About Time: Roy Oswalt to the Phillies is a done deal

As you've probably heard by now, it is official. Roy Oswalt(notes) has waived his no-trade clause and agreed to bring his pitching talents and $11 million of Drayton McLane's money — though sadly not Oswalt's Mike Scott-era throwback uniform — to the Philadelphia Phillies.

In return, the Houston Astros will receive starting pitcher J.A. Happ(notes) and minor league prospects Anthony Gose (an outfielder) and Jonathan Villar (a shortstop). Houston general manager Ed Wade will receive a fruit basket from grateful Phillies fans as this might qualify as the best move he ever made for the Phillies — even counting the time he was Philadelphia's GM.

So what to make of this deal?

So long as we resist the urge to make the easy Cliff Lee(notes) comparison and view the move in a vacuum, it's a good one for the Phillies. Add Oswalt to Roy Halladay(notes) and Cole Hamels(notes) and they arguably have the best top-three starters in the National League. As long as their offense can stop being inconsistent and return to its explosive self, they have a solid shot at their third straight NL pennant.

As for the Astros, this trade doesn't smell quite as nice when you consider that Oswalt was their most attractive tradebait and the haul they came away with was less than stellar. Then again, Oswalt didn't make things easy for the team to create a fierce market during his drawn-out soap opera of a trade demand. Wade had a lot of roadblocks to work around.

Now that this deal is complete and the top-three starters — Oswalt, Cliff Lee and Dan Haren(notes) — are off the trading block, it looks like we're in for a somewhat sedate deadline as it approaches on Saturday afternoon. Get ready for plenty of Adam Dunn(notes) and Ted Lilly(notes) speculation.

T.O. misses flight to Bengals camp!! WTF??

GEORGETOWN, Ky. (AP)—Terrell Owens(notes) arrived fashionably late, received a white jersey with his favorite number, and got a smattering of applause for doing even the simplest thing.

Every catch was an event.

A few thousand fans showed up for Owens’ first practice with the Cincinnati Bengals, who signed him to a one-year deal on Thursday evening, then got a preliminary glimpse of what the 36-year-old receiver has left.

“He hasn’t slowed down,” quarterback Carson Palmer(notes) said. “He’s a guy that’s kind of ageless and he’s still got a lot left in the tank.”

The day didn’t come off as planned.

Owens missed an overnight flight that would have brought him to town earlier in the day, allowing for a proper introduction. Instead, he caught a later flight, rolled in less than an hour before an evening practice and suited up without talking to the media.

He and buddy Chad Ochocinco(notes) were the last two to jog onto the field, drawing loud applause. Owens occasionally waved to the fans in appreciation, but played it comparatively low-key throughout the two-hour workout.

So began the TO-and-Ocho era.

“It’s a circus,” Palmer said. “Him and Chad, them being them. It’s funny. I was laughing.”

Owens wore his customary No. 81, part of a deal he made with the previous owner. Receiver Antonio Bryant(notes) got the number when the Bengals chose him over Owens in the offseason, giving him a four-year deal. Bryant said after a morning practice that he had already talked to Owens and agreed to give up his number.

“I’m a realist,” Bryant said. “I said, ‘Hey, man, I’m not going to make no big spectacle about it. You’ve got a bigger legacy and a number than I do. I’ve been on several teams like you, but I’ve changed my number several times. You’ve had the same number.

“I don’t need your money,” Bryant said. “All I want you to do is take care of one of my little league programs in Miami. Send them a small donation and we’ll go from there.”’

First, Owens had to arrive. It wasn’t as easy as planned.

The Bengals expected him to show up early in the day, take his physical and sign his one-year contract while the rest of the team held its first workout. They scheduled an introductory news conference after the morning practice.

The news conference had to be rescheduled for after the evening session because Owens missed his red-eye flight.

On his Twitter account, Owens mentioned the delay.

“My Press conf about my “Decision” 2 take my talents 2 Cincy will b held 2nite after 7pm practice!!” he tweeted, playing off LeBron James’ one-hour television show announcing his decision to leave Cleveland.

Owens also misspelled Cincinnati in one of his tweets and was corrected by a follower.

