JM Banknotes

admin / June 23, 2018

Former Buffalo Bills general manager Doug Whaley is taking over as the NFL Players Association’s director of college scouting.

Whaley will oversee the recruitment, evaluation and selection of draft-eligible prospects to compete at the annual NFLPA Collegiate Bowl. He replaces Tony Softli, who left to become the Alliance of American Football’s scouting director.

Whaley was hired Wednesday, a little over a year after being fired by the Bills. He spent eight seasons in Buffalo, including four as GM.

The Bills fired him as part of a major organizational shake-up which began with Sean McDermott replacing Rex Ryan as coach.

Whaley has 22 years of NFL scouting experience, including an 11-year tenure with his hometown Pittsburgh Steelers.

Bundy has posted some impressive strikeout numbers. He has fanned 100 — and walked only 27 — in 89 2/3 innings. He had a season-high 14 strikeouts against the Chicago White Sox.

Bundy will be making his first career start against Atlanta.

Brady, a three-time ESPYS best male athlete nominee, lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII. Harden, who is a first-time nominee along with Altuve and Ovechkin, extended the champion Golden State Warriors to seven games before being eliminated in the Western Conference finals.

Olympic skier Mikaela Shiffrin will contend for the ESPY for best female athlete for a second time. Her competition includes three first-time nominees — Sylvia Fowles of the WNBA champion Minnesota Lynx, Olympic snowboarder Chloe Kim and soccer player Julie Ertz.

The ESPYS, which honor the past year’s top sports achievements and moments, will be hosted by newly retired race car driver Danica Patrick when the show airs July 18 from Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.

The Warriors’ Kevin Durant, who won last year, again received a nod for best championship performance. He goes against Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles, World Series MVP George Springer and Villanova Wildcats guard Donte DiVincenzo, who was the most outstanding player of the men’s Final Four.

Brady also is nominated for record-breaking performance, along with tennis star Roger Federer, New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge and Diana Taurasi of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury.

admin / June 16, 2018

Bears Chairman George McCaskey stuck to the party line, saying he agreed with the NFL’s policy that all players on the field should stand for the national anthem.

But he also clearly has been listening to the concerns of players (and/or reading Malcolm Jenkins’ signs) that the original intent of players who took a knee during the anthem have been misconstrued.

The quote was later clarified to explain that Johnson was simply marveling at the talent level difference between college and NFL players. Which means he wasn’t complaining about the coach treating his players like something other than grown men. Which is what Monarrez surely hoped to imply.

Frankly, the quote should have been removed; the clarification makes the underlying take seem like even more of a stretch. Without it, however, the column would have come off as even kookier.

But during his talk with Rudolph, while considering Minnesota’s monumental contract offer, Cousins uncharacteristically let his guard down.

He told me, ‘You guys made it to the NFC championship last year! I don’t want to mess that up,’ Rudolph recalled to USA TODAY Sports on Tuesday, the first day of the Vikings’ mandatory minicamp.

I explained to him, ‘Yeah, but we didn’t achieve our ultimate goal. We want to win championships, and you’re going to be a big part of that.’

Minnesota officials agreed: Cousins would not disrupt the flow of a team that went 13-3 in 2017 (while relying on journeyman quarterback Case Keenum) before falling one victory shy of the Super Bowl. Vikings brass believed Cousins, who’s eclipsed 4,000 yards each of the past three seasons and is known for his accuracy and quick release, would elevate the franchise to championship level. Washington’s 26-30-1 regular season record under Cousins and 0-1 postseason mark mattered not — the red-carpet welcome and the three-year, fully-guaranteed, $84 million contract serving as evidence.

admin / June 6, 2018

When Seth Wickersham of ESPN reported back in January that serious cracks had developed in the perennially successful relationship between Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, Patriots coach Bill Belichick, and Patriots owner Robert Kraft, it seemed odd to think that something that had worked so well for 18 years would suddenly not be working.

But something’s missing all right, as evidenced by the fact that Brady isn’t working. With every other starting quarterback fully engaged in his team’s offseason program, Brady remains absent, possibly for a variety of reasons that include his low pay in relation to the dramatic increase in the market since he signed his most recent deal, the still-unexplained decision to bench cornerback Malcolm Butler for Super Bowl LII (possibly keeping Brady from a sixth ring despite throwing for 505 yards that day), and the reality that nearly two decades of dealing with Belichick may be much more than enough.

Will Brady be as deferential as he always has been? Will there be even more friction, especially if Belichick tries to needle him about not being present for OTAs?

Many think the intrigue will be over when Brady finally reports for mandatory minicamp and/or training camp. It could be that the fun will only be beginning.

Expect a group that includes free-agent signee Jon Bostic, Tyler Matakevich and possibly even rookie Terrell Edmunds as part of the committee that will be in Shazier’s spot at inside linebacker when the defending AFC North champions open the 2018 season in Cleveland.

The front office felt so comfortable with the idea it passed on selecting a linebacker in last month’s draft, the first time in nearly a decade the Steelers didn’t use one of their picks on a position coach Mike Tomlin considers among the most vital on the field.

That’s fine by Bostic. The well-traveled 27-year-old signed a two-year deal in March following a productive if injury marred season in Indianapolis. Bostic’s arrival appeared to be for depth purposes but when the draft came and went, he now finds himself with as good a shot as anyone as lining up next to veteran Vince Williams. While he kept tabs on the draft, he didn’t exactly celebrate when Pittsburgh didn’t pick up a linebacker.

At the end of the day, I don’t get paid to do that type of stuff, Bostic said during organized team activities this week. All I can control is me preparing, when my number is called upon, make sure that I’m ready.