NFL '12 Dread News - Week 21

Commissioner Goodell, whose bright idea it was to schedule a Super Bowl to be played in an outdoor stadium in New York (so next year, after spending a thousand bucks for a ticket but then you can't make it to the game because NYC is in the middle of a paralyzing, 20-inch snowstorm, you'll know who to blame), also is determined to add another notable accomplishment to his resume: ridding the league of the Pro Bowl.

In one form or another the Pro Bowl - the NFL's postseason All-Star Game - had been played for 61 consecutive years prior to this season. But that streak nearly came to an end because Goodell was ready to pull the plug (and you can hardly blame him) after last year's game 'featured' a complete and blatant lack of effort and intensity by the players, especially those on defense. "Well, if you don't want to play hard, then let's not play at all," was the commissioner's thinking. But apparently, the players association was not on the same page as the commish. True, most of the players do not want to play hard. But they enjoy being recognized as the best players in the league; they enjoy the camaraderie with other players; and they enjoy the chance to escape winter and take the family out to Hawaii for a nice, weeklong vacation.

Goodell ended up granting the Pro Bowl a one year stay of execution but put it on double secret probation. So the goal for the players in this year's game was to make it look like they were playing hard - but not so hard that there would be a bunch of injuries. And the verdict? The effort level last Sunday was significantly higher than in last year's game. But was it sufficient to convince Goodell to take the Pro Bowl off of death row for good? Probably. Maybe. I hope so.

I was tuned to the game but wasn't paying much attention to it. There were 13 touchdowns scored in the NFC's 62-35 victory over the AFC; and 3 of them were by players with dreads. Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald (photo above) had his poorest stats this season since his rookie year in 2004 (mostly because his QBs were poor); but you can't have a Pro Bowl without him, so it was great to see him on the field.
His 9-yard TD catch in the 3rd quarter was his 8th career Pro Bowl TD reception (extending his own record). Like Fitzgerald, Browns WR Josh Cribbs wasn't chosen when the teams were first selected. But he got the nod as the kick returner for the AFC because Ravens WR Jacoby Jones had slightly more important duty elsewhere. Cribbs fumbled away one of his kickoff returns but also had 3 catches for 56 yards, including a 4-yard TD (photo below). Seahawks RB Marshawn Lynch (4 carries for 21 yards) scored the other TD - on a 1-yard run in the 2nd quarter.

Of the 834 total yards in the game, only 93 were on the ground, and just 15 by the AFC. Chiefs RB Jamaal Charles accounted for 12 of those 15, on 3 carries. Three fourths of the NFC's starting secondary was manned by players with dreads. Seahawks S Earl Thomas, starting in place of 49ers S Dashon Goldson (who had slightly more important duty elsewhere), got 1 of the 3 interceptions by the NFC defense. But it was a rough day for Bears CBs Charles Tillman and Tim Jennings. They combined for 7 tackles but also gave up 3 touchdowns - all on passes to Bengals WR A.J. Green. The game MVP was Vikings TE Kyle Rudolph (photo below), who had 5 catches for 122 yards and 1 TD.

In the week before the Pro Bowl the NFL Network showed reruns of the Pro Bowl Skills Challenges that were held before the Pro Bowls following the 2005 and 2006 seasons. If you're wondering why they haven't had any more skills challenges since then, I think I know why. And it brings back bad memories. If you happened to see the challenge from the '06 season, you'll remember that Jaguars CB Rashean Mathis was entered in the fastest man contest - a 40-yard dash between 4 players. Mathis either pulled or tore a quad muscle during the event (I didn't have time to search for a better photo, but if you save the photo below and then enlarge it, you can see Mathis grimacing as he approaches the finish line) and as a result was unable to play in the game a couple of days later. You didn't hear anything about it because the NFL didn't want you to. You might also remember that a few years before that, Robert Edwards, a RB for the Patriots, severely injured his leg while playing in a beach flag football game just before the Pro Bowl. So even though they're fun to do and fun to watch, the skills competitions were eliminated because the NFL thought there was no sense in having something that further increases the chance for injury.

