Thanks For The Memories Nick!

The changes are fully starting to come in East Rutherford. After having a big falling off last year, the New York Jets are starting a rebuild. One week after letting right tackle Breno Giacomini hit free agency, the Jets released two-time All-Pro center Nick Mangold on Saturday. Losing Mangold, I think, is a big hit for the Jets. I understand the team wanting to rebuild, and it does make cap sense, but still, losing a guy the caliber of Nick Mangold is going to hurt, at least to us Jets fans.

Just look at what this guy did in his career. Mangold was drafted by the Jets in the same first round as left tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson in 2006, being selected 29th overall. Mangold had held down the fort in the middle of New York's offensive line for eleven seasons> He had taken over as the anchor of that offensive line from former All-Pro center Kevin Mawae. Mangold was selected to seven Pro Bowls and earned All-Pro honors in 2009 and 2010 when he acted as the backbone of New York's ground-and-pound offense during its championship game runs. Mangold was one of the Jets' most consistent players during his time there, starting and playing in 154 of a possible 160 regular-season games through 2015. But an ankle injury sidelined Mangold for the back half of the Jets' dismal 2016 campaign, making him and his $9.075 million cap hit in 2017 expendable. The veteran center will hit the open market with just one year remaining on a seven-year contract in New York.

This does leave a hole in the offensive line, as the Jets are now going to try and figure out what to do to replace a guy the caliber of Mangold, He had made the transition from Kevin Mawae, who was an anchor in the line himself for eight year. Mangold was a big reason why the Jets running game was so successful the years that the Jets made the back to back AFC title games. He was the steady force on the that Jets offensive line. When Mangold was out on the field, he played his best and gave his all every day out on the field, he never really took a snap off. Only thing is, because of his injury trouble last year, coupled with how much money he was slated to make on the final year of the contract, it made financial sense for the Jets to cut ties with the center.

And he's still got plenty left in the tank. I really do hope he catches on somewhere else he's too good a football player to not be on the field every week. Thanks for all you did to hold down that Jets offensive line Nick!

NBA Trade Deadline Recap

Oh the trade deadline. It's always one of the more interesting dates on a sports schedule, to see what players are going to get moved, and to where. When you hear the words trade deadline, as a sports fan, it gets you excited. Usually that means that something big is going to go down, and its usually done in a flurry right at the deadline. This year, the NBA didn't really have that. As a matter of fact, the deadline itself was relatively quiet. Sure there were a couple of big moves. So here's a breakdown of all the trades that were made heading into the deadline, both major and minor.

Trades:
-New Orleans gets DeMarcus Cousins, and Omri Casspi. In exchange Sacramento picks up Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway, a 2017 first-round pick and Future second-round pick

-Lakers get Corey Brewer and a 2017 first-round pick (unprotected). In exchange, Houston picks up Lou Williams

-Washington gets Bojan Bogdanovic and Chris McCullough. In exchange,Brooklyn gets Andrew Nicholson, Marcus Thornton and a 2017 first-round pick (lottery-protected)

-Atlanta gets Ersan Ilyasova and Future second-round pick. In exchange, Philadelphia gets Tiago Splitter and Draft considerations.

-Philadelphia gets Andrew Bogut, Justin Anderson, and a Top-18 protected first-round pick. In exchange, Dallas gets Nerlens Noel.

-Oklahoma City gets Taj Gibson, Doug McDermott, and a 2018 second-round pick. In exchange, Chicago gets Anthony Morrow, Joffrey Lauvergne, and Cameron Payne.

-Denver gets Roy Hibbert in exchange for sending a protected future second-round pick to the Bucks.

-Brooklyn gets K.J. McDaniels and in exchange, Houston gets Cap space.

-Houston frees up cap space by trading Tyler Ennis to the Lakers

-Atlanta gets a protected second round pick and cash from the Suns in exchange for Mike Scott

-Phoenix gets Jared Sullinger, a 2017 and 2018 second-round picks in exchange for P.J Tucker going to Toronto

So those are the trades that went down heading into the deadline. Fascinating. Because those deals were made, and there were plenty of moves that weren't made but only rumored. With that being said, here's what I feel are the winners and losers from the deadline.

Winner: New Orleans Pelicans
New Orleans is just two and a half games back of the last wild card spot heading into all-star weekend. Once they came out of the weekend, they may have done a major bolster job to their roster. By adding a guy the talent of DeMarcus Cousins and having him playing on the same floor at the same time as Anthony Davis, it makes the Pelicans potentially dangerous. Sure, Cousins is a free agent at the end of the year, and this COULD potentially be just a rental player situation (he could resign with the Pelicans too so you never know). Still this makes them a good team and a threat in the West for the last playoff spot.

Loser: Sacramento Kings
The Pelicans won this trade, so obviously this makes the Kings t a loser at the deadline. They were only a game out of the last playoff spot when they made this deal. Buddy Heild is going to be a good player but all you could get form Cousins was him and one promised pick? That is so sad. Cousins is a uber talent and you couldn't get a whole hell of a lot for him. To make this deal sting even worse is what Vlade Divac said in the press conference. He said that the Kings had a better offer on the table, tehy passed it up and went with this trade. What the hell is he thinking? Bad trade that's going to hurt the Kings for a long time.

