You can view photos of this year camp by going to www.touchdownskills.com/poppinga-camp.html

Evanston, WYO - On a beautiful summer day in July, www.touchdownskills.com sponsored their first youth football camp, hosted by the Poppinga brothers. Brady, Kelly and Casey conducted a camp that involved position specific drills, speed and agility tests and motivational talks given by each of the brothers. They concluded the day with a raffle that included NFL and college paraphernalia and many of the feature products at www.touchdownskills.com .

Dennis Poppinga, the father of the Poppinga brothers and a former tight end at BYU, kicked off the event by introducing all of the coaches. Obviously the highlight of the introductions was Casey, Kelly and Brady. Casey is a former NFL tight end (Super Bowl XXXIX participant with the Philadelphia Eagles) and an alumnus of Utah State University. Kelly is the starting linebacker at BYU. And Brady is a two-year starting at linebacker with the Green Bay Packers and an alumnus of BYU.

Following introductions the campers then went through a detailed and thorough warm up session led by Kelly and his BYU teammate Terrance Hooks. Once everyone had their muscles warmed up, they then divided all 55 of the kids in 4 groups where the main focus was to work on position drills. Casey taught the kids the art of pass receiving and eye hand coordination. Kelly and Terrance instructed the kids in footwork and defensive pursuit. Brady gave direction how to properly tackle and pass rush. Finally, Coach Dinel of Evanston High School assisted the campers in several drills used to enhance blocking technique.

After the conclusion of the position drills Casey, Brady and Kelly then conducted a mini “NFL Combine” where the kids could learn the proper technique in the 40-yard dash, the Pro Agility Shuttle and the T-Test.

In conclusion, all three of the brothers took about 5 minutes to talk to the campers about the importance of staying in school, pursuing your dreams, dedication and work ethics. In addition, a raffle was held where items such as receiver gloves worn by AJ Hawk and Donald Driver of the Green Bay Packers, autographed photos of Brady, and BYU clothing were won by several of the camps participants. Of all the items raffled there was no more excitement for everyone than the opportunity to win featured products from www.touchdownskills.com. Products such as Strength Shoes, Agility Ladders and the Run-N-Chute were exhilarating moments for those that won.

Overall, the camp was a huge success and www.touchdownskills.com would like to thank the Poppinga family for inviting us to partake in such a wonderful event. We look forward in the future to continue to be another major sponsor of the Poppinga Football Experience.

You can view photos of this year camp by going to www.touchdownskills.com/poppinga-camp.html

With the NFL season opener quickly approaching and teams putting the final preparations together to place them in the most optimal position to succeed. Many teams are placing a lot of hope into one position they feel will lead them to the promise land. Unfortunately it is not the quarterback or the offensive/defensive lineman that they have invested million of dollars. The position many team are counting on producing the opportunity most to succeed is the running back. This position always has the most hype and is part of more discussions of Fantasy Football aficionados around the country.

Since this position receives the most attention and a serious amount of pressure to help a team succeed, there exist three specific running backs that I believe that are under the most pressure to perform this season. In fact all but one of these players will definitely face unemployment if they don’t meet the expectations that they currently face. The nominees are:

#1- Cadillac Williams – After having one of the best starts for a rookie running back in NFL history, Cadillac has faded from being the best ever, to a potential bust. Having produced almost nothing last season and continual facing nagging injuries Cadillac is clearly on the bubble of being “the man” to a has been.

#2 – Shaun Alexander – The Seattle Seahawks finally gave Shaun the contract he had always wanted after their Super Bowl run in 2005. However, having gotten banged up and only making a marginal contribution to the team last season, Shaun could find himself being released or forced into retirement after this season if he does not rush for more than 1000 yards and score more than 10 touchdowns. Shaun faces a couple of dilemmas; first he is on the verge of by passing his prime. Of all NFL running backs in recent history, none have rushed for more than 1500 yards or scored more than 20 touchdowns once they reached their early 30s. The second disadvantage Shaun faces is the potential of being released and Seattle going after a big name running back in free agency or in the draft after the season concludes. The reasoning behind this resides in one person, Grant Wistrom. Grant was signed in 2004 for a monster contract with over $15 million guaranteed money. However, once he passed his prime and he could not produce consistently, the Seahawks were willing to write off him and all his guaranteed money as a bad investment in 2006. Clearly Seattle is willing to put a lot of pressure on Shaun to perform or he may be joining Tiki Barber in the NBC analyst booth. 

#3 – Larry Johnson – Many people may be surprised that I had placed Larry in this list and I would have agreed with them 2 months ago, however with his holdout of training camp, I believe Larry could be under a heavy microscope by fans and Chief’s front office is he does not produce. It is clearly possible that if Larry has a marginal or sub par season (1100 yards or less and less than 15 touchdowns) and avoids injury there could be potential trade talks by the end of the season. However, on the other hand if he does get traded, the Chiefs could be the dumbest teams in history to let that type of talent go and they may be kicking themselves why they waited so long to finally iron out a contract extension.

