Breath easy Panthers fans, Cam Newton will not be on the cover this year’s Madden.

The same cannot be said for Lions fans and Calvin Johnson fantasy football dynasty owners. The infamous Madden cover curse has hit Megatron this year. While it is hard to believe that Calvin won’t dominate cornerbacks like he did all last year, there is NO beating the Madden curse.

Whether it was Eddie George, Culpepper, Faulk, Lewis, Alexander, Vick or last year’s cover Peyton Hillis, year after year elite and all-star players have suffered at the hands of the Madden curse.

Fantasy football owners here is the ultimate word of caution, hold back from drafting Megatron, at least until the 2^nd round.

While Calvin didn’t ease through the tournament like Cam Newton, it was Calvin who took down Newton in the finals. Calvin is only the 2^nd WR to be on the Madden cover.

For Lions fans who still have hope, read this tweet:

C'mon people, Calvin survived getting drafted by Matt Millen, HE CAN BEAT THE MADDEN CURSE!

— ACC Sports (@ACCSports) April 25, 2012

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If you're still debating whether to watch the NFL Network's coverage of tomorrow's draft or ESPN's coverage (why you're considering ESPN if the NFLN is an option is beyond me), maybe the following will help you make your final decision.

An NFL Network spokesman told Pro Football Talk Deion Sanders will still appear on Thursday’s NFL Network draft telecast as scheduled despite being cited for a misdemeanor assault charge.

As you may or may not have read, Deion Sanders took to Twitter following an alleged incident between Sanders and his soon-to-be ex-wife.

Pray for me and my kids now! They just witnessed their mother and a friend jump me in my room. She's going to jail n I'm pressing charges!

— DeionSanders (@DeionSanders) April 23, 2012

While any incidents of assault involving former or current NFL players is always noteworthy, the lack of clarity in the situation is somewhat numbing. Yesterday, after Sanders had very publicly claimed he was assaulted by his wife and one of her friends, reports trickled out that Sanders had also been cited for misdemeanor assault.

Let's be perfectly honest here. All the pre-draft coverage can be somewhat boring and monotonous before the picks actually start rolling in. So, at the very least, Deion Sanders' appearance on the NFL Network should provide us some awkward, tense moments when he is first introduced. Don't let that convince you that the entire telecast will be that way though. It's more likely that the broadcast will completely ignore the entire event altogether. On the other hand, if Deion Sanders brings it up on air, we could get one of the most awkward 30 second clips of the entire season.

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Over the past few weeks, there have been a handful of mock drafts around the internet that have projected wide receiver Justin Blackmon to slide out of the top 10. I'm here to tell you that won't be happening.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are the centerpiece team in terms of drafting Blackmon, and they're the reason that he cannot fall out of the top 10. Yesterday, Gene Frenette of the Florida Times-Union said, "The Jaguars have sent a lot of their scouts to the OSU campus to interview Monken about everything related to Blackmon." That combined with Jaguars.com senior writer, John Oehser's continued insistance that the Jaguars would draft Blackmon if he's still available at 7th overall seem to indicate that Blackmon is a sure top 10 pick.

The Jaguars aren't the only team that may be interested in drafting Blackmon, however. The Vikings, Browns, Rams, and the Bills all seem to be legitimate potential landing places for Blackmon inside the top 10 in the NFL draft.

Frankly, I don't know how Blackmon ever fell out of any top 10 predictions. Blackmon stands at just 6'1", but as ESPN's Sports Science shows below, Blackmon is extrememly athletic. Blackmon has a greater standing range than Plaxico Burress, who is 6'5", and Blackmon can catch a ball thrown within a range that is about the sive of a two-car garage. It's for those reasons that I firmly believe Justin Blackmon will stay in the top 10 on Thursday, but we already knew that didn't we?

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As ESPN dropped another bombshell on the New Orleans Saints Monday with their report that GM Mickey Loomis had a secret listening device installed at the Superdome from 2002-2004 to spy on opposing coaches, it was met with immediate pushback from a wide variety of sources.  That pushback and the gravity of ESPN's report is of massive importance.  Regardless of any possible competitive advantage, we're talking wiretapping here, which is prompting the feds to get involved in checking out the allegations.

