NFL - NEWS & NOTES

Orlando Franklin retires, wants to be a full-time dad

Veteran offensive tackle Orlando Franklin was cut by Washington this week, and he’s decided not to seek employment elsewhere.

Franklin wrote on Instagram today that he has decided to retire and be a full-time dad.

“Hey everyone it’s been a rough few days for me and more importantly a rough three weeks of me not being able to see my family every day once I got off work, over the last few days I’ve realized that FaceTiming my son is just not enough,” Franklin wrote. “I’ve always looked forward to being a father and right now I’m not at my best because I cannot be a good father here in DC while my wife and son have to be in Denver. And for this reason I have talked it over with God, my family, and my agent, and have decided to retire after seven years of playing in the NFL.”

The 30-year-old Franklin was a second-round pick of the Broncos in 2011 and also played for the Chargers.

 

NY Jets cut QB Bryce Petty

 

NFL like F Dak.

 

Great does lose Super Bowls. Brady lost 3 Super Bowls, and he's still the greatest ever. I hate his guts, but even I'm not crazy enough to bash a QB who loses a SB.

Montana is a special case. Hell Bradshaw has 4 rings too and 2 SB MVPs. So he's better than everyone else because he never lost a SB? Not so fast.

Marino, Manning, Elway, Warner, Favre, Tarkenton, Fouts, Rodgers, Roethlisberger, and Jim Kelly all lost a Super Bowl. Some of the greatest QBs of all time and they lost the big game. They are still great QBs and Hall of Famers so

 

how can you say that when he won 4 Super Bowls and 2 Super Bowl MVPS? This isn't like Trent Dilfer where a defense carried him. Bradshaw made some amazing passes to Stallworth and Swann on the way to 4 victories and 2 MVPs! A football life on NFL Network highlights his SB replays and it's a highlight reel of long passes and amazing completions. Bad QBs don't accomplish what Bradshaw did.

A QB can easily lose you a SB - Neil O'Donnell. Bradshaw did what he had to do to win and won 4 times. One of the worst to win - Joe Namath, Mark Rypien, Doug Williams, Joe Theismann, Jeff Hostedler, Trent Dilfer and probably Nick Foles - not Bradshaw!

 

can say that about a few SB QBs. Without his All-Pro line and E. Smith and M. Irving - where is Troy Aikman going on another team ? Answer Alex - NO WHERE FAST !

Montana without Jerry Rice ? He doesn't win 4 rings.

The Steel Curtain gets all the credit for the 4 titles, but Bradshaw and Harris got them there too. His long completions to Swann and Stallworth were highlight reels in those SB games. It wasn't like the Steelers won 7-0 from the defense.

 

Would that then make Eli better than Ben?

 

There have been 61 starting QBs in the 52 SBs played. I would love to see the mental gymnastics that puts Bradshaw in the Top-10 of QBs on that list.
Ready? 3... 2... 1.... GO!

 

It isn't all about the one game a season that decides the Lombardy. That QB (Nick Foles excluded) had his team in contention for that game that many times. It is extremely difficult to make it to that game, but if you are good enough to help your team be in contention year in and year out, you are a great QB. Sands of time make them great, not a single game.

 

that's not fair. some of those 52 are among the greatest ever in the game at the same position, so 10 will leave Bradshaw off the list because they were better than Bradshaw and have far better stats than Bradshaw. I mean Dan Marino played in 1 SB and lost. He's still better than Bradshaw overall as a QB. So that's 1 on the list. Not fair to Bradshaw that some of the games greats also played QB. I have Bradshaw on my top 10.

1-Brady
2-Montana
3-Favre
4-Marino
5-Elway
6-P. Manning
7-Aikman
8-Bradshaw
9-Roethlisberger
10-Young

 

NFLPA pursuing two challenges to NFL’s anthem policy and practices



Many have wondered why the NFL Players Association hasn’t taken an aggressive stand against the league in connection with the application (i.e., misapplication) of its anthem policy by multiple teams. That’s about to change.

Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the NFL will be pursuing a pair of grievances arising from the anthem issue.

The first grievance, technically a “non-injury grievance” under the labor deal, comes on behalf of safety Eric Reid against the Bengals and all clubs he may have spoken with. This grievance arises from questions posed to Reid by Bengals owner Mike Brown regarding whether he intends to continue to demonstrate during the anthem.

