NFL 2018 IV: A Hue, A Cry and now Goodbye

[l2 0 5 5]

I typically tune this shit out as I’m tired of hearing about it but Bell’s agent apparently said Bell now wants paid like a top end quarterback. First a WR, now a QB. Says he’s prepared to retire if this is not met. This is all starting to confirm my beliefs that Bell just doesn’t really care for football like the guys that live and breathe it. Bell and agent have to know that that is unreasonable. I think the guy would rather live in his fantasy rap world (he sucks ass if you were wondering) and smoke weed all the time rather than put forth physical effort to continue to be a great football player. I think he’s tapped out in professional football and I would be very hesitant to sign him if I were another team. Only a matter of time before he gets another knee injury, drug suspension, or retires early. Good luck dude.

[briantw]

38 minutes ago, l2 0 5 5 said:

I typically tune this shit out as I’m tired of hearing about it but Bell’s agent apparently said Bell now wants paid like a top end quarterback. First a WR, now a QB. Says he’s prepared to retire if this is not met. This is all starting to confirm my beliefs that Bell just doesn’t really care for football like the guys that live and breathe it. Bell and agent have to know that that is unreasonable. I think the guy would rather live in his fantasy rap world (he sucks ass if you were wondering) and smoke weed all the time rather than put forth physical effort to continue to be a great football player. I think he’s tapped out in professional football and I would be very hesitant to sign him if I were another team. Only a matter of time before he gets another knee injury, drug suspension, or retires early. Good luck dude.

I think he just really doesn't want to go back to the Steelers, so he's making ridiculous demands to ensure they don't try to tag him again.  

[Whiskeyjack]

What a horrible series of decisions by Bell.  Never made sense from the start, and has gotten worse every step of the way. 

[Bronn Stone]

3 minutes ago, Whiskeyjack said:

What a horrible series of decisions by Bell.  Never made sense from the start, and has gotten worse every step of the way. 

Agree 100%.  You know better than any of us how much Bell would have had to spend to get a catastrophic injury policy that would have covered his risk for this season.  It could not have been anywhere near the amount he would have made under the tag.

[Jace, Extat]

Le'Veon Bell is an American hero. Standing up for the proletariat.

Down with Owners! Down with the high cost of living! Down with the Monarch, Goodell!

Long live the Revolution!

[Whiskeyjack]

2 minutes ago, Bronn Stone said:

Agree 100%.  You know better than any of us how much Bell would have had to spend to get a catastrophic injury policy that would have covered his risk for this season.  It could not have been anywhere near the amount he would have made under the tag.

Yeah - they are expensive, but still nothing in comparison to the $14.5 million that he gave up.  And they even have loss of value policies now that protect against more than just career ending injury.

[l2 0 5 5]

44 minutes ago, briantw said:

I think he just really doesn't want to go back to the Steelers, so he's making ridiculous demands to ensure they don't try to tag him again.  

All signs point to him not loving football imo. I guarantee he retires before age 30. Just think he has interests in other areas that he is less talented in than football. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

1 hour ago, Whiskeyjack said:

What a horrible series of decisions by Bell.  Never made sense from the start, and has gotten worse every step of the way. 

I think it made a lot of sense at first. but he played it horribly after that. He should have come back during the bye week.

55 minutes ago, l2 0 5 5 said:

All signs point to him not loving football imo. I guarantee he retires before age 30. Just think he has interests in other areas that he is less talented in than football. 

Eh, I buy not loving the game as an excuse in some, maybe most sports, but not football. You really have to love the game to endure the pain. I view this much more as an economics issue, in that his value to the team was not being reflected in his compensation, from his perspective. Plus I've never going to tut tut a football player for wanting their money given the average length of a career and the long term physical repercussions. 

1 hour ago, Jace, Basilissa said:

Le'Veon Bell is an American hero. Standing up for the proletariat.

Down with Owners! Down with the high cost of living! Down with the Monarch, Goodell!

Long live the Revolution!

 All prepare for the impending Jaceolution!!! 

[Jace, Extat]

2 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

 All prepare for the impending Jaceolution!!! 

