Bad news, Raider Nation. The NFL is watching you more closely than ever. That's the implication with today's announcement that the league is implementing a fan code of conduct designed to curtail the sort of drunken thuggery that has made Oakland's McAfee Coliseum such a dreg.
-- Meanwhile, the lawyer for Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall fired back at the king of conduct policies, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, following Marshall's three-game suspension. Harvey Steinberg disagreed with the suspension and blamed Goodell's office “unprofessional and inappropriate" actions because Marshall learned of it secondhand.
-- Browns return demon Joshua Cribbs, who has been fishing for a new contract, says the $15 million Devin Hester received from the Bears "got my attention." Somewhat ominously for the Browns, Cribbs has switched agents since signing a six-year deal in 2006.
-- If Jon Gruden wants Brett Favre as his quarterback, he ain't talkin'. Gruden dodged questions about Favre on Wednesday amid reports that his Tampa Bay Bucs and the New York Jets are the frontrunners fto work out a deal with the Packers for the future Hall of Famer. If Favre does sign in Tampa, the Bucs will instantly become an NFC darling.
-- The Boston Globe sent reporter Aaron Kaplowitz to Nicaragua to write about how members of an impoverished village in that country are running around in Patriots' 19-0 garb. Wonder if they stumbled across any 20-year-old "Browns AFC champions" gear?
-- John Dudley