WATCH!! Ravens RB Ray Rice Drags Unconscious Fiancée After Alleged Assault!

A newly released surveillance video from a hotel in Atlantic City allegedly shows Baltimore Ravens star Ray Rice dragging his unconscious fiancée out of an elevator.

Police allege that the video was shot just moments after Rice and his fiancée, Janay Palmer, were involved in an altercation at Revel, a casino in Atlantic City, TMZ reports.

 

The surveillance video can be viewed below, courtesy of TMZ.

In the footage, Rice can be seen attempting to carry an unresponsive Palmer out of an elevator.
As Rice exits the elevator with his fiancée, he’s confronted by a man in a suit, who appears to be a security guard. Near the end of the video, Palmer appears to regain consciousness.
In an interview with TMZ, Rice’s attorney, who had not watched the surveillance footage, stated that “Neither Ray nor myself will try this case in the media.”

“However, the video that’s being posted by TMZ Sports is not the complete event, but is merely the end result of what transpired,” he added. “We’ll asure the public that when this matter is fully tried and completed, you’ll have a better understanding of what happened, and we ask the public to reserve making any judgment until all of the facts come out.”
Both Rice and Palmer were later arrested and charged with assault, TMZ reported. Atlantic City police claim that the couple struck each other during a 3 a.m. domestic dispute. “After reviewing surveillance footage it appeared both parties were involved in a physical altercation. The complaint summons indicates that both Rice and Palmer struck each other with their hands.”
The pair were booked on charges of simple domestic assault and released shortly thereafter, the website reported. They each refused medical attention.

Oklahoma's NCAA Violations Include Illegal Use of Pasta???

The University of Oklahoma had self-admitted NCAA violations today, which include three player eating excess pasta at a non-team banquet, this according to ESPN.

Yes, you read that correctly – the violations include players eating too much.
Each of the three players will repay $3.83 to charity for their over-abundance to pasta.

Per SportsCenter:

Oklahoma self-reported NCAA violations, including 3 players eating excess pasta at a banquet. Each gave $3.83 to charity to be reinstated.

Slate.com has more on the issue:

Violation: Three current student-athletes received food in excess of NCAA regulation at a graduation banquet. The three had graduated from the school but returned for an additional season of competition. The players were provided pasta in excess of the permissible amount allowed.

Although the players were not identified, offensive linemen Gabe Ikard and Austin Woods took to Twitter to fess up for piling on the pasta and claim they paid $5 for the food.

Seriously – too much pasta?!?! Now you can’t even eat if you’re a college athlete?

Baby Gets Crossed Over During Streetball Game (Video)

Rockin’ flip-flops and socks, this man completely disrespected his competition with a series of killer crossovers and shifty dribble moves. He put his defender on her diaper. Yea "Diaper".....His competition is a little girl less than 2 years old? Check out the video below.

Fan Videobombs Wes Welker with Drop and Choke Signs at Knicks Game!!!!

Denver Broncos receiver Wes Welker has been a target for New York fans throughout his career, dating back to his time with the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots.

Welker is in town as the Broncos prepare for Super Bowl XLVIII, and he, along with fellow wideouts Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker, decided to attend a New York Knicks game at Madison Square Garden.
When he and his teammates were shown on the video board, Welker fell victim to an outstanding videobomb—complete with drop and choke gestures—by a fan behind him.

The Super Bowl's CRAZY mandatory traffic regulations!!!!!

Every year, the Super Bowl moves farther away from "football game" and closer toward "trip through airport security." This year's model features some of the most restrictive regulations on transportation in the game's history. To wit:

• You cannot take a cab to the game.

• You cannot take a limo to the game.

• You cannot, we presume, ride a horse to the game.

• You cannot walk to the game.

• No tailgating, unless you're inside your own car.

• You can risk driving your own car for said tailgate, at a cost of $150 per pass, but if you don't leave now, you're going to get caught in traffic.

Here's what you can do:

• Pack onto New Jersey Transit shuttle buses from Secaucus, N.J., which is every bit as inviting as it sounds.

• Shell out $51 per person for the NFL-approved shuttle system.

Yep, that's right. As part of what the NFL is calling the "first mass-transit Super Bowl," you get the distinct honor of being one of the first people to pay $51 (why $51? why not $50? or $48?) to leave from one of nine designated pickup locations throughout the greater New York-New Jersey area to get to the Meadowlands. Lucky you!