“Okayyyyyy I got it now, 2 n’s & 1 t! CINCINNATI!! LOL!” he tweeted.

With Owens showing up late, Bryant was a focus of the Bengals’ first workout — for his knee, not his number.

He had surgery for torn cartilage in his left knee during training camp with Tampa Bay last year. He was limited to 39 catches for 600 yards and four touchdowns. The Bengals signed him to a $28 million deal, hoping he would provide another outside threat with Ochocinco.

Bryant backed off workouts last month because the muscles around the left knee didn’t feel strong enough. He went through drills tentatively on Thursday, never running at full speed, and planned to sit out the evening practice to work on strengthening the leg.

“The only thing I’m struggling with right now is just being comfortable and mentally just putting (the left foot) down and doing what I want to do without thinking, ‘Oh, I might feel pain,”’ Bryant said. “That’s my biggest hurdle right now.”

Coach Marvin Lewis insisted that Bryant’s knee problem had nothing to do with the decision to sign Owens this week. Bryant isn’t so sure.

“If I owned the team, I would definitely go after the best players if possible, especially with the situation they acquired him,” Bryant said. “I definitely would have went after the guy.”

Running back Cedric Benson(notes) fully participated in the workout. Benson met last week with commissioner Roger Goodell about his offseason arrest in Texas on a charge of misdemeanor assault. Benson is accused of punching a bar employee, a charge he has denied.

Benson hasn’t heard anything more from Goodell, who could discipline him.

“We had a good talk, a good session,” Benson said. “I guess no news is good news.”

Police: Ex-NBA player Wright shot to death!!!

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP)—Former NBA big man Lorenzen Wright(notes), whose body was found in the woods outside Memphis, was shot to death and the case is being investigated as a homicide, police said Thursday.

Police wouldn’t answer questions about motive or suspects. But records indicate that Wright, 34, revered in his hometown as a generous and likable sports hero, was probably carrying a large amount of cash when he disappeared on July 18. A court affidavit obtained by The Associated Press also said Wright had sold two vehicles to a man affiliated with a Memphis drug ring that’s suspected in six deaths.

His family filed a missing person report with police on July 22, four days after he was last seen, but investigators repeatedly said they didn’t suspect foul play. Wright’s mother said in the report that she was worried because his silence was out of character and “he probably has a large amount of cash on him.”
Lorenzen Wright with the Cavaliers in 2009.
(Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)

The report said that the day he disappeared, he had been dropped off at a restaurant by a woman and later taken to his ex-wife’s house in Collierville, a Memphis suburb. The ex-wife, Sherra Wright, told officers that Wright left her home in the middle of the night with someone.

Family members said Wright’s body was found near an apartment complex in southeast Memphis on Wednesday, but police awaited dental records to confirm his identity. Police on Thursday said a 911 call was placed from Wright’s cell phone early on July 19 and investigators determined it came from the area his body was found.

Court documents show that Wright acknowledged to the FBI that in 2008 he sold two luxury vehicles, a Mercedes sedan and a Cadillac SUV, to Bobby Cole. The affidavits about the business deal don’t show if Wright knew that Cole had been indicted in 2007 on drug distribution charges or if they knew each other.

Cole told the FBI he was connected to the organization run by Craig Petties, an accused drug kingpin charged with racketeering and conspiracy in six murders.

In 2008, Cole offered to turn over to Drug Enforcement Administration agents three vehicles he bought with drug money, including a 2007 Cadillac Escalade SUV and a 2008 Mercedes Benz S63 that had been registered to Wright.

Wright told agents he had sold two vehicles to Cole and he no longer owned them, although registration records listed the Cadillac in Wright’s name and the Mercedes in one of Wright’s business investments, Allwright Automotive LLC.

In federal court filings, Lorenzen Wright claimed ownership of the cars and said he didn’t know the property was used in a crime. A federal judge entered a default judgment in favor of the government in March 2010 and the vehicles were forfeited and the case closed.

