Tag Archives: NFL

NFC, NFL, San Francisco 49ers

The Downward Spiral That is the San Francisco 49ers

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Oh how the mighty have fallen. Just a few years ago, the San Francisco 49ers were atop the National Football Conference (NFC), and one of the premier teams in the National Football League (NFL). But one off-season later, they are not the power house they used to be, but a mess. After making the NFC Championship Game for three straight years and having an appearance in Super Bowl XLVII (in which they lost to the Baltimore Ravens 34-31), the 49ers went 8-8. The downhill spiral began at that point.

SANTA CLARA, CA - DECEMBER 20: Head Coach Jim Harbaugh of the San Francisco 49ers addresses the team in the locker room, for the last time, following the game against the Arizona Cardinals at Levi Stadium on December 28, 2014 in Santa Clara, California. The 49ers defeated the Cardinals 20-17. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jim Harbaugh
SANTA CLARA, CA – DECEMBER 20: Head Coach Jim Harbaugh of the San Francisco 49ers addresses the team in the locker room, for the last time, following the game against the Arizona Cardinals at Levi Stadium on December 28, 2014 in Santa Clara, California. The 49ers defeated the Cardinals 20-17. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jim Harbaugh

The organization had already had a falling out with head coach Jim Harbaugh, and had fired him, hiring Jim Tomsula to take his place. Not only that, but former offensive coordinator Greg Roman jumped ship to become the offensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills, and then the team fired defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. However, that was not all. Several key players on the 49ers roster chose to retire, or find greener pastures in free agency.

ST. LOUIS, MO - OCTOBER 13: Patrick Willis #52 of the San Francisco 49ers fires up the team on the field prior to the game against the St. Louis Rams at the Edward Jones Dome on October 13, 2014 in St. Louis, Missouri. The 49ers defeated the Rams 31-17. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Patrick Willis
ST. LOUIS, MO – OCTOBER 13: Patrick Willis #52 of the San Francisco 49ers fires up the team on the field prior to the game against the St. Louis Rams at the Edward Jones Dome on October 13, 2014 in St. Louis, Missouri. The 49ers defeated the Rams 31-17. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Patrick Willis

Veteran defensive cogs Patrick Willis (Linebacker), Justin Smith (Defensive End), and key offensive lineman Anthony Davis chose to retire. Even the young, (coming off his rookie year) linebacker Chris Borland decided to retire for health reasons. Then came free agency, where even more talented players like Chris Culliver, Mike Iupati, Michael Crabtree, Frank Gore, and Stevie Johnson left the team. To make matters worse, Aldon Smith, who was to be the defensive anchor after all the changes, got arrested again, and was released from the team.

Now what is left is a team in disarray, and in a new era of coaching. All hope is lost, the 49ers are sure to be a bottom feeder team in the NFL, nothing can save them now, right? Not so fast, this team can still play.

Even with the amount of blows this team took, they can still be a competitive team. They still have Quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who though had his worst season statistically, has shown growth through a week of training camp. Not only that, but he still has weapons in the form of wide receivers Anquan Boldin and Torrey Smith and tight end Vernon Davis. The offense also has stalwart defenders in the offensive line in the form of Joe Staley and Alex Boone. The 49ers defense is not in shambles, as they still have linebacker NaVorro Bowman, who is coming off injury, and hopefully can stay healthy in the coming season, and he will also have veterans Darnell Dockett and Glenn Dorsey to assist. The defense also has great potential in rookie Arik Armstead from Oregon.

Even with the young potential and returning veterans, the San Francisco 49ers are far from being able to compete for the Super Bowl. The 49ers play in the toughest division in all of the NFL, the NFC West, consisting of the Seattle Seahawks, St. Louis Rams, and Arizona Cardinals, who each have been busy in the off-season, improving their teams for a playoff push.

The Seahawks are a juggernaut of a team looking to make it back to a third straight Super Bowl,  the Cardinals have stability at quarterback with Carson Palmer and can return to the playoffs again, and the Rams have upgraded and are on the rise to the point where they can compete for a playoff spot. That leaves with the 49ers having to fight through a gauntlet just to make the playoffs. Yes, the 49ers will win some key games, but they won’t top 10 wins, they wont have the chance to win that 6th playoff spot. Year one of the Tomsula era will be tough for the 49ers and 49er faithful to swallow because of this downward spiral nightmare.

