Caleb Campbell’s dreams were shattered recently when the Army told him he could not play in the NFL.  Because of a change in the Army’s policy, he has been ordered to withdraw from the league.

Campbell was drafted in the seventh round of the 2008 NFL Draft, because at the time Army policy allowed West Point graduates to play as long as they served as a recruiter.  This all changed with Department of Defense policy overruling that.

U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jonathan P. Liba wrote a letter to the Lions president Matt Millen on Wednesday stating that Campbell has be ordered to fufill “full-time traditional military duties” instead of playing professional football for Detroit in the NFL.

Campbell can request a release from active duty in May of 2010 but until then the only football he will be playing is with his fellow soldiers.

Brett Farve wants to play in 2008.  The question is, with who?  The Packers have been speaking to various teams in the league, exploring Farve’s worth in a possible trade.  Most of the teams are in the AFC but some NFC teams have been contacted.  Even though they are feeling out their former star QB’s worth, the Packers might not necessarily trade him. 

I know its hard to believe that Green Bay could part with their legendary quarterback but a trade would actually make sense.  The Packers have a good QB in Aaron Rodgers and drafted that position in this years draft.  Keeping Farve in the line up as a starter would make those assets worthless.  They could benefit from trading Farve for other lacking positions and possibly 2009 draft picks.

Farve, when/if he returns, is willing to go to any team that makes a deal with Green Bay; that is if his team does in fact trade him.  That aspect will influence any would be deals but Farve does desire to play for Green Bay in 2008.  Although he has yet to announce his comeback, he has already been told he would be coming back as a backup to Rodgers.  Farve would only need to send a letter to the NFL and the Packers asking to be reinstated and he would be able to play in 2008.  When or if he does that we don’t know but I’m hoping he does.  I’d like to see him play for another team and spread the talent around.

It appears as though Brett Favre is not ready for retirement. Nothing is coming out of the packers camp. Nobody is commenting but there has been talk and emails. Favre believes he can still play, Green Bay knows he can still play, and just about everyone else knows he can still play. The question is will the Green Bay Packers take him back after Favre big send off, removed him from the roster,  and after they drafted his replacements? The fat lady is not singing yet!

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Matt Forte finally got his contract.  The Chicago Bears have come to terms with their 2nd round draft pick of 2008 to a four-year contract.  The details of the contract were not made available.

The Bears picked Forte in the 2nd round of the 2008 NFL Draft, number 44 overall, from Tulane.  Forte’s signing leaves only the Bears first round pick, Chris Williams, the only one left without a contract as of yet.

Following the releasing of former Chicago Bears running back, Cedric Benson, Forte is expected to take is place as starter.  Benson was released following two arrests for boating and driving under the influence of alcohol.  If the Bears don’t try to pick up a veteran player such as Shaun Alexander, Forte will see a majority of the carries.

Forte had a great career at Tulane.  He was the all-time leader in rushing yards per game for the school, 99.2, and had 39 rushing TD’s, 44 TD’s all together and had 266 total points scored to his name.  He was the 11th player in the history of NCAA Division 1 to rush for 2,000 yards in a single season with 2,127 in 2007, which is 7th overall.

Maybe Cedric’s problems with the law were a blessing in disguise for the Bears as Forte may turn out to be a great asset to Chicago’s running game.

Earnest Graham, running back for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, got his contract extension Sunday.  The Bucs signed Graham to a three year extension, worth $10.5 million.  The agreement gets Graham into camp for workouts and prevents a holdout that would hurt the team.  He missed the team’s voluntary OTAs but did show up for the minicamp in June.

Graham got the start last season following the injury of Carnell “Cadillac” Williams and Michael Pittman.  Last season Graham played in 10 games running for 898 yards, which is a team high, and made it into the endzone for 10 touchdowns, as well as pulled in 49 receptions for 324 yards.

Graham was signed undrafted in 2003 to Tampa Bay and pent most of the past 4 seasons on special teams before exploading out of the backfield and reviving the Buccaneers running game.

The New York Giants will be allowing fans to buy a seat licenses in the new stadium they are building with the New York Jets.  This license will allow a fan to buy season tickets for that seat, and will cost between $1,000 and $20,000 depending on location.

The Jets haven’t commented on if they will be following suit. 

