The NFL Draft’s first round wrapped up pretty quickly. Teams knew who they wanted but more so who they didn’t want. Tim Tebow celebrated at his home in Florida as he put on a Denver Broncos cap after being taken with the twenty-fifth pick.He said what many were thinking when he told Jeremy Schaap of ESPN that the Broncos knew that by picking him they were getting a guy who won’t get in trouble.

The word “character” was thrown around all night just as it has been for the entire episode involving Ben Roethlisberger. The media or perhaps the NFL began using character a few years back as a euphemism for words like, good behavior, discipline, lack of ego and law abiding citizen.

Despite being a first round pick in mock drafts from the likes of Mel Kiper and Mike Mayock, Jimmy Clausen was left sitting in his home in California without a phone call from any NFL team.

Generally acknowledged as the easiest of the available quarterbacks to fit into an NFL offense, Clausen had trouble with one of the meanings behind the use of the word character.

He is called arrogant and cocky. He admitted this week on the Dan Patrick radio program that he was asked about that on interviews with teams that showed interest in him.

His answer to the question was to send the clubs to his coaches and teammates, leaving draft watchers to wonder if those worries were being confirmed as Clausen went undrafted in round one.

Character is in the eye of the beholder of course and just to prove that point, Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys gleefully plucked wide receiver Dez Bryant out of the pile.
Bryant was considered worthy of the #4 pick by Kiper and #11 by Mayock but came perilously close to being left out of the fun.

Jones, known as a guy who loves turnaround projects, (TO, Tank Johnson, Adam Jones) saw the glass half full when it came to the subject of Bryant.
Rather than seeing his run-in with the NCAA as a reason to ignore his obvious talents, Jones traded up to get him at #24. You think he had Deion Sanders whispering encouragement in his ear?

The Cowboys gave New England their third round pick at #90 in exchange for a chance to get Bryant and the Pats fourth round pick. But without the intervention from Jones, Bryant would be sitting in the same spot as Clausen.

It used to be that legal trouble, drug use or team suspensions were the hot buttons for NFL draft experts. Not any longer. If you’ve got an iffy personality or one that can’t be deciphered and considered manageable you better prepare yourself for getting overlooked. Rounds two and three kick off tonight at 6 pm EDT.

Re-printed with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles. 

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax™

Chris Berman’s contract with ESPN expires in a few months and he may be allowed to depart the network for the NFL Network or Directv, according to various NFL insiders.

Berman, whose tenure with the behemoth sports broadcast system began in 1979 has other potential employers throwing opportunities his way and no firm extension with ESPN says Sportsbybrooks.com and thebiglead.com.

Leaving the Worldwide Leader,(“WWL”) so to speak, limits his scope to one sport, and it looks like it might just be football – and we all know Berman is about size and scope.

His voice, his delivery, his schtick and his 6’5″ body, Slim Fast diet or no Slim Fast diet render him the biggest presence on any set he shares with other sports personalities.

Leaving aside the critiques of his style, my interest is piqued by the potential for him to rejoin and over shadow the current stars of their respective sports networks: Rich Eisen at the NFL Network and Dan Patrick at Directv’s 101 Channel.

Both of these men are former colleagues of Berman at ESPN and from their references to him when they banter with each other during the course of Patrick’s daily radio program, it is apparent they aren’t Boomer’s biggest fans. Then again he was the top dog there and perhaps wasn’t as gracious about it all as he might have been.

But if the rumors about Berman’s pursuit by either of the other networks is true, the potential to overshadow Patrick and Eisen exists unless he is restricted to particular duties that never intersect with theirs. I find that hard to imagine.

Also on notice is Andrew Siciliano who has competently handled the chores every NFL Sunday for Directv’s Red Zone Channel which surfs from game to game to pick up the action inside the 20 yard line and more.

Adding Berman to any of those networks sports packages could be dicey for the men who have carved out their niche independent of the WWL. But Berman’s fan appeal and “Q” rating would be hard to turn down for networks that only hope to make a dent in ESPN’s sports broadcasting domination.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles. 

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Former Tampa Bay Buccaneer star Warren Sapp was busted in Miami Beach and charged with misdemeanor domestic battery after police responded to an incident at the Shores Club Hotel.According to the cops, the 37-year-old television sports analyst for the NFL Network and former contestant on “Dancing With the Stars” yanked his girlfriend of two years off a hotel room bed and demanded she leave their room.

As his chick began to get dressed, Sapp allegedly grabbed her neck and began to choke her then pushed her out of the room. When cops got to the scene they observed bruises on her neck and a swollen right knee.

Sapp was taken to the Miami-Dade County jail where he had to post a $1500 bond and cheese for this mugshot.

If this is proven true we have to wonder, ‘What ever happened to doing the deed then conveniently losing her digits?’

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax™