And Exhibit 1 from Tampa Bay will be the prancing along the sideline and in the end zone where he appears not to have a scintilla of mobility issues. That will be followed by a xerox'ed photo of someone's middle finger as the official response to AB.
None of us really knows exactly what happened. Some coaches are geniuses when if comes to finesse, and dealing with challenging players. From what I have observed, Arians wouldn’t fit into that category. Should Brown need to be handled differently than other players? Well, yes. That was well known before he joined the Bucs. So his behavior yesterday shouldn’t surprise anyone with any sensitivity. Should an NFL team have to put up with such behavior? That’s open to debate. Players — like people — come in all different types, sizes and psyches. Let talk about VY who some have mentioned. Fisher sabotaged him, pure and simple. He didn’t want Vince, and he did nothing to help him from what I believe to be true. Was Vince misguided? Absolutely. But put VY on a team coached by Pete Carroll, John Harbaugh and a few others and he would probably have been the precursor to Lamar Jackson. Someone mentioned that Brown, “has to want to be helped.” How many young people — no longer with us — have been described the same way? And that’s part of their sickness. They don’t know how to ask. (Whether that is true in this case is a question none of us can answer.) I want the best for this young man, and I can forgive his antics. That doesn’t mean that he would play on my team though. He probably would not… I see this as a test for the League, one that they may not pass.
Duke, While Jeff Fisher did little to stop it, the real sabotage was orchestrated by Norm Chow to prove to Bud Adams that he was smarter than him. Again, Fisher could have put his foot down and told Chow to stop it or leave, but he hid behind Chow's actions causing people to believe he supported Chow's position but was saving his own fat paycheck.
While I do believe the Chow angle, as you stated, the buck stoped at Fisher. What he did to VY — or didn’t do with him — is a case study in pettiness and arrogance from an individual who I have grown to dislike immensely. He could have guided a talented but misguided young man. Instead, he crushed him like a cigarette butt. Shameful. Accomplishing little over 17 or so years at Tennessee, Fisher bamboozled a whole bunch of folks, including Bud Adams.
I took quite the thrashing from the board (some of whom are still active!) 10 years ago on VY. I'd just like to point out that VY never played another snap and I'm right and you're wrong. I don't think there was any coach change or coddling or Jeff Fisher jail that would ever make VY a successful NFL QB. He was built for the college game and that's that.
As a starter, you mean? I think VY had the talent to succeed. Look at Lamar Jackson and a couple others. Some pro coaches finally got the message that you could play to such a QBs strengths. Fisher wanted a drop back pocket passer and that was it. VY had his own demons to overcome, as well. But if anything, I think he was ahead of his time when it comes to the NFL.
Well, another snap as anything. After his stint in Philly he was gone forever. I'd argue that there's no one like Lamar Jackson, including VY. The man was throwing it 400+ times in addition to getting his 1500 and 1600 rushing yards his sophomore and junior years. And his 119 TDs to VY's 81.
Let me point out that with all the potential, Jackson has not gotten it done yet at Baltimore. I really like the kid but while he excels in the running department, he is a subpar passer, in a league where passing is king. I do not think that Jackson can win a Super Bowl unless/until he can dramatically improve his passing skills, and his judgment. Compare him to the little General in the desert. The difference is that while both are off the chart runners, Murray is an accomplished passer. He can kill you both with his legs and his arm. Based on what I have seen so far, I don’t believe that the same can be said about Jackson.
I wasn't arguing VY was better than Lamar. Although, I don't think there's that much difference between the two. But could you imagine VY with the Ravens in his prime. Or even the way Kapernick was used by the 49ers? It could have been a whole different career.
Funny how things change so quickly. It's not often that a league MVP goes from "what's his ceiling?" to "don't think he can get it done" in such a short amount of time. btw, Jackson's "AV" (approximate value) in 2019 was 25, the highest level ever for a QB. Tom Brady had a 23 in his 2007 crazy year with Moss/Welker. VY had a 36 for his entire career.
