NFLPA's Appeal of Ray Rice Suspension Furthers League's Weak Image on Domestic Violence

Over the last month we have learned that’s the world’s most violent sport on the field is apparently also the most violent off the field. Numerous stars of the NFL like Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, Greg Hardy, Ray McDonald and Jonathan Dwyer have given the NFL a black eye, something they apparently all like to do, with their off the field violence toward's  wives, girlfriends and even children.

The NFL has done almost everything possible to continually shoot themselves in the foot by botching the punishments both at the league and team level and in the process have made themselves look both inept at their jobs and weak on domestic violence.

The NFL Players Association was put in an awkward position this week when they decided to take the side of an athlete punished for violently knocking his then fiancée, now wife unconscious, by appealing his suspension. That athlete is former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, who as everybody knows by now was weakly suspended for merely two games by the NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, czar of all things punishment in the NFL, for his domestic abuse of a woman and then the two-game suspension was turned into an indefinite suspension with no end in sight when the elevator tape of Rice knocking Janay Rice unconscious was brought to light.

The NFLPA has every right to be upset that Goodell is changing punishment of its players willy-nilly because he failed to get things right the first time around, and I hate that his incompetence as commissioner put them in this horrid situation, but they are doing absolutely nothing but damaging their image among people virtually everywhere by appealing Rice’s suspension. I understand those claiming the NFLPA must do this to protect its players in the future. I just don’t agree.

I understand it’s the ultimate duty of the NFLPA to protect its players, that’s the prime objective of a union, but I think they have to protect the entirety of the union and the players’ and league’s image more so. Appealing the suspension of a wife beater is in no way protecting your image. In fact, it makes it look like you condone the despicably violent act. The appeal makes the NFLPA look no better than the NFL did when the NFL apparently tried to brush Rice’s action and the actions of fellow stars under the rug.

The last month has shown that the NFL has violence issues and that those issues aren’t really high priority among those in charge of running the league. The NFL Players Association could have come out against Rice and against Peterson, Hardy, McDonald, Dwyer and any other player that lays his hands or objects against others, but it has opted to stand up for these guys instead. It's just another sign that the NFL doesn’t really care what you do in your free time, just so long as you’re scoring touchdowns on Sunday.     

Did the NFL Use and Lose Michael Sam?

Michael Sam’s NFL career may effectively be over, really before it even began and I can’t help but feel as if it came off as a stunt perpetrated by the NFL. Sam, a defensive end who had a standout career at the University of Missouri and was named SEC Defensive Player of the Year last season, was cut by the St. Louis Rams, the team that drafted him in the final round of this year’s draft, after the Rams final preseason game. Sam played well during the preseason, but the Rams were too stacked at the defensive line position to be able to hold on to him.

The Rams likely knew this the moment they selected Sam late in the draft, much later than he had initially been projected to go, which may prove the move was a hometown discount to score points with Mizzou fans, and make the NFL look like a non-bigoted, more progressive, open league especially on the heels of the Miami Dolphins/Richie Incognito bullying scandal last season.

When it didn’t look like a team would draft Sam and the Rams swooped in last second and saved the day I was immediately skeptical and wondered aloud if the NFL had called in a favor. This is quite the accusation, I know, but one I’d never put past the league and one we’ll likely never know for sure.

Before I get in too deep I should say that I think Michael Sam, as a gay athlete, playing in the NFL would be a great and important thing for the NFL, professional sports and the future of our society as a whole. I was rooting for his success. But, I don’t believe a player should make the NFL on anything but his own skill and merits. So, this isn’t so much a diatribe against the Rams, again stacked at Sam’s position, as it is against the NFL itself.

I knew when the Rams had cut Sam on Saturday, August 30 that he would not be claimed by any other organization in the league. I knew this because of the anonymous general managers who thought he would mean trouble for NFL locker rooms, and Tony Dungy’s dumb comments, and ignorant statement’s by players like Miami Dolphins defensive back Don Jones, and the fact that no other team even remotely expressed interest in Sam throughout this spring’s draft. I knew Sam wouldn’t get a shot in the NFL because NFL locker rooms have more respect for manslaughterers, dog brutalizers, wife beaters, racists, bullies, drug abusers and egomaniacs. Their transgressions aren’t locker-room “cancers,” but a homosexual athlete is just too much.

