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Ten Thoughts on the NFL

After checking out my Ten Thoughts this week, be sure to share a few of your own in the comment section.

By Lester A. Wiltfong Jr.

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Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

1) Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera signed a three year, $19.5 million contract extension and his average salary of $6.5 million per season makes him the 6th highest paid coach in the NFL. Just ahead of him on the highest paid coaching list is the L.A. Rams' Jeff Fisher. Fisher hasn't had a winning record since 2008 (He wasn't coaching in 2011) and he has a .430 winning percentage with the Rams.

I have a feeling with them making to move to California, that 2016 may be the last shot Fisher has to get them over the .500 hump.

But as for Riverboat Ron, not bad for a guy that was nearly fired after starting his head coaching career 13-19. Since then he has three straight NFC South Division titles and an NFC Championship on his resume.

2) When Social Media is done right, it's a lot of fun.

The Panthers' signed Michael Oher to a three year contract extension and his o-line mates on the Panthers took to Twitter to congratulate him. Oher, if you remember, was the subject of the book turned movie The Blind Side.

3) Ever since Hank Williams Jr. reworked his classic "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight" into "All my Rowdy Friends Are Here On Monday Night" for Monday Night Football, prime time football fans have grown accustomed to a catchy pre-game ditty.

Sunday Night Football is retiring their "Waiting All Day For Sunday Night" and replacing it with a brand new version of "Something Bad," a song by Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert. Underwood reworked her hit into a football friendly version that will debut when SNF kicks off the 2016 season.

4) And speaking of Monday Night Football, if you were watching back in November of 1985, you no doubt remember the sickening replay, after replay, after replay, after replay of Lawrence Taylor breaking Joe Theismann's leg. Taylor is taking a glass half full approach to the incident.

"I did him a favor," Taylor said to laughter from the audience. "That man was on his way out of football a long time before that. Listen, that was going to be his last year. He wasn't playing very well. I did him a favor."

The then 36 year old Theismann never played a down after the injury, and he really wasn't playing very good football before he was hurt. In 11 games that year he threw 8 touchdowns to 16 interceptions and had a 59.6 passer rating.

Maybe LT has a point.

5) Now that the city of Cleveland has it's first major sports champion in 52 years, thanks to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, the infamous Cleveland Browns quarterback carousel jersey is being retired.

FYI, the QBs on the current Browns' roster are Robert Griffin III, Josh McCown, Cody Kessler, Austin Davis and Connor Shaw. I'm sure a clear cut #1 will emerge from that group and stay healthy for all 16 games.

It could happen...

6) New Tampa Bay Buccaneers' defensive end Robert Ayers, when asked how the team is looking, kept it real when he said, "We're a little less terrible."

That reminds me of this classic line from that great football movie The Waterboy.

7) The Detroit Lions don't know when their own players are born.

Whoever has a hold of the Lion Twitter account wished linebacker Kyle Van Noy a happy birthday on June 19th. His birthday is actually March 26th.

The Lions Tweeter took it in stride.

8) It sometimes takes a couple of years to fully recover from a knee injury, so perhaps offensive tackle Jake Long has a point when saying, "This is the healthiest and best I've felt in probably about five, six years. My knee's back. I've just been working out, feeling good and ready for the opportunity when it comes along."

Then again, maybe Long just really, really needs a job after being passed over by the Chicago Bears earlier this month.

The 31 year old Long isn't that old by o-line standards, so if he checks out medically, I would imagine he could help a team. Left tackle may be off the table these days, but on the right side or even at guard I think a healthy Long has some juice left.

9) If healthy, could the Chicago Bears' Alshon Jeffery, Kevin White and Eddie Royal be the best receiving threesome in the NFL?

In a recent article on NFL.com by Around The NFL writer Kevin Patra, he says "It wouldn't be a shock," if the three Bears were the top trio in the league, with the caveat obviously being their health.

10) NFL.com looked at the best defensive player for every franchise and their pick for the Bears' was no surprise.

Dick Butkus, middle linebacker

There are so many great defenders in the Bears' near-century of existence: Richard Dent, Bill George, Doug Atkins, "Danimal" Hampton, Steve "Mongo" McMichael, Lance Briggs, Brian Urlacher ... We could easily list a bunch more names. OK, so we will: Mike Singletary, Richie Petitbon, Rosey Taylor, Otis Wilson, Wilber Marshall ... Tired of this yet? The correct answer for the query posed in this article, however, is Dick Butkus, who was considered a legend in his own time. Perhaps the hardest hitter this side of Ronnie Lott, Butkus made the Pro Bowl every year of his career until his last, when his Namathesque knees finally gave out on him. He was a member of the NFL's 75th Anniversary All-Time Team.

Butkus is a no-brainer because he is the best middle linebacker to ever play the game.

Ever.

No question.

What are some of your thoughts on the NFL this week?

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