I was shocked and appalled when I first heard about the NFL’s decision to implement this new bag policy. I can very clearly remember my first thoughts:

• Surely they’re kidding… The Hawks gave us season ticket holders little vinyl  12^th man backpacks one year… They aren’t going to outlaw those, are they…?
• What about my Malcolm Smith autographed Seahawks purse? What self-respecting 12^th woman goes to the game without her authentic NFL Seahawks purse???
• But it gets cold in November! (I heard no blankets initially)
• Um, I have a disease… What about all the crap I have to bring to games…?

Let’s examine these under the bare bulb of reality, shall we?

• They’re not kidding, and don’t call them Shirley. (sorry!) It doesn’t matter what bags you used in the past. From this point forward, if you want to tote your stuff into a game, you will have to use one of their authentic, NFL sanctioned clear carry bags. (or a one gallon ziplock)
• No one cares how much you like Malcolm Smith or your snazzy purse. Don’t bring the darn thing to the CLink. Carry it to work to make your co-workers jealous but don’t bring a purse larger than your hand to the game.
• It does get cold in November. Blankets are still allowed. I hear you can carry them over your shoulder so they don’t fill up your bag. Gives new meaning to the term “wet blanket”
• If you have a disease that requires dragging crap to the games, you must go to a special disease gate so your crap can be inspected. Even though your crap wasn’t dangerous last year, it might be this year. Remember, it’s for your safety.

Well, I’m all about verification, so I emailed the Commish. Here’s what I got back:

Greetings Asthmagirl,

 It’s [redacted] from the NFL. I work with Commissioner Goodell who asked me to respond to your email.

Please see the link to a website — http://www.nfl.com/allclear — that further explains the policy and how it will make going to games even safer and also making getting into the stadium easier. You will see photos of what bags will be permitted. Fans will still be able to bring in the same items as in previous years. We are simply having fans bring them in different bags that will make the screening process safer and faster.

In addition to putting items into a clear bag, women may also bring in a small clutch bag to carry any personal items. If you have any additional concerns with personal or medical items, you may also go to a designated area for screening.  

Thanks again for reaching out to us. Please let me know if you have additional questions or you may also contact your team.

Yes, I have additional questions…. What about my disease crap? I’ll open my bag to let security see it, but I really don’t want to walk through the stadium with my crap on display. And my hip is deteriorating…  and seat cushions are outlawed?

 Hi Asthmagirl,

If your seat cushion is a medical necessity, you will be allowed to bring it in but you must go to the designated area to be screened.

Hey, I’m all about making games EVEN SAFER. So let’s evaluate this: You’ve probably discerned by now that I have funky lungs and a wobbly hip. Luckily, the NFL is sympathetic.

For my lung crap (to allow breathing during fireworks, cold weather, dampness and the occasional attempt to yell, I either need to show it off in the plastic bag throughout the stadium or go to the segregated disease line, where all the other folks with medical necessities will be waiting for me. Kind of points us out to everyone doesn’t it. Something must be wrong with “those people” in “that line.”

For my wobbly hip, which does indeed feel better sitting on a seat cushion for 4 hours rather than a hard plastic chair, I must now have my seat cushions examined. Are they really a danger? Are they safe to sit on? Will you tag them so that I’m not confronted 20 times as I walk through the stadium regarding how I got them through gimp line in the first place? Do you just need to know who has seat cushions in case there’s some sort of zombie seat cushion attack?

I’m not issuing ultimatums regarding whether or not I’ll remain a season ticket holder. I love my Hawks, a lot. But I will say that this policy has precious little to do with public safety and everything to do with ridiculous rules. Either purses and seat cushions are dangerous, or they’re not. If my purse and seat cushion are dangerous in the CLink, how come they aren’t dangerous across the street in Safeco field when I’m watching the Mariners?

I also don’t believe the policy is well thought out.

• If I can bring in whatever I brought in previous years as [redacted] says, EXCEPT a purse, then really, the policy is discriminating against women…. Or men who carry purses. I’m all about equal opportunity.
• If, to bring in medically necessary items in a non-see-through bag, I must go through a special medically necessary line, is that discrimination against people with medical necessities?
• What if the medically necessary line gets to be two blocks long because everyone wants to bring their seat cushions in and claims to have a bad hip? Next year, will the NFL require us to have doctor’s notes for our seat cushions?

Ultimately, I think this is one of the silliest, most illogical policies the NFL has ever come up with. And that’s saying a lot.

I still love my Malcolm Smith autographed purse!

First a recap:

The NFL uses yard allowed to rate defense. We all know this is extremely flawed. Yards allowed doesn’t correlate highly to points allowed, and thus it doesn’t correlate to wins. It’s just a poor measure. I also showed that yards allowed was highly dependent on the # of possessions, which is something the defense has no control over.

The other measurement current used is points allowed. This is especially true for fans of teams like Seattle; a team that was #1 in that category, despite being less than steller in other statical measures. The problem is that this is also dependent on the number of possessions, and I also have shown that it is dependent on the average starting field position for the opponents. Again, these are things that the defense can’t control.

