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This is not Percy Harvin, but use your imagination.

Here at Goal-Line Stand, we were quite involved in the Colts-Bills preseason game in Toronto yesterday. Lost in the shuffle because of that was a scary incident involving Vikings wide receiver Percy Harvin.

Harvin vomited and collapsed on the sideline at Vikings practice. The apparent culprit: another migraine.

The 22-year-old star-in-the-making from Florida dealt with chronic migraines for much of his rookie season, missing several practices and a game. Despite an offseason trip to the legendary Mayo Clinic, Harvin’s head problems aren’t going away in 2010. Before his medical emergency Thursday, Harvin had already missed pretty much all of training camp because of the chronic issue.

In what has become one of the most famous stories in NFL history, Terrell Davis scored a touchdown in Super Bowl XXXII despite not being able to see straight due to a migraine. And I’m thinking that tale has softened the average sports fan’s expectations in regard to how debilitating migraines can be.

Harvin’s been plagued by this problem since he was 10 years old, and it’s clearly hindering his ability to perform consistently as a professional athlete (not to mention his ability to perform day-to-day tasks as a human being).

So, could migraines ruin Percy Harvin’s career?

“He said he’s tried everything,” Vikings left tackle Bryant McKinnie told ESPN.com. “Hopefully he can eventually find something.”

But to actually try everything, it could take a lifetime. I had a conversation with osteosomatic therapist Dan Palma from the Toronto-based Headache and Pain Relief Centre. The majority of Palma’s patients are migraine-sufferers, most of whom get rid of their symptoms permanently once they’ve been treated.

The problem, though, according to Palma, is that it’s extremely difficult for a specialist to determine what’s triggering the migraines in patients that don’t wipe them out the first time around.

“There is a very small percentage of recurring or chronic patients that you’ll stabilize and, guess what? After a while they need to come back and do the whole program again,” Palma said.

Palma says there are dozens of potential causes that trigger migraines — deep-seated vascular problems, hormonal imbalances, benign tumours, aneurysms, teeth grinding, stress, and jaw issues to name a few — meaning it can take years to properly diagnose the underlying root, or roots, of the problem.

Palma, who interned with the 49ers in the 1980s while attending San Francisco State University, notes that we rarely hear of athletes suffering from chronic migraines because they’re less likely to encounter them.  

“I would find that we have less athletes presenting with chronic migraines,” he said, “and if we do (get them), they tend to respond better to treatment.” That make sense, because athletes are generally healthier than the average Joe.

But it’s too late for a guy like Harvin. Treatment hasn’t work for 12 years and there’s no telling when it will. What does an athlete do when migraines are interfering with his or her livelihood and there’s no cure in sight?

“You need to slow things down,” Palma said. “Of course that’s not easy when you’re being paid to perform.”

There is no context for this picture. Just enjoy.

I’m not going to waste too much time on Brett Favre’s most recent return, simply because there have been too many of them. Here are some quick thoughts…

1. I’m not convinced things are going to be as peachy early on for Favre and the Vikings this year as they were last year. And that’s because the schedule is stacked against Minnesota early. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if a peek at the schedule factored into Favre’s temporary retirement two weeks ago. Here’s a look at the first eight weeks of the Vikings’ season, along with my prediction for each game:

Week 1: at New Orleans (loss)
Week 2: vs. Miami (win)
Week 3: vs. Detroit (win)
Week 4: Bye
Week 5: at New York Jets (loss)
Week 6: vs. Dallas (win)
Week 7: at Green Bay (loss)
Week 8: at New England (loss)

Seriously. I wouldn’t be shocked if the Vikings were 3-4 headed into their Week 9 game against Arizona. The early bye week also means Favre will have to go 12 consecutive weeks on that bad ankle. Not easy.

2. Exactly two weeks ago, on Aug. 3, news of Favre’s apparent “retirement” shattered the football world (sarcasm). And NFL Network went live all day. And ESPN devoted what felt like 45 minutes per hour to No. 4. The sports world stopped because Favre had reportedly sent a few text messages indicating that he was considering stepping aside.

What a waste of an entire day of resources, time, energy and money that was. When will we learn our lesson?

3. No new contract yet for Favre, but the press conference regarding his return isn’t  supposed to take place until later on Wednesday, so there’s still time for Favre to get a raise. Based on what went down in this process, I doubt Favre will ask for or receive any more money, but the Vikings reportedly offered him a $3 million boost earlier this month.

