Lughead

I give him 2 thumbs up :TU:

I know you all wont belive me but I told my wife we would pick him when our turn was on the clock in the 5th round

I like the pick nesta did you see this kid?

2007 NFL DRAFT 1: RAIDERS- JAMARCUS RUSSELL 2: LIONS- CALVIN JOHNSON 3: BROWNS- JOE THOMAS 4: BUCCANEERS-

agree Eli needs security to be successful we can pick up other needs later in the draft. Staley is the last good OT in the first round or the rest of the draft for that matter. what the Giants will probley do. see above what I would like to do ... I would like to see us grab a good WR also .

I got mine from isohunt. It is a torrent so you will need a torrent down loader. my photoshop was an ISO image you have to down load it then mount it to a virtual drive then install it. I got Photoshop Cs2 9.0 If you need help let me know

what about the first race of this year????? I know who really won I am still waiting waitng waiting to see a lastlap turn 4 crash and have the track painted yellow. when this happens, and it will. There will be more finger pointing going on and it won't be with any pointer fingers.

Steve Spagnuolo: Listen to how the players respond to him.

fixed it nummy

Wilkinson to Giants: Don't Waste an Early Pick on a Linebacker Posted Apr 25th 2007 11:02AM by Dan Benton Filed under: NY Giants, NFC East, NFL Draft, New York Gerris Wilkinson sounds like he's a man with a plan. Already this offseason he's added seven pounds of muscle (now at 235 pounds) and he plans to add at least five more before the start of the regular season. What's his motivation? He thinks the the starting weak-side linebacker spot is his to lose. "I definitely feel I can step into that role," Wilkinson said. Many, including myself, think the Giants should draft a linebacker in the first round. However, there are some potentially good linebackers available in later rounds. Quincy Black out of New Mexico comes to mind. He could possibly be had in round three. So if Wilkinson feels he's ready, maybe the Giants should take his advice and focus on another area of need. "I feel like I've progressed from last year, gotten stronger in the weight room, just gotten a better grasp for playing at this level," Wilkinson said. "I feel like once we finish ... mini-camp I'll go into training camp ready to be a starting linebacker." The Giants didn't draft this guy for nothing. They obviously had a reason to bring him on board and play him in all 16 regular season games. While he did fall out of favor with Tim Lewis, he might be just what the doctor ordered for new defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.

Geographical realignment would improve NFL By Anthony Bialy on April 23, 2007 04:05 AM Permalink | Comments (12) | Email This Article | RSS I'm over Vince Lombardi giving the AFC grief after Super Bowl I. We've had 40 Super Bowls since then, and that's plenty of time to drop the bitterness, just as those in NFC markets shouldn't be upset about that hippie punk Joe Namath and his victory over the old school. It's time to officially declare the anciently pointless conference rivalry over, most of all so we can rid ourselves of one relic of the rift that's approaching 50 years old: geographically illogical conferences. The current conference divide is basically based on whether teams were in the established or rebel group, a holdover from the Eisenhower administration. It would be much more sensible to abolish a split based on who was in what now-superseded league and instead arrange teams based on the logical approach of looking at a map and seeing what cities should be grouped together. Of course, how's this for honesty, any realignment will have the drawback of ending some traditional rivalries. But the benefit would be that we could establish newer and hopefully fiercer rivalries in its place. Once the adjustment is overcome, teams facing new, closer twice-a-year opponents will make the game more enjoyable for the fans and ferocious for the players involved. Staying in the current divisional setup is like remaining in a relationship with someone you don't adore: It may be functional on a certain hollow level, and it may be what you're used to, but you'd be better served by looking for someone better, even if it means a temporary awkward transition. For example, it means Buffalo and Miami won't be division enemies anymore, a pairing which evokes the natural contempt between dissimilar cities. However, the Bills will be playing teams from localities closer to home while the Dolphins can look forward to rivalries with the other two Florida teams. The New York City and Bay Area teams, respectively, will each battle twice a year instead of maybe once every four years, and other franchises that are within a full tank of gas from each other will play home and away games annually. We can't continue to have the league's placement of teams jury-rigged around the Cowboys and Redskins getting to play each other two times a season. Besides, fans of those teams will soon have the Texans and Ravens, respectively, to hate. So, here are two new alignments to consider. There are a lot of ways to go with resetting the teams, and any plan to regionalize divisions and thereby create enmity between neighbors will make the NFL better. Alignment One: Eastern Conference Northeast Division New England Patriots New York Jets New York Giants Philadelphia Eagles Southeast Division Baltimore Ravens Washington Redskins Carolina Panthers Atlanta Falcons Gulf Division Jacksonville Jaguars Tampa Bay Buccaneers Miami Dolphins New Orleans Saints Erie Division Buffalo Bills Pittsburgh Steelers Cleveland Browns Detroit Lions Western Conference Midwest Division Cincinnati Bengals Indianapolis Colts Tennessee Titans St. Louis Rams Central Division Minnesota Vikings Green Bay Packers Chicago Bears Kansas City Chiefs Southern Division Houston Texans Dallas Cowboys Arizona Cardinals San Diego Chargers Northwest Division Denver Broncos San Francisco 49ers Oakland Raiders Seattle Seahawks Alignment Two: Eastern Conference Northeast Division New England Patriots Buffalo Bills New York Jets New York Giants Atlantic Division Philadelphia Eagles Pittsburgh Steelers Baltimore Ravens Washington Redskins Southeast Division Atlanta Falcons Jacksonville Jaguars Tampa Bay Buccaneers Miami Dolphins Central Division Indianapolis Colts Cincinnati Bengals Tennessee Titans Carolina Panthers Western Conference Northern Division Green Bay Packers Chicago Bears Detroit Lions Cleveland Browns Southern Division New Orleans Saints Houston Texans Dallas Cowboys Arizona Cardinals Midwest Division Minnesota Vikings St. Louis Rams Kansas City Chiefs Denver Broncos Pacific Division San Diego Chargers San Francisco 49ers Oakland Raiders Seattle Seahawks

