Nfl draft 2015 draft order: Round 1
1. Buccaneers: Jameis Winston
2. Titans: Marcus Mariota
3. Jaguars: Dante Fowler, Jr.
4. Raiders: Amari Cooper
5. Redskins: Brandon Scherff
6. Jets: Leonard Williams
7. Bears: Kevin White
8. Falcons: Vic Beasley
9. Giants: Ereck Flowers
10. Rams: Todd Gurley
11. Vikings: Trae Waynes
12. Browns: Danny Shelton
13. Saints: Andrus Peat
14. Dolphins: DeVante Parker
15. Chargers: Melvin Gordon
16. Texans: Kevin Johnson
17. 49ers: Arik Armstead
18. Chiefs: Marcus Peters
19. Browns: Cameron Erving
20. Eagles: Nelson Agholor
21. Bengals: Cedric Ogbuehi
22. Steelers: Bud Dupree
23. Broncos: Shane Ray
24. Cardinals: D.J. Humphries
25. Panthers: Shaq Thompson
26. Ravens: Breshad Perriman
27. Cowboys: Byron Jones
28. Lions: Laken Tomlinson
29. Colts: Phillip Dorsett
30. Packers: Damarious Randall
31. Saints: Stephone Anthony
32. Patriots: Malcom Brown
2. Titans: Marcus Mariota
3. Jaguars: Dante Fowler, Jr.
4. Raiders: Amari Cooper
5. Redskins: Brandon Scherff
6. Jets: Leonard Williams
7. Bears: Kevin White
8. Falcons: Vic Beasley
9. Giants: Ereck Flowers
10. Rams: Todd Gurley
11. Vikings: Trae Waynes
12. Browns: Danny Shelton
13. Saints: Andrus Peat
14. Dolphins: DeVante Parker
15. Chargers: Melvin Gordon
16. Texans: Kevin Johnson
17. 49ers: Arik Armstead
18. Chiefs: Marcus Peters
19. Browns: Cameron Erving
20. Eagles: Nelson Agholor
21. Bengals: Cedric Ogbuehi
22. Steelers: Bud Dupree
23. Broncos: Shane Ray
24. Cardinals: D.J. Humphries
25. Panthers: Shaq Thompson
26. Ravens: Breshad Perriman
27. Cowboys: Byron Jones
28. Lions: Laken Tomlinson
29. Colts: Phillip Dorsett
30. Packers: Damarious Randall
31. Saints: Stephone Anthony
32. Patriots: Malcom Brown
AARON RODGERS IS 14-15 SEASON MVP:
THE PACKERS' OVERTIME LOSS TO THE SEATTLE SEAHAWKS IN THE NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME AND THE ACCEPTANCE OF A SECOND MOST VALUABLE PLAYER AWARD TOOK A BACKSEAT FOR A MOMENT WHEN QUARTERBACK AARON RODGERS SCANNED THE CROWD AT THE NFL HONORS CEREMONY.
RODGERS HAD JUST ACCEPTED THE MVP AWARD FROM DENVER QUARTERBACK PEYTON MANNING AND WAS GETTING READY TO GIVE HIS SPEECH WHEN COACH MIKE MCCARTHY CAUGHT HIS EYE IN THE AUDIENCE.
"I WAS SPANNING THE CROWD FOR MY SPEECH AND I SAW HIM AND I MAINLY GOT CHOKED UP BECAUSE MIKE AND I ARE SO CLOSE AND I FORGOT THE REST OF MY PLANNED SPEECH BECAUSE ALL I COULD THINK ABOUT WAS SEEING HIM. I WASN'T AT THE FUNERAL, BUT SEEING HIM AND KNOWING WHAT HE WENT THROUGH AND TALKING TO HIM A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW DIFFICULT IT IS TO LOSE A YOUNGER BROTHER.
"MY YOUNGER BROTHER AND I HAVE A VERY CLOSE RELATIONSHIP AND I CAN IMAGINE HOW DIFFICULT IT WOULD BE TO LOSE HIM IN THAT WAY. I FEEL FOR HIM."
