NFL NEWS

Inside information on Brett Favre-NFL columnist Rick Gosselin

Brett Favre is the greatest bad-weather quarterback in NFL history. It's ironic, then, that the greatest statistical moment of Brett Favre’s career will come Sunday in his personal house of horrors. You could say Minnesota was the land of 1,000 aches for much of the career of Brett Favre.

Michael Vick tests positive for marijuana
04:47 PM CDT on Wednesday, September 26, 2007
RICHMOND, Va. – A federal judge placed tighter restrictions on Michael Vick on Wednesday after he tested positive for marijuana.
Vick is scheduled for sentencing Dec. 10 after entering a written federal plea in August admitting that he bankrolled a dogfighting operation on property he owns in Surry County, Va.
Because of the postitive drug test, U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson placed special conditions on Vick's release, including restricting him to his home between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. and ordering him to submit to random drug testing.
The urine sample was submitted Sept. 13, according to a document by a federal probation officer that was filed in U.S. District Court on Wednesday.
The home confinement will include electronic monitoring. Vick also was ordered to submit to random drug testing.
On Tuesday, Vick was indicted on state charges related to a dogfighting ring operated on his property. He pleaded guilty to dogfighting conspiracy charges in federal court last month.
Vick was placed under pretrial release supervision by U.S. Magistrate Dennis Dohnal in July. His restrictions included refraining from use or unlawful possession of narcotic drugs or other controlled substances.
Hudson's order on Wednesday also requires Vick to participate in inpatient or outpatient substance therapy and mental health counseling, if the pretrial services officer or supervising officer deem it appropriate. Vick must pay for the treatment.
Vick's attorney, Billy Martin, did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.

Reggie Bush vs. Mario Williams Revisited

Last year at this time, many of us were bemoaning the fact that the Houston Texans passed on dynamic running back Reggie Bush and local hero Vince Young for defensive end Mario Williams. And with Williams not becoming a huge presence on his team's defensive unit during his rookie season, while Bush and Young were finding relative success with their respective teams, it seemed Houston's front office had made a mistake. A big mistake.
But through two games of the 2007 season, it looks like maybe the jury is still out on that decision.
That's partially because Williams has awaken this year and is playing much more like a top overall draft pick should. Through two games he's recorded just six tackles, but has two sacks, a fumble recovery, and a touchdown. Now those aren't exactly eye-popping numbers, but the former North Carolina State defender is becoming more and more of a factor on defense all the time. Meanwhile, Bush has done little in New Orleans this season, along with the rest of the Saints offense. Williams, in fact, has more touchdowns at this point than Bush, who has yet to score. Bush has rushed for a total of 65 yards over the first two games -- with a pedestrian 3.0 yards-per-carry average -- and has fumbled twice. I know this all too well because he is on one of my fantasy football teams. And he's killing me!
Young has continued to look like a guy who could develop into a winner, and there are some fans who will never forgive the franchise for not taking him. He's certainly got the look of a leader, but he hasn't exactly posted fantastic numbers himself. Anyway, the Texans offset passing on him by trading for veteran backup Matt Schaub, who has looked sharp through two contests and has built some early chemistry with wideout Andre Johnson.
Should Bush and Young eventually develop into superstars, it's certainly possible that the Texans could still come out of this looking like fools. But that outcome doesn't look nearly as certain now as it did last year at this time.
From James Alder
Thursday September 20, 2007

Current NFL DALLAS COWBOYS Injuries

Dallas

P. Crayton -WR - Finger -day-to-day

T. Newman -CB -Heel -day-to-day

D. Free-T-Knee-day-to-day

G. Ellis-LB-Achilles-day-to-day

T. Johnson-DT-Suspension-Elig Nov 4

T. Glenn-WR-Knee-Out indefinitely

J. Ferguson-NT-Bicep-I-R

M. Gramatica-K-Hamstring-I-R

Favre throws 3 TD passes and makes NFL history

Brett Favre picked a almost perfect way to become the winningest quarter back in NFL history.
Favre threw his first 14 passes of the second half and threw 3 touchdown passes to rally the Green Bay Packers. a 35-13 victory over Eli Manning and the NY Giants.

