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Super Bowl L to be played in San Francisco; Houston to host LI

Written by Shane Clemons on .

As was predicted by pretty much everyone, Super Bowl L will be played in San Francisco, and Super Bowl LI will be hosted by the city of Houston. Miami, the other city in the running for both Super Bowls, was shown the door after funding for improvements to Sun Life Stadium fell through.

Super Bowl L will be played at the yet-to-be-opened Santa Clara stadium in 2016. The stadium will also be the home to the San Francisco 49ers. The event will be held in the Bay Area for the first time since 1985.

Super Bowl LI will be played at Reliant Stadium the following year. The Super Bowl in 2017 will be the second time the event has been held at Reliant Stadium.

Miami is always a strong bidder to host a Super Bowl, but with so many state-of-the-art facilities popping up around the nation, it's unlikely Miami will win another bid until updates are made to the Dolphins' current home.

The added wrinkle that these selections have is that both the Texans and the 49ers are currently at the top of their respective division. This season's Super Bowl, to be played in New York, and the two aforementioned Super Bowls have the potential to field a team from the host city in the big game, something we've never seen before.


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Jets may pick starting QB before training camp

Written by Shane Clemons on .

With David Garrard now out of the New York Jets' quarterback struggle, and that's exactly the appropriate word for their situation, the team's starting quarterback options are essentially down to incumbent Mark Sanchez or rookie Geno Smith.

Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News reports that the Jets may pick their starting quarterback before training camp.

Offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg talked with Mehta about the Jets' quarterback battle, saying, "We don't care what the prevailing thought is," Mornhinweg told Mehta about the perception that the quarterback competition will continue through the start of training camp. "We only care about our competition here."

When asked about the possibility of one of the current quarterbacks, presumably Sanchez or Smith, separating himself from the pack as the team's starter, Mornhinweg responded, "Oh, absolutely," Mornhinweg said. "Sure. Absolutely. That's all part of the process. Absolutely. Everything we do is important. Our meetings are important… the way we go about our meetings, the way we go about our preparation right now with a new system. These are very important things. Every pass we throw out there in OTAs and these practices are important."

The overarching question in New York isn't who will be this season's starting quarterback; it's, is Geno Smith the starting quarterback of the future? If the answer is yes, Smith will likely be this season's starter, even if he's outperformed by Sanchez, so long as the competition is reasonably close. Considering the general attitude towards Sanchez, it's hard to see a scenario where the Jets don't roll with Smith in 2013.


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Chargers shielding Manti Te'o from media; mistake?

Written by Shane Clemons on .

The San Diego Chargers won't be making rookie linebacker Manti Te'o available to the media until team's June 13 mini camp according to Michael Gehlken of U-T San Diego. The move is an effort to shield Te'o from negative media attention relating to the scandal of Lennay Kekua, his fake ex-girlfriend. To be clear, as most of you know, Te'o was the victim in the scandal.

Still, the Chargers are making a mistake by shielding Te'o from the media. When the media does gain access to Te'o next month, there will be questions about the Chargers' decision to keep him away as well as those about how his teammates have treated him. The difference is that in mid-June, teams are truly starting to get into gear for preseason action.

Regardless of the timing of Te'o's first press conferences, a minor distraction will be created, if not for the whole team, at least for Te'o. In my mind, the Chargers should try to get it over with sooner rather than later. By pushing the inevitable back another month, they're pushing the distraction closer to real games. That doesn't seem like a smart decision.

To this point, Te'o has smartly played along and not blown up every time someone mentions Lennay Kekua. Te'o attended Maxim's Hot 100 party, and after that, any talk of Kekua should be fading away. This isn't something that we'll talk about forever. Once real football starts, it'll be a passing mention by a broadcaster at best. The Chargers should be going along with Te'o. If he doesn't want to talk with the media, that's fine, but don't shield him if he's okay with talking. We don't know if that's what's happening, but if Te'o is ready to talk, and the Chargers are just looking to avoid distractions, San Diego is making a mistake.

Chargers director or public relations Bill Johnston talked about the decision on XTRA Sports 1360 in San Diego.

"Right now, anything that he does . . . makes news," Johnston said. "Right now, the news that people are talking about with him is really not the news that we want him to be talking about.  Really, he’s a rookie, he’s a second-round draft pick, yet everybody wants to talk to him.  Well, why?  Well, it all goes back to that stuff that happened back in the winter, and back when he was at Notre Dame."

"To us, that’s not what we want him talking about.  We want him focused on becoming a Charger, on becoming a better player.  Learning our system.  Getting comfortable here.  We want him talking football, talking Chargers, and that’s all we want him focused on right now.  So we’re doing what we think is in his best interests to stay focused and become the best player he can."

