By Zach Wilt, on January 10th, 2012 
Former Ravens wide receiver Derrick Mason officially announced his retirement from the NFL after 15 seasons. ”I’m done,” Mason told Aaron Wilson of Scout.com after a difficult 2011 campaign.
Mason was cut by the Ravens after the NFL lockout and was signed in New York by Rex Ryan and the Jets. In October, the Jets traded Mason to Houston after he reportedly frustrated with his playing time in New York. After the Ravens beat the Jets in week four, Mason told reporters that there were “cracks” in Brian Schottenheimer’s offense. A week later he was gone, shipped to the Texans for a seventh-round draft pick.
Houston cut Mason in December and on Monday he announced he was calling it quits. Mason’s departure from New York probably looked worse in October than it does now after their epic collapse. As a guy who was always known for talking, Mason made sure that people knew he wasn’t the problem in that locker room.
“They were a mess. It was a cluster you-know-what,” Mason told Wilson. ”If I was the problem, it would have stopped. I wasn’t the cancer in the locker room.”
By Zach Wilt, on December 13th, 2011 
The Ravens decision to cut Derrick Mason this summer wasn’t a popular one and was one that I contested after the NFL lockout. Mason eventually signed in Baltimore-North with Rex Ryan’s Jets, but was traded in mid-October to Houston.
On Monday, Mason was cut from the Texans roster just two months after he was acquired from New York.
At age 38, his career is likely finished. He finished with just six catches for 55 yards in seven games with the Texans. He left the Jets after complaining about offensive coordinator Bryan Schottenheimer’s play calling and played a small role in Houston as he will reportedly be replaced by Jeff Maehl, an undrafted rookie on Houston’s practice squad.
In Mason’s defense, Shottenheimer’s play calling did suck.
Mason was a two time Pro Bowler and fan favorite of Ravens fans. Thanks for the memories DMase.
By Zach Wilt, on December 11th, 2011  How good would the Indianapolis Colts be this season with a healthy Peyton Manning? That’s the question that football fans have been asking all season long. This Colts season is horrendous. Ten Peyton Mannings wouldn’t put them in the playoffs. They have much bigger issues than losing their quarterback.
Even with Peyton Manning this Ravens team would have defeated the Colts in week 14. Baltimore is rolling into the playoffs and the Colts are hoping to put a “1″ in the win column over the next couple weeks.
Baltimore ended a decade long drought against the Indianapolis Colts this week, defeating them 24-10, here are my thoughts on the victory.
- Suggs is the AFC Defensive Player of the Year - If Terrell Suggs finishes the 2011 season the same way he started it, he’s got the be the AFC’s defensive player of the year. Suggs racked up three strip sacks on Dan Orlovsky. On the season, T-Sizzle has a career high 13 sacks and the Ravens lead the NFL with 45. As Tony Lombardi of Ravens24x7.com tweets, Suggs could have had five sacks if the Colts weren’t holding so much. I’m guessing the refs felt bad for Indy.
- Rice’s career year - Ray Rice continues a dominate season and is the Ravens biggest threat on offensive heading into the playoffs. The days of Cam Cameron leaving Rice out of the offense seem like so long ago. Rice broke the 1000 yard mark this week and caught his 235th pass which puts him third in franchise history behind Todd Heap and Derrick Mason.
- Flacco in control - Joe Flacco managed the game against this bad Colts offense very successfully. Flacco threw for two touchdowns and crossed the 3,000 yards passing mark for the third straight year. The Ravens QB did throw a interception in the end zone, but CBS analyst Steve Tasker blamed Anquan Boldin for failing to break up the pass. In the first half, Joe Flacco was 14 of 19 for 138 yards, threw a touchdown pass earned a 111.3 QB rating.
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By Zach Wilt, on October 19th, 2011  One of those rare real sports moments occurred after the Ravens beat the Texans on Sunday. It was a moment that left many fans feeling satisfied, thinking to themselves that despite the men on the field making more in a week than they will make in a year that there actually is a human element to the game they spend an entire Sunday watching.
I’m talking of course about that moment that Ravens head coach John Harbaugh hugged his former player and current Texan, Derrick Mason, and said in is his ear “always a Raven.” The twitterverse exploded with joy over that Hallmark moment. How incredible was it that the camera was in the perfect spot and the microphones were pointed in their direction?
Not so fast.
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By Ross Gore, on October 13th, 2011 
We’re due for another casual day here at By the Numbers so pull on those faded jeans, button up your favorite Hawaiian shirt and let’s dig into the bullets:
- Matt Schaub is known as a very good quarterback. He boasts a 91.6 QB Rating and has never posted a single season with a QB rating under 90. On the surface it appears as if Schaub continued to roll last Sunday against the Raiders. He threw for over 400-yards (416) and 2 touchdowns. However, what is hidden in those statistics is that Schaub threw a league-high 26 incompletions last Sunday along with 2 interceptions.
