The 2013 NFL Playoffs? PLAYOFFS? PLAYOFFS??? Morathread

[CountDeMoney]

Damn, Sally goes on the warpath even more than usual

Redskins invested in Robert Griffin III, then everyone put his future in jeopardy
By Sally Jenkins, Published: January 8

There is no confusion over Robert Griffin III's knee — and there never was. The Washington Redskins drafted a healthy, thrilling young player and by the time they got done using him up this season he lurched around like a pirate with a peg leg. Let's be clear: Griffin is not suffering from an old injury, or from just one injury, either. Anyone with eyes saw the kid hurt his knee three times in the past month, twice in the same playoff game, until a strained ligament turned into a torn one. Every decision maker in the organization, from the rock-headed coach to the renowned surgeon in the silly team pompom cap, is responsible for that.

Yeah, we get the cute distinction between "injured" and "hurt" that Coach Mike Shanahan keeps trying to make, and we understand the play-with-pain culture of the NFL. But here is the real distinction: Griffin started an NFC playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks already hurt and wound up so badly injured that he requires surgery on his torn lateral collateral ligament, and his future is compromised. The supposed confusion over how much Shanahan and orthopedic surgeon James Andrews consulted on the sideline, and over the extent of damage to Griffin's knee, is nothing more than rope-a-dope and rationalizing, feeble attempts to excuse the indefensible.

Griffin should never have been back on the field after halftime against the Seahawks last Sunday, and if the people in the organization weren't so starved for success, they would have made a better decision about that.

There is nothing subtle about the situation. Ample evidence shows Griffin shouldn't have been out there, more than enough to override the pleas of an impassioned rookie who wanted to play. Griffin's right knee has already been reconstructed once, in 2009 when he was at Baylor University. The Redskins spent three first-round draft picks to get Griffin in uniform, and he is the most expensive and valuable player they have had in 25 years. Do you think for a moment they didn't study MRI exams of that knee as if it were Sanskrit before giving up those draft choices for him? You think they don't know what his knee should look like?

Four weeks ago, when Griffin hurt his LCL against the Baltimore Ravens, the Redskins were overjoyed to announce that an MRI showed no structural damage at that time. He had just a "strained" ligament. There was no trouble reading that picture — it was totally clear to them.

You didn't need a grainy medical film to know that Griffin came back too soon from the LCL strain when he completed just 9 of 18 passes for 100 yards and no touchdowns against the Dallas Cowboys in the final game of the regular season. A deadly accurate 70 percent passer became a so-so 50 percent passer.

What a strain means is that the ligament is dangerously stretched, if not already partially torn. There was only one real question for Shanahan and Andrews from that point on: whether Griffin could continue to play without injuring himself further. The whole point of putting him in a cumbersome leg brace was to prevent an injury from turning into something worse.

"Probably doesn't have to wear it, but the doctors thought it would be best for him to wear it, to protect it, so we don't further injure the LCL," Shanahan said last week.

It was the one thing they were all supposed to be guarding against.

In the opening quarter against the Seahawks, it was plain that something went badly wrong with the knee. Griffin opened the game by completing 6 of 9 passes for 68 yards and two touchdowns. But he wrenched his knee on an incompletion just before he threw the second touchdown. He completed just 4 of 11 passes and ran just one keeper over the next three quarters, clearly laboring, until that hideous moment when he was so stiff-legged that he couldn't recover a fumbled snap and his leg slid out from under him at that awkward angle.

To repeat: Somehow the Redskins allowed their top draft choice, their best quarterback in a generation, to hurt his knee three times without adequately protecting their investment. The guess here is that Griffin will be lucky to be fully healthy in a year, and frankly, if he has fully torn the anterior cruciate ligament, there is some question as to whether that knee will ever be quite the same.

There is plenty of blame to spread for this state of affairs. What was Andrews doing on that sideline, other than wearing a team hat and providing political cover? Let's not overlook the role of those who let Kenny Chesney fans and assorted college teams trample FedEx Field into such execrable condition without properly repairing it. Then there is Griffin himself, who hasn't yet learned to play with discretion and to protect others' investment in him.

But the one who had more responsibility than anyone else was Shanahan. He wanted institutional control of the Redskins, prized a CEO-like role, and he got it. There is no taking the burden of this decision off him. It is no great pleasure to say this, because what Shanahan did with the Redskins this season was worthy of deep respect, right up until this week.

Shanahan may be too flinty and defensive to say it, but he made quite simply one of the worst decisions of his life as head coach, and it's hard to believe that behind closed doors, away from the second-guessing media, he isn't ramming his head into a wall over it. We can't know what his "gut" decision to let Griffin keep playing was based on, whether it was his own extreme disposition as a former quarterback who played hurt to the point that he ruptured his kidney, or whether he was simply too indulgent of Griffin, allowed his quarterback to spellbind him as he has the audience.

