Don't believe the hype it's finally 2014-15 NFL Week 1

I guess Johnny Football and Dallas updates will finally move to #2 or #3 on Sportscenter.

Green Bay @ Seattle
Buffalo @ Chicaqgo
Cincy @ B-more
Cleveland @ Pittsburgh
Washington @ Houston
J-ville @ Philly
Tennessee @ KC
NE @ Miami
Minnesota @ St. Louis
New Orleans @ Atlanta
Oakland @ NYJ
Carolina @ Tampa
SF @ Dallas
Indy @ Denver
NYG @ Detroit
San Diego @ Arizona

@JoeBanner13: We got a lot more for colt McCoy than Pats got for Mallet. A lot of hype about nothing.

@JoeBanner13: Mcoy comment not a shot. 2 years of media coverage of the issue, "experts" saying it could get pats a 3rd rd pick. Didn't match with reality

^^^ real talk

all browns fans should follow joe banner

i predict that steelers/browns game is gonna be brutal

lol Schaub

why is michael sam going to be on RAW next monday?

Green Bay
Chicago
Cincy
Pitt
Texans
Eagles
Kc
Pats
Rams
Falcons
Jets
Panthers
Niners
Colts
Lions
Chargers

I don't care what anyone says, the "Johnny Jamboogie" commercial is awesome

joe banner is angry because under his leadership the browns turned a 3rd round pick and a 6th round pick into a 5th and a 7th and he hasn't got the respect he is due from the media. someone give him his job back already.

happy week 1!

http://screenburn.kotaku.com/madden-tiny-glitch-1629348088

BREAKING: toby gerhart's first name is tobinbo

that's beautiful xp

at my fantasy draft last night i spent a full five minutes staggering in disbelief that 1) toby gerhart is #1 on the jags' rb depth chart, and 2) toby gerhart is actually a running back, not a fullback.

this tobinbo thing just adds a whole new layer

there are teams where you feel uncomfortable drafting a good RB high because they have 3 decent guys that will all see play time, and then there are teams who have tobinbo

haha

TOBINBOOOOOO, thoughts arrive like butterflies

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BwkPN2JIQAAsSus.jpg

loooool

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2014/09/02/michael_sam_cowboys_defensive_end_will_sign_to_team_s_practice_squad.html

lol welker

Are you ready for some TOBINBO

i have paid zero attention to preseason as usual so this first week will be a delightful mystery unravelling before my eyes

oh wait: i know that raiders got a shiny new rookie quarterback. ok on 3 let's ride him hard & put him away wet
:D

apparently Carr doesn't like the blitz so I'm worried about what Rexy will cook up

ugh really

the o-line hoist him up rudy-style

i'll note here that i grabbed carr as a $1 backup in a 2-qb fantasy league solely based on matt armstrong's enthusiasm

luckily the bar is nice & low for him

hommes et femmes

ILNFL™ Belated 2014-5 Survival/Pick'em Leagues thread

starting week 2 because we were slow off the mark

Green Bay @ Seattle - Got to figure Seattle is still better. GB seems to play better early than late season though.
Buffalo @ Chicago - Bills are hard to figure, they have some talent. Bears D is still kinda unknown at this point, it was terrible last year. I'll take Chicago at this point.
Cincy @ B-more - I hope Cincy wins, but I just don't trust them and figure the Ravens win.
Cleveland @ Pittsburgh - These games are often pretty grinding but I have to think Pittsburgh is at least a field goal better.
Washington @ Houston - I'm going Houston in a slight upset.
J-ville @ Philly - Philly
Tennessee @ KC - KC
NE @ Miami - NE has used the AFC East for doormats for over a decade, don't think it changes today.
Minnesota @ St. Louis - Rams probably better even with a backup QB.
New Orleans @ Atlanta - Saints, ATL was a mess last year.
Oakland @ NYJ- Jets but this will probably be a fugly game.
Carolina @ Tampa - I'm going Panthers but I don't trust them at all.
SF @ Dallas - SF with Dallas perhaps making it interesting.
Indy @ Denver - I hope Indy wins but I will take Denver at home.
NYG @ Detroit - I'm going Giants in a slight upset.
San Diego @ Arizona- I'm going AZ at home.

http://gawker.com/the-huffington-post-s-latest-hire-a-9-11-truther-1630499072

Huffington Post editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington announced that her company had hired 33-year-old Donté Stallworth, the former NFL wide receiver, to cover national security as a paid editorial fellow. One problem: Stallworth apparently believes that the September 11, 2001 attacks were an inside job.

