The Weird, Wacky and Awesome World of the NFL - General Banter thread V2

BonnieSituation

It's America though. Wage disparity is insane.

Even in the NFL, some practice squad and special teams players get a pittance.

That being said the way cheerleaders are treated is reprehensible.

brinty

Crikey lads, just watched Jason Witten's retirement press conference

To say I'm devastated is an understatement. A classy individual in all he did and how he represented himself. There'll never be another like him.

Hococop

Matt Ryan got a new contract

$150 million 5 year with $100 million guaranteed

TOss Sweep

Blut2 wrote: »

As a non-American I've definitely enjoyed seeing the cheerleaders at every college/NFL game I've been to. It just makes the whole experience more American. I wouldn't be in favour of getting rid of them at all.

They really deserve to get paid a living wage in the NFL, though. 50k a year or something. They're kept to such strict diet and fitness plans, do such acrobatics on the field, and they've had years of training by the stage they're in the NFL. They're athletes deserving of a wage for their efforts. This business of paying them no proper money by justifying the job as a "great opportunity" is ridiculous.

It would also be a lot easier to defend their continued existence if they were on a decent wage. It'd be a lot harder for the feminist crowd to argue they're just unpaid eye candy that should be gotten rid of that way.

Well said I definitely agree and all of these women grow up wanting to be Cheerleaders in the pros which is no different to any guy playing on the football team. They all work their asses off to be there also.

I know an EX NFL cheerleader and the stories she can tell you from back in the 90s when she was one are just crazy. Things have not changed for them at all it seems. Disgusting carry on if that story from the Redskins is true.

jack presley

TOss Sweep wrote: »

Well said I definitely agree and all of these women grow up wanting to be Cheerleaders in the pros which is no different to any guy playing on the football team. They all work their asses off to be there also.

I know an EX NFL cheerleader and the stories she can tell you from back in the 90s when she was one are just crazy. Things have not changed for them at all it seems. Disgusting carry on if that story from the Redskins is true.

I’m not just saying this as I’m a Redskins fan but I’d say similar stuff goes on with more of the teams that have cheerleaders. I could see other stories coming out in the days ahead.

Someone mentioned their pathetic pay earlier. I’d say getting treated with respect and not like a piece of meat would be as equally important to them.

the baby bull elephant

Hococop wrote: »

Matt Ryan got a new contract

$150 million 5 year with $100 million guaranteed

I'm really glad Stafford got paid last year.

ScrubsfanChris

Slightly OT, but has anyone being able to play All or Nothing: Michigan?
All the other series are available to me, infact I just finished watching the Dallas Cowboys one, yet when I go to play the series on Michigan I get "This video isn't available due to geographical licensing restrictions"

I can see reviews on amazon.co.uk so at least some people in the UK are able to watch it?

TOss Sweep

Interesting read on Mo Hurst also Ironic his dads last game for the Patriots was him getting burned by Jim Harbaugh at the Colts.

http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2015/09/a_mothers_son_michigans_mauric.html

ANN ARBOR -- Toward the bottom of his University of Michigan football bio page, Maurice Hurst Jr. is noted to be the son of former New England Patriot Maurice Hurst. This is supposed to be part of who he is; an interesting tidbit.

What's not included in that bio is the name Nicole Page. If it were, it couldn't be as neatly packaged as Maurice Hurst Sr.'s mention -- merely an ex-NFL player.

For Page to be included, it would have to read something like this:

"Son of Nicole Page, who raised Maurice as a single mother for 20 years, sent him to a private high school despite being flat-broke and who canceled her cable subscription last year to save money for trips from Massachusetts to Ann Arbor to see her son play football for the Wolverines."

That isn't as catchy.

"But that's who raised me," Maurice Hurst Jr says.

The product of an endemic cliche, Hurst is the son of a professional athlete who decided -- for reasons unknown here -- not to be a part of his child's life. Yes, they have met. Yes, they have spoken. No, they've never had a relationship.

Hurst's history with his father is dotted with disappointments. There was the Pop Warner game when he was 11; when dad promised son he'd finally make it to a game, only to no-show and leave young Mo glancing to the sidelines all game, hoping he'd appear. There was the trip to New Orleans in 2009, when Mo, entering his freshman year in high school, asked his mother if he could visit his father, who had moved away. Upon arriving at dad's house, Mo found a happy family: his father living with a wife and two children, his half-brother and half-sister. There were pictures of the kids through the house. Mo couldn't find any of himself.