This problem led me to break down the results of each drive by it’s conclusion: touchdowns, punts, etc. The result there was too many variables and nothing to regress that data to. While there was plenty of anecdotal results that were very interesting, there wasn’t anything significant mathematically that could be found at this point.

Recap over. Now on to new results.

This time,  looked at something simple: yards per drive. It’s is one of the only factors that the defense has full control over. The better the defense, the quicker they’ll get off the field, right? Sure, there’s the “bend but don’t break” philosophy  but while that might be functional, it’s is hardly dominant.

The problem here is that this evaluation of the defensive play doesn’t correlate highly to anything significant, like points given up, or wins. There’s just too many other factors that effect those things we’d want to correlate it to.

To begin to account for that, I took the average starting field position for each defense, and added that to the yards given up to give me the average yard yard where drives ended.

That number, actually correlated quite nicely to points given up. It’s still not perfect, and there’s still one more variable I need to account for (getting turnovers appears to be a big factor), but I think that I may have stumbled on to something that is very mathematically significant.

Unfortunately, it’s very late here, so that’s going to have to wait until tomorrow. I will say that once I account for turnovers, i believe I’ll end up showing that yards per drive is an extremely accurate indicator of how well a defense played.

Until then, I’ll just leave you with today’s data:

Dec 9, 2012; Seattle, WA, USA; Arizona Cardinals quarterback John Skelton (19) is hit by Seattle Seahawks defensive end Chris Clemons (91) after passing the ball during the 1st quarter at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

Yesterday I took at look at the number of drives that each team’s defense was on the field for. Those results were interesting, but they didn’t tell us much about what those drives resulted in. We were able to infer some of that based on the total points given up by those teams, but honestly, I want something more concrete than that.

I decided to take a look at how each of those drives ended. It doesn’t matter if a defense isn’t on the field much compared to other teams, if that defense still gives up a lot of touchdowns. (I’m looking at you Cowboys.) Ultimately, I believe the true measure of the quality of a defense is somewhere to be found in this particular data set. 

Unless I’ve made a horrible mistake here, drives can only end in 7 different ways: a touchdown, a field goal attempt, a punt, a turnover, a failed 4th down attempt, a safety, and at the end of a half. That’s a fairly limited number of possible outcomes, meaning I should be able to eventually tease out some very meaningful evaluation tools from this. We’ll see, there’s still a long way to go.

I was hoping to have some meaningful result to tell you about, but that’s going to have to wait until tomorrow. Compiling all this data took more time than I originally had available. Just getting this compiled and posted was all I could handle. I left off the safeties, since there’s only a couple total from the entire season and I’m already pushing the limits on the width of this table.

I did manage to give you the percentage for each outcome, though I’m not sure while that seems like a big deal in my head.

Feb 3, 2013; New Orleans, LA, USA; A general view of a goal line pylon with the Super Bowl XLVII logo at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Yesterday I pointed out that Vegas has the Seahawks at 10 wins for this upcoming season. I decided to do some more digging, and found that there are currently odds available for games for weeks 1 through 16.

I starting compiling all the necessary info from Cantor, but then it was pointed out to me that  the National Football Post, has already done that for me. Pretty awesome stuff. Check out that link if you want to see the lines for every game.

Here’s short version for the Seahawks:

• Despite only predicting 10 wins, the Seahawks are favorites in 13 of 15 games.
• Being a favorite 13 times is tied for the most of any team. Other with 13 are San Francisco and Denver.
• Seattle is the underdog just once, tied with the 2 teams listed above, but that isn’t the lowest total. The Patriots are never underdogs, though they do have 3 “pick” games, more than any team.
• The Seahawks are favored on the road vs. Houston and against the Giants.
• The Seahawks are favored at home against the 49ers. The road game vs the 49ers is the only time Seattle isn’t favored.
• Seattle’s game on the road vs. Atlanta is a “pick” game.
• Seahawks are 14 point favorites vs. the Jaguars, which is scary.

Some Notes For the NFC West

• The Cardinals are never favored. The Jaguars are the only other team that is never favored.
• The Cards do have 3 “pick” games: Jaguards, Rams and Colts.
• The Rams are favored in just 4 games: AZ, Jaguars, Bucs and Titans
• The 49ers are only underdogs for their game in Seattle, they also have a “pick” game on the road vs the Saints.

Other Random Notes:

• The Colts and Vkings, both playoff teams from a year ago, are both only favored in 5 games.
• The Jets are somehow favored in 5 games.
• Oakland is favored in 2 games, which makes little sense.
• The Bills are favored twice, but the first time isn’t until week 9.

Jan 1, 2013; Pasadena, CA, USA; Stanford Cardinal tight end Zach Ertz (86) catches a pass over Wisconsin Badgers defensive back Dezmen Southward (12) in the first half during the 2013 Rose Bowl game at the Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

On Friday night the 2nd night of the NFL Draft some of the big name specialty players finally started coming off the board after a predominantly trench player 1st round. There was only 1 Quarterback taken in the 1st round and zero Running backs.