As I said when I wrote about the media coverage of BountyGate over at Awful Announcing, I have a real bias as a Saints fan to fully disclose.  Honestly, I've watched Super Bowl XLIV about six times in the past month to try to cope with the events of this offseason.  But this article isn't going to make a judgment on the true or false nature of Barr's report.  It's not going to attack or defend Mickey Loomis or even guess about the possible competitive edge that a GM wiretapping opposing playcalls could make.  None of that would be fair or reasonable.

Rather, what we have to address is the high stakes game of chicken between the New Orleans Saints and ESPN.  The intensity and volume of denials coming from the Saints organization and those close to the Saints organization immediately put the initial Outside the Lines report from John Barr under an even more powerful microscope.  In simple terms, either all the people below are lying... or Barr's report is false.  There's no middle ground.  Before we get to what is at stake for both sides, here's a rundown of the reaction to the ESPN piece.

Mickey Loomis spoke to Jay Glazer of Fox Sports and called the report "absolutely false":

"This report on ESPN is absolutely false," Loomis wrote in an email. "I have a monitor in front of me in my booth that provides the league-issued stats for the game. I have a small TV with the network broadcast and I have an earpiece to listen to the WWL-AM radio (flagship broadcaster) game broadcast.

"To think I am sitting in there listening and actually and/or doing something with the offensive and defensive play calls of the opposing teams makes this story and the unnamed sources that provided the false information that much less credible. It just didn’t happen."

In the same article, Saints spokesman Greg Bensel called it "1,000 percent false" and even went as far to say that ESPN refused to show the team evidence of the wiretapping system in place:

“This report is 1000 percent false,” said Greg Bensel, the Saints vice president of communications. “Completely inaccurate. We asked ESPN to provide us evidence to support their allegations and they refused. The team and Mickey are seeking all legal recourse regarding these false allegations.”

Former Saints coach Jim Haslett, Bill Polian, Cortez Kennedy, and even the guy that wired the WWL audio in the SuperDome have come out and publicly reputed or questioned ESPN's report amongst others.

But perhaps most interesting, WWL Legal Analyst Donald Foret was concerned when John Barr called him looking to dig up information about the franchise:

On Tuesday, Colts GM Ryan Grigson told us what we've known since around Thanksgiving of 2011. The Colts will be taking Andrew Luck with the first pick of the 2012 NFL draft.

The announcement is no surprise to anyone who's been following the Colts since Peyton Manning was unable to play at the beginning of the 2011 season. For better or for worse, the Colts seemed to fall in love with Luck, and it didn't appear as if they ever really considered taking Robert Griffin III.

Colts fans have been spoiled by Peyton Manning and company for over a decade. Fans will be expecting Luck to come in and deliver almost immediately, but those expectations may need to be toned down for the sake of Luck's development. Although Andrew Luck is considered by many the best prospect at quarterback since Peyton Manning entered the league, quarterbacks in the NFL are anything but a sure bet, and even if Luck is great, it seems doubtful that he could hope to fully live up to Peyton Manning's legacy in Indianapolis.

The announcement almost certainly locks the Redskins into Robert Griffin III with the second overall pick. Although they can't make any official announcement until Luck is actually taken by the Colts, it seems like a safe bet that Griffin will be in Washington.

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Some point to the blue turf. Some point to the game management skills of Kellen Moore. But many realize that Boise has been churning out talent in the past few years, and Shea McClellin is the latest elite talent to come out of Chris Petersen’s system. Titus Young and Ryan Clady came before him, but McClellin could turn out to be the best of the bunch.

The 6-foot-3, 260-pound beast is quickly rising up draft boards, and it is easy to understand why. He can play with his hand in the dirt on the end, stand up on either side as an outside backer and even moved inside on some schemes.

He has been under the radar since his prep days. Just a two-star coming out of Marsing, Idaho, not exactly a hotbed of football talent. Redshirting as a frosh and backing up in his second year on campus, McClellin was patient in waiting for his chance to shine. He started as an end/outside backer for the past three years, and racked up 20.5 sacks during his career.

So what has caused his name to creep up the boards? Well the question should really be why he wasn’t being considered a first-round talent all along. He has solid 4.6 time, and while he does not push the bar with the heavyweights, watching his tape makes you realize that he comes to play every down.

