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Vikings arrive at camp without QB Brett Favre.

If/when Brett Favre returns to Minnesota for a 20th NFL season, it almost certainly won’t be before the Vikings’ 12-day stay in this college town comes to an end.

That seems to be just fine with the rest of the team.

The Vikings started reporting for training camp Thursday evening to begin what is the scourge of life in the NFL — sweating through two-a-day practices in the stifling August heat and humidity. Yet nearly every veteran who was available to the media said they had no problem with Favre skipping training camp like he did last season.

While much of the rest of the country seems to have tired of Favre’s annual waffling, the guys who matter most — his teammates — don’t seem to mind a bit.

“There’s been a lot of talk about players being treated differently,” centre John Sullivan said. “Well, guys aren’t the same. Brett’s been playing for 20 years. He’s earned some leeway. We know that if he comes back he’ll be 100 per cent committed to the team. We’d love to have him. Everybody knows that.

“I think I speak for most of the guys when I say nobody’s upset Brett is in the situation that he’s in.”

Favre is working out at his home in Hattiesburg, Miss., still rehabbing a surgically repaired ankle that was injured in Minnesota’s overtime loss to the New Orleans Saints in the NFC title game. He has yet to inform the team if he will honour the second year of his contract and come back for another run at the Super Bowl.

“What year is it for him? Like 20?” defensive tackle Kevin Williams said. “So I think he’s done his share of these things and either way, if he comes back, when he does, as long as he’s ready to go that will be fine with us.”

If Favre returns, all 22 starters will be back for a team that came achingly close to its first Super Bowl appearance since the 1976 season. The Vikings dominated most of the statistical categories in the game. But they committed five turnovers, including an interception by Favre in New Orleans territory at the end of regulation, and left the Superdome feeling like they gave the game away.

The Saints went on to win in overtime before defeating the Colts in the Super Bowl.

“It’s a hell of a group of guys, and always the challenge is that last year will have nothing to do with this year,” coach Brad Childress said.

The Vikings head back to New Orleans to open the NFL regular season on Sept. 6 in a rematch of their January thriller.

“We’ve put the NFC Championship game behind us,” Sullivan said. “I know we have some pre-season games but I’m pretty sure everybody’s very aware that’s who we are playing Week 1. But there’s a lot of work to do before we get to that point.”

Even though they are starting training camp without arguably their most important player, they do take comfort in the familiarity of it all. Last year Favre told the Vikings he was not going to play shortly before camp opened. But he changed his mind a few weeks later, and went on to record one of the best seasons of his career despite having less than three weeks to prepare.

Favre threw for over 4,200 yards with 33 touchdowns and just seven interceptions to lead the Vikings (12-4) to the NFC North title and their first NFC title game since 2001.

“We all know the situation and there’s going to be some time before we know the outcome of whether or not Brett’s coming back,” Sullivan said. “We’ll go out there and work with the guys we have and for right now those are the guys that we’ll focus on and proceed if one of them is going to be your starting quarterback. Because they’re the ones that are here.

“If that situation changes, we’ll deal with it when the time comes.”

For now, Tarvaris Jackson will take most of the snaps with the starting offence, while Sage Rosenfels and rookie Joe Webb round out the quarterback depth chart. But most expect Favre to show up eventually.

“Nobody cares. … He’s pretty rare that he can miss all of training camp and do all that and come in and light it up,” guard Steve Hutchinson said. “Hopefully if he decides to come back he can do that all over again.”

Matt Field
TenYards.com Sports Editor

Report: Bengals sign Terrell Owens

A report on the Cincinnati Bengals’ website cites a league source as saying the team has agreed to terms on a one- year contract with wide receiver Terrell Owens.

ESPN reports the deal is for $2 million with another $2 million possible through incentives. Owens is expected to be in attendance on the first day of the team’s training camp on Thursday when he will officially sign the contract.

Cincinnati wideout Chad Ochocinco seemed to confirm the news via Twitter, posting: “Terrell Owens is officially a Cincinnati Bengals, Cincy let’s welcome him with open arms, it’s on now!”

