Showing posts with label NFL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NFL. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Audio: And now a word from Mike Ditka about this Redskins “horsesh*t”

Audio:AndnowawordfromMikeDitka

Audio: And now a word from Mike Ditka about this Redskins “horsesh*t”

posted at 6:01 pm on August 20, 2014 by Allahpundit

I can’t say this counts as news-y — the guy’s a self-described “ultra-ultra-ultra-conservative” and Palin fan so go figure that he’s impatient with political correctness — but it sure is red-meat-y and palate cleanse-y. After listening to it, I’m almost inclined to forgive him for refusing to blow up Obama’s political career on the launchpad in 2004 by running for Senate in Illinois, an idea Ditka toyed with but ultimately declined to pursue. “Biggest mistake I’ve ever made,” he later said. And now here we are 10 years later, with the leader of the free world watching the world melt down from the 18th green. So, so weird. It’s like time-traveling into the future and finding out that Skynet and its army of Terminators could have been prevented if only Tony Siragusa had run for Congress.

Anyway, he’s fighting a losing battle here:

“The league respectfully honored my request not to officiate Washington,” [Mike] Carey said. “It happened sometime after I refereed their playoff game in 2006, I think.”

For almost all of the final eight seasons and 146 games of Carey’s career, the first African American referee to work a Super Bowl — the official named with Ed Hochuli as the best in the game in a 2008 ESPN poll of coaches — essentially told his employers his desire for a mutually respectful society was so jeopardized by Washington’s team name that he could not bring himself to officiate the games of owner Daniel Snyder’s team.

“It just became clear to me that to be in the middle of the field, where something disrespectful is happening, was probably not the best thing for me,” Carey said.

Carey was quietly, and now not so quietly, protesting the Redskins name for the past eight years unbeknownst to the wider public. He shares an employer now in CBS Sports with Phil Simms, who’s also considering dropping “Redskins” from his vocabulary when he covers one of the team’s games a few weeks ago. For all the sturm und drang in the media, especially lefty media, over the “Redskins” name the past 18 months or so, the NFL’s been highly effective at keeping a lid on it among league personnel and their adjuncts, the broadcast teams. Once that starts changing, though, the elephant will be fully inside the room and then the league, and Dan Snyder, will face more pressure to make it go away. We’ll see what Simms does. Quite frankly, after calling them the “Redskins” absentmindedly for decades, I doubt I could police myself well enough during a running commentary to refer to them exclusively as “Washington.”


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Wednesday, August 13, 2014

New Redskins ad: Some Native Americans like our name, you know

NewRedskinsad:SomeNativeAmericanslikeour

New Redskins ad: Some Native Americans like our name, you know

posted at 8:41 pm on August 13, 2014 by Allahpundit

A palate cleanser via Time, which notes that the “Redskins Facts” site is behind this and that the team itself is apparently behind “Redskins Facts.” (The anti-Redskins ad that inspired this rebuttal is also embedded below for context.) This is really just a taste of what they’ve got cooking; go to their YouTube account and you’ll find interviews with individual Native Americans defending the name. It’s an understandable counterattack — if your critics claim you’re victimizing a group, the natural response is to find members of the group who don’t feel victimized — but realistically we’re past the point of argument on this subject. It’s already reached litmus-test status. If you’re a Democrat, social justice demands that the name be changed lickety split; if you’re a Republican, the line must be held against political correctness. (Dan Snyder, for one, is obviously not giving in.) If you’re an average low-information voter, you probably don’t mind the name but don’t care much either way and will eventually be badgered into grudgingly accepting the bien-pensant position just to make this farking issue go away already.

