SirAndrew

Yeah, lots of people followed ND who lived in areas with no major college team. NYC and Boston used to be filled with ND fans. Take into account the predominance of Catholicism in those areas, and you have a fan base. I grew in a mostly Italian neighborhood far away from South Bend, and everyone had Fightin’ Irish apparel. Yeah, I’ve known a few old timers who viewed ND as the “clean cut” guys. I never understood how anyone who went to Catholic school themselves could view them as the “clean cut” ones though (I joke with much truth).

I think this is just one case where I’ll have to agree to disagree with you. In my mind it’s completely plausible that Brown would have no interest in coming to Buffalo. He’s a diva who wanted a big market. All the money in the world wouldn’t have mattered imo. It’s not like he’s known for his wise decision making.

Funny, but he did look high as a kite in his mugshot. I will say that much, regardless of what actually came out.

I agree. Even without the lawsuit situation, Brown would have never been good for this team. It was already common knowledge that he was a poor teammate/diva. My opinion might not mean much though, I also think the duo of Landry/Beckham will prove to be bad for Mayfield’s development.

Absolutely, plus he didn’t want to come here, so that’s a major issue too. The dude released a tape of himself telling Rosenhaus he didn’t want to come to Buffalo (so it’s certainly not fake news).

I hear you, but it makes no sense to even inquire about a guy with a reputation of being toxic, if you weren’t somewhat interested. I’m not saying you’re wrong, I’m just stating that I was always confused by Beane having any interest in Brown whatsoever.

When the Brown trade didn’t happen there were dozens of conflicting articles regarding why he didn’t end up in Buffalo. Some of those articles stated that Rosenhaus wouldn’t even give the Bills Brown’s number because he knew Brown wouldn’t go there. In a phone call with Rosenhaus, Brown agreed that he had no interest in Buffalo. If this is the case, the financial aspect and whether or not Beane had dirt on Brown is irrelevant. Brown simply wasn’t coming here. Who knows what would have happened had he been willing to. Beane (who I do like as GM) now comes out smelling like a rose because of it.

Yeah, I’m just happy the trade didn’t happen. It would have set this franchise back big time.

I didn’t ever see a guy like Brown signing with Buffalo, and I’m usually the guy who says free agency signings are all about money. Brown wanted attention in a big market. He didn’t even want to play with Raiders once he signed there, so it’s hard for me picture him playing in Buffalo. I love what Beane has done for this team, but sometimes I think people elevate him to mythical status. Two other GM’s signed Brown before his career came to a likely end. That makes it hard for me to believe that GM’s around the league know too much about the current drama.

I don’t know if Beane really knew anything. Brown just wasn’t going to sign here anyway.

Really, and people are missing how bad this for the game of football. The new generation of players are going to singlehandedly destroy the game. When in the history of the game has a Hall of Famer railroaded his own career? Seems to be more and more common these days.

Glad some type of justice was served, but the Pats game in OP would have been quite interesting. I was looking forward to hearing the Bills fans reception of Brown.

They are basically meter maids (or mall security), cops on the street patrol of Italy don’t face the same things that our cops do. When they know something is about to occur, they send in the proper units. Like I said, patrolling the streets of Chicago is a different game than patrolling Milan. The Italian policing system is broken down into many different units (Carabinieri vs Polizia) etc. The guys with the fancy uniforms are basically ambassadors. When you go to more crime ridden areas of Italy (often in the South) you commonly see officers in full military type uniform.

Yeah, but keep in mind that crime in Milan is much different than Chicago or opioid ravaged middle America. They spend much more time standing around looking cool in their uniforms. When big things do down over there, they do bring out guys in tactical clothing. You’ll see it in the videos of riots and such that take place in the streets of Italy.

Yeah, plus most players are hopped up on pain killers so they’re all set.

I agree, but I think what you said is exactly the issue. The league is slowly making staying home with friends the more enjoyable option. They are phasing out people hanging out in the parking lot binge drinking. I’m not talking about the table crushing stupidity, but simply the ability to have a few drinks and enjoy some food. Fans across the league are being forced to “tailgate” at bars and/or team sanctioned areas. Without the real tailgate experience, why not stay home?

Steelers fans say hi

I agree, the NFL needs to make a choice as to whether they are going to hold that moral arbiter position. Their position on player discipline seems to be quite inconsistent. If they don’t discipline Brown, they should discontinue their practice of player discipline completely. Personally, I’ve always had an issue with how the league dealt with discipline. That’s why I played devils advocate with my statement regarding player indiscretions unknown to the public. If Goodell wants to play judge and juror, the league needs to establish normal workplace rules. Even missteps the average fan doesn’t know about need to be punished. How many NFL players post social media stuff that would get many of us fired? How many arrests etc? If the league is serious about player discipline, treat them like people with a normal job. If that were the case, maybe we wouldn’t have the Brown situation.

Yes, it is. Honestly, it’s that important to every team. There is just one major difference, most teams would part with Brown out of embarrassment. The Brown story has become such a headline that most organizations wouldn’t touch him with a ten foot pole. It’s simply bad PR, but the Pats are already the evil empire, so they don’t care. Brown doesn’t seem like a great dude, but most fans have no idea of how every team has some real low quality dudes on it. Brown just happens to be in the headlines. There are plenty of disturbing stories of pro athletes that most people will never know. Teams don’t care until they get bad publicity, Brown just found the one team who doesn’t care at all.

Yes, because the media would portray it as a disaster and everyone would believe it. Just as what happened with the Fail Mary and the replacement refs. They didn’t do any worse than the real guys. They were just smeared in the press, so the average fan thought they were terrible. So your answer is no to the original question.

This Marrone vs Vrabel game is a clinic in outdated uninformed NFL coaching. Something about former Pats assistant coaches too (Vrabel), they just seem to coach the most boring brand of football.

Yeah, that’s the early part of the NFL season for you. I get the feeling the Titans are an average team without a legit QB, but there’s a chance the Browns are just bad.

Exactly, Dalton could only dream of being able to grow a stash as cool as Minshew.

This^ TBD is likely the only group of football fans were any Chad Kelly supporters can still be found.

Bingo. It sure helped PR, but this is social media driven nowadays. The franchise had to embrace him because social media brought him into the spotlight.