DALLAS COWBOYS

GO COWBOYS!!!

THE DALLAS COWBOYS ARE LOOKING GOOD THIS YEAR. MAYBE (FINGERS CROSSED) WE MIGHT MAKE IT TO THE SUPER BOWL.

Week 1 games all sold out

All Kickoff Weekend games sold out For third year in row, lifting all TV blackouts

For the third consecutive year, all 16 games of the NFL’s Kickoff Weekend have sold out in advance of the local TV blackout deadline, enabling every game to be televised in the home-team market, the NFL announced Friday.
The New Orleans at Indianapolis game on Thursday night (Sept. 6) was sold out and televised by NBC’s Indianapolis affiliate WTHR-TV.
This will be the fourth Kickoff Weekend in NFL history to have blackouts lifted for all games. They were lifted on the weekends of Sept. 6-7 in 1998; Sept. 8, 11-12 in 2005; and on Sept. 7, 10-11 last year.
The NFL blackout policy states that games sold out 72 hours prior to kickoff can be televised in the home city.

NFL SCOREBOARD WEEK 1

RAVENS 0 BENGALS 9

SAINTS 10 COLTS 41

CHIEFS 3 TEXANS 20

FALCONS 3 VIKINGS 24

EAGLES 13 PACKERS 16

BRONCOS 15 BILLS 14

DOLPHINS 13 REDSKINS 16

STEELERS 34 BROWNS 7

PATRIOTS 38 JETS 14

TITANS 13 JAGUARS 10

LIONS 36 RAIDERS 21

BUCCANEERS 6 SEAHAWKS 20

BEARS 3 CHARGERS 14

GIANTS 35 COWBOYS 45

PANTHERS 27 RAMS 13

CARDINALS 17 49ERS 20

COWBOYS WIN 45 TO 35

Wade Phillips threw a soft uppercut and smiled widely. He did it early, when his first gamble as coach of the Dallas Cowboys worked out -- then again in the closing minutes, following a touchdown that also made him let out a big sigh of relief.
Marion Barber got things rolling with an 18-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-1, Terrell Owens added two highlight-reel touchdown catches and Tony Romo made up for an interception with a 51-yard touchdown pass to Sam Hurd for a 45-35 victory over the injury-depleted New York Giants on Sunday night.
Romo threw for a career-high 345 yards and four touchdowns, plus ran for another, helping the Cowboys match the most points they ever scored in four years under Bill Parcells.
"It was good to see we were able to put up so many points and keep attacking," Romo said.
However, Phillips' supposedly improved defense gave up 438 yards and lots of big plays, turning a potential blowout into a nail-biter.

"How about my offense, huh?" Phillips said with a laugh at the start of his postgame news conference.
Eli Manning showed Tiki Barber and all his critics that he can be a leader, overcoming knee injuries that knocked out sacks leader Osi Umenyiora and new starting running back Brandon Jacobs, plus a late 16-point deficit to make things interesting in the final minutes.
Manning threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Ward with 7:20 left that got New York within 38-28. After botching a 2-point try, the Giants got the ball back on Romo's only interception. Manning followed with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress, their third connection of the night, to make it 38-35.
Hurd, getting key playing time because of Terry Glenn's injury absence, put Dallas comfortably back ahead by turning a slant into a long touchdown with 3:03 to go.
But Manning didn't return, sidelined by a bruised throwing shoulder, and the Giants were out of rallies.
Manning was 28-of-41 for 312 yards and four touchdowns with an interception. Burress caught eight passes for 144 yards.
Romo was 15-of-24 and produced touchdowns on five of six drives, starting from Marion Barber's dazzling score in the second quarter to a 47-yarder to Owens early in the fourth quarter.

