The NFL season is about a month away.

Teams started their training camps this week.  Five weeks of two-a-days, holdouts, injuries, fights in practice and preseason games.  The goal for the Jets in 2007 will be to improve on a 10-6 finish in 2006 and a wild card berth.  Overcoming obstacles is part of the game and the Jets have already had their share.

Here's what's been going on in Jets Land in case you missed it:

First-round draft pick Darrelle Revis is a holdout.  The corner from Pittsburgh wants to sign a five-year deal, but the Jets want to lock him up for six years.  Doesn't seem like that big of a deal, right?  Well, welcome to the wonderful world of NFL finance.  One year can be huge and could make the difference between a minimum salary contract and a multimillion dollar deal.  Revis and his agent are willing to sign a shorter contract with a smaller signing bonus in return for a quicker entrance into the free agent market.  Sadly, contract disputes are part of the game.  Revis is missing important reps in camp, but I suppose the positive is that he's not coming in to play quarterback or running back.  Every day missed at that position really hurts the team.  Still, the rookie needs to get into camp.  One scary note -- Revis' uncle is former NFL player Sean Gilbert who once held out for an entire year.

Cedric Houston left the team.  The third-year running back decided his heart wasn't into playing football and walked away.  Houston wasn't going to get a ton of playing time with the addition of Thomas Jones from the Bears during the off-season, but his departure weakens the running back corps.  Houston showed glimpses of promise during his Jet career and actually ran for over 100 yards in a game against the Packers last season.  But hey, if your heart isn't into it, then it's time to leave.  There are some things in life you can half-ass, but I don't know if football is one of them.  You could get killed out there.

Right Guard?  Pete Kendall is really just serving time in Jets camp.  The disgruntled left guard believes the Jets should increase his salary since he agreed to take a pay cut last season.  The Jets don't want to set a precedent.  It looks like a no-win situation for both parties, but the Jets are really going to miss Kendall's football skills and leadership abilities.  The Miami Dolphins have been sniffing around and the Jets would be damned if they're going to allow Kendall to simply walk away to Miami.  There's a slight possibility that both camps could resolve their issues, but I wouldn't hold my breath.  

The real right guard.  And here's why the Jets don't want to renegotiate with Kendall or anybody else.  Starting right guard Brandon Moore staged a "mini-walkout" on Tuesday in protest of his salary.  Moore is entering 2007 as the senior member of the Jets offensive line and wants his contract to reflect that.  Remember when football meant playing football?  Honestly, I really can't go overboard on football players wanting more money.  If there's one sport where contracts should be guaranteed, it should be football.  These guys are really just one play away from selling insurance for the rest of their lives.  Which, in a sense, is ironic since the reason their contracts aren't guaranteed is because insurance companies won't insure their contracts.  It's a vicious cycle!  Anyway, I don't expect Moore to miss a lot of time.

The Jets will open up their preseason schedule on Friday night against the Atlanta Falcons.

Goal number one should be to avoid any injuries.

Needless to say, I wasn’t expecting anything like this:

I spent the better part of the morning session peering between giant heads and helmets, and only catching a glimpse or two of the action. Toward the end, I found a seat in the bleachers by field three and caught the tail end of the full contact scrimmage (and later a fight in the linemen drills). Kevin Curtis caught a nice deep pass from McNabb deep in the corner. McNabb looked fine in the pocket, and even scrambled out a couple of times.

Much to my chagrin, Brian Dawkins was M.I.A. today. I haven’t found out why, yet. For a more in-depth look at the morning session, check out Bleeding Green Nation. He was in attendance and has a nice report.

The afternoon session was much more relaxed, for us fans and the players. The punters walked to field three at about 2:20 and Sav Rocca spent about 20 minutes embarrassing Dirk Johnson. Rocca also shanked a couple, and that’s what this position battle is probably going to come down to. Who can be more consistent. Rocca obviously has a bigger leg, but I think Andy would rather go with a punter who can give you 43 yards consistently, than a guy who gives you 4 sixty yard punts followed by a twenty-yarder. If you haven’t heard, Rocca is a monster. He’s listed at 6’5”, 265 lbs, but he might be bigger than that.

The QB’s then took over the field. I’m not sure if this means anything, but Kevin Kolb always goes fourth (McNabb, then Feeley, then Holcomb, then Kolb) in any QB drill. Honestly, there were times where the kid looked lost out there, but that’s to be expected. During some of the drills Kolb seemed more worried about getting his steps and ball fakes down than delivering the ball. On other plays, he was obviously more comfortable with his footwork and delivered crisp, accurate passes.

