I’m so happy today.  I saw the start and finish of Brett Favre’s career after he informed the Vikings that he won’t be coming back for a 19th season. 

Why am I so happy?

I don’t even know the answer to tell you the truth.  Favre is one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time and has the rings and stats to back it up.  He brought excitement and fun to the game of football and made it so you cheered for him even if you didn’t cheer for Green Bay.  You had to love watching him after the touchdown pass against the Patriots in his first super bowl when he took his helmet off and ran down the field.  I loved that about him.

I guess I’m happy because I’m sick of hearing about it and I’m questioning the decision for him.  If he were to keep playing then my memories might fade into Favre as a Viking underperforming and looking overmatched against younger, faster and stronger athletes.  I don’t want that.  I don’t fault him wanting to still play because we would all want to play as long as possible, but the time comes when you need to walk away and Favre is there.  The Vikings should just let him walk away now and start his clock ticking toward Canton Ohio. 

I’ll miss Brett Favre the player but I won’t miss Brett Favre the saga.  That’s what I’m happy about being done with…finally.

Ben Roethlisberger is in for a bit of a fight. 

In case you’ve been living in a bubble for the past few days you know about Ben’s civil suit that has been filed against him in which a hotel employee from Lake Tahoe accused him of sexual assault.  Though the case may be absolutely nothing and this might be some attempt to get money from Ben, it still will takes it toll on the qb.  Think of it this way, whether he is innocent or not he will still have to pay for attorney’s and focus some of his efforts to getting this situation behind him and that is if he is innocent or not. 

Imagine waking up every day and getting asked questions about this.  Imagine waking up every day not knowing if your neighbors think you are a rapist or not.  Imagine waking up not knowing what will happen with your personal freedom and then squeeze in thinking about the Ravens’ defense against you.  Ben’s going to have a tough season.  Only the best can through this much distraction and still come out ok because this isn’t a question of whether Ben can physically do it, but mentally.

I won’t judge on anything to do with the case, only to cover what effects it will have on Ben Roethlisberger the player and the person and in this case the player takes a back seat.

Offseason workouts, in my opinion, are the key to onseason success.  I know that ‘onseason’ isn’t exactly a word but everything has it’s opposite so I thought I’d throw it out there. 

Players often work very hard in the offseason lifting weights and throwing the ball around.  Players go to camps and learn ways to be better as a player.  The summer football season is a lot of fun but needs to be used to get bigger stronger and faster.  More kids can earn scholarships in football than any other sport so the chances to get one are higher than they have ever been.  Use this offseason to get better and heres a couple tips how:

1.  Don’t forget to rest in between workouts.  Players today want to workout as hard as possible but muscle needs to rest to repair and get bigger and stronger.  Don’t work the same muscle group until the soreness is gone.  That might mean that at first you have to rest a full week but later you will notice that you are recovering quicker and you can do a couple different areas twice a week.  You will be tempted to test this theory by working out sore muscles but it will be counterproductive and slow down your repair time.  It will also slow down your ability to build stronger leaner muscle.

2.   Protein is key.  I know I’m not the first to say this but it can’t be misunderstood.  Protein is the key to building muscle and helping your muscle recover.  PLayers who train hard and understand nutrition have the definite edge when it comes to this area.  1 gram of protein for each pound you weigh daily. This is a lot of protein to be consumed during times when you are working out hard but this is necessary.  Fish, chicken, turkey all have good amounts of lean proteins that break down fairly easily.  Protein powders are great meal replacements or meal add ons for people who are struggling getting enough protein.  Don’t be so afraid of carbs either.  Carbs like light pastas are much easier to break down then breads and provide energy for work outs.  Since they burn easier they make it more difficult to gain weight.

Who do you want to lead your team? 

These two quarterbacks are the talk of the NFL right now after both are basically begging to come back to the NFL but under different terms.  Vick, now on probation, wants any team to give him a chance once the Commissioner reinstates him.  Favre is basically trying out for the Minnesota Vikings and just playing for his one shot to stick it to Green Bay at Lambeau.  Will either get the chance?

