On Monday July 27, 2009 NFL Commissioner Roger Goddell reinstated former Falcons quarterback and accused dog-fighting ring operator Michael Vick on a conditional reinstatement. The general conditions of his reinstatement, as reported by AP NFL writer Barry Wilner state:

"Vick can immediately participate in preseason practices, workouts and meetings and can play in the final two preseason games if - if he can find a team that will sign him."

While a number of teams have already said they would not, some teams should consider doing so, and who else would I suggest but the New England Patriots.

From a logistical standpoint, the Patriots lack any sort of skill in the backup quarterback position behind Brady. They are stuck in a logjam of four un-proven and inexperienced youngsters who have combined, seen less offensive playing time then recently departed (and dearly missed) Mike Vrabel over the past five seasons. Vick is a proven winner and competent quarterback that despite some moral and ethical mishaps could calm the stormy waters of the Patriots depth chart.

I also believe that, while dog fighting is wrong and I think it is a despicable act, two years in jail is more then enough punishment. I think any jail time for an act like that is more then enough punishment considering Donte Stallworth killed a man and only got 30 days in jail. Vick deserves a shot. How can a team like the Vikings or the 49ers or the Jaguars or the Broncos or the Redskins go after one of the (if not the) most athletic and dangerous quarterback with their feet that the NFL has ever seen with their current quarterback situation? Vick is an offensive machine. While he may not have the most accurate arm, he has one of the strongest and when all else fails, he is as good with the ball in his hand as most running backs and receivers in the open field. To call him a threat with the ball in his hands is an understatement.

Can anyone say wildcat? The dumbest formation in the NFL (in my opinion) was designed with a player like Vick in mind. Any team, and I mean any team that runs some form of the wildcat would be stupid to not consider having Vick on the sidelines. Or better yet, line him up in the backfield alongside your quarterback and he can run or pass form their. Throw to him in the flat then let him bomb it down field or run for extra yardage. He's what offensive coordinators dream about having on their team and on the sideline and if not his off-the-field activities, he would be the highest paid player in the NFL and would put more fans in the seats based on his sheer entertainment value then any other player on the planet, and if he gets signed, I bet he boosts attendance of whatever team he goes to, the same way people would pack stadiums to see people like Barry Bonds after the steroid allegations imply with the intention of booing him as loud as they could. Vick will put bodies in the seats of every stadium he goes through.

But back to the Patriots. What other coach could you imagine trying to control a player like Michael Vick at this point? Oh right, its Bill Belichick. The same guy who silenced Randy Moss and Corey Dillon, and has created a locker room in which the only person who receives any more attention then anyone else is his quarterback and none of it is bad. Vick would come into that locker room and be put in his place. He would put up or ship out and he would play. And I mean that he would actually play. Belichick would have so many uses for a player like Vick that as a sports fan I cannot even begin to comprehend. But most importantly, he would be the best reserve quarterback in the NFL next season and sure as hell the most entertaining one. Too bad number 7 is already taken, maybe he can do something like Ron Artest and pick some number close to his heart, but whatever number he picked, I will root for him.

Rasheed Wallace and the Boston Celtics have reached a verbal agreement on a mid-level contract in which Wallace will receive just under $6 Million for the next two years, once singed on the 8th of July when free agents can begin to sign their contracts. While many people will criticize the Celtics for not adding long-term depth to the veteran heavy roster, I feel as though it was a great move. With what appears to be the end of Leon Powe in a Celtic uniform (much to my dismay), the Celtics needed to add depth in the frontcourt and add a veteran presence both on the court and in the locker room. While Sheed might not be the best person for the locker room, he is exactly what they needed to put on the floor. Sure, he is not the same Sheed who helped the Pistons win a championship back in 04, but there is no way you could argue against seeing him out there playing alongside KG or Perkins and not consider that a threat offensively. A 6’11” player who can step out and hit threes is simply insane, and with the hard-nosed defensive attitude of the Celtics, adding more bench scoring is exactly what they needed.

Rasheed has his downsides however. He commits a lot of technical fouls, but that is nothing new for the Celts. Perk and KG get T'd up like it’s in their contracts to do so, so the addition of Wallace will not improve that situation. He is also getting old. At 35 he is past his NBA prime and is no doubt on the downward half of his career. But, despite the negatives, he brings to the Celtics something that they could have used when KG was out: a swagger. When times got tough in Boston, they lost a lot of the swagger that they carried as the reigning champs and Sheed does not lack that for a minute. I don’t want to go so far as to use the word cocky, but he makes people want to win, stay competitive and compete for a championship, because its what he wants and he has no problem letting everyone know on a daily basis that is how he feels.

Many people are probably asking themselves, "Is he going to bring the team down in the locker room with his attitude?" and while I can see the concerns, I honestly do not believe so. For starters, KG and Rasheed are great friends, so much so that Garnett made multiple trips, including the big Celtic group trip that ended up sealing the deal, to talk to his buddy about coming to the C's. And don’t think for a second that KG did not let him know how things work on him and Paul’s teams. Wallace knows exactly the environment he is stepping into as well as the role he will be trying to fill: the sixth man in the frontcourt. He will listen to Garnett, he will play 20 minutes a game and put up 10+ points in those games, and he will be a great teacher for Perkins on how to become a more versatile big man offensively as they play side by side. Rasheed has been in the league too long now to think that he is still the potential cornerstone of an organization, and I truly believe that he will slip into the role as the third member of the front court, filling in both power forward and center positions beautifully for the Celtics.

