NFL Discussion Thread - Hall of Fame Game: August 3rd

[gmsboy1]

This is exactly why you don't understand this, and why we took shots at your intelligence. No one said mental toughness is a deciding factor in a football game. You inferred that. We simply said it's a factor. No one said NE was losing that game because of mental toughness. You just took a line to run with it and never understood the actual argument. Then you'd misinterpret what we'd say, and spit it back at us. When we tried to further explain to make up for your misinterpretation, you called us flip floppers. That's why you're the troll.

Yeah , not even. I can link the threads man. Ya'll said "it helps a team going forward and into the playoffs" and it's better to have it than not" You dudes just hide behind semantics. Obviously if it helps and is better to have than one can infer it is a deciding factor. By YOUR reasoning it gives a small boost. Now you're saying [no one said all that]. That is flip-flopping. Don't make me out to be a liar and say the problems on my end. You're the troll for that.

 

[651akathepaul]

anyway...agree that the vikes should use the weather and elements to their advantage. it really does help once you get acclimated to it, which happens quicker than you think once you start practicing in it.

Exactly why they will be one of the most dominate teams in football in 2014 and 2015 (playing outdoors at the Gophers house). One of those years they are winning the Super Bowl. I can feel it!

who will be QB'ing the team during that time?


fran tarkenton ain't walking through that door

Hater.

 

[jj watt]

Hater.

I heard Culpepper is still lookin for work

 

[Maximus Meridius]

Just let it go son


Please don't turn this into the NBA thread.

 

[mez 0ne]

Disagree wholeheartedly. People who take the "all that matters is the W" mentality like you seem to be doing are short sighted. How and why teams win games is important because its a good predictor of whether or not that team will be able to carry it through the postseason. All that REALLY matters is that you are the last one standing at the end of the year. Sure you will take wins any way you cam get them but every coach will tell you they'd much rather win 11 games the way the Niners did last year than the way they Colts did.

The fact that they won 11 games by very close margins against an easy schedule means that when trying to figure out how good the team really is, those 11 wins don't hold as much weight as they normally would. Do I give them tons of credit for executing when it mattered and coming through late in games? Sure. And like you said its something to build on for a young team. But that doesn't mean they were as good of a team as most 11 win teams are.

If you win 11 games, odds are you are making the playoffs and that's the goal as a a team.

Once you're in the playoffs, all of those stats and HOW you won those close games doesn't matter anymore because we've seen mediocre defensive teams all of a sudden play above their potential, teams with no run game running the ball a lot more efficiently, etc. Look at the Colts when they won with Peyton, or even the Giants two years ago when they were last in rushing and mediocre defensively.

Obviously 11 wins vs a bad schedule and 11 wins vs a tough schedule is not the same thing, but in the playoffs that doesn't matter. It's a whole new season after that.

I understand people's reasoning it is difficult to gauge how good a team is, but you just want to make the playoffs and step up when it counts. The best team hardly ever wins the title when it's all said and done.

 

[do work son]

Yes, I said it gives a small boost. You took that to mean I said it was THE deciding factor. Yes, I believe playing through adverse situations helps you going forward, but never said it's what decides a game. That was your inference.

 

[elpablo21]

[h1]Former NFL player: Boxing is safer than football[/h1]3 hours ago

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Former NFL lineman Ray Edwards (right) is 4-0 in his professional boxing career. (Minnesotaboxing.com)The colorful characters that occupy boxing's heavyweight division have a wide range of reasons for entering the harsh world of the fight game. Ray Edwards might be the only one to do so because he thought it would reduce his chances of getting injured.

Edwards, who spent seven seasons in the NFL playing defensive tackle with the Minnesota Vikings and Atlanta Falcons, now makes his living squaring off against huge men intent on punching him in the head as frequently as possible.

Yet Edwards is adamant that the brutal and unpredictable nature of pro football makes his new career choice a safer option with a bigger long-term upside than putting himself on the line inside the gridiron.

"It might sound crazy to some people but for sure I believe boxing is a safer sport than football now," Edwards told Yahoo! Sports. "Football is the only sport that is 100-percent injury prone.

"[In football], you don't know what is coming, where you are going to get hit, how you are going to get hit," he continued. "You play for a long time, chances are you are going to tear your MCL or ACL. You can break your leg, snap your femur, break your arm, break your neck."

But what about boxing?

A glance at the battered faces of post-fight combatants tells only part of the story of a sport where inflicting pain and damage with the fists is an intrinsic facet of any contest.

