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Not really interested in any conspiracies, but that's just me. I just care about the Rams' ability to get down to business.
Michael Sam Discussion
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My bad. I misread you.
Angry Ram
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So a documentary is a distraction.
Is this a distraction too?
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap20...biographical-film?campaign=Facebook_atl_patra
Is this a distraction too?
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap20...biographical-film?campaign=Facebook_atl_patra
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No, because they won't be on his jock all through camp.
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Probably not the same as a rookie with an alternative lifestyle trying to do it. But I hope it distracts his whole team somehow.
Just curious.. 16 pages. Has anyone been able to persuade anyone elses opinion?
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Angry Ram
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Probably not the same as a rookie with an alternative lifestyle trying to do it. But I hope it distracts his whole team somehow.
It's still cameras. It's still something that showcases "him" rather than "team." It's still the same effin thing.
LesBaker
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He sure did and for good reason if they cut this deal without his knowledge or if they told him that "everything will be cool".
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The ramifications for the players involved isn't even close. If it distracts Lynch, he may have an off season, maybe even get cut next year to land on another team. If it distracts Sam, he may not even make the team and just might never play a regular season game in the NFL.
Angry Ram
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Nah man. The thing is about "distractions." Oh no, Hard Knocks is a "distraction". Documentaries are a "distraction." Honestly, I feel these things are so trivial that if a team can get "distracted" by it, something is seriously wrong mentally.
I said it before, unless it's some kinda of conflict b/w players, coaches, and/or owners...that is a legit distraction. Not this stuff involving cameras.
RamBill
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NFL notes: Kudos to Browns with Manziel, NFL with suspended Mathis
by Pat Kirwan
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/writer...handling-of-manziel-nfl-with-suspended-mathis
The NFL Draft is over and you would think the football business would slow down but there are always things going on that provide clues to the upcoming season and this week is no exception.
1. I like the Cleveland plan: The Browns organization knew there would be some backlash for not letting the national media in to watch Johnny Manziel practice but I like the way they handled the situation. It put the attention on the club and not the player. Until Manziel gets a grip on the job it helps him stay focused and away from issues he can't control like people reading into what he is doing at practice or speculating on how good or bad he looks at practice.
I've already read how Zach Mettenberger completed his first pass (a long bomb) or Derek Carr fumbled his first snap and those guys don't have near the spotlight Manziel has on him. I interviewed Johnny Football right after he was drafted and I was impressed with his attitude and plan to work his way into the NFL. Go watch his news conference from the practice facility and you will see a guy that knows he has to win the respect of the veterans and, as he said, "earn my keep." Those are words from a smart guy who does not want to turn off his teammates with self-promotion.
The day will come when he wins over his teammates and coaches and then we will see him as the leader and spokesman this club needs. GM Ray Farmer and coach Mike Pettine are helping Manziel, not hurting him, at this early stage of his development. Announcing him as the backup was brilliant and as Manziel said, "I don't want to be mediocre when I go out there."
Manziel called some of his off-field decisions at Texas A&M "reckless" but it doesn't appear he or the Browns intend on being reckless going forward. Monday I sit down with Farmer to discuss the plan and so far I'm in favor of it.
2. The Robert Mathis case: I have great respect for Mathis, the Colts linebacker. Here's a guy everyone loves to cheer for -- undersized kid from Alabama A&M, drafted in the third round in 2003, now a star in any defense Indy puts him in. I've interviewed Mathis a number of times and he is a first-class person who happens to have 117½ sacks in his 11 seasons (10.7 per season). His agent Hadley Englehard is a top-notch representative with whom I negotiated when I was in the business. NFLPA president Eric Winston is a man I consider a friend. But I can't stand on their side when it comes to Mathis and his four-game suspension.
Believe me, the NFL doesn't want to suspend a guy like Mathis but he left them no choice. Robert knowingly took a banned substance that he did not get checked out by an independent administrator or consult with the team doctor or training staff. The last thing the NFL can afford to do is ignore the rules and be sympathetic to the good guys or make exceptions for special cases unless the whole case is discussed before the player makes his choice. I'm sure there is truth to Mathis' fertility issues that led him to the banned substance but it wasn't even approved by the FDA for fertility in males. There will be similar cases going forward and I hope the player, his agent and the NFLPA president sit down with the proper medical people and the league to discuss their options before future decisions.