Winner: Toronto Raptors
This move didn't happen at the deadline but the fact that the Raptors got Serge Ibaka will help push them into the upper level in the East. It will be a bigtime help for the Raptors when it comes to challenging the likes of the Celtics and Cavaliers. Not only did they land him, the picked up PJ Tucker as well. Both can stretch to 3-point range, both are tough competitors, both are versatile and both can play multiple positions. The Raptors didn’t land huge names, but they added to their arsenal while giving up almost nothing for them outside of Terrence Ross. Not only that, but they watched the Celtics pass up every offer and the Wizards only add Bojan Bogdanovic. The rest of the top of the East didn’t improve while Toronto did. This was a very good week for Raptors fans.

Loser: New York Knicks
Couldn't pass up throwing this in here, I had to. The Knicks reportedly almost had a deal for Ricky Rubio, sending away Derrick Rose. Would have made perfect sense because Rubio would fit in nicely to the Knicks plans I think and Rose, it seems to me, doesn't want to be here much. It fell apart because they apparently wanted too much. The problem is that Rubio is better than Rose right now, and Rose is set to be a free agent and won't get a masx deal from the Knicks because he isn't worth it. So instead of getting a defensively questionable player with a terrible injury history off the books to add a good player, they stood pat and, as seems to be the Knicks style, there’s a decent chance they’re the team that gives him that big contract. The Knicks almost did something that wasn’t Knicks-ish, but then Knicked hard at the last second. Plus Melo is still here, which you could see was coming when he didn't bother trying to wave his no trade clause. So once again its going to be a long road to close out the season for the Knicks

Should Revis Island Be Closed?

There's no denying the fact that, once his career is over, Darrelle Revis is one of the greatest cornerbacks to ever step foot on a football field in the National Football League. He's been the best shutdown corner in the game for a long time now. It seems that the once great player with the New York Jets is no longer there. Sure, the physical person is still there and he is still getting paid like it, but anybody who has watched him as of late can say that Revis Island isn't operating as it once was. His play has gone down hill the last couple of seasons, and the Jets can try to hide that fact all they want. The truth of the matter is, Revis just isn't as good anymore as he once was. If the Jets do decide to cut ties with the future Hall of Fame Corner, they may now have an excuse to do it.

Let's face the facts, Darrelle Revis had a bad year. He was using 2016 to try to convince the Jets that he still had enough in the tank to be effective. Clearly that didn't happen. Revis was trying to make it hard for the Jets to cut ties with him. What happened over the weekend may have just made it easier. One night last weekend in Pittsburgh, which so happens to be Revis hometown, resulted in four felonies and a misdemeanor charged against the Jets' fading star, including two assault-related charges. Here's some of what is known with this incident so far. Police charged Revis with two felony counts of aggravated assault, one felony count each of robbery and conspiracy, and a misdemeanor count of terroristic threats (ESPN). The incident occurred at 2:43 a.m. ET Sunday in Pittsburgh's popular South Side. Two men, ages 22 and 21, told police they were punched by Revis amid a verbal altercation. Witnesses said the two men were unconscious for 10 minutes, according to police (ESPN). We are still waiting for more details to surface on what exactly happened and how the Jets are going to react to it. So once more word comes out we will pass it along.

This incident may have all but sealed his fate of playing with the Jets again. Sure, Revis is set to make $15 million this season, but to be totally honest, he's not worth it anymore. Maybe you could have him move to safety and pay him a little bit less then he was making as a corner, but who knows if it would have worked out well for him or not. Fact of the matter is that Revis can't play at the same level he had in his career. He's seemed to become more of a liability as of late then an asset.

The Jets, should they let Revis go, will end up eating $6 million that is the guaranteed portion of his base salary. I'm sure no owner wants to do something like that, but the Jets have to make the logical choice and decision here. To make the matter worse as to what the Jets should do is the news coming out of Pittsburgh that we mentioned earlier. Since he came back to New York in 2015, shortly after winning a title with the Pats, Revis hasn't been the same ballplayer he was when he left. He's delt with injuries. He had to have offseason wrist surgery after he resigned. Then came the acrimonious split with his longtime agents, followed by a lawsuit against them. He showed up to training camp out of shape. Then came his awful performance in 2016, exacerbated by curious and dumb comments. Now we look at his bad play on the field last year and these incidents in PA over the weekend.

Revis was a great football player, who seemed to have a ticket punched to the Hall of Fame, which he still does it seems. But now, when speaking of Darrelle Revis, you think of the sad player on the field and the even sadder one off of it.

King Hits Milestone

Talent. One of the rare things in this world that people can posses that makes them different, at least in one regard, then anybody else. Some have it at playing music. Some have it at making art. Some have it in an athletic form. Coming from that athletic form. When it comes to hockey, stopping a puck takes athletic skill, and a little bit of a different mindset. If you have the mental tools to get in the net and stop a piece of rubber flying at you quick, you have what it takes to play pro hockey. Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers is one of those guys. He has been one of the top goalies in the sport for a while now, but what he did on Saturday put him in another level.

