NFL Thread

[Xeliou66]

Has anyone heard the story that Brady and Gronk were likely going to the Raiders in 2020 but Gruden decided against it and wanted to stick with Derek Carr? I wonder if it’s true. If it is, then Gruden is an epic moron for not going through with it. 

[roamyn]

Matt Coral has a lisnic foot injury and is out for the season.  He wasn’t expected to vie w/Mayfield & Darnold for the starting QB job, but he had shown promise during the peeseason.

Which means PJ Walker will remain #3.

[Carey]

18 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

Has anyone heard the story that Brady and Gronk were likely going to the Raiders in 2020 but Gruden decided against it and wanted to stick with Derek Carr? I wonder if it’s true. If it is, then Gruden is an epic moron for not going through with it. 

That was probably between questionable and doubtful.  It was possible given the location, coupled with the fact there were several fairly decent teams those two were seeking (in addition to Tennessee and Indianapolis).

I don't think it was or led to anything since that meant going up against Mahomes twice, while staying in a conference with Burrow, Herbert, Lamar, and Josh Allen.

Not that TB12 and Gronk couldn't defeat all of that competition.  The AFC hasn't been this damn good in a long time, and really, wasn't during the Pats dynasty.  Actually, the AFC was inferior to the NFC for over a decade & a half before the Broncos double that preceded Brady's NFL entry.

While Tom and Rob may have conquered whatever staying in the AFC (or maybe in New England), their eventual route to Tampa was the smart one.  Complete roster, NFC, fairly easy competition within division, and then they avoid the AFC gauntlet

[Lamb18]

How much say does a head coach have in who he gets for quarterback? I find it hard to believe Stefanski would be happy about this. After all, Mike Zimmer did not much, if any, say about having Kirk Cousins as quarterback when that deal was made.

Regarding Watson, he may not bother massage therapists anymore but he'll probably find other women to harass.

[JTMacc99]

1 hour ago, Lamb18 said:

How much say does a head coach have in who he gets for quarterback?

That depends on the team.

For example, it sounds like the Browns decision came from the ownership. Not the coach nor the GM, this sounds like the decision to dump Mayfield and bring in Watson came from the top.

For my team, at least at the moment, the Giants have set themselves up with a GM and Head Coach combination who came into the organization together and are on the same page for personnel decisions. When it comes to decision time about Jones, Schoen and Daboll will make the decision together.

The Jets, for many years since the Johnson family took ownership, had the GM and the HC each reporting directly to the owner. This gave the owner final say in a lot of things, but it sure as heck didn't create a scenario where everybody is on the same page.

Teams like the Patriots or the Panthers, where the coach is also in charge of personnel are self explanatory. 

I'd guess that the Head Coach had a LOT of say with the Rams when they did what they did to replace Goff with Stafford. 

I'm assuming that in Houston last year, it was the GM who had the most if not the only say in who was going to play QB for them. Turns out that they may have actually hit on a R2 guy who can be a starting QB in the NFL, so kudos to them. That's not easy to do.

[Notabug]

56 minutes ago, JTMacc99 said:

That depends on the team.

For example, it sounds like the Browns decision came from the ownership. Not the coach nor the GM, this sounds like the decision to dump Mayfield and bring in Watson came from the top.

For my team, at least at the moment, the Giants have set themselves up with a GM and Head Coach combination who came into the organization together and are on the same page for personnel decisions. When it comes to decision time about Jones, Schoen and Daboll will make the decision together.

The Jets, for many years since the Johnson family took ownership, had the GM and the HC each reporting directly to the owner. This gave the owner final say in a lot of things, but it sure as heck didn't create a scenario where everybody is on the same page.

Teams like the Patriots or the Panthers, where the coach is also in charge of personnel are self explanatory. 

I'd guess that the Head Coach had a LOT of say with the Rams when they did what they did to replace Goff with Stafford. 

I'm assuming that in Houston last year, it was the GM who had the most if not the only say in who was going to play QB for them. Turns out that they may have actually hit on a R2 guy who can be a starting QB in the NFL, so kudos to them. That's not easy to do.

Unfortunately for the Browns, Jimmy and Dee Haslam have decide to be hands on owners.  They don't make every personnel decision, but they insist on making the big ones.

