2011 NFL Offseason

[davell]

The players don't want a lockout. If they get the judge to declare the lockout isn't valid, then everything goes on as normal and this gets hashed out in courts, from what I can tell.

[NCCubFan]

This is a poor strategy by the NFLPA and the players, IMO. The vast majority of the players don't have nearly enough money to outlast the owners. For most of the owners, football isn't their primary business or money-maker. Those guys have gobs of liquidity that the players simply do not have. If the owners want to (and I don't know that they do) they can carry the players several rounds in federal court via the anti-trust suit.

 

Keep in mind also that the TV deals the NFL signed will be paid out even if there is no football this year. So while the players are sitting at home gaining little to no income, the owners are still drawing in plenty of revenue.

 

I don't see how the players can win a standoff with the owners.

 

I thought the TV revenue deal for '11 was struck down by a judge recently.

Yes; Judge Doty struck it down a couple weeks ago.

[Pushfrog98]

Adrian Peterson has likened the current conditions of being an NFL player to that of being a slave. I need to punch my History teacher(s) for telling me that the slaves were forced to work for nothing. I didn't realize they were making 100x the median US salary at that time!

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Adrian Peterson has likened the current conditions of being an NFL player to that of being a slave. I need to punch my History teacher(s) for telling me that the slaves were forced to work for nothing. I didn't realize they were making 100x the median US salary at that time!

 

I must have missed the part in Roots where Kunta Kinte was offered a multi million dollar contract to perform in the industry of his choosing.

[Careless]

Adrian Peterson has likened the current conditions of being an NFL player to that of being a slave. I need to punch my History teacher(s) for telling me that the slaves were forced to work for nothing. I didn't realize they were making 100x the median US salary at that time!

 

I must have missed the part in Roots where Kunta Kinte was offered a multi million dollar contract to perform in the industry of his choosing.

He never even tried to make a counter-offer to "Toby" so he didn't get that far.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Saw this on rotoworld this morning.

 

The NFL's Competition Committee has proposed moving kickoffs back to the 35-yard line as opposed to the 30-yard line.

A touchback would give the receiving team the ball at the 25-yard line instead of the 20. Chairman Rich McKay cited injury concerns and the wedge block for the proposed change that would result in far more touchbacks. If the rule goes into effect, it would put a serious hurt on return-yardage fantasy leagues. It would also directly reverse the 1990s decision to move the kickoff line back and create fewer touchbacks. One other rule change being proposed is to modify the replay system to automatically include all scoring plays.

[Keener98]

Saw this on rotoworld this morning.

 

The NFL's Competition Committee has proposed moving kickoffs back to the 35-yard line as opposed to the 30-yard line.

A touchback would give the receiving team the ball at the 25-yard line instead of the 20. Chairman Rich McKay cited injury concerns and the wedge block for the proposed change that would result in far more touchbacks. If the rule goes into effect, it would put a serious hurt on return-yardage fantasy leagues. It would also directly reverse the 1990s decision to move the kickoff line back and create fewer touchbacks. One other rule change being proposed is to modify the replay system to automatically include all scoring plays.

 

Dumb. More touchbacks? No thanks.

[davell]

All scoring plays to be reviewed? No thanks. Reviews take long enough as it is. Keep it the same as it is right now.

[rawaction]

So, increase the chances of a touchback....but punish the team more for getting a touchback? Makes sense.

[rawaction]

All scoring plays to be reviewed? No thanks. Reviews take long enough as it is. Keep it the same as it is right now.

 

Do it like college. Throw out the challenges. Review the plays that are worth reviewing. Review them from a remote location and pass the ruling down to the guys on the field. It's not that hard.

[Flames24Rulz]

All scoring plays to be reviewed? No thanks. Reviews take long enough as it is. Keep it the same as it is right now.

 

Change the NFL replay system to the college replay system and call it a day.

[davell]

Yeah, didn't think about that. You guys are dead on.

[Banedon]

All scoring plays to be reviewed? No thanks. Reviews take long enough as it is. Keep it the same as it is right now.

 

Well, kinda...but it'd be like the last 2 minutes, when coaches can't challenge. If the replay official thinks it requires review, he'd buzz the ref. So replays would only be in effect on those scoring plays that were debatable.

[Banedon]

So, increase the chances of a touchback....but punish the team more for getting a touchback? Makes sense.

