Shrine Bowl Standout Added to O-D Bowl Roster

The 6th-annual Offense-Defense All-America Game has added Blue Ridge (SC) quarterback Caleb Rowe to the West roster. Rowe, a 6-3 195-pound Maryland commitment, committed firmly to Maryland on June 22nd and closed out his recruiting process.

Rated as a three-star prospect by Rivals.com, Rowe threw for 120 yards on 16 of 26 passing in the 2011 Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas.

"Rowe has a solid arm and showed he can make a lot of throws in the Shrine Bowl, "said Offense-Defense Director of Player Personnel Josh Buchanan, "We are happy to add him to our roster and feel he will pick up the playbook well because of his intelligence."

O-D Bowl Adds Stanford Commitment

The 6th-annual Offense-Defense All-America Game has added Cisterian Prep defensive tackle Ikenna Nwafor to the roster.

Nwafor, a 6'5 298-pound Stanford commitment, will replace the injured Korren Kirven on the West roster. He held offers from Arizona, Columbia, Dartmouth, Harvard, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Oregon State, Purdue, Tulane, Tulsa, Vanderbilt, and Yale. Rivals.com rates Nwafor as a three-star prospect.

"Nwafor is a big, smart kid who is raw but has a shot to be very good, "said Offense-Defense Director of Player Personnel Josh Buchanan, "He's only played two years of high school football so the sky is the limit with him."

Four O-D Bowl Participants Honored by SI.com

The 6th-annual Offense-Defense All-America Game will feature four players named All-Americans by SI.com.

Two players were honored on the first-team headlined by quarterback Maty Mauk, of Kenton (OH). Mauk is a Missouri commit who set the national prep record for career passing yards (18,520) and touchdowns (213). Also on the first-team is Gaffney (SC) wide receiver Quinshad Davis who hauled in 2,009 receiving yards and 25 touchdowns while boasting a 4.1 GPA.

O-D Bowl Adds Two Players to Roster

The 6th-annual Offense-Defense All-America Game has added Lovejoy (GA) cornerback Rico McWilliams to the East Roster. He will be joined on the East squad by Miami Norland's Ereck Flowers.

McWilliams' addition causes Ray Buchanan Jr to move to Team West to replace De'Vante Harris. The 6'0 180-pound cornerback and South Carolina commitment is rated as the No. 28 cornerback in the nation by Rivals.com. McWilliams held offers from Arkansas, Illinois, Michigan State, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Nebraska, NC State, Pittsburgh, Virginia, and Wisconsin among many others.

Stud Linebackers Commit to O-D Bowl

The East team will feature Valley View High School's Nyeem Wartman, a 6-3 225-pound Penn State commitment along with McKeesport (PA)'s Tyrone Neal, a 6-1 225-pounder yet to commit, and South Carolina commitment Kaiwan Lewis, a 6-2 225-pounder from Saint Joseph (NJ). Wartman, Neal, and Lewis are all rated as the 34th-best, No. 42, and #44 outside linebackers by Rivals.com but will play inside.

"All three of them are violent hitters who make plays in traffic and can run, " said Offense-Defense Director of Player Personnel Josh Buchanan, "We are really excited about all of these guys because of their speed and athleticism and believe they will be very good at the next level."

Nate Peterman named finalist for Mr. Football

Bartram Trail (FL) quarterback Nathan Peterman has been named the Florida 6A Player of the Year and is now a finalist for Florida's Mr. Football.

Other finalists include: 8A-QB Nick Patti, Dr. Phillips; 7A-QB Cord Sandberg, Bradenton Manatee, Jr.; 6A-QB Nathan Peterman, St. John's Bartram Trail, Sr.; 5A-RB Randy "Duke" Johnson, Miami Norland, Sr.; 4A-RB Derrick Henry, Yulee, Jr.; 3A-RB/DB Nelson Agholar, Tampa Berkeley Prep, Sr.; 2A-RB Kelvin Taylor, Belle Glade Glades Day, Jr.; 1A-RB/DB Theryl Brown, Wewahitchka, Sr.

The Mr. Football state player of the year honor will be announced after another round of voting by a statewide panel of coaches and media.

