ESPN's Minnesota Vikings reporter Ben Goessling on Vikings' Defensive Tackle Tom Johnson's unusual arrest and game status for Sunday against the Detroit Lions

ESPN's Minnesota Vikings reproter Ben Goessling broke a story yesterday on the arrest of Minnesota Vikings' Defensive Tackle Tom Johnson. Tom Johnson was arrested on Sunday morning and charged with the misdemeanors of trespassing and disorderly conduct while having dinner at the Seven Steakhouse in Minnesota. The thirty year old Tom Johnson was then taken to the Hennepin County jail and was shortly released after posting a $78 bond. During the arrest, Tom Johnson was not only pepper sprayed but also hit with a taser gun by Minnesota Police. There has been a fair amount of protest to the events that transpired last Sunday night. This wasn't a case of a high profile NFL player acting rudely like that of Lesean McCoy's (Philadelphia Eagles star RB) twenty cent tip debacle/ social media war. Ben Goessling reveals in his article that Tom Johnson may have been a victim of possible police brutality or at the very least misconduct on behalf of police force which made the arrest.

The article goes on to explain that Tom Johnson was asked to leave during closing time at Seven Steakhouse around 2 A.M. on Sunday morning. All reports made thus far have clearly stated that Tom Johnson wasn't inebriated. Johnson was reportedly told, repetitively, to leave the restaurant. Johnson was at a booth waiting for the restaurant's valet service to bring his vehicle. Johnson inquired as to why other patrons of the restaurant were not asked to leave as well. Johnson was also unaware that he was required to be outside the establishment while waiting for his valet service. When Johnson refused to leave the establishment, an officer hit him with pepper spray. Afterwards, Johnson received a towel and water from security for his pepper-sprayed face; Johnson would also reach out to the security guard and gave money to thank him for his help. The Minnesota defensive lineman would take a picture of the officer who sprayed him and a video (believed to be from Johnson's cell phone) of the event. It was shortly after this time when one of the two off duty police officers began asking for Tom Johnson's identification. The police officer would then strike the cell phone out of the hand of Johnson (who was recording the event). When Johnson bent down to pick up the cell phone, the police officer would strike his arm and hand and then used a taser on the Vikings' DT.

Minnesota Viking Head Coach Mike Zimmer said that Tom Johnson would be on the field and playing for the Vikings game against the Detriot Lions on Sunday. Tom Johnson's lawyer, David Valentini made a statement about the event and possible actions to be taken in the near future:

"You saw the video he took...It sure doesn't seem like he was doing anything wrong. He's not raising his voice. There's nothing wrong with videotaping an officer."

Valentini also stated that he will deal with the criminal aspect of the case, before taking any legal actions against the Minnesota police. Johnson's agent, Bardia Ghahremani, made a statement claiming that the charges against Johnson were baseless. Additionally, Ghahremani stated legal action would be taken after the criminal charges against Tom Johnson were settled.

References:

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/11659403/minnesota-vikings-dt-tom-johnson-track-play-arrest

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/11653143/police-used-stun-gun-minnesota-vikings-tom-johnson

Photography/ Image Courtesy:

Tom Johnson: Jeffrey Beall

ESPN Buffalo Bills reporter Mike Rodak on Kyle Orton debut for Bills breaking a 27 game drought to rout the Detriot Lions 17-14

ESPN Buffalo Bills reporter Mike Rodak wrote a piece today in which he believes the Buffalo Bills skid is over. The Bills have broken the two game losing streak when Dan Carpenter (PK) laced a field goal to defeat the Detriot Lions on Sunday. Mike Rodak is equally impressed with negative streaks being broken and career high days for various Bills.

Mike Rodak explains that Bills' leaders stepped up on both sides of the field. Offensively, the debut for Kyle Orton at QB for the Bills went off to a shaky start. Cornerback Reshean Mathis for the Detriot Lions would intercept Kyle Orton early on for a pick-six for the Lions, creating a 14-0 disparity against the Bills at the beginning of the game. Orton would pick up throughout the rest of the drives. Orton would have a Buffalo Bills career game and break a twenty seven long QB drought. As Mike Rodak clarifies, not since the Ryan Fitzpatrick era (27 game long drought) of the Buffalo Bills has a Bills QB thrown for at least 300 yards or more. Orton would have an excellent career game throwing for 308 yards from 30 completions of 42 pass plays attempts through the air.  Despite the early pick-six and the fourteen point hole, the Bills had a stellar game on both sides of the field.

Buffalo Bills Head Coach Doug Marrone benched his star Quarterback, EJ Manuel, earlier on this week, replacing Manuel with Orton. In fact, there has been favorable sentiment towards Kyle Orton's play. Just ask Bills' rookie Wide Receiver Sammy Watkins. Watkins remarked on notable differences between EJ Manuel and Kyle Orton as Orton took the helm this week in practices. Sammy Watkins noticed the favorable differences as he stated that Orton's reads and evaluation were positively different from Manuel, as was Orton's quick releases while throwing the ball. After the game, Watkins had more to say on Orton's performance:

"It carried over a lot...He had his mistakes but he had his veteran time where he lifted us up and moved the ball and had a couple of reads where he saw the coverage and shot it in there...That's just preparation he has in practice. He's got a crazy memory...The way he reads things and the way he studies, it's definitely a veteran move...It's great. As far as EJ making passes, he can do everything Kyle [is] doing...But just the presence and how he leads the group. ... We just have to keep getting better on both sides of the ball."