And, on Sunday, August 31, it was announced that no team had claimed Sam. The Rams still have an opportunity to place Sam on their 10-man practice squad, which would be better than nothing and they might, but it also means that Sam’s dream of becoming a NFL player may never come to light. And, I think that’s wrong because I know Sam is talented enough to play in the NFL. I know this because Sam was considered the best defensive player in the SEC, generally considered the toughest and best conference in college football. *The SEC Defensive Player of the Year should virtually be a lock to make one of the on average 288 roster spots dedicated to defensive lineman in the NFL. For those arguing Sam is too small to play defensive line in the NFL and would have to be a linebacker there are on average 224 linebackers in the NFL and a SEC Defensive Player of the Year caliber athlete should be able to make that switch as we’ve seen it from lesser lauded athletes.

I think Michael Sam was essentially used by the NFL for good press and a profit. He’s been one of the most talked about players in the league since he was drafted and his jersey was the seventh highest selling in the league, according to ESPN’s Darren Rovell.

Some would say the NFL doesn’t need any more press, but when the biggest stories of the last year involving the league have all been negative – concussions, Incognito, Ray Rice, Redskins racist name – don’t you think the NFL wanted a really good story? And, yes, I know the NFL is a billion dollar industry of its own and doesn’t “need” money off of Michael Sam jersey sales, but we also know the NFL is greedy. Why else would the league be asking musicians and pop artists to pay to play the Super Bowl halftime show? 

No, the NFL doesn’t “need” the money, but you’d never know it based on their business practices.

The NFL made a lot of good news and money off of Michael Sam and unfortunately he hasn’t gotten the same out of them; not much more than a glorified 15 minutes of fame. Hell, he didn’t even end up with his Oprah Winfrey Network docu-series– bowing to the fears and requests of the Rams.Yet, the Atlanta Falcons are on television once a week on HBO’s “Hard Knocks.”

I can’t help but feel Sam got used and in some ways those fans hoping for something a little different from the NFL did too. Maybe to show that the NFL isn’t that greedy or that they weren’t just profiting off of Sam they should offer all those snookered into buying Sam jerseys a refund or exchange. It may sound crazy or ridiculous to refund jerseys when the fans knew Sam might not make a NFL roster, but we’ve recently seen precedence for doing just that when the Cleveland Cavaliers offered fans refunds or exchanges for Andrew Wiggins jerseys after drafting the collegiate star first overall in the NBA Draft and then trading him months later for superstar Kevin Love.

It may seem simple for the NFL and the Rams to give some money back for Sam jerseys, but it would also go a long ways in saying it wasn’t just a rouse for attention and money.

That would be a step in the right direction, but it still wouldn’t do anything in giving hope to any gay athletes hoping one day to make it to the biggest stage of professional sports. 

*Here are the last 10 SEC Defensive Players of the Year and the round they were drafted in ...

Michael Sam (7th), Jarvis Jones (1st), Morris Claiborne (1st), Patrick Peterson (1st), Rolando McClain (1st), Eric Berry (1st), Glenn Dorsey (1st), Patrick Willis (1st), Demeco Ryans (2nd), David Pollack (1st)

To Say Redskins or Not Say Redskins ... That Is the Question.

The controversy surrounding the Washington Redskins team nickname is the sports controversy that just won’t die and with good reason. The name is offensive. There’s no denying it. If you deny it I have to question your intentions. There’s no denying it because the term “Redskin” by definition is a racial slur.

Go on, look it up in the dictionary, both dictionary.com and Merriam-Webster.com have the word defined as “offensive” and “disparaging.” The same words you’ll see if you also look up the word “nigger” in the same dictionaries.

Nobody in their right mind would defend a team nicknamed the N-words, so why do so many attempt to defend the Redskins nickname?

Some are taking a stand against the offensive team nickname. In an Associated Press article on Monday (August 18), CBS NFL analyst Phil Simms, who will cover almost twice as many NFL broadcasts as the next guy this season thanks to CBS’ partnership with the NFL Network on Thursday Night Football, and NBC’s NFL commentator Tony Dungy both said that they were certainly leaning toward not using the nickname on telecasts this season due to its offensiveness.

Simms and Dungy would join a growing list of media opting not to use the Washington nickname. Among others refusing to use it are ESPN’s Keith Olbermann (who’s gone on many a crusade against the name on his ESPN2 show), Bill Simmons, Tony Kornheiser, NBC’s Bob Costas and Cris Collinsworth, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow and MMQB.com’s Peter King. Entire media publications like Slate.com, San Francisco Chronicle and Kansas City Star have banned the nickname, as well.

