Adrian Peterson Breaks Another Record

Adrian Peterson is a record breaking machine. Only eight games into the season, Peterson has already broken a multitude of franchise records for yardage throughout various points in the season and also single game performances. He’s already set and broken his own record for most yards rushing in a game. Last week, Peterson broke the NFL single game rushing record, originally held by Jamal Lewis since 2003, with a 296 yard performance against the San Diego Chargers. It’s important to note that all of this has happened in his first 8 games in his career. He already has 1036 yards rushing, a feat that some runningbacks don’t even accomplish in an entire year. He’s just about 300 yards ahead of the pace at this junction. Peterson’s highlight game came against the Chicago Bears. He gored the normally stingy Bears defense for 224 yards on 20 carries and 3 touchdowns. He broke a few franchise rookie records with this game; most 100-yard gain games and the longest touchdown from scrimmage, as well as a then-franchise record for yardage gained. After this game Deion Sanders , now an NFL Network analyst said the following about Peterson: "He has the vision of a Marshall Faulk, the power of a Terrell Davis, and the speed of an Eric Dickerson. Let’s pray he has the endurance of an Emmitt Smith.” It’s clear that Adrian Peterson is the real deal.

T.O. Terrorizes Eagles

Terrell Owens is still managing to be a disruption to the Philadelphia Eagles franchise. Last Sunday T.O. destroyed the Eagles secondary in a Cowboys blowout over the sub-par Eagles. Philadelphia had a chance to redeem it’s season and turn .500 last week but they just couldn’t cover T.O. who had 10 catches for 174 yards and a TD and lost with a final of 38-17 Dallas. We all remember the ruckus that T.O. caused two years ago when he criticized McNabb and head coach Andy Reid. For all that he put the organization through, two years later the crowd didn’t seem to give T.O. all that much trouble. Perhaps it’s because Philly is playing poorly this year and the fans are less enthusiastic, or maybe it’s just because they’re sick of giving T.O. so much attention. Either way, Owens was taunting the crowd more than they were taunting him. After his touchdown he even brought out his old celebration, flapping his arms like a bird.
Owens wasn’t the only reason that the Eagles lost on Sunday, and he wasn’t even the largest factor in the game. Tony Romo had an impressive showing after signing a 6-year, $67.5 million contract extension, completing 20 of 25 for 324 yards with 3 TD’s and 1 interception. An interesting fact for the game is that Romo was the only quarterback that the Eagles have not sacked this season. It was clear that McNabb’s day was not going to be very good after he fumble the ball on the Eagle’s first play from scrimmage. Dallas recovered and eventually turned the turnover into a touchdown.

Isn't This an Odd Injury?

Zach Thomas, middle linebacker for the Miami Dolphins, is about to miss his fourth game of the season this Sunday. On Sunday, the Dolphins will host the Buffalo Bills, but Thomas will miss the game due to recurring migraines. Not only will it be his fourth missed game this season, including two throughout the month of September. He participated in full-contact drills on Thursday, but was then held from practice on Friday, ultimately leading to his being ruled out for the game. The seven time Pro Bowler has been held back by migraines and concussions in former seasons, but this is only his 17th missed game in 12 seasons. Thomas hasn't played since the Dolphins' loss to the New England Patriots (28-49) back on the 21st of October. The reason he has been held up in playing since then is due to whiplash he suffered in a car accident he was caught up in on the drive home from that game. Head Coach Cam Cameron said, "That's the recommendation of our medical staff. He had a good practice yesterday (Thursday), but as we're finding out in these situations, one day isn't always indicative of the next day. ...He came in this morning (Friday morning) and things were not quite the same." It's just too bad that an injury such as recurring migraines are the reason for missing yet another game, but it's better to be safe than sorry when it comes to injuries, I've learned from experience. Hopefully he'll have recovered enough to play next week.

How is This Not Good Enough?

Troy Williamson, the third year wide receiver for the Minnesota Vikings out of South Carolina, found out that he was going to be fined $25,000 for one of the most bizarre reasons, to me. Williamson's grandmother passed away, and he decided he was going to spend the week with his family. How is that not a good enough reason to be out of play? The Minnesota Vikings' management should be ashamed of themselves! How can you possibly penalize, let alone fine, a player for wanting to spend time with family after a family member passes away? It's ridiculous. His grandmother, being a very important part of the family, passed away. What would the Vikings' management have done if one of their grandmothers' had passed away? On top of staying with his family for the death of his grandmother, he also spent some of the week with his brother, who is in a coma after a car accident. Again, how is that more important than playing football? I mean yes, it is his profession, but if it was any other job, he would have been given time off for personal reasons. When asked of the fine, Williamson said, "I don't care if (the Vikings) would have took my pay for the rest of the year, I was going home. It wouldn't have mattered to me. No matter what (Brad Childress) would have said, if I had to stay up here or not, I would have been at my house (in South Carolina) for that week." The $25,000 fine was his pay for one game, roughly. In my opinion, the Vikings acted unfairly. Do you think it was unfair, even with the reasonable excuse?

Dear Football Players: Manage your Anger!

It seems like some people just have anger issues and can’t stray from them. On the night before rejoining his Bengal teammates after an eight game suspension, Chris Henry allegedly involved himself in a disagreement with a parking attendant.

Henry was suspended for the entire first half of the season for reasons unknown. The Cincinnati Bengals commissioner, Roger Goodall, said it was for “repeatedly violating the NFL’s conduct policy.” He was scheduled to start practice on Wednesday and play in the game Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens.

Apparently the disagreement was started because Henry and another man reportedly parked their vehicles without paying a parking fee. Henry threw a $5 bill to the man but it was given back to him and eventually the police were called. No charges have yet been filed. The Bengals have not taken any action against Henry as he is still scheduled to practice and play with the team on Sunday.

One would think that a man making so much money would just pay the parking attendant to avoid conflict especially because he is already in trouble with the Bengals. Even if he already paid the parking fee and there was just a mistake being made, one would think he’d save himself the bad PR. Even if Henry is causing this disturbance based on “principle” maybe he would consider saving himself and the team some embarrassment.

Lindros Expected to Retire

According to ESPN.com the Globe and Mail of Toronto reported Tuesday that Eric Lindros is expected to announce his retirement from the NHL on Thursday. The paper said Lindros, 34, will likely make the announcement as part of a news conference with University of Western Ontario sports injury expert Dr. Peter Fowler in his hometown of London, Ontario. Lindros has had an injury ridden career, never completing a full season in 14 attempts. In 760 games he’s compiled 372 goals and a total of 875 points. Last month, Lindros was asked about his future playing hockey and his involvement with the league. "Right now my focus is the 'PA work," Lindros told The Canadian Press last month. "I'm not really concerned about the rest of it. But the last couple of years have been pretty frustrating in terms of not getting through without being injury-free. ... It's just frustrating." He also said that he would work with the NHLPA, or the NHL Player’s Association.
Lindros won the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player in 1994-95 and the Lester B. Pearson Award as the most outstanding player in the league as voted by the players. He led the Philadelphia Flyers to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1997 in which they were swept by the Detroit Red Wings. He played on the feared “Legion of Doom” line with John LeClair and Mikael Renberg. With his physical play, it’s understandable that he has suffered multiple concussions throughout his career. Because of one memorable concussion suffered from after a check from New Jersey's Scott Stevens in Game 7 of the 2000 Eastern Conference finals, which gave him number six in his career, he missed all of the 2000-01 season recovering.