when six months of a Giants fan's life is literally hanging in the air

Smokin' Jay weighs in on NFL players sitting, kneeling, bending, or standing for national anthem

DOOONNN'TTT CAAARE!

oh yeah baby, heee's baaack!

Oh please, let this happen.  I need more humor in my life.

talent evaluation by the talentless

The thing with NFL management is that it’s kind of a closed circle.  Once you get into the room you’re a part of the club.  And they grow their talent from within.  Name me a single GM who was hired from an organization outside the NFL?

The problem with any closed club though, is they typically contain a bunch of weirdos.  Any open organization tends to weed out the weirdos and replace them with normal / competent people.  But that’s not the NFL.

And so that’s how you get weirdos like Bruce Allen (a dude who can’t even correctly pronounce the first name of the most important player on his team) wielding total power of an NFL franchise.

In most other organizations Allen would not exist.  He’d be fired or drummed out.  But in the closed circle of NFL organization, he makes sense.  It’s talent evaluation by the talentless.

I guess Daniel Snyder wants to lose?  I can’t think of any other reasonable explanation for all the recent Redskins drama.  That is, unless Snyder is a talentless hack too?  Hmm.

it doesn't matter if teams tank for the draft

There’s a lot of chatter about teams throwing their season for the draft and how this is an issue requiring resolution from the league office.  As in, the office that typically does a great job of solving problems in a mature, professional, and honest manner.

 

I don’t see why this is a problem though.  So teams are tanking for the draft?  Okay.  So what?  The NFL is not the NBA.  A team with 5 is not a team with 22 starters.

 

The Browns likely tanked and got Myles Garrett.  Okay, good for them.  He might be awesome.  He might not be.  Who knows.  But is anybody going to argue that now the Browns can become a dominant team?  Does anybody want to wager say, ten grand, on if the Browns will have a season above 500 in the next decade?  I wouldn’t take that bet.

 

Last year’s number one pick was Jared Goff, aka that guy who doesn’t know what direction the sun rises and sets each day.  Anybody want to take that 500 in a decade bet on the Rams?

 

Maybe Jameis Winston has it in him to be a true franchise quarterback?  We shall see.  Anybody see the Bucs as a true Super Bowl contender?  I don’t.

 

Jadeveon Clowney seems to finally be taking off, living up to his beast potential.  We shall see.  Anybody see the Tejans as a true Super Bowl contender?  I don’t.

 

Nobody can seem to determine if Eric Fisher is the best or the worst.  Or both at the same time.  Not even Eric Fisher.

 

And of course, the big daddy of all tanks, the Suck for Luck campaign yielded one of the best quarterback talents in a decade to the dumpster fire that is the Indianapolis Colts.  And they’ve promptly destroyed that man’s body.  Luck will need a motorized cart to get from his imperial sized bed to his gold plated bathroom by the time he’s 36.

 

Let teams tank, whatever.  The draft has been proven to be the ultimate game of roulette.  Either you hit or you don’t.  It’s why smart teams stockpile as many picks as possible, led by smart personnel staffs that know how to build a roster.  As in, the teams that are professionally run well enough to not need to tank.  These are the teams that will consistently make the playoffs and win.

 

So it doesn’t matter if teams tank for the draft.  Just let it all continue to play out.  The game will go on.

what are the Chiefs and Jets thinking?

Let's face it, there's not enough talent in the NFL.  It's why folks have talked for years about a developmental league.  You've got your superstars at each position, but after them there's a whole bunch of dudes you couldn't tell apart from your neighbor.

And yet, for whatever reason, the Chiefs and Jets have decided they can do without Jeremy Maclin and Eric Decker, two decent receivers.  Neither of these dudes are superstars, but they can produce.  They can get shit done.

Who precisely do the Chiefs and Jets think they have on hand to replace this talent?  Apparently your neighbor.  And in other unrelated news, both these teams can't win.

And also, I think the folks who are saying the current CBA screws veterans are probably right.  Teams are going to take some random dude over even an above average veteran in many cases, because paying your neighbor is a lot cheaper.

voluntary workouts will never be voluntary

Let's face it, 90% of current NFL employees are playing for their jobs.  So when your potential future firing is contingent upon your performance, voluntary becomes involuntary.  So it is with any office job, so it is with the NFL's players.

It's why only two or three players skip it each year.  And why two of those three are superstars who don't give two shits what the coaches think of their absence.  It's always been like this.  But I get amused by the media outrage each year.

Sorry folks, reality sucks.  If those of us stuck in offices have to do involuntary things, then the NFL is no different.  That's life.  Outside of redoing the bargaining agreement, this isn't going to change.  And when 90% of the players are in anyways, this won't be a priority for the union.