Morris Ejects His Own Player from The Game

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Raheem Morris did something a lot of coaches won't do in this day and age. He kicked his own player out of a game. Morris sent defensive tackle Brian Price home after Price was called for a personal foul penalty in the third quarter.

“Because it's foolish, it's selfish to your teammates, to everybody in your organization, to your fans,’’ Morris said. “That's terrible. That's just selfish behavior to get a 15-yard penalty, in that situation, when that's all we talk about, when that's all we discuss. You just can't do that to your team.



"When you give up a penalty, after a third-and-15, those are things that are not smart, not fair to anybody on the football team. Not fair to anybody that's coaching that football team. Those things are unacceptable.''

Kudos to Morris for sending his own player to the showers. Many observers say this move might've been too late since there is speculation that Morris is on the hot seat.

That's the message the Lions' Jim Schwartz should've sent Ndamukong Suh before he went all riverdance on someone.

Dayne Crist Leaving Notre Dame

Dayne Crist lost two seasons to injury at Notre Dame. He also lost playing time to back-ups Tommy Rees and Andrew Hendrix. Now he's going somewhere to regain the luster he once had when he arrived as a highly regarded quarterback recruit.

Crist asked for and was granted a release from Notre Dame.

The school confirmed the big-armed, 6-foot-4, 235-pound Crist met with Irish coach Brian Kelly on Friday to pursue the release. Crist will graduate this month with one year of eligibility remaining, rendering him eligible to play instantly anywhere he goes.

"Dayne and I had a good conversation Friday and I have granted him permission to speak to other schools," Kelly said. "Dayne has been a valuable member of our team the last two years and if he feels he needs to look for a better situation then I think we owe that to him."

All that means is that Crist will be following the Russell Wilson plan. Ironically Wisconsin ia one of the schools listed along with San Diego State and Utah. The Badgers will be looking for a replacement for Wilson after he used the NCAA rule that allowed him to play immediately after transferring from North Carolina State.

Maybe Crist can regain some of the five star status he had before he arrived at Notre Dame.   

Slap Happy

A woman who works at Cowboys stadium has accused former San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys great, Charles Haley of slapping her on her buttocks during the Cowboys' Thanksgiving Day game against the Miami Dolphins.

A police report said the woman found the contact inappropriate and was offended, and that a third party corroborated her accusation. Police spokeswoman Tiara Richard said Friday that Haley denies the claim, and he faces a choice of either paying a fine or contesting the matter in court.

Best thing for Haley to do is to apologize and pay the fine and ride off into the sunset and wait for the call to the Hall.

Smith And Turner To Get The Ax

According to a report in the San Diego Union-Tribune, San Diego Chargers Team President Dean Spanos has decided to fire General Manager AJ Smith and Head Coach Norv Turner at the end of this season. Turner and Smith have been tied together for the numerous regular season flops and playoff failures. Spanos feels he "has no choice" but to go in another direction. Turner is definitely gone after the season, but Spanos is reported to be wrestling with the decision to fire Smith, so it's possible that he might be spared.

“The decisions are not made,” said one team source, “but everything is lined up.”




 

Fred Taylor Gives Jack Del Rio A Bus Job

Talk about kicking a person when they're down. Jack Del Rio was fired by the Jacksonville Jaguars and it didn't take long for people to start piling on. Former Jaguar running back Fred Taylor threw Del Rio under the bus and put it in reverse for good measure.

In an interview with Eric Adelson, Taylor explained the differences between playing for Super Bowl winning coaches Tom Coughlin and Bill Belichick and playing for Del Rio. In the end, Taylor says Del Rio simply wasn't a good coach.

"With Coughlin, if you came in, if you overstep, you're screwed," says Taylor, who played for Coughlin in Jacksonville from his rookie year in 1998 until the coach was let go in 2002. "With Jack, you never knew what you were getting. You don’t know if you’ll get a hard-ass one day, a buddy-buddy one day. You never really knew."


Everyone knows about Coughlin's hardcore ways and he was dead on with that assessment. I don't know much about Del Rio but Taylor was there and played for both so he should be an authority abot the differences between the two.

Asked if he felt Del Rio played favorites, Taylor doesn't hesitate.



"[Expletive] yeah. Hell yeah," he says. "Why do you think I'm not there? There wasn't any falloff in my production. I expressed my willingness to take a paycut. I just wanted to be there and be a part of the community. I wanted to finish my career there. Just because we had this new running back. All we had to do was switch roles. 'Fred, Maurice [Jones-Drew] is going to be the starter.' Fine, no problem. I wasn't a virus in the locker room. I worked my ass off -- everything."

