Kirby Jackson

I’m 50/50 at this point. If I can get in and out of Dallas on the same day I will do it. As of right now there isn’t a flight back here after the game. I am going to keep looking and could just decide to stay and come back the next day but I didn’t really want to do that.

That’s all I’m getting at. I think Garrett is fine with the rest of the season. He’s laying the groundwork for this to potentially drag out. He’s getting playing this just in case.

I agree, it’s a bit of a kamikaze play. The benefit to the NFL to dig in is so minimal. They punished him. They can silence him. His suspension clears week 1. Everyone is okay with that outcome I presume.

But what are they leveraging? That’s maybe what we aren’t talking about. Do they care if he plays week 1 or week 5? Is that the hill that they are going to die on?!? Of course not, it’s best to just make it go away. It’s like personal injury settlements. It’s always easier to make the plaintiff go away whether you are guilty or not. Working in commercial insurance I see EXACTLY this every single day. Maybe that’s partially what drives my perspective. People claim soft tissue injuries and it’s MUCH cheaper for the carrier to say, “fine, here’s a check, go away” than to challenge it. It doesn’t matter who is right and who is wrong. All that matters is “how do I minimize my exposure?” The NFL’s answer is absolutely to make it go away.

That’s not what I’m saying at all. Maybe I’m not being clear. I’m saying the NFL can quietly say to him, “if you stop these accusations and keep your nose clean you’ll be back week 1.” That’s what’s best for everyone. If the NFL says, “you are going to have to earn your way back.” He can turn around and get LOUD with the race card. There’s a couple of ways that this can play out. My assertion is that one outcome is better for both sides and is the likeliest. Just to be clear, I’m not saying anything is right or wrong. This is just how I see it happening. That’s fair and maybe true. If he can start pointing to different things though it can become relevant again. It’s just best for both sides that this whole situation disappears.

You were fighting Aug?!?

That’s where we disagree. I already presented people that believe him. In 2019, in the US, you can say a lot of things without proof. If you are loud enough some will believe you. He can either get loud and have people talking or bury it and it will go away. He will play whatever hand leaves him in the best position. If the league wants to expand the suspension he can try to make it a bigger deal.

I think he goes silent for a while now. I don’t think it reappears until the offseason with his suspension still open. I think he takes this year he’s out. If the NFL wants to stretch it, he will push back. We may never know there could already be a deal in place. “You let it die and you will be active week 1.”

To be clear, I agree. It will be quiet until Garrett says, “I was called a ******. I reacted. This league has enabled people like Riley Cooper.” If he says that it’s back in the news. That isn’t what’s best for anyone. That’s why it is his leverage. It’s not great but he can keep pulling them back. It’s best for everyone if it disappears.

I agree here. He should sue Garrett for defamation of character and slander. He should put Garrett on the defensive

If you think that this is over you’re being naive. They have no reason to stretch it out. They don’t want the “racist NFL” conversation going into the offseason. I’m actually confused why anyone even thinks that’s an option? They want it dead. It is nothing to them to reinstate him week 1 of next year instead of week 5. They have so much less to lose by doing that than having to defend themselves. That’s the point. It isn’t about right or wrong, it’s about opportunity cost. The NFL can just cut a deal and everyone gets the desired outcome.

There’s already people believing it (see Marcellus Wiley post earlier). There will be people that believe him. He has nothing to lose. He’s suspended indefinitely. If it drags out he can talk about how the league has enabled racists and people will buy it. You don’t need proof in 2019. He can allude to the punishment for Riley Cooper. People will be nodding their heads. He can drag the NFL through the mud. They don’t want that. It’s easier for them to just kill it.

The difference is that Garrett won’t let it go. Ngakoue wasn’t suspended or anything like that. Garrett is coming from a different place. He can continue to say that the “NFL is punishing him while allowing this racist mentality.” Rudolph is an admitted “MAGA guy” that loves Tomi Lahren and hates Jamele Hill and Kaep. His story will gain traction whether it’s true or not. Rudolph makes for the perfect poster boy for this accusation. Garrett will make some noise with this and have people that believe it. From the NFL’s standpoint the sooner the race card leaves the better. They can come to Garrett and say “let this die and we will get you back for Week 1.” That accomplishes everyone’s goal. The NFL got to shut him down for the year and shut him up. Garrett got as little of a suspension as he could have hoped for.

