Ed Reed about Injuries and the toll on your body

Posted by Michael David Smith on June 23, 2011, 10:00 AM EDT

AP

Ravens safety Ed Reed will turn 33 as he enters his 10th NFL season in September, and he’s giving serious thought to the toll that injuries have taken on him. He’s also giving thought to other players who have been injured — and he says that if he were in Peyton Manning’s situation, needing multiple neck surgeries, he would quit football.

“I don’t want to be like these guys having neck surgery, then you got to go have another surgery just to continue to play this game,” Reed told ESPN’s Ed Werder. “I love this game but I love myself more.”

Asked specifically whether he’d do the same thing that Manning has done, having neck surgeries in each of the last two offseasons, Reed was emphatic that he wouldn’t, saying “no” five times.

“No, no,” Reed said. “I mean, no. No. No, not my neck.”

Reed also acknowledged that he’s not the same player now that he was when he was younger, as he worries more about getting hurt in high-speed collisions.

“Definitely, you think about it,” Reed said. “You’ve got to be smart about tackling. I’m not hitting guys as much as I used to — not hitting them trying to knock them out as much, sorry to say. You’re not tackling with your shoulder as much, just wrapping them up and getting them on the ground.”

Reed has had a great career and been one of the most explosive players in football over the last decade. But his comments are an indication that he sees the end coming soon.

Story behind the Bills red helmets in the 80's and 90's

Posted by Mike Florio on June 23, 2011, 8:29 AM EDT

Getty Images

As the Buffalo Bills prepare to unveil on Friday night their new uniforms, which already were inadvertently disclosed by the folks at EA, the team’s official website tells the tale of why the team changed in the 1980s from white helmets to red helmets, which apparently will be changed on Friday back to white.

Per Chris Brown of BuffaloBills.com, quarterback Joe Ferguson was color blind.  So with four teams in the AFC East having white helmets at the time (Pats, Dolphins, Bills, Colts), Ferguson was struggling to separate receivers from defenders.

“We needed to do something to distinguish the white helmet,” said Bills equipment manager  Dave Hojnowski.  “We found that Joe saw the red helmet differently than the white.  I’m not sure if it was a darker gray to him, but it was easier for him to distinguish and that’s the reason why we made the switch.  That was under the head coach at the time, Kay Stephenson.”

With the Bills apparently going back to white helmets, a color-blind quarterback in the AFC East will once again have trouble.  Though the Colts are gone and the Pats have switched to silver, the Jets have traded green helmets for white and the Dolphins fortunately have never switched from white to aqua or circus peanut orange.

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Just a bit of trivia that I couldn't pass up.

Adrian Peterson offers apology

Posted by Michael David Smith on June 23, 2011, 7:54 AM EDT

AP

In what we hope will be the final chapter of theAdrian Peterson Football Camp story, Peterson himself has offered an apology for the fact that he’s not attending the camp.

“I want to apologize to all the fans about the confusion regarding the camp in Norman,” Peterson said in a statement issued to theAssociated Press through his agent. “I hosted camps in Palestine and Tyler, Texas, last week that went great. Due to ProCamps misunderstanding of my schedule, I was never able to host this year’s Norman camp on their scheduled dates, but look forward to being back in 2012.”

Kids aged 7-14 have paid $199 to attend the camp, which takes place today and tomorrow. Yesterday the camp announced that Peterson wouldn’t attend, saying Peterson had chosen to take part in an NFL Network taping instead. When NFL Network said that excuse was bogus, the camp organizers admitted Peterson’s absence had nothing to do with NFL Network, and said it was the fault of the company running the camp, not Peterson.

The camp will go on, but those who no longer want to attend without Peterson there can get refunds.

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I wonder if the camp will be empty?