The Weird, Wacky and Awesome World of the NFL - General Banter thread

Neil3030

Harbaugh just shot up my ledgebox power rankings.

Son Of A Vidic

Paully D wrote: »

It sure was. It was a nice touch from Harbaugh too to chat with them. Amazing how giving up your time for a couple of minutes can make someones day. The girl looked more excited to see Harbaugh than the engagement ring, I think it will take her a while to get over the shock of both. :pac:

It was a nice touch from JH I thought and it certainly put the icing on the cake for that girl. I mean, how does any Ravens fans future marriage proposals be that?

Paully D

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000357245/article/jury-convicts-suspect-in-sean-taylor-slaying-trial?campaign=Twitter_atl

MIAMI -- A Florida jury has convicted a man prosecutors called the ringleader of a botched 2007 Miami-area burglary that ended with the fatal shooting of Washington Redskins star Sean Taylor.

The 12-person jury deliberated nearly four hours Tuesday before finding 25-year-old Jason Mitchell guilty of first-degree felony murder and armed burglary. Trial testimony indicated that Mitchell hatched the plot for five Fort Myers-area men to burglarize Taylor's home near Miami after previously seeing large amounts of cash there.

The judge immediately imposed the mandatory life sentence for murder, plus 40 more years for the burglary conviction.

The man who authorities say fired the fatal shot, Eric Rivera Jr., was convicted last fall of second-degree murder and sentenced to 57 years behind bars.

Two other men await trial. A third has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and burglary.

Son Of A Vidic

It might be a far from perfect system, but I do admire some of the sentencing American Judges hand out to scum bags. If the Taylor murder happened in Ireland, it would be a case of.."Ah shure I wasn't meself your honor with the few pints in me."..."And me father gave me a kick in the hole once and I was never the same after it." An Irish judge would hand down a 10 sentence and he would be out in 6 years. The judge would also make sure that all sentences ran concurrently, for the said scum bags convenience of course.

Corvus Maximus

Corvus Maximus wrote: »

It might be a far from perfect system, but I do admire some of the sentencing American Judges hand out to scum bags. If the Taylor murder happened in Ireland, it would be a case of.."Ah shure I wasn't meself your honor with the few pints in me."..."And me father gave me a kick in the hole once and I was never the same after it." An Irish judge would hand down a 10 sentence and he would be out in 6 years. The judge would also make sure that all sentences ran concurrently, for the said scum bags convenience of course.

Murder conviction?

Life sentence mandatory here too. Sure, in both countries the life sentence will not mean life...

JaMarcusHustle

Falcons fans must have been really excited about this season. Injuries ruined last season, but allowed them to pick up a projected elite LT in Jake Matthews, some nice value in the second with Ra'Shede Hageman.... add them to the guys returning from injury and a promising season awaits and plenty of reasons to be positive.

....aaaaand it's gone. Sean Weatherspoon done for the year

nerd69

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/11055495/jacksonville-jaguars-poolside-cabanas-stadium

inventive stuff by the jags. given the money there investing in there stadium it does not look like they plan to move to la or london though.

Son Of A Vidic

Deleted User wrote: »

Murder conviction?

Life sentence mandatory here too. Sure, in both countries the life sentence will not mean life...

Life does mean life in quite a few States in the United States. Meaning states like Florida, Nevada, Michigan, Massachusetts, Louisiana, Arizona and Hawaii all carry a sentence of Life without the possibility of parole for First Degree murder. The average time served for murder in Ireland is 17 years. In the US it is 24 years and 3 months. Or in other words, life sentences served in the US are 42.64% longer than here. In Ireland, Irish judges have a fondness for imposing concurrent sentencing. Which is all very nice and handy for a convicted criminal. In the US, Judges tend to impose consecutive sentencing, especially when in comes to sexual crimes. The US justice system is frequently criticised for the harshness of its judicial sentencing. Whereas in Ireland, we frequently laugh at the leniency of sentencing. You wouldn't have seen high flying financier Bernard Madoff, getting sentenced to 150 years in prison in an Irish court, the way he was punished in a US court. Yet we on the other hand, can't even sort out a handful of white collar, incompetent banking scumbags that indebted a nation.

SimmerDean

RT @Atlanta_Falcons: The Falcons will be featured on @HBO's Hard Knocks during camp this summer. #RiseUp

Paully D

SimmerDean wrote: »

RT @Atlanta_Falcons: The Falcons will be featured on @HBO's Hard Knocks during camp this summer. #RiseUp

First episode is Tuesday, August 5th.

Dirty Dingus McGee

dinneenp wrote: »

Hi,
For the american football game in Croke park this August ticket prices are:

• Hill 16/terrace €20
• Lower Deck halfway line €80
• Lower Deck by corner flag (I know there's no corner flag in american football but you know where I mean) €40
• Upper Deck, half way between corner flag and half way €50

Is it worth paying the extra to be by the half way?
Thanks in advance,
Pa.