"Peterman had a phenomenal year and almost beat then No. 2 nationally ranked Armwood in the state championship, " said Offense-Defense Director of Player Personnel Josh Buchanan, "His mechanics are some of the best I have ever seen at this level and should make him a productive player in college."

O-D All-Americans Impress at All-Star Games

In the 63rd annual SCADA North-South All-Star Game in Myrtle Beach on December 10th the North team defeated the South 42-3 and were led defensively by O-D All-American Shaquille Lawson, a Clemson commitment from Daniel High School.  Lawson was named the team defensive MVP after he logged five tackles, two and a half tackles for loss, and two sacks in the contest.

"Lawson was by far the best player in the North-South Game and a player I really felt belonged in the Shrine Bowl, " said Offense-Defense Director of Player Personnel Josh Buchanan, "He has great length, is explosive, and a very smart young man who will become a standout for the Clemson Tigers."

Athletes, Kickers Accept O-D Bowl Invitations

With Orlando Thomas, Gabriel Marks, and other athletes already on the roster Alabama commit Kenyan Drake, Georgia verbal Blake Tibbs, and recent Georgia Tech commitment Justin Thomas have all accepted invitations to this year's game.

Drake will see time on both sides of the ball while Thomas will play quarterback and wide receiver. Tibbs will return kicks and play some wide receiver in this year's contest.  Drake is a 6-1 200-pounder from Hillgrove (GA) while Tibbs is a 6-2 180-pounder from Martin Luther King (GA), and Thomas is a 5-11 178-pounder from Prattville (AL).

Davis, Tankersley Continue to Impress at Shrine Bowl

Silver Bluff defensive back Cordrea Tankersley has been hot, showing he probably deserves to be upgraded by the scouting services.  Rivals.com posted about Tankersley on Wednesday "When we saw Tankersley play defensive back last spring, he was, to put it nicely, a bit raw. His backpedal was off and at times he seemed lost as he learned how to play in the secondary. Today, he's much more sharp. His footwork on the backpedal is very good, as are his hips and lateral movement. He breaks on the ball well and has very good closing speed. He probably could be a little more aggressive when making a play on the ball, though."

Tankersley is one of seven Clemson commitments headed to Dallas Cowboys Stadium joining DE Martin Aiken, DE Shaquille Lawson, OLB Terry Burrell, OT Javarius Leamon, S Ronald Geohaghan Jr., and Athlete J.J. McCullough.

"Tankersley is fast and has shown great improvement in his overall game, "said Offense-Defense Director of Player Personnel Josh Buchanan, "He’s become a guy who many perceived as a reach at the time I selected him but has shown he is more than worthy of competing with the best of the best in America and will be a playmaker for Clemson."

The second player has become no stranger to the headlines as Gaffney’s Quinshad Davis, a four-star wide receiver, has been very impressive at the practices.  Rivals.com said about Davis "Davis continued his outstanding week by making catch after catch in both the morning and afternoon sessions. Because of his size (6-3, 180), he has been a difficult matchup for South Carolina corners, who can't get good position against him. Davis hasn't blown anyone away with his speed, but he's quick out of his breaks and arguably has been one of the two most sure-handed receivers on hand."  Davis was named the Gatorade Player of the Year in South Carolina and has yet to commit with Clemson, NC State, and Wake Forest among the most interested.

O-D QBs Highlighted by Air Force Player of the Year

The East team will be led by Air Force National Player of the Year Finalist Mauty Mauk of Kenton High School, a 6-2 195-pound Missouri commitment. Mauk led the nation in passing, finishing with 5,413 yards and 68 touchdowns as he led his team to the state championship game. Mauk is rated as the 22nd-best pro-style quarterback in the country by Rivals.com.

Joining him on the East roster will be Bartram Trail's Nate Peterman, a 6-2 210-pound Tennessee commitment who threw for 2,940 yards and 36 touchdowns as he led his team to the state title game against No. 2 ranked Armwood. Peterman flew up boards as a senior and is rated as the No. 10 pro-style quarterback by Rivals.com.

