NFL Discussion and Fantasy League thread

[DJLJ]

Tebow working out at the Eagles.

[Lee909]

Bradford,Sanchez,Tebow

 

Well i have added Tebow to one of my fantasy teams.

 

I like the bloke,not a great player but he us fun to watch. That half year in Denver he was must watch in the final 5 mins.

[Lee909]

SF's Borland quits over safety issues

By Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru [ARCHIVE]

 

ESPN.com | March 16, 2015

BERKELEY, Calif. -- San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland, one of the NFL's top rookies last season, told "Outside the Lines" on Monday that he is retiring because of concerns about the long-term effects of repetitive head trauma.

 

Borland, 24, said he notified the 49ers on Friday. He said he made his decision after consulting with family members, concussion researchers, friends and current and former teammates, and studying what is known about the relationship between football and neurodegenerative disease.

 

"I just honestly want to do what's best for my health," Borland told "Outside the Lines." "From what I've researched and what I've experienced, I don't think it's worth the risk."

 

Borland becomes the most prominent NFL player to leave the game in his prime because of concerns about brain injuries. More than 70 former players have been diagnosed with progressive neurological disease following their deaths, and numerous studies have shown a connection between the repetitive head trauma associated with football, brain damage and issues such as depression and memory loss.

 

Chris Borland

Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images

Chris Borland prior to the game against the Seattle Seahawks at Levi's Stadium on Nov. 27, 2014.

"I feel largely the same, as sharp as I've ever been, for me it's wanting to be proactive," said Borland. "I'm concerned that if you wait till you have symptoms, it's too late. ... There are a lot of unknowns. I can't claim that X will happen. I just want to live a long healthy life, and I don't want to have any neurological diseases or die younger than I would otherwise."

 

Borland was expected to be a key part of the 49ers defense this season after the retirement last week of All-Pro linebacker Patrick Willis. Borland replaced Willis, 30, after six games last season; Willis had sustained a toe injury.

 

Willis' retirement had no role in his decision, Borland said.

 

Borland said there was no chance he would change his mind. The third-round draft pick who starred at the University of Wisconsin said he has had just two diagnosed concussions: one while playing soccer in the eighth grade, the other playing football as a sophomore in high school.

 

Borland, who is listed at 5-foot-11, 248 pounds, earned accolades for his aggressiveness and instincts at inside linebacker. He had 107 tackles and a sack in 14 games, eight of them starts. He was the NFC's defensive player of the week for his performance against the New York Giants in Week 11. He led the team with 13 tackles in that game and became the first 49ers rookie linebacker in history with two interceptions in one game. He received one vote for NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.

 

His success last season did not make his decision more difficult, Borland said: "I've thought about what I could accomplish in football, but for me personally, when you read about Mike Webster and Dave Duerson and Ray Easterling, you read all these stories and to be the type of player I want to be in football, I think I'd have to take on some risks that as a person I don't want to take on." Borland was referring to former NFL greats who were diagnosed with a devastating brain disease, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE, after their deaths. Duerson and Easterling committed suicide.

 

Borland said he began to have misgivings during training camp. He said he sustained what he believed to be a concussion stuffing a running play but played through it, in part because he was trying to make the team. "I just thought to myself, 'What am I doing? Is this how I'm going to live my adult life, banging my head, especially with what I've learned and knew about the dangers?'"

 

He said the issue "gathered steam" as the season progressed. Before the fourth game of the pre-season, at Houston, he wrote a letter to his parents, informing them that he thought that his career in the NFL would be brief because of his concerns about the potential long-term effects of the head injuries.

 

After the season, Borland said, he consulted with prominent concussion researchers and former players to affirm his decision. He also scheduled baseline tests to monitor his neurological wellbeing going forward "and contribute to the greater research." After thinking through the potential repercussions, Borland said the decision was ultimately "simple."

 

He said part of the reason he waited until now was because he wanted to inform his family and friends, including a few 49er teammates. He said he also wanted to have time to contact the researchers and study the issue further.

 

Borland, who earned a bachelor's degree in history at the University of Wisconsin, said he plans to return to school and possibly pursue a career in sports management. He had a four-year contract with the 49ers worth just under $3 million, which included a signing bonus of $617,436.

 

The decision to retire had nothing to do with the 49ers, Borland said. He said that his feelings toward the team and his teammates marked one of the hardest aspects of the decision.

