The Weird, Wacky and Awesome World of the NFL - General Banter thread V3

letowski

https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1121955270224240643

Billy86

Nooo! I always loved Baldwin, a pretty under-talented guy (compared to other no.1 WRs) who just maximised the f*** out of everything he had and fought like a bast*rd on every snap for every catch, going from UDFA to pro bowler in doing so and averaging over 1,000 yards per season for a few years. Hoping he gets to play again.

jack presley

Seabass has retired after 19 years.

j8wk2feszrnpao

Giants 6th round pick injures in shooting; college team mate shot dead.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/american-football/48087313

Knex*

Jesus, that's mental.

phatkev

jack presley wrote: »

Seabass has retired after 19 years.

Think I read Brady is the only player left in the league from that draft now

Billy86

phatkev wrote: »

Think I read Brady is the only player left in the league from that draft now

Pretty sure he's the longest serving player in the entire league, after his own old kicker Adam Vinatieri.

Also Phil Dawson and Matt Bryant, but both are free agents in their 40s and quite likely to never play again (but also reasonably likely to be picked up if a team realises their kicker is awful, or has an injury midseason).

jack presley

No more great attempts at a tackle like this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKrkWCBVovE

el Fenomeno

https://twitter.com/ShannonSharpe/status/1123054218795933696

Hazys

Ty Law tells a story about the time he went on the Raiders bus after the "Tuck Rule" game

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZllIDaZ4TkQ

Oat23

Bears have 8 kickers at mini-camp. Everyone at camp gathered round today to watch each of them get 1 kick from 43 yards out which is the same distance as the Parkey miss. 6 of the 8 kickers missed.


Good lord.

edit: apparently one of the kickers who missed doinked it. Send him home.

Billy86

Pretty good idea actually, put them under pressure early. Bad results sure but better than finding our your kicker has no bottle in week 3 with seven seconds on the clock, down by 2,on the opponents 30yd line.

OldMrBrennan83

Shows a weak mindset for me that they picked that exact distance. Last season, get over it and move on. Poor management.

raze_them_all_

OldMrBrennan83 wrote: »

Shows a weak mindset for me that they picked that exact distance. Last season, get over it and move on. Poor management.

Well not really, its a show us you can make this kick , your job is on the line. Do it. Tests out the kickers mental strength apparently 6 came up short

OldMrBrennan83

raze_them_all_ wrote: »

Well not really, its a show us you can make this kick , your job is on the line. Do it. Tests out the kickers mental strength apparently 6 came up short

Kick from 50, even kick from 45. But let the 43 go, it's gone. Shows a staff that's letting it affect them too much.

raze_them_all_

OldMrBrennan83 wrote: »

Kick from 50, even kick from 45. But let the 43 go, it's gone. Shows a staff that's letting it affect them too much.

kick from further they can claim they would of made the kick from 43.

Oat23

The miss from 43 is what cost the last kicker his job and the reason we have 8 kickers at a mini camp. Don't see the problem reminding them of it. If they can't handle the pressure then go home.

It was just one mini camp kick though. It won't make or break their career.

Bears also hired a kicking coach for this season, which bizarrely isn't a thing in the NFL (before now at least). I always assumed given the importance of the position there was a dedicated coach, but apparently not.

eagle eye

I'm sorry but this is insane. You get yourself a great kicker and then you have a good sports psychologist help him with any issues.
It's just about being able to focus and keep your mind on doing your job regardless of circumstance. You can fix almost anybody as regards this.

mikemac2

The Ravens employed a part time kicking coach named Randy Brown for several years

His full time job was Mayor of a town in New Jersey

Foxtrol

Oat23 wrote: »

Bears have 8 kickers at mini-camp. Everyone at camp gathered round today to watch each of them get 1 kick from 43 yards out which is the same distance as the Parkey miss. 6 of the 8 kickers missed.


Good lord.

edit: apparently one of the kickers who missed doinked it. Send him home.

Bears traded for another kicker today, so add another one to that camp count (not the one Bears fans were hoping for).

Can't quite work out if they're just doing a good job at due diligence on as many kickers as possible or making such a huge thing about it since the playoff game that there's going to so much pressure/focus on the guy to be perfect. The cringe worthy kicking from 43 yards makes me feel it will go the way of the latter.

Oat23

Foxtrol wrote: »

Bears traded for another kicker today, so add another one to that camp count (not the one Bears fans were hoping for).

Can't quite work out if they're just doing a good job at due diligence on as many kickers as possible or making such a huge thing about it since the playoff game that there's going to so much pressure/focus on the guy to be perfect. The cringe worthy kicking from 43 yards makes me feel it will go the way of the latter.

I said the same thing on Reddit myself yesterday about all of the focus being on the kicker and him being pressured to be perfect, but I don't think there was any way to avoid that. It was the most heartbreaking loss in Bears history and the magnifying glass was always going to be on the kicking competition after it. If they can't pass a simple test at rookie minicamp then they didn't stand a chance. Any half decent kicker should be able to kick a 43 yarder in perfect weather conditions. They missed because they weren't expecting such a test and the pressure got to them. When they came back the next day 6 of the 8 were able to kick it.

