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Hunter S. Thompson urged Jim Irsay to draft Ryan Leaf over Peyton Manning https://t.co/7Vr3jE689R

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) July 6, 2018

—

So I received this letter last week. It’s written by Hunter S Thompson to @Colts Owner Jim Irsay in 1998 a month before the NFL Draft. This is unbelievable, hysterical, & ludicrous!! Have a read. @richeisen and I will discuss today on @RichEisenShow at 11:00 AM PT. #mindblown pic.twitter.com/AWStCEiSTM

— Ryan D Leaf (@RyanDLeaf) July 5, 2018

Official 2018 rulebook shows that new helmet rule is a big deal — and that it has the potential to be an even bigger mess https://t.co/l5HIvLpIfW

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) July 6, 2018

wv wrote:

The thing I will always remember is how he played with the cracked ribs, behind a lousy line. Never complained.

I wonder if things would have been different for the Rams if Martz had just been slighty better in the personnel-evaluation sphere. Especially Olinemen.

w
v

It is true that the Rams fortunes would have been better if Martz and Hanifan knew how to draft OL.

Though they actually did have linemen in 2007, MB’s rib year. That came about because the OL coach then, Boudreau, had a knack for coaching up castoff vets (he did it in Atlanta after the Rams too). The problem in 2007 is that they get 10 different linemen injured for extended periods including 4 out for the season.

I remember MB’s stalwartness in 2007.

I also remember many posters blaming the offense on Bulger.

My favorite Bulger year was 2004 when they beat Seattle 3 times and had 3 great come from behind wins, including 2 overtime wins (Jets and Seattle). The Jets win got them in the playoffs then the next week they beat Seattle in Seattle coming back from 3 points down to start the 4th, with the game winning score coming at 2:11 at the end of the 4th.

from: Ranking divisions by quarterback: NFC North, NFC West top list

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000939509/article/ranking-divisions-by-quarterback-nfc-north-nfc-west-top-list

1) NFC NORTH
Chicago Bears: Mitchell Trubisky
Detroit Lions: Matthew Stafford
Green Bay Packers: Aaron Rodgers
Minnesota Vikings: Kirk Cousins

This is a significant jump up from last year’s rankings, but I am very comfortable with it. Rodgers is the most talented quarterback in NFL history. I love Green Bay bringing in Jimmy Graham to help in the red zone. Stafford has been fantastic the last few seasons, a true maestro in the clutch. And Detroit improved the offensive line and run game this offseason — that will provide the 30-year-old quarterback with some needed protection and balance. I think Trubisky will be this year’s Jared Goff, taking a major leap forward in Year 2 with a new head coach and more talent around him. Lastly, Cousins swings the pendulum in favor of this division. He’s the answer to the franchise-quarterback question for the Vikings.

2) NFC WEST
Arizona Cardinals: Josh Rosen
Los Angeles Rams: Jared Goff
San Francisco 49ers: Jimmy Garoppolo
Seattle Seahawks: Russell Wilson

From the bottom to the top: This is what happens when Sean McVay enters the picture for Goff — the QB goes from rookie disaster to sophomore Pro Bowler. And Year 3 will be even better than Goff’s terrific second season. Similarly, it’s going to be a special ride for the 49ers faithful, with a full season of Jimmy G and Kyle Shanahan. Garoppolo can carry San Fran to the playoffs. Josh Rosen is my pick for Offensive Rookie of the Year. He’s a sensational talent and quick study, with solid weapons and defense flanking him in the desert. And of course, Russ is carving out a Hall of Fame-caliber career out in the Pacific Northwest. This guy’s magical, with or without an offensive line.

…

Sorry To Bother You Is the Anti-Capitalist Black Comedy We’ve Been Waiting For
Boots Riley’s new film shows how black liberation and labor politics are enmeshed. And it’s funny.

LAUREN MICHELE JACKSON

http://inthesetimes.com/article/21260/boots-riley-film-tessa-thompson-sorry-to-bother-you

For Riley, who both wrote and directed the film, U.S. class politics originated on the plantation.
Contrary to contemporary debates about so-called identity politics, black liberation and labor politics are quite enmeshed. In W.E.B. Du Bois’s lesser-read tome, the 1935 Black Reconstruction in America, he conceives of slave fugitivity in terms of “a general strike against slavery”— slaves were also workers, and their interference with the normalized, inhumane hum of Southern profits was a stoppage and protest against untenable labor conditions. “The whole move was not dramatic or hysterical,” Du Bois wrote, “rather it was like the great unbroken swell of the ocean before it dashes on the reefs.” In Boots Riley’s new film Sorry to Bother You, also a story of workers and white capitalists, the exploited rise and crash and recalibrate the terms of their labor, though drama and hysteria are not out of the question.