Tight end Jason Witten had six catches for 116 yards and a touchdown. Owens caught only three passes, but scored on two of them. He had 81 yards, all in the second half.
"He really picked it up in the second half, didn't he?" Romo said.
New York started strong, silencing a sellout crowd swishing "Wade's Warriors" towels when Manning threw a 60-yard touchdown pass to Burress on the game's third snap. But the Giants botched the extra point and were in trouble pretty much the rest of the game.
Dallas trailing 6-3 and facing fourth-and-1 from the New York 18, Phillips opted to go for a first down. The ball went to Barber, who led the NFC in touchdowns rushing last year, and his run was dazzling -- shaking a defender at the line, bouncing out to the right, shoving away a second defender, then diving headfirst toward the end zone from around the 5. A third defender hit Barber, flipping him over the goal line for the go-ahead score.
Cameras caught Phillips' reaction, one that would appear several more times.
There was the touchdown pass to Witten on the next drive, stretching the lead to 17-6, then Owens' first touchdown -- a diving one-hander -- to open the second half. Romo also danced in from 9 yards for the first TD rushing of his career.
Through it all, Manning kept New York fighting.
New York scored 10 points in the final 21 seconds of the first half, making it 17-16 at the break, thanks in part to a fumbled kickoff return by Dallas' Tyson Thompson. The Giants also were within 24-19 in the third quarter and kept clawing after getting down 38-22.
Michael Strahan did not start, but played plenty for the Giants only a few days after ending his long preseason holdout. He had five tackles and no sacks.
This game produced the most points in the long history of this series. Dallas also scored its most points in an opener since putting up 49 in 1971 -- the year the Cowboys won their first Super Bowl.

By JAIME ARON, AP Sports WriterSeptember 10, 2007

McNabb, Offense May Need to Carry Early Load

It's a good thing for Eagles' fans Donovan McNabb is so certain he can regain his footing relatively quickly. And that has very little to do with the fact the Eagles' star quarterback is returning from a career-threatening knee injury.
With the defense seemingly sputtering from the very first snap this exhibition season, McNabb and company are being called upon to carry much of the load until the revamped unit can find its bearings. Just when that might be remains a matter of conjecture.
Even veteran defensive coordinator Jim Johnson doesn't seem quite certain what to expect from his unit heading into the team's opener at Green Bay. “We'll see what kind of football team we are,” he told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “We'll see how our linebackers are going to do, how healthy Jevon [Kearse] and people like that are. We'll see how this comes together this week, but I think it's still a work in progress."
Enter McNabb, tailback Brian Westbrook and wideout Reggie Brown. Though each of them played only sparingly during the preseason, the trio is now primed to take center stage in Philly's plans. But it all starts with McNabb.
Over the coarse of his eight-year career in Philadelphia, the veteran quarterback has passed for averages of nearly of 2,800 yards and 17 touchdowns a season. Before being forced to the sidelines with the knee injury after ten games last season, McNabb had nearly eclipsed both marks, striking for 2,647 yards through the air and 18 scores.
The Eagles will need that can of production and more if they are to escape some of the early pratfalls that may indeed doom their defense.

http://www.football.com

Colts start season with a win over Saints

The Indianapolis Colts looked just as formidable on offense as they did when they won the Super Bowl last season. And even better on defense.
Shaking off a sluggish first half, the Colts outscored New Orleans 31-0 after intermission in Thursday night's NFL opener to beat the Saints 41-10.

