Rodgers won't listen to Tomlin, get real.

Rodgers listens only to the voices in his head. And if they go quiet, he cranks up the ayahuasca.

If Aaron Rodgers doesn’t want attention, why is he doing Pat McAfee’s show in June?

Brett Favre acted funny late in his career as well.

Aaron Rodgers ONLY wants attention. Anything coming from his mouth needs to pass through that filter. 

The off season discussions are easy to summarize:

Cowboys, Cowboys, Cowboys, Cowboys, Cowboys, Cowboys, Cowboys, Cowboys, Aaron Rodgers

Draft

Cowboys, Cowboys, Cowboys, Cowboys, Cowboys, Cowboys, Cowboys, Cowboys

Hall of Fame Inductions

Cowboys, Cowboys, Cowboys, Cowboys, Cowboys, Cowboys, Cowboys, Cowboys. 

That’s a lot of discussion about a team with 2 playoff wins in 10 years. 

I nominate them to be Mexico's Team.

To usher in their big beautiful purchase of NFL.com (including and especially NFL’s fantasy football), ESPN decided to advertise heavily for the new fantasy season. Starting yesterday evening, the  Sports Center screen was adorned heavily with a static ad for fantasy football. Not a little banner on the bottom or a modest side panel — over 50% of the screen was dominated by this ad. The actual program was reduced to an afterthought. 

I turned it off immediately and tuned in the Canadian version. 

My God, ESPN. what have you become?

Apparently ESPN has morphed into a version of (the channel formerly known as) The Weather Channel.  They *used* to have sports, but now it's whatever cheap thing they can throw at the wall.  Yes, I happened to see that fantasy football thing.  Gag-o-matic.  So........checked out The Deuce.  Possibly worse???  Some sort of mini-series(?) of Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos and their adventure involving an Italian(?) soccer team [incidental diversion away from the title of this thread].  What?!?  With a *plethora* of real sports going on, they throw up that garbage?!?  Used to be that I could find a baseball game on 2 or 3 channels virtually every night, should I have been so inclined.  Not now; almost never.  Has this streaming stuff captured all that action?  Good gracious, if that's the case.  So yes, the self-immolation of ESPN marches ever forward.

Cowboys shoot themselves in the foot and are forced to trade Micah Parsons to the Packers. 

Jerry Jones says they got rid of one of the best pass rushers in the NFL because they wanted to change their emphasis to stopping the run. 

How’s that working for you, Jerry?

Kamasi Washington performed the Star Bangled Banner at the season opener in Brazil. 👍👍👍

https://youtu.be/PWaX80WoBRY?si=ifmzyLnBezp4IXLv

His was the last concert I saw before the Covid shutdown. Fantastic. 

Philly Cream Cheeseheads troll Green Bay. 

McCarthy just can't let it go...two sacks and two interceptions would be preferable QB stats.

If Texans beat KC, do we get to see fan in attendance tear up maybe?

KC might be toast.  In the meantime, if you are into sports gambling, I’d suggest betting on the Seattle Seahawks to win the Super Bowl.  They seem the best team so far but their odds as eventual winners are advantageous.  They have outplayed ALL of their opponents in every game this year.  Just three brain farts from Sam Darnold are keeping them from being undefeated.  But, maybe that’s a good thing since we know Sam Darnold is going to have brain farts.  The question is: has he gotten them all out of his system for the year or not?

Pari-mutual is cool, it lets one take goggle-eyed superfans' hard-earned though wasted cash.

Wilbom says SEA win NFC.

Philip Rivers being interviewed on Indianapolis television prior to his start on Sunday. 

Cute; but Blanda was older and did it better (almost certainly, altho who knows?).

Blanda started several games as backup for the injured starter at age 43. I seem to recall Blanda taking a snap or two late in his career, but I cannot seem to verify that. 

I wanna say something like 46, but not gonna go look it up.  And I'm old enough to remember all that - and yes, it was pretty amazing even then. 

[edit before posting:  Decided after all to look it up, and sure enough, he took a few snaps (and had a completion) in 1975, at age 48(!).  And also successfully kicked a few FGs at that age.]

I remember watching that game, and the broadcasters were marveling at him at his age (and he looked all of it). I seem to recall he completed a short pass to the end zone for a TD. 

Rivers played okay in his last season (2020!), but everyone willing to talk about him is worried about his health after the game (or being carted off the field). Seattle has a monster defense. This may not be pretty. 

Why not get some CFL quarterback? Their season just ended, and these young guys are in top shape.  