Ohmygosh there is football tnite

:D

:D

!!!

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S FINALLY HERE

i am on record as being on board with donte stallworth he seems like a good dude. this huffpo thing tho, i mean, great for him he is a smart guy who cares about that stuff but yeah idk. since the announcement he has unsurprisingly had to weather a shitstorm about yknow killing someone and the 9/11 truther thing but imo he handled the former about as well as he could've short of not actually killing a dude in the first place and he has recanted the truther stuff since. i think the heat is more about kicking huffpo tho, including contributions from from part time ilxor "max", which i am cool with in general. i don't know what my point is here except huffpo is terrible anyway so who really cares but i like donte.

more importantly tho

football

breaking: josh gordon has a found a job with a car dealership

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bwo3CljCUAAD5EB.png

lol

cris collinsworth turned into mr. burns over the summer

FOOTBALL!!!!

so happy you guys

packers still on vacation

it's here it's here :D

It's 20 past 2 in the morning. Humming and hawing whether to stay up for this game

i say yes bc ITS FOOTBALL TIME

Sold

Thomas has to learn that he's allowed to fair catch the ball

Thomas III

i'm pro-carson/arians, just old dudes trying to make things happen.

Carson is a guy you can win the Super Bowl with imo

if honey badger comes back full strength I really think the Cards can make some noise

xpost he's no Trent Dilfer

their revamped defense is looking better than i expected. shame they're in the sf/sea division.

man Verrett looks like a pro bowler

the cardinals really love ex-raiders

palmer is so spry tonight!

haha the elusive Carson Palmer

0 targets for Fitz

this game is fucking terrible

9 different receivers for the Cardinals, none are Fitz, wtf

i am only watching cos i'm in a tense fantasy football match that I've just taken the lead on thanks to Fitzie's blanking

worst thing about this game tho was Berman's fucking public address announcement praising the NFL and Ravens for their actions today

man Verrett looks like a pro bowler

― Matt Armstrong, Tuesday, September 9, 2014 3:12 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

God San Diego looks like dogshit

has Rivers never seen a blitz before

oh my God the Chargers just morphed into the Keystone Kops

i just turned it back on looool

i love seeing rivers lose

that was his Sistine Chapel of shit quarterbacking

A day after a new video surfaced showing Ray Rice hitting his then-fiancée in the face in a hotel elevator, prompting the Baltimore Ravens to release the running back and the NFL to increase his suspension from two games to indefinite, Janay Rice defended her husband and criticized the media.

"I woke up this morning feeling like I had a horrible nightmare, feeling like I'm mourning the death of my closest friend," she wrote in an Instagram post. "But to have to accept the fact that it's reality is a nightmare itself. No one knows the pain that the media & unwanted options from the public has caused my family. To make us relive a moment in our lives that we regret everyday is a horrible thing.

"To take something away from the man I love that he has worked his ass off for all his life just to gain ratings is horrific. THIS IS OUR LIFE! What don't you all get. If your intentions were to hurt us, embarrass us, make us feel alone, take all happiness away, you've succeeded on so many levels. Just know we will continue to grow & show the world what real love is! Ravensnation we love you!"

the cardinals really love ex-raiders

― Matt Armstrong, Monday, September 8, 2014 11:27 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Raiders love ex-Philadelphia/Pittsburgh Steagles, Chicago Cardinals and Los Angeles Chargers.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/nfl-announces-new-zerotolerance-policy-on-videotap,36885/

NEW YORK—Following public outcry over his mishandling of Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice’s aggravated assault of his then-fiancée, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced Tuesday that the league has adopted a new zero-tolerance policy toward all videotaped domestic abuse. “We hold our players to the highest standards both as professional athletes and as people, so any violence toward women that is recorded, authenticated, and then publicly distributed will be met with an automatic suspension and fine,” said Goodell, adding that the new, stricter guidelines reflect the league’s hard-line stance against any spousal abuse that is clearly and irrefutably captured on film. “I can assure you that any member of this league who strikes a woman in front of a live camera will face swift and heavy consequences. I also want to stress that this utterly reprehensible behavior is something we will in no way tolerate as long as the footage is completely uninterrupted and the entirety of the assault takes place within frame.” Goodell went on to clarify that in such cases, the NFL will cooperate fully with local authorities as soon as the league can no longer prevent incriminating evidence from being leaked to the media.

