NFL Draft Prospect and NFLPA Plaintiff Von Miller Will Attend NFL Draft
Former Texas A&M University standout linebacker Von Miller has announced that he will attend the NFL Draft just weeks after he appears in court as a plaintiff in the players’ antitrust lawsuit they’ve filed against the NFL, according to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen.
The 22-year-old Miller is the only incoming rookie who is a plaintiff in the lawsuit the NFLPA filed against the league. He will attend a hearing next Thursday April 7 in St. Paul, Minnesota as the players ask for a preliminary injunction to block the NFL lockout. Just three weeks later, Miller will be in Radio City Music Hall in New York city, where he is likely to be a top 5 pick in the draft.
“I’m honored to get an invitation and I plan on being there,” said Miller. “It’s always been a dream of mine, having my name called and being able to walk across the stage and shake the hand of the commissioner.”
“It doesn’t change my stance with current NFL players,” he said. “This is just separating the personal from the business. Personally, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fulfill a dream that my mom and dad, myself and my family can enjoy a very emotional day. But I still plan on being there for the players in trying to get this lockout lifted.”
Miller is one of ten plaintiffs in the court case, but the only one who has not yet played a snap in the National Football League. The other plaintiffs are Patriots QB Tom Brady, Saints QB Drew Brees, Colts QB Peyton Manning, Chargers WR Vincent Jackson, Patriots OL Logan Mankins, Vikings LB Ben Leber, Giants DE Osi Umenyiora, Chiefs LB Mike Vrabel, and Vikings DL Brian Robison.
“I want to be in the courtroom to show my support and conviction — I want to play the game I love,” Miller said. “It was great to be asked to be part of the lawsuit, to join an elite group of guys. For them to ask me, it was a huge surprise but I look on it as a blessing from God.”
Miller emphasizes that it has been his decision from the very beginning to participate in both the lawsuit and in the NFL Draft proceedings.
“My agents have been great and I have not been pressured by anybody,” Miller said. “They have kept me informed and they always felt it was my decision. I’ve got great parents and we discussed both things — the legal part and the draft part — and they’re behind me 100 percent.”
The NFL Draft is always a great event as it is. This year, it will be even more interesting. The draft takes place on April 28-30 in New York.
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Kris Jenkins Unlikely to Return to New York Jets Due to Concerns About FieldTurf
Former New York Jets defensive tackle Kris Jenkins will attempt to rehab a torn ACL in his left knee for the second consecutive season and make one final comeback in 2011.
But according to Metro New York’s Kristian Dyer, Jenkins is unlikely to re-sign with the Jets because of concerns about the artificial surface at New Meadowlands Stadium. Jenkins was cut for cap reasons just before the new league year started, along with three others.
“I’d be interested if [the Jets] had grass on the stadium field but right now, that’s the big thing and they don’t,” Jenkins told Metro yesterday. “I’ve played here long and loved it. I love this team, I love the fans and I’ve bonded with this team. I feel like I have a connection with this city.”
The Jets have an artificial surface at New Meadowlands Stadium called FieldTurf, which is one of the more popular artificial surfaces for stadiums around the world.
According to a poll by NFL players from this past January, New Meadowlands Stadium was rated as the second-best rated artificial surface in the league, second only to Indianapolis’s Lucas Oil Stadium, which also uses FieldTurf for what it’s worth.
However, many players including Jenkins contend that artificial surfaces are much rougher on players’ bodies than natural grass is. For a player like Jenkins, who has suffered multiple ACL injuries and is well over 300 pounds, it makes sense for him to want to play his eight home games on natural grass.
Despite that, the big lineman is not ready to dismiss the possibility of playing one more year under Rex Ryan.
“[FieldTurf], it ain’t my friend. Just as far as my health is concerned, I need to think about that and how my body can and will respond,” Jenkins said. “New York would be a major possibility, we’ll have to see, but at this point in time, I want to take care of me, too.”
Jenkins was very appreciate of the outpouring support he got from Jets fans and management alike after he was cut by the team in March after three seasons with the team.
“After it all happened, I had a great conversation with Rex, Mike [Tannenbaum] and even Woody [Johnson] called me,” Jenkins said. “I was surprised, because I didn’t know that Woody saw me as one of ‘those’ guys on the team. He talked with me honestly and said that he’d be in touch to see where things go down the road. It was a nice way to end things.”
I’m sure that I’m not alone when I say that I would love to see Kris Jenkins have one last hurrah in Green and White. But if he takes his talents elsewhere, I wish him well on his future endeavors.
And don’t worry Jets fans. Gillette Stadium has FieldTurf also.
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The New York Jets Will Have Six Picks in the 2011 NFL Draft
Over the past few seasons under general manager Mike Tannenbaum, the New York Jets have gone quality over quantity when it comes to their draft picks.
In three of the past four seasons, the Jets have only drafted four players or less in the entire draft, including just seven total draft picks in the past two drafts.
Contrast that with the New England Patriots, who stockpile picks like they’re going out of style each year, leading to a plethora of rookies. Just last season, when the Jets drafted four players, Bill Belichick drafted 12. In the past two seasons, as the Jets drafted seven total players, New England drafted 25.
Yet, I would argue that the Jets have drafted more efficiently than the Patriots have, going all the back to 2006 when Mike Tannenbaum first became the head honcho in New York.
