Richard Noggin

What's next?! The Flying J Browns (suggestive) vs the Gillette Patriots? Or the Home Depot Falcons vs the Walmart Broncos? Oh, wait...

You're absolutely right. I wish I could turn it off more often. But it's a part of me.

Tom Brady's "trash talk" was predetermined in a lab and then delivered without an ounce of human charisma. The chunky/Josh Allen-y shot was a funny moment, briefly, until it became obvious that Brady had nothing else, and was in fact using Allen's lack of golf consistency/acumen and his obviously superior stature as a distraction against Brady's own inconsistent game. You could actually hear the insecurity in Brady's voice/stiff delivery. Like a high school bully (it's all projection with these far-right wing #######). Which is especially abhorrent from a guy like Brady who got relentlessly ridiculed for his own body and perceived shortcomings in high school, college, and as an NFL prospect. He's SO insufferable. Thin skin on a guy who wins is especially dooshy.

I don't hate the Pat Williams responses (and I especially don't hate the Eric Moulds responses). But how exactly would "Pat in the 3-tech...allow Ed to do what he does best?" Ed Oliver's "best" is IN the 3-tech! He's been forced to line up at 0 or 1-tech fairly often in college and in the pros, unfortunately, based on necessity. But if you're trying to boost Ed Oliver's production, specifically, adding a NT makes more sense than adding another 3T. Right?

LOVE the guy enough that I created an entire Halloween costume/stadium persona based on the Fitzmagic T-shirt likeness that, to save money, uses the same reddish color on Fitz's hair and beard as on the red in the uniform. Being a sturdy enough guy with a ginger beard that effectively fills out, and cutting out that image above and covering my drought-era jersey chest numbers with it, and using a red, fitted sheet as a cape to cover the back numbers while it's all worn over HOCKEY shoulder pads to create the visibly padded affect without the bulk and restrictions of actual football gear. When I got into FULL costume for the KC home opener in like 2012, I had some fans asking for selfies with me, highlighted by a pair of Mexican dudes who were SUPER excited to get their pictures taken with "Football Man." REGRETTABLY, EVENTUALLY I discarded the pads-and-jersey-and-cape core of the costume, hoping for some forward progress for the team and for me. This is the alter-ego in 2012 doing the Twist with the wife of Marcellus Wallace.

[The thread name] is not a smart question.

I can't be okay in climates where the weather is so blandly consistent. Where there are two seasons (wet and dry) if you're lucky, or worse yet, only one wherein temperatures maybe change a little from "winter" to summer. I need the seasons of higher latitudes and/or higher altitudes. Gives life a natural rhythm, with beautiful reminders of our distance from the sun.

As a native WNYer who hates heat and doesn't love "the South," I actually really enjoyed my two years in Uptown Dallas when I was 30-32. Met some awesome people from all over, experienced significant snow/cold (for Texas, of course, but a snowman on a neighbor's patio survived for like 3-4 weeks) one winter, followed by over 30 consecutive days over 100 degrees the next summer. Lots of opportunity there, even during the great recession of 2008-2010. Very metropolitan without being too congested or overpriced.

2 women, to be accurate. But those cases smell a bit different than this (Watson) one in several ways. Bauer has been uniquely responsive to the accusations against him, and of course defiant in those fast responses. He never acted like a legal client looking to minimize civil damages down the road (the way Watson MOST DEFINITELY has). Doesn't make him innocent, but it does clearly differentiate these two cases, alongside the obvious difference in sheer volume of accusations, as well as the nature of them.

And you were somehow unaware of this prior to the golf thing? Tom Brady has been a humorless, insufferable doosh nozzle for decades.

You didn't DIRECTLY suggest it, no doubt. But removing bans on especially serious PEDs is dangerous and leads down the path to ALMOST/INFORMALLY REQUIRED use of powerful stuff at young ages. I know it's a problem already, but I don't think it's a problem we should AMPLIFY. I was just being a pedantic jerk anyways. I actually loved your post.

I cannot agree with this position, good sir. In recent years, a very manufactured, plastic appearance has overtaken the otherwise and nonetheless wonderful person in question. Some are unfortunately compelled to crowdsource their entire public self, which invariably skews in favor of the lowest common denominator. I'm being critical only superficially, mind you. Social media inspires some to try to become the filters they use to scrub their image of individuality (which is an enlightened way to say: flaw). That's what it is. I don't like pre-scrubbed presentations of anything. It's like aesthetic censorship. Buffing out the scars, smoothing over the prickly patches. I remember the 80s and 90s. I remember Glamour Shots. Fool me twice...

Hilarious. Several comedians have done this notion justice. Obviously, show me the TRUE limits of human athleticism and violence (or violent athleticism) on the football field. Like doomed gladiators. But that's of course just effing unethical, inhumane, and evil. The number of players who pursue the sport as a way out, and up, who sacrifice so much even WITHOUT the added necessity to use PEDs. It's obviously an option to almost any player who wants it. But to make it essentially a requirement is just monstrous.

