Gilroy Celebrates Our Lady of Guadalupe

Hundreds of people gathered at the corner of Eigleberry and 10th streets in Gilroy Sunday afternoon to kick off a procession to celebrate the Virgin Mary that ended at St. Mary's Church on First Street.

The celebration, named by St. Mary's as the Feast of Our Lady, is normally celebrated with flowers and music on Dec. 12 in Mexico and many churches across the United States and Central America.

Giroy resident Maria Torres said she and her family went to Eigleberry Street Sunday afternoon to pay their respects.

"We are here to give praise to the Virgin Mary," Torres said. "I brought my children out here to show how strong our Catholic community is and how beautiful it can be when a community comes together for a common good."

The parishioners started the day with a regular Sunday Mass, then met for the celebratory procession at 10th and Eigleberry streets and ended back at the church for a 2 p.m. Mass.

At 6:30 p.m., parishoners gathered for "Noche Guadalupana" in the church gym and then finished the evening with a mariachi serenade in the chapel.

According to tradition, on Dec. 9, 1531, in Mexico, a young indigenous man named Juan Diego saw an image of the Virgin who told him to tell the Catholic bishop to build her a church. The bishop didn't believe him and asked for proof.

When Juan Diego saw the Virgin again and gave her the bishop's message, she told him to return to the hill where he first saw her and bring the flowers there to the bishop as proof that she exists. In winter, the hill of Tepeyac Hill didn't have flowers in bloom, but when Juan Diego arrived, he saw flowers, just as the Virgin promised. He gathered them in his cloak and took them to the bishop.

On Dec. 12, when Juan Diego returned to the bishop and opened his cloak, the flowers fell to the floor. On the cloak remained the image of the Virgin. The cloak now hangs in the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico City.

Orton, Broncos punished by physical Raiders

It didn’t even take three full quarters for some Broncos fans to start chanting for Tim Tebow on Monday night. Unless they wanted Tebow to take over a spot on the offensive line, his presence probably wouldn’t have mattered much anyways.
Denver wound up on the short end of a 23-20 tally in its season-opener, a crushing defeat against AFC West rival Oakland, and from the sound of it — “Te-bow! Te-bow! Te-bow!” — the home crowd was ready to pin that loss on Kyle Orton.
No, Orton wasn’t at his best Monday, hitting just 18 of his 37 passes, throwing an interception and simply dropping the ball while he set to throw for a second turnover. But everything he did came with the Raiders’ defensive line in his face. Oakland recorded four sacks and forced Denver to commit numerous holding penalties.
Even on Denver’s final scoring drive, which pulled the Broncos within three, Orton took hit after hit but managed to get his team into the end zone.
Denver and Oakland combined for 25 penalties in a chippy, drawn-out, sloppy mess of a game. Aside from some discipline problems, it was exactly what the Raiders wanted. Their defensive line dominated Denver’s front, most of the time accomplishing that goal without bringing a blitz.
The pressure resulted in a distressed Orton and a nonexistent Denver running game — Knowshon Moreno had just eight carries for 22 yards and Orton’s 13-yard scramble was the Broncos’ longest rush of the game.
Oakland has now won eight in a row within the AFC West, dating back to a Week 15 victory at Denver in 2009. The Raiders followed that up with a 6-0 intra-division mark in 2010 and Monday’s win.
Unfortunately for the Broncos, this was supposed to be their party, a national-TV audience tuning in to see how new head coach John Fox was going to turn things around after a 4-12 season. Instead, Denver was physically manhandled by a better team.

And this quarterback issue? It’s not going away.
There were rumors once the lockout ended that Denver wanted to trade Orton, who’s in the final year of a two-year deal. The fact that the Broncos kept him and Fox committed to him as the team’s No. 1 QB meant little to a fan base that seems to adamantly believe that Tebow is their future.
That attitude will no doubt pin the goat label on Orton with Denver off to an 0-1 start.
It was pretty apparent for much of Monday, though, that the Broncos had their work cut out for them. A Jacoby Ford fumble deep in Oakland territory gift-wrapped Denver’s only three points of the first half, as the Raiders stormed out to a commanding 16-3 halftime lead.
They deserved every bit of that lead, too, and certainly earned the win. While the questions swirl in Denver, we have to consider the possibility that Oakland is a legitimate threat in the AFC West.
Quarterback Jason Campbell, a maligned figure in his own right, played a controlled game, throwing for 105 yards and accounting for a pair of touchdowns. Darren McFadden, meanwhile, knocked out 150 yards on the ground and Sebastian Janikowski nailed three field goals, including an NFL record-tying 63-yarder.
Then there’s the defense. If there is one spot where you can clearly see how much the Raiders have improved from the past couple of years, it’s up front on D. Oakland is aggressive and tough, both traits that were put on display over and over again Monday.
Orton took the brunt of that Oakland attack, and in turn, bore the weight of the Broncos fans’ angst.
But it’s hard to blame Orton for Denver’s loss when his offensive line never even gave him a chance

