Damn that sucks.....way too young!

Yeah only 36.

Tommy’s looking good...
Throwing dahts and packed on 10lbs.
Pats are also stacked with great rookies and’ve really tightened up the D with Collins coming back.
How obnoxious am I sounding right now?
To quote the Borg, “You will all be assimilated”

I only watch the Daytona races. At least with drafting the racing is tight. Any other track like Charlotte there's multiple car lengths between positions and it's boring as hell to watch.

I feel the same about pinball and video games. I don't mind watching a pinball tutorial that is heavily edited, concise and to the point. But to watch live streams of pinball or video games just isn't my bag. My time spent watching could be better spent playing.

Facts aren’t ever obnoxious. If the Pats are still in the league, people will whine. I’m not sure why any other AFC East team bothers playing. Kiss the rings.

If you guys really loved tommy you’d set him free.

Continuing to play into his 40s is a terrible move. He’s gonna be shambling around like post-retirement Ali before long.

It doesn't seem like he takes many hits, anecdotally speaking. The older QBs seem more willing to throw the ball away than their younger counterparts. The unwillingness, or inability, to scramble may mean that they don't net an extra 3 yards on a broken play, but it also means that they aren't subjecting themselves to a hit for a minimal gain.

QBs still take hits, there's no doubt, but they're easily the most protected position. I believe that to be true both by the officiating crews, and by coaching staff that encourage them to avoid unnecessary hits, at least when the game isn't on the line.

I don;t see too many punch drunk QBs out there...eXpecially in the newer NFL.

It's not the "qbs of today" who are punch drunk, it's those who were playing in the 90s and earlier. Check in on Mark Rypien and Jim McMahon and tell me how they are doing. This stuff takes a while to manifest.

I don't see why Brady is doing this to himself. Of all the players in the NFL, none are better prepared for post-playing life than he is.

Adrian Peterson is broke, of course he has no choice at this point.

In reality it's gonna take a couple decades to see if the newer rules and policies aimed at reducing head injuries are having the desired effect. I see huge improvements - watch an old NFL highlights film and you'll be shocked at virtually every play - horse collars, late hits, etc., over and over and over again.

But football is an inherently dangerous game and it remains to be seen if it can truly be domesticated.

Ego.

Ah there are 2 good ones for sure. It takes time but I think this crop, which Brady is in, will be doing far better.
For every Rypian & McMahan there are plenty tons more normal Qbs on one side, and 1000 times more busted up sheels in every other position.

I don't know if I'd agree with that unless you mean strictly financial.
Hmm....I guess he'd get absorbed into the NE business if he wanted and would get a big shot at coaching anywhere as well; fair point.

He's a saint in NE, could pretty much have any job he wants on TV or elsewhere, could be Mayor of Boston.

The world is his oyster. Unless in 10 years he can't remember what an oyster is.

The offensive linemen or RBs are the guys that really take a ton of damage. I don't know how you make that part of the game more humane. Some of the OL guys play really deep into their 30s. I can't imagine the physical toll on their bodies and brains. Scary stuff.

I think Favre was probably the last QB to really get beat up for the entirety of his career. He played pretty recklessly, and that NFC Championship game against the Saints was really the final straw before the NFL decided to step in. He's been pretty vocal about problems with his memory, and he's only removed from the game 6 or 7 years.

Pocket QBs that have come into the league in the last 5 years are in a pretty good position to have long careers, and relatively healthy lives. Relative compared to their teammates, that is - it is still a violent sport. But, they're protected better than any other position, and better than any other point in history.

I would guess that if you control for other variables, QBs will still have a higher propensity to develop mental disease throughout their lives, and possibly a shorter lifespan when compared to the general population. The problem is that the sample of NFL players, and QBs specifically is so small, it's going to be difficult to really have any meaningful data.

What about the players who have no ill effects from playing football? You are talking about a very minute percentage of players that may or may not have problems related to football. Its a dangerous sport and they get paid well for playing it. Its their choice just like its a racecar drivers choice to strap himself in a racecar knowing that he could be killed or severely injured for life at any time.

