2025 NFL Season

[Irishman]

Enough teams are in camp now to get this going. And what a great first entry. 

Of all the Brownsish things to do, this has to be the Browniest. 

The helmet predicts the season......shit brown. 

What's worse? the brown helmet or the person falling in during the unveiling? 

Signs your season might be cursed.

Yet another mistake by the lake. 

 

 

[Muda69]

Nice to know Ben Johnson isn't messing around:  https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/45704191/2025-nfl-training-camp-chicago-bears-updates-buzz-intel-position-battles

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As promised by coach Ben Johnson, not even the smallest of details would be left by the wayside, even on the first day of training camp. After Chicago's first team offense struggled to get lined up properly during an 11-on-11 period, Johnson blew the drill dead and sent quarterback Caleb Williams and the starters to the sideline while the backups took over.

It was a moment that players have become used to with the coaching staff's emphasis on increased accountability and attention to detail.

"That's on par for Ben," tight end Cole Kmet said. "If you're not doing it right, he's gonna get you out, and he's not going to just see that stuff continue. It's just a lesson to us that you gotta be on the details. We gotta be on the details going into practice and we're going to get our reps in."

 

[Bash Riprock]

Growing pains. The next level isn’t easy…

 

[Irishman]

1 hour ago, Bash Riprock said:

Growing pains. The next level isn’t easy…

 

I would prefer to see end zone views. I have said it before, watching the view behind the offense for the National championship game was what sold me on him. Granted, that o line at Michigan was on a level of it’s own, but he was dropping dimes over the shoulders of DBs most of the night. 

[temptation]

3 hours ago, Bash Riprock said:

Growing pains. The next level isn’t easy…

 

This video is from 2024 training camp as noted at the bottom of the X post.

Everything I’ve read says JJ has been an absolute student of the game and has had the “first guy to the facility, last guy to leave the facility” mindset.

Excited to see what he can do (without Stallions of course).

Edited July 27, 2025 by temptation

[Bash Riprock]

23 hours ago, Irishman said:

I would prefer to see end zone views. I have said it before, watching the view behind the offense for the National championship game was what sold me on him. Granted, that o line at Michigan was on a level of it’s own, but he was dropping dimes over the shoulders of DBs most of the night. 

I am not saying he isn't good or won't be great...but 5 picks in a day of practice would indicate not the greatest day.  He does have a great HC that will certainly be at his side. 

21 hours ago, temptation said:

This video is from 2024 training camp as noted at the bottom of the X post.

Everything I’ve read says JJ has been an absolute student of the game and has had the “first guy to the facility, last guy to leave the facility” mindset.

Excited to see what he can do (without Stallions of course).

I read it and understand the video timing.  My share was about the tweet and the rough day at work.  I absolute see him at a hard working dude and think he will be quite the player.  All young player struggle on given days.  He's got an excellent HC there with him in Minnesota.

[Irishman]

I am good with this addition to the game. the technology has been around for years and has been used in tennis for 19 years now. 

 

 

[Irishman]

Surprised to see this. 
 

[Muda69]

13 hours ago, Irishman said:

I am good with this addition to the game. the technology has been around for years and has been used in tennis for 19 years now. 

 

 

Bad nomenclature by the NFL since the word "virtual" typically means "not real".  They should call it a camera based measurement system.  

And when (not if) hackers hit this NFL "central officiating center" then all hell will break loose.  Nice to know a traditional chain gang will remain on the sidelines as a backup option.  I wonder how much those guys will now get paid to mostly just stand around and twiddle their thumbs for a few hours?

 

 

[Irishman]

24 minutes ago, Muda69 said:

Bad nomenclature by the NFL since the word "virtual" typically means "not real".  They should call it a camera based measurement system.  

And when (not if) hackers hit this NFL "central officiating center" then all hell will break loose.  Nice to know a traditional chain gang will remain on the sidelines as a backup option.  I wonder how much those guys will now get paid to mostly just stand around and twiddle their thumbs for a few hours?

 

 

Fair assessment on the name. Tennis calls it Hawkeye. I am not sure the chain gang gets paid much, having known one of the guys on the Colts chain gang for a long time. He was also a high school football and basketball official. 

