Vic: The quarterback is an eligible receiver.

Vic: Yeah, Bubba’s a jerk.

Vic: The league offered $3 million per team to make the move. The Steelers were a struggling franchise back then and Art Rooney decided he would take the money and make the move, but only if Art Modell and the Browns would go with them. Modell agreed, but it was a tough decision for him. I remember reading a funny story about it. At the time Modell was making the decision, he was battling a painful stomach ulcer and had to be hospitalized. Rooney was visiting him in the hospital when one of the other visitors in the room asked Rooney if he was going to move into the AFC or stay in the NFC. Rooney said, “I’m gonna go with my old buddy, Art (Modell).” At that moment, Modell felt a wave of stomach pain and winced. The Steelers and Browns were old-guard NFL teams. It was not an easy move for them and it wasn’t popular with their fans. The two teams are tied to each other, however, and where one went, the other had to go. Rooney believed that within a short time people would get over the move and the team would begin developing new rivalries, plus, they’d have the $3 million to help ease their pain. As it turned out, he was absolutely right. As for the Colts, Carroll Rosenbloom was their owner and taking the money was an easy decision for him.

Vic: Oh, yeah, we’re real close.

Vic: Yeah, Phil Mickelson would’ve gotten a free pass, as he has for all these years for his choke jobs in the Open. Hey, he hit the tent. The more appropriate question is: Would Arnold Palmer or Jack Nicklaus have gotten a free pass? No way.

Vic: The first training camp practice will be on Sat., July 26, at 10:15 a.m. The first practice in full pads is set for Mon., July 28, at seven p.m. The intrasquad scrimmage is set for Fri., Aug. 1, at 7:30 p.m. inside Jacksonville Municipal Stadium.

Vic: That’s why I’ve been saying for a couple of years that the current model doesn’t work and, as a result, the whole salary cap system is in jeopardy.

Vic: This isn’t new stuff. This goes all the way back to the early 1980’s. Hey, if they haven’t been able to fix it in nearly 30 years and with a complete makeover of the salary system, why would you think it could be fixed now? There are simple reasons why high draft picks make so much money as rookies. First of all, draft picks have always been regarded as pieces of gold. As I’ve said over and over, draft picks have been long been considered more valuable than players. Please, don’t write and split hairs with me on that one. You know what I mean. The second reason high draft picks are paid so high is because their agents know that if they go low coming in, their players will consistently make less money in every subsequent contract during their career than they would’ve earned in those contracts had they started higher with their first one. The third reason high draft picks get so much money is because they can. With all due respect to the commissioner’s comments, the fact of the matter is that the market will bear what the market can bear and high draft picks would literally have to be legislated against to keep their contracts down, and I just don’t see the union agreeing to that because the money those rookies get drives the contracts veterans get. I wish I had a dollar for every sports fan who believes the government shouldn’t interfere with business, but sports leagues should be allowed to deny players free enterprise. Value falls where value is. Negotiate!

Vic: As I said then, I wanted time to see what each team would do in the draft, free agency, etc. Addressing the need at defensive end in the draft caused me to make the Jaguars my pick to win the division. Injuries, of course, can change that just as quickly.

Vic: How will we get along without him?

Vic: Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Green Bay would be my picks for teams whose reputations might exceed their real strength. The Steelers, in my opinion, are in a rebuilding phase and that actually began last season but was masked by their division title. The Browns had a nice record last season but it came against a very weak schedule. The Packers are a magical name but they lost their magic man. They also played a very weak schedule last season. If you’re looking for two underrated candidates, I would pick Houston and Detroit. They’ve each spent a lot of years at the top of the draft accumulating players.

Vic: We talked to Reggie this morning. Reggie said he wasn’t aware of the rumor but knew of an impostor who created a myspace page in Reggie’s name. Reggie said he is not retiring. Obviously, somebody was using the Internet fraudulently.