The NFL Thread Part IV: Super Bowl Edition.

[randhail]

owners have decided to break off all talks...looks like no deal is going to get done today.

how can they talk with the union when they're busy cutting people?

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

one percentage point of league revenue in the NFL equals approx. 300 million dollars. the league is a juggernaut. they could very easily increase the cap number in order to allow teams to actually stay together longer without skipping a beat, and without hurting the small market teams one iota.

 

[phanan]

They held off the start of free agency by three days, so perhaps they still think something will get done.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

chris mortonson seems to think that the level of play would imrpove in the NFL if they got rid of the cap, too... but then again, mort went to school with mr. baw, so we can't really trust his opinion

 

[Chizip]

http://www.profootballtalk.com/rumormill.htm

A league source tells us that, indeed, Texas quarterback Vince Young's Saturday Wonderlic was re-scored due to a grading error.

And the "real" score was higher than the six that spread through the scouting combine like a flash fire in a balsa wood factory.

But before Vince or agent Major Adams or Longhorns coach Mack Brown uncork the bubbly, the "real" score doesn't quite grant Young unfettered access to the next annual meeting of Mensa.

After further review, he got a seven.

We'd previously questioned the reasoning behind declaring the Saturday report erroneous due to a scoring error, and then giving him the test again on Sunday. Common sense suggests that, if everything is on the up-and-up at the combine, they merely would re-score the first test.

Now, it all makes sense.

Published reports indicate that Young had received no preparation for the Wonderlic, and that he had no idea he'd be expected to take it at the combine. We reported on Thursday that Adams had been offered sample copies of the test in order to get Vince ready, but that Adams brushed off the possibility of allowing Vince to go to school on a test that might be a good indicator of whether he ever actually went to school.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

http://www.profootballtalk.com/rumormill.htm

After further review, he got a seven.

 

[Chizip]

more from PFT

VINCE GOT A DO-OVER, LITERALLY


Here's the last thing we'll say on the Vince Young Wonderlic fiasco . . . at least until we pick up some more information about it.

A league source tells us that Young's do-over actually was a do-over.

In other words, he got the same version of the test on Sunday that he had taken on Saturday.

There are multiple versions of the Wonderlic. We've heard the NFL uses five or six; we've seen in print somewhere that there are as many as 18.

But Vince somehow pulled the same version on Sunday that he'd seen on Saturday.

Look, we're not in the business of sticking our fingers square in the eye of the NFL. We love pro football, and we've been loyal followers of the NFL for decades. So since that whole "if you express legitimate dissent then you hate America" thing has not yet migrated to pro sports, we feel free to reiterate that, if Young indeed got to take the same version of the Wonderlic on Sunday that he'd seen on Saturday, then this whole thing stinks to the highest levels of heaven.

In our opinion, there's ample proof here of a clumsy cover up that had more to do with mollifying Mack Brown and less to do with preserving the draft standing of Young. And the reason for it, in our opinion, is to help the major colleges continue to push through the Dexter Manleys of the world, who somehow can be on track to graduate from a university without being able to read or to write.

The sad truth is that college football isn't about the college, but about the football. These institutions make millions off of the toil and risks and the sometimes pretty faces of a bunch of guys who get pennies on the dollar in comparison to the revenue they generate.

Yeah, they get a free education. But maybe 10 percent of them ever even would have wanted that education.

And what is education without accountability? As we've all heard over the years, student-athletes get plenty of "special treatment" in order to stay north of a 2.0 (or whatever the minimum GPA is).

So the schools have little reason to change the guys who don't, never did, and never will want to learn. They need to enable them in order to ensure that they will be eligible.

Part of the enabling includes having coaches who will scream and shout whenever there's objective evidence, such as Young's initial Wonderlic result, which might fuel the perception that many of these guys aren't going to class, aren't studying, and aren't learning.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

vince young is so smart

 

[popacrobat]

chris mortonson seems to think that the level of play would imrpove in the NFL if they got rid of the cap, too... but then again, mort went to school with mr. baw, so we can't really trust his opinion

well 2007 is set to be a cap-less season unless some sort of agreement is reached this or next year that cancells that out.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

they'll have a deal... both sides in the NFL are too big a bunch of pussies to actually hold to something.

but when you're talking about a 30 billion dollar industry, i guess i'd be a pussy too

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

not a good week for U of T "student" athletes... first Young, then their point guard dribbles out the shot clock in the closing seconds of the game, down one.

hook 'em horns! brilliant!

