Brady Plans On Playing Another 10 Years

According to the NFL Network's Kurt Warner, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady plans on playing in the league for another 10 years.

“I did text Tom Brady after this pick and he wanted me to know for sure that he was planning on playing 10 more years,” Warner said during the Total Access Pre-Draft show.


Keep in mind the Patriots just drafted Ryan Mallett in the third round of the draft. That move wasn't meant to challenge Brady, just to groom a successor.

I don't see Brady making it another 10 years, but just say he does and they're all with the patriots, do you think Mallett is going to want to stick around for five of those, let alone ten.  

230M Reasons the NFL is Considering Putting Ads on Jerseys

Only a few years ago, it seemed blasphemous that the NFL would pull a NASCAR and plaster tiny little ads all over their sacred team jerseys.  Now, according to a recent study by analysts at Horizon Media, there is financial windfall of over $230 million available if NFL teams let sponsors purchase space on that valuable acreage.

That kind of money must be very enticing to the NFL, especially since the NFL Player's Association will probably be demanding a larger cut of league revenues when they meet over a new labor pact this spring.

"Within a three-to-five year period, I would be very surprised if one of the leagues wasn't sampling [logos on jerseys] on a large-scale effort," said Michael A. Neuman, according to the New York Post.

Neuman, a managing partner at Horizon Media, said, "The prospect of allowing NFL jerseys to be used for advertising has been kicking around for a number of years.  Ads on uniforms have been standard in the European soccer leagues for years."

Sewing little corporate patches on cute futbol jerseys is one thing but cluttering up a traditional NFL uniform is another.  The outcry from NFL fans would be heard from the swamps of the Meadowlands to coffee kiosks of Qwest Field.

According to the New York Post, an NFL spokesperson said, "We are often approached by companies that want to put their logo on NFL jerseys--the most valuable real estate in sports, but we have no plans to do so."

"Valuable" is a word the NFL likes.  If there is money to be made and the league has a chance to reap the benefits, how long off could it be before we see Viagra plastered on player's helmets?  It's already started.

Over the last three years, many NFL franchises have subtlety put corporate logos on practice uniforms during the pre-season.

The New York Giants sported Timex ads last summer and Gillette, Sanyo and even the University of Phoenix popped up on other team uniforms.

One problem in having players look like mini stock cars on the playing field is the fact that network broadcasters will need to find a way to appease sponsors paying for expensive 30-second blocks of commercial air time while a competitor with his logo on the uniform gets free air time--and more of it.  They will only be able to sit and watch the shot clock run down while Tom Brady lines up with a rival logo emblazoned across his chest--60 times a game.

Paid advertisers will have to take into account the fans who grab a beer while the paid commercials run, that you can't TiVo game action and you can block paid advertising.  Uniform ads could become very ubiquitous.

Logo-dotted uniforms seem inevitable, so lie back and think of the positives and the possibilities.

A UPS patch on a Cleveland Browns jersey with their slogan "What can Brown do for you?" on Peyton Hillis' sleeve.  Nothing, most fans would think.  Probably not a good example.

But you could throw a Dr. Scholl's ad on Rex Ryan's sweater vest or a Go Daddy patch above Antonio Cromartie's number.

What would Peyton Manning's jersey look like?  Is there a product that wouldn't be on his uniform?  He'll change from #18 to # 1 to fit more ads.

Some product placement would be natural fits.  The Detroit Lions with a Ford Motors patch, the Miami Dolphins with a SeaWorld emblem or the New England Patriots promoting, what else,  Gillette razors.  Some placement may be a little stickier. 

Think Alpo would put their logo on Michael Vick's jersey?  Maybe PETA would jump at the chance?

It's probably only a short time before fans see corporate advertising on NFL uniforms.  Probably about the same time most games can only be seen on the NFL Network.

The NFL talks about integrity of the game but already sells naming rights to stadiums, fifty-yard lines and every score update on network television.  It uses the excuse of nostalgia for using throw-back uniforms in regular-season games but everyone knows it's only to sell more NFL gear.

