NFL Notes:

• Can you believe “Hard Knocks” has been around 16 years? 
  • This year’s candidates include the Cowboys, Giants & Jags.
    • Teams with a first-year head coach aren’t supposed to be considered, but the combination of Urban Meyer & Trevor Lawrence makes them an attractive selection.
      • Also, the Khans are desperate for respectable attention.

• Your QB news round-up: 
  • Florio is desperate to make up a story, as he recounts an Athletic story about a tempestuous meeting from November between Russell Wilson & the offensive coaching staff.
    • “[I]t’s not a question of if but when the two sides go their separate ways.”
    • If it does come to pass, Wilson apparently has a four-team list that he’d drop his no-trade clause for:
      • Cowboys, Saints, Raiders and Bears.
        • These require specific circumstances to evolve on each team before anything becomes serious.
  • Art Rooney wants Ben under center in 2021.
    • “Ben assured me that he is committed to coming back to help us win, and I told Ben that we would like to have him back to help us win a championship.”
  • As usual, the Raiders waited too long – no one wants to trade for Marcus Mariota.
    • The sticking point is his contract: a $10 million sign, plus incentives worth up to $12 million, making him a very expensive backup.
    • If they cut him, the Raiders save $11.35 million with no cap penalty.

To their credit, nfl.com has a very good long-form piece questioning whether race is still a factor for black quarterbacks.

• The answer is” yes, but…”
  • The best synopsis comes from – of all people – Tony Dungy:
    • “Rather than say, ‘Tony Dungy, your skill set doesn’t fit us,’ or, ‘Warren Moon, your skill set doesn’t fit us,’ it is, ‘No, I’m going to change my offense to fit Kyler Murray,’ ” Dungy said. “Or, ‘I’m going to take Russell Wilson and adjust my offense around him.’ That’s good coaching, and that’s what we’re doing now.”
• When you still have old school guys like Bill Polian, however, who think Lamar Jackson should have been converted to Wide Receiver ‘because of his athleticism’, it goes to a deeper bias present in modern sports.
  • Plus, the previous draft year – 2017 – was the year that two of the three quarterbacks selected in the first round were Black.
    • Both Patrick Mahomes (10th overall) and Deshaun Watson (12th) were taken after Mitchell Trubisky (second), whom the Bears traded up from third to get.
• Marlin Briscoe, the first black player to start an NFL game at QB, only got to do so because the Broncos starter in 1968, Steve Tensi, broke his collarbone.
  • When drafted out of Nebraska in 1968, Briscoe was converted from QB to Cornerback.
  • He started five games in 1968, and was traded to Buffalo in 1969 when he agitated to challenge for the starting job.
    • Buffalo had Jack Kemp, so it was clearly a “fuck you” trade, and Briscoe accepted conversion to Wide Receiver.
  • He won two Super Bowls with the Dolphins.
• I’ll end by tying Polian’s bias into this statement from the article from one of the greatest QBs I ever got to see play live:
  • “We’ve reached a point with the masses where race isn’t as big an issue, but there are people who are very uncomfortable with the fact that their quarterback is African American and making all this money and being endorsed the way they’re being endorsed,” said Warren Moon.
    • “There’s always going to be that certain percentage of our population that feels that way.”

Tonight’s sports:

• NHL: as usual, all Canadian games are regional broadcasts only.
  • Boston vs NY Islanders – 7:00pm | Sportsnet
  • Nashville vs Detroit – 7:30pm | NHLN
• NBA:
  • Dallas vs Philadelphia – 7:00pm | TNT / Sportsnet1
  • New Orleans vs Milwaukee – 9:30pm | TNT / Sportsnet1
• NCAA:
  • Iowa at Michigan – 7:00pm | ESPN
  • WKU at Houston – 7:00pm | ESPN2
  • Washington at Arizona State – 7:00pm | FS1
  • Ohio State at Michigan State – 9:00pm | ESPN2/U
  • Oregon at Stanford 9:00pm – | ESPN2
  • Boise State at San Diego State – 9:00pm | FS1
  • USC at Colorado 9:00pm – | ESPNU/2
  • Pacific at Saint Mary’s 11:00pm – | ESPN2
  • Washington State at Arizona – 11:00pm | FS1
• Curling:
  • Scotties Tournament of Hearts – 8:30PM | TSN

Have a delightful evening.