He is being talked about as a possible late first-round pick, with the Patriots and Packers seeming like perfect fits for the versatile beast. But with the way draft buzz goes; do not be shocked if he creeps into the late teens. The Chargers could certainly use some help off the edge, and who better to learn under than recently signed Jarrett Johnson?

McClellin has great hands and can shed blockers to get into the backfield. He spent five years learning an excellent system in Boise, and should have no problem stepping into a pro camp on day one. He played a lot of zone when he was dropping back, but his speed and instincts suggests that he would have no problem covering an athletic tight-end down the seam.

He is the first Bronco to get an invite to the draft in the Big Apple, which is an excellent indication that scouts around the league have been hot on his tail for some time now and it is just a matter of the trickle down that the rest of us are finally learning his name.

Growing up on the family farm in Marsing, Idaho has made him into the hard worker that he is today. It took some convincing, but his grandparents finally understood that he would not be able to help put up a new fence on the property during the pre-draft process. A town of just 1,000 with a sign proclaiming itself as his hometown, he comes from humble roots that will surely help him down the road.

There is little risk that he will get caught up in off the field issues, as most of his off time is spent milking goats and taking care of at-risk animals. What doesn’t this guy do? In a day and age when the news of an athletes arrest is regular occurrence, it is nice for a front office to know that there will likely be no such run-ins for the small-town McClellin.

 He played mostly with his hand down at Boise State, but he showed at his Pro Day that he can work well in coverage and should have no problem adapting to the pro game. It seems as if there is no part of the game that he does not excel, whether on the field or off. Do not be surprised when his name is called much earlier than anyone expected just a few months ago.

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With the NFL schedule now out, all draft buzz has practically faded away. While some couldn't contain their excitement over discussing the possible fun 2012-2013 matchups, everyone knows that you win games in September to January and not in April.

April is draft season!

With that being said here hoping that this article will get folks back to thinking about the NFL draft. By now some things have settled and people “think “they have a pretty good grasp of how the draft will go. Experts are starting to put out their final mock drafts with the draft only 8 days away.

Here are 5 potential storylines that COULD possibly happen and change the whole landscape of the draft.

1) The Vikings pass on Matt Kalil

While the top 3 picks are set to be a lock, there is now buzz that the Vikings will entertain the idea of looking at LSU CB Mo Claiborne and WR Justin Blackmon.

Per Evan Silva, ESPN's Adam Schefter said on #Vikings at 3: "Matt Kalil is not a lock ... They're taking a long hard look at Morris Claiborne & Justin Blackmon."

Vikings star Jared Allen added on PFT “I like that Claiborne kid out of LSU. “

While I believe these are smoke screens, it certainly would shake up the draft if the Vikings decided to pass on the best Offensive Tackle prospect since Jake Long.

2) Ryan Tannehill drops out of the top 10

While this wouldn’t be an absolute shocked as most people don’t grade Tannehill as a top 10 pick, it is still heavily believed that should the Browns pass on him at 4 ( which is likely at this point) the Dolphins will snap him at 8, connecting him with his former Texas A&M head coach Mike Sherman.

Some view Tannehill as an opportunist climbing to the top 10 without Landry Jones and Matt Barkley in this year draft and others view him as a legitimate franchise QB prospect.

3) Courtney Upshaw drops to the second round

The talented outside linebacker at one point had gained steam to even potentially being a top 10 pick but more recent buzz is that Upshaw COULD drop to the 2nd round. Both Russell Lande and Todd Mcshay have hinted that there is something missing with Upshaw that has team concerned.

4) The Eagles trade up to the top 10

There has been recent speculation that the Eagles might look to the Browns or elsewhere in the top 10 in order to trade up for either CB Fletcher Cox or QB Ryan Tannehill. While I am not buying the interest in Tannehill, with Samuels on the trading block per Shefty, the Eagles interest in Cox makes a lot of sense.

5) Brock Osweiler goes before Brandon Weeden

Osweiler has the size and look of a franchise QB but for me there is definitely something missing on the field. There are many out there that say that GM’s around the league have placed a 2nd round grade on Osweiler, and due to Weeden’s age it could lead to him dropping out of the first round. In my personal opinion Weeden is the significantly better QB but stranger things have happened.

ESPN reported today, unsurprisingly, that the Steelers received no offers for restricted free agent Mike Wallace. Steelers fans can now breathe a sigh of relief as Wallace will be staying with the team for the low cost of $2.7 million.