3. The light went on for Michael Sam: The Sam reality show/documentary series has been postponed and that's a good thing for a young man trying to battle the odds of a seventh-round pick making a team. Sam said he wanted to be judged as a football player and so he will be by leaving the reality show on the shelf for another time. Last year's 249th pick, quarterback Sean Renfree from Duke, made the Falcons. It is possible for Sam to stick with the Rams, but a total focus on the task at hand is necessary. The show was going to be an issue at this time, and in fact, it's a much better story if and when he makes a team, earns the respect of his veteran teammates and the coaches can tell the story of how he made the team. The NFL disputes the claim that it knew about the show before the draft, and that tells me that no negotiations for the rights to use NFL logos or names were ever held. That would have been a big hurdle to cross.
4. First-round deals easy to predict: The days of rookie holdouts and huge contracts are gone. Now it is simply a matter of putting a signature on the deals and getting to work even for the first-round players. The first two draft picks signed from Round 1 are tone setters for the rest of the round. No. 5 pick Khalil Mack signed a four-year deal for $18.677 million. The deal last year in the same spot was Ziggy Ansah to the Lions for $18.594 million. Mack got a raise of $83,000 over four years. Later in the round, at No. 14, Kyle Fuller signed his four-year deal for $9.687 million. The same spot last year went to Star Lotuleli for $9.604 million. Fuller got an $83,000 raise over four years.
With the table set it is easy to predict what follows. Jadeveon Clowney will work off the Eric Fisher deal that paid the Chiefs tackle $22.19 million over four years. Don't be surprised if Clowney's deal comes in at $23.02 million over four years. At the bottom of the round a year ago Matt Elam got $6.767 million over four years, which sure makes Teddy Bridgewater's deal look like $6.85 million over four. I remember when rookie deals took us into early August and agents would hold players out in fear of someone below them getting a better deal. There's no reason that all the first-round players in the class of 2014 can't be signed by June 1.
by Pat Kirwan
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/writer...handling-of-manziel-nfl-with-suspended-mathis
The NFL Draft is over and you would think the football business would slow down but there are always things going on that provide clues to the upcoming season and this week is no exception.
1. I like the Cleveland plan: The Browns organization knew there would be some backlash for not letting the national media in to watch Johnny Manziel practice but I like the way they handled the situation. It put the attention on the club and not the player. Until Manziel gets a grip on the job it helps him stay focused and away from issues he can't control like people reading into what he is doing at practice or speculating on how good or bad he looks at practice.
I've already read how Zach Mettenberger completed his first pass (a long bomb) or Derek Carr fumbled his first snap and those guys don't have near the spotlight Manziel has on him. I interviewed Johnny Football right after he was drafted and I was impressed with his attitude and plan to work his way into the NFL. Go watch his news conference from the practice facility and you will see a guy that knows he has to win the respect of the veterans and, as he said, "earn my keep." Those are words from a smart guy who does not want to turn off his teammates with self-promotion.
The day will come when he wins over his teammates and coaches and then we will see him as the leader and spokesman this club needs. GM Ray Farmer and coach Mike Pettine are helping Manziel, not hurting him, at this early stage of his development. Announcing him as the backup was brilliant and as Manziel said, "I don't want to be mediocre when I go out there."
Manziel called some of his off-field decisions at Texas A&M "reckless" but it doesn't appear he or the Browns intend on being reckless going forward. Monday I sit down with Farmer to discuss the plan and so far I'm in favor of it.
2. The Robert Mathis case: I have great respect for Mathis, the Colts linebacker. Here's a guy everyone loves to cheer for -- undersized kid from Alabama A&M, drafted in the third round in 2003, now a star in any defense Indy puts him in. I've interviewed Mathis a number of times and he is a first-class person who happens to have 117½ sacks in his 11 seasons (10.7 per season). His agent Hadley Englehard is a top-notch representative with whom I negotiated when I was in the business. NFLPA president Eric Winston is a man I consider a friend. But I can't stand on their side when it comes to Mathis and his four-game suspension.
Believe me, the NFL doesn't want to suspend a guy like Mathis but he left them no choice. Robert knowingly took a banned substance that he did not get checked out by an independent administrator or consult with the team doctor or training staff. The last thing the NFL can afford to do is ignore the rules and be sympathetic to the good guys or make exceptions for special cases unless the whole case is discussed before the player makes his choice. I'm sure there is truth to Mathis' fertility issues that led him to the banned substance but it wasn't even approved by the FDA for fertility in males. There will be similar cases going forward and I hope the player, his agent and the NFLPA president sit down with the proper medical people and the league to discuss their options before future decisions.
