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NFL Random Thought of the Day

The unanticipated consequences keep rolling on.......Gambling and honesty are an oxymoron.

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Maverick Carter’s gambling admission has direct, and significant, relevance to the NFL
Published December 1, 2023 09:46 AM

On the surface, the news that Maverick Carter, close friend and business partner of LeBron James, admitted to betting on games illegally through a bookie means nothing to the NFL. At a deeper level, it means everything.

It underscores the fact that the NFL has no authority or control over the people who represent players and who, in turn, receive and possess plenty of inside information about matters such as injuries, game planning, and any/all other relevant tidbits that can be gleaned through the constant communications with a network of players and, as part of the agent’s job, team officials.

As explained in July 2023, neither the NFL nor the NFL Players Association have a specific policy regarding agents and gambling.

When James addressed Carter’s admission on Thursday night, James initially said he didn’t know anything about Carter’s betting habits. James then added this, via the Los Angeles Times: “Maverick’s his own man and at the end of the day, gambling is legal. I mean, you can go on your phone right now and do whatever you want. And he has no affiliation with the NBA or NFL, so, he can do what he wants to do.”

In theory, that’s accurate. The absence, however, of any internal or external authority for governing the use or misuse of inside information by agents or others with direct access to players and coaches could help fuel an eventual effort by, for example, Congress to create a federal agency with the ability to regulate everyone involved in a given sport — teams, coaches, executive, players, agents, family members, etc.

Consider what happened last December, when the betting line for a Cowboys-Eagles game shifted dramatically before news emerged that quarterback Jalen Hurts had an injury that might keep him from playing. Someone knew before everyone else did. And agents — who quite often are the ones to tip off reporters as to matters of this nature — are in position to know the truth before anyone else.

It’s not just the agent for the injured player. Teammates find out about the injury. Teammates tell their own agents. And off it goes.

The Maverick Carter news proves one simple reality. A major scandal is coming. When it does, the reckoning will follow. And the aftermath could entail major changes to the manner in which professional sports govern themselves.
 
CloakNNNdagger said:
The Maverick Carter news proves one simple reality. A major scandal is coming. When it does, the reckoning will follow. And the aftermath could entail major changes to the manner in which professional sports govern themselves.
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Why is anything different now than before, when sports gambling was illegal everywhere but Nevada? Gambling has always been there. Always. Now, when most gambling is done legally, there's a problem? I don't understand why the major scandal is coming now?
 
Lucky said:
Why is anything different now than before, when sports gambling was illegal everywhere but Nevada? Gambling has always been there. Always. Now, when most gambling is done legally, there's a problem? I don't understand why the major scandal is coming now?
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Legal gambling has led to huge additional numbers of betting. It's opened up so many doors that cannot be appropriately monitored for integrity. While we're at it, let's then just do away with Injury Reports.

Americans bet $220 billion on sports in 5 years since legalization
Economy May 8, 2023 2:58 PM EST
 
CloakNNNdagger said:
Anything is possible......more appropriate question is how prudent is such an approach. The technique used to repair Rodgers' Achilles was developed a couple of years ago. The principle is that if you can avoid a direct tendon end to tendon end, there is less likelihood that the connecting sutures pull through the tendon tissue with the expected tension upon return to activity (like trying to sew wet toilet paper to wet toilet paper). The technique allows the tension to be taken off of the repair by anchoring one or two of the ends of the tendon to bone (1st video) or by placing multiple sutures at different distances from either tendon ends (the 2nd video). There are variants on this technique with the video below being the simplest. Even with this technique, it is not expected to be ready for strenuous activity short of 4 months........that would be about mid January for Rodgers.
Returning to play too soon because of unopposed enthusiasm/ego has its consequences, as many players/teams/doctors many times find out the hard way.

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Modern medicine is something else. I’m very thankful for those that chose this profession. Above is amazing..
 
