Brand J

I’ve heard plenty about the fentanyl deaths. Drug addiction is a dark, dark path, no question. But you’ll never get me to agree with your last point, that selling 200 grams of heroine or cocaine should equate to a larger sentence because it is as bad or worse than what Ruggs did. That woman was minding her own business and was a victim of reckless, drunken driving. I can’t say the same for drug users. The seller is an enabler and should do time, but in measuring the two offenses I see an imbalance.

He was racing, but the other drunk woman lost control of her vehicle and killed herself and her passenger. I don’t know if you can blame Carter directly for their deaths, sure he bears a responsibility, but he wasn’t the driver of the vehicle that wrecked.

The Jets are the one AFCE team Allen hasn’t gone off against. He almost always seems to struggle against Gang Green, or at the least - put up modest numbers.

These are Texas laws if one gets caught selling heroine, cocaine, or another “group 1” drug: To put 200 grams into perspective, it basically measures out to a cup and a half. Ruggs killed a woman, she and her dog burned alive, but he’ll do far less time than someone caught trying to sell a cup and a half worth of cocaine. Something seems very wrong with that picture.

Drop “hands” and just go with “Shaky Shakir.” It’s cleaner. 😂

Shakir dropsies are becoming a thing. It’s quite possible Sherfield surpasses him, especially with his superior run blocking ability.

My high school mascot was a Plainsman. Washington Plainsmen doesn’t quite have a ring to it like Washington Redskins, or Washington Tomahawks (both of which sound more aggressive), but there are alternatives they could’ve explored which would’ve kept NAs at the forefront rather than eliminating any reference to them altogether (including one with a negative connotation). Personally I was hoping for Red Tails, as that would’ve been a tribute to the Tuskegee Airman, but that would’ve also eliminated the NA group. Let’s see where Magic Johnson and his folks take this…

Therein lies the difference between you and I. I never paid attention to “Redskins” as a bad word until I heard the groups of Native Americans say it was such. And once I heard their pleas, I respected their position. Think about it this way, if you were the Washington owner and members of that group told you to your face, “we’re offended by this word the white man created. It’s derogatory to our people and we would like it removed” would you then tell those people “removing the name is akin to erasing your culture, so I will not”? These people are not consumed by the belief that it’d purge their culture, because guess what…? The name is not representative of their culture! It’s not an endearing name that was created by them. That’s where you’re getting this argument wrong. Listen, I’d totally understand if the name was “Washington Tomahawks” and a group of people came out speaking against it, but this isn’t the case. “Redskins” was a derogatory word created by white settlers and just because some NAs are fine with how it’s used today, doesn’t mean the entire race has to be.

I’m not NA, so naturally I’m not offended by the word. I can’t decide anything, I’m simply standing by those who do find it offensive and want it removed. I agree with their position and I’m not speaking from a “woke” standpoint. Consider… the “N” word is glorified today and used in rap lyrics, T-shirts, movies, etc. The caveat there is that it’s only (supposed to be) used by Black people. What if a non Black team owner in the future wanted his franchise to be called the “N*ggas”? And his argument was that it ended in an “a” and not an “er” and that it’s cool and used all over anyway? Maybe some Black folks would be fine and humored by it, while the loudest would scream from the hills to take it down. “Redskin” to my knowledge was only used by white settlers in a derogatory way to describe an Indian. In that sense, it’s not a word worthy of being a team name. If NAs were not offended by it? Sure, revive it! But we know that’s not the case. Find something of value NAs have created or are solely responsible for and use that as a team name. There are other ways to keep their legacy going in a non-attacking fashion…

I’m not justifying eliminating NA’s from our collective memory. I’m justifying (and standing by) the want to eliminate names that many feel are derogatory to their culture. Can you not see the difference?

No, but deleting names many in that group deem derogatory is not for you to speak on. Even if you are Native American, you can’t tell others in that community how to feel about being called a “Redskin.” As will always be the case when one feels offended. “The squeaky wheel gets the oil.”

True, there are Native Americans who don’t take offense to the name, but there are also many who consider it derogatory.

Oh I didn’t know Henne retired. Excellent news! I was tired of him bailing out the Chiefs 😂 One down, Kelce’s next.

Do you mean Chad Henne? The backup QB that seems to keep the Chiefs’ offense moving whenever he comes in?

Maybe we should’ve taken TE Darnell Washington (6’7 264) in the 3rd, bulked him up, and put him out at tackle. Reports out of Steelers camp is that he was winning 1 on 1s vs TJ Watt. His old teammate George Pickens said “you have to understand, Darnell was going up against the entire Philadelphia Eagles DL practice after practice” 😂

You know, I forgot all about Shaq Lawson. Bills bring 9, or at most 10 DL into the year. Miller (PUP?) Groot Floyd AJE Lawson Basham Oliver Jones Ford Phillips Settle There’s no room for all of them, at least one should be a trade candidate and for that I nominate Basham. Even when he lines up inside to pass rush I don’t see much that moves the needle. Last year he was clearly outplayed by Lawson. Unless he’s taken major steps thus far in camp (and nothing I read leads me to believe he has), get whatever you can get for him and move on.

Does Basham give us anything Jonathan Kingsley or Shane Ray cannot? I was against the Wyatt Teller trade when it happened because I saw legitimate promise. I remember his first start against the Jets he played with his head on a swivel and I was impressed by his awareness and physicality. I get none of those promising moments from Basham. Unless those who have been in camp can say otherwise, I wouldn’t mind if Beane traded him for whatever he can get. Go into the season with Groot, Floyd, AJE, and one of Ray or Kingsley. If Miller doesn’t start the year on PUP, I’d go with 4 DEs and stash Ray/Kingsley on the practice squad.

I guess it just wasn’t on the schedule because they’re practicing this morning. I did think it was odd for them to be off Sat, Mon, and Tues.

Practice is today at 11:45EST and then they’re off until Wed? That’s effectively 1 practice in a 4 day span; definitely not your old NFL.

I had hopes McD calling the defense would be an upgrade from Frazier. I don’t ever remember thinking Frazier had a smothering defense. It was very simple and basic in what they wanted to do, but strangely had a lot of checks. When you hear opponents start to comment on how basic the Bills defense is, that’s when you know the coordinator has run his course. Sounds like the offense still makes its fair share of plays, but I don’t think we’ll see DBs lined up 7 yards off the LoS as often under McD. Encouraging report.

Astro isn’t writing the August reports.

I was wrong about Allen too, but I don’t think missing on the pick means you’re not cut out to be an NFL GM. Those guys have hours and hours of footage, interviews, and classroom access, and STILL get picks wrong. There’s a bit of luck involved.

They picked Williams with the hopes he’d play MLB this year. When he got in there in the Spring, Beane said it was a little bit too much for him coming from his simple system at Tulane, so they moved him to WLB and will again give him an opportunity to compete at MLB next year, when he has a year under his belt. I agree it seems to be a wasted 3rd round pick this season, but maybe he grows and becomes something. The likelihood is that he doesn’t, but hey, optimism is more fun than pessimism.

Both were on the market for a minute. The reason for that I’m not sure, but it’s likely both overvalued their worth. Lavonte is on record as saying the Bills reached out very late in the process, just when he decided to go back to TB and if Von Miller had reached out to him earlier “we might be having a different conversation.” Paraphrasing, but he said something along those lines. The Bills didn’t pursue either aggressively, but if they had, going home for one of them might not have happened.

I didn’t say last year, I said those numbers are over his career. Unless you’re implying he forgot what the feeling was like…? Taron knows how to get to the QB and I’d expect even more QB hits/sacks added to his tally with a more aggressive defensive play caller this year.