NFL

Well, well, well! Terrell Owens finally got a job, 2 days before NFL training Camp starts. The Cincinnati Bengals signed T.O. to a one year, two million dollar contract (less than half of what he was asking for at the beginning of free agency). Why the Bengals didn’t sign Owens four months ago when he first visited, leaves room for speculation.

From the beginning I’ve always thought they should’ve signed healthy, proven producer Owens over Bryant who was coming off a knee injury. No bias in regard to either player, TO just seems like the smart choice from a winning standpoint. As I said back in March they both have “attitude problems” so why not take the healthy player. Turns out Bryant may be on his way to the PUP list.

All I can say is that if Marvin Lewis hasn’t earned his check any other season he certainly will this year. As a matter of fact, from now on I will be referring to him as Joe Clark. The 2010 Bengals squad this year has me wondering if they should change the name of Paul Brown Stadium to fair Eastside High. If Marvin Lewis, Chad Ochocinco, Terrell Owens, Antonio Bryant, Tank Johnson, Cedric Benson, Adam Jones, and Frostee Rucker don’t sound like a great cast for the NFL remake of Lean on Me then I don’t know who does.

With Chad Ochocinco , Dhani Jones, Owens  and the rest of that cast of characters on the roster, I’m not sure if I want to see the Bengals play football or tape a reality show this season. The reality show MIGHT be more entertaining. Hard Knocks came a season too early.

Lewis seems to do a great job with all of his players, and from what I’ve seen and heard they respect him a great deal. He is one of the few coaches out there willing to give guys a fair shot, I hope they recognize and appreciate that.

I hope Marvin can keep the boys in line, otherwise his team meetings may go a little something like this.

ESPN is reporting the Terrell Owens (former San Francisco 49er, Philadelphia Eagle, Dallas Cowboy and Buffalo Bill) has now agreed to terms with the Cincinnati Bengals.

ESPN

Terrell Owens has agreed on a one-year, $2 million deal with the Cincinnati Bengals, a league source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter on Tuesday.

According to the source, the deal also includes another $2 million in incentives.

Owens spent last season with the Buffalo Bills. He caught 55 passes for 829 yards and hauled in five touchdowns as the Bills finished the season 6-10.

The St. Louis Rams dropped out of the bidding for Owens on Monday and a source told Schefter earlier Tuesday the New York Jets expressed interest in the 36-year old wide receiver.

Owens was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the third round in 1996 out of the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. He has split his 14-year career between San Francisco, the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo.

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From MKRob Sports

First it was Cincinnati Bengals tackle Andre Smith, now its Ravens defensive tackle Terrence Cody.

Cody was recently put on the PUP (Physically Unable to Perform) list because he couldn’t pass the conditioning test in Baltimore and that leads me to question the conditioning and weight program that Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide football program have implemented.

Saban has been known to produce some quality NFL players but issues like this don’t make him look good at all. I wonder if high school football players considering Alabama are keep these two players in mind when it comes time to decide on a school to continue their football playing days.

Is Alabama preparing these guys to play in the NFL or just getting them ready from week to week so they could compete at a high level for the Crimson Tide?

There was a lot of noise made about Urban Meyer not getting former Gators quarterback Tim Tebow’s throwing motion NFL ready, how about Saban’s conditioning program?

Smith and Cody are two very good players that have been failed by the Alabama program. Even if the players refused to work out, Saban and the Alabama conditioning coach should be in their butts about keeping themselves in shape for the season and for the possibility of playing in the NFL.

What is Nick Saban doing?

The New York Giants have FINALLY seemingly answered the question at middle linebacker, by signing former Tennessee Titan Keith Bulluck.

From ESPN

Free-agent linebacker Keith Bulluck officially joined the New York Giants on Saturday, after nailing a private workout Monday in the oppressive Meadowlands heat.

But he unofficially joined them in March in the cold Manhattan rain.

Coming off ACL surgery just seven months ago, with no team to supervise his recovery, Bulluck spent most of his spring rehabbing in New York. In the process, he fell back in love with the city of his youth — and agreed Saturday to an undisclosed contract with the Giants, making it the city of his immediate future.

