VOR

Yea one of my buddies is a big Cowboy fan and he has been saying this for the past 3 years and more and more I was beginning to believe him. TO was a jerk in San Fran and a bigger jerk in Philly but he wasnt bad in Dallas. The Romo Witten thing only came up because of the lossing and that little tomato faced prick Jason Garrett (most over paid man in sports). It was more due to Ed "I'd have no career if it weren't for TO" Werder. Werder reported that TO was unhappy with Witten getting most of the throws his way, when there were 2 other Dallas WR's who also complained. But no one ever heard that part of the story. As I said, Jones has made multiple bad decisions over the past couple years. This will likely prove to be another one, so the "well he was just released from his third team" stuff is moot as far as I'm concerned. And I understand what happened in SF and Philly and as I said before, it takes 2 to tango. BTW, back to Greenberg, he is a Jets fan. Nuff said.

I stopped reading after this.

Sigh. Put simply, by drawing attention to players' crimes, he's making them MORE visible to everyone else. I've considered that Goodell realizes his "sit downs" have been dismal failures in preventing recidivism among his more troubled charges. He'd be better served saving the meeting time for say, working on the new CBA, and just handing out suspensions, for all the good it does. However he can take out his frustration on another team's player, most notably Brandon Marshall, who got arrested again after his "sit down" and suspension with the Commish. Because unlike Lynch, who got charged with a misdemeanor and is on probation for 3 years, Marshall hasn't been charged with anything, thanks to the lax laws in Denver (he had a 0.11 BAC and was charged with DWAI instead of DUI, if that tells you anything ). Yet so far nothing. Care to explain why, Mr. WEO? Have you given that any consideration, versus childishly wanting Goodell to make an example of a player of your alleged favorite team, because you didn't like the way he handled the situation last year?

Yeah, and if Jauron had TO do that, the media would still go crazy. "TO sulks and refuses to talk to the media." And the media hate it when they're ignored. I am now fully convinced that most of the bad press TO has gotten over the years has been media-created. Thanks ESPN for showing me the light.

Decent signing. Good depth, could be a starter in a pinch.

I never disputed that Lynch was caught with an illegal gun and deserved to be punished...by the law. But considering that he was given one misdemeanor, when he could have been charged with a felony, says that the DA didn't consider it as egregious a crime as the Commish does. But that's Goodell for you. He's all over the guns, but his non-chalance towards domestic abuse and DUI are puzzling, if not disturbing. Why Marshall didn't have a "sit down" with Goodell after his arrest on domestic disturbance (after a total of 11 calls had been placed from his home over the course of a year), and again after his DUI (with a resulting suspension), is troubling to me. But hey, he was on-top of Lynch's traffic violation and illegal gun in the trunk, so it's all good! Too bad in the interim, one of his players killed a man while DUI. And most of the players with whom he has a "sit down" still continue to embarrass the league. So here we sit with Lynch getting the same suspension Marshall got. Will it also get reduced to 1 game, as it should, is what I want to know? And if not, why not? That will be far more telling about Goodell the man, as well as Commish. Lynch OTOH, is still a young, dumb, and pampered athlete.

Wait, poor decisions on the CBA, Roy Williams, and Wade Phillips can't be held against Jones with respect to his decision on TO? Rubbish. What makes you so sure those were bad moves, yet cutting TO was a good move? Can you foresee the Cowboys' 2009 season? Because that will be the true test, and anything other than Williams at least duplicating (if not surpassing, seeing as what they gave up to get him) TO's average production of the past 3 years and the Cowboys making the playoffs and winning a playoff game, will be a collossal failure. What? TO hasn't proven to be a winner? The guy makes his teams better and has HOF numbers. That's why I'm happy the Bills got him. While he may not have class (BTW, checkout the interview with TO on 4/9 at BB.com and his response to Aikman's words about him), his production is undeniable. And on the biggest stage, the SB, TO proved to be a great player, despite coming back early from a broken leg, while McNabb threw 3 INT's and was revealed (by TO) to have puked in the huddle on the final drive, because he was nervous and/or exhausted. And I'm not downplaying anything. But it takes 2 to tango. To claim that his former teams were completely in the right and it was all him is simply wrong. Hopefully the Bills don't repeat their mistakes, but he's only in Buffalo for a year, and doesn't cause trouble in his first year with a new team. I don't think he can afford another meltdown, and if anything, his agent will continually remind him of that. In the past, his meltdowns led to him being released after having pocketed a nice chunk of change in the form of signing bonus. No more.

I was purely speculating as to why he didn't register the gun. Maybe it was Lynch just being young and careless, I don't know. But again I don't believe he planned on using it for premeditated crimes, and that's an important distinction between him and a true "thug" with an illegal gun, which most likely would be unregistered, loaded, and concealed on his person. Most people would use being arrested, charged with a misdemeanor, and getting 3-years probation as reason to change, not getting suspended. Because one more false step and he's in jail, never mind missing games. And yes, I've been defending him because I saw NO evidence that he was impaired or knew he hit the vic last year, and again I don't believe he was planning on using the gun with criminal intent, outside of potential self-defense with an illegal gun.

Yeah, like your "with his file, 8 games at least."

Who heard Marshall's appeal, that got his original 3-game suspension reduced to 1 game? Someone other than Goodell?

