The Chosen One!

"Michael Vick keeps walking the walk and keeps getting paid!"

When your child would ask you for a new bike you’d always look at the existing bike to see how well they’ve taken care of it. If they’ve done a great job at keeping it looking good and running well you’re more likely to value their request. The word of God says, "You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' Mathew 25:21.

Michael Vick is that little kid that has been asking for a new bike and because he’s taken care of the old one for the past two years his request has been valued. The Philadelphia Eagles have reached a six year agreement with the superstar quarterback to make him one of the highest paid players in the NFL. A league source told ESPN's Andrew Brandt the deal is worth $100 million and it’s contains roughly $40 million guaranteed. Keep in mind that earlier this summer Nike re-signed him to a lucrative deal as well.

Vick has been a very humble human being since having to spend 18 months in federal prison on dog fighting charges. When he signed with the Eagles in 2009 he was essentially broke and just looking for an opportunity to start over. People stood outside the football facility and ridiculed he and the Eagles organization for signing him.
However, Vick just kept his nose to the grind. After taking over as the starter once Kevin Kolb was injured last year he led the Eagles to the NFC East title, was the starting quarterback in the Pro Bowl and was named the AP Comeback Player of the Year.

God is awesome! No one gave him a shot at being in this position two years ago. See it doesn’t matter what man has to say about you and your future because they don’t have a heaven or a hell to put you in. All those people standing outside protesting the signing of Vick have no bearing on what eventually happens in his life.

Jesus said, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone!” John 8:7. So folks need to stop trippin’ off of the mistakes of Michael Vick and clean up around their own doorstep because at the end of the day everybody’s got to get inside of that wooden box by themselves.

Go on Mike do your thang! Keep on puttin’ in work and being the best person you can be and God will continue to bless your faithfulness. Remember, God has a history of using flawed people to impact the world. Like I’ve said before Moses was an inarticulate murderer, Noah was a highly intelligent alcoholic and even the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was known to be an adulterer.

Regardless of their flaws God still used them to make an impact in this world. So regardless of what mainstream America may think of you. There are young African-American males that are locked up or may be hopeless in the ghetto's all over this country that are going to use you as motivation to become better people. So because of that, you’ve been chosen out of millions to be the example for other young men to change their lives! Think of the impact that could have on this world!!!

Holla At Ay Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport
Information from the Associated Press was used in this article.

Life's Promise!



"Don't play with me because I promise I'll ruin your life!"

One thing about life is that it’s consistent! The old timers would say that it’s hard but it’s fair. Some years ago I went to hear the famous motivational speaker Les Brown lecture. During his very inspiring speech he said, “Where ever you end up twenty years from now, you’ve made an appointment to be there twenty years ago.”
That goes for the intellectuals as was as knuckle heads. Former NBA player Jarvaris Crittenton is wanted on a murder charge as police searched on Saturday for him in Atlanta and Los Angeles. He’s been charged in the fatal shooting of 22-year Jullian Jones, a mother of four after she was gunned down Aug. 19 on an Atlanta street.

Many of you remember Crittenton as the other idiot in the Gilbert Arenas locker room gun incident. Where Arenas brought four guns to the locker room and set them in front of Crittenton's locker with a sign telling him to "PICK 1." Jarvaris then took out his own gun. The two were both suspended by the league and he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor gun charge and received probation.

One of my best friends, Vincent Goods, has been saying, “People don’t change times do” since we were about 14 years old. The older I get that statement makes all of the since in the world. Crittenton’s history of being reckless with guns years ago allowed him to make an appointment to be wanted for murder and to be on the run from the police today.

A few years ago Allen Iverson gave us the infamous rant, “"We're sitting here, and I'm supposed to be the franchise player, and we're talking about practice. I mean listen, we're sitting here talking about practice, not a game, not a game, not a game, but we're talking about practice".

Practice seemingly is the most important thing that any of us can ever do. The question is, what will we practice? If we practice being a knuckle head we’ll definitely become a better knuckle head. In this case, Crittenton has accomplished his goal. It’s a shame that a man that has been blessed with the athletic ability to play the game of basketball at the highest level couldn’t keep it in the road long enough to enjoy the blessing.

He spent the 2006-07 season at Georgia Tech and played in 113 NBA games, only to have allegedly killed a woman with shots fired from a dark-colored SUV, police said. According to Atlanta police spokesman Carlos Campos, investigators don't believe Jullian Jones was the intended target. His motive, Campos said, appeared to be retaliation for an April robbery in which he was a victim.



"What was I thinking?"

What? This kid was a McDonald’s All-American coming out of Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy where he was a teammate of the Orlando Magic’s Dwight Howard. He graduated with a 3.5 GPA and was a member of the Future Business Leaders of America. He was later drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers with the 19^th pick of the 2007 NBA Draft after playing only one year at the prestigious Georgia Tech University.

As you can see, talent means absolutely nothing if you don’t use it. Whatever you spend the most of your time practicing, you’ll become an expert at doing. Crittenton decided to practice being an idiot and here we are! Now he’s going to probably make it big in the world of reality TV on the next episode of Dog The Bounty Hunter.

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport
Information from the Associated Press was used in this article.
　
　

Big Momma's Roller's & House Shoes!

"Don't make me put my shoes on and come down there boy!"

Back in the day you were taught that the family name meant something and when you left the house you had better not drag it through the mud. Whenever you got close to doing anything suspect that would get back to the house you tapped the brakes. I can remember being about to partake in some foolishness and I’d see my dad's belt in the air and say, “naw dawg I’m cool on that. I’m going to the crib.” That’s all it took back then was a thing called recollection.

On Friday LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson and teammate Joshua Johns turned themselves in after arrest warrants were obtained on felony charges of second-degree battery, stemming from their alleged roles in a fight outside Shady's bar in Baton Rouge on Aug. 19. They were immediately suspended indefinitely by the school.

"Today is a sad day for the city of Baton Rouge. Today is a sad day for Louisiana State University, the LSU alumni and the countless fans that follow the Tiger football program," Baton Rouge police chief Dewayne White said. "It is also a sad day for the Baton Rouge police department."

It’s unfortunate that kids aren’t being raised with the same fear of their parents or other family members like they were when I was coming up. It was almost mandatory for you were afraid of someone at home; your father, mother, uncle, Big Momma or all of the above. You wouldn’t dare go out in public and act a fool because you knew that somebody with your last name or blood type was going to show up and embarrass you. The last thing you wanted was Big Momma showing up at the school with her rollers in her head and her house shoes on. I guarantee that if Jefferson and Johns had been scarred by that thought they would’ve walked away from Shady’s Bar last week.

Even if you wanted to participate in some foolishness, that internal voice would tap your shoulder like The Great Gazoo from the Flintstones and told you to put the breaks on. It was mandatory to grow up being afraid of someone at home in order to just make it out of the hood alive. That fear deterred a lot of bad decisions. Now the term “afraid” evolved over a period of time to mean "respects someone at home to the point that I don't want to let them down".

Remember at the beginning of the 2009 college football season when Oregon’s LaGarrett Blunt punched the kid from Boise State? Now I completely understood why he hit the guy. The Boise State player was talking trash as they were walking off of the field and Blount’s adrenaline was still running at full speed. No telling what the Bronco player said to him. So he lost it. I completely understand.


However, after the Oregon players tried to restrain him, he kept going. He then allowed the Boise State fans to badger him to the point where he was completely out of control. At no point did the thought, “ my ole man is gonna be pissed or Big Momma is watching this on TV, so I need to chill” go through his mind. I know that if it were me out there, my dad would've been standing in my dorm room by the time we got back to Eugene and God knows what would’ve happened. It's called being held accountable!

