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Blog Entry #5

Miller to The L.A. Rams?!

Blue and orange to blue and gold!? Let’s talk about Von Millers ‘blockbuster’ trade at the deadline moving from Denver to Los Angeles. After spending a decade in the league and only dawning the blue and orange of the Broncos Von Miller shockingly was traded to the Rams. In an interview he seemed as though his passion and love for the city far outweighed the trade decision and fans are split on both sides of the aisle. Some are calling it the worst trade and that management is content with throwing the rest of the season to rebuild, while others agree that with Von’s numbers and the salary he will now make that it was a more than fair parting gift for what he had given the organization. GM George Paton admitted that “while it’s certainly not easy to part ways with a player like Von, this is an opportunity for both our team and for Von as he begins the next chapter of his career.” Miller was struck to tears as exiting the building and seeing the Super Bowl 50 pictures and saying “we always got Super Bowl 50. I always got Broncos country.” The management has no immediate plans to replace Von which is why the fan base is so split. The Broncos just gave away their franchise defensive MVP and aren’t looking to fill his shoes with another MVP? This isn’t saying that the rest of the Denver defense is not up to par, but it definitely feels like a lot to ask to fill number 58’s shoes.

Looking at this trade from the bigger picture outside the scope of player motivation it looks like LA is finalizing their stack to make a playoff run. The Broncos were likely facing a tough decision soon anyway with Miller and his contract, but it did not have to be right now. LA only gave up a second and third round pick, so as much as some would call this a win for Denver, how is this not highway robbery for LA? Miller has the most sacks since he entered the league over that span. He recorded 4.5 sacks and was among the top 10 defenders in QB pressure this year. He did suffer an injury that put him out for two games, but his comeback won’t be anything short of spectacular. Although he has tailed off some of his great standout appearances including his super bowl victory over the Carolina Panthers his numbers don’t lie. Sure he’s getting a pay raise and the Broncos kind of feel like the Rockets when they traded Harden, but Von is now lining up opposite Leonard Floyd in LA’s 3-4 front and this defense looks scary. If you are the Seahawks, 49ers and the Cardinals I’m having some serious talks with my offensive line, because this home stretch to playoffs is going to get messy.

Miller joins an absolutely stacked Rams team. Their most recent signing since trading for Von Miller was the addition of former stud wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. Nonetheless Miller might have more of an impact on this Rams team than Odell will. Miller has had 110.5 sacks since he joined the NFL his newest teammate is none other than, the man, the myth, the legend, Aaron Donald. Donald has had 90.5 sacks since he entered the NFL. Coming from the interior of the line this is a seriously impressive stat line that will only continue to grow with an experienced veteran like Miller joining his side. With all that the Rams are doing, their  “all in” mentality might pay off with a Super Bowl appearance and victory. It’s all up to Head Coach Sean Mcvay and newly acquired Defensive Coordinator Raheem Morris, to make sure Miller fits into their system properly. Miller's debut against the San Francisco 49ers was absolutely a disappointment. A viral clip of Miller getting pancaked by 49ers Tight End George Kittle, exposed Miller and his age. Miller simply just needs time to adjust to the new playbook and strategy of the Rams elite defense. Not to mention the ankle injury he has just come off of, and is still to some extent trying to heal.

Regardless of what you hear, what you say you know J&J always come to play. The Rams got a steal and one hell of a deal. The Broncos, well we have yet to see, but it seems like their season is over to Jay and me.

Sources/References:

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-insider-notebook-jets-botching-qb-situation-again-plus-jon-gruden-suing-the-nfl-and-week-11-picks/

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/32526503/sources-los-angeles-rams-finalizing-trade-acquire-von-miller-denver-broncos

https://www.milehighreport.com/2021/11/5/22765699/broncos-von-miller-trade-right-move

https://www.nfl.com/news/broncos-trade-star-lb-von-miller-to-rams

https://www.si.com/nfl/broncos/news/von-miller-trade-bad-broncos-organization

[footballandnfl]

3303 Blog Entry #3

As we start to approach the November 2nd NFL trade deadline, teams will scramble to make trades. Not all of them tend to be big, but we have seen some big ones at the deadline. Marshawn Lynch to the Seahawks, Eric Dickerson to the Colts, or even Aqib Talib to the Patriots. We could see another name added to this list this season in Deshaun Watson. Watson who had a MVP caliber season in 2020, throwing for 4823 yards, 33 TDs, and only 7 interceptions, has been sitting on the bench the entire season. He has not even touched the field yet. Prior to the beginning of the NFL season Watson was accused of sexual assault by a massage therapist. Steadily the number of accusers started to grow to 22.

Rumor has it the Houston Texans are attempting to deal Deshaun Watson to the Carolina Panthers or The Miami Dolphins. While Watson has a no-trade clause in his contract, he is willing to bypass that in order to go to another organization. He has recently been extremely vocal about going to the Miami Dolphins. The panthers recently became interested because of the poor play of former New York Jets Quarterback Sam Darnold. Darnold was recently benched and the Panthers are now on the prowl as Watson seems like a perfect and logical fit for the organization despite allegations. P.J. Walker is currently the Panthers starting Quarterback till a replacement is found, or he outperforms Darnold for the rest of the season.

