Football (North America: NFL, CFL, Arena Football, minor leagues)

[hobsini2]

In one of my Facebook Sports groups, we have a 32 team all time draft.
Required positions:
1 Head Coach
Offense
1 QB, 1 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 1 Flex, 1 G, 1 C, 1 T
Defense
1 DE, 1 DT, 1 OLB, 1 MLB, 1 S, 2 CB, 1 K

We did 4 rounds so far. I had the 17th Pick in the 1st and 3rd. 16th in the 2nd and 4th.
I got:
1st Jim Brown RB
2nd Ray Nitschke MLB
3rd Shannon Sharpe TE
4th Don Hutson WR

Next Round is Tuesday. I will keep you guys posted.

No quarterback?

I just drafted my QB in the 8th round. Fran Tarkenton.

My goodness that's quite a steal.

Is it?  Is this getting scored at all?  Because some of these 70s quarterbacks have stats that wouldn't fare too well today. 

Tarkenton was first in completion percentage in 1977 at 60.1%.  That would have been good for 30th last year.  His career rating is 80.4.  Which is terrible in comparison. 

I'm not saying he is a bad quarterback or that he wouldn't have been a success in today's game, but if you are scoring this based on stats of some sort, it would be better to pick a top 10 quarterback of the last decade than any QB in the 70s or 80s.

Using Pro Football Reference, I was going by the stat AV (Approximate Value). Think of it like WAR in Baseball. It adjusts for the style of play changes. Tark is 6th All Time among ALL players. Ahead of him are Brady, P Manning, Brees, Favre, and Jerry Rice. The problem AV has is that if a player has a shorter career (Jim Brown) the value is not as high. In 8 seasons, Brown had lead the NFL in AV 5 times. While not perfect, it's a good guage.

So we are through 9 Rounds. (Rank up to 250 in AV among all players)
1st Jim Brown RB (239-T)
2nd Ray Nitschke MLB (248-T)
3rd Shannon Sharpe TE (---)
4th Don Hutson WR (---)
5th Clay Matthews Sr OLB (116-T)
6th Randall McDaniel G (24-T)
7th George Halas HC
8th Fran Tarkenton QB (6)
9th Lomas Brown T (57)

[Roadgeekteen]

In one of my Facebook Sports groups, we have a 32 team all time draft.
Required positions:
1 Head Coach
Offense
1 QB, 1 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 1 Flex, 1 G, 1 C, 1 T
Defense
1 DE, 1 DT, 1 OLB, 1 MLB, 1 S, 2 CB, 1 K

We did 4 rounds so far. I had the 17th Pick in the 1st and 3rd. 16th in the 2nd and 4th.
I got:
1st Jim Brown RB
2nd Ray Nitschke MLB
3rd Shannon Sharpe TE
4th Don Hutson WR

Next Round is Tuesday. I will keep you guys posted.

No quarterback?

I just drafted my QB in the 8th round. Fran Tarkenton.

My goodness that's quite a steal.

Is it?  Is this getting scored at all?  Because some of these 70s quarterbacks have stats that wouldn't fare too well today. 

Tarkenton was first in completion percentage in 1977 at 60.1%.  That would have been good for 30th last year.  His career rating is 80.4.  Which is terrible in comparison. 

I'm not saying he is a bad quarterback or that he wouldn't have been a success in today's game, but if you are scoring this based on stats of some sort, it would be better to pick a top 10 quarterback of the last decade than any QB in the 70s or 80s.

Defensive rules have changed.

[NWI_Irish96]

The MAC has announced that Fall Sports will not be played in the Fall, making them the first FBS team to decide to not have Fall football. Will be interesting to see if that is a one-off or if that gets the dominoes falling.

[SSOWorld]

Any conference outside the Power 5 and any independent outside Notre Dame is in Jeopardy especially if they depend on the Big Ten or Pac 12 for non-conference games.

[SEWIGuy]

In one of my Facebook Sports groups, we have a 32 team all time draft.
Required positions:
1 Head Coach
Offense
1 QB, 1 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 1 Flex, 1 G, 1 C, 1 T
Defense
1 DE, 1 DT, 1 OLB, 1 MLB, 1 S, 2 CB, 1 K

We did 4 rounds so far. I had the 17th Pick in the 1st and 3rd. 16th in the 2nd and 4th.
I got:
1st Jim Brown RB
2nd Ray Nitschke MLB
3rd Shannon Sharpe TE
4th Don Hutson WR

Next Round is Tuesday. I will keep you guys posted.

No quarterback?

I just drafted my QB in the 8th round. Fran Tarkenton.

My goodness that's quite a steal.

Is it?  Is this getting scored at all?  Because some of these 70s quarterbacks have stats that wouldn't fare too well today. 

Tarkenton was first in completion percentage in 1977 at 60.1%.  That would have been good for 30th last year.  His career rating is 80.4.  Which is terrible in comparison. 