The 6-foot-11 Wright played 13 seasons in the NBA for the Los Angeles Clippers, Atlanta Hawks, Memphis Grizzlies, Sacramento Kings and most recently the Cleveland Cavaliers. Wright left the University of Memphis early for the NBA, and the Clippers made him a lottery pick with the No. 7 selection overall.

He averaged 8 points and 6.4 rebounds in 778 career games.

Wright leaves behind six children, his mother Deborah Marion, and father Herb Wright, who coached his son from a wheelchair after he was shot in the spine. Lorenzen Wright 11-month-old daughter, Sierra, died in March 2003 of sudden infant death syndrome.

Longtime friend Kevin Nelson remembered Wright as a well-meaning person who treated people with respect.

“He was a people person, he never met a stranger,” Nelson said. “It really hit us hard.”

Nearly 200 people had turned up Wednesday at the crime scene after hearing that police might have found Wright’s body. Among them was former NBA star Penny Hardaway, who played at Memphis two years before Wright and heard the news from a friend.

“I cried. The emotions hit me immediately. It’s just sad because we lost a good person and a brother,” Hardaway said.

Wright’s friends also questioned why police didn’t act with more urgency, pointing to the 911 call.

The Commercial Appeal newspaper, which first reported the call, said a dispatcher in the suburb of Germantown heard a garbled male voice say an expletive and then at least 10 gunshots. The call went dead and no one answered when the dispatcher called back, the newspaper reported.

Collierville spokesman Mark Heuberger said he couldn’t comment on whether his department knew about the call. Family spokeswoman Camelle Logan, Wright’s cousin, declined comment.

Associated Press Writers Teresa Walker and Kristin Hall contributed to this report.

LeBron, Wade, and Bosh Celebrates in Miami!!!!!

LeBron James chooses the Miami Heat

It's over. It's finally over. After a mind-numbing process that took the better part of two months, LeBron James(notes) has decided to join the Miami Heat.

The former Cavaliers forward more or less held the NBA hostage during its final few rounds of the playoffs, the NBA's draft season and the early part of the free-agency period as he and his retinue of handlers and representatives made executives and fans in cities like Cleveland, Chicago and New York all feel as if he was set to take his talents to their particular teams.

In the end, though, he'll join Miami. To play with Dwyane Wade(notes), Chris Bosh(notes) and little else. Rumors persisted throughout Thursday that the Heat were well on their way toward setting up a three-way deal to dump young forward Michael Beasley(notes) -- possibly not for any on-court reward, but so James, Wade and Bosh can get closer to a first-year salary that nears the maximum amount they're allowed to be paid. And that's what it's really come down to. A few more millions for the superstars, for no real reason at all outside of perceived respect, potential and roster-shaping be damned.

[Photos: See images of the LeBron free-agency circus and the star in action]

So now, for the first time since 2006, we're not speculating any more. We know LeBron James will be a Miami Heat for the next five years, and that a phrase like "will be a Miami Heat" just can't help but give you shivers up and down your spine. Legendary stuff. Snark aside, now that we have a team to plug him into, how will LeBron's choice hold up?

Well, for one, the Heat still have a team to build. If the deal with Beasley goes through, they will have just one player under contract (point guard Mario Chalmers(notes)) for next season as the Big Three's contracts get worked out. Add that triptych of All-Stars, and you still have 11 roster spots and six rotation spots to fill out with little money left underneath the salary cap.

How can they pull that off, legally? Well, once a team exceeds the salary cap they can add players making minimum salaries, but they will not have any of the larger-scale player exemptions that teams that entered the offseason over the salary cap get. So they can't work as Boston did this week, adding Jermaine O'Neal(notes) for around $6 million a year, or offer a fringe starter a cut from the mid-level exception, as the Lakers did this week with Steve Blake(notes).

No, they'll have to rely on players wanting to take less in order to play for Miami. Not just "less," too. We're talking minimum-salaried slots. And while you'd think that certain prospects would be chomping at the bit in order to sign with a team featuring James, Wade and Bosh, understand that money is money, and it drives players more than winning ever does.

