Another Steroid Related Suspension

And further proof that the NFL is better than the Major Leagues. Cleveland Browns Offensive Tackle Ryan Tucker has been suspended for four games due to his violation of the NFL's substance abuse policy regarding anabolic steroids and the like.

This is the same guy that missed a couple of games last year on account of a "mental disorder." He is a team leader, and issued a respectable (as much as it could be) statement on the subject:

I didn't intend to compromise the integrity of the NFL, my team, I want to apologize to the fans, my family. It's been a long road. I was pretty down and out last year, and in my attempt to come back I took a banned substance. I'm going to fulfill this punishment and get it behind me.

Congrats to the Browns.

And... The Eagles

Once again, The Eagles place their hopes and prayers on the knee of Donovan McNabb. I fully support this, by the way, because he is my starting fantasy quarterback. Some will gripe about a "quarterback controversy" due to the drafting of Kevin Kolb, BUT, cooler heads prevail. And by cooler, I mean smarter. Andy Reid is not going to start a rook when he has an MVP-esque player taking snaps. Kolb won't see the pigskin during the regular season and playoffs unless McNabb is down and Feely is broken. The talk of controversy in Philly should only fuel McNabb to have a great season. Everyone is down on his legs, though he has looked superb in camp.

It is this amateur analysts opinion that D-Nabb will play well in his opening games, just like every year. If he can beat the injury bug, his season will be anywhere from moderate to very good. His team does not need him to win games or visit the playoffs, but (shown by his 3-year-in-a-row NFC Championship appearances) they benefit from him being at the helm. He is a leader and the best mobile QB in the game today (I think).

Most of the talk in Philly is D-Nabb, D-Nabb, Kolb, Andy Reid, D-Nabb. So, let's see how things shape up this last month before first snap.

Indy Colt Update

Owner Jim Irsay is apparently no longer interested in having Corey Simon on his team. The former Pro-Bowler is on the outs and Indy is looking to sever all ties by offering a compensation package that would allow Simon to sign with another NFL team. The Colts claim that Simon failed a physical exam and was sent home to Tallahassee, Florida. Simo did not report to camp and there is now a muck about the whole situation. Unfortunately, this has tainted the Colts organization on the free agent pool, so hopefully that doesn't hold through '08 when they will need some defensive assistance.

The Colts have stated that they prefer to rely on their drafting skills, which have been very fruitful this past decade.

Interesting...

Quinn Update

Cleveland Browns GM Phil Savage remarked about the state of the Brady Quinn contract negotiations today. Not good news for sure.

Per Savage, the Browns are trying their best to get places with Quinn as they did with Joe Thomas, but Quinn's agent, Tom Condon, is being unreasonable.

What we did in six hours with Joe Thomas seems to be taking almost two weeks with, you know, our other player. All of a sudden the Browns are gonna shift gears and try to extract blood from the quarterback that we picked, that we say is gonna be the face of the franchise, that we say is the future of this team? It makes no sense. It's not logical. I think people are smart enough to figure this out. We feel like we’re in the same neighborhood but not on the same street yet, I don't think it’s so much the money. It's how it's gonna be gotten to, playing time percentages, what happens in year 4 and 5.

So it's not so much the guaranteed money in the contract that Quinn's agent is making a big deal out of, which has been all the rage in contract talks of late, but more the incentives at the back end that are the hiccup. Well, if that is so, Condon should be spending every bit of time that he has available to get Quinn, and by extension him, his contract. At this point all of Condon's high value players are signed except Quinn and Simeon Rice, and Rice hasn't entered contract negotiations with anyone. Sounds like signing with Condon could be Quinn's worst career move.

Levi Brown Signs

The Arizona Steelers, I mean Cardinals, have finally reached an agreement with their first round draft pick, the fifth overall, Levi Brown out of Penn State. (Not to be confused with Levi Jones, who received a surprise beatdown from The Mouth last March.)

The deal looks to be more than $18.5 milly guaranteed, with possible earnings of $62 million. The slotting system seems to be working out pretty well with the draft picks in the top ten, with the exception of Adrian Peterson. (Who, by the way, took an elbow to the hip and will have to sit out for a while. Score another loss for Cuba.)

Nothing else happened in the NFC West. Mediocrity.

