2021 NFL Off-Season Thread

[Lineker]

It's a talent.

[gunnar hendershow]

Next time Lineker asks for a new team to support this thread will just be all of us telling him why he shouldn't support ours.

[VerbalPuke]

I mean I'm kinda thinking I'll still ask Lineker to join us. 

I mean how could it get worse? We go 0-16? A player literally dies on the field? Our franchise player abruptly retires? 

Oh wait. That all did happen already (the last one twice). 

My hope would be a reverse of the curse. 

[Pooker]

I didn't read the word player in that last sentence and was really confused how a whole franchise could retire. But, with it being the Lions, would that really be surprising?

[gunnar hendershow]

If there were one franchise that would do that it would definitely be the Lions.

"Folks, I think you'll all agree with us when we say that enough is enough. We're retiring as a franchise. We apologize to all the generations we have tortured."

[Lineker]

Why do Carolina need a new stadium anyway? The current one, I assume, opened especially for the Panthers - So that would have only been 1995?!

[Adam]

2 hours ago, Lineker said:

Why do Carolina need a new stadium anyway? The current one, I assume, opened especially for the Panthers - So that would have only been 1995?!

That was 26 years ago to be fair. Giants Stadium was only open for 34.

I don't know the ins and outs of it, but depending on how they built it, how big it is and where it is situated, a lot could have changed to make it dated or not optimal for the Panthers aims in nearly three decades.

[Lineker]

It just sounds weird to me; probably because our stadia over here last for years and years and years...

[Adam]

Yeah true, for whatever reason the culture is a bit different in America with this stuff compared to football stadia over here in the UK.

[gunnar hendershow]

The stadium in Charlotte is by most accounts perfectly fine. What team owners want now are stadiums with an ever-increasing amount of revenue sources. More luxury boxes and more or new personal seat licenses being primary among them. As it's now one of the oldest stadiums in the league the new team owner feels like he can pressure people for a new stadium to get these things they can't be gotten through making upgrades to the current stadium.

[Lineker]

 

[gunnar hendershow]

Quarterback/Scientist Sam Darnold is "still evaluating" whether he should get vaccinated.

 

[The Buscher]

EA needs to downgrade Darnold's Awareness rating in the next Madden.

[VerbalPuke]

That picture says it all. 

[Lineker]

 

[gunnar hendershow]

That'd be neat, he's got a ton of family in the Baltimore area.

[DFF]

I don't understand why residents are expected to help fund stadiums in the States? Shouldn't it simply be the team's owner's responsibility? 

[gunnar hendershow]

22 minutes ago, DFF said:

I don't understand why residents are expected to help fund stadiums in the States? Shouldn't it simply be the team's owner's responsibility? 

Yes billionaires should pay for their own fucking stadiums.

It's a raw deal for the cities/states too. They take on a ton of debt to build stadiums and at best they break even. The real estate developers, who often don't really have ties with the cities, and the people who are stakeholders in the teams see a healthy return but most residents in the cities see nothing except less money for them since it's all tied up in building the stadium and the surrounding area that is supposed to accompany it.

You'll have paid-off politicians arguing for the benefits of a new stadium and then you'll have the ownership threatening to move the team causing public opinion to sharply divide.

Canada was largely immune to it until recently. I think Quebec City spent a lot of money building an arena for an NHL team that never came, Edmonton got robbed blind to keep the Oilers from moving, and Calgary is in something or the other for a new arena. But the franchise system just allows this stuff to take hold as a mentality.

Maryland has 3 professional sports stadiums and all were heavily paid for with tax dollars in the 90s. And already one of them (FedEx Field) is set to be vacated the first chance Dan Snyder gets. The Orioles are in a tenable lease situation which either ends with relocation or massive sums of money to upgrade parts of the stadium to generate more revenue. And by my estimate the Ravens are about a decade away from itching for some wholesale improvements to their stadium. It's just accepted as a part of being a sports fan.

[Lineker]

NFL announces 2021 preseason schedule dates, times

[The Buscher]

And despite all of the money going into it, so many newer stadiums lack any real charm - especially NFL ones.  MetLife Stadium looks so bland from the outside and the seats are incredibly cramped.  By my count I’ve only been in there five times since it opened (three Giants games, two WrestleManias), and the last Giants game was in 2013.  I have no real interest in seeing a game there again.