Sierra Foothills

From PFT today (Saturday 7/19/25) regarding 1st round edge rusher Shemar Stewart: "For reasons neither known nor apparent (other than “they wanted to”), the Bengals have changed the default language in their contracts to extend the consequences of voided guarantees to the balance of the deal. It’s a new term, and this year’s rookies are the Cincinnati guinea pigs. First-round edge rusher Shemar Stewart has refused to accept the new language without a fair concession. The Bengals refuse to make one. Their attitude has been “take it or leave it” (or, more bluntly, “shut up and play”). Stewart has left it, and he has not shut up. He’s now officially not with the team for his first training camp. The Bengals have failed to get a deal done. And they’ve shown no inclination to bend. Although the Bengals are cheap, this one isn’t about money. It’s about power. It’s about who’s in charge. “We are, you’re not.” The Bengals are also stubborn. They’ll expect Stewart to cave. Maybe he will. Or maybe he won’t. Maybe he’ll try to play college football. Maybe he’ll sit out the year and re-enter the draft. The problem is that the Bengals don’t sufficiently care about working something out. They want Stewart to surrender. They’re prioritizing that power over winning. If they truly cared about winning, they’d come up with a win-win that would get Stewart in camp and get him ready to help the Bengals not stumble out of the gates. Again."

To put a bow on it, from PFT: "As the 40th overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft, Shough is the lowest pick in the draft to get a fully guaranteed deal. Until this year, no second-round pick had received a fully guaranteed deal, but when the 33rd and 34th overall picks got their rookie contracts guaranteed this year, that led agents for other second-round picks to demand fully guaranteed deals for their clients as well. In the end, the first eight picks of the second round got their rookie contracts guaranteed. According to the report, the Saints also agreed to a stipulation no other second-round pick has: Shough will get most of his pay each year as a guaranteed roster bonus during the first week of training camp, rather than having to earn most of his salary weekly during the regular season." Next year's 2nd round pick negotiations should be interesting.

Earl Campbell was absolutely one of those runners (it seems like there were more "back then") who had a disregard for his own physical well-being. There was recent discussion here about Billy Simms. He and Walter Payton, Jim Brown, Cookie Gilchrist... and many more accepted the responsibility that came with being the star running back, which was the superstar position at the time, above quarterback. These guys knew that they were the vanguard for their offenses... that running was equated to winning. And they knew that their teammates expected them to set the tone for physicality and toughness. I feel that running backs were tougher back in the day. To the topic, I think Thurman might be a bit forgotten but that's because he was a generalist that did everything well. His game didn't jump of the field (and TV screen) like some other running backs. As far as greatest of all time, there is no one who watched OJ Simpson play during his prime from 1972 until he was injured in 1977 who would leave him off their top 3. It wasn't only his staggering accomplishments: six 200+ yard rushing games most games with over 250 yards most yards in a 14 game season first runner with over 2000 yards in a season 5-time 1st team All-Pro NFL MVP 4 time NFL rushing leader NFL record for highest yards per game in a season (143.1) member of the NFL All-1970s team NFL 75th Anniversary team NFL 100th Anniversary team It was the way OJ ran, a combination of speed, power, agility, instinct, elusiveness, and body expression that no one has come close to since. He had all the balletic grace of Barry Sanders and Gayle Sayers combined with the freight train power of Adrian Peterson and Eric Dickerson. Those who leave OJ off their list of top 3 running backs either never saw him play in his prime or don't really understand football. There was discussion upthread about Marcus Allen? Marcus Allen was an imitation of OJ Simpson.

Posters here very quickly lost, ignored, or forgot the bolded. You got your wish... I hope it made you happy while the rest of us suffered... 🙃 Thank you very much for the compelling statistical breakdown. I think the argument that a top tier slot receiver is more valuable (and in retrospect might be drafted higher) than an average starting boundary receiver is a valid one. I could definitely see Shakir being drafted in the 25-28 range... it would only take one team that doesn't have that type of player to make the pick.

And the best appetizer is starvation!

I'd be glad to answer any questions you have! What's your name?

