NFC North / NFL Thread 2017-18

[TinyTimsLittleBrother]

Who's in charge of running NFL franchises: owners or players?

That's not the point.  Do you supervise employees?  How do you think they would react if you referred to them as "inmates" or the "tail?"  It's offensive.

[rocket surgeon]

Who's in charge of running NFL franchises: owners or players?

Goodell and the owners should have nipped this in the bud, but they totally underestimated the reaction by the fans.  Initially, they(the owners and the commish) thought either, they were on the right side of it by ignoring it, or it would blow over.  Wrong and wrong.  It’s going to take a while to right this ship and that will take some leadership.

   It seems, unless I’ve missed something, both baseball and basketball are doing the wise thing and sticking to what they know.  The players are essentially hijacking the audience and the product that the owners are trying to provide to their customers and the players are mooning them.  It’s not very smart to essentially take a nonpartisan product and divide your customers.  Just ask the Dixie chicks.  Hollywood is also dying a slow death.  If I wore my politics on my sleeve at my office, I would be about 1/2 as busy

[TinyTimsLittleBrother]

Goodell and the owners should have nipped this in the bud, but they totally underestimated the reaction by the fans.  Initially, they(the owners and the commish) thought either, they were on the right side of it by ignoring it, or it would blow over.  Wrong and wrong.  It’s going to take a while to right this ship and that will take some leadership.

   It seems, unless I’ve missed something, both baseball and basketball are doing the wise thing and sticking to what they know.  The players are essentially hijacking the audience and the product that the owners are trying to provide to their customers and the players are mooning them.  It’s not very smart to essentially take a nonpartisan product and divide your customers.  Just ask the Dixie chicks.  Hollywood is also dying a slow death.  If I wore my politics on my sleeve at my office, I would be about 1/2 as busy

Baseball and basketball owners have done a very good job at making peace with their respective labor unions.  The NFL and its union have been fighting for awhile about all sorts of issues and I think the players feel that this is a way they can fight back.  Nothing they have done has been against the rules.  And they aren't going to let them impose one easily.

[rocket surgeon]

Martellis Bennett may call this his last year despite signing a 3 year $21 million contract.  I think he reads the writing on the wall-the feeling may be mutual.  He hasn’t done squat for us and/ or they haven’t really been targeting him.  I’m sure if they had confidence in him, he would get more looks

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/21200624/martellus-bennett-green-bay-packers-says-pretty-sure-retire-season

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

It was a whole lot of nothing. It's a figure of speech. Nothing more. Sure, he could have said that they can't let the tail wag the dog and it would have been fine. This is a classic case of one side looking for a reason to be outraged at the other side.

Sure. And PR 101 is never give an audience looking to be outraged a reason to be outraged. I'm 99% sure his intent wasn't bad but he made a mistake.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Goodell and the owners should have nipped this in the bud, but they totally underestimated the reaction by the fans.  Initially, they(the owners and the commish) thought either, they were on the right side of it by ignoring it, or it would blow over.  Wrong and wrong.

The right move was to let it blow over. I wrote on this site probably about a year ago that the worst thing the NFL could do was make Kaepernick a martyr. Whether they meant to or not, they made Kaepernick a martyr the second the season started without him on a roster. No one owner was willing to bite the bullet so to speak to keep this from snowballing.

Even without Kaep on a roster, the protest was dying out. The only protesters at the beginning of the season that I could remember was M Bennett and M Lynch (and we're not even sure if he's protesting or just being Lynch). It was blowing over on it's own. Then the unthinkable happened. The President of the United States of America weighed in and dubbed the protesters SOBs and called for them to be fired, breathing new life into the protest and inspiring dozens more to participate. Not only that, but he has continued the fight for weeks on end. Every time the protest dies down a little bit, he fires of a tweet to get it riled back up again.

Kaep not getting signed was foreseeable. The NFL should have done more in advanced to try and encourage someone to pick up Kaep, maybe they did, I don't know. POTUS turning this into a firestorm was unforseeable in my opinion. Can you imagine any past president, no matter what the party, doing this? I can't.

There is strong leadership needed on this, but not from the NFL. There is one man who could end the anthem protests in a quick, efficient, and painless manner. Trump. If he stopped tweeting on this matter, I would bet that all but maybe Lynch and Bennett would stop protesting within the month.

[Babybluejeans]

Sure. And PR 101 is never give an audience looking to be outraged a reason to be outraged. I'm 99% sure his intent wasn't bad but he made a mistake.

Yea, he did. I assume he meant to use the phrase "the inmates are running the asylum" but butchered it by replacing asylum with prison. Nevertheless, even if used colloquially, why in god's name would you want to analogize ownership with a prison? Oof. Stupid.

