Football Thread

The Pro Football Hall of Fame Board of Selectors has chosen its "Super Bowl 50 Golden Team" in honor of Super Bowl 50. The team was selected based on best overall career performances in the Super Bowl, and includes 22 enshrinees in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

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  Tony Tomsic/Associated Press
  Quarterback - Joe Montana
  
  Montana was a four-time Super Bowl winner (XVI, XIX, XXIII, XXIV) and a three-time Super Bowl MVP (XVI, XIX, XXIV). In those four games, Montana threw for 11 touchdowns without an interception. The most famous of those touchdown passes is the game-winning score to receiver John Taylor in Super Bowl XXIII.
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  Associated Press
  Running backs - Emmitt Smith and Franco Harris
  
  Harris was a four-time Super Bowl winner (IX, X, XIII, XIV) and earned game MVP honors in the Steelers' win over the Vikings in Super Bowl IX. Harris rushed for 158 yards and a touchdown in the Steelers' first of what would be four Super Bowl wins in six seasons in the 1970s.
  
  Smith was a three-time Super Bowl winner (XXVII, XXVIII, XXX) and the MVP in Super Bowl XXVIII. In that Super Bowl XXVIII win over the Bills, Smith carried the ball 30 times for 132 yards and two touchdowns. Never was his workhorse-like performance on greater display than on the Cowboys' go-ahead drive in the third quarter. On an eight-play, 64-yard touchdown drive, Smith carried the ball seven times for 61 yards, and capped that drive with a 15-yard scoring run.
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  Associated Press
  Wide receivers - Lynn Swann and Jerry Rice
  
  Rice -- the NFL's all-time career leader in every major receiving category -- was a three-time Super Bowl champion (XXIII, XXIV, XXIX) and earned game MVP honors in the 49ers' win over the Bengals in Super Bowl XXIII. Rice had 215 yards receiving and a touchdown in that game. He scored three touchdowns in the 49ers' win over the Broncos in Super Bowl XXIV and three touchdowns again in the 49ers' win over the Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX. He played in a fourth Super Bowl -- Super Bowl XXXVII -- while as a member of the Raiders.
  
  Swann was a four-time Super Bowl winner (IX, X, XIII, XIV). He was the MVP of the Steelers' win over the Cowboys in Super Bowl X, in which hemade a series of outstanding plays in Pittsburgh's second consecutive Super Bowl win.
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  National Football League
  Tight end - Jay Novacek
  
  Novacek was a three-time Super Bowl champion (XXVII, XXVIII, XXX) with the Cowboys. Novacek -- who was a five-time Pro Bowl selection from 1991-95 -- was a vital cog in the Cowboys' offensive machine, and he scored two touchdowns and accumulated 148 yards receiving in those three Super Bowl victories.
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  Associated Press
  Offensive tackles - Art Shell and Forrest Gregg
  
  Shell was champion as a player in Super Bowls XI and XV. He was an offensive line coach for the Raiders' win in Super Bowl XVIII. Shell and fellow Pro Football Hall of Famer Gene Upshaw formed a formidable offensive front for one of the NFL's dominant teams from the late 1960s through the early 1980s.
  
  Gregg was a member of the Packers when the team won the first two Super Bowls, and then closed out his career with the Cowboys, with whom he was a part of the team's win in Super Bowl VI. Legendary coach Vince Lombardi had said that Gregg "was the finest player I ever coached."
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  Associated Press
  Guards - Larry Allen and Gene Upshaw
  
  Upshaw played in three Super Bowls with the Raiders, in Super Bowl II as a rookie in 1967, and then in Super Bowls XI and XV, in which the Raiders emerged victorious. Upshaw has the designation of being the first player to appear in Super Bowls in three different decades (Jerry Rice and Bill Romanowski would each accomplish the same feat when the Raiders advanced to the Super Bowl following the 2002 season).
  
  Allen was in his second NFL season when the Cowboys won Super Bowl XXX. In that 1995 season, Allen started a run in which he was a Pro Bowl selection in seven consecutive seasons.
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  Al Messerschmidt/Associated Press
  Center - Mike Webster
  
  Webster anchored the line for the four-time Super Bowl champion Steelers of the 1970s. Webster is a member of the NFL's 1970s All-Decade Team, the 1980s All-Decade Team and the 75th Anniversary All-Time Team.
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  Associated Press
  Defensive ends - Charles Haley and Reggie White
  
  White played in two Super Bowls while with the Packers, including the team's win in Super Bowl XXXI. In that win over the Patriots, White set a Super Bowl record with three sacks.
  
  Haley was a five-time Super Bowl champion, twice with the 49ers (XXIII and XXIV) and three times with the Cowboys (XXVII, XXVIII and XXX). Haley is the only player in NFL history with five Super Bowl wins. As one of the most feared pass rushers of his time, Haley registered 4.5 sacks in those five Super Bowl games.
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  Associated Press
  Defensive tackles - Randy White and Joe Greene
  
  Greene was a four-time Super Bowl champion (IX, X, XIII, XIV) with the Steelers. In the Steelers' first Super Bowl win, Greene and the "Steel Curtain" defense kept the Vikings' offense off the scoreboard. That defensive effort included an interception by Greene off a deflected Fran Tarkenton pass.
  
  White played in three Super Bowls for the Cowboys (X, XII and XIII), including the team's win over the Broncos in Super Bowl XII. In that game, White and teammate Harvey Martin were named co-MVPs, marking the only time that there were co-MVPs in Super Bowl history.
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  Associated Press
  Outside linebackers - Lawrence Taylor and Jack Ham
  
  Taylor was a two-time Super Bowl winner (XXI, XXV). That Super Bowl XXI win capped a 1986 season in which Taylor earned league MVP honors (the last defensive player to have won that award).
  