Sorry, that's a little disingenuous. Everyone that gets into a race car is pretty aware of the potential worst. Everyone that gets onto a football field is probably also aware of the immediate danger, but until recently it wasn't understood that the problems from those hits may not take hold until 20 years down the road. The big problem is that there were people within the sport that DID know, and chose not to make players aware of it. That's a problem.

NFL players can make a lot of money.. but a lot of them make good money only when compared to other professions, not other athletes. The risk in the NFL is also significantly higher than those other sports. Consider a rookie that makes the roster... he would make at least $480,000. But also consider the costs... taxes, agents, family, friends... and the fact that little of that money is guaranteed. As we know, that money typically isn't sustainable. And as far as I know, there's a limited time you're covered under the league's health insurance after you're out of the league. As we now know, those health care needs may be significant later in life.

My line of thinking was he's so tragically fucking boring he wouldn't work on TV but I guess it's hard to tell.

With the Pats O-line and his/the teams focus on quick releases, he ain’t waiting to get knuckled like their quarterback of my youth: Steve Grogan.
TB12’s as as pliable (at 41) as a (In Living Color) Jim Carey on Oxys & Coke.

He'll fit right in.

Well then what do you suggest, to just ban football all together? There's no way that it can be made to be a safe sport and still be fun at the same time.

There's no way?

I think there are improvements that can be made to safety. I'm just riffing, but I think that there are a few directions that this could move...

1. The NFL acknowledges the dangers of the sport, and invests heavily into mitigating those dangers through rule changes and advances in equipment. I believe they're doing this, but it feels like a bit of a protection of an investment and a checking of a box more than it does an actual effort to benefit the lives of their employees.

2. Acknowledge that because of the dangers of the sport, one of the most valuable assets that they can offer players is extended health coverage. I fully expect that the NFL will fight this tooth and nail in the next CBA, which is a shame.

3. Compensate players more fairly. I hate when people scoff at this one. The career of most NFL players isn't that of Manning or Rodgers, it's that of Travis Jervy or Jake Kumerow. Those guys get a pretty limited window of opportunity to earn money. They sign for league minimums, and can't get a job after their first contract. They might have earned 1m on their W2, but that money gets sliced up a lot of ways before landing in their bank account. The guys that are good with money will have a better nest egg than most at their age, but at a potentially great cost to their health and potentially to their lifespan.

Believe me, I also groan about some of the calls made when a guy taps a knuckle on a QB helmet. Overall, I want to see the NFL do its part to protect its talent, or it's inevitable that the talent will be pushed toward other sports that either compensate better, or offer less chance for injury. I think I heard that youth baseball is breaking records as of the last few years. Do you think that's coincidence?

And to your point, I think the quickest way to have football banned altogether is to do nothing.. When we see guys like Favre rolling up in a wheelchair drooling on himself, calling for audibles and hot routes mid conversation, and in the meantime the NFL has done nothing to improve safety - do you really think that's the best way to see that our favorite sport continues?

Looks like the Raiders are starting to realize how much of a cancer A. Brown really is...…...

Deacon lol, i dont want to be rude but you are seriously living in fantasy land. So you want the NFL to give players healthcare beyond their playing careers huh? Who's to say that their injuries if they have any didnt happen in pee wee football or high school?

You also want to compensate players better. Thats laughable when they make way too much already. I know you are talking about the scrubs that barely make the team and only get to play one year or two but they arent getting hardly any playing time anyways. Also these injuries arent showing up until they get older so extending their healthcare a few years probably isnt going to do anything for them anyway and who is going to pay for that? Healthcare is very expensive!

Also you can say that about all kinds of jobs. What about people who work in factories with dangerous chemicals, policeman, fireman, there are all kinds of jobs that have hazards that don't give employees healthcare when they leave. Im sorry but you are dreaming if you think any of these things should or will happen.

Also i didnt know that Farve was in a wheel chair drooling on himself and calling audibles. First I've heard of this?

I hope you don't bring that sort of "this is impossible" attitude to your place of employment!