[Bobref]

The NFL has banned the use of ammonia (smelling salts) on the grounds that it can mask concussion symptoms. I didn’t even know they still used it. But it was widely used way back when I played. Nasty stuff!

[Irishman]

Week 1 recap 😆

 

 

[Irishman]

This needs to become a point of emphasis when the Eagles play. This is ridiculous how much they move before the ball does. 

 

 

[Irishman]

Tough break for the Bengals

 

 

[Muda69]

The NFL's Fight for Stadium Subsidies Is Heating Up: https://reason.com/2025/09/16/the-nfls-fight-for-stadium-subsidies-is-heating-up/

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Who's Taking Your Tax Dollars?

There are three NFL teams trying to take advantage of taxpayer dollars this season, and they all start with the letter B. (Coincidence? Yes.) Remember: There's no good reason for cities and states to build or subsidize sports stadiums.

We'll start with the Chicago Bears, since subscriber Steve asked me to look into it (yes, I take requests at freeagent@reason.com). This stadium situation has been in flux for years. But the city owns the stadium, so that puts a damper on the Bears' revenue. The team's proposed move to Arlington Heights, Illinois, isn't about the stadium—it's about the adjoining development property that every sports team now wants with stadiums to bolster their revenue.

 

The Bears, naturally, want a cap on how much they'll have to pay in property taxes on that development. They also have to figure out who's going to pay potentially billions of dollars to upgrade the infrastructure on the site. The state, for what it's worth, does not seem willing to play ball, although Arlington Heights is planning to give that property tax break—a political favor that keeps money from the government is better than one that doles out money from the government. No political favor at all would be nice, but it's not the worst stadium deal around, and politicians in Chicago and at the state level deserve a sliver of credit for not being as bad as other politicians.

Like the ones in Ohio, for example. The Cleveland Browns stand to benefit from a plan so bonkers I can only quote Neil deMause at Field of Schemes: "Remember how the Ohio legislature proposed borrowing $600 million from the state's unclaimed property fund to use on a new Cleveland Browns stadium and repaying it with money from an omni-TIF collecting all kinds of tax money from in and around the stadium, and then the bill passed and it was described as providing '$600 million for the proposed Cleveland Browns domed stadium in Brook Park using unclaimed funds,' and I said it wasn't really because that was just where Ohio would be borrowing the money from temporarily?"

There's a lot going on there! But don't worry, other than that it's smooth sailing. Here's deMause again: "The Cleveland Browns owners' plan for a stadium in Brook Park already survived a battle between the legislature and governor over how $600 million in state money would be raised, and is still facing additional challenges including a potential class action suit over using unclaimed property funds, another city suit over the team violating its lease by negotiating a move, plus the fact that the plan relies on another $600 million in city and county money that hasn't yet been identified. But on Friday [August 15], the Ohio Department of Transportation added a new, unexpected wrinkle when it denied the team's request for a construction permit, because the stadium would be so tall that planes could crash into it." Well, good luck with that!

 

Our last B-team this week is the Denver Broncos, who have a plan similar to the Bears' plan. The Broncos, along with city and state leaders, announced their "preferred site" for the new stadium, not that far from the current one. The Broncos' owners have said they'll use their own funds to buy the land, build the stadium, and do some surrounding development. So far so good!

The devil is in the details, though, and we don't have those details yet. Redoing roads in the area will cost $140 million, and Denver voters will get their say. Will the owners pay market price for the land or get a sweetheart deal? Are they going to get property tax breaks on the stadium and the development like the Bears are getting?

There's also the awkwardness of the state government waving goodbye to its tenant. Mile High is on primo land walking distance from downtown Denver with easy highway access and a nice walking trail along the South Platte River (a trail I can personally recommend). Is the state going to sell the land to developers for high-density housing, or does it have some government boondoggle in mind?

What's surprising is that all three of these cases involve government-owned stadiums that are between 22 and 26 years old. (Soldier Field is technically much older, but finished a complete renovation in 2003). That's not that old! If governments are going to own stadiums, they should take better care of them. (Granted, I haven't been to any of these stadiums and can't vouch for their quality.)

