P.J. initially started out in powerlifting and was successful, but decided that his ultimate goal was standing in the winner’s circle on the bodybuilding stage. At 22, he entered his first competition and placed fifth as a novice light heavyweight at the 2003 Atlantic States.

“I was the youngest in the class,” Braun wrote on his official website, www.pjbraun.com. “Success. This felt amazing and I was now addicted to the sport for life.”

Two top-three finishes in a row gave Braun the confidence that he needed to make the commitment to take it to the next step. He took off nearly two years to add some size to his frame and came back at 220 pounds for the 2006 Junior USA, where he finished what he described as a “controversial” fourth. A week later, Braun won the New England Bodybuilding Championships with a heavy heart. “Two days prior to the show, John Stavidris, one of my best friends, had passed away,” wrote Braun. “That winning moment was so surreal. It will live with me forever.”

Since then, Braun has finished 11th at the 2007 IFBB North American Championships and 9th at the same show a year later. He then was victorious at the 2008 NPC Atlantic City Amateur as the super-heavyweight and overall champion.

Braun is also one third of the famous Brat Pack along with Evan Centopani and Guy Cisternino. P.J. is the last one without a pro card, so he is keeping good company and on his way to joining his mates before too long.

This is part of an exclusive series by MuscleSport Mag on the 2009 NPC Empire States for which we are one of the show’s official sponsors. The show will take place on Saturday, July 18 in Suffern, New York.

All of the whispers and rumblings will be monitored and given to you. The entire town of Tampa will be exploding and it all comes to a head at 6:24 PM on the first day of February at the state-of-the-art Raymond James Stadium.

Photo by Bill Menzel

If you’re going to get fired from your job as a head coach in the NFL, you would rather your holiday season interrupted than getting the false impression that you’ll be around for draft scouting meetings. The main reason for this is that teams look to make decisions within the first two weeks following the regular season and have either signed someone or conducted multiple interviews to narrow down that decision.

That process has already taken place around the league, and even the teams that haven’t announced their new head coach yet due to his current team still playing have had plenty of time to make up their minds. An example of this is the New York Jets, who are rumored to be ready to announce the hiring of Rex Ryan once the Baltimore Ravens’ season concludes.

What makes the Tampa Bay situation even more puzzling is that they hired from within. A day after canning the man playfully known as ‘Chucky,’ the Bucs introduced Raheem Morris as head coach, less than a month after he was promoted to defensive coordinator after serving two years as the defensive back coach under Gruden.

Whatever happened behind closed doors down in Tampa must have been pretty interesting. This decision seems to have been made hastily and possibly pursuant to a disagreement between Gruden and the Buc hierarchy.

Call him whatever you want. A ‘thug.’ A ‘criminal.’ I like to say ‘piece of shit,’ because that is exactly what Adam ‘Pacman’ Jones has proven himself to be. A wasted talent who threw away what could have been a long and productive career in the NFL.

His latest trouble in a laundry list of criminal behavior is an allegation that the cornerback arranged for another person to shoot at three Atlanta men outside a strip club following a dispute, according to a report on ESPN’s “Outside the Lines.” Jones made attempts to dispute the claims and even appeared on CBS with the great James Brown. What transpired bordered on the comical. For those of you out there in my age group, you would have expected to see Alan Funt crash through a false wall and tell Jones, “Smile. You’re on ‘Candid Camera.’” Here’s a bit of their conversation:

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JB: What is it about strip clubs that you can’t stay away?
AJ: I haven’t been to a strip club since that incident. I live and learn, you know, I like the strip clubs.

And more…

JB: Have you shown any remorse?
AJ: I hope so.

Coming from a young man of 25, it is almost understandable that he sounds totally ignorant. He did admit to having an alcohol problem and attended AA, so let’s give him a little credit there. The strange thing is that Jones feels he will be back in the NFL next year and with the Cowboys, too. Jerry Jones, who has to feel burned over this obvious mistake, is out of his mind if he brings back Jones.

Terrell Owens is a magnet for attention, with the majority of it being negative. On the heels of the wideout signing a $34 million, four-year contract extension with the Dallas Cowboys, he has been placed in the NFL’s “reasonable cause” testing program for performance-enhancing drugs. Although Owens has never failed a drug test, his failure to make himself available for a screening was the reason why he is in this situation.

According to Owens, it was a miscommunication over cell phone numbers which caused him to miss the notification from the league. He has met with league representatives to explain the situation, but the NFL refused to comment due to confidentiality requirements in regards to the program. Owens will be subject to up to six offseason tests.