 

"It's an incredible organization, and they truly looked out for players' best interests," he said.

 

Borland is the fourth NFL player age 30 or younger to announce his retirement in the past week. Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Jason Worilds, 27, said he retired "after much thought and consideration" to pursue "other interests." Tennessee Titans quarterback Jake Locker, 26, said he left the game because he no longer had "the burning desire necessary to play the game for a living."

 

Willis said he retired due to constant pain in his feet, among other reasons. He was placed on the season-ending injured reserve Nov. 11 after getting hurt on Oct. 13.

 

Borland had a decorated career at Wisconsin, where he was named the Big Ten's defensive player of the year and linebacker of the year as a senior. He was a first-team All-American

[Cardie]

Good to see the competition committee rewarding stupidity by implementing the Ravens proposed rule change with ineligible receivers now having to line up in the 'tackle box'.

 

Rewarding lazy coaches who don't know the rules by taking the rules away.

[Bob]

That's bollocks cardie.

 

Rules consistently favour offense and games are becoming more and more about just scorning more and not putting much in the hands of the defense.

 

Trickery like this should always have a short shelf life. Do it, get away with it once or twice, then have it taken away.

 

Shouldn't the defense know who they are having to defend against?

 

If all players were eligible, fair enough, but when a player looks eligible but isn't, when you're having to shift as a defense at a tempo dictated by the offense, then it's trickery.

 

More and more teams are going up tempo, no huddle style. Allowing that sort of play is just unfair.

 

I know its available to everyone, and no question it's clever use of the rules, but it comes down to 'spirit of the game' type thinking for me.

 

Make it a battle. Let my team make a play by being better than yours. Not by being sneaker.

[Cardie]

That's bollocks cardie.

 

Rules consistently favour offense and games are becoming more and more about just scorning more and not putting much in the hands of the defense.

 

Trickery like this should always have a short shelf life. Do it, get away with it once or twice, then have it taken away.

 

Shouldn't the defense know who they are having to defend against?

 

If all players were eligible, fair enough, but when a player looks eligible but isn't, when you're having to shift as a defense at a tempo dictated by the offense, then it's trickery.

 

More and more teams are going up tempo, no huddle style. Allowing that sort of play is just unfair.

 

I know its available to everyone, and no question it's clever use of the rules, but it comes down to 'spirit of the game' type thinking for me.

 

Make it a battle. Let my team make a play by being better than yours. Not by being sneaker.

 

How is it any sneakier than a wildcat, or fake punt, or fake field goal. Ineligible player is highlighted and can't cross the line of scrimmage, teams just deal with it and it naturally fades in and out of fashion. No good teams crying about it not being fair and asking for the rules to be changed.

[Carvalho Diablo]

WR Brashad Perriman goes fucking barmy at his pro-day.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/did-ucf-receiver-breshad-perriman-just-run-a-sub-4-2-second-40-yard-dash-184248728.html

[Lee909]

Doubt it was that fast

These pro day times are often a joke,to be honest the whole aspect of the underwear olympics is

 

Run in pads

[Bob]

How is it any sneakier than a wildcat, or fake punt, or fake field goal. Ineligible player is highlighted and can't cross the line of scrimmage, teams just deal with it and it naturally fades in and out of fashion. No good teams crying about it not being fair and asking for the rules to be changed.

It's massively different from any of those things.

 

They are execution of a play that has been designed to make a team think you're doing one thing when you're doing another, and relying on the ability of players to execute, often (fakes) where that player isn't really skilled in the role he's asked to play.

 

A ST/defense that's been able to force an actual QB and actual RB into a fourth down should be able to stop a punter or blocking tight end from running or throwing successfully and if the trick is successful then fair play.

 

It's also something that the defense practices to prevent, so even more credit if you can pull it off.

 

It's execution of a play that everyone knows could potentially be in the arsenal.

 

This isn't that.

 

This is in effect deception. It's saying, this player here who looks like an offensive player and is wearing a number designated as an offensive player, and who you think you have to match up against, isn't actually on the field at all. He doesn't exist.

 

It's not cheating. It was perfectly fair deception, and quite wily, but it's deception nonetheless. It's sneaky.

 

So changing the rules to prevent it just seems wholly reasonable to me. And the coaches and league agreed.

