People stand in line at a May 2 job fair at Sun Life Stadium. (Getty Images)

Now that the Florida Legislature has let a vote lapse that might have passed a hotel tax facilitating up to $380 million in subsidies for Sun Life Stadium, Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross has gone on the attack. Ross, who has owned the team since 2009, blasted Speaker of the House Will Weatherford. Ross claimed that Weatherford backed out of a promise to let the stadium improvements go to a vote.

Last week, the Dolphins held a job fair at the stadium, while knowing that the project may not go forward.

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"Tonight, Speaker Weatherford did far more than just deny the people of Miami Dade the right to vote on an issue critical to the future of our local economy," Ross said Friday in an official team-released statement. The Speaker singlehandedly put the future of Super Bowls and other big events at risk for Miami Dade and for all of Florida. He put politics before the people and the 4,000 jobs this project would have created for Miami Dade, and that is just wrong.

"I am deeply disappointed by the Speaker's decision. He gave me and many others his word that this legislation would go to the floor of the House for a vote, where I know, and he knows, we had the votes to win by a margin as large as we did in the Senate. It’s hard to understand why he would stop an election already in process and disenfranchise the 40,000 people who have already voted. I can only assume he felt it was in his political interest to do so. Time will tell if that is the case, but I am certain this decision will follow Speaker Weatherford for many years to come."

The decision to refuse a vote seems to have had immediate, and possibly far-reaching, effects on the team. Not only will Sun Life and the Dolphins be on the outside looking in for any future Super Bowl bids without improvements, but team CEO Mike Dee has intimated that the Dolphins aren't a lead-pipe lock to stay in Miami on a no-matter-what basis. While Dee stopped short of saying that Ross might move the team, he told WFOR-TV that another owner might down the road.

"I don't think it's an option for Steve Ross, but for a subsequent owner? The Dolphins are one of the only franchises in the National Football League that do not have a long-term lease with their community."

Dee said that the team wanted $3 million per year for the next 30 years from the state, to which Ross would pledge a 70 percent payment for all the stadium improvements. But the team wants to make it very clear -- without a private-public partnership," as Dee put it, Ross has no intention of putting up his own capital.

Baltimore Ravens rookie Brandon Williams during the team's recent minicamp. (Getty Images)As the Baltimore Ravens' third-round pick in the 2013 NFL draft, Missouri Southern defensive tackle Brandon Williams has an entirely new set of challenges ahead of him: He's got to adapt to an NFL system against pro-level talent after starring at a smaller school, but that's nothing compared to the task he undertook last summer. Williams, the son of a single mother, carried and cleaned portable toilets to make extra money.

"Sometimes, you got a little poop on you," Williams told Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun during the Ravens' recent rookie minicamp. "Every time I was doing that, I said to myself, 'I gotta work harder, I'm not doing this the rest of my life.' It motivated me to get better."

Williams said that he pretended the outhouses were offensive linemen when he was lifting them into his truck.

"I acted like I was playing football. I just made it fun."

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Williams' toughness, that ability to do a job others would not, is legitimate. His mom tried to hold the family together while working in factories and driving a bus, but it wasn't easy. For half of Williams' freshman year in high school, the family was homeless, keeping their belongings in their car.

"It was so tough, but my mom dealt with everything and she told me not to worry about it and just focus on school and sports," he recalled. "It grounded me, and I never forget where I came from. The long road is a great road to travel because it makes you appreciate everything you've got."

That focus was clear to Missouri Southern head coach Darryl Daye, who helped Williams become just the third player ever from a Division II school to be named a three-time All-American.

Leroy Butler won't hate ... or discriminate. (USAT Sports Images)It made quite a bit of news this week when former Green Bay Packers safety Leroy Butler tweeted out the fact that he was bumped from a scheduled appearance at a Wisconsin church after he expressed social media support for NBA player Jason Collins. Collins, of course, came out in a Sports Illustrated cover story, becoming the first active player in a major team sport to make his homosexuality public. Some castigated the church (which Butler still refuses to name) for its closed stance, while others wondered why the church was not afforded the same right to free expression that Butler and Collins have been.

Most certainly, this debate will continue and catch fire as the subject opens up over time. On Thursday, Butler appeared on Anderson Cooper's CNN program to explain his point of view. Butler, who has been very active in his community through a number of churches since his retirement from the NFL in 2001, seemed a bit confused by the debacle -- he was set to speak on the subject of bullying, and he found the church's stance oddly ironic.

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“I tell my story -- single-parent home, African-American, from the projects, going to Florida State and playing for the Green Bay Packers for 12 years, inventing the Lambeau Leap, which is a great story,” Butler said. “I wasn’t necessarily going into that because that wasn’t part of my story. But when I touch on bullying, you know, then that’s the problem they had because they didn’t want me to use Jason as a part of the bullying and I thought, well, that was just crazy to me.”

