The NFL betting odds for this week’s matchup between NFC North rivals Minnesota and Green Bay has the Packers as a favorite at home, and all eyes will be on Brett Favre, who is making his return to Lambeau Field, but this time as a Viking, which may bring some boos (and more) from Packer fans.
1. 49ers Barking Up the Right (Crab) Tree
Finally, early on Wednesday morning, the 49ers and first round draft pick Michael Crabtree agreed to a deal that will get the WR on the field. The deal was worth $32 million over 6 years with $17 million guaranteed and up to $8 million in additional incentives.
If Crabtree makes the Pro Bowl in two of his first five years, the contract is void after 5 years.
I’ll Tell You This:
I’ve been begging the 49ers for weeks to just get this deal done, and now they have.
The team is already 3-1 without Crabtree and have been my NFC dark-horse since the beginning of the season. Now with Crabtree inked and Gore coming back to the line-up soon, this team moves officially into my “Contender” category.
Editor’s Note: AJ Kaufman’s weekly MNF coverage on MSF is sponsored 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.
Check out Sadler’s Monday Night Football Recipe of the Week: Sadler’s Smokehouse Baked Beans
Each week, you can also listen to the MSF Monday Night Football Podcast, brought to you by Sadler’s. Follow the link to listen to the MSF Podcast on iTunes, or use the in-page player below to listen while you read.
Panthers-Cowboys MNF Preview Podcast presented by Sadler’s
(FYI…audio player may take a second or two to load)
Another day, another video to share with you that I found on Hot Clicks.
The video below features a song by the band The Replicates and chronicles the inspiring tale of a jilted fan base that has had to move on from the most beloved object of its affection and learn how to love someone new.
The fan base in question is the Green Bay Packers, the beloved object of its affection now gone is, of course, Brett Favre, and the man they are moving onto is none other than Scott Stapp Aaron Rogers.
It’s a pretty clever video (after the jump), although they certainly don’t think much of the Packers’ defense.
As I sat in the Edward Jones Dome Sunday afternoon and watched the Green Bay Packers beat the hapless St. Louis Rams, I couldn’t stop a wandering eye from glancing up at the far side of the building.
There on the ring of honor, beside Rams greats like Marshall Faulk and Merlin Olsen, and other St. Louis football icons like Dan Dierdorf, were digital displays providing scores and stats from around the league.
Packers fans delighted in seeing the Minnesota Vikings trailing San Francisco late at home. Former Packers quarterback Brett Favre was having a yeoman’s day, completing 50 percent of his passes for a pedestrian 221 yards.
At the same time inside the Edward Jones Dome, new Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was hitting big plays to Donald Driver and Greg Jennings, and leading the Packers to a 36-17 win.
Rodgers had a sparkling passer rating of 126.9 by virtue of his 13-for-23 day with 269 passing yards and touchdown tosses to Driver and fullback John Kuhn. Rodgers also ran for a score, and picked up another 38 yards with his legs.
What the thousands of Packers fans in St. Louis were unable to see was the switch in Favre’s head they had grown so accustomed to seeing for 16 seasons get flipped.
Wow.
Trailing 24-20 in the 4th quarter to the San Francisco 49ers, Brett Favre showed everyone why the Vikings were willing to bend over backwards to bring him in as their QB for 2009.
Here’s why:
I can’t wait for tomorrow.
The first game of any season is always exciting. There have been no losses yet, no unfulfilled potential, and no bitter taste on the tip of the tongue still stinging from the week before.
It’s a bitter, noxious taste that Browns fans are unfortunately quite familiar with and one that we were forced to choke down on a regular basis last year.
What made 2008 such an exceptionally bad season was the fact that the Browns’ surprising run to 10-6 in 2007 had raised everyone’s hopes and turned them into expectations.
When hopes get trampled, it is easier to accept it and move on. It was just a hope, a wish, right?
There is always a recognized chance that a hope might not come to fruition, thus somewhere in the back of your mind, and in your heart, you are always somewhat prepared for a hope to fall short.
But when expectations are not met, it is crushing.
A deeper layer of vulnerability is exposed when hopes and wishes are transformed into full-fledged expectations. 2008 was a season that started with what now seem like absurdly high expectations for the Browns, but at the time they seemed perfectly reasonable. That is why the taste was all the more bitter when the team fell so egregiously short of fulfilling the expectations.
And now, here we are on the eve of 2009’s commencing kickoff with little to no idea of what to expect from the 2009 Browns. In 2007 we were supposed to be terrible and went 10-6. In 2008 we were supposed to be great and went 4-12. In 2009 we are supposed to be terrible again…
…and based on the experiences of the last two years, all it means is that we could be really good or really bad and no one would really be surprised.
So, on the preemptive bright side, at least there are no soaring expectations that could precipitate a painful fall like last year. But there also seems to be a glaring lack of hope as well, especially for a team in a league that saw 2007 doormats Miami and Atlanta make the playoffs last year.
