Ed Reed spent his entire 11 year career in Baltimore. After winning the Super Bowl in 2013 and upon his free agency, Reed signed with the Houston Texans.
Reed is 10th all-time in interceptions with 61.
The Will To Win
The New York Giants (0-1) entered week two at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-0) and were looking to get their first win of their Superbowl defending season. The game did not start the way the Giants intended. Eli Manning threw three first half picks, and Tampa Bay capitalized off each one, resulting in a 21 point Tampa Bay 2nd quarter. The Giants went into the half trailing 24-13. The second half was a much different story however; going into the 4th quarter trailing 27-16 Eli Manning and his receivers lit up the scoreboard scoring 25 unanswered points. Manning completed 31 of 51 passes for a career high 510 yards. Victor Cruz, who attended his grandmother’s funeral a few days prior to Sunday’s game, had a career game with 11 catches for 179 yards. Cruz scored on an 80 yard catch and run and performed his signature salsa dance in honor of his grandmother. Hakeem Nicks had 10 catches for 199 yards (career high in yards) and a touchdown. The only time a team had a 500 yard passer and two 150 yard receivers in the same game was 1951 by the Los Angeles Rams Ahmad Bradshaw went down with a neck injury but Andre Brown stepped up running for 71 yards on 13 carries and the go ahead touchdown. Leading by seven the Bucs had one last chance to tie the game but Michael Boley intercepted Josh Freeman to end the game. This Giants team led by Eli Manning is very resilient. You can never count this team out, they have the heart of a champion and will continue to fight even when down. This team’s resiliency was too much for the Bucs to handle as the Giants pulled out with the 41-34 win. The Giants survived the Bucs and managed to earn their first win of the season. The Giants will now head to Carolina and prepare to take on the Panthers on Thursday night.
We Are Ready For Football
The 2012 NFL season has begun on a strong note. There were many questions in regards to how the games would carry out with the replacement refs calling the shots, the debuts of rookie quarterbacks, and the return of a few familiar Pro Bowlers. Week one started with the 2011 Superbowl champions. The defending champion New York football Giants did not start their pursuit of repeating very well, losing their home opener to the division rival Dallas Cowboys 24-17. The 49ers rocked the tundra of Lambeau Field defeating the Greenbay Packers 30-22, and showed off their new and improved high power offense. Alex Smith will definitely make good use of the weapons he has at wide receiver. With the newest acquisition of Mario Manningham, and fresh out of retirement veteran Randy Moss, the 49ers offense does look lethal. Moss and Manningham combined for 8 catches, 76 yards, and a touchdown (Moss). The 49ers look to be the team to beat in the NFC as of right now. Adrian Peterson made his return to the field after tearing his ACL about 8 ½ months ago. AP carried the ball 17 times for 84 yards and two touchdowns as the Vikings defeated the Jaguars 26-23 in overtime. The biggest story of week one was without a doubt the return of Peyton Manning. Manning had missed the entire 2011 season for the Colts due to neck surgery and found himself replaced by the overall number one pick in the draft Andrew Luck. Peyton found his way to the mile high and started his first game on Sunday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The biggest concern regarding Peyton was how he would respond to getting hit. Peyton took two sacks in the game and got back up quickly both times, and if there were any doubts whether he would be the same player were answered as well. The four time MVP looked like his old self out there completing 19 of 26 passes for 253 yards and two touchdowns, running the no huddle offense to perfection against a tough Steeler defense. Manning threw his 400th career touchdown pass on the night, putting him with Brett Favre and Dan Marino as the only quarterbacks to ever do so. Oh and the Broncos won 31-19.
Five rookie quarterbacks made their NFL debut in week one. First overall pick Andrew Luck (Colts), second overall pick Robert Griffin III (Redskins), eighth overall pick Ryan Tannehill (Dolphins), twenty second overall pick Brandon Weeden (Browns), and seventy fifth overall pick Russell Wilson (Seahawks). The rookie quarterback record after week one: 1 win, 4 losses. Robert Griffin III, or RGIII led his team into the New Orleans Superdome and defeated the Saints 40-32, which had to be the biggest upset of the week. RGIII completed 19 of 26 passes for 320 yards and two touchdowns, outperforming Drew Brees. Griffin threw no interceptions and had no turnovers. The other four rookies combined for eleven interceptions and two turnovers, Luck(3 ints, 1 fumble), Tannehill(3 int), Weeden (4 int), Wilson(1int, 1 fumble). RGIII stood out amongst his rookie class and led his team to an improbable victory in a very hostile environment.
Overall Week 1 was enticing and exciting, for football is here, so pull up a chair and get comfortable, because the NFL will be here for a while.
On June 18, 2012 LaDainian Tomlinson signed a ceremonial contract with the San Diego Chargers so that he could retire as a Charger. LT retired ranking fifth in NFL history in career rushing yards with 13,684, second in career rushing touchdowns with 145, and third in career total touchdowns with 162. Without a doubt Tomlinson should be a first ballot Hall of Famer once eligible.