Then there are those journalists like Simms’ CBS broadcasting partner Jim Nantz, Fox’s Troy Aikman and CBS’ Solomon Wilcots who will continue to refer to the team as the Redskins because it’s the team’s name and it’s not their business to take a stance on. Nantz was quoted directly as saying “it’s not my job to take a stance.”

I understand the stances of both sides here.

In fact, the decision to use the word “Redskins” in both print and on my sports podcast, Basement Sports, is one that I’ve thought of a few times recently, even though like Simms who was quoted as saying, “I never really thought about it, and then it came up and it made me think about it. There are a lot of things that can come up in a broadcast, and I am sensitive to this” it’s something until recently I hadn’t put too much thought into either.

I believe the word “Redskins” is offensive. As I said earlier, you really can’t deny this by its very definition. So, this makes me want to side with Simms, Olbermann, Costas and others.

But, I also see Nantz’s point when he says it’s not his job as an objective and unbiased broadcaster to take a stance on the team’s name.

It’s probably something I’m going to have to take a little longer to think about before making a decision on the Washington team name for myself, but I will say that’s with each and every passing day I’m leaning toward a boycott of the team name, despite the fact that it inserts my opinion on the name into whatever it is I’m doing.

I think the Redskins nickname is one that is probably eventually going to change, but I don’t believe it’s going to be anytime soon. Change is a slow movement, and for some reason it always seems just a little slower when it involves the NFL.

In Defense of Richard Sherman

On Sunday night Seattle Seahawks Richard Sherman, who as he tells us is the best cornerback in the NFL, made a game-saving deflection of a pass from San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick to receiver Michael Crabtree, who as Sherman tells us is merely mediocre and Kaepernick should’ve known better than to throw to in the first place. Anyway, Sherman’s huge deflection was intercepted by Seahawks linebacker Malcolm Smith, which sealed the win and a Super Bowl berth for the Seahawks.

Then just seconds after his game-winning play Sherman was asked to do an interview with Fox Sports sideline reporter Erin Andrews. The result was THIS.

Immediately Sherman went from game-saver to the most hated man in the NFL and over 24 hours later people still can’t get enough of bashing Sherman and besmirching his character.

My only question is … Why?

Was what Sherman did appropriate or sportsmanlike?

No. I’m not sure anybody could defend his response as being such. Even he later realized it wasn’t appropriate and has since apologized.

However, was his response worthy of such vitriolic responses from fans calling him a “thug” or a “punk” or even worse?

Absolutely not.

ESPN Radio’s Colin Cowherd hit the nail right on the head when he said about the situation on his daily radio show “You put a mic in his face three seconds later don’t expect composed athlete speak. Richard Sherman made the play of the day in the NFL, he was all jacked up.”

What Sherman did was essentially not a big deal, even if I do admit to it not being ideal for an athlete to do. When it comes right down to it all he really did was trash talk an opponent in a loud manner.

It was made into a big deal by people for a few reasons. 1) it was aggressive 2) he’s a black athlete 3) his interviewer was a female (and not only that but an attractive one that much of America is too in love with).

I know some people are going to roll their eyes at the implication of race being the issue here, but if that had been a white athlete giving the interview you can be assured the response wouldn’t have been as negative, you can be assured nobody is tweeting a white athlete racial slurs and you can be sure that nobody is throwing around the word “thug” today. In fact, have you ever heard a white athlete referred to as a “thug?”

NASCAR drivers Kurt and Kyle Busch are about the most vile things I’ve ever seen in the world of sports and I’ve never heard the word “thug” bandied about when speaking of them.

Richard Sherman gives a passionate, emotional postgame interview and he’s automatically a thug. It doesn’t matter that he was a Salutatorian (ranked second in his entire class) in high school. It doesn’t matter that he’s a Stanford graduate in communications and actually returned to college for his final year of eligibility just so he could begin a Masters degree. It doesn’t matter that judging by his column for Monday Morning Quarterback that he’s an intelligent and well-written writer. It doesn’t matter that he’s involved with multiple charities. All that matters to the ignorant sports fan is that he came off as an angry black man on television and therefore he’s a “thug.” Yet, white athlete Ben Roethlisberger has more than likely sexually assaulted multiple women and he’s not a “thug.”

All Sherman’s interview amounted too was one-upping Crabtree, who he has a longstanding rivalry, if not feud with. The two have gone back and forth many times and Crabtree has reportedly even tried to fight Sherman previously at a charity event hosted by Arizona Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald. Crabtree has taken numerous chances in the media to diss Sherman, as well. Sherman was merely getting the last (and biggest laugh) on Sunday.

