NFL - NEWS & NOTES

Spike Lee promotes Colin Kaepernick rally outside NFL headquarters

Famed filmmaker Spike Lee on Tuesday promoted a rally later this month to support Colin Kaepernick, the controversial free agent quarterback whose supporters say has been blackballed by the NFL due to his social activism.

Dubbed “United We Stand,” the rally for Kaepernick is set to occur outside NFL headquarters in New York City on Wednesday, Aug. 23 at 5 p.m. ET, according to a post to Lee’s Twitter account. It’s unclear if Kaepernick himself will attend the rally.

"I did not organize and set up this protest. However I still support my brother and his stance on the injustices in the USA," Lee wrote on Twitter.

Several prominent groups, including Justice League NYC and the Empowerment Movement, are listed as sponsors of the event. Justice League is best known as the organization behind the “I Can’t Breathe” shirts that NBA star LeBron James and several other athletes wore to protest the death of Eric Garner after a confrontation with the New York City Police Department.

 

I agree with you that you are getting ahead of yourself by assuming that the Patriots will win the AFCE.

Nobody is stopping Kaep from protesting social injustice, they just are saying you ain't doing it on the sidelines of a game you are being paid by me to play in. There would have never been an issue if he was protesting on his own time outside of the NFL setting. It might just be coincidence but the NFL Nielsen ratings dropped like a rock last season and Kaep is the most likely reason for it. Teams are afraid that they will lose revenue if they sign Kaep. He brought this on himself, so he will just have to wait it out. If any team does decide to sign him I am sure they will want him to agree to not protest on their sidelines. Maybe teams have contacted him and he won't agree to that?

 

Green Bay Packers release veteran DT Letroy Guion

Letroy Guion's nearly four-year run in Green Bay is over.

The Packers released the veteran defensive tackle, general manager Ted Thompson announced Tuesday.

Guion, 30, had started 35 of 44 games over the past three years after defecting from the NFC North rival Vikings.

The 10th-year veteran was arrested on a DUI charge in June, just a few months after news surfaced of an impending four-game suspension to start the 2017 season.

Thompson has been preparing for Guion's eventual departure, selecting defensive tackles Kenny Clark and Montravius Adams in the early rounds of the past two drafts. The Packers also added veteran run-stuffer Ricky Jean-Francois, bolstering the depth up front.

Banned from NFL game action until Week 5, Guion figures to face a cold market for the next two months.

 

Cam Newton will sit out Panthers' preseason opener

The Carolina Panthers will kick off the preseason on Wednesday without Cam Newton.

Coach Ron Rivera said Tuesday that Newton will not play in the preseason opener versus the Houston Texans, which will air at 7:30 p.m. ET on NFL Network.

The news comes as no surprise with Newton sitting out team sessions since the opening week of training camp after undergoing shoulder surgery this offseason.

After doing some light tossing with the trainer on Monday, Newton again threw on the side on Tuesday, but ramped up the velocity slightly.

 

He's already promised not to protest for the 2017 season... still cant get a gig.

 

A lot of people are put off by his form of protest...

However, it bothers me more that these players that have domestic violence in their past are allowed back in the league and the same fans welcome them back as long as they perform. It is tougher to get back into the NFL for having a dilute sample, then drinking two beers and/or taking a knee for the National Anthem than it is if you take your kid behind the woodshed and make his scrotum bleed with a switch and/or cold cock a women in a restaurant and turn around and leave her on the floor.

It's a sad state...

 

The league thinks the longer that they delay the Elliott issue that it will go away. The delay is fostered by greed.

 

Kaep isn't suspended. He just did something that took away from the league's pocketbook . The suspended players never hurt the leagues pocketbook. Economics are the reason Kaep is on the outside looking in. Fans spoke out about Kaep, haven't made any statements about the other issues you mentioned .

 

Gideon, I agree with your last statement. Kaepernick has become a visible and polarizing figure, and he has upset the NFL's primary fan base, hence he has to go. I disagree with your earlier statement, about how the NFL has lost revenue because of it - the NFL has a great many things wrong with it, and I don't think this one issue is responsible for their flagging ratings.

But that's the whole point: it's not about the owners employing him, or not - that's an asinine argument. The point is that the owners won't employ him because the fans go balls crazy about it. And we need to put that in perspective: our country goes nuts over a player with a complex and valid perspective on a very real and pressing national issue, which upsets their enjoyment of watching criminals, abusers, etc. destroying each other's bodies to a point of early death and severely diminished livelihood. Their reasons for being upset at this player's expressed view? He expressed it disrespectfully (quietly and personally choosing to take a knee during the National Anthem), and his view is unfounded (no race is unfairly targeted by cops, and those who say so are unfairly playing the victims).

