Rodney Harrison, the hard hitting safety currently of the New England Patriots, is expected to tell the world that he is retiring from the NFL. The announcement is expected to come during a Wednesday conference call. Harrison, who spent time with NBC and the NFL Network last season, is also expected to say that he’s going to be moving to the world of broadcasting.

Rodney Harrison of the Patriots to Retire? (Image: Zuma Press)

The 36-year-old safety had a very successful run since he broke into the league with the San Diego Chargers in 1994. After playing with the Chargers until 2002, he joined the Patriots. Throughout his career, he was a physical player who was never afraid of pushing the rules to their limits. While some said Harrison was a dirty player, no one said that he didn’t play hard. And while he probably won’t make the Hall of Fame, he’ll at the very least go down as a memorable player.

The Patriots will miss him but it might end up better for New England in the long run. Since 2005, Harrison hasn’t been able to play more than 12 games in a season. With injuries slowing him down, he was no longer a dependable asset.

It’s usually the players you worry about getting hurt in the NFL, but this past weekend it was one of the Dallas Cowboys assistants who sustained injuries. Rich Behm suffered a fractured vertebrae which ultimately severed his spinal cord after being hit by a metal frame. The frame held up a covering over the practice field, and a severe thunderstorm blew through and injured three Cowboy’s staff members.

Another staff member had a fractured cervical vertebra while a third had two broken bones in his leg.

Image: Newscom

An update from a story reported on EMQB earlier today: Texans are no strangers to bad weather, but a storm today hospitalized 12 people when the roof of a Dallas Cowboys rookie minicamp collapsed today, according to reports. Around 60 other people escaped the falling debris with just minor cuts and bruises. 10 people were taken away by ambulance, while two others voluntarily went to the hospital later. Rumors say that 5 of the people injured were players.

Image: Newscom

Dr. Paul Pepe, head of Dallas EMS, says that no one is in a life-threatening situation right now. Names haven’t been announced for the most part, but the most serious injuries were someone with head trama, someone with an open leg racture, and someone who was impaled with falling metal. Special teams coach Joe DeCamillis also broke his back.

There were 27 new players working out when the roof collapsed. Others in the building included coaches and members of the media. Among the players drafted that were probably working out at the minicamp includ the following players:

• Jason Williams, Western Illinois
• Robert Brewster, Ball State
• Stephen McGee, Texas A&M
• Victor Butler, Oregon State
• Brandon Williams, Texas Tech,
• DeAngelo Smith, Cincinnati
• Michael Hamlin, Clemson
• David Buehler, USC
• Stephen Hodge, TCU
• John Phillips, Virginia
• Mike Michens, Cincinnati
• Manuel Johnson, Oklahoma

Other undrafted players who have been confirmed or rumored to be working out with the Cowboys:

• Rudy Carpenter, Arizona State
• Kevin Ogletree, Virginia
• Julian Hawkins, Boise St
• Greg Isdaner, West Virginia
• Mike Turkovich, Notre Dame
• Asaph Schwapp, Notre Dame
• Jamar Hunt, UTEP

Again, nothing is confirmed - these are just players that could have potentially been there.

Any news, I’ll update.

Want to see who your favorite team drafted? Here’s the 2009 NFL draft by NFL team (rather than by round) for the AFC (NFC here). When you see them all in a grouping, it definitely gives you a more accurate view of how the draft turned out in general for each team. (The 7th round is going on right now, so those picks may not be reflected yet.)

Baltimore Ravens

• Michael Oher, OT, Ole Miss
• Paul Kruger, OLB, Utah
• Lardarius Webb, CB, Nicholls State
• Jason Phillips, ILB, TCU
• Davon Drew, TE, East Carolina
• Cedric Peerman, RB, Virginia

Buffalo Bills

• Aaron Maybin, DE, Penn State
• Eric Wood, C, Louisville
• Jairus Byrd, CB, Oregon
• Andrew Levitre, OG, Oregon State
• Shawn Nelson, TE, Southern Miss
• Nic Harris, OLB, Oklahoma
• Cary Harris, CB, USC
• Ellis Lankster, CB, West Virginia

Read more

Regardless of whether or not he’s a good player, Aaron Curry is a good person. He got me a little choked up, actually, when he was picked. Oh, and did you know that the kid with him is a leukemia patient from St. Jude’s? That’s just awesome. You can really tell that Curry’s first concern is providing for his family, and he credited his mom with giving him everything to make this career possible.

Image: Newscom

#4 2009 Draft Pick - Aaron Curry, OLB, Wake Forest

Let’s talk about his abilities though - he’s solid. I agree with what the experts have been saying - he may not be a play-maker who’s in the news all the time, but he’s going to fill holes. He’s going to creep in there and save plays that could be disasters otherwise. He’s going to be a lifer in the NFL, I think.

Here are other draft picks:

1. Matthew Stafford, Quarterback, Georgia to the Detroit Lions

2. Jason Smith, Offensive Tackle, Baylor to the St. Louis Rams

3. Tyson Jackson, Defensive Tackle, LSU to the Kansas City Chiefs

Michael Silver at Yahoo! Sports has an interesting article posted - an ultimate mock draft that pretends that all of today’s NFL players can be drafted. Here are his top ten:

1. Detroit Lions - Larry Fitzgerald, WR
2. St. Louis Rams - Peyton Manning, QB
3. Kansas City Chiefs - Tom Brady, QB
4. Seattle Seahawks - Matt Ryan, QB
5. Cleveland Browns - DeMarcus Ware, OLB
6. Cincinnati Bengals - Ben Roethlisberger, QB
7. Oakland Raiders - Chris Johnson, RB
8. Jacksonville Jaquars - Alber Haynesworth, DT
9. Green Bay Packers - Joe Thomas, OT
10. San Francisco 49ers - Adrian Peterson, RB

It’s interesting that he things the Lions would pick someone other than a quarterback. But, as he says…they ARE the Lions!

You can read the full list, along with explanations, here.

Image via WikiCommons.

Earlier this month, I reported a story about B.J. Raji, who reportedly failed the NFL combine drug test. Raji,

Image: Newscom

however, is contradicting those reports. Says Raji,

“The biggest thing is trying to figure out how this started. I couldn’t understand how this rumor became such a big splash in the media when there was no evidence — there was no substance to believe it. The last couple days, I was just trying to figure out: Who? What? Basically, why? Now, I’m happy the truth is out. Obviously, it’s not going to be as big of a splash as the negative part. But as long as the coaches and the decision-makers know what is true, then I don’t need to be concerned with everybody else.”

That just goes to show - you can’t believe everything you hear, even from a reputable source like ESPN.

Actually, the truth of the matter is that the medical professionals who tested the players ONLY released the results to the players themselves. So, even if Raji tested positive (which he says he did not), only he would know. He says that he hasn’t recieved information about his results either way, and since “positive” letters were already sent out, that probably means he’s in the clear.

Now, NFL officials will get the results at some point, probably in one to two weeks. For now, though, we should give this guy the benefit of the doubt. He has been participating in the combine and NFL team visits, and if all goes well, he’ll likely be a top ten pick.

The soccer and football worlds finally unite! At least, in the romance department they do.

Soccer gal Heather Mitts has announced her engagement to Philadelphia Eagles Quarterback A.J. Feeley. In a blog post entitled How Can I Top 2008?, Mitts said that “two of the things that I love most in life were very good to me this year.” She went on to say very casually that she got a gold medal and was engaged.

A gold medal and a band of gold. Life is very good, indeed!  But is this a real announcement or a practical joke?  Stay tuned.

Image: Newscom.

B.J. Raji, a former Boston College lineman, reportedly failed the NFL combine’s drug test. Previously, he’s been appearing on draft projection lists as a top ten player, top for his position. Will this jeopardize his draft position?

B.J. Raji, Image: Newscom

Maybe.

The report by SI.com (read about it here on ESPN.com) doesn’t identify the drug that came up as positive on the test, but at Boston College, he tested positive for marijuana. While many people, myself included, don’t think weed is as bad as other street drugs, this could affect his standings for a number of reasons:

• If he can’t participate in the combine, another player may stand out in that position.
• Teams may not be willing to take a chance on Raji, since it may mean that he’ll have drug possession problems in the future.
• Drugs aren’t good for your body. Overall, teams could see this as a bad thing for his future - he might be ok today, but what will 10 years of smoking do to his performance?

With so many great players every year, teams want to make sure that their money goes to awesome players. The may not want someone who even hints at having a drug problem - even if that’s not the case.

Today, quarterback Matt Stafford is in Detroit at a private workout with the Lions. Since they have the number one pick, all eyes are on this team. The Lions definitely need some talent, but at the same time, it might not make sense for them to pick a quarterback first, especially when they have, in my opinion, greater needs in other positions.

Matt Stafford, Image: Newscom

Stafford isn’t the only play privately visiting Detroit. According to reports, Josh Freeman of Kansas also has a visit coming up with the Lions, and after this week’s USC pro day, I wouldn’t be surprised if Mark Sanchez is invited for a visit as well.

Of course, there’s no guarantee that the Lions will even have the number one pick come draft day. Some (including me) think it would be a better choice for the team to trade their pick for more later-round picks or other perks. After all, they have another pick later in the first round.

What do you think - will Stafford go to Detroit?