It was at their insistence that the Browns drafted Johnny Manziell.  Haslam is a big SEC fan and grew to love Manziell back when he played for Texas A&M.  The Browns' management definitely did NOT want Manziell, but Haslam insisted.

As long as the Haslams own  the team, they will be meddling in personnel decisions and making stupid statements in the press.

[NUguy514]

4 hours ago, Carey said:

23 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

Has anyone heard the story that Brady and Gronk were likely going to the Raiders in 2020 but Gruden decided against it and wanted to stick with Derek Carr? I wonder if it’s true. If it is, then Gruden is an epic moron for not going through with it. 

That was probably between questionable and doubtful.  It was possible given the location, coupled with the fact there were several fairly decent teams those two were seeking (in addition to Tennessee and Indianapolis).

Dana White related this story on Gronk's podcast, and Gronk confirmed that that's what happened.

[Carey]

That reminded me that there was a GRONK special for the UFC preliminary stuff on ESPN on Saturday Night.  I was watching early on but soon after the 9:00 hour hit I got too focused on Phillis/Mets & forgot to switch back before the Main Card on PPV.

Thanks NUguy.  I probably catch that myself instead of taking it with a grain of salt (though I did say doubtful & not "no chance").  If Rob said it was close, then I believe it (as valid).  One may not have since he was retired (and I think still under contract with New England).

Jon Gruden isn't a total moron for nixing it if so.  He's still salty over what happened one Saturday night in January 2002

[meowmommy]

3 hours ago, Carey said:

He's still salty over what happened one Saturday night in January 2002

Chucky should have remembered the words of Michael Corleone:  "It's business, not personal."  You don't squash a potential franchise changer because you're peeved about a ref's call 20 years ago.

[AimingforYoko]

Stay classy, Cleveland: (NSFW)

[Danielg342]

39 minutes ago, AimingforYoko said:

Stay classy, Cleveland: (NSFW)

Ouch. I just hope he's simply a misguided opportunist, because that's beyond tasteless.

[Popples]

17 minutes ago, Danielg342 said:

Ouch. I just hope he's simply a misguided opportunist, because that's beyond tasteless.

There was this man who is setting a great example for his son. 🙄

[merylinkid]

Pretty sure the first one is protesting the attitude some seem to take.

The 2nd one -- CRINGE.   

[Crashcourse]

7 hours ago, Carey said:

That reminded me that there was a GRONK special for the UFC preliminary stuff on ESPN on Saturday Night.  I was watching early on but soon after the 9:00 hour hit I got too focused on Phillis/Mets & forgot to switch back before the Main Card on PPV.

You didn't miss much with the Gronk special.  He and his dad and brothers were sitting there looking like a bunch of meatheads who had nothing to add to the commentary.  They just sat and watched the fights.

[Danielg342]

I'll never understand the "they just want his money" argument that always comes up in defence of people like DeShaun Watson. Yes, there is the possibility that all 24 of Watson's accusers are just money hungry "gold diggers" who (to borrow a page from Jian Ghomesi) may just be in a conspiracy with each other, but that possibility is infinitely remote. You're more likely to get a scenario like that in a bad Hollywood script than in real life.

I get it. While I won't dare say that what he did compares to what Watson has done, I was in this situation when Richie Incognito signed with the Bills the second time around. I didn't want to waver on my support of the Bills but there was no way I could look past what Incognito had done, even after the Bills finally broke through and made the playoffs.

The mental gymnastics were hard. I suppose what allowed me to eventually accept that he was a Bill was that Incognito was eventually remorseful for his actions and seemed pretty genuine about it. At least he had shown he had improved as a character in being remorseful, and remorse is usually the first step in the healing process.

Of course, what Watson has done- and what he means to the Browns- is greater than what Incognito has done, so I can only imagine the mental gymnastics the Browns and their fans have to go through would be immensely greater. Probably the only way through- absent Watson actually showing genuine contrition, and maybe even despite that- is for Watson to lead the Browns to a Super Bowl title.

Even then, I'm not sure he'll ever be universally accepted by the Browns fandom. There are just some things winning can't cure.

One thing is certain though- in a few years, Watson's transgressions will be forgotten, and the women he assaulted will fade into obscurity, never to be heard from again. That will be the real loss.

