NFL - NEWS & NOTES

This all falls back to the NFL being consistently behind on all things.

When it was first discovered that this could potentially be an issue, the league should have made it known to the players through the owners, coaches and locker room physicians. After that, they needed to draft up legal paperwork to make it so that every player hired/signed after that point needed to put their signature on a type of waiver that also included an insurance clause for accidental death. Every other type of injury known to exist or yet to be discovered would have been covered by the waiver so that the league could protect itself both then and in the future.

Now, you might say that sounds cold, but doing that puts the league in a position to make sure that all of the moves they make in regards to equipment and rule changes to protect players all gets put into a positive light instead of looking like a late reaction to cover their ass.

 

Manziel money?

Or 'Money' Manziel?

 

I agree on all that, but there should be some insurance fund in the league even with the waiver. A pool of shared money. There is the NFL/NFLPA split in the CBA but there should be a small pie for insurance that both pay into. The amount is collectively bargained so each side can pretend the other is paying for it in deals.

 

Jason and I put together a list of things that we thought the league should be adopting back in 2012 when we started the site. We discussed some of them on a podcast and we had something similar in mind.

Basically, the league paid for an insurance premium for every player employed that included certain types of injuries that could possibly end a career and these premiums would have player options that they could pay for out of pocket that would further extend the reach of coverage.

It seems like a really simple thing for the league to do and the cost would be offset by the type of rate they would get for insuring so many people. And what would really drive the price down would be insurance companies getting a chance to outbid each other every 5 years for the right to be affiliated with the NFL.

That was one of the big things we discussed that I remember without going back and looking it up. The other was the 'Marty' program.

 

You guys make more sense than what in hearing from the League... good stuff.

I think this insurance and the coverage of career ending and serious injury is the route they will take eventually. I think the more they start trying to tweak the game and changing it, while at the same time not reducing injury, will force them to see the light.

 

Your use of the word 'force' is probably dead on, Will. They have put themselves in a position where they can't simply capitulate to the NFLPA but they need to make some advanced thinking moves in order to get out ahead of the possibility of future civil court dates.

For some unknown reason, the league simply cannot find a way to do things in a manner that ends up being a positive on the P.R. front. They constantly trip over their own dicks rushing to chase down the ambulance driver so they can pay him off to slow down a little.

They make changes that are connected but not at the core and say 'look over here' while they find ways to create a bigger mess of the original issue.

 

Terrance Williams

WR DAL

Williams (foot) was arrested and jailed early Saturday morning for public intoxication after hitting a light pole and leaving the scene of an accident, Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.

 

I prefer to be privately intoxicated

 

GO CELTS

 

Last offseason, Cardinals running back David Johnson said on PFT Live that he was aiming for 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving. That didn’t pan out, as Johnson was injured in Week One and missed the rest of the season.

But a year later, Johnson has the same goal — and he thinks he can do it, as long as he stays healthy.

“First of all my thing is just to play every game,” Johnson said on NFL Network. “And then after that my goal is still 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 receiving.”

Roger Craig and Marshall Faulk are the only players in NFL history to have 1,000 yards both rushing and receiving in the same season. Johnson finished the 2016 season with 1,239 rushing yards and 879 receiving yards. It remains to be seen how the new Cardinals coaching staff will use Johnson in the offense, but he certainly has the skill set to hit the double-1,000, a benchmark that would make him a candidate to be league MVP. (PFT)

 

Terrance Williams issues statement explaining auto accident

Cowboys receiver Terrance Williams was arrested for public intoxication and leaving the scene of an accident. Williams has now supplied his side of the story that, as told by the authorities, involved Williams allegedly wrecking his Lamborghini into a light pole.

