Philadelphia Phillies Ryan Howard To Appear In HBO’s Entourage
Flip Flip Flipadelphia
This season of HBO’s Entourage has had it’s far share of athletes to appear with even a cameo from Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard will be appearing on the season finale on September 12th. No word on what the scene is about but other guest include Christiana Aguilera, Eminem, Drew Brees, Jordan Farmer, and Kevin Love.
In addition to Howard’s appearance on Entourage he and Phillies second baseman Chase Utley shot an episode for perhaps the funniest show on television It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which is entering it’s sixth season starting September 16 at 9 PM CST on FX. No word when that episode will air.
WTF: Drew Brees
Classic
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees is coming off a Super Bowl win and the release of his book, however he isn’t the only one on the team to release a book since the Saints victory over the Indianapolis Colts. Head coach Sean Payton also has a book sitting on your local Barnes & Noble bookshelf.
When ESPN reports Chris Mortensen and Adam Schefter showed up in New Orleans to finish up their training camp tour, Brees had a surprise inscription inside his book for them.
Denver Broncos Tim Tebow Jersey Leads In Sales
NFL's lil baby Jesus
Three months into the league and Denver Broncos third string quarterback leads the NFL in jersey sales.The rookie quarterback had the best-selling jersey in April, even though the Broncos owned his rights for less than eight days during the month.
Donovan McNabb, after being traded from the Philadelphia Eagles to the Washington Redskins, had the second-most popular jersey. The next most popular jerseys belong to New Orleans Saints Drew Brees,Indianapolis Colts Peyton Manning, Dallas Cowboys Tony Romo and Minnesota Vikings Brett Favre.
Michael Vick’s jersey who once was a hot item, fell out of the list top 25 most-popular jerseys and replaced on that list by teammate Kevin Kolb. New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is at No. 14 at the list, his lowest place since the 2006 season.
It’s not only Tebow’s jerseys that are selling. So too are his autographs. This past weekend, hundreds of people lined up in Fort Pierce, Florida, and paid $75 for a picture and $160 for an autograph. Twenty people paid $1,000 each to have a private meet and greet with the former Gators star. Tebow donated all of his proceeds to his Tim Tebow Foundation.
Madden NFL 11 Chooses New Orleans Saints Drew Brees For Cover
Get On Your Belly Avoid That Curse
EA Sports will announce later this week at the NFL Draft that New Orleans Saints Super Bowl quarterback Drew Brees will land on it’s on Madden NFL 11 cover.
Naturally, the conversation shifts to the Madden Curse and how that relates to the Super Bowl champ. Last year was a little different since for the first time in it’s history we saw two players grace the cover and the curse only really struck one them down. Pittsburgh Steelers Troy Polamalu battled injuries all season, but Larry Fitzgerald was pretty consistent with what you’d expect. His biggest dropoff came in the yards per catch and total yardage area. His number of receptions was almost identical to the previous season. The Cardinals even won a playoff game.
The best part of this year’s cover and the curse? Fans where given the opportunity this year to vote for the player to grace the Madden cover so if there is a curse did Saints fans bring it upon themselves?
New Orleans Saints Head Coach Sues Former Player
Duped By Houser The NFL Madoff
Back on March 10 we posted the story of former New Orleans Saints defensive end Charles Grant and current Saints tight end Jeremy Shockey filling a lawsuit in a U.S. District Court against their former teammate, Kevin Houser. They alleged Houser aka the NFL version of Bernard Madoff that he had duped them into investing more than a million dollars in a film tax credit scam.
Shockey and Smith have been joined in the suit against Houser by head coach Sean Payton and his wife. The suit by Payton and his wife against the former long snapper is nearly identical to one filed 10 days by his players. The only significant differences in wording are over details of the Paytons’ specific purchases of film tax credits through Houser,credit that never existed.
Payton and his wife, Elizabeth, say Houser, who was a licensed securities broker, convinced them they were buying state tax credits for Louisiana Film Studios, but later it turned out LFS had never applied for the credits. The complaint says Sean Payton paid Houser $144,000, expecting to get $180,000 in state tax credits.
In all, nearly two dozen former or current Saints players and coaches, including quarterback Drew Brees and Saints legend Archie Manning, invested $1.7 million to buy what they thought were tax credits for the film studio project in Elmwood. Like Grant and Shockey’s lawsuit before, the Paytons lawsuit is labeled a class action on behalf of the rest of the investors.
Houser aka NFL Madoff played for the team from 2000 to 2008, exclusively snapping the ball on punts and placekicks.
