What's going with the rest of the NFL, that doesn't have to do with the Super Bowl? Let's find out.
Labor peace is on everybody's mind now that the NFL offseason is officially in session. Management and players met for a few hours on Saturday, Roger Goodell characterized the session as "beneficial" and...
Outlining major sticking points, Goodell talked about revenue division, rookie salaries and benefits for retired players. He added: "We want to continue on with the integrity of the game, which is my No. 1 issue" and spoke of "making sure we have the best drug program in sports."
Influential owner Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots is optimistic a deal can be worked.
Why he is very optimistic that the NFL will come to terms on a labor agreement:
"I’m speaking for myself when I say this. Knowing what I know about what’s going on, what the numbers are on both sides, knowing that we have a quality product that’s getting great ratings … people want our product, so, today in America, where a lot of companies have to cut back … we have something that we can grow and build on and benefit all parties. It would really be criminal if we can’t find an agreement in the next month."
More notes after the jump...
-- The Tennessee Titans have a new coach. They promoted line coach Mike Munchak, who in his press conference said the "ship has sailed" on Vince Young for the Titans. Munchak has been with the Titans for a long time.
-- Tom Brady became the first-ever unanimous winner of the Associated Press NFL MVP Award. He got all 50 votes from the sportswriters. Brady almost was unanimous in 2007 with 49 out of 50 votes.
-- Michael Vick was named the AP Comeback Player of the Year.
-- Want to know how crazy rumors develop? Bleeding Green Nation explains in this post, where a joke about Jon Gruden replacing Andy Reid caught fire for a moment.
The rumor started when...
Former Eagles fullback Kyle Eckel released posts on his Facebook and Twitter accounts stating that that former Buccaneers head coach John Gruden was in town and prepared to take over the reins as head coach of the Eagles.
The truth is...
Eckel has now come out on WIP essentially claiming responsibility for the whole fiasco, saying that he was just having some fun and that he had no idea that the rumor would become such a "wildfire."
Along the way, plenty of people got fooled.