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The new quarterback of the Denver Broncos has just made his first appeareance in the blue and orange shirt. His first play didn’t work out to well, as Peyton Manning overthrew a pass intended for Demaryius Thomas. But at least it showed that the arm strength was there.
It was slowly becoming destined to be a poor first outing for Manning as a Bronco during the team’s practice scrimmage last Saturday. But then on the his 14th and final snap, Manning scored a touchdown pass, when he found Eric Decker with 9-yard toss. The play drew a large ovation from a record crowd who came to watch the former Indianapolis Colts star.
More than 40,000 fans were in attendance at Sports Authority Field to see Peyton Manning’s first appearance in a Broncos shirt. This was about twice the previous record of 20,782 fans set two years ago, when the newly drafted Tim Tebow was the rising star of the team. Some Colts fans were also to be seen in the crowd with banners saying “We miss U” and that they drove 15 hours just to see Peyton.
It seems now that Manning is almost back to his old best after missing the whole of last season because of a nerve injury in his neck. The Broncos fans really have something to cheer about as Manning’s game didn’t show any ill effects from his injury, nor was he rusty.
Even before his touchdown pass, the crowd already went wild the first time Manning came out of the tunnel. In fact, they cheered every move he made. And Manning had to sign a lot of autographs on his way back to the dressing room. Another highlight of Manning’s day was when he completed a 60-yard pass to Andre Caldwell. Manning later said that the long pass was for the fans and that it was something he does every now and then as he feel that short passes weren’t exciting enough for the crowd.
Base on the evidence from this outing, the Denver Broncos and Peyton Manning can now look forward brightly to the upcoming season.
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The New Dilemma of New England Patriots as Robert Gallery Retires
The New England Patriots may need to scout a guard as its veteran Robert Gallery chose to not participate in the training part and announce his retirement. Given his challenge of recuperating from a torn groin muscle, Gallery determined that it would be difficult for him to address training camp and the physicality of a full season. This has now become a dilemma for the Patriots as some of its guards are suffering from injuries heading towards the season.
Looking closely, Gallery came into this difficult decision after pondering if he can still commit to playing football after the operation of his torn groin muscle. However, he decided to not pursue anymore due to the potential recurrence of the injury as well as the inability to handle training camp.
For the Patriots, this remains to be a problematic exit coming from Gallery, who was signed last March, due to the depletion of its offensive line to help Tom Brady make the necessary plays. These include Logan Mankins, who is undergoing rehabilitation from his ACL, Brian Waters who has not yet reported to training camp, and Matt Light who also chose to retire last April.
Looking back at the career of Gallery, he began his professional days as a number two pick from the Oakland Raiders back in 2004. Though he began his days as a tackle, his career shifted in 2007 to become a guard. After being with the Raiders for four seasons, Gallery decided to try Seattle Seahawks in 2011. After spending a season with this team, he took part with Tom Brady and the Patriots last March 2012. Overall, Gallery’s career has been hampered by injuries. These were both apparent during his times with the Seattle Seahawks and Oakland Raiders. In total, he missed 24 games during his career with the three teams.
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Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo is embraced for the new season
In an interview, Tony Romo said he is happy with what the Cowboys and Rob Ryan were doing. He also spoke of how he is proud to be part of the team, and at times people could tell that he knew he was a player the team couldn’t miss in the line up. The cowboys so dependent to Tony Romo and you can tell that from the past tournaments. What gives people hope in him is how he led the team through the previous seasons. Everybody is delighted and happy with how he plays, especially now that he is speaking of the new season’s resolutions.
Tony Romo said that he is more than determined to see his team win the NFL cup in the coming season, and what drives him even more is the morale the team has. They have been working hard each day to ensure that they are physically fit to embrace the tough season ahead of them. As compared to other seasons, Tony Romo seems to be more composed. He is now entering his tenth season in the NFL and he is determined to face all the challenges. This season, he is more that willing to change everything about him and more importantly, avoid things that may interfere with his performance. During last season, he played different games that brought him a lot of criticism. This is what Tony Romo wants to avoid at all cost when the new season begins.
In the interview on ESPN Dallas, he spoke of things that are going on with his team. He made an expression of how he is important to the team and how he is determined to collaborate with his team member to see the team win.
