament at Congressional Country Club, Wednesday, July 1, 2009, in Bethesda, Md. (AP Photo/Rob Carr)

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (L) and Tiger Woods stand together on the 10th green during the Pro-Am for the AT&T National PGA golf tournament at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland, July 1, 2009. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES SPORT GOLF FOOTBALL)

Reuters

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo plays a shot from a bunker along the 11th fairway during the Pro-Am for the AT&T National PGA golf tournament at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland, July 1, 2009. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES SPORT FOOTBALL GOLF)

Reuters

Tiger Woods (L) and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (R) play together on the 14th tee during the Pro-Am for the AT&T National PGA golf tournament at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland, July 1, 2009. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES SPORT GOLF FOOTBALL IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Reuters

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, left, stands with New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi on the field before the Yankees' baseball game against the Seattle Mariners at Yankee Stadium in New York, Tuesday, June 30, 2009. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, left, holds a football as New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter throws long toss on the field before the Yankees' baseball game against the Seattle Mariners at Yankee Stadium in New York, Tuesday, June 30, 2009. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Continue Reading Calvin Pace Suspended for First 4 Games of NFL Season

Every Play Counts: Jets' Run Defense Gets Dominated by the Bills

Posted: Dec 17th 2008 9:00AM by Michael David Smith (author feed)
Filed under: Bills, Jets

13 COMMENTS

Every Play Counts is Michael David Smith's weekly look at one specific player or one aspect of a team on every single play of the previous game.

In an installment of Every Play Counts last month, I wrote about how the New York Jets' defense had dominated the Buffalo Bills' offense, and specifically how defensive tackle Kris Jenkins was a practically unstoppable presence in the middle of the line. The Bills finished that November game with just 30 rushing yards on 17 carries, and the Jets' defense looked like it could lead them deep into the postseason.

And then in Sunday's Jets-Bills rematch, Buffalo ran 32 times for 187 yards and two touchdowns, and the Jets' defense looked like it had no business playing in the postseason at all. Although Bills quarterback J.P. Losman ended up giving the game to the Jets with five turnovers, including three in the final 2:06 of the fourth quarter, the Jets' run defense was a mess.

So what's gone wrong? And can the Jets count on their run defense to lead them in the playoffs? We explore in this week's installment of Every Play Counts.

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Jets 47, Rams 3: Jimmy Hoffa Had a Better Day Than St. Louis

Posted: Nov 9th 2008 7:45PM by Josh Alper (author feed)
Filed under: Jets, Rams, AFC East, NFC West

3 COMMENTS

It would have been easy for the Jets to fall into a trap today against the Rams. The game was against a weak opponent, sandwiched between two divisional road games and the second of those is Thursday in New England. Someone forgot to let the Rams know they should set one.

There wasn't much that went wrong for the Jets today. They cruised down the field and scored on the opening drive, forced a three-and-out and then added a field goal. The game wasn't in doubt after the next Rams possession. Abram Elam came like a cannonball on a safety blitz to force a Marc Bulger fumble, Calvin Pace recovered and returned it for a touchdown. It was 17-0, just 10 minutes were off the clock and things only went downhill from there for the Rams.

It was a complete effort for the Rams as well, completely inept. They turned the ball over five times, gained 200 yards and looked about as happy to be in New Jersey as a low-level mafioso who insulted Tony Soprano's goomah. During the game, I got a text from a friend suggesting that Alabama would beat the Rams. My reply, "So would Michigan," should let anyone familiar with college football know how pathetic the visitors' effort was this afternoon.

Pathetic may seem like a strong word, but, really, based on the way the Rams played, effort is the stretch in that last sentence.

Continue Reading Jets 47, Rams 3: Jimmy Hoffa Had a Better Day Than St. Louis

The Jets Continue to Be the Busiest Team in the NFL, Sign Calvin Pace and Damien Woody

Posted: Mar 3rd 2008 4:40PM by Josh Alper (author feed)
Filed under: Jets, AFC East, New York, NFL Free Agency

5 COMMENTS

It seems that the misery of a 4-12 season has lit a fire under the seat of Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum. He's been the most active man in the NFL since the offseason officially began, a trend that continued this afternoon when Gang Green signed Calvin Pace and Damien Woody as free agents. And, as in the Kris Jenkins and Alan Faneca acquisitions, the Jets spent money like a drunken sailor to make the deal happen.