Follow me on Twitter @MigiManziel

AFC, New England Patriots, NFL

Patriots: 5 Training Camp Moves the Patriots Should Make

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patriots.com
patriots.com

As training camp creeps closer, you can see the long days of summer start to wane and autumn is on the horizon. With that, the much maligned New England Patriots start their defense of their much earned, yet much (unjustly) scrutinized title defense. With 90 players on the team, coaches and GM’s are trying to decide who makes the cut and who doesn’t. After observing the first few days of camp, these thoughts about shaping the roster come to mind. Although they might seem drastic, I believe it makes the most sense to make the best Patriots roster available.

  1. Patriots trade G/T Jordan Devey to the San Diego Chargers for RB Danny Woodhead. With RB James White trying to step up in departed RB Shane Vereen’s shoes, the results so far have left some to be desired. Although he faces competition from veterans Dion Lewis, Travaris Cadet and Brandon Bolden, the importance of the “Passing Back” in this offense can’t be understated (see Vereen’s performance in the Super Bowl). Woodhead is 30 and carries a bigger contract (2.5 million), but he knows this offense and has Brady’s trust. He could be a stopgap for a year while White gets a little better and allows Bolden to return to his better suited Special Team role. Devey’s chances of making the team are slim to none with the additions of Tre Jackson and Shaq Mason. The Chargers need offensive line depth and Devy’s size (6’7, 315) can allow him to play both tackle and guard spots for San Diego. With Donald Brown, Brandon Oliver and Melvin Gordon all in the backfield with Phillip Rivers, Woodhead could be the odd man out. I see this as a win/win.
  2. Patriots sign G Evan Mathis. This is a no-brainer to many. He’s the best free agent available and gives the Pats a veteran leader in the place of Dan Connolly. With Ryan Wendell still hobbled and Jackson and Mason being rookies, Mathis can step in at either guard spot and dominate. Although he is 34, he was one of the best guards in football last year, if not the. Although he’s still in high demand from several teams, the appeal to play for a perennial playoff team might bring him up to the North East. If his asking price is too rich for the Pats, then they will pass. The depth inside beyond the rookies is Wendell, Josh Kline and Caylin Hauptmann. I’m not sure any of these guys can step up and be a steady performer if one or both of the rookies start to falter.
  3. Patriots trade DT Chris Jones to the Oakland Raiders for a 2016 6th round pick. With the free agent addition of DE/DT Jabaal Sheard and the 4 rookie Defensive Linemen added in the draft, the need for the pass rushing DT is pretty slim. With the loss of a 1st rounder due to Deflategate, it would be smart to unload players that have a slim chance of making the roster to needy teams. Even better unloading them to teams that will probably yield the Pats a higher pick in the said round. The lack of DL depth in Oakland is troublesome and Jones could provide a better interior pass rush than Stacy McGee or Dan Williams, the current two Defensive Tackle starters. Jones had 6 sacks in 2013 (3 in 2014) as a sub defensive tackle and can provide more depth.
  4. Patriots trade S Duron Harmon to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a conditional 2016 5th round pick and 2017 conditional 7th round pick (both picks go up a round if playing time is met). See the trend? Harmon has a lot of talent that hasn’t seen the field much in the past two seasons. He’s a zone safety that has a skill set more similar to Devin McCourty. With Jordan Richards and Tavon Wilson both playing better as of late, Harmon could take the spot for another position of need (or in Belichicks case, another linebacker or running back). With one year remaining on his deal, they might hold onto him for another year. But the fact that he isn’t an impending free agent could be reason to get more compensation. Getting this compensation for Harmon is a mutual win/win and Tampa has been a favorable trade partner in recent years (Mankins, Casillas). Harmon can compete for reps immediately at FS with Chris Conte (ugh) and Keith Tandy. This might be considered a high price for Harmon, but with his untapped potential and being around some of the best in New England, he could be a player Tampa can build around.
  5. Patriots sign DT/DE Red Bryant. Why add another defensive linemen? If you’re a Patriots fan, then you know that’s a redundant question. Bryant is massive (6’5, 325) and can play both defensive end and tackle. Although he isn’t much of a pass rusher (4.5 sacks in the past 7 seasons), he’s very stout against the run and could be an upgrade over former teammate Alan Branch. At 31, he’s not going to demand a long term deal and could be a nice veteran leader across the line that lost its biggest voice with the departure of Vince Wilfork.
AFC, Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots, NFC, NFL, San Francisco 49ers

