NFL Thread

[merylinkid]

13 hours ago, emmawoodhouse said:

I want to say they were owned by Donald Trump. 

Yes the team owner who destroyed theoriginal USFL.   You would think they would avoid that one at least when starting out.   

[Carey]

Johann, I thought about your post, and you're right.  The font used was rather over the top.  Sorta unnecessary.  Just the league being neat, but whatever.

What's also not neat are the abundance of random people announcing the names, ITA.  Players announcing are okay, but not bandwagon people or people that might actually might not have time for the NFL (save for the Super Bowl (events)).

You know, there are a handful of local reporters that are known on a national level.  Or at the very least, known within a region of the country.  For example, there are people from other places that have heard of Ed Bouchette.  Now, a lot of people are like, "Who?" However, if you're from (or once were from) Western Pennsylvania, and you followed sports and football, you'd know who I'm talking about.

Mr. Bouchette announced his retirement earlier this morning.  The guy was hinting about it, but it felt like he had another 2-3 years, but hit rather hard.  After half a century of contributions & about 37 years as their insider, the king of Steelers & Pittsburgh media is calling it quits.

It's sad that it's over, but happy for the guy.  He totally deserves it!

[AimingforYoko]

DeAndre Hopkins suspended 6 weeks for PEDs.

Probably took 'em trying to rehab quicker. Stupid.

[mojoween]

This is four too many.  Even though 9 a.m. games on Sunday are fun, but still.  No. 

 

[Danny Franks]

Seahawks vs Bucs in Munich, hey? That might be worth a weekend getaway.

[Johannah]

7 hours ago, mojoween said:

This is four too many.  Even though 9 a.m. games on Sunday are fun, but still.  No. 

 

Well, maybe 2 too many.  I kind of like seeing other countries' reactions to our football, but one in London would have taken care of that.

But then, it is nice that other countries are watching.

Also, did you notice, 4 of 5 games were NFC?

Edited May 4, 2022 by Johann

[mojoween]

40 minutes ago, Johann said:

Also, did you notice, 4 of 5 games were NFC?

I just looked at the list again (because really who are we kidding, I noticed they said the games were outside the US but only paid attention to the NY logo) and was like “wait a second Seattle vs. Tampa is AFC/NFC” and WOWIE how long has it been since Seattle switched divisions?

[Carey]

Meh.  I think it's fine.  Maybe I'd say one too many for London games, while some would say 3 too many because, "London always get the slate! Let someone else host!"

Jacksonville is always getting a game, and that's that.  That's a significant part of why it's pretty much necessary to have another game or two with other teams in the London area, where the NFL feels the most comfortable with having its product outside the US.  Well, comfortable & routine!

Nice to see the game back in Mexico, hopefully without any issues.  Looking forward to Munich. We'll see if, down the road, the league will have something in Asia.  I'm not going to bet on Australia or Africa (American football in South Africa and/or Egypt would be rather unique).  At the end of the day, I'm still not a fan of a permanent team in a different country, but this is very nice.

 

ETA: I remember a time (long ago) where the league would not schedule teams from the same conference outside the US.  It was all about competitive balance.  The NFL is still about that, but mainly when it benefits the NFL.  You're now seeing division games in this spot.

BTW, the NFC thing isn't a surprise.  They have an extra home game.  So it's 8-8-1 in terms of home, away, and neutral. That's fair enough

Edited May 4, 2022 by Carey
Spacing & A Forgotten remark on the actual matchups

[Johannah]

18 minutes ago, Carey said:

Meh.  I think it's fine.  Maybe I'd say one too many for London games, while some would say 3 too many because, "London always get the slate! Let someone else host!"

Jacksonville is always getting a game, and that's that.  That's a significant part of why it's pretty much necessary to have another game or two with other teams in the London area, where the NFL feels the most comfortable with having its product outside the US.  Well, comfortable & routine!

Nice to see the game back in Mexico, hopefully without any issues.  Looking forward to Munich. We'll see if, down the road, the league will have something in Asia.  I'm not going to bet on Australia or Africa (American football in South Africa and/or Egypt would be rather unique).  At the end of the day, I'm still not a fan of a permanent team in a different country, but this is very nice.

 

ETA: I remember a time (long ago) where the league would not schedule teams from the same conference outside the US.  It was all about competitive balance.  The NFL is still about that, but mainly when it benefits the NFL.  You're now seeing division games in this spot.

