Tag: NFL Draft

Drake bet on Drake

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On Thursday, April, 28th the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft took place.

Months prior NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell read off the words, “With the first overall pick…” rapper Drake bet 100k that USC standout wide receiver Drake London would be the first receiver to be drafted. Drake posted a screenshot of his bet on his Instagram, captioning the story post, “Drake betting on Drake just feels right” And Drake was right, London was the first receiver taken off the board going 8th overall to Atlanta.

pc: @champagnepapi Instgram

Drake’s bet earned the rapper $335,000.00. London got a kick out of it but he was definitely more excited than he is about joining the NFL

Here is London’s reaction to Drake’s bet

The Forgotten Players (Sucks to be you guys!)

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The National Football League has 267 legendary players that have been enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. This club of incredible athletes grows every year when new enshrines are chosen to join the group.

For whatever reason, I found myself wondering…who was the first person drafted in the league’s first ever draft? I found my answer rather quickly.

The Philadelphia Eagles were granted the first ever NFL draft pick. They decided to begin the tradition of Eagle mediocrity by selecting halfback Jay Berwanger. The year was 1936. That means that if you are 76 years or older, congratulations! You were alive for the first NFL draft.

The reason this pick was so mediocre? Berwanger never played professional ball. Eagles drafted him, traded him to the Bears, and the Bears never worked out a contract with the greedy running back. This is also the first documented contract dispute in NFL history.

This brings me back to the beginning where I was discussing the Hall. I got to thinking…are there any NFL drafts that did not yield a single Hall of Famer?

The answer…is yes. However, there aren’t many.

Be it known, this does not include the years that I have been alive. This also only applies to drafts where all players are eligible to enter the Hall. For those that don’t know the rules of induction, a player must be retired for at least 5 years before he can be inducted. Once he has been retired for 5 years, he then has 15 years of eligibility. If 15 years pass, the player is no longer eligible for induction. Basically, if you aren’t inducted within 20 years of your retirement, you are forgotten. That’s just the way it is.

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Worst Person in Sports #20-Juan Castillo

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As many of you readers may recall, I spent an awful lot of time trashing Juan Castillo, defensive coordinator of my beloved Eagles, last season. Now, he’s back with an even more atrocious act than simply calling the wrong formations.

First round pick Fletcher Cox was criticized by Castillo during the team’s rookie minicamp. I’m not talking about a playful criticism or a little teasing to haze the rookies. I’m talking full on cursing him out. The kid is brand new to the squad, and you’re gonna start yelling at him? Probably not the right approach.

Honestly, Cox handled it like a seasoned pro, only responding with “Yes sir, I’m gonna correct it, sir.” and “I know sir, I apologize.”

Class act for a rookie, if I do say so. As an athlete myself, I should explain that when a coach gets hard on you, it’s nothing personal. It’s for an athlete to recognize a mistake and correct it themselves.

My one massive issue with this was that Cox had no idea what he did wrong, and apparently Castillo failed to explain it. That’s just bad coaching. I always appreciate when a coach has something to criticize about my style of play. I always welcome that kind of criticism. But tell the kid what he did wrong, Juan!!!!

It’s the only way he’s gonna be able to get any better. There’s a lot of pressure that comes with being a team’s first round pick.

The NFL Draft-Let’s take a look

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Well, the NFL Draft has come and gone with a lot of solid performances by some already powerful teams. The New England Patriots added some strong defensive depth, adding Chandler Jones and Donta Hightower in the first round. The Baltimore Ravens were able to add even more depth to their linebacking core, drafting Courtney Upshaw. Even the Philadelphia Eagles had a strong draft, picking up Fletcher Cox, Vinny Curry and Brandon Boykin, just to name a few.

I am very excited for the new season to begin. I gotta wait until August to see them in action, since that’s when the preseason games start. I can’t wait to watch these teams go at it.

But of course, as is the case with every draft, there is always one just BAD selection.