Sadly Mathis was never the same after suffering that injury. Rashean was named all-pro in 2006 after intercepting 8 passes. To that point he had not missed a single game in his first 4 seasons in the league. He was in the prime of his career and was on track to have a career that would earn him consideration for the Hall of Fame. But in the 6 seasons since then, only once (2010) has he stayed healthy enough to play a full season; and he hasn't been able to play anywhere near a Pro Bowl level. Rashean had 20 regular season INT between 2003 and 2006, but just 10 in the last 6 seasons; and for the first time in his career he had no INT at all this season. Yes, I know that Mathis isn't the first player to have his career derailed by injury; but damn, I sure would like to have seen what would have happened with him had they cancelled the Pro Bowl Skills Challenge a year earlier.

"The Kansas City Chiefs made a key addition to their coaching staff ..." - those were the opening words of a release from the Chiefs website earlier this week. And the words that finished that sentence really brought a smile to my face ...... While watching the short cuts of a Dolphins' game late this season, I noticed someone with long dreads standing on the sideline not in uniform. I knew it couldn't be a player. And then I thought, "I wonder if that's Al Harris." Apparently it was - although when I checked to see if he had joined the Dolphins' coaching staff, his name was not on the roster. It turns out he was a coaching intern with the Dolphins this season, and now the Chiefs have hired him to be an assistant secondary coach. While Harris was in the prime of his career with the Packers, it was mentioned numerous times in the local media how serious he was about watching film while preparing for games. You pretty much knew that some day he was going to be a coach. Now he gets his shot with Coach Reid in KC. But they better let him keep his dreads.

It was well publicized back in Week 3 when Ravens WR Torrey Smith played (and starred) in a victory over the Patriots less than 24 hours after his brother had been killed in a motorcycle crash. Well, there was a feature on the Ravens' website earlier this week (link below) about how another player with dreads has had to deal with much more adversity than Smith. This wasn't well publicized, but that's because Pernell McPhee didn't want it to be.

The Ravens' 2nd year DE, in addition to being slowed by injuries, played this season with a heavy heart after having lost three people close to him in a 7-month span during the offseason.I don't know if McPhee has gotten any criticism from Ravens' fans this season. But in general people are quick to criticize when they see a player not playing well. I just wish those people would realize that if a player is struggling, most of the time there's a good reason for it. And after what McPhee has endured, it's no surprise that he wasn't as productive as last season. But he's still standing, and I look for his career to take off - starting last Sunday.
http://prod.www.ravens.clubs.nfl.com/news/article-1/Pernell-McPhee%E2%80%99s-Difficult-Season-Tests-Toughness/55d415fa-8219-47e6-9fbe-d3380c53316e

Unlike doing posts on Yardbarker, with Blogger you can edit any of your posts at any time - or even make them disappear altogether. But except for typographical errors, I'm not going to change any of my posts (at least I'm not planning to). I mean, once somebody has read something, they're not likely to go back and read it again. So if I edit something, anyone who has already read the post will miss the change. Hey, if I'm wrong, I'm wrong. I'll make the corrections in later posts ...... And I have a couple of corrections now from my Week 19 report. First, in the dread gallery section I mentioned that Ravens CB Corey Graham should have been called for pass interference. Actually, Graham didn't make contact with Broncos WR Eric Decker on the play, he just intercepted the pass after it had been deflected. The deflection was caused by - and the penalty should have been called on - CB Chykie Brown. Sorry about that, Corey ..... And in the dreads focus section I made that colossal mistake of forgetting to mention Kevin Ogletree, who was the head dread in my Week 1 report. Thankfully Ogletree, sometime around Thanksgiving, cut off those horrible-looking dreads he had (left photo below). They had to go. He is now clean cut (right photo below) but hopefully he'll make a second (and better) try at growing dreads. But if not, I'll understand.    