So I omitted from your quote the effing comparison you make between sexual assault victims (accusers...and don't forget that this is civil court, not criminal) and "alien abduction" victims?! But then I thought better, as obviously it warrants further attention. Gross. Be better. But this bolded portion above really is the mess that drew me in originally. So criminal charges are on par with actual evidence? And...at the same time, victim testimony is NOT? "Believe the woman scenario"? I don't suffer well such misogyny. Small D energy in such a post.

I love this provision as a safeguard against accusations that are eventually found to be demonstrably false or somehow fraudulent on the whole. Of course we must not abide an athlete's immense privilege unjustly multiplying his or her fortunes and opportunities when the rest of us would more likely be terminated and in fact black balled. Nevertheless, we must at least acknowledge even the fractional likelihood of eventual exoneration in the face of such persuasive claims.

What does "somewhere in between" even mean in this particular set of circumstances? I mean, even if he is only HALF guilty (in frequency or severity) of what he's been accused of...he's a serial offender who should be expelled from the NFL. As a public we don't yet have access to enough admissible evidence to make any kind of truly informed determination beyond initial suspicions or dismissals. Of course you're allowed to have leanings. How could you not?

F Clay Travis.

Fixed it for you, in case Nick Tahou is a board member. Very litigious.

Weird to argue WR rankings amongst the premium tier likes of Hill, Adams, Kupp, Hopkins, Chase, Jefferson, Diggs, Evans, etc., given how uniquely gifted each guy is on that list. Celebrating one does not necessarily denigrate another. Could also probably toss in a few more prominent WRs (Brown, Thielen, Metcalf, Robinson, Samuel, and McLauren) to create a dangerous top-10/15. Of that cohort, only Tyreek Hill has coverage-busting cheetah wheels. The cheat code. Joystick movement skills. Paired with Jaylen Waddle, they could be a problematic duo to defend against, especially if Miami establishes its zone run schemes and play action concepts. Preston Williams has always struck me as more talented than he's shown, to be fair.

Don't overlook what a CLEAN athlete can do once they finally begin to push a regimen for the first time. MANY NFL prospects have yet to unlock their full potential based on a more focused regimen. I'd guess Terrel Bernard, for example, could easily gain 5-10 lbs of functional mass between now and September.

Sometimes it is best to simply sit back and watch as the bodies of your enemies float past

One MIGHT suggest that the "way" you're alluding to involves routing more cap resources towards scoring points (supporting Allen) while tightening the belt on the defensive side of the cap. Can't pay TWO safeties top dollar once the QB money kicks in, for example. That money needs to be divvied up at all three levels of the defense, rather than concentrated in one position group. Make our DEFENSIVE and SECONDARY coaches (including the HC) do more with less. It's the way of corporate America.

With whispers of a sample size greater than zero games, and so many early/1pm starts, especially, Jim Kelly (along with an incredibly accomplished cohort of teammates) was likely still sporting a BAC above zero at kickoff, and/or operating on an alarmingly acute sleep deficit. I'm sure some of the stories about 80s/90s Bills player pre-game "nerves" are legitimately funny.

It will have already happened in 2 years, innit? He will have completed his 4th and final season on his rookie deal, and will most likely have already been signed to his first extension or his first free agency deal, (or I guess his first franchise or transition tag) in Buffalo or elsewhere by May of 2024. Those who argue that Davis has ALREADY broken out get my vote. The entire league has TAPE of Gabriel Davis producing as a dangerous boundary receiver. The only question now is will the player stay healthy enough to produce like that for a full season. He has been hindered by injury at points of both seasons to date, and likely as a result, I recall a game or two last season where Davis was NOT on the same page as Allen on intermediate and deep routes (maybe due to complexity of option-heavy route concepts and missed reps). That last Jets game, for sure, and maybe the Colts? Who knows how Dorsey will tweak the usage of option routes in 2022?

The dude is known as SHADY for a reason, people. He throws shade always. He also throws praise. No matter what, though, from what I've witnessed, the dude really likes to hold court. Command the conch shell, if you will. Bogart the mic. Not a ton of NFL players or personnel are as free with their unflattering opinions in mixed company. I've been in close proximity with McCoy and his teammates on more than one occasion where Shady was entertaining the room with animated digs at other guys around the league. And he's funny while he does it. Guys respond to it. But he's also arrogant about it*. *More so when he first arrived in Buffalo. Richie Incognito, Doug Whaley, and Russ Brandon were the only other Bills who were similarly "loose" with the hot takes outside school (read: in front of my dumb arse while out to dinner at team functions or just generally). I once watched Kerry Collins give a diplomatic but ultimately critical take on Vince Young while they were teammates in Tennessee. Jason Garrett had asked him point blank, across the dinner table (that also included Jay Cutler, a high profile player I'm forgetting, and the heads of like ESPN and whatever recording label owned George Strait in 2009), what the deal was with Young. Collins eventually called him "an every now and then guy. Every now and then in practice he does something that makes you go 'wow'." The insinuation very clearly being that most of the time...not so much. Shady isn't similarly careful. No positivity sandwich with his spilled tea.