For Riley, who both wrote and directed the film, U.S. class politics originated on the plantation. Slavery pervades the film’s reality, a version of Oakland, Calif., in a world and time just slightly askew of ours. Background advertisements promote the merits of WorryFree, a company offering food and housing in exchange for lifetime labor contracts. In a television interview, WorryFree’s CEO, Steve Lift (Armie Hammer), rebuffs the obvious connotation— WorryFree is not enslaving anyone, but “transforming life” instead. (The film also invokes all the euphemisms surrounding the so-called “gig economy.”)

More pointedly, Detroit (Tessa Thompson), an artist-slash-activist-slash-sign twirler and girlfriend of telemarketer Cassius Green (Lakeith Stanfield), tells Cassius, “Capitalism began by stealing labor from Africans.” Cassius isn’t listening, though, transfixed by the in-focus blunt in her hand as they stand together in a half-empty, makeshift gallery space. He’s exhausted, preoccupied by a very 21st-century (but also eternal) problem of capital. He’s just been promoted, an achievement that alleviates his material concerns while introducing certain ethical dilemmas. As per the Bad Boy Entertainment refrain: mo’ money, mo’ problems. Cassius’ problem? He might be working in the interests of slavery. WorryFree is his employer’s biggest client.

The film opens on one of those regular sites of workplace indignities: the job interview. Cassius needs a job and will lie to get it. “I’m a salesman at heart,” he claims, more truly than he knows. Other, more verifiable lies are caught—the number for a restaurant listed in his supposed employment history belongs to his friend Salvator, who already works at Regalview—but the interviewer doesn’t care so long as Cassius can read well enough to follow the firm’s mantra: Stick to the script, S.T.T.S. for short.

At first, shilling random doodads over the phone proves more difficult than that. Platitudes like “build a bridge” or “make any problem a selling point” fail spectacularly on calls that transport him into the receiver’s personal space, a clever cinematic convention that might also be happening for real: a dining room while a couple eats breakfast, a living room while a couple has sex, the home of an elderly woman whose problem turns out to be a dying husband. Most everyone hangs up shortly after Cassius utters his new motto, “Sorry to bother you.” A coworker, Danny Glover’s Langston, offers a tip: Cassius should “use [his] white voice.” Make it “the real deal,” says Langston. Not what white people sound like so much as “what they wished they sounded like.” Wealthy, privileged, “breezy.”

Cassius succeds, summoning a voice that is much more than the “proper” grammar and high nasal caricature common to comedic imitations of white speech. His white voice is David Cross, manifested as an exaggeration but also literalization of the respectability imposed on black folks. Cassius ascends to the rank of a special class called “power caller,” a name that, when spoken, rings similar to “collar,” conjuring those color-coordinated symbols of classed employment.

Cassius can turn on the voice at will, like a parlor trick, much to Detroit’s chagrin. The syncing doesn’t feel quite exact, a mismatch that amplifies the uneasiness of witnessing a cross-racial ventriloquist. Cross speaking out of Stanfield’s mouth grows less hilarious as the film goes on. Promoted to the glass-walled top-floor office of a power caller, Cassius is instructed to use his white voice “at all times.” Eventually, his ability to codeswitch is impaired. He greets a waking Detroit in the voice while the two are in bed and she balks. He “didn’t even realize” he’d been using it.

Though sensational, the voice merely exemplifies how the racial imagination feeds on the hostilities of class endemic to the American workplace. In a floor meeting, supervisors coopt familial language to describe professional relationships (“team members,” et al.), but fumble Cassius’ suggestion that such affinity could mean an increase in pay. Diana DeBauchery, played by the delightfully discomforting Kate Berlant, turns his inquiry about benefits into an abstraction: “What is capital?” An employee named Squeeze (Steven Yeun) organizes a unionization effort. Cassius, initially on board, retreats upon encountering the uncomfortable truth that one can’t be of The People and collect large sums of money at the same time. He is injured crossing the picket line, a bright red head wound that won’t heal.

Though already the film has been posited as the “next Get Out,” a thinly guised euphemism for smart, comedically dramatic stories about race, Sorry to Bother You uniquely generates its absurdities from accepted economic fact. Riley’s film beautifully, hysterically demonstrates the way systems can wedge themselves between people in ways not unrelated, but also not reducible, to those interpersonal acts of prejudice commonly called “microaggressions.” The strangeness of the fictions we put our faith in is cause to worry. Corporations are evil. (And if a geeky gazillionaire CEO offers a swirling plate of coke, do not snort it.)

