So I had it right about Cromartie, I had the wrong one, but the Jets signed a Cromartie.

Father of tens of children by hundreds of women, former Charger Antonio Cromartie signed with Gang Green this last week, creating perhaps the most powerful and dominating cornerback duo in the NFL. Teaming up with Revis, the island has been extended to an archipelago. Some say that his best years are already behind him but as a fellow 25 year old, that is insulting. Cro will make an immediate impact in Rex's defensive schemes and will be able to get back to playing his way. He never was a tackler but a smart reader of the game.

So Kerry Rhodes left. One of my favourite Jets since he was drafted, Arizona has nailed a tough safety with him. My only hope is that Mike T's comments regarding Eric Smith and Jim Leohnard being sufficient to hold the two spots down is crowd control more than anything else. I would personally love to see Taylor Mays of USC come off the draft board to the Jets. A quick, smart and strong safety, he could be a starter within the first few games.

The running back situation also needs to be addressed. Losing a starter from the number one defense, the Jets subsequently lost a 1,400 yard rusher from the number one ranked rushing offense. Thomas Jones signed with the Chiefs and with Leon Washington only being tendered at a second rounder, the Jets really should be looking for other support. Rumours include Willie Parker, Larry Johnson and most interestingly, LT. LT scheduled a visit in New Jersey for Friday morning to meet with Jets staff. Should the Vikings not offer him, I believe Tomlinson would be an amazing fit for the Jets where he could spilt carries with Shonn Greene while adding another safety net for Mark Sanchez in the receiving game.

Finally, when the hell are the Jets going to sign Brandon Marshall?! He would be amazing!! Props to Baltimore for nabbing Q before anyone else even got near.

Until next time.

Don't look now but Kansas City is putting together a nice little offense for new offensive coordinator  Charlie Weis.  They signed former Jet Thomas Jones to a two year deal worth $5 million in a move that solidifies their backfield.  After being a flat out stud in New York last year racking up 1400 yards and 14 touchdowns, he'll take some of the workload off of Jamaal Charles who was also a thousand yard back last year.  With the strengthening of the running game, it puts less pressure on Matt Cassel and company and allows the Chiefs to possible target another receiver in the draft to complement Chambers and Bowe.

The Oakland Raiders have cut ties with wide receiver Javon Walker, defensive end Greg Ellis and running back Justin Fargas.  Walker was a major bust from the second he walked in the door two years ago.  He originally signed a $55 million deal but ended up collecting only $14 million of that which according to my math is $933,333 per catch...seems about right for an Al Davis receiver.  The sad part of this is that as bad as Oakland's receivers were, he still couldn't make it into the starting lineup.

Ellis has been banged up but was productive for the Raiders before a knee injury slowed him last season.

Fargas had a nice career for the Silver and Black but all good things must come to an end right?  The team said in a statement:

Justin Fargas was a beloved Raider who performed at a high level throughout his seven seasons with the team and his contributions to the Silver and Black will always be remembered

That means that they plan to go with Darren McFadden (buuuuuust) and Michael Bush, the teams leading rusher last season.  It just makes sense that you'd get rid of the guy that actually brought an ounce of respectability to a team in desperate need of leadership.

Stay classy Oakland.

In an attempt to win ANOTHER Comeback Player of the Year award, Chad Pennington has signed a one year deal with Miami.  Chad Henne should open the season as the starter but after Miami ran though their entire roster of quarterbacks last season because of injuries, it's only a matter of time before Chad is back under center. 

The Steelers locked up a handful of players on Monday that included the return of Antwaan Randle El.  Safety Ryan Clark was re-signed to a four year, $14 million contract and free agent Will Allen was given a three year deal worth $4.495 million.

In keeping with the "signing in pairs" mentality, receivers Randle El and Arnaz Battle were each given three year deals.  Guess you can kiss Limas Sweed bye bye.

Rumour Mill – March 2^nd 2010.

Being a competitor in the AFC Championship game may limit what the New York Jets can do with restricted and unrestricted free agents, but that doesn’t stop other key transactions around the board.