Grammar is dead. it was killed by the way of internet chat rooms , forums and instant messengers.

just ran acrossed this one today

to save cap money is my guess if some one wanted him and made an offer we could do the vonta leech thing that the texans did to us

Jerry Reese Pre-Draft Press Conference Apr 19, 2007 By MSG.com Courtesy of New York Giants Q: Last year at this time when Ernie Accorsi was talking to us, what were you doing? Are you more comfortable doing that than this? A: Last year when Ernie was talking to you, we were preparing. Actually the scouting part of it was really over with. We were discussing with the scouts and the coaches and getting everybody's input. We were really ranking the players by position at this point. That is what I was doing last year. Really that is what we are doing now, as well. Q: How has the double duty (heading up the draft process as the GM) been? A: Busy. The double duty has been busy. The draft process in itself is a gigantic process. You can't imagine how much time, money, effort, and man hours we put into it. It is busy. It is really detailed. It's not like you look on the news or NFL Network and these guys have them ranked and it looks like it is a real easy process. But there is so much detail that goes into it you have to be meticulous about the way you rank the players - from their background to what he does on the field. Just a lot of details to this - the entire process. Q: In general, do you prefer to draft by need or by position? A: It's a combination of both. You don't want to get into the draft process and you have a great value guy - kind of like Mathias Kiwanuka last year. We really probably didn't need a defensive end but the guy was valued so high for us that we picked the guy. You can't just leave a guy (like that on the board). In the room at the time I asked them, I said, "Does anybody in this room think Mathias Kiwanuka is not going to be a Pro Bowl defensive end?" No hands went up. I said, "We are going to pick this guy. I know we don't need him at this point but at some point he is going to be a good player for us." But you are conscious of your needs. You just don't go in and say that we are going to pick the best player all of the time. You are conscious of your needs. Q: Will you have more input and power now that you are GM and Director of Scouting? A: We all do it together. We take everybody's input. We don't have guys that scouts go out for 200 days of the year and not have their input. The coaches go and work guys out. They go to the Combine as well. They write reports. We all put our input in it. So if it's a final decision, it will be my decision. Just like Ernie, if there was a final decision, it was Ernie's decision. But we all have input on the entire process. Q: If you focus in on somebody that you really like, would you also start to think about making a deal to move up to ensure getting him? A: I think 20 is a good spot but we could move up or we could move back. If there is a guy that is getting close to us that we like and we think all of a sudden, "You know what, this guy may make it to us we if we try to make a deal for it." But 20 is a very good spot for us. I like the value at 20. I think we are going to get a really good player at 20. Q: At 20, can you get someone who can start? A: I don't know if we can get a guy that can start, but I think that we can get a real good football player. There are not a lot of rookies that start in the National Football League if you look all the way across the board. There are not a lot of guys that can jump in and start right away. It is a different level. I think we can get a really good football player at 20. If we stay at 20. I think we will get a really nice player there. Q: You don't look at the draft as ‘we are going to draft to fill a hole this year?' A: Not necessarily. You develop players in the draft. You would love to get guys that come right in and play. That would be fantastic if you would do that every year. But you develop guys out of the draft. College players usually don't come in and play right away. You have some exceptional kids that you throw in the fire and they play right away, but most of the time that is not how it goes. You develop players from the draft. Q: As you are going through guys, are you paying more attention to character background? A: We have always, as an organization as a whole, we have always been conscious of the character background. So we have always been conscious of that. We have things in place to try to avoid some of that. But we are very conscious of the character issue, not just now. In the past we have been conscious of their character. Q: Are character guys little more risky….? A: Obviously it is a lot riskier now because of the steps taken by Commissioner Goodell. Obviously he slapped some hands, broke some plates. So with those high-risk character guys, you have to be a little bit more careful about taking those picks. Q: One unnamed personnel director said that he thought there were only 18 first rounders in this year's draft. A: Let me explain how we do it here. It is not rounds for us. We try to keep the guys in the draft room in rows. It is not rounds. If it were rounds, there would be 32 first-rounders in the first round if it was rounds. It is rows. You have to pick 32 players so you put them in the first row. We call them rows. They are not rounds, because usually there may be 12 first-rounders. If it were rounds, you would only have 12, maybe 18 guys this year. So there are rows. There are guys that you would like to have in the second round, but they get into the first row because you have to pick 32 players in the first row. They are not rounds, they are rows. Q: Do you think this is a strong draft? A: I don't like to judge one draft against another draft. All drafts have good players in them. You just have to develop the players. What do we have, eight picks this year? We only need eight players out of the draft. But there are good players to be had in this draft I think. Q: Would you be averse to moving out of the first round to get an extra second- or third-round pick? A: I'm not adverse to anything. We will look into all situations. We will look at everything. We can move up, we can move down, we could stay where we are. Q: Is there a possibility? A: Absolutely there is a possibility. There is a possibility of anything. There is a possibility we could move up, we could move back, we could move out of the first round, we could stay at 20 and pick. Q: Has this team done enough in free agency? A: We did