Tag Archives: NFL

Patriot Pickup

This blog is about the Patriots participation in the NFL draft and it will highlight past drafts and ones to come. The draft is something that takes place every April and allows team to sign college athletes. Thirty two teams participate in the draft and there are seven rounds with 32 picks each. Teams can make deals to get more or less picks or better picks.

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The past 2012 draft that was only about a week ago was very successful for the Patriots. The Patriots specified in the defensive line, which has been a main concern for the team. The Patriots took advantage of the opportunity they received in the draft and they drafted 5 Defensive players. The past few years the Patriots main focus has been offense, now that they have a complete offense they focused defense and used 5 of their six picks on defensemen. The Patriots filled all of their needs for the Draft and still managed to pick up wide receiver Jeremy Ebert in the late rounds. I believe this is the best the Patriots could of done in a draft.

~Paul Dumaine

Without Warning

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Junior Seau, a homegrown superstar who was the fist-pumping, emotional leader of the San Diego Chargers for 13 years, was found shot to death at his home Wednesday morning. He was 43. Police Chief Frank McCoy said Seau’s girlfriend reported finding him unconscious with a gunshot wound to the chest and lifesaving efforts were unsuccessful. After further investigation it was deemed that he committed suicide.

Seau, who played in the NFL for parts of 20 seasons, is the eighth member of San Diego’s lone Super Bowl team who has died, all before the age of 45. Lew Bush, Shawn Lee, David Griggs, Rodney Culver, Doug Miller, Curtis Whitley and Chris Mims are the others. Causes of death ranged from heart attacks to a plane crash to a lightning strike. Handsome, vibrant and caring, Seau was the perfect role model. He was San diego’s shining star.

It’s a sad thing. It’s hard to understand,” said Bobby Beathard, who as Chargers general manager took Seau out of Southern California with the fifth pick overall in the 1990 draft. “He was really just a great guy. If you drew up a player you’d love to have the opportunity to draft and have on the team and as a teammate, Junior and Rodney (Harrison), they’d be the kind of guys you’d like to have.” While the NFL reacts to this tragic loss many questions have to be asked about football and head trauma.

    Football is a very physical sport and many people are holding it accountable for  Seau’s death. As I mentioned before we have to address many unanswered questions. I think its time we stop blaming football. In the first place why his suicide being linked to head trauma before further investigation. There has to be substantial proof that the trauma caused depression which, in turn led to suicide. It is highly debatable that the doctors did not check him for symptoms of depression while treating him. Had his family been aware of any signs of depression? It now remains for a post mortem investigation to assess the damage of his brain before it can be conclusively proved that trauma caused the suicide. However, as much as I want to know the effects of a life in football, I want to stop short of blaming the game for what happened to Seau. Ultimately, you have to give just as much credit to football for what he became and how he got to live his life. Football provided Seu the segway to become a legend and be an influential character in his community. Seau loved football with all his heart. He related it to the traditions of his Samoan family that played rugby. In his mind, football, was the measure of a man.

However, the NFL has to take proper steps to protects its players from serious head trauma.  Seau’s suicide is at least the third former NFL player to have killed himself in the span of 15 months, joining Dave Duerson and Ray Easterling. Additionally, Andre Waters killed himself in 2006. This is very disturbing.Though this trend might lead some people to think that there has been a definite trend medical evidence is definitely necessary.

In the end football was very good to Seau. He achieved glory, wealth, and respect through his playing days in the NFL. Football was his platform to make someone iconic and respected just like in Seau’s case. So lets wait a little before we start making wild accusations at the game for costing the life of hero.

~ Sid Subramani

Tebow Time?

During the last football season, a lot of talk happened about teams and which team would be the surprise story of the year.  And there was one team that took the league by storm.  The Denver Broncos had been a good to average team in the league for several years after John Elway retired.  In 2010, they drafted a young quarterback from the University of Florida, Tim Tebow in the first round.  Many people criticized Tim throughout his career about how he couldn’t make it into the NFL.  After not seeing the field too much his rookie season, people really started to get on him.  After the Broncos went 1-4 in the first 5 weeks of the 2011-2012 season, head coach John Fox decided to try out the young quarterback in their next game against the Miami Dolphins.  Tim Tebow struggled in the first 3 and a half quarters, but in the last 3 minutes of the game, and the Broncos down 15-0,Tim Tebow led the Broncos to a Cinderella story victory in overtime.  After the 18-15 win over Miami, John Fox decided to start Tebow the next game.  Many critics said that game was a fraud.  Wrong.  The next 6 of 7 weeks the Broncos found themselves down in the 4th quarter with all odds against them, yet Tebow still found a way to win earning himself a starting record of 7-1.  This time period in the 4th quarter has become known as Tebow Time.  So the question that everyone is asking has came up: Will Tebow become the permanent starter for the Broncos and is he capable of taking the Broncos to the Superbowl?

