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NFL Random Thought of the Day

TEs have been a position that the Texans unfortunately have historically not been able to take advantage of.

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Dak Prescott attends Tight End U, calls tight ends “a quarterback’s best friend”
By Michael David Smith
Published June 20, 2024 06:31 AM

Many of the NFL’s best tight ends are in Nashville this week for Tight End U, an annual event in which players train together and share their thoughts about how to play the position at an elite level.

Also there is Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, who has been throwing to the tight ends and addressed the group to tell them how important they are to any quarterback.

“Tight ends, you got to know the offense, every part of it,” Prescott said, via Stephen Holder of ESPN. “I would say, I challenge you: you’ve got the run game, pass protections, all that. The next step is truly knowing what your quarterback is thinking when he’s throwing you the ball, because you guys are a quarterback’s best friend. When we’ve got to throw a ball across the middle to take advantage of our matchups on the outside, if we’re not on the same page as you, we don’t have a shot.”

Also in attendance are Cowboys tight ends Jake Ferguson and Luke Schoonmaker.
 
More players will only dilute the talent even more than it is now.

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18 games likely will mean bigger rosters, more players in uniform on game day
Published June 20, 2024 04:44 PM

As the momentum quietly builds toward an 18-game regular season, and in response to our item from earlier today, we’ve picked up some more details about the dynamics of the situation.

Per a league source, the players involved in union matters “know” the push for 18 is coming. The goal is to figure out what to request in return.
One item will be bigger teams. At least 55 on the active roster, and at least 50 in uniform on game day. The union also will want greater freedom for teams to make practice-squad elevations.

That’s just part of what the union should seek. For now, the NFL Players Association should be compiling a long list of requests in exchange for any agreement to go to 18 games.

And the less a concession costs, the more likely the owners will be to agree.
 
Browns cut DL Lonnie Phelps after his arrest for drunk driving
By Charean Williams
Published June 20, 2024 04:17 PM

The Browns didn’t wait long to waive defensive end Lonnie Phelps.

The team announced Thursday that it cut the first-year player. The move comes less than 24 hours after Phelps’ arrest for drunk driving.

Phelps allegedly crashed his SUV into a restaurant in Key West, Florida, on Wednesday night, according to a police report obtained by cleveland.com. He is charged with drunken driving and damaging property, with an estimated $300,000 in damage to a high-end restaurant.

The police report said Phelps and a female passenger appeared under the influence of alcohol or drugs after the crash.

Phelps spent the entire 2023 season on the team’s practice squad after signing as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Kansas.
 
CloakNNNdagger said:
More players will only dilute the talent even more than it is now.

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18 games likely will mean bigger rosters, more players in uniform on game day
Published June 20, 2024 04:44 PM

As the momentum quietly builds toward an 18-game regular season, and in response to our item from earlier today, we’ve picked up some more details about the dynamics of the situation.

Per a league source, the players involved in union matters “know” the push for 18 is coming. The goal is to figure out what to request in return.
One item will be bigger teams. At least 55 on the active roster, and at least 50 in uniform on game day. The union also will want greater freedom for teams to make practice-squad elevations.

That’s just part of what the union should seek. For now, the NFL Players Association should be compiling a long list of requests in exchange for any agreement to go to 18 games.

And the less a concession costs, the more likely the owners will be to agree.
Click to expand...
They probably will want a bigger piece of the pie. There most likely will be a meeting of the minds.
 
The Aggie "Tank". The Texas A&M star who broke Eric Dickerson's Southwest Conference rushing record before addiction derailed his football career and post-life. It is not being made widely public yet, but he had come to MD Anderson to be treated for stage IV squamous cell carcinoma of the throat. Sadly, Lewis had significantly wayward younger criminal history and was a heavy pot smoker, while testing positive for cocaine just before nis NFL Draft.................may you RIP. 🙏

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Former Bears RB Darren Lewis dies from cancer at age 55
By Charean Williams
Published June 21, 2024 03:37 PM

Former Bears running back Darren Lewis died after a battle with cancer, Texas A&M announced Friday. He was 55.

Lewis was a two-time All-American running back for the Aggies and the all-time leading rusher in both A&M and Southwest Conference history.

