Even Though It Probably Should Be, Titus Young’s NFL Career Isn’t Over

(Kevin Terrell/Associated Press)

Maybe there is something wrong with Titus Young.

I mean, really wrong. Some time down the road, perhaps we will find out that he is a tortured soul, haunted by personal demons and private childhood memories. Maybe something will come to light that makes us look back on his actions with a better understanding, a more sensitive touch with a pinch of empathy, if I may be so bold. It kind of happened with Brandon Marshall.

Until that time, it’s hard to not just shake your head and laugh in disbelief at what Young has “accomplished” in the past nine months:

Sucker-punched a teammate; became the ultimate freelance receiver; got suspended by the Lions for insubordination and then was basically told to go home for the rest of the year; went kamikaze on Twitter; got cut; signed with the Rams and got cut by them after nine days.

And that was just 2012-13. He was acting like a jerk long before then.

If you click that last link, you’ll see what Rams head coach Jeff Fisher had to say Friday when he released Young, and if you read between the lines, you can basically tell that he and the organization didn’t like what they heard from Young during their “extended interview process.”

Quick Hits About Week 2 In Fantasy Football

(Robert Sabo/New York Daily News)

Giants 41, Buccaneers 34

— But let’s start with some Week 3 stuff.

Big news out of New York today: Hakeem Nicks will NOT play tomorrow versus the Carolina Panthers (self-promotion). It’s totally unexpected after Nicks and Tom Coughlin said Tuesday that he would play in this game. Nicks had his surgically repaired foot stepped on during this victory and came up limping after a couple of plays. Ramses Barden will probably start in his place. He’s a huge target and someone to look at if you’re really desperate. Victor Cruz might see about 40 targets in the game, for serious. Tight end Martellus Bennett is a solid play as well.

— My preseason crush, David Wilson, just keeps getting pushed to the back of the line. You’d think he would get some work with Ahmad Bradshaw sidelined, but instead, Andre Brown, who spent time with four teams in 2010 alone, gets 13 carries for 71 yards and scores a touchdown. How many carries did Wilson get after Bradshaw left early in the second quarter?

One. One freakin’ carry.

Maybe that changes tomorrow, but I have to believe that Brown, even though he’s not a long-term option, is at least a flex play against a defense that has allowed the fourth-most points to running backs through two weeks.

— Also, this whole Schiano-Coughlin disagreement about how to approach a kneel-down situation shouldn’t really be a big story, but since it is, let me say that I totally agree with Schiano. And I’m a Giants fan.

It’s a one-possession game, time is running out, so you should do anything within the rules to try to get the ball back. If that means bull-rushing the offensive line, so be it. You play until the game is over. Since the game isn’t over at that point, the Giants’ front and Eli Manning should be expecting the Buccaneers to do something to force a turnover.

A bunch of people are shouting about how you can get someone hurt, and that’s not how it’s done in the pros. Well, why not? Why concede with time on the clock when all you need is one touchdown? Yes, Schiano’s defense was dreadful in that fourth quarter. But that doesn’t mean it should just pack up and head home with five seconds on the clock.

I don’t want to bring up Joe Pisarcik here because that was almost 35 years ago, but you can’t tell me there is absolutely, positively, no chance whatsoever that Manning fumbles that final snap. It’s heavily unlikely, but I am totally cool with the Buccaneers going after him in that situation. If the rest of the league doesn’t like it, return the favor, and then be ready to guard yourself on that last snap as if it was the first from now on.

Quick Hits About Week 1 In Fantasy Football

Say hello to the 2012 edition of Tebowing

What was the most important event this weekend in fantasy football?

Well, it’s obviously the fact that I scored the most points in my one and only league, winning my matchup and becoming 1-0 for the first time since the Reagan Administration. I am sure I will now go 16-0.

It’s that kind of overreaction that I’ll try to stay away from in these recap posts, but it’s probably not possible. Through these eyes, blurred by liters of sweat and Malibu, here’s what I saw in Week 1.