[rocket surgeon]

The guy admitted it was stupid and he has apologized a couple times.  Ok, it was STUPID.  He has genuinely apologized...and the players are going to get as much mileage as they can out of this anyway.  These players are playing the victim card like “pro’s”. What do they really want?  If there is to truly be some kind of compromise, the players can’t go off all unhinged every time someone uses an them that supposedly offends them.  Watch-they are going to try to make McNair sell the team or give up his luxury suite or maybe park his tricked out range rove for a week or go visit a real prison, or...??  I mean, they better be careful not to overplay this stuff cuz what goes around, goes around

[TinyTimsLittleBrother]

The guy admitted it was stupid and he has apologized a couple times.  Ok, it was STUPID.  He has genuinely apologized...and the players are going to get as much mileage as they can out of this anyway.  These players are playing the victim card like “pro’s”. What do they really want?  If there is to truly be some kind of compromise, the players can’t go off all unhinged every time someone uses an them that supposedly offends them.  Watch-they are going to try to make McNair sell the team or give up his luxury suite or maybe park his tricked out range rove for a week or go visit a real prison, or...??  I mean, they better be careful not to overplay this stuff cuz what goes around, goes around

Who is going off unhinged?  The players are upset about the mind-set of the owners overall and this is the latest evidence of that problem.  I think the players have had reasonable responses to this entire issue. 

[MerrittsMustache]

That's not the point.  Do you supervise employees?  How do you think they would react if you referred to them as "inmates" or the "tail?"  It's offensive.

There's a difference between directly calling them "inmates" and using a figure of speech. If the CEO of my company said that people at my level weren't capable of running the company, I wouldn't be offended. That's what McNair did.

Who is going off unhinged?  The players are upset about the mind-set of the owners overall and this is the latest evidence of that problem.  I think the players have had reasonable responses to this entire issue. 

 

Was the protest started because of players feeling disrespected by ownership? No, it was about a group of people with a voice attempting to speak up for those they believe are not treated fairly in this country. That's a noble cause. Unfortunately, it's now about millionaires fighting with billionaires.

[Jay Bee]

Was the protest started because of players feeling disrespected by ownership? No, it was about a group of people with a voice attempting to speak up for those they believe are not treated fairly in this country.

Not sure that's what it was....

...nonetheless, Goddell will lose his job over this. Poor leadership; bye bye

Skol Vikings

[real chili 83]

Not sure that's what it was....

...nonetheless, Goddell will lose his job over this. Poor leadership; bye bye

Skol Vikings

Game’s on in the garage

[TinyTimsLittleBrother]

The right move was to let it blow over. I wrote on this site probably about a year ago that the worst thing the NFL could do was make Kaepernick a martyr. Whether they meant to or not, they made Kaepernick a martyr the second the season started without him on a roster. No one owner was willing to bite the bullet so to speak to keep this from snowballing.

Even without Kaep on a roster, the protest was dying out. The only protesters at the beginning of the season that I could remember was M Bennett and M Lynch (and we're not even sure if he's protesting or just being Lynch). It was blowing over on it's own. Then the unthinkable happened. The President of the United States of America weighed in and dubbed the protesters SOBs and called for them to be fired, breathing new life into the protest and inspiring dozens more to participate. Not only that, but he has continued the fight for weeks on end. Every time the protest dies down a little bit, he fires of a tweet to get it riled back up again.

He thinks it is helping him because it fires up his base.  But is it helping him?

https://twitter.com/dandrezner/status/924625889610076160

[wadesworld]

There's a difference between directly calling them "inmates" and using a figure of speech. If the CEO of my company said that people at my level weren't capable of running the company, I wouldn't be offended. That's what McNair did.

 

Was the protest started because of players feeling disrespected by ownership? No, it was about a group of people with a voice attempting to speak up for those they believe are not treated fairly in this country. That's a noble cause. Unfortunately, it's now about millionaires fighting with billionaires.

So you can’t be treated unfairly if you make millions of dollars?

[Pakuni]

A little perspective on NFL ratings:

Through week seven, the NFL is down 5% overall from the same point last year. That's a troubling drop for the biggest ratings powerhouse on TV, but it seems less dire when you consider that the four major networks are down an average 8% in prime time.
NBC is down 4%, CBS is down 6%, ABC is down 11%, and Fox's prime time viewership dropped 20% through the first month of the new TV season, according to Nielsen data. And those numbers are down despite the inclusion of live sporting events, which usually bring in big audiences.

https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2017/10/27/nfl-2017-ratings-national-anthem-protests

[forgetful]

A little perspective on NFL ratings:

Through week seven, the NFL is down 5% overall from the same point last year. That's a troubling drop for the biggest ratings powerhouse on TV, but it seems less dire when you consider that the four major networks are down an average 8% in prime time.
NBC is down 4%, CBS is down 6%, ABC is down 11%, and Fox's prime time viewership dropped 20% through the first month of the new TV season, according to Nielsen data. And those numbers are down despite the inclusion of live sporting events, which usually bring in big audiences.

https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2017/10/27/nfl-2017-ratings-national-anthem-protests

The 20% drop for Fox is pretty striking.  Not sure what their slate of shows looks like, as that would be the most obvious source of a drop (bad programing), but are the sexual harassment allegations (ailes and others) hurting them?

