Me and my friends were having a discussion about which athlete we would like to trade lives with. Who do you guys think has the best life?
My top two are Tony Romo and Tony Parker. Tony Parker makes a strong case for himself because he is a key player on the defending NBA Champions and is married to Eva Longoria.
I think I lean towars Tony Romo because he is the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys. Football is America's favorite sport and quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys is about as big as it gets. Tony is the quarterback of America's team, in a relationship with Jessica Simpson, and attempting to qualify for the U.S Open. Not a bad life in my opinion.
Darren McFadden is a great running back and should be a great player on whatever offense he is added to. However, the Raiders already have Justin Fargas, Lamont Jordan, and Dominic Rhodes. Although the latter two are probably on the way out, Justin Fargas showed talent last year and was Raiders decided to resign him. The other thing that cannot be forgotten is that the Raiders still have Michael Bush. Bush has tremendous upside and potential, but was unable to play in his rookie year due to injuries. Once healthy, Bush has the talent to be a franchise running back. With Fargas and Bush why did the Raiders take McFadden?
I am excited to see McFadden coming to Oakland because of his talent and potential, but I think it would have been smarter to trade up and get some more talent in other places, draft Dorsey, or an offensive lineman because that is where the Raiders are truly weak.
Apparently McFadden was too great of a talent to pass on and the Jamarcus Russell Darren McFadden backfield should be fun to watch.
Although he is a gambler by nature on and off the field, and he would probably lean towards gambling with his date in court, Vick needs to get a plea agreement. With evidence quickly piling up against him it appears as if he is guilty.
Federal prosecutors said that a superceeding indictment may be on the way. Vick's friends who have already negoitiated plea deals will bring stong evidence against Vick. If Vick decides to go to trial they have agreed to testify and describe at least 8 brutal and horrifying executions of dogs.
The effect of these testomonies would he incredibly damaging to Vick's case. The pictures and vivid descriptions of the executions would leave a big impression of the jury. Worst of all Vick may be forced to testify. "If he does testify, he faces a nightmare of cross-examination from federal prosecutors armed with at least seven cooperating witnesses and six years of e-mails, documents and financial records from Bad Newz Kennels."
Considering all the evidence mounted against him and knowing the nations feelings towards dogs, there is still a chance that Vick will take this to court. This country is full of animal lovers and Vick has already been convicted in the court of public opinion. The images and horrific stories of dogfighting and executions would certainly weigh heavily in the jury's mind, and probably lead to the conviction of the superstar quarterback.
While negotiating with federal prosecutors, Vick is also trying to talk to the NFL. Vick does not want to lose his chance to return to the game of football by admitting guilt in court. Of course the NFL should probably not be his main concern right now, however he is still worried about his return assuming he is not in jail for a long time......
A settlement with the NFL seems unlikely as commissioner Roger Goodell wants to see how the legal proceedings pan out before he makes up his mind on how to handle the situation.
Possibly more damaging to Vick's return status is the fact that he was face to face with Goodell when the indictment came out and said that he had nothing to do with this. By admitting guilt he will be admitting that he lied to the face of the commissioner. Vick said he did not bet on the fights. The last time a star athlete lied to the commissioner of his sport about betting was Pete Rose. He was found guily and in turn banned for life. Although his gambling was more serious only in the sese that he bet on his own sport while he was managing a team, lying to Goodell about gambling might do more damage to Vick's career than anything he did to the dogs.
Pacman Jones has found a new and possibly even dumber way to pass time. Since bieng suspended from the NFL for the 2007 season, Pacman Jones joined TNA because he wanted to wrestle and now he wants to be a rapper as well. It is possible that his suspension will be reduced for good behavior, but he has not shown Roger Goodell that he has changed or matured in any way.
Just when you think he has done all he can to give Goodell reason to keep him suspended, he does this. Why would he do this? Since the suspension he has made 3 incredibly dumb decisions, but probably alot more that I just don't seem to recall.
Before his meeting with NFL comissioner Roger Goodell, Pacman goes to a strip club the night before. He had already been in trouble a couple of times for incidents that occured at strip clubs. He joined wrestling as a way to keep him "from staying at home miserable." However, wrestling is easy to get hurt and he would be voiding his contract with the Titans. Why would you risk all the NFL money for wrestling? Now he decides to enter the music industry. The world of rap and hip hop isn't exactly the best way to stay out of trouble. Pacman's life is becoming more entertaining than most reality shows on television.