In fairness to these three B-teams, in all senses of the word, the Bengals also have their own complicated stadium situation, and I'm sure every NFL owner would gladly accept some taxpayer funding for whatever they deem useful. (Don't get me started on the Kansas City Chiefs, whose stadium debacle I have nothing nice to say about.)

Thieves trying to steal from the taxpayers.  Again.

 

[Irishman]

You week 2 summary. 😆

 

 

[Coach Nowlin]

This goes for MANY

 

 

[Muda69]

Doyel: It's Raiders owner/Fox Sports analyst Tom Brady’s fairy tale. We're just living in it: https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/columnists/gregg-doyel/2025/09/23/tom-brady-raiders-owner-fox-analyst-broadcaster-conflict-of-interest/86297768007/

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Las Vegas Raiders co-owner and Fox Sports NFL broadcaster Tom Brady can do whatever he wants, and the NFL will just let it happen.

Until.

Until Brady, the spoiled brat nobody wants to tell no, takes it a step too far and the NFL has no choice but to punish him. A little bit. For appearance sake if nothing else.

It happened about a decade ago during DeflateGate – you remember – and it’s happening now with Brady’s dual role as co-owner of an NFL team and lead NFL analyst at Fox Sports. Why does this keep happening? Because Brady’s always been the kid who can do wrong. Look at little Tomsy-Womsy’s dimples! Would that face ever tell a lie?

Sure. All the time. Fairy tales are for kids, but this is Tom Brady’s fairy tale – and he tends to live happily ever after.

Until.

 

Until the breaking point happens. Could it be this weekend? Probably not, no, but this weekend has an awkward Tom Brady conflict of interest. Sorry – this weekend has another awkward Tom Brady conflict of interest.

The conflict of interest this week has Brady’s Raiders playing the Chicago Bears, coached by the former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator – Ben Johnson – whom Brady pursued to coach the Raiders. When was Brady pursuing Johnson? In the days leading up to the 2024 NFC divisional playoff game between the Lions and Washington Commanders.

When Johnson was still serving as the Lions’ coordinator.

And Brady was in town to call the game for Fox Sports.

What, if anything, did Brady say in a failed attempt to entice Johnson to wait for the Raiders before taking Chicago’s offer? We don’t know. Maybe not. Maybe there are text messages the NFL could examine. Maybe Brady refers to himself as “The Recruiter.”

Maybe Brady already destroyed that cell phone.

Remember Tom Brady's role in DeflateGate?

Sorry, I’m confusing RecruitGate with DeflateGate. You remember. This was the 2015 AFC championship game between the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts. Brady was the Patriots’ quarterback. The Colts had suspicions that Brady was playing with a football that was inflated below NFL standards – Colts safety Mike Adams had intercepted Brady twice earlier that season, in a regular-season game in November, and those football felt … weird – and when Colts linebacker D’Qwell Jackson intercepted Brady in the first half of the AFC title game, he brought the ball back to the sideline as a souvenir.

Jackson handed it to an equipment manager to as a souvenir. The ball was passed around the sideline. And that football felt … weird.

You know the rest of the story. No need to relitigate DeflateGate here – Tom Brady was found guilty – but the NFL let it happen, let Brady’s buddy on the equipment staff, aka “The Deflator,” deflate Brady’s game football to Brady’s liking. Then-Colts General Manager Ryan Grigson said he had informed the NFL two months earlier, after Mike Adams’ two-INT game, about those footballs being … weird. The NFL still let Tom Brady walk onto the field with a deflated football for the AFC title game.

Only the ensuing noise, the outrage, forced the NFL to address the little brat. After he was found guilty by an independent investigation of trying to cheat an NFL playoff game, Brady was suspended four whole games.

Seems wimpy, doesn’t it?

That’s how it is for Tom Brady. He gets away with stuff until someone is forced to come along and pats lil’ Tomsy-Womsy’s wrist with a velvet ruler and tell him: Don’t do that again!

So here we are. Tom Brady is doing it again. He’s being hired as the lead NFL color commentator for Fox Sports in 2022, and then he’s buying into the Raiders ownership group in 2023. Despite concerns being raised in real time about that conflict of interest – think of a whole gaggle of Ryan Grigsons – the NFL allowed Brady to continue in both roles. They put some wimpy little restrictions on Brady’s game-week access to the two teams he would be analyzing that week, but they didn’t eliminate his insider access to that information.