Last week, Gang Green signed on former Cowboys kicker Nick Folk. Whether this signals the end of out of contract Jay Feely is yet to be seen, but the addition of Folk will at least provide competition for the spot. Folk, a California native, will be entering his fourth year and will look to bring back some of the talent that made him the NFC Pro Bowl kicker in his first year.

It was also announced by Mike Tannenbaum, that Thomas Jones will not be retained for the 2010 season. Obviously the coaching staff feels that the improvement and talent demonstrated by Shonn Greene down the stretch will be enough to maintain the Jets’ number one ranked rushing offense. Leon Washington will be back for training camp as he is now doing underwater treadmill running and I would not be surprised to see a Willie Parker or LT come in to back up the two youngsters. Whatever happens with TJ, he was an immense Jet for his short time here and I wish him the best at this next team, that franchise is getting a workhorse and great guy.

Given the seasons Pro Bowlers, Nick Mangold and Darrelle Revis had, I can’t say that it is too shocking that the Jets are trying to tie them up to longer term contracts this off season. These are guys that are characters in the locker room and are faces of the organization so why not extend them now. It would be painful to lose them, not unlike it will be with Kerry Rhodes.

Kerry had a tumultuous season what with his benching and subpar performances through the middle of the year. However, he is still a dominating safety and will make another team very happy indeed. The only way this loss can be offset would be with the addition of Antrel Rolle or Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. The draft class for DBs is deep but a veteran like the above would certainly help.

That is the news so far, time will tell what else happens if Anquan Boldin is seriously shopped around or if the Jets value VJax at the 1^st and 3^rd round asking price put on him by San Diego.

That’s a wrap.

The 2009 NFL football season is over and the New Orleans Saints have deservedly taken home the much coveted Lombardi trophy. After winning the battle of the offenses in southern Florida, Sean Payton and his Saints team can now call themselves (at least for the next year), the best team in football. Far from a classic encounter, the Colts and Saints did produce an enjoyable game for the masses and if reports are to be believed, it was the most watched television show of all time.

Drew Brees got the number 2 quarterback ranking pre-game, but come the end of the 4^th quarter when Tracy Porter ran through Reggie Wayne’s route and returned Peyton Manning’s pass for a touchdown, Brees was the one celebrating. This interception sealed the first ever Super Bowl for New Orleans and gave the city something to celebrate after a tumultuous few years post-Katrina. No match report here, there are a million all over the internet. What I am here for, is my season summary leading into the busy offseason.

One quick point before that though. I watched Drew Brees’ press conference the Monday after the game and his humility alongside his obvious passion for the game and the community of New Orleans, should be an inspiration to all. What an eloquent and professional individual. I just thought that needed to be said with recent issues involving Brandon Marshall, Gilbert Arenas, John Terry (for all you soccer fans), Ryan Moats, Tank Johnson and a certain Mr. Vick.

So, without further ado, I present the 2009 NFL season in numbers.

30 – Teams that started with a legitimate reason to believe they could win the Super Bowl. Apologies to Detroit and St. Louis.

105,121 – People in attendance for the opening home game at Cowboys stadium. Unfortunately, Lawrence Tynes put the party on ice by kicking a winning field goal for the visiting Giants.

11 – Seconds left on the clock when Brandon Stokley caught a Kyle Orton tipped pass in the Broncos’ season opener. Smart running from him took the clock right down.

16 – Years Brett Favre played for Green Bay before inserting a knife into their backs and leading the Vikings to two regular season wins over the cheeseheads.

21 – Passes caught by Brandon Marshall in the Broncos’ game at Indianapolis. This broke T.O.’s 9 year old record.

286 – Yards rushed for by Jerome Harrison against Kansas City. He also added three TDs on the ground. This is the third best single game rushing yardage. Ever. It was by a Cleveland Brown in case you missed that.

220 – More yards thrown by Matt Schaub than Peyton Manning. Not bad.

2 – Young players that died during the season. Cincy’s Chris Henry and Chicago’s Gaines Adams.

23 – The winning streak the Colts built up before a strong and dominating Jets team entered Lucas Oil.

5 – Games lost in a row by Pittsburgh the season after winning the Super Bowl. For the record, the losses included Kansas, Oakland and Cleveland.