The Tennessee Titans made the first trade of the 2nd round by moving up into the San Francisco 49ers spot and Drafting the Physical Wide Receiver Justin Hunter from Tennessee. The Eagles then

Drafted Tight End Zach Ertz from Stanford who could really develop into a nightmare for defenses to cover in Chips Kelly’s up tempo high speed offense.

After day one there was not a single Running Back taken, although by the end of the 2nd round 5 Running Backs had come off the board. The first to be taken was Giovani Bernard from North Carolina selected by the Cincinnati Bengals followed by Le’veon Bell selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Then came the selection of the all-time NCAA Touchdown record holder Montee Ball selected by the Denver Broncos. It wasn’t until the 61st pick that the number 1 rated Running Back came off the board when Eddie Lacy was drafted by the Green Bay Packers. With the last pick in the 2nd round of the Draft the Seattle Seahawks made their first pick when they picked the highly talented Christine Michael out of Texas A&M.

Another player that slid out of the 1st round was Notre Dame Linebacker Manti Te’o who was selected by the San Diego Chargers with the 38th pick in the Draft. The Chargers are hoping they selected the playmaker that they have been missing since Shawne Merriman left.

In the 2nd round the New York Jets finally selected what they hope will be their Quarterback of the future when they picked Geno Smith from West Virginia. Smith was predicted to be the first Quarterback selected but after EJ Manual was picked by the Buffalo Bills in the 1st round the slide continued until he was picked with the 39th pick in the Draft.

Also selected on day 2 was the Honey Badger Tyrann Mathieu from LSU who was selected by the Arizona Cardinals. Mathieu was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy in 2011 but after being in trouble with the law and team policies in the spring and summer of 2012 he didn’t even step foot on the football field in 2012.

Now that most of the big names are off of the table after an exciting 2nd and 3rd round of the NFL Draft it is time for teams to fill their rosters up and attempt to find the next Russell Wilson of the 2013 Draft. Matt Barkley is the one big name still on the board so we will have to wait until this afternoon to see who gets the once prized Quarterback from University of Southern California after his huge slide down the Draft boards.

Apr 25, 2013; New York, NY, USA; Xavier Rhodes (Florida State) is introduced as the number twenty-five overall pick to the Minnesota Vikings during the 2013 NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

With the 1st pick in the 2013 NFL Draft the Kansas City Chiefs Select Andrew Luck. Not exactly, this year’s NFL Draft doesn’t have the flash or the instant star player’s in it like the 2012 Draft. The 2013 NFL Draft was full of meat and potato players, 6 of the 1st 11 players Drafted in the 1st round were Offensive Lineman.

The Kansas City Chiefs used almost every second of their 10 minutes on the clock and after months of film study and listening to possible trades they selected Offensive Tackle Eric Fisher out of Central Michigan, Fisher is slated to protect Alex Smith’s blindside. The Jacksonville Jaguars knowing that is would get to take whichever Offensive Tackle the Chiefs didn’t take, took Offensive Tackle Luke Joeckel from Texas A&M. Joeckel was thought by many to be the 1st pick although in the last few weeks his hold on the top Draft pick slot weakened.

The Miami Dolphins continued their aggressive off-season by trading their 1st and one of their 2nd Round picks with the Raiders for the right to the 3rd pick of the Draft which they used to select Dion Jordan Outside Linebacker from Oregon. Another notable trade was made by the St. Louis Rams who jumped in front of the New York Jets to snag speedy Wide Receiver Tavon Austin from West Virginia. Buffalo Bills who moved back in the draft after completing the trade with the Rams and made the biggest surprise pick of the Draft by selecting EJ Manual Quarterback from Florida State. Manual who has the size and speed to be a starting Quarterback, although he was projected as a 2nd or even a 3rd round pick, thus leaving Geno Smith the Quarterback from West Virginia still on the board when all of the 1st round selections were completed.

The San Francisco 49ers moved up from the 31st pick to the 18th pick after swapping with the Dallas Cowboys and also throwing in an additional 3rd round pick. The 49ers looked to fill the void at Safety left by Dashon Goldson when he left for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Free Agency. That void was filled by selecting hard hitting Eric Reid out of LSU.

The Minnesota Vikings were able to Draft three players between the 23rd and the 29th picks. The Vikings selected Shariff Floyd Defensive Tackle from Florida selected 23rd, Xavier Rhodes Cornerback from Florida State selected 25 (pick received in the Percy Harvin Trade with Seattle Seahawks), and with the 29th pick from the New England Patriots they selected Cordarrelle Patterson Wide Receiver from Tennessee.

The 1st Round of the 2013 NFL Draft didn’t have the high profile names or the marketability of recent Drafts but it did give teams plenty of opportunities to fill needs both on the Offensive and Defensive Lines. Many teams ditched the best player available motto and went after players of need. With plenty of specialty players available in the 2nd Round of the 2013 Draft there could be almost just as much excitement on day Two and there was in round One.

