Larry Brown Sports

Just as the New York Giants are receiving their spiffy Super Bowl XLVI rings, a former Giants legend is about to lose his from over 20 years ago.

Lawrence Taylor‘s ring from when Scott Norwood won the Giants Super Bowl XXV in 1991 has hit the auction block. You would think it’s because L.T. needs to pay legal fees, but it’s actually his son who put the ring up for auction. As of writing, the latest bid was at $108,378 with six hours left in the auction.

Now Osi Umenyiora has entered the picture. The Giants defensive end is willing to buy Taylor’s ring for him, but first there’s a catch. Umenyiora has challenged his Twitter followers to get him to 500,000 followers by the end of the auction Saturday night. If he can reach that figure by the 10 p.m. ET deadline, he will place the winning bid. As incentive, Umenyiora will randomly choose one of his followers to personally give the ring back to L.T.

Umenyiora has his work cut out for him. He presently has just over 43,000 following him. Originally he set his target figure at 1 million but wisely cut that in half. But unless he cuts that number in half again (and maybe again), it’s probably safe to say this is going to happen.

I’m not going to tell Umenyiora how to spend his money, but if he was really cool he’d buy the ring regardless of what happens on Twitter. Why else say you’d do a really nice thing for somebody and end up not doing it merely because you didn’t get enough Twitter followers?

H/T Pro Football Talk
Photo credit: Jason O. Watson-US PRESSWIRE

At some point everyone will look back on Brett Favre’s career in Green Bay and be amazed at what he was able to accomplish. Some are already able to do that, but there are plenty of Packers fans out there who are still upset over the way Favre’s career in Green Bay came to a bitter end. From the moment the Packers decided Aaron Rodgers was their guy, it felt like everything Favre did was to spite his former team. That is why the team has decided to wait a while before retiring his jersey.

As Lori Nickel of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel pointed out, Packers president Mark Murphy recently said that the team will wait a year or two before officially retiring No. 4. Considering the way some fans feel about him and the feelings Favre still has toward the organization, that’s probably best for everyone.

Fans love to be a part of feel-good moments, so whenever the Packers do decide to give Favre the honor I’m sure it will be a special day. Regardless of how it ended, Favre spent the majority of his Hall of Fame career in Green Bay and brought the Lombardi Trophy back to Lambeau. While Green Bay belongs to Rodgers now, Packers fans will look past all the retirement flip-flopping and remember the Favre that played through a number of gruesome injuries on his way to every NFL passing record.

H/T Pro Football Talk

It’s not often that the legal system comes down hard on a professional athlete, but that’s what happened to Rolando McClain — at least for now.

The Raiders linebacker was found guilty of third-degree assault, reckless endangerment and menacing and wrongful discharge of a firearm, and he was sentenced to 180 days in jail on Thursday — 60 days for each crime.

The conviction stems from an incident that took place last November in Decatur, Alabama where McClain allegedly beat up 30-year-old Rishard Tapscott. McClain supposedly punched and kicked him, leaving Tapscott with a broken nose, mild concussion and cracked ribs. He also held a gun to his head, threatened to kill him, and allegedly fired beside the man’s head.

McClain’s lawyer is appealing and seeking a jury trial.

McClain was an All-American linebacker at Alabama and drafted eighth overall by the Raiders in 2010. He’s known for being a productive linebacker who’s very quiet with the media. Sometimes it’s the quiet ones you have to worry about.

Below is video of McClain leaving the courthouse Thursday:

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With voluntary workouts already underway and training camp just around the corner, Drew Brees has yet to sign a contract with the Saints for the 2012 season. As you know, the Saints have applied the franchise tag to their star quarterback. For obvious reasons, Brees has yet to sign the tender and doesn’t sound like he intends to. With each passing day, the Saints’ star quarterback is growing more and more irritated with the organization.

