Official 2011-2012 NFL Thread

[Steve9347]

as a first round draft pick at tackle, I expect more out of him then the decent run blocking ability he has shown.

Didn't the first-round draft pick expectations sail quite some time ago? The dude's already an epic bust, we're just trying to determine how much of a bust he is at this point.

[RockRaines]

Didn't the first-round draft pick expectations sail quite some time ago? The dude's already an epic bust, we're just trying to determine how much of a bust he is at this point.

I think there are still FA's out there that can replace both of our Guards.

[nitetrain8601]

I think there are still FA's out there that can replace both of our Guards.

 

That is true.

[Steve9347]

I think there are still FA's out there that can replace both of our Guards.

Yeah, the Bears' refusal to upgrade the line is reprehensible.

[Steve9347]

ZachZaidman Zach Zaidman

Roberto Garza: "We all didn't perform."

[MurcieOne]

I think there are still FA's out there that can replace both of our Guards.

 

I think there are cones out there than can replace both of our Guards for that matter.

[T R U]

lol, I really hope the Titans give Chris Johnson quarterback money.. they would be screwed

[LittleHurt05]

I think there are still FA's out there that can replace both of our Guards.

 

everyone else's garbage is better than your own garbage

[SoxAce]

Didn't the first-round draft pick expectations sail quite some time ago? The dude's already an epic bust, we're just trying to determine how much of a bust he is at this point.

 

I still don't think he was given a fair shake (or a longer look) at the LT position than he should have. But I digress.

[Steve9347]

I still don't think he was given a fair shake (or a longer look) at the LT position than he should have. But I digress.

Dude has T-Rex arms, LT would be a fail.

[SoxAce]

Dude has T-Rex arms, LT would be a fail.

 

Someone should tell Sam Baker he's bound to suck then. Hell, 32 7/8 (which he was measured) isn't exactly "T-Rex" at the LT position (short compared to the average 34, but not horribly short). Hell, Joe Thomas has short arms for the average. What makes him so good is his quick hands/technique. It does help alot though no doubt, but there's more to it than having freakish arm length. I will say this, he lacks the toughness/the nasty to do it. Funny thing is, he was highly regarded for his pass blocking (average to below average run blocker) in college. He's done almost a 180 two years later.

[Steve9347]

He's done almost a 180 two years later.

Which brings us back to my original point that he's already a bust, the level to which is still being determined.

[SoxAce]

Which brings us back to my original point that he's already a bust, the level to which is still being determined.

 

Well we'll see if we can salvage him at LG then, since he has improved his run blocking leaps and bounds (which was what I meant from the 180 comment from that and his pass blocking)

[Steve9347]

Well we'll see if we can salvage him at LG then, since he has improved his run blocking leaps and bounds (which was what I meant from the 180 comment from that and his pass blocking)

Gotya, yeah, we'll see. He wasn't awful on Friday night like the rest of the line.

[LittleHurt05]

The best part of Peter King's Monday SI article is reading Kissing Suzy Kolber's blog just tear apart his entire piece. The guys has tons of NFL connections and some good insight, but I can only handle so much of his Favre & Patriot ass-licking, as well as his dorky personal thoughts throughout the article.

[GoSox05]

I don't know why people get so enraged by Peter King. I don't really like his articles, so I don't read them.

 

 

[Kyyle23]

I don't know why people get so enraged by Peter King. I don't really like his articles, so I don't read them.

 

to me it is a similar love/hate relationship to boers and bernstein. i love b+b, but they can be ignorant, stubborn and downright mean, but i still love their show for when they are silly, funny, informative.

 

peter king has some good thoughts and great sources, but you have to sift thru his bulls*** starbucks stories and favre love and musings on other sports. he makes his articles hard to read by filling them with clutter

[LittleHurt05]

to me it is a similar love/hate relationship to boers and bernstein. i love b+b, but they can be ignorant, stubborn and downright mean, but i still love their show for when they are silly, funny, informative.

 

peter king has some good thoughts and great sources, but you have to sift thru his bulls*** starbucks stories and favre love and musings on other sports. he makes his articles hard to read by filling them with clutter

 

Thank you, perfectly said.

