Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.
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Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
Kobe Bryant hit a baseline jump shot with 4.2 seconds left and the Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up a six-game road trip by holding on to beat the Raptors 94-92 on Sunday, their eighth victory in nine meetings with Toronto
Arc's five up, five down: After No. 11 Michigan State's 58-48 upset of No. 3 Ohio State, you'd be a fool to discount the Spartans' national title chances now.
Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
Eleven shots separated Phil and Tiger Sunday at Pebble Beach as Lefty secured his 40th Tour win. Jason Sobel had hole-by-hole reports.
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
Tessa Worley of France fought off gusting winds to win a second consecutive World Cup giant slalom Sunday in the Andorran Pyrenees. Overall leader Lindsey Vonn was more than a second behind and finished eighth.
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Barber: Bradshaw was with Plaxico Nov. 30: The New York police have taken an interest in Plaxico Burress' accidental self-shooting, Tiki Barber reports. |
New York Giants receiver Amani Toomer used to snicker and scoff when he’d notice pro athletes traipsing around town with personal bodyguards.
He isn’t laughing now. Not after hearing about various violent episodes involving NFL players, the latest being when teammate Plaxico Burress accidentally shot himself in the thigh at a New York nightclub.
“I used to see guys walk into clubs with security, and I was like, ’Who do they think they are?’ But now I’m like, ’Wow. This is a big deal,”’ Toomer said Sunday after the Giants’ 23-7 victory over the Washington Redskins.
“There’s a lot of incidents that happen around the league — guys having fun and socializing and they get in places where people are envious and jealous of them. Something needs to be done, because it’s not going to get any better. It’s going to get worse.”
The serious issues the NFL faces about guns and player safety were front and center this particular Sunday at this particular stadium.
On the very afternoon the Redskins held a pregame ceremony to mark the first anniversary of Pro Bowl safety Sean Taylor’s killing, their opponents, the Super Bowl champion Giants, were dealing with questions about what happened to star receiver Burress on Friday night.
“Players live in a serious fantasy world and a lot of it is involved with guns,” Dave Abrams, the director of security for the Denver Broncos, said Sunday.
“They don’t realize you can’t call a bullet back.”
League policy bans guns from team facilities — there are signs pointing that out in locker rooms across the country.
The NFL also tells players not to have guns — something which largely goes unheeded. At least two members of the Redskins purchased guns after Taylor was shot.
“A lot of players, for whatever reason, feel the need to carry guns,” Giants president and CEO John Mara said. “It’s a choice that they make. ... We’d like to think most of them are licensed. We’re not sure that’s always the case.”
Abrams, a former deputy police chief in Denver, spends time visiting bars and clubs that players frequent, passing out his card and telling managers and bartenders to call him if they see one of his players getting into trouble. He said he is clear with the Broncos about his objectives.
“It’s not that we’re spying,” he said after Denver beat the New York Jets 34-17 at Giants Stadium. “We make it clear to them that our main job is looking for their welfare.”
Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams was shot and killed in 2006 after leaving a club. The slayings of Williams and Taylor, and the shooting of Jacksonville Jaguars offensive lineman Richard Collier, have left many players even more fearful when they go out.
Abrams said he tries to allay those fears in talks with the Broncos and in counseling: “We talk about problem spots and how to be vigilant within the flow of what’s going on that night. Don’t close a place out, things like that.”
Several coaches, notably Tony Dungy of the Colts, constantly remind their players that they are targets.
Burress’ lawyer said Sunday he was advised that the player will be charged Monday in New York with criminal possession of a weapon. Lawyer Benjamin Brafman wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press that Burress will turn himself in Monday morning and “will enter a plea of not guilty later that same day.”
Burress was released from a hospital early Saturday, the Giants said.
“As far as we know, he’s going to be OK,” general manager Jerry Reese said.
About an hour after Reese and Mara spoke in the press box at FedEx Field, the Redskins inducted Taylor into their Ring of Fame at the stadium. Taylor was shot Nov. 26, 2007, at his Miami-area home during a bungled robbery; he died the next day.
That, the late-night attack Collier this year, and other incidents have put player security in the minds of many around the league.
NFL teams use varying measures to protect their players on game days and away from the stadiums.
The St. Louis Rams, for example, have a former police chief in charge of players’ off-field behavior. They use two security staff members at home games, one at each end of the players’ bench on the sideline. The team also uses additional personnel on game days hired by their stadium. For road games, the Rams use seven people to help with airport screening, hotel security and other matters.
The Ravens employ tight security at the hotel where they make players stay the night before a game, whether at home in Baltimore or on the road.
“No one can go on the players’ floor, and players can’t leave the floor after curfew. We have our security stationed there,” said Kevin Byrne, the Ravens’ senior VP of public and community relations.
During the week, players are on their own when they leave the facility because there’s too many of them to follow around.
“Some players use their own security when they go out because of who they are, but we don’t have security with players when they go out,” Byrne said.
Green Bay Packers spokesman Jeff Blumb said there are three people — two full-time and one part-time — who head up the organization’s security staff at Lambeau Field and work with players, but none of the staff specifically monitors off-field activities or “baby-sits” them.
The Oakland Raiders — whose receiver Javon Walker was seriously injured when he was beaten during a robbery in Las Vegas in June — have not increased their security staff of late. But the team has placed a bigger emphasis on talking to players about the type of situations to avoid and how to handle themselves.
The Raiders have two security people on every road trip, as well as defensive backs coach Willie Brown, who also is in charge of players’ off-field behavior.
Eric Vance, a former Buccaneer who is now the team’s director of player development, said educating players about the law is crucial.
“You can’t control them,” he said. “But you try to make sure they know the laws, you try to discourage them from owning weapons and carrying weapons, but if they choose to, make sure they do it legally. Make sure they’re informed of the laws and where they can and can’t carry them.”
No matter what security steps are taken by the league and individual teams, Toomer and other NFL players agreed that responsibility for their safety resides with the athletes themselves.
“The NFL does a great job with security, telling us about the dangers and all that. But ultimately, when you’re not at the stadium, when you’re not in an NFL area, we’re just regular people — we go to the grocery store, we go to the car wash, we do things,” Giants running back Derrick Ward said. “So it’s a chance that anything can happen to anybody at any time. We just need to be aware of our surroundings and keep living. You can’t live in fear.”
Said Redskins left tackle Chris Samuels: “We’re grown men. We’ve got to be responsible. Simple as that.”
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Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.
Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
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Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
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