We can’t keep sending our children out into this world unprepared to deal with it. There are always going to be times when they want to act a fool or get into a fight etc. However, they’ve got to envision that belt in the air or that back hand and be willing to walk away. Otherwise, we see kids throw away promising lives by doing something stupid. Now these guys are facing felony charges and they were big time college football players a week ago.

Their only concern was juggling class, practice and all the women chasing them on campus. Now there is the serious possibility of juggling the threat of Bubba and Baby J trying to get at them in prison.

Even after they are released if they are convicted they’ll be stuck doing the “important jobs” for the rest of their lives. They’re always the jobs that no one else wants to do like, picking up the garbage, pushing that infamous broom or doing some lower level manual labor assignment that only the felon gets stuck with. The only people doing those jobs are those with the least amount of options and when you’ve got a felony you instantly become that guy. That belt or back hand doesn’t seem all that bad now does it?

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport
Information from the Associated Press was used in this article.

Clean Money!

"Cam Newton and The Million Dollar Smile!"

In the world of corporate of America there has always been a standard for appropriate attire and physical appearance. It’s simple, in order to work in that environment people have to conform to a professional appearance policy or find somewhere else to work. A clean cut and well groomed appearance is mandatory.

Well in the world of professional sports that policy of professionalism in terms of appearance has been relaxed over the years to say the least. Back in the day, guys couldn’t wear hair below their ear lobe's etc. Now many athletes look like they’re in a rock band or look like they’re straight out of the penitentiary at the minimum.

Just recently the owner of the Carolina Panthers, Jerry Richardson, revealed that before he drafted Cam Newton with the No. 1 overall pick he told him that he didn’t care about his past. He just had some questions about his physical appearance.

In a recent interview on "The Charlie Rose Show" on PBS, the 75-year-old Richardson recounted a conversation he had with the 22-year-old Heisman Trophy winner on April 4 in which he asked Newton if he had any tattoos or piercings.

When Newton replied "No sir, I don't have any," Richardson told Rose he told the quarterback: "Good. We want to keep it that way." Now there have been folks this week that have blown this way out of proportion insinuating that Mr. Richardson was being racist with his remarks. Which in my opinion, could be further from the truth.

I’ve heard people screaming, “they signed Jeremy Shockey just weeks before meeting with Cam and he has several tattoos! What’s up with that?”

Now I applaud people for trying to come to the defense of Cam and looking out for the young brother. We always need guard dogs out there on the front lines like an Al Sharpton or Jessie Jackson etc. because they are many legitimate racial injustices that occur all over the country that need to be spotlighted.

For example, the Jena Six case in Louisiana where six African-American boys were imprisoned after getting into a fight with classmates because they hung a noose from a tree that the black kids traditionally set under at school. Now the white kids weren’t charged at all for the hate crime. If not for guys like Sharpton and his National Action Network the national media would never have picked up the story and the kids would have rotted in jail.

However, sometimes the paperboy gets bit! A guy means no harm and gets attacked. Cam Newton is the franchise player of that organization and it’s in his best interest to be clean cut and non-threatening. The quarterback always has the potential to be the most highly paid guy on the team. Not to mention all of the possibilities to make money in endorsements.

Let’s keep it real! Have you seen Cam Newton! The kid is a 6’5” stud with an unbelievably great smile that’s Madison Ave. ready. They’re looking for the next clean cut “Jordan” to endorse everything from underwear to sneakers and Cam is that guy. Tiger had it on lock until he lost his freaking mind and turned into a catfish. Picking up everything at the bottom of the ocean instead of going home to his wife.

I hear you saying, “well Jordan wore an earring?” That’s absolutely right but he didn’t start rocking an earring until he became “Jordan”. I hear the next guy saying, “Tom Brady wears his hair long!” Correct again my friend but he didn’t start wearing his hair long and loose until after he’d won three Super Bowls!

So stop trippin’ off of ole man Richardson. I applaud the old guy for advising the young brother on how to make that “Jordan type money” even if he didn’t realize it. After all, the kid did say that he wanted to be an icon at the NFL Combine didn’t he? Go head young brother and make that “Clean Money!”

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport
Information from the Associated Press was used in this article.

Playin' At My Crib With My Ball!

"Ya'll gotta come play on our street now!"

Remember when you were a kid playing pick up games in the backyard or at someone else’s home court? Man, those were the days. You would play all over the neighborhood going from house to house. Why, because there was a basic concept that even kids understood. If I play you at your house you then have to come to my house to play! That’s only fair, right?

When your boy was playing on his court he knew of all of the soft spots or just felt more comfortable running up and down the field in his backyard. Typically, the guys playing at home would win and when that would happen the first thing the visiting kid would say was, “let’s go to my crib and this time we’re gonna play with my ball.”

If children can understand that simple concept why is it so difficult for Kirk Hersbstreit and the Boise State Broncos to understand it? Every year the Bronco’s, who are now in the Mountain West Conference, play two big games. One on their home field “ The Blue Turf” and the other on a neutral field with Kirk riding their jock all season long. I can hear him singing his infamous song, “I’ll take Boise State on a neutral field against anybody in the country. What?

Kirk, the last time I checked big time programs always play home and away schedules against big time non-conference opponents. For example, Texas/Ohio State, Florida State/Oklahoma, Miami/Ohio State, USC/Arkansas, Michigan/Notre Dame etc.

I’m not even going to get into the conference schedules that the BCS schools have to play week end and week out. Last year #1 Alabama went on the road to South Carolina and got beat. The following week #1 Ohio State went to Wisconsin and lost. Then #1 Oklahoma traveled to Mizzou only to get upset. They didn’t play in neighboring cities or states. They played those games on the other guys campus in hostile environments.

Last year Boise State played Va. Tech in Baltimore, Maryland not in Blacksburg, Va. That‘s a neutral site and it doesn’t matter how you look at it. I don’t care if the majority of people there were Hokie fans. Playing at a different venue is a road game to the players. If you’ve got to get on a plane, stay in a different hotel, eat at a different restaurant and take a different route to a stadium that isn’t yours, it’s a road game regardless if 70 to 80% of the folks there are cheering for you. It’s called breaking routine! Whether you realize it or not it makes a difference to the players!

So don’t sell me the spoiled bag of apples that Boise State should be in the national title conversation when they go to Atlanta and beat the routinely under performing Georgia Bulldogs next week, who by the way, are ranked #33 in the pre-season depending on which poll you look at! When you get that far down it doesn't matter. You get my point! So they're already not playing a very good team in Georgia but they wanna play them down the street at their cousin's crib and not between the always hostile hedges in Athens.

 Then they’ll do what they usually do, take the week off before they travel to lowly #75 Toledo just like they did last year after the Va. Tech game. Why, do you ask if that’s significant, because it gives the injured players an opportunity to heal before the next game. Smart huh! Yeah, that’s the smoke and mirrors I’ve been telling you about for several years.

You can’t contend for a national title when you won’t play true road games against top ranked programs especially if you play in a “roody poot” conference where the highest ranked opponent #19 TCU gets carjacked by the powers that be back in February. The Mountain West screwed the Horned Frogs out of their home game this year against the Broncos when they decided to move it to the “Blue Turf” in Boise because the conference felt like it was better for the Conference because TCU is going to the Big East after this year!