Nicknamed Tank, his career total of 5,012 rushing yards broke the old SWC record of 4,450 yards set by Eric Dickerson at SMU.
The Bears made Lewis a sixth-round pick in 1991, and he played three NFL seasons.

He played 33 games, with six starts, and ran for 431 yards and four touchdowns on 112 carries while catching 22 passes for 201 yards.

Lewis, who lettered for the Aggies in 1987-90, earned induction into the school’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998.
 
CloakNNNdagger said:
The Aggie "Tank". The Texas A&M star who broke Eric Dickerson's Southwest Conference rushing record before addiction derailed his football career and post-life. It is not being made widely public yet, but he had come to MD Anderson to be treated for stage IV squamous cell carcinoma of the throat. Sadly, Lewis had significantly wayward younger criminal history and was a heavy pot smoker, while testing positive for cocaine just before nis NFL Draft.................may you RIP. 🙏

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Former Bears RB Darren Lewis dies from cancer at age 55
By Charean Williams
Published June 21, 2024 03:37 PM

Former Bears running back Darren Lewis died after a battle with cancer, Texas A&M announced Friday. He was 55.

Lewis was a two-time All-American running back for the Aggies and the all-time leading rusher in both A&M and Southwest Conference history.

Nicknamed Tank, his career total of 5,012 rushing yards broke the old SWC record of 4,450 yards set by Eric Dickerson at SMU.
The Bears made Lewis a sixth-round pick in 1991, and he played three NFL seasons.

He played 33 games, with six starts, and ran for 431 yards and four touchdowns on 112 carries while catching 22 passes for 201 yards.

Lewis, who lettered for the Aggies in 1987-90, earned induction into the school’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998.
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The further I looked into his story, the sadder it got....................much sadder.

02:26 AM CDT on Saturday, October 16, 2004

By MARK WROLSTAD / The Dallas Morning News

If things had been different for Darren Lewis, he might be wrapping up a run in pro football to rival his historic collegiate career.

If things had been different, the respectful, generous kid from Carter High who became an Oak Cliff legend might have millions, and his long-suffering parents might be long gone from the modest home where they raised four children.

If things had been different, a young man sporting an Emmitt Smith jersey outside a Dallas courtroom in August might have worn a Darren Lewis shirt instead.


But Mr. Lewis, one of Texas' best ever at running with a football, had finally reached a dead end in that courtroom. No longer running and hustling. Shackled and humiliated. The word "prisoner" emblazoned on his uniform.

As his tearful family watched, the rugged 35-year-old who carried Texas A&M to glory as the Southwest Conference's all-time rusher was sentenced for a felony theft punctuating a lost decade of aimlessness, drugs and crime.

"I apologize. I'm sorry," he sputtered as he faced his father and two sisters, his oldest son and his first real jail time.

In 1990, when the young man known as "Tank" finished with more than 5,000 yards gained at A&M, he stood behind only four players in history. Prosperity and fame in the National Football League appeared just a few powerful strides away.

From that summit, though, Mr. Lewis made a breathtaking, almost nonstop slide through a pre-empted pro career and into obscurity, descending into a life on the streets that included stealing and fencing stolen goods.

"Tank was the greatest at everything," said Greg Hill, a first-round NFL draft choice in 1994 who followed in his idol's footsteps at talent-rich Carter and A&M. "He was magic."

The rags-to-near-riches tale is about the unraveling of a gifted athlete once the cheering stopped, despite an advantage that money can't buy � two stable, spiritual, supportive parents.

His story would have gone undetected if he'd never been a superstar, a label that ultimately may have hurt more than helped.

"A lot of athletes make it to the NFL and they've always had people cater to them," said Mr. Lewis' brother, Kelton. "So when the reality of life comes down ... you don't know how to deal with it. You're not 'the man' anymore."

The end of the story, his supporters said, is up to the one-time hero, depending how hard he tries to defy the doubters in maybe his last chance to run to daylight.

"I was on the dark side of the world, man," Mr. Lewis said, talking for the first time about the steep fall after his playing days.

"There was no positive at all, no light at the end of the tunnel," he said, an oversized Superman "S" shining beneath his open collar. "It was all about the money, by all means necessary."

