White's Heisman going to the highest bidder

The Sports Museum of America will be auctioning several items in early December, including the Heisman Trophy won by Southern Cal's Charles White. White won the award in 1979, denying Oklahoma's Billy Simms the opportunity to be the second two-time winner. Averaging 186 yards per game, he easily won each region of the Heisman voting.

Although White never faired well in the NFL, he did enjoy one good season with the Rams, under his former coach at USC, John Robinson. In '87, his 1,387 yards led the league in rushing, earning him a pro bowl roster spot and "comeback player of the year award". He was inducted into the college football Hall of Fame in 1996.

SHHH...Bush is the NFL leader in touchdowns

Through the first 6 weeks of the season, Reggie Bush leads the league in touchdowns. His 8 trips to the end zone have come by way of rushing (2), receiving (3), and punt returns (3). On Sunday, he tied Arizona’s Anquan Boldin for the fastest to reach 200 receptions, doing it in his first 34 games. Bush is currently 9th in the league in receiving, and 1st in receiving yards after the catch. Two weeks ago, new technology showed Reggie Bushed clocked at 22 mph on a punt return. That same technology clocked Jamaica’s Usain Bolt at 23 mph during his world record 100-meters sprint, and that’s without pads.

Last night's Monday night game featured 3 Trojans in action. Steve Smith caught 9 passes for 94 yards in the Giants' road loss to the Cleveland Browns. The ageless Willie McGinest recorded just one tackle for the Browns, but Eric Wright picked off an Eli Manning pass, squashing a late red zone drive, and returned it 94 yards for a touchdown. Wright completed his collegiate career at UNLV, but was the starting cornerback on the 2004 USC National Championship team.

Brady Quinn is umm…busy on Sundays

The need for an NFL rookie salary cap is a hot issue, and I can’t find an argument against one. But there’s another that no one seems to talk about, and they also have a history of handing over large sums of money to the unproven.

Corporate America will latch on to players entering a draft, already looking to sell products with their names and faces. Sometimes it works out great, as LeBron James is a marketing phenomenon. But other times, well, let’s just say Adidas would love to beat Sebastian Telfair with a size 12 sneaker.

But what happens when you find a name, and begin to market the face, without ever acknowledging the players game status? The answer is easy. Your marketing project becomes the butt of jokes, and believe me, I won’t hold back.

Sure, that’s a fabulous Brady Quinn commercial, up until he says he’s “busy on Sundays”. The next shot should show Brady working the concession stands at Browns stadium.

How about making it more realistic? For instance, selling clipboards for Staples would be perfect. The Snickers commercial also comes to mind….”Not going anywhere for a while?” And let's not forget the, "Wanna get away?", from Southwest Airlines. If Subway felt Quinn was a “must have” name and face, at least use his lack of activity accordingly. The absolute truth is, the cheerleaders and referees are more physically active on NFL Sundays, and the low calorie Subway diet keeps him from ballooning to 300 pounds on the bench. Let's market that!

I guess you take the good with the bad in any endorsement deal. He’ll have to endure all the jokes, until he finally gets on the field. But at the same time, he did make a pretty Penny.

The 2008 NFL Fashion Show

It’s time for that annual gathering of NFL stars in Hawaii again. As usual, it’s supposed to act as the climax to a long season. But as usual, it won’t. If you can find an all star game in any league that’s packed full of expectation and excitement, let me know, because maybe I’m missing out on something. The last time I found myself intrigued by any of those all star affairs, I still hadn’t sprouted a single pubic hair.

Baseball tried to give something to play for. The winning league receives home field advantage in the world series. And just as quickly as they added this new incentive, is a quickly as no one cared. It’s a popularity contest, and I don’t care which league it is, someone deserving always gets snubbed for someone less deserving with more national recognition.

The theme for this year’s fashion show is "South Western wear". You know the saying, “that everything is bigger in Texas”, and this includes the number of cowboys on the Pro Bowl roster. I can certainly say that many of the Boys are deserving, but can anyone tell me how Roy Williams got there? Besides for a recognizable face and name, what were his achievements of 2007? All I’ve managed to see him achieving is a lot of resentment by his own Dallas following, wondering why he’s on the field and who they can possibly trade for him in the offseason.

One Texas Star is noticeably missing, and he doesn’t play in Dallas. I guess it’s going to take a long time before the league and fans give Houston’s Mario Williams any respect. The Texans were criticized for drafting him first, and analysts were critical of his first year play. But in 2007, Mario emerged as everything he was expected to be. He leads the AFC in sacks, yet he’s not on the AFC pro bowl roster. He’s hit and hurried QBs all season, and plugged running backs for short yardage. In other words, he did his job to the point where he was demanding double teams. But doing your job, and being the best at it, isn’t enough. This Texan parades the fashion show in Winter wear, left out in the cold with a face hidden beneath a hood, still a virtual unknown in the football world.

And what about Wes Welker? You don’t have to like the Patriots, but how could you not make a case for Welker’s snub in Hawaii. Sure he plays opposite Randy Moss, which is supposed to add to his production, but T.J. Houshmandzadeh plays opposite Chad Johnson, and T.J’s going to Hawaii. Welker has more receiving yardage than T.J, and was detrimental to his team’s success. With each having 112 receptions, Houshmandzadeh and Welker tied for the league lead. Welker was also the leading receiver for the Pats in the postseason.

I know Pro Bowl selections are made before the playoffs begin, but substitutions can come at any time. Randy Moss pulled out, and the AFC had the perfect opportunity to display both receptions leaders on the Pro Bowl roster, but again skipped over Welker, choosing Braylon Edwards instead. Again it comes down to which is more fashionable for wearing, and which garment will most impress your friends. You have Edwards, the 3rd pick in the first round of the 2005 draft (first receiver taken overall), and you have Welker that you managed to pick up at a Miami Dolphins yard sale. Which of the two would you wear to an NFL formal gathering?

Is the Pro Bowl a display of the NFL’s best talents? No. It’s a fashion statement, and the recognition of the brand is more important than the quality of the fabric. Is there any wonder to why it’s slowly falling apart?