New Orleans Saints Jeremy Shockey Sues Former Saints Teammate
Duped By Houser The NFL Madoff
Recently released New Orleans Saints defensive end Charles Grant and current Saints tight end Jeremy Shockey have filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against their former teammate, Kevin Houser, alleging Houser duped them and other current and former Saints players and coaches into investing more than a million dollars in a film tax credit scam.
Houser is the former special teams long-snapper who was the longest tenured Saints player when he was cut by the team before the 2009 season as news of the tax credit fiasco emerged. Grant and Shockey say Houser, who was a licensed securities broker, convinced them they were buying state tax credits for Louisiana Film Studios, but later it turned out LFS had never applied for the state tax credits.
In all, nearly two dozen former or current Saints players and coaches, including quarterback Drew Brees, Coach Sean Payton and Saints legend Archie Manning, invested $1.7 million to buy what they thought were tax credits for the film studio project in Elmwood. Grant and Shockey’s lawsuit is labeled a class action on behalf of the rest of the investors.
Grant and Shockey allege that Houser actually kept a portion of their money as a commission or finder’s fee. Also, they say that Houser kept secret the fact that the film studio owed hundreds of thousands of dollars to 47 Construction LLC, a company co-owned by Houser and his wife.
Houser’s attorney, Jimmy Castex, said his client and was a victim of the scam by the film studio’s former CEO, Wayne Read. A federal bankruptcy judge ordered the film studio’s assets liquidated last month.
Houser played for the team from 2000 to 2008, exclusively snapping the ball on punts and placekicks.
Drew Brees Teaches Crowd At Lucy’s Bar Pre Game Chant
That’s just awesome.
Hair Wars: Tracy Porter
New Orleans Saints defensive back could have stolen some Super Bowl MVP votes away from Drew Brees last night when it stepped in front of a fourth quarter Peyton Manning pass and took it 74 yards for a score. Porter defiantly did take home the MVP award for best hair with his ode to the Super Bowl.
(Good Look)
Deuce McAllister Retires From National Football League
It Was Fun
It was fun while it lasted, you know all those FOX camera shots of New Orleans Saints running back Deuce McAllister sitting on the bench in street clothes talking to quarterback Drew Brees after the 236 touchdowns they scored against the Arizona Cardinals, because he has decided to announce his retirement after 8 seasons in the NFL.
Robert Meachem was shaken up against the Cardinals, so the team is expected to sign a wide receiver and in need of a roster spot McAllister is expected to file the paper work. McAllister was released by the Saints last February the two reconstructive knee surgeries in 2007.
Though he only played 8 seasons, two of which were marred by injury, McAllister is the Saints all-time rushing and touchdown leader at 6,056 yards and his 55 total touchdowns and 49 rushing TDs also are club records.
The two-time Pro Bowler was named honorary captain for the Saints Divisional playoff game against the Cardinals last week, but has since been officially been added to the team’s reserve-retired list.
2009 ALL-SGE-NFL Team
Est. 2009
The 2009 regular season of NFL has ended and just a few weeks away from the Super Bowl and that means Sports Grind Entertainment is handing out it’s first ever All-SGE-NFL Team. The 2009 All-SGE-NFL Team takes in several factors and wins and losses is not one of them but such factors as on the field performance, consistency, detrimental to the team and or big game impact. Off the field issues are not even considered.
2009 ALL-SGE-NFL Team:
OFFENSE
- Quarterback – Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints: Brees beat other worthy quarterbacks in 2009 because he help lead the Saints to their best record in franchise history (13-3). He also completed a league best 70.6 of his throws and a league best 34 touchdowns while failing to tenth in attempts. Brees finished sixth in the league in yards with 4,388 and only tossed 11 interceptions.
- Running Back – Chris Johnson, Tennessee Titans: Johnson is only the sixth player in NFL history to ever finish with 2,000 yards while adding another 500 yards on the ground. He finished the season with 14 rushing and 2 receiving touchdowns on the year.
- Running Back – Ray Rice, Baltimore Ravens: Rice is the first player in league history to lead his team in both rushing and recieving. His 1,339 rushing yards where good enough for sixth in the league and had 11 runs over 20 plus yards to bring his yards per carry to 5.3. Rice also caught a team high 975 yards.
- Offensive Tackle – D’Brickashaw Ferguson, New York Jets: Ferguson protected the blindside of a rookie quarterback in Mark Sanchez that saw him touched 21 times, which as a team was good enough for fourth with 53 hits. He was part of an offensive line that cleared paths for a league best 2,756 yards of rushing.
