Sports

[ValuSkr]

Is the Wellness Forum the only place now for sports threads?  I shall remember to look there then.  Chip Kelly - well, he's been a Godsend for the Philly sports talkers who otherwise have had little to yap about.

[gardenman]

They moved the old sports threads here, so apparently this is where they want them. And you're right, Chip has given the local press tons to talk about. This has been a wild and crazy off season. Philly sports reporters might be suicidal if not for Chip. The Phillies, Flyers, and Sixers aren't especially entertaining, so thank God for Chip.

[gardenman]

Jason Pierre Paul has now reportedly had his right index finger amputated which is seriously complicating his playing future. The Giants could still keep him on the franchise tag and then assign him as a non-football injury player where they would retain his rights, but not have to pay him until he's ready to resume playing. And it could be a while before he's ready to resume playing. Defensive ends really need to use their hands and his hand will likely be largely unusable for six to eight weeks and possibly longer. If they try any reconstructive surgery (transplanting a toe to where his finger was for example) the recovery time would likely consume the entire NFL season. His people are saying he'll be back sooner than everyone thinks, but how effective he'll be is a big question mark.

[gardenman]

And the game between Jason Pierre Paul (JPP) and the Giants is still ongoing. JPP is now saying he won't sign his franchise tag until he's able to pass his physical so the Giants can't put him on the non-football injury list where he wouldn't necessarily get paid. If he's on the NFI list for the first game he has to sit out the first six games and likely not be paid, so he's waiting until he's ready to play to sign the contract. Will the Giants be willing to wait, or will they rescind the franchise tag and let JPP find a new team? It's going to be fun to watch. The Giants can't monitor JPP or supervise his rehab, so they won't know when he'll be ready to play. They also won't know what kind of condition he'll be in football wise if he sits out all of training camp. JPP might end up coming out ahead if the Giants turn him loose. It'll fun to watch how all of this plays out.

[teganslaw]

Former NFL player, Donovan McNabb has been arrested for DUI after being involved in a car accident. This was his second arrest for driving under the influence in the past 18 months. He has also been suspended indefinitely from his role as sports commentator on FOX sports.

Did he ever get in trouble when he was with the Eagles or Redskins? I don't recall him ever being suspended or fined when he played football, so this was somewhat of a surprise.

Also research by Emory Unversity in Georgia found that Cowboy fans are the best fans in the NFL. Not sure what constitutes a best fan, but there you go. Maybe it has something to do with having Jerry Jones as the owner. Or the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders. Anyway,congrats to the Cowboy fans for the honor. They do seem quite dedicated no matter what.

[gardenman]

Donovan McNabb was never in trouble in Philly. His biggest issue here was health (often injured) and some players felt he was too pro-management. He sided with the front office over players on a few contracts and that didn't go over so well. He'll be doing a mandatory 90 days in jail now from what I understand.

I always thought the best fans were likely in KC. They hadn't had much of a team since Hank Stram coached, yet the fans always turned out in droves and were as raucous a crowd as you'd find anywhere. 

[AuntG]

Brett is coming home to the Packers this weekend. Should be a lot of fun. Wish Bart Starr could be there too.

[gardenman]

The poor Cowboys. One of the Jones' supposedly told Dez Bryant that he'd been talking to John Elway so they could work out what a fair market value would be for Dez Bryant and Demaryius Thomas. Yeah, not such a smart thing to tell a player. It turns out that's pretty much the definition of collusion and the NFLPA is now telling both teams they must save all of the phone records, faxes, e-mails and communications between the two teams and associated personnel.

If, and this is a big if,  the Cowboys did collude with the Broncos to set a "fair market value" for the two receivers, both could end up being made free agents with no compensation to their former teams. Collusion to set the salaries for players is something that's just not allowed. I would guess that at a minimum the players would be declared free agents and there's a likelihood that future draft picks would also be forfeited and likely a substantial fine/suspension for the people involved.

Keeping Dez Bryant and letting DeMarco Murray walk is looking like a worse and worse idea every minute. DeMarco is a total team first guy, Dez is a total me first guy. DeMarco signed for less money than some teams were offering, while Dez wants to be the highest paid wide receiver in the league. Dez is engaging in a scorched earth campaign to get what he wants and he's likely to end up costing the Cowboys a whole lot more than they'd anticipated.

[gardenman]

All of the franchise tag guys except Jason Pierre Paul got their long term deals today. Dez Bryant and Demaryius Thomas got similar five year seventy million dollar deals with forty plus million guaranteed. JPP is going to be interesting to watch. Will he sign his tender early, or wait until just before week ten? As long as he signs before week ten this will count as a year of service for his pension and contract status. Can the Giants wait very long before knowing what's up? We'll see.

[teganslaw]

Former Colts player, Reggie Wayne, says that he plans to play in 2015 and that he has gotten calls from several teams. It wasn't specified which teams, though. He was let go by Indy because of salary cap issues, injury concerns and probably his age. He is 36 and the team wasn't sure how productive he would be following his recent biceps injury.

He was honored by Indianapolis and given the keys to the city. Whatever happens, I hope that things work out for him. He was (or maybe is) one of the best wide receivers in the game, and thinks that he can still be productive another year or so. Maybe he'll get  a chance to prove it with another team. I don't know what teams have called him, but kind of hope New England isn't one of them.

Also, former Colts center, Jeff Saturday, will be inducted into the Colts Ring of Honor during halftime during the Jets-Colts game Monday night the second week of the season. I'm pleased to see that; Saturday was one of  my favorite players.and deserves the honor.