Tom Brady, Wes Welker Connect for 'Awesome' 99-Yard Touchdown Pass

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- Patriots quarterback Tom Brady found another way to etch his name into the record books.
Brady recognized a glitch in the defense when the Pats stepped to the line with a first-and-10 from their own 1-yard line. He made a check to Wes Welker, who ran through single coverage in the left seam, hauled in the pass, broke off a tackle from cornerback Benny Sapp and raced free for a 99-yard touchdown.

"That was pretty awesome," Brady said. "When I saw him break away, it was awesome. You never know when it's going to go. It was man to man, and Wes ran a great route. I only threw it 25 yards. It's not like I threw it 99 yards. Wes did all the work. I just had to put it out there for him."

It was the 12th 99-yard touchdown pass in NFL history. The first happened in 1939 when Frank Filchock connected with Andy Farkas, and the most recent came in 2008 when Gus Frerotte hit Bernard Berrian.

Welker made sure to note that it was really 99 and a half yards.

"When I saw the coverage as we lined up in the set, I knew there was probably some possibility I could be getting the ball on this play," Welker said. "I just wanted to make the most of the opportunity

Miami Dolphins lose season opener to New England Patriots

All of those questions about Chad Henne’s potential. All of those wonders about this year’s offense. All of those expectations for this Dolphins defense. Turn all of it around. And some of it upside down.
On a night that shredded most every hypothesis about this season — except the one about struggling to cover tight ends — the Dolphins surely managed to spin the heads of a fan base wondering what to take from a 38-24 loss to the Patriots.
Was this version of Henne, often decisive and sharp, the version to expect every week? Is this secondary, the one that gave up more than 500 passing yards, really going to provide this many issues moving forward?
“We didn’t execute well at all today on our side of the ball,” linebacker Karlos Dansby said. “The offense played outstanding — and we let them down.”
This game wasn’t just baffling in many capacities. It was also historical.
Never have two teams combined for more net passing yards (906) than Tom Brady and Henne managed Monday. The game broke a 1986 record when the Dolphins and the Jets combined for 884 passing yards in a Jets 51-45 overtime win.
Unacceptable dayThis time, the outcome also favored the opponent.

“He had how many yards?” cornerback Sean Smith asked about Brady’s career-high numbers, which were the fifth-highest in NFL history. “He had 517? I definitely didn’t know it was like that. I knew they were getting chunk plays, but 517 yards is unacceptable.”
Regardless of the air show both quarterbacks conducted, hundreds of fans were clearly more concerned about the defensive concerns than the offensive success. Many shuffled out of the stadium with 9:49 remaining in the game despite a deficit of only 14 points.
Maybe they knew what was coming next.
Those departed fans managed to miss out on an incomplete pass on fourth down from the 1, when the Dolphins called a failed fade route to receiver Brian Hartline.
Those fans also managed to miss the following play, when the Patriots took over on downs and Brady completed a 99-yard touchdown pass to Wes Welker. As for the remaining fans, they couldn’t get out fast enough.
“They didn’t do anything we didn’t see on tape,” linebacker Kevin Burnett said. “They executed better than we did.”
Brady finished 32 for 48 with four touchdowns and an interception. He shredded the Dolphins with nearly every one of his weapons, but he mostly utilized his tight ends.
The tight end combination of Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski combined for 189 yards on 13 catches with three touchdowns, causing continued concern about the Dolphins’ ability to cover a position that has given the team fits for years.
But the coverage of the tight ends wasn’t the only issue. The cornerbacks also struggled, as both Vontae Davis and Sean Smith dealt with cramping issues in the second half. And the pressure on Brady was often also insufficient.
The struggles on defense certainly came as a considerable surprise, given the team returned 10 of 11 starters after ranking sixth in the NFL last season. True, the Patriots are expected to have one of the most powerful offenses in the league. But more than 500 passing yards powerful?
The dismal defensive performance drowned out most of the optimism that Henne managed to muster for the offense. If his Monday performance is any indication, though, the Dolphins should be able to put up far more points this season.

