Chargers rookie RB Ryan Mathews plans to hold out training camp

While all other San Diego Chargers rookies reported for training camp on time on Sunday, the only unsigned rookie, first-round pick Ryan Mathews was staying at home in his favorite Brett Favre jersey, claiming that he would hold out the whole training camp and even skip regular-season games if the Chargers do not offer a satisfying long-term contract.

If Mathews really means it, he will join veterans like wide receiver Vincent Jackson, left tackle Marcus McNeil and linebacker Shawne Merriman to hold out the training camp because of contract disputes. However, the rookie is expected to return earlier than Jackson, because the Chargers are likely to offer a rookie contract to him during the training camp, while a veteran like Jackson still has to fulfill the last year of his current contract before it expires. A rookie contract will surely cost much less than a veteran’s contract extension.

Wearing his favorite Michael Irvin jersey hanging around with his friends, Jackson is determined to get something from the team before wear back his team uniform. It’s hard to say which side will win and Jackson might be risking his career by doing so.

Steelers CB Taylor is ready to leave after contract expires

The Pittsburgh Steelers Ike Taylor is already in his final year of his current contract with team but he still receives no confirmation from team officials that whether he will receive a contract extension during this new season. The 30-year-old veteran is really expecting a new contract but he is ready for receiving none.

"Deep down in my heart, I want to retire as a Steeler," Taylor told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "I’ve been here seven years. I’m a Steeler all the way. But it’s on them if we can agree—be on the same page. If not, I’ve gotta move on."

It seems that Taylor may take the final contractual season as his last NFL season and he may do his best to achieve as much as possible with the determination to retire as an honored Steeler. The Steelers have a tradition to let free agent ago one contract expires no matter how greatly they are achieved. So Taylor does not think he has big chance to be the exception. But at his age, Taylor can still play for several more years. Being asked what team he would like to join if he has to choose, Taylor pointed to the Michael Irvin jersey he was wearing and said that the Dallas Cowboys are a top choice.

Would you like doing these jobs?

It’s not wise to always admire others’ jobs as no job is easy to do. Here is a list of some jobs sounding great but actually you may not like doing them for different reasons. After all, if you are unable to learn how to like your current job, you are just tending to find any job boring no matter how exciting it seems at first.

You may think a job cleaning screens only is simple and requires not many efforts, however, an IMAX screen cleaner would tell you that cleaning the larger-than-life IMAX screens could be one of the hardest job in the world. These screens are always lands for all kinds of dusts and cleaners have to work very hard to make them dust-free. For cleaning a single screen, they may have to empty their vacuum two or three times.

Pet food tester is a stinking job. Well, it’s not so stinky and the tester’s job is only to taste whether the food could be liked by pets. I’m curious on how they know an animal’s taste, but I guess even the animal lover sharing his Michael Irvin jersey with his pet would not like the idea of tasting his pet’s food. After all, not all animals have the same taste with their owners and some of the foods are really for human’s tongue.

There other jobs you may think they are easy to finish. Like wrinkle chaser, furniture tester and golf ball diver. But each job has its own risks and some may endanger your life. For those who like the jobs, it’s fine, but for those who always complain about what they have to do, no job is good job.

QB Brady would stick with the Patriots

The New England Patriots are still negotiating a new contract with starting quarterback Tom Brady, who by so far has not missed any offseason workouts, though he expressed that he would not give up his benefits in the negotiation.

Brady recently told reporters that he would mainly focus on his own job while his agent is doing the negotiating job. He only wanted to do his best and make himself deserve the pay he asked for. However, the Patriots officials have not given any clue of the new contract, and Bray seems calm with that. He said that he was excited for returning to field and expected a better season in 2010. What if the Patriots fail his expectation when his current contract expires following this new season? Well, Brady does not believe that could happen and refused to discuss about this he was available to reporters.

Let’s make a bold guess here as there is no answer from the player or the team. Dallas Cowboys could a good choice if Brady did not get anything from the Patriots. Growing up as a Cowboys fan with a full collection of Michael Irvin jerseys, Brady would love the idea of joining his idol team, which would definitely welcome a starting quarterback like Brady.

Michael Irvin has private contacts with Dez Bryant

After the well-known meeting during the Dallas Cowboys’ rookie camp, former and current No.88 wearers, Michael Irvin and Dez Bryant re-met publicly only in reports. However, according to someone who witnessed the scene, Irvin actually invited Bryant to his house for private conversation for several times.

Since Dez was given the number 88 that was previously on Michael Irvin jersey during the 1990s, there has been a lot of comparison on the two receivers. And after a brief visit to the Cowboys rookie camp, Irvin seemed to have a great impression on the rookie receiver. Irvin had his first conversation with Bryant during the camp and later told reporters that Bryant was a humble man with great potentials and he wished the rookie to be an even better wide receiver than he was.

According to the source, a few days later Bryant received a call from Irvin, who invited him for a dinner. With respects to the former legendary receiver, Bryant happily accepted the invitation and visited Irvin on a Saturday night. The second conversation seemed to help set up a solid friendship between the Pro football Hall of Famer and Cowboys rookie receiver, and more invitations were made by one of them to the other since then.