If that's the whole and true rationale the Chargers are using to justify the situation, they're simply making a mistake. No one is ever perfectly comfortable in a brand new city around brand new people. By getting this put in the past as soon as possible, the Chargers would be helping Te'o get comfortable when it counts, but now, Te'o will have to deal with an uncomfortable topic for at least another month.


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Pro Bowl reportedly on thin ice

Written by Shane Clemons on .

When Roger Goodell and the NFL began talking about the possibility of discontinuing the Pro Bowl due to a lack of performance by the players, the NFL's stars stepped up and gave us a better product in the 2013 Pro Bowl. That increased level hasn't stopped the NFL from considering ending the tradition.

At this week's quarterly league meetings in Boston, the Pro Bowl discussion has once again surfaced. Although the Pro Bowl continues to score well in ratings, and thus money, the league continues to talk about ending the game.

In all reality, the Pro Bowl will be here for the foreseeable future. As long as the NFL is making money on the game and ratings are good, there's absolutely no incentive for the league to stop staging the exhibition. The fans like the game, the players seem to enjoy the trip and recognition and the league makes money. That's a win-win-win situation.

Chances are good that we'll continue to hear talk over the next few years that the game will be discontinued, and that may happen at some point down the road. The league should consider altering the format of the game to ensure player safety while still delivering an all-star game.

Personally, I'd like to see more position skill challenges during Pro Bowl weekend. Those types of football related competitions don't carry a high risk for injury, and they're easy and fun to watch. That's just one suggestion from one football blogger. If you have a way that the NFL could improve the Pro Bowl, drop us a comment below.


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Draft likely moving to May

Written by Shane Clemons on .

The NFL draft is about to be moved. At least that's what ESPN's Adam Schefter reports. According to Schefter, the NFL and NFLPA are close to a deal that would move the NFL draft from it's current time in April to May.

The NFLPA will also be getting a carrot of incentive. The start of the league year, and thus free agency, will likely be moved to begin before the scouting combine.

The by-product of the move of the beginning of the league year would occur at the scouting combine. Teams would also use the event as a way to strike deals since the league year would have officially started. That's a big change from the current state of the combine in which teams talk with each other over hypothetical deals that later become reality once the new league year starts.

The overarching idea of re-arranging the league year is simple. Give fans a better opportunity to follow the NFL year round. By bumping the draft later into the offseason, the dead period between the draft and OTAs will be all but eliminated, and excitement following the draft will carry deeper into the slow summer months.

The NFL is all about promoting its brand, and when there's an opportunity to do just that on the table, you can bet the league will try to get it done. We've seen this coming for some time, and if Adam Schefter is right, we'll be seeing an offseason shuffle in the near future.


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Mike Glennon can win playing time with Bucs

Written by Shane Clemons on .

Josh Freeman is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' starting quarterback right now. Let's get that straight before we go any further in discussing the possibility that rookie Mike Glennon could win the job. Tampa Bay isn't like other places like Jacksonville up the road or Cleveland where quarterback battles are as open as they can possibly get. The Buccaneers aren't looking for a guy to beat out Freeman.

Still, Tampa Bay isn't an open and shut book either. Josh Freeman has had a rocky, up-and-down career, and he's left the door ajar for someone to step in and win the Bucs' starting job.

Head coach Greg Schiano seems to have a grasp of that reality, telling Dan Pompei of the National Football Post that Glennon will be able to take over for Freeman if need be, even opening the possibility that Glennon could win playing time moving forward.

"But our situation will be only if he’s needed," Schiano told Pompei. "Or if he wins the job. Look, I’m not against that. We have a starting quarterback. It’s not like we’re looking to find a starter. But competition is competition. Mike Glennon is a fierce competitor. I knew that when he was coming out of high school. Now being able to work with him a little, you can see it on the practice field."

The catch is that it will be difficult for Glennon to overtake Freeman if he's taking snaps with the second team offense against the second team defense. The best case scenario for Glennon is to impress his coaches enough to get a small chunk of first team time. If he continues to impress, he'd continue to get more snaps with the first team units. Regardless of what he does on the practice field, preseason action will be huge for Glennon if he hopes to be anything more than a backup in Tampa Bay.

The big weakness that Freeman exhibited a season ago was his inability to connect with wide receivers, completing just 54.8% of his passes a season ago. Although it's comparing apples to oranges, Mike Glennon didn't exactly excel in that department at NC State, completing just 58.5% of his passes in his final year with the Wolfpack. For reference, Josh Freeman ranked 29th in the category out of 32 qualifying passers, and Glennon's percentage, had he been in the NFL, would have only put him at 22nd overall, just in front of Jacksonville's Blaine Gabbert.

There's no doubt that there's an opening for Mike Glennon, but there's also a steep learning curve in the NFL, and for a rookie to walk in and take a veteran's job, that player must be an exceptional prospect. "Exceptional" just isn't how most people would describe Mike Glennon coming out of the draft.