BTW, the NFC thing isn't a surprise.  They have an extra home game.  So it's 8-8-1 in terms of home, away, and neutral. That's fair enough

Ah, good point.  I forgot about that.  I guess next year it will be mostly AFC.

[Carey]

2 hours ago, Johann said:

2 hours ago, Carey said:

Meh.  I think it's fine.  Maybe I'd say one too many for London games, while some would say 3 too many because, "London always get the slate! Let someone else host!"

Jacksonville is always getting a game, and that's that.  That's a significant part of why it's pretty much necessary to have another game or two with other teams in the London area, where the NFL feels the most comfortable with having its product outside the US.  Well, comfortable & routine!

Nice to see the game back in Mexico, hopefully without any issues.  Looking forward to Munich. We'll see if, down the road, the league will have something in Asia.  I'm not going to bet on Australia or Africa (American football in South Africa and/or Egypt would be rather unique).  At the end of the day, I'm still not a fan of a permanent team in a different country, but this is very nice.

 

ETA: I remember a time (long ago) where the league would not schedule teams from the same conference outside the US.  It was all about competitive balance.  The NFL is still about that, but mainly when it benefits the NFL.  You're now seeing division games in this spot.

BTW, the NFC thing isn't a surprise.  They have an extra home game.  So it's 8-8-1 in terms of home, away, and neutral. That's fair enough

Expand  

Ah, good point.  I forgot about that.  I guess next year it will be mostly AFC.

It probably will be, as it would offset an AFC advantage for that conference.  Otherwise, I could see it being NFC teams again (save for Jacksonville).  The NFC is just a bigger deal when it comes to the NFL.

In 2006 there was overdue Turkey Day consolation to the AFC, when Denver and Kansas City played in what may have been an AFC-exclusive spot since they couldn't boot Detroit or Dallas from the holiday.  Not a decade later, Thanksgiving was NFC exclusive including the third game.  In fact, it happened 2 years in a row, no thanks to flex scheduling

[JTMacc99]

😂 

 

[mojoween]

Tom Brady is never ever ever going to be out of my life HOW can I get rid of this guy?  And seriously he is going to be a terrible analyst I can just tell.

[Fukui San]

Since the only other thing I can see Brady doing after retiring is go in politics, I hope he's awesome at commentary.

[Carey]

12 hours ago, mojoween said:

Tom Brady is never ever ever going to be out of my life HOW can I get rid of this guy?  And seriously he is going to be a terrible analyst I can just tell.

At least your team ended things for TB12 in the league's most important games!

 

6 hours ago, Fukui San said:

Since the only other thing I can see Brady doing after retiring is go in politics, I hope he's awesome at commentary.

He'll find a way.  Though I think what we've seen from Tom recently suggests that he could do anything post-NFL.  For example, get that WOF star!

To be fair, if you ask TPTB at FOX, he's been doing color for 56 years, and his total emmy count exceeds the combined total of Summerall & Buck!

[xaxat]

Hmmm, in a league that is eighty percent African American, the TV color commentators (who are hired because they played the game) are not. Not even close.

Must be nice to Brady. "We realize you have never done this, but we will offer you a third of a billion dollars to do it. Whenever you decided to show up."

[twoods]

Seriously. He must be loving life, getting more money to commentate than to play football. 

[cambridgeguy]

6 hours ago, xaxat said:

Must be nice to Brady. "We realize you have never done this, but we will offer you a third of a billion dollars to do it. Whenever you decided to show up."

They would do this for any HOF caliber QB who hasn't completely alienated everyone.  Brees sucks as a commentator but they were ready to throw money at his feet.  Peyton could have gotten any gig he wanted and landed the sweet gig of yucking it up with his brother from his living room.  When Mahomes is ready to retire 15 years from now he'll be able to pick and choose a network gig.

[Danny Franks]

I can definitely understand networks throwing money at Tom Brady, though I suspect it's not a gig he'll want to do for very long.

Not only is he (unfortunately) an all-time great player, he's also pretty charismatic and witty when he lets his guard down and will be very good at breaking down plays and games to minute details, while keeping it interesting.

As for why I doubt he'll do it for long, I just think he's going to want to be a head coach. I think he craves that active involvement in the game, and couldn't even make retirement stick for more than two months. I'm sure he wants to win more rings as a coach, and stamp his name indelibly on the league forever. He's also petty enough to want to prove himself better than Belichick, after Belichick decided to move on from him.