DREADS FOCUS
Knowing that my crystal ball would be right about the Super Bowl (lol), I saved the AFC North and NFC West for last. They also happen to be the divisions that ranked 1st and 2nd in TD by players with dreads in 2012. My guess is that the NFC West had a slight edge for 1st place. I'll find out for sure and list all the players with dreads who scored touchdowns at a later date (probably much later).

AFC NORTH

BALTIMORE RAVENS
Lots of great dreads here, but unfortunately too many of them went on the injured list, with the biggest loss being Lardarius Webb, who tore an ACL in Week 6. With Ray Lewis retiring, if Ravens draft one more LB with dreads, they could (but probably wouldn't) have an all-dread starting LB corps next season. The new guy (Khaseem Greene?) would join Dannell Ellerbe, Josh Bynes, and Courtney Upshaw. Torrey Smith (photo below) a superstar in the making. On the down side, Terrence Cody showing no interest in letting his dreads grow long - they're the same length (or maybe a bit shorter even) than when he left college (Alabama) three years ago. Ex-dread Anthony Allen growing his hair again, but even if he does bring back the dreads, it'll be a long time before they attain the awesome status his former dreads had.
ACTIVE: LB Josh Bynes, DT Terrence Cody, LB Dannell Ellerbe, DE Pernell McPhee, WR Torrey Smith, LB Courtney Upshaw
INACTIVE: RB Damien Berry (IR), S Christian Thompson (IR), CB Lardarius Webb (IR), WR LaQuan Williams (IR)
GRADE: A-

 CINCINNATI BENGALS
In Part 2 of dread gallery 130 I asked the question, "But will they (undrafted rookies Vontaze Burfict and Emmanuel Lamur) still be in the picture come Week 1?" Much to my delight the answer was yes (!), with Lamur appearing in 9 games and Burfict - finally playing up to his potential - appearing in all 16, including 14 starts. Things didn't go as well for another rookie as 1st round pick Dre Kirkpatrick's supposedly minor knee surgery just before training camp turned into a season-long ordeal. He played in only 5 games. A couple of former ex-dreads now bringing back their dreads, with Adam Jones' dreads growing much faster than Michael Johnson's. A trio of sick RBs, but only BenJarvus Green-Ellis (photo below) made an impact: Green-Ellis fumbled for the first three times in his career (after no fumbles in 4 seasons with Patriots) but otherwise gave the team the solid performance they were expecting; unfortunately Bernard Scott (knee surgery) went on IR after Week 5; and rookie Jourdan Brooks, with the best dreads of the three, unfortunately cut from the practice squad (but has been re-signed for next season). Last but not least, Reggie Nelson's dreads in the argument for the best in the league.
ACTIVE: LB Vontaze Burfict, RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis, DE Michael Johnson, CB Adam Jones, LB Emmanuel Lamur, S Reggie Nelson, DT Pat Sims
INACTIVE: CB Dre Kirkpatrick (IR), S Robert Sands (IR), RB Bernard Scott (IR)
GRADE: A

CLEVELAND BROWNS
As expected, the addition of rookies Trent Richardson and Travis Benjamin seriously increased team's number of TD by players with dreads. Richardson (photo below) did so well with his dreads reduced in college (Alabama) that I was afraid he might keep the same look in the NFL. But no, thankfully, Trent's dreads were flowing almost all year (I remember only one game where he had them reduced). Please click on this link for a feature on Benjamin from the Browns website, including highlights of his 3 touchdowns ..... http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/media-center/videos/Browns_Report_Travis_Benjamin_Interview_1226/de578834-c079-4b9b-926d-f2a3e14577b5 ..... Undrafted rookie Ishmaa'ily Kitchen couldn't make the cut with Ravens' loaded D-line, but Browns picked him up, and he was a minor contributor. As always, Josh Cribbs excellent on special teams. And two major contributors on defense - sack man Jabaal Sheard and Usama Young (who started 11 games before going on IR in Week 17).
ACTIVE: WR Travis Benjamin, OT Oniel Cousins, WR Josh Cribbs, DT Ishmaa'ily Kitchen, RB Trent Richardson, DE Jabaal Sheard, TE Alex Smith
INACTIVE: S Usama Young (IR)
GRADE: A-

