NFL thread! What are you thinking?

[StrokerAce]

1 hour ago, russtopherb said:

There aren't enough laughing emojis in the world to give this the one response it deserves. 

That tuck rule play still burns hard....

[Rickp]

Well no matter, I’m looking forward to watching a game or 2 tomorrow.
Hope to catch the Giants/Cowboys & Pats/Steelers.


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[silver & black]

9 minutes ago, GolfSpy Stroker said:

That tuck rule play still burns hard....

That won't work either.

[russtopherb]

That tuck rule play still burns hard....

Thank god Bob Kraft had paid off the refs in that game so they could win. And also paid off Donovan McNabb to choke and throw picks to Rodney Harrison. And to also pay off the Falcons coaching staff to blow it. Oh and also paid off Pete Carroll too so he wouldn’t call a running play.

Good thing he’s got an “in” with the league so he could steal AB from the Raiders. Cause the NFL never comes down on the Patriots and lets them do whatever they want, whenever they want. Obviously. Totally the only reason they have 6 rings in 18 years.


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[StrokerAce]

Planning the parade route now...

8-8... hahaha hahaha... that's a good one.

The acquisition of Brown moved the Patriots past the Kansas City Chiefs and into the role of Super Bowl favorites. The Patriots went from 6-1 to 4-1 to win the Super Bowl, per Caesars Sportsbook. The Chiefs are 6-1. New England's updated win total moved from 11 to 11.5, per Caesars.

[silver & black]

39 minutes ago, sixcat said:

He wanted out of the Gruden/Mayock shitshow and did what he had to in order to be released.

s*** show??? How so???

[NiftyNiblick]

After losing the Stanley Cup in ignominious fashion and then watching the defending champion Red Sox pitching staff all get menstrual cramps at the same time, we're at the very least entitled to another Super Bowl trophy this year. 

It won't be as much fun without Gronk, but we've still got the hoodie and the GOAT,  not to mention the strip mall hand job guy holding the purse strings, and I'll be quite upset if it doesn't happen. 

Six aren't enough.  Even the Steelers have six, and I doubt if i could find Pittsburgh on a map.  I think it's a little east of Cleveland, but I'm not sure.  What the hell would bring me there? At least Philadelphia has the cheese steak sandwiches. 

Anyway, what do you say? Don't you think that it's time for the Pats to win one more?  Who wouldn't be happy with that?

 

[GregB135]

10 hours ago, silver & black said:

s*** show??? How so???

Unless Gruden has changed his MO on how to build and manage a roster expect a repeat of misery in the post SB seasons. He left my Buccaneers in the same boat he left your Raiders in when he departed. That boat being, lack of draft picks and too much salary cap money allotted to players too old to be effective or retired and out of the league altogether. It wasn't a mystery to me that both the Raiders and Bucs were awful for several years after Gruden's departure while they recovered from his mis-management of the roster. Tampa still has salary cap issues even this year. Truth - he got both teams what their fans wanted, a championship, but where are we now that he's gone? (or back in the Raiders' case).

[ED13]

10 hours ago, russtopherb said:

 

Thank god Bob Kraft had paid off the refs in that game so they could win. And also paid off Donovan McNabb to choke and throw picks to Rodney Harrison. And to also pay off the Falcons coaching staff to blow it. Oh and also paid off Pete Carroll too so he wouldn’t call a running play.

Good thing he’s got an “in” with the league so he could steal AB from the Raiders. Cause the NFL never comes down on the Patriots and lets them do whatever they want, whenever they want. Obviously. Totally the only reason they have 6 rings in 18 years.


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Just keep hoodie and his henchmen away from recording devices.

[russtopherb]

6 minutes ago, ED13 said:

Just keep hoodie and his henchmen away from recording devices.

Hey, 2007 called, they want their poor attempt at smack talk back. 

[silver & black]

10 minutes ago, GregB135 said:

Unless Gruden has changed his MO on how to build and manage a roster expect a repeat of misery in the post SB seasons. He left my Buccaneers in the same boat he left your Raiders in when he departed. That boat being, lack of draft picks and too much salary cap money allotted to players too old to be effective or retired and out of the league altogether. It wasn't a mystery to me that both the Raiders and Bucs were awful for several years after Gruden's departure while they recovered from his mis-management of the roster. Tampa still has salary cap issues even this year. Truth - he got both teams what their fans wanted, a championship, but where are we now that he's gone? (or back in the Raiders' case).