The Jets and Rams were also thought to be interested in the flamboyant Owens. The 36-year-old caught 55 passes for 829 yards and five touchdowns last year in his lone season with the Buffalo Bills.

Owens spent the previous three seasons in Dallas and the two before that with Philadelphia, all while often getting caught up in public locker room spats, but also producing as one of the league’s top receivers.

The five-year run saw Owens notch 1,000-yard seasons and double-digit touchdown receptions in all but one of those years. The Eagles suspended or left Owens inactive for the final nine games of the 2005 season because of constant problems with the team’s front office, coach Andy Reid and teammates.

A six-time Pro Bowl selection and third-round draft choice of the 49ers in 1996, Owens played in San Francisco for eight seasons before joining the Eagles for the 2004 campaign.

In 205 career games spanning 14 years in the league, Owens has established himself as one of the best receivers of all-time. He ranks third in NFL annals with 14,951 receiving yards and 144 touchdown receptions, while ranking sixth in catches with 1,006.

Matt Field
TenYards.com Sports Editor

Your call: What’s your take on hazing rituals in sports?

Cowboys first round draft pick Dez Bryant has refused to carry veteran teammate Roy Williams’ pads to the locker room, defying a time-honored NFL tradition in which rookies carry senior players’ equipment during training camp.

“I’m not doing it,” said Bryant. “I feel like I was drafted to play football, not carry another player’s pads.”

“If I was a free agent, it would still be the same thing. I just feel like I’m here to play football,” said the 24th overall pick. “I’m here to try to help win a championship, not carry someone’s pads. I’m saying that out of no disrespect to [anyone].”

Rookie hazing in sports in hardly a new phenomenon, and it takes part on all levels of athletics, from 14-year-olds playing amateur hockey to, in this case, elite-level professionals.

Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman, who isn’t even a teammate of Bryant’s, weighed in about the situation via twitter with this gem of wisdom: “Dump his ass in the COLD TUB”.

As for Williams, now 28, he may very well have been forced to do the same thing when he broke into the league with the Detroit Lions back in 2004-05. But either way, the 21-year-old Bryant’s rejection of this age-old ritual has the NFL community buzzing today and, perhaps more significantly, it has jump-started the debate on the merits or pitfalls of rookie initation, or at least how far it should be taken.

There’s a long, fabled history of hazing in the sports world.

Some classic examples:

- NHL teams often go out for an absurdly expensive dinner and then leave the rookie to pay the entire bill (hopefully he goes on to have a long, prosperous career!)

Prime case study: In January of 2006, the Lightning went out for a steak dinner in Los Angeles; the total attendance that night was 21 players and five trainers. The final bill came to $24,000 (yes, many working people’s yearly salary), which was about $900 a person. Then-rookies Paul Ranger, Ryan Craig, Evgeny Artyukhin and Norm Milley were left with the tab and had to pay $6,000 EACH (thanks to the St. Petersburg Times for that tale).

- Often in baseball, when a rookie player hits his first major league home run, all of his teammates will ignore him completely when he gets back to the dugout, offering no high-fives or words of congratulations and instead greeting him with icy, stone-cold silence intended to degrade him for the worthless rookie garbage that he is (the second home run will be given wicked mad props, though)

More instances of hazing:

- duct-taping football players to the uprights (sometimes overnight)

- shaving off all body hair (and doing far worse things that can’t be mentioned in an article on this family-friendly website)

- forced excessive alcohol consumption, spanking, streaking, and general acts of utter and complete (albeit temporary) servitude, and one many of us may be familiar with: yes, I’m speaking of the Atomic wedgie (other suggestions or stories of personal and painful past experiences are welcome in the comments section below)

But while hazing rituals may come as a laugh to some, who consider them rites of passage that everyone has to go through, they are indeed serious business for others; in fact, there are numerous organizations and websites devoted strictly to eliminating initiation rituals from sport.