Disappearing act

Mr. Lewis, whose name once ranked with those of Dorsett and Dickerson, offered other details about a disappearing act with few parallels in Texas sports.

He didn't get the chance he deserved during three lackluster years with the Chicago Bears, he said, partly because of a failed drug test before the pro draft. But he wasn't pushed out of the NFL, he said; he quit, leaving a $200,000 contract on the table because he "lost the love of the game."

Yet, he insisted he "lived my dream" just by making it to the pros and never felt frustrated about missing the brass ring after so many years of hard work.

Alternately affable and defensive, Mr. Lewis said that like many privileged athletes from minority neighborhoods, he was unskilled and unequipped to handle the demands of life after football.

But he said that nearly three weeks in the Dallas County Jail were enough to make him abandon marijuana and crime and want to be a better son as well as a better father to the three children he has spent so little time with.

"My father always said you can make your bed hard or soft," Mr. Lewis said. "I embarrassed my family by the decisions I made."

In January, he was arrested with another man in a stolen car, though no charges were filed. But in May, he and a friend were caught stealing a cargo trailer.

Relatives and friends said they keep thinking he'll change his behavior, but they seem baffled about how to help. His parents said they've unintentionally "enabled" their son's irresponsibility and they're fed up with shielding him from the consequences.

His parents finally let Mr. Lewis sit in jail this summer instead of bailing him out, and they need to stop doing things such as buying his cigarettes, said his father, Isaac, an associate pastor who has retired from a plastics plant.

"This is not Darren," said his father, 66. "Our family has been talking about tough love, but we don't know how to do that. We can't see him out on the street, out in the gutter."

Lillie Lewis, a retired sixth-grade teacher, said she had thought her son's drug use was far in the past. "It's up to him," she said. "When you're a parent, sometimes you do too much."

Kimberly Gibson, a sister, hoped jail might be a turning point.

"Darren's never been in this much trouble," she said. "He's going to change. He has to."

Others wonder whether it's already too late for a relatively young man to shift course.

"I'd say his prospects are not real good. He's not a 20-year-old kid," state District Judge Jane Roden said.

In August, the judge gave him 60 days in jail for violating probation on a misdemeanor assault in 2000 for beating a man who roughed up the youngest Lewis son.

"It's probably time his family let him go," the judge said. "Until he falls all the way, nothing's going to change."

'Not a victim'

His fall accelerated when he was arrested this summer for several probation violations.

"I was very disappointed in him," veteran probation officer Anthony Dotson said.

He said Mr. Lewis expected his mother to drive him to probation appointments and pay his fees and had no job and no direction, despite his athletic fame and three years of college credits.

Like many probationers, including former pro athletes, Mr. Lewis never accepted responsibility, Mr. Dotson said.

"You're not a victim. You're not unlucky. You did all the right things to be where you are," he said. "He's got some charisma, he's an All-American, he went to A&M � and he can't get a job in Dallas, Texas? He's Darren Lewis!

"For his family, this fairy tale became a nightmare."

They called him 'Tank'

He grew up in a sort of oasis in Dallas' Red Bird area: a 1960s cluster of small ramblers surrounded by large, lower-income apartments and open land.

When 9-year-old Darren signed up for peewee football with the old Oak Cliff Cubs, he soon earned the nickname "Tank" for being unstoppable.

Early on, his mother fretted, "Oh Lord, they're going to kill him." Her husband's reply: "First, they've got to catch him."

Kelton Lewis recalled his brother, who's three years older, getting on his knees to play football with him. But as the years passed, the two brothers chose separate paths.

Drugs riddled the neighborhood, and by age 15, the younger brother was using and dealing.

"I didn't want to work hard like my daddy," said Kelton Lewis, who gave up drugs after going to jail and being shot at 19. "But Darren didn't run with those guys. All his bad habits I think he got in college."

By 10th grade, "Tank" was a force at Carter's football factory, and at college recruiting time in 1987, he was considered perhaps the nation's top running back.

Former Carter coach Freddie James remembers him as a cooperative, well-liked player who was never in trouble but later "got with the wrong crowd and they led him the wrong way."

"I can close my eyes and see him running," his old coach said. "Darren Lewis was going to be the highest-paid football player in America."