Butler said on the show that the church's pastor told him that if he apologized for the original tweet of support, took it down from his account, and "asked God for forgiveness," he would still be allowed to speak to the parishioners. His response:

Von Miller is planning to have a fowl offseason. (Sorry). (AP)Denver Broncos outside linebacker Von Miller has been one of the NFL's best pass rushers since John Elway took him with the second overall pick in the 2011 draft. He put up 11.5 sacks in his rookie campaign, and backed that up with 18.5 quarterback takedowns in 2012, good for third in the league behind J.J. Watt and Aldon Smith. Now that bookend Elvis Dumervil is in Baltimore after a fax-based contract fiasco, Miller is expected to be the leader of the Broncos' defensive front. He's ready for that challenge, but Miller is just as excited about another prospect -- his future as a possible chicken magnate. There's a new company called Miller Farms, and Denver's sackmaster is serious about this stuff.

“Got my first chickens—38 chickens," Miller said from the team's facility in Englewood, Colo. on Thursday. "I’m pretty excited about it. You’ve got to start somewhere. As you guys all know, getting into the poultry industry is something that I always wanted to do. I just didn’t want to go out and buy a [chicken] house and do all this stuff and throw money at all that stuff. I really wanted to get to the fundamentals, get back to just raising chicks, and I’m just going to go from there. I raised chicks in college in class and stuff, but now it’s just a project for me to do it on my own and see where I go with it. I’m pretty excited about it. The chickens are not out here in Denver—the weather is fluctuating way too much right now. I’ve got them back in Dallas. I’m pretty excited about it. It’s a start for Miller Farms right now.”

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Miller actually majored in poultry science at Texas A&M ("I raised chicks in college in class and stuff"), so this isn't a fly-by-night operation. Miller's got eight acres in Dallas, and this is just the beginning.

"We had a chicken coop for about a year-and-a-half now, just no chickens in it," he said. "We finally just made the move to go ahead and get them. So I’m pretty excited about it. I’m looking forward to seeing what it turns out. Miller Farms is where I’m starting out, but it’s all raw right now. Who knows? I’m only in my third year in the league. This is just a small investment where I can see where I go from here. Hopefully it will snowball into something bigger.”

Speaking of something bigger, Miller has great expectations for his third NFL season. The Broncos were bounced in the first round of the playoffs by the eventual Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens despite a 13-3 record and the top seed in the AFC. Even when he was part of a USO tour in Afghanistan, Miller found football inspiration -- in this case, from J.J. Watt, who led the NFL in sacks with 20.5.

Quinton Patton may not be fast, but he's in a big hurry to start his NFL career. (Getty Images)

Louisiana Tech receiver Quinton Patton really impressed me during Senior Bowl week. Practices in such pre-draft events give lesser-known players a marvelous opportunity to shine in front of fans, media, and NFL personnel. Patton made the most of it, showing a great overall skill set (if less than optimal field speed), and that started him on a path which resulted in the San Francisco 49ers selecting Patton in the fourth round. Given San Francisco's nebulous receiver situation, Patton could make an impression on the field in his rookie campaign.

He's already caught the eye of head coach Jim Harbaugh, a man who is not easily impressed. After he was drafted, Patton wanted to get right to work, and didn't wait for the usual team-issued plane ticket -- instead, he paid for his own seat on a plane, arrived at San Francisco International Airport on Monday, rented a car, and started the drive to the team's Santa Clara facility. He called ahead to let the 49ers know that he was about 20 minutes away, which turned out to be fortuitous.

Had Patton shown up at his new team's main complex as he intended and started conditioning work, he would have been ineligible to attend the 49ers' rookie minicamp, which starts on May 10. The team arranges transportation for all such visits, and the rookies are set to arrive on May 9. You see, per NFL rules, rookies have a 24-hour period after they are drafted to visit team facilities and do any football work, and Patton was outside the window.

Still, Harbaugh was delighted to see his new player's initiative.

"We didn't do a very good job of communicating that to Quinton before he got to the airport," Harbaugh told San Francisco radio station KNBR, via CSN Bay Area. "But the fact that he would buy his own ticket and fly out here, to me, just speaks volumes about him. I mean, to be honest with you, he reminds me of me. That's something I would've done.

"I love it. I can't wait. It's probably the best money he's ever spent even though he had to fly out here and fly back home."

Kyle Long pancakes his man against Stanford. (Getty Images)

I'm not sure if giving grades out right after a draft is more like critiquing a meal right after you've ordered it, or reviewing a book just after you've cracked Page 1. At the very least, it will take one full season before a team's selection process can be accurately assessed in the long-term view. As to the validity and accuracy of immediate grades, you should ask the guys who didn't know who Tom Brady was in 2000, or saw Russell Wilson as a third-round waste pick in 2012. So, with that in mind, consider this a series of early reflections, more based on how the players performed in college, potential scheme fits, and overall team quality.

Chicago Bears: 20. OT Kyle Long, 50. ILB Jon Bostic, 117. OLB Khaseem Greene, 163. OT Jordan Mills, 188. OLB Cornelius Washington, 236. WR Marquess Wilson.

