NFL cleveland Browns

We're entering a dark period of the NFL life right now. Nothing is going on. Players and coaches are on vacation. With that we look at 10 quarterback situations worth looking at before training camps start in late July, because, well, it's always about the quarterback.

1. Detroit. Matthew Stafford vs. Daunte Culpepper.

The situation: It's the same old argument. Do you start the rookie or the veteran? The No. 1 pick of the draft is Stafford, but the vet with a chance to win a few games is Culpepper. Stafford is the future but you don't want to damage it. For every Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco there's a Ryan Leaf and Vince Young.

Solution: Start Culpepper and wait until 2010 for Stafford.

Donte' Stallworth, in terms of how he will be treated by the American justice system, has moved past his crimes. He settled his DUI manslaughter case with the Reyes family -- and news that leaked out late last night might provide a pretty good reason as to why he settled so quickly.

Turns out that Stallworth, in addition to having imbibed in some alcohol before hitting Reyes with his car, also allegedly had marijuana in his system.

It's easy to scoff when you hear about a former professional athlete who's struggling financially. Aren't these guys all millionaires? If they haven't saved enough for retirement, isn't that their own fault? But the current recession hasn't spared pro athletes, and increasing numbers of them are finding themselves in dire financial straits.

Donte' Stallworth has his life -- something that can't be said about Mario Reyes, the man he accidentally hit and killed with his car in March -- but it barely resembles the one he once knew just a few months ago.

Even though Stallworth only received 30 days in jail (followed by a year of house arrest and eight years probation, not to mention a financial settlement with Reyes' family), he was suspended indefinitely by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

Worse: ha has to live with the burden of killing a man with a family as he came home from work.

The case is closed and Stallworth's fate has been determined, but yesterday the 911 call was released to the public, shedding light on how events unfolded as they happened. Via NBC Miami:

Braylon Edwards heard his name in the rumor mill.

He was supposed to get traded. It was draft day and the Browns were talking with the Giants about a proposed deal. Cleveland was serious about getting rid of Edwards, the star wide receiver who saw his receiving totals drop drastically last season. But the Giants didn't want to give up first and third-round picks for Edwards.

There was this perception that Edwards wanted out of Cleveland. He could have sulked, and maybe he did, by missing several offseason workouts following the draft.

But in an interview with FanHouse, Edwards said he's committed to the Browns.

Braylon Edwards would probably like to get his hands on a time machine and go back 12 months. And as long as we're defying the laws of physics, Derek Anderson would like to hitch a ride, too. A year ago, both players were coming off Pro Bowl seasons.

Today, they're still with the team, but have endured myriad trade rumors, inconsistent play, and for Anderson, a midseason benching.

Yet, training camp is five weeks off and both remain on the roster. New head coach Eric Mangini hasn't named his starting quarterback, although the word on the street is that it's Brady Quinn's job to lose. And Edwards, the club's 2005 first-round pick, is not only off the trading block, but should be an integral part of the Browns' offense.

Bernie Kosar spent his first eight NFL season with the Cleveland Browns. A native of Youngstown, Ohio, he was a fan favorite, although Bill Belichick, hired in 1991, was less enamored with the immobile quarterback and eventually benched him for Vinny Testaverde in 1993, before releasing him in Week 8.

Jim Brown was one of the greatest athletes of the 20th Century, a Hall of Fame running back for the Cleveland Browns who dominated his sport in the 1950s and 1960s. But Brown wasn't content just to succeed on the field.

Brown always said he had a social responsibility that went far beyond football, and after retiring he started the Amer-I-Can Program and has worked tirelessly to promote education and curtail gang violence, efforts that he says other professional athletes should emulate. And in an interview scheduled to air Tuesday on HBO, Brown singled out Tiger Woods as the one athlete whose failure to work for social change most disappoints him.

Roger Goodell has never been known to take a soft stance on violent and/or irresponsible behavior from an NFL player. It stood to reason, then, that after Donte' Stallworth received just 30 days in prison from America's wonderful legal system, that the commish might have a harsher punishment in mind.

That was confirmed this afternoon when Stallworth was suspended indefinitely by Goodell and the NFL, according to a letter sent to Stallworth and a statement released by the commissioner's office.

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If you're like most people not named Donte Stallworth, you are mad.

Mad at Stallworth. Mad at his high-priced lawyers. Mad at the prosecutor. Mad at the legal system.