Chris Kluwe and Brendon Ayanbadejo are two of the most vocal in their support of gay rights and stances against discrimination and bigotry by people involved with the NFL. Earlier this week, Chris Clemons posted some tweets to the ether fielding various responses. I normally don’t respond to NFL players since most of what they tweet is publicity or superficial nothingness to other players, but this caught my attention and I decided to respond. To Clemons’ credit, he did reply to me a couple times and was open and honest in his responses. He seemingly wanted to clarify what he was trying to say. Others in the Twitterverse decided that I was using my “tolerance” to bully an NFL lineman. (This mental image alone is priceless.) So it’s out in the open, here is what our series of tweets looked like:

Christopher Clemons ‏@chrisclemons91
Who on Gods earth is this person saying he’s coming out of the closet in the NFL?

Hanley B. ‏@hbonynge
I’m really not liking @chrisclemons91′s tweets on a gay NFL player coming out right now. Locker rooms need to get over their homophobia.

Christopher Clemons ‏@chrisclemons91
@hbonynge No one said anything about be a homophobic. I just think something’s should be left at home.

Hanley B. ‏@hbonynge
@chrisclemons91 I get that. Focus on business. But how does being gay mean your personal life isn’t at home the same as a straight guy?

Super Sonic Fan ‏@SuperSonicFan1
@hbonynge @chrisclemons91 such am absolutely ridiculous thing to say. #12thMan stands behind you Chris, no need to bullied by the “tolerant”

Hanley B. ‏@hbonynge
@SuperSonicFan1 @chrisclemons91 I hardly think I’m bullying Clem. If you feel bullied, Chris, my apologies. I just prefer an inclusive team.

Christopher Clemons@chrisclemons91
@hbonynge @supersonicfan1 I never said he would be abandoned. I don’t judge people for what they do. I only react off how they treat me.

Hanley B. ‏@hbonynge
@chrisclemons91 Fair enough. That’s all anybody can ask for.

In all fairness to Clemons, he seems to have seen some error and softened his stance, backtracked, or tried to clarify what he was saying. That’s fine. I understand that and was simply commenting on his tweets. I am glad to know that Clemons would not abandon a gay teammate and would only judge him on how that person treated him. As humans, being judged by our character is all any of us can ever ask of anyone else.

I do think the NFL can take a more proactive stance on this issue though. The NFL often promotes, to an exceptional level, its partnership and support of our armed services, which now accept and do not question gay service members. The NFL could follow suit in laying down a foundation of tolerance that would enable out gay athletes to feel more accepted. As many of Clemons’ other tweets demonstrate, he seems to be somewhat confused, yet open, about this issue.

His series of tweets talk about how a person’s sexuality should be left at home:

Christopher Clemons@chrisclemons91
@***** No I’m just saying its not everyone else’s business if your gay! That’s all I’m saying.

Christopher Clemons@chrisclemons91
@***** exactly! Leave your love life at home.

This is like saying a person’s ethnicity should be left at home. A person can leave their “gayness” at home about as well as Clemons can leave his “blackness” at home. A person’s identity is part of them. It doesn’t mean they will play any better or any worse. It also shouldn’t mean that his teammates treat him any differently in the locker room or on the field and Clemons’ earlier tweet seems to affirm that he wouldn’t “abandon” him if it was his teammate.

Clemons seems to be uninformed regarding the social and historical issue, though. Tweets such as:

Christopher Clemons@chrisclemons91
@***** If you didn’t do it when you were in high school or college then why wait til your in the NFL? Whoever he is he didn’t just start

Christopher Clemons@chrisclemons91
@***** I’m not one to judge anyone because that is there personal preference.

There are a couple problems here. I’ll address the second tweet first. Describing homosexuality as a “preference” is a misconception. Gay people choose to be gay in the same way that I choose to be straight, they don’t. There is no choice. We are born the way we are and our sexual orientation is no more a choice than our ethnicity. Clemons could be using the word “preference” loosely and meaning “orientation,” but it is an important distinction to make.

As for the first tweet as to why a gay athlete might not have come out earlier in his life this shows a general ignorance on the issue as a whole. First, in the big three professional sports there has never been an out gay athlete so the risks, financially, socially, and health-wise, are considerable. Many team owners are conservative and not generally sympathetic to the cause of equal rights for gay people. (We need to only look back to former Sonics part-owner Aubrey McClendon’s political contributions while the team was still in Seattle.) These owners may approach their teams purely as business and not care about a player’s sexual orientation one way or the other, as long as the player performed. Owners could also refuse to sign an out player therefore diminishing his opportunities in the NFL. An out player could also be targeted on the field for being gay by opponents. Taking unusually hard or an increased amount of cheap-shots is bad for one’s health and career. I am not saying that these things will happen but simply that they could happen, and that risk alone is enough for a player to not have come out previously. Clemons’ own worry over a gay player dividing a locker room should at least clarify this issue for him.

Christopher Clemons@chrisclemons91
@***** it doesn’t matter how good they are. That will immediately separate a lockerroom and divide a team.

Christopher Clemons@chrisclemons91
@***** I’m not against anyone but I think it’s a selfish act. They just trying to make themselves bigger than the team.

