NFL Offseason 2012: Because contract negotiations are part of the excitement

[dps]

Negotiations between the Steelers and Mike Wallace have broken down and there is now talk they want to trade him.

Don't think that they'll get much in return for a dead newsman.

[Sophie Scholl]

James Harrison being trashy?  Consider me shocked.  In more pleasant news, hopefully the Browns sell to a new owner, so Lerner can officially pay all of his attention to Aston Villa instead of pretending to own and care about an NFL franchise as well.

[Neil]

James Harrison being trashy?  Consider me shocked.  In more pleasant news, hopefully the Browns sell to a new owner, so Lerner can officially pay all of his attention to Aston Villa instead of pretending to own and care about an NFL franchise as well.

Yeah, but he's going to sell it to a Steelers fan.  It's a conspiracy to sabotage a rival of the Steelers...  Oh wait.  The Browns aren't really a rival to anyone.

[CountDeMoney]

Boller signed with the Chargers.  It's like Norv is already fired.

So much for that.

Kyle Boller apparently prefers life with a beauty queen to being smacked around by 300-pound defensive linemen.

One day after signing with the San Diego Chargers, the former Ravens quarterback has reportedly retired, according to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune.

He's just 31 years old, but after eight seasons Boller has had enough. He played with the Ravens, Rams and Raiders. He was selected by the Ravens in the first round of the 2003 NFL Draft as the 19th overall pick.

In 2004, his best season, Boller started all 16 games with the Ravens, completing 258 of 464 passes for 2,559 yards. He threw 13 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

Boller married former Miss California and Miss USA runner-up Carrie Prejean in 2010. They had their first child in 2011.

[Neil]

The guy just never wanted it.  He wasn't a competitor, even back in Baltimore.  I guess I'll have to finally get rid of all my 'Boller for HoF' images and gear.

Poor guy is screwed once his wife spends all his money.

[Ed Anger]

Good for him.

More room for Troy Smith in the 3rd string now.

[CountDeMoney]

Tennessee Titans wide receiver O.J. Murdock committed suicide this morning in front of the Tampa high school he graduated from, according to the Tampa Police Department. He was 25 years old.

According to a news release distributed by the Tampa police, Orenthal James Murdock was found in his car at approximately 8:30 a.m. in front of Middleton High School. He had suffered an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound and was transported to Tampa General Hospital in critical condition.

Murdock was pronounced dead at 10:43 a.m.

After Murdock did not report to the Titans' training camp last week, coach Mike Munchak said Murdock had been excused for "personal reasons." No details have emerged of the issues that Murdock was dealing with.

An undrafted free agent who signed with the Titans out of Fort Hays State last year, Murdock missed the entire season with an Achilles injury. Murdock began his college career at South Carolina, where he played for two years and was a teammate of Kenny McKinley, a Denver Broncos wide receiver who committed suicide in 2010.

[derspiess]

Yeah, but he's going to sell it to a Steelers fan.  It's a conspiracy to sabotage a rival of the Steelers...  Oh wait.  The Browns aren't really a rival to anyone.

Yeah they are, sorta.  But only because we share a state with them

[Neil]

Yeah, but he's going to sell it to a Steelers fan.  It's a conspiracy to sabotage a rival of the Steelers...  Oh wait.  The Browns aren't really a rival to anyone.

Yeah they are, sorta.  But only because we share a state with them

Have the Browns and Bengals shared a good season in the last 20 years?  I guess it's some cheap heat, and they've had some real shootouts (how many years ago was it that they had a game that was 50-something to 40-something?), but the games aren't really all that meaningful.

[Syt]

http://espn.go.com/blog/afcnorth/post/_/id/51592/steelers-jersey-irks-some-ex-ravens

Steelers jersey irks some ex-Ravens

Tom Zbikowski, the former Ravens safety, couldn't believe what he saw at his first Colts training camp. Someone in the stands was wearing a Steelers jersey.

Zbikowski pointed out the fan to Colts first-year head coach Chuck Pagano, and the former Ravens defensive coordinator worked a deal to get Zach Simmons to change into an Andrew Luck jersey.

"It took some prying, it wasn't easy," Pagano said, via the Indianapolis Star.

Simmons, who has a tattoo on his right shoulder and had a Terrible Towel in hand, wanted to catch the eye of offensive coordinator Bruce Arians, who had the same job with the Steelers, and former Steelers running back Mewelde Moore.

"For an ex-Raven, I was surprised, he was a real nice guy," the fan said of Pagano.

It's nice to see that the Ravens-Steelers rivalry doesn't go away even when you leave one of those teams. Remember in March when former Ravens linebacker Jarret Johnson said he couldn't go to the Steelers in free agency because "I would've had to throw up on my jersey every time we played."