Speaking of VY, I truly believe in “The Curse.” As you will recall, in the 2006 draft, Bob McNair and the Texans had an opportunity with the first overall pick to select hometown hero and Rose Bowl/NC winner Vince Young. He took Mario Williams instead. Who, you ask? One of the dumbest moves in the history of the draft IMO. Vince came out after his junior year specifically because the Texans had the first pick. Would he have prospered in HTN? Who knows? But as a franchise looking to lock down your fan base, you don’t pass up such an opportunity. (The Oilers didn’t and that worked out pretty well.) I truly believe that because of the head up his a** decision, Houston is cursed. Think about it. With some of the best players in the league, like JJ Watt and DeAndre Hopkins (to name just two), this franchise has floundered, and achieved squat. Good for them. I couldn’t care less.
Which reminds me, what is the source of the curse that apparently hangs over the Detroit Lions? Oh never mind, I just googled it and came across "Bobby Layne." My bad.
Okay- then if you’ve been to Cleveland and experienced the quality of life there…. Then just triple the homicide rate, double unemployment and mix in 75% of the homes as abandoned .. throw in a corrupt city government and you have Detroit.
I don’t think NFL coaches were ready to use VY. He was a trapezoid peg trying to fit into a square whole.
If there is a curse in Detroit, it probably started when Bobby Ross arguably mishandled the best player they ever had, Barry Sanders. Call it the curse of Barry Sanders.
I wouldn't put it past Jerrah to do something absolutely asinine - he's done it before (remember, he replaced Jimmy Johnson with Barry Switzer).
Jerrah needs to replace that inaccurate, bad mechanics, dink-n-dunk QB he has now. But wait, he decided to pay the QB $160M. Oh well, Cowboys going nowhere again.
Officially released as of a few moments ago. Tells me the Bucs are willing to go to battle on the injury claim...
I think it is sort of interesting how the two narratives coincide in parts, but with different spins. For example, Brown did not say in his narrative that he told the medical staff about the injury during the third quarter when all this transpired. All he said is, when the coach asked him why he was on the bench, he replied: "It's my ankle." Now the team's statement just out today says that at no time during the game did he inform "the medical staff" about the situation. He did not claim he did. And, by omission, the team's statement leaves open the possibility that what he claims is accurate, i.e., that he said: "It's my ankle" only to the coach during the third quarter. Not trying to excuse the way he left the field (which is inexcusable) or to adopt his side of the story. Just think it will be interesting to learn the whole story, if we ever do. Also, when I first saw the incident, I just assumed it was Brown being Brown. But Arians concedes he said something like "get out" or "you're out" to Brown when Brown refused to go into the game. Well, if I'm already out of the game and not going back in, and the coach yells at me to get out, I can't think he means "get out of the game" because I'm already out, so it's reasonable to assume he means leave the area--get out of the stadium. Again, the way Brown left was totally improper, but it sounds like he interpreted the coach to be telling him to leave. Finally, I don't know what to make of Brown's claims of the injuries the recent MRI allegedly found in his ankle. If they are really there, I'm wondering why the team had not taken an MRI earlier since this alleged ankle problem had been ongoing for quite some time. Maybe he had been trying to downplay the injury until recently so the team did not know to take an MRI before now? Of course, maybe he's just making up all or part of the MRI results, but he did name a doctor, so, if his story is bogus, that will be discovered before long. . . . . . . Arians is saying today that Brown was complaining during the game about not getting the ball enough from Brady, and was not complaining about his ankle. Anyway, fascinating situation.
There's a difference between walking around shape, and playing in the NFL shape. The former, while certainly good, is a much lower bar to achieve than the latter. So the comments addressing AB's exit from the field as evidence of him faking an injury hold zero water. AB claims that when he complained about his ankle injury, the team shot him up with painkillers to keep him going. And he kept going until his ankle couldn't go anymore. Was this true? I don't know. But based on the history of the league, the claim is certainly possible.