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By Mark Brown, on October 13th, 2011  Quarterbacks:
Good Starts:
Cam Newton (CAR)- Keep rolling with him, produces every week
Matthew Stafford (DET)- don’t care who he’s playing…start him
Aaron Rodgers (GB)- this game vs STL won’t be fair, huge day coming
Eli Manning (NYG)- has looked like Peyton lately, could be in shootout
Ben Roethlisberger (PIT)- 303/3 last game vs JAC, good matchup
Michael Vick (PHI)- 433/6 last game vs WAS, enough said
Joe Flacco (BAL)- averages 210/2 vs HOU, good at home
Tom Brady (NE)- 388/5 last game vs DAL, and he’s Tom Brady
Tony Romo (DAL)- has had a solid season, should be in a close game
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By Zach Wilt, on October 13th, 2011  There aren’t many days that go by that Terrell Suggs doesn’t take a jab at someone. On Wednesday, it was his former teammate Le’Ron McClain who left as a free agent to play for the Kansas City Chiefs this season. That’s not working out so well.
This week, the Ravens not only square off against their former teammate Derrick Mason for the second straight game, but their new fullback, Vonta Leach, faces his old team the Houston Texans. Leach has been vocal about how much he has enjoyed his role in Baltimore and Suggs didn’t shy away from giving him some love.
“He’s fit into our locker room which has a lot of characters. He’s a fullback who doesn’t think he’s a tailback,” Suggs said according to Aaron Wilson of the Carroll County Times. Suggs of course if referring to McClain, who became vocal about wanting more carries with the Ravens in his later years. #McClain4RB was the twitter hashtag and McClain4RB.com became a fun site to promote Le’Ron’s endless endeavor.
McClain responded on twitter that he and Suggs “are boys.” He says he’s focused on the future and it appears that Sizzle’s latest round of smack talk may have been lighter than we all hoped.
Carry on.
By Zach Wilt, on October 12th, 2011 Derrick Mason's Jets jerseys have become collector's items After Rex Ryan is fired from his job as head coach of the New York Jets, whether it be at the end of a disappointing 2011 or ten years down the road, one of the signings that people will call a failure during his tenure will be that of Derrick Mason.
Former Ravens have flocked to New York to begin anew under their former defensive coordinator and all around fun loving guy, Rexy. One of those guys just never seemed to fit in.
Last night, Derrick Mason was traded to the Houston Texans for a conditional draft pick. Mason reportedly struggled learning the New York offense (of course so has the rest of the team) and complained about his role on the team which ultimately led to this move. NFL insiders, including the Carroll County Times’ Aaron Wilson aren’t surprised to see these personality traits become public. ”Par for the course,” Wilson tweeted on Tuesday.
At 2-3, the Jets sit in third place in the AFC East behind the New England Patriots and the red hot Buffalo Bills. New York is arguably the second most disappointing team of the young 2011 season behind of course the dream team Philadelphia Eagles at 1-4.
It’s never good when a player clashes so badly with a team that he has to be moved. Especially when the coach of that team is as boisterous as Rex Ryan.
By Zach Wilt, on October 12th, 2011  While you were sleeping the Jets traded wide receiver Derrick Mason to the Texans for a conditional draft choice. You shouldn’t go to bed so early.
You know that that means. The Ravens will see their former veteran wide receiver twice in three weeks as they square off against his new team, Houston, this weekend at M&T Bank Stadium. Bummer for him.
Mason was reportedly benched by the Jets for complaining about offensive coordinator Bryan Schottenheimer after the Jets most recent loss to the Patriots. In their previous loss, he spoke at length about the “cracks” that the Jets have as a team. ”Nobody really wants to identify the cracks,” Mason said.
Mason could get cracked by the Ravens defense in week five as the Texans travel to a freshly rested Baltimore team looking to stay on top of the AFC North.
By Zach Wilt, on October 10th, 2011  Baltimore North (The New York Jets for those without a sense of humor) is in a state of disarray after falling to 2-3 with their third straight loss this season. Their star cornerback, Darrelle Revis, got burned by Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker and their offense hasn’t seemed to click five weeks into the NFL season.
A vital part of that offense is former Ravens wide receiver Derrick Mason, famously known in Baltimore for playing injured and saying things that he wished he didn’t say, spent this majority of this week’s loss on the sideline. ESPNNewYork.com reports that Rex Ryan benched Mason “because of his mouth.”
Mason was reportedly part of a group of Jets players that complained to head coach Rex Ryan about offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. Though Mason denied those claims, Jeremy Kerley still played the majority of yesterday’s game over the veteran Mason.
The New York transition doesn’t appear to be going so well for Mason. In addition to playing for a third place team, The Newark Star-Ledger reports that Mason has had a difficult time learning the Jets offense.