However, while Edwards respects and understands the risks posed by his new profession, from his point of view, those dangers are more acceptable than those NFL stars face every week.

Ray Edwards played seven NFL seasons for the Atlanta Falcons and Minnesota Vikings. (Getty Images)"In boxing you know where the hits are coming from – it is the guy stood in front of you," Edwards said. "In boxing you might break your hand or break your nose and if you get knocked out you can get a concussion. But also, the referee is right there and you are more protected. In football, you never know. The game moves at such a pace that you might never see it coming. You can get hit when you are completely defenseless."

Football's dangers have never been more in the spotlight, and with all factors considered, some doctors are open-minded to the theory that it may be even more dangerous than boxing.

"I would have to agree that boxing is a more controlled environment," Dr. Jeffrey Kutcher, director of the nationally recognized Michigan NeuroSport program at the University of Michigan, told Yahoo! Sports. "It is an individual sport and you see what is in front of you. Medical personnel is right there at ringside and can stop a fight, you have one medical professional who has his eyes on the two fighters at all times.

"In boxing the risk of concussion and head trauma is obviously very high but that is only one area of risk," Kutcher continued. "For sure, the rest of his body is going to prefer boxing to playing football, where the range and severity of the potential injuries is virtually without limit."

[Related: Trends in early fantasy football mock drafts]

Edwards signed a five-year, $27.5 million contract with the Falcons in 2011, but was released in November 2012 after struggling for playing time. He says he's invested wisely enough to be able to live in comfort for the rest of his life and his foray into boxing is motivated by a desire for competition, rather than fiscal incentive.

He has fought four times as a pro – he's 4-0 against the likes of Nick "Turbo Tax" Capes and Cory "Spare Tire" Briggs – and insists he has no plans to return to football even if an NFL team came waving a lucrative contract in his direction.

"There is some faulty thinking there," said Dr. Anthony Alessi, a leading neurological expert who has served as a ringside physician for Connecticut boxing bouts for the past 17 years. "In football, accidents and injuries are a byproduct of the game, but the main objective is to get the ball over the line and score points.

"In boxing, the object of the sport is to neurologically impair your opponent, to injure their brain in some way to stop them from performing. It sounds graphic, but that is effectively what you are looking for – a knockout."

Countless former fighters continue to suffer from dementia pugilistica, a direct result of taking repeated blows to the head, which includes symptoms such as slurred speech, loss of memory, declining mental ability, tremors and coordination issues.

Yet football has it own problems. The NFL is facing more than 200 legal cases brought by more than 4,000 former players accusing the league of hiding the dangers of head trauma. And a recent story in the Washington Post highlighted the plight of former NFL Man of the Year Reggie Williams, who has been financially crippled by a series of medical problems that require daily treatment, 24 years after the end of his playing career.

The level of health care support given to former players is a particular sticking point for Edwards, who claims the league's policies do not go far enough in caring for players of yesteryear. Those factors – combined with the obscenely brief shelf life of a pro football player (3½ years) – was a critical reason behind his transition to boxing.

"The average career of an NFL player depends on your position, but it can be as short as three and a half years," Edwards explained. "Then you have still got the rest of your life.

"In boxing, Floyd Mayweather has been at the top for 16 or 17 years, and guys like Bernard Hopkins are still going even into their late 40s. I am 28, but by staying as disciplined as I am and maintaining my condition I can have a long and successful career in this."

Edwards admits he still has a long way to go before he achieves his goal of shaking up the heavyweight division. But even at this infant stage of his new career, he has stirred up a thorny talking point – across two sports.

 

[finallyfamous]

I remember when the Pats went 11-5 and didn't make the playoffs

 

[Clyde Frog]

Going 11-5 is not luck regardless of how you do it, great step for a young team and they can build on it.

People on here care too much about HOW teams win.

Disagree wholeheartedly. People who take the "all that matters is the W" mentality like you seem to be doing are short sighted. How and why teams win games is important because its a good predictor of whether or not that team will be able to carry it through the postseason. All that REALLY matters is that you are the last one standing at the end of the year.

Wish it was a good predictor for mah packers 2 years ago who were puttin up 40+ points a game and rolled over in the playoffs. Blowing teams out all year didnt predict squat. Where as the Ravens were free falling during the worst time and justt barelllyy squeeked it out against the Broncos and ended up winning the Superbowl.

