The notion that Peyton Manning had a down year was almost as absurd as the injuries he had to deal with in his receiving corps. 28 at season end. Where to start?The team hired Reggie Herring a disciple of defensive guru Dom Capers to coach their linebackers and help sure up a porous defense that negated some strides made by the ground game.The settlement looks like a solid deal for the plaintiffs, too. The terms apply to every retiree who presents "medical evidence of severe cognitive impairment, dementia, Alzheimer or ALS," or to those players families. If I reading that correctly, the athletes won have to prove that any of their disabilities came specifically from trauma sustained while in the pros.

Commissioner still draws fire from critics who feel he didn't punish the Patriots enough for last fall's Spygate scandal. After a Patriots employee was found to have made tapes of the Jets' defensive signals during their Week 1 contest, coach was fined $500,000, the