Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress received a contract extension offer from the team today. Notice I said offer—because nothing has been agreed to yet. Coach Childress said after practice today that not only has he not signed the offer, he hasn’t even read it. Brad Childress, Minnesota Vikings / Image: Zuma Press I’m going to go out on a limb and assume the deal gets done, though. This was a make-or-break season for coach Childress. He pulled out all the stops by getting quarterback Brett Favre to unretire for a second time and join the Vikes. And at 8-1, he answered his critics by having his best year ever—so far. There are still seven games to play and perhaps there is some wording in that contract that refers directly... [Read more]

Miami Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown (the NFL player I have interviewed more times than any other—I lost track around five) won’t be running the Wildcat anymore. In fact, he won’t be running any plays. The Dolphins officially placed him on injured reserve today with what they were initially calling a foot injury. But more specifically, he has a Lisfranc fracture in the middle of his foot. He suffered the injury in last Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Bucs. Ronnie Brown, Miami Dolphins / Image: Zuma Press The injury is by no means career threatening, but it is severe enough to sideline Ronnie for a couple months, thus ending his 2009 season. Sadly, he was on a pace (648 yards after nine games) to set a career high... [Read more]

The Buffalo Bills fired head coach Dick Jauron today. This really doesn’t come as any surprise. It was more an issue of “if not now, when?” And what better time than when you’re 3-6 and coming off three-plus seasons with a .421 winning percentage? Coach Jauron, while certainly a kind man who gave it all he had, simply could not revive a team that hasn’t made the playoffs since 1999. That streak ties the Detroit Lions for the longest active dry spell for any non-expansion team. All this being said, the Bills’ problems run deeper than the head coach, but this was a necessary start. In fact, I felt this move should’ve been made before the 2009 season began. Dick Jauron fired by Buffalo Bills / Image: Zuma... [Read more]

This seemed like a perfect match. A malcontent running back with a criminal record and the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals signed running back Larry Johnson—released by the Kansas City Chiefs last week because he was more trouble than he was worth—to a short-term deal that runs through the end of this season. Details of the contract were not available yet. Larry Johnson signed by Cincinnati Bengals / Image: Zuma Press I figured the only other team that would even take a look at this guy would be the Oakland Raiders. The Bengals might be playing better football, but they still make some very questionable decisions when it comes to the character of the players they involve themselves with. It’s almost as though that aspect isn’t... [Read more]

Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams stuck both of his middle fingers in the air like he just didn’t care yesterday as the Titans were wrapping up a 41-17 win over the Buffalo Bills. I’m not sure what would possess an 86-year-old man to do this in front of 70,000 people. It’s bad enough when a player does it, but when an owner goes down this road, it’s pretty embarrassing. What’s with “the finger” anyway? It’s like the Jerry Seinfeld joke. It seems like such an arbitrary, ridiculous thing to just pick a finger and show it to someone. It’s a finger. What does it mean? Who invented this as an obscene gesture? Someone shows me one of their fingers and I’m supposed to feel bad. I don’t get it.... [Read more]