Marc Colombo lowers his bald head and leans his sweaty, 6-foot-8, 318-pound frame toward the microphone, growling to the crowd that the next song will “rip your face off.”

The sometimes scary stage presence of the heavily tattooed guitarist and singer, who is one of three Dallas Cowboys offensive linemen in the heavy metal band Free Reign, is a thing of beauty for the head of the recording company that just signed them.

“They’re big guys – big, ugly, mean guys,” said John Howarth, owner and CEO of the Australian company Riot Entertainment. “You see the press photos and they look intimidating, and that’s the market we want to push into.”

The rest of the lineup is bass player Leonard Davis (6-6, 353 pounds), drummer Cory Procter (6-4, 308) and guitarist Justin Chapman (who looks tiny compared to his NFL bandmates but is about 6 feet tall and 235 pounds). In a rock ‘n’ roll genre where bands snarl and act intimidating while playing thunderously loud guitars, this 1,200-pound band is built for face-ripping.

During their concert at the House of Blues on Saturday – their second major show and the last one before they turn their full attention to football – the band looked more like seasoned metal-heads than jocks toying with a new hobby.

Colombo shouted to the crowd and moved around with lead-singer swagger, rocking his head violently and throwing out the heavy metal salute (fist with pinky and forefinger extended – which former University of Texas alum Davis probably also intends as the “hook ‘em horns” sign). Colombo looked perhaps his most heavy metal-ish when bending over, grabbing the microphone with two hands and delivering guttural screams.

“I get up on stage and no nerves or anything,” he said. “It’s just fun.”

Davis didn’t move around much, mostly nodding his bald head and looking menacing. Procter didn’t look much more gigantic than most drummers because his drum kit is pretty much offensive-lineman sized.

The band says its music is primarily influenced by acts such as Metallica and Killswitch Engage, but that its sound is unique. “We’re heavy. We can lighten it up a bit. We scream a lot,” Colombo said.

Free Reign started with a locker-room conversation between Colombo and Procter last season. Colombo, who played in Chicago bands when he was with the Bears, knew Procter played drums and asked him to jam. They liked what they heard and before long recruited Davis and Chapman, who grew up together in the town of Wortham about 80 miles south of Dallas. Chapman, a longtime local musician, is both lead guitarist and heavy metal coach.

As for the name, Procter says it developed out of a lengthy “Spinal Tap”-caliber discussion with Colombo.

“We’re always talking about taking over the world and world domination and face-ripping metal and good music and stuff,” Procter said. “We were kind of like, we need something to show we’re dominating and have free reign over the land. And we just kind of looked at each other and were like, Free Reign.”

They’re dominating the Cowboys and their fans. About two dozen teammates, including quarterback Tony Romo, showed up for their first big gig. Fans at their shows look more like game-day fans than typical metal customers, with Cowboys hats and jerseys far outnumbering black T-shirts and skull designs.

Cowboys fans fretting that this rock ‘n’ roll fantasy will detract from the line’s job needn’t worry, the band says. (Plenty of Cowboys fans – who have blamed the Jessica Simpson distraction for Romo’s past on-field failures – posted angry messages about possible inattention when the record deal was announced Tuesday.)

“It’s 100 percent football when the season starts,” Colombo said. “A lot of these athletes go play golf in the off-season. We play heavy metal music.”

Next up is the scheduled October release of their five-song EP and touring after the season. Howarth says he’s excited for metal fans to get ahold of the EP and see that there’s some quality music behind the NFL names.

“I looked at them and said, yeah, sure we’re going to get a lot of pub, but I just heard something in the music that tapped into what the kids are into today,” he said.

It all may sound like Free Reign is well on its way to major rock stardom, but the band knows it’s still in the heavy metal minor leagues.

While the House of Blues gig was the biggest yet, there were a lot of empty seats in the 1,600-seat venue. The opening act was a handful of groups appearing as part of the Next American Star Regional Finals Tour – basically a talent show. Free Reign members waited out those acts in a tiny green room that smelled a lot like old cold cuts. Once the show was over, they had to load their own gear into their own trucks.

While they hope to one day have roadies, for now they say they’ll focus on improving as a band – and enjoying the ride.

“I never really imagined this,” Davis said. “I’m kind of amazed.”

Just watch it – even Hitler blames Jessica!

