Chargers reportedly interested in Panthers' WR Smith

Veteran wide receiver Steve Smith cleared out his locker and packed his belongings from the Carolina Panthers' team facility last month.

Was it the first step in the next phase of his career? He has two years remaining on his current contract and is owed $7 million for 2011 and $7.75 million for '12.

Smith, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune, wants to be traded and the Los Angeles native prefers a California landing spot. The paper, citing sources close to the situation, indicates the Chargers are extremely interested in acquiring Smith if he becomes available at the conclusion of the NFL lockout. At present, player movement is not allowed because the league is, technically, closed for official business.

Coach Ron Rivera, entering his first season as a head coach, has maintained that Smith is part of the team's future in Carolina.

"Steve's a Carolina Panther. That's a situation where as we go further on we'll address. We'll talk and he knows how I feel about things. My biggest thing is let us put it all together and see how it works, see if it's something that can work for all of us. That's probably the most important thing. But we have to do what's best for the Carolina Panthers," Rivera said in February.

Smith, 32, has played 10 NFL seasons, all with the Panthers, and has 52 touchdowns. But he began last season with a broken arm that kept him out of the preseason and never found a groove amidst a season-long quarterback issue in 2010. The Panthers went 2-14, leaning on rookie Jimmy Clausen after veterans Matt Moore and street free agent Brian St. Pierre went down with injuries.

In December, Smith said Clausen should apologize to the veterans in the huddle and said he had a lot to learn. Clausen had issued an apology to defensive captain Jon Beason for a poor peformance in a 31-10 loss to the Saints.

"I'm the last guy to tell anybody to be apologizing, but if you're going to apologize, you know, you should apologize to the people in the huddle with you," Smith said. "But he has a lot to learn. He ain't in Notre Dame anymore, that's for sure."

The Panthers used the No. 1 overall pick in April's draft on Auburn quarterback Cam Newton. Whether Newton, a junior who won the Heisman Trophy and national championship in his lone season as a starter, can contribute immediately is open to debate. The current lockout, also prohibiting rookies from hands-on learning at the team facility, would seem to favor Clausen returning as the team's starter with Newton learning for most or all of his rookie season.

Copyright (C) 2011 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.

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Spotting Cheap NFL Jerseys

Unflappable Flacco shrugs off drops, achieves statement victory

Take away the drops, and Flacco's stats are 7 of 10 for 92 yards on the final drive. (US Presswire)

PITTSBURGH -- Joe Flacco doesn't get happy, doesn't get mad, doesn't seem to register emotion like a human being registers emotion. He plays football with bland detachment, like a librarian stacking books instead of a quarterback trying to avoid James Harrison.

And that ticks some people off. They don't get it. They can't relate to it. It's spooky to watch, but when it works -- and it worked Sunday night -- it's beautiful to watch. Beautiful and still spooky, because normal people don't handle stress like Joe Flacco handles it.

But a normal person, even a normal NFL quarterback -- even a very good NFL quarterback -- wouldn't have been able to handle the stress Flacco handled Sunday night. There might be only two other quarterbacks in the NFL who could have led the game-winning drive engineered by Flacco on Sunday night, a 92-yard lesson in perseverance that gave the Ravens a last-second, 24-20 victory against the Steelers in a pivotal AFC North game.

Those two other quarterbacks are named Brady and Rodgers, by the way.

Flacco doesn't have the Super Bowl bling of Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers, but he has that ability. His window is closing in Baltimore -- star defensive players Ray Lewis and Ed Reed, not to mention star receiver Anquan Boldin, are in their 30s and can't play at this level for too much longer -- but the window is open this year. And if the Ravens get it done, I promise you this comeback in Pittsburgh will be seen as the launching pad.

This was the kind of victory that can catapult a team into the stratosphere, and the AFC is there for the taking. Unlike the NFC, with the Packers clearly the dominant team, the AFC has no frontrunner. Well, it had no frontrunner until Sunday night, when the Ravens emerged from the pack thanks to their maddeningly cool, sometimes downright cold, quarterback. Joe Cool? Joe Freezing.

He needed every sub-zero degree of body temperature he could muster on a final drive when he was facing 92 yards, the crowd, the Steelers and the butterfingers in his own huddle. And he was facing all of that with only 2:24 to play.

