Sweetness: Author Interview with Walter Payton Biographer Jeff Pearlman

I was but a pre-teen in the 80’s. As the 90’s came and high school began and nostalgia kicked in, outside of my beloved Philadelphia Eagles, there wasn’t much cooler from the Reagan era than the’85 Bears, widely regarded as the greatest team to ever step on the gridiron.

The names are legendary – from Ditka to Dent to Singletary – but none more so than the great Walter Payton, who dominated his way to the all-time NFL rushing title with both power and grace.

While the exact dates escape me, I also remember his tragic illness, and the outpouring of emotion for such a wonderful human whose life was cut short.

The thing is, like all people, famous people particularly, there is always a deeper complexity.

I am a big fan of author Jeff Perlman ever since I read The Bad Guys Won. I interviewed him for both Boys Will Be Boys and The Rocket That Fell to Earth. When I saw the backlash he was getting for his latest biography, Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton, I had to reach out and grab a copy.

What I took from the book is hard to describe. For the most part, I want to dismiss Payton as an egotistical prima donna who thinks the world owes him for being God’s gift to sport. But I can’t fully do that. The reason is you just need to put things in perspective. Were this guy not the one of the greatest athletes who ever lived, we wouldn’t even have the chance to reflect on his enigmatic life.

To his credit, and contrary to what his critics might say, Pearlman is fair. He doesn’t gloss over unsavory topics, nor does he minimize Payton’s greatness both on and off the field. He paints a full picture, and (as he always does) does so in a very entertaining way.

You can read my interview here at 30Nothings.com.

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Fantasy "Expert" Brandon Funston Must Know He's Full of Poop

The term fantasy expert is a plain old farce. Yet, some people can honestly believe they have an inkling more knowledge than the casual fan because they can read stats better or quicker or more in depth or something.

And those people can keep a straight face when others refer to them with such an elaborate title and hand them a check. That's really what sets fantasy experts apart - the ability to not laugh at the naïveté of the public and their bosses.

Take Brandon Funston for example. Just this week he advised Yahoo players to not just sit Plax Burress, but to drop him altogether after his paltry start. If that's not mailing in a segment, I don't know what is.


The former inmate (Plax not Fun) responded with a breakout game that included 3 TDs.

I can't wait to hear Fun lament next week about grabbing Plax off the waiver wires after he and Sanchize have turned a corner and become more familiar with one another. Likely he'll have to hold in his amusement of knowing how full of poop it all is.

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Honeymoon in Cleveland

There are few things I love receiving more on this site than photos of Browns fans tailgating, be it making fun of Braylon Edwards, idolizing Brady Quinn, or celebrating one's nuptials.

These two got married yesterday...no lie.

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Jesse Holley is Coming, Elizabeth

In case you missed it...at the end of overtime in the Dallas-SF game, Jesse Holley reminded us no less thana half-dozen times that this is, in fact, the big one.

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NYG Steve Smith on Lockout, USC, Steve Smiths & Tofu

It's not everyday you have the opportunity to share tofu culinary creations with a Super Bowl-winning Pro-Bowl wide receiver in the backyard of the greatest city on earth. Actually, we'd venture to say this sort of thing only comes about once in a lifetime.

So when we saw that New York Giant Steve Smith was serving as brand ambassador for House Foods Super Firm Tofu, we sent our North Jersey correspondents Eddie and Mike to mingle with Smith and sample various dishes featuring the stuff at (of all places) an esteemed steakhouse, River Palm Terrace Restaurant in Edgewater, NJ.

Who knows. These two manly 30 nothings may have just found themselves a new healthy summer barbecue alternative.

Thanks to our friends at Garden State on a Plate for the hookup.

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House Foods put together a dinner to introduce their new line of "super firm tofu" endorsed by Steve Smith of the New York football Giants. Having never eaten anything with tofu before, I was a little hesitant at first but was assured by those around me that there was nothing to be afraid of. I mean, who even knew that tofu came in different levels of firmness? Maybe I'm just not all that worldly. In any event, we gathered in a private room at the River Palm Terrace in Edgewater, NJ. Smith said a few words and the meal was served. Everything except the main course included tofu in some form.