what we could in free agency. We went after some guys in free agency and some things just didn't work out. The market was out of control to a degree and we try to be smart with our money and some situations just didn't work out for us. Q: From what you said, are you a little disappointed in the results? A: Well, I don't really get disappointed about things like that. It is what it is. We did the best we could as far as we could do it. And we went after guys. It didn't work out and you move on, move on. Q: In what ways was it out of control? A: The money was out of control. I think there were some guys who were probably, some people would consider marginal players, got paid astronomical amounts. We didn't feel like we were going to do that. We didn't feel like it was smart for us to do that. Q: Did that change your draft strategy? A: You have your ideas and you think you can get guys in free agency. It would be nice to say, "I want this guy in free agency. I want that guy in free agency." If it happened like that, it would be great, but it usually doesn't happen like that. So you have to be prepared to play the hand you are dealt and play it as you go, as it unfolds. Free agency, the draft, you have to play your hand as it unfolds. A: There are still some opportunities left out in free agency. Free agency, trade opportunities. There's still some stuff left out there. Q: In recent weeks several names have come up of veterans as free agents or trades. Are there any still live? And don't you need to get a decision before you draft? A: Everybody's alive in trade opportunities. Everybody's alive. I'm not sure what you're asking me. There are still trade opportunities for us. Q: How do you determine a guy's character? Does one arrest make him a bad guy? A: Absolutely not. A lot of us have done things in our past. And I don't think everybody in here's a bad guy because we've done things in our past. These are young kids. They're impressionable kids. So you can't absolutely kill a guy because he went out and had a beer after a party and got into a scuffle or something. A lot of these kids get parking tickets. You're not a bad person. Some of them get speeding tickets. Probably everybody in here's got a speeding ticket. But we get all that information. If a guy's got a blotter, if he's got a long list of character flaws, you have to take that stuff into consideration. Q: Can you talk about the dynamic with other general managers who don't know you because you're new to this role? A: Well, I think all the GMs know who I am, I know who they are. They don't know me in the GM role, but they know me from being in the league. I've been working for the Giants for almost 14 years now, so most people know me around the league. Obviously GMs who have been in the business a long time know each other better than they know me at this point. Business is business. I don't care who's doing the business for you. If I'm doing the business, or whoever's doing the business, if a GM wants to talk to the Giants about a trade or something of that matter, whoever's taking care of the business, that's who they talk to. I don't think it matters if I'm the GM or if Ernie is the GM or whoever's the GM. Q: They don't have a track record as to what kind of guys you like though. A: No, they don't. I think you're reading too much into that though. I don't think they do that as much as you're saying. I don't think that happens as much as you're saying. Q: Did that issue come up with Al Wilson. We're they testing you at all? A: I'm not sure what they thought with Al Wilson. We liked Al Wilson to a degree. We had some things in place with the agreement with them. We brought him in for the physical. Things didn't work out with the physical and it was a deal breaker for us. Q: When you let Luke Petitgout go, was that more your decision than Tom's? A: No, it was us. It was us as an organization. From the top to the bottom. From the owners, all the way down to everybody involved with that decision, it was us. It wasn't totally my decision, it wasn't totally Tom's decision. It was our decision as an organization. Q: Now that Ernie's gone are you going to change anything in the draft process? A: There are a few things that we've tweaked, but the entire draft process for everybody, it's all similar but different. It's not different from everybody's draft process. It's about the details. Get as much information as you can. And then, after you get the information, don't over-analyze yourself, because sometimes you meet for ever and ever and ever. We meet for two weeks, put them on the board, and then we pick them. Some teams meet for a month. I think you can over-analyze yourself when you meet for a long time. Q: At this moment do you feel comfortable you have a left offensive tackle? A: We have a left offensive tackle that we've won games with. Would we like a better player at that position? Maybe so, but we've won games with the left tackle that we have now, David Diehl. We've won games with David. Q: Is there a style of defensive player that you're looking for because of your new defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo? A: Spags, he's given us a list of players that he likes. So we're definitely looking at the type of players that he likes for his defense. Again, we have to wait and see who's on the board, let it unfold and see what happens. We do have a list of the traits that he likes for his defenders. Q: Is this thing really as simple as you putting together a list of 20 players in your order of preference and when your turn comes, the highest one still standing is your pick? A: I don't think it's that simple. The 20th guy on your board, that's your guy. There's a lot that happens. We may have some guys ranked in the first row—we may have a guy at 32 that gets picked before us. Or we may have a guy in our second row that gets picked that we don't like as well that gets picked before us in the first row. Q: But that still wouldn't affect the 20 you like best in order. A: It would affect it to a degree. Every pick affects where you are in the draft. Q: Does position affect that? A: Everything that happens in the draft affects you as the draft unfolds. Every pick, the draft changes. Every pick. Q: Are you the tie-breaker? A: Am I the tie-breaker? Yes, I'll break the ties. Q: At the combine you said you would not give up any of your first day picks. Does that change on draft day now? A: It would have to be a honey deal for us to give up our first day picks. Never say never. If I said never, I shouldn't have said never.