But this isn't about who wasn't there and what hasn't been in Maurice Hurst Jr.'s life. This is about what's been there all along.

Nicole Page will board a flight tonight to watch her son play football.

"As long as I can see him a couple of times a month, I'm good," she says. "But it's still tough. I miss him all the time."

A 44-year-old from Canton, Massachusetts, Page has worked as a nanny for the last three years. It's a job that affords flexibility -- allowing her to penny-pinch her way to Ann Arbor for football games -- and stability. She was twice laid off from private business gigs when the economy washed away jobs like beaches eroding on the eastern seaboard. Her thick Boston accent is unexpected, but breaks through when she speaks with a pop of excitement.

"It's been crazy, but I've been making it work," Page says of the last two-plus years, making it out to Michigan to visit Maurice, now a redshirt sophomore defensive tackle. "I'm always on the Internet trying to find the best hotel deals, the best flights, the best car rentals."

At this point, she knows all the tricks, adding, "I belong to absolutely every club possible, trying to get those free points."

Over and over, Page revisits those words: making it work. That's how this all came to be. That's how Hurst went to Xaverian Brothers High School, an elite, all-boys private school in neighboring Canton, Massachusetts. Growing up attending a small Catholic grade school, Maurice begged his mother to send him to Xaverian. In her eyes, he might as well have been asking for Harvard.

After Maurice passed Xaverian's entrance exam, Page had a real-world conversation with her son. She told him about the $14,000 annual tuition. She told him what financial aid means. She told him that, after crunching all the numbers, she figured he needed 80 percent off tuition to make it work. It didn't look promising.

Then came a letter from the school. Maurice was awarded exactly 80 percent of his tuition in aid.

"Once I got that, I thought, how can I tell him no?" Page remembers.

Maurice's education still cost about $6,000 per year in tuition and expenses. Books were bought online second-hand. Maurice held a work-study. Page took out some loans. She filed for a secondary mortgage.

They made it work.

"Did what I could do to keep him in there," she says. "That was the best opportunity for him."
Maurice Hurst Jr. and his mother, Nicole Page, at Maurice's 2013 graduation from Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood, Massachusetts.

Growing up, Maurice was one of best young athletes in the tiny suburb of Canton. He was bigger and faster. Still, though, no one projected him as a future big-time Division I football prospect.

"He was soft-spoken as a kid, things like that, and pretty clumsy," says Israel Abraham, Maurice's older cousin by five years and currently a running backs coach at Division III Susquehanna (Pa.) University.

But there was another side. As a 10-year-old, Maurice demanded to play with Abraham and the older boys. God forbid if someone lightened up on a tackle.

"He'd get so mad if anyone took it easy on him," Abraham says. "Even at that age, he was driven. He wanted to be the best."

The poor senior linemen at Xaverian learned the hard way. Maurice hit a growth spurt when he arrived in high school and went immediately from the freshman football team to a starter on varsity, taking the job from older teammates. In his first game, he recorded what Page remembers as "a ridiculous number of tackles."

Maurice was on his way to being a top college prospect, but he was still his mother's son. A single mom, she'd shape-shift between best friend, biggest fan and strictest disciplinarian. There were battles.

"If he stepped out of line, she had to be mom and dad at the same time," Abraham says.

Page was used to wearing different hats. In 1989, she met Maurice Hurst, then a New England Patriots rookie from Southern University in Louisiana, while she studied criminal justice at Salem State University. The two dated and Page became a Patriots cheerleader in 1991. She stopped cheering two years later and, two years after that, on May 9, 1995, gave birth to Maurice Roy Hurst Jr.

Seven months later, Maurice Hurst Sr. lined up at cornerback for a game in Indianapolis. It had been a rough season. One of the franchise's top defensive players over the six previous seasons, Hurst's body was breaking down and opponents were attacking his side of the field. Then, on Nov. 19, 1995, Colts quarterback Jim Harbaugh torched Hurst with two 40-yard passes to wideout Sean Dawkins. Both led to touchdowns.

After the game, Hurst Sr. told The Associated Press, "This has been pretty much a nightmare season. It seems things have gone totally wrong. I keep myself going by telling myself it's not life and death."