[Video: Warren Buffett to LeBron: 'Call me']

On top of that, who is left? Chris Bosh has long been frustrated with having to play center, but unless the severely limited Joel Anthony(notes) returns to the Heat, he'll have to man the pivot and go up against Dwight Howard(notes) four times a season. James has long chafed at having to do most of the ball-handling work on his team without a pure point guard to help, but Chalmers struggled mightily in that role during his second season, and he's no sure thing at this level.

Then there's the structural issues. Erik Spoelstra's simplistic offense allowed for isolation after isolation for Dwyane Wade last season, getting to pound the ball while grabbing a screen and waiting for a decision. This is what James enjoys doing, as well, but neither are sound spot-up shooters to spread the floor while the other dribbles the clock away. And Bosh? The Heat could be paying a maximum salary for a guy averaging 12 or 13 points a game, as all the shots tend to go elsewhere. And with former forward Udonis Haslem(notes) heading elsewhere, Spoelstra will have to re-jig his zone-heavy defensive schemes.

This is a chance Miami had to take. When the best player in the NBA wants to play for the maximum deal for your team, you do everything in your power to satisfy him, no matter how distasteful. The Heat will now boast the NBA's best core, but in a league with five men to a side and 10 men to a rotation, the franchise still has quite a bit of work to do.

It's an enviable problem to overcome, though. You can quibble with the choice - Chicago already has two former All-Stars on its roster, one of the league's best young centers and an 17-points-per-game scorer in Luol Deng(notes) in its rotation - but Miami can work. And Cleveland? It's a miserable situation for fans of that team, but the Cavs made their bed in deciding to kowtow to James and his handlers years ago, and that team was unlikely to ever improve on its showings in 2009 and last season.

Miami has a huge task ahead of it. No team has ever been gutted to its absolute core like this, even if the demolition results in three All-Stars joining the squad. It will have to be precise and exacting in determining what sorts of players can complement a type of foundation like this. A foundation we haven't seen since Wilt Chamberlain joined the Los Angeles Lakers over 40 years ago. Wilt joined Jerry West and Elgin Baylor then, though that foundation failed to win a ring (with Baylor around, at least), as each of those superstars were well into their 30s.

James is 25, Wade a few years older, Bosh 26. This is a foundation for the ages. But in a team game, it can still be screwed up. Screwed up by bad coaching, by superstars who don't get along on the court and by a poor supporting cast. This isn't to say that we're expecting any of those things to crop up in Miami, but despite the hoopla, and the promise, there is still a lot that can go wrong.

Miami is pretty thankful, though, that James is going to give them the chance to get it right.

Yahoo

Are the Eagles about to cut Michael Vick?

According to an Associated Press report, the Philadelphia Eagles are seriously considering cutting quarterback Michael Vick(notes). The report says that the team is thinking of making this move no matter what the findings are in the current investigation into a shooting that happened at Vick's birthday celebration last week.

However, a source close to Shutdown Corner with knowledge of the situation believes that the $5.2 million the team owes the quarterback this season may play a larger part in the final decision, and that releasing Vick would be financially prohibitive unless NFL discipline was a factor. With former star quarterback Donovan McNabb(notes) off to the Washington Redskins, and Kevin Kolb(notes) still relatively untried as a successful starter, the Eagles are more in need of depth at the position than they have been in years. And the size of Vick's 2010 salary indicates that the Eagles have had bigger plans for Vick this season.

But that's on the field. What none of this accounts for is the specter of Vick's possible bad judgment. His longtime suspension and prison term relating to his involvement in the Bad Newz Kennels dogfighting ring is well-documented, though Vick had kept his nose clean since his conditional reinstatement into the NFL in July of 2009. But the circumstances surrounding that shooting have put Vick in the crosshairs. The victim, former Bad Newz co-defendant Quanis Phillips, suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the shooting, and Vick's lawyer has told the media that his client left the party 10 to 20 minutes before the shooting occurred.

However, reports indicate that time-stamped video from the Guadalajara Restaurant in Virginia Beach, Virginia, shows Vick leaving approximately three minutes before the shooting occurred. Vick is not believed to be a suspect in the shooting, but as a condition of his probation, he is not allowed to associate with anyone convicted of a felony without the knowledge and approval of his probation officer. If Vick is found to be in violation of his parole, NFL penalties could soon follow. That could leave the Eagles between a rock and a hard place - torn between a financially difficult player termination and the possibility that Vick could lose time in the 2010 season. Team owner Jeffrey Lurie has also made it clear in multiple statements that Vick is operating under a zero-tolerance policy.

In the letter to Vick that accompanied his reinstatement, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had this to say:

I accept that you are sincere when you say that you want to, and will, turn your life around, and that you intend to be a positive role model for others. I am prepared to offer you that opportunity. Whether you succeed is entirely in your hands.

Needless to say, your margin for error is extremely limited. I urge you to take full advantage of the resources available to support you and to dedicate yourself to rebuilding your life and your career. If you do this, the NFL will support you.

Vick signed with the Eagles in August and had mixed results last year in limited opportunities. Used primarily as an option quarterback, he completed six passes in 13 attempts for 86 yards and one touchdown. He also ran for 95 yards and two touchdowns on 24 attempts.

There have been recent rumors that former Eagles quarterback and current free agent Jeff Garcia(notes) might re-join the team to serve as veteran insurance behind Kolb and developmental quarterback Mike Kafka(notes). If Vick were to be out of the picture, those rumors could gain legs.

JaMarcus Russell arrested; Can we say unemployment line anyone???

JaMarcus Russell(notes), recently released free-agent quarterback and one of the biggest draft busts of all time, was arrested Monday afternoon for possession of a controlled substance.

The substance? Codeine syrup, according to Daniela Werner of al.com.

Codeine syrup, also known as purple drank, lean, or sizzurp, typically contains codeine and promethazine, ingredients found in prescription cough syrup. ESPN's "Outside the Lines" just did a feature on the beverage. It's said to make those who abuse it feel drowsy, weak and in an "altered level of consciousness."

Perhaps not coincidentally, the Raiders released Russell because he always played as if he was drowsy, weak and in a state of altered consciousness.

Here's more on the arrest from al.com:

Myles said Russell was arrested at his home early this afternoon during an undercover investigation. He was booked into Mobile Metro Jail at 4:22 p.m. Russell was released minutes later after making $2,500 bail, according to online records.

Russell is scheduled to appear in court on July 20. A bond hearing is set for July 7.

As mentioned previously, Russell is considered one of the biggest draft busts of all time, perhaps even the only legitimate challenger to Ryan Leaf's crown as biggest bust ever. Back in April, I wrote that despite Russell's serious charge, Leaf was still the champ.

Of course, one of the things separating Russell from Leaf was the fact that Russell had never been arrested for drug possession. Even while he's not employed by an NFL team, he's still making a run at Leaf. Everyone needs a goal, I guess.

As a free agent, Russell was looking to sign a contract with an NFL team sometime soon, and odds are, he would have, sometime before training camp. With this, though? It seems like a big risk for a team to take, even at a minimum salary. I wouldn't go so far as to say that this is a career-ender, but anyone who was even thinking about signing Russell probably just put that idea on the backburner.

The optimistic view to take is that in the long run, maybe an arrest is the best thing for JaMarcus. Maybe it's what he needed to wake himself up and get back on a positive track. I have no idea if his alleged sizzurp use was a one-time thing or a long-time habit, but if this gets him to think seriously about his career, then maybe it can turn into a positive. Time will tell.

Mavericks to meet with Nowitzki, Haywood on Thursday

Dirk Nowitzki(notes) may be an unrestricted free agent and free of the Dallas Mavericks for the first time in his 12-year career, but that doesn't mean he's leaving town.

Yahoo! Sports' Marc J. Spears reports that Mavs president Donnie Nelson will make the 7-footer an offer Thursday.

"I'm going to show up on his doorstep, get on one knee and hope he says, ‘I do,'" Nelson said. "We're hopeful and optimistic he will re-sign."

A source close to the situation told Spears: "They're going through all the hoops, but I'd be shocked if he went anywhere else. He's going to get [a new contract] done before they change the rules and structure of the collective bargaining agreement."

Spears also reports that Mavs coach Rick Carlisle is meeting with free-agent center Brendan Haywood(notes) in Charlotte, N.C., in the hopes of re-signing him. The Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers, Toronto Raptors, New York Knicks and Detroit Pistons also are interested in Haywood's services, Spears notes.

YAHOO

Joe Johnson to sign a FAT ridiculous deal with the Atlanta Hawks!!

It's never a good sign when, a full week before a player is set to put pen to paper to ink his most recent contract, that a good portion of the NBA community regards that contract as the worst it has ever seen.

Not the worst trade, nor the worst draft selection. And we're not talking about considering Joe Johnson's(notes) new contract with the Atlanta Hawks (as first reported by Adrian Wojnarowski) as the worst contract we've ever seen a few years into the deal, or a few years after it expires in retrospect.

We're feeling this way, right now. On July 1, seven days before he even gets to sign the deal. Worst contract, ever.

It's that bad. Six years, and $119 million dollars for a player regarded as a second option at best on a great team. At best. Johnson will be 29 years of age to start this contract, 35 to end it, so Atlanta will get his one peak season (unless last year's run of over 21 points and a combined 9.5 rebounds/assists was the best we've seen), and then the downfall.

At about $20 million a year.

Bear in mind that Johnson achieved those stats by absolutely dominating the ball for the Hawks. Just owning it, for large stretches, forcing either a potential score or a potential assist to be added to his ledger just about every other time down court. All while playing huge minutes, 38 per game in fact; which was actually the lowest mark we've seen from Johnson since his second year in the league.

[Photos: See Joe Johnson's moves on the court]

It's just an astonishing deal, on so many levels. A good part of me thinks that — because his stats are so inflated by his ball dominance and big minutes — that Johnson will be worth about half of his yearly salary next year (next year!), so imagine how far he'll taper off by 2016? Johnson isn't the most athletic player we've seen, he isn't tricky enough with the ball to get to the line much (a shocking 3.5 free-throw attempts per game, criminal for someone who has the ball so much, and for so long), and this isn't someone who will age well.

On top of that, didn't we watch him age quite considerably in the playoffs last season? Johnson averaged 11.8 points per game in the second round, shooting a terrifying 29.5 percent along the way. He seemed nonplussed as ever as his Hawks fell out of the second round again, and for the second time in five years, he's chosen big offseason money over a chance at a championship.

The Hawks? They're the big boys, here. They're supposed to be smarter than this, and in spite of all the talk about how this team had no choice but to stick with the status quo and see what happened? Bollocks.

This man could be nearly half of your salary cap in a few years. We have no idea how the new collective bargaining agreement will shake out, but even under the ridiculous payroll runs of the last six or seven years, handing nearly $120 million to a 29-year-old who has yet to do anything more meaningful than dribble a lot and shoot a lot and look real tired in January? It boggles the mind.

Yes, you're backed into a corner, and you can't afford to let your best offensive player go without any proper sign-and-trade compensation. I understand that, but signing above what you originally hoped to pay only goes so far. There has to be a cutoff price, at some point, and paying Joe Johnson around $20 million in 2015-16 has to be that point. Hell, paying Joe Johnson $20 million in 2011-12 has to be that point.

This is just an absurd contract that, even if the Hawks ownership is banking on selling the team midway through Johnson's deal as has been rumored, cannot be justified or argued-for in any meaningful way.

There's just no way around it. Joe is a nice player who might get to shoot himself into yet another All-Star berth next season. If he's lucky, the year after that, even. Give it to him. Let the Hawks roll to the second round again, earning the ownership a few more gate receipts as they take yet another first-round series to seven games.

Doesn't matter. As it stands, this is the worst free-agent contract I have ever seen. Roll over Eddy Curry(notes), tell Jim McIlvaine the news.

LeBron James is a Chicago Bull according to the NBA's web store!!! WTF??

Breaking news — The LeBron James(notes) watch is over. He's made his decision and he's going to be a Chicago Bull, at least according to the NBA's official online store which everyone knows is the world's most definitive source for breaking news.

As a Bulls fan, let me say that I really like the looks of this. As a fan of the Cavaliers, Knicks, Heat, Clippers and Nets would say, "this is fake." Well it isn't, my friends. It's a real screenshot from the customizable jersey page for the Bulls. I guess you could read this as the Bulls reacquiring Jerome James(notes) and giving him a new number, but let's be serious here.

Surely this will get changed in no time, so make sure you get your order in quickly to have a possibly irrelevant tank top because, as mentioned earlier, LeBron isn't making a decision until Monday. Or if you really want to customize a Bulls jersey for a guy who might not end up in Chicago, go crazy.

Nonetheless, to whichever NBA staffer who chose "James 6" as the example of a jersey you could make, nice work. This won't get anyone's hopes up at all.

UPDATE: Yep, it's gone. And just to clarify — yes, it was a customizable jersey, but the default for this version was "James 6" rather than "Player 00" which is present on all the other customizable jersys. That's the mistake and that's the funny part, so have some laughs, OK?

And things had been going so well for Cedric Benson ...Ceddy why??

Cedric Benson's(notes) resurgence in Cincinnati last year was a great story and a rare one. The fourth overall draft pick in 2005 spent four years as a full-fledged draft bust, having never approached a 1,000-yard season and being arrested twice in 2008.

But somehow, despite an early career marked by criminal mischief and going to the ground easier than Joan Capdevila, Benson turned into some kind of stud in 2009. It so rarely happens that a running back — especially one drafted so high — will have four Blair Thomas-esque years to start his career, and all of a sudden become a fierce and feared workhorse back. I don't think a lot of people saw that coming.

Which is what makes the Tuesday arrest of Benson so disappointing.

The incident in question happened a month ago in a bar in Austin, the same city in which Benson's other two arrests took place. Here's how things went down, via Jim Vertuno of the AP.

According to the Austin police arrest affidavit, Benson was at Annie’s West bar in the Sixth Street entertainment district on May 30 when he got into an altercation with another, unknown bar patron that left him spitting blood from a cut lip. After staff intervened, witnesses told police Benson shoved a bar worker and was verbally abusive. After being asked to leave, Benson was escorted to the door.

“As they took him outside, he continued to push and shove,” Senior Police Officer Veneza Aguinaga said.

Bartender Bryan White told police that once outside, Benson complained to people passing by that “all these white boys are ganging up on me and kicking me out.”

White said he told Benson he wouldn’t take time out of his night just to kick him out, then Benson punched him in the face.

Now, why it took a full month to make the arrest, I don't know. Also, Benson's lawyer says that Benson has his own side of the story, which police have never heard, and that Benson will tell it "at the appropriate time" (note: now seems like a good time).

And maybe his story is 100 percent true. Maybe Benson was wronged here. Maybe police in Austin just really like arresting him. I don't know.

Here's my issue, though. Between the original altercation with the guy at the bar, that guy busting him in the lip, being asked to leave by bouncers, pushing and shoving on his way outside and complaining about the actions of a group of white boys ... somewhere in there, Cedric Benson had time to stop and say to himself, "Hey, Ced, you've got a lot to lose, so maybe you should just get out of here." But he didn't.

Anyway, whatever ends up happening with this, it's Benson's task now to make it just an odd little footnote in the story of a remarkable career comeback. How does he do that? By keeping himself out of trouble off the field, and continuing to produce on it. If he can manage that, his comeback story will trump a bar fight in which no one was seriously injured.

Marcus mentioned in the 'Guy shot at Michael Vick's party' story

The case involving the shooting of a man outside of Michael Vick's(notes) 30th birthday party has a few new wrinkles in it, one of them possibly involving Marcus Vick(notes), Michael's little brother, himself a former backup quarterback for the Miami Dolphins.

The bigger story Wednesday, though, was the discrepancy in the timelines of events given by Vick's attorney, and what's shown on security tapes. The AP saw the video Wednesday, and said Michael Vick's car doesn't leave the scene until 2:07 a.m. The shooting happened about four minutes later.

That's at odds with what Vick's lawyer had previously said, which is that his client had been gone for 10 or 20 minutes when the shooting took place.

