The Internet and ESPN magnified Jean-Francois' quotes about Tebow and wanting to take him out of the game. The defensive end was asked to issue a statement through LSU on Tuesday evening.
Jean-Francois: ":We never go into any football game trying to hurt a player from another team, My comments in regard to Tim Tebow were misinterpreted and were intended to reflect the style of football we play at LSU. We have get respect for Tim as a player and a competitor. By taking him out of the game, I meant as a defense we are going to try and make him ineffective. I’m sorry that my initial comments were interpreted another way."
Tebow's take: "Part of what he said is true. We do have a good training staff. We will try to use Jean-Francois; quotes as motivation.
"I don't think it's ever a good thing to talk trash because all I think it does is really fire your opponents up. At least I know how it is for me."
Tebow acknowledged that he doesn't believe Jean-Francois meant everything he said.
Henry said, :"I wish that stuff wouldn't happen, but I don't care. Does that have something to do with making Tebow play hard? No."
I believe Jean-Francois was trying to have fun with some questions the week before a game, only for the Internet and ESPN to blow it up. Had he waited until Monday to make quotes, you wouldn't have heard those. By then he would have been coached up by LSU brass on big-game-week quotes -- bland as usual. Les Miles usually takes care of those.
SOME HITHER, OTHERS YON: With the NFL office making it clear that there shall be no criticism of the game officials, the Saints went passive-aggressive in order to get their point across regarding a blown call that killed a potential first-half scoring drive during Monday night's game against Minnesota. Saints coach Sean Payton was fined for his comments on officiating after the 49ers game. With no mention of the fact that a penalty flag wasn't dropped, the Saints on their officials Web site showed a photo of Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway holding the face mask of Reggie Bush. Technically, there's no criticism As a practical matter, anyone who is familiar with the play knows what the Saints are up to...Trivia Time: Who was the first black quarterback to start a game in the NFL's modern era?...
Brett Favre's house in Green Bay is for sale for $475,000...New York Post columnist Steve Serby writes: "There is one, and only one word for the 4-0 Giants today: ELIte. ELIte Manning, ELIte team. :He want to be the best quarterback on the field.," said David Diehl. He was better than Brett Favre and Tom Brady at the end of last season and Matt Hasselbeck yesterday. ELIte quarterback, ELIte team....Saints cornerback Randall Gay didn't sell many jerseys when he first joined the Patriots. The NFL intercepted attempts to buy jerseys personalized with Gay's name on the back from NFLshop.com. The Web site accompanied the rejections with a message that read, "This field should not contain a naughty word."The NFL was made aware of of the issue and rectified the problem The league didn't consider the name "Gay" objectionable and pointed out that former NFL players William Gay and Ben Gay had personalized jerseys for sale.
"Just Stupid, Baby" is a sign that went up on an office building overlooking the Raiders' training complex and offices at Alameda, Cal., after the team announced the hiring of interim coach Tom Cable...Oliver Stone's "W" opens Oct. 17. The film was shot in 46 days in Shreveport. Shreveport was chosen for the film because it's Bible Belt, resembles Texas and the producers made tax deals with the government. Josh Brolin, a Democrat, plays President Bush. It's a not-to-miss picture...Trivia answer: Marlin Briscoe, 1968. Denver Broncos.