The Celtics are still lacking some serious depth as a team I think. Adding Rasheed is great because it creates a steady three-man rotation to fill the two positions in the frontcourt, which is good, and if the Celts could bring in a young big guy in the coming year or so, it would be deadly for them. The backcourt leaves a lot of questions. The starters are great and that is not a question. The future of the team lies in the hands of Rajon Rondo, but the question is who is there to help? I would love to see Bill Walker get more playing time this year. I see him developing in to the same type of player that James Posey was, a solid small forward who can eat up valuable minutes with Pierce on the bench by holding down the defensive end an contributing some points to go along with it. I think his development is crucial. Also, the development of JR Giddens, Tony Allen, or the new fella, Lester Hudson is crucial. If the Celtics want to succeed, they need to find a player who can develop into an everyday off-guard. Ray Allen still has a couple years left, and Eddie House will probably be gone after next year, so one of those guys has to step up and get it done for the future of the organization. But my biggest question is the back up point guard situation, and I want to see Gabe Pruitt get a lot more playing time. Let him become more confident in his offensive ability because it is there. What he lacks in terms of quickness and Rondo's court vision, he can make up for as a scorer off the bench. I think he has a very similar playing style to Marbury in the fact that he can very well be a scoring point guard. And with Marbury not coming back, or so it would seem, Pruitt has to be able to contribute off the bench and show Doc early on that he is to guy to go to off the bench when Rondo comes out. He could be an incredibly valuable asset to the team, if not for minutes then as trade bate.

So the Celtics have some options and I feel will be able to compete in the constantly growing and improving Eastern conference. If they could go out and sign Grant Hill, adding a great veteran presence off the bench, they would be almost complete. Now am I saying that the Celtics are now poised to win the next championship? No, especially in light of how much the good teams in the east have bulked up, but I do think that they are doing a lot of the necessary things to ensure as much success now as possible. Do they need to start getting younger? Absolutely, but, if they added Grant Hill, could you imagine before the 2003 season if someone were to tell you that the Boston Celtics roster for the 2010 season would include: Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Rasheed Wallace and Grant Hill, you would have laughed at the idea of those five all stars sharing the same locker room for a whole season. Seven years later it is a distinct possibility, and while they may not be the same players they were back then, it will still be one heck of an interesting team to watch.

While designed with the greatest intentions of creating equal employment opportunities in professional football, the Rooney rule does more than create opportunities...it promotes racism. The rule requires that an NFL team must interview a minimum of one minority candidate when conducting interviews to fill vacant coaching positions, and as of this week, that same rule applies to openings in the organizations front office.
The success of Black coaches in the NFL is not in question when looking at coaches such as Tony Dungy, Marvin Lewis and Dennis Green, which brings to my mind the question of why make it mandatory to interview minority candidates when they have already proven to be more then competent? The reason is that the NFL is trying to clean up the image that they have regarding the "thug" player by trying to maximize the amount of Black coaches to counteract the negative behavior of many of the black athletes, who make up the majority of participants on most NFL rosters (not to say that all black players are thugs by any means). Much like the NBA's dress code, which is in place to try and negate the once "street" image of the NBA player, now to promote a more professional image, the issue of a minority-coaching candidate is trying to do the same thing.
The biggest issue I have with the Rooney rule is that it truly only applies to Black coaches. The rule is there to make sure that Black coaches are given an equal opportunity to interview for head coaching positions. Why does the Rooney rule not apply to Jewish coaches? Or Asian coaches? Or physically handicapped coaches? They are all minorities. But the issue here is not whether or not the rule works, because it does, but what sort of implications it carries along with it. By using the term minority and only applying the issue to Blacks, it is simply enforcing the idea that we view Black people in this society as inferior and in order to make it appear less so, they need to be given an leg up or else they would not be able to accomplish anything. Which is clearly not true due to the success of the aforementioned African American coaches.
Now with the same rule overflowing into the front office, the same sort of question has to be raised. Currently there are five major front office executives of African American decent in a field of 32 teams. That comes out around 15% of the league offices have African Americans at their highest positions. In comparison to the list of fortune 500 companies run by minorities, there are only 22 minority CEO's, only five of which are black. With that in mind, the number of black coaches in the NFL is seven out of 32 for head coaches not even takin ginto account the large number of minority assistant coaches and coordinators. That percentage is far higher then corporate American, and while it does not deal with the disparity of racial participation, the NFL can easily consider itself an already (proportionally) diverse entity.
What I am trying to say is that the Rooney rule, despite its good intentions, is re-enforcing racism. It is promoting the idea that the only way for an African American to succeed is to get helped along. Now the rule extends beyond the field into the front office where each team must have the same process of interviewing a minority candidate when trying to fill a vacant front office position. Do I agree with the Rooney rule? No. Do I think it has allowed for some very successful coaches to get to where they are? Maybe. But more importantly, is there a double standard, or aspects that get too clearly overlooked? Yes. To play devils advocate for a minute, let us look at when the Steelers hired Mike Tomlin in 2003. During the process they only interviewed two candidates for the position, Ron Rivera and Mike Tomlin, both minorities. If the Rooney rule is designed to promote equal rights in the NFL, then a white candidate was not given a fair chance at becoming the head coach of the Steelers, and they in turn violated the rule that their owner created. While that is clearly not how it works, it just shows what the rule does, it promotes the idea that we need to be actively working against racism as appose to allowing for the qualified candidates to get the jobs, many of whom are already African American. And while racism is clearly still an issue here in the US after all these years and all the strides forward, the Rooney rule just remids us every year during the offseason that it is still alive and well.
 

