NFL thread

[Cornell]

We can bet on opposing teams.?

Trying to make it interesting, aren't you?

lol

Yeah, for you.   I don't want you to miss it! 

[Drew]

Yeah, for you.   I don't want you to miss it! 

And I do hope it's a good game and you enjoy it very much.

P.S. Don't party too hard!

[Cornell]

Yeah, for you. ? I don't want you to miss it!?

And I do hope it's a good game and you enjoy it very much.

P.S. Don't party too hard!

Yeah, I'm going to a huge party!  I was in Pittsburgh last weekend and collected up all my terrible towels!     So, I assume you're for Seattle? 

[Neemo]

Wow, T.O. might be bound for Denver

[sandman]

as a Philadelphia Eagles fan, this has been a rough couple of weeks. it's the first time in 5 years we weren't in the NFC championship game. the eagles went from the SB to 6-10.

still, there's high hopes for next season. but then i read this interview with Mcnabb (he's such a baby)...

(Source: Philadelphia Daily News)
DETROIT - Healing can be a long, tricky process, Donovan McNabb has learned.
The Eagles quarterback isn't sure he can trust his repaired groin to be ready for the team's first minicamp in April. He has a lot of rehab work to do, work that can't be pushed too hard for fear of a relapse.

McNabb also isn't sure right now that his team is his team, that his teammates have his back, after a disastrous season of injury and intrigue, lowlighted by the exile of wide receiver Terrell Owens. That process probably can't be pushed too hard, either. The bonds of trust will have to be reforged, to get the Eagles' locker room back to where it was before the devastation that began a little less than a year ago, amid the fallout from the last Super Bowl.

McNabb made his annual Super Bowl Week appearance yesterday on behalf of Campbell's Chunky Soup, along with his mother, Wilma, Pittsburgh Steelers star Jerome Bettis, and Bettis' mom, Gladys. After prolonged festivities surrounding Campbell's donations to food banks, McNabb talked to reporters about his sports hernia - which he said was bothering him when he reported to training camp last July - as well as Owens, and the Eagles.
McNabb said he feels his experience with T.O. should have been a lesson for the team, but he isn't sure the lesson has sunk in yet. McNabb influenced the Eagles to bring in Owens 2 years ago, then became an object of Owens' scorn when the All-Pro wideout grew dissatisfied with his contract.

"This is a sign for my teammates, for them to see that that person you may smile and talk to every day, that same person may talk to the media... talk to somebody else about how he doesn't like you or he's jealous of you, or whatever," McNabb said. "Every individual makes their own decisions. Now, for me, it's kind of to see how my teammates react to that. We've obviously seen how they reacted to it during the season, by wanting him back. So what message does that send to you?"

McNabb was hustled away by a handler before he could answer his own question. But it was pretty clear that the message McNabb got was one of nonsupport, though at the end of the disaster of a 6-10 season, several players spoke out on McNabb's behalf, and made it clear that McNabb was not the only Eagle who considered Owens a huge distraction.

McNabb was referring to what they said before that, the week after McNabb finally ripped his groin to the point where he needed season-ending surgery. As the Eagles prepared to play at the Giants on Nov. 20, middle linebacker Jeremiah Trotter led a bizarre effort to get Owens reinstated, more than a week after coach Andy Reid had made it clear T.O. would not play again for the Eagles.

With Trotter, a dominant personality, agitating hard for Owens, it was hard to find anyone in the locker room willing to say publicly that they disagreed. Trotter said he thought most of the locker room, including McNabb, would be willing to take Owens back. By the end of the season, several players had acknowledged that the failed effort had been Trotter's campaign, not the team's.
"That was one man," cornerback Sheldon Brown said.

Reporters were unable to talk to McNabb then, but yesterday he clearly implied the wounds of November hadn't healed. Asked how he knew teammates had wanted Owens to return, McNabb said: "I heard it in the media, I read it in the newspapers, just like you guys."

It sure sounds as if there will be some interesting discussions when the Eagles convene for that first minicamp. A source close to McNabb acknowledged that the QB was disappointed in how teammates and fans reacted to the dispute with Owens, that McNabb feels after seven seasons in Philadelphia, and five playoff appearances, he should have earned more trust.

