Football Blog

Denver Broncos, NFL.com

The Denver Broncos hired Roman Phifer as assistant linebackers coach Monday.

Phifer, a 15-year NFL veteran and three-time Super Bowl champion, is starting his first coaching assignment since retiring from the NFL in 2005. He will assist Don Martindale in coaching the Broncos’ linebackers.

Phifer, 40, was a second-round draft pick (31st overall) by the Los Angeles Rams in the 1991 NFL Draft. He played eight seasons for the Rams, leading the team in tackles during the 1993, 1995 and 1996 campaigns, and he was named a Pro Bowl alternate in 1995. He played for the New York Jets from 1999 to 2000 and totaled 95 tackles, 8.5 sacks and four forced fumbles.

Phifer is best known for his contributions as a linebacker on three Super Bowl-winning teams with the New England Patriots, for whom he played from 2001 to 2004. In his four seasons with the Patriots, Phifer recorded 384 tackles — second only to linebacker Tedy Bruschi — and helped New England win Super Bowls XXXVI, XXXVIII and XXXIX. Phifer retired from football after an injury-shortened stint with the New York Giants in 2005.

Phifer played 212 games in his NFL career and recorded 1,296 tackles (923 solo), 29 sacks and 11 interceptions.

The Broncos also announced Monday that they have retained Keith Burns as a special teams assitant, completing new head coach Josh McDaniels’ staff for the 2009 season. Burns, a 13-year NFL veteran who spent 11 seasons of his career with Denver, worked with the Broncos’ special teams the past two seasons.

NFL.com

Citing economy, Bears freeze ticket prices for next season

Associated Press

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — With the economy struggling, the Chicago Bears say they’ve decided not to raise ticket prices for next season.

It’ll be the first time since after the 2000 season that the Bears won’t boost prices in some form. Friday’s announcement also means the Bears will collect less ticket revenue than last season because the city of Chicago raised the amusement tax from 8 percent to 9 percent.

The Bears are the city’s first major professional team to announce a freeze on ticket prices.

The Chicago Cubs raised them on many seats and added a fourth ticket category for 14 of their most desirable games next season. And the White Sox raised season-ticket prices by $1 to $2 per game.

The Bears’ club seat prices will remain $245 to $350, while non-club seats will continue to range from $68 to $108.

Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press

T.O. might have to go! There is lots of talk about Dallas letting T.O. go but they might just be some rumors. T.O. is a magnet for publicity but he might more more disastrous than he is worth. The debate is still up in the air and owner Stephen Jones is in T.O.’s corner. Dallas might just have to cut their losses and drop T.O.

For more on this issue check out this video at NFL.com

The NFC proved superior this weekend with a 30 - 21 win over the AFC.

It was a good game and the Manning brothers made history, not only were they the first brothers to play in a Pro Bowl they were on opposite sidelines. Little brother Eli ended up with the bragging rights for the game over his older brother Peyton.

An obvious list of all stars led to a day of fun under the sun for the top player sin the league.

For more info and highlights check out NFL.com.

On Wednesday February 4th BSU celebrated the welcoming of 21 new recruits, the Stueckle Sky Center at Boise State was filled with Blue and Orange to welcome the newest members to the Bronco football team. The event lasted 3 hours and had over 400 fans watching highlights of each of the new players and listening to coaches interviews.

Welcome to Boise all 21 of you!

Devin Hester of the Chicago Bears has shown at times that he play at the level of some of the greats and at the end of the 2008 season that’s exactly how he was playing. In the last six games of the ‘08 season Hester pulled in 25 passes for 347 yards, if he can keep his momentum for ‘09 then he should have a great season, and might step up to be one of the NFL’s super star receivers.

The geographical diversity of the group is represented by 8 different states and even a couple of recruits from the Netherlands.
BSU finished off last years season 8-0 for their conference and 12-1 overall, and was ranked 11^th in the AP poll and 13^th in the USA Today poll.

Nick Alexander           Los Angeles, CA           Defensive End     6′3" 228
Jonathan Brown       El Sobrante, CA        Safety                6′0" 205
Jake Broyles       Henderson, NV        Offensive Line     6′4" 242
Aaron Burks               Grand Praire, TX        Wide Receiver     6′2" 180
John Michael Davis     Coto de Caza, CA        Linebacker        6′0" 216
Quaylon Ewing       Sugar Land, TX        Cornerback        6′0" 180
Geraldo Hiwat       Amsterdam, Netherlands Wide Receiver     6′2" 179
Malcom Johnson       Gresham, OR                Runningback        5′10" 182
Justin Jungblut       Scottsdale, AZ        Defensive Tackle  6′4" 241
Charles Leno       Oakland, CA                Offensive Line     6′3" 246
Gabe Linehan       Banks, OR                Tight End        6′3" 200
Ebenezer Makinde       Phoenix, AZ                Quarterback        5′9" 165
Kharyee Marshall       Phoenix, AZ                Defensive End     6′2" 200
Allen Mooney       Maple Valley, WA        Linebacker        5′9" 207
Kirby Moore               Prosser, WA                Wide Receiver     6′2" 195
Trevor Peterson       Camino, CA                Tight End        6′2" 218
Joe Southwick       Danville, CA                Quarterback         6′1" 183
Mike Tamburo       Suwanee, GA                Quarterback         5′11" 172
Bryant Thomas       Boise, ID                Offensive Line 6′2" 249
Ricky Tjong-A-Tjoe    Amsterdam, Netherlands Defensive Line 6′2" 282
Winston Venable       San Rafael, CA        Safety         6′0" 209

Well the Super Bowl is over, and what a great super bowl it was, I was pulling for the Cards but I am not disappointed by any means as it was a great game.

The NFL draft is only 79 days away.

