Take a bow, Mr. Smith -- you've earned it. (AP)

It's been a week since the shooting in a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., that left 12 dead and 58 more injured, and people are still desperate to find ways to help those who found themselves in the middle of that nightmare.

In the first week after the shooting, reports indicate that nearly $2 million has been donated to help the injured victims get through the recovery process, and the families of whose who died. That included donations of time from the Denver Broncos organization -- several Broncos players visited the survivors in their hospital rooms over the last few days.

[Jason Cole: Darrelle Revis' battle with Jets isn't over]

"We don't know for sure exactly how great the need is, but we know it's great, it's in the millions of dollars," Gov. John Hickenlooper told CBS4 in Denver. "Some of these folks are very, very seriously injured. Some of the deceased victims have children who are going to need resources."

One of the most extraordinary gestures comes from Carolina Panthers receiver Steve Smith, who has no specific connection to the Aurora community, nor to any of those affected. It was announced on Thursday that Smith has pledged to donate $100,000 to ease the burden of those who are carrying on.

"As a father and husband I cannot imagine the pain and suffering the victims are going through,"  Smith said via the team's Facebook and Twitter accounts.

"My family's hearts & prayers are extended to theirs, and I hope this contribution might assist in paying some of the medical bills that will help allow these families to move forward in this tragic circumstance.

"Hopefully this helps a little bit. From one NFL city to another, God bless."

All eyes were on Peyton Manning for Denver's first Thursday practice. (Getty Images)

The Denver Broncos have been in existence since 1960, and they have never seen a training camp like this. Hours before the first practice opened, before the sun came up, there was a line of fans around the Broncos' Dove Valley facility, waiting to get in and see Peyton Manning at work. In the end, 4,371 fans attended the practice -- a team record for a non-stadium workout, and over 1,000 more than the previous mark, set at the first practice of the 2010 season.

The crowd roared when the object of their affection took the field, they went nuts when he started gesticulating as he does to change the play at the line, and they were beyond happy to see a version of Manning who could put zip, touch and accuracy on throws to all parts of the field. Things were far from definitive in this non-contact event, and there's still a pitch count on what Manning will do in practice, but so far, so good. And if you thought the Denver faithful went bonkers over Tim Tebow last year, wait until you see Manning Mania in full effect.

"I don't think we'd ever have to incorporate fake crowd noise if we wanted to simulate playing on the road," Manning said after practice. "It was a great crowd; they were enthusiastic. I've always thought that when it's hot out here, the fans can get you through a tough two-a-day practice, so I know the receivers and the linemen appreciate the crowd. I thought it was a lot of fun being out there with them today."

(Getty Images)More importantly, after the three shoulder procedures and long-term rehab efforts, how does the wing feel? Things certainly looked good, and Manning appeared to be cautiously optimistic. "During training camp, we're getting a great test going against our defense, so you try to establish a little bit of your identity. I need this work in training camp, and this is the first day. I'm going to try to get better every day, keep making progress. I still have rehab to do, which I will continue to do throughout training camp and throughout the season. It felt good to be out there today in a training camp practice, where the intensity was there. I look forward to the next steps, to putting pads on, playing preseason games. We're getting more comfortable, but we still have work to do."

Part of that work involves Manning getting on the same page with young receivers Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker, though game tape indicates that it will be worth the effort. It's quite possible that in these two players, Manning has a receiver duo with as much talent as anything he's seen since Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne were in their prospective primes. The youngsters aren't quite there yet, but the potential is obvious.

"I'm getting to know Demaryius," Manning said of his new "A" receiver. "You guys have seen him prior to now, but I'm just seeing him, and you see that just like me, there are different phases. There's a mini-camp/OTA sort of tempo and development, and then there's training camp and the preseason, regular season and then, you hope playoffs. I'm looking forward to getting to know all these guys throughout the different phases of a season, and obviously trying to do my part throughout the different phases. Demaryius is going to play a key role for us this year. I thought he came back in great shape. Those guys run a lot during practice, and I appreciate their effort and their intensity."