"Mauk and Peterman are both accurate passers who can sling the ball around, "said Offense-Defense Director of Player Personnel Josh Buchanan, "Mauk compares to Chase Daniel while Peterman's accuracy will make him a hard player to keep off the field at UT."

The West roster will feature Nebraska commitment Tommy Armstrong, a 6-2 210-pound prospect from Steele, Texas. Joining him will be Modesto Christian's Nate Sudfeld, a 6-5 215-pound Arizona commitment. Rivals.com rates Armstrong as the No. 8 dual-threat quarterback and Sudfeld is ranked as a 3-star pro-style passer by the service.

"Sudfeld brings NFL size and a big arm while Armstrong is an athletic specimen, "said Buchanan, "Both players are slightly under the radar but should be very good players at the next level."

Youth All-American Teams 11-30 Announced!

Head on over to our roster page and check it out! This completes the Youth portion of our roster. Tomorrow we'll be releasing Teams 31-36, the Junior Showcase!

Highly Touted Running Backs Accept O-D Bowl Invites

The East team will be led by Oscar Smith High School's JC Coleman, a 5-7 180-pounder committed to Virginia Tech. Coleman missed three games in 2011 due to an injury and still finished with over 1,970 yards and 25 touchdowns as he led his team to a state championship. Rivals.com rates the standout as the No. 4 all-purpose and 102nd-best prospect in the nation.

Bowl Schedule & Rosters Announced!

Hey All-Americans! We appreciate your continued patience as we work towards finalizing everything for Bowl Week. Trust us when we say we're just as excited to release info as you are to receive it! Toward that end, we're proud to announce we've released the basic Bowl Week Schedule today!

As an added bonus, we're happy to announce the Youth Bowl rosters for teams 1 through 10! Keep an eye on that page as we'll be announcing the rosters for more and more teams throughout this week, finishing up on Friday!

O-D Bowl Stacked Along Defensive Line

The East roster will feature one of the hidden gems in this year's class in Central Gwinnett High School defensive end Francis Kallon, a 6-6 260-pound Georgia Tech commitment. Kallon is the 21st-best end in the nation by Rivals.com. Joining him will be three Stephenson High School players including 6'3 240-pound Virginia Tech commit Jarontay Jones, 6'3 255-pound South Carolina commitment Carlos Hood, and 6-4 280-pound Florida commitment Jafar Mann. Rivals.com rates Jones as the No. 22 end in the nation while Hood is the #47 rated tackle, and Mann is 39th-best tackle, according to the service.

O-D Bowl Attracts Highly Touted Offensive Linemen

The East roster is loaded with plenty of four-star prospects and BCS commitments. This year's tackle group is highlighted by four-star tackle Jake Meador, a 6'7 305 pounder from Whiteland High School (IN). Meador is committed to Ole Miss and is rated the No. 33 tackle by Rivals.com. He also held offers from Kentucky, Missouri, Louisville, Kentucky, and Indiana.

Wide Receivers Named O-D All-Americans

This year's East squad will feature wide receivers with plenty of speed and size. Leading the group is four-star prospect Malcolm Lewis of Miramar, Florida. Lewis recently committed to Miami (FL) while holding offers from a dozen schools, including LSU, Florida State, Florida, Alabama, Wake Forest, West Virginia, Nebraska, and Ohio State among others.

O-D Bowl Announces All-American Tight Ends

This year's crop will bring plenty of size and athletic ability to Arlington. The West squad will be led by Dadeville High School's Darrion Hutcherson, a 6'7 250-pound four-star prospect committed to Auburn. He will be joined by Charles Brush High School's Pharaoh Brown, a 6'7 230-pound four-star prospect with around 20 offers. Among the schools currently interested are Michigan, Oregon, Arizona State, Colorado, Boston College, North Carolina, NC State, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, West Virginia, and Purdue.

SC Player of the Year Accepts O-D Bowl Invitation

The 6th-annual Offense-Defense All-America Game will feature Gaffney wide receiver Quinshad Davis who has been named the ESPNHS South Carolina and Gatorade South Carolina Player of the Year. This year's game will be nationally-televised from Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas on December 29th at 6pm. The following players have accepted invitations to play in a game which has seen the on-field talents of a wide swath of football stardom including Dez Bryant, Cameron Newton, Stephen Garcia, Rolando McClain, and Joe Haden among many others.

