NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton on Wednesday that there would be “serious consequences” for the Vikings if a stadium bill is not completed.

A Minnesota House committee voted down a bill on Monday that would have offered for a new stadium at the site of the Metrodome, leaving the Vikings’ extended-term fate up in the air. The team is committed to playing in the Metrodome for the 2012 season, even though its lease expired last year.

According to the St. Paul Pioneer-Press, Eric Grubman, the NFL’s executive vice president of ventures and business operations, stated the circumstance was “ripe for adjust.”

“I don’t know if that implies a sale. I don’t know if that indicates a move. You have a very dejected ownership,” Grubman stated.

In an interview with the Minnesota Star Tribune, Grubman mentioned “there are plenty of willing buyers.”

“I think the Wilfs do not want to sell the franchise, but I think there is a point where they most likely would be open-minded to listening to options,” he said. “To my information, they have not been willing to do that at this point … I doubt the commissioner would place probablilities or threaten or something like that. But I would not be shocked if the commissioner tells the governor, if he asks, what other cities are interested in the Vikings since we are aware of that.”

If a deal isn’t reached this year for a new stadium in Minnesota, Grubman mentioned he believes the league’s criteria for approving relocation of the franchise would be met.

“Who’s holding this up?” Grubman asked. “Who doesn’t want this to be voted on? Stand up and be counted.”

Roger Chamberlain, a state senator who introduced a competing bill to shift considerably of the stadium cost from the taxpayers to the Vikings, answered the league’s concern.

“It’s disappointing to believe the NFL or the Vikings are driving policy for Minnesota government,” Chamberlain wrote in an e mail. “They want to be prepared to come back to the table and negotiate. The Vikings and NFL are in a a lot much better monetary position than our state.”

Dayton holds out hope a bill can be reached this year, if not just before the finish of the session, then possibly in a particular session following the November elections.

Goodell has another phone call scheduled for Thursday with Dayton and Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II, who chairs the league’s stadium committee.

(About:) This write-up was distributed by Syndicated Sports news wire and aggregation service, For much more NFL news see: Goodell: Minn. faces ‘serious consequences’ more than stadium bill.

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Petrino passed over one particular of his Falcons to hire his mistress

Posted by Michael David Smith on April 14, 2012, 7:39 AM EDT

When Bobby Petrino walked out on the Falcons to coach Arkansas in 2007, he did so in a style that had his players feeling betrayed. It turns out that the circumstances that led to his departure from Arkansas this week involved betraying one of the players on that Falcons team as well.

Petrino was fired simply because, amongst other items, he hired a lady he had an affair with, Jessica Dorrell, for the position of player development coordinator for the Arkansas football program. Dorrell was quick-tracked for the job and was the 1st person interviewed even although she wasn’t qualified for it, and she ultimately was chosen over the second person interviewed: Ben Wilkerson, who played for Petrino on the Falcons in 2007. It’s now clear that Wilkerson’s interview was a sham created to hide the truth that Petrino’s sole objective in the hiring procedure was to get his mistress a job.

Sports Illustrated has detailed the bogus job search that Arkansas conducted prior to hiring Dorrell, and there’s no way to look at it and not conclude that Petrino wasted Wilkerson’s time with an interview due to the fact he wanted to make it appear like Arkansas was thinking about other applicants. Wilkerson was certainly more certified than Dorrell for the job, but Wilkerson didn’t have the benefit of sleeping with Petrino.

One of the “minimum qualifications” for the player development coordinator position was “two years of prior knowledge inside a football system.” Dorrell had no encounter within a football system at all. Wilkerson was a 4-year starter at LSU, a 1st-team All-American on a team that won the national championship, and an NFL player who went back to LSU and worked with the football plan immediately after his playing career ended. Another qualification listed for the position was “master’s degree in related field.” Dorrell does not have a master’s degree Wilkerson has a master’s degree in sports management from LSU.

Wilkerson wasn’t the only applicant who got passed over 159 folks applied for the job and the Sports Illustrated investigation discovered that several were naturally a lot more qualified than Dorrell. The third individual Arkansas claimed was a finalist for the job that Dorrell was going to get all along, a lady named Tiffany Fields, was drastically much more certified than Dorrell as effectively. Fields has two master’s degrees from Arkansas and has previously worked for the football system as a tutor, and she has also helped Arkansas organize summer football camps, which is a single of the player development coordinator’s duties.

After Wilkerson was passed over at Arkansas he accepted a job as Grambling’s offensive line coach, and he mentioned this week that he doesn’t want to speak about the knowledge of interviewing at Arkansas.

“I’m prepared to just go on,” he said. “Of course I interviewed for the position, but I’d rather not talk about it simply because of the entire factor . . . I’m starting a new job now and that’s my focal point.”