I'm not saying he is a bad quarterback or that he wouldn't have been a success in today's game, but if you are scoring this based on stats of some sort, it would be better to pick a top 10 quarterback of the last decade than any QB in the 70s or 80s.

Defensive rules have changed.

And offenses promote the short passing game.  And regardless that wasn't my point.  If you are going by the traditional stats of a fantasy league, any quarterback from the 70s would be a poor choice.

But he explained the basis of his draft and it makes more sense.

[hobsini2]

So for my 10th and 11th picks, I got Leroy Butler (S) and Lem Barney (CB). Butler is ranked at 198th-tie in AV. Barney is ranked at 95th-tie in AV and a HOFer.

I still have to pickup a WR, Offensive FLEX, C, DE, DT, CB, K.

[nexus73]

The MAC has announced that Fall Sports will not be played in the Fall, making them the first FBS team to decide to not have Fall football. Will be interesting to see if that is a one-off or if that gets the dominoes falling.

The Pac-12 and Big Ten have suspended the 2020 football season according to a news broadcast I heard today.  The Big Ten vote was 12-2 with Nebraska and Iowa being the 2 votes who did not wish to cancel the season.

Rick

[hobsini2]

Tonight's rounds:
12th Round pick was Roger Craig for my Flex.
13th Round pick was James Lofton at WR.

I am shocked both were still on the board this late.

[SEWIGuy]

So for my 10th and 11th picks, I got Leroy Butler (S) and Lem Barney (CB). Butler is ranked at 198th-tie in AV. Barney is ranked at 95th-tie in AV and a HOFer.

I still have to pickup a WR, Offensive FLEX, C, DE, DT, CB, K.

Leroy Butler should be in the Hall of Fame.  Revolutionary safety.

[hobsini2]

So my All Time draft is complete. * denotes HOFer. PB-Pro Bowl. AP-All Pro

HC George Halas* 5x NFL Champ, 2x Coach of the Year
QB Fran Tarkenton* 1x MVP, 9x PB, 1x AP
RB Jim Brown* 3x MVP, 9x PB, 8x AP, 1x NFL Champ
TE Shannon Sharpe* 8x PB, 4x AP, 3x SB Champ
WR Don Hutson* 4x PB, 8x AP, 3x NFL Champ
WR James Lofton* 8x PB, 1x AP
FLEX Roger Craig 4x PB, 3x SB Champ, 2x All Pro
T Lomas Brown 7x PB, 1x AP, 1x SB Champ
G Randall McDaniel* 12x PB, 7x AP
C Jay Hilgenberg 7x PB, 2x AP, 1x SB Champ
DE Elvin Bethea* 8x PB
DT Steve McMichael 2x PB, 2x AP, 1x SB Champ
MLB Ray Nitschke* 1x PB, 2x AP, 2x SB Champ, 5x NFL Champ
OLB Clay Matthews Sr 4x PB
CB Lem Barney* 7x PB, 2x AP
CB Shawn Springs 1x PB
S Leroy Butler 4x PB, 4x AP, 1x SB Champ
K Jan Stenerud* 6x PB, 1x AP, 1x SB Champ, 1x AFL Champ

Overall, I am happy with this considering there were 31 other GMs.

[Roadgeekteen]

So my All Time draft is complete. * denotes HOFer. PB-Pro Bowl. AP-All Pro

HC George Halas* 5x NFL Champ, 2x Coach of the Year
QB Fran Tarkenton* 1x MVP, 9x PB, 1x AP
RB Jim Brown* 3x MVP, 9x PB, 8x AP, 1x NFL Champ
TE Shannon Sharpe* 8x PB, 4x AP, 3x SB Champ
WR Don Hutson* 4x PB, 8x AP, 3x NFL Champ
WR James Lofton* 8x PB, 1x AP
FLEX Roger Craig 4x PB, 3x SB Champ, 2x All Pro
T Lomas Brown 7x PB, 1x AP, 1x SB Champ
G Randall McDaniel* 12x PB, 7x AP
C Jay Hilgenberg 7x PB, 2x AP, 1x SB Champ
DE Elvin Bethea* 8x PB
DT Steve McMichael 2x PB, 2x AP, 1x SB Champ
MLB Ray Nitschke* 1x PB, 2x AP, 2x SB Champ, 5x NFL Champ
OLB Clay Matthews Sr 4x PB
CB Lem Barney* 7x PB, 2x AP
CB Shawn Springs 1x PB
S Leroy Butler 4x PB, 4x AP, 1x SB Champ
K Jan Stenerud* 6x PB, 1x AP, 1x SB Champ, 1x AFL Champ

Overall, I am happy with this considering there were 31 other GMs.

That's a great team, very old school but I love the offense.

