Friday was a pretty good day for the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Not only did Justin Verlander come within two outs of his third career no-hitter in a 6-0 shutout of the Pittsburgh Pirates, but Detroit Lions receiver Calvin Johnson provided some interesting fireworks for the home crowd before the game even started.

Johnson warms up with a couple hacks, the third swing provides a blooper not unlike the Josh Harrison single that ended Verlander’s potential gem, and then … wham! Swing #5 heads out to the bullpen.

Not surprisingly, Johnson has been a baseball guy for a long time. The former centerfielder grew up in Tyrone, Ga., with a love for the game and didn’t play football for the first time until the seventh grade. “My mom wouldn’t let me play,” Johnson told the Lions’ official website just one day before his BP dinger. “I always wanted to play, but she wouldn’t let me when I was little. She was afraid I’d get hurt.”

Baseball was something Johnson did from a much earlier age. “I know more baseball history than I know football history,” he said. “I’ve always been a Ken Griffey fan … [Fred] McGriff was my dude. He had long arms and used to have his own baseball camp — I remember all of that.”

Johnson was contacted by the Tigers and asked to throw out the first pitch of the Pirates game, with the added perk that he could grab a bat as well. He did the same in 2007, and he’s the second Lions player to do so this season — quarterback Matthew Stafford (a pitcher in high school) had the honor on April 22.

Johnson remembers pitching as well (“My best pitches were slider and cut fastball — cut fastball was my best”) but he really wanted to knock one out of there.

The man known as “Megatron,” quite possibly the best receiver in the game, recently agreed to a huge new contract — $132 million over eight seasons, with $60 million guaranteed. It’s a testament to his ridiculous talent and work ethic that his own coach, Jim Schwartz, has said that Johnson may be underpaid.

“Calvin’s one of those guys that, and we’ve said this about a few guys in our building now, that whatever you pay him is not enough,” Schwartz said at the presser announcing the deal.

Of course, he didn’t have to pay to get into the park, but if he did, Johnson would have had enough scratch to treat the receiver buddies he took along.

“Me and the fellas get to go to the game. We’ll have a good time. We get to meet the team, that’ll be fun.”

“I love hitting home runs,” he said very prophetically, just a few hours before he did just that. He then gave a signed football to manager Jim Leyland, who may have wondered if Johnson was available to hit clean-up.

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It turns out that Lawrence Taylor didn’t even know his own Super Bowl ring was up for auction.

If you missed it, Taylor’s Super Bowl XXV ring went on the auction block on at SCPAuctions.com earlier this week. Now it turns out that it was Taylor’s son was the one that put the ring up for auction.

Jay Glazer of FOXSports spoke with Taylor who didn’t know if was for sale. Taylor says that it was his son that did it, and that he can do whatever he wants with it.

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Any website can post “offseason grades” for NFL teams, mixing the draft and free agency into transaction soup, then straining it through the mind of some sportswriter who doesn’t know who half the players are. Only the Shutdown Corner has the resources to get actual players, coaches, and executives from each team to evaluate their own offseasons! That’s right: over the next few weeks, you will get transaction evaluations straight from the horse’s mouths: straight talk about who was signed, who was lost, who was drafted, and why.

(For the satirically challenged: all player, coach, and executive remarks are made by an impersonator).

In this segment, Cardinals quarterback (at least for now) Kevin Kolb breaks down the Arizona Cardinals’ offseason moves.

KEVIN KOLB: Howdy folks. Don’t mind me. I’m just tyin’ a few flies, polishin’ up the outboard motor, gettin’ ready to hit the lake. Goin’ fishin’ right after we’re done. It won’t take long, ‘cuz the Cardinals didn’t do much this offseason.

We didn’t get a new quarterback for one thing. Sure, the team chased Peyton Manning, but that was one big river bass with a lot of fight in him. So the quarterback job is mine to lose. And don’t you worry, I’m gonna lose it.

It’s not that John Skelton is any better than me: he may have led just as many fourth-quarter comebacks as Tim Tebow last year (four), but only city slickers and TV blowhards in fancy suits pay attention to those cow chips. I just have no idea what to do in the pocket. So the third or fourth time I roll to my right and get dragged down by Aldon Smith or somebody, Coach Whisenhunt’s gonna decide it’s time to cut some fresh bait.

