We’re one week away from the kickoff of the 2008-09 NFL season, and as my main man Jim “J.R.” Ross would say, “Business is about to pick up!”

Umenyiora done for the year, Strahan stays retired

For the New York Giants, it’s a hard enough task to defend you Super Bowl championship.  Now it’s even harder when one of the major players on their defense is out for the season. Osi Umenyiora is out for the entire season with a knee injury. Umenyiora injured his knee last Saturday in a 10-7 loss to the New York Jets in their annual pre-season match-up.

When it was established that Umenyiora would be out for the remainder of the season, the Giants decided to get in touch with an old friend for a “welcome back” party. The G-men reached out to retired D-end Michael Strahan, to see if he would come out of retirement and play one more season. The Giants were willing to pay Strahan 8-12 million dollars for his return.  Strahan, who is currently signed with Fox Sports, decided to decline the offer and stay retired. 

Honestly, whatever Strahan did in terms of this situation, would have been cool. You couldn’t get mad at him if he wanted to come back. It’s wasn’t like he retired and then wanted back in. He was already set to start his new life away from the game when the G-Men came a calling and he graciously turned them down.  Maybe he, who shall not be named, should take notes on how to handle certain situations in reference to making a comeback.  

With Umenyiora out for the season, the G-Men moved linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka back to defensive end position. Kiwanuka played D-end at his alma mater, Boston College. That leaves a void at the linebacker position for the Giants.  Things are not looking good for the defending champs at the moment.  We’ll just have to wait and see.

Since we’re on the subject of injured D-linemen, while Osi’s season is done, another D-line on the Westside of town decided he wants play through the pain.

Merriman forgoes season ending surgery; will play in ‘08

San Diego Chargers star linebacker, Shawne Merriman, has opted out of season ending knee surgery and will play this year. Merriman, who has two torn ligaments in his left knee, feels he’s ready to play despite the diagnosis from four different doctors telling Merriman he should have the surgery and miss the season.

So you wanna be hardcore?

Look, we understand that football players are warriors and tough guys. We understand that you’re willing to put your body on the line for the good of the team. We understand that you’ll do anything you have to do in order to win that championship, but COME ON!!!!!

Dude, you’re 24 years old.  Take the surgery. You’ll miss one year of play for ten more years of longevity in the NFL. Why risk further damage? Hey if you don’t want to listen to me, then at least listen to what “The Dude” has to say about the situation:  

I’m baaaack!!! Jones is reinstated

Adam Jones was fully reinstated by the NFL this Thursday. Jones, who was partially reinstated on June 2, 2008 by Commissioner Goodell, can now play in the Dallas Cowboys season opener against the Cleveland Browns at Cleveland Browns Stadium.  A humbled Adam Jones spoke to the media after he received word from the NFL offices:

Now that Jones has been reinstated to play, I truly believe that he will have a solid season. It’s going take some time for him to get his “land legs” back once he gets in the game. He’s been out of football for 17 months; you can’t get back into playing form in one month of training camp. In a couple of games he’ll be back in form and when he does, get your popcorn ready.

I believe he’s coming out this season to shut-up all of the doubters about his lay off from the game, and will give Cowboy fans one hell of a performance this season

ALLHipHop.com’s Yahoo Pick’em League

There are still plenty of openings for the Pick’em League if you want in. Spread the word. Let’s get it popping this season. If you still need the ID# and password to get down, just check out last week’s write-up. It’s towards the bottom of the page.

ALLHipHop’s NFL Game of the Week

This year we’re gonna try something new and let you pick the Game of the Week. Certain games will be chosen from the schedule each that may be more interesting than others. You get to choose which game will be ALLHipHop’s NFL Game of the Week. The poll will be at the bottom of each write-up.  So, without further ado, let’s picke’em:

You can always check out new and past posts on the Out of Bounds blog at: http://outofbounds-therowdyone.blogspot.com/

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