Cowboys 24, Giants 17

— Damn, Ahmad Bradshaw looks old and slow. I’m not expecting him to make it through a full season, but he resembled something close to the 2009 and 2010 version of Clinton Portis out there. Not panicking yet.

— Cheer up, David Wilson. It was one bad game, but I still have faith in you over the long haul.

— If you haven’t done so already, you need to pick up Kevin Ogletree. You can’t just let a two-touchdown receiver lie on your waiver wire. But let’s not get carried away. Olgetree played on just 33 of Dallas’ 68 offensive snaps. He might get more playing time following this performance, but everyone who thinks this is 2012’s Laurent Robinson needs to take a step back and breathe. I don’t think he will get enough targets consistently, and he won’t be facing the Giants’ injury-riddled secondary every week.

Bears 41, Colts 21

— I have loved Reggie Wayne all throughout the preseason, and this game showcased why. The Colts’ defense is abysmal. Andrew Luck is going to have to throw it A LOT, and he has shown that he already trusts Wayne. For a rookie QB to have that kind of trust in a veteran wideout is a huge boon for the rook, and I expect a lot more games with 10+ targets for Wayne. And, oh yeah, Reggie Wayne may be 33, but he can still play. He has top-20 upside and a fantastic matchup this week versus Vikings, who couldn’t hinder Blaine Gabbert much.

— If you are a Matt Forte owner, you can’t be discouraged. You knew the deal when you drafted him; Michael Bush is going to be a big-time vulture this year. Forte is still going to be used all over the field as both a runner and passer. He’ll just have to score from outside the 5 (as he did Sunday when he scored from the 6). If you are banking on at least 1,500 total yards with 8-10 touchdowns from Forte, I promise that you won’t be disappointed.

— If you are a Michael Bush owner, be realistic. He’s not going to score twice per week, and touchdowns are generally difficult to project. He got 12 carries in this game, five of which came during the fourth quarter when the game was well in hand. If he doesn’t score, he’s going to really hurt your starting lineup. I would be looking to see if anyone in your league has an elevated opinion on Michael Bush, because now would be a good time to sell.

Whining, Bitching And Moaning About My Fantasy Football Draft

This is me on about 17 days during the fall

I think we can all agree that it is now September*. As such, it’s time for me to return to my usual fall behavior: Maintaining an unhealthy obsession with fake football that will lead to much self-induced stress, 5:30 a.m. wake-up calls on Sundays and pushing the priorities of life to the back burner without a second thought.

I am not the only one.

*When I was a copy editor at UCF’s student newspaper, I remember some girl starting off with her opinions column with something like, “I think we can all agree that it is now December.”

Yes, it was December. There was no agreement to be reached; we all knew the date. Everyone had a calendar. No one was going to respond, “IT’S APRIL!” I often think about that line and how it is one of the worst sentences I have ever read by a writer of any sort. 

The beginnings of my annual trip to the emergency room took place Thursday night with the only fantasy football draft I take part in every year. I do a ton of mocks; I pile research on top of research. Hours wasted preparing. It is all for one free, 12-team league among high-school friends. It was the time to make all that time and energy spent over the summer pay off.

And I think I screwed it up.

For the past three years, our teams have been decided through an auction draft. If you haven’t given it a try yet, you’re missing out. It takes strategy, patience and a lot of shit-talking. We have never done an actual live, everybody-in-one-room auction draft, although I’m sure that’s a blast. But even through computers, it just feels so good to be that guy who crushes people’s hopes and dreams, just as they think they are about to get Arian Foster or Ray Rice and then bid them up by $1 with one second left on the clock.

Over and over and over again.

You just have to be careful that you don’t go too far and end up spending too much for a player; those extra bucks will come back to haunt you.

I think I did that a couple of times Thursday night. I should have shown more patience, let people make it rain early and then be there to strong-arm anyone who challenged me in the later rounds. But I didn’t really do that and — well, let me just show you who is a member of “17 Wasted Sundays.”