• Appetizers: Tomato and tofu skewers, Maryland crab and tofu cakes, chopped salad featuring tofu cubes
• Main Course: Choice between Jumbo Shrimp, King salmon, Grilled rib-eye, Filet mignon
• Desert: Tofu Cheesecake
  

As I said, I am NOT a tofu eater, but there wasn't anything on the menu that I would not order again. Everything was excellent, which I think is as much a testament to the people at the River Palm as to House Foods' great product.

Expanding my food options aside, the biggest things I learned tonight were: A. Smith is a very laid back guy, very approachable. He even seem a little nervous in talking to me (I think I intimidated him); B. He absolutely loves tofu. It sounds a little odd, but this is not a product he blindly endorses. In fact, as he notes in the video below, he approached them for the endorsement.

Thanks to Eddie Z. for the write up and video and to Mike McLaughlin for the images.

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5 Minutes with NFL Star-Turned-Expedition Impossible Contestant AGB

Akbar Gbaja-Biamila epitomizes the new age athlete-turned-entrepreneur and social crusader. The 32 year old Southern California native, known as AGB by friends, parlayed a five year stint in the National Football League (his brother is former NFL player Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila) into a career where he can use his broadcasting and athletic skills to draw attention to cause-related platforms that will make a difference in the lives of others.

AGB is currently a competitor on the ABC show Expedition Impossible. He sat down with us to talk long names, big families and his recent reality show experience.

Click here for the full interview.

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Becky from Rosanne Stars in Cleat Fetish Vid

Oh I love when Rex Ryan gets his chops busted, but even more so when it comes from a former child sitcom star.



More great acting from the artist formerly known as Becky Conner here.

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From The DC Bureau: SOLD! Ron Mexico For $687.96

With the end of the NFL lockout nowhere in sight, players are out there looking for ways to earn some extra cash this Summer.

One way it appears, is through Sponsored Tweets. For those unfamiliar, Sponsored Tweets is an auction-type service that allows solicitors to send tweets under the handles of some more notorious famous tweeters, for a price.

On the athlete page, the first on the list is my favorite humanitarian, @MikeVick, who rolls for a surprisingly affordable $687.96 per sponsored tweet. Others on the list like @Tony_Mandarich ($58.83) go for considerably less and some like @champbailey ($1,176.50) and @merillhoge ($1,764.75) go for considerably more--wait--Merril Hoge--Merril F&^!n& Hoge gets $1,700 per tweet!?!?!?

Exit question: Do you suppose Valtrex or Alpo would be able to negotiate a much better deal for a tweet from Mr. Mexico?

FYI- Ol' @Blue_Pulaski will tweet whatever the hell you want for a local Groupon or Living Social deal...DM him for details.

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Pittsburgh: Where Ward Trumps War

Hines Ward's Cha Cha seems to be the top news story in Western, PA. Not like there's anything else going on in the world.

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Bitter Steeler Fans Want to Sue Super Bowl

Actually, I can't blame fans for being pissed about the ticketing fiasco. It's pretty bush league what happened to them, especially those who were fans of the teams playing.

That said, the NFL, to its credit is going out of its way to minimize the fallout.

Don't try and sell that BS to Matthew Rush.

From CNN.com:

Matthew Rush, 40, a Steelers fan originally from Pittsburgh, was one of the 400 or so fans left without a seat Sunday night. After spending the whole day being moved around to different parts of the stadium while officials tried to accommodate them, Rush and the others were eventually moved to a glassed-in bar just below field level where they could watch the game on television monitors, he said.

What view they had of the field was obscured by those standing on the sidelines, he said.

"It was happening 300 feet in front of us, but (it was as though) we weren't there," Rush told CNN on his way back from Dallas on Tuesday.

After halftime, Rush said, he and others were so frustrated that they left the stadium, and he watched the remainder from his hotel room.

Rush said he spent a total of about $5,000 to attend the Super Bowl with his wife. He spent $800 per ticket, which he purchased through the Steelers' season-ticket-holder lottery.

The NFL promised to give free tickets to next year's Super Bowl and a refund of triple the cost of the $800 face value of the ticket to the 400 fans denied seats on Sunday, but Rush said that doesn't make up for the anger, frustration, and disappointment he still feels at missing his beloved Steelers at the big game.

Based on the bare bones SueSuperBowl.com website that is championing the cause, Mr. Rush can use all the cash money he can get his hands on.