4. How awesome is this story? I mean, three veteran players fly down to Favre and basically persuade the guy to come back just by spending some time with him on his Mississippi ranch. In the midst of training camp, Jared Allen, Steve Hutchinson and Ryan Longwell simply leave town and become recruiters. And they do a sweet job. Not bad, although Hutchinson noted it wasn’t as fanciful as it sounds.

“I wish I had some sort of fairy-tale story about the way it all happened, but it really was not a big moment or anything.”

5. I was struck by the way in which Tarvaris Jackson reacted to the news of Favre’s return:

“Honestly, I really don’t care,” Jackson said. “I feel like if my number is called I’ll be ready and I’m going to continue to try and work hard and get better. That’s all I can do. My teammates, that’s their prerogative. I can’t really control that. I’m just going to do my part.”

He doesn’t care? Perfect….

I didn't doubt Kevin Kolb. Nope, not for a second. (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images).

Judging a team or a player during a preseason game can often be like assessing a girl’s attractiveness over the phone. Sure, she sounds pretty, but your imagination can be deceiving. We see and hear whatever we want, and whether it’s the model date, or model quarterback, the judgment phase can be more mirage than reality.

But an impressive throw is still an impressive throw, and there are nuggets of information to be gleaned about possible future stars and role players as they play in the August heat. As the preseason rolls along, each week we’ll look at who has impressed, disappointed, and developments in position battles.

In the good books

+ So, that Kevin Kolb guy is pretty good. You can count me among the doubters, but I must not be the only one who sees Kolb’s talent, but isn’t ready to jump on board after two measly regular season starts, right? Whatever. Kolb was highly effective against Jacksonville Friday night, connecting on six of his 11 pass attempts and throwing for 95 yards.

+ Hey look, Rex Grossman is still in the NFL. Neat. Grossman had one of the most ungraceful falls from grace, and sure, most of his snaps Friday came against second stringers, but it was still nice to see the former Bears QB connect on a few deep balls. Grossman threw for 140 yards and two touchdowns, showing that the Redskins may have capable backup on their hands if prized offseason acquisition Donovan McNabb–who has missed 10 games over the last four years–goes down.

+ Tampa Bay’s Mike Williams impressed early. Williams, the rookie fourth-round pick who has already made the Bucs’ starting unit, caught a long pass in the first quarter to set up the only score by either first team offence in Saturday’s 10-7 loss to Miami.

(Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

+ Devin Aromashodu was buried on Chicago’s depth chart in the early part of last season until he emerged in an upset win over the Vikings in December, hauling in the game-winning touchdown in overtime and 150 receiving yards. If the Bears offence expects to bounce back under Mike Martz, they’ll need major contributions from the likes of Aromashodu, Devin Hester, and Johnny Knox. So far Aromashodu is doing his part, racking up 48 yards and a touchdown Saturday against the Chargers.

In the bad books

+ The infatuation with Matt Moore after his glowing finish last season–eight touchdowns over the final five games– has seemingly spread to every corner of the NFL media. Moore didn’t look terrible Thursday night against Baltimore, but he didn’t look great either. Meanwhile, until the heavens opened and the rain started to fall, rookie Jimmy Clausen had a solid debut. It’s widely expected that Moore will start week 1, and that it’s his job to lose. But Clausen showed he’s more than capable if Moore stumbles.

+ It doesn’t take much to send football-mad Dallas into a frenzy, and the Cowboys’ red-zone offence had the fans of America’s team seeing red. With Tony Romo and the first team offence in for one of the red-zone blunders, Dallas settled for a field goal three times deep inside of Raiders’ territory. There’s a trend here: The Cowboys were very middle-of-the-packish in the red-zone last season, finishing 14th in the league after scoring touchdowns on 52 per cent of their visits.

+ To the surprise of no one, Kansas City’s offensive line is still awful. Matt Cassel–who was sacked 43 times last year–went down twice against the Falcons during his limited playing time Friday, with one resulting in a fumble.

+ Unless Mike Tomlin is convinced to go with Dennis Dixon, Steelers fans saw the harsh reality they’ll face with Byron Leftwich at the helm of the offence to start the season. Chants of “we want Ben!” came down from the stands as Leftwich could only muster 48 yards through the air against the Lions. Capping off the unpleasant evening for the first team offence, Leftwich was sacked for an eight-yard loss and also had a mental lapse when he unintentionally spiked the ball.

