It’s only a matter of time until the NFL is exposed!

The only difference is, in the NFL I think it’s the referees!

Today will be my first camp practice this year. Normally try to get to about 11 of the open practices. 15 are open this year. I miss the days when all camp practices were open. 

There were about 1,000 fans at practice in Cincy in '23. Decent little crowd. I would say about 120 were Packers fans. The vibes were fine, but it didn't have the energy of a Packers camp practice. I would never return to Cincy for camp, and I hope the Packers never do either. 

Off to practice at 10:30 a.m. This forum won't let me attach pics or videos of camp, how lame. But I will post some stuff on how the Friday practice went(for any Packers fans that may be here, I get that Bengals fans don't care) Been invited to attend LaFleur's presser in the media auditorium before practice, then will be walking over to Ray Nitschke Field for practice. 

OneTeamOneNation

PackerNation!

The rumors are that it’s really, really, bad.  Any pr bump from the name change will be obliterated.

MIAMI -- Cleveland Browns wide receiver Davone Bess has been arrested in Florida on charges of assaulting a law enforcement officer at an airport.

Broward Sheriff's Office records show Bess, 28, was arrested early Friday after acting erratically and confronting an officer at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport. It wasn't clear if Bess, who was released from jail at 10:35 a.m., had a lawyer.

A sheriff's report stated Bess seemed to be "under the influence of an unknown narcotic." It also said the receiver was "looking through" the officer as they talked.

Bess was "acting irrationally, dancing, singing with his pants repeatedly falling down," the report said.

At one point, Bess grabbed a cup of coffee that was not his and squeezed it, spraying coffee on the officer. Bess then took a "fighting stance" and the officer hit him on the leg with a baton. The report says Bess removed his shirt and stayed in the stance. He dropped to the ground when more officers arrived.

Please, please, PLEASE tell me there is security camera footage of this.

Quote

Four Lions players, including former first-round pick Jameson Williams, have been suspended for violating the NFL's gambling policy following an investigation by the league.

Lions wide receiver Quintez Cephus and safety C.J. Moore have been suspended indefinitely for betting on NFL games, as was Washington Commanders defensive end Shaka Toney. They can reapply for reinstatement after one year, though the Lions announced that their two players have been released.

Second-year wide receivers Williams and Stanley Berryhill are being suspended for six games each for mobile betting that occurred at the Lions' Allen Park facility. They did not bet on NFL games, the Lions said.

Separate from these punishments, several Lions staff members in various departments were dismissed last month for violating the gambling policy, a source told ESPN.

According to league policy, NFL players and personnel cannot bet on NFL games, the draft or any league-related activities under any circumstances. They also cannot place any bets while at a team facility or on any team-related travel.

My initial reaction is that this is bullcrap. The NFL has gone so all in on gambling that I can't get past the rank hypocrisy. YMMV.

https://operations.nfl.com/updates/the-game/2023-rules-change-proposals/

I doubt the replay and challenge proposals get a lot of traction, the game is already too slow due to all the stoppages to check calls.

The first and 20 as an alternative to an onside kick is interesting. I could go for that.

Totally down with zero as a jersey number. Will buy a 0 jersey with “MY HERO” on the nameplate and if you get that, congrats, you too are old, old, old and will soon die like me.

Harbaugh is in the mix, looks like Denver could be a landing spot.  Why he’d want to jump into that division with Mahomes and Herbert there and in their primes, I have no idea.

Our coach’s mentor, Sean McVay, may be moving on because the Rams announced they would no longer be making Rams gear in child’s medium sizes.

I thought he was the right pick for the Browns, at least as far as QB's go.  Will be interesting to see how far and how quickly he pushes Taylor (adding Landry and having Gordon back along with Chubb at RB makes them interesting for once).  Same with Jackson in Baltimore, who could make some teams look pretty bad for passing on him if he pans out early on, and Flacco struggles enough.  All it takes is an 0-2 or 0-3 start for either team, and we're seeing them twice a year I guess.

It doesn’t matter what he does, he’s getting dragged.  The WFT owner was kind of the whipping boy du jour, but Urban has replaced him.  Dude’s about one minute away from popping his almost always popped collar, faking a migraine, and strolling out of town with 30 million or whatever his buyout is.  
 

Which leads me to the point of this post.  Shad Kahn needs a respectable coach.  Someone who will aim not for the Super Bowl, but borderline respectability.  Someone who will bring in vets who will give 85% effort and keep their mouths shut.  Someone who will tell his players to “be a pro!”

Yep, Marvin Lewis should be the next coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars.  He’ll get them to .500 in a year or two, then keep them there for as long as they want it.  Bonus - potential Andy/AJ Green reunion as they both milk the end of their careers for some easy cash.  Let’s Go!!

The Rams are also seriously in cap hell.  Dumping Goff helped, so the trade kind of has an invisible component to it.  I hope Stafford leads them to a SB, where the Bengals beat them.

1.  This production is so much better than ESPN Monday Night Football.   I’ve watch the majority without having any vested interest.   In recent years I can barely get through a MNF game even when Bengals are playing.

2. St. Louis showing out.  Battle hawks needs to be NFL franchise. 
 

Enjoying this football than I thought I would. 

Marvin’s new career is serving the ultra-rich, making their compliance with the Rooney Rule as painless and pointless as possible.

Just an unbelievable overreaction to what he did.  I get it, don’t swing a helmet around in a fight.  But damn, “I’m Shocked and Offended!” guy on Twitter and various tv and radio shows is acting like this dude is public enemy number 1.

The NFL says it found another hit in the same game vs Indy:  https://sports.yahoo.com/vontaze-burfict-nfl-suspension-doyle-hit-003048335.html

It seems obvious the NFL doesn't want him representing their brand on or off the field any longer.  He really needs to retire and seek medical help for his concussion issues.

Sanu traded from Falcons to Pats: 

https://sports.yahoo.com/report-patriots-trade-for-mohamed-sanu-send-secondround-pick-to-falcons-123859837.html

And people wonder why the Patriots are sort of making a joke out of the rest of the league? They want to win more, and they are smarter than everyone else.  And of course they have a HOF QB who takes care of the ball and is deadly accurate and knows his system in his sleep, that never requires a major overhaul as a result.

Could really have used Sanu or Marvin Jones on this team right now.  Just another dumb personnel decision centered around being cheap.  They'd rather pay a Bobby Hart $5 mil a year just to fill an open spot, than to build depth at an important position where guys are getting injured a lot.

Having a Sanu/Boyd or Jones/Boyd duo out there right now would really help this team, IF they had an o-line of course.

All the injuries finally took their toll. Imagine the career he could have had with even a half decent oline.

Is anyone watching these games?  I am having a ton of fun with the new league and its rule adaptations.  There are no obvious rooting interests for people in the area of Cincinnati, though there are league affiliates in the AAF.  Each of the 8 AAF teams has four NFL affiliates and one CFL affiliate.  The Bengals are affiliated with the Memphis Express (who just got smashed 26-0 today).