Bruno Boys Fantasy Football

                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                              We’ve Got Huge Brands…GET A PAIR!

Adrian Peterson’s job is a simple one. He is tasked with running the ball and avoid tackles. Lucky for Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings he’s exceptional at his job. And like Favre he has “a brass pair.”  Peterson likes to go through tacklers and is one of the hardest players in the league to bring down, and that is evidenced by his touchdown against the Cleveland Browns in week one of the 2009 season. On that run he juked two defenders, pushed a third out of the way by smacking his helmet, stiff-arms a fourth guy and then outran two more defenders. Seriously, go look it up on YouTube if you haven’t seen it. Al Harris and William Gay wish to forget the times they got trucked by Peterson in games that were broadcast nationally. He’s rushed for 4,484 yards and 40 touchdowns in the last three seasons. And his pass-receiving skills get knocked but in that time he’s also caught 83 passes for 829 yards.

WR - Hines Ward (Pittsburgh Steelers)
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward is good at catching passes and scoring touchdowns. In 12 seasons Ward has amassed 895 receptions for 10,947 yards and 78 touchdowns. He’s broken 1,000 yards in six different seasons. Clearly, he’s good at his job. But Ward is so much more than a pass catcher. He’s one of the league’s top blocking receivers, which is crucial to the Steelers’ success. He will get in your face and under your skin, which is rare for an offensive player let alone a receiver. And to say he is good at blocking is an understatement. The guy can lay the wood. Ask Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Keith Rivers. In 2008, Ward laid a block on Rivers so vicious that it knocked Rivers off his feet and broke his jaw, putting him out for the rest of the season. What a pair this guy has!

Flex - Anquan Boldin (Baltimore Ravens)
As a receiver, Anquan Boldin has made his career by proving what a pair he has by making the tough catches over the middle. With that, the Baltimore Ravens player who spent the last seven seasons with the Arizona Cardinals, has done well for himself, catching 586 passes for 7,520 yards and 44 touchdowns. But to measure how tough this guy is just look at what happened in week four of the 2008 season. In garbage time, Boldin went for a touchdown catch against the New York Jets when he was sandwiched by two defensive backs. The first hit knocked him directly into safety Eric Smith, who had hurled himself like a human torpedo at Boldin. Smith led with his helmet and drilled Boldin’s helmet, caused a ricochet collision with the other defender. Boldin’s head bounced around like a pinball and he was virtually motionless on the ground. Was it a neck injury? A head injury? Maybe even paralysis? Boldin returned three weeks later to catch nine passes, two for touchdowns, in a loss to the Carolina Panthers. 
 

TE - Jason Witten (Dallas Cowboys)
As a rookie in 2003, Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten broke his jaw. He had it wired shut, missed one game and then finished out the season. That’s right. Playing a position where he needs to run and pass block, as well as catch passes over the middle of the field where he’s open for big hits, Witten played with a broken jaw that was wired shut. In the six seasons he’s played since being a rookie, Witten has missed just one game. He’s also emerged as one of the preeminent tight ends in the league, serving as a good blocker but also averaging over 90 catches and 1,040 receiving yards for the last three seasons. 

K - David Buehler (Dallas Cowboys)
A kicker is not usually a player you identify as “having a pair,”  except in the case of David Buehler of the Dallas Cowboys. Having played pretty well during training camp and the preseason thus far, it appears he’s earned the starting job. Good for him. Buehler is also an exceptional athlete. At the combine in February of last year, Buehler ran a 4.6 40-yard dash, better than some linebackers and running backs. In a recent practice, because he’s got stones, he bet cornerback DeAngelo Smith to a race and ended up winning. He also benched 225 pounds a whopping 25 times, which bested 27 linemen including eventual first-round picks Michael Oher and Eugene Monroe.

IDP - Patrick Willis (San Francisco 49ers)
The San Francisco 49ers were a mess, and needed help at a lot of positions entering the 2007 draft. They spent the first round pick on linebacker Patrick Willis, hoping he could solidify the middle of the defense. Willis has lived up to the hype, becoming one of the best defensive players in the league. As a rookie he registered an unbelievable 174 total tackles. In his three seasons, he’s totaled 467 tackles, nine sacks, six forced fumbles, four interceptions and had scored two touchdowns. He led the league in tackles in 2007 and 2009 and was second in 2008. He is the best linebacker in the league right now, and very well may be the next Ray Lewis.

IDP - Ray Lewis (Baltimore Ravens)
Speaking of Lewis, look who’s here. This guy is the prototype for the “All Pairs” team.  Did you really think a team of the best and toughest players wouldn’t include the Ravens linebacker? Lewis is one of the all-time greats at linebacker. In 14 seasons he’s compiled 1,770 total tackles, 36.5 sacks, 28 interceptions and 105 passes defensed. Though he is on the down slope of his career, he is still feared. Opposing offenses try to gameplan away from Lewis. In his prime, Lewis was so good at covering the field laterally that even when teams tried to force him one way and go the other, he would still make a play on the ball. He’s nasty, he’s a sure tackler, and he’s a living legend.

IDP - Brian Dawkins (Denver Broncos)
Denver Broncos safety Brian Dawkins is a pretty nice guy off the field. He married his high school sweetheart in college, and now they have four children.. After Dawkins signed with the Denver Broncos in 2009, a Philadelphia Eagles employee was fired for posting messages on Facebook saying how the team was wrong for not resigning the safety. Dawkins gave the man free tickets to the next Broncos-Eagles. Yet on the field, Dawkins is something else. On the field, Dawkins transforms into a seeker missile, going after the ball carrier with such force and vigor you’d never know he was so nice outside of football. In 14 seasons he has 1,052 tackles, 36 interceptions, 21 sacks and 168 passes defensed. What makes Dawkins, though, is that he’s such a good hitter. Check out his hit on Oakland Raiders running back Darren McFadden from last season, or the one he laid on Mushin Muhammad in 2007. Truly “a pair” of big hits.