Archive for the Injury Update Category
Posted on April 5, 2011 by James W
Miami Dolphins Wide Receiver Brandon Marshall Stabbed by Wife
This past Friday Miami Dolphins receiver and his wife were involved in a domestic violence dispute which ended Brandon Marshall heading to the hospital and his wife arrested on assault charges.
Friday evening, Michi Nogami-Marshall and Brandon Marshall entered a verbal altercation that ended with Brandon Marshall ending up in the hospital. At the hospital Brandon Marshall told doctors that he had slipped and fallen on a broken vase. However, doctors did not believe this story and reported it to police.
Police entered the home of the family and noted that the evidence did not support the claim that he had slipped and fallen a broken vase. Instead, they found evidence that Michi Nogami-Marshall had actually stabbed him with a kitchen knife which resulted in the injuries.
Saturday Michi Nogami-Marshall was arrested and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and released on $7,500 bail. It is unclear at the time whether or not Brandon will press charges and whether or not Michi has an attorney to represent her.
This is not the first time that both members have been involved in a domestic dispute. In 2009, Brandon Marshall was arrested on smear battery charges from an altercation with his then fiancée Michi Nogami. The charges were dropped when both parties refused to testify in court and prosecutors were required to drop the case.
Brandon Marshall is expected to fully recover from this most recent incident and it will not effect any of his playing. Even though there is a current lockout the Miami Dolphins were able to release a statement wishing Brandon well during these tough family times.
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Technorati Tags: Miami Dolphins, Michi Nogami-Marshall
Posted on January 22, 2011 by James W
There isn’t much that the masses could learn about this years Super Bowl to make it more enticing than it already is. What the viewing audience will get to see is the leagues oldest and most storied franchises(relatively speaking) going head to head on the world’s biggest stage.
It’s the tale of two of the leagues best quarterbacks. Aaron Rodgers and Ben Roethlisberger have made a name for themselves and they are looking to prove something to the doubters.
Rodgers hasn’t had any trouble convincing people that he can play in this league. His stats and his ability to take the ball out of the pocket and create with his feet is astouding. However, there is still a shadow that loom large over his career. It’s the shadow of his predecessor Brett Favre and wondering if he could live up to the legacy that he carved out in Green Bay. The truth is that Rodgers has done everything thus far to prove that in his first few years he has been as good as Favre was in his prime.
Ben on the other hand is a two time Super Bowl champion, but what he is playing for is the legacy and the opportunity to say that he belongs with Peyton Manning and Tom Brady in the discussion of elite quarterbacks. People talk about how good those two quarterbacks are but often forget just how good Big Ben has been during his career. He is one of the most durable and the biggest clutch game quarterback playing right now, but he’s always out of the conversation of the top three or four quarterbacks. Maybe a Super Bowl win would change that.
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Technorati Tags: quarterbacks, Super Bowl
Posted on January 20, 2011 by James W
Jeff Fisher was supposed to be the coach of the Tennessee Titans. That’s what was decided when the Titans gave Vince Young his walking papers. They were supposed to let Jeff Fisher, the longest tenured coach in the league, resume his duties of trying to take the Tennessee Titans back to the Super Bowl he had gotten them too long before.
But now, just as quickly has he had decided to stay, he had decided to leave. The problem in Tennessee is that it happens at the worst possible time. It comes at a time when the big coaches have all been snatched up, and the ones that still remain have settled into other jobs or have committed to their current positions as analysts.
The other issue is that there is a lockout looming which means that any coach that comes in to fill the void could end up seeing a strike shortened season which could mean that they won’t have time to instill their game plan on either side of the ball.
This makes the obvious choice for the next head coach to be Dave McGinnis. He’s already in the Tennessee system and he provides a certain stability and familiarity to the players. He can serve well in the next season and if they aren’t happy with the job he is doing they can look into getting another coach after the next season.
What lies next for Fisher is anyone’s guess. It seems like he is a good fit to be the Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator. He could sit out and wait to see if a better job opens up. Either way Fisher is sure to have options when he is ready to get back into the coaching game. This would have been a better decision made a month ago. Wonder what Vince Young is thinking right now?