Hurst was released the following day, sparing the Patriots the final season of his three-year contract and the remaining $437,500 of $1.4 million owed for the 1995 season. Later that week, Hurst signed with the St. Louis Rams, but failed a physical due to a herniated disc in his neck. A grievance was filed against the Patriots claiming the team violated the NFL's collective bargaining agreement by releasing Hurst while he was injured.

At 28 years old, Hurst would undergo neck surgery, but his NFL career was over. He finished with 103 starts in 106 games and 27 interceptions. Years later, he was named to the Patriots' All-Decade team.

By that time, he was already well out of Nicole and young Maurice's life.

"I honestly have no idea why," Nicole Page says. "The only thing I can say is that we were both young. You make mistakes and you learn from them."
Maurice Hurst Sr. played for the New England Patriots from 1989 to 1995.

According to Douglas Sunseri, Maurice Hurst Sr.'s former agent and lawyer, Hurst retired due to a lack of interest from NFL teams. "Damaged goods," he remembers now, 20 years later. As for that grievance filed against the Patriots, Sunseri says it was "resolved very favorably for Mr. Hurst."

In recent years, according to Sunseri, Hurst Sr. has worked as a self-employed construction contractor and is currently married and living in the New Orleans area.

Nonetheless, Nicole Page says Hurst "provided child support sporadically way below his income" over the years. Having moved on from criminal justice, Page paid the bills as a letter carrier for the post office when Maurice Jr. was little, logging 70-hour work weeks. That wasn't feasible when he began playing sports because of her refusal to miss games. So Page took a $15,000 pay cut to go work as an administrative assistant for a private company. That lasted eight years before she was laid off. There were also brief stints as a hairdresser and a dental assistant.

"The mortgage was more important than a career," she says.

For young Maurice, his famous name was hard to hide in the Boston area. He was asked, "Hey, are you Maurice Hurst's son?" He'd say yes and change the subject.

"People would hear about my dad and make all kinds of assumptions," Maurice says now, "like that we were rich or had this great life or something. In reality, I didn't know him."

Other than a brief time in high school, Maurice Hurst Jr. has always worn No. 73. His father wore No. 37.

"The opposite," young Maurice says. "It's just one of those things where, you are yourself, but you're connected to that person. That's something that I carry with me."

Maurice Hurst Sr. didn't reply to two online messages and an email seeking comment for this story. The last time Maurice Jr. contacted him, it was via email a few months ago. New Michigan secondary coach Greg Jackson asked him to pass along a hello; the two trained together back in the late 80s when Jackson attended LSU. Maurice Hurst Sr. replied to the email by saying, yes, he remembered coach Jackson.

"That was pretty much the whole email," Maurice says.

In his father's absence, Maurice Jr. was raised by a family flock of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

And mom.

"I could love as much I could love him and I could teach him as much as I could teach him, but there were a lot of things I couldn't do," Page says. "Whenever he wanted to talk, I'd ask if he was OK. He seemed OK, but I knew there was frustration with that."

Age brought understanding. Twenty-year-old Maurice speaks openly about his paradox -- his name says he's his father's own; his reality says he's his mother's son.

"That's who I am," he says.

With a dose of contemplation, he adds, "If (Maurice Sr.) ever wanted to reach out to me, he could. If he tried to make an effort to talk to me, I would definitely talk to him."

Nicole Page, meanwhile, will work from 7:30-5:30 p.m. today. Then she'll walk Timber, the German shepherd-mix rescue dog she adopted to keep her company after Maurice went off to college, and take him to the sitters. She'll board a flight about 9:45 p.m. and fly into Detroit about 11:45 p.m. After driving a rental car to Ann Arbor well after midnight, Page will sleep at Maurice's college house, then wake up and watch her son play Brigham Young University at Michigan Stadium on Saturday. She'll cheer, then board a flight home at 6 a.m. the following day.

Well worth it.

"Now it's my job to support him and that's an amazing feeling," Nicole Page says. "Like, wow, we did it, we made it, we accomplished this."

As for Maurice Hurst Jr., he'll write his own bio.

"I'm my own man," he says. "That's how my mother raised me."

JaMarcus

ScrubsfanChris wrote: »

Slightly OT, but has anyone being able to play All or Nothing: Michigan?
All the other series are available to me, infact I just finished watching the Dallas Cowboys one, yet when I go to play the series on Michigan I get "This video isn't available due to geographical licensing restrictions"

I can see reviews on amazon.co.uk so at least some people in the UK are able to watch it?