Next time you have a problem with what you perceive to be an outburst from a professional athlete try taking into account the emotions that run high during these incredibly high stakes games, take into account the history between athletes and take into account the athlete’s personality and character. Don’t simply write them off as a “thug” because they are black and screaming on television.

   

My 2013 NFL Predictions

AFC East

1. Patriots 12-4

2. Dolphins 7-9

3. Jets 5-11

4. Bills 2-14

AFC North

1. Bengals 11-5

2. Ravens 10-6

3. Steelers 9-7

4. Browns 3-13

AFC South

1. Texans 11-5

2. Colts 8-8

3. Titans 5-11

4. Jaguars 5-11

AFC West:

1. Broncos 14-2

2. Chiefs 10-6

3. Chargers 6-10

4. Raiders 2-14

Wild Card: Ravens, Chiefs

  

NFC East

1. Giants 9-7

2. Cowboys 8-8

3. Eagles 8-8

4. Redskins 7-9

NFC North:

1. Packers 11-5

2. Bears 8-8

3. Vikings 7-9

4. Lions 6-10

NFC South:

1. Falcons 11-5

2. Saints 10-6

3. Buccaneers 5-11

4. Panthers 5-11

NFC West:

1. 49ers 13-3

2. Seahawks 12-4

3. Cardinals 6-10

4. Rams 3-13

Wild Card: Seahawks, Saints

Awards:

MVP: Peyton Manning (Broncos)

ROTY: Eddie Lacy (Packers)

DPOY: JJ Watt (Texans)

COTY: Andy Reid (Chiefs)

The Worst Fantasy Football Draft Pick Ever Made ...

Last night during my fantasy football league draft I was witness to what might likely be the worst fantasy football draft pick ever made.

The first selection in the draft was a major surprise when new Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning was taken first overall. I think this is a bad selection, but it’s definitely a high-risk-high-reward pick that will probably work out well for the player.

The second selection in the draft was Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who will likely be the first quarterback taken in many fantasy football drafts this season and is a great selection.

Then came the third pick, which was taken by one of the league’s players in the blink of an eye without a second guess, and it was so dumbfounding and idiotic that I almost missed my own first round selection out of sheer shock at what I had just witnessed. This league member drafted Kansas City Chiefs running back Peyton Hillis, a player that likely should’ve gone undrafted in our relatively small league, third overall above any other running back. I mean, come on, Peyton Hillis is probably not even dumb enough to draft Peyton Hillis third overall in his own fantasy football league.

Now I’ve talked many times before in my life, even a time or two on this very podcast, about the stupidity and idiocy of sports fans and this fantasy football pick is just another example of it. I’ve heard and seen sports homers time after time, but taking Peyton Hillis, who is likely the Chiefs second string back behind Jamaal Charles, third overall just because he’s a fan-favorite of Arkansas Razorbacks fans pretty much takes the cake.

I know that Hillis had a breakout season with the Cleveland Browns a couple of seasons ago and looked like he could be a budding star in the NFL, but his atrocious season last year made it seem like he was more of a fluke than a potential star. Let me point out that even if this was the same Hillis of two seasons ago that drafting him third overall would still be a terrible mistake. It’s the case of a fan acting with his heart and not his head and it frankly makes me love the fact that there’s a person this unbelievably dumb in my fantasy football league. It should make it all the more easy for me and others to defeat him and potentially win the league.  

Wright, Childs Continue Journey as Lifelong Teammates

One of the most unique stories of the NFL Draft, and one that has been grossly and unfathomably unreported on, is the story of now former Arkansas Razorbacks receivers Jarius Wright and Greg Childs. 

Wright and Childs were both selected in the fourth round of the NFL Draft on Saturday afternoon by the Minnesota Vikings. Now, it’s unique enough that the college teammates were both selected by the same team to play in the NFL, if both make the roster by opening week, but it actually goes back a lot further than just being teammates in Fayetteville. 

You see Wright and Childs have pretty much been teammates for their entire lives. Both are from the small Arkansas town of Warren, which is a town of about 6,000 people. Both were teammates at Warren High before heading north to college and before that the two were teammates at the junior high level, the middle school level and the elementary school level. It doesn’t seem that there is anything in this world that can separate Wright and Childs. 

