RLflutie7

I just watched the show and it was great. But a few thoughts come to mind and a few questions. After doing some fact checking, I think it's still unclear about what really happened. My facts come from a book written about the NFL by David Harris. I also have read a great deal about Robert Irsay in media reports going back to my college years to the present day. 1. Irsay paid about double the going rate for an NFL team. He bought the team from Carroll Rosenbloom while Rosenbloom got the Rams in a swap. I guess he paid about 25 million for the team which was about double at the time. Rosenbloom wanted out of Baltimore after failing to get a new stadium. Plus the press was hounding him. 2. Irsay, who was a drunk and considered a boob by other NFL owners, then put in motion moving the team after he too tired and failed to get a new stadium with the city of Baltimore. 3. Irsay was shopping his team to Jacksonville, Phoenix and Indy and I believe New York was also mentioned. I think he said he would never move his team to New York (he didn't like the city). 4. Irsay moved to team to Indy the day after Maryland passed a law saying the city of Baltimore could seize the team under eminent domain. 5. Irsay's lawyer said the city "put a gun to his head" about why the Colts took less money in Indy. Irsay said the domed stadium played a role. The move was a panic move. That's why the moving vans were called and it was done in an abrupt fashion. My conclusion is Irsay made a bad deal when he bought the team and he tired to fix it and he didn't know how to. He sold his heating and air conditioning business and sunk all his money into buying the Colts. He was in over his head. He didn't know how to deal with the media and politicians and when those people threatened him he moved. He wasn't going to lose 25 million because of a bunch of politicians. He got off on the wrong foot with the media in Baltimore with his penny pinching ways and they "beat him up" as he said in the ESPN show. There's no doubt that Robert Irsay was a jerk. He did make threats. He said that if Baltimore didn't build a new stadium he was going to move and that came before the eminent domain thing. Howard Cosell hated him and let him have it for shopping the team in such a public way. But I think he had to protect his money and I don't really blame him for doing so. If someone would have set down with Irsay (NFL people) and asked how can we help, the situation might have been avoided. Saying all of that, I think the biggest mistake was not giving the uniform back to Baltimore. I think that's why it took Peyton Manning before the city of Indy really embraced that team. I read somewhere, Irsay's son said he would sell the uniform for 25 million. I think that's why the NFL kept the Browns in Cleveland. Moving the Browns uniform to Baltimore would have sucked. Another issue I have with this issue is why Art Modell was always broke. He said he had to move the team to Baltimore and become the Ravens because he was broke. He did it to protect the money for his family, yet he said he had to sell the Ravens because he was broke. What gives?

I think the NFL is nuts when it comes to picking QBs. Mike Leach is right. The NFL doesn't do well picking QBs. He has 134 TDS in 39 starts. That's too impressive to pass up. Cleveland kept Brady Quinn and let Harrell go to Canada?? Why?

Walter hasn't started that many games and he was never declared a team's started like Trent has. Plus Walter has more physical skill than Edwards.

You do realize that our "Star" WR once questioned the sexual preference on Jeff Garcia back in their Niners' days, right? And even if they were on good terms, this organization is notoriously bad at aquiring free agents in mid-season. They would rather sign someone off the practice-squad than do what teams who give a damn do. Look at our injuries at Linebacker. Mitchell is gone for the year, two more weeks before Poz returns (not that he's any good when he does suit up), and you have a veteran LB like Derrick Brooks sitting around in the FOX broadcast booth. Oh, and before you give me the "he's too old" reply, New England just re-signed Junior Seau, who will make more plays than any of our LB's we will field this year, COMBINED! I think signing Derrick Brooks is a great idea. No argument. I think Andrew is better than what the Bills have now. From a physical standpoint, I don't think Walter can be beaten. I thought the Bills would go after Tyler Thigpen and I thought he was the best guy out there . . . but now he's gone.

He wouldn't be anything worse than the Bills have now and he can sure throw the dang ball. The Raiders said they let him go because he wasn't in good shape or at least not the best possible shape that he could be and they KEEP Russell. That's a laugh.

I'm sorry I didn't see this thread before I posted the same thing. I also think the Bills should sign Andrew Walter because he can throw the ball through the wind in WNY.

I think the Bills should sign Andrew Walter as their QB of the future. The guy can at least throw the ball through the wind, something Edwards can't seem to do. In the meantime, I think getting Garcia wouldn't be a bad idea and maybe let him take over the team.

I actually enjoyed the game. The leagues uniforms are not too bad - given the game plan they had. The problem is - it was a terrible game plan! Worst marketing ever! I'm going to give the league a chance, but the public probably won't. I think it's better in the fall because that's when football is played. People are outside doing other things in the summer. It could work in the spring and summer if the games were at night, like this one, but I don't see another spring season really working. It conflicts with baseball too much. Most baseball teams are done playing right now. But cold weather games are on the way for the UFL! That could hurt ticket sales or it could help. Time will tell.