I never wanted Gruden back... I didn't really like him the first time around. You also have to remember that Al Davis made the rules back then. Gruden was merely the coach... as long as Al said he was. Al made all the picks and decided what and who the Raiders were. Gruden had very little to do with any of it, truth be told. When Gruden got too bold for Al, he traded him to your bucks for $8 million...lol.

Gruden loves vets, which is good, but he takes it too far. You have to have young talent on the roster. Look what happened after you beat us in 2003. We kept the same old guys thinking they would repeat the next year. Too bad they were just old by then...lol.

[ED13]

2 minutes ago, russtopherb said:

Hey, 2007 called, they want their poor attempt at smack talk back. 

Once a cheat, always a cheat.  A leopard does not change its spots.

[russtopherb]

Once a cheat, always a cheat.  A leopard does not change its spots.

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[silver & black]

14 minutes ago, russtopherb said:

 

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* * * * * *

Edited September 8, 2019 by silver & black

[ED13]

I have been a lifelong NFL fan and would watch every game I could.  The shine has now worn off.

Years ago I watched something on Jim Otto well after he retired.  Hearing him talk about the punishment his body endured and seeing footage off him just trying to get out of bed was sad to watch.  Easy at the time to think he knew what he signed up for.  Now that has completely changed for me with CTE issues.  Every time I see a player retire early I am happy for him.  Every time I see NFL lip service to concussion protocols I get angry at the commissioners office and the owners.

NFL players are lower paid and have shorter careers than other major sports like baseball and basketball.  Even hockey has guaranteed contracts.  Why shouldn’t players sit out until they are paid what they are worth?  Why shouldn’t they get more guaranteed money?   Team owners will use them up and toss them away without a second thought.  Players need to get everything they can to last them the rest of their lives, they know they can’t rely on the NFL or their ineffective union to help protect them.

I expect the NFL will go the way of boxing.  A slow decline as the puppeteers in charge destroy and then start running out of its human assets.

[NiftyNiblick]

I agree.  The game of football and the NFL as an organization are both disgraces.

As soon as the Kraft-Belichick-Brady juggernaut stops winning Lombardi Trophies, I'll drop football forever. Hell, I'd already done that and then they came along.

I can't stop watching now, though. It's like a train wreck, or more closely, two stray dogs doing the deed on your front lawn.  You know that you're going to watch.  even though it isn't particularly pretty. The reaction of Middle America to it all just makes it more Must-See-TV for an obnoxious  coastal elitist like myself. 

I'd admit to all of this at confession, but my pastor, Father Angelo, has season tickets and will be at the game.

[NiftyNiblick]

It's a start, but at least we're starting from a good place.

Three Brady TD passes.  15 points from the kicking game.  Solid defense.

I hope the  injury to right tackle Marcus Cannon wasn't too serious.

We've got Miami next, I think.  Down there.  They had a tough day today, but we haven't done well in Miami.

Going to the South Beach clubs to "relax" on Saturday night is a bad idea.  Every team is on scholarship in the NFL.

And the September games count as much as the ones after Thanksgiving.

 

[bens197]

Buffalo won, in ugly fashion but they won. At the end of the day a win is a win and these teams no matter how poor they play one week can bounce back and compete.

Buffalo’s defense was unreal and that as usual, is what keeps them relevant.

As far as the toll on the body? I spent 3 years as a club pro where Joe Namath belonged. We played golf together, developed a pretty good relationship and talked football. Joe is an incredibly decent human and will stop to not only talk to, but listen to anyone who asks.

In order to get to where he is, he had to put his body through the gauntlet. Zipper scars on knees, kyphosis, arthritis...he still managed to play and play well he does.

It’s not wrong to address the safety of the players. Linebackers are faster and bigger than ever; it doesn’t make anyone less of a “man” to have policies and rules in effect to protect players from near lethal injuries.


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[sixcat]

On 9/7/2019 at 10:09 PM, silver & black said:

s*** show??? How so???

Please don't take offense to my opinions.  They are only my opinions.  AB played Mayock and Gruden like a cheap fiddle in order to get what he wanted from the outset.  Which was to play for the Patriots.  The Raiders handled this situation exactly the way they handled the Mack situation......Poorly!

Gruden and Mayock are finding out playing "armchair QB" is much easier than actually playing QB!  They are out over their skis! 

[ED13]

2 hours ago, Middler said:

I don’t disagree entirely, but what exactly would you expect the NFL to do about concussions - what’s your recommendation? Outlaw hitting? Outlaw tackling? They’ve limited head contact where possible, proactively pull players when a concussion appears to have happened and I’m sure their helmets are as protective as possible (not very). 

