Khyber53

17 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

Worth remembering the process here...

The Hall of Fame voters are largely media. In order to get in, one of those voters has to present a strong argument for your inclusion.

Smith hasn't always had the greatest relationship with the media.

Now, as a member of the media, he's probably mending many of those relationships. (As difficult as that sounds).

I think he'll make it in, but it might be on the second or third ballot. Smith's story is too compelling, his performance on the field too powerful, his toughness too legendary, his competitiveness too undisputable. Old school sports reporters (who make up most of the voters) can get behind someone they can tell a story about. 

2 hours ago, TheCasillas said:

Plus he would be a FA in @Khyber53's scenario. Which means he'd have to go through all of this medical processessing before pen to paper would ever be considered.

In my scenario if he doesn't get a new contract or a franchise tag, then it doesn't matter if he's a free agent because he will be unable to perform anywhere near his previous levels.

The Cowboys aren't going to let Dak go if he is anywhere near his prior level of play. He's too good of a QB to release into the market. Dak, if able to play like he was before the injury, is the kind of player who can take a franchise to the Super Bowl. If he is still that guy, then there is no way the Cowboys don't lock him into a long-term contract. 

2 hours ago, TheCasillas said:

Here is a quick list of QB's who have had season ending injuries (most more serious than Dak's):

1. Brady
2. Rodgers
3. Big Ben
4. Rivers
5. Watson
6. Brees
7. Manning

Doesn't seem like it impacted their careers.

The list is longer for QBs who had season ending injuries that ended their careers. It's almost the same list as "all retired NFL QBs."

2 hours ago, BurnNChinn said:

They really can’t hide anything team doctors can give him a physical and make sure he is good before trade goes through.

Oh there are ways to hide a lot of stuff, mainly by simply omitting things. It is always a buyer beware market. While we all know and saw the horrific injury Dak suffered, it doesn't behoove the Cowboys to go in and point out that might have a secondary injury or issue beyond what other teams know to look for.

And we've all seen cases of "x player passes the physical and joins new team" to only be followed up by "nagging injury sees player sidelined, this might be the end of the road for him." For a local example, do you remember anyone saying Cam didn't pass a team's physical before the season? 

All this time off with Dak in recovery mode and the offseason starting early for the team. No negotiations between the two sides, no mention yet of the franchise tag being used...

If they don't tag him before the deadline, stay away because that may have been a career ending injury he received and that they are trying to conceal. Or it may be something that requires lengthy rehab and the Cowboys aren't willing to wait on.

I'd let some other team take a run at that gamble.

14 minutes ago, MHS831 said:

Not sure about the timeline, but at this point last year, were we (Huddle)  not looking for #1 rounder for Cam?

There is time, but moving Wentz after June 1 makes more sense than now, if only looking at the cap figure---as best I can interpret it.

Sure we were, we wanted whatever we could get for Cam. Then people started looking under the hood, kicking the tires and well, crickets... I believe there were even rumors generated out there saying this team or that team would/should/might trade for him in an effort to generate interest.

A couple of seasons pretty much lost to injury, uninspired play when he was on the field, and what could be considered a lackluster approach to rehabbing pretty much had everyone passing on Cam. We had to end up waiving him to free up physical space (if not any cap room) and it wasn't until very late in the offseason that New England finally took him on because the dance of the lemons was about to stop. And suddenly, we begin to think that Bill Belichick can't actually pick or develop QBs. 

We let Cam go March 24, because there just wasn't any reason to let things go on and apparently his guys wanted to do the negotiations instead of the Panthers headhunting for him. Carson, though, is still on their books and there are some huuuuuge roster bonus implications if they can't move him quick.

(Just looked at that contract, and yikes.)

Great series. I played a lot of Warhammer 40K on tabletop back 20+ years ago. It was a lot of fun but just too much to keep up with once wife and kids came along.

Hope everything is still going well.

Just glad everyone is alright!

I really believe what we have right now is a manufactured sellers' market. Not everyone being dangled out there is going to be worth what some fools are willing to pay.

Smart money would wait until Feb. 23rd at the earliest (start of tagging players for franchise/transition designations AND the beginning of the Combine) and possibly even waiting until right before the Draft on April 29th.

But, but, but... we might miss someone! Well yeah, I don't necessarily see it as a problem. For every Steve Young picked up, there are 20 Josh Rosens. Look at how much LA gave up for Stafford... a guy who has never won a playoff game and has more losing seasons than winning ones! That was ludicrous! And heck, I like Stafford, but really???

Let someone else mortgage their entire team's future for someone who might be hiding some injuries, inabilities or downright bad judgement. 

1 minute ago, LinvilleGorge said:

Yeah, they abandoned the run VERY early on. I get that the Bucs are a great run D, but you can't just flat out abandon the run early especially when you're struggling to pass protect.

I agree and there's a certain part of the run game that is about inflicting hits on the opponent's d-line. And those back-up tackles can be better put to use as run blockers than pass blockers. 

And, as much as I'm not a fan of Gronk's, I have to give him credit for being a beast when it came to blocking during the game.

32 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

Let's leave them on an island.

I'd have expected some Max Protect in there. Fewer receiving options, but when you have a quarterback like Mahomes, it can still work.

Would have made sense to adjust to that (or something) once they saw what was happening last night, but apparently not.

Andy Reid is universally considered an offensive genius, but he's been known to make some positively inexplicable decisions in the playoffs from time to time.

I'd have to say this is one of them.

They did the exact same thing we did (even down to the same guy at LT) in 2015. They also had a strong armed mobile QB they thought could get them out of trouble (just like we did). They gave up on their running game and QB keeper options (just like we did).

The results were eerily similar to ours.