This is a good read Interview with Meriweather Posted by Mike Garafolo April 17, 2007 11:13AM Categories: Draft Miami (Fla.) safety Brandon Meriweather arrived in town yesterday for a two-day pre-draft visit with the Giants. He had dinner last night with secondary/safeties coach David Merritt and was scheduled to meet with GM Jerry Reese, coach Tom Coughlin, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and others this afternoon before leaving for a visit with the Titans. Meriweather is in the middle of a busy interview/visit schedule that will include at least 10 teams before draft day. That's a lot, considering the average draft-eligible player makes about five visits or so. The reason for the extra stops is Meriweather has raised a few red flags for teams for two incidents: His firing a gun at an assailant who shot his roommate and his role in the Miami-Florida International brawl when he was caught stomping and kicking opponents. Both incidents have led a sure-fire first-round pick to slide in many mock drafts - all the way to the middle of the second round in a few. Teams obviously want to know who he is and what they'll be getting if they draft him. I sat down with Meriweather last night for a 25-minute interview in which he spoke about the public's perception of him and what teams might be thinking. He said some fascinating things about being stereotyped as just another "Miami thug" - something he claims he isn't. In fact, he said he no longer owns a gun because it "only leads to trouble." I can tell you Meriweather didn't seem like a "thug" to me. He was actually soft-spoken, thoughtful and willing to talk about his mistakes, which he said were lessons from which he's learned. We'll soon be running a story in the Ledger on Meriweather's character concerns and what they might mean to his draft status in light of the recent suspensions of the Titans' Pacman Jones and Cincinnati's Chris Henry. For now, here are a few snippets of Meriweather's thoughts on the Giants and his playing style: Meriweather MG: "Do you look at the Giants and think, 'Wow, that's a great place for me to play?'" BM: "Everyone pretty much plays the same coverages. One team might be Cover 2 or Cover 3, but in reality you can only play so many coverages. Everything they do I've already seen. It's just a matter of getting adjusted to the terminology." MG: "Are you familiar with what the Giants do?" BM: "Coach Merritt described it a little bit. He didn't go into too much detail because I'm not here yet. You can't tell me everything about your defense because if somebody else drafts me, I would already know your defense." MG: "Do you look at the draft process like 'I would fit well with this team but no so much with that team?'" BM: "There are a lot of teams I think I'd fit well with, but I don't want to speak up to that because it's not like college where teams are recruiting me. It's more like me trying to recruit teams now. The roles have kind of reversed. I can't go into a situation like 'I fit great there.' It has to be more about if I like the coaches or if I can get along with this person or that person." MG: "What were your impressions of Coach Merritt?" BM: "He's a great guy. He's somebody I would love to play for. From the little time we spent together, it was great. I had fun and I'm sure he had fun. We talked about everything from childhood to football to adulthood. He told me some things I can take with me in life. He understands where I'm coming from because he played down in Miami (briefly with the Dolphins)." MG: "What was it about him that leads you to call him a great guy?" BM: "He's a man of God. I think people that are men of God are strong by their word and are people you can trust. That's my biggest issue right now - finding people you can trust. From my first impression, I feel Coach Merritt is someone you can trust." MG: "Why is it so important for you to find people you can trust?" BM: "Because I don't trust very easily. Because I feel like people let you down so therefore I don't trust people easily." MG: "Where does that come from?" BM: "I was raised by my grandmother who was very old school. You had to earn her trust. Nobody was just given it; you had to earn it. That's something I learned from her." MG: "What do you expect to do (today)?" BM: "I'll probably meet everybody, including the GM and coach, and I'm looking forward to that. I sat down with them at the combine for about 15 minutes. It wasn't a lot of time to get to know them. They tried to get to know my personality a little bit and I joked around with them a bit." MG: "How did you joke with them?" BM: "Just being me. I'm a laid-back person. I like to joke around until it's time to get serious." MG: "The Giants have a lot of Miami connections: Jeremy Shockey, William Joseph, Sinorice Moss and even Plaxico Burress who didn't even go to Miami but trains there. What have those guys told you about the team?" BM: "Not much. William Joseph probably talks about the team more than anybody and even he doesn't say too much. When you're down there it's more about personal time. You try to get away from football a little bit while you work out." MG: "Have they told you anything about playing in the New York market?" BM: "The only thing they've really said is it's a great place to play because it's where all the major decisions are made. You have Wall Street and everything here. It's a great place to be." MG: "Talent evaluators and draft gurus have sometimes drawn a comparison between you and (former Miami safety and current Redskin) Sean Taylor. What are your thoughts when you hear that?" BM: "Wow. Sean Taylor is a phenom. He's one of the best players I've ever seen play the position. For me to be compared to him and to (former Hurricane and current Raven) Ed Reed, it's shocking. I think everybody has their own game. Ed Reed, he's great with the ball and Sean Taylor loves to come down, hit you and blow people up. Brandon is Brandon because he can do everything. I might have some similarities to those guys, but I like to consider myself somebody who has his own game and isn't trying to imitate anybody." MG: "Do you see yourself as more of a hard-hitting strong safety or a ball-hawking free safety?" BM: "I'm more of a DB. I like to consider myself an all-around DB - not just a safety but also a corner at times, a nickel guy, a dime guy. Just a DB. I think I could play all over the place. A lot of teams like my versatility. And when you have that versatility you last in the NFL a long time." MG: "So are you more of a hitter or coverage guy?" BM: "Both. I think I have great ball skills and good blitzing skills. And I like to do both." We'll soon know if he'll be doing both for the Giants next year. Btw -- and this may or may not be an indication the Giants are serious about Meriweather -- I'm told he came in to visit by himself while most other players will come in on the same day as others. USC wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett is due in tonight along with a few others the rest of this week. Perhaps the Giants wanted as many as possible around to interview Meriweather. Also, I'm told Penn State linebacker Paul Posluszny will not visit the team -- though that might be an indication the Giants will draft him. You know the way teams get this time of year when they pretend not to be interested in a guy they're hot for. MG

