THE NFL PLAYERS STRIKE

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/07/17
Posted in: Conversations, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Players, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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WITH the recent edition of NBA contracts coming out, some NFL players are reacting as if football players are poorly paid. Players like Seattle Seahawk DB Richard Sherman, think that NFL players should strike, in order to get contracts more in line with NB and MLB athletes. That is not only an incorrect assessment of the situation, it’s outright bullshit to boot. So you can relax. There won’t be a strike.

Due to the current CBA, the NFL is on the hook to share 48% of the 13 billion in revenue that it made in 2016, with the league’s 1800 players. That breaks down to something like $3,466,666 per man, or per average contract. It’s this agreement that helped the NFLPA realize that the NFL’s financial obligation was 120M$ light to players in 2015, for which they sued and quickly were ordered to repay.

Let me ask you. Do you and your co-workers see 48% of what your company makes? Unless you’re in a unique situation, your answer was “No”. Probably an emphatic “No”, accompanied by a frown, or a derisive laugh, or a choice expletive. When workers get 48% of their company’s whole take, that is not underpaid. In America we call that “Quit whining, asshole!” (Let’s not even get into their benefits packages, which includes a perk of giving millionaires steep discounts on the tickets, that you’d pay through the nose for.)

Football is my favorite sport. I love it well ahead of any other sport, (and even ahead of some family members), but truth is truth. MLB players play 162 games per year and that league made 10 billion in 2016. NBA players play 82, and that league made 8 billion. NFL players play 16 and the NFL made 13 billion. Despite playing more games the NBA and MLB make less revenue, and thus have less total money to split between owners and players. This means that while some NBA and MLB players make a killing, there are far more players “taking haircuts” in these leagues, than there are in the NFL.

I’m guessing that the average NFL athlete will not want to trade hefty revenue sharing, for more low level and fewer guaranteed contracts, just to facilitate a few sky-high deals. I’m 99.9% certain that few players would vote to ratify any negotiated agreement that screws everyone except a handful of stars. Guys like Richard Sherman will be okay in that scenario. Players like (insert any Eagles CB) for instance, would get screwed like the brothel’s newest, underage whore.

However it’s a non-starter anyway. NFL owners are not about to split revenue 50-50 with their employees. It wouldn’t be about dollar figures either. It would be about saving face, and being able to say that they are still the bosses. That they, not the players, run the league. The owners will not part with that for any dollar figure.

So this issue is a non-starter, and it’s likely one instance where the NFLPA might actually talk their members down for a change. So again, relax. Football will arrive in your town on schedule.

TALKING ABOUT MYSELF

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/07/06
Posted in: Conversations, Rants, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

Sam Eric (Boyd)Theater - 1994

RARELY do I ever talk about myself beyond my history as a football player, or my love for writing. However, with Training Camp being weeks away, I find myself thinking a lot about things that aren’t football. So I figured why not share some of those thoughts.

WARNING! OLD FART RANTING AHEAD!

Sitting here, staring down the barrel of turning 42, it occurs to me that my odds of ever being the #1 overall NFL draft pick, might be starting to decline. No, really! I think my odds are slipping. Perhaps I should start getting in shape now. Oh yeah, and enroll in a college. Nah! I can put it off another year. Besides, someone has to eat these cheese steaks and Beiler’s doughnuts. And this beer won’t drink itself, right? Don’t worry folks! I’ll step up and take this one for the team. (You see that? I’m a goddamned American HE-ro!)

What would make more sense, is for me to show up to the NovaCare Center and tell them I’d like to fill out an application for team Owner. Of course it’s common sense to think that I’d get laughed out of the building. While that’s a safe bet, I can’t help but wonder what I’d do if someone (with a straight face) handed me an application.

I probably don’t have the qualifications to own an NFL team. So it might be better to stick to jobs that any unqualified idiot can get. So this is me deciding to run for President in 2020. My slogan will be “NEVER AGAIN!” My campaign promises will include:

1) The public flogging of Roger Goodell.

2) Having mascots visit more schools, hospitals, and prisons.

3) Establishing a quality of life police force. (Loud talking on cell phones, visible muffin tops, sandals with ugly feet, wearing clothes two sizes too small, taking up two parking spaces, etc. All ticketable offenses.)

4) Converting some of the Defense budget into a middle class tax cut, and moving the income tax return period from March to October, to help retailers when they need it most.

That will all have to wait a couple years though. In the meantime, I’m just going to continue to write, consume food and football, torment my rivals, and persecute those who butcher the (American version of the) English language.