[NUguy514]

8 hours ago, AimingforYoko said:

7 hours ago, Popples said:

Dear tiny-dicked assholes,

The only satisfaction I can derive from such appalling displays of aggressive, violent, and stupid male sexism is that they come in service of such a Sisyphean and profligate endeavor: the Browns will come no closer to the SB this year than they did last year.  I'll happily enjoy and feed off of your tears of frustration, though.

[Bastet]

19 hours ago, Crashcourse said:

You didn't miss much with the Gronk special.  He and his dad and brothers were sitting there looking like a bunch of meatheads

How shocking.

[mojoween]

If watching Thursday Night Football goes as well with millions more people watching as trying to watch the Yankees on Prime is going tonight, I guess my Thursday evenings just opened right up.

Not interested in watching football on an iPad, thanks.

[Salacious Kitty]

I saw the Yankees/Mets on regular cable, TBS to be precise. 

That doesn't solve the Thursday Night Football dilemma.

Edited August 24, 2022 by Salacious Kitty

[meowmommy]

3 hours ago, mojoween said:

If watching Thursday Night Football goes as well with millions more people watching as trying to watch the Yankees on Prime is going tonight, I guess my Thursday evenings just opened right up.

I have two (probably dumb) questions about TNF on AP:  will it be available on demand or only live streaming, and will it have commercials? 

One of the perks of watching TNF (and SNF and MNF) has been the ability to delay watching for an hour or two while recording on the DVR, then FF'ing through the commercials and the halftime.  I assume that the Yankees game has commercials because AP isn't the sole broadcaster, but if they have exclusive rights to football, they shouldn't run ads.  None of their other programming has ads.

[mojoween]

5 hours ago, Salacious Kitty said:

I saw the Yankees/Mets on regular cable, TBS to be precise. 

I’m in New York State and it was blacked out here on TBS so Prime was my only option.

The baseball games on Prime have commercials.  Mostly for Amazon products (like eleventy jillion for Lord of the Rings) but regular stuff too.

[mojoween]

Max Kellerman reported that Len Dawson passed away and I can’t believe that I haven’t received one alert about that.  RiP, sir.

Len featured in one of my favorite football pictures of all time. 
 

Edited August 24, 2022 by mojoween

[Carey]

RIP Len Dawson.

I saw post/tributes earlier this month & thought it was over for him at that point.  It was I guess, but apparently the reports from his family was that he was in hospice.  It was a matter of when.  I assumed he died as I didn't read that tidbit.  Just the stories and what not.

Definitely one of the coolest photos there.

[JTMacc99]

5 hours ago, mojoween said:

I’m in New York State and it was blacked out here on TBS so Prime was my only option.

I could be wrong, but it looked like the Mets broadcast on SNY was available last night. Was that also blacked out for us?

9 hours ago, meowmommy said:

I assume that the Yankees game has commercials because AP isn't the sole broadcaster, but if they have exclusive rights to football, they shouldn't run ads.  None of their other programming has ads.

First, this article gives a basic rundown of what we should expect from Amazon broadcasts, including: "Viewers will be given the choice to watch, record or start from the beginning of the broadcast. Viewers who choose record will get access to all games for the entire season automatically."

Second, Amazon paid $1 Billion per season for these games. There will be commercials. And because I love this stuff, let's talk about how much money advertisements will generate to offset that billion dollars. 

Last season, the average 30 second spot on Sunday Night football (I couldn't quickly dig up Thursday night rates) was $812,000.  According to Ad Age, the commercials on the upcoming Amazon broadcasts are actually selling at a 20% premium over broadcast TV! 

But let us do the math simply with $812K per 30 seconds, which is as good as any number since at least it's based off a fact.  So $812K times 2 is $1.624 Million per minute. 16 minutes of commercials per hour times three hours means $77.952 Million per game. It looks like Amazon has 15 games.

So that translates to $1.169 Billion of advertising revenue, give or take.

There will be commercials. 

[Johannah]

I don't care if there are commercials since they are on when the game isn't being played anyway and the alternative is listening to the droning of the announcers.  My concern is whether I can watch the game on my TV, not computer or other small device, and whether I have to pay more for it.  I do have Amazon Prime, but that is it, and if that doesn't get it done for me, my Thursday nights just opened up.  (When the Ravens play on a Thursday, I might have to go to a bar.)

