The Stats May Or May Not Show That Dez Bryant Played His Ass Off, But This Photo Does

Your morning roundup for Oct. 17, the day the headline "Used Condom-Collecting Women Charged In Alleged Sex Attack Spree" caught our attention. H/T to Adam for the Dez Bryant photo. Got any stories or photos for us? Tip your editors.

What we watched: The ongoing, never-ending debate about the enigma that is Donovan McNabb. His time in Philly was marked with both sustained success— nine playoff victories, five NFC title game appearances, one Super Bowl—and exasperating disappointments. His season with the Redskins was dreadful, though it was obvious early on that he and Mike Shanahan were a dysfunctional fit. And last night, after going 19-for-24 for 177 yards and getting thoroughly whipped by the Bears, he was benched in the fourth quarter in favor of rookie Christian Ponder.

McNabb, who was never the most accurate passer, is playing behind an offensive line that's missing two starters. And his receivers dropped a couple of his throws. But the Vikings are 1-5, their season slowly drifting toward the consideration of what's available on the draft board. Leslie Frazier will have to decide soon if it's more worthwhile to cast his lot with Ponder and his growing pains. Should Frazier choose to do so, the question about McNabb will no longer be about what he has left, but how much longer he hangs on.

A grim, heartbreaking revelation: "Police now know what caused 16-year old Ridge Barden to collapse on the field at a Friday night game in Homer. He later died at the hospital. According to police, autopsy results show Barden died of bleeding in the brain, due to blunt force trauma as the result of a football injury. The high school junior was a member of the varsity team in Phoenix." [ 9WYSR]

So, to be clear, it's only classy to talk shit after a victory: "49ers offensive lineman Anthony Davis ... separated Schwartz from Harbaugh. After the game, he sent a tweet bragging about winning in Detroit. He claimed he saved Schwartz by separating him. He also sent this vulgar message..." [ Larry Brown Sports]

Your Cab Driver Beat Boxing "Billie Jean" Interlude:

Darren Rovell finds the Darren Rovell angle on Dan Wheldon's death: "Since news of @danwheldon's passing, his Twitter following has jumped 34% in 13 hours. Hope some1 takes it over for his legacy." [ @darrenrovell]

Today in "You don't fucking say": Headline: "Wheldon's death underscores dangers of racing." [ AP]

This can only end well: "Not an unusual occurrence, but saw Jerry and Garrett were having a post-game chat in a hallway. Garrett seemed to be in explanatory mode." [ @GregABedard]

Merch: Managing editor Tom Scocca and contributing editor Drew Magary have both written books. You can buy Scocca's Beijing Welcomes You: Unveiling the Capital City of the Future here, and Magary's The Postmortal here. Now do it.

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