"It's going to take time" to get the Eagles back to where they once were, McNabb said yesterday. "It's nothing that can happen overnight... we all know what happened, with our team kind of being separated and all... what got us to four straight NFC championship [games], that was teamwork, that was playing together as one, and trusting the guy next to you."

Yesterday, it somehow seemed more than a year ago that a confident McNabb led the Birds into Super Bowl week. There were no questions then about support, from fans or teammates.

"Since I've last been here, I guess all hell broke loose," McNabb said. "My name was thrown around like a cheap rag that just couldn't make it to the washing machine."
McNabb said he can only repair the damage done to his name by getting back to where he was a year ago, and this time coming out on top, instead of three points short.

"I've been thrown under the bus, my name's been thrown out there for good and bad - it happened with Freddie [Mitchell]," McNabb said. "Now, T.O.'s a bigger name. It just so happens those guys are the best of friends now. What a coincidence. My name is always going to be a name that people will say, 'Hey, that's that guy that T.O. talked about.' Does that matter to me? No. Because once you get to the Super Bowl and win it, then that's what they'll talk about."

Asked about Owens' criticisms of him, McNabb said: "Remember, I don't play childish games. If one person tries to lead you in that direction, as a man, you have to make your own decision. I didn't go that direction."
McNabb's nightmarish season began with the aftermath of that 24-21 loss to New England, the flap over McNabb apparently being out of breath during the Eagles' final touchdown drive. Owens exploited that episode for his own reasons last spring, when the Birds wouldn't revise his contract and McNabb declined to intervene on his behalf.
Then, trying to get ready for training camp, McNabb did something to his abdomen, an injury that got worse and finally became public after the Eagles' victory over San Francisco in the second game of the 2005 season. At that point, McNabb and team management felt he could play with the injury.

"Going into training camp, I felt a little bit of pain in that area," McNabb said yesterday. "Just trying to train hard - that's the kind of thing that leads to a sports hernia, doing abdominal work, trying to get tight abs... You don't want to be by the pool with a T-shirt on while everybody else is in their bikini, right? That might have led to me tearing my stomach up a little bit."
McNabb has spent the last month or so rehabbing in Philadelphia. He said he plans to move that effort to his home in Arizona within a few weeks.

"My message, to be with the team, was to show everyone that I'm working hard, that I'm looking forward to changing things that obviously have happened this year, and that I'm looking forward to moving things in a positive direction, to where maybe we'll be the team representing the NFC again next year," he said.

Sports hernias are tricky; even after surgery, players have problems, especially if they rehab too aggressively.
"I've talked to a couple of other players who have had the surgery," McNabb said. "They say just when you feel like you're 100 percent, you can kind of tweak a spot or something like that. That's something I'm trying to avoid by making sure that I continue to rest. I want to get back into it and train hard, but the doctor told me kind of to relax, and if you start to feel pain, pull off a little bit. I'm just trying to give it some time."

Of course, McNabb was asked about Owens' visit to Denver this week, as agent Drew Rosenhaus tries to interest a team in trading for T.O.'s rights or signing him after his anticipated release by the Eagles next month. Someone asked if McNabb thought Owens would be a changed man.

"There's only one person that can answer that, and that's Terrell. I can't answer that. I don't think any of his San Francisco teammates can answer that. I don't even know if Drew Rosenhaus can answer it," said McNabb, who called Owens "a great player."

McNabb noted his close friendship with Denver's quarterback.
"I'm sure I'll probably get a call from Jake Plummer,'' McNabb said. "What will I tell him? That'll be between me and Jake."

[Drew]

Yeah, I'm going to a huge party!  I was in Pittsburgh last weekend and collected up all my terrible towels!     So, I assume you're for Seattle? 

Nah, I'm not pulling for either team. I simply just don't have any interest in watching the game this year.

[jameslofton29]

I simply just don't have any interest in watching the game this year.

I think alot of people here feel the same. This thread got real fucking boring after the afc/nfc championship games. It basically turned into a 'Drew/Cornell will you party?' thread.

[Cornell]

I simply just don't have any interest in watching the game this year.

I think alot of people here feel the same. This thread got real fucking boring after the afc/nfc championship games. It basically turned into a 'Drew/Cornell will you party?' thread.

   Sorry, suckas!  Don't be poor sports. 