And the games are just as compelling with players that don't juice as with the games that have players juiced. All those home runs don't mean your still winning that particular game. A guy can have two homers in a game and his team will still lose.

A yahoo news story about the Chargers and how AJ Smith said the Chargers are "soft" has Shawne Merriman speaking out. The story also mentions that Merriman has no sacks this year and he had 39 in his first four years. Am I the only one who thinks the steroids are gone and so is the player we once saw?

I thought he did look pretty good against NO, even though he had the three picks. Plus he looked good against KC, say what you will about that team. Bottom line, Philly scores more with other QBs at the helm. Why, I don't know. It's got to be McNabb. McNabb can't seem to lead his team to scores. Against Carolina, he was given a short field and they had a kick (punt) return for a TD.

Caught some of the highlights of Kevin Kolb this past weekend and I can't help but notice how good he looked. It seems every one of Donovan McNabb's replacements play better than him. Jay Feeley, Jeff Garcia and now Kolb. He was outplayed by Detmer also. I think fans in Philly have noticed. And I wouldn't be surprised if Vick came in and played better than McNabb. And now he's rushing back to the lineup. Sounds like someone wants the job handed to him.

Very good post and I think it applies to Edwards. He can't seem to put enough on the ball on certain passes. Many years ago, I heard Joe Theisman say that about Steve Stenstrom during a Sunday night game on ESPN. He said something to the effect that he couldn't throw the skinny post because he was too skinny or lacked the body thickness to make that throw. I think throwing a deep out with the right arc is the best indicator of great arm strength. However, there are not too many players in NFL history who can't make that throw.

It did indeed factor into the Browns decision, IMO. I think Brady hasn't shown a thing to justify him being the starter. We'll see how long he last. They did pay Quinn a ton and they'd look bad if they got rid of him. But there's a trade factor with Anderson also.

Because you ignore production. You declare a guy to be a one-hit wonder. You are assuming that Brady Quinn actually won the job vs being a high-round draft pick who was declared the winner because of his draft status. The throws that Anderson can make . . . and that's all the throws that are needed . . . gives him the nod. He can't help dropped balls.

The Dean. You really seem to be hung up on "draft status". And I can't figure out why. Anderson could start and play better than about half of the leagues starters. I'll take him in Denver any day. His so called "poor performance" last year was based on dropped balls that hit the receives right in the hands. Same with Jake Delhomme. Carolina fell apart in the season that he had Tommy John surgery. And he's had two bad games and every one wants to dump him. If they did, half the league would sign him, even at his advanced age. People also said Kurt Warner was done and look at what he's done.

Being a Bronco fan since 1979 this makes sense, because he's been very un-Bowlen like. In the past, Pat has always made the right calls. Now I don't know what he's thinking. I'm wondering if there are some money issues with Bowlen also. Things are really strange. He knows the QB is important. Or at least he used to.

Perfect post. ALL KINDS OF FAVRE VIKINGS STUFF . . . JERSEYS, T-SHIRTS, etc AVAILABLE ON NFLSHOP.COM. It's impossible to get these goods out in two to three days. Everyone knew all along he was coming back. Reebok knew something. How did the Vikings players not know. They knew. They were the ones that leaked the story. Someone saw the boxes of Farve jerseys sitting in the back room.

It does indeed reek. If I owned the Vikings, I'd tell Favre it's either training camp or you're not on my team. But he can still throw the ball. BTW, he doesn't compare to Kurt Warner, IMO.

And this could be a problem for years to come with the credit cards and home equity loans being cut off.

I think cheap tickets are the biggest problem with a team selling out. If tickets are too much, then people won't go. But the weather is a factor in Jacksonville too. It's too hot in September. Trust me, I know. I lived in Phoenix for 10 years and the Cardinals had games with 19K in the stands. The Cards got a new domed stadium and every game sold out. An exception would be Tampa Bay. They seem to show up and support their team and every game is sold out. However, the Dolphins always have trouble in September. I see a lot of empty seats in that hot weather. I think the USFL had problems when it was too hot and I think the UFL will have trouble in Vegas with over 100 temps.

Very well said. Performance is not the issue. It's the drama behind it all. It could have been avoided. He should have come out and said Gary Zimmerman skipped training camp and left it at that. But he keeps dancing around the issue . . . and that issue is training camp.

That's because he plays in New York and his last name is Manning.

Because he's turned into a drama queen. He's in, he's out, then in again. He's "holding court" with the media during his press conferences. If he didn't want to retire, then he should have said so. In no uncertain terms. He needs to get the media to back off. He didn't do that. Everytime he plays and his team loses the media brings up the retirement thing again. They should stop asking the question.

Everything is looking down in Denver. I can't believe how far the team has fallen in one year. Cutler had his flaws, but it was far better than now. I can't believe what's happened.