“Just walking the streets of New York gave me my edge back,” said Bulluck, 33, a former Pro Bowl player who has spent his 10 NFL seasons with the Tennessee Titans. “Some of those walks were tough, man. Like when it’s raining or sleeting or it’s just cold out. And your knee aches. I wasn’t 100 percent at the time. But the energy of it all helped me. Just the people, the good attitudes, the bad attitudes, just the whole vibe of the metropolitan area. If you’re from there or have ever been there, you definitely know what I’m talking about. I’d have to say this is a dream come true.”

A native of New City, New York — about 20 miles from the Meadowlands — Bulluck fills a huge need for the Giants, who released middle linebacker Antonio Pierce in February and were trying to replace him with Jonathan Goff and Chase Blackburn.

But the Giants also fill a huge need for Bulluck, who’d been twisting in the wind ever since he blew out his left knee Dec. 20 — two weeks before becoming an unrestricted free agent.

“It’s just hard when you’re a free agent with an injury,” he said. “You kind of feel like after all you’ve done, you’re being abandoned.”

Following the 2009 season, Bulluck was only allowed to rehab at the Titans facility through Feb. 28 — because, as of March 1, he was no longer a member of the organization. And he left town miffed, because management seemed ambivalent about re-signing him.

“I asked a couple coaches, and I actually asked the general manager what was up with me,” Bulluck said. “And I never got any clear answers. So that told me right then and there what was up. And I understand. It’s a business thing. They’ve got to see how I’m going to be in six or seven months when my injury’s healed.

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I’m sure that the latest news of your native son, Lebron James, choosing to leave Cleveland is a devastating blow. For the past seven years you have trusted and placed the franchise on his golden shoulders and for the most part, he has delivered. While in Cleveland, he led the franchise to the playoffs five times, even sneaking in a finals appearance. He is the reigning MVP of the league for the second straight season.

He gave the city of Cleveland, notorious for its unluckiness in sports, hope. You affectionately referred to him as “The King” with billboards and banners all around the city, claiming all as witnesses.

He became not only a hometown hero but also marketing gold. The value of your franchise almost doubled and he made the Cavaliers a primetime team. The homegrown kid was the “chosen one” and he could do no wrong. That is until now!

After making a decision, that seems solely stemmed from a professional viewpoint, he is now the anti of all that is holy. His once city anointed title has been reduced to self-proclaimed. The confidence, in which he touted around Cleveland with, is now deemed as selfishness, narcissism, and most of all disloyal. But LeBron’s decision to leave in pursuit of a championship does nowhere near the amount of damage to his character as your little rant has to yours. Forget that it is beyond unprofessional and the comic sans font you chose to cry in makes it look even more so like a prepubescent boy whining because he didn’t get his way. No, it’s because LeBron is not the one who betrayed the city and Cavs fans first.

LeBron gave you a good seven years to surround him with a championship caliber team and not just one that delivers in the regular season, and becomes non-existent in the post. But what did you do? You continually surrounded him with decent role players and superstars’ way past their primes.  You failed to deliver proper help. Not only did you not get your superstar the help that he needed but you placed the heaviest of burdens on his shoulders. You entrusted decades of a city’s hope unto him and did nothing of substantiality to help him. That my friend was and is the ultimate betrayal! You should actually consider yourself lucky that he never demanded a trade in the media and stood behind the organization for as long as he did.

Now instead of crying to the media about how you didn’t do your job to hang on to him, I suggest you start trying to rebuild your team. After banking on such a huge declaration of landing a championship before LeBron and his new running mates Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh down in Miami, you need every second you can get!

Samone Bland Sportswriter Team XI

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From MKRob Sports

Former New York Giants and Washington Redskins linebacker Antonio Pierce is joining ESPN as an NFL analyst after announcing his retirement from football.

Pierce, who was released by the Giants in February, will appear on “NFL Live” Thursday (ESPN, 4 p.m. ET) to discuss his retirement from the NFL and his new role with the network.

Pierce, who officially will start in his new role with ESPN this month, will appear on “NFL Live,” “SportsCenter,” “ESPNNews” and 1050 ESPNNewYork. He also will provide weekly analysis for ESPNNewYork.com.

“I am definitely going to miss the fans, the locker room talks, and the excitement of putting on a NFL uniform every Sunday, but I am ready to put on a new uniform, and I am extremely excited about contributing my knowledge and experience in this new endeavor to the championship team at ESPN. I thank my family, friends, teammates, and fans for their support throughout my career and as I move in this new and exciting direction,” Pierce said in a statement.

