Dungy Labels The Texans As The Biggest Fakers

All the talk in the NFL is surrounding players faking injuries. The league has said they will punish players that are caught faking. Deon Grant played his macho card as to why he wouldn’t fake one. I believe some teams might do it to save their team a timeout.

Former NFL head coach Tony Dungy has been pretty opinionated since he’s been out of the game. During an interview on the Dan Patrick Show, Dungy was asked if he ever had a player fake an injury. Of course the answer was no but he did have something to say about who were the kings of faking injuries.

“No I’ve never done that but in the time I was coaching in Indy we saw it quite a bit, we really did,” Dungy said. “It’s a tactic that is used, it’s part of what’s happening now in the NFL and it’s really tough to prove. We sent in a lot of tapes to the league and it never could get resolved so just kind of have to go with the flow and know that it’s going to happen.”

“The biggest offenders we saw were the Houston Texans. We played them twice a year, our players knew the defensive line coach there, they knew the signal for faking an injury,” he said. “Chad Bratzke would always tell me, ‘Here it comes. Guy’s gonna fall down right now.’



“And that’s what would happen and, you know, they’d catch their breath or whatever and get the substitutions in, you’d send it in to the league and say, ‘Hey, this guy was never contacted on the play, let’s look at it. The trainer’s out there for three or four minutes working on him.’


“But it really is hard to tell. And how can you say when a guy really is hurt and when he isn’t? Miraculously, though, they all seem to come back into the game.”

Instead of stewing about it then, maybe Dungy should’ve went public with those allegations. I know that isn’t his style and it wouldnt’ve went over too good, but that might’ve been the only way that it could’ve been resolved. Don’t come out now that you’re a member of the media and bring it up.   

Matt Leinart Sounds Defensive

Even though Matt Leinart wasn’t a top five NFL draft pick there are some who give him the dreaded bust label. That’ll happen when you have a celebrated college career (Heisman Trophy,national championship, Manning Award, Johnny Unitas Award, Walter Camp Award and two Archie Griffin Awards). I wouldn’t call him a complete bust, more like a flop which to me is a notch below bust.

After flaming out with the Arizona Cardinals, where he was beaten out by Kurt Warner, Leinart landed with the Houston Texans in a backup role. He’s now a free agent and personally I don’t think this joker will get a legit shot at a starting job again. It never helped that he had an image as a “party guy”, something he picked up while he was starring at USC.

In an interview on ESPN Los Angeles Leinart talks about his days in Arizona and the bust label that has been bestowed upon him.

“I’ve heard everything. I’ve heard everything. I’ve seen everything. For me I haven’t proven anything, so I haven’t proven that I could play game in and game out. I understand that. I believe I can play and I’m not one to make excuses. I’ve never made an excuse with my time in Arizona. It just didn’t work out for whatever reason. Those are reasons people outside of the organization won’t understand, but it didn’t work out and it wasn’t a right fit, so you move on. You kind of look at the timeline of what has happened to me and with having a pretty good rookie year and the second year getting the injury and Kurt Warner played himself into the Hall of Fame in the last 3 years. There’s not a lot I can do about that. I battled with a Hall of Famer two training camps in a row. I thought I competed as well as he did and obviously Kurt was a great player. He took us to a Super Bowl. I truly believe he got himself into the Hall of Fame those last couple of years. Last year with everything that happened it just didn’t work out. I said what I said about the situation and I moved on, so there’s people thought I never got a fair shot. People that think I can’t play. There’s a lot of things. For me I’ve worked hard this off-season and I’m always work hard. I’m always ready. I’m always prepared and like I said it’s just always about being a quarterback, but being the right situation. For me hopefully that situation comes up this year and I can thrive and show I belong in the league and I can play because I know I can and that’s what I plan on doing.”

Sounds like he’s on the defensive throughout the interview. I guess I would hate being labeled as a bust when you really haven’t been given a chance to play. But the stats will tell you why he’s been glued to the bench. I do agree that Warner played himself into the Hall of Fame while he was with the Cardinals. When you watched them play last season they looked lost without him.

For Leinart it’s just not going to happen.

NFL Players Deny Involvement With XXX Event

When it comes to events of the “extracurricular” variety, sports figures always seem to get involved. No matter if it’s at a strip club or a rapper’s ball, they’ll be there. The players always talk about it and take scores of pictures. Remember that’s what got Marvin Austin and company suspended from North Carolina.   

All that leads to this. A handful of NFL players have denied involvement with an event after their names and images were used to advertise it. The event they claim to have no involvement with: Exxxotica Expo.

Now I don’t know if this violates any rule in the NFL code of conduct but I’m sure team officials from the repective teams the players will be playing for aren’t too happy about it. One of the players, Chicago Bears safety Major Wright   is the most identifiable player in the ad and was very upset with what went down.

