The NFL Preseason Brings Highly Anticipated Games.
As the NFL Preseason is starting tomorrow, here is my insight on which games to watch:
1. Baltimore @ Philadelphia- Thursday at 7:30pm:
The opener of the preseason schedule starts the season off with a bang. The reason this game is a must watch, is because of a very intriguing story line. Delaware Alum, and Ravens QB Joe Flacco will return to Philadelphia for the first time in his NFL career, and will surely hear the boos. Philadelphia, who recently went Christmas shopping, will give the fans their first taste of CB’s Nnamdi Asomaugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, along with DE Jason Babin, and others. With star QB Michael Vick probably only playing one series, the world will get to see backup QB Vince Young for most of the night. Other rookies to watch are 6th round draft pick, Kicker Alex Henery a and Punter Chas Henry. The Ravens will show backup RB Ricky Williams and 1st Round Draft Pick CB Jimmy Smith out of Colorado. An amazing scene will take place on Thursday night, at the Linc.
2. Tampa Bay @ Kansas City- Friday at 8:00pm (FOX):
This game is nationally televised for a reason, as the Bucs’ battle the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium, an always hostile environment. For Kansas City, they’ll give their Rookie QB Ricky Stanzi his first NFL appearance and show Chief fans what a stellar pick he was. Along with Stanzi, the Chiefs have WR Dwayne Bowe and QB Matt Cassel ready to disrupt Tampa’s D. For the Buccaneers, they have alot to show. Coach Raheem Morris will likely only put rising stars, QB Josh Freeman and RB LeGarrette Blount for a series or two. Also note WR Mike Williams only playing briefly. It’ll be mostly rookies, but a solid game to watch on a Friday night.
3. San Diego @ Dallas- Sunday, August 21st at 8:00pm (NBC)
With Cowboys Stadium packed, Dallas will be on their A Game. QB Tony Romo will look to start healthy. It’s hard to tell how many series Romo will get, but Cowboys fans will be psyched to see him playing again. The Running Back position has question marks all around it, so RB Felix Jones will look to solve those against the Chargers. Football fans will love to see WR’s Miles Austin and Dez Bryant on Primetime. For San Diego, Coach Norv Turner may be entering his last season, as the Chargers have not been pleased with the lack of success. QB Phillip Rivers will play rarely. TE Antonio Gates and WR Malcolm Floyd will also be brief. Great game, expect the Cowboys to come out at full charge. Read the rest of this entry →
Country singer Kenny Chesney's new song harkens back to his days playing high school football.
It isn’t often that we use this site to promote or rave about a current movie, book or song, but my wife recently shared with me a great song and video that I think will bring back some fond memories for anyone who ever played little league or high school football or who has followed college or professional football.
Country singer Kenny Chesney was a high school football player and his new song “The Boys of Fall” recaptures the memories and feel of putting on shoulder pads and a helmet and squaring off against a rival school on a Friday night.
While the song itself is nice, it is the accompanying video that really brings things home and will jar your memories.
It starts with current New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton back at his old high school talking about how he remembers the smells and emotions of playing under the lights. Read the rest of this entry →
Tom Brady and the Patriots are in for a dogfight in the AFC East.
It looks like the Patriots will be in a dog fight this year in the AFC East, the division that New England has dominated over the last decade. The Pats have captured the AFC Crown seven of the last ten seasons, but a changing of the guard is looming on the horizon.
The Patriots are looking more like the least than the beast of the AFC East.
The New York Jets are getting better every day it seems. The team that went to the AFC Championship last year on the shoulders of rookie quarterback, Mark Sanchez is loading up their arsenal.
On the offensive side of the ball they acquired disgruntled Cleveland Browns wide out, Braylon Edwards last season. A talent for sure, but has consistency issues and a chronic case of the drops. However, he showed sparks of what he is capable of when he is focused. In 12 games with New York, Edwards caught 35 catches for 541 yards with 4 td’s.
This off season the Jets have been very busy signing former San Diego and fantasy football stud, LaDainian Tomlinson. Tomlinson replaces the productive Thomas Jones who was unsigned before landing with the KC Chiefs. A puzzling signing considering Jones was more productive than LT. Jones had 1400 yards and 14 touchdowns in comparison to Tomlinson’s 730 yards and 12 touchdowns.
The popular question following the victory by the New Orleans Saints over the Minnesota Vikings to clinch the NFC Championship and the right to play in the Super Bowl has been, “Are you happy now?” Happy is not the word I use.
Watching Sunday’s game I grimaced at every painful hit given by the Saint defense onto the Viking quarterback. Every tackle that was borderline late, I winced at. But each time the veteran QB got up off the Superdome turf and returned to the huddle. Every time but one, then he was helped off the field at the end of a possession. While watching the trainers and doctors of the Vikings checked him out and re taped his ankle, many wondered if he would answer the bell. But like a great title fighter he came back in to take his licks and fight his team one more time.
But was I happy the Vikings lost? No, I was relieved.
I was relieved that the one time QB of my favorite team, the Green Bay Packers wasn’t able to take the division rival to the Super Bowl. Throughout the year all Packer fans were expecting the “old” Favre to come back. We were waiting for Brett to begin forcing the ball, being intercepted and costing the Packers a possible victory. Green Bay fans would shrug it off as “Brett being Brett.” We felt that is what made him the QB that Packer fans fell in love with.
But the divorce wasn’t pretty and eventually Brett wanted to prove to the administration of the team that he parted ways with that he could still play. He did take Green Bay to the NFC Championship game in his last year in Wisconsin just two years ago and he knew there were still many touchdown throws left in that right arm.
This is an incredible honor and deserved recognition for all the folks who put in the effort and long nights to make the Sports Then and Now family successful. Thanks to you and all of our readers!
Some can even make an argument for “Big Ben” Roethlisberger. However, I think Roethlisberger needs about four more years to add to his body of work before he can be held in the same breath as Brady and Manning.
So how do we make the determination of who is the best all around quarterback? What variables will be used to measure both quarterbacks?
The Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month is a former major league baseball player who came into the game as a teenager and stayed until he was in his 40s. In between, Rusty Staub put up a solid career that was primarily spent on expansion or rebuilding teams.
Originally signed by the Colt .45s at age 17, he made his major league debut as a 19-year old rookie and became only the second player in the modern era to play in more than 150 games as a teenager.
Though he hit only .224 splitting time between first base and rightfield, Staub did start building a foundation that would turn him into an All-Star by 1967 when he finished fifth in the league with a .333 batting average.
