A high profile draft pick signed. A star receiver leaving his agent. Creating money-making opportunities, check. Not to say these were the motives behind Roc Nation Sports, but when you are a music conglomerate like Jay-Z  and then you opt to dabble in sports, some of these things just happen to fall in your lap. The launch of Roc Nation Sports received major attention for the bold move but now NFLPA is paying attention too. The NFLPA is looking into the relationship between Roc Nation and CAA Sports. In the past month, Giants WR Victor Cruz dropped his agent Malik Shareef for CAA and a few weeks later Roc Nation signed New York Jets Geno Smith to an NFLPA certified agent. Looks like Jay-Z has 99 problems and an investigation is one. More details, from SBJ:

The NFLPA has asked CAA Sports about its relationship with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Sports and how it relates to the representation of NFL players, said George Atallah, NFLPA assistant executive director for external affairs. The NFLPA has already completed an inquiry into what role, if any, Jay-Z played in restricted free agent wide receiver Victor Cruz firing his previous agent and hiring CAA Sports. “Our investigation into CAA Sports’ representation of Victor Cruz concluded that Jay-Z had no role in the selection of a CAA Sports agent to be his contract adviser,” Atallah said. Cruz is represented by CAA Sports NFL player agent Tom Condon for playing contract work. Atallah, in a telephone interview today, addressed recent speculation surrounding Roc Nation Sports, including its hiring of an NFLPA-certified agent and its signing of New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith, as well as other issues that have been raised in the media.“Of course we are aware of the new relationship between Roc Nation and CAA,” Atallah said. The NFLPA is also aware, he said, of Roc Nation Sports hiring Kim Miale, an NFLPA-certified agent who will be representing Smith in contract talks. “We will be reaching out to all of the parties involved to get a better understanding of the nature of those relationships,” Atallah said.

It’s not uncommon for NFL players to predict their own stat lines. It is uncommon for such predictions to come to fruition.

Remember when Chris Johnson said he’d drop 2,500 rushing yards in 2010? Yeah, that didn’t exactly happen. How about when Chad Johnson predicted he’d have a huge year in Miami? Well, about that…

Chiefs wide receiver Dwayne Bowe is the latest to conjure a guess at what his numbers will look like, but this time he’s not just speaking for himself. Bowe says he and Jamaal Charles will top the league in receiving and rushing stats, respectively. Is he right? That remains to be seen. For now, we can take a look at which teammate pairs have a shot at leading the NFL in statistical categories:

Peyton Manning + Demaryius Thomas

This one is scary. Manning and Thomas form a lethal combination in the vertical passing game, giving both the chance to put up some silly numbers in 2013. Thomas’ 1,434 receiving yards put him at No. 4 in the NFL last year, while Manning’s 4,659-yard mark through the air was good for No. 6. The only problem here is Denver’s wealth of options at wideout: Thomas will compete for targets with Eric Decker, who was second in the league in receiving touchdowns, and Wes Welker, who finished less than 100 yards off from Thomas.

Andre Johnson + Arian Foster

Houston’s offense will go off this fall, headlined by the duo of Johnson in the passing game and Foster on the ground. Johnson was second in receiving last year with a monstrous 1,598 yards, while Foster ranked No. 6 in yardage and No. 1 in rushing touchdowns. Seemingly one’s success here would take away from the other, so the Texans have the potential to absolutely light up scoreboards in 2013.

Luke Kuechly + Charles Johnson

How about a little defense? Kuechly led the NFL in tackles in 2012 as a rookie, and the stud linebacker can take another huge step forward this season. Johnson’s 12.5 sacks were good for sixth in the league, and while Carolina’s defense is far from dominant, these two could be a formidable force on the books.

Aldon Smith + NaVorro Bowman

Bowman tied Chad Greenway for second in the league in tackles with 148, while Smith was just one sack behind league leader JJ Watt. Both of these guys are poised for big years in those stat categories as San Francisco prepares to defend the NFC.

Tom Brady + Stevan Ridley

Darkhorses, but you really never know with the Pats. Brady’s churned out two consecutive 4,500+ yard passing seasons while Ridley finished seventh in rushing in just his second year as a pro. New England’s never at a shortage for offense, but with a weak set of wideouts, Ridley’s rushing numbers could climb to the top of the heap.