[Bob]

Another point is that fans watching don't know what they're watching when shit like that goes down - I'm sure you did, but most wouldn't have - and that's not good as far as the league looks at things.

[Cardie]

It's massively different from any of those things.

 

They are execution of a play that has been designed to make a team think you're doing one thing when you're doing another, and relying on the ability of players to execute, often (fakes) where that player isn't really skilled in the role he's asked to play.

Execution of a play that makes a defence think you're doing something else - check.

 

Relying on players to execute in roles they aren't skilled in - tackles as receivers would definetly fall into that category.

 

How is it different again?

 

 

[Bob]

Execution of a play that makes a defence think you're doing something else - check.

 

Relying on players to execute in roles they aren't skilled in - tackles as receivers would definetly fall into that category.

 

How is it different again?

Selective quoting, by you? Never!!

 

It's not the tackle as a receiver that's the issue, and the rules change hasn't stopped a tackle from becoming eligible. It's the deception that a receiver is now a tackle that's the issue.

 

They are just a blocking receiver, which they could already be on a play, and it is a (previously but no longer permissible) trick.

 

I think the rule change is right, fair and sensible.

[Lee909]

Happy with the change personally.

[Cardie]

Jaguars have announced that draft picks will be announced like from the sky sports studio in the upcoming draft.

 

Sky sports make a huge deal of the "massive news" citing the millions of people who watch the draft.

 

Shame it'll be the 6th and 7th rounds that are being announced, rounds pretty much only scouts are interested in with picks announced by the security guards and tea ladies.

 

Though it should lock up the draft being shown live on sky.

 

 

[Lee909]

I'll be watching the lot

 

Mostly cause im sad

[neko]

Aaron Rodgers dating Olivia Munn ? That is 'winning at life'....

 

[neko]

good to hear - comeback player of the year for me....

 

The Dallas Cowboys hung on to one of its best defenders from 2014.

Rolando McClain and the Cowboys agreed to a one-year contract worth $3 million in base salary and another $1 million in playtime incentives, ESPN's Ed Werder reported Wednesday.

The former first-round linebacker visited the New England Patriots on Monday and received an offer, before choosing to stay in Dallas, per Werder.

McClain underwent a reclamation year with the Cowboys following two failed retirements, compiling 81 tackles and a sack in 13 games. The 25-year-old linebacker -- who has had his share of run-ins with the law -- will be fined his first four paychecks to open the 2015 season for violating the NFL's policy on substance abuse.

McClain started the 2014 season on a tear and looked like a Comeback Player of the Year candidate. His play tailed off at the end, but placing him back in the middle of the Cowboys defense will allow the oft-injured Sean Lee to swing to the weak side and solidify the unit.

[Lee909]

Still a while away but a reminder to everyone the league is reducing in size this year after being a man down last year.

Its 14 teams this year so ill post on here when the leagues reopen and i need everyone to that wants in to reply quickly as its the first 14 that are in,

[neko]

Has anyone else been watching the "Caught in the draft" series on the NFL network ?

 

It's an incredible show. The 1965 draft with Joe Namath sounded more like a James Bond film with a mixture of Mad Men thrown in. Unbelievable stories of mystery and intrigue.

 

The 1975 draft with Pittsburgh drafting 4 hall of famers and the Cowboys drafting 12 starters.

 

So many great stories, and amazing to see how the NFL draft has evolved over the years.

[Lee909]

I watch the ones they did last year. Ill catch up with these at work next weekend. NFL network does some great films

[neko]

just noticed you can watch segments of them on nfl.com, mira aqui....

 

http://www.nfl.com/videos/caught-in-the-draft

[Carvalho Diablo]

Sigh.

 

[DJLJ]

80+ days on and nothing on Deflategate. For something that got hyped up that much, they surely are taking their time on this...

[Lee909]

Too busy slapping the wrists of the Falcons. Oh by slapping i mean tickling with a feather. Because piping in noise isnt that big a crime and doesn't give a onfield advantage does it..

 

Just because the falcons are too shite to win doesnt mean they should have been let of the hook.

 

A 5th round pick next year

And there man suspended from the competition committee a week after the committee has had its yearly meeting

 

Fuck you Goodell

[Bob]

Aaron Hernandez found guilty today. Life without parole.

 

It's a sport that has its share of bad uns.