NFL Exec’s: ‘Is Your Mother A Prostitute?’ To Player Draws Union Ire
Here’s a rather unusual question to be asked during a job interview: is your mother a prostitute?
As many pro football fans know, that question was asked by Miami Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland of former Oklahoma State receiver Dez Bryant in a pre-draft interview. Bryant was drafted in the the first-round by the Dallas Cowboys last Thursday.
Ireland must be one of the bravest men in the NFL to ask the 6′2″ 220 lb Bryant that question. Brave and not totally insensitive since the executive apologized Tuesday for going beyond the pale in researching Bryant’s background.
NFL Players Association president DeMaurice Smith used the occasion to put the league’s management on notice that if upstanding behavior is expected of players, it’s also expected of management
Rick Gosselin: Cowboys will go as far as Tony Romo can take them
Rick Gosselin, Pro Football Hall of Fame writer for SportsDayDFW.com and The Dallas Morning News, answered questions about the Cowboys and the NFL draft Wednesday. Here’s a sampling of his responses:
Answer this question: “The cowboys will go as far as _____ will take them.”
Rick Gosselin: Tony Romo. The Colts went as far as Peyton Manning and the Saints as far as Drew Brees could take them a year ago. That was the Super Bowl. I’m beginning to think quarterback is 80 percent of a championship equation. You need a defense and you need a running game but without the quarterback, you don’t stand a chance.
On why the Cowboys only got a ‘C’ from him …
Rick Gosselin: I’ve already received several emails from Cowboys fans wondering how I can declare Dez Bryant the favorite for NFL offensive rookie of the year and still give the Cowboys a C for their draft. Quite simply, I grade drafts, not individual picks. If the draft ended on Thursday night, the Cowboys would have received an A. So would most of the teams. But there were six more rounds. If those rounds don’t matter, I’m curious why I spent seven hours at Radio City Music Hall on Friday and another 11 hours there on Saturday charting the picks. Again, I grade drafts, not picks.
Russell expected to attend Raiders minicamp
The Oakland Raiders open up their three-day minicamp on Friday and it looks like they may do so with JaMarcus Russell still on the roster.
Jay Glazer of FoxSports recently tweeted that he’s hearing Russell will not be cut before the minicamp and that the three-year veteran is expected to attend.
After the Raiders traded with the Redskins for quarterback Jason Campbell on Day 3 of the NFL draft, reports began to surface that Russell’s time in Oakland could be coming to an end. Many believed that the former LSU Tiger would be cut before the start of the three-day minicamp.
After all, Russell’s made $2 million per touchdown pass during his three-year career, which is quite an expensive price tag for a team that has won only 14 games since drafting the 6-6, 260-pound signal-caller No. 1 overall in 2007
NFL Draft 2010 brings typical excitement, new format
With the first pick of the draft, the National Football League selects . . . more revenue. That is essentially what the NFL did this year by moving the first round of the incredibly hyped NFL draft to the primetime slot on last Thursday night. Football fans then had to wait till Friday evening to watch the second and third rounds. The final four rounds of the draft then took place on Saturday, the usual day for the entire draft. This new format led to ESPN’s coverage of the draft being the sixth-most-watched show on Thursday night.
After winning only one game last season, the St. Louis Rams surprised no one by selecting former Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford with the first pick of the draft. The expectations for Bradford in St. Louis are higher than the city’s famous Arch.
In perhaps totally unsurprising fashion, Jerry Jones, I mean, the Dallas Cowboys, selected a highly talented, playmaking wide receiver. Jerry Jones had his Cowboys trade up to the 24th pick from the 27th pick in order to draft WR Dez Bryant from Oklahoma State who caught 19 touchdowns two years ago. Bryant is viewed as a potential troublemaker as he may have some character issues. These concerns stem from Bryant’s suspension last season which was his penalty for lying to an NCAA investigator about his mother who spent time in prison for selling drugs.
One of the most surprising picks of the draft was the Denver Bronco’s selection of QB Tim Tebow in the first round. The Broncos already had two decent quarterbacks in Kyle Orton and Brady Quinn. Apparently Tim Tebow impressed Broncos coach Josh McDaniels with his “intangibles” such as his ability to lead and knowledge of the game.
On Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford…
On Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford…
Gruden: “When you stand next to Bradford, you feel like you’re standing next to Vinny Testaverde, physically. This is a big man, every bit of six foot, five inches and closing in on 240 pounds. He is really an imposing figure. I love his stroke. He can get it out of his hand quick. He can zip it. He’s got touch. He’s got mobility in the pocket. He’s coming off
of an injury and he’s handled it the right way. He tried to come back –he’s a team guy. I really think he has a tremendous upside and would be surprised if he’s not the No. 1 pick in this Draft.”
Jaworski: “Clearly, (he’s got) the stature in the pocket – big and strong – but also the ability to hang in the pocket. When I look at these quarterbacks, the first thing I look for is toughness. You have to look down that gun barrel and be able to take a hit. If you look soft in the NFL you have no chance to play. I look for a guy that will hang in the pocket, deliver the football and Sam Bradford will do that. He has a quick, compact and smooth throwing motion. His ball position and drop is very good. He has a little bit of a tendency to over-stride at times, but for the most part when I look at Sam Bradford, I see a guy like Troy Aikman, a statuesque guy who can stay in the pocket and throw the football.”
