NFL 2014 Pre-Season Discussion

[dlanod]

One of them was a first rounder to a team that has needed hope since its inception, who plays at the most popular position, the other is 50:50 at best to make the team

It's easy to flip that around - one of them is a historic moment, the other yet another first round draft pick who might be able to play QB or might not.

Jersey sales are based purely off how popular that player is with the general public. Why do you care who the public is interested in?

 

[Blacky]

Because Sam wants to he known solely as a football player, and from that perspective it is ridiculous that his jersey has sold so well

 

[Blacky]

Because Sam wants to he known solely as a football player, and from that perspective it is ridiculous that his jersey has sold so well

 

[dlanod]

Because Sam wants to he known solely as a football player, and from that perspective it is ridiculous that his jersey has sold so well

It's not Sam's fault - he doesn't get a say in whether people buy his jersey or not. Hell, I doubt he even gets a say in whether the NFL sell his jersey, let alone a cut of the proceeds. It shouldn't be unexpected either, because the same spike in sales happened in other sports.

 

[Blacky]

I didn't say it was his fault.
I am just basing it on it's merits outside non-football activities

I didn't say it was surprising either. Stop trying to make it seem like I am persecuting him.

I just find the situation silly where a guy that probably won't make the team has more jersey sales than all bar one rookie.

I felt the same way when Tebow sold a ton of jerseys in NE

I guess that makes me homophobic AND a bigot against religion too

 

[dlanod]

I didn't say it was his fault.
I am just basing it on it's merits outside non-football activities

I didn't say it was surprising either. Stop trying to make it seem like I am persecuting him.

I just find the situation silly where a guy that probably won't make the team has more jersey sales than all bar one rookie.

I felt the same way when Tebow sold a ton of jerseys in NE

I guess that makes me homophobic AND a bigot against religion too

Not trying to make it seem like you're persecuting him as I don't think that - your first post raised my eyebrow, your later posts explained your thoughts better.

Tebow is a great analogy. These guys mean something to people outside of what they do on the football field. As a result they sell disproportionate numbers of their jerseys. It's a number that's irrespective of what they actually do on the football field and also irrespective of what their intents are. Is it really ridiculous that people want to associate themselves with a particular idea? After all, we're talking about an industry invested in getting people to choose a particular group of multimillionaires in one colour over another group of multimillionaires in another colour - association with ideas is a step up.

 

[ausbacker]

Not trying to make it seem like you're persecuting him as I don't think that - your first post raised my eyebrow, your later posts explained your thoughts better.

Tebow is a great analogy. These guys mean something to people outside of what they do on the football field. As a result they sell disproportionate numbers of their jerseys. It's a number that's irrespective of what they actually do on the football field and also irrespective of what their intents are. Is it really ridiculous that people want to associate themselves with a particular idea? After all, we're talking about an industry invested in getting people to choose a particular group of multimillionaires in one colour over another group of multimillionaires in another colour - association with ideas is a step up.

The world is filled with many simpletons. There's not much we can do about appealing to the lowest common denominator especially when they politicise their support (as most of them do). In my experience, you can't have a reasonable discussion with these folk before you're labelled as homophobic or anti-religion because you don't confirm or support whatever beliefs they hold (boy do they love shoving it down our throats).

I miss the purity of the contest. Everything is an agenda item for someone these days.

 

[royals1922]

This just in on MSN:

"
Former NFL coach Tony Dungy has always been considered something of a pioneer in football circles, both for his uncommonly cool temperament on the sidelines and, more importantly, his status as the first black head coach to win a Super Bowl, with the 2006-07 Indianapolis Colts.
When it comes to Michael Sam's opportunity to become the first openly gay player to play in the NFL, however, Dungy seems less enthusiastic about the prospect of Sam spearheading a movement that could bring more acceptance to the game.
In an interview with the Tampa Tribune, Dungy, who coached the Tampa Bay Bucs for six years before spending seven seasons in Indianapolis, said he wouldn't have taken the Missouri defensive end Sam had he been running the St. Louis Rams, who selected Sam in the seventh round of May's NFL Draft.
"I wouldn't have taken him," said Dungy, now an NFL analyst for NBC. "Not because I don't believe Michael Sam should have a chance to play, but I wouldn't want to deal with all of it.