Clay Matthews + Casey Hayward

Green Bay’s days of struggles on D may be coming to a close. Both Matthews and Hayward are among the best at their positions, and after each finished in the top five of a major statistical category, the sky’s the limit in 2013. Hayward’s six picks as a rookie are ridiculous, while Matthews’ 13 sacks came in only 12 games.

Justin Tucker + Sam Koch

Because the best kind of stats are special teams stats. Koch booted his way to fifth in total punting last year while Tucker’s 30 field goals as a rookie were good for seventh. Baltimore’s offense was surprisingly high-powered for much of 2012, but if it falters as defending champs, these two will have plenty of opportunities to kick away. Tucker wants to be perfect in 2013.

Joe Buck + Troy Aikman

The undoubted frontrunners in disappointing broadcasts. Really, regardless of who leads the league in anything, we have to listen to this again.

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Steven Goldstein is a TDdaily contributor based in Chicago. Follow him on Twitter @GoldsteinNU.

I love when a scrub trash talks to a star. It never ends well for the scrub.

But when the star trash talks to the scrub? Even better.

The scrub really has nothing he can say back, it’s awkward for the teammates who can’t defend him—it’s just a generally funny experience for everyone involved. Except the scrub, and in this case, I could care less about Mark Sanchez’s feelings after Panthers wideout Steve Smith said he wouldn’t let the Jets quarterback throw him a sandwich.

First of all, what kind of kitchen does Smith run where people are throwing sandwiches? More importantly, where does “sandwich” fall on the list of things we wouldn’t want Sanchez throwing at us? To find out, here are 12 other things I would forbid Sanchez from throwing me:

A football

I mean… we had to, right?

Car keys

They’d somehow end up in a gutter. Even if this fictional meeting was taking place in the desert.

Condiments

This one isn’t even limited to throws. I wouldn’t let him slide a ketchup bottle across the table to me either. I don’t want to ruin my nice tablecloth through some sort of butt- or fumble-related mishap.

A paper airplane

I know it’s not getting to me, the least I can do is conserve paper. We’re an environmentally friendly company here.

A cat

To be fair, I wouldn’t let anyone throw a cat at me, but I’d imagine it’d be something like 12 percent angrier after being thrown by Sanchez.

The giant, cellophane S from Superman 2

He’d end up hitting Superman, slowing him down enough to tip the scales in the favor of General Zod. Am I saying Mark Sanchez will one day destroy the human race? Let me put it this way, I’m not not saying it.

A baseball

I just want to have my bases covers. If he breaks my neighbor’s window with an errant throw I don’t want to be held responsible.

A weapon of any kind

This just doesn’t seem like it would end well.

A gold nugget

Little known fact about Sanchez—he’s the opposite of King Midas, if he touches gold it turns into crap. Just look at the 2010 Jets.

A snowball

The key to winning a snowball fight with Sanchez? Just run routes. He’ll never hit you.

My wallet

I wouldn’t want it to get intercepted by a criminal.

A football

I just want to make sure we’re absolutely clear on this one.

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Sam Quinn is a TDdaily contributor based in New York City.

Jackson’s dynamic athleticism was featured in the second “Just Do It” campaign in 1988 with a captivating series detailing a week of Jackson’s varied workouts. Who else was cycling, hooping and running all in the same shoe? The next year, Jackson became a pop culture icon through the “Bo Knows” campaign. We learned that the multi-sport athlete could do anything—except, perhaps, play guitar. To this day Jackson remains the godfather of Nike Training. The Air Trainer Max originally dropped in 1991, with Jackson at the top of his career. Commemorating his balance of speed and power with the Raiders, the Nike Air Trainer Max ’91 Bo Pack calls out Jackson’s football prowess. Over a wolf grey reflective upper, the tonal straps read “Bo Knows” in reference to the seminal Nike campaign. The left heel features the Oakland Raiders logo while the right calls out Jackson’s iconic number 34. On the midsole, a newly designed shatter graphic references Jackson’s ability to break through barriers across any athletic encounter. The NFL Nike Game White Jersey with Jackson’s name and number on the back round out the pack.

