Duval Love is a former Offensive Lineman who graduated from UCLA and played 11 years in the NFL for the Los Angeles Rams, Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals and made the Pro Bowl. I was honored when he agreed to meet with me to answer some questions for the website.

Who did you idolize in the NFL while growing up?

Well, I was a huge Dallas Cowboys fan and a Minnesota Vikings fan. It’s kind of funny that I wasn’t really a Rams fan. I liked the Cowboys because the offensive line would do that little pause and go up, so I was immediately attracted to that. I was a huge fan of Harvey Martin, Too Tall Jones, Randy White, and Pat Donovan and those types of guys. I always liked linemen. One of my favorite players was on the Miami Dolphins, Dwight Stevenson. He always kind of catered to the linemen. Growing up, I always watched the linemen and as I was getting older I wanted to see if I was reaching 6’2 or 6’3. One day, if I got that tall, I’d be able to play in the pros.

From High School to College to Professional, who was the one person who had the biggest impact on your life?

I’ll tell you the biggest impact is my dad. There’s no doubt about it. To see where he came from and the way he works and what he taught me is amazing. He didn’t go to school, just had a sixth grade education from the south. I’m the only child and my dad’s been there every step of the way, good or bad. I’ve got to take my hat off to him. My parents have been married 45 years and they’ve been real supportive through the good times, bad times, getting into the pros, the Pro Bowl and being indicted. I mean they’ve always been there. I have great parents and my dad’s always been there. He’s been like my big brother and a dad. He’s never let me down. He’s my role model.

A 10th round draft pick makes it. How often did you remind your teammates of this?

First of all, when I got drafted in the tenth round, I was devastated. Everybody was like, “Oh you got drafted!” and I felt like, “Tenth round. WOO. Let’s take off the zero and make it a one.” But you know, after you look back, I was fortunate enough to get drafted but I had my work cut out for me. It seems like in my life I have to do things the hard way. Nothing comes easy. I don’t have that luck of things just dropping in my lap. I always have to do things the hard way.

They had four Pro Bowlers on the line and three adequate back ups. My chances where slim-to-none and slim had just walked out. I lay on the bed that night looking at the roster and I thought, there is no way…I was in the gutter. Then I went to camp and I worked my butt off. Hudson Houck was my line coach. He’s one of the best line coaches in the NFL. He’s the Miami Dolphins line coach now. He had recruited me to go to USC as line coach so we had some history together. He drafted me in the tenth round. I worked hard. I got cussed out every day and I made the team. I was shocked and dismayed but I made the team.

To back up, when I went to Ram Park there was a guy named Ray San Jose. Ray stood out in the parking lot and as you got out of your car he’d call you over and say the head coach wants to talk to you. That meant you were gone. You were cut. And so I remember that final cut, getting out of my car, Ray standing there, bless his heart. I was thinking, “Man if he calls me over there, it’s over.” I took one step, two steps. He looked at me, I’m looking at him. I took a step closer. “Are you gonna call my name or what?” He gave me the old thumbs up. “You made it.”

I walked in the locker room with my chest high and I then saw my lockers because the lockers for rookies were put in the middle. You get these little fake lockers in the middle of the locker room and when they take them down, that meant you were out of there. So I named those lockers “Death Row” because one by one, they were picking you off and you were gone. And mine had a little piece of tape that said Love 67. Then I saw my locker was right next to Jackie Slater with my name on for real and then I knew I was there to stay. I stayed there seven years.

So then you went on to Pittsburgh where you made your first Pro Bowl?

Yeah, I played 7 years for L.A. 1985 to 1991 and then I went Plan B free agency to Pittsburgh. It was Bill Cowher’s first year. Chuck Knoll had retired and Bill Cowher got the job. (Former Defensive Coordinator for Kansas City) Interesting story is you never know who’s looking at you. When I was with the Rams, we played Kansas City in Germany and we were over there for a week. Coach Cowher was the Defensive Coordinator and he had noticed me because we were scrimmaging ever day. Over there in Germany, some guys, no wives, no girlfriends, we were drinking a lot. I was still single. A lot of guys didn’t practice because they were hung over and every day I came out and practiced. Swinging away, fighting, no matter what I did the night before. I came out and I was hustling because I knew I needed to make the team and I wasn’t as secure so I had to go out and bust my butt. And Coach Cowher noticed me and said, “Who’s that guy with the fight?” Every day he comes up with his lunch pail and he’s working his butt off and he noticed me.”

