Please forgive me for this temporary diversion. We interrupt our regularly-scheduled program now that I've had my hands on the Madden 09 video game for a couple days now, which is enough time to provide a scouting report.
For all of my fellow gamers out there, here are my early impressions of the AFC North teams:
Cleveland Browns
I've found the Browns to be far and away the toughest AFC North team in this game.
(Don't worry Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals fans. It's just a video game and things eventually will be settled on the field.)
Defensive tackle Shaun Rogers is an absolute monster. He holds his ground at the point of attack, and it's hard to consistently get rushing yards up the middle. I had a friend at my house yesterday who uses Cleveland and although I came out victorious, we had some hard-fought battles. Basically I beat him by using big receivers to post and run by his little corners. If you want to know my Madden team this year, I'm not telling. But I will give you a clue: I have one team in the AFC and one in the NFC. So if you want some, come get some!
Offensively the Browns are as versatile as you would expect. Quarterback Derek Anderson has a 95 throwing power (fair enough) and a 90 throwing accuracy (what???), therefore he is an elite signal caller in this game. If you keep receiver Braylon Edwards on one side of the field and tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. on the other, it makes it very difficult to pick and choose where you want to roll coverage. Running back Jamal Lewis runs through a lot of tackles and also has an extra burst that he didn't have in last year's game. Overall, they're a solid team to use in Madden, probably for the first time in the game's history.
Pittsburgh Steelers
For some reason, I've never had much success using Pittsburgh's offense in Madden. I think part of it was the smallish receivers, which I don't like, and another part of it was quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, whom I've never figured out how to use properly (any suggestions?). I do like Heath Miller and Matt Spaeth in double tight-end sets. Their height gives them the ability to body up almost any defender and keeps the chains moving. But my inability to get the ball to Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes consistently makes it tough.
If you're good at using the safety, this is the defense for you. Troy Polamalu is crazy fast, and even if you bite on play-action passes, he is fast enough to make up for the mistake. A lot of people have trouble running 3-4 defenses in Madden but Pittsburgh makes it easy. Its front seven is stout and tough to run on. Age on the defensive line isn't an issue in the game, of course. The Steelers' passing defense is not superb, but I wouldn't consider it weakness.
Here is a look at some of the interesting stories around the AFC North:
Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun writes an intriguing column outlining why the Ravens should not consider quarterback Brett Favre if he becomes available. Two of the biggest reasons are cap room and rookie head coach John Harbaugh trying to start anew.
Walker's take: I commend Schmuck for presenting the other side in what's become a fast-growing fantasy in Baltimore. This column won't be popular with Ravens fans, but it is thoughtful and insightful.
The Cincinnati Bengals have yet to sign any of their 10 draft picks, with the report date for training camp looming on July 27.
Walker's take: A lot of teams (including Baltimore and the Cleveland Browns) haven't signed a majority of its picks. No need to hit the panic button just yet.
Browns quarterback Derek Anderson is having a good time running his football camp at his high-school alma mater in Oregon.
Walker's take: Anderson obviously knows how to stay busy. In addition to running a football camp, he's also training for this upcoming season, watching game film and playing a little golf.
Walker's take: After one championship season in Baltimore, a strong case can be made that Dilfer is the best quarterback in Ravens history. Think about it.
One of the more interesting player situations in the league is LaMont Jordan's in Oakland. The team held him out of its minicamp in early June and he has been expected to be released because of a high salary and a surplus of running backs in the Oakland backfield.
Despite being held out of the minicamp, Jordan remains Oakland property a month later. Oakland wants to trade Jordan but the market may be small with Chicago, New Orleans and New England as potential suitors.
If the Raiders can't swing a trade for Jordan before training camp starts it will be interesting to see if he is allowed to practice during training camp. Jordan, who has been very professional during this time, will likely urge the team for his release if the situation isn't resolved by late this month.
Adam "Pacman" Jones can join the Dallas Cowboys for everything but the regular season - for now.
Commissioner Roger Goodell said Monday he would decide by Sept. 1 whether to fully end Jones' suspension, which wiped out the entire 2007 season when he was with the Tennessee Titans. The Cowboys play their opener Sept. 7 in Cleveland.