"Joe was the same in the huddle every single play," Ravens receiver Torrey Smith said. "He's the same person he always is."

Before that drive was done, three different Ravens would drop passes from Flacco -- including Smith, who couldn't reel in a 37-yard pass in the end zone with 35 seconds left. The first drop, though, was by running back Ray Rice, who botched an outlet pass with 1:30 left and the Ravens on their own 42. Two plays later, on fourth-and-1 from the Steelers 49, Flacco hit Boldin for 10 yards.

"Nobody blinked," Rice said of the drops. "Joe Flacco is going to put the ball in the right place."

After Flacco's fourth-down pass came a short completion to tight end Ed Dickson, then the drop in the end zone by Smith. This was the second ball Smith dropped on the night, the first coming in the second quarter on an out pattern that hit Smith, who wears No. 82, between the "8" and the "2." Had Flacco been throwing a lawn dart, it would have pierced Smith's sternum. It might have killed him.

Flacco? He didn't even look angrily at Smith. Flacco never looks angrily at anyone. He looks sleepy, like he can't be bothered or doesn't even care, although that's obviously not the case. But it is how it looks, and like I said, it's spooky.

So anyway, after the drops by Rice and Smith, Flacco locked in on his best receiver, one of the more sure-handed receivers in the NFL -- Boldin. On second-and-10 from the Steelers' 26, Flacco found Boldin open over the middle hitting him in stride with 16 seconds left at the Steelers' 10.

Boldin dropped it.

Had a doctor strapped a blood-pressure sleeve on Flacco's right arm, at that moment, it probably would have registered 110 over 70. Which is perfect blood pressure. Or maybe it wouldn't have detected any numbers at all. Ice water doesn't generate much pressure, probably. Who knows?

All we know is this: On the next play, the play after Boldin's drop, on third-and-10 from the Steelers' 26, with 16 seconds left and the crowd of 64,851 standing and screaming and the temperature dropping to 40 degrees, Flacco threw a laser into the back of the end zone to the same guy who dropped a potential touchdown moment earlier. This time, Torrey Smith held on.

This time, Joe Flacco showed some emotion. He smiled. May even have screamed. Forgive him, but this was an exciting moment.

The Ravens are now 6-2, tied atop the AFC North -- and all of the AFC, come to think of it -- with the surprising Bengals, a team Baltimore still must play twice. The Ravens have swept the Steelers, meaning Pittsburgh will have to catch the Ravens and then pass them outright to finish ahead of Baltimore in the playoff race.

Don't put anything past the Steelers, though. This is one tough, tough team. They were playing with a makeshift core of linebackers, without receiver Hines Ward after a devastating helmet-to-helmet hit by Ray Lewis early in the second quarter, and with a new punter. But they nearly won this game, rallying from a 16-6 deficit in the fourth quarter, taking a 20-16 lead on Ben Roethlisberger's running 25-yard strike to Mike Wallace with 4:59 left.

After a Baltimore three-and-out, the Steelers had the chance to run out the clock or pad their lead. They reached the Ravens' 29 when Mike Tomlin made a passive-aggressive choice that didn't work at all. Faced with a 46-yard field goal, he hesitated before sending out the kicking team, sending them out so late that Pittsburgh was called for delay of game -- taking the decision out of his hands.

At that point, a punt was the prudent choice, and the Steelers punted. And it worked, with injured Daniel Sepulveda replacement Jeremy Kapinos killing a punt at the Ravens 8.

Now a touchdown would win it for the Ravens. Still, Tomlin liked his odds.

"I made the decision to make them work the length of the field," Tomlin said. "Ultimately, that was probably the best option for us."

Against 28 or 29 quarterbacks, that would have been the winning option. But Flacco's not normal, man. He was dreadful most of the game on first and second downs, when the pressure's low. But on third down, with no margin for error? He was incredible on third down, leading the Ravens to a 14-of-21 conversation rate. That touchdown pass to Smith? That was third down. And it was to Torrey Smith, the most buttery of the Ravens' butterfingers. Flacco's cool like that. He's cold.

"It's not my job to get down on Torrey," Flacco said.

