Good news from Jacksonville as a jury has convicted Tyrone Hartsfield of first-degree murder for the shooting of Jaguars offensive lineman Richard Collier.

Collier was paralyzed and lost his left leg after he was shot six times in a car outside a Jacksonville apartment building.

Hartsfield, 33, faces up to life in prison.

He was not happy with the trial and felt the location in the hometown of the Jaguars football team worked to his disadvantage.

Clearly, he hasn’t been watching the Jaguars this season. Their performance probably to his advantage.

The two men had an incident in April 2008, which resulted in Collier knocking out Hartsfield in a fight. Prosecutors felt that he had approached Collier to seek revenge.

It’s a tragedy that his career was ended at the hands of senseless violence, but luckily Collier is doing well and was present in the court room for the verdict.

More details from the tragic 4th of July murder of Steve McNair came out on Monday as authorities released text messages between the quarterback and his girlfriend, Sahel Kazemi.

According to texts, Kazemi asked McNair for $2,o00 and that she was stressed out, to the point where she couldn’t breathe and thought about going to the hospital on July 3.

This wasn’t the only woman in the picture as Leah Ignagni confirmed she was dating McNair as well.

Let’s not forget McNair was married with children…

Yikes.

Ignagni told police she last saw McNair on July 2, hours after Kazemi was arrested for driving under the influence.

It’s still shaping up as a murder-suicide and we might never know what caused Kazemi to pull the trigger on McNair.

Buh-bye, Rush.

Dave Checketts, the man behind the group attempting to buy the St. Louis Rams, removed Rush Limbaugh from the bid. Checketts released the following statement:

Rush Limbaugh, who was born 100 miles south of St. Louis, was part of our group. This made sense to us, particularly in light of his affection for the NFL in general and his interest in keeping the Rams in St. Louis.

However, it has become clear that his involvement in our group has become a complication and a distraction to our intentions; endangering our bid to keep the team in St. Louis.  As such, we have decided to move forward without him and hope it will eventually lead us to a successful conclusion.

The feedback surrounding Limbaugh’s possible involvement with the NFL has been heated and Checketts, who is also chairman of the St. Louis Blues, realizes his best shot is without the syndicated talk show host.

“I’m not even thinking of exiting,” Limbaugh said on his talk show program on Wednesday. “I’m not even thinking of caving. I am not a caver. None of us are. We have been betrayed by too many who have caved. Pioneers take the arrows. We are pioneers. It’s a sad thing but our country over 200 years old now needs pioneers all over again, but we do.”

Just stop talking, Rush.

Pioneers? Seriously?

We didn’t even get to see Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson hold a march in front of the Gateway Arch before Limbaugh bowed out of contention.

Now, let’s get back to discussing football and now the owners running the team (unless your that bum Dan Snyder…)

Mr. Opportunists, the Rev. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, are back at it again.

After getting word that talk show host Rush Limbaugh was interested in buying the St. Louis Rams, the two civil rights activists wrote NFL commish Roger Goodell a letter.

“The National Football League has set high standards for racial justice and inclusion,” Jackson said. “He should not have the privilege of owning an NFL franchise — and it is a privilege.”

Limbaugh struck back on his radio show.

“Now, this saddens me as well this disappoints me,” Limbaugh said. “I know Rev. Sharpton. Sharpton is better than this. He knows better than this. You know, I didn’t judge Al Sharpton’s fitness to be in radio when he wanted to earn an honest living for once, given his well-documented past as the author of the Tawana Brawley hoax. I believe in freedom and I also don’t discriminate.”

Is there nothing in life that’s not sacred from Sharpton and Jackson?

Trust me, the last person I want owning an NFL franchise is that jackass Limbaugh.

But there’s no way the other owners in the league would let it happen.

He has every right to put in a bid for a team. Just let him fail on his own.

Plus, have you seen the Rams this year?

He can have them for all I care. They are well on their way to an 0-16 season.

And then there was none.

Michael Crabtree, the last holdout from the 2009 NFL Draft, signed a six-year deal with the San Francisco 49ers on Wednesday.

The Texas Tech wide reliever appeared headed back into next year’s NFL Draft but the two sides eventually agreed on a deal.