"Commissioner Goodell told Jones that his continued participation in the NFL depends on demonstrating that he can conduct himself in a lawful and reliable manner," the league wrote in a statement. "Jones will be expected to continue the personal conduct program established for him by the NFL and the Cowboys and to avoid further adverse involvement with law enforcement.
Suspended Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones met with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell last week in Atlanta about a possible reinstatement, according to a report in the Dallas Morning News.
Jones, who is suspended indefinitely, is hoping to get a decision this week according to the report, which cites anonymous sources.
Jones told the NFL Network on Sunday he's done everything he can to be reinstated.
"For the most part, I think I should be all right. This year has been one of the hardest years in my life besides when my dad died. But it's also been a learning experience. I made a lot of bad decisions and thank God I'm getting a second chance. ... I own up to my decisions, but the past is the past and I'm ready to move on."
His suspension bars him from going to the team's practice facility, but the Morning News says he has managed to meet his teammates at charity events.
Do you think that the NFL should add a 17th game to the schedule. Roger Goodell recently made the proposition due to the lack of interest in pre-season games.
Do you think that the NFL should add a 17th game to the schedule. Roger Goodell recently made the proposition due to the lack of interest in pre-season games.
Still, people make a great living deciding which team and city an athlete should play for, but what happens in the 15 minutes on the team's clock falls on the shoulders of all the agents, scouts, GMs and teams.
I went into my own draft day with high hopes, as I'm sure every player does. I was predicted as high as the third tight end taken, down to as low as the sixth or seventh. These predictions put me anywhere from the middle of the second round to anywhere in the fourth. As any player would have, I expected it would be somewhere in the second round. High hopes are more fun.
I made it casually through the morning before the start of the draft. No chance I was getting taken in the first round, so my plans were to go golfing and wait for a phone call. I figured a little golf was much more relaxing. As it turned out golfing on a Saturday in Logan, Utah is a popular event. I made the rounds to four different courses, striking out at all of them. If the first round could have been Sunday it would have worked out great for me. No Mormons golf on Sunday, I would have had the course to myself.
Since golf didn't work out, I did nothing. Waiting around to get drafted felt almost like running on a treadmill. I was helpless to do anything but sit and stare at the clock and wait for it to be over. A parade of naked women could have run through the living room and my eyes would have never left the TV.
Toward the end of the second round my mind was running wild with scenarios. Maybe San Francisco would take me. I would love to play for the Broncos. I was even ready to settle for Detroit. As a matter of fact I didn't care where, just now!
My mind drifted back to a trip to visit the Cowboys. Everything was great until I made my way into Bill Parcell's office. After sitting down, the first words out of his mouth were, "I'll be honest, the reason you're here is because we like you as a special teams player. I don't think you'll ever be a starter in the league. We're thinking about taking you around the sixth round." I'm a pretty confident guy, so I walked out of the office with my head high. I did a great job and blocked out the trip, but by the middle of round three I was dying.
Two months earlier I got my first cell phone. Yeah, 2004 and Chris Cooley finally has a cell phone. The problem wasn't that I had a phone, the problem was the service. I couldn't keep more than one bar in the corner of the phone, and I was starting to believe that I must have been missing calls. I had spent the last four hours glued to the screen, but had to drag myself outside to at least see if I got a message from someone. By the time my foot hovered over the bottom stair of the front porch the house erupted. The cheering couldn't be mistaken, but I had still never received a phone call.
Eighty-first pick to the Washington Redskins and I could have never felt more relieved. I remember thinking why hasn't the team called me? It was a perfect thought as my little brother turned to me and said, "Oh yeah, some guy is on hold for ya, he's only been on hold for a couple minutes." I took the phone and Joe Gibbs says, "I hope you want to be a Redskin, we had to trade up for you." Joe Gibbs! A Hall of Fame coach wanted to trade up for me.
One of the most important factors in the NFL draft might be how a player matches a team. Becoming a Redskin couldn't have been a better fit for me.� I have been given every opportunity to succeed and have always worked to make the best of them. With all the things I have accomplished in my short career, draft day�will always be one of my best memories.