Why the no-taxis, no-walking, our-way-or-sit-and-wait-on-the-highway approach? As Sports Illustrated notes, the NFL initially cited "logistical concerns," which would make a lot of sense if, in fact, MetLife Stadium didn't have experience hosting football games 20 or so weeks a year. The NFL then fell back on the unassailable "security concerns," but as Sports Illustrated's Sean Conboy sees it, there's something more mundane at work here: a straight cash grab.

"The NFL thinks of you not as a human being whose loyalty and wallet contribute to its preposterous franchise valuations," he writes, "but rather as a number on an Excel spreadsheet, and the league is determined to wring as much guaranteed profit out of Super Bowl XLVIII as possible."

Sitting at home and watching the game on a big screen looks better all the time.

Ayanbadejo says teammates on one of his Super Bowl teams used marijuana week of game!

Without offering specific details, former Ravens and Chicago Bears linebacker and special-teams ace Brendon Ayanbadejo said teammates were smoking marijuana in the days leading up to one of the two Super Bowls he played in.
During a FOX Sports podcast with former NFL linebacker Scott Fujita, Ayanbadejo didn't disclose which team it was, and he didn't name names.
Ayanbadejo played for the Ravens during the 2012 season as they won Super Bowl XLVII, a win over the San Francisco 49ers, and for the Bears in their loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLI, The audio of Ayanbadejo's Super Bowl story begins at roughly the 29:30 mark of the podcast.

"I'm not going to say which Super Bowl it was but I just remember getting off the elevator one night — it was early on in the week, just to start the week off — and all of the sudden I just got hit over the head with fumes of marijuana on the entire floor of the hotel that the team was staying on. I could just imagine there were a few young guys just toking it up in more than one room. I was like, 'Man this is the week of the Super Bowl and you're just going in?' So then I was looking around, and I'm like 'OK, where is the security?' I looked and for some reason we didn't have regular police — coach was smart enough to have rent-a-cops on our floor instead of regular police like we usually do. I scratched my head but I was like, 'OK, uh, that's a good thing 'cause . . .' that's it. That's all I've got to say about that." 

Ayanbadejo was always known for being outspoken, especially regarding social causes and politics as a strong advocate for legalizing same-sex marriage, during his NFL career. And the former Pro Bowl special-teams ace hasn't changed his approach now that he's a member of the media.
There have been many discussions recently about whether the NFL should allow players to use marijuana for medical reasons with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll both saying that it's worthy of study and consideration. - The Baltimore Sun

LOOK: Texas billboard wants Houston to draft Johnny Manziel

After a disastrous 2013 season, Houston landed the No. 1 pick - the chance to rebuild the franchise with one of college football's biggest stars. Central Florida QB Blake Bortles and South Carolina DE Jadeveon Clowney top CBSSports.com's mock drafts while Louisville QB Teddy Bridgewater has also topped draft charts.

Heisman winning quarterback Johnny Manziel? Not so much. While both of our mock drafts from Rob Rang and Dane Brugler have the Texas A&M signal caller going No. 4 to Cleveland, he hasn't been seen atop many mock drafts.
That hasn't stopped the group behind DraftJohnnyManziel.com from creating that billboard urging the Texans to take Manziel with the top pick. That site also has a photoshop of Manziel in a Texans uniform. There's also a petition to keep Johnny Football in Texas because clearly NFL GMs pay attention to fan petitions when making one of the most important draft selections in team history.

PS: I thought this was pretty cool. Here I am back in the day holding a camera covering Johnny Manziel in high school :)

Kliff Kingsbury answers a preschooler’s burning question about Band-Aids

Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury became an overnight national celebrity thanks to his good looks, his team’s early success and his outgoing personality, but that didn’t mean he’d gotten too big to answer questions from preschoolers.

Geoff Sherman, an assistant principal and avid college football fan, posted a response Kingsbury gave to one of Sheman’s students regarding Texas Tech’s use of Band-Aids.

@ESPNCFB @RoFloESPN @TexasTech Coach Kingsbury wrote back the pre-k class at my school very cool pic.twitter.com/SaUVUm9Q4x

— Geoff Sherman (@CoogsHouse13) January 24, 2014

Here’s the text if you can’t quite make it out:

Preschooler: “Do players fall down and get Band-Aids?”

Kingsbury: “Thanks for writing me and that is a great question! When our players fall down and get cuts or scratches, they do usually get Band-Aids.

