Jackson Free Press

The Super Bowl proved to be a dud after the Seattle Seahawks took the Denver Broncos behind the woodshed in a 43-8 rout.

A reporter asked Broncos' quarterback Peyton Manning if he was embarrassed by the loss, and Peyton replied that "embarrassed" was an insulting word.

I hate to tell Manning, but the Broncos should be embarrassed—from the quarterback to the head coach to the guy who tapes ankles to the water boy. Denver had a record-setting quarterback and offense. Before the game Manning received his fifth NFL MVP Award. Yet the team only managed to score eight points.

The Broncos have no excuse for laying that egg on the biggest stage of their sport and after two weeks to prepare. Manning didn't play like a future hall-of-fame quarterback—he looked rattled.

Much of the media was ready to coronate Manning as the greatest quarterback ever before the game, and did a 180 the next day by saying they didn't realize how good the Seattle defense could be against him. No free passes here in the rant—Manning and the rest of the Broncos should be embarrassed.

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees probably won't be fishing or golfing with tight end Jimmy Graham this offseason. Brees has made it no secret that he thinks Graham should be paid as a tight end rather than a wide receiver if New Orleans has to use the franchise tag (a year-long contract with a set guaranteed salary) on the game-breaking receiver.

The franchise tag for a tight end is $6.8 million, while the tag for a wide receiver is $11.6 million. That's a $4.6 million dollar difference for Graham and the Saints to argue over.

The new collective bargaining agreement is good for teams in terms of rookie pay but might be bad for college football. A record 102 college football players declared early for the draft. Players are taking a chance leaving college early to get to their contract and big money faster.

In time, the system will hopefully right itself. The new CBA is good for teams, and makes the draft more exciting, but more than a few kids made a mistake for leaving early—only 256 draft picks will be made.