Brady Hoke says Johnny Manziel would play behind Devin Gardner if he was at Michigan

Michigan head coach Brady Hoke made an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show to hype the upcoming game between Michigan and Notre Dame.

This game will be the last in the storied rivalry until further notice due to Notre Dame's ACC commitments.

During a question and answer session of the interview Hoke was asked about Texas A&M's Heisman winning quarterback Johnny Manziel. The answer Hoke gave Patrick surprised many.

Patrick:    "If Johnny Manziel's your quarterback …"

Hoke: "If Johnny Manziels's our quarterback, he'd probably be playing behind Devin Gardner"

"We try and educate the kids here that this has always been about the team, the team, the team," Hoke said. "If they're going to celebrate and they're going to express themselves, do it with your teammates. Do it with the other 10 guys who are on the field that helped you make whatever great play happen where you feel you need to celebrate. Grab a teammate. Get together with them."

Hoke isn't knocking Manziel's ability, just his character and being a good teammate.

Hoke obviously has faith in Gardner despite his relative inexperience, but any coach in the nation would probably take Manziel over their current starter unless it's Teddy Bridgewater or Tajh Boyd. If I left anyone out let me know.

This is what Hoke does. He sells his program and his players. He's all about Michigan and is intent on getting the Michigan brand into the conversation when you mention the elite programs in America. Besides, as a coach you have to pimp your own quarterback, even if he only has seven career starts under his belt.

Instilling trust in your players is part of your job, and this was the perfect answer.

Beno Udrih thinks the Knicks can make the NBA Finals

I don't know what kind of kool-aid that the members of the New York Knicks are drinking but whatever it is maybe they need to pass it on to the people that stress a lot.

This past weekend sixth man J.R. Smith guaranteed that the Knicks would bring a championship back to the Big Apple. Now it's newly signed point guard Beno Udrih saying he believes the Knicks have what it takes to make the NBA Finals.

Udrih told Marc Berman of the New York Post that the Knicks need to have that mindset going into next season.

“I believe our team can go as far as going to the Finals,’’ Udrih told The Post at Ashe Stadium in his first remarks since signing. “We have to think like that from the first practice. We can be very good. It all depends how seriously we’re going to take it.

“We all believe we can go really far. And our goal from the beginning has to be win it all because we know we’re going to be in the playoffs. Our mentality from the first practice has to be: we want to win a championship.’’

I know you're supposed to be optimistic but I'm sure Miami, Indiana, Chicago, and Brooklyn will have a say in how far the Knicks go.

I do believe the Knicks are a viable playoff contender and will be a tough out once they get there, but until they prove otherwise they're not championship contenders just yet.

Former Detroit Lion Ronnell Lewis arrested on suspicion of DUI

After being released during the final round of cuts by the Detroit Lions, former fourth round draft pick Ronnell Lewis has been arrested for the second time in five months.

 According to KOKI-TV in Tulsa, Lewis was arrested early Monday morning on suspicion of DUI in Henryetta, Oklahoma.

The arrest report shows Lewis was stopped after an officer saw his truck cross the center line at 1:54 on Labor Day morning on Main Street in Henryetta. That's when the arresting officer smelled alcohol and noticed a 6-pack with a beer missing inside the truck.

“Did some standardized field sobriety tests on him. In the officer's opinion he failed those. Subsequently, he was arrested, transported. Had blood drawn and was booked into the county jail for one misdemeanor count of DUI,” said Chief Steven Norman.

Lewis' agent sent the following statement to KOKI: "This past holiday weekend, Ronnell Lewis was involved in a routine traffic stop that occurred in Okmulgee county. Ronnell cooperated with authorities to the best of his ability while maintaining his innocence. Ronnell has not been charged with anything at this time."

Back in April, Lewis had a brush with the law when he was booked for charges of disturbing the peace and public intoxication stemming from a bar fight.

If Lewis had any future in the NFL he's quickly flushing it down the toilet. He better get his act together fast and gain some team's trust before he washes out completely.

Darrelle Revis giving tips on how to defend the Jets

New Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Darrelle Revis left the New York Jets on somewhat bad terms. The Bucs open the regular season against the Jets and Revis is eager to get on the field and also doesn't mind sharing some tips on what the Jets run offensively and defensively.