I, for one, am actually relatively hopeful about the 2009 Browns.
If anything else, the complete lack of knowledge regarding what we will see on the field this year makes the season seem intriguing. There is a new front office leadership team, a new coach, a semi-new quarterback, several new players including some promising rookies, and a fresh 0-0 record all presaging, if nothing else, a new experience in 2009.
Unfortunately, there is also the history of disappointment that has defined the Browns franchise; a history of doom, gloom, and frustration that the franchise and its fans cannot seem to escape.
I have done my best to turn the plethora of 2009 unknowns into positives, writing a few weeks back that SI’s Peter King will regret predicting a 2-14 finish for the Browns. Some Browns fans have jumped on my bandwagon of hope, as evidenced by the comment thread of this Plain-Dealer story in which a commenter by the name of “dawgmatist” linked to my article with the following statement:
For those of you (myself included) who will be relying more so on HOPE, rather then EXPECTATIONS this season, here’s a good article I’ve kept and refer to from time to time to help give my spirits a little boost as we approach our season.
And for the most part, I believe what I’m saying.
Eric Mangini has proven he can turn a team around in one season. Braylon Edwards and Kamerion Wimbley are talented enough to become the stars Cleveland needs to anchor its offense and defense. And the addition of James Davis plus an increased role for Jerome Harrison should make the Browns more proficient at running the football.
So…if I’m so excited, you may ask, why in the hell did it take me this long to get my Browns Week 1 preview and prediction up?
And the forthright answer is that, despite my overall optimism for 2009, I am not at all hopeful about this Sunday’s matchup with Minnesota. I didn’t want to face such disappointing thoughts until it was absolutely necessary.
Right now, the 2009 Browns season is like an early winter morning after a fresh powdering of snow. Everything looks fresh, clean, and pure. There is a chance that school or even work could be canceled. The perfection of the moment has yet to be disturbed.
But at some point, the snow will start to melt, cars will have rendered the streets sloshy and nasty, and the underlying and forgotten about ice might have made the roads unable to be driven on. Eventually you realize that the seemingly lovely blanket of snow is actually nothing but a nuisance that will wreak havoc on your day.
I’ve avoided this preview because I already know that once I’ve finish writing it, the figurative fresh snow of 2009 will have already begun to melt.
Before I delve into the three reasons why the Browns could win on Sunday, and the three reasons why they won’t, here are the particulars to get you ready for Sunday:
Minnesota Vikings (0-0) at Cleveland Browns (0-0)
And now, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of the matchup analysis, getting the negative stuff out of the way first.
Three Reasons Why the Browns DON’T Have a Chance to Beat the Vikings on Sunday
1 – The Vikings running attack seemingly can’t be stopped and the Browns cannot stop the run
This is the A+/#1 reason why I see the Browns really struggling to even keep Sunday’s game close. All you need to do is look at the numbers from 2007 and 2008, as they tell the story:
2008:
2007:
Behind Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor, Minnesota will be able to control the game and the clock on the ground. I hope that the Browns are better against the run this year, but this is a hell of a team to find out against. If the Vikings run for less than 150 yards, I will be surprised.
And it’s hard to win games when you give up that much on the ground.
2 – The Vikings are terrific at stopping the run, while the Browns struggle to establish a ground attack
The Vikings running for 150 yards wouldn’t be such a big deal if I felt the Browns had a chance to churn out 125-130 yards of their own on the ground. That would help balance out the clock domination and keep the pressure off of Brady Quinn, who is making his first ever opening week start as the top tog on the depth chart.
While I am hopeful that the Browns’ running attack will be better this year, it wouldn’t really take much based on our ground “success” from last season. Once again, the stats explain this expected Sunday mismatch better than I ever could:
2008:
2007:
There was a little bit of hope when it looked like the “Williams Wall” might not be eligible to start the season. However, both of the Williams boys will be out there, meaning a whole lot of 1- and 2-yard clouds of dust on Sunday, and probably a lot of 3-and-outs because of it.
3 – The team with better players and more stars wins most of the time
This is a truth of sports that you could try to argue with, but you would have absolutely no statistical nor empirical foundation upon which to argue.
And on Sunday, the team with the better roster will be on the sideline opposite my boys in brown.
If we stacked these two lists on a scale, it might tip over and fall towards the direction of Minnesota, and not because of the girth of the Williams boys.
The Browns have improved their roster over the last few years, and have more talent than they are given credit for or showed last year, but have a ways to go to be on par with Minnesota.
Okay, now it’s time to transition from the negative to the semi-positive.
I’ll end the suspense right now, in case you were even still wondering: I am predicting Minnesota to win this game, and to cover the 4-point spread. You can scroll down right now if you don’t believe me.
But the phrase “any given Sunday” is the most famous NFL cliche of them all for a reason, and the Browns winning a season-opening game over the Vikings in Cleveland would be far from the biggest upset in NFL history. If it happens, who knows, it might not even be the biggest upset of the day.
It’s just highly, highly unlikely.
