Willie Andrews wants to be just like Nate Newton when he grows up

Willie Andrews wants to be just like Nate Newton when he grows up
Surely, the Super Bowl loss to the Giants was a devastating thing for the New England Patriots, but I didn't think it was the kind of thing that could send someone's life spiraling out of control. At least not in 48 hours.

But little-used Patriots cornerback Willie Andrews has already (allegedly) turned to a life of crime and drugs. Police arrested him just a day after the Patriots returned him from Arizona and said they found him with a half-a-pound of marijuana.

Now, for those of you who aren't entirely familiar with marijuana and how it's smoked, a half-a-pound is not an amount of weed that you carry around for recreational smoking purposes. If Ricky Williams hosted a party where he, Randy Moss, Jerramy Stevens, and Michael Vick all sat around and watched Planet Earth on the Discovery Channel, they wouldn't go through a half-a-pound.

No, a half-a-pound is an amount that you intend to sell ... especially when police find $6,800 in cash on you, with no bong, pipe, or any other smoking implement. Oddly, Willie Andrews best defense in this situation seems to be, "Yeah, your honor, I eat a lot of weed."

It's a far cry from Nate Newton's 213 pounds, but Andrews is just a 2nd-year player and a 7th-round draft pick. Give him time.

• Patriots' Andrews charged with marijuana possession / Yahoo! Sports

Blog: Top 10 playoff disappointments
Randy Moss has been on a few great teams in his career. But blogger StreetCred says they're two of the top squads not to win it all.

The different ways in which you can celebrate a Super Bowl win
Method #1: Show up to a parade and fight with another Giants fan. Because there's no better place to fight than a parade.



Method #2: Hot, intense, prolonged, intimate man-on-man contact.



Okay, everybody back in the pile!

• I so did NOT see this coming / on 205th
• Giant Fans Are Happy, Gay / Kissing Suzy Kolber

Pats will have a tough time forgetting Super Bowl XLII
Mike Vrabel may be in Hawaii for the Pro Bowl, but Alex Marvez says the linebacker is one of many Pats still looking back.

Should we change the playoff structure?
A small bit of news about the possibility of shaking up the NFL playoffs was buried, somewhat ironically, by the awesomeness of the playoffs themselves. To me, that suggests that the playoffs don't need changed, but what the hell, I'm open to new ideas.

Roger Goodell wants to make it so that in the first round of the playoffs, division winners wouldn't automatically have a home game. If they played a wildcard team that had a better record, the wild card team would get the game in their own crib.

The idea is that it gives teams more incentive to play hard throughout the end of the regular season, so we don't end up seeing something like a Charlie Batch vs. Jim Sorgi matchup in Week 17.

For example, this year, the Bucs couldn't have sat on their hands in weeks 16 and 17, knowing they had their division sewn up. If they wanted to play a home game in the first round, they'd have had to take the field in Week 17 with a line-up a with a little more firepower than was brought to the table by Luke McCown, Michael Bennett, and Chad Lucas.

I'm not opposed to this idea, necessarily. It makes perfect sense, and a team with a better record probably deserves a home game.

However, if it was put to a vote, I'd vote no, and here's why: If there's a coach out there who saw the Colts and Bucs tank the end of this season, and saw the Giants put forth a gargantuan effort with nothing to play for in Week 17, and then saw what happened in the playoffs, and that coach is still dumb enough to be letting his players collect rust over the last two weeks of the season, then I'm opposed to the league stepping in and saving this coach from his own idiocy.

If this year's postseason didn't hammer home the "tanking is bad" message for a coach, then he deserves a savage beatdown in the playoffs next year.

• Roger Goodell Considering Changing NFL Playoff Seeding Structure / Larry Brown Sports
• Commiss Considers Playoff Shakeup / NY Post

Goodell would pursue Spygate info ... if it exists
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is willing to pursue any believable information in the Spygate case. He simply doesn't know if any exists. Goodell said Wednesday that the league has been in touch with representatives of former Patriots assistant coach Matt Walsh, now a golf pro in Maui.

Grimsley killed in apparent gun cleaning accident
Former Houston Oilers linebacker John Grimsley was found fatally shot in his suburban Houston home Wednesday, the apparent victim of a gun cleaning accident, an official said. Fort Bend County Justice of the Peace Joel Clouser said that when Grimsley's wife, who was out of town, was not able to reach her husband Wednesday, she had a neighbor check on him. The neighbor found Grimsley's body on the floor in the dining area. "It appears it may have been an accident," Clouser said.

Seattle has a coach for '09 before the Redskins have one for '08
Florida State decides to name a successor to Bobby Bowden before Bowden actually leaves, and now everyone wants to do it. The football world is a world of copycats.

Jim Mora Jr. will take over for the Seattle Seahawks after the '08/'09 season, which will be Mike Holmgren's last. Mora, of course, used to be the head coach with the Atlanta Falcons, but they fired him over the '06 season because that's not an organization that needed any stability, continuity, or anything like that. Mora's also recently been linked to the open Redskins job, but for some reason, it looks like he'd prefer to stay in a stable situation with a sane owner.

I don't know if a move like this skirts the Rooney Rule, which requires that all teams interview a minority candidate for open head coaching positions (though I suppose someone in a position of authority will have questions about that when the time comes), but I at least like the ideology behind it. If you've got a good candidate in-house, lock him up and make it a smooth transition. That way, you don't end up looking like, oh, I don't know ... these people.

• Report: Jim Mora to be officially named Mike Holmgren's successor with Seahawks / Yahoo! Sports
• Mike Holmgren's coming back, Shaun Alexander might not / Shutdown Corner
• Redskins' Coaching Decision Coming Soon / Redskins.com

Deep Posts: We can still admire the Patriots in our own way
• Maxim would like to introduce you to the New England Patriots cheerleaders, their hopes, their dreams, and their jubblies. [Maxim]

• Inside the HBO is no more. If I told you I was going to miss it, I'd be fibbing. [Sports by Brooks]

• As it turns out, the Rooney Rule won't apply to teams who have a Mora/Holmgren like agreement. That's great news for NFL owners who don't like people with dark skin. [Seattle Seahawks]

• Does Doug Flutie know something about Spygate? Cough it up, LeBatard. [The Big Lead]

• Courtesy of Stephanie Stradley, Kailee Wong takes you through the ins and outs of zone blocking. This is cool stuff. [FanHouse]

Glazer talks Spygate
Bill Belichick's problems might just be getting started. Jay Glazer says if the latest spying allegations are true, the coach will pay.