Cowboys, 49ers back among contenders

The rivalry truly began in the early 1970s with three consecutive playoff meetings, was bolstered by Dwight Clark's legendary touchdown catch in the 1982 NFC Championship game and hit its peak a decade later when the franchises faced each other in three conference title matchups.
Such history isn't forgotten at San Francisco 49ers headquarters when the Dallas Cowboys are discussed.
"The very first t-shirt I wore to a game said 'F*** Dallas' on it," said 49ers kicker Joe Nedney, who was raised in nearby San Jose. "My mom was not happy, but I went to a 49er game as a kid and my dad got me that shirt. I was about 10.
"That's pretty much when I decided I needed to start hating the Dallas Cowboys. I didn't know why, but the shirt pretty much said it all."
But in recent years, the majority of cursing by Cowboys and 49ers fans has been aimed toward their own teams.
Ever since San Francisco's 38-28 playoff victory over Dallas en route to winning Super Bowl XXIX in January 1995, the 49ers began a gradual slide that reached bottom in 2004 with a 2-14 campaign. Dallas rebounded from that 49ers loss by winning Super Bowl XXX the following season, but the Cowboys also started slipping and are 0-4 in the playoffs since 1997.

Yet entering this season, there is more optimism surrounding both clubs since players like Jerry Rice and Troy Aikman were donning 49ers and Cowboys jerseys respectively. Dallas and Philadelphia are considered the frontrunners in the NFC East, while San Francisco appears ready to push Seattle for supremacy in the NFC West.
"When the coaches are convinced and the players are convinced, the sky is the limit," Cowboys outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware said. "We have great players on defense. We don't have any holes. On offense, it's the same way.
"Now, it's all about how it's going to jell together during the season. Are we going to be high the first part and low the second part? Teams that get there are consistent the whole way through."
Nedney is just as optimistic about San Francisco's chances.
"This is my third year here and we just keep building on it every year and haven't taken a step back," he said. "You can just kind of tell with the guys and the way we interact with players and coaching staff, there are little intangibles starting to build that you need to have a championship team.
"Having been on enough teams (eight) in the league, I can tell when there's a locker room full of guys just playing football and a locker room full of players who belong to a team. We've got that here. I believe this team is going to get back to championship status here pretty soon."
First things first, though.
San Francisco hasn't reached the playoffs or even posted a winning record since 2002, which was Steve Mariucci's final season coaching the squad. Mariucci wasn't able to win a Super Bowl like predecessors Bill Walsh and George Seifert, but he did lead San Francisco to postseason appearances in four of his six seasons.
That was much more than the brain trust of coach Dennis Erickson and general manager Terry Donahue produced in their two seasons running the 49ers. The duo will be remembered as a disaster because of San Francisco's poor on-field performance and roster decisions. Running back Kevan Barlow and cornerback Ahmad Plummer were given lucrative contract extensions that never paid dividends and first-day draft picks were wasted on such busts as wide receivers Rashaun Woods and Derek Hamilton and defensive end Andrew Williams.
49ers defensive tackle Bryant Young, who is the only remaining member of San Francisco's last Super Bowl squad, said the low point of his 14-year NFL career came in 2004 when the 49ers' only two victories came against an Arizona squad that finished a lowly 6-10.
"Going through that whole year, it was hard to see that light at the end of the tunnel," Young said. "At the time, you really had to be a pro because it was easy to pack it in and not go out and give your best."
Young said Mike Nolan immediately began to change that culture after being hired to essentially replace both Erickson and Donahue in 2005.
Trying to recapture the club's glory years, Nolan said 49ers owner John York wanted to install a coach with power over both personnel and on-field decisions a la the late Bill Walsh during the 1980s. Nolan — whose father Dick was San Francisco's head coach from 1968 to 1975 — oversees a front-office staff that has subsequently revamped San Francisco's roster with better drafts and free-agent acquisitions.

