This is the REAL Jeremy Shockey:


Shockey meeting a Saints fan at Newark airport:


Security Doesn't Ask For Shockey's ID:


Click here to order Jeremy Shockey's proCane Rookie Card.

There's a changing of the leadership guard going on with the Patriots as the old give way to the new, and Vince Wilfork thinks it's going well.

As he should. Because he's never had a problem with young players stepping forward.

"As far as being a leader, I considered myself one of the leaders when I first [got to New England] at a young age," the Patriots' nose tackle told Andy Gresh Monday during an appearance on Sports Tonight. "I think a lot of people have a problem with so many young leaders that we have now just because . . . they're [in] their second, third, fourth year . . . People [are] so used to seeing the old veterans around like the Willie McGinests, the [Tedy] Bruschis, the [Mike] Vrables, Rodney Harrison, those were old leaders that we had that knew the game.

"[But] I think Jerod Mayo is coming [into] his own, going to be a great leader for us. I think [Brandon] Meriweather is playing to a level where he understands he has to step [forward] and be a leader for us. I think Leigh Bodden [now understands] how we do things. So I think everybody's on board now; [they] know what we expect out of each other."

And he believes the Pats will regain the focus they sometimes seemed to lack in 2009.

"I think everybody's going to take it on themselves to actually sit down, with this whole offseason going into mini-camps and training camps, and actually get on the same level, same focus," he said. "Because at the end of the day, we all have to play. Coaches coach, players play and I think if we go out and take that approach, I think we'll be in good shape."

Click here to order Vince WIlfork's proCane Rookie Card.



(necn.com)

One other quick update here. While I was away (on furlough) last week, the Lions also hosted Miami TE Jimmy Graham for one of their 30 allotted pre-draft visits. Previously, they'd had Oregon TE Ed Dickson in here, too. With Casey FitzSimmons gone as a free agent -- and with Brandon Pettigrew rehabbing from a torn ACL -- they're obviously looking for another pass-catcher at that position.

And Graham's a big (6-6, 260) and intriguing, mid-round prospect. A four-year basketball player at Miami, he played football last season for the first time since his freshman year in high school. And he ended up having a good year (17 catches, 5 TDs), then caught a lot of people's attention -- including the Lions -- at the Senior Bowl in January.



(detnews.com)

The first thing you notice about the new and improved John Salmons is the smile.

It's not that he didn't smile while he was playing for the Chicago Bulls, it's just that it didn't usually come across his face while he was surrounded by the media. When he was in Chicago, he didn't always look so happy. It's understandable, considering he was mired in one of the toughest slumps of his career over the first few months of this season. He struggled to score and failed to become the offensive threat that so many expected him to be.

To his credit, he was always upfront about his struggles, but he never looked very happy.

Two months later, seemingly everything has changed.

Salmons is averaging 20 points a game for the Milwaukee Bucks and has been the major reason why they are on the verge of clinching a playoff spot.

"It's been good," he said before Tuesday's game. "The whole situation, for whatever reason, worked out."

Yes, it has.

But, the question is, why has it worked out so well for Salmons in Milwaukee after he struggled so much in Chicago?

"I don't know," Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said. "He worked hard all the time. He was in the gym and working. I think the difference was, the year before, he was playing the small forward position, where this year we started him more at the two-guard position because Luol [Deng] was back. So, that was an adjustment for him I think defensively probably more than anything and some offensively. And Milwaukee has a different system in terms of getting the ball into [Andrew] Bogut and working off him ... but like I said, John's a good player. He helped us. He's helping them. And that's what good players do."

Bucks coach Scott Skiles is just happy that Salmons has found a groove on his team.

"He's been great," Skiles said. "He's unbelievable. He just fit right in. He's played good defense. He's scored for us, obviously. He's shot the ball well. He's been able to handle it late in games and make big plays for us. Made his free throws. Just all around, he's been very, very good."

Salmons believes that he is going through a lot of the same things with the Bucks that he went through during the start of his Bulls' tenure.

"It was actually a similar situation to what I was in last year," he said. "Up-and-coming team on the cusp of making the playoffs. [It's] only an hour away. I just packed my stuff up and drove down the road. I think that helped me with the transition."

Salmons said he still follows his old teammates.

