Hard Knocks, Face Punches, and Favre the Jet: a Football Round-Up!

I thoroughly enjoyed the season premier of Hard Knocks last night. Maybe it's just because I didn't have HBO last year and missed the first season, maybe it's voyeuristic interest in a team I grew up hating... either way, here's what I took away from episode 1:

• Amid all the Adam Jones drama, I failed to realize one of the most compelling points of Cowboys camp: Jones will be covering Terrell Owens in practice. If that much head-casery going 1-on-1 doesn't pique your interest, then you enjoy shitshows way less than I do.
• He can say he's dropped the nickname as much as he wants, but every Cowboys coach refers to him as "Pac" in meetings. Also, Jones hazed a rookie by pouring a bucket of water out of a hotel window on to him. The guy just can't seem to stop making it rain.
  
• Jerry Jones really is as intrusive of an owner as his reputation says. He was sitting in on almost every meeting that involved a coach. Not that his is shocking, but you can expect to see plenty of Jerry's mug if you watch.
• Tank Johnson seems amazingly comfortable in Big-D. For a guy whose home looked like an Iraqi insurgent's base camp two years ago because he was paranoid of people attacking him, he was shockingly relaxed in every appearance he made on-screen and was generally the loudest player leading the team in goofing off and having a good time. It was nice to see, and hopefully he's turned over a new leaf.
• Patrick Crayton can lie to himself all he wants, but the Boys have just about no receiver depth behind T.O.
  
• T.O. is an entrepreneur. He showed up with boxes of t-shirts with slogans based on the premise i(verb), such as "iBlock", "iCatch", "iTackle", "iPlay ... T.O.Win", and of course, "iLove... Me some Me". Not expected on the order form: iDrop, iCry, iWhine, iShare, iLikePorn, iNeedAttention, or iAmCrazy.

Should be a fun season! Other stuff that's going on in camp:

• Steve Smith: Now do you see why I don't listen to fantasy advice given before August? Smith will miss the first two games of the season after being suspended for knocking Ken Lucas the F-out in practice. I was trying to decide whether to hold onto Smith in my keeper league or not... thanks for making that decision easy for me!
• Ryan Grant: Last year's surprise fantasy RB ended his holdout and signed a 4 year deal. Now he's in camp and should be good to go for the start of the season. He probably won't produce like last year, but he should still be a quality #2 RB.
• Jordan Palmer: Apparently Carson Palmer's little brother is his backup. I, did not know that.
  
• Brett Favre: LOL! Seriously, it's never a good sign for the Jets when I get giddy about an acquisition they've made. First it was giving a small rowboat full of cash to Calvin Pace, and now this. I think Favre is going to embarrass himself in East Rutherford this year, so much that he'll make the Patriots secondary look talented (which is not easy to do). There's also now the question of where Chad Pennington will end up. My best guesses are San Fran or Chicago, who both have unsteady young starters and no quality veteran backups. Outside shot at Miami or Oakland getting in the mix as well.
  

Okay Brett, seriously, let it go...

I would hate to be Aaron Rogers right now. Sure, he's gotten paid millions of dollars to be a glorified mannequin for the past three years, but when Brett Favre finally "retired" from the NFL back in March things didn't exactly appear to be set in stone. Even on that day, there were still rumblings that there was a chance Favre would come back for one more year. There were rumors that his locker hadn't been packed up (pun!) yet. He was a staple in Green Bay for so long (and let's face it, what the hell do people in Wisconsin have to hold onto?) that fans had a tough time letting go.

But time moved on. Many assumed he'd get a gig in front of the camera as an analyst on one of the 6,497 football shows on tv. The Packers even drafted Briam Brohm to make sure Rodgers still had the fire in him and to let him know the job wasn't just going to be handed to him. And if something happened to Rogers, Brohm could step up. Hell, it was announced that Favre was going to be on the cover of Madden '09 because it wouldn't matter if the curse hit him or not, because he was out of the game.

Now word has come out today that he has an "itch" to come back and play.

I don't need to go over the guy's career stats with you. Yes, I know, he was a very, very good quarterback and will have a spot shined and ready for him in the Hall of Fame. But dude, enough is enough. How is the franchise ever going to succeed if there are lingering sentiments of a Favre return? Coach Mike McCarthy even admitted he tried to talk Number 4 out of retirement. He has played it down for the most part saying it's just a rumor. That really isn't doing it for me. If you aren't going to come back, be clear about it. Espn.com is reporting that a Packer source has told them:

"Favre has communicated his potential desire to coach Mike McCarthy but talks have not advanced to a substantive stage."

I don't even want to know their definition of substantive. The thing is, Brett might really be done with playing the game of football. But you know ESPN is going to jump at every tidbit of info regarding some Ali-like return. Fueling the flames as it were. When he gave his retirement speech, there just wasn't an air of finalty to the whole thing. Training camp starts in roughly a month. If Rogers (or Brohm) and the Packers want to make anything out of this season, they need to do it without Favre looming in the shadows like some old creep with popsicles in his basement. He made his mark on the game, but now, he needs to do the right thing and reassure everyone-the fans, the organization, the coach and his former teammates-that he is 100% retired. Those two years remaining on his contract will go untouched. He wll even call Ben Stiller looking for work if that's what it takes. I am not a Packers fan by any stretch of the imagination, but c'mon Brett. Let ESPN blow up some other story. Let Aaron Rodgers at least have the chance to win Packers fans over. Let the past be the past.

Gee, all this talk about the NFL is getting me pumped for the season. I can't wait for the first Monday Night Game. Wonder who's playing...