Are the Los Angeles Rams the team to beat in the NFC West?

It’s time to start scouting the 49ers opponents for 2018. Today it’s the Los Angeles Rams

By Patrick Holloway

https://www.ninersnation.com/2018/7/4/17530024/49ers-2018-opponents-preview-los-angeles-rams

So it’s come to this, the Los Angeles Rams. A historic rivalry that is (finally) about to be renewed. The Rams and the 49ers are the old school rivalry that fittingly revives itself when the Rams move to Los Angeles.

While the 49ers have made some nice free agent signings, they seemed to instead build through the draft and had a solid core from 2017 and hopefully the same in 2018.

The Rams on the other hand? Well they just threw money and draft picks at everything for two years and now they have one of the best rosters in the NFC West, if not the NFL.

There’s a lot of variables here though. For one thing, head coach Sean McVay having one good season as head coach doesn’t make him a good head coach. Several head coaches have made it to the playoffs, take Tony Sparano who led the Miami Dolphins to the playoffs in his first year. Following an impressive first year, the Dolphins are very bad, leading to Sparano getting fired. Even Rex Ryan managed to take the Jets to the playoffs a couple times before the team regressed.

What Sean McVay needs is progress or consistency, the slightest regression won’t work for his stock. If he can managed another two playoff appearances, then we can begin to separate him from the rest of the coaches who have been flashes in the pan before him.

As for the actual roster? Oh boy…they definitely pushed their chips in for 2018. Jared Goff is the main focus for all of this. After a ho-hum rookie season, Goff was serviceable in 2017. much like his coach, Goff needs to take that season and build on it or he’s going to be just as much of a flash in the pan as McVay is.

What does all of this mean? I don’t know. This is the hardest roster and storyline to put a finger on.

…

Alright, let’s try and sort all of this out. As you can see from above, the Rams didn’t have a pick in the 2018 draft until the third round. This is due to several trades from over the years and current in order to get players like Jared Goff, Marcus Peters, and others. What has resulted is another NFC West arms race where the 49ers seemed to almost just kick back and watch the action. They had a deal going for Aqib Talib but due to him not wanting to come to San Francisco, the 49ers nixed the trade.

The result was them channeling their inner Trent Baalke and having a bazillion picks in the later rounds. A lot of these picks (Such as Jamil Demby) are great where they were taken at and will help for the future when salary cap concerns decimate this current roster. Most of these picks were decent and with a year of development can come in to fill the holes.

So now free agency. The Ndamukong Suh signing makes what already was a decent defensive line in one of the most feared in the league. Moving to trades, you now have Aqib Talib and Marcus Peters in the backfield with Sam Shields waiting in the wings? That’s a defense that Wade Philips has to be drooling over. If they can stay healthy and can stay focused with their eyes on the prize, this defense can definitely be something. On the other end, you have Brandon Cooks and Cooper Kupp on the wide receiver line which is almost unfair with the speed they have. Cupp could be coming into his own in 2018 and if he does this as well as his former college teammate Kendrick Bourne, I’d be sending scouts to Eastern Washington to observe their wide receivers more closely (the shared alma mater of the two).

If the defense can keep it together and not melt down, this could be something. But that’s a huge ‘if’.

The matchup

It’s fine to have faith in Jimmy Garoppolo, I know I do, but when comparing both rosters side by side I see a possible up and coming dynasty with the 49ers and a team that pushed every chip they had into the center for one shot in the Rams. Sure, there are ways out of all of this but they all end the same way it did for the Seattle Seahawks—salary cap casualties and trades.

If I’m looking at 2018, the Rams are simply the better team. Now all of that could change when and if they start losing (and I have a strong feeling they may) but if I’m looking at it right now in July of 2018, the 49ers just aren’t there yet. One more year and John Lynch has positioned the team to not have issues for years with smart spending of the salary cap and not banking the team’s future with draft packages. For now, the Rams are the team to beat in the NFC West, and it’s going to be very expensive to have that distinction for one year. I won’t be surprised if it’s the other way around, but I’m predicting a sweep for the Rams. This is the last year it’s going to happen. The 49ers offense is going to do a lot of good things, beating the Rams in the playoffs may be one of those.

They just aren’t going to get it done in the regular season.

from Every NFL team’s best alternate uniform, ranked

Every NFL team's best alternate uniform, ranked

1. Rams’ Throwback

We are counting down the days until the Rams go back to this look full-time. We’ll probably have to wait for the new stadium to open before that happens. It will be worth the wait.

