Carolina Panthers special teamer Dante Wesley was suspended by the NFL for one game after this hit on Tampa Bay Buccaneers punt returner Clifton Smith. Wesley was on punt return coverage in Carolina’s game with the Bucs Sunday when he left his feet to strike Clinton Smith in the neck. Wesley was at least one whole second ahead of the ball. Smith did not signal for a fair catch.
“I was just trying to make a play,” Wesley said after the game, a 28-21 Carolina victory. “You can check my record. … I’ve never really tried to hurt anybody.”
Coach John Fox said after watching the film Monday he didn’t believe Wesley was trying to injure Smith, who did not return to the game. via.
Whether it was intentional or not, one game seems a bit light to me. Even in the NFL, an entity renown for its regular showcasing of terrific athletes colliding into one another, this hit has a unique resonance with me, and a disturbing one. This wasn’t a lineman getting blocked on an interception or a receiver getting laid out over the middle. This was one guy using his body as a bomb to attack someone as defenseless as someone in an NFL game can be.
This cannot happen again. That needed to be the message sent by the NFL in dealing with Dante Wesley, who seems to have no problem fining the hell out of anyone on plays from scrimmage. Instead, it’s “Hey, this will look great on our highlight reel. Think you could try again on the Dolphins in Week 11?” vid.
Carolina Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith has shown the occasional flash of questionable judgement over the course of his NFL career, but he seems to be right on the money with this assessment of his quarterback. Jake Delhomme received the oddest of pep talks when he returned to the bench after throwing one of his four interceptions Sunday:
“Hey, I know you feel like crap. I mean, you’re not a very handsome guy anyway, so. But, the performer, the quarterback … I never really liked you as a quarterback. But as a person, that’s who I love. I love you as a person.” via.
I really have no idea what this means, other than it’s Smith possibly suggesting that he and Delhomme run away to Hawai’i and get married. But yeah, Delhomme kinda sucks right now. And this guy just signed a $42 million extension in the offseason. Still, it’s nice to know that Steve Smith is always down for a little Bojanglin’.
Carolina Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis has a very plain name, so he made sure to stand out with his souped up 1975 Caprice Classic, painted metallic purple with 26-inch rims and a plethora of electronic wizardry in the dash. It’s one of many cars that Davis owns. Well, it was before it was stolen.
Davis told the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) that someone stole the car on Saturday between 1:30 a.m. and 10:45 a.m.
The purple car is described as a two-door convertible model with a tag of HA73SN. The vehicle is worth $136,000.
It features many custom details including a special steering wheel with a football, and a painting of Davis at a desk with a Panther sprawled in front of it.via.
Man, that sounds like every single car in North Carolina! Whoever stole this certainly can’t be driving it anyplace. I do like the football steering wheel. I might have to do something similar with the Hyundai. via. imgs.
One of the biggest arguments about the huge rookie contracts is that veterans typically have to settle for less money. And while Jake Delhomme may not be earning Matt Ryan Money, his newly-signed extension with the Carolina Panthers puts him in better shape than most guys coming off a 5-interception playoff game in January. From SI.com, the one place where Cris Carter has all of his sports news read to him:
The deal [five years, $42.5 million] includes $20 million in guaranteed money and clears much needed salary-cap space for Carolina. Delhomme was to count for more than $10 million under the cap next season in the final year of his deal.
The move also gives the Panthers some room under the salary cap, weighed down by Julius Peppers’ one-year tender worth $16.7 million.
I guess this means that the Panthers aren’t drafting Matt Sanchez now. It’s too bad. North Carolina would have just fallen in love with that guy.
Earlier this week, the Titans’ LenDale White joined Panthers running backs DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart on the Best Damn Sports Show Period to talk about the rights to the “Smash and Dash” nickname. I guess LenDale came up with the name first, but then Panthers fans “swagger-jacked” him, and then I rolled my eyes and made a wanking motion. I have never in my life watched a bunch of grown men — all millionaires — discussing which pair deserves to have a nickname that rhymes. And certainly not after all of them had shitty playoff performances in losses to visiting underdogs.
LenDale seems to be taking this especially hard, so I’ll give him his own nickname: Whine and Dine.
Even though Jeff Garcia is married to former Playmate of the Year Carmella DeCesare, everyone has a blast calling him gay, and Tony Kornheiser is no exception. The money quote in the 
video is “Garcia, who loves to date hot quarterbacks…” and I think I detected a little bit of jealousy in Kornheiser’s voice.
As for the rest of Monday Night Football, the Panthers steamrolled the Bucs 38-23 using a bruising running game that broke Tampa Bay’s will in the second half. DeAngelo Williams (186 yards, 2 TDs) and Jonathan Stewart (115, 2 TDs) ran freely around a Bucs defense that had allowed only one rushing touchdown all season entering the game. Other fantasy studs were Steve Smith (117 yards, 1 TD) and the Bucs’ Antonio Bryant, who had nine receptions for 200 yards and two scores (including a ristupidous one-handed grab - watch after the jump) while sitting on your fantasy bench.
(top video from KSK) Read the rest of this entry »