The sudden release of Jeremiah Trotter from the Philadelphia Eagles roster this past Tuesday was not only meant to be a message sent to the team but a statement meant to be targeted to every player in the league.  Its message: THE NFL VALUES YOUTH MUCH MORE THAN EXPERIENCE. 

Clearly this is an obvious statement that is not a secret among players and fans. However, I believe the manner in which Trotter was released was meant to be a statement more than a mere personnel move.

First, Trotter was released 1 week before the first set of preseason roster cuts.. This sent a clear message that the Eagles were not willing to go one more preseason game, let a lone another practice with having the possibility of getting Trotter hurt and placed on the Injured Reserve. The organization truly believed that Trotter is a greater liability to their bottom line than any other player on the roster.

Second, the Eagles are packed with “seasoned” veterans in key skill positions. Having Donavon McNabb, Brian Dawkins , Jevon Kearse, Jon Runyan, William Thomas and Takeo Spikes well into their primes, the clock is ticking how much longer the organization can be willing to continue to pay or wait until these players produce nothing less than a Super Bowl victory . By releasing Trotter, who is a great friend among most of these veterans and relied upon as a leader among the team, the Eagles sent a message to the rest of the veterans that they need to start producing or they may be next to be released.

Finally, Trotter will be replaced by an unproven, young and unknown talent at middle linebacker. You would think the Eagles would have made some off season moves in preparation for Trotters release, or perhaps they are banking on a release of a proven veteran from another team during the next couple of weeks. However, to say that they believe that Omar Gaither will do as well or better than Trotter is a complete fallacy. Clearly Gaither does not possess anywhere the leadership or the physicality that Trotter possessed, so why did the Eagles do what they did? Because the league values youth and fresh legs rather than leadership and wisdom.

As predicted in my July blog Michael Vick is literally days away from being the biggest waste of god given talent the NFL has ever known. With today’s revelations that Vick will plead guilty to illegal dog fighting, betting and mistreatment of animals it is all but guaranteed that Vick will never play another down in the NFL. In fact, it is being speculated that Commissioner Goodell will announce after the sentencing on Monday that Michael Vick will receive lifetime banishment from the league. The justification is accredited to not only his guilty plea to felony charges but also the fact that he lied while looking at the commissioner directly in his eyes that he was innocent of any illegal activity. Although this is still speculation I believe Vick deserves getting “Pete Rose(d)” from the NFL in consequence of his actions.

Many people may think I am a hard a$$ for making such of statement but I think I am in the majority of former and current professional players. Clearly this belief lies on a couple of facts.

First – Michael Vick has pleaded guilty to felony charges. From now and forever, no matter what Vick does to repair his image he will always have the title of “convicted felon”. As I stated in my July blog Vick would be a public relations nightmare if a team tries to sign him to a contract. The PETA people will be relentless in protesting against not only Vick but the team he signs with and even the NFL for reinstating him.  Yes I understand people must be forgiven, but he should of thought of the possible consequences when participating in illegal behavior.

Second – He lied to the commissioner. The NFL is like any other business in the world in the fact that everyone has to answer to a boss. In Vicks case he had to answer to the Commissioner for his actions. No matter the size of contract a player would sign (in Vicks case $130 million) or the control an organization would have on a players future, every NFL player is accountable to the “Commish”. In Vicks case, the moment he told his boss, Commissioner Goodell, that he was innocent and then today pleading guilty to felony charges, Vick lost all respect and trust from his boss. As the acting CEO of the NFL Goodell has the right to hire and fire any employee if they betray his trust. Therefore, even though we may forgive Vick of his mistakes and he may do everything to recompense his actions, the “Commish” of the NFL will never be able to trust Vick in being a capable representative of the league again.

It is clear that Michael Vick has made some serious mistakes and now he is accepting responsibility for them. However, in this case it is a great example to all that when you engage in illegal activities you risk not only millions of dollars but displaying your talents at a level the world will never see again.

With the upcoming 2007 NFL season several quarterbacks have put themselves in a very difficult predicament with their team, the fans and even themselves. In essence they have painted themselves into a corner. They either needs to have personal best years statically, take their team to the big dance (Super Bowl) or simply make some noise in the playoffs. If none of these are accomplished you may find many of them looking for a new team or contemplating retirement. The nominees are:

1)      Brett Favre – General Manager Ted Thompson has meticulously crafted a fairly talented group of receivers and offensive lineman the past couple of years to give Brett the best possible chance to succeed in recent memory. In addition a solid defense could provide him the game clinching ability that he has not had since the 2003 season. IF Bret does not led the team to the playoffs he will retire.