AFC North Update

Prepare yourselves 4th and Goal Show faithful, this Steelers update has fantasy implications (for me). Willie Parker is suffering from a knee contusion that will definitely sideline him for the Hall of Fame game (3 days away), and from then on he will be day to day. Other injuries (some continuing) include 1st String ROLB James Harrison (bruised ribs), 1st Round draft pick Lawrence Timmons (groin), and 2006 1st Round draft pick Santonio Holmes (undisclosed non-football related surgery). All except Timmons (sore vagina) are expected to be back in practice before camp breaks.

In other non-AFC North, non-football news, our condolences to all of the families affected by the unfortunate events surrounding the collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge in Minnesota. 4 dead already, but 30 missing. Our thoughts are with the families of the missing and deceased.

NFC South - Atlanta Falcons

For the past 2 seasons the Atlant Falcons have lead the NFL in total rushing yards. Last season Vick and Dunn each ran for over a thousand yards. With one of the contributors to the Falcons rushing attack about to go to jail for the rest of him life. The Falcons now have a chance to become more of a 2 dimensional team.

Dunn commented, "Even if Mike was here, he'd be the first to say that Coach (Bobby) Petrino's offense would give us our best chance to have a balanced attack on offense."

Petrino new offensive scheme was going to put Vick's best assets to use like his cannon arm and his legs, but now they have to rely on backup QB Joey Harrington. And since Dunn just underwent back surgery, they will be using the ground game less.

"Petrino, who had a 41-9 record at Louisville the last four years, is renowned for deploying a spread offense that stretches the field.

With Vick unlikely to play this season and possibly facing the end of his career, Petrino has turned to Harrington, whose career record of 23-43 raises a red flag.

Even so, Petrino believes his scheme -- along with a receiving corps of tight end Alge Crumpler and wideouts Joe Horn, Roddy White and Michael Jenkins -- will restore confidence in an offense that lacks identity without Vick."

Broncos linebacker injures neck in practice

Outside linebacker Warrick Holdman provided a nice moment of fear for the Broncos and the crowd at their training camp facility. During practice Holdman was involved in a helmet to helmet hit and crumpled to the turf.

Holdman appeared to hit the crown of his helmet on another player's helmet. He stayed down for eight minutes but was rolled over onto his back after a minute.

Teammates gathered around him as he was strapped to a headboard and carried to an ambulance.

Shanahan said Holdman did lose feeling in his body for about 30-45 seconds, but the feeling quickly came back, which the coach said was a good sign.

There haven't been any announcements on how bad his injuries were, but he was moving his arms and legs. Shanahan is hoping that Holdman will be ok and can return to practice soon.

Moss injures leg, misses practice

Randy Moss injured his left leg halfway through Wednesday's practice, and did not practice with the team today.

Moss, acquired from Oakland in a trade during the draft, pulled up midway through Wednesday's practice. Medical trainers applied ice to his upper left leg, and he later left the field under his own power.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick did not discuss the specifics of Moss' injury and did not know when Moss would return to practice.

Apparently, Moss has been having a really good training camp. As usual, Belichick is not talking a lot about the injury, so we will just have to wait and see how long it is until he returns to practice.

Davis working for creation of Walsh Award

Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis has said he would like to have an award handed out each year to the NFL's best quarterback, in honor of Bill Walsh.

Wednesday, the Oakland Raiders owner proposed an award carrying Walsh's name that would be given annually to a quarterback, somewhat like the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm award given each year to the top collegiate passer.

"I thought it would be thrilling, it would be an inspiration to us all," Davis said.

He also went on to complain about the east coast media and their bias on the teams in the east, saying that the only team to get coverage out here was the 49ers. To battle this, he wants to have the award presented on the west coast. If you can get past the ridiculous claim that the media is biased towards the east coast (that stopped years ago when a little thing called NFL Sunday Ticket appeared, coupled with a phenomenon known as a "sports bar"), then having the award ceremony on the west coast is only fitting since it is in honor of the father of the West Coast Offense.

Oh, Odell

Another Bengal in trouble isn't a highlight worthy of a post, but a Bengal who was banned from the league, denied reinstatement on July 16th with no explanation from the NFL front office, and then decided to violate his probation on July 24th might be.