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2011 Under Armour All-America Game Highlights

Ditka and Mooch get preps fired up.

The game features some of the biggest plays of the game including future Gator Jeff Driskel’s 63-yard touchdown run, future Seminole Karlos Williams’ pick 6 and future Aggie Taylor Bertolet’s 24-yard field goal to win the game.

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Rachael Ray: Huge Sav Rocca Fan

Rockin' the #6 with pride in across from the Linc.

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Blogs With Balls Radio - Espiode 30

We talk this week with Washington Redskins’ Director of Responsibility (real title), and former 4-time Pro Bowler Ken Harvey. In his Director role with the team, Harvey is working with Diageo’s anti-underage drinking campaign, We Don’t Serve Teens.

Blogs with Balls Show - Episode 30 by Blogs with Balls

Photo by Karen Ballard/Redux 1/19/10 via Hogs Heaven

We talk a bit about his involvement with the program and other philanthropic endeavors, including space exploration and education.

I commend Ken for his work with the Washington Post’s video segment that he hosted, Word on the Street with Ken Harvey, noting it was very blog-ish and perhaps a bit ahead of it’s time event though it wasn’t that long ago.

From there we hit on the changing role of media in sports. Ken talks about the lack of a filter and pros and cons of living in a world where “Any one at any time has a chance to create media and be a part of media;” and players having direct, instant access to fans, “Not everything that could be said needs to be said.”

Assessing Mike Shanahan’s handling of the team in his first year comes down to “Do you want to try to win right now or do you want to build for the future?” By asserting his authority, Harvey guesses the coach is pushing to the former. He appreciates, however, the sense of competition Shanahan is building. He noted that “people were becoming heroes and superstars without ever producing anything.” Grade wise for Shanahan, as a plan moving forward B/B+; the way he handled McNabb C/C+.

Harvey addresses the current culture and environment as brought about by the Daniel Snyder regime, “Winning changes everything. You have a whole generation coming up who hasn’t experienced the Super Bowls.”

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Trentonian Tells Carlson to Tuck Off

Or something like that...

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The Cynic's Guide to College Football: Week 11

Quick hit edition this week.

The Hits Keep on Coming

This Cam Newton recruitment saga keeps getting stranger by the day. At this point, the only thing missing are cameos by Brett Favre’s penis and Rachel Uchitel.

Anyone know if Rachel has any, um, connections at Auburn?

Turning Tricks
Some of it gets a bit repetitive, but this list of the Top 50 Trick Plays is well worth your time.

When You Get to the Bottom, Stop Digging
The WAC announced last week that it was adding the University of Texas-San Antonio and Texas State and the University of Denver in all sports except football. In related news, the WAC is now rated as the 4th toughest conference in the FCS.

Haven't Cubs Fans Suffered Enough?
Northwestern and Illinois will be playing their game this week at Wrigley Field, a decision which was apparently made without actually bothering to think about how the field would be set up. There’s a lot of talk these days about helmet-to-helmet hits. But no one’s talking about the real threat—helmet-to-brick-walls-covered-with-thin-pads-printed-to-look-like-ivy hits.

“Coach, PLEASE don’t make me run that deep post route again.”

Official Complaints
Living in the middle of the country, I’ve seen a lot of Big 12 games the last couple of years and I have to say that they have, far and away, the worst officiating in the country. And, while it may be fun to think of Dan Beebe sitting there with a Buffalo Wild Wings-esque buzzer alerting the refs when it’s time to screw Nebraska for leaving the conference, it’s equal opportunity crappy. It seems like every big game this year has had several not just questionable, but outright bad calls. And then, even after lengthy reviews, they still get them wrong. I understand missed calls are part of the game. But most conferences address these issues and work to get better. It seems like the Big 12 refs get worse every week with no end in sight. Maybe Texas can use a small fraction of their recent ESPN payday to better train their
officials. But I'm not holding my breath.

On second thought, maybe there is something to the Nebraska conspiracy theories.

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How Much Will the NFL Fine Austin Collie?

As Austin Collie regained his whereabouts in the Colts lockeroom after being carted off following his illegal hit on Eagles safety, Kurt Coleman, he now has to deal with the realization that his reckless play could hurt not just his head, but his pocketbook, given the league's recent crackdown on big hits.

Below, Collie lowers his head, launches himself and uses his helmet as a battering ram against the defenseless Eagles secondary.