2)      Ben Roethlisberger- Having had a disaster of a season statistically last year, only winning a handful of games, and potentially beginning to show signs of durability problems. If he does not lead the team to the playoffs this coming season or he throws more interceptions than touchdowns in the first 8 games, don’t be surprised if Ben is benched and trade rumors start circulating.

3)      Eli Manning – He has got the biggest mountain to climb among all the other quarterbacks of the group. Having under achieved the last 3 seasons by never making it past the first round of the playoffs and lacking the ability to finish each season strong Eli has really put himself in a sudden death scenario. The Giants possess a very talented receiving corp with a decent running game and a capable defense. If Eli doesn’t lead New York to a first round win or a NFC Championship birth, he could end up being unemployed come March 2008.

4)      JP Losman – Each season I seem to have the same reaction when I see JP is the starting quarterback of the Buffalo Bills, I always shake my head in disbelief. Having never won a game against a viable defense, nor ever able to produce a QB rating higher than his teams winning percentage each season, JP must take the Bills to the playoffs or he will find himself in the back seat for the rest of his career.

5)      Rex Grossman – With having probably the most talented receiving corp in the NFL, second to only New England, and having the best overall defense to protect any lead, there is no reason why the Rex leads the Chicago Bears back to the Super Bowl. However, if he ends up throwing more interceptions than touchdown passes and does not advance past the NFC Championship game, Grossman will need to start getting advice from Eric Couch how to prepare for life after football.

Despite Larry Johnson’s extensive holdout from the Kansas City Chiefs training camp and a semi productive fantasy impact least season, Johnson is geared to have a huge season much like the one he experienced in 2005.  In fact, he has the caliber to be the 2^nd   or 3^rd running back selected in any fantasy football league. Having such a bold prediction can be attributed to three things.

First, Larry Johnson is a proven back that produces proven results. Since becoming a starting running back he has rushed for more yards than any other running back in the past 3 years. In fact only LaDanian Tomlinson and Shaun Alexander have more combined touchdowns than Johnson. Therefore, statistically he stacks up to anyone in the league.

Second, Johnson is still a young talent with a lot of potential and growth. In only his 5^th NFL season, Johnson has only played in little more than half of the games he was active. Much of that was attributed to being the backup to a former fantasy stud, Priest Holmes. As a result in only playing two full seasons and half of another, Johnson has nowhere near the wear and tear that Tomlinson, S. Jackson, or Alexander has accumulated. Besides last year’s bumps and bruises he is a durable, heavy duty, and reliable running back that can make through an entire season.

Finally, Johnson is gaining much of what Tomlinson and Alexander are not… REST. Although, he has not practiced with the team since June’s minicamp and has not encountered any physical contact since the Chiefs loss to the Colts, Johnson is able to avoid much of the rigor from the first couple weeks of training camp.  This actually is a huge benefit in his favor because his body is not going to take the daily beatings he could encounter in these early training camp practices. That clearly could be detrimental when he gets to weeks 12-17 in the season. In fact, statistically more NFL players are placed on injure reserve or encounter injuries during the last 4 weeks of the season than any other time.

As you can see there is a ton of upside of selecting Larry Johnson in your first 3 fantasy picks based upon his proven ability, youth and rest he is gaining. All of which is a perfect formula for a huge statistical season.

During last weekends Hall of Fame induction ceremony fans of the NFL proved to the world that there is always forgiveness offered to those that come with a contrite spirit and broken heart. Nothing was such evident than the moment Michael Irving gave his induction speech.  Being a player that had reputation of being cocky, arrogant, potential drug addict and a ladies man. Michael showed the world that he had put all of those negative moments of his life behind him and was willing to be a fully committed to be an ambassador to the game.

For those that attended the ceremony live or saw it on TV it was a rare moment in sports history to see an incredibly gifted athlete bare his inner soul for the world to see. Michael speech was completely improvised and directly from the heart. It seemed at moments that there wasn’t even a dry eye for those in attendance even those of Michaels.

This speech showed to the world the true character of Michael Irving. Of course he e shoed hHeHe sdjmay have made mistakes and disappointed a lot of fans during and after his career. Many people even said he did not deserve even a vote to be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame. However, during that in Canton, OH he showed each of us, that when we pour our heart out and are honest with ourselves we will be forgiven.

There is no question now that Michael is and will forever be a Hall of Famer. Not only does he deserve this title as an incredible wide receiver, but as a person, man, father and friend.

Brady Quinn has to become one of the most overrated athletes in recent sports history. More overrated than Eli Manning, more than baseballs Randy Johnson and more than the NBA’s Andrew Bogut. Brady Quinn has this honor all to himself. Much of this has to do with the “fantasy” like expectations that he places upon himself with every team he plays with.