"I wasn't wishing anything bad on them," Salmons said. "I still got good friends on the team. There's some good people in the organization. I wasn't like happy that they had all the injuries and they wasn't winning games. Being in Milwaukee, we were chasing them. In that sense, I wanted to catch them so we could go to the playoffs. But it wasn't like I was rooting against them or anything."

Now it's the Bulls who are looking up at Salmons and the Bucks.

No wonder he's smiling a lot more these days.



(espn.com)

Aubrey Huff was 2-for-4 with an RBI in a 3-0 win over the Astros on Tuesday night.

Huff's big spring brought hope that he would bounce back from last season's disappointing .241 average and 15 homers in 150 games. That remains to be seen, although San Francisco's new cleanup hitter did his part in Tuesday's quick pitcher's duel.



(rotoworld.com)

Giants catcher Bengie Molina has an official MLB blog and provided some pretty interesting material about Friday’s team charity fundraiser.

The best: “Aubrey Huff, made a colorful first impression with his purple plaid pants.” And the catcher provided this awesome photo:
















(newsblogs.com)

Jemile Weeks, 2B -- Midland RockHounds The 2008 first-round pick hit .238 in 30 games with the RockHounds after a promotion from Class A Advanced Stockton last summer, so he may get another shot at Double-A pitching this spring. The switch-hitter and younger brother of big leaguer Rickie Weeks had hip surgery last season but had two homers and eight RBIs in eight playoff games during the RockHounds' run to the Texas League championship.



(minorleaguebaseball.com)

Darryl Sharpton had a personal workout for the Falcons last week, and also had sitdowns with Colts, Panthers and Broncos.





(omar kelly twitter)

Click here to order Greg Olsen's proCane Rookie Card.



(espn.com)

Clinton Portis indicated that he is not upset with the Redskins' open competition at tailback, or with the additions of Larry Johnson and Willie Parker.

"It's gonna make the competition side of things exciting," Portis said. "I've been in this position before with a loaded backfield with Willis (McGahee) and Frank Gore in college. The competition's gonna bring a lot to this organization." Portis is the likeliest of the three to make Washington's roster and start because of his familiarity with zone blocking and ability to play on three downs. L.J. and Willie Parker may be in direct battle for one roster spot.

Click here to order Clinton Portis' proCane Rookie Card.



(rotoworld.com)

We still don't know how Greg Olsen will fit into Mike Martz's new offense. But one thing Martz should know --- if he doesn't already --- is that the Bears tight end is a reliable pass catcher.

Pro Football Focus did an amazingly comprehensive study (which is what the site is known for, by the way) of receivers and tights ends to find out who dropped the most passes last season. Lead analyst Ben Stockwell attempted to limit the subjectivity by measuring a drop when a receiver had "his hands on a ball you would reasonably expect to be caught."

Using this criteria, Olsen only had two drops and 59 catches for a "drop percentage" of 3.28, which was fourth best in the league among tight ends behind the Panthers' Jeff King, Kevin Boss of the Giants and Owen Daniels of the Texans.

Ex-Bears receivers didn't fare so well, by the way. Mark Bradley dropped a fourth of the passes thrown his way last season and Bobby Wade wasn't far behind. Justin Gage was also among the most slippery fingered.

Click here to order Greg Olsen's proCane Rookie Card.



(suntimes.com)

Redskins RB Clinton Portis said Monday that he found it "shocking" the Eagles were willing to give up Pro Bowl QB Donovan McNabb, especially to a divisional rival.

"When you go from one team to another, you kind of wish that you get the opportunity to play that team," Portis said in an appearance on ESPN's SportsCenter. "I think Philly and the Redskins have one of the biggest (rivalries) around.

"To have the opportunity to get Donovan here was shocking."

The Redskins surrendered the 37th overall pick in this year's draft and a third- or fourth-rounder next year for McNabb. Portis said he understood the Eagles were looking to give an opportunity to Kevin Kolb, but questioned the wisdom of giving away a player who had been so successful through 11 years in Philadelphia.

"He's someone who got them to the (NFC) championship game five times and it's not enough," Portis said. "What's enough in the NFL now is unknown.

"You take me to the conference championship five times, I can't see getting rid of you."

Also, Portis said he welcomed the competition the Redskins have brought to Washington for him at the tailback spot. The team has signed Larry Johnson and Willie Parker in recent weeks to vie with Portis for the starting role in training camp.

