FanHouse Rick Smith

Out of the 14 NFL players that were franchised in 2009, Texans cornerback Dunta Robinson was the only one who chose not to sign a long term deal or sign his franchise tender in time to make camp. Reportedly, he turned down $23 million dollars in guaranteed money last February, which would have put him in the top three of NFL corners in guaranteed dollars. He sat out all of camp and preseason, then signed his tender a week before the first game, just in time to get his first paycheck -- $585,705 of the almost $10 million he will receive for 2009.

Fans were displeased to learn that during the Texans ugly loss to the Jets in the home opener, Robinson was wearing shoes that read, "Pay me Rick." The "Rick" in question is Houston general manager Rick Smith.

So maybe John Daly's putter isn't the only thing holding him back. He signed for a 16-over, 88 during Friday's round at the Buick Open, barely missing the cut ... by 15 strokes. (If you're looking for a silver lining, how about this: he fired a back-nine 37 after going out in 51. So, yeah, there's that.)

In previous years, when Daly's mental state was more problematic than his golf game, he'd occasionally flirt with 90. And while between-the-ears issues contributed to his second-round meltdown Saturday, they weren't beer or hot wings-induced. Instead, at least to hear John tell it, it had more to do with a demanding schedule and a lifetime of changes squeezed into six months.

The PGA Tour doesn't talk about such things, but I don't think it's a stretch to suggest that the decision to suspend John Daly for six months was born out of the events that took place a year ago last month. Daly, participating in the Buick Open pro-am, thought it would be great fun to hit a golf ball off a beer can. while an overalls-clad Kid Rock watched on.

Alone, it was harmless, but Daly has a long history of skirting right and wrong, at least in terms of what the PGA deems appropriate. Not long after the beer-can-as-a-tee trick, Daly was cuffed-and-stuffed for being sloppy drunk outside a Winston Salem, NC-area Hooters.

Texans cornerback Dunta Robinson is the last franchise-tagged player to neither agree on a long-term deal nor sign his tender. Wednesday was the deadline for franchise players to sign long-term deals with their teams. This could get ugly.

So far, both Robinson and the Texans have failed to comment on the deadline passing. Negotiations had been mostly quiet, but the last time Robinson spoke about his contract, he said if a long-term deal couldn't be reached, he wasn't going to be around until sometime during the season.

For every game missed, Robinson would lose $585,705.

Save the mustache and the mullet, the John Daly who won the 1991 PGA Championship at Crooked Stick looks a lot like the guy who finished second at last week's Italian Open. The new JD -- 40 pounds lighter and now taking fashion advice from Craig Sager -- finally seems committed to saving his golf career after years of interventions, rehab and falling off the wagon. It's a refreshing change, frankly.

PGA Commissioner Tim Finchem suspended Daly for the first six months of the 2009 season, presumably in response to his latest beer-and-wings-fueled mayhem. But instead of seeking solace at the nearest Hooters, Daly decided to rededicate himself to golf. Again. Last year, golf instructor to the stars Butch Harmon dumped Big John after four months, citing that the most important thing in Daly's life "was getting drunk."

Jake Delhomme is the undoubted goat of the Carolina Panthers' failures last season, because of the 72 six turnovers he had against the Cardinals in the playoffs. Whether he deserves total blame or not is an entirely different issue, but Panthers fans are still going to blame him.

That should make the news that the Cats are talking contract extension with the 34-year-old quarterback go over quite smoothly with the Carolina faithful.

Here is some news that will make you want to leave work Monday and go get some wings and a beer. John Daly has announced he is getting set to return to the European Tour in April and "reclaim his place in the game." In related news, I pulled an ab muscle today laughing.

According to Bud Martin, Daly's manager with SFX World, Daly has spent the time since his last start in December working on his game and his body to prepare for a comeback that will likely start in late April on the PGA European Tour.

Although Martin said he is still negotiating with European officials, the plan is for Daly to play three or four events in Europe. After that, however, it is unclear when he will be able to return to the PGA Tour.

Lots of confusion out there on who is going to get the running back touches for the Texans. I think the confusion exists because I am not sure even the Texans coaches know what they are going to do.

Here's what we know as of today:

1. Green's Injury: Ahman Green was in and out of the lineup for most of last year, and then put on IR due to a bone bruise of his knee. He has recovered from that, but was the anti-weeble in the first preseason game, falling down on his first play without being touched due to a groin injury.

2. Green as Starter: Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle reports that the coaches believe in that Ahman Green will be back for the beginning of the season. As Justice says in his blog comments:

I was told by both Rick Smith and Gary Kubiak that they think he'll be the starting running back in the regular-season opener. He's telling them he'll be ready, which is different than last season when he was never optimistic about coming back. But the biggest factor is that from a talent standpoint he's light years ahead of the other RBs except for possibly the rookie, and there's no way they're going to throw him out there against the 3-4 in the first game.

And he says more about Green in this other blog post.

3. Green Gone: Justice's colleague, John McClain speculates that if Green doesn't play in the preseason, he is going to get cut.

Lots of confusion out there on who is going to get the running back touches for the Texans. I think the confusion exists because I am not sure even the Texans coaches know what they are going to do.

Here's what we know as of today:

1. Green's Injury: Ahman Green was in and out of the lineup for most of last year, and then put on IR due to a bone bruise of his knee. He has recovered from that, but was the anti-weeble in the first preseason game, falling down on his first play without being touched due to a groin injury.

2. Green as Starter: Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle reports that the coaches believe in that Ahman Green will be back for the beginning of the season. As Justice says in his blog comments:

I was told by both Rick Smith and Gary Kubiak that they think he'll be the starting running back in the regular-season opener. He's telling them he'll be ready, which is different than last season when he was never optimistic about coming back. But the biggest factor is that from a talent standpoint he's light years ahead of the other RBs except for possibly the rookie, and there's no way they're going to throw him out there against the 3-4 in the first game.

And he says more about Green in this other blog post.

3. Green Gone: Justice's colleague, John McClain speculates that if Green doesn't play in the preseason, he is going to get cut.

Training camps are underway, the NFL season is a month off, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Quarterback: In Matt Schaub and Sage Rosenfels, the Texans have two quarterbacks who could start in this QB starved league. Schaub needs to show he can hold up over a full season, and have better decision making in the red zone. Even so, he could end up having a breakout season assuming he and his supporting cast stay relatively healthy. Heat Index: 7

Running Backs: The Texans have been busy fixing so many other parts of their team that they have had little interest in drafting running back with a high pick. The running back group consists of Ahman Green (old and oft injured), Chris Brown (oft injured), Chris Taylor (inexperienced and coming off of injury), Darius Walker (inexperienced), Steve Slaton (3rd round pick rookie and more of a third down back). Coach Gary Kubiak won't want to have to rely on a young player because of concerns about blitz pickup. The best hope for this group is if offensive line guru Alex Gibbs shows some magic in his run blocking teaching that makes this group look good. Heat Index: 4