Again, this is a 12-team league. All touchdowns count for six points and all turnovers cost you three. Everything else is standard.

Yes, Virginia, There Is An NFL Season

I’m sure you have been exposed today to articles that describe the recently extinct NFL lockout in hyperbolic terms, as if the media just survived the Black Death. I got an e-mail today with a story about the lockout from a former college professor of mine. The first line is: “Today was Day 129 of America Held Hostage.”

Yeah, what had become of the NFL over the past four-plus months sucked. I can’t put it more eloquently. It sucked, it bit, it blew.

But all I have is three words for ya: Are you ready?

No, I don’t mean that in the honky-tonk Hank Williams style. More like D-Generation X:

Are you rrrrrrrrrrrrready?!

Are you ready for actually meaningful fantasy football drafts?

Are you ready for the most hyperactive week in NFL history?

Are you ready to no longer care that Susan Nelson, David Doty, Jeff Pash, Bob Batterman, Jeff Kessler and Arthur Boylan actually exist?

Are you ready for an alarming amount of muscle pulls, strains, tweaks and sprains after some of the world’s greatest athletes aren’t even close to being in condition to do their job, which will really matter 48 days from now?

Plaxico Burress’ Fantasy Prospects for 2011

Who knows if Plaxico Burress “gets it.” Watching the re-air of his August 2009 interview with ESPN, you can see that Burress was a bit disgusted at that time. Not with himself but with his situation.

“I gotta wake up every morning and look at my leg, and I got a hole in my leg. And I gotta go to prison for almost killing myself.”

Actually, Burress had to go to prison for unlawfully possessing a gun. And while the penalty was harsh, that’s how it is in New York for such crimes. You don’t try to make yourself the victim for being ignorant about the law.

I don’t know if his point of view has changed in the past 22 months. But that’s the one of the perks of fantasy football — you can act like a general manager while not worrying about character concerns.

Terrell Owens has been a jerk for most of his career, but if he can get you 80 yards and a touchdown every week, he can say whatever he wants. You don’t care about chemistry; just win, baby!

Michael Vick slaughtered dogs, but if he can get 28 fantasy points per week (which is close to what he averaged in 12 games last season), you can find a way to push his failings as a person to the back. I know that sounds amazingly cold, but that’s how you have to approach fantasy sports. Biases must fly out the window.

However, Plaxico isn’t Vick. On the field, I mean. Vick appears to be in his prime and is considered by many to be a first-round pick in fantasy drafts this fall. Burress is a largely unknown commodity.

Running Blog Of The 2010 NFL Draft — Round One

Sam Bradford is pretty much a lock at No. 1. The picks behind him, however, could go a lot of different ways

Are you as sick as I am of all these pre-draft rumors?

Are the Redskins going to try to trade up for Sam Bradford? Or will they take Eric Berry instead of one of the two offensive tackles who would fill a more-pressing team need?

Will the Dolphins trade the No. 12 pick? Or do they care what Jennifer Lopez wants?

Is Jimmy Clausen going to the Vikings?

Are the Giants really that interested in C.J. Spiller? (I hope not)

Is Terrence Cody’s agent hinting that his client will be a Jet?

Which current pros will be traded? Darren McFadden? Albert Haynesworth? Ben Roethlisberger?

And what about Bryant? And McCoy? And Tebow?

AND WHAT THE FUCK ARE THE RAIDERS GOING TO DO?!

Seriously, it makes my ears bleed. Luckily, the NFL is ready to eliminate the questions and give us some answers. Here’s a running blog of tonight’s activity at Radio City Music Hall.

4:15 p.m. Jeez, how much initial pressure does the NFL want to on these kids? The spectacle that is the draft now contains an introduction of some of the NFL’s greatest players … and then they introduce the players who will be sitting in the green room to come stand out with the Hall of Famers? No pressure, guys. We just want you to stand next to Jim Brown, Joe Montana and Lawrence Taylor for a huge photo op. Then, when some of you flame out in five years, we’ll all ask, “What the hell is that scrub doing in there?”

