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1) Roddy White of the Atlanta Falcons was very upset over the verdict of the high profile murder trial over the weekend. Whether you agree or disagree with the outcome is your prerogative, as is what you choose to say about it. But if you hold a high profile job, like a professional athlete, you may face some consequences over your words, or your Tweets in the case of White.
There may be a suspension, there may be a fine, or there may be no punishment at all. That's up to the NFL and the Falcons organization. Just try to keep in mind, that nothing will prevent athletes from saying or doing stupid things.
2) In other stupid athlete news. Maurkice and Mike Pouncey, former teammates of accused murder Aaron Hernandez, made an odd fashion choice over the weekend.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Looks like Aaron Hernandez has at least 2 ppl who think he's innocent. 1 of them is Dolphins' Mike Pouncey. <a href="http://t.co/7ck1rGjOj5">pic.twitter.com/7ck1rGjOj5</a></p>— Frank Guzman (@fguzmanon7) <a href="https://twitter.com/fguzmanon7/statuses/356422830642065408">July 14, 2013</a></blockquote>
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All the above mentioned dumb-asses did apologize for their actions, so there's that...
3) After Colin Kaepernick got some flak last week for wearing a Miami Dolphins hat, this week Carolina Panther QB Cam Newton admitted he's a Falcon fan for all but two days a year. I really don't have a problem with this. A kid grows up rooting for a particular team, and some people expect him to stop because of who signs his paychecks? That's just silly.
4) I'll bet the happiest person in Denver right now is Ryan Clady after agreeing to a five year deal worth more than $50 million dollars. I'll bet the second happiest person in Denver right now is Peyton Manning for knowing that his All Pro left tackle is locked up.
5) For years I had to listen to people laud the cinematic exploits of Varsity Blues. I finally saw it a few months ago, and it was aight. Nothing special. A good guilty pleasure type movie, but I could easily rattle of ten better football movies. And this is now one of the finalists in the NFL.com Greatest Movie Ever tournament? Hogwash I say.
6) Peter King of Sports Illustrated had an interesting take on the rash of arrests in the NFL.
Number of arrests of NFL players in the last year: 55.
Estimated number of players currently under contract in NFL: 2,880.
Percentage of players arrested in the last year: 1.9 percent.
Now for the general population. Look at the last year the FBI has complete stats for, 2010.
Number of arrests of American adults: 11,479,500.
Estimate number of American adults living in 2010: 235,205,700.
Percentage of American adults arrested in 2010: 4.9 percent.
He goes into more detail, but this is some good perspective. The uproar about football players, and pro athletes in general breaking the law, may not be as big a deal as the media makes it out to be.
7) I was excited to find a list ranking offensive lines that didn't have the Chicago Bears last. Granted it's a list of the oldest O-Lines in the NFL, but at least the Bears aren't last! Our sister site that covers the Eagles, Bleeding Green Nation, has compiled the data.
If by some chance 34 year old Roberto Garza is beaten out by a youngster the Bears will fall even further down the rankings. They currently have the 12th oldest line by the way.
8) Last week John "Moon" Mullin of Comcast Sports Net had an interesting stat in regards the past running backs that played under Marc Trestman.
In 10 NFL seasons with Trestman in coordinator and/or quarterback-coach positions, his lead running backs averaged 65.4 receptions per year, from a low of 48 for Charlie Garner with the Oakland Raiders to a high of 91 for Garner one year earlier.
I think if Matt Forte remains healthy, he'll be back in the pro bowl.
9) Legendary Chicago Bear Mike Ditka made some waves over the weekend when he said that Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers is the best quarterback playing the game today. I agree, he is the best, and to take it even further, Jay Cutler doesn't even deserve to be in the same conversation with Rodgers.
More from WCG: National Analyst Mike Ditka Doesn't Have to Be a Bears Fan
10) Did you know that Bears #1 draft pick Kyle Long has been doing an MMA style workout with Jay Glazer and a few other NFL players? I'm excited to see Long once the pads come on.