2017 NFL Season Thread

[Lint]

Eight Years Ago, Mel Kiper Said He’d Retire In 2018 If Jimmy Clausen Wasn’t A Successful NFL QB

[Meacon Keaton]

Jimmy had the tools. He was just immature as all fuck and was put in a crappy situation in Carolina, where he played on a crappy team as a rookie and then they drafted Cam that next April.

[Meacon Keaton]

Everybody enjoy the NFL while it lasts. Vince McMahon's XFL2.0 is going to run it out of business by 2022. 

[DMN in the House]

3 hours ago, Meacon said:

Everybody enjoy the NFL while it lasts. Vince McMahon's XFL2.0 is going to run it out of business by 2022. 

My favorites are the guys on Reddit sure thaylt he's actually going to go after the NCAA and pay HS players and destroy it, as if the NFL or the universities themselves would allow that to happen.

[livid]

I could see them getting a chunk of midlevel guys to play in the XFL instead of going to like Akron but the big name players will still likely go to Alabama where they CERTAINLY DO NOT GET PAID UNDER THE TABLE AT ALL. NOPE. 

Edited January 25, 2018 by livid

[Meacon Keaton]

What parents are going to say, "Yeah, pass up a free scholarship to a university and go play in that league that could very well shut down tomorrow," though? 

The XFL 2.0 will have to survive many many seasons before they start poaching high school players from colleges, if ever. 

[Lineker]

Quote

Baltimore Ravens rookie cornerback Marlon Humphrey was arrested earlier this month by University of Alabama police on misdemeanor harassment and theft charges, according to records obtained by NFL.com.

Humphrey, a former Alabama player, was arrested Jan. 13 on suspicion of harassment and stealing a charger listed at $15 in value, according to the police report.

"Marlon told us that it was a misunderstanding regarding a $15 telephone charger, which he thought was his," the Ravens said in a statement. "Our understanding is that he has been interviewed by University of Alabama Police and is cooperating. We are monitoring the situation."

Humphrey, who was a First-Team All-American with the Crimson Tide in 2016, was selected 16th overall by the Ravens in the 2017 NFL Draft. He started in five of the 16 games he appeared in with the Ravens this season, recording 34 tackles and two interceptions.

[Meacon Keaton]

There goes his XFL career. 

[livid]

1 hour ago, Meacon said:

What parents are going to say, "Yeah, pass up a free scholarship to a university and go play in that league that could very well shut down tomorrow," though? 

The XFL 2.0 will have to survive many many seasons before they start poaching high school players from colleges, if ever. 

The LaVar Ball's of the world.

[Adam]

We're keeping Byron Leftwich as QBs coach but hiring Mike McCoy as Offensive Coordinator. Should I be underwhelmed by this move? Fired by Denver mid-season, four year run as Chargers HC prior to that. This is the next piece in the puzzle that ends with a new QB and probably goes a long way to determining whether Fitzgerald comes back for one more year.

[Maxx]

5 hours ago, Meacon said:

What parents are going to say, "Yeah, pass up a free scholarship to a university and go play in that league that could very well shut down tomorrow," though? 

The XFL 2.0 will have to survive many many seasons before they start poaching high school players from colleges, if ever. 

The ones who think a cool million right away sound like a good idea.

[Meacon Keaton]

2 minutes ago, Maxx said:

The ones who think a cool million right away sound like a good idea.

Didn't the very best XFL players get barely six figures?

I can't imagine them giving 17/18 year old high school football players million dollar signing bonuses. 

Like livid said, you may get the occasional moronic Lavar Ball type parents who think that's in their kid's best interest, but I'm willing to bet that the vast majority of the parents know that college and college football is the better route to take. Get a degree in case your football career doesn't pan out. Get an unquestionable path to the NFL if you are an elite talent. Until the XFL can survive several seasons and prove they're a legit and consistent pipeline to the NFL, I don't see it happening. 

[Maxx]

I don’t really think what the XFL was paying players nearly two decades ago is really relevant.

[Meacon Keaton]

My point is that I wouldn’t expect them to be in a situation where they’re giving unproven high school kids million dollar signing bonuses.

But yeah, maybe this time around they’ll be paying everyone millions a year.

[Lint]

3 hours ago, Meacon said:

Didn't the very best XFL players get barely six figures?

I can't imagine them giving 17/18 year old high school football players million dollar signing bonuses. 

Like livid said, you may get the occasional moronic Lavar Ball type parents who think that's in their kid's best interest, but I'm willing to bet that the vast majority of the parents know that college and college football is the better route to take. Get a degree in case your football career doesn't pan out. Get an unquestionable path to the NFL if you are an elite talent. Until the XFL can survive several seasons and prove they're a legit and consistent pipeline to the NFL, I don't see it happening. 

According to wikipedia, not even that much

Quote

The XFL paid standardized player salaries. Quarterbacks earned US$5,000 per week, kickers earned $3,500, and all other uniformed players earned $4,500 per week, though a few players got around these restrictions (Los Angeles Xtreme players Noel Prefontaine, the league's lone punting specialist, and Matt Malloy, a wide receiver) by having themselves listed as backup quarterbacks. Players on a winning team received a bonus of $2,500 for the week, $7,500 for winning a playoff game. The team that won the championship game split $1,000,000 (roughly $25,000 per player). Players did not receive any fringe benefits, and had to pay for their own health insurance.

 

[Lineker]

Quote

The NFL has responded to a civil lawsuit alleging sexual misconduct by employees of the NFL Network, saying that the woman who made the allegations "approved, consented to, authorized, and/or ratified" the behavior through her conduct.

NFL Enterprises, in a Jan. 18 filing, denied all of the allegations of sexual harassment, said the woman took too long to file the suit and did not pursue proper remedies before filing the suit.

Jami Cantor, who worked as a wardrobe stylist at NFL Network, filed the suit in October with an amendment on December 11. She describes several sexually inappropriate encounters with six retired players and two executives who have worked for the network.

Cantor worked at NFL Network for a decade until she was fired in October 2016. In the suit, she alleges age and sex discrimination, sexual harassment, wrongful termination and defamation. The NFL identified the players as Marshall Faulk, Ike Taylor, Heath Evans, Donovan McNabb, Eric Davis and Warren Sapp. Faulk, Taylor and Evans have been suspended from NFL Network pending an investigation. Sapp no longer works for the network.

McNabb and Davis had left NFL Network and were working for ESPN Radio when the suit was filed. They were taken off the air Dec. 12, pending an internal investigation, and dismissed by ESPN on January 6.

NFL Network executive Eric Weinberger and former NFL Network employee Marc Watts also are named in Cantor's lawsuit.

Cantor said in the suit that Faulk fondled and groped her and asked "deeply personal and invasive questions" about her sex life. Cantor said she received inappropriate and sexually explicit texts from Weinberger, McNabb, Taylor and Evans.

"It was a severe, pervasive, sexually charged work environment," Cantor's attorney, Laura Horton, said in December. "There was a lot of stuff going on. The texts and the video and the photographs, I've got them. It's not like a he-said, she-said sort of thing. I've got documentary evidence."

In its defense motion, the NFL said that the alleged conduct was not severe enough or pervasive enough to constitute a violation of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act.

[munky]

Bills center Eric Wood is being forced to retire due to a neck injury. Better to get out now, while he can still have a normal(ish) life.

[Lineker]

Pro Bowl woop woop!

[Lineker]

A real thriller win for the AFC.

[munky]

Good news!