Guns Up!

Coach Kingsbury”

That sound you hear is a bunch of single women swooning.

One of Kingsbury’s selling points has been his connection with the community. This is just another example of what makes him so likeable. Here’s hoping, no matter where Kingsbury's career ultimately takes him, he doesn’t lose that.

Thanks to @RoFloESPN

Super Bowl guarantee? Denver Broncos’ Mike Adams plans to walk home if they win

Athletes are known for saying some strange and silly things, and the bigger the stakes, the more likely the chances that insane things come out of their mouths.
We believe that the Denver Broncos' Mike Adams is neither insane nor silly, but his stated desire to walk home after Sunday's Super Bowl sure sounds it on paper. After all, East Rutherford, N.J. to Denver is almost 1,800 miles on traditional roads, and at about 2,000 steps per mile, well, that's a lot of sore feet.
Except Adams wouldn't be going back to Denver. And the walking wouldn't be his penance if the Broncos lost. No, he plans to walk home if they win.

"If we win the Super Bowl, I'm going to keep my helmet and pads on and I'm walking home," Adams told the Denver Post's Mark Kiszla.

See, Adams grew up in nearby Paterson, N.J. — 7.2 miles via hoof — and he thinks that the journey could be some kind of spiritual pilgrimage knowing that most people who grew up there, at least in the part of town Adams was from, are just lucky to get out.

"It can be almost like a cancer," said Adams of his hometown. "And I say that because the negativity in that place can be like a snowball rolling downhill."

As for the sight of Adams strolling down the side of a highway in the witching hour Sunday night, yes, he freely admits it could be a bit odd. And besides, would he really make it the distance after playing in what could be 60 of the toughest minutes of football in his life?

"After I get to the IHOP on Route 3, I'll start hitchhiking," Adams said, laughing. "But they'd probably think I'm just some crazy person."

MUST SEE: Richard Sherman Mic'd Up vs. Michael Crabtree So You Can Hear His Sportsmanship (VIDEO)

It may have been sportsmanship that got Richard Sherman into trouble rather than a lack of it. The Seattle Seahawks' All-Pro cornerback was fitted with a microphone for the NFC Championship Game and audio released by the NFL on Wednesday night sheds light on the heated moments before he delivered the boastful and rancorous postgame interview that stole the spotlight from his team's victory. Watch the video and you can hear his sportsmanship!

 Sherman helped seal his team's spot in Super Bowl XLVIII by deflecting a pass intended for San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree with just 22 seconds remaining in the NFC title tilt. After the victory-securing deflection, Sherman got to his feet and again chased down Crabtree. As the wide receiver was walking back toward the 49ers' sideline, Sherman slapped him on the butt and said "Hell of game!" Sherman repeated those three words and extended his hand to Crabtree. Rather than accepting the handshake, Crabtree shoved Sherman. He pushed his left hand into Sherman's facemask.

Former NFL Quarterback Vince Young files for bankruptcy!!!

Former NFL quarterback Vince Young once needed an offensive line to protect him from defenses.

Young now needs a court to protect him from creditors.

According to David Barron of the Houston Chronicle, Young has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection only two years after being on an NFL regular-season roster. Young’s estimated assets are between $500,001 and $1 million, but his liabilities range between $1,001,000 and $10 million, according to Brian Kilmer, the quarterback’s attorney.

One of Young's biggest problems is a $1.8 million loan he obtained during the 2011 lockout. Pro Player Funding, a New York company, was granted a judgment against Young to recoup that money. The original loan amount has grown to $2.5 million with interest, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Young sued his former financial adviser (Ronnie Peoples of Raleigh, N.C.) and former agent (Major Adams II of Houston), claiming they, “defrauded him and conspired with Pro Player Funding to obtain the loan and that Young himself never received the money in question.” A settlement was reached with Peoples, but that agreement has not been finalized.

Unfortunately, for Young, he probably is not going to get much sympathy from NFL observers.

Young was a first-round pick by Tennessee in 2006, and he reportedly signed a five-year deal with $25.7 million guaranteed. He reportedly signed a one-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles that was worth up to $5 million in 2011. Young was on Green Bay’s preseason roster in 2013, but did not make the team.

Former New York Knicks center Patrick Ewing summed up the irresponsible spending of athletes years ago when he said, “We make a lot of money, but we spend a lot of money.”

Well, they spend it until the money is gone.