That includes a wild spending spree this off-season to net Nate Clements, who became the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history with an eight-year, $80 million contract, safety Michael Lewis and linebacker Tully Banta-Cain as well as the re-signing of standout running back Frank Gore to a four-year, $28 million extension.
Such moves could help the 49ers continue to rise in 2007 after improving from 4-12 to 7-9 in Nolan's first two seasons.
"I like to be in charge," Nolan told FOXSports.com after the team's final training camp practice. "It's not an issue of control, but you have to have control to be in charge. And although I hadn't done it before, John felt secure in offering me the job. If he envisioned what Bill had touched, I'd like to think I had the ability to touch those same areas.
"Now, it's certainly a long way to make it happen like with what Bill did. But at the same time, the structure in which we're doing things right now I would say is very similar to what he did."
The Cowboys are structured differently, with owner/general manager Jerry Jones and his staff handling front-office decisions. That helps explain why Jones was so willing to accept responsibility for Dallas' decline from being the NFL's elite franchise through the first half of the 1990s.
"The playoffs for me are not the issue," Jones told FOXSports.com during an interview at Cowboys headquarters in Irving, Texas. "I know they have to come first, but I've never thought about this team from a playoff contention standpoint. I've thought about it as a Super Bowl team.
"I've taken the risks in decision-making that give us a chance to be a Super Bowl team maybe more than what I thought another route might (entail). We haven't gotten it done and we've had some things really blow up in our face a couple of times. But the bottom line is I never thought we would be this long out of a Super Bowl."
Although the Cowboys are now on their fifth different head coach (Wade Phillips) in 11 seasons, Jones said his squad's biggest problem was establishing stability at quarterback. Jones said he expected Aikman to play "a minimum of four or five more years" before concussions and back problems forced him to retire after the 2000 season.
Since then, the Cowboys fielded eight different starters until finally settling on Tony Romo midway through the 2006 season. And even though he was voted to the Pro Bowl following a strong debut, Romo can hardly be considered a sure thing after he struggled with Dallas posting a 2-4 record in the final six games, including a 21-20 first-round playoff loss to Seattle in which he botched the hold on what would have been the game-winning field goal.
"Hopefully, we've got the kind of quarterback who can get us (to the Super Bowl)," said Jones, who has declined so far to sign Romo to a contract extension even though he is slated to become an unrestricted free agent in 2008. "It singularly doesn't get you there, but the only success I've ever known we've had a top quarterback."
At least Jones can be certain that Dallas will field a top-notch defense orchestrated by Phillips, whose unit in San Diego produced an NFL-best 61 sacks in 2006. Like with Chargers strong-side linebacker Shawne Merriman, Phillips has the services of one of the league's top young pass-rushers in Ware and arguably as much overall defensive talent to work with as he did with San Diego.
Players also are happy Phillips has instituted a more aggressive 3-4 system than the one previously used under former head coach Bill Parcells and defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer "This scheme is heavily predicated on the outside linebackers getting pressure," Cowboys inside linebacker Bradie James said. "The inside (linebackers) and D-linemen are moving around a lot more than before, so that hopefully creates negative plays in the backfield. That's what we've been missing — explosive plays on the defensive side of the ball."
Dallas and San Francisco aren't scheduled to play in the regular season. But the thought of meeting in the playoffs would bring the Cowboys-49ers feud into another generation.
"Growing up, that was the game you always looked forward to seeing," said 49ers fullback Moran Norris, a Houston native. "You've got two teams that have won a lot of Super Bowls, have a lot of history behind them and have had a lot of Pro Bowlers.
"If we keep it going, I'm sure it will be a game like it used to be back in the day."

Alex Marvez FOXSports.com

Kickoff

The NFL will kick off the 2007 season on Thursday, Sep. 6 when the New Orleans Saints travel to Indianapolis to take on the defending Super Bowl champion Colts. Kickoff is at 8:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

The NFL's free kickoff event, featuring performances from Faith Hill, Kelly Clarkson and Hinder is located at Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis on Thursday, Sept. 6. Gates will open at 3 p.m. John Mellencamp will perform later from the RCA Dome.