While we’re at it let’s take a look at the rest of the upcoming Boise State conference schedule. They’ve got #50 Air Force, #82 Colorado State, #38 San Diego State, #111 UNLV, #88 Wyoming and #103 New Mexico! Now tell me after they beat the brakes off of that schedule they deserve to play for the national title when there are 8 teams from the SEC, 5 teams from the Big 10, 3 teams from the Big 12, 3 teams from the PAC 12 and 2 teams from the ACC in the top 25! Not to mention the non-conference match ups that are scheduled like #1 Oklahoma traveling to #6 Florida State on September 17th!

If you think that Boise State should be even in the discussion, you’re way past the point of recreational use and needed to be in rehab yesterday with your shoe strings taken away from you.

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport

Champions Place!

"Who's going to win it all in life?"

With the college football season just ending a few weeks ago and the NFL in conference titles today, so many people are excited about the possibility of their team winning it all. Fans put in a lot of time hoping for a Championship but the only problem is they aren’t on the team. Very few people take the lessons that sports give us and relate them to their own lives.

Winning is something that everyone can do on a daily basis whether you're playing sports or not. The goal should be for us all to get to Champions Place!

Championships are not won on game day! Your level of success is contingent upon your commitment to it. In other words, how bad do you want it and what are you willing to do to get it. I constantly hear people talking about being great! The problem is, so few ever understand what that takes. There is only so much room at the top. Therefore, if you're going to hold a position in that zip code, someone either has to move out or be thrown out.

The word of God says, "A man reaps what he sows" Galatians 6:7. You're only going to get out of it what you put in it! How can a man withdraw what he has not put in? Life can only be as good as the effort by which you live it. Therefore, stop looking for someone else to give you permission to be great!

It's not somewhere that others can just open the door and let you in. You have to earn the right to be there by your determination and will to succeed. Everybody has a dream but not everyone is willing to wake up and pursue it.

Only the great ones understand that it's the little things that breathe life into winning titles in life. Waking up early to put in work when everyone else is asleep. Being on time when it's fashionable to be late. Having integrity which is simply doing the right thing when no one else is looking! Understanding that sacrifice is necessary in order to sharpen your skills.

Champions push past the point where most people tend to give up. It's a place where only the most diligent can finally rest and the most talented can only dream of being. Talent doesn't get you into this place it only allows you to imagine what it would be like to be there. It’s only one-third of the combination that unlocks the doors to greatness.

"Only the best get the hardware!"

Skill can be the most deceitful gift that a person can have because it tells you that you've got everything that it takes to win. It lies and tells you that all you've got to do is show up. Unfortunately, so many people miss out on the opportunity to be great because of their lack of effort.

The elite few that can unlock the combination will become Champions! Bo Schembechler always said, “Those that stay will become Champions!” Vince Lombardi expressed it this way, “We will relentlessly pursue perfection. However, it’s impossible to be perfect but in the process we will find excellence!” Aristotle said it better than any of them when he recited, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act but a habit.”

So as we watch our favorite teams this year. Pay close attention to what it takes to be great! Follow the story lines of the best teams and be curious to know what they’ve done to separate themselves from the rest of the pack and incorporate those things into your own life. Sports is entertainment but most importantly it should be a motivator for us to get to Champions Place in our own lives!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport
　

Bar Hoppin'

"You honked one time too many bro!"

The truth is always the hardest thing to find because it's typically buried somewhere in the middle of a pile a garbage. The old timers would always say that there are three stories, his, there's and the truth. More often than not all parties involved will say, "That's my story and I'm sticking to it."

Four LSU football players hired a defense attorney and put off a meeting with police about a bar fight that started when a patron honked at a crowd blocking his exit from a parking lot, Baton Rouge police said Sunday.

Quarterback Jordan Jefferson, offensive lineman Chris Davenport, defensive lineman Josh Johns and receiver Jarvis Landry had been asked to give their side of the story at police headquarters Monday, but attorney Nathan Fisher asked for a delay, Sgt. Donald Stone said.

Now wait just a minute! The guys claiming to have been beaten up by the LSU football players say that they just blew their horn at the crowd and the fight started? Everybody that believes that story stand on your head and whistle. It's way more to the story than that bruh. It sounds like the kid in middle school that tells the teacher that the kid on the ground kept running into his fist.

Look, does anyone have the right to beat someone down. Not at all. Should the LSU football players used better judgment and walked away? Certainly, but don't tell me that four guys got beat up because they honked their horn at a crowd of folks in a parking lot. Try telling me that they were trying to get out of the parking lot and began to honk and holler out of the window at people. Tempers flared and both groups of guys started arguing and the balloon exploded.

Now, again we don't know which group of guys were the aggressors but we definitely know who finished the argument though. It makes no sense to get into a fight with well oiled machines if I'm the guy in the car. Let's keep it real! These football players are in the best shape of their lives and the average Joe needs to realize that. Getting into a fight with a guy that's been trained in a million dollar facility is insane.

On the other side of the coin what were the guys from LSU thinking. They're on the 4th ranked team in the country according to the pre-season polls. They've got the season opener in less than two weeks in Arlington against the 3rd ranked Oregon Ducks and you're fighting at a bar. Where is Chris Carter, Tom Jackson and Mike Ditka when you need them. C'mon Man! I need all of these guys front and center so I can kick them square in the pants!

The Oregon game is going to be huge and these four knuckle heads may be at home in Baton Rouge or better yet sitting in jail at kick off. I recently did an article entitled “The 1^st Rule of Engagement” that was simply about using your ability to think. Life is a thinking man’s game and those that think 1^st will typically finish on top. A stupid bar fight may have cost these young men a national title, a free education and most importantly their freedom.

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter:@jaygravesreport
Information from the Associated Press was used in this article.

Playa's Ball!

"Everybody doesn't grow up with a silver spoon in their mouth!"

Growing up in the hood exposes a kid to endless temptations. There are all kinds of guys milling about with bad intentions that have the potential to hurt you down the line. One of the biggest challenges of growing up in the ghetto is to stay out of the street gangs. How many times did the GD Folks, Vice Lords or whatever gang is relevant show up on the door step to recruit only to be chased away by big momma or daddy with the pistol? If you want to keep trouble away from your house you've got be willing to defend it and not be willing get in bed with it.

It works the same way on college campuses. When the rich alumni or shady boosters show up the administration has got to be willing to chase them away. Like your own children, the athletes are easily influenced and can be taken advantage of. It's not as easy as saying, "well the players need to learn to say no", like naive sports radio guy, Colin Cowherd, always says.

I heard him say, “if a guy would've walked up to me and offered me money I wouldn't have taken it because it’s against the rules. Well Colin, that's because your folks and so many other closed minded individuals like yourself had parents that could send you money or better yet deposit it directly into your account when you needed it or you could’ve gotten a job. Scholarship athletes can’t work during the school year according to the rules bruh!

When you’re dealing with kids that are from impoverished backgrounds a scholarship is great for their educational needs but it doesn’t take care of their personal needs. The scholarship only pays room/board, tuition and books! Colin will say, “that’s all that they need.” That’s a very intelligent answer!

Toiletries, underwear, clothes or spending money isn’t included. There is no money for buying a snack between classes, going out after the game on Saturday or money to do laundry either. When all of the other students are buying pizza on the weekends the scholarship doesn’t cover that. I forgot that the kid has gained 30 lbs since his freshman year because of the outstanding strength and conditioning program. Where is the money to go to the mall to get new clothes? It doesn’t exist bruh.


Everybody wants to pile on the players when the university has gotten into bed with the gangsta’s instead of pulling out the pistol and running them off. Shapiro and guys like him were not only giving players money and gifts but the school got paid too. How did the guy get sideline passes? He surely didn‘t get them from the athletes!

