Logic

Your 10th post in a 4 page thread. We get it. You're not a fan.

Just me.

Fair enough. I suppose that my point remains that the anger/frustration/vitriol largely seems to get mis-directed toward Swift, when it should be directed toward the league and/or the networks. She's not doing anything wrong. The networks and league potentially are. That's who people should be upset at, if anyone.

Thanks for this. I particularly agree with your second paragraph. I'm addicted to the NFL, but morally, I really wish I wasn't. The fact that the league's ever-deepening heel turn has coincided with the best Bills football of my adult lifetime has been...vexing. And as I said to Bill from NYC, I truly can't rule out the possibility of league chicanery with regard to the Chiefs to ensure maximum Swift involvement. And that's gross.

So far, every Bills cut has pretty much been expected. Has there been a single surprise cut yet?

I think the Chiefs get favorable calls from the refs. I also used to think that the Patriots constantly got favorable calls from the refs. The nagging voice in the back of my head that thinks the league either tells refs specifically to give favorable calls to its most popular/successful teams, or that there is some kind of unconscious bias toward and benefit of the doubt given to those teams by the refs...it's hard for me to quiet that voice. On the other hand, I think to myself: If the NFL is putting its thumb on the scales in favor of certain teams, why not media market or merchandise giants like the New York Giants or Jets, the Dallas Cowboys, and the LA teams? Do I think that the favorable calls given to the Chiefs are due to the Taylor Swift thing? I lean towards no, because I feel like those calls pre-dated her involvement. Can I say with 100% certainty that it's not a thing? Nope, I can't. The NFL is a shady and unscrupulous enterprise, and given everything I just said about their primary motive being profit, can I completely dismiss the idea that they'll do whatever they can to maximize their TS TV time? Nope, I can't.

The NFL is a business. Their goal is to make as much money and attract as many eyeballs as humanly possible. So, to that end: Yep, they've exploited Taylor's presence for all its worth. And quite effectively! It is estimated that female viewership rose 20% due to Swift's presence, that $1 billion in publicity value was generated, and that NFL merchandise sales are up across the board. Those are some massive gains! I would venture to guess that many (but of course not all) who are against the NFL's exploitation of Swift's presence would also consider themselves staunch lovers and defenders of free market capitalism. As such, it must certainly be understandable to them why the NFL does what it does when it comes to Taylor Swift. If we're gonna discuss the NFL's various profit-motivated decisions, I think the advent of Thursday night football, extra regular season games, and extra playoff games are all far more insidious and worthy of scorn than their showing of a pop star in her press box for 20-30 seconds per Chiefs game.

1. Taylor Swift is the biggest pop star in the world. I mean...I'm not sure how one ought to go about being that without being accused of what you're accusing her of. Michael Jackson, Madonna, the Beatles, Elvis...they all must've suffered from the same thing, eh? 2. Much of what you're describing her (and him) having to do is done to avoid what the MEDIA/PAPARAZZI brings upon them. Even the NFL coverage that makes all the fragile male egos so upset is just that: NFL coverage. She's not asking to have cameras pan to her in the press box. She's living her life, watching her boyfriend play football in a private press box. 3. Celebrity worship seems like more of a cultural problem than a Taylor/Travis problem. I'm not sure how Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce (the world's biggest pop star and one of its most famous football players, respectively) are any more to blame for that than any other celebrity. 4. Not a top 40 TE all time? I'd love to see your top 40 list, man, because that is some straight up wackiness. Here's what I think: People's problems with Taylor Swift are usually their own. Something about seeing a really successful, self-made woman who writes her own songs do well in the world really seems to tick some people off. Much of what is levied in her direction in terms of criticism ought to be levied at the Hollywood press, paparazzi, NFL camera crews, etc. She is not a faultless, blameless person -- no one is -- but so far as I can tell, she's guilty primarily of being a hugely successful pop star who likes to go to the stadium to watch her boyfriend play football games. I won't dispute that the level of adulation and worship many in our culture have for celebrities is less than ideal, but I think the level of vitriol that some people throw their way for no good reason is just as bad, if not worse. As for people who get super upset when she comes on the screen during games? I think they're being fragile little snowflakes. It's usually no more than 20 seconds total of a 3.5 hour broadcast. To them I say: Suck it up, buttercup. You'll live.

Don't threaten ME with a good time! LOL. K. Sure, man.

Just tell Travis how you feel! Maybe it's mutual. You got this, buddy.

Not a 10 second shot of a pretty pop star having a nice time in the press box. Oh, the humanity! *We interrupt this post to bring you the 74th Applebee's commercial of the day, Chris Collinsworth's stupid face, and another military flyover*

He's a backup and special teams quality player who -- due to a lack of superior options on the roster, which is a Brandon Beane and Cole Bishop problem, not a Hamlin problem -- was pressed into starting duty last year. He had good moments and bad moments. The defense on which he played finished 12th in points per game allowed, and the team on which he played was a drive away from going to the Super Bowl. But understand this: saying that he's a backup and special teams quality payer who you'd rather not have starting for your team most weeks is a world away from saying he doesn't belong on an NFL roster or only has a spot because the coaches feel bad for him, which is the silliness that a lot of people try to push. Also, I would love to know what teams are just swimming in upper echelon, starting caliber safeties. What NFL teams go four and five deep with starting caliber, above-replacement-level safeties? Can you name, say, three such teams?

