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Farve, Wittum, Tebow and More...
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
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Ex-San Francisco Pro Bowl punter Tom Wittum dies
Former San Francisco 49ers Pro Bowl punter Tom Wittum, who
was drafted by the Chicago White Sox but opted for a standout
baseball and football career at Northern Illinois, has died.
He was 60.
Wittum died of cancer Friday at his home in the northern
Chicago suburb of Antioch, his son, Matt Wittum, said Tuesday.
A fifth-round pick of the Chicago White Sox in 1968, Wittum
instead chose to attend Northern Illinois. He set 10 school
kicking records as a place kicker and punter, including the
career, single-season and single-game records for punts,
punting yards and punting average. Equally skilled as a
third baseman, Wittum helped lead Northern Illinois to a
24-8 record in 1972 - the first year the Huskies were
invited to the NCAA baseball tournament.
Wittum was drafted by the 49ers in 1972. The two-time Pro Bowler
played in 70 games with San Francisco from 1973-77, kicking
380 punts for 15,494 yards with a 40.8-yard gross average,
according to the team. He retired from the NFL after a
serious car accident left him with several broken bones
in 1978, but went on to teach driver's education and coach
for more than 30 years, most of it at Grayslake High School
in Grayslake, Ill.
He is survived by his wife, Cheryl, four children, four
grandchildren, and two sisters. The 49ers said in a statement
posted on the team Web site that it was deeply saddened by
news of Wittum's death. Matt Wittum said a memorial service
was held Tuesday at The Chapel in Grayslake.
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Vikings CB Griffin needs major knee surgery
Minnesota Vikings cornerback Cedric Griffin will have surgery
to repair an injured left knee and might not be ready for the
start of next season. Griffin was hurt covering the overtime
kickoff in Minnesota's loss at New Orleans in the NFC
championship game. Coach Brad Childress said Tuesday that
Griffin will have surgery within the next week, once some
of the strength and range of motion returns in his knee.
Griffin led the Vikings with four interceptions this season
and helped stabilize the secondary while fellow starting
cornerback Antoine Winfield missed nearly two months with a
broken right foot. Childress didn't offer specific details
of the injury, but said Griffin faces a recovery time of
six to nine months. That puts his availability for training
camp and the early part of next season in doubt.
"Everybody heals a little bit differently, so he'll be right
on the edge I'm sure," Childress said. Another defensive
starter, middle linebacker E.J. Henderson, is uncertain for
next season as well. Henderson badly broke his left thigh
bone on Dec. 6, and he's still on crutches.
Falcons hire Tim Lewis to coach defensive backs
The Atlanta Falcons, looking for an improved pass defense,
have hired Tim Lewis as the team's secondary coach. Lewis
coached the Seattle Seahawks' defensive backs this season
and is a former defensive coordinator with the Pittsburgh
Steelers and the New York Giants. He was Carolina's secondary
coach in 2007-08. Lewis replaces Emmitt Thomas, who was not
retained after the Falcons ranked 28th in pass defense.
Lewis' hire, first reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
was confirmed by the team on Tuesday. The former Pittsburgh
star played four seasons with the Green Bay Packers.
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Amid Tebow furor, CBS invites more advocacy ads
CBS is reacting to a furor over a planned Super Bowl ad
featuring college football star Tim Tebow. The network says
it has eased its restrictions on advocacy ads and would
consider any that are "responsibly produced" for the few
open spots remaining for the Feb. 7 broadcast. CBS says it
has received both critical and supportive e-mails since
women's groups began a protest campaign Monday against the
ad. Those critics say the ad will use Tebow to convey an
anti-abortion message. The ad is funded by the conservative
Christian group Focus on the Family. It is expected to
recount the story of Pam Tebow's pregnancy in 1987. After
getting sick, she ignored doctors' recommendation to abort
her fifth child and gave birth to Tim, a Heisman Trophy
winner.
NFL considering use of echocardiograms to detect heart problems
The NFL's medical committee is discussing giving players
echocardiograms in the wake of Chicago Bears defensive end
Gaines Adams' death this month. Adams died Jan. 17 of an
enlarged heart, something an echocardiogram can detect. NFL
teams already give extensive physicals to players. Stress
testing and echocardiograms are conducted when the results
of the physical, an EKG and family history indicate the need.
NFL medical people and outside experts who sit on the league's
cardiovascular health committee previously have discussed
making echocardiograms standard. They're doing so again,
pending the final pathologists' report on Adams. But some
cardiologists warn there could be risks, such as misdiagnoses,
to making echocardiograms standard in a physical exam.
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Brad Childress says he won?t give Brett Favre a deadline
Vikings coach Brad Childress spent some time with Brett Favre
in the training room early Tuesday morning before Favre hopped
a flight home to Mississippi. They didn?t talk about Favre?s
future, but the biggest question of the Vikings? offseason
lingers: Was Tuesday his final day at Winter Park? "I don?t
have an expectation," Childress said. "I know he had a great
experience here. I know it too well to know that emotions are
a little bit raw right now. We?re still too close to it. He?s
earned his time to be able to step away from it and talk to
his family and figure out what he wants to do. But I don?t
have a strong expectation one way or the other. It would not
surprise me one way or the other." Childress said he wouldn?t
give Favre a deadline for deciding whether he will return for
his 20th NFL season or retire. Favre had tears in his eyes
Sunday after the Vikings season ended in a 31-28 overtime
loss to the New Orleans Saints in the NFC title game.
Favre took a considerable pounding in the game, suffering an
injured ankle among other bruises. He said he needed time to
decompress mentally and emotionally before contemplating his
next move. Favre, who statistically had one of his best
seasons, is scheduled to earn $13 million next season.
Childress said the team essentially will proceed this
offseason with two game plans: one with Favre, one without
him. "You can plan both ways," Childress said. "I don?t know.
=
It?s up to him. But it?s not a deal where I need to put a
gun to his head and say, ?I need to know in a week, two weeks,
two months.? I know you guys want it all in concrete and set
in stone."
Favre said Sunday that it wouldn?t take him months to decide,
but his teammates didn?t seem too concerned if it did. All-Pro
defensive tackle Kevin Williams said it wouldn?t bother him
if Favre skipped the Mankato portion of training camp and
reported later, as he did last summer. "You want to make sure
you make a decision that is not an emotional decision and
that (it is) an informed decision," Childress said.
Regardless of Favre?s decision, Childress agreed that the
team must develop a long-term answer at the position. The
Vikings need to identify their quarterback of the future,
and Childress hinted they might look to select one in the
first round of the draft this spring. "Eventually you would
like to be able to do that," Childress said. "But by the
same token, you don?t want a round peg in a square hole.
I am too far away from it right now to tell you what the
quarterback class this year looks like. I know we?re picking
down there at 30th (in the first round). We?ll just see what?s
there and I?m sure that we will ably man that position one
way or the other."
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