Pierce led the Giants in tackles three times, was a three-year captain, a Pro Bowl pick in 2006 and one of the inspirational leaders of a squad that did not have a losing season in his five years with the franchise.

Pierce finished his final season with the Giants with 51 tackles (31 solo), three tackles for losses, a sack, two passes defensed, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

His five-year totals with the Giants: 537 tackles (322 solo), seven sacks, six forced fumbles, seven fumble recoveries and four interceptions. Pierce also had 44 postseason tackles (28 solo).

An undrafted free agent, Pierce played his first four seasons with the Redskins.

News of, NFL bust squared, JaMarcus Russell being arrested was not only shocking but painfully hilarious once it was released what the former Oakland Raider was arrested for.

Daniela Werner of the Mobile (Ala.) Press-Register reports that Russell was arrested in his home during an undercover investigation that resulted in the discovery of codeine syrup, which often is mixed with soda and called “purple drank” or “lean” or “sizzurp.”

The charge of his arrest is possession of a controlled substance. That’s right boys and girls people still drink “sizzurp”…and apparently are not smart enough to avoid getting caught. Russell was booked at 4:22 p.m. and posted bail for himself at $2,500 off dat dranky drink.

JaMarcus entered the league as one of the biggest names at the quarterback position for African Americans in 2007. Once named the starter in 2008 he lead the team to back to back 5-11 seasons and showed absolutely no growth or discipline to learning and mastering the game. He was released by the team on May 6, 2010 and not many teams have shown interest in the 24 year old QB. This situation will not help his case of being a responsible future teammate for any franchise.

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The media is often filled with stories about athletes getting into trouble. Partying, drinking, drug use, arrests, etc. seems like everyday there’s a new story, but very seldom do we hear about the guys doing good. The ones staying out of trouble and giving back to their community like Miami Dolphins cornerback Jason Allen.

In 2008 Allen founded the J. Allen AllStars Foundation to benefit and empower disadvantaged youth both in South Florida and his hometown of Muscle Schoals, Alabama. Through the foundation he has helped enhance and enrich lives of children; by establishing and creating a support system through various academic and athletic programs usually not available to them. Serving approximately 2500 youth, the foundation has held free football camps, toy drives, backpack giveaways, Christmas programs, turkey drives, clothing donations, extracurricular enrichment programs, and sports activities throughout the year mostly during summer months because it is during this time when youth have lots of free time  are most at risk of becoming involved in violence, crime, drugs, and unsafe behavior, and therefore, need programs the most.

Continuing his annual tradition Jason will be hosting his J. Allen Allstars weekend in Miami July, 9-11, 2010

If you are in the Miami area please go out and support this great cause.

July 8, 2010

11:00 pm

Weekend Kick- Off Party

MIA

20 Biscayne Boulevard (at Flagler st)

Miami, FL 33132

July 9, 2010

8:30 am – 2:00 pm

J. Allen AllStars Foundation Football Camp

Free and open to boys in grades 5-12

Miami Northwestern Senior High School

1100 NW 71st Miami, FL 33150

To register, go to: Jallenallstars.eventbrite.com

11:00pm

Black and White Party

PLAY Nightclub

1045 5^th street

Miami Beach, FL 33139

July 10, 2010

11:00 am

Sponsor Brunch and Party (By Invitation)

Private Location

July 11, 2010

11:00 pm

Weekend Wrap Up

Liv Nightclub

4411 Collins Avenue

(inside Fontainebleau hotel)

Miami Beach, FL 33140

From MKRob Sports

Former San Diego Chargers coach Don Coryell has died at the age of 85.

Coryell coached the Chargers from 1978 through half of the 1986 season, compiling a record if 72-60.  He resigned after eight games in his final year on the job.

A finalist for induction in the Pro Football Hall of Fame earlier this year, the coach took full advantage of rules changes aimed at opening up the passing game to create Air Coryell, an attack that turned quarterback Dan Fouts and tight end Kellen Winslow into Hall of Famers — and the Chargers into perennial contenders.

Coryell had been ill for months.  Eventually, he passed due to complications from pneumonia.

He also served as head coach of the Cardinals from 1973 through 1977.  Before that, Coryell coached at San Diego State for more than a decade.

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