It's amazing that the pricing for the game is based on the quality of your seat and yet the GAA have never bothered to do this for the sports they run themselves.

Paully D

There's a bit of talk that Marshawn Lynch may actually retire.

He's not happy with his current contract and according to Rapoport he told two teammates last year that if the Seahawks won the Super Bowl he might retire. The same reporter also says he has saved a huge amount of his money since joining the NFL so could afford to walk away from the money he'd get this season for playing.

Cue him signing an improved contract, but interesting nonetheless. He's won the big one now and if the Seahawks won't give him an improved deal he'd probably be better off getting out without taking another seasons worth of punishment.

Tristram

He seems a very unique individual. I think he still has a hell of a lot to offer the Seahawks but it's always good for players to leave on their own terms and I certainly wouldn't think any less of him for retiring. Guess he is one player we can be reasonably confident wouldn't be pursuing a media career afterwards

Son Of A Vidic

Paully D wrote: »

There's a bit of talk that Marshawn Lynch may actually retire.

He's not happy with his current contract and according to Rapoport he told two teammates last year that if the Seahawks won the Super Bowl he might retire. The same reporter also says he has saved a huge amount of his money since joining the NFL so could afford to walk away from the money he'd get this season for playing.

He always comes across as one very weird, odd fish. But good to hear he's been a wise man with his money. All too often we see players p**s it all away.

Tristram

Would that mean we would finally see Christine Michaels(sp.) get meaningful time or have the Seahawks picked up new RBs?

HigginsJ

Tristram wrote: »

Would that mean we would finally see Christine Michaels(sp.) get meaningful time or have the Seahawks picked up new RBs?

Even before this there was a lot of talk that Michael was going to get a much larger load this year. They also have Robert Turbin whom I like so there is a nice bit of talent beyond Lynch, but he would still be a huge loss

adrian522

So he is demanding a new contract or else he will retire, but he's fine for money and can afford to retire but will walk away if he doesn't get another contract, but it's not about the money, its about the respect, which is measured in money. Pretty logical position to hold alright.

raze_them_all_

adrian522 wrote: »

So he is demanding a new contract or else he will retire, but he's fine for money and can afford to retire but will walk away if he doesn't get another contract, but it's not about the money, its about the respect, which is measured in money. Pretty logical position to hold alright.

Tbh I can't blame RB's, they spend their whole career being smashed, with **** knows what effect on their body, every rookie has a **** contract, and most rbs get one decent contract in the league then are told they are too old/beaten etc to be the money guy

adrian522

raze_them_all_ wrote: »

Tbh I can't blame RB's, they spend their whole career being smashed, with **** knows what effect on their body, every rookie has a **** contract, and most rbs get one decent contract in the league then are told they are too old/beaten etc to be the money guy

So it is about the money? If he came out and said that I'd respect him a bit more.

raze_them_all_

adrian522 wrote: »

So it is about the money? If he came out and said that I'd respect him a bit more.

Not sure but I can guarantee the team will try to cut the money he is owed in the final year of his contract, which I always see as ****ty

adrian522

If he wasn't happy to play out his contract he shouldn't have signed it. I have very little sympathy for players looking to redo their deals because they quite fancy a bit more cash.

Even less when they are already on a very good deal and then come out and claim it's not about the money.

raze_them_all_

adrian522 wrote: »

If he wasn't happy to play out his contract he shouldn't have signed it. I have very little sympathy for players looking to redo their deals because they quite fancy a bit more cash.

Even less when they are already on a very good deal and then come out and claim it's not about the money.

That swings both ways, I'd be quite annoyed as a player if a team signed me to a contract and then were like actually no, we no longer wish to pay you the contracted amount

adrian522

That's not what's happening here though. That's also why you negotiate guaranteed amounts into your contract.

Billy86

Paully D wrote: »

There's a bit of talk that Marshawn Lynch may actually retire.

He's not happy with his current contract and according to Rapoport he told two teammates last year that if the Seahawks won the Super Bowl he might retire. The same reporter also says he has saved a huge amount of his money since joining the NFL so could afford to walk away from the money he'd get this season for playing.

Cue him signing an improved contract, but interesting nonetheless. He's won the big one now and if the Seahawks won't give him an improved deal he'd probably be better off getting out without taking another seasons worth of punishment.

