Greg Hardy gets into altercation with Cowboys teammate

Romo cleared to participate in Cowboys' OTAs

Romo cleared to participate in Cowboys' OTAs

Mike Fisher
+FOX Sports Southwest

Brad Mills / USA TODAY Sports

Tony Romo underwent season-ending back surgery in December before the final regular-season game.

IRVING, Texas - Tony Romo celebrates his 34th birthday today and his gift from the football gods? He is cleared to participate in Monday's start of voluntary offseason activities with the rest of his +Dallas Cowboys teammates.

The Cowboys quarterback underwent season-ending back surgery in December before the final regular-season game. The team expected Romo to spend about three months in recovery and rehab, a process that continues during the next two weeks of OTAs with a focus on strength and conditioning.

The +NFL CBA prohibits coaches from bring involved in this portion of the OTAs and Romo's actual on-field activities are likely to be very limited. But today marks an important beginning of a process for Romo, who has undergone back surgeries in each if his last two offseasons.

5 Headliners from NFL Preseason Schedule Release - Super Bowl rematch of Broncos - Seahawks

Seahawks - Broncos to rematch in Broncos first NFL preseason game (despite slated in regular season as well)

Nate Irving (#56 of Denver) breaks up pass intended for J. Kearse (#15 of Seattle) in 1st quarter of Super Bowl.
They'll rematch in the 2014 regular season as well. Photo Courtesy +Denver Broncos (AP)

The Five Most Intriguing Games On The 2014 NFL Preseason Schedule

Are you ready for some (pre-season) football? With the release of the NFL Preseason schedule earlier today, football-starved fans across the Internet finally have something concrete to look forward to, and talk about. While the games will be meaningless come December, there will be position battles to be won and lost and, of course, the longer extra point experiment. For the first two weeks of the preseason, the ball will be spotted at the 20-yard line for extra point kicks, which will turn extra points from 20-yard chip shots into something slightly more interesting. Last year, close to 99% of extra points were converted, which created little incentive for fans to stay in front of their televisions after the first six points. With that in mind, we've broken down the five most interesting preseason games, starting with the Chargers opener against the Cowboys.

Broncos to break in Levi's Stadium (49ers Pristine New Home) in Preseason

Week 1: Cowboys at Chargers: Last season Chargers PK Nick Novak had the worst success rate for kicks between 30-39 yards, going 13-16, or 81%. At the equivalent of a 38-yard field goal, the extended extra point could be an adventure for Novak. The game may also be as expensive some of the games on the Chargers schedule for the regular season, as the Cowboys almost always drive up prices on the road, even for their preseason games.

Week 4: Jets at Eagles: Week 4 is typically the week when starters take a seat. If Geno Smith beats out Michael Vick for the Jets starting job, this game could be a match-up of Michael Vick vs.Mark Sanchez, two once-franchise QBs. While not exactly the return of Andy Reid last year, it will be the most interesting pre-season game on Eagles schedule for reasons that have nothing to do with football. Vick spent five years in Philadelphia and he has the franchise to thank for giving him a second chance and a deal worth $100 million. In return, he delivered two wild-card playoff losses, and it will be interesting to see how the ever-honest fans at Lincoln Financial Field greet Vick in his return. 

Week 2: Broncos at 49ers: If not for Richard Sherman, this could have been a rematch of last year’s Super Bowl. It will be the second year in a row the Broncos Schedule sets up a pre-season visit to San Francisco. While last year was Peyton’s final visit to Candlestick Park, this year will be his first to Levis Field. It will also be the first football game played in the $1.2 billion stadium, aka, the Field of Jeans. Given that novelty element, it will likely be sold out or close to sold out. Levis has a capacity of 68,500, which makes it on the small side for a football stadium. As a point of reference, the first ever game at Metlife Stadium brought in 67,511 fans for a game against the Jets and the Giants. The game was technically a home game on the Jets schedule, which may have been part of the reason almost 20,000 seats went unfilled.

August 3rd, Hall Of Fame Game: Giants Vs. Bills: While this would have been a potential Super-Bowl Matchup in the early 90s, in 2014, it’s a match-up of two teams just looking to compete. It is, however, the first snap of the football, and therefore, exciting.

Week 1: Seahawks at Broncos: While the preseason is often meaningless, this rematch of Super Bowl XLVIII should have a lot of meaning for the +Denver Broncos. After getting demolished by the Seahawks in the SuperBowl, a win in the rematch could allow the Broncos to shake some of the nightmares that they’ve surely lived with since February. For Broncos fans, a close game will give them a chance to imagine what could have been. A win would likely give them confidence about success for the Broncos schedule that’s ahead. Another blowout loss could lead to some serious soul searching, even if Peyton manning only takes a quarter of the snaps. (This statement should put any sports, football casual journalist on suspension for its miraculous attempt at making keyboard millennial trolls jump all over this and ride it for what it is worth, nothing) Something we see on +Bleacher Report and others horrifying articulation of pointless things. Sports CR3W would like to hope that we admit when we are following the lead of such a fuss on anything and will delineate what is worth keeping up in the brain for future use, reference. 

