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We have all seen players picking their nose or hocking up major loogies on the NFL sidelines, but I personally don’t ever recall a player taking a leak. San Diego Chargers kicker Nick Novak did just that behind a towel into a Gatorade jug on Sunday during the game against the Denver Broncos. Denver went on to win the game 16-13 which is probably a good thing for Norv Tuner or he could have dealt with an unpleasant Gatorade shower.
Vincent Jackson has made it quite clear that if he doesn’t get a new 5-year $50 million contract he will sit out the entire year. It’s kind of sad that this Chargers receiver has turned into a diva so quickly. While Jackson did have his best season ever last year he only caught a grand total of 68 passes which was 22nd best in the NFL last year. San Diego’s brass has decided to not be held hostage by renegotiating requests from players in the middle of a contract and I commend them for this move. Recently the Chargers granted Jackson permission to talk with the Seahawks, but nothing concrete has come out of those discussions. Chargers management isn’t going to budge so unless Jackson changes his tune he might be watching football on the tube this year.
My favorite NFL coach Don Coryell died today. All I can say is that he was an innovator and made the game we see in the fall a better game in so many ways. This man was an offensive genius and players who played for him were Hall of Famers. This is his bio from Wikipedia and understand nobody did what he did and accomplished what he did. Nobody!
In 1978, when Don Coryell began coaching the San Diego Chargers, the Chargers had a win-loss record of 1-4 for that season. The team broke their losing streak with eight additional wins and three losses that season after Coryell became head coach.
Coryell was the first coach ever to win more than 100 games at both the collegiate and professional level. He won two consecutive division titles (1974, 1975) with the Cardinals and three straight division titles (1979, 1980, 1981) with the Chargers, reaching the playoffs four consecutive times with the latter team. With Dan Fouts as quarterback, San Diego’s “Air Coryell” was among the greatest passing offenses in NFL history. The Chargers led the league in passing yards an NFL record 6 consecutive years from 1978-1983 and again in 1985. They also led the league in total yards in offense 1980-1983 and 1985. Fouts, Charlie Joiner, and Kellen Winslow would all be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame from those Charger teams, as well as Dan Dierdorf from the Cardinals.
Naysayers said he never had practiced or used a successful Defense…However, in 1979 the Chargers allowed the fewest points (246) in the AFC. In 1980 their defense led the NFL with 60 sacks spearheaded by a frontline of All-Pros in Fred Dean, Gary “Big Hands” Johnson and Louie Kelcher. The group was locally nicknamed the Bruise Brothers, coined from a popular act at the time, The Blues Brothers. However, in 1981, Dean, like Jefferson, was traded away due to a contract dispute with ownership. Dean contends he was making the same amount of money as his brother-in-law who was a truck driver. The Chargers’ defense would never be the same afterwards. Meanwhile, Dean would go on in the same year to win UPI NFC Defensive Player of the Year (while playing in only 11 games) and help lead the San Francisco 49ers to a Super Bowl that year and again in 1984. Dean was inducted to the NFL Hall of Fame in 2008.
Credit to Wikipedia
Antonio Cromartie is without a doubt a talented cornerback, but is he really a good pickup for the New York Jets? Cromartie has had serious off the field issues with the San Diego Chargers in recent years and I think they were happy to see him go. He has seven kids with six different women living in five separate states, and he has been named in at least five paternity suits in just the past two years. Reportedly the Jets had to front Antonio a half-million dollars from his 2010 salary in order to help him address his looming paternity issues. Cromartie is set to make $1.7 million this year in the final year of his five-year deal and wasn’t supposed to start getting paid his annual salary until the first week of the regular season. That wasn’t going to work for Cromartie though because all his baby-mamas were due some serious cash and he needed to pony up. I don’t care how talented a player might be when you see this type of scenario playing out off the field you need to make a conscious decision to not bring the guy into your organization. Cromartie will probably be a good compliment to Reavis, but for how long and when will all the drama catch up with him?
One of the top 15 running backs in the history of the NFL is now a free agent after being released by the San Diego Chargers earlier in the week. LT turns 31 in June which is definitely on the downside of his career considering he really hit the wall a couple of years back. Tomlinson has been known as a breakaway back throughout his career, but those days are unfortunately gone it appears. I think there is potential for him to be a key player for a team like the New England Patriots who love to sign veterans and fold them into the mix. I also think the Saints are an excellent fit for Tomlinson considering he played with Drew Brees for several years and Brees even tweeted recently that he would love to have him in New Orleans. Once you start looking past these two teams the potential for other places to land seems a lot less realistic. LT has been a class act for his entire career and since he is still interested in playing next year I really hope he gets a chance.