Until then, though, its chief value is as a quick fix for self-congratulation. I’ll leave you with this, from Lakers owner Jeanie Buss, which must be the nadir — so far:


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Thursday, August 7, 2014

University of Minnesota attempts to ban mention of Redskins for Nov 2nd game

UniversityofMinnesotaattemptstobanmentionof

University of Minnesota attempts to ban mention of Redskins for Nov 2nd game

posted at 3:21 pm on August 7, 2014 by Ed Morrissey

Why does this matter? Thanks to the Minnesota legislature, the state is currently building the Minnesota Vikings a new football stadium in Minneapolis, so the Vikes have to play their home games at the University of Minnesota’s nearby football stadium. That means that the NFL is a guest at the Golden Gophers’ home field, and UMinn wants their guests to play by their rules:

The University of Minnesota is working with the Minnesota Vikings in an effort to keep the Washington Redskins’ name from being used in “promotional and game date materials” during the NFL teams’ Nov. 2 game at the school’s stadium in Minneapolis, according to an Aug. 1 letter from university President Eric W. Kaler to U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.).

It is unclear to what degree the Vikings are collaborating in this process.

Kaler was responding to a June letter from McCollum to Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wilf — to which the university president was copied — urging the owner to condemn the Redskins’ team name. McCollum argued that Wilf needed to take a stand against “that hateful slur” because all of the NFL teams split the sales of their licensed merchandise equally.

McCollum’s letter came after the Patent and Trademark Office ruling that essentially put the Redskins name in the public domain. According to the Post (also carried by the Star Tribune in today’s edition), McCollum warned Kaler that mentioning the Redskins name would violate UMinn policies:

McCollum alleged that the Redskins’ presence at the university’s stadium would violate the institution’s Board of Regents’ policy on affirmative action, diversity and equal opportunity. She also noted that the stadium was built with funding from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux.

It was unclear whether the university decided to take its own actions based on McCollum’s encouragement. The university is hosting all of the Vikings’ home games while the NFL team awaits the construction of its new stadium. The Associated Press has reported that the Vikings will pay the university $250,000 for every game.

That may be a problem for the university. Does the contract with the Vikings and/or the NFL specify how the teams have to be identified? If so, then UMinn won’t have much wiggle room — and it’s a little difficult to believe that the league doesn’t have that kind of language in its contracts. If UMinn signed a contract containing language that addresses that issue, then they have no choice but to comply.

The response from Kaler seems to suggest that’s the case, too, by informing McCallum that they’re working with Wilf and his team on the controversy. That implies that they’re looking for the Vikings to give them some leeway to impose the ban. Will they? The Twin Cities environment is definitely progressive/academic, and now that the issue has been raised, the Vikings have to know that they’ll get a lot of flack over their visiting team in the week leading up to the game.

NBC’s Mike Florio thinks that the team may be taking this request seriously — and demonstrates the discomfort other owners might be feeling over the controversy:

Vikings executive V.P. of public affairs Lester Bagley said that the team is still deciding how it will handle the university’s request that the Vikings avoid using the name, and that a meeting on the issue occurred in late July.

“We take the issue very seriously, but we’re just getting ready for our season and we’ve been very focused on training camp and the preseason, and to be honest, we don’t have a game plan for our Nov. 2 game versus Washington,” Bagley told thePost.

The fact that Bagley said anything other than “Why in the hell wouldn’t we mention the name of the team we’re playing?” shows that, despite whatever support Snyder may be getting privately, other owners aren’t willing to publicly co-sign the team’s position that anyone who has a concern about the name is wrong, unreasonable, and/or trolling for clicks.

I’m agnostic on the whole naming controversy; both sides have good arguments. It’s up to the owner of the team and the league to decide how much cost they want to incur over the name, and to consumers whether they want to participate or protest the status quo. This is, however, another reason why public funds should not be used to build sports arenas for privately-owned pro sports teams that rake in billions on their own. If Wilf built his own stadium, the issue would never have been more than academic, but now he’s at least potentially at the mercy of Academia. I wonder what else UMinn might demand from the team in the future to host games on their campus …


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Sunday, August 3, 2014

Are you ready for some REAL football, finally? Hall of Fame game edition.

AreyoureadyforsomeREALfootball,finally?

