Well, it proved to not be a bad way to spend a balmy Saturday afternoon.

I met the task master himself. I asked Goodell what he thought about the Stafford contract, to which he responded, “Lot of money, good kid.” I detected a bit of seethe in those few words.

Newbie Stafford’s guaranteed money ($41.7 mil) trumps that of the highly-accomplished Ben Roethlisberger’s ($36 mil).

The spread in the VIP lounge, impeccable – penne ala vodka and phenomenal finger foods. We ran out of beer by the third pick. But they remedied that pretty quickly.

For a fleeting moment, I thought we weren’t going to get a boo barrage when the Jets took Sanchez…then we learned the details of the trade (the Jets gave up their first-round pick, their second-round (No. 52), and defensive end Kenyon Coleman, safety Abram Elam and quarterback Brett Ratliff), and it was much worse than booing; I heard ‘rape!’ being uttered, a lot.

In my opinion, the most intriguing moment of the first round came when the Ravens took  Ole Miss OT Michael Oher, the young man profiled in Michael “Moneyball” Lewis’ book, The Blind Side. A book about the behemoth of a gifted athlete who has everything in life working against him (homeless at one point). While at the same time being compared to Anthony Munoz and Orlando Pace, two guys who were instrumental in the left Offensive Tackle becoming the second-highest paid position (to QB) in the game.

Speaking of QBs, Cassel inked his deal today. He almost got Stafford money.

I stuck around until the Pats picked traded down twice. Thanks to @tarametblog and Pepsi for hooking me up with the pass.

Check out the rest of my photos from the Draft on Facebook.

Planning to spend Short Skirt Saturday* inside Radio City Music Hall for the 2009 NFL Draft. Thanks to @tarametblog and Pepsi for hooking me up with the V.I.P. pass!

I’ll be there around 2:30, at which point live-tweeting will commence. Follow me on twitter or check out steadyburn.tumblr.com (the weakest looking tumblog in the land at the moment) for all the real-time updates!

Should be a draft to remember, considering that it’s supposed to push 85 tomorrow in NYC, which means only the most irate of Giants and Jets fans are planning to show up and boo incessantly the hometown picks.

If you want to prep for the draft by hearing about Mark Sanchez’ NYC burger odyssey, follow him on twitter here. If you want to get familiar with some of the best pre-draft content going around the blogosphere, there’s always the NFL Draft of All-Time Video Game Greats and Top Five Hottest Girlfriends of 2009 NFL Draft Prospects.

Enjoy the picks!

*In College, a friend of mine coined the term Short Skirt Saturday to represent the first balmy Saturday in the Spring in New York. Self-explanatory, inspired, and completely on point.

In the DVR era, you have to show restraint. You cannot watch it all, or you will die…while lying prostrate on the sofa.

Frankly, I’d love to see ex-NFL linebacker Dhani Jones gets decidedly mangled doing all sorts of goofball sporty stunts. But certain shows just can’t be squeezed in lest I resign myself to certain, imminent death by loafing.

Anyway, how has Dhani been fairing? Based on this preview, not well.

It’s kind of understated, but is he or isn’t he about to get BULLDOZED by that horse?

H/T to Your Scrumhalf Connection for posting the preview. Check back tomorrow for possibly some intelligently crafted thoughts on a show I actually watched – like the Teen Wolf episode of How I Met Your Mother.

It was inspired by a certain TV network with a propensity for producing rotten reality TV shows.

To the victor go the spoils! Meet Matt Knell, the winner of the first ever Superbowl Giveaway (first ever Giveaway, period) on this here blog. He wins that gaggle of goodness I was pimpin’ on behalf of Pepsi about a week ago. For those of you who weren’t aware of the contest, here’s what Matt wins, and the rest of the star-crossed contestants can only continue to pine for…

I asked Matt, a crushed Giants fan in fact, to give us some insight into his Superbowl plans…

Super Bowl party plans probably consist of snacky goodness in the

apartment with the girlfriend, and perhaps a few others – we’ll dress

up the cat and our chin in Arizona Cardinals jerseys (NFC all the

way).

It took me a minute to decipher chin, actually it took me until Matt emailed me again granting me permission to post photos of his chinchilla (oh!) named Minnie. Here’s that strange animal in question now…

Congratulations to Matt, who also happens to be a blogger (you can check him out at TagSmith.org and SM4SC.com)

For the rest of you, just gonna have to wait until the next epic consumer brand marketing scheme here on Steady Burn – cause I’m sure as hell not giving away any of my own sweet contraband.

Go to the Steady Burn Facebook Page!

Hey, if a team that lost games during the regular season 47-7 and 56-35 – with a Quarterback who has come back from the dead more times than agent Tony Almeida on 24 – can make it to the Superbowl, then why can’t a blog that rambles on about Lil Wayne, roller derby, Natalie Gulbis, and kickball get in on the Superbowl marketing blitzkrieg, right?

Right. That is why yours truly has been given the privilege of giving away this cachet of prizes from Pepsi.