 

The motivation is avoiding injury. They think that somehow this will reduce injury. I'm not quite sure how, but that's the justification.

[erik316wttn]

All scoring plays to be reviewed? No thanks. Reviews take long enough as it is. Keep it the same as it is right now.

 

Do it like college. Throw out the challenges. Review the plays that are worth reviewing. Review them from a remote location and pass the ruling down to the guys on the field. It's not that hard.

 

This. I await the day where a coach is out of challenges and an important game is turned on an incorrect call that he can't review.

[minnesotacubsfan]

yea, thats never happened

[Soul]

I propose a 5 year moratorium on rule changes, save those that may help the head injury situation.

 

These aren't needed rule changes. They're senseless tweaks. Stop tinkering.

 

If they want to improve the game, come up with creative ideas to improve the long term health of players without negatively impacting the entertainment value of the sport. Not silly tinkerings like changing the kickoff yard line or reviewing all scoring plays.

[Rex Buckingham]

the only reasoning i can come up with for the kickoff thing is that with the guys getting up a full head of steam like they do and crashing into one another, the big collisions seem more violent than others

[Tracer Bullet]

So, increase the chances of a touchback....but punish the team more for getting a touchback? Makes sense.

 

The motivation is avoiding injury. They think that somehow this will reduce injury. I'm not quite sure how, but that's the justification.

 

b/c a receiving team is less likely to bring a ball out of the end zone if they get it at the 25 on a touch back? seems like you could figure out what the average return yardage is on kicks in or near the end zone and give the receiving team that yardage on a touch back. Fewer kick returns means fewer violent collisions. I assume that's the thinking.

[Andy]

I'm all for the NFL changing to the college replay system, except that I don't want some shrouded-in-mystery "replay official" making the judgments. Keep it so the refs review video replays.

[SouthSideRyan]

So, increase the chances of a touchback....but punish the team more for getting a touchback? Makes sense.

 

The motivation is avoiding injury. They think that somehow this will reduce injury. I'm not quite sure how, but that's the justification.

 

b/c a receiving team is less likely to bring a ball out of the end zone if they get it at the 25 on a touch back? seems like you could figure out what the average return yardage is on kicks in or near the end zone and give the receiving team that yardage on a touch back. Fewer kick returns means fewer violent collisions. I assume that's the thinking.

 

Isn't it just going to cause more pop ups/squibs around the 10 yard line, leaving the return man even more prone?

[Tracer Bullet]

So, increase the chances of a touchback....but punish the team more for getting a touchback? Makes sense.

 

The motivation is avoiding injury. They think that somehow this will reduce injury. I'm not quite sure how, but that's the justification.

 

b/c a receiving team is less likely to bring a ball out of the end zone if they get it at the 25 on a touch back? seems like you could figure out what the average return yardage is on kicks in or near the end zone and give the receiving team that yardage on a touch back. Fewer kick returns means fewer violent collisions. I assume that's the thinking.

 

Isn't it just going to cause more pop ups/squibs around the 10 yard line, leaving the return man even more prone?

 

I don't know. Quite possibly. I'm just providing my guess at their logic.

[Banedon]

So, increase the chances of a touchback....but punish the team more for getting a touchback? Makes sense.

 

The motivation is avoiding injury. They think that somehow this will reduce injury. I'm not quite sure how, but that's the justification.

 

b/c a receiving team is less likely to bring a ball out of the end zone if they get it at the 25 on a touch back? seems like you could figure out what the average return yardage is on kicks in or near the end zone and give the receiving team that yardage on a touch back. Fewer kick returns means fewer violent collisions. I assume that's the thinking.

 

Yeah, I remember reading that now. It was in the same PFT article that talked about the rule change too...

 

It was a busy day at work yesterday, and my brain wasn't quite firing on all cylinders.

[Guest]

Can't the kicker just take a little something off the kick so that the ball still lands short of the endzone, and now the defense gets an extra 5 yard head start on the kick returner?

 

I would think you would want to avoid an automatic touch back at the 25 yard line if you think you can pin them much deeper with just a bit shorter kick.

[Guest]

What if you moved the line up 10 yards, with touchbacks at the 25, and made the onside kick threshold 5 yards? Gives both teams some separate incentive to avoid kickoff returns, and brings all 22 players closer to cut down on the amount of guys running up the field like runaway trains.