2020 NFL Thread

As a Chiefs fan, I wanted him to go play for Andy Reid. I think he’d come up with some fun plays.

As a Vikings fan this makes me very happy. Many say GB had the worst draft in the NFL. Not a single WR in the draft for them. I don’t consider myself an expert, but I was thinking I don’t see a way that WR is not the number 1 pick for them. Then 2, 3, 4… picks and for some reason 3 interior O-line men, but 0 receivers. Makes no sense IMO. Rodgers will have one competent receiver next year, and should be upset.

The Vikings got 15 draft picks! IMO, it was pretty solid year for MN. Years back, the general consensus was that MN drafted poorly 2/3 years. Now it seems like MN drafts well most years. I think a big credit needs to go to Speilman for improving our drafting.

I’m not really up to date on their needs, but without linemen, the receivers don’t matter, right?

That is true, but their biggest need was a WR, and they didn’t draft any. They have a few good o-line players, and drafting an additional 3 is a head scratcher.

1 Like

More on Tommy Stevens…It seems Joe Brady (his former coach at Penn State) wanted to have him in Carolina, and a war broke out between the Saints and Panthers over who would retain his services. Sean Payton won; remains to be seen whether it was worth the cost.

Patriots sign Cam Newton.

If Newton is healthy, there goes my dream of the Patriots having a losing season.

1 Like

Chiefs signed Patrick Mahomes to a 10-year, $450 million contract extension.

It’s the largest contract in American sports history, although Mike Trout’s 12-year, $426.5 million contract had far more guaranteed – Mahomes’ injury guarantee is “only” $140 million. Mahomes’ $45 million annual contract value is $10 million more than Russell Wilson’s.

New update, lots, lots more guaranteed money:

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports Patrick Mahomes’ 10-year contract is worth $503 million and includes $477 million in “guaranteed mechanisms.”

It’s still a 10-year extension, but the new numbers are far better for Mahomes than initially reported. It makes him the first American athlete to sign a contract worth a half billion dollars, and the reported “guarantees” went from $140 million to $477 million. The fine details of this will be confusing, likely containing options, rolling guarantees, and other fancy agent lingo.

I have some new name ideas for the team formally known as the “Redskins”

  • Washington PinkPussyHats
  • Washington Tutus
  • Washington Transgenders
  • Washington Red Army
  • Washington Leninists
  • Washington Antifas

I know I am missing a bunch…

1 Like

Its pretty shocking when you think about it that such a non-PC name stuck around for so long.

My money is on “The Warriors”. The should go with The Hogs, but they wont do that :frowning:

Call me crazy, but team mascots and names are typically selected to sound aggressive and victorious. Using Redskins isn’t a knock at the Indian population; it was probably meant to be a good thing. I view it similarly to your suggestion of Warriors. I know it was a term used by whites to describe the Natives and would be similar to Cracker or the other word we don’t dare say. I just think people get too bent out of shape over this sort of stuff. The only people I saw complaining were white. Are the Natives mad?

Most of me wants to be done with professional sports after this most recent round of stupidity. I just wish professional sports teams and businesses would keep their mouth shut about political issues. I don’t understand the compulsion to make a public statement and pick “a side”.

Seeing that the NFL wouldn’t allow the Cowboys to honor the murdered officers of Dallas back in 2016 but now they’re considering allowing players to put the names of “victims of police brutality” on their jerseys is sickening. The NFL also didn’t want Tebow to kneel before God, but it was okay for Kap to kneel in protest. As an organization, they keep sending mixed messages.

The only thing that even makes me contemplate watching is that there are a slew of good people who also play in the NFL. Steelers’ lineman Villanueva is a freaking veteran. The dude served his country before playing football. JJ Watt is always giving back to the community. There are a lot of good guys mixed in there. I’m torn on the subject. I wish they could just entertain us instead of feeling compelled to get involved in the current issues.

1 Like

Fwiw, yes natives are mad. Long story, but my fiance is representing a tribe suing to get her old high schools mascot changed. It’s apparently very common for the local indigenous people to have a active group looking to change mascots in their area.

As for “shut up and play”… They are using the platform they have to effect change. It’s american AF. It always has been, always will be. Don’t reduce them to mindless athletes. Don’t like it? Don’t watch… It’s always your perogative. You probably don’t like it because you don’t like their message.

Why does there have to be a disconnect between my job (or your job) and theirs? Many of them have created or assist organizations/foundations in their free time. Why do they get to go to work and say whatever they want without consequence? I can’t do whatever I want at work. My actions reflect on my employer. Their situations isn’t any different than employee and employer. The employer can have standards and codes of conduct.

I don’t like the message, but I have a serious problem with censorship of certain things, but not others. Why is a Christian prohibited from showing his faith on the field but another player can do the same thing for a different reason and it’s okay? Why can’t a team support police by putting their names on their shoes, but now they’re discussing putting names of criminals on the back of their jerseys?

Chad Johnson had to legally change his name so his jersey would say Ocho Cinco. But now that they’re made it an us vs them racial thing it might be okay?

I don’t agree with their message because unlike many people, I’m living in the exact environment that they are against. Somehow it’s become acceptable to lump all police into one tiny little box. We all know better than to do that with anyone else. BLM supporters like to carry signs that say “kill cops” and “ACAB” (all cops are bastards). Yeah, I have a problem with that. Imagine if people carried signs saying “all minority teenagers are thugs”. It isn’t factual.