Sent you a PM with working links.

ScrubsfanChris

ScrubsfanChris wrote: »

Slightly OT, but has anyone being able to play All or Nothing: Michigan?
All the other series are available to me, infact I just finished watching the Dallas Cowboys one, yet when I go to play the series on Michigan I get "This video isn't available due to geographical licensing restrictions"

I can see reviews on amazon.co.uk so at least some people in the UK are able to watch it?

Seems to be working now.

jack presley

A nice story for a Sunday morning

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2018/05/11/joe-hawley-van-nfl-retirement-falcons-bucs/572097002/

TOss Sweep

The real reason Tom Brady is coming back in 2018. 32 more yards:

j8wk2feszrnpao

Sports gambling opened up?
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000932647/article/supreme-court-strikes-down-law-against-sports-gambling
Got to love the NFL's fascination with the word "integrity" (6 times in one brief article). If only they were as keen to apply it to themselves.

MileHighGuy

interesting read (NYT) about early days of the Patriots and a famous play..."The Man in the trenchcoat"....


Clinging to a 28-21 lead over the Dallas Texans, the Patriots were trying to make a last-second goal-line stand. Dallas quarterback Cotton Davidson threw into the end zone from the 1-yard line for wide receiver Chris Burford. Fans standing on the field had crowded five deep around the perimeter of the end zone, and one — reputedly wearing a trench coat — suddenly leapt forward and swatted at the ball.

“Then all the fans rushed the field and it was like everyone wasn’t sure what they saw,” Eisenhauer said this week. “But we watched the film on Monday and we saw this guy jump from the crowd and knock it down.”

For years thereafter, Patriots owner Billy Sullivan, who was commonly seen in a London Fog-style trench coat, was rumored to be the Patriots’ 12th man on the play. Famously, Sullivan never denied it.

MileHighGuy

munstermagic11 wrote: »

Sports gambling opened up?
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000932647/article/supreme-court-strikes-down-law-against-sports-gambling
Got to love the NFL's fascination with the word "integrity" (6 times in one brief article). If only they were as keen to apply it to themselves.

It seems so strange that the US had these gambling laws in the first place, with all the emphasis on vegas spreads etc.

The major leagues were involved and against the measure.....however...

Sports leagues—the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and NCAA were involved in the lawsuit—say that gambling will increase the risk of corruption, which the leagues will need to prevent. The NBA and MLB have floated a so-called “integrity fee” of about 1 percent of all money gambled to cover their increased anticorruption costs. Casino operators have balked at an integrity fee, both for the size (1 percent of all wagering activity is roughly a quarter of a sportsbook’s revenue) and the audacity—legalized gambling should increase the total interest in sports, driving up ratings and making the leagues money.

jack presley

The injury report exists primarily for gambling too I’d imagine?

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

TOss Sweep wrote: »

The real reason Tom Brady is coming back in 2018. 32 more yards:

And this fantastic bit of fan-fiction posted on reddit replying to the above post:

Its 4 minutes into the Pats week one game. Deshaun Watson and the Texans put together an impressive opening drive but had to settle for a field goal to put them up 3-0. After Randy kicks it off, Tom Brady and the Patriots offense take the field. The Texans defense looks uncharacteristicly nervous. Watt looks anxiously to the sideline at Romeo, who slowly mods and gives him the thumbs up. Watt turns his eyes back to the oline and shakes his head, and half heartily yells something incomprehensible to his team mates. Some of them visibly roll their eyes or sigh, but they all drop back down the field. Chris Collinsworth looks confused. "It looks like the entire Texans defense is lined up in a 0-0-11. I don't really know what's going on here. Let me tell you something about Romeo Crennel. Here's a guy who-" the audience at home instinctively stops listening. Brady doesn't look shaken at all. Without a word or audible, he takes the snap and drops back. No one can get open. Tyrann Mathieu, Wittney Mercilus, and Jonathan Joseph even physically form a human wall encircling Julian Edelman, who throws up his hands in defeat. Brady looks down every option, he has all the time in the world with absolutly no pressure. He's a QB, he told himself, and he was gonna throw the damn football. Finally, Marcus Cannon looked up from his game of poker with David Andrews and tells at Tom to just ****ing run. Tom knows he has no choice. He starts sprinting down the field, though it was more of a brisk walk. Jadeveon Clowny half jogs toward him and melodramatically dives just to his left. Tom sighs and keeps up his run. The first quarter clock has now run out, but it's been roughly half an hour since the snap. Finally, JJ yells "this is ****ing ridiculous" and runs full speed ahead toward Brady. He had only made it 30 yards. Mercilus couldn't let this happen. He runs toward JJ and chop blocks him. JJ breaks his ****ing back and will be out for the season. He writes in pain on the ground, but no one can help him until after the play ends. Finally, Brady makes it. He steps across his one thousandth yard. Instantly, he evaporates and ascends to heaven. Play is dead. While the whole ****ing stadium helps JJ get off the field, Romeo looks across the field and gives his old head coach a smug victory smirk. But Belichick does something odd. He cracks a smile. He holds a hand out to Johnny Manziel warming up on the sideline. Johnny realizes what's going on and yells "not again" and instantly retires. At the very spot Brady just stood, the ground cracks open and a figure is seen climbing straight out of hell. Hoyer the Destroyer has been activated. The Texans, our tragic heros, just doomed the league.

