<p>
</p>
<p>Of course. That’s why I said in general. </p>
<p>There are always going to be pockets of ignorant donkeys but luckily they’re getting fewer and fewer. </p>
<p>Note that current commissioner Roger Goodell has an openly gay brother and that previous commissioner Paul Tagliabue has an openly gay son. Things are changing.</p>
<p>Here is a story about a legendary NFL coach’s actions back in the 1960s:
<a href=“Vince Lombardi would have been proud of Jason Collins - ESPN”>http://espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/story/_/id/9237535/vince-lombardi-proud-jason-collins</a></p>
<p>A more recent page from ESPN:
<a href=“Granderson: Michael Sam a novelty? Not really - ESPN”>http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10429956/michael-sam-novelty-not-really</a></p>
<p>Notrichenough: Most Mainstream Protestant churches do not condemn “homosexual behavior”. In fact, the United Church of Christ Book of Worship has a marriage service for same sex couples. </p>
<p>My understanding (which could be wrong since I am not a member) is that individual UCC congregations decide for themselves. UCC is pretty small, too.</p>
<p>In any case, I don’t know if I would agree with the statement that “most” do not condemn homosexual behavior. There is an awful lot of red on this chart:</p>
<p><a href=“List of Christian denominational positions on homosexuality - Wikipedia”>List of Christian denominational positions on homosexuality - Wikipedia;
<p>Scanning through the text above the chart indicates that in many of the churches that are “accepting”, it was controversial and the decision was a very narrow victory.</p>
<p>It’s kind of shocking how overt religion is in the NFL:</p>
<p>
<a href=“Super Bowl 2014: Religion runs deep for many NFL players and teams - nj.com”>Super Bowl 2014: Religion runs deep for many NFL players and teams - nj.com;
<p>I’ve worked for a lot of companies, and not one had a “company chaplain” or held services at work or had a chaplain accompanying employees on business trips or at trade shows or whatever.</p>
<p>Perhaps all the forms of Christianity practiced and tacitly supported by the teams are the inclusive ones. Then there won’t be a problem.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I agree. I said it in the other thread, these guys so fearful a gay player is going to mistake them for being homosexual really need to get over themselves.</p>
<p>I think the “fear” is more that the gay playing around isn’t actually a joke. To explain, we focus on slurs and use of the word gay but the interior of a locker room is more a boys club where physical jokes are important. To be frank, often the huger and more intimidating the person, the more there’s pretend gayness; it’s part of the macho culture that you’re secure enough around your peers to joke about man loving or some other boyish way of doing that kind of humor. The issue some of these guys have is that maybe this is for real, maybe someone will think they’re for real gay, and that maybe they won’t be able to act like usual. My take: in a few days, it passes and the guys start to act like the children they are in the locker room. </p>
<p>I heard a retired player on the radio yesterday who said that he knew of players who were out to their teammates, but they all kept it hidden publicly to avoid the distraction. As mentioned above, all they cared about was if he could help them win.</p>
<p>Hard not to love some of these moves.
Golden Tate to the Lions.
Sproles to the Eagles.
Decker to the Jets.</p>
<p>And Wow
Steve Smith gone from Panthers.
Wilfork asked to be released. Is being released now hip?</p>
<p>Every Lions fan should hate Suh by now.
(I’ve hated him for a long time). </p>
<p>Wilfork’s issue is, I think, a bit more complicated than talk radio soundbites. This is his last year. It’s at $7.5M. If he’s cut, he costs the team money against the cap, so the net freeing up of $$ would be about $4M.</p>
<p>I’m guessing Wilfork’s goal would be to play out this year, which is a comeback from achilles surgery, and then become a free agent. He will be 33 in November. </p>
<p>If he gets his release, I suspect he won’t sign a long term deal but would play for short money so he could try to score in free agency. I think the issue then must be the length of the extension the Patriots want because he would be losing money this year and then hoping he’ll more than make it up in the next years. If the Patriots want to extend him, they might be looking to add 2 more years but then Wilfork would be 35 looking at 36 without nearly as much earnings potential. </p>
<p>Since we don’t know what they’ve talked about, it’s hard to say who has the numbers right. As I’m seeing it, Wilfork’s value has dropped more than perhaps he wants to believe.</p>
<p>Wilfork wanting to leaving is sad.
