Cbz40
The Grand Poobah
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POSTED 9:53 a.m. EST, November 16, 2005
DAVID DONE IN HOUSTON?
Despite indications that the Texans plan to keep quarterback David Carr via an $8 million option bonus, we're hearing that the team is taking a careful look at the pool of available quarterbacks for 2006 -- and that the Texans currently are leaning against keeping Carr.
Though many assume that Carr's struggle are the result of poor pass protection, the main knock on Carr is that he simply cannot pick up the secondary receiver when his primary guy isn't open.
Currently, Houston has a one-game "lead" over a cluster of 2-7 teams for the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. If the Texans remain among this team of turds come late December, look for owner Bob McNair to keep his $8 million in his pockets -- and to permit Carr to hit the road.
The other option, of course, is the negotiation of a new deal with Carr that would allow him to stay at a more appropriate cap number and pay package. In this regard, the Texans have more than a little leverage, since no one that we know of is crossing their fingers and toes in the hopes that Carr will become a free agent. But even if Carr stays, our guess is that he gets some real competition for the starting job in the offseason.
http://profootballtalk.com/rumormill.htm
PLAYMAKERS IS BACK
Apparently, the decision to pay the NFL $1.1 billion a year for eight seasons allows the Boys in Bristol to take a few liberties.
For starters, Playmakers is back on the air.
Okay, so it's not being televised on the "main" ESPN channel. But the show is making a November 20 debut on the "Pacific Rim" version of the network.
Hmmm. Did Tags get the memo on this? After all, the Commish is trying to sell the NFL globally, and we'd guess that he considers the image of the players to be as important in developing markets as it is in the U.S. of A.
After Playmakers made its debut on ESPN in 2003, Commissioner Paul Tagliabue voiced his displeasure with the show, and he suggested that the NFL might re-think its business arrangement with ESPN if the show continues to be aired.
"[M]y concern was that this show was one-dimensional and traded in racial stereotypes and I didn't think that was either appropriate for ESPN or right for our players," Tagliabue told Bob Costas at the time.
"I think society's expectations as to the standards that athletes meet are higher today than they were 20 years ago when it comes to what we expect of our role models for kids," Tagliabue added. "And so whatever might have been OK 30 years ago, whether it was 'Animal House' or anything else, I didn't feel it was OK today. We had to meet a higher standard."
Apparently, this higher standard doesn't apply in Australia or other nations served by ESPN Pacific Rim.
As we see it, there's also a strong chance that folks in these other countries will assume that the show, while technically fictional, is rooted in reality. Indeed, ESPN Pacific Rim broadcasts both the ESPN Sunday night game and the ABC Monday night contest. Clearly, kids in Australia and other points Pacific will assume that ESPN knows a thing or two about real life in the NFL.
So we're going to keep a close eye on whether Playmakers keeps its spot on the lineup, since our guess is that the NFL doesn't know that it's back on the air. If the league office was advised of the intended re-broadcast of the show, we can't imagine the powers-that-be giving it the thumbs up.
If they did, then a permissible inference is that Tagliabue doesn't yet care about the quality of the role models that ESPN or the NFL provides to kids in other countries.
DAVID DONE IN HOUSTON?
Despite indications that the Texans plan to keep quarterback David Carr via an $8 million option bonus, we're hearing that the team is taking a careful look at the pool of available quarterbacks for 2006 -- and that the Texans currently are leaning against keeping Carr.
Though many assume that Carr's struggle are the result of poor pass protection, the main knock on Carr is that he simply cannot pick up the secondary receiver when his primary guy isn't open.
Currently, Houston has a one-game "lead" over a cluster of 2-7 teams for the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. If the Texans remain among this team of turds come late December, look for owner Bob McNair to keep his $8 million in his pockets -- and to permit Carr to hit the road.
The other option, of course, is the negotiation of a new deal with Carr that would allow him to stay at a more appropriate cap number and pay package. In this regard, the Texans have more than a little leverage, since no one that we know of is crossing their fingers and toes in the hopes that Carr will become a free agent. But even if Carr stays, our guess is that he gets some real competition for the starting job in the offseason.
http://profootballtalk.com/rumormill.htm
PLAYMAKERS IS BACK
Apparently, the decision to pay the NFL $1.1 billion a year for eight seasons allows the Boys in Bristol to take a few liberties.
For starters, Playmakers is back on the air.
Okay, so it's not being televised on the "main" ESPN channel. But the show is making a November 20 debut on the "Pacific Rim" version of the network.
Hmmm. Did Tags get the memo on this? After all, the Commish is trying to sell the NFL globally, and we'd guess that he considers the image of the players to be as important in developing markets as it is in the U.S. of A.
After Playmakers made its debut on ESPN in 2003, Commissioner Paul Tagliabue voiced his displeasure with the show, and he suggested that the NFL might re-think its business arrangement with ESPN if the show continues to be aired.
"[M]y concern was that this show was one-dimensional and traded in racial stereotypes and I didn't think that was either appropriate for ESPN or right for our players," Tagliabue told Bob Costas at the time.
"I think society's expectations as to the standards that athletes meet are higher today than they were 20 years ago when it comes to what we expect of our role models for kids," Tagliabue added. "And so whatever might have been OK 30 years ago, whether it was 'Animal House' or anything else, I didn't feel it was OK today. We had to meet a higher standard."
Apparently, this higher standard doesn't apply in Australia or other nations served by ESPN Pacific Rim.
As we see it, there's also a strong chance that folks in these other countries will assume that the show, while technically fictional, is rooted in reality. Indeed, ESPN Pacific Rim broadcasts both the ESPN Sunday night game and the ABC Monday night contest. Clearly, kids in Australia and other points Pacific will assume that ESPN knows a thing or two about real life in the NFL.
So we're going to keep a close eye on whether Playmakers keeps its spot on the lineup, since our guess is that the NFL doesn't know that it's back on the air. If the league office was advised of the intended re-broadcast of the show, we can't imagine the powers-that-be giving it the thumbs up.
If they did, then a permissible inference is that Tagliabue doesn't yet care about the quality of the role models that ESPN or the NFL provides to kids in other countries.