Here's Vince Young during the the "highest" point of his life. Vince's game winning touchdown for Texas during the 2006 BCS National Championship game against USC. Enjoy!

First Lady Michelle Obama photobombs the Miami Heat with a thundering slam dunk!!!!

Beyond accepting President Obama’s congratulations for winning their second-straight NBA championship, the Miami Heat visited the White House last week in order to film a commercial for first lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! campaign.
That’s basically all the background you need to understand this awesome GIF of the first lady throwing down on LeBron James — and photobombing Dwyane Wade, Ray Allen and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra in the process.
The first lady’s got game, and judging by her post-dunk mugging, she knows it.
Check out the GIF below:

She also photobombs the players as they're being interviewed by Heat coach Erik Spoelstra and gets them all to munch on apples.

Watch the entire photobomb montage at the White House below:

Warren Buffett Offers $1 Billion to Anyone with the Perfect March Madness Bracket

In this tough economy, it’s fair to say that we could all use an extra billion dollars.
Fortunately, someone could be a billion dollars richer in a few months, thanks to a perfect March Madness bracket and a rather generous offer from business and investor magnate Warren Buffett, currently listed as the world’s fourth richest individual.
The 83-year-old Omaha-native’s company Berkshire Hathaway is teaming up with Quicken Loans’ Dan Gilbert, owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, to offer a cool billion to anyone who can successfully fill out the perfect bracket for this year’s NCAA Men’s basketball tournament. The payments will be given in 40 annual installments of $25 million.
So what, you may ask, are the odds of filling out the perfect bracket? Roughly 1 in 9.2 quintillion.
But if you tend not to have much luck in March, it should be noted that Quicken will award $100,000 each to the contest’s 20 most accurate “imperfect” brackets to be used toward buying, refinancing or remodeling a home.

Also don't think I'm not in on the action. I must say I've won my share of NCAA Tournament bracket pools......stay tuned! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Super Bowl 2014: Five storylines you'll love to hate long before kickoff

Have you heard?

The Super Bowl is outdoors this year. In a cold-weather state. In early February. And that means …
(cue the ominous music, please)

It could snow!

This might not only be the single most tired storyline for this Super Bowl, but for all XLVIII of them. Predicting the score is so 2013. Somebody should come up with a box game for the temperature at your party next Sunday – then you’d be really hip.
But the hand-wringing over the weather is to be expected. The Super Bowl is nothing if not an opportunity to beat any angle into a straight line, and in that spirit, here is our annual look at the five storylines you’ll be sick of long before kickoff:

1. Richard Sherman said “______________.”
We, the media, have 12 days to kill. That is a lot of newspapers and broadcast time, not to mention all that unfillable internet space. We could try to breakdown the game, with specific details about how Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning will attack that formidable Seahawks defense.
Or we could just put a microphone in front of Richard Sherman and wait until he says something.
And if he doesn’t say anything? Oh, that’ll be a headline, too: “Subdued Richard Sherman avoids trash talking during Thursday media session.” We, the media, apologize in advance. But 12 days is a lot of time to fill.

2. The dreaded L word.
Peyton Manning can cement his legacy as the greatest quarterback of his generation, and maybe any generation, with a victory. But with a loss … jeez, even Eli has two titles. What’s wrong with him?
You’d think there would be more nuance here, or at least an appreciation of what has been a remarkable season for the Broncos quarterback. But Super Bowl week is an opportunity for oversimplification, and Manning and the L word figure to be prominent victims of that.

3. Hey, that silver-haired guy on the Seahawks sideline sort of looks familiar.
Pete Carroll coached the Jets! This was before he took over the Seahawks in 2010, and before he turned Southern Cal into a powerhouse, and before he was an unsuccessful head coach in New England, and before a two-year stint as defensive coordinator with the 49ers.
Which is to say: This was a very long time ago.
He was there for one year, in 1994, and was let go when the team collapsed late in the season. Did Carroll learn some lessons from his experience with the Jets? Did they make him a better coach? Does he even remember that year, or does he look at his own resume and think, “Ohhhhh, that’s right. I coached there, too.”
The Super Bowl will be played the Jets’ home stadium, so get ready, because we’re about to find out.

4. Us.
Oh, it’ll be too easy. The few visitors who don’t forget the game actually will be played on this side of the Hudson will use the journey through the Lincoln Tunnel as a chance to recycle the old favorites. Here come the Jersey Jokes.