That, my friends, was the Seattle Seahawks and Bruce Irvin.

Irvin, which I will take as my worst person #19, went into the draft as the number 99 overall player. He was taken in the top 15.

Even if Bruce Irvin turns out being this incredible football player, he would have been available in the second round and maybe even the third. Seattle shouldn’t have reached this far. Probably going to be a huge mistake for them.

Anyway, I’m pumped up, despite the Giants having a solid draft as well.

We are ready this year. I smell a Super Bowl for Philly!

Either that, or I smell the bust factor of Bruce Irvin.

Brian Dawkins-The reason I am who I am

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I will cover the NFL Draft this coming week. But, being as my childhood hero just retired for the NFL, I feel obligated to discuss the retirement.

Brian Dawkins was a model football player. He was a leader on the field for his team and off the field for his dedication to the communities of Philadelphia and Denver when he signed with the Broncos.

“B-Dawk” as many refer to him, was one of the most loved athletes in the city of Philadelphia maybe only behind Rocky, who wasn’t even a real person. Brian Dawkins was the heart and soul of the Eagles for over 10 years. As long as I have been watching football, Dawkins has played. I was about just one year old when Dawkins made his debut in the National Football League.

My first memory of Dawkins is during that season, believe it or not. His rookie season, “Weapon X”, another popular nickname for the homicidal safety, made a successful open field tackle against a running back that I think you maybe have heard of, Barry Sanders.

Ya, you read that right. A rookie took down the great Barry Sanders in the open field. That was when the city began to believe.

I’d now like to share some of my favorite moments of Brian Dawkins.

I remember in an NFC championship game against the Atlanta Falcons, where the quarterback was still Michael Vick.

The Falcons were the fastest team in football with players like Warrick Dunn, Vick and Alge Crumpler.

One play in that game set the tempo early.

Vick dropped back and fired a dart about 40-50 yards down field.

Alge caught the ball. Dawkins caught Alge.

Dawk met Crumpler with a MASSIVE hit which left him down on the field for a couple minutes. While he wasn’t injured, the Falcons became demoralized, which led to an Eagles’ Super Bowl appearance.

There are so many Dawkins moments that I could dissect. But, I will randomly provide the readers with other Dawk moments as my blogs continue to come.

Thank you, Brian, for your years of service to this great game. You are the reason for my random yell into the air before every quarter of football or lacrosse that I play. You are the reason why I hit with such intensity. You are the reason that I strive to compete every second I’m on the field. Most importantly, you are the reason I have embraced a leadership role wherever I go. You taught me to be a leader. I couldn’t have asked for a better model.

And there he goes, ladies and gentlemen!

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After my previous posts of Asante Samuel being traded by the Eagles, the deal was finally finished today.

Yes, that’s right. Asante Samuel has been traded to the Atlanta Falcons for a 7th round pick.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

The sad part about that laugh is that even though from a distance this looks like a terrible deal for the Eagles after the Lions were rumored to be offering up to a second and third round pick for Samuel last year, I was laughing at the Falcons for a few different reasons.

Number 1 is that now the Eagles have the freedom to spend some money to resign DeSean Jackson. Oh wait, we already did that didn’t we? Joke’s on Atlanta. We will probably use the money to resign running back LeSean McCoy to a massive long term deal.

The second reason I laugh at Atlanta is because of the huge price they pay, literally. Their core of cornerbacks looks very similar to the Eagles last season except for one big piece.

Last year, Asante was worth about 10 million dollars, Nnamdi Asomugha was worth 12 million and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie about 4 million, which is a huge amount of money.

Now check this out.

The Falcons, this coming year, must pay Asante 10 million (being as his new contract won’t kick in immediately) Dunta Robinson is worth about 10 million and Brent Grimes just signed a 10.5 million dollar contract. Thats about 30 million dollars at one position and also the most amount of money at the cornerback position by one team in NFL history.

