Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said no final decisions have been made on the futures of linebackers Keith Brooking and Bradie James.

And then he proceeded to talk about them as if they were already gone, indicating that both veteran leaders are unlikely to be back with the team.

“Bradie and Brooking are two of the best leaders, personalities I have ever had the pleasure of being around,” Jones said via the Dallas Morning News. “They’re great guys. Unfortunately, all good things come to an end. That’s what we’ve got to decide. But no one respects those guys more than we do, our family does, than the Cowboys do.”

Sean Lee is entrenched as a starter at inside linebacker. The team would like to get last year’s second round pick Bruce Carter on the field more. If James or Brooking returned to Dallas, it probably would be for a reduced salary later in the offseason because they couldn’t get work elsewhere.

Article source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/02/22/cowboys-hint-brooking-and-james-unlikely-to-return-to-team/

The Browns may be in the market for an upgrade at quarterback this year and will surely keep a close eye on Robert Griffin III beginning this week at the Scouting Combine. But publicly, they’re giving incumbent starter Colt McCoy a vote of confidence.

Browns coach Pat Shurmur said today that he still thinks Cleveland will win games with McCoy starting at quarterback.

“I think he can be very good if he plays at a high level like I think he can and makes the improvements he can to help us put the ball in the end zone win football games” Shurmur said, via the News-Herald. “I’m expecting that he will. The thing that’s encouraging to me is he a guy you know is going to work at it.”

Two years and 21 starts into his NFL career, the Browns haven’t seen enough of the “very good” McCoy. With career stats of 20 touchdowns, 20 interceptions and a 74.5 passer rating, McCoy has a lot of work to do. Shurmur acknowledged that as well.

“I think it’s fair to say [McCoy] has some things he has to improve on,” Shurmur said. “They’re quantifiable, whether it’s footwork, a better feel for the progressions, a better feel for the targets he’s throwing to. I think all that is refined when you have an offseason [program] to help.”

The question is whether McCoy’s offseason work will be as the presumed starter, or as the guy who’s just holding onto the job until a rookie newcomer is up to speed.

Article source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/02/22/pat-shurmur-talks-up-colt-mccoy/

Tom Martinez, a long-time quarterback coach best known for serving as Tom Brady’s personal mentor, has died of a heart attack suffered during a dialysis session, according to WVCB in Boston.

Martinez was 66.

He was awaiting a kidney transplant, and Brady had been personally trying to help the effort.  “He’s a great friend of mine for a very long time and taught me how to throw a football at a very young age,” Brady told ABC News in January.  “He’s been looking for a kidney for quite a while.”  At one point, Brady attempted via his Facebook page to find a potential living donor for Martinez.

Before the 2011 season started, Brady visited with Martinez for a tune up.

”He asked me to come out, right before the season started.  Labor Day weekend,” Martinez told Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald last year.  “He said he was off.  His throwing was off.  So I went out there Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.  We went through the film.  Then all of a sudden, everything else fell into place.  Within about an hour, he was back to the old Tom Brady.  Then he had that 517-yard game. . . .  I guess what we did worked.”

It definitely did, from the time Brady first attended a clinic put on by Martinez at age 13.

We extend our condolences to Martinez’s family, friends, and colleagues.

Article source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/02/21/quarterback-guru-tom-martinez-dies/

Former Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman has a trio of Super Bowl rings, a bust in the Hall of Fame, and a spot next to Joe Buck every Sunday during football season.

Well, two out of three ain’t bad.

But Aikman thinks that the popularity of the sport that made him rich and famous could be on the verge of a decline.

“I believe, and this is my opinion, that at some point football is not going to be the No. 1 sport,” Aikman said recently at an event in L.A., per the Los Angeles Times (via Yahoo! Sports).  “You talk about the ebbs and flows of what’s popular and what’s not.  At some point, the TV ratings are not going to be there.”

Aikman then acknowledged that current trends don’t point to that outcome.  “I can’t justify that because the numbers say otherwise, but I guess time will tell,” Aikman said.

The concern comes from the potential impact of concussions on the supply of future football players, and from the possibly excessive presence of NFL games on TV.

“At one time, watching football was an event,” Aikman said.  “Monday Night Football was a big event. Now you get football Sunday, you get it Monday, you get it Thursday and, late in the year, you get it on Saturday.

“People in Los Angeles realized, ‘You know what, life’s OK without the NFL.’  If I’m an owner, I don’t want any fan thinking that.”

Of course, people in L.A. realized that 15 years ago.  In the ensuing decade-and-a-half, the NFL has continuously grown to even greater heights of popularity.

Besides, not having a team in town is far different from not having access to football on TV.  While there may be challenges to getting folks to choose to attend games in sufficient numbers and, at some point, a decline in the number of young people who play, there is no shortage on the horizon of folks who will watch.

Aikman’s remarks came less than two weeks after more than 166 million tuned in for the Super Bowl.  So while it’s fair to say that, at some future point in human history, the NFL will be eclipsed by hovercraft racing or light-saber fencing or full-contact frolf, that day doesn’t seem to be coming any time soon, especially since the NFL seems to be committed to making the changes necessary to adjust and adapt and continue to grow.