[mojoween]

14 minutes ago, JTMacc99 said:

I could be wrong, but it looked like the Mets broadcast on SNY was available last night. Was that also blacked out for us?

I didn’t look at SNY, but it was definitely not on YES.  Watching a black screen on TBS or a shitty stream on the TV were the only options until I begrudgingly got out the iPad.

To be more on topic, the Patriots are going to be terrible this year, huh?

[JTMacc99]

38 minutes ago, mojoween said:

To be more on topic, the Patriots are going to be terrible this year, huh?

I'll believe it when I see it.

[Carey]

47 minutes ago, Johann said:

I don't care if there are commercials since they are on when the game isn't being played anyway and the alternative is listening to the droning of the announcers.  My concern is whether I can watch the game on my TV, not computer or other small device, and whether I have to pay more for it.  I do have Amazon Prime, but that is it, and if that doesn't get it done for me, my Thursday nights just opened up.  (When the Ravens play on a Thursday, I might have to go to a bar.)

The Steelers Thursday selection is sorta favorable.  It's a road game, but very early (4 weeks from tomorrow).  It's against Cleveland so it's not a big deal if I skip it.  Even if it were on real television, I'd probably listen to the radio broadcast and not even have the TV on.

At worst, you could connect your computer to the TV.  If you have HDMI or any other proper, legal devices, you could get the feed onto your television set

[Popples]

1 hour ago, Johann said:

I don't care if there are commercials since they are on when the game isn't being played anyway and the alternative is listening to the droning of the announcers.  My concern is whether I can watch the game on my TV, not computer or other small device, and whether I have to pay more for it.  I do have Amazon Prime, but that is it, and if that doesn't get it done for me, my Thursday nights just opened up.  (When the Ravens play on a Thursday, I might have to go to a bar.)

Do you still have a cable box? Because you can watch it on TV through the Prime app (at least on Comcast/Xfinity) with no extra cost.

I have cable boxes in the bedrooms and a Firestick in the front room TV and I was able to set up to record the games yesterday, so we'll see how that goes.

[mojoween]

Rex Ryan (or as I can’t help but think of him, REX! RYAN! as shouted by Tom Brady at the line of scrimmage) is going to be on the next season of “The Amazing Race” and now I know which team I am 100% going to root for.

Edited August 24, 2022 by mojoween

[Fukui San]

39 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Rex Ryan (or as I can’t help but think of him, REX! RYAN! as shouted by Tom Brady at the line of scrimmage) is going to be on the next season of “The Amazing Race” and now I know which team I am 100% going to root for.

...for the three episodes max he is on before he's put to pasture for being woefully out of shape compared to the rest of the cast.

[Bastet]

Dammit, I keep forgetting Thursday's games are going to be on Prime now.  I do have access, through a friend's account, but the only TV I have set up for streaming is my bedroom TV.  Now every Thursday I'm going to have to unplug my Fire stick from there and plug it into my game room TV, then set the bedroom TV back up before I go to bed.  I know, I know - quite the first world problem.  But I'm annoyed at not being able to simply turn on any (or all) of my TVs and tune to NFL Network to watch the game; now if I've got it playing out in the game room and come into my office for a little bit, I can't also turn the game on in there.

[Chit Chat]

2 hours ago, Bastet said:

Dammit, I keep forgetting Thursday's games are going to be on Prime now.

Thanks for the reminder.  I can't keep up with all of the players/coaches/network changes!!

[Carey]

When I used to use Roku on a very regular basis, I had the main connection in my living room, while simply connecting the other devices to a bedroom or kitchen TV or wherever the non-primary television was.  Based on one's subscription, they could view the Internet feed off of another television without having to move my Roku device all over the place all of the time.

It's a pain, since it was easier to turn on NFLN wherever.  As mentioned, I'm used to just simply tuning into the radio version, but I probably will tune into Al & Herbie calling a game together.

Speaking of reminders, I don't know what'll take to remember that the season starts in 14 days.  It's close by obviously, but it feels like it's a close 3 weeks away!