Left tackle was an obvious need for the Bears -- J'Marcus Webb started all 16 games for Chicago at that position in 2012, and per Pro Football Focus, he allowed seven sacks, five quarterback hits, and 29 hurries. Oregon's Kyle Long (son of Howie and brother to Chris) is a raw prospect, which had some questioning his first-round selection, but new GM Phil Emery understands that there's nowhere to go but up, and Long has some pretty freakish upside. The former Florida State pitcher and junior college defensive end made tracks with the Ducks in just one season despite the fact that he didn't play spring ball. Long can play multiple positions along the line, but projects best as a left tackle, though Chicago signed former Saints left tackle Jermon Bushrod to a five-year, $35.965 million deal in March.

With Brian Urlacher gone and Lance Briggs getting up there in years, Emery then addressed the linebacker position with two interesting picks -- Florida's Jon Bostic is a pure thumper who may max out physically at 6-foot-1 and 245 pounds, but he's the kind of future team captain this team will need as the roster churn continues. Khaseem Greene from Rutgers is a different breed of cat -- he's about Bostic's size, but has the athleticism and range common to today's breed of NFL coverage linebacker, a position Urlacher helped to define. Louisiana Tech tackle Jordan Mills, the cousin of Green Bay Packers cornerback Tramon Williams, needs finishing work before he's ready for prime time, but he's a bruiser who could project well to guard. Chicago finished off its 2013 draft with two players who could be steals if they live up to their potential -- Georgia OLB Cornelius Washington is an edge rusher with every physical attribute you could want, and Washington State receiver Marquess Wilson is a high-cut speed target best known for landing in Mike Leach's doghouse, a journey that got him booted off the team and seriously affected what probably would have been a third-round grade based on pure talent.

Detroit Lions: 5. DE Ezekiel Ansah, 36. CB Darius Slay, 65. G Larry Warford, 132. DE Devin Taylor, 165. P Sam Martin, 171. WR Corey Fuller, 191. RB Theo Riddick, 211. TE Michael Williams, 245. LB Brandon Hepburn.

The Lions went hard on physical potential in their draft -- it wasn't just the primary theme in Martin Mayhew's draft room, it was basically the only one.

Jesse Williams has a chance to prove a lot of people wrong. (Getty Images)RENTON, Wash. -- Every draft has its mystery players -- those guys who, for some unknown or fully explained reason -- bottom out several rounds below their commonly accepted grade. One of those players in the 2013 NFL draft has to be Alabama defensive tackle Jesse Williams, who free-fell out of the first two days of the selection process, and found himself taken by the Seattle Seahawks with the 137th overall pick in the fifth round. That's a pretty precipitous fall for a guy who was projected by many as a first- or second-round talent -- a mainstay on a defense that led the way to two straight national championships. The Brisbane, Australia native is relatively new to the game, but the attributes that had us listing him at 35th overall on the Shutdown 50 were clear.

What was more nebulous was the condition of the knee he injured in the SEC Championship game against Georgia last Dec. 1. Williams proved his toughness by returning for the Crimson Tide's BCS Championship victory over Notre Dame, but he missed the scouting combine drills as he was recovering. However, at Alabama's pro day in March, Williams posted 40-yard dash times in the 4.84/4.92 range after missing the 40 at the combine due to a knee injury. Perhaps more importantly, he timed at 7.69 seconds in the three-cone drill, which would have ranked higher than some of the lighter defensive linemen at the scouting combine last month.

Apparently, that wasn't enough for many NFL front offices. Sources have told Shutdown Corner that while some teams were seriously concerned about the long-term viability of Williams' knee -- the word "arthritic" apparently came up in discussions -- others gave him a relatively clean bill of health. Beyond that, as round after round went past and no team took a gamble, it very well could be that Williams found himself in a nightmarish Catch-22. Those teams with interest, but legitimately wondering about his knee in the long term, may have backed away because he was still on the board.

In the end, Williams was a more-than-acceptable "risk" in the fifth round for Seahawks general manager John Schneider and head coach Pete Carroll, who are very aware of Williams' potential if he can retain full health.

"He’s had work done in the past, but we understand what the situation is, just like our other guys that we deal with, but he should be all right, and we’re expecting him to be full speed," Carroll said on Saturday. "He worked out at his workout in Alabama, and he’s ready to go."

For Schneider, who runs the Seahawks' draft board, it was a no-brainer. Seattle made a trade with the Detroit Lions to move up a few ticks in the fifth round, and away they went.

John Laub lets it fly against Virginia. (Getty Images)

If the San Diego Chargers came to terms with Ryan Leaf's nephew, or the Seattle Mariners gave a shot to a relative of former general manager Bill Bavasi, those stories wouldn't be any weirder than this. Among the undrafted free agents invited to rookie minicamp by the Detroit Lions was quarterback John Laub of Richmond, whose cousin, according to his official Richmond bio is ...wait for it ... Matt Millen. That camp starts next week.

Of course, Millen is the former star NFL linebacker, current football "broadcaster" (we use that term very loosely in this case) and ex-Lions GM, whose eight-year stewardship of the franchise was one of the most disastrous in the history of sports. Under Millen, the Lions amassed a 31-84 record, repeatedly turned draft days into disasters, and Millen was fired after the 2008 Lions became the first NFL team to lose all 16 games in a season.