As you can't have enough Brett Favre news that is opined out of someone's rear end, Bill Williamson of ESPN recently wrote a list of the top potential destinations for the questionably retired quarterback. The alliterative headline of his piece reads: "Ravens, Texans, Bucs finer fits for Favre." Why the Texans?
The Texans are on the verge of good things, but they are not exactly settled at quarterback. Sage Rosenfels is waiting in the wings should Matt Schaub have issues. If Favre were available, then Texans coach Gary Kubiak, a quarterback lover, would be tempted."
I guess it is nice for Williamson to acknowledge that the Texans are a team with potential, but his one paragraph synopsis of the Texans quarterback situation and Kubiak's thought processes is way off.
The Texans salary cap situation is a little tight, and I just don't see the Texans wanting to spend their money on an old distracting quarterback rental. The Texans quarterback situation is one of the stronger positions on the team, so why would they throw money at that when they have other needs? Too bad Favre isn't a cornerback.
Okoye, who last year was the youngest NFL player in 30 years, was sober and happy and wasn't photographed doing anything stupid. Bloggers might be bummed, but kids who look up to him aren't.
I can't speak for all bloggers because we aren't a collective who thinks in lockstep (duh). Personally I would be ecstatic if Amobi Okoye and other talented athletes didn't risk everything getting stupid drunk. It would also make me happier if Wickersham hadn't promoted a wildly dangerous drinking practice in the structure of his article.
Wickersham organized his article by saying "let's do 21 shots" to discuss Okoye's birthday plans, and how he no longer wants to be defined by his age. It's an allusion to how some 21 year olds celebrate their birthday by trying to drink 21 shots.
I'm not your mom, but I think it is worth mentioning that this newish binge drinking fad kills people. Being deaded or put into a alcohol-poisoned coma isn't the best way to spend a birthday. You would think people would know that drinking 21 shots in short succession is dangerous, but apparently not. Education is the only way found to reduce the number of people doing this, and it's not a good idea to normalize this behavior in a sports article.
Oh, and belated birthday greetings to Okoye. Sorry, I didn't get you anything but I'm guessing with 400 people at your birthday party, you are doing okay in the gift department. Check out this link if you have interest in seeing Okoye photographed doing non-stupid things on his birthday. He is wearing a sweet suit. A bit heavy for June in Houston, but it can get cold in those overly air conditioned ballrooms.
The Houston Texans received the least personal fouls, but Sando got it completely wrong as it related to Texans defensive tackle Travis Johnson:
Former Patriots receiver Deion Branch drew a line between Harrison's hard-nosed play and the approach Houston Texans defensive lineman Travis Johnson took after knocking out then-Miami Dolphins quarterback Trent Green with a legal hit last season. Johnson stood over the fallen Green and taunted him.
"[Harrison] is not that type of dude, I promise you," Branch said. "He's not going to go into a game and try to hurt someone.
Uh, I'm guessing that Sando didn't actually see that play or maybe he just got his actives and passive mixed up writing about it. It was Trent Green who knocked himself out after Green intentionally blocked Johnson with a low but legal hit. If anyone was dirty in that play, it was Green who admitted he dove low, smashing Johnson's knee with his helmet, causing Johnson to somersault into the air and land on his head.
I'd put up some real speed video of this, but it no longer exists because the NFL pulled it. This slo-mo YouTube version above is all that exists.
Pete Prisco of CBS Sports came out with a list of the top 50 players in the NFL last week. Some of it was predictable (Tom Brady and Peyton Manning first and second), some of it was surprising (Kevin Williams in the top 10), and all of it was designed as a springboard for off-season arguments.
One of those arguments took place on ESPN Radio this morning, where Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora (No. 42 on the list) was a guest. When asked what about that list surprised him, Umenyiora said, "Mario Williams at No. 6." He then added, "This guy right here at No. 6 is just absolutely ridiculous."
It's easy to see why Umenyiora feels that way. Williams, the Texans' 2006 first overall pick, did have one more sack than Umenyiora last season, but is he really so much better than Umenyiora that he deserves to be 36 spots ahead?
Maybe, maybe not. But, again, these lists are really nothing more than conversation-starters, and if the list got Umenyiora to express a strong opinion, it did its job.
A rumor recently surfaced on the TexansTalk message board that former Bears running back Cedric Benson was in the Houston area and that he was telling people that he was closest in his talks with the Texans. I've heard similar gossip from other places, and as fans are interested in this, I think it is worth discussing.
(UPDATE: Adam Schefter from NFL Network is reporting that the Texans have no interest in Cedric Benson. No surprise given their emphasis on acquiring high character players, see below).
Clearly the Texans situation would be appealing to Benson. He would be close to home and playing in front of a crowd that includes Longhorn fans who may be inclined to give him another chance. Kyle Shanahan, the offensive coordinator for the Texans played (!) on the same University of Texas team as Benson.
