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Strahan: 'I'm Done'

Michael Strahan is calling it quits.

The all-time sack leader in Giants history and one of the biggest and most appealing stars in the New York market told FoxSports.com that he will retire rather than player another year in the NFL.

"It was important that my teammates knew which way I was going before they got on the field to start the work to defend our title,” Strahan, 36, told FOXSports.com. “It’s time. I’m done.”

Strahan started 15 of 16 games in 2007, making 46 tackles and nine sacks. He had 141.5 career sacks, fifth-best all-time, and also set the single-season mark with 22.5 sacks in 2001.

He is walking away from a $4 million salary for the final year of his contract, and could end up as a football commentator, maybe on Fox.

Passaic Quartet Ready for New York/New Jersey All-Star Classic

For four Passaic County athletes, Sunday will mark the official end of their high school sports careers.

Kumar Davis of Eastside, Jarel Lowery of Paterson Catholic and Matt Dortch and Chris Pantale of Wayne Valley will play in Sunday’s New York/New Jersey All-Star Football Classic at Rutgers Stadium. The game, pitting the top seniors from the Empire State against those from the Garden State, will be televised live at 3 o’clock on MY9 and rebroadcast over the summer occasionally on the NFL Network.

“I’m real excited about this, playing with the best players in the state,” said Lowery, a 6-foot-4, 280-pound defensive lineman who is headed to Syracuse on a football scholarship. “(We’re) showing all of our skills and we’re going to come out with a victory.”

NY/NJ All-Star Classic Sunday

Eight Rutgers commits, as well as several players from Passaic and Bergen Counties, were invited to particpate in the New York/New Jersey All-Star Football Classic this Sunday at 3 p.m. at Rutgers Stadium. The game will be shown live on MY9 and rebroadcast throughout the summer on the NFL Network.

RUTGERS COMMITS

Marvin Booker, Piscataway

Marquis Hamm, New Brunswick

Brandon Jones, Winslop Township

Pat Kivlehan, St. Joseph (Montvale)

Eric LeGrand, Colonia

Mohamed Sanu, South Brunswick *

Rashad White, Teaneck

Tim Wright, Wall

* 2009 commitment

Savage Fired up for Rutgers; Smith, Larrow Impress

No college coaches were permitted at today's Big Time Football Showcase at Rutgers Stadium.

But college coaches from across the land could watch some highlights and interviews of the event on CBS College Sports during Thursday's night's post-Lost telecast.

The event was put on by Chris Melvin, Chuck Mound and Nick Lubischer, who for years have run the Elite College Combine each May in New Jersey. Because a new NCAA rule says college coaches can't attend combines, these guys worked out a deal with CBS College Sports to have Tom Lemming appear and interview various players.

Here are some snippets from those interviews...

QB TOM SAVAGE, Class of '09 Rutgers commit from Cardinal O'Hara (Pa.)

"I know I'm just going to go in there and work hard and the best player plays. I didn't want to do the whole depth chart math and just try and see who's leaving, who's coming in. I just wanted to go in there and work hard and see what happens.

"They're all great ballplayers at Rutgers and they're all going to be great athletes, and I just wanted to keep talking to them because I think they're going to build something special here. They already have, three straight bowl games.

TV Offers Exposure After NCAA Ban

Brendan Murphy doesn't own a big-time Division I football scholarship.

Murphy doesn't even have a single college scholarship offer. But the Passaic Valley junior safety hopes all of that will change tonight.

And it just might play out on TV.

Murphy is one of several area football players invited to compete alongside blue-chip prospects such as Rutgers-bound quarterback Tom Savage and Notre Dame-bound running back Theo Riddick at the Big Time Football Showcase at Rutgers Stadium. Highlights of the event will be simulcast on the CBS College Sports network (formerly CSTV), allowing college scouts from across the nation to watch recruits run the 40-yard dash and participate in various positional drills.

Read the full story here.

Savage on Display at RU; Jersey Standouts at Big Time

Future Rutgers QB Tom Savage  of Philadelphia Cardinal O'Hara and Notre Dame-bound RB Theo Riddick of (Sommerville) Immaculata will be among the big-name stars on display Thursday night in the Big Time Football Showcase at Rutgers Stadium.

