As a bizarre slate of games–one where all the good, capable teams were playing each other as the curious, questionable teams were doing the same–was beginning to unfold, the I-coulda-swore-they-were-dead-last-week New England Patriots were blowing out the winless Tennessee Titans. As the snow fell, so did six touchdown passes fall from the hand of Tom Brady, including five in one quarter, which is obviously an NFL record or else there would be no fun in bringing that up.
“I’m disappointed and embarrassed,” Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher said. “Fortunately for me, career-wise, I have never been through anything like this before and, unfortunately, it happened tonight. I can assure you one thing, it’s not going to happen again.”
The Titans couldn’t even stop New England when Brian Hoyer(notes), a free agent rookie from Michigan State, took over for Brady on the second series of the third quarter with the score 52-0. He completed 9 of 11 passes for 52 yards in his pro debut and scored on a 1-yard run on his first series. via.
So now everyone is left to wonder why Bill Belichick stuck his foot so far up Jeff Fisher’s ass. I’m more concerned about how Tennessee–a division champ from a year ago–can’t seem to win a game, or even now show up for one. Brady was benched in the third after going 29-of-34, and it’s ridiculous to think that any sort of decorum would force Belichick to make that move sooner. Tennessee snowed itself in here. And it will be up to them over the next 11 weeks to find a way to dig themselves out.
Before yesterday, Rodney Harrison had contributed absolutely nothing in his first year as an “analyst” for NBC’s Sunday Night football coverage. He’s done nothing to separate himself from the notion that analysts are nothing more than notable ex-players thrust in front of the camera without any ability to bring the viewer closer to bring the viewer into the game. And so instead of trying to make any sort of notable point about this questionable roughing-the-passer call in the Patriots-Ravens game yesterday, he called out Patriots quarterback Tom Brady for…something.
Horrible call. You can’t make this call. And Tom Brady, if you’re listenin’, take off the skirt and put on some slacks. Toughen up.
To be fair, Harrison is the guy lost in the shuffle with the addition of Uncle Tom Dungy; Rodney’s opportunities to say anything are fairly limited. That said, let’s back the truck up. Brady didn’t throw the flag on Terrell Suggs, the referee did. And secondly, if taking two steps and falling into a guy’s knee isn’t a personal foul [depending on the language of the rule], it should be. Regardless of the amount of contact, how can a lunge into a guy’s knee like that be construed as anything but forcible?
And Ray Lewis, if you’re going to play the victim on-camera again anytime soon? Try a different hat.
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I’m already sick to death of people whining, “Oh, Tom Brady blew off Suzy Kolber for an interview.” Yeah, so? Do you have any idea of the demands on his time? Tom Brady makes $10 million a year for a reason, and it’s not so he can flash a flight attendant’s smile whenever somebody jams a camera into his face.
Think about his relationship with the media over the past year. Everything the guy does is being covered by either ESPN or US Weekly or the Honduran Gay Men’s Journal, Drew’s personal favorite. Dude had armed guards to keep the paparazzi out of his wedding. And keep in mind that he wasn’t even playing for nearly all of 2008. And he comes back last night and nearly loses to the GD Bills [and probably should have, were it not for the heroics of the Bills' Leodis McKelvin], and now he’s supposed to stop in his tracks and spoon-feed the beast? I don’t care if he’s just getting off of work or not; if he doesn’t want to talk to the media, he shouldn’t have to outrun Suzy Kolber to make that point.
That said…damn, Tom. Did you hurt your knee so bad that you couldn’t outrun some 45-year-old woman? But this is a guy that’s already knocked up two of the most beautiful women in the world. After pulling that off, I really don’t see why he should be making time for anyone else. Do you? vid.
Anthony Giaccone and Henry Olszewski are insurance brokers at Long Island’s Intermarket Insurance Agency, Inc. And they officially are also the greatest inventors ever, having crafted a way for fantasy football owners to take out insurance policies on their star players. Where were these guys last year when I had Tom Brady?! Actually, that Brady injury in Week 1 of last year was the very impetus behind what is now FantasySportsInsurance.com.
Before the first weekend of the NFL season, the fantasy owner selects the player he wishes to insure — let’s say it’s his top pick, Peyton Manning of Indianapolis. He then enters his league entry fee ($250 for this scenario, though FSI offers claims up to $1,000), transaction fees ($0), and money spent on additional expenses, like magazines and online subscriptions ($15).
FSI then determines the cost of the policy based on those numbers, with every top-50 player — from the chronically-injured Steven Jackson of the St. Louis Rams to the Atlanta Falcons’ relatively sturdy Michael Turner. In this case, insuring Mr. Manning for a 15-game fantasy season would cost $29.87. For just under $30, an owner who loses Mr. Manning to injury for 10 of his 15 fantasy games would recoup the entire $265 he spent on his fantasy team from FSI. And he could still replace the star quarterback with a waiver-wire pickup and salvage the season anyway. via.
Terrific. Now can I buy insurance that will bring me new friends if they decide I’m too obsessed with fantasy sports and they stop talking to me? Eh, I’m only kidding. Like I have any friends… Thanks, flubby.
Gisele Bündchen, noted piece of ass and wife of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (those almost seem contradictory, don’t they?) told People magazine that she’s pregnant. At least until Bernard Pollard throws her down a flight of stairs.
Speculation has grown since pictures showing the supermodel in Brazil this week surfaced showing what seems to be a perceptible bump. Bündchen and New England Patriots quarterback husband Tom Brady were married twice this Spring – first in a ceremony in Los Angeles Feb. 26, then exchanging vows before friends in early April at Bündchen’s Costa Rica home.
“Family is everything,” Bündchen, who turns 29 next month, told PEOPLE last month. “I think family is the base to everything. I think that is one of the things I’m most grateful for. I have a lot to be grateful for but I think that’s definitely number one.”
There was a lot of speculation on whether or not Gisele actually was pregnant or if it was just some silly tabloid rumor. You never really know these things until you hear them from the horse’s mouth.
Tom Brady went back to practice with the New England Patriots today, and says that the knee he injured during Week 1 of the 2008 season is doing great. That’s just great; it’s about time that guy caught a few breaks in life *sticks out tongue* *makes farting sound* From Y! Sports:
The quarterback who was sidelined almost all last season with a knee injury was on the field Tuesday with most of his teammates.
The Patriots are holding four days of organized activities this week. The first three days were held last week for young players and for free agents who signed in the offseason and need more time to adjust to the playbook.
I really don’t have a big issue with Tom Brady; he really seems pretty down-to-earth for a guy with three Super Bowl rings, a supermodel wife and a genetically superior child. That doesn’t mean that I didn’t get some sick satisfaction from watching Bernard Pollard pop the ligaments in his knee with that cheap shot tackle. But it’s a perfectly natural thing to cheer for beautiful people enduring physical harm. In high school, our homecoming queen fell off the parade float onto the street and she hasn’t walked since. Oh man, we still laugh about that one.