JaMarcus

A story I just heard for the first time over on Reddit:

Is it ok if I steal this to post my favorite Vince Young story? Figured they were both big recruits out of college who flopped so it might be appropriate to post it here?

Anyways, Donald Jones was a WR for the Bills back in the days when Young came to Buffalo (2012 was a long time ago, I know). At one point, they were running OTAs with Vince as the QB. In this particular drill, instead of using a headset, the QB (Vince, in this case) would get the play from the coach, walk to the huddle and call the play to see the skills in commanding the huddle and making adjustments before the snap.

Vince gets the play from Chan Gailey, walks to the huddle, and begins to call a play the same way you would in the backyard: "Donald, you run a post. Stevie, run a 12-yard out. Fred, run a wheel route after chipping any blitzers." etc. etc.

Well, Donald goes: "Vince, what are you doing? What was the play call?"

Vince: "Man, you know I don't remember that shít."

Makes me laugh every damn time.

JaMarcus

Which was a response to this fantastic JaMarcus Russell story...

https://streamable.com/oxnh8

Paully D

https://twitter.com/mcclain_on_nfl/status/997678836862062592?s=21

Joe Dog

I don't want to come across as being extremely cynical but could JJ Watt not have made that gesture without letting a journalist know about it.

May have been a nice thing to do but it just ends up benefiting his public profile.

So many celebrities seem to have to let as many people know ho nice they are every time they do something nice.

jack presley

Joe Dog wrote: »

I don't want to come across as being extremely cynical but could JJ Watt not have made that gesture without letting a journalist know about it.

May have been a nice thing to do but it just ends up benefiting his public profile.

So many celebrities seem to have to let as many people know ho nice they are every time they do something nice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFdmlj74b_M

The whole thing is worth a listen but if you don't fancy the whole thing, go to 7:40 (Stugotz isn't to be taken seriously by the way if anyone doesn't know what he's like)

Guffy

jack presley wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFdmlj74b_M

The whole thing is worth a listen but if you don't fancy the whole thing, go to 7:40 (Stugotz isn't to be taken seriously by the way if anyone doesn't know what he's like)

I cant believe the host actually tried to disagree with him!!

eagle eye

Joe Dog wrote: »

I don't want to come across as being extremely cynical but could JJ Watt not have made that gesture without letting a journalist know about it.

May have been a nice thing to do but it just ends up benefiting his public profile.

So many celebrities seem to have to let as many people know ho nice they are every time they do something nice.

It's nothing new with Watt. There is a video showing where he waits until the camera is ready before he starts celebrating with his teammates.

the baby bull elephant

Joe Dog wrote: »

I don't want to come across as being extremely cynical but could JJ Watt not have made that gesture without letting a journalist know about it.

May have been a nice thing to do but it just ends up benefiting his public profile.

So many celebrities seem to have to let as many people know ho nice they are every time they do something nice.

Saw on Reddit that someone else leaked it, don't know how true it is and there's ways to be cynical about that anyway.

He does have an irritating side to this personality but he also seems to actually want to step up and do something and be that role model a lot of people expect him to be. I think himself and the likes of Russell Wilson have something about them that's ultra American and comes off as too polished and fake to Irish people but it's a whole lot better than what some other players do.

