I'm too young to fully appreciate the impact that football coach Bill Walsh had on the game. But the guy won three Super Bowls in the 1980s ('81, '84 and '88) and also invented the West Coast offense. Not to mention his influence on other coaches (Wikipedia: Bill Walsh coaching tree). He's a legend.
He passed away in Stanford, California about two hours ago. Leukemia.
The Ravens agreed to terms with G Ben Grubbs, the first-round selection out of Auburn (Baltimore Sun article). This is the first time since 2001 (TE Todd Heap) they haven't had a holdout first-round pick. They won't have any holdouts this year: All eight of their draft selections (seven last April, one in the supplemental draft) are signed and ready to go for the first day of training camp, which is tomorrow.
Despite a history of first-round holdouts, over the years they haven't had a much of an impact on personnel decisions: Four of those first-round holdouts ended up being first-year starters anyway: S Ed Reed, QB Kyle Boller, WR Mark Clayton, DT Haloti Ngata.
Expect Grubbs to start this year. He'll play right guard, though, not left guard, where he excelled at Auburn. The transition has been difficult for Grubbs, who had this to say: "I didn't think it would be a big difference, but it's a real big difference. It's like writing with your right hand and now trying to write with your left. You got to reverse everything in your mind. It's an everyday battle."
More good news out of Baltimore. According to Scout.com (pay article), the Ravens today signed two more draft picks: KR Yamon Figurs, who was drafted in the third round, and QB Troy Smith, who slipped all the way the way to the fifth round, probably dragged down by the weight of the Heisman Trophy he won at Ohio State.
Both will get the minimum salaries for the next three years, just like yesterday's signees (OL Jared Gaither and LB Prescott Burgess). In case you're wondering, the minimum base salaries in the NFL are $285,000 in 2007, $370,000 in 2008, and $460,000 in 2009.
In other news, today minimum wage was raised to a whopping $5.85/hour (CNN.com article). And the scary thing is, that's 52 percent higher than my first hourly wage: $3.85/hour, scooping ice cream at Baskin-Robbins on York Road, near Stevenson Lane, the one that burned down a few years back.
Anyway, what I'm sure you really care about is whether or not Troy Smith is excited for training camp. He is: "I'm very excited about my first training camp and I can't wait to show what I can do. It's great to be playing in Baltimore."
I was ecstatic when the Ravens drafted Troy Smith on day two. I just hope he has what it takes to fill McNair's shoes when the time comes.
Good news for the Baltimore Ravens. The reigning AFC North champions today signed two draft picks: OT Jared Gaither and LB Prescott Burgess (Scout.com pay article).
Burgess was picked in the sixth-round of last April's draft. Gaither was drafted in the fifth round of the NFL's supplemental draft, which took place a week or two ago. You can read more about Gaither here (earlier post).
Both signed three-year contracts with minimum base salaries: $285,000 next year, $370,000 in 2008, and $460,000 in 2009. Burgess also received a $57,000 signing bonus, which by NFL standards is, well, practically nothing.
Gaither's agent had this to say: "Jared is excited about being a Raven and he can't wait to get to training camp. It's good to have everything finalized nice and early."
Burgess himself had this to say: "It's very exciting to sign my first NFL contract, because it's a dream come true. Now, I just have to show the coaches the physical part and the mental part. I'm really looking forward to training camp."
So, in short: Everyone's looking forward to training camp.
Baltimore Ravens WR Mark Clayton started a blog late last night (link to Mark's blog).
Why he started a blog: "I had a kid in the mall in Baltimore just stop and stare at me when I was checking out. He was right in front of me and it was to the point when he couldn't speak. I just said "what's up" and had a conversation with him. It was funny, but I never imagined anyone reacting like that to me. I want people to know that I'm just Mark."
I've been in Chicago since last week and yesterday I took a walk down to Soldier Field. From the outside looking in, it's a great stadium. And Chicago's a great city. Hopefully one of these years I'll have the opportunity to see the Ravens wipe the floor with the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field.
The Ravens a few days ago drafted OT Jared Gaither in the NFL's supplemental draft, which is a draft of players with special circumstances. In Gaither's case, it was ruled after last April's draft that he'd be ineligible to play at Maryland next year due to grades. So instead of sitting out a year, he entered the supplemental draft, in which any team is allowed to take him if they're willing to give up a pick in next year's draft. No one wanted to give up anywhere between a first-rounder and a fourth-rounder, but the Ravens were willing to give up a fifth-rounder. And here we are.
If Gaither played at Maryland next year, he could've entered the draft in 2008 and almost certainly would've gone higher than the fifth round. So in that sense he's a quote-unquote steal, as the pundits like to say.
Here's what I know about Gaither: He can't keep his grades up, and he can't bench press as much as scouts would like for a guy his size. But he's 6'9", somewhere around 350 lbs. and supposedly has the potential to be a great offensive lineman. So for a fifth-rounder, why not?
The Ravens' third-round selection (86th overall) in April's draft, Iowa G/T Marshal Yanda, signed a three-year deal, which today was announced by the team.
"He plays a physical style and looks to finish," says Ravens director of college scouting Eric DeCosta. " More importantly, Yanda can play both guard and tackle, and as Baltimore figures out who exactly is going to play where in the trenches, this will be a valuable option for head coach Brian Billick.
Ravens QB Steve McNair, until yesterday, faced charges in Tennessee for driving under the influence, even though he wasn't driving. Classic. While it sounds silly and they should probably change at least the name of the crime, the law itself makes sense: McNair was facing charges because allegedly he'd knowingly let a drunk person drive a vehicle that he owned. Calling that a DUI makes no sense; making it a crime, however, makes a lot of sense. It's neither safe nor smart.
But all of that is a moot point because the charges were dropped, and even though there doesn't need to be a conviction for the league to take disciplinary action, the NFL has already stated that neither the Ravens nor McNair will be punished for whatever did or didn't happen, despite the fact that McNair does have a bit of a track record with the law. He was arrested in 2003 for driving drunk and having an illegal weapon, though charges were later dropped when the traffic stop was ruled illegal. In other words: McNair has a great lawyer.
Hopefully this is the last time for a while that the law and a Ravens player are mentioned in the same breath. It's getting too close to the season to focus on things other than football.
In the dog days of summer, there's not much to write about when it comes to the NFL. But I haven't written anything here in about 10 days, and I have a fancy new logo that I want to show off, so today I'm writing an article about an article that's about four other articles. Sounds like a worthwhile investment of your time, no?
According to the Baltimore Sun (today's article), four football publications have predicted the Ravens will repeat as AFC North champions. One of the pubs even predicts a Ravens Super Bowl victory next year (KOW). The publications -- Pro Football Weekly, Street & Smith's, Athlon Sports and Lindy's -- all cite the addition of RB Willis McGahee as a primary reason for the team's predicted success, along with the expectation that head coach Brian Billick will continue to call the plays, and the fact that QB Steve McNair will have another year under his belt.
All valid points. But let's not forget that Bengals QB Carson Palmer is now two years removed from knee surgery, and that Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger is likely to play at least a little better than he did last year. How could he not? Also, another year of experience for McNair also means his arm is another year older. Though if he can stay healthy, I certainly don't think a Super Bowl victory is out of the question. But I am at least a little surprised that the Ravens are a unanimous selection, at least by these four pubs, to repeat as champions in what is one of the most difficult divisions in football.
I'm going to hold off making any predictions until closer to the start of the season, but I'll give you a hint: I'll be picking the Ravens.
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