Analyzing Week 1's injury report

This is it! The final designation for injured players is on our doorstep for Week 1 of the NFL season. Each week, this blog entry will be dedicated to looking at the players who appear on the official Friday NFL injury report and how their status may have an impact on your fantasy teams.


A primer for those new to the game: Injury reports provide clues to a player's status for eager fantasy owners. The NFL requires teams to submit injury reports several times per week, identifying the body part that is involved in the injury. Early in the week, these reports will indicate whether a player who has some level of injury is not practicing, is limited in practice or is a full participant. On Fridays, all players on the injury report are assigned one of the following designations by their teams: probable, questionable, doubtful or out.


The explanation for each designation is as follows:


Probable (P): This designation indicates that a player has a greater than 50 percent chance of playing. Most players listed here are expected to play, barring a setback between the Friday injury report and kickoff.


Questionable (Q): This is the fantasy owner's most dreaded player designation. It means a player's status is on the fence and that there is a 50-50 chance he'll be on the field come game time. However, as fantasy owners have come to learn, many teams utilize the questionable designation for any player with a hint of injury. Whether a player ends up active often comes down to a game-time decision based on how he performs during warmups, so it is important for fantasy owners to check status reports leading up to the game.


Doubtful (D): The doubtful designation means a player has less than a 25 percent chance of playing that week. Rarely does a guy labeled as doubtful end up playing unless he experiences a major turnaround before game time. Fantasy owners who need to make roster adjustments before game time can feel fairly confident about sitting a player listed as doubtful.


Out: This is the easy one. The guy's definitely not playing Sunday. As painful as it might be to see this designation next to a player on your fantasy roster, at least you know in advance of the game that he's sitting out and can plan accordingly.


Each week in the Saturday blog, we will run down a list of key fantasy players, by position, who appear in the Friday injury report and analyze their chances for playing Sunday. The primary fantasy positions are covered (quarterback, running back, wide receiver and tight end), and this year, a few additional notables at both offensive and defensive positions will be added to the list. We'll cover the players listed as "Out" at the end of the blog as well.


Good luck in Week 1, everyone! May your players stay healthy and win for you.

Sunday Night Football: Dallas Cowboys at New York Jets

Dallas will begin its first full year under the direction of head coach Jason Garrett, taking over control of the team after the mid-year firing of Wade Phillips.  The Cowboys finished with a 5-3 record in his eight games and possesses plenty of offensive weapons that opposing head coach Rex Ryan is aware of.  “Start with tight end Jason Witten, he caught almost 100 balls or something last year,” commented Ryan.  “And then you have Dez Bryant, the young kid from here Miles Austin, they’re loaded.”  Quarterback Tony Romo is also back after missing the final 10 games of the 2010 campaign with a broken left clavicle.  Dallas is 7-3 ATS as an underdog the last two years.
The Cowboys entire season may hinge on the offensive line that will possess three new starters and has been challenged early by injuries.  Dallas will be dealing with one of the more ferocious defense units in the entire league and it’s a cause for concern.  Sunday’s meeting will be the 10th between the two teams, as the Cowboys are 7-2 in the previous nine contests, including a 34-3 win at Cowboy Stadium on Nov. 22, 2007.  It will be an emotional scene in the Big Apple with the game taking place on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
New York is hoping to go one further step this year after being knocked out in the AFC Championship Game in consecutive years.  The Jets bring back 18-of-22 players and third-year quarterback Mark Sanchez has led the team to 23 wins in his first two years.  A lot of the focus offensively from the media will be centered around the return of wide receiver Plaxico Burress, who will be playing in his first regular season game in 1,001 days and is no stranger to the New York scene.  He caught 505 passes for 7,845 yards and 55 touchdowns in 128 games while playing with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Giants.  New York is 8-8 ATS at home.
The Jets will be dealing with another storyline in the game with twin brothers Rex and Rob Ryan facing each other for the ninth time in their careers.  Good thing for the team is its head coach leads the series, 5-3, including a 26-20 win over Cleveland last year when Rob spent the season leading the Browns defense.  Expect a lot of running from the offense, as it finished fourth in the NFL, averaging 4.4 yards an attempt and gaining 148.4 yards a game last year.
Bettors will find that the Cowboys are 6-2 ATS in their last eight games, while the Jets are 4-9 ATS in their last 13 games as a home favorite of 3.5 to 10 points.