So my name came up on Plan B when he became the head coach of Pittsburgh and he said, “I want that guy on my team.” I was the first guy he signed as the head coach of the Steelers. So the story is you never know who’s watching you. If I decided to take a couple days off because I was too drunk or had 3 or 4 girls the night before, you know. But I came out swinging away every practice, no matter how many beers I was pounding in Berlin because that’s what I love, football. I made an impression on him. I had a great 3 years there. I went all pro.

What one moment do you remember the most from the Pro Bowl?

The one moment was that our center made it, Dermontti Dawson. I called him up and he was two doors down from me. I said, “Hey, what are you gonna wear?” And he said, “What do you mean?” and I said, “I don’t know what to wear.” He said, “Man, we’re in Hawaii, put on your flip flops and wear shorts and your tank top and go down there,” and he hung up on me. I was nervous. Dan Marino, John Elway, Emmitt Smith – all of these great players and now I was one of them. It was kind of hard to imagine myself as one of them sitting in the same room, we’re all Pro Bowlers. It was my first one so I was excited.

So I went down there…I was nervous and I couldn’t talk. I felt like I was tripping over the carpet. I sat down and I said, “Be still.” I was shaking and all the great players came in and I was one of them. I mean hell, you know. It was a great moment. I finally made it. All that hard work had paid off. You know working out 3 times a day, running at 9 o’clock at night, paying the price, all of the things I needed to do. I’d run at 9 o’clock at night when I lived in Laguna Niguel. I’d work out at 6 o’clock in the morning then at noon and after my son went to bed I went out and start running at 9 o’clock, 6 or 7 miles every night. I was in great shape. A lot of nights I didn’t want to run but I was determined because I wanted to be the best. I’d be running and sometimes I’d be crying because I’d be so mad at myself, I’d be like “I don’t want to do this.” I’d start acting like a big baby and I was crying thinking, “There is nobody else running this time of night. I’m the only player in the NFL that’s running this time of night up a hill that’s paying the price. I’m paying the price.” I’d visualize myself. “I’m gonna be in Hawaii. I am gonna be in Hawaii.” And I’d just visualize that when I’d run up those hills I’d think, “This is why I’m running, because I want to be in Hawaii. I want Pro Bowl by my name.”

Being a UCLA graduate, what is your opinion on whether kids these days should stay in college or be allowed to take the money and enter the NFL early? In particular, the Maurice Clarett situation that happened.

I think Maurice made some mistakes, obviously. He probably should have stayed in school. Now his reputation is ruined and he’s not as good a football players as people might think. For a while, they thought he was a really good running back and all a sudden now, his stock has really dropped. He might not even get drafted. It’s hard to say. When you’ve got that type of money out there it’s hard to say no. Especially for some of these guys that don’t come from a lot of money. You just have to make the right choice. Of course you need your education. You can always come back. But if you’re good enough and you’re able to go in the first round, and you have $10 or $15 million sitting there when you sign your name, it’s hard to say no. I don’t think anyone can answer that question unless you’re put in that situation. You have to make a wise choice.

Steroid use has been the big negative issue surrounding Major League Baseball over the last year. As a professional athlete, what’s your opinion on this issue?

Obviously Steroids are illegal and you shouldn’t use them. Obviously some players have and I think it’s obvious. You can tell who the players that have used them are. Some guys use them to enhance their performance so they can play longer. They might not have the God given ability to play so they need to do all they can to make sure they are able to compete with other people. Especially if you’re a young player behind a guy who’s, for example, is hitting 45 home runs and you know he’s on steroids and you’re sitting there hitting 10 home runs and you’re going to be in the minors. It’s a tough call. You want everyone to be on a level playing field. Steroids are bad and can’t be a part of the game. They just cannot and I think the long term effect you’ll see are guys dying at an early age. You can’t really run from it.

What’s your favorite NFL team now?

My favorite team? That’s a good question. Honestly I like the Steelers because I played for them. I used to cheer for the guys I knew but as I’m getting older, all the guys are retiring pretty much. I’m just a football fan in general so I cheer for them all.

Favorite Coach? Bill Cowher still?

Yes, because he coached me. I always wish him well. You know, I like to see the Steelers do well. 15 and 1 last year. It’s hard to have a season like that and then you lose in the playoffs. You do everything right, you know you’re 15 and 1. It’s a tough pill to swallow.

After football, what’s your favorite sport to watch?