 Revis is doing everything he can help his teammates get ready for the Jets. He's provided tips about some of New York's defensive players to offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan and discussed some of the Jets' offensive playmakers with Goldson and the rest of Tampa Bay's overhauled secondary.

"It's just one of those things, when a player comes from another team, [offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan] is asking a couple of questions about [the Jets'] defense and what are the base calls, I spill them," Revis said. "I'll spill the beans and let him know what we used to run and let him know what things Coach [Rex] Ryan might do. It's almost like stealing a little bit. That's what you've got to do. You take the information and pass it to the offensive coordinator."

"I know these guys. I played against them every day in practice. So I've got a bunch of tips on those guys," Revis said. "And the good thing about it, I've been sharing them in our secondary. ... We will come into this game real comfortable. We really will, just from the experience I had there and knowing these guys." 

Revis and the Buccaneers defense has to be licking their chops knowing they'll be facing a rookie quarterback in Geno Smith. Revis also heard news that Smith hasn't studied any film on him.

"I don't understand why he didn't study me because I will be on the opposite side," Revis said. "But I don't know what their game plan is or what their preparation is and personally, I don't know what Geno's preparation is. But I would hope that if you're playing against another opponent, you should study everybody on the opposing team. If that's the case, that's the case. I'm studying him. Just to let him know, I'm studying him. I guess we'll just leave it at that."

If this goes how I'm thinking, this game could wind up being a repeat of of Super Bowl XXXVII, where the Bucs happened to know everything the Raiders were running since their coach Jon Gruden was Oakland's old coach.

If the Jets fail to have any success Sunday we'll know what some of the reason is.

Barry Switzer criticizes Johnny Manziel

Texas A&M Heisman winning quarterback Johnny Manziel has been under fire for his on field antics against Rice on Saturday.  His smack talk against Rice defenders and money flashing gestures stole the show in college football last week.

Former Oklahoma Sooners and Dallas Cowboys head coach Barry Switzer became the latest to put in his two cents about Manziel's actions.

In an interview on ESPN radio Switzer voiced his displeasure with Manziel.

“I’m certainly disappointed in his actions,” Switzer said. “For him to act so arrogant,€“ I wanted to jerk his face mask and I wanted to grab him,” Switzer went on to say. “Of course you get fired for that now; in the old days you could get away with that. It’s the world we live in. It’s a misplaced value system. When I see this happen I wonder where the core value system comes from, if he has a core value system. This young man needs a damn hell of a lot of development.” 

That's a mouthful coming from Switzer. The man who used to brag about putting up "half a hundred" on inferior opponents before halftime. Toward the end of his reign at Oklahoma you couldn't help but think of Switzer anytime you heard the words "renegade program". Switzer or his players weren't exactly known for their sportsmanship.

I won't lie, I was a fan of it. But it was a moment of the pot calling the kettle black that's all.

Hopefully for Johnny Football, he'll let his play do the talking for the rest of the season.

"It Girl" of the week: Courtney Black

This week's "It Girl" is Courtney Black.

Saints bring back receiver Robert Meachem

The New Orleans Saints have re-signed wide receiver Robert Meachem to a one year deal.

Meachem recently played one year with the San Diego Chargers but was released last weekend after an underwhelming season last year (14 receptions for 207 yards in 15 games) and struggling in the preseason.

Who knows what kind of production the Saints will get out of Meachem. Th Chargers are desperate for receivers and they cut their losses which might tell us there might be something wrong with Meachem. On the other hand Meachem had his most productive years in New Orleans and used that to cash in with San Diego on a big contract.

The Chargers were counting on Meachem to be something he's not. With the saints he's just another weapon in quarterback Drew Brees' arsenal. Meachem is happy to be back in New Orleans since he thrived in the system there.

 "You take a negative and you turn it into a positive," Meachem told the New Orleans Times Picayune. "That's my mission now. To go out there and show the gifts that I was blessed with. Put my head down and just relax and go play football." 

The Saints have decided to go younger at the receiver position with Nick Toon and Kenny Stills being in the rotation so who knows how much Meachem will be able to provide.