Roger Goodell soaks up football atmosphere after tumultuous summer

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was happy to be back on a football field Thursday evening rather than being in a courtroom.

Six weeks removed from the end of the NFL lockout of its players, Goodell was all smiles as the Green Bay Packers kicked off the 2011 season against the New Orleans Saints

He worked the sidelines before the game greeting former players, corporate sponsors and signing autographs for fans. He spent several minutes chatting with former Packers Super Bowl MVP quarterback Bart Star in the moments before kickoff.

"It is good to be talking about football again, rather than courts and bargaining agreements," Goodell said in an interview with The Business Journal on the field. "This is a great atmosphere and one that I’m glad we are getting to experience."

Goodell said he was glad the league was able to secure a 10-year collective bargaining agreement with its players because it gave the NFL the security it needed.

"We can now move ahead on major priorities know that we are going to have labor peace for the next decade," he said. "It was a good deal for both sides, one in which we both did not get everything we wanted. But we got something done that was in the best interests of the league.”

Goodell said the new collective bargaining agreement was important to teams, such as the Packers, because it maintained the league’s revenue sharing to allow teams like Green Bay to compete against bigger markets.

"It was important for us as a league to ensure that all of our teams will be successful and I believe the players realized that,” he said. "Green Bay has always been a big part of this league and this agreement will only help them continue to compete in the long run."

Aaron Rodgers Disses Mark Sanchez GQ Photos

Jets player, Mark Sanchez was featured on the cover of GQ’s September issue. He spoke candidly about wanting to fight his own coach, shared his recently watched television shows including Justin Beiber’s movie and posed for a spread of sexy photos.
The spread didn’t sit well with a fellow NFL quarterback, who dissed his moonlighting as a model.
“Look at this,” NFL player, Aaron Rodgers told ESPN of Sanchez’s spread in an interview Wednesday. “That’s embarrassing. Page 94 of the GQ thing here. That’s terrible.”
“It’s just not really my style,” Rodgers said. “I like my anonymity. I like my privacy. I like being able to be the quarterback during the week and in the offseason just be able to do what I want to do and not have to be in the public eye.”
Since the public diss, Sanchez responded and made light of the situation.
“I think he was, obviously, making a joke out of it, and that’s fine, giving me a good ribbing like the guys on our team,” said Sanchez in a statement released by the New York Jets. “That’s totally understandable, but I’m just happy that it ended up working out for a good cause and we got to partner with two great companies and one great charity, with Hugo Boss and Tuesday’s Children. It worked out for the better and I can take a little razzing for the way it ended up. I know he’s just joking around, so that’s totally fine.”
In the new issue of GQ, which wasn’t his first time gracing the pages (he posed back in June 2009 too) Sanchez can be seen without a shirt on the field and in a bubble bath but one of the most talked about shots is of him wearing an extra tight pair of white pants inside of a football stadium.
To go with the sexy snaps, was a sizzling interview in which, Sanchez talked to GQ about an incident with his coach, Rex Ryan. Ryan had commented that he would consider benching the star athlete, to which Sanchez said he wished Ryan wouldn’t have been so honest. “I wanted to fight him,” Sanchez told the magazine. “I was really mad.” Sanchez also revealed his love for Broadway shows, even comparing the Broadway performers to himself. “Their life is so regimented—like mine. They have eight shows a week. They have to take care of their bodies, stretch, eat right, take care of their voices. You know, their voice is like my arm.”

