Falcons' Weiner retiring after 11-year career
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) -- Todd Weiner, who battled back from a knee injury to start 11 games for the Atlanta Falcons in 2008, is retiring.
Weiner said Thursday he is ending his 11-year career with the Falcons and Seattle Seahawks.
Weiner started 118 of 152 career games and helped the Falcons lead the NFL in yards rushing in 2004-06 and rank second in 2008.
Atlanta's offensive line allowed a franchise record-low 17 sacks in 2008.
Weiner returned from extensive reconstructive surgery on his left knee to share time with rookie Sam Baker last season.
Coach Mike Smith says Weiner "epitomizes toughness, grit and everything a championship caliber football player should be."
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
Super Bowl 43 Ready to Kick Off
Super Bowl 43 kicks off shortly in Tampa, Florida where the Pittsburgh Steelers will try to win a record sixth American football title. The Arizona Cardinals will try to spoil that quest in their first appearance in the big game.
Arizona used many weapons during the season to win its division and make a surprising march through the playoffs. Veteran quarterback Kurt Warner led the way with three talented receivers in an effective pass attack that has been missing from the Cardinals playbook for decades.
But Arizona running back Edgerrin James says the Cardinals will move to a more balanced approach in the Super Bowl.
"During the regular season, sometimes you kind of get away from certain things [styles of play]," said Edgerrin James. "But during the postseason, you know what it takes to win. And any coach in this league knows you have to have balance [between running and passing]. You have to be able to run the ball in the playoffs because of the weather conditions and everything else that goes with football."
But Arizona will have to get past the top rated defense in the National Football League. Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin says the Steelers will be as tough as ever to beat.
"One thing that we will not do is coach scared or play scared," said Mike Tomlin. "That did not get us here. We are going to be the Pittsburgh Steelers and maintain our personality in that regard. And we are going to what we feel is necessary to win."
Millions of people around the world will be watching live broadcasts to see which team delivered on its pre-game promises.
voanews.com
Jets pluck Browns RBs coach Lynn
Just as the Cleveland Browns found coaches on the New York Jets' staff, the Jets have now done the same.
The Jets hired former Browns running backs coach Anthony Lynn for the same job in New York. Cleveland allowed Lynn to interview, and he drew interest from multiple teams. Lynn reached an agreement with the Jets after meeting with new head coach Rex Ryan, general manager Mike Tannenbaum and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer.
Of course, it was nearly a year ago that Lynn wound up in the AFC East. Last year, Miami Dolphins executive Bill Parcells attempted to hire Lynn as the team's running backs coach, but the Browns gave him a contract extension instead.
Now, Lynn has found his way to New York, becoming the latest assistant to defect from the Cleveland staff.
(c)2008 NFL Enterprises LLC
"Big Game Ben"
PITTSBURGH -- It's a little too early for the Pro Football Hall of Fame to start forging a bronze bust for Ben Roethlisberger's induction. But with the pace he's on, it's just a matter of time.
He may not be the flashiest passer of his generation. But aside from Tom Brady, no one wins as often as the man playing quarterback for the Steelers.
At times, Roethlisberger will show his human side by throwing a bone-head interception or two. But invariably, he bounces back, often with a performance or play that boggles the imagination.
"He's the ultimate competitor," said Ray Lewis, the menacing Baltimore Ravens linebacker who'll face Roethlisberger and the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game.
"He plays football the way old-school people play football. Just make a play. It doesn't have to be pretty. It doesn't have to be drawn up, sit in the pocket and pass the ball like a conventional quarterback. He's a football player. He's going to go out and do anything to keep his team motivated and keep the chains moving. That's probably one of the greatest assets he has ... keeping the play going."
Roethlisberger has been doing that since making his first pro start in September of 2004 under monsoon-like conditions in Miami. Playing because Tommy Maddox was injured the previous week in Baltimore -- the Ravens crushed the Steelers that day, 30-10 -- Roethlisberger led the Steelers to a 13-3 win just as a hurricane was blowing through South Florida.
On the game's only touchdown, Roethlisberger, flushed out of the pocket, rifled a perfect pass to a diving Hines Ward in to the corner of the end zone.
Always the head-strong gunslinger, Roethlisberger hasn't stopped winning since.
He's only 26, but today, he'll start in his third AFC Championship Game.