Many believed early on that the Steelers would choose to franchise Wallace, locking him in to a one year contract at $9.5 million, but the Steelers took a gamble by offering Wallace only a first-round tender. The gamble paid off in a big way, especially when you consider the Steelers' current salary cap woes.

It's still unclear whether Wallace will holdout or whether he'll eventually sign his current tender. The receiver has expressed that he has no intention of signing his tender, but to accumulate the final year he needs to be an unrestricted free agent in 2013, he'll need to sign at some point.

The Steelers get to go through this all once again next offseason as well. Then, Steelers receiver Antonio Brown will be a restricted free agent, and Pittsburgh's salary situation won't be much better by then than it is right now. The Steelers are almost certainly going to be dealing with the loss of Wallace at that point, and they won't be able to afford the loss of another top, young receiver from a competitive standpoint.

All is not lost for Steelers fans, however. They have plenty of time to figure out how they can shuffle their team and restructure contracts to make room to hang on to Wallace and Brown down the road. It'd be impressive if they could hang on to both after this season, but the Steelers have been known to manufacture cap room where no one thought they could, so I'm not writing that scenario off just yet.

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Since Nike unveiled its version of NFL uniforms, teams have been working on their alternate uniforms. The Steelers may have picked the ugliest, most repulsive uniforms in the history of the league to be their alternates.

I'm a huge fan of the throwback uniform -- when that throwback is actually a cool design. For example, I'd love to see the Broncos pull out their old-era uniforms a couple times  a year or for special team dates. The Steelers' jerseys, however, should have never been made, and the fact that they're actually going to wear these things at some point blows my mind.

Since the jerseys were revealed, I've been wondering. Are these the ugliest uniforms of all time? Well, as the answer turns out, they just might be.

The Steelers face tough competition for the distinction of the ugliest uniforms ever. Remember those throwbacks I thought the Broncos should use from time to time? Well, Denver has another set of throwbacks that I have a profoundly different opinion of. You may recall these brown and yellow excuses for uniforms they donned back in 2009.

So the decision is up to you. Are the Steelers new threads the worst of all time, or do the Broncos' putrid throwbacks take the cake? That's a decision I'll leave up to you, the reader. As for me, I'm just going to try to not go blind from staring at these throwbacks to long.

Also, drop a comment ifl you find good pictures of worthy NFL throwback uniforms -- or really any entertaining throwbacks for that matter.

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Part of my responsibilities here at This Given Sunday is to cover the AFC North and help with the AFC South, specifically the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Indianapolis Colts. I enjoy my work, and I say what I feel. I don't say things I don't believe in, and I don't say things just to be inflammatory such as one ESPN First Take analyst. I call it how I see it.

It's for that very reason that I find Michael Lombardi's latest piece considerably comical. In his "open letter," Lombardi points out that he wasn't attacking Gabbert as a person when Lombardi criticized Gabbert last December. Lombardi says he was only commenting on his play. Then Lombardi does something even more unbelievable. He uses charts and statistics.

I'm no expert, but when you have your research department draw up some charts in what is an "open letter," you've ceased making any effort at being personal. Frankly, open letters are a joke, and they're completely for the purposes of PR, but that talks for another day. Here's a couple great tidbits from Lombardi's letter:

"I realize you have no idea who I am, or care to know, but my critical comments last December were not directed at you as a person, but rather, your performance as a rookie player in the NFL."

"Young players must understand the difference between coaching and criticism. Coaches strive for excellence because they have a vested interest in their players. Meanwhile, critics just explain what went wrong without caring about the future. I care about you being a good player, not because of how I graded you, but rather, for the good of league."

"I had our research department go back and pull up the modern-era quarterbacks drafted in the first round who started at least half the games in their rookie season."

I'll simply touch on the three comments I pulled out above. The first one is simply telling us all what we already knew. Lombardi is an analyst. Rarely do analysts begin attacking a person's character due to that player's level of play on the field.

The second excerpt is my favorite. Michael Lombardi isn't a coach, and by his own definition, he's not a critic either. Hmm, I wonder what that actually makes him.

Finally, I pulled out the line where Lombardi says that he had the research department pull up a statistic. I love it. It shows the backbreaking work that Lombardi does day in and day out. Don't worry though guys, I'm only criticizing Lombardi's work as an analyst, not him as a person.

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