FanNation - The Republic of Sport

Any team with a 5-4 record at this point of the season can't look too far ahead. That's particularly true for the Giants, who reached that point thanks to their four-game losing streak. To help that cause, Michael Strahan, who was at the Giants practice facility, was asked by Tom Coughlin to talk to the team. "I didn't expect to do it," Strahan said. "[But] that's what I do. I'm a motivator. That part will never leave. They're as talented as any team in the league. It's just a matter of believing in their talent and the talent of the guy next to them. If they do that, they'll be just fine."

New York Post

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The newest Internet rumor has the Browns hiring former Washington and Houston general manager and current CBS football insider Charlie Casserly as head of football operations. "Absolutely no truth to it at all," said an NFL source who would know.

Cleveland Plain Dealer

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Brad Humphreys spends a lot of time studying the economics of professional sports. It's his specialty, and the University of Alberta economics professor says there's a good reason why there is no NFL team in Los Angeles. "Leverage," he said. Since the Raiders and Rams left in 1995, Los Angeles has been the NFL's boogeyman, an illusory threat to markets that don't sell enough tickets, or won't subsidize a new stadium -- illusory because Los Angeles has traditionally had the same problems that plague other troubled markets. Suddenly, however, the boogeyman is real, and the Minnesota Vikings are in his sights. Not only is relocation a real threat, it seems to be the Vikings' only real leverage as they push for a stadium they deem vital to the health of the franchise -- a new home built on the Metrodome site estimated to cost at least $900 million. Developments Thursday indicate the team is ready to play hardball.

St. Paul Pioneer Press

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At this time last year, Tedy Bruschi was a leader on the Patriots defense. This week, in an indirect way, he may have sped the passing of those duties to linebacker Jerod Mayo, already a captain in his second season. Bruschi, now an ESPN analyst, criticized Bill Belichick's decision to go for it on fourth and 2 from his 28 in Sunday's game against the Colts because, he said, as a former defensive player, it would have "been enough to make my blood boil." Yesterday, Mayo further asserted himself as the team's defensive leader by offering the strongest rebuke yet by a Patriots player of the sentiment Bruschi championed. "I have the ultimate respect for Tedy and everything he's done for this organization," said Mayo, "but he's not in this locker room at this point in time, so he doesn't know the feeling that this defense or this team has. "We still have our confidence, we still have our swagger, and we're gonna go out Sunday and show the media, I guess."

Boston Globe

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The relationship between the Bears and NBC is not strained because the team decided not to grant a request for prime-time interviews with Lovie Smith, Jay Cutler and general manager Jerry Angelo, Bears spokesman Scott Hagel said today. As first reported in the Chicago Sun-Times, Smith and any requested players, including Cutler, will be made available to NBC for standard pre-production meetings Friday with announcers Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth. But no Bears personnel will be on-camera with Bob Costas for NBC's pregame show.

Chicago Tribune

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