As 20, 000 plus Eagles fans gather to watch a team with great expectations go through training camp everyday, their star free-agent, Terrell Owens, knows that he must play a crucial role in fulfilling those expectations. The Eagles fans are aware of this, as they shout out choruses of “T.O.” chants frequently during practices. They are aware of this as they camp out overnight to get Owens’ autograph. They are aware of this as they buy out the Eagles tickets for the entire season, in a matter of 20 minutes.
Category: NFL
NFL
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What will Ricky be when he grows up?
A few questions for Ricky.
Athletic greatness is molded around a limited range of buzzwords. From passion and dedication to work ethic and perseverance, athletes are heralded for overcoming human shortfall and weakness, even if just momentarily.
As Ricky Williams packs up his locker in Miami and says goodbye to the world of football in favor of foreign soil and exploration, he’s openly defied the expectation.
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Early NFC nod: Seahawks or Eagles
The NFC has improved dramatically during the 2004 off-season thus far. A conference loaded with premiere coaches, especially in the East, has propelled the NFC to the top of the football world. Two teams in particular have raised the bar of excellence and will battle it out for the coveted bid to the 2005 Super Bowl.
These two teams are the Seattle Seahawks, and the Philadelphia Eagles. Seattle was a first round exit last year losing in overtime to the Green Bay Packers. Philly came so close but for the third straight year, couldn’t quite get over the hump in the NFC. Both teams will be seeking a vengeance and you can bet they’ll be ready for round two.
DE Bert Berry did a fabulous job for Denver last season. But he did so at the expense of Trevor Pryce, who took most teams double teams.
This year Berry will be the Arizona Cardinals’ Pryce. Will he be able to come up with 8.5 sacks facing double teams every down, as Pryce did last season? Probably not. And who will take advantage of Berry’s double teams for AZ? Berry got a nice pay day, and he deserved it, but it was also a move that will make him look like a one year wonder if head coach Dennis Green doesn’t get him some first rate help in the next year or two.
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Easy Pickings
Ricky Williams has walked away from football and everybody is angry. Dolphin fans want his once dreadlocked head and management just wants him to reconsider. There were multiple reasons Ricky gave for his early retirement, but all the focus has fallen on a simple plant know as Cannabis Sativa. Here is the story from a rare point of view. Note to the easily offended; please take this as a tongue-in-cheek article and also get a life.
Thursday, July 29, 2004, is a gorgeous day here in the Hub of the Universe, Boston, Massachusetts. Unlike yesterday where I braved the rain, security, and the supposed transportation nightmare of the Democratic National Convention to attend a rally at the Charlestown Navy Yard, today is a beautiful, sunny day. The birds along Commonwealth Avenue are chirping, the flowers in the Public Garden have never looked more radiant, and the golden Bulfinch dome of the State House is shining triumphantly in the sun (when it is not being obscured by green-clad snipers armed with machine guns). The weather seems to be metaphorically representative of this most anticipated of moments, the long awaited day when hometown Senator John F. Kerry of Beacon Hill steps to the podium at the Fleet Center and delivers a speech accepting his party’s nomination for President of the United States.
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Ricky finds his euphoria
So, Ricky, are you happy now? You had one hell of a career, a great city to play for, and millions of adoring fans screaming your name. And now you have nothing. You left behind your great career, your great city, and your great fans all for some addictive and deadly grass you dope heads smoke because you have nothing better to do with your lives. Go ahead Ricky, smoke your weed, connect with your true self, and leave everything behind that you worked so hard to achieve. Just don’t come crying back to us when you realize that your misconceived sense of euphoria has left you because you ran out of dope to burn.
This NFL off-season has had its share of big stories. First we had the Terrell Owens fiasco. His agent reportedly screwed him out of becoming an unrestricted free agent by not submitting the proper paperwork on time. He then seeks a trade, but gets traded to a team he doesn’t want to play for, the Ravens. Then he forces a trade to the grateful Eagles. The Eagles desperately needed to make a move like this. With T.O. on board, a Super Bowl could finally become a reality for a team that has faced so much disappointment the last three seasons. If that doesn’t work for them, then what will?
It’s easy to become philosophical when you think of Ricky Williams.
Oh, I’m sure people will have their theories about Williams. Some accuse him of being a pothead, and I definitely agree that this is widely accepted in the NBA, but it’s beyond that. Others, like the fantasy freaks, call him lazy and selfish. The masses will call him an unknown, who believes that he is beyond football.
He just wants want to do something more than carrying a football. (Sounds a little like unselfish Pat Tillman.)
And he might be a saint for it (not the New Orlean kind).
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Who Can Surprise the NFL in 2004?
The five year rebuilding program used to be the norm in the NFL, but not anymore. Any coach trying to sell the fans on a lengthy rebuilding process will be gone quicker than it takes The Donald to quip “You’re fired!” NFL teams in the new millennium can watch the playoffs from home one year and find themselves in the Super Bowl the next season. Trying to predict that Cinderella team is where it gets tricky. I took a stab at what teams could surprise in 2004, but I’m sure everybody has their own favorites.