Talent, Brains and Money can be an elusive package in the NFL

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Now former San Fransisco 49ers star linebacker Aldon Smith was yet again arrested, this time for a DUI, the third DUI he has gotten since entering the league. As I’m writing this I just got the alert on my phone that the 49ers have released Smith, this makes me question how dumb some of these NFL players and athletes could be in general. You have guys like Aldon Smith, Josh Gordon, Justin Blackmon and of course Aaron Hernandez who are throwing away millions of dollars because of the stupid decisions they’re making. These guys are living the dream, making millions of dollars to play football, what could possibly be better than that? Well apparently to some of these guys going out getting high, shooting people as well as other dumb things there doing, has a higher priority.

Makes you also question how these guys made it this far and if they were just kept being passed on because of their talent and never disciplined for issues before the NFL. Did everyone just turn their backs when these guys were in high school and let them do as they pleased because of their talent? Could some of these guys have been changed and not made the mistakes they did had they been punished and had tighter rules when they were younger? A good thought, but something we’ll never know.

via usatoday.com
via usatoday.com

Aldon Smith was the 7th overall pick and finished second in defensive rookie of the year voting, he looked like he was gonna be a pro bowler year after year and could have been a force in the league. He was then arrested for now three separate DUIs, and for joking about having a bomb at an airport, another just purely stupid move. After his second DUI, Smith entered a rehab facility which seems clear he didn’t take very seriously. When you’re given an opportunity to get help when you need it, you take it and hope you can not only save your career, but also save yourself from going down an even worse path. After his release from the 49ers, his career is almost sure to be over at the age of 25.

via cbssports.com
via cbssports.com

Another guy throwing his career away is Josh Gordon. Gordon bounced around college because of suspensions due to substance abuse problems and hardly played. Gordon was still selected by the Browns in the second round of the supplemental draft and ended up missing time in his rookie season because of his drug use in college. Gordon also missed time during his second season for a substance abuse violation, and again was suspended. When Gordon returned he went on to be the best receiver in the NFL even with missing 14 games. Entering his third season Gordon was suspended yet again for substance abuse, this time originally for the season, which ended up being reduced to 10 games. You think that maybe, just maybe, Gordon would learn from this, nope. Gordon was suspended for at least one year after testing positive for drinking alcohol, which he could not do after being placed in the leagues substance abuse program. Gordon was a complete stud during his very brief NFL career and is now in question if he will ever play again. I loved Gordon on the field and was pulling for him to change his ways off the field. Even with my fandom of Gordon I don’t feel bad for him at all, he could have changed his off-field ways, he was in the leagues substance abuse program after three different substance abuse incidents, and after constant suspensions he just didn’t learn. Apparently weed is more important than playing football and making millions to Gordon. Have fun selling cars again in Cleveland Josh, hope you were good at it because it looks like that is going to be your future, not the NFL.

via profootballtalk.com
via profootballtalk.com

Like Gordon, Justin Blackmon has faced many suspensions due to substance abuse problems. Blackmon was suspended 8 games in 2013 because of failed drug tests and after not learning was suspended the whole season in 2014 for substance abuse and currently faces an indefinite suspension. The Jaguars general manager recently said he doesn’t expect Blackmon to play in the NFL again. 25 years old, and out of the NFL because of weed, not talent which Blackmon had all the talent in the world, not injuries which tend to happen to players, but for smoking weed. Go back a few years and say Blackmon and Gordon would be among the top receivers in the NFL at this point in their careers and almost on one would disagree, tell someone the two would be out of the league and people would be shocked. I don’t feel bad for Blackmon just like I don’t feel bad for other players I mention, he didn’t love the game and rather would live the way he wanted, smoking weed and doing whatever else he wanted to do which didn’t involve football. The last that was seen of Blackmon he was not nearly in the playing shape he was and by the looks of it he has no desire to play in the NFL again.

