HHR at the NFL Draft Classic

We mentioned it earlier, and now we have something a bit better than fuzzy pictures taken on a Blackberry to give you the full NFL Draft Classic experience. A few videos below - with more to come - courtesy of our friend Ben at Beryllium Pictures and Rob of rrbaker.

This first one gives you the best idea of the environment. Sadly I could not get the women with the sparklers to take a moment to discuss the important issues of the day. Which in my mind were the patron shots they were carrying.


When asked what the rookies had to look forward to, I never got an answer like, "They will be treated with the utmost respect and concern for their image." Half the time they would just cackle, and keep their lips tight. Ray Rice at least had advice beyond 'shave your head now because it's gonna get cut anyway, meat.'


This gentleman was probably the most articulate dude in the club. Which is why his well reasoned, logical, and thoughtful answers belong nowhere on this site.


And finally, we have a great montage that shows why I think the Jacksonville Jaguars locker room may be one of the most fun, well-dressed, and 'deceptively' well-read in the NFL. I just realized now that Uche actually says, "Cause the Goose gon' get loose!" at the end. Even with the new unis? That may be too ambitious.


We have more to come, including a very unfiltered Brandon Jacobs as well as Uche himself saying he would give all this up to go to BLOGS WITH BALLS.

All in all a great night, and as someone said to me earlier, "I think I found my Cheers." I've never done the reporter gig before, but aside from the insane hours, the sobriety, and being hated by some of the people who you were there to see, it's all around a good time.

Related question - do I go somewhere to pick up my Pulitzer Prize now or do they just send it to me? I don't want to get stuck with any shipping charges.

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Have You Gotten Your BlogsWithBalls Tickets Yet?

Cleveland Steamer

Like many Trenton-area sports fans, we watched Hamilton native Kevin Johnson's progression from All-State high school quarterback to his position battle at Syracuse with Donovan McNabb to his conversion to wide receiver and being drafted by the Cleveland Browns.

For a good five year stretch, his #85 Browns jersey stood proudly in Quakerbridge Mall beside Eagles and Giants greens and blues.

And then, it was gone. The jerseys and the player.

Despite being the Browns' leading receiver since being drafted, his inablity to coexist with then-coach Butch Davis lead to his being cut by the team, and subsequent downfall from NFL stardom.

While at first the transacton perplexed football fans, and fueled rumors that he would soon be an Eagle, stints with the Ravens, Jags and Lions proved unfruitful and Johnson, now at age 32, has been out of the game for 3 years.

The best idea anyone had was that he punched his ticket out of the League for being a malcontent.

Thus, I found it disheartening as he channeled his inner Al Bundy to pen a piece for this year's 50th Anniversary of the Hamilton HS West (Johnson's alma mater)/Steinert High School annual Thanksgiving Day game:

I cannot help but smile and laugh thinking of the “We’ve got Kevin, Yes we do, We’ve got Kevin, How about you?” chanted by the Hamilton fans in my senior year or the importance to my teammates and I that we win every Thanksgiving Day game.

His humble reflection on family, tradition and community brings this once bright, shining star back to earth and leaves some locals wondering, "What the hell happened to his guy, that, only a decade after his being on top of the world, he's sitting in Trenton with the rest of us this holiday?"

Training Camp Postcards, Part 6 of 8: AFC South

As you may or may not follow, SI.com has dispatched "10 writers to report on the 32 NFL training camps across the country" and is featuring their reports throughout August in their Training Camp Postcard segment.

Here at HHR, we prefer to look at actual postcards sent by players to their loved ones, as opposed to Peter King drivel.

Today, we take a look at what's going on in Houston, TX (Texans), Terre Haute, IN (Colts), Jacksonville, FL (Jaguars), and Nashville, TN (Titans).

To See the Complete Parts 1-8, Click Here.