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NFL Random Thought of the Day

This a seemingly very exciting breakthrough. However, as you dig more deeply into the the data, the excitement must be approached with caution. As I have reviewed FDA submissions for decades, this is what I would offer.

This test has never been test in sports. The test demonstrates 95.6% sensitivity. But no specificity data is offered. Keep in mind that in general, the higher the sensitivity, the lower the specificity, and vice versa.

A highly sensitive test means that there are few false negative results, and thus fewer cases of disease are missed. The specificity of a test is its ability to designate an individual who does not have a condition as negative. A highly specific test means that there are few false positive results.

Beyond the above limitations of the test, in the NFL there is an additional very important limitation............a concussion must be suspected AND acted upon before any test is ordered. We have commonly seen players demonstrate gross signs of concussion that are either missed or ignored.

Another potential problem is that players have historically been against having blood tests taken from them. They seldom have a problem with taking an MRI or CT scan........but they do have a problem with blood testing outside of routine physical exams unless they are mandated.

The trials mostly included Emergency Room cases such as auto accidents and other usually severe trauma (including those with crushed skulls). A clinical trial will have to be performed if validity of the test in that arena is to ve validated.

There is also a question as to if the detected "markers" for concussion are affected by previous concussion history.

The authors of the trials themselves acknowledge that they cannot prove the validity of the test when applied now to those with an immature brain...........ages <25 years old.............which make up such a large percentage of the NFL player population.

So in essence we have a concussion blood test now with as many questions as potentials. Only time will answer the critical questions for its value in the NFL.

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Rapid concussion blood test gets FDA approval, could be used on sidelines in future
By Josh Alper
Published April 18, 2024 08:13 AM

A blood test designed to aid in the rapid diagnosis of concussions has gained FDA approval.

The i-STAT Alinity test can detect two proteins released into the blood when someone suffers a concussion and, per statistics from its developer Abbott, has a 95.6 percent rate of ruling out concussions if the test is conducted within 24 hours of the injury. The test is faster than the existing i-STAT TBI test, which requires blood serum and the use of a centrifuge to process results.

Dr. David Okonkwo, a University of Pittsburgh professor and the Steelers’ team neurologist, helped lead the development team of the test and said it could be used during NFL games and other sporting events after further research.

“The nature of the studies performed to gain FDA clearance for these tests were done in patients brought to level one trauma centers,” Dr. Okonkwo said, via Abby Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “We have every reason to believe there is significant overlap with the injuries to athletes who sustain a concussion, but we need to do studies specifically in that patient population to confirm that use.”

Abbott expects the test to be available in emergency rooms and urgent care centers this summer.
Good stuff.
A blood test will remove all doubt and take the matter out of teams hands.
More protection for the players = a win.
 
Throwing distance is not solely a function of shoulder health. Weak QBs get a signficant distance with the work of their hips and force of the push off. At this point in his rehab, not mentioned by Berry or Cabot, is that he his still graduating from a smaller lighter ball...........a ball that can definitely be thrown further than the regulation game ball. [You may note that no videos have been publicly posted.]


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Deshaun Watson throwing up to 40 yards, in a “pretty good spot” with rehab
By Josh Alper
Published April 18, 2024 10:26 AM

There have been several positive updates about Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson’s condition in recent weeks and General Manager Andrew Berry provided another one on Thursday.

Watson has been at the team’s offseason workouts this week and Berry shared a note about how his right shoulder is progressing after last year’s season-ending injury.

“This week Deshaun was throwing up to 40 yards,” Berry said, via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. “He’s in a pretty good spot. Again, I don’t want to put the cart before the horse, he’s progressing as appropriate. We’re really, really pleased with the work that he’s put in and really pleased with how his shoulder’s responding, but we’re still in the rehab process. We know that it could take different left and right turns, but we’re pretty optimistic in terms of what we’ve seen so far.”

Berry said the expectation remains that Watson will be ready to go for the start of the regular season and that will continue to be the case as long as no signs to the contrary crop up as his workload ramps up in the coming weeks.
 

Reid..............."As long as he learned from it, that’s the important part of it"..............tell that to the victims..........


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Rashee Rice back catching passes from Patrick Mahomes in Texas


Chiefs receiver Rashee Rice is participating in the team’s voluntary offseason program, which is virtual until practice begins May 20. He also is back working with quarterback Patrick Mahomes in Texas.

Rice posted videos on Instagram on Wednesday showing him catching passes from Mahomes at a high school in the Fort Worth area.

