Larry Brown Sports

Jeremy Maclin was listed as limited with a groin injury on Monday after hurting it following the Philadelphia Eagles’ comeback win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, and now we know the cause of the injury.

Per Tim McManus, Maclin told reporters on Tuesday that his groin was hurt when cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha jumped on him to celebrate the winning touchdown he caught on the final play of the game.

As many have quipped, the injury was Asomugha’s first hard hit of the season.

The injury won’t keep Maclin out of the Eagles’ Thursday game against the Bengals, but it does make for a funny story. And, sadly, injuries during celebrations occur far more often than you’d think. Here’s a list of many of them.

Helmet smack to Crossing Broad

Come week 15, the Jets and Eagles will square off in a game that will feature two of the NFL’s best cornerbacks on the same field. In fact, every game that the Eagles play this season will feature two of the game’s best corners — Nnamdi Asomugha and Asante Samuel. As we all know, Antonio Cromartie believes he belongs in that discussion as well.

When the Raiders released Asomugha from his contract this past off-season, he immediately became the biggest name on the free agent market.  Rex Ryan and the Jets wanted him so badly that they even had Adam Sandler attempt to recruit him.  Cro was the backup plan — an expensive four-year, $32 million backup plan, but a backup plan nonetheless.  Still, Cromartie believes he is better at making plays than Asomugha.

“My style of play and his style of play are totally different,” Cromartie told Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com. “I feel I’m more of a playmaker than he is.”

Antonio is taller and longer which may allow him to make some plays that Asomugha could not make, but most of the plays Cro makes are negated by how frequently he finds himself out of position.  The Raiders were said to have made a strong play for Cromartie this off-season, but who haven’t they made a strong play for?  Cromartie intercepted Luke McCown twice last weekend, but as Shutdown Corner pointed out that is nothing to be proud of. If calling himself better than Asomugha at something helps him sleep at night, more power to him.

When you’re trying to land the biggest free agent on the market, you’ll go to almost any length to make it happen. For the New York Jets, that means playing the celebrity card.

NFL Network host Rich Eisen passed along a nugget Friday saying Jets coach Rex Ryan had celebrity fan Adam Sandler call free agent cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha to recruit him.

Michael Lombardi, who reported the story, says Rex was trying to beat out his twin brother Rob (now the defensive coordinator for the Cowboys) to get Asomugha.

We all know how that turned out — Asomugha chose to sign with Philly instead, inking a five-year $60 million deal including $25 million guaranteed. Guess he wasn’t a big fan of Grown Ups either.

The New York Jets dropped $24 million guaranteed to lock up receiver Santonio Holmes on a five-year deal. They have cornerback Darrelle Revis under contract for $7 million against the cap. They’ve signed Nick Mangold, Mark Sanchez, and D’Brickashaw Ferguson to big deals. Even with all the major money they’ve spent, the Jets are interested in signing the biggest free agent on the market, cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha.

The Jets reportedly are serious about signing Asomugha. Cornerback Darrelle Revis wants to see it happen. Rex Ryan has emphasized the importance of having top-flight corners on his team. About the only obstacle is seeing whether the Jets can fit Asomugha under the salary cap. Given GM Mike Tannenbaum’s creativity, that seems doable.

So if the Jets sign Nnamdi Asomugha, would he make them the Super Bowl favorite? I have to say yes. Darrelle Revis already takes the opposing team’s best receiver out of the game. Asomugha does the same thing. It would be extremely difficult to pass against the Jets in this scenario, and with those two men manning the corners, they could stack the box and make it difficult to run.

The Jets are already one of the top defensive teams in the NFL, but with Nnamdi they would be THE best defensive team. They may not be able to afford Braylon Edwards under these circumstances and that would weaken their offense. Regardless, if the Jets are holding teams to under 10 points per game, they’ll win most of the time.

There are some moves worth making because they can put you over the top. This is one of them. The Jets would have very little flexibility to add anyone else if they sign Asomugha, but it would be worth it. How would you be able to score against the Jets if they added him?

With the obscure news surfacing that Nnamdi Asomugha’s contract with the Oakland Raiders has been voided because of a failure to reach incentives, a lot of talk is springing up about a possible Darrelle Revis-Asomugha cornerback duo in New York next season.  That would obviously be a deadly combination and create one of the most prolific cornerback tandems of all time if it happened.  If that’s all you’re thinking about, you’re missing the big picture.

The thought of Revis and Asomugha playing together has become a topic because of comments Nnamdi made following the Pro Bowl last season.  ESPN’s Tim Graham caught up with the Raiders’ franchise corner following that game, and here’s what he had to say about the potential of playing alongside Revis.

Oakland Raiders star Asomugha was smiling when he brought up the dream scenario, but insisted he was “dead serious” and has spoken to New York Jets coach Rex Ryan about it.

“Me and Revis have been talking to Rex to try to do something,” Asomugha said. “You may see us in the future. There’s a little bit of talk going on. Either he’s coming to Oakland or something else will happen.”

Read The Rest of the Story…

When it comes to Al Davis and the Oakland Raiders, no news should really come as a surprise. The Raiders have done far crazier things than void the contract of their best defensive player.  They may have included a clause in Nnamdi Asomugha’s contract that forces him to become a free agent if he fails to achieve some strange incentives but, hey, at least they didn’t just give him to the Patriots, right?

ESPN’s Adam Schefter called our attention to an NFLPA document on Sunday morning which states that Asomugha will become a free agent after this season since he failed to play a greater number of defensive snaps in 2010 than 2009, and also did not improve upon his fumble recovery, interception and sack numbers.  More importantly, the clause also states that the Raiders cannot use the franchise or transition tag on Asomugha.

If not for the unusual clause, Oakland would have had Asomugha signed through 2011 with a team option for $16.8 million in 2012.  Now, the NFL free agent list has a new top dog on the defensive side of the ball.  At only 30 years old, Asomugha will be highly-coveted and likely demand one of the most lucrative contracts in NFL history.