Critics want to rid athletics of the frat-boy mentality, arguing that it takes away from the enjoyment of the game, and that some more predatorial types tend to prey on weaker or less-athletically-inclined individuals, especially in youth sports where all types of body types and personalities are involved in the process.

The presence of initiation rituals is not just felt in sport; they are used frequently in high schools, sororities, fraternities and the military. They’ve been around forever – the question is whether they still belong in 2010.

Of course, it depends on the degree of the initiation. Making somebody eat seven soda crackers in a minute or consume a teaspoon or cinnamon is inarguably less traumatizing than anything involving a pair of handcuffs, a live goat and a spatula (I honestly don’t even know what that means). Clearly, there are innocent ways of going about this and there are not-so-innocent ways, so clearly it depends on the circumstances. Perhaps a full-on ban of initiation would be too far over-the-top and an unnecessary buzz-kill, while on the other end of the spectrum, an anything-goes approach could be dangerous.

Hazing rituals can be anything from name-calling to building sky-high man-pyramids to forced exposure to ridiculously cold temperatures. So what do you think? Is this simply harmless fun that everyone has to experience at some point, or is it an outdated, antiquated idea for which the time has passed? Is it silly or sadistic? It’s Your! Call; let us hear it, and please kindly refrain from any virtual-hazing of your online counterparts.

Matt Field
TenYards.com Sports Editor

(satire) - Just a few weeks ago, almost 10 million people inexplicably tuned in to ESPN to watch LeBron James announce where he would be playing basketball this fall. Banking on the success of that show and out of frustration with the perpetual indecision of Brett Favre, ESPN announced this week that they will be spinning off a new decision special that they are calling “Brett Favre: Make This [CENSORED]ing Decision, [CENSORED]hole.”

According to the announcement, the show will feature an interview in which a grizzled Favre refuses to provide specific answers to any questions, and talks about how much his body is hurting these days. We will also see highlights of Favre stretching, jogging around a track, and throwing passes to high school wide receivers and/or guys wearing Wrangler blue jeans.

The show will offer cameos by individuals personally affected by Favre’s indecisiveness, like his wife, Deanna, Viking season ticket holders, millions of fantasy football players who plan to waste a first round pick on Favre, and a local Hattiesburg, MS bakery owner who refuses to dedicate any more time or money to yet another Favre retirement cake.

In the show’s climactic conclusion, coach Brad Childress will show up outside Favre’s door with two huge Viking defensive linemen who will then proceed to literally put Favre’s nuts into a vice until he reveals his decision about returning to the NFL.

“I’m tired of this s**t!” said Coach Childress, “How am I supposed to sleep at night when I keep having visions of an offense led by Sage Rosenfels or Tarvaris Jackson?!?! I swear if it comes to that, we are just gonna snap the ball to Adrian Peterson.”

ESPN says the special’s broadcast date and time will be announced soon.

Matt Webb

Cowboys eye possible Super Bowl at their home stadium

For the Dallas Cowboys, the road home could lead to the next Super Bowl.

Since the end of last season, and even before that, Jerry Jones has constantly reminded his Cowboys that Super Bowl XLV will be played at their own stadium in February.

“Our owner lets us know the game is at Cowboys Stadium and he would love his team to play in it,” Pro Bowl linebacker DeMarcus Ware said. “We are doing everything we can get to get there.”

But long before the possibility of being the first host team ever in a Super Bowl, or even playing a 2010 regular season game, the defending NFC East champion Cowboys have quite a summer trip.

Training camp begins Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio. That begins a five-week stretch in which the Cowboys will travel more than 10,400 kilometres, practise in three different cities and play pre-season games in four stadiums.

“We’re America’s team, everybody wants to see us,” receiver Roy Williams said.

Dallas will be the first full squad to begin camp, but Cleveland rookies report Friday. Rookies for New England and San Diego report Sunday, and every NFL team will be in camp by Aug. 1.

For the third time in four years, 17 of the 32 teams will conduct training camp at home. Just nine years ago, only five of 31 teams stayed home for pre-season workouts.

