Two military men — one a senior at the Naval Academy, one an Army combat vet — hope to land a spot on a professional football roster this season. Then, if all goes well, you might never hear their names again. Joe Cardona of Navy and Nate Boyer of Texas both seek to join the fraternity of NFL long snappers — men who fire a football between their legs at north of 40 miles per hour and rarely receive any notoriety unless something has gone very, very wrong. Cardona is ranked atop the NFL.com special-teams prospect list. Boyer’s play at Texas and his inspirational story (Green Beret-turned-Longhorn who never played…
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NFL ownership isn’t the most popular group right now. It’s tough for most Americans to sympathize with a group of billionaires who want more money even though their league is the nation’s most popular. Many owners are worried NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will get booed Thursday night when he steps to the podium at the NFL draft to announce each team’s selections. Goddell is paid by the owners to oversee their league. Booing Goodell means the raucous crowd that attends the draft at Madison Square Garden supports the players. The owners can’t have that. Who or what can the owners…
Brandon Crawford may turn out to be the feel-good story of this year’s NFL draft. Sure, the former Marine is a long shot to get picked, but he’s overcome the odds before. Once a promising high school prospect, Crawford’s hope of playing college football went down the drain after getting arrested his senior year. But Crawford persevered, working in a factory for a short time and eventually enlisting in the Marine Corps. After leaving the Corps in 2003 with an honorable discharge, Crawford walked on at Ball State — 10 years after he last played a down — and eventually…