Yeah, in some ways that’s what I’m saying. I’m not saying “cave” as in not punish him. I’m saying “cave” as in they will allow him back at the start of next year. The NFL just doesn’t want this in the offseason:

Welcome to the board Jason Pierre-Paul!!

I could get behind that.

My assumption is a safe one. I assume that the NFL worries about EVERYTHING that is negative to them. Every business in the world is the same in that sense. If the NFL can eliminate multiple problems at once, they will.

Again, it’s a cost - benefit analysis. “Is it easier to reinstate him week 1 or have him making more allegations?” The answer, imo, is it is absolutely easier for them to cut a deal with him that if he lets this go he will be back week 1. Garrett accusing them of racism certainly isn’t going to hurt his chance of coming back sooner. The longer he is out the louder he will get. This was the strategic play by he and his people. We won’t know how it will work out for a long time. He has nothing to lose but a little more dignity. He’s the guy that just hit someone over the head with a helmet. He didn’t have a lot of character stock to lose. Well, we have no idea what the “NFL list of concerns” looks like. That’s an assumption based on nothing. We do know that they want to “protect the shield.” That’s all-encompassing. It’s not one or the other. “We don’t want players to hit each other over the head with helmets OR we don’t want to be considered racist.” They don’t want EITHER.

A mute pointer?

I think you mean “mute” point. You must be new here

The NFL cares about EVERYTHING that potentially endangers their business!! Every business is like that!!! No restaurant says, “we don’t care about our health code violations because we are too busy caring about the cost of seafood.” You don’t just care about 1 issue!! You care about everything that potentially jeopardizes you.

No one is saying that they “bow to him.” Just saying that they don’t want Garrett, and in turn others, talking about whether the NFL is racist. They don’t want that to be the topic on Get Up or Colin Cowherd in February. They don’t want people making this case. They’d rather it go away. Garrett can continue to talk about it and get louder and louder. He can start bringing others to his side to talk about it. The NFL does not want this as a topic of conversation. I’ll GUARANTEE that Garrett doesn’t let this go away if they don’t let him back at the beginning of 2020. He will make all kinds of accusations. Let’s understand the political environment that we know live in. We live in a divided country on pretty much everything. There no longer needs to be facts to support your assertions. You just need people to be on your side. This isn’t about “will the NFL bow to Garrett?” It’s about “does the NFL want to be dragged through the mud or is it easier to just let him back at the start of 2020?”

Believe me, the last thing that the NFL wants is to be looked at as an environment that fosters this behavior. Garrett knows that. That’s exactly why he went there. If they try to drag out his suspension he will get louder and louder about them enabling that. He will get into Kaep. He will have people jumping to his side left and right and taking an “anti-NFL” stance. The NFL is terrified of that. Look at the ratings after Kaep. It’s the first time that they had taken a hit in forever. This is Garrett’s play. That’s why he did this. No one will ever know what was said there. What we do know is that the NFL, with a 70% black work force, doesn’t want to have people looking at it as a racist organization. This is Garrett’s leverage. “I will shut up if you let me back on the field.” That’s his play to not have this extend into next season.

I think that’s a huge reason for this. He’s setting up the offseason if the NFL wants to extend it into next year. He can talk about how they didn’t take it seriously, how they enable it, etc... The NFL does not want that narrative out there. They’ll probably agree to let him start next year and try to bury this behind them. He really has nothing to lose by doing this. Whether anyone likes it or not it was the best hand he could play. When in doubt, divide people

What’s a better play? He’s suspended indefinitely and vilified by everyone. If he plays this card he will get some people on his side. If it turns out he’s lying he was already the bad guy. He just becomes a little worse. No one will be able to prove one way or another what really happened. It will always be finger pointing. Garrett tried to drag some people back to his side and he will get some. Additionally, he can accuse the NFL of racism if this suspension drags on too long. He can talk about how they supported racism, yada, yada, yada. He backs them into a corner somewhat.