The receiving corps looked good, really good. Brown and Curtis made all the catches, and looked good coming out of their breaks. One rookie stood out, for me: Dereck Faulkner, from Hampton. Faulkner is a beast at 6’3”, 228 lbs. and to the naked eye, he looked pretty quick out there. He caught the ball away from his body and had nice body control, making a few catches on the sideline in drills and dragging his feet. Obviously, these were just drills, but a receiver of that size is always worth a look.

The running backs didn’t do much more than catch passes in the afternoon. “Nasty” Nate Ilaoa looks like we weighs closer to 300 lbs. than the 245 he’s listed at, but showed soft hands catching a couple swing passes. Westbrook looked like Westbrook, and he looked healthy which is the biggest thing.

L.J. Smith even made an appearance in the no-contact portion of the workouts. He looks slimmed down, but that’s to be expected. I hope he can keep his mouth shut about his contract, and let things play out. He’s a key weapon for the offense.

On defense, Considine does indeed look bigger. (There’s a picture in the slideshow). Trotter looks smaller, and Spikes looks like a monster out there. If the scrimmage and drills were any indication, Jim Johnson is going to have him moving all over the place, and he’s going to be blitzing off the edge. Johnson may look to use Spikes as a blitzer in some situations where he would’ve used Dawkins or a corner in the past, this should help the pass defense in these situations, and another blitzing weapon means more confusion for opposing offensive lines.

All told, it was a great day, and the atmosphere was amazing. I have to say, with the price of tickets effectively excluding a great portion of fans from ever seeing the team in person, this training camp is really a blessing. There were a ton of families there, getting a chance to be up close to their favorite team for free. If you have the chance, I highly recommend going, just make sure you get there early to beat the traffic and grab a seat. Click the button below to view the slideshow for a taste of what the atmosphere was like.

In a surprising move yesterday, the Bears made their second trade of training camp. Safety Chris Harris was sent to the Carolina Panthers in return for a sixth round draft pick. This seems like a great move for Carolina, but the Bears depth at safety made Harris expendable. Harris, a sixth round pick in 2005, made 26 starts the last two years and ended his Bears career with an interception in the Super Bowl against Peyton Manning.

One thing is for sure, with Harris and fellow safety Todd Johnson both gone, the Bears defense is going to have a little less pop. Those two guys could lay wood with the best of them, hopefully their replacements, Kevin Payne and Brandon McGowan, will be able to hit just as ferociously.

The reason I have to write football posts now is because the Sox are so bad, and Jose Contreras has been a big part of that lately. The Sox just demoted Jose to the bullpen, in favor of Gavin Floyd, and Contreras is not too happy about it.

''I accepted the bullpen assignment now because I fully understand I'm struggling right now,'' Contreras said. ''I'm aware that I'm going to be back, I'm going to be OK. I want to be a starter. If they don't want me as a starter next year, I want to be out of here.

If it were up to the Sox, I’m sure Contreras and his $9 million salary would be gone next year too. The Sox are loaded with good, young arms in the minors, and with the first four in the rotation set for 2008 (barring a trade), the Sox should cut Jose lose and see what one of the young guns can do in the five hole. Gio Gonzalez, who was acquired in the Freddie Garcia trade, has been a strikeout machine in AA, but he may have to wait until 2009. Floyd and Charlie Haegar are the most likely candidates for the job next year, but don’t be surprised if Jack Egbert makes a strong push. Egbert, 24, is 11-7 with a 2.57 ERA and 134 K’s in AA this season. TUP friend of the program Al Bundy would like to point out that he predicted Egbert’s greatness two years ago. Worth noting.

*In other White Sox related news, pitcher Kris Honel, a former first round draft pick, has retired.

Bleed Green from Bleeding Green Nation came up with an idea a couple of weeks ago for an Eagles’ bloggers day at the Eagles training camp at Lehigh University. In a nutshell, on Friday morning my brother and I are going to be making the drive to Lehigh. We’re leaving at an un-Godly hour, and we should be at camp for both sessions (8:15am and 2:45pm). Any readers interested in joining us, and possibly some of the other Eagles bloggers writing about our beloved birds, please feel free.

As an added incentive, the first reader to find me (You’re going to have to be able to recognize me from the picture below) will be the proud winner of a nifty Blogs By Fans hat.