I love basketball. I’m a huge Lakers fan. Shaquille O’Neal fan. I’m a little disappointed he got traded. Unfortunately, he and Kobe could not get along. It just disappoints me as a Lakers fan that the two egos could not put that behind them and just play basketball. They had a great thing going on. It’s a horrible season. It’s hard for me to watch them. I know Jerry Buss will turn that thing around because I don’t think he likes to lose.

After leaving the NFL, you like many others, have had your share of problems. What would you have done differently while in the NFL to prepare you for life afterward?

I kind of did everything right, it’s just after I left I made all the wrong moves. House paid for, money in the bank, cars paid for, I was ok. I just made the wrong decision trying to go into business with different people and trusting them to run the business and not know what they were doing. Assuming they could make me money, believing the false dreams and making the mistake of listening to them. If I could do it all over again, I wish I could have just took one year off, lost weight, got my knees operated on and started my coaching profession. I wish I would have done that. My wife had told me to do that but, I decided to listen to myself and go into business and I made a crucial mistake. It’s OK. I’m going to rebound from it. It’s like being on the bottom of a pool…you go all the way down and you just have to bounce up and get back to the top.

I’m sure the media has gotten their facts crossed from time to time. If you could address just on one item, what would it be?

I’m sure that there’s a lot of things out there that people have said and I haven’t really heard yet. What they say behind my back, I don’t know. As far as me giving the money to the guy, I made the crucial mistake of trusting him. He lied to me and I gave him the money and he did other things with it. I got in trouble because of that business deal. You know, I trusted one of these people who lived in my community. I was naïve and made poor judgment in trusting these guys and now I know better.

As a young adult, you set your goal to play in the NFL. Fast forward 10 years . . . what goal have you set for yourself now?

I’d like to be an assistant coach in the NFL and that’s my goal. Just to be a coach to help the young kids who come up the ranks and help them not make mistakes like I made and just be happy.

In conclusion, for fans out there that followed you from the Rams to the Steelers, watched you in the Pro Bowl, is there anything you want to say to the fans about how you’re doing right now?

You know, it’s been tough. I’m a survivor. A weaker man probably would have done different things but I know I’m stronger than that. So I just stay positive. No matter what happens I know it’s gonna get better. Just know Duval Love is a fighter who will rise to the top again.

The New York Giants are one of the more popular teams in the NFL, some of this is due to them playing for the biggest city in the country, but a lot of it also has to do with the type of organization they have run. Dating back to the early days of the NFL, the Giants were always considered one of the classier franchises in football. The team has had up and down years over their history, like any team really, but they have definitely experienced their fair share of success.

The New York Giants have won multiple league championships, both before and after the advent of the Super Bowl. They have won three Super Bowls though and here is a look at the men that took home the Super Bowl MVP Award during those big wins for the franchise.

Super Bowl XXI – Phil Simms

Super Bowl XXI looked to be one of the most competitive games in Super Bowl history, as the Denver Broncos held a 10-9 lead over the Giants at halftime. Quarterback Phil Simms then helped the Giants take over in the second half as the Giants would win by the final score of 39-20. Simms’ final numbers would be 22 completions on 25 attempts for 268 yards and three touchdowns.

Super Bowl XXV – Ottis Anderson

The Giants would be behind at halftime again in Super Bowl XXV, this time against the Buffalo Bills, by the score of 12-10. A second half touchdown by Ottis Anderson and a dominant run game that ate up the clock would result in the Giants winning the game by the score 20-19. Ottis Anderson’s stats for the game were 21 carries for 102 yards and a touchdown.

Super Bowl XLII – Eli Manning

The Giants came into Super XLII as underdogs to the undefeated New England Patriots. At halftime, New York’s fans found themselves in a familiar spot, down at halftime, this time by the score of 7-3. After a scoreless third quarter and some amazing plays in the fourth quarter, including two touchdown passes by Eli Manning, the Giants would pull out a victory with a final score of 17-14. Manning’s final numbers were 19 completions on 34 attempts for 255 yards and two touchdowns.

Many people know Tony Dungy as the NFL head coach who took Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts to the Super Bowl in 2007. You may also know from watching him on television as an announcer and just from watching his mannerisms that he is a decent guy. But many of us have no idea about his upbringing and the people and experiences that made him who he is today. Quiet Strength is a memoir which was written after Dungy’s super bowl victory and one of the most impactful years of his life.