I'm with Appoo. Hamlin gets way too much scrutiny because of his health scare. Every team in the NFL -- EVERY SINGLE TEAM -- has backup and special teams level players. That's what Hamlin is. Do you want him starting for your team most weeks? Nope. Is he an NFL caliber player? Absolutely. I mean...hell...he started the majority of the season last year for a team that went to the AFC Championship game and had the 12th ranked scoring defense in the league. And people wanna say he doesn't even belong on an NFL roster? It's silly. As convinced as some people are that the emotional factor around Hamlin clouds the coaches' judgement with regard to his level of play, I'm JUST AS convinced that its THOSE FANS whose judgement of said player is clouded by the emotional factor. I'm convinced that people are way harder on him (for reasons I can guess at, but need not spiral off into and derail this thread) because of what he went through than they'd be otherwise.

Truly happy for them. Aside from obviously being a brilliant artist and one of the most successful musicians in history, she seems like a genuinely sweet and lovely person. And as much as I want to hate Travis because he's a Chief, he seems to be a pretty good dude and one who treats Taylor well. And hopefully he knows that he ever hurts her, about 100 million people will break his kneecaps and throw him in the lake to sleep with the fishes. Congrats to the happy couple.

The lack of any concrete update should be taken as good news. If he had torn an ACL or popped an achilles, we'd know about it. Having heard no such thing, and hearing Beane be vague about the details and talk about trying to figure out a treatment plan and a timeline, tells us that it's almost certainly not a season ending injury. The only relevant thing we don't know for sure is the return timeline, and that should become more clear with upcoming roster moves related to cutdown day. But make no mistake: The lack of specifics on the injury should be taken as a positive sign.

I'd like to add: The guy you really like and want to sneak through to the practice squad but are so certain that some other team will claim off waivers before you can? He'll likely clear waivers and make it to the practice squad. Fans tend to think much more highly of bottom-of-roster players for their favorite teams than other teams do. Other teams, meanwhile, have their OWN roster cuts to make, and likely aren't nearly as enamored with the UDFA CB out of Valdosta State as you are.

Nothing you said is untrue. I just think it's a bad look to spend 2nd, 3rd, and 4th round picks on 3Ts over the course of two drafts, sign another in free agency for decent money, then STILL wind up having to bring a Jordan Phillips back right before the season. You'd hope that with the draft capital and free agency dollars spent and with Oliver Sanders Walker Carter Ogunjobi ....all of whom are entirely or primarily 3Ts (regardless of where the coaching staff is trying to force them to play)... The Bills wouldn't need to pull the Jordan Phillips lever again. But here we are.

Yet another 3T that they're dead set on forcing to play 1T. They seem to have at least a decent eye for drafting 3Ts, but they can't identify a 1T to save their lives.

Let me see if I have this straight. Brandon Beane traded down to pick Keon Coleman (losing the 5th year option in the process), used the pick he gained to draft a 3T, the coaches forced the guy to play 1T (for which he was not suited), only to see Beane sign a 3T in free agency the very next year who immediately got suspended, use draft picks on two MORE 3Ts (one of whom the coaches are also forcing to play 1T, to which he does not appear suited), and now they're likely going to cut or trade the first 3T-to-1T draftee because the forced position switch predictably didn't work..... ...and after all of THAT... They still only have one viable 1T and they're re-signing Jordan Phillips? Yikes. Not the finest hour for ol' BBB and his 4D roster chess.

Did you read the PFT article? It points out exactly what the league would've had to gain by doing this.

For those saying this seems far-fetched, I'll just say... The NFL has been caught in the act of collusion already. The Kaepernick stuff didn't happen that long ago. I don't know whether Dickerson is telling the truth here or not. But I don't find it AT ALL hard to believe that a company worth as much as the NFL and whose continuous supply of willing labor balances so precariously on a teeter-totter of precedence and tradition would engage in collusion to ensure their continued success. PARTICULARLY given that they've already been found guilty of collusion in the past.

It has already started to happen, little by little, with the scouting combine (which I think will be more or less obsolete within a decade as more and more prominent players refuse to participate in it). If they ALSO start to decline the pre-draft interview rat race or, at the very least, to steer it more in the direction of "you're recruiting ME, I'm not interviewing for a job"...could be interesting. Granted, all of this mostly applies to the 1st and 2nd round, top talent guys. I don't imagine mid round to UDFA caliber guys are gonna be pulling these power plays any time soon.

From the posted article: "Consider this. Sanders fell (we were told after the draft) because he viewed the pre-draft process as he was being recruited, not as he was being interviewed. He was essentially pushing back against the “honor and a privilege” nonsense. If his approach had been ratified by a high selection in the draft, others may have done the same. And the NFL does not want the cyborgs to become self-aware. So it’s not crazy. In the hidden (until it wasn’t) collusion ruling, the arbitrator found that the NFL’s Management Council, with the blessing of the Commissioner, encouraged teams as a result of the Watson contract to resist fully-guaranteed contracts. Would it be nuts to think that the league, which has made the draft into a massive offseason tentpole event by perpetuating the notion that it’s a Harry Potter sorting-hat ceremony, will react negatively to any player who doesn’t play along? “It’s a job interview.” We hear it every year. Players get poked and prodded and interrogated and scrutinized. For the system to work, the players need to submit. If they ever realize the power that comes from saying, “It’s an honor and a privilege for you to be able to employ us,” the whole thing could fall apart. It’s all about power. It’s all about showing those who don’t have the power that there are consequences to not yielding to the power."

I mean this in the most literal way possible: It elicits no feelings in me. Not a one. A rich man having a large boat is like a squirrel hiding a nut, or a wolf howling at the moon. It's nature. I suppose if I had to search deep within myself to come up with a reaction, it would be this: It seems like it would be nice to ride on that boat. I would like to eat a platter of charcuterie and fine cheeses during a picturesque sunset. That seems really pleasant.