When Petrino left the Falcons, he was described by other individuals in the locker room as “classless” and “a gutless bastard.” Wilkerson is taking the high road publicly, but privately he could be forgiven if he has even stronger words than that for Petrino.

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1. spellingcopfather says: Apr 14, 2012 7:43 AM

   Gave this young lady a great job &amp $ 20 thousand, plus risk his marriage, damn she need to got some excellent a$ $ !!!

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PALM BEACH, Fla. — New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson addressed his fellow owners Monday morning regarding his team’s “bounty” scandal, according to league sources who had been in attendance.

Benson’s comments weren’t categorized as an apology for the scandal that resulted in coach Sean Payton being suspended for the season, common manager Mickey Loomis being suspended for eight games and the team being fined $ 500,000 and docked two draft picks. Former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was suspended indefinitely.

It was an “appropriate” address, according to 1 team owner, who echoed other individuals who mentioned Benson spoke about feeling negative about his team’s involvement with bounties. Benson also reiterated he was unaware about bounties that awarded his players for creating big hits and intentionally trying to harm opponents.

“He was disheartened about the circumstance,” Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay said. “He was extremely supportive of his individuals. His tone was great.”

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wouldn’t go into specifics about what Benson said, only revealing that the Saints’ owner was “open” and “disappointed.”

Benson didn’t address the media.

Follow Steve Wyche on Twitter @wyche89.

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While Peyton Manning was touring the Broncos team facility and wining and dining with Broncos executive vice president John Elway and head coach John Fox on Friday, incumbent beginning quarterback Tim Tebow was busy prepping for a Saturday event all the way across the nation in Tampa, Fla.

All of the Manning hoopla appears to have gotten to Tebow, as he uncharacteristically canceled a media session Saturday, according to WTSP-Tv, and a source close to the quarterback told The Denver Post that Tebow won’t comment on the Broncos’ pursuit of Manning until “after the smoke clears.”

The supply described Tebow as philosophical about the Broncos’ interest in Manning. Owner Pat Bowlen reportedly is ready to do whatever it takes to land Manning and funds will not be an problem, a league source told the Post on Friday.

Tebow led the Broncos to an AFC West title and a wild-card round win over the Pittsburgh Steelers final season after taking over the starting position in Week 7.

(About:) This article was distributed by Syndicated Sports news wire and aggregation service, For more NFL news see: Report: Tebow silent over Broncos’ interest in Peyton Manning.

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Rams’ Brady Poppinga rips Gregg Williams over bounties

Posted by Michael David Smith on March 9, 2012, four:04 AM EST

Linebacker Brady Poppinga and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams are both at the moment under contract to the Rams, although it’s not clear whether or not either a single of them will be with the team for considerably longer. That’s just as properly, simply because Poppinga doesn’t have much respect for Williams.

Poppinga, who becomes a totally free agent subsequent week, says that Williams, who may be suspended for running a bounty program with the Saints, did something “degrading,” “animalistic” and “repulsive” in orchestrating bounties in New Orleans.

“I just can’t sit there and be silent,” Poppinga told Alex Marvez of FOXSports.com. “I look at this as an opportunity to share with the public that we, as football players, are not barbaric and out to try and destroy almost everything in our path. Football is my profession and I take it seriously. It’s an art form. It’s technical, strategic and takes a lot of intelligence to play. When this came out, it started to confirm the concept that football guys are idiots. That’s not who we are. Ninety-five percent of the guys are quite intelligent. It’s just guys who really like to go out and play a physical game.”

Poppinga mentioned he doesn’t like the message that the bounty scandal sends.

“It’s a massive problem in society not figuring out how to compete with the appropriate perspective,” Poppinga said.

As for whether or not Poppinga has any future on the Rams’ defense, exactly where he began 12 games final season, Poppinga mentioned he’s not worried about that.

“If they’re not going to want me on the team simply because of that, that’s fine,” Poppinga stated.

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Nearly a month immediately after his “dance” moves at a New England Patriots Super Bowl postgame non-victory party drew criticism from some and bewilderment from others, tight finish Rob Gronkowski said he can understand the viewpoint of fans.

But he’s not about to let his function ethic come into question.

The video of a shirtless Gronkowski jumping about a dance floor, on an ankle injury that had his status for the game in question, drew the ire of a lot of, such as former Patriot Rodney Harrison. Others — notably one of his bosses, Jonathan Kraft — didn’t take problem with the scene.

Gronkowski, ever the student, drew from the Bill Belichick cache of responses in the course of an interview with 97.5 FM in Philadelphia on Friday, explaining that, essentially, he was just having fun.

“I always put my job first, prior to something, no matter what it is. I’m usually dedicating myself,” Gronkowksi said.