Downingtown's Pat Devlin signs deal with Miami Dolphins

 
After failing to hear his name called out during the three-day NFL draft, then waiting anxiously for the lockout to end, Pat Devlin finally got some good news Tuesday on the first day of postlockout business.
Devlin, a quarterback who played at Downingtown East High, Penn State and Delaware, agreed to a free-agent contract with the Miami Dolphins, according to Carter Chow, his agent. Chow did not disclose the terms of the agreement, but ESPN.com reported that Devlin had said yes to a three-year deal.
The Dolphins have starter Chad Henne returning at quarterback and are expected to bring in a veteran to take over the No. 2 spot. Published reports mentioned Kyle Orton, who has been put on the trading block by Denver, and free agent Mark Bulger as possible candidates, with Devlin having a chance to become the No. 3 quarterback.
Devlin, who set a Pennsylvania high school record with 8,162 passing yards at Downingtown East, chose Penn State over Miami to play his college ball. However, after redshirting his first season in Happy Valley and seeing limited playing time the next two years, Devlin transferred to Delaware.
Devlin passed for 5,696 yards and 37 touchdowns in two years with the Blue Hens. Last season, he was named Colonial Athletic Association offensive player of the year and led Delaware to the Football Championship Subdivision title game.
Giants sign Herzlich. In another rookie free-agent transaction of local interest, the New York Giants agreed to terms with former Conestoga High star Mark Herzlich, the Boston College linebacker who survived cancer.
After being chosen Atlantic Coast Conference defensive player of the year as a sophomore, Herzlich was diagnosed with bone cancer and missed the 2009 season. He returned in 2010 for the Eagles and registered 65 tackles, four interceptions and two forced fumbles in 13 games, all starts.

Green Bay Packers Say Net Income Triples Through Super Bowl Win, Lockout

 
The Green Bay Packers’ net income more than tripled to $17.1 million in the fiscal year ending March 31, as the National Football League team won a Super Bowl title, club officials said.
Mark Murphy, chief executive of the NFL’s only publicly traded franchise, said today in a conference call that investment gains accounted for most of the increase from last year’s $5.2 million, though the championship run increased apparel sales and visits to the Wisconsin team’s Lambeau Field and Hall of Fame.
The NFL’s four-month lockout, which ended yesterday, offset some of the gains from the Super Bowl, which were limited because the team played its postseason games on the road, Murphy said.
“We think that winning the Super Bowl has had a bigger impact on us in a positive way than the lockout has,” he told reporters. “We saw a pretty big jump in our atrium business, particularly our pro shop, where we saw significant increases in apparel sales.”
The Packers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25 in the NFL’s title game, attracting the largest television audience in U.S. history, about five weeks before the league locked out players.
Operating revenue rose to $282.6 million from $258 million, with local revenue increasing to $119.3 million from $100.4 million and national revenue rising to $163.3 million from $157.6 million. Television money rose to $96.5 million from $95.8 million.
The Packers’ operating expenses rose to $270.5 million from $248.2 million. Murphy said player costs fell about $2 million, mostly because the lockout eliminated at least one month in which the team would have signed players.

Bears get defensive support

 

The Chicago Bears made a move to upgrade their defensive line in the second round of the NFL draft. And they added to their defensive secondary in the third round.
The Bears traded with the Washington Redskins on Friday night to move up from No. 62 to No. 53 and select defensive tackle Stephen Paea of Oregon State. The Redskins also got the Bears’ fourth-round pick, No. 127 overall.
The 6-foot-1, 295-pound Paea was an All-American last season for the Beavers. He had 14 sacks and nine forced fumbles in his career.
Chicago is looking for help on the defensive front after releasing former Pro Bowl defensive tackle Tommie Harris. Paea said he can play nose guard or tackle.
In the third round, the Bears took safety Christopher Conte of California with the 93rd overall pick. Conte had 72 tackles, one interception and blocked a punt that he returned for a touchdown last season.
In the first round, with the 29th overall pick on Thursday, the Bears beefed up their offensive line with Wisconsin’s Gabe Carimi after failing in an attempt to trade up three picks with the Baltimore Ravens in order to select the 2010 Outland Trophy winner.
“I had a great feeling I’d end up with the Bears,” said the 6-foot-7, 314-pound Carimi. “It’s a great organization. I can’t be happier than to play for them.”
Carimi started 49 games for Wisconsin at left tackle.
“We loved Gabe from the start,” Bears coach Lovie Smith said. “Picking as late as we did, we just didn’t know if we’d have an opportunity to get him.”
So they asked Baltimore about a trade. The deal never went down, and the negotiations took long enough that the Ravens’ time to pick at No. 26 expired, causing them to drop down one spot behind Kansas City.
Bears general manager Jerry Angelo took the blame for the situation, calling it a “glitch” and said he apologized to the Ravens.