Super Bowl champion New Orleans opens camp at home July 29. But before the Saints won the title last year, the previous three Super Bowl winners — Pittsburgh, Indianapolis and the New York Giants — had all held camp away from home.

For the Cowboys, the climate-controlled Alamodome will be their base for two weeks before going to Canton, Ohio, to play in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game. A few days at home and a pre-season game at Cowboys Stadium follows that.

Then comes two weeks in Oxnard, Calif., a stretch that includes a game at San Diego. They break their West Coast camp and head to Houston for a game before finally getting to settle in at their Valley Ranch facility to prepare for the home pre-season finale and the start of the regular season.

“I’ve had some pretty strange years, but not moving like that,” said 13-year veteran Keith Brooking, going into his second season with Dallas. “I played in the Tokyo Bowl, 16-hour flight or whatever it was two weeks into training camp and still having four pre-season games to play. But never two weeks at camp, then moving.”

“Nobody cares where we practice. People care about whether we win,” linebacker Bradie James said.

Jones raised the Lombardi Trophy three times in a four-year stretch in the mid 1990s. But the five-time champions have gone 14 seasons without winning a title and didn’t even win another playoff game until last January.

The 20-year owner could think of no better way to end the championship drought than by winning a Super Bowl at his $1.2 billion stadium that opened last season.

“They have the potential to get there,” said NFL career rushing leader Emmitt Smith, the three-time Super Bowl champion with the Cowboys who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame next month. “Hopefully those guys have taken this off-season and said next year should be our time.”

With lofty expectations and their longest training camp in more than a decade ahead of them, it’s good for the Cowboys there are few issues and little drama. Just plenty of motivation.

“I really do feel that we’ve got top talent on the team, but this same talent, the majority of it, saw us fall short last year,” Jones said. “And that keeps anybody from getting too caught up in what this looks like. We’ve got a lot of work to do when we get to training camp.”

Here are some of the top storylines for the Cowboys so far:

– Doug Free gets the first chance to replace left tackle Flozell Adams, the expensive 35-year-old five-time Pro Bowler cut last spring. Free, going into his fourth season, started seven games at right tackle for injured Marc Colombo last year.

The Cowboys also acquired tackle Alex Barron, sending Bobby Carpenter to St. Louis in a trade of underachieving former first-round picks.

– After receiver Miles Austin went from relative unknown to Pro Bowl player and Dez Bryant was drafted in the first round, Patrick Crayton asked for a trade and skipped most voluntary off-season workouts. But Crayton, who could still end up playing for somebody this season, showed up for the final week of workouts and the minicamp, working like he always had.

– Safety Ken Hamlin, a 2007 Pro Bowler who like Adams had a contract through 2013, was also cut. Alan Ball, primarily a cornerback his first two seasons, is the likely replacement opposite Gerald Sensabaugh.

– Hamlin’s departure is the only significant change for coach Wade Phillips’ 3-4 defence, which allowed the fewest points in the NFC last season and ended the regular season with consecutive shutouts for the first time in the team’s 50-year history.

With Jason Garrett calling plays for Tony Romo and a record-setting offence, and Phillips settling into the dual role as the NFL’s only head coach-defensive co-ordinator, Jones is excited about the continuity of the coaching staff. He believes that is good for Phillips, who is 33-15 after three seasons in Dallas and finally has a playoff victory as a head coach.

“You can just sense it when you’re talking to him, he’s so comfortable in himself around this team,” Jones said. “I’m not talking about he’s laid back or taking things too easy. He’s just gotten very comfortable, exudes to me when I’m with him, the feel, that feeling he feels about his team.”

Matt Field
TenYards.com Sports Editor

Favre says another season won’t affect long-term health.

Brett Favre was badly beat up in Minnesota’s overtime loss at New Orleans last January, a well-documented part of that epic NFC championship game.

The grandfather of NFL quarterbacks, however, doesn’t sound worried about his health as it relates to returning for a 20th season.