But let’s assume the optimistic hypothetical for a moment, just for the sake of argument and for the sake of furthering what few semblances of hope we as Browns fans can cling to heading into kickoff tomorrow. What follows are three reasons (plus an obvious fourth) why the Browns could win.
And if they do end up winning, I can almost guarantee that all three of these things occur (especially the first one!).
Three Reasons Why the Browns DO Have a Chance to Beat the Vikings on Sunday
1 – Home field advantage
Here is some interesting reading for you stat geeks out there (you know, people like me): NFL Home Field Advantage and Team Strength, from Advanced NFL Stats. The post analyzes the varying effect of home field advantage between evenly matched teams and mismatched teams. The scope of the study is the 2002-2006 NFL seasons.
What the study found is that the overall percentage of games won by the home team is 57%. For teams that end up with the same record, and are therefore “evenly matched,” the percentage rises to 63%. Conversely, the home field advantage is reduced to 53% for “mismatched” teams.
Here is what I take from this, if we assume that the Super Bowl-contending Vikings and my beloved but undermanned Browns are, indeed, a mismatch: there is still a 53% chance that the Browns come away victorious.
Hey, I said this section was reasons why the Browns do have a chance. I’d say this quick statistical citation qualifies.
(See, I guaranteed that if the Browns would win, the first reason would almost surely occur. Well, no matter what happens, the game is being played at Cleveland Browns stadium, so I’m right!)
2 – The Browns’ porous 2008 rushing attack could improve to a level closer to 2007’s competence
As stated above, I have little confidence that the Browns will be able to run on Minnesota or stop the Vikings’ rushing attack. To win the game, they will have to at least exceed my expectations in one area. With Adrian Peterson in the Vikings’ backfield, I see very little hope of the Browns containing the Vikings on the ground.
However, I do think there is a chance for the Browns’ backfield to come through with a solid day.
The main reason for this hope, no matter how small it may be, is that the Browns do have versatility, and even a little bit of explosiveness, in their backfield.
Now for a quick snap back to reality: the Vikings finished first in the NFL in rushing defense the last two years. Predicting that the Browns can break the century mark on the ground against Minnesota is foolhardy at best, and most likely requires some level of hopeful insanity.
Well, I am not predicting that it will happen. Yet, if James Davis and Jerome Harrison are used more than sparingly, and come to play, it could happen. And I believe that with the inexperienced Brady Quinn at QB and only one proven WR on the outside in Braylon Edwards, the Browns will need to approach or exceed 100 yards on the ground to win this game.
The Lewis-Davis-Harrison trio has intriguing potential, and they do have a decent offensive line to run behind. Maybe, just maybe, the Browns can defy the stats and the odds to produce adequately on the ground. If so, they will have a chance to control the ball, the clock, field position, and possibly put themselves in a position to win the game late.
3 – The Browns’ main defensive strength capitalizes on the Vikings’ main offensive weakness
I have already chronicled the Browns’ woes stopping the run. We also know that opposing QBs do not fear being taken to the ground, as the Browns accumulated only 17 sacks last year, tying for 30th in the NFL. For a little perspective, DeMarcus Ware of Dallas had 20 all by himself.
However, there is one thing that the Browns do well defensively: force turnovers, specifically interceptions. Only Baltimore (with 23) had more inceptions than the Browns’ 22 in 2008. And it wasn’t one player dominating the totals, as the Browns got INT contributions from everywhere on their defense.
Sean Jones is gone, so his four picks will have to be replaced, with former Jet Abram Elam stepping in as the guy trying to replace them. Elam had only one pick last season, but did return it 92 yards for a TD.
Update: Forgot to check the injury report before posting. Eric Wright is listed as questionable, with Hank Poteat slated to replace Wright if he cannot go. So…please EW…be ready to go.
Also, just so you don’t think I forgot, Bernard Berrian is also listed as questionable for Minnesota. While his absence would hurt Minnesota, I think this game will be decided on the ground, making Berrian’s inability to play somewhat negligible. But it does offer one less way for the Vikings to attack Cleveland should Berrian not be able to go, and obviously would help balance out Wright’s absence if he cannot go either.
Why is this such a positive, especially against the Vikings? Well, you may have heard that Brett Favre is now playing QB for Minnesota. And you also may know that he is the NFL’s all-time leader in virtually QB stat imaginable, including interceptions.
Last year, Favre tossed 22 completions to the other team, and there were only three games in which he did not throw a pick. For his career, Favre has thrown 310 INTs so surely he will gift wrap a few for McDonald, Wright, Pool, et al, right?
It depends on which Brett Favre we see.
He played very conservatively during the preseason, and understands the greatness that lines up behind him. Though it goes against his natural instincts, I am sure that Favre and the Minnesota coaches are committed to him playing a more safe, ball control, game manager brand of football than he is used to playing.
But can an old dog learn new tricks? Can a leopard change its spots? Can a Favre protect the football?
