The NFL’s One Hit Wonders: Single Season & Super Bowl Outliers…With Songs To Match

Christian Okoye

[Editor's note: This was originally posted back in January, but it got lost in the Super Bowl shuffle. Keith did a great job on it though, so we're cycling it back to the front of the site for those of you who missed it.]

You know how sometimes when you hear a one-hit wonder song on the radio or on the jukebox at a bar, it makes you think of a certain time in your life and all of the memories of that time come flooding back?

For some reason, those songs resonate.  They are the songs that everyone knows the words to, even if they are embarrassed to admit it.  The best one-hit wonders activate that mental and emotional time machine in a person.

Sports do the same thing for me.  I tie events in my life to notable sports players and seasons.

[Read more...]

Fantasy Football Thanksgiving Day Start Em, Sit Em Lineup Advice, Projections, and Roster Q&A

torrey-smith-fantasy-football-thanksgiving-day-start-em-sit-em

Jon will have the overall Week 12 start/sit post ready to go for tomorrow morning, but with three games on Thanksgiving Thursday I thought it might be helpful to do a special start/sit column for those games.

So in this post I’ll do just that, providing analysis and recommendations for the key players you need to decide on before Turkey Day.
[Read more...]

Fantasy Football Week 10 Waiver Wire Advice and Pickups

laurent-robinson-fantasy-football-week-9-waiver-wire-pickups

Update: Our Week 10 start em, sit em advice is posted, and this week’s post includes an opportunity for one MSF reader to win free NFL tickets. Make sure you check it out after you finish going through the waiver pickups.

There are no teams on bye in Week 10, but don’t let that lull you into a false sense of security.

The Texans, Colts, Saints, and Steelers are all on bye in Week 11, which means a lot of fantasy firepower will be sitting on benches during one of the final weekends of playoff positioning.

Don’t get caught snoozing; take this opportunity not just to improve your lineup for Week 10 but also to plan ahead for any lineup vacancies impending next week.

[Read more...]

Fantasy Football Week 8 Injury Updates on Hillis, Johnson, Green-Ellis, Tolbert, Stafford, Wells, and more

matthew-stafford-fantasy-football-week-8-injuries

So I’m going to be honest with you…I’ve kind of been focused on baseball this week. Don’t worry. I didn’t completely forget about football thought.

Here’s your injury update for week 8!

[Read more...]

Fantasy Football Week 8 Stock Report: Battle, Braylon UP; Murray, DJax DOWN

jackie-battle-fantasy-football-week-8-stock-report-jackie-battle

Did you know that every team that is on a bye this week has a winning record?  I’m not sure if that has ever happened before but I’ll send John Clayton an email and see what he says. One of those teams on the bye, the Bears, has a running back that has two labels thrown at him. Is Matt Forte underrated or undervalued?  He may be both. The Bears front office better figure it out soon.

Now for this week we have some interesting picks for you, but a lot of them are on the down side of the stock.  I had one person ask me how I could have DeMarco Murray down this week after his big game last week; easy.  Just look at Adrian Peterson’s stats after he set the NFL record for yards in a game.  Stay here: he scored 5 points.

We have a special treat for you in this installment of the stock report: kickers, tricks and more.

[Read more...]

Photo Story: Braylon Edwards Prepares for his Return to Cleveland

braylon-edwards-drop

So, how is Braylon Edwards preparing for his return to Cleveland this weekend? Not surprisingly, by further alienating the fans of Cleveland that he spent almost all of his time in Cleveland alienating.

The latest is this quote, in the New York Post:

“I go in there and he told me that he traded me to the New York Jets and I couldn’t show how excited I was at the time, because I thought it would be unprofessional to do a dance in his office. When he told me that, I couldn’t get out of Berea [Ohio, where the Browns train] fast enough.”

Well guess what, Braylon? You aren’t the only one who was ready to dance when it was announced that you were leaving Cleveland. I seem to remember an entire fan base that was overjoyed with the news.