Mysterypunter

Joe Dog wrote: »

I don't want to come across as being extremely cynical but could JJ Watt not have made that gesture without letting a journalist know about it.

May have been a nice thing to do but it just ends up benefiting his public profile.

So many celebrities seem to have to let as many people know ho nice they are every time they do something nice.

Funny enough I agree with you, has to let everyone know how great he is. Happy to be a big fish for the Texans, they are a pile of stiffs. Andre Johnson was the dude there for years, always wondered why he didn't head off elsewhere

Paully D

Did anyone catch the Cowboys' All or Nothing and if so, what did you think?

A few things stood out to me:

- Jason Garrett seems like a really nice guy, and the players and coaching staff seem to like him, but he almost comes across as too nice

- Zeke is an odd one. I know he was going through a lot throughout that season and his mind was probably miles away, but what is with him sitting away from the rest of his teammates during meetings? Also, getting more than three words out of him seems to be a challenge.

- Easy to see why they moved on from Dez. A complete and utter man-child, a pain in the arse. You’d put up with it when he’s producing, but with the production slipping.....

- Jerry Jones :pac: Turns up to every single meeting, practice, is all over the dressing room before and after games etc. I don't know if many other owners are the same, but it must make coaching a lot more difficult when you have him interfering so much.

Joe Dog

Joe Dog wrote: »

I don't want to come across as being extremely cynical but could JJ Watt not have made that gesture without letting a journalist know about it.

May have been a nice thing to do but it just ends up benefiting his public profile.

So many celebrities seem to have to let as many people know ho nice they are every time they do something nice.

The "Ed Sheeran is lovely to Irish kid on Late Late Show" marketing.

You're not being cynical at all, what's cynical is these superstars exploiting the public hunger to believe that they are really nice people. No one cared before social media.

mikemac2

Joe Dog wrote: »

I don't want to come across as being extremely cynical but could JJ Watt not have made that gesture without letting a journalist know about it.

May have been a nice thing to do but it just ends up benefiting his public profile.

So many celebrities seem to have to let as many people know ho nice they are every time they do something nice.

There are few if any NFL players who play up to the cameras as much as Watt. From screaming to himself on the sidelines when he is miced up to staying on for hours after practice to catch balls and work with a tackling dummy with a HBO Hards Knocks camera present of course. And why is a defensive lineman catching balls after practice anyway

Oh sure players stay after practice but it was beautifully shot by HBO, fake as fake can be

TOss Sweep

Could be worse he could be playing up the to the cameras and be an assh0le and donate $0 to anyone. Even you don't like him or like his clear attention seeking ways at least people are benefiting from it.

To his defense though any of the big stars do it. Look at Gronk. Its all about the "Brand". Sponsors love guys like Watt and Gronk and others who have big personalities and are Stars and give the persona everyone loves them.

Joe Dog

TOss Sweep wrote: »

Could be worse he could be playing up the to the cameras and be an assh0le and donate $0 to anyone. Even you don't like him or like his clear attention seeking ways at least people are benefiting from it.

To his defense though any of the big stars do it. Look at Gronk. Its all about the "Brand". Sponsors love guys like Watt and Gronk and others who have big personalities and are Stars and give the persona everyone loves them.

I guess my point is that the donation is as much benefit to himself as it is to anyone else and it's almost certainly a 100% unnecessary donation as usually communities involved in tragedies like this would start fundraising themselves to help out the families involved.So much of celebrity these days is based around falseness and cannot understand why so many people are obsessed with drawing attention to themselves when they do something nice, a good deed should be reward in itself you don't need to get a clap on the back for it.

It's kind of depressing that phoneyness and having a fake great guy act is what people seem to like, whatever happened to a bit of humility in life.

I always think the Walter Payton Man of the Year award is a real embarrassing thing for the NFL to hand out as it seems to want to turn being a supposed good person into a competition which of course it shouldn't be.

TOss Sweep

Joe Dog wrote: »

I guess my point is that the donation is as much benefit to himself as it is to anyone else and it's almost certainly a 100% unnecessary donation as usually communities involved in tragedies like this would start fundraising themselves to help out the families involved.So much of celebrity these days is based around falseness and cannot understand why so many people are obsessed with drawing attention to themselves when they do something nice, a good deed should be reward in itself you don't need to get a clap on the back for it.

It's kind of depressing that phoneyness and having a fake great guy act is what people seem to like, whatever happened to a bit of humility in life.

