And through it all, Gruden never suspected that his job was in trouble, although he told ESPN's Chris Mortensen "that Chucky will be back and hopefully my teeth will be as sharp as ever." Not only does Gruden refer to himself in third person, he does so using his nickname. Love that.
And while the organization has a history of treating personnel information -- no matter how mundane -- like it's a matter of national security, CBS analyst and sweater vest aficionado Phil Simms is absolutely certain New England will slap Cassel with the franchise tag. He heard it from his favorite source: Phil Simms.
Warren Sapp has always been outspoken. Now that he's retired from the NFL and makes his living as a teevee personality, it's gotten worse. Much, much worse.
In addition to stints on NFL Network and Showtime's Inside the NFL, Sapp also manages to dance like he's never danced before, following in the footsteps of such greats as Mario Lopez, George Hamilton and Tucker Carlson. Yikes.
Whatever, the dancing bear, when not basking in his awesomeness, shared his thoughts on the Dolphins' new favorite offensive weapon: the Wildcat. Shockingly, the former defensive lineman isn't a fan.
"This is disrespectful to all defenses," Sapp said on Showtime's "Inside the NFL" roundtable Wednesday night. "It's disrespectful. You're taking the best player in the game, the quarterback, and you're putting him out wide, outside the numbers, and you put the running back in the back.
"How the hell you going to throw the ball? I'm not even thinking about throw right now. I'm going to get everybody in the gap. It's just power 'O.' You have the running back with the ball already in his hand."
That's a great point -- how the hell you going to throw the ball? (Looks at after-the-jump photo of Ronnie Brown, you know, throwing the ball, quietly reconsiders idiocy of question.)
When you think about compromising pictures of celebrities and athletes being posted on the internet, your first thought is probably the Buzz Bissinger meltdown on Costas Now. When he let loose on Will Leitch partly because of the Matt Leinarht hot tub photos. While those type of pictures can fuel the snarky side of the blogospher, they are intrusive on a persons private life. And before you know it, everyone is pointing and laughing and questioning the athletes morals, etc. Even though we the public would either a) like to be in that situation, or b) do the exact same thing every chance we get. It's not fair that we hold athletes to higher standard off the field, but it happens.
But every once in a while someone just begs for it. And that next someone is Matt Simms, quarterback for the Louisville Cardinals. Via Card Chronicle, Simms has bee suspended for four games for a violation of team rules. That's kind of vague until you click on that link above and look at the picture for a second. If you need a closer look, check out the post at KSK. Yes, this is the son of former Giant's quarterback Phil Simms and the brother of NFL quarterback Chris Simms. It's not exactly the proud moment they were looking for. Any hope of matching the commercial success of the Manning family probably just went down the tubes.
It's not unprecedented for athletes to use recreational drugs, but knowing when to use a little discretion is the sign of a leader. Rolling a joint while smiling and having your picture taken is the sign of someone that tunes out the coaches when they say you are one injury away from being the starting quarterback. Now Matt, you can make that two injuries and a large dose of running the stairs at Papa John's Stadium.
Hmm. Apparently Phil Simms was against Brett Favre's retirement before he was for it. Two years ago, during Favre Retirement Scenario No. 4, Simms had this to say during a radio appearance: "Play as long as you can. When you think it's over, play another or two years . . . because life after football, it's forever."
And that's exactly what Favre did, until he officially retired earlier this spring. Now, a few months later, something's afoot. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel caught up with Simms to get his thoughts now that speculation has Favre still wanting to play. Again:
"Just my opinion, I hope he stays retired," Simms said, referring to Favre. "He'll get over it, the fact that he is not playing. For the Green Bay Packers, I think they have moved on. If they had to give you an answer since he said he was retired, I believe their answer would be, go ahead let him stay retired. We're moving on and let's see what's in the future for them and for the new quarterback.
Since winning the Super Bowl, the football world has enveloped the New York Giants in one of the biggest group hugs of all time. People are tripping all over themselves to come up with superlatives worthy of David Tyree's catch and Steve Spagnuolo's coaching. There's only one guy not feeling the love. Jeremy Shockey.
Since breaking his leg in Week 15, Shockey's only been spotted once, sitting in a Glendale suite where he sucked down tallboys and watched his team play in the Super Bowl. The Giants won, of course, and Shockey's backup Kevin Boss made a huge play which made it easy to forget the role Shockey once played on the Giant offense. Integral to both the run and pass game, he had 57 catches before getting hurt and blocked with good success.
You'd think that the thought of the return of a healthy Shockey in 2008 would make heads dance. After all, Eli Manning's ascension to confident quarterback would pay great dividends with Shockey joining the talented wideouts in pressuring defenses. Instead, there's been a lot of nitpicking about Shockey not being on the sideline on Sunday or at the parade on Tuesday, ignoring his broken leg, and, now, calls for the end of his tenure with the team. Vinnie Iyer of the Sporting News says the Giants would be best served by trading Shockey.
The 42 Stops to Super Bowl XLII is a series that will feature stories, stats and interesting trivia that you can use to act smart as you prepare for Super Bowl XLII.
Eli Manning will be the fourth different quarterback to start a Super Bowl for the New York Giants ... tying a record.
