What a football offseason we just endured. I picked endured as the adjective because it was a painful and unusual ordeal. Green Bay defeated Pittsburgh in February and, at that time, few of us had little idea of when we would see professional football again. But, beyond the fact we always have college football to enjoy, the ultimate reality of it was “So What?”

There was far too much money at stake for both the owners and the players to not come to a compromise. The only surprise was the players settled while there was still time to play those meaningless pre-season games. The only thing I find less relevant than the fourth quarter of a football pre-season game is the second quarter of a basketball pre-season game. I did not follow the progress of the labor talks through the spring and summer, as I knew it would be worked out. All I was interested in was the final deal. Similarly, the summer-long news of the Federal Debt Ceiling was ho-hum to me. I am far too busy to get caught up in the day-to-day give and take. I knew it would get done, again, because there is far too much at stake. Just let me know when it is done.

I think the deal was fair to both owners and players. I am glad we will experience uninterrupted football this fall. I am also glad that the deal was for ten years. Fans can now experience uninterrupted football at least through the 2020 season. The only losers in the deal may be the rookies and free agents that now will have far less time to learn and prepare for a new and different system.

I expect injuries to take the forefront more than they have in the past. There have been no fewer than 15 Achilles tears by players so far in training camp and pre-season. This is no doubt the result of a lack of off-season conditioning. The big winner in the deal may be Kerry Collins, who came out of retirement to sign a $4 million deal with Indianapolis. This was done as an insurance policy against the health of Peyton Manning, who waited until May to have neck surgery. Manning certainly suffered due to the lack of access to team doctors and trainers and may have decided not to have the surgery in March because of the lockout.

Things are shaping up to make this a fantastic football season. There is a certain amount of parity in each conference. I say a certain amount of parity because there are classes of teams in each conference. In the NFC, Philadelphia, Green Bay and Atlanta are at the top, followed by New Orleans, Detroit and Chicago. San Francisco, Washington and Carolina are at the bottom. I will leave it up to you to sort out the middle. The AFC boasts San Diego, New England, Pittsburgh and the Jets at the top, followed by Baltimore and Houston. Cincinnati, Tennessee, Buffalo and Oakland bring up the rear.

Two teams I did not mention are Tampa Bay and Denver. I struggled with my evaluation of both of these teams. I do not think either one will accomplish anything significant this year, but I cannot say they will be as bad as any of the teams I mentioned above as being also-rans.

Tampa had a nice year last year. However, ownership seems more interested in its soccer team than it does in its American football team. I cannot calculate how far under the cap the team is. I see them taking a step back this year due to the inexperience of its players and competing in a tough division with Atlanta and New Orleans. They are clearly the third best team in their own division, at best.

Denver had a tough year last year and appeared ready to move forward this year with a new coach and a new quarterback. However, the team has been one big soap opera during the pre-season and a trade of Kyle Orton to Miami (or anybody else) never materialized. The bungling of this situation has caused strife in camp, with players taking sides and the media “fabricating” stories. There appears to be unrest in Denver, plus, I have never been a Kyle Orton guy and I think any team would be better without him at quarterback.

I think Reggie Bush will be fantastically successful in Miami. It made no sense to me for New Orleans to jettison Bush, only to turn around and add Darren Sproles from San Diego. Kevin Kolb was a nice pickup by Arizona. They did what they had to do, get a quarterback to throw to Larry Fitzgerald. Then, they turned around and did something they did not have to do, give Larry $15 million per year. Oakland surprised few with the drafting of JaMarcus Russell Jr. (a.k.a. Terrelle Pryor) in the Supplemental Draft. Now, the Silver and Black will not have a third round pick in next year’s draft. Kansas City’s first round pick, Jonathan Baldwin from Pitt, is proving to be a problem. The veterans do not like the rookie’s work ethic and sense of entitlement. Baldwin broke his thumb in a locker room fight with Thomas Jones. David Garrard was named the starter in Jacksonville. I think that is the only call Jack Del Rio could have made. If he picked the rookie, Blaine Gabbert, the team would have been throwing away the season from the start. Jacksonville needs to make the playoffs for Del Rio to retain his job. St. Louis again has some exciting receivers, like Brandon Gibson, and Sam Bradford seems poised to get the ball to them. What is Chris Johnson thinking holding out? He will not get his money. Tennessee will be horrible with or without him. On second thought, maybe Johnson is smarter than the average running back. He is holding out and not getting beaten up while playing for a bad team. Johnson will play at least six games somewhere this season. It has to do with being credited for a “year of service” in the league’s post-retirement plan. Its still early, but Plaxico Burress looks good with the Jets. San Francisco and Jim Harbaugh seem poised to throw in the towel this year to reunite Andrew Luck with his college coach. For the first time in a long time, Dallas is not generating significant pre-season news. They will not generate significant post-season news, either. Rex Grossman said Washington would win the Division. How wrong can one guy be? If Matt Stafford starts 16 games, Detroit will make the playoffs as a Wild Card. If not, see you next year. Donovan McNabb is a nice pickup for Minnesota. It buys them a year at quarterback until Christian Ponder is ready. Ponder is a fine young man who will be a good quarterback for a long time. No need to throw him to the wolves right away. Word is Julio Jones is tearing it up for Atlanta. Just a hunch, but I don’t think Carolina will be all that bad this year.

If I go all the way and make a pick for the two teams to go all the way, my pick is Philadelphia and San Diego, with Green Bay right there. This may finally be the year Andy Reid wins it all.

In college, I think Oklahoma, Alabama, Florida St., Virginia Tech and Georgia are all very good and any one of them could hoist the National Championship Trophy in New Orleans.

I am always interested in what you have to say. This year, I am new to Twitter @massports. I will be Tweeting as I watch the games all year long. You can always drop me an email at: info@massports.com.