Something to Think About April17 Just in case you’re on the fence about where the Giants will spend their first-round pick, consider that University of Pittsburgh cornerback Darrelle Revis stopped in for a vist to Giants Stadium today. Revis doesn’t figure to be around at No. 20 next week, but the Giants are interested enough to do their due diligence on him. Don’t exclude a move up to get either him or Leon Hall if they fall out of the top 15, which is a slim possibility, anyway. On the free agent front, the Giants hosted former Hofstra running back Arlen Harris last Friday. They don’t plan to sign him until they see what the draft brings them in terms of running backs, but they liked the idea that he’s a third-down/special teams type. Of course, so is Derrick Ward, if he can stay healthy. Oh, yeah. Don’t take the Revis visit too seriously. They’re also hosting USC wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett, who also doesn’t figure to be around at 20, along with Miami safety Brandon Meriweather, who has character issues stemming from the Hurricanes’ brawl with Florida International. Florida State outside linebacker Lawrence Timmons is also reportedly due in at some point this week. Just another step in researching the available talent. Ciao for now.

The Neverending Story: Tiki Barber Trashes Coughlin Again Posted Apr 17th 2007 10:11AM by Dan Benton Filed under: NY Giants, NFC East, NFL Gossip, New York Tiki Barber has been officially retired since February 12th but that hasn't stopped him from mouthing off about his former coach Tom Coughlin. Prior to his first day at NBC and before heading off to Virginia Tech to cover to unfortunate turn of events that will forever change American society, he made sure to get some additional shots in at Coughlin. "Tom is the way he is; he's not going to change, and that's fine," Barber said. "Just as it's his prerogative to coach that way and treat people the way he does, it's my prerogative to do something else and give you a reason why." Barber acts like he hasn't said that enough. At this point he seems to just be repeating himself for the simple fact of hearing himself talk. When will he realize that we all get it? He didn't like Coughlin and blames his retirement on him -- fantastic, now shut your mouth! But he doesn't and won't. "If I was lying, if I said, 'Tom was a great guy,' that he said, 'Tiki, I know you're hurt, take a day off,' or if we screwed up he didn't yell at me and said, 'OK, Tiki,' with positive reinforcement, then I'd be lying and I'd be wrong," Barber added. [insert the sound of a baby crying here.] I used to have such respect for Tiki Barber as a player and as a person but this has gotten ridiculous. It's like a broken record that never seems to end and even though Coughlin and the Giants have moved on, Barber clearly has not.

