“Brady rule” further wussifies NFL

by | Mar 25, 2009 | Business of Football, NFL Random Thoughts

Last September as I was watching Kansas City play New England from a sports book in Las Vegas, Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard was blocked to the ground short of New England quarterback Tom Brady.

From the ground he made a desperation dive toward the quarterback, wrapping up his left knee and twisting it as Brady threw a pass.

Pollard wasn’t fined or flagged for the hit. He was finishing a blitz, playing until the whistle and trying desperately to make a play. He shouldn’t have been flagged.

Unfortunately, as Brady’s knee twisted, the ACL and MCL in his knee snapped, costing the star player the rest of his season.

It’s a shame the injury happened. Brady is a great player and the Patriots, despite the solid play of backup Matt Cassel, were a lesser team because of the injury.

But that’s football. Every single player who steps on the field, be it a high school game or the National Football League, is aware of the potential for injury. They are well aware that any play could be the last one they ever play.

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Proposed NFL rule changes don’t fix overarching problem

by | Mar 23, 2009 | Business of Football, NFL Random Thoughts

NFL Vice President of Officiating Mike Pereira appeared on the NFL Network Sunday afternoon to discuss several of the rule changes NFL owners are discussing at this week’s meetings.

Among the proposed changes are tweaks or additions that would make illegal formations that allow multiple players to smear one return-team lineman on onside kicks, helmet-to-helmt blindside blocks away from the play, and shots to the head on wide receivers that are defenseless as they jump to catch the ball.

Also under consideration are changes that would fix two major gaffes that occurred in 2008. First, the league is considering allowing possession changes on plays such as the much-maligned call that helped cost San Diego a week two game against Denver when Jay Cutler dropped a ball that was originally rules incomplete but was then acknowledged to be a fumble.

Because whistles had blown, the refs could only award San Diego a nine yard sack instead of the ball, even though it was clear the Chargers would have recovered the ball and likely won the game.

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NFL teams face PSL lawsuit

by | Mar 20, 2009 | Business of Football

I’m not a huge fan of the litigiousness of today’s society in the U.S. But an 83-year-old man in New York has filed a lawsuit that I had hoped to see.

Harold Oshinsky contends that the New York Giants and New York Jets are unilaterally pricing him out of season tickets he owns for both teams’ games at the Meadowlands with the prices for their Personal Seat Licenses at their new stadium

Oshinsky has six Giants seats and four Jets seats, all in the lower level near midfield and between rows 8 and 20, according to the New York Daily News. His 76-page complaint in the U.S. District Court in Newark accuses the teams of violating anti-trust laws and the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act.

In the new stadium, which is scheduled to open in 2010, his seats fall into the premiere “Coaches Club” section where the seat licenses – which don’t cover the cost of game tiockets but give owners the right to purchase them – are selling for between $20,000 and $26,000, according to the Daily News. NewJersey.com reports that the Giants are charging all fans between $1,000 and $20,000 for a PSL while the Jets are charging fans in the lower level a minimum of $5,000.

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CBS Sports pundit picks right guy for wrong reason

by | Mar 14, 2009 | NFL Random Thoughts

I need to take a moment to preface these remarks. Pete Prisco from CBSSportsline.com might be a fantastic guy. He certainly gets a lot of stories and, while I don’t always agree with what he writes, he’s often good reading.

But his mock draft from earlier this week needs to be … well, it needs to be mocked. And the strange thing is, it needs to be mocked even though he ended up choosing as his top pick for Detroit the right guy – or at least the right position.

Prisco picked for the Lions Baylor offensive tackle Jason Smith. I thought that was good – with the free fall Alabama lineman Andre Smith has taken, I would like to see Detroit take Smith or Virginia tackle Eugene Monroe.

But Prisco then prefaced his pick with this statement: “… they should take Georgia quarterback Matthew Staffford. I just don’t think they will.” And he cited as a reason Joe Flacco from Baltimore and Matt Ryan from Atlanta.

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Rich Eisen: Cutler to be traded on draft day

by | Mar 13, 2009 | 2009 Trades, NFL Rumors

While trying to get some work done for the day job I was listening to the Dan Patrick Show on the radio. During his weekly discussion with Rich Eisen of the NFL Network, the latter host indicated that he believes Jay Cutler will be traded by the Denver Broncos in a draft day deal.

Cutler, he says, simply isn’t going to be able to get over the perceived slight from head coach Josh McDaniels, who either listened to offers or floated Cutler’s name in trade talks involving Matt Cassel last month.

Eisen said the Broncos could use Chris Simms, if they had to. He didn’t predict a destination for Cutler, though he indicated that Minnesota and Detroit were two teams he said would be foolish to not at least inquire. Eisen named a couple more potential trade partners that I didn’t catch.

I still think Cutler is being a baby and that Denver would be foolish to make such a deal. He’s still young and even if he’s peaked, he’s still among the better quarterbacks in the league right now.

But if it’s going to become a distraction I can see why McDaniels might think the better move would be cutting the cord and moving on. I guess time will tell.