 

[speedracer]

http://stanford.scout.com/2/481569.html

It's a little bit of a tangent, but this article examines graduation rates for D-I schools in football and basketball. Texas is in the bottom 10 in each. (The rates cover a four consecutive entering classes and allows them six years to graduate.)

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

looks like Texas needs to stopp hookin' horns and start gettin' hooked on phonics.

 

[phanan]

And people wonder why most Texas athletes end up sucking big time in the NFL...

 

[Chizip]

More Vincemania...

From PFT again:


"VINCE'S TEST SCORE YANKED


A league source tells us that the full report of the Wonderlic scores generated at the scouting combine contains one glaring omission.

There's no number listed for Texas quarterback Vince Young.

This news comes our way at the same time we're hearing rumblings that the 16 he supposedly scored in his Sunday do-over might not have been quite so high. At least one league insider is now under the impression that Young scored a six on Saturday and a seven on the re-test the next day.

From our perspective, we don't care what he scored on the test. Despite the fun we've had with the information this week, Vince seems like a smart, relatively articulate guy, and his performance and abilities on the field are obvious. Sure, there are concerns about his sidearm motion and his lack of experience taking snaps from under center. But the guy has proven to be a man among boys at the college level, and there's no real reason to think that he'll pull an Akili Smith or a Ryan Leaf at the next level.

With that said, our lingering concern continues to be the shameless manner in which the powers-that-be apparently are covering up the truth regarding Young's scores. If he really did re-take the test on Sunday and if he really did score a 16, why should the score be omitted from the full-blown combine report?

Instead, our guess is that Young's combine scores will never see the light of day, and that he'll take the thing one more time in connection with his March 22 pro day workout, and that that's the score that will reported to the teams.

Assuming it's not in the single digits."




Also, looks like a deal is close

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

At least one league insider is now under the impression that Young scored a six on Saturday and a seven on the re-test the next day.

 

[phanan]

Also, looks like a deal is close

Not anymore.

 

[DaveC]

Chris Mortensen announced on ESPN Radio last night at 1:30 am that the NFL and NFLPA had a "deal in principle" and all that was required was for ratification by the owners.

Or is he just a complete tool?

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

ask mr. baw...

 

[Chizip]

i really dont believe anything either sides are saying anymore. they are constantly lying to the fans and jerking us back and forth in order to gain an edge in negotiations.

i pretty much dont even care anymore.

theyre all fucking idiots.

 

[randhail]

at this rate where not going to have any free agency period. What's the point of a deadline if you keep extending it?

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

just get this crap figured out so that the giants can go sign a corner

 

[Hewson]

What's the point of a deadline if you keep extending it?

I'll tell you tomorrow.

 

[phanan]

I see they finally came to an agreement yesterday.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

yea something like 102 million cap... although some reports said 104.

all good news for the giants, who were already under the 94 million number... sam madison & lavar arrington

 

[phanan]

The Pats released Willie McGinest, which wasn't a surprise. I'm sure other teams like Dallas and Cleveland will try to woo him, but hopefully he'll re-sign with New England...

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Addressing one of their biggest offseason needs even before the free agent signing period officially commenced, the New York Giants on Friday reached agreement with former Miami Dolphins cornerback Sam Madison on a four-year contract.

 

[randhail]

you got yourself a steal in Madison. 4 years at just over 7 million? That's a move the Pats usually make.

 

[phanan]

I agree - great move by the Giants. I wish the Pats had gotten him.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

looks like lavar arrington might be next

his agent told a miami newspaper that he'd prefer to stay in the NFC East so he can play the Redskins once a year, and he's good friends with Antonio Pierce, and the Giants are interested and have the cap room to sign him.

he should meet with giants officials early next week.