In limbo

+ It’s as if C.J Spiller hired a hitman. Just when it looked like some ugly three-headed monster would emerge in the Bills’ backfield, Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch went down with injuries in Buffalo’s first preseason game Friday against the Redskins. Jackson’s hand injury is more serious. Not only will he miss the rest of the preseason, but Jackson could miss time during the regular season too. Spiller now gets an edge in the battle for carries in Buffalo with the increased reps he’ll receive in practice.

What better place to talk busts than Hooters? Paul Brothers, who it’s fair to say is not a broadcasting bust after being “drafted” by The Score, and Brad James, who is a massive bust that we just can’t unload because of his big contract, take a look at some busts. NFL busts, that is…

Notice how Brothers (the top pick) did all the talking while James (the bust) just showed up for the Hooters part?

NFL Photos/Getty Images

Intense title for a sports blog, eh?

But considering all the dimensions involved in what Husain Abdullah is going through, intensity is sort of called for.

Abdullah, a Muslim, is set to observe the Ramadan, meaning he won’t be able to eat or drink during daylight hours for a 30-day period, beginning Wednesday.

Here’s how I described training camp in a post last week:

I played high school football and I still have nightmares about what we went through to prepare for the season. I remember doing slow, agonizing push-ups on coach’s orders. When he said “up” you went up, when he said “down” you went down. One after another — he’d force you to hold it at the bottom for what felt like hours. And then back up. And back down again. Lactic acid burning every muscle in your body like dozens of miniature branding irons. In the sweltering heat. After a 90-minute practice. If you couldn’t cut it, if you collapsed — as many guys did — you’d run laps. That was high school football in Canada. So multiply by at least 17.5 when taking into account what pros go through in the piercing sun in Arizona and Texas and Florida and Louisiana.

Now consider going through all of that, multiplied by at least 17.5, and remove the “luxuries” of water and food from the equation.

“I’m putting nothing before God, nothing before my religion,” Abdullah told The Associated Press. “This is something I choose to do, not something I have to do.”

But not only is ignoring your body’s desire for hydration a health risk — remember, the Vikings dealt with tragedy when offensive lineman Korey Stringer died of a heat-related stroke after collapsing on the field during training camp nine years ago — but it’s a major career gamble for a reserve player like Abdullah.

An undrafted defensive back who hasn’t started a game in two seasons, Abdullah isn’t Adrian Peterson or Brett Favre. His job is not secure and the way he performs in August can alter his career path drastically.

“Last year it occurred in early September, and we saw a dip in his performance,” Vikings head coach Brad Childress said. “We said, ‘What’s wrong with Husain Abdullah? It doesn’t seem like he has enough spunk.’”

And although Abdullah is trying to learn from last year’s experience by working closely with the team’s nutritionist and pumping meals, H20 and carbs every morning and night, it’s still quite scary to imagine a professional athlete going full tilt in the summer sun all day without the benefit of hydration. (I can’t envision this working if Abdullah played in a southern state. Maybe we should monitor his brother, Hamza, who plays for the Arizona Cardinals and also plans to fast during training camp.)

So the question becomes, where do you draw the line? Should religion interfere with one’s livelihood? Moreover, should it interfere with one’s life? Obviously this is a broad issue that has been debated for years, and goes far beyond Jewish baseball player Shawn Green opting to sit out for Yom Kippur.

Of course there’s also no right answer. It’s personal. Abdullah and his brother feel strongly enough that they’re willing to risk their health and their jobs, even though a grey area clearly exists between the spiritual side and the material side. 

A Muslim group and German soccer authorities determined last month that Muslim players could forego fasting if necessary:

Germany’s Central Council of Muslims said it sought advice from Al-Azhar in Egypt, the pre-eminent theological institute of Sunni Islam, and elsewhere.

Al-Azhar ruled that if a player is obliged to perform under a contract that is his only source of income, if he has to play matches during Ramadan, and if fasting affects his performance, then he can break his fast, the council said.

“The Muslim professional can make good the fasting days in times when there are no matches, and so continue to pay God and the holy month of Ramadan honor and respect,” Aiman Mazyek, the general secretary of the Central Council of Muslims, said in a statement.

