Monday, July 2, 2007
NFL 2007: Just a Few More Weeks
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All right, enough of this NBA and NHL noise. It's July now. Full on summer. Baseball All-Star Game, followed by three weeks on the hot stove leading up to the July 31 trading deadline.
Fireworks and cousins and beer and what the hell is the matter with the Cardinals' pitching staff?
And Bruce Willis and Transformers and iPhones and Hillary and "Bush presidents take Putin for boat ride."
And the 2007-2008 National Football League season has begun.
Technically, that last statement is completely inaccurate. According to the league calendar, the 2007 fiscal year began on April 1. According to the players, it begins when training camps open. According to coaches and execs, it began the first day after their last game.
But, for me, it was yesterday. Yesterday was the first time I could officially change the countdown to training camps from "next month" to "just a few more weeks." I love that change. I love it. I want to divorce my wife and marry it. It's awesome.
Just a few more weeks until it's Randy Moss at two-a-days and the Tom Coughlin death watch and Hard Knocks and the Lance Briggs/L.J./Asante Samuel/various rookie holdouts.
Just a few more weeks and it's Latrobe and Bethlehem and Flagstaff and River Falls.
And you want to know what else?
Atlanta and Oakland and Pittsburgh and Arizona and Miami have first-time NFL head coaches.
Matt Schaub is in Houston, David Carr in Carolina, Trent Green in Miami, and Daunte Culpepper in arbitration.
Willis McGahee is in Baltimore, Jamal Lewis in Cleveland, Reuben Droughns in New York, and Tiki Barber in a TV studio.
Dre Bly, Daniel Graham, Sam Adams, Brandon Stokley, and Patrick Ramsey are Denver Broncos.
Jason David, Nick Harper, and Dominic Rhodes are no longer Colts.
Tarvaris Jackson is a starting NFL quarterback. Brooks Bollinger and Drew Henson are his backups.
Jack Del Rio doesn't trust Byron Leftwich or David Garrard, and they don't trust him.
Tampa Bay has five QBs on its roster who have started at least four NFL games. One of them is Jake Plummer.
Joey Porter is in Miami.
Dante Hall, Drew Bennett, and Randy McMichael are in St. Louis.
Randy Moss, Donte' Stallworth, Wes Welker, and Adalius Thomas are in New England.
J-E-T-S. Thomas Jones! Thomas Jones! Thomas Jones!
Joey Harrington and Joe Horn are Falcons.
Kevin Curtis and Takeo Spikes are Eagles.
Nate Clements and Darrell Jackson are 49ers.
Brad Johnson is a Cowboy and Tony Romo is no longer a holder.
And Canton and Madden and fantasy and fight songs and Chris Collinsworth and Mort and rumblin', bumblin', stumblin', and it's up and...
I'm telling you, people. It's time to get excited.
Everybody is 0-0 and we're taking it one day at a time.
Just a few more weeks.
Just a few more weeks and the long, long wait is over.
Seth Doria is a freelance writer in St. Louis. For daily updates on the world of sports, entertainment and politics, please visit The Left Calf.