A gay person would only separate a locker room if a player’s intolerance of that player’s sexuality led them to make an issue out of it. A person’s height, weight, hair color, skin color, IQ, religion or anything else shouldn’t lead a divided locker room and neither should a person’s sexuality. Things like domestic or sexual abuse, which is common in the NFL, should be a much more divisive issue within team than sexual orientation.

A person being open about whom they are with people they go into battle with every week does not make them “bigger than their team.” If anything, it makes them more one with their team. Personally, I would be a much fiercer and more loyal teammate if I could be myself and know I was wholly accepted than if I had to pretend and hide who I was from my comrades. Players tweet daily about their religion, pray on the field, and regularly thank God in interviews because that is who the player is. I’d argue that that puts a player above the team more than a person’s sexuality.

Russell Wilson, who is a devout Christian, is a model athlete. He finishes every interview with “Go Hawks” and I’ve never heard him say anything but praise for his team in interviews. He tweets about his faith, but when it is about his team, the team comes first. That is commendable and I believe that he would have no issue with a gay teammate.

I think that the NFL could take a proactive role in educating its players on this issue and do everything it can to mitigate the risks a player would face in coming out. It should embrace and cultivate tolerance within the individual teams and across the league as a whole. This doesn’t mean that players aren’t allowed to have their own personal beliefs on the issue, it just means that players will be expected understand that their beliefs are just that, personal.

I would be proud and honored if my team had the first openly gay player in the NFL. It would be a great sign of the quality of character in regards to the city, the franchise, the individual collection of players, and, perhaps most importantly, the 12^th Man.

An ideal conclusion would be when Chris Clemons’ tweet asking

Christopher Clemons ‏@chrisclemons91
@***** @***** […] Why is this news worthy! It’s gays everywhere and just cause its a football player it big news

is a reality; a gay player wouldn’t be newsworthy.

Until that happens, though, it is newsworthy, and ignorance of that fact and the reasons for it are best left unsaid. Football is the biggest professional sport in the United States. A lot of things that happen in the NFL are big news and the NFL wants it that way. The NFL should support having the first openly gay player. It would be yet another thing that sets it apart from professional basketball and baseball.

A league full of men who have no problem wearing pink (a color that in my childhood was often derided as being “gay”) for an entire month every season should have no problem also supporting equal rights for all its players. Everyone is entitled to their beliefs and frequent and honest discussion of them is always a good thing. Beliefs become an issue when they cost others their rights.

This article is not intended to pick on or isolate Chris Clemons in any way. I do not know him personally, and I do not believe that he is homophobic or bigoted. From his various tweets today, I believe that he is open and would accept a gay teammate. I use Clemons’ tweets/statements as a stand-in for what I believe are common misconceptions and beliefs across the NFL.

There are obviously players that are much more tolerant and have no problem with homosexuality in general or with a teammate. There are also players that could, or would, divide a locker room over an out teammate. I believe it is these players that should be the issue. Not the gay ones. The locker room and field are an athlete’s workplace. A person’s sexual orientation should be as much of an issue there as in any other business. Knowing that there are gay people at my gym doesn’t stop me from using the showers or locker room. It doesn’t stop me from riding a bus, going to work, or attending a game. And when I go to a game, I want my team to be the best. Being the best means being the most cohesive which requires a tolerant and open environment. Cohesion can’t exist when players have to hide in integral part of themselves. The team whose colors I wear will be an even better team when the players feel safe being who they are openly.

Editor’s comment: The opinions expressed here are that of the author, and are not the official viewpoint of 12th Man Rising or Fansided. We understand the fact that there many differing beliefs, and we respect the diversity of opinions on this topic. 

Please be sure to keep all comments civil. Those that aren’t will be deleted. 

March 20, 2013; Phoenix, AZ, USA; NFL commissioner Roger Goodell speaks during a press conference at the annual NFL meetings at the Arizona Biltmore. Mandatory Credit: Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL seems to be constantly changing it’s rules and frustrating the fans in doing so. If they’re going to change the rules, there’s plenty of things I’d like to see the NFL do that they don’t even seem to be considering.

It would be easy to say something like “undo all the Goodell rule changes,” but I think we need to just get over it. Lets face it, all the player safety rule changes are here to stay whether we like it or not.

So rather than focussing on those rules, lets instead highlight some some rules changes that would genuinely make the game better, without making it less safe for the players.

1) Mandating quality field conditions – There are a few stadiums in the NFL, mostly in the Northeast, that have absolutely dreadful fields. The worst is easily in Washington, and that crappy field claims the lives of ACLs every fall. From Adrian Peterson to Chris Clemons to Robert Griffin, and there’s no reason for it. The NFL needs to fix this, and mandate quality conditions at every stadium. In my opinion, they should take away draft picks from the cheap ass teams who wont pay to install a real playing surface.

