Where even do I start, y’all!
Donald Trump is reportedly tearing apart the NFL. Buffalo coach Rex Ryan is a big Trump supporter and the rest of the Bills players are, well, not. It hasn’t really had much impact on Buffalo’s team, but maybe something to keep an eye on as the election moves closer.
One Bills player is on record, though, as supporting Trump and Ryan: Richie Incognito. Incognito is best known for his role in a bullying scandal when he was with the Dolphins and for being the living embodiment of a can of Axe Body Spray. So yeah, Incognito is not someone you want in your corner.
Here. Read this article: http://thelab.bleacherreport.com/donald-trump-is-tearing-the-nfl-apart/
Speaking of Buffalo: The Bills host the 49ers this weekend and San Francisco is starting Colin Kaepernick at quarterback for the first time all year. I probably don’t need to rehash the controversy around Kaepernick and his kneeling before the National Anthem, but it has probably rubbed a few people the wrong way.
I’ll be (not—not at all—not at fucking all) be looking forward to seeing the kind of reception Kaep gets when he steps on the field. Expect lots of booing and probably a lot of racist language and then a lot more booing.
Speaking of language, the presidential debate reminded me that some people think words don’t matter. This weekend in Buffalo when people say horrible shit about Kaepernick every time he touches this ball, I hope we remember that those words have weight, that racist language is destructive. When hordes of Twitter Eggs inevitably tweet the n-word after Kaepernick throws an interception, remember that those words matter and that kind of language is unacceptable and Freedom of Speech is not Freedom From Consequences. If you publicly denigrate someone for their stances on the need for racial justice using coded or uncoded racist language, you are responsible for the consequences. If you get fired from your job—good, your workplace will be a safer and more respectful place with you gone.
I’ve also seen a lot of shitty jokes on The Internet about Kaepernick getting the ball and kneeling. HAHA. SO ORIGINAL. WHERE DID YOU COME UP WITH THAT.
I hope Kaepernick does kneel on the field. I hope at the end of the game his team is winning and they are able to kneel the ball to run the clock out. A normal, every day occurrence in the NFL, but it will anger so many people on the Anti-Colin side of things. Plus, it will mean that Kaepernick won the game and we can stop hearing the rumors that some 49ers players want him already benched for Bad White QB Christian Ponder.
Tom Brady & Unions
On a different note, Tom Brady returned from a four game suspension.
That suspension was issued a long time ago. In January 2015, rumors swirled that the Patriots had illegally tampered with the PSI of the footballs being used in their playoff game against the Colts, lowering the pressure to make the balls easier to throw.
Deflategate. Ballghazi.
Brady was suspended for his role in it, which amounted to maybe he knew about it and orchestrated it and because he didn’t hand over his cellphone to investigators to prove otherwise, he was guilty of it and suspended the first four games of 2015.
He sued. It went to court. Various appeals happened. Brady was unsuspended until the court system made their final decision. That came before this season, when the suspension was again upheld and Brady decided not to take the NFL to the Supreme Court. He missed the first four games. New England went 3-1 over that time.
Over time, the case shifted from being about deflated footballs to being about the authority of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to unilaterally punish players. Because the last ruling upheld the suspension, yes—yes he can. The league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement essentially gives Goodell the power to suspend players for any actions deemed to be “against” the NFL and there is probably nothing that can be done about that until the next CBA is negotiated. Who knows what will happen then.
The NFL Player’s Union is probably one of the most powerful unions in America and it proved nearly useless in the Deflategate saga. I wonder—what does this say about the lasting power of the union as an organizing force in the contemporary American workplace? So many states have already pursued anti-union legislation. College players have been barred from unionizing. If the NFL players are helpless against Goodell’s power, will other union members continue to lose power in other areas of work and labor?
Also there is an Arby’s commercial about their new sandwich looking like a deflated football. What is the world.
FOOTBALL FOOTBALL FOOTBALL
- This Ringer article about the evolving roles of pass catching running backs
- The Patriots are really back with Brady, though they never really went anywhere either.
- Okay, the Browns should really just try starting Terrelle Pryor at QB. He might struggle with accuracy on his throws, but he could be a really good threat with the ball always in his hand.
- The Texans offense is very very not good.
- The Vikings defense is very very actually good.
- BRIAN HOYER HAS THREE STRAIGHT GAMES WITH OVER 300 YARDS PASSING WHAT IS HAPPENING
- Would Hoyer can been a better starting QB for Houston than Osweiler?
- Also the whole league is getting hurt.
- Also Odell Beckham caught his first TD of the year and he kissed the kicking net that he’d kicked a few weeks back. It was a cute moment and sports talk radio immediately used it as a way of talking about his immaturity because his team was losing when he did it and obviously if you are losing you have to stare forward with a blank face and never do anything ever.
