Lawrence Taylor's Super Bowl ring will hardly know it switched owners.

According to Jay Glazer, the Hall of Fame linebacker was told that a fellow aficionado of all things illicit, Charlie Sheen, was the buyer of his Super Bowl XXV ring that recently sold for more than $230,000 at auction. It's not known whether Taylor's information is accurate but, man, we hope it is.

Taylor's agent, Mark Lepster, confirmed to Glazer that LT was told Sheen bought the ring. They are still trying to confirm this poetic purchase. It's like Phil Spector buying O.J.'s Heisman.

The actor has an extensive sports memorabilia collection that includes Babe Ruth's 1927 World Series ring and the contract that sold the baseball great from the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees. He also owned the infamous Bill Buckner ball.

Taylor's son, TJ, put the ring up for auction unbeknownst to his father. The troubled former star said he had no problem with the decision.

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Add the voice of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith to those decrying the increasing use of stats to evaluate football performance. Usually, it's former head coaches unhappy about the numbers (used, as they sometimes are, to help describe why said former head coaches lost their jobs), but in Smith's case, he's tired of the stats despite his 2011 season, in which he finally played with some of the efficiency and consistency expected of the first overall pick in the 2005 NFL draft.

When asked before the 49ers' divisional playoff win over the New Orleans Saints if he might someday throw for more yards in a season than Drew Brees, or some of the NFL's other more high-octane quarterbacks, Smith was quite defiant.

"I really don't care," Smith said. "I'm looking to outscore him. He can throw for as many yards as he wants."

So there! The 49ers did indeed outscore the Saints on their way to a close NFC championship loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants, and in the 2012 season, more will certainly be expected of Smith. He played the caretaker role for Jim Harbaugh in 2011, throwing just five interceptions and helping San Francisco's unflashy-but-effective offense as the 49ers shocked the league with a 13-3 record. He also had career highs in pass attempts (445), completions, (273), passing yards (3,144), and his second-highest touchdown total (17). Now, Smith is being asked if he's ready to bust out with bigger numbers ... and the answer is, he really doesn't care.

"I could absolutely care less on yards per game," Smith told Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle on Wednesday. "I think that is a totally overblown stat because if you're losing games in the second half, guess what, you're like the Carolina Panthers and you're going no-huddle the entire second half. Yeah, Cam Newton threw for a lot of 300-yard games. That's great. You're not winning, though."

Well, hold on there, Huckleberry! Cam Newton smashed many of the NFL's rookie passing records in 2011, and I would argue that he did do a lot of winning -- he took the worst team in the league and helped pull it to a six-win season. Now, the Panthers are rightfully seen as a fringe playoff contender, and Newton is the primary reason. In fact, it could be argued that Newton did everything Smith could not in 2005 -- take a horrible team to the next level with his own play as the first pick in the draft.

It's a bit easier for Smith to say these things now, buttressed as he is by a dynamic rushing attack and supported by one of the NFL's best defenses. Joe Flacco has tried that whole "I'm just winning" thing as well, but he's very much in Smith's camp -- aided severely by his defense and running game.

Total yards may not matter, but can Smith become the kind of quarterback capable of transcending the average and putting a team on his back? That's the real question for any quarterback looking to find that mysterious "elite."

"We're up in the third and fourth quarter and naturally you're going to be in four-minute offense," Smith said of the wisdom behind the 49ers' more conservative game plan. "You're going to be grinding it out. You're going to be running the ball a lot more and you're not going to have as many 300-yard passing games."

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The question we were asking all along when it came to the "spirit of the salary cap" penalties handed down to the Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins, Oakland Raiders and New Orleans Saints was, of course, "How on earth can teams be in violation of salary cap rules when there is no salary cap in place?"

Turns out, the NFL Players Association was asking the same question, and now, they will do so in court. On Wednesday morning, the NFLPA released this statement in part:

The Class Counsel under the Reggie White settlement agreement and the NFL Players Association today filed a complaint, on behalf of the NFL players, charging the NFL, its clubs and their owners of collusion during the 2010 NFL season. The complaint details a conspiracy to violate the anti-collusion and anti-circumvention provisions in the White Settlement Agreement (SSA) by "imposing a secret $123 million per-Club salary cap for that uncapped 2010 season."