MCCARTHY'S BROTHER, JOE, DIED OF A HEART ATTACK AFTER WORKING OUT ON THE WEDNESDAY AFTER THE PACKERS LOST TO SEATTLE. HE WAS 47 YEARS OLD.
RODGERS BECAME THE EIGHTH QUARTERBACK IN NFL HISTORY TO WIN MULTIPLE MVP AWARDS. HE, BRETT FAVRE (THREE) AND BART STARR (ONE) HAVE COMBINED FOR SIX MVPS AND RODGERS AT 31 STILL HAS A NUMBER OF YEARS LEFT TO ADD TO THAT TITLE.
THE MOMENT WAS BITTERSWEET BECAUSE, RODGERS SAID HE SHOULD BE STAYING IN THE HOTEL WHERE THE SEATTLE SEAHAWKS ARE WAITING FOR SUPER BOWL XLIX TO BEGIN.
RODGERS SAID THAT HIS INJURED LEFT CALF HAS PROGRESSED WITH REST THE LAST TWO WEEKS AND HE THINKS HE WOULD HAVE BEEN MUCH FARTHER ALONG IF THE PACKERS WERE STILL PLAYING.
"THAT’S ANOTHER FRUSTRATING PART OF THIS," RODGERS SAID. "I’VE BEEN FEELING PRETTY GOOD. I HAVEN’T DONE ANYTHING, BUT IT’S BEEN FEELING PRETTY GOOD TO WHERE I FELT LIKE I MIGHT HAVE BEEN 75 TO 80% THIS WEEKEND IF WE WERE PLAYING.
"IT WILL BE ANOTHER FEW WEEKS BEFORE I’M ABLE TO GET INTO MY WORKOUT, BUT I USUALLY TAKE ABOUT A MONTH OFF FROM STRENUOUS ACTIVITIES AND START THE OFFSEASON."
RODGERS SAID THERE WAS ALWAYS THE RISK THAT HE MIGHT HAVE POPPED THE CALF AGAIN, BUT HE SAID HE WAS LEARNING WHAT HE COULD AND COULDN'T DO WITH THE INJURY. HE SAID HE LEARNED A LESSON ON THAT WHEN HE POPPED IT AGAINST DETROIT IN THE SEASON-FINALE.
"I FELT GOOD ABOUT IT AND THEN NEXT THING YOU KNOW THE OUTER HALF POPS AND I WAS KIND OF PLAYING ON ONE LEG FOR A LITTLE WHILE," RODGERS SAID. "I FELT BETTER AGAINST DALLAS AND A LITTLE BIT BETTER AGAINST SEATTLE. IT WOULD HAVE FELT BETTER THIS WEEK. I’LL CONTINUE TO REHAB IT, YOGA, AND BE RIGHT ON SCHEDULE FOR MY OFF-SEASON TRAINING."
RODGERS HAD JUST ACCEPTED THE MVP AWARD FROM DENVER QUARTERBACK PEYTON MANNING AND WAS GETTING READY TO GIVE HIS SPEECH WHEN COACH MIKE MCCARTHY CAUGHT HIS EYE IN THE AUDIENCE.
"I WAS SPANNING THE CROWD FOR MY SPEECH AND I SAW HIM AND I MAINLY GOT CHOKED UP BECAUSE MIKE AND I ARE SO CLOSE AND I FORGOT THE REST OF MY PLANNED SPEECH BECAUSE ALL I COULD THINK ABOUT WAS SEEING HIM. I WASN'T AT THE FUNERAL, BUT SEEING HIM AND KNOWING WHAT HE WENT THROUGH AND TALKING TO HIM A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW DIFFICULT IT IS TO LOSE A YOUNGER BROTHER.
"MY YOUNGER BROTHER AND I HAVE A VERY CLOSE RELATIONSHIP AND I CAN IMAGINE HOW DIFFICULT IT WOULD BE TO LOSE HIM IN THAT WAY. I FEEL FOR HIM."
