Well this off-season just never really slows down, there has been amazing story after amazing story every week. Usually now since OTA's are over the stories are few and far between until training camps kick off in late July. Regardless though I will always have some things to talk about in the Quick Hits column. Unfortunately, due to time constraints this is a shorter "Quick Hits" than usual.
Bounty Gate Keeps Getting Worse for Goodell & NFL - This story just keeps getting weirder and weirder and I don't even know where to start. First off the NFL has horribly mishandled this, they have screwed it up to the point where I think most NFL fans are starting to doubt that they have the evidence to prove the system existed. After the appeal hearings the players all made very passionate statements declaring their innocence and the NFL responded by showing evidence to 12 reporters, unfortunately that evidence was typed copies of hand written notes (how do we know the typed versions are accurate, and who wrote them?), they also showed the video that supposedly shows Anthony Hargrove saying "Pay me my money" but Hargrove's head is blocked and the words dont't line up with the video.They also kinda threw Joe Vitt under the bus saying that one of the notes was him pledging $5,000 to knock out a QB, but they never formally accused him or punished him for it, and Vitt now says he never did that. The twice convicted felon Mike Ornstein who the NFL said admitted to everything, but now Ornstein is publicly saying he NEVER said that there was a bounty program or that him or anybody else contributed to the pool.
While the CBA doesn't require the NFL to do much of making evidence or witnesses available, they need to stop this now! Their credibility, which when it comes to discipline is already non-existent, if the NFL has a "smoking gun", they need to release it and release it NOW.
At the beginning of the "bountygate" scandal I believed the league that the players were guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt; now, I still believe that they did it (like nearly every other team) I just don't believe that Goodell has any evidence that can't be torn apart or doubted in the minds of the fans.
I have found the best coverage and analysis of this case so far (like most everything NFL) is at ProFootballTalk.com, and I suggest you go there and see what Mike Florio has to say, because as a former lawyer he understands this and will really make you go "Say Whaaaaaaaaaaat?!?!?!?"
Bryant McKinnie Overweight Again - Former Vikings and current Ravens Left Tackle Bryant McKinnie has apparently reported to OTA's overweight......again. This has been an ongoing issue with McKinnie since he was drafted by the Vikings and when he was young and athletic enough to overcome it they looked the other way, but when his play started to slip due to the extra small child he was carrying, they cut him.
Then here come the Ravens who desperately needed a solid left tackle and probably believed that McKinnie would be motivated to keep his weight in check, which he was the first year. Now he is reportedly only 9lbs. away from his target weight of 345, which I have watched enough "Biggest Loser" to know that a big guy like that can lose 9lbs. in a day or two, if he cuts out the chalupas.
McKinnie will lose the weight, because he was one of the guys during the lockout that went broke and apparently had to take out a loan to the tune of $4.3 million at probably the highest legal interest rate, I have a feeling if paying that back isn't motivation enough, once that guy's enforcers come and break a few fingers or a kneecap (which would severely damage his earning potential) than he will get motivated.
After all the issues that McKinnie has had during his career, from nearly eating himself out of the league multiple times, getting himself kicked off the Pro Bowl team, suspended for 4 games due to a brawl in Miami, and was a key figure in the "Love Boat" scandal that rocked Minnesota years ago. Lots of guys have been blackballed from the league for a lot less, and it just shows that in the NFL talent trumps everything.
LaDanian Tomlinson Retires As A Charger - LT announced this week that he would sign the worthless "1-day contract" to retire as a San Diego Charger. Tomlinson was the most electrifying running back of my generation, and is no doubt a Hall of Famer [Editor's Note: The whole idea of "1st Ballot Hall of Famer" is the stupidest thing I have ever heard, either a player is a Hall of Famer or he isn't, I mean they don't have a special wing or an asterisk on the plaque for 1st ballot guys....do they?].
LT accomplished a lot during his career, including setting the single season rushing touchdown record at 31, which will probably not be broken for a long time as the aerial attacks have taken over the NFL and most teams rely on multiple running backs rather than just one.
In my opinion he is also one of, if not the, most versatile players/running backs in the history of the NFL. He showed this by rushing for over 1,000 yards and catching 100 passes in the same season, the only player to ever do so. During a time where running backs are blowing out knees and other body parts rapidly, LT made it through his entire career without a major surgery, and that was while he was a "workhouse" back, another great accomplishment. Check out Kerry J. Byrne's piece over at SI.com for a full breakdown of LT's impact and greatness.
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