2011 Thread for missing football during the offseason and possibly through the lockout

Oh special companion, you will be missed.

Just one weekend removed and I'm already experiencing THE PAIN.

Sound FX marathon on NFL Network!

Sad sad sad

sigh

I actually watched some rugby today. That's how hard up I was.

guess it just means the Packers will be world champs for another year (or eternity, depending on the apocalypse)

it WAS one of the foretold signs...

jerry richardson in full effect

Apparently, Richardson was particularly sarcastic when Manning started to talk about players’ safety. At one point, Richardson evidently said, “What do you know about player safety?”

“If he’s willing to talk to [Manning] and [Brees] that way, what do you think it says about what he and the other owners think about the rest of the players?” the source said, rhetorically.

Yahoo "reporter" in not getting the concept of "rhetorically" shocka.

If we end up with a lockout season I say we initiate ILNFL FAP: rent an RV, and take a road trip to personally visit Richardson and punch him in the face. Could he be any more of a sonofabitch?

It would be more awesome if a player did it. I vote for James Harrison.

omg yes.

they should just switch jobs and see who does a worse job (or dies)

^^^

i vote for jerry richardson to sign up for a most hilarious and schadenfreude-laden episode of 'undercover boss'

ohhhh that would be miraculous

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ms-richardsonnfl021411

I like that last idea: sit the Panthers down at the table across from Richardson, and watch what happens.

Fuck this guy in the ear, seriously.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1182007/index.htm

On DeMaurice Smith

Have fun trying to sign any free agents Richardson. That franchise is borderline flatlining now, they might as well sell the thing and move it to LA now.

The article about Smith was pretty goood, the one about Goodell the week before sucked. Peter King is a fucking corporate whore.

It appears the union just decertified.

I'll bite because I'm easily confused...what does that mean?

If they dissolve the union, they can take the owners to court.

excited to see the owners' financials exposed in court

interesting!

NFL spokesguy on tv now whining about how mean and unfriendly the union has been to the league and the owners.

I have a hard time feeling sorry for him.

wiping the tears with $100 bills and blowing their noses on PSLs

fuck the owners ....

otm

otm

Goodell's legacy begins .....

good stuff from florio

The statement issued by the NFL upon conclusion of mediation indicates several things about the offer that was made Friday by the league at noon ET, and to which the union responded four hours later.

Among other things, the NFL offered to keep the current scheduling format (16 regular-season games and four preseason games) for at least two years, with any subsequent changes subject to the approval of the league and the union.

The first part isn’t a surprise, since the length of the regular-season wasn’t going to change before 2013. (The league would have had no way to cram two extra games into the current schedule, since the dates of the next two Super Bowls are set in stone.) But the league’s proposal also contained an offer to push the entire length-of-season debate back by two years, necessarily forcing the NFL to make a fairly major concession when the time comes to try to grow from 16 to 18 games.

The offer also included a reduction in the offseason workout program from 14 weeks to nine and a reduction in the OTA workouts from fourteen weeks to 10. Moreover, the league offered “significant reductions in the amount of contact in practices.”

Whether the offer can be put back together remains to be seen. Though the league will huff and puff that it was a one-time only proposal (indeed, the league undoubtedly prefaced the offer by saying it applies today only), the league will quickly put those terms back together again whenever progress again is made.

this is a few days old but zirin: http://www.edgeofsports.com/2011-03-06-605/index.html

it'd be impossible for him to fuck this one up but zirin otm

feel like the way the owners are spinning the offer they had out there is total bullshit, nflpa just needs to hire a good publicist here & get in court

i don't even think the nflpa needs a good publicist. is anyone on the owners' side?

i was actually on the owners' side in the last nhl (which i care more about than football) stoppage, because the players seemed to have an outsized idea of just how popular and money-generating their sport is.

but i don't thing the nfl owners have anything going for them. they have obviously money-grubbing asshole owners like danny snyder and jerry jones. they have cool owners like the maras and rooneys who've owned their teams for 80 years and can hardly claim that football has lost them money. and then there's dave duerson.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/draft2011/news/story?id=6216135

this would be insane

wow

The players should have a counterdraft.

Like:

With the first pick in the NFLPA Draft, Nick Fairley has selected Doritos.

also (if you watch the schefter vid) apparently chris cook got arrested for brandishing a gun in a fight, but is no longer subject to the NFL personal conduct policy so he'll have to deal with the cops but can't face any nfl punishment

would be awesome if they recreated the player-waiting room scenes with muppets

http://nplusonemag.com/eff-you

Great article about the lockout with owner/commissioner zings left and right that ties in the way the Packers are owned with the way Scott Walker just screwed the public unions.

That article is fantastic, and just the sharp stick I needed to get a reaction out of my brother-in-law. He was reduced to criticising it because the writer used profanity.

Great article.

Martyball is coming to the UFL!

sigh....

We should all pick UFL teams to root for.

Martyball is coming to the UFL!

― reggaeton for the painfully alone (polyphonic), Wednesday, March 23, 2011 2:50 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark

http://i.imgur.com/CMIFf.gif

i hate braylon edwards as much as any athlete but big ups on this

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/05/25/braylon-edwards-makes-good-on-cleveland-scholarship-promise/

seems like not having to spend all day dehydrated and beating men with their skulls is making these guys less generally bitter and egotistic.
i hate the lockout.

