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WAS LEN'S LENDALE PIECE PAYBACK FOR SEYMOUR STORY?

A league source who was as initially confused as we were about the decision of ESPN.com's Len Pasquarelli to help reverse the Enron-esque decline of LenDale White's draft stock has managed to connect the dots on this one.

White is represented by Eugene Parker. Parker also represents Patriots defensive lineman Richard Seymour. Pasquarelli broke the story this week regarding the long-term extension reached between the Pats and Seymour.

So the White story was either payback by Pasquarelli, or it was just an example of very good "source relations."

Although, on the surface, Pasquarelli's story includes reference to the criticisms of White in order to create the appearance of real balance, the overriding tone of the piece is positive.

"While the MRI result vindicates White, who told ESPN.com two weeks ago that he initially injured the hamstring while performing a Cybex test at the league scouting combine in late February, it still leaves scouts with an incomplete assessment of the former Trojans star.

"Most teams are reluctant to invest millions of dollars in a player who has not been fully evaluated. Of course, scouts also contend that the true measure of a prospect's ability and potential at the NFL level is his body of work on the field in college and not how well he performs in predraft workouts that occur in shorts and T-shirts."

Meanwhile, Pasquarelli offers no commentary whatsoever regarding White's inexplicable decision to have a chiropractor diagnose his torn hamstring. At a minimum go to a medical doctor. Better still, an orthopedist. Even better, a guy like Dr. James Andrews or some other widely recognized leader in the field.

We're not surprised by any of this. It's Pasquarelli's modus operandi. Several agents have told us that Pasquarelli has either offered to "pump them up" in exchange for scoop, or that he has admitted to doing puff pieces for other agents in exchange for information.

What puzzles us is that he continues to get away with it.

We're not suggesting that ESPN should fire him. But we do believe that the editors in Bristol should no longer condone Pasquarelli's Machiavellian approach to journalism, and that he should be told to knock off the knee pad routine for the guys who makes his job far easier than it should be.

And kudos to John Clayton of ESPN.com for calling it like it really is: "LenDale White probably feels vindicated, but the revelation that he has a hamstring tear near the pelvic area could cost him any chance of getting selected in the first round."

Finally, here's our take on White. His film, from what we hear, places him in round one. But his injury, as diagnosed by a back-cracker, could significantly limit his availability for 2006. More importantly, his 15 reps in the 225-pound bench indicates that he doesn't like to work out, and that he doesn't appreciate the connection between what he does in the weight room and what he does between the lines against NFL-caliber players.

So White is a major risk, who could provide a major reward at some point in the future. Whoever puts his name on a draft card in round one, then, had better feel pretty damn good about his job security, in the event that White ends up being just another Blair Thomas or Maurice Clarett or Curtis Enis or any of the other draft-day running back busts of the past.

... he should be told to knock off the knee pad routine for the guys who makes his job far easier than it should be.

REDEEMEDSKIN wrote:

... he should be told to knock off the knee pad routine for the guys who makes his job far easier than it should be.

The truth comes out in this article!!! Fat Len should be ashamed!!

cvillehog wrote:"Meanwhile, Pasquarelli offers no commentary whatsoever regarding White's inexplicable decision to have a chiropractor diagnose his torn hamstring."

Chiropractor?

LEN CONTINUES TO PIMP

We've gotten to the point where we're pretty much numb to Len Pasquarelli's kiss-agent-ass-in-order-to-make-my-job-easier routine, but that doesn't stop us from listening when a league insider contacts us with concerns regarding Len's gratuitous slurping on a guy in order to keep the inside information coming.

Most recently, our network of insiders has noticed two such examples.

The first one came when Len wrote a puff-piece on cornerback Dennis Weathersby, a client of agent Gary Uberstine, who is as suspected friend of Len.

Weathersby has been out of the league since a serious automobile accident in April 2004. But now Weathersby is looking to get back into the game, and Len does his best to beat the bushes (and not just in search of that fumbled fudgesicle): "It will take a team with a lot of guts to gamble on him now, given his medical background, but word is that Weathersby is running well and is in excellent condition. The search for cornerbacks in the NFL, especially cover guys with size, is a never-ending one. Maybe it will lead some team to Weathersby, who is all but ready to work out and eager to try to restart his career."

Len ignores, however, that Weathersby's non-medical background remains an even bigger concern for plenty of teams, even before he was shot and lost half of the blood in his body prior to the 2003 draft.

"This guy was an absolute turd coming out [of Oregon State]," said one source. "Everyone at the school killed the kid. . . . He has no friends anywhere on the team. Teammates disliked him, coaches, trainers. [He] consistently quit on his teammates."

But after spending the first pick in the fourth round on Weathersby, Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said he was satisfied that Weathersby is not a "character problem."

Still, Weathersby was charged with assault while at Oregon State, and there are accounts of Weathersby quitting on the team during a game.

"In the middle of a game against USC, he took himself out of the game, claiming he was dehydrated," said a league source. "The trainers ran tests, iced him, and couldn't find anything. Then he said he had to take a dump. He went into the locker room and stayed there. They had to send trainers in to get him . . . and found him pacing the locker room."

The source estimates that 75 percent of teams removed Weathersby from their draft boards.

Len also sticks his nose into the anal cleft of agent Joe Linta in his recent piece regarding the signing (drum roll, please) of a fourth-round draft pick, Hofstra offensive lineman Harry Colon.

"Have you ever seen so much detail in a piece about a f--king fourth-round pick?" said the source. "Len's article gave everything but the kid's mother's maiden name. I'm not looking to hit Joe at all. I'm just making the point of how shameless we know Len is."