Football

Awww! Smile everyone. Cha-ching! I doubt there are many moments in a football player’s life to compare to that moment the commissioner of the NFL calls your name?especially if you are taken in the top ten. .cantembedplus{display:none;} Tyron Smith was a right tackle out of USC, highly touted, highly coveted, highly talented, and after the Cowbooys took him number ten in the 2011 draft, highly paid. And that, according to Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com, is the rub: Smith spoke about the ordeal for the first time to The Dallas Morning News. He agreed to pay his parents in four installments after getting drafted, but they kept coming back for more. When he told them about a move to left tackle, they didn’t say congrats. They talked about the next contract. “There was a certain amount I agreed to give them, but it went way beyond that and I was just like, ‘I’m done,’ ” Smith said. “I feel like I shouldn’t have given them so much. There was nothing wrong with helping them out and making sure they were taken care of, but not something to where they live the same lifestyle as you.” Smith’s lawyer alleged that his mom and/or stepdad threatened Smith’s well-being and the life of his girlfriend. The lawyer also alleged that Smith’s family took more than $1 million from him. The money went missing when Smith was using a financial advisor his parents recommended. “There was money missing, but I just don’t know where it went,” Smith said. “There were times I would check my statements and it wouldn’t make sense and I hadn’t authorized it at all. I just felt betrayed and I was like, ‘Who can I trust?’ ” Anyone with sudden riches can tell a similar story. Whether you won the lottery, signed your first big contract or sold your fledgling company to Google or Yahoo for a bazillion bucks, you can bet you are going to meet cousins you never heard of and all of your siblings are going to forgive every misdeed of your childhood. If you are a good soul, one of the first people you think of when you get your fortune is your dear ol’ mom. If you do not, you are probably some sort of sick, selfish, petty little person plaguing the world with yourself. Unless, of course, your mom is the kind that was more a mother and never much of a mom until you got rich. Or worse. She is a gold-digger, willing to threaten and harass you every minute until you cough up whatever amount she is trying to extort. To hear Tyron Smith tell it, that is the kind of woman his momma is. She and the man she is married to apparently see their precious child as a cash cow. All those hugs, smiles and tears we saw when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell called Tyron’s name, unfortunately, were not accompanied by thought bubbles. If they had been, we might have seen this coming. Smith had to call 911 on his siblings and get a restraining order against his mom. He also suspects either his mother or the man she married of stealing around a million bucks from him. Ouch. Wouldn’t you love to be a fly on the family wall come Christmas? Hey! At least the Cowboys play on Thanksgiving, so Tyron won’t have to awkwardly turn down an invite to share turkey dinner with dear ol’ mom. The post Tyron Smith family man: Black sheep or fleeced by the familial flock? appeared first on Silver and BlueBlood.

In reading some of the comments of the many quality Broncos fans, I have come across comments here and there about Manning and the playoffs. The comments have denoted negativity in his playoff abilities. And I understand why. That is the notoriety that he has carried for awhile now. And in his first year in a Broncos uniform, he makes the game deciding mistake in the overtime of the Raven nightmare. But as a guy that has watched him pretty closely for a decade, I just want to give some perspective on the matter. I don't want to write a blind defense of his mistakes. But to offer a broader viewpoint. Colts fans knew Manning and understood what he had done in the regular season and the playoffs. Tho understandable, it's a little strange to read comments from Broncos fans who speak negatively of Peyton. They may not be completely mistaken, but they didn't watch him closely for a decade. They may react to what his reputation has been. Peyton is now a Bronco. That was his choice. And I hate to see comments of the good Mile High fans in a negative light when it comes to the man who is committed to being your Quarterback. A fan has a right to criticize a player. And perhaps at this point you owe him nothing. And if you feel that Manning is a bad playoff quarterback, it doesn't mean that you hate him and are rooting against him. You are a Broncos fan, so you want the Broncos to win regardless of who the QB is. But I think its good to have a broader perspective on how he has gotten that reputation. And good for Bronco country not to add to the negativity. I have read many comments from media and observers about Manning and his playoff career the last few years out of curiosity. They are wide ranging. Some say that he is fatally flawed and cannot perform in the playoffs. His sub .500 record proves clearly that he is a choker and incapable of leading a team in the postseason.. Others suggest that all of Peyton's playoff losses have been a result of complete failure by his teammates and coaches, and that he is pretty much free from blame... Those are the extremes.. Most opinions are somewhere in the middle. Some saying that tho he has not always been terrible, he is clearly not the same quarterback in the postseason.. Others saying, while he has not been perfect in the postseason, at times he has been great. And he has not benefited from ever having what wins championships, a really good defense. First I think it is good to look at how he first developed that reputation. It started early on in his career. I thought I would go through his whole career and give an overview of what happened to the Manning lead Colts over the years. 1999-2006 The Colts were a cellar dwelling team that Manning helped elevate to the playoffs in his second year. However they could not get over the hump, losing in three straight playoff games in '99 '00 and '02. The voices were starting to raise that Peyton couldn't win a game in the playoffs. And he didn't play particularly well in those games. He tried to do too much and made mistakes that were uncharacteristic. 2003 Soon the Tony Dungy era would come in and give some structure to the defense. One of the worst defenses in the league would make some improvement. In 2003, the Colts broke out of the postseason slump, coincidentally against the franchise Peyton would join in the twilight of his career. The Colts did not punt once in this game against the Broncos. Peyton was 22 for 26 and threw for 377 yards and five touchdowns. Then they went onto the next round to beat the Chiefs in another game in which the punter stayed on the sidelines. But the postseason ended on a snowy night in New England a week later. Peyton played terrible getting picked off four times and throwing the ball into coverage where it should not have been thrown. Colts fans were upset at the physicality of the the New England defense. It was very physical with the WR's, throwing them off of t