So why doesn’t Abdullah just follow those recommendations and simply fast in March?

Again, it’s all personal. And rather controversial. As is pretty much anything that involves religion.

The New Orleans Saints visited the White House on Monday, and while US President Barack Obama is a Chicago Bears fan at heart, he made sure to point out how important the Saints’ Super Bowl victory was to the entire country.

But he also had some fun with Saints head coach Sean Payton, who obviously defined “gutsy” with his decision to use a surprise onside kick to start the second half of the biggest game of his life.

Here’s the video…

Oh and just because it’s impossible to tire of it (unless you’re a Colts fan), here’s the famous onside kick…

Getty Images

It’s far too difficult to pick just one Emmitt Smith run or Jerry Rice catch. And it’s nearly impossible to single out one Bone-crushing John Randle hit that seemed to sting more than the rest. So I won’t.

These three legends highlight the Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees of 2010, and were honoured in a ceremony on the hallowed grounds of Canton, Ohio Saturday night. But there was an extra dash of character in this Hall of Fame class, a class which also honoured Dick LeBeau, the ball-hawking cornerback who starred for the Lions nearly four decades ago, and Russ Grimm, the guard who led the Redskins’ vaunted Hogs, one of the best offensive lines in NFL history.

Here’s a sample of what was written, argued, and reflected upon throughout the interwebs after the NFL’s 2010 Hall of Fame induction ceremony:

+ Alex Marvez of Fox Sports points out that during the 1991 season Smith’s primary backup Moose Johnston incredibly received only 17 carries.  Despite being such a workhorse early in his career, Smith was still able to break Walter Payton’s record and become the NFL’s all-time leading rusher.

“The NFL has some impressive young RBs, most notably Tennessee’s Chris Johnson and Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson. But even if both were able to avoid injury and continue their torrid paces, Smith’s mark wouldn’t fall for another 11 seasons.“

+ David Moore of the Dallas Morning News looks back on a Cowboys win over the Giants on Jan. 2, 1994 to clinch the NFC East and homefield advantage throughout the playoffs. But this wasn’t just any win. It was the day that Emmitt Smith’s toughness was affirmed, even though it should have never been doubted. Smith’s shoulder was separated late in the first half, but he missed only two plays.

“He asked the offensive linemen to run down the field and pick him up after every play,” said Cowboys offensive lineman Nate Newton. “He said, ‘My shoulder is killing me.”

+ While heaping the usual praise on Jerry Rice for his renowned work ethic, Ray Ratto of CBSSports.com reminds us that Rice was the NFL’s first wide receiver diva. Although by today’s standards rice’s “antics” were pretty tame (i.e. publicly questioning how often he was targeted in the offence).

“He didn’t mind complaining that he didn’t get the ball often enough before anyone else ever thought of speaking out on the subject, which was a big deal back in the day. Now, everyone does it, so nobody’s listening any more.”

+Trying to establish who is the greatest player in any sport is a time-honoured bar debate that only gets more ridiculous with each brown beverage. The older, perhaps wiser gentleman at the end of the bar makes his case for Johnny Unitas, while the middle-aged single guy eying the bartender turns away for a moment to yell something about Joe Montana. But Joe Cole of Yahoo! Sports isn’t interested in the glamour position of quarterback. He’ll take Jerry Rice in this game to name the best who ever played the game.

“Rice showed the NFL that the passing game was more than a phase and that wide receivers weren’t simply occasional contributors. Since Rice, receiving numbers have increased, the use of three- and four-receiver sets has become prevalent, and teams throughout the league consistently throw more than they run. Rice made receivers into essential players, so much so that they are considered more important than running backs these days.”

+ The most common number we associate with John Randle is 137.5, his career sacks total which is still good enough for the all-time lead amongst defensive tackles. But what about the number 14? That’s the total number of undrafted players to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, and Randle is now one of them.

+ Thank God for Randle’s mom too, because the Texas-born tackler might have quit football to “hang out with the boys” if it wasn’t for the influence of his late mother Martha, writes Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express.

“At one point, I quit football,” Randle said. “She asked why and I told her I got tired of hitch-hiking a ride home from practice. She said, ‘Well, what do you want to do?’ I said, ‘I want to hang out with my friends.’ So she took me down to the basketball court and said, ‘That’s what you want to do? Hang out with those boys? That’s all they do is hang.’”