And, for context, a man who has openly bragged about sexual assault and endorsed violence, though championed nationalism, is currently our country's President.

This issue says a lot about our country and ourselves, and none of it is good. Unfortunately, the worst thing about it is that no one wants to bother to talk about or analyze it, at all.

 

Tyrone Crawford carted off in Dallas

The Dallas Cowboys may be losing a defensive lineman for reasons other than suspension.

Per multiple reports, Cowboys defensive end Tyrone Crawford left practice on a cart after injuring his ankle in practice. Clarence E. Hill, Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says it’s Crawford’s right ankle, and that “it doesn’t look good.”


If Crawford misses time, rookie first-rounder Taco Charlton would be thrust more deeply into the fray.

The Cowboys currently are adjusting to a defense that lost several key players to free agency, and that has had more than a few suspensions in recent years.

 

UPDATE: ankle sprain, no break. Good news for Dallas.

 

This is exactly what I was getting at. Neither one of them is any great shakes - I just don't see much of a difference between the two (in terms of what I expect out of the Fins this year).

 

Devonta Freeman, Falcons agree on five-year contract extension

The Atlanta Falcons and two-time Pro Bowl running back Devonta Freeman have agreed to a five-year contract extension that makes him the NFL's highest-paid running back, a source informed of the situation told NFL Network's Michael Silver. The extension pays out $41.25 million.

The Falcons confirmed the five-year extension on Wednesday morning.

The former Florida State standout will take home an annual average of $8.25 million over the life of the deal. That's more than any other running back, pending Le'Veon Bell's anticipated acceptance of a one-year, $12.1 million offer from the Pittsburgh Steelers. (The Steelers used their franchise tag on Bell, but he has thus far declined to sign and remains away from training camp.)

The extension includes $17.3 million fully guaranteed and $22 million in guarantees, a source informed of the situation told NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport. Freeman also receives a $15 million signing bonus, per Rapoport.

 

Ravens RB Kenneth Dixon suffers meniscus tear

Baltimore Ravens running back Kenneth Dixon enters his second season facing more adversity.

NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday that Dixon suffered a tear in his meniscus, according to a source informed of the situation. He'll have surgery today. The hope is that it's just a trim of the meniscus and not more invasive. The Ravens will know more after the procedure.

 

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell knows the quality of play in the preseason stinks.

“When I go around to fans, that’s maybe the No. 1 thing I hear,” Goodell said, via Bob Glauber of Newsday. “The NFL should do things to the highest possible standards. Preseason games are not that.”


Goodell said he thinks the NFL could reduce the preseason schedule from four games to three and not lose anything.

“There’s value to them, building a team, evaluating players,” he said. “But there are other ways of doing that. I think we could do it in three [games]. Almost every coach has agreed we could get done what we need to in three games.”

The question is whether Goodell will try to push the players to accept a longer regular season in exchange for a shorter preseason. He indicated that any change to the schedule would be negotiated with the players, and not simply determined by the league.

“Any change in the [overall game] structure, we said that we would collectively bargain,” he said.

Many players would be on board with a shorter preseason. But if Goodell wants a longer regular season or some other concession in exchange for a shorter preseason, that could lead to a battle with the players.

 

The quality of preseason is just fine. The fans that complain have no understanding of the game of football. If teams roll out their top players and they get hurt then the quality of regular season games will suck. The preseason games are for evaluation of players that will fill out your depth chart not starters. I love preseason games of my team because it's the only way I can get a feeling of how my backups will be.

 

I think the problem people have with preseason is paying full price. If you made it half price Im sure most fans would be okay with not seeing the top stars on the field but if you shell out a full price ticket you kind of wan to see the big names

 

NFL to hire up to 24 full-time game officials for 2017

Full-time game officials will be on the field this season.

The NFL will hire up to 24 full-time game officials for 2017 season from current crop of 124 officials, the league and the NFL Referees Association announced Wednesday.

The NFL and the NFLRA agreed to experiment with full-time officials as part of the last collective bargaining agreement and the NFLRA approved the move. The program will allow current officials to apply to become full-time.

"We believe this is a great development for NFL officiating overall and ultimately the quality of our game," said Troy Vincent, NFL executive vice president of football operations, in a statement. "We share a common goal, which is to make our game as great as it can possibly be, and look forward to working together on this new effort."

Full-time officials will be hired at each of the seven officiating positions.

The league believes the move to 21-24 full-time officials will enhance communication between officials working on and off the field during games. It also will give the league's officiating department a chance to work with the NFLRA in identifying effective ways to utilize off-field time for full-time game officials throughout the calendar year.

"NFL officials are always looking to improve, and we believe that additional time, particularly in the offseason, will be positive," said Scott Green, executive director of the NFLRA. "We're looking forward to working together with the league on this effort."

 

This is long over due.