3. The light went on for Michael Sam: The Sam reality show/documentary series has been postponed and that's a good thing for a young man trying to battle the odds of a seventh-round pick making a team. Sam said he wanted to be judged as a football player and so he will be by leaving the reality show on the shelf for another time. Last year's 249th pick, quarterback Sean Renfree from Duke, made the Falcons. It is possible for Sam to stick with the Rams, but a total focus on the task at hand is necessary. The show was going to be an issue at this time, and in fact, it's a much better story if and when he makes a team, earns the respect of his veteran teammates and the coaches can tell the story of how he made the team. The NFL disputes the claim that it knew about the show before the draft, and that tells me that no negotiations for the rights to use NFL logos or names were ever held. That would have been a big hurdle to cross.
4. First-round deals easy to predict: The days of rookie holdouts and huge contracts are gone. Now it is simply a matter of putting a signature on the deals and getting to work even for the first-round players. The first two draft picks signed from Round 1 are tone setters for the rest of the round. No. 5 pick Khalil Mack signed a four-year deal for $18.677 million. The deal last year in the same spot was Ziggy Ansah to the Lions for $18.594 million. Mack got a raise of $83,000 over four years. Later in the round, at No. 14, Kyle Fuller signed his four-year deal for $9.687 million. The same spot last year went to Star Lotuleli for $9.604 million. Fuller got an $83,000 raise over four years.
With the table set it is easy to predict what follows. Jadeveon Clowney will work off the Eric Fisher deal that paid the Chiefs tackle $22.19 million over four years. Don't be surprised if Clowney's deal comes in at $23.02 million over four years. At the bottom of the round a year ago Matt Elam got $6.767 million over four years, which sure makes Teddy Bridgewater's deal look like $6.85 million over four. I remember when rookie deals took us into early August and agents would hold players out in fear of someone below them getting a better deal. There's no reason that all the first-round players in the class of 2014 can't be signed by June 1.
Boffo97
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As far as the documentary goes, I just hope Sam was told "You said you were just here to play football. We said don't do anything that any other 7th round pick doesn't do. Strike 1. Don't let it happen again."
Now regarding the idea of Hard Knocks being a distraction, it's not that having cameramen (and women) there in and of itself causes a distraction, but there's likely stuff that goes on at any NFL Training Camp that the team would rather have kept in secret rather than have dirty laundry exposed. Reality shows are definitely not famous for making their casts look good.
Now regarding the idea of Hard Knocks being a distraction, it's not that having cameramen (and women) there in and of itself causes a distraction, but there's likely stuff that goes on at any NFL Training Camp that the team would rather have kept in secret rather than have dirty laundry exposed. Reality shows are definitely not famous for making their casts look good.
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From Peter King's MMQB: 5/19/14
The Sam Chronicles, Chapter II
There will be plenty of drama for Michael Sam this summer, but it won’t come from the off-the-field documentary series Oprah was planning with Sam and his boyfriend, Vito Cammisano. (@Vitcamm)
In the end, Michael Sam did the right thing. He told coach Jeff Fisher and GM Les Snead that he was going to make his situation right, after the Rams were blindsided by the news of the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) planning a “docuseries” on his rookie year as the first openly gay NFL player. And OWN did the right thing too, in sitting down with the Rams Friday and not trying to convince club officials what a great show this was going to be.
OWN, I’m told, told the Rams they would happily postpone the series—or perhaps never do it—if that was the best thing for Sam’s attempt to make the team as a seventh-round defensive end this summer. The meeting Friday was only positive, I’m told, because OWN was clear that the only way it would do the series is if Sam wanted it and the Rams wanted it. And it’s just as clear that, for both sides, the series would be best done beginning next off-season, assuming Sam makes the team and plays some this year.
In some ways, it’s a shame we won’t see (at least now) the trials of Sam in this rookie year, the personal side of trying to be the first openly gay player fighting for a spot on the team. It would be compelling to see Sam at home with his boyfriend, and certainly a help to the LGBT community, dealing with what surely will be a stressful time in his life. But for Sam, it’s just better that it be postponed.
Why? Because Sam is a football player, a rookie trying to find his way onto a football team as an underdog low-round draft pick. Could it help him make the team, or help him make his mark? I don’t see how. But I do see how teammates could either resent him or be angry with him as a low man on the team totem pole. And Sam doesn’t need that. He needs to find his spot and be solely focused on making the team.
There is going to be enough of a sideshow—big media names and TMZ showing up at Rams Park, clamoring to get a Sam story or interview—without Sam voluntarily adding to it. At the scouting combine, Sam semi-pleaded with the media to see him as a football player and not as a gay football player. It would have been hypocritical for him, then, to seek that attention by having OWN cameras in his face off the field as he battled to succeed in his first year.