I believe the NFL already does cover players beyond their playing careers. I don't think it's beyond 5 years, and I don't know what the qualifiers are. As you so eloquently stated, they could probably use coverage beyond those years. There should certainly be qualifiers. The money is available, as it is in a lot of properly run businesses and government positions. At least in our state, i'm pretty sure police and fire do have lifetime healthcare option with a vestment into the state (20 years?). There are also examples of private companies offering this, although that's becoming less common.

Where would the money come from? Goodell is expected to make over .5B during his tenure. That, AND lifetime healthcare coverage (YES, the ultimate hypocrisy...) and lifetime use of a private jet, because you can't just fly wherever you want with a few hundred million dollars.

Maybe you think that the owners should get to keep most of the money since they assume the financial risk? Show me some cases where that's actually true... owners have proven they can milk a town, collect tax incentives, and then move onto another town that will happily pay for their stadium.

Maybe you're just pandering to the owners in the hopes of getting that sweet commissioner gig, who knows.

Most tragic part of this story is he died while riding in a sidecar. Witnesses said he looked like Donkey Kong in a Mario Kart game.

When he gets said job I hope he remembers his pinside buddies

You are asking the NFL to do what every employee in America would like to see the company that they work for do. Employees don't get to make demands based on how much profit that their company makes, sorry but it just doesn't work that way. If it did most of the middle class would become rich.

Also if i got the commissioners job these overpaid babies would be making a hell of a lot less money for playing a game and they may actually would have to go get a real job after their playing days were over. They arent worth the kind of money that they are making for playing a game when middle and low income people bust their asses and struggle everyday just to make ends meet.

The older players had to go get careers after sports so why shouldn't the current players? Its certainly wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to not have to get a real job until you were 30 or 40 years old in life would it? Stop putting these guys on a pedistal because they don't deserve it. They are not heroes.

If the sport truly is that dangerous (and i don't believe it is) then they need to just ban it. What about boxing and UFC fighters? You should be taking up for those guys because they are in a much more dangerous profession than football players are.

No way RWH, never happen my friend!

Not funny

If there's one thing the Cincinnati Bengals and their fans are good at, it's being a joke. So I guess I'll take your word for it.

Well you are making fun of a guy that just lost his life. Sorry but i just dont think that is funny and it's in poor taste for you to say what you said. What if that was your wife or your kid and someone made that same joke, would you still think that it was funny then also?

Also as far as i know Cedric was a decent guy and not some idiot that was constantly doing stupid shit. I guess it would be a little different in a case like that maybe but i think he was an ok person though?

Ooooh, hypotheticals! Those are ALWAYS fun!

Man.. I really should have stopped engaging you after you started talking about Nascar... or when you started spouting non-sense about other positions not receiving health coverage after retirement, or whatever other refutable comments you've made since then.. but what can I say? I'm bored.

I don't want to touch on your everyday working class example too much, but that's also pretty erroneous. If you're a highly valued individual within your field, you can choose to not work for those companies that don't offer bonuses based on performance, or meaningful retirement benefits. I'll leave it at that.

You clearly like the sport or you wouldn't be hanging around the thread as much as you are. I was admittedly a big early supporter of the other football league that surfaced this spring... now I can't even remember what it was called. Do you know why? Inferior talent.

Some of the most iconic players in the NFL, past and present, had the ability to choose their professional sporting career. Elway, Jackson, Sanders, Wilson, Gates, Peppers, even the aforementioned Cedric Benson (RIP)... What happens when the NFL chooses to put their bottom line above the players? Those players choose other sports. As mentioned, the youth numbers are already starting to indicate that we're going to see less talent in the NFL, and more in the MLB. I like baseball, but I love football..

I don't put athletes on a pedestal, but this IS the NFL thread (which is why I wasn't talking about police, UFC, or whatever until you threw it at me for some reason). There are plenty of dopes in the NFL, that's for sure. There's also a lot that do a ton of good in their community. Maybe that's a PR thing, maybe it's a truly virtuous thing, I really don't care.

To shit on your boxing point... it's dropped off tremendously over the last couple of decades. There's still talent, but the sport is really struggling, likely because of the politics of the matches and the brutality. The former can be solved, as UFC has largely taken care of the politics from what I understand. I don't really follow the UFC. Why? Honestly it's a combination of too slow and too brutal. I don't get a whole lot of satisfaction from watching the tactical ground fighting, and I'd rather not see a Theisman-style leg injury every 5 matches.