One of those key reads came up big in the fourth quarter when the Bills trailed 14-12 after an Orton 2 yard strike to the often under-utilized Tight End Chris Gragg. During the two point conversion, Orton successfully read the defense making a quick play adjustment and instead of a pass play, Orton created a nice read for veteran Runningback Fred Jackson to tie the game up with a nice quick run. Fred Jackson, among many other Bills players had equally high praise as Watkins on Kyle Orton's successful Bills debut. While Jackson commented that EJ Manuel could have made the same reads, Fred Jackson was pleased with how Orton lead his team and commanded the offense, especially with calling out plays for advantageous gains on the run and through the air. As Rodak puts it, the numbers don't lie when comparing offensive productivity between EJ Manuel and Kyle Orton. Orton's stellar play would lead to a 34% increase of efficiency in targeting the Bill's cast of Wide Receivers (14 of 21 completions to his wideouts).

While the Bills offense was great, Mike Rodak explained that the Bills defense should not be taken lightly. In fact, the Bills defense has been one of the most consistent weapons for Buffalo. Rodak points out that strong showings the last four games for the defense has lead Buffalo to have the second best run defense in the NFL. The defense only allowed 69 run yards from twenty carries on Sunday. Additionally, Buffalo put up monster numbers against the Lions as the Bills recorded six sacks in the game. Of those six sacks, Bills defensive superstar Marcell Dareus (DT) managed to get half of them. Dareus, who was plagued with off the field issues during training camp, has been having monster games for the Bills. Marcell Dareus was placed with even more pressure this week to be the playmaker on defense as fellow defensive tackle Kyle Williams was out with a knee injury. Dareus can boast a nice five tackle, three sack game and can also be proud of his defense's performance. The Bills defense held the Lions to a scoreless second half which allowed the Bills to come roaring back for the come from behind victory. The Buffalo Bills now have the best record in their division at 3-2, atop of the Patriots (whom had a much needed pick me up win against the unbeaten Bengals). The Bills will hope to add to their lead and effectiveness next Sunday against the Patriots for bragging rights and dominance of the AFC East division.

References:

http://espn.go.com/blog/buffalo-bills/post/_/id/14003/kyle-orton-snaps-bills-27-game-drought-in-debut

http://espn.go.com/blog/buffalo-bills/post/_/id/14036/marcell-dareus-sets-career-high-with-three-sacks-against-detroit-lions

Photography/ Image Courtesy:

Buffalo Bills: Doug Kerr

Kyle Orton: Jeffrey Beall

NFL's Around The NFL Columnist Kevin Patra on Detriot Lions first year Tight End Eric Ebron on being "zombified" by mental wear of the NFL

Kevin Patra of NFL.com's Around The NFL broke an interesting and equally frightening story of comments made by Detriot Lions rookie Tight End Eric Ebron. Ebron was quoted in August about breaking past the expectations and first year boundaries:

"I've already hit my rookie wall...I felt like that last week of the learning process and getting over the curve, that was it for me. Now it's about staying true to who I am and doing everything that got me here, and better."

Ebron had gained more confidence during pre season from big catches via Matthew Stafford's arm. During that preseason, Ebron was insistent to work on the fundamentals and catching the ball securely; earlier on in training camp, Ebron was plagued with dropped passes. Patra stated that Ebron can add to an even deadlier offense this season as the Detriot Lions look to use Ebron as a seam and in-line position slot threat. However, it appears that after four weeks of adjusting to roles and responsibilities at the tight end position has taken its mental toll already. This is what Eric Ebron said to the Detriot Free Press yesterday which has caused concern for the Tight End. Eric Ebron was quoted as saying this about the harsh mental aspect of the NFl:

"You start to get zombified sooner or later...I don't even know if zombified is a word, but you just turn into a zombie mentally. But you're there physically. Oh, your body's going to work, but your brain just stops...if it's going to come, it's going to come...if I hit it, I hit it, but I'm going to go through headfirst, so we'll see what happens after I hit it. If I die, I die. If I come out alive, I come out alive."

Detriot Lions have been expecting more from Ebron as of late. During Ebron's first three games he saw a total of twenty three snaps. Ebron would see eleven more snaps than those first three games combined in week four. This increase was due to fellow Detriot Lion TE Joeseph Fauria, who injured his ankle (due to chasing a peeing puppy). As Patra explains, Detriot Lions will be looking to first year TE Ebron increasingly more. Patra is worried that this increase in productivity and role for Ebron will not leave him 'zombified' on the grid iron or in the red zone. While Patra may have made a joke about the matter, it is troubling to see the uglier side of pro football when it comes to meeting ridiculously high expectations from the world around. As ESPN's Dan Le Batard was concerned about the physicality of the NFL with regards to brain injuries, there should be awareness on the effects caused by the mental stress exhibitted by NFL players in tandem. While it may be easier to brush this off as off-hand humor, various former NFL players from around the grid iron have also made similar remarks in context to the aggressive-reactionary mindset that is often encouraged due to the extremely competitive and physical level of play found in pro football. Who knows? Maybe the stresses placed against pro footballers from NFL exposure and play is indeed a 'zombifying' experience.


References:
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000404647/article/eric-ebron-zombified-by-mental-aspect-of-nfl

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000374275/article/lions-eric-ebron-ive-already-hit-my-rookie-wall

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2014/10/03/detroit-lions-rookie-eric-ebron/16632073/


Photography:

Eric Ebron: Thomson200