This new stadium, will have 82,500 seats is slated to open in 2010.  Most of those seats will have a license available.  Only 5,000 of those seats will cost $20,000.  They are a little worried about upsetting fans as each seat that a season ticket holder owns will carry the license charge, which can get pretty costly.  The seat license isn’t a season ticket; the tickets would be purchased on top of the licenses.  Giants’ co-owner, John Mara, had this to say;

“We tried hard to come up with a plan that guarantees everybody the opportunity to stay in the building.”

The cost of the new stadium which is being split down the middle between the two teams, is $1.6 billion.  Mara also said that it would be “extremely difficult” to build this new stadium without these seat licenses because they will raise between $300 and $400 million. 

Once a person buys the seat licenses, they are guaranteed that spot as long as the team plays at that stadium.  That license however can be sold or transferred to anyone for however much they can get for them. 

Jevon Kearse, defensive end for the Tennessee Titans, has been arrested for DUI.  He was driving near the Vanderbilt University Campus.  Jim Patterson, spokesman for Vanderbilt, stated that Kearse, or “the Freak” as he is also known, was stopped by campus police, early Sunday morning.  He was reportedly seen driving his SUV recklessly, weaving across the road.

Kearse participated in a field sobriety test administered by police, but refused to take a breathalyzer.  His refusal to take a breathalyzer allowed him to be arrested and charged due to Tennessee’s implied consent law.  He was released that morning.

The Tennessee Titans and Jevon Kearse’s representation had no comment on the matter.

Kearse was the defensive rookie of the year with the Tennessee Titans in 1999 and is rejoining the Titans this season after spending the last four years with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Adam “Pacman” Jones has decided to drop his long standing nickname.  He wants to leave his nickname behind as well as his past.

“There’s really just a lot of negativity behind it,” Jones said.  “It’s just time for a change, man.  I’m doing everything to make sure that I’m all right as a person, mentally and emotionally.”

Jones has been suspended from the NFL for the last year, which had caused him to miss the entire 2007 season.  His suspension isn’t totally lifted, but he has been granted permission from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to practice with his new team, the Dallas Cowboys.  Jones was traded this off-season from his former team, the Tennessee Titans to the Cowboys for 2008 draft picks.

Jones’ troubled past which he’s leaving behind includes a few arrests and legal troubles in connection to a shooting in Las Vegas.  During his career since he was drafted in 2005 to the Titans,  Jones has been arrested 6 times and has been involved in 12 incidents requiring action from the police.

Adam Jones, as he wishes to be called, may have to wait until the week before the Cowboy’s September 7th season opener to find out if Commissioner Goodell will let him play this season.

Chad Johnson (Cincinnati wide receiver) is expected to be fully recovered from ankle surgery by the time the Cincinnati Bengals open training camp next month. Johnson had a troublesome right ankle cleaned out on Wednesday. The ankle was troublesome for  Johnson last year. The team had recommended surgery after the season ended. Johnson declined the surgery but the ankle became an issue last week at the Bengal’s mandatory minicamp. The Pro Bowl receiver said he couldn’t practice because the ankle was bothering him.

Johnson is disgruntled and has been lobbying for a trade since the end of last season and has threatened to sit out the season if he’s not dealt to another team. The Bengals have refused to trade him.

Michael Strahan, you’ve just won the Super Bowl;  what are you going to do next?  Retire?!  Yes, it’s true, Michael Strahan has decided to go out on top by stepping away from the NFL after 15 seasons just after his team, the New York Giants won Super Bowl XLII.  The Giants defeated the Patriots in that game 17 - 14.

Strahan has had a magnificent season, being elected to the Pro Bowl seven times, holder of the leagues single season sack record with 22.5 which he did in 2001, and put up 18.5 in 2003 becoming the second player in the history of the NFL to lead the league in sacks two times.  He has a total of 141.5 sacks in his career which is a record for the Giants and fifth in the league’s history. 

Strahan had considered retirement before the beginning of the 2007 season, but decided to play and recorded 9.0 sacks and 57 tackles and became world champion when his team won the big game.  The 36-year-old announced his plans to retire to the Giants and head coach Tom Coughlin on Monday.  He played in a total of 216 games during his career, which is a franchise record and in 205 of those games, he started.