Who will the Packers host in the NFL’s Thursday night opener?
The NFL schedule will be released sometime in the next few days
labor agreement or not. One of the biggest questions ahead of the release is who the Green Bay Packers will face in the traditional league’s Thursday night season opener. Shutdown Corner looks at the chances for the eight teams who will visit Lambeau Field this year and assigned completely arbitrary percentages to all the possibilities: 8. Detroit Lions — The Lions haven’t played in primetime since 2002. Recent news that the team’s nabbed a nationally televised appearance in the preseason was greeted with excitement in the Detroit area
so getting the league’s marquee regular season spot may be a ways away. WAYS away. Chance: 0% 7. Denver Broncos — Unless John Fox announces that John Elway will return to play quarterback and Tim Tebow will play all the other 21 positions on the field
don’t expect to see the Mile High crew in Lambeau. Chance: 0% 6. St. Louis Rams — Pros: Surprise 2010 playoff team
next potential quarterbacking star
underrated running back. Cons: Are St. Louis Rams. Chance: 2% 5. Minnesota Vikings — In theory
this should be a zero. But in theory
communism works and Brett Favre would have stayed retired the first time. Chance: 3% 4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers — There’s going to be one team that gets too many primetime games based on last year’s late-season push. (See: Cleveland Browns
2008; San Francisco 49ers
2010.) My bet for this year is the Bucs. Chance: 3% 3. Oakland Raiders — Of course
it could be the Raiders
too. We give them the slight edge here because of the team’s national following but not too much of one because showing Al Davis on live TV might be considered an FCC violation. Chance: 5% 2. Chicago Bears — One of the top rivalries in football
a rematch of last year’s competitive (if slightly boring) NFC championship game and a golden opportunity to show countless replays on Jay Cutler casually standing on the sideline. It’s a perfect opener for the NFL and NBC except for one thing: Since the tradition of the defending Super Bowl champions hosting the Thursday night opener began in 2004
a divisional matchup has only been featured once (in 2008
when the New York Giants played the Washington Redskins). Chance: 42% 1. New Orleans Saints — A matchup of the last two Super Bowl champions
each of which are helmed by marquee quarterbacks
would be a nice way for the NFL to start the process of healing after the lockout. If the game is half as good as it sounds
that process should last all of three hours. Chance: 45%
Adelman out as Rockets coach (AP)
Rick Adelman is out as coach of the Houston Rockets. The team announced that the Rockets and Adelman “have mutually agreed to part ways.” Adelman’s contract expires on June 30. General manager Daryl Morey said in a statement Monday night that the decision came after “numerous discussions and careful consideration.” “It has been a privilege and an honor to work with and…
Draft guide rips Newton personally – how much is too much?
Every year
I read and enjoy the Pro Football Weekly draft guide written by Nolan Nawrocki — it’s a very well-done and comprehensive guide that I put up there with the information given by Russ Lande of the Sporting News
and Rob Rang and Chad Reuter of NFLDraftScout.com (who strike me as the best in the business) when I want contrasting but trusted voices on draft-eligible players. And one of the main things I like about the pre-draft process is that aside from the ceaseless speculation about which prospect’s stock is rising and falling based on artificial factors (which you can easily sidestep if you just know who to avoid)
it’s more about watching tape and comparing football attributes than it is about throwing ridiculous rumors or baseless speculation out there. Sure
there seems t
o be one fake drug rumor per year
but those rumors generally come from “sources” in the second tier of the draft-o-sphere. And that’s why Nawrocki’s takedown of Auburn quarterback Cam Newton was both shocking and very much outside the box. As much as Nawrocki talked about what Newton brings to the field
he also went way off the reservation and got deep into what he considers to be Newton’s personal failings. Under “negatives” for Newton
Nawrocki writes
“Very disingenuous — has a fake smile
comes off as very scripted and has a selfish
me-first makeup. Always knows where the cameras are and plays to them. Has an enormous ego with a sense of entitlement that continually invites trouble and makes him believe he is above the law — does not command respect from teammates and will always struggle to win a locker room . . . Lacks accountability
focus and trustworthiness — is not punctual
seeks shortcuts and sets a bad example. Immature and has had issues with authority. Not dependable.” Now
I’m not arguing the merits of Nawrocki’s evaluation — I’ve heard enough “interesting” things about Newton from trusted sources to wonder if he has the tremendous mental fortitude it takes to be a successful NFL quarterback. I guess the question is — how much amateur psychology do you want in your draft guide? There’s no question that Newton has a very scripted notion of how to deal with the media; that’s why he opened his combine press conference with a pre-written statement. And there’s been enough off-field controversy linked to Newton’s name to make teams wonder if he’ll bear down when he needs to at the next level. But “enormous ego with a sense of entitlement”? “Always knows where the cameras are and plays to them”? How relevant are these evaluations to Newton’s future success? You could probably say these things about more than a few successful NFL players at any given time (and you could absolutely say them about one certain currently retired quarterback who may or may not stay retired for too long). And what does his “fake smile” have to do with anything? As I said
I respect Nawrocki’s opinion of draft-eligible players about as much as I respect the opinions of anyone who does this for a living. And just to make it clear
I’m planning to buy the guide this year
and I encourage others to do the same. But I question how relevant certain personal things are if you’re not a team possibly investing millions of dollars in a prospect. In those circumstances
I would absolutely want to know every little thing about Cam Newton
and I can then decide to separate the stuff from the stuff. And as a reader of other draft evaluations
I want to know if a player has been suspended from a program
or beat someone up in a frat house
or has been busted for PEDs. But I’m not sure how interesting or relevant it is that the prospect I’m reading about is unlikeable
phony
or has a bit too much media savvy for his own good. How much is too much? Follow Yahoo! Sports on Facebook and be the first to know about the most interesting stories of the day. Other popular Yahoo! Sports stories: • Jose Canseco caught in prank with twin • Kristi Yamaguchi thriving in a new career • MLB star had AK-47 stolen while at game
