Opinion

I really hate seeing people’s secrets exposed. It feels filthy. It feels like you snuck into their room and read their diary or grabbed their phone and went through it before it locked. I’m an only child so privacy is really important to me and I don’t like people spilling my tea. And that’s why I’ve felt so sad this week seeing the private photos of Kerry Rhodes some dude named “Hollywood” who thinks he’s going to be famous cause Bossip and BallerAlert and whatever other gossip blogs gave him server and bandwidth to be messy. 

Full disclosure, Kerry is a friend of the blog. He helped me promote it with a contest when I first launched. I find him to be very kind and approachable. But even if not, I’d still be sick about what’s happening to him now.

It’s one thing when homophobic politicians are exposed to be dabbling with the kids or some holier-than-thou leader is found with a mistress…in those cases I can see the point and motivation in outing someone (although, to be honest, I can’t think of any instance in which the outing changed a damn thing!) But when a person is simply living their life, probably in shame, outing them just feels gross and wrong.

I know that there are many people like me who are ready to see the NFL become a safer space for gay players. But that doesn’t mean we want to see people thrust into sharing their private preferences (and pictures!). Plus, if what Hollywood said was true–that Kerry’s teammates saw them together and never bothered him about it– it really begs the question why anyone outside of an athlete’s immediate circle even needs to know anything. Maybe this is what “out” in the NFL is…”out” to those who need to know.  Besides, I don’t think NFL players, on a whole, are as close minded (and may have never been!) as people would like to believe. Lots of secrets are kept between teammates and coaches and agents and sexual habits are just one type.

Still and all, what this fame-seeker is doing to Kerry is a complete violation of trust, privacy, and human decency that I could have lived without. He just seems like an awful individual. 

I’m wishing Kerry the best as he searches for a new team. He played well last season and should get another shot. 

Now that I’ve had some time to sort of survey the scene I have a few thoughts I’d like to share regarding my perspective of media coverage of the Kansas City Chiefs player who murdered his girlfriend in front of his mother and then took his own life in front of team staff.

[To read this long form blog post click Read More]

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It really felt like concussion week in the NFL. Jay Cutler, Alex Smith, Michael Vick, Ryan Clark (I think? again?). Even backup Brady Quinn who had filled in for Matt Cassel has sustained two concussions this year the latest of which he tried to play through (umm fines anyone?). Really surprised he said that in public. Anyway, if you remember, Quinn only got the start after Matt Cassel was concussed.

In two cases — Jay Cutler and Michael Vick — the QBs played through at least two more snaps before being tested and benched. In Cutler’s case, I believe the count was 7. Surprisingly enough, the NFL believed that the teams followed protocol in both cases and no fines are forthcoming.

Multiple reporters this week (including one at the Bears hometown paper Chicago Tribune) argued that a week is not enough for recover. A few have gone so far as to say that ALL concussed players should sit out the following week. I’d love to hear others’ thoughts on that? Should it be a rule? That would be going one step further of the fairly new rule that concussed players can’t return to the same game and the tightened up rules for future return.  

Philadelphia Eagles Coach Andy Reid called Michael Vick’s concussion “significant” which I took to mean worse than they will admit. Still, there are signs pointing to him starting this coming week. But never to worry, his teammate RB-turned-spokesperson Lesean McCoy has assured us that Michael Vick can “hold a conversation” and isn’t “in la la land.” As comforting as that is, Foles should start this week. McCoy has no report on Jay Cutler’s condition but I think he should also sit. And Alex Smith as well.

I don’t want to see Kaepernick vs. Mccown or Campbell any more than you do but such is life. As it stands right now as I’m typing, none of the concussed starters have “officially”  been ruled out for this week except Brady Quinn.

Ryan Clark (S Steelers) is a whole other animal together. He has a history of stingers and concussions and has sustained two concussions this season alone. There is substantial evidence that one concussion increases your chances of of having another. And Clark looks to be headed the Austin Collie route and that concerns me. I also was concerned at the way he seemed to be overselling his health. He made a point of telling the beat reporters that he was doing just fine and then took to twitter to issue a string of overly happy tweets. I could be reading too much into it, but again, it *felt* like an oversell TO ME. Remember, this is the same guy who expressed a willingness to play in Denver even though the last time he did it he almost died due to the altitude.

I’m no Miss Cleo but I expect the Baltimore Ravens to pose somewhat of a concussion risk for Byron Leftwich this week. Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger is expected to sit out due to sustaining a rib injury AND a shoulder injury against the Chiefs inconsistently stout defense. All I can say about that is Ay yi yi. 

Comments? Don’t be afraid to leave’em.

Generally enjoy Dan Wetzel’s work over at Yahoo, if you haven’t seen his work on the Sandusky trial definitely give it a look. Today I was on his page, and I ran across his column on why he thinks anonymous player polls need to be stopped. What spurred the column was the latest “dirtiest player” polls that were released as well as some anonymous comments against Dominic Raiola and NY Jets coach Rex Ryan.

Wetzel argues that there’s no value in the polls that ask “negative” questions like “most overrated” player etc. And he says anonymous commentary should be reserved for situations in which the truth needs to be revealed without consequence — not for what Wetzel classifies as rip jobs.

[To read what I think of player polls and anonymous criticism click Read More]

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In “where you can find me news” I was recently quoted in a story about more women playing fantasy football. For the past few years outlets have been focusing more on women. That includes the NFL. They’ve made more clothing for women and teams are having ladies night and things of that nature.

Now that 40% of NFL fans are women, it makes sense that we’re taking more to Fantasy Football. There’s been an uptick in female participation over the last 2-3 years. Craig Johnson over at HLNTV asked me why. Here’s the excerpt:

“I think women are attracted to fantasy football because it’s a natural rite of passage for many fans,” said Jessica Danielle, a sports blogger who runs PlayerPerspective.com. “Now that the female football fan base has grown it makes sense that women would take the next step and start to show their skill at picking players who will produce from week to week. Plus, money leagues appeal to the gambler in any fan,” she said.

To read the entire article head over to HLNTV. [Fantasy Football: Don't Hate the Player. Source: HLNTV.com]