Shawne Merriman Officially “Out” For Giants Game

The Bills announced that outside linebacker Shawne Merriman will not travel with the team and has been downgraded to out for Sunday’s game against the Giants.

Merriman had been listed as “doubtful” after his left Achilles’ tendon flared up during Thursday’s practice. Merriman has also been dealing with a shoulder injury that kept him out of Wednesday’s practice.

In five games this season, Merriman has nine tackles and a quarterback sack.

The Bills are on their bye week after the Giants game, which gives Merriman additional time to rest before the Bills host the Washington Redskins in Toronto on October 30.

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Manningham Officially Out Sunday

What we feared is now official. Mario Manningham did not make the trip to Philadelphia and will not play Sunday as he tries to recover from a concussion. The loss of Manningham hurts an already depleted receiving core. Victor Cruz, Jerrel Jernigan, Brandon Stokley: step on up.

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Brett Favre Files Papers with the League to Officially Retire

It for sure wasn’t the way he wanted to go out, but it seems like it’s finally time for Vikings quarterback Brett Favre to walk away from the NFL. Today Favre officially filed his retirement papers with the NFL, the league confirmed. He had already said that after the season finale in Detroit, a game in which he didn’t play due to a concussion, that the game would be his last.

“I know it’s time, and that’s OK. It is,” Favre said after the game that day. “Again, I hold no regrets, and I can’t think of too many players offhand that can walk away and say that. Individually and from a team standpoint, it was way more than I ever dreamed of.”

Favre though is well known for putting people on hold with talk of retirement. The first time he walked away was 2008 with the Packers on March 6th, and then he came back that summer and eventually was traded to the New York Jets.

In 2009 with the Jets he retired again, only to come back and ink with the Vikings, and he had a huge season, leading the team to the NFC Title Game before they folded to the Saints in OT.

This past season he came back, but the season was a disaster, as the team not only didn’t play well, but Favre ended up getting hurt and his consecutive game streak was eventually snapped.

He was picked off 19 times this season and his 69.9 quarterback rating is the lowest of his career. The Vikings sunk to the bottom of the NFC North after starting the season with Super Bowl aspirations, coach Brad Childress was fired during the season and Favre was fined $50,000 for failure to cooperate with an NFL investigation into allegations that he sent lewd photos and messages to a team employee when both worked for the New York Jets in 2008.

Favre’s reputation took a serious hit from the humiliating scandal, which tarnished the image of one of the league’s most popular players.

His union with receiver Randy Moss also was a spectacular failure and his cherished streak of 297 straight starts ended, with a sprained throwing shoulder making it impossible for Favre to let those famously zip-filled passes rip from his right arm.

And just for good measure, the Metrodome roof caved in to provide a perfect metaphor for Favre and the Vikings’ 2010, forcing the Vikings to play “home” games at Detroit and at the University of Minnesota’s outdoor stadium in December.

“It’s been a wonderful experience for me,” Favre said. “This year did not work out the way we would have hoped, but that’s football. I don’t regret coming back. I enjoyed my experience here.”

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Holgorsen officially headed to West Virginia

Dana Holgorsen's stay in Stillwater is officially a short one.

The former Cowboys offensive coordinator will be West Virginia's offensive coordinator in 2011 before taking over for Bill Stewart as head coach in 2012.

"I think the transition year for coach Holgorsen will be very beneficial to the football program, and the opportunity to learn from coach Bill Stewart should not be underestimated," West Virginia athletics director Oliver Luck said in a release. "Coach Holgorsen is one of the top coaches in college football. His success at Texas Tech, Houston and Oklahoma State speaks for itself. We know that coach Holgorsen will bring a high-powered offense that will be incredibly entertaining to watch at Milan Puskar Stadium."

Holgorsen, a finalist for the 2010 Broyles Award as college football's top assistant coach, helped Oklahoma State rank third nationally in scoring offense and first nationally in total offense in his first and only season with the Cowboys.

Quarterback Brandon Weeden, running back Kendall Hunter and receiver Justin Blackmon were only the second trio in NCAA history with at least 3,000 passing yards, 1,5000 rushing yards and 1,500 receiving yards in the same season.

"I look forward to the opportunity to join West Virginia University as offensive coordinator for the 2011 season,” Holgorsen said in a statement. "It will be a privilege to work alongside two great football coaches in Bill Stewart and Jeff Casteel. Naturally, I am excited about succeeding coach Stewart in 2012 and becoming the head coach of the Mountaineers and leading the West Virginia football program to even greater heights. My goal is to win a national championship at West Virginia University, and I firmly believe that coach Stewart has built a solid foundation, which will allow us to compete with the very best in the country."

After Holgorsen takes over as head coach in 2012, Stewart will remain at West Virginia in an administrative role.

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