The NFL officially has the highest paid tight end ever, after the San Diego Chargers signed Antonio Gates to a five-year pact. The contract is worth $36.175 million, with $20.4 million guaranteed. The deal averages $7.235 million per season from 2011-15. Gates has flourished from the time he was a rookie in 2003, being named to the Pro Bowl six times and being named All-Pro three times. The deal comes in time for Gates to report to training camp in time and be able to participate in practice on Friday. Since his rookie campaign, Gates leads tight ends in touchdown catches with 59, ranks second in yards, with 6,223, and third in catches, with 479. Gates has also led the Chargers in catches each of the last six seasons. In 2009, he topped the Bolts with 79 catches and a career-best 1,157 yards, with eight touchdowns. This marks the second big contract for a Chargers player in less than a year. Phillip Rivers was given a contract extension worth nearly $93 million toward the end of last year's training camp.
Recently in NFL Category
Well, the Carolina Panthers can officially say that their team is complete after signing their first pick, and last draftee to sign, to a contract today. The 'Cats signed quarterback Jimmy Clausen to a four-year contract that could be worth as much as $6.3 million. The deal includes $2.53 million in guarantees, meaning the Panthers will not have any training camp holdouts. The second-round pick out of Notre Dame was the last of Carolina's 10 draft picks to sign, and the deal was completed just hours before the Panthers reported to training camp. The contract includes a fourth-year escalator, which is rare for a second-round pick, that tops out at $2.85 million. Clausen comes into training camp as the third-string quarterback, competing with incumbent Matt Moore and Hunter Cantwell for the starting gig.
For those wanting a chance to get autographs from now Carolina Panthers member Armanti Edwards, the former ASU star will be signing autographs on Saturday, July 24 at Scott's Collectibles in Kannapolis from 1-3 pm. The cost is $20 per item, and personalizations or inscriptions are a $5 donation to a charity of Armanti's choosing. If you don't have any Panthers gear or ASU merchandise that can be signed, there will be plenty of both teams items available including photos, posters, helmets, mini helmets, footballs and more. There will also be an exclusive 5X7 Armanti Edwards 2010 Prestige Card available that day as a wrapper redemption for purchasing packs of 2010 Panini NFL trading cards, and door prizes. For more information, you can call 704-784-2277.
Another former App is dominating lately. Former ASU defensive end Daniel Orlebar is off to an impressive start in the American Indoor Football Association. The AIFA is in it's fifth yer features 13 teams that range from New Jersey to Alaska. Orlebar, in his rookie season with the Baltimore Mariners, has nine quarterback sacks and 12 tackles-for-loss and ranks among the league leaders in each of those categories. The Mariners, who were 14-0 this past season, have won 19 of their last 20 games, and led the AIFA with 45 quarterback sacks. They are also the second-leading scoring defense in the league giving up an average of 28.4 points-per-game. During his ASU tenure, the Maryland native, had 99 tackles, 4.5 tackles-for-loss, two sacks and seven quarterback hurries in helping lead ASU to a 32-7 record and two national championships in just three seasons time after transferring from Wake Forest after two seasons. After his collegiate career, Orlebar played with several teams during his professional career, originally signing and playing with the Mahoning Valley Thunder of the then Arena Football League in 2007. He then went to training camp with the Iowa Barnstormers and then signed with the Manchester Wolves of Arena Football 2 in 2008, but didn't play in any regular-season games. Orlebar eventually found his way to the Odessa Roughnecks of the Indoor Football League last fall, but did not play in any regular-season games. Orlebar's current team, the Mariners, will take on Harrisburg in the Eastern Conference championship game of the AIFA in Baltimore on Saturday night.
How good is, and was, Armanti Edwards? Well, apparently so good that even when he's not playing, even when he's not in college anymore, he can still win awards. Armanti Edwards is the SoCon's Bob Waters Male Athlete of the Year. He becomes the fourth App in the last six years and the seventh overall to earn the recognition. Edwards already became the first two-time winner of the Walter Payton Award in addition to being named the 2009 SoCon Offensive Player of the Year, a consensus first-team All-American and a finalist for the prestigious Sullivan Award, which is given annually to the nation's top amateur athlete. For his career, Edwards ranks second in FCS history behind only Steve McNair with 14,753 yards of total offense He became the first and only player in Division I history (FCS or FBS) with at least 9,000 passing yards and 4,000 rushing yards in a career and the only FCS player to reach the 8,000 passing/4,000 rushing plateau, finishing his terrific career with 10,392 passing yards and 4,361 rushing yards. He was responsible for 139 touchdowns, 74 passing, 65 rushing, highlighting his 64 ASU and 14 Southern Conference records. He is the only four-time all-American in Appalachian history, and compiled a 42-7 record as a starter and led the Mountaineers to back-to-back national championships, in 2006 and '07, and four-straight SoCon crowns. He is the only player in SoCon history to quarterback his team to four conference titles. Edwards graduated from ASU in December with a bachelor's degree in graphic arts and imaging technology, earning his degree in just three-and-half year as an honors student. In April, he was selected in the third round (89th selection overall) in the NFL Draft by the hometown Carolina Panthers.
