NFL Offseason Thread

[-Jrabbit]

NFL Network's Adam Schefter reports three teams are in discussions with the Dolphins regarding Daunte Culpepper.

\Miami is reportedly asking for a late-round pick. Despite claiming he doesn't want to be traded in an e-mail sent out early Wednesday, Schefter says Culpepper is willing to restructure his contract to catch on with another club.

[Zopperoni]

None want to be identified, but some teams not interested in Culpepper can be named. Atlanta, Chicago, Minnesota, the New York Giants and Oakland Raiders -- teams that, at various points, have been linked in some way to Culpepper -- all said Wednesday that they have no interest in trading for or signing the soon-to-be former Dolphins quarterback.

Possible destinations for Culpepper according to NFL personnel men that speculated on the matter still include the Detroit Lions, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the New England Patriots and the St. Louis Rams.

Hehehe, Moss/Culpepper reunion!!!

[-Jrabbit]

The Vick case has moved to the federal level...

After Federal investigators searched Michael Vick's former property in Virginia on Thursday, prosecutor Gerald Poindexter confirmed Atlanta's quarterback is likely the target of charges related to dog fighting.

The investigation searched for up to thirty dog carcasses believed to be buried on the property. It's uncertain at this time whether the search turned up anything. The prosecution in the case was criticized for taking their time, but with the feds now taking over, Poindexter acknowledges charges potentially leading to Vick serving over five years in prison could be pursued.

Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Taken from another thread, but it seems appropriate for Mr. Vick:

[Lord Avalon]

Cops: Pacman wanted for questioning after shooting allegedly involving crew

ATLANTA -- Suspended NFL player Adam "Pacman" Jones was being sought by police for questioning about a shooting early Monday involving members of his entourage after a fight at an Atlanta strip club.

Jones, a cornerback for the Tennessee Titans on suspension following a melee and shooting at a Las Vegas strip club, his group and three other people got into a fight, apparently over a woman, at a club around 4 a.m., officer Ariel Toledo said.

After everyone involved left the strip club -- the three people in one car, and Jones and his entourage in three other cars -- someone in Jones' group shot at the car, and the others returned fire, Toledo said.

Toledo said Jones was not present when the shots were fired.

"We believe he knows some of his entourage who were involved in the shooting," Toledo said. "On himself, we do not have any charges on him. He wasn't there when the shooting occurred."

One person who was outside the vehicles and not involved in the dispute was injured by debris in the shooting and was treated by emergency medical technicians, Toledo said.

Manny Arora, Jones' attorney, said he was trying to find out what had happened from the police, but he understood Jones was sought only as a witness to the incident.

Authorities have also been investigating what role Jones had in a February shooting outside a Las Vegas club that left a bar employee paralyzed and two other people wounded.

Attorney Robert Langford said no evidence tied Jones to the shooting, but an aide to Clark County District Attorney David Roger said it could take several days to decide if there is enough information to file charges against Jones and two friends.

The Las Vegas allegations were among a series of arrests and encounters with police that led NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to suspend Jones for one season.

Jones agreed last week not to appeal the suspension. The 23-year-old player could be reinstated after 10 games for good behavior if he adheres to conditions set by Goodell and is not arrested again. Missing the entire season would cost him his salary of nearly $1.3 million.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2907734

He don't learn very well, do he?

It's looking like Pacman is going to miss the whole season (and possibly more).

[Lord Avalon]

From the Desk of LaRon Landry

Note to Self: Wear cup while playing paintball.

[Guynemer]

Pacman Jones: world's dumbest athlete?

He must have a learning disability or something.

[Lord Avalon]

NFL to blow whistle on concussions
League doesn't want teams forcing players onto field

ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) -- Troy Vincent recalls going back to the huddle and forgetting to look at the sideline for the play, even though it was his job to relay the signal.

He mentions the days after one concussion when he couldn't remember phone numbers and kept thinking his car was running. When he sees clips of himself knocked unconscious, he cringes.

"I'm not sure if we -- athletes -- know what a concussion is," said Vincent, a veteran defensive back and the president of the NFL Players Association.

The NFL is taking steps to educate players on the subject and make sure they report concussions, implementing a whistle-blower system when training camps start next month. The league hopes that will ease pressure on players to take the field with a concussion.

