Brad Cesmat
Sundays used to be fun days. It used to be that the game on the field mattered far more than off of it. The news of the week would be about the upcoming game or a players performance. Sundays used to be the amazing plays and the physical nature on the field. That’s no longer the case.
Jerry Jones is considering suing the NFL, concussions, anthem protests, Chargers leaving San Diego to a city that doesn’t support them, Ezekiel Elliott on-again off-again legal status, David Johnson, Odell Beckham, Aaron Rodgers, Andrew Luck, J.J. Watt, Deshaun Watson, Carson Palmer, Julian Edelman, Greg Olsen, Eric Berry and now Richard Sherman all off the field. One of the chief complaints I hear from fans is the quality of the NFL game and lack of star players. It’s bad for business when Josh McCown is still the starting quarterback for the New York Jets after Mark Sanchez(1st round bust in 2009) Geno Smith(1st round bust in 2013). I would take Josh on my team as an insurance policy, but I wouldn’t want to run through two first round busts at the position.
The Shield may have a new commissioner coming on board if Roger Goodell says enough is enough(he’s made plenty of dough). Imagine what the NFL might’ve looked like if a team had simply signed Kaepernick 12 months ago.. Many of you wouldn’t have liked the move, but I think the idea of a player like Kaepernick not being given a shot to play when the League has brought in a steady dose of those who simply aren’t good. It’s made the League look worse in my opinion. Just so we are clear, Goodell has kept the Kaepernick story alive for 15 months, with no resolution. Bad PR shouldn’t go on for that long. Ray Rice, Deflate gate, Spy gate, and Greg Hardy all took away from the game too. Yes, under the Goodell watch.
While the NFL is going through rough seas, ESPN is going through it’s second round of layoffs before the end of the year. Disney, which owns ESPN, has let go of 400 ESPN employees in the last two years. There has been some very smart media minds suggesting that ESPN would walk away from the NFL in the next round of television contract negotiations. Is the NFL a stock to buy or sell?
Watched both the Arizona and Arizona State games on Saturday night. The Wildcats win 49-28 over lowly Oregon State. Khalil Tate put up another jaw-dropping performance(over 200 yards rushing and 2tds) and Rich Rod’s team showed no hangover off the emotional loss at USC. The Wildcats were 3-8 a year ago, and now they’ve won 7 and are bowl eligible. 61 players on the Arizona roster are either freshman or redshirt freshman and many are getting valuable playing time.
UCLA beat Arizona State 44-37. No consistency out of this program in 2017(5-5 record). No pass rush on Josh Rosen. A couple of big drops by UCLA receivers, or the final score would’ve had ASU giving up almost 60. Two games left and still not bowl eligible. Scoreboard doesn’t lie…