What kills me is when a kid gets recruited and the system is put in place for him to get the extra benefits. Everything is all good until he gets caught. Then the university runs to the other side of the fence and points at him with the rest of the crowd leaving him out to dry like Ohio State did with Terrelle Pryor.

That’s like my parents allowing me to join the gang while accepting the dope money but when I get arrested, they act like I climbed out of the window against their wishes.

So when guys like Nevin Shapiro show up throwing money around what kid from the Pork & Beans Projects or hoods like it is going to tell him no I can’t take it because it’s against the rules. Especially when they see the university taking the same guys money and their selling jersey’s in the bookstore. The athletes looks at it like “Who’s Pimpin’ Who?


Everybody is getting paid but the real playa’s in the game. The school’s making several million every Saturday on ticket sells alone. Not to mention the several million on parking, concessions and the TV contracts. The BCS Bowl pays $17 million just for the an invite. Meanwhile, the athlete that’s making the monster breathe can’t buy clothes or a pizza on his own. You can quote the rule book all day long to those kids but it won‘t make sense because they‘re looking at the accident from a different vantage point. In their minds they haven't stolen it, carjacked or broken into anyone's house for the money, some guy just gave it to them because he was a groupie!

Speaking of rules! I'm blown away by the amount of people that love to condemn the athletes caught up in scandals like the Miami or Ohio State situations. I hear them say, “if it wrong it's wrong”, but none of them called the police and had themselves arrested for reckless driving this morning for driving 20mph over the speed limit on their way to work. Nor did they tell their bosses that they took an extra 15 minutes for lunch the other day. How many the personal web sites did they surf while they were supposed to be working on that big project at work last week. The rules are the rules right?

If schools want to keep the shady boosters from getting to their athletes go out on the porch with your pistol. Anyone caught speaking to players on or off the yard will be arrested and prosecuted for tampering. That’ll be the day! Because the schools are shady and want the money more than the athletes.

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport

Pushin' Weight!

"Yeah, I did it so what!"

During the NFL lockout Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison exploded in a Men's Journal interview about his dislike for NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell. His displeasure with the league’s head man stems from his belief that Goodell has too much power and often times abuses it. Now, Harrison was very unprofessional in his approach but there were several players around the league that agreed with his sentiment. Well, if they didn't like him before it's at a fever pitch now after his latest power move.

The NFL has announced that Terrelle Pryor would be eligible for the 2011 supplemental draft that will take place Aug. 22. However, he will have to sit out the first five games of the season! You read that right, five games!

"Pryor made decisions that undermine the integrity of the eligibility rules for the NFL Draft," the league(Goodell) said. "Those actions included failing to cooperate with the NCAA and hiring an agent in violation of NCAA rules, which resulted in Ohio State declaring him ineligible to continue playing college football.

"Pryor then applied to enter the NFL after the regular draft. Pryor had accepted at the end of the 2010 college football season a suspension for the first five games of the 2011 season for violating NCAA rules. Pryor will be ineligible to practice prior to or play in the first five games of the NFL regular season after he signs."

What! You're suspending a guy because he found the loop hole in your janky rule book? He had every right to hire an agent, leave school and not cooperate with the NCAA. That has absolutely nothing to do with the NFL. You may not like the way he handled the situation but according to the NFL eligibility rules he wasn't out of line.

You can’t suspend the guy for figuring out your rule book had holes in it. You just close them and move on making sure that it doesn’t happen again. The league has no right to discipline Pryor for his transgressions at Ohio State. If that's the case they'd have to suspend any number of players like Reggie Bush for the scandal he left behind at USC or LeGarrett Blunt for punching the kid from Boise State etc.

Man this dude is trippin'

While your at it, go after every current player in the NFL from "The U" and The Ohio State University. Jump way off the deep end why don't you and fine Eric Dickerson and Craig James for the mess they were involved in at SMU more than 28 years ago. As a matter of fact, lets erase the memory of them ever playing in the league and take Dickerson out of the Hall of Fame like the NCAA would. That's how stupid the suspension of Pryor sounds! What a joke!

The NCAA and the NFL are completely separate entities and should continue to operate as such. I'm surprised that Pryor's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, fell for the oaky doke. He's normally a fiery guy that doesn't take too much crap. If he's going to go out like that I've got some oil wells in Gary to sell him.

An NFLPA source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter that the union recommended Pryor fight the five-game suspension but Drew and David Cornwell, Pryor's attorney, believed it to be a losing battle and thought that Pryor should accept the NFL's punishment and move on. Drew really went out like a sucker on this one!

By accepting the suspension they’ve set a precedent for future foolishness from the league. Cleveland Browns linebacker Scott Fujiti, a member of the NFLPA executive committee, said NFL players "are concerned about the message this sends." I can hear T.O. saying, “Get your popcorn ready” because this is about to get interesting!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport
Information from the Associated Press was used in this article.

Child's Play!

"All Aboard! Nobody is staying in the dorm tonight bruh!"

For the past 48 hours I've heard nothing but sports radio talk show hosts blast the University of Miami in regards to the NCAA's investigation of it's relationship with a convicted Ponzi scheme artist. More than anything, they've gone really hard after the players involved but not the adults that allowed the foolishness to take place.

Former booster Nevin Shapiro, now serving 20 years in federal prison, claims he treated players to sex parties, nightclub outings, cars and other gifts. Shapiro told Yahoo Sports! he provided improper benefits to 72 football players and other athletes at Miami from 2002 to 2010. The mainstream media have been having a field day with this information.

It blows my mind to hear middle aged guys act like they weren't young and stupid at some point in their lives, especially while they were in college. They're quick to quote the rules and condemn the players for being, oh yeah, young and stupid. After all, they’re only 18 to 22 years olds. Now I'm not justifying the foolishness, but I do understand how it can get out of hand very quickly, especially when the adults are feeding the monster.


Now let's be honest! I know you're a big time corporate executive now and you've got a huge corner office, but indulge me for just a moment. Let's pretend you're a 20 year old college football player at one of the best programs in the country(you name it) and some multi-millionaire comes by the dorm throwing wads of money to everybody within arms reach. He also tells you guys that he's got a yacht that you can use at your leisure and by the way it'll be stocked with liquor and girls every time you pick it up. All you guys have to do is give him a couple of tickets and be his friend. How many players do you know will open the NCAA rule book and decide to "Kissy"(stay put). The sound of cricket’s in the air! That‘s what I thought!

So go head on with all of the judgmental commentary of why the guys at "The U" are so bad and out of control because if you were down there you would‘ve been right in the mix. There are few guys on a college campus that wouldn't be drawn into the temptation of running with a guy that has that type of paper. I don't care if you're in West Lafayette, Athens or College Station! Being young and impressionable is dangerous.

"The Ultimate Swagger"

It's Miami for crying out loud! Everything moves faster in a city like that anyway. Are you kidding me! It's dangerous enough just being a stud on South Beach without running into guys like Nevin Shapiro. The night life, the beach, the ladies, it's way too much going on down there. If a kid scores a touchdown and gets into the club for free after the game he's in violation of NCAA rules bruh! If some one buys him a drink because he plays ball. It’s called an extra benefit! It happens everywhere! They just don’t have guys with yachts in Ann Arbor, Happy Valley or Austin. Give me a break!

Is it the kids fault or is it the adults that took advantage of them? Are we really going to blame the players in this situation or are we going to hold the adults accountable? They didn't go looking for Shapiro he found his way to their doorstep. So did the university protect the players or did they allow them to be exploited? How much of this sounds familiar Ohio State?