The only way I see the Vikings taking Favre is for publicity.  He isn’t the long term solution but he could be better than what the Vikings have otherwise.  Vick is begging for his shot and would sign up to be a clipboard guy if he could.  He just wants back in the league and I think he deserves his chance.  Any league where Leonard LIttle is allowed to still play and others who have done worse things than Vick is a league that should reinstate Vick without suspension.  He served 2 years in prison and has done his time.  He’s cost himself a hundred million dollars and his reputation is shot.  This man is starting from ground zero and I miss watching him play.  He was fun to watch.

If I’m picking I take Vick for sure.  He’s young and will bring legitimate long term attention whether good or bad.  Some teams don’t want this and I understand why, but if it was my team I’d rather have them talking then not talking.  I’d also rather give the guy a 2nd chance because I know how much I’ve screwed up in my life.  Michael Vick did things on the field that none of us had ever seen.  He is still young enough to bring that back to all of us and I think he can do it as a qb.  Favre is old news and should stay retired even though he is one of the best ever.

I love having this debate with people because you always get mixed answers.  It’s like arguing with people who have played soccer competively in the past because they have very strong opinions of the sport and what goes on.  Is the line more important than the QB?  The people who have played as lineman ALL believe that they make the qb and I’m fine with that.  I was a qb and I appreciated my line greatly and sometimes felt like cursing them greatly when I didn’t have time to do anything.  Some games it felt like my left tackle was like a matador just letting the bulls run by to smash me.  I’m hoping that wasn’t done on purpose but it makes the argument a little more compelling.

The line is the backbone of the entire offense.  if you have a solid line you will be able to run and throw the ball well.  The QB has more time to pass and the running backs get better running lanes to go through or they have holes that are opened up for longer periods of time.  Lineman also are the pulse of the team in that they need to always stay positive and put every play behind them whether successful or not.  Nothing matters to a lineman except the next play and there is always a chance at redemption.

A QB is the face of the team and the position that everyone sees.  A Qb is the leader or the position that should be the leader.  It is the Qb’s job to make sure everyone is staying positive and focused and moving on from play to play.  When the line breaks down the qb has to make plays despite all that is going on around him and it makes for some exciting football.  The qb is responsible for the reads on the offensive side of the ball and has to call out those to the offense to tell them what to do and how to block.  How accurately and quickly this is done goes a long way to determining the success of the offense.  I loved playing qb for those reasons.

If you ask me the line is the most important and if I were drafting in the NFL i would take a lineman before I would take a qb.  I know the qb is a sexier pick and that some teams draft that way, but the teams that get better quicker draft solid lineman to build the offense and defense around.  The Dolphins won 1 game a couple years ago and took Jake Long with the top pick.  I loved it when it happened and I love it more today.  Jake Long will be a pro bowl player for years to come and will anchor that offense.  Miami won a lot of games last season and Long played a big part.  Meanwhile Matt Stafford was just taken by the LIONS and no matter what he is able to bring I don’t believe that the LIONS have the stuff up front to help him at all.  Matt Ryan made the Falcons better and was a great pick but they had more of the need there than MIAMI did at the time.  My point is that I’m taking a building block of a franchise I’m taking a lineman every time.

Florida St was recently punished after 25 players were caught as part of a cheating scandal at the school and as a punishment the school had to give back 14 wins.  For a great program like Florida St this may not seem like much but who it effects is a big deal.  For my entire lifetime Bobby Bowden has been the head coach for the Seminoles and has accumulated a ton of wins.  He currently sits neck and neck with Joe Paterno at Penn st for the most wins by a major college coach.  By giving up these 14 wins he will undoubtedly not catch Paterno unless Paterno retires shortly and that doesn’t look like it will happen. 

Florida St used to dominate the ACC when they were first put in.  In fact, I recently compared them to Memphis basketball in conference Usa now.  It was a joke in the early days because no team could play with Florida st but now they are a middle of the pack team that has improved greatly while Florida St regularly gets beat out in recruiting by powerhouse FLorida and Urban Meyer.  Florida St is a top 25 program but they aren’t a national championship threat like they used to be.  Meanwhile, Joe Paterno is back on top at Penn st and they are a program competing for Big Ten titles and BCS bowl games.  Both conferences have their drawbacks but both are solid football conferences producing great teams each year.  Paterno has the edge regardless of the 14 wins but if Bowden and FLorida St lose this appeal then they can expedite getting Bowden out and getting a new coach in because I believe that is why he is still sticking around anyway. 

