MMQB (cont.)

Quote of the Week I

After rushing for 1,110 yards in 2007, LenDale White's production for the Titans decreased to 773 in 2008 and 222 in 2009. Simon Bruty/SI

"I think what happened was in Tennessee they probably got a little too carried away with the Chris Johnson thing. The year before that we were 13-3 when I had 200 carries and we split the rock. Chris went to the Pro Bowl and we had the first-round bye, they did things different the next year and we struggled to make the playoffs. It is what it is.''
-- LenDale White, the running back traded from Tennessee to Seattle on draft weekend, appearing to blame the Titans' 2009 slump on the emphasis placed on getting Chris Johnson a 2,000-yard rushing season, on Fox Sports Radio, via sportsradiointerviews.com.

Quote of the Week II

"To me, anyone's got a chance to win the job right now. It's not just lip service.''
-- Buffalo coach Chan Gailey, on the three-headed starting quarterback competition between Trent Edwards, Brian Brohm and Ryan Fitzpatrick. Seventh-round rookie Levi Brown from Troy has an outside shot to be competitive in the quarterback derby, but the competition is likely up to the three vets.

Quote of the Week III

"On my family, I will go to the death and say he doesn't take steroids.''
-- New Jersey personal trainer Joe DeFranco, to Tara Sullivan of The Record (Bergen County, N.J.), on Brian Cushing, the client he has trained since Cushing's junior year at Bergen Catholic High. Cushing, the NFL's defensive rookie of the year last season, was handed a four-game suspension Friday for violating the league's performance-enhancing drugs statute.

Quote of the Week IV

"I've passed every drug test out there and still have. I'm not that kind of guy.''
-- Cushing, during a press conference a year ago.

You are that kind of guy now.

Stat of the Week

To all teams pondering adding JaMarcus Russell to the training-camp roster (and there will be one that does, because of his tremendous arm), ponder this:

In Russell's last 31 quarters as an Oakland starting quarterback, this guy with the tremendous arm threw one touchdown pass. That's a phenomenal run of badness, even worse than putting up only 55 points in his last seven starts as a Raider.

Factoid of the Week That May Interest Only Me

One of the reasons I've never been an Alex Barron fan -- only his accountant should be partisan to the former first-round tackle of the Rams who's about to be dealt to Dallas -- is his attention to detail, and his fervor to be great. It's just not there. This illustrates it best: 43 false-start penalties in five seasons. Ridiculous.

Enjoyable/Aggravating Travel Note of the Week

We hosted our nephew Adam, from England, and his girlfriend, Cristina, who lives in Spain, for the past week, and took them to see a few things in our region. We went to a minor-league baseball game in Manchester, N.H., the other night, in a lovely venue, MerchantsAuto.com Stadium, on the banks of the rushing Merrimack River, to see the New Hampshire Fisher Cats against the New Britain Rock Cats. (Couldn't believe they sell Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat. Great selection.)

"Does every team in this league have to be some sort of cat?'' Adam wondered.

No, I said; the Eastern League has the Curve (Altoona), Senators (Harrisburg) and even Flying Squirrels (Richmond), but this is not the league with the Lake Monsters (Burlington, Vt.).

So on the 52-mile drive from Boston to Manchester, we passed into New Hampshire and noticed a sign mandating seat-belt use for all car passengers 18 and younger. "Live Free or Die.'' Adam thought that was a bit extreme. "It's like 'Live fast, die young.' ''

I wasn't aware New Hampshire required seat-belt use for youths, but not for adults. So I googled the whole thing back home and discovered how adamant citizenry had been in fighting seat-belt laws. Turns out New Hampshire is the only state that doesn't require residents to wear a seat belt, and it was the cause of some fiery local rhetoric last year when the legislature in the capital of Concord tried to pass such a law.

An editorial in the New Hampshire Union-Leader read: "If we passively accept Concord's authority to fine us for not clicking our seat belts -- no matter the circumstances -- then we have accepted the general premise that the state not only can, but must bully us for our own good. There will be no stopping the flood of laws that will come, all to protect us from ourselves.''

Not taking one side or the other here, but I wonder how many drivers have lived free and died while not wearing a seat belt there.

Tweet of the Week

"Next career ... analyst, studio, speaking, preaching, foundation? What do you think? Unretire ... only kidding, not a chance!''
--@kurt13warner, former Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner, who retired in January and is pondering what to do with the rest of his life -- a life, apparently, that will not include any Brett Favrisms.