New Jersey is the Garden State? Yeah, right.
Hey, what exit? Har har har.
You’re not going to close the George Washington Bridge on the teams if they make you angry, are you?
Okay, the last one is pretty good. Still, be prepared to be a storyline … and, of course, a punch line.

5. Hey, has anyone seen a weather report?
This is New Jersey in the wintertime. Somehow, during its centuries of inhabitation, our state has managed to survive the precipitation that always comes this month. But this fact does not make for a catchy intro for the nightly news, does it? But this one …

 WILL SNOW RUIN THE SUPER BOWL?! .......(Details at 11).

Every weatherman will make a prediction, and then another one, and then another one. The doomsday scenarios will be offered. The plow drivers will be interviewed. And then Sunday will come and the world will discover what we have known all along.
We always survive the weather. Will we survive the weather storyline? That has yet to be determined.

Texas A&M Football Takes Shot at Seattle Seahawks over '12th Man' Title

The Seattle Seahawks have been boasting their "12th Man" slogan in the week leading up to NFC Championship game against the San Francisco 49ers, and Texas A&M has taken exception.

The Aggies have used their Twitter feed to set the record straight and make sure the world knows that they were the first ones to come up with the term “12th Man”

While Texas A&M’s “12th Man” is modeled after a real player, it’s also what the school has dubbed its crowd because of how loud the stadium gets during games.

Seattle has adopted a similar meaning with its “12th man” as it’s stadium is considered the toughest in the NFL in which to play simply because of the noise level.

A&M has a point. It did have the nickname first. Even though Seattle does pay Texas A&M $5,000 for the use of the slogan, it seems like the Aggies are looking for a little more recognition as the originator of the "12th Man." - Dr. Saturday

IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT: Richard Sherman postgame interview!!!

After making a fantastic play that led to a NFC championship-winning interception on what could have been a game-winning 49ers touchdown, Richard Sherman ran over to dejected San Francisco wide receiver Michael Crabtree. Like a modern-day Eddie Haskell, the Seahawks corner offered his hand to Crabtree. For some, it would have been a classy move of respect. For Sherman, it was the ultimate in postgame taunting on the biggest stage in sports.
Sherman promptly got shoved in the face, just like he deserved.
Lest anyone doubt the motive behind Sherman’s handshake, the All-Pro corner made his feelings clear in a postgame interview with Erin Andrews.

 

“I’m the best corner in the game. When you try me with a sorry receiver like Crabtree, that’s the result you gonna get. Don’t you ever talk about me. [...] Don’t you open your mouth about the best or I’m gonna shut it for you real quick.”

 
Major, major props to Andrews, whose perfectly-timed “who was talking about you” question will go down as the interview question of the year.
It’s been a long time since Super Bowl week has had a villain. Richard Sherman is going to be all too happy to play that role.

Seahawks cornerback Jeremy Lane taken down by random guy on 49ers sideline

Seattle Seahawks cornerback Jeremy Lane is used to having opponents attempt to take him out by any means necessary on special teams.

Special teams players are a unique blend of insane and wild. Their main goal is to run full speed down the field and hit somebody. Most players cannot wait until they are finally off the special teams unit, and it is hard to blame them.

Lane just could not have expected a person on San Francisco’s sidelines to take him out during the NFC championship game on Sunday.

Seattle punted on fourth-and-20 from its own 41-yard line to start the second quarter, and Lane was a member of Seattle’s special teams unit. Lane somehow ended up on San Francisco’s sidelines, and as he was trying get back on the field, an unknown person took down Seattle's cornerback near 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh (h/t Greg Smith).

It is hard to tell if the person who took down Lane did it on purpose. However, the NFL will probably look into this incident.

Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin was fined $100,000 for his sideline interference against the Baltimore Ravens in November, even though he said the contact was incidental. Tomlin interfered with Ravens kick returner Jacoby Jones, and even though coach was penalized for being too close to the playing field, player safety has been the NFL's mantra for several seasons.

One thing is certain, nobody is safe on special teams. -shutdown corner

Jim Harbaugh’s wife is not a fan of the $8 Walmart khakis he wears every day

Jim Harbaugh is stuck in his ways. The 49ers coach looks the same every week. Black logo sweatshirt, ball cap, red Sharpie around his neck, and khakis.

Always the khakis, which apparently come from Walmart.