On NFL Network
Kickoff Week on NFL Network:
» Peyton Manning finally wins the big one with an MVP performance and you can watch the Super Bowl XLI encore on NFL Network on Tuesday, Sept. 4 at 8 p.m. ET. The telecast also includes Prince's performance in the Super Bowl XLI halftime show.
» The 2006 Indianapolis Colts will be profiled on America's Game on Wednesday, Sept. 5 at 9 p.m. ET on NFL Network. The story of the 2006 Colts is told through the eyes of Tony Dungy, Peyton Manning and Jeff Saturday, narrated by Emmy Award-winning actor Donald Sutherland.
» The NFL's free kickoff event, featuring performances from Faith Hill, Kelly Clarkson, the rock band Hinder and John Mellencamp will be simulcast live on NFL Network on Thursday, Sept. 6 at 8 p.m. ET, preceding the Saints and Colts Kickoff game.

Live games on the NFL Network:
Indianapols at Atlanta, Thurs., Nov. 22 (8:15 p.m.)
Green Bay at Dallas, Thurs., Nov. 29 (8:15 p.m.)
Chicago at Washington, Thurs., Dec. 6 (8:15 p.m.)
Denver at Houston, Thurs., Dec. 13 (8:15 p.m.)
Cincinnati at San Francisco, Sat., Dec. 15 (8:15 p.m.)
Pittsburgh at St. Louis, Thurs., Dec. 20 (8:15 p.m.)
Dallas at Carolina, Sat., Dec. 22 (8:15 p.m.)
New England at New York Giants, Thurs., Dec. 29 (8:15 p.m.)

http://www.nfl.com

Raiders quarterback shuffle

NFL_Czar's Blog
BY NFL_CZAR
Sep 04, 2007 7:49PM

With the agents for JaMarcus Russell still debating how to best guarantee $31 million to their client, Raiders head coach Lane Kiffin can’t seem to choose between Josh McCown and Daunte Culpepper for Sunday’s start against the Detroit Lions.
We know that owner Al Davis prefers Culpepper as his quarterback. Consequently, Kiffin must be in McCown’s corner for now and that’s the reason for delaying any announcement.
During last week’s final cuts, Kiffin and Davis both seemed to get their way.
Davis, who makes the majority of the Raiders’ personnel decisions, allowed the coaches and personnel staff to pick Quentin Moses atop the third round and he got the final say by cutting the defensive end from Georgia. Receiver Alvis Whitted was perceived as a Davis player, but he got the ax, too.
And then there was guard Kevin Boothe, who graded out as the team’s best offensive lineman a season ago. Boothe didn’t fit Kiffin’s new blocking system and was released. And Boothe probably will end up helping the New York Giants.
If McCown gets the start against the Lions, we’ll know that Kiffin won the first big battle with his owner.

Denver pays Rice
Simeon Rice received $2.1 million to sign with the Broncos, who also guaranteed his base salary for this season, and the overall deal is slightly better than what his former team, the Tampa Bay Bucs, were offering before he was released.
However, it will be interesting to see how much Rice plays this Sunday. The Rams passed his shoulder during a physical, but they were leery that he really wasn’t ready to play. The Titans thought the same thing. Rice could end up earning almost $4 million if he hits some incentives.

Leftwich & Baltimore
Byron Leftwich makes sense for the Ravens, who definitely don’t believe in Kyle Boller anymore as the backup. The Ravens, because of their defense, remain a strong Super Bowl contender, and who really knows how much longer 34-year-old Steve McNair can stay healthy? Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome liked Leftwich coming out of Marshall, plus he knows all about him from Jaguars personnel man Shack Harris.
If anyone can fix Leftwich and make him a more accurate passer, it’s Ravens head coach Brian Billick. Now, the deal is whether or not Leftwich will agree to a contract that makes sense for Baltimore right now. This is a better opportunity for Leftwich than vice versa. I mean if he doesn’t sign with Baltimore, who really wants him?

Bulletin board chuckles
The big game this Sunday is Chicago at San Diego, and now the Bears are all hot that LaDainian Tomlinson picked the Bears to run through, past and over in his new Nike commercial. Well, L.T. claims he didn’t; it’s just that he vetoed the Patriots. Well, seriously, he should have allowed Nike to use the Patriots. No one really thinks of New England in the same breath, historically, with Chicago’s defense.