That's in the long term - for now, and after missing time in his first NFL season since he came into the NFL in 1998, Manning was just as excited as the crowd was to see himself out there.

"Did I miss playing? What do you think? I have missed it, and I've never taken it for granted to be out there playing," Manning said. "I had been playing for 13 years straight and never missed a game since I've been playing quarterback in the seventh grade. That's a lot of consecutive games, a lot of Fridays or Saturdays or Sundays to be playing a game, so I'm glad to be back in more of a normal routine, in a practice routine, and I still feel like we have work to do before those preseason games get here. Those games will be important, however long we play. We've got a second practice this afternoon, and that's really all I'm thinking about at this point.

"I look forward to training camp, because that means football season's getting closer. This is important work for us, [and it's] certainly important for me. The two-a-days, and getting multiple plays run against our defense is important for me, it's another step for me, and everybody's working on a lot of things when you try to get everything the way you want it before the regular season starts. Every day is important, and we need to take advantage of every day."

Never was that more apparent than last week, when the Aurora, Colo., theater shooting brought the preciousness of life home to all in the area. Manning was among those Broncos players eager to get in touch with the survivors.

Wanna see the Jacksonville Jaguars' 2011 offense? This is pretty much it. (Getty Images)

Matt Forte and Ray Rice may have brand new contracts to celebrate the 2012 NFL season, but that doesn't mean that everything is positive in the land of the elite running backs. Quite the opposite, in fact, as Jacksonville Jaguars back Maurice Jones-Drew, the league's leading rusher in 2011, has skipped the first day of training camp in lieu of a favorable contract extension. There are no plans for Pocket Hercules to report. And according to those in the know, this impasse could last a while.

[Related: Steelers stop negotiations, set to move on without Mike Wallace]

Mike Freeman of CBS Sports wrote on Thursday that per his sources, Jones-Drew is angry with the team, ready to test the collective will of the front office, and in no hurry to report without some good financial news at the end of the rainbow. Steve Wyche of the NFL Network adds that Jones-Drew is prepared to hold out through training camp and possibly into the season.

At this time, the team is unmoved.

"There's no decision here,'' Jags owner Shad Khan told the Florida Times-Union this week. "It's his choice. There's been very little for us to do rather than wait on whatever he might choose to do ... There's more than 50 players [on the team] under contract. There are other people under contract in management, coaches. Does that mean if you do it for one, you do it for everybody. Where do you draw the line?''

Perhaps you draw the line at market value for his production and position. In April of 2009, Jones-Drew signed a five-year, $30.95 million deal that included $17 million in guaranteed money, and the first two years base salary guaranteed. He's set to make $4.45 million in 2012 and $4.95 million in 2013, and he'd be able to test the market again in 2014.

Compare those numbers with the current deals for Adrian Peterson (seven years, $100 million, $30 million guaranteed), Chris Johnson (four years, $53.5 million, $30 million guaranteed), LeSean McCoy (five years, $45.6 million, $20.8 million guaranteed), Arian Foster (five years, $43.5 million, $20.8 million guaranteed), and Matt Forte (four years, $32 million, $18 million guaranteed), and you can see why Jones-Drew has a beef with his current situation.

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Not only did his 1,606 rushing yards pace the field, but given rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert's unfortunate dalliances with some of the worst historical first-year seasons we've ever seen, there really wasn't any reason for any opponent to focus on any other aspect of the Jags' offense. One would hope that can change with an offseason for Gabbert, the addition of new offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey, and the selection of Oklahoma State receiver Justin Blackmon in the first round of the 2012 draft. But until further notice, Jones-Drew retains his status as perhaps the most valuable running back to his team in the league.

