The bulging disk is Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck’s back seems to be better. That’s if the team’s recent OTAs are a reliable indication. Matt is essentially playing against air with non-contact practices against his Seattle teammates. But his injury is apparently a thing of the past. According to The News Tribune in Tacoma, Matt’s release is “so consistent and the spiral so tight, he resembles a baseball pitcher with perfect ‘command’ of all his pitches.”
Even with the impressive collection of healthy receivers the Hawks have on staff (T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Nate Burleson, Deion Branch, Deon Butler, Billy McMullen), having a …read more

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
The Seattle Seahawks won the T.J. Houshmandzadeh sweepstakes today. The receiver-depleted Hawks offered Housh five years for $40 million with $15 million guaranteed and beat out the Vikings and Bengals (be serious) for his services. I think T.J. is definitely worth the money. He’s proven that on the field with 372 receptions over the past four years. No other player has caught more passes. He’s a bigger body receiver than his 6-1, 200 pound frame would indicate. He’s a guy who isn’t afraid of the middle of the field. He catches everything thrown at him. …read more

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
Expedia.com, the Official Travel Team of the NFL, kicked off “Go Like Pro,” an on and offline program connecting fans with unique travel options to and from NFL cities, and other popular destinations. The program showcases two quarterbacks — Matt Hasselbeck of the Seattle Seahawks and Jason Campbell of the Washington Redskins — providing the players’ personal travel tips on uniquely designed pages on Expedia.com. The program also highlights Expedia-exclusive travel deals for NFL cities across the country, and coming soon, a limited number of VIP vacation packages to the 2009 NFL Pro Bowl in …read more

Blogcasting the National Football League, Blogcasting the NFL
Here’s the new Reebok NFL Equipment commercial that features 20 NFL players, the most to ever appear in a single TV ad. Look for Eli and Peyton Manning, Kevin Boss, Jerricho Cotchery, Greg Ellis, Matt Hasselbeck, Madison Hedgecock, Chad Johnson, Thomas Jones, Mathias Kiwanuka, Nick Mangold, Laurence Maroney, Jeff Saturday, Bo Scaife, Derrick Ward, DeMarcus Ware, Ty Warren, Benjamin Watson, Reggie Wayne, and Vince Young. The products? Each player is wearing his team’s NFL Equipment Speedwick Tee and Reebok HexRide Rally II kicks. Football is back. Nice.
Source: Reebok

Blogcasting the National Football League, Blogcasting the NFL
The Arnold Sports Festival is the world’s largest multi-sport fitness weekend — a three-day fitness free-for-all with 37 events and 12 Olympic sports. This weekend, more than 150,000 sports fans witnessed 17,000 athletes competing in a wide range of sports — from the 20th anniversary of the Arnold Classic professional bodybuilding competition to archery, boxing, cycling, fencing, gymnastics, judo, running, table tennis, tae kwon do, weightlifting, wrestling, and wu shu. That’s a lot of sports. I don’t even know what wu shu is.
As usual, a mega-popular three-day Fitness EXPO anchored the fest …read more

Photo by Greg Trott/Getty Images
Blogging the National Football League, Blogging the NFL
The Dallas Cowboys placed a league-high 12 players on the NFC All-Star team. Among the players selected to the NFC squad was Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor, who died last month. Sean received the most votes at his position and was chosen as the starting free safety for the NFC team. A replacement will be announced at a later date. Eleven NFC players will participate in their first Pro Bowl, including Minnesota Vikings rookie running back Adrian Peterson, who leads the NFC in rushing yards with 1,278.

Blogging the National Football League, Blogging the NFL
For the second year in a row, the NFL is asking fans to pick the pitch that will become its Super Bowl commercial. Rather than fans presenting ideas like last year, for the first-time ever, NFL players will be going head-to-head off-the-field with their pitches for the NFL’s Super Bowl XLII commercial.
NFL Films traveled to NFL team headquarters this fall in a customized NFL–themed tractor trailer to capture the players’ stories. Fans will have the opportunity to hear these unique tales and get an exclusive look at some of their favorite NFL players, …read more