FanHouse Nfl Media Watch

Not to pick on poor Calvin Pace, who claims today to be the latest NFL victim of those sneaky, nefarious over-the-counter supplements, but come on here, people. At what point is it fair to start calling out the NFL on the performance-enhancing drug issue? This guy's no superstar, but he's an important player on a New York team. The baseball equivalent would be somebody like Ryan Church on the Mets or Hideki Matsui on the Yankees. Imagine if one of those guys had been suspended today for steroids? Would ESPN even think about leading SportsCenter with anything else?

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Kerry Joseph (no, not that Kerry Joseph)* Arland Bruce leads a relatively obscure life as a wide receiver for the Toronto Argonauts; such is life in the CFL. But something tells me Mr. Joseph* Bruce will be getting a little more attention soon. You see, the CFL is currently reviewing a recent touchdown celebration in which Joseph* Bruce honored Michael Jackson by pretending to be buried. See for yourself and then we'll debate!

Donte' Stallworth, in terms of how he will be treated by the American justice system, has moved past his crimes. He settled his DUI manslaughter case with the Reyes family -- and news that leaked out late last night might provide a pretty good reason as to why he settled so quickly.

Turns out that Stallworth, in addition to having imbibed in some alcohol before hitting Reyes with his car, also allegedly had marijuana in his system.

The Playboy Mansion is often a time of old-school, traditional romance, and never more so than this past weekend, when former Playmate Kendra Wilkinson and professional football player Hank Baskett got married.

It was, according to PEOPLE, a week-long festivus of sorts, with Kendra and Hank attending the Transformers premiere (see picture), getting spa-pampered, yada-yada-yada and eventually getting married Saturday at the mansion.

Last night, Monday Night Football turned 40. Oh, sure, it won't officially happen until the start of football season, but Hank Williams Jr., dancing girls in tight black spandex, and several hundred of his rowdy friends wearing football jerseys of many colors gathered on a steamy night in Nashville for the filming of the show's introductory song. "Are you ready for some football?!"

Yes, yes, god, yes, we all are. It's boiling hot, every sport but baseball is over, and you're singing to a football-crazy city and state. But after a few thousand versions of the same song, we were also ready for some sleep. And air-conditioning, lots of air-conditioning. There's just one problem.

"Where the hell is Hank?" asks a portly woman in a pink Titans jersey standing beside me.

The saga of Julius Peppers, the Carolina Panthers' disgruntled defensive end, faded quickly into the background (thanks, Messrs. Favre and Cutler!) as the football loving world moved away from the NFL Draft and closer to training camp.

But Wednesday, seemingly out of nowhere, the Panthers announced that Peppers had -- finally -- agreed to sign his offer sheet and remain a Panther for at least the next season, barring any very surprising transactions. From the good folks at ITP:

You simply won't believe this, but it's a day that ends in "y" and there's another Brett Favre/Vikings rumor! It's amazing right? Wrong. It's called "standard operating procedure."

But I guess this one has some meat: a source has informed WCCO's Mark Rosen that, confirming a previous report, Favre and the team have agreed to a deal and that Favre will be at Vikings training camp (they even have a fake Sports Illustrated cover with Favre as a Viking to back it up!).

Not gonna lie: I'm a sucker for anything Michael Jackson related, pedophilia and creepy, stardust-covered jungle gyms aside. Music-wise, though, he really is tough to beat. It's why I loved Donovan McNabb's "Thriller" touchdown dance, and it's also why I watched the following video -- which, as PSAMP notes with the find, is allegedly Rashard Mendenhall -- like eight times. And frankly, whether it's him or not, I think Mendenhall should come out and claim that he's got moves like that anyway.

Terrell Owens has made many a teammate unhappy in his time as a professional athlete. (49ers, Eagles, Cowboys. Oh my.) But it's never his fault! Of course, when he appears on the reality show (reality, right?) known as "Superstars" and still manages to cheese off Polish model Joanna Krupa ... well, maybe it's time we see a pattern, no? Enjoy that, city of Buffalo. Should be a fun season.

Video is after the jump. (Punte's got a NSFW version over at With Leather.)

Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady are, on a very rare occasion or two, scrutinized by the paparazzi. The proverbial heat is probably going to get cranked even more based on the newest rumor: Gisele is pregnant.

So sayeth People (who claim that speculation has grown since Bundchen recently appeared in photos with a "perceptible bump" underneath her shirt).

"Gisele will be an excellent mother," a source tells PEOPLE. "She's always wanted kids." Reps for Bündchen reached by PEOPLE for confirmation refused to comment.