I always think the Walter Payton Man of the Year award is a real embarrassing thing for the NFL to hand out as it seems to want to turn being a supposed good person into a competition which of course it shouldn't be.

Personally I could care less if they want to bring attention to themselves. At least they are helping others with their millions. As I said in my other post it could be worse and they could just be attention seeking twats.

To the NFLs defense and trust me I never defend the NFL, This award as cringy as it is has gotten so much more out of players who would in the past have not donated **** or just helped out the in the community because they were bound by their contracts to do so. It has actually helped so many players be motivated to give back.

Personally I would rather the cringy attention seeking if it means people helping others in life and giving others purpose in life instead of p1ss1ng their money into the wind and beating their wives or girlfriends.

But circling back to JJ Watt for a minute his Houston fund drove in so much more money than it would have if he was not involved. Love him or hate him his drive behind it convinced others with money to get off their lazy asses and give back.

Us humans we tend to focus far too much on the negative.

TOss Sweep

it's almost certainly a 100% unnecessary donation as usually communities involved in tragedies like this would start fundraising themselves to help out the families involved

This part I can't agree with you to be honest. Are you telling me they wouldn't be grateful for the help from JJ? Regardless of his attention seeking? No matter what his intentions how can you that it is unnecessary? I can tell you if I lost someone in a tragedy and someone ponied up to help me financially with the cost of burying my loved one it would weight lifted off my shoulders not having to worry about where the money is coming from.

Take the Houston fund 34m raised in 2 weeks and donated to 4 non profits. Are you telling me they weren't grateful for the extra 8.5m to help them? Mind boggling if you also think that was unnecessary

Joe Dog

TOss Sweep wrote: »

This part I can't agree with you to be honest. Are you telling me they wouldn't be grateful for the help from JJ? Regardless of his attention seeking? No matter what his intentions how can you that it is unnecessary? I can tell you if I lost someone in a tragedy and someone ponied up to help me financially with the cost of burying my loved one it would weight lifted off my shoulders not having to worry about where the money is coming from.

Take the Houston fund 34m raised in 2 weeks and donated to 4 non profits. Are you telling me they weren't grateful for the extra 8.5m to help them? Mind boggling if you also think that was unnecessary

The money in this instance could easily have been donated anonymously.In almost every single tragic event across the world a fund would be set up for people to contribute to by the town itself.

Take the recent hockey team bus crash in Canada, I didn't see any NHL players riding in on their white horse and deciding to pay for anything themselves, but I am sure many donated privately to the fund that was set up for the victims.

Morte

TOss Sweep wrote: »

Could be worse he could be playing up the to the cameras and be an assh0le and donate $0 to anyone. Even you don't like him or like his clear attention seeking ways at least people are benefiting from it.

To his defense though any of the big stars do it. Look at Gronk. Its all about the "Brand". Sponsors love guys like Watt and Gronk and others who have big personalities and are Stars and give the persona everyone loves them.

I like to think of Watt, Gronk and Cam as aiming their persona at kids rather than at adults. It explains a lot and makes them much more likeable.

Robert Kraft gave an interview before about why he changed from insisting on anonymous donations to putting his name on all of them. The charities wanted it. The publicity does wonders for them, whether it's helping to raise more money or being able to go to any meeting and know people will take them seriously.

TOss Sweep

Joe Dog wrote: »

The money in this instance could easily have been donated anonymously.In almost every single tragic event across the world a fund would be set up for people to contribute to by the town itself.

Take the recent hockey team bus crash in Canada, I didn't see any NHL players riding in on their white horse and deciding to pay for anything themselves, but I am sure many donated privately to the fund that was set up for the victims.

People will find anything to complain about. Don't let your dislike of Watt get in the way of the fact he has done many good deeds in time of need for people.

The 34m for Houston would never have gotten that large without him driving the publicity. How dare he drive the fund on by putting himself out there. Those 4 non profits are 8.5m better off for it.

As for the Texas funerals. You realize he told the school system right? And someone within the school system broke the news. Do you honestly think he is that much of a dick that he wants the attention on him during this tragic event? Is he beyond just doing a nice thing for these people saving them the worry of 8-10k for funeral costs.

Mind boggling how dare people put their name to donations

TOss Sweep

Morte wrote: »

I like to think of Watt, Gronk and Cam as aiming their persona at kids rather than at adults. It explains a lot and makes them much more likeable.

