Aaron Rodgers goes to Egypt for good street food ... or maybe to re-enact Stargate

Aaron Rodgers missed mini-camp because he was in Egypt, where apparently he was on vacation, not top secret business. But we know better, don't we!

Listen up Jets fans, a trip to Egypt can only mean one of 5 things, so let's explore the possibilities:

1. Aliens: Rodgers has been in touch with space crafts that texted him about the origins of the Pyramids. The messages urged him to visit the grand structures and inscribe his initials on the wall of an ancient toilet within.

2. Street food: The Jets QB heard about a fantastic falafel stand just outside of Cairo and was eager to try it before anyone else at ESPN, you know, for a review on McAfee. 

3. Relationship-building: He thought the trip would help him get closer to Coach Saleh, who unbeknown to Rodgers, is actually Lebanese. 

4. Travel mishap: He told a New York cabbie he was headed to the Falls in East Ridge and, what do you know, he ended up on the other side of the world. 

5. Binging: A late-night sci-fi move session ended up with No.8 high as a kite and grasping for answers. Unable to shake the plot from Stargate, he frantically searched for a portal on eBay and early the next morning, charged through it, American flag in hand.

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Ready-break! Play quarterback in the NFL. No skills needed.

Enjoy the outdoors? 

Can raise your voice in a crowd? 

Maybe you’ve tossed a stone across a pond? Or cast a fishing rod? Perhaps you can start a mower? 

Well, the National Football League is looking for able-bodied men like you to play quarterback at the professional level. No prior experience is required! Nor is the ability to accurately throw a football. The NFL is about so much more in 2021.

Listen up Average Joe ...

We want men with chiseled features, sharp hair and cool names. Are you a Zach, Baker, Case or Tyler? We want you and your bravado, and that inflated sense of your own abilities, too. But more importantly, we want short-term memory because with your distinct lack of instinct on the gridiron, you’re going need it! 

Join the NFL and be a part of sports infamy. We play the games to win, sure, but whether or not you do won’t be held against you. We’re all about the equal opportunity that mediocrity affords and, as many of our young quarterbacks will attest to, the NFL is a nurturing environment of second and third chances. Peg the ball in the stands? No problem, there’s always another down. Run into your own lineman and lose yards? It happens. Can't spot a 6'5 linebacker ten yards away, hey we've all been there. What matters most is that you realize your true calling will come after your playing days are over - once you single-handedly root your club in long-term devastation.

Timeout! In the pro game, ineptitude is a strength and overconfidence is a virtue. Listen kid, the NFL is no longer a league of Staubach, Montana or the Mannings. No, pro football has come a long way since and is ready to accommodate the supremely average skills of all comers. We want your indecision and inability to process information. Pocket presence is frowned upon. And tight spirals are a waste of energy. Yes, the new NFL thrives  on crappy quarterback play and this is your opportunity to be a part of the magic!

Don’t delay. Fill out our online application and send it in promptly - or not - we don’t expect you to hit any targets here, paperwork is no exception!

Sign up today and get your one page playbook mailed back free of charge. We don't even expect you to learn it because faking a hand-off and then scrambling around like a lunatic has become the default NFL play. If you can master that, you'll be on your way to Canton in no time.

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Chargers blue and fading chances

 

When I was nine, a buddy of mine brought a Chargers jersey to school for art class. I have no idea where he got it but I assumed it was on a Griswold-style family trip to California.

Praaaiiiiise Marty Schottenheimer!

Why exactly did he need a jersey for art, though? Did he see the whole thing as sport? Was he Dan Fouts super-fan?

Well, each of us were asked to bring in a painting smock and unlike the rest of the class, resplendent in a khaki aprons from Target (or wherever one bought such things) my pal decided that his oversized jersey would offer the perfect defense against loosely splattered paint. He wasn't wrong - his garment was more imposing than Boltman on the beer line. And the dark blue of the then San Diego club would surely disguise most of the potential paint splotches, too.

To that end, sometimes I think Phil Rivers wouldn't mind disguising himself in another colour. I mean has there ever been a better quarterback for a club with more last quarter fiascos? The Chargers typically look unbeatable for 45 minutes of football, before something takes hold, a sort of reverse bolt of energy. A negative charge, if you will. Maybe it's a change of scene he needs to win.

The trouble is nobody wants to see Rivers in another jersey, do they? He's probably got a couple of good seasons left, and I for one don't want the blue memories blotched with red, green, or tiger stripes.
 