4:18 p.m. And I hate the idea of expanding the crowd of draftees inside Radio City. I understand that ESPN wants to be able to show some players who are actually at the draft on day 2, but for those like Brandon Ghee and Rob Gronkowski, it’s going to be a long night of you just sitting there and hearing a bunch of other names called, players who teams think they are better than you.

4:21 p.m. Drew Brees is on the Madden cover. Stupid superstition, whatever. His fantasy stock just dropped about half a round on my cheat sheet.

4:22 p.m. The one thing I pray for in this draft but I’m sure it won’t come true: Chris Berman, Chris Mortensen and whomever is on that ESPN desk, please don’t drop these obvious hints of who the choice is going to be right before the official announcement. I know you think it’s cute and it makes it look like you can play Nostradamus with such an unpredictable event, but we all know that your sources tell you the pick before Roger Goodell gets the podium, and that ruins the surprise for the viewers. It’s like seeing a highly anticipated movie with someone who saw a screening last week and basically narrates each scene as it happens. It’s freaking annoying.

4:27 p.m. No matter if Sam Bradford still hasn’t heard from the Rams, he’ll be the No. 1 pick without hestiation.

4:28 p.m. As a fan, I am hoping against the odds that Rolando McClain falls to the Giants at 15. I know it’s unlikely, but he would be a tremendous addition to a defense that quit late last season. If not him, I would like to see Derrick Morgan or Mike Iupati go to the Giants.

4:30 p.m. They have been for the past four months, but now the Rams are OFFICIALLY on the clock!

Which No-Chance Team Has the Best Chance of Winning Super Bowl XLV?

You could do worse than putting few bucks on the Browns to lift this thing in 2011. Like putting it on the Bills

I guess there are two broad schools of sports thought on this day after the Super Bowl. You can either be ready to get away from football or miss it so much that thoughts of the long seven months between now and the 2010 season haunt your dreams.

If you’re like me, you’re prepared carry on without football. I’ll long for it again in August, but I want to concentrate on the games at hand. I am salivating over the upcoming week of college basketball games and we are just four weeks away from the conference championships. Pitchers and catchers are about a week away from reporting to spring training, with plenty of intrigue surrounding many teams and plenty of usable players still available. To help bridge that gap between football and baseball season, we have the Winter Olympics this year.

And yeah, I guess we have the NBA to watch as well. I guess. I’ll be more interested once the two-month playoffs come along.

But if you can’t let go of the NFL, there is always next year. And there are already odds on which teams we will be talking about at this time, 2011.

All of the usual names have the best odds. The Colts are favored. The Chargers are second, which basically just means that they are slated to be a disappointment yet again. The Saints and Patriots are at 10/1 and the Steelers have 11/1 odds.

But who cares about betting on the Colts? Way to go out on a limb there, rebel.

I’m interested in those teams at the bottom of the barrel. The Bills, Browns, Buccaneers, Chiefs, Lions, Raiders and Rams are up on the board with 100/1 odds. So which of these teams has the best chance to win next year’s Super Bowl, even if that chance is somewhere between impossible and ridiculous.

Steven Jackson Accused Of Beating Pregnant Girlfriend

Rams running back Steven Jackson has the reputation of being a beast on the playing field. Few backs run harder than him. But off of it, he is seen as extremely intelligent — he got offers to play in the Ivy League — and giving. On his own Web site, you can read about The Steven Jackson Foundation, his personal community service organization, and how he is an active contributor to charities for breast cancer awareness and childhood health.

But today, Jackson’s image is taking quite a hit as he is being accused of a very hideous crime — beating up a woman who was nine months pregnant. According to TMZ, Jackson’s former girlfriend is claiming that he beat her during an argument in March 2009. And the details can make you cringe a little.

