Andrew DePaolo and Zach Woods will try to long-snap their teams to victory in the NFL Week 4 Tottenham tilt.
If you're good at something, get paid to do it.
NFL football players are good at football, and they get paid to do it.
NFL commentators are (mostly) good talkers, and they get paid to do it.
Richard Sherman was a very good NFL player, and he was paid very well to do that. He is also a Stanford grad, with a degree in communications. He was known throughout his NFL career for being a talker.
Sherman, no surprise, is also an excellent writer. In 2016, he wrote an article titled "Why I Hate Thursday Night Football." No surprise, it is extremely critical of the NFL forcing players to play on Thursday Nights.
Here are some quotes from the article:
"The whole idea of Thursday Night Football is terrible. It’s ludicrous. It’s hypocritical."
"The NFL preaches player safety. The league says it wants to do everything in its power to protect its players. But when it comes down to it, it’s not the players that the NFL protects."
"Thursday Night Football is just another example of the NFL’s hypocrisy: The league will continue a practice that diminishes the on-field product and endangers its players, but as long as the dollars keep rolling in, it couldn’t care less."
"I just don’t understand why the NFL says it’s taking a stand on player safety, then increases the risks its players face by making them play on Thursday, before their bodies are ready."
In the article, Sherman is also careful in explaining that he is not complaining, that he is "blessed" to be in the position he is, and that he, and all the players, know the risks.
Sherman's professed hatred for Thursday Night Football is why I found it curious to see him doing commentary on, yes, Thursday Night Football.
Not good. Not bad.
Curious.
By now, I'm certain that most NFL watchers are familiar with the situation around Miami QB Tua Tagovaiola. Tagovaiola was injured last Sunday against Buffalo, appearing to most observers to be concussed, yet apparently passed "protocols" and was allowed to return to the game. Then, this past Thursday, Tua was allowed to start on short rest, and had his head slammed into the turf. Tagovaiola experienced, I'm told, outward signs of having a seizure, and he was taken off the field and went straight to the hospital.
Circling back, Sherman was doing commentary for this game.
When Richard Sherman was a (very good) player, he had no control over the league scheduling games on Thursday Nights. He played because that was what he was paid to do, and because that was what he was required to do.
Now that Sherman is a commentator, he has no control over the league scheduling games on Thursday Night.
Sherman is not responsible for the egregious way that Tua Tagovaiola has been treated. The responsibility for that lies with the league, and the Miami Dolphins.
Richard Sherman is a very good talker, and he's found a way to get paid to do that. He entitled.
You might applaud him for getting paid. You might think him a hypocrite. You're entitled.
I just find it curious. I'm entitled.
Week Four Picks
Winners in Bold
Sunday
Minnesota at New Orleans (at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Tottenham, London, UK)
New Orleans’s struggling offense will be without Michael Thomas, while Jarvis Landry and Alvin Kamara are banged-up, and Jameis Winston might not play. Minnesota’s offense should be able to do enough to take this game that most US Americans will be asleep for.
Cleveland at Atlanta
Cleveland’s disappointing defense will be without Myles Garrett, who apparently is another one of these NFL morons who think it’s ok to drive their high-end sports cars as fast as they want. Garrett was injured in a single-vehicle rollover earlier this week; he’ll miss this game, could be suspended, and should be in jail.
Buffalo at Baltimore
Buffalo has some serious problems on defense that they need to figure out. Also, if they don’t figure out how to run the ball without Josh Allen being their leading rusher, they can forget about sniffing any championships this year. Meanwhile, Baltimore, once again, is relying on Lamar Jackson to do everything on offense, and we’ve seen how that usually works out.
Washington at Dallas
So, Cooper Rush can play a little, and with Dallas’s defense going up against Carson Wentz, Rush’s little should be more than enough.
Seattle at Detroit
Detroit will be without RB D’Andre Swift and WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, which is concerning, but I’m picking them anyway because I want to and it’s fun.
Los Angeles (Bolts) at Houston
The Bolts just can’t have nice things. They’ve already broken Joey Bosa and LT Rashawn Slater, Justin Herbert’s blind side will be protected by a rookie (which probably makes Herbert’s ribs hurt just thinking about it), and Keenan Allen will miss another game. They still should be able to beat Houston, but that means nothing.
Tennessee at Indianapolis
Couple of sad-looking offenses here. Tennessee’s lack of a passing game that scares anyone has Derrick Henry looking like he’s stuck in the mud. Matt Ryan hasn’t clicked with his Indy teammates yet, which has Johnathan Taylor and the entire Indy offense looking lost. This pick could be made with a coin flip.
Chicago at New York (Big Blue)
New York should absolutely be 3-1 after this game, which should, at least for a moment, quiet those Saquon Barkley trade rumours I keep hearing.
Jacksonville at Philadelphia
So, who had Jags-Iggles circled on their calendar as potentially the best game in Week 4? Philly will need to clean things up a bit on defense, or they could very easily fall to a Jacksonville team that is playing well and is growing in confidence.
New York (Gangrene) at Pittsburgh
Hard to imagine Mike Tomlin letting his team lose at home to an opponent this bad.
Arizona at Carolina
Carolina is playing way over their heads, mostly due to their defense. This is a bad matchup for Arizona, which can’t seem to find any consistency on offense, which is putting extra strain on their subpar defense.
New England at Green Bay
I am highly sceptical of Brian Hoyer’s ability to get enough out of New England’s offense to do much against a quality Green Bay defense.
Denver at Las Vegas
I fully expected Las Vegas to be no worse than 2-1 at this point. Instead, they’re 0-3 and look lost of offense. Whether it’s Josh McDaniels, Derek Carr, or whatever, Vegas is arguably the league’s biggest disappointment at this point, and 0-4 would be catastrophic.
Sunday Night
KC at Tampa
Tampa’s offense, without Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and Julio Jones, could not get going last week against Green Bay. That they came so close to winning anyway is a testament to how good their defense is. I expect KC’s offense to struggle in Tampa, and Tom Brady should have all three of the aforementioned wideouts at his disposal.
Monday Night
Los Angeles (Horns) at San Francisco
San Francisco hasn’t shown much of anything on offense thus far this season, and that’s the one thing I can’t get past when I try to imagine which team has the upper hand in this one.
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