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NFL Offseason Thread

Discussion in 'Football: NFL, College, High School' started by J.R., Feb 4, 2015.

  1. PhiSlammaJamma

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    If Alabama football goes down, and Saban shuts it down, that's gonna be a big deal and interwine fates. Prestigious program and Youth. Without knowing the facts, there are only two possible scenarios on how the players got the Corona and neither is a good sign. They either spread it working out together, or they had it coming in and the team missed it. So either football was the cause, or Alabama is not ready to open. Either way, it's not a good start.
     
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  2. raining threes

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    Or you dont value the lives of all races that gave up their lives so people would have the ability to protest.
     
  3. YOLO

    YOLO Member

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  4. Juxtaposed Jolt

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    Heh, Patriots.

    They went from an MVP QB to...another MVP QB.

    Fans of the 3 other AFC East teams in shambles right now.
     
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  5. tinman

    tinman Contributing Member
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    A smart organization
     
  6. JayGoogle

    JayGoogle Member

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    Pretty much this.

    It'll either be a monumental success, making every other team look stupid...or he'll cut him by week 4.
     
  7. PhiSlammaJamma

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    I agree this has all upside. But every other team passed. So outcome indeterminable.
     
  8. Juxtaposed Jolt

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    Pats are going to get the best version of Cam, I think. Or, as well as Cam can physically play.

    The contract is basically an "I'm going to prove that I can still play at a high level" one, purely because it's only for one year. There's no coasting, since if you do coast, either no team is going to want you past this year or you're not going to get another good contract.
     
  9. J.R.

    J.R. Member

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    The NFL is considering requiring fans attending games this season to sign liability waivers shielding the teams from COVID-19 lawsuits, sources said. The waiver proposal is likely to be forwarded to clubs by the middle of next week as part of a broad range of league recommended best practices for re-opening stadiums amid the coronavirus pandemic.

    “It is probably something you do electronically, just trying to figure out the operational challenges associated with waivers,” said one source familiar with plans under development by the stadium reopening working group headed by NFL Sr. VP of Security Cathy Lanier. “Just have to work out how best to do that.”

    The league has said almost from the beginning of the pandemic that it expects to play its season as normally as possible. Teams are preparing for a range of scenarios, from no fans to nearly full stadiums, and the NFL is leaving those choices to the clubs and local health regulators.

    But as new cases of coronavirus have surged 80 percent in the U.S. the last two weeks, it seems all but inevitable that if fans are allowed into stadiums, reports will emerge of some who attended NFL games contracting COVID-19.

    Attendees at President Trump’s rally in Tulsa last month were required to sign COVID-19 liability waivers, but it is questionable whether they truly legally shield the event organizers.

    Bob Hilliard, a plaintiff’s attorney who has sued MLB on behalf of fans hit by foul balls and is currently representing Houston Astros season ticket holders litigating over the sign-stealing scandal, does not believe a potential NFL waiver would hold up in court.

    “Strange things about waivers…they are fragile—often easily breakable,” he wrote in an email. “Especially, as I assume here, when you are asking fans to waive their rights even if the NFL is negligen(t), grossly negligent, etc. Comes down to proportionate power—and the NFL has a high hurdle to claim that a fan has an actual choice.

    “Let’s say a fan and his family go to a game,” he continued. “The team/NFL allows, by poor processes, that fan and his family to be exposed to Corona and everyone dies. The waiver defense will either be a question of law for the judge, or a question of fact for the jury, depending on the jurisdiction and the particular facts. I’d take the case.”

    Irwin Kishner, head of the sports practice at New York law firm Herrick Feinstein, which represents team owners, agreed a waiver is problematic but not necessarily invalid as Hilliard suggested.

    “Waivers are governed by state law and speaking very generally and in over broad terms, are typically unenforceable depending on circumstances,” he said. “Fans attending games, though, are assuming a level of risk by entering a stadium.”

    The waiver is just one element of a larger batch of recommendations expected next week from Lanier’s group, which includes many team stadium operations managers. The recommendations, which are not mandates, will likely include having stadiums stop accepting cash, concessions only offering prepackaged food, and for all fans to wear masks, a source familiar with the group’s plans said.

    “In some of the guidelines we encourage cashless transactions,” the source said. “And so you’ll see that it gives you recommendations, yes to have prepackaged, pre-ordered food if you can, as much as you can. And I think you’ll see that was a trend, in some cases, prior to COVID. But now it’s just kind of in overdrive.