Lockout limits Miami Dolphins’ intro for Pouncey

By DAVID J. NEAL

Shortly after Dolphins first-round pick Mike Pouncey finished meeting with coaches and Dolphins front office personnel and the South Florida media Friday evening, the NFL got its court ordered stay that restored the lockout.
Perhaps somebody slipped Pouncey the playbook between the time he met with the media and the time he left the Dolphins Davie offices. The resumption of the lockout means teams and players must again act like they have restraining orders against each other.
“I just came in here and really just visited the facility and met everybody,” Pouncey said about an hour before the lockout was restored. “I guess we’ll handle the playbook sometime down the line when it’s time for camp.”
When that will be is up in the air. The Dolphins originally planned to have rookie camp next weekend, and several players had been at the Davie facility Friday. The players’ side has filed a brief arguing against the stay and the NFL will have a chance to file its brief by Monday morning. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals will rule next week on whether or not to grant a full stay.
Two things about Pouncey: He wants to wear No. 53, the same number as his twin brother, Pittsburgh’s starting center Maurkice Pouncey. And he’s only been to one Dolphins game: last October’s 23-22 loss to Pittsburgh that ended in controversy.
Pouncey recalls early game rain giving way to oppressive heat and “[ Ben] Roethlisberger fumbled.”
Mandich tribute
To announce the second round picks, the NFL brought in a retired player from each franchise. Former Dolphins Hall of Fame wide receiver Paul Warfield read the picks for Cleveland, where he started and finished his career.
When the Dolphins moved into the second round, 1997-2005 cornerback Sam Madison didn’t immediately announce the pick. He first echoed the efforts of the late Jim Mandich to lift retired Dolphins from the economic mire common to so many retired NFL players.
Madison finished with “It’s in honor of Jim “Mad Dog” Mandich, who passed away Tuesday, that I announce with the 62nd pick, the Dolphins select, Daniel Thomas, running back, Kansas State.”
Thursday night, general manager Jeff Ireland opened his meeting with the media with an “Alll-right, Miami” and kind words about Mandich.
Dalton snapped up
Thoughts that Texas Christian quarterback Andy Dalton would continue to tumble to the Dolphins — or that the Dolphins would move up and take Dalton — ended when Cincinnati snatched him with the third pick of the second round.
That gave the Bengals a new quarterback — with Carson Palmer threatening to retire if the team doesn’t trade him — to go with a new wide receiver, first round pick A.J. Green. Miami Beach High graduate Chad Ochocinco also has asked out of Cincinnati.
Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said on ESPN that the Bengals had to move forward as if they wouldn’t have Palmer. Lewis also chuckled that Ochocinco had been talking “with his thumbs,” a reference to the Liberty City native’s active Twittering.

NFL Draft: Ryan Mallett to New England

 

After an awkwardly long wait throughout the first two rounds of the NFL Draft (and into the third), Ryan Mallett ended up getting picked by the New England Patriots with the 73rd overall pick. Despite the general unpleasantness of the moments leading up to his selection, Mallett really wound up in an excellent spot.
So much of a person's pro career depends on the good fortune of going to a solid organization, with strong ownership and good coaches, and teams don't come much more solid than the Patriots. In the best case, Mallett works hard, learns from masters like Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, and eventually inherits the starting QB position of a championship team (we'll call this the Joe Montana/Steve Young scenario).
If not that, it's still an excellent chance to learn from the best and possibly get traded to another team looking for a starter in a couple of years (we'll call this the Matt Cassell scenario). Either way, it's hard to imagine a better place for him to get immersed in the NFL game and shake off those infamous "character questions" that cost him several million dollars along the way. (We suppose there's another scenario where he proves the naysayers right and completely flames out in an epic binge of drugs, skanks and bad Vanilla Ice-style attitude, but to anyone who actually followed Mallett at Arkansas that seems unlikely.)
Mallett may not be a starter in the NFL as soon as some of the six (!!!) QBs taken ahead of him, but thanks to this bit of draft luck he's better positioned to have a successful long-term career than most. As you watch the NFL over the next few years be sure to remember these names...we're sure Mallett won't forget them any time soon:

Penn State's Wisniewski to join uncle with Oakland Raiders

 