If you’re looking for an Eagles fix immediately, check out this article from ESPN.com. The suits at ESPN put their heads together and came up with a list of 50 current NFL players who could be heading to the Hall of Fame.

They’ve got Dawkins at number 25 and McNabb on the bubble. McNabb is on the bubble while Adrian Peterson, A.J. Hawk, Matt Leinart and Edgerrin James make the list. Ponderous.

Remember, the first reader to find this handsome mug on Friday gets a free hat.

The announcement was just a formality.  Martin hadn't played since Week 13 of the 2005 season against the New England Patriots.  In that game, a 16-3 Patriot victory, Martin tried to juke a corner and was lit up and dropped for a short loss.  That's when then coach Herman Edwards decided to pull Martin from the game.  The reason Martin was able to gain over 1,000 yards in 10 straight seasons was his escapability.  He never got hit hard.

After sustaining a knee injury in Week 2 against the Dolphins, Martin's running style was never the same.  He had his last 100-yard rushing performance against the Bills in Buffalo in Week 6, but even then you could see that his knee and body were worn down.

Martin finishes his career ranked fourth on the all-time rushing list behind only Emmitt Smith, Walter Payton and Barry Sanders.  He also ranks third all-time in carries and seventh in total yards from scrimmage.  He had eight seasons of 300 carries or more which places him in a tie with Eddie George for second all-time.  He finished with 57 career 100-yard games, good for seventh all-time.

And I have to admit, I didn't want the Jets to pick him up following the 1997 season.  We have Adrian Murrell, I thought.

Man, what a dumb ass I was.

The Jets gave up a first and third round draft pick for Martin and signed him to a six year, $36 million contract in 1998.  I thought it was too much to give up for a little running back who wasn't especially fast and couldn't run over people.  I also hated Martin when he was on the Patriots.  He always seemed to rip an important run or catch a pass for a big first down against the Jets.  I thought for sure that once he came over to the Green and White, his best days would be behind him.

Boy, was I wrong.

There are two games that really stick out in my mind that showed the type of player Martin was and I happened to be at both of them.  The first game was in 2000, week 14 against the Indianapolis Colts.  The Jets were right in the thick of the playoff hunt and needed a win against a playoff bound Colt team.  Martin put the Jets on his back and ran for 203 yards and led the Jets to a 27-17 victory.  I was in the upper deck (sec. 307, row 24, seat 3), but I could see the Colt defenders looking at each other in disbelief during the game.  I knew how they felt.  It's the feeling I had when Martin was playing in New England.  There were times Martin looked surrounded, but he managed to maneuver away from a tackler and gain positive yardage.  And you just couldn't figure out how he did it.

The second game came in 2003 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.  It was a raw, cold, snowy afternoon and my cousin and I risked life and limb on the icy roads as we headed to the Meadowlands to watch a pair of 5-8 teams do battle.  Why?  Because we're stupid, that's why!  We were protected from the elements seated in the second tier (sec. 214, row 8, seat 4) and watched two teams going nowhere slip and slide on the snowy turf.  Snaps were fumbled.  Punts died on contact.  Passes sailed high and wide. Receivers dropped balls.  The only player who seemed unaffected was Martin.  He finished the game with 174 yards rushing as the Jets won 6-0.

But Martin never let his success on the football field put him above others.  He was a reluctant superstar.  A player who gave everything he had in practice, in the film room and in the game.  He had the heart and fight of a lion and left everything on the field, but kept the game in perspective.  He'll go down as a Hall of Fame player, but teammates, coaches and opponents will tell you he was a Hall of Fame person, too.

But, as they say, time waits for no man and so Jet fans will say good-bye to number 28.

Thanks for the memories, Curtis.  You'll be missed.

This offseason has just completely flipped for the Bears. Things looked horrible at first after the Thomas Jones trade, the Briggs contract debacle, and everything that happened with Tank Johnson. But after all those things got resolved, the Bears started to get things back together. Resigning their cornerbacks was huge, as was getting Briggs to report to training camp on time. General Manager Jerry Angelo continued his good work yesterday, picking up Darwin Walker from the Bills.

Walker fills the Bears' biggest whole, that of a second defensive tackle. That was Tank’s job before he got cut, and without a move for Walker, the Bears would be relying on Dusty Dvoracek (who didn’t play last year) and newly acquired free agent Anthony Adams. Walker can fill in immediately, and fits the Bears scheme perfectly. Like Tank, he’s a pass rusher, ranking fourth among defensive tackles in sacks last season with six. This move definitely improves a Bears defense that struggled towards the end of last season when they didn’t have Tommie Harris. If Harris misses anytime again this season, Walker’s presence will help fill the void. And the five man wrecking crew of Walker, Alex Brow, Adawale Ogunleye, Mark Anderson, and Tommie Harris should be the best passing rushing defensive line in the NFL.