"It's not going to be totally smooth," he told the paper. "... Things will happen."
Dungy didn't specify what "things," exactly, he expected Sam to encounter, but Dungy's stance on homosexuality is well documented. In 2007, Dungy found himself embroiled in a bit of controversy when he accepted the "Friend of Family" award from the Indiana Family Institute, a conservative group that supported a proposed gay-marriage ban in the state.
"I appreciate the stance they're taking, and I embrace that stance," Dungy said when he accepted the award. "We're not trying to downgrade anyone else. But we're trying to promote the family -- family values the Lord's way. ... IFI is saying what the Lord says. You can take that and make your decision on which way you want to be."
After Jason Collins became the first openly gay NBA player last year, however, Dungy seemed to have softened his stance when he spoke out in support of Collins' decision to come out as gay."

That'll put a cat amongst the pigeons.

 

[royals1922]

More news on Dareus

"
the Buffalo Bills' defensive tackle has agreed to enter an NFL substance abuse program in a bid to have felony drug charges in Alabama dismissed.
Rod Giddens wrote in an email to The Associated Press on Monday that Dareus was allowed to enter the program during a hearing at Calhoun County Court in Alabama earlier in the day. Dareus attended the hearing while being excused from training camp in suburban Rochester, New York.
Buffalo's WKBW-TV first reported the agreement.
Dareus, who is from Alabama, was arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia after being stopped by a state trooper on May 5.
The charges will be dismissed and potentially expunged should the 2011 first-round draft pick successfully completes the program."

 

[Dagless]

Why would I listen to a man who has a history of anti LGB equal rights on an issue of LGB rights?

A man afraid of changing things for the better for fear, when he had to battle the exact same issues and question marks... Sad times.

 

[royals1922]

Why would I listen to a man who has a history of anti LGB equal rights on an issue of LGB rights?

A man afraid of changing things for the better for fear, when he had to battle the exact same issues and question marks... Sad times.

Dungy is very influential in the industry.

 

[Dagless]

Dungy is very influential in the industry.

Yeah I know, how sad is that.

 

[royals1922]

Yeah I know, how sad is that.

Well if this doesn't start another brushfire in the States over Sam nothing will.

 

[ausbacker]

Well if this doesn't start another brushfire in the States over Sam nothing will.

They'll do what they do in the US: discuss items in talkback media until ratings saturation then nothing will happen. They're good like that.

 

[Dirty Bird]

Michael Sam's jersey is sixth on the sellers list.

Ridiculous

Worth the investment already.

 

[Chadwiko]

Dungy is not influential anymore. There's a reason he's not employed.

 

[aussiedude]

Dungy is not influential anymore. There's a reason he's not employed.

he puts his support behind a convicted dog killer and mentors him but doesnt want a gay player in the league. I think he lots a lot of respect over the weekend.

 

[Blacky]

Yep, people need to sort their priorities out

 

[Exe Gesis]

Maybe because he's old school traditional catholic. You know what they're like.

 

[Shupe]

Maybe because he's old school traditional catholic. You know what they're like.

A dying breed?

 

[Exe Gesis]

He's so right...I totally agree (objectively too)....

Mark Davis: I don’t see anything different this year in fans. I think Raider fans are realistic. Pretty smart bunch of people, really.

 

[royals1922]

Did anyone read what Dungy said - he said that he didn't want to deal with all the stuff that came with Sam being drafted. And it nearly overtook the Rams until they shut down the Oprah circus.

That said, Sam is still with the Rams, has the support of the players and is now a football player.

 

[Exe Gesis]

Get ready for the Legion of Boom rule
Posted by Mike Florio on July 21, 2014, 12:04 PM EDT

AP
A decade ago, the NFL made illegal contact and defensive holding a point of emphasis based in part on complaints from former Colts G.M. Bill Polian that Patriots defensive backs were manhandling Peyton Manning’s pass-catchers. Now, the NFL is re-emphasizing the point of emphasis.

As explained by FOX’s Mike Pereira on Twitter, a former NFL V.P. of officiating, illegal contact and defensive holding will be a point of emphasis in 2014.

As a practical matter, it’s the Legion of Boom rule. In 2013, the Seahawks brazenly committed illegal contact and holding, knowing that, if illegal contact happens on every play, the officials won’t throw a flag on every play. In an intriguing segment that aired on NBCSN’s NFL Turning Point, Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman was displaying to a teammate on the practice field techniques for concealing illegal contact.