“Unfortunately, I mean, it just happened like that. It just is what it is,” he added. “I had a lot of entertaining with my household, and that was the initial time I got to see them in awhile. We had been just having entertaining with my brothers, close friends I hadn’t seen in a whilst. The likelihood of hanging out with LMFAO, that was fairly cool also. Regrettably we didn’t win and that was the No. 1 goal.”

Gronkowski, who stated he’s nevertheless in a cast and on crutches following surgery on the ankle, admitted he’s not more than the loss emotionally.

But he quite considerably appeared over the loss in the video in question, and it was suggested that many perceive he could have taken the loss harder.

“Yes, undoubtedly I could see the fan’s viewpoint,” Gronkowski stated. “I’m 100 percent in every single single game, every single practice. It was absolutely a difficult loss. I was hurting from it, everyone was hurting from it. You don’t operate that tough all year to get to the final game and shed. It just hurts.

“It just went on. I’m an simple-going type of guy. I attempt and get over items as soon as possible. Life just moves on.”

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Mike Martz will not return for a third season as the Chicago Bears’ offensive coordinator, the team announced Tuesday, hours after firing common manager Jerry Angelo.

A league source told NFL Network insider Jason La Canfora that Martz walked into Bears coach Lovie Smith’s workplace Tuesday morning and announced that he didn’t intend to come back because of philosophical differences over how the team could run its offense.

Quarterbacks coach Shane Day also will not return.

“After meeting with Mike this afternoon, we both felt it was finest to move in diverse directions,” Smith stated in a statement released by the team. “I appreciate the job he and Shane did for us over the last two years.”

There had been rampant speculation as the season dragged on that Martz, who had an expiring contract, could be done in Chicago. Smith was noncommittal when asked Monday throughout his finish-of-year news conference if he would retain Martz, who was the mastermind of “The Greatest Show On Turf” as the St. Louis Rams’ offensive coordinator and coach.

Monday’s changes come following the Bears finished the season 8-8 following a collapse marked by season-ending injuries to quarterback Jay Cutler and running back Matt Forte, along with the arrest of backup wide receiver Sam Hurd on federal drug charges.

Caleb Hanie struggled in a large way filling in for Cutler, going -4 as the starter before Josh McCown received the nod. There were pricey blunders by backup running back Marion Barber in back-to-back close losses to the Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos. Roy Williams also dropped a certain touchdown pass in that seven-point loss to the Chiefs.

Now Smith is looking for his fourth offensive coordinator as he prepares for his ninth season as the Bears’ coach. Offensive line coach Mike Tice might be very first in line for an interview, even although he has in no way been an offensive coordinator. He was heavily involved with the offense as the Minnesota Vikings’ coach for 4 seasons.

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GREEN BAY, Wis. — Packers guard Evan Dietrich-Smith said Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh named him to apologize a few days soon after Suh’s infamous Thanksgiving Day stomp.

As far as Dietrich-Smith is concerned, that was the end of a widely publicized incident that earned Suh a two-game suspension — and briefly made Dietrich-Smith well-known for all the incorrect causes.

“He’s cool, he apologized, and there’s no tough feelings and that’s pretty much it,” Dietrich-Smith stated.

With the Lions coming to Lambeau Field for Sunday’s standard-season finale, Dietrich-Smith doesn’t expect anything out of the ordinary to happen between him and Suh if they’re on the field together.

“I think we’ve all moved past it,” Dietrich-Smith said. “It’s a large understanding expertise for everybody. I think every person in the league can take note of almost everything that occurred, and I feel every player is going to take a step forward to move past that sort of stuff.”

Even in the heat of the moment, Dietrich-Smith mentioned he wasn’t tempted to snap back at Suh.

“Stuff happens,” Dietrich-Smith said. “It’s football. It’s an emotional game. Often you get carried away and you understand from those sorts of items, and that’s about it.”

Dietrich-Smith is a backup for the Packers and was playing on Thanksgiving following an injury to proper guard Josh Sitton. Dietrich-Smith has began 4 consecutive games considering that then due to the fact of injuries, three at right guard and one at left guard.

Now Dietrich-Smith hopes he’ll be better identified for his play instead of as the guy who was stomped by Suh.

“It’s constantly better when it’s about football,” Dietrich-Smith mentioned. “That’s how we’re often looking forward. Our performances on the field are constantly going to speak a lot more than the words we (say) in the locker space.”

Lions coach Jim Schwartz stated he doesn’t anticipate any retribution toward Suh from the Packers.

“Ndamukong didn’t strategy on performing that,” Schwartz mentioned in a conference call with members of the media in Green Bay. “He lost his composure in the heat of the moment. I’d be very, very surprised if any team — Green Bay Packers included — was to program a thing like that. It’s a quite physical game, it’s difficult, sometimes folks make decisions on the field, but I’d be really shocked if anything like that’s premeditated.”

Copyright 2011

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