In a pro football world where wearing high-top cleats to honor the passing of Johnny Unitas can earn you a $25,000 fine, it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that players hoping to wear red, white and blue gear on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 is a punishable offense. Chicago Bears linebacker Lance Briggs tweeted about his new patriotic Reebok gear and how he expects to be fined for wearing it. So did Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles. So did Washington Redskins tight end Chris Cooley and Tennssee Titans quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and most of the San Diego Chargers. So whether or not the league approves, they can’t fine everybody for supporting their country … can they?

Briggs:

Reebok great job on these gloves and shoes..looks like I’m getting fined this week. Lol! By far the best fine I will ever have to pay. Thanks…Fines for gloves could be as much as 5k..the shoes 8-10k I think. not 100% on the shoe fine.

Is wearing 9/11 commemorative gear “showboating”? Is it being done to draw attention to the players who choose to break the rules? To give them more media coverage? I’m blogging about them. I think it’s a valid consideration, but when your talking point is “do I or do I not want to show respect and reverence to my country’s worst tragedy in my lifetime” I’d hope the simple gesture of fellowship and patriotism would not go hand-in-hand with the Lambeau Leap. At the same time, what are Never Forget gloves accomplishing, and isn’t there probably a better way for rich people to show their support to the victims of the attacks?

Regardless, don’t assume the league is totally heartless: the NFL and NFLPA will donate $1 million to related charities and memorials. Of course, the average NFL team is worth about $1.04 billion and ESPN just completed an eight-year extension worth as much as $1.9 billion annually with the NFL for the rights to Monday Night Football, so the issues of “how much can we give” and “how much can we take away from you” sort of go hand in hand.

[h/t Shutdown Corner]

The NFL has finally done it. You know, I can live with the fact that the New England Patriots only get a slap on the wrist for stealing defensive signals from their oppenents. And this little coin toss fiasco between the Gaints and Jets seems forgivable. And I can totally look past the fact that everyone in the NFL is popping performance enhancers like gummi bears. But this is totally unacceptable.

This is Fred Davis and Chris Cooley of the Washington Redskins cheating in a tricycle race, and I am outraged. WHAT KIND OF EXAMPLE ARE YOU SETTING FOR YOUNG PEOPLE?! Look at the holding, the refusal to pedal, and the interracial gay innuendo. And maybe I’m just a tricycle race purist at heart, but I’m not going to stand for this.

But then again, this will probably be the only contest the Redskins win all year. That is, if one of them actually won. The finish looked like a dead heat to me. THEY DON’T EVEN HAVE A CAMERA ON THE FINISH LINE! WHAT KIND OF OPERATION ARE YOU RUNNING OVER THERE, LEONSIS! I’m calling the bottom!

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I’m not suggesting that anyone waste their time following the Redskins this preseason, because that’s exactly what it would be–a waste. That said, one of the more fascinating quarterback controversies is shaping up in DC, even though it’s for the No. 3 spot on Washington’s roster. Colt Brennan, the incumbent No. 3 whose job seems to be on the line as incoming rookie Chase Daniel puts together a fine preseason, including a TD pass in his preseason appearance Saturday.

Both men were interviewed by, of all people, Redskins Pro Bowl tight end Chris Cooley, who couldn’t jam a camera in Daniel’s face fast enough. The dichotomy of the two men is what stands out; Brennan seems resigned to his fate while Daniel treats Cooley like actual media, spewing canned sound bites and all. “We won! That’s what matters, right?” Uh, sure…Chase.

But the one thing to take away from all of this? “Colt” and “Chase” as first names sound kinda gay. via.

America’s H-Back is still piddling around with that video camera that his wife got him for Christmas (I’m guessing), but Redskins tight end Chris Cooley doesn’t really seem to be grasping the fact that internet videos are terrible without cats, an 80s soundtrack, or pratfalls (or if you’re lucky, all three). I guess Cooley is pretending to be Cowboys tight end Jason Witten, but he looks more like a serial killer chilling in the Bayou more than some preppy dude from Tennessee. And since when does Witten have Kato as a sidekick? I guess the secret’s out now: Jason Witten is the Green Hornet. as seen here.

Noted Washington Redskins H-Back and burgeoning internet “personality” Chris Cooley was driving around in Wyoming last week(because this is what Chris Cooley does. He doesn’t knock up recently acquainted women or handle firearms or even play Madden all day. Nope. Dude is in a truck driving around one of those square states on the map). He then encountered one of the three possible things one could encounter in Wyoming: a dead cow. The other two things, for the record, are living cows and extreme boredom. From Cooley’s blog, via Shutdown Corner:

We were cruising around on our new land in Wyoming the other day and we found an old dead cow. So we decided that we would get rid of it by setting it on fire. Needless to say, it was a success.

I hope it was a success. How exactly does one screw up setting fire to a cow? Is there a class involved? I’m sure it’s a major at Ohio State, but what criteria does one use in rating bovine intervention. I guess this is why I’ll never play in the NFL. That and my flagrant alcoholism.

Washington Redskins tight end and NFL everyman Chris Cooley is the subject of a new web-based reality series appearing on YouTube. The Cooley Zone will follow Chris, his wife, his brother, and his brother’s wife in Chris’ house. And then every week, one of them will get voted out. That’s a reality show, right? See a “preview” of Chris’ show after the jump.

In other news, Michael Vick is now shopping himself to be the star of his own reality series, in large part to pay off his creditors. Hell, Vick would probably give Donald Trump a blowjob if it would get him squared away financially. I know you would.