As the National Football League prepares for its upcoming draft this weekend, some of its future and current players have been playing their roles in the real-life “Playmakers” the SportsEye revisits from time to time.
Let’s start out in California, where a lot of action is taking place.
It seems that Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush’s family was living in a $750,000 crib in a San Diego suburb for at least part of last season, at the behest of an agent and/or marketing guru. The potential first-round draft pick says his family did nothing wrong – other than not pay rent or utilities and then disappear when Yahoo.com started asking questions. A sidenote. When did yahoo.com start breaking stories?
Former USC quarterback Matt Leinart fired his agent Leigh Steinberg out of the blue for no apparent reason. West Coast media types suggest that one too many phone calls were not returned to Leinart. The St. Louis Rams’ own Stephen Jackson reportedly booted Rocky Arceneaux after the St. Louis-based agent was tardy delivering on several promises including a website for the running back. This apparently is a fireable offense in today’s NFL.
Marshall Faulk’s future in St. Louis remains cloudy, as he and new coach Scott Linehan apparently aren’t on speaking terms. Unknown to Linehan and the Rams was the fact that Faulk had surgery on both knees during the offseason. He did not participate in last week’s minicmap and word is Faulk is more into helping his hurricane-ravished New Orleans than the Rams
Back to USC. Lendale White, who is a potential first-round draft pick, has been nursing an injured hamstring the past two months with a unique training regimen. It’s called the “eat everything in sight” program. With the draft two days away, he looks more like William “The Refrigerator” Perry than a true running back.
Ricky Manning signed a $21-million contract offer with the Chicago Bears last weekend in Los Angeles and celebrated in fine fashion. He and several members of his entourage went to that fine dining establishment, Denny’s, where they allegedly insulted a man working on a laptop with taunts such as “nerd.” The high school-level antics escalated into real trouble when the man reportedly ratted them out to the Denny’s manager. The poor guy with the laptop was allegedly punched in the face, kicked and stomped by Manning and crew. Because the alleged assailants had shoes on while kicking this dude, they could face felony assault with deadly weapon charges. A sidenote: Remove your shoes before stomping on someone if ever in that situation.
Manning was arrested not five minutes from this same spot five years ago after opening a ferocious can of whup-tail on a guy outside a bar.
Former Texas quarterback Vince Young is plummeting down the draft ranks to a point that the Rams, who hold the 11th pick, actually made a visit to his pad in Texas.
The fact is that many teams are taking that pitiful Wonderlech score seriously and doubt Young has the mental capacity to be a star quarterback in the NFL. He also has not wowed anyone with his “smarts” in personal interviews. Another quarterback named Joe Montana had the same problems and he turned out to be decent.
Mike “Ron Mexico” Vick has settled a lawsuit filed by a woman who claims to have contracted a sexually transmitted disease from the Atlanta Falcons quarterback. The numbers of dollars she will received is confidential, but the SportsEye is sure she can now afford season tickets at the Georgia Dome.