- Offensive Tackle – Michael Roos, Tennessee Titans: Roos early on protected the blindside of Kerry Collins and then later on Vince Young to give up only 15 sacks upon the year as a group and allowing both quarterbacks to get touched a combined 44 times. Roos was also apart of an offensive line that helped Chris Johnson become only sixth man in NFL history to run for 2,000 yards.
- Guard – Jahri Evans, New Orleans Saints: Evans helped form an umbrella for Brees to sit back and pass for 4,388 yards and pushed way for at least 5 Saints players to score within the red zone of within 5 yards.
- Guard – Steve Hutchinson, Minnesota Vikings: Hutchinson like Evans helped Brett Farve one of the oldest quarterbacks in the league enough time to pass for 4,202 yards and 33 touchdowns. Hutchinson also created enough holes inside the red zone for Adrian Peterson to rush for 14 touchdowns within 5 yards.
- Center – Jeff Saturday, Indianapolis Colts: Saturday is defiantly an extension of the league most audiblized quarterback in Peyton Manning. He rebounded after missing four games last year that almost pushed him into retirement to play a full 16 games with only 2 false starts.
- Tight End – Antonio Gates, San Diego Chargers: Gates lead all tight ends with 1,157 yards while only finishing fifth in receptions. He also finished with a league best 61 first downs providing sure hands and sure yardage when needed the most. Gates average of 14.6 yards a catch was also a league best amongst tight ends.
- Wide Receiver – Miles Austin, Dallas Cowboys: Austin came into the season fighting for the third spot on the Cowboys roster for receivers instead finished the season as the number one option for quarterback Tony Romo, in the first four games he caught a total of 5 passes. He finished with 1,320 yards which was good enough for third overall and finished in the same place overall with his 11 touchdowns. Austin also finished second with catches of 20 yards or more and third of 40 yards of more.
- Wide Receiver – Andre Johnson, Houston Texans: Johnson reached the 100 reception plateau in 2009 and finished first overall with 1,569 yards. He was good for at 98 yards a game and was accountable for 69 first downs. Johnson lead the league in 22 receptions of 20 yards or more and finished second with 9 receptions of 40 yards or more.
- Kicker – Nate Kaeding, San Diego Chargers: Kaeding attempted 35 field goals and made 32 of them with his misses coming from 41, 43, 55 yards, two of the three misses came in victories. He was also 51 out of 50 extra points with his only miss being a block that came in a victory.
DEFENSE
- Defensive End – Julius Peppers, Carolina Panthers: Peppers finished with 10.5 sacks, 5 forced fumbles, 2 interceptions while returing one for a touchdown. He also had 42 tackles, 36 of them being solo and 7 pass deflections where all among the league leaders in all caterogies.
- Defensive End – Jared Allen, Minnesota Vikings: Allen finished with a league best 14.5 sacks for defensive ends and recorded 51 tackles, 43 of them being solo. He also had 5 forced fumbles and 1 interception while deflecting 5 passes.
- Defensive Tackle – Jay Ratliff, Dallas Cowboys: Ratliff had the best season amongst defensive tackles in all of the league with 40 tackles and still created 6 sacks. He also block a field goal attempt and forced 2 fumbles.
- Defensive Tackle – Tony Brown, Tennessee Titans: Brown had 38 tackles on the year with 28 of them being solo. He also had 5 sacks on the year while forcing 3 fumbles in role thought to be lost with Albert Haynesworth signing with Washington.
- Linebacker – Elvis Dumervil, Denver Broncos: Dumervil lead the league with 17 sacks a turn around from the previous year were he only had 5. He also finished with 49 tackles and 42 of them being solo.
- Linebacker – Patrick Willis, San Francisco 49ers: Willis lead the league with 152 tackles and 114 being solo while creating 4 sacks. He had 3 interceptions and returned one for a touchdown. Willis went on to deflect 11 more passes and force 3 fumbles.
- Linebacker – Brian Cushing, Houston Texans: Cushing only a rookie went on to record 133 tackles to rank sixth among linebackers. He had 4 sacks and one he created for a safety, 4 interceptions and 2 forced fumbles. The rookie wasn’t done as he created a league leading 14 pass deflections.
- Cornerback – Darrelle Revis, New York Jets: Revis held Andre Johnson, Randy Moss (twice), Marques Colston, Torry Holt, Terrell Owens (twice), Steve Smith, Antonio Bryant, Reggie Wayne, Roddy White, Chad Ochocinco to under 35 yards. He still was able to pick off 6 passes and return one for a touchdown.
- Cornerback – Charles Woodson, Green Bay Packers: Woodson created 9 interceptions on the year and returned 3 for touchdowns. He also came up with 2 sacks and 4 forced fumbles while being moved all over the field in a new 3-4 system in Green Bay.