MCCARTHY'S BROTHER, JOE, DIED OF A HEART ATTACK AFTER WORKING OUT ON THE WEDNESDAY AFTER THE PACKERS LOST TO SEATTLE. HE WAS 47 YEARS OLD.
RODGERS BECAME THE EIGHTH QUARTERBACK IN NFL HISTORY TO WIN MULTIPLE MVP AWARDS. HE, BRETT FAVRE (THREE) AND BART STARR (ONE) HAVE COMBINED FOR SIX MVPS AND RODGERS AT 31 STILL HAS A NUMBER OF YEARS LEFT TO ADD TO THAT TITLE.
THE MOMENT WAS BITTERSWEET BECAUSE, RODGERS SAID HE SHOULD BE STAYING IN THE HOTEL WHERE THE SEATTLE SEAHAWKS ARE WAITING FOR SUPER BOWL XLIX TO BEGIN.
RODGERS SAID THAT HIS INJURED LEFT CALF HAS PROGRESSED WITH REST THE LAST TWO WEEKS AND HE THINKS HE WOULD HAVE BEEN MUCH FARTHER ALONG IF THE PACKERS WERE STILL PLAYING.
"THAT’S ANOTHER FRUSTRATING PART OF THIS," RODGERS SAID. "I’VE BEEN FEELING PRETTY GOOD. I HAVEN’T DONE ANYTHING, BUT IT’S BEEN FEELING PRETTY GOOD TO WHERE I FELT LIKE I MIGHT HAVE BEEN 75 TO 80% THIS WEEKEND IF WE WERE PLAYING.
"IT WILL BE ANOTHER FEW WEEKS BEFORE I’M ABLE TO GET INTO MY WORKOUT, BUT I USUALLY TAKE ABOUT A MONTH OFF FROM STRENUOUS ACTIVITIES AND START THE OFFSEASON."
RODGERS SAID THERE WAS ALWAYS THE RISK THAT HE MIGHT HAVE POPPED THE CALF AGAIN, BUT HE SAID HE WAS LEARNING WHAT HE COULD AND COULDN'T DO WITH THE INJURY. HE SAID HE LEARNED A LESSON ON THAT WHEN HE POPPED IT AGAINST DETROIT IN THE SEASON-FINALE.
"I FELT GOOD ABOUT IT AND THEN NEXT THING YOU KNOW THE OUTER HALF POPS AND I WAS KIND OF PLAYING ON ONE LEG FOR A LITTLE WHILE," RODGERS SAID. "I FELT BETTER AGAINST DALLAS AND A LITTLE BIT BETTER AGAINST SEATTLE. IT WOULD HAVE FELT BETTER THIS WEEK. I’LL CONTINUE TO REHAB IT, YOGA, AND BE RIGHT ON SCHEDULE FOR MY OFF-SEASON TRAINING."
NFL HONORS WINNERS LIST:
Here's a complete list of the winners on Saturday:
» FedEx Air & Ground Players of the Year: Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay Packers; Le'Veon Bell, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers
» AP Offensive Rookie of the Year:Odell Beckham Jr., WR, New York Giants
» AP Offensive Player of the Year presented by Surface: DeMarco Murray, RB, Dallas Cowboys
» Salute To Service Award Presented by USAA: Jared Allen, DE, Chicago Bears
» AP Coach of the Year presented by Lenovo: Bruce Arians, Arizona Cardinals
» Art Rooney Award presented by Bose: Larry Fitzgerald, WR, Arizona Cardinals
» AP Defensive Rookie of the Year: Aaron Donald, DT, St. Louis Rams
» AP Assistant Coach of the Year: Todd Bowles, Arizona Cardinals
» Don Shula HS Coach of the Year: Bruce Larson, Somerset (Wisconsin) High School
» "Greatness on the Road" Award presented by Courtyard: Tony Romo, QB, Dallas Cowboys
» AP Defensive Player of the Year: J.J. Watt, DE, Houston Texans
» Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2015: Junior Seau, LB; Tim Brown, WR; Jerome Bettis, RB; Charles Haley, DE/LB; Will Shields, G; Bill Polian, contributor; Ron Wolf, contributor; Mick Tingelhoff, C
» NFL.com Fantasy Player of the Year presented by SAP: Le'Veon Bell, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers
» Deacon Jones Award: Justin Houston, OLB, Kansas City Chiefs
» AP Comeback Player of the Year: Rob Gronkowski, TE, New England Patriots
» Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year presented by Nationwide: Thomas Davis, LB, Carolina Panthers
» Bridgestone Performance Play of the Year: Odell Beckham Jr.'s amazing one-handed 43-yard touchdown catch
» AP Most Valuable Player: Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay Packers
Patriots deflated balls?