I want what's best for the NFL. Take care of the talent. Maybe make Goodell fly first class on a luxury airliner every now and then, I don't know.

I don't understand your point here, please elaborate for me. There are absolutely highly valued individuals that work in factories and pretty much any place you can think of. NFL players have college degrees also, so they can choose to work somewhere else easily besides the NFL so im just not sure where you are trying to go with this.

They know the risks involved of their occupation and they choose to chance it. Say what you want but these players are not treated bad or unfairly by any means, its quite the opposite actually. They are treated like Kings.

Simply as tasteless, disrespectful, and asinine of a statement I've seen on this site. The guy passes away and you make jokes about.....what A F@*KING ASSHOLE you are sir.

Now I understand, this is the asshat that had a brother whom he claims played in the NFL and poor boy got fired, explains why you've made so many douche bag comments.

Someone is a little triggered this morning. Yeesh.

So dumb. The players are entertainers, not unlike musicians and movie stars. You think Tom Cruise should make a middle class income because he doesn't own the studio? Maybe Iron Maiden should be paid in beer money since they don't own whatever facility their Manager found for them? People come to see the players who also have the right to get paid based on their performance/value in the most popular (multi billion dollar) sport in the US. Besides which, they put their life/health on the line with every play in order to entertain Who-dey Sixpack who screams "overpaid babies" at their television screen while surfing Pinside.

Christ, we know the Bengals are terrible, you don't have to take it out on us!

Sounds like Eli may have a early retirement brewing

Why? The team didn't like his 4/4 1td stat line against the starting D?
His retirement is still on the same schedule around game 6 of the season.

I don't think he will make it that deep.

We'll see. Def depends on how the other teams in division are doing.

No i dont think Tom Cruise should make middle class income or a NFL player either, i never said that at all. I don't think he is worth 20 million per movie though and i don't think any athlete is worth millions either. That's just my opinion though, it doesn't mean that its wrong or dumb. I just personally find more value in our soldiers, veterans, police, and doctors etc. Im not mad about it, i just think that they're way overpaid. Its not for me to decide though.

I've had people pull over & let me pass because of this.

But it is for you to decide. If you and people in your demographic (people likely to post what you did above) didn’t watch football or movies on tv or pay good money to go to the movie theater or an NFL stadium, then Tom Cruise and Football players wouldn’t earn all that money.

If you really did value soldiers, cops, etc, more, you would support them better and they would make more money. The fact is you really don’t value those professions much. Sure you’ll “thank them for their service” or give them your “thoughts and prayers”. Lip service is worth its weight in gold.

Curious, why you never complain about how much ceo’s, studio heads, and team owners make?

Tom Cruise is worth $30M or whatever because the box office will be greater than if was no name actor.

Mike Tyson was able to get $30M for one fight because people bought the fight on PPV. If it was Joe Schmoe wouldn’t get any PPV sales.

The nfl owners will make Billions and the players get a determined percentage of the profits. The owners divided the players share between 53 players. It’s quite simple. If a top QB wasn’t necessary to win they would not get the larger pay checks.

Vic,

Seems like u r busting Who-Deys balls pretty hard, and not really knowing if he has ever voted yes to approve taxes to support local law enforcement, or given any donations to support military or firefighters, etc.

That said, Go Saints!

Exactly, he has no idea what i do and what i don't do. The truth is, i do not watch football anymore except maybe a couple games a year and im also not a big tv and movie guy. I wont say that i never watch tv or go see a movie but basically i never watch tv or go see a movie and even if i did it still doesn't mean that tom cruise is worth 30 million per movie lol.

Vic is just a very bitter person for whatever reason and its obvious with every post that he makes. Nothing he says bothers me any because i know what i am and where my heart is when it comes to our Veterans and military etc. I just don't waste my energy on people like him anymore unless they force me to because its just not worth it.

[Edited]

Popped in to see what thoughts others had about their teams this season and......

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