NFL Soapbox

  Congratulations to the Superbowl Champion Green Bay Packers. It will be a long time before we again see a team win all their playoff games on the road to win it all. Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers, they'll kill you every time. Now that it's time to turn to baseball, here are some end of the season football soapbox rants.

  Former Superbowl MVP Phil Simms has apparently forgotten his job description. It seems Mr. Simms doesn't like it when people criticize his sons. Last week both Simms and Desmond Howard ,another former Superbowl MVP, were at a Superbowl Week event signing autographs when things got a little heated. Earlier this college football season Howard , a ESPN college football analyst , commented that Matt Simms ( Phil's son) was one of the worst quarterbacks in the Southeast Conference. At the event Simms approached Howard to let him know how upset he was about the comments. According to Howard, he also threatened to hit him. Listen, I respected Simms as a player and for what he does now. Hell, he's the only player that I've ever seen yell back at Bill Parcells. But apparently he has forgotten what he does for a living. He's a football analyst!! Yes, Phil Simms gets paid to commentate on and be critical of football players. How would he like it if every mom and dad of all the players he's criticized over the years got in his face about what he has said about their their sons? I would think his skin would be a little thicker. Gimme a break Phil. And I agree, your son is terrible.

  Hypocrites of the year: The Pittsburgh Steelers ownership. Early last year the Steelers traded their former Superbowl MVP , Santonio Holmes , because of an Orlando club incident and a four game league suspension for violating the league substance abuse policy. They made this trade under the guise of "setting an example" to other players. At the same time last year their starting quarterback , Ben Roethlisberger, was under investigation for the second time in as many years for an alleged sexual assault. The NFL suspended him for four games. Sound familiar? Not only did they not trade Roethisberger , they didn't even extend his suspension. What "example" did that set? All this proofed was that they only care about who gives them the best chance of winning , or who can sell the most jerseys.

  Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams is a jerk. I was a Houston Oilers fan so I've been watching him act like a jerk all my life. His latest example of jerkiness is the firing of head coach Jeff Fisher. It's no coincidence that Adams waited until all the NFL head coach vacancies were filled before he let him go. Remember when the Titans announced that they were going to trade or release troubled quarterback Vince Young? Don't be surprised if they suddenly decide to keep him.

  Yesterday Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton had a workout in front of the media. He really impressed ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer who praised him up and down. Alot of mock drafts have him going in the first twelve picks to teams needing quarterback help (Arizona,Washington,Minnesota). I'm skeptical. Does anybody remember JaMarcus Russell? He came out after his junior season ,after an great showing in the 2007 Sugarbowl, and impressed most of the draft pundits as well. He was the number one overall pick by the Oakland Raiders and signed a contract worth $60 million, $32 million guaranteed. He is now out of the league. There's no doubt that Newton is a great athlete but is he worth 40 to 60 million? Last season he averaged over 100 yards rushing per game, he can forget about doing that in the NFL. If he does try it he won't make through the season in one piece. Anyone can look good in workouts without 300lb lineman breathing down your neck and throwing to uncovered receivers. I could be wrong but those teams should think real hard before committing first round money to him.

The NFL owners and the Players Association are at an impasse with the Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations. The players want a bigger piece of the pie: BIG SURPRISE.