To further help himself Pacman appeared to mock the NFL during his TNA wrestling debut. There were dollar bills flying around and police were involved and he left in am ambulance. This mocks his trouble at the strip club for "making it rain," his numberous run ins with the cops, and the fact that he was not supposed to get hurt. His debut rap single "Let it Shine" will drop August 27th via his own National Street League Records. The NFL is currently looking into whether NSL records infringes on the NFL's trademark. I do not know what Roger Goodell thinks of all of this, but I am pretty sure that mocking his league is not the best way to get back in.
All this attention that he is attracting can not be helping his chances of reinstatement. I understand that he has not been convicted of any crimes, but for a man who has said he would change his behavior and his lifestyle to get back into the NFL as soon as possible it doesn't appear as if he is headed in the right direction.
It seems as if Michael Vick's NFL career is over, but why? Most people are refusing to acknowledge the fact that these are allegations. In this country you are innocent until proven guilty, however Vick is bieng portrayed as the criminal that he may or may not be.
Even if these allegations are true and Vick is guilty it is not a big enough reason for him to go to jail or lose his NFL career. Maybe this is not politically corrert to say, but whatever. People are too fond of animals because they are cute or whatever. People over react becaue it is a dog. It is a dog!!!! Is it a crime? yes. Is it disgusting and morally wrong? yes. I understand this, but when Tank Johnson was arrested for aggravated assault and gun possession there was no outcry of this magnitude. People love thier animals, but with gun possession Tank Johnson could have killed a human bieng. People are calling for Vick's head for hurting a dog, yet noone seemed to care when Johnson assault charges were pressed. Another thing to consider is that Johnson was guilty, Vick is alledged of crimes. Why is society trying to kick a guy out of the NFL who possibly hurt some dogs, yet we don't care about a guy who has been convicted of assult?
Ray Lewis has been charged with murder previously in his life, Jamal Lewis has been arrested for possession of marijuana. There are drug dealers and murderers in the NFL, but noone seems to care.
So maybe if he returned to the Falcons Vick would be a distraction, but that is only because of all of you. If the public had not made such a big deal of everything Vick would be able to play. Don't get me wrong I do not condone Vick's actions and he has made some stupid decisions in his life. I just think people need to get thier priorties straight and realize that he hurt dogs, while there are people out there hurting thier wives and other people, but we just let it go.
The final thing bothering me is that PETA has become so involved. They are selling anti-Vick t-shirts and are urging people to write letters to NFL commissioner urging for Vick's suspension. This bothers me because, "Earlier this year, two PETA employees faced charges in North Carolina stemming from their illegal euthanization of dogs and cats in that state, and the dumping of animal carcasses in a grocery store dumpster." Yet these are the people saying that Vick is wrong? Are you kidding me?
Promote animal rights stand up for it, good for you. Don't go kill animals and and leave the carcasses at a grocery store and then go say hurting animals is bad. Vick at least kept it at his house and didn't make it a public display.
Everyone should let the Vick saga play out in court and not worry about it until that is finished. He should be allowed to go on with his life.
Every year as NFL training camp rolls around we have a handful of holdouts as people want more money. Some deserve the money (Larry Johnson) and some do not (Jamarcus Russell).
Larry Johnson is a proven NFL veteran who has put up great numbers and deserves to be paid and rewarded for his on the field accomplishments. On the other hand Jamarcus Russell has never taken an NFL snap and still thinks he should be paid like a star. Russell has the talent to become a star and earn this money however he needs to get on the field and prove it.
Russell’s agents have a combined 30 years of experience and they have dealt with 25 first round pick contract negotiations. The problem is Al Davis. Al Davis will not compromise he wants what he wants and you will not tell him otherwise. One of the advantages of having the number 1 overall pick is that you can take any player you want and you can start talking about contracts early on. The Raiders should have begun talking earlier and this far along they should be a lot further in the negotiations.
Davis will not give Russell all the guaranteed money he wants in case he turns out to be a bust. Davis is trying to play it safe and have Russell earn his money on the field, but Russell thinks he deserves his money based on his performance in college. Davis is not going to change his mind for anyone and Jamarcus needs to realize this. Your college career mean nothing once you get to the next level just ask Ryan Leaf. If Russell feels he is so great why doesn’t he get on the field and earn his money himself?
I think that the signing of Culpepper is a huge sign that this holdout is not ending any time soon. Culpepper gives the Raiders 4 quarterbacks including Russell. They will not carry three so it seems as if they don’t expect Russell on the field by the opener on the ninth.
