Tag: NFL

The AAF Apparently Needed a $250M Investment Just to Make Payroll in Week TWO

By on • ( 3 Comments )

Yahoo – For all the good publicity the Alliance of American Football received early on, it’s still a startup business. Like plenty of other startup businesses, the AAF might have been underfunded to start. The Athletic’s David Glenn, citing multiple sources, reported that the league was in danger of not making payroll last week, just the second week of the league’s existence.

The crisis was averted. Glenn wrote that Carolina Hurricanes majority owner Tom Dundon will be introduced as the AAF’s new chairman after investing $250 million to the AAF. The NHL owner’s investment allowed the league to meet its financial obligations...

“Without a new, nine-figure investor, nobody is sure what would have happened,” one source told Glenn at The Athletic. “You can always tell people their checks are going to be a little late, but how many are going to show up on the weekend for games when they don’t see anything hit their bank accounts on Friday?”

Isn’t this the first thing they teach you in business school? How to fund your business and keep the doors open? Thats like Day 1 stuff.

Look I am all for capitalism and people trying to make money and I really want the AAF to succeed, but without any big names like Tim Tebow playing, the only chance this league ever has of making it is if the NFL acquires it. The NFL would have to decide after over a decade of having no minor leagues (RIP NFL Europe) that they want to buy the AAF as a talent pipeline.

But I also find it hilarious that they’re almost going out of business in Week TWO after the peacocking about beating a regular season NBA game in the ratings on a random Saturday night and after Mattes faced the wrath of AAF Reddit (yes its a thing) for saying he wasn’t watching.

 

It’s a decent concept, but not exactly anything groundbreaking. I’d be curious to see the market specific TV ratings as it compares to competitors’ programming in the same time slots. Because not to sound like a complete arrogant dickhead, but we watch the New England Patriots up here. They have the greatest quarterback and the greatest coach of all time. So I’m not exactly fighting over the remote to watch Christian Hackenberg throwing ducks for 2 hours.

My point being, the smartest thing the AAF did was put these teams in cities where there isn’t established NFL competition. I know they’ve said they’re not competing with the NFL; they’re complimenting it. But even if they’re not competing with the NFL directly, they’re still competing for the attention of the NFL fan, which is why I’d be curious to see the TV ratings in those non-traditional football markets. Markets that are starved for the sport. It’d be like putting a Big 3 League residency in Seattle. There’s an appetite for it.

So while I wish the AAF all the best, aside from watching a few minutes of a game at the bar, this whole story doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. Not to mention they got Vince McMahon licking his chops with the XFL closer to kicking off every single day.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is Part Steve Jobs, Part Wizard

By on • ( Leave a comment )

This digital jersey witchcraft comes just a couple of days after ESPN reported how badly the NFL has been trying to convince him to sack Roger Goodell and become commissioner of the NFL.

Just look at the growth of the NBA under Silver:

“League revenues have increased from $4.8 billion to a projected $9.1 billion in Silver’s five years.”

and the growth of individual teams as well:

“Team valuations have increased by 267 percent, from an average of $509 million in 2013 to $1.9 billion in the latest Forbes Magazine valuations.”

The NBA has become the most popular sport in the world for anyone under the age of 25 and its not even close. The NBA and Fortnite are what kids care about and not necessarily in that order. I went to a youth basketball game last night and the effect is real:

A lot of that credit has to go to Adam Silver. Sure players not having to wear helmets that hide their face helps, but he’s made the NBA the most marketing friendly sport we’ve ever seen. It routinely embraces cultural trends, technology, and social media, and he’s had the NBA at the head of the line for two of the biggest opportunities in America: esports and legalized gambling.

I’m calling it right now. As the most progressive league in professional sports, the NBA will be the one to partner with the first national marketing campaign for recreational cannabis. Oh the NFL banned a marijuana commercial? Well Adam Silver will use that opportunity to make anyone even associated with the league even more money.