Just remember that Monica Rambeau in the old Marvel Comics also became Captain Marvel for a few years. 

And the retcon of Quicksilver was awesome and probably the first step in bringing the X-Men back into the MCU family. 

I never thought WandaVision was going to be this good, but it is just out there being spectacular. 

If they do as well with Falcon and the Winter Soldier (is it a bit of a reference to The Falcon and the Snowman movie from back in the day?) then this is going to be a great vehicle for telling the tie-in stories of the big movies.

A solid offensive line allows you to compete with anyone, but the game is made for the o-line to eventually lose on every play if it goes on long enough.

We have to improve the O-line. Retain Moton; grab competent, durable LT; develop one new guard; retain other veteran guard; grab next C in draft if possible. Add TE support. 

I'll think ownership got impatient and went for an unwise, quick fix.

Just now, Khyber53 said:

Good for Teddy! There's a chance he comes back, does great in training camp and is our starting QB for the season, possibly just at the beginning, perhaps all the way through. He's doing one of the most complicated jobs in sports well enough to be a starting QB in the NFL and somehow he's doing that without being a jerk or a nasty competitor. My hat's off to him. 

He wears our jersey, he deserves the cheers. 

And as to performance last year? Let's remember this is a rebuild team with a lot of problems and new coaches all around. There's room for improvement, and the capability to improve, across the board on the team.

Good for Teddy! There's a chance he comes back, does great in training camp and is our starting QB for the season, possibly just at the beginning, perhaps all the way through. He's doing one of the most complicated jobs in sports well enough to be a starting QB in the NFL and somehow he's doing that without being a jerk or a nasty competitor. My hat's off to him. 

He wears our jersey, he deserves the cheers. 

I wonder how many of these rumors are started by agents trying to stir the pot.

First, let's all hope that the injured children can make complete recoveries and that their parents aren't bankrupted by the medical bills and other expenses and difficulties that are going to arise from this.

Second, let's separate Andy Reid from his son on this one. While it is true he already lost one son to an OD and this son has had his issues with alcohol and potentially other substances, we can't hang their actions on his head without being directly involved with their family. The son was working with his father and I can assume that this wasn't without some idea of keeping him close by.

Third, addicts and troubled people can have long periods of control and/or sobriety with no incidents only to be set off in a time of extreme stress/joy/responsibility. I'd be willing to bet that is part of this story and such incidents. I know of one case where a son's birthday party was enough to set a rehabilitated addict off and it led to that man's OD and death. Addiction is a festering evil that just hangs in the soul of a person and it always courts tragedy and chaos.

Fourth, yes notoriety, money and even the perceived importance of a championship football game may be impeding what we would demand as justice. Or it may not be affecting it at all. We clamor for punishment, but the culprit in this still needs help to change.

Jeez, this just sucks in every way.

Everyone gets annoyed by a little, loud-mouthed dude who always talks about how great his skills are, brags about his accomplishments and tries to intimidate other people.

But you have to respect a smaller than average guy who says give me the chance to prove it, goes out on the field and gives 150% of what he claims and is intimidated by no one.

Steve's not mean, he's just an Alpha wolf who is undersized. He couldn't afford to not whoop a challenger, but he gave everything he had for his pack. And off the field, he's been a model citizen, a great dad and given back to the community many times over.

I've got nothing but respect for him and I hope to see him not just in our Ring of Honor but someday with a gold jacket. 

7 minutes ago, Leeroy Jenkins Ph.D. said:

I am going to need you to provide more detailed instructions

Okay, so grab a couple of bags of the frozen meatballs available at the store. (Aldi has some great 32 oz. bags of them for like $4.) Put them in a crockpot on high while you get everything else going.

In a separate sauce pan put in two cans of cream of mushroom soup, a cup of milk, a few heavy dashes of Worchestershire sauce, a tablespoon of dried thyme, a tablespoon of dried parsley and a few dashes of Texas Pete to taste. Bring up to temperature (just below a simmer) and put in an 8 oz. container of sour cream. Bring back up to temperature and add fresh ground black pepper to taste (there should already be plenty of salt due to the soups and Worchestershire). Once it is up to temperature again, pour over the meatballs in the crock pot. Set heat back down to low and let it go for a couple of hours. If you'd like you can mix in some chopped fresh button mushrooms.

You can also turn this into a great cold winter night meal by serving it over egg noodles. Pickles make a nice accompaniment cutting the richness.

In no way should this be considered a healthy meal or one to be done regularly, unless you are trying to put on weight. ;D

Just put the phone down. Walk away. Quit calling people.

2 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

IMO, one of the most underrated Panthers. The guy was a very good CB but never got a ton of press because he just quietly did his job. He was basically Bradberry before Bradberry. At least we were smart enough to hang onto the first iteration.

Gamble was the silent assassin. He just completely took one half of the field away from a team's passing offense. After the first couple of seasons he quit getting many interceptions simply because no team would pass anywhere within 15 yards of him.

Never barked, never trash talked, never self promoted -- just took his opponent's number one receiver out of the game.

10 minutes ago, Zod said:

I was more defending Fields. Most people are not good at public speaking. To assume they lack character as a result probably isn't wise. 

True, but when it is a big deal, whether you are getting up in front of 10 reporters or 52 players plus coaches, you need to be able to say what needs to be said, inspire confidence and lead with nothing but your words. It makes a huge difference.

For the Panthers alone, you can look at Jake Delhomme's best seasons and see that kind of leadership and ability to speak to people. Even with that Cajun accent, Jake could rally a team or a fanbase by just being so genuine and earnest. 

I often wonder what happened to Jordan Carstens. Hated that his career got cut short due to kidney problems. That was one country strong guy and he could do some damage from the DT position. I think he'd have had an outstanding career otherwise.