ASU football will now be looking for another new coach, and Mountaineer fans probably should have seen this one coming. Lance Taylor, the wide receivers coach for the Mountaineers, has taken a position as offensive assistant with the New York Jets in the NFL. Last season, the Apps set a school record for receptions and receiving yards under Taylor with 264 receptions and 3, 621 yards. Junior Matt Cline caught 85 balls for 981 yards and was named an honorable mention All-America, and first team All-SoCon selection CoCo Hillary grabbed 37 passes for 514 yards in eight games before his season ended early with a knee injury.
In addition to the loss of Lance Taylor as a coach, the Mountaineers also lost defensive end Tony Robertson. Robertson is calling it quits after the red-shirt senior suffered a shoulder injury while weight lifting in January. Robertson was named an honorable mention All-America by The Sports Network during his sophomore year in 2007, in which he had 62 tackles, 5.5 quarterback sacks and 15.5 tackles for loss. For his career, Robertson played in 44 games, had 19 starts, made 97 tackles, 11 quarterback sacks, 23 tackles for loss, eight quarterback hurries, an interception and a forced fumble. Robertson will stay on with the football team serving as a student assistant coach for the upcoming season.
NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Brian Cushing, may not hold that award much longer. The Houston Texans linebacker was suspended by the league for violating the NFL's anti-doping policy and his admission that he took a non-steroid banned substance, and as a result, the Associated Press is taking a re-vote for the 2009 Defensive Rookie of the Year award, which Cushing won. The AP will also re-vote for All-Pro outside linebacker, where Cushing initially received five votes and was named to the second team. Cushing will still be among the nominees in the re-vote. All ballots in the re-vote are due by early Wednesday afternoon. Cushing has been suspended for the first four games in 2010 after violating the league's anti-doping policy, which he was reportedly tested for in September. After the positive drug test, Cushing was tested randomly numerous times throughout the season and never tested positive again,and he even took a lie detector test, which he passed to prove his innocence. Cushing also appealed the decision, but lost and will have to serve the four game suspension next season.
The man that many said revolutionized the linebacker position in the NFL may be facing time behind bars. Pro Football Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor was arrested Thursday in connection with a reported rape in the New York City suburbs. The former New York Giants linebacker has been charged with third-degree rape, after police investigated a reported rape that occurred earlier Thursday at a hotel in Montebello. Authorities have yet to announce any further details, except that they plan to have a press conference later today when they have more facts. Taylor was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 1999 and competed in ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" last year. He had a highly publicized struggle with drug addiction and has had multiple legal run-ins in retirement. Taylor was a fast, intimidating and athletic linebacker when he anchored the Giants defense and led New York to Super Bowl Championships in 1987 and 1991. L.T. was a 10-time Pro Bowler, the NFL Most Valuable Player in 1986 and the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1981, 1982 and 1986, and named to the NFL's 75th Anniversary All-Time Team. He recorded 132.5 sacks, which doesn't included the 9.5 sacks in 1981 when the statistic wasn't official. But his legal issues are well-documented too. In 2001, Taylor was convicted of possessing drug paraphernalia in New Jersey. The conviction stemmed from the September 1998 discovery in a hotel room of a butane torch and other materials commonly used to smoke crack. In 1996 and 1997, he was arrested in South Carolina and Florida on drug charges. In those cases, he either admitted his guilt or agreed to enter a pretrial intervention program, and in 2000, he drew five years of federal probation for filing false tax returns and for tax evasion.
After the Denver Broncos were the talk of the draft for picking Tim Tebow as their future quarterback, one of the guys expected to protect Tebow and/or Kyle Orton may be out for a while. All-Pro left tackle Ryan Clady has undergone surgery to repair a torn left patella tendon and will be out for several months, according to The Denver Post. Clady suffered the knee injury playing basketball, and Clady has told people he will miss three months, according to multiple sources. Team spokesman Patrick Smyth declined to comment on the report, saying only that veterans were participating this week in the team's off-season training program. Clady, as many might remember, was the 12th overall pick out of Boise State in the 2008 NFL draft. He was highly sought after by the Carolina Panthers in that draft but he was selected before they could get him. The Panthers went on to draft Jonathan Stewart, then trade back into the first round to get Jeff Otah. Clady allowed the fewest sacks among tackles as a rookie and last year became the 11th tackle to earn Pro Bowl honors in just his second season.
The NFL Draft kicked off at primetime Thursday night for the first time, as the St. Louis Rams drafted quarterback Sam Bradford with the first overall pick, the Detroit Lions took defensive tackle Nudamakong Suh, defensive tackle Gerald McCoy went third to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Trent Williams, an offensive tackle, went to the Washington redskins with the fourth pick, and safety Eric Berry went fifth to the Kansas City Chiefs. Tim Tebow went surprisingly to the Denver Broncos at the 25th spot, Dez Bryant went at the 24th spot to the Dallas Cowboys, and CJ Spiller went ninth to the Bills. The Carolina Panthers will have their first pick, barring any trades tonight with the 16th pic in the second round and 48th overall pick. Just as an FYI, Colt McCoy and Jimmy Clausen are still on the board, so watch for a crazy night of drafting, and listen as ASU's Armanti Edwards could get called tonight as well, as he projects to be anywhere between a third and fifth round pick. Should be a great night and a great weekend of NFL.
