Thursday Patriots Headlines - July 22nd
TRAINING CAMP COUNTDOWN: 7 days until Patriots training camp
We're now officially one week away from the start of training camp and public practices in Foxboro, and there is quite a bit going on heading into next week. Needless to say, here are this morning's Patriots headlines.
Mike Reiss kicks things off this morning with a mention from Laurence Maroney's interview with ESPN radio in St. Louis yesterday. Maroney talked about a variety of topics, including his thoughts on all the offseason moves the New York Jets had made.
"At the end of the day, that's why we play the game of football," he said. "We don't have no paper-roster champions, paper Super Bowl champions. There are a lot of times when teams have a lot of people on paper and it looks like they have to win the Super Bowl. But at the end of the day, that's why we play on Sundays and Mondays. Each player has to play and show up, no matter who they are ..."
Reiss also points out that with Ed Reed reportedly going on the PUP for the Baltimore Ravens, New England may dodge a bullet and not have to face him when the two teams meet in what would be week 6 for Reed.
Christopher Price of WEEI.com reports that New England got two more players under contract yesterday, with the Patriots announcing the signing of seventh-round picks DL Kade Weston and QB Zac Robinson. Weston and Robinson are the seventh and eighth members of New England’s 12 2010 draft choices to sign with the team. The Atlanta Journal Constitution has more on Weston, including the terms of his contract. Being a former Georgia player they obviously have an interest. The same holds true for Oklahoma website KTUL, which offers the terms of Robinson's deal.
Price just recently added an update to his "Rookie Contract Status" piece, with all the updated contract terms and information on each one.
Nashua student Tyler Stanley will be one of the hosts for "Totally Patriots" shows this fall. According to the Nashua Telegraph Stanley auditioned on a whim and performed really well, getting a pretty high score from the judges who were on hand. Stanley reportedly just happened to be there at the audition while spending the day with his sister, who is also a Patriots cheerleader.
Kirk Minihane of WEEI.com has a Patriots mailbag and talks about a variety of topics, including the fact that he feels the Jets will make a season sweep of New England this season.
The Boston Globe has an interesting article regarding the "Gold and Silver Pawn Shop", which is a Las Vegas shop that has been featured on the popular show "Pawn Stars". As many already know it's believed that Brock Williams pawned his 2001 Super Bowl ring there, which is shown during the opening credits of the show.
Glenn Farley of the Brockton Enterprise has an article this morning on quarterback Tom Brady, who he feels will be in camp right on time next week. Farley writes that while ESPN's John Clayton feels he'll potentially hold out, he believes that instead Brady will show up for practice having "ditched the Justin Bieber look for a training camp crew cut".
Yesterday WEEI.com had Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com on the Dale & Holley show yesterday, and talked about a variety of topics including the fact he feels that Brady is a different guy than he used to be. He expects Brady to hold out, because it would be a good way for him to "take a stand" since he's also one of the more important player reps in the ongoing labor dispute.
Clark Judge of CBS Sportsline says there's absolutely nothing wrong with Brady, and that all of the hype that has gone on this offseason is just unwarranted.
Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe feels that while Brady may not hold out when camp starts next week, from a pure business standpoint, as owners and players brace for a labor war, he probably shouldn’t show up.
Albert Breer of the Boston Globe reports that Sports Illustrated has come out with its annual "Fortunate 50", a ranking of America's highest earning athletes, and defensive lineman Vince Wilfork checks in at 38th. According to the article, most of his earnings come from team-issued paychecks ($18.9 million) than anywhere else ($75,000). Breer points out that one name absent from that list is Brady, although Peyton Manning checks in at number 9.
Breer also points out that Brady made the list at #8 for "America's Favorite Sports Star" after he came back in 2009 from a knee injury that sidelined him for the entire 2008 season.
Breer also takes a look at New England's week 9 opponent, the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Jeff Howe of NESN.com has been very busy. In the first article I'll list he takes a look at the runningback position, and feels that Laurence Maroney, Fred Taylor, BenJarvus Green-Ellis may be fighting for the final two runningback roster spots. He also points out that this could be Maroney's last chance to make an impact with this football team.
Howe also looks at the linebacker position, who he feels with this young group will give head coach Bill Belichick room for creativity this season.
Howe also has a report on the receivers, and expects Julian Edelman to be a spectator as Torry Holt and David Patten battle for the number three receiver position.
And finally Howe has a look at the safeties, and feels that Brandon Meriweather needs to improve his tackling in order to become a star safety here with the Patriots.
Paul Perillo of Patriots.com has a great piece on tight end Rob Gronkowski in the latest edition of "Meet The Rookies". It's a good read, and definitely one you need to check out. Erik Scalavino also has one on Devin McCourty that is another great read.
The team's official website has an article on 2010 Patriots Hall of Fame inductee Sam "Bam" Cunningham, who will reportedly take part in The Hall at Patriot Place Speaker Series on August 11th. According to the report the doors will open at 5:30 p.m. for guests to tour the facility, with Cunningham speaking in the Raytheon Theater at 6:30 p.m.
As I said yesterday I'd skip by these, but for some reason they seem to be the most clicked on in a given day each time I post them. Anyway, as we know Mrs. Brady (ie: Gisele) turned 30 recently, and TheImproper.com has photos from her recent photo shoot for Roberto Cavalli’s Fall 2010 campaign. I have no idea who this Cavalli guy is, but she certainly looks good in his clothes.
OTHER NFL HEADLINES:
The Buffalo Bills official website has an article looking at who will be their number two receiver this season. One of the players in that equation is former Patriots receiver Chad Jackson, although according to the article he had a limited number of reps during the minicamps and OTA's.
USAToday takes an in-depth look at the San Diego Chargers, and wonders if they're still championship contenders considering the personnel turnover and recent player issues. I find it interesting that there appears to be no mention of Norv Turner as being a potential problem in this article. Considering his coaching history and playoff problems with each team he's been with, I'm sure that has nothing to do it.
That's it for this morning. Enjoy your day, and we'll have more later on.