EAGLES INTIMIDATING THE NFL

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/07/05
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, NFL, Players. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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THOSE who said they’d like OLB Mychal Kendricks either traded or released, may want to pump the brakes. He could be instrumental in helping us punk the NFL. Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz recently said, if the Defense can’t cover a pass-catching RB, that we’ll just blitz more to “keep his ass” in pass protection.

To do something like that takes two things.

First, Schwartz needs a horse he can ride. That means he needs a LB who can pass rush. One who can beat the blocks of TE’s and RB’s, and the occasional O-lineman. News flash! Kendricks has already proven himself adept at all of that. Every piece of it. Better still, he’s done it both on the inside and on the edge. This means he can be moved around, which makes him harder to game plan for. Better still, he’s already under contract. Schwartz’s new philosophy turns Kendricks from a liability into an asset.

Having the right player is great, but it isn’t the most important part needed to make this work. Second and more importantly, the DC needs the will to force teams to commit their RB to pass protection.

This part takes nerves, balls, and a thick skin. This philosophy requires the DC to play the part of the villain. He has to be willing to make enemies that will cost him future job opportunities. He must be willing to be eternally reviled as a devil by some, and worshiped as a god by others. He must become Buddy Ryan 2.0.

Look, every snap of a football player’s career comes with risk. Every single one. However, there is a difference between a possible catastrophe, and a countdown to one. The human body will only absorb so much punishment before it cannot perform well. Every blitz that results in a full speed hit on a QB, scares an opposing coaching staff, regardless of whether or not the QB completes that pass.

Allowing too many high speed hits on a QB, has a way of jeopardizing entire seasons. So trying to minimize the amount of abuse their QB takes, will be why teams keep that RB in to block. Schwartz is putting this out there now, to make sure that opponents know the risk they run, if they try to involve RB’s in the passing game.

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I love that, because it’s a clear attempt at intimidation. As I said in THE 12 this year, we have to “Make Fear Our Ally”. In the article, I go into the reasons why we need to do this, and it seems like the Eagles coaching staff is somehow, eerily on the same page as me. Imagine that. (Yet again it seems like an Eagles staff member may have come across an article or two of mine. If that’s the case, I was at Broad and South for the Phillies parade. Wonder where I’ll stand during the one for the Eagles.)

Of course (and I say this part with the assumption that an Eagles staffer is reading it), the benefits I spoke of in THE 12, will not happen if the Eagles do not have the will to follow through on what Schwartz has now put out there. 31 NFL teams have been put on notice now, and whether or not we follow through will determine if they laugh at us or are intimidated by us.

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SURPRISES AMONG EAGLES RECEIVERS

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/07/01
Posted in: Conversations, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Offense, Players. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

FUCK YEAH

DORIAL Green-Beckham being cut is no surprise in itself. I mean at some level in part, it’s just a numbers game. Like last year, the Eagles are probably only keeping 5 or 6 active WR’s. Three of those will be Alshon Jeffrey, Torrey Smith and Jordan Matthews. So beyond that, every name on the roster was and will be, up in the air until final cuts are made on September 2nd.

I was pleasantly surprised by part of the news surrounding Green-Beckham being waived. It’s to be expected that the Law Firm (Jeffrey, Smith and Matthews)* would be ahead of Green-Beckham on the depth chart. What I was surprised by, was that Bryce Treggs was also listed ahead of him.

Last year on Treggs’s first NFL catch, he hauled in a 58 yard pass (and nearly scored), right down the middle of the giants defense. It was the shot in the arm that our deep passing game had needed so badly. Suddenly it looked like we might have stumbled onto a deep threat. At which point Treggs basically disappeared. For whatever reason, he was used on more modest routes, and on Jet Sweeps.

It also didn’t help that in 12 targets last year, he only caught 3 of them. (No, the other 9 weren’t drops.)

This offseason when we signed Torrey Smith as our resident deep threat, it seemed the book had been closed on Treggs. There was no way that he would get into the top six, right? Not with the Law Firm, Nelson Agholor, Green-Beckham, and RB/WR Byron Marshall, all ahead of him.

However, the release of Green-Beckham now clears a seat at that table for Treggs. It also gives an outside shot to guys like rookie Mack Hollins, and to working class hero, Paul Turner. My favorite part, is what it could do for the team. You say that you hadn’t thought about that part? Well get ready to smile like an idiot.

Treggs possesses DeSean Jackson-type speed and acceleration (but without the change of direction skills). Still, the idea of having both him AND Smith… I’ve been an Eagles fan since 1989 (put away the calculator, that’s almost 28 years), and at no point during that span has this team EVER had two deep threats like this, on the roster at one time. Provided that Treggs can beat out Agholor or Marshall, the sky could be the limit for this Offense.