The recruit took his famous spin move to College Station and became a tackle-breaking sensation. As his senior season climaxed, he smashed the conference's career rushing record and finished fifth on the all-time college list.

But after another star turn in a triumphant Holiday Bowl game came a monumental stumble. He plummeted all the way to a sixth-round draft choice in the 1991 NFL draft, stunning many fans.

The reason: He had tested positive for cocaine at the league's pre-draft workout. He still says it was his first experience with the drug.

Former A&M coach R.C. Slocum visited his "selfless, even-keeled" standout at drug treatment. "Obviously, he's had recurring problems. It just breaks your heart," he said.

NFL � 'Not For Long'

Years of sweat and promise yielded a few bright spots the next three years with Chicago, including a fine playoff performance against Dallas, but he never seemed to get on track.

"Just because you've been one of the best in college doesn't mean you can take it to the next level," said Johnny Roland, the Bears' former running-back coach.

The team released Mr. Lewis in late 1993 shortly after he was in a domestic dispute, recalled his mother-in-law, Delbra Stevens. Charges weren't filed, but he moved back to Dallas, separating from his wife of three years, Tiffany Stevens Lewis, and their three young children.

"I was through with it. I was tired," he said of the NFL, which he said stands for "Not For Long."

Barry Foster, a star running back at nearby Duncanville High who went on to pro fame with Pittsburgh, said Mr. Lewis developed an aloof attitude at A&M. He said there was hometown talk in the early '90s that Mr. Lewis was smoking pot.

"That tells me he was not mentally strong," said Mr. Foster, now coaching at a Dallas charter school. "The guy had all the tools and talent to be a tremendous back in the NFL.

"Any person that uses drugs is going to have a downfall."

After the NFL

After the NFL, Mr. Lewis spent about three years "living on the fat," his savings. Then he took a job as a telemarketer and tried to reconcile with his wife. They split up again after a couple of years but never divorced.

Records show that Mr. Lewis faced a shoplifting charge in 1996, but the past several years have been his worst � unemployed, breaking the law and rejecting his parents' ever-open door.

"I was on the streets, living nowhere," he said, "like a scavenger."

In August, he told state District Judge Vickers Cunningham the trailer theft was "just fast money." The judge lectured him, put him on probation and said that if Mr. Lewis doesn't learn soon, "he will be an inmate."

Jerome Pipkins said his closest childhood friend can't let that happen. "Tank had all this in front of him and you look up one day and it's all gone," said Mr. Pipkins, now a teacher. "I think on the inside it was eatin' him up."

Mr. Lewis insisted that he's gotten past his lost fame and fortune.

"If I sat back and reflected on that," he said, "I'd be dead today. 'Golly, I could've been a millionaire.' I'd find myself hanging from a tree or OD'ing on something."

First taste of cocaine

He traced his downfall to his first taste of cocaine. "If anyone says you can't get addicted the first time, they're lying," he said.

Today, he's a legend without a game plan. He attends some of his children's athletic events, talks about becoming a coach, but has no job and no drug counseling.

Attorney Phillip Robertson, who idolized Mr. Lewis as an Aggie classmate, helped minimize his jail time and recently gave him another pep talk "to do right."

"There's no gray areas anymore," Mr. Lewis agreed. "It's all black and white."

As he walked away, his attorney declared the whole affair "a sad story," then emphasized the chance for redemption.

"He's got so many people blocking for him in life," he said, "he's got to win."
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From Stardom to Dallas Jail
By Barry Horn Dallas Morning News
9:41 PM on May 25, 2013

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Ex-Texas A&M star sentenced to 27 years for armed robberies​

By dallasnews Administrator
11:24 PM on Sep 26, 2014
 
CFL fines four kickers for complaining about chips in footballs
Published June 21, 2024 11:05 PM

There’s one specific aspect of the NFL that has made it to the CFL. If you get verbally out of line, they’ll hit you in the wallet.

Via the Canadian Press, the league fined four kickers for daring to complain publicly about the insertion of microchips into footballs.

The CFL fined Sergio Castillo, Brett Lauther, Sean Whyte, and Lewis Ward on Friday.

Castillo complained after Winnipeg’s season-opener against Montreal. Castillo missed two of three field goals and an extra point.