Chad Johnson has a new (old) confidence. Can he back it up? (Getty Images)

The former Chad Ochocinco, who recently changed his name back to the original Johnson for marriage considerations, is dealing with a lot of change now. Not only has the receiver altered his Facebook status to "in a relationship," but after one season with the New England Patriots, Johnson has decided to go back to his old, braggadocious self. Chad was relatively quiet in New England after years of goofiness in Cincinnati, but that's all gone now. In a Monday interview with the Miami Herald, His Chadness went off the hook.

"This season is going to be a monster year," Johnson said. "I don't care who's playing quarterback. I'm going to have a great year. The first day I get to camp, everybody's mouth can drop [the bleep] open. My game is at the point where it doesn't matter who starts at quarterback. Oprah can play quarterback and we'll be all right."

That's a bit hard to believe after Chad put up his worst NFL season with the Patriots in 2011. In an offense and with a quarterback that generally makes stars out of average players, and mega-talents out of the great ones, Chad slipped into oblivion, catching just 15 passes for 276 yards and one touchdown. Chad clearly struggled with New England's option route concept after years of a more freewheeling offense in Cincy, and as a result, he never developed an on-field relationship with Tom Brady. He was classy to a fault through that season, though, which makes his reflections on that time all the more curious now.

"I'm going back to my normal ways," he vowed after a photo shoot for Zico Coconut Water. "My normal ways, when I was at my best, when I got fined, look at the production those years. Usually things don't go right when you try to change the way you do things. I'm back to normal.

"My personality was controlled last year. You didn't hear me at all last year. Zero. Zilch. When my mouth is running, it forces me to perform. It's never been vindictive. I never got anybody in trouble.

"One of the things I like about being here, that's so refreshing, and is such a weight off my back, is I can be me, whatever that entails. When I can be me, I am loose. Everything just flows for me. Whether it's the style of play, the way I learn."

Chad might be getting his correlation and causation mixed up. When he played for the Bengals from 2001-2010, he could afford to be mouthy, because he was on top of his game and extremely productive. That attitude might have loosened him up on the field, and he may have gotten in the heads of certain defenders with the trash talk, but things are a bit different now.

Mike Wallace, Mike Tomlin, and Ben Roethlisberger in happier times. (Getty Images)

The Pittsburgh Steelers had a run-test on Wednesday as they geared up for their 2012 training camp, but head coach Mike Tomlin had bigger things on his mind than who might not have passed their conditioning exams. It was also announced on Wednesday that the team has cut off negotiations with receiver Mike Wallace, who was given a first-round tag as a restricted free agent.

The tender, which Wallace has refused to sign, would guarantee him $2.72 million and would require any team interested in trading for his services to give up a first-round pick in return. Wallace wants a long-term deal, and though there had been some dialogue and false reports about an imminent agreement, the two sides closed off talks this week.

Tomlin, who signed a three-year contract extension on Tuesday that will keep him in Pittsburgh through the 2016 season, was not amused.

"Obviously Mike Wallace was not here today," he said. "I don't know when he's going to be here. Obviously we have a desire for him to be here. We want him to be a part of this thing both short term and long term. We've been in negotiations with him. He's not here today. It's unfortunate for him. One thing that experience has taught me is that this is bigger than all of us. It's bigger than Mike, it's bigger than me, so I mean that when I say it's unfortunate for him that he's not here.

"This group that is the Pittsburgh Steelers will continue to push on. We'll focus our energies of readying the people who are here and when he shows up, he shows up."

Now, it's a stalemate, because the Steelers have made it clear that they have no intention of continuing negotiations until Wallace shows up.

"I'm less concerned about negotiations from a coach's standpoint,'' Tomlin said. "I want the player here. We've extended a tender to him, of course he hasn't signed it. But I'm focused on the guys here working so I won't focus on him until he gets here."