To hear the Bears getting mad about the commercial is pretty funny, too. Do you think Brian Urlacher would turn down a big check from Nike to do a commercial? L.T. took the money and ran. He may do that Sunday, too. I can’t imagine that Urlacher and Co. needed a commercial to get fired up about playing the Chargers and L.T. on opening day.

Finally, the bad news in Chicago is that Rex Grossman won’t have rookie tight end Greg Olsen (knee sprain) available as a reliable check-down receiver against the San Diego pass rush.

Simms and Tampa Bay
The Bucs were the only team to keep four quarterbacks on their final 53-man roster. Fourteen teams kept two quarterbacks while the rest decided on three. Seventeen backups have never started a NFL game and four of them have never thrown a pass in the NFL.

This is why the Bucs kept Simms. He has potential trade value, considering the NFL quarterbacking landscape. He may be fourth-string in Tampa Bay, but he could be viewed by a lot of teams to be better than their backup or third-stringer. Mentally and physically, Simms simply hasn’t looked himself this summer. But that doesn’t mean he won’t come around. And, who knows, if Jeff Garcia goes down in December, Jon Gruden might even turn to Simms if he’s still around.

When a team like Kansas City opts to sign Tyler Thigpen as a third quarterback, you know there is hope for Simms, and the Bucs may eventually do a trade.

Look in the mirror
Arizona’s Rod Graves, who drafted Buster Davis in the third round, said he was surprised the Florida State linebacker refused to sign with the team’s practice squad after being cut last weekend.

“It says something else about the player,” Graves said. “I certainly thought Buster was the kind of guy who would carry a chip on his shoulder and accept that challenge and want to prove that the decision to release him was a mistake.”

When evaluating players for the draft, Graves must make decisions on whether any player has the heart and mindset to succeed in the NFL. Graves can question Davis, but we can also question Graves to risking the 69th choice in the draft on a player who took the money and ran.

College Exam for Football Players

Time Limit: One Month

1. What language is spoken in France?

2. Give a dissertation on the ancient Babylonian Empire with particular reference to architecture, literature, law and social conditions-OR- give the first name of Pierre Trudeau.

3. Would you ask William Shakespeare to (a) build a bridge (b) sail the ocean (c) lead an army or (d) WRITE A PLAY

4. What religion is the Pope? (a) Jewish (b) Catholic (c) Hindu (d) Polish (e) Agnostic (check only one)

5. Metric conversion. How many feet is 0.0 meters?

6. What time is it when the big hand is on the 12 and the little hand is on the 5? (a) Bed time (b) 5:00 (c) am or pm? (d) Happy hour

7. How many commandments was Moses given? (approximately)

8. What are people in America's far north called?
(a) Westerners (b) Southerners (c) Northerners (d) foreigners

9. Spell -- Bush, Carter and Clinton

10. Six kings of England have been called George, the last one being George the Sixth. Name the previous five.

11. Where does rain come from?(a) Macy's (b) a 7-11 (c) Canada (d) the sky (e) Prince

12. Can you explain Einstein's Theory of Relativity?(a) yes (b) no (c) He wasn't my relative

13. What are coat hangers used for?

14. The Star Spangled Banner is the National Anthem for what country?

15. Explain Le Chateliers Principle of Dynamic Equilibrium-OR- Just spell your name in BLOCK LETTERS.

16. Where is the basement in a three story building located?

17. Which part of America produces the most oranges?(a) New York (b) Florida (c) Canada (d) Europe

18. Advanced math.
If you have three apples how many apples do you have?

19. What does NBC (National Broadcasting Corporation) stand for?

20. The Cornell University tradition for efficiency began when (approximately)?(a) B.C. (b) A.D. (c) still waiting

*You must answer three or more questions correctly to qualify