Guys just don't show up with brand new cars and money unless there is a system in place that allows it to go on. That system is what fuels the monster and that’s how big time programs become big time programs. So I'm not trippin' if "The U" gets hit with major sanctions just don't place the blame on the players and let the adult boosters walk away clean like they always seem to do.

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport
Information from the Associated Press was used in this article.　

Snitchin' For No Good Reason!



"This is what happens when you rat someone out!"

Every hustler get's blessed into the game with this information, "If you get caught you don't know anything or anyone." That's how it's supposed to work but rarely does it ever go down like that. Even the hardest of criminals start singing like birds when they begin to realize just how much time twenty plus years really is. Even gangsters like Nicki Barnes and Frank Lucas learned to sing like Luther Vandross once they were locked up on federal drug charges.
Now convicted felon Nevin Shapiro who pleaded guilty to charges related to running a multi-state Ponzi scheme that prosecutors say left more than 60 investors in Florida, Indiana and New Jersey with nearly $100 million in losses has joined the choir singing like the Backstreet Boys in their prime.

Shapiro told the NCAA that he provided players at the University of Miami with the use of a yacht and other favors, said his attorney, Maria Elena Perez. He's been talking to the NCAA about the matter for a couple of months and provided documentation, according to his attorney. As a result, the NCAA was all over the South Florida campus on Monday shaking the joint down looking into claims that more than a dozen former or current football players received gifts and services from him.

"This is some  #@*&!"

Now I've heard of guys snitching on co-defendants or even bringing down the entire criminal enterprise to shave off time but I've never heard of a guy bringing down a college football program. What's that about? Really? What did the Hurricanes do to him?

Man… nobody wants the NCAA sniffing around campus because it never ends well. Once Pandora‘s Box is cracked open it‘s over. Like I've said in the past everybody's program is suspect because they all are cooking with the same ingredients, 18-22 year old kids, many of whom come from poverty strickened backgrounds and 40 to 50 year old rich alumni willing to do anything for the program. That always makes for a volatile situation somewhere down the line!

I’m still puzzled as to why the Feds would be concerned with what’s going on at "The U" to make them notify the NCAA or why this guy and his attorney called them in the first place. Unbelievable!

“If you can’t do the time then don’t do the crime“, isn’t that what the old school players used to say? It’s so cheap to get caught and tell on everybody else. It’s like the kid that hides in the bushes with you while playing hide and seek, get’s caught, jumps up and says, “hey man they caught us.” What?

I hope that the boys from “The U” can escape sanctions as a result of this guy singing for no apparent reason.

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport
Information from the Associated Press was used in this article.

The 1st Rule Of Engagement

"I'm going to always think 1st and listen from now on!" 

One of my best friends in the world, Royce Bradley, always says, "Life is a thinking man's game." The person with the ability or willingness to think things through will 9 out of 10 times finish on top, regardless of who they are and what they're profession is. Thinking is the first rule of engagement.

When I was fifteen years old my father gave me some condoms along with this message, “Don’t ever put your future in someone else’s hand. Now he was speaking in terms of being careless and getting some girl pregnant however, I adopted it for every aspect of my life.

Plaxico Burress and so many others didn't learn that rule as a kid. Having a clear understanding of how important it is to think could be the difference between life and death on so many occasions but especially in regards to your freedom it is essential. In an interview with HBO's "Real Sports" that air will Tuesday, he made these revelations and retraced some of the key events that landed him in prison for 20 months.

"I had a drink in my left hand," Burress said. "I'm just walking up the stairs. And, you know, it was dark. And I kind of, you know, missed a step. That's when I felt my gun ... started to slide. I went to grab it ... to stop it from falling. POW!"

He assumed that he had escaped injury at first. "I knew it had went off. I saw the fire, like, come through my jeans," he said, adding, "I took a couple more steps and my jeans were like -- my jeans are wet. And I looked down. I had some Chuck Taylor’s on and they were -- the white was all red. I'm in trouble."

Burress' wife Tiffany, an attorney, explained to him that New York had stiff gun laws and that he would probably have to do some jail time when he responded, "I'm not going to jail." However, Mayor Bloomberg was going to make sure he did though.

Burress' attorney, Benjamin Brafman, tells "Real Sports" that a bail agreement for $10,000, which would've allowed Burress to be released on his own recognizance, was undermined by Bloomberg. On the day of the agreement, the mayor delivered a harsh public rebuke of Burress, saying he deserved to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

"About 20 minutes after the mayor held his press conference, the prosecutor called me and said they're going to be asking for $250,000 bail," Brafman said. "I said, 'This is outrageous, we had an agreement.'" Agreements mean absolutely nothing bruh!

Now if he were a young rich white athlete would he had been convicted and served 20 months in prison? Probably not! However, that isn’t the point here. The point is, life is a thinking man’s game! A thinking man would have understood that he's more likely to go to jail when he picked up the gun and put it in his waist at home in the first place.

My parents would always say, “Boy you can’t get away with doing what they do because they’ll put you in jail.” That was the unwritten law. Now it’s been well documented. According to the Bureau of Statistics, blacks are six time more likely to be convicted and sentenced to longer prison terms than whites for the same crimes. By simply thinking and recalling what my parents told me as a child kept me out of trouble as I got older.

It’s imperative to know that the rules aren’t always the same for all people in this country. So therefore, I’m not complaining about the system. I’m just disappointed that so many young people haven’t been fore warned on how the system works. If you know that it isn’t fair then do everything you can to stay out of the system. We've got to spend time with these youngsters to make sure they at least learn the 1st rule, "thinking",  because it can save their lives. It really is just that simple!

I hope that Plaxico’s situation can open the eyes of other athletes and kids across this country to help them make better decisions. If you don’t understand the rules of the game how can you be successful and win?

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport

Divas & Haters: A Necessary Evil!

Brad Childress: "I'm not trippin' I'll just go back to my old job at the Polar Express!"

Remember when your mother would say, "If you can't say anything nice about someone don't say anything at all"? Well, maybe not everyone got that type of home training. It's apparent that former Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress' mom never told him that or either he didn't listen.

He pulled the ultimate hater move yesterday by completely throwing Randy Moss under the bus and then backing over him. During an interview with NFL.com he said, "We had good guys, by and large, [but Moss] walked in the locker room and vomited on it," he told the league's website. Now I don't doubt that Moss had his issues but the guy has walked away from the game at this point. So why go at him now? After all, Childress had a chance to do that last year when he released him.

The Vikings acquired Moss from the The New England Patriots after starting the 2010 season 1-2. Then waived him just a few weeks later after going 1-3 in his four games. Moss was then claimed by the Titans and then decided to retire after 13 seasons.

When the guy was in your locker room last year you had every right to slam him if you thought he was a distraction but to wait almost a year later to blast him was cheap. Unfortunately, it's the NFL and there are diva's all over the league just like him. As a matter of fact, you courted the biggest diva in the game last year in Bret Favre!

You're going at Moss and you went so far as to beg a guy to come play for you. No, you sent guys to his home in the "crooked letter"(Mississippi) to pick him up.  The same guy that held the team hostage during not one off-season but two. If that isn't vomiting in the locker room I don't know what is because I'm quite sure that was just as destructive to the team as Moss' antics were.

I'm not justifying Moss' behavior because he had his issues as they've been well documented. However, if the guy has gone out to pasture let him be. Childress is probably still upset at the fact that he didn't handle that situation professionally and it ultimately cost him his job. He told NFL.com that he was wrong to cut Moss without informing owner Zygi Wilf beforehand. "I should have gone up the chain," Childress told the website.