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Technorati Tags: Eagles defensive, Tennessee Titans
Posted on January 18, 2011 by James W
Mike Tomlin has quite a bit to live up to heading into his second Super Bowl in five seasons. The young and dynamic coach has earned himself the reputation as a smart and energetic coach and one the players respect and the media enjoys. The issue isn’t if he can coach, but rather where another Super Bowl win will rank him, and where it will put him as far as his reputation is concerned if he loses.
A win would put him in the discussion with the best coaches in the game today. There is sort of a mantle that the NFL has put Bill Belichick on for his three Super Bowl rings and his four appearances. He has coached the leagues most dominate team of the decade, so it would be hard for Tomlin to overtake that crown. Still, if there is a second best coaching award Tomlin would be able to take that over with relative ease.
The only other coach that would have the Super Bowl rings would be Mike Shanahan, but that was well over a decade and since those rings he’s proven to be more of a failure than he has been a success. So Tomlin would have to warrant the consideration of second best.
Still, there is the issue of how much credit he gets for all those wins. The Steelers have long been thought of as one of the best teams in the NFL from the stance of the front office, so many will look past Tomlin and look to his front office for credit.
It’s the same reason he will have a hard time passing Cowher on the list of Steelers lore. While Cowher could end up with one less ring at this point, he only had Ben for two years.
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Technorati Tags: Mike Tomlin, NFL
Posted on January 16, 2011 by James W
The criteria for measuring a quarterback changes as quickly as the discussion itself. Does it matter if the quarterback throws for big yards? Does it matter their playoff record? Does it matter if they manage a game or are asked to win it with their arm? Does it matter if they have a Super Bowl ring or if they have never gotten close enough?
When judging the greatness of a quarterback there are very few things that matter more than the end result. The rings is the thing for a quarterback. Just one ring for Drew Brees put him into the discussion of elite quarterbacks playing. So with this being the criteria, where does Ben Roethlisberger rank and why is he never in the discussion of the games best?
If Ben can go to Dallas and defeat the Green Bay Packers he’ll do something he has never been able to do before. He’ll have three rings which will be as many as the games best, Tom Brady, has. He’ll have been undefeated in Super Bowl’s(unlike Brady) and he’ll have done it all in his first six seasons. That should put him in the most elite company.
There is also something staggering about Ben’s ability in the big moment. Perhaps no quarterback playing right now is as good when it matters the most as big Ben. He’s been tremendous and it only adds to his legacy.
Ben will never be the type of quarterback that is driven by stats and he’ll never be the quarterback to play the position like an artist. He’s a flawed machine that is capable of making flawless play when needed. That is what separates him from the rest of his elite competition and if he wins the Super Bowl he’ll be separating himself further.
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Technorati Tags: competition, quarterback
Posted on January 14, 2011 by James W
It’s easy to sit back and watch the madness unfold and to make snap judgements in the moment. That’s what fans do with sports games. But players? That’s not what they are supposed to do. They are supposed to be above the fray, above the craziness. The understand what it means to be in the trenches. So why was the media, made of largely of ex-players, so hard on Jay Cutler during the Bears NFC Championship loss to the Green Bay Packers?
The Bears oft criticized quarterback did not play for the large majority of the second half due to what is now being classified as a strained MCL. Cutler, who has shown remarkable resiliency during the year, was sidelined and watched as the Bears allowed third string quarterback Calib Hanie fare well, but fall short, in the fourth quarter.
The media, full of tweets and instant messages, were angry with what they were calling Cutler’s lack of heart and desire. Many ex-players thought he should have taken the field until it was obviously time to go. Still, Cutler didn’t take the field and the media firestorm came after him.
This isn’t the first time that the media had something to say about Jay. Just two seasons earlier he received a lot of criticism for the way he had demanded a trade out of Denver when then coach Josh McDaniels tried to trade him.
Still, for a former player to question the heart and the toughness of another player is remarkable. Under a bad offensive line Cutler got hammered day in and day out but never once publicly, and according to Brian Urlacher, never privately complained about the viscous beatings he was taking yet, at the first sign of a serious injury the media went after Jay.
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Technorati Tags: NFC Championship, sports games
Posted on December 5, 2010 by James W
Everyone enjoys the excitement of a football game, especially if the teams have a strong rivalry. The promise of blood on the field is something fans look forward to, whether they want to admit it or not. Unfortunately, injuries are sometimes serious, leading to fatality. This infographic documents players, injuries, and game statistics for fans who enjoy the violence.
