NFL Timetable of Contention
When the New York Giants defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI on February 5, 2012, the football season was officially over. Diehard football fans were left to fend for themselves finding other things to fill their Sundays and Monday evenings. What promised to be a long, dull offseason, though, has turned into anything but. So far, the offseason has been a juicy cornucopia of OMG, jaw-dropping moments that have served to supply football fans with an almost daily fix of excitement rivaling any game day. All the stories prompted me to document this offseason into what I call the 2012 NFL Timeline of Contention:
March 8-9 – Colts release Peyton Manning and the next day jettison about 80% of their 2011 offensive production with the release of RB Joseph Addai, QB Curtis Painter and TE Dallas Clark. They also lose WR Pierre Garcon to free agency. This was on the heels of having fired long-time Vice Chairman Bill Polian and GM Chris Polian.
March 12 -– The day before free agency begins, the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Redskins were zapped with steep salary cap penalties for violating a non-existent salary cap limit in the uncapped 2010 season.
March 9-19 – After the release of Peyton Manning, wild speculation begins in the media as to where he will end up. In the running were the Denver Broncos, Miami Dolphins, Arizona Cardinals, Tennessee Titans and a late running favorite, the San Francisco 49ers. Countless sport talk show hours were spent analyzing, evaluating, and predicting the most likely landing spot for the star quarterback. Many thought the 49ers were the most Super Bowl-ready and would be his best choice.
March 18 -– Incumbent 49ers quarterback Alex Smith, with ruffled feathers, flew off to Miami to try out for the Dolphins.
March 19 –– Peyton Manning agrees to go to Broncos.
March 20 – Manning holds ceremonious press conference announcing his decision. Fans everywhere try to wrap the heads around the idea of Peyton in a Broncos uniform.
March 21 – Meanwhile, Alex Smith and the 49ers make up and he trades in his fins and feathers for a nice new Nike 49ers uniform.
March 21 . – A.M. –The day after the Manning/Broncos press conference, news broke early in the day that Tim Tebow would be traded to the New York Jets for draft picks. Questions immediately surface about what his role would be since the Jets already have a franchise quarterback named Mark Sanchez.
March 21 – P.M. –But wait, it’s revealed that Tebow is not traded to the Jets. With a ‘closer’ reading of the contract, the Jets discover that they would not only have to give up draft picks, but $5 million as well. The trade talkshit a snag.
March 21 – late P.M. –The Jacksonville Jaguars make a bid for Tebow while the Jets contemplate the $5 million dollar snafu. Broncos VP of Operations John Elway announced that it was Tebow’s choice to go wherever he wanted. The world waited. And this was probably the first time that Mark Sanchez rooted for the Jaguars to win at something.
March 22 – The Jets finally seal the deal and announce that Tebow will be a Jet come fall.
March 22 – Seemingly simultaneous with the Tebow/Jets announcement, Roger Goodell laid down the suspensions for the New Orleans Saints in the bounty for hits scandal. Sean Payton suspended for the entire 2012 season. GM Mickey Loomis suspended 8 games. Asst coach Joe Vitt suspended 6 games. The Saints organization fined $500,000 and lose a draft pick. It was also made clear that player suspensions would be forthcoming. Reaction, analyses, commentary fill the next several days.
March 22 – Meanwhile, recently acquired Jet quarterback Drew Stanton makes clear he wants no part of the QB carousel/circus on the horizon in New York. Mercifully, he is quietly sent to the Indianapolis Colts.
April 1-30 – As the dust of the previous month settles, the usual hoopla and storylines leading up to the NFL Draft carry us through April. Robert Griffin III and Andrew Luck become focal points and are analyzed up, down, and sideways.
May 2 — As promised, Roger Goodell hands down player suspensions for the bounty for hits program in New Orleans. LB Jonathan Vilma suspended for the entire season. T Will Smith suspended 3 games and former defensive players Anthony Hargrove (now with Packers) suspended 8 games and Scott Fujita (now with Browns) suspended 4 games. And the outrage was heard ’round the world.
May 17 — Jonathan Vilma files defamation lawsuit against Roger Goodell. Maybe I missed it, but this did not seem to get a whole lot of press. Sort of like the thud you hear but don’t want to investigate.
May 22 – Arbitrator Stephen Burbank dismisses the Cowboys and Redskins appeal of their respective salary cap penalties.
May 23 – The NFL players’ union files suit against the NFL alleging collusion in the uncapped year 2010.
Quite a few other events grabbed our attention enough to keep tongues wagging this offseason too. Retired quarterback Ryan Leaf was arrested on burglary and drug possession charges. Warren Sapp caused a little stir on two occasions, the first when he accused former Saints TE Jeremy Shockey of being the snitch in the Bounty-gate investigations, and secondly when he filed for bankruptcy. Baltimore Ravens LB Terrell Suggs’ injury and the musical chairs of free agency also gave us some juicy tidbits for conversation. On a sadder note, the issue of concussions was once again at the forefront following the suicide of retired LB Junior Seau.
So the offseason has indeed been full of sound and fury that, true to Shakespeare’s quote for those outside the football universe, probably signifies nothing.
afootballchick 