- Concussion protocols have always been a joke.  How many times has a player had his “bell rung”, ran into the tent only to emerge less than a minute later.

Like many sports, the game fans will pay to watch has always been dangerous, and players have known that. Are you really surprised to learn bashing heads from childhood into a players late 30’s or later has brain health consequences? Now with CTE it’s confirmed for all that football is more dangerous, yet plenty of younger players are still anxious to play in the NFL. I don’t know the stats but I’ve read many parents aren’t allowing their kids to play high school football. Will that lead to a decline in football?

- Sports like boxing and football have always been dangerous.  The reason CTE is different is we now know how serious the repercussions are to repeated blows to the head.  It changes how are brain works and how we think.  This is a different level of danger than we thought before.

- Younger players still want to play football but you should think about who they are and where the majority of them come from.  Just like boxing and life in general it is the poor half of the population. They are more accustomed to having to put their bodies and health on the line to earn a living.  How many people want to do hard labour jobs their whole life?  Usually those that have no other option.  They also know what will happen when the can not do them anymore, they will be discarded.

- Parents are keeping their children from playing football and I expect this to only increase.  The poorest families do not have this luxury.  Sports have always been a method to lift families out of poverty and this will continue.  Long term health issues do not seem as important when you are hungry, homeless and don’t see anything better in the future.  

As long as fans watch and pay big money, the game will go on. There’s some hypocrisy in criticizing the NFL while continuing to actively watch-support-pay for the sport...

- I no longer watch football.  I still read about it in the news and see the scores at the bottom of the screen while I watch baseball.  

I’m not sure what paying players more has to do with CTE, it’s OK if players are paid enough???

- Pay players more so they can get out of the game faster to help mitigate the damage.  Guaranteed contracts like other sports will force owners to be more careful with the short and long term health and well being of their players.

 

Quote

And while traditional boxing is in decline, UFC has gained in popularity, even more violent. What does that say about fans?

- Boxing and football are more dangerous than the UFC when it comes to CTE.  CTE is the result of the volume of blows to the head not just the hardest shots. While knockouts can be more vicious in the UFC, fights are stopped much sooner.  They also train in many disciplines which lessons head blows in training as well as fights.  Still not good but not as bad as football and boxing.  They should also be paid much more for the money the fighters generate.  Again, they need the ability to get out of the sport faster to keep the danger to a minimum.

See my replies above.  Sorry I do not know how to put them in a different colour as I have seen others do.  

Edited September 9, 2019 by ED13
Clarification

[NiftyNiblick]

I agree that football is really damaging and destructive to the participants' health.

I was so put off by the Darryl Stingley paralysis in 1978 that I stopped watching football altogether for a couple of years.

Then Doug Flutie came along at Boston College and I got sucked back in by the local enthusiasm.

Then Doug Flutie broke my heart by playing in the pro scab games in 1987, so I quit on football again.

Then came Brady and Bellichick in the new millennium and Lucifer found yet another way to recapture my soul.

To make things worse,  Flutie made that damned drop kick and I cheered the freaking scab for that.  If the people who voted me to my local's executive board knew that, they'd have taken me outside and finished me off! Chisag is the only union guy I know on this forum, and he being a laid back guy, I'm free to admit applauding that drop kick (but no less ashamed).

This time I mean it.  If I'm still alive when Brady and Belichick stop winning Super Bowls, I'm quitting football for good!

 

As for boxing, I've been watching it since September of 1952 when Italian New Englander Rocky Marciano won the heavyweight title.

Even knowing the sport's  ill effects, I had such memories of watching boxing with my dad--that was the only sport he cared much about--that I never gave it up.  I use to attend big fights in Boston, Miami, New York, and Las Vegas live. I've seen some of the all time best in person. 

Boxing was great on premium cable because even if one couldn't buy all the big pay per views, they'd be replayed the next week on HBO or Showtime anyway. I didn't miss anything. Then the damned streaming services came along. First, I can't buy all of them. Second, I'm a 73 year old luddite--I don't understand that streaming nonsense. I still use a flip phone for crying out loud.

So now I've lost boxing. Perhaps the fates are punishing me for following such an awful sport for so many decades. And when the GOAT / Hoodie Patriots are no more, I'll be off football too. 

The Red Sox probably have me until I'm sent of to the crematorium, the bastards.

Edited September 9, 2019 by NiftyNiblick

[null]

5 minutes ago, NiftyNiblick said:

I agree that football is really damaging and destructive to the participants' health.