The book takes us through Tony’s life in chronological order, starting with his childhood and home life. Dungy had two straight-forward, moral parents. He mentions in his book how they instilled a sense of calmness in him and the difference between right and wrong. Dungy always says that when he is frustrated or wants to confront someone, he must think back to what his dad used to tell him, and figure out if yelling out will accomplish anything and actually make his situation better. You can tell from the beginning of the book that Dungy is, and always has been a family man.

As a teenager, Tony was an excellent athlete. He played varsity high school basketball and football. As a tall, slender, muscular young man, he excelled in basketball and was actually a quarterback on the football team. He was so good in fact that he went on to play football at the University of Minnesota. Dungy played a solid four years for the Golden Gophers and thought that he had a solid chance of playing in the NFL. One thing though, he did not have the typical build or college statistics of a NFL quarterback and would have to work his way onto a professional team the hard way. He was skeptical about getting drafted, and his suspicions proved to be right as he never received a call from a pro team. However, the Steelers eventually gave him a chance and signed him as a free agent to play in their defensive backfield.

Dungy made the most of his time at the Steelers organization. He felt comfortable in Pittsburg because the ownership was more like a family to him than just a boss. He made the team as a defensive back due to his smaller size and won a Super Bowl during the short time he was there. Dungy happened to be playing for the very best team of that time and ended up with a ring during one of his three years as a player. Although he did play pro football, he knew his days in the NFL were limited and needed to think of another job he could perform once his playing days had ended. As an intelligent young man who had experience as both a quarterback and defensive back, he was in a unique position to become an excellent coach.

Tony held several coaching jobs for teams such as the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the NCAA, and the Pittsburg Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs, and Minnesota Vikings in the NFL. Dungy knew all of the right people at the teams he used to play for and they accelerated him on his coaching career due to his diligence and character. His first head coaching job came after several years of being a coordinator and assistant coach. The Glazers, owners of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, hired him as their head coach. The Glazers and Dungy had a great relationship throughout his entire career in Tampa Bay. They fully supported him and his straight-forward ideas about running a complete football team. Dungy ended up bringing his team to the NFC championships several years in a row, but could never quite reach the biggest game. The Glazers therefore decided to release Coach Dungy. Not only did he get fired, but his coaching staff did as well. This is what bothered Tony the most; he had a feeling that he could find another job in the NFL, but he had an awful time knowing his assistant coaches, hand-picked by Coach Dungy himself, may not have such a future.

Not long after being fired from the Buccaneers’ organization and not know what God had planned for him, Coach Dungy returned home one day to find a message from the owner of the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts owner told him that he recently fired his coach, and knew that Tony would be the perfect fit for the head coaching job in Indianapolis. Tony and his new boss would develop a football team as part of the community, not just to win games. Tony’s ideas of morality, self-accountability, and family-first for his football players would work well in Indianapolis.

Coach Dungy inherited an exceptional offense in Indianapolis, lead by Peyton Manning. The defense needed work and confidence, but with Dungy’s help, they were quickly playing on a whole different level. The team started to make the playoffs every year where they usually encountered their rivals, the New England Patriots. The Patriots usually got the best of the Colts, but not in 2007. Dungy won nearly all of his regular season games, beat everyone in the playoffs, and then destroyed the Chicago Bears in the NFL Super Bowl. Coach Dungy became the first African American head coach to win the Super Bowl, and instantly knew he had to apply his knowledge and fame to make the world a better place. Dungy knew that as a successful black man with such an important title and a world championship to his name, he could make an impact.

Tony Dungy has always been an extremely busy man, working seven days a week, usually with only a few hours sleep. However, he always has found the time to do charitable work. This includes church work, starting charitable organizations with his wife, Lauren, and running All Pro Dad. This organization focuses on making fathers all across the nation into better people, and to teach these men to be there for their kids. The concept is simple, yet profoundly important. Imagine how many kids in this world do not know who their fathers are and how they do not have a male presence in their life. All Pro Dad teaches fathers and even male figures to be role models to the younger people in the world.

While Coach Dungy has shown himself to be a great man and a noble person, it is what he does behind the scenes that truly makes him great; he puts his family first and always makes them his number one priority. Not only do Tony and Laura have numerous kids of their own, they have started to adopt. Since they are in such a fortunate position in the world and financially well-off, they have made better lives for black orphan children. Anyone who has children knows that they can be a blessing, but difficult at times. Often in life children can bring incredible happiness, but also sad moments as well. The first child Tony and Laura adopted is missing a critical gene which would allow him to feel pain. Since the child cannot feel pain, his parents must watch the child at all times to make sure he is not doing anything which may unknowingly harm him.

