Octopus Overlords

Without taking a deep dive into Twitter, can anyone say what the main speculation is the rumors are about? General bad culture stuff or much worse (e.g. like the Epstein example LawBoy didn't speculate about)? Weren't they the team that also were accused of misconduct with their cheerleaders last year?

Ralph-Wiggum wrote: ↑Thu Jul 16, 2020 1:27 pm Without taking a deep dive into Twitter, can anyone say what the main speculation is the rumors are about? General bad culture stuff or much worse (e.g. like the Epstein example LawBoy didn't speculate about)? Weren't they the team that also were accused of misconduct with their cheerleaders last year?

On the latter question, yes. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that they're not the only team with misconduct allegations regarding cheerleaders waiting in the wings, but yes. And it sounds like "much worse".

Ralph-Wiggum wrote: ↑Thu Jul 16, 2020 1:27 pm Without taking a deep dive into Twitter, can anyone say what the main speculation is the rumors are about? General bad culture stuff or much worse (e.g. like the Epstein example LawBoy didn't speculate about)? Weren't they the team that also were accused of misconduct with their cheerleaders last year?

From what I saw there is talk of sex, drugs and other stuff involving the owner, the coach and box holders.

Scuzz wrote: ↑Thu Jul 16, 2020 3:51 pm From what I saw there is talk of sex, drugs and other stuff involving the owner, the coach and box holders.

So people with wealth and power abusing their wealth and power? Huh, that's new.

And the news has broken on the WaPo:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2 ... rc404=true

"A few months after Emily Applegate started working for the Washington Redskins in 2014, she settled into a daily routine: She would meet a female co-worker in the bathroom during their lunch breaks, she said, to commiserate and cry about the frequent sexual harassment and verbal abuse they endured.

They cried about the former chief operating officer’s expletive-laced tirades, Applegate said, when she recalled him calling her “f-----g stupid” and then requesting she wear a tight dress for a meeting with clients, “so the men in the room have something to look at.” They cried about a wealthy suiteholder who grabbed her friend’s backside during a game, Applegate said, and the indifference the team’s top sales executive displayed when she complained. "


And the tool of the rich and powerful, the NDA, muzzling others:

“ Applegate is one of 15 former female Redskins employees who told The Washington Post they were sexually harassed during their time at the club. The other 14 women spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing a fear of litigation because some signed nondisclosure agreements with the team that threaten legal retribution if they speak negatively about the club. The team declined a request from The Post to release former female employees from these agreements so they could speak on the record without fear of legal reprisal. This story involved interviews with more than 40 current and former employees and a review of text messages and internal company documents.”

Their new name should be the Swamp Rats. I can't think of anything more appropriate.

Is reporting a crime not immune to NDAs? They should file police reports with a reporter there for "moral support".

In other division news:

The franchise tag extension deadline has come and gone. While a long-term contract between Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys seemed to make sense for all parties involved, the two sides weren't able to come to terms. Prescott will play out his $31.4 million franchise tag for the 2020 season before we go through all of this again next offseason. The Cowboys will be unable to sign their quarterback to an extension for the remainder of the league year.
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This doesn't do the Cowboys any favors. For one, unless Prescott totally bombs in 2020, his price is only going to increase. History tells us that quarterbacks only get more expensive with each passing year. Watson is likely to sign an extension this offseason, and Prescott will be able to negotiate off that deal next offseason. The salary cap, which typically rises every year, also makes it so that player salaries grow each season.

Dak, surrounded by all those weapons, was only 8-8 and 1-6 vs winning teams. He should have taken the 5 year contract and thanked his lucky stars. Fourth round pick.

I'm all for the continued dumpster fore of the Dallas Cowboys.

NBC Sports

The stage is set for Daniel Snyder to emerge from the biggest scandal of his two-plus decades years of ownership without facing serious scrutiny from the league office.

The inescapable clue appears smack dab in the middle of the league’s statement in response to the Washington Post article regarding 15 former female employees who claim that they were the victims of sexual harassment while working for the Washington franchise: “Washington has engaged outside counsel to conduct a thorough investigation into these allegations. The club has pledged that it will give its full cooperation to the investigator and we expect the club and all employees to do so. We will meet with the attorneys upon the conclusion of their investigation and take any action based on their findings.”