Super Bowl XXV: Jeff Hostetler started against Buffalo
Super Bowl XXXV: Kerry Collins starter against Baltimore
Super Bowl XLII: Eli Manning will start against New England.
The results of these guys have gone from one end of the spectrum to the other. Simms completed 22 of his 25 passes for 268 yards and 3 TDs. On the other end, Collins competed just 15 of 39 passes for a measly 112 yards ... and four interceptions.
The Giants aren't the only team to have four different starting QBs. See after the jump.
The 42 Stops to Super Bowl XLII is a series that will feature stories, stats and interesting trivia that you can use to act smart as you prepare for Super Bowl XLII.
Super Bowl XLII is the second straight year that a quarterback who threw at least 20 interceptions during the season made the Super Bowl. This year, it is Eli Manning. Last year, it was the Chicago Bears' Rex Grossman.
Eli will be the sixth QB to get to the Super Bowl despite throwing at least 20 picks during the season.
An oddity is that Eli has yet to throw an interception in these playoffs. That's similar to what another Giants' quarterback, Phil Simms, did about twenty years ago. Simms threw 22 interceptions in 1986, but none in the postseason. In fact, his accuracy in Super Bowl XXI is still the best ever.
There were rumblins' that the Colts Fake Crowd Noise operator fell asleep at the controls during yesterday's game, and some enterprising soul has gone through the trouble of putting it up on the YouTubes:
I heard the skipping sound when it happened live, but I just figured my teevee was about to blow up or something. It's worth pointing out that this is only speculation, although such accusations have been leveled against the Colts in the past. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has made it known that he wants to reduce the effects crowd noise (real or otherwise) has on the game, and it'll likely come up again during the off-season.
I don't really know what to make of the skipping audio -- announcers Phil Simms and Jim Nantz either didn't hear it or totally ignored it -- but if it was in fact manufactured crowd noise, well, that's not good. You can call it gamesmanship, but so is videotaping another teams' signals. You can't have it both ways.
UPDATE: Via Newsday: "CBS has informed us that the unusual audio moment heard by fans during the Patriots-Colts game was the result of tape feedback in the CBS production truck and was isolated to the CBS broadcast," NFL vice president Greg Aiello tells us. "It was in no way related to any sound within the stadium and could not be heard in the stadium."
It's amazing how quick the public opinion can change in the matter of a few weeks. Perhaps even more amazing is the ability of a team to completely turn their season around after being dominated and embarrassed in two straight games to open the season.
Who are these guys and what happened to the New York Giants? This is supposed to be a team with a lame duck coach, the lack of a running game after Tiki Barber's departure, a starting quarterback who can't make it in the NFL, a Prima Donna at wide receiver and a defense full of aging injured veterans and under-performing youth.
Instead, the New York Giants are anything but that. They have a team built around trust and the desire to win. Not to mention, they are playing with a huge chip on their shoulder -- and now they're starting to get noticed.
"The Giants are absolutely starting to catch the attention of America. They have caught my attention. I am as interested now in the Giants as I am in the Indianapolis Colts and the New England Patriots. They have a flare about them. They are playing an exciting brand of football. They have playmakers all over the field – not just guys who can make plays – guys who can win the game. Plaxico Burress can win a game almost single-handedly. The running backs have been tremendous. They have one of the best pass blocking offensive lines in football. Nobody, nobody, in the NFL can rush the passer better than the New York Giants. I would say to all of the NFC teams, there is a new player out there," said former quarterback Phil Simms.
Watch out ladies and gentlemen, the Giants are coming...
Jon Gruden's been unemployed for nearly two weeks now, and in that time the Bucs have found his replacement, and former players (and a couple fans) have taken turns at the Gruden Piñata. 
Warren Sapp has always been outspoken. Now that he's retired from the NFL and makes his living as a teevee personality, it's gotten worse. Much, much worse. 
When you think about compromising pictures of celebrities and athletes being posted on the internet, your first thought is probably the Buzz Bissinger meltdown on Costas Now. When he let loose on Will Leitch partly because of the Matt Leinarht hot tub photos. While those type of pictures can fuel the snarky side of the blogospher, they are intrusive on a persons private life. And before you know it, everyone is pointing and laughing and questioning the athletes morals, etc. Even though we the public would either a) like to be in that situation, or b) do the exact same thing every chance we get. It's not fair that we hold athletes to higher standard off the field, but it happens. 
Since winning the Super Bowl, the football world has enveloped the New York Giants in one of the biggest group hugs of all time. People are tripping all over themselves to come up with superlatives worthy of David Tyree's catch and Steve Spagnuolo's coaching. There's only one guy not feeling the love. Jeremy Shockey. 
The 42 Stops to Super Bowl XLII is a series that will feature stories, stats and interesting trivia that you can use to act smart as you prepare for Super Bowl XLII. 
The 42 Stops to Super Bowl XLII is a series that will feature stories, stats and interesting trivia that you can use to act smart as you prepare for Super Bowl XLII. 
It's amazing how quick the public opinion can change in the matter of a few weeks. Perhaps even more amazing is the ability of a team to completely turn their season around after being dominated and embarrassed in two straight games to open the season.