Are you ready for some REAL football, finally? Hall of Fame game edition.

posted at 6:31 pm on August 3, 2014 by Jazz Shaw

After a long, difficult drought, less than two hours after this post is published the 2014 NFL season will finally be underway. And you know what that means. Ed and I will be back with our weekly open threads filled with prescient predictions and Ed’s charmingly optimistic hopes for the Steelers, balanced out by my well reasoned explanations of why the New York Jets will win the Superbowl this year. (You are, of course, invited to venture your own misguided opinions of why your teams will pull off a miracle and stop us.)

I think this has been a particularly tedious and endless seeming off season, primarily because the World Cup swallowed up so much of the sports news and frequently had my Twitter timeline filled with a flood of people who wanted to briefly pretend that Americans were suddenly interested in soccer. Thankfully that temporary insanity has passed and we can return to normal American affairs. And we can remind everyone else that soccer is not football. What we shall see tonight is football. Soccer is an excellent after school, aerobic activity to keep your kids in good physical shape.

Tonight, the Hall of Fame game will be broadcast on NBC with the festivities kicking off at 8 PM eastern time. The Buffalo Bills face the New York Giants and it will take place at Fawcett Stadium in Canton, Ohio. Even though their own coaches don’t seem very interested in the final score, fans of the two teams should still be interested in seeing how the veterans have fared in the off season and how well the rookies are coming together. Both coaches are anticipating only having their starting lineups in for a drive or two, and then giving the rest of the hopefuls a chance to prove their worth against somebody besides the practice squad, under the bright lights and in front of a live crowd.

Since no Hot Air NFL thread would be complete without it (and given that both teams are from my home state), I’ll provide you with a bit of prognostication. I can’t afford to have the Bills do well in the regular season, since they’re in the same division as the Jets, so tonight I’ll toss them a bone. Sammy Watkins will run up a bunch of yards in his debut, helping to lead Buffalo to an otherwise error filled victory, 24 – 13. Enjoy it while you can, Bills.


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Thursday, July 24, 2014

NFL suspends Ray Rice for two games in domestic-assault case

NFLsuspendsRayRicefortwogamesin

NFL suspends Ray Rice for two games in domestic-assault case

posted at 4:01 pm on July 24, 2014 by Ed Morrissey

The topic of disciplinary priorities in the NFL came up two months ago, when the league imposed an indefinite suspension and re-education requirements on Miami Dolphins DB Don Jones for a tweet about Michael Sam during the draft. In a column I wrote for The Week, I compared the NFL’s treatment of Jones to the lack of response in regard to Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, who had assaulted his wife in an elevator and rendered her unconscious. The league responded to similar criticism at the time that it was waiting for the legal system to run its course on the crime before disciplining Rice.

After a plea deal that will allow Rice to clear his criminal record, the NFL finally took action … with a two-game suspension:

The NFL is suspending Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice two games under the personal conduct policy for an altercation that left his then-fiancee (now wife) unconscious in an Atlantic City casino elevator, a person with knowledge of the suspension told USA TODAY Sports on Thursday. …

“As you acknowledged during our meeting, your conduct was unquestionably inconsistent with league polices and the standard of behavior required of everyone who is part of the NFL,” Goodell wrote in a letter to Rice after the NFL confirmed the suspension Thursday afternoon. “The league is an entity that depends on integrity and in the confidence of the public and we simply cannot tolerate conduct that endangers others or reflects negatively on our game. This is particularly true with respect to domestic violence and other forms of violence against women.

“You will be expected to continue to take advantage of the counseling and other professional services you identified during our meeting. As you noted, this additional assistance has been of significant benefit to you and your wife, and it should remain a part of your practice as appropriate.

“I believe that you are sincere in your desire to learn from this matter and move forward toward a healthy relationship and successful career. I am now focused on your actions and expect you to demonstrate by those actions that you are prepared to fulfill those expectations.”

As Cam Edwards pointed out on Twitter, then-Giants receiver Plaxico Burress got a four-game suspension for illegally carrying a firearm, and that was prior to Burress’ trial — and the only one Burress hurt was himself:

Contrast that again with the crime and punishment in Don Jones’ case. When openly-gay prospect Michael Sam got drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the seventh round, Jones classlessly tweeted out “OMG” and “horrible.” For that, Jones got the aforementioned indefinite suspension, which threatened to stretch into perpetuity unless Jones recanted and submitted to behavioral modification.  Jones got reinstated eight days later, but only after completing his “sensitivity training” (“educational training,” according to the Miami Dolphins) and paying an undisclosed fine, lest he assault anyone’s sensitivities with obnoxious tweets in the future.