This targeting bullshit is getting out of hand at both the college and pro level.
Quarterbacks are perfecting the slide into the approaching defender to draw the 15 yard penalty. Its like a hitter leaning into a pitch to get hit.
 
gwallaia said:
This targeting bullshit is getting out of hand at both the college and pro level.
Quarterbacks are perfecting the slide into the approaching defender to draw the 15 yard penalty. Its like a hitter leaning into a pitch to get hit.
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If we're talking about Russell Wilson's slide... he didn't perfect crap. He waited too long to slide. Shouldn't fault the defender for that. He wants to tuck the ball & put his big-boi pants on he needs to be prepared to take a big-boi hit, or slide a lot earlier.
 
thunderkyss said:
If we're talking about Russell Wilson's slide... he didn't perfect crap. He waited too long to slide. Shouldn't fault the defender for that. He wants to tuck the ball & put his big-boi pants on he needs to be prepared to take a big-boi hit, or slide a lot earlier.
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I’m just glad they didn’t throw a flag on his last pass that Ward picked off. It’s gotten to the point I don’t celebrate until the play is cleared. I should have learned my lesson from that strip fumble from King though. :smiliepalm:
 
I can't remember a worse year for officiating in the NFL. It's not just our games. I've watched a bunch of other regional and national games and it's just flat out bad. Something needs to be done. I'd like to see more "quick reviews" from the mothership. There's certain plays that are Captain Obvious variety. Someone needs to be watching and be able to stop the game and get the call corrected. I know not every call could be reversed with that, but many could. The King fumble and return TD is one that likely would have to stand...as crappy a call as it was. But that non-PI call late in the game last night? That could have been corrected easily.
 
Member of sideline crew in New Orleans set for surgery after injury in collision
By Michael David Smith
Published December 4, 2023 04:32 PM

One of the most gruesome injuries of this NFL season was suffered on Sunday not by a player, but by a member of the sideline crew in New Orleans.

Nick Piazza, who was holding the first down marker on the sideline, was seriously injured when he couldn’t get out of the way in time as Saints running back Alvin Kamara was being chased to the sideline. The TV broadcast briefly showed Piazza’s leg before quickly cutting away when the extent of the injury became apparent.

Today the Saints confirmed that Piazza suffered a fractured fibula and dislocated knee and is likely to undergo surgery next week. The team said Piazza’s blood vessels remain intact.

Piazza’s injury is a reminder of the real risks involved in sideline collisions, for players and non-players alike. The NFL would be wise to explore solutions like reducing the number of people on the crowded sidelines and moving personnel further back from the playing field.
 
:smiliepalm:
Put it in the hands of an honest party..............the owners? :smiliepalm:

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It’s time for the owners to take charge of officiating
By Mike Florio
Published December 4, 2023 04:40 PM

The NFL has an officiating problem. It’s time for the NFL to solve it.

And by the NFL, I don’t mean the league office. I mean the owners.
It’s their game. Their sport. They’ve made and are maintaining billion-dollar investments in the sport. They are the sport. The entire concept of a league office with a Commissioner to do their bidding provides a Big Shield that the owners individually can hide behind.

It’s time to stop hiding. The officiating will improve only if the owners take charge of the process.

It’s not a problem with officials, per se. The middle-aged men and women who do the job are doing the best they can while maneuvering through and around the gladiators without the benefit of pads or helmets. Things happen at lightning speed, and the officials make the best naked-eye, real-time judgments they can.

There are examples every week. On Sunday night, multiple examples of horrible calls happened on the final drive of the game, from a horrible unnecessary roughness call for a hit on Patrick Mahomes to a horrible non-call of pass interference to the latest application of a non-existent Hail Mary exception to the pass interference rules.

The officiating function needs to be dismantled and reimagined. In late October, we listed five reasons why the NFL won’t do it: (1) cheapness; (2) laziness; (3) ineptness; (4) controversy sells; and (5) the absence of any urgency to change.

The urgency will arrive when Congress makes it arrive. Those who regard that take as chicken-little fan fiction either have forgotten, or never learned about, the October 2009 Congressional hearing. In that session, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith learned that, if pro football didn’t clean up its mess regarding head trauma, Congress would do it.