The only war left to wage will be a world war, a world war, moreover of an extent and violence hitherto unimagined. Eight to ten million soldiers will be at each others' throats and in the process will strip Europe barer than a swarm of locusts. The depredation of the Thirty Years' War compressed into three to four years and extended over the entire continent; famine, disease, and the universal lapse into barbarism. Both of the armies and the people, in the wake of acute misery irretrievable dislocation of our artificial system of trade, industry, and credit, ending in the universal bankruptcy collapse of the old states and their conventional political wisdom to the point where crowns will roll into the gutters by the dozen, and no one will be around to pick them up; the absolute impossibility of foreseeing how it will all end and who will emerge as victor from the battle. Only one consequence is absolutely certain: universal exhaustion and the creation of the conditions for the ultimate victory of the working class.

[Bronn Stone]

I'm thinking they'll all settle if Americans agree to start calling the NFL "Gridiron" rather than "Football".

Which of course means, WHEN THEY TAKE MY JAMARCUS RUSSELL BOBBLEHEAD OUT OF MY COLD, DEAD HANDS.

[l2 0 5 5]

2 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

I think it made a lot of sense at first. but he played it horribly after that. He should have come back during the bye week.

Eh, I buy not loving the game as an excuse in some, maybe most sports, but not football. You really have to love the game to endure the pain. I view this much more as an economics issue, in that his value to the team was not being reflected in his compensation, from his perspective. Plus I've never going to tut tut a football player for wanting their money given the average length of a career and the long term physical repercussions. 

 All prepare for the impending Jaceolution!!! 

Eh I don’t see how you can apply that to 100% of people who play the game. I’ve seen enough of him over the past handful of years to know that there’s a difference between someone like him and someone like an AP who just loves the game. Most people that leave the Steelers don’t have great careers once they leave. He’ll bow out by age 30. Guarantee. 

[dbunting]

8 hours ago, l2 0 5 5 said:

Eh I don’t see how you can apply that to 100% of people who play the game. I’ve seen enough of him over the past handful of years to know that there’s a difference between someone like him and someone like an AP who just loves the game. Most people that leave the Steelers don’t have great careers once they leave. He’ll bow out by age 30. Guarantee. 

Peterson vs Bell is the same way I felt about Smith vs Sanders in the 90's. One had the skills and the other the skills and passion.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

15 hours ago, Jace, Basilissa said:

The only war left to wage will be a world war, a world war, moreover of an extent and violence hitherto unimagined. Eight to ten million soldiers will be at each others' throats and in the process will strip Europe barer than a swarm of locusts. The depredation of the Thirty Years' War compressed into three to four years and extended over the entire continent; famine, disease, and the universal lapse into barbarism. Both of the armies and the people, in the wake of acute misery irretrievable dislocation of our artificial system of trade, industry, and credit, ending in the universal bankruptcy collapse of the old states and their conventional political wisdom to the point where crowns will roll into the gutters by the dozen, and no one will be around to pick them up; the absolute impossibility of foreseeing how it will all end and who will emerge as victor from the battle. Only one consequence is absolutely certain: universal exhaustion and the creation of the conditions for the ultimate victory of the working class.

The people yearned for a Jaceolution, What they got was a Jaceocalypse.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

13 hours ago, l2 0 5 5 said:

Eh I don’t see how you can apply that to 100% of people who play the game. I’ve seen enough of him over the past handful of years to know that there’s a difference between someone like him and someone like an AP who just loves the game. Most people that leave the Steelers don’t have great careers once they leave. He’ll bow out by age 30. Guarantee. 

Perhaps he will be, but I still wouldn’t question his love of the game. At the end of the day this is a labor dispute, not someone questioning their profession.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Which of these stats is more shocking?:

1. In 1999, Kurt Warner led the league in passing accuracy at 65.1%. That would rank 19^th in 2018, right behind Brady at 18^th.

2. Tom Brady has thrown 5 TDs in the last 5 games.

3. Tom Brady has thrown 1 TD in the last 3 games.

[Jace, Extat]

1 hour ago, Tywin et al. said:

Perhaps he will be, but I still wouldn’t question his love of the game. At the end of the day this is a labor dispute, not someone questioning their profession.

Nice how every person even tertiarily involved in the NFL gets to make business decisions except the players. 

I hate this "he's getting paid to play a game/do what he loves!" Crap

So should football journalists stay in their hometown refusing to play hardball for what they're worth just because they're writing about the game they love?