And they absolutely didn’t make him choose: Own the Raiders, or be an NFL analyst for Fox Sports. This is how it goes. Tom Brady gets what he wants – so he starts taking, until he takes just a bit too much.

Tom Brady owns Raiders, works NFL games for Fox Sports? Huh?

He’s taking a bit too much now. It started most outrageously during those 2024 NFL playoffs, when an owner of one NFL franchise was allowed inside-the-ropes access at Fox Sports to pursue the offensive coordinator of another NFL franchise.

Then the 2025 NFL season started.

The first week, Brady called the game between the Washington Commanders and New York Giants. That gave an owner of the Las Vegas Raiders inside access to the Commanders, who were two weeks from playing the … Las Vegas Raiders.

It’s not just those deflated footballs that feel weird.

One week later, on Monday Night Football, Brady was spotted in the Raiders coaches' box with offensive coordinator Chip Kelly. You think Brady was giving Kelly any inside information into the Raiders’ Week 3 game with the Commanders? Maybe we should just ask Tom. He’d come clean.

No, let’s just listen to the NFL, which issued a “nothing to see here” statement.

"There are no policies that prohibit an owner from sitting in the coaches' booth or wearing a headset during a game," the league said in a statement, still using The Shield to protect The Commentator.

On Sunday when Washington played the Raiders – the Commanders won 41-24 – Tom Brady was elsewhere, covering the Bears’ Week 3 game with Dallas. Guess who the Bears play in Week 4?

Las Vegas.

This is unprecedented, what we’re watching. As former Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce told SiriusXM Mad Dog Radio:

"This is unprecedented, what we're seeing," Pierce said. "It's not hard for (Brady) to watch a few things on a Friday practice or hear things in a production meeting and be like, 'Hmm,' and have tidbits. And you'd be foolish enough to think that he's not gonna share that with the Raiders.”

Call it sour grapes if you like – Brady’s Raiders fired Antonio Pierce – but he put his name on it. Other NFL executives, terrified of crossing The Shield or The Commentator, are whispering similar comments anonymously to NFL reporters.

Even so, the party continues. Tom Brady gets to have it all: Own one NFL team, have access to the rest of the league with Fox Sports, share that information with the team he owns.

But the noise is growing. The outrage is building. A remedy is nearing, because Brady can’t help himself. He takes and he takes. Pretty soon he’ll take a little too much, and the NFL will be forced to address the little brat.

In the meantime, this is Tom Brady’s fairy tale. We’re just living in it.

Once a cheater always a cheater.  Must be in the "Michigan Man" blood. 

 

[Coach Nowlin]

He should of cheated better than he did if they lost 41-24

Cat Mouse Game:  No one in those pre production meetings are told they have to be forthright and truthful on thier "plans" or for the "Script'.  

If Ben Johnson and his staff were/are concerned, then my guess they either gave FOX vanilla stuff that won't matter or stuff that was completely off radar that was throw away information.   

 

[Coach Nowlin]

 

 

 

[Irishman]

That is a lot of damage to one knee, damn. 

 

 

[PDB26]

6 minutes ago, Irishman said:

That is a lot of damage to one knee, damn. 

 

 

Shades of Willis Mcgahee in ‘02.

[Bobref]

3 hours ago, PDB26 said:

Shades of Willis Mcgahee in ‘02.

Not exactly the same injury. McGahee tore all 3 knee ligaments, ACL, MCL, and PCL. What we know about Hill now is that he tore “multiple ligaments,” including his ACL. But he also dislocated his kneecap (not the same as a dislocated knee). Still, Hill’s injury is arguably more severe because of the dislocation.

[PDB26]

44 minutes ago, Bobref said:

Not exactly the same injury. McGahee tore all 3 knee ligaments, ACL, MCL, and PCL. What we know about Hill now is that he tore “multiple ligaments,” including his ACL. But he also dislocated his kneecap (not the same as a dislocated knee). Still, Hill’s injury is arguably more severe because of the dislocation.

For sure, especially since Hill is like ten years older. But, seeing it happen live, Hill's injury was evocative of McGahee's. 🤮  

[Irishman]

This week's summary.