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By Mark Brown, on October 6th, 2011  Who should you start and who should you bench on your fantasy football team this week? Do you have key players out on bye? If you are a local Ravens or Redskins fan then chances are you do. No need to worry. I have your list right here of who to plug in instead. There are also a nice number of guys on this list under “good” or “decent” starts that are probably available for you to pick up.
Quarterbacks:
Good Starts:
Michael Vick (PHI)- will throw and run a lot in what could be s shootout
Ryan Fitzpatrick (BUF)- should bounce back from bad game in a shootout
Eli Manning (NYG)- been great lately, great matchup, great career #s vs SEA
Drew Brees (NO)- surprisingly doesn’t play great vs CAR…but cmon its Brees
Cam Newton (CAR)- not facing great defense, will throw and run as usual
Philip Rivers (SD)- good matchup, always puts up big yds against DEN
Tom Brady (NE)- don’t care about the matchup or anything else, start him
Aaron Rodgers (GB)- averages 328/2 vs ATL, possible MVP
Matthew Stafford (DET)- 2 guaranteed TD’s to Calvin each week, always good start
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By Zach Wilt, on October 4th, 2011 In a lot of ways the Ravens dumped many of their annoyances on the New York Jets. Here, take Rex Ryan and his loud mouth. Here, take Bart Scott and his boneheaded penalties. Here, take Derrick Mason and his chipper attitude and short fuse.
Things aren’t quite peachy in New York as the Jets lost their second straight game and fell behind the red hot Buffalo Bills in the AFC East. After the beating that they took in front of the whole country on Sunday night, former Ravens wide receiver and current Jets problem, Derrick Mason, began complaining about his new team.
“Somebody has got to man up and say, ‘Hey we’ve got to get this done,’” Mason said according to the New York Post. ”You saw it, there are some cracks, and nobody really wants to identify the cracks,” he added. ”Until we identify the cracks, we’re going to keep having the same problems. Whenever somebody wants to fill up the cracks, then we can continue to move forward.”
Crack[s] kill.
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By Mark Brown, on September 29th, 2011 Who to start and who to bench? Everyone has dilemmas each week. I’m here to help you decide. Because of time constraints and some people requesting that I go even deeper into the player pool, I decided to pull the kicker’s from this piece and instead list more WR’s and RB’s down the depth chart. Kickers are simple anyways. Start the guys for teams you think will win. Pretty easy. Questions on who to start over who? Ask them here.
Quarterbacks:
Good Starts:
Jay Cutler (CHI)- Weak matchup, throwing for good yardage each game
Ryan Fitzpatrick (BUF)- he will destroy CIN, lots and lots of yards
Colt McCoy (CLE)- has been consistent with 210/2 per game, good matchup
Matt Hasselbeck (TEN)- good career #s against CLE, good matchup
Tony Romo (DAL)- if he played last week he will again, shoot out coming
Matthew Stafford (DET)- always a good start
Michael Vick (PHI)- he’s going to play, and he’s going to tear SF up
Drew Brees (NO-) could legitimately throw for 500 yds against JAC
Kevin Kolb (ARI)- good matchup, could see him throwing a lot in a close game
Matt Ryan (ATL)- weak opponent, 3 TD vs. SEA last time
Aaron Rodgers (GB)- always great, DEN doesn’t scare me at all
Tom Brady (NE)- everyone who owns him keeps winning, that’s why
Phillip Rivers (SD)- MIA not tough, only 1 TD vs MIA in career though
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By Zach Wilt, on September 28th, 2011  Terrell Suggs is ready to take on his former teammates in New York in front of a national audience and 77,000 Ravens fans at M&T Bank Stadium. Today the Ravens linebacker showed up to his press conference donning a “Can’t Wait” t-shirt in honor of “his brother and mentor” Bart Scott. Suggs joked that he hopes Scott doesn’t sue him.
“It’s not as friendly as you think, it’s more personal,” Suggs told Aaron Wilson of the Carroll County Times.
When asked about his former teammate Derrick Mason, who was cut by the Ravens and signed to play with the Jets during the offseason, Suggs told Wilson, “He don’t wear our colors anymore, he’s the enemy.”
Shots have been fired. If the Jets can hear over the belligerent insults of Joe Namath, let’s see how the Jets respond.
By Zach Wilt, on September 17th, 2011 Yesterday we shared the video of Bill Belichick’s f-bomb tirade on then Ravens wide receiver Derrick Mason during a Ravens-Patriots game in 2009. Friday night, Mason took to twitter and responded to the video saying that he got “total disrespect” from Belichick.
“Had I said that to him, everyone would have been in uproar,” Mason tweeted. He went on to say that he has too much respect for the game to speak to a coach in that manner. ”He might As well called me boy,” he posted.
In a later tweet, Mason jokingly referred to Belichick as “Coach Messiah.”
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