Portis said he's embracing the competition.

"Whoever gets the nod out of the three of us, we'll always know there's another guy pushing us, another guy eager to get on the field," Portis said.

Click here to order Clinton Portis' proCane Rookie Card.



(usatoday.com)

DEERFIELD, Ill. -- Most people still can't believe how well John Salmons has played since leaving the Chicago Bulls.

Don't count some of his former teammates among them.

No matter who you asked on Monday afternoon, nobody seemed surprised that Salmons has had such a huge resurgence since being traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in mid-February.

"John's a good player," Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said. "John's playing like when we got him last year. He gave us a huge boost. And Brad [Miller]. That's what happens. John went there, they lost Michael Redd so John just kind of fit right into all the play sets that they had. John's a good player. So, [his success] doesn't surprise me."

Salmons, who was always one of the most polite players on the team, will probably get a warm reception from his former teammates and coaches on Tuesday night when the Bucks come back to town.

"He's a good guy," Del Negro said. "He played hard for us. He played well for us. Obviously, in our situation, we had to do that [trade] to clear some [salary cap] space."

In the end, that is really how this Salmons deal, which netted the Bulls' Hakim Warrick and Joe Alexander, will be defined. With his contract off the books, they have the ability to land a top-tier free agent this summer. If they do that, no one around Chicago will care how many big games Salmons puts up over the next few weeks and months.

Still, Salmons' consistency [he's scored at least 18 points in all but seven of his games since being traded to Milwaukee on Feb. 18] may have some Bulls fans wondering why he couldn't have done that more when he was in town.

"John's a helluva player," Bulls center Joakim Noah said. "I probably shared the best moments of my career with him, playing in the playoff series with Boston. I think things just didn't work out as well as we all wanted it to go with him. But I think he's in a situation where he's happy in Milwaukee. The system works out well for him. With [Andrew] Bogut demanding the attention that he deserves. [Brandon] Jennings with the way he plays the pick and roll. It's just a good fit for him."

Luol Deng echoed those same sentiments.

"John is a good player," Deng said. "The Milwaukee system fits him real well. And he seems to be doing a good job. He's always been a hard worker. This year with us, he kind of struggled a little bit to find his game at the beginning of the year, but I give him all the credit. Going over, and I've been in a [Bucks head coach] [Scott] Skiles system before. I know that John is a good player for that system."



(espn.com)

The pitching machine was damaged during the Rays' workout Monday thanks to a line drive by DH Pat Burrell. When asked if Burrell would have to pay for a replacement, manager Joe Maddon said, "It's kind of a reward; it's kind of cool he broke it with a line drive. So we'll pick up the tab on that."



(tampabay.com)

The 3rd Ward restaurant operated by a group including Milwaukee Brewers' slugger Ryan Braun will open for dinner Monday, just in time for the post-opening day crowd.

Braun, the Brewers’ high-profile left fielder, is involved in the ownership group that is set to open Ryan Braun’s Waterfront in the space that was occupied by Fratellos Waterfront Restaurant, 102 N. Water St., in Milwaukee’s 3rd Ward.

Nez Balelo, Braun’s Los Angeles-based agent, said a VIP event at the restaurant on Saturday was very successful. The restaurant will be only open for dinner at first, with plans to add lunch starting in several weeks.

The menu will feature fresh seafood in addition to steaks and chops, chicken, pastas, individual pizzas, sandwiches, hamburgers and kids’ fare.

Braun told The Business Journal recently that he expects to visit the restaurant often.

"I plan on being very much involved," he said. "Whenever I get involved in a project, I want to be a big part of it. On every home stand, I want to get there as often as possible. It is my name and reputation and I feel that I can add something to make the restaurant successful."

Braun also has invested in the Ryan Braun Tavern and Grill, a fine dining restaurant planned to replace the Cactus Club in Lake Geneva. That restaurant is not expected to open in time for the start of the baseball season.



(bizjournals.com)

The Patriots added veteran depth at defensive tackle, reaching an agreement with former first-round pick Damione Lewis, according to ESPN and NFL Network reports.Lewis is 32 and a 10-year veteran who started all 16 games for the Carolina Panthers last season but was released in early March.

He told the Charlotte Observer he expected the move when Carolina turned down his request to rework his contract. Lewis was due $4 million in base salary, plus a $1 million roster bonus this month.