No, Rivers' red faced and rile up in the huddle just wouldn't work without bolts marking his shoulder pads. Here's hoping he strikes some genuine success in Los Angeles. And not just because all the prognosticators have called it, but because Rivers runs an offense better than most, and because however many Charger fans remain deserve to paint the town red ... or blue, as it were.

Let's get Monday Night Football back to being iconic

By J.P. Pelosi

*NFL's MNF started tentatively in 1964, untelevised 
*The 'spectacle' as we know it kicked off in the seventies
*First game saw the Browns beat the Jets 31-21, Sep 21, 1970

Football on Monday night seems a grand idea, no matter which way you dial it up.

Unless you're Tony Robbins or Hugh Hefner, most weeks start with a thud, a cold hard realisation that work awaits, the clothes hamper is festering and dinner might well be frozen.

Indeed, many of us need the relief of Monday night sports to ease us into the five day circus. But there's a problem: the ringmaster has found his way into our TVs to mess up Monday football, too.

Take the first two Monday games of the upcoming NFL season: Steelers - Redskins, Niners - Rams. Sure, they're interesting enough teams, and I get it, an east coast match-up complimented by a west coast clash. But this is the once legendary Monday Night Football!

Cossell, Gifford, Michaels, Madden. Marino. Plunkett. Montana. That freaking fantastic theme song... ba ba baaaaam ... babadum...ba ba baaaaa ...

How did it all become so, well, pedestrian?

Surely Giants - Cowboys would see more chips spat across living rooms. Chargers - Chiefs, too, would ignite some action. But there's a weird shift toward airing second rate contests, a trend that's making Monday sports fixtures feel blander than date night with Bill Belichick.

A rugby scrum of content

It's the same issue with football in my backyard, the National Rugby League (NRL). Instead of being a beer cracking, after-work barbecuing extravaganza, Monday NRL games are really an afterthought.

I'm not even sure most fans know it's on, and that's largely to do with it being a cable TV offering only. Perhaps the TV stations are just happy to lock big deals in with sporting codes and the games have become throwaway details. Or maybe with all the content flying around now, programmers simply don't know what constitutes a feature game anymore.

Either way, rugby league won't be played on Mondays anymore and columnists are already rejoicing. Given its soft crowds, Thursday Night Football could well be next.

Strength in numbers

The NFL can get away with a casual strategy because of the size of the US population, and more importantly, the sheer number of cable subscribers. NFL games attract massive crowds, both to the stadium and the box, so there's no real danger of losing fans over, say, a lazy Jags - Bucs game. Oh, they'll be watching, even with three sheets to the wind.

In Australia, however, cable isn't as prevalent. Even if it was, I don't think fans care enough about Monday's night of football because the fixtures are rarely appealing, and consequently, crowds a smaller than at local kids pantomime. It's not a good look.

Top shelf old boy!

One sporting competition that seems to have the gist of things is the English Premier League, which sometimes will serve up a Monday nighter for the ages. Take a recent affair between London rivals Chelsea and West Ham: The Telegraph called it a whizz-bang of a match. No messing around, just give the people what they want.

The NFL equivalent might be heated iteration of Pats - Giants, or Packers - Bears. Not the Rams (sorry LA), just because you have a new stadium to show off. Or the Skins because, I don't know, it's an election year?

Pretty packaging enough?

Listen, you have to love the nostalgic themed intro by Peter Berg that ESPN's MNF now uses. It's perfect. I'm in. But the scheduling needs work. It needs to draw a throng and fill the stadium. It needs to set digital recording boxes into a frenzy. And certainly test a few marriages.

The point of non-weekend football is to make it an event, right? You know, something you put your best undies on for that day. We have to want to rush home to kick off our shoes and fire up the grill.

Otherwise it just ends up being something we click on and move past, eventually landing on something with more action, like The Bachelor.

Peyton will stand tall in Super Bowl 50

Just @5280Miles at the @fullerhouse house. #NBD from @Broncos

Despite some in the media doubting that Peyton Manning, 39, has much left in the tank for the upcoming Super Bowl, he still has his wonderful height and continues to boast a neat haircut. Should he walk away from the fiftieth iteration of this grand football occasion with only a stiff-brimmed runners-up hat, rest assured he'll wear it proudly - and highly.