"It's an important element of what we're trying to accomplish here," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said Tuesday after a conference with medical personnel from every team in the league. "I have said repeatedly and will continue to say that medical decisions must override any competitive decisions.

"And if anyone feels they are being forced onto the field when they are not ready to play, we want to know about that and look into it."

Although details need to be worked out with the players union, the new system allows anyone to anonymously report when doctors are pressured to clear players or when players are pressured to play. It's one of several changes the league is making in its effort to manage concussions.

The deaths of four players in recent years have raised awareness of the issue, and the meeting was held to discuss the latest information on treating the condition.

Besides implementing the whistle-blower system, the league will require all players to undergo baseline neuropsychological testing starting this season. Rules requiring players to properly buckle their chin strap will be enforced. And a brochure will be distributed to players to help educate them and their families about concussions.

The league has been examining the issue for 14 years, and medical meetings are not unusual. What set Tuesday's conference apart was its scope and list of speakers, some of whom have been critical of the NFL.

The heightened awareness comes amid studies indicating that players who suffered multiple concussions might be susceptible to neurological disorders later in life. And it comes amid reports suggesting brain damage may have been a factor in the deaths of former Philadelphia Eagles safety Andre Waters and former Pittsburgh Steelers offensive linemen Mike Webster, Terry Long and Justin Strzelczyk in recent years.

Waters committed suicide in November. Long killed himself in 2005. Webster suffered brain damage and was homeless before he died of heart failure in 2002. Strzelczyk crashed his pickup truck while being chased by police in 2004.

"I don't think we can conclude what exactly caused this," said Dr. Julian Bailes, a neurosurgeon at West Virginia University and a former Steelers physician who has seen Strzelczyk's pathology report. "Although if you go through the list of potential causes, certainly trauma to me is No. 1. Is that football trauma? Is that NFL trauma? Is that high school trauma? Is that falling off a bike as a kid? I don't know."

Bailes is also the medical director at the University of North Carolina's Center for the Study of Retired Athletes, which found in a recent study of more than 2,500 retired NFL players that those who had at least three concussions during their careers had triple the risk of clinical depression as those who had none. And those who recalled having one or two concussions were 11/2 times more likely to be diagnosed with depression.

The study involved only those concussions suffered in the NFL, even though players may have also had some during high school and college. Many were active before the league began its concussion management program in the mid-1990s and before studies sponsored by the NFL and NCAA prompted new helmet designs.

The NFL questioned the findings but is conducting its own study on retired players.

Concussions can be difficult to diagnose, and players who were conditioned when they were children to play hurt are reluctant to reveal injuries.

"Who wants to come out of the game?" wondered Vincent, who has been diagnosed with six or seven concussions in 15 seasons. "No player wants to sit on the sidelines."

And if a coach asks if a player is OK?

"When you're asking a player on the sideline if he wants to go back in the game, the answer is going to be yes," said Mark Bruener, a member of the NFLPA's board who has been diagnosed with four concussions in 12 seasons.

Former New England linebacker Ted Johnson told The New York Times in February he wasn't given a choice. And now, he's showing signs of early Alzheimer's disease.

Johnson told The Times his mental problems began in 2002 when he had two concussions in four days -- during an exhibition game and then after coach Bill Belichick pushed him to join full-contact practice against the advice of the team's top trainer.

The whistle-blower system might prevent problems. More education should help, too.

"I think players will do a better job policing," Vincent said. "You're in the huddle, you see your colleague's dinged, just tell the official. Now, because of the attention that it's getting, I think the officials will be more aware, and the players in the huddle will be more aware."

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/football/nfl/06/19/bc.fbn.nfl.concussions.ap/index.html

Old news, but Arrington hospitalized after motorcycle crash.

BTW, maybe thread title should be changed to "NFL Off-season" or something.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Goodell

He's really done some very good stuff in few months after taking office.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Lord Avalon
BTW, maybe thread title should be changed to "NFL Off-season" or something.

If I get consensus on this, I'll see what I can do .

[Zopperoni]

Just do it... before the season starts, or this thread reaches the 500-mark, whichever comes first

[SlowwHand]

I started the thread and I don't care. I just want to talk football.

[Lord Avalon]

Alternatively it could be "NFL Pre-pre-season."

[SlowwHand]

Hold on. Hell, I can handle this one.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Don't worry, Sloww... I got it.