via bleacherreport.com
via bleacherreport.com

And of course the most well-known idiot on this list, Aaron Hernandez. All us Patriots fans as well as the rest of the country know his story and his legal trouble. Hernandez was convicted and given a life sentence for the murder of Odin Lloyd and still faces a double homicide charge stemming from a 2012 incident. After news of Hernandez’ arrest in the Odin Lloyd incident, Hernandez was released by the Patriots and then other news and incidents from his past began to slowly come out. From him taking a selfie with a gun during his time at Florida, to bar fights, to gang related activities from his time in high school combined with drug use, Hernandez was a thug off the field with all his issues.  Hernandez had all the talent in the world on the field and had all the problems in the world off of it. After just having a baby and a new $40 million contract, you would think Hernandez would give up his old ways and change his life, apparently not. Hernandez is a sociopath and all he knew was his street mentality and was apparent he didn’t wanna change for anything and its who he was, giving up his family, football career, a $40 million contract at the age of 23 and his life.

via sportsonearth.com
via sportsonearth.com

No one will ever know the reasoning these guys have to do what they do, act how they act, and know whats important to them in life. The are all guys who were given many opportunities to change their lives and change who they are. Rehab through the league or separate rehab are and were all options to these guys. Johnny Manziel entered rehab after the end of last season because he knew his drinking and parting would have led to a quick end of his career. Johnny now seems to be on the right path, only focused on football and competing to be the Browns starting quarterback for the 2015 season. I hope Manziel has that all behind him and is focused solely on football, though I loved Johnny Football and the college party boy swagger he brought to the field being a college kid myself, I hope and would rather see Manziel as a successful NFL player.

These guys gave up the American dream, just about everyone including myself will never understand why and what is important to these guys, and they now have to live with their decisions which have changed all their lives for the worse.

AFC, New England Patriots, NFL

NFL: Worst. Circus. Ever.

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featured image: Google search  

 Earlier this week the Tom Brady appeal hearing transcript was released. Inside a number of things came to light but mostly character details regarding those involved in this three ring circus.

NFL: Goodell Makes Money For Owners
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell source theganggreen.com

For instance, we learned Troy Vincent is incredibly ignorant when discussing the deflation of footballs due to atmospheric conditions. Apparently Roger Goodell has terrible hearing for a man his age and will often request those he’s questioning to repeat answers a number of times. We learned that Tom Brady has no idea what a soft football feels like, just the overall texture of the ball itself. We were made aware that it is perfectly acceptable for the NFL to pay Ted Wells to conduct an “independent” investigation because, by golly, somebody has to pay him. Let’s not forget that Lauren Reisner, Ted Wells’ deputy, actually assisted the NFL during the hearing by cross examining Tom Brady. Clearly everything here is on the up and up.

There was a whole bunch of ridiculousness on the NFL’s part and more specifically Roger Goodell during this appeal process, however, Tom Brady did not come out unscathed  either. Brady insisting he did not know much about football psi prior to the October 2014 over inflation fiasco game against the New York Jets , seemed disingenuous at best. How could a man who spends so much time preparing a football not have any idea how much air he prefers inside said football? There is no legitimate proof of wrong doing in this situation but even the most ardent supporter of Brady must realize he knows how he likes his footballs.

It wasn’t all bad for Tom, although the cellphone destruction was a little bit odd on the date that he planned to meet with Ted Wells but it was hardly the proverbial “smoking gun” the NFL wants you to believe they have. Dumb and suspicous? Sure, but all it does is give the rest of the country outside of New England more reason to hate Brady, not clear evidence that he did something wrong. Quite frankly, given the release of his emails this past week, it’s no shock Brady destroyed that phone. The Peyton Manning themed email claiming no.18 had maybe “two years left” and Brady claiming to have “seven or eight years left”, I’m sure has caused him a slew of backlash.

