2020 Miscellaneous NFL News

[patrickgpe]

The paying the refs scheme also seems pretty questionable...

you would think if that was true they wouldn't be consistently one of the worst teams in the league

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Maybe he was paying the refs to make sure they lost and tank for the draft, lol.

[jerichoholicninja]

A lot of the allegations seem a little fishy. One is trying to tie in Gruden sleeping with the same chick as a RB, RB gets benched (even though he really didn’t), and the RB that replaced him missed a block leading to Alex Smith almost losing his leg. The paying the refs scheme also seems pretty questionable...and nude photo shoots with the cheerleaders...and pawning them off like they are pimps to elite season seat holders?

 

Some of the more wild allegations seem a bit, too wild. I’m sure some of it may be true...but all of it? Not so sure.

 

To quote Joan Callamezzo: "Let's speculate wildly."

[MrTPlush]

The paying the refs scheme also seems pretty questionable...

you would think if that was true they wouldn't be consistently one of the worst teams in the league

 

They eventually asked someone about that rumor. The anon source laughed it off and said they need a refund if they did. I can’t imagine they were paying refs millions when they were that average.

 

Not to mention refs aren’t some random scrubs off the streets. Most are like lawyers and probably pretty wealthy as is. Can’t imagine they would even think about ruining their image over their part time reffing job.

[CheeseheadInQC]

A lot of the allegations seem a little fishy. One is trying to tie in Gruden sleeping with the same chick as a RB, RB gets benched (even though he really didn’t), and the RB that replaced him missed a block leading to Alex Smith almost losing his leg. The paying the refs scheme also seems pretty questionable...and nude photo shoots with the cheerleaders...and pawning them off like they are pimps to elite season seat holders?

 

Some of the more wild allegations seem a bit, too wild. I’m sure some of it may be true...but all of it? Not so sure.

 

The cheerleader stuff broke a couple of years ago.

 

As for the rest, unless there is a lot of stuff that was taken out of the report because it wasn't sourced well enough, it seems like a lot of these rumors were just random speculation on what could be in the article (although the sexual harassment details that have come out are bad enough).

[HiAndTight]

The paying the refs scheme also seems pretty questionable...

you would think if that was true they wouldn't be consistently one of the worst teams in the league

 

They eventually asked someone about that rumor. The anon source laughed it off and said they need a refund if they did. I can’t imagine they were paying refs millions when they were that average.

 

Not to mention refs aren’t some random scrubs off the streets. Most are like lawyers and probably pretty wealthy as is. Can’t imagine they would even think about ruining their image over their part time reffing job.

 

 

I would agree, but people can find themselves in money trouble in most tax brackets.

 

You live above your means....

 

Not saying I believe it, I don't know enough to have an opinion and I would tend to agree with you for the most part, but after that clown from the NBA, it wouldn't shock me. It WOULD shock me to know that there are multiple refs doing this.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I don't believe anything about the refs in this specific case, but there are a hundred reasons why a ref would take a bribe beyond just the cash. The owners are mostly enormously powerful people that can appoint these guys to chair positions in a bunch of different organizations. Most people that take bribes are already successful. Any time you're talking about something as profitable as pro sports, the opportunity for corruption is always there.

[jerichoholicninja]

If the NFL has refs taking payoffs, the league's problems are much bigger than whatever fallout they will have to deal with from the Synder mess.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Yeah, I don't think they are. The Internet got excited about this and if this is all we get, it's pretty much a dud.

[HiAndTight]

Yeah, I don't think they are. The Internet got excited about this and if this is all we get, it's pretty much a dud.

 

 

 

Agreed. That's what it sounds like after the actual report came out.

[CheeseheadInQC]

The cynic in me thinks the team itself was the source of a lot of those rumors so that the truth would seem less awful.

[jerichoholicninja]

Does anyone else think the NFLPA social media blitz about "really wanting to play" but not until the NFL eliminates the preseason so they have more practice and conditioning time is unbelievably, eye-rollingly ridiculous? I totally understand their concerns about making sure everyone is in game shape before they play but there's this whole virus thing that's going around that should probably be more of a concern. Linemen spend the whole game literally breathing, spitting, and sweating in each other's faces. One guy has it and doesn't know it and plays and you probably have most of two teams infected in a couple days. Virus aside, it's obvious this is to get rid of the preseason altogether in the future.

[nate82]

The Jets and Giants won't have fans at home games this year.

[CheezWizHed]

The Jets and Giants won't have fans at home games this year.

 

Wasn't that the same last year too?

