Football Grub

Wendi and Mort discuss the latest on the Peyton Manning saga, and Jon and Herm debate some possible defensive difference makers in the Super Bowl

TAMPA, Fla. The show on the stage was impressive on every level. The moment Greg Schiano started talking, you got the sense the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had more order, direction and control than at any point in the past three years. Schiano said all the right things and said them the right way. I’ve seen some introductory speeches for coaches through the years. I’ve seen Sam Wyche t...

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. It's tough playing cornerback for the New York Giants, where the defensive line gets all the love and the best cornerback in the league plays for the other New York team. And for much of this season, the Giants' secondary was the team's Achilles' heel a nearlaughingstock that was famously ridiculed on national TV by Cris C0llinsworth and obviously target...

ESPN.com is unveiling its "Any Era" team this week which features 20 current players with the toughness to play in any period of NFL history. The team was assembled by votes from 20 Hall of Fame players (here's a full explanation of the project). Coming in at No. 3 on the Any Era Team is Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. No surprise here. When you think toughness, the first ...

ESPN.com is unveiling its "Any Era" team this week which features 20 current players with the toughness to play in any period of NFL history. The team was assembled by votes from 20 Hall of Fame players (here's a full explanation of the project). Coming in at No. 2 on the Any Era Team is Steelers safety Troy Polamalu. He's fearless, reckless, and as far as playing styles go, h...

The New England Patriots are favored to win their first Super Bowl since the end of the 2004 season. That capped a run of three championships in four years, which happened to be the most recent NFL dynasty. But are the Patriots quietly building another dynasty New England is the only team to win backtoback Super Bowls in the past dozen years. If any organization is consistent enough to pull it of...

The clearcut top player on ESPN.com's Any Era team is Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, who has defined toughness for this generation of football. Lewis' career has spanned over three decades and has featured him delivering bonebreaking hits, playing through pain and carrying a team to a Super Bowl. He has become the most feared and most respected player in the NFL. This is why Lewis was th...

OWINGS MILLS, Md. When linebackers coach Dean Pees was promoted to the Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Friday, he said it was a "humbling" opportunity. He also knows it is an opportunity filled with high expectations. The Baltimore defense has finished in the league's top 10 for nine straight seasons, including six in the top 5. Three of the previous four Ravens defensive c...

Green Bay Packers cornerback Charles Woodson is the sixth and final member of the NFC North to be added to ESPN.com's Any Era team, determined by a panel of 20 Hall of Fame players. A sampling of their thoughts: LARRY CSONKA "Charles Woodson isn't a hardass, but he's tough. He would have had an even better nose back when we played. It wasn't a game of inches back then as ...

It's a little easier to see how Adrian Wilson played through a torn biceps tendon this season after watching the Arizona Cardinals' strong safety in the video below. He's put together. Wilson was among the players I thought deserved consideration for the ESPN.comESPN The Magazine's NFL Any Era team. If there's an Any Era Physique team, he should be on that one, too. Le...

It's time to wrap up my AllAFC North team by unveiling the offense. As always, the selections were based on performance this season, and not past reputation. Of course, tell me who I left off, who should have been on and any other opinions in the comments section below. Quarterback: Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers. He carried the Steelers' offense and he did it through pain. Roethlisberg...

Suzy and Mort discuss why the Bucs chose Greg Schiano, The Caveman debates the most complete Super Bowl team, and Did You Hear That Herm shares his thoughts on the situation in Indy.

Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star breaks down Peyton Manning's future with the Colts after the quarterback's comments upset team owner Jim Irsay.

Thoughts about Chuck Pagano’s introductory press conference spun off of tweets from media and bloggers who saw it or heard it, or tried to as I did. @JacobTamme: Streaming video is refusing to stream. PK: Same here, bro. @JMV1070: For those of you that wanted a retread. @JimIrsay said "nope". PK: Laudable, particularly since the available retreads were not all that attractive. ...

We’ve known for hours that Greg Schiano has been hired as the next coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But the team just sent out its official release announcing the hiring and it included the official comments the team has made on Schiano. “We are thrilled to introduce Coach Schiano as the new head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers," team cochairman Joel Glazer said. "During...

Justin Smith, Patrick Willis, Steven Jackson, Adrian Wilson and Larry Fitzgerald were among the current NFC West players I considered best qualified the ESPN.comESPN The Magazine's NFL Any Era team. There were other lessaccomplished players I felt fit the mold, including Chris Clemons, Chris Long, James Laurinaitis, etc. But when ESPN shared with me an advance copy of the list, Smith's...