The written claim is filed with the United States District Court of Minnesota, which oversees the SSA and alleges that the league and owners acted illegally and "solely by self-interest, unconstrained by their clear and unambiguous SSA obligations."

The claim was filed just one day after Special Master Stephen Burbank dismissed the appeal filed by the Redskins and Cowboys. Clearly, the NFLPA had this one on a tripwire.

The Cowboys and Redskins were the hardest-hit by the league; the Redskins were docked $36 million in salary cap room over two seasons, and the Cowboys $10 million, for the offloading of onerous player contracts during the uncapped year of 2011. At that time, there was no official rule regarding just how much salary and other player income a team could dump during that time, but as it turned out, the NFL had verbally warned all teams that any nebulous violation of the rules that could be perceived during a capped year would be dealt with severely.

Of course, the uncapped year occurred during the lockout, after the old collective bargaining agreement ran out, and the salary cap with it. Until a new agreement could be struck, the NFL could not possibly send out written instructions for teams to avoid either offsetting or "overpaying" its players without providing the NFLPA with a boilerplate collusion case.  According the NFLPA, the penalties handed down, and the language used by the league and the Management Council, is enough to warrant the complaint.

"When the rules are broken in a way that hurts the game, we have an obligation to act. We cannot stand by when we now know that the owners conspired to collude," said NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith.

"Our union recently learned that there was a secret salary cap agreement in an uncapped year. The complaint today is our effort to fulfill our duty to every NFL player. They deserve to know, above all, the facts and the truth about this conspiracy," added NFLPA President Domonique Foxworth.

''The claims have absolutely no merit and we fully expect them to be dismissed,'' the NFL said in a statement. ''On multiple occasions, the players and their representatives specifically dismissed all claims, known or unknown, whether pending or not, regarding alleged violations of the 2006 CBA and the related settlement agreement. We continue to look forward to focusing on the future of the game rather than grievances of a prior era that have already been resolved.''

The complaint centers around one very damning quote from New York Giants owner John Mara, who also serves as the Chair of the NFL Management Council Executive Committee. When the penalties were handed down in March, Mara was asked about the reasoning.

"What they did was in violation of the spirit of the salary cap," Mara said. "They attempted to take advantage of a one-year loophole … full well knowing there would be consequences."

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If football isn't the ultimate masculine/gladiator sport, it's certainly right up there. As a result of that factor, not to mention the perceived group-think of the locker room, meeting room and huddle, and supposed "caveman" mentality some believe it takes to play the game, there are some who would tell you that no openly gay player would be able to survive (literally or figuratively) in the NFL. But in a recent series of interviews with current and former NFL players, OutSports.com found that the perception is not reality. If the small group interviewed represent the majority, attitudes have definitely come around about any NFL player who would choose to come out.

Former star defensive end Jevon Kearse, who once lived with an openly gay male cousin, told OutSports that as long as such a teammate did what was expected of him between the lines, the personal stuff wouldn't really matter -- and that was the overriding message from the players interviewed.

"In the game of football, it's like a war out there," Kearse said. "Once you get out on the field, all that stuff is to the side. You're on my side. I played in the NFL for 11 years, I'm sure there were at least one or two guys along the line that were gay."

Kearse's former teammate with the Tennessee Titans, running back Eddie George, said the same, and added that he didn't believe an openly gay teammate would have been ostracized on any of his teams.

"I just don't care about that," George said. "If that's what you do, that's what you do. I don't hate you because of it or dislike you because of it. That's not my personal preference, but I respect your decision. I'm not going to like you less or not be your friend because of that."

That tolerance goes back further than you think. Vince Lombardi, seen as the ultimate authority figure, and championed as a pillar of supposed "clean-cut" values for generations of football fans, had an openly gay brother, and often told his players that anyone who had a problem with the concept of homosexuality could not play for him. It was the same as any other kind of bias to the coach -- and in an era where he had to wait far longer than he should have for a head-coaching job because of his Italian heritage, Lombardi despised prejudice of any kind.