Images via Nike

The beginning of the season is coming a lot sooner for former first-round pick WR Mike Williams. Originally drafted by the Lions, Williams, now 29, got the boot from the Seattle Seahawks, and the NFL for that matter, but Williams has now landed a job in the CFL. The Toronoto Argonauts picked up Williams as a free agent on May 23 and signed him to a contract. Many are watching to see if Williams can resurrect his football career and the impressive numbers he put up at USC in this go-round in Canada. Via NFL.com:

No one ever said Mike Williams — the former USC star wide receiver — wasn’t talented. He just couldn’t come close to living up to the hype. Now, he’ll have another chance, this time north of the border. The Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts announced they signed Williams to a contract on Thursday. Before coach Pete Carroll rehabilitated the entire Seattle Seahawks roster, he rehabilitated the career of Williams, whom he coached in college. One of Matt Millen’s many draft mistakes, Williams was one of the best stories of the 2010 season, emerging from the wilderness after two years out of the NFL to catch 65 passes for the Seahawks. Williams finished second in that season’s NFL Comeback Player of the Year voting to Michael Vick.

While NFL players are gearing up for training camp, former Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis is looking to keep in shape another way. Lewis vows to climb the tallest mountain in Africa, Mt Kilimanjaro to raise awareness for East Africa. In true Ray Lewis fashion, he is rearing to go, and we don’t doubt him. From The Baltimore Sun: 

More than three months after playing the final football game of a storied 17-year career, Ray Lewis has apparently found his next challenge. The former Ravens linebacker said today on his Twitter page that he will climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to raise money and awareness for clean water projects in East Africa. Lewis will undertake the mission, which he has billed TackleKili, next month. Kilimanjaro is the highest free-standing mountain in the world and is over 19,000 feet above sea level.”I am so FIRED UP for this adventure, but until then, I need your help to bring clean water wells to thousands of children and families,” Lewis said in a statement. Lewis is asking for donations through the web site. Those who register will be eligible to win a Lewis autographed Ravens helmet.Lewis, known for his rigorous offseason workout routines, played 228 regular-season games over 17 seasons, all with the Ravens. In his final game, the Ravens beat the San Francisco 49ers to win Super Bowl XLVII and send Lewis out on top.

Awareness Doesn’t Do Anything for Corners

This is Myth, but don’t overrate its usefulness. Awareness is important for a cornerback because it allows the player to react to a pass in the air, with the caveat being that you should be user-picking passes anyway, so this doesn’t really do much except cover your butt for the occasional quick pass. More awareness is better than no awareness, but don’t let a low awareness rating stop you from putting in a player with outstanding man coverage skills and locking onto any receiver in the game. If you have a substantial enough advantage in man coverage versus your opponent’s route running, then your CB will often find himself in very good position for a user pick, so the awareness isn’t needed much anyway. I like to have at least one or two corners with good awareness on the field just to take some of the load off my shoulders, but it’s really not all too necessary.

Verdict: Myth.

Draining The Clock in Madden Is Extremely Effective

This is absolutely Madden, and it’s one of the more game-breaking oversights in the game at the moment. As we’ve discussed at length previously, the play clock in Madden works on the same 40-second timer as the NFL, and yet the quarters are less than half as long. That means you can run a significantly higher percentage of the clock off the game, for every snap. This is an important thing to know, because those who fully understand the advantages of the play clock will never make the mistake of asking for the ball first on a coin toss, and will always be able to dominate the time of possession game.

While I personally think it’s a bit of a cheesy tactic to squander away the game clock from the very first play, there’s no denying how effective it can be. If you find yourself in a losing streak that you just can’t seem to pull yourself out of, you might want to try switching to an offense that hoards the clock, because it’s a wildly effective trick that will continue to be a part of the game until they adjust the play clock.

Verdict: Madden.

You Can’t Pass Against “Max Coverage” in Madden 13

This is Myth, with the acknowledgement that it’s certainly very annoying to do. When someone plays “max coverage” in Madden, it means they’ve dropped all (or sometimes all but one) of their linemen into coverage. This type of defense can be hard to move the ball against, because the D-line will still play the run like normal unless it has a delay in it (like a draw), and a simple QB spy will prevent you from taking advantage of all that open space.