The 6-foot-2-inch, 301-pound Lewis had 41 tackles (29 solo) and a half-sack in 2009.

Lewis can fill in behind nose tackle Vince Wilfork. Myron Pryor saw action at the nose as a rookie last season. Mike Wright, who has played the nose, is expected to see more time at defensive end because Jarvis Green signed with the Denver Broncos.

Lewis is known as a solid locker room presence, considered one of the leaders in Carolina.

Like Wilfork, Lewis played at the University of Miami. He was the 12th overall pick in 2001 by the Rams. He spent five years with St. Louis and joined the Panthers in 2006. Unlike the Patriots, who play a base 3-4 defense, both of those teams played a 4-3.

He played 62 of 64 regular-season games with the Panthers, averaging close to four sacks before a dropoff last season. Lewis became a starter for Carolina in 2008 after Kris Jenkins was traded to the Jets.

Click here to order Damione Lewis' proCane Rookie Card.



(bostonherald.com)

It made sense for the Redskins to move on free-agent CB Phillip Buchanon, given GM Bruce Allen's familiarity with Buchanon from their days together in Oakland. But it also made sense because the 29-year-old corner came fairly cheap at $1.5 million and could end up playing a significant role. As for how he'll be used, Buchanon, who has played for five teams in his career and has joined his third team in three years, he is ready for a lot of action.

"I still want to be a starter," Buchanon told PFW by phone this week. "It's not like I want to settle for being a nickel; that's not my point of view. By (no) means am I down and out. I still feel good. I still feel like I can play at a high level, a Pro Bowl level. That's how I feel."

As for the defensive scheme he'll be playing in, Buchanon said the coaches told him to expect to see "a little bit of 4-3 and a little bit of 3-4." Yet, in terms of coverage it will be nothing like his days in Oakland running strictly man defense. The Redskins, like most clubs, hope to be diverse in what they run.

"The coverages, they want to run everything — from man to zone, press to off (coverage). They haven't said they want to stick to one coverage," Buchanon said. "It's not like Oakland. There it was, everybody line up and just cover somebody. There was really no game plan or anything behind it. I mean, no disrespect to (them), but that's just kind of how it was."

Buchanon also was asked to play a lot of man last season with the Lions, who were forced to alleviate a poor pass rush by blitzing an abnormally high percentage of the time. He suffered through a tough season, with zero interceptions and only two wins, and said one of the reasons he picked Washington was because of the comfort with new head coach Mike Shanahan.

"I like the whole Mike Shanahan move. He's a players' coach, and he definitely takes care of his players. And me and Bruce Allen, we have a lot of history together," he said.

In his ninth season, more than winning, money or opportunity, Buchanon said he just wanted a place where he felt the lines of communication were open between players and coaches.

"It's more about the respect of the coaches and the coaching relationship," he said. "That's the best thing I can really ask for. My thing is, if I can't talk to the defensive coordinator or I can't talk to my position coach as we can't make something try to work between us, then this whole thing is not going to work."

Click here to order Phillip Buchanon's proCane Rookie Card.



(profootballweekly.com)

The arrival in Washington of running back Willie Parker, who has done the rags-to-riches-to-rags thing over the past six years, has prompted the scratching of heads throughout the District of Columbia and beyond.

With Clinton Portis and Larry Johnson already on the roster, why sign a guy who fell out of favor in Pittsburgh due in part to a recent propensity to fall down upon first contact?  The word on Parker is that he lost his will to run between the tackles, that he always looks to bounce outside, and that opposing defenses have figured it out.

Still, the Redskins have decided to give him a shot. 

"It's flat-out an open competition," Parker's agent, Doug Hendrickson, tells the Washington Post. "That's what they told Willie.  It's a flat-out open competition as to who's going to play and who's going to start.  They said that's the way it's going to be."

That message to Parker could ultimately be aimed at getting Portis to take seriously his obligation to earn his pay in 2010, even though past salary-cap maneuverings have given him nearly $6.5 million in guaranteed base salary.  It also gives the Redskins some leverage in the event that Larry Johnson doesn't work out, or finds himself in trouble off the field, again.

That said, we're not prepared to write off Parker completely.  He could be perfectly suited to coach Mike Shanahan's one-cut, zone-blocking attack.  If Parker trusts that the hole will open and focuses first on hitting it and then hitting high gear, he could thrive.

