NFL Nuggets:

• COVID has finally affected the main roster as some scheduled offseason workouts were “delayed” for a week.
  • Teams with new coaches – Mike McCarthy in Dallas, Joe Judge in New York, Ron Rivera in Washington, Matt Rhule in Carolina, and Kevin Stefanski in Cleveland – would have been able to conduct practices this week under the guise of familiarizing their players with the new coach.
  • Most have gone with the virtual method, sending out tablet to players for their “voluntary” use.

• When they eventually start the season, the PI review rule will not be joining it.
  • The rule is up for a retention vote at the May Competition Committee vote.

• The NFL named it’s “All-Decade” team for the 2010s today.
  • 52 players & two head coaches.
    • To save you the guessing, Grumblelord & Pete Carroll
  • The full list is here.
    • The only unanimous selections? Tom Brady , Aaron Donald, Von Miller, Adrian Peterson, Joe Thomas, Justin Tucker, J.J. Watt and Marshal Yanda..
    • Darren Sproles was selected twice, as a punt returner & offensive flex specialist.

Finally, Death came for two veteran players this weekend.

• Tom Dempsey, age 73, of COVID, Alzheimer’s & dementia.
• Bobby Mitchell, age 84, cause not disclosed.  
  • Integral to the history of the league by being the first black players signed to the last team to integrate, the [Redacteds].
    • Then [Redacteds] owner George Preston Marshall had said that many fans preferred watching white players and would reject the [Redacteds] if they had an African American player.
    • He was eventually forced to draft & sign black players by President Kennedy, because the new D.C (later RFK) Stadium was built on federal land so he used the pressure of denial of access to make Marshall acquiesce.
      • Even so, Marshall himself didn’t select their first black player, making the head coach name the selection for the team.
        • Ernie Davis, who was then traded to the Browns for Mitchell.
  • “Bobby was an individual that was thrown into the arena of being a victim for no reason,” Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown said, via the Associated Press. “He had to suffer for being black more than any person I know that played football at the time I played. With that kind of ability, if he were white, everybody on this earth would know who he was.”
  • After his playing career ended, Mitchell joined the [*Redacted] s as a scout under then-coach Vince Lombardi. He spent 35 years in the team’s front office, rising to the position of assistant general manager. He won three Super Bowl rings as an exec in Washington.

Interestingly, or shamefully, I read about a dozen pieces in writing this bit about Mitchell, and only the nfl.com piece doesn’t mention the racial history about Mitchell’s time in Washington, preferring instead to note “Mitchell went onto to break barriers as Washington’s first African-American player.” But I guess the employee who wrote the piece is trying to keep their job when all around them are losing theirs.

Tonight’s episode of MXC is “Donors vs. Addicts”. A team of organ donors and recipients will go head-to-spleen against a team of 12-step recovering addicts. It’s drunks, dopers, and donors!

Right you are, Ken.

Tonight’s … entertainment?:

• WWE:
  • Monday Night Raw – 8:00PM | USA / Sportsnet360
    • The post-Mania show, which normally would be crazy but will feel overly scripted tonight as Vince tries to chart a way forward with the weekend’s Wrestlemania results.
      • Including Gronk as the new 24/7 champion.

• Better Call Saul – 9:00 PM | AMC
  • When a simple errand for a client goes sideways, Jimmy is pushed to the limit. Mike takes measures to contain the wrath of the cartel, and Lalo gets an unexpected visitor.
• Cops – 10:00 PM | Paramount
  • A driver makes his own way while getting away from the police; Car dealership employees are advised to get more security cameras; A deputy stops a domestic issue.

Ostensibly, we have the long weekend to look forward to. So keep that booze target in focus & we all should be fine.