Slow and steady

Let's not count the Sheriff out altogether, okay. He may look more like Doc Holliday than Wyatt Earp at this stage of his career, but there's one last stand in him. I know it. Manning completed 17 of his 32 passes for 176 yards in the AFC Championship Game, in a steady if not impressive performance, and that's all Broncos fans need. Certainly the ball didn't always spin along a tight line, but it reached its intended target when most needed, right? That's really all that counts in games of such magnitude. While, some commentators are hellbent on telling us that wounded duck throws are catastrophic, we now know this isn't always true. We also know that some commentators are hellbent on hyperbole.

Steadiness is all the Broncos require on the offensive side. And Manning can be an oak for just one more game. Let Cam Newton chase the wind. That's his game. In truth, he'll need multiple plays to square the Broncos defence away.

One good throw

One play. Two plays. OMAHA! OMAHA! The talking heads also like to say that a game can be decided by one play, and if this is indeed the case, then Manning is also still capable of making that single pass - maybe even twice. Two good passes are not out of the realm of possibility here, especially when you're lifting less than the guy at the snack bar all afternoon.

2 QBs.
2 very different styles.

1 Super Sunday: https://t.co/cUqX9OILG7 (via @judybattista) #SB50 pic.twitter.com/4NkdElIiZp

— NFL (@NFL) February 3, 2016

Starring role

In the very first Super Bowl, played in California as well, Green Bay Packers quarterback Bart Starr tossed 16 of 23 passes for 250 yards, and two touchdowns. He had one interception but the Packers thumped the Chiefs 35-10. Of course, it was a different era, and the Carolina Panthers might be slightly more menacing on defence than the 1967 Chiefs. But I can see Peyton posting similar numbers, and out-thinking the Panthers the way Starr did Kansas City.

Yes, his preference for shorter passes will likely mean fewer yards, first downs, and ultimately a lower scoring output for Denver. However, those numbers might also be just enough to win him the game's MVP prize, and ensure that he leaves just enough in the arm to lift the Lombardi Trophy.

Regardless of the outcome, Peyton Manning is the off-field MVP of #SB50 https://t.co/063PNHMQZF pic.twitter.com/cuwheET2f1

— Forbes (@Forbes) February 3, 2016

Starting QB Needed In New York: Apply Now!

Nov 1 Quarterback Needed ASAP - Pro Football - Great Pay/Union Benefits! (New York, NY / Jersey) img [x]

Popular New York football team based in Jersey seeks urgent services of a professional quarterback - at least in name. Fill in for injured starter; win instant notoriety. Must have an eye for detail, be a team player, and get the best out of others under duress. Absolutely any clock management skills would be looked upon favorably. 

Good throwing mechanics are not essential, as long as candidate can move ball from A to B. Heck, we invite anyone able to toss a Nerf ball into a bucket to apply. 

Communication skills are a must. However, we don’t expect the successful candidate to be a Harvard Graduate. Having said that, we'll certainly consider those with an Ivy League education; but only if your thumb ligaments are in tact. 

Please send resume with video samples of your most recent work. Talking head show-reels from ESPN won’t be considered. 

Accepting applications from just about anyone, really. Although if your name happens to be Sanchez, we’ll require photo identification. 

Work with a great team that knows when to roll with the punches, and pull its thumb out.

Email: Mike_Maccagnan99@hotmail.com

post id: 000007L

 

posted: 1 day ago

 

updated: 1 day ago

 

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Ten Things I Thought While I Read Peter King

The NFL season has kicked off with more surprises than a Bachelor episode.

The Colts were done in by the Bills' monster defense, and the glare from their awesome helmets. I’m afraid of the Bills. I thought Miami would have a potent defense this year with Suh, and they looked fairly stout in week one, but Buffalo brought on cold sweats. Get Machine Gun on the line: time to dust off the vintage Bills jacket big fella.

The Chargers looked good too. I think it’ll be a fun year for them. That division is tough, but I think they make the leap into first place. As much as I love Peyton, and trust the Broncos defense, I think their short reign atop the AFC West might be over. They looked vulnerable. Peyton's passes were floaters. And Mile High should be far more intimidating to a Ravens squad that's hardly as intimidating as it once was.

Peter King's columns are really long aren't they? I mean, does he get paid by the word or hour?

The Giants just gave it away. Sounds like there was confusion about timeouts and Eli wasn’t thinking clearly on the last play. There’s no way they should have lost in that situation. Not against Dallas, the perennial end of game fizzers. People seem to really pile it on with Eli when the chips are down. I don’t get it. Nobody's perfect and no one can have a perfect season. He’s already won two Super Bowls for crying out loud. But it's New York, and you're only as good as your last hot minute.