“I don’t know where to aim,” Castillo told reporters after the 27-12 loss. “Every time I’m out there, I’m literally praying the Rosary. . . . I don’t know where to aim.”

He also said the chips affect the trajectories of the kicks.

The other three kickers supported Castillo on social media. The amounts of the fines were not disclosed.
The CFL has since amended the rules to allow kickers to opt out of using the balls with chips in them.

It’s a stupid and heavy-handed tactic. And it makes the powers-that-be look like bullies and cowards, simultaneously.
 
CloakNNNdagger said:
CFL fines four kickers for complaining about chips in footballs
Published June 21, 2024 11:05 PM

There’s one specific aspect of the NFL that has made it to the CFL. If you get verbally out of line, they’ll hit you in the wallet.

Via the Canadian Press, the league fined four kickers for daring to complain publicly about the insertion of microchips into footballs.

The CFL fined Sergio Castillo, Brett Lauther, Sean Whyte, and Lewis Ward on Friday.

Castillo complained after Winnipeg’s season-opener against Montreal. Castillo missed two of three field goals and an extra point.

“I don’t know where to aim,” Castillo told reporters after the 27-12 loss. “Every time I’m out there, I’m literally praying the Rosary. . . . I don’t know where to aim.”

He also said the chips affect the trajectories of the kicks.

The other three kickers supported Castillo on social media. The amounts of the fines were not disclosed.
The CFL has since amended the rules to allow kickers to opt out of using the balls with chips in them.

It’s a stupid and heavy-handed tactic. And it makes the powers-that-be look like bullies and cowards, simultaneously.
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Try kicking it down the exact center. How many times have we seen footballs barely clear one of the poles?
 
Porky said:
ESPN wanted to provide Sunday Ticket for $70 yearly, making it more affordable for millions than now.

I'd personally do it at $70. That's affordable for me. It would have also unbundled it from having to subscribe to DTV and more recently YouTube TV - another expense on top of the almost $400 yearly subscription.

I don't know why it would harm Fox and CBS - those games would still be broadcast on those channels. They would just be available to more out of markey viewers. Those commercials would still run. If you're a fan of the Eagles and you live in Chicago...you might not watch any games at all if you're limited to Chicago TV. Some people are really only fans of one team and largely ignore other games. By allowing that guy the ability to pay $70, he can watch all the Eagles games from Chicago while watching all the same commercials he would be doing if he were living in Philly.

So, how is the idea that you're charging more, thus keeping the Sub count down, somehow helping CBS and Fox? I don't get it.
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I used to have a subscription to Sports illustrated. It included one of the Sunday ticket subscriptions but only active during the season. That was just before Redzone came out. , wouldn't be surprised if you could find a deal like that. I didn't read the magazine, all the content was online but they seemed desperate to get those magazines out.
 
Reports placing Rodgers at a drug vacation spot|?

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Facing Ayahuasca Absence Claims, Aaron Rodgers Pressured to Salvage NFL Legacy After Josh Allen and Tua Tagovailoa Knocked Out Jets QB
BySanu Abraham
Jun 20, 2024 | 10:18 PM MST


Aaron Rodgers’ reason for absence appears to have taken center stage!​


Just when you thought Rodgers had called an audible on the controversy, his decision to skip the minicamp has the NFL world buzzing louder than the J-E-T-S chant at MetLife Stadium. With Robert Saleh’s “unexcused” comment about the situation, the talks seemed to be around the quarterback’s absence and its effect on the team. However, with the Ayahuasca retreat reason making an appearance in the conversation, it is the reason for his non-attendance that seems to have grabbed all the spotlight.

In an appearance on The Rich Eisen Show, NFL insider Albert Breer divulged what he knew about Rodgers’ absence. “[What] I feel solid about is that he is somewhere that they could not excuse and maintain credibility with the rest of the locker room, but would not be an out-of-left-field thing for him.” Rodgers’ love for the plant-based psychedelic is no secret. In fact, he went on an ayahuasca retreat to Costa Rica in March. What Breer said following this hinted at the ayahuasca possibility: “You guys can open your mind, so to speak, as he’s been known to open his mind sometimes into all the possibilities.”
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With college sports programs needing cash, they can’t get it from sports books
Published June 23, 2024 09:38 AM

At a time when the NFL is making plenty of money from legalized gambling (especially with owners permitted to hold up to five percent of companies that operate sports books), NCAA institutions have seen their revenue potential plummet.

