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When you look at Brett Favre today, you see one of he greatest quarterbacks to have ever played in the NFL.

The Brett Favre most people know can win games simply with desire. The Brett Favre most people know is the ultimate competitor.

Brett Favre is a Super Bowl winning quarterback who once won three straight NFL MVP awards. He also holds several NFL passing records. Brett Favre has been to the Pro Bowl so many times that it would probably be cheaper for the NFL to buy him a house in Hawaii as opposed to spending money on his hotel. There’s even a Brett Favre Day honored by the state of Wisconsin.

There’s even rumors that Brett Favre may have a slight chance at getting into the Hall of Fame. We’ll let you know when we can confirm that.

Things weren’t always great for Brett Favre, though.

In 1991, Brett Favre was drafted out of the University of Southern Mississippi in the 2nd round by the Atlanta Falcons. As the 33rd overall player drafted, he was the 3rd quarterback chosen in the draft behind Dan McGwire and Todd Marinovich.

We’ll go ahead and pause for a few minutes for your ribs to stop hurting from the laughter. Actually, it might take a while for the laughter to subside, so we’re going to take a trip around the world…on foot. Maybe the laughing will be out of your system by then.

We all know hindsight is 20/20, so we won’t pick on the general managers too much.

The head coach of the Atlanta Falcons at the time, Jerry Glanville, wasn’t a big fan of Brett Favre. In fact, he said that it would take a plane crash for him to put Brett Favre into the game. Of course, Brett Favre didn’t do himself any favors when he did get on the field. His first ever throw in the NFL was an interception. The next three passes were incompletions.

Along with reports of problems with alcohol, that was basically Brett Favre’s entire career with the Atlanta Falcons.

It’s not a surprise that the Atlanta Falcons were ecstatic when then Green Bay Packers general manager Ron Wolf came calling with a first round draft pick dangling on a hook. In 1991, Ron Wolf was the assistant general manager for the New York Jets. He pushed very hard for the team to draft Brett Favre, but the Atlanta Falcons, who drafted one spot before them, beat them to the punch. Once he got the general manager position with the Green Bay Packers, he immediately set his sights on Brett Favre.

By the way, in case you’re wondering, that first round draft pick that the Green Bay Packers traded ended up being running back Tony Smith. He has a career total of 329 rushing yards in 3 years.

If you want more evidence about how badly Ron Wolf wanted Brett Favre, take a look at the fact that he overruled the team’s doctors. The physicians had diagnosed Brett Favre with avascular necrosis, which is a degenerative hip condition that ended the career of Bo Jackson.

Ron Wolf sure looks like a genius now, doesn’t he?

In life, it’s not about how many times you fall. It’s about how many times you get up. Brett Favre now looks back fondly at his short career in Atlanta and realizes that the experience helped turn him into the champion that he is now.

Check out the Brett Favre Atlanta Falcons Jersey from Mitchell & Ness.

The James Madison Dukes are 2-0 ATS while the Eastern Kentucky Colonels have played better teams but have been dominated as well. James Madison just has more players who can chip in and should take the victor. College Basketball Free Pick: James Madison +2.

Anderson Varejao has publicly stated that he’s done with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He does not want to play for the organization at all.

Right now, Anderson Varejao is a restricted free agent. He’s sitting out the season because the Cleveland Cavaliers won’t pay him the $10 million a year that he’s looking for. The Cleveland Cavaliers are wisely refusing to budge on their stance. While they value what Anderson Varejao brings to the team, they really don’t want to commit that much money to him.

From the looks of it, there’s not going to be too many teams that are going to be willing to commit that much money to him. While the league has been known to overpay for size, $10 million a year seems a bit much for the 6′10″, 240 backup forward. Anderson Varejao’s numbers aren’t that impressive on paper, but he does bring energy, hustle, and defense to the floor. Those are qualities that every general manager looks for. However, they also believe that they can get similar production at a much lower price tag.

His agent, Dan Fegan, still believes otherwise. He’s willing to take the risk and wait things out. Dan Fegan has pulled off miracles before as he once was able to secure a combined $80+ million for Howard Eisley and Shandon Anderson. He’s so confident that he can get a great contract for Anderson Varejao that he’s even pulling the European card here. Dan Fegan has the 25 year old Brazilian telling people that he would be willing to go play overseas in Europe if needed. Of course, he’d probably be hard pressed to get more than $5 million a season in Europe, but we understand him using the threat as leverage.

