2008 NFL Season Thread - Page 2

Well, someone took Felix Jones at 1.08, dammit. So I'm trading out of the first round and picking up two 2nd rounders (I had none), a 2nd rounder for '09, and LB Nate Webster for my 1.09 and my '09 3rd rounder.

Still talking to myself...

After a few more trades, I picked up Jerome Simpson and DeSean Jackson. Not too shabby.

I still can't believe they didn't draft a quarterback. Granted they have several needs, particularly on offense, but not a single fucking QB? It's not that I've completely given up on Rex, but he won't be able to do it when Mark Bradley is his best receiver, or maybe Greg Olsen (and I'm including Hester there; Hester's a playmaker, yes, but a mediocre receiver who needs to improve). And he sure as hell won't do it with Benson still in the backfield. Matt Forte seemed to do well at the rookie mini-camp, but right now he's an unknown commodity.

Interesting picks at receiver. Bennett's the higher profile guy, productive as all get out in college but maybe a bit undersized. But the kid Marcus Monk out of Arkansas could be a stud. 6-4, 222. Could hopefully give Rex the target he desperately needs when he's throwing up gimmies in traffic.

My prediction: Byron Leftwich will play a game for the Bears this season.

Did anyone buy either the Lindy's or Pro Football Weekly 2008 NFL preview magazines? While I did buy both, I prefer Lindy's as their coverage of the NFL Draft, and team previews is second to none. Also they preview the 2009 NFL draft and show their favorite cheerleaders as well.

Packers RB subdues burglar with bed post.

Jesus, this happens, Rashard Mendenhall is robbed at gunpoint and Sean Taylor is fucking killed during a break-in. Do kids not watch sports these days, or are they satisfied just robbing athletes now?

At least I didn't charge you $9.95 per minute.

So how hard will it be for people to believe Benson now ?

Very.

Bears cut Benson
Another wasted top 5 pick. I was willing to sorta belive him before but if you are this stupid you deserve to be cut. Do the Bengals need a back?

Hello, Travis Henry! Headline: Bears to Pay Child Support

If the spiraling out of control extends beyond Gruden, then keeping me for another year or so is not the worst decision. That way you have a scape goat to fire after the next year, and can bring in a coach that will get a full off season to work with the team. I have a buddy that is a big Tampa fan, and I keep telling him last year only happened because the other teams around Tampa fell apart. That was not likely to happen again.

The way history has gone with the NFC South since it's inception, the team that won the division the year before has not won it the next year. If that trend continues, Gruden will probably shoulder a lot of blame.

From what I've heard they're not interested in Alexander, but possibly Kevin Jones.

Simms has a couple valid reasons to genuinely dislike Gruden(mistreated by him even before he got hurt) but Garcia is just being a huge baby. All he has to complain about is not getting paid as much as he wants. I despise seeing athletes bitch and moan about their pay when they signed the contact knowing full well what they would be receiving. If you do well during the years of your contract then sure, a raise would be merited when it came time to resign but the whole thing where they demand more money in the middle of a contract just seems greedy and highly unprofessional. If they are expecting to get any sympathy from the average fan for their financial woes(I wish my biggest complaint as work was only making two million dollars this year) then they are sadly mistaken.

In any event I dont see Simms as a starter anywhere any time soon. He reminds me of another Shawn King. Came along in mid season and did well to prop up an offense for the short term but ultimately uninspired as a full time starter.

"The NFL Network has decided to hire Bob Papa as its new play-by-play man, replacing Bryant Gumbel, according to Newsday."

THANK. FUCKING. GOD.

NFL Network Thursday Night Games: Now with emotion!

It's pretty much win or bust for Gruden now....Personally I think at this point they just need to get rid of him even if they win the Super Bowl....It's become such a distraction and for me i'm just tired of it.

They signed Gruden to an extension a few months ago. That's not a win or bust situation.

They go 4-12 and he's gone.....Extension or not.

Exactly....I haven't seen this area so pissed off since the final days of Hugh "BURN IN HELL YOU FAT FUCK" Culverhouse.

They have to win....And they have to win big....Otherwise it's gonna get even nastier here.

On a side note I think I might be heading to O-town tomorrow....My dad wants to check out that huge ass bass pro shop out there.....And I jump at any excuse to go to Orlando.

There's a difference between a fan base's feelings and reality. The Glazers aren't so squeaky clean in the whole Stevens signing, and they're not going to fire Gruden and Allen, who'd have a combined six years left on their contracts. The fan base can cry all they want. Gruden has at least two years left in Tampa.

And what is your fan base behind everyone else when it comes to Stevens? It only took you, oh about, five years to find out that Stevens is a bottom feeder.

Uh no it didn't take us five years......More like five minutes....The fan base was pissed when he was signed and twice as pissed when he was resigned.

Gruden was all but gone last year....The only reason he got resigned was because the Glazers didn't want him going into this season on his final year of his contract....If this team doesn't make the playoffs he's gone....Remember we're talking about the owners that fired Tony Dungy after a season in which they DID make the playoffs.