Other teams I like and caught glimpses of were Chicago and Cincy. Though the Bears lost, they seem to have a smart game plan. Running it. With Forte. Who else do they need? Sure, Jay Cutler, the guy you love to hate. Fine, hate him. He has an Elway-like arm and I reckon he’s tougher than people give him credit for. He’s sulky, sure. But look at his hair.

Hey, they've squeezed King's column into a single scrolling page. Nice.

While we'e on the midwestern teams, I'm really fond of Cleveland – the club – not the current team so much. So I root for them when I can. How can you not? They seem to be cursed. To that end, Josh McCown was slammed early and then Johnny Gumball came in. I think if McCown can play the Brownies will be decent. He’s a guy I’ve always appreciated: just tough and can lead. Maybe he can teach Manziel a few things, like what the 'pocket' is. Side note: there are no words for those new Cleveland uniforms.

The AFC East is anyone’s really, but surely the Fish can scoop a wild card this year. They're overdue. Tannehill has started throwing some deep balls and I’m imagining the offense is set to score some exciting touchdowns with the receivers they have. Finally. Happy Birthday Dan. Laces out.

Always enjoy the Saints. With Brees they’re a chance. But there’s little confidence with them on the defensive side. They gave up so many yards in week one against the Cards, and that’s a problem. Then again, that NFC South division is quite ordinary. The Panthers and Bucs aren't scaring the pants off a Penzance Pirate.

I actually like the Falcons more than in previous seasons. Matt Ryan is one of my favorite QBs. Take another look at his throw to the corner to Julio Jones this past weekend. Money. They're onto something in Georgia. Again.

The Eagles are entertaining. Bradford is a sound player. But I do worry he’s going to get hurt. He has a funny physique – skinny and tall. So I cringe whenever he's hit. Honestly, I think Mark Sanchez will be sent in at some point, and when that happens, cash out all of your Eagles bets.

Does PK ever drink instant coffee? Nespresso? Or guzzle the beans from the bag? Surely he must.

Which quarterback would you want if your starter went down?

To play our new game, which should have Hasbro knocking at the door any minute now ... you have to imagine a rather zany world order in which pro football contracts are superfluous and players can come and go as they please. (Didn't Brett Favre set this precedent?)

In this scenario, you’re a cowboy general manager – not specifically of the Dallas variety – and have the ability to cut ties with your signal-caller at the drop of a hat---quite possibly a Tom Landry style hat---which then, sure, would be of the Dallas variety.

The basic premise is that there must be a QB out there you covet more than a Kardashian home movie. So let's tap into your sub-conscious and talk about it. That's why we're here. If you’re a New York Giants fan, for example, and inextricably tied to Eli, you can, for just a moment, imagine having a quarterback that's less opportunistic, and more reliant on Montana-like accuracy and Elway like-arm strength. Or if you’re a Cardinals fan, maybe you envisage a QB with the ability to play all 16 games and reach the playoffs without a hobble. Imagine that!

Meanwhile, Dolphins fans could conjure a situation in which the Marino Era is a simply a sepcial chapter in Miami’s history book and not persistent nostalgia, impossible to supplant until another QB leads the team back to the AFC Championship Game, or dare we say it, the Super Bowl.

To this end, the below is a shortlist of NFL players we think would be the most coveted of all 32 current starters behind center, should your ace, your big cheese, go down. These players haven't been selected because they're necessarily better than Shane Falco, nor do they boast superior stats (no emails FiveThirtyEight), but because they possess the sorts of intangibles that make having a cool and impossibly professional quarterback the envy of every fan outside of New England, Green Bay, Pittsburgh, Indy and Baltimore.

Sure, you could make arguments for other QBs and other towns being mentioned in that last sentence, but we don’t have the time nor the inclination to complicate this soon-to-be party favorite, which we call Spin the Pigskin. A good game's a quick game, kids.

So who would you choose?*

Matt Ryan – They call him ‘Ice’, which is catchy and perhaps even more applicable when he freezes mid-play. Calm down Falcon fans, we see Matty’s improved movement. What we like here is his level head and ability to lead.