“It’s been extremely frustrating for me,” Brees said during an appearance on WWL radio in New Orleans Wednesday. “I don’t think the negotiations should have been this difficult. What’s been a little frustrating on my end, or disappointing, is the lack of communication. We’ve reached out on quite a few occasions and at times I know I’ve been frustrated with the lack of response.

“This is a big time for our team, especially when you look at what has happened this offseason. There should be a sense of urgency and it just seems like there’s not.”

That’s exactly the part that I don’t understand. The Saints should sign Brees to the long-term extension he’s looking for anyway, let alone under the current circumstances. New Orleans fans have lost their head coach and one of their best defensive players for the entire 2012 season. The punishment handed down to the team as a result of the bounty scandal was the heaviest in NFL history. Are the Saints really in a position to try to strong-arm the face of their franchise? With turmoil currently ripping through the organization, the Saints need to get this done as soon as possible. The team can hardly afford more drama heading into training camp.

Photo credit: Jason O. Watson-US PRESSWIRE

I finally got a chance to watch the HBO documentary “Namath” on Joe Namath today, and it was excellent. Being born after Namath was done playing, I had heard or read a lot of stories about him, but watching the film gave much better context to his life.

One of the more interesting stories shared in the documentary was about Namath’s short stint as a Monday Night Football broadcaster. Namath only lasted one year on the job, and he believes it was due to his drinking problem.

“One night we had a sponsor’s get together and we had an early flight in the morning,” Namath said. “Whenever I got up ready to go to the airport, I was thirsty, so I got a couple of cans of beer. I put one in my pocket, I popped the other one, and I went out front to get in the car.

“In the car, [I said to] the gentleman sitting there, ‘How you doing?’ I offered him a beer and he declined. He seemed like he was in a little cranky mood at the time.

“Frank Gifford told me, ‘That was your boss,’” Namath continued.

“And that’s probably why I lost my job,” said Namath.

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Antonio Cromartie may not have thought much of Tim Tebow initially, but his teammate Darrelle Revis certainly does. Revis talked about Tebow on Wednesday, and had nothing but extreme praise for the team’s new backup quarterback.

“He’s a born leader,” Revis said of Tebow. “He really is. Very few athletes have the gift that he has. He tries to lead by example all the time and he tries to be positive, which is awesome. I think that results (in) his success on the field. He came in with Denver and did unbelievable. And now he’s with us. We’re happy. We’re excited for him. We’re happy (that) he’ll bring his leadership qualities to this team.”

Revis augmented that statement by saying Tebow as the “it” factor.

“Some people have it. Some guys don’t,” Revis said. “It’s the passion within … of him wanting to be a leader, wanting to win. You see it in him all the time … eating lunch. Walking down the hallway you see it. He’s just one of those guys. He’s very positive. He has passion for what he does and you could see it. You can see it on him when you have a conversation with him. He’s just a leader.”

Wait, wait, wait a second. Are you telling me that Tim Tebow eats his lunch like a leader? What does that mean? He shows his peas and carrots who’s boss? He cuts his steaks with authority? His bites are super deliberate?

Seriously though, it’s no surprise to hear the praise from Revis. Tebow has been considered a leader everywhere he’s been, and he’s generally well liked by his teammates.

When Joe McKnight heads into Jets minicamp this summer, he will be looking to compete for significant playing time in the backfield. With LaDanian Tomlinson out of the picture, McKnight could become the primary backup to Shonne Greene if he impresses Tony Sparano and company. He’s hoping the 16 pounds he gained from eating fast food will help.

According to Manish Mehta of the NY Daily News, McKnight says he gained 16 pounds by eating “A lot of McDonald’s.” Does that mean it’s 16 pounds of muscle or fat?

“I was eating healthy, but the majority of time I was eating bad,” McKnight added. “I wasn’t eating all the right stuff … like Tim Tebow.”