Nepotism is alive and well - very well, in fact - with the Oakland Raiders.
But the fact Stefen Wisniewski's uncle, Steve Wisniewski, was an eight-time Pro Bowl selection for the Raiders and is now their assistant offensive line coach is not the overriding reason why Oakland selected the All-America guard for Penn State with their first pick of the 2011 draft, No. 48 overall, last night. Sentimentality is nice at family reunions, but productivity is always an NFL team's first consideration.
Oakland did not have a first-rounder in the draft, which opened Thursday night, having sent it to the New England Patriots last year in exchange for former Pro Bowl defensive lineman Richard Seymour.
"Just because Steve was there didn't necessarily mean it was going to happen," said Eddie Johnson, of Eastern Athletic Services, which represents Wisniewski. "Need dictated the pick more than anything. And, of course, the Raiders had a lot of knowledge about Stefen, as a football player and as a person."
Stefen acknowledged being "thrilled" to be going to what was his favorite team growing up.
"It's pretty awesome, in general, to be drafted, but even more so, going to the Raiders," he said amid the clatter of "60 or 70" friends and relatives crammed inside a house in Bridgeville, Pa., where they gathered to watch the draft on television. "I grew up cheering for the Raiders because of my uncle. Now I get to play for them. I still can't believe it."
Wisniewski, a 3-year starter for the Nittany Lions, played center his junior season in Happy Valley and was a third-team All-America. He was switched back to right guard for his senior campaign, a position at which he said he felt most comfortable. Most projections had him listed as a center, however, and former Raiders defensive back and Hall of Famer Willie Brown announced him as such at the draft.
"Coach [Hue] Jackson told me I'd be playing center when he called," said Wisniewski, who graduated with a 3.91 grade-point average in secondary education. "I'm fine with that. I just want to be able to contribute wherever I'm needed."
The Raiders are coming off an 8-8, non-playoff season, but went 6-0 against AFC West rivals.
"It's definitely a team on the rise," Wisniewski said. "They're going in the right direction. I'm exciting about having the chance to help them continue going in the right direction." *

Bill Belichick throws a curveball by picking Ryan Mallett

 

Pass rusher? Nah, forget that. The Patriots [team stats] coach likes what he has in-house. He likes his young group of linebackers so much that he didn’t feel compelled to make a move. At least, that’s what he claimed after last night’s proceedings. We’ll respectfully disagree. But we’ve been beating that drum for a while.
So let’s move onto the pick that makes Belichick one of the shrewdest operators in the business.
You want sizzle? You want spice? You want the ultimate roll of the dice? Try Ryan Mallett.
While teams were scrambling for quarterbacks all over the board, jumping all over each other for kids who just might not be that good, Belichick merely swooped in during the third round and probably stole the best one of the bunch.
Cam Newton, Jake Locker, Christian Ponder, Blaine Gabbert, Andy Dalton and Colin Kaepernick were all gobbled up before the Pats locked in and selected the somewhat controversial Arkansas quarterback with the 74th pick.
Is this Tom Brady [stats]’s heir apparent? Maybe, maybe not. At the very least, he’s an intriguing possibility.
His arm certainly won’t stop him from being that guy somewhere down the road. If you’ve ever watched film of Mallett, he’s got an absolute cannon. He makes all the throws with ease. Of all the quarterbacks in the 2011 class, he easily has the best arm. It’s not even close.
Mallett, however, won’t win the character award. There’s been rumors of drugs and alcohol. But even with his troubles, there isn’t much risk for Belichick taking him in the third round and having him learn under Brady.
While he’s a bit shaky with his decision-making, Mallett would fit very well in the Pats’ vertical passing game, if he ever got the opportunity to relieve Brady for any period of time.
What this translates into is smart business. Having an eye out for grooming Brady’s replacement now is the wise thing to do. If Mallett can get his act together and realize his awesome potential, it’ll be an amazing coup for the Patriots coach.
If the 33-year-old Brady plays another half-dozen years, Mallett can always net a significant return in a trade. Last night, Mallett didn’t sound too bothered by having to wait for his chance.
“As a competitor, I want to play,’’ Mallett said. “But it’s an advantage to learn from Tom and gain as much knowledge as I can from him.”
He’s a nice chip to have in the stable for however long. So it’s a win-win situation for the Pats, assuming, of course, Mallett behaves and blossoms as a backup.
By the sound of it, Belichick has already begun the bonding process. He seems to like the kid and has a connection with him, given Mallett is also the son of a football coach, Jim Mallett.
“He’s definitely a football guy. He’s a great kid to talk to. He’s very into football,” Belichick said of Mallett. “You can’t wear him out. As long as you want to talk about it, he’ll be there, however many hours it is, he’s ready to go watch film, or go talk about a new technique or route, or read, or whatever.