No Love to Big Blue
When it comes to football in New York, the Giants are the big brother; the Jets are the little brother. The Giants have won 2 Super Bowls in the last 5 years, giving the franchise 4 in total, compared to the Jets lone one, back in 1968. Yet it’s always the case of the Jets having the media spotlight on them. If it isn’t their boisterous head coach Rex Ryan guaranteeing a Super Bowl, or the dysfunctional locker room of the 2011 season, it’s the quarterback situation for the 2012 season with Mark Sanchex and the latest signing of Tim Tebow. Oh how the media loves the New York Jets. The Giants are the defending Super Bowl champions; yes they do like to stay under the radar and out of the media spotlight, but come on, show some acknowledgement to the champs. After all this is the Giants’ city.
Last season Eli Manning made a statement saying he believed he was an elite quarterback in the NFL, and did the criticism ever begin. Sports analysts were quick to criticize Eli for thinking he was in the same category as Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, and even his big brother Peyton. Yet Eli already had a Super Bowl victory and Super Bowl MVP under his belt, having beaten Tom Brady in the process. That’s just as many as Brees, Rogers, and Peyton, yet Eli was wrong for believing he was elite in the eyes of many. Where’s the respect? Well Eli proved his critics wrong, once again, he was without a doubt the best quarterback in the 4th quarter last season, and led the Giants to the NFC East title, beat Aaron Rogers at Lambeau Field in the Divisional Round and led the Giants to the Super Bowl and beat who….Tom Brady…..once again. Eli racked up another Super Bowl MVP and now has more Super Bowl rings then Brees, Rodgers, and big brother Peyton. So who’s not elite now? Then after the Super Bowl every analyst wanted to sing Eli’s praises after they had criticized him at the start of the season, talk about two faced.
Now Joe Flacco, quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens said he was the best quarterback in the NFL, and has to feel that way to be successful. Now there is nothing wrong with thinking that but this is pro sports and Eli was dogged for saying he was elite. Flacco now says he’s the best yet I haven’t heard one bit of criticism coming his way because of that. Well let me be the first, Flacco hasn’t led his team to a Super Bowl just yet, so the fact that he thinks he is the best quarterback in the NFL is preposterous.
Now my last point has to do with the latest comments of Michael Vick, quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles. Vick stated and I quote “When I look at our football team and what we have on paper, I think about when I was growing up and the great San Francisco 49er teams, the great Green Bay Packer teams, and the great Dallas Cowboy teams, how they just positioned themselves to compete and be one of the best teams out there” This is the same Eagles team that deemed themselves the “Dream Team” last season and turned out to be a disorganized bust. I guess Vick forgot the defending champs are in their division and they have to go through the Giants first if they want to be a dynasty.
Like I said, there is no love for Big Blue. The Giants are the defending champs yet all the focus seems to be on teams that couldn’t make the playoffs last season. Give acknowledgement to the Giants, because this is not the team you want to sleep on, because they always seem to surprise you when you least expect it.
History of the Steelers Logo
The Steelers logo is based on the Steelmark logo belonging to the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). Created by U.S. Steel Corp. (now known as USX Corp.), the logo contains three hypocycloids (diamond shapes).
In the 1950s, when helmet logos became popular, the Steelers added players’ numbers to either side of their gold helmets. Later that decade, the numbers were removed and in 1962, Cleveland’s Republic Steel suggested to the Steelers that they use the Steelmark as a helmet logo.
When the Steelmark logo was created, U.S. Steel attached the following meaning to it: Steel lightens your work, brightens your leisure and widens your world. The logo was used as part of a major marketing campaign to educate consumers about how important steel is in our daily lives. The Steelmark logo was used in print, radio and television ads as well as on labels for all steel products, from steel tanks to tricycles to filing cabinets.
In the 1960s, U.S. Steel turned over the Steelmark program to the AISI, where it came to represent the steel industry as a whole. During the 1970s, the logo’s meaning was extended to include the three materials used to produce steel: yellow for coal, orange for ore and blue for steel scrap. In the late 1980s, when the AISI founded the Steel Recycling Institute (SRI), the logo took on a new life reminiscent of its 1950s meaning.
The Steelers had to petition the AISI in order to change the word “Steel” inside the Steelmark to “Steelers” before the logo was complete.
The Steelers are the only NFL team that sports their logo on only one side of the helmet. At first, this was a temporary measure because the Steelers weren’t sure they would like the look of the logo on an all-gold helmet. They wanted to test them before going all-out.
Equipment manager Jack Hart was instructed to put the logo only on one side of the helmet - the right side. The 1962 Steelers finished 9-5 and became the winningest team in franchise history to date. The team finished second in the Eastern Conference and qualified for the Playoff Bowl. They wanted to do something special for their first postseason game, so they changed the color of their helmets from gold to black, which helped to highlight the new logo.
Because of the interest generated by having the logo on only one side of their helmets and because of their team’s new success, the Steelers decided to leave it that way permanently.
Today’s helmet reflects the way the logo was originally applied and it has never been changed.