Article source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/02/21/aikman-thinks-football-could-lose-its-spot-at-no-1-sport/

Mike Silver of Yahoo! Sports has a knack for getting people to say interesting things on the record.  As a result, Mike Silver often is accused of misquoting people when the interesting things they say get other people talking.

As a result, Silver makes sure that people actually said the things he says they said.

Regarding the claim by Broncos quarterback Brady Quinn that his comments questioning the humility of Tim Tebow and the decision to give him the starting job after Kyle Orton was benched reflect a “completely inaccurate portrayal” of Quinn’s remarks, it’s important to note that Quinn never specifically said that he didn’t say what Silver says Quinn said.

That’s because Quinn said what he said.

“The interview was taped,” Silver told PFT on Tuesday night via email.  “Brady has a copy of the audio file.  I agree that his tone was not bitter and that the entirety of the (50-minute interview) presented a balanced perspective toward Tebow.”

That’s charitable of Silver, even though it could support an argument that Quinn’s comments were “taken out of context.”  But that wouldn’t be accurate.  As we’ve explained in the past, taking words out of context means isolating a quote in a way that, absent the full content, alters its meaning.  Here, the words stand alone.  And while Quinn said plenty of good things about Tebow, too, an actual or perceived insult tends to have a bigger impact.

Article source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/02/22/silver-says-quinns-comments-were-taped/

But Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes that the Steelers could wind up losing Wallace, who will be a restricted free agent in three weeks.

With the new CBA lowering the highest compensation level for teams who lose restricted free agents to just a first-round pick, Bouchette asserts that the cap-strapped Steelers may not be able to match a high-priced offer sheet made to Wallace by a team with more room under the salary cap.

Complicating the matter is the fact that in 2013, Emmanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown will both be restricted free agents as well, meaning the Steelers may have to pick and choose which receivers get big contracts and which ones walk out the door. That could be a tricky situation for the Steelers to make those tough choices.

Follow me on Twitter @TitanInsider247 and @terrymc13

Terry McCormick covers the Titans for TitanInsider.com

Article source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/sports/rss/nfl/SIG=12pucslsq/*http%3A//sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=nfp-20120221_steelers_face_dilemma_with_wallace

The Bears, as usual can’t seem to identify a franchise player like Forte other than to let things hang until the only answer will be a franchise tag.

Who won the Super Bowl this year? The team that won it was the New York Giants. The reason that the Giants won is that they have gotten the drift that you need a “team” to win, not “spot” great players who are more interested in themselves than the team or conversely a team that will not admit when a player is above average and should be rewarded such as Forte.

Chicago Bears Injuries

There were major injuries to Jay Cutler and Matt Forte. Now in addition to the financial aspect of the problem of the player’s involvement there is a question no one knows the answer to and that is “How much have the injuries affected the players?”

In the NFC the San Francisco 49ers not only showed team spirit and what it can do but some different forms of play brought in from college. The same system and team spirit was exhibited by the Denver Broncos and you can laugh all you want but they are here to stay.

That has been a problem for the Bears over the years and it stands even firmer with Lovie Smith. Change has to be made quickly and the Bears just don’t change and adjust. They try to dictate no matter how poorly what they are trying to do works.

The future of the Chicago Bears does not look bright, at least to me.

The Bears have their best players in limbo based on either health or pay and in the area of health there are questions.

Lovie Smith is a coach who does not make quick decisions and that I believe has hurt the team. Further our great defense is getting older.

Things just don’t look good.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

Article source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/sports/rss/nfl/SIG=11mk2f4ms/*http%3A//sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ycn-10991224

*The Bears played at Wrigley Field (Cubs Stadium) from 1921 until 1970, when they moved to Soldier Field. This was due to an NFL rule requiring teams to play in a stadium that seated 50,000 fans.

*The stadium has been owned by the Chicago Park District since its construction . Though it is the home of the Bears, the stadium remains park district property.

* Soldier Field was actually built in 1924 , and served as the home to many different outdoor sporting events. It was originally named Municipal Grant Park Stadium, but the name was eventually changed to honor the veterans of World War I.

*In 1927, the stadium played host to the Jack Dempsey-Gene Tunney boxing match. Dempsey was defeated by Tunney in front of a crowd of more than 100,000 people.

*Due to the building’s age, there had been many discussions about tearing down the stadium or moving the team. Suburban Arlington Heights was one location considered for the Bears , another was nearby Gary, Indiana. The late Mayor Richie J. Daley stated that the Bears would have to change their name to the “Arlington Heights Bears” if they decided to pack up and leave town.

*The first-ever Special Olympics summer games were held at Soldier Field in 1968 . 1,000 competitors from the United States and Canada met at the stadium to compete in the games.

*The first home game played at Soldier Field after renovations were completed in 2003 was played on September 29, 2003 against the Green Bay Packers .

*The renovated Soldier Field contains 2,915 tons of rebar, 40,000 cubic feet of concrete, and 1.25 million watts of sports lighting.