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A List of the Highest Paid Football Players in the NFL

In researching information for this article, the latest data for the presentation of the highest salaries in the NFL is for the 2008 season. It should be noted that this list changes from year to year. Also, the salary cap imposed by the NFL commission increases from year to year. The salary cap is the amount of money an NFL team can spend on salaries for their players per year. The salary cap has progressively increased year by year since its inception back in 1994.

The NFL salary cap, as negotiated by the players Union in the current collective bargaining agreement, is 62.24% of all football related revenue divided by 32 teams. For the 2009 season that figure is 128 million dollars.

The following shows the steady increase in salary cap since 1999:

Salary Cap Per Team for NFL Player Salaries by Year:

2008 $116 million

2007 $109 million

2006 $102 million

2005 $85.5 million

2004 $80.5 million

2003 $75 million

2002 $71 million

2001 $67.5 million

2000 $62.2 million

1999 $58.4 million

As the salary cap increases, so does the salary of players. The real question is how is the money distributed to players. There is a type of salary distribution model that teams use which is not known to the general public. What is known is that the top 20 salaries for 2008 only had a couple of quarterbacks. Yet the highest paid player for 2008 was quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. So who were the highest paid NFL players for 2008. The following table tells it all:

TOP 20 HIGHEST PAID PLAYERS IN 2008

1. QB Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh $ 27,701,920

2. DE Jared Allen, Minnesota $ 21,119,256

3. WR Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona $ 17,103,480

4. QB JaMarcus Russell, Oakland $ 16,872,400

5. RB Michael Turner, Atlanta $ 16,003,840

6. G Chris Snee, N.Y. Giants $ 14,890,000

7. CB Asante Samuel, Philadelphia $ 14,145,000

8. WR Randy Moss, New England $ 14,006,720

9. T Flozell Adams, Dallas $ 14,005,760

10.DT Tommy Kelly, Oakland $ 13,978,480

11. WR Terrell Owens, Dallas $ 13,731,560

12. WR Bernard Berrian, Minnesota $ 13,705,000

13. T Michael Roos, Tennessee $ 13,505,520

14. C Jeff Faine, Tampa Bay $ 13,105,760

15. DE Will Smith, New Orleans $ 12,950,000

16. QB Tony Romo, Dallas $ 12,886,600

17. G Travelle Wharton, Carolina $ 12,850,000

18. DE Antwan Odom, Cincinnati $ 12,800,000

19. CB Terence Newman, Dallas $ 12,611,240

20. RB Marion Barber, Dallas $ 12,522,400

Lets examine the concept of salary in the NFL a little more closely. As previously stated, how teams pay their players and the value they place on them is known by only a few, including the player agent. It is interesting to note that having high salary players does not necessarily mean success to the team.

A case in point. One of the most successful NFL teams over the past ten years has been the New England Patriots. Yet only one player from the Patriots is in the top 20 for 2008. That is wide receiver Randy Moss. Yet Oakland, over the past ten years, which has two players in the top 20, has not seen the success that the Patriots have had. As a matter of fact, they have not even come close.

Also, you can see five players from the Dallas Cowboys in the top 20 list for 2008, yet they have not been in the Super Bowl since 1995 (Super Bowl XXX). It appears that the New England Patriots like to spread their money around to their players, so that one or a few players do not get an enormous salary while the rest of the players make a fraction of that amount. Randy Moss may be an exception to this rule.

This team concept of salary distribution that the Patriots employ falls in line with the team concept they have set for their players when it comes to playing football. The Patriot's organization believe that it requires a team effort to win football games, and not the superior effort of only a few players. Maybe that is one of the reasons the Patriots have been so successful over the past ten years. And lets not forget that the Patriots is one of the best managed teams in the NFL. Part of that management is proper salary distribution. Team owner Robert Kraft and head coach Bill Belichick seem to know what they are doing.

In any case, NFL player salaries continue to increase year by year. Today the lowest rookie makes a bare minimum of $285,000.00 (at least for 2007). In terms of all professional sports, the NFL players are the highest paid. This is why so many college players seek to get into the NFL. But it should also be remembered that the average length of a career for a player in the NFL is only 4 years. So obviously a player needs to make all he can during that short career. The question is are the players worth these very high salaries.