Most of Coach Dungy’s book is uplifting and has a positive vibe, but there is a part of the book which takes the reader by surprise. During Dungy’s 2007 championship season, he received a call in the middle of the night. Everyone knows that middle of the night calls are never good, and this call was heart breaking; Coach Dungy’s son, Jamie, had committed suicide. Dungy says repeatedly that he will never know what caused Jamie to take his own life, but he knows that Jamie had placed God first in his life and is undoubtedly in Heaven now. It is very sad to read about terrible things that happen to such great people, but Dungy put a positive spin on the situation. He said that Jamie blessed their lives for eighteen years and he should be remembered for all the joy he brought. Jamie never had an enemy and made friends very easily. From what Tony Dungy wrote about Jamie, it is very clear that Jamie was just as good of a person as his father.

After reading Coach Dungy’s memoir, one thing is evident: Coach Dungy lives his life for God. Life will put you through the highest of high moments and the lowest of lows. The thing that makes us all different and special is how we react to these situations. Dungy has learned to persevere through the tough spots in life and to stay modest through the championship-caliber moments. Tony Dungy is a role-model for everyone and we all can learn a positive lesson from reading his book. This book is rated 5 out of 5.

Who doesn’t like to feel the rush of placing a sports bet? I know I do. The excitement of knowing you picked the winner of the game is enough adrenaline to keep you awake even through the most boring of sporting events. What I love about free sports betting is that it’s more than just winning money. It’s a mind game. You view the event as a chess game, carefully understanding the strategy of both teams, looking for strengths and weaknesses. Then when you have finally made your decision, you put money on the line and hope your homework paid off.

As Sports Betting continues to grow in popularity, more and more expert sports pickers are needed to breakdown the game for the novice bettor. Working a 9-5 sometimes does not afford the time to study the game and master it. We need trusted people who can tell us the team to bet on. Now how does one know who is trusted or not? Well, there are firms out there that do rank the pickers based on units won or lost. Let’s say they are experts and someone is looking for free NFL picks, how does one know whom to trust? A firm can seek out records of free nfl picks from the past and see how they performed in free sports betting. That’s the only way to tell.

How does sports betting work? That’s a great question. Each sports book has a bookie who takes each game and decides what is the most even number a line can be made so that bettors can place on both sides. The job of the bookie is to make sure that the line is even, so that the sports book makes money off of commissions.

The next time in free sports betting, make sure you are aware of the different types of bets such as the spread, money line, and total. Also make sure you don’t place a bet on your favorite team just because they are your favorite. If the object is to be a shrewd bettor than stick with the numbers, not your favorite.

If the sportsbook is busy with action, it must be football season. Whether it’s the NFL or NCAA, football betting action is fast and furious during the season. For the newbie sports bettor, it can seem a bit confusing, but football bets really come down to two types-straight bets and parlay bets.

Football Betting – Straight Bets

Here’s the workhorse for any winning football bettor. A straight bet simply means you’re betting on one football game. If you bet on more than one game on the same ticket, it’s a parlay, and we’ll talk about that in a minute.

When you make a straight football bet, you could be betting on a side or total. Simply put, when you bet a side, you “pick a side” in the game. For instance, let’s say the New England Patriots are playing the Seattle Seahawks. If you’re going to bet a side, you’d bet on either the Patriots or the Seahawks.

Every game has a point total (except NCAA football, which is most games). This is the amount of points scored between both teams. When you bet a total, you’re betting under or over that total. For instance, let’s say the total is 47 and you take the over. To win, both teams must combine for 48 or more points (47 would be a push, which means you get your bet back).

Football Betting – Parlays

Okay, so you know about straight bets, which is where you bet on just one thing per ticket. When you want to bet on more than one thing, it’s a parlay. You can bet on 2 – 20 things (depends on the sportsbook).

For instance, let’s say you bet on the Seahawks and over the total on your ticket. That would be a 2-team parlay (even though technically there’s only one team on it).

The more items you put on the ticket, the more money you’ll win if they all hit. Naturally, the more items on the ticket, the harder it is to win.

With parlay bets it’s an all or nothing thing. If one pick fails, the ticket is dead. Some sportsbooks will run specials for getting close, but that’s very rare.

If you get into making football bets via parlay tickets, you might check out “teasers,” which are parlay tickets with added points for you. For instance, rather than taking the Packers -10, you might get them at -3. Of course, the payouts are a less since the risk is minimized.