[hobsini2]

So my All Time draft is complete. * denotes HOFer. PB-Pro Bowl. AP-All Pro

HC George Halas* 5x NFL Champ, 2x Coach of the Year
QB Fran Tarkenton* 1x MVP, 9x PB, 1x AP
RB Jim Brown* 3x MVP, 9x PB, 8x AP, 1x NFL Champ
TE Shannon Sharpe* 8x PB, 4x AP, 3x SB Champ
WR Don Hutson* 4x PB, 8x AP, 3x NFL Champ
WR James Lofton* 8x PB, 1x AP
FLEX Roger Craig 4x PB, 3x SB Champ, 2x All Pro
T Lomas Brown 7x PB, 1x AP, 1x SB Champ
G Randall McDaniel* 12x PB, 7x AP
C Jay Hilgenberg 7x PB, 2x AP, 1x SB Champ
DE Elvin Bethea* 8x PB
DT Steve McMichael 2x PB, 2x AP, 1x SB Champ
MLB Ray Nitschke* 1x PB, 2x AP, 2x SB Champ, 5x NFL Champ
OLB Clay Matthews Sr 4x PB
CB Lem Barney* 7x PB, 2x AP
CB Shawn Springs 1x PB
S Leroy Butler 4x PB, 4x AP, 1x SB Champ
K Jan Stenerud* 6x PB, 1x AP, 1x SB Champ, 1x AFL Champ

Overall, I am happy with this considering there were 31 other GMs.

That's a great team, very old school but I love the offense.

Thanks. I was going with as many HOFers as I could as far as players that people have heard of.

[SEWIGuy]

2020 Canadian Football League season cancelled.  The CFL is much more dependent on ticket revenue, and because of that were trying to get a loan from the Canadian government, which was denied last week.  Some talk that 2021 will be in doubt as well since many of these teams don't have the reserves to cover a lost season.

[nexus73]

2020 Canadian Football League season cancelled.  The CFL is much more dependent on ticket revenue, and because of that were trying to get a loan from the Canadian government, which was denied last week.  Some talk that 2021 will be in doubt as well since many of these teams don't have the reserves to cover a lost season.

There went the Roughriders playing the Roughriders...LOL!  For those unfamiliar with CFL teams, that refers to Saskatchewan and Ottawa.  When the CFL expanded into the USA, the team from Baltimore with no nickname won the Grey Cup one season.  It would be a real loss to see this league pass away since they have quite a history. 

Rick

[hobsini2]

2020 Canadian Football League season cancelled.  The CFL is much more dependent on ticket revenue, and because of that were trying to get a loan from the Canadian government, which was denied last week.  Some talk that 2021 will be in doubt as well since many of these teams don't have the reserves to cover a lost season.

There went the Roughriders playing the Roughriders...LOL!  For those unfamiliar with CFL teams, that refers to Saskatchewan and Ottawa.  When the CFL expanded into the USA, the team from Baltimore with no nickname won the Grey Cup one season.  It would be a real loss to see this league pass away since they have quite a history. 

Rick

The CFL may just suspend operations and scale back the teams to like 6. I could see that happening.

[SEWIGuy]

2020 Canadian Football League season cancelled.  The CFL is much more dependent on ticket revenue, and because of that were trying to get a loan from the Canadian government, which was denied last week.  Some talk that 2021 will be in doubt as well since many of these teams don't have the reserves to cover a lost season.

There went the Roughriders playing the Roughriders...LOL!  For those unfamiliar with CFL teams, that refers to Saskatchewan and Ottawa.  When the CFL expanded into the USA, the team from Baltimore with no nickname won the Grey Cup one season.  It would be a real loss to see this league pass away since they have quite a history. 

Rick

Ottawa hasn't had the Roughriders for awhile.  That team folded and the expansion "Redblacks" replaced them.

[1995hoo]

Ottawa had the Rough Riders. Saskatchewan had (and has) the Roughriders. The reason there were two teams with similar names is that they both existed with those names prior to the CFL's formation and they kept those names when they joined the league. The Rough Riders folded in 1996 and were replaced six years later by the Ottawa Renegades, but they folded as well (technically, the league suspended the franchise after four years due to financial instability). The Redblacks came along eight years after the Renegades' demise.

Baltimore's team was named the Stallions when they won the Grey Cup. The team was originally named the "CFL Colts," but the NFL and the Indianapolis Colts obtained an injunction against the use of that name, so they played the rest of the 1994 season without a name (losing the Grey Cup to BC that year) and then adopted "Stallions" for 1995 so they could keep the same logo they'd already selected.

[Stephane Dumas]

Ottawa had the Rough Riders. Saskatchewan had (and has) the Roughriders. The reason there were two teams with similar names is that they both existed with those names prior to the CFL's formation and they kept those names when they joined the league. The Rough Riders folded in 1996 and were replaced six years later by the Ottawa Renegades, but they folded as well (technically, the league suspended the franchise after four years due to financial instability). The Redblacks came along eight years after the Renegades' demise.

