Tulloch and Vanden Bosch say there wasn't a bounty program in Tennessee

With the NFL focusing on bountygate, it seems that everyone is trying to find a connection from the past. Any coach or player that played for Gregg Williams has had their credentials questioned.

Detroit Lions head coach, Jim Schwartz, coached under Williams in Tennessee while both were with the Titans. During the week, Schwartz did say they ran an awards system in Tennessee for big hits. Not a cash bounty system like the New Orleans Saints were busted for earlier this month.

Current Lions players, linebacker Stephen Tulloch and defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch deny any bounty system was being ran in Tennessee.

"I've never been a part of that in my career," Tulloch said. "I think it's unreal, man, to go out and have in your mind you want to take somebody's career out. You have to look at it like people are trying to feed their family. To go out with the mindset of taking them out is not right."


Cornerback Reynaldo Hill, who played for Schwartz from 2005-08, told The Tennessean, "There was never any talking about hurting another team's quarterback.


"That's a lie. I never heard anything like that. There never was a bounty; that is crazy."  

Schwartz said they gave out boxing gloves or a lacquered and engraved baseball bat to the weekly winner, but if they were penalized for the hit they couldn't win the award.

If you ask former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy if the Titans ran a system similar to the Saints, he'll tell you otherwise.

It's a case of he said/he said and I'm sure that Roger Goodell will have his boys investigating any possible bounty system.

Bengals cheerleader accused of having sex with a student

Pro sports cheerleaders actually do hold regular jobs. To some it's hard to believe the jobs outside of cheerleading aren't in the sex industry. Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader, Sarah Jones, was a teacher, which means she was actually pretty bright and had a good head on her shoulders. To some that may be a shocker.

Jones, the team captain of the Ben-Gals, has found herself in a bit of trouble stemming from her days as a teacher. Jones was indicted Thursday for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a student when she was a teacher at Dixie Heights High School.

Her mother Cheryl Jones was indicted on a charge of tampering with physical evidence in her daughter’s case. Cheryl Jones, the principal at Twenhofel Middle School in Independence, expressed surprise when informed by a reporter of her indictment. She referred all questions to her lawyer. The tampering charge is also a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.


Keeping it all in the family. Remember, all of this is alleged.

A Kenton County grand jury indicted Sarah Jones on first-degree sexual abuse. She was also indicted on a charge unlawful use of electronic means to induce a minor to engage in sexual or other prohibited acts. The charges are felonies that are each punishable by up to five years in prison. 

I wonder how all this came to light. I know the kid had to think he had it going on. Doing "it" with a teacher and NFL cheerleader. Man, talk about a daily double.

The lawyer, Charles T. Lester Jr., confirmed he was representing Cheryl Jones, in addition to her daughter, but declined to comment. In a written statement released later, Lester said both women will be pleading not guilty.


“Sarah has maintained her innocence. The indictment of her mother is completely baseless,” the statement noted.


Both women were booked into Kenton County jail on Thursday. Cash bonds were set at $50,000 for Sarah Jones and $30,000 for Cheryl Jones. The daughter and mother are scheduled to be arraigned April 2 before Kenton Circuit Judge Patricia Summe.  


Sarah Jones resigned from her teaching job on November 30 for "personal reasons". No one knew of an investigation of Jones until her resignation.

Bengals’ spokesman Jack Brennan said “the club is aware of the situation, and it’s an ongoing process to collect the information that can guide appropriate actions as warranted. At this time, we are guided by our general policy that it’s not appropriate to comment on legal matters yet to be resolved.”


I don't condone the behavior of either party in this case, but I know dad had to be giving his son a high five after hearing who he was taking to bed.

Fake Luck jerseys for sale

Andrew Luck hasn't even been drafted, but it hasn't stopped a website for putting up images of an Indianapolis Colts jersey bearing Luck's name and college number 12.

NFLteamedgestore.com has the jersey, but you have to figure it's a fake since Luck hasn't even been assigned a team or number.


 “I can tell you it’s not authorized by the Colts,” said Chuck O’Hara, the club’s senior director of marketing. 


Said league spokesman Brian McCarthy: “Our legal department is aware and looking into it.”


I'm pretty sure someone has gotten paid from the sales of the "fake" Luck jersey, but there will be some trouble on the horizon when the league decides it wants to investigate a little deeper into the matter.

Couple charged in million dollar scheme against Dwight Freeney

It's nothing new to hear a professional athlete being taken for millions of dollars. Either a shady financial adviser or bad investments.