Chris Cooley is a Pro Bowl tight end for the Redskins and blogs every Wednesday here on Shutdown Corner. Read more from Cooley on his personal blog, where he gets awesome all the time.
New York Jets tight end Chris Baker, disgruntled with his contract status and management's apparent refusal to renegotiate, has left the team's offseason strength and conditioning program in protest, The New York Post�reported.
Baker, who's fresh off the best season of his career, having caught 41 passes and become more of a focal point in the Jets' offense, has two years remaining on his $6.6 million contract and he's clearly underpaid by NFL starting tight end standards. Without attempting to make any significant waves, the 28-year-old Baker spoke after the 2007 season about his desire to sign a new deal that would pay him more fairly and keep him in his native New York for the rest of his career.
"Hopefully, we'll get something done," Baker said the day after the season.
I assume that some team will take a flyer on the recently-released Shaun Alexander, provided that he's willing to play for something near the veteran minimum. So we probably haven't seen the last of him.
Still, that's no reason we can't pause to reflect on his career with the Seahawks. And what better way to do that than with a brutal song that will firmly lodge itself in your head all day long, and may eventually cause you to ram a steak knife through your ear, so that you might stop thinking about it for even one second.
Sorry I had to do that to you. But if I'm suffering, you're all going to suffer, too.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones acknowledged Tuesday he has asked another team about the availability of a veteran wideout according to the San Antonio Express-News.
"I wouldn't give who it was, but the answer is yes, we have talked (with another team)" Jones told reporters in Irving. "I wouldn't give you a time frame on it either, if you're talking the last week or the last few days. But certainly since (the start) of the offseason."
With Terry Glenn's status for next season uncertain, the Cowboys are in the market for a receiver to take pressure off Terrell Owens. Speaking at a news conference to discuss the draft, Jones said the first round Saturday wouldn't yield such a player. Jones emphatically denied that he's talked to Cincinnati about the availability of disgruntled receiver Chad Johnson, who is threatening to sit out the season if he doesn't get a new contract. ESPN reported this week that the Bengals informed Washington, which was offering its first-round pick (No. 21) and a conditional third-rounder in 2009, that Johnson wasn't available. Arizona's Anquan Boldin and Detroit's Roy Williams are other veteran receivers the Cowboys could be eyeing.
Bill Parcells had a Tuesday deadline to get "Quote Machine" Jake Long signed to a deal, or he would've moved on with the same offer to defensive end Chris Long of Virginia. That's according to Chris Mortensen, who attributes it to Dolphins team sources.
Wrote Mort:
Bill Parcells, the vice president of football operations for the Dolphins, had set an internal deadline of Tuesday to get the deal done or he would have turned to Virginia defensive end Chris Long, according to team sources.
Parcells even sent a letter on Monday to Jake Long's representatives -- Tom Condon and Ben Dogra of Creative Artists Agency -- suggesting Parcells would have to move on if the deal didn't come to a conclusion.
That sounds like a very Bill Parcells-ish thing to do. "If you want to be the #1 overall pick, you'll have to agree to our terms by Tuesday, or you can go stuff it, mister, because I am in charge here, and not you." That sort of approach has worked pretty well for him through his career thus far.
I don't think I buy it, though. I'm not saying I don't believe Mortensen, I'm saying I think Parcells was full of dolphin excrement.
If you've identified one guy that you think is the best player in the draft, then that's the guy you draft, right? Would Parcells really have taken a lesser player, just because someone wouldn't give in to his tough-guy act? That's cutting off the nose to spite the face, right?
I know you'd like to twist and contort everyone to the uncomfortable pose of your choice, Bill, but if you can't, you're just going to have to figure something else out. I don't think Parcells is petty enough to cost himself the best player in the draft, just because he felt like setting some arbitrary "I'm just doing this so you know I'm the boss" kind of deadline.
Instead, it's Bill Parcells spending the top overall pick on an offensive tackle from Michigan and doing it four days before the draft is conducted, which virtually eliminates the possibility of another team making a late trade offer.
This, of course, is more than acceptable. It's commendable. It's Big Tuna commencing what promises to be an impressive haul. Such is the power of Parcells, and I have no argument with it. Between him and head coach Tony Sparano, a former offensive line coach, Long's potential will be stretched to the limit.