Mod pin please 2007 NFL Rules Changes Take this story to go! - RSS | Podcast | Mobile April 16, 2007 A number of playing-rules changes were adopted by NFL owners at the NFL Annual Meeting in late March. Following are the changes, with comments from the co-chairman of the NFL Competition Committee, * INSTANT REPLAY: Made a permanent rule. “We think instant replay has been an accepted part of our game now for a number of years,” says McKay. “It’s worked quite well.” Also, high-definition replay equipment will be installed in NFL stadiums. * INSTANT REPLAY: Also made permanent in the replay system were “down-by-contact” as a reviewable play and each review being limited to a maximum of 60 seconds. * SPIKING OF BALL: It will now be a five-yard penalty for a player to spike or throw the ball after a down has ended, except for after a touchdown. “We did not think this type of spiking was good for sportsmanship or the administration of the game by officials,” says McKay. * PLAYER SAFETY: It will now be a 15-yard penalty (rather than five yards) for a player to make a block below the waist against an eligible receiver while the quarterback is in the pocket. Also, when a player who receives the snap fumbles or muffs the ball, the restrictions on the defensive team relative to illegal contact and an illegal cut- block will end. * TWO-MINUTE WARNING/10-SECOND RUNOFF: The requirement that the offense has to be behind in the score or the score has to be tied for a 10-second clock runoff to be exercised against the offense for an excess timeout with two minutes to go in the first half or in the game has been eliminated. Now a 10-second runoff will take place no matter what the game situation. Any possible advantage for the offense (e.g., the old rule would not require a 10-second runoff if it were ahead) has been eliminated. The defense has the option to decline a 10-second runoff (which will give it more time should it get the ball back). * CLOCK STOPPAGE: Two exceptions were added to the rule that dictates that the play clock be restarted at the time at which it was stopped prior to the snap. Now an instant replay review prior to the two-minute warning will reset the clock at 25 seconds (as has been the case with other stoppages such as a penalty), as will an instant replay review after the two-minute warning that results in a reversal. These changes will make the administration of the rule more consistent. * PACE OF GAME: The foul for unintentional touching of a forward pass by an interior lineman has been eliminated. It was felt that no advantage was gained by the offense on such a play, and elimination of the rule would speed up the game. * CROWD NOISE: The five-yard penalty against the defense for excessive crowd noise has been eliminated. The penalty had not been called in many years. Although they are not playing-rule changes, two procedures for coaching employment also were changed: * Assistant coaches on Super Bowl teams may now interview for a second time with a club for its head-coaching position during the off-week after the championship game. “We wanted to make sure that coaches on Super Bowl teams did not feel it was a disadvantage,” says McKay. * Clubs now have the exclusive right to an assistant coach’s contract through the second Tuesday after their season has ended or last playoff game, rather than the third Tuesday as in the past.

2007 NFL Rules Changes Take this story to go! - RSS | Podcast | Mobile April 16, 2007 A number of playing-rules changes were adopted by NFL owners at the NFL Annual Meeting in late March. Following are the changes, with comments from the co-chairman of the NFL Competition Committee, * INSTANT REPLAY: Made a permanent rule. “We think instant replay has been an accepted part of our game now for a number of years,” says McKay. “It’s worked quite well.” Also, high-definition replay equipment will be installed in NFL stadiums. * INSTANT REPLAY: Also made permanent in the replay system were “down-by-contact” as a reviewable play and each review being limited to a maximum of 60 seconds. * SPIKING OF BALL: It will now be a five-yard penalty for a player to spike or throw the ball after a down has ended, except for after a touchdown. “We did not think this type of spiking was good for sportsmanship or the administration of the game by officials,” says McKay. * PLAYER SAFETY: It will now be a 15-yard penalty (rather than five yards) for a player to make a block below the waist against an eligible receiver while the quarterback is in the pocket. Also, when a player who receives the snap fumbles or muffs the ball, the restrictions on the defensive team relative to illegal contact and an illegal cut- block will end. * TWO-MINUTE WARNING/10-SECOND RUNOFF: The requirement that the offense has to be behind in the score or the score has to be tied for a 10-second clock runoff to be exercised against the offense for an excess timeout with two minutes to go in the first half or in the game has been eliminated. Now a 10-second runoff will take place no matter what the game situation. Any possible advantage for the offense (e.g., the old rule would not require a 10-second runoff if it were ahead) has been eliminated. The defense has the option to decline a 10-second runoff (which will give it more time should it get the ball back). * CLOCK STOPPAGE: Two exceptions were added to the rule that dictates that the play clock be restarted at the time at which it was stopped prior to the snap. Now an instant replay review prior to the two-minute warning will reset the clock at 25 seconds (as has been the case with other stoppages such as a penalty), as will an instant replay review after the two-minute warning that results in a reversal. These changes will make the administration of the rule more consistent. * PACE OF GAME: The foul for unintentional touching of a forward pass by an interior lineman has been eliminated. It was felt that no advantage was gained by the offense on such a play, and elimination of the rule would speed up the game. * CROWD NOISE: The five-yard penalty against the defense for excessive crowd noise has been eliminated. The penalty had not been called in many years. Although they are not playing-rule changes, two procedures for coaching employment also were changed: * Assistant coaches on Super Bowl teams may now interview for a second time with a club for its head-coaching position during the off-week after the championship game. “We wanted to make sure that coaches on Super Bowl teams did not feel it was a disadvantage,” says McKay. * Clubs now have the exclusive right to an assistant coach’s contract through the second Tuesday after their season has ended or last playoff game, rather than the third Tuesday as in the past.