Football betting is a blast and there’s nothing better than hitting the sportsbook with a big winning ticket. I hit straight football bets and parlays all season long. I look forward to the NFL and NCAA football seasons.

More and more in professional football we see bizarre touchdown celebrations, strutting and preening after a big play of some sort, and now Chad Johnson has legally changed his last name to his number. What is going on in football today?

The “it’s all about me” attitude that seems to be showing up more and more in our society today, is running rampant through the National Football League. And while some people say it’s just the stars expressing themselves, I personally don’t like it and think that it has the potential to ruin the sport.

How you say? Well, the problem at times bleeds over into the locker room and starts to mess with team chemistry. Look at Terrell Owens for example. Everywhere he goes, eventually he is at odds with someone. And, while a tremendously talented wide receiver, TO starts his antics usually when he is not getting the football as much as he thinks he should.

In two recent games, the football was knocked loose as a player was about to enter the end zone and started his celebration early. These guys were so focused on getting the crowd to focus on them that they screwed up the play itself.

Now for a “quite the opposite” view, take a look at the New England Patriots. Arguably the most successful NFL franchise in recent times. And they focus on finding and keeping players who are team oriented and are willing to fit into their “system”. And that system works. Hence three Super Bowl championships in this decade.

So what’s the right way? Well, I don’t think that you can say that there is a right way or a wrong way. But the question for the NFL is which way do the ticket holders prefer? I don’t have the answer to that, but I do know that most NFL fans that I talk to are tired of the antics and prefer their champions to be low key and full of character and integrity.

Now in all of this, there is a glimmer of hope. I read recently that more and more of the younger players coming into the league are not playing the “prima donna” game and are just focused on improving their skills and helping their team win.

I hope that this is the real trend. I’d like for my grandkids to watch these football players and see character, not just characters. If they choose to play the game at any level, I want the players that they try to be like to be someone that they can look up to.

Maybe I’m naïve, but I love the game of football and I don’t want to see it ruined by a few.

Sometimes I just don’t get it !!!

As offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers last year, Mike McCarthy’s offense finished 32nd and dead last in the NFL. How bad was it ??? That offense finished 32nd in passing, 22nd in rushing, and was 30th overal in points going eight games of a sixteen game schedule without an offensive touchdown.

As quarterback coach of the Packers during Ray Rhodes short-lived and ill-fated 1999 regime, McCarthy guided Bret Favre to his second worst season as a professional with the future HOFer throwing 24 pics to just 23 touchdowns. Favre’s 74.7 QB rating was was only supraceeded by his 1993 sopomore season rating of 72.2 and this year’s train-wreck of 70.9 yet this week Mike McCarthy was brought back to Green Bay and hired as the 14th Head Coach in arguably the most storied franchise in NFL history.

The Packers had to know that this was a controversial hire as the McCarthy news conference seemed to be more of a damage control preemptive rather than a celebration of the man that was going to restore tarnished lustre and return Green Bay to the promised land.

McCarthy was lauded for his past accomplishments, particularly his work with the Saints spanning 2000-2004. During that time, the Saints established 25 team and 10 individual marks. Joe Horn who caught 437 passes for 6289 yards and 45 TD’s during McCarthy’s tenure. New Orleans led the NFL in points (432) and toucdowns (49) during the 2002 season.

McCarthy’s prior work with the Kansas City was also cited. As quarterback coach of the Chiefs between ’95-’98, the combo of Gannon, Grbac, and Bono threw an AFC low 52 interceptions over that four year period. Huh ??? Whupdidoo !!!

In his year with Favre, Bret did throw for 4,091 yards but the Packers were just seventh in passing and ninth overall in total offense.

At the press conference it was also brought up that McCarthy had spent most of last year mentoring the leagues first overall draft pick, Alex Smith – possibly an inference that Aaron Rodgers would be in good hands if Favre decides to call it a career.

Alex Smith’s season by any standards was an unmitigated disaster! Smith’s numbers were horrific – 84-165 (50.9%) for 875 yards and a 1/11 TD/INT ratio. Granted, Smith had little to work but based on his freshman year, he’s well on his way to becoming a bust in the proportions of Tony Mandrich and Ryan Leaf.

McCarthy becomes the youngest coach in the NFL, three months younger than John Gruden. He inherits a a young (26.04 years at season end, 3d in NFL) team that is filled with uncertainties like the health of Javon Walker and Ahman Green and the return of Brett Favre.