It was particularly interesting that discipline was never implied by Ted Wells when Brady refused to hand in his phone. Patriot lawyers told him not to do so, but Tom said if he knew trouble could come due to this he would have absolutely had handed it in. Wells agreed he never told Brady that there would be discipline for this particular lack of cooperation. Roger Goodell must have had trouble hearing that.

Brady stating that he did not know Jim McNally’s name until deflategate makes total sense. As told in the transcript, Brady signs things all the time and there’s always lots of people in the locker room. It’s quite easy to believe that he would know Jim McNally’s face and not his name.
Roger Goodell at one point claimed that part of his decision to uphold Brady’s suspension rested on the unusual fact that Brady and Jastermski spoke quite a bit after the AFC Championship game. Brady gave sound reasoning for this, stating that the Super Bowl was two weeks away and also that the world was suddenly discussing the Patriot’s deflated footballs! Roger was unsatisfied with this answer. The Commissioner clearly entered this without already having made up his mind.

Roger Goodell is a desperate man and has chosen Tom Brady as his scapegoat and virtual “get out of jail free card” for the Ray Rice scandal that went so horribly wrong for him. Overall these transcripts help us to learn that the entire appeal process was a gigantic circus with our beloved commissioner of the NFL as the ring leader or was he the clown?

AFC, New England Patriots, NFL

NFL: Deflategate, How Many Lies Does It Take To Punish An Innocent Man??

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With the release of Brady’s appeal hearing transcripts (all 10+ hours and 457 pages worth) it appears that the advantage is swinging in Tom’s favor.

Let me first start off by saying I haven’t read the transcript in its entirety, however I will gather together all the facts I have from there and the whole debacle as it has unfolded so far.

On the night of the AFC Championship game referee Walt Anderson first claimed to have used the “logo” gauge (Which read .3-.4 psi. higher than the “non-logo” gauge) when checking game balls prior to the game. Then Wells re-interviews Anderson later, getting him to say he wasn’t sure about which gauge he used. That way Wells gains an advantage to come to the pre-determined conclusion that the balls must have been deflated by Patriots personell. (Wells gets to subtract .4 psi)

During Brady’s appeal, Wells vehemently stood by the the character of Walt Anderson and the integrity of Anderson’s recollections of the procedures performed on the game balls that evening. Even though Anderson originally said he used the “logo” gauge, Anderson must have got that part wrong, so Wells just goes with the second interview where Anderson wasn’t sure, and assumes he used the “non logo” gauge. (Lie #1)

When the Patriots balls were measured at halftime, after being in the officials locker room for 4 minutes (not enough time to effect the psi coming from 40-50° outside temp.) the lowest ball measures 10.9 psi on the ” logo” gauge, when you add in the ideal gas law which predicts a 1.0-1.2 psi drop (from Exponent inc. Findings) that would make a corrected reading of 11.9-12.1 psi on the LOWEST balls psi measurement! (There were only 3 balls that fell outside the range, other 2 were higher)

This led Wells to ignore the science (buried in the footnotes) Because the findings were not conclusive enough to prove someone had tampered with the balls after inspection. (Unless you can get Anderson to say he may have used the “non logo” gauge) Then you can justify charging your client millions to get to a pre-determined conclusion.

Leak #1: Getting public opinion on your side

The NFL office leaked information to Chris Mortensen that 11 of the 12 balls were 2 psi below minimum of 12.5 psi. (None were – a blatant lie) lie #2

Wells also tells Brady during investigation that he (Brady) will not suffer any disiplinary action for not turning over his cell phone.  And, of course, we all know that was one of Goodell’s two points for upholding his suspension. (Lie #3 on side of prosecution, in case your keeping score)

Wells also testified that a text conversation between Jim McNally and Jastremski was about “inflation” of footballs after the Jets game and it was interpreted by his (crack) legal team as being about “deflation” (yep 5 million dollars for this) Seriously? (Lie #4)

Let’s get to my last point from Wells’ testimony. He said he conducted the investigation pursuant to the “policy on the integrity of the game, and enforcement of competitive rules.”  That’s the other reason for Goodell upholding the suspension. Problem is that the players are not privy to those rules, nor are they bound by them, they are given to Owners and not players. So that’s lie #5 for the league. (There’s many more, I just picked those 5)

Leak #2:  Make Brady Look Bad

Bonus lie #6 stemming from league leaking Brady “destroyed” his cell phone instead of turning it over. Leaking it that way would lead you to believe the line of investigation they had all along, this was not an “Independent” investigation. NFL employees do not “wordsmith” drafts of “Independent” investigations.