A persons salary is dependent on one major factor. That is how many other people can do the job they are doing? The fewer the number of people that can perform a particular job, the higher the salary. Not to many people can play in the NFL. Also, the players do deserve most of the revenue that is produced simply because, without the players, you would not have any business entity. And since fans are willing to pay the high ticket prices, then I would have to answer the question that yes, the players do deserve the salaries they receive.

Football is a form of entertainment, but it is a form of entertainment Americans can not do without. Even in the Roman period, people had a need to see the gladiators fight in the Colosseums. The Romans had to pay to see their gladiators fight to the death. Sometimes all the seats were free, if a rich person had given money to pay for the show. Other times, you had to pay, and it cost more money for the good seats than for the bad seats, so the poor people had to sit way up top in the Colosseum where it was hard to see. Even the Colosseums had their nosebleed seats. The point is, Romans were willing to pay to see the gladiator form of competition. This willingness to pay to see competition has existed throughout the history of mankind.

Every year, fans watch their teams with the hope that their team will reach the Super Bowl, or in some cases, simply end up with a winning season. And in the end, we really do not care to much about a players salary. As long as we enjoy watching our team play, we will continue to pay high ticket prices.

So to conclude, there are really two basic reasons why NFL players can make millions of dollars per year. First and foremost, fans are willing to pay high ticket prices to see their team play. Secondly, not to many people can play in the NFL. This results in a high demand for their skill. Lets face it, not to many people have the skill of a Tom Brady or a Ben Roethlisberger. So as long as the demand for tickets remains high, players will continue to enjoy a high income.

Information sources for this article:

Sources: payscale.com, usatoday.com, historyforkids.org

Thomas Sullivan, the author of this article, is a web developer and publisher who lives in the Boston, MA area. He is the creator and webmaster for NFL Merchandise [http://new-england-patriots-tickets.top-seo-solutions.com/?page_id=7], an online store for the NFL fan, located at the site New England Patriots [http://new-england-patriots-tickets.top-seo-solutions.com/].

How to Watch NFL Football Games If You Don't Live in the United States

Not every country's television networks give a lot of time to American football. So if you are an NFL football fan who doesn't live in the US, it might be hard to watch your favorite teams. Fortunately, if you have a good internet connection, there is a solution. It's called NFL Game Pass.

NFL Game Pass is a joint venture between the National Football League and Yahoo Sports. Up until the regular season starts, you can sign up for an off-season game pass for under $40 and watch all of last season's games, including the Super Bowl. Once the regular 2009 season starts, you can buy a season pass for all NFL games. This doesn't include the post season. For the 2008 seasons, this pass cost $209.95 in US dollars.

If you only follow one team, there is also a Follow Your Team pass which is about $50 cheaper. Or, if you only want to see a few specific games, there are weekly passes. Last year, these cost $19.95. I would expect pricing will be pretty close to the same this year.

Now for the bad news. Well, it will be bad news for some people. The NFL Game Pass is meant just for viewers outside North America. So if you don't live in the US, but live in another country in what NFL defines as the North American region, you won't be able to get the NFL Game Pass and you likely can't get the US alternative, NFL Supercast, that's available through DirecTV. These countries include Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Bahamas.

For the most part though, the Game Pass is a great option for international NFL fans. The streaming is very good quality and you can either watch the games live or you can watch them On Demand the day after a game airs. This is really convenient if you live in a time zone that would make watching NFL games live difficult.

If you want to watch the NFL live online, you can find out more about NFL Game Pass. Or if you live in the US and want to watch all of the NFL games online, you will want to get the NFL Sunday Ticket and the NFL Supercast player which can stream games to your computer.

Eddie Martin is a New England Patriots fan and lives 20 minutes from the Foxboro stadium.

Points to Remember While Purchasing a NFL Jersey

Weddle waits, watches as big-money years pass by

San Diego Chargers safety Eric Weddle was at home babysitting his kids Wednesday night, doing the dad thing because, like all NFL players, he has more time on his hands this spring than he has at any time in his career.

