Quick question: What separates a "sports hernia" from the garden-variety hernia that I use as an excuse for not helping friends move furniture? Honestly, I'd never heard of a sports hernia until Eagles players starting passing them around like a virus three years ago.

Quarterback Donovan McNabb had to shut it down in November 2005 because of a sports hernia that may or may not have been caused by T.O. In the spring of 2007, Eagles tight end L.J. Smith underwent surgery for a sports hernia, which caused him to miss the preseason and contributed to a poor season in which he had 22 catches for 236 yards.



Photo/AP

L.J. Smith is out to prove he belongs in the conversation of elite tight ends.

Now, starting wide receiver Kevin Curtis could miss significant time because of sports hernia surgery. At this point, your Day 1 starters at receiver could be "Hammerin'" Hank Baskett and rookie DeSean "Action" Jackson. And let's be real: It's not like Curtis and Reggie Brown (hamstring) were striking fear in the hearts of defensive backs across the league.

That brings us back to Smith, who after being named a second alternate to the Pro Bowl in 2006, was pretty much a non-factor last season. He has gotten lost in a division that has included Jason Witten, Chris Cooley and ex-Giant Jeremy Shockey.

Mike Teel had one of the best seasons in the 139-year history of Rutgers quarterbacks in 2007, setting a school record for touchdown passes and becoming just the second player to throw for more than 3,000 yards. OK, so we don't think the Scarlet Knights leatherheads were doing much throwing in that first college football game against Princeton in 1869, but still Teel's numbers were impressive.

While the rest of the NFL world contemplated the unceremonious manner in which Brett Favre was summarily kicked out of Green Bay, another star quarterback, entering his 10th season as the face of his franchise, watched with great interest. Try imagining what was going through the mind of Donovan McNabb of the Philadelphia Eagles as all of this was unfolding.

When the latest edition of the football video game franchise is released Tuesday, it will still feature the quarterback in his Green Bay Packers uniform a€" despite the fact Favre was traded to the New York Jets.

But publisher Electronic Arts said it was releasing a downloadable update to make Favre a Jet in the game, as well as new cover art for anyone who wants it.

"We do not plan to reissue packaging but will offer a free downloadable cover in the coming days on easports.com featuring Brett Favre in a Jets uniform," EA Sports said in a statement released Thursday. "Fans can print this new cover out and insert it into the case of 'Madden NFL 09.'"

EA Sports will release a free downloadable update to the game with the Favre character as a Jet a€" and any other player who signs as a free agent or moves teams a€" before the start of the regular season. But "Madden NFL 09" will be released Tuesday with the Favre character as a Packer on all-time greats team.

The Packers traded their three-time MVP and Super Bowl-winning quarterback to the Jets on Wednesday, ending months of speculation over Favre's future after he announced he was retiring in March. EA Sports originally unveiled Favre as the cover athlete for the 20th edition of the "Madden" game in April.

Jose Canseco, because things are going so well for him these days, has been looking for someone to go toe-to-toe with him in a celebrity (and I use that term very, very loosely) boxing match. He had recently been offering $5,000 to get someone to accept the challenge, and for a while, everyone, as they usually do, completely ignored Jose Canseco.

But a brave hero has finally stepped up so that this stupid fight may finally take place. And that hero is former Philadelphia Eagles return man Vai Sikahema. What a relief that must be for the millions of you who sit around all day and wistfully think, "Man, when is Jose Canseco going to fight Vai Sikahema?!"

Canseco claims that he's earned black belts in Kung fu, Taekwondo, and Muay Thai. I'd love to doubt him (and I sort of do), but the man does have a certain track record for telling the truth. He's also going to have a considerable height and weight advantage over Sikahema.

As for Sikahema's qualifcations, he grew up wanting to be a professional boxer, and he fought in a National Golden Gloves Championship that would eventually be won by a fellow named Sugar Ray Leonard. That explains the goal-post punching celebration you see above (they do look like quality punches).

More recently, he's been staying in shape by anchoring at NBC-10 in Philadelphia and going shopping with Johnny Weir. I hear that's Floyd Mayweather's secret, too.

The fight is scheduled for July 12th in Atlantic City. I will consider watching it if the promoters call me and offer me $49.95 to do so.

This is the first offseason that fifth-year safety J.R. Reed is able to exclusively focus on football.

In the past, he had to spend the majority of his time rehabbing. The Eagles' fourth-round draft pick in 2004, Reed missed the entire 2005 season when his career was derailed by a freak offseason injury to his peroneal nerve, affecting the use of his lower leg and foot.

Reed's 2006 comeback bid ended when the Eagles released him prior to the start of the season. He bounced around for a couple of years -- spending time with the Rams and Falcons in 2006 and the Giants for a few weeks in the summer of 2007 -- and didn't find a home until midway through the 2007 season. That home was back in Philadelphia.

"During the other offseasons I was on my own, so I would just work on running the 40. That's what you had to do to get back on the team is run the 40," Reed said. "I wasn't focusing on getting stronger because by gaining weight you get a little slower.



S/KR J.R. Reed

"This year I get to work on some defensive and special teams stuff, football stuff specifically, instead of just working on speed."

Reed proved last season that he can be a valuable asset both on defense and special teams. Reed played well on defense when Dawkins, Sean Considine and Quintin Mikell went down at various times throughout the season. He finished with 33 tackles on defense (17 solo) along with a quarterback hurry and five knockdowns. In addition to his 125 special teams production points, Reed averaged just over 22 yards on 31 kick return opportunities.

Now, with Dawkins and Mikel penciled in as the starters, Reed is in the mix with Considine, second-year man Marcus Paschal and rookie Quintin Demps for backup jobs.

What do you guys think? Do you think he will perform this year?

Ten years from now, rookie linebacker Andy Studebaker may be regarded as a pioneer of 21st century NFL scouting and recruiting.

Studebaker did not get any NFL attention until after his 2006 collegiate season when he followed his coach's advice and put together a highlight clip. It was his agent's wife's idea to post a video on youtube.com. It was a simple four-minute blurb about who he is, where he came from, and how he prepared for the pro day workouts.

"The front office actually took a look at it, so I guess it worked," Studebaker said. "(Internet) News travels quickly I guess."

Now listed at 6-foot-3, 251 pounds, Studebaker was 5-foot-11 coming out of Eureka High Scool, a small high school of about 500 kids that wasn't really known for its football program. As a result, he ended up playing defensive end at Division III Wheaton College in Illinois.



"It was a little bit of under-exposure and that I was a little undersized,"" Studebaker said of why he landed at a Division-III school instead of a more prestigious football program. "But I have no regrets going there. It was a good opportunity."

Indeed.

Studebaker was a Division III All-American who became the first player in Wheaton history to be selected in the NFL draft.

Making the jump from a major Division I program to the NFL is difficult enough for any rookie. The transition from Division III, Studebaker knows, will be even tougher. Learning a new position figures to make it even more of a challenge.

A defensive end in college, Studebaker registered 30 sacks in his four-year career at Wheaton, including a school-record and NCAA-best 17.5 in his junior season. The Eagles, however, are looking at him to provide depth at the linebacker position.