Curse word

Whew. I will not have to spend the 2012 season waiting for the Madden Curse to strike down Rob Gronkowski.

The future hall of fame tight end lost -- badly -- to Megatron (Calvin Johnson) in the online voting to be the cover boy for the video game Madden '13. I guess my 50,000 votes for Johnson helped. My right hand is sore but it was worth it.

Madden is one of the best video games ever created... way back in the late '80s. I was working the overnight shift back then and had time to play a lot of video games while "watching" my daughters. It was quite a change in the sports gaming experience. One that me and my nephews would later play whenever we would get together. My team would always lose. Sorry Ryan.

It's a great game. With an even better curse. Their favorite player gracing the Madden cover has replaced the SI jink as the thing fans should fear the most. Well, other than Eli Manning in a Super Bowl. The big guy himself (Madden) was on the cover for the first decade of the game, but in 1999 EASports decided to start putting star players on the box.

The first choice was runningback Garrison Hearst of the 49ers. He soon broke his foot and missed the next two seasons. Next up (or down) was Barry Sanders -- one of the greatest runners in the history of the game who was in the prime of his career. He decided to retire. Then there was Dorsey Levens (out of the game in a year), Eddie George (fumble to lose a big playoff game), Dante Culpepper (two blown knees), Marshall Faulk (knee), Ray Lewis (wrist), Donovan McNabb (torn ligaments), Shaun Alexander (foot), Vince Young (mental breakdown), Brett Favre (victim of Bounty-gate), Troy Palamalu (ligaments), and last year's cover boy Peyton Hillis who missed games due to a hamstring injury and a strep throat. The Madden Curse is nothing if not creative.

There's one other victim of the curse. The biggest one of all. Michael Vick. The dog whisperer. Vick adorned the game cover in 2004 in his sharp white and red Atlanta Falcons uniform. Vick was the man at the time. The greatest thing to hit football since... well, the previous greatest thing to hit football. My nephew Ryan (Sorry Ryan) took Vick with his first pick in our family fantasy football league. We do the draft down the Cape, often with some preseason football on the TV in the background. The draft had hardly ended when word came that Vick had suffered a broken fibula and was lost to the Falcons (and Ryan) for the whole season before the season even began. Poor Mike Vick. We thought the Madden Curse really got him. Of course the curse was just getting warmed up with #7. A few years later the football world would learn that Vick was holding dog fights at his mansion and that some of the dogs were killed. Vick would be tried and sentenced to jail.

Now THAT'S a curse.

I'll be voting for Aaron Rogers to win the cover competition.

Sorry Packer fans.

Finally moving on

Easter Sunday found me, my brother, and nephews talking football (who really wants to talk Sox right now?). Who will the Pats draft with those two first-round picks? Will the Pats even use those two first-round picks? How bad will the Tebow-Sanchez mess in NY be? Can Brandon Lloyd play like '07 Randy? Who's more to blame for that infamous missed pass in the Super Bowl, Brady or Welker?

I have been in the "it was a horrible pass" camp from the start. Brady blew it. Welker almost made a great catch but couldn't pull it in. Brady missed a wide open Welker with the Super Bowl on the line. Still hard to believe.

My nephew and my brother put more of the blame on Welker. They are in the "if it hits you in both hands and you don't catch it ... it's a drop" camp. Seems like that is the much larger group. And that could be because Brady never came out and said "I screwed up." He has let Welker take all the blame.  I'm still waiting to see if Brady will ever take his share.

When it was announced that Brady agreed to have his contract restructured to be more cap friendly, leading many to believe that the money will go to a long-term deal for #83, Shep texted me "That's Brady's way of saying 'Sorry Tim'. Will you let it go now?"

OK, time to let it go. Time to move on.

Brady is still the man. With the offense the Pats have assembled, this coming season may be his best yet.

Uniform look

Are you ready to fork over $150 for your all-new Patriots' game jersey?

The NFL and Nike sure hope you are. With much fanfare the league unveiled its line of updated uniforms. Meet the new unis, same as the old unis. They all look pretty much the same, except the Saints uniforms which have dollar signs where the fleur de lis used to be. I'm hoping that the Pats still break out their 1980s throwback uniforms. Love those.

Nike, taking over from Reebok as the league's apparel manufacturer, has made things sharper ... and tighter. The NFL must be looking to increase its market share with women. This should help.

Attention shoppers

The free agency megastore has been open for about two weeks now. The Buffalo Bills have had themselves a heck of a shopping spree, adding D linemen Mario Williams and former Patriot Mark Anderson. The Bills are going to be tough. They have to rank among the smartest shoppers so far. But what about Bill Belichick and the Patriots? They have added eleven new players. Eleven! But have they spent their money well?