The second grievance seeks a “system arbitration” against the NFL and all teams regarding the league’s failure to enforce the absence of a policy that mandates standing. By allowing, for example, teams to ask players whether they intend to demonstrate as part of pre-employment communications, the NFL is permitting teams to disregard the fact that no league rule prohibits demonstrations. Indeed, the only rule on the books preserves the right of players to demonstrate during the national anthem — and that right was confirmed by the NFL in 2016 and reiterated by the league in 2017.

“Colin and Eric have taken courageous action at the expense of their professional careers and personal lives,” attorney Mark Geragos, who represents both players in a separate collusion grievance, said in a statement. “They did these selfless acts because they wanted to shine light on inequity and oppression. Today they welcome all NFL Players who have joined in the prosecution of the NFL for their conspiracy and illegal acts. We stand shoulder to shoulder with the NFLPA in our fight for justice, equality and inalienable rights of all Americans.”

The NFL is now defending four separate actions arising from its approach to the anthem issue. More could be coming. (PFT)

 

Fuck Cap & Ried.

 

I still don't understand the meaning behind NFL teams NOT having the right to refuse to hire them based on these very public acts. I can see them saying, we don't mind what your political beliefs are and are fine with you expressing them in any legal way on your own time...When they are in the companies uniform and on the job, they have every right to limit those actions.

I am a firm believer that the NFLPA could work together as a group to bring issues to light, rather than sue the NFL for certain players not having a job in the first place.

 

Sooooooo... honoring the beaten and the repressed should be done on the players time? But honoring “warriors”, etc on “company time” is just fine. They both sound like freedom of expression modes to me and should carry equal weight. Why is one “cause” more important than the other? Nobody is blaring a horn or singing over a PA system for the “protests” which makes The Cause more subtle, even at face value. The protests are less offensive and less burdensome than the ritual of playing the “war song” that everyone at the stadium must endure for however long it lasts.

 

Which War song? Spill the wine, low rider, why can’t we be friends, Cisco kid,

Or did you mean a Edwin Starr song?

 

No. I meant Renegade. You know what the fuck I’m talking about.

 

Oh you meant Styx?

 

Saints release Coby Fleener



When the Saints signed tight end Coby Fleener as a free agent in 2016, the hope was that he’d become a favorite target for quarterback Drew Brees.

That never quite happened and now Fleener will be playing elsewhere in 2018. Ben Volin of the Boston Globe reports that the Saints have released Fleener.

If the move is designated as a post-June 1 cut, the Saints will save $3 million against this year’s cap. If not, there will be $8.2 million in dead money this year.

Fleener had 72 catches for 926 yards and five touchdowns in 27 games for the Saints over the last two years. He also had a two-yard rushing touchdown during the 2016 season and ended the 2017 season on injured reserve due to a concussion.

The Saints signed Benjamin Watson as a free agent this offseason and have Josh Hill and Michael Hoomanawanui at tight end as well. (PFT)

 

NFL denies Mike James’ request to use marijuana as a painkiller

Free agent running back Mike James has tried and failed to persuade the NFL to allow him to use marijuana as a painkiller.

James told NJ.com that he developed a dependence on prescription painkillers that he took to cope with the aches and pains associated with playing football. His doctor told him that marijuana would be a safer alternative, and he found that it was. Now he’s an advocate for medical marijuana — even as the NFL tells him he’s not allowed to use it and play in the league.

“I am hopeful that I’ll be able to keep playing football,” James said. “It is a game that I love very dearly. I know right now I’m doing something that makes some people uncomfortable, and that I’m going against the establishment to push for a change in the way they look at this medicine. I know there’s a greater purpose here for a lot of guys in this league who I consider family members.”

The NFL and other sports leagues sometimes allow athletes to use otherwise banned substances if they receive therapeutic use exemptions for substances that have legitimate medical uses. But when James applied for a therapeutic use exemption to allow him to use marijuana, the NFL turned him down. Although James is not currently under contract to an NFL team, free agents remain subject to the league’s random drug testing.

James, a 2013 sixth-round pick of the Buccaneers who also has played for the Lions, may be done playing in the NFL, as he was mostly a fringe player. But he hopes to help his fellow football players by speaking out and urging the NFL to consider giving players more options to deal with pain.