The NFL’s investigation into the Patriots is officially deflated.
What. A. Mess.
A complete and utter waste of time, this Deflategate controversy.
Forgive me for a moment for perpetuating the discussion, but the NFL royally screwed this up. Whoever is leading the handling of this chaos from within the league’s offices must still be looking for the Ray Rice elevator video in the mail room.
I’ve been saying for nearly two weeks this media-inflated saga is not a big deal and the league could not begin to care less, and wouldn’t if not for the fact it has been forced to investigate for the purposes of defending the supposed integrity of the game against an organization previously caught cheating.
Spygate will hang over the Patriots and coach Bill Belichick until the end of time – or at least until Belichick is gone; a day no true Pats fan is looking forward to, no matter how gruff or lacking in personality he appears at the podium.
Here’s the bottom line: Pregame football procedures are remarkably lax, and that’s by design.
There’s a reason – and I believe it – why few people on this planet were aware of the allowable pounds per square inch of air permitted for a game-ball. A range of 12.5 to 13.5 PSI? Who cares? Not the league; not the coaches.
Dean Blandino, the NFL’s vice president of officiating, yesterday told the assembled media in Phoenix referee Walt Anderson gauged the footballs himself and marked them as ready for the AFC Championship Game. As protocol dictates, he did so two hours and 15 minutes prior to the game.
“From everything that we reviewed and all the information that we have, the balls were properly tested and marked prior to the game,” Blandino said. “We’ve done our part, in terms of looking at what Walt Anderson and the crew did and how things were handled, and they were handled properly from that perspective. Everything that comes out of that will be made public.”
But, there’s a problem, likely a very common one: Anderson didn’t document the numbers.
"They’re not logged, and that’s certainly something that can be a thought (for the competition committee)," Blandino added. "They’re tested. They make sure they’re in that acceptable range, and then they basically mark the football to say this is an acceptable football. It met the proper specifications."
It’s an official’s word against that of the Patriots.
Now, the league cannot prove the Pats were playing with properly inflated footballs at kickoff. It’s entirely possible the game-approved balls were the same under-inflated PSI when Anderson first used the pressure gauge or did the squeeze-test as they were when they were pumped up like old Reeboks at the half.
Oh, and those halftime measurements weren’t recorded anywhere either.
This investigation is as smooth as a football’s laces.
And how, in the wake of an ESPN report citing 11 of 12 footballs measured at two PSI below the legal threshold, could anyone have possibly known that without hard evidence? Even if Anderson inflated the balls after a low evaluation, he can’t support it with more than a verbal claim.
When Tom Brady so openly states he prefers the balls at the minimum 12.5 PSI, his coach adds Brady can’t tell the difference in one PSI and was left to guess at a two PSI discrepancy in his own testing, and most around the league – including referee Bill Vinovich, who is slated to work the Super Bowl – will tell you they can’t differentiate from one ball to another, especially in cooler temperatures, is it so outside the realm of possibility some of the approved balls didn’t meet the league’s casually-enforce specifications?
Of course not.
If the NFL really cared, it would have spoken to Brady by now.
If the NFL really cared, it wouldn’t have taken Blandino until three days before the Super Bowl to mention a key missing component to its investigation, while leaving one of the league’s top franchises, prominent owners, and two future Hall of Famers open to very public scrutiny for upwards of two weeks.