Brady also did not get a “fair” investigation either, “fair” finds all the facts to come to a conclusion, it doesn’t “pick and chose” to support a pre-determined conclusion.

#ExonerateBrady

New England Patriots, NFL

NFL/Tom Brady Transcripts Released

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Tom Brady’s camp took a step up to the plate to pre-empt the NFL offices by submitting the transcript of his meeting with Commissioner Roger Goodell. The fact Brady’s camp was willing to make the entire document available speaks volumes for their confidence that he is innocent of all charges.

Troy Vincent States His Feelings (Facebook)
Troy Vincent States His Feelings (Facebook)

It will be interesting to see what the reaction of all parties involved, and the media, will be after analyzing the document. We’ll have our analyses on goallinegazette.com shortly. Meanwhile, here it is in it entirety.

https://nbcprofootballtalk.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/ex-204-appeal-hearing-transcript-t-brady.pdf

A solid night of reading for anyone!

Follow me on Twitter @SnowdonBob

AFC, New England Patriots, NFL

New England Patriots: Patriots Training Camp Day Three Evaluations

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Day number three of New England Patriots training camp has come and gone, and now the real football has begun. Saturday marked the first time that the team has worn full pads during practice, which could only mean one thing, contact! Of course since the new Collective bargaining agreement came out in 2011, the amount of hitting teams can do in practice is limited, but there was certainly still some popping in Foxborough on Saturday morning. Here are my three biggest takeaways and observations from day three of camp.

1. Blount and Easley Back In Action: On Saturday morning, media members and fans were delighted to see the return of both LeGarrette Blount and Dominique Easley to the practice field. After failing his conditioning test on Wednesday, Blount had to spend the following days getting himself in shape so he could get on the field and help his team.

It was evident that Josh McDaniels wasn’t going to just hand Blount all the reps, he had to capitalize when he had them. When it came down to it, he did capitalize. He doesn’t look like he has missed a step at all since we saw him in February. During a drill in which a linebacker had to cover a running back one on one on a passing pattern, Blount made a phenomenal move on Jamie Collins leaving him in the dust as he reeled in a catch from Tom Brady down the sideline. In addition, during goal line drills, Blount showed his power once again plowing through the defense into the end zone. Although, he was stopped on his second attempt by rookie first-rounder Malcom Brown.

patriots.com
patriots.com

There was a report on Friday, stating the Patriots coaching staff was going to be cautious with Dominique Easley. This did not appear to be the case on Saturday as Easley was full go. Even though he was mostly phased out of first team reps by veteran Antonio Johnson, Easley did impress during interior lineman three on three drills. The drill was simulated with a center, guard, and tackle going up against two defensive lineman and a linebacker. Easley really gave it to un-drafted rookie center David Andrews during the drill. The two were really going at it, that could stem from their Georgia versus Florida college rivalry days.

Rookie Offensive Lineman Jumping Right Onto First Team: With the left guard position wide open, and with Ryan Wendell still on the physically unable to perform list, rookie guards Shaq Mason and Tre Jackson have been able to see plenty of action over the past three days. Many believed that Jackson would have the best chance at the starting job based on his size, but Shaq Mason was the one that really stood out on day three.

Mason was in the left guard spot during live team drills, and he stood his ground giving up zero sacks of Tom Brady. Furthermore, during the interior lineman drill period, Mason made a fantastic cut block on veteran linebacker Jonathan Freeny, taking his feet from right up under him.

patriots.com
patriots.com

Miscellaneous Notes: The story with the quarterbacks was very much similar to what it was on Thursday when I was at training camp. Tom Brady took the majority of the reps with the first team with a little Jimmy Garoppolo mixed in. Brady was borderline flawless, and Garoppolo still needs to make quicker decisions. Brady went seven of ten during seven on seven drills, and a perfect twelve for twelve during live team action. Garoppolo also went seven for ten, and seven for nine during team action.

