Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Robert Griffin III trademarking RGIII

Robert Griffin III is taking care of business off the field even though he hasn't signed a contract or taken a snap in an NFL game yet.

Griffin created Thr3escompany, LLC after he declared for the NFL draft and filed for a trademark for "RGIII".

Following his declaration for the NFL Draft, Griffin hired an attorney. Thereafter, he created his own company, Thr3escompany, LLC and submitted applications to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for a total of four trademarks – RGIII, RG3, Robert Griffin III, and Unbelievably Believable. The first three trademark filings were made for “Shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, pants, shorts, footwear, hats, caps, athletic uniforms.”  


That was a smart move considering all the fake RGIII material that will be surfacing around the Washington, D.C. area and other NFL cities. There were fake Andrew Luck jerseys being sold before he was even drafted.

Don Nelson finally getting his degree

After a long career in the NBA as a player and coach, Don Nelson is finally getting his college degree. For Nelson it's better late than never since it took 50 years for Nelson to finally achieve his goal of getting a degree. Nelson will get his Bachelor's in physical education this Saturday from the University of Iowa.

Nelson, who is the NBA's all time winningest coach, needed to complete his foreign language requirements to complete his long awaited degree that had been put on hold since 1962.


"The reason I coached all these years was that I enjoyed so much being around young, talented people," Nelson told the Des Moines Register. "This will be like coaching my teams, really. I love talented, young kids."


"It means a lot to me personally," Nelson said. "When I went to college, I was the first male in my family with a chance to go. One thing that was important to me was to get a degree. I was in the pros for so long that I had to postpone it until now. But it was a goal of mine, and I've achieved it."       

The somewhat funny part of it is that Nelson cited Shaquille O'Neal as a source of inspiration.

"He went back and got his degree (from LSU), and now he's (gone) back to get a doctorate," Nelson said. "He's been an inspiration to me. I don't believe he knows that. I never told him." 

Congratulations to Coach Nelson for finally going back to school and finishing what he started.

Roddy White: If I can't walk when I'm 50 it was well worth it

The NFL isn't getting too much sympathy recently with all the lawsuits from former players about health problems and concussions leaving them physically and mentally beat. Throw in the fact that some players (Kurt Warner) sound like they're trying to steer kids away from football, some players are taking up for the sport they love.

Detroit Lions center Dominic Raiola said that all the pain is worth playing for and Atlanta Falcons receiver Roddy White is echoing that sentiment. White was on Twitter discussing how former players made the game what it is but said they're also killing it  especially since some of the players made a lot of money off the game.

White went on to say that "if I can't walk when I'm 50 it was well worth it". Well, I'm sure White will cross that bridge when he gets to it but he might not be saying that if he really isn't able to walk by the time he's 50.

The bottom line is that the NFL should have a health care system in place for former players. I know it's a game but it's also a job.