The comparison between the three cases here — Jones, Rice, and Burress — shows a complete lack of perspective and proportionality in the NFL’s head offices. Jones didn’t break any laws, and yet at least theoretically faced the end of his career had he not backed down and submitted to counseling before any reinstatement. Burress broke the law but hadn’t been tried yet (and only hurt himself), and yet drew a four-game suspension before the case went to court, and even before he’d been indicted. Rice assaulted his wife to the point of unconsciousness, and yet only drew a fixed two-game suspension, with no requirement to complete his therapy as a prerequisite for his return.

It’s an absurd outcome. The NFL seems more concerned about mean tweets than domestic assault, and has only situational respect for due process. Either the NFL should entirely ignore what happens off the field when it comes to disciplinary matters, or get a much better grip on its priorities.


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Friday, May 23, 2014

McCain: I probably would have signed that Democratic letter asking the NFL to change the Redskins’ name

McCain:IprobablywouldhavesignedthatDemocratic

McCain: I probably would have signed that Democratic letter asking the NFL to change the Redskins’ name

posted at 4:01 pm on May 23, 2014 by Allahpundit

Of course he would. Among the public, this is a non-issue: Despite endless lefty blather about the name over the past year, including from The One himself, 79 percent side with the ‘Skins. (That’s especially dangerous to pols elected by the Redskins’ core fan base, which is why Virginia senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner refused to sign the letter.) Among the political class, though, it’s a proxy for ideology, an easy check-the-box way to polish your particular brand. That’s how this issue was able to accelerate from slow-news-day fodder on Slate last August to a cause celebre among fully half of the United States Senate. I’d be surprised if there are even five people in the chamber who’ve given this issue more than two minutes of thought, but when an opportunity to buy political piety this cheaply arises, anyone in the market for it is going to lunge. And Maverick’s always in the market.

Why didn’t Democrats ask him to sign, then?

On Thursday, Republicans dismissed the May 21 letter — signed by 49 Senate Democrats and sent to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell (Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida sent his own letter) — as a pointless exercise unlikely to change anything. GOP lawmakers said that they were never approached by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) or Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), the former chairwoman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee who circulated the letter…

One Republican — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), whose state has a significant portion of Native Americans — said he “probably” would have added his signature to the letter if he had been asked. That would have elevated the stature of the Democrats’ initiative by making it both bipartisan and endorsed by the GOP’s 2008 presidential nominee. McCain has joined Democrats on some social issues recently, advocating to end workplace discrimination based on sexuality and urging his governor to veto a bill that would have allowed businesses to deny service to gay customers.

“They didn’t ask,” McCain said, confirming he still opposed the “Redskins” moniker for the team. “It’s offensive to our Native Americans.”

Yeah, McCain would have been a solid “get” for Dems here. And I bet he’s not the only Republican who would have signed. Where Maverick goes, Lindsey Graham usually follows, and then you have the usual centrist Collins/Murkowski/Kirk coalition. Being able to say that a clear majority of the Senate was opposed to the Redskins name would have been a nice talking point for Democrats, “proof” that this issue was catching on among GOPers as well. Instead, they didn’t even approach McCain. Why? Because this is about moral posturing, not about actually pressuring the ‘Skins or the NFL to do something. And if you’re going to posture, why would you invite Republicans to join you? You plant the Democratic flag on the position that “Redskins” is abhorrent to all right-thinking people and salute. When they eventually send a letter to the Koch brothers asking them politely to commit suicide for the good of America, Republicans won’t be asked to sign that one either. This is about Democratic branding, nothing more.