“Playing another year probably isn’t going to make a difference. The damage has already been done,” Favre told Men’s Journal magazine for the issue that will go on sale on Friday.

Favre also explained his thought process on the fateful fourth-quarter interception against the Saints in that game, an on-the-run pass to Sidney Rice that was forced into tight coverage. Favre said they connected on the same play the week before against the Dallas Cowboys, expecting Rice to come back toward him.

“As a player you’ve got to pull the trigger,” Favre said. “You can’t say, ‘Well, is he going to do what I think he’s going to do?’ He wasn’t wrong, and in some ways, I wasn’t either.”

The Vikings are still waiting to learn whether Favre will come back, with training camp a little more than two weeks away. His agent, Bus Cook, told The Associated Press in an email on Wednesday he had no update on Favre’s status.

“Nothing yet,” Cook said.

Favre was scheduled to appear at the ESPY awards ceremony in Los Angeles on Wednesday night. He has four nominations this year.

In the wide-ranging interview with Men’s Journal, Favre expressed the usual uncertainty about continuing his decorated, drama-filled career. He offered candid details, claiming he was so dehydrated during a comeback victory over the San Francisco 49ers that he went 13 hours without urinating.

Favre also spoke proudly about his exceptional first season with Minnesota in which he threw 33 touchdown passes and only seven interceptions, wondering aloud whether he could repeat that feat.

“I’ve had games when I almost threw seven picks,” Favre said. “It was unreal. Before last year, I’d reached a point where I was sitting in meetings with guys 15 years younger than me thinking, ‘What the hell am I doing here?’ Football became work. But last year it went back to being a game.”

Favre said he did doubt his decision to unretire for a second straight year and sign with the Vikings, even as he was making the commitment.

“I thought, ‘This is a mistake,”‘ Favre said.

As for whether he’ll be on the field again this season?

“You’d think I’d know better by now. I’ve learned a lot through the years. What I haven’t learned is what I’ll do and when I’ll do it,” Favre said.

Matt Field
TenYards.com Sports Editor

The National Football League is like no other league in the country.

As an entity, many have tried to copy the model of the NFL. The USFL failed miserably, as did the XFL.  The latest incarnation, the UFL, is bound for the same fate.

With talk that the NFL and NFLPA (NFL Players Association) have met to discuss the future of an “enhanced season,” rumors of the NFL starting a developmental league has again been brought to our attention.

There are a few great reasons that the NFL should have a developmental league. Here are my reasons why it should be one of the main components in the new CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement).

The Draft

The NFL had a new experiment this past year that worked out rather well. They hosted the NFL Draft in prime time, and it buried everything it went against; including the NBA playoffs!

That is right, more people watched the NFL Draft than the NBA Playoffs. Do you know what that means? Commercial time in next year’s draft just went through the roof.

Now, instead of ending the draft of Saturday, the NFL can again steal the show on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.

With teams needing to fill out an developmental roster, the NFL would have to expand the draft as well.  Why not do that on TV and steal advertising dollars from the NBA again?

The Teams

Each NFL team would have a developmental team that would play from two weeks after the draft, up until training camp starts. That would give each team plenty of time to evaluate their rookies and see who could contribute during the regular season.

They would have a regular season and playoffs.  In theory, the winning team would even be able to win a trophy at the “JV Super Bowl.”

My suggested name of this trophy? The Goodell. (If Goodell is willing to give us football from the Draft until training camp, I have no problem naming the JV Trophy after him.)

Training Camp

All of the members of the developmental league would be included in their teams’ training camps. The teams would still have to limit their rosters to 53, but all of the players that don’t make it are either released, or assigned to the developmental team.

Regular Season

The players in the developmental league would be permitted to practice with each other, with five to ten “practice squad” players that can practice with the pro team.

If a player is injured, the team would be able to bring up one of the rookies to the active roster. When the player is no longer injured, the rookie could be moved back down.

Cost

All of the developmental players would be paid a set amount; the equivalent of what the practice squad players make.