WHEN WILL THERE BE SKULL BEATING ;_;

MISS U DEHYDRATION :/

“As the 2nd most hated man in Clev....."

Come on, Kucinich isnt that bad.

I know a guy who was an asst coach for the Jets (their training facility is in the town next to mine). I asked him what kind of guy Braylon Edwards is, he surprised me by saying he is one of the nicest guys on the team, possibly the nicest.

Proposed CBA Details

Details of a proposed collective bargaining agreement being pitched to NFL owners Tuesday, according to sources:

• Players get 48 percent of "all revenue," without extra $1-billion-plus off top that previously had been requested by owners.

• Players' share will never dip below 46.5 percent, under new formula being negotiated.

• Teams required to spend close to 100 percent of the salary cap.

• Rookie wage scale part of deal but still being "tweaked."

• Four years needed for unrestricted free-agent status. Certain tags will be retained, but still being discussed.

• 18-game regular season designated only as negotiable item and at no point is mandated in deal.

• New 16-game Thursday night TV package beginning in 2012.

• Owners still will get some expense credits that will allow funding for new stadiums.

• Retirees to benefit from improved health care, pension benefits as revenue projected to double to $18 million by 2016.

-- ESPN's Chris Mortensen, John Clayton and Adam Schefter

rookie salary cap in exchange for 16 game season

::slaps table and declares this a done deal::

http://omg.yahoo.com/blogs/thefamous/kim-kardashians-ex-boyfriend-now-dating-a-kim-kardashian-look-alike/1576

um

reggie has a "type"

TO tore his ACL, possibly while filming his reality show, and his career is probably over.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8v9yUVgrmPY

aw that makes me sad even though his best days seem to be behind him

There are many sad things about TO, but his career ending (and hopefully his permanent disappearance) is not one of them.

Nah, the game is more entertaining with him in it. Villains are fun!

i love t.o.

Rosenhaus is saying the injury occurred during offseason training and NOT his tv show.

But it's Rosenhaus, so assume the opposite to be true.

i kinda like TO as a player and maybe even a LITTLE bit as a human being.
the situps in the driveway thing really cracked me up

Wish Rosenhaus would tear his ACL. And his mouth. Fucking hate that dude.

TO's a pain but I can't imagine how much more annoying he'll get if he can't play football.

I'd def take him for the woeful Browns wide receiving corps for one year if he's healthy but I dunno why he'd come here

Bowling night!

http://nbcprofootballtalk.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/mjskt-st-58.jpg?w=250

this makes me simultaneously happy and sad

I wouldnt want TO anywhere near the Bears, unless it was as a tackling dummy. The guy's a fraud.

crazy, hes just old. him on the 9ers in the hueg playoff game comeback is the best half ive ever seen a wr play, i think

comeback (vs nyg) is why i remember it so vividly

That was at least 10 years ago. The one where the Giants botched the long snap? Goddam, I think fucking Y.A. Tittle played in that game.

He still played well enough last year to help someone once he recovers. He may be a douche but his conditioning level is always very high.

So wait, is this almost over?

I don't believe a goddam thing until kickoff.

Today's the day!

I need to take a nap so my head doesn't swivel right off my neck trying to follow all the free agency pick-ups and trades that should be starting later.

I hope this week is fuckin nuts.

god, what a fucking non-story this turned out being

Anything that cuts into the preseason is a good thing imo

^

god, what a fucking non-story this turned out being

― J0rdan S., Monday, July 25, 2011 2:14 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

uh excuse me we lost the hall of fame game!

it does make one p cynical that the first whiff of losing actual $$, the sides can compromise. not that it isnt in both sides interest but, i mean, ppl were talking of the lockout lasting TWO YEARS? cmon man

At least we won't have to hear about it again for at least ten years.

Here's a dece free agency roundup:

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/6800194/the-nfl-great-scrambling-act

^p good; idk abt this analogy on nnamdi tho~

He might intimidate his teammates in the same way that you get intimidated by talking about music at a party to someone who knows a lot more about music than you.

has anybody read a good moderately-detailed summary on the provisions of the new agreement and who "won" or "lost" from the players/owners?

officially game on.
N.F.L. team player representatives voted 32-0 to accept a a new 10-year labor deal early Monday, clearing the way for football to resume this week after a nearly five-month lockout. Teams can sign their draft picks and rookie free agents starting Tuesday, and they also can begin negotiating with free agents that day. Signings of free agents will begin on Friday. Camps open on Wednesday for 10 teams, Thursday for 10 teams, and Friday for 10 teams. The last two teams will open camp on Sunday.

ummmmm, peter king's column today lays it out pretty succinctly, i think

ok cool

as for who lost, well we did, for having to hear about this bullshit for months even tho literally nothing negative happened to anyone, aside from mid level team employees

^otm

also, i guess, areas that would traditionally have training camps were hurt cuz i think most teams are just gonna do stuff at their own facilities now right..i know the giants arent going 2 albany

Free Agency Madness 2011: A Thread for post lockout signings

& undrafted free agents got screwed

http://i.imgur.com/xpXNg.jpg

Our long national nightmare is over.

Yay football!!!