Washington has engaged outside counsel, not the NFL. Outside counsel always has a duty to outside counsel’s client. Here, outside counsel’s client is Washington. More specifically, the client is Snyder. Outside counsel undoubtedly will not make findings that include, for example, placing significant blame on Snyder for creating, tolerating, encouraging, and/or failing to rectify a toxic culture that resulted in these allegations.
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The table in this case already is set for the outside counsel to find Snyder blameless, primarily because none of the 15 former female employees made accusations against him. Yes, it may take some smart lawyering to insulate Snyder without making him look like a nincompoop for not knowing what was happening under his nose, but he has hired a smart lawyer.
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The chances of Snyder himself ultimately being responsible for anything that happened during his 21 years of owning the team are, at this point, very small.

Yeah the boys club of NFL owners will not eat one of their own as long as he's making some money. And one wonders what's going on in some of the other team offices.

Jaymann wrote: ↑Thu Jul 16, 2020 10:46 pm Dak, surrounded by all those weapons, was only 8-8 and 1-6 vs winning teams. He should have taken the 5 year contract and thanked his lucky stars. Fourth round pick.

I'm not a Cowboys fan and I don't follow them closely so my opinion is as an NFL fan. His value is not based strictly on his performance, stats, or team record. It's partially based on what alternatives the Cowboys have and what it would cost them to replace him. For example:
1. They keep him and pay him what he wants, more or less. Let's say it costs them 140 million dollars for five years.
2. They part ways with him cause they don't think he's worth that much. Who do they get that is at least as good as him, can be signed to a five year deal like they can with him, is about the same as him in age and physical condition, AND doesn't cost more than 140 million dollars?

If the answer is no one then they are dumb not to pay him. It's all about leverage. If you're one of the few people in the world who can do a thing, you can make demands if someone needs you to do it. That or they go with a lesser QB, save some money, and lose more games.

gameoverman wrote: ↑Fri Jul 17, 2020 8:18 pm

Jaymann wrote: ↑Thu Jul 16, 2020 10:46 pm Dak, surrounded by all those weapons, was only 8-8 and 1-6 vs winning teams. He should have taken the 5 year contract and thanked his lucky stars. Fourth round pick.

I'm not a Cowboys fan and I don't follow them closely so my opinion is as an NFL fan. His value is not based strictly on his performance, stats, or team record. It's partially based on what alternatives the Cowboys have and what it would cost them to replace him. For example:
1. They keep him and pay him what he wants, more or less. Let's say it costs them 140 million dollars for five years.
2. They part ways with him cause they don't think he's worth that much. Who do they get that is at least as good as him, can be signed to a five year deal like they can with him, is about the same as him in age and physical condition, AND doesn't cost more than 140 million dollars?

If the answer is no one then they are dumb not to pay him. It's all about leverage. If you're one of the few people in the world who can do a thing, you can make demands if someone needs you to do it. That or they go with a lesser QB, save some money, and lose more games.

If a better than average QB can only lead your team to a mediocre record then it is foolish to spend to much of your salary cap on something that apparently makes so little difference. Personally I would blame the previous coach, but in this world the QB takes some of the blame as well. If Trent Dilfer can get you to the Super Bowl then Dak Prescott isn't that important.

Scuzz wrote: ↑Sat Jul 18, 2020 4:12 pmIf a better than average QB can only lead your team to a mediocre record then it is foolish to spend to much of your salary cap on something that apparently makes so little difference. Personally I would blame the previous coach, but in this world the QB takes some of the blame as well. If Trent Dilfer can get you to the Super Bowl then Dak Prescott isn't that important.

That's a valid position. However, it means the team and team owner are admitting they are losers and so why spend big money on a QB when you can save that money and be losers and have money in your pocket?