No NFL player has ever made his homosexuality public while playing in the league, but the sheer odds tell us that just about every professional football player in at least the last two generations has had at least one gay teammate through his career. The sheer odds also tell us that there will be a wide variety of views on the subject on any roster. Former New York Giants defensive end Michael Strahan added his support to New York's same-sex-marriage legislation right about the time that former teammate David Tyree was telling an anti-homosexual publication that same-sex marriage would lead America to "anarchy."

"How can marriage be marriage for thousands of years and now all the sudden because a minority, an influential minority, has a push or agenda ... and totally reshapes something that was not founded in our country," Tyree said.

Strahan clearly disagreed. "I have plenty of gay friends, and I don't judge them. I want them to have all the same rights I have, and all the opportunities I have to be in a relationship, a great relationship, with the person that they're in love with."

So, maybe the picture isn't as rosy as OutSports paints it. Former running back Ahman Green, who has a gay sister and brother, isn't so sure about the acceptance of a player who admitted his homosexuality while still playing in the league.

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Lawrence Taylor's Super Bowl XXV ring was sold at auction for more than $230,000 to a buyer who wasn't New York Giants star Osi Umenyiora.

The Giants defensive end had vowed to buy LT's ring and return it to him if he was able to reach 500,000 followers on Twitter. Umenyiora fell far short of his goal. His account, @osiumenyiora, had just over 55,000 followers by the Saturday night deadline.

When Umenyiora saw the final sale price, he tweeted out a good-natured expression of relief. "Yikes! I guess the 450,000 let me off the hook!"

Why didn't he buy the ring in the first place? Umenyiora said it was because he didn't know Taylor personally. "If im going to spend that kind of money, it will be because people love him and show it," he tweeted.

The ring was put up for auction by Taylor's son, TJ. The Hall of Fame linebacker said he had no prior knowledge of the sale but supported his son's decision. "He's fine with whatever TJ decided," a Taylor rep said in a statement.

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If you thought that New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma was going to take his year-long suspension for his alleged part in the Saints' bounty scandal lying down ... well, think again. Just one day after the Saints got their day in front of an arbitrator to appeal their penalties, Vilma filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana against NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell (and not the NFL as an entity).

[Rewind: Jonathan Vilma suspended for '12 season for role in Saints bounty system]

The suit claims that "Goodell, speaking publicly about certain Saints executives, coaches and players, in relation to  purported efforts designed to injure opposing players, made public statements concerning Vilma which were false, defamatory and injurious to Vilma's professional and personal reputation."

The suit reviews the public statements Goodell has made about Vilma and other Saints players, coaches and executives, and it gets specific about statements made about Vilma.

Goodell, in the March 2 Club Report, also alleged that "prior to a Saints playoff  game in January, 2010, defensive captain Jonathan Vilma offered $10,000 in cash to any player  who knocked [opposing quarterback Brett] Favre out of the game." ("Favre Allegation.")

Goodell knew and intended that the contents of the March 2 Club Report would be disseminated publicly.

The contents of the March 2 Club Report, including the Favre Allegation, were reported, and continue to be reported, by essentially every major news organization, as Goodell intended.

Upon information and belief, Goodell told others that Vilma placed $10,000 in cash on a table during a team meeting in making the alleged offer concerning Favre.

The suit then goes on to claim the lack of evidence made available by Goodell and the league, despite repeated requests by the Saints organization, Vilma's attorney Peter Ginsberg, and the NFLPA.

Goodell did not reveal, and, despite repeated requests from among others, Vilma, has never revealed, any evidence purportedly corroborating that a Bounty Program existed, that Vilma participated in any such Bounty Program.

And if that is true, that's where things could get sticky for the NFL, especially since Goodell has said that he may make some of the evidence public record at some point in time. The players and NFLPA are clearly frustrated by what they perceive to be Goodell's continuing efforts to try this case in the court of public opinion, while denying those accused and penalized the right and ability to review the evidence and statements against them.

