The ciiiiiircle of liiiife....

Hemingway once wrote that Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania is also known as "Ngaje Ngai," or "House of God." Ray Lewis has spent enough time thanking God for all of his success over his career, so it makes perfect sense he'd head up to the Big Guy's house to say hello in person.

Lewis announced on Twitter that he'll be ascending the 19,000+-foot summit this summer:

Fans U know 1st- Tackling Kilimanjaro 2 bring clean H2O to kids in Africa. RT & enter to win my signed #Ravens helmet:bit.ly/YZUUEi

— Ray Lewis (@raylewis) May 23, 2013

Lewis' "TackleKili" journey is intended to help raise awareness, and funds, to bring water to children in East Africa. It's a noble aim, and you can take part in TackleKili by clicking here.

Kilimanjaro is the highest peak in Africa, and the largest freestanding mountain on the planet, so congrats to Lewis on attempting such a feat. We demand video of the Squirrel Dance at the summit.

-Follow Jay Busbee on Twitter at @jaybusbee.-

Justin Veltung can go horizontal, but that's not his best thing. (AP)

The news release from the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday, announcing the signing of undrafted free agent receiver Justin Veltung, was about as vanilla as you're going to get:

The Seattle Seahawks have signed wide receiver Justin Veltung, the team announced today.

Veltung, from nearby Puyallup, played 43 career games at the University of Idaho and collected 62 receptions for 901 yards with eight touchdowns and returned 80 kickoffs for 1,743 yards with two touchdowns in his career. He left Idaho as its all-time kickoff return leader (78) and kickoff return yardage leader (1,743), and 11th on its all-time all-purpose yardage list with 2,972 yards.

Veltung attended Seattle's rookie minicamp on a tryout basis from May 10-12.

So ... yeah. That's not why Veltung made Shutdown Corner today. He made Shutdown Corner today because he can rock a 56-inch (4-foot-8) standing box jump at 5-foot-11. To put that in perspective, NBA draft prospect DJ Stephens recently got a lot of attention for a 46-inch vertical leap while working out for the Brooklyn Nets. Box jumps and verticals are different, but still ... wow.

You can view Veltung's super-jump below:

The Honey Badger has signed his first NFL contract (Getty Images)

Arizona Cardinals third-round safety Tyrann Mathieu has signed his first NFL contract, the team announced on Thursday.

Because Mathieu had failed multiple drug tests at LSU, where the "Honey Badger" was booted off the team before the 2012 season, the terms of Mathieu's contract were the subject of a mini-controversy following his selection in the 2013 NFL draft. Peter King of Sports Illustrated reported that the Cardinals could receive permission to test Mathieu for drugs on a weekly basis and that the deal might not contain any guaranteed money.

Mathieu's agent, Patrick Lawlor, quickly denied that his client would accept a deal that didn't include guaranteed money. As "Shutdown Corner" noted at the time, since the 2006 season, no rookie had signed a contract that contained zero guaranteed money. In that post, we suggested that the Cardinals and Lawlor could model Mathieu's contract after the rookie deal of New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, who had some failed drug tests while at Florida and fell to the Patriots in the fourth-round of the 2010 draft.

Hernandez was scheduled to receive a four-year, $2.29 million contract that included a guaranteed signing bonus of around $500,000. Instead, he received a $200,000 signing bonus, but his deal had a maximum value of $2.69 million as Hernandez could earn an additional $388,000 in weekly roster bonuses (for being on the 53-man roster, injured reserve or physically unable to perform list, i.e., not suspended for violating the substance abuse or personal conduct policies) during all four seasons of the contract, essentially exceeding the guaranteed amount dedicated to his draft slot.

According to Albert Breer of the NFL Network, it appears as though the Cardinals and Mathieu took the same approach New England took with Hernandez in 2010.

Robert Griffin threw during the Redskins' OTAs on Thursday (USA Today Sports Images)

Four and a half months after undergoing surgery on his right knee, Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin was throwing to Pierre Garcon and Fred Davis while working alongside other players who are rehabilitating injuries during the team's OTA practices. (Garcon is recovering from chest surgery, Davis is coming off a torn Achilles.)

According to multiple reports out of Redskins Park, Griffin, who had surgery to repair tears of his anterior cruciate and lateral collateral ligaments in January, was not moving at full-speed, but was able to plant his right leg and made "crisp" throws to his targets.

“The knee feels great," Griffin said. "I’m able to do all the stuff out there without any hesitation, so that’s the best part about it. I’m excited about that. It’s all about having that confidence, and if you put the work in you’ll have that confidence when you get back out there on the field. It’s about playing like you were never injured."

Whether or not Griffin will be available for the start of training camp has yet to be determined. Though Griffin is ahead of schedule in his rehab, the 2012 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year acknowledged that he needs to work on "explosive sprinting" and "cutting" before he will be ready to play. Griffin hopes to be ready for training camp, but has the proper perspective in that he knows he's entering Year 2 of what it is expected to be a very long and productive NFL career.

"Yes, I'm all-in for Week 1 but I'm also all-in the rest of my career," Griffin added.

Griffin also said that he has been taking "mental reps" and doesn't feel as though he needs offseason or preseason snaps to play against the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2013 regular season-opener. Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan would not be as comfortable with that scenario.

(Instagram)San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree had surgery on Wednesday to fix the Achilles tendon he tore during one of the team's OTAs. But while 49ers fans may be depressed over the news, Crabtree sent out the above message using his Instagram account to put them in a more optimistic mood .