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Pittsburgh Steelers Star Admits He ‘Hid Concussions’
Troy Polamalu, Five time All-Pro of the Pittsburgh Steelers, says he never told a “major lie,” but that he did conceal concussions to remain in games. Polamalu told Dan Patrick Show listeners on Wednesday that concussions have been present in his career and that officially he has suffered “eight or nine” over that span. He also eluded he and host Dan Patrick would “have another conversation” when Polamalu’s playing career was over.
Polamalu went on to explain that he didn’t consider getting his “bell rung” to be a true concussion, but according to NFL guidelines it counts as one. Polamalu went on to say that players would have “50 to 100 concussions” in a single season, if you used that standard.
Polamalu, who was the Steelers 2003 first round draft pick and is known for his aggressive no-holds-barred style of play, made the remarks while the NFL is being sued by more than 2,400 former players. The retired players contend that the NFL knew and concealed data on the seriousness and extent of concussions. In 2009 NFL wide receiver Chris Henry had symptoms of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). CTE is a degenerate brain disease whose symptoms mimic Alzheimer. Henry was only 26.
Other former NFL players diagnosed with CTE have committed suicide, including Ray Easterling, who was the lead plaintiff in a concussion lawsuit against the NFL. Other notable players are Mike Webster (ironically, himself a former Steeler), Andre Waters, and most recently the suicide of linebacker Junior Seau has raised suspicion. Seau’s family has even donated his brain for CTE research.
Polamalu is isn’t the only player to admit hiding a concussion, in February of this year Brian Urlacher of the Chicago Bears admitted to doing the same. In 2009 Washington Redskins fullback Mike Sellers put it more bluntly “You get a concussion, they… take you out. If you can hide it and conceal it as much as possible, you pay for it the next day, but you’ll be able to… stay in the game.”
It may well be that these types of player admissions are the NFL’s best defense as it moves forward with its legal defense strategy. For the Pittsburgh Steelers training staff it looks like they have one more player to over scrutinize the next time he gets up slow.
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Washington Redskins Orakpo excited about RGIII
“I’m very excited,” says Washington Redskins defensive standout Brian Orakpo, “we finally got that quarterback that we needed.” Orakpo was speaking of course about 2012 first round draft pick Robert Griffin III. Griffin, who won the 2011 Heisman trophy last year. Griffin was selected second overall after the Redskins swapped first round picks with the Saint Louis Rams in this April’s draft. The Redskins also sent two future first round, and one second round, draft picks to the Rams in the deal.
“Our defense is great,” Orakpo continued, “We need to fill that void in the quarterback (position).” What a void it’s been, since the Redskins won their last Super Bowl in 1991 under Mark Rypien the Redskins have started 21 different quarterbacks. To make matters worse, apart from Rypien himself (26 games) only Gus Frerotte (46 games), Brad Johnson (27 games), Mark Brunell (33 games), and Jason Campbell (45 games) have started more games since Rypien, who started a total of 72 games in his Redskins career. It’s a list that doesn’t impress and has the names of players who where either past their primes by the time they got to Washington, or never had one to begin with.
Orakpo and the rest of Redskins Park are counting on Griffin to be that quarterback the Redskins have sought for so long. “There’s no time for rebuilding in the NFL,” Orakpo asserted. “You gotta come in there prepared to win, and that’s what he’s capable of.” But those are the expectations for a player the team gave up so much to trade up for.
The Redskins have a long history of free agent, draft, and trade debacles under current owner Dan Snyder. From overpaying aging stars like Bruce Smith and Deion Sanders, to firing Charley Casserly to make room for Vinny Cerrato, or the myriad of draft picks they’ve sent out in trades for questionable acquisitions. Everyone is holding their breath to see if Bruce Allen and Mike Shanahan have finally gotten a major Snyder Era decision right, or if the Curse of Jack Kent Cooke is alive and well.
One thing is for sure, like Orakpo says, there won’t be any time to rebuild, and the Redskins will need Griffin to play strong out of the gate as they will go on the road to face the Saints and Rams to open their season. Orakpo says his only real advice for the rookie it to “have fun… act like your back at Baylor.”
If Orakpo and the rest of the Washington Redskins are to contend this year then Griffin will have to have a very fun year.
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