lol missed the Onion URL, was getting incensed

Justice in this case works out pretty badly for the victim imo. I agree that Rice should be out of football and possibly in jail, but suddenly Janay Rice is married to a guy who is basically unemployable due to support in her name that she never asked for.

what is the satisfactory alternative?

someone punches Richie Incognito in the balls

There's not one. What happened to Ray Rice is (part of) what needed to happen to Ray Rice, and even if she loves him and they're working through this, it's a problem HE created.

the responsibility to try to protect anyone else who may or may not get beaten up in an elevator at least equals any responsibility 'justice' has to janay rice right?

Ray Rice spoke with ESPN's Josina Anderson on Tuesday, making his first comments to the media since the release Monday of a new video showing him striking his then-fiancée, Janay Palmer.

"I have to be strong for my wife," Rice said. "She is so strong. We are in good spirits. We have a lot of people praying for us and we'll continue to support each other. I have to be there for (Janay) and my family right now and work through this."

In the last 24 hours I've spoken with friends about this—friends who have been in abusive relationships and friends who've worked in advocacy groups for abused people and friends who have experience with both sides of it—and what I've learned is that there's no solution we can cook up in 24 hours if there's not been a good solution in generations upon generations of humanity.

It's fucking depressing.

This piece is good:

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/what-does-it-take-to-get-roger-goodell-fired-2/

Why do Greg Hardy and Terrell Suggs still get to play football?

killer ending as well

it really is pathetic that people's opinions of things completely change if it's on video but it's probably never going to change.

to be fair, most people (not Goodell) were pretty outraged about the first video.

That was a great article.

Im firmly in the Goodell's gotta go camp. But ive hated him ever since he nuked the Saints over something pretty much every team did. and i hate the Saints.

Oh please, Goodell's not going anywhere. The owners are making shitloads! That's all they care about.

they're not making shitloads because of goodell though

Adam Schefter ‏@AdamSchefter 11m

Cardinals LB John Abraham is suffering from memory loss and has been for well over a year, per sources. Could be end of his NFL career.

B-b-b-but he protected the shield(tm)!

The Associated Press @AP
BREAKING: AP Source: Law enforcement official sent copy of Ray Rice tape to NFL executive in April

what the hell

cynical, pained lol

this is a deeply stupid controversy imo but if it leads to goodell being disgraced and fired then terrific

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) -- A law enforcement official says he sent a video of Ray Rice punching his then-fiancee to an NFL executive three months ago, while league officers have insisted they didn't see the violent images until this week.

The person played The Associated Press a 12-second voicemail from an NFL office number on April 9 confirming the video arrived. A female voice expresses thanks and says: ''You're right. It's terrible.''

The official, speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, says the NFL never followed up. The person can't confirm if anyone at the NFL watched the video.

The person said he shared the video - which he was unauthorized to release - because he wanted the NFL to have it before deciding on Rice's punishment.

just like others have said upthread, the NFL and Ravens banked on nobody ever seeing the video because of plausible deniability. It led people to assume that since the NFL ruled so leniently that "obviously there was more to it than we the general public knew about". Folks and colleagues I knew were saying they heard she hit him first. Or that he pushed her off of him, and she accidentally hit her head. As long as the video never surfaced, the NFL and Ravens could continue on with their mutually beneficial arrangement that he did get *suspended*, but not long enough to hurt them (or him) significantly.

The existence of the second video was common knowledge back in April. I was honestly surprised it never surfaced back then, but police were pretty candid about what was on it. Goodell's done. He will not be able to escape this controversy, not this time.

(also cad otm, there's this guy named Tagliabue that had much more to do with the league's current financial state).

i dunno. he's not the kind of guy who's just going to resign. he works for the owners, who are collectively a) the biggest assholes on earth, and b) exactly the kind of people who will refuse to do something simply because the media/common riffraff want it.

it's not a question of legality. it's not like the players are going to stop playing over this. the only way goodell's done is if the owners perceive that his continued presence will cost them money, and i don't really see why it would just yet.

I would never resign from a job that pays me 50m

my prediction is resignation, but that assumes continued 100% media saturation and some kind of social and popular media boycott threat. Agree that it's not legality, it has to be most of the owners going "welp, here's another lackey right...here."