PITTSBURGH STEELERS
Only team in the division with no TD by players with dreads, and that likely would not have been the case had not David Johnson tore his ACL in Week 1 of the preseason. Rookie Sean Spence also lost with serious knee injury in the preseason. Willie Colon finished season on IR for the 3rd straight year, but at least he lasted until Week 13 this time (after playing 0 and 1 games the previous two seasons). Only healthy players when season ended were Steve McLendon and newcomers Josh Victorian (photo below) and Marshall McFadden.
ACTIVE: LB Marshall McFadden, DT Steve McLendon, CB Josh Victorian
INACTIVE: G Willie Colon (IR), TE/FB David Johnson (IR), LB Sean Spence (IR)
GRADE: C-

      
NFC WEST

ARIZONA CARDINALS
More sick dreads here than everyone in the NFL except for Packers. Andre Roberts' dreads coming along nicely, but it's still going to be a couple more years before they're easily visible outside his helmet. Both he and Hall-of-Fame-bound Larry Fitzgerald (photo below) dreaming of a better QB - either by draft or by trade. I don't think this ever happened, but in a nickel defense Cards could put 7 players with dreads on the field, with 4 DBs, LBs Quentin Groves and Reggie Walker, and Darnell Dockett up front. Last season Dockett cut off some of his dreads. This year he had them reduced too often. Hard luck Ryan Williams went on IR for 2nd straight year, this time after suffering shoulder injury when he took one of the hardest hits of the season in Week 5 game against Rams.
ACTIVE: WR LaRon Byrd, DT Darnell Dockett, WR Larry Fitzgerald, CB Jamell Fleming, CB William Gay, LB Quentin Groves, S Rashad Johnson, WR Andre Roberts, CB Greg Toler, LB Reggie Walker
INACTIVE: RB Ryan Williams (IR)
GRADE: A

ST. LOUIS RAMS
The rookies can play. Janoris Jenkins (2nd round pick) and Daryl Richardson (7th round) have bright futures, especially Jenkins. But guys, those reduced dreads got to go. Come on, you're killing me. Steven Jackson (photo below) the only bright spot. I don't think Jackson's dreads have stopped growing, but they haven't been getting any longer the last couple of seasons. They're still plenty long enough though, even if he has been getting them trimmed a bit.
ACTIVE: RB Steven Jackson, CB Janoris Jenkins, RB Daryl Richardson
INACTIVE: S Matthew Daniels (IR), DT Trevor Laws (IR), G Brandon Washington (PS)
GRADE: C

SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
Issues galore with the dreads on the NFC champs. I don't know, but maybe its a team rule that you have to cut off your dreads before joining the team and then grow them back. That's what C.J. Spillman did. That's what Ricky Jean Francois did. Anthony Dixon cut his off while still in college (Mississippi State) but is bringing them back - with color. Pro Bowl player Dashon Goldson doesn't have Pro Bowl dreads anymore. Like Darnell Dockett, Goldson cut off some of the dreads on the sides of his head. I even have a complaint with Ray McDonald (photo below). His dreads are noticeably shorter this season than in the past. Star LB Aldon Smith growing his hair this season - it remains to be seen if he prefers braids or dreads.
ACTIVE: RB Anthony Dixon, S Dashon Goldson, DT Ricky Jean Francois, DE Ray McDonald, S C.J. Spillman, DT Ian Williams
INACTIVE: None
GRADE: C+