“I am grateful that no one was injured in the accident,” Williams said in a statement. “The driver in front of me slammed on his brakes and I turned to the left and hopped the curb to avoid hitting him. I got his insurance information and my neighbor picked me up when my car wouldn’t drive. I live right near where the accident occurred, so my neighbor dropped me off and I called a tow truck and took the scooter from my house to go meet the tow truck driver. The police officer, who I have met in the past in the neighborhood, saw me on the scooter and arrested me without performing any sobriety tests. I have always been an upstanding citizen and handled the situation the best way I know how. I apologize if I should have handled it a little bit differently.”

Williams’ lawyer, Chip Lewis, added this: “We appreciate the professionalism of all law enforcement involved in handling this situation. Contrary to media reports, Terrance did not hit a light pole and there was no light pole even near the vehicle. Secondly, his arrest was wholly unrelated to the traffic accident.”

Williams will face league scrutiny under the substance-abuse policy for the alcohol-related arrest. He’ll need to achieve full vindication in order to avoid placement in the drug-testing program or any type of discipline. (PFT)

 

Nothing constructive to add except...

Go Cavs!

 

Johnny "Canadian Football"? Looks like Manziel found a new employer.

NFL teams can't quit idea of Johnny Manziel, but it's a long road back from Canada
Terez Paylor,Yahoo Sports 8 hours ago


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On the first passing play of what turned out to be the final start of his NFL career, Johnny Manziel rolled into his drop after a play-action fake and was hit — hard — by Kansas City Chiefs outside linebacker Dee Ford just moments after whipping an incomplete pass.

This was back in December 2015, and the hapless Browns went on to lose, 17-13, of course. It was the first of five times the 6-foot, 207-pound Manziel would be hit behind the line of scrimmage, as he not only struggled to throw with anticipation and accuracy — he completed only 13 of 32 passes for 136 yards and an interception — but also took a beating doing it.

Oh yes, Manziel did some Johnny Football things that day, using his trademark break-neck, Fran Tarkenton-ish scrambles to rush 11 times for 108 yards. And at times that was entertaining to watch, as he repeatedly dodged tacklers, all while holding the ball like a loaf of bread. But in the process, he absorbed seven additional hits, and as his ball placement seemingly got worse with every shot, it slowly became clear that Manziel’s one-sided reliance on his creativity outside the pocket (one of his greatest strengths in college) had become a liability in the NFL.

“We wanted to let him run around, then go hit him,” a member of the Chiefs recently told Yahoo Sports. “We beat him up so bad he couldn’t practice next week.”

Indeed. Manziel never practiced with the Browns again, as he sat out the next game with a concussion and was eventually released two months later. His subsequent struggles with addiction, bipolar disorder and legal issues are well-documented, but America loves a great redemption story, and NFL decision-makers are not immune to that, especially when it involves a talented former first-rounder with an exciting style of play, and a Heisman pedigree who is not yet 26 years old.


Former NFL quarterback and Heisman winner Johnny Manziel is trying to resume his football career in the CFL with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. (AP)
So rest assured, when Manziel took the first step toward potentially returning to the NFL this April, when he completed 19 of 31 passes for 271 yards, a touchdown and an interception (while running for two more scores) in two games of the Spring League, there were plenty of NFL eyes watching. And when Manziel agreed to a two-year contract with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League over the weekend, even more took note, because let’s face it: quarterbacks with strong arms, athleticism and a proven ability to ad-lib on the fly don’t exactly grow on trees.

“His game fits some of the things teams are doing now,” one NFL decision-maker told Yahoo Sports. “Good QBs are hard to find.”

Still, a handful of NFL evaluators polled by Yahoo Sports agreed that even if Manziel initially wins the starting job for Hamilton — which is no sure thing, as the presumptive No. 1 quarterback, Jeremiah Masoli, started 12 of 18 games there last year — he will likely need to have at least one, realistically two, productive and drama-free seasons in the CFL before an NFL team feels comfortable bringing him in. Their biggest concern, obviously, is his maturity, which hampered his preparation during his two years in Cleveland and was a distraction for the Browns.

“He probably needs a few years of good football, combined with zero off-field issues,” one decision-maker said.

“He needs to show that he is committed, and a changed person,” another added.