Just patently absurd how good this man is at his job and he ain’t resting. I still hate the advertising patches on jerseys and expect it to only get more distracting, but hey money talks.

NFL Draft Mini-Blog – NCAA All-Time Leader in Sacks Jaylon Ferguson Gets Offer to Combine Rescinded

By on • ( Leave a comment )

So I’m not linking to an article. Why you ask? Well, because I don’t have a ton to write about on the situation so pasting a blurb explaining it would pretty much dry out my quill. Elaborate I shall.

Jaylon Ferguson became the NCAA’s ALL-TIME LEADER in sacks this past season. The 6’5 262 lbs defensive end wracked 45 Involuntary Knee-Downs over the past four years, ending his career with 17.5 this past season (in 13 games). The reason you may have not heard of Ferguson, or of the record being set, is that he plays at non-powerhouse Louisiana Tech. The Bulldog program has most famously produced Super Bowl winner and HOF QB Terry Bradshaw, but has also turned out a solid smattering of talent throughout its years including HOF Offensive Tackle Willie Roaf. That said they obviously aren’t a name brand school and play in a small conference so when of their D-Ends goes off like this, it gets overlooked and chalked up to playing against lesser competition, etc.

As for the NCAA’s new record holder in career sacks and his recent banishment from the combine, well I call bullshit. Basically, he got in a fight his freshman year and picked up a  battery conviction for it. I’ll answer the two question possibly at the tip of your tongues right now. And NO I did not do any research (apart from the one story I read about this) – I am a man of honor – you can just learn a lot from the first couple of lines of stories in the list of Google results for a man’s name.

1.) There is no indication whatsoever this involved a woman or was any kind of domestic altercation. I feel like especially in this day and age that would be called out in black and white and up front if it was the case.
2.) In case you’re softer than a baby’s ass, there is also no indication this was any kind of “bullying” incident. I saw nothing that made me believe Ferguson gave a member of the band a pink belly or something like that.

This was literally described as a “scuffle.” An 18 year old kid got in a fight and got charged for it. He also got convicted. The fact that he has indeed been playing football tells me he indeed paid some sort of penalty as well. So why the fuck, pray-tell, four years later does the NCAA not only not allow him to participate in the combine, but really stick it to the guy in the form of inviting him then rescinding the invitation. From a thousand foot view of the philosophy of punishing people for stuff in order for them to learn to not do it again and that it was wrong, how does fucking this kid over four years AFTER HE HAS ALREADY BEEN PUNISHED really help anything? It doesn’t. It just potentially screws him out of hundreds of thousands of dollars (he’s looked at as a mid-late rounder so I’m not going to go overboard saying they cost him millions).

Really, how many times can we say “this is the NCAA at its worst.” It just sucks that such a corrupt, ridiculous organization is allowed to run something as lucrative as college sports. I have not voted once in my life but if a presidential candidate got up right now and said “if I win in 2020 I am going to punch Mark Emmert directly in the face” BOOM the Joey B lobby goes directly in his or her direction.

And yes I am now a huge Jaylon Ferguson stan. Let’s go Belichick do the smart thing.

If Joe Flacco is Elite He’ll Have to Prove It in Denver

By on • ( Leave a comment )

Not going to add a lot but WOW. That is a huge one. A Super Bowl MVP traded to a team that seems to be a QB away, among a couple of other parts.

First off this has to SUCK for Vance Joseph, who just got canned by the Broncos. Flacco may be what he is at this point, but I’m sure he would have preferred a mobile guy with a cannon for an arm over Case fucking Keenum.

Second, you have to imagine Baltimore is now going to stock up on weapons to surround Lamar Jackson now that he has been given the keys. He was shaky at best to end this season, to a degree the team’s fault and he needs some toys at his disposal to get his confidence back.

Lastly, you have to imagine this is going to play directly into John Elway’s future. He has not done so hot overall in Denver, especially since the QB With The Large Forehead left, so this might be his last chance at retribution.

