I have covered every Super Bowl since XIII in Miami in January of 1979, the “Jackie Smith game” in which the Steelers beat the Cowboys, 35-31. It occurred to me on my flight to New Orleans for Super Bowl XLVII that makes this my 35th consecutive Super Bowl, and round numbers are sometimes cool. So does that make me cool, experienced, accomplished, relevant, special, and meaningful or something else? For the most part, I think it just makes me old, but blessed with some great memories, and many, if not most of them, of New Orleans.
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Publisher’s Pen: In New Orleans, back where we belong (Pro Football Weekly)
Over the last few days, “Shutdown Corner” has reported on some of the base salary increases for the 2013 season. In the first report last Saturday, which was updated on Monday, the highest increase belong to Cleveland Browns quarterback Colt McCoy, whose performances during his first two seasons in the NFL added $1.75 million to his 2013 base salary. Move over, Colt. According to NFLPA records, Houston Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson triggered a $3.3 million escalator in his contract and is now scheduled to earn $9.5 million in base salary in 2013. Johnson, who turns 32 in July, caught 112 passes for 1,598 yards – both numbers ranked in the Top 5 in the NFL – with four touchdowns in 2012 and was named to the Pro Bowl for the sixth time in his career. In addition to Johnson, Green Bay Packers outside linebacker Clay Matthews will be on the receiving end of a hefty pay raise in 2013. The 2009 first-round pick out of USC was originally scheduled to earn $805,000 in 2013, the final season in Matthews’ five-year rookie contract that had a maximum value of $13.275 million. Matthews could have increased his 2013 salary by up to $3.1 million based on his playing-time and nearly reached the maximum amount of salary escalation. Matthews is now slated to make $3.73 million in 2013, coming up $175,000 short after failing to achieve 85 percent playing-time in two of his four seasons in the NFL (2009, 2012). Also receiving a base salary escalator in excess of $2 million is San Francisco 49ers cornerback Tarell Brown, a 2007 fifth-round pick out of Texas who was a nickel corner when he signed a three-year extension with a base value of $8.2 million midway through the 2009 season. Brown has become a full-time starter for the 49ers and his 2013 base salary, originally scheduled to be $925,000, has increased by $2 million to $2.925 million. To beef up their secondary last offseason, the Arizona Cardinals signed cornerback William Gay to a two-year, $3.2 million contract that could have increased to over $5 million in value based on Gay’s playing time in 2012. According to official playing-time documents, Gay played 1,005 of the Cardinals’ 1,080 defensive snaps, triggering a $1.75 million escalator to his 2013 base salary, which now stands at $3.225 million. Another cornerback earning a seven-figure pay raise is Tim Jennings of the Chicago Bears. Re-signed to a two-year, $6.6 million by the Bears last March, Jennings earned Pro Bowl honors for the first time in his career after leading the NFL with nine interceptions. Jennings’ playing-time percentage (84.3 percent) triggered a $1 million escalator in his contract, boosting his 2013 base salary to $4.25 million.
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Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson earns big raise in 2013 (Shutdown Corner)
NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) – The San Francisco 49ers’ success with athletic quarterback Colin Kaepernick and the read-option attack could lead other NFL teams to rethink their approach to the key position, according to the man who masterminded the scheme. Niners offensive coordinator Greg Roman has implemented an offensive gameplan that has confused defenses who do not know whether the quarterback is going to run, hand off or pass. …
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49ers’ success with read-option could transform NFL (Reuters)
NEW ORLEANS, Jan 30 (Reuters) – The San Francisco 49ers’ success with athletic quarterback Colin Kaepernick and the read-option attack could lead other NFL teams to rethink their approach to the key position, according to the man who masterminded the scheme. Niners offensive coordinator Greg Roman has implemented an offensive gameplan that has confused defenses who do not know whether the quarterback is going to run, hand off or pass. …
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NFL-49ers’ success with read-option could transform NFL (Reuters)
NEW ORLEANS — After half a season watching Colin Kaepernick take the San Francisco 49ers to places he couldn’t, quarterback Alex Smith will get a chance to help another team. According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the 49ers will try to trade Smith in the offseason, and if that doesn’t work out, give him his release as early as possible “out of respect.” Smith, who said earlier this week that losing his job was a “tough situation,” has also said and done all the right things. 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh has remarked that Smith, who lost his job to Kaepernick after suffering a concussion against the St. Louis Rams in November, has been as much a part of Kaepernick’s progression as a starter as anyone else on the team.
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If Alex Smith will be gone from San Francisco, where can he go? (Shutdown Corner)
Mid-week mail call: Eric from Concord, Calif., wants to know if the Raiders could pursue St. Louis running back Steven Jackson in the offseason. Bil…
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Mailbag: Tebow a Charger?
Vic Lombardi did an analysis of Denver Mayor Michael Hancock’s Ray Lewis dance, which he had to perform two weeks after the Broncos playoffs loss to the Ravens because he was recovering from a pulled muscle.
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Mayor’s Lost Bet Dance Needs A Little Work
COMMENTARY I That calendar on the refrigerator tells you it’s been more than 2 weeks since the Denver Broncos’ season came to an unceremonious end in the AFC Divisional playoffs, but the gut-wrenching, how-the-hell-did-that-happen loss to the Baltimore Ravens still lingers.
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7 Reasons the Denver Broncos’ Super Bowl Window Remains Wide Open (Yahoo! Contributor Network)
It’s no surprise the Denver Broncos are the choice of our readers to be the next AFC West team to make the Super Bowl. Denver went 13-3 and beat seco…
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Poll results: Denver next SB team
First of all, mayor bets on football games are stupid. We don’t care if Philadelphia’s mayor will ship cheese steaks to Green Bay if the Packers win, and Green Bay’s mayor will send cheese wheels to Philly if the Eagles win, or whatever lame local cuisine exchange is gonna happen. It’s stupid. Every. Single. Time. Please, stop it. But, we do have to say, at least the Denver-Baltimore mayor bet had some style, and Denver mayor Michael Hancock paid it off by finally doing Ray Lewis’ pregame squirrel dance.
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Denver mayor pays off bet by doing Ray Lewis’ squirrel dance in his office (Shutdown Corner)