    “I think it’s a more collaborative thing,” this source added. “Here’s a list of things, and recommendations that we should really consider in all facets of the game operations. And so it’s not just one item that kind of is the cream of the crop. And I think it’s a combination of things. And it’s all based on kind of mitigating risk in trying to keep people as configured as safe as we can. Again, it’s not the silver bullet.”

    One NFL team currently is all cashless, the Atlanta Falcons. But more are expected to follow, with the pandemic accelerating that push (touchless transactions are viewed as cleaner than money). There are hardware logistics like installing reverse ATMs and card readers at all concessions, as well as communicating the new policy to ticketholders.

    Many teams are in jurisdictions that already require mask-wearing in public, but for those that are not, the league will strongly recommend that it is a policy for entering stadiums, the source familiar with the working group said. In fact, look for teams to publicly message mask-wearing as a public safety tool.

    “I envision saying, ‘Hey, make sure you have your mask on when you come through to the next level,’” the source said. “I’d be careful calling it a checkpoint because I am not sure if that’s what it’s going to be. But make sure you have your mask on.”

    How teams screen fans medically is still developing, but it is unlikely to involve temperature checks. Many carriers of COVID are asymptomatic and fans can always take fever reducers before attending the game. Instead, the source familiar with the stadium reopening working group’s plans talked about an electronic questionnaire or even biological passports fans would need to prove their health bonafide.

    On the ideas undergirding next week’s planned recommendations, a source close to the NFL said, “Those are all items that are being explored at this point with the health and safety of fans and players and personnel as the primary focus.”

    The league has already required the first six to eight rows of seats not to be occupied, but covered in tarps that can be used for advertising.

    One recommendation to the 32 clubs likely to emerge next week that will come as no surprise: ready availability of hand sanitizer and constant stadium cleaning.

    “You can feel comfortable bringing your family and friends to the facilities,” the source familiar with the working group said. “There’s a lot that’s been talked about cleaning versus disinfecting. And so… making sure your protocols are in place. A lot of people, the attitude with cleaning folks was you know, get in and get out. Not to be seen or heard. Just make sure everything’s in and get out. You’re going to see a complete reversal.

    “So I think what you’re going to see in this particular movement is a lot more standing out front and be visible (with cleaning), which will also you know, help in the communication that you’re trying to say, `Hey, we got this, this is what we’re doing. This is why we’re doing what we’re doing.’ It’s okay to be seen cleaning things over and over and over again.”
     
  10. Major

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    I think its bizarre that the NFL (and college football) seem to think that in about 2 months, it will be acceptable to pack 60,000 screaming people into stadiums, many of which are indoors - as long as they just sign a waiver.
     
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  11. gucci888

    gucci888 Contributing Member

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    Deep inside, think all of these organizations know things won’t go as planned.
     
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  12. J.R.

    J.R. Member

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  13. J.R.

    J.R. Member

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    You can change the name but Daniel Snyder is still your owner. ;)

     
  14. conquistador#11

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    Does that really set back Snyder? People are always wanting to buy football teams. I'd buy one (I typed that with a straight face)
     
  15. J.R.

    J.R. Member

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    NFL teams will be forbidden from postgame interactions within 6 feet of each other and jersey exchanges between players will be prohibited during the 2020 season, sources say.

    Other notable changes for 2020:
    - On-field fan seating is prohibited.
    - Both teams must travel to the stadium via bus.
    - Media will be banned from the locker room.

    Other game day protocols: Coaches and players won’t be required to wear masks on the sidelines. Everyone else in the bench does have to wear a mask.

    Anyone with bench access will be screened before entering the stadium. Anyone who records a temperature at or above 100.4 degrees or may have been exposed "shall not be permitted to enter the Stadium on game day."

     
  16. YOLO

    YOLO Member

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    well that makes a lot of sense doesn't it. a contact sport all game long but then you can't exchange jersey's with someone

    yeah of course the players are going to be upset. This is part of why there's so much drama. policies that make 0 sense and lack consistency throughout.
     
  17. Buck Turgidson

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    Hell, the Texans' secondary is prohibited from in-game interactions within 6 feet.
     
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  18. YOLO

    YOLO Member

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    true. I guess they'll have to show everyone else how it's done staying 6 feet away from the opp. Then we'll just throw each other the jerseys
     
  19. J.R.

    J.R. Member

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  20. deb4rockets

    deb4rockets Contributing Member
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