My only concern about Walker is his contract which is the reason the Bills traded him in the first place.

(Walker) was scheduled to make $1.3 million this year and $1.4 million next season after signing a seven-year extension with the Eagles early in his career. Walker more than outplayed that contract, producing 26½ sacks over the last five seasons, the fourth-highest total at his position. Walker started negotiating a new deal with the Eagles in February, but they traded him to Buffalo because they are loaded at the position and didn't want to set a precedent by renegotiating mid-deal. It's an interesting cautionary tale for the Bears, who built their team by using the Philadelphia method of identifying young players and signing them to long-term contracts.

Really the only question is whether or not Walker will be around past this year. That is not that big of an issue, however, because the Bears are focused on winning a title this season, and Walker might them do that.

Nothing takes my mind off a last place White Sox team quite like Bears training camp, which opens today in Bourbonnais. I know I’ve written a lot about basketball and the Bulls for this site, but the Bears have always had a slight advantage over them and the Sox for my favorite team. Here are some quick thoughts on some key players going into camp:

Grossman: I really think Rex is poised for a huge year. Last year, people focused on the negatives so much, they forgot about all the good things he did. Sure, he threw 20 interceptions, and that’s not good. But in his first full season as a starter, he also threw over 20 touchdowns, something that doesn’t happen very often. Say what you will about Rex, and everyone has, but one thing I love about him is his confidence. A mentally weak quarterback would have crumbled late last season facing all the pressure Grossman did. Remember how bad the media pressure got after his 0.0 QB rating suckfest the final regular season game of the year against Green Bay? He put that behind him and played two real good playoff game right after that. I have a feeling this is the year Grossman proves to everyone he’s for real and establishes himself as a top 5 NFC quarterback. If he can cut down on the interceptions- which will happen, there is no chance in hell he throws 20 again- to say 13 or 14, the Bears should be right with the very best of the conference. Also, don't be surprised if the Bears become a passing team this year....

Benson: Thomas Jones might be one of my five favorite Bears of my life time. He was fantastic; basically the only offensive player the Bears could rely on the past two seasons. But the only reason he isn’t on this team is because he didn’t want to be. Do you really think Jerry Angelo wanted to trade him? Of course not, the combo of Jones and Benson worked far too well last year for him to want that. But Jones forced his way out of town, so now it’s Benson’s turn and he’s been getting a lot of negative publicity. Simmons said today on his podcast that the Bears have “5-11 written all over them” and that he hates Benson for fantasy purposes. Maybe the Sports Guy should just stick to basketball. It’s almost like people forget everything Benson accomplished at Texas, where he was one of the most dominant college running backs of his generation. Benson is virtually guaranteed of being good this season, he’s more talented then Jones, who rushed for 1,210 yards last year. I’d expect at least that many yards from Benson this season with more touchdowns because he’s better in short yardage situations. The only problem is that he’s kind of a head case. That Super Bowl injury was awfully suspicious and it’s well known that his teammates don’t really like him. I think part of the reason for that is because Jones was so beloved; a few 100 games by Cedric should erase that easily. Look for Cedric to get over 120 in the opener against KC. That should get his, and his teammates, confidence up for the rest of the season.

Briggs: It’ll be interesting to see how Briggs is greeted when he arrives in training camp on Sunday. The public really hated him the past few months, now he’s reneging on all his promises and coming to play for the Bears from day one. It’s pretty clear he won’t be with the Bears next season, what kind of impact will that have on the team? I can see him having another big year, hopefully his third straight pro bowl, but every time he misses a tackle he’s going to hear boos.

Remember this past March when Lance Briggs said he would never play another down for the Bears? Yeah, way to stick to your guns, bro.

Pro Bowl linebacker Lance Briggs, who'd threatened to sit out the season, agreed Wednesday to a one-year, $7.2 million deal with the Chicago Bears as the team's franchise player.

