BarleyNY

I have a friend from my taekwondo days who acted with his friends a lot like Incognito did with Martin. He didn’t make anything close to the money that Incognito made, but he was good enough to be in the TKD HOF. So both were very high level athletes. He’d have done anything for his close friends. But if you weren’t in that small group, then you meant nothing to him. And I mean nothing. But at his core he was always a really good guy. He’s mellowed over the years too. He wound up doing a bunch of charity stuff with NFL guys he got to know and eventually got married. So sometimes those guys do change.

Glad you turned it all around and that you’re doing well these days. You should be proud of yourself.

So right after the whole thing with Jonathan Martin happened my son played baseball. It was the first year of kid pitch and it was brutal. So many walks, so few hits. In any event, I had a lot of time on my hands that season. I read every text between them that was published. I honestly don’t think he was bullying Martin, but those texts painted a rough picture of Incognito. Lots of machismo, hard partying, strippers, hookers, etc. Not like “this guy like to party!” More like “This guy parties 24/7/365! How can he do that?” Sometimes people learn that they can’t live like that for long and sometimes they don’t.

That’s hopeful. It’d be great if it went that way for him. I hope he turns it around and it does, but I fear that won’t be the case.

You understand that the NFL is maximizing revenues regardless of how much players make, right? How it gets split up between players and owners doesn’t impact the regular folks and what we pay. Why do people complain about players trying to get the best deal they can while they shrug their shoulders at owners trying to get the best deal they can?

Going after Watson would likely be something the Texans would not mind. What about the cases against the Texans? How much play was that getting?

Stations that want to keep their access to their local team generally will not cover things the team does not want them to cover. This is especially true of their flagship station. The NFL exerts similar pressure nationally.

Quite possibly. Sometimes a player will sign their tag on the condition that the team won’t tag them again the following season. But I don’t know if that’ll get it done on this one.

Sorry, I was not clear. I mean that it would still be economical for KC to tag him again next year.

Yup. This is exactly why you only make a trade like that if you have an extension agreed upon. It was an undisciplined move by KC and it’s gonna cost them. Spotrac has him at 5/$112 or $22.4M AAV. So starting negotiations at $25M+ makes sense, especially with his leverage. Ofc KC could franchise tag him for that kind of money.

The Browns deny making the “adult in the QB room” comment. I think that is just PR BS. It certainly fits with him playing Halo for 10 hours the day before the GB game in which he played horribly, threw 4 INTs and didn’t seem to know the game plan. He was pretty much single handedly responsible for the 24-22 loss. The Halo marathon was Christmas Day and he had been out that week due to Covid protocol. It seems indisputable since some random kid who played the game with him tweeted about it that day. https://366sportsnetwork.com/2022/07/09/baker-mayfield-divided-locker-room-played-10-hours-of-video-games-a-day-prior-to-big-december-game/

It runs the whole spectrum. A small, but not insignificant, percentage walked away. It remains to be seen how many of them go back. One casual acquaintance who I knew prior to him becoming a sports writer (Bleacher Report, etc.) was a lifelong fan and he walked away. I do t think he’s coming back. Most stayed and are dealing in different ways. Some hate the situation, but are staying loyal. Some are hanging their hats on the lack of evidence (beyond testimonies of the accusers) and do not believe the worst of the allegations. Also a few are going full out conspiracy.

If scientists came up with a way to transfer people’s consciousnesses into new, custom made bodies I’d flip right past the Zack Wilson page in the new body catalog.

That was my first thought too. How difficult could that have been for him? This is factoring in the opinion of my daughter who turns 17 this month. She happened to see him on TV during the draft and ever since then she has been emphatic about how smoking hot he is.

I think there are a few things really hurting the NFL’s case. One is that there seems to be very little evidence beyond the testimony of the women involved. There are some texts, but even those don’t corroborate much. Basically it’s the word of 4 women (in the NFL’s case) versus the word of Watson. That dovetails with a second issue - that the standard is the “preponderance of evidence” rather than “credible evidence”. It is the higher bar of probable versus possible. A third issue is the precedent set by the NFL by their inaction against several owners who have violated the PCP. A fourth seems to be that the NFL half-assed the case. Lastly there is also a legal issue with the PCP and CBA that I just read about here. Apparently the PCP was not explicitly incorporated into the CBA as many other documents have been. Thus it was not agreed to by the NFLPA. That opens the door for a suit by Watson and the NFLPA if the case goes against him. That all doesn’t necessarily mean that Watson will not be suspended. I think that a lot of people have simply heard the allegations, believed them and assumed he’d be punished based on that. Buzbee has done a masterful job of trying Watson in the court of public opinion too, but the legal case is not nearly as cut and dry.

Perhaps an educated guess by someone involved in the case.

I agree. 63 and a DC who is under a HC who was a DC. You can’t even know how much of the success on that side of the ball is him versus McDermott. That’s a tough sell even for a coordinator who is on the “right” side of the ball, and he’s not.

And yet another twist. Interesting.

Yeah, I am a parent. And one thing I’d never do is tell one of my children I’d make it worth their while to lie for me.

Some more twists and turns.

The choice of agent certainly gives insight to a player’s priorities.

Meh. There’s a huge difference to me between now, when I know we can win it all, and when we had Wrex and Tyrod/EJ and I knew we had no chance.

The response of the team to this sort of thing is what matters. Most fans are expecting a SB win and getting hopes up that high can hurt if the team falls short. Personally I know they’re good enough to win it all, but that it’s a tough road. I’m just trying to enjoy the ride. The toughest part for me is that I just want the playoffs to start already. That’s where this team will show its worth.

Kraft was charged with solicitation of prostitution. The video evidence of him doing so (more than once) was found to be inadmissible, so those criminal charges were dropped. But the video proof was certainly something the NFL could use and should have resulted in him being found in violation of the PCP. But the NFL chose to sweep it under the rug. Snyder has done far worse. Watson’s lawyers have stressed that Watson was not charged with a crime - by two grand juries - and they contend that the civil suits were nuisances. Anyone can file a civil suit against anyone else, so what matters (or should matter) to the NFL is the evidence that is brought to light by such cases. The NFL did not submit any evidence of violence, threats of violence or coercion. So that leaves us with Watson trying to talk women who were giving him massages into having sex with him as potential violations. I can’t imagine that would stick, but if the arbiter thinks that is enough to suspend Watson then that’s what she will do. The other issue is the clause written into the policy: “Ownership and club or league management have traditionally been held to a higher standard and will be subject to more significant discipline when violations of the Personal Conduct Policy occur.” Watson’s lawyers have argued that the league’s inaction with Kraft, Snyder and Jones would warrant dismissal based on that clause. If the arbiter takes those as precedent, then that will likely be what happens. But it’s not a given that will be the case. Originally I expected a suspension of 6-8 games for Watson, but after hearing info from the case I think there’s a real chance it will be dismissed. The NFL really looks like they screwed it up by ignoring the violations by owners and half-assing their side of the case. I know they are pissed that Watson didn’t negotiate a suspension and has maintained his innocence. If the arbiter finds that Watson is in violation of the PCP and issues a light or moderate suspension, I can see Goodell overruling it and dropping the hammer. That might lead to more issues, but I’m not sure cool heads would prevail.