Here’s Maria Cantwell making an impassioned plea to the chamber to give this shiny object the brief news-cycle attention it deserves. You’re next, Chief Wahoo. Exit quotation: ““The intent of the team’s name has always been to present a strong, positive and respectful image,’ the league said in a statement. ‘The name is not used by the team or the NFL in any other context, though we respect those that view it differently.’”


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Thursday, May 15, 2014

Coming soon: The Michael Sam reality show

Comingsoon:TheMichaelSamrealityshow

Coming soon: The Michael Sam reality show

posted at 6:41 pm on May 15, 2014 by Allahpundit

When he came out, he told the NYT, “I know this is a huge deal and I know how important this is. But my role as of right now is to train for the combine and play in the N.F.L.”

And, he forgot to mention, become a reality-show star for Oprah.

“We are honored that Michael is trusting us with his private journey in this moment that has not only made history but will shape it forever,” Winfrey said in a statement. “I am proud of the focus on authentic storytelling in our new documentary series format. The next real-life story we follow in The Untitled Michael Sam Project promises to spark valuable, important discussion on life in America today. Acceptance and illumination start here.”

Sam added: “Like every player out there working to make a team right now, my focus is on playing football to the very best of my ability. I am determined. And if seeing my story helps somebody else accept who they are and to go for their dreams too, that’s great. I am thankful to Oprah for her support and excited to work together.”

Baffling, although you can anticipate his defenses before you criticize him. One of them’s right there in the excerpt — he’s doing this, he says, as an inspiration to others, more of a PSA to empower gays than a means of self-promotion. Why kicking ass on the field and doing the occasional interview isn’t sufficient inspiration is unclear, but no one’s going to win a “you’re overdoing it” argument with a guy who’s doing something in pro sports that no one’s done before. Self-promotion will be treated as promotion for the cause of gay rights, with no exceptions.

Another obvious defense: Plenty of straight pro athletes participate in reality shows, so why hold Sam to a double standard? He can’t let viewers play voyeur but Lamar Odom can spend years orbiting the Kardashian freak show on camera without much static? The answer to that one, of course, is that normalization is a priority for Sam in a way that it isn’t for any other pro athlete. Part of the reason he came out, presumably, was to show that gays are just like everyone else, even when “everyone else” is composed of world-class athletes in America’s most macho sport. I expected him to keep a low profile in the league at first and take a strict “judge me for what I do on the field” attitude to make that point clear — but then, it’s stupid for anyone to set expectations for a guy who’s defied them already in such a dramatic way. What you’re seeing here really is tension between two different strategies for majority acceptance of minorities, the “we’re just like you” approach versus the “we’re different and you should respect that” approach. Historically, the former usually comes first and evolves over time towards the latter, but the reality show makes me think that Sam’s already moving towards the second one. It may not work out that way — the show may end up being all about how similar his off-field life is to the average straight fan’s, which would be more like the first approach — but it’ll be hard to escape that conclusion given that the reason he has a show before playing so much as a down in the NFL is because he’s different.

But maybe I’m misjudging. Maybe, after 10 years of Americans liberalizing on gay marriage, most of the country has already internalized the “we’re just like you” message from gays and therefore Sam can proceed directly to “I’m different and that’s okay.” And hey — as a seventh-round pick who’s unlikely to see much playing time, it’s probably in his interest to build his public profile around his celebrity rather than his on-field activity. Sam the player is unlikely to be remembered but Sam the trailblazer is safely famous forever.


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Tuesday, May 13, 2014

NFL has a proportion and consistency problem

NFLhasaproportionandconsistencyproblem

NFL has a proportion and consistency problem

posted at 10:41 am on May 13, 2014 by Ed Morrissey

Both Jazz and Allahpundit have already weighed in on the Michael Sam draft choice and what it means for the NFL, but I took a different look at it for my column at The Week today. The Miami Dolphins hit defensive back Don Jones with a fine and an indefinite suspension for tweeting his reaction to the seventh-round selection of Sam by the Rams, or more likely, the televised kiss from Sam’s boyfriend as they celebrated the selection. The Dolphins and the NFL have had some embarrassing episodes of late about bullying in the locker room, and whether Jones likes it or not, he’s a public figure whose communications reflects on his team and the league.