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
Coach Carroll didn't have very many dreads on the team when he was at USC but is making up for it now. Sick dreads abound; but there are some disappointments, the biggest of which is rookie Bruce Irvin's reduced dreads. Also on the down side: James Carpenter ended season on injured list for 2nd year in a row. Richard Sherman named an all-pro at CB but wasn't selected for the Pro Bowl team (hmm). In addition to Sherman, Marshawn Lynch and Earl Thomas (photo below) also made the dreaded dozen for this season. Best dreads on the team award goes to Sidney Rice, as rookie Winston Guy lost his chance for the honor when he showed up at training camp with dreads a few inches shorter than they were last season at Kentucky.
ACTIVE: DE Patrick Chukwurah, S Winston Guy, DE Bruce Irvin, G Rishaw Johnson, RB Marshawn Lynch, WR Sidney Rice, CB Richard Sherman, S Earl Thomas
INACTIVE: OT James Carpenter (IR), CB Ron Parker (PS)
GRADE: A

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1. Bengals WR A.J. Green scores the 1st TD of the 2013 Pro Bowl, beating Bears CB Charles Tillman for a 6-yard reception on 4th and goal to give the AFC the lead just 59 seconds after the opening kickoff at Honolulu.
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2. Seahawks S Earl Thomas, after catching a lateral on a punt return, retreats even further and ends up losing 11 yards on the play early in 2nd quarter. It was a happier time for Thomas the other time he got his hands on the ball - that came when he got an INT in 3rd quarter. He also had 2 tackles (1-1).
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3. With time running out in 1st half, Larry Fitzgerald makes the catch inside the AFC 10-yard line and heads for the end zone, with only Jets CB Antonio Cromartie to beat .....
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4. ..... Fitzgerald and Cromartie collide at the 4-yard line ..... and .....
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5. ..... Cromartie saves the TD, knocking Fitzgerald out of bounds at the 3-yard line after a 15-yard gain on 3rd and 3 with 6 seconds to go until halftime. It was one of 3 tackles (3-0) for Cromartie, who also had a 20-yard kickoff return. NFC got the TD on the next play on a reception by game MVP Kyle Rudolph to take a 31-14 lead. 
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6. A couple of 'Dawgs tangle as Bears CB Tim Jennings, who starred at Georgia from 2002-05, tackles A.J. Green (UGA 2008-10), knocking him out of bounds at the AFC 26-yard line after a 6-yard reception on the first play of a drive early in 3rd quarter .....
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7. ..... 6 plays later Jennings is in pursuit of Texans TE Owen Daniels and eventually makes the tackle at the NFC 36 after a 13-yard catch and run to convert a 3rd and 3. It ended up being a 16-play, 80-yard drive, with Josh Cribbs getting the TD to pull AFC within 38-21. Jennings finished the afternoon with 4 tackles (4-0).
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8. It wouldn't be the Pro Bowl without a TD catch by Larry Fitzgerald. Here Larry makes a 9-yard reception in front of Chiefs LB Derrick Johnson on 4th and 4 to up NFC's lead to 45-21 late in 3rd quarter. It was his 8th career TD catch in the Pro Bowl, more than any other player.
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9. 5-foot-8 Tim Jennings can sky, but he's beaten so badly here that he can't get up to challenge 6-foot-4 A.J. Green on the fade on 3rd and goal  ......
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10. ..... Green lands with both feet clearly inbounds for his 2nd TD of the game, a 4-yard reception to cut NFC lead to 55-28 with 11:36 remaining in game.
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11. A.J. Green, not done, yet, makes his 3rd TD catch of the day, beating Charles Tillman deep for a 49-yard TD catch to conclude the scoring with 5:54 to play. Tillman finished with 3 tackles (3-0) and 1 PBU. Green ended up with 7 catches for 119 yards. But it's going to be a different story when the Bengals travel to Soldier Field next season.
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12. Just in case this was the last Pro Bowl ever, RB Jamaal Charles has proof that we was there, posing with Chiefs' teammates (left-to right) P Dustin Colquitt, LB Tambi Hali, and S Eric Berry after the game. Charles had 12 yards rushing on just 3 carrries in the AFC's 62-35 loss to the NFC. Aloha.
