At least Bountygate has put an end to that BS of the Saints being 'everybody's second favourite team'.

There has been a lot out there over the years about Sean Payton being a bad guy and it's good to see the commish coming down hard on them. As for Tom Benson, he is another piece of work too, batspit crazy by all accounts.

I am sick of Drew Brees' act too, acting incredulous at the punishments and playing dumb when he knew he played for a dirty, dirty organization.

Shocked to here the news that Junior Seau is dead, suicide seems to be happening far to often now with ex NFL players.

From what I'v read it seems obvious it's gonna be linked with concussion/depression matter IMO, and this is exactly why I think the commisioner is 100% right to punish people severely for illegal hits to the head, especially in light of the bountygate scandal!

R.I.P Junior

Shocking and very sad.

It is not necessarily concussions alone which lead to brain trauma. Alarmingly there is a growing amount of research to suggest that the accumulative effects of sub-concussive blows can result in the symptoms of CTE being present in the brain. So the amount of concussions suffered or diagnosed may not even be that relevant when correlating that to brain trauma.

Basically, football is terrible for your brain due to the very nature of the sport. This is right the way up from Pop Warner level. There is no way that as a parent I would allow my child's developing brain to be subjected to the blows and stresses that inevitability happen in helmet-to-helmet football collisions. One of the issues being that it is not just the game itself where these collisions incur but also in many practice drills.

As Malcolm Gladwell has written it is likely that middle class parents will in the main, prevent their children from participating in playing football as the risks become more commonly known. It may in essence, become a sport that is played by the poor in the vast majority, similar to boxing.

Unless the essence of the sport is destroyed then I do not know what can be done to radically reduce the inherent risks of brain injuries. I have reconciled that at the NFL level grown men make a concious decision to make money by bashing their head and destroying their body for my and millions of other fans' enjoyment. Most players are fully aware of what the game can do to them but love the lifestyle it affords them or in some cases, the sport itself.

Nobody will know why Junior Seau decided to kill himself and without a study of his brain its impossible to say whether he suffered from brain trauma. What is know however, is that the brain injuries associated with the sport he played for 20+ years can lead to emotional instability, depression, erratic behaviour, poor impulse control etc. Which would make it even more difficult for a retired sportsman to maintain a happy and stable life once their career is over if those CTE like symptons were present.

This is an interesting article on players coping with life after football and has nothing to do with concussions.

Of course retirement is very tough for many ex NFL players to cope with. Even more so than other pro athletes in some respects because of the regimented, almost militaristic nature of their existence while a football player.

Andre Waters, Dave Duerson and Terry Long all committed suicide and showed signs of brain trauma. Add those to this list of ex NFLers who were diagnosed post mortem with CTE having suffered from a decline in their mental health.

John Mackey
John Grimsley
Mike Webster
Justin Strzelczyk
Cookie Gilchrist
Wally Hilgenberg
Tom McHale
Lou Creekmur

In fact I do not know of a brain that has been studied and NOT shown signs of damage.

Sad indeed. He was an out and out pro and Back in the day the Junior Zach and JT, that was a defense. Thoughts are with his family.

On the other note even if there is a proven link with concussion there is very little that can be changed within the sport apart from lowering contact in training. But thithout wanting to sound awful the players no whatn they are signing up for.

What could be implemented is a full debriefing on life after retirement for players as well as a medical

Ochostinko has finally gone

Like Iv said many times on here, I expect him to join a team and play great but he was never going to do anything for us because he couldnt even learn the playbook!

He was always a low risk/reward player for the money but I still feel robbed, I could do with getting paid $5.75 million to stand on the sideline and not learn the plays

Working out for Miami. We really lack depth at WR, he could at least be a decent deep threat, which the fins certainly dont have. He's no longer the player he was but he is better than what we've got and his previous rep even if he struggled last year, means he draws more defensive attention than most. Plus I find him entertaining and he's a Miami lad

He can kick field goals too!

LaDamian Tomlinson retires today, as a charger. He must be a 1st ballot HOF entry.

With LT retiring, 4,671 yards short of Emmitt Smith's record, will that rushing record ever be broken? Teams rarely feature one back now, so I doubt it. To create that record, Smith played 15 seasons, averaged 294 carries a season, and only ever missed 14 games in that time frame.

From DallasCowboys.comThe only current backs who would seem to have even a very remote chance to catch Smith's yardage total are 26-year-olds Maurice Jones-Drew (6,854) and Adrian Peterson (6,752). Kansas City's Thomas Jones, now 33, becomes the leading active rusher upon Tomlinson's retirement. He has 10,591 yards for his career.[/i

Liking the noises coming out of ATL about Mike Nolan's new defensive scheme. Aggressive, run and hit, plenty of opportunities for the back end to make plays. With Samuel, Robinson and Grimes playing the corners/nickel we could give some QBs nightmares.

Does that give yer more optimism for the new season AG?

Definitely needed an upgrade in that area

For the Falcons as any 4-3 defense, it is all about getting pressure from your line. The 3-techinque is really the most important player in such a defensive scheme, so Jonathan Babineaux needs to have a strong year.

Similarly, the Bears in their Cover 2 require Henry Melton to make a step up in his performance.