Do you believe in an afterlife? On the subject of Chuck Knox, he is arguably the greatest coach not in the NFL Hall of Fame. His 186 wins places him 11th on the All-Time list. He took 3 teams with losing records (Rams, Bills, and Seahawks) and turned them all into strong playoff teams. In 22 seasons as an NFL Head Coach his teams made the playoffs 11 times. In the Super Bowl era there are 5 coaches in the Hall of Fame who never won a Super Bowl. They are: Don Coryell Marv Levy George Allen Bud Grant Sid Gillman On the other hand, Chuck Knox is in the club with Marty Schottenheimer and Dan Reeves as guys who arguably deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. (*asterisk denotes Hall of Fame) Coach Wins Winning % Playoff Winning % Schottenheimer 200 .613 .278 Reeves 190 .535 .550 Knox 186 .558 .389 Grant* 158 .621 .455 Levy* 143 .561 .579 Gillman* 122 .552 .167 Allen* 116 .712 .222 Coryell* 111 .572 .333

For the click averse, there are MANY other sordid details, such as: "During this year's NFLPA summit on Feb. 21, Howell accompanied the employees to the Magic City strip club for an outing that incurred $2,426 in charges including cash withdrawals, ranging from $200 to $525, from a club ATM, sources and documents show. They used two "VIP rooms." Sounds like lap dances to me... The linked article also touches on the fact that in his previous professional position, he committed a very similar breach of professional protocol. AC, as the owner of a high end taxi service, I imagine you're not the least bit shocked by these allegations.

You can get a life-sized wall decal of Sanders from Fathead but the 2025 rookies haven't been released yet. I think they're airbrushing their crotchal areas before making them available for bedroom walls. As @PromoTheRobot mentions, the precedents are by draft slot, not round. Thank you so very much for not saying that he'll be the most "dominate" of the bunch. Maybe there is hope for our country. Numbers for comparison... Last year's 33rd pick, Keon Coleman got 95.69% of his contract guaranteed. This year's 33rd pick, Carson Schwesinger got 100% guaranteed. This year's 39th pick WR Luther Burden received a 100% guaranteed contract. This year's 40th pick is a QB... Tyler Shough and he remains unsigned. This year's 41st pick, TJ Sanders got 94.63% guaranteed. This year's 42nd pick, TE Mason Taylor got 91.30% guaranteed.

Sanders' contract is 94.63% guaranteed. Yes. Coleman's contract is 95.69% guaranteed. Coleman was drafted 33rd overall... Sanders 41st.

You saw the homeless guy play football???!!?!?

I met Coach Levy a couple of times. No mortal has the ability to look into and understand every corner of another person's soul... but there's zero doubt in my mind (or really, anyone else's) that Marv is a very fine person of great character.

It's only collusion if a critical mass of the agents spoke with each other and agreed to a course of action (or in this case, non-action). The landscape was so obvious that no communication was necessary. The problem created by the first few 2nd round signings was an obvious signal to the players and agents to play the waiting game in order to exert pressure on the clubs. The owners don't want to give up anything but if they do, it'll be over their dead (or dying) fingers. As I posted in another topic, a higher percentage of NFL contracts are guaranteed every year. This is incrementalism at work. Some day, the NFL will not be the only major North American sports league without guaranteed contracts for all players. As to your point, there's a salary cap... whatever more it costs to pay 2nd rounders will simply come out of some other player's pocket. I don't think golden goose is an accurate characterization. This is one of a few existing unresolved areas of the CBA with regards to rookie contracts and like rainwater finding a weakness in the roof, it was inevitably going to be tapped for that extra bit of money that it changes in each contract. This is not a windfall development. It's incremental. Exactly. The percentage of fully-guaranteed contracts in the NFL will continue to increase as it has over the last several years. Considering NFL players have the shortest careers, the largest chance at catastrophic injury, and the largest chance at post-career medical disabilities, their contracts should be fully-guaranteed. Sanders' contract ends up being 94.63% guaranteed. I wouldn't be at all surprised if at this time next year, all 2nd rounders will have fully guaranteed contracts and as @Thurman#1 implies, the next battleground will be the 3rd rounders.

The question is whether he chose to resign rather than fight to maintain his position. Considering his track record I find it very hard to believe that he's simply doing the honorable thing.

Also, the spelling coach. You didn't hear? Bosa is "mentoring" him. Especially when combined with jet skis. Well that's a relief... now maybe I'll be able to sleep at night.

Yes, the crown was absurdly high to the point of probably not being orthopedically good to play on. I’m wondering if part of the consideration for the elevation of the playing surface is related to the water table for the new grass field.