So a fine seems reasonable, and a lengthy session of butt-chewing does too. But the indefinite suspension is wildly disproportionate to the offense — and a very sharp contrast to what the league hasn’t punished similarly:

Defensive players usually have to commit multiple helmet-to-helmet attacks on defenseless opponents to even get a time-limited suspension from the league, and those plays can end careers and leave life-long damage. Meanwhile, trash talking during the game has practically become de rigueur for the NFL. [T]aunting celebrations from the School For Talentless Mimes now follow even the most routine tackles. Players spit at each other, and as my friend Jazz Shaw pointed out, a few players in the league mocked Tim Tebow for his Christianity with fake prayer-kneeling on the field.

In other words, the players in this league spend more time taunting each other than in actually playing the game. Yet the Dolphins and presumably the NFL see fit to send Jones to the re-education gulag over an ill-considered tweet far off the field, one that was not even explicitly directed at Sam.

Fox Sports’ Clay Travis noted that the league is strangely inconsistent when it comes to off-field behavior, too. In February of this year, Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice was charged with beating his fiancée into unconsciousness in an Atlantic City casino. A grand jury handed down an indictment for third-degree aggravated assault, perhaps convinced by video footage of Rice dragging her out of an elevator, with no one else in sight. Rice has since asked for a pretrial “intervention” to avoid a conviction and a potential three-year sentence, expressing through his attorney that “he’s ashamed of his conduct and he’s sorry for what he did.”

And yet, as Travis notes, the Ravens and the NFL have yet to do anything to Rice — even though the league has spent the last few years marketing heavily to increase its audience among women. “You get in more trouble for a Tweet about men kissing on a sports television show,” Travis writes, “than you do for allegedly knocking out your girlfriend and being charged with domestic assault? The message is clear: Words matter more than actions.”

It’s impossible to take Jones’ punishment seriously in this context. The Dolphins and the league wanted to avoid embarrassment during the draft, and made Jones an example as a signal to the rest of the league. That makes sense, and it’s important to understand that Jones isn’t owed a spot on the roster any more than Michael Sam is. But the indefinite suspension over a tweet given the behavior that this league either ignores or actively encourages is absurd, as is the Mao-esque demand for a re-education camp as a prerequisite for keeping his job. That doesn’t help Sam, and it should prove much more embarrassing to the NFL than any one-word tweet by a young man without a sense of discretion could generate.

Your thoughts, as always, are welcome in the comments.

Update: Here’s a market signal on the draft selection, via Allahpundit:

Michael Sam might have been the 249th player chosen in last week’s NFL draft, but his St. Louis Rams jersey is No. 2 in sales among rookie shirts being sold on NFL.com.

The St. Louis Rams picked the Missouri product in the seventh round of the draft Saturday, making Sam the first openly gay player to be drafted in the NFL. The jersey of Johnny Manziel, drafted in the first round by the Cleveland Browns, is the top seller. In fact, his jersey has outsold all NFL veterans since April 1. From Thursday to Saturday, the days of the draft, almost as many Manziel jerseys were sold as Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III and Tim Tebow jerseys combined on their draft years.


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Monday, May 12, 2014

Dolphins player fined, sent for educational training after tweet about Michael Sam

Dolphinsplayerfined,sentforeducationaltrainingafter

Dolphins player fined, sent for educational training after tweet about Michael Sam

posted at 11:21 am on May 12, 2014 by Allahpundit

I wonder if any other front office in the league would have cracked down this swiftly. Miami sweated through an endless PR forest fire last year over bullying and “locker-room culture” with the Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin mess. They probably decided early vis-a-vis Sam that they weren’t going to tolerate the smallest spark.