In the 43-year-old Super Bowl era, only four other quarterbacks have led their team to a conference championship game three times during their first five pro seasons -- Roger Staubach of the Dallas Cowboys, Bernie Kosar of the Cleveland Browns, Donovan McNabb of the Philadelphia Cowboys and Brady, the New England Patriots' superstar who suffered a season-ending knee injury in the 2008 opener.
"I just hope it's not as bad as the first one I had here," Roethlisberger said jokingly when asked how he feels about playing in his third AFC title game.
"I remember my first championship game, throwing six or seven picks it seemed, and losing the game. It's not easy. I know (now) what to expect and what not to expect. I'm not saying it will benefit me, but I hope it does."
No, Roethlisberger didn't throw six or seven interceptions in his first AFC Championship Game. But he did throw three in the disappointing 41-27 home loss to the Patriots, including one returned for a touchdown.
A year later, however, he was spectacular in a 34-17 road romp of the Denver Broncos in the AFC title game. He threw two touchdown passes, no interceptions and posted a 124.9 passer rating. He even ran for a TD late in that game.
"He's different than a lot of quarterbacks because he's big and strong and he's fearless," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. "He can throw the ball on time. He can hold the ball. He can scramble and make plays on the run. He's probably the most accurate quarterback on the run in the league right now.
"There are just so many things to defend with Ben. He's smart, and, as I've said before, he went to a great university."
Harbaugh was a marginal defensive back at Miami of Ohio in the early 1980s. But when Roethlisberger played there, he was a prolific passer and a winner. In his last season at Miami, the RedHawks went 13-1.
As a pro, Roethlisberger is 51-20 during regular-season play and 6-2 in the playoffs. He celebrated his 50th win faster than any other quarterback in NFL history. He's already the youngest quarterback to ever win a Super Bowl.
To get back to the Super Bowl this year, he must lead the Steelers past the Ravens. He's done that twice so far this year, including that 13-9 squeaker in Baltimore on Dec. 14. On that day as the Steelers clinched the AFC North Division title, Roethlisberger drove the Steelers 92 yards for a game-winning TD with time running out in the fourth quarter.
"That was a gut-check for us," said Roethlisberger, who's 6-foot-5 and 241 pounds. "We had to make plays, everybody from the linemen, to myself, to the running backs, tight ends to the receivers. We know at crunch time we had to do it and we got it done. It tested and challenged our will and our desire to win.
"You either like having the ball in your hands at the end or you don't. I'm one that does."
Copyright (c) 2009 Beaver Newspapers, Inc
Underclassmen could dominate the first round of NFL draft
Now that the deadline has passed for underclassmen to file for eligibility in the NFL draft, we can start to integrate the final list of juniors and draft-eligible sophomores into the overall draft picture.
The draftniks are all over the place on this and I don't put a whole lot of stock in most mock drafts - beyond pick 10, at least - in April much less in January.
With the combine still more than a month away, It's far too early to take any of this too seriously but at least we can start to talk about guys that might fall to the Texans at #15 if they decide to keep that pick.
Wes Bunting's article in the National Football Post seems like as good a place as any to get to know some of these underclassmen. Bunting has as many as 20 underclassmen making it into the first round this year.
Looking over Bunting's list, Everette Brown should be a name on every Texans fan's watch list.
With a need to find a bookend pass rusher for Mario Williams and Brown seems like a natural fit. Will he be there at 15? Doubtful by most current projections, but who knows?
I can hear Charley Casserly saying "you can never have enough Brown's" as I tap this out on my 46 degree patio.
Not to worry though, because the fire pit is throwing off some pretty good heat as I type this and watch in semi-amazement the NFL Network's coverage of the Gruden firing.
Again, it's way too early to make any accurate predictions on who will fall where, but at least now we know the final list of underclassmen that will be entering the draft - unless someone changes their mind before Monday.
Players have until Monday to reverse their decision and go back to school if they haven't contacted an agent. But no one else can be added to the list.
The major changes to the list in the last week were due to OU Quarterback Sam Bradford and USC Safety Taylor Mays deciding to return to school for another year.
Mays was a name that many Texans fans were kicking around, but now he won't be part of a Top 15 discussion for another year, or so he hopes.
(c) 2008 Copyright Examiner.com
Ugly loss stings Panthers; uncertainty ahead
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Perhaps to punish himself, Jake Delhomme got up Sunday morning after the little sleep he managed and popped in the video of the worst game of his career.
Delhomme winced as he watched himself throw five interceptions and lose a fumble, ruining his 34th birthday and helping the Carolina Panthers become one of the biggest upset victims in NFC divisional playoff history.
