Kirby Jackson

I have no idea. They don’t do it in the premier league. Obviously, the military’s sponsorship plays a role but think that it’s beyond that. The 10 year-old hockey game is a good example. It’s kind of weird when you think about it. I really don’t care if it plays or not.

Why does anyone care how someone else chooses to consume the anthem? I don’t get that.

Close to where I’m at. I’m higher on the DL and lower on the ST

So you don’t think that athletes have a bigger audience than the Jiffy Lube employee?

Oh man this conversation is getting weird. If you don’t agree that athletes have a larger platform than 99.99% of the population you aren’t smart. That’s not up for debate. It’s a fact. That’s all that I ever said. The reason that their voices matter is because they have an audience.

You are jumping to conclusions all over the map. I’m not assuming that you are any race. Not really sure why you keep bringing that up? I really don’t care. You are trying to act like athletes and Jiffy Lube employees are the same. That’s naive/ignorant/wrong. They have vastly different platforms and worth. They have vastly different platforms and influence. If you don’t understand that I can’t help you.

Prop them up? I worked in sports and know many, many, many pro athletes. Some I like; some I don’t. I probably look up to athletes less than just about anyone here. At the same time, I understand that their platform is enormous (as you said above). The fact that you can name a zillion athletes and a couple of scientists is what makes them different. You answered your own question.

Why is it awful? You can consume whatever you want but If you can’t see the difference between a star athlete and a guy at Jiffy Lube I don’t know what to tell you.

That one has an audience and one doesn’t. One has more privilege in the workplace because they are harder to replace. They are bigger earners. Not everyone has the same responsibility. By that logic how is the president different from a fry cook?

One is a highly skilled, hard to replace, multi-millionaire with the attention of hundreds of millions of people. The other changes your oil. They are quite different in terms of their audience.

That’s a pretty bold assumption. I work for a very large Fortune 500 company. We are encouraged to speak up and speak out. I think that’s probably the case in most large companies. It comes, in part, for fear of looking discriminatory but also to make people feel heard. It’s as much of a workplace culture thing as anything. The difference is that I don’t have an audience.

Many do though

The example that you used was taking a knee with a line of 20. If the cashier does that they are not able to do their job. If a NFL player takes a knee during the anthem they are still able to do their job. That’s why I used the 3rd down example. That’s the same thing as the cashier with the line. The employee, in that case, is deciding between doing their job and protesting. It’s apples and oranges.

I don’t care what McDermott does or what the players do. I suspect that a large portion of the league take a knee. I also suspect that it will be much more widely accepted as polls have indicated. It’s no longer looked at as “disrespecting the flag” and is now (correctly) viewed as “solidarity with the oppressed.” It isn’t going to change my experience one way or the other. I didn’t become a Bills fan because of the way that the consume the anthem. I’m there to watch them play football. They aren’t working at that point though. If they peacefully protest on 3rd down that’s the equivalent.

Bledsoe got hit hard and a lot because he was slow through his progressions and had cement feet. If he played on today’s NFL he would be miles worse than he was for a large part of his career. He was sacked 467 times!!

Allen absolutely is a top tier athlete. He was the first QB ever with 3 straight 100 yard rushing games (again at least I think). That 40 time means nothing because his play speed is elite. Again, he has play speeds the others haven’t. 17 rushing TDs in 2 years is elite. Allen has kept the ball on 3 or 4th and 1 24 times and converted 23. He’s averaged 5.8 YPC on a substantial amount of carries. Again, no one is arguing that he is the QB that those others are but his athleticism, especially at his size is elite. He’s the EXACT same guy that Cam was when he entered the league. Cam has been beaten up lately but physically they are the same. Mahomes is the only QB in the NFL with the physical tools of Allen. 21 MPH at 240 lbs is way ahead of those others as the chart shows.

Bledsoe had 3 decent years in New England and 1/2 of a good year in Buffalo. Other than that he was an AWFUL QB. Lamar has one good year and one MVP season. Lamar’s peak has already been better than Bledsoe’s and he only needs about another good year or 2 to surpass Bledsoe’s entire prime (‘94, ‘96, ‘97). He was a BAD QB before Brady ever took over. I was living there at that point and followed them a little. He is and was one of the most overrated players ever and certainly the most overrated the Bills have ever had. If you exclude his first 8 games in a Bills uniform his numbers are as bad as Losman, Edwards, EJ, etc... He certainly has a ways to go but his peak has been better than Bledsoe’s already.

I disagree Allen is absolutely in that top tier athlete category. He’s actually a superior athlete to Watson, Mahomes and Wilson. If you look at the next gen stats he was second to only Lamar in top end speed (at least I think). He was at like 21 MPH. Allen was also a 3 sport star in high school. He may not be the QB that those others are yet but he absolutely is in the elite athlete tier. This chart is a touch dated but he’s as big and fast as Cam:

You’re buying Bledsoe but not Lamar? Odd

Singletary and I don’t think that it’s that close. Personally though, I’m higher on Singletary than most of the board and lower on Moss than most of the board. IMO, Singletary has a chance to be a star. Moss feels like a nice complementary player to me. The Bills backfield could be really good this year.

This

Thought you were taking about the BR skill position ranking from last year. I apologize.

Exactly The point was that Singletary, Brown and Beasley way outperformed their preseason ranking of 24. 2 of them had career years and the other averaged 5.1 YPC. If they were to rank them retrospectively the Bills were probably 16ish. Now you add in a number one receiver and bump the rest down a notch and you have a high end group. Take arguably the worst RB in the NFL out of a rotation and add a talented rookie and that group improves. You had a rookie RB and a rookie that room presumably will take a step forward. Thats how you go from 16ish to 8. Everything moved in the right direction. There’s a CHASM between the Bills skill players and the skill players of the Jets, Pats and Dolphins.

The point is that the Bills ended up underrated at 24. It was a preseason ranking. Beasley and Brown has the best years of their careers and the rookie EB averaged 5.1 YPC. Guys that were question marks entering the year overachieved. Now when you add Diggs, you have 2 1k receivers and a high end slot option. Brown and Beasley now face easier matchups. Moss in unquestionably an upgrade over Gore and that’s why you are looking at the Bills 20 spots ahead of anyone else in the division. The have the best receiver, the best #2 receiver, a high end slot guy and arguably the best backfield in the division. Bell may still be that guy but there’s a very good chance that the Bills backfield emerges. We aren’t splitting hairs in the division. The Bills weapons are far, far, far beyond the rest of the AFC East.

That’s honestly why I said (if he isn’t already). I like Gesicki quite a bit. He’s an athlete. Former basketball players make great tight ends. I think that Knox has some of his athletic upside and is a way better blocker. He will be the more complete of the 2 but not sure that he will catch up to Gesicki as a pass catcher. I wouldn’t be shocked though if both guys became like 800 yard receivers with 7 or 8 TDs.