ESPN.com is unveiling its "Any Era" team this week which features 20 current players with the toughness to play in any period of NFL history. The team was assembled by votes from 20 Hall of Fame players (here's a full explanation of the project). Coming in at No. 8 on the Any Era Team is Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward. Is there really any other wide receiver that would define &q...

When you're the middle linebacker of the Chicago Bears, the longtime Monsters of the Midway, you've got to be included on the ESPN.com Any Era team, compiled by a panel of 20 Hall of Famers. A sampling of their thoughts: JIM BROWN: "Brian Urlacher plays an intelligent game, but is also very physical and very tough. He can apply his physicality with a mentality that fits into the gam...

Patrick Willis checks in at No. 7 on the ESPN.comESPN The Magazine's NFL Any Era team. Twenty Pro Football Hall of Famers determined Willis has the toughness and overall game to match up with anyone, at any time, in any era of NFL history. No argument here. "First off, it is truly an honor and a blessing to be picked by those guys," Willis said. "Those are guys that I will ...

The tenacity and betweenthetackles toughness of Minnesota Vikings tailback Adrian Peterson appears to have made him a natural selection for ESPN.com's Any Era team, compiled by a panel of 20 Hall of Fame players. A sampling of their thoughts: LYNN SWANN "Adrian Peterson is a tough guy. His initials are A.P. yet his nickname is still AD. That’s because he’s going to come at y...

One of the greatest Super Bowls in history is coming out for an encore, as the New York Giants and the New England Patriots hook up Feb. 5 in Indianapolis in a rematch of Super Bowl XLII just four years ago. There are 15 Giants and seven Patriots still left from that game, which the Giants won to spoil New England's perfect season. But this year's matchup has plenty of its own storylines...

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are close to a deal to make Rutgers coach Greg Schiano their next head coach. I just spoke with a league source, who said the interest is “very legitimate,’’ but said no deal is done. But Mike Sherman, who had a second interview with the Bucs yesterday, reportedly is in Miami, interviewing for the Dolphins’ o...

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. It wasn't easy, and it kind of went against everything he's about. But as New York Giants punter Steve Weatherford stood next to kicker Lawrence Tynes on the Candlestick Park field Sunday afternoon and watch Baltimore's Billy Cundiff miss the kick that ended the Ravens' season, Weatherford kept his cool. "In a situation like that, I'm not going...

Suzy and Mort discuss the Chuck Pagano hiring in Indy, Herm breaks down which coach faces more pressure in the Super Bowl, and Did You Hear That Herm shows Cuba Gooding Jr. the money.

Samari Rolle’s endorsement of Chuck Pagano was unequivocal. The former Titans and Ravens cornerback was with the Ravens in 200809, when Pagano coached Baltimore’s defensive backs. Pagano just emailed Rolle last week, and Rolle was thrilled to learn from his wife on Wednesday that Pagano is the new head coach in Indianapolis. “He’s detailoriented, but at the same time he&...

The first reaction many Colts fans will have to the news that Chuck Pagano is the team’s new coach will undoubtedly be: “Who” But not knowing a guy doesn’t make him a bad choice. Owner Jim Irsay tabbed a young personnel executive, Ryan Grigson, as his new general manager. Now the two have selected Pagano, who just finished his first season as Baltimore’s defensive c...

It was around this time last year that Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy made the perplexing decision to take his offensive line coach, Juan Castillo, and make him his defensive coordinator. The results were ... well, they were mixed, in the end, and ultimately the Eagles' 88 season rendered pretty much all of their offseason moves unsuccessful by definition. The question on Castillo, though, is...

ESPN.com's Any Era series continues this week, and has another AFC East player in Wednesday's group. New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady comes in at No. 11. He is playing in his fifth Super Bowl on Feb. 5, and is tied with Joe Montana for the most playoff wins (16) in NFL history. Here are comments on Brady from current Hall of Famers: FLOYD LITTLE: He's the ultimate quarte...

ESPN.com is unveiling its "Any Era" team this week which features 20 current players with the toughness to play in any period of NFL history. The team was assembled by votes from 20 Hall of Fame players (here's a full explanation of the project). Coming in at No. 10 on the Any Era Team is Steelers linebacker James Harrison. It's surprising that Harrison isn't rated higher...

Day 3 of the NFL Any Era Team project brings us to our first NFC East player, Dallas Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware. In case you haven't been paying attention, the NFL Any Era Team is a list of the top current 20 players, as determined by a panel of 20 Hall of Fame players and Hall of Fame writer John Clayton, who could have played in any NFL era. We are revealing four per day, and Nos. 912...