In an interview Shutdown Corner conducted with NFLPA lead outside counsel Richard Smith on May 4, Smith's frustration with the process was palpable, leading us to believe that as much as this lawsuit may actually be about implied damages to Vilma's professional and personal reputation, it's also an attempt to facilitate the discovery process the players and NFLPA has claimed to want all along.

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"We wanted something a little more modest," New York Giants captain Zak DeOssie said of the team's Tiffany diamond and sapphire encrusted Super Bowl XLVI rings, which players received in a private ceremony in Manhattan on Wednesday night.

Justin Tuck wasn't into humility.

"Stray [former Giant Michael Strahan] talked about the 10 table ring," Tuck said in a statement released by the team. "He wanted a ring you could see from 10 tables away. I talked about the restaurant ring. I wanted one that was big enough to see throughout whatever restaurant you go in and see it from each corner."

Tuck wins.

[Related: Former Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor's Super Bowl ring up for auction]

Each ring features four Marquis diamonds in four Lombardi trophies (to represent the franchise's four titles), 37 blue sapphires and the dates of each Super Bowl title in franchise history. The inside of the rings include the words "finish" and "all in," psych-up words used by the team during its 2011 title run. The shanks have the score of this year's victory over the New England Patriots, the player's name and number, and the dates of New York's other Super Bowl triumphs.

The team had some input in the design of the ring. Most specifically, players wanted the color blue to be incorporated. Their last Super Bowl ring was white gold and diamonds and looked like it could belong to the New Orleans Saints.

"The blue makes it a little different," Eli Manning said. "We wanted some blue -- the Giants are Big Blue. We definitely wanted to get a little blue to spark it up a little bit."

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UPDATE: It's evidently Lawrence Taylor's son who is selling the ring. Jay Glazer reports, via Twitter, that Taylor gave the ring to his son years ago. Here are the tweets:

Lawrence Taylor just reached out to me through a mutual friend re the auction of his SB ring. Taylor had ZERO clue this was happening! Years ago he gave his rings to his son TJ, who apparently put it up

LT wasn't aware at all that his son had put it up for auction. However, he had no problem with it bc he feels they are now his sons property

His longtime rep Mark Lepselter said he talked w LT who said, "Lawrence was in fact unaware of it but said he gave it to TJ (his son) and its his right to do what he wants with it. He's fine with whatever TJ decided."

---

That big shiny ring you see above contains 18 diamonds, including the big two in the middle, which total more than 1.5 carats. It was earned as the crowning achievement of a life spent being a revolutionary defensive force in the National Football League.

And today, any clod with enough disposable income can own it.

It belongs (soon to be past tense) to Lawrence Taylor. Why he's selling is unclear, but Taylor is not known for his wise post-career decisions. If it's on the auction block, it's probably safe to assume he needs the money. From Bloomberg News:

Neither the auction website nor the release makes any mention about Taylor's motives for selling. Mike Senyo, a spokesman for SCP Auctions, said in an e-mail that the linebacker is "just ready to sell."

Taylor earned two Super Bowl rings in his career, in XXI and XXV. Who knows, maybe this one doesn't mean that much to him. Maybe the first one is a treasured memento and this one's an afterthought.

Click on through for more details on the ring.

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It's been a busy week for New York Giants defensive lineman Justin Tuck. On Thursday, he picked up the second Super Bowl ring of his career -- and the night before, he was in New York City at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, for a screening of the movie, "Battleship," to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project. The WWP is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to honor and empower wounded warriors, and Tuck was there in conjunction with SUBWAY restaurants.

"SUBWAY would like to recognize our nation's military heroes and say, 'thank you,' said Tony Pace, Sr. Vice President, Global Chief Marketing Officer of the SUBWAY Brand. "The U.S. military played a significant role in the making of "Battleship." Given our involvement in the film, we felt it was important to honor these service members."

