Quote of the Week I

Former Cowboys great Michael Irvin was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday. Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images

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"I want teams to know how much I love this game. I want to play football 'til they drag me out of the game. I want to be like Flutie, or Favre."

-- Brady Quinn, to me, last February at the NFL Scouting Combine, talking about his intense love of football.

That love does not spread to training camp, evidently. By missing practices 14 and 15 today, he's blown the very good chance he had to start the season as Cleveland's quarterback.

This holdout continues to blow me away. Quinn told the Columbus Dispatch the other day, "I don't know,'' when asked how far apart he was in talks with the Browns. I've said this from the start with these negotiations: Quinn's nuts for holding out this long. Nuts. The Browns were dying to hand this kid the starting job on a silver platter, and now he's got no chance to earn it until Halloween, at the earliest. I guarantee you that by the time he signs this contract, the difference in the dollars he'll eventually earn between the offer on the table right now will be 2 or 3 percent of the total value of the contract ... at most. And Quinn will think to himself: What an idiot I was for holding out this long.

Quote of the Week II

"Always do the right thing so you can be a better role model than your dad.''

-- Michael Irvin, during his emotional Hall of Fame speech Saturday night, addressing his two sons, the boys he feels he let down with his wild off-the-field behavior.

Quote of the Week III

"With him coming in and dropping the hammer on so many people, you get this bad impression about him. So you probably feel like he's this disciplinary guy who wants it all his way, and it's not about the players. As a result, once listening to him and once hearing his opinions on issues, he's all about the players.''

-- Tennessee safety Chris Hope, on commissioner Roger Goodell, after the commissioner addressed the Titans over the weekend and took questions from the team.

Quote of the Week IV

"If we don't do something about rookie salaries pretty soon, the salary cap will be meaningless. [Indianapolis defensive end] Dwight Freeney got $30 million in guarantees after leading the league in sacks over the past five years. [Cleveland rookie tackle] Joe Thomas got $23 million in guarantees for breathing.''

-- Anonymous, but wise, NFL general manager.

Quote of the Week V

"That's a good one. I know I'm fortunate.''

--Thomas, reacting to Quote of the Week IV

Quote of the Week VI

"My blocking? It sucks. I'm not gonna lie.''

-- Chad Johnson, truth-teller.

Stat of the Week

First, words of praise for Pro Football Prospectus 2007, the terrific, insightful 515-page tome I've been spending far too much time with over the past six days since one of the men who wrote it, good buddy Will Carroll, handed me a copy at Colts camp last Tuesday. The research, done by Aaron Schatz and his crew at footballoutsiders.com, is exhaustive, enlightening, surprising in many cases and an absolute must-read if you like the NFL.

Second: Dwight Freeney is getting worked up over the fact that so many people question how good a year he actually had in '06, when he had an unusually low 5.5 sacks. The Colts agree, and say his pressures were a big part of any success they had on defense. (Which, until late in the season, was pretty limited.) The Prospectus charted pressures at all NFL games last year, and from this research, it appears Freeney might have a point. How they rank the top 10 players in the league in quarterback pressures in 2006:

1. Dwight Freeney, Ind., 33
2. Julius Peppers, Car., 32
3. Kyle Vanden Bosch, Tenn., 29
4. Leonard Little, St. Louis, 26
4. Aaron Schobel, Buffalo, 26
6. DeMarcus Ware, Dallas, 25
7. Aaron Kampman, GB, 24
8. Charles Grant, NO, 21
8. Jason Taylor, Miami, 21
10. Rosevelt Colvin, NE, 20

Interestingly, Prospectus also charted the league leaders in QB knockdowns (Kampman, 35) and the top quarterbacks in being knocked down (Jon Kitna, 94). Insightful stuff.

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