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    Shutdown Corner
    • (Getty Images)The New Orleans Saints will honor Sean Payton this season by leaving an empty seat for the suspended head coach in their locker room and on team buses and planes.

      Payton, who is in exile in a downtown New Orleans skyscraper after his season-long ban, won't rejoin the team until after next year's Super Bowl. The Saints will compensate for his absence by acting like he died, rather than looked the other way during a pay-for-play bounty system. This is sort of like leaving an empty chair for grandma at Thanksgiving because it's her year to eat at your uncle's house.

      [Related: Saints rookie CB Corey White gets reality check from Drew Brees]

      This information comes from Jeff Duncan of The Times-Picayune. We've pulled some of the quotes from his article to highlight the Saints deep love of their banned coach.

      "How would Pittsburgh react if Chuck Noll was gone? Or how would Dallas react if Tom Landry wasn't there? Or San Francisco without Bill Walsh? Sean's put those kinds of numbers up. He has that kind of recognition in the league." -- Joe Vitt, interim head coach

      Super Bowl victories

      4 -- Chuck Noll

      3 -- Bill Walsh

      2 -- Tom Landry

      1 -- Sean Payton

      Read More »
    • Who would do such a thing? (Getty Images)

      There are people in or around the town of Oceanside, Calif., who just got an express trip to the place where the red guy with the horns and pitchfork does his business. There are few things more disgusting than a robbery that affects the family of a man who just died, but that's what happened last week to the family of Junior Seau.

      Just five days after the great linebacker took his own life, some sorry excuses for humanity broke into Seau's home, went through cabinets in the garage, and stole a bicycle that belonged to a friend of Seau's.

      Oceanside police Lt. Leonard Mata said that the stolen bike is gray with chrome fenders and a black seat, and there are 143 spokes in each wheel. Whoever broke in didn't enter the house -- just the garage. Nothing else was taken. The estimated value of the bike is approximately $500.

      [Related: Junior Seau was gregarious, ebullient, hilarious and immensely popular]

      On May 2, at approximately 9:35 a.m., Seau's girlfriend placed a 911 call indicating that she had found the body of the future Hall of Fame linebacker in a spare bedroom of his home. The death was suspected to be, and was later ruled, a suicide.

      Seau, a 12-time Pro Bowler and six-time First-Team All-Pro, was selected fifth overall in the 1990 NFL draft after an outstanding collegiate career at USC. He played with the San Diego Chargers through the 2002 season, spent 2003-2005 with the Miami Dolphins, and then signed with the New England Patriots in time for the 2006 season. In New England's perfect regular season of 2007, he played in all 16 games and started four. Seau first retired after that season, only to come back and play for the Patriots in 2008 and 2009 before finally leaving the NFL for good.

      "I'm going to go surf," he told Showtime upon his January 2010 retirement announcement. "Whatever happens, I can honestly say, that that probably was my last game."

      Read More »
    • Ricky Williams eludes the Lions in 2010. (Getty Images)

      Sometimes, the best way to deal with a problem is to pretend that it doesn't exist. At least, that's the impression put across by former NFL running back Ricky Williams when he discussed the recent concern about concussions in football with ESPN's Dan Le Batard. Williams, who played for the New Orleans Saints, Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Ravens during an 11-year career in which he gained over 10,000 rushing yards, retired in February. And when it comes to the possible effects of the game as he enters a new phase of his life ... well, Williams can't really be bothered.

      "I have no idea, and I'm not a really big fan of the way the NFL is handling concussions," Williams said on Tuesday. "Maybe I'm stupid or whatever, but if I got a concussion, and I could see straight and I could carry a football, I'm not telling anybody ... From what I've seen, [the NFL is] all about prevention -- but can you prevent a concussion? I mean, you can definitely have safer helmets, and I had what I think was the safest helmet when I played, and I think you can definitely pay more attention. But ultimately, it's about the players. And I think all this attention given to prevention -- it seems like they haven't done anything, because they don't believe they can actually treat a concussion."

      [Related: Concussion worries lead Andrew Sweat to choose law school over NFL]

      When Le Batard said that he didn't understand Williams' statement (put us in that camp as well), Williams elaborated.