What Weddle should be doing instead is figuring out ways to make sure his kids are set for life, thanks to his brand-new, high-paying, bonus-filled, free-agent contract that would bring an influx of investment money.

Too bad he might not get that contract this year -- or even next.

Eric Weddle's coverage and tackling skills are coveted in the pass-happy NFL of the 21st century. (Getty Images) Weddle is one of the many players who thought this would be their free-agency year, their cash-in moment, but instead are left as the victims of the NFL's labor dispute, unable to move now and maybe for two years.

"I kind of keep my cool about it," Weddle said. "I try to keep it in the back of my mind. But it still stinks. You come in, play well, and hope to get that second contract and now you don't know if you will. If you get hurt, you never know if it will happen for you. That's frustrating."

The current labor situation may be a fight between the owners and the players union -- oops, trade association -- one that includes court battles, legal briefs, circuit courts, judges and the like, but sometimes we lose sight of the pawns in this game.

The players.

Are some of them being used for the good of the fight? I say yes. Weddle is one of them.

He is 26 years old. He just finished his fourth season in the NFL. He has started 45 games the past three seasons. Weddle didn't make the Pro Bowl last season, but he should have.

Weddle is the type of player that usually cashes in big in free agency. I've talked to several personnel people about him and they all insist he would be a hot commodity on an open market. Chargers general manager A.J. Smith, who tendered Weddle as a restricted free agent in case he is that, raved about Weddle at the league meetings in March.

But instead of a new five-year deal that would set him for life, he's left waiting. Safety Antrel Rolle got a five-year, $37 million contract from the New York Giants last year. Weddle is every bit as good as Rolle. Yet Weddle has to sit back and watch as the league tries to figure out the operating rules for 2011 and beyond, with the courts playing a big part.

The labor situation currently has free agency on hold because of the lockout. And even when it starts, nobody knows what rules will be in play. Can a fifth-year player like Weddle be unrestricted? Or will it only be players with six years' experience like last year? It used to be a four-year player with an expiring contract was a free agent.

Weddle is one of about 200 or so players who thought this would be money time for them, able to test the market. But instead most have been tendered as restricted free agents, which means leaving would be almost impossible if the 2010 rules are in play.

Some of those in the same situation as Weddle are Bills linebacker Paul Posluszny, Jets receiver Santonio Holmes, Panthers defensive end Charles Johnson and Vikings defensive end Ray Edwards. All those players are entering their fifth or sixth season and all are between the ages of 24 and 26.

That puts them all in their prime earning years. Teams crave that type of player.

"You never want to pay players on the downside of their careers," one AFC personnel man said. "You want the guy getting his second contract, the 26-year-old or so player. Those players will give you four or five good years on a five-year deal. Older players might only give you two or three."

Weddle has started the past three years for the Chargers. He has made himself into one of the better cover safeties in the NFL. With the way the game is played now, with so much passing, a safety has to be like a blown-up corner, capable of covering in the middle of the field and staying with a tight end who can run. They also have to be willing tacklers.

Weddle is both, which is why his value would be so high.

"It's disheartening," Weddle said. "You just have to roll with the punches. But it's in the back of your mind, knowing there is a strong possibility that you can't get your contract. You have to be mentally tough. You have to just go out and play at a high level and hope you don't get hurt. You play well, hoping to get the contract, and now you never know. It's tough."

What the union leaders fail to realize is that the NFL is made up of individual corporations, despite the claim that it's all for one. Who could bemoan a player like Weddle not wanting what is best for him?

That's what makes it so tough for him to handle his current predicament. Weddle isn't hurting for money. He said he and his wife have never been big spenders, so it's not about him. It's about his kids.

"I've saved my money," Weddle said. "We're fine. But it's more about the future. When you have kids, you know what you are truly playing for. You want to see them have the good life. That's the tough part. That's what makes this so tough."

Who is it again that says the labor fight is good for all the players?

I'm not so sure that's the case for Eric Weddle. These are his earning years. Would you want yours taken away by some labor fight over issues that really won't impact your career much? I doubt it.

"We just have to sit back and wait and hope this thing gets worked out," Weddle said. "It's hard being patient. You play yourself into this position and you'd like to take advantage of it. It takes a lot of hard work. It's frustrating."

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