NFL Injury Update (LADIES Edition)

rodney harrison

It's already a shame that Rodney Harrison is out for the season, but if this is the end of his career, I consider that a huge loss for the NFL. For those of you who aren't familiar with Harrison, he is a safety for the Patriots (New England) and absolutely adorable. My favorite Harrison moment took place during a press conference when his cell phone rang and he looked down at his phone and said "oh, it's my mom." A guy who talks to his mom after work and talks about his day--so sweet. Anyway, he is going to be 36 on December 15, which is getting up there in football years. And now he has re-injured his right thigh and apparently tore the muscle. What the Patriots will miss about him will not be his stats (they haven't been spectacular since he missed almost the entire 2005 season with an injury) as much as his presence... and we will miss his smile. Or, maybe he will turn NFL commentator?!

tom brady

Yes, this makes football a little less entertaining for some of us now that Harrison is lost in addition to his teammate Tom Brady. What is it with good looking guys going down in 2008? Arguably the two hottest quarterbacks in the NFL are out for the season with Brady and Kyle Boller. And while Boller isn't worth having an a fantasy team, even as a back-up, he's still worth watching for other reasons.

kyle boller

To add to the list of hot guys on the sideline, now Reggie Bush looks to be out at least a game. I blame that more on the curse of dating distracting women though (see Kim Kardashian), which is an entirely separate issue. While not the best NFL rusher, Bush adds to his numbers with his receptions and special teams stats. This means that if you are in an individual defensive player (IDP) league then whoever owns Bush gets the benefits of his punt return numbers. But if you just use an entire team for the Defense/Special Team (DST), then whoever owns New Orleans reaps the rewards of his special teams stats. Be sure to distinguish this when having a fantasy conversation. In the league I run as the commissioner it's IDP, but in the all-guys league it's DST and while I have benefited from huge DST points at times, it has failed me at others. On the night in question I was playing against "Browning's $300 Rescue Package" (renamed after the debacle that took place a few posts ago), who I wanted to beat more than you can imagine. The team is owned by E and sometimes I think his main purpose in life is to find ways to torture me. Anyway, it came down to the Minnesota@New Orleans game and specifically, Reggie Bush. I witnessed him kill his own fantasy numbers not once, but twice when he ran back two punts for touchdowns. Not only did I miss out on the touchdown points, but I didn't get a single yardage point for either of those possessions. It was a painful loss to E and it was caused single-handedly by the own person who was supposed to help me.

Another victim of the distractoressa (i.e., high maintenance girlfriend): Tony Romo. I won't include him in the list of hot injured guys, because he's injured, but not hot. That's right, Jessica Simpson, I don't think your boyfriend is hot. You would think someone with your boobs could do so much better. I know he's the all-American Dallas Cowboys quarterback and that he's a generally likeable guy, but I am not on the bandwagon. I appreciate his fantasy stats, but there's something just a little too enthusiastic and "happy to be here" about him that I can't take. And for those of you who don't believe that low-key wives/girlfriends are a factor, just think if you even know what Ashley Manning (Peyton's wife) looks like. People like Romo think it's fun to be a celebrity and therefore date them. People like Peyton Manning think it's fun to be in the Hall of Fame.

tony romo (not hot)

In addition to the hot guys that are out for the season, we also have a fair share of hot guys that are on the bench for the season, namely Brady Quinn and Matt Leinart. Quinn partly brought this upon himself. He wasn't even in contention for the quarterback position in 2007 because he held out for most of training camp and missed the first preseason game. That year Charlie Frye was traded after the first half of the very first game of the year and had Quinn been around to learn the offense and adjust to the NFL that summer he might have had a chance to play. Now, he's just on the bench (look for #10) waiting for Derek Anderson to screw up. As much as Anderson does not seem like a dynamic enough player to lead this team back to the playoffs, he has been impressive at times and is in...for now. As for Leinart, he had his chance and lost it to a 75 year-old quarterback. Kurt Warner is starting in his place because he has a high completion percentage (about 10% better than Leinart) and a much better TD-INT ratio.

brady quinn

matt leinart

At least Trent Edwards is back. No idea who he is? That's okay because he's been injured most of his career, played college ball at Stanford and is in the Gus Frerotte, Matt Cassel, David Garrard range of quarterbacks at the moment. But, he is actually really good looking as my friend, Rachel, and I discovered unexpectedly while watching games a few weeks ago.

trent edwards

And remember, ladies, these guys are just eye candy. Don't get any fancy ideas--leave that work to the reality show stars and Giselle (and, yes, just let the guys continue to think what they want to about the "super model" and we'll just keep our thoughts to ourselves on this one as you know you've had that discussion).