Mike McCarthy was a surprisingly desperate hire from a surprisingly desperate franchise. The Packers had been to the playoffs five of the six years under Mike Sherman and while the talent level of the team has fallen appreciably due primarily to poor drafts, the whole Packer post-season shakeup wreaks of panic!

McCarthy’s coaching background:

1987-88, Fort Hays State – Graduate Assistant

1989-91, Univ. of Pittsburgh – Quarterbacks

1992, Univ. of Pittsburgh – Wide Receivers

1993-94, Kansas City Chiefs – Offensive Assistant/Quality Control

1995-98, Kansas City Chiefs – Quarterbacks

1999, Green Bay Packers – Quarterbacks

2000-04, New Orleans Saints – Offensive Coordinator

2005, San Francisco 49ers – Offensive Coordinator

2006, Green Bay Packers – Head Coach

A professional American Football Team, the Baltimore Ravens is based in Baltimore, Maryland. They are a member of the National Football League (NFL), the largest American football league in the planet, and are one of four member teams in the American Football Conference (AFC) North Division. The Ravens’ football uniforms are colored black, gold, and purple. They play at the PSINet Stadium in Baltimore.

The Birth of the Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens was founded after the 1995 NFL season, when Arthur B. Modell, owner of what was then Cleveland Browns, decided to move his team to Baltimore and renamed it as the Ravens (a new Cleveland Browns franchise was put up in 1999), which came from Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven” (Poe lived in Baltimore during the 1830s). Modell brought with him a team of veteran football players including running back Earnest Byner and quarterback Vinny Testaverde, and hired Ted Marchibroda, former Baltimore Colts coach, to lead the new Ravens team. Despite the roster of star players and a long record of wins for Marchibroda in the mid-1970s when he was handling the Colts, the Ravens struggled in the 1996 and 1997 NFL season, and ended up finishing at the bottom. After the 1997 season, Testaverde left the team and signed with the New York Jets as a free agent. In the 1998 season, the Ravens had six wins and ten losses, and it was then that the Ravens hired Brian Billick, Minnesota Vikings offensive, as their head coach.

Three Consecutive Losing Seasons

The Ravens didn’t have a successful beginning as it flopped in its first two seasons. The 1996 Season was the first season of the Ravens, where they played at the old Memorial Stadium of Baltimore and finishing a dismal record of 4-12. The 1997 season was more promising, starting off with a record of 3-1. Ravens player Peter Boulware also got the AFC Defensive Rookie of the Year Award having 11.5 sacks. When the season ended, however, the Ravens finished with a score of 6-9-1. Vinny Testaverde who then left for the New York Jets, was replaced by Jim Harbaugh, originally from Indianapolis Colts and then later by Eric Zeier. Priest Holmes, running 1,000 yards for the Ravens, also joined the team, as well as cornerback Rod Woodson. Still, the Ravens lost 6-10. Marchibroda was finally replaced by Brian Billick as head coach in 1999. The 1999 season was a big improvement , managing an 8-8 record.

The 2000 Super Bowl Championship

Under the wing of Brian Billick in the 2000 NFL season, the Ravens rebuilt their team and strengthened their defense. They became more aggressive and picky with free agent signings and draft pick ups. Led by one of the top defenders and leading tacklers in MFL history, linebacker Ray Lewis, the Ravens achieved a record-low 165 defense and allowed only 23 points in the postseason. In the Super Bowl XXXV, they finally won a 34-7 victory against the New York Giants and was announced as the champion for that season.

What’s good in Dish Network? What’s good in DirecTV? If you live in the Continental USA and Hawaii and desire satellite TV systems, you have basically two choices. Lets compare these two major satellite TV providers and see who suits your TV entertainment needs the best.

DirecTV and Dish Network offer the most choices for the least amount of money. In most cases, you get free equipment, free setup, free installation and great package deals. The great news for consumer is that, both companies offer similar services and they both are competing for your business! So based on this, how do you choose between the two?

Dish Network’s biggest advantage is the free Dish Digital Video Recorder (DVR) that records up to 100 hours of programming. The second biggest advantage is price. Dish Network beats DirecTV a little in pricing and beats cable TV a lots. However, DirecTV has a few premium packages like NFL Sunday Ticket that Dish Network doesn’t have. Price is way better than cable TV and is still very competitive with Dish Network.