Emmanuel Sanders (l.) and Antonio Brown are the beneficiaries of Mike Wallace's contract impasse. (Getty Images)

Wallace made the Pro Bowl last season (his third in the NFL), and there's no doubt that he's one of the NFL's most dynamic receivers. But from a value standpoint, he's a bit behind the 8-ball, given the organization's ability to find other speed receivers at a fairly ridiculous rate. They got Wallace in the third round of the 2009 draft from Mississippi, Emmanuel Sanders in the third round of the 2010 draft out of SMU, and Antonio Brown in the sixth round of the same draft out of Central Michigan. Last year, Brown caught 69 passes for 1,108 yards and two touchdowns, which put him right up there in Wallace's rarefied air -- Wallace caught 72 balls for 1,193 yards and eight scores.

The challenge in any extended Wallace holdout is whether Brown or Sanders could fill the role of primary receiver. As the "X-iso" receiver, Wallace is often tasked with taking the defense's best cornerback one-on-one, while the offensive schemes were tailored to provide openings through formation diversity for the other receivers.

When it comes to helping others, Jim Harbaugh plays against type. (Getty Images)

San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh is one of the most focused, no-frills guys in the NFL. His interviews are generally triumphs of coach-speak, he only goes off-script when he's asked too often to discuss his emotions, and I was shocked to discover him sitting a few rows behind me in coach on a plane heading to the 2012 scouting combine in February. "C'mon, man," I thought to myself. "You engineered one of the most impressive turnarounds in recent NFL history. What are you doing back here with the likes of me?"

But when Harbaugh makes a commitment outside of football, he goes all-in. As he recently told Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee, the second-year 49ers coach was introduced to a small plot of land in Piura, Peru, by a friend of his, who told him of the work he was doing with the Most Blessed Sacrament Parrish in the area.

"It looked like a piece of wasteland that nobody wanted, basically," Harbaugh said about visiting the place in 2009, back when he was Stanford's head coach. But when he returned the next June, there was a new school for children from kindergarten through 11th grade, and 690 students dressed in school uniforms, in every available desk.

Since then, Harbaugh  -- who described that first transformative scene as "beautiful" -- has been back several times to help in any way he could. In the 2012 preseason, the notorious control-freak coach even missed an OTA session for one of his visits.

Barrows asked Harbaugh how the experience affected him, and for once, the coach opened up. "In some ways, it's a little uncomfortable talking about it," he said. "The scripture says, 'Don't let your left hand know what your right hand's doing,' you know? On the other hand, it's so good. It's not only been a great experience for me but my friends that I want to tell people about it. I feel like I should share this. I'm lucky to participate and be surrounded by so much good."

Now, Harbaugh brings his friends down, and each person sponsors a child in the nearby town of Lima. People really need the help down there -- according to Barrows, 60 percent of the population lives in poverty, and 20 percent in extreme poverty.

The first time he went down, Harbaugh was wearing a University of San Diego shirt, which may be the reason the locals call him "Diego." He really isn't sure. All he knows is that he got the name on that first visit, when he was helping to build new houses.

"I was building the house and they would say, 'No, Diego, no,'" Harbaugh told Barrows, imitating someone hammering nails. "After a couple more days it was, 'Muy bien, Diego. Muy bien.'"

Ryan Kalil wrote it, and he meant it. (Getty Images)

Well, Joe Namath didn't do this before Super Bowl III, and Vince Young never thought to put his "Dream Team" guarantee last year in any of the Philly papers. But Carolina Panthers center Ryan Kalil, fresh with enthusiasm after a 6-10 season in 2011 that saw the emergence of rookie quarterback Cam Newton and a great deal of excitement about the team's future, took out a full-page ad in the Charlotte Observer on Wednesday in which he told the Panthers' fan faithful what he thought of his team's outlook this year. Put simply, Kalil is convinced that the Panthers are on the verge of total domination. (You can read the original ad here.)

"It was one of those things I was literally up all night and I was thinking about it, and just went to my computer and started writing," Kalil told the paper. He shared the letter, which he called a "war cry to the fans," with an Observer reporter before placing the ad. Here's the full text:

Why the Carolina Panthers will win Super Bowl XLVII.

Because we have to.

For eighteen years we've wanted, hoped, and tried...

But no more.

A moment is upon us, where dreams become beliefs and yearning becomes conviction.

How do I know?

