Rochesterfan

Why do they need to come out - who cares! Read a little bit about players that have come out after their playing career - how hard it was hiding who they were because they felt different and alone. Look up Ryan O’Callaghan and his story. He knew he was gay, but couldn’t share it with anyone - he was a football player - manly. His plan was to finish playing and then to kill himself rather than admit who he was. It took one coach taking an interest and talking to him - getting him to open up and basically tell him - he is fine and ok. Once voice changed his life and moved him from a path of darkness and suicide to finishing his career and becoming more vocal. Maybe guys like Sam, Nassib, O’Callaghan, Tuaolo, etc. become that voice for others that are struggling in the NFL or college with these thoughts. They also give voice and strength to help others outside of football get talking points to have open dialogue with others - just like we are having here. One day it will be accepted and will not need to be discussed, but it can’t get there until can engage in the dialogue without fear and we are not there yet.

I disagree - they should be celebrated because their courage may/should allow other that are in a lesser position feel they are not alone. LGBTQ+ suicide rates are terrible - they feel alone and ostracized many times. They hide who they are out of fear. Having someone come out in a field like football or the military shows people they are not alone and that it isn’t just theater majors or drama or quiet hidden people that might be like them, but people that have made it into all walks of life. These men and women in sports and CEOs and actors and everyday people that choose to come out should be celebrated to remind everyone that we are all unique, but there are others that think like you - feel like you - you are never alone.

Michael Sam - should be celebrated - especially as he was brave enough and supported enough to come out in college and be the first openly gay player drafted - quite an accomplishment on its own! Carl Nassib opening up while an active NFL player is on a different level than Sam I believe and I hope this allows others in the future to have a path to coming out. Both should be celebrated for giving a voice/place to others and I look forward to the day that this isn’t news - just something that is natural.

I don’t believe Michael Sam ever played and active down in the NFL. I believe he was drafted late (7th rd I think) by the Rams and failed to make their squad and was cut prior to the 1st game. I think Dallas put him on their practice squad for a bit, but he was never and active player. Sam does hold the distinction of being the first openly gay player drafted (and good for him), but not the first active NFL player to come out - nor the first openly gay player to play a live game - that falls to Carl for right now - unless someone else follows his lead.

Josh’s face or the puppy?

Don’t feed the troll - let him starve.

My guess is to look at the club seats. Buffalo already has PSLs on club seats - rolled right into the price. The team has been studying this and moving this way for years because the PSL money goes right to the team versus the ticket that is split revenue. I would imagine that even if they decide to stick with Highmark Stadium - if they upgrade things again and go that route - PSLs will be expanded there anyway. It is another untapped revenue stream that Buffalo will be tapping into as soon as they can.

We are all just talking about Bell, but it is obvious we are all talking about the wrong ex-Steeler. The OP was talking about Levon Kirkland the former LB and he made the wrong choice to retire years ago. If he was talking about Bell and mangled his name - he would of come back and corrected the title - a simple fix that would have moved the thread along, but leaving it as Levon - me must be talking about someone else. 🤦‍♂️

Does your good friend do any SKYDIVING by any chance? Maybe does you friend have NASA connection throughout Alabama? LOL

Then why keep playing with that attitude? Actually with that attitude it shows you lack the drive to most likely make it in the NFL long term as these guys for the most part are highly driven and do all sorts of crazy things to stay in the league - highly controversial and more potentially dangerous than vaccination- like hitting Europe or the Caribbean for Stem cell injections, weird supplements and HGH injections. If a vaccine that has been shown to be highly effective and have very little side effects through millions and millions of injections - especially when compared to the disease you are vaccinating against - would have you retire, but the risk of long term injury by playing keeps you in the league - your priorities are all wrong from the beginning.

Based upon available data the NFL is already pushing 60% for most teams. This latest release of protocols (approved by both the NFL and NFLPA) will push it easily toward the 85% goal that the NFL has floated to teams to begin fully operating as per 2020. Tasker said it on One Bills Live - Then you will see a few camp bodies (that have decided not to get a shot) will find themselves being cut to get to the required %. My guess is by mid-training camp you are pushing 85-95% for most teams - with a few stragglers. The fun part will be that first player that refused the shot that gets exposed and misses time and gets fined a game check - that will move a few more into the getting stuck group.

That could be, but he was never as bad as some chose to make him. He has had a winning record every year after his rookie season, he has been close to 65% completions and 2:1 TD:Int rate. He has posted close to a 90 QB rating for his career. He was just never going to live up to the expectations of a #2 pick over Mahomes and Watson. The team and the FO never really did him many favors to help the offense thrive. He has actually been equal to or better than Mayfield as a starting QB on the field, but Cleveland is not moving on from him. The biggest difference is Chicago was looking to move on after struggles early in year 3 and never committed to him and Cleveland went out and got a third coach to try and build an offense that Mayfield can be successful in.

I think they wanted to give Josh an extra day to work on his pitching. Got to be ready for the photo op. LOL

Which is the exact reason they are making the rules the way they are. Harsh rules “to protect you” if you are not vaccinated and lax rules if you are. We are not mandating that you must get vaccinated, but your life will return to normal sooner if you do. Everything will be fine until the first Tennessee style outbreak on a team with fewer vaccinated folks and a lack of available PS players to call up. Once it costs a team a game or two - then stuff gets real.