Sounds exactly like the way he handled his quarterback situations. From the releases of Byron Leftwich and David Garrard and the current handling of rookie Blaine Gabbert. Ironically, Taylor has some words about that also.

"Pulling that trigger was a bit premature," Taylor says. "If you make that decision, make it a month out. Quite honestly, that kind of thing can ruin careers." When talking about Garrard's release. I also think if he was going to cut Garrard, do it at the start of training camp, not right before the season.

The handling of Gabbert was also a topic. Gabbert was pulled from a game in favor of Luke McCown.

"You're 3-8," says Taylor. "Take him out and that is going to establish the season?"

All in all Taylor wasn't pleased with Del Rio's shortcomings on the offensive side of the ball. Trust me, most of the time the offense was offensive.

"At the end of the day, [Del Rio]'s not a head coach," Taylor says. "He's a great defensive coach. But he's not a head coach."

Well Del Rio's not a head coach, because he's unemployed. Personally he overacheived some of the time, but when the Jags had expectations they came up short. Way to kick a man when he's out the door Fred.




   




   

Rodriguez Might Get A Shot At Wolverines

Promises, promises. Alledgedly that's what newly hired Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez got from Arizona. The promise was that they would give him a shot to beat his former school, Michigan, by scheduling them in three years. I guess that's how much time Rodriguez will need to get the Wildcats on track.

This comes from Louisiana high school football coach J.T. Curtis.

”My understanding is, in talking to coach Rich Rodriguez, and I was involved in that just a little bit, is that it was a much closer decision than people realize between Tulane and Arizona,” Curtis said. “I know that might not sound right to you but I think Tulane did all they could do to give him an opportunity to come there and a chance to coach, and I think his expression to me was that he felt like he had a better chance to win the national championship at Arizona if he recruited properly. And they promised him they’d put Michigan on the schedule in three years,” Curtis said. “I’m telling you, it was a big deal.”


I don't know if Rodriguez wants that game by then. Brady Hoke has he Wolverines trending upwards so Rodriguez better get some players in a hurry if he wants a shot at Michigan.







  

UCLA Gets A Bowl Waiver

At 6-6 and going into a conference championship game UCLA has a chance to have a losing record and not make a bowl. At least that's how it usually works out. Except the Bruins applied for a bowl waiver so that they will be able to go bowling with a more than likely 6-7 record. And for some strange reason they were granted the waiver.

Here's the reasoning. Since they fighting Neuheisels are the Pac-12 South champ by default since USC is on probation, the Pac-12 is struggling to fill their allotment of bowl slots. So enter UCLA with their meager 6-6 (or 7) record to help out the situation. The Bruins, the Pac-12 South paper champs, are 31 (and counting) point underdogs to Oregon in the Pac-12 championship game. So they'll probably end up being 6-7 going into their bowl game. Athletic Director Dan Guerrero sounds pleased at the recent turn of events.

“As a program, we appreciate the NCAA approving our petition for a bowl waiver,” said UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero in a release. “We will be able to give our 18 seniors one more chance to represent their university and end their collegiate careers on a high note, regardless of the outcome of this Friday’s Pac-12 Championship Game. We’d like to thank the NCAA for considering the unique situation in which we find ourselves this year and rewarding us with this opportunity.”


And another chance to catch a beatdown. They'll be joining some elite company as North Texas went to the 2001 New Orleans Bowl with a 5-6 record. At least the Mean Green won their conference and aren't a fake champion like UCLA.

Dan Guerrero’s and UCLA’s selfish motivation to bring money into the shcool is a short sighted effort. The embarrassment that playing in the Pac-12 Championship Game, know full well, that they are not qualified to play in that game… then the audacity to petition for a Bowl Game, just to bring in some bucks at the expense of the players, is a joke.

The football team has taken enough grief this season under Neuheisel, but having a 6-6 season, the huge loss to USC (the real Pac-12 South champs), the blow out losses against the other teams, and then to be completely embarrassed on national TV when they play Oregon, as 31.5 pt underdogs, which my money is on Oregon by 50 pts.

Now you want the UCLA players in another potential loss and more embarrassment in a bowl game. Again… Dan Guerrero and the UCLA administration doesn’t show me any style, class nor grace. I guess, if the shoe fits, wear it.


UCLA alumni are furious with this move, Guerrero and Neuheisel. Perhaps Guerrero needs to be fired too.