I know Larry Fitzgerald’s happy about our new second receiver, Malcolm Floyd. Floyd liked to hit the honky-tonks in college, but he’s a big guy, and when he wants to be, he can be as fast as a boar gettin’ flushed by three hound dogs.

We also have a new guard, Adam Snyder, who will take over for Rex Hadnot. Wanna hear something funny? Hadnot was the only Cardinals offensive line starter who didn’t recover a fumble last year. That doesn’t mean my blockers, like Levi Brown and Brandon Keith, are heads-up athletes. It just means I fumble a lot: eight times last year. So this year, I’m gonna drop back, see Fitzgerald double-covered, forget all about Floyd, roll right thinkin’ that I’m Cam Newton or somebody and can outrun Bruce Irvin or Trent Cole, get hit, fumble, and Snyder’s gonna be there to fall on it. Then Skelton can lead the comeback.

That’s about it for the major moves. We didn’t do much on defense, but Sam Acho and Patrick Peterson had fine rookie years and look like they are gonna be keepers. Other than Floyd, we didn’t do much in the draft. We didn’t even have a second round pick, because the Cardinals traded it to get … me. Sometimes I worry that I might be part of the problem. Then I think, heck, it’s not my fault you traded so much for me. It’s not my fault you paid me so much, then paid my roster bonus this offseason. Then I just take my boat out to the other side of the lake, drop a line, listen to the dragonflies buzz, and reckon I’ll just enjoy the ride while it lasts.

Tanier’s Team Reports:
Indianapolis Colts | St. Louis Rams | Minnesota Vikings | Tampa Bay Buccaneers| Cleveland Browns | Washington Redskins | Jacksonville Jaguars | Miami Dolphins | Carolina Panthers

View full post on Shutdown Corner – NFL – Yahoo! Sports

Any website can post “offseason grades” for NFL teams, mixing the draft and free agency into transaction soup, then straining it through the mind of some sportswriter who doesn’t know who half the players are. Only the Shutdown Corner has the resources to get actual players, coaches, and executives from each team to evaluate their own offseasons! That’s right: over the next few weeks, you will get transaction evaluations straight from the horse’s mouths: straight talk about who was signed, who was lost, who was drafted, and why.

(For the satirically challenged: all player, coach, and executive remarks are made by an impersonator).

In this segment, Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll breaks down his team’s offseason moves.

PETE CARROLL: What an awesome day! The sun is shining! The birds are chirping! Let me give a shout out to all the folks at The Circle Perk coffee shop for working so hard to keep all of us energized! And to all the crossing guards making sure kids get to school safely! And to the Seattle-area sewer workers: you guys are the thin line that separates good citizens from their own filth, and I cannot thank you enough!

Fans really need to get amped about our three-way quarterback battle. The front-runner is Matt Flynn, who got America totally stoked in that awesome Packers-Lions game in Week 17. Next, there’s rookie Russell Wilson, who is short but fiery. Isn’t that right, Russell?

RUSSELL WILSON: Grrrrrr…

PETE CARROLL: I love this kid! He’s like a feral cat! And finally, there’s Tarvaris Jackson, the Taylor Hicks of NFL quarterbacks. You don’t like him, you keep expecting him to lose, and then bang! He finds a way to win a starting job, if not many games.

But enough about the offense. Let’s talk defense!! We are going to have one of the best front sevens in the NFL!! Defensive tackle Jason Jones had a great, if quiet, season for the Titans last year. First-round pick Bruce Irvin may have seemed like a reach, but that is only because West Virginia had this crazy idea that a 245-pound speedster was a good fit at defensive end. I like my defensive ends Red Bryant-sized! When I am not being enthusiastic about everything, you can find me in my office drawing up creative defenses, and Irvin is going to be everywhere the offense doesn’t expect him to be!!!

Irvin and Wilson had awesome rookie camps. In fact, all of the rookies had awesome camps, as did our parking lot attendants and the people who work so hard to make sure the office wastebaskets are clean enough to guzzle energy drink out of!! Let me dedicate my Song of the Day to the rookies: “Dog Days are Over” by Florence + the Machine! That’s right: I’m a 60-year old man who listens to Florence + the Machine!!! Nicky Minaj, too! And don’t forget Ke$ha, who is tiny and has a nasty attitude, just like Russell Wilson!!!