Johnny Manziel – "Let Johnny loose!" the mob cries, while Brian Hoyer devotees sob into their Blackout Stouts. What’s ailed the Browns is a distinct lack of well, quarterbacking, and while Manziel offers no guarantee of addressing this issue, he has bravado. That's right - bravado. You can’t buy it. Oh sure, you can make misguided money gestures, but you won’t be able to finalize a purchase. Not in this town, bub.

Derek Carr – He’s the young buck, the potential savior of Raider Nation, and yet nobody knows if it's all black smoke and silver mirrors at this point. Listen, he’s got guts and seems to be learning fast, so there’s plenty to like.

Cam Newton – Cool Hand Cam, the man with visor and superhero grin. He’s got a cannon that can be loose at times, and all that means is victory is one Hail Mary away.

Russell Wilson – Straight-laced and straightforward, he minimizes errors and runs away from trouble. He’s Tarkenton in the modern era. Smart, confident and frank.

Jay Cutler – Do customers come much cooler than Cutler? Maybe if they’re in a Sears browsing for a new fridge. Otherwise no. The hair, the despondency, the wife. He should be fronting Grizzly Bear not the Chicago Bears.

Phillip Rivers – He’s mad as hell and that’s why you love him. Come on. It’s sunny outside and he’s tossing a football around the park. And yet, instead of dancing around like the always effervescent Buggs, he's more agitated than Yosemite Sam. IT'S PHILLIP! NOT PHIL DAMMIT!

*If your starting QB is on this list then you obviously have fewer choices. That's the game folks - you already have a cool QB so really shouldn't be afforded any advantage.

Why the Rams' LA brand digs in

By J.P. Pelosi

It wasn’t until 1948 that the Los Angeles Rams football team took on the brand personality it embodies today, albeit in St. Louis, at the time of writing.

We may take dazzling color combinations in sports for granted today, but the Rams' new brand was certainly different for the times: a bright and bold style that exuded a sense of optimism, perhaps in an era short on it.

The original ram horn design was so good, in fact, it endures to this day as one of the more iconic logos in the National Football League. The trademark yellow horns, which seem to sprout from the front of the helmet before curling to the ear, were created by L.A. Rams’ halfback Fred Gherke who studied art at college, according to the Rams official website.

Gherke’s logo design was pioneering because it was the first of its kind in football, which to that point had mostly been played with plain coloured helmets. Pro football's helmet went from leather to plastic in 1951 and the Rams design came into its own--the smooth finish to the synthetic material meaning the yellow and blue coloring could truly pop, as they say.

Gherke was eventually inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, not for his footballing prowess but his helmet design, as The Los Angeles Times wrote in 2002 at the time of his death:

Fred Gehrke, a former Ram halfback who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame--not for how he carried the ball but for painting horns on his team's leather helmets, touching off a colorful and enduring quest for logos in pro sports--has died. He was 83.

Well played Fred.

Mega Man vs Donkey Kong

Fictional characters from opposing worlds are often pitted against one another. Predator and Alien come immediately to mind, the two creatures mercilessly tossed into a Hollywood studio to duke it out more than once. Batman meets Superman under hostile conditions some time in 2016, and if we're not mistaken, Super Mario has already faced-off with Sonic the Hedgehog to see who has the biggest two-dimensional leap.

This week football fans contemplate the aftershocks of a mighty collision between the Lions' defender Ndamukong Suh and the Panthers' quarterback Cam Newton, after Newton repeatedly called his opponent "Donkey Kong Suh" in a press conference prior to the game. 

Not known for his bashfulness, Mega Cam seemed convinced that was the player's actual name, and given that it was delivered with the deadpan style of a Weekend Update bit on Saturday Night Live, the media took the bait. They oddly wrestled with it in fact, so unsure of its meaning or usage, they quickly determined to use it to incite Suh into some sort of barrel hurling rage. 

But when confronted by a media pack, Detroit's defensive tackle was apparently disinterested, and those appalled weren't afforded the chance to remedy the horrible mockery made of their press room. Will the social outrage ever let up? We think former Steelers QB looks like Mario, but please don't call the D.A.'s Office.

Well, Mega-Cam needed to be quick with his step and accurate with his aim on Sunday, in order to avoid the wrath of Donkey Kong, who, with a heavy thump of the earth, or a thunderous charge, could have evaporated the quarterback just like the original blue Nintendo sprite. 