This Ultimate Pepsi Super Bowl Party Pack includes:

• 1 football
• 1 beverage pail
• 1 snack helmet
• 2 key chains
• 2 hats
• 2 t-shirts
• 5 Pepsi 24 pack coupons
• 5 Frito Lay coupons

The process is real simple, just go to Facebook here and become a fan of the new Steady Burn fanpage. I’ll be adding righteous content to this page moving forward. You can go there right now and check out the videos from last year’s debauched experience attending all three legs of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred racing. I also added some photos of the RZA taking on chess prodigies on his birthday at a Wu Chess event from last year.

On Monday I’ll kick off Superbowl week by selecting a winner from all the Facebook fans and I’ll FED-EX you this prize pack. (I’ll even pop for two-day delivery!) Hugging Harold Reynolds is giving one of these away too, and they have a much more creative approach. So head over there and offer up your best Superbowl watching experience, and double your chance to win one of these bad boys!

To address a few FAQs, this is totally a boiler room operation we’re running here, so people I know personally are absolutely eligible. Also, if you email me a photo of your dog and promise to make him or her wear the chip helmet during the game (with the Doritos bowl filled) the odds may be skewed in your favor.

So on Monday morning I’m planning to have my lovely assistant (fresh off her stint at the Rusted Gun Saloon, pictured above) write everybody’s name down on little slips of paper, throw them all into a hat, and pour me a snifter of brandy. I’ll then select three names and take a healthy swig.

Next, I’ll light-up a cuban stogie, take a puff, then torch two of the names and those people will receive absolute squat. The person whose name dons the remaining slip will emerge victorious and receive the t-shirt, the football, the beverage pail to add to their collection, the league rated impact resistance snack helmet, and all the other accoutrement you see above

……..

Go to Facebook and fan the Steady Burn page right now because the winner will be selected at dawn on Monday (I gotta smoke down that Cuban, crush brandy, kick my lovely assistant off my apartment premises, and show up for work by 9 – it’s going to be a daunting A.M.). Every human alive is eligible, except for this kid…

Go to the Steady Burn Facebook Page!

This Sunday’s upcoming game between the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders will be broadcast live in 3D…and IN SPACE!

Actually, according to the Wall Street Journal, the broadcast will be shown in three theaters in New York, Los Angeles, and Boston. In attendance will be mainly suits from the NFL broadcasting partners and consumer electronics companies.

The game is being shot with special cameras by 3ality Digital LLC, which bogarted that company name after Speed III was shelved in 1999.

This isn’t the first time the NFL has participated in a 3-D experiment. In 2004, a predecessor company to 3ality filmed the Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and the Carolina Panthers. When Sandy Climan, 3ality’s chief executive officer, shows the footage, “people crouch down to catch the ball,” he says. “It’s as if the ball is coming into your arms.”

Personally, I haven’t been this jazzed about the third dimension since KISS released a music video in 3D off Psycho Circus. Also, can I be so bold as to predict that football in 4D is right around the corner? (Universal Studios has had 4D rides for years. So don’t go on Twister unless you want to get positively soaked). It’d go like this…bubble screen to Welker, Polamalu reads it perfectly! Next thing you know you’re riding the Human Touch massage chair from the Sharper Image store in the seventh layer of hell.

Kind of a throwaway sentence, but the WSJ article also notes that you’ll still have to wear the geeky blue/red cardboard comfort lenses.

The diagnosis of Tom Brady’s injury is right in line with how it looks in this gruesome photo.

When this incident occurred, we were at the local bar. It is literally the closest drinking establishment in proximity to my apartment, and they popped for the football package this year. Additionally, they have a free buffet, which when that ran out they ordered pizzas for the whole bar. I bought one round, my roommate bought one round, and then we had beers being bought for us throughout the game. I spent exactly $9 bucks, and was able to ignore the idea that Pats Player Personnel honcho Scott Pioli might be trying to get Testaverde on the phone.

This was a better way to see Brady get knocked out for the season than say the Pats fan who watched it at home on a new flat screen that was purchased to go with the Sunday Ticket package they just dolled out $300 smackers for. Now they’re left with the realization of being locked in a two-year contract with DirectTV, and satellite TV reception that teeters in the balance each time the wind picks up.

No matter how you saw it go down, the news is settling in for everyone this morning. I had the displeasure learning the final prognosis from the backpage of the horrendous NY Post. The eloquently worded headline: Yahoo! Brady Out For Year. (Of course, it comes on the day The Post announces that they endorse McCain for President)

After that, I changed my fantasy football team’s name to Bernard Pollard, I’m planning to fly to Kansas City, break into your house, and rip your wife in half.

The player formerly known as Chad Johnson…get used to that.

Today the Bengals announced this afternoon that they will now refer to the player formerly known as Chad Johnson as Chad Ocho Cinco, per his legal name change in Florida.

The decision was approved by the NFL office and the Bengals.

He will be listed as “Chad Ocho Cinco for all club business,” the club announced in a press release.

Oh, don’t you worry. It’ll say Ocho Cinco on the back of his jersey.

NYHoosier, thanks for the tip.

Link:

Bengals honor ‘Ocho Cinco’ (Cincinnati.com)

He thinks it’s completely bogus that we can’t throttle other countries on an Olympic gridiron.

Hat tip to NyHoosier

Link:

MakeFootballAnOlympicSport.com
YouTube