It’s funny. All this talk about our WR’s, yet QB Carson Wentz receiving so many new weapons, could end up being the NFL’s greatest catch of the year.

 

*Law Firm! I coined it! Now when people ask where that nickname got started, you can tell ’em that you were there at the beginning, and helped spread the name around. And yes, I’m aware that the nickname was used by BenJarvus Green-Ellis already. However, if the Jets can steal ‘Gang Green’, and the giants can steal ‘Thunder and Lightning’, then we can boost a nickname too.

LET’S MAKE SOME DEALS

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/06/28
Posted in: Conversations, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Players, Roster, trade. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

TRADING or outright releasing. That’s what most of us thought would happen with OLB Mychal Kendricks, RB Ryan Mathews, and C Jason Kelce, prior to the 2017 Draft. As of today (6.28.17) all three are still Eagles. The thinking was that the Front Office would want to free up cap space, to continue this rebuild with players who better fit what we’ll be doing.

The hope was for us to offer a couple trade packages (consisting of one of these players and a pick), to help us move up a few spots in the same round of the 2017 Draft. Well, nothing of that sort happened. Hence not one, not two, but all three of those guys are still here. Six points to you if you saw that coming. (Bonus two points to anyone who thought we’d take a DE in the first round.)

I got to wondering what fans think we should do with those guys now, but I didn’t want to ask too broad of a question. I decided to break it into three pieces and then review the parts next week. So I posed a question in EAGLES MANIACS (my Eagles Facebook group), and a few other Eagles groups to which I belong. This is that question:

TRADE MATHEWS

My initial plan was to ask two more questions, but what I saw disturbed me, and I thought it needed addressing immediately. The percentage of fans who thought we should just cut both Mathews and Kendricks, was distressing to say the least.

Eagles fans may be frustrated with them, but Mathews and Kendricks are solid NFL veterans. They wouldn’t spend long in an unemployment line. They’d be fine and we’d be fine, but that’s not the point. That’s not the problem. What bugged me is how many people were willing to accept low-ball, or no-ball offers for these players. Fans were literally ASKING for this team to get hosed on a trade, or worse, get nothing at all for arming another team. For example:

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Releasing them for nothing would just be stupid. Just plain stupid. Giving away talent was something we hated about TIK , remember? First, because we’d be giving away solid players for no compensation. Secondly, if the Eagles cut any of them, we’re still on the hook for paying them this season. It would take a trade (with specific language included) to remove the Eagles financial obligation to these players.

What makes more sense is to find away to move these players prior to camp. Waiting for a camp injury leaves too much to chance, and puts us in the position of almost wishing for some hardworking players to get hurt. That’s classless and wrong, so we won’t do that. (It’s Eagles, not vultures.) The smart thing would be to move these players before a team needs them. (By the way: This would help us out with future trades. ASK ME HOW!)

Ryan Mathews for example. We could partner with a team that has no depth at RB (Detroit, Green Bay); or a team who’s RB is 150 years old (New York (J), Indianapolis); or a team still trying to determine if they have a legitimate RB in their stable (Denver).

There are options on the table. We just need to take one sooner than later.

 

WHY IS PHILLY BOASTING?

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/06/24
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, Fans, NFL, Offense, Players, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

I’M excited about the mental development of Carson Wentz, as he makes an effort to be a legitimate franchise QB. I’m ecstatic over the acquisition of G Chance Warmack. I’m extremely happy with the extensions given to T Jason Peters, and C/G Stefen Wisniewski. The addition of DE Chris Long makes us deep with talented pass rushers, and DT Timmy Jernigan will make sure you won’t miss Bennie Logan. We added a ton of proven NFL talent during this offseason.

That all being said, what is with all this boasting already? It’s true. Last week I said we were about to undergo a massive evolutionary jump as a team, but pump the brakes, folks! Pump the brakes! Didn’t we just go 7-9? (Wait no.) Didn’t we just go 7-9, twice? Look, I’m all about optimism and whatnot, but talking to Eagles fans these days, you’d think we were already 14-1 and heading into Week 17. Let’s keep this **** in perspective shall we?

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Most of the talk right now is on how WR Alshon Jeffery will come in and change the Offense by giving Wentz a “big time #1”, “a legit go-to guy”, and “a stud WR”. Well what the fuck? Wasn’t Jeffrey all those things in Chicago when they went 8-8, 5-11, 6-10 and 3-13? This is the same Jeffrey with 26 career touchdowns in 63 career games, right? (This is the part where people blame Jay Cutler, without realizing that in Chicago, Cutler with Jeffery (2012-2016) was more of less the exact same QB without him (2009-2011). Proof you say? Take a look here.)

