NFL Draft Tonight: also, Goodell

We have at least one more NFL draft before the league collapses in a great nuclear inferno, Demaurice Smith riding the pale horse of the grim reaper, swaying through NFL HQ with the merciless scythe of death. According to Roger Goodell, this is what we can expect to happen if the players "win." His piece in the Wall Street Journal now holds the record for strawman argument with the widest audience.

Plague, Famine War... Demaurice Smith? Death-Maurice Smith?

Because it is either that or Goodell has become so detached from why the lockout occurred that he could only be suffering from dementia. Quotes like the following suggest that the commish either has no idea what is going on or (much more likely) did an incredibly poor hack job trying to spin the events of the lockout against the players.

For instance: "For six weeks, there has been a work stoppage in the National Football League as the league has sought to negotiate a new collective-bargaining agreement with the players."

But the league are the ones who decided that the current CBA wasn't good enough, and were incapable of negotiating a new one for a full two years after the decision was made to do away with the agreement at the time. NFL execs walked out of negotiations on at least one occasion, and seemed prepared to let the NFL float in limbo while player's savings dwindled away.

Another: "What would the NFL look like without a collectively bargained compromise?"

Well, Rog, we'll never know that because the players were also seeking a new CBA, and at no point was the idea of playing without one ever put on the table.

Wait, I take it back. If you want to know what the NFL would be like without a CBA, look to the early 90's. As far as I can tell, the league still exists and is even stronger than it was back then. So much for what he says afterward.

And another gem: "Rather than address the challenge of improving the collective-bargaining agreement for the benefit of the game..."

"Improving." Meaning, "you play more games for  a lot less money because we say so."

How about this as a consequence of the players getting what they want: "No minimum player salary. Many players could earn substantially less than today's minimums."

So, the consequence of the greedy, nasty, goblin-like players wanting more money would be that they would arrange a deal where they made less? How in god's name does this make any sense?

Six Teams in 2011?

According to the Las Vegas Review Journal, the UFL is still considering adding a 6th team for the 2001 season.

The UFL is undecided on whether to add a sixth team, with Portland, Ore., Salt Lake City and Chattanooga, Tenn., under consideration. If a sixth team is added, the schedule will expand to 10 games. If the UFL remains a five-team league -- Las Vegas, Sacramento, Omaha, Hartford and Virginia (replacing Florida) -- the eight-game schedule will continue.
"We're still talking to possible investors," Huyghue said. "We think we could get that sixth team up and running fairly quickly."

I find it hard to believe that the league could still be thinking of adding another team, but if a TV contract is riding on the line, there may not be much of a choice. The question is, what quality of play would we get from a hastily-added expansion team, only four months from the proposed kickoff date?

The one thing that I can say in favor of this is that the staff in Hartford is being assembled with amazing speed. Jerry Glanville was only hired last month but news about position coaches and coordinators arrives every other day.

But Hartford already had a tentative roster, uniforms, a stadium and so forth. A new team will not only have to contend with finding coaches and player personnel, but finding a venue, new uniforms, sponsors, etc. A tremendous task to go through in only a few months. I'll be thrilled if it happens, but color me skeptical about our odds of seeing, say, the Chattanooga Barracudas, the Portland Octopi or the Salt Lake Monsters.

Quick Shot from ESPN

 Link

2. Former Auburn quarterback Cam Newton may be the top pick in the upcoming NFL draft. Where is his ideal destination?

(Patrick) Hruby: The UFL's Hartford Colonials -- that way, Newton will be close to ESPN headquarters, where he can enjoy many more totally non-awkward quarterback classroom sessions with Jon Gruden.

What's Going On

Update: As of minutes ago, Coach Larry Zierlein, most recently seen as the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line coach in 2009, has been hired on as the Colonials O-line coach.

Just a quick recap of the recent additions to the Hartford roster, mostly on the coaching side of things.

The Colonials have added...

Tim Krumrie as their defensive line coach. Krumrie had an 11-year career with the CIncinnati Bengals and served as a D-line coach with the Chiefs from 2006-2010.

Turk Schonert at QB coach, whom I've posted about previously.

Former pro-bowl wideout Harold Jackson as wide receivers coach.

And most recently, ex-Eagles/Packers/others linebacker James Willis at linebackers coach.

Plenty of happenings all over the team. Perhaps biggest of all was the recent announcement of QB Colt Brennan to the Colonials, announced via various channels over the past few days.

The Colonials join the Cleveland Browns in the category of "teams with quarterbacks named "Colt"."

On a bit of a tangent, I'm find it interesting how much easier it is to find UFL-related news these days. There are many more media markets willing to run stories on the league, and not just in, say, Hartford or Omaha or Las Vegas. Sure, I used my own blog as a source just now, but the story linked up there has a couple of other sources of its own. Searching for any of the names above typically brings up at least four or five hits for entirely separate news outlets. It's a good sign that the UFL is indeed growing, and that this may very well be the year that it all gets turned around.

Friday Update

Well, all the big news happened within the past two days. So in lieu of some earth-shattering announcement, have this video of Bethel University guard/DT Michael Jasper working out. Jasper is 6'4 and 395 pounds and has been projected as a late-round pick or possibly a UDFA.

395 pounds and the man can still leap nearly three feet in the air. Any knocks on him? His 40 time is tragically slow even for a lineman (on either side of the ball), though Jasper could lose 50 pounds, possibly gain some speed and still be the biggest guy on the field. Looks like the kind of guy who could be worth a look in the UFL should he fall entirely out of the draft.

Baseless Speculation

"Turk." Not "Kurt."

Per the Hartford Courant, the Colonials have hired former Bills QB coach Turk Schonert as their QB coach for 2011. Schonert held the position with the Bills from 1998-2000 and again from 2006-2007, and spent 2008 as the Bills offensive coordinator. He has also been a QB coach with numerous other teams, such as the Carolina Panthers, New York Giants, and (way back in ancient days of the Vinny Testaverde era) with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

You try to find a picture of JP where he doesn't look stoned.

Could this mean a reunion with former Buffalo Bills player and ex Loco J.P. Losman? Probably not, but if so it could be a boon for Hartford. Losmania put up only middling numbers in his time in the NFL, but was quite the star with Las Vegas in the UFL's opening season. If he can put up numbers like he did in the league's opening year, he'd be a good find for any of the teams who are still looking for a passer, if he can be convinced to play for the UFL rather than warm a bench in Seattle.

Russell Politely Asked to Leave Town

The 2007 #1 pick and perhaps the biggest draft bust of all time (though some would give the title to Ryan Leaf) JaMarcus Russell's work ethic and drive are apparently so bad that his life coach has told him to leave town. Via PFT:

"The latest embarrassment for the former No. 1 overall pick: Russell’s “Life coach” John Lucas told Russell he would no longer work with him and asked Russell to leave Houston, according to Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports."

Think about this. He was asked to leave a city. As in, John Lucas said to Russell not only that he was not interested in working with him, but that he wanted the former QB to not be in the same major metropolitan area as he was. If there was any more doubt that Russell would never return to pro football, I think this latest turn puts the final nail in the coffin.


Dear UFL,

Stay far, far away. Don't even do it for the publicity.

Sincerely,
Nick