Plenty of players test positive for performance enhancing drugs.  But the Seahawks definitely are in the midst of a troubling trend. As pointed out by Eric D. Williams of the Tacoma News Tribune, defensive end Bruce Irvin has become the sixth Seahawks player to test positive for performance enhancing drugs since 2011. The others are…

The N.Y. Jets haven't yet announced if they will release Mike Goodson after his arrest, but at least one teammate believes the running back could be on his way out of Florham Park. More...

Dwight Freeney and the San Diego Chargers reached an agreement Saturday on a two-year, $8.75 million contract, NFL.com's Ian Rapoport reported per a source. More...

Dee Milliner, the ninth overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, signed with a new agency Saturday. The New York Jets cornerback fired his previous agency on May 10. More...

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- The San Diego Chargers have agreed to a two-year deal with star pass rusher Dwight Freeney that could be worth $13.35 million. More...

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Howard Smith- USA TODAY Sports Since the hiring of former Oregon head coach Chip Kelly by the Philadelphia Eagles, there has been one common misconception floating around the masses. A coach who made his name in the collegiate ranks by lighting up the scoreboards with video game-like numbers making the jump to the professional ranks sounded oddly familiar, and as well it should have. Kelly’s move has closely resembled that of former Florida Gators head coach Steve Spurrier to the Washington Redskins back in 2002. However, people need to be reminded that these are two different men, in two different situations, in two different eras. While I can see where some may make the mistake of comparing the two, they simply shouldn’t. To begin with, both men approach their professions differently. Chip Kelly lives and breathes the game of football in a Jon Gruden-esque type way. He will take up residence in the Eagles’ facilities if he sees fit. He will bathe there, sleep there, eat there — whatever it takes for success. Now, while Steve Spurrier was wildly successful at his job in the college ranks, his personality just wasn’t suited for the NFL life. Spurrier is a creature of habit that is unwilling to adapt to anyone’s demands. He was in no way willing to make the NFL a 24/7 and 365 day-a-year job. He wanted to put in the minimal amount of work that he had to, and then get on the golf course to work on his backswing as soon as possible. As far as the mind-blowing offensive schemes are concerned, there are similarities as well. However, the way that Kelly is working his in. Spurrier tried to migrate his, and those two approaches are vastly different. The success of Spurrier’s “Fun ‘n’ Gun” offense was based mostly on the fact that the personnel that the ‘Ol’ Ball Coach’ had on the field would just be that much more athletic than the opposition. When they spread the field the opposition isn’t supposed to be able to catch up with them. This worked in the college game. However, in the NFL world where the professional athleticism is mostly equal throughout the league, this was not going to work; Spurrier didn’t adapt to that, nor did he really care to. Kelly’s read-option spread offense is similar in that the way he ran it in college was unique and somewhat new. It was more or less a new-age take on the old wishbone offenses in the era where Army dominated college football. However, as opposed to Spurrier, Kelly is willing, as well as capable, of adapting his unorthodox style of handling the football to what success in the NFL calls for. You want proof of this? He drafted Matt Barkley, didn’t he? The epitome of a year 2013 pro-style quarterback was grabbed by him. Not to mention his first pick was an offensive tackle in Lane Johnson. While I heard many bring up virtually every top skill position prospect when it was the Eagles’ turn to pick early in Round 1, Chip went with protection rather than flash. Chip seems so far to be excelling in the personnel department, another area that Steve Spurrier couldn’t quite handle. If you remember correctly, he tried to turn the Redskins into a pro-version of his Florida teams by bringing in his former players. It also seems that Kelly might be at a better advantage in the way that, if last year was any indication, spread systems are slowly starting to be integrated into the NFL game. By putting together a solid on-the-field personnel squad that is capable of performing at the next level and then tweaking his offensive system to conform with that, Kelly has a much better chance for success than Spurrier ever had. They’re two different men, in two different eras, with two different personalities. And, when it’s all said and done, they may also have two different NFL legacies. ________ Jack is a College Football Writer and NFL Contributor for Rant Sports. Follow Jack on Twitter @J

The Dallas Cowboys decline to comment on speculation about whether the team is considering a move from its long-time home at Valley Ranch in Irving.