[JTMacc99]

Setting up a second TV with a streaming device was a problem I solved for $29.99.  I'm using the TiVo Stream 4k units, but Roku and Amazon have similar devices.  (To be fair, that $30 also let me get rid of the cable box on that TV, saving me $8/month.)

The Cowboys lost their excellent but often injured Left Tackle Tyron Smith for the season yesterday. They're saying earliest return could be December, but that's super unlikely. It's that same horrible kind of injury that Becton suffered: Broken bone/hamstring muscle tear. 

This is rough news for the team. They are a distinctly better team with him on the field. The kid they drafted in R1 this year is NOT ready to be dropped in at tackle this year. They're working him at guard and hoping for the best. 

[Johannah]

22 hours ago, mojoween said:

Rex Ryan (or as I can’t help but think of him, REX! RYAN! as shouted by Tom Brady at the line of scrimmage) is going to be on the next season of “The Amazing Race” and now I know which team I am 100% going to root for.

Awesome - for, like 3 weeks, as mentioned.  Frankly, unless all the competitions are NOT physical, I wouldn't be surprised to see him eliminated first.  Who's his partner?  A friend of mine recently went to a bar in Bradenton FL and Rex was there.  My friend said he was very nice, talked to folks for a while, posed for pics...  and, to the surprise of no one, could really put away the beers.  

[mojoween]

He’s partnered with a golf buddy who is about fourteen years younger (and in shape).  TAR is apparently his friend’s mom’s favorite show and somehow that turned into Rex competing on it.  He also lost 50 pounds before the filming started.

[Xeliou66]

Yikes - Bills punter Matt Araiza has been accused of participating in a gang rape that occurred last fall while he was at San Diego St. I read the details, truly sickening stuff, he should be cut by the Bills and his sorry ass should be thrown in jail. I wonder if the Bills will release him, he’s gotten a lot of preseason attention for his strong leg, but the Bills should not hesitate and just release him. Will be curious to see how this plays out. 
And fuck San Diego St for apparently trying to sweep this under the rug, one of the guys involved is still on their football team. Any school that tries to sweep stuff like this under the rug because of football success/bad publicity needs to face severe consequences. 

[Carey]

He's a rookie so I guess they could boot him given their success without him.  However, if the punter is actually innocent then great.  If Buffalo doesn't suffer from a financial standpoint, they can sit and have the NFL put him on the commissioner's exempt list.

For the record, this crap will continue to happen if the message of "Oh this happened when he was a kid & in the past" precedes "This is wrong period AND there is NO excuse for this awful nonsense!"

[Danielg342]

There's a strange sense of irony that I post about wondering how a Browns fan would handle DeShaun Watson and, here I am, a Bills fan having to confront Matt Araiza.

The only thing I'm really going to say on this is that I won't draw any conclusions about this story until it's apparent that a conclusion can be made. There's still a lot left to play out in this story, I think.

What I do find interesting is that Buffalo went ahead and made him their unquestioned starting punter despite knowing this lawsuit was coming. Either that means their due diligence is horrible or it means the Bills are confident this is not going to have too serious repercussions for Araiza.

We'll see what happens.

[cambridgeguy]

3 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

What I do find interesting is that Buffalo went ahead and made him their unquestioned starting punter despite knowing this lawsuit was coming. Either that means their due diligence is horrible or it means the Bills are confident this is not going to have too serious repercussions for Araiza.

They also know that cutting a punter, no matter how awesome he is, has a lot less of an impact than cutting a starting QB.  They can start on the high ground (innocent until proven guilty, etc.) and then, if necessary, drop him because hey, as an organization we have standards.

Speaking of punters, Indy's made the mistake of participating in some sprints. 

[mojoween]

While Aaron Donald should not be chucking helmets at people, the handwringing about the fight is so dumb. Let them fight!  Opposing teams should not be friends.

In my old man yells at clouds moment, I do long for the days when for example there is a guy is on the ground, and the guy on the other team steps over him (I mean, not Ndamukong Suh or Albert Haynesworth shit, more like complete disdain).  Free agency has ruined this because you never know when you’re going to end up on the same team with someone.

[DrSpaceman73]

Awful story about Araiza. 

Even worse are the online comments accusing her of just wanting money because of this being a civil and not a criminal case. 