This past Saturday, when the Rangers beat the Colorado Avalanche at home, a 4-2 victory, Henrik Lundqvist picked up career win #400. He became just the 12 netminder in the leagues one hundred year history to collect 400 or more wins. Hank's first win in the NHL came all the way back on October 13th, 2005. It was a 4-1 at home against the Devils. He is the winningest goaltender in Rangers history and the winningest non-Canadian-born goaltender in NHL history. To make this milestone more impressive is the fact that Hanks is now just one of three goalies to ever collect 400 or more wins with one team. Martin Brodeur and Tony Esposito are the other two. Another side note is that this win came at Madison Square Garden, where Hank has collected 225 of his career wins. And if those numbers weren't surprising enough, consider this. Hank is one of four goalies ever to have won 300 times with their only team. The other three guys? Mike Richter (301 wins with NYR), Turk Broda (302 wins with Toronto) and Marc-Andre Fleury (371 Wins with PIT).

One of the biggest knocks that has been put against Hank is that he has failed to help lead the Rangers to a Stanley Cup title, even though they came oh so close in 2014. He's one of the best that has ever stepped foot in the crease, that argument can now be put to rest with win number 400 in the bag. The cherry on top of the sundae would of course be the Cup ring. If there's any other knock that can be made against the Rangers stud netminder its the fact that he played in the shootout era. He hasn't had to deal with that evil thing known as a tie. So you could put that as a little asterisk. At the same time, you still have to be able to stop shooters in the shootout, you still need to keep the puck out of the back of the net. Hank has done that very well in his career. He will have a ticket to the Hall of Fame when his career is over, of this I have no doubt.

Not a bad career for a guy who was picked 205th overall in the 2000 draft. Congratulations to Henrik Lundqvist on collecting career win #400!

Charles Oakley No Longer Welcome At MSG

Talk about bizaro world. Welcome to the New York Knicks. It looked like, for a while at least, that the play on the court was going to be good enough to get a possible playoff spot. Now the Knicks are in a tailspin on the floor. But that's not what's really being talked about in the sports talk world. Instead, everybody is talking about what happened with Charles Oakley at the Garden Wednesday night. Thanks to that, Oakley has been banned from Madison Square Garden. Because of that Knicks fans have even more reason to be angry at Knicks management.

This whole incident started this past Wednesday night at MSG, while the Knicks were playing the Los Angeles Clippers. During the game, Oakley was seen yelling at Knicks owner James Dolan, who was sitting nearby. Then, MSG security stepped in and got involved with the situation. Oakley then pushed security and was thus lead out of the building. After being taken out of the building, New York Police Department arrested Oakley and charged him with three counts of assault and criminal trespassing. In an official statement shortly after Oakley's arrest, the Knicks said he "behaved in a highly inappropriate and completely abusive manner" and closed by saying "he was a great Knick, and we hope he gets some help soon." Since then, the Knicks came out with a statement that said that Oakley will never be allowed to enter MSG again, even if he purchases a ticket. Knicks owner James Dolan said Oakley's ban won't necessarily be forever. Oakley has insisted security came to him and that Garden personnel are ordered to inform Dolan when Oakley is in the building. He stood by his previous claims he did not instigate the altercation. Videos of the incident quickly hit social media and led to the Garden crowd chanting the former player’s name.

So who's right and who's wrong in this whole situation?

Oakley starred for the Knicks from 1988 to 1998 and was an All-Star in 1994, a NBA All-Defensive First Team in 1994 and an NBA All-Defensive Second Team in 1998. So he is considered by many to be a legend with this basketball team. And for good reason. He has every reason to be fed up with how the Knicks have been run lately. I know he was trying to get Dolan's attention. He's been wanting a job for the last few years and, in his mind, he feels he can help; the team get out of the funk they're currently in. Oakley wants to make the team better, and hey who doesn't. The Knicks are supposed to be one of the greatest franchise in sports, but they aren't exactly being run like it at the moment. So Oakley tried to get Dolan's attention. He just went about it in a very bad way.

And let's not take the blame off the Knicks, because they are just as much at fault in this situation as Oakley is. See what the Knicks should have done was at least listen to Oakley and what he was trying to say. Dolan has been mishandeling his team over the last couple of seasons and its a sad site to see the Knicks in such bad shape. The turn of the century hasn't been very kind to the team off the court. The fanbase wants and deserves  a quality product on the floor and they haven't been getting it. So now, once all this comes down with Oakley, the team puts a ban on the guy? Come on! Look I know he acted out of line, and the Knicks were right in how they handled it the night it happened, but since then I think the punishment was a bit much. The guy is a legend to the team and he deserved a little better then what he got. I'm not saying I agree with how Oakley went about his business with Doaln because I don't I think he was wrong. I just feel the Knicks went a little far with how they banned the guy from games. Let things blow over a little bit and then work on trying to give the guy a chance that's all I'm suggesting/

From what the Knicks did, they were putting a stamp on saying that nobody is allowed to speak their mind and show any displeasure with the team. Fans voice displeasure with the club all the time, I've done it a few times and so have many other Knicks fans I know. So why all of a sudden decide to ban a former player for doing the exact same thing? It makes no sense at all and just makes the Knicks look really bad.

