NFL offseason thread

I hate the idea of Dungy being enshrined, but if you let him in then you also have to let in, say, Jimmy Johnson.
Johnson's resume being much more impressive, and having achieved more in a shorter time.
I view Dungy on the level of George Seifert.

I differ on St. Sharpe.
He was one of the templates for the modern receiver.

 

In regards to Sharpe. I'm just going by the fact that he's never been a finalist and he's had plenty of chances but can't get that far in the voting. I don't think he's even made the semifinal list. He's always on the initial ballot of 125 or 113 or whatever the number is. But he never gets past that.

Maybe it's a backlog thing -- in 2013 he was one of 12 receivers on the initial ballot. 3 of them are now in. In two years the voters cut the WR number to nine on the initial ballot and put in Brown but will replace him with Owens. So the battle to get to the semifinalists will involve Owens, Isaac Bruce, Gary Clark, Henry Ellard, Marvin Harrison, Torry Holt, Sterling Sharpe, Jimmy Smith, Rod Smith.

Owens and Harrison will advance. Bruce and Holt made it last year. So for the voters, Sharpe is at best the fifth best receiver candidate.

 

Sterling Sharpe's last year of eligibility is 2019. Still plenty of chances for him as well as Roger Craig (2018).
I won't be shattered if he doesn't make it, but he was better at his peak than a good half-dozen of the receivers being considered.
I mean this respectfully: If we're going to have a Hall of Fame, it seems your first task is to identify the best players and put them in.
Aside from Rice, Sterling Sharpe was the best player at his position for half a decade. Kenny Easley was the best safety in football for the same duration. Jerry Kramer the best guard. So on.
Why are there these stupid debates on whether X, Y or Z deserve to go in on the first ballot? Or whatever silly exemption was made for Fred Dean?

 

I don't know what to file this under. Pilot that was apparently to fly a Philadelphia Eagles banner over Cowboys training camp crashed on takeoff and was killed.

One Killed in Banner-Towing Plane Crash at Compton-Woodley Airport | NBC Southern California

 

These long extra points are weird. I'm sure it will improve gameplay, but it's strange not seeing that camera shot from the stands.

 

These games are so ugly. I only watched the first half. Not much to see except for individual performances. Boykin looked good in his first game as a Steeler. Shazier made some plays, but still misses too many tackles. Dupree looked tentative and couldn't get off a block, even against reserves.The only thing that might be significant is Suisham's knee injury, which he suffered making a tackle on a kickoff. Not sure how bad it is yet.

 

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/...rious-injury-for-Suisham/stories/201508100093

Oy. Lovely start for the Steelers. Might have lost one of the league's better kickers. They protect 90 percent of the starters, but he's out there making tackles on the second half kickoff? Idiotic.

 

Working Boom's corner a little here, perhaps, but it seems like our boy Peter King has hired a former Northwestern cheerleader and SI intern for his MMQB staff and she is part of the group driving from training camp to training camp. Anyway, I found this pretty cringeworthy:

MMQB: Andrew Luck, Hard Knocks, Frank Gifford, J.J. Watt, more | The MMQB with Peter King

The newest addition to The MMQB staff, Kalyn Kahler, is a Midwestern gal. Born in Iowa, lived in Illinois and Wisconsin growing up, and matriculated at Northwestern. Her grandparents, from Rockford, Ill., came to see her at Bears camp in central Illinois Thursday. The grandma, Tressa Anderson, made some fantastic oatmeal-raisin-ginger cookies and delivered them to Kalyn. Gary and Tressa Anderson waited patiently after practice while their granddaughter interviewed Bears, just so they could have a couple of minutes with her before Kalyn and the crew went on to the next stop.

“Do you still have your pepper spray?” Grandma asked, quite concerned, when it was time to go.

Grandmas will always be grandmas. Last year, when Kalyn was a spring intern at Sports Illustrated, Grandma Tressa was very concerned that Kalyn would have a safe place to live in New York City. She found her quite a safe place: St. Mary’s Residence, a convent run by the Congregation of the Daughters of Divine Charity. Kalyn spent her internship semi-cloistered with the good nuns of St. Mary’s, thanks to Grandma.

Kalyn, a former Northwestern cheerleader, is cheerleader-peppy. “I hope people know I’m not living with the nuns anymore!” she said. When I texted her the day before we left on this 15-day trip, telling her to be ready to do an awful lot of driving, she texted back this: “BORN READY.”

 

So desperate for football to start I watched the whole game.
I had a lot of the same thoughts. The first time I noticed Shazier: when he overpursued a play and missed the tackle, and another busted tackle that resulted in another five yards after contact. He improved, but ...
Jesse James looked out of place. Not a good night for him in anyway, shape or form.
Landry Jones, looked like a third string QB. The overthrown pass to the end zone was a critical error.
Coates looked OK, up and down. I thought Vikings CB Trae Waynes had a terrible night. And that was against an NFL's B-team receiving corps.
I hate that Suisham got hurt, that's par for the course when it comes to special teams the last few years. Hope its not serious ...
Former kicker Jeff Reed got kicked out of the game ... as a fan.

 

Cam Newton and Josh Norman throw down at Panthers practice.

Cam Newton of Carolina Panthers gets into scuffle after he shoves Josh Norman

 

All I pretty much know about Mick Tingelhoff is the longevity, the four Super Bowl appearances and Curley Culp dominating him in Super Bowl IV. Not saying he wasn't deserving of Saturday's enshrinement, but can someone explain to me why Mr. Tingelhoff is in and Jerry Kramer isn't?

 

Dearth of centers in Canton. There are seven true, modern-day, non-two-way centers enshrined.
Positions
I don't like the choice either.

Where did Recovering Journalist go?
Did lively discussion of third-team guards for the Steelers finally scare him off?
I'd be surprised as that sort of thing usually keeps the clicks coming on a forum.