Now I don’t know for sure, and have no clue how one would even really go about looking such a thing up, but I’m willing to bet that something like this, especially from such a small hometown has ever happened in the NFL. It’s a unique enough and special enough story to have me rooting for both Wright and Childs to make the Vikings roster this season.  

Why I Feel Bad for the Houston Texans ...

I don’t typically feel bad for sports teams. There’s very rarely any reason to feel bad for them as they mostly make their own destiny through winning, losing, good and bad decisions and the like. However, as we’re on the verge of the NFL Playoffs I can’t help but feel really bad for one franchise … and that’s the Houston Texans.

For 10 years that franchise has struggled through many bad seasons, only posting a winning record prior to this season in 2009, and has never made a trip to the playoffs. This season they were set up to own their division thanks to a Peyton Manning-less Indianapolis Colts and a weak Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars teams, and they did. They posted their first division title with a 10-6 record and it was made all the more impressive by the fact that they were without their best defensive player Mario Williams for most of the year, their best receiver (and maybe the NFL’s best receiver) Andre Johnson for most of the year and their star quarterback (and a vastly underrated one at that) Matt Schaub for a good portion of the season to end the season. 

The Texans with all their pieces together would’ve been a threat to win the AFC and I’m not joking in the least when I say that. And, that’s why I feel bad for this team. They’ve waited 10 years for this moment and they finally get there and could’ve really done something and they stand absolutely no chance of going deep into the playoffs, in fact, they very likely will lose to the Cincinnati Bengals in the first round this weekend. That absolutely sucks.   

Leaning on Tebow's Everlasting Arm

Y’all remember in May when that crazy old Christian radio dude Harold Camping said that he had a mathematical equation that told him the rapture would occur and the world would come to an end on May 21. Then when that didn’t happen he said that his math was wrong and he was off by five months and the rapture would actually occur on October 21. And, then when that didn’t happen he said that it actually had happened, but the ones of us who were left behind had not been taken up to our savior’s home in the sky.

Well, I believe Harold Camping was right. Now, I know it might sound crazy, but hear me out. I believe that Camping was in fact telling the truth after the first wrong prediction when he said he was off by five months and I too believe him when he said that the rapture did in fact happen on October 21.

Why? Because two days after that a returned Jesus Christ inhabited the body of Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow and the lowly Broncos beat the Miami Dolphins. They would lose the next week to the Detroit Lions, but then they would embark on a six-game winning streak that could only be referred to as miraculous.

Sure, the Mighty Tebows lost pretty handedly to the New England Patriots on Sunday, but they had to because people were catching on and you don’t want anybody jumping on the Jesus bandwagon because they all think they’re going to Hell.

Don’t bandwagoners suck, y’all?

But, here’s the plan between now and the beginning of February. Tebow is going to continue leading the Broncos to victories. He’ll first win the AFC West division, he’ll then beat whoever he has to in the first few rounds of the playoffs and then he’ll take the Super Bowl by storm putting on the greatest show the football world has ever seen, which will include saving Madonna at halftime and then when that clock strikes all zeroes and the Broncos have won the Super Bowl and Tebow the MVP all of the Tebow believers will pile on Tebow’s shoulder pads and ride that highway to the sky, while all of us non-believers will die in a fiery blood storm that will include getting stomped by Ndamukong Suh, hit in the head by James Harrison and forced to listen to Rex Ryan press conferences for all eternity. For all of us who will face this damnation I can only hope that Tebow will have mercy on our souls.       

Peyton Manning not worthy of MVP votes

There are some people out there, experts included, who believe that Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning might receive a few MVP  votes when writers vote for the award following the end of the NFL season. Manning, of course, has been injured and hasn’t played a single down this year, but his loss for the Colts has led to 13 straight losses and the high probability of going 0-16. Manning not playing this year has proved more than ever how valuable he is and MVP does stand for Most Valuable Player. There is also no rule stating that a player must actually play to receive votes or even win the award. I wouldn’t be shocked if he received a vote or two or even more myself, but I do think even receiving one MVP vote would be wrong.

I think many, many decades ago when writers came up with the term Most Valuable Player that they truly meant that term to mean the Best Player of the Year, which most times is probably the case anyway. However, I think that sometimes, and this year is the case, that people seem to take the word ‘valuable’ in the award’s title way too seriously. We all know that Manning is incredibly valuable to the Colts, but Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is having an all-time great year at his position and other NFL players are having fantastic years as well. So, let’s end the ridiculous talk about Peyton Manning as MVP.