I personally am not a Broncos fan but whenever the Broncos game was on I would always root for them because of Tebow.  Tim Tebow is a perfect role model for young football players and even other NFL players.  He is just someone that people naturally revolve around and like.  People believe in him after his performances on the field and he has gained many fans from around the country.  I think that Tebow should be the starter for the Broncos.  If you just look at what he has done for that team, how could you not start him?  He has gone 7-1 his first 8 starts as an NFL player, the best record in the history of the NFL, and is 3-0 in overtime.  By those numbers, he is excellent under pressure, and never gives up.  He may not be as good as Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers, but he is only in his 2nd year of the NFL and as he gains experience in the league through the years, he can do some great things for the Broncos organization and lead them to earning several Superbowl rings.

~Nick Sansone

Ballet is for the NFL

Most people say dance is “stupid”. Some dancers like me say it takes commitment and strength. And it’s true.   It takes no less commitment than football, baseball or basketball. The truth is, the people who say dancing is stupid, easy, and pointless can’t dance. And why they can’t dance? Because it’s too hard for them! However, some NFL players can say that dance means something because they take classes themselves. No joke, players in the NFL take ballet or other dance classes to strengthen their calf and thigh muscles!

Don’t believe me? Well, an interview was done for Sports Illustrated  about the secrets to NFL players staying in shape and preparing for games. It all started in the 1970’s when a wide receiver Lynn Swan announced that he had taken  yoga and ballet classes to prepare for his games. Ever since then, NFL coaches have pushed players into taking ballet classes for strength. I don’t blame them! As a dancer myself, I have been dancing for 11 of the 14 years of my life and I have a good amount of calf muscle and arm strength as well.

Dance is stupid you say? Well your favorite NFL teams take it to improve and do some of the same exercises that I do. Try standing on the balls of your feet without holding onto anything for 2 minutes straight! That is what strengthens their Achilles tendon. Bahtmahs, (high kicks)? Try doing those for an entire 3 minutes. That helps the kickers of the team and also strengthens hip muscles. Pleaes, (kind of like squats but harder)? Yeah, they do those too. And they aren’t easy!

Dance and yoga are both hard. No way in any shape or form are they simple. Even senior tailback DeAngelo Williams, a training junkie who gained 1,948 yards and scored 22 touchdowns last year said “I would rather do sprints and up-downs than that yoga,” . That says something! The whole team from the University of Memphis has to take yoga and ballet classes for flexibility and agility. They even admit, “Women can do a lot of things men can’t do,”. So think twice before saying dance or yoga are for sissies… Because you don’t really get it until you try it like many NFL stars have.

~Ariana Pepper

Tim Tebow: True Player or Lucky Games?

Over this NFL season so far this year the Denver Broncos quarter back Tim Tebow has shown to be the player he was back in his collage years on the Florida Gators. This year according to espn.go.com Tim Tebow has thrown for 1’054 yards and ran for 468 yards. Now some might say he is the real deal for a first year starter but others don’t think it will last. According to Broncos head coach John Fox, “he is real and there is no doubt in my mind that he will go places in the football world .“  But other Bronco fans say he will just hold us back when he loses the ability to run the ball.

My thoughts on the whole thing is I believe Tebow is a great player and will be the starting QB for years to come . But I also believe that when he comes to lose his running ability it will be a different story. Also when teams figure out his weakness’s like the way he throws the ball and how low the ball is to the ground teams will stop him. So in conclusion I say that for the next few years Tebow will be a solid player but he will start to become worse and worse as he gets older. That is what I have to say.

~Matt Palma

Health vs. Competition

Should the pressure to get back in the game overcome the protection of the health of an NFL player? Is the competitiveness of the team more important than the player avoiding the risk of injuring himself even more? The players do get payed regardless of whether they’re playing or injured, and obviously no one wants to pay someone for doing nothing. But is this enough reason to have the players play with an injury? There is the possibility that the player can injure himself even more and be out even longer.