+ Nowadays, Dick LeBeau is known as the architect of the Steelers’ defence, that hard-hitting unit which guided Pittsburgh to two Super Bowl championships in the past ten years. It may have been almost four decades ago, but Bill Rabinowitz of the Columbus Post-Dispatch tells us that LeBeau could play too, and he was pretty damn good.

“LeBeau wasn’t the fastest cornerback, but he compensated with a natural knack for the ball, honed by a dedication to preparation that was ahead of his time.”

+ Russ Grimm was one helluva guard, and was part of the offensive line that spearheaded the Redskins to three Super Bowl championships during the team’s glory days in the mid-80′s and early 90′s. But, as Dan Steinberg of the D.C. Sports Blog writes, Grimm was also from an era where off-field shenanigans were not only encouraged, but accepted. Including having your equipment set on fire.

“Dave Butz put honey on a photographer’s stand to attract a swarm of bees. Donnie Warren hung the special teams coach’s bike atop a flag pole. Jeff Bostic filled Bubba Tyer’s car with popcorn. Grimm himself put hair-removal cream on George Rogers’s athletic supporter.”

NFL players don’t get much of an offseason. They’re training at least 11 months a year (unless they’re Albert Haynesworth or Andre Smith) and organized team activities keep them connected to the game throughout the spring.

But regardless of how intense players’ offseasons are, the transition from borderline vacation to training camp in late July/early August is drastic. In fact, “drastic” doesn’t do it justice.

Training camp is hell. It is really and truly hell on earth. It’s the most excruciatingly painful, tiresome, gruelling period of the year for otherwise pampered millionaires.

I played high school football and I still have nightmares about what we went through to prepare for the season. I remember doing slow, agonizing push-ups on coach’s orders. When he said “up” you went up, when he said “down” you went down. One after another — he’d force you to hold it at the bottom for what felt like hours. And then back up. And back down again. Lactic acid burning every muscle in your body like dozens of miniature branding irons. In the sweltering heat. After a 90-minute practice. If you couldn’t cut it, if you collapsed — as many guys did — you’d run laps.

That was high school football in Canada. So multiply by at least 17.5 when taking into account what pros go through in the piercing sun in Arizona and Texas and Florida and Louisiana.

I promise I have a point, and it’s this: it’s easy for NFL veterans to hold out. Contract squabbles are a god-send to guys who don’t want to go through the rigours of training camp hell without looking like lazy pricks. As opposed to just pricks.

And that’s exactly why so many of these guys end up back before the season starts. The media usually claims the players in question are trying to “send a message” by missing camp before returning to action just in time for Week 1.

No, that’s not what they’re doing. What they’re doing is using their potentially problematic contracts as an excuse to skip camp. Their agents love it because they can only benefit from a possible new contract. They love it because, while there’s a chance they’ll end up with more money, they can chill out like rock stars for a couple more weeks while their teammates share 150-square-foot dorm rooms.

The best example this year is Shawne Merriman. The guy admits he’s not looking for a raise — as opposed to teammates Vincent Jackson and Marcus McNeill — and simply wants assurances that the Chargers won’t trade him … or something like that:

“I’m only coming back to be the guy on defense. I’m not coming back to be a guy. I want to be on a team where someone is building a defense around me.”

“To me, it really comes down to, ‘Am I on the trading block this week?’ The third week of the season, am I on the block? Where is that comfortability for me? … The question is do I have stability enough to play football and not worry about the other things?

“I just hope to get rid of the unnecessary talk. One thing needs to happen — we need to get over the hump. And me not getting there is not going to help us get over the hump.”

What the hell does that even mean? If Merriman were living in the world from The Invention of Lying, he’d say this:

“Fame has gotten to me. I’m soft. My numbers are declining, I’m not the player I used to be, and my focus has been divided. I’ve gone Hollywood. A few weeks ago, I made a cameo appearance on Entourage. I’m getting over a tumultuous relationship with reality TV star Tila Tequila. I just don’t feel like dragging my ass to Chargers Park for two-a-days in 100-degree heat. I’ll be ready to go in September.”

Let’s face it: exercise without incentive sucks. Nobody wants to work hard if they don’t have to. Rich football players don’t necessarily have to, and so they don’t.

Contract isn’t exactly what you want it to be? Not feeling quite enough “love” from management? There’s your cover story.