      "Most of the research around concussions is to find that 100 percent of football players have brain trauma. Well -- I don't want someone to tell me that, right? I don't want someone to tell me that, because if it's a 'doctor' [Williams used air quotes when he said the word 'doctor'], I don't buy it."

      The now incredulous Le Batard asked Williams to clarify his stance -- did he believe that there is not a link between football and concussions?

      "I don't buy it. I'm only speaking from my personal experience, because I haven't allowed myself to buy it, and I haven't been affected. Yes, I'm aware that football is a rough sport, but instead of saying, 'Oh -- I'm doomed to brain trauma,' I said, 'What can I do about it?' And I just started taking care of my body. I found people, places and things that really helped me -- again, I don't know what's going to happen to me in 10 years, but I look at the other things I've learned about, and the way I see the world.

      "And to me, it's like -- OK, yes. If we're going to spend six months brutalizing our bodies, I said, 'That makes sense. I'm going to spend six months taking care of my body.' I started to equip myself with tools. I started practicing yoga, and I started learning some hands-on healing stuff. I found really good chiropractors and massage therapists, and I found that I was able to peel off layers of trauma on my body. I actually move better now than I did [when I played]."

      When asked about the science of brain trauma, Williams passed it off. "Science is the deity, but should it be?"

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    • Getty Images

      Given today's economy, any recent college grad would consider themselves lucky to have two viable options. Andrew Sweat, former linebacker at Ohio State, does have two options, and he's choosing to be a 1L instead of an LB.

      He had a chance to make the Cleveland Browns roster as an undrafted free agent, but instead declared on Twitter that he was heading to law school.

      Fair enough. Sweat did sustain a concussion in college and if that, plus the ongoing concern surrounding football-related head injuries, has persuaded him that the NFL isn't a good option, then it doesn't seem like it's an unreasonable decision. Not that it would be my place to call it reasonable or unreasonable.

      Some did criticize, though. Eli Mystal, a former lawyer and current editor of legal blog Above the Law, took Sweat to task over bailing on the NFL, saying the decision was "the biggest mistake of his life." Deadspin followed suit.

      Sweat responded, again via Twitter.

      I suppose that does add another layer of sense to things. His dad can get him a job in the legal field, so unless Andrew Sweat was raised in an "Andrew has two daddies" situation and the other one is Pat Shurmur, then the law thing is probably more of a slam dunk. It would be hard to fault a guy for taking the sure thing.

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    • Wes Welker has done a lot of this over the last five years. (Getty Images)

      Since he came to the New England Patriots in 2007, Wes Welker has been about as productive as a receiver can be. In five seasons, he's caught 554 passes for 6,105 yards (an 11.0 yards-per-catch average) and 31 touchdowns. He's redefined the role of possession receiver in some of the most productive offenses in league history, and he's far from done. In 2011, Welker caught 122 passes -- the second most in his career, and good enough to lead the NFL in receptions for the third time in the last five seasons.

      So, it was a bit surprising when the New England Patriots decided to place the franchise tag on Welker instead of signing him to a new long-term contract. "I'm pretty certain I'll be playing there this next year, and I'm looking forward to that," Welker told Shutdown Corner in April. "Like everybody else, I'd like a long-term deal, but at the same time, I'm just focused on going out there and playing the best I can."

      After biding his time, Welker signed his tender on Tuesday, and announced it on Twitter.

      @WesWelker

      Confident that a new deal is around the corner, and unwilling to  create distractions as organized team activities begin soon, Welker is now looking forward to what he perceives to be a willingness on both sides to get that new contract hammered out.

      "I think we are all on the same page," he told WEEI on Monday. "We're all trying to collectively come together and make something happen. I think everybody just seems to know we're all on the same page and we're trying to work towards something.

      "I think anybody that plays for any organization that has done a good job over the years wants to be rewarded for it. I think I'm no different from any other guy that's in the league. The main thing is just trying to keep a level head about it and make sure you're making the best decisions for yourself, but at the same time put yourself in a position where you can play for a great team and hopefully do some great things in the future."

      Read More »

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