           The big question though, is will Deshaun Watson even play if he is traded? “We don’t know what the decision will be. The NFL doesn’t know what the decision will be. What we know is that the NFL will make a decision when a decision needs to be made,” per PFT. “The league has a delicate task when assessing whether Watson will be allowed to play. If he plays, the league will be accused of not taking the sexual misconduct allegations seriously. If he’s placed on paid leave, the league will be accused of shutting down a player who hasn’t been formally charged with any type of crime.” This is a common yet complicated issue that the NFL has dealt with in the past. Many accuse the NFL of not cracking down quick enough on situations such as these. The NFL has been extremely wishy washy on matters of general crimes and substance abuse all the way up to assault and sexual assault. In some cases the NFL has cracked down quickly and others they have not. In 2014, Ray Rice, Running back for the Baltimore Ravens was accused of domestic violence after a video surface. He was almost immediately cut by the Ravens and discharged from the NFL. Even more recently John Gruden was accused of racist, sexist, and misogynistic remarks in leaked emails and was forced to resign from his position. This begs the question, what will happen with Deshaun Watson? It’s also important to mention, Watson has not yet been charged with anything, despite having 22 accusers. Antonio Brown was recently accuses of sexual assault and rape back in 2019. And was only suspended eight games. Since this happened Brown has been allowed to play with no repercussions. We could see something like this happen if Watson is traded and he isn’t officially charged with anything.

           Unfortunately, the NFL has consistently had a bad reputation for handling these types of sensitive situations. Time after time we see the NFL do the opposite of the right thing. “With Watson, the NFL is again in another situation with sexual assault charges against one of the most talented players in the sport. And once again the player has not been placed on the commissioners’ exempt list — which is really just mandating that the player stay away from the team and still get paid until further notice.” The commissioners exempt list is not what most would call a disciplinary action since players are being paid to not perform. If Watson is placed on this list he will still earn a paycheck if he is traded to a team that wants to play him, such as the Miami Dolphins.

           With all these civil complaints against Watson it’s difficult to see Watson playing this season. If he is allowed to play by the NFL it would significantly further ruin the NFL’s image. Nonetheless, the NFL needs to crack down on situations like this in the future, a statement here would hopefully send a message to the world that the NFL doesn’t tolerate this type of behavior despite the athlete being a big money maker.

References:

https://deadspin.com/deshaun-watson-is-still-not-on-the-commissioner-s-exemp-1847926345

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/32471320/source-deshaun-watson-open-trade-destinations-besides-miami-dolphins-carolina-panthers-emerge-option

https://www.insidehook.com/daily_brief/sports/will-deshaun-watson-play-if-traded

[footballandnfl]

Blog Entry #2 kin 3303

[footballandnfl]

Entry #1

Football is a predominantly American sport and from that we delineate and connect social aspects that “define” football. Although the first non Caucasian player to play in the NFL was back in 1920 (Fritz Pollard) and the League has made great strides in diversifying itself and not limiting players, coaches or staff based on race. That being said there are still incidences of racial inequalities and for that we have to look at the trickle down effect. Its no secret that politics plays a factor in sports, from presidents attending games as well as super bowls to Mayors backing their home town team to help boost ticket sales and help with re election. If you don’t know a rule was passed in the NFL in 2003 called the Rooney Rule. This rule dictates that ALL league teams must interview ethnic-minority candidates for head coaching and senior football operations jobs. This was the first delineation of Affirmative action in the NFL. In layman’s terms the NFL was trying to get minorities into head coaching/ upper management positions and took steps to try and ensure that. As this rule was implemented and affirmative action transformed through the years there was change and regression. Now you have stories like Eugene Chung, a first round draft pick for the New England Patriots in 1992 and played for eight years, and also coached from 2010-2019. He went in to apply for a coaching job and was told he was “not the right minority” or “not a minority” because all of the “positions available for that race” are filled up and they had to look for a different minority. Not only that, but the league is now rewarding as of 2020 teams that develop minority candidates for head coaching positions that get hired with an extra/ or 3rd round draft pick. This is just the wrong thing to do, you must hire the right person for the right position regardless of skin color or beliefs. If you start to segregate people based on their race and reward only certain people/ races, at what point in time do you actually start hurting others based on their race in the name of equality?

           With race being a looming shadow to the “glory” that is the NFL, again we look at Caucasian Americans having a majority of influence on the game. But to take it back even further, some may say baseball is Americas past time but the NFL has been the present America for many years now. All sports stadiums fly the American flag and most sports still perform the National Anthem before every event. Some have said this is a derivative of white mans America and their traditions, but the fact is sports and our differences have made America who it is. We fought for our independence and with that independence we created some of the greatest sports on this planet all under the flag of freedom. Without freedom I doubt these sports would have progressed how they did, let alone be invented or played as a past time. Its completely possible to separate the game that football was and the flag we all live under. If you want to protest that it is your right to do so, but to simply say that the flag has no right to be in our sports, or that nationalism and pride/ love for your country has nothing to do with sports you’re just dead wrong. Its never been perfect, we have learned along the way but every American no matter race or creed is allowed to play the games of America namely football. When we let the social sphere take over sports we lose our foundation of sports and ultimately the game changes. Whether you want the game to change or not is your opinion, but would you even enjoy the sport in the first place or want change if you didn’t have love for the game as it was? Again this is not to say that there are still outlying cases that pop up from time to time from bad eggs in the bunch, but overall our nation and football have progressed and the league has taken steps to ensure we don’t go back to darker days. Keeping our nations pride while ensuring the right person gets the right job regardless of race is key and integral to moving forward, and has been so for a while. So amidst the chaos that still is among us today remember that we are all Americans and we all love the game, if that’s not enough to set aside your differences then this game and this country isn’t for you.