And most importantly, the Texans have a need for better running back play. Their group of backs is still not where you want it to be for a team that aspires to dominate in the running game. Here's their current lineup:
Ahman Green - Oldish and oft injured Chris Brown - Oft injured Steve Slaton - Inexperienced smallish rookie Chris Taylor - Undrafted inexperienced RB coming off of injury Darius Walker - Undrafted inexperienced RB
Yesterday, I passed an article along that suggested that the Houston Texans were a team that compressed the time between training camp and the rest of the offseason schedule. I thought it might be an interesting experiment to watch.
Whoops, it turns out that the Si.com article was wrong about the Texans schedule. I contacted someone with the team, and they said that the official offseason workouts concluded a few weeks ago with the last day of OTAs, but added there are "a lot of players" working out on a voluntary basis.
Maybe it's too bad, because Washington Redskin tight end, Chris Cooley provides some thoughtful reasons why offseason schedules make no sense. In one of Cooley's magnificent blogs, he explains:
"If teams really want players at their highest performance level then have guys stick around until closer to two weeks before camp starts. If you want to give players a little more time away from the game, then give it to them in March and April. If I'm coaching, I'd rather find out that my players are lying around on the beach having a couple drinks earlier in the year. I certainly don't want that happening with less than two weeks to training camp."
That seems to make a lot of sense to me but the SI.com article explained that teams are reluctant to do it because it's the only time coaches get much of a break. The coaches need to be around earlier in the season because of draft evaluations.
As yesterday's FanHouse NFL Liveblog discussed, sometimes we hear more about NFL players who are getting in trouble, than the ones who don't.
Ross Tucker, in a worth-reading SI.com story talks about the temptations that NFL players face in their downtime, and the ways that NFL teams are dealing with it. One way is to shorten the time between the offseason program and training camp:
Instead of beginning in mid- to late-March and finishing in mid- to late-June, teams could easily push those dates back in an effort to close the gap of time before training camp. Teams could potentially shift the beginning of their allotted offseason time to the second week of April and finish it sometime in early July and still give the players a couple of weeks off to mentally re-charge before the rigors of training camp begins. This not only would help teams keep a shorter leash on their players, but also satisfy coaches who often worry their players are not putting the time in working out and studying their playbooks during the downtime.
One team subscribing to this theory is Houston. The Texans started their offseason program March 31 and won't conclude until the week after July 4th, leaving less than two weeks between the end of the program and the start of training camp on July 25. It's clear Texans GM Rick Smith and coach Gary Kubiak are hoping this wrinkle will pay dividends on the field.
The theory of a shorter time between the offseason program and the training camp seems to make sense to me, but Tucker cites unnamed league sources who explain why teams are reluctant to do this. It's a copycat league, and well, over-worked coaches would miss their traditional vacation time.
Mike Sherman left his position as Assistant Head Coach-Offense at the end of last year to take over the head coaching position with Texas A&M. Even though he left, he has very positive things to say about the Texans that sound beyond just leaving a few nice exit interview words.
In this brief video interview with Anna-Megan Raley of Chron.com, Sherman talks about how impressed he is with the owner, GM and coaches, and the way the leadership and decision making is done with the Texans. He is confident in Gary Kubiak and believes this management group will go to a Super Bowl (but maybe not next year).
Sherman reduces expectations some by pointing out that the 2008 Texans schedule is a brutality, that they play in a tough division, and that their record may not reflect their progress. He pretty much sums up the team's situation well.
The playoff talk is what smart players are supposed to say, but the most interesting part of the video is Winston talking about how excited he is to work with offensive line guru Alex Gibbs. Some believe that Gibbs is the most important acquisition in the Texans short history in that he will improve technique and make this line tougher. Interestingly, what Winston talks about the most is how Gibbs works to improve the lines' understanding of the mental aspects of the game.
Last year, it was surprising to me how well the Texans could throw the ball without teams having to respect the running game much. Since Kubiak has been coach, the running back group has looked like inhabitants of the island of misfit toys. A group that no other team in the league would want.
No word on the terms of the agreement yet. And that's sort of a big deal because this is a great signing for the Texans, unless they substantially overpaid for a situational pass rusher who has been in the league 10 years and has a bit of an injury history. Colvin says that he is willing to play whatever position or role the Texans want, and will prepare like an every down player.
If you look at the Texans defense, their best players, DeMeco Ryans and Mario Williams are relatively young. The defense some older players, but none who have truly come close to what Ryans and Williams mean to their team. The only outstanding defensive player who should be in the prime of his career is Dunta Robinson, and he is coming off of a serious injury.
As you can't have enough Brett Favre news that is opined out of someone's rear end, Bill Williamson of ESPN recently wrote a list of the top potential destinations for the questionably retired quarterback. The alliterative headline of his piece reads: "Ravens, Texans, Bucs finer fits for Favre." Why the Texans?
According to Seth Wickersham of ESPN, Texans DT 
Pete Prisco of CBS Sports came out with a list of the 
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