Packers Huddle

The last time a player had more than 10 INTs in a season was 1981. Trevon Diggs has 11 this season.

A little context is beginning to emerge surrounding what happened to trigger the Antonio Brown explosion.

AB had been dealing with a bum ankle. He tried to give it a go but could not make the cuts and plant like he felt he needed to be effective. He told his position coach he couldn’t go back in either at halftime or early 3rd quarter. The position coach would have presumably told the OC and so on up the chain. With the Bucs trailing and driving in the 3rd quarter, Arians apparently asked AB to reenter the game. AB refused. To what extent the conversation became heated nobody knows. However, supposedly after AB’s refusal to enter the game, Arians informed AB he was/would be cut. AB goes all AB. In post-game interviews, Arians denies knowledge of AB informing staff he could not continue.

I get AB being pissed if that’s what actually happened. It doesn’t, however, excuse his antics. He handled it poorly and will likely never play again.

Known for being a hothead in his own right, this version of Arians actions sounds believable. If true, he shoulders some blame and his reputation is further tarnished.

Chris Carter was on Good Morning Football today and was emphatically explaining that he talks with people who know AB very well, who have walked hand-in-hand with him along his journey, I think he said, and that this guy is not ok; that he's in a mental crisis; that he is having a full breakdown; that the armchair psychologists at home and Brady in the presser are right, that he needs to be helped and cared for and treated and get right, and that he has to open himself up to that help, and that this isn't just a bad guy acting out (not that he isn't a bad guy, just that this goes beyond his character or personality) and that basically everyone around him knows he needs help.

None of that as an excuse or dismissal of his culpability in his behavior, but simply to point out that the idea that the Bucs were just letting this guy play football was basically playing hot potato with a time bomb. So yeah, Arians has a lot of culpability, regardless of what the ankle situation was. The whole thing was a predictable mess, but the Bucs won a Super Bowl with the guy and now the team gets to wash their hands of him when he no longer suits their needs, so what has happened here that would discourage teams from similarly taking high-risk time bombs with enough talent onto their roster next time around? Nothing. It's a failure of league policy, team policy, medical and mental health policy and of AB. It's bad incentives creating bad outcomes.

That nasty hit from Burfict in the playoffs years ago which concussed him seems to be where the problems with AB started.

That former Detroit Lions WR Titus Young was a very similar case, he had a full-on meltdown in his brief pro career. There's this guy on YouTube who makes really interesting videos about former NFL players who fizzled out dramatically like Young, Eddie Lacy, etc. Turns out, Young played safety in high school and had a penchant for head-hunting (it was not really being policed the same way it is now), lots of vicious blows to the head. The guy destroyed his brain.

I definitely don't see AB as the bad guy here. The guy is clearly unwell and should not be playing football.

Labrev wrote: ↑

03 Jan 2022 16:08

That nasty hit from Burfict in the playoffs years ago which concussed him seems to be where the problems with AB started.

That former Detroit Lions WR Titus Young was a very similar case, he had a full-on meltdown in his brief pro career. There's this guy on YouTube who makes really interesting videos about former NFL players who fizzled out dramatically like Young, Eddie Lacy, etc. Turns out, Young played safety in high school and had a penchant for head-hunting (it was not really being policed the same way it is now), lots of vicious blows to the head. The guy destroyed his brain.

I definitely don't see AB as the bad guy here. The guy is clearly unwell and should not be playing football.

You make some good points. CTE is real, and nasty. Too much focus on concussions and not enough on CTE and reducing the repeated sub-concussive impacts. I just did some impulse force plate testing on two popular helmet types last year and presented at the American Society of Biomechanics meeting last summer.

The one person who is responsible for AB's behavior and choices is AB.

We put blame on a coach, a co-player, a team staff, the league, etc. Those are all people who either exacerbate or alleviate the situation, if AB allows them to. But AB does need help. That is the main thing. He needs to learn to stand up and make helpful choices.

As his situation with the Bucs and Arians was already tumultuous, AB needed to take steps to add some cushion to that situation. The team and the coach had already reached out to him.

Not that other things didn't contribute. But AB needs to take responsibility.

Pckfn23 wrote: ↑

03 Jan 2022 15:21

The last time a player had more than 10 INTs in a season was 1981. Trevon Diggs has 11 this season.

One of these will give next year. Will it be the INT's or will he give up less yardage and TDs?

Washington will announce its new name on Feb 2nd. Won't be Wolves or RedWolves, which were fan favorites.

paco wrote: ↑

04 Jan 2022 08:43

Washington will announce its new name on Feb 2nd. Won't be Wolves or RedWolves, which were fan favorites.

BOOOOO all my local WFT fan friends loved Red Wolves, for sure

YoHoChecko wrote: ↑

04 Jan 2022 08:45

paco wrote: ↑

04 Jan 2022 08:43

Washington will announce its new name on Feb 2nd. Won't be Wolves or RedWolves, which were fan favorites.

