The NFL Offseason Should Be a Show

Ramblings Post #401
The NFL off-season this year has been wild. The AFC West has turned into a arms race, Green Bay gave Aaron Rodgers the keys to the franchise, and I'm veering between trusting the Jones boys in Dallas to put talent on the field and screaming "What are they doing!" over and over again to anyone who'll listen. And no, I'm probably not going to watch the USFL. Are we sure that wasn't an elaborate hoax anyway? 

It is said that because of how a grand jury works, that a semi-decent prosecutor can get a conviction against a ham sandwich if they really wanted to. So, last week when the people in a Grand Jury decided not to bring charges against Texan's QB Deshaun Watson, please know that I raised an eyebrow in disbelief. It may have hit my slightly receding hairline. Allegedly receding.

For those who don't know, last season the NFL avoided addressing the issue at all when the Texans decided to not even suit up Watson to play. By the way, as long as Watson showed up to the facility, did his workouts and stayed ready, he still got paid like he was playing. A whole bunch of money. Only without the physical stress of actually playing. In the interim the Texans found new ways to embarrass themselves, aside from letting all the talent walk out the door. I mean, at one point the Texans found themselves torn between hiring as their next head coach a ...long time coaching veteran who been part of a Superbowl coaching staff and who'd just won two of the last three seasons as head coach with his previous team who happened to black and...checks notes... a former player and part time assistant high school coach who happened to be white. So, obviously it was a toss up. But that aside, they had at least been smart enough not to play Watson.

I had a discussion about it right after it happened, I figured that a media savvy league would make it clear that even if there were to be no charges, that a serious suspension would still be assessed upon Watson's return to the field. I mean, they'd just suspended a player for the whole season for a single bet using the LEAGUE sponsored app. (Okay, there is a sign in the locker room specifically prohibiting betting, so there is a difference. Although I wouldn't think you'd need a sign to say don't assault women, would you?"). Would teams try for him? Sure, but this was a player who hadn't suited up in a year, and football comes at you fast. No, others said, it would be a free for all. The game is all about money now and they would not care. I argued that even from just a PR viewpoint, the league would not let that happen.  

And I was completely and unequivocally wrong.

The new NFL is QB driven. There was a time about twenty years ago where Trent Dilfer won a Superbowl. Who? He was the backup who took over halfway through the season and rode the defense of the Ravens to the NFL's promised land. And although he's an excellent analyst, he was also so mediocre he's the first starting and winning QB in history to not be resigned by his team for the next season. That's not possible with the way the game is now called and schemed. And everyone knows it. Hell, the Cowboys found it out after Dak went down and suddenly it seemed like the secrets of the completed forward pass were lost. And as it turns out Watson is a QB. And was a fairly good one. And as it turns out winning, or even the promise of winning, trumps everything.

I heard analysts decry that half the league need to take a look at Watson. The Saints were talked about, Atlanta was in the mix, the Colts and Chicago discussed. And what other QB might go where depending on what could be worked out with Deshaun. You would have thought Watson was the second coming of Micheal Vick...no, the pun actually intended,... only with a less offensive charge. Yes, apparently to the NFL Animal Cruelty is worse than Sexual Assault, go figure. So after listening to Shannon Sharpe and Skip Bayless rag about how the Cleveland Browns had blown up their own dicey QB situation to even talk to Watson and how they'd been unceremoniously spurned I was shocked to see this....

The Brown fans online that I've seen are not especially happy at this turn of events. People in desperate need of a stable football situation, considering all the drama that happened with team during the season, weren't happy. You know, and they know, just because the state decided not to bring charges doesn't mean you're innocent. And did everyone in the league's media gang FORGET the twenty two civil suits still in the mix? This is one of those situations involving millions of dollars that makes you wonder just how smart some rich people really are. Did the Browns forget that quite a few of their fans are women? Did they forget that their fan base just in general might have a basic sense of decency? I mean, damn. It is very possible the Browns play a few home games this season to an empty stadium, and it won't be because of Covid.

What's really weird is that the league is handing out top-tier QB money to a player who hasn't touched turf in a season. No, I kid, that's not weird, that's the NFL. What's weird is that Watson wasn't banished from the league for at least a season. Not sat out of his own free will, but formally banished with no pay for at least a season. And between you and me, people don't offer someone a quarter of a billion dollars, a large portion guaranteed, unless you're pretty damn sure that player is gonna suit up. Which means unless the league blindsides because of backlash, it's already a done thing. One of my old running partners stopped watching football altogether because he was mad Rothlesberger never got any punishment for his...indiscretions. I guess my boy is gonna be an Atlanta United fan from here on out.   

The NFL is something, ain't it.