Indianapolis Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney should consider himself lucky that his victimizers were caught before his situation was made worse than it was.

A financial adviser for Indianapolis Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney and the adviser's lover have been arrested on federal wire fraud charges that allege they swindled about $2.2 million from the lineman.


Eva Weinberg, 48, of Los Angeles, and Michael Stern, 51, of Miami, were arrested last week by FBI agents who believe the couple were trying to flee the United States.

From what was in the article, Freeney wasn't named directly in the case but Stern's attorney, Henry Bell confirmed the victim was indeed Freeney.

Athletes and entertainers make tons of money but squander lots of it and make bad financial decisions. It's made worse when the people that you trust with your money are stealing it from you. More players need to be aware of who they are trusting.

Danny Manning to be named coach at Tulsa

Kansas head coach, Bill Self is having a tough time keeping his staff intact. Yesterday, assistant Barry Hinson was announced as the new head coach at Southern Illinois. There are reports surfacing that Danny Manning has agreed to take the coaching job at Tulsa.

Manning has been an assistant at Kansas since 2007.

Could the pending departures propel Kansas to the national championship? That remains to be seen.

I'm sure there are some people in Norman that are still bitter about Manning.

Larry Brown has interest in the SMU job

SMU hasn't had much success in college basketball since the days of Jon Koncak. There isn't much news surrounding the program, so it was a surprise to me a few days ago when I finally found out that SMU fired Matt Doherty.

The Mustangs will be joining the Big East soon, more of a football move than a basketball one, so the hiring of a new coach is critical for the program.

The Mustangs have targeted Marquette's Buzz Williams, but he isn't going anywhere, so the Mustangs will have to scout on a new route. One name that hasn't been mentioned, but reportedly reached out to SMU is the retired Larry Brown.

Brown has said that he wanted to coach again at the college level, but at SMU? Brown must be incredibly bored with the millions he's taken in buyouts to want to coach at SMU. I'm not saying that it's a bad job, I just don't think he'll fit, but stranger things have happened. Brown could be the one to lead SMU back to respectability since he is a teacher and his name and track record would lend credibility to the program. I just don't see him going there.

SMU might not have a choice but to hire Brown unless they hire a low major coach, because no one from a good mid major or big program will take the job. Even with the departures of Syracuse and Pittsburgh, the Mustangs will need someone to shepherd them through the Big East landscape.

Odom is bothered by fans' booing

This has been a trying season for Lamar Odom. There was the trade to the Dallas Mavericks and numerous off court issues, including his public marriage to Khloe Kardashian. There were reports that Odom approached Mark Cuban about a buyout.

Odom seems to be the most sensitive player in the NBA if you ask me. He's sulked his way through most of this season and some of it I understand. But I believe when he was traded from the Los Angeles Lakers hurt him the most. Personally he should get over it. I do have a little sympathy for him, but it's hard to sympathize with someone that gets paid millions to play basketball.

Odom has said that the fans' booing has bothered him and he finds it confusing.

"I've never been booed in my life," he said. "So if it's to the point where I'm playing a basketball game at home and I'm getting booed, I would say _ no disrespect _but maybe I think people took things the wrong way.


"I admitted that I was out of shape for different reasons when I came into camp. I admitted what I've been through. I was honest about how my summer went, how I almost left the game and everything I went through. And I think people just took it the wrong way, like if I had a reason not to be here _ or I didn't want to be here.


"I think people took that the wrong way. Next thing I know, I'm trying to come out of a slump and I check into the game and I'm getting booed. I'm not really used to that."


"It's part of the game," he said. "I understand, but it usually happens on the road. I've always had a lot of pride to play for the name on the back of my jersey. I've always been more prideful to play for the name that's on the front of my jersey _ whether it be USA or whether it be the Mavericks or the other team I came from. I always had a lot of pride.


"So it was a little confusing and a little hurtful, but it's the sport world. I understand. We're in a business that it's all about what have you done lately, or the last game or the next game?"


"I would say confused. I wouldn't say angry, because there are a lot of sides to Lamar Odom, know what I mean? Sportsman is one of them. I'm a father, a husband, someone's son, someone's cousin. So there's a lot of roles that I have to play in life. Basketball is just one of them. So I can't let it get me angry because I have a lot of other roles to fulfill."  


Odom needs to just man up and play ball. He has the ability but it always seems like his head has never been in the right place. Maybe a move back to Miami or Los Angeles might be in store for Odom in order to get his groove back.