At the anticipated concessions prices, one less beer shouldn't be a problem. They're already taking proposition bets in Vegas on this. The over/under is halfway through the first quarter of the first exhibition game.

He turned 19 on May 2nd.

Why do you have to be such a... you know... Richard Noggin...

Firstly, the Executive Director of any labor union should always publicly cite any wrongdoing or bad faith tactics by management. He does this by bringing the wrongdoing to light and making it a part of the public record so that it can be leveraged when necessary in litigation or as a bargaining chip. His job is to police and call out these transgressions, not sweep them under the rug. Not only did Lloyd Howell not do this but he also failed to represent the findings to his members in an accurate way. In this regard, he abdicated his two most fundamental duties. This does not mean that Howell should disturb labor peace. It does not mean he should overplay the issue. It does not mean that he should make a mountain out of molehill. But Howell was not doing his job and his non-actions violated his duty to the thousands of players he represents. On a different subject, the biggest unresolved issue in the current NFL CBA is guaranteed contracts. Ultimately like EVERY OTHER MAJOR NORTH AMERICAN PROFESSIONAL SPORTS LEAGUE, the NFL should have guaranteed contracts. Especially because these players have a much higher rate of catastrophic injuries and also shorter careers. They also have a higher incidence of post-career debilitating conditions. Their contracts should be fully guaranteed. To those saying that it can't be done, or that doing it would cause an untenable situation for owners, that's untrue. Already the percentage of guaranteed money in NFL contracts (for both veterans and rookies) has been increasing over the years. 1st round draft picks now have fully guaranteed contracts and I believe it won't be long until all rookie contracts are guaranteed. The current impasse with this year's 2nd round picks is because of this very issue. Ultimately I see all NFL contracts being fully guaranteed and this is being achieved incrementally, allowing the owners to moderate and mitigate the effects of those guarantees. The NFL owners are purposely dragging their feet (colluding) on this issue because any money saved now is more money later on via the maturation of their investments. It's the same reason that legacy industry leaders drag their feet on those new technologies which threaten their primacy... to delay the inevitable in the name of squeezing a few more million/billion dollars until they can no longer hold back the prevailing industry tide. When all guarantees are fully guaranteed there will be foreseen and unforeseen consequences such as smaller contracts, shorter contracts, less dumping of injured players (if you have to pay them, you might as well rehab them), less dead money, etc. I think ultimately players will have to decide whether they want to trade the potential for higher earnings in exchange for income certainty.. smaller but guaranteed sums of money. To that tradeoff I refer back to the saying, "one in the hand is worth two in the bush."

Spatter of hot wax from the candles = 3rd degree burns = Non-Football Injury List

I was there too and was very engaging and affable... willing to talk to anyone who wanted to talk to me. But no one really wanted to talk to me. Some of the people actually seemed annoyed when I asked them if they'd like to take a picture with me. Overall a very rude bunch of people IMO. Also I'd heard that when visiting OJ on his deathbed in SoCal that Rosen vowed to OJ that he'd help to find Nicole's killers. Yes, Josh Rosen is enrolled in the MBA program at Wharton... one of the Big 3 programs and the school which graduated Elon Musk, Donald Trump (though his transcripts are sealed), and many highly-successful people that we've never heard of. Even spotting the other QBs in his class hundreds of millions of dollars, Rosen has a chance to rival their wealth over the course of a lifetime.

At the "Return of the Red and Blue" event a few years ago I yelled out to Josh from the upper deck and he didn't even turn in my direction... so I'm really not convinced that he's anything special as a person. Seriously though, on the idea that one should never meet his/hers heroes, a common thing that happens to most people who were big sports fans as kids is that you age out... you get jaded and maybe a bit cynical and the way you view the big stars is less as heroes and more as mercenaries. It's partly losing your innocence, partly the pervasiveness of media coverage exposing the flaws and tearing at the mystique of these guys... partly being older than the rookies instead of younger than them... there's a bunch of factors. And yet I know that many of us feel about Josh, the same way we felt about about the iconic superstars of our youth, which is to say as a hero in the eyes of a kid. In today's world Josh is almost unique in that regard.

You're certain Spencer Brown will be listed but uncertain about Dion Dawkins? That's interesting. I'll eat crow if necessary but I just don't see Brown being higher on the list than Dawkins.