Graham Harrell was one of the most successful quarterbacks in college football over the past couple of years, yet nobody has offered the un-drafted rookie a contract. After attending Browns camp and leaving without a contract, NFL teams should be lining up to offer this kid a chance to be a part of their organization. One team that jumps to the front of my list, for obvious reason, is the New England Patriots. With Brady on the mend, and long time backup Matt Cassel in Kansas City, Kevin O'Connell and Matt Gutierrez do not seem like a full time replacement core if something were to happen to Brady, God forbid. While most would argue that throwing another rookie into the mix is not the best option, what Harrell brings to the table is an accurate passing arm and the poise and composure in the pocket that most experiences passers lack. After two seasons of airing it out to Crabtree and breaking all sorts of records, could you imagine what the upgrade to players like Moss and Welker would do to his numbers? Having a backup quarterback who can throw solid medium to deep routes is a weapon that most teams wish they could have, and Harrell provides a team with just that. And after watching him play last season, there was only one person who he reminded me of as he sat back there in the pocket so calm and collected; any guess as to who? Tom Brady.
Sure Harrell lacks some of the size that an ideal NFL quarterback possess, but I'm not lobbying to make him a starter. He has probably the best backup potential of any quarterback coming out of this year's draft, and the fact that he went un-drafted surprises me even more. Teams that have solid receivers but no depth at quarterback should have already approached Harrell with contracts in hand. Teams like Dallas, Seattle, Cincinnati, Chicago, Oakland, Buffalo, Washington, Minnesota (pending their ensuing Brett Favre fiasco), Green Bay, the list goes on. Teams that could use some stability and depth at the quarterback position who have at least one deep target to offer. Poise at the next level is the ideal trait to go with a solid arm...that's Harrell, which is why his unemployment boggles me. He got the job done on the big stage (well, college's big stage) and his poise and experience throwing the ball should have teams lining up to sign him. I guess that's what I don't understand.

For starters, I thought the Patriots did OK. They filled most of their needs, got a few steals in there, and most importantly unloaded Ellis Hobbs. That could not have come soon enough. I love Chung, he is a young Rodney Harrison who hits hard and can take control of the secondary. Between Chung, Meriwether and James Sanders, those are a great three young safeties to build a secondary around. And with the addition of Butler (who I am not going to judge just yet because I hope his great athleticism and abilities outweigh his poor tackling skills) and removal of Hobbs, the Pats secondary can grow up as a unit and in the coming year develop into a very strong cohesive unit.
Brace and Tate were steals for them. Brace can come in and give Wilfork a much-needed rest. This also allows for Mike Wright and Jarvis Green to start learning the ropes at end when the don't re-sign Seymour next year when his contract expires. And Tate was a steal to have fallen that low in the draft. Granted, they are taking a chance on him with is knee problems, but giving him a year to develop behind Galloway with the help of Moss and Welker, he will become, I think, what they were hoping Chad Jackson would turn out to be a few years back.
Some things that I was surprised about: No linebacker until the third round. They had the chance to pick and number of the solid linebackers and just kept trading down and trading down to the point that they had none left worth picking. My only reasoning is that Belichik just did not like any of them for his system. I trust the guy at this point. And, the kid they picked up seems like a good early down pick up with great size who, much like Thomas without the speed, and may develop, who knows.
I feel as the Jets, Dolphins and Brows were all out to get that Pats in this draft. Ha, I'm just kidding, I always feel that way, but the Jest made a great move to get Sanchez who will step in right away and will be the face of that franchise for years. I am a little worried because I think he is far superior to Matthew Stafford because of how much more fluid he is and how much more athletic I believe he is in the pocket.
And lets all take a moment to laugh at the Oakland Raiders who passed on Michael Crabtree and Jeremy Maclin for Darrius Heyward-Bey. Ha! That's comical. Sure he is fast, but I guess Al Davis has not gotten the memo that there are more important things to being a wide receiver then simply being fast. Like say catching the ball, something that HB has had an issue with for years and having a positive attitude, which he also lacks a great deal of. Crabtree and Maclin were and are better receivers and we will watch the Raiders continue to be where talent goes to die for the next 5-10 years.