"NFL Football is Back!" 2011 Season Thread

[OzzyKP]

[Al B. Sure!]

Good on Braylon Edwards:

As a Cleveland Browns rookie in 2005, Edwards announced he'd give $10,000 in scholarships to 100 area eighth-graders if they could graduate high school with over a 2.5 GPA and 15 hours community service. Of the 100 who were afforded the opportunity, 79 met the criteria and have begun their first year of college. Many are attending Ohio universities, but the schools represented spread across the country and include Harvard, Cornell and Johns Hopkins.

"Without this scholarship, I probably wouldn't be here," Bowling Green freshman David Gholston told ESPN's Rick Reilly.

Edwards and his mother developed the Advance 100 program as a way to give back. The way they saw it, they were blessed with Edwards' football abilities and felt the need to help out others with their good fortune. Though they didn't expect so many of the students to fit the criteria (only half of Cleveland public school students graduate high school), Edwards didn't shy away from his commitment. In fact, he increased it.

The 79 students were provided with laptops and other supplies to help them out when they arrived on campus.

"I'm supposed to give people a chance like I was given a chance," Edwards said.

Edwards hasn't played for the Browns in two years. He's a member of the San Francisco 49ers this season and is earning a $1 million base salary for the year, just about what he'll pay those 79 students he promised to help years ago.

Only half of Cleveland public school students graduate high school but 79% of Braylon's group did. Not only did he do good by helping them pay for college once they got there, but he probably was the reason many of them even got to that level to begin with.

[Al B. Sure!]

I don't know, Imran. I think both guys are still... neck and neck.

[OzzyKP]

Good on Braylon Edwards:



Only half of Cleveland public school students graduate high school but 79% of Braylon's group did. Not only did he do good by helping them pay for college once they got there, but he probably was the reason many of them even got to that level to begin with.

He's a better man than Michael Scott.

[Al B. Sure!]

Packers are America's team. No one likes the Cowgirls.

Americans love a winner and that's not the Dallas Cowboys these days. The team from deep in the Republic of Texas has been replaced as the nation's most popular team.

Aaron Rodgers' Super Bowl-winning Green Bay Packers were picked by 22 percent of voters as their favorite team in the NFL, according to Public Policy Polling's newest national survey. The Cowboys finished second, with 11 percent of the vote, followed by the Bears, Giants and Steelers.

NFL Films famously gave the Cowboys the title of "America's Team" in a 1978 highlight film. The program opened up with this intro: "They appear on television so often that their faces are as familiar to the public as presidents and movie stars. They are the Dallas Cowboys, America's Team."

A generation later, Dallas was actually picked as America's least favorite NFL team. The Cowboys got 22 percent of the negative vote, beating out the Chicago Bears' 8 percent and Green Bay's 7 percent for the title.

This was a bi-partisan pigskin vote: Republicans (60 percent), Democrats (44 percent) and independents (44 percent) all picked the Packers over the Cowboys.

Also, Tebow is the most popular QB followed by Eli Manning. No one likes Mike Vick except for Blacks, apparently, who love him in droves.

- 41 percent of African-Americans list Michael Vick as their favorite quarterback; no one else got more than 13 percent of the vote. Only 2 percent of whites listed Vick as their favorite.

- Vick was voted the NFL's least popular quarterback, with 26 percent of the vote, beating out Ben Roethlisberger's 15 percent.

- Tim Tebow, as expected, edged out Eli Manning (12 percent) and his brother Peyton (10 percent) for the title of America's most popular quarterback. Tom Brady, Drew Brees and MVP favorite Aaron Rodgers finished next, with 6 percent of the vote.

– Peyton Manning received a 51 percent favorable opinion from voters. That edged out Tebow's 50 percent favorable rating for tops among quarterbacks.

[MRT144]

How is Cam Newton not ahead of Vick among blacks?

[Al B. Sure!]

How is Cam Newton not ahead of Vick among blacks?

Too soon. Maybe in a few years.

[Al B. Sure!]

So why do you think the most favorite QB's are Tebow, Eli, and Peyton with Brady, Brees, and Rodgers trailing? I mean we know why Tebow but I am surprised Eli is #2. He doesn't have monster stats nor does he have the personality of some other guys. I also think he was one of the least popular a few years ago.

[Imran Siddiqui]

New York. That and winning a Super Bowl tends to make you a bandwagon fav. I still don't like what he did to San Diego though.

[Al B. Sure!]

New York. That and winning a Super Bowl tends to make you a bandwagon fav. I still don't like what he did to San Diego though.

Don't feel too bad for San Diego. They got Philip Rivers, Shawne Merriman, and Nate Kaeding for Eli Manning.

[SlowwHand]

A steal, by anyone's calculations.

[Al B. Sure!]

A steal, by anyone's calculations.

Exactly. They got a Pro Bowl QB anyway, a Pro Bowl kicker, and 39.5 sacks in Merriman's three good years. They did just fine. It wasn't a fleecing because Eli's played so well and won a Super Bowl.

It was a trade in which all parties benefited. I don't think there's anyone in San Diego or NYC who regrets that trade.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Don't feel too bad for San Diego. They got Philip Rivers, Shawne Merriman, and Nate Kaeding for Eli Manning.

I don't. I just don't like Eli Manning for pulling that "I don't want to play for that team" crap.

[Al B. Sure!]

I wonder if it would have been feasible for him to not apply for the draft and just shop around like a free agent (or do a Bernie Kosar).

[Imran Siddiqui]

IIRC, someone can draft your rights.