As it turns out, the Atlanta Falcons have gotten calls from teams interested in moving up to No.3 in this weekend's NFL draft according to Profootballtalk.com.
The Saints are believed to be hoping to move up in an effort to land LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey. They currently hold the 10th overall pick in the draft.
The source said "there's a very good chance" Long already will be under contract as the No. 1 pick before the NFL Draft begins at 3 p.m. Saturday at Radio City Music Hall in New York. The source dismissed prior reports that the Dolphins had issued a deadline for Long to sign so that they could move on to negotiate with other possible candidates if necessary. The source also said the�Dolphins have not negotiated with any other players.
The Dolphins declined to comment. A call to Long's agent, Tom Condon, was not immediately returned.
Police said Arvin Kenti Edwards, of Renton, Wash., used go-betweens to reach Jones, who paid $15,000 over several installments to various people after the shooting.
Three people were shot - including Long Islander Tommy Urbanski, who was paralyzed from the waist down — after a melee at the Minxx strip club during the NBA All-Star Weekend in February 2007, Jones had been at the club earlier that night.
Packers could take a quaterback in the first round Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson won't pass up a worthwhile passer in this weekend's NFL draft. And if the Packers end up taking a quarterback with the 30th pick in the first round, Thompson said it shouldn't be interpreted as a lack of confidence in new starter Aaron Rodgers.
"If we take a player at any other position, it's no slight on the players that we have at those positions," Thompson said in his pre-draft news conference Monday. "Aaron, he's comfortable in his own skin. He understands the NFL is the NFL."
Rodgers, the Packers' first-round pick in 2005, finally gets his chance to start next season now that Brett Favre has retired -- presumably for good. Thompson said that won't change, even if the Packers draft a quarterback early.
NFL teams seeking a potentially dominant defensive lineman atop this year's draft know it all comes down to the three Ds. Dorsey. Doctors. Durability.
Based on pure talent, production, and intangibles, Louisiana State's Glenn Dorsey is widely considered a slam-dunk choice, certainly worthy of being the No. 1 overall pick. Yet as is often the case, it isn't that simple.
Teams thinking of drafting Dorsey must put faith in their doctors because of his medical history — primarily a stress fracture in his right leg and a right knee sprain. The injuries never sidelined Dorsey during his four-year collegiate career, but they have become a concern to teams that might invest such riches in a potential top-five draft pick. It's one thing to play through those injuries in college, but the physical toll of the NFL is that much greater, so correctly evaluating Dorsey's health — and potential durability — is what clubs at the top of the draft are grappling with.
Keith, upon being arrested: 'I'm a Colts player' Colts running back Kenton Keith was out of jail Monday after being arrested for refusing to leave a nightclub parking lot and yelling at officers that he was a Colts player who had done nothing wrong, police said. Officers working security tried to clear a crowd from the parking lot of the Cloud 9 club after it closed at 3 a.m. Sunday. The 27-year-old Keith and several others refused to leave and were laughing, dancing and joking, police said.
Reading it felt a little like watching Best in Show, a Christopher Guest mockumentary that looks real, but is, in actuality, actors poking a little fun at the culture depicted; in that case, dog show people. Here, I couldn't tell if it was really a story about a "Oh no, Brett Favre has retired, and my life will never by the same" kind of guy, or a mockery of that kind of guy.
If you're a young filmmaker, I think there's a documentary to be made about situations like this one. It's too crazy to be mocked or spoofed, like that one about the guy who loved bears (actual bears, not the Chicago Bears) so much that one ate him.
Days later, however, our TV remained stuck on sports channels giving all angles of the retirement story. Once, when I urgently needed to watch "Lost," Joe was fixed to the TV — it was Favre, again, choking up about leaving football.
Favre's eyes were as red as my husband's. And the look on Joe's face said something sad was happening on television. (Anybody remember the first episode of "Little House On the Prairie," when the Ingalls' dog almost drowned? Like that time; Joe was crying.)
I gingerly asked if what he was watching would go on long. "Oh," he said, wiping away a tear, "this is taped."
