Life in the NFL
Lelie sees Philly
going all the wayWATCHING the playoffs this year is just like watching the playoffs last year when I wasn't even in the NFL.
We aren't in there and we should be.
Ever since the season ended, I'm not really looking at the playoffs as a football player. I'm looking at it more as a fan. I'm not sitting there whining about not being in the playoffs; I'm just rooting for certain people and certain teams.
I thought the 49ers-Giants game was a really good game to watch.
And I'm a big fan of Michael Vick, so I enjoyed that game, watching him perform.
I also enjoyed watching wide receiver Javon Walker, who had a great game for Green Bay, even though the Packers lost. It's nice to see young guys get in and play and help their teams.
I thought the Packers were going to come through and win, but the fact the Falcons won shows me how wrong I was and it proves how good Michael Vick is.
I didn't see the Pittsburgh-Cleveland game, but I saw the highlights on ESPN and it was cool to see Hawaii's Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala score the winning TD.
This week, the toughest game to pick is the New York Jets vs. Oakland. I'm not sure on that one, but I think it's going to be another good game.
If Donovan McNabb is 100 percent, Philadelphia should beat Atlanta. The Eagles just have too much talent all across the board on offense and defense.
Tampa Bay has an edge over San Francisco, but I don't know. All of these games are really hard to predict.
I also think Tennessee will come out with a win against Pittsburgh. They're hot and they're underrated.
As for the Super Bowl, I think Philadelphia has the best chance to go all the way at this point, especially if McNabb is at least 85 or 90 percent and plays a little bit like himself ... but you never know.
We met as a team for the last time this season last Monday. Basically, it was just a physical to make sure we're all healthy. And they also wanted to make sure they've got our phone numbers in the offseason.
We get to keep our jersey and helmet because they give you new ones every year.
This year, I wore No. 85 because that was the only number available at the time. Going into camp, they didn't have any number in the 80s available, so I wore No. 10. Then, when Rob Moore was cut, I got his No. 85.
It's a cool number, actually, pretty unique. There really aren't a lot of people who have performed really well with No. 85, so at least I have a chance to really make it "my" number -- like when you think of No. 80, you think Jerry Rice. And No. 84 for tight ends is Shannon Sharpe, and for receivers it's Randy Moss.
In college, I wore No. 8 and I've always loved that number. When I was younger, I wanted it for youth basketball and little league teams, but could never get it because other players had it. In high school, we didn't have single digits. In college, my first chance to get No. 8 was after Rinda Brooks left, so I grabbed it.
I don't know what our coaches will do in the draft, but if you listen to the media, they'll go for a quarterback. I think Brian Griese is a pretty good quarterback, but there's a lot of talk that they'll go for another QB.
The college national championship game was a really good game, and I thought Ohio State had a really good chance the whole way, but when Willis McGahee went down, I just zoned out and could barely watch the game. The injury almost ended his career, and when something like that happens to a player, you really, really feel for him.
A few days ago, Nick Rolovich signed a one-year deal with the Broncos, and he'll be going to NFL Europe training camp.
I've hooked up with Savo (Predrag Savovic) a few times and saw him a couple of times out, but I still haven't been to a Denver Nuggets game, but now that the season is over, I'll definitely get to a Nuggets game.