Tiki Barber Returning to the NFL

After filing his retirement papers in February 2007 Tiki Barber has announced his intentions to return to the NFL. If Barber is successful he will have done what no other running back has done before and return to the game after four years away from it.

Barber’s decision to retire in 2007, at the age of 31 was a very unpopular one. Many were upset that the Giant’s running back was retiring when he was right at the peak of his career. He recently gave his reason for retiring when he did as simply; “I didn’t want to do it anymore”.

In an interview with HBO Sports Barber stated that he needs the sport and that he knows he is going to be successful. Some have said that he is returning to the NFL for financial reasons, after an expensive divorce from his wife. However, this is a claim which Barber denies.

Whatever his reasoning for returning to the NFL, he seems to have regained his passion and hunger for the game and it is that which I think will ultimately make his return a successful one.

“Coach, Wrong Ball!”

This is a video I stumbled across recently on youTube; it features something called the “wrong ball play” and believe it or not it’s completely legal. I can’t imagine this play ever working at NFL level but it is entertaining nonetheless. Take a look and let me know what you think.

Plaxico at Philadelphia

Wide Receiver Plaxico Burress is due to be released from prison today after serving a two year sentence for weapon charges. This leaves us wondering where he will end up on his return to football.

At the age of thirty three Plaxico should still have a few years of play left in him. Football players are generally considered to be able to take a finite number of hits, over the course of their career, so not having taken any hits over the last two years may prove to be advantageous for Plaxico. In the past players have also seemingly been rejuvenated after having a rest from football. This was well demonstrated with the case of Kurt Warner who after being dropped by the Giants in favour of Eli Manning; went on to take the Arizona Cardinals to Super Bowl XLIII. All this would seem to indicate that Plaxico should still have a few plays left in the tank.

To me the best fit for him would be in Philadelphia. After two years away from the game I don’t think he can be expected to perform at the level he once did, right from the word go. The Eagles already have a lot of talent at the Wide Receiver position and so can afford Plaxico some time to regain his form. The other main reason I think Plaxico would be a good fit at Philadelphia is the precedence they set with Michael Vick.

Vick, who also spent two years away from the game due to criminal charges, could offer a lot of help to Plaxico from his own first hand personal experience. Furthermore it shows that the Eagles are prepared to take a chance on someone in a situation such as this and that they have the means to make it pay dividends. As was shown when Vick took over from Kevin Kolb as starting quarterback.

Other possible teams which have been suggested for Plaxico are the St Louis Rams and the Chicago Bears; for the simple reason that these teams have need of talent at the wide receiver position. However the fact that they may want immediate return from him in my opinion means they would not be good match ups for Plaxico. Please comment and let me know where you think Plaxico Burress might end up (when we eventually have free agency that is).

Will Carson Palmer return to the Bengals?

According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, Carson Palmer has now found a buyer for his house in Indian Hills, Ohio after putting it up for sale earlier this year. This would seem to add further weight to his threat that he will retire from the NFL if the Bengals refuse to trade him.

However, Cincinnati Bengals President, Mike Brown has said that they have no intention of trading Palmer and wishes for him to return to the franchise. Brown also said that they will go with rookie Andy Dalton at quarterback should Palmer stick to his guns and not come back once play resumes in the NFL, but ideally he would like to have both of them.

Quarterback, Andy Dalton who the Bengals drafted in the second round out of Texas Christian University would seem like a good prospect at the position. Nevertheless it would likely be of great benefit to him if he could spend some time learning from an eight year veteran like Palmer.

It would seem like a difficult position to be in for the management in Cincinnati. If Palmer does decide to retire then they will have lost quite a valuable player. On the other hand if he comes back they will have to choose whether they want to start him or Dalton. If Carson is as unhappy playing in Cincinnati as he seems to be then he probably won’t give it his all, meaning it may of more benefit to the Bengals to trade him. However Mike Brown is a stubborn man and I don’t think he would be prepared to set such a precedence by giving in to Palmer’s demands; whatever the situation is, after all  he didn’t give in to Chad Ochocinco’s desire to be traded in the past. If I was Carson Palmer I wouldn’t get my hopes up for a trade.