[Johannah]

Yeah, I think Brady will be a fine commentator.  At least it's not another former Cowboy.  And I realize it's not the same thing,  but he was probably the best guest on the Manning brothers show that I saw.

[Carey]

While there is the disagreement toward paying someone to do something they have never done before, I agree that he'll do a great job.  Not something I would've said 4-5 years ago, but based on his skills and recent personality, I think this isn't so bad after all.

In terms of people that are pissed about this: meh.  I'm not going to echo what Shaq recently said (or similar comments prior to that) where "one's a hater" if they don't like it.  However, I don't hate it because this does not affect me one bit.  The only people that have a right to feel upset are those in the business that have actually done it and well enough.  Joe Buck doesn't do color, but he's won 2/3 dozen emmy awards I think.  So I'd disagree with someone who would call Buck a hater since he has accomplished more in his field of work than Tom has in his.

Actually, he hasn't, technically speaking, but Joe would have a case.  Still, FOX has a right to spend a ton on whomever they want.  If it's at the expense of other people in the field (to where they're losing their jobs or having to take a cut, then I can sympathize.  In doing so, it'll be to a much lesser extent if one's down the line, but more if they're close to greatness.  Not too much; if you're good at what you do you'll get picked up by someone else.

As mentioned, ten years seems too long for Tom to do this.  The guy is rather unique and great that he could obtain whatever.  For instance, TB12 could own a franchise, crush it in Hollywood (and yes, I think it's when before if in terms of a Hollywood Star on the Walk of Fame), still keep in touch with the NFL, and all of the above.  People like MJ, LeBron, Strahan, Bradshaw, and others have done a ton more in and out of their sport, and it's been worth it.  If he does very well with FOX, I wouldn't be surprised at all if ESPN gets him in the next decade for 10 years, $100,000,000 because why not?

Finally, unlike Romo, looks like Brady will actually do more than call games, which is great.  Someone like Collinsworth hustled in his spot, calling games, while providing content during a typical week.  Cris adds more to the NFL than Tony does, IMO.  If Tom is the face of Fox Sports, then so be it.  

I typically don't watch for the announcers, but I'll be looking forward to seeing him whenever that is, before I can form an opinion of him in the booth

[mojoween]

3 hours ago, Carey said:

If Tom is the face of Fox Sports, then so be it.  

This makes me sad.

Yeah, I’m a hater, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.  The media likes to get all “how can you hate this guy he’s so awesome you HAVE to respect his accomplishments”.  Mmmmm…no.  No, I do not.  That’s what’s so great about fandom.  It’s irrational and inexplicable.

[Carey]

1 hour ago, mojoween said:

5 hours ago, Carey said:

If Tom is the face of Fox Sports, then so be it.  

This makes me sad.

Yeah, I’m a hater, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.  The media likes to get all “how can you hate this guy he’s so awesome you HAVE to respect his accomplishments”.  Mmmmm…no.  No, I do not.  That’s what’s so great about fandom.  It’s irrational and inexplicable.

Understood.  It's my fault I left out something within my long post above (though I may have hinted toward it).

Anyone & Everyone has a right to love or hate whomever for whatever reason, and that includes Brady.  To be fair, TB12 isn't putting food on the table of the viewers, and he isn't paying their bills.  The last I checked, it's not a crime to dislike this move.

I was just saying that it really does not affect me one way or another, and more important: it would have an effect on those in the business (of calling games and/or working for FOX Sports) before other NFL/sports fans and everyone else

[DrSpaceman73]

I have no desire to watch Tom brady do anything  after he retires 

I also never thought he would be good as a commentator. I was shocked to hear about this deal. 

[mojoween]

15 minutes ago, Carey said:

I was just saying that it really does not affect me one way or another…

Funnily enough, more often than not when I have a game on, I’m barely listening unless something crazy happens on the field.

Like, I adore Stink from his time on Mike & Mike, so when he does Giants games, I enjoy hearing him.  Also, I may have mentioned a time or 77 that I cannot stand Romo in any way.  But I’m still going to watch whatever game CBS is foisting on me, and NBC, and ESPN, because I’m watching football, and who calls it is generally irrelevant to me.

But, again, irrationally, it’s still annoying to have the networks hire someone who hasn’t even proven he can do it, regardless if I’m actually going to listen to his annoying voice when he is doing Giants games (because Big Blue has turned the corner and is going to be awesome so will be America’s Game of the Week all the time).

[DrSpaceman73]

3 hours ago, mojoween said:

Funnily enough, more often than not when I have a game on, I’m barely listening unless something crazy happens on the field.