Should we assume the Tebow comment was intended to distract people from the fast food diet? When the Jets starred on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” during the 2010 offseason, McKnight was shown on the show failing the team’s conditioning test. The last thing he needs in his life is Ronald McDonald. Hopefully the saturated fat from a Big Mac translates into solid, bruising muscle on the gridiron.

With Sean Payton suspended for the entire 2012 season and expected to remain out of contact with the team, the Saints are facing a serious challenge until next April. The NFL expects Payton to be nonexistent to the team, but that has not stopped the team from honoring him in his absence.

According to the Times-Picayune, the Saints have been leaving a vacant chair at various team functions this offseason and will continue to do so throughout the season. The team leaves an empty seat on buses and plane rides as well as in meetings and other team activities. Interim head coach Joe Vitt, who is suspended for the first six games of the season, says Payton will be missed in the same way any other coaching legend would be missed.

“How would Pittsburgh react if Chuck Knoll was gone?” Vitt asked. “Or how would Dallas react if Tom Landry wasn’t there? Or San Francisco without Bill Walsh? Sean’s put those kinds of numbers up. He has that kind of recognition in the league. Nobody can take his place. … We recognize the challenge we are facing.”

As Shutdown Corner pointed out, Payton has won one Super Bowl to Knoll’s four, Walsh’s three, and Landry’s two. He also has 67 NFL victories whereas Knoll and Walsh each have over 200 and Landry has over 100. Clearly he has not put up “those kind of numbers,” but Vitt is right about his importance to the team.

New Orleans has plenty of talent, but it will take a lot of effort to fill the leadership void left by Payton, Jonathan Vilma and others. It’s going to take a lot more than an empty chair to keep the Saints focused in 2012.

Rex Ryan has not been able to deliver a Super Bowl to New York despite having promised one for the past several seasons, but he has certainly accomplished a pretty lofty personal goal: Losing a ton of weight. As Adam Schefter informed us with a tweet earlier this week, Ryan has lost 90 pounds since undergoing lap-band surgery a little over a year ago. If you’re a fan of Rex, that’s easy to get excited about. As you can hear in the clip above that Game On! shared with us, Schefter got a bit carried away talking about it on Mike and Mike Wednesday morning.

“That’s skipping a lot of God damn snacks, if you know what I’m talking about,” Schefter said.

Rex probably appreciated the enthusiasm, but Mike and Mike seemed a bit caught off guard by it and rushed Schefter off the phone after that. Typically interviews are on some sort of delay, but who can blame the sound person for falling asleep at his or her desk when it was Schefter on the horn? Nobody could see that coming.

We expect an apology from Schefter any minute now. After all, he’s an ESPN employee who said it during an ESPN broadcast. The horror!

If you are a member of the Jets organization and Joe Namath has something nice to say about you, you must be pretty special. Over the past several years, Namath has done nothing but blast the Jets. Nobody really knows why. However, Broadway Joe had some very positive things to say about Mark Sanchez at a United Way function Tuesday night.

“Mark knows he’s a better quarterback (than Tim Tebow), and bring on the competition.” Namath said according to the NY Post. “Mark is sensational. He’s going to be much better.”

Namath added that he would be “tickled to death” if he was in Sanchez’s shoes and the team decided to trade for someone like Tebow. Of course, he couldn’t make his point without throwing in a plug for himself.

“(Sanchez is) going into his fourth year,” Namath said. “Golly, I remember a team that won a championship with a quarterback in his fourth year. Let’s hope that happens again.”

While Namath made it clear he believes Sanchez is a better option than Tebow, he backed off his criticism of the Jets for making the trade. A couple of months ago when the move was first made, he said it would be a major distraction for the organization. Now, Broadway Joe seems to have changed his tune — once again.

“The Jets have something up their sleeve,” he said. “At any rate, Tebow is a positive. In any way you add him to the organization, he’s a positive.”

Talk about a complete change of heart. Make up your mind, Joe — 68 is too young to be senile.

Photo credit: Dale Zanine-US PRESSWIRE