As explained by Amanda Christovich of FrontOfficeSports.com, the cash-needy college programs won’t be able to feather the nest with sports book dollars.

Not many schools had gotten on board the gravy train gone bust. UNLV and Nevada-Reno became the first schools to rake in cash, in the nation’s traditional gambling haven. Colorado followed suit, as did the likes of Michigan State and LSU.

The relationships were problematic. A backlash came from the fact that the schools were marketing gambling to university communities consisting of plenty of people who were too young to bet.

Last year, the American Gaming Association prohibited its members from sponsorship deals with NCAA programs, while also blocking NIL deals with college athletes.

Meanwhile, the NCAA continues to push for a nationwide ban on prop bets for college sports.

“We have taken a hard line against prop betting on college sports,” NCAA president Charlie Baker said recently at a conference in (irony) Las Vegas. “Too many student athletes are being harassed by bettors.”

It’s a real dynamic. MLB players are experiencing it. Surely, all players in all sports that offer wagers based on individual performance risk enduring threats — and maybe worse.

Prop bets also present the biggest risk of wrongdoing by individual players, who can engineer their own unders by embellishing or flat-out faking an injury. (That’s what got Jontay Porter banned for life by the NBA.)

So it makes sense for sports books and institutions that are moving away from providing only tuition, room, board, fees, and books to disassociate. Still, given the fact that college programs will soon be digging deeper than ever to settle antitrust lawsuits and pay players, it has to sting to not be able to grab such an easy bag of cash.

And it leaves the sports books with more marketing dollars for sports (like the NFL) that continue to willingly pull dollars out of the air with one hand, while wagging a finger at its players, coaches, and other employees with the other.
 
Despite complaints, grass at Falcons stadium will remain for U.S.-Panama Copa América match
By Mike Florio
Published June 24, 2024 04:36 PM

Despite complaints about the performance of the temporary grass at a stadium that hosts football games on turf, the field won’t change at the Falcons’ home venue for Thursday night’s Copa América match between the U.S. and Panama.

Via Doug Roberson of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the grass used for Argentina vs. Canada won’t be replaced before what will be the second of two games played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Per the report, the system entails putting flooring over the artificial turf, with rolls of sod on top. It was used earlier this year for a match between the U.S. women’s national team’s and Japan. It also was used last summer, for two Premier League friendlies played in Atlanta.

Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni complained about the grass after last Thursday’s win. Goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez called it a “disaster” and "[v]ery bumpy.” Canada defenseman Kamal Miller said, “It felt like walking on a stage, as if it was hollow.”

Mercedes-Benz Stadium will host World Cup matches in two years. For those matches, it’s “probable” that the turf will be pulled up, dirt put in, and grass grown.
 
Earl34 said:
Unfortunately, that's the way most organizations operate. It reminds me of this clip from Jimmy Johnson.

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Or when former GM Steve Keim was speaking about players who have 'colorful' off-field issues..

"It's always going to be enticing for us, regardless of their issues, if they have tremendous skills," Keim told reporters, via Adam Green of ArizonaSports.com. "I've said this before - If Hannibal Lecter ran a 4.3 (40-yard dash) we'd probably diagnose it as an eating disorder."
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Right or wrong, fair or foul, at the end of the day.. do you produce events that lead to wins? That's it.
 
www.espn.com

Ex-Raider Jones pleads no contest, may avoid jail

Former Raiders defensive end Chandler Jones pleaded no contest on June 17 to a domestic violence charge and will avoid jail time if he meets certain conditions, according to court documents.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
Former Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Chandler Jones pleaded no contest on June 17 to a domestic violence charge and will avoid jail time if he meets certain conditions, according to Clark County (Nevada) court documents.

Jones received a suspended 90-day jail sentence. The charge will be dismissed if he stays out of trouble for the next six months and has no contact with the victim, except for Family Court orders, according to the records.
Jones, 34, was arrested in Las Vegas in September and charged with a misdemeanor for violating a domestic violence temporary protective order. He was arrested again in October for violating the protective order.
 