NFL Hands Out Hardware

Its the best of the best in the year that was in the National Football League. The night before the Super Bowl, the league celebrated the year that was in pro football. It's a celebration of the best players in the league from the 2016 regular season in the NFL. So, below, we will state the full list of awards and winners, as well as break down the big winners of the big awards from around the league. So let's get into man. Here's the full wist of winners from the NFL Honors:

FedEx Air & Ground Players of the Year: Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons; Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas Cowboys

AP Offensive Rookie of the Year: Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys
A little surprised that they gave this award to Dak over Ezekiel Elliott, winning the award by a total of seven points. Seven points separated the two teammates in what really turned into a two horse race as the season went on. This is no knock on Zek by any means, he did finish this season with 322 carries for 1,631 yards (which was the best mark of any running back in the NFL this year) and 15 touchdowns, He also caught 32 passes for 363 yards. Not a bad year by Zek its really not. Dak was a little bit better. Look at Dak's hard numbers. Dak threw 459 passes, completing 311 of them. Dak threw for 3,667 yards, 23 touchdowns and four interceptions. He finished the year with a 104.9 passer rating for the season. Sure, Zek may have put up the better numbers, but what put Dak over the top to win the award was his ability to win. The 13 wins he picked up this year are tied for the most ever by a rookie quarterback. He was thrust into starting duty due to Tony Romo getting hurt in training camp, and Dak lead them to a playoff win and a division title. Very deserving award for a hell of a quarterback.

AP Offensive Player of the Year presented by Microsoft: Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons
Matty Ice had himself a pretty good year this year in the world's best football league. He had himself a career year and was rightly rewarded for it. He completed 373 of 534 passes, good for a 69.9% Ryan threw for 4,944 yards, while throwing for 38 touchdowns against only seven interceptions. Oh and those 38 touchdowns he threw this year, they went to 13 different receivers, distributing the ball to All-Pro Julio Jones and low-key free-agent pickup Taylor Gabriel in equal measure. Yeah there was no better offensive threat in the league this year then Matty Ice. It was a banner year for Ryan, who as you can see picked up quite a bit of hardware this year.

Built Ford Tough Offensive Line of the Year: Dallas Cowboys

Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award: Frank Gore, Indianapolis Colts

Salute To Service Award Presented by USAA: Dan Quinn, Falcons

Castrol EDGE Clutch Performer of the Year: Derek Carr, Oakland Raiders

AP Assistant Coach of the Year: Kyle Shanahan, Atlanta Falcons

AP Coach of the Year: Jason Garrett, Dallas Cowboys
This one was a little interesting. Garrett picked up the award beating out Bill Belichick, Adam Gase, Jack Del Rio and Andy Reid to take home the prize. Sure Belichick did what he did this year without Brady for four games, but he eventually got his star QB back. Garrett had to play the whole year with an unproven rookie under center and still manged to lead his team to a thirteen win season. Talk about being able to deal woith a team under crisis management, Garrett pulled it off well. For a team that went 4-12 last year, Garrett's Cowboys won the NFC East in 2016 with a 13-3 record. It tied a franchise record for most wins in the regular season and brought the franchise's second division title since 2010. To see what he was able to do with this Cowboys team was pretty impressive when you sit back and think about it.

AP Defensive Rookie of the Year: Joey Bosa, Los Angeles Chargers
Bosa beat out fellow rookies Jalen Ramsey of Jacksonville and Deion Jones of Atlanta, but Bosa is the one who walked away with the award. Joey Bosa (10.5 sacks this season) was the first player since Aldon Smith & Von Miller in 2011 to have 10 or more sacks in a season as a rookie.It's been pretty well documented that Bosa was close to holding out at the start of the year because of the contract issue. Luckly for him, and the Chargers for that matter, he was able to work around it and get into the Chargers lineup for the entire season. Bosa was one of the best players at putting pressure on the quarterback this season. Bosa finished the season with 41 tackles, 19 tackles for loss and 15 QB hits. He proved that he was a dominant force on the field, which will be a big help for the Chargers next year. Los Angeles now has two teams and two big threats on the defensive side of the ball, Bosa for the Chargers and Khalil Mack of the Raiders. There's plenty to look forward to if you are a Chargers fan for quite some time to come.

Courtyard's "Greatness on the Road" Award: Le'Veon Bell, Pittsburgh Steelers

AP Defensive Player of the Year presented by Old Spice: Khalil Mack, Oakland Raiders
The Mack Attack has struck bigtime out in Oakland. Khalil Mack won defensive player of the year, beating out the likes of Von Miller of the Broncos, Landon Collins of the Giants, Aaron Donald of the Rams, Sean Lee of the Cowboys and Eric Berry of the Chiefs. This is big news for Mack as he becomes the first Raider to win AP Defensive Player of the Year since Lester Hayes in 1980. Sure JJ Watt having back surgery and missing most of the year left this door wide open, but it was a tight race between Mack and Von Miller, with Mack getting the edge by just a single vote. He had a stretch of about two months from mid-October to mid-December where he was at his true best and most dominating. Over that eight-game span, Mack terrorized opposing quarterbacks for 10 sacks, 13 QB hits, five forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and a pick-six while the Raiders entered the playoff picture for the first time in over a decade. By the time the season was over, Mack had been responsible for an astonishing 44% of the Raiders sacks this year.