I was so put off by the Darryl Stingley paralysis in 1978 that I stopped watching football altogether for a couple of years.

Then Doug Flutie came along at Boston College and I got sucked back in by the local enthusiasm.

Then Doug Flutie broke my heart by playing in the pro scab games in 1987, so I quit on football again.

Then came Brady and Bellichick in the new millennium and Lucifer found yet another way to recapture my soul.

To make things worse,  Flutie made that damned drop kick and I cheered the freaking scab for that.  If the people who voted me to my local's executive board knew that, they'd have taken me outside and finished me off! Chisag is the only union guy I know on this forum, and he being a laid back guy, I'm free to admit applauding that drop kick (but no less ashamed).

This time I mean it.  If I'm still alive when Brady and Belichick stop winning Super Bowls, I'm quitting football for good!

 

As for boxing, I've been watching it since September of 1952 when Italian New Englander Rocky Marciano won the heavyweight title.

Even knowing the sport's  ill effects, I had such memories of watching boxing with my dad--that was the only sport he cared much about--that I never gave it up.  I use to attend big fights in Boston, Miami, New York, and Las Vegas live. I've seen some of the all time best in person. 

Boxing was great on premium cable because even if one couldn't buy all the big pay per views, they'd be replayed the next week on HBO or Showtime anyway. I didn't miss anything. Then the damned streaming services came along. First, I can't buy all of them. Second, I'm a 73 year old luddite--I don't understand that streaming nonsense. I still use a flip phone for crying out loud.

So now I've lost boxing. Perhaps the fates are punishing me for following such an awful sport for so many decades. And when the GOAT / Hoodie Patriots are no more, I'll be off football too. 

The Red Sox probably have me until I'm sent of to the crematorium, the bastards.

[NiftyNiblick]

You're not lying, jlukes. 

Even the Red Sox, who are finishing up their 119th season with us, have an attendance drop off when they don't win.

But in my case, it's different. I don't even like the game of football anymore, except how it's played by the Brady/Bellichick Patriots, and how the rest of the country reacts to it.  That's the fun part.

[sixcat]

7 minutes ago, jlukes said:

Brady is an alien!  Nobody has ever played in the NFL to that level for that length of time.  Especially at that position.  But when he retires, they will suffer for two decades trying to replace him.  

[StrokerAce]

you guys are as bad as all of the "so-called analysts" saying they were too old last year and that the dynasty was 'over' before the playoffs started....

....we all know how that ended.

but that's okay - it's the same old song-and-dance every year.

Either they're too old or they cheat.  This year they cheat because AB signed as a FREE agent.... FREE agent, meaning he could choose who to play for.

H8RS love their H8RADE  .... 

[Rickp]

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[silver & black]

1 hour ago, GolfSpy Stroker said:

you guys are as bad as all of the "so-called analysts" saying they were too old last year and that the dynasty was 'over' before the playoffs started....

....we all know how that ended.

but that's okay - it's the same old song-and-dance every year.

Either they're too old or they cheat.  This year they cheat because AB signed as a FREE agent.... FREE agent, meaning he could choose who to play for.

H8RS love their H8RADE  .... 

Come on.... you don't think that being signed in just minutes after being released that something doesn't smell quite right???

I will say that I don't see anyone stopping the Patr*ots from winning #7 this year. They destroyed the Steelers.

 

 

[Rickp]

A lot of you guys are to young to remember this NFL. I don’t know how they did it.


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[FrogginBullfish]

The Raiders announced his release around noon and Schefter reported that he agreed to terms with the Patriots at 5pm. That's 5 hours that his agent had to field calls and get a deal done. I'm sure multiple teams had offers prepared even before the release as the writing was on the wall all week leading up to it.

Come on.... you don't think that being signed in just minutes after being released that something doesn't smell quite right???
I will say that I don't see anyone stopping the Patr*ots from winning #7 this year. They destroyed the Steelers.
 
 

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[FrogginBullfish]

Premature for sure but off to a good start. The Pats had some miscues last night but they did play well last night. The defence was excellent. The run game wasn't great but overall it was a good night for them across the board.

We’re a Pats household, but it seems a lot premature to claim #7. Bad juju anyway. Were the Pats that good last night, or were the Steelers that bad? I saw a lot of the latter, starting with totally blown coverage several times. As Al Michael’s said after one example of blown coverage last night, ‘I thought Tomlin was going to eat his headset’ - he was irate, not his usual composed self.

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