Sarah Harbaugh hates her husband's pants, and she told 99.7 FM's "Fernando & Greg" in the Bay Area all about it. Here's what she said, via the San Jose Mercury News:

"I've thrown them away many of times," Sarah Harbaugh said. "I've asked him: 'Please, pleats are gone. Wear the flat front.' He has a flattering body."

We'll take Sarah Harbaugh's word for the last part, but she has tried to at least make it harder for Jim to come to work wearing the same version of that outfit day after day. And he finds a way to thwart her attempts.

"I threw them out and when he went to the combine, he found a Walmart," Sarah Harbaugh told "Fernando & Greg." "They were $8. $8!"

When you figure that Harbaugh's hat and sweatshirt are always 49ers-issued gear, and the cleats he has been wearing on the sideline also likely come from the team's equipment room, you realize the coach spends a pittance on his wardrobe, buying his khaki pants from Walmart $8 at a time. And maybe a few bucks on the Sharpies. Harbaugh makes $5 million a year.

Sarah Harbaugh said on the radio show that her husband has agreed to let her or someone else dress him next year. We'll see. Harbaugh is obviously stuck in his ways, and with the 49ers preparing for their third straight NFC championship game appearance, whatever he's doing is obviously working.

Report: Rob Ryan Being Denied Head Coaching Jobs Because Of His Hair

On paper, Rob Ryan of the Saints appears to have a stellar NFL head coaching resume.
The 51-year-old has worked as a defensive coordinator for four teams, including the Cleveland Browns, who are looking for a new head coach. In his first year in New Orleans, Ryan turned one of the worst defenses in NFL history into the fourth-ranked unit in the league. His short tenure has been so impressive that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has already admitted that it was a mistake to fire Ryan.
Ryan's schemes and teaching methods are in high demand, especially with NFL offenses advancing at such a fast pace. So, what's holding him back?
Apparently, it's not what's in Ryan's head that scares away teams, it's what's on his head.

 ESPN's Chris Mortensen said several NFL executives told him that Ryan's flowing locks won't fly with front offices.
"If he wants to be a head coach, he has to cut his hair," Mortensen said, quoting team executives. "It is about image for these guys. They want a CEO-type. That's what they want."
This puts Ryan in a hairy situation. He has the resume and the pedigree to be a head coach (his twin brother, Rex, is the coach of the Jets and his father, Buddy, coached the Eagles and Cardinals). But he may need to shave his locks.
For his part, Saints head coach Sean Payton thinks Ryan is ready for a top job.
"Obviously he's a coach that I think is going to be a head coach," Payton said. "Obviously we made great improvements from a year ago. He brings an enthusiasm with him, a personality that is contagious."
If Ryan does decide to get a cut, we'd recommend he avoid Kobe Bryant's barber. (refer to Kobe Bryant haircut story below on my blog)

Three of final four QBs were drafted by MLB, only Peyton Manning wasn’t

The baseball roots are pretty strong with this weekend's NFL teams, namely at quarterback.
Three of the four starting quarterbacks remaining were drafted by MLB teams, and the one who was not — the Denver Broncos' Peyton Manning — was backed up in college at Tennessee by someone who would go on to become an All-Star: Colorado Rockies legend Todd Helton.
It's fascinating to look back and play the what-if card with Russell Wilson, Colin Kaepernick and Tom Brady. What would have happened had they considered baseball over football, and how good of players would they have made?
Let's take a look at the diamond options the three quarterbacks had available to them.


Russell Wilson

The Seahawks quarterback played A-level ball for the Colorado Rockies as a second baseman in the 2010 and 2011 seasons, overlapping his college career at North Carolina State (prior to transferring to Wisconsin) and he has admitted that he still thinks about his love for the sport. In fact, Wilson's rights still belong to the Texas Rangers after he was selected in baseball's Rule 5 draft in 2013.

* * *

Colin Kaepernick

The football-throwing arm of San Francisco 49ers' Colin Kaepernick might be one of the strongest in the NFL, and the Chicago Cubs thought enough about it to draft him in the 43rd round back in 2009. The team wanted him to consider pitching while playing football at Nevada, but it never worked out. It did for Kaepernick's football career, though; meanwhile, the Cubs are kind of baseball's cruel, recurring joke. And Kaepernick likely has an open invitation of throwing out first pitches at Giants games for lifetime after he scalded an 87 mph fastball before a game this past June. Showoff!