Woooo ee. The NFL does not sleep folks.

Brian Hoyer Seems to Have Singlehandedly Won the Super Bowl for the Patriots

By on • ( 1 Comment )

Yahoo – Patriots backup quarterback Brian Hoyer used one of the projects [Peyton] Manning is currently involved with to help him prepare his teammates on defense for the Super Bowl…He bounced around a bit, but got a chance to be a starter in 2013-14 with the Cleveland Browns. In Cleveland, Hoyer played under offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan — and a young coach named Sean McVay, who was then tight ends coach.

Via Albert Breer of The MMQB, Hoyer (who also played for Shanahan in San Francisco) believed he’d have institutional knowledge of the offense McVay now runs with the Rams because of his time in Shanahan’s system.

So in the days before the Super Bowl he watched Manning’s “Detail” on ESPN+, the episode centered around Rams quarterback Jared Goff, and quickly realized the offense is the same one he worked in.

Hoyer watched film of the Rams, saw an interview in which Goff and McVay discussed McVay being in Goff’s ear right up until the 15-second cutoff during games, and for good measure, he watched the Amazon series “All or Nothing” which focused primarily on the last days of Jeff Fisher’s tenure with the organization but included McVay’s first organized team activities from his first months with the Rams.

The language was the same.

Armed with all of that, Hoyer was able to do a great job impersonating Goff during practice, preparing his teammates for how to play Los Angeles’ young quarterback.

I mean this was bound to happen sooner or later was it not? You have one of the best, most analytical quarterbacks of all-time in Peyton Manning just breaking down game footage for anyone with $4.99 in their pocket to see. Surely someone was going to watch that and use it to their advantage. Especially the Patriots if their opponent in the Rams appeared on said show. Especially if those MORONS didn’t even bother to change anything in the last 5 fucking years.

The key excerpt is just that. Brian Hoyer, from his time playing under Kyle Shanahan, and a young Sean McVay, on two different teams knew the type of system they like to run on offense. Except it wasn’t just the system that was the same.

“The language was the same.”

How is that even possible? For a league that treats the smallest of details like Soviet Bloc state secrets this is laughable. Now a lot of coaches rehash the same ideologies and styles of play over the years (i.e. Andy Reid, Wade Phillips), but to just re-use the same system without even changing a word here or there? Come on Sean, you learn this in every 9th grade homeroom across America when you need to copy off of your buddy’s homework.

 This was why it took two full years for the “A Football Life” documentary on Bill Belichick to come out. Released in 2011, the doc featured behind the scenes footage of the 2009 Patriots season, the one made famous for Bill predicting how easily the Pats would be stopped in the playoffs:

and him commiserating with Tom Brady on the sidelines during a blowout to the Saints

That was legendary, behind the scenes, insightful footage that I never thought would see the light of day. But it literally took two years after the season ended to come out. When half the players featured were no longer even on the team.  Not a couple of weeks after a game in real time so anyone with an ESPN+ subscription can watch behind the scenes Rams footage to go along with Rams game tape as well as a Hall of Fame quarterback breaking it down so even idiots like me can follow along.

Well hats off to Brian Hoyer for doing his goddamn job.

Hoyer had done such a good job preparing his teammates that when the Patriots were practicing in Atlanta, he felt frustrated.

“They had everything covered,” Hoyer said. “I was like, ‘Either these guys know what all our plays are, or they’re gonna ball out in the game.’ You could see it. They were playing so fast, they were so on top of it. And you get to the game, and they go and have the best defensive performance I’ve ever witnessed.”

The rest, as they say, is history.

Bill Belichick Does Not Mess Around; Already Repainted His Boat to VIII Rings

By on • ( Leave a comment )

You think you win that many Super Bowl rings by procrastinating? Hell no. Bill probably was on the phone (flip phone no doubt) with his boat guy the second he finished his Super Bowl post game press conference. He doesn’t care that it’s February and that his boat won’t see the light of day on Nantucket for another 3 months. God forbid someone sees the boat and thinks he’s only won SEVEN rings. Might as well be Mike McCarthy at that point.