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Obviously an opinion here, but the NFL would lose the least of the major leagues by going no-fans. The in-person NFL experience is terrible. Without commercials and potty/snack breaks filling the 10,000 replay and TV timeouts, it's like endless teeth-pulling waiting for stuff to happen. I stopped going because it started to feel so labored.

 

It lacks the excitement of the NBA and the casual, relaxing summer fun of MLB and combines the worst aspects of both.

 

It's felt like a made-for-TV league for a long time.

[nate82]

No NFL preseason:

 

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nflpa-tells-players-therell-be-no-preseason-training-camp-rosters-reduced-to-80-players/

[HiAndTight]

Obviously an opinion here, but the NFL would lose the least of the major leagues by going no-fans. The in-person NFL experience is terrible. Without commercials and potty/snack breaks filling the 10,000 replay and TV timeouts, it's like endless teeth-pulling waiting for stuff to happen. I stopped going because it started to feel so labored.

 

It lacks the excitement of the NBA and the casual, relaxing summer fun of MLB and combines the worst aspects of both.

 

It's felt like a made-for-TV league for a long time.

 

 

I love going to Lambeau...but I hate the drive up, the traffic and all the rest, so in that sense, I usually sell most of my tickets and only go to one game a year. I don't really find the Timeouts and all that to be the problem...it's the fans at Lambeau. You get up and stand during a 3rd down on D and you have people tapping you on the shoulder. It gets so annoying. It's an older fan base, so...I get it and maybe it's just the section I have, but it feels like you're supposed to act like you're at the Master, not an NFL game.

 

Baseball games I love going to on like Wednesday afternoons when you had 18K people there and I can kick back.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Are you going to Gold Package games? Because I've heard there is a distinct difference in the crowd between the two.

[HiAndTight]

Are you going to Gold Package games? Because I've heard there is a distinct difference in the crowd between the two.

 

 

Yes, it's the gold package. My Grandma had season tickets since it was Municipal Stadium and she had the whole 8 games...and then for whatever reason, when they stopped playing at Lambeau, she only got the Milwaukee package or the Gold package.

 

Which is fine for me. I'd have dropped it if I had to pay more up front each year than I already do. It's 6 seats and I get paid back for whoever else comes, but you know how that goes.

 

Anyway, never heard there was any difference between the two. I've been to quite a few games where I bought tickets myself and I guess I don't remember anyone telling me to sit down. It's only in my normal seats. So I guess that makes enough sense. I like that the stadium is louder now with the acoustics...but I've always thought our HFA could be better/stronger if we had a louder stadium like Seattle or KC.

[nate82]

Well this is a dumb name even if it is temporary.

 

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/washington-to-call-itself-the-washington-football-team-in-the-interim-and-change-uniform-per-report/

[adambr2]

It's like they let a bunch of inebriated 22 year olds at a bachelor party throw 10 names into a hat, and then picked the name that those 10 thought was the most hilarious.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

All this tells me is that they changed the name to get in front of the sexual harassment thing. You don't change a name and logo of a multi-million dollar brand without spending hundreds of thousands or millions in market research. They didn't do any of that yet and can't pick a name for this year.

[madbad2000]

I actually don't mind this at all. I like the look and glad they stuck with the color scheme. Numbers on the helmet is a nice touch. Taking the time to vet a strong name and logo while working through trademark issues is actually pretty smart.

[nate82]

2021 salary cap proposal to be $175m. 2020 salary cap is $198.2m. Not good for players who didn't get paid this year.

 

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-proposes-2021-nfl-salary-cap-floor-at-175-million-due-to-covid-19-pandemic/

[HiAndTight]

2021 salary cap proposal to be $175m. 2020 salary cap is $198.2m. Not good for players who didn't get paid this year.

 

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-proposes-2021-nfl-salary-cap-floor-at-175-million-due-to-covid-19-pandemic/

 

 

Well that's the floor, what's the actual cap going to be?

 

 

They'll need to do better on this. At the very least freeze the cap for a year and ensure that next years cap isn't lower than this years cap.

 

I'd expect a whole lot of teams to be re-working a whole lot of contracts and few teams are better equipped to do so than the Packers. One of the wealthier teams in the league and they don't have owners taking the money. So that giant rainy day fund...you can mitigate Clark and Bahkt's cap hit. Both of whom I would expect would get 15+ a year. They COULD save a ton on Rodgers cap hit....if they viewed him as their long term QB and were willing to add say 10 million in guaranteed money and an extra year or two to the total deal like the Cowboys did with Romo or the Pats did with Brady on a number of occasions. Obviously that's not a very likely option though given the whole Jordan Love situation.