We’ll find out, but the historical evidence leads me to believe that there will be at least one or two balls there for the taking. If so, the Browns’ defenders have proven that they are capable of taking advantage.
Now the caveat: the Browns’ offense will have to take advantage of the turnovers, something that they couldn’t do last year. So we’ll see if that improves this season.
Regardless, I’m just looking for reasons the Browns could win. Forcing turnovers is certainly one reason that we can reasonably expect, and there is no way Cleveland comes away from Sunday victorious without them.
Before we move onto the prediction, I do also want to say that a fourth reason for hope is the presence of Joshua Cribbs. He is capable of changing a game with one kick return, one forced fumble covering a punt, or even in his new purportedly expanded role on offense. By now, Browns fans should understand that Cribbs’ superb ability is a given, so I didn’t list it as one of my three official reasons.
Okay, now for the moment I’ve been fearing and avoiding: a prediction for this Sunday’s Browns-Vikings game.
You already know that my caveat will be that I hope to be proven wrong. While there are a few legitimate reasons to believe that I will be, I take my prediction responsibilities seriously and try to pick with my head instead of my heart.
If I picked with my heart and dove completely into the lonely waters of Browns optimism, I’d go 17-14 Browns. However, my head says the Browns just aren’t good enough yet, even at home, to overcome Adrian Peterson and the Vikings.
So while I believe that 7-9 or 8-8 is realistically attainable for this year’s Browns, I just can’t see one of those 7 or 8 wins coming tomorrow.
Official Browns-Vikings prediction: Minnesota Vikings 27 | Cleveland Browns 13
And now, in the interests of ending this on a positive, please follow the link to my aforementioned ode to Browns hope in 2009. The Vikings are just not a good matchup for Cleveland, but an 0-1 start will not mean that hope is lost for a successful rebound season in 2009.
A few other previews from our friends around the Brownsosphere:
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* – Adrian Peterson photo credit: Bryan C Singer/Icon SMI via Lester’s Legends
* – Eric Wright photo credit: Tracy Boulian — Associated Press via Washington Post
Okay, as we wrap up another week in the sports world, a few quick hitters and then onto your daily link dump. Â
And, for the record, the pictures of Layla Kiffin (whose husband has a big debut coming up) are not gratuitous. Â As you will see, while she has nothing to do with LeGarrette Blount or Brett Favre, there is an interesting story about her at the top of the sports links.
First, updating a story that we covered in the wee hours of this morning, Oregon running back LeGarrette Blount has been suspended for the year after punching a Boise State player last night and nearly going into the stands after fans who were taunting him. My gut reaction is that it’s too much.  My rational reaction is that the kid has been in trouble before and there is a good chance that this was a “last straw” type thing.  Either way, I think the University of Oregon needs to take it upon itself not to take an “out of sight, out of mind” approach and make sure the kid gets help.
In related news, Todd McShay has spent an entire column stating the obvious: that Blount’s actions from last night will hurt his draft stock. What would we do with Todd McShay? Although, I am linking to him, so perhaps the joke’s on me.
And finally, the last quick-hitter, ancient and indecisive Vikings QB Brett Favre has been fined 10K for his chop block on Eugene Robinson. Favre thought about retiring when he received word about the fine, then decided against it, then realized his arm hurt and he missed his tractor, and then looked at himself in the mirror and marveled at how good he looked in his new Wranglers. Then he retired again. And then unretired. Then, presumably, he paid the fine.
(And yes, for the record, that is Layla Kiffin staring thoughtfully at me while podcasting. The photo might be doctored, and might have originally had Lane in it, but I will neither confirm nor deny this. Kudos again to KVB for making me look an idiot with cartoon headphones on. In honor of his hard work I try to post this picture whenever I can.)
And now onto the links!
Sports:
Non-Sports:
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* – First Layla Kiffin photo credit: GratisBay.com
* – Second Layla Kiffin photo credit: 3rd Saturday in Blogtober
[Editor's Note: This is the first of a new weekly series by Big MB called I'll Tell You This. MB loves to tell people things, and especially loves using that phrase when doing so, so this is a match made in sports blogging heaven. Have at it MB.]
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We are just over one week away from NFL kickoff 2009, less that a week from College Football, and coming down the stretch in Major League Baseball. Here are my top 5 stories for this week.
As the waiver deadline approaches the most active team seems to be the L.A. Dodgers, picking up White Sox slugger Jim Thome and Diamondbacks’ hurler Jon Garland. As of today the Dodgers hold a 5.5 game lead on Colorado, who also made a move trading for White Sox pitcher Jose Contreras.
I’ll tell you this: the Dodgers are putting together a team that will compete with the Yankees in the World Series. There is no doubt in my mind that the Dodgers are the team to beat in the National League, save for maybe (and this is painful for a Cub’s fan to admit) the Cardinals.
Brett Favre and Michael Vick have made their comebacks and the inevitable debates have followed.
In Minnesota, talk of team mutiny was rumored, some sources saying that the locker room was split. These rumors were put to bed quickly, but Viking Nation may see it differently. One Vikings fan was found to have a live goat in her trunk painted purple and gold.
Vick has also been met with equivalent praise and disapproval, with Donovan McNabb going on record saying that Vick’s presence and the style of play-calling involving Vick was “a gimmick†and a distraction from their game plan.
I’ll tell you this: Like it or not, the Vikings became a contender when they signed Favre. However, Vick brings quite the distraction both on and off of the field. It will be interesting to see, but if McNabb is already skeptical about Vick’s role, then that can’t be a good sign for the Eagles.
In what has been a tumultuous summer of violations in College Football, one last situation has raised its ugly head right before the season’s start.
This week some former and current players accused Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez and his staff of exceeding the NCAA’s practice guidelines and complained that the staff was over-working student athletes beyond the maximum weekly and daily hours limitations. Rodriguez responded with an emotional press conference, completely denying the allegations by saying that they were “miscommunications†and “just not true.â€
I’ll Tell You This: The Wolverines went 3-9 last year in Rodriguez’s first year at the helm. While it would not surprise me that these players were over-worked, I think the bigger issue is that, to save his job, Rodriguez has to find a way to bring Michigan back to being one of the premier teams in the NCAA.
With the NFL preseason coming to an end, injuries have already begun to raise their ugly heads at big-time positions for teams.
Patriots QB Tom Brady injured his shoulder when Redskins $100 million dollar man Albert Haynesworth crushed him in the second quarter of their game last week. The master of masking issues, Bill Belichick, down-played the injury saying that Brady would be ready for the regular season.
Brett Favre has said that he has a cracked rib, but played in the Vikings’ preseason game against Houston without any protection. Could it be that Favre is preparing an excuse for what might become a disappointing season?
Finally, all of Kansas City stopped breathing for about 24 hours when off-season acquisition QB Matt Cassel went down hard with a knee injury. At first the prognosis was 4-6 weeks, seemingly a finishing blow to KC before the season even started; however, now reports are saying that the MCL strain that Cassel suffered was minor and he would return to the lineup possibly sooner rather that later, maybe even for the season opener.
I’ll Tell You This: Nothing can kill a team’s season faster than an unexpected and unnecessary preseason injury. Hopefully all of the above stay healthy so we can watch as many teams battle it out for the playoffs at full strength as possible. A healthy NFL is a more fan-friendly NFL.
Adam “Pacman†Jones has returned to football. But this time it’s not in the NFL. It’s not even with the upstart AFL, which launches next month.Â
No, Pacman Jones is headed to the Canadian Football League. He has signed “in principal†a one year deal with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
I’ll tell you this: Who cares?
Apparently no-one in the NFL is ok with giving Jones yet another chance to prove that he can’t control his personal life, and honestly, I can’t blame them. Jones is just one of those players with all the talent in the world but no self-control. And playing professional sports is a luxury. He can’t control his life, he is a thug, and he is not a role model like we want our athletes of today to be.
Good riddance Pacman. Canada, you can have him.
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You can follow BigMB on twitter by going to www.twitter.com/mylesb3269
* – Jose Contreras and Jim Thome photo credit: by Charles Rex Arbogast – AP via South Side Sox
Not only was I shocked earlier this morning to hear that Jose Contreras and Jim Thome were traded by the White Sox, but I was shocked to see the video below on SportsCenter this morning.
During last night’s Vikings-Texans preseason game, Brett Favre – the 40 year old QB who claims to have a lingering arm injury and a potentially broken rib – was split out wide and throwing blocks when the Vikings went to their Wildcat formation.
Not only was Favre’s chop block totally wrong, but the decision to even have him in that position is totally wrong. I realize that this is probably a refrain that Vikings fans are sick of hearing, but what the hell is Brad Childress thinking?
Follow the links to StubHub for great deals on Minnesota Vikings 2009 Tickets
and all 2009 NFL Tickets
The video of Favre’s chop block on Eugene Wilson is below, courtesy of the good folks at Black Sports Online.
Brett Favre Dirty Illegal Crackback Block on Eugene Wilson Texans vs. Vikings from BlackSportsOnline on Vimeo.
Look, no one thinks that Brett Favre is a dirty player, but he has definitely never been accused of over-thinking on the football field. His role on this play is to block and help open up the left side of Percy Harvin. I am sure it was just instinct that led him to dive low in an effort to – at least in his own mind – protect himself. Without question, I think he’d do it differently if he could.
For that reason, I blame Chilly far more than I blame Brett. Favre is a QB, not a blocker. Â And I realize the Vikings want to incorporate some Wildcat this year with the dynamic Percy Harvin on the roster, but why not do it with Brett Favre on the sideline? Or, at worst, tell him to run out wide and then stay as far the hell away from any defenders as possible.
If you want to do a play like this in a key situation in the regular season, and Favre wants to go all out to throw a block, fine. (Obviously he needs to use better, less dangerous technique next time.) But putting Favre in that position in the preseason is at best negligence, and at worst a sign of complete idiocy on the part of Brad Childress and the Vikings coaching staff.
