Dave’s Football Blog

In the middle of what is proving to be an excruciatingly bad week for me personally, I can take some comfort in the fact that no prominent world leaders have pilfered my Super Bowl ring.

Then again, maybe it was a gift. It’s not like Bob Kraft doesn’t have two others, right?

Don’t go drag racing with the cheerleaders. It’s bad for your career.

Clark Judge of CBS Sportsline has a hunch about which teams will be most improved next season. At the top of the list? The Arizona Cardinals.

The Cardinals? Say what?

Actually, I’m inclined to agree. The Cardinals showed a little improvement last year under head coach Dennis Green — until he lost his mind and put Shawn King in the lineup, anyway — and they’re in the NFC West, the worst division in the NFL. The Rams and Seahawks are .500 teams at best who didn’t seem to improve much in the offseason, and the 49ers are going to be a joke for at least another two or three years.

So it’s not much of a climb for Arizona from third to first, especially when you consider the Cardinals added Kurt Warner and J.J. Arrington in the offseason. If the offensive line is any good, those additions could pay big dividends early on. The jury may be out on Warner, but don’t forget that he went 5-2 with the Giants before outside pressure pushed Eli Manning into the starting role.

Who else does Mr. Judge dig? Yep, it’s the Panthers…

They’re one season removed from the Super Bowl, so they’re not exactly emerging out of nowhere. But the Panthers lost seven of their first eight in 2004 and finished with their fourth losing season in five years.

That changes this year for all the right reasons: 1) They made strong free-agent moves, including the signings of cornerback Ken Lucas and offensive lineman Mike Wahle; 2) They hit it big in the draft, with the addition of safety Thomas Davis; 3) Wide receiver Steve Smith is back after missing all but one game and; 4) so is one of their top running backs, DeShaun Foster.

Judge is also downplaying the role of rookie RB Eric Shelton, who’s looking more and more like he’ll be a major factor this season, especially if Wahle improves the offensive line as much as everyone thinks he will. There’s even talk of cutting He Hate Me for lack of roster space…

This is usually the kind of crap I dish out on my other blog, but this is an NFL story, so I feel obligated to put it here.

Sprint is working out a $200 million deal with the NFL that would allow them to serve up live game information and video highlights of games on mobile phones.

You’re now wondering how in the world Sprint could deliver video to a cell phone. Well, Sprint is rolling out a new wireless technology called EVDO, which allows you to download data at near-broadband speeds — 300-500 Kbps — wherever you can get mobile phone signal. Verizon uses the same technology their VCast video service, so Sprint’s NFL highlight package should be similar to that.

Here is Sprint’s rollout schedule for EVDO.

On top of that, ESPN Mobile leases Sprint’s network, and it plans to broadcast Monday Night Football games on EVDO-capable mobile phones starting in 2006. Of course, whether any battery pack will actually last long enough to let you watch a 3-hour football game on your phone remains to be seen…

The man who created the Terrible Towel is hanging up his headphones. Myron Cope, who has announced for Pittsburgh Steelers games for the last 35 years, announced his retirement today. No replacement has been announced as of yet, but who could ever replace the master of “Yoi!?”

John Madden is not a cable guy. He just as old school as the major television networks. So it should come as no surprise to anyone that Madden will move to NBC for their Sunday Night Football telecast in 2006.

In case you missed it, NBC paid $600 million to get the Sunday Night Game for six years, starting in 2006. (Satan had no comment.) Meanwhile, Monday Night Football, a staple on ABC for the last 36 years, is moving to ESPN after this season, leaving ABC free to show free to air something special for the ladies on Mondays.

The question now is whether Al Michaels will join Madden. As much as I like Michaels, I hope not. Michaels and Madden are both great announcers, but they’re not very good together. Madden had a rhythm with Pat Summerall that he clearly lacks with Michaels, and it would be good to hear Madden with a different play-by-play guy. Dick Enberg? Mike Patrick? Al Trautwig? Brian Collins?

CBS Sportsline is reporting that the Baltimore Ravens are crafting a playbook that makes quarterback Kyle Boller the focus of the offense.

Isn’t this akin to putting Homer Simpson in charge of the nuclear plant? What has Kyle Boller done in the last two years to prove he’s worth this sort of effort? I understand that you have to justify your investment to some extent, but this move has disaster written all over it. By Week 5, Brian Billick will be ripping up the playbook and telling Boller to give Jamal Lewis the ball…

Panthers running back Stephen Davis, who was a crucial player during the team’s Super Bowl run two seasons ago, seems awfully eager to get back into playing shape.

You would be, too, if you suddenly found yourself third on the depth chart. The Sporting News is reporting that rookie Eric Shelton may challenge DeShaun Foster as the team’s starting running back, because Shelton is proving to be more durable than Foster and less prone to fumbling.

I don’t want to count Davis out just yet, because I was dead wrong about Jerome Bettis being done, but even if Davis is healthy, he’s also 31 and coming off knee surgery. Shelton might be the better option this season.

The fallout from Kellen Winslow Sr.’s attack on the media demonstrates just how old school the man is. Here’s a quote he served up to NewsChannel 5 in Cleveland:

“All I ask is that you be fair. And not bring that lack of respect you might have for those individuals, who are competing into your writing. Be a reporter. I don’t want to hear your opinion.”

Wow. It’s a good thing there weren’t any bloggers around when he was bashing reporters, because one of them might have actually given him an opinion, and we all know just how dangerous an opinion can be…

Clark Judge asks a question that absolutely baffles me: “Kordell Stewart, where are you?”

It seems Mr. Judge cannot understand why Stewart, an MVP candidate 4 years ago, is now unsigned and unwanted by most NFL teams.

Clark, let me lay it out for you. Kordell Stewart never should have been a quarterback. He was far more dangerous as a wideout and kick returner, and if he had any sense, he would not have insisted he was a quarterback. He was always inconsistent in the pocket, and his AFC playoff performances over the years proved he would never be able to lead a team to the Super Bowl. Now he’s older and a step slower and not all that interesting to anyone.

Think about this: if Stewart were such a great QB, why did Tommy Maddox replace him?

Had Kordell Stewart stayed at wideout, I think we would be talking about him in the same breath as Terrell Owens, Randy Moss and Marvin Harrison. Plus, the Steelers would have drafted Chad Pennington instead of Plaxico Burress in 2000, and he would have had a hell of a deep threat in Stewart.

Now, Stewart is an example of what not to do with your NFL career. You think Antwaan Randle El and Ronald Curry haven’t learned from Slash’s mistakes? Those two will likely have longer and more fruitful careers in the NFL than Kordell Stewart. Just watch.