Yes, TO was so poorly behaved, his former Dallas teammates can't think of a single bad thing to say about him. Even Jason Witten, the guy who Ed Werder claimed TO said was drawing up secret plays with Tony Romo. And the guy who made the decision, Jerry Jones, was the mastermind of that brilliant CBA that the owners FUBAR'd just 2 years later, who traded a 1st, 3rd, and 6th for Roy Williams, he of the one 1,000+ yard season in 5, and who kept Wade Phillips as his HC, after the past 2 season.. That should tell you something, but I'm betting it won't. What did I think of TO before he joined the Bills? I thought he was a top-flight WR. His time ran its course in SF, like Moss' did in Minnesota, and he was a bad fit in Philly, just like Moss was in Oakland. Outside of calling Jeff Garcia gay (and really, who hasn't?), I thought that most of his opinions were spot-on, especially calling-out McNabb for being a choker for his 3 INT and puke-laden final drive in the SB, which is what started his demise in Philly (yet when he was on the field, he gave his all, unlike the slacker Moss who would play when he felt like it). And showing-up to voluntary workouts wasn't going to prove to me that he would stop demanding the ball be thrown to him. Or demand that others, coaches included, pick-up their performances. In reality, I hope that DOESN'T change.

If I had to guess why Lynch had an unlicensed and loaded gun in a bag in the trunk of his car, it would be for protection, and so that the bullet couldn't be traced back if he needed to use it, most likely on a real "thug" or "thugs." I do not believe he was intending to use it for premeditated criminal purposes. Is that worse than a player getting behind the wheel after one too many drinks? Hardly. I've never heard of a gun in a trunk harming anyone. I guess it could have happened, but there are a thousand times more incidences of people getting injured or killed as the result of DUI. Yet the Commish hasn't taken a hardline stance on this issue. Why is that? Why didn't the Commish "sit down" with Marshall after his DUI? Hell, isn't domestic violence a literal "black eye" for the league? Why no "sit down" after that one? Is the Commish saying it's okay to knock-around your GF or spouse, as long as you attend anger management classes? What I find funny is that the personal conduct policy is supposed to make the league look good. But by drawing undue attention to the bad apples, it does the opposite. It's kind of like how the religious right took exception to "The Last Temptation of Christ" and made everyone want to go see it, when it otherwise probably would have faded into obscurity after a week because it was so bad.

Lynch should get the same punishment Marshall got; a 1 game suspension after appeal. The precedent has been set and Lynch's transgressions weren't even as bad as Marshall's, despite the fact that Marshall truly "got away" with abusing his girlfriend because he went to anger mangagement classes and also truly "got away" with DUI, because his BAC was 0.11 ( ). Add to it the battery charge and it's a farce that Marshall only had 1 "sit down" with the Commish, and that it wasn't a "3 strikes, you're out" situation. Making Lynch "an example" sounds like childish petulance, especially since a month-long investigation of his alleged "hit and run" only produced enough evidence to charge him with a traffic violation, and he got caught with an unlicensed and loaded gun in a bag in his trunk, where it wasn't harming anyone.

Either way you look at this, the Bills hardly screwed-over Crowell. The best he could have hoped for was having the minor procedure and playing half a season at his previous level, which was average to slightly above, with a lot of miscues thrown-in. He probably wouldn't have been paid any more than he was, and still would have need the major surgery. If anything, Crowell should thank the Bills that they paid him $1.75M to get the surgery he needed, to continue his NFL career.

But "sparatcus" knows better.

Bingo.

True. Expecting Goodell to be consistent, if not sane, in his punishments, was probably asking a lot. I guess to Goodell it's just as bad to beat your girlfriend, drive drunk, and beat up someone, as to fail to avoid hitting a pedestrian and having a loaded gun in the trunk of a car. And the NFLPA files the appeal and argues on behalf of the player. Hence the reason Brandon Marshall's 3 game suspension was reduced to 1 game. But given his past actions, I can completely believe that Goodell is temporarily stupid when he hands out the suspensions initially, and then changes his mind when he has time to smarten up.

Shall we get Poland to explain it to you?

The NFLPA agreed to the "personal conduct policy" in order to get the owners to bend over for them and give them more of a percentage of total revenue. Now that the owners are looking to take back some of that money, look for the NFLPA to tell the owners to stick their personal conduct policy where the sun don't shine.

LOL! And "the only real difference between" Roscoe Parrish and Donte Stallworth is that Roscoe didn't kill someone while driving drunk. The Commish has an obligation to be consistent with his rulings. He wasn't.

So then why mention Steve Johnson as well? Are the Bills planning on taking a WR? I'll take Modrak's words at face value. in addition to the fact that he refused to discuss the Bills' draft plans.

Holding-out or giving a half-hearted effort is the stupidest thing Fred could do. The Bills own his rights for the next 2 years at least, via EFA and RFA status. And that's assuming there's a new CBA. If there isn't, the Bills own him for the next 4 years.

The NFLPA will fight it and likely get it reduced to one game at most, again using Marshall as the precedent. And if nothing else, Ralph needs to call-out Goodell about his uneven practices, much like he called-out Tagliamoron several years ago.

Bingo. I expected a 1-2 game suspension by Goodell and it to get reduced to nothing but a fine, again using Marshall's more egregious transgressions as the precedent. Giving him 3 games is a farce, and it will be a worse one if he ends-up serving more than 1 game.

According to the LAMP thread about Modrak, the Bills like what they've seen of Bell (and Johnson). He knows more than any of us.