Let me hip you all to something very important. How Jeffery plays is neither here nor there. It’s not the big issue. Nope. Not even close. The big issue is coverage. (Not pass rush as Sal Palantonio said it is, but coverage.)

Last year, because our CB’s couldn’t even stay with their shadows, our pass rushers didn’t get as many sacks as their talent would indicate they should have. Oh sure, we got a ton of hurries, but a hurry is what they call it when you get to the QB a second too late. (Either that or a penalty.) This season will come down to how consistently (key word!) our coverage can buy 3 and a half seconds for our pass rush. That’s it. That’s the whole season, right there.

Better coverage equals more sacks and turnovers, equals shorter drives, equals fewer chances for opponents to get into scoring range, equals fewer points by touchdown OR field goal, equals fewer points allowed, equals improved chances to win any game we play. All of that starts with coverage, because even great rush (as we saw last year) will be thwarted by quick and easy completions. Not quick and easy throws, but completions.

Unfortunately, no one (but me) seems to want to have that discussion. In a division with Eli Manning, Kirk Cousins, and (to a lesser extent) Dak Prescott, the idea of Defense hardly seems to be a subject around here. That’s disturbing, given it’s importance to the Eagles 2017 season.

Let me repeat a few points I made in my last article. I said to sit back and enjoy the next few years. I said this team’s evolution is a process. I said what we must undergo and undertake cannot be faked, nor simulated. While it would be nice to ride this offseason to a playoff berth, it would be foolish to go around expecting it. (At which point people will act like the Eagles somehow let them down again.)

There is much left to be done before we fans can strut around like we own the division. It’s been years now since we won the East. Years. We don’t own any form of valid bragging rights anymore. You claim bragging rights when you win, and NOT before. That doesn’t mean you can’t talk trash, but until our team can break .500 again, it might be wise to pump the brakes with the boasting.

LET’S HANG OUT

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/06/17
Posted in: Conversations, NFL, Offense, Players, Roster, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

CARSON Wentz just took another step towards becoming a franchise QB. He invited some of his teammates to hang out at his place. In the break between OTA’s and Training Camp, Wentz will be hosting a week-long passing camp for skill position players, at his home in Fargo, North Dakota. I’ve been wishing for an Eagles QB to do this since Donovan McNabb used to host teammates at his home in Arizona.

A couple years ago, I criticized Nick Foles (our then starter), for not doing this. McNabb did it to become a franchise QB and perennial playoff contender. Wentz is doing it and becoming a franchise QB. Foles didn’t do it and became a Rams back-up. then a Chiefs back-up. Now he’s an Eagles back-up.

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There will be no Defense at Wentz’s home. No one will wear pads. In many ways this will seem lesser work than the OTA’s. However, it’s infinitely more important. This will help the QB and the receivers work on chemistry, and timing. They’ll get to talk about the playbook as well as the Offense’s base concepts. They’ll get to teach each other, and gain more insight as they do. More importantly they’ll get a chance to get inside of each other’s head, and get a chance to understand what their teammates see pre-snap. More importantly, they’ll get a glimpse into why their teammates see it.

For those of you who don’t know this game the way I do, let me give you some good news: Our team is about to undergo a massive evolutionary step. Wentz was handed the role of starter last year, but the role of leader must be earned. This is him earning it. This is him stepping up and wanting it.

There’s an old expression that goes “Women communicate verbally, but men communicate shoulder to shoulder”. In the sun, in the heat, through his toil, Wentz will be shoulder to shoulder with his teammates. He will be earning his mantle of Leader, in the eyes of those he plays with. I can tell you firsthand, there is no substitute for that. None. This process cannot be faked, nor simulated. There are no shortcuts to greatness.

Howie Roseman said we would be blown away by Wentz’s intangibles, and I have to say that Howie nailed the hell out of that assessment. Wentz’s intangibles (ability to assimilate and utilize new information, commitment to his craft, even keel nature, ability to engender respect from his teammates, etc.) are all top-notch. I think Roseman overestimated Wentz’s athletic ceiling, but in any case it’s still seems higher than the athletic ceilings for Trent Dilfer, Brad Johnson, and Eli Manning. All of whom have won Super Bowls with lesser physical gifts than Wentz possesses.

I say that, to say this: Dear fellow fans. Sit back and prepare to enjoy the next few years at least. Our team is on the way up, because Carson Wentz just took another step towards becoming a franchise QB.

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