Mahomes said earlier this week that he has worked with Rice throughout the offseason.
“I’m sure we’ll continue that work as the legal process plays out,” Mahomes said, via Pete Sweeney of arrowheadpride.com.

Mahomes organizes on-field practices three times a week in Phase One of the team’s offseason program. Then, the players meet with their positions coaches.

Rice’s status with the team was uncertain until Monday when coach Andy Reid met with local media.

Rice faces eight felony charges after losing control of a Lamborghini while reportedly driving 119 mph, causing a multi-vehicle crash on a highway in Dallas last month. Two victims in the crash have filed a civil suit against Rice and suspended SMU cornerback Teddy Knox, who also was speeding, lost control and wrecked while driving Rice’s Chevrolet Corvette.

Rice led the team’s wide receivers with 938 yards and seven touchdowns on 79 receptions last season as a rookie, and the Chiefs are counting on him to start opposite Hollywood Brown.

“As we’ve done in the past, we’ll just wait for the law enforcement part of it to take place and then we’ll go from there,” Reid said Monday. “I have had an opportunity to talk to Rashee. I’m not going to obviously get into that. As long as he learned from it, that’s the important part of it.”
 
Interviews for Walt Anderson’s replacement start next week
By Mike Florio
Published April 18, 2024 05:31 PM

Walt Anderson is out as the head of NFL officiating. Who will be in?

Per a source with knowledge of the situation, interviews for the job will commence next week.

It’s the NFL’s most important in-season position during football season. Anderson was ultimately responsible for conducting replay reviews for all games.

He also was the only in-house voice to explain calls made and not made. The league didn’t use him in that role very often, however. (Once upon a team, the league made the V.P. of officiating available on a weekly basis to discuss the big calls of the weekend that was.)

Once last year, Anderson appeared suddenly and randomly on Monday Night Football to explain a fairly inconsequential non-call of roughing the passer in a game between the Raiders and the Lions.

To the extent the league is dealing with perception issues arising from legalized gambling and the game’s connection to it, it’s critical to have someone who can make great decisions in real time — and who can and will explain tough calls persuasively and transparently.

As we’ve said before, the NFL should bring back Dean Blandino. While they’re at it, the NFL should incorporate the UFL’s open-book approach to officiating discussions.
That’s the way to ensure public confidence in the integrity of the game. Especially in an environment that has prompted many to suspect that there’s a strategic reason for the secrecy.
 
Dak Prescott’s decision to sue for extortion might have opened door for sexual assault claim
By Mike Florio
Published April 20, 2024 09:02 AM

Sometimes, it pays to take an aggressive and proactive approach to the court system. Sometimes, it backfires.

For Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, it might have backfired.

Earlier this year, Prescott received a demand letter from lawyers who represent a woman who accuses Prescott of sexual assault. The alleged incident happened in February 2017.

The biggest problem regarding a potential civil lawsuit alleging sexual assault against Prescott came from the applicable statute of limitations.

Put simply, it was too late for the alleged victim to sue Prescott for sexual assault.
Prescott and his lawyers reacted to the demand letter, which sought payment of $100 million, by suing the alleged victim and her lawyers for extortion. And, under Texas law, that apparently opened the door for Prescott to be sued for alleged sexual assault.

The answer appears in Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. Section 16.069. Here’s the language of it: “If a counterclaim or cross claim arises out of the same transaction or occurrence that is the basis of an action, a party to the action may file the counterclaim or cross claim even though as a separate action it would be barred by limitation on the date the party’s answer is required.”

Prescott’s alleged victim did indeed file a counterclaim against Prescott. The counterclaim alleges defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, sexual assault, assault, and false imprisonment.

The counterclaim itself has few details. This is the full extent of the allegations regarding sexual assault: "[Prescott] is liable for sexual assault due to him intentionally or knowingly causing the penetration of the sexual organ of Counter Plaintiff without her consent.”

Prescott’s primary defense is and will be that sexual assault didn’t happen. However, if he hadn’t sued first, he wouldn’t have to deal with that claim at all.

For now, Prescott’s lawyers likely will try to argue that the sexual assault does not “arise out of the same transaction or occurrence that is the basis of an action,” since the lawsuit arises not from the sexual assault but from the alleged effort to extort Prescott. I haven’t researched the issue (that’s a lawyer’s way of saying “I don’t know”), but there surely will be a fight over whether the extortion lawsuit does indeed open the door to the sexual assault claim.

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Another great QB that never got to the Big Game. RIP, Gabriel!