ADD TO CART
The Patriots had several empty carts as shopping hours began. One cart is now overflowing. Wide receiver. The Pats added Anthony Gonzalez, Brandon Lloyd, and Donte Stallworth and they kept Deion Branch and Matthew Slater. And word is that Chad Johnsoncinco is busy studying the playbook and plans on sticking around ... at least long enough for his reality-TV wedding to take place. Tom Brady is going to have lots of guys to throw to. But the last time I checked, the game is played with only one ball. Lloyd and Gonzalez are excellent additions. Not sure what the heck Stallworth is doing back. I thought he was still in jail.

The Pats also added offensive lineman Robert Gallery, formerly of the Raiders. He was the second player taken in the 2004 draft but hasn't really lived up to that lofty position. But he is only 31 and working with magician Dante Scarnecchia may put him in the Pro Bowl. That's what Dante can do with talent. Gallery's signing is an indication that Matt Light might be calling it a career. A great career. The Pats also kept center Dan Connolly. A sign that Dan Koppen is probably not coming back.

Spencer Larsen, a fullback with Denver, was the most recent guy added to the roster. Since Belichick never uses his fullback I'm not too excited about that one. But he should be a good special teams guy. And of course the coach/GM got himself yet another tight end to play with, because apparently you can't have enough of 'em. He picked up Daniel Fells from the Broncos. I don't know what to say about that one.

The other empty shopping carts were all on the defensive side of the ball. They are still pretty empty. The Pats didn't get LaRon Landry as I had been hoping. He went to the Jets. He would have been of some help to Patrick Chung. Instead the Pats added safety Steve Gregory, formerly of the Chargers. He's not a bad player. But is he an improvement over James Ihedigbo? We'll see. The Pats also signed cornerback Will Allen. I thought he had retired. I guess that's Eric Allen. This Allen is 33 and has played with the Giants and Dolphins. Like Gallery, he was a first-round pick ... back in 2001. Hopefully he won't be another Duane Starks.

Other defensive signings were linemen Jonathan Fanene from Cincy and Trevor Scott from Oakland along with cornerback Marquice Cole from the Jets. Not exactly household names and not guys that I would have put in my shopping cart. But then again I didn't know much about Andre Carter and Mark Anderson last year and they turned out to be good purchases indeed. Belichick has a history of finding deals in other team's bargain bins.

NO SALE
Free agency is not just about buying things, it's also about putting some things back on the shelves. The Patriots chose not to bring a few of my favorite players up to the cash register. Mark Anderson joined the Bills formidable defensive front. He was a key player for the Patriots down the stretch and into the playoffs last year. But I guess not big enough for a raise. Hopefully the Pats will use that money to bring back Andre Carter.

The team also said goodbye to a fan favorite... BenJarvus Green-Ellis. Or Bennie as I liked to call him when I was yelling from my seats "Get Bennie into the bleeping game! Let's run the ball!" Bennie carried the ball 547 times in his career with the Patriots. He never fumbled. Not once. Every young player should study the way Bennie takes care of the ball. I'll buy that guy a beer if we ever meet in a bar. Bennie goes down as one of the great Patriot unsung heroes. The Bengals got themselves a good one. Thanks Bennie.

BENNIE: The good-hands man.

A new season

The 2012 NFL season has become must-see TV.

Forget "Game of Thrones." Forget "Fringe." Forget "Mad Men." (OK, don't forget "Game of Thrones.") The 2012 NFL season is providing more drama, romance, and comedy than anything cable TV can come up with ... and they haven't even played a game yet.

You want drama? How about Bounty-gate. The not-so-saintly New Orleans Saints' coaching staff being exposed as men who put a price (literally) on winning. A price that they are now paying for with their head coach's head. Sean Payton was suspended for the entire season. That's harsh. I thought four games. I guess he knew more about Bounty-gate than previously thought. Former D coach Greg Williams, the masterslime behind the whole mess, has been suspended indefinitely. There should be a job for him coaching Arena Football. The Saints -- just a few years removed from their Super Bowl title -- are in shambles. No coach. Franchise QB Drew Brees is unhappy with his non-contract. They are getting hit much harder than the Pats did for Spygate.

You want romance? How about Peyton Manning and John Elway walking hand-in-hand in the Rockies as they listen to John Denver on their matching orange iPods. They are the new Tom and Gisele. Will their romance result in a pair of sparkly new rings? That all depends on how the rings in Manning's spine hold up.

You want comedy? How about Tim "Jesus" Tebow going to Gotham City to play for Eatipus Rex. How is the son of God going to feel when Ryan tells him to "go get me an effin' snack"? Maybe Rex and the rest of the Jets can teach young Tebow all about teamwork, sportsmanship, and class. Oh that's right, they reportedly brought in Tebow to help fix the team's toxic chemistry. I guess cornerback Antonio Cromartie didn't get the memo when he Tweeted "We don't need Tebow."