"As easy as it can be and you want to sweep it under the rug, you want to see," Delhomme said. "You want to turn it on and look at it and get some closure to it."
Delhomme and his teammates gathered for a final meeting Sunday morning, cleaned out their lockers and headed for vacation at least a week before almost anyone expected following their stunning 33-13 loss to Arizona a night earlier.
"Its amazing how one second you're on top of the world and the next second you're packing your stuff," linebacker Jon Beason said. "It's a learning experience and there are some things we can do differently next time. We're a young team and we'll be back."
Beason will certainly be back after his first All-Pro season. Coach John Fox said the Panthers plan to have Delhomme back for the final year of his contract despite his horrible night. But some other big names may not return in what promises to be an eventful offseason.
The biggest unrestricted free agent, four-time Pro Bowl defensive end Julius Peppers, didn't sound Sunday like somebody who was eager to stick around.
"Ideally I want to be in the best situation possible for myself and this organization," Peppers said before exiting the stadium parking lot. "I'm thankful for everything they've done for me and I don't want to leave them crippled or in a bad situation and I don't want to do that to myself either. So whatever works out best for both sides is what I'm comfortable with."
The Panthers have been trying for over a year to lock up Peppers to a long-term deal. Carolina could place the franchise tag on Peppers, who had a career-high 14 1/2 sacks this season. That would mean they'd keep him - barring a holdout - but Peppers would be due a whopping $17 million in a one-year deal.
Carolina, which can use the franchise tag on only one player, slapped it on left tackle Jordan Gross this season. He's also an unrestricted free agent.
But looking ahead to offseason moves was difficult for the Panthers a day after their meltdown. After scoring a touchdown on their first drive, they watched the Cardinals - 10-point underdogs who had won three playoff games in their history - score 33 consecutive points.
Delhomme was the primary culprit. Missing reads, overthrowing receivers and trying to force the ball into Steve Smith, Delhomme was awful a year after he began his comeback from ligament-replacement surgery on his right elbow.
After an effective season and leading the Panthers to five more wins than last year, Delhomme was booed by the home fans, and already there are calls for the Panthers to bring in another QB in the offseason.
Fox was very supportive of Delhomme after the game, but it didn't make the quarterback feel any better.
"I never anticipated in a million years that we would go out and play that way or I would have a hand in playing the way I did last night," Delhomme said. "You have those days and you'd like to come few and far between. It's unfortunate that it came in the biggest game of the year."
The defense deserves blame, too, completing a late-season swoon with the help of a questionable strategy from coordinator Mike Trgovac.
Despite facing one of the NFL's top receivers, the Panthers' shaky secondary came out with a soft zone coverage on Larry Fitzgerald instead of having top cornerback Chris Gamble shadow him.
Fitzgerald proceeded to run free, abusing cornerbacks Ken Lucas and Richard Marshall. Fitzgerald had six catches for 151 yards and a touchdown - in the first half - as Arizona built a 27-7 lead.
The ugliness ended with the Panthers allowing 30 or more points for the fifth time in seven games.
"If we could figure out why we didn't play as well as early on, I think we'd still be playing," defensive tackle Damione Lewis said. "We fought hard and played hard but we just gave up too many plays."
The loss remained tough to fathom for the Panthers, who seemingly had every edge. They were 8-0 at home, healthy and rested after a bye week and playing a team that had been horrible on the East Coast.
But it all crashed down behind a sea of mistakes by Delhomme and a defense that clearly regressed.
And about four hours after players filtered out of Bank of America Stadium on Sunday, the loss stung even more when Philadelphia knocked off the New York Giants.
If the Panthers had won Saturday, they would have hosted the Eagles in the NFC championship game.
Instead, the Panthers have only an ugly video to watch from the rainy night their season came to an abrupt end.
"It's something that you think about a good bit," Delhomme said. "I know I will."
thestate.com
No surprise: Alabama OT Smith to NFL
Alabama offensive tackle Andre Smith has opted to forgo his senior season and declare himself eligible for the 2009 NFL draft.
Smith, who was suspended for the Sugar Bowl for suspected illegal contact with an agent, is projected as one of the draft's top picks. Without Smith Bama struggled mightily on offense, and his departure will likely impact the 2009 fantasy status of Mark Ingram and Julio Jones, among others.
Copyright (c) 2006-2008 CFFinsder.com, LLC
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