Let's keep it all the way 100! If Childress hadn't lost his job the whole Moss situation would be a mute point. There are head cases in every locker room in professional sports. The great coaches understand that  and work around the issues that certain players bring to the table. At that level it's all about winning and some issues aren't issues if you can win in spite of them.

If you don't believe me take a look at what Phil did with Dennis Rodman in Chicago and with Ron Artest in L.A..  They were complete nut cases and he won championships with both of them. By the way did you see Artest on Lopez the other night? Randy Moss is a piece of cake compared to those guys bruh! With all of that talent you  have to figure out how to get him on the field and throw him the ball. Lawrence Taylor wasn't a problem? Give me a break! New York let him get high and play high as long as he was productive.

If you want complete control of players then coach at the high school or college level! I've got a buddy that  is a very successful coach at the division 1 or FBS level as they call it now and he refuses to coach in the NFL because he says that he can't coach anyone that makes more money that he does. Makes sense to me!

So stop tripping off guys being divas and head cases. They weren't divas and head cases when they were broke. They just had the potential to be divas and head cases then we pushed them over the top when we bought into the hype, literally! So in my opinion, if a guy can help you win in pro sports you may have to put up with some foolishness because there's too much money involved not to.

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport

The Big Break Up?

"I'm getting way too old for this!"

Have you ever been in a relationship that lasted way too long? You guys were young and in love and did everything together. Your lives were intertwined so much that you couldn't live without one another. Then somehow over the years you started to grow apart because you no longer had common interests and it just seemed best to part ways before you guys began to hate each other.

Well in my opinion, that describes the relationship between Penn State and Joe Paterno. They've been together way too long and the people that are getting the short end of the stick are the players and the faithful Nittany Lion fans. Joe put Penn State on the map 45 years ago and they'll always be grateful for his many contributions to the university and to the game of college football.  He's major college football's All-time career wins leader with 401 victories for crying out loud! Since 1966 the word Penn State has been synonymous with "Joe Pa". Now I believe they should part ways. Although his contract expires after this season, he hasn't offered any clues as to whether he'll retire or not.

If the guy doesn't step down someone at Penn State needs to have the guts to pull the trigger and let him go. I know that sounds blasphemous but in the best interest of the program it has to happen at some point. Just like the good people at Florida State had to come to grips with the fact that it was time for the second in All-time wins, Bobby Bowden, to get on Renegade(the mascots horse) and ride out of Tallahassee.

Some decisions aren't easy but the program has to move forward with fresh idea's and young blood. Once Bowden was dismissed at Florida State new head coach "Jimbo" Fisher has gone nuts in the recruiting game. He's got them back into the top 5 to start the 2011 campaign and he's got one of the best recruiting classes in the country committed for 2012. Fisher's got the Seminoles back where they belong, on top. The Gator's dominance is over for at least the near future in the state of Florida with the Noles back in the game. This thing goes in cycles and now it's Florida States turn again. His success on the recruiting trail is largely a result of kids wanting to play for someone that is relevant and young enough to understand them.

My God, the 84 year old head coach can't even defend himself the sideline! The guy keeps getting run over.  He was just released from the hospital Tuesday, two days after getting blindsided at practice by a player and injuring his right shoulder and pelvis. Just a couple of  years ago he was run over in a game and had to the coach the rest of the season from the press box.

"Joe Pa" has laid the foundation thick in Happy Valley and should always be honored for that. Now it's time to ride off into the sunset and give the program to someone that can take it to the next level. I know that people don't want to hear that but let's keep it real when was the last time Joe really knew the game plan going into a ball game in 20 years?

I give him mad props for what he's done for the university and all of the guys that have come through the program. I'm thankful for all of his philanthropic work he's done for the school like giving several million dollars of his own money to help fund the university's library but it's time to go.  I'm appreciative of the fact that he put academics first in his program. According to the NCAA's 2008 Graduation Rates Report, Penn State's four-year Graduation Success Rate of 78% easily exceeds the 67% Division I average, second to only Northwestern among Big Ten institutions. That's all wonderful and should be applauded but it's time to stop holding the Nittany Lions hostage.

I'd like to see him go out with some class because if he doesn't just retire the university will look like a bully when they finally ask him to leave. It's all reminiscent of  the Florida State/Bobby Bowden break up and in my opinion, they both deserved better than that. So make it easy Joe and just walk away.

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport

Get Money!

"I'm all in but they better pay me my money!"

In 1995 Junior M.A.F.I.A. released their debut album "Conspiracy" with one of the hottest songs of that year entitled "Get Money" featuring the late great Notorious B.I.G.. Whether you're in the rap game or in professional sports the anthem is the same, "Let's Get this Money."

Philadelphia Eagles star wide receiver DeSean Jackson is no exception to that rule either. He wants to "Get Money" too. The two-time Pro Bowler ended his 11-day holdout and reported to training camp on Monday. He was initially holding out for a new contract because he’s going into the final year of his four-year rookie deal which will only pay him $565,000 this year. In a very professional move he showed up to camp saying all of the right things.

"The relationship I have with the team and the front office, I think everything will work out," Jackson said. "I'm just going to keep everything positive. I don't want to turn it into anything negative. I love Philadelphia. I love the fans here. Coming back out here onto the field, the fans showed me a lot of love and stuff. I just want to keep that positive thing going."

Now relatively speaking they’re paying him peanuts for the amount of production he‘s given them. He caught 47 passes for 1,056 yards and six touchdowns last year, and his 22.5 yard-per-catch average was best in the NFL. He also averaged 11.6 yards on 20 punt returns, including a 65-yarder for a TD that beat the New York Giants on the last play of a game back in December.

Pay the man bruh! You’ve brought all of these other guys to camp for big money. Vince even got $5 million to back up Michael Vick! WHERE IS CHRIS CARTER WHEN I NEED HIM? C’Mon Man and you can’t pay the most productive receiver in the game? I know that he has a year left on the contract but people put new deals in place all of the time before the guys plays out the old one. Especially if the guy out plays the current deal, which Desean has definitely done.

Please understand that there is a method to this madness. Players sign the rookie deal regardless of the pay out because they really don't have any leverage. As soon as that deal is up it's time to "Get Money".

Gettin' Money is more important than winning a championship with the second contract because careers are so short. It works the same way in the NBA as well. LeBron, Carmello, D. Wade and the list goes on of guys signing major deals after the rookie contract expired. Then after boys "Get Money" they're ready to win a championship. Now some guys have been lucky enough to be on championship caliber teams while playing through their rookie contracts etc. However, if a guy isn't that lucky he's looking to get money first and win championships second! It is what it is!

I know that all of the die hard fans don't want to hear that but it's true. Not very many guys will out play their contracts before asking for more money. The game is too dangerous to look at it any other way if you're an athlete. All DeSean was doing by holding out was letting the Eagles know that if they don't pay him before or shortly after the season is over he'll be in the wind. Straight up! Where else can you get the most productive receiver in the league for $565,000?


I respect Jackson because he continues to play the public relations game by carefully choosing his words. "My first three years, the things I accomplished, it's been off the charts but there's still always room for improvement," Jackson said. "That's one thing I realized. Being an Eagle this year is something I look forward to. I've always wanted to be an Eagle. Because I held out a couple of days or whatever it was, that doesn't mean I don't want to be an Eagle. Like I said, I just had to handle what I had to handle. I'm here, I'm ready to move forward, I'm ready to play football, I'm ready to help win games."

Yeah… I hear you bruh, but I really hear you pulling up at the Eagles training camp bumping that Junior M.A.F.I.A. "Get Money!" with your driver side window tinted and half way down and all people can see is the top of your head.

