David Garrard is a Class Act

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on June 9, 2011, 12:36 PM EDT

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A few weeks ago, we pointed towards some classy comments from David Garrard welcoming Blaine Gabbert to the team. Garrard apparently even provided a welcome wagon: His Mercedes.

Gabbert and wide receiver Cecil Shorts aren’t old enough to rent a car, so Garrard gave them his car to tool around town during the team’s current full squad “minicamp.”

“I think it is worth more than every car I’ve owned combined, so I’m being pretty careful with it,’’ Gabbert told Vito Stellino of the Florida Times-Union.

Gabbert should be able to afford any car he wants once he signs his rookie deal.  In the meantime, Gabbert will try to unseat Garrard as the team’s starter.

“I am going to make it extremely hard for that to happen,’’ Garrard said.

We seriously doubt Gabbert could win the job by Week One on a shortened offseason.  Garrard is due $7.975 million and should collect on it. The bigger question is whether Garrard will be around in 2012.

“I said it before, if he’s better than me, he should play,” Garrard said. “The team should have the best guys out there on the field.’’

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I always liked David Garrard.  He isn't your prototype franchise signal caller, but he is a leader.  David Garrard is the same guy who overcame his battle with Krohn's Disease, to become a starting quarterback in the NFL.

Yes, Gabbert is the future, but Garrard is a classy dude and a good leader.

Cam Newton Impressing Teammates Already

There has and will continue to be a lot of hype, both good and bad surrounding any #1 overall pick.  But in the case of Cam Newton, and all the controversy that surrounded him, you have a polarizing figure.

Fair or not, people do judge others.  In his case, people either love him or hate him.  Strong words?  Perhaps, but that is generally the responses you get when it comes to people regarding young Mr. Newton.

However, despite what appears to be a litany of bad past decisions, it sounds like Cam is moving forward in a positive way.  I really like the way he has handled himself despite the constant criticism of his character.  And now it sounds like he is impressing the people that matter, his teammates.  The best part, is that Newton isn't impressing anyone because of his arm or his size.  Yes, his teammates have called him a "specimen".  But they are instead, impressed with the fact that he is being one of the guys.  Pro Bowl linebacker Jon Beason even praised him for having great leadership.

I hope so, the Panthers need it to turn things around.

Paralyzed Baseball Player Drafted by the Texas Rangers

Ok, so this is clearly not a football article, but this is too good to pass up.

Johnathan Taylor, outfielder for the Georgia Bulldogs, was injured while colliding with a teammate in the outfield.  The collision caused some paralysis due to fractured vertebrae.

While Taylor is working hard to rehabilitate himself and pursue his goals of not only walking again, but returning to the baseball field.  Yet, despite the challenges that are still facing him, the Texas Rangers made a very classy move.  The Rangers chose to use their selection in the 33rd round of the MLB draft to select Johnathan Taylor.

There is an excellent write up on the story over at CNN.

Growing Optimism Surrounds NFL Labor Talks

PFT had a good write up yesterday about the optimism surrounding the current labor negotiations, you can check it out here.

Essentially the NFL and the Players have finally realized that dragging this out in the courts is a bad idea, on an Epic scale.  We now have had two seperate sets of negotiations over the past 2 weeks, as the recent talks in Long Island have concluded.  It is amazing what progress can be made, when the lawyers are removed from the situation.  

This is good news, as this still allows over 30 days to potentially have a legally binding agreement in place, before the start of the preseason.