I know that the Vikings offense, led by Adrian Peterson and steady play from Favre, looked good last night. But if the Vikings coaches continue to make idiotic decisions like they did last night, it will not spell success for the Vikes in 2009.
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* – Brad Childress photo credit: VikingsGab
Today’s link of the day comes from the good folks at Shutdown Corner, where the Mighty MJD has broken down the top 20 highest selling NFL jerseys from April 1 through August 28. Â Though it won’t surprise anyone now, it certainly would have surprised a lot of people back on April 1st if you’d said that two of the four highest selling jerseys over the next five months would be Brett Favre in purple and Michael Vick for the Eagles.
Here is the list of Top 20 selling NFL jerseys, courtesy of Darren Rovell’s SportsBiz, via Shutdown Corner:
1. Brett Favre, Vikings
2. Jay Cutler, Bears
3. Troy Polamalu, Steelers
4. Michael Vick, Eagles
5. Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers
6. Tony Romo, Cowboys
7. Mark Sanchez, Jets
8. Tom Brady, Patriots
9. Adrian Peterson, Vikings
10. Eli Manning, Giants
11. Terrell Owens, Bills
12. Peyton Manning, Colts
13. Hines Ward, Steelers
14. LaDainian Tomlinson, Chargers
15. Jason Witten, Cowboys
16. Larry Fitzgerald, Cardinals
17. Joe Flacco, Ravens
18. Matt Ryan, Falcons
19. Aaron Rodgers, Packers
20. Michael Crabtree, 49ers
The most startling fact is this, as explained by MJD: Vick has only been with the Eagles for 14 days, yet he is 4th in jersey sales over the past five months. Amazing.
And really, I suppose that we can’t be too surprised about Favre topping the list. Many of his old Green Bay fans will buy a jersey wherever he plays, and the entire Minnesota fan base is salivating at finally having a QB with some positive winning experience as a starter. Forget that he’s 40 and over the hill and probably won’t make it through the season healthy.
(In fact, he might not make it out of the preseason. Just caught on ESPN that Favre apparently thinks he may have another ready-made excuse if he stinks this year a cracked rib. Uh oh…)
Honestly though, consider the implications of the following statement four or five years ago: “In the year 2009, Brett Favre Vikings jerseys will be the highest selling jersey in the NFL.” It would have sounded totally non-sensical and the kind of thing that a Packers fan would describe as a certain sign of the dawning of the apocalypse.
And here is a contemporary sign of the impending end of the world: Michael Crabtree, who is a turd has yet to sign with the 49ers and is threatening to skip the entire season, is ranked #20 in jersey sales…out of all players in the NFL!Â
At least his holdout appears to be hurting his sales though. Â Darren Rovell mentions that Crabtree was 8th on the list a short time ago. Â As MJD points out, for those 49ers who were excited that Crabtree fell to #10 and then gobbled up his jersey, it “could turn out to be the worst jersey investment of all-time.”
Or, like I said, just a precursor to the apocalypse.Â
And now some other great links to carry you through the afternoon and evening. Â See you all tomorrow morning.
Sports:
Non-Sports:
A couple of Friday morning quick-hitters for you.
First off all, something that made me laugh out loud this morning while the morning SportsCenter was running in the background as I got ready for work. In case you didn’t hear the latest world-stopping controversy out of Minnesota, there were reports that surfaced yesterday about a “schism” in the Vikings locker room regarding the players’ support for Brett Favre.
While Brett Favre played his I’m-just-a-simpleton-from-Mississippi card and explained that he didn’t know what “schism” meant, his new teammate Jared Allen was much more hilariously eloquent in describing how big, complicated, six-letter words are so foreign to NFL locker rooms:
Jared Allen’s comments on “schism”, via The Big Lead:
“I don’t think anyone on this team knows what schism means let alone use it in a sentence form. At first I thought schism was an STD, and I was like WOAH we practice abstinence here!â€
The video of him delivering the line was even funnier. He had just gotten done at practice, was all sweaty, half out of breath, and looked directly into the camera when he delivered the line. I wonder how long he’d been saving it, or how many of his teammates he tested it out on before running over to to officially deliver it to the world.
I don’t really care one way or the other; it’s the funniest (and certainly the most ironic) line from an NFL player we’ll hear all year.
(And here’s an early nominee for funniest message board post discussing this situation, from BoxDen.com: “hes #69 for a reason abstinence my ass”)
And for anyone else who is still wondering what a “schism” actually is, here is the dictionary definition…and then here is a video that defines it even better in lovely, melodic tones as only Tool can deliver:
And speaking of weird videos, did you all see Brandon Marshall at Broncos practice yesterday? Kudos to whoever described him as acting like an ass clown, because that’s about the most apt way to describe it that I can think of:
Acting like a petulant child is definitely the way to go when you want to get traded and get a new contract. Umm…not. (Actually, this is the NFL we’re talking about, so maybe Marshall is onto something.)
