FanHouse WarrenSapp

I heard Michael Jackson died at approximately 5:30 PM ET. Hours later, I still don't think it's fully hit me. This was the man I idolized growing up as a kid ... I watched Moonwalker about 80 times on VHS (Joe Pesci was the villain). I once furiously outbid someone $159 for a replica Beat It jacket with 13 zippers. I actually have an 8x10 glossy of Billie Jean Michael taped next to my bedroom door.

Everyone -- from celebrities to sports stars to ordinary people -- had their way of trying to feel connected to the King of Pop. In his mere presence, fans have fainted and needed medical attention. So when news broke that Jackson had passed away, the reverberations on social media sites like Twitter were immense. Outspoken wide receiver Chad Ochocinco even went on to tweet "this is just as sad as 9/11" and then tried to play damage control after his offensive comment.

After the jump, read the emotional reactions from current and former athletes.

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I am probably the biggest advocate in the world that golf most certainly is a sport, and even I find this point fairly ridiculous.

Warren Sapp hosted a chat on NFL.com Thursday and was asked the following question about Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo -- "What do you think on (R)omo not being focused on football by trying to get in the (U.S.) (O)pen?"

"That's why his record is what it is in December and January," Sapp answered.

After five sometimes-tumultuous years in Cleveland, the Browns traded Kellen Winslow to the Buccaneers this offseason. It was an opportunity for the tight end to get a fresh start, a new beginning, a rebirth ... any cliche works here, really. Except that, on Tuesday, Winslow missed the start of organized team activities (OTAs) with his new club.

In general, it's hardly a big deal; OTAs aren't mandatory and while it's good for team-building and whatnot, veterans don't get much out of the experience. At least those not learning a new system. That wasn't the case for Winslow, and it might explain why former Bucs defensive tackle Warren Sapp took exception to Winslow's decision to skip out on voluntary workouts:

As we head down the backstretch to the NFL draft, every aspect of every potential first-round player continues to be researched by each NFL franchise. After all, they are about to sink millions of dollars into what is essentially a kid. With the Pac Man Joneses and Ryan Leafs of the world exhibiting a variety of negative character issues, teams are paying more attention than ever to background checks.

According to Pro Football Weekly, there are five highly regarded prospects who have raised serious red flags to five "high-level league executives" they polled: Percy Harvin, Michael Crabtree, Rey Maualuga, Vontae Davis, and B.J. Raji. And they aren't just a little scared of drafting these guys.

Now that Scott Pioli has been named the Chiefs' new general manager, Herm Edwards can count on his fingers (and maybe his toes) the days until he's relieved of his head coaching duties.

Kansas City Star columnist Jason Whitlock fired up the Jon Gruden-to-KC bandwagon as soon as the Bucs canned him, although that changed after a brief conversation with Warren Sapp, who played for Gruden from 2002-03.

"He would do a fine job in Kansas City," Sapp told me. "Why not? The thing that would really be exciting for Gruden in KC is that he'd have a strong-armed young quarterback to work with. Hell, Tyler Thigpen damn near saved Herm Edwards' job."

Yes, Thigpen exceeded expectations in Kansas City but let's not just start making stuff up; the Chiefs won twice. All season. I'm pretty sure nobody's job was saved after losing 14 of 16 games.

Now that Tony Dungy has stepped down as the Colts' head coach, gushing from many of his former players and colleagues has ensued. It's not surprising, because Dungy's always been very popular with the overwhelming majority of the people he has come across, both personally and professionally.

Warren Sapp has always been vocal with his love for his former coach. In the wake of Dungy's retirement, though, Sapp said something pretty odd.

Notes from the press box at Bank of America Stadium for Panthers - Cardinals.

Darnell Dockett's had a pretty pricey week; you most likely recall the $20,000 fine the NFL stuck him with after his celebratory actions against the Atlanta Falcons. Surely, he would come into this Panthers game a with a little more humility this week, right?

Um, wrong. Dockett not only decided the post-game presser was a perfect time to call out Warren Sapp (as well as everyone at FanHouse except Shane Bacon, technically), but he also decided to "give Carolina all the credit" for the Cardinals win today.

I talked today to Mike Murphy of 670 The Score in Chicago about the Bears' inability to rush opposing passers, even though they blitzed more than almost any other team this year. (A topic I wrote about here.)

As Warren Sapp pointed out in discussing the Bears, "A 4-3 defense that plays Cover 2 is not based on blitzing. You've got to have four dogs that hunt all day long. That's what they do."

The Bears' dogs didn't hunt this season, and that was the major weakness of their defense in 2008.

Here's the audio (or right-click here to download the MP3):

Willis McGahee -- of recent Cowboy-destroying fame -- was kind enough to sit down with FanHouse and talk about Brian Billick v. John Harbaugh, Guns n' Roses, Joe Flacco, bounties on players and how the Ravens got ready for the Cowboys.

Will Brinson: Willis, what's up man? How you doing today?

Willis McGahee: I'm alright, how you doing?

WB: Good man, good -- thanks for taking the time to talk to FanHouse today. First off, how'd it feel to beat the Cowboys in the final regular season game in Texas Stadium?

WM: Ah, it felt good, you know. I know their plan was to have a homecoming in the stadium, but our plan was just to go there and play Ravens football and that's what we did -- play Ravens football.

WB: Right on, right on. Hey, I heard a rumor that Jerry Jones petitioned the league to play you guys in the last home game in that stadium. Did you guys hear about that beforehand?

So the NFL has robbed us of the usual late-season slate of Saturday afternoon games, but what they've given us in return is much, much better. Okay, not really -- for starters, as it currently stands, about 250 people get NFL Network, which means that a lot of you will be shut out of tonight's Ravens-Cowboys game.

Not only that, but most people who don't blog for a living have stuff to do on Saturday night. I suspect Roger Goodell doesn't care about such things.

Not to worry, though; the fine folks who bring us the NFL Network pregame show -- Rich Eisen, Steve Mariucci, Deion Sanders, Marshall Faulk and Warren Sapp -- are all about making the experience a happy one. For all 250 of you (via Awful Announcing):



Wow. Warren Sapp is so fat that the fat house fun mirror makes him look skinny. Which, I think, means that Shaun Rogers and Casey Hampton would look like Rob and Fab. I'd pay to see that.

By the way, I'd love to see the CBS folks "accidentally" use the fat lens on broadcasting's moral beacon, Jim Nantz. I'm guessing he'd find it hilarious in much the same way Joe Buck loved Randy Moss' decision to pretend moon Packers' fans.