Former NFL quarterback Roman Gabriel dies at 83

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Why Roman Gabriel never gave Hall snub "a lot of thought"

Former Rams' and Eagles' quarterback Roman Gabriel says he hasn't given his snub by Pro Football Hall of Fame voters "a whole lot of thought." Here's why.
  • JUN 4, 2018 11:16 AM EDT
There aren't any quarterbacks on the short list of the Hall of Fame's senior committee -- at least, there haven't been lately -- and that includes guys like Ken Anderson, Cecil Isbell and Jim Plunkett.

But it includes former Rams' and Eagles' star Roman Gabriel, too, and, no, unlike the others, he didn't win an NFL championship or appear in a Super Bowl. But he was such an accomplished quarterback that he was the league's MVP and Bert Bell Award winner in 1969, its Comeback Player of the Year four years later and a four-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro.

So why hasn't he been mentioned as a Hall-of-Fame candidate? One reason is rings.

He doesn't have any, and that's usually how we measure coaches and quarterbacks for Canton. Another is playoff wins. He doesn't have any of those, either, and that ends the conversation.

But it shouldn't. Because Roman Gabriel was one of the best quarterbacks of the 1960s. In fact, he was 41-11-4 during a four-year run where the Rams twice won division championships, and I know what you're thinking: Yeah, well, big deal.

Actually, it is. Because the Rams had one winning year and no playoff appearances in the 10 seasons prior to 1966, the year George Allen named Gabriel his starting quarterback, and were a combined 43-83-4 during that time. Plus, they made that four-year push while sharing the division with the mighty Baltimore Colts and John Unitas.

Yes, the Rams had the Fearsome Foursome. But they also had a quarterback who twice led the league in touchdown passes and once in yards passing, who from 1966-72 ran for 22 touchdowns -- more than any Rams' running back -- and who from 1962-76 had more rushing TDs (30) than any quarterback anywhere.

Moreover, Roman Gabriel still holds the Rams' career records for most touchdown passes and victories by a starting quarterback.

So why hasn't he at least been given a look by the Hall's voters?

"I never really gave it a whole lot of thought," Gabriel said on the latest Talk of Fame Network broadcast, "especially when it took my good friend, Kenny Stabler, to die to get in.

"I'm really pleased with my life. I'm in the Wilmington (N.C.) Hall of Fame, my hometown. I'm in Wilmington's Walk of Fame. I'm in my college's - N.C. State -- Hall of Fame. And the North Carolina Hall of Fame.

"Some things are good, and some things happen. If it happens, it happens. And it would be great. But I don't think about it."

There's one other aspect to Gabriel's candidacy. He was the first quarterback of Filipino descent to start in the NFL, and that should count for something -- much like the Raiders' Tom Flores becoming the first Hispanic quarterback in the NFL. One difference, of course: Flores won two Super Bowls as a head coach, one as a player and one as an assistant. Gabriel did not.

"From what I've been told and what I researched, when I retired my numbers were comparable to some of the gentlemen that are in the Hall," Gabriel said. "So I think that probably means as much as anything -- the body of work.

"Like my good friend, David Ray, our kicker -- at one time he led the league in points scored -- (told me). Somebody asked him about me, and he says, 'Well, where would the Rams have been without him?' "

It's a good question … with a ready answer: Not at the top of their division.
 
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Don’t they have to do an extension for cap reasons?

And if he already has a guaranteed contract what are the odds he signs one that isn’t 100% guaranteed?
The Browns have already been churning the restructuring grinder.

  1. Restructuring takes a player's current salary and reduces it to the vet minimum, converting the remaining amount into a bonus.
  2. This bonus can only spread up to 5 years (including the current year). It also cannot go beyond the current contract length - unless you add void years.
  3. Void years are not real. A player can't play on them, so when you hit them you have to do something with the player. If the player is cut/traded/retired, you pay all of the void years immediately (or split over 2 years as a post-June 1st). The other solution is to extend the player. In this case, the bonuses in the void years remain, but they're assigned to a dead contract and can't be tampered with. You can only restructure a player's current salary, so their new extension.
Therefore, there are limits. You would keep piling a lot of money as dead money that you eventually have to pay, even if the player is off of your team.

An extension at this time would continue to add burden to future caps and would likely grow faster than the cap.

You only make this type of move if the player is a "proven" consistently elite player..........that can continue elite production.................and that can stay on the field. At this point, Watson isn't such a player.

And on the way, other players on the team have also already been restructured........and have added to the future cap burden.