I was surprised Revis took a deal based on what some of the other corners got. </p>
<p>From what I read, Wilfork’s cap hit is around $11 million this year. If they cut him they remove his entire $7.5 million from the cap, and would have $3.5-ish million in dead money.</p>
<p>I’ll hate to see him go, but at his age, coming off a torn Achilles… this is a 350+ lb man we are talking about, who knows how good his recovery will be.</p>
<p>Wilfork’s $3.5 million “dead money” is on the books whether he plays or not. The issue is whether he is worth the $7.5 million in NEW cap money to play out the final year of his contract. At 400 pounds, there’s no guarantee he will even be able to play this year, coming off a very serious injury (torn Achilles tendon) and, if he can play, at what level?</p>
<p>I had the figures wrong. The dead money is indeed $3.6M. But the issue remains the same: if he walks, I can’t imagine he gets much of a contract now, certainly not a long-term commitment with good guaranteed money. If he signs for an incentive contract, he might make less than half his $7.5M (+$500k reachable bonuses, I gather) for this year. He then has to make up that ~$4M in the next contract. I’m not sure that would happen unless the Patriots wanted a lot from him. We don’t know what happened there or whether there was any negotiation at all.</p>
<p>I’ve heard a lot of guff about Revis’ contract “upsetting” Vince. I don’t get that. Revis is Revis. He signed a 2 year contract for $16M a year, which is his price, but he deferred $4M to the 2nd year to make it a one year deal that lets him say he’s getting $16M a year. Nose tackles aren’t paid that much. And they seem to be losing value in the marketplace. BJ Raji, who is sort of a nose tackle, looks to be getting $4M for 1 year. The money seems to be going to sack guys but even DeMarcus Ware is getting $10M a year counting bonuses. It’s all guaranteed but that was the exchange for a relatively short 3 year deal. What could Wilfork get on the market a year from now? Ware is going to be 32 in July, so the deal ends when he’s only 35, which is how old Wilfork will be in a year. </p>
<p>Steve Smith goes to Baltimore. Got a big number for a 35 yr old receiver.
Do you think “Put your goggles on” might be the catch-phrase of 2014?
Julius Peppers to GreenBay.Daniels, Raji, Peppers looks like a pretty decent pass-rush front. I envision they’ll spell Peppers a lot with Datone Jones and other younger guys. It could be a nice pickup depending on how they plan to use him.
Emmanuel Sanders to the Broncos.
Elway continues to be upset about Feb. 2 and not satisfied to have played on Feb. 2 and doing all he can to fix things to make the outcome next Feb. 1 different. I like that Sanders has speed. Doesn’t he have a knack for making killer mistakes? Would you have kept Decker?</p>
<p>Well, that did not take too long!</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/college-sports/texas-longhorns/20140626-national-writer-during-awkward-speech-charlie-strong-shows-he-s-no-mack-brown.ece”>http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/college-sports/texas-longhorns/20140626-national-writer-during-awkward-speech-charlie-strong-shows-he-s-no-mack-brown.ece</a></p>
<p>Not totally unexpected. The latest moves in Austin might turn out to be very costly. A great part of the financial success of the football program came from the popularity of its head coach with the local coaches, and the report with the players. The “new” discipline might attract some, but chances are that many will find the Strong message unappealing. </p>
<p>Hope for the best, but expect the worse. I do not think Strong will last too darn long in Texas, and will leave the program in shambles. </p>
<p>You’re probably right, but my friends have grown weary of the underachieving Book 'Em Horns and are willing to give Strong a lot of rope. Of course, I have a longtime love affair with the highly successful, no-drama Spurs and their less-than-charming coach. I prefer results to big personalities.</p>
<p>Charlie Strong is a great college football coach. He has a proven track record as a motivator, recruiter, winner. His success will be measured on scoreboards, not by how many booster fannies he can kiss in Texas. </p>
<p>Lizard, that is an overly simplistic appraisal of how success is measured in Texas. It goes beyond scores. I guess you missed the part that Strong audience were mostly coaches. It is important for Texas to be the recruiting leader in Texas, and both the former underlings have been stealing UT’s thunder recently. </p>
<p>I think Strong is a good coach, but I think he was as bad a choice as UT new AD was. </p>