[GoSox05]

He tends to have his Starbucks and Red Sox stories at the end of his articles. So I just usually stop reading a page or two early.

 

Peter King is much better when he calls into a radio show and just talks about Football.

[southsider2k5]

Does it surprise anyone that Devin lands in the middle of this? Pictures/PDFs at link.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/investigations/new...ter_allegations

 

Miami booster Nevin Shapiro alleges he provided multiple extra benefits to Devin Hester starting in his freshman season. Among the benefits he claimed to have provided:

 

Devin Hester

 

Position: Wide receiver

Rivals recruiting rank: as the No. 28 player overall in the Class of 2002.

Miami career: Despite being a player who never found a true position in three seasons with the Hurricanes, Hester developed into one of the most dynamic return men in the history of college football. He left Miami after his junior season and was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the second round of the 2006 NFL draft. He is a starter and return specialist for the Bears.

 

• Multiple cash gifts.

 

• Cash for rims for Hester’s sport utility vehicle.

 

• Approximately $3,000 for an engagement ring.

 

• Playoff tickets to a Miami Heat versus Detroit Pistons playoff game on June 6, 2005. Shapiro said it was at this game that Hester proposed to his girlfriend with the ring also purchased by the booster.

 

• Drinks and VIP access at nightclubs.

 

• Multiple meals at Miami-area restaurants.

 

• Food, drinks, entertainment and lodging at Shapiro’s $2.7 million Miami Beach home.

 

• Entertainment on Shapiro’s $1.6 million yacht and jet skis.

 

• A suit, shoes and other clothing purchased for Hester in August 2005 at Fashion Clothiers.

 

• $7,500 in bounties. The bounties were: $1,000 total for a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown ($500) and an ensuing celebration penalty ($500) in a 38-33 win over Florida on Sept. 6, 2003; $2,500 total for two punt returns for touchdowns ($1,000 each) and one celebration penalty ($500) in a 48-0 win over Louisiana Tech on Sept. 18, 2004; $2,000 total for two return touchdowns (including one called back by penalty) in a 41-38 win over Louisville on Oct. 14, 2004; $1,000 total for a kickoff return for a touchdown in a 45-31 win over N.C. State on Oct. 23, 2004; and $1,000 total for a missed field goal returned for a touchdown in a 27-10 win over Florida on Dec. 31, 2004.

 

Corroborating accounts

 

• One source corroborated Shapiro’s account of Hester receiving food, entertainment and lodging in the booster’s home. According to the source, Hester was having issues with a roommate and stayed at Shapiro’s home for a sustained period of time.

 

• One source corroborated Shapiro giving Hester cash, including a payment to purchase rims for his SUV.

 

• One source corroborated Shapiro purchasing an engagement ring for approximately $3,000 to $4,000 at Buchwald Jewelers.

 

• Shelly Bloom, the owner and operator of Fashion Clothiers in Miami corroborated Shapiro purchasing a suit and clothing for Hester in his store. Yahoo! Sports also acquired Shapiro’s August 2005 Discover credit card statement, showing a $5,371.40 charge to Fashion Clothiers, on the date which Shapiro said he took Hester and Tavares Gooden to the retailer to purchase suits and other clothing.

 

• Yahoo! Sports acquired a photo of Hester sitting in Shapiro’s VIP section of Opium Garden nightclub in 2003.

 

• Yahoo! Sports acquired a photo of Hester with Shapiro at an October 2003 dinner paid by the booster at Japanese steakhouse Benihana.

 

In Shapiro’s words

 

• “Devin Hester was a really introverted kid. Very quiet. saw him sitting outside Larry Coker’s office, where he was unsure if he was ever going to play a down of football at the University of Miami. started off taking him for lunches, meeting him for dinner, coming to my house often. He stayed at my house a few times, but was in my house often. I bought him rims for his [Lincoln] Navigator I believe it was. It was a truck.”

 

• “I was giving Devin cash. Three hundred here, four hundred there, two hundred there, four hundred there. … He was getting serious with an athlete at the University of Miami. Her name was Tamara James. We called her T.J. She played basketball. I bought him an engagement ring, which was a promise ring. I think it was about $3,000. He gave it to her, proposed at the Miami Heat playoff game seven against the Detroit Pistons, sitting up in about the 22nd to 25th row.”