Start with his freshman year at Notre Dame. Quinn thought he was the highest rated quarterback coming out of high school in the nation. He expected not only to start as a freshman but also be able to lead the Irish to a National Championship within the first 2 years of his career. Obviously history proved that none of the two occurred and in fact he had a losing record (11-13).

Then Charlie Weis is hired as the new Notre Dame head coach and with Quinn running the show, it was expected (not hoped for) that a National Championship was to come to South Bend. However, Ohio State (Fiesta Bowl 2006) and LSU (Sugar Bowl 2007) both showed the country that Quinn and the fighting Irish shouldn’t have belonged in the BSC.

The next “overrating” moment in Quinn’s career was draft day 2007. Brady Quinn thought without a doubt he was the best quarterback in the draft. He believed he had excellent workouts and of course he played for the greatest football programs in the country, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. But he was given once again a big piece of humble pie for not being selected until 22nd of the 2007 NFL draft.

Now at this point in Quinn’s life, he should have come to the realization he is not as good as he always had thought. In fact, maybe he had a few thought cross his mind that he was somewhat overrated. Unfortunately, he was thinking completely the opposite. Quinn decided to hold out on reporting to training camp because he felt like he should be paid like a top 5 pick. As a result he missed the first 16 practices of the Cleveland Browns camp and lost valuable time working preparing for the upcoming season.  And the funny thing is, he held out for almost the same amount of money the Browns had offered him at the beginning of camp ($500,000 difference). 

Clearly someone should let Brady Quinn in on a little secret, he is OVERRATED!

The recent holdout by the Michael Strahan saga had seemingly started out to be the usual “am I too old or can I play” dilemma that all future hall of fame NFL players face at the conclusion of their careers. However, if you look at what has happened since the conclusion of the 2006 season and the comments that Strahan has made recently, I think it is overwhelmingly more about Michael trying to get more money than an athlete struggling with a difficult decision.                        

First of all it is common knowledge that Michael and his agent have tried to renegotiate an extension to his existing contract at the beginning of the year. However, according to many sources including NFL.com, the negotiations never amounted to anything significant or serious. 

Second, Strahan and his former wife finalized their divorce this summer with the Jude awarding her over $15 million in alimony. Half of which had to be paid now and the other half is in a temporary stay until a jury determines if the amount was too much.

And finally, why I believe this whole fiasco is about Michael trying to get more money than his dilemma in retiring is the fact that Michael had 7 and half months to think about this decision. If this issue was in no way about money he would have made a decision at the conclusion of last season and he would have committed himself 100% to that decision. (Take Bret Favre and Tiki Barber as prime examples). However, in Strahans case he is at the end of his existing contract and it would be financially beneficial if he could negotiate a new contract, get a signing bonus and then retire after 1 or 2 years within the contract. Unfortunately for him, management new he was washed up and he is not near the worth the player he thinks he is.

For that reason, Michael can only now whine and complain how he is being treated unfairly through his “decision making” process and how he is not getting the proper respect the single season sack leader deserves. He is only making himself look more like a fool than the great player and person he is.

JaMarcus was doing what any #1 draft pick would do sit, wait and hold out till Al Davis would flinch and give him the largest NFL rookie contract in history. David Carr, Carson Palmer, Eli Manning, Alex Smith did it and even Mario Williams was able to negotiate better contracts with more guaranteed money than the previous #1 picks. Unfortunately for JaMarcus that trend went to a scratching halt with the signing of Dante Culpepper.

Dante Culpepper has just become the greatest bargaining chip the Oakland Raiders could have ever wished. Basically his signing presents THREE nightmares for Russell.

1)      Dante Culpepper is JaMarcus Russell. Dante has all if not more talent than Russell IF he is 100% healthy. It is undeniable he has just the same amount of arm strength, speed, and size.

2)      Dante is a proven NFL quarterback. He is only 2 seasons off of having his best season ever as a professional. He understands NFL coverages, and how to play smart. Something JaMarcus has yet to prove. In fact, if JaMarcus is anything like the past #1 draft picks who were quarterbacks, it will take him a good two to three seasons until he is able to compete at his full potential.

3)      Dante is due to have a breakout season. If I were to put money down right now who is going to be the “NFL Comeback Player of the Year” I would put it down on Dante with no questions asked. He has had the worst luck of any elite quarterback in the past two seasons. First he severely blew his knee out and then he is rushed back too early to help out the helpless Miami Dolphins last season.  Now that he has had a good 9-10 months to recover completely from his 2005 knee injury, he is due to return like the Dante we all came to know.

No doubt these three facts were a major reason why Oakland signed Dante Culpepper. Unfortunately JaMarcus’ conversations with his agent have turned from being,

 “They have to pay me top money, they have no choice I am the savior to this organization.”

TO PREHAPS

“Why did you make me hold out? We should have taken yesterdays offer!!!!! You’re FIRED!!!”

Greed is a nasty human trait…To be continued….