And in case you forgot, the Browns won their final four games last year…without you. Something tells me Eric Mangini probably would have done the fox trot with you right out to your car.

So, since Braylon Edwards is my least favorite athlete in any sport, I decided to honor his return to Cleveland in the most disrespectful and unwelcoming way I can think of: with a mocking photo story here on MSF.

[Read more...]

MNF Preview and Prediction: Minnesota Vikings (1-2) at New York Jets (3-1)

giants-redskins-spread-pick-prediction-monday-night-football-washington-new-yorkEditor’s Note: Griffin Gotta’s weekly MNF coverage on MSF is sponsored for the second straight year by Sadler’s Smokehouse, a producer of premium pit smoked meats that are best described by Sadler’s slogan: Legendary since 1948.

Sadler’s premium meats are perfect for tailgating on Saturday, for grilling out at home on Sunday, or for when you are hosting a group of friends, or even just the family, on Monday night.

With a variety of delicious choices (beef, pork, ribs, turkey, brisket, and more) and availability at grocery stores throughout the U.S., Sadler’s meats are the tasty, convenient choice when you want to watch the big game and eat well while you’re doing it.

Visit the Sadler’s Smokehouse website: Sadler’s Smokehouse

——————–

When the Vikings take the field Monday night, it will have been two full weeks since we’ve last seen them. If any team needed the time off, it was Minnesota. Injuries, execution and ambivalent emotions – they had all been problems for the Vikes before the bye week hit; a little bit of regrouping was in order.

But they will need that refresh button they tried to hit over the break to take effect right away, because the New York Jets are rolling into this one.

[Read more...]

A call for mandatory, immediate DUI suspensions

braylon-edwards-ronnie-brown-mugshot

Have we lost all perspective?

In the aftermath of the Jets’ victory over the Dolphins last night – a victory they very well might not have achieved without the services of confirmed drunk driver Braylon Edwards – I have been both shocked and appalled at the way Edwards is being glorified. One example is this article by Gregg Doyel, whose myopic take here really disappointed me, but who also reminded me that Edwards is not the only player to recently get picked up for a DUI.

And let me state something right off the bat: this post has nothing to do with my personal, well-known disdain for Braylon Edwards, as you’ll soon see.

Perhaps my distaste for how this story is being covered has been more acute because I can’t stand Edwards, but the general idea of this post is not influenced by Braylon and his underachieving, megalomaniacal “New York essence” one bit. And I mean that. I wouldn’t address a topic of such gravitas if my underlying motivation were so petty.

Here’s the thing: Edwards isn’t the only player who should not have played last night. I don’t think Edwards nor Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown – another confirmed drunk driver, but whose transgression occurred during the offseason – should have been on the field last night; and Brown is one of my favorite NFL players, a guy whose jersey I own and proudly wear sometimes on gamedays.

Both Brown, a guy I like, and Edwards, a guy I loathe, should have been suspended for at least four games for their transgressions. That’s right. If Brian Cushing and others can be suspended for failing a test for performance-enhancing drugs, a crime against only the integrity of NFL competition, then Edwards and Brown should be suspended for just as long, if not moreso, for a crime again the integrity of human life.

[Read more...]

The Pathetic Saga of Braylon Edwards: Drops, Delusions, Disorders, and Laughable Beards

braylon-edwards-beard

I don’t have an especially long sports hate list, but I do feel an especially strong sense of rancor towards each person/team on it. (And for the record, that list includes, but is not necessarily limited to: Jay Mariotti; the Chicago Cubs; Purdue University; Ben Roethlisberger; Roger Clemens; and, of course, John Calipari.)

And then there is Braylon Edwards, who has slowly but surely nudged his way ever so close to the Throne of Sports Hate that currently features Mariotti and Calipari engaged in an unnecessary but  lurid embrace.

Well, Braylon once again could not resist making a petty turd out of himself, with his latest display of douchebaggery involving Dropsie taking yet another unnecessary shot at the city of Cleveland.

