NFL News & Notes

[4256 Hits]

Never hear the name before so looked her up. I am sure he had a great time while it lasted.

[Bengals1]

Roger's has a definite type. He prefers short, curvey brunettes. He was with Danica Patrick for several years. Then he was (briefly) engaged to Shailene Woodley. When he was interviewed on GMFB a few months ago he openly flirted with the host, Kay Adams.

Hey.....maybe that's why she dumped him...?

[Bengals1]

Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet)
The #Steelers have hired former #Dolphins coach Brian Flores as senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach.

[Bengals1]

Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet)
Agents representing more than 150 draft prospects are organizing a boycott of all testing, on-field workouts and interviews at next month’s NFL scouting combine if heavy “bubble” restrictions aren’t changed, sources tell me and @TomPelissero

[Joe Bananas]

Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet)
Agents representing more than 150 draft prospects are organizing a boycott of all testing, on-field workouts and interviews at next month’s NFL scouting combine if heavy “bubble” restrictions aren’t changed, sources tell me and @TomPelissero

Covid is never going away. It's going to be just like the flu or a different stran we have now. No one wants to wear masks and live in a bubble the rest of their lives. Let's all move on from the bullshit and live our lives.

[Bengals1]

Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet)
Unless the NFL and the combine agree to ease those restrictions — allowing players access to their full team of coaches, trainers, ATCs et al. as in past years — many top prospects will only do medical evaluations next month in Indianapolis.

[Joe Bananas]

Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet)
Unless the NFL and the combine agree to ease those restrictions — allowing players access to their full team of coaches, trainers, ATCs et al. as in past years — many top prospects will only do medical evaluations next month in Indianapolis.

If that's all there is then that's all there is. These masks have never worked anyways. And putting and madating people stay in a bubble proves that. I back the players!!

[Bengals1]

Per PFT.....

Per a source with knowledge of the situation, 155 players represented by 13 different agencies are prepared to announce on Monday a formal boycott of the 2022 Scouting Combine.


The NFL issued on Saturday an email regarding restrictions that will apply to this year’s Combine, due to the ongoing pandemic. The league intends to create a bubble environment, which will strictly limit the ability of players to interact with others.

There is great strength in numbers, and it’s great to see the players and agents coming together to push back against a process that thrives on pushing the buttons of young men who are wired to compete.

Hopefully, the effort prompts the kind of revisions that will get the players to choose to show up. If not, the Combine will proceed with nearly half of the 324 invited participants not participating.

[4256 Hits]

Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet)
Agents representing more than 150 draft prospects are organizing a boycott of all testing, on-field workouts and interviews at next month’s NFL scouting combine if heavy “bubble” restrictions aren’t changed, sources tell me and @TomPelissero

Covid is never going away. It's going to be just like the flu or a different stran we have now. No one wants to wear masks and live in a bubble the rest of their lives. Let's all move on from the bullshit and live our lives.

+1

[Jmble]

From ESPN

XFL to be 'petri dish' for football innovation, prospect development as part of partnership agreement with NFL

It certainly makes the cameo of The Rock introducing the Super Bowl teams make a bit more sense.

It also gives the XFL a bit of an advantage over the USFL in terms of future success. We'll see if the USFL can get any sort of momentum going this year before the XFL starts back up in 2023.

The NFL and XFL have reached a partnership agreement that will focus on innovating the game and protecting the health of players, the XFL announced Monday.

XFL officials made clear that the collaboration will not include player sharing for developmental purposes, but the alignment is notable given the growing number of alternative leagues in the football landscape.

The XFL is scheduled to resume play in February 2023 under new owners Dany Garcia, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and RedBird Capital Partners. News of the agreement comes as a revived USFL works toward its launch April.

The NFL-XFL agreement will give the NFL a "petri dish" to experiment with proposed rules, test new equipment and develop prospective officials and coaches, XFL president Russ Brandon told ESPN.

A Buffalo Bills executive for two decades, Brandon said NFL officials routinely discussed the need for such an outlet after NFL Europe shuttered in 2007.

"People would ask, 'What are the opportunities to look at the game through a different lens from a player development standpoint?'" Brandon told ESPN. "'How can you be an incubator or an accelerant in many different verticals, from officiating to rules innovations to playing surfaces, to player development?' You can go on and on.

"Any opportunity that the NFL has to advance the game of football, I think they've always been open to, and we've had some really good dialogue, led by our ownership group."

Garcia told ESPN that the partnership with the NFL isn't intended to put the XFL "in position [as] a developmental league." In both of its previous incarnations under former owner Vince McMahon, in 2000 and 2020, the XFL could not use players under contract with NFL teams. The XFL suspended operations and declared bankruptcy in April 2020, leading McMahon to sell.

Asked if the XFL could one day evolve into a position to use allocated NFL players or construct another kind of sharing agreement, as occurred in NFL Europe, Garcia said: "That's a no. We are a spring league. We will play at the highest level in the spring. There is not the anticipation of any player sharing that changes the dynamic. That's not how we're executing our vision."

Garcia, Johnson and Gerry Cardinale of RedBird Capital Partners met last fall with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent to begin discussing the partnership. Johnson appeared on the field of Super Bowl LVI, announcing the impending kickoff to fans and the television audience.

The XFL built its 2020 version as a re-imagined brand of football and has plans to continue that approach, making it what Garcia said would be a "natural" partner for the NFL.

"One of the things we made clear starting off is that we were going to take a stewardship position on the game and the game of football, expanding it and being impactful to the industry," Garcia said. "So I would say the field sees us as what we are, which is deeply leaning into innovation, and we were confident that having important conversations and articulating what we wanted to accomplish would be advantageous to anyone sitting in the room with us. We're excited about that. Our relationships with football and the NFL are deep and longstanding, so it was a natural process."

In a statement released by the XFL, Vincent said: "The XFL has shown us that innovation is one of its core principles. We are hopeful that this relationship will support further development and improvements in the game of football at all levels."

The XFL's football staff was a regular presence at recent all-star college bowl games. Brandon said the league is working on plans for regional combines this fall, where it will test new approaches to evaluating players, with an eye toward opening training camps by January 2023.