Some 270 of the nation's top prep football players, including Saddle Brook LB Steve Beauharnais, who holds an offer from Rutgers, and many other Passaic and Bergen stars, will compete in the event. It is open to the public (for a fee) and highlights will be simulcast on CBS College Sports TV (formerly CSTV).

Among those coming with offers from Rutgers are Verona LB Carlo Calabrese and Union DE Michael Larrow, "whom Lemming calls the biggest sleeper in the state."

College coaches are not allowed to attend the event because of a new NCAA rule, but can watch the players run the 40-yard dash and participate in various positional drills on TV.

Eight RU Commits Invited to NY/NJ All-Star Classic

Eight Rutgers commits, as well as several players from Passaic and Bergen Counties, were invited to participate in the New York / New Jersey All-Star Football Classic June 8 at Rutgers Stadium.

Here are the Rutgers commits:
Marvin Booker, Piscataway
Marquis Hamm,, New Brunswick
Brandon Jones, Winslow Township
Pat Kivlehan, St. Joseph (Montvale)
Eric LeGrand, Colonia
*Mohamed Sanu, South Brunswick
Rashad White, Teaneck
Tim Wright, Wall
*- 2009 verbal commitment

For the Passaic and Bergen players....

Hill, Smith, Davis in New York/ New Jersey All-Star Classic

Florida-bound athlete Will Hill of St. Peter's Prep and Michigan-bound S Brandon Smith of New Brunswick will headline the New Jersey team in the New York/New Jersey Football Classic June 8 at Rutgers Stadium.

The game will also feature eight players headed to Rutgers, as well as UMass-bound RB Kumar Davis of Paterson Eastside; Syracuse-bound DT Jarel Lowery of Paterson Catholic; and Central Connecticut-bound RB Matt Dortch of Wayne Valley.

The game will be broadcast live with FOX-NY on WWOR- TV 9 in the New York Metro Area starting at 3:00 PM. “The Classic” will also be rebroadcast throughout the summer. WFAN personality Jerry Recco and Shaun O'Hara of the Super Bowl champion Giants will handle the play-by-play and color commentary. O’Hara will be joined by other former Rutgers Scarlet Knights including L.J. Smith of the Philadelphia Eagles, each offering commentary and interviews along the sidelines.

The Classic, formerly known as the Governor's Bowl, matches the top players from New York against those from New Jersey. Former players in the game include Giants WR David Tyree of Montclair, who made that spectacular catch in the Super Bowl, and former Rutgers RB Ray Rice, who is entering the NFL Draft.

Click here for my recent feature on Rice.

Kumar Davis to UMass

Stanford's loss is UMass's gain.

Eastside running back/safety Kumar Davis said he grew tired of waiting
to hear if he had been admitted to Stanford, and ultimately decided to play for Division I-AA UMass instead. The Minutemen finished 10-3 and ranked No. 6 nationally last season.

The 6-foot, 200-pound Davis will sign a National Letter of Intent Thursday  at Eastside. Twenty four hours later, he will play for the Passaic County basketball championship when No. 6 Eastside meets No. 1 Paterson Catholic at noon at Wayne Valley.

"I'm real excited," Davis said Thursday by phone. "They're I-AA but they still have big-time football and they still compete for the national
championship often."

Rice Ready to Roll at Combine

FAIR LAWN -- Ray Rice's life is about to change dramatically.

The former Rutgers running back is at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, where he is among the players being put through a series of drills, tests and interviews in front of more than 600 NFL personnel, including head coaches, general managers and scouts. The combine begins today.

The results will determine where the 5-foot-9, 200-pound Rice will get chosen in April's NFL Draft. That, in turn, will impact his salary and maybe his future.

"It's going to change your whole life," Rice, 21, said Monday during a training session at the Parisi Speed School in Fair Lawn, where he has been training for more than a month. "It's one of those dreams come true. You just have to work through the event.

Read the full story here.