[JTMacc99]

12 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

I read the details, truly sickening stuff, he should be cut by the Bills and his sorry ass should be thrown in jail. I wonder if the Bills will release him, he’s gotten a lot of preseason attention for his strong leg, but the Bills should not hesitate and just release him.

I just read up on it as well. 

I think the Bills should/will cut him. From a football perspective, they can find another punter. (Their previous punter, whom they cut just recently, signed with the Colts replacing their guy who tore his Achilles as noted above. Oops.)

From a public opinion perspective, it's all bad for the Bills if they don't. The ONLY downside from cutting him is that Bills fans are excited about the potential he has as a player. But they'll get over it reasonably quickly. He's just a punter who hasn't even played in a regular season game yet. And he was a 6th round pick. Unless somebody on the team has really solid information that Araiza wasn't involved in the rape, cutting him is a no-brainer in my opinion.

[mojoween]

I’m sure Cleveland had Buffalo on the phone yesterday asking if he was going to be available.

[xaxat]

38 minutes ago, JTMacc99 said:

From a public opinion perspective, it's all bad for the Bills if they don't.

They just got a billion dollars from the state of New York for a new stadium. They need to make this go away quick. I wouldn't be surprised if three guys are flying into Buffalo this morning to compete for the job.

[Carey]

While it might end up as a situation where Buffalo didn't do their homework, I hardly think it'll be anything anybody thinks of as the Bills try to overcome close postseason calls (as well as make up for the 90s, which would take more than winning in Glendale though a nice start).  Unless their punting game sucks! 

Basically it helps to do a background check but the efforts with that aren't as strong with a sixth round special teamer.

As mentioned, it's a case of innocent until proven guilty.  Though, for me, it's not.  It's simply a suspect until either proven guilty or acquitted.  It's doubtful that he's in the clear.  Sure it's happened where someone made something up, but that's rare.  Plus, several people usually have a positive track record and stick to keeping great company that it would be close to impossible at least for someone to falsely accuse someone.  Most good people aren't in the wrong place at the wrong time where they'd fall into negative situations.

As for the Aaron Donald thing, that is a little blown out of proportion, in my opinion.  Former Steeler & current ESPN NFL analyst Ryan Clark didn't make a big deal of it either; basically he said that this stuff happens between the same teammates more than you think.  In other words, it's not necessarily a Rams vs Bengals thing, but things get out of hand between two men on the same team.

To conclude, I don't think the joint practices need to go away, even with this incident.  The better way to correct this is for the NFL to step in, if not force the teams to impose discipline.  Right now there are no rules against this in practice.  It's a different story in a real game.

By the way, I don't think joint practices should go away since it might be the big thing going forward if and when the league moves toward fewer to no preseason games (where the only thing that counts are injuries)

[NUguy514]

3 hours ago, mojoween said:

I’m sure Cleveland had Buffalo on the phone yesterday asking if he was going to be available.

That was honestly one of my first thoughts, too.

I've known about this case since last winter or fall.  The specific players who raped this young woman were unnamed at the time because SDSU had been covering it up for months with a big assist from the apathetic San Diego Police Department, but I heard about it.  She did everything "right" the morning after – went to the police, had a medical examination performed for a rape kit – and had proof that Araiza knew she was underage (in addition to other damning pieces of evidence from a phone recording), yet the criminal case has gone nowhere because of course it hasn't.  Anyone who thinks she's looking for a payday can go fuck themselves.

Also, if I came across this story anecdotally, there's no way the Bills didn't know about it if they did any due diligence before drafting this sack of shit.  Your move, Buffalo.

[bluegirl147]

1 hour ago, NUguy514 said:

Anyone who thinks she's looking for a payday can go fuck themselves.

It saddens me that so many people when a famous man is accused of sexual assault immediately think the woman is lying and looking for money. 

1 hour ago, NUguy514 said:

Also, if I came across this story anecdotally, there's no way the Bills didn't know about it if they did any due diligence before drafting this sack of shit.  Your move, Buffalo.

You never know what goes through people's minds.  Cleveland knew all about Deshaun Watson and still went after him.  Maybe Buffalo thought nobody would pay attention to a punter.

[Colleenna]

On 8/24/2022 at 7:28 PM, Bastet said:

Dammit, I keep forgetting Thursday's games are going to be on Prime n

FML.