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport
Information from the Associated Press was used in this article.

"Dear Momma"

"Thanks Momma for believing in me!"

In February of 1995 Tupac released one the hottest songs ever recorded called "Dear Momma" in dedication to his mother and the sacrifices that she made during his up bringing. Regardless of the mistakes that she made or the struggles that they went through, Pac loved his mother.

Well...last night during the Hall Of Fame induction ceremony we saw that same love expressed by Deion Sanders, Shannon Sharp and Marshall Faulk. Their speeches were so powerful that all I could say was Praise God!

Deion talked about how his mother  worked multiple jobs and how he made a promise to her when he was only seven years old that he would be rich and that she would never have to work another day in her life. Shannon went on to say how his grand mother took him in when he was three months old and raise him in poverty and love.

Those speeches were powerful to me because they weren't about playing the game and being good. They were about why they played and were so good. It reminded us of how important it is to have a purpose for doing whatever it is that we decide to do with our lives.  Deion said, "If your dream ain't bigger than you, there's a problem with your dream." That’s powerful stuff bruh!

"Deion's bust with his classic do-rag"

"Prime Time" went out just the way he came in, with a whole lot of flavor and flash! Deion showed up in Canton with white pants and vest on under his gold jacket and while rocking the gold shoes to match. Since day one he's done it his way. My man even pulled out the black do-rag and put it on his bust. Classic Deion Sanders but most importantly he brought all of the flash to the table because of his mother!

Shannon Sharp gave that same love and honor to his grandmother who raised him in poverty in a house where they would get wet whenever it rained. In an interview after the ceremony on NFL network he explained how they would have to prop a chair against the refrigerator to keep it closed.

Marshall said that his mother never got to see him play until he was in college because she worked all of the time during that same interview. He revealed to us that his high school coach came along side of him and took him to school because he couldn't afford to ride the bus and it was too far to walk. At the same time he would pay for him to go to football camp in the summers.

Thank God for those men that come along side of the fatherless but more importantly, thank God for Momma's and their endless sacrifices. Thank you for being there to help young boys to become productive men even when their father's aren't there. It saddens me to know that more than 70% of children are being born to single mothers. So many of our young boys are growing up without their fathers and that is a shame. More importantly, they aren’t being supported by them whether emotionally or financially.

Forget what you learned in school. The word "Daddy" is a verb because it's an action word. Whenever you become a daddy you've got to do something. You can't just sit idle and let your child grow up. Too many of our children are failing because of this.  However, I was so happy to see three of them became Hall Of Famers!

For all of those kids growing up without a dad, last night Deion, Marshall and Shannon showed you that you can become anything that you want to be. You've just got to be focused on the prize. According to Deion, "What separates us is that we expect to be great," he said. "I expect to be great; I expect to do what had to be done. I expect to make change."

When Shannon went off to Savannah State he took two brown grocery bags filled with his belongings and all he heard was how he was destined to fail. He said, "When people told me I'd never make it, I listened to the one person who said I could: me."

Believe in yourselves young brothers regardless of what your circumstances are because God didn't make a mistake when he made you!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport

"Dead Beats & College Football" Dangerous Comination!

How big is the college football rivalry of Alabama and Auburn known as the Iron bowl in the state of Alabama? Real big! That's why the sheriff of Lee County, Ala., put together one of the most creative stings in recent memory to arrest dead beat parents that owe more than five figures in child support.

"Because Auburn had such a tremendous season, we thought we'd send letters out telling people we were giving away Iron Bowl tickets," said Capt. Van Jackson from the Sheriff's Office.

This is the funniest thing you'll see all college football season! I mean they ran game of these unsuspecting fans to lure them right into the hands of the police. Hilarious is all I've got to say. Check it out!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport

Hood Principles!

"Man, I'm still trying to figure this whole thing out!"

Growing up in the hood there would always be one kid that was very timid that couldn't defend himself so the other kids would constantly torment him. He, in my opinion, had no business growing up in that environment but you can't pick where you grow up, right? However, those of us that respected him would, at the very least, keep the others at bay. We simply looked out for him because otherwise he'd lose a pair of shoes a week.

We'll...I feel the same way about Tiger Woods. He's the timid kid out there swimming with the sharks and I need to simply look out for him. Guys are taking shots at him and he doesn't know how to back them off by sending a warning shot in the air. His former caddy Steve Williams went at him for letting him go and now Charles Barkley says that he's irked by him because he hasn't talked to him in two years.

First of all, Steve Williams pulled a punk move when he made the statement that he feels like he’s wasted two years of his life because he was recently fired by the golf legend. Are you kidding me? He was the best golfer in the world bruh! That's like working for Microsoft as a computer programmer. It doesn't get any better than that. If nothing else he can become a consultant and make a fortune. Tiger Woods’ caddy? People will pay top dollar for his advice just because he was affiliated with Tiger.

Then Charles Barkley piles on, "It's been very frustrating to watch everything that has transpired," Barkley said Wednesday on ESPN New York 1050's The Mike Lupica Show, "and getting rid of Steve Williams was probably the last straw for me."

First of all Charles, he doesn't have to consult with you before he gets rid of his caddy. Secondly, you've been in the game long enough to know that he's trying to rebuild his image. So that's why he hasn't been hanging with you and MJ. Let's keep it real bruh, you guys are the biggest players in the game. Ya'll keep women on standby like Delta. He surely can't be seen with you guys now.

Now I will say this, Tiger is wrong for at least not calling them and being straight up about it. You can't just leave your boys hangin'. I mean, after all they were the ones that brought you into the circle of friends. He was the timid nerd that didn't even know how to holler at women until he hooked up with them, if we’re being honest here.

I'm also really tired of Barkley and Williams saying that they knew nothing about the women Tiger had on the side. Again, where is Chris Carter, Tom Jackson and Mike Ditka when you need them? C'mon Man!
That's your boy and you don't know that he's got extra women? Get off of it bruh!

During the radio interview he goes on to say, "You think you're friends with a guy. You talk to him once a week for 15 years. You're like, this dude is my friend, we do things, we have fun together," Barkley said. "I haven't talked to him in two years and I'm wondering what the hell is going on."

Hey Chuck, that was real emotional man but real cats don't care that much. If you dissed your boys the way Tiger has, they wouldn’t trip. They would just know what box to put you in. Just don't try to holler back because that was a punk move to never call them and simply say, "hey man I've got to chill for a minute so that I can get some of this corporate money back. I'll get at you when it passes over bruh. You understand!"

If he'd simply handled it that way everything would’ve been cool and he wouldn't have guys going at him the way they have been! The most important lesson taught in the hood is never turn your back on those that looked out at the beginning because you can never come back. Tiger doesn't realize that "hood" simply means those that care about you regardless of who you are, but I guess you’ve got to grow up in the hood to understand that.

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport

Top 5 Corners All-Time!

The Oakland Raider's Willie Brown

The Corner-back position is reserved for the best athletes on the field because they're sitting out there on an island and there's no hiding! These are the guys that can't afford to get caught sleeping. In a salute to Deion Sanders going into the Hall of Fame this weekend I've decided to take a look at the best to play this coveted position!

 Once again I don't need to look at stats to see who was the best at any position. This isn't basball which is essentially an individual sport played with other guys on the field at the same time. If you're batting it's completely up to you to hit the ball. If you're on base, it's completely up to you to steal a base etc. The game of football is the ultimate team sport. So therefore, your success in terms of the team is always contingent upon what your teammates do or not. So that's why I don't look at stats. Can you play?


