In light of the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal, there have been recent calls for Penn State University to face the same fate as SMU's football program suffered twenty-five years ago. It is known as the 'death penalty', and would prevent a school from competing in sports for one year.
The remarkable thing is this: the NFL players association does have a car service where any player can ring a number and a car will be sent out to pick them up, wherever they are in the country. The NFLPA took over the running of the service from the league in 2009, after several players voiced concerns about teams discovering their out of hours activities.
Another problem exists with shows that are shown on Satellite TV over here. I remember when Mad Men was shown over here on a free channel, but then the rights were sold to a satellite broadcaster. This meant that fans of the show had to pay to get a satellite system installed and then pay a monthly subscription if they wanted to carry on watching. Either that, or they were forced to stop watching it.
I realize that a lot of these lists are just for entertainment, and discussion. But I am sure that there are not that many people who strongly disagree with them, which leads me to question their importance in the first place.
Kuechly really excels at shedding blockers and finding a way to get to the football. He is also excellent at dropping back into pass coverage, giving the Panthers a very versatile linebacker who should make an immediate difference. He can cover the field from sideline to sideline, and has the burst of speed and aggressiveness to always find a way to make the tackle, or at least be near it.
I think the Browns made a great choice in selecting Trent Richardson. After Peyton Hillis was not re-signed, they were in clear need of a rushing threat. And they might have got their franchise player in Richardson. He is the type of running back that doesn't come along very often, and bypassing him was not an option for Cleveland.
The Washington Redskins had the second overall pick in this year's NFL draft. They used it to select Baylor's Robert Griffin, arguably one of the best rookie prospects in several years. He will be their franchise quarterback. The Redskins organization will be looking for Griffin to lead their team back to greatness, and everything points to him having the ability to do just that.
However, if the Cleveland Browns can get a good few years of production out of Weeden, they will be well placed to turn their franchise around. Don't forget that the Browns also drafted running back Trent Richardson with the third overall pick this year. If those two rookies can get it going, the Browns could be one of this year's surprises.
So can Burfict make a positive name for himself in the NFL? The Bengals obviously saw enough to think so. He could conceivably compete for the backup job to Cincinnati's Rey Maualuga, and might be able to do enough to see some playing time this coming season.
The game is changing, which is a good thing. Football needs to evolve, and the trends in the NFL are cyclical. I am sure we will see a time when you won't be able to win championships without an excellent running back. But that is not the case these days.