RUSSELL WILSON: Grrrr…

PETE CARROLL: Excellent growling, buddy!! Sure, not everything is mega-awesome just yet. We have work to do on the offensive line, where newcomers Frank Omiyale and Deuce Lutui will compete for reps. Lutui is a vegan now. How cool is that!?!? He’s a 340-pound vegan, which is why we have converted two of our practice fields into quinoa farms. We also signed Alex Barron, who was famous for his false starts when he played for the Rams. I am not sure where he fits, but if he becomes an Extreme Juicer or militant locavore, I will make sure he has a place on this roster!!!!!

Okay, it’s time for my Pilates, then yoga, some transcendental meditation, a frozen yogurt, a brisk jog around the lake while jamming to Adele, and two hours of Happy Days reruns!!!! You guys have been an ultra-super audience!!!!! I love the 12^th man!!!! I love the Seahawks!!!!!! I love America!!!!!! I love life!!!!!! This is going to be the best football season ever!!!!!!

I have to go now. Russell Wilson is gnawing on Tarvaris Jackson’s leg, and Lutui is grazing in the rhododendrons.

Tanier’s Team Reports:
Indianapolis Colts | St. Louis Rams | Minnesota Vikings | Tampa Bay Buccaneers| Cleveland Browns | Washington Redskins | Jacksonville Jaguars | Miami Dolphins | Carolina Panthers | Arizona Cardinals

View full post on Shutdown Corner – NFL – Yahoo! Sports

By AP

The Bengals signed cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick of Alabama to a four-year contract on Friday, the first time in nine years that they’ve reached a deal so quickly with their top pick.

Kirkpatrick was the first of Cincinnati’s two picks in the opening round, going 17th overall. He’s expected to compete for a starting job. Leon Hall, the Bengals’ top cornerback, is recovering from a torn Achilles tendon and is expected to be ready for the season.

It’s the second year in a row that the Bengals have signed their top pick before the start of training camp. The club had a history of holdouts until a rookie salary cap was instituted under the collective bargaining agreement last year.

Receiver A.J. Green, the club’s first-round pick in 2011, signed a day before training camp opened.

Kirkpatrick’s signing is the quickest by a first-round Bengals pick since 2003, when the club reached an agreement with quarterback Carson Palmer before the draft. The Bengals were free to negotiate with Palmer because they had the top overall pick.

”It’s great for the club and great for Dre to have him signed this early,” coach Marvin Lewis said. ”Contracts can be a distraction for young guys drafted high, but now he can put all that behind him and focus on making himself better and making us a better team.”

The Bengals traded Palmer to Oakland during last season in exchange for a couple of draft picks, including the 17th overall choice that they used on Kirkpatrick. They used their own pick to get Wisconsin guard Kevin Zeitler, who hasn’t yet signed.

Cincinnati now has six of its 10 picks under contract.

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Robert Griffin III was at ease in a Thursday appearance on “The Tonight Show,” riffing with host Jay Leno, playfully teasing guest Hugh Laurie (“House”) and revealing that two massage chairs will be his first big purchase with his NFL money.

In the first clip, Griffin talks about his marriage proposal and gives Leno and Laurie a gift. I don’t know whether Griffin was fed the line about House’s tie or whether he ad-libbed it, but it was impeccably timed and perfectly delivered either way. /swoon

Yes, his adidas shirt says “Don’t be Trippin.”

In the next clip (which is actually the first clip chronologically), Griffin talks about his socks, his biggest game and gives a shout out to military families.

I’m a little worried that RGIII may not be totally genuine. It’s not because of his pitch-perfect stories or All-American upbringing or his wits, charisma and smile, but because he laughs a little too hard at Leno’s jokes. Like way too hard.

View full post on Shutdown Corner – NFL – Yahoo! Sports

Former running back Deuce McAllister and Saints owner Tom Benson have been elected to the Saints Hall of Fame.

The hall, which runs independently from the club, made the announcement on Friday. Formal inductions are scheduled Sept. 21.

McAllister played eight seasons for the Saints after they made him a first-round pick out of Mississippi in 2001. He retired as the leading rusher franchise history with 6,096 yards and as the club’s all-time touchdown leader with 55.