The Jets trading for Tebow is just too good to be true ... if you are a Patriots fan. The team just gave their fragile franchise QB Mark Sanchez a nice contract extension to let him know that he is their man. Then less than a week later they trade for his replacement, uh, I mean his backup. I look forward to flipping on the NFL RedZone (I miss you Scott Hanson) and watching a Jets home game against ... let's say the much-improved Bills. The new Bills D line is knocking the heck out of Sanchez. The shaken QB tosses a few costly picks. The Jets fall behind early. A sound rises from the crowd as Fireman Ed sits with his hands on his helmet. What's that the crowd is chanting? It's kind of catchy... "Teee-bow... Tee-bow ... Tee-bow." Louder and louder. Mt. Ryan is faced with a decision bigger than his green gut. Stick with his guy Sanchez ... the real NFL quarterback ... or cave to the wishes of the crowd and put in Tebow?

Can you say quarterback controversy? If you don't think the chances of this happening aren't 100 percent then you don't watch much football. This will be the mother of all quarterback controversies.

Oh, and one more thing about Tebow. The Pats played him twice last year. Once in the playoffs. Combined score 88-33. Pats. Yes, Rex. Please get him on the field as often as possible.

Mile High Manning

The Peyton Manning watch is finally over. I thought it was going to take as long as it's taking the Republican party to pick a nominee.

The future hall of famer will take over the reins of the Denver Broncos. The 2012 season just got that much better.

Why?

Because the Broncos are going to visit Gillette. Make that Peyton Manning and the Broncos are going to visit Gillette. The schedule hasn't been announced yet (that comes next month), but my guess is it will be on a Monday night. Hopefully an October Monday night with that perfect crisp football feel in the air.

Peyton Manning against Tom Brady. And against Bill Belichick. In the Bronco orange. Yes, the 2012 football season just got that much better.

Welcome back, Peyton.

Catching on

Coming into the offseason, wide receiver was clearly an area of need. Not anymore.

Bill Belichick and the Pats' front office just built one of the deepest receiver corps in the league. How you liking that, Rex?

The Pats started the day by signing former Indy receiver Anthony Gonzalez. I've been a fan of the Ohio State grad since the Colts made him their first-round pick in '07. He's six feet and 193 pounds. He knows how to run routes (unlike Ocho). He's got great hands. He had a good rookie season and and even better sophomore year (57 catches, 4 TDs) before a knee injury took away most of his '09 and '10 seasons. He didn't fare too well last year without Peyton Manning and the Colts set him free. Gonzalez is 27 with lots of upside. And he's a model citizen.

You can't say that about the other receiver the Pats signed today. Brandon Lloyd. Another six footer. He and Gonzalez are no Megatron, but they bring a little more size to the passing game. And with Lloyd, a good deal of attitude. I want the Pats to have more attitude. Especially if they should find themselves facing little Manning and the Giants again in the Super Bowl. Lloyd has attitude. It's often on display in the video above. Lloyd is 30. That's the prime for a wideout. He spent his first two years catching a lot of passes for the Niners before getting traded to Washington. He immediately got on Joe Gibbs's bad side (he wasn't the only one) and he was soon on his way out and on to Chicago. He lasted a year there before reviving his career in Denver with head coach Josh McDaniels. In 2010 he had nearly 1,500 yards catching with 11 touchdowns. Lloyd said he couldn't wait to be reunited with McDaniels, now back at his old post as Pats' offensive coordinator where he belongs. Now they are back together. Time will tell if it works as well as the first time. But with Brady, Belichick, Welker, and McDaniels around him, I have a hunch Lloyd is going to thrive. Moss-like.

Lloyd signed for $12m over three years. Gonzalez will get much less than that. The Chargers signed Robert Meachem for more than the two combined. Robert Meachem. He's decent, but doesn't even get drafted in my family's fantasy league each summer. We draft about forty wide receivers. Forty. And no Meachem. The Chargers gave him $25 million. The Pats got Lloyd for half that. One team knows how to spend its cap money, one team doesn't. Hopefully the plan is to use some of that money saved and get Welker signed for three or four more years. 

Tom Brady and Gisele have to be feeling pretty good today. You think Brady had weapons last year? Here's the group of guys that #12 will be throwing to in 2012 if all goes as planned...

Wes Welker

Brandon Lloyd

Anthony Gonzalez

Deion Branch

Rob Gronkowski

Aaron Hernandez

Can you say six wide? Can you say so-long Chad? 

The Pats are all set at the receiver position. Now they can use those two first-rounders and two second-rounders on defense, defense, defense, and defense.