This is unacceptable.

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Jason Sehorn Part II: On the NFC East, the NFL Judicial System and More

Yesterday, Jason Sehorn was vocal about the systematic and seemingly unsolvable problem of agents with their claws in potential NFL first and second rounders on college campuses.

Today, Sehorn pulls no punches as he talks about the hypocrisy of the NFL's justice system with Goodell's office being judge jury and executioner, the softening of the game that was brought about by the crackdown on big hits, the potential of Jerry Jones to morph into Al Davis and the overall absurdity of the Washington Redskins.

"The best thing going for the Giants and the Eagles right now is Jerry Jones and Daniel Snyder."

On Mike Shanahan's handling of Donovan McNabb:

"Disastrous. In my 10 years in the NFL, I never once played in a game where the starting quarterback was removed in the 2 minute offense when you could still win the football game...

Leave Albert Haynesworth in the picture and you see a philosophy here of 'if you're not my guy, this is how I'm gonna treat you.'

...And what they've done to Donovan McNabb, he's clearly not Mike's guy...he's not gonna be there after this year."

On crack down on hard hits: "Ridiculous. You can't arbitrarily decide after week four and 3 big hits that you're going to change the way we analyze this...When you appeal these fines do you know who you appeal them to? Right back to the league office. The people who fined you."

On TOcho: "I don't get it. At what point do you become a personality and not a football player any more? To each his own."




This week, Sehorn joined Keyshawn Johnson is in NYC promoting Captain Morgan's 1 Million Poses. For more information visit Facebook.com/CaptainMorganUSA.

For Part I of the Sehorn interview, click here.

Check out talk with Keyshawn here.

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Keyshawn Johnson on USC's Future, NFL Coaches, Moss and Tackling Design

This morning we got a chance to talk briefly with the incomparable Keyshawn Johnson.

Always blunt, Johnson offered some quick opinions on some of the big personalities in the NFL and gave a prognostication on the future of his alma mater, USC:

"There is this huge dark cloud over the university; there's this big myth that we are finished and done, but that's not the case...Knowing the recruiting class that's coming in, two years from now they'll be right back in the national championship hunt."

He offers his thoughts on Rex Ryan, Bill Parcells ("Best coach I played for at the pro level. Demanding, much like Rex Ryan."), Jon Gruden ("Interesting character. He's grown since his last coaching job."), Brad Childress ("How can a guy get along with Brad Childress? It's almost impossible.)"

On the Randy Moss situation and what kind of influence he'll be in Tennessee with young guys like Kenny Britt:

"I've never known Randy Moss to be a negative influence on anyone. Things didn't work at Oakland, but they never do with anyone. I mean, Minnesota traded him to Oakland and Oakland traded him to New England and New England traded him to Minnesota again and now he's in Tennessee so...I have no real negative feelings toward Randy Moss or would say he's bad for a locker room or anything like that."

Check it out...



Keyshawn is in NYC promoting Captain Morgan's 1 Million Poses. For more information visit Facebook.com/CaptainMorganUSA.

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Ocho Vies for Sexiest Man in Social Media

While it's easy to poke fun at a professional football player who has to compete and defend his sexiness against a fictional pitchman and an orange DJ, I almost feel worse for legitimate actors who have to vie against someone who is so attention starved that he voluntarily re-named himself after a fictitious version of the number "85."

Oh and then there's Vin Diesel.

And, of course, it's all fun and games until TO gets wind of this and throws a temper tantrum.

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5 Minutes with Nick Mangold

HHR caught up this morning with Jets All-Pro Center Nick Mangold, who was spending his off-day hyping a joint promotion between MasterCard and Jet Blue Airlines.

If the Jets win Super Bowl XLV, JetBlue and MasterCard will refund select one-way and roundtrip flight purchases made online on Nov. 1 or 2, at jetblue.com by a cardholder in the metro New York area using a MasterCard for travel during the month of December.

With our five minutes with Mangold, we tried to hit a broad spectrum of topics including texts from his quarterbacks, his thoughts on Rex Ryan, his use of social media, and his feelings, as an Ohio native, on LeBron James' "Decision" and his on thoughts on team loyalty.



Visit jetblue.com/jets to learn more about how MasterCard and JetBlue can provide them with free airfare.

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