We say, "In what way is this even feasible?? Soul searching from ONE quarter in the "bleep,,, bleeping,, bleeeping" PREASEASON!! You're 'bleeeeep!ng' joking, right?"

+SPORTS CR3W will have to disagree with this statement or any other 'pundit' and/or 'analysis / insight' about a PRESEASON match whether it is a rematch or not. The same will be said of the +Seattle Seahawks and Broncos regular season matchup in Seattle that has all sorts of variables in it that weigh no significance regarding the Super Bowl debacle. 

To say and buy into ANY hype of a preseason game and its results is just plain misleading, ignorant, and naive. Sorry to all those expert journalists that will make so much of this matchup and the writers that are actually qualified to vote on matter of Hall of Fame inductees to MVP awards, etc. If qualifications pass for them on the latter matter's mentioned, they should know better than to say the result of this preseason game merits a single ioda towards a possible meeting about 5 months from then. Sorry preseason, John Fox and the Broncos use base defense, do not gameplan on offense and the point of the preseason is to give fringe players (especially the 1st and 2nd preseason games) a look at how they mesh or play with starters and players that are deeper on the depth chart. Mainly to see if they can make the cut or not, of course.

Broncos and Seahawks square off in Week 1 of Preseason

Especially, in special teams analysis of who could/should make the team for defense/special teams and hone their other skills at the perspective position. Simply said, do not give a damn about the result here, it has no relevance as to how the regular season will unfold for either club. Broncos will be using a lot of new faces on defense as well as old that were not on the team's Super Bowl roster. A reminder to all those that forget. 8 turnovers, the Broncos would have lost to the Canadian Football League champs to put it lightly. Suffice it to say, the Seahawks did not beat the Broncos "A" team as we've written before.
h/t +Forbes

NFL free agency: Grading the best, worst teams

Dolphins Trade Martin to the 49ers, Reuniting Martin with College Coach from Stanford, Harbaugh

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MARCH 11, 2014

Jonathan Martin is returning to familiar territory, months after he accused a teammate of bullying and left the Miami Dolphins.

The offensive tackle is headed back to the Bay Area to play for Jim Harbaugh.

Martin was traded from Miami to the San Francisco 49ers on Tuesday night, reuniting the lineman with his college coach at Stanford.

Jonathan Martin with Harbaugh, while at +Stanford University vs. +Notre Dame Athletics with now
+San Francisco 49ers Head Coach, Jim Harbaugh. Reuniting with their college days.

The +Miami Dolphins announced the move late on the first day of N.F.L. free agency. San Francisco then confirmed the trade, saying only that it would send an undisclosed draft choice to Miami and that Martin still must pass a physical to complete the deal.

“Can’t wait to get to work,” Martin posted on Twitter.

An investigation for the +NFL determined last month that Dolphins guard Richie Incognito and two other offensive linemen engaged in persistent harassment of Martin, another offensive lineman and an assistant trainer.

COWBOYS RELEASE WARE The +Dallas Cowboys released DeMarcus Ware, the franchise’s career sacks leader.

Ware had a career-low six sacks last season and was sidelined for three games with a thigh injury, the first time he had missed a game in his nine-year career.

+Denver Broncos appear to be in solid lead for Ware's services.

+Chicago Bears CUT PEPPERS Chicago released defensive end Julius Peppers, an eight-time Pro Bowler, in one of several moves to reshape the team’s defense. Given that Peppers finished last season with seven sacks and that his salary-cap hit for next season was more than $18 million, the Bears were expected to let him go or restructure his contract.

The Bears agreed to contracts with the former +Oakland Raiders defensive end Lamarr Houston, the former Giants safety Ryan Mundy, and linebackers Jordan Senn and D. J. Williams.

+Pittsburgh Steelers DROP WOODLEY Pittsburgh released linebacker LaMarr Woodley, 29, with a post-June 1 designation. By postponing the move until after June 1, the Steelers will free up about $8 million in salary-cap space for 2014. Woodley will, however, count $8.5 million against the team’s cap number in 2015.

+New York Giants ADD DEPTH The Giants reached agreements with the former Kansas City guard Geoff Schwartz and the former Oakland running back Rashad Jennings, the players announced on Twitter. Seattle linebacker O’Brien Schofield also agreed to a deal with the team, and kicker Josh Brown indicated on Twitter that he had re-signed with the Giants.

LONGER DEAL FOR JETS’ FOLK The +New York Jets re-signed kicker Nick Folk to a multiyear contract, less than two weeks after placing the franchise tag on him