If the NFL really cared, the numbers would always be logged and air pressure gauges would regularly be used. Balls would seemingly be turned away often, with quarterbacks frequently seeking a competitive edge.
More than anything, in this fantasy sports driven community, the NFL cares about offense. Rule changes year after year are geared toward protecting the quarterback, creating more room to pile up passing yards, and penalize the defense for getting even slightly frisky. If Brandon Browner or one of the other more physical corners around the game look at a receiver funny, it might be pass interference.
It’s why quarterbacks are permitted to doctor up their most valuable piece of equipment during the week, it’s why each signal-caller gets a say in how firm the ball feels in his hands, and it’s why each team is given the right to bring its own set of game-balls on offense.
Points, please. More points!
Are referees really going to stand in the way of that? Rub. Squeeze. Approve. Mark. Hand ‘em off like a quarterback.
Back to the ball boys, they go, where those individuals can evidently take the bags of footballs wherever the hell they want – maybe out for a sandwich – so long as they’ve got those suckers on the sidelines by kickoff.
Obviously there’s some slight exaggeration there, but the entire system is flawed. Teams shouldn’t be in charge of their game balls during play after inspection. Officials should be protecting those things like they’re BenJarvus Green-Ellis from 2008-11.
Why not expand the range of PSI from, say, 11.5 to 14.5? Then someone like Brady, who prefers an easier grip, and Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers, who desires a firmer feel, are both satisfied.
Want to remove the science – all that talk over climate, atmospheric pressure, balls returning to equilibrium, yadda yadda yadda? Measure the footballs prior to the game and call it a day. There’s no need to reassess at the half or after a game. I promise you; every week there’s at least one team playing with under-inflated footballs by the end of its game. Probably several.
No matter what Blandino says, Anderson and every other official are culpable. They are the ones who handle the balls from play to play. If quarterbacks should be able to notice a variance, so should the refs. It’s a double-edged sword of an argument.
The NFL’s investigation is ongoing, but the league blew it, pardon the pun. Without Anderson’s logged detail of the digits, Robert Kraft’s organization can’t reasonably be fined one dollar until tangible evidence reveals the deliberate deflation of footballs.
That’s not going to happen.
Video of a ball attendant taking the footballs to the bathroom for 90 seconds, with no footage from inside the room? Flush this report and wash your hands of the discussion. It’s time to move on.
For all of us.
Inevitably, as Blandino suggested, changes will be made with respect to how the balls are both measured and cared for. But that’s for down the road.
The Super Bowl is Sunday. The Pats are facing the Seahawks, if you haven't heard. Deflategate will have a public resolution in time – maybe by April at the speed the commissioner’s office work – but there won’t be anything to come from it other than perhaps that apology Kraft is seeking.
I’m not a Patriots apologist. I’m a realist. There’s nothing to see here. The only air sucked out of those footballs has been by those of us devoting time to it. On behalf of all media, I’m truly sorry.
For the NFL, on the brink of its showcase event and with commissioner Roger Goodell still to speak Friday, there has been embarrassment at nearly every turn. Not just in this case, but retrospectively in the handling of the Rice situation. You know, a real issue.
If the league was looking for a mulligan on that one, it chose wrong. Again.
Dez bryant, catch or no catch?
As many people saw on TV last Sunday, the referees overturned the spectacular catch by Dez Bryant on 4th and 2 late in the 4th quarter and ruled it an incomplete pass. A lot of people thought since he took three steps after grabbing it that it should be a catch, but the rule states that he has to have complete control throughout the catch, also known as the "Calvin Johnson Rule". But this could've been overruled if Dez Bryant reached for the goal line, which is a football move. But as Dean Blandino, the VP of officiating, said, that could've also been his momentum . The refs cannot assume that it was Dez Bryant reaching for the goal line and not his momentum. The refs obviously saw it that way and there is no arguing with that Calvin Johnson Rule so, even though I, myself, think it is a bad rule, it was the correct call to overturn the catch by the referees.