If true then fair play to him, it is absolutely staggering how NFL players tear through their money at the rate they do (ESPN 30 for 30s 'Broke' is a great insight into this, and the reasons why). For someone who had a really bad reputation toward the end of his Bills career and almost looked like his career was done, he has had a great turnaround not only on the field but off of it as well - he seems a good pro and pretty smart and likeable guy since moving to Seattle, in honest. Gutted the Packers didn't pick him up (though we have Lacy now, so it all worked out long term) as if I recall correctly he moved to Seattle a few weeks after Ryan Grant went down for the season, and for just a 4th rounder and conditional pick from the next season.

It's a shame how some in the US view taxes as a automatic evil though, because I really do think that players should be made to pay some of their wages towards a collective fund that goes to retired players. Scaling upwards obviously, so someone like Aaron Rodgers or Joe Flacco pays a higher percentage above a certain $$$ amount whereas guys on rookie deals or vet minimum pay very little if any at all. Kind of like a retirement fund, but ran differently - this generations of players' payments goes to guys already retired, and the guys playing in 10 years will be paying for this generations fund. Plus however long you are playing for dictates how long you get paid out for (so a guy who plays in the league for three years and washes out might get 3-5 years assistance to help him set up for his post football life, but a guy who plays 15 years would get 15-20 years assistance that would help him more towards overall retirement). Obviously they would not be getting paid NFL money, but it could wind up working out to $10-20k a year per ex-player (maybe scaling downwards for each year they are out of the league) and help them adjust to life after football, because NFL players seem to get hit worse than any other type of athlete (both mentally and physically) with the end of their playing career. Would never happen though.

Billy86

adrian522 wrote: »

That's not what's happening here though. That's also why you negotiate guaranteed amounts into your contract.

There is no contract as slanted against the player as an NFL contract, there is arguably no league that will drop you out on your ass as fast as the NFL or with as little compensation, and there is no position harsher than this in the NFL than running back. Teams also frequently look for players to restructure their contracts if they are not playing to the value they signed for, so there is nothing wrong with it going the other way.

adrian522

Sorry, but if he didn't like the contract he shouldn't have signed it, what's to stop players looking for new contracts every season?

Masked Man

Lynch leaving the Seahwaks would be fantastic. Seems unlikely but I'm just hoping they don't do anything that means he'll still be there in 2015, which could be one of the reasons he's skipping minicamp.

Billy86

adrian522 wrote: »

Sorry, but if he didn't like the contract he shouldn't have signed it, what's to stop players looking for new contracts every season?

So do you think the same about teams cutting players contracts early or forcing them to restructure? They put that down to "at the end of the day, the NFL is a business" - and just like the majority of things in business, this cuts both ways.

He signed his contract in March 2011, having moved to Seattle in the middle of the season before. In the time since then he has been one of the top running backs in the league, maybe even arguably the best not named Peterson. His contract is up next year when he will be fast approaching 30, with probably another 300-odd carries on his body (he has 901 carries over the last three seasons, not including pre or post season) and will not be in as good of a bargaining position as he is now, pure and simple. There is nothing wrong with him wanting a big money contract, since one knee injury and it could all be over in the blink of an eye.

If that were to happen, or if it had happened earlier in his contract, or also if he had not performed to the value of his contract, he would have been forced to restructure it downwards early or face losing his spot on the roster (as an expendable commodity) and the last few years of his contract. Instead he has not had injuries and has performed above the value of his contract, so he is looking for the team to restructure his contract up early or risk losing him on their roster (as an inexpendable commodity, or quite close to it). Saying/showing he has the money to retire today if he wants to is simply giving him leverage, as the NFL is used to dealing with players who have blown every penny they have or close to it come preseason, and thus who will cave to whatever their contractual demands are.

adrian522

My issue here, is he is not on a terrible contract or anything, why would the team bow to his demands, every player would be knocking on the door looking for a new contract.

I'd understand if he signed a low level contract as a backup and was being underpaid and subsequently became a starter but that is far from the case here.

It's very hard to justify in my mind, he's already on a more than fair wage.

Billy86

adrian522 wrote: »

My issue here, is he is not on a terrible contract or anything, why would the team bow to his demands, every player would be knocking on the door looking for a new contract.

I'd understand if he signed a low level contract as a backup and was being underpaid and subsequently became a starter but that is far from the case here.

It's very hard to justify in my mind, he's already on a more than fair wage.

Next year is his last on that contract, and he will need to renegotiate. If he does that after this season, he has 300+ extra carries and one more year on him. If he does this after next season, he has 500+ carries extra and is over 30... he might even be lucky to just get any contract at that point. So it is just good business sense for him to look to cash in now when his value is high and he has probably at least two quality years left to bargain with. The reverse of this is teams giving 6 year contracts to guys already in their 30s that are completely backloaded, and either cut them or get them to restructure when it gets to that last year or two when the majority of the deal is due to pay out, as the player has very limited options or bargaining leverage left. Cuts both ways.