There are lots of hot prospects on the list and we should see some amazing rookie talents show through next year.

Here are some of the first round prospects and the draft order.

1. Detroit Lions - Matt Stafford, QB, Georgia

2. St. Louis Rams - Andre Smith, OT, Alabama

3. Kansas City Chiefs - Michael Oher, OT, Ole Miss

4. Seattle Seahawks - Michael Crabtree, WR, Texas Tech

5. Cleveland Browns - Rey Maualuga, ILB, USC

6. Cincinnati Bengals - Brian Orakpo, DE, Texas

7. Oakland Raiders - Michael Johnson, DE, Georgia Tech

8. Jacksonville Jaguars - Aaron Curry, OLB, Wake Forest

9. Green Bay Packers - Malcolm Jenkins, CB, Ohio State

10. San Francisco 49ers - Mark Sanchez, QB, 49ers

11. Buffalo Bills - Eugene Monroe, OT, Virginia

12. Denver Broncos - James Laurinaitis, ILB, Ohio State

13. Washington Redskins - B.J. Raji, DT, Boston College

14. New Orleans Saints - Brian Cushing, OLB, USC

15. Houston Texans - Vontae Davis, CB, Illinois

16. San Diego Chargers - Chris "Beanie" Wells, RB, Ohio State

17. New York Jets - Knowshon Moreno, RB, Georgia

18. Chicago Bears - Darrius Heyward-Bey, WR, Maryland

19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Peria Jerry, DT, Ole Miss

20. Detroit Lions (from Cowboys) - Everette Brown, DE, Florida State

21. Philadelphia Eagles - Jason Smith, OT, Baylor

22. Minnesota Vikings - Alex Mack, C, California

23. New England Patriots - D.J. Moore, CB, Vanderbilt

24. Atlanta Falcons - Mike Mickens, CB, Cincinnati

25. Miami Dolphins - William Moore, FS, Missouri

26. Baltimore Ravens - Percy Harvin, WR, Florida

27. Indianapolis Colts - Sen’Derrick Marks, DT, Auburn

28. Philadelphia Eagles (from Panthers) - Brandon Pettigrew, TE, Oklahoma State

29. New York Giants - Fili Moala, DT, USC

30. Tennessee Titans - Jeremy Maclin, WR, Missouri

31. Arizona Cardinals - LeSean McCoy, RB, Pitt

32. Pittsburgh Steelers - Duke Robinson, OG, Oklahoma

Being a Bears fan I am excited to see a WR on the list but I still hope that some day Chicago can find A QB.

The Steelers and the Cardinals put on a great show and the nation noticed. Nielsen Media Research reports that 98.7 million people were watching this years Super Bowl on average.

Last Super Bowl held the record of 97.5 million viewers, but with such an impressive showing by both teams the Steelers and Cards stole the show.

For those few who didn’t see the game it was a great game and the Steelers pulled off a 27 - 23 victory.

Tampa Bay, Florida was home to the NFL Super Bowl 43. Super Bowl 43 was a weekend filled with parties and festivities that lasted all weekend.

Bodybuilding.com kicked off the beginning of the festivities with a pre-party on Friday, January 30th at the Seminole Hard Rock Café in Tampa, Florida. The turn out was amazing and included an all-star cast of celebrities such as Kevin Dillon, Chloe Kardashian, Vida Guerra, Colleen Shannon, Raekwon and many more all showing up to show they support living a healthy lifestyle.

Kevin Dillon

Colleen Shannon

Bob Cicherillo had the privilege of interviewing the stars as they walked the red carpet.

Guests got to enjoy a Bodybuilding.com celebrity gift bag filled with great products from Bodybuilding.com. The celebrity gift bags included the following:

- BSN N.O. Xplode
- Vairous BSN product samples
- EAS 100% Whey Protein
- ReddRox Vital Hydration Packets
- And an assortment of New Bodybuilding.com clothing.

Special thanks to BSN for all their hard work helping people achieve their health goals.

Did You Know?  BSN is now the official nutritional supplement provider for the UFC.

See all the Bodybuilding.com Super Bowl Pre-Party pics here.

Don’t forget to check out the Red Carpet video footage below:

You may also view this video on the Bodybuilding.com Video Network! 

This year Bodybuilding.com joined in on the festivities of the Super Bowl, see Bob as he hosts  
an all-star cast of celebrities including Kevin Dillon, the Kardashians, Vida Guerra and much more at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tampa, Florida.  

Check out photos from the red carpet here.

Pittsburgh and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger come out on top in the end. Congratulations, it was an amazing game and my hats go off to both teams! Thanks for making it the championship game that it was meant to be!

FINAL SCORE:

Pittsburgh 27
Arizona 23

Scott

“The Crush”

I know many don’t think that highly of football but after my first experience playing flag football this last fall on the city rec league I discovered what an aerobic sport this really is. Anyone that wants to play a really fun game and get a great cardio workout should try it.

Scott

"The Crush”

I’m not sure what’s happened but Pittsburgh seems to have disappeared in the 4th quarter.

Arizona got the 2 points on a hold in the end zone. Now has the ball with 2:48 left in the game.

#11 Fitgerald gets ball and runs for touchdown! Arizona scores!

Pittsburgh 20
Arizona 23

2:37 left in game. This is one of the best Chamionship games I’ve seen in quite awhile. For once the game is actually better than the commercials. About damn time. LOL!

Scott

"The Crush”

#11 Fitzgerald making some good grabs. Over halfway through half and the Cardinals are well in the red zone and looking good. Are they still in the game. Only if they can score on this drive. Good luck to them.

#11 Fitzgerald scores with 7:33 remaining in game.

Pittsburg 20
Arizona 14

Scott

"The Crush”