Dave’s Football Blog

Chuck Potter may be no relation to that little fictional bastard Harry, but he pulled off a nice bit of magic in getting Moon Township to drop the tax charges against his client, Plaxico Burress.

According to Potter, Plax couldn’t possibly owe Moon Township back taxes from 1998 to 2002 because 1.) Plax didn’t actually have a residence in Moon Township until after he was drafted by the Steelers in 2000, and B.) Plax has a “homestead exemption” in Florida, which means only the state of Florida can claim him as a legal resident, no matter how much time he spent in Pennsylvania.

Said Plax’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, “I believe this is a misunderstanding and there won’t be any problems in the future.” This marks the first time Rosenhaus has actually commented on something in weeks.

Thus, the bitter Steelers fans of Moon Township will have to find another way to pay for those new teacher salaries. Such is life in the ‘burbs…

Plaxico Burress owes Pennsylvania some money. And the state wants it now, bitch.

AP is reporting that in Coraopolis District Judge Mary Murray issued an arrest warrant for Plax on Thursday after he failed to appear at a delinquent tax claim hearing Wednesday. How much he owes was not specified in the report, but whatever the amount, it just went up another $2,500 in fines.

The unpaid taxes cover the period from 1998 to 2002. Burress owes a 1% wage tax that will be split between Moon Township and the Moon Area School District. Given the amount of cash Plax probably earned during that period, they must need to hire some new teachers in that district in a hurry…

No, that wasn’t Jamal Lewis in The Longest Yard. He’s actually in prison.

Lewis’ coaches and teammates say he’s holding up very well, but then again, they don’t have to toss anyone’s salad. Of course, Lewis could very well be sheltered from all of that. Even lifers might be a little frightened of Ray Lewis and his posse…

There is no such thing as an objective media. No matter what journalism school teaches people about being non-biased and just presenting the facts, every writer brings his own belief system to his writing.

Take this CBS Sportsline article. Please. Here’s how it starts…

The Greatest Of All Time wants to finish his career as a backup with the Denver Broncos.

You can just feel the bitter disappointment dripping off this guy’s keyboard and gluing its USB connector into the socket, and try explaining that to your IT manager. As if it’s some horrible shame that Jerry Rice wants to get one last gig at the end of his career. Too many people are sitting on their asses and saying Rice should just walk away and call it a career. It’s the same damn story every time a great athlete holds on for a little longer than we think they should.

Shut up! How would you like it if your bosses thought you were too old to do your job and pushed you into early retirement? Let the man play. He’ll be the first to know when he can’t get open anymore. He’s earned it, and he’ll always have more catches than any of you lame media naysayers. What have you people ever caught, anyway, besides a cold and a cab?

Nietzsche would have loved Bill Romanowski.

Here’s a guy who plainly admitted to popping pills to improve his strength and speed artificially, always trying to stay one step ahead of the NFL’s steroid police. By the time they finally caught him, his 16-year career was over. Now he looks back and says, “I pushed the envelope ethically and morally because if I could take something that would help me perform better and it wasn’t on the list, I was going to take it.”

“That’s the learning process. If you continue to do the things that compromise your integrity, then what are you?”

Well, you’re an asshole, for starters…

So here’s the thing.

I’m not going to be the one to tell Jerry Rice that he should retire. Others might, but I won’t.

Because no truly great athlete ever wants to retire. All the great ones will rage against the dying of the light until they can rage no more. We may blather on about how they’re ruining their legacy by playing well past their prime, but do we not still remember them as the best players ever to play their games?

We told Joe Montana he was too old went to Kansas City. We told Emmitt Smith he shouldn’t have gone to Arizona. We told Michael Jordan he was past his prime when he hit the hardwood with the Washington Wizards. We told Gordie Howe he was being foolish when he took the ice with the Hartford Whalers at age 51. We’re probably saying the same thing to Rickey Henderson now as he toils away for the San Diego Surf Dawgs. I won’t even mention the boxers.

Why would they ever want to hang it up? They’re rich, they’re talented, they owned the spotlight, they can do whatever they want with their lives, and they still want to play. Who are we to say they should hang it up if they still feel capable of playing? They have earned the right to choose when to walk away. If Jerry Rice isn’t ready to go, who am I to tell him he’s wrong?

We only say these things because we’re selfish people. Jerry Rice is not spoiling his legacy. He’s only spoiling our memories of him. That’s why people are telling him to walk away. We don’t want to see him at the end of his career, a step slower than he once was, struggling to catch on as a fourth receiver somewhere. We want to remember him as the lithe, graceful MVP he once was. He’s ruining our collective image of him by hanging on, and so we tell him it’s time to hang it up.

Bullshit. Let Jerry Rice play until he can’t play anymore. He’s accomplished far too much on the field for anyone to deny him another shot at Sunday glories. Hell, if he wants to play in the Arena League for a few years, I’ll watch him. He’s Jerry Rice. He’s still the best receiver that ever played the game. Let’s see what he’s got.

The NFL desperately wants to put a franchise back in Los Angeles. The city of Anaheim is positioning itself to have a stadium ready for an NFL franchise by 2008.

Meanwhile, New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson is scrapping with the Louisiana state legislature about his stadium deal and is threatening to move the Saints. Los Angeles is way up on his list, though Benson may do what Bugs Bunny never could and take that left turn at Albuquerque.

It shouldn’t seem so difficult to decide between the 2nd largest media market in the country and a city in a desert whose most famous sports arena is called The Pit. When the smoke clears, I suspect the Angels and Saints will be together on the same fields, right there next to Disneyland. I’m sure some of those wacky Dominionists will see it as a sign…

Former New York Jets kicker Doug Brien recently became the latest in a long line of kickers who lost their job because of poor performance in Heinz Field, the Bermuda Triangle of kickers.

After being cut by the Jets, Brien managed to sign with the Chicago Bears. Of course, the Bears forgot to tell Brien that he would have to kick in Pittsburgh again on Dec. 11. Try to get a good night’s sleep with that on your mind…

…and my girlfriend would wipe the floor with you at any bowling alley in America. Your new nickname on this blog is “Gutterballs.”

Anyone who knows me (or reads my other blog) knows that I’m a Duke basketball fanatic. I’m usually on top of any news associated with the Blue Devils. So I’m still wondering how I missed this one…

Reggie Love, the Duke wide receiver who rejoined the basketball team last year after getting cut by the Green Bay Packers in training camp, signed a free agent contract with the Dallas Cowboys last week. Love, who is 6′4″ and weighs 224 lbs., will apparently be shifted to linebacker — which seems odd to me, given the number of former basketball stars at tight end in the NFL right now.