“Go play in Canada and show you can play,” one league source said, who also wondered if Manziel’s pride would allow him to put in the necessary work to improve.

And therein lies the rub. Because all the evaluators added that before he returns to the NFL, Manziel must also show an improved ability to throw from the pocket, which would not only keep NFL defenses honest and prevent them from keying on his scrambling like the Chiefs did in his final appearance, but also help him preserve his smallish frame in a league full of behemoths.

“If Manziel’s first receivers weren’t open, he was gone, out the pocket,” one evaluator told Yahoo Sports. “He’s got to learn to play in the pocket, and that is a big adjustment, and it’s going to take some time. He gets in there trying to play the same way, and he’ll be another [Robert Griffin III] — banged up and hurt.”


Johnny Manziel could use his stint in the CFL to prove he’s still good enough for the NFL, with several team executives hoping he matures on and off the field. (AP)
Hamilton’s offense fits Manziel. He’s playing for longtime coach June Jones (his resume includes coaching jobs in the NFL from 1987-1998), who’s running a pass-happy spread that provided Masoli chances to also rush for nearly 500 yards. But even though the field is wider in the CFL, which makes for a more open game, it’s primarily a passing league because teams have only three downs to get 10 yards as opposed to four, meaning Manziel will conceivably have plenty of opportunities to work on his pocket passing if he nails down the job.

Manziel has never been known as a tape fiend, let alone someone particularly obsessive about fundamentals. But some around the league wonder whether his on-field competitiveness and mental toughness — which one evaluator even compared to 2018 No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield’s — will finally begin to manifest itself in his weekly work habits if he’s indeed got his life together.

“I felt like he could make it three years ago,” one decision-maker said. “Obviously the off-field issues got in the way of his preparation.”

If everything goes well in Canada, there’s certainly a sense that Manziel can play in the NFL as a backup and be a change-of-pace guy who comes in, shakes things up and makes some plays. That’s what some scouts and executives had him pegged as coming out of the 2014 draft, anyway. And if things go really well — meaning he’s indeed grown up, and his game has grown along with it — maybe he can be more than that. You never really know in football.

In the meantime, teams will keep tabs on him from afar, knowing that until they see prolonged, tangible growth and results, they’ll likely be wise to remain skeptical.

“He just needs to go all in and start from ground zero,” one decision-maker said.

 

Be interesting to see where he goes in fantasy drafts. Gurley and Bell are almost certainly #1 and #2; a healthy Johnson (no quips, please) would be third, but you could make legitimate arguments for Ezekiel Elliott, Alvin Kamara, Antonio Brown, and DeAndre Hopkins.

 

Yeah...that explanation sounds a bit fishy. But cheaper to keep him, so I don't think this will impact his job security for this year.

 

a bar bar or strip club bar ?

 

I don't go to the rippers. Doesn't really do anything for me.

 

The next four Super Bowls will be played in Atlanta, Miami, Tampa Bay, and Los Angeles, respectively. The next two hosts will be announced this week.

Daniel Kaplan of SportsBusiness Journal reports that Arizona and New Orleans will be awarded Super Bowls LVII and LVIII during this week’s ownership meetings.

It’s the culmination of a process first reported during the 2017 season on NBC’s Football Night in America, with the NFL ditching the traditional bidding process and giving selected cities dibs. If the city that gets the opportunity to host the game declines, a traditional bidding process will ensue.

As explained in October, the NFL realizes that cities expend time and money in an effort to win the bidding process, and that they become disappointed when their bid isn’t selected. When Minnesota received Super Bowl LII, for example, cities like New Orleans resolved (we were told at the time) never to waste the time, effort, money, and emotion to bid on the game when competing with a new stadium.

This time around, New Orleans didn’t have to do that. The NFL offered New Orleans the chance to host the game again, and New Orleans accepted.

 

well Manziel likes the ladies, so I bet it's a strip club.

 

Even he won't go to Hamilton Strip and the only good place within half an hour's drive apparently shut down recently.