As it turned out, Newton tapped his initials in for the 'game high' as his squad belted Detroit 24-7. He zinged balls over the middle, zapped them down the sideline, and then, when the throw wasn't there, zoomed past the opposition, seemingly without any power-ups. He threw 22 of 34 passes for 281 yards, but more importantly, his energy was all too much for Detroit to contain. That went for Suh too, who couldn't even stop the Panthers Player 1 by falling on him. 

Game Over.

7 things we've learned already this NFL postseason

1. Andy Dalton can throw one heck of a deep ball. It's the short to mid range stuff that turns him into Gus Frerotte.

2. Sean Payton somehow makes a visor look credible in the freezing cold. Can you imagine what he'd do with a sombrero?

3. Drew Brees can launch some shockingly conceived balls, but rest assured he'll always be excused by the talking heads.

4. Philly's Riley Cooper mistook a pair of dishwashing gloves for his receiving mittens against the Saints. Apparently.

5. Colts general manager Ryan Grigson likened Andrew Luck to Michael Jordan because he wants the ball. But that scoop and score play was really the stuff of Magic.

6. It's funny how players that do dumb things like Cary Williams horse-collar tackle on Darren Sproles can look so proud of such a careless mistake.

7. Colin Kaepernick is really good at running. Yes folks, he's like a gazelle! Spotting wide open receivers is proving more challenging however.

Tebow could jet down to Florida

Tim Tebow might actually be a better quarterback option for the New York Jets than Mark Sanchez. He's bigger, is a more powerful runner, and at this stage, may actually be more accurate.

But the Jets probably have other plans, like signing a sixth QB, selling their best player, Darrelle Revis, and generally alienating their fan base. Just another offseason in New York.

This all leaves Tebow---if the Jets aren't clever enough to devise some running packages for him---in limbo. The former Florida Gator will then seek another path to the NFL stardom, and as it turns out, the Arena Football League may have a timely opportunity.

Orlando Predators owner Brett Bouchy told the Orlando Sentinel, in no uncertain terms, that his club is in the hunt for a piece of Tebow magic. That's right---mass marketing magic.

"Tim would certainly want to first exhaust his opportunities in the NFL, but we'd love to have him," Bouchy told the Sentinel. "I think he would definitely improve as a quarterback in our league.

"Kurt Warner told me once that when he got back to the NFL after playing in the Arena League, the NFL game was like slow motion. Everything in the Arena League is just so much faster and quicker and predicated on accuracy. Whenever Tim is willing, we have a contract waiting for him to sign."

You have to admire Bouchy's ingenuity, but he does realise Arena football isn't soccer right? Passing with your arms is still required.

And while Kurt Warner was a great NFL passer, I think we can all agree that he saw the game in slow motion because he was in fact playing in slow motion. 

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Elway's Manning Audible

Things were looking so hopeful for Dolphins fans a week ago, with the prospect of Peyton Manning, already a part-time Miami resident, making sunny South Beach his full-time home as the local team's quarterback. How sweet life could have been in this scenario: endless sun, pina coladas, presumably better baseball on its way, and the world's greatest signal-caller kicking ass and taking names in the modern Orange Bowl - the Fergie Bowl.

Then a chilly air swept through, blustery and burly like the man blowing it. John Elway, the greatest signal-caller of an earlier era, rode up to the Free Agent Saloon as Denver's saviour, like he has so many times before, to talk the same shot-gun language as Peyton. He probably ordered a whiskey sour, threw a warm arm around the highly-coveted pilgrim, whispered a few sweet audibles, and Bam!, every other team in contention was staring at the rear-end of a one horse race. Yippee-ki-yay MF!

In many ways this isn't fair on Dolphins, Cardinals, or Titans fans, whose clubs have truly legitimate and logical reasons to offer Manning a roster spot. What, after all, is reasonable about Manning going to Denver? Because Elway is there? They had Orton and blew that. They have Tebow and are ruining that. Now, almost as if to alleviate the ramifications of those misjudgements, the Broncos seek Manning's services, and look more like landing him than any other NFL club.

What's best for the league, and for fans, is being lost here. Manning will take his sore neck to frosty Mile High and possibly jeopardize his production with challenging conditions and an inferior offense. Then, the other quarterback-lacking clubs will overpay sub-par QBs who'll notch pedestrian numbers and help their teams miss the playoffs. So instead of seeing one dynamite Manning-led outfit, with football's John Wayne at the helm for one last hurrah, we'll have four mediocre clubs with distraught fan bases, desperately and sadly hoping Brett Favre un-retires.