As far as Pagano, it took some moxie to approach a fan, especially one wearing a James Harrison jersey. But the fan was lucky that he wore his jersey to watch the Colts and not the Jets. My guess is Rex Ryan, another former Ravens defensive coordinator, would have used a few expletives in his chat with him.

[Ed Anger]

Browns sold.

[Sophie Scholl]

Browns sold.

  Now if only they could go back in time and never hire Holmgren.  Or do anything they've done since coming back.  Or leave for Baltimore.

[CountDeMoney]

Or do anything they've done since coming back.  Or leave for Baltimore.

Sorry, bro.  Some things just aren't meant to be.

[Sophie Scholl]

   I'm glad Baltimore has a team, and I like the Ravens, but how awesome would that team be for Cleveland?  Blue collar, knock down, drag out team for a city of the same mentality.  Not to mention being able to still have Ozzie as a connection.  The Super Bowl win would have been nice, too.

[Ed Anger]

There was so much goodness in our rollicking Chris Kluwe live chat from the other night that it almost seems unfair to single out just one of Kluwe's responses. But one answer in particular caught my eye and demanded some additional details:

    Joey Porter is the only person on my jerk list, because he's a frothing dingleberry.

Eight years in the NFL, and Kluwe only has one guy on his "jerk list"? What the hell could Porter have done to him to make Kluwe feel that way? With Porter formally retiring as a Steeler tonight—is that even necessary, by the way?—I put the question to Kluwe via email this afternoon. He quickly wrote back to tell the whole story:

    So here's my Joey Porter story. My rookie year in Week 11 or 12 we were playing the Lions and I ended up tearing my ACL in my kicking leg in the second quarter, and then almost breaking my ankle in the third quarter when a guy dove in on a punt, missed the ball and landed right on my plant leg. Was out for the next game because I couldn't walk (they brought Darren Bennet back in to punt, I think it was against the Rams but not totally sure) and the week after that we played the Steelers (I didn't know I had a torn ACL at the time because the former team doctors and training staff told me it was just "damaged"). So here I am warming up before the game, trying to figure out how I'm going to kick the ball with no plant foot and no leg snap in my kicking leg, and still a rookie so absolutely determined that there's no way in hell I'm coming off the field and letting someone else take my job.

    Enter Joey Porter. Apparently he had this thing where he would claim the entire half of the field the Steelers were warming up on and harass anyone on the opposing team that came across the 50 (the NFL rules are that each team gets to the 45-yard line to warm up with the intervening 10 yards as a buffer zone, in reality the punters and kickers still use this space because we simply don't have enough room to warm up otherwise and no one cares). So I'm finishing up my warmups, hitting plus 50s from their 45, and he comes wandering over and starts barking "I need my 50, I need my 50." At this point their team is stretching on the 30-yard line, so I give him my best "What the fuck kind of mouth breather are you?" look and continue warming up. He then posts up right behind me, pretends like he's stretching, and starts bumping me as I'm punting.

    Now Darren Bennet was still on the team but hadn't dressed for the game, as it was a gameday decision on whether or not I'd be able to punt, so he's sitting on the bench in warmups talking to a couple people. Once Joey starts pulling his shit Darren comes flying off the bench, gets up in Joey's face and starts shoving him back; I don't know if you ever saw Darren in person but he's a big guy and isn't afraid to level someone. I'm kind of just staring now because I have no idea what's going on (as well as currently possessing zero functional lower limbs), and then a couple of their dudes come flying in, a couple of our dudes come flying in, and there's a minor fracas for several minutes until the refs get everyone separated. They then tell me I need to move over to my side of the field, which is completely too short for me to punt on, so I say "Fine, whatever," line up on the 30 facing the Steelers' side and start dropping punts over where their linebackers are trying to warm up, with a special emphasis on aiming at Joey. About six punts later the head ref comes over and tells me I need to scoot back, so I tell him "Nope, I'm on my side and I need to get ready for the game" and proceed to punt at the linebackers for their entire warmup session.

    Long story short, Joey Porter's an asshole and I'm really sad I wasn't able to get him to roll an ankle or blow out a knee stepping on a loose ball. In my entire career he's the only person I've ever met that's been a total dickhead.

    Addendum: Another team pretty notorious for screwing with punter warmups were the Cowboys under Wade Phillips; they'd come out to stretch like an hour and a half before the game (which is right in the middle of the kicker/punter warmup time) and cover the entire half of their field so you couldn't use it. Every time they did, I'd just start launching balls into their stretch lines. I don't know if they still do it, but fuck 'em if they can't show some common courtesy.