Bill Swerski

Agreed, agreed, and agreed. Why come out and show your cards now when Vick is scheduled to enter his plea TOMORROW?

Whether it be Gary Zimmerman, Tony Jones, or Matt Lepsis at LT, the Broncos O-line has pretty much kicked ass over the past decade. I don't think that the Colts' line is on the same level, but their consistently-good production follows the same concept: If you have elite coaching, you don't need HOF-caliber talent to get a high level of performance. Plus, the Colts were most likely going to let Glenn walk as a FA next year. That prompted Polian to deal next year's first-round pick to take Tony Ugoh in the 2nd in April. Glenn's retirement just pushed up the inevitable I don't foresee the transition to be seamless, but they'll be fine. I'm much more concerned about their linebackers.

I think that you're confusing Glenn with Willie Roaf or Walter Jones. (And speaking of Roaf, the Chiefs O-line didn't exactly crumble when he retired last year.) Glenn is a very good LT, but let's not get carried away. Am I concerned about the Colts losing Glenn? Yes, but not much more than you would be about losing Matt Lepsis. Mudd has been with the Colts for the past 8 seasons. The Colts have had a ton of turnover on that line, yet they've consistently ranked in the Top 10 each year (often in the Top 5), they've consistently produced 1000-yd rushers, and Peyton has consistently been one of the least-sacked QBs in the NFL. Mudd turned an undrafted Jeff Saturday into a two-time Pro Bowler. And as I mentioned before, the Colts didn't miss a beat when rookie Charlie Johnson had to play in the SB last year.

It will, but I think that you're underestimating Howard Mudd. He's gotten mediocre linemen like Rick DeMulling and Ryan Lilja to play at an elite level. Hell, even 6th-round pick rookie Charlie Johnson was able to step in and punish the Bears' D-line when filling in for an injured Ryan Diem in the SB. I won't say that Mudd is on the same level as Alex Gibbs, but he's not far behind.

Great move by the Steelers. This guy is having a HOF-caliber career thus far.

That sucks. Hopefully, Howard Mudd will be able to work his magic once again. Given that Diem is a mediocre pass-blocker, I doubt it. Methinks that Johnson and Ugoh will compete for the starting LT position.

I agree that Vick probably comes back to the NFL after his sentence, but I think that there's about snowball's chance in hell that it's with the Falcons. Blank "loves Vick like a son"? I imagine that his relationship with Vick is strictly business and that he's massively pissed off at Ron Mexico for betraying his trust and embarrassing the Falcons organization for the nth time. Hell, even before this investigation broke, I thought that this was Vick's last season in ATL, given that his $6 million+ base salary isn't worth his production at QB. At this point, Vick's release before July of next year seems like a foregone conclusion. As for the comparison to Ray and Jamal Lewis, the case against Ray committing murder was incredibly weak. On the other hand, the case against Vick supporting (and, according to the witnesses, participating in) animal abuse on a massive scale is much stronger. I also don't recall Ray-Ray negligently infecting a woman with genital herpes, flipping off his own fans, trying to sneak Josh Gordon onto a plane, or somebody from his entourage stealing a Rolex from somebody at an airport. And while nobody likes drug dealers, selling cocaine doesn't exactly turn the stomach of Joe Average Fan like slamming a dog to the ground until it dies.

I wasn't arguing that. Barry was a first-ballot HOFer before he began using 'roids and HGH in the '98/'99 offseason. How did Barry Bonds ever make it into this thread anyway?

Perhaps we need to take his belt and shoelaces as well?

Too bad it wasn't within the rules of federal, state, and local laws.

I seriously doubt that.

I'm sure that he'd probably prefer to suspend him without pay.

I agree. But I imagine that Blank is also massively pissed about Vick betraying his trust.

Ah, didn't realize that was part of what he already said. Thanks. Wow, that's pretty harsh when your boss comes out and says, "I really wanted to suspend him, but was overruled by a higher power." Looks like Blank is definitely no longer in this guy's corner.

So has Blank said anything yet?