2) Expanded Rosters – I have no idea why this didn’t happen with the new CBA, but the NFL needs to expand it’s rosters. Even just expanding them to 55 players, and expanding the practice squads to 10 would be sufficient. I’d also like to see teams being given 2-3 more players on the active rosters for game days. All of this would give teams more flexibility. You might even see teams start to carry 2 kickers, one for kickoffs and another for field goals. Ultimately though, this is something that I think both the teams and the union should want, so it’s only a matter of time.

3) Wider Hashmarks - It wouldn’t have to be as extreme as the college hashmarks, but the hashmarks should be widened. Doing so creates more space for the offense to work with. Ultimately, the league is at it’s best when it’s most explosive players are in the open field. Widening the harmarks creates enough space that it’ll be easier for offenses to make that happen.

4) Overhaul Instant Replay – The NFL’s instant replay system is completely broken. I’m going to save the details for another article, but I have a plan that would drastically change instant replay for the better. No more long delays, no more referees under the tent, no more challenges, and more huge limitations on what is reviewable.

5) Enforcement of holding by defensive lineman – This isn’t truly a rule change, but it would drastically how the game is played. Currently, certain defensive linemen are getting away with horrible and blatant holding of offensive linemen. It prevents the the offensive linemen from picking up blitzers or getting to the 2nd level when blocking for the run game. It’s very frustrating that this is never called, especially since the league is trying to help offenses, and this would help and doesn’t involve the negative press that other rule changes seem to bring.

6) Eliminate the “tuck rule” – Oh wait, they did that. Never mind.

I suggest that you simply don’t pay attention to the total money in any NFL deal. The sad truth is that the player almost never sees all of that money, and the bigger the number, the less the player usually sees.

For example, there have been 14 contracts in NFL history that were over 100 million in total value. The most any player has seen from one of those contract was Brett Farve, who actually managed to get $54 million. This isn’t MLB or the NBA where the contracts are fully guaranteed.

The vast majority of “big money” deals are constructed in a way that make it impossible for the player to see the end of the contract. Joe Flacco’s big 6 year, $120 million deal is really a 3 year, $65 million contract. In year 4, he has a $29 million cap number. There’s 0% chance he plays under that contract in that year. He’ll get a new deal at that time. I’m certain of it.

That’s still a lot of money, but the overall money that he’ll see is still about half of what is reported. That is true for many of the big money contracts that you might have seen handed out in the past four days.

Sam Baker’s six year, $48 million deal is actually more of a four year, $34.3 million contract. Dashon Goldson’s five year, $41 million contract is actually just two years and $18 million. He might play a third year on that contract, but I doubt it.

That’s just the way NFL contracts are. You’ll hear or read people who have been around the league for a while say that only the guaranteed money matters, and they’d be correct. It’s the guaranteed money that is keeping Chris Clemons on this team right now, and it’s the lack of guaranteed money in Ben Obomanu’s contract that allowed him to be cut yesterday.

Why tack on the extra year and money if everyone knows the player will never see it? Good question. There’s lots of reasons for it.

The teams like it because it helps them generate headlines and get the fans fired up to buy season tickets. The players like because it strokes their ego (it’s true) in a league where their “talent” is often measured by the size of their contract. Agents like it because it helps them recruit new clients. (“I got him $42 million. Imagine what I can get for you.”)

Luckily, there is some sanity at work here as well. All the craziness mentioned above only applies to the longer deals. Anything that’s a one or two year deal is almost certainly reported correctly. For instance, Michael Bennett’s deal really is one year and $5 million. There’s no way to tack on phony money in a deal like that one.

I’m just saying that not all thing are what they appear to be in terms of NFL contracts. Don’t be fooled by headlines with big numbers.

Feb 3, 2013; New Orleans, LA, USA; General view of the NFL logo after Super Bowl XLVII between the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Happy New Year! (sort of)

At 1:00 p.m. local Seattle time on today, the new league year officially begins and it signals the start of the free agency period that allows teams to start rebuilding their franchises for the upcoming season. There is a lot of key dates over the next few months, so let’s take a minute to examine all of the instrumental dates moving forward.

Here is a breakdown of the schedule for the new league year in simpler terms:

• March 12, 4:00 p.m. ET: New league year begins, free agency opens*
• April 19: Restricted free agents signing period ends**
• March 12 through June 1 [prior club tender], July 22: First training camp to sign UFAs
• March 12 through November 12: Window to sign franchise players

Free agency is always a wild ride and one of the most enjoyable times for NFL fans. The signings build up excitement for the upcoming season and help lift new teams into the category of Super Bowl contenders. Will your team improve and earn contender status? The next few months will determine that.

* All RFA must have been tendered a contract by their current team by this time, or they become a unrestricted Free Agent.

** After that date, if an RFA hasn’t been signed to an offer sheet by another team, they become an “exclusive rights” free agent, meaning they can only sign with their former team.

Oct 20, 2012; College Station, TX, USA; LSU Tigers linebacker Kevin Minter (46) tackles Texas A

Every year I seem to think the crop of inside linebackers isn’t very good. This year isn’t any different.