This "discrepancy" was all over ESPN on Wednesday, but myself, I'm not putting a ton of stock into it. Yes, if you choose to, you can look at it as Vick's lawyer being caught in a fib, which would look bad. But he said 10 or 20 minutes, and it was actually four. That's a difference of six or 16 minutes. Can you accurately recall the exact events of your Saturday night, in six or 16-minute intervals? I can't recall the last 30 minutes of my life in accurate six-minute intervals.

So the timeline problem, really, isn't something I care about at the moment. As for Marcus, the mention of his name appears to stem from a Virginia Beach radio report in which a gentleman named "Bartley Barefoot" said his "sources" were "sure" that Marcus Vick was "involved."

Gregg Rosenthal of Pro Football Talk was being interviewed by Mr. Barefoot and his co-host Johnny D., when Barefoot broke in and dropped Marcus Vick's name. Sports by Brooks took it a step further, noting reports that the shooter may have been driving a white Cadillac Escalade, and then connecting that with previous reports that Marcus Vick does indeed own a white Cadillac Escalade.

What to make of that? Again, for me, not much. If it turns out that I'm wrong, I'll apologize, but for the moment, I'm choosing not to put much faith in the sources of Bartley Barefoot. I'm sure Bartley's a wonderful man, but I'm going to choose not to view him with a sense of Cronkite-like integrity. And the fact that Marcus Vick and a potential shooter might drive the same (or similar) cars ... I don't find that terribly compelling, either.

We'll see what happens, and according to ESPN's Adam Schefter, we might not have to wait long. He said on "NFL Live" that we could expect the shooter to turn himself in to authorities "sometime soon."

Originally, I didn't expect this thing to turn into much of a story. I thought — and I'm willing to consider the possibility that I gave him too much credit with this — that Michael Vick, with all the image-rehabbing he's done, the fine line he knows he's walking with the commissioner, and everything he's got to lose, would absolutely not, in any way, let himself actually get involved with a shooting.

I still believe that, and I haven't seen enough yet to even consider changing my mind. It's true that Michael Vick doesn't have the best track record in decision-making, and maybe there were some poor decisions made on this night, too. Anything terribly nefarious, though, I'm just having a hard time believing. There's still some unfolding left to happen here, though.

Yahoo

Randall Cunningham's young son dies in tragic accident!!!

Terrible news for former NFL quarterback Randall Cunningham and his family — Cunningham's 2-year-old son Christian drowned Tuesday afternoon in a hot tub in the backyard of Cunningham's Nevada home. Las Vegas Police Lieutenant Dennis Flynn has been quoted as saying that it was an accident. According to initial reports, Cunningham was not at home Tuesday afternoon when the child was found, and that an unnamed woman tried to resuscitate the child after finding him at about 4:30 p.m. She called 911 at 4:45, and the child was taken to St. Rose Dominican Hospital, Siena campus, where he passed away.

Cunningham, 47, is an ordained minister in Las Vegas. According to a family friend who talked with ABC News, when the news broke, about 100 people came to the Cunningham home to sing, pray, and grieve with the family. Cunningham is the pastor of a church he founded called Remnant Ministries. He has performed baptisms in that same hot tub, according to reports. From ABC:

"We were there for support," said [a] church member, who asked not to be identified by name. "It's about being a church family and supporting the family ... I just can't imagine going through a tragedy like this without having a church family there for you."

The family friend also described Christian Cunningham to an ABC News reporter.

"He was always active and running around, smiling and giving everybody hugs and jumping on their laps. He was so full of life. He was not only the Cunningham child, he was also the church's child. He trusted everybody."

Police spokespeople have told news sources that there is an open investigation into the child's death, though no foul play or neglect is assumed. It appears to be a horrible, random accident.

More friends and family will gather at Cunningham's church Thursday to show support.

Cunningham, who passed for 29,979 yards and 207 touchdowns in his 16-year NFL career from 1985 to 2001, made four Pro Bowls and is considered the prototype of the modern mobile quarterback. He played for the Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings, Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens. He took his son onto the field last year (pictured above) when he was inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame at a halftime ceremony.

Cunningham and his wife, Felicity, have three other children: Randall II, Vashti and Grace.