Yikes. And another:
Was I sad for the Packers and the games Joe would miss? No. I was calculating the money we'd save. Money once devoted to Joe's love life. No more Prime Ticket on Direct TV; no more trips to Green Bay. We'd even save on the Packers gear Joe insisted our entire family wear during the season.
Our daughter needs braces and more riding lessons. The older kids would be in therapy for years, what with the absence of their dad due to football.
Thank goodness Favre retired when he did. People must've been getting sick of looking at this guy's daughter, with her Favre jersey and gooned-up teeth.
And this is a family in southern California. Imagine the carnival of freakish behavior going on in Wisconsin right now. Marriages and families have actually been brought back together by the retirement of Brett Favre. It's up to you, Aaron Rogers, to tear those apart again.
I've never been one to post seemingly random trade rumors, but it's the week of the draft, this one's fun, and it at least has a source. So we'll roll with it.
There's video of his report, but I'm going to opt to just give you the quote, because I don't think many of you are interested in what Lee, the mustached car-salesman at Infiniti of West Chester, has to say.
Here you go:
"Talked to Mike Quick today. The Eagles are going to do something this week, when it comes to the draft, they're going to make a move after a wide receiver. I don't know whether they're going to be successful or not, but they're going to be going, and the word is that Roy Williams is going to be one of the guys that they're targeting. Trying to get a deal done. The Lions are holding out trying to get everything they can, but we'll see what happens."
Cobb also breaks the news that many Eagles fans are desperate for female companionship. I can't imagine why that would be so, and I don't believe it.
PFT says that the Redskins and Cowboys are also bidding for Williams, which would mean that 75% of NFC East's teams are in on this. That would seem to put Lions GM Matt Millen in an advantageous negotiating position ... at least, it would, if he wasn't Matt Millen.
Smith to Jarrett: 'You're here to play football' Steve Smith wants Carolina Panthers teammate Dwayne Jarrett to get his act together. Carolina's three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver was asked Monday if the embattled Jarrett was due for a coming-out party after his disappointing rookie season was followed by an offseason charge of driving by impaired. "You know, the party session is actually over. This is the NFL," Smith said. "You make plays. You're here to play football.
Vital draft body parts: Glenn Dorsey's right leg The only thing you can count on in the days leading up to the NFL draft is that everyone's lying. Teams lie about who they want, players lie about past injuries, GMs lie about non-existent trade offers, and agents lie about everything. I lie to you three or four times daily right here (that was a lie).
So I don't know what we should believe about Glenn Dorsey's leg. Mr. X-ray machine is probably not lying about the dark spot on the X-ray, and some GMs are concerned about it, according to STLtoday.com. Dorsey says he suffered a stress fracture there in his junior year when he banged it against something in the weight room, but that he played two years with the injury, and it never bothered him.
He also suffered a sprain of the right knee last year, but again, he never missed a game, and says it's not an issue. Backing Dorsey up on this are the Nagurski (best defensive player), Lombardi (best lineman or linebacker), and Outland (best interior lineman) awards on his mantle.
Two things concern me about Dorsey. One, it's a stress fracture, and Dorsey says he suffered it while banging into something in the weight room. That's not what a stress fracture is. Stress fractures are caused by repetitive motions.
And two, there were too many times last year where Dorsey went for long stretches of a game being pretty blockable. He made as many spectacular, eye-popping plays as any defensive lineman you can mention, but there were also a lot of times when he'd disappear for a good stretch of the game.
But he's got nearly ideal measurables, and the leg has passed every test it's been put through, so there's still a very good chance he'll be taken in the top three. I certainly don't think he'll slide out of the top ten. But his leg is going to be key in how the top of the draft shakes out.
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Eighty-first pick to the 
Bill Parcells had a Tuesday deadline to get "
As I read 
I've never been one to post seemingly random trade rumors, but it's the week of the draft, this one's fun, and it at least has a source. So we'll roll with it.
The only thing you can count on in the days leading up to the NFL draft is that everyone's lying. Teams lie about who they want, players lie about past injuries, GMs lie about non-existent trade offers, and agents lie about everything. I lie to you three or four times daily right here (that was a lie). 