BOOOOO all my local WFT fan friends loved Red Wolves, for sure

Apparently anything with Wolves was too difficult trademark-wise. I'm sure final candidates will get leaked over the next few weeks for people to debate. As we know, that franchise is as solid as the railings at the stadium!

Potential final list... (They all suck, but I'd vote Red Hogs with Commanders 2nd.)
Commanders
Red Hogs
Defenders
Brigade
Presidents
Armada

Armada is kind of cool. I bet they go Defenders.

Honestly i thought "The Football Team" was kind of unique and cool in its own way. Wouldnt have minded that just be it.

YoHoChecko wrote: ↑

04 Jan 2022 08:45

paco wrote: ↑

04 Jan 2022 08:43

Washington will announce its new name on Feb 2nd. Won't be Wolves or RedWolves, which were fan favorites.

BOOOOO all my local WFT fan friends loved Red Wolves, for sure

The Washington Criminals would be very representative of the area.

paco wrote: ↑

04 Jan 2022 08:55

Potential final list... (They all suck, but I'd vote Red Hogs with Commanders 2nd.)
Commanders
Red Hogs
Defenders
Brigade
Presidents
Armada

With their colors I kinda thought Redwings (the hawk) would have been an option.

https://www.sdakotabirds.com/species/re ... k_info.htm

Pugger wrote: ↑

04 Jan 2022 09:07

paco wrote: ↑

04 Jan 2022 08:55

Potential final list... (They all suck, but I'd vote Red Hogs with Commanders 2nd.)
Commanders
Red Hogs
Defenders
Brigade
Presidents
Armada

With their colors I kinda thought Redwings (the hawk) would have been an option.

https://www.sdakotabirds.com/species/re ... k_info.htm

Guessing the hockey team would have a big problem with that!

paco wrote: ↑

04 Jan 2022 09:13

Pugger wrote: ↑

04 Jan 2022 09:07

paco wrote: ↑

04 Jan 2022 08:55

Potential final list... (They all suck, but I'd vote Red Hogs with Commanders 2nd.)
Commanders
Red Hogs
Defenders
Brigade
Presidents
Armada

With their colors I kinda thought Redwings (the hawk) would have been an option.

https://www.sdakotabirds.com/species/re ... k_info.htm

Guessing the hockey team would have a big problem with that!

Maybe but we see nicknames for professional teams repeated all over the place: Cardinals, Giants, Oilers, Rangers and Panthers to name a few.

Pugger wrote: ↑

04 Jan 2022 09:19

paco wrote: ↑

04 Jan 2022 09:13

Pugger wrote: ↑

04 Jan 2022 09:07

With their colors I kinda thought Redwings (the hawk) would have been an option.

https://www.sdakotabirds.com/species/re ... k_info.htm

Guessing the hockey team would have a big problem with that!

Maybe but we see nicknames for professional teams repeated all over the place: Cardinals, Giants, Oilers, Rangers and Panthers to name a few.

All depends what is trademarked. Guessing RedWings is, but you never know.

I get why...

but...

It's annoying that the NFL playoff scenarios the NFL puts out are basically 1-seed, division, or playoff berth.

Like I get it. But I want to know what seeds these teams are so we can look at likely wild card matchups or discuss which things we want to see happen, for personal or Packers reasons. The Bill Simmons podcast that guesses upcoming betting lines for the next week's games seemed to have a breakdown for which seeds the teams would end up in, and I would like to peruse that more often. The tiebreaking scnearios are nuts, but they exist. Just list it all!

YoHoChecko wrote: ↑

04 Jan 2022 09:46

I get why...

but...

It's annoying that the NFL playoff scenarios the NFL puts out are basically 1-seed, division, or playoff berth.

Like I get it. But I want to know what seeds these teams are so we can look at likely wild card matchups or discuss which things we want to see happen, for personal or Packers reasons. The Bill Simmons podcast that guesses upcoming betting lines for the next week's games seemed to have a breakdown for which seeds the teams would end up in, and I would like to peruse that more often. The tiebreaking scnearios are nuts, but they exist. Just list it all!

I am usually about this too but because the NFL is lowest plays highest seed and not a "bracket" system, there are just so many things that can happen I don't worry about that because it will just simply change.

Basically all I know right now is the Packers can literally play ANY team in the divisional round except TB. Literally any one can be the 4 seed or lower at this point except it looks like a Bucs loss and Cowboys win still puts DAL at the #4 seed.

Looks like TB gets the #3 seed almost no matter what because they beat DAL and AZ beat DAL so DAL is that #4 slot no matter what. Unless the Cardinals and Rams both lose and TB loses...then the Bucs would be the #4 seed.

But LA, AZ, DAL, SF, PHI, NO all have a very strong chance of being a 4 seed or lower and therefore playing us.