Developmental players would not be permitted to sign with other teams during the regular season. Players would be able to be in the developmental league for a set amount of time, say five years. If that player is not moved to the active roster by then, he is free to sign with any team.

Teams would be able to include developmental players in trades, like the MLB does.

How does this benefit the NFLPA?

With 32 teams having an additional 40 players on their rosters, that is more players that are paying dues.

Also, veterans get to keep their jobs while that player develops as opposed to the current system which pushes veterans out of the league.

How does this benefit the owners?

Owners get the additional revenue from the commercials of the draft, as well as the extra ticket revenue from the additional games.

If you are a season ticket holder, you have to buy season tickets to the JV league as well.

DirecTV, CBS, NBC, FOX, and ESPN will all have to carry the games if they want to continue to be able to carry the NFL.

The networks would also be making a profit from the additional advertising time.

This is an ideal situation for the NFL, the NFLPA, the networks, and even the owners. It is what I consider a win/win/win.

Most of all, though, the fans would win, because we would be watching football right now instead of the World Cup.

Matt Field
TenYards.com Sports Editor

From Bradford to Mr. Irrelevant, rookies begin life in NFL.

From No. 1 overall pick Sam Bradford all the way down to Mr. Irrelevant himself, Tim Toone, the 2010 draft class is starting to get acclimated to life in the NFL.

There’s no hitting at the league’s annual four-day rookie symposium at La Costa, not even time for hitting golf balls on La Costa’s famous golf courses.

The 252 draft picks — three have been excused for medical reasons — have come together at the posh resort to prepare for the challenges ahead. Topics include personal finance, personal conduct and things a lot of players might not have thought about, such as how expensive it can get buying tickets for all their friends and family members who want to go to games.

The rookies took a break on Monday to host a barbecue for 150 children of Marines stationed at nearby Camp Pendleton.

One of the Marines escorting the children, Chief Warrant Officer Patrick Miller, a St. Louis native, was wearing a replica Bradford No. 8 Rams jersey.

“I saw that. It’s pretty cool,” Bradford said.

“We’ve been kind of locked up in meetings since we got here. To get out here and get to be with the kids, that’s what it’s all about,” the quarterback said. “I know that if I were their age and I was out here and there were 250 NFL players, I would probably be pretty pumped up, so I can only imagine how these kids feel today.”

Running back Ryan Mathews, the No. 12 overall pick who will replace LaDainian Tomlinson with the San Diego Chargers, agreed.

“I’d be going crazy. I’d be running around trying to touch everybody. I’d probably have a football in my hand trying to throw at everybody. It’s crazy,” Mathews said.

While many of the players are big names, Toone is notable for being the last player drafted, by the Detroit Lions, thus the tag of Mr. Irrelevant.

The diminutive wide receiver from Weber State is distinguishable by the dreadlocks flowing out from under his Lions visor.

Asked if he’d had a chance to meet Bradford, who went 254 picks ahead of him, Toone said: “I don’t think he knows who I am.”

Toone will be feted later this week during Irrelevant Week in Newport Beach. He’ll receive the Lowsman Trophy, the opposite of the Heisman Trophy, which Bradford won in 2008 while at Oklahoma.

Toone won’t be getting the staggering signing bonuses that top picks get.

“You have to be careful and you need to learn how to say no,” Toone said. “A lot of us aren’t going to be like wealthy and rich and we still have to plan the rest of our lives. I can’t play football forever, so you have to be responsible and be grown up and professional about everything you do.”

One of the big topics in the NFL right now is the possibility of a lockout in 2011 if management and the players’ union can’t come up with a new collective bargaining agreement.

Most of the rookies, though, are more worried about making their team’s roster this year than the possibility of missed paycheques in 2011.

“Even if there isn’t a lockout, you should do the same things, still invest and find the right places to put the money so it can work for you,” Toone said. “I’m not thinking about the lockout, I’m thinking about making the team and being able to provide and have something for next year in case. If not, then I can go back to school.”