Where programming is concerned, both Dish Network and DirecTV offer excellent entertainment packages in high quality digital transmission. Over 256 channels are available for Dish Network programming. Dish Network broadcasts as many as 231 NFL pre-season, regular season and post-season playoff games without having to purchase a costly season package subscription! It has more comprehensive international programming with additional foreign language programming packages.

DirecTV supports up to 225 channels. Compare with Dish Network, DirecTV has exclusive rights to some sports channels, but you need to pay an extra fee to get these channels. Some of the sports packages include NHL Center Ice, MLB Extra Innings, NY Yankee Games, NBA League Pass and NFL Sunday Ticket which gives you access to almost every NFL games.

The hardware needed for satellite TV are almost the same between the two providers. Both need a small dish, a satellite receiver and the access cards. You will be given a choice when you order some of the equipment options. If you want standard satellite TV with a DVR, or High Definition (HD) options, you will need different kind of dish.

The Dish Player DVR510 offers by Dish Network can records up to 100 hours of your favorite shows without video tapes! While DirecTV’s records up to 35 hours. Dish Network gives you free satellite TV equipment and free installation in up to four rooms of your home, which at no charges. For DirecTV’s subscriber, you will be charge an additional small amount for the DVR receiver.

Both of the DirecTV and Dish Network have excellence customer services with 24 hours online support and 24 hours toll-free telephone support. They both offers online services like viewing current and prior statements, add packages and make payments to your account. Online user manuals and installation guides is also provided.

Dish Network or DirecTV? It is difficult to make a choice between the two providers because they offer very similar programming as well as pricing. No matter which one you decided to go with, its sure will give you a great deal with some really good service.

With NFL training camps winding down, and the playing season set to begin, many professional and amateur athletes have found that taking Serrapeptase Rx by Enerex Botanicals helps them stay on the field.

“Why is that so important?” you might ask. I recently spoke with one NFL agent that was buying the Serrapeptase Rx for many of his athletes, and this was his take on it… During training camp, each of his players gets only so many chances to impress the coaches. If they are injured, or have swelling that prevents them from being on the field, it may limit their reps, and hence their chances of making the team. This can have implications worth millions of dollars for a professional athlete.

So how does Serrapeptase Rx help? It is a very powerful, all-natural anti-inflammatory that helps minimize bruising and swelling when taken prior to, and after, injury. It has been used by Olympic athletes for years for training, and now the general public is beginning to find out about it.

I have spoken with several EnerexUSA dealers, and many amateur athletes across all sports are getting amazing results with this enzyme. There are numerous double-blind studies showing how safe and powerful this product has been over its 30-year history.

One of the studies was on sixty patients getting ready to have knee surgery. The patients who took the Serrapeptase enzyme had 50% less swelling, and were pain free in ten days. That is a fairly significant study, but there are actually dozens of studies with similar results for various conditions.

I personally know baseball players that have rotator cuff injuries, and they, as well as arthritis patients, have seen tremendous results while taking the enzyme. I take Serrapeptase Rx myself to help deal with previous injuries, and my 87-year old mother takes it to reduce the swelling she suffers from as a result of diabetes.

In addition to the powerful anti-inflammatory effects, and the pain relief that goes along with it, Serrapeptase has another unique ability that is very important, but often left out of conversations. It has the ability to digests non-living tissue in all forms, including internal scar tissue and arterial plaque.

One of the reasons that so many athletes who have surgery have to go back to the doctor, or have another procedure done, is the scar tissue from the first surgery. Will Allen, a Miami Dolphin cornerback, recently had to go through this procedure and lost all of training camp time. It is possible that had he known about this enzyme from Enerex, he might not have needed the second procedure, and could have been in camp fighting for the first team defense.

This product is certainly worth a serious look – from both professionals and amateurs alike. With no know side-effects or interaction with other medications, it is safe and very effective. There are a few things you need to know, however, before running into a store or going on-line to purchase any product with “serrapeptase” in it. The enzyme is most effective when it is in capsule form, and the capsules themselves have been enteric-coated. To be effective, the capsule must pass through the stomach acid and dissolve in the small intestine, so you need a preparation powerful enough to do the trick. Enerex Botanicals makes the most powerful Serrapeptase product in the world at 1,000 mg and 120,000 IU strength. That is why when jobs are on the line, as in the NFL, this is the brand that athletes are reaching for. Purchase a weak substitute, and you may be very disappointed.

The Enerex brand is available in the U.S. through selected doctors, naturopaths, chiropractors, physical therapists, and some knowledgeable health food stores. You can find a list of retailers from the U.S. distributor, EnerexUSA.