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Junior finishes race in 5 car after Busch wrecks, leaves By Josh Pate, NASCAR.COM April 16, 2007 10:40 AM EDT FORT WORTH, Texas -- Let the rumors begin. At perhaps the most crucial crossroads of his driving career in which he's negotiating partial ownership of the team his father created, Dale Earnhardt Jr. got a taste of what it's like to drive for the competition on Sunday when he finished the final nine laps in a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Lap-by-Lap: Texas Dale Earnhardt led 96 laps Sunday but any chance he had at winning went up in a puff of smoke. But he would finish the race, only not in his car. Complete story Earnhardt had the dominant car midway through the Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, getting around Jeff Gordon on Lap 153 for the lead, a position he held three different times for 96 laps. When Kurt Busch moved by Earnhardt to take the point on Lap 249, it was the first time anyone passed the 8 car for the lead while on the racetrack. And Kyle Busch had a front-row seat for it all, less than a second behind the front two cars battling it out. "How's that Miller Lite taste? Tastes great," Kyle Busch yelled as his brother moved around Earnhardt to take the lead in a front-row battle of the beer sponsors. It was the highest the younger Busch had gotten as he babied his car, picked off positions and made minimal changes to the machine that was brand new to him. He'd wrecked his backup in practice on Saturday and was forced to start from the rear of the field. Third place for the hard-charging Busch, however, was as high as he would get. Four laps after celebrating his brother's move to take the point, Busch's radio went wild again when his spotter tried to lead the driver through a blur of smoke that Tony Stewart produced while slipping around on the frontstretch -- his second spin of the race -- just after being lapped. "Trying to wreck in front of you. Watch it, watch it!" Busch's spotter said on Lap 253. But it was no good. Earnhardt slowed his No. 8 Chevrolet because of the smoke from Stewart's wreck, but Busch didn't get his bow tie slowed before he plowed into Earnhardt, sending the 8 car spinning across the start/finish line. The damage to Busch's car appeared much worse than that of Earnhardt's as he pulled directly to the garage. "Don't even worry about it, load it up," Busch radioed to his team. But nobody listened. Busch took his car to the garage, got out and disappeared while the crew went to work immediately on what looked to be an unfixable car. Meanwhile, Earnhardt's crew worked on his machine during the caution and kept their driver on the lead lap before finally retiring to the garage on Lap 301. "We struggled a little bit after the wreck," Earnhardt said once he climbed from his car. "We thought we could get the car back out there and run good, but there were some issues with the handling and finally the motor broke. "Normally when you tear a car up and spin around, you can throw the motor backward and do some damage there but that's not what happened. We just haven't had any luck and one of these days it'll be our day and we'll be able to celebrate." Eight laps later, the No. 5 crew had put all the pieces together to get the car back on track. All but one. "We ain't got no driver," a crewman said over the radio. Team members from the No. 5 searched for Busch but never found him. That's when jackman Rick Pigeon approached his buddy Earnhardt and asked if he would finish the race in the 5 car. Earnhardt asked crew chief Tony Eury Jr. about the situation. Eury gave the go-ahead, and Earnhardt got in the car to finish the final nine laps of the race. "Pig [Pigeon] is my buddy, and I have a couple other friends on this team," Earnhardt said. "They asked me to do it so I wasn't going to say no." When Earnhardt crossed the finish line, he thanked his newly adopted crew. "I could tell that it was a real nice car before we had the accident," Earnhardt said. "I really appreciate them asking me. I was honored. It means a lot to me." By finishing the race in Busch's car, Earnhardt was able to pass Jimmie Johnson in the finishing order as the 5 car completed two more laps than the 48. The 37th-place finish gave Busch three more points in the race's final tally, although Busch fell two positions to seventh in the standings. The upside for Earnhardt is that he wound up one spot ahead of Busch in the finishing order. The downside: he dropped seven spots in the standings from 11th to 18th, the farthest-falling driver. "It was a miscommunication between the team and Kyle," said Busch's crew chief, Alan Gustafson. "He thought they weren't going to go back out so he left. There were a few laps left, they knew they could gain a position and gain three valuable points. "So they asked Dale Jr. to fill in. Junior didn't hesitate and agreed and it was a very sportsmanlike gesture and it says a lot about Dale Jr. and the kind of person he is." But finishes and points weren't on Earnhardt's mind when he decided to help out a team that had worked hard to get their car in running condition. By the time he pulled into the garage after the race, an audience had gathered at the 5 car's garage waiting on its newly christened part-time driver at Texas. "It don't matter, I was glad to do it," Earnhardt said to eager onlookers, noting that he didn't hesitate to help out the Hendrick team. But he ended any thought that this may be a precursor for future changes. "Are you crazy?"