All that complaining for nothing, I guess. Really, Briggs had no other choice but to accept the Bears offer. As a former third round pick still working off his rookie contract, he hasn’t accumulated the kind of money to make sitting out the first ten games of the season a reality. Lance Briggs isn’t rich yet, he needs the $7 million the Bears are giving him this season. But Briggs did get something from the Bears in this contract: if he plays more then 75% of the snaps this season, the Bears cannot put the franchise tag on him again next season. The franchise tag is allowed to be used on the same player twice, two years in a row, but now if Briggs stays on the field, he won’t have to worry about it again next year.

I’m just glad Briggs came to his senses and signed this deal as quickly as he did. Missing training camp would have been a huge blow for him and the Bears, as no one is ready to see Jamar Williams in a starting role just yet. By signing the contract early, Briggs should position himself for a great season, which can only help the Bears. He should be having dollar signs in his eyes for every tackle, sack, interception, and Bears victory this season. Another pro bowl trip and he’ll probably be the most coveted free agent next offseason.

It’s pretty clear that Briggs isn’t in the Bears future plans, with the resigning of Charles Tillman and Nathan Vasher, the eventual resigning of Tommie Harris, and the possible resigning of Rex Grossman, there just isn’t enough money to go around. If it were up to me, Briggs would stay, and one of the corners (preferably Vash Dog) would be on his way out, but the Bears have obviously chose to go in another direction. The thing I never understood is that the Bears got mad when Briggs rejected their offer last offseason because he felt it was under market value. Well the contract offer was under market value. The Bears had to know the price for a 26 year old, two time pro bowl linebacker is going to be pretty expensive. They acted like they were offended because they offered him a fair deal that he turned down, but really, the deal was never fair at all. The Bears obviously thought that if they couldn’t get him at a reduced price, they would rather lock up their corners, and maybe wide receiver Bernard Berrian, who broke out last season and is a free agent after this year.

So did Lance Briggs have something to be angry about this entire offseason? I think he did. That doesn’t mean he should have acted the way he did, going on ESPN and calling out the Bears front office, but Briggs does have legit beef. Well he won’t be in Chicago in 2008, but that’s the least of the Bears worries right now. They’re focused on winning a Super Bowl this season, and if they do, nothing else will matter.

The Bears are always referred to as cheap around these parts, but after this offseason, that tag doesn’t really fit anymore. The Bears locked up Charles Tillman on Tuesday to a six year extension worth $38 million, with an $18 signing bonus. Jeez, that kind of bread can buy you a lot of Peanuts. This is the third major resigning by the Bears this offseason, as Tillman joins Lovie Smith and fellow corner Nathan Vasher as major pieces the Bears have decided to keep around for the future.

While Tillman didn’t come cheap, it’s a move the Bears had to make. Sure, they have lots of money tied up in cornerbacks now, remember Ricky Manning Jr. gets some dough too, but Tillman is too good to let walk. The signing is important for a couple reasons. It proves the Bears are going to lock up the homegrown pieces that have made them successful, which makes them look like a classy franchise. The Bears aren’t like the Redskins, they don’t really add big pieces through free agency. But the Bears can draft, especially in later rounds, and rewarding your own players who helped you go to the Super Bowl is more important then bringing in pieces from outside the organization. Don’t forget that Tillman is an outspoken team leader, as well. He’s a little cocky (don’t all corner’s need to be?), and his teammates love him. Resigning him sends a good message to the rest of the team that if you play well and the team is successful, you will be taken care of.

It’s also important because it seems the Bears decision on Lance Briggs has been made. They only have so much money to go around, they decided to use it on the Peanut and Vash Dog, while still keeping money available for Tommie Harris and Grossman, both of whom become free agents after the season. Tommie Harris is probably the Bears second best player, but he’s coming off a major knee injury. If he returns to his old form, and the Bears are going to need that, expect his pay day to come next. Grossman’s new contract is all up to him- do better then last year and lead the team to the same number of victories and he should be Chicago for a long time as well.

Below is the best play of Charles Tillman’s career. It came as a rookie against the Vikings:

What I would not do, and no one in their right mind should do, is drop him out of the top ten altogether, and slot in guys like Jay Cutler and Tony Romo ahead of him. Peter King did just that in his most-recent ridiculous article.

King has McNabb ranked number 12 on his QB list, behind the likes of the two stiffs mentioned above, as well as Jon Kitna and Philip Rivers. The top of the list is pretty obvious, Manning, Brady, Brees, Palmer (I’d swap Palmer and Brees in my top five, and I’d take McNabb over Brees, all things being equal). Then King lists Bulger, Hasselback, Vince Young, Rivers, Cutler, Romo and finally McNabb, just ahead of McNair.