“I authorized my name and likeness to be used in conjunction with other NFL players at a party which (was) to be hosted by other NFL players,” he said in a statement. “I had no knowledge and never would have given authority for my name or likeness to be associated with Erotica Expo 2011. I am deeply disappointed that my name and likeness was manipulated by the promoters of this event. The use of my picture in a Chicago Bear uniform was never discussed or approved.

“It is unfortunate that this incident has occurred and I would like to let the Bears organization, our fans, my teammates, family and friends know that I am truly sorry. I have learned a valuable lesson and will use more prudent judgment with people I associate myself with in the future.”


The next Exxxotica Expo opens in Rosemont, Ill., July 8, and Wright said on Twitter he is not promoting that event.


“FYI… I have NOTHING to do with the Exotic Expo @ the Rosemont!” Wright tweeted.

Wright, along with Corey Liuget (San Diego Chargers), Brandon Flowers and Eric Berry (Kansas City Chiefs), Jacoby Ford (Oakland Raiders), Kareem Jackson (Houston Texans) and Daniel Thomas (Miami Dolphins) were also shown on the ad in their team uniforms. Liuget and Thomas are both rookies.

Every player said they didn’t know what that their names and likenesses would be invloved with advertising the Exxxotica Expo.

Jackson released a statement apologizing for not being aware for what he was signing up for.

“I wanted to clarify an event that took place on May 20th at Club Play in Florida. I authorized my name to be used at that club with the understanding that it was going to be a party hosted by NFL Players. It was never explained to me or did I ever authorize my name or likeness to be associated with Exxxotica Expo 2011. I am appalled that my name and likeness were used in that capacity. In addition, I never authorized the use of my likeness or picture in my NFL uniform. I apologize to the Houston Texans, their fans and family if I caused any embarrassment. I am sincerely sorry.”

If you check a Brandon Flowers tweet  (click here) it tells a different story.

I think the aforementioned planned to attend but when their images were used in an ad they wanted to sever any ties with the event whatsoever.

Wade Is Employed Because Of His Dad

I said that Wade Phillips would get another job after he was fired by the Dallas Cowboys. More and more it’s looking like he’ll end up in Houston as the Texans defensive coordinator.

Keep in mind that his dad, Bum Phillips, along with Dan Pastorini, paid a visit to Texans owner Bob McNair on Wednesday. That was to drum up support to keep head coach Gary Kubiak. It also seems like it was a play to get Wade the defensive coordinator job. I guess that’s the plan unless the Texans get swamped by Jacksonville in the season finale. McNair isn’t too happy about the team’s 5-10 record and neither are fans, who are organizing a ‘Fire Gary Kubiak’ rally. Sound familiar Detroit Lions fans.

If Phillips gets hired, how does current coordinator Frank Bush feel about this. He has to feel that someone put a knife in his back, and will be done in by old fashioned nepotism. I’m not saying Bush was the next coming of Buddy Ryan, but this was his first year and lost highly regarded corner Dunta Robinson to Atlanta. Stay tuned to see how this plays out.

Phillips And Pastorini Go To Bat For Kubiak

The clock may be ticking on Kubiak

With his job on the line, two Houston “legends” have spoken out on Houston Texans head coach Gary Kubiak’s behalf.

Former Houston Oilers head coach Bum Phillips and former oft injured quarterback Dan Pastorini, two of the “Luv Ya Blue” mainstays from the past have spoken in favor of embattled coach Gary Kubiak. Pastorini and Phillips attended Wednesday’s practice to urge owner Bob McNair to keep Kubiak. The Texans have lost 8 of 9 and fans have ran out of patience with a team thought to be a playoff contender at the start of the year.

Phillips said the team was still working hard and seemed focused. Not to bag on anyone, but to an 87 year old man anyone would seem focused.

“You’re not going to get any better coach than him,” Phillips said. “If you can get your team to practice like these kids practiced, the last week of the season, with nothing to look forward to, then believe me, he’s got control of the team. He’s always been a good coach. You’re not going to get any better than Gary Kubiak.”

“I think he’s a good coach, I think the players love him and respect him,” Pastorini said. “I know a lot of people are calling for his head. But I, for one, believe in him. I think he can turn it around. I don’t think there’s a lot of shaking up needed.”

Pastorini and Phillips met with McNair for lunch after Wednesday’s practice.
 
I do think Kubiak is a good coach, but even if he goes on to coach another team, I’ll view him as a set up man. Meaning that Kubiak will get canned in Houston and someone else will lead them to new heights. I’m not knocking Kubiak, but maybe his time in Houston may be up. Who knows, maybe he lives to see another day as Texans coach. But since he’s been there since the team’s inception, it might be time for him to go.