2019-2020 NFL Thread

[Cancer]

Ugly last few minutes (wall time, not game clock time) in the Steelers-Browns game.  Not sure I'd someone rip someone's helmet off and hit him with it before.

[Old Man]

Didn’t see it but it sounded real bad. The ejection list is almost as long as the casualty list. 

[Pariah]

The Browns cut one player who was facing a 10-game drug suspension earlier today. I wonder if they'll cut this jackass, too. Because he's definitely looking at a suspension.

[Starlord]

Garrett should get a massive suspension, at least 8 games.  The QB Rudolph should be fined/suspended also.  He was trying to rip Garretts helmet off after being tackled by him and that seems to have instigated the whole thing.

[Cygnia]

Even in victory, the Browns gotta Brown.

[Pariah]

I wasn't watching, but it sounds like a nasty game. Multiple headshots and targeting calls, unusually physical play, and then the brawl to finish it off. Sounds like there will be multiple fines and suspensions.

 

And these two teams play again in two weeks.

[Pariah]

From the League office. No big surprise.

 

"Garrett has been suspended without pay indefinitely -- at a minimum of the remainder of the regular season and postseason -- and must meet with the commissioner's office prior to a decision on his reinstatement. He was also fined an additional amount. Garrett violated the unnecessary roughness and unsportsmanlike conduct rules, as well as fighting, removing the helmet of an opponent and using the helmet as a weapon."

[Cygnia]

Some believe Mason Rudolph, hit in head with his own helmet, isn't getting enough blame

[Michael Hopcroft]

7 minutes ago, Cygnia said:

Some believe Mason Rudolph, hit in head with his own helmet, isn't getting enough blame

I'm inclined to agree. He started the fight and then escalated it. He tried to tear off Garrett's helmet and provoked him to respond in kind. Quarterbacks are supposed to be smarter than that.

 

Are there any circumstances under which referees can stop or even call off a game that gets dangerously rough (to the point that they need a lot of security people to protect the players from fans charging the field)?

[Pariah]

None of the videos I'd seen previous to this one showed Rudolph's involvement before he got his helmet yanked off. This definitely puts the incident in a whole new light.

 

I'm still not willing to say that Garrett was punished too harshly--I think he should be arrested, personally--but Rudolph probably needs to sit for a game and re-evaluate how he handled it, too.

 

I wonder if Rudolph is going to find himself in the crosshairs for retaliation a couple of weeks from now?

[Grailknight]

Rudolph is in no way blameless but Garrett went beyond the pale  when he swung the helmet. I'd give Garrett the rest of this season and 4-8 games next year. Pouncey got it right with 3, the other Cleveland line backer and Rudolph should get 1 each.

[Michael Hopcroft]

1 hour ago, Grailknight said:

Rudolph is in no way blameless but Garrett went beyond the pale  when he swung the helmet. I'd give Garrett the rest of this season and 4-8 games next year. Pouncey got it right with 3, the other Cleveland line backer and Rudolph should get 1 each.

As it turns out, Rudolph will apparently be fined but will not get a suspension. Which strikes me as odd for a reason I'm not going to mention here.

[Grailknight]

1 hour ago, Michael Hopcroft said:

As it turns out, Rudolph will apparently be fined but will not get a suspension. Which strikes me as odd for a reason I'm not going to mention here.

 

Well he could be getting off because he lost the fight. The only other reason is one i'd hoped this country has moved beyond but holds when you compare Rudolph to the other involved.

[Old Man]

1 hour ago, Grailknight said:

 

The only other reason is one i'd hoped this country has moved beyond

 

I have some bad news for you...

[Grailknight]

It's have hope or take some drastic action that'll make things worse.

[Pariah]

The fact that he's a quarterback probably helps too.

[Starlord]

I don't think it's because Rudolph is Pretty Fly.  However, the onslaught of horror and indignation from the media and pundits afterwards though?  Maybe.... 

 

Perhaps people forget that these men violently collide, spear and clothesline each other for 60 minutes straight every week.  That helmet shot was probably one of the least painful hits Rudolph has taken this year.

[Old Man]

Excellent writeup: Kaepernick's tryout proves the NFL is colluding to shut him out of the league.  (He excelled at the tryout anyway, by all accounts.)

[Cygnia]

 

[Enforcer84]

So.... the last guy to swing a helmet did so at Richie Incognito in 2017...had a history of beefs with Richie and it was way more likely that he was more than reacting. 

Antionio Smith got ...*checks notes* a 1 regular season game ban. (and the final 2 pre season games.) I'm assuming this clearly insufficient punishment happened because the pearl clutchers in the NFL head office couldn't be bothered to watch a pre-season game? 

 

I know Smith missed. That could be it, but he also had a beef with Richie, clearly attacked him two or three more times. Rudolph took exception to a rough tackle near the end of the game (after the play whistled dead) went for two nut shots and then attacked a guy being held back and got hit. Then his team gang tackled the dude and stepped on him. Only one guy was given suspension. And he was the "Kick him in the head" guy.

 

Oh and Antonio Smith is black and Richie was white. So for once, the disparity in punishments seems more, "Protect the QB" rather than overt racism. Though clearly could be both.

 

 

But as Burfect can attest, Roger Goodall is a bitch. 

[Starlord]

Well, to be honest, so is Burfict.

[Enforcer84]

Both can be true!

[Cancer]

Yeah, I'm in the "You're two for two, keep going" camp there.

[Old Man]

Kareem Hunt, who kicks women? Adrian Peterson, who hits kids?

[Pariah]

Warning: Some of the details are still a little unclear to me. Well-intentioned correction where appropriate is appreciated.

 

The entire Kaepernick tryout thing was bollocks from beginning to end. The NFL schedules a tryout for him...on a Saturday afternoon in November, when most teams' scouts will be at college games looking at next year's draft prospects. Without really coordinating with him.or his agent, apparently. And they ask him to sign the same kind of waiver/release/contract that an undrafted rookie prospect would have to sign to attend the combine. Or something.

 

Then, half an hour before the said tryout is supposed to start, Kaepernick's people come out and basically say, "Colin has decided to relocate the event to a venue of his own choosing, one that's not under League control, and that can accommodate more cameras. Oh, and it's 40 minutes from here. But we've pushed the start time back an hour, so if you leave right now, by the time you get there and find parking, you'll have a good 30-45 minutes to get set up. See you there!"

 

Of course, some people opted out at this point. But those who stuck around got to see Kaepernick throw and run and take photos and generally demonstrate that he's still more athletic than several quarterbacks currently playing in the NFL. Which wasn't exactly a secret to begin with.

 

And then the talk and the articles started coming in. Kaepernick's supporters said the whole thing was a setup to make it look like the NFL was giving him a legitimate shot without actually doing do. Detractors said that Kaepernick's last-minute change of venue was a bait-and-switch that proves that he's a prima donna who only wants to play football if he can do it on his own terms.

 

In the end, there were no winners and no losers, because nothing changed. Kaepernick will still claim collusion, the league will still claim that he's not really serious about playing in the league if he can't be a star. And Nike will continue to pay him, because at this point he's arguably more marketable if he's not playing.

 

Status quo, Clarisse. Sound and fury, signifying nothing.