There isn't a coach on the planet who doesn't obsess over knees, who doesn't know exactly what stresses them, and who can't diagram a knee. They all understand how playing with an injury alters movement, and creates complications and potential chain reactions. It's hard to believe that Shanahan didn't understand exactly what was going on when Griffin's accuracy fell from 70 percent to 50 percent — that he couldn't plant properly on that knee. Above all, Shanahan should have understood whom he was dealing with: Griffin plays a dangerous brand of football with his legs, one that courts injury in the first place.

For a while, it looked like the RGIII-Shanahan partnership was so good, so electric, that they could overcome the Redskins' terrible recent past. Instead, all of the old organizational flaws seem present again: the half-truths and rationalizations for terrible decisions, and the habit of spending too heavily today and mortgaging tomorrow.

[Neil]

You'd think he was the only guy ever to play hurt.  For such a small town, DC sure has a big footprint in sports media.

[jimmy olsen]

Looks like all the speculation was right, his brain was hammered into mush.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nfl-player-junior-seau-had-165415673--nfl.html

NFL star Junior Seau suffered from brain disease
By BARRY WILNER (AP Pro Football Writer) | The Associated Press – 1 hour 37 minutes ago

Junior Seau, one of the NFL's best and fiercest players for two decades, suffered from a degenerative brain disease often associated with repeated blows to the head when he committed suicide last May, the National Institutes of Health said in a study released Thursday.

The NIH, based in Bethesda, Md., said Seau's brain revealed abnormalities consistent with chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE. It said that the study included unidentified brains, one of which was Seau's, and that the findings on Seau were similar to autopsies of people ''with exposure to repetitive head injuries.''

Seau's family requested the analysis of his brain.

The star linebacker played for 20 NFL seasons with San Diego, Miami and New England before retiring in 2009. He died of a self-inflicted shotgun wound.

He joins a list of several dozen football players who were found to have CTE. Boston University's center for study of the disease reported last month that 34 former pro players and nine who played only college football suffered from CTE.

''I was not surprised after learning a little about CTE that he had it,'' Seau's 23-year-old son Tyler said. ''He did play so many years at that level. I was more just kind of angry I didn't do something more and have the awareness to help him more, and now it is too late.

''I don't think any of us were aware of the side effects that could be going on with head trauma until he passed away. We didn't know his behavior was from head trauma.''

That behavior, according to Tyler Seau and Junior's ex-wife Gina, included wild mood swings, irrationality, forgetfulness, insomnia and depression.

The NFL faces lawsuits by thousands of former players who say the league withheld information on the harmful effects concussions. According to an AP review of 175 lawsuits, 3,818 players have sued. At least 26 Hall of Famer members are among the players who have done so.

Seau is not the first former NFL player who killed himself, then was found to have CTE. Dave Duerson and Ray Easterling are the others.

''He emotionally detached himself and would kind of 'go away' for a little bit,'' Tyler Seau said. ''And then the depression and things like that. It started to progressively get worse.''

He hid it well in public, they said. But not when he was with family or close friends.

Dr. Russell Lonser, who oversaw the study, said Seau's brain was ''independently evaluated by multiple experts, in a blind fashion.''

''We had the opportunity to get multiple experts involved in a way they wouldn't be able to directly identify his tissue even if they knew he was one of the individuals studied,'' he said.

The National Football League, in an email to the AP, said: ''We appreciate the Seau family's cooperation with the National Institutes of Health. The finding underscores the recognized need for additional research to accelerate a fuller understanding of CTE.

''The NFL, both directly and in partnership with the NIH, Centers for Disease Control and other leading organizations, is committed to supporting a wide range of independent medical and scientific research that will both address CTE and promote the long-term health and safety of athletes at all levels.''

NFL teams have given a $30 million research grant to the NIH.

Before shooting himself, Duerson, a former Chicago Bears defensive back, left a note asking that his brain be studied for signs of trauma. His family filed a wrongful-death suit against the NFL, claiming the league didn't do enough to prevent or treat the concussions that severely damaged his brain.

Easterling played safety for the Falcons in the 1970s. After his career, he suffered from dementia, depression and insomnia, according to his wife, Mary Ann. He committed suicide last April.

Mary Ann Easterling is among the plaintiffs who have sued the NFL.

''It was important to us to get to the bottom of this, the truth,'' Gina Seau said, ''and now that it has been conclusively determined from every expert that he had obviously had it, CTE, we just hope it is taken more seriously.

''You can't deny it exists, and it is hard to deny there is a link between head trauma and CTE. There's such strong evidence correlating head trauma and collisions and CTE.''

