No football-playing brother tandem should want to become the next one to be picked in the first round of the NFL draft.
The previous two have suffered wildly and miserably.
On Monday, the McDougle brothers -- Stockar, the Jacksonville Jaguars offensive lineman and the 20th pick in the 2000 draft, and Jerome, the Philadelphia Eagles defensive end and the 15th pick in the 2003 draft -– suffered season-ending injuries. Both. On the same day.
Oh, brother.
Stockar ruptured his Achilles tendon during practice Monday night, around the time that Jerome tore his triceps during a preseason game versus the Baltimore Ravens. Each brother was done for the season, serving as a reminder of the last two brothers drafted in the first round and the awful circumstances that surrounded them.
In the 1980s, the Rogers brothers -- Don, the safety who went to the Cleveland Browns with the 18th overall pick in 1984;, Reggie, the defensive tackle who went to the Detroit Lions with the seventh overall pick in 1987 -- encountered tragic circumstances.
Don died of a cocaine overdose just days before he was scheduled to be married. Reggie later was charged with negligent homicide after killing three teenagers while driving drunk. He served one year in jail.
No NFL brothers experienced careers like the Rogers. But no brothers have had a single day quite like the McDougles.
Follow the money
When there is a question about whether a player will make a roster, as there is in Tampa with quarterback Chris Simms, do as Deep Throat once intimated -– follow the money.
Tampa paid Simms a $3 million signing bonus last winter, while promising him a $2 million base salary with other assorted incentives. It is going to be challenging for Tampa to cut a player it recently paid a $3 million bonus.
More than likely, Simms makes the roster and is given more time to heal his ruptured spleen, and Tampa can figure out later whether or not the Son of Simms can be a quarterback for the Buccaneers.
Still, Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden is being grilled on the topic, as he was Wednesday.
"I'm not going to stir headlines up here," Gruden said. "(Simms) is a great kid and he has played a lot of football here. He had a serious injury. We're moving on right now with the preseason, and when Chris is ready to go you'll see him. Hopefully, (that's) a little bit Saturday night in Jacksonville, but right now, as I said, it's a work in progress. He's clearly behind but he could catch up."
Story of a man named Brady
Cleveland is expected to play its second first-round pick Brady Quinn at home Saturday night against the Detroit Lions.
But by missing 16 practices to open training camp, Quinn made it next to impossible to win a starting job when the season kicks off. If he moves into the starting lineup, the thought is it will be sometime closer to the middle or end of the season.
Those close to the Browns believe that, when the season opens Sept. 9 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Charlie Frye is expected to be Cleveland's starting quarterback.
The feeling is that Derek Anderson might be more physically gifted than Frye, but that Frye is a better manager of games, less apt to making mistakes.
Still, the Browns have three more preseason games to figure out their decision, but no moment is more awaited than Quinn's debut.
Seeing Green
Green admitted the storyline adds more drama to an otherwise ordinary second preseason game. But Green, always the wise diplomat, insists he does not harbor ill feelings about the team that he led the past six seasons.
"No, I don't feel disrespected, having been in the league long enough and understanding how it works," Green told the Miami media before taking off for Kansas City. "They decided to go in a different direction. They wanted to get younger. Like I said at the time, I didn't agree with the decision, but I understood the decision."
First is last
The first player selected in April, quarterback JaMarcus Russell, now officially is the last draft pick to sign.
With New York Jets first-round pick Darrelle Revis finalizing his contract Wednesday, Russell is the lone remaining unsigned pick. And it looks like it could be a while before a deal is done.
When one person involved in the talks was asked where the two sides were Tuesday, the response was the same as it has been since April: "No progress."