My assumption, not being a Cowboys fan, was that the owner wants to win. That means getting someone as good if not better than what they have, if they aren't going to keep what they have. It's all relative. If you consider Prescott a 5 as a QB, on a scale of 1-10, then Dallas needs to get another 5 or higher to replace him. If they can do that for less than what Prescott wants, then it makes sense to do that and save money without losing performance. The problem is that known commodity quarterbacks are not cheap. Quarterbacks in general get more expensive every year. Logically I'd expect Dallas to have replaced him back when they first realized how much he'd cost and that they didn't think he's worth it. They did not replace him. That tells me that they believe he's their best option, maybe their only legitimate option. So then they should have paid him. Now he's going to cost them even more.

I'd like to remind people that the Ravens had pretty much the same coaching and team between Dilfer being QB and Flacco being QB and they didn't get anywhere near a Super Bowl win. Certainly both Dilfer and Flacco can be criticized but those are the guys who delivered Super Bowl titles. I think last year's San Francisco team would agree that QB play makes a difference. Dilfer had an 80.9 rating in his Super Bowl, Peyton Manning had an 81.8 in their win against Chicago. I'm going to politely refrain from mentioning Manning's 73.5 vs Seattle. And yet people talk about Peyton Manning like he's one of the greatest of all time.

No fans in attendance for the Jets or Giants for the foreseeable future. (Cue Isgrimnur joke.)

stessier wrote: ↑Mon Jul 20, 2020 2:49 pm No fans in attendance for the Jets or Giants for the foreseeable future. (Cue Isgrimnur joke.)

Reminds me of a meme I saw, I don't know why some of you are embarrassed to be seen wearing a mask. I have seen you wearing a Cowboys jersey!

I heard everything's legal in Jersey as long as you don't get caught.

Who had "Washington Football Team" as the new name for the, uh, Washington football team?

The Redskins logo on the helmet will be replaced by the player's number in gold.
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Fans will be able to purchase "Washington Football Team" merchandise from Fanatics and NFL Shop in the coming days.

Load up on your collectibles now, folks. History like this only comes around once.

I think that they should just put all of the team names used in unlicensed football video games into a hat and draw one at random, and then just use that.

If I were more creative I'd make a logo for them using the old generic labeling from the late '70s, early '80s.

It worked in Repo Man

The Jets trade Jamal Adams to the Seahawks for a boatload.

“This was an offer we couldn’t ignore,” G.M. Joe Douglas said Saturday regarding the trade that sends safety Jamal Adams and a 2022 fourth-round pick to the Seahawks for two first-round picks, a third-round pick, and safety Bradley McDougald.

Almost as much as the Bears gave up for Mitch Trubisky.

They should have used Washington Team : Football as the temporary name...

Then they could be the WTFs

Although WFT? has a certain appeal.

I would love to see the details of Miami.

And then there is this.

Peter King @peter_king 1h
The Vikings say VP of Sports Medicine/head athletic trainer Eric Sugarman,
@EricSugarATC, the team’s Infection Control Officer in the battle against COVID-19, has tested positive for the virus.

stessier wrote: ↑Mon Jul 27, 2020 2:21 pm And then there is this.

In a way, sports teams can serve as lab rats. If football is played under conditions which try to make it as safe as possible for the players and staff, then we get to see if work environments can be made safe. Football, with its limited number of teams and limited number of employees, is a best case scenario. It won't be easier to make just about any other kind of work environment safer than a large stadium or arena that has no one in it except the employees. So if the season starts but comes to an early end due to players and others getting infected, that does not bode well for getting people back to work in general. If the NFL is able to keep infections to a minimum then there will probably be lessons to be learned and we could apply them elsewhere.

There are also weight rooms with lots of exertion (i.e., heavy breathing which dispels particles more), meeting rooms for film review, locker rooms, etc. It's a lot more than just game day or on-field practice. I don't think you'll be able to draw any comparisons to an office environment from the NFL.

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Mon Jul 27, 2020 3:36 pm There are also weight rooms with lots of exertion (i.e., heavy breathing which dispels particles more), meeting rooms for film review, locker rooms, etc. It's a lot more than just game day or on-field practice. I don't think you'll be able to draw any comparisons to an office environment from the NFL.