As he told 106.7 The Fan on Friday, "I'm a zone runner.  I love the zone.  I love the scheme.  I love what [Shanahan] brings to the table."

Still, it'll be difficult if not impossible to justify carrying Portis, Johnson, and Parker on the active game day roster, given that the third man on the depth chart usually plays special teams. 

If, in the end, Parker is cut, he'll be better suited to land with a new team than if he continues to sit at home.  He'll be working out with a team throughout the offseason and, presumably, training camp and the preseason.  If/when he's cut, he'll walk out of the facility with plenty of knowledge regarding the offensive playbook and attack.

And that could make him more attractive to teams like the Giants and Eagles.

Click here to order Clinton Portis' proCane Rookie Card.



(profootballtalk.com)

Warren Sapp has been reinstated by the NFL Network in the wake of a misdemeanor domestic battery charge being dropped by Florida law enforcement authorities.

Sapp told the Miami Herald that he'll be back on the air on April 7.

Arrested one day before the Super Bowl for allegedly choking a woman in his hotel room, Sapp was removed from broadcasting.
Now that the case has been thrown out, he'll be back on NFL Network programming.

Click here to order Warren Sapp's proCane Rookie Card.



(nationalfootballpost.com)

John Salmons hit a game-tying 3-pointer in Friday's overtime loss to the Bobcats, and scored 28 points on 12-of-22 shooting (including two treys) with five rebounds, five assists, two steals, and a block.

In their most optimistic hopes, owners couldn't have wished for anything more than what he has done since his trade, in both fantasy and reality. He is averaging just about 20 points per game in March, and should be in most (if not all) lineups going forward.



(rotoworld.com)

US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics’ (USSTAG) Zach Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) dominated the top-ten Finn Medal Race from start to finish today, earning a bullet that punctuated his strategy-testing week at the 41st Princess Sofia Trophy in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, one of seven International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Sailing World Cup events.

USA’s Sally Barkow (Nashotah, Wis.), Katie Pettibone (Sacramento, Calif.) and Suzy Leech (Avon, Conn.) won the petit-finals today against Great Britain and secured a bronze medal in the Women’s Match Racing event. The week-long event was plagued by spring’s varying weather conditions, but nature handed sailors a steadier Southwest sea breeze of 7-9 knots for today’s Medal Races.

Today, Railey nailed the start in the middle of the line, holding his lane and eventually pinching off and sending 2 boats to the right. When the wind pressure stayed left, he owned and protected the left side of the course and rounded the top mark ahead by five boat lengths. Covering the fleet, he maintained his lead around the bottom mark. His lead shortened slightly around the third mark but he gained speed to ultimately finish five boat lengths ahead of the fleet to grab the bullet. His final result was ninth overall.

Railey, the 2008 Olympic Silver Medalist, dedicated this week to trying new techniques on the starting line in order to make progress this spring, which caused some initial setbacks in his results. He said he learned from some of the mistakes he made earlier in the week, and as the week went on, he felt more comfortable executing what he and the USSTAG coaches had been working on.

'It was great to get out front and stay there today, unlike earlier in the week when I was rounding further back and had to work my way through the fleet,' said Railey. 'It’s good to know if I have a bad race, I have the ability to catch up, but that’s not the key to success in a big fleet like this.'

'My goal is to keep getting better and better toward 2012,' said Railey. 'I feel confident I took big steps forward this week. It’s like building blocks. This is just the start of the European season, and I will keep building on my skills as the season goes on and we get closer to the Finn World Championship.'

Making progress and trying out new techniques were consistent themes for the entire team, as they prepare for their respective class’s world championship ISAF Sailing World Cup event.

'We’ve been training a lot of new techniques and skills over the winter and this event was an opportunity to test them out,' said USSTAG’s High Performance Director/Head Coach Kenneth Andreasen (Tampa, Fla.). 'When you try out new techniques, you take chances – and in challenging conditions, sometimes they work to your advantage and sometimes they don’t. We learned some valuable lessons about what works and what doesn’t, what needs a little tweaking and what we should solve going forward.'

'We saw a lot of bright points and improvements in techniques this week in Palma,' said Andreasen. 'Our final results aren’t indicative of where our team stands. Our team is on the right track to succeed in 2012.'