Draft memories: McNabb gets a warm Philadelphia welcome

Draft memories: McNabb gets a warm Philadelphia welcome
YouTube is sadly and disappointingly bereft of much NFL draft footage, but one great draft moment that does live on via YouTube is this one: Eagles fans lustily booing their team's selection of Donovan McNabb.

If you're over the age of 10, it's not Halloween, and you're wearing metallic face paint in public, there should be some kind of law making it illegal for you to voice your opinion on anything. Unless you're a Raiders fan, in which case it's just assumed that you suffer from some form of mental illness anyway.

The fans were upset because they wanted the Eagles to take Ricky Williams, who had three or four good years before the weed got the best of him.

Good call. I guess the face paint does have that one advantage: no one can recognize you as the genius who almost had a coronary when the Eagles drafted Donovan McNabb.

Team that gets Allen will spend at least $70 million
Once a team acquires Jared Allen's�rights, the 6-foot-6, 270-pounder is likely to demand the same six-year, $72-million package paid by the Colts last year to defensive end Dwight Freeney. The deal included $30-million in guaranteed money according to the St. Petersburg Times.

Allen, entering his fifth season out of Idaho State, brings some off-field baggage. He was suspended two games last season for substance abuse violations, including two DUI arrests. He returned to start 14 games, finished with 64 tackles, made his first Pro Bowl and, according to Bennett, has grown.

"He's gotten over that, I think," said Tampa's Michael Bennett, a teammateof Allen's in Kansas City. "Everybody makes mistakes. We've all been there. We learn from our mistakes, and I think he's matured."

Come on, you can't expect the Titans to smoke schwag
Court documents revealed yesterday that a lowlife drug dealer admitted to selling some top-shelf marijuana to Tennessee Titans players for about $1,000 an ounce. Or close to an ounce, anyway.

In cross-examination by Williams’ attorney Peter Strianse, Corey Cecil was asked about the transactions, “The people that were sending you those wire transfers were connections that you had made on the streets when you more or less were a hydroponic marijuana dealer to the stars; is that right?”

Cecil asked Strianse what he meant by “To the stars,” and the attorney replied, “Tennessee Titans players, you would set them up with ounce quantities of high-quality hydroponic?”

Cecil then replied, “Yes, sir.”

Cecil also confirmed in questioning that he was “pinching out” seven grams of each ounce and selling it to the players as a full ounce with the Titans players unaware of being shortchanged.

Pinching out of bags like that. Tsk. This guy has a lot to learn about being a respectable member of the community.

No players were named in the court documents -- and I certainly can't think of any that are likely to engage in this sort of behavior -- but this wasn't about nailing buyers.

As it turns out, this dealer, Corey Cecil, had an uncle on the force, and he and another officer would stage fake arrests of Cecil during drug deals, "confiscate" all the money and the drugs, and then allow Cecil to keep his weed, while all the parties involved split up the money.

All three of them were convicted. We'll see if this results in any reports of an increased work ethic in Titans minicamps and training camps.

Urlacher said he never threatened to quit over money
Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher disputed a report that he threatened to retire if the Bears don't reward him with more guaranteed money according to the Chicago Tribune.

"I never said that I was going to quit,'' Urlacher told the Tribune early Friday morning. "That's just a gossip column. Reports like that is why I choose not to speak to the media.''

Urlacher, who is seeking a multi-year contract extension that would pad the nine-year, $57-million contract he signed in 2003, has not attended the Bears' on-going voluntary workouts and said he is unsure if he will attend the team's mandatory minicamp May 30-June 1 if a contract agreement is not reached. He also cited the opportunity to spend more time with his children as a reason for staying in Arizona. He did not express plans to boycott training camp. The Bears, who sit about $16 million under the salary cap, continue to have talks with Urlacher's agents.

What we wrought this week: From bad tats to an angry Chad
•�Chad Johnson makes it clear that he doesn't want to wear the orange and black stripes anymore. Too bad. It's a fantastic look.�

•�Steve McNair, out of the blue, announced his retirement. We won't lose sight of how amazing McNair once was.

•�The Chiefs decide to trade Jared Allen because they're sick of having good players on their team.

•�The loose lips of Miami GM Jeff Ireland might have inadvertently sunk the Dolphins draft ship.

•�The schedule came out, and as always, it has its high points and its low points.

•�For some reason, Stephen Cooper was hopping himself up on ephedra.

•�In a TV interview, Herschel Walker discussed his disassociative identity disorder. Or maybe it was Herschel Walker. I can never tell.

•�The Pope planted one Kellen Clemens's kid.

•�Justin Smith and Willis McGahee have formed a wonderful bond based on threatened dental thievery.

•�A Patriots fan gets a tattoo of an ugly woman in a tattered blue dress and some kind of nasty infection on her right leg.

Shockey wouldn't be upset if he was traded
Jeremy Shockey has not formally demanded a trade from the Giants, but he has made it very clear he wouldn't be upset if it happened, either. The brash tight end, who missed the Giants' championship run with a broken leg, has been sounding off for more than a month about his frustrations with the Giants, according to NFL sources. And he has told friends he would welcome a trade to the New Orleans Saints, who made an offer for him last month the New York Daily News reported.

But while Giants GM Jerry Reese admitted yesterday that he has had "conversations" with other teams about trading Shockey, he also said he is not shopping his tight end. "Anything can happen in personnel," he said. "But right now, Jeremy Shockey is our starting tight end and we're looking forward for him to be back on the field for us this fall."

According to team sources, at least two clubs have inquired about Shockey and the Giants have made it clear they are willing to listen. The Saints reportedly offered them a second-round pick for Shockey last month, but the Giants wanted more. "We're not just going to give him away," the source said.