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Ten Thoughts on the NFL: Chicago Bears and beyond

Training camps are almost here... Training camps are almost here... Training camps are almost here... Training camps are almost here...

By Lester A. Wiltfong Jr.
Guess who has the top selling jersey in the NFL?
Guess who has the top selling jersey in the NFL?
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

1) Johnny Manziel has yet to earn the first string quarterbacking gig form the Cleveland Browns, but he's clearly number 1 in the fans' minds. Johnny Football has the top selling jersey in the NFL. But he's not the only rookie on the list.

Michael Sam is 6th, Teddy Bridgewater is 13th, Jadeveon Clowney is 16th and Blake Bortles is 18th. The Seattle Seahawks have the most best sellers in the top 25 with 5 including the 10th ranked "12th Fan" jersey.

2) Speaking of the Minnesota Vikings' rookie QB, new offensive coordinator Norv Turner has been gushing about Bridgewater. I still find it silly that he nearly fell out of the 1st round because of a bad pro day workout.

If Bridgewater shows that he's capable of running Turner's offense, he should be starting from day one. There's nothing better for a young QB than a great running game and there's no better back than Adrian Peterson.

3) And speaking of good running backs... I really think Peterson's former backup, new Jacksonville Jaguars' featured back Toby Gerhart, is about to have a very good year. I'm back in the fantasy football game this year and I'm targeting Gerhart early.

4) Possible Vikings #3 QB Christian Ponder is a new daddy and he named his daughter -- Bowden Sainte-Claire -- after his former college coach Bobby Bowden.

I wonder how many kids are named after Mike Ditka?

5) Tony Dungy made an honest statement about Michael Sam. SB Nation's Ryan Van Bibber wrote about it. Here's his summation on the entire story.

Tony Dungy is sorry that he made Michael Sam a distraction with his comments, especially since it proves his point that Michael Sam is a distraction because doddering old fools in the media keep making him a distraction.

And here's Dungy's full statement on his comments.

And here's another Dungy/Sam nugget from Keith Olberman via SB Nation's twitter.

Is Michael Sam is bigger distraction than a typical 7th round draft pick, of course he is. But maybe the media should stop asking questions about him being a distraction, because that's the only distraction. To me it seems like the media is creating their own story where there really is none.

6) Let's see, I already mentioned Johnny Manziel and Michael Sam, so how can I work in another search engine bigwig in my Thoughts this week...

I got it!

Have you heard that Tim Tebow is still working out to keep his NFL dream alive? Forget about going to the CFL to work on his craft, instead he's working out with a QB guru at a workout facility.

Now imagine this next sentence in our sarcasm font. He'll be back in the league in no time.

Here's the clip of Tebow working out if that does anything for you.

7) The season hasn't even started yet and Blogging The Boys is already putting Dallas Cowboys' head coach Jason Garrett on the hot seat. After three consecutive 8-8 seasons that's exactly where he belongs. The NFC East figures to be very competitive in 2014 so this could be it for Garrett.

8) All you Madden players are probably all over this one, but the rookie ratings are starting to trickle out. Clowney and offensive linemen Greg Robinson both garnered 83 overall.

I retweeted this one out yesterday for the Chicago Bears fans.

9) It seems like the Jay Cutler contract is a sore spot for the Cincinnati Bengals. Free agent to be Andy Dalton is looking for a Cutler type deal while the Bengals want to pay him more like the San Francisco 49ers paid Colin Kaepernick. This just points to the bigger problem of there not being any middle ground on deals for #1 QBs.

10) This last one really isn't a thought, but more of a request. If you guy are planning on going to Bourbonnais for Bears training camp make sure to give your trip the full fanpost treatment. Share your story and your pictures of your awesome Bears adventure.

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