Player of the Year Finalist Accept O-D Bowl Invitation

Myrtle Beach, SC - The 6th-annual Offense-Defense All-America Game will feature four players who Rivals.com announced as Postseason Risers and a US Air Force National Player of the Year Candidate. This year's game will be nationally-televised from Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas on December 29that 6pm. The following players have accepted invitations to play in a game which has seen the on-field talents of a wide swath of football stardom including Dez Bryant, Cameron Newton, Stephen Garcia, Rolando McClain, and Joe Haden among many others.

O-D Bowl Week Update!

Due to tremendous interest and response, host hotels are almost entirely sold out! If you haven't made your reservations yet, time is running out. Make sure you don't miss the opportunity of a lifetime. Reserve your room now!

Photo preorders are available right now! Why not take care of all your photo requests ahead of time? It's one more thing scratched off your to-do list! Visit our partners DNT Photography today to make sure you get your commemorative photos amd images as soon after the Bowl as possible!

Submit your photo for Bowl Program inclusion!

We hope you're as excited as we are for your trip to Arlington this December to take part in 2012 Offense-Defense All-American Bowl Week! This year, we're going to get started on the official Bowl Program early in order to get you the highest quality memento possible to both inform you while visiting with us and to remember your experience for years to come.

With that in mind, we're requesting all our All-Americans to send us a digital photo of themselves for inclusion into the program. Athletes are encouraged to take the largest, clearest headshot possible. We require the photos to include ONLY the player themselves. The image can not be scanned. If you're wearing your jersey, that's a bonus!

O-D Bowl Week Update!

Cooler weather has moved in across the country but ticket sales and hotel reservations for 2012 O-D Bowl Week have been heating up! So far, O-D Bowlers and their families have sold out 3 of our partner hotels. If you want to make sure you reserve a room close to Cowboys Stadium, get your registration in NOW! The hotels we decided to work with are those closest to the stadium. If we need to reserve more, we'll have to work outward, adding time to your in-city trips. Don't wait too long!

Also, as a reminder, Youth and Junior All-American invites come with ONE ticket that is intended for the invited athlete. Family and friends wishing to attend the Bowl Games will need to purchase tickets at $25 a piece. This grants you:

Breaking Youth & Junior Bowl News!

Here's the update you've all been waiting for! The 2012 O-D All-American Bowl will be taking place this year in ARLINGTON, TX! That's right! After the success of this year's camp in Dallas, the possibility opened up for O-D to hold Bowl Week and its related events in COWBOYS STADIUM- EVERY attending All-American athlete, from the youngest youth player to the televised high school seniors, will play AT LEAST one game in the home of the Dallas Cowboys!

This year, Bowl Week will run from Monday, December 26th to Saturday, December 31st. All athletes and their families will be checking into their hotels on the 26th and the final event/regularly scheduled departures will take place the 31st!

Huge Bowl Game Announcement - Coming Wednesday

We've heard you guys loud and clear, and you're all asking the same question: "When and Where is the Youth All-American Bowl going to be held?". Well, this Wednesday we're going to be releasing the big news that everyone has been waiting for. Check our Blog, Facebook, Twitter, or Homepage Wednesday for all the details. We promise, it was worth the wait!

All-American Rosters, Dates, Locations - coming soon!

We're working around the clock here in Myrtle Beach to get the 2012 All-American Bowl Week rosters, schedules, and location information set in stone as early as possible! Rest assured, we'll have that information up on the website before you know it and in plenty of time to secure your travel and lodging accommodations for the big event!

Keep checking in with us here at O-D.com for updates and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to let us know!

2011 O-D Camps Wrapping Up!

It's been another exciting year of O-D Summer Camps and after the Elite Camp ends Sunday, July 31st, the Summer slate of camps will have come to a successful close! We hope everyone had a great time at camp this year and hope you apply everything you learned as best you can in the upcoming season. Offense-Defense would like to thank each and every one of our campers and their families for helping make this one of our best years yet!