I don’t disagree with what you said - I just wouldn’t personally sign him. I totally agree that he will most likely have to take a minimum/low salary to rehabilitate himself. I am just not sure he cares enough about football to do that well.

I am saying - I wouldn’t even bring him in at vet minimum. He wasn’t motivated to perform in NY with a big salary or KC on a championship level team - I don’t see him being more motivated to come in and play for a minimum/low salary for a coach that wants you to earn your playing time. I see him taking the money from some team - complaining about being underutilized and thinking it is once again an issue with the 4th different team that is the problem.

My issue with this is wasn’t that what KC was supposed to be. He was paid by the NYJ - signed a deal in KC to get a shot at a ring and show he could still play. He couldn’t beat out an UDFA when CEH was injured and then threw the coach under the bus. KC teammates then came to Reid’s defense and basically said “He didn’t work hard enough and if there were issues to look in the mirror”. Not a ringing endorsement of Bell. Then assume you sign him for “pennies” - even 2.5 million or less - how motivated is he really going to be to come to another team and play on a cheap deal? He was not real motivated on a championship team last year. He blasted a pretty player friendly coach that most guys really seem to love to play for. If you got Bell of 4-5 years ago - a guy that seemed motivated and still wanted to be the best - that would be a guy I offer a cheap contract and hope to revive. The current Bell showed money was most important when he walked away from Pittsburgh and threw that team under the bus. Then in NY after signing a huge deal - he was never able to do anything and threw that team under a bus. KC was supposed to be the perfect fit - an offensive HC coming off a championship. A team that likes to use RBs both running and catching the ball. A near perfect fit and Bell couldn’t get into that team having nearly 1/2 a season to pick things up.

This is not quite true. The international program does not require him to be on the exempt PS list where he can’t be called up. That is a choice. The Bills and the player have 4 options: 1) put the international player on the final 53 roster where he is active. 2) cut the player and put him on the regular PS where he can be called up as needed. 3) cut him and use an exemption on him and place him on the PS as an extra member. (Last 2 years) Can not be called up. 4) cut him and do not resign him. The rule should not be modified because that would give the team with the international player an additional player on the PS that every other team does not have. It was set up specifically to give the player extra practice time, game film, coaching, and learning without giving a competitive advantage to any team. If the Bills felt he was adequate enough to call up if needed in a game - then they need to place him on the regular PS. If they are not sure - then they use the exemption and lock him on the team for a year to continue learning. Using the international extra practice squad spot is a specific choice the team makes and the player agrees to. The alternative for Wade would be getting cut outright as both he and the team have stated he was still learning and was not ready.

Gunner - I totally agree - I took your aggressive comment as tighter window throws - not chucking it down field. The comment from the reporter sounded like these were not even necessarily tight throws - they were late throws and with the water logged ball - slow and the defense got to them. Maybe in better weather those are completions and as others have said - it is June - he has a lot of time, but when you combine this with his being babied last year and not taking risks - even when supported by a top flight defense and couple that with a new OC - so many new things to learn - I am not sure they are developing a franchise QB properly. I would say this staff has broken just about every rule for properly developing a QB they could. They put him in before he was ready. They let him play while injured- even if mild. They pulled him in close and important games. They babied him when he was the QB. They switched OC after his first season.

I agree, but it was noted that the throws were not real aggressive - so it did not sound like overcompensating- it sounded more like a very wet/heavy ball and bad placement/late throws.

When have they stopped a game due to rain? If there was Lightning games get postponed, but they would of canceled practice if that was the case also. They have played games in the aftermath of hurricanes with non-stop rain. This is a potential playing condition that he might have to deal with.

They need to incorporate a lot of things, but without access to the players - the metric people only have the numbers and therefore they need that to work. The metric people have no way to quantify things like heart, drive, intelligence, competitiveness, etc - so they can not include that. It was easy when their made up numbers seemed to work, but they struggle to identify certain players that have something in their makeup that drives them. The tape and numbers can’t identify that - so it is easier to just hope he fails. For some players (unfortunately Tom Brady is a perfect example) both metric and scouts fail to identify them. Those are the guys that are late round/UDFAs that hit big. Sometimes Metrics are right and scouts are wrong and sometimes scouts are right and metrics fail. That is life.

Yeah - the issue was the guys that are true “talent evaluators” - scouts, former GMs, guys like Kiper - all raved about Allen - his build, arm strength, playing ability. The guys that were pushing metrics - win %, completion %, Interception %, “catchable balls”, interceptable passes - places like PFF and the like - panned the pick because based on metrics he was destined to be a bust. Therefore those metric guys have pushed a stupid narrative to try and protect themselves and unfortunately because they are not paid by teams, but by clicks - they keep pushing a stupid narrative. They guys that evaluate based on film have been right in this case and that steams the metric guys because it blows all of their stupid formulas up because Allen has done something they said could not be done based upon their studies and that was be successful and increase his play.

Only 2 picks - uggh Miami is already way ahead with 7 picks today. We need Mitch to pick it up. LOL.

New agreement in place - the teams are no longer allowed to rescind fines. It is part of the reason GB cancelled minicamp. If the fined Rodgers for not showing up - they couldn’t take it away and if the decided not to fine him - they couldn’t fine any other players that skipped and some players were talking about skipping in support of Rodgers. They were in a no win - so the best way to avoid it was to cancel mandatory minicamp.