Today, buried deep in a post about the washed up WR Tarrel Owens, NFL Analysts Mike Lombardi made this statement...."There is some concern Colts safety Bob Sanders might never be able to play football again, with his shoulder and bicep issues. He reduced his contract, but his rehab has been slow."
Now, lets take a look at this statement for a second shall we? First off it screams "PAGE VIEWS PLAESE!" For a writer, analyst or whatever, all they care about is how many people read/hear what they have to say. Even if it's not completely true or makes no sense whatsoever. This "story" has spread like wildfire on sites such as ProFootballTalk. So for that, I give Mike a pat on the back. Job well done. However I believe his "reporting" is about as false as they come.
Just yesterday on ProFootballWeekly this statement was made "Colts SS Bob Sanders is coming off his best spring ever after participating fully in OTAs for the first time in his career. Sanders looked like a "fresh colt," appearing very excited and energetic. A healthy Sanders bodes very well for the Colts, of course, and particularly for a secondary that has battled injuries of late." Hmmm....that sounds a lot like every other persons report that's not names Mike Lombardi. Lombardi has a history of reporting stupid, baseless things. Example just last week he reported that Vikings Running Back Adrian Peterson was "unhappy" with his current contract. A contract that will pay him about 17 million dollars over the next 2 years. Peterson immediately came out and said the report was a load of crap.
A lot of people think just because Lombardi was the only one to report that Manning has not one but 2 surgeries before the start of last season, that he must know what he is talking about. Not the case. The Colts are keep injuries pretty quiet, so to know anything he would have to do some serious kissing up to Mr. Polian and I doubt that is the case.
Every other writer has said the exact opposite of Lombardi on Sanders. We have heard that he is much better and he is happy with being able to participate in OTA's and be able to go through full practices during mini camps. That's something Bobzilla hasn't done much of in the past.
What does Sanders have to say about his health? I give you the words from his own mouth, "I've been able to rehab myself back to pretty decent health where I can actually practice full time," Sanders said. "OTA's have really gone well for me. The knee has been doing great. The arm has been doing great. I feel great."
I'll take Bob's word over anybodies. But for Colts fans its probably safe to just stick with the words of people like John Oesher and Phil B. They are knowledgeable writers and have access to things involving the Colts. Both have good reports about Bob Sanders.
UPDATE: Sanders Agent, Tom Condon, has come out and publicly denied Lombardi's claims. Condon says Sanders contract has not changed and that he is healthy as he's ever been. So once again, Lombardi show's how much of a real "expert" he is with more false reporting.
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