 

• “He was always on my yacht. I mean at least 15, 20 times. He wrecked one of my jet skis. Cost me 8, 9, 10 thousand. I don’t remember exactly.”

 

This page from Nevin Shapiro’s August 2005 Discover credit card bill shows a charge of $5,371.40 to Fashion Clothiers, matching up with a date the booster says he took Devin Hester and Tavares Gooden to the shop to purchase suits and other assorted clothing. PDF file

 

 

 

This page from Shapiro’s June 2005 American Express black card statement shows total charges of $970 that the booster identified as Miami Heat playoff tickets he purchased for Devin Hester and his then-girlfriend, Hurricanes basketball player Tamara James. Shapiro said the tickets were for Miami’s Game 7 tilt against the Detroit Pistons on June 6, 2005, and that Hester proposed to James that same day, with a $3,000 engagement ring also purchased by the booster. PDF file

[whitesoxfan101]

Does it surprise anyone that Devin lands in the middle of this? Pictures/PDFs at link.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/investigations/new...ter_allegations

 

If you were a kid who came from nothing, and somebody offered you all that stuff, would you say no? Very few people could honestly answer that question yes IMO. I never blame the kids for these scandals. Never. They are on the schools for lack of enforcement, the boosters/people of that ilk for just ignoring the rules, and the general attitude in the NCAA. This stuff has happened at most schools for a long time, and little has been done overall to stop it.

[RockRaines]

If you were a kid who came from nothing, and somebody offered you all that stuff, would you say no? Very few people could honestly answer that question yes IMO. I never blame the kids for these scandals. Never. They are on the schools for lack of enforcement, the boosters/people of that ilk for just ignoring the rules, and the general attitude in the NCAA. This stuff has happened at most schools for a long time, and little has been done overall to stop it.

Isnt that kind of like never blaming the criminal because the guy whose stuff he took illegally had it all laying around? The kids are just as at fault in this as the boosters and the institution. The kids are repeatedly told not to do what they did.

 

With that said, who cares, Devin is an NFL player now.

[whitesoxfan101]

Isnt that kind of like never blaming the criminal because the guy whose stuff he took illegally had it all laying around? The kids are just as at fault in this as the boosters and the institution. The kids are repeatedly told not to do what they did.

 

With that said, who cares, Devin is an NFL player now.

 

With very rare exceptions, these kids aren't doing that that risk them being thrown in jail, though. They are just doing things that an athletic association says are illegal. If I had nothing, and somebody offered me benefits that did not put me at any risk of jail time, arrest, etc, I'd have an awfully hard time saying no. While these kids are getting way more than nothing (a college education), they still aren't seeing much of the money they make these schools, either. They are just taking advantage of the system when accepting benefits, just like the schools are when they sign them.

Edited August 17, 2011 by whitesoxfan101

[RockRaines]

With very rare exceptions, these kids aren't doing that that risk them being thrown in jail, though. They are just doing things that an athletic association says are illegal. If I had nothing, and somebody offered me benefits that did not put me at any risk of jail time, arrest, etc, I'd have an awfully hard time saying no. While these kids are getting way more than nothing (a college education), they still aren't seeing much of the money they make these schools, either. They are just taking advantage of the system when accepting benefits, just like the schools are when they sign them.

Yes, but they are being told over and over dont do this, dont do that, and their consequence is losing their scholarship and possibly their future either in pro ball or in another career. There is risk there and they are made very aware of it. There is no way you cannot fault these players for that.

[whitesoxfan101]

Yes, but they are being told over and over dont do this, dont do that, and their consequence is losing their scholarship and possibly their future either in pro ball or in another career. There is risk there and they are made very aware of it. There is no way you cannot fault these players for that.

 

Well I will say if they get caught while they're still in school, I really lack sympathy for them. They know the risks when taking benefits, and if you get caught, it's part of the deal. But for someone like Devin Hester, he got his benefits, made it big in the NFL, and this will have no impact on him at all. As far as I'm concerned, he has nothing to apologize for.