“Are we there yet?”

I must confess. I remember two years ago at one of the forums I haunt, posing the question: “Are we on the tail end of an era or starting a new one?”

Turns out, I got my answer. Not long after that, general manager Marty Hurney was making deals with the Philadelphia Eagles to obtain offensive tackle Jeff Otah, in a deal that would eventually land defensive end Everette Brown a year later. It ended up that he was, knowingly or not, crafting the beginnings of a new era of Panthers football. (more…)

Assualt charges were dropped but the former player pleaded guilty to the much lesser charge of disturbing the peace.  County Court Judge Andre L. Rudolph ordered Sauerbrun to perform 24 hours of community service through NFL Charities by Oct. 1.

Sauerbrun says he wanted to plead guilty so he could get on with his life and attempt to sign on with another team as a free agent to get his career back.  He’s been out of a job since December when the Denver Broncos cut him not long after he was arrested.

What a douche bag!  Sorry, I’ve heard way too much about this guy.  Check this out:

• In 2004 when John Kasay was hurt Sauerbrun refused to step in as the placekicker until he was reimbursed for fines he incurred because he had been overweight.
• Because he has some long-standing feud with the Gramatica brothers, he refused to allow the Panthers to bring in one of the little guys to replace Kasay.
• He was charged with DUI in December 2004.
• He was also named in a steroids investigation in 2004 linked to some hack of a doctor in South Carolina who had been handing out the liquid NFL candy.
• When about the face the Chicago Bears, Sauerbrun said of Devin Hester, “”We’re going after it. We’re not going to kick away from him. Hey, we respect him and he’s the best, but we have guys on our coverage teams that are paid to make big tackles.”  Hester promptly returned both a punt and a kickoff for touchdowns in that game.  Then, when he attempted to punt away from him later in the game he had the kick blocked.
• Keith Olbermann awarded Sauerbrun with his “Worst Person in the NFL Award” for his actions against Hester.