In my opinion, health should come before competition. Especially in the NFL, where all the players are incredibly strong. If a pro football flayer has a concussion and plays anyway, he can take another hard hit and do permanent damage to his brain. He will either just be out longer or for life, and both hurt the team even more than him being out for a shorter time and healing completely. For the player he can do irreparable damage that will end his career, and ruin the rest of his life.

~RJ Oris

Victory

The New England Patriots have been living up to last years 14-2 record so far this year. They have been impressive and competitive. Right now they are 3-1 and didn’t let off easily for the Bills to take a victory. The score 34-31gave the Buffalo Bills a small win. Patriots didn’t let up against the Raiders with a victory of 31-19. Tom Brady led the Patriots to a win over the Miami Dolphins 38-24, and passing for 517 yards. The Patriots played another game for another victory over the San Diego Chargers with a score of 35-21. These games prove that great teams both loose and win, but come out with great victories.

The Patriots have an interesting match up this weekend against the New York Jets. The Jets are 2-2 but are not a bad team. The Patriots will have bring their A game, especially after loosing to the Bills. They are going to want to put the Jets in the dirt every play (meaning stop them on offense), to ensure a win. The match up takes place at New England and will be interesting to watch.

~Jeff Tyrrel

Keeping up with the Dallas Cowboys

So Far this season the Dallas Cowboys have kicked off their regular season with two wins and one loss. The Cowboys lost against the Jets in their first game. However,  they got back on their high horse and beat the San Fransisco 49’ers 27-24 and they beat the Washington Redskins 18-16. Tony Romo had led Dallas with great passing in the San Fransisco game which in the end led them to a win. Romo has also had a great season so far only falling short to the Jet’s. He played against the Redskins with a fractured rib and still led his team to victory despite the pain that he had to deal with.

This weekend the Cowboys are facing the Detroit Lions. In my personal opinion I think the Cowboys will have a tough game against the Lions, because the Lions have a record of three and zero. Even though I always root for the Cowboys to win, I think the Lions may have the upper hand in the game. But we will just have to wait and find out. If you can’t watch the game go to www.nfl.com for the final score or to see any other final scores you may have missed. Will the Cowboys prevail over the lions, or fall short?

~Matt Robidoux

Mass Hysteria

What is happening?  The Bills are 3 and 0! They increased their record to 3 and 0 after they beat the Pats in a close match this Sunday, which they won 34-31. So practically they won by a field goal. The Bills, in my opinion, have the most underrated player in the league. That player is their quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. I think the only reason why he’s so underrated is that he plays for a team like the Bills. I’m not talking about this season. I’m talking about all the seasons before. The Bills were probably the second worst team in the league. The only player that gets props on the Bills is probably Marshawn Lynch. I really think the Bills will have a breakout season.

Another team that I think will have a breakout season is from Detroit, the Detroit Lions. This will probably be the Lions best season since they became a team. They will be going all the way this year. I can just feel it in my gut. I’m a Vikings fan and even I have to say that the Lions are going to be an incredible team this year. But unlike the Bills, the Lions don’t have many underrated players. Calvin Johnson is extremely good, Matt Stafford will hit spots most Quarterbacks can’t, and you’ll see Jahvid Best zooming down the sidelines.

These were two of the worst teams in the league last year and this year I think they will be the two best teams. Good luck to both of you, hope you really do have a breakout season.

~Jacob Biafore

A Great Day for New York

The football season has finally started and the games are as exciting as ever! Now my favorite team, the New York Giants, has been sub-par the past couple of years. When I heard that Vick was going to play this week against the Giants, my heart sank. But, with the help of the amazing Giants defensive line, Vick ended up breaking his hand mid game. This was a huge turning point in the game, although the Giants were up before Vick’s incident, the Eagle offense got nowhere after it. It was a glorious day for New York, but it wasn’t over, the Jets also pulled away with a W.

In all of this excitement the New England Patriots were making a fool of the Buffalo Bills throughout the 1st quarter. But as the game progressed, the Bills mounted a comeback, and a big one. After 4 interceptions (the amount he threw all of last season) from the “glorious” Tom Brady, two of which where pick six’s, the Bills tied it up at 24-24 in the dwindling minutes of the 4th quarter. After yet another Pats turnover the Bills got the ball at the goal line with 1:57 left to play. After two knees from the Bills to run down the clock, the Patriots got a personal foul, which gave Buffalo a first down, or more time to waste. As the clock was stopped at 00:3 the Bills went into field goal formation, the 23 yard kick was child’s play for the Veteran kicker, and it sailed trough the uprights at 00:0 to end the game.

~Xavier Celestino