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Eagles putting trust in young players

Written by Shane Clemons on .

Too often, players in the NFL, especially those fresh from the draft, have a hard time adjusting to life in the NFL. It requires hard work, but it also requires a high level of responsibility. The problem is that these young men are also newly wealthy people, and when they're given too much free time, bad things will often follow.

Under head coach Chip Kelly, the Philadelphia Eagles' practices are designed to be as quick and efficient as possible, according to according to Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Under Andy Reid, players were given much more free time throughout the day, but the workday would last from morning till evening. Under Kelly, the workload will be more concentrated, giving players more time outside the Eagles' facilities.

The idea is a sound one. By concentrating practices in a shorter, more efficient time frame, players will be able to develop better sleep cycles, as well as eating habits. Still, the added freedom comes at a cost, and it's yet to be seen if that cost outweighs the benefits.

There are lot of opportunities for trouble in the lives of young NFL players. The idea behind Andy Reid's schedule was that players would have less time to get themselves into trouble. Under Kelly, players will have more than enough time to get into trouble.

We'll have to wait to see how the new schedule impacts the Eagles' players. Veterans will likely handle the adjustment with more ease than younger players. Under Reid, there was still time for players to get into trouble, and that will never be eliminated. My hunch is that players will benefit, overall, from the adjustment, but there may be some casualties in the form of arrests as well.


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Mike Goodson's NFL career possibly over

Written by Shane Clemons on .

Last week, Mike Goodson, who was signed by the Jets two months ago to a three year, $6.9 million contract, was arrested on weapons and drug charges. The running back allegedly was in possession of marijuana and a semi-automatic .45-caliber gun. While Goodson was not driving the SUV that when it was pulled over, that didn't absolve him from responsibility.

With such serious charges being applied to such a marginal player, it's likely that Goodson's time in New York is done, and it's very possible that his NFL career is also over.

Offensive lineman Willie Colon weighed in on the topic.

"It's one of the things where it's zero-tolerance with stuff like that."

"It's sad. Mike could have been huge for us," Colon told the New York Daily News. "He wasn't around a lot, so I didn't really get to see him a lot. For the most part, I was kind of anticipating seeing how he was going to do in OTAs."

John Idzik has already been responsible for two free agent busts, and we're not even to training camp yet. David Garrard was forced into retirement by his bad knee, and Mike Goodson is now likely done after his arrest. It's true that neither situation was completely foreseeable, but both situations were avoidable. Unfortunately for Jets fans, it seems to be business as usual in New York under the new regime.


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Is Brandon Weeden beginning to sweat quarterback competition?

Written by Shane Clemons on .

The Browns have one of the worst quarterback situations in the NFL. Brandon Weeden did nothing last year to prove that he was "the man" moving forward, and Jason Campbell could be a stop-gap quarterback at best.

Weeden said Friday, via Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, that he was surprised that the Browns added quarterback Brian Hoyer to the mix.

"I was surprised, but that’s the nature of the beast. It’s part of this business and if you start worrying about it, that’s too much to worry about. That’s my mentality going forward."

Right now, it appears that Jason Campbell, not Brian Hoyer, is his biggest concern in regard to the Browns' starting position. At  27 years old, however, Hoyer is younger than Weeden, 29, and Campbell, 31, making him a possible long-term starter if he shows promise. Otherwise, the Browns will be picking the best man for the job.

Last season, Weeden was unable to complete a high percentage of passes, just 57.4%, and he threw more interceptions, 17, than he did touchdowns, 14. While some of the blame can be spread to his lackluster set of offensive weapons, it's still the quarterback's job to drive the offense, and that's something that Weeden wasn't able to do a season ago. By adding Hoyer, the Browns are just trying to increase competition at one of their weakest positions.


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Dwight Freeney, Chargers agree to terms

Written by Shane Clemons on .

Dwight Freeney has a new contract with the San Diego Chargers, and he didn't do bad for himself in free agency.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, citing a source with knowledge of the situation, reports that Freeney and the Chargers have agreed to a contract with a base value of $8.75 million over the course of two years.

The deal will pay up to $5.25 million in 2013, $3.25 million of which comes in the form of a signing bonus. $1.5 million is guaranteed salary, and $500,000 is related to Freeney's presence on the Chargers' weekly 46-man roster.

Freeney will earn up to $3.5 million in 2014, $500,000 of that sum is linked to the same roster bonus as mentioned above.

Florio goes on to report that the contract is worth a maximum value of $13.35 million, and $4.6 million of that total is tied only to sacks, although the target numbers aren't known at this time.

The deal is a win, win for both parties. Freeney will be making good money at a time when defensive linemen tend to fade into obscurity, and the Chargers are getting a still solid pass rusher at a reasonable rate with no long term commitment.


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