Teddy Bears of the NFL

Ladies, Fall is officially here! I’m just getting over a nasty cold. While I was in bed, bundled under the covers with something hot to drink, I became inspired for my next set of cuties. With the weather turning, leaves changing colors and the temperature falling, this is the time of year when a girl needs someone to cuddle up with on cold nights. So I bring you three wonderful teddy bears to warm any girl’s heart! Yes, this is my ode to the big boy cuties! I’m talking about that Gerald Levert kind of brother that is suave, smooth, sexy, large and in charge! Ladies, sit back relax and know that you are in good hands with these brothers … Enjoy!

Michael Oher # 74,  OT, Baltimore Ravens

Oher looking focused warming up.

Ladies, I can’t see much else when it comes to Baltimore Ravens OT Michael Oher. I’m blinded by the smile that lights up his face. Actually, mesmerized is a more appropriate term. If his beautiful cappuccino complexion and perfectly manicured beard don’t sway you, his story will steal your heart. The subject of the heartwarming Disney movie “The Blind Side” featuring Sandra Bullock, Oher was adopted by the Tuohy family. Virtually a homeless teen, the Tuohy family took the gentle giant into their home. He turned his life around, improved his grades, qualified to play football on the high school team and the rest is movie history! This cuddly cutie is the ultimate Southern gentleman. Born in Memphis Tennessee, Oher played college football at the University of Mississippi.

Oher’s personal story shows what can happen when just one person steps in and gives to others. Before the Tuohy family adopted Michael, he alternated between homelessness and foster care. “In his first nine years of school, Michael Oher was enrolled in 11 different institutions, and that included a gap of 18 months, around age 10, when he apparently did not attend school at all,” wrote Michael Lewis in a NY Times article titled The Ballad of Big Mike.  But the power of one starts here. Tony Henderson (or Big Tony as he was affectionately called) was determined to fulfill a promise to his mother that he would enroll his son in a Christian school. Henderson would allow Michael to sleep at his home and decided that he may as well enroll them both there. Next to step in was Sean Tuohy would take it upon himself to make sure that Michael could eat, setting up a lunch account for him. Soon Michael would work hard enough to gain entry into a Div I program, choosing Ole Miss.

The fresh cut works.

While in college Oher achieved great success. He was selected first team Freshman All-American, and first team Freshman All-SEC and second team ALL-SEC his sophomore year. Oher returned to Ole Miss his senior year and selected first team ALL-SEC as well as first team All-America by the AP. Drafted in 2009, by the Baltimore Ravens, this teddy Bear is in a good position to get lots of loving.

Standing at a sexy 6’4″ there are plenty of women in the DMV who can give this gentle giant all that down home Southern cooking with some Mid-Atlantic/East Coast swing, lol! And we’re told that he has a great sense of humor, too? With those pretty brown eyes, he can get his cornbread, greens and smoked turkey any day of the week!

Gabe Carimi #72, Offensive Tackle, Chicago Bears

Gabe Carimi standing tall. Photograph by NARAYAN MAHON

Ladies, if the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach then make sure that everything you cook Gabe Carimi is kosher. If Yiddish and Hebrew are not your native language here is a phrase that you can learn quickly: ‘Shalom” meaning hello/good-bye or peace and “Shmi” meaning my name is (add your name). Yes, Gabe Carimi is proud of his Jewish heritage. So proud in fact, that he once fasted an hour before a game his freshman year of college because the game fell on the same day as Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism. It is the Day of Atonement. Carimi is so faithful that he checked the calendar for the next decade to see if Yom Kippur would fall on a Sunday. During the draft he said, ““I checked the next 10 years of games… none falls on Yom Kippur, so I’m good to go.”

Carimi also makes sure that his priorities are in order. Gabe was a model scholar-athlete at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. The civil and environmental engineering major even missed the NFL Draft night in New York because the once-in-a-lifetime event fell on the same day that he was scheduled to present his capstone project. It’s no wonder then that Gabe won the Marty Glickman Outstanding Jewish Scholastic Athlete of the Year Award. “Sports are very important to me,” Carimi says, “but so is education. The key to my success is to be consistent in all areas of my life.”

Carimi has a great smile.

Ladies, who wouldn’t want a man that dedicated and committed? He also brings that same dedication to the football field. This offensive tackle is known as the “The Hammer” because he likes to throw his
opponents to the ground. Standing at an impressive 6’7″ Carimi has no problem towering over the other players. At the 2011 Senior Bowl, he was the second tallest player on the roster. Other awards include unanimously being selected All-American in 2010 and 2010 Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year. It was no wonder that the Chicago Bears tried to move up in the draft to select him, to add protection for QB Jay Cutler. Carimi went 29^th in the 2011 draft.

Did I mention his big heart? For 10 months he grew his hair to donate to Locks of Love, in memory of his uncle who passed away at a young age due to leukemia. Yes, this is my kind of teddy bear! He’s tall, strong,
giving and kind. Ladies, what’s NOT to love about this cutie!!!

B.J. Raji #90,  Nose Tackle, Green Bay Packers

Raji works hard for the Cheeseheads.

“Show me what you got, what you got Raji…” Every time I see this commercial I want to get up and dance. I know I’m not the only person who fell in love with Green Bay Packers teddy bear B.J. Raji! He first came to media attention in 2011 during the NFC Championship game when he intercepted a pass from Bears second string QB Caleb Hanie, which he then ran back for a TD. After his awesome Pick 6 Raji, did the hip roll dance for which he became famous and performs in the State Farm Insurance commercial. His TD was the deciding score which sent the Packers to Super Bowl XLV, where they defeated the Steelers 31-25.

BJ enjoying SB Media Day.

Selected ninth in the 2009 draft by the Packers, Raji was a standout in college. While at Boston College he was a First-team All-ACC and Third-team All-American in 2008. After being drafted it took Raji a moment to get going after suffering an injury which hampered his play. In 2010 he took off earning the starting position as a nose tackle and in 2011 he was named to his first Pro Bowl. He also passed the William “The Fridge” Perry as the heaviest player to score a TD in a post season game.  Raji weighs a hearty 333 lbs and stands 6’2″tall. To date, he’s got 86 tackles and 10 sacks – not easy in today’s NFL. Ladies, do you know what else is impressive about this flexible cutie with the smooth moves? His beautiful eyes and boy next door smile! If you are lucky enough to get to cuddle with cutie, he might have his cousin R & B singer Rahsann Patterson serenade the two of you over dinner one night!

Let’s dance ladies!

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