One of my favorite ways to deal with max coverage is to put a receiver on either side of the field on a crossing route, and ensure that no other passing route is underneath it. If you do this correctly, you can use the playmaker controls (left trigger + any direction on the right joystick) to alter the path of your closest receiver. This is perfect for beating max coverage, because you can let the receiver run across the field searching for the open zone, and then playmaker him up the field, or any other direction for an easy pass.

Verdict: Myth.

Out-Routes Can’t Be Contained With Man Coverage

This is one of those things that’s Madden with stock defenses, but Myth with a very small adjustment. As we’ve discussed before, the best way to stop out-routes in Madden 13 is to shade your defending DB to the outside. With the proper defensive shading, your defender will actually take the inside position on the route, and give you an easy opportunity for a pick should your opponent be so courageous as to pass the ball there.

Remember that you should only use shading to the outside when you think you need to, and not on every play. The downside of using the outside shading technique is that it will give up inside leverage on passes over the middle, which can put you in some trouble against slants, or even streaks where a good pass lead could burn you without the aid of the sideline.

Verdict: It depends.

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These tips were written courtesy of GoMadden.com, The Ultimate Madden Authority™ and your source for continued updates on Madden 25 and all things in the football gaming world. For more, follow @GoMadden on Twitter.

Michael Vick may be about to turn 33 years old this summer, but if that 40-yard dash win against speedy teammate LeSean McCoy is any indication, Vick is feeling healthy and still has his wheels. In fact, Vick is so confident these days, he told the Dan Patrick Show that he still thinks he’s the fastest quarterback in the NFL. And yes, he’s aware of Robert Griffin III and Colin Kaepernick. Does the Eagles vet still have it? He thinks so. Via PFT:

No matter how many young and fast quarterbacks enter the NFL, Michael Vick isn’t prepared to say any are faster than him. Vick said on the Dan Patrick Show that he still believes that when it comes to running full-speed in the open field, he’s faster than San Francisco’s Colin Kaepernick, Washington’s Robert Griffin III or any other NFL quarterback. “These guys are young and they’re fast and they’re quick, the thing I do have is a very quick get-up,” Vick said. “I really don’t feel like there’s a quarterback in the league who can beat me in a 40-yard dash. If somebody wants to set something up, I’ll be more than glad to accept the challenge. But as of right now I’m going to say me. But Colin Kaepernick is fast and RG3 is fast as well.” Although Vick is coming off a disappointing season and will turn 33 next month, he may be right: Vick still averaged 5.4 yards a carry for the Eagles in 2012, and he can still beat Eagles running back LeSean McCoy in a footrace. Vick has every reason to be confident in his speed.

FOX Sports 1 launches August 17 as “America’s New Sports Network” and will feature live games, original programming, news and highlights. It’s latest promo is only 11 seconds long, but it stars Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III, who in just one year launched himself into superstardom. “The One for Amazing” is the name of this spot. Check it out.

Jared Allen, a year from now, will be a free agent, and the Vikings might not be able to afford his services. Or, he might not be that great anymore, in which case the Vikes won’t want him anyway. One thing’s for sure: Even if Allen has “absolutely no idea” where he’ll be a year from now, the dude is going to give Minnesota everything he’s got in 2013. The guy plays harder than almost anyone in the NFL. His future, though, is still a mystery. From the Star Tribune:

Ask Allen where he envisions himself a year from now and he’s only being honest declaring he has “absolutely no idea.” Prod him for his best-case scenario and he darts around that question as if it were a heavy-footed left tackle. “Best-case scenario would have been that we would have never gotten to this point,” Allen said. “Best-case scenario would have been the organization would have gotten something done [on an extension] a few years back. “Well ya know what? That’s not the case. And I understand it. … I’m just happy I’m in a spot where both sides are honoring the contract.” That contract will pay Allen more than $14.2 million this season. But that also presents the awkward Catch-22. If Allen performs up to that level, the Vikings might have trouble affording the cost to re-sign him. And if he delivers a subpar season by his standards, the team will have added incentive to find a younger, cheaper replacement. Allen knows he won’t have full say in where his career finishes. But he does have control over the production he delivers this fall. Which is why he feels a renewed determination to get into the best shape possible.