Broadcasters?

There's so much bullshit around these things, and a lot of it is the fault of the league media apparatus and the journalists.

Le'veon Bell did not ask to be tagged. He didn't ask to get drafted by the Steelers who have a made up rule about not putting fully guaranteed money past the first year of a contract. He just asked to be paid, or to take part in the free market to see what the rest of the league thought he was worth.

Keep in mind that Bell made his intentions clear that he was not content with a tag. It was the Steelers who smirked and tagged him twice.

Then they started taking shots at him! Nobody was calling Paul Allen a piece of shit for not negotiating with Earl Thomas it was "he's known as a resolute businessman who never negotiates!"

What fucking bullshit! 

I don't like Bell, he seems like the kinda guy I wouldn't get on with. But when the Steelers chose to put all their weight on Bell to use and abuse him at their leisure, is he not allowed to react?

What's more, when it had been suggested that he would return later how many people were saying they didn't want him? "THEY'VE GOT CONNER!!!!!" Don't fucking pretend that shit wasn't everywhere.

2 more things to keep in mind if you care about actually considering the facts.

1) Dez popped his Achilles at fucking practice 3 days before Bell had to report.

2) Maurice Jones Drew, who has the same agent as Bell, said in the last few days that their agent hadn't known that if Bell didn't sign the 2nd tag then a 3rd could not be applied, only a transition tag which will effectively function the same as the open market. He said this as in "he knows this NOW" *wink*wink* fashion. 

 

Just c'mon people. Did Nick Saban not love football because he made a fucking business/life decision? Bell has a tenth of the time to maximise his opportunities for gain that Saban will have had at Alabama alone. 

[Bronn Stone]

1 hour ago, Jace, Basilissa said:

Nice how every person even tertiarily involved in the NFL gets to make business decisions except the players. 

 

My only objection about Bell's decision is that it doesn't make BUSINESS sense.  Taking the tag money and spending part of it on a catastrophic injury/loss of value policy WJ outlined is the far more prudent business decision.  Bell seems to be thinking with his spleen and not his head.

[briantw]

50 minutes ago, Bronn Stone said:

My only objection about Bell's decision is that it doesn't make BUSINESS sense.  Taking the tag money and spending part of it on a catastrophic injury/loss of value policy WJ outlined is the far more prudent business decision.  Bell seems to be thinking with his spleen and not his head.

Or perhaps he didn't want to let the Steelers run him into the ground with another 400+ touches this year, which is one of the last few years of his prime.

[Jace, Extat]

Just now, Bronn Stone said:

My only objection about Bell's decision is that it doesn't make BUSINESS sense.  Taking the tag money and spending it on a catastrophic injury/loss of value policy WJ outlined is the far more prudent business decision.  Bell seems to be thinking with his spleen and not his head.

Or he is acknowledging that with the success of Frank Gore and Adrian Peterson the shelf life of a RB may depend less on the age than the amount of damage sustained.

People keep saying how much money he could have made, that fabled $14.5 million. $800,000 A week! 

Fuck your $800,000 A week. In Pennsylvania's tax bracket he ends up pocketing like $500,000 anyway. 

Look at it from the perspective that instead of buying an insurance policy out of the money he could make this year, which would be giving up a hefty chunk of that $500,000, and presumably not match what he could receive on the open market he is instead opting to forgo ALL financial incentive in the shortest term to maximise earnings in the long. It's simultaneously the all-in move AND a protective measure for his body and health.

In other words. It's the right move.

No player of Bells unquestioned dominance has reached the market since Reggie White.

People were falling over themselves for a Peyton manning who couldn't throw a football. Latavious Murray got like 8 mil a year. SAMMY WATKINS GOT 16!!!!

Bell is making the right choice 

[Maithanet]

Bell is really challenging the question of whether it is the age or the mileage of running backs that causes them to slow down faster than other NFL positions.  I've no doubt if a guy like Jamaal Charles had taken 5 years off instead of playing in the NFL he'd still be going strong at 31, instead of nearly out of the league (apparently he is a backup in Denver?) 

Bell is betting that NFL teams value mileage over years, and therefore taking a year off with no NFL collisions means that he's more valuable than he would be otherwise.  I've no doubt that NFL teams are considering both years and mileage, so it's hard to say if this really makes sense or not.