Good teams find a way to win no matter what. It doesnt matter how you do it because you cant really predict anything in this league. Whether you get there by blowing teams out all year or by hitting game winning field goals it just doesnt really matter in this league as long as ya gets da Lombardi. Cause just like you said being the last one standing is all that matters.

 

[651akathepaul]

I honestly wouldn't mind if some of the future NFL DE's end up switching career paths and become heavyweight boxers. I miss the days of top flight heavyweight fighters. |I

As far as it being safer than football...How big a difference we talking here? They're both pretty damn bad for the brain.

 

[gmsboy1]

Really not even worth it. Dudes switch it up so much . Case in point;

Originally Posted by do work son View Post

If I wanted to insinuate that "they won't be as lucky next year" I would have just said it. All I did was point out they played in and won 8 games by less than a touchdown. You brought up mental toughness, not me.

So last question, if all you were doing was pointing that stat out what's the point of the qualifier " I think they're a good team, but that's an awful lot of luck falling in your favor." ? And those are your words, exactly.

I said that because if you look at their schedule, it's hard to gauge them. They come back to beat the packers which was a great win, but also squeaked by the chiefs, browns, dolphins etc. which are pretty mediocre wins. Audio got blown out by the bears, jets, and patriots. Yes I said the jets.

They have talent, and could very easily replicate last season, but could also have a couple bounces go the other way.

this whole exchange. Who are you fooling man? But, it works because: can't press a straight answer out of someone, NT has no third party no-bias arbitrator system (DMX too nice)/ dudes don't want to get involved. Would rather just drop it. There's other stuff too.

Yes, I said it gives a small boost. You took that to mean I said it was THE deciding factor. Yes, I believe playing through adverse situations helps you going forward, but never said it's what decides a game. That was your inference.

My point was it has no influence at all, your's was when it gets close and at the end of games the experience helps the team. So yes, you did say it was a deciding factor in some games (close games), just amended it dozens of times. Now your saying (once again) "no one said all that" . I can link the threads (but won't). But go and take a look yourself. You know you're flopping man. Just don't want to admit it. With all that said, I'm out.

 

[elpablo21]

I honestly wouldn't mind if some of the future NFL DE's end up switching career paths and become heavyweight boxers. I miss the days of top flight heavyweight fighters.

As far as it being safer than football...How big a difference we talking here?

They're both pretty damn bad for the brain.

Yeah it pretty much is a "lesser of two evils" kinda debate.

 

[DeadsetAce]

I remember when the Pats went 11-5 and didn't make the playoffs

freakin' matt cassel and that 7 win drop off from the prior season

 

[do work son]

I assume because in football there's a lot of other injuries that you're more prone to than in boxing like knee injuries. Don't know too much about boxing so I don't know


Champ: I think you meant gholston looks like Tarzan but plays like Casper

 

[champcruthik]

Ray Edwards and Vernon Gholston two worst offenders of, "Look like Tarzan, play like Jane."

 

[fraij da 5 11]

I remember when the Pats went 11-5 and didn't make the playoffs

freakin' matt cassel and that 7 win drop off from the prior season

Same amount of rings.

 

[sb]

charles woodson visiting denver

 

[DeadsetAce]

I remember when the Pats went 11-5 and didn't make the playoffs

freakin' matt cassel and that 7 win drop off from the prior season

Same amount of rings.

if rings are everything, well then....i know YOU don't want to have that debate

 

[jj watt]

charles woodson visiting denver

#allinforpeyton

too bad it wont matter

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

I remember when the Pats went 11-5 and didn't make the playoffs

 

[fraij da 5 11]

I remember when the Pats went 11-5 and didn't make the playoffs

freakin' matt cassel and that 7 win drop off from the prior season

Same amount of rings.

if rings are everything, well then....i know YOU don't want to have that debate

 

[freddie black]

charles woodson visiting denver

Considering that they largely play a base nickel D now I think he could be a key contributor.

 

[cruzzz]

Considering that they largely play a base nickel D now I think he could be a key contributor.

Was he that bad last season? does he want a lot of money? I don't see why he dosen't have work yet.

 

[fraij da 5 11]

Considering that they largely play a base nickel D now I think he could be a key contributor.

Was he that bad last season? does he want a lot of money? I don't see why he dosen't have work yet.

You only want him playing in a 5 DB look... Let him get up on the slot/TE and have him cover from there or blitz.  That's where hes most effective at this point.

 

[dacomeup]

He's effective versus the run, but not good in coverage anymore.