http://www.yardbarker.com/content/player/3101 Recent articles about Shaun Phillips en-us One of the best regular season teams over the past few seasons has been the San Diego Chargers. Unfortunately, that regular season success has not translated into much post-season success. After talking to Chargers beat reporter Kevin Acee, from the San Diego Union-Tribune, this could be the season that doesn't end prematurely. "I'd be foolish not to pick the Chargers to be in the Super Bowl," said Acee in an interview on the Mike Gill Show on ESPN Radio 1450 Continued on pcpsports.com..... Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:15:19 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/302182 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/302182 According to ESPN's Scouts, Inc., the Cowboys have the strongest linebacking corps in the NFL.  It would be hard to argue with that assessment with people like DeMarcus Ware, Greg Ellis and Zach Thomas in the ranks.  Consider the year Bradie James and Akin Ayodele had last year, the Cowboys certainly do have wealth at the position. Ayodele left during the offseason due to one of the many trades with Miami, but with other potential starters available such as Anthony Spencer, Bobby Carpenter and Kevin Burnett, he will hardly be missed.  What do you think, fans, do we have the best LB's in the league?  The Chargers came in second on this deal with the two Shawns, Shawne Merriman and Shaun Phillips, but other than these two, they aren't nearly as deep as Dallas at the position.  Not many teams are for that matter, except maybe last year's Patriots, but they're getting a little long-in-the-tooth, especially Bruschi and Vrable, which is why they drafted three very good college LB's.  I'm also willing to bet that the secondary will get high rankings, possibly the highest, this year.  Combine that with a veteran defensive line and you have all the makings for a great defensive team.  Isn't it said that defense is what wins championships,  just ask the Giants or Bears.  The Cowboys should, and I emphasise the word SHOULD, have one of the best defenses in the league this year, which could take them farther than they've been in the last decade or so. Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:08:01 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/291760 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/291760 I went to the Bahamas this past weekend to help Alex Smith, TE for the Tampa Bay Bucs with his 3rd annual kids' football camp. A bunch of guys came like Stephen Cooper, Greg Camarillo, and Stan Wilson - just to name a few. It's important for me to always give back because I believe good things happen to good people. Alex is doing a great thing by trying to expose the Bahamian kids to football to try and get them another out and help them have successful lives. There are currently 4 Bahamian football players in the league: Alex Smith, Devard Darling, Samari Rolle,and D'Brickashaw Ferguson. Not bad for a small lil island. These guys all come back every year and raise money for the kids to help them with life skills as well as physical skills and learning the game that we all love. The great thing about doing this camp in the Bahamas is that it leaves time for play after all the work. I did a bunch of cool things such as ride the water slides, ride wave runners, and party the night away. All in all I had a great time seeing a bunch of old friends and helping out the kids. Everyone was great… except the staff at the hotel we stayed at – The Cove on Paradise Island. And I thought the food sucked at my hotel, too. Didn't stop us from having a great time, though. Well, it's almost that time for the season to start. I get a lil more excited every day. SP Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:33:34 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/290222 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/290222 This was the 2nd year for my football camp in my hometown - Willingboro, NJ. About 150 kids ages 14 to 18 showed up for the camp from all the surrounding schools. It was a free camp to help kids with the fundamentals of football and also to give them hope and show them that if I can do it so can they. 1st of all I gotta give gatorade, nike, sports paradise, willingboro high school, and kareem mckenzie (starting right tackle for the superbowl champs) for helping out and believing in the same cause. much love. I'm going 2 do this for many years to come and make sure it gets bigger and bigger every year. My goal is to actually help these kids on and off the field. Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:37:35 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/287333 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/287333 2007 was supposed to be the year for the San Diego Chargers… supposed to be. Following a 1-3 start, many questioned the team, especially that first overall pick for many fantasy football owners, LaDanian Tomlinson. It's hard to believe, but Tomlinson had a whopping 130 rushing yards entering week 4. He proceeded to total 132 rushing yards in that game, leading many to believe he was back on top. Congratulations to those of you who bought low early, knowing that Tomlinson wouldn't stay quiet throughout the season. However, week 5, Tomlinson was back to his early season ways, rushing for only 67 yards against a Denver Broncos team the Chargers beat by 38 points. Again, congratulations to those of you who bought low. The reason why?... Tomlinson finished the season with 1474 yards, 19 total touchdowns (including the one he threw), 60 receptions, and 475 receiving yards. Further, the massive stretch run weeks 14-16, likely carried many of his owners to the fantasy football championship. I'm pretty sure Webster's Dictionary has placed a picture of LT next to the word "stud". As for the rest of the Chargers, quarterback Phillip Rivers was a bit of a... Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:14:55 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/284907 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/284907 I think they gotta stop somewhere with this. I love that everyone is making money but its starting to get rediculous how much money unproven players are getting before they take a snap. There are future hall of famers that are not making as much in there entire carrier as these kids are making in one check. I think the nfl should take some notes from the nba on caping rookies. If you think about it most rookies don't really come into there own until 4th our 5th yr anyway. So just imagen how much there second contract will b if they where 2 play there whole 50mil contract out it makes u wanna laugh huh. My final note is more power to them cause I want everyone to get all the money in the world cause imma get mine. Sp95 Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:15:28 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/284771 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/284771 What's goin on, Yardbarkers? Just dropping by for a minute to let you know about a program I've been involved with for a while now call After-School All-Stars. Last year I donated $1,000to them for every sack I made and ended up giving $8500. In an hour or so I'll be at an event here in SD, handing over a check to this great program. Check out the link, it'll take you to a radio interview I did yesterday where I talk about today's event. I'll be bringing my camera along today, so hopefully I'll have some footage up here soon for ya'll to see. I'm planning on doing a lot more video posts in general, so let me know if you have any good ideas for those. SP shaunphillips.net Tue, 15 Apr 2008 16:10:30 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/238160 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/238160 I'm on my way back from Cabo from a business seminar. It was crazy and I learned a lot about how money works. I also learned a lot about being 26 and in a spring break environment. I was sitting in club after club watching these lil kids go crazy, and thinking back 2 when I used 2 go crazy like that. Those were the good days. On a side note, there were a lot of good pickups around the league, and a lot of money being tossed around. Free agency is a great thing because when you're one of the premier players in the league teams have 2 pay a premium for you. They hate it but it is what it is. Some players get overpaid, some players get underpaid. At the end of the day, it's all about what your peers think of you. The money is great but the respect of you peers will last a lot longer than your money because you never know what can happen. Seeing all the NFL gossip in the news has me eagerly awaiting the offseason workout because then I know that the season is getting a lil closer. That's all I have for you guys. Feel free to ask me some questions. I'm in town for a few days so ill be able answer. God bless and vote Obama in '08. -SP Thu, 06 Mar 2008 18:21:17 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/183246 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/183246 While I was in the gym yesterday, I was interrupted by an ESPN story on ballers being targets of crime. In my opinion, I believe this is something that the world needs to know, but I also feel that airing a story like that does nothing but give the so-called thugs a new idea. It seems as if everything is a big copycat. For example, the whole Columbine thing. Next thing you know stories like that and false alarms were popping up everywhere. It seems like whenever people get an idea off TV they try and take it and run with it. I can be completely wrong, but this is how I feel. I'm not comparing Columbine with pro players being jacked, I'm just saying I feel that this is something the leagues should bring to the attention of their teams. I personally was close to being a victim a few weeks ago, but fortunately for me, I usually go out with security or a big group of friends, and they took care of the situation for me. This is the real deal. Guys target ballers because we seem like easy targets, but what are we to do? Hide in our house and never come out? I believe that we just have to walk by faith and try as hard as possible to not put ourselves in vulnerable situations. For example, always travel in packs or with security. Try and live in a gated community. If it's possible, definitely have a security alarm on your house, and finally, pray everyday. This will definitely not stop a jacker from getting you, but it's a step in the right direction to protect yourself. It just sucks that the world comes to this. People are robbing people that they watch on TV with their mom, dad, kids and friends (and brag about what they did). If you were to go to the swap meet in LA, you can see several celebrities' chains, rings, watches, etc. This just baffles me that people are that ignorant. I come from nothing and did my share