Sorry but re-signing him is what caused the huge uproar. It wasn't the end of the world when you signed a guy who anal raped a virgin, but doing it twice is the abomination of the world. "Hey let's shank Gruden because he released Gradkowski, our third-string QB!". Too funny.

DJ Hippie you really don't understand the economics of football. First of all, the sole reason the Glazers extended Gruden, not one, not two, but three years, wasn't because he only had a year left on his contract. That's fucking retarded. I think the part where they paid millions of dollars, draft picks, won a Super Bowl, and won a division title, after a four win season, a month before had something to do with it. If it was win or bust, as you suggest, the Glazers would had let him enter the final season of his contract as a lame duck coach, as the Giants did with Coughlin last year. You don't give a guy $15 mil when you don't have to. And Dungy got fired because he never got the Bucs over the top - not to mention how he only had one year at a little more then $1 mil left on his contract (but according to you the Glazers extend coaches for three years when they have one year remaining). Gruden's current situation is totally different then Dungy's.

Your right....I don't know shit....I only live in the Tampa Bay area and only saw the entire area get pissed when Stevens was signed the first time.

But hey you know everything and i'm just retarded....Just the atypical response I expect from here.

I believe that over the last several seasons the SuperBowl loser has not even made the playoffs. I'm guessing the Pats will break that trend this year. In fact, as a Pats fan I think they could be the first team, in I don't know how long, to return to the SB.

One of my best friend is in Orlando this weekend. I gave him my condolences. If I've ever seen a city with "no 'there' there", it's Orlando.

Are you're feelings hurt or something? How can you honestly see any logic in the sole reason for extending Gruden's contract three years at $15 mil - when he's supposedly in a "win or bust" situation - because the Glazers didn't want him going into the season with only one year remaining on of his contract? It doesn't take someone not from Tampa to realize it either.

And Stevens, again it wasn't the end of the world the first time around. Does that mean everyone was high fiving each other? Of course not, but don't try to make it seem as if Stevens initial signing with the Bucs was a huge ordeal, because it wasn't. The Seattle Times article that made him a household name to the average fan wasn't written until after his first season with the Bucs.

Stop me if you've heard this one before - Favre unsure about retirement.

The Evil 4 letter Network is of course getting all wet at the mere rumours that Farve is/may/wants/ thinks/ could be coming back.

As much as I would love to see him play again, I fear that if he goes to another team and looks bad it will tarnish his legacy as we've seen sooooooooo many times with athletes before.

If he goes to a new team it will be a team that has a chance to win. I don't see Favre stinking up the joint with a decent team around him. Plus, this is the NFL, if he's truly done he'll be benched by midseason. It's not like fans will have to watch him in decline for a couple years. Yeah, it might tarnish his legacy a bit, just as playing for a different team could, but I don't think he can do much to permanently damage it. Just like going back and forth over the decision year after year, it's the stuff fans will forget about eventually, especially after he's enshrined.

Oh, it was only about 3 years, one of which culiminated in an actual (if potentially short-lived) retirement.

Favre's problem, and the reason the media loves the shit out of him, is you can ask him the SIMPLEST fucking question and he just kind of meanders all over the fucking place before answering it. Not saying he doesn't give honest answers, but he's a human being - I'm sure in his position, ANYONE giving a long winded answer to the question "do you think about retiring?" would have to put a "yes, I've thought about it" in there. Just like if someone asked him now "do you think you can still play?" - well, it's fucking OBVIOUS he can still perform at least as well as an average NFL QB; I regarded last year as MVP-caliber. An honest (and correct) answer would be "yes." You ask "do you think you're better than Aaron Rodgers?" An honest (and arguably correct, at this point in time) answer is "yes." Ask "do you miss it?" or "are you having second thoughts about retiring?" and an honest answer is "yes."

Whatever. I don't fucking care, we'll see where things stand when training camp opens. Alcohol sponsored this post.

That's enough now, Brett...that's enough.

Being a Bills fan, I think this is finally the year we return to the playoffs after an almost 10-year hiatus. A couple of key FA signings (Stroud and Mitchell) mixed with a young team that will take another step forward. An easy schedule (AFC and NFC West, which are both fairly weak divisions) and I say we make fifth or sixth in the AFC.

Not worried about Lynch after the whole hit and run, then trying to run from the fact he was there ? He is a major cog of the offense, and if he falters then things get dicey.

It's all on his shoulders, really. If he has a good year, they'll contend. That all will go down the crapper if Edwards doesn't progress, though.

I'm still ambivalent on the possible (probable?) move to Toronto. The sports talk yahoos are whining, and I'm interested to see what New York State will do to try to keep the team here, since Ralph Wilson Stadium was (relatively speaking) just renovated. I keep thinking of what just happened with the Sonics, where there was a ton of money spent to renovate KeyArena. Ten years later, it's obsolete and the team is gone.