If you missed O-DTV this year, it's not too late to visit our online store and order it so you can view archived video of your time at camp, all from the convenience of your home, office, or portable device! There are also tons of great camp photos available for purchase so make sure you take a look at those as well! We've also got an official announcement set to drop Monday regarding the Youth All-American Bowl so many of you are clamoring for info about so check back with us here after the weekend to see what's going on!

2011 Camp Season in Full Swing!

We're smack dab in the middle of what's been an awesome camp season so far and we've still got a long way to go. Still, there's no shortage of exciting news and updates to talk about in regards to how camps have been going so far so, without further ado, let's get to it!

By and large, O-DTV has been a runaway success this year! We've got cameras capturing all the action at each one of our camp locations this year and as technology has improved, so has our ability to deliver every thump of the pads live as it happens AND archived conveniently to your living room! Want to get in on the action? You can order O-DTV quickly and easily by visiting store.O-D.com!

Tune in to camp with O-DTV!

ODTV is back and better than ever before! After two years of developing and perfecting our streaming capabilities, we're ready to bring all the excitement and atmosphere of camp to the convenience of your home, or office, or even if you're on the go with your laptop or smartphone! Be sure to catch all the practices, player/parent/staff interviews, and tons more live from the camp location of your choice!

2011 O-D Coach headliners announced!

And what headliners they are! The 2011 Offense-Defense Summer Tour coaches roster is looking like an All-Star team! Literally! A lot of the coaches you'll see at camps this year have stood at the very pinnacle of the game - First Round Picks, Pro Bowls, Super Bowls...you name it!

From Karl Mecklenburg to Maxie Baughn to Carl Hairston, these are experienced pros and coaches who have tons of experience at what matters the most: unlocking and even increasing athletes' potential! Click on the big red 2011 Coaches button on our main page and stay tuned for our Head Coaches list coming out later on today!

O-D Family Scores Big at NFL Draft!

Offense-Defense would like to extend a big, heartfelt congratulations to all of our All-Americans Bowlers, O-D Lifers, and Campers who went in the draft this year. Almost 30 family members were selected by NFL clubs in the seven rounds ensuring that when the lockout gets lifted for good and we're back to a normal NFL schedule, O-D's growing presence in the league will become even stronger.

From Cam Newton to Casey Matthews, for a full breakdown of the O-D draftees, check out the awesome, can't miss graphic on the main page of O-D.com!

All-American Bowl not just for Youth, Seniors Anymore

I want to hold off on talking about the latest developments in the NFL Labor dispute to focus on something a little more O-D centric for now and it's a big one! Two years ago, we started the Youth All-American Bowl to provide a unique opportunity and event for our top tier youth campers. So far it's been a resounding success! This year, we're proud to announce a brand new event running alongside the nationally televised All-American game: The Offense-Defense Junior All-American Bowl!

The O-D Player Visibility Platform is now in Beta!

Take another step towards getting into the college of your dreams! The Player Visibility Platform is here available for use and beta testing! Submit video, stats, grades and more to your profile and have all this information sent along to and accessible by the schools of YOUR choice!

Access to the Player Visibility Platform is currently restricted to Offense-Defense Summer Campers. It is free of charge. Simply log into your My Account page, click the prompt to Get Started and you're off! When you're done, you'll be able to link and share your profile with all your friends to let them see how good you really are!

Help us and help yourself in the process! Try out the brand new Player Visibility Platform today!

New Episode of the Sports Report!

Sit back, relax, and enjoy the fifth edition of the O-D Sports Report! For the fifth show, we took a trip across town to hang out at the star-studded Monday After the Masters event and jammed the show full of more celebrities and sports stars than you can shake a stick at!

From hockey hall-of-famers to football greats to the Mike & Mike show, this episode of the Sports Report is any sports fan's dream. It's all this and more as your host, JD Redmon, takes you through a brief overview of what you can expect at camp this year, both new and old! Check it out!

With camps around the corner, availability limited

Can you believe it?! It's the middle of April already! Do you know what that means? Sure, temperatures are warming up and there are April showers and all of that, but let's get to the important stuff! The 2011 Offense-Defense Summer Camp tour kicks off next month!