Salary Cap or Bust

I know that right now everyone is talking Superbowl but I've been reading some reports about another sport that have me concerned. On December 11, 2011 Major League Baseball's collective bargaining agreement expires. If league owners and the baseball players association don't have serious talks about instituting a salary cap it will be the beginning of the end of Major League baseball as we know it. The reports that I mentioned that have prompted my concerns involve the impending free agency of Albert Pujols.   Over the last ten seasons Pujols has been considered,without much argument,the best overall player in baseball. His achievements over that decade are unparalleled. He seems to have been able to avoid any serious accusations on the use of performance enhancing drugs.Off the field he is considered classy and charitable. His current contract expires at the end of this season. And now because of an contract negotiation deadline set by his agent, he has all of St. Louis biting their fingernails. There are rumors that he is asking for $300 million over ten years. Yes, $300 million!! The St.Louis Cardinals' entire 2010 payroll was $94 million. Someone explain to me how 1 of 25 players on the team can account for that much of any team's payroll. The Pittsburgh Pirates payroll was $34 million last season.    I don't want it to seem like I'm singling out Pujols. There are plenty of other outrageous salaries being payout in baseball. His is just the most glaring example I can use to try to make my point. Without a salary cap in baseball these escalating salaries will only be affordable to a handful of teams in the future. I am aware that MLB has a revenue sharing system in place. This system dictates that high revenue teams share a small percentage of their revenue with teams in smaller markets. Gimme a break, the New York Yankees spent $200 million last season while the Pirates spent $30 million. It's a just a fact that smaller market teams can't afford to field enough quality players to even come close to competing on a consistent basis. The only hope these teams have is to develop enough talent through their farm system to catch lightning in a bottle and be competitive for a couple of years. And even if that does happen their young stars that they spend years developing will leave via free agency because they can't win in a bidding war with the richer teams. The best and most recent example of the "lightning in a bottle" theory is the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays were able to make the World Series three years ago with nothing but young talent that they developed over a few years. Two of the great young players that were big contributors to their recent success, Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena, left this offseason for richer pastures. Teams like the Kansas City Royals and Pittsburgh Pirates end up developing young players and are forced to trade them for other lesser young players or lose them outright to free agency. This means that these teams basically become farm teams for the richer teams in the league.    All three of the other major American sports leagues have a salary cap system that has created a more competitive balance. I think the National Football League has the most success with this cap system. Teams in the NFL can sign big name players by paying a portion of the player's salary through guaranteed signing bonus's that can be deferred over a few years. The NFL's National Football Conference has had a different team represent them in the last ten Superbowls. That means that more than half the teams in the conference has won that conference over the last decade. That my friends is balance. This also means that when training camps start up this summer all NFL fans can feel that their team has a legitimate shot at making the playoffs. When spring training starts later this month half the fans of MLB teams know their teams have no chance. I should know, I'm a Houston Astros fan.       In closing I should talk about who these soaring salaries affect the most. The fans. We're the ones who are paying these salaries in the first place. You pay $20 just to park at the stadium. Decent seats will cost you at least $30, peanuts $5, soda $4, beer $8, program $5, nachos $7. The average Joe with a family of four has to get a loan at the bank just to go to one game. If MLB doesn't do something about this now it's only going to get more expensive. GO ASTROS!!!   Superbowl prediction: Packers 24 Steelers 17

A QUESTION OF HEART

I know it has been a few days but I have come to the conclusion that Jay Cutler simply has no heart. There have been opinions on both sides about him leaving the NFC Championship game last Sunday. Some say that he knows his own body and what he can and cannot do and that the team’s medical people should have final say. Others say that this is the biggest game of his career and he might not get that chance again, so get your butt out there and play. I tend to agree with the latter.

   There have been many examples of players continuing to play with extraordinary injuries. In 1979 Jack Youngblood of the L.A.Rams fractured his left tibula in the 1^st round of the NFC playoffs. He went on to play every defensive down in the conference championship game and the Superbowl. Hall of Fame defensive back Ronnie Lott famously had part of a finger amputated during the 1985 season finale against Dallas so that he could continue to play. In the Cowboys’ 1993 season finale against the Giants Emmit Smith separated his shoulder just before halftime. With only missing two plays he continued to run the ball (168 yds) while having to be helped off the turf after every play. He felt compelled to play because even though the team had clinched a playoff spot they needed to win that game to secure home field. Chargers QB Phillip Rivers played in the 2007 AFC championship game with a torn ACL that required surgery afterward. These are just a few examples. With the exception of Rivers, all these players made these sacrifices while being paid a fraction of  what Cutler gets paid. All these players have one thing in common. They all had a sense of commitment to their teammates and the fans of their respective teams. Oh, they also had a little something called heart.

   I must confess to you that I am not a doctor, so I don’t have a trained eye for these things, but when he walked off the field before halftime he wasn’t even limping. Nobody had to help him off the field. After he left the game for good he was standing. No crutches. He was riding an exercise bike. To all you former high school and college players out there; what would your coaches have told you? It should be obvious to everyone that Cutler has no heart. He also doesn’t care about all you Bear fans out there. He either forgot or flat out doesn’t care who pays his salary. And regardless of what anyone thinks it’s the fans that pay the owners to pay him. This guy Cutler was paid a salary of $15 million dollars this season. Including the playoffs that’s $833,333 per game. I don’t blame any of you that burned his jersey in the parking lot. All you Bear fans out there should NEVER let this heartless jackass forget how he quit on you.