Because I've seen it.

Look closely and you'll see it, too. You'll see July 1st, 1993, when 40,000 of you bought club seats, licenses, and luxury boxes financing the construction of our stadium in a single day.

You'll see October of that same year, when the NFL owners unanimously selected Carolina as the league's 29th franchise.

You'll see two decades offseasons bad and good. But never of greatness.

Now, look closer.

At the daunting, unpaved path ahead, lined with detours, naysayers and walls which seem insurmountable. But not for you. You'll ignore what you hear and break through ANYTHING that stands in your way. Because you see what's at the end of this.

Victory.

One hundred percent, sterling silver victory. The Lombardi Trophy, And it exists.

CAROLINA PANTHERS -- SUPER BOWL XLVII CHAMPIONS!

Sincerely,
Ryan Kalil

In 2012, Drew Brees will be challenged as never before. (AP)

It's been quite the little offseason for New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees. While his head coach, general manager, former defensive coordinator, two defensive teammates, and two former defensive teammates were all sent packing for various lengths of time by the NFL in the wake of the bounty scandal, Brees held things together the way he usually does -- by being a family man, and as the primary leader of his team.

After receiving the exclusive rights franchise tag -- which led to talk that he might skip training camp -- Brees was rewarded for half a decade of nearly unparalleled statistical dominance with the richest contract ever given to an NFL player. On July 13, he agreed to terms on a five-year, $100 million contract with $60 million guaranteed in the first three years, and $40 million in the first year alone.

Is that going to change Brees? Clearly not. Brees appeared to be as focused as he's ever been, with an extra touch of defiance after all that the NFL has thrown at his guys. I once saw Brees throw a pronounced F-bomb on the sidelines of a meaningless early preseason game when backup quarterback Chase Daniel threw an interception. There is no break in his passion for the game.

"To me, it's just business as usual -- I'll be honest," he said as the Saints reported to 2012 training camp at the team's Metairie, La., headquarters. "You might look at me and think I'm crazy, especially after the whole process went during the entire offseason, and the ups and downs, and how it was dragged out until the very last minute. But for me, I could not wait to get back here, and get back to work. Back to playing football, and bring around the guys in the locker room. On the field, with the fans, and just soaking it all in again."

Brees kept himself grounded through all the ups and downs-- or, that is to say, his family kept him grounded. Asked how he reacted to that huge contract, the quarterback reminded everyone that when it's family time, the little things tend to take precedence. Especially when two young sons are involved.

"Somebody asked me what I did when I found out that the contract was done two Fridays ago, and I came here on Sunday and signed it," Brees recalled. "That Friday, we agreed to terms. The minute I got off the phone [agreeing to terms on the new deal], I changed Bowen's poopy diaper, then I went downstairs and did a load of whites in the washer, and then I went upstairs and put Baylen's lunch away in the refrigerator. That was pretty much standard operating in the offseason, so nothing changed.

"Was I excited it was done? Was it a relief? Yes. Other than that, I had the same mindset."

[Related: Tim Tebow will return and cover kicks for the Jets]

Yep -- nothing like poopy diapers to keep a man's ego in check. As for the 2012 season, Brees put it on himself to make sure the remaining Saints players are able to overcome all the drama as much as possible.

"We don't necessarily know what to expect,'' he said. ''With all this stuff swirling around us, in the end, all we can worry about is what we can control. ... I know the type of guys we have. I know the coaches we have. I'm excited to watch it all come together ... There's no greater opportunity than what we have right now in front of us."

Brees can certainly run Sean Payton's offense without the coach's help -- he's been doing so at a preposterously high level since 2006 -- but Payton's absence through the 2012 season will certainly affect game-planning and offensive installations. Brees and offensive assistant Pete Carmichael got a taste of that last year, when Payton missed time after injuring his knee in a sideline collision. But then, Payton was at least able to do what he does in a playbook sense. Now, it is on Brees more than ever before.

"You see how he was able to influence others," Brees said of Payton.