NFL Roundup: A Post Involving Football That's Not About Vick

So here's the wrap up from Day 1.5 of the NFL season. If you are friends with an Atlanta Falcons fan, be nice to them at work because they are in for a looooong season without Michael Vick. Joey Harrington is not only not Michael Vick, he's not even the quarterback the Lions hoped (foolishly, perhaps) that they were getting. Unfortunately, I doubt that the Falcons will be offering any refunds so just be glad it's one of the shortest professional sports seasons. Remember, there's always next year.

But I do need to thank the Falcons for giving my ("my" because I own them - in the fantasy world) Minnesota Vikings defense the most fantasy points I've had so far - even more than LT. See, there's a positive side of every story.

But around the rest of the league, a lot of players saw their season end today. While most were not too serious (i.e., career-ending), Buffalo Bills' reserve tight end Kevin Everett underwent emergency spinal cord surgery after a helmet-to-helmet hit when he tackled a Denver Broncos player. It says that he didn't show any signs of movement, which is not a good sign at all. I know there's no way to prevent these things but it's crazy that he might be a quadriplegic from playing football. And he's only 25. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

In better news, old man (by NFL standards, because he's only 30) Randy Moss (pictured at the top), whom even you non-football fans should have at least heard of, proved that he still has it in him. In his debut with his new team, the New England Patriots, wide receiver Moss caught all nine passes thrown to him from QB Tom Brady (Carson Palmer, I hope you're watching), for 183 yards and one touchdown. Non-fans, that's a great day for a wide receiver at any age.

Moss is coming off of a two-year stint with the Oakland Raiders, who lost to the Detroit Lions, one of the worst teams in the NFL for way too long. Check out this site honoring the Lions' GM, Matt Millen: www.firemillen.com. The Lions actually lost a 17-0 lead but managed to pull off the win, 36-21. Apparently the Raiders aren't so hot themselves, as one writer compared the victory to winning "a beauty contest among lepers." Ouch. I don't know about you, but I'd much rather be receiving passes from Tom Brady than whoever the Raiders decided to start at QB, so good move, Randy. (I want you all to know that I struggled mightily to phrase that in as non-suggestive a way as possible, but when they use terms like wide receiver, tight end . . . sacks, etc., it makes it hard difficult. Geesh.)

In a footnote to this game, I think my reserve Lions' running back Tatum Bell had a fire lit under his bum after finding out that the Raiders named a fumble-recovery drill after him. The privilege was bestowed upon dear Tatum because, while playing with the Denver Broncos last season, he fumbled the ball five times, failing to recover a single one of them. Today, he had no fumbles and he scored a touchdown to help seal the game for the Lions. Nothing better than a good butt-kicking to shut up your critics.

P.S. I know this is not sports related, but I just caught the MTV Video Music Awards, and I have to say that it was easy to write this and watch that because it was BORING. The stars seemed to be enjoying themselves in Vegas, though. Britney, I saw your performance, and I tried to root for you, I really did, but in the immortal words of Justin Timberlake "You got me saying damn girl . . . ." There were rumors that Justin was going to be performing with her, but I can see why he backed out. I don't know if she was nervous or hadn't practiced but woo! If you "missed" it, MTV will be showing it another thousand times this week.

And while we're talking about Justin, what is going on with the Emmy Awards that his skit on and song that he performed with Saturday Night Live's Andy Sandberg, D*ck in a Box, was not only nominated but actually won an Emmy?? And they're thinking of having them perform the song at the Emmys. Not buying it. This is a ploy to get us to watch the Emmys, and it's not going to work . . . but this skit is hilarious, though!