This year, the officials may be far more inclined to throw flags. Per Pereira, the 2004 push to stop defensive backs from pushing and tugging and shoving receivers resulted in an increase in illegal contact fouls from 79 to 191.

That will lead to more intriguing comments from Sherman, especially in light of what he said in January.

“The game was allowed to be played physical, and that’s why you had so many run games,” Sherman said regarding the way the NFL used to be. “That’s an old school brand of football. I don’t know how old the rules are, but since these rules have come, you look up and every receiver, every play they could drop a wide-open pass and turn around and look for a flag. I think that kind of ruins the game. That kind of ruins the intensity, the whole DNA of football and what it is if you see flags every single play.”

Pereira notes that the Legion of Boom rule will be offset by an emphasis on offensive pass interference. “Not an even trade in my opinion,” Pereira notes.

Despite Sherman’s and Pereira’s desire for the current state of affairs to remain in place, the Seahawks will stop committing so much strategic illegal contact if the flags fly often enough to get the message to the defensive backs that the officials will indeed risk slowing the game to a crawl if the Seahawks hope to take advantage of the reluctance to make a game last much longer than it should.

Of course, telling the officials to throw the flag more often in a conference room won’t necessarily result in more flags being thrown during games. But it worked in 2004 — it could work again in 2014, making it harder for the Seahawks to repeat.

The good news for Seattle is that, a decade ago, the Patriots won the Super Bowl for a second straight year, even with the renewed emphasis on mugging Manning’s teammates.

 

[aussiedude]

Did anyone read what Dungy said - he said that he didn't want to deal with all the stuff that came with Sam being drafted. And it nearly overtook the Rams until they shut down the Oprah circus.

That said, Sam is still with the Rams, has the support of the players and is now a football player.

Yeah i know, its not like there is a media circus around other players with hype or any forms of special treatment. like nobody cared about Tebow, or Manzeil being drafted. and nobody said a word about Michael Vick getting signed after jail for dog fighting. and there was not a single person on earth that cared if Favre would come out of retirement between 2008-2011 That would be crazy .

I dont think teams can use we dont want the media attention on the Michael Sam thing, or any future gay players or whatever the next thing will be. You need to expect media attention from high profile players, If you dont have a front office that can deal with it you need to fire them all, because in the new age of social media and stuff everything a player says or tweets will be seen by someone. There is a sad want from fans to know everything about players now, and a lot of players make stupid decisions with words [Riley Cooper] or get arrested for all kinds of thinks.

As for the fact that Michael Sam is gay. it made no difference at Mizzou his team didnt fall apart they seemed to play better. I think its the owners and older coaches that are more worried about the fact there is an openly gay player on the team. and i wouldnt be shocked if there were a handful of gay players on other teams that just have not come out yet. Society is becoming more accepting with this issue. Im not old enough but i think it sounds alot like the race issue from the early NFL days. or Race issues with coaches 20 years ago. I hope he has an amazing year and gets to play consistent snaps.

 

[royals1922]

Yeah i know, its not like there is a media circus around other players with hype or any forms of special treatment. like nobody cared about Tebow, or Manzeil being drafted. and nobody said a word about Michael Vick getting signed after jail for dog fighting. and there was not a single person on earth that cared if Favre would come out of retirement between 2008-2011 That would be crazy .

I dont think teams can use we dont want the media attention on the Michael Sam thing, or any future gay players or whatever the next thing will be. You need to expect media attention from high profile players, If you dont have a front office that can deal with it you need to fire them all, because in the new age of social media and stuff everything a player says or tweets will be seen by someone. There is a sad want from fans to know everything about players now, and a lot of players make stupid decisions with words [Riley Cooper] or get arrested for all kinds of thinks.

As for the fact that Michael Sam is gay. it made no difference at Mizzou his team didnt fall apart they seemed to play better. I think its the owners and older coaches that are more worried about the fact there is an openly gay player on the team. and i wouldnt be shocked if there were a handful of gay players on other teams that just have not come out yet. Society is becoming more accepting with this issue. Im not old enough but i think it sounds alot like the race issue from the early NFL days. or Race issues with coaches 20 years ago. I hope he has an amazing year and gets to play consistent snaps.

Won't get a lot of argument from me about a lot of things you said but a lot of owners, coaches and the football watching public are innately conservative and view twitter, social change, etc through very old eyes.