The hearing sparked a revolution in player safety that still continues. If/when Congress does the same thing when it comes to gambling, with an emphasis on piss-poor officiating practices, the league will do the same thing.

It becomes tempting to just wait for the cage to be rattled. That’s not good for the game. For the integrity of the game. That term gets cited whenever the league office wants to protect it by punishing someone. It never gets mentioned as an aspiration, as a goal.

It should be. It’s not a catch phrase to justify suspension or termination. It’s a mission statement. When it comes to officiating, the mission is failing.

As one head coach explained it to PFT on Monday, It’s "[t]ime for owners to act on officiating.” The coach suggested removing Goodell, Competition Committee chairperson Rich McKay, and NFL executive V.P. of football operations Troy Vincent from the equation entirely.

The coach also agrees that the league should “completely overhaul” the officiating process. For multiple years, I’ve said it needs to be torn down and rebuilt in light of all available technologies.

What the NFL needs to do — and what it will never do — is call Fox Sports rules analyst (and former NFL senior V.P. of officiating) Dean Blandino and ask him to name his price. Blandino himself has said that the league doesn’t properly value the V.P. of officiating position. It’s critical to the long-term success of the league and the short-term integrity of the game.

What would it take? What should it take? Given the importance of the job to the NFL, and in light of all the gambling money that the league is currently stuffing into its pockets, $10 million per year would be a fair price to pay to fix the officiating function.

The inevitable scandal if major changes don’t happen will cost a lot more than that.
 
CloakNNNdagger said:
:smiliepalm:
Put it in the hands of an honest party..............the owners? :smiliepalm:

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It’s time for the owners to take charge of officiating
By Mike Florio
Published December 4, 2023 04:40 PM

The NFL has an officiating problem. It’s time for the NFL to solve it.

And by the NFL, I don’t mean the league office. I mean the owners.
It’s their game. Their sport. They’ve made and are maintaining billion-dollar investments in the sport. They are the sport. The entire concept of a league office with a Commissioner to do their bidding provides a Big Shield that the owners individually can hide behind.

It’s time to stop hiding. The officiating will improve only if the owners take charge of the process.

It’s not a problem with officials, per se. The middle-aged men and women who do the job are doing the best they can while maneuvering through and around the gladiators without the benefit of pads or helmets. Things happen at lightning speed, and the officials make the best naked-eye, real-time judgments they can.

There are examples every week. On Sunday night, multiple examples of horrible calls happened on the final drive of the game, from a horrible unnecessary roughness call for a hit on Patrick Mahomes to a horrible non-call of pass interference to the latest application of a non-existent Hail Mary exception to the pass interference rules.

The officiating function needs to be dismantled and reimagined. In late October, we listed five reasons why the NFL won’t do it: (1) cheapness; (2) laziness; (3) ineptness; (4) controversy sells; and (5) the absence of any urgency to change.

The urgency will arrive when Congress makes it arrive. Those who regard that take as chicken-little fan fiction either have forgotten, or never learned about, the October 2009 Congressional hearing. In that session, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith learned that, if pro football didn’t clean up its mess regarding head trauma, Congress would do it.

The hearing sparked a revolution in player safety that still continues. If/when Congress does the same thing when it comes to gambling, with an emphasis on piss-poor officiating practices, the league will do the same thing.

It becomes tempting to just wait for the cage to be rattled. That’s not good for the game. For the integrity of the game. That term gets cited whenever the league office wants to protect it by punishing someone. It never gets mentioned as an aspiration, as a goal.

It should be. It’s not a catch phrase to justify suspension or termination. It’s a mission statement. When it comes to officiating, the mission is failing.

As one head coach explained it to PFT on Monday, It’s "[t]ime for owners to act on officiating.” The coach suggested removing Goodell, Competition Committee chairperson Rich McKay, and NFL executive V.P. of football operations Troy Vincent from the equation entirely.