Like the Terminator, Crabtree says he will be back.

Jim Harbaugh may have to slow his roll on Sunday. (USAT Sports Images)

If you're watching the Indy 500 this Sunday, and you're a hardcore pro football fan, your worlds will intersect in ways you did not expect. San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh will be driving the pace car -- a 2014 Corvette Stingray -- this year at the legendary race.

"I'm awaiting my coaching and instructions, and then ready for practice,'' Harbaugh said at the team's OTAs on Wednesday.

Harbaugh has a lot of history with the area, and with racing in general. The 14-year NFL quarterback played for the Indianapolis Colts from 1994 through 1997 (when he was replaced by that Peyton Manning guy), and his name is in the team's Ring of Honor. He's also a part owner of Indy-based Panther Racing, which has two drivers in this year's race -- JR Hildebrand, who starts 10th, and Townsend Bell, who starts 22nd. Last September, Harbaugh had an Indy race car parked near the practice fields at the team's headquarters in Santa Clara.

Harbaugh is also well aware of the history behind Indy 500 pace car drivers, and he's eager to live up to the legends.

"As the No. 1 fan of the Rockford Files, to follow in the footsteps of James Garner, who did it three times, and also Morgan Freeman, and Colin Powell, and Chuck Yeager and so many others, it's just a real honor and a privilege,'' he said. "I'm going to do my best to do a great job at it.''

The coach is still concerned with football, especially the fact that he lost receiver Michael Crabtree to an Achilles' tendon injury for an unknown stretch of time, but that doesn't mean that he isn't jazzed about his new role.

Chuck Norris is NOT kidding about Tim Tebow. (AP)Before you laugh at the defense of Tim Tebow, NFL Quarterback, that you are about to read, there are a few things you should remember about its author, the one and only Chuck Norris:

Chuck Norris doesn't read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants.

Chuck Norris sold his soul to the devil for his rugged good looks and unparalleled martial arts ability. Shortly after the transaction was finalized, Chuck roundhouse kicked the devil in the face and took his soul back. The devil, who appreciates irony, couldn't stay mad and admitted he should have seen it coming. They now play poker every second Wednesday of the month.

Brett Favre can throw a football over 50 yards. Chuck Norris can throw Brett Favre even further.

These things, of course, are all true. Now, as to Chuck Norris' defense of Mr. Tebow, which Mr. Norris wrote on a site called WND.com (which also counts Ann Coulter and Ted Nugent among its contributors). The martial-arts expert and well-known action hero truly believes that the NFL doesn't know what it's doing when it rejects Tebow as a star quarterback.

"America has the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championships) and the UCP (Ultimate Clutch Players)," Norris writes. "One is mixed martial artists, and the other is quarterbacks of the NFL. They all are athletic warriors who are extremely determined to win.

"My favorite in the UFC is Georges St. Pierre. My favorite UCP in the NFL is Tim Tebow."

Norris goes on and on, quite rhapsodically:

I have been following Tim since he became a quarterback for the Florida Gators, and I have never seen a more determined and inspiring athlete play the game of football. And I’m not alone in that sports assessment.

Norris then goes on to quote Akbar Gbajabiamila, Michael Strahan, and Forbes Magazine in his assertion that " Tebow is a player who rises to the occasion and delivers big in critical game moments."

Norris then insists that the Jacksonville Jaguars are the right home for Tebow.

Why? To put it simply, because Tim could help turn the mediocre team into a championship one. Tebow works miracles on the field, and his inclusion would embolden the spirit of the Jaguars among the team and fans.

In his 13-year career, Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher established himself as one of the greatest NFL players of the new millennium. And when he officially retired on Wednesday, it got people thinking about his legacy. A Super Bowl appearance, 180 regular-season starts, 41.5 sacks, 22 interceptions, 1,052 solo tackles, eight Pro Bowls, four First-Team All-Pro nominations, and his status as one of the few players to rack up the AP's Defensive Rookie of the Year (2000) and Defensive Player of the Year (2005) awards all will likely lead Urlacher to the Pro Football Hall of Fame sooner than later.

That said -- and this happens to every great player -- there are those moments one would rather forget. When Urlacher called into the Dan Patrick Show on Wednesday morning, Patrick went through many of Urlacher's great moments, and then got him to remember one of the goofier plays of the 2006 season -- which may have been Urlacher's best.

When Patrick asked Urlacher, "Who was the quarterback or running back you didn't get, and you really wanted to?" it didn't take Urlacher long to remember one particularly embarrassing play against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. It was Week 12 of the 2006 season, and Brady -- who will hardly go down as the most mobile quarterback of all time -- managed to elude Urlacher in the open field on a fourth-quarter scramble. As you can see in the video above, it was an atypical play for several reasons.

"Brady always kicked our butts -- I don't think we ever beat [New England] when Tom Brady was the starting quarterback," Urlacher remembered. "He juked me out of my shoes in 2006."

As Patrick said, "Every white guy who couldn't move loved that play, because it was Brady who was doing it."

"Man, he really got me, and he's one of the best of all time," Urlacher concluded. "There were just some guys I had a hard time with."

Not too many, but Urlacher also remembered his first experience against Minnesota Vikings superstar back Adrian Peterson, which did not go well at all for the veteran linebacker. It was Week 5 of the 2007 season, and Urlacher said something that got up Peterson's nose. He soon found out that it was a bad place to be.