Get ready for history. Live from Rotoworld headquarters, here is the first recorded liveblog of NFL Network's Point After, the underrated Monday (and others) presser show where Jim Mora screams about other coaches screaming. I plan on making it a weekly Monday feature, as much of the news of the week comes from these press conferences.

NFLN threw started getting away too much from the unfiltered coaches' press conferences, but you can still get a lot of useful information.

Continue reading "Cowher speaks!" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 05:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

The NFL is seriously considering about a 17th game for all NFL teams internationally. That's not totally new, but the news that they want it to happen within five years in news to me.

"You'd play eight at home, eight away, and one game internationally," the NFL's Mark Waller said. Waller also said the league wants to have teams in London, Mexico and Canada within ten years. That sounds like a better idea for expanding the game than NFLE.

* Bad news for NFL Network and all NFL fans who have Comcast.

* Dolphins and Sprint create a fantasy lounge at their stadium. Cool stuff.

* Gleeman's Friday links, which I'm oddly addicted to.

* Fantasy Fix producer Matt Casey's funny movie all-star team.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'll watch just about anything about the NFL, but the NFL Network's latest "Inside Minicamp" series is hard to get excited about. The line drills are pointless to watch without pads on. The best part of the show is the 7-on-7 drills, but that's not guaranteed to even be part of the program. The episode on the Rams I watched didn't include any.

It's basically an hour-long show analyzing a team, which isn't so bad if it's your favorite team. Jamie Dukes had the duties on the episode I watched. He's an acquired taste, but I think he actually has knowledge and work behind his statements. It's definitely a good show to use the Tivo remote with. I took nothing away from the show except that the Rams coaches are gushing about Brian Leonard, and Adam Carriker is going to play nose guard occasionally. I could find that in the paper.

It's not a good sign when the highlight of the hour was actually the UnderArmour commercial played at the beginning. Any spot with that ends with Steve Spurrier hanging up the phone and saying "click, clack" is all right by me.

Note: DB Rankings later this afternoon.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 10:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Total Access has been featuring a new segment in the off-season featuring a back-and-forth between the voluble Jamie Dukes and NFL Films Senior Producer and NFL Matchup guru Greg Cosell. It's quickly become one of my favorite segments on the Network.

Why you ask? Both of these guys, especially Cosell, actually watch tape (gasp) before spouting off an opinion. And that gives them the confidence to call a spade a spade.

On Nate Clements' signing Dukes called, him "Maybe the 15th, 16th best corner in the league." Cosell said they are "paying for the position," but in no way is Clements an elite player. How come we haven't heard that much elsewhere? Clements' reviews were kind compared to the following.

Continue reading "Good new segment on NFLN" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 02:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I'm probably NFL Network's biggest fan. It makes my job infinitely easier and almost every production is well thought out and made for serious fans. This week, at the NFL Combine, is when they really shine with unique coverage.

It's a complete sham, though, that they didn't mention the Pacman Jones story once in their hour-long NFL Total Access show Thursday. On the day the story exploded. If it seems like I'm a wee bit obsessed with this story, well, I can't remember anything like it. It makes the "Love Boat" scandal look a Sandra Bullock movie. I'm not even sure what that means. A story featuring the phrase "Make it Rain" so prominently does that too you.

Rich Eisen has often said in interviews that the Network has complete license to report how it wants and has never been interfered with. If that was true at the time, it certainly isn't anymore.

Update: Pacman has hired Ray Lewis and Jamal Lewis' former lawyers.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 07:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you are a football addict, the NFL Network's Saturday night complete re-broadcast of Joe Namath's win in Super Bowl III sounds pretty sweet. It's worth setting the Tivo for, if you have a life and might actually be out on a Saturday night.

Patriots-Panthers and 49ers-Bengals are also on the docket Saturday. One of the best parts of these rebroadcasts is seeing how much TV coverage has changed. The announcing and cameras aren't so different. The graphics are laughable.

If I survive apartment hunting and my first NYC bachelor party in three years, I'll be back for a liveblog of the game Sunday - if not before then. Thanks for stopping by.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 05:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)