Use the code below to embed this graphic on your site:
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Posted on November 27, 2010 by James W
Can Randy Moss really make it work in Tennessee? The enigmatic wide out was claimed by the Tennessee Titans off waivers from the Minnesota Vikings. The claiming of Moss was a smart move by the Titans who were in desperate need of a deep threat after their burgeoning star Kenny Britt was sidelined with a hamstring injury. Moss, when motivated to do so, is a tremendous presence on the outside. The Titans have a bye week this week so it will give Moss time to understand the system and with four of their last six games against the division rivals the Colts and the Texans the Titans will need Moss. The real question is does Moss need them?
It would seem that if Moss wants to keep playing football he needs to make good in Tennessee. During the glory days of New England Moss was a model player and teammate. He had erased the idea that he was a rather petulant child. Moss, as it turned out, wore out his welcome after a while prompting the New England brass to ship Moss back to his home team of Minnesota. There was a kind of poetic justice of him coming back to help teammate Brett Favre do something that Randy Moss had never been able to do on the Vikings, and that’s help them win a Super Bowl. But as quickly as Moss entered the equation he left the equation. He berated a caterer after his last game and gave an equally strange press conference talking about how much he missed the Patriots.
Moss knows that in order to get the money he wants that he will need to keep his mouth shut and play as well as he has in his life. If that happens the Titans will be a serious super bowl threat.
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Technorati Tags: current events, Football Injuries, Moss, stories, Trending stories
Posted on November 25, 2010 by James W
Brett Favre is a warrior. There is no questioning this and with 315 consecutive games under his belt there is no doubt that he is one of the toughest men to ever put on a pair of cleats. It’s that sort of durability that has gotten Brett the love, respect, and adoration of the rest of his team, but perhaps he would have been better staying home this offseason and leaving the playing to the Vikings.
The Vikings have to be wondering the same thing. In the offseason the Vikings waited out Favre. This is a practice that teams are accustomed to doing with Brett Favre. It started some time ago in Green Bay and continued through the Jets and the Vikings. In the time it was taking Favre to make up his mind the Vikings passed on a possible trade of Donovan McNabb and Michael Vick. They also elected not to draft a quarterback in this Aprils draft. They had literally put all their eggs into the basket of a quarterback over the age of 40 in hopes he can have the MVP type season he had last year. It was a risky move and one that the jury is still out on.
While the Vikings trouble haven’t been specifically related to the quarterback position, but it can be said that the constant worrying about Favre and his health as well as worrying about the media pressure that he brings is a problem for the football team.
It’s an interesting side note to Favre’s legacy that the last three teams he will leave will all have felt relief because he was gone. It’s not to say that he hasn’t had value this week. The question is if it was worth it at all.
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Technorati Tags: Favre, Football Injuries, Trending stories, Vikings
Posted on November 22, 2010 by James W
There is a time to be tough and there is an equal time to be stupid and Washington Redskins coach Mike Shanahan moved into permanently stupid territory by benching Donovan McNabb with two minutes to go in a crucial game. He benched him in favor of longtime back up and one time starter Rex Grossman. The game was decided on an expected Grossman mistake.
Shanahan was wishy washy after the game. He claimed that the move was strictly because Grossman understood the system better. This, of course should mean that he didn’t in fact bench McNabb because the two don’t get along. He, the next day, claimed that he benched him because he wasn’t in shape enough to run the two minute drill because of all the running. This also didn’t go over well.
The problem with Shanahan since Elway left the Broncos has to do with his arrogance to make the calls and be the coach in the room with the most authority. When he talked about McNabb’s conditioning you couldn’t help but wonder about the Albert Haynesworth situation.
Earlier in the offseason Haynesworth was not permitted to practice because he had not been able to pass the conditioning test. McNabb presumably passed it though but wasn’t in enough shape to play the two minute drill? So the conditioning test is a good indication of whether or not you are in condition to practice but not if you are good enough to play in the game.
It looks like the McNabb experiment is failing but maybe that isn’t so much McNabb’s fault as much as it is the fault of Shanahan’s. The coach had better do some soul searching before he throws his quarterback under the bus again.
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Technorati Tags: Football Injuries, Mike Shanahan, Trending stories
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