Larry Brown Sports

Matt Forte responded to questions about the condition of his knees by sharing the above video on Twitter Saturday of him dragging what he says is a 100-pound sled uphill. His agent also issued the following statement:

“Matt Forte is among the most, if not the most, durable, all-purpose running back in the NFL. The 2011 season was the first season of his career that he missed any games. Had the Bears been playoff contenders, he could have returned for the balance of the season. To question his durability at this stage in his career is absurd.”

The Chicago Tribune reported earlier in the day that the Bears are reluctant to sign Forte to a contract extension because of concerns that his problematic knees may become arthritic.

Forte tore the posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in 2006, and sprained the MCL in the same knee in 2009. Last year, he missed the final four games of the season with a sprained MCL in his right knee.

Forte expressed frustration with the Bears all last season over the two sides’ inability to agree on a new deal. He was even more upset in March when the team signed running back Michael Bush.

The team assigned a franchise tag to Forte, which only means they would be committed to him for one season. Given the short amount of time running backs last in the NFL, it’s quite understandable why Forte is frustrated with the situation.

Earlier this week we told you about Chuck Shriner, the 17-year-old high school senior who got in trouble for Tebowing at his graduation last week. The stunt drew laughs and cheers from the crowd but not from the uptight and oppressive administrators at Fort Myers (Fla.) Catholic, who punished Shriner by briefly withholding his diploma and making him clean the school’s auditorium. (It should come as no surprise Shriner went to a private school.)

When Tim Tebow got wind of Shriner’s renegade move, his reaction was evident: Free Chuck.

“I don’t think his diploma should be withheld,” Tebow told the New York Daily News this week. “I think it was probably something a lot of people laughed at. I don’t know that it was necessarily appropriate, but I definitely think he should be able to graduate.”

Tebow should have also used the opportunity to remind you Tebowing will be in Madden ’13. We can’t confirm whether Fort Meyers Catholic is looking for ways to have the game banned.

H/T Sportress of Blogitude
Photo: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

Remember Mike Vanderjagt? Of course you do. Vanderjagt is the guy who served as an above-average placekicker for the Colts for eight seasons from 1998-2005. When at his best, Vanderjagt was one of the better kickers in the league. The problem was he was kind of a blowhard. When Peyton Manning — one of the classiest guys in the NFL — feels the need to call someone an “idiot kicker,” there must be something wrong. In fact, Mike himself has admitted he was an idiot. Why, then, did a middle school decide to hire this man as a football coach? You’ve got me.

According to the Naples News, Vanderjagt was suspended from his coaching position at Marco Island Charter Middle School in Florida in March after he allegedly grabbed a student by the throat. The police report says Vanderjagt became angry when the student was taunting him by chanting “wide left, wide left!” Another student claims to have witnessed the attack.

Damn kids. One of the most forgettable memorable moments of Vanderjagt’s career came during a 2005 playoff game against the Steelers, when he missed a potential game-tying, 46-yard field goal wide right with 18 seconds left. If the student was referring to that play, we’ll let the historical inaccuracy slide since he was probably about 5 or 6 years old when it happened.

Vanderjagt claims he simply put his hand on the boy’s shoulder to hold him in place while he spoke to him, and the state’s attorney’s office has decided to not press charges. The principal of the middle school now has to decide whether or not to allow Vanderjagt to continue coaching at the school. It looks like NFL lowlights truly can haunt a player for the rest of his life.

H/T Pro Football Talk

From the moment the Browns traded up to select Trent Richardson with the third overall pick in the 2012 draft, Jim Brown has made it clear that he does not agree with the decision. Many view Richardson as an electric player who can become a game-changer for the Browns’ offense, but the best running back in Cleveland history doesn’t see it that way. Brown reiterated that during an interview with ESPN Cleveland on Wedensday.

When radio host Tony Grossi told Brown that many have compared Richardson to Emmitt Smith, Brown said Smith was a “warrior” but he wouldn’t put him in his top tier of running backs anyway.

“If you look at Emmitt Smith and the kind of blocking he had, I don’t think he’d have close to the career he had (without it),” Brown said. “But if you take a Gale Sayers, Walter Payton, Eric Dickerson … Earl Campbell, there’s something special there.

“Emmitt was a warrior. But when it comes to the first level of backs, Emmitt would not be in my first level. So when I look at Richardson, I see adequate speed, adequate power, and a good attitude. But I don’t see anything special. And I don’t know if anyone can tell me there’s anything special.”

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With organized team activities having begun this week across the NFL, the Tim Tebow watch is officially underway in New York. While it would take a training camp miracle for Tebow to earn the starting quarterback job over Mark Sanchez, he’s a hard worker who has made that his goal. On Thursday, reports from Jets camp were that Sanchez looked extremely sharp while Tebow missed a lot of throws. For whatever reason, this seemed to surprise a lot of people.

Upon hearing multiple media outlets talking about how Sanchez outperformed Tebow at training camp, Sanchez’s agent Brian Murphy decided to pump up his client while taking a shot at Tebow.

“No offense media, but of course Sanchez is going to out perform Tim (Tebow),” Murphy wrote on Twitter. “Mark is a franchise quarterback and Tim is a great athlete.”

Murphy’s job is to praise his clients, so the tweet shouldn’t come as a surprise. However, he did feel the need to backpedal a bit after being instantly ripped apart by the Tebowmaniacs.