* * *

Tom Brady

 The New England Patriots' Tom Brady has a story that has been well told, but people seem to forget about his baseball roots. Brady was a catcher, and he was a good enough prospect to be picked in the 18th round by the Montreal Expos — and he might have gone higher had he not signed a football scholarship with Michigan. They continued nagging him even after he landed in Ann Arbor, but Brady was determined to stick with football.
Even Manning played baseball as a youth. He was a shortstop, and a pretty good one, but there are not too many great tall shortstops (Manning is 6-foot-4) in baseball history, save for Cal Ripken and Alex Rodriguez. Not that Manning ever was in their zip code of talent, anyway ...
In all four cases, it would be hard to argue that any of them made a poor career choice. After all, look where they are now. Perhaps Kaepernick with that golden right arm could have become a staff ace somewhere over time, and maybe Wilson had the goods and the grit to make it to the big leagues.
But we're talking about four of the NFL's best quarterbacks — two surefire Hall of Famers on the AFC side, and two budding franchise quarterbacks on the NFC side of the ledger. We'll go ahead and say they made wise choices unless someone can convince us otherwise.

Want goosebumps? Watch this commercial featuring deaf Seahawks fullback Derrick Coleman

Seattle Seahawks fullback Derrick Coleman is one win away from playing in Super Bowl XLVIII.

That might just be another victory Coleman adds to his amazing list.

Coleman, who lost his hearing at the age of 3, but managed to survive by reading lips and hearing aids, is the first legally deaf offensive player in the NFL. The former UCLA standout was signed by Seattle as an undrafted player in 2012. He appeared in 12 games this season and scored the first touchdown of his career against the New Orleans Saints on Dec. 2 (8-yard reception during a 34-7 victory).

He was recently highlighted in Duracell's "Trust Your Power" campaign, and it is hard not to be inspired after seeing this incredible commercial featuring Coleman.

8th grader makes full-court buzzer beater, recreates it on 1st attempt for local news!!!

"Oh, my gosh," is right. If Easton Gamoke's name hasn't already made him the coolest kid at Winona (Minn.) Middle School, his remarkable feat this week probably sealed the deal.

The 13-year-old broke a 44-44 tie with a full-court, game-winning shot at the buzzer while competing for his Winona YMCA Runnin' Rebels at a tournament in Holmen, Wis., over the weekend, according to a Minneapolis Star Tribune post.

Then, when KMSP-TV showed up to interview the eighth-grader about the "one in a million" shot, he did it again. On his first attempt. Holy Gamoke.

New Internet Video Trend Of 'LeBroning' Mocks Heat Star's Exaggerated Flops

LeBron James is the best basketball player in the world, but there's still one "skill" he needs to work on: Flopping.
The four-time MVP is known to exaggerate his flops to the point where there are several "highlight" videos on YouTube dedicated to the King's overacting. Here is one:

Beyond that, James' flops have apparently inspired a new Internet trend, appropriately called LeBroning, in which people perform egregious flops in ordinary situations. This is like Tebowing, except in video version. Check out a few:

LeBroning isn't specific to basketball, however, and now any exaggerated flop can be termed "LeBroning." Indianapolis Colts punter Pat McAfee tweeted this in response to Cam Newton's flop on Sunday.

Guess How Much Nike Pays For Kobe Bryant's Haircut In Prep For Commercial?

Before you pass judgment on Kobe Bryant for signing a two-year, $48.5 million contract extension while his franchise struggles to rebuild, know this: Haircuts aren't as cheap as they used to be.
TMZ got its hands on an invoice for one of Bryant's grooming bills from a recent commercial shoot, and it is exorbitant to say the least. The Lakers superstar apparently received a $725 grooming treatment which, combined with a 15 percent tip, came out to cost Nike $833.75.
And yes, Kobe is bald.

TMZ spoke with a rep from Nike, who offered this quote about the star's "grooming":
"Kobe doesn't typically wear makeup during the shoots, so the grooming would be primarily for hair."
OK, so Kobe doesn't wear makeup during commercial shoots, but there's got to be something missing here. A $750 haircut is absurd, so perhaps Kobe had some other work done that will be revealed when the commercial is released. These shoots can be glitzy, and it's not like the hairdressers were working with much when they styled Bryant.
Or, maybe Bryant's haircuts are simply super expensive. After receiving a $24.3 million check from the Lakers in November he's certainly got the dough to afford it. Oh yea just for the record, I pay $15 dollars for my haircut!