Robert Kraft gave an interview before about why he changed from insisting on anonymous donations to putting his name on all of them. The charities wanted it. The publicity does wonders for them, whether it's helping to raise more money or being able to go to any meeting and know people will take them seriously.

Exactly Case in Point the money raised for Houston. He said he would match the first 100k and he did and 3 weeks later the figure sat between 34 and 37million.

helimachoptor

I'm a big fan of Watt. Yeah he's probably done/is doing some PEDs.

But he seems like a pretty solid guy, he's been over here a bit and he loves playing football.

Hazys

JJ Watt has stated that he wants people to see him as a superhero like Captain America. That is the brand that he is trying to portray. He has his own superhero logo ffs:



A lot his charity work is very much self serving and he loves the attention that the media gives him after he does it. But the other side of it, the outcome of his actions does a lot of good so its very hard to criticize him.

So i'll put it this way, its cool he raised so much money for the Houston Hurricane Harvey relief and I certainly don't think he's in anyway a bad dude or anything like that but to me, JJ Watt is a cheesy mofo who's personality would not mesh with mine. He would be one of the last people on earth i would want to grab a pint with. Anybody who wants people to see them as a superhero probably isn't much craic to hang out with.

TOss Sweep

Hazys wrote: »

JJ Watt has stated that he wants people to see him as a superhero like Captain America. That is the brand that he is trying to portray. He has his own superhero logo ffs:

A lot his charity work is very much self serving and he loves the attention that the media gives him after he does it. But the other side of it, the outcome of his actions does a lot of good so its very hard to criticize him.

So i'll put it this way, its cool he raised so much money for the Houston Hurricane Harvey relief and I certainly don't think he's in anyway a bad dude or anything like that but to me, JJ Watt is a cheesy mofo who's personality would not mesh with mine. He would be one of the last people on earth i would want to grab a pint with. Anybody who wants people to see them as a superhero probably isn't much craic to hang out with.

Do you honestly believe he wants his friends to see him as a Super Hero? For most Superstars it is all about the brand. Its how they make extra money on the side and get what they need in life.

On a personal level he is nowhere close to this. That dude he hangs around with in Ireland is good friends with my cousin and he said JJ is a down to earth chap and good banter. I would like to think I would give people the benefit of the doubt before writing them off as people I wouldn't not gel with.

The problem here is we fall into the trap of judging them without personally knowing nothing about them only what we see in the media.

To each their own I guess

Paully D

Hue at it again with the leaks :pac:

https://twitter.com/aroundthenfl/status/999053948446101504?s=21

helimachoptor

Chargers TE Henry tears his ACl.
Begging of the training injuries

brinty

helimachoptor wrote: »

Chargers TE Henry tears his ACl.
Begging of the training injuries

Tough break on the kid, hes done well in his first couple of years

helimachoptor

Eagles LB Paul Worrilow also tears his ACL.

Heli the doomsayer :eek:

brinty

helimachoptor wrote: »

Eagles LB Paul Worrilow also tears his ACL.

Heli the doomsayer :eek:

wowsers.. day after cutting Kendricks... hmmmmm maybe a bit of Karma there...

TOss Sweep

brinty wrote: »

wowsers.. day after cutting Kendricks... hmmmmm maybe a bit of Karma there...

Worrilow was injured the same day as Kendricks being cut. Both happened yesterday. Eagles fans on Twitter and FB and the like were all pissed off about it.

brinty

brinty wrote: »

wowsers.. day after cutting Kendricks... hmmmmm maybe a bit of Karma there...

I dunno kendricks has wanted to be cut for a while now so I'd say he's happy enough

Billy86

NFL to fine players who kneel for the anthem - https://www.google.ie/amp/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna876816

This weekend I will be contacting them to let them know that I am cancelling my gamepass membership over this, and rather than watching on TV I will be making a point of exclusively watching all games by illegal stream from this point on.

adrian522

Actually fining teams who's players don't stand for the anthem. Up to individual teams how or if they discipline their players.

Billy86

adrian522 wrote: »

Actually fining teams who's players don't stand for the anthem. Up to individual teams how or if they discipline their players.

Goodwill doing what he does best and being a coward. I think I read woody Johnson will pay them himself (or as a team) but we all know how a lot of owners will go over this. It hardly passed as a rule without their consent on some level.