The 2020-2021 NFL thread

[Thomas Veil]

Wow. Such a weird, different (but not necessarily bad) start to the season.

The Chiefs are playing the Texans before only 16,000 or so fans, and one thing that stood out is that when the PA announcer asked for a moment of silence to honor the ongoing fight for social justice...the stadium literally fell silent. I’ve never seen that before.

 

[Eric]

Wow. Such a weird, different (but not necessarily bad) start to the season.

The Chiefs are playing the Texans before only 16,000 or so fans, and one thing that stood out is that when the PA announcer asked for a moment of silence to honor the ongoing fight for social justice...the stadium literally fell silent. I’ve never seen that before.

Interesting, I meant to tune in and check it out but got caught up in other things. It seems like they're trying to strike the right balance, we'll have to see how it turns out. Just keeping the players from getting it is a challenge from the sounds of it.

 

[Citizenzen]

I watched for a few minutes. My heart just wasn’t in it. The older I get (60 next birthday), the less sports interests me. I stopped following baseball decades ago, haven’t watched basketball for years, and wouldn’t be surprised if football is about to drop off my radar. Golf is the one exception, because I play avidly. But it might be time to bid football a fond farewell. We shall see.

 

[Alli]

I watched for a few minutes. My heart just wasn’t in it. The older I get (60 next birthday), the less sports interests me. I stopped following baseball decades ago, haven’t watched basketball for years, and wouldn’t be surprised if football is about to drop off my radar. Golf is the one exception, because I play avidly. But it might be time to bid football a fond farewell. We shall see.

I’m older than you, and have fallen back in the depth of my football love. I no longer follow the draft and then follow through pre-season to make sure my picks are the ones who get to stay.

That being said, I’m really excited about watching the Saints on Sunday.

 

[SuperMatt]

Even with the lower number of fans, the bathrooms alone at the stadium will be a super spreader event...

 

[JayMysteri0]

Wow. Such a weird, different (but not necessarily bad) start to the season.

The Chiefs are playing the Texans before only 16,000 or so fans, and one thing that stood out is that when the PA announcer asked for a moment of silence to honor the ongoing fight for social justice...the stadium literally fell silent. I’ve never seen that before.

Yeah, about that...
https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1304222138551816193/

 

[Alli]

If you look at the response from Brian G. Nelson (with whom I’m unfamiliar), it is the same response we’ve been giving the whiners from TOP all along. A few moments before the game.

 

[Thomas Veil]

Yeah, about that...
https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1304222138551816193/

*Sigh.* Mea culpa.

On reflection, I did at one point hear what I thought might be booing. (It sounded odd, not like normal booing, probably because of the sparse attendance.) I was hoping it wasn't that.

It was then that I heard it get silent,--but then I did start to hear that sound come back. It occurs to me now the "quiet" I heard wasn't silence.

There has been, for a while now, a problem with either my TV, my optical audio cable or my sound bar where the sound randomly dips down to almost nothing and then comes back again. It's not frequent but annoying as hell when I'm trying to listen to dialogue.

I'm thinking that--of all times--that problem occurred just when the PA announcer started the "moment of unity".

In any case, it was booing, and the Kansas City fans can go fuck themselves. The Chiefs are a great team, but their racist fans are an embarrassment and a disgrace.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised. It's Kansas, after all...a deep red state that elected Sam Brownback twice.

Great way to start the season, KC fans. You're all champions.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

the PA announcer asked for a moment of silence to honor the ongoing fight for social justice...the stadium literally fell silent. I’ve never seen that before.

Interesting. I don't follow sports, but I read it happened very differently in the form of people booing for the moment of silence. So either that didn't happen, the mics couldn't pick up the booing from the limited crowd, or they turned off the mics during the moment of silence.

 

[JayMysteri0]

Interesting. I don't follow sports, but I read it happened very differently in the form of people booing for the moment of silence. So either that didn't happen, the mics couldn't pick up the booing from the limited crowd, or they turned off the mics during the moment of silence.

It didn't matter either way. The rest of the country saw on live TV, clipped it, posted it on Twitter & anywhere else, and suddenly Kansas City fans were being called trash. It didn't matter, they booed a moment of unity with Black & White players trying to send a message. It didn't happen matter that it wasn't during the anthem, it didn't impact the game, what matters is that it happened. A very White audience didn't care for it. Not making it a good look for KC. The announcers didn't escape notice as well, as Twitter dragged them as well.

https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article245654820.html

Kansas City received some unwanted national attention Thursday night when Chiefs fans could be heard booing on NBC’s broadcast as Chiefs and Texans players locked arms in a pre-game moment of unity.