AP Comeback Player of the Year presented by McDonald's: Jordy Nelson, Green Bay Packers
Last year was a very tough year for Jordy Nelson. He missed all of last year with a torn ACL in his right knee, an injury he suffered in a preseason game in August 2015. So that basically wiped out all of the 2015 season for Jordy. That's OK, 2016 rolled around and its like he never skipped a beat. He aws once again the go-to target for Aaron Rodgers this year, and was a big reason why the Packers had the mid-season turn around they did to charge up to a division title. This year, Nelson caught 97 passes for 1,257 yards and 14 touchdowns. Even though this had no real bearing on the award, he even played in the NFC title game against Atlanta wearing a Kevlar vest to help deal with a rib injury. If that's not showing how bad a guy wants to win I don't know what will. Nelson proved to himself, his teammates and the rest of football that he's back and never missed a beat from 2014. Nelson is still an elite receiver in the NFL.

Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year presented by Nationwide: Eli Manning, New York Giants; Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona Cardinals

AP Most Valuable Player: Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons
Talk about having yourself a career year, that's what happened to Matty Ice this season. When it came to voting for this award, Ryan beat out Tom Brady of the Patriots, Ezekiel Elliott of the Cowboys, Derek Carr of the Raiders, Aaron Rodgers of the Packers, and Dak Prescott of the Cowboys in voting for this award. Some of the numbers really do speak for themselves. Ryan posted a career-high 69.9 completion percentage, he threw for 4,944 yards and 38 touchdowns, to go along with a career-low seven interceptions. As the season went along, it was clear that he was feeling very comfortable in Kyle Shanahan's system, which will make things all the more interesting next year, since Shanahan will be coaching elsewhere in San Francisco. the only downside for Matt Ryan has to be the ending of the year. Since the turn of the century, no player that has won league MVP and played in the Super Bowl has ever won it. last MVP to win the Super Bowl in the same year was Kurt Warner in 1999. Still with the numbers Ryan put up helping lead the Falcons to the highest scoring team in the NFL is still pretty impressive. Congrats to Matty Ice on winning the NFL MVP!

Football Hall Makes The Call

Hall of Famer. Three words that most athletes dream of hearing. It means that you are in a class that so few can enter. That means that you are better then most people who have ever played the game, whatever it may be. On Saturday, August 5th, the Pro Football Hall of Fame will grow to 310 elected members. The Enshrinement Ceremony takes place at the new Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton and will be televised nationally by NFL Network and ESPN. Making the way into the Hall this year are: Owner Jerry Jones, Kicker Morton Anderson, Running Back LaDainian Tomlinson, Defensive End Jason Taylor, Quarterback Kurt Warner, Safety Kenny Easley, and Running Back Terrell Davis.

Jerry Jones: The Cowboys President and General Manager has really made a name for himself since taking over running the Cowboys in 1989. What Jones has been able to do to re-brand the Cowboys has been really incredible to look at. What Jones has been able to do with the Cowboys, and the NFL for that matter, has changed the way sports in general have been branded and marketed. Jones became the first owner in NFL history to win three Super Bowls in first seven years of ownership. Dallas made seven playoff appearances, six division titles and wins in Super Bowls XXVII, XVIII and XXX in Jones’ first decade of owning team, and they have advanced to postseason 13 times under Jones. Jerry Jones helped lead the franchise, as general manager, to NFC Eastern Division titles five straight seasons, from 1992 to 1996. Also Dallas won NFC East crowns in 1998, 2007, 2009, 2014 and 2016. Very strong resume for the Cowboys owner and general manager.

Kenny Easley: The Seattle Seahawks saftey is getting inducted into the hallowed halls. After seven seasons and 89 games in the Seahawks Secondary, he made a huge impact in that defense. Easley had an immediate impact in Seattle with his intimidating style on defense, developing a reputation as punishing tackler. Easley was picked as Defensive Rookie of the Year after sensational first season. That year, 1981, he recorded 3 interceptions for 155 yards and 1 TD (82-yarder vs. Browns). Defensive leader of Seahawks team that advanced to franchise’s first-ever AFC championship game in 1983. He registered 7 interceptions for 106 yards to earn AFC Defensive Player of the Year honors that same year. He was named Defensive Player of the Year in 1984 after recording league-high and career-best 10 interceptions including pair of pick-sixes (25 yards vs. Patriots; 58 yards vs. Chiefs). Easley was named an All-Pro for four straight seasons, he was a five time Pro Bowler, he's a member of NFL’s All-Decade Team of 1980s. In his career, Easley had 32 interceptions, 538 yards and 3 TDs, and he also had 8 career sacks and returned 26 punts for 302 yards. Those numbers are fantastic for a seven year career.

Morton Andersen: One of the greatest kickers that the NFL has ever seen. Selected by Saints in 4th round of 1982 draft, some of his numbers that Andersen put up are almost eye popping. He scored more than 90 points in 22 seasons and topped the 100-point total 14 times in career, his first 100-plus season coming in 1985, when he connected on 31 of 35 field goals, 27 extra point conversions, for 120 points, earning first of seven Pro Bowl selections. Also named All-Pro five times 1995 was one of his best years, as that year he scored a career-high 122 points, including then NFL-record for most 50-yard field goals in season with eight, December 10th, 1995, Andersen became first kicker to convert three field goals of 50 yards or longer in a single game. Andersen holds the NFL records for career points (2,544), most field goals (565), and games played (382), among other records. His 40 field goals of 50-plus yards most in NFL history at retirement. He converted 565 of 709 field goal attempts, 849 of 859 point-after-attempts Finally, Andersen led the NFC in scoring in 1992 and topped all conference kickers in most field goals in 1985, 1987, and 1995.