The coach also agrees that the league should “completely overhaul” the officiating process. For multiple years, I’ve said it needs to be torn down and rebuilt in light of all available technologies.

What the NFL needs to do — and what it will never do — is call Fox Sports rules analyst (and former NFL senior V.P. of officiating) Dean Blandino and ask him to name his price. Blandino himself has said that the league doesn’t properly value the V.P. of officiating position. It’s critical to the long-term success of the league and the short-term integrity of the game.

What would it take? What should it take? Given the importance of the job to the NFL, and in light of all the gambling money that the league is currently stuffing into its pockets, $10 million per year would be a fair price to pay to fix the officiating function.

The inevitable scandal if major changes don’t happen will cost a lot more than that.
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So, Congress is responsible, at least partially, for the sissification of the NFL. I wasn't aware of the 2009 Congressional hearings. They've stepped in once, now it may be time to bring officiating into the 21st century.
 
Number19 said:
So, Congress is responsible, at least partially, for the sissification of the NFL. I wasn't aware of the 2009 Congressional hearings. They've stepped in once, now it may be time to bring officiating into the 21st century.
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Not really. When the report came out, I was given a full transcript of the proceeding. The NFL did it to themselves. Goodell was essentially the only top level NFL representative to testify. The main author of the submitted NFL injury data never showed up........Goodell tried to say that the committee never asked for his presence..........to that, the committee chairman presented a copy of the letter sent to the Dr. and Goodell.Missing from the two testifying panels besides Dr. Ira Casson, the co-chairman of the N.F.L.’s committee, who has been criticized for discrediting outside research and for his role in the league’s study of brain injuries in retired players. Independent experts that did testify said the study was grossly flawed by conflicts of interest, statistical and sampling problems. [Just like the research by the tobacco industry was in total conflict with all other independent studies of the relationship with lung cancer.]

None of the three primary authors of the NFL committee’s research Dr. Casson and the co-chairman David Viano head of sports biomechanics of Wayne State University, and Dr. Elliot Pellman, the Jets’ team physician at the time were present to be questioned.

Goodell's and the NFL's dishonesty during the proceedings were accompanied by repeated evasive responses to questions, including their treatment of retired players with head injuries.

In summary, it was obvious that the NFL was not concerned about player safety.......they felt that there was no real problem...........and therefore not interested in changing much of anything. That pompous attitude was not one that was acceptable to the congressional committe............nor should it have been.

By the way, shortly after the congressional hearing, Dr. Casson and Davvid Viano resigned their posts.
 
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I am a little less critical of "lightning fast decisions " by referees during games. I am very critical of decisions made after camera review that still go awry.
 
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CloakNNNdagger said:
This is the play that led did not lead to putting Henry in the Protocol.......wonder if he develops symptoms in the next day or so.

View attachment 13176
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1731689098748874866
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Wonder if he was fined?
Porky said:
I was thinking about Jack Tatum the other day. He would be out of the league as a rookie.
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Ronnie Lott, Polamalu, Atwater, hell even bill bates. Just to name a few that would probably still be paying fines to the NFL
 
TexansBull said:
Ben Johnson (Lions) and Brian Johnson (Eagles) are also in play.

Tepper is going to find it hard for someone to want to work with him and Bryce.
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Probably not as much as some think. A coordinator who has never been a Head Coach will find it hard to pass on the promotion and the 7-year, $60 million GTD contract. For example, Matt Ruhle signed a seven-year, $60 million contract with the Panthers.
 
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Texian said:
Probably not as much as some think. A coordinator who has never been a Head Coach will find it hard to pass on the promotion and the 7-year, $60 million GTD contract. For example, Matt Ruhle signed a seven-year, $60 million contract with the Panthers.
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I wouldn’t want a coach who prioritized money over winning.

Tepper has shown that he is a over the top meddling owner who tells his GM who to draft and tells his coaches what plays they should consider.

Not a winning situation for any coach or GM.
 
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