Tatum Bell has been working hard in the OTA sessions with his teammates and is very keen to be playing more games for the Detroit Lions this season than the seven he played in 2007. Detroit has freed running back Kevin Jones from its grasp and has signed in Kevin Smith from Florida and hence Bell is of the opinion that many more chances will come his way this year. The change in the zone scheme this year is similar to the one that Bell has experienced during his Denver days.

Bell said that the team is fully aware of each other’s positions and are pretty aware of what each one is doing. Bell has been very impressive in the zone running scheme all through his career and it is due to his agility, dodging ability and clear sight. The avid footballer is working on his ball catching and open field running skills expecting to buy more playing time this fall season.

Police found a total of six bullet shells in the vicinity of Marvin Harrison’s garage-cum-car-wash when they sniffed around for evidence in the shooting incident that happened last week in April 29. The Indiapolis Colts’ wide receiver denied that he was involved and was glad that he was not arrested for the shooting. The Philadelphia police are still investigating this matter thoroughly to clear his name. Harrison’s lawyer did not comment further, but he did say that his client’s gun was not involved in the crime.

Authorities have visited the crime scene to uncover two bullet holes found on two separate houses on Monday after receiving insider information about a third victim being involved in the shooting.

The San Francisco 49ers will be very strong in their defense in this upcoming new football season as their first round pick Kentwan Balmer has landed in San Francisco. Balmer said that his eyes were filled with tears of joy when he came to know that he will be playing for the 49ers as this has been the team that his family members have been supporting for quite sometime now.

Balmer said that he was very excited to be in the 49ers facility and has got his batteries charged up on seeing the five Super Bowls. Balmer said that he will do all that he can to see his team get their hands on the Super Bowl once again. Balmer was very much happy to see his 49er locker for the first time and said that he will establish a good rapport with the new defensive line coach of the 49ers Jim Tomsula.

Among all teams that encompass the NFL, NHL, NBA and MLB bodies, the Indiana Colts are rated No.1 in terms of fan satisfaction. The fans have cited various reasons for their approval and love for this team and these reasons include the fact that the Indianapolis Colts value their fans more than anything and created opportunities for fans’ opinions to be heard. Besides giving fans value for money tickets, providing online forums and comprehensive sites for fans and encouraging fans to get to know each other, the Colts were also well loved for being a loyal and appreciative team.

The results were garnered from ESPN’s Ultimate Standings polls. Over 80,000 fans were surveyed in SportsNation and the burning question was why they invested so much on their favorite teams and what do they expect to be rewarded with. On the other end, team owners were also probed to get clues as to how they convert ticket sales from fans into on-field wins.

The New York Jets quarterback Kellen Clemens could not hide his emotions back and burst into tears last Thursday when Pope Benedict XVI kissed and blessed his new born daughter Kate Elizabeth after his two hour mass at the National’s Park. The Pope who came across Clemens, his wife Nicole and their four week old daughter while greeting the 45,000 odd people who attended the mass blessed the little child.  

Clemens said that his eyes were immediately filled with tears when the Pope blessed his daughter and he felt it to be a very touching and surprising experience. He said that it was one of the most special and joyous occasion for his entire family and he felt like his daughter has been blessed by the direct inheritor of Peter. Kellen Clemens has been awarded with the starting job for the Jets half way through the last season and is ready to compete with Chad for the No. 1 quarterback position in the jets football team.

Scouts from all teams are having difficulty deciding the best cornerback who deserves a place in the NFL draft. With a great assortment of potential cornerbacks flooding the football scene, both fans and members of the press are on the edge of their seats trying to see who will be the next NFL star. Among those who are considered top notch prospects are Leodis McKelvin from Troy, Mike Jenkins from South Florida, Aqib Talib from Kansas as well as Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie from Tennessee State. NFL scouts have their jobs cut out for them and they need to quickly evaluate individual players, award them grade-point values and rank them according to their expertise. Their deadline is April 26, and that’s when the NFL draft commences.

Interestingly, more names have begun to crop up. Among those who are considered to be up-and-coming talents include Brandon Flowers from Virginia Tech, Antoine Cason from Arizona and Penn’s State Justin King.

The Atlanta Falcons started their high energy and spirited veteran mini camp practice session on Monday under the watchful eyes of head coach Mike Smith. The first day of the camp itself provided the much needed energy booster for the Falcon boys as the abundant energy in Coach Smith got transferred to the players. The Falcon players were amazed with the amount of energy that the head coach possessed and his enthusiasm and passion for the game of football was clearly visible during the first day of the camp itself.

It is clearly evident that the coaching staff has decided to infuse more energy and power into the Falcon players as they had performed very badly during the 2007 season. Smith informed the media after the first day’s camp that he was very pleased that the coaching staffs were really able to instill some football tactics into the Falcon players. Smith said that the main focus of the mini camp is to develop positive body language in the players.

Bryant Gumbel has announced that he would not return to the NFL Network as play by play announcer for the pre-season and eight game regular season package of NFL games. This statement has been confirmed by the NFL Network as well.

Sources further added that Gumbel on air game calling following his first season has resulted in NFL Network’s displeasure. They were dissatisfied but did not take action prior to last season. To date, Gumbel has never had play by play announcing experience before his stint at NFL Network.

NFL Network president and CEO Steve Bornstein was neutral about the whole drama, saying that “We appreciate everything Bryant did in helping us launch our NFL Network game telecasts. Bryant helped create an interest in our first foray into televising NFL regular season games.”

However, Gumbel’s partner, Cris Collinworth, gets to keep his job as color commentator. The latest update is that NFL Network is voraciously seeking Gumbel’s replacement. Gumbel is also host of HBO Channel’s Real Sports segment.

The House Judiciary Committee is not too pleased with the NFL and the NFL Players Association due to the fact that the league’s medical care system is “subject to a variety of conflicts of interest which appear to be detrimental to players” or in layman terms, their players are not given the best medical care that the NFL and the union can afford to provide.

Lawmakers of the Committee reacted based on findings provided by a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report that reveals players’ disabilities and their benefits concerning medical care. Findings include facts that there is not particular party that tracks the health of retired NFL players. The NFL has also failed to comply to regulations and did not make the effort to obtain independent research to establish medical care policies. Additionally, the NFL Players Association also has very little authority over health issues concerning their  players, and to rub salt on wounds, the findings also discovered that the union’s medical adviser is a part timer!

Research also shows that NFL players have very limited access and knowledge about their own medical records. Will the NFL and its union be in hot soup? Only time will tell!

Michael brown, Mississippi State offensive lineman and Quinton Wesley, defensive lineman of the same football team have both been dismissed by the authorities of the school. This was announced by the school on Friday. They had earlier been arrested following an incident in the campus involving two handguns. There was however no harm done and the guns have been taken away by the police of the university.

Brown, who is a junior, was charged with possessing a firearm and Wesley who is a sophomore was accused of assault. Both of these are felony charges. Brown had been the left tackle for the team in the 2007 season. Wesley played in a total of 12 games and totaled 19 tackles.

 In another incident freshman Stephen Garcia was suspended from the South Carolina redshirt team. He is said to have violated the rules of the university and has been suspended through August 15.