It will be interesting to see what happens to the Atlanta Falcons in the next few years...Arthur Blank tried and tried to get them to renovate the Dome or build a new stadium, especially when they were trying for the Super Bowl a few years ago. That didn't happen. I think they re-signed a new contract for a few more years, but he's definitely going to bring up the new/updated stadium question again.

The local AFL team started out at Gwinnett Arena right after it opened, which is kind of in the 'burbs, but then they moved to Philips Arena downtown after Blank bought them. That lasted 2-3 years, and now they've moved them back to Gwinnett Arena. It isn't as big as Philips either, so I would guess that's one reason they moved back, but I wouldn't be surprised if they also moved because there was more $$$ to be made up north rather than being downtown.

Lynch will be a big part, but we did draft a nice tall WR in James Hardy (2nd round) from Indiana, which should provide a target for Edwards in the endzone. We still need a TE, though.

I hope those politicians keep it up. I'm from Toronto, but I would be crushed to see the Bills move here. You wouldn't even be allowed to tailgate in Toronto and they would price out the average fan. Buffalo still has the cheapest seats in the league and a storied history.

Heh, I do see their point. A team in Toronto pretty much kills the CFL (which I do get a kick out of watching whenever it's on cable).

Well, they already are. The fact of the matter is that the WNY market is just about to its fiscal limit and the potential revenue in Toronto dwarfs anything we can do here. Throw in Ralph Wilson not giving a shit anymore, and it's very scary.

The only hope Bills fans have is a possible conglomerate led by Sabres owner Tom Golisano and Jim Kelly making a big offer. We'll see.

The Matt Jones Experience is all but officially over now in Jacksonville.

http://news.jacksonville.com/justin/...ne-police-say/

Apparently he just couldn't handle that switch from QB to WR without some sweet nose candy.

You know it's bad for Jones when even the loony Hog fans are turning on him. A lot of wasted potential there.

I have absorbed my last "For shame, Brett Favre!" story. I literally cannot take it anymore. From now on, any media delivered information that comes through my head on that subject will be quickly excreted like the fat in an Olestra potato chip out an asshole.

I have also turned completely around on the subject. I now hope Brett Favre comes back to play every year until he is 90. And, even then, he should be on the bench looking over the starter's shoulder pad.

I had a blissful moment imagining what it would be like if the media only brought up Favre, and whether or not he will play, at the end of the season, and if he announced he was coming back for one more year. Suddenly it didn't seem like he was shitting on his legacy. The media was doing that for him.

Suddenly I realized the Packers should just make up their fucking minds and stop trying to have it both ways. If you want Aaron Rodgers, then trade Favre. If you only get a third-round pick, guess what, if he stays retired [Wonka]you get nothing [/Wonka] anyway.

And finally, I also realized that it's impossible to tell what Brett Favre would have done these last three offseasons if people hadn't kept bugging him about what he was going to do these last three offseasons.

I'm a Bears and Niners fan, but as long as this guy goes anywhere but Green Bay and wins 8 more Super Bowls, I'll be satisfied.

I think the criticism of the media is warranted in this situation - after all, it all started with an innocuous enough question of "do you think about retirement?" however long back - 4 or 5 years, IIRC. Ever since then, it's been an annual feeding frenzy, and I know that I'm not the only dyed-in-the-wool GB fan tired of it.

But I don't know that I can necessarily come down too hard on the GB brass for their stance - obviously Favre can still play, and a fairly high level; but he's faded down the stretch in the past couple seasons, and his body language during the brutally cold 2nd Chicago and NFC championship games was troubling, to say the least. They've invested 3 years and a high draft pick in Aaron Rodgers and need to find out what they have there. Not to mention it's probably somewhat harrowing to go into every fucking offseason with no idea whether or not the guy at the most important position on offense if not the team is coming back or not.

Well, you haven't explained why it's not a good idea to trade him, then. If the Pack thinks Favre holds them hostage every offseason while he decides, what does that make hoping he doesn't play, against his will, to make it easier on them?

I was trying to keep it short. Basically trading Favre AT THIS POINT is probably the only tenable situation left. And if he ends up in Miami or KC, then we find out if he truly loves the game.

Oh, and this Jay Glazer story makes Saint Brett seem a little like a bitchy douchebag:


http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8335678?MSNHPHMA
Anyone who knows anything about football shouldn't doubt that this is a difficult decision for a player to make. But if this is true, it isn't hard to believe that TT and Coach Mac were somewhat along the lines of "good riddance" to the annual drama.

Mooch on Favre

Does anyone else see a little irony in the bolded statement?
So, because Thompson and McCarthy didn't ask him to come back, his feeling were hurt?

Really, maybe this all sounds wrong to me...buuut one would hope Favre is keeping abreast of this, calling all the people who are speaking for him (because he hasn't uttered one f*cking peep) and telling them "shut the hell up, you make me sound like a whiny little bitch." Because the more that seems to come out, the more of a douchebag Favre is sounding like.