Like, I adore Stink from his time on Mike & Mike, so when he does Giants games, I enjoy hearing him.  Also, I may have mentioned a time or 77 that I cannot stand Romo in any way.  But I’m still going to watch whatever game CBS is foisting on me, and NBC, and ESPN, because I’m watching football, and who calls it is generally irrelevant to me.

But, again, irrationally, it’s still annoying to have the networks hire someone who hasn’t even proven he can do it, regardless if I’m actually going to listen to his annoying voice when he is doing Giants games (because Big Blue has turned the corner and is going to be awesome so will be America’s Game of the Week all the time).

He's a rich white male!!  He can do anything!  

Reminds me of Brad Steven's.  Coached the Celtics pretty much failed, so they promote him but hire a new coach??? What?  

And I like Brad Steven's but....WTF?  

[Magog]

6 hours ago, mojoween said:

10 hours ago, Carey said:

If Tom is the face of Fox Sports, then so be it.  

This makes me sad.

Yeah, I’m a hater, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.  The media likes to get all “how can you hate this guy he’s so awesome you HAVE to respect his accomplishments”.  Mmmmm…no.  No, I do not.  That’s what’s so great about fandom.  It’s irrational and inexplicable.

Frankly, it makes me sick to my stomach that Tom Brady won't just go away when he retires. He is going to suck as an NFL announcer & he is as charming as touching a cactus.

Tonight is the reveal of the 2022 NFL Schedule. Yay. 

Frankly, its not worth throwing away 2 hours for this mess & a nap would be more productive than watching 2 hours of this tripe. Besides, I'm still on my NFL Summer Vacation (till Labor Day) & I'm not that bored or that desperate for NFL content in May. 

BTW, the Cowboys are playing the Packers at Green Bay in Week 10 & the Cowboys are certainly going to lose that game. 

Edited May 12, 2022 by Magog

[Moose135]

5 hours ago, mojoween said:

...regardless if I’m actually going to listen to his annoying voice when he is doing Giants games

If Brady does Giants games, will the words 'eighteen and one' be forbidden?

[emma675]

I don't think I can take both Brady and Romo on almost every game. I'm going to have to watch games on mute. 

[mojoween]

Both Giants/Cowboys games are national standalones and I choose to see that as respect to how awesome New York is going to be.  Going to be a nice post-Thanksgiving serving of dessert! (Pay no attention that the Giants got crushed during their last Thanksgiving game)

[Johannah]

16 hours ago, mojoween said:

Both Giants/Cowboys games are national standalones and I choose to see that as respect to how awesome New York is going to be.  Going to be a nice post-Thanksgiving serving of dessert! (Pay no attention that the Giants got crushed during their last Thanksgiving game)

I know you're a Giants fan, but I'll be happy if they win even if it's just because the Cowboys suck.

Again.

 

[DrSpaceman73]

If I have the time at some point I'd like to do a study on strength of schedule based on prior year vs end of year standings. My feeling is there would be little correlation. 

[Johannah]

1 hour ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

If I have the time at some point I'd like to do a study on strength of schedule based on prior year vs end of year standings. My feeling is there would be little correlation. 

I know it's based on prior year finishes, and that makes sense since it's the only definitive stat, but so much changes before and during the season.  I'd be interested in the results of your study.

[DrSpaceman73]

So you read this and wonder again how Tom brady is justified in a 350 million plus deal. 

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/report-drew-brees-is-out-as-nfl-analyst-for-nbc-193926878.html

Brees out after one season as analyst. 

So what is it about brady that will make him better than Brees at this job?  They both know the game, hall of fame qbs retiring, same Era but no experience on the job. 

Maybe brady just has a hell of an agent. 

I was not a saints fan but I like and respect Brees. 

I respect brady as a player and he obviously knows the game of football.  

I won't get into my personal feelings about brady but if you know q scores, a basic measure of likeability in entertainment, Brees had a higher score than brady, at least as of the latest article I could find.  Brady has a very high negative q score and a high positive q score, meaning lots of people like him and lots hate him. That's great when you're an athlete, people tune in to see you win or lose, either way. It's bad though as a commentator.  People don't tune in to listen to someone they hate when they are no longer playing. 

[Fukui San]

I mean I think Brady will be fine as an analyst but not necessarily a better bet than, say, Josh McNown.

