After a brush with a chainsaw left a cut on his index finger, Dolphin quarterback Josh McCown needed six stitches. After being on a six week recovery process, McCown is expected to be fit before the start of training camp next week, reports agent Mike McCartney. McCown has vowed not to touch a chainsaw again. McCown was signed for a two year $6.25M contract this February. He has his eyes set on becoming the 13th starting quarterback after Miami’s Dan Marino retired. He will be competing with John Beck and Chad Henne for the bid. This will be a very exciting season for the Dolphins, and the fans already have their tickets to show their support.

The New Orleans Saints linebacker Dan Morgan, who was drafted into the side two moths ago, took one of the harsh decisions in his life. He will not be seen playing in the NFL anymore as he has decided to retire from it due to the frequent injuries he sustains while playing. Dan Morgan has had a total of five concussions during his football career and had to miss the last 13 games of the 2007 season for the Carolina Panthers due to Achilles’ tendon. The rehabilitation for the leg injury he sustained did not work as planned and hence he had to take the decision of quitting the game.

Some NFL investigators visited the convicted dealer of steroids who claimed to have supplied anabolic steroids as well as human growth hormone to many NFL players and offensive line man Matt Lehr. David Jacobs was sentenced to probation for possessing steroids with the intention of distributing it on May 1^st.  According to a press report, the investigators met the dealer on 2^nd May and asked for documentary evidences and other information regarding the NFL players he was dealing with. Greg Aiello, a NFL spokesman confirmed the news. The attorney of Matt Lehr denied the allegation about his client and said that Lehr has passed the necessary NFL drug tests.         

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!

Nick Hardwick, the center for the Chargers, has undergone an operation on his foot that set right the foot injury that has been bothering him during the last six games of the 2007 football season. Hardwick had to sit out of four matches last year due to the foot injury and the foot specialist he consulted advised him to carry on playing if he did not feel much pain. Hardwick hoped that his foot would get better by taking some rest after the 2007 season, but that was not the case. Hence, on consultation with another foot specialist he decided to undergo the surgery.

Hardwick had been advised to take complete rest for a couple of months and the doctors have said that it would take at least four to six months for him to recover. Hardwick said that he would now concentrate and put his focus on getting better as soon as possible and said that he was not able to undergo the surgery immediately after the playoffs.

Terelle Pryor, the most reputed quarterback footballer in high school has been called upon to play for the Ohio State University and was instrumental in leading his school, Jeannette High School, to WPIAL and PIAA football championships. The Buckeyes were very happy that Terelle had chosen Ohio State as his football home and the coach, Jim Tressel, said that the future is very bright for Pryor.

His record speaks volume of the command he has over his game and his career so far has yielded 4,340 passing yards and 4,238 rushing yards. He was selected both as a junior as well as a senior player of the year by Pittsburgh Post Gazette and also by The Pittsburgh Tribune review. He has also won the High School player of the year title from USA Today, PrepNation, Superprep, EA Sports, Parade and many more. He is also a very capable basketball player, but his passion for football has made him sign with the Ohio State University.

The Green Bay Packers and their fans are not surprised by the announcement made by Mark Murphy, the Packers CEO, about the retirement of the No. 4 jersey, the favorite of their Quarterback Brett Favre, who has announced his retirement during a press conference on March 6th. Mark said that it was a pretty easy decision to retire the Jersey No. 4 considering Brett’s contributions to the team as well as to NFL as a whole.

Murphy is not sure about the date of the retirement ceremony but is sure to honor Favre in a well deserving manner. Murphy said that the date will be fixed seeking the convenience of the Packers as well as Favre’s. Murphy hopes that the day of retirement will be a great day in the history of Green Bay Packers. The earlier players who received the honor were Tony Canadeo No. 3; Don Hutson No. 14, Bart Starr No. 15, Ray Nitschke No. 66, and Reggie white No. 92.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers are on a signing spree this free agency season as they have already signed four new defensive players in the first two weeks of free agency. In the third week of the free agency on Monday, the Bucs went on and signed unrestricted free agent safety Eugene Wilson and the terms of agreement, as per the team’s policy, was not disclosed. Eugene is a veteran safety player who has been a member of two Super Bowl championship teams in New England. Wilson has served the Patriots for his first five seasons and he helped the New England Patriots to capture the league title in his rookie year as well as the next year.

Wilson is regarded to be a very well organized defender and has started in 55 games out of his 62 games during his five year tenure for the Patriots. Wilson also made 8 playoff starts during his stint with the Patriots and his career stats are as follows: 252 tackles, 28 passes that were defended, 4 fumble recoveries, 3 forced fumbles, 13 kick stops and 10 interceptions. Wilson suffered hamstring and groin injuries in the 2006 season and made a roaring comeback last season where he led his team, the New England Patriots, to a 16-0 win record during the regular season, which was the first by any team in the history of NFL.

Justin McCareins is returning back to Tennessee Titans as he signed an agreement with them last Wednesday. Tennessee Titans was the team that drafted McCareins in the year 2001. He was drafted in the Fourth-round and was traded to the New York Jets in the year 2004 as a second –round draft pick. He was in the starting lineup of Jets for the first two seasons with them, but was only in 13 starts in the last two seasons. He was removed from the New York jets early this month. The general manager of the Titans, Mike Reinfeldt is of opinion that Justin is a strong receiver and has the ability to play the down field.

He thinks that Justin will be an asset to the team as he has lot of experience in the game and will add depth to the receivers of the team. The Tennessee Titans are trying to improve the offense line of the team as they were able to make only nine touchdowns in the last season. The best year in the career of Justin was in 2003 when he made 47 catches for 813 yards and had a career high of seven touchdowns. Another ex-titan, Jevon Kearse also returned to the team this season with a two-year contract.

Quarterback Brett Favre announced his retirement formally in a press conference at the Lambeau Field last Thursday. By announcing his retirement, Favre ended his 17 year stint at the NFL and was considered to be the most exciting signal callers in the annals of NFL football. His career record stands at 61,555 yards, 160 wins, 5,377 completions, 442 touchdowns and 8,758 attempts. Green Bay Packers general manager, Ted Thompson, said that Favre has had one of the greatest successful careers in the history of NFL and was able to quit the game when he wanted to call it quits, which is a rare phenomenon in NFL.

He has played for the Packers for 16 long years and has given tremendous satisfaction to the Packers fans with his wonderful game. The Super Bowl Championship is the icing in the cake that the Packers fans will not forgot that easily. The Packers quarterback leaves behind a record of 253 consecutive starts for his team that will not be that easily broken. Favre is the NFL’s only player to be a three time MVP and has taken the Packers team to 11 playoff appearances. His hard working capacity and down to earth approach has made him a favorite player among football fans throughout the nation and this probably explains why he was voted as the people’s favorite player in the Harris poll of 2007.