Since I understand my own limitations and have an ounce of humility, unlike Braylon, I will do what I do best (find goofy pictures of athletes) while letting a couple of Cleveland’s finest bloggers break down a man whose arrogance and sense of entitlement continue to astound me.

[Read more...]

NFL Draft: Potential vs. Production

wes-welker-fantasy-football-week-8-player-rankings

Everyone who is not a general manager of a professional team wishes they were a GM, regardless of the sport. This is probably the most agreed upon thing in sports. That is why fantasy sports are (basically) the most popular thing in the world.

I know for sure that I have thought and will continue to think that I can assemble a team better than some GMs out there.

My favorite time to pretend I am a GM is when the NFL Draft rolls around. Most people who have a favorite team, in my case the Minnesota Vikings (sad, yes I know), have an opinion for what area said team needs to improve whether it is for talent or personal reasons.

Today’s topic, however, has nothing to do with who the Vikings should draft. As long as it is a quality pick and they don’t reach for a project pick who is then rushed along without proper development (See: Jackson, Tarvaris), I don’t mind who they pick.

Rather, let us take a look at something more general, and one the biggest yearly debates and uncertainties of the NFL Draft: the debate of production vs. potential.

[Read more...]

Tuesday Link Dump: Brett Favre is Different Than Us but Braylon Edwards is Just a Tool

The link dump is getting posted early today, as I have some non-sports blogging stuff to attend to this afternoon. Still, if Brett Favre decides to retire after lunch, I promise I’ll be ready with a quick post.

And speaking of Brett Favre, want to know the top 10 differences between him and us? Click on through. You can also find more reasons, as if you needed them, for why Braylon Edwards is a self-serving tool.

Also, go find the Foot Locker link in the NBA section. It’ll take you to a badass online 3-point shooting contest that is sure to make your afternoon unproductive (at least in terms of, you know, work.)

Have a great Tuesday everyone.

[Read more...]

Tuesday Link Dump: Braylon “Dropsie” Edwards Doing What He Does Best

Featured in today’s link dump is MSF’s all-time favorite whipping boy: Braylon “Dropsie” Edwards, who is immortalized in a post by Major League Jerk doing what Braylon does best…dropping passes.

Also, Charles Woodson is named AP DOY, why the best dunkers in college basketball seem to come from the small conferences, and a link to poll where you can choose the best Conan O’Brien lookalike.

[Read more...]

Video: Braylon Edwards Drops TD Pass, Blames Lights

video-braylon-edwards-drop

Last night, Braylon Edwards dropped a wide open bomb from QB Mark Sanchez that likely would have gone for a touchdown. If you are like me and don’t get the NFL Network, you might not have seen it yet.

Browns fans, this will look oh-so-familiar. (Video after jump.)

After the game, Braylon immediately took to Twitter to offer up an excuse for his drop:

Great team win. Note to self “the lights in Rogers center arena are extremely bright” man I didn’t see that first bomb.

[Read more...]

Rhianna Does What Browns Should Have Done in 2005: Reject Braylon

braylon-edwards-rhianna

Speaking metaphorically, one could describe the 2005 pre-draft process by saying that Braylon Edwards and his agent sent a bottle of champagne to the Browns’ table, which the organization accepted by way of drafting him.

Now Browns fans are left to wonder why their franchise couldn’t have had the foresight and good judgment of Rhianna.

According to The New York Post, Rhianna recently rejected similar bubbly overtures from Browns fans’ favorite butter-fingered wide receiver:

[Read more...]

Throwing a (Dawg) Bone to Eric Mangini

eric-mangini

I’d been thinking about writing this post for the past week or so.

And after reading this on PFT this morning, I decided the time was right to at least try throwing a bone to embattled Browns coach Eric Mangini.

I figure if I don’t point out the positives now, before the rare glow of the team’s first victory fades into what I assume will be the overall blackness of our experience in Heinz Field this weekend, I might never get around to it. 

[Read more...]