Marshall was, of course, in full damage control mode this morning, but there is a good chance that this video will stick with him for the rest of his career, kinda like TO doing push-ups in his driveway. (And TO’s only gotten two fat new contracts since that display…so take that Brandon Marshall! Wait a minute…)
I wonder what Josh McDaniels is thinking right about now. What’s the over-under on how many games the Broncos win this year? 3.5? I might be tempted to take the under.
Update: Now we know exactly what Josh McDaniels is thinking: Eff you Brandon Marshall.
Via ProFootbalTalk, the Broncos have suspended Brandon Marshall for “conduct detrimental to the team” (i.e. acting like an ass clown).
Enjoy your Friday everyone. Â I’ll Be back later if anything hot comes up and will definitely have a link post up this afternoon.
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* – Jared Allen photo credit: Tom Olmscheid via USAToday.com
So, you know all of those Green Bay Packers fans whose closets are lined with Brett Favre gear and who splurged on Favre Jets jerseys the minute he announced his unretirement last season? (I know at least one such family…but I will not call them out by name because I don’t want my supply of the world’s best meatloaf to be cut off.)
Well, what are these folks to do now that their beloved is playing for a different team and *gasp* one that is in the Packers’ very own division? (If it’s the family I know, more Favre fans than Packer fans, it’s head over to NFLshop.com and get Favre Vikings jerseys, of course!)
The good folks at 1670 WTDY in Madison, Wisconsin — namely, “The Wisconsin Guys”, Dan and Kurt — have an idea: donate all of your old Brett Favre clothes to the homeless! It’s called the “4 The Poor Jersey Drive.”
Today’s link of the day, from TheWisconsinGuys.com (via Sports By Brooks):
So, how do you get rid of that old Brett Favre jersey, hat, sweatshirt, etc…?
There is no need to blow it up, light it on fire, run it over, shred it, or any of the other pretty good ideas you may have. If you give it to us, we’ll put your name in a drawing to win tix to see Benedict Favre take on the Packers at Lambeau Field on Sunday, November 1st.
We will be taking those used but now useless clothing items to Minneapolis just prior to the Green Bay/Vikings Monday Night Football game on October 5th and we’ll be giving them to a Twin Cities homeless shelter. See, they don’t have to go to waste!
That, ladies and gentleman, is a constructive way to deal with feelings of anger, betrayal, and revenge…and could only come from the good folks who inhabit the glorious Midwest. Â Think Philly fans would be clothing the homeless with old Mike Schmidt jerseys if he had unretired to play for the Yankees? Â Shoot, they might not even give a homeless guy an old McNabb jersey and he’s still their QB!
(Philly fans, feel free to email me to express disgust that I just perpetuated the old stereotypes again…you were the first fan base that came to my mind…I’m sorry!)
And here you go, some other solid links from around the web today.
Sports:
Non-Sports:
[Editor's Note: It is with great pleasure that I present to you MSF's newest contributor: Myles Berry (aka BigMB). Myles and I know eachother from my time living in Indianapolis, during which he and I engaged in many highly competitive sports debates and games of Madden. (He'll tell you that he owns a lead in the all-time series...but he's wrong.)Â Myles will be covering the Colts for sure, as well as chiming in on the sports world at large. We are happy to have him as part of the team and hope that you enjoy his work, the first example of which is below.]
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Maybe I should apologize to John Madden ahead of time, but with the turn of events in the most recent Brett Favre Saga, a question still lingers that needs to be answered.
Has Brett Farve perhaps turned what would have been a legendary career into a letdown?
We all know that many athletes have overstayed their welcome in the past. Some do it for the money, some do it for the fame and notoriety, and some do it because they love the game and can’t imagine life without it. Most likely, it’s a combination of all three reasons.
With respect to Brett Favre, let’s first take a brief look at his career with Green Bay. In sixteen years, Favre only produced one losing season, alongside his ten Pro-Bowl appearances and three MVP awards. He went 5,377 of 8,754 for 61,655 yards, and had 442 touchdowns with 286 interceptions, while winning one Super Bowl.
Fast forward to his 2008 one-year stint with The New York Jets. He led the Jets to a 9-7 record, yet another winning season, and started out in true Brett Favre fashion until the bottom fell out in the final five games of the season during which he completed 343 of 522 passes with 22 touchdowns and 22 interceptions. A shoulder injury was partly to blame for the decline, but many would point the finger at Favre, accusing age and his reckless style as major contributors to his and the Jets’ downfall.
On September 27, 1992, Favre was named Green Bay’s starting quarterback against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Since then he has maintained a living record of 269 consecutive starts, a record whose closet challenger is Indianapolis Colts’ quarterback Peyton Manning, who is at a distant 176 games. This accomplishment knights Favre as the NFL’s, and perhaps all of sports’, true Iron Man.
So has Favre tainted his legend with this offseason’s teeter-totter of antics and surprises? Let’s take a quick look at another sport’s most famous player, who did much of the same thing.
