The NFL is both beloved and exalted in the pantheon of spectator sports because absolutely no one knows what will unfold from week to week. But that doesn’t stop us from predicting up a storm when it comes to the season just ahead. More than two months away from the full-scale opening of training camps, here are seven strong hunches we’re willing to share in a bold foretelling of 2012′s storylines to come:
read more: si.com
Forbes.com has put together a list of the 10 highest-paid coaches in sports, and it is dominated by the X-and-O guys of the NFL.
But no one from MLB makes the list, which Forbes says it compiled from sources and published reports.
Eight of the top 10 spots go to NFL coaches, with Bill Belichick predictably leading the way at an estimated $7.5 million a year. Fellow NFL coaches Mike Shanahan, Jeff Fisher and Pete Carrollare right behind, all tied at $7 million. And that’s whereSean Payton would also rank if he weren’t sitting out the year because of the bounty scandal, according to Forbes.
read more: usatoday.com
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) New England Patriots receiver Wes Welkersaid Tuesday he has signed the $9.5 million tender offer that came along with being designated the team’s franchise player.
Welker made the announcement on Twitter. He said he loves the game and his teammates and ”hopefully doing the right thing gets the right results.”
Welker caught more passes than anyone else in the NFL last season but couldn’t come down with the one that might have clinched a Super Bowl victory against the New York Giants.
read more: sports.yahoo.com
After he got the news of Junior Seau’s death, Steve Young’s first inclination was to call every friend he’d ever played with, just to see how they were doing — really doing.
At that moment, he wanted to hear some reassurance in their voices, wanted to know that the toll that football seems to be taking on so many of his brothers hadn’t been levied on them. And he hoped they would be honest with him.
“You just want to make sure,” Young, the San Francisco 49ers’ Hall of Fame quarterback, said by telephone from Salt Lake City.
read more: seattletimes.nwsource.com
OCEANSIDE — Former Chargers linebacker Junior Seau died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his beachfront home in Oceanside Wednesday. The hometown icon who rose to stardom in the NFL was 43.
Seau’s girlfriend called 911 at 9:35 a.m. reporting a possible suicide, Police Chief Frank McCoy said. Officers found Seau in a bedroom with a gunshot wound to the chest. Efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.
read more: utsandiego.com
Over the past few years, we’ve had some serious -Gate action in the NFL. Spies and bounties oh my. Or something. Anyway, John Harbaugh went on a radio appearance on Tuesday morning and was asked about cheaters and he decided to point out that the Patriots Super Bowl championships are “stained” and have “asterisks now.”
Harbaugh said this on 98 Rock in Baltimore and it’s absolutely a #shotsfired moment between the Ravens and the Patriots.
read more: CBSSports.com
Eric Mangini knew of the Patriots taping opposing coaches’ signals when he was an assistant coach with the team, and he told the NFL about the violation after he left for the Jets in 2006.
Now an analyst for ESPN, Mangini said on NFL Live he regrets informing on the team and would take it back if he could. His comments come on the same day Ravens coach John Harbaughsaid the accomplishments of the Patriots are viewed as taintedbecause of ‘Spygate.’
read more: usatoday.com
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The nation won’t have to wait long to see Peyton Manning in a Broncos uniform.
Manning’s first game as Broncos quarterback will come in prime time as Denver hosts Pittsburgh on the opening Sunday of the NFL season. The four-time MVP was released by Indianapolis after missing the 2011 season following neck surgery. After conducting a four-city lottery for his services, Manning landed in Denver, which hasn’t won a Super Bowl since his new boss, John Elway, was behind center.
He won’t have an easy assignment against the Steelers, who ranked first in overall defense and against the pass last year.
Read more: msn.foxsports.com
The ‘new’ Belichick lasts less than a week
INDIANAPOLIS – Turns out the “new” Bill Belichick looks and sounds an awful lot like the “old” one.
Especially when he gets beat.
During the week leading up to the Super Bowl, there was plenty of buzz about how the dour Patriots coach was a changed man. His players kept hinting that the latest woman in his life was responsible for smoothing out some of the rough edges. Instead of his usual non-answer answers, Belichick actually seemed to be enjoying some of the give-and-take during interview sessions. Instead of dressing like Mike Tyson climbing into the ring – hooded sweat shirt, sleeves cut off at the elbow – Belichick turned up in a natty suit and a violet tie one day and a lilac patterned shirt the next.
Wild and crazy? Not exactly. But he was seen smiling on occasion.
That guy was nowhere to be found Sunday night. Belichick took a calculated gamble with less than a minute left, allowing Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw to roll 6 yards into the end zone for an uncontested touchdown and a 21-17 lead. His Patriots got the ball back for one final drive with more time than they would have had otherwise – 57 seconds left after the kickoff – but couldn’t march the length of the field. Their chances at a comeback were batted away when New York safety Kenny Phillips did just that to Tom Brady’s last-gasp heave into the end zone as time expired.