I’ve thought a lot about this story in the past week, as I’m sure everyone who follows football has. And the more I think about it, the more I think Sam landed in a perfect spot. Absolutely perfect. Four reasons why:
--------------------------------------------------
Mike Garafolo ✔ @MikeGarafolo
Follow
One of Oprah's producers had me sign a waiver after Tuesday's Michael Sam press conference. Does that mean I'm a distraction?
4:45 PM - 15 May 2014
The Sam Chronicles, Chapter II
There will be plenty of drama for Michael Sam this summer, but it won’t come from the off-the-field documentary series Oprah was planning with Sam and his boyfriend, Vito Cammisano. (@Vitcamm)
In the end, Michael Sam did the right thing. He told coach Jeff Fisher and GM Les Snead that he was going to make his situation right, after the Rams were blindsided by the news of the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) planning a “docuseries” on his rookie year as the first openly gay NFL player. And OWN did the right thing too, in sitting down with the Rams Friday and not trying to convince club officials what a great show this was going to be.
OWN, I’m told, told the Rams they would happily postpone the series—or perhaps never do it—if that was the best thing for Sam’s attempt to make the team as a seventh-round defensive end this summer. The meeting Friday was only positive, I’m told, because OWN was clear that the only way it would do the series is if Sam wanted it and the Rams wanted it. And it’s just as clear that, for both sides, the series would be best done beginning next off-season, assuming Sam makes the team and plays some this year.
In some ways, it’s a shame we won’t see (at least now) the trials of Sam in this rookie year, the personal side of trying to be the first openly gay player fighting for a spot on the team. It would be compelling to see Sam at home with his boyfriend, and certainly a help to the LGBT community, dealing with what surely will be a stressful time in his life. But for Sam, it’s just better that it be postponed.
Why? Because Sam is a football player, a rookie trying to find his way onto a football team as an underdog low-round draft pick. Could it help him make the team, or help him make his mark? I don’t see how. But I do see how teammates could either resent him or be angry with him as a low man on the team totem pole. And Sam doesn’t need that. He needs to find his spot and be solely focused on making the team.
There is going to be enough of a sideshow—big media names and TMZ showing up at Rams Park, clamoring to get a Sam story or interview—without Sam voluntarily adding to it. At the scouting combine, Sam semi-pleaded with the media to see him as a football player and not as a gay football player. It would have been hypocritical for him, then, to seek that attention by having OWN cameras in his face off the field as he battled to succeed in his first year.
I’ve thought a lot about this story in the past week, as I’m sure everyone who follows football has. And the more I think about it, the more I think Sam landed in a perfect spot. Absolutely perfect. Four reasons why:
- The Rams embrace the history of it. I can tell you with certainty that there was some regret in the Rams hierarchy that Sam’s rookie story won’t be told by OWN. Not enough to override the fact that the team really didn’t want it to be done. But the Rams are sure they’ll be a welcoming team and St. Louis a welcoming community for Sam. They’re fired up about the historical significance and the chance to show that a football team can be a change agent.
- There are not two better coaches in the league, in tandem, for this task than Jeff Fisher and Gregg Williams. Williams especially. He is The Name That Shall Not Be Mentioned In New Orleans and will be until he day he dies, because the Saints and their fans view him as a rat for spilling his guts about Bountygate. But Williams wants badly to resurrect his career and make his mark with a strong defense featuring a Williams persona. What better way than having a nickel pass-rusher playing 18 snaps a game in schemes isolating him to make plays, the kind of schemes Williams has been inventing for players throughout his career?
- Call it what you want. I will choose the word “ego.” Gregg Williams has the kind of ego to believe he can take a player with limited athleticism but good college production at a high level and put him in position to make NFL plays. I can’t wait to see what he has planned, frankly. As for Fisher, he’s a staunch league guy. He knows this is good for football and great for the NFL. He will do everything to give Sam the best chance to make it.
- Sam knows Missouri. Missouri knows Sam. Sam took a teammate to an LGBT parade in Missouri while at the university. He likes St. Louis. And St. Louis likes him back. Even those not empathetic to Sam the gay man from Missouri will want a positive light to shine on their state.
--------------------------------------------------
Mike Garafolo ✔ @MikeGarafoloFollow
One of Oprah's producers had me sign a waiver after Tuesday's Michael Sam press conference. Does that mean I'm a distraction?
4:45 PM - 15 May 2014
bluecoconuts
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I'd say Brockers and Donald, and arguably Langford are must keeps as well...