You may know the name Michael Jordan.
His first season with the Bulls was in 1984. Two years later, he was on his way to becoming the most dominant force in basketball. After three championships, Jordan retired in 1993, only to come back one year later. Another three-peat championship followed.Â
Then, in 2000, he announced another retirement, followed by Jordan becoming partial owner and President of Basketball Operations for the Washington Wizards. In January of 1999, Jordan was quoted saying the he was “99.9% certain†that he would never return to the NBA hardwood again (Sound familiar?). However, in September of 2001 he returned to the NBA, playing for the team in which he had previously staked ownership. Two sub-par seasons followed, and Jordan retired again, this time permanently.
Other players have overstayed their welcomes as well.
Emmit Smith stayed around a few years to long to break the all-time NFL rushing record that was previously held by Walter Payton, a player who retired in his prime. Vinny Testaverde started NFL games well into his 40’s. Gary Payton and Karl Malone, both past their prime, joined a stacked Lakers team in an attempt to win a NBA championship.
Agree or disagree with these athletes, playing sports becomes a way of life and becomes quite difficult to give up, especially when you still have the talent to stick around.
With the 2009 NFL season looming, Favre will again suit up, this time with the Minnesota Vikings. Perhaps he will have a great season. Perhaps he will have a poor season. Maybe it will just be quite average. But one thing is for sure: he will be exciting.
Will his reputation be tarnished? Let me ask you this: When you look back at Michael Jordan’s career, do you think about the 6 championships, the scoring titles, the amazing buzzer beaters, as well as the Nike and Gatorade sponsorships? Or do you even, for one second, think about or remember one game with #23 in a Wizards Jersey?
I think you have your answer, and I have mine.
Regardless of the ensuing 2009 NFL season and its results, Brett Favre remains The Man, The Myth, and The Legend.
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* – Brett Favre with Viking photo credit: Fantasy-Info.com
* – Brett Favre young in Green Bay photo credit: The Sporting Truth
With Brett Favre shocking the world! no one and returning to the NFL this week, football fans across the country were annoyed and dismayed, with a few steadfast Favre supporters still delighting in his every move and lie word. Regardless of their thoughts on Favre and wishy-washy inability to retire, I think most football fans would be lying if they said they were not at least a little bit intrigued to see what happens when the Vikings play Favre’s old team the Packers this year.
Especially when the game is Lambeau, it will create one of the most ironic, unexpected, and seemingly preposterous scenes in NFL history. It would be like Derek Jeter playing shortstop in Yankee Stadium…but for the Red Sox. Who would have thought just a few short years ago that we’d someday be discussing the prospects of Brett Favre playing in Lambeau Field…wearing purple!?
Sorry, I know I’m beating a dead horse here, but the whole thing still seems pretty crazy…and a little silly.
Anyway, I was curious this morning to see what Packers-Vikings tickets were going for. I have to think that the value of Packers-Vikings tickets, in Minneapolis and Green Bay, had to skyrocket the moment news broke of Favre’s impending return. Let’s take a look, with ticket values all based on the current listings at StubHub. (And by the way, you can click on the links to go directly to StubHub if you wish.)
Packers-Vikings Tickets at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, WI on Sunday, November 1, 2009 at 1:00
By way of comparison, the average price for the cheapest ticket at the Packers other games is around $110-115. How about for the Vikings-Packers tickets at the Metrodome?
Vikings-Packers Tickets at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, MI on Monday, October 5, 2009 at 8:30
The high price on this one is lower because it looks like there are no suites available. Â But again, the cheapest ticket is well about the average for the other Vikings home games this year (which is around $20).
So, there you have it, breaking news: tickets for the Packers-Vikings games this year are more expensive than regular tickets in which Brett Favre isn’t playing his former team in Revenge Bowl 1 & 2!
It just dawned on me that there really wasn’t much of a point to this article.
I guess I was expecting eye-popping ticket prices, so I’m a little underwhelmed. As the games approach, especially the Lambeau, I’d imagine that we’ll start seeing ticket prices of StubHub, eBay, and other such sites start to rise. $290 bucks for one ticket is still pretty damn expensive though.
Anyway, a few more resources for you below if you want to do some comparison shopping. Otherwise, time to move onto something more interesting. Have a great morning everyone.
Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings Tickets
- All Minnesota Vikings Tickets
from StubHub
- All Green Bay Packers Tickets
- Packers-Vikings Tickets in Minnesota
from TicketsNow
- Packers-Vikings Tickets in Green Bay from TicketsNow
- Vikings-Packers Tickets in Green Bay
from RazorGator
- Vikings-Packers Tickets in Minnesota
from RazorGator
- Find Packers-Vikings Tickets
and other NFL tickets at TickCo
Update: Interesting post over at The Big Lead regarding a fan who purchased tickets from StubHub. Â May want to check it out if you’re thinking of purchasing from them.
* – Brett Favre photo credit: Unique News Network
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