This means that if you've been holding off or delaying your camp registration for the 2011 camp season, you should delay no longer! Availability at certain locations (New England, Dallas, and Atlanta to name a few) is already limited and camp forms are due at the beginning of May!

O-D Knows ... Recruiting!

That's right! And we've got our own little nifty eBook to prove it! Called "O-D's Top 10 Recruiting Tips!", we go over the 10 best ways to get you front and center before the eyes of the recruiters who make the NCAA football world turn. From how to present yourself to a wider audience to camp decisions, this short eBook's got all the pointers you'll need to take your self-promotion to the next level!

Don't wait any longer than you have to! Every second lost decreases the chances of getting the recruitment letter of your dreams in your mailbox, or the coach of your favorite college program knocking at your door. Download the eBook today and learn how to take control of the college recruiting process!

O-D's McCoy Shines at Spring Scrimmage

Does O-D know how to pick 'em or what? The University of Texas Longhorns held their annual spring scrimmage Sunday and 2010 O-D Bowler Case McCoy, younger brother of former Longhorn and current Cleveland Browns quarterback Colt McCoy, was arguably the best player under center on the day for the vaunted, albeit rebuilding, program.

Case took the field with a mixed squad of backups and walk-ons and spent most of his time throwing against the Longhorns' first-team defensive units. All told, McCoy was one of four Longhorns' quarterbacks seeing time on the field and set the pace for the signal-callers completing 9 of 11 passes for 124 yards and a touchdown strike.

Landmark NFL Labor Agreement Reached

Roger Goodell, NFL Commish

America's sports-viewing public can rest easy - the NFL's labor woes have been solved and then some! In a startling moment of clarity for NFL bigwigs and player representatives, a deal was reached in the early hours Friday morning assuring the 2011 NFL season would take place exactly as scheduled.

"We're very pleased to be able to announce that it's going to be business as usual for the NFL again in 2011," offered NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. "And by business as usual we mean really big, huge business. Ridiculous cash. Phat stacks. I'm sorry, I know I don't sound quite like myself, but talking about these vast sums of money makes me a little kooky. It's weird, really. We were already making so much and there was so much extra cash to just throw around. I'm not even sure what we were fighting about. Our bad, I guess."

Madden Madness is kicking into full gear

The NCAA March Madness tournament has whittled itself down to a select few and there's been no shortage of surprises or excitement in this year's edition with VCU making a surprise run to the Final Four and tiny Butler making their second consecutive appearance. Just in case you haven't had your fill of brackets, there's a new game in town. Literally!

ESPN and EA Sports are teaming up to allow fans to vote for their choice of athlete to appear on this year's Madden video game, bracket-style! Round one is already in the books and there were little in the way of upsets. There's still found rounds to go however and the current round, wrapping up on April 3rd, features a bevy of titanic matchups.

Football on Sundays - No NFL, No Problem?

As we get closer and closer to football season with no resolution in sight to the NFL labor woes, it's natural to sit and think about just what the fall will be like without NFL programming dominating our Sundays. You wouldn't be the only one! Already the idea of bringing NCAA football to Sunday is being kicked around by figures involved in collegiate athletic programs and while it may just be idle speculation for now, who knows what the future could bring?

In an interview with Rivals, some of those thoughts were made public. Take PAC-12 commish Larry Scott, "We certainly are monitoring the situation. We have no plans in place at this time, but you want to be prepared and consider all options."

Amidst uncertainty, O-D Alum Newton shows wares

Cam Newton - 2007 O-D Bowl

With NFL players and team owners feuding the only thing certain about the 2011 NFL schedule is that the Draft will go forward as planned on April 28th. No one knows this or is preparing any more than 2010 Heisman winner, NCAA National Champion, and 2007 Offense-Defense All-American Bowl MVP Cam Newton.

Newton is visiting the Buffalo Bills today, owners of the 3rd pick in this year's Draft, in order to get a better feel for one of the potential future organizations he could be a part whenever it is that the NFL gets back to business as usual. It's merely the first stop on a multi-team tour that will see the electrifying prospect, quoted this past year as saying the Offense-Defense experience "kick-started (his) career," make visits to eight more organizations picking early in the Draft: Carolina and Denver with the first two picks, and Cincinnati, Cleveland, Tennessee, Washington, Minnesota, and Miami all picking afterward.