The uproar from fans looking at 300-pound sandwich-boards would, at first, be significant.  But, like every other change--PSL's, paying for Thursday night games and Rex Ryan's weight loss--fans will accept it and move on.  They got over that annoying protecting the quarterback rule, didn't they?

 Imagine one day, a Carolina Owens-Corning Pink Panthers vs. the New York JetBlues in the Beef O'Brady Super Bowl. 

$230 million is going to look pretty inviting to the NFL after these labor talks.

Will Rex Ryan Get 'Personal" With Roethlisberger?

It's hard to believe the soft and cuddly person on the podium yesterday, extolling the virtues of Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots, was New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan.  Ryan, who had been the NFL's version of Ricky Gervais at the Golden Globes, was now speaking fondly of last week's vanquished foes and acted like Dr. Phil when asked about the upcoming AFC Championship Game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

No war of words between the Jets and Steelers.  The only blip on the No Fun League's Polly Purebred meter came from Patriots receiver Deion Branch who called the New York team "embarrassing" and "classless."  That's pretty tame stuff in the Jets universe.

The Jets head coach has been saying 'it's personal' about a lot of things the past few weeks beginning with the foot-fetish videos, which popped up on YouTube, and calling out opposing team's proven leaders the week before they meet.  Now the boastful Ryan has become...boring.  It makes one wonder why he would tone it down and tinker with success now?

Ryan and the Jets have been winning after targeting a prominent person on the opposing team and turning it into a personal vendetta.  Could the Jets actually respect the Steelers or are they afraid?

First, it was Ryan's old thorn-in-the-shorts tormentor Peyton Manning of the Colts who got the Jets skipper yapping.  Then last week, it was Mr. Personality, Belichick and a side order of Tom Brady, who got Ryan riled.  The Jets won both games.

The closest Ryan got to insulting anyone yesterday, after showering the Steelers with everything but candy and flowers, was ask whom he was gunning for this Sunday.

"Give me somebody you want to call out," said Ryan.  "I guess Hines Ward, Casey Hampton."

The Steelers wide receiver and nose tackle make good adversaries but what about quarterback Ben Roethlisberger?

The Jets have had one of the toughest roads to the Super Bowl.  If they succeed, they will have faced, and beaten, the holy trinity of NFL quarterbacks--Manning, Brady and now Roethlisberger.  No small feat, but that task just got bigger--a lot bigger.

Big Ben is the largest and strongest quarterback of the three and could set up the fiercest challenge for the Jets defense.

Roethlisberger may not have the statistical clout of the the other two but he makes up for it in pure size and toughness.  The brutish, 6'5", 240-pound Steeler can flick a pass 50 yards, can pound the defense on the ground and improvise a play-in-progress with the best of them.  The Jets D will have their hands full.

"You can't prepare for what he naturally does," said defensive-end Trevor Price.  "How do you prepare to tackle a guy as big as a polar bear?"  How do you prepare for a guy who wants to win like he wants to win?"

Ryan agrees.  He said, "I've never seen a guy take the hits he can take and also make people miss the way he does and be as accurate on the run."

The Jets beat the Steelers 22-17 on December 19 in Pittsburgh by executing their "Plaster Rules."  It was a zone scheme which turned into man-to-man coverage after Roethlisberger was chase out of the pocket.  On the plays where Pittsburgh started in a man coverage, it usually ended with Steelers gaining large chunks of yardage.

The Jets rough-and-tumble road to Dallas must continue through a solid Steelers team.  The Jets have exorcised the ghosts of their arch-enemies-- the Colts and the Patriots.  Now they face the daunting task of beating an experienced and playoff-tested  team.  Can they do it without puffing out their chests and flapping their gums? It seems unlikely.

If anyone can find a way to rile the Steelers with trash talk, it is Ryan. Many have called him and his team loud-mouthed braggarts.  The Jets 4-1 playoff record over the past two seasons have been partially attributed to the blustery head coach whom his players adore.  Many have called the Jets uncouth but they seem to be winning when everyone expects them to lose.