Said Bradford: “I’m excited about this year. This being my rookie season, that’s all I’m focused on right now, trying to learn as much as possible as soon as possible and helping my team win.”

Bradford would love to play golf at La Costa but won’t get the chance.

“I wish,” he said. “Our schedule is jam-packed.”

Matt Field
TenYards.com Sports Editor

By Jim Walsh

The St. Paul Pioneers got back into the win column Saturday in convincing fashion, using a smothering defense, an opportunistic offense and solid special teams play to dominate the Rochester Giants on Saturday in Rochester, Minn.

On offense, it was the Alex Neist to Joseph Mapson show, with the Pioneers quarterback hooking up with the team’s leading receiver seven times for 149 yards and three touchdowns. Neist passed for 250 yards, but tossed three interceptions to go with the three scores. Wideout Reggie Houston also had a big game, coming back from a sore knee at Superior the week before to snare six catches for 99 yards. The Pioneers tallied almost 300 yards of total offense on teh day.

“We had a really nice game on the offensive side of the ball,” said Rob Neumann, the team’s offensive coordinator. “The line did a great job protecting Alex and giving us time to find some things downfield.”

On defense, Pioneers tackle Jeff McGaster had a dominating game, tallying three tackles and two sacks. But he also got into the game on offense, plunging in for a one yard TD run as fullback. Middle linebacker Josh Hollie also was back to his old ways, leading the team in tackles with 11 total stops and grabbing an interception. Defensive end Patrick Mitambo and cornerback Terry Jones also had sacks for the Pioneers. Safety Nate Beulah had a big game, with two interceptions and four tackles.

“The whole defensive effort was good,” said defensive coordinator Jim Walsh. “It was nice to have most of our regular guys back in the lineup. It certainly showed.”

In all, St. Paul gave up just 51 yards rushing and garnered four sacks, three interceptions and three fumbles recovered.

St. Paul kicker Jay Harding had a big day, as well. Hitting two field goals and booming the ball deep on kickoffs. He also handled the punting duties well. The 36-14 victory was a solid step back into the team’s winning ways, Head Coach Mark Heiser said.

“We have to keep up this kind of effort to get ready for the playoffs,” Heiser said of the team’s two remaining regular season games, both of which will be at home. “We can really set ourselves up for a good run… if we keep doing the things we know how to do.”

Notes:

Jon Robinson was the Pioneers’ leading rusher Saturday, with 25 yards on eight carries.

The Pioneers defense notched 16 tackles for loss on the day.

While Brett Favre continues to waffle in public over whether or not he’s going to come back for the 2010 season, everything he’s done off the field indicates a return is imminent.

First, Favre went and had ankle surgery, a surgery only really necessary at this point if the person in question intends on playing professional football.

Favre went on an eight-mile bicycle ride Thursday, according to a report in the Biloxi Sun Herald on Thursday. This ride was part of the rehabilitation from his surgery.

Favre also told the Sun Herald that his recovery is on schedule, which isn’t a comment necessary to make unless you’re planning on stepping on a football field this fall.

Another interesting quote from Favre was about the New Orleans Saints, whom the Vikings are scheduled to face in the season opener in New Orleans.

“I would love to go beat the Saints,” he said in the article. “I know I can still play at a high level.”

It’s been reported in several places that the majority of Vikings players, coaches, and other team officials expect Favre to return. Vikings head coach Brad Childress has said he’s willing to give Favre all the time he needs to make a decision in just about every interview he’s given on the subject.

Favre didn’t report to the Vikings until August last year after signing with the team, so don’t expect this year to be any different.

Favre has reached the age where he doesn’t need or want to go through the early stages of training camp, the two-a-days, basic offensive meetings, and basic drills.

Favre most likely will do the same thing he did last year: Wait until the first two weeks of camp have passed, miss the first preseason game, and then show up on a flaming chariot.

The bigger story at this point really isn’t, “Will Favre return?”

The biggest story to keep your eye out for is, “What DAY will Favre return?”

Matt Field
TenYards.com Sports Editor