“It’s an honor for me to be recognized by the Hall of Fame for my contributions but really this is about my teammates,” McAllister said. “They were the reason I was able to accomplish the things I was to accomplish during my career. It’s an honor be inducted with Mr. Benson, who didn’t have to do what he did when he bought the team back in 1985, but he did it because he loves New Orleans.”

Benson, a New Orleans native, has owned the Saints since 1985. All nine of New Orleans’ playoff appearances and lone Super Bowl title have come since then.

“You all didn’t always agree with me, and I always didn’t agree with you,” Benson said to members of the media who made up the selection committee that voted him into the hall. “It’s been a wonderful 25 years for me, and I hope it’s been a wonderful 25 years for you and our fans. We’re looking for better things to come. We’re looking to be better, and we’re looking to be stronger.

“I look forward to the 2012 season and I especially look forward to making history,” Benson continued. “This is our goal right now, to win the Super Bowl in our own stadium. We’re going to work hard to accomplish that under trying circumstances. There’s an old saying that when the going gets tough, the tough get going. We’re going to be tough.”

The hall is also naming a “legacy gallery” for former special teams standout Steve Gleason, a fan favorite who is struggling with Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Gleason may be best known for blocking a punt in the Saints’ first game played in the Superdome after the stadium had undergone extensive renovations to repair damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. He married a New Orleans native and settled in the city after he retired in 2008 and has remained popular with fans as well as Saints coaches, officials and current players. He was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in early 2011, and has since initiated a campaign to improve the lives of those living with ALS.

“In my career, I didn’t necessarily fit the mold of an NFL player but I always was creative enough to find a way to fit in,” said Gleason, a world traveler and environmental activist who during his playing days wore his brown hair long and would show up at practice driving a truck that ran on vegetable oil. “I thank the Hall of Fame for being creative enough to find a way to include me, even if it is through the side entrance.

“This city has become my home. And this organization is woven into the fabric of this city,” Gleason said. “Luckily for me, I get to enjoy all of the beautiful parts of this city, and that’s because of this organization.”

View full post on NFL Gridiron Gab

With the draft over and all wrapped up, we thought it would be a good idea to get back on the phone with our buddy Greg Cosell of NFL Films and ESPN’s “NFL Matchup,” and talk about the NFL by division. Who did themselves the most favors in the draft, and who came up short when addressing their roster deficits?

The Shutdown Corner Podcast Greg Cosell on the NFC West draft

We started off with the NFC West last week, and we now move to the hyper-competitive AFC North. Appropriate, given Greg’s recent post on the NFL Films Blog praising the Cincinnati Bengals’ draft strategy. With that in mind, we asked Greg what he thought the Bengals, Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers did to bolster their teams.

Related: [Cosell on quarterbacks, running backs/wide receivers, tight ends/offensive line, OLB/DE/DT stars, the ILB/DB class, and overall draft review]

Baltimore Ravens OLB Courtney Upshaw, and how he’ll be tasked to replace Terrell Suggs: “The Ravens are very versatile with their fronts. Suggs would line up in two-point and three-point stances. He played a number of different positions and alignments — that’s what the Ravens do, and Upshaw fits that role. I don’t think anybody’s going to say that he’s going to do what Suggs has done for a number of years — Suggs is a pretty damned good player — but the way Upshaw plays, I think he could eventually become similar to that guy.”

Cincinnati Bengals OG Kevin Zeitler: “I seem to be in the minority here, and we’ll never know how the Bengals felt because David DeCastro was gone when they picked, but I thought Zeitler was a little more complete than DeCastro — I thought he was a better athlete. I thought he had more scheme-versatility, and he fits very well in a zone run game. I’m not sure DeCastro does. Now, DeCastro fits in the power run game better; that’s what he did at Stanford. But given what the Bengals want their guards to do, I think Zeitler was the better choice, and would have been the better choice had DeCastro been available.”

The Shutdown Corner Podcast: Greg Cosell on the 2012 AFC North Draft

The Cleveland Browns’ first-round selections of Trent Richardson and Brandon Weeden: “Theoretically, you could look at it this way — they ended up with Richardson and Weeden instead of Ryan Tannehill and Doug Martin. And I think Richardson/Weeden is the better combination … in fact, I don’t think, I know. Richardson, we don’t need to discuss … I thought he was the best player in this draft. Weeden has some concerns. He was the best pure pocket passer in this draft, but he’s got meaningful and troublesome issues with pressure. That’s a serious red flag when you transition to the NFL.”