Yes, New England has gotten some very good players during that span. Devin McCourty, Rob Gronkowski, Jermaine Cunningham, Aaron Hernandez, Brandon Spikes and Zoltan Mesko all had productive rookie seasons this past year. In 2009, they got Patrick Chung, Sebastian Vollmer, Brandon Tate, Myron Pryor and Julian Edelman.
When you have 25 draft picks, I would hope that you’d hit on at least half of them.
Meanwhile in that two year span, the Jets seven players they’ve drafted total are Kyle Wilson, Vladimir Ducasse, John Conner, Joe McKnight, (2010) and Mark Sanchez, Shonn Greene and Matt Slauson (2009).
All three draft picks from the 2009 class are key starters on offense. The 2010 class was drafted almost entirely for depth in the future, as the Jets really did not need any rookie contributions immediately, similar to how Matt Slauson was a non-factor as a rookie.
Conner is going to start at fullback next season, and McKnight will have an expanded role as well. Ducasse could very well end up starting at right tackle, and Wilson could be starting opposite Darrelle Revis if Antonio Cromartie leaves as a free agent.
Looking back at the 2006-2008 NFL drafts, Mike Tannenbaum has had a lot of A+ draft picks, and really only one true “bust” in Vernon Gholston. 2008 was the only season in the past four years that the Jets went over 4 draft picks, selecting Vernon Gholston and Dustin Keller in the first round and Dwight Lowery in the fourth round. He also selected Erik Ainge in the 5th round and two other late rounders that haven’t stuck.
In 2007, he only drafted four players again, but as has been his style, quality over quantity once again. He traded up in the first two rounds to select Darrelle Revis and David Harris, two elite players at their respective positions. He also drafted wide receiver Chansi Stuckey in the seventh round, who he later traded in September of 2009 for Pro Bowl wideout Braylon Edwards.
Tannenbaum burst onto the scene in 2006, when he set the tone for his Jets career when he drafted arguably the best draft class in team history in just his first year on the job. Among that draft class from five years ago were Nick Mangold, D’Brickashaw Ferguson, Eric Smith, Brad Smith, Leon Washington, and Drew Coleman.
If we take that stellar 2006 draft class out of the equation, I believe the Jets have had the fewest draft picks over the past four seasons, while the Patriots are probably among the most picks. You can see the entire draft history on NFL.com. The Jets draft history is here, while New England’s is here.
The Patriots have three of the first 33 overall picks in the upcoming 2011 NFL Draft, thanks to some crafty moves in the past few years. The Jets will draft 30th overall and have six total picks.
The six draft picks are as follows:
30th overall pick (1st round).
94th overall pick in (3rd round).
126th overall pick in (4th round).
161th overall pick in (5th round).
192th overall pick (6th round).
200th overall pick (7th round, via Arizona)
The Jets acquired the Cardinals 2011 seventh round pick in the Kerry Rhodes trade, and they traded away their own 2011 second round pick to San Diego for Antonio Cromartie, and their own seventh round pick to Detroit for Kevin O’Connell.
The 2011 NFL Draft will take place on April 28th-30th at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
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New York Jets’ Mark Sanchez Advances to Sweet 16 in Madden 12 Cover Vote
The Madden 12 Cover Vote contest is down to a Sweet 16, and New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez has advanced over Miami Dolphins left tackle Jake Long to make it to the second round.
Sanchez was able to hang on and win by a narrow margin, 55% to 45%, and will face off against last year’s Madden cover boy Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints in the second round.
At this point I am officially on the “Vote Against Mark Sanchez Because of the Madden Curse” bandwagon. I’m glad he was able to defeat Jake Long, but I do not want Sanchez anywhere NEAR the cover. So vote for Drew Brees so we can end the threat early.
In other AFC East news, New England Patriots running back Danny Woodhead defeated Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stevie Johnson in their first round matchup.
At this point, I am fully on board with voting Woodhead on to the cover because a) he’s an ex-Jet, b) it would utterly ridiculous to see him on the Madden cover, and c) maybe the Madden curse will hit the Patriots once football comes back.
So what would Danny Woodhead look like on the cover? Probably something like this.
EA Sports has posted a couple of mock Madden covers on their Facebook page, including an Aaron Rodgers cover, a Hines Ward cover, a Michael Vick cover and the Woodhead cover. All four players were able to advance to the second round and are still alive in the hunt for the Madden 12 cover.
Just for kicks, EA also posted this AWESOME mock cover for Seattle’s 12th man, which was eliminated in the first round of voting.
All Madden covers are courtesy of EA Sports and Madden NFL 12. For easier clickage, I’ve embedded thumbnails of the five covers below.
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Is New York Jets Head Coach Rex Ryan “Overrated?”
Is Rex Ryan “overrated?”
That’s what NFL Live on ESPN.com wanted to discuss.
The New York Jets head coach has been a larger-than-life figure in his tenure as New York Jets head coach.
I’m sure there are some Dolphins fans and Giants fans who might call him overrated. Certainly not Patriots fans though, right?
Former Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi joins Suzy Kolber and Marcellus Wiley to discuss the notion of calling Rex Ryan an “overrated” head football coach.
Check out their comments below.
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