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One of the things I really like about Blogger (which I didn't know about when I first switched over from Yardbarker) is that it allows you to see what people are searching for on Google when they click on something you've posted. For example, there have been several searches (who knows, maybe it's the same person over and over) for a couple of sick college football players - ODU WR Marquel Thomas and Eastern Illinois RB Jake Walker. One of the searches that certainly caught my attention was for "longest dreads in the NFL." Whoever was searching for that couldn't have been very satisfied with the results of the search, at least not from what I saw on the first couple of pages on Google. So, let's try to fix that. Sure, I'd love to take out the yardstick and give everyone's dreads an official measurement. But in the absence of that, the rest of this week's dread gallery will be a countdown of the 20 players in the NFL with the longest dreads. The top 10 were kind of obvious. But choosing the second 10, for real, was very difficult, because you arguably could put any of about 30 players in the second 10. So this is my list, which is just my opinion and completely unofficial. You could come up with a completely different top 20, and I probably wouldn't have an argument with it. I snuck a couple of my personal favorites in there (that probably shouldn't be), but for the most part I tried to be objective. I'll try to keep my comments to a minimum.
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13. NUMBER 20 - Seahawks WR Sidney Rice. Dreads get steadily and noticeably longer each year. I wish everybody would do their dreads like he has.
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14. NUMBER 19 - Browns rookie WR Travis Benjamin - Dreads since 8th grade, but they'd be even longer than this if he hadn't trimmed them a bit. Travis was a bit reluctant to show off his dreads at times on gamedays while he was in college (the U), but that certainly wasn't the case this season. He had them at their full glory each and every week in 2012.
http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index,ssf/2012/12/five_questions_with_cleveland_13.html 
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15. NUMBER 18 - Browns S Usama Young - The longer his dreads get, the better he plays; I wish that were true for everybody.
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16. NUMBER 17 - Packers RB DuJuan Harris - It'd be a shame to let your dreads get this long and have no place to show them off, so hopefully the way he finished the season with Green Bay will lead to a productive career.
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17. NUMBER 16 - Colts CB Josh Gordy - Quality of his dreads has been better than quality of his play so far in his NFL career, although he does have 3 career INT in 30 games.
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18. NUMBER 15 - Colts RB Deji Karim - His dreads were barely out of his helmet when he left Southern Illinois in 2009, so its shocking to see them this long so soon. I don't doubt that he has fast-growing dreads, but I think he added a couple of inches worth of extensions this past offseason.
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19. NUMBER 14 - Cardinals CB Greg Toler - His dreads were already far outside the helmet during his rookie season in 2009, so it's no surprise he's in the top 20.
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20. NUMBER 13 - Former Bills RB Johnny White - It's a close call, but I think White edges out Karim and Harris for longest RB dreads in the league. But like those two, he's struggling just to stay in the league. Finished the season as a free agent after rushing for 34 yards with Bills early this season.
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21. NUMBER 12 - Bills rookie CB Stephon Gilmore - If he lets his dreads keep growing the way they have been, he'll have a chance to end up with with the longest dreads in league history by the time he's done playing. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
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22. NUMBER 11 - Redskins S Brandon Meriweather - Career has hit a bump in the road these last two seasons (after 4 good seasons with Patriots), but his dreads are looking better than ever.
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23. NUMBER 10 - Falcons CB Dunta Robinson - numerous head injuries in the past couple of years haven't slowed down the growth of his dreads at all. Seriously though, with the way he uses his head to tackle, I fear for his safety probably more than any other NFL player.