96 – Points scored in the ‘shootout’ between Green Bay and Arizona. Defensive Player of the Year, Charles Woodson, was on the team that conceded 51 points.

30 – Million more dollars that Jay Cutler will receive after his mid-season contract extension. Is it just me or does that seem mental for a quarterback who was no more than average?

45 – Unanswered points the Patriots scored on Tennessee early in the season. Jeff Fisher’s excuse was that he was giving the NFL a head start.

6 and 5 – The losses that Tennessee built up under Kerry Collins to open the season. The 5 represents the consecutive wins the Titans got under Vince Young.

6 and 8 – Denver won 6 of their opening 6 games. Brilliant for the Mile High city. Only problem is they lost 8 of their next 10. Oops.

2 – Rutgers players who made a name for themselves this year. Well done messers Britt and Rice.

32-18 – Apparently the least likely result to occur this season according to the NFL.com game books.

12-0 – The mark the Saints reached after a crazy end to their game with the Redskins. Brees was intercepted only for Robert Meachem to bully the ball back and return it for a score. Protect the ball Washington. Football 101!

30 – Minutes away from the Super Bowl my Jets got.

1,000 – Seems like this many days that we waited for Mr. Favre to decide he was going to stick it to the Jets and un-retire. We got Mark Sanchez and went as far into the Playoffs as you Brett. No sleep lost.

2,509 – All-purpose yards from Chris Johnson. In one season. This beat Marshall Faulk’s existing record by over 100 yards. The only downside being Marshall ‘bantering’ CJ2K about this for 5 whole minutes on Super Bowl media day. Incidentally, during 2009, Johnson ran for 3 scores of 85 yards or more. Noother player has done that in a career.

9 – Interceptions by Jairus Byrd. The same as Charles Woodson. Revis may have had 3 fewer but he did shut down the majority of the game’s big receivers.

9 – Also the number of wins the Detroit Lions have compiled over the last 3 years. Wow. Just wow. Indianapolis did that in the first 9 games of this season.

32 – More votes Peyton Manning got than Drew Brees in the MVP voting. Brees got the award that matters though.

256 – Games played this season during Weeks 1 to 17.

10,991 – Total points scored this season.

All in all, every team had its bright points this year and something to look forward to for the seasons to come. 2010 promises to be an interesting year with the CBA in discussion and the promise of an uncapped season upon us. Los Angeles looks like they are going to be getting an NFL team back for the first time since the Raiders and Rams left over 15 years ago. The Jets will have their new stadium. New coaches are at new teams and the Draft looks like a good one with some massive names in there. Where will Tim Tebow go? General consensus is that Bill Belichick will take the risk and invent a two QB scenario.

This year, the Jets were a half an hour away from the Super Bowl. As with every team, I believe 2010 will be my team’s year and that’s what makes the NFL so great. Hope. Bring on next season!

A comeback victory.  A surprising succesful onside kick.  Two teams with a good running game, outstanding wide recievers, and two MVP QB's who made incredible throws throughout the entire game.  A plethora of Doritos (the one where the little kid tells his mom's date "don't touch my Doritos and don't touch my momma" was classic) and Bud Light commercials.  An aging Pete Townshend.  Regardless of who you were pulling for (in my case I was happy) you've gotta admit the SuperBowl was a great football game.
But can we stop the fact checking now? 
Every series of downs it seems we were subjected to a flash of football history across the screen or the announcers astounding one another with facts something like "this is the first time the winner of the coin toss team has attempted to kick a second fieldgoal from the 29 yard line....by a left-footed kicker from Nebraska....who played college ball in the ACC.....who married a woman named Susan.....who has a sister named Beth (probably was a bridemaid)....while the temperature was over 55degrees.....since SuperBowl XIX." 

Thanks.  I was curious about that. 
If a team or player breaks a SuperBowl record I'd be glad to hear it.  Congrats.  You've just broken a record during the most watched football game in the world.  Move along.  This has been going on for sometime and I guess this is something we now have to endure during "the big game" each year. 

Am I overreacting or was anyone else slightly annoyed with the factoid overkill? Thoughts?  

Atleast it was really good football game.