Jason Taylor: One of the toughest defensive ends to defend against in the league, Taylor was a terror for the opposition. He played 15 seasons in the league and was able to suit up for a grand total of 233 games, which is a very high standard for a defensive player. During his career, Taylor registered double-digit sack total in a season six times over an eight-year span (2000-07). Taylor earned NFL Defensive Player of the Year in Honors in 2006 after recording 13.5 sacks, two interceptions returned for TDs, 11 passes defensed, 10 forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and 62 tackles Taylor recorded more sacks than any player in NFL from 2000 to 2011. Jason finished his career with 139.5 sacks; 8 interceptions for 110 yards and 3 TDs. He was voted to six Pro Bowls, was named first-team All-Pro in 2000, 2002 and 2006 and was named to NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 2000s. Like I said, the guy was a force to deal with.

Kurt Warner: For a guy who wasn't drafted into the league and came from the Arena League, Kurt Warner is getting inducted into the Hall. After 12 seasons and 124 games under center in the NFL, Warner was able to carve out a pretty good career for himself. Once he came back to the NFL in 1997, after a two year stint in the AFL, Warner's career took off. He went on to become a two-time NFL MVP (1999 and 2001) and named Super Bowl XXXIV MVP after leading Rams to victory 23-16 victory over Tennessee Titans. At the time, Warner had set Super Bowl record with 414 passing yards (it was just passed by Tom Brady). He recorded another MVP season two years later when he guided Rams back to the Super Bowl, a year in which he had a league-leading and career-high 4,830 yards and 36 touchdowns to post a 101.4 passer rating. Kurt was a four-time Pro Bowl choice, leading the NFL in average gain per attempt, three times and had the highest passer rating and led NFL in TD passes twice.

Terrell Davis: one of the more underrated running backs the game has ever had, Davis was very dependable in Denver. Over the course of seven seasons, and only 78 games, he still had a big impact on the sport of football. Davis made a big splash when he earned starting tailback position as rookie, and despite missing final two games of rookie campaign with hamstring tear, eclipsed 1,000-yard mark and added career-high 49 receptions for 367 yards. In 1998 became fourth runner in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards in season (2,008) and led NFL with 21 rushing TDs en route to Denver’s second straight Super Bowl title. He had a good stretch during that time, as he set an NFL playoff record seven straight 100-yard performances spanning 1997-98 postseasons. Earned MVP honors in Super Bowl XXXII after rushing 157 yards, 3 TDs in victory over Packers In the 1998 playoffs, he rushed for franchise postseason-record 199 yards against Dolphins in divisional playoff, 167 yards vs. Jets in the championship and 102 yards in Super Bowl XXXIII victory over Falcons. Davis was a three-time All-Pro selection, finishing his career with a total of 7,607 rush yards, 60 TDs, all in just 78 career games. Added additional 1,280 yards on 169 career catches and five TD receptions. Davis was selected to three Pro Bowls and named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1990s.

LaDainian Tomlinson: One of the best running backs to step foot on a football field in the turn of the century, Tomlinson gets this huge honor. LT made a quick impact into the NFL, breaking into the league with 1,236 rush yards and 10 TD on the ground, to go along with 59 receptions for 367 yards. LT eclipsed 1,600-yard mark in back-to-back seasons and rushed for 1,000 yards in each of first eight NFL seasons In each of his nine seasons with the Chargers, LT had at least ten rushing touchdowns in each year. He was named NFL’s 2006 Most Valuable Player with leading-leading and career-high 1,815 yards and 28 touchdowns rushing in addition to 56 catches for 508 yards and 3 TDs to set NFL record with 31 touchdowns and 186 points in a season. LT was an All-Pro four straight seasons (2004-07) and was voted to five Pro Bowls over six-season span. During his career, Tomlinson rushed for 13,684 career yards on 3,174 carries and scored 145 rushing touchdowns. Oh yeah, he added 4,772 yards on 624 catches and 17 TD receptions. He was named to NFL’s All-Decade Team of 2000s.

There are a few big names that were left out of the Hall this year, Terrell Owens being the biggest one. He is in the top five of every major category for wide receivers in the history of the game, so it is still a tad of a surprise he's out of the hall. He has said that he doesn't need the hall to validate his career, but still I think it would be kind of nice. Think maybe his antics and ego may be what's keeping him out. Isaac Bruce, Alan Faneca, Brian Dawkins, Ty Law, John Lynch and Kevin Mawae also got snubbed on hall induction this year.

Those names that just missed out on the hall this year are still eligible for induction next year. They will have some pretty big company to go up against on next years ballot. Guys like Randy Moss, Ray Lewis, John Lynch, and Joe Jacoby are just some of the guys who could be eligable for induction next year. Congratulations to all of those going into the Hall this August.

