Posted by Ryan Wilson

There are many perks that come with winning the Super Bowl. In addition to the garish jewelry and the recognition of being apart of the NFL's best team, there are also the off-field perks: tables at the best restaurants, hobnobbing with celebrities, and if you're Aaron Rodgers -- Super Bowl-winning quarterback for the Green Bay Packers --  making auto insurance commercials with Milwaukee-area personal injury lawyer David Gruber.

We wish we were kidding.

Rodgers, clad in a suit that gives you the impression he's been working in a funeral home during the lockout, comes off equal parts awkward and uncomfortable. "David Gruber and I have been discussing what protections auto insurance provides if you're in an accident."

Impossibly, it gets worse from there.

Gruber goes on to regale us with the four types of coverage. We can't help but think that, if you heard this commercial while driving your car, you would, to quote Tommy Callahan, "wanna jerk the wheel into a [gosh darn] bridge abutment." 



But hey, everybody has a cause and maybe Aaron is passionate about auto insurance. And while we can't imagine the spot would encourage a person -- no matter how big a Packers fan they might be -- to go out and actually purchase auto insurance, we're positive it's a hit with people who have trouble sleeping.

hat tip: A.V. Club

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Posted by Ryan Wilson

The latest evidence that the Great Lockout of 2011 is almost behind us forever: Lions linebacker Zack Follett tweeted this Friday evening:

"Just received word it would be the 25th of July we would be able to report back if a deal got done. Pending approval by all parties."

Like most of the news we've heard in recent days, it comes with the "pending approval" qualifications, but by all indications, we're very close to having an actual football season.

CBSSports.com's Mike Freeman has been all over the latest developments, and the NFL and the NFLPA released a joint statement Friday afternoon announcing that things are "in a good place." There are some details to iron out, but the major issues have been agreed upon, and we could have football in days if not hours. Which means that we'll have a fast and furious free-agent signing period, followed by training camps and preseason games, and then a full schedule of regular season games.

Assuming that most teams report on or around July 25, as Follett suggests, it will give the Bears and Rams 10 days to practice before they're scheduled to face off in the August 7 Hall of Fame Game. Chicago offensive coordinator Mike Martz said he would need just one day to prepare his team to play, while head coach Lovie Smith was a tad less optimistic, telling the Chicago Tribune: "Just the way the NFL is set up: 15 days before the first game. That’s what you want. That’s what it’s been every year. But this is a different year. If the NFL says we’re going to play a game and the Rams are dealing with the same thing, we’re going to get ready."

The Bears might have to make due with something less than 15 days, but either way Smith says his team will be in Canton. "If an agreement gets done and the NFL says we’re going to play the game, we'll be ready. Right now, we haven’t been told that anything has been cancelled."

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Posted by Ryan Wilson

We're about to have football for the first time in some four months. And once a new collective bargaining agreement is in place, things will move at a blistering pace, starting with free agency.

For quarterback Carson Palmer that means making a decision on his future even though he's still under contract with the Bengals. He threatened to retire earlier this offseason and hasn't shown signs of changing his mind. The problem: Cincy owner Mike Brown, known as much for his willfulness as his frugality, has no plans to trade Palmer. Which means that the two are at an impasse.

Joe Reedy of the Cincinnati Enquirer spotted Palmer at the Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course driving range in advance of the American Century Championship celebrity event, and asked him about his current situation with the Bengals.

Palmer had no comment and told Reedy he is "laying low" until the lockout is resolved.

Part of us wonders if the four months away from the NFL grind (which is no doubt exacerbated by playing in Cincy where the circus is in town every day) has softened Palmer's stance on retirement. With the NFL season not yet officially underway there's no reason to announce now that he'll return to the Bengals, but he's just 31 years old. It's not like he's hobbled by injuries or old age, and presumably he's as competitive as he was when Cincinnati selected him first overall in the 2003 draft.

It's hard to imagine that any player in their prime would bench themselves for an entire season; plenty of them say it but very few actually go through with it.

For now, Palmer's in Tahoe participating in a celebrity golf tournament. And while we'll have to wait to see what happens in the coming days and weeks, this much is certain: Dhani Jones, under no circumstances, wants to see Carson's brother Jordan Palmer under center for the Bengals. Even though, you know, there's no guarantee Cincy will re-sign Jones who, according to one list (feel free to guess which one), is one of the ten best linebackers in the NFL.

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