If you can throw a football 60 yards, you are a hero.  You will live in the spotlight, date the head cheerleader and lead while all of the others follow.

If you can kick a football 60 yards, you are not a hero.  You will live in the background on the sidelines, you probably won’t get a date and while the others follow, you might not even be asked to come.

We remember Joe Namath for his Super Bowl guarantee.

We remember Mike Vanderjagt for being called “an idiot kicker” by Peyton Manning.

Kickers get about as much respect as toe jam.

Yet, they have no less pressure than a closer in baseball or a goalie in a shootout.

And the football world, and specifically the Detroit Lions’ world is going to have to say goodbye to one of the greatest.  He is still around, but Jason Hanson is hanging ...

When did we hit the moment where what was happening off of the playing surface became as interesting, if not more interesting, than what was happening on it?

It was awhile ago.

Lots of times the interest peaks because of something an athlete or a coach does.

Rarely can something interesting happen involving a fax machine.

But it has happened in the NFL.

On Friday, there was a deadline for Elvis Dumervil of the Denver Broncos and his agent to accept a restructuring of Dumervil’s contract.  It would have seen his salary drop from $12-million dollars this season to $8-million.

Now, don’t feel too badly for Dumervil.  He was still going to receive $30-million total over three years.

But a mess ensued as Dumervil’s agent and the Broncos agreed verbally and then the agent allegedly missed a deadline to get a fax over to the Broncos.  Since they hadn’t received ...

Sports is a very funny and fragile world.  So often, teams can look so good and never get close to the expectations set out for them.

It’s like that toy that you saw on TV as a kid.  The commercial made it look so good.  You couldn’t wait for your birthday or for Christmas and you hoped hard every night that it would magically arrive inside your home.

It eventually did and it was about as fun as the box it came in.

You can officially declare the Philadelphia Eagles the 2011-2013  version of that toy.

At the end of free agency in 2011, the Eagles were that toy.  They made a big trade to get Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and they had gone on a great run through free agency, ending with the biggest fish on the market, Nnamdi Asomugha.  The last piece that they needed.  The piece that everyone wanted.

The National Football League has dealt with its fair share of sensitive situations.

Replacement referees created cads of controversy.

Hits to the head have been harped on habitually.

But as a whole, they have arrived at a place from which there is no turning back.

Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com has reported that ahead of the NFL draft which is roughly two months away, there are teams interested in knowing whether Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o is gay.

Draft notes are extensive.  Teams make large financial investments in their draft picks.  You will find out what a player’s parents look like.  You will find out medical histories.  You will have every statistical measurement you can possibly dream of from speed to strength to mental aptitude to read from and compare.

All of that is fine.  It can be invasive, sure, but it is fine.

There are as many ways to celebrate a Super Bowl championship as there are football players who want to win one.  Most go unnoticed.  They get lost in late nights, early mornings and the odd family-Barbeque-type get together.

There are lots and lots of Super Bowl winners to go around.  Add up the 53 men on the field every year and the practice squad and the ownership and their families and the front office and support staff and you get a significant smattering of happy humans.  How many times do you hear or see anything about what any one of them is up to?

Things tend to have to go poorly for them to become public.

You could get arrested.  You could wrack up an obscene bill at a bar.

Or you could get a tattoo to immortalize your accomplishment forever.

If you choose Plan C, always follow the golden ...