Pace, a bust until recording six and a half sacks this season, got $22 million in guaranteed money to sign with the Jets for six years and $42 million overall. The move to a 3-4 served Pace well in Arizona last season but, as the Jets saw with Bryan Thomas, boosts from scheme changes can be temporary boons to otherwise mediocre players. Even his 2007 "breakout" was a modest one, making this move a gamble of major proportions.

Woody didn't match Faneca's NFL-best deal but will get $11 million in guarantees from the Jets to play right tackle. He started five games there for the Lions at the tail end of a four-year stint which featured more negatives than positives. He had been a productive guard and center with the Patriots before moving to Detroit, something that likely affected Eric Mangini's impression of his abilities.

Continue Reading The Jets Continue to Be the Busiest Team in the NFL, Sign Calvin Pace and Damien Woody

Larry Fitzgerald Contract Cripples Cardinals

Posted: Feb 8th 2008 10:17AM by Michael David Smith (author feed)
Filed under: AZ Cardinals, Phoenix

6 COMMENTS

The Arizona Cardinals are in a mess heading into the NFL free agency period, and they have no one to blame but themselves.

Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald is owed a base salary of $16.5 million for the 2008 season, thanks to the incentive-laden rookie deal that the Cardinals agreed to when they made him the third pick in the 2004 NFL draft. As a base salary, the entire contract will count against the team's 2008 salary cap, which means about 15% of the cap is tied into one player.

That will make it extremely difficult for the Cardinals to hang onto all the other players they want to keep, including linebackers Karlos Dansby and Calvin Pace, running back Edgerrin James and both quarterbacks, Matt Leinart and Kurt Warner. They seem to already have resigned themselves to losing third receive Bryant Johnson.

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Terrell Suggs Wouldn't Mind Playing in Arizona Next Year

Posted: Jan 11th 2008 9:47AM by Ryan Wilson (author feed)
Filed under: AZ Cardinals, Ravens, NFL Free Agency

2 COMMENTS

The Ravens only have one big-named free agent hitting the market in March and the story for most of the season is that the team would try to re-sign him. The scuttlebutt had defensive end Terrell Suggs wanting "Dwight Freeney money," so that could potentially muck up the process of keeping him in Baltimore.

So, too, could Suggs wanting to play for another team ... on the other side of the country:

Suggs is a free agent and told KTVK's Brad Cesmat at Wednesday night's ASU-Arizona basketball game that he would love to come back to Arizona and play for the Cardinals - who desperately need the skills he offers.

Now part of this could be Suggs just shooting the breeze with a television reporter while he tries to take in a basketball game in his hometown. It could also be something much more straightforward. Like that Suggs wants to play for the Cardinals.

Continue Reading Terrell Suggs Wouldn't Mind Playing in Arizona Next Year

Cards Trash Is Ravens Treasure

Posted: Sep 23rd 2007 10:18AM by Ryan Wilson (author feed)
Filed under: AZ Cardinals, Ravens, AFC North, NFC West

1 COMMENT

Usually teams are lauded for trading down in the draft -- particulary in the first round -- to accumulate draft picks. It's a staple of the Bill Belichick/Scott Pioli blueprint to roster building, after all. But one example of when the trade down didn't quite pay dividends was in 2003. The Arizona Cardinals (shocking that the Cards got the short end of the stick on something, I know) traded out of the No. 6 selection, picked up the 17th and 18th picks, and have been regretting it ever since.

Before the draft, the scuttlebut had the Cards taking Arizona State defensive end Terrell Suggs, but when the big day finally rolled around, the team traded that pick to New Orleans and ended up with wide receiver Bryant Johnson and defensive end Calvin Pace.

The Saints passed on Suggs -- after a mediocre Pro Day performance, Suggs dropped on some draft boards -- and the Ravens took him at No. 10. And all he's done in four years is rack up 40 sacks and made two Pro Bowls. In the meantime, Pace has been mostly a backup, and Johnson is third fiddle after Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald.

It's hard to fault the Cardinals for trying to stock up on quality players, but it's also not surprising that the move blew up in their face. Arizona travels to Baltimore today for their toughest test of the young season, and before it's all over, quarterback Matt Leinart might have intimate knowledge of how good Suggs really is.