Donovan McNabb and will probably back off from drafting a QB in the early rounds.
Tick, tick, tick… time is ticking away and the end of our Tim Tebow contest is near. To be exact, April 22nd at 7:30 PM EST when the first prime-time broadcast of the NFL Draft starts. We have been receiving a ton of entries and so far and every team and round has been guessed in thousands of different combinations. We have even received a few entries guessing Tim Tebow will go undrafted by any team after 7 rounds.
In our bi-weekly reports, the most popular teams remain mostly unchanged. The only twist in voting has been a decrease in “Washington Redskins” votes in the past week since they traded for Donovan McNabb and will probably back off from drafting a QB in the early rounds.
an NFL suspension after meeting with commissioner Roger Goodell
Milledgeville, Ga., prosecutor announced Monday that Ben Roethlisberger would not face criminal charges for the incident that occurred in a Capital City nightclub, but the Steelers quarterback could face penalties elsewhere.
Roethlisberger could face an NFL suspension after meeting with commissioner Roger Goodell on Tuesday, and according to USA Today, Steelers president Art Rooney II plans to punish the 28-year-old sometime after next week’s NFL draft.
“I’ve made it clear to Ben that his conduct in this incident did not live up to our standards,” Rooney told the paper. “There will be consequences for his actions.”
Documents released Wednesday reported Roethlisberger’s bodyguards prevented the accuser’s friends from helping her the night of the incident, according to ESPN.com, citing Nicole Biancofiore, a friend of the accuser.
“He had sex w/me and meanwhile his bodyguards told my friends they couldn’t pass them to get to me,” the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported the accuser wrote in her statement to police.
Additional police documents released Thursday reported that the accuser tried to resist the Steelers quarterback’s advances, telling Roethlisberger, “No, this is not OK.”
Roethlisberger made an appearance at the Steelers’ spring offseason conditioning program in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, but only after speaking with Rooney.
“We allowed Ben [to rejoin the team for offseason workouts] after we were convinced that he was sincerely contrite for his actions,” Rooney told USA Today.
According to Steelers Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw, the team’s owners “are steaming” over Roethlisberger’s actions. Bradshaw feels the quarterback deserves to be suspended at least two games, and perhaps even traded.
The Steelers are not looking to trade Roethlisberger, but Rooney thinks the two-time Super Bowl winner must redeem himself to NFL fans.
NFL Draft Media Conference Call Replay with Jon Gruden And Ron Jaworski
On Tuesday, April 13, ESPN conducted a media conference with analysts Jon Gruden and Ron Jaworski and senior coordinating producer Jay Rothman to preview the 2010 NFL Draft (April 22-24). Primetime coverage of round 1 begins Thursday, April 22 at 7:30 p.m. from Radio City Music Hall To hear a full replay of the call click here. Select comments:
On the NFL Draft in primetime for the first time and ESPN’s production approach…
Rothman: “Just on the ratings, it’s going to have a huge impact on Thursday night. It’s a largely viewed night in prime time. I think the promotion leads to all of that awareness. … The approach this year is less is more, keep it in Radio City, keep it where the action is, keep it where the buzz is and make it more simple and fleet-footed.
“The electricity and abundance of players will make it more of a ‘wow’ factor. Increasing from eight to 14 players is a big deal. We’ve sprinkled more cameras around the theater to have more vantage points to capture that a little bit more. I think it will be pretty electric.
a big market correction will make their dream come true
With a monthly salary of about 8,000 yuan, Dong is seeking a second home of about 80 square meters in the Yayuncun area, around the North Fourth Ring Road in Beijing. Prices of second hand homes in the area averaged 25,000 to 30,000 yuan per square meter.
He said housing prices in his target communities were around 20,000 yuan per square meter before the Spring Festival in February, and increased by 7,000 yuan per square meter during the recent two months. “Despite and because of the fast price growth, I will buy soon if I can find a proper one,” he said.
For people who are struggling to buy an apartment in cities, a big market correction will make their dream come true. However, for those who have bought apartments at high prices in recent years and for those who invest for profit, a crash would destroy their dream.
Wang Xu works in Shanghai, the country’s business hub, which also has recently seen skyrocketing housing prices. She owns two apartments, so the last thing she wants is a property market burst.
Hope for a crash?
Hope for a crash? Feng Zhichao, a thirty-something man, has been living in Beijing for 12 years, since starting college. He is working for a foreign company with a salary of 5,000 yuan (732.4 U.S. dollars) per month and pays 750 yuan per month for rent for a room less than 10 square meters. “House prices in Beijing are crazy! I wish the property market would collapse this year! Then I could buy an apartment of my own in the city and be in the position to think about marriage,” he said. “If I were wealthy enough, I would not care about home prices,” he added. Previously owned homes in Beijing stood at 14,000 yuan per square meter in the first quarter of this year, much higher than about 9,300 yuan in the same period of last year, according to the local statistics bureau. Dong Wei, a 27 year-old Beijinger and an employee with a foreign IT company, said: “I don’t believe the property market will crash, as the government will not let that happen. It would be disastrous.”