Get your Belichick Hater of the Year shirt and stunt on everyone.

So Apparently the Alliance of American Football is Getting Good Reviews?

By on • ( 3 Comments )

Image result for alliance american football

Well, I did not see this coming.

Back in November, I presented my pretty frank thoughts regarding the upcoming, brand-new “professional” football league, the Alliance of American Football, which made its grand debut this past weekend. (Quick recap: I was NOT all that excited about it).

But all eight teams in the league saw their first round of action over the past few days, with varying degrees of success. And according to the numbers, people actually watched it:

Some reports even stated that close to three million viewers were tuned in at one point on Saturday night. A lot of things factor into those numbers, and it’s tough to pin down an exact total, but regardless: color me completely shocked.

ESPN’s Ben Cafardo responded by saying that the Houston/OKC game did peak with a rating of 3.2 from 11 p.m. to 11:15 p.m. that night, but the fact that they were lagging behind the AAF at any point on a Saturday night is still noteworthy.

Now, much of the initial interest could be due to simple curiosity. It’s new. It’s (slightly) different. And it was another way to get a football fix after the high from last week’s Super Bowl wore off. But, if we’re being honest, the XFL was the talk of the town when it first debuted in 2001 before flaming out in a flash, lasting just ONE season.

Image result for xfl meme

So while there is some reason for optimism for the AAF – much more so than I thought there would be – let’s all still pump the brakes here. Everyone has also been pointing out the “high quality” of football that was featured, but they fail to mention the following:

  • All four road teams lost.
  • One team was shut out entirely, and another two could only muster up six points.

Sure, these teams could still be trying to jell and work out the kinks, and I will admit that I did not watch one blessed second of any of the games this weekend. So how can I really say anything, right? OK. That’s fair. But maybe, just maybe, the level of talent in the league actually runs the full spectrum – from really bad to really good – and we could be seeing the first signs of a big competitive imbalance issue. (Remember, the league is made up of a bunch of NFL castoffs or former college players who couldn’t make it at the pro level.)

Or, maybe I’m just speculating too much and trying to save face for what I said in November. Only time will tell, but even after all the positive reviews I’ve seen over the past couple of days, I’m still not ready to dive in.

Also, let’s not forget that the aforementioned XFL will be making its comeback in 2020. The AAF has only this season to solidify its place in the hearts of fans throughout America until they will be squaring off against entertainment legend Vince McMahon, who will be determined that the league does not see the same fate it saw during the first go-round. Either way, it will be just one more obstacle this league will need to overcome not so far down the line.

Still, in an effort to be as unbiased and objective as possible, I want to point out a few things I liked upon perusing through roundups of the league’s inaugural weekend. It’s going to take a lot more than the following to rope me in, but without further ado:

(The Game is Much Quicker): As much as I love the NFL, some games, especially those in prime time, can have you in for quite the long haul. With all the commercials and replays, it can actually drag at points. Only Major League Baseball comes with comparable length times, and both leagues have been trying to do everything in their power to speed things up over the past few years. I don’t have the exact numbers for each AAF game this weekend, but most of the games wrapped up in just under 2.5 hours. Much of this has to do with less advertisements, but eliminating kickoffs, extra points, and shortening the play clock to 35 seconds (from 40) were also big factors as well.

 

Image result for kickoff nfl

You won’t be seeing any of this in the AAF.

(The “Sky Judge”): No, this is not some cool new Marvel character. It’s actually just the nickname for the ninth member of the officiating crew who sits up in the press box and has the ability to overrule bad calls made by their peers in real time. There is no stopping of the action, going to the hood, painstakingly analyzing some still shots, deliberating as a unit afterward, and THEN finally announcing a decision after a few painful minutes. Coaches do still receive two challenges, but the hope is that the sky judge will catch most of the bad calls and head off most disputes. (This is just another way to help speed up the game, too.)