1. Deion Sanders



"Prime Time"

 No question that Deion was the best to ever do it because of not only his ability to shut half of the joint down but because he dared quarterbacks to throw it his way. He was definitely going to take it the distance whenever  he got hold to the ball.  Like I've said before nobody brought more swagger to the game of football than "Prime Time". When you look up the definition of corner Deion's picture comes up.

2. Rod Woodson



"Could do everything!"

 Probably the most athletic guy I've ever seen. Wasn't known for his ability to hit but he wasn't paid to hit. He was paid to cover and that he did. No question "Woody" belongs in this group.

3. Ronnie Lott



"The Hitter"

 The hardest hitting corner of all-time! This guy was way before his time when it came to playing the position. He was always going to let guys know that he was on the field by bringing the thunder on every play.
By the way: Ronnie Lott was a Pro Bowler at corner and at both safety positions! Look him up!

4. Darrell Green



 "Ageless Wonder"

 He was deadly in one on one coverage because of his remarkable speed.

5. Champ Bailey

"Mr. Half Of The Field"

This guy was incredible to watch. He would literally shut down half of the field and had unbelievable technique at the corner position. No one could turn their hips better and more smoothly than Champ.


I know there are a lot of old timers that are wondering  why guys like Willie Brown, Mike Haynes and Mel Blunt didn't make the list. There is definitely a case for Charles Woodson as well because of his athletic ability.Can't put Darrelle Revis on there because he's only been great for a season and a half. Gotta put in work for longer than that bruh! However, my favorite question is, "Who am I going to take out to put them in?" That's not to say those guys weren't incredible corners but it's only a list a five. That's my list you guys, what's yours?


Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport

Ignorant Conversations!

Braylon Edwards, "The beard makes me do strange things!"

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 70 percent of juveniles in state reform institutions grew up in single-parent or no-parent situations, and 53 percent of state prison inmates grew up apart from their fathers. So when a kid ends up in trouble we can more often than not attribute that behavior to them not having the structure they needed to be successful.

By the time a person ends up in jail it is just the culmination of events over a period of time. It's the little things that eventually add up. Kids start off in the principal's office, then juvenile court, an arrest here and there until finally they’re sitting in someone's prison cell. It all makes sense! What doesn't make sense is why Braylon Edwards is always having run-in‘s with the law.

He grew up in a well to do family just outside of Detroit with both parents. His father Stan Edwards is a former Detroit Lion and Michigan football standout while his mother owns a very nice boutique. He followed his fathers footsteps and attended Michigan playing at the prestigious "Big House". So why do we keep having ignorant conversations about this guy getting into trouble?

He's been pulled over several times for excessive speeding and once for driving 120 in a 65. OK, we'll give him that because he was probably driving a brand new sports car and needed to test the engine out. Who doesn't do that right? He then gets arrested for punching one of LeBron's homeboys outside a Cleveland night club because he couldn't get into the VIP in 2009. OK, whatever dude!

He’s then arrested in September of 2010 for drunk driving and now he’s reportedly had another “incident,” this time in a Birmingham, Michigan club. According to My Fox Detroit (via PFT.com) Edwards was allegedly at a bar on Sunday night with a group of friends and two of his boys were arrested for beating up a couple of the clubs employee's.

According to Robin Murdoch of My Fox Detroit, the guys that Edwards' was with got into an argument with employees that “eventually spilled into the kitchen” and that one worker was “sliced with a knife requiring 14 stitches.” Murdoch also notes that “another was attacked with a fork.” Really bruh? You're hanging out with guys that fight with knives and forks?

I mean you're hanging out with guys that are fighting period? What is that bruh? The reason that you haven't been picked up by another NFL team is because of the ignorant conversation we're having right now. Then you're dumb enough to send out a message on Twitter announcing the squab, “Damn. Get ya knuckles ready” and “Don’t fight if. You don’t know how”, around the same time of the incident.

Then you tried to clean it up by pulling a Congressman Anthony Weiner move and tweeting,“Yo…Lost my phone last night someone sent tweets,” Edwards tweeted. “Deleted them and changed my password. Sorry for the mishap hopefully never happens again!” What's up with this guy?

Let's keep it real, Braylon's in the principal's office trying to go to juvie and on his way out of the league at the very least if he doesn't figure out how to be a grown man real quick. If he's not careful his behavior could land him in prison down the line and then he'll be having ignorant conversations with the other inmates.

While all of the other guys will have the same excuse for being locked up, “I didn't have a father or my mother was on crack, I grew up in the hood around all types of violence etc.” Braylon will be the lone guy telling the story of how he grew up well off with both parents at home. How he went to college and played professional football and made millions of dollars. Now THAT would be an ignorant conversation to have with Mookie serving 25 to life for murder!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport

Top 10 Running Backs All-Time!

"Sweetness" The best to ever do it!

My list is skill set only! You don't have to look at stats to tell who was the best physically at running the football. Once again if you have to look at numbers you don't know running backs.

1. Walter Payton



"Sweetness"

 2. Barry Sanders

"Mr Elusive"

3. Jim Brown

"Mr. Way Before His Time!"

4. Bo Jackson

"Bo Knows!"

5. O.J. Simpson



"The Juice"

 6. Gayle Sayers

"The Kansas Comet"

7. Tony Dorsett

"The Speed Merchant"

8. Marshall Faulk



"The 1st dual threat"

 9. Earl Campbell



"The Tyler Rose"

 10. Eric Dickerson

"The Gazelle"

Now this list is in no particular order after the top two and many would argue that Barry should be at the top of the list. I could respect that. However, Walter did it for a longer period of time and played on a terrible team too. I can also hear the old timer's asking how in the world do you put Payton and Sanders ahead of Jim Brown?

Listen carefully, Jim played from 1957 to 1965 and there were very few African Americans playing during that era. He was 6'2" 232 lbs and pretty much the fastest and strongest guy on the field in every game he played. The average corner was 5'9" 165lbs and couldn't run him down. Would Jim had been as dominate if he were playing against guys like Deion, Rod Woodson or safeties like Jack Tatum etc. Players that could move as quickly as he could? Can't call it. However, I can't put him at the top of my list for that reason.

It's like saying that Babe Ruth was the best hitter ever and he didn't play against the best players in the world at the time. There were no Latin or African-American players playing when he was the king of baseball. Babe didn't line up against Satchel Paige or guys like that. Same argument with Jim Brown.

I‘m also hearing, "Why isn't the all-time leading rusher Emmit Smith on the list." Well he was the recipient of probably the best offensive line ever assembled and he played forever. He wasn't more physically gifted than the other guys.

Just think of what Walter or Barry would have accomplished during their careers if they were just on decent teams. Give me a break with the Emmit Smith argument! He wasn't very fast or elusive nor was his first step very impressive.

Bo Jackson was probably the most impressive physically of the group. No one possessed the size and speed that he did. He was 6'1" 220lbs and ran a 40-yard dash in a blistering 4.12 seconds (hand-timed), which is still the fastest verifiable 40-yard dash time ever recorded at any NFL Combine. Not to mention his ability to run through a guy at the mere sight of him. Just ask Mr. Steroid himself Brian Bosworth. Bo essentially ended The Boz’s career on Monday Night Football when he completely destroyed him at the goal line.

Many will question why I've got Marshall in the top 10 but those that know the game realize that he changed the running back position because of he was the first to catch the football out of the backfield. Without Marshall we wouldn't have the spread offenses that we've fallen so in love with over the past decade or so.

This is my list what is yours?

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter:@jaygravesreport