NFL Notes for 2-4-11

NFL teams could soon dump playbooks for iPads?

NFL teams including the Dallas Cowboys could soon be abandoning their traditional paper playbooks and game-day printouts of plays in favor of iPads or other tablets. Pete Walsh, head of technology for the Cowboys, said his team and at least a “couple” of others are currently considering abandoning their playbooks in favor of iPads, a move they feel could save them as much as 5,000 pages of paper printouts per game. Walsh explained this potential philosophical and technological shift to CNET during a discussion about Cowboys Stadium technology at Super Bowl Media Day here Tuesday. The stadium will play host on Sunday to Super Bowl XLV between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers. For tech-friendly sports fans, it’s an appealing image–coaches and players sitting on the sidelines of the giant Cowboys Stadium, iPads in hand, studying likely plays for the next few series, or sifting through overhead photos of the last plays in order to assess their performance, or that of their opponents. Still, it’s also a bit difficult to imagine old-school NFL coaches agreeing to carry around a shiny gadget like an iPad instead of their trusty playbooks–or reviewing glossy color photos on the 9.7-inch screen rather than shuffling through paper printouts of the last passing play. One can imagine such coaches agreeing to hand over their playbooks only through tightly gritted teeth. But Walsh suggested that this migration could well be coming, though he didn’t say how long it would be before we see football pros stalking the sidelines with tablets. –CNET News

Media Day at the Super Bowl and Traffic

Media day is a circus I would imagine.

For many north Texans, we couldn’t get out to go to work, but somehow, there was no problems for the Packers and Steelers to get to Media Day at Cowboys Stadium today. In fact, some people say the highway department made sure they got there:

Sportscaster and Dallas Cowboys legend Daryl “Moose” Johnston lives near downtown Dallas, but on Tuesday morning he took Texas 183 on his way to Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, where he was scheduled to appear for Super Bowl media day. Johnston could have taken Interstate 30, but he figured Texas 183 would be de-iced in Irving, near where the Green Bay Packers are staying for the Super Bowl.

He figured wrong.

“It was bad. People were sliding around. It’s as bad as I’ve seen it here,” Johnston said during Super Bowl media day at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. “I’m from Buffalo. I have no problem with my own ability to drive in bad weather. But I worry about the other people who don’t.”

As three inches of ice and snow blanketed Dallas-Fort Worth Tuesday morning, and temperatures dropped into the teens by mid-morning, traffic slid and slammed to a halt across the region. About the only road where ice wasn’t grinding traffic to a halt was I-30 between Fort Worth and Dallas — which happens to be the main road both the Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers used to get from their hotels in downtown Fort Worth and Las Colinas to get to media day in Arlington.

Is TxDot playing favorites for the Super Bowl? (Star Telegram)

Super Bowl Notes

Redskins quarterback Donovan McNabb is going to the Super Bowl. Well, he’s going to Texas for Super Bowl week, but he’ll be working for ESPN, not the Redskins. McNabb will serve as a guest analyst next week for ESPN’s coverage of Super Bowl XLV, providing his thoughts on the game, teams and players. The safe guess is that a Redskins question or three also might pop up. “We’re excited to have Donovan back on ESPN as a part of our Super Bowl coverage,” said ESPN senior coordinating producer Stephanie Druley. “We worked with him in previous years and he always has strong opinions and great insights on the game, the teams and especially the quarterback position.” — Washington Post

Steelers defensive star spending big on Super Bowl trip

Steelers NT Casey Hampton’s “crib” isn’t in Dallas. He was born in Galveston, a city on the Gulf of Mexico. A few years ago, he moved to nearby Houston. His relatives and closest friends coming to the Super Bowl will have roughly a 240-mile drive to Dallas this week. Hampton, a five-time Pro Bowler, is personally taking care of their Super Bowl arrangements. He’s renting a house for them in Dallas. He figures that beats paying for their airfare and hotel rooms. And for at least 15 family members and friends, he’s purchased their tickets at $900 a pop. “It’s going to be expensive for me,” he said. “So from that standpoint, it’s not going to be a good thing.” Whatever Hampton ends up spending for his entourage’s Super Bowl stay, no one feels sorry for him. His base salary this season is $4 million. Plus, Hampton and the rest of the Steelers have already pocketed $21,000 for winning the divisional-round playoff game against the Ravens and $38,000 for the AFC Championship Game against the Jets. If the Steelers beat the Packers in Super Bowl XLV, each player gets $83,000 more (the loser’s share is $42,000). — Beaver County Times

It’s time for Super Bowl XLV!

Wow, can it get any more crazier here in north Texas than having a Super Bowl in the back yard?

Thanks to my good friend Rick Chandler over at Off the Bench an NBC owned blog, I am able to do some work for that site and it’s a blast so far. I’m getting calls to do interviews of players.  I’ll be interviewing Jason Witten later on this evening via phone, and next week Jerome Bettis.

Is this country great or what?? Stay tuned!

If your favorite NFL team is a bird, you lost this weekend

Wow the Ravens, Seahawks, and Falcons all lost this playoff weekend past. Some incredible games for certain. Even the Jets’ win over the Pats was a shocker. So the Jets talked smack, but they were able to back it up. As we say in west Texas, ”it ain’t smack talkin if you can back it up.” So give the Jets credit, they won their playoff game against the Pats in the Pats’ backyard. 

But I digress. How do you let a team that is 3rd and 19, with 2:00 to go, not only get a first down, but complete a pass down to your 4 yard line? Incredible.

So there ya have it. The Jets vs. the Steelers for the AFC Championship this weekend, and the Bears vs the Packers for the NFC Championship.

Speaking of the Packers and QB Aaron Rodgers, does he snub a cancer patient trying to get his autograph? See for yourself:

Wow.

Let’s see how all this goes while my Cowboys sit home and introduce a new defensive coordinator.

So, let’s have a great week and see if we can even come close to predicting who will go to the Super Bowl after this weekend. Have a good one.

Enjoy the music for the day