(Everyone is Mic’d Up): Over the past few years, the NFL has started to provide fans with a few opportunities to listen into some of the action on the field. But in the AAF? Fans will be treated to that type of stuff all game long, even getting some on-the-spot insight into the mind of some officials:

As well as other cheeky shenanigans:

Pretty cool stuff there.

So, look, while the AAF had a great kick-off weekend and has I guess some potential, it’s still got quite a long way to go. While I’m not ready to go out and buy my Orlando Appolos jersey yet, I will be keeping a tepid interest in it for now, just in case.

What do you guys think? Have any of you watched it? We’d love to hear your thoughts on the AAF in the comments or on Facebook.

Is Danny Amendola Destined to Rejoin the Patriots?

By on • ( Leave a comment )

I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to blog this because this scoop is coming from a twitter user that does not have the end all be all blue check mark, but you’re all smart people so take this with a grain of salt. According to our guy here, the Dolphins are already feeling some buyers remorse on the big contract they gave Danny Amendola just one year ago and may move on from him this offseason. I think we all can agree that Amendola was at his best, like most offensive players, with Tom Brady and was unlikely to match that level of production elsewhere, especially with a bum like Ryan Tannehill throwing him the ball. Amendola did have 59 receptions last year, but only 1 touchdown so its understandable for a team about to bring in a new coach and offensive coordinator (albeit former Patriots coaches) wanting to start fresh.

Couple that with this “Bold Prediction” from ESPN today saying they expect the Patriots to load up at the receiver position as they so famously did back in 2007.

Similar to 2007, when they traded for Randy Moss and Wes Welker, New England will bring in a few receivers following a season in which they were limited at the position. Whether that’s early in the draft, in free agency or via trade, the cupboard will be well-stocked.- Mike Reiss

I don’t know if I would categorize bringing back Amendola as loading up, but wouldn’t you love to have him as the 3rd or 4th receiver next year? Especially if and when Chris Hogan leaves in free agency? He was set to make $6 million in Miami this year so if he does get cut he obviously won’t be making close to that in New England, which could present a problem for a guy who famously took a bunch of pay cuts to stay with the Pats. And he didn’t exactly hide his frustration with Bill on his way out the door so this reunion may not be as automatic as some fans would like to think. I would welcome it with open arms though.

This Felger and Mazz Take on Julian Edelman from 2011 Did NOT Age Well

By on • ( 2 Comments )

Listen it’s easy to pull bad takes out of anyone’s closet, Old Takes Exposed has literally made a career out of it, but this is so, so bad. Maybe it’s because as a 5’8″ moderately athletic guy I have an unhealthy affinity for underutilized slot guys, but I always felt like Julian Edelman was just waiting to take over for Wes Welker. Or maybe it’s because Edelman was a stud 5th wide receiver for me in Madden running in my empty sets. Who knows?

But the guy was athletic, shifty, quick (not to mention a beast on punt returns) so to just outright dump on the guy from the start makes no sense. He had 37 catches as a rookie in 2009, just a couple of months removed from playing quarterback at Kent State for christ’s sake.

Not to mention, he was the reason for the sneaky funniest thing Bill Belichick has ever said when he dropped a Wally Pip reference right in Welker’s face after Edelman’s punt return TD in the 09 preseason.

I always said if the guy could get healthy he would be a stud in the Patriots offense. What do you ya know? In 2013 when he played 16 games for the first time in his career, he broke out with 105 receptions for 1,000+ yards.

Now did I ever think in my wildest dreams that Edelman would blow past the cult status of Wes Welker, establish himself as arguably the greatest receiver in Patriots history, and earn Super Bowl MVP honors along the way? Umm..no.

But I always knew he’d be a great player in this Patriots offense. I was even chirping Volin about it back in ’13.