And this spark was small. Don Jones’s crime was two tweets, each exactly one word long, after Sam was chosen by St. Louis in the seventh round: “OMG” and “Horrible.” Maybe that was about the pick itself, maybe it was about Sam kissing his boyfriend on TV after he got the call. Either way, after rapidly being fined, barred from team activities until he attends “educational training,” and publicly scolded in separate statements by his coach and GM, Jones issued a formal apology crafted in fluent publicist-ese:

“I want to apologize to Michael Sam for the inappropriate comments that I made last night on social media. I take full responsibility for them and I regret that these tweets took away from his draft moment. I remember last year when I was drafted in the seventh round and all of the emotions and happiness I felt when I received the call that gave me an opportunity to play for an NFL team and I wish him all the best in his NFL career. I sincerely apologize to Mr. Ross, my teammates, coaches, staff and fans for these tweets. I am committed to represent the values of the Miami Dolphins organization and appreciate the opportunity I have been given to do so going forward.”

No doubt the NFL leaned on the Dolphins to hit Jones hard in the interest of sending a zero-tolerance message to the broader league, but like I said up top, I’m sure they didn’t have to lean heavily. People were grumbling on Twitter yesterday that even the slightest criticism of Sam for being gay is now verboten whereas it was A-OK to mock Tim Tebow for his faith, even on the field during the game. Right, but that’s simple economics. Gay-rights activists are organized and willing to use their economic power to punish the NFL if it doesn’t protect one of their own; social conservatives really aren’t beyond statements of disapproval from the Family Research Council etc. Mozilla made the same, perfectly rational judgment in choosing to, ahem, accept Brendan Eich’s “resignation.” Keeping Eich on could have triggered boycotts, caused business deals to collapse, and given the company a lingering black eye in its industry. Firing him wouldn’t. There was, I’m sure, an initial backlash of thousands of social conservatives uninstalling the browser, but after a few weeks the company’s survived the storm and has clear sailing ahead. That wouldn’t have been the case if they’d kept Eich. The NFL understands that.

Tough spot now for the Rams, as Jazz noted yesterday. Do they dare cut Sam if he doesn’t play well in training camp, as often happens to seventh-round picks? Sam claimed this weekend that he should have been taken in the first three rounds (notwithstanding his underwhelming performance during the combine); he didn’t say explicitly that he thought teams had bypassed him because he’s gay, but then Don Jones didn’t explicitly mention Sam’s orientation when tweeting “Horrible” and everyone seems to have read behind the lines on that one just fine. If the Rams end up cutting him, how much grief will they get — including from Sam himself, maybe — for not giving him a chance?


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Sunday, May 11, 2014

Michael Sam, a potential albatross around the neck of the Rams

MichaelSam,apotentialalbatrossaroundtheneck

Michael Sam, a potential albatross around the neck of the Rams

posted at 12:31 pm on May 11, 2014 by Jazz Shaw

You can say one thing for Missouri defensive end Michael Sam… he probably drove up the ratings for the NFL draft on ESPN well beyond the normal collection of football freaks and geeks (read: “me”) who usually sit and watch it. And in the end – pretty much at the very end – he was selected in the 7th round by the Rams. By this point you’ve probably seen all the headlines and endlessly running clips on cable news, most of which had nothing to do with his gridiron prowess or prospects and everything to do with the fact that he kissed his boyfriend on live television.

That’s just super. I’m sure we’re all very happy for both of you. Now, if you don’t mind getting down to the prickly questions which should actually matter… what happens next, both for Sam and for his new team in St. Louis?

In all the excitement about (cue the band) the first openly gay player in the NFL it remains to be seen not only whether Michael Sam will prove to be a star in the NFL, but if he’ll even play at all. The answer to that question has nothing to do with the gender of who he’s kissing and everything to do with history. The fact is that no matter how much the media or the fans or the LGBT community or whoever are in love with you, the Rams are a business. And their business is winning games. You don’t get a pass for being unique unless that uniqueness comes in the form of destroying opposing quarterbacks, runners and receivers.

Going in the 7th round does not portend well, even before the cameras are shut off from the last interview. Sam was a very good player at Missouri. He may have been great. But that makes you a great college player. Each year there are roughly 9,000 college football players in contention. Of those, a grand total of just over 300 get invited to the combine to be evaluated by NFL scouts. Those who do well enough there may indeed be picked up during the draft. But as I noted above, Sam went in the 7th round. From 2010 to 2012, 78% of 1st round picks went on to a starting or durable position with an NFL team. For those in the second round, the number dropped to just over half. Of those drafted in the 7th round just 8% could make the same claim.