The movie, directed by Peter Berg ("Friday Night Lights"), stars Col. Greg Gadson, a member of the WWP who lost both his legs in Iraq in 2007, and who has been an inspirational force for the Giants ever since. We had the opportunity to speak with Tuck about the premiere, the Giants, a couple of Super Bowl wins, and his NFL future.

Shutdown Corner: First, could you talk about the "Battleship" screening?

Justin Tuck: Colonel Gadson is in the movie, and he's meant so much to myself and to the New York Giants, it's just a good way to support the people who are overseas, fighting for our freedoms.

SC: Colonel Gadson is the man who came to your facility during the 2007 season and proved to be such an inspiration for you, right?

JT: Right. I first met him in 2007, just before that Super Bowl, and coach Coughlin brought him in to do a motivational speech. One of our coaches at the time knew Colonel Gadson pretty well, and he just wanted an opportunity to tell his story to us. After that, he had such an impact, he became like a member of our team. He would go on the road with us, three or four games a year -- as many as he could make it to -- and he really had an impact on our team. So, he's been around since 2007, I've known him since then, and we've had the opportunity to watch him battle with the struggles he's had from serving over there. You marvel at the fact that he never complains -- he's always upbeat, and he's always lifting us up. That's amazing from a guy who doesn't have any legs.

SC: It kind of puts things in perspective, doesn't it?

JT: Oh, no question. You really can't allow yourself to complain about anything, when you see a guy who could have easily given up on life, but he's making the best of it.

SC: Obviously, we're not talking about the same level of risk in football, but there has been a lot of talk about player safety lately. Where do you stand on the issue, and how well do you think the NFL is handling it?

JT: It's a serious issue, The game we play is a physical sport, and we put our bodies on the line every time we go out on that that field. But it's something ... we know the dangers that come with it, but the dangers are a real issue, and I hope we'll find ways to minimize them. That goes with a combination of the equipment we're using, to the rules changes by Commissioner Goodell and his bunch. Just being more aware of player safety from the players' standpoint, also.

SC: Right. People say, "Well, you guys knew what you signed up for when you decided to play this game," but that doesn't mean that more shouldn't be done. Specifically, do you think there should be more of an outreach for players after they're done with the game?

JT: I think so, because there's one thing about players -- most players won't ask for help until it's too late. That's something that's ingrained in us, and it's unfortunate. Hopefully, we can get the word out to former players and current players that if you need help, there is help. Like with [Junior Seau], you think that could have been prevented, but unfortunately, it wasn't. Hopefully, it's a sign to guys who might be going through the same thing, where they say, "I want to live -- I want to enjoy my life" and you get the help that is provided to you.

SC: On the positive side of that equation, your old buddy Michael Strahan has made quite the successful transition in his post-football career. How much of a mentor was he to you, and do you still talk a lot?

JT: Oh, we definitely talk a lot. He's back and forth to New York every month, and we talk in person and on the phone. He's definitely meant a lot to me in my career. Coming in as a rookie, he was well-established at the time as the best defensive end in the league. It was fun to get to work with him every day, and mirror how he went about his business-- on the field, and off. I give him a lot of credit for putting me in the right positions and introducing me to the right people. And inspiring me to the work ethic I have today. Because I just tried to follow in his footsteps.

SC: I was in the locker room after Super Bowl XLVI, and he was there talking to you guys, and he almost looked happier than the current players did about the result.

JT: Yeah -- we were texting and talking back and forth through the whole playoff run. He just continued to congratulate us and tell us how to get prepared for these games. He's definitely a true Giant, and he'll always be one. When you see him on Sunday mornings [on Fox's pregame show], and he's picking the teams, he's always going to bleed Giant blue. He can't help it.

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Nick Mangold was looking man-tastic Tuesday night on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon." The New York Jets center, for some reason, volunteered to have a portion of his chest waxed every time a shaggy-haired Giants fan failed to show even a basic knowledge of Lithuanian Prime Ministers.

We'll just get on with it, because the funny is in the video ‒ that is, as long as you think it's funny to see hot wax spread on a man's chest for the purpose of uprooting a deeply embedded chest hair from its very root.

Click on for Part 2.

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