Georgia football legend Herschel Walker is expected to reveal in an upcoming book that he has multiple personalities — a revelation that surprises the man who coached the 1982 Heisman Trophy winner.

“That’s all news to me,” former Georgia coach Vince Dooley said. “All I know is whatever personality he had when he had the football was the one I liked.”

“Breaking Free” will chronicle Walker’s life with multiple personality disorder, according to Shida Carr, the book’s publicist at Simon & Schuster.

Carr said the book will be published in August, but gave no other details and declined to provide excerpts.

“There’s some buzz out there and we’re letting people know we have this book coming out,” Carr told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

In three seasons at Georgia, Walker led the Bulldogs to a 33-3-1 record, three straight Southeastern Conference championships and the 1980 national title. He won the Heisman as a junior, then left school a year early to sign with the now-defunct U.S. Football League.

Walker went onto play in the NFL for the Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He has lived in Dallas since his playing career ended.

A former Georgia teammate also was caught off guard by Walker’s revelation.

“I’m probably one of his closest friends and that’s news to me,” said Frank Ros, who was captain of Georgia’s 1980 national championship team. “I knew he was working on a book but I just thought it was about football. He does 100 things at once and always has projects going on, but that blows me away.”

The newspaper said Walker could not be reached for comment.

Multiple personality disorder, also known as dissociative identity disorder, is a rare mental condition in which one person has two or more distinct personalities, according to the Merck Manual of Medical Information.

(source)

In a most confusing encounter, Tony Romo and Saved By the Bell’s Dennis Haskins (Mr. Belding) perform Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing with rock band Metal Skool.

I’m speechless.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrINA2iLD8M

Carrie Underwood won “American Idol,” and now she’s reached the goal line in love. In Touch Weekly reports the curvy cutie is hot and heavy with Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. She made a surprise Christmas Day appearance at Texas Stadium, hugging her new man on the field before the Cowboys’ crushing 23-7 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Romo, 26, has previously been linked to Jessica Simpson.

You heard it here first! Now it’s created quite the stink!

Tony Romo has slammed reports he’s dating singer and actress Jessica Simpson.

The rumours began when Romo confessed to having a crush on Simpson, but the Dallas Cowboys quarterback insists he’s never been lucky enough to go on a date with the 26-year-old star.

He says, “So I don’t have to answer any more questions about this, I’m not dating Jessica Simpson, nor have I gone on a date with her.”

Simpson’s father Joe is supporting Romo, insisting, “Jess has never met Tony.
I am friends with him.”

Everyone’s talking about Emmitt Smith these days. But they aren’t discussing how the NFL career leading rusher outmaneuvered linebackers on the field.

The chatter is about how Smith’s hip-swaying and smooth glides on the dance floor have gotten him to this week’s finale on the ABC celebrity dance contest, “Dancing with the Stars.”

“I think he’s just fabulous!” Ann Williams, 69, founder of the Dallas Black Dance Theatre, told The Dallas Morning News. “There’s no way that he could be in the finals without having the same stick-to-it-iveness and work ethic he had as an athlete.”

There’s no doubt many will be watching the showdown between Smith and partner Cheryl Burke and actor Mario Lopez and Karina Smirnoff on Tuesday and Wednesday. Sports bars and dance studios throughout North Texas have held “Emmitt watching parties” that show the appeal has cut across cultural and class lines.

That’s because dancing is something most people have thought about and wish they could do, dance instructors and academics say.

Even in the “princess dreams of little girls growing up, the prince always knows how to dance,” Rita Kirk, professor of communication at Southern Methodist University, told the newspaper.

At Skillz Salon in Plano, where many black professional athletes go, conversation among clients and staff regularly turns to Smith.

“He’s been doing really well. He’s a phenomenal dancer,” said barber Sedrick Fort, 32.

The buzz has even motivated more men to take up dancing, said Toni Musgrow, 38, who manages IDance3 studio in Plano, where Smith and Burke practiced.

“As one male customer told me just the other day: `Emmitt makes dancing look manly.”

(via The Dallas Morning News)

During yesterday’s Dallas Cowboys vs. Washington Redskins game, Troy Aikman and the crew shared some things you might not know about Tony Romo..which included his celebrity crush….who is none other than Jessica Simpson!

Personally I think they would make a CUTE CUTE couple – and he would definitely be a step up from Jessica’s current dating pool…which seems to be dead!

Hummmmm…..wonder if Jessica’s camp was watching the game and will jump at the information?!