Cliff Avril: We knew Earl Thomas loves the Cowboys, but didn't take it seriously https://t.co/0Ai2u7uPYw

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) July 3, 2018

Story on the two-game suspension for Rams starting right guard Jamon Brown: https://t.co/DepCUZi1Rh

— Rich Hammond (@Rich_Hammond) July 3, 2018

Phillips Confident Rams Have ‘A Lot of Strength’ at Linebacker

Kristen Lago

https://www.therams.com/news/phillips-confident-rams-have-a-lot-of-strength-at-linebacker

Heading into the’ Rams 2018 offseason program there were several questions surrounding the club’s linebackers. With the departure of three starters from the previous season, many outside of the building wondered how Los Angeles’ remaining players would fare as they stepped into larger roles.
But as L.A. looks toward training camp in late July, the LBs picture has become clearer. And though there was some uncertainty early on, defensive coordinator Wade Phillips expressed confidence in the group’s strength moving forward.

“We got some good looking players,” Phillips said. “We’re not set there like we are in some other positions as we are with cornerbacks and safeties, but we got some good players up front. So, we have a lot of strength, we just need some guys to come through and it looks like they have the ability to.”
As it stands now, the starting linebackers are shaping up to include Mark Barron and Cory Littleton in the middle and Samson Ebukam along with Matt Longacre on the outside.
Because Barron missed the entirety of the club’s offseason program due to injury, much of the attention has centered on Littleton’s development as the team’s defensive signal caller. Though the spot represents a significant change for the third-year linebacker, he has adjusted well to the increased responsibility.
“I think when you just really look at it from a big picture standpoint on the defensive side of the ball, Cory Littleton playing that MIKE linebacker spot has done a great job,” head coach Sean McVay said. “He played our MOE spot when he had to fill in for Mark last year, but he’s immediately stepped in, taken good control and command. I think he’s done a great job communicating.”
Similar to the inside linebacker position, the Rams were also without a presumed starter on the outside. Though McVay is confident that Longacre — who is continuing to rehab from a back injury — will be 100 percent in time for training camp, he was unable to fully participate in OTAs and minicamp. He was present at the facility, but did only rehab work on the side with the trainers during the offseason program.

For this reason, Ebukam has taken on more an increased role on the outside, becoming one of the standout players of the offseason.
“Samson has been a great player for us where you see the bursts. We always talk about that effort with the burst, speed, and finish and he’s demonstrated that,” McVay said.
Despite the progress, Phillips said the club won’t have a true sense of the linebackers’ development until the completion of training camp. Once the pads come on and the competition level is increased, he believes the starting lineup and depth of the group will come more into view.
“You have to figure you lost several starters at linebacker, whether it was potential starters with a young guy, or a veteran starter, so we’re looking at them now,” Phillips said. “I think training camp is going to show which one steps up.”
“I think the strong side linebacker needs pads on to be able to play the tight end and dominate the tight end and we’ll see if any of those young guys can do that,” he continued. “[But] I think we have good possibilities for players to come through for us…We’ll see more in training camp of kind of where we are.”

Last 3 seasons, 4th quarter, under 5 mins remaining, score 7 or less…Clutch time… only 2 QBs have a PFF grade over 80:
Tom Brady – 90.5
Russell Wilson – 82.3

Brady has 14 big time throws, 1 turnover worthy play in that time. That's insane.

— Sam Monson (@PFF_Sam) July 2, 2018

nittany ram wrote:

Yeah that could be true for this year, which would be great.

But it wasn’t true when they first decided to go with the blue and white helmets. At that time they knew there were times when they would be forced to wear the blue and gold jerseys with he blue and white helmets, which they did indeed do a few times last year.

But when the idea of doing back to blue and white helmets was decided, they had no reason to believe they could avoid the blue and gold jerseys, but they decided to go that route anyway. Which is fine, but then don’t complain about it.

That was my point, which would have been obvious to any true Rams fan, btw.

I gotcha. Yeah I agree with all that.

I probably misread you the first time simply because no real Rams fan is going to pay that much attention to a trivial issue like the uniform.

Pause.

NFL to allow teams to wear alternate jerseys up to three times per year https://t.co/Y9mdmPWRdH

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) July 2, 2018

from http://www.espn.com/blog/los-angeles-rams/post/_/id/38503/despite-talent-influx-jared-goff-remains-most-important-ram

Aaron Donald: The NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year led the league with 91 total pressures even though (A) interior lineman traditionally face constant double-teams and (B) Donald held out all summer in search of an elusive pay increase. Everything the Rams will do on defense will begin up front with Donald, quite possibly the game’s best player — period. But first he’ll have to show up. Donald did not take part in the offseason program and is once again determined to stay away from the Rams until they reward him with a lucrative contract extension.