2016 Quotables (Week 9 – Submissions)

In 2016, I’m probably watching the least amount of football (both NFL and college) since I started when I discovered online sportsbook in 2006. However, with Quotables, I’m probably seeing more game footage than ever before by going through the recaps. I can’t tell you if the “on field product” is any better or worse than previous seasons but I can tell you that, based on my weekly review of game highlights, here is what IS going on in the NFL:

• The bumps and bruises of two months of football action are taking their toll on these players. Less hard hits, RB’s charging into linebackers, and explosive shots into arguably defenseless receivers make up the highlights. Cam is still getting cracked in the head though.
• Teams are checking out. Not just the Browns, who are guaranteeing a win this week season but any player who knows they aren’t getting a playoff bonus this year and want to be healthy enough to play next year. Surprisingly, this doesn’t show up on the scoreboard but you can trust me. I heard about it from a millennial.
• Context is everything. It shouldn’t be, considering these are five-second snippets of action but [nearly] everything seems to fit the narratives we all know and love. Player gets ejected on the first drive of the game from fighting off getting teabagged? Of course he’s a Brown. Botched cutesy onside kick? Your 2016 Pittsburgh Steelers. Want to guess which quarterback scrambled for a first down and then pitched a lateral downfield, risking the entire possession for the extra four yards picked up by his teammate? Well, he has a beard and is a Jet. I found a link to “Julio Jones with a drop” and the video was Jones, airborne, getting clipped HARD while the ball was still 10 feet from him — and he still almost made the catch.
• The Raiders are destroying the NFL’s “teams need a new stadium to be successful” narrative. Put BIRDMURDERDOME in Oakland and — well, it’s made of glass so it’d be raided and pieced out to bay area pawn shops by this point in the season — but the theoretical point is that it puts this Raiders team at the top of the national conversation. Instead, you get to hear about how Jeff Fisher didn’t hear fans calling for Jared Goff. I’m sure Hillary 2020 Field at Goldman Sachs Stadium will have excellent acoustics so Fisher will get better crowd feedback over his next four contract extensions with the franchise.
• Ticket prices, while still too damn high, are not high enough. You the see the people at these games? They shouldn’t be able to leave the house. We need a poll tax and an ugly tax, asap.

With that out of the way, let’s get to it!