For that matter, Dan Orlovsky of "ran out of the back of the endzone for the winless Lions team" fame is one of the best analysts out there. 

[twoods]

I wasn’t a fan of Drew Brees as an analyst, and others weren’t as well (judging from the social media comments), so that may have been a factor.

Edited May 15, 2022 by twoods

[DrSpaceman73]

1 hour ago, twoods said:

I wasn’t a fan of Drew Brees as an analyst, and others weren’t as well (judging from the social media comments), so that may have been a factor.

Oh I'm sure it was a factor.

My point is how does anyone know Tom brady will be any better than Drew Brees?   There is zero evidence it will turn out any better, or worse, than Drew Brees and they extremely comparable situations.  

[Lamb18]

On 5/12/2022 at 1:04 PM, emma675 said:

I don't think I can take both Brady and Romo on almost every game. I'm going to have to watch games on mute. 

Maybe Brady and Romo will be on together so the pain will be for only a couple of games per weekend.

[Popples]

1 hour ago, Lamb18 said:

Maybe Brady and Romo will be on together so the pain will be for only a couple of games per weekend.

They're going to be on Fox and CBS respectively, so no such luck. Mute button it is.

[meep.meep]

Back in the olden days, Americans would mute their TV's and listen to radio commentary, just to avoid Howard Cosell.

In west coast news, the Seahawks open their season playing the Broncos.  Oh those crazy schedulers with their wacky sense of humor!

[Johannah]

Deshaun Watson's legal issues will not be resolved before season, so the Brown's will have another season of turmoil.  

Browns Get Bad News on Deshaun Watson's Legal Issues (msn.com) (tried to paste link and this is what they gave me.  sorry)

Edited May 18, 2022 by Johann

[cambridgeguy]

The Browns knew the risk and and went ahead, complete with that convenient first year base salary of only one million. 

[mojoween]

On 5/15/2022 at 6:08 PM, Fukui San said:

For that matter, Dan Orlovsky of "ran out of the back of the endzone for the winless Lions team" fame is one of the best analysts out there. 

And it turned into a spot on MNF!  Sorry apparently to Brian Griese.

Ben Roethlisberger got six games for two accusations.  I am most assuredly no math major, but that feels like DeShaun Watson should get … 66 games.  

[merylinkid]

It's not like the Browns didn't have a perfectly good QB.   One who was willing to play hurt to keep the momentum going.   He gave his all to that team, even lived in the stadium.   Stayed out of trouble.   And his reward was -- being replaced by a guy accused by TWENTY-TWO women of sexual assault.   a guy who didn't play a DOWN last year (so much for, "he hasn't played in a while, he can't keep back in right" right Kaepernick).

[Danny Franks]

The Browns can go fuck themselves. They knew all this about Watson, and waited until the second it was clear the Grand Jury wouldn't indict him to offer him the house. Even if they wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, every other athlete asked has said, 'no way do you go through that many massage therapists. You find one that you like and stick with them.'

Shitty organisation makes shitty decisions shocker! Their smear job against Baker Mayfield has been pretty unpleasant to see, as well as being really dumb to badmouth a player you want to trade.

[xaxat]

Report: NFL owners are “counting votes” toward a possible ouster of Daniel Snyder

They don't have the guts to do it.

[merylinkid]

Stealing money from the other owners might do it.    The sexual harassment stuff, they wouldn't because they didn't want to be next.   But MONEY, now that's serious.

[Carey]

It shouldn't be that hard to boot him if they wanted to.  Maybe be better human beings as opposed to awful people afraid that something would come to light that would force a sale.  Plus, what success has Washington had that would crush them for their boot?

On a better note, I think:  it looks like the Pittsburgh Steelers have finally settled on their new GM in Omar Khan

[Popples]

5 hours ago, Carey said:

On a better note, I think:  it looks like the Pittsburgh Steelers have finally settled on their new GM in Omar Khan

Someone on Reddit said they couldn't believe the Steelers hired a random movie extra for GM. LOL

[xaxat]

18 minutes ago, Popples said:

Someone on Reddit said they couldn't believe the Steelers hired a random movie extra for GM. LOL

As a Steelers fan, I really hope his run as GM now is better than the one for the Gotham team.

[Johannah]

On 5/24/2022 at 10:23 AM, xaxat said:

Report: NFL owners are “counting votes” toward a possible ouster of Daniel Snyder

They don't have the guts to do it.

I bet if he's forced to sell the team, the new owner wishes this all happened before the new name became official so they could pick a better one.