If Anderson Varejao would be willing to lower his asking price to about $7 million a year, then there should be plenty of offers for him. Almost every playoff team would love to have him providing a spark off the bench for that amount.

It’s quite interesting that the Cavaliers are refusing to give him that big contract. Right now, the team is sitting at 4th place in the Eastern Conference, but general manager Danny Ferry knows full well that they need another big man.

Currently, the Cavaliers only have two big men averaging more than 20 minutes a game. Of course, it helps that Drew Gooden and Zydrunas Ilgauskas are averaging a combined 29 points and 21 rebounds a game. Plus, LeBron James has been having a superhuman season and pulling down 8 rebounds a game to help out. For long term success, though, the Cavaliers would much rather see another player chipping in to help them average that amount. There’s even talks of the team being interested in underachieving center Nazr Mohammed and his big contract.

So, basically, Anderson Varejao’s tenure with the Cavaliers is over.

Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor has died.

On Monday, he was shot by an intruder in his home. Sean Taylor was shot in his leg, which caused him to lose a massive amount of blood. He was airlifted to the hospital, where doctors said that he was fighting for his life.

Some optimistic signs were announced as Sean Taylor was able to grasp a doctor’s hand on command. Plus, he was able to make some facial expressions.

However, hope didn’t last too long as Sean Taylor passed away.

To quote Sean Taylor’s attorney, this was a “tragic, horrible, unnecessary death”.

Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor was reported as being in critical condition after being shot by an intruder at his home in South Miami. This is really scary and shows that crime really affects everyone including big stars with lots of money. The reports say that Taylor and his girlfriend heard noises in the house and he proceeded to check out the situation with a weapon. The intruder opened the master bedroom door and shot Taylor before he could respond and severed his femoral artery, causing him to bleed uncontrollably.  Taylor’s defense attorney Richard Sharpstein is quoted as saying “Doctors are worried whether he’s going to make it or whether he’ll be brain-dead” and “It looks bleak.” The recent news did mention that Taylor was able to squeeze a doctors hand when requested to.

Police are still investigating the incident but it is weird that the burglar would head to the master bedroom and proceed to shooting but most likely the criminal was flustered after making loud noises. However the house was broken into a couple of days before and Taylor did have some issues with some men in  West Perrine after being arrested for pointing a gun on the men. His GMC Yukon Denali was sprayed with bullets minutes after the incident but no one was present in the car.

This comes back to the fact that many athletes have a hard time leaving bad company behind. There are plenty of athletes who grew up in bad environments and tend to have loyal friends that are just involved in that bad business. Michael Vick is a current prime example and Allen Iverson was in the news a couple of years ago for having an entourage that was bad rep. Hopefully athletes will be able to either take these bad counterparts out of bad situations or cut their ties all together to save themselves and their families. Taylor’s cousin Anthony Leon was quoted as saying “He’s been trying to stay away from bad company — especially for his daughter’s sake.”

Take the under here as it should be a lock pick because of the struggling offenses of both teams and the heavy rain expected to drench the field. The over/under opened at 43 and is currently at 38. Free NFL pick: Under on Pittsburgh Miami game.

With most other players in the league, it’s news when they are injured. With Kenyon Martin, it’s news when he’s NOT injured.

On Monday, an MRI was performed on Kenyon Martin. It revealed that he has a bone bruise on his right tibia. The former first overall pick is listed as doubtful for the Denver Nuggets’ game against the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night. He’s listed as “day to day” afterwards, which basically means that no one is certain when he’ll return.

Fans of the Denver Nuggets already joke that Kenyon Martin is always on “day to day” status.

Ever since the Denver Nuggets traded three first round draft picks to the New Jersey Nets to acquire him, fans have been accustomed to seeing Kenyon Martin on the injured list. He’s had microfracture surgery on both knees in the past few years. Even when he was healthy, he managed to underachieve by constantly causing chemistry issues with the team.

Now would have been a good time for Kenyon Martin to step up and produce for the team. He’s started all 13 games that he’s played in this year, but he’s only been able to stay on the floor for approximately 22 minutes a night. He’s also only producing 9 points and 5 rebounds a game. With him being paid more than $13 million this year, that’s not going to cut it. The team needs more than that since Nene Hilario has only been able to play 5 games this year.