It’s very easy to forget exactly how good McNabb was last year before he went down with his knee injury. The Eagles learned their lesson in his absence (at least if you believe the lip service, they did), and they’ll be using a much more balanced offense this season. That is only going to help McNabb’s numbers, and his longevity. Hopefully, McNabb will cut this list out and hang it on his locker next to all the other negative press he’s gotten this off season. The more motivation, the merrier.

For the record: At least one QB ranked higher by King isn’t going to last the season as a starter, Tony Romo. You can write that down.

The Jaguars cut Darius, a pro-bowl calibur strong safety who’s had some injuries problems over the past couple years, including a broken leg back in November. Darius is 32, and if the Eagles were to offer him a contract, it wouldn’t be long term, and it wouldn’t be very lucrative, but if the guy can walk, I say bring him in.

Sean Considine, the guy who will probably start at strong safety, is not a viable starter, in my opinion. You remember Considine, he’s the guy who wound up flat on his ass at the end of every play last year. He was over-matched. I realize there’s been talk of Considine bulking up over the offseason, and being more physically suited to the position this year, but I won’t believe it until I see it.

If nothing else, Darius would provide a fall-back option if Considine hasn’t taken a step forward. He’s worth a shot.

Here’s a picture of Darius’s handiwork:

Guh!

The Jets linebacker was on WFAN and equated dogfighting with horse racing.

Yeah, I don't get it either.

Vilma also went on to comment on Pacman Jones, Tank Johnson and the media. 

This is very out of character for Vilma who has been the antithesis of football players to come out of "The U."  Vilma tried to clarify his comments, but the damage was already done.  

I don't think the comments will plague Vilma, but he's been in the league long enough to realize that any comments on any hot topic will be scrutinized. 

I hope Vilma stops talking about dogs, horses and other animals and starts talking about football.

Because that's all I want to read about.

Of course, there’s another side to this coin. Is McNabb feeling pressure to get back sooner rather than later? Is he coming back too soon? Will this come back to bite him in the ass? Only time will tell, obviously. I’m erring on the positive side, blog names notwithstanding.

Maybe the maelstrom of negativity, questions and innuendo is motiving McNabb to get back on the field. You can’t ignore that possibility. Maybe he’s pushing his rehab a little bit, eager to get back on the field and let everyone know, “Yes, this is my team.”

All of the press coverage could’ve pushed him in the other direction. He could’ve pouted, slacked off and his rehab schedule could’ve slipped. A motivated McNabb is a very good sign for the Eagles heading into the season. I, for one, am looking at the glass half-full.

The list has over 50 names, and quite a few are from the late-eighties/early-nineties Buddy Ryan teams. My favorite Eagles era. One in particular caught my eye, Terry Hoage.

If you don’t remember Hoage, he was a hard-hitting, ball-hawking, blue-collar safety who thrived in Buddy Ryan’s “46” defense. I loved the guy, mainly because his is the all-time best name to say with a bad Philly accent (seriously, try it.)

When I saw they did a profile on Hoage’s life after the NFL, I thought maybe he bought a construction company or something. Well, I was more than a little shocked when I saw that Hoage is now a vintner. The coolest thing about the story is that Hoage named one of his wines “46.” For some reason, I think the significance is lost on most of his clientele.

The teams that Hoage played on made me the nutjob football fan that I am today, and I still say Buddy Ryan had the best defense in the history of the game in Philadelphia. If only he’d hired an offensive coordinator and let him call the plays…oh well. What could have been.

Hicks has carved out a nice career for himself since signing with the Kansas City Chiefs in 1998 as a rookie free agent.  His 44.5 career sacks ranks him fifth on the all-time Chief list.

He will compete with the other 235 defensive ends the Jets have signed this off-season. 

PROGRAM NOTE: For all Jet fans who have the NFL Network. 

The NFL Network will air the "Monday Night Miracle" from 2000 on Thursday, May 24, at 8 p.m.  I still don't have the NFL Network because Cablevision is a heartless monster, but I was lucky enough to have seen that game LIVE at the Meadowlands.  If you don't remember, this was the game where the Jets erased a 23-point deficit in the fourth quarter to come back and defeat the hated Dolphins, 40-37 in OT.  Obviously, it was the best game I have ever seen in person.  If you get the chance, revisit the Al Groh era along with the stars:

Vinny Testaverde (who flipped 5 TD passes)

Jason Taylor (who left the field in tears)

Jumbo Elliot (who caught his first and only career touchdown)

And a cast of thousands!