- Safety – Jairus Byrd, Buffalo Bills: Byrd a rookie was picked on a lot this year as team tried to test him by going over the top he made them pay recording 9 interceptions. He is a hard hitting free safety that had 45 tackles.
- Safety – Darren Sharper, New Orleans Saints: Sharper had been thought to be over the age instead found himself in all the right places and right times in collecting 9 interceptions. He returned 3 interceptions for touchdowns.
- Punter – Shane Lechler, Oakland Raiders: Lechler punted the ball 96 times for 4,909 yards a league best 51.1 average every time his leg touched the ball. He had zero of his kicks blocked and zero returned for a touchdown. Lechler pinned 30 of his punts inside the 20 yard line.
- All-Purpose – Josh Cribbs, Cleveland Browns: Cribbs is the definition of all purpose. He had 20 receptions for 135 yards and 1 touchdown, rushing the ball 55 times for 381 yards and 1 touchdown, and in the return game he was used as kickoff and punt returner. He also had 452 yards and 1 touchdown on punt returns and 1,542 yards returning 3 for touchdowns on kickoff returns. Cribbs total yardage for every aspect he touched the ball was 2,510 yards with 6 touchdowns.
- Head Coach – Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals: Lewis Bengals finished the 2008 season 4-11-1 and was 1-7 on the road to rebound in 2009 and win the AFC North Division 10-6 and go 4-4 on the road. His team in 2008 allowed 364 points and only managed to put up 204 compared to 2009 when his team held opponents to 291 points and scored 305. Lewis and his Bengals also endured the loss of wide receiver Chris Henry who was tragically killed in season. His Bengals are also the first team to overcome the HBO Hard Knocks curse and produce a winning season in which they where filmed.
Tennessee Titans Chris Johnson Wins Offensive Player Of The Year
2009 O Player Of The Year
Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson won the 2009 NFL Offensive Player of the Year award. The second year pro Johnson earned 38 1/2 votes from a nationwide panel of 50 sports writers and broadcasters who cover the NFL to easily beat out New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees, who received nine votes.
The fastest man in pro football set a league mark for yards from scrimmage (2,509) and becoming the sixth player with a 2,000-yard rushing season and is the first NFL player to finish with at least 2,000 yards rushing and 500 receiving (503).
Johnson became the first player to run for three TDs of 85 yards or longer in a season; no NFL player had even done that in a career. He’ll start next season with a streak of 11 100-yard rushing games; Barry Sanders holds the record with 14 in 1997.
In November, Johnson rushed for 800 yards, the best month of any running back in NFL history. By then, it was a one-man show in the Tennessee backfield; as a rookie, Johnson split duties with LenDale White, and rushed for 1,228 yards and nine TDs. This season, White got only 64 carries a year after running for 15 touchdowns in 2008.
Johnson is the first Titan to win the honor, but the third player in franchise history. Quarterback Warren Moon won in 1990 as a Houston Oiler, and Earl Campbell took the award from 1978-80 with the Oilers.
League MVP Peyton Manning of Indianapolis drew 1 1/2 votes, and San Diego Philip Rivers got one.
Indianapolis Colts Peyton Manning Wins NFL Most Valuable Player Award
MVP
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning won his fourth NFL MVP award recieving 39 1/2 votes to New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees 7 1/2 out of the 50 sports writers and broadcaster who cover the league. Manning became the first player to win the award four times, winning in 2003, 2004 and 2008, breaking a tie with Brett Favre at three MVPs.
Manning threw for 4,500 and 33 touchdowns this season and led the Colts to a 14-2 record with numerous comeback victories this season. Manning lost his longtime favorite receiver, Harrison, this season and his replacement Anthony Gonzalez, went down with a right knee injury in the opener. Manning turned to his latest fave, Reggie Wayne, who had 100 catches for 1,264 yards and 10 touchdowns and to Dallas Clark who was one of two tight ends with 100 receptions in a season and 1,106 yards with 10 scores.
Plus Austin Collie tied for the rookie lead in receptions with 60 and scored seven times while . Pierre Garcon developed into a deep threat and averaged 16.3 yards on 47 catches, with four TDs.
Only four players, all quarterbacks, earned votes as the other two were Philip Rivers of San Diego (2) and Brett Favre of Minnesota (1).
Manning joined the truly elite of team sports: Wayne Gretzky (9), Barry Bonds (7) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (6), the leaders for MVP awards in their sports.
President Obama & DeMarcus Ware Team Up Trying To Stop Youth Fatness
I’ll continue to ride an elevator in a two story building.