The scene drew a wave of social media commentary, including a Twitter scrimmage between two prominent Missouri politicians.

Republican Sen. Josh Hawley defended the booing at Arrowhead, jumping on a Raw Story article that labeled the spectators “classless trash” in its headline.

The “classless trash” reference was from a Kenny King Jr. tweet; King, in his Twitter profile, identifies as a Las Vegas Raiders fan.

“’Classless trash’? The left showing their usual contempt for middle America,” Hawley tweeted Thursday night. “Missouri has the best fans in the country. Don’t blame them for being tired of NFL/corporate woke politics jammed down their throats.”

Former Democratic Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander poked some fun at Hawley a half-hour later.

“Josh Hawley: In favor of booing @PatrickMahomes.”

He included a well-known GIF from the 2004 film “Dodgeball,” where analyst Pepper Brooks — played by Jason Bateman — delivers the famous line: “That’s a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off for him.”

KC mayor Quinton Lucas also addressed the booing, calling it unrepresentative of the city.

“We’re a good city of good people. I heard boos too,” Lucas tweeted. “But we also have hundreds of thousands more around here who respect the message the players are sharing; who respect the rights of our players and people to voice a strong message and who are working to make us better each day.”

As I've said, if I were player out on that field as the fans booed, I would NOW look at everyone one of those KC fans much much more differently now.

 

[SuperMatt]

Lance Briggs of the Chicago Bears had some thoughts for those who want athletes to shut up and play.

https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1304226335242547200/

 

[Thomas Veil]

It didn't matter either way. The rest of the country saw on live TV, clipped it, posted it on Twitter & anywhere else, and suddenly Kansas City fans were being called trash. It didn't matter, they booed a moment of unity with Black & White players trying to send a message. It didn't happen matter that it wasn't during the anthem, it didn't impact the game, what matters is that it happened. A very White audience didn't care for it. Not making it a good look for KC. The announcers didn't escape notice as well, as Twitter dragged them as well.








As I've said, if I were player out on that field as the fans booed, I would NOW look at everyone one of those KC fans much much more differently now.

Oh, it did indeed happen, as you posted elsewhere. And as embarrassing as it is for me to have written that totally incorrect lead-off post, it’s there and I said it and that’s the reality of it. I apologize for misleading anyone.

It will be interesting today to see if there are any other planned pregame demonstrations of unity, and the fans’ reactions to them.

Lance Briggs is right: for some people the only thing black people are good for is playing football.

 

[Alli]

I’m almost sorry there will be no fans allowed in the Dome for today’s season kickoff between the Saints and Tampa Bay.

 

[Thomas Veil]

No fans? Many teams are allowing some. But then from what I’m hearing it varies by state health orders.

 

[Alli]

No fans? Many teams are allowing some. But then from what I’m hearing it varies by state health orders.

None. And the players are angry that they will be pumping in fake fan noises.

 

[Thomas Veil]

Well, there I say let’s wait and see what happens.

If fans (where permitted) start crowding the front rows, just because they can—and with the way people have behaved that’s a real possibility—then no fans may end up being the case in more than a few stadia.

 

[SuperMatt]

Frank Reich, coach of the Indianapolis Colts, and famous for the greatest comeback in NFL playoff history, took a knee during the anthem on behalf of the team, in an attempt to show humility. Full story below:

Doyel: Frank Reich kneels during anthem because it's not Black communities problem to fix

Colts found a unique way to protest social injustice before the Jags game: Players stood and linked arms for the anthem while coach Frank Reich knelt.

www.indystar.com

 

[Alli]

I have no idea what my team did prior to the game, because Fox was so intent on showing us the ending of other games that they didn’t get to my game until the ball was already in the air for kickoff!

However, I can now say unequivocally that having fake crowd sounds in the Superdome is beyond stupid. You can’t replace a roar with a whisper.

On the bright side, we knocked that idiotic grin off Tom Hades Brady’s face.

 

[Thomas Veil]

*Sigh.* Another year, another Browns opening week debacle.

 

[JayMysteri0]

All I saw was lamentations for the 'No fun' Panthers, and Jerry Jones trending on Twitter for all the WRONG reasons.
https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1305300636536250368/