The Jets have been winning by getting under the other team's skin and making it 'personal'.  The bragging, mocking and seven-letter words are what set the tone for this squad.  Something just doesn't seem right with this new fuzzy-puppy version of the team.

The NFL is probably happy about the eerie quiet.  The networks, not so much.

Anyway, there are still five days to go.  An eternity in Rex Ryan press conferences.

Rex Ryan Or Bill Belichick: It's Hard To Like Either

Rex Ryan, is at it again.  The larger-than-life head coach of the New York Jets has opened the castle gates for war, against the New England Patriots in this Sunday's AFC Divisional game, by specifically targeting head coach Bill Belichick and calling it 'personal.'  This routine is getting boring.

Ryan called out the three-time Super Bowl winning coach by repeating his tired mantra, the P-Word.

"This week, this is about Bill Belichick vs. Rex Ryan," the rotund Jets coach said, " There's no question.  It's personal.  It's about him and myself, and that's what it's going to come down to."

"Personal."  We've heard that word come from Ryan's mouth too many times the past couple of weeks.

First, "It's personal" was repeated six times by Ryan at a press conference when news of a foot-fetish video, allegedly narrated by the head coach, was brought up.  The usually boisterous Ryan hid under the P-Word like a grilled suspect would plead the fifth. 

Next it was Ryan's tireless quest to beat Peyton Manning and the Colts had him uttering those those words.  Ryan was tired of losing to the quarterback and used the P-Word as motivation for his team.

Now, Ryan kicks the shins of Belichick, as the Jets prepare to face the Patriots at Gillette Stadium this Sunday, and calls it motivation.  Again, it's "personal."

Belichick, ever the, ahem,  jester, uncharacteristically volleyed back, " I might have a little quickness on him," he joked.  "He probably has a little strength and power on me."  That's about as much comedy styling as you'll get with the dour coach wearing his trademark dingy hoodie.

Ryan has uttered inflammatory words at the Patriots coach a few times.  Before their first game against the Patriots, he said, "I'm not here to kiss Belichick's rings." Even after last month's 45-3 beat down, Ryan came out with this tidbit, "Trust me, we will remember this."  Really?  How could you forget?

I can't think of any two people it's harder to root for.  It's like deciding who would you rather be stuck in an elevator with: Rosie O'Donnell or Joy Behar?  I'd rather be stuck in a locked men's room with a drunken Andy Dick if I had to make the decision between any of them.

Ryan's season long escapades have been widely publicized from his foul-mouthed episodes on "Hard Knocks," his wig-wearing press conference,  his handling of criminally-charged Jets players to the kinky foot tapes.  He continues to rock the boat and claims it takes the pressure off his team.  Picking on a coach with a 15-5 playoff record sounds like plopping a fatter early-season Ryan on the shoulders of the Jets.  Oh yeah, Ryan did finally exorcise the Manning demons last week--even though the Colts had 18 players listed on the injured reserve.

At the opposite end of the publicity-seeking spectrum is the hooded, personality-void, Belichick.  The sour-puss coach says about as much as the mute guy in Penn and Teller and he is about as funny as Dane Cook.  Belichick's insincere, two-finger handshake with former Jets coach Eric Mangini told you everything you care to know about the future Hall of Famer.  Everyone calls the Pats coach a genius but too many of his CIA tactics come into question. Remember the Spygate scandal?

Neither Belichick or Ryan are really well-liked by anyone but their own players.  They have split their four meeting since Ryan took over as the Jets' head coach and if history is any indicator, the two teams will be charged and ready to go all out for their coaches.

Ryan continues to give his verbal wet-willies to the Patriots.  He couldn't resist criticizing their quarterback, Tom Brady,  for attending to a Broadway play instead of watching the Jets play last Saturday.   Meanwhile as expected, not one mumble has been heard from Belichick.   

"It's a level playing field," Ryan said.  "Now, it's coming down to me raising my level."

Maybe if he was raising his fork in a chili eating competition, I would bet on Ryan.  Oh wait, he had lap-band surgery.  I'll bet on Belichick in that contest too.