Junior finishes race in 5 car after Busch wrecks, leaves By Josh Pate, NASCAR.COM April 16, 2007 10:40 AM EDT FORT WORTH, Texas -- Let the rumors begin. At perhaps the most crucial crossroads of his driving career in which he's negotiating partial ownership of the team his father created, Dale Earnhardt Jr. got a taste of what it's like to drive for the competition on Sunday when he finished the final nine laps in a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Lap-by-Lap: Texas Dale Earnhardt led 96 laps Sunday but any chance he had at winning went up in a puff of smoke. But he would finish the race, only not in his car. Complete story Earnhardt had the dominant car midway through the Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, getting around Jeff Gordon on Lap 153 for the lead, a position he held three different times for 96 laps. When Kurt Busch moved by Earnhardt to take the point on Lap 249, it was the first time anyone passed the 8 car for the lead while on the racetrack. And Kyle Busch had a front-row seat for it all, less than a second behind the front two cars battling it out. "How's that Miller Lite taste? Tastes great," Kyle Busch yelled as his brother moved around Earnhardt to take the lead in a front-row battle of the beer sponsors. It was the highest the younger Busch had gotten as he babied his car, picked off positions and made minimal changes to the machine that was brand new to him. He'd wrecked his backup in practice on Saturday and was forced to start from the rear of the field. Third place for the hard-charging Busch, however, was as high as he would get. Four laps after celebrating his brother's move to take the point, Busch's radio went wild again when his spotter tried to lead the driver through a blur of smoke that Tony Stewart produced while slipping around on the frontstretch -- his second spin of the race -- just after being lapped. "Trying to wreck in front of you. Watch it, watch it!" Busch's spotter said on Lap 253. But it was no good. Earnhardt slowed his No. 8 Chevrolet because of the smoke from Stewart's wreck, but Busch didn't get his bow tie slowed before he plowed into Earnhardt, sending the 8 car spinning across the start/finish line. The damage to Busch's car appeared much worse than that of Earnhardt's as he pulled directly to the garage. "Don't even worry about it, load it up," Busch radioed to his team. But nobody listened. Busch took his car to the garage, got out and disappeared while the crew went to work immediately on what looked to be an unfixable car. Meanwhile, Earnhardt's crew worked on his machine during the caution and kept their driver on the lead lap before finally retiring to the garage on Lap 301. "We struggled a little bit after the wreck," Earnhardt said once he climbed from his car. "We thought we could get the car back out there and run good, but there were some issues with the handling and finally the motor broke. "Normally when you tear a car up and spin around, you can throw the motor backward and do some damage there but that's not what happened. We just haven't had any luck and one of these days it'll be our day and we'll be able to celebrate." Eight laps later, the No. 5 crew had put all the pieces together to get the car back on track. All but one. "We ain't got no driver," a crewman said over the radio. Team members from the No. 5 searched for Busch but never found him. That's when jackman Rick Pigeon approached his buddy Earnhardt and asked if he would finish the race in the 5 car. Earnhardt asked crew chief Tony Eury Jr. about the situation. Eury gave the go-ahead, and Earnhardt got in the car to finish the final nine laps of the race. "Pig [Pigeon] is my buddy, and I have a couple other friends on this team," Earnhardt said. "They asked me to do it so I wasn't going to say no." When Earnhardt crossed the finish line, he thanked his newly adopted crew. "I could tell that it was a real nice car before we had the accident," Earnhardt said. "I really appreciate them asking me. I was honored. It means a lot to me." By finishing the race in Busch's car, Earnhardt was able to pass Jimmie Johnson in the finishing order as the 5 car completed two more laps than the 48. The 37th-place finish gave Busch three more points in the race's final tally, although Busch fell two positions to seventh in the standings. The upside for Earnhardt is that he wound up one spot ahead of Busch in the finishing order. The downside: he dropped seven spots in the standings from 11th to 18th, the farthest-falling driver. "It was a miscommunication between the team and Kyle," said Busch's crew chief, Alan Gustafson. "He thought they weren't going to go back out so he left. There were a few laps left, they knew they could gain a position and gain three valuable points. "So they asked Dale Jr. to fill in. Junior didn't hesitate and agreed and it was a very sportsmanlike gesture and it says a lot about Dale Jr. and the kind of person he is." But finishes and points weren't on Earnhardt's mind when he decided to help out a team that had worked hard to get their car in running condition. By the time he pulled into the garage after the race, an audience had gathered at the 5 car's garage waiting on its newly christened part-time driver at Texas. "It don't matter, I was glad to do it," Earnhardt said to eager onlookers, noting that he didn't hesitate to help out the Hendrick team. But he ended any thought that this may be a precursor for future changes. "Are you crazy?"