- The Super Bowl is still six months away, and already ad spots are going fast, selling like Tickle Me Elmo dolls circa 1996.
- In other Super Bowl related news, no one embodies the image of a dominant champion quite like Tyler Durden..er, I mean Brad Pitt. Pitt will be the voice of this year’s America’s Game documentary on the NFL Network, a series that will chronicle the 2009 New Orleans Saints.
- The Cowboys are good at key skills positions, but–as Gagnon wrote yesterday–there’s still some concern over the health and effectiveness of the offensive line in Big D. This seems to be the most common knock on the Cowboys and their Super Bowl aspirations, and it’s a chink in the armour that Jay Glazer sees as well.
- High school football in the U.S.–especially the south–brings out the same borderline insane passion that hockey does north of the border. It’s tough to chalk it up to the potential stereotypes shown on the silver screen, but if you’ve ever read the book Friday Night Lights instead of just watching the movie, you get a pretty good feel for the intensity. And when that intensity crosses the line, this is what happens:
- It appears Kellen Clemens is safe, at least for now. After somewhat surprisingly revealing their draft board on last week’s episode of Hard Knocks, there was speculation the Jets backup QB would be cut shortly. That speculation ended today when New York Jettisoned Kevin O’Connell instead of Clemens.
- Dez Bryant doesn’t carry pads, he plays football. But he hasn’t had a chance to do much of that yet after suffering a high right ankle sprain early in training camp. The highly touted rookie–for both his talents and personal baggage–is now healthy and may get a chance to play in Dallas’ exhibition finale Thursday if Wade Phillips decides to let his starters see the field.
- When I picture my retirement, I don’t see myself dancing the tango alongside some male bimbo who calls himself “The Situation,” and some old lady from The Brady Bunch. But Kurt Warner does.
- Marshawn Lynch is now healthy enough to take a seat and watch C.J Spiller‘s electrifying speed. Lynch will play in the Bills’ preseason finale against the Lions, giving Chan Gailey some depth in a backfield that’s still depleted with the injury to Fred Jackson.
- Even though he’s been explosive throughout the preseason, Gailey isn’t ready to move Spiller up the depth chart just yet.
- The Steelers will be without Ben Roethlisberger for at least the first four weeks of the season, and they shipped off leading receiver Santonio Holmes. These are small matters to Sports Illustrated’s Peter King, who tabled the first limb-walking Super Bowl prediction. Set to hit newsstands in the magazine’s NFL preview issue this Thursday, King took the Steelers to win their third Super Bowl in the past five years.
- Browns defensive tackle Shaun Rogers will be fined but not suspended for carrying a gun through an airport in the offseason.
- The Giants weren’t exactly deep at the most important offensive position to begin with, a problem that become worse Tuesday. Veteran backup quarterback Jim Sorgi was placed on injured reserved due to a torn shoulder capsule, leaving New York to hand the ball to 25-year-old Rhett Bomar if Eli Manning goes down this year.
- Highlighting the list of cuts so far on the league’s deadline day to get down to a 75-man roster is Derrick Ward, the now former Tampa Bay running back who was the Buccaneers’ major free agent acquisition last offseason.