of dirt in my life to eat. But I never in my life harmed another hard-working honest man with a family because you not only fuck up your life and his life, you fuck up your family, his family and all the people around you. I just hope that people put down the guns and try and do better for themselves than to be out robbing and killing for a couple hundred bucks. If you feel that you need to eat and you wanna kill for your meals, then go to the Army and do you, your family, my family, and your country, some justice. Spizzel Shaunphillips.net Mon, 18 Feb 2008 13:50:58 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/149935 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/149935 Thanks again for tuning into another SP experience. Imma start with how much fun I had in AZ. Some of the things I was able to do is party with Larry Johnson off the Chiefs, Kendra Wilkinson of the hit show Girls Next Door, and see all my old homies from college. I got a chance to dance on stage with Soulja Boy for espn, yoooooooooooo!!!! So all in all it was a great trip and I had hella fun. I know this is kinda of late but I'm happy the way the Super Bowl turned out. The team that wanted it the most won the game. I will never take anything away from the Pats - they played a great game, but the G-men looked hungry out there. Next stop: Vegas. Gotta hit the magic conventions. Any clothing or apparal designers out there who want me wearing your gear holla at me. SP for Pres. '08 Wed, 13 Feb 2008 10:42:42 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/140565 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/140565 In a game that started offensively completely opposite from last weeks win versus the Jacksonville Jaguars, the New England Patriots are heading to the Super Bowl! Although Philip Rivers was hurt, he played the entire game for the Chargers. His gutsy performance is not indicative from the stats of 19 of 37 for 211 yards and two interceptions, but let me tell you… he made a few throws that Brett Favre would have been proud of! OK - he is no Favre, but being injured he did pretty well. If anything can be said about the Chargers it was how much they missed Ladainian Tomlinson. He played sparingly for 2 for 5 yards and only ran once for one yard. That being said, I was one person against Rivers throwing abilities being injured, but he carved up the New England defense utilizing Vincent Jackson and Chris Chambers for a combined 183 yards receiving. As mentioned in a previous post, turnovers would play a major part of the game. Tom Brady threw for 209 yahds, two touchdowns and 3 interceptions. As drastic difference to last week versus the Jaguars! Running back Laurence Maroney continued to prove himself to those outside New England while rushing for 122 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries. The unsung hero for so many years with the Patriots has been running back Kevin Faulk. Faulk ran only once for eight yards, but had a great day receiving and delivering yards after the catch with eight receptions for 82 yards! Wes Welker continues to the Patriots go to guy (sorry Troy Brown was not activated today) having seven receptions for 56 yards and a touchdown! Randy Moss was in on many plays and helped block, but statistically only had one catch for 18 yards. Jabar Gaffney also had one catch, but his was a nice checkdown from Brady for a touchdown. Defensively you would not think Junior Seau previously played for the Chargers. Seau was in on many plays and disrupted many more at the line of scrimmage or by breaking through the line into the backfield (he did have one sack!). One of his best plays coming when he stuffed running back Michael Turner on a third and one inside the 10 yard line. Although the secondary had been beaten often, in spite of that Ellis Hobbs did a great job tackling and even had an interception (was it a fumble at the end too?!). I know this is not enough to cover the whole game, but all I can say is wow! From beginning to end, if you did not think the Pats would win you were frustrated. Tonight I was at a pub for the first time all season to watch the Pats play. People thought I was a bit obnoxious. One because I am American in a foreign country, but tow because I knew what the Patriots needed to do to win. People began to ask me why I was so confident the Patriots would win. before half-time. I told them - Tom Brady. When they asked again, I told them Bill Belichick will adjust the game plan to win. For those that had to ask one more time, I said the Patriots play consistently for 60 minutes. The Chargers had Tomlinson hurt, Rivers was gimping along, the defense stopped blitzing and Brady got a rhythm. All else being said, whether it be the Packers or the Giants next on the list to play, for the Pats it is the next game to win, for the other team it is the Super Bowl. IN BILL WE TRUST! Mon, 21 Jan 2008 00:03:18 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/78424 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/78424 Every team in the NFL face the challenges of winning a championship. Each owner and coach are competitive in having the best team on the field and having the right game plan to win. The players are to keep themselves physically and mentally in shape to execute the myriad of plays to win offensively, defensively and through special teams. o repeat and win being 18-0 with a repeat win for another AFC Championship this decade will lead to the Patriots Super