The defensive back group continues to put things together with some bumps in the road, as expected. The two quarterbacks for the most part carved up the secondary. Nevertheless, there was some bright spots on Saturday. Logan Ryan shined by breaking up multiple passes from Tom Brady. That is key because Ryan is the most experienced corner in the Patriots system, which is scary. Second round safety Jordan Richards also continues to impress the doubters.

On Thursday he had a very nice interception of Jimmy Garoppolo, and today he made a great play by knocking the ball out of Scott Chandler’s hands in a one on one drill. The 6-7 Chandler towers over 5-11 Richards.

Lastly, the play of the day for me had to go to one Aaron Dobson. During one of the seven on seven periods, Dobson made an outstanding grab on a post corner route from Tom Brady, over former college teammate Darryl Roberts, who was all over him.

I will also be in attendance at day four of Patriots training camp, so stay tuned for more updates.

NFL

New England vs NFL: It’s A Bare Knuckles Brawl

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Robert Kraft Is Not Happy

Just as Judge Richard M. Berman was telling the National Football League Player’s Association and NFL to get together and try to solve their issues, the New England Patriots went on the offense.  Tired of looking like they are the new “Evil Empire” and accepting the wishes of King Roger Goodell the team and owner decided it was time to take off the gloves and get into a back alley brawl.

It started Wednesday when Owner Robert Kraft laid into his baby, the NFL. “…for reasons that I cannot comprehend, there are those in the league office who are more determined to prove that they were right rather than admit any culpability of their own or take any responsibility for the initiation of a process and ensuing investigation that was flawed….I have come to the conclusion that this was never about doing what was fair and just.”

To read all of Mr. Kraft’s rant just click on the highlighted text and we’ll whisk you to Patriots.com for it in it’s entirety.

That was a huge step for one of the most powerful owners in the NFL. In the past Kraft had been a loyal, team player and backed Goodell when others were calling for his ouster (re: Ray Rice initial suspension)

Friday the Patriots took another hunk out of the League Office’s hide with a solid uppercut, this time with a series of e-mails showing the league ignored their early pleas to close off the leaks within the NFL offices and publicly correct errors that purposely implied things that weren’t true (example: 11 of 12 footballs dramatically under-inflated).

The E-mails were between Robyn Glaser, general counsel for the Patriots, and Jeff Pash, counsel for the NFL and who was overseeing the Wells investigation.  They show attempts by the Patriots to get the NFL to correct initial misinformation being reported by the media and to investigate the sources of such misinformation , which could only have been league personnel (Mike Kensil) . Click on the highlighted portion and we’ll take you to the context of all the e-mails from February 17-18.

Judge Berman Say’s Tone It Down

As reported by Rachel Axon, USA TODAY Sports, Judge Richard M. Berman, who will preside over the case in the Southern District of New York, advised both the NFL and NFL Players Association that, “While this litigation is ongoing, it is appropriate (and helpful) for all counsel and all parties in this case to tone down their rhetoric.” 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch….

  • The NFL and NFL Players Association have agreed to an expedited process that seeks a “final resolution” to the lawsuit before the start of the NFL season
  • Mike Kensil, the NFL’s VP of game operation, has been identified by various sources as the individual responsible for the leaks from the NFL office (Read Goallinegazette article from Bill Bodell)
  • To add to all the hype it has now been reported that Judge Berman’s hearing will be open to accredited media! That should be fun.

So, it’s turned into a 10 rounder and we’re just finishing round 5 with lots to come. Break out the beverage of your choice along with a snack or two, ’cause there’s still lots of blows to be thrown in this bare knuckles brawl.

So now you are caught up…until the next missive is launched. Punch and counter punch…punch and counter punch…etc…etc

By the way, did you notice I wrote this entire article without once mentioning Tom Brady…oops

Follow me on twitter @SnowdonBob

AFC, New England Patriots, NFL

Kensil accusations prove Patriots vs NFL

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News broke this morning that NFL Executive and former longtime Jets employee Mike Kensil was the reported main source for who leaked out false information to Chris Mortensen about 11 of the 12 Patriots footballs that were used in the AFC Championship against the Colts were two pounds under the legal limit the balls could be at.