With all of this good players eventually have to be released. Meanwhile, you better have AAA Drafts.

And if you insist on going with this strategy, expect the Ponzi scheme to blow up in your face............a fitting end to a criminally-run Haslam organization
 
Follow the title link for the rest of this interesting piece.

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The Cowboys keep trying to change the meaning of the term “all-in”
By Mike Florio
Published April 21, 2024 10:56 AM

Jerry Jones hasn’t put his football team in the Super Bowl, or even in the NFC Championship game, since 1995. Keeping his franchise at an extremely high degree of national prominence for the past 30 years without significant on-field success is arguably more impressive than winning a Super Bowl during those three decades.
 

ESPN’s O.J. Simpson documentary leaves no doubt; he did it
By Mike Florio
Published April 20, 2024 10:03 PM

After Hall of Fame running back O.J. Simpson died earlier this month, the murders of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman received renewed focus. Many continue to believe he did it. Some still insist he didn’t.

I’ve re-watched ESPN’s O.J.: Made In America documentary, which is currently streaming on Netflix. The five-part series makes it crystal clear.

He did it.

The smokiest of the smoking gun is the shoes. The Bruno Magli shoes that left a print in the blood at the scene of the butchering of the two victims.

Despite all the evidence the prosecution had available to it, it lacked two key things: (1) sworn testimony from Simpson denying that he would ever wear such “ugly ass shoes"; and (2) a photo of Simpson wearing said ugly ass shows while working for NBC.
The civil case had both of those facts. And that, folks, is game over.

Simpson vehemently denied owning the shoes, not realizing there was a photo of him wearing them. Given Simpson’s denial, the picture painted one very specific word.
Guilty.

He did it. If you continue to swear he didn’t, watch the documentary. The prosecution blew it. The civil case did not.

Yes, he has died and that’s a tragedy for his family. But he got to live a full life. His victims did not. They should not be forgotten. Especially when it’s clear that they’re not alive today for one reason: O.J. Simpson.
 
Can we put the Watson stuff back in the Watson threads so I can go back to ignoring it again?

7457f6bd7c6c4097b220e4c90473f4a2.jpg


My man, there was a thread. It was complained on that people would post on it and it would be at the top of the feed. People would complain in the thread about the thread. Mods shut it down. Now here we are. It’s now in the NFL thread.
 
Follow the title link for the rest of this interesting piece.

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The Cowboys keep trying to change the meaning of the term “all-in”
By Mike Florio
Published April 21, 2024 10:56 AM

Jerry Jones hasn’t put his football team in the Super Bowl, or even in the NFC Championship game, since 1995. Keeping his franchise at an extremely high degree of national prominence for the past 30 years without significant on-field success is arguably more impressive than winning a Super Bowl during those three decades.
Promise steak but just set the fan where it will blow smell from kitchen.
 
Brandin Echols, Jets sued for 2022 car crash that injured another driver
By Josh Alper
Published April 23, 2024 12:33 PM

Jets cornerback Brandin Echols and the team have been sued over a car crash that injured another driver and led to Echols being suspended for the first game of the 2023 season.

Anthony Attrino of NJ.com reports that Stephen Gilberg claims in the suit that Echols hit his car while speeding and that Gilberg’s car “catapulted into the air, striking and going over the guardrail, overturning and landing upside down in a marshy area.” Gilberg was hospitalized and, per the suit, continues to receive treatment for his injuries.

The lawsuit contends Echols had a history of reckless driving and that the Jets were negligent by employing him.

“New York Jets LLC did not exercise reasonable care in hiring defendant, Echols, as one of its players in that they failed to conduct the proper motor vehicle and/or criminal history checks and/or reference checks,” the suit states.

Echols was arrested after the crash, but entered a pretrial diversion program. He was suspended for the season opener last year and returned to make 11 tackles and return an interception for a touchdown in 14 appearances.
 
If Watson and the Browns are a random thought multiple times a day. Is it really a random thought?
What if there was a Derek trade thread and Caserio was using a 4th rd pick in this draft from that trade, but posters aren't allowed to comment on the pick in the Derek trade thread because Mods dont have to follow forum rules?
 
7457f6bd7c6c4097b220e4c90473f4a2.jpg


My man, there was a thread. It was complained on that people would post on it and it would be at the top of the feed. People would complain in the thread about the thread. Mods shut it down. Now here we are. It’s now in the NFL thread.
Guess the mod will be deleting this thread too.

Cant have a place to talk about the perv.
 
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