Bowl Champship. The Patriots have the talent and experience in place to maintain the status quo of winning the next game and not looking past the Chargers. Take into account the three previous Super Bowl wins and experience of the coaching staff (even with Romeo Crennel, Charlie Weis and Eric Manwini gone), and the leadership still in place with Tom Brady, Troy Brown, Matt Light, Ben Watson, Kevin Faulk, Mike Vrabel, Tedy Bruschi, Richard Seymour, Asante Samuel and Rodney Harrison. Most of the historical Patriot experience and leadership reside on the defensive side of the ball. Belichick is a defensive guru and his defensive design is based on linebackers. The aging linebackers which also includes Adaluis Thomas and 18-year veteran and former Charger Junior Seau, is a talented group that knows what Belichick expects and execute to plan. With Seau looking for his first Super Bowl win you know this game against his former team will be high energy and emotional. Although not an area that was perfect versus the Jaguars in last week's win, the Pats did a great job stopping the running tandem of Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew. This is a good thing to see as we expect Tomlinson and the other Charger's RBs to be a big part of the game plan. With Rivers and Gates still questionable and Volek possibly finding himself in his biggest career opportunity in the world, the Chargers passing game will be suspect. Chambers and Jackson are quality receivers, but the Patriots defensive backs are able to cover and contain them. The Patriots defense understands the need to improve each week. So with the defense in focus, the key for the Patriots to win will be for the defense to limit the Chargers and for Tom Brady and the offense execute on offense without turnovers and special teams play to tackle well on punt and kick off coverages to limit the Charger's field position. Predictions: Pats 38 - Chargers 20 Tom Brady 383 yds, 4 TDs Maroney 123 yds, 1 TD Moss 5 catches, 112 yards, 1 TD Welker 8 catches, 86 yards, 2 TDs Stallworth 3 catches 37 yards Gostkowski goes 1 for 2 IN BILL WE TRUST! Sat, 19 Jan 2008 23:26:39 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/77575 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/77575 A game like this only comes along once in your career. It's so important that you stay focused on seizing the moment. I try and ease my mind of thinking about the game but its impossible, I just can't stop thinking about kicking some ass. LT reads us a poem before every season. The name of the poem is "The Inner Voice". Everytime I think about it I get gassed up and ready to fight lol. The bottom line is that I'm ready for Sunday. And I know that my team is also. So tune in, it's going to be a dog fight (no offense Vick). "Every athlete has an inner voice of pride. It is the voice only athletes can hear, pushing them to the brink of exhaustion, demanding excellence and condemning failure. Failure, understand is the driving force behind athletes. Every athlete has experienced failure and now train so they will not experience it again... So when failure laughs in my face as I try to earn the respect of that last repetition, it must realize... each time I train, I not only hear, I answer ... the inner voice." SP Sat, 19 Jan 2008 17:48:54 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/77460 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/77460 You gotta love the San Diego Chargers. They have really cool alternative uniforms (even though the actual color is not that masculine to say the least). They have a catchy theme song. And they gutted out a tough win on the road in the RCA Dome, something the Pats could not do last year. They are also the biggest bunch of loud mouths in the NFL, and for a team made up of players who have done absolutely nothing, they talk a lot. This is the first chance we might get to legitimately add 53 new names to the SH*T LIST of idiots who have been calling our the Patriots all year. We know the Chargers are going to come out yapping -- and the exciting thing is that anyone on this team is a possibility. Usually teams are made up of players who would never say anything controversial -- like Marvin Harrison, David Garrard, Peyton, and a bunch of other losers not in the playoffs anymore. But the Chargers? Anyone is a possibility, from LDT to Merriman to Shaun Phillips to Phyllis Rivers, and even Igor Olshansky (via Boston.com's Eric Wilbur), who fired the first of what is sure to be many shots after the Charger's thrilling victory in Indy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=px18-wX-Tzg Take it easy with the painkillers Igor... you're going to need them after you get a healthy dose of Matt Light shoving your face into the cold field turf in Foxboro. Enjoy it while it lasts boys. Your going to go the same way of Patrick Crayton, Anthony Smith and Paul Spicer. Mon, 14 Jan 2008 18:50:30 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/72212 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/72212 In a weekend that features all of the NFL's big names - LaDainian Tomlinson, Tom Brady, Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, and Terrell Owens - this promises to be the best weekend of football this season. Here is PunchBook.com's picks for this weekend's NFL Playoff games. Sat, 12 Jan 2008 14:40:32 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/69499 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/69499