And Joe Namath is still around............       And I believe Blanda lived to be a ripe old age, if'n I recall correctly - and to my knowledge, no TBI-type stuff.  (Of course, F = MA values were smaller then, too.  As were faceguards, etc., too.)

NFC South winner snags playoff spot with worse record than potential WC (North or West team), seems likely.

KC (mathematically) out of playoffs with loss today, first time in a decade or so.

I foresee a Bills over Bears SB.

That would be interesting. 

Only two teams have clinched a playoff berth as of today: Broncos and Rams. About one-third of the league has been eliminated, and those ranks will grow this weekend. Should be a wild ride throughout the playoffs. 

huge game between the Rams and the Seahawks tonight. IMHO, these are the two best teams in all of football Americano.  The Seahawks won in a thrilling game.  Alas, the HUGE tragedy is that they are both in the same division (of just 4 teams!).  So, there’s no chance we can see them go head to head (or toe to toe), for all the marbles in February.  Sigh.

Philly beat Wash today. Nothing really resolved playoff-wise other than eliminating the Cowboys. 🤠💀⚰️

The NFL this year has a Christmas triple header. Each game features a team that has been eliminated from the playoffs. 

Interesting contrast in the handling of a couple of incidents: 

1) Stefon Diggs of the NE Patriots is facing strangulation charges from an incident on December 2. He has been formally charged, and the case is moving through the courts. A motion hearing occurred today and his arraignment is Jan. 23. Diggs has continued to play through all of this as the Patriots attempt to secure the #1 seed going into the playoffs.

2) DK Metcalf was suspended for two games after taking a swipe at (and missing) a fan who was harassing Metcalf. Metcalf's absence likely cost the Steelers their win the past weekend and will be difficult to overcome as the Steelers attempt to make the playoffs.

The differences in the cases are clear, but the execution by the NFL is ridiculous. Diggs is facing serious charges but plays on. Metcalf has not been charged, although the fan's lawyer is threatening some sort of action (likely a civil $uit ). 

US Football ought to be played solely outdoors, otherwise it seems like it's a European sport.

Like KC will soon play?

I can hate the Steelers again. 

Noll, Cowher, Tomlin.  What a run.

A spoiled fan base. They need to suffer. 

Seventeen seasons without a losing record. Unreal. 

IMO.........there were some really, really 'tough' calls against the Bills the last several minutes of that game.

The “team of my youth” won that game, but I feel badly for the Bills. I don’t think the PI calls were wrong, but they were unfortunate. The last one with the arm chop by the Bills defender on the Denver receiver at the 5 or so was pretty definitive. 

Yes, the last one was easily correct.  The one before that, imo, was wrong.  And I also think that interception was instead a completion - but boy, that one was a "pick 'em" (yes, intended).

Watching the on-field post game interview with Nix, I would not have guessed he was suffering from a fractured ankle. 😱😢

Much harder to justify Mcdermott's firing than Harbaughs, though there are similarities.  Both of them relied on a quarterback donning the cape a little too much, and both of them ruled the season while crapping the post-season.  But McDermott pulled the entire franchise out of the toilet and made do with some serious roster problems all of his years.  Harbaugh took over a solid franchise which stayed solid throughout, including what was considered a Super bowl level roster this year, and just underachieved year after year.  I think a little more patience was warranted for McDermott.  

Harbaugh's QB was less reliable than McDermott's. 

The Bills and Ravens will be hard pressed to keep their franchises in the post season with a new coach. Just ask Browns fans if changing coaches is the secret to success. 

With yesterday’s win at Denver, Drake Maye in his second season has the same number of playoff victories (3) as Lamar Jackson and one more than Dak Prescott. Whoa. 

Not sure where to put this.........but since we don't have a "big loss for football" thread.............

Sonny Jurgenson gone at 91.  Loved watching him play.  Fearless.

He was fun in her later years. ABC was showing him warming up before a Monday Night game. He saw the camera and threw the next pass behind his back -- on a dime to the startled receiver about 15 yards down field. 

Sonny did radio color for the Redskins for quite a number of years, and he was a hoot to listen to.

Seahawks vs Pats for all the marbles. 

Who ya got?

(I'm leaning Seattle)

I'll be pulling for the Seahawks - mostly because the Pats have won more than their share for most of eternity.  Beyond that........I'm pretty upset that NBC is apparently spending all day on Super Bowl previews as opposed to LIVE, REAL, HISTORY-IN-THE-MAKING coverage of that (apparently unimportant) stuff in Italy.  😡🤬😡