“Didn’t mean to create a stir nor disrespect TT who has done nothing but excel on football field. This is my opinion and time will tell.”

At the end of the day, Tebow and Sanchez are teammates. The Jets could use both of them this season, so they’re going to have to find a way to get both of them to ignore everything that is being said in the newspapers and on Twitter and just go out and perform. The media is going to try to make them out to be enemies, but when the season begins that can’t be the case.

H/T Ian Rapoport

Alex Smith bristled at a question about the 49ers’ poor passing yards stats last season, and responded to a reporter on Wednesday by saying passing yards are an overblown stat. His argument included a shot at Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, who won Offensive Rookie of the Year last season.

Newton’s teammate Jon Beason heard about Smith’s remark, and he put the Niners quarterback in check with this tweet on Thursday:

Alex smith, don’t hate on Cam Bc your stats would’ve gotten u cut if Peyton decided to come 2 San Fran.Truth b told..That’s after a 13-3 yr.

— Jon Beason (@jonbeason) May 25, 2012

He’s absolutely right. If Alex Smith were on the level of Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Eli Manning, or even Cam Newton, then the Niners wouldn’t have been interested in Peyton Manning. But they were.

Smith is correct in his assessment that passing stats don’t tell the full story about a quarterback, but if he thinks pointing to his team’s win-loss record does, then he’s equally wrong.

Smith’s Niners were 13-3 because they had the best defense in the league, not because homeboy tore it up at QB. Likewise, Newton’s Panthers were 6-10 mostly because their defense stunk, not because Cam struggled. Stick Alex Smith on the Panthers last season and I bet they would have struggled to win three games. Stick Newton on the 49ers and they still would have won their division easily.

What other statistical points do you have for us, Alex?

Ever since Olympic hurdler Lolo Jones openly discussed her virginity, people have been suggesting that she date Tim Tebow. Why? Because people are immature, and naturally they think that any two virgins who are popular athletes and happen to be above the age of 24 would be perfect for each other. That’s the way the world works.

Rather than pretend she has not heard the suggestions over the past few days that she should get together with Tebow, Jones decided to have a sense of humor about it on Thursday afternoon.

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Robert Griffin III is becoming a pioneer in the football world. He became the first Baylor University player to win the Heisman Trophy, and now he’s becoming the first NFL player with Roman numerals on the back of his jersey, according to Uni Watch’s research.

Uni Watch’s Paul Lukas says the NFL added a rule that allows generational titles on players’ nameplates. Griffin’s teammate Roy Helu Jr. will also change the back of his jersey to include “Jr.”

Lukas believes that Griffin will become the first player in any of the four major sports to have a Roman numeral on the back. He also speculates that Griffin’s desire to have this inclusion is tied to his endorsement deal with adidas. Lukas points out that the Roman numeral three looks similar to adidas’ three stripes logo.

We know adidas wasted no time coming up with their first RG3 product, so that wouldn’t be a surprise. We also know how concerned Griffin is about everything regarding his last name, so that furthers the notion that this was a conscious decision.

Griffin later acknowledged his place in history, tweeting the following:

@RGIII: 1st professional athlete in NFL, MLB, NBA & NHL to wear Roman Numeral on the back of their jersey? Truly an Honor for my family

— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) May 24, 2012

Helmet knock to Shutdown Corner
Photo Credit: Geoff Burke-US PRESSWIRE

By leading his team to the NFC Championship game last season, Alex Smith proved that he is capable of winning games in the National Football League. Prior to Jim Harbaugh’s arrival in San Francisco, it appeared as though Smith’s career as a 49er was all but over. But Harbaugh found ways to win with a combination of a conservative offense and one of the best defenses in the league. Over the course of the season, the Niners did a good job of proving that stats don’t always matter.

On Wednesday, Smith was asked to explain why the 49ers ranked 29th in the NFL in passing last season. The question seemed to bother him, so he decided to throw a shot at Cam Newton in order to prove a point.

“I could absolutely care less on yards per game,” Smith said according to the San Francisco Chronicle. “I think that is a totally overblown stat because if you’re losing games in the second half, guess what, you’re like the Carolina Panthers and you’re going no-huddle the entire second half. Yeah, Cam Newton threw for a lot of 300-yard games. That’s great. You’re not winning, though.

“We’re up in the third and fourth quarter and naturally you’re going to be in four-minute offense. You’re going to be grinding it out. You’re going to be running the ball a lot more and you’re not going to have as many 300-yard passing games.”

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Every owner would like to think that their team is entering the season with a sense of urgency and a desire to win a title. For teams with quarterbacks in their late 30s like the Broncos and Patriots, winning a title sooner rather than later is a necessity. For a team like the Packers, it is more of a luxury. Jerry Jones considers his Cowboys to be one of the teams that needs to have that now or never mentality.

“Well, my window is getting shorter,” Jones said on the NFL Network Tuesday according to ESPNDallas.com. “Time goes by. I do feel real pressure because we do have players not only in Tony Romo, but Jason Witten (and) DeMarcus Ware, to leave out several that are (also) in the prime of their career. And we need to strike and strike soon with those guys.

“Jason Garrett feels exactly the same way about it and understands how urgent it is. Candidly, you’re looking through rose-colored glasses if we all don’t realize that now is the time to compete on the field.”

Garrett and Romo say they both want to win now so they understand the urgency, but Romo disagrees that the championship window is closing.

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