Tyler Seau played football through high school and for two years in college. He says he has no symptoms of brain trauma.

Gina Seau's son Jake, now a high school junior, played football for two seasons but has switched to lacrosse and has been recruited to play at Duke.

''Lacrosse is really his sport and what he is passionate about,'' she said. ''He is a good football player and probably could continue. But especially now watching what his dad went through, he says, 'Why would I risk lacrosse for football?'

''I didn't have to have a discussion with him after we saw what Junior went through.''

Her 12-year-old son, Hunter, has shown no interest in playing football.

''That's fine with me,'' she said.

[CountDeMoney]

Fun fact:  one of Haloti Ngata's sons is named Haloti Maximus Ngata.

[Grey Fox]

You fucking NFL poachers, stay the fuck away from our CFL Coaches & GMs.

[Neil]

You fucking NFL poachers, stay the fuck away from our CFL Coaches & GMs.

Hey now.  It's wrong to want Trestman to stay in the CFL for no money and no glory.

[Grey Fox]

You fucking NFL poachers, stay the fuck away from our CFL Coaches & GMs.

Hey now.  It's wrong to want Trestman to stay in the CFL for no money and no glory.

No it's not. No one is expecting the NFL to come and poach the QBs , the GMs & Coachs are also off limits.

[Barrister]

I love me the CFL, but anybody involved in professional football knows the CFL is small potatoes compared to the NFL.  Good luck to Trestman is getting that US job.

[Valmy]

Yeah is Canada ever going to get a NFL team?  Or does the existance of the CFL pretty much make that impossible?

I just seems weird the NFL is the only major sports league without a Canadian team.

[Barrister]

Yeah is Canada ever going to get a NFL team?  Or does the existance of the CFL pretty much make that impossible?

I just seems weird the NFL is the only major sports league without a Canadian team.

Well the Buffalo Bills have been playing several home games in Toronto for a few years now.  Turns out they're not doing all that well in ticket sales.

And remember that when you talk about "major sports leagues in Canada", you're really just talking about Toronto.  The Grizzlies left Vancouver, and the Expos left Montreal.  And even in Toronto the Raptors only do well because they're owned by MLSE and if you want to get Leafs season tickets you're forced to also buy Raptors season tickets.

[Valmy]

And remember that when you talk about "major sports leagues in Canada", you're really just talking about Toronto.  The Grizzlies left Vancouver, and the Expos left Montreal.

The Expos were doing pretty well until Baseball Strikes broke up both of their best teams.  The fans just were not coming back anytime soon after that.  Though I wonder if they had stayed if they might not be doing pretty well now, the exchange rate was killing them for awhile.

I do not know what happened with the Grizz but I bet it had something to do with them being horrible.

But I guess you are right in that the question is if Toronto would ever get an NFL team.

And even in Toronto the Raptors only do well because they're owned by MLSE and if you want to get Leafs season tickets you're forced to also buy Raptors season tickets.

Man as if having to watch the Leafs wasn't bad enough.

[Grey Fox]

Whenever Wilson dies, Rogers is going to buy the Bills.

[derspiess]

I like Flacco probably more than most Ravens fans do, but I couldn't help but lol...

Joe Flacco Already Preparing Apology To Ray Lewis For Disappointing End To Career

BALTIMORE—In preparation for the highly anticipated AFC playoff game with the Denver Broncos, Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco announced Thursday that he is already working on an apology that will express heartfelt regret for the ignoble ending to retiring linebacker Ray Lewis's career. "I've been plugging away on a couple of drafts this week, but I definitely want to focus on what a great teammate Ray has been and how bad I feel that he's going out like this," said Flacco, adding that Lewis "deserves better" than to force and recover a critical fourth-quarter Denver fumble only to watch helplessly from the sidelines as Flacco throws a pick-six interception on the following play, bringing the future Hall of Famer's 17-year NFL career to a discouraging close. "Once I've got it all worked out, I'm thinking I'll apologize before kickoff, because he definitely won't want to hear from me after all those muffed snaps." According to team sources, Flacco's apology to Lewis is just one of many being contemplated by the quarterback, who is reportedly working on separate offerings of remorse to teammates, coaches, and Ravens ownership for Saturday's loss, as well as to the city of Baltimore for the six-year contract extension he will receive this offseason.

[Neil]

You fucking NFL poachers, stay the fuck away from our CFL Coaches & GMs.

Hey now.  It's wrong to want Trestman to stay in the CFL for no money and no glory.

No it's not. No one is expecting the NFL to come and poach the QBs , the GMs & Coachs are also off limits.

They have on occasion in the past, but usually CFL QBs aren't good enough for the NFL.  Still, there is always Moon, Theismann, Flutie and Garcia.

[Ed Anger]

Lol the onion.