New England's Record Setting Comeback

This one will go down in the history books as one of the greatest games of football to ever be played. It will go down as not only one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the big game, but one of the greatest meltdowns in the history of football. From the outset, New England looked razzled and outmaned. Brady looked like he wasn't having any magic left. New England's defense was getting outmaned and outplayed. Then, New England just flipped the switch and said OK let's go! New England staged the greatest comeback in the history of the Super Bowl, coming away with a 34-28 overtime win to capture their 5th title!

Lets get right down to it Atlanta pretty much dominated this game early on. Neither team managed to put any points on the board in the opening quarter, although the 37 yard run by Devonta Freeman made it look like it would happen, but no points were scored. Once the 2nd quarter started, Atlanta started to really open things up with a pair of scores. The first coming off a Freeman touchdown run and then another seven points coming from a Austin Hooper 19 yard touchdown catch. Before New England had really had a chance to respond, Brady made his only mistake of the game, getting picked off by Robert Alford for an 82 yard touchdown return to put the Falcons up 21-0. Stephen Gostkowski got the Patriots on the board right at the half, but New England still had an uphill climb ahead of itself.

Once things got going in the 2nd half, New England had a threat early on. The got the ball almost to mid-field but couldn't move it on from there. Atlanta got the ball back, and eventually thought they would put up in insurmountable lead. Running back Tevin Coleman caught a six yard TD pass from Matt Ryan, giving the Falcons a 28–3 lead with 8:31 left. Then the impossible happened. New England started their comeback. New Englands following drive was made possible by their biggest play, a 17-yard completion to Danny Amendola on 4th-and-3 from the New England 46-yard line. eventually the Patriots would score their first touchdown, a five yard catches from James White, who in his own right had a monster game. You'll see his name pop up quite a few times during the course of this article. By the time we got to the fourth quarter, Gostkowski had struck again to cut the Falcons lead to 28-12. Then Tom Brady and James White would take over.

The fourth quarter opened with Trey Flowers and Kyle Van Noy shared a sack on Matt Ryan, which forced an Atlanta punt. New England would wwear down the Falcons and eventually lead to Danny Amendola catching a six yard pass from Brady for a touchdown. White converted the two to cut the Falcons lead to 28-20. Now comes one of the two craziest plays of the day. With 4:40 left in the ball game, Matt Ryan threw a bomb down the sideline for Julio Jones who made one of the greatest catches ever seen in the Super Bowl by any player. At this point, common sense would dictate that you run the ball a couple of more times and kill off the clock, then let Matt Bryant hit a field goal that would have put the Falcons up by ten. But now that didn't happen. Two plays later, Trey Flowers sacked Ryan for a nine yard loss. After that, Atlanta thought they got back into field goal range after Mohamad Sanu made a good catch, but it was called back on a Jake Matthews holding penalty. Eventually the Patriots got the ball back. Julian Edelman kept the drive alive with a circus catch that would rival the grab made by Julio Jones earlier in the quarter. New england would cap off this drive with James White (there's that man again) one yard touchdown run and a two point conversion from Brady to Amendola to tie the game.

To overtime we go for the first time ever in the history of the Super Bowl. New England wins the toss and elects to receive the football. Rules in overtime in the Super Bowl are exactly that of the regular season, so if New England had just kicked a field goal, Atlanta would get the ball and have a shot to win it in their own right. They never touched the football. New England drove 75 yards on eight plays and at the 11:02 mark of the extra period, James White (there's that man again) scored on a two yard run to hand the Patriots their 5th ever Super Bowl title.

This game really didn't disappoint at all. Well it did if your a Falcons fan. The Patriots rallied from a 25-point deficit, the largest deficit overcome to win a Super Bowl (the previous record was ten points, set by the Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX). Not only that, it was also the third-largest comeback win in NFL playoff history. New England's title was their fifth franchise championship, all under the leadership of starting quarterback Tom Brady. Those five titles are the most by a single quarterback. Brady won his fourth Super Bowl MVP, also an NFL record. Brady finished the day going 43 of 62 for 466 yards and two touchdowns, with one interception. not only that but he also rushing for 15 yards. The Patriots tied the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers, who have five victories each, for second most Super Bowl wins by a franchise, trailing only the Pittsburgh Steelers who have six Super Bowl victories.

As for Brady, his completions, attempts, and passing yards were all single game Super Bowl records. He also set the career Super Bowl records for games played (7), completions (207), attempts (309), yards (2,071), and touchdowns (15). James White caught a Super Bowl record 14 passes for 110 yards, rushed for 29 yards, and tied a Super Bowl record with three touchdowns. He also set the record for most points scored with 20. After the game, Brady said he felt White deserved the MVP award more than he did.

Lets put this debate to bed right here and now. As much as I dislike Tom Brady (only because he plays for the Patriots) there's no longer any doubt in my mind that he is the greatest Quarterback of all time. He's been able to set all these passing marks, during the regular season and the playoffs, and he's been doing it with different weapons it seems almost every year. Sure he had a soon to be hall of fame tight end in Rob Gronkowski and a pretty talented wide out named Randy Moss. Still he's been able to adapt and adjust to what he's got throwing to different targets and he can make others around him just that much better. brady is the best end of discussion.

Congratulations to the New England Patriots on their 5th Super Bowl Championship!

