The first week of training camp is complete for your favorite NFL team.  It’s like deja-vu all over again.  In Carolina, Steve Smith is punching out teammates.  Another friend of the player formerly known as Pacman has been indicted.  Todd Sauerbrun has been suspended again for being a naughty punter.  Odell Thurman is on the court docket again.  There are questions about how healthy Marvin Harrison really is in Indy.  And every headline still includes the name Brett Favre.

This is the Hall of Fame Weekend, for crying out loud.  I don’t want to hear about Brett Favre until it’s his turn to wrap his hands around a bust… er, I mean that statue thing… you know what I mean.  Get over it, people.  He’s not on his way to Tampa.  He’d rather play for the Arena League than for the New York Jets.  And while he might have liked to be a Viking, the Packer braintrust will unload their coffers before they go there.  They’ll give him a billion dollars, a lifetime supply of cheese, and make him Emperor of Wisconsin before you’ll see him wearing purple.  The Commish has assured (he thinks) us of a Favre-free weekend by tabling Brett’s unretirement letter until Monday.  Do you think his name (Favre’s) won’t be mentioned a zillion times during HoF broadcasts this weekend?  Yeesh!  Enough.

Let’s get back to Steve Smith’s future in flyweight boxing.  Let’s talk about whether J.T. O’Sullivan (he of NINE different teams in six seasons) will beat out Alex Smith and Shaun Hill for the starting job in San Francisco.  Let’s talk about Phillip Rivers and his recovery from ACL surgery - and how the Chargers are thrilled with what they see on the field.  Let’s talk about Cleveland and how they will win the AFC North (No, I’m not kidding.  My annual Preacher’s NFL Preview will be ready for your viewing the week before the Regular Season kicks off.).

And where all things Buccaneer are concerned:

Luke McCown to number two on the depth chart?  Are you kidding me?  Calm down boys and girls.  This is Gruden being Gruden, mind you.  There is no depth chart behind Jeff Garcia and EVERYTHING he says to the contrary is his way of trying to light fires under players. 

All over the blogosphere we’re reading that Michael Clayton is looking like a new man.  I sure hope so.  Seven TD’s in his rookie season and 1 in the years since, this should really be his “make-it-or-break-it” year.  Imagine Buc fans what it would look like if he could return to that rookie sensation form?  Scary to think about, isn’t it?

Aliq Talik?  Talib Aquib?  Achoo Tachoo?  What is that kid’s name?

Former Buc John Lynch is soon to be a former Bronco.  I’m reading comments like “Bruce Allen ought to sign him” all over the blogs.  Are you kidding me?  I really like the guy, but let’s be honest - he’s an old man where NFL safeties are concerned.  Was it really so hard to imagine that the Broncos wanted him on the field as a run stopping safety and off the field on obvious passing downs?  Does he think there is an NFL team out there who will view that differently?  Were he a Buc again, he’d have to make the team as a Special Teams cover guy. 

And on Chris Simms (notice that I list him here AFTER I’ve mentioned former Bucs), I actually go looking for Simms comments from readers on the blogs.  Entertaining, they are.  What a love affair we have with the guy for having sacrificed his spleen on the grass of Ray-Jay.  People, please take a breath.  The man hasn’t thrown a football in a competitive situation since he left post-op.  He is worth nothing on the trade front because no one knows if he can play.  The Bucs have invested a ton of money in him and loathe the idea of him walking away for nothing.  He will be on this roster until the Bucs ultimately cannot afford to keep him any longer, but if someone is to even blink in his direction with a hint of a worhty trade, watch him rocket out of town so fast that you’ll hear sonic booms along the Gulf Coast.  He may even go on to a good career elsewhere (I hope he does) and then we can say of him, like we do of Steve Young, “Don’t forget, the Bucs blew it with him!”

Enjoy the Hall of Fame Weekend!