If you blindly support an organization like that then you are ignorant. Supporting BLM doesn’t have to be all or nothing. They have some good points about certain things, but they cross the line on other topics.

Again, the NFL is choosing one side but censoring the other. Why is that? Why don’t the pro law enforcement guys get to show their support? Why didn’t Tebow get to use his platform to witness to the world about his faith (yes, he did on the side and on his own time and still does)? See the differences?

I don’t agree with the shut up and play stuff. But the NFL has sent a message to its players that some of them do, in fact, have to shut up and play.

1 Like

The players have the power. They have, as a single voice, said what they want to do. The NFL has no choice but to listen, or to use replacement players (which would be the D team because the B and C teams would side with the A players). The ENTIRE league didnt side with Tebow, and white christians are hardly a minority class in america, so that is why his displays didnt gain enough support to overrule management.

Sports has always been one of the strongest conduits for social change in america. It will continue to be.

If you are against that social change and are so offended by the small uniform changes of the players that it ruins the games for you, that’s your problem, and you have every right to tune out.

I would argue that the entire league doesn’t agree with this current wave of ignorance, but if you disagree then you’re a racist oppressor. The days of disagreeing but still respecting one another seem to have passed.

Those who disagree will be attacked and singled out (Drew Brees). They even shout that silence is violence. The side pushing for the changes refuse to accept anything other than total submission.

But, you are correct. I can and will tune out. Hopefully many more Americans have the strength to do so as well, and not just for one season.

It’s kind of comical to think that a bunch of black millionaires are protesting oppression.

2 Likes

I would argue that over 90% of the league agrees. I thought folks like you had started boycotted back when Colin was taking a knee?

I think its kind of comical that a white guy is telling a bunch of black guys about racial oppression. Looks like we both get a laugh out of this one!

Eh…undecided. None of the ones I know are, haha.

For me it depends.

I’m not a big fan of the term Redskins, but personally never thought it was a battle I’d get involved in, when there’s bigger issues that Natives are facing.

The logo is completely fine with me, as is, say…the Chicago Blackhawks or (formerly) UND’s Fighting Sioux. Not lovin’ the Cleveland Indians’ logo though.

Really just depends on if the name is a slur or the logo is cartoonish. If not, I think it’s cool. I still rock my UND gear, simply because it’s cool. I don’t go there.

I do think that it’s funny how many Native words or images are used in sports. As far as I know, there’s no big teams named “the Asians” or “the Mexicans”, much less with the image of an Asian or Mexican dude, haha.

Sorry to interject my thoughts on your football thread!

2 Likes

In MN, I have heard a few Natives on the radio talk about how they have been fighting for the name change. Not sure if that is reflective of a majority of Natives though?

I also wonder if we will start to see people being upset that mascots of white heritage are being portrayed as strong (I am thinking of the MN Vikings here)? I could see that after the Native mascot thing is over, that this would be the next thing. Or for example, if they make the MN Vikings mascot more jacked or something, I could see that being seen as racist.

1 Like

And this is a problem, because you get into the discussion of “how many people need to be offended for it to matter?”, do they have to be local natives? what about names vs imagery? etc, etc. And i have no freaking idea what the answers should be to those questions.

1 Like

I’m not telling anyone about oppression. I’m talking about businesses ignorantly taking a side and then forcing the message down our throats. This isn’t an either/or topic. It can’t be BLM is correct and white people are wrong or the other way around.

I would guess that police in your part of the world deal with different issues than I do. I know that each department has its own policies and each state has its own laws.

My problem with everything is that the groups are attacking my profession. I don’t disagree that there are disparities, but those disparities aren’t the sole responsibility of the police. There are politicians and law makers who have influenced these things. No one is really calling out the elected officials or the programs - it’s all F the police.

They keep talking about systemic racism and that goes way deeper than the police. I don’t understand why they’re only attacking police and their enforcement.

My problem isn’t with their freedom of expression or their opinions; it’s the part about painting me and my profession as the bad guy and trying to change the way I do things.

Berkley is going to use unarmed civilians to stop cars. That’s absurd! I don’t have the stats, but off the top of my head I think traffic stops are where the most police shootings occur. Imagine being in a gunfight without a gun. This is not going to end well.

I get where you are coming from, there is too much hate misdirected at cops right now and that must be infuriating. You also seem to understand that the larger point of the blm movement is valid.

I think that because you personally feel unfairly attacked you will focus on the specific attacks against you and, miss the much larger picture. You and your fellow professionals are being scapegoated right now, no doubt about it. The way PDs are run is part of the problem, it is not THE problem, or, IMO, one of the biggest problems. But it is the first target for reform. The quicker PDs engage in reform, the quicker we can start looking at reform elsewhere where i think it is needed more. You had the unlucky privilege of being put through the ringer first…

You also have to take what some of these athletes say with a large grain of salt. there are a lot of smart, well thought out dudes in the NFL, but just like society there are a lot of fuuuucking idiots too. And just like normal people, their views and opinions are evolving, they can be influenced by extreme ideas, and they make mistakes in their messaging.

1 Like