[jameslofton29]

I cant stand Mcnabb. He's the 2nd most overrated quarterback in NFL history, behind Michael Vick. Hell, my mom even hates the guy. There's something about him that has always rubbed people the wrong way. Whether its his talent(or lack thereof), his attitude, those Chunky soup commercials, or a different reason I'm not quite sure. Maybe its a combination of all the above. He will never get the respect that he thinks he deserves, and I believe his career is now on a downward spiral. He can never truly be the team "leader", and if your qb isn't respected by his teammates, then they will never win it all and there's no point in him being there. If I were the Eagles, I would trade him while he still has value on the market.

[sandman]

i agree. i hate mcnabb. as an eagles fan, he's given me a ton of great moments. but he just comes off as an ass.

he's more concerned with how people perceive him, than winning.

he's completely given up on running the ball. and without that element in his game, he's a less effective QB. every team used to spy him, but now they don't have to. and it's all because he's so concerned with being labeled a black QB.

[sandman]

PREDICTION TIME

this matchup is interesting. neither team has a true weakness. and they both do alot of things well. but i think the steelers are the better team. the AFC is such a stronger conference, and the steelers beat the top 3 seeds. very impressive.

they are on an unbelievable ride right now, and i don't see things changing. assuming roethlisberger handles the pressure ok (he is just a second year QB), the steelers will win.

steelers 27-17.

[D]

Pittsburgh 24-21




D Mcnabb lost lockeroom respect and came off as a whiny little pussy.  Say shit to T.O's face. dont get behind a camera and start being mr tough guy.

I saw a funny as hell SNL skit where they were doing a spoof on the situation and Donovan's mom said "Bret Favre is better than u"


McNabb refuses to run cause he dont want to be stereotyped as a typical black QB.

this is so fuckin ridiculous.

U look at Mike Vick, Atlanta were 6-3 on their way to the playoffs, he starts listening to the media and decides to prove he can pass.

Atlanta go something like 2-5 and miss the playoffs.

U play the game using all your abilities, to do anything less is bad for the team.

McNabb is overrated, he rode a good running game and defense to the 4 NFC Title games.

Anyone notice how dramatic his stats turned around ONLY  after he got T.O?

Philly gave Brian Westbrook a huge extension and he has never even ran for 1,000 yards.

1,000 yards in the NFL today is nothing but yet he is payed like a great back which he isnt.

He is a third down back with slot receiver type skills.   They gotta get another Duce Stale type power back to be successful.

Philly have to stop tryin to rip their player's off and start rewarding them for doing great.

[Cornell]

Pittsburgh 24-21

Works for me!  I have those numbers! 

[Neemo]

ARE YOUR READY FOR SOME FOOTBALLL!!!!!!!

I was gonna go for Seattle, but everyone coming over to my place tommorrow is going for Sea, so I gotta be the other side now, so I'm rooting for the steelers.

34-24 I have no idea how to pick the spread.

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

I would go for seattle since I'm an NFC guy and holmgren is their coach, but it's the Bus' final year, so I just want to see a good game, don't care who wins.  At least New England isn't playing

[jameslofton29]

 I think Pittsburgh will win by a couple touchdowns. At least I hope they do. I just cant imagine Seattle being Superbowl Champions. With this being Bettis's last game, they are going to do everything in their power to get him a ring. I would love to see him break the most rushing yards in a Superbowl record.

D, you made some great points about Mcnabb.

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

IF Seattle loses, damn, the suicide rate will skyrocket.  Seahawks football is the only thing in their lives that keeps them going at this point.

[jameslofton29]

IF Seattle loses, damn, the suicide rate will skyrocket.? Seahawks football is the only thing in their lives that keeps them going at this point.

Considering the fact that Seattle hasn't done shit in their entire NFL history, there had to be at least one other thing that kept their fans going all these years.

[Cornell]

IF Seattle loses, damn, the suicide rate will skyrocket.? Seahawks football is the only thing in their lives that keeps them going at this point.

Considering the fact that Seattle hasn't done shit in their entire NFL history, there had to be at least one other thing that kept their fans going all these years.

   No kidding!

I was in Pittsburgh last weekend and they sure have some passionate fans!

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

Seattle just depresses the fuck out of me.  Ever been there?  you see the young people and it's like they have no future.  And ALL that rain.  And hardly any sunshine.