This is partly because every year the some best ILBs aren’t even on my ILB rankings, because they’re 4-3 OLB’s until an NFL coach gets a hold of them and converts them. Think Bobby Wagner a year ago. So take this list as incomplete. These are only those linebackers who are played in the middle in college.

The best in this class, and the only one I’d take in the first round is Kevin Minter. I don’t believe Manti Te’o is worth it, and that has nothing to do with the “catfish” hoax. He’s a guy who can play stack only, can’t cover man to man, and doesn’t have the athleticism to play in a cover 2 system. Te’o is a 2 down LB in the NFL, and that isn’t something I’d both drafting before the 3rd round.

Seattle is in need of another LB, but they’re looking someone to play on the outside. If they do take someone on this list, it’ll be a player late in the draft to be Wagner’s backup. Virginia Steve Greer would be a very good fit in my eyes.

Feb 22, 2013; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll speaks at a press conference during the 2013 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

The Seahawks just became the latest team to nab an ex-basketball player to play Tight End in the NFL. Darren Fells signed a 3 year contract Tuesday with the Seattle Seahawks. Fells is 27 years old and has been playing basketball internationally. The Hawks are looking to find another gem off of the basketball courts after seeing the success of past basketball players like Tony Gonzalez, Antonio Gates and Jimmy Graham.

Fells was planning to hold a Pro day but after visiting the Seahawks his Pro Day was not needed. The Seahawks were impressed enough to sign him before he left Seahawks Headquarters. Fells was a High School All-State Tight End in California but chose basketball over football in College and hasn’t played since. He has played basketball all over the world but never has been able to make it into the NBA and so he chose to go pro in a completely different sport.

Fells being 6’7 and 280 pounds could be a huge target in the redzone paired with either Zach Miller or Anthony McCoy. The question has to arise as to whether or not the Seahawks could be planning on using Fells in place of Miller who has an 11 million dollar cap hit in 2013. The Hawks don’t want to lose Miller but if he isn’t willing to restructure his contract they may have no choice but to cut him to save money and use it elsewhere.

As the 2012 season progressed it was obvious that Russell Wilson grew more and more comfortable using his Tight Ends over the middle. In 2013 Wilson will likely use his Tight Ends even more and the Seahawks will look to use Double Tight End sets even more. Darren Fells could be used in jump ball isolation plays using his size and vertical abilities.

Again Pete Carroll and John Schneider have shown that they are willing to look everywhere and anywhere to find whatever pieces they need to make the Seahawks a Super Bowl contender. Even though Fells has not played since High School the Seahawks front office has earned the right to sign whoever they think will fit their system.

Aug 30, 2012; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins (97) along the sidelines during the second quarter against the New York Jets at Lincoln Financial Field. The Eagles defeated the Jets 28-10. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Rumor has it that Cullen Jenkins will be visiting the Seahawks on Monday. Jenkins met with the Giants last week to possibly fill their need for a Defensive Tackle after cutting Chris Canty recently. Jenkins Signed with the “Dream Team” Eagles after the Lockout two years ago. He became a Cap Casualty when the Eagles decided to go in a younger direction.

This could be a solid replacement for the unrestricted free agent Alan Branch. Jenkins is a good run stuffing Defensive Tackle who had 4 sacks last year. Jenkins was known to be a strong leader in the locker room which any team would desire. Rumor has it that his contract requirements will not be nearly as high as they were two years ago.

Seattle needing a big body run stuffing tackle to create some push on 1st and 2nd downs. Jenkins would be a great addition to an already strong defense. Seattle showed at the combine last week that they will definitely be looking at the defensive line this offseason and Jenkins could be a good fit, if they can sign him at the right price. Seattle has to be planning for long term with all of their contracts these days because they will have to shell out a lot of money in the next few years, due to their draft success the last few years. So depending on the Jenkins financial requirements the Hawks could look to get a cheaper version of Jenkins in the draft.

Jenkins will meet with the Seahawks on Monday and then meet with the 49ers later in the week. There is also talk that he could return to the Packer which he won the Super Bowl with in 2011.

The idea here is to spread out the off-season events to keep people talking about football all year. Here’s how the new schedule would look:

March: Scouting Combine

April: Free Agency Period

May: NFL Draft

June: Mini-Camps and Organized Team Activities

July: Training Camps Begin

Clearly the NFL is trying to avoid the “dead period” between early May and late July that the current schedule has. It will also make each of these events “bigger” media events since they are further apart. Plus, the NFL doesn’t do anything unless it will help it make money, and making these events more marketable obviously won’t hurt in that regard.

As someone who covers the league, I love the idea. The “dead period” can be brutal for me and my staff since we don’t shut our site down during that time like most do. Providing us with more to write about year-round is certainly nothing I’m going to complain about.

The one concern I’ve heard is that fans will eventually get emotionally fatigued. By not giving fans a proper break, they will eventually get “worn out” and won’t care as much.

I’m not sure I buy that reasoning. What are your thoughts on the idea?