The beat writers weren't allowed to post too much info from the rookie camp, but the best kicker was reportedly a fella named Casey Bednarski and even he didn't get offered a deal. All the tryout guys were let go without a deal and 2 guys already signed were waived.

We've got 3 kickers now. The guy named Blewitt, Elliott Fry and this kid from Oakland who was quite good in college. Hopefully one of them is decent. If not, there's always the option of signing someone like Phil Dawson in August then bring in Robbie in 2020. Ideally though, one of the youngsters will make the job his own and we'll be sorted at the position for a while.

Realt Dearg Sec

I think it's a good idea to get the position right, but there's something unnerving about this whole circus. Like, if a kicker (or any sports person) has a bad kick of the ball, misses a free, or whatever, a psychologically strong one will be able to remove that miss from their psyche, and be cold blooded and focused on the next one. And if they have a bad day, like Mason Crosby earlier in the year, they'll shrug it off similarly and get on with it. The bad ones are the guys who can't remove the last miss, the last bad day, from their psyche.

To me, it's like that, but the whole organization has gotten spooked by one bad kick, and one bad kicker. Instead of kicking him out and moving on, they've become obsessed with that one kick, reliving it over and over, testing people by their ability to do this one basically arbitrary distance kick that has become a psychological millstone around their neck.

Just remove the miss, and Cody Parkey, from our collective psyche, pick a new kicker and move the fcuk on with it like professionals. Having a competition is a good thing, having a competition where every kicker involved is constantly reminded that they are under pressure because we can't get over the past, is a recipe for turning it into a thing.

But maybe I'm just over-reacting. Probably because I haven't gotten over the missed kick, ironically.

Shedite27

Foxtrol wrote: »

Bears traded for another kicker today, so add another one to that camp count (not the one Bears fans were hoping for).

Can't quite work out if they're just doing a good job at due diligence on as many kickers as possible or making such a huge thing about it since the playoff game that there's going to so much pressure/focus on the guy to be perfect. The cringe worthy kicking from 43 yards makes me feel it will go the way of the latter.

Sounds like a bit of "covering their asses" to me. If a kicker misses a crucial kick next season, coaches can say "well as you know, we did a lot of work to make sure we had the right one"

thomond2006

Just trade Mack for Justin Tucker. Sorted.

Billy86

Oat23 wrote: »

Foxtrol wrote: »

We've got 3 kickers now. The guy named Blewitt...

:pac:

paulie21

Jason Pierre Paul suffered a fractured neck in a car crash. The guy is actually safer on the field

Oat23

Billy86 wrote: »

:pac:

People have been eagerly awaiting the camps since he signed so they can post stuff like this when he missed (which he did).

j8wk2feszrnpao

Looks like the case against Robert Kraft will likely be dismissed, video evidence suppressed.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/14/case-against-patriots-owner-robert-kraft-weakened-after-video-barred.html

As soon as the prosecution offered a community-service based plea deal, in their "concrete" human sex trafficking and soliciting prostitution case, it was on shaky grounds. Now the State Attorney and the Police Department are more likely to be sued for unlawfully obtained warrants.

Doesn't mean that Kraft will escape punishment from the NFL. In the World of "more likely than not", we all know what he was there for.

Foxtrol

munstermagic11 wrote: »

Looks like the case against Robert Kraft will likely be dismissed, video evidence suppressed.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/14/case-against-patriots-owner-robert-kraft-weakened-after-video-barred.html

As soon as the prosecution offered a community-service based plea deal, in their "concrete" human sex trafficking and soliciting prostitution case, it was on shaky grounds. Now the State Attorney and the Police Department are more likely to be sued for unlawfully obtained warrants.

Doesn't mean that Kraft will escape punishment from the NFL. In the World of "more likely than not", we all know what he was there for.

It is amazing what an army of high priced lawyers can get you. He'll get away with it in the eyes of the law based on a technicality but it is clear that he actually committed the crime. It will be a complete bottle job from the NFL if he isn't punished by them, especially with how players have been treated based on very questionable 'evidence'.

j8wk2feszrnpao

Foxtrol wrote: »

It is amazing what an army of high priced lawyers can get you. He'll get away with it in the eyes of the law based on a technicality but it is clear that he actually committed the crime. It will be a complete bottle job from the NFL if he isn't punished by them, especially with how players have been treated based on very questionable 'evidence'.

Nothing to do with high priced lawyers; all others in the case also plead not guilty and refused the plea deal. With the facts of the conduct of the police, it looks like a decent lawyer could have made the same case.

I'd imagine the NFL will dish some punishment, but doubt it'll be too severe. It was a consensual rub and tug; not exactly the crime of the century.