Don't forget the butt sweat

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Mon Jul 27, 2020 3:36 pm There are also weight rooms with lots of exertion (i.e., heavy breathing which dispels particles more), meeting rooms for film review, locker rooms, etc. It's a lot more than just game day or on-field practice. I don't think you'll be able to draw any comparisons to an office environment from the NFL.

What I would like to see are baseline healthy scans/data on Heart/Lung function for all Pro Athletes, and then data collection on any long term impacts to those who do test positive for studies on overall fitness after testing positive (symptomatic or not). Anonymized as possible for clinical study on what we would presume are the fittest of the fit, with the best access to health care and testing regimes.

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Mon Jul 27, 2020 3:36 pm There are also weight rooms with lots of exertion (i.e., heavy breathing which dispels particles more), meeting rooms for film review, locker rooms, etc. It's a lot more than just game day or on-field practice. I don't think you'll be able to draw any comparisons to an office environment from the NFL.

As a viability test, it's still better than having a teacher in a classroom with 25 kids for hours. It should be easier to regulate weight room use for instance. They have the money to spend on necessary modifications, and control of the facilities. If the NFL can't do it(keep things safe) then no one can. But this may be a moot point now, I recently saw a headline saying there was an outbreak on a baseball team. I'm not into baseball so I didn't read the story but that's not a good sign for football's chances.

Adam Schefter @AdamSchefter · 2m
Dont’a Hightower now becomes the fourth Patriot to opt out of 2020, joining OT Marcus Cannon, FB Danny Vitale and OL Najee Toran.

I have no problem with any choice the players make.

That being said, this season is going to be a joke.

gameoverman wrote: ↑Tue Jul 28, 2020 5:19 am

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Mon Jul 27, 2020 3:36 pm There are also weight rooms with lots of exertion (i.e., heavy breathing which dispels particles more), meeting rooms for film review, locker rooms, etc. It's a lot more than just game day or on-field practice. I don't think you'll be able to draw any comparisons to an office environment from the NFL.

As a viability test, it's still better than having a teacher in a classroom with 25 kids for hours. It should be easier to regulate weight room use for instance. They have the money to spend on necessary modifications, and control of the facilities. If the NFL can't do it(keep things safe) then no one can. But this may be a moot point now, I recently saw a headline saying there was an outbreak on a baseball team. I'm not into baseball so I didn't read the story but that's not a good sign for football's chances.

I'm just saying I don't think it has any value whatsoever as a viability test. The differences between multi-millionaire young adults playing contact sports vs. office life vs. sub-10 year old schooling vs. 10+ year old schooling are so vast that it would be foolish to draw any conclusions from the success or failure of any one of those groups.

stessier wrote: ↑Tue Jul 28, 2020 7:44 am

Adam Schefter @AdamSchefter · 2m
Dont’a Hightower now becomes the fourth Patriot to opt out of 2020, joining OT Marcus Cannon, FB Danny Vitale and OL Najee Toran.

I have no problem with any choice the players make.

That being said, this season is going to be a joke.

Pats are up to 6 missing - add Brandon Bolden and Patrick Chung to the list. That's about 20% of our projected starters lost in the first 20 hours.

stessier wrote: ↑Tue Jul 28, 2020 2:50 pm

stessier wrote: ↑Tue Jul 28, 2020 7:44 am

Adam Schefter @AdamSchefter · 2m
Dont’a Hightower now becomes the fourth Patriot to opt out of 2020, joining OT Marcus Cannon, FB Danny Vitale and OL Najee Toran.

I have no problem with any choice the players make.

That being said, this season is going to be a joke.

Pats are up to 6 missing - add Brandon Bolden and Patrick Chung to the list. That's about 20% of our projected starters lost in the first 20 hours.

Not bad for a tanking season. Genius!

If you have to forfeit games due to COVID, I wonder how that will impact your draft position.

I would have assumed teams would be allowed to have larger than average practice squads. This way no matter how many players get injured, or infected, the team will always have enough players to play the game. If the infections increased so much that even the practice squad guys were out then I don't think the season would go forward from that point and so no one would need to forfeit a game. Your question makes me wonder something. What if they were able to play one or two games, then had to shutdown? Half the teams might be 1-0 and the other half 0-1. How do you figure out, fairly, a draft order from that?