Bengals LB Odell Thurman, the 48th overall pick in the 2005 NFL draft, has been accused of violating his probation by not checking in with his probation officer, assigned to him after his DUI conviction. It could result in jail time. His arraignment is on August 21st.

Shame. From candidate for NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, (only losing to Shawne Merriman) to another tried and true member of the impressive Cincinnati Bengals. Oh well, Odell.

NFC East Update

So, I'm in charge of some news stuff too, damn it.

It looks like T.O. is taking it easy this offseason, even though camp has started. He was found nursing a sore hamstring at practice yesterday and hasn't participated in the main drills. Wade Phillips (baby coach junior) has said that "he is sore, not injured," so let's hope that he is wrong and T.O. doesn't see a down of play. Why, you ask? Well, he isn't on my fantasy team and all of my news has the potential to be slighted by that fact. Screw you, Victor. Screw you.

In other news, Tony Romo has relinquished holding duties primarily. He still insists on holding Carrie Underwoods Ta-Ta's. So, in essence, he is still a holder of things valuable for a playoff run.

Moving forward, the Redskins are screwbied big time. Portis, Santana Moss, Chris Samuels, Marcus Washington AND Randy Thomas are all downed by some sort of injury. Rumor has it that Clinton was bit in the upper thigh by a rabid dog, fed up with his broom poking. Santana's problem is only a sore leg, so rest up, buddy, because I need 8 TDs from you this year.

That's all for now, folks.

AFC North Update

Since I am in charge of news from the AFC North, I have to try extra hard to not post articles about my Stillers that would be meaningless to the average NFL fan. I couldn't resist this one.

-Redefining the meaning of the fat boy packages, the Steelers might be placing 325 pound Nose tackle Casey Hampton at fullback for goal line and short yardage situations. Talk about a hole plugger.

-Ocho Cinco says he can't block. And he doesn't like to block. But he does offer this little gem:

Week 1, if I touch the end zone you will laugh for a lifetime. I guarantee you. Marvin (Lewis) might sit me down for the next game but it will live on for a lifetime.

-Steelers first round draft pick Lawrence Timmons is ailing again from the infamous groin injury that downs at least one Steeler each year. Lamarr Woodley, the Steelers' second round pick at the same position, however, is surprising people with his talent.

-Tom Condon is letting his client Brady Quinn take all the heat from the holdout. Don't know why. Get with Drew Rosenhaus Brady. He gets people paid.

-Ravens LT Jonathan Ogden is on the PUP (Physically Unable to Perform) list. For an unknown period of time. And Kyle Boller threw an interception

Juice at it again...

Thank you TMZ.com. Your filth is usually despicable, but on occasion you give us a jewel. Like this O.J. Simpson interview in which you allowed callers who visit your site to ask him questions.

Says one caller: "My kid Chris was wondering, do you think it was a bigger feat to break 2,000 yards in one season, or slice two necks in one night?"

O.J.'s response, to the clearly audible question: "I'm having a little trouble, Kevin, hearing you."

Says another: "It was reported back during the famous chase that when on in '94 . . . that you were squeezing your helmet."

Says O.J.: "That I was what?"

O.J., seriously. Just go into your hole and don't come out anymore. No more books, no more interviews. Be gone with you.

Culpepper signs with Raiders

Daunte Culpepper has signed a one year deal with the Oakland Raiders. The Raiders sent a rep to Florida Monday to work with Culpepper, and then flew Culpepper back to California for a private workout in front of Raiders coaches and scouts.

"We had to see him run around, scramble and do different things because his arm didn't go away,'' [Raider's coach Lane] Kiffin said. "We weren't really worried about that. We had to make sure everything else was good.''

This is a huge improvement for the Raiders, but is it a good place for Culpepper. According to him, Oakland was the best fit.

"When I became a free agent I created and ranked eight criteria that I used to evaluate potential teams that were interested in my services,'' Culpepper said. "Based on my criteria, the Oakland Raiders are the best fit.''

"I also get an opportunity to show both the Raiders and the NFL community that I am healthy and back to form after battling injuries the last two seasons,'' Culpepper said. "Most importantly, I appreciated that there was mutual respect as we worked through the process of coming to contract terms.''

First overall pick JaMarcus Russell has yet to sign a contract, and it has been acknowledged by the Raiders that part of the reason they signed Culpepper was because of the situation with Russell.