Wonder if Jaguars will have a swimming pool like in their current stadium and original one?!
 
These ill-fated investments were made following the year Pierce retired from the NFL as a player.

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Report: Antonio Pierce faces civil judgments totaling $28 million
By Mike Florio

Published June 25, 2024 11:25 PM

As slow-time stories go, this one is potentially a doozy.

Via Tashan Reed of TheAthletic.com, a recent bankruptcy filing by Jocelyn Pierce indicates that her husband, Raiders coach Antonio Pierce, is financially responsible for $28 million in civil judgments.

Citing documents obtained by TheAthletic.com, Reed explains that the bankruptcy filing includes a statement from Jocelyn Pierce that creditors have attempted to collect assets belonging to the couple. Nissan Motor Acceptance Corporation has a $23 million judgment and Hyundai Capital America has a $4.5 million judgment. According to the filing, both recently attempted to garnish Antonio Pierce’s wages with the Raiders.

That sparked the bankruptcy filing. Jocelyn Pierce has until July 12 to “accurately gather all information concerning the community property while attending to her home and children.”

The judgments apparently trace to an investment made in car dealerships during the 2010s. Personal guarantees apparently were made by Antonio Pierce. When the businesses in which he invested defaulted on their loans, the lenders obtained judgments against those who guaranteed the debts, including Antonio Pierce.

It’s unclear why Jocelyn Pierce has filed for bankruptcy if, as it appears based on the reporting by Reed, Antonio Pierce owes the money.

It’s rare, if not unprecedented, for an NFL head coach to be entangled in legal issues entailing alleged debts of that magnitude. Although the bankruptcy laws will afford some protection, the situation quickly can become a major headache that won’t make his first full season as an NFL head coach any easier.
 
Sunday Ticket trial goes to the jury on Wednesday
By Mike Florio
Published June 25, 2024 09:25 PM

As trials with potentially significant implications go, this one moved quickly. It culminates on Wednesday.

Only three weeks after the jury was selected, the jury will get its chance to rule on the case.

Via Joe Reedy of the Associated Press, the final day of courtroom proceedings begins at 9:00 a.m. PT, with the reading of jury instructions.

Roughly 90 minutes later, the plaintiffs’ lawyers will deliver the first part of their closing argument, with 70 minutes allotted. The NFL’s lawyers will get their final say to the jury after the lunch break, with another 70 minutes. The plaintiffs’ lawyers will then have 20 minutes to rebut the NFL, with the jury thereafter getting the case.

Even if the jury rules for the plaintiffs, the judge could still enter judgment notwithstanding the verdict to the NFL. As Reedy points out, the presiding judge on Tuesday denied the plaintiffs’ request for judgment as a matter of law.
However, he did not rule on the NFL’s request. He’ll do so after the verdict.

He could have denied the NFL’s motion, allowing a fresh motion to be made after the verdict is returned. The fact that he has tabled the issue could be a sign that he’s planning to enter judgment for the NFL, if the jury doesn’t find for the league.

Thus, even if the jury returns with a verdict for the plaintiffs — and even if the amount is the kind of thing that generates front-page headlines from coast to coast — the judge can still say, “Sorry, plaintiffs, you failed to prove your case.”
For now, the next step involves teeing up the jury to deliberate. After the jury finishes its work, the judge could still make quick work of the entire case and rule for the NFL.

Billions potentially hang in the balance, depending on whether the jury is persuaded by the evidence of financial losses that the plaintiffs presented. It’s possible that, like the USFL vs. NFL trial from 38 years ago, the plaintiffs will win but the damages will be minimal. (The USFL won all of one dollar, which was tripled to three dollars by the federal antitrust laws.)

However it plays out, the NFL rarely finds itself in this posture. Even with a win, the league might need to reconsider the pricing requirements it places on the Sunday Ticket package in order to prevent a future antitrust case arguing that the league improperly requires Sunday Ticket to be overpriced as an all-or-nothing product in order to protect the broadcast networks that televise games in local affiliates across the country.

If, as the judge suggested last week, the plaintiff’s lawyers grossly overcomplicated the case, a fresh set of plaintiffs and a new group of lawyers could use the potential misadventures from the current case as the blueprint for the next one.
 
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