Running Off At The Electronic Mouth IV

Now that we headed into the third week of the NFL season, expect posts about each weekend’s NFL action every Sunday. I’ve held off because there are just too many fluke occurrences in the first two weeks. Sure, some truths still hold strong (Lions, Rams still suck), but it takes a couple of weeks for us to know what we really have here.

But here are some things from the league — and other sports — that I would like to hit on.

Power rankings, like many polls in sports, are stupid and not worth paying any attention. But there is no way that the Jets should be lower than any AFC team on those lists. ESPN, FOX, CBS, SI, etc. have all put teams such as the Steelers, Ravens and Colts ahead of the J-E-T-S. What are they watching?

The Steelers have already lost a game. The Colts barely beat the Jaguars and the Dolphins, two teams that are destined to finish last in their respective divisions. The Ravens struggled at home against a pitiful Kansas City offense. Meanwhile, the Jets have the scariest defense in the NFL right now. They stifled the almighty Patriots and destroyed the Texans’ high-powered offense. They can dominate the clock with a good running game, and Mark Sanchez is following Ryan and Flacco in the mold of a rookie who refuses to look green.

Those other teams have more impressive recent history, and I think one of the reasons why many refuse to give the Jets their due is because of their lack of success this decade. But this is just a judgment on the 2009 season and there is definitely no better team — at least in the AFC — than the Jets.

It’s pretty clear which is the worst …

NFC West Fantasy Preview: Bargains in Seattle; Cardinals Overrated

Seattle Seahawks: Seattle had one of the league’s worst offenses last year, but that’s what happens when basically every skill player misses seemingly half of the season. Jim Mora is the new head coach in Seattle. Greg Knapp is the new offensive coordinator. Those two held those positions with Atlanta from 2004-06 and during those seasons, the Falcons led the NFL in rushing yards per game.

That’s why I am kind of fan of Julius Jones this year. Yeah, he has run for 1,000 yards only once in his six-year career and isn’t an accomplished pass-catcher, but you’re not drafting him to carry your team. To get an unquestioned starting running back in the eighth or ninth round on average, that’s some mighty fine value. Just expect Edgerrin James to steal those valuable goal-line carries.

Worse than Eli Manning? Child, please

Maybe the most valuable Seahawk is quarterback Matt Hasselbeck. He is certainly no longer a fantasy starter, but he is just one year removed from a near-4,000-yard season. Hasselbeck just needs to stay healthy. Back injuries did him in last year, but he is full strength and has had a tremendous preseason. I can’t believe he is being drafted behind the likes of Eli Manning in a lot of leagues. You should be happy to take Hasselbeck as your second quarterback in the ninth round.

Hasselbeck is helped out by a bunch of dependable, if not explosive, targets. T.J. Houshmandzadeh was the team’s big offseason acquisition, but he fits with the likes of Deion Branch (who w) as a possession receiver. That’s why I shake my head when I see people drafting Housh as their No. 1 wideout. He’s more fit as a second WR in both fantasy and reality.

Nate Burleson was supposed to have a breakout season in 2008, but tore his ACL in the opening game. He’s the team’s best speed receiver, but that major injury may have taken away some of that speed. I’m staying away.

Only four tight ends had more than 600 yards receiving and at least five touchdowns last year: Gonzalez, Gates, Clark and John Carlson. Yet, Carlson can still be had in the second half of all drafts. He is the real deal and another reason, like the Raiders’ Zach Miller, why you must wait on tight ends in a draft.

I am very optimistic on the Seahawks’ fantasy prospects this year if these players can stay healthy. But one big injury note that could wreck all of this is that future-Hall-of-Fame tackle Walter Jones is already hurt and may not be 100 percent all season. That will keep lanes from opening for Jones and keep Hasslbeck from getting the time he needs to find Houshmandzadeh and Carlson.

San Francisco 49ers: The 49ers want to run the ball this season. They want to run A LOT! That’s great news for