NCAA hints it's never too early to prepare

The high school and youth sports world has gotten increasingly more competitive in a surprisingly short amount of time. We're not just talking about on competition on the field of play, though that gets better every year, too! Just two short years ago, the NCAA made the edict that boys' basketball players as early as the 7th grade were being considered college prospects for the purposes of collegiate recruiters.

While this drastic proclamation hasn't been made about football just yet, the writing is on the wall: college recruiters are preparing earlier and earlier, evaluating young athletes at younger ages than they ever have before in order to get the jump on the competition.

The Soccer Side of Chad Ochocinco

#85 coaching at our
Cincinnati Camp

So you've been locked out of your job. If you never earned another penny for the rest of your days, you'd still be financially secure for the rest of your life ten times over. You have nothing but free time on your hands. What do you do? If you're anything like professional controversy vortex - and O-D Pro - Chad Ochocinco, you might just be inclined to pick up your childhood passion.

In Chad's case, that would be football. No, not that one. The OTHER football. That's right, Ochocinco's got himself a tryout with Sporting KC of the MLS and he insists it's not so much a publicity stunt as it is taking the opportunity that presented itself to play his favorite sport in the world. Yup, soccer. Chad even displayed an uncharacteristic humble side when recounting the experiences of his first day on the job:

Did NFL owners overreact?

Right Here

No, this isn't another cutesy story about ongoing labor discussions between millionaires and their slightly more fortunate billionaire bosses. At the NFL's annual owners' meeting, team owners voted by a 26 to 6 margin to move kickoffs from the 30 to the 35-yard line and to only allow the coverage team to line up a maximum of 5 yards behind the kick. The reasoning? The 5-yard bump should increase touchbacks and reduce the speed with which the coverage team gets to the ball carrier, respectively.

The overall goal, it seems, is to reduce player injury. Let it never be stated that this is something we at O-D would ever blindly argue against. Player health and safety remains our top priority at every level of the game. In fact, the attention we give to preventing injury is a big part of why we've been able to run contact camps for over four decades. The fact is, as the rules stood, kickers were already able to kick the ball out of the endzone on kickoffs and last season more than one kick out of every seven wound up being brought back out to the 20 without the need for contact of any sort.

Preview: O-D Player Visibility Platform

Offense-Defense Sports is proud to announce today the ongoing development and impending release of our latest top-secret project aimed at getting college-minded athletes as early as the 7th grade the visibility and attention they need from every college program in the country. Dubbed the Player Visibility Platform, or PVP by our nerdy R&D types, the performance scientists at Offense-Defense have created the ultimate weapon of mass exposure!

The PVP program marries O-D's heralded on-field instructional product with our state-of-the-art web technology and unparalleled coaching and college network to create the most comprehensive player profile and portfolio imaginable. Information from camp performances gets input into a player's profile by certified coaching and analysis experts along with personal profile information the athlete themselves enter about themselves. The athlete tells us what schools they want their profile sent to and we do the rest! The colleges of the athlete's choice get a comprehensive, official dossier detailing everything from the player's 40-time, height, and weight to whatever personal information the subject feels like sharing.

Business as usual in 2011 as O-D ducks labor woes

Owner Rick Whittier (left) VP Matt Whittier (right)

Offense-Defense Sports ownership reached an amicable agreement after meeting with company employees today assuring a 44th consecutive year of high-quality, top-flight, unparalleled football instruction to take place through the Spring, Summer, and even Winter of 2011. The agreement capped off a whirlwind series of negotiation sessions that rarely involved any raised voices or frayed nerves.

"It was really a pretty easy process," noted Offense-Defense Sports Vice President Matt Whittier. "Everyone was on board the whole way with moving forward with another great year of football and life skills instruction. We're pleased all of our fine employees felt the same way: that it was imperative we hammer something out now in order to maintain our standards of excellence for generations to come and continue to cement our reputation as THE leader of youth, high school, and collegiate football in America."