August 4, 2012; Canton, OH, USA; Seattle Seahawks former defensive tackle Cortez Kennedy poses with his bust during the 2012 Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremonies at Fawcett Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Over the next several weeks, I will release my list of top 10 Seahawks seasons. In general, I believe that lists are constantly evolving and that as a team plays year after year, the context that they create can change their best seasons. For example, the Seahawks just finished a pretty good season that most everybody would agree would rank among their ten best. If this core of players manage to improve on last year, not only will that season crack the top ten, but may also make a case to raise last year’s ranking as the first of an era (fingers crossed).

The factors I have taken in to consideration in making this list are: post season wins, depth of post season run, historical context, regular season record/ranking, regular season statistics, and post season record, in roughly that order. My hope is that this list will help Seahawks fans dream about what future seasons have in store and where the next couple of seasons may land in future lists. Please feel free to pipe in with your own memories, rankings, and other feedback.

#10 1999-2000: The Seahawks Return to the Playoffs

To many, the 1990′s were the dark ages of Seahawks football. While there were many great players such as Cortez Kennedy, Sam Adams, and Chris Warren, the Seahawks also suffered their longest playoff drought at eleven seasons. That streak was snapped by a gritty and unpolished team lead by Ricky Watters, and Central Washington University’s greatest over achiever, Jon Kitna. That season, the Seahawks raced out to an 8-2 record, only to find themselves a game back of Kansas City in week 15 with an 8-6 record. The next week, the two teams faced off, and the Seahawks won 23-14. At the end of the game, both teams had identical records, with one week to play. Seattle owned the tie breaker.

The Next week, the Seahawks needed a win against the Jets or a Chiefs loss to secure the AFC West Division Championship. Curtis Martin ran for 158 yards, and caught 3 passes for 45. The Seahawks failed to score a touchdown in a 19-9 loss. However, the Chiefs managed to lose an overtime shootout to the Oakland Raiders 41-38. It was perhaps the first and only time that Seahawks fans were ever caught cheering for the Raiders.

With a 9-7 regular season finish, and a defensive line anchored by Cortez Kennedy and Sam Adams, the Seahawks ended with the number 3 seed, and hosted the Miami Dolphins lead by Dan Marino. While the Seahawks managed to jump out to a lead, they gained only 41 rushing yards, and allowed 6 sacks while turning the ball over twice. In the fourth quarter, Miami would take the lead on a late drive, and the Seahawks were eliminated. It marked not only Dan Marino’s final playoff victory, but also the last NFL game ever played in the Kingdome.

Despite suffering a late season collapse, the Seahawks could still take pride in returning to the playoffs. It was the only playoff team of Cortez Kennedy’s Hall of Fame career. Jon Kitna also completed his first and only winning season as a starter in his career as an NFL journeyman. That off season, the Seahawks would draft Shaun Alexander, a sign of better things to come.

By The Numbers:
Regular Season Record: 9-7 (AFC West Champion)
Playoff record: 0-1 (3 seed)
Points for: 338
points against: 298
Differential: +40
Turn overs forced: 36
Turn overs allowed: 33
Differential: +3

Notable Opponents and Games:

Week 3: Mark Bruener – Pittsburgh TE, and ex-Washington Husky. The Seahawks managed to win the game 29-10 without scoring a single offensive TD.

Week 4: Napoleon Kaufman – Oakland RB, and ex-Washington Husky. The Seahawks beat the Raiders 22-21 on a fourth quarter field goal.

Week 8: Brett Favre – Green Bay QB Favre threw 1 touchdown and 4 interceptions on route to a 27-7 drubbing by the Seahawks that included a 125-yard rushing performance by Ricky Watters. Cortez Kennedy also recorded 3 sacks against his fellow Hall of Famer.

Week 9: Corey Dillon – Cincinnati RB, and ex-Washington Husky. Dillon rushed for 81 yards including a long of 32. That was not enough to match Watters’ 141 yard, 2-TD performance. Seahawks 37-20.

Week 10: Tony Gonzalez – Kansas City TE In the first of two meetings of the division rivals, the legendary TE caught 8 balls for 62 yards but the Seahawks dominated with Watters gaining 174 total yards, including a 45-yard run, a 25-yard reception, and 3 TD’s. The Seahawks improved to 8-2 and atop the AFC West.

Week11: Tampa Bay This home game was the worst of the season. The Seahawks turned the ball over 6 times and failed to score a TD in a 16-3 loss. The winning quarterback, Trent Dilfer, went 5/11 with 50 yards passing. More than half of those yards came on a 26-yard completion. It was the beginning of a 1-5 end to the season, 1-6 counting the playoffs.

Offensive Standout: Ricky Watters – rushing 325/1210 5TD, receiving 40/387 2TD

Defensive Standout: Cortez Kennedy – 61 solo tackles, 13 assists, 6.5 sacks, 2 INT, 2 forced fumbles. Only player with at least 1 sack, INT, and forced fumble on the season. Made the Pro Bowl.

Team Stat of the year: Led the league in interceptions with 30.

Notable Draft Picks: Brock Huard QB, Antonio Cochran DE

That Year’s Super Bowl: XXXIV St. Louis Rams 23 Tennessee Titans 16