MMQB (cont.)

Quote of the Week I

Leon Washington was traded to the Seahawks on a busy Day 3 for the Jets. David Bergman/SI

"Are we rockin' and rollin' or what?!''
-- Seattle coach Pete Carroll, celebrating with his coaches after the Seahawks pulled off a trade with the Jets, netting running back Leon Washington on Saturday, via Seahawks.com.

Quote of the Week II

"Let's get through the draft and we'll evaluate all aspects of it, including talking to our clubs and seeing what worked and what has not. We'd like to wait until we have concluded with the entire event, but to see the kind of extraordinary increase in viewership I think does reinforce the idea that we can put the draft on a bigger platform, and that's great for everyone."
-- NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to SI's Richard Deitsch for a story on SI.com last Friday night, talking about the future of the prime-time NFL draft. Sure sounds to me like the draft -- the first round had a 32 percent increase in ratings over last year's first round -- will stay on a weekday night in 2011.

Quote of the Week III

"We got another T.O.''
-- Philadelphia coach Andy Reid, after picking Washington defensive end Daniel Te'o-Nesheim in the third round Friday.

Always have found it interesting that a man who appears so buttoned-up in front of the media and on the sideline in Philly can be so pithy and funny when he's not doing everything he can to say nothing in front of the Philadelphia press.

Quote of the Week IV

"Feed your kids! Feed your kids! Feed your kids!''
-- A brief, but audible chant heard by profootballtalk's Mike Florio during the fourth round of the NFL Draft at Radio City Saturday as new Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie appeared in the hall. Cromartie has seven children by five (or six, depending on which report you believe) women.

Quote of the Week V

"He went to Oxford. That's scary.''
-- ESPN analyst Herman Edwards as former Florida State safety Myron Rolle, a Rhodes Scholar who spent last fall in England at Oxford University, was plummeting down the draft board.

And isn't that the perfect example of what the NFL thinks of a guy who put the draft on hold in 2009 to further his educational goals. Good for Tedy Bruschi, also on the ESPN set, for defending (as if Rolle should have to defend himself) his decision to go to Oxford for a year. "If I was as brilliant as this kid, I'd have taken the same opportunity as he did,'' Bruschi said.

Stat of the Week

Not that there's going to be much pressure on Dez Bryant in Dallas, already, but the history of the receivers Dallas used first-round picks to acquire in the last decade is beyond dismal. Checking it out:

2000 -- WR Joey Galloway from Seattle to Dallas for first-round picks in 2000 and 2001.

What Dallas got out of Galloway: 4 years, 151 catches, 12 touchdowns.
What Seattle got: RB Shaun Alexander (2005 NFL MVP), WR Koren Robinson.

2008 -- *WR Roy Williams from Detroit to Dallas for first- and third-round picks in 2009.

What Dallas has gotten out of Williams: 2 years, 57 catches, 8 touchdowns.
What Detroit got: TE Brandon Pettigrew, WR Derrick Williams.
*Plus a swap of late-round picks.

The cost to Dallas: Galloway got $12 million guaranteed in his new 2000 contract with Dallas, while Williams signed a five-year, $45 million deal with the Cowboys upon his trade in 2008. Barring an incredible turnaround by Roy Williams, six seasons and 20 touchdowns are about all the dividends the Cowboys will get out of these two awful trades.

The Cowboys long searched for a franchise receiver to replace Galloway and thought Williams was the one -- but Miles Austin emerged as Tony Romo's favorite target in 2009, and now Bryant will surely get the chance to be the complementary receiver to Austin. Williams is likely to be buried on the bench and could eventually be released, if not this year then next.

Factoid of the Week That May Interest Only Me

Three months ago, I wrote about dining with some sportswriter friends the night before the NFC Championship Game in New Orleans. Eight in the media gathered at Emeril's Delmonico, along with Angela Craig, the girlfriend of New Orleans Times-Picayune football writer Jeff Duncan. I proposed a pool -- we'd all put in $5 with a guess as to where Tim Tebow would land in the NFL Draft. We picked teams from coast to coast -- Jason Cole of Yahoo! picked New England, I picked San Francisco, and there were seven others in between.If no one was right, Jeff would find a New Orleans charity to give the money to.

Tebow, of course, went to Denver. Angela picked Denver.

"Shocked?'' Angela asked over the weekend. "I'd have to say yes, because I only picked the Broncos because I lived there for 10 years and that was my team for a while. But it's crazy. Can you believe I won the pool with all that football expertise at the table?''

Well, frankly, yes I can.

So I asked her: "Angela, I need to know your next prediction. We all might go to Vegas on it.''

"The Saints are going to the Super Bowl,'' she said. "Again. You can quote me on that.''

One more note, and a good reason why Angela Craig is now my favorite prognosticator in the world: She said she would donate her $45 in winnings to Five For Fighting, to support the troops overseas with the USO recreation program I've written about in this space in recent weeks.

You've got a good one there, Jeff.

Enjoyable/Aggravating Travel Note of the Week

Seattle is ... just different. I mean that in a good way.

The Seattle Times covered Earth Day aggressively last Thursday, writing about an 88-year-old woman, Doris Estabrooks of nearby San Juan Island, who relentlessly hounded local officials until they banned Styrofoam in the community and replaced it with biodegradable food containers. The ban took effect Thursday. On Saturday, the front page of the Times featured two stories above the fold -- one about the mayor vetoing a legislative bill on panhandling, the other headlined, "Barefoot Running Gains Traction,'' about a man trying to get joggers to eschew running shoes and run with naked feet.

And there's the Fuji apple the size of a basketball that I found at the Pike Place Market Friday and that served as a meal Sunday. And Safeco Field, which leads the major leagues (by a wide margin) in microbrews through all concourses (I'd highly recommend the Pyramid Curve Ball Blonde Ale).

"So it rains,'' Pete Carroll said to me the other day, dismissively. "There's something about every place you'd live.''

Agreed.

Tweet of the Week I

"Patriots collecting draft picks like Larry King collects wives.''
-- @LASportsAgent, sports agent and attorney Mark Slough, in the midst of the Patriots' tradefest Friday night.

Tweet of the Week II

"Ohio U has pick before Ohio State.''
-- @Coach_Eck, Ball State offensive line coach Jason Eck, making me awfully happy and swollen with Bobcat pride after the Patriots took Ohio University wide receiver Taylor Price with the 90th pick, before the first Buckeye went in the draft.

Tweet of the Week III

"LenDale White traded for a ham sandwich, which he ate.''
-- @adbrandt, former NFL executive Andrew Brandt, now of National Football Post, after Seattle acquired the disappointing (and sometimes overweight) White and defensive lineman Kevin Vickerson simply for swapping draft spots in the fourth and sixth rounds Saturday.