The Utah Jazz has a slight lead over the Denver Nuggets right now in the standings. Had Kenyon Martin been able to produce, there’s a chance the Denver Nuggets would be sitting atop the Northwest Division.

Granted, players don’t have much control over injuries. It might even sound a bit harsh to criticize Kenyon Martin at the moment. However, he’s hasn’t necessarily proven himself to be a team player throughout the years, so it’s understandable to pounce on him.

To say that LeBron James is off to a good start this season would be an understatement.

He’s currently earning every penny of his $13 million contract this year. In the first 14 games of the season, LeBron James has managed to achieved a triple double in four of those games.

LeBron James secured his first triple double of the season against the Utah Jazz by pulling off 32 points, 15 rebounds, and 13 assists. Against the Orlando Magic, he managed 39 points, 14 rebounds, and 13 assists. Against the Toronto Rapters, LeBron James had 37 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists. The next night against the Indiana Pacers, he had 30 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists.

To his credit, LeBron James came close on a few other occasions. Early in the season, he had 24 points, 13 rebounds, and 9 assists against the Golden State Warriors. In his second game against the Utah Jazz, he had 40 points, 10 rebounds, and 9 assists.

That’s nothing to sneeze at.

For the season, LeBron James is currently standing at averages of 31 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists.

Scoring 31 points a game makes him the league’s top scorer at the moment. That in itself is a pretty impressive feat. To do that while also chipping in 8 rebounds and 8 assists is simply amazing. Not only is LeBron James contributing 31 points, but he’s also responsible for at least another 16 points off of passes. With that in mind, only a fool would think that he’s not the leading candidate for Most Valuable Player.

Of course, LeBron James is saying all the right things. He’s making sure that people don’t think that he’s doing all of this for personal gratification. LeBron James is constantly reminding people that his triple doubles only mean something if his team wins the game. Thus far, his record is 2-2 whenever he manages a triple double.

A lot of eyes are also on LeBron James to see if he can manage to average a triple double for the season. That’s a feat that’s virtually impossible to do.

The last man to pull off that feat (the legendary Oscar Robertson) retired well before the majority of basketball fans were even born.

Week 12 could mean the return of Ricky Williams to NFL football after being reinstated by commissioner Roger Goodell and he could still make a big impact in the league if he can focus. Williams has a problem with marijuana use which he states is for social anxiety disorder and has been in and out of football for quite a while. The Miami Dolphins who currently have him on their roster are without starting running back Ronnie Brown after a season ending injury and also are without backup Jesse Chatman for this week’s game versus the Pittsburgh Steelers. This means that Ricky Williams should see some reps and may even start of the other available running back Patrick Cobbs.

For those who are unaware of the potential Williams had when he first came into the league, understand that Mike Ditka regarded him as the best back he has seen in a while and was comparable to he great Walter Payton which is why coach Ditka traded all of the New Orleans Saints’ draft picks that year to move up and draft Williams. Ricky was a major talent and dominated the college scene as many outstanding backs do. He was a monster that was hard to tackle and hard to catch up with once he got started which is one of the reasons he won the 64th Heisman Trophy. Williams also chalked up 200 yards or more in 12 different games (but not against the Texas Tech Red Raiders, Go Tech) in his final year in college and holds or shares 20 NCAA records.

If Williams can knock the habit of marijuana, he is sure to become a very useful power back that can take the brunt of the load. He has power similar to Steven Jackson, Marion Barber, and Adrian Peterson and many teams can use a powerful bruiser that is very mobile as well. Looking at Adrian Peterson’s monster numbers this year makes one wonder how Ricky could have fared. His stats as a starter in 2002 for the Dolphins, when he was focused was pretty good with 1853 total yards, 16 rushing TDs, and a 4.8 yard average per carry.

Look for Ricky to bring back a little flare back in his game even against a tough defense like the Steelers. He has added some upper body muscle and weighs in at 231 and has been getting a higher percentage of reps during practice. Fantasy football players should definitely keep an eye on Williams and those who own Jesse Chatman or Ronnie Brown should already have picked him up.

The free pick for Sunday is the over on the Patriots versus Eagles game. New England has been scoring like mad men and with the over set at 51, this should an easy win for bettors taking the over. Expect the Patriots to score over 40 and the Eagles to chip in a couple of points as well. Free NFL football pick: Over on Patriots game.