The individual stats coming out of the combine don’t look like a sure fire ticket to the top either. Bleacher Report provided a detailed analysis of Sam’s combine performance before the draft even began, and while he’s still head and shoulders above 99% of all college players, they were not impressed at how he stacked up against the most likely 1st and 2nd round draft prospects. His time in the 40 was slower than some of the linebackers (a position which he’s seen as a bit too small for), say nothing of the defensive ends. He struggled with reps on the weight bench. Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk summed it up this way on Twitter:

So why is this a potential problem for the Rams and not just Sam?

Look… it’s still possible that Sam will shock the world and shine like a supernova when he’s tossed into battle against the cream of the NFL crop. And I wish him the best, along with all the other young athletes dreaming the big dream of gridiron glory. But looking at the stats above, it’s not hard to imagine that if this guy were any other regular player coming out of the college ranks, nobody would exactly faint from shock if he wound up without a team on opening day this fall. Like many, many other young hopefuls, the chance is not only real but fairly high that he might not make the cut and the Rams will have to turn him loose to free agency, where his prospects may not look much better. But now he’s captured media lightning in a bottle. If he is cut, will the immediate howls begin across the small screen Left side blogs, claiming that the Rams’ ownership must all be hateful homophobes? Will boycotts be organized? Will this be held up from the highest ramparts as yet another example of the heteronormative patriarchy keeping the gay man down?

Or will people understand that the Rams are there to try to win another Superbowl and they can’t afford even one weak link in the chain? I spend far too much time watching the news to be hopeful about the answer to that question.


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Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Video: Philadelphia Eagles sign a real warrior

Video:PhiladelphiaEaglessignarealwarrior

Video: Philadelphia Eagles sign a real warrior

posted at 5:21 pm on May 7, 2014 by Ed Morrissey

Everyone who has read Hot Air during football season knows that I’m a die-hard Pittsburgh Steeler fan, but I may find myself rooting for their cross-state rivals on occasion. Philadelphia Eagles fans may be best known for booing Santa, but they have a chance to cheer for a rookie who may end up teaching the veterans what it means to be a real warrior. Former West Point standout Alejandro Villanueva returned from his third tour of duty in Afghanistan to sign with the Eagles as a defensive lineman, and might even end up doing some work at tight end if he makes the team:

The Philadelphia Eagles have signed Alejandro Villanueva, a 6-foot-9 defensive lineman who spent the past four years as an active member of the United States Army and most recently served as a U.S. Army Ranger.

The Eagles announced the move Monday, saying in a news release that Villanueva signed a rookie free-agent contract.

The 277-pound Villanueva served three tours in Afghanistan. He was recently promoted to captain.

The New York Daily News also notes that the usual “warrior” analogies will sound sillier than usual if/when Villanueva takes the field:

Comparing football games to wars and battles — already an absurd analogy — will seem even sillier in Philadelphia this season. …

“As soon as I graduated, especially with all my classmates at West Point who were all going to serve, my mind and my heart were going to Afghanistan,” Villanueva told NFL.com. “That’s where I wanted to be. I wanted to serve, I wanted to see combat. I was actually trying to get as many deployments as I could, and see it with different units. That’s where my mind and my heart was.”

The Eagles zeroed in on the 25-year-old when seeing him at a super regional combine in Detroit in March. Now a defensive end, Villanueva also played on the offensive line and at wide receiver with Army, leading the Black Knights in catches (34), yards (522) and touchdowns (5) as a senior.

He’s going in as a defensive end, but with the hands displayed in his senior year, one would have to imagine that the Eagles might want to put him on the offense, at least occasionally. At 6-9, he’d make a big target and would be almost impossible to defend. He’ll be fun to watch on either side of the line, though, and will cut an inspirational figure on the field — as well as provide some needed perspective to the game. Let’s hope he makes the cut for 2014, and kudos to the Eagles for giving Villanueva his opportunity.


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