[GB Warrior]

Wow, I thought before the year that CLE was building things the right way and just needed to suffer through a year or two without tearing it all down. Now I'm not sure. I can tell you Hue will be back in Cincy within hours if hes let go. Don't see how he avoids it.

[Jay Bee]

6-2 for the CONSENSUS.

[B. McBannerson]

As I said a few weeks, much of this is being driven by Mr. Lockhart (yes, that Joe Lockhart), which is why the NFL is absolutely floundering on messaging here.  https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/29/sports/football/nfl-anthem-lockhart.html

Now Goodell's contract may be on hold as multiple owners are asking how many screw-ups does he get.  Ratings are down 20% from two years ago, 9% this year. Attendance no-shows up. 

Jerry Jones isn't stupid and he flat out said the protests are hurting the image and bottom line. Of course it is, to deny this is crazy.

[B. McBannerson]

The right move was to let it blow over. I wrote on this site probably about a year ago that the worst thing the NFL could do was make Kaepernick a martyr. Whether they meant to or not, they made Kaepernick a martyr the second the season started without him on a roster. No one owner was willing to bite the bullet so to speak to keep this from snowballing.

Even without Kaep on a roster, the protest was dying out. The only protesters at the beginning of the season that I could remember was M Bennett and M Lynch (and we're not even sure if he's protesting or just being Lynch). It was blowing over on it's own. Then the unthinkable happened. The President of the United States of America weighed in and dubbed the protesters SOBs and called for them to be fired, breathing new life into the protest and inspiring dozens more to participate. Not only that, but he has continued the fight for weeks on end. Every time the protest dies down a little bit, he fires of a tweet to get it riled back up again.

Kaep not getting signed was foreseeable. The NFL should have done more in advanced to try and encourage someone to pick up Kaep, maybe they did, I don't know. POTUS turning this into a firestorm was unforseeable in my opinion. Can you imagine any past president, no matter what the party, doing this? I can't.

There is strong leadership needed on this, but not from the NFL. There is one man who could end the anthem protests in a quick, efficient, and painless manner. Trump. If he stopped tweeting on this matter, I would bet that all but maybe Lynch and Bennett would stop protesting within the month.

The data I have shows that is not correct.  It wasn't dying out, impacts were still going on in ratings viewership prior to the President saying a word.  Did he throw fuel on the fire?  He absolutely did, but to suggest it was dying out when #boycottNFL was in full swing last year and the first few weeks this year.  Let's not forget the President didn't make his comments until the Friday before week 3, and he made them why?  Because players were continuing to take a knee.  If they had stopped, he doesn't make the comments.  They got his attention and he made a comment, one that many viewers were already upset about.  Let's not pretend this was dying out, because the ratings (actual data) show that wasn't the case.

[jesmu84]

I'm a big Zach Miller fan. Suffered a horrific looking injury today while attempting to complete a 1 handed TD catch. (Terrible review). May have been the worst overturn since Megatron. Feel awful for Miller. He was also a security blanket for Trubisky

[DegenerateDish]

I mean if that catch by Miller isn't a TD...I give up. The NFL product just flat out sucks.

[brewcity77]

I mean if that catch by Miller isn't a TD...I give up. The NFL product just flat out sucks.

I happened to walk in as that happened. Ball was never shown hitting the ground at any angle given. Guess the NFL has changed since I regularly watched it.

[DegenerateDish]

I happened to walk in as that happened. Ball was never shown hitting the ground at any angle given. Guess the NFL has changed since I regularly watched it.

It's funny because I left the room to go grab a snack, came back in and saw 14-6 on the screen, and was legit shocked. It never even occurred to me there was a remote possibility of a review. Dean Blandino couldn't even come up with a reason why it wasn't a TD.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

The data I have shows that is not correct.  It wasn't dying out, impacts were still going on in ratings viewership prior to the President saying a word.  Did he throw fuel on the fire?  He absolutely did, but to suggest it was dying out when #boycottNFL was in full swing last year and the first few weeks this year.  Let's not forget the President didn't make his comments until the Friday before week 3, and he made them why?  Because players were continuing to take a knee.  If they had stopped, he doesn't make the comments.  They got his attention and he made a comment, one that many viewers were already upset about.  Let's not pretend this was dying out, because the ratings (actual data) show that wasn't the case.

The actual data i was using was the amount of players protesting. It was steadily going down until POTUS got involved.  After the initial mass response to POTUS the numbers went down every week until POTUS and McNair stirred it up again.

No one is denying that protests have had an impact,  but no one knows how big of an impact. There are hundreds of reasons why people might not be watching football as much this season. This is death by a thousand cuts. This is just the cut that people pay the most attention to.