It’s a shame if you ask me that the wins would be forfeited but what else can they do.  These kids still kept their scholarships and they shouldn’t go to jail over it.  What do you do to punish those directly involved?  I guess you punish the program by taking away wins because I don’t know what else you could do.  I expect the punishment to stick.

How sad is this?  I don’t agree with the affair, but that’s not for me to judge.  More than the affair I don’t agree with the killing.  Steve McNair was asleep on the couch when she shot him in the right temple, then the chest twice before shooting him in the left temple.  McNair died instantly from the first shot and of course showed no signs of struggle at all. 

What will come out today and in the coming weeks is the story behind the troubled girl who took his life and hers.  She had money issues and problems and it was reportedly taking a toll on her physically and emotionally with one friend stating that she mentioned she was thinking of ending it all.  After illegally obtaining a gun a few days before one can only wonder if she had planned this whole thing.

We aren’t hearing anything really from McNair’s camp.  Nobody really openly knew about the relationship other than he was having one with Kazemi.  We don’t know what he told her and didn’t tell her.  We don’t know if he said he would leave his wife but we can assume he didn’t.  There are no divorce papers out there and she is saying she never heard anything about this and is distraught.  Imagine finding out about an affair because your husband was killed?  That would be terrible. 

People will be able to speculate, like I am, about what happened in this relationship but we’ll never know in this lifetime.  That gives no sense of closure to the McNair’s and it’s the one thing that they need and deserve right now.

Once the public knew about Steve McNair’s death the question immediately became “who killed who” and we got our first definitive answer yesterday when it was announced that McNair had been shot 4 times.  No suicide shooter shoots themself 4 times and that means that in a matter of days they will announce the shooter to be Sahel Kazhemi.  Again that is just my opinion but a single gunshot killed Kazhemi and the gun was found underneath her.  I would be shocked if she wasn’t named the shooter in this case.  But why?

We have heard for days about how great of a person Steve McNair was and how he was a warrior on the football field.  We’ve had people try to come out with negatives about the man and the positives far outweigh the negatives to the point where the negatives are drowned out.  McNair was having an affair with a 20 year old woman and it wasn’t very discreet.  Many people knew about it and though it isn’t condoned behavior we are still seeing the case where the good outweighs the bad about someone. 

Obviously we have 2 scenarios that police are playing out….1-She killed them both.  He told her that it was over and that he was going back to his wife and she lashed out.  He could’ve been having a fling and she was taking it much more serious.  We may never know on this one.  2-McNair’s wife would have motive in the situation but she doesn’t seem to be a talked about suspect at this point.  My guess is #1 but I could be wrong and if so i’ll write about it.

I never met Steve McNair, I only watched him play a game that I love.  I loved him as a QB and followed his career as we are/were the same age.  McNair was a great player and a great leader in a city that loved him.  Nobody deserves to go out that way and I wish his family well.  He left behind a wife and 4 sons and millions of broken hearted fans everywhere.

Tennessee has received its first commitment for the Class of 2013. Evan Berry, brother of UT All-American safety Eric Berry, has committed to the Vols even before beginning his freshman season in high school.  What is up with this? 

I know new coach Lane Kiffin is really trying to be cutting edge and aggressive in his recruiting and he’s doing that. He’s the King of the minor recruiting violation.  I compare him to a lawyer that always says things the jury shouldn’t hear and gets warned over and over again.  Kiffin is right on the edge of problems but not enough YET to warrant anything really serious. He wont’ get in trouble over a 13 year old committing to his program but it does set some standards as to what is ethical and what isn’t.

In college basketball it has widely been considered that once a kid has been verball offered and he has accepted that the kid has that scholarship regardless of what happens to him.  I know schools can run kids off and all sorts of things but for the most part it sticks.  In college football we haven’t had a lot of these because so much can happen to a kid in 5 years.  This kid hasn’t even played college football yet.  He’s a 13 year old boy…we don’t know how much he’ll grow or fill out or when or how he’ll develop.  What if he’s the kid that grows before everyone else or what if he’s the kid that doesn’t grow?  I don’t think Lane Kiffin is the type that number 1 will be there in 5 years and number 2 would hold up his end of the bargain if things don’t go his way. 

I could be wrong and I shouldn’t judge but 13 and committing to a college football program is just too early for both parties.