Kensil is the same guy that told the Patriots equipment manager “we weighed the balls and you’re in big f***ing trouble.” If all this information is true it makes it out to look like the league is out to setup the Patriots, which some people already believed. Per reports, Kensil leaked out information to Mortensen who then reported the information which ended up being false and ended up starting this whole BS “DeflateGate” debacle were in now. Reporting false information like this was sure to make all the headlines and attempt to ruin the reputation of the Patriots and Tom Brady, which the league is trying to do it appears.

Setup the Patriots and make them look bad and then have no supporting evidence or actual evidence information to backup what is being reported, sounds smart NFL. The NFL has gone back and forth about things they have said and done and this is another example of the bias the NFL has shown against the Patriots and how they are in a way out to get the Patriots. The NFL and ESPN refused to let Chris Mortensen talk on WEEI about the information that was reported and this whole debacle that has occurred since. Mortensen has not confirmed that Kensil is the one who gave him the information regarding the footballs in the AFC Championship game. (Although several sources have speculated that Kensil was the leak) The league doesn’t want any information coming out from their side about how they were wrong or any talks behind closed doors that they have had to be known by the public but are fine leaking out anything they possibly can that can go against the Patriots in this case and make it look like they are doing so many things wrong. They want phone records from Brady, Jastremski and McNally and anything they can try to get to make it look like their reports and accusations are correct, but wont even let the man who they gave information to, who they let “report”  what has turned into the biggest sports story of the year and most nonsense of all-time, to talk to other media outlets about the situation. To me it sounds like the NFL are the ones who have something to hide and not Brady or the NFLPA.

AFC, Cleveland Browns, NFL

Cleveland Browns: The Peculiar Case of Cleveland Quarterbacks

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The Cleveland Browns have a troubling situation at quarterback.

The Cleveland Browns are basically cursed when it comes to having a quarterback. They have not had a solid franchise quarterback since Bernie Kosar in the 80s and early 90s. Year after year, the main headlines for the Browns is that they failed to have a winning season, and that they need a quarterback, again. Just  last year, the franchise drafted a young, talented, quarterback out of Texas A&M in the hopes that he would be the face of the franchise. That player, was Johnny Manziel.
Even with the skillset of Manziel’s, the franchise still faces a cloud of uncertainty, as his rookie year was terrible. With the addition of journeyman quarterback Josh McCown, and Manziel both on roster, the Browns have a very intriguing, and uncertain future at the most important position of football.

Taking first team reps as the starter is 36-year-old journeyman backup Josh McCown. That in itself is troubling. McCown was brought in to help fill the void Brian Hoyer left after he bolted to the Houston Texans.  Even after a terrible season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Head Coach of the Browns, Mike Pettine, still believes that the Browns can win with McCown.  So it is safe to say, that McCown is starting week one of the regular season, unless miraculous preseason play from Manziel arises.

Speaking of Manziel, what an up-and-down year it has been. From being picked 22nd in the 2014 NFL Draft.  With his arrival to Cleveland, Manziel brought so much hype, only to be disappointing in his rookie year.  Manziel threw for 18/35 (51.4%), 175 yards, 0 touchdowns, and two interceptions. His lone career touchdown came in the form of a rushing touchdown against the Buffalo Bills. At season’s end, after missing mandatory treatment, he checked into rehab.

Now, with Manziel out of rehab, he has begun to garner praise for an improved work ethic and dedication to football. Now, he even has a chance to retake the starting job this preseason. That is, if he plays exceptionally.

Will Josh McCown start all 16 games, or can Manziel truly be the franchise quarterback he was so hyped up and is deemed to be after going through rehab? Or will he fail again and be dissapointing? Either way, its a troubling future of uncertainty, as one option is 36 and in the twilight of his journeyman backup career, and the other is unproven and already has messed up once.

Follow me on Twitter @MigiManziel