Baltimore's team was named the Stallions when they won the Grey Cup. The team was originally named the "CFL Colts," but the NFL and the Indianapolis Colts obtained an injunction against the use of that name, so they played the rest of the 1994 season without a name (losing the Grey Cup to BC that year) and then adopted "Stallions" for 1995 so they could keep the same logo they'd already selected.

The Roughriders and the Rough Riders name game was once referred in the Simpsons a long time ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3awMcVW0KU8

[1995hoo]

The "Riders v. Riders" thing is sort of like the use of "Sox." I used to work for a firm that had offices in Chicago and Boston. The people in Boston seemed to have a stick up their arse about people in Chicago referring to their baseball team as the "Sox"–whenever someone accidentally sent a "Sox tickets" e-mail to the whole firm, instead of just to the Chicago office, people in Boston would get annoyed and complain that people in Chicago need to distinguish. Never mind that the people in Boston would sometimes make the same mistake and the people in Chicago didn't savage them over it. I suppose in that respect it's sort of like Southern Cal fans objecting to South Carolina ever using the name "USC," or North Carolina fans complaining that South Carolina has used the word "Carolina" by itself for over 100 years because North Carolina fans somehow think they have an exclusive claim to it.

[Roadgeekteen]

2020 Canadian Football League season cancelled.  The CFL is much more dependent on ticket revenue, and because of that were trying to get a loan from the Canadian government, which was denied last week.  Some talk that 2021 will be in doubt as well since many of these teams don't have the reserves to cover a lost season.

If the CFL dies will there be an NFL team in Toronto?

[1995hoo]

2020 Canadian Football League season cancelled.  The CFL is much more dependent on ticket revenue, and because of that were trying to get a loan from the Canadian government, which was denied last week.  Some talk that 2021 will be in doubt as well since many of these teams don't have the reserves to cover a lost season.

If the CFL dies will there be an NFL team in Toronto?

There is no longer a suitable stadium there since the Argos moved to BMO Field (the soccer stadium) and the Blue Jays locked the SkyDome's stands permanently in the baseball configuration. I suppose it might be possible to reverse the latter (I don't know exactly how it works, but RFK Stadium surely indicates the stands can be moved again). There is still the other problem of the stadium being small by NFL standards. When the Bills used to play a home game there each season, the ticket prices were among the highest in the league due in no small part to the building's small capacity.

[SEWIGuy]

I'm pretty sure the NFL would require a new stadium for a team to be located in Toronto.  I do think it would be incredibly successful though, and a natural move would be the Buffalo Bills.

[webny99]

The Bills moving to Toronto would not go over well in Western NY, especially now that they finally have good leadership and (maybe) a franchise quarterback after 20 years of ineptitude.

[mgk920]

I'm pretty sure the NFL would require a new stadium for a team to be located in Toronto.  I do think it would be incredibly successful though, and a natural move would be the Buffalo Bills.

The last several seasons, in local discussions, I was making analogies to the 'split stadium' situation WRT the Bills in Buffalo and Toronto to the Packers before 1995 WRT playing home games in both Green Bay and Milwaukee.

If the ongoing powers'-that-be reaction to the virus in Canada (it's much more intense there than it is here in much of the USA) ultimately kills the CFL, what is the likelihood that the NFL would absorb several other CFL teams, such as the BC Lions (would they have to be renamed?), Edmonton Eskimos (ditto?), and Montreal, as well as some of their playing rules?

Mike

[NWI_Irish96]

I'm pretty sure the NFL would require a new stadium for a team to be located in Toronto.  I do think it would be incredibly successful though, and a natural move would be the Buffalo Bills.

The last several seasons, in local discussions, I was making analogies to the 'split stadium' situation WRT the Bills in Buffalo and Toronto to the Packers before 1995 WRT playing home games in both Green Bay and Milwaukee.

If the ongoing powers'-that-be reaction to the virus in Canada (it's much more intense there than it is here in much of the USA) ultimately kills the CFL, what is the likelihood that the NFL would absorb several other CFL teams, such as the BC Lions (would they have to be renamed?), Edmonton Eskimos (ditto?), and Montreal, as well as some of their playing rules?

Mike

There's already a major talent discrepancy between the best and 32nd best teams in the NFL, especially at QB. Adding teams is just going to make that worse.

The best case scenario is a merger between the CFL and XFL. Maybe a 16 team league with each team affiliated with a pair of NFL teams.

Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Winnepeg, Vancouver, Ottawa, Saskatoon, Edmonton
San Diego, Saint Louis, San Antonio, Portland, Columbus, Salt Lake City, Birmingham, Providence

Most of the major summer sporting events are during the day. Play the games on Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon evenings, two each day.