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24. NUMBER 9 - Chargers S Atari Bigby - the way he looked when he left UCF in 2004, he should be ranked number 1 by now, but something seems to have gone wrong with his dreads. Certainly the longest of his dreads are worthy of a top ranking, but many of his dreads haven't reached that length. Don't know why.
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25. NUMBER 8 - Cowboys WR Dwayne Harris - he may not have the most dreads, but you won't find many longer than his. I'm definitely not a Cowboys fan, but it was great to see him making plays late this season after a slow start to his career.
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26. NUMBER 7 - Colts DT Ricardo Mathews - dreads down to the bottom of the #91 on the back of his jersey. Nice. Believe it or not, there were a couple of games this season where he got all that hair entirely tucked inside his helmet.
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27. NUMBER 6 - Packers rookie S Jerron McMillian - A rookie coming into the league with dreads already this long. Mercy. Let's just hope his career lasts for as long as the number of years he's been growing these dreads.
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28. NUMBER 5 - Buccaneers DE Adrian Clayborn - maybe this isn't the best photo (from training camp) to show how long his dreads are, but take my word for it - they deserve to be in the top 5. What I like the most about Clayborn is that he doesn't restrict his dreads at all, not even a rubber band - when he's on the field; and that makes for some really interesting photos.
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29. NUMBER 4 - Jaguars CB Rashean Mathis - If you play long enough and you do your dreads right, you'll end up with dreads like Mathis, who has been in the Jaguars secondary for a decade now. Whether or not this is his last NFL season, he has set the bar very high for anybody planning to take away his title as the CB with the longest dreads ever.  
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30. NUMBER 3 - Buccaneers G Davin Joseph - Pro Bowl player and Pro Bowl length dreads too - down past the number 75 on the back of his jersey. Unfortunately missed entire 2012 season after suffering injury in preseason game. Hope to see you back in 2013, Davin.
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31. NUMBER 2 - Bengals S Reggie Nelson - no, that's not a parachute trailing behind Reggie as he celebrates his INT against Cowboys on Dec. 9, that's his hair! Nelson doesn't look half bad when he plays with reduced dreads, which he often does (too often). But it's a real treat to see him in the games when he turns them loose.
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32. NUMBER 1 - Raiders LB Philip Wheeler - his dreads grow really fast, so I'm not going to accuse him of adding extensions. Whether it's all his own hair or not, this is the look you should strive for when you start growing dreads. Philip has only been in the league for 5 seasons, so potentially (hopefully) these dreads will get much longer in the seasons ahead. Can't wait to see.
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Some of the players who barely missed my top 20 include (in alphabetical order) Antwan Applewhite (CAR), LaRon Byrd (ARIZ), Josh Cribbs (CLEV), Larry Fitzgerald (ARIZ), BenJarvus Green-Ellis (CIN), Winston Guy (SEA), Mario Harvey (IND), Chris Ivory (NO), Quinn Johnson (TEN), Rashad Johnson (ARIZ), Mikel Leshoure (DET), Lance Louis (CHI), Terrell Manning (GB), Mike Peterson (ATL), Mistral Raymond (MIN), Richard Sherman (SEA), Torrey Smith (BAL), and Brandon Spikes (NE). 
And I think these players have dreads long enough to make the top 20, but we won't know (and may never know) unless they quit reducing their dreads: Darnell Dockett (ARIZ), Daryl Richardson (STL), and Isaiah Stanback (JAC).

Anyway, that's my top 20. Feel free to agree or disagree.

NEXT
Super Bowl 47. I see that the Ravens are underdogs again (4 points this time). Will they ever learn? ...... One thing my crystal ball for sure won't be right about is the Super Bowl MVP - because Lardarius Webb is injured and won't be in uniform. And the final score? Back in September CB predicted Ravens 13 49ers 12, so I'll have to stick with that. Actually both teams' offenses look capable of scoring many more points than that. But remember, when they met on Thanksgiving last season, they played a 16-6 game, so maybe (hopefully) the defenses match up well against these offenses. We'll see.