Super Bowl 51 Preview

IT'S TIME! The long wait is over. This journey started way back in September with 32 teams all chasing a chance to raise the Lombardi Trophy over their heads. Now through seventeen week regular season, the wild card, divisional and championship rounds of the playoffs, we're down to two teams left standing. The New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons. Both teams have outlasted the rest of the pack and are fighting to see who really is the best team in all of football. For the 51st time we will determine a world champion in the sport of football. So lets diver right into it. Here's how things are going to break down for the big game.

This year, we have the NFC Champions, the Atlanta Falcons, taking on the AF Champions, the New England Patriots. Kickoff is set for 6:30PM on Fox. New England, who was the AFC's #1 seed, won the AFC East going 14-2/ They started the post season in the Divisional round, beating the Houston Texans 34–16. They followed that up by beating the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship Game, 36–17. New England is playing in their 9th Super Bowl ever, holding a record of 4-5. They have lost to Chicago, Green Bay and the Giants twice, while they have come away with wins over Seattle, Philadelphia, Carolina and St. Louis. New England is now 32-19 lifetime in the playoffs.

As for the Falcons, they held the 2nd seed in the NFC, after winning the NFC South with a 11-5 record. Atlanta started their playoff run by beating the Seattle Seahawks in the Divisional Round, 36–20. The following week, in the last NFL game ever played at the Georgia Dome, they defeated the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game, 44–21. This will mark the 2nd time ever that the Falcons are playing in the Super Bowl, losing their only other appearance, Super Bowl 33 to the Denver Broncos. Atlanta is now 9-12 all time in the playoffs/.

This will mark the first ever meeting between the two teams in the playoffs. They never faced each other this year during the regular season. New England is 7-6 lifetime against the Falcons and have won each of the last four meetings between the teams. The AFC has won two straight titles and three of the last four games.

As for this game, let's break it down shall we. Atlanta is coming in as the 8th highest scoring team in the history of the game. They lead the NFL in points this year with 540. The other teams that are ahead of them are as follows: 2000 St. Louis Rams (540), 2011 New Orleans Saints (547), 1998 Minnesota Vikings (556), 2012 New England Patriots (557), 2011 Green Bay Packers (560), 2007 New England Patriots (589) and the 2013 Denver Broncos (606). There's a patter here with those teams ahead of the Falcons. They all failed to finish off the season with a championship. So the numbers really aren't in the favor of the Falcons going into this game. There's also another stat that won't really put well into the favor of the Falcons. This will be the sixth Super Bowl since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 to feature a #1 scoring offense against a #1 scoring defense, with the team with the #1 scoring defense winning four of the previous five matchups. So Atlanta, things don't really look so hot for you right now, if you base it off the stats that I just listed.

Still, I think Atlanta has a real shot in this game. With the numbers the offense put up this year, lead by Matt Ryan and Julio Jones. Chances are Julio Jones is going to be covered pretty well by the Patriots secondary. Ryan does have other options. Ryan can try and find Mohamed Sanu, Levine Toilolo and Austin Hooper. Plus his running backs, Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman, who can not only run the ball but they can catch passes as well. freeman maybe the better runner of the two backs in Atlanta, Falcons OC Kyle Shanahan has been known to use both backs with regularity and mix them into the offensive game. One of the biggest things that's going to give the Fzalcons the edge is the fact that the Falcons will avoid turnovers and consistently score. Atlanta's defense is going to be in for a tough task but I think they can stand up to the challenge. Dan Quinn has a solid group of defenders that he can work with. The Falcons' secondary has compensated well for the loss of shutdown corner Desmond Trufant. Their green linebackers have grown up fast and get around the field in a hurry, led by pass-rushing beast Vic Beasley Jr. Atlanta is going to have to really focus in on the wide receivers for the Patriots, which is something that the Steelers didn't do two weeks ago.

This is nothing new for the Patriots. This group, especially Brady and Belichick, they've done this six times before, so they kinda know what they're doing here. Both are looking to ring up their 5th Super Bowl title, which will give each the record for most by a quarterback and a head coach. New England has a solid running game that could possibly even matchup with Atlanta's. Dion Lewis and James White are being used in somewhat the same way in the pass game as what Atlanta does, and Lewis has taken over as the every-down running back. LeGarrette Blount is the short yardage and finish-the-game bruiser. Patriots OC Josh McDaniels is no slouch, he knows exactly what he's doing with running this offense. Oh yeah, the Patriots have a first ballot hall of famer under center in in Tom Brady taking the snaps under center. Tom Brady knows what he's doing on a football field, look at two weeks ago against the Steelers. New England always finds a way to win with the weapons they have in the passing game. No Gronk? No Problem. They still have Julian Edelman, Chris Hogan and Malcolm Mitchell , plus filling in nicely for Gronk has been Martellus Bennett. Then there's the Pats defense. Matt Patricia has done a fantastic job with the New England D. They do something that Atlatna has a little trouble with. That is being able to disguise their coverages with and throw off an offense. New England is really good at that.

Prediction: 
Solly: Atlanta 34, New England 31
Steve: New England 37, Atlanta 20
3rd Mic Dan: Pleads the 5th
Jeff; New England 31, Atlanta 20