Will I miss him? Yes. Am I really all that upset about it? No.

I remember when the Eagles first signed Asante. I was home sick from school on the first day of NFL free agency that year. I was really excited because I heard that a few teams were talking to Samuel, one team being the Eagles, considered the favorite to sign him. My mother told me point blank, “John the team always screws us. It’s not going to happen, and I think you know that. The team is run by idiots.”

While I agree with the last part of that, Asante Samuel was signed about one hour later. I was watching in my bed with some soup on my table.

“Breaking news, the Philadelphia Eagles have signed cornerback Asante Samuel to a 6 year, 60 million dollar contract.”

“MOM! THEY SIGNED HIM! OH MY GOD THEY GOT HIM YES! I FREAKIN’ TOLD YOU MA!”

While he was an Eagle, he was one of my favorite players. I love him. I still have his jersey in my drawer at school.

I will miss you, Asante. The Eagles play the Falcons this coming season, so I’ll watch him again, just from the wrong side.

Good luck, Asante. I’m sure you’ll make the Falcons a real contender. Keep stuntin’.

Worst Person #18-Ryan Leaf

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A while back, I discussed Jamarcus Russell being a massive draft bust in the NFL, and possibly the biggest draft bust in NFL history. However, if any one player could challenge Russell for that title, it’s Mr. Ryan Leaf.

Leaf was the number 2 overall selection in his NFL Draft, one pick after NFL legend Peyton Manning. In fact, he was such a good player that the Colts originally wanted to select Leaf over Manning in that draft. However, his off-the-field issues turned the Colts off, and man, was that a blessing.

Now, Leaf finds himself in trouble with the law. Today, Ryan Leaf was arrested for burglary and possession of dangerous drugs.

I mean yea, athletes sometimes find themselves in less than positive situations. It could happen to anyone. But, this arrest was the second arrest in two days. Leaf was arrested for burglary over the weekend as well.

After being signed to such a large contract, and being highly sought after during college, Ryan Leaf has disgraced himself and the game he played. The NFL is a better place without him.

NFL Free Agency…Gotta love it!

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Now that my Eagles have finally been able to sign DeSean Jackson to a long term contract (5 years, 48.5 million), I can now focus on other teams and their signings.

The talent class this year is absolutely endless. Some stars like Cortland Finnegan, Carl Nicks and Vincent Jackson went off the board very early. And now, as we sit in the third day of free agency, I just have one thing to say to the Eagles.

SIGN A FRICKIN LINEBACKER!!!!

Now that we have covered that, let’s look at some more big names. DE and OLB Mario Williams signed a massive 6 year, 96 million dollar contract with the Buffalo Bills, which may be the big signing of the year. This move bolsters an already dominant defensive line for Buffalo.

Another big signing was the signing of Brandon Carr by the Dallas Cowboys. Ya, I hate it. But it was still a smart pickup by the Cowboys.

I won’t say much more since i hate this team.

The moves are wild right now. I will probably blog a supreme amount in the coming weeks as the NFL Draft approaches and other trades and signings are made.

How bout’ some Mock Draft Madness?-Worst Person 17-Andrew Luck

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I know it’s pretty early still before the NFL Draft. But, I wanna discuss the Andrew Luck issue.

C’mon guys. Do you all really think that Luck is going to be the next great quarterback? Ya, he’s a great football player but I don’t see it. Then again, I’m a fan of the ground threat quarterback.

However, the reason Mr. Luck is on our worst person in sports list is because of all the hype that has been garnered thanks to his presence. I hate these overhyped athletes. The Colts are going to draft him, and it should just be dropped.

Honestly, I’m more curious about where Robert Griffin is going to end up since that’s still up in the air. I’ve never been a huge fan of the draft. I’m not a fan of rookies. Veterans play the game the right way. I just hate hearing about the top draft pick.

Who knows? Maybe a torn ACL is in Mr. Luck’s future?