I wonder how much the 49ers 3-1 start had to do with Crabtree wanting to join his new team?

It’s hard to say how effective Crabtree will be this season considering he missed all of training camp and he will be catching passes from Shawn Hill, a marginal quarterback at best.

When he’s ready to join the team, Crabtree does have the opportunity to move up the wide receiver depth chart. Hill’s two primary receivers are an aging Issac Bruce and the inconsistent Josh Morgan.

I hope the extra cash was worth the three months of football you missed, Mike.

For those who don’t believe in the Madden Curse, are you a believer now?

The latest victim is Pittsburgh Steelers All-Pro safety Troy Polamalu who suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee during the Steelers 13-10 victory over the Tennessee Titans.

Polamalu joins the likes of Garrison Hearst, Michael Vick, Shaun Alexander and Donovan McNabb as athletes who have been the cover boys of the popular video games only to suffer injuries the following season.

Polamalu could be out at least three to six weeks and possibly longer once the tests come back on his knee.

A huge blow to say the least for the defending Super Bowl Champs as Polamalu was on his way to a great start with a spectacular one-handed interception in the first half.

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald has to be nervous as he shared the cover of Madden 2010 with Polamalu.

Hopefully for the Cardinals and fantasy geeks everywhere Fitzgerald escapes Week 1 without injury.

While President Obama was speaking to Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va., Eagles quarterback Michael Vick spoke to a charter school in North Philadelphia.

The conservatives were in tears trying to prevent Obama from spreading a political message to their students and nobody raised a stink about Vick.

Vick spoke to 200 freshmen at Nueva Esperanza Academy and urge the students to not follow the crowd and make the right choices in life.

Of all the athletes in the Philadelphia area, that’s the best they could get?

Prison time and making mistakes doesn’t automatically make you a motivational speaker for teenagers.

Hopefully Vick’s speech didn’t interfere with what the President had to say this morning. I’m going out on a limb and saying Obama has more to say than a backup quarterback.

Carolina Panthers Oakland Raiders fans, get your dog collars ready.

Wait, dog collars are a part of your weekly outfit in the first place.

It appears Mike Vick will be eligible to play Week 1 Week 3 of the NFL Season.

Fanhouse got a report wrong on Wednesday in reporting that Vick would return for the start of the regular season.

Instead, Vick’s suspension will be lifted for Week 3 against the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Eagles first road game after Vick’s return is not until October 18 against the Raiders.

See, Roger Goodell is not such a bad guy after all.

The one person who might be most annoyed by this possible move is Eagles starting quarterback Donovan McNabb.

He has already on multiple occasions expressed his frustration toward the disruption of the offense when Vick is on the field.

Even Vick supporters have to know this is McNabb’s team and the Eagles are only going to win if Donovan is happy and on the same page with his teammates.

Sept. 13 can’t get here soon enough…

Strippers in Winnipeg, be on the look out.

Pacman is coming to town!

Adam “Pacman” Jones signed a one-year contract with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League.

Boy, how the mighty (and dumb) have fallen.

From college standout to deciding between the CFL or the UFL.

Jones has nobody to blame except himself for not being in the NFL.

He had countless opportunities and continued to get in trouble on and off the field.

“It’ll be a good experience for me to get back in game shape and compete and play football, which I like to do,” said Jones. “I’m real happy for the opportunity that’s been given to me. Of course it’s disappointing to me to not be playing in the NFL. But things happen and you have to adjust.”

Good luck adjusting in Canada, eh.

Denver Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall is officially in Operation Shutdown.

Marshall was suspended for the rest of the preseason for conduct detrimental to the team.

During practice this week, Marshall was swatting balls away that were thrown in his direction and walking during warm-ups when the rest of his teammates were sprinting.

The Marshall-Denver saga has been escalating all summer and there won’t be a conclusion until the Broncos decide to trade him.

This is not the start head coach Josh McDaniels wanted to his coaching career.

The 33-year-old traded away franchise quarterback Jay Cutler and he’s at risk of losing his franchise wide receiver in a span of five months.

Dare I say the Oakland Raiders will finish with a better record than the Broncos this season?