Pittsburgh Steelers RB Chris Rainey: “I love this pick for them. It’s funny how things change in given years, and where people get drafted — I like Rainey more than Dexter McCluster, and McCluster was a second-round pick of the Chiefs [in the 2910 NFL draft]. The reason he’s a fifth-round pick? He is what he is. He’s not a feature back, but you design 12 to 15 plays [around him], whatever you choose — but this guy can score from anywhere on the field.”

As always with everything involving Greg Cosell, this podcast is a must-listen for those fans of advanced tape analysis. Subscribe to the Shutdown Corner iTunes link (in iTunes, go to “Advanced/Subscribe to Podcast,” and paste this link in: http://ysportspods.podbean.com/category/shutdown/feed/). You can also use the link below to either left-click and listen, or right-click to save to your computer.

The Shutdown Corner Podcast: Greg Cosell on the 2012 AFC North Draft

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I remember interviewing then-UCLA defensive lineman Brian Price before the 2010 NFL draft, where he was taken in the second round by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I remember thinking that this kid from the mean streets of Los Angeles had everything it took to succeed in the NFL — talent, work ethic and great intangibles.

What Price hasn’t had through his NFL career is good luck of any kind. He’s suffered many different injuries in the last three seasons, had a revolutionary surgery in which both of his hamstrings were re-attached to his pelvis, and has played in just 20 of a possible 32 games. But last season, he played 15 games, starting 14, and racked up three quarterback sacks.

Price’s personal life has been even more difficult. He had previously lost two brothers to shootings, and last week, his 30-year-old sister Bridget was killed in an auto accident in Inglewood, Calif. Price was so distressed, he eventually had to be hospitalized for dehydration.

“He physically broke down,” his agent, Chuck Price (no relation), told the Los Angeles Times. “He had a high fever, was dehydrated, and couldn’t hold anything down. That stress just plays a wicked role.”

Price, who took his sister’s 7- and 9-year-old children to a Dodgers game the night before their mother was killed, now plans to adopt the children.

Through all the difficulties of his life, Price has persisted and tried his best to get back in the game — now, he has even more inspiration to do so.

“This guy has been in pain for literally a year,” Buccaneers trainer Todd Toriscelli said in September of 2011, as Price tried to find his way back after injuries so severe, he couldn’t put on his shoes by himself. “I’m not talking about just mild discomfort. I’m talking about driving home he’s got to sit on those bones, laying in bed, you just can’t get away from it. Certainly trying to play professional football … it’s just an absolutely remarkable thing, and a compliment to his drive and motivation. He is a very special person, I can tell you that.”

When I talked to Brian Price, I thought he was pretty special, as well. If you have a few extra thoughts and prayers to send his way, I’m sure he’d appreciate it.

View full post on Shutdown Corner – NFL – Yahoo! Sports

Running back Matt Forte’s contract is still an issue the Bears need to resolve. Forte has not participated in the Bears’ voluntary offseason workout program and can’t be fined for missing their mandatory minicamp because he is not under contract.

Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune reports Bears President Ted Phillips said in March the club had made a “strong offer” to Forte. The most General Manager Phil Emery has said is the team continues to work on a deal. Former Packers contract negotiator Andrew Brandt probably summed up the team’s stance perfectly.

“The hardest position to sink long-term money into is running back because it has the shortest shelf life,” Brandt told the Philadelphia Daily News. “There’s a graveyard of bad contracts that were given to running backs over a certain age going back to Eddie George, Corey Dillon, Jamal Anderson and Shaun Alexander.”

Recent pay days Forte will examine, along with the McCoy deal, are contracts given to Arian Foster ($20.75 million guaranteed), DeAngelo Williams ($21 million guaranteed) and Marshawn Lynch ($17 million guaranteed). Unless he’s gunning for a pay day like Adrian Peterson or Chris Johnson received, those seem to be backs that create a range for Forte and the Bears.

The Bears want to make sure they are paying Forte for future performance, not rewarding him for previous accomplishments. He has been a durable performer before the knee sprain that cost him the final four games of 2011, averaging 19.4 touches per game over the last two seasons.

View full post on NFL Gridiron Gab