  Ham was a member of four Super Bowl-winning teams (IX, X, XIII, XIV). Ham, however, missed out on playing in Super Bowl XIV due to an ankle injury. He earned a place on the NFL's 1970s All-Decade Team and the 75th Anniversary All-Time Team.
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  Associated Press
  Inside linebackers - Jack Lambert and Ray Lewis
  
  Lambert won four Super Bowls (IX, X, XIII, XIV) with the Steelers. As arguably the top linebacker of his era, Lambert is a member of the NFL's1970s All-Decade Team, the 1980s All-Decade Team and the 75th Anniversary All-Time Team.
  
  Lewis was a two-time Super Bowl winner (XXXV, XLVII), and earned game MVP honors in the Ravens' win over the Giants in Super Bowl XXXV. In that win, Lewis and company thoroughly dominated the Giants, whose only touchdown came on a kickoff return.
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  Associated Press
  Cornerbacks - Deion Sanders and Mel Blount
  
  Blount won four Super Bowls (IX, X, XIII, XIV) with the Steelers. Blount was a big reason for the Steelers' success on defense during the 1970s. He had two interceptions in the Super Bowl, one in Super Bowl X and another in Super Bowl XIII.
  
  Sanders won Super Bowl XXIX with the 49ers, and then the next season -- after signing a free-agent contract with the Cowboys -- won Super Bowl XXX. Sanders had an interception in the 49ers' win over the Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX. In the Cowboys' Super Bowl XXX win, Sanders played some offense, too, recording a 47-yard reception that set up Dallas' first touchdown of the game.
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  Associated Press
  Safeties - Jake Scott and Ronnie Lott
  
  Lott was a four-time Super Bowl winner (XVI, XIX, XXIII, XXIV) with the 49ers. Lott is a member of the NFL's 1980s All-Decade Team, the 1990s All-Decade Team and the 75th Anniversary All-Time Team.
  
  Scott played in three Super Bowls with the Dolphins, including the team's wins in Super Bowls VII and VIII. Scott provided a pivotal moment en route to completing the first -- and still only -- perfect season in the Super Bowl era. Scott intercepted Billy Kilmer in the end zone to twart a Redskins scoring threat, that was one of two interceptions for Scott as he earned game MVP honors.
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  Dave Martin/Associated Press
  Kicker - Adam Vinatieri
  
  Vinatieri has been a part of four Super Bowl winners, three with the Patriots (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX) and one with the Colts (XLI). He also played in Super Bowl XXXI with the Patriots. Vinatieri -- recognized as one of the most clutch kickers in league history -- made the game-winning kicks inSuper Bowl XXXVI and Super Bowl XXXVIII.
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  Associated Press
  Punter - Ray Guy
  
  Guy was a three-time Super Bowl winner (XI, XV, XVIII) with the Raiders. Guy made a sensational grab of a high long snap in the Raiders' Super Bowl XVIII win over the Redskins.
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  Cliff Welch/Associated Press
  Return specialist - Desmond Howard
  
  Howard won a Heisman Trophy in large part because of his abilities as a returner, and that skill came in handy in the Packers' win over the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI. Howard earned game MVP honors for a series of lengthy punt and kickoff returns, including a game-breaking 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
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  Associated Press
  Head coach - Chuck Noll
  
  Noll led the 1970s Steelers to four Super Bowl wins (XIV, XIII, X, IX) in six seasons. In all, Noll won six NFL championship, a total that includes two NFL titles while as a player for the Cleveland Browns in 1954 and 1955. Noll is the eighth Steelers member chosen for this "Super Bowl 50 Golden Team", the most for any team.

So the Seahawks fans have a petition going around to try to ban Cam Newton from playing in their stadium cause of his arrogance and showboating? lol Did they forget that Richard Sherman is on their team?

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when ur franchise is so sorry...both retired from the Lions @ age 30

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by IronSheik

Shades of Barry Sanders....ever since Caldwell took over with a running game emphasis, they've basically turned him into a $25mil/yr run blocker

CJ is an unbelievable player & a class act but that talk of him catching Rice was nonsense....he's nowhere in JRs league let alone excellence & longevity


With one of the least productive seasons of his career this year. While the Lions wide receiver caught 88 passes for more than 1,200 yards and nine touchdowns, he only had two 100-yard games, and Detroit struggled as a team, which meant that Johnson didn't get much national spotlight. He’s still only 30, though, so better luck next season, right?

Hm. It doesn’t sound like it. Inexplicably, Johnson released a statement today that indicated that he might be thinking about retiring this offseason. Well, either that, or he’s trying to let the Lions know that he doesn’t want to play for them anymore. Here is his statement as well as a statement from the Lions:

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Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Detroit has been terrible for a long time and I felt bad for Barry Sanders that he never won a championship. Seahawks fans are faggots. Who cares that Cam Newton dances and acts silly after scoring a touchdown. I don't see nothing wrong with that. Black football players have always done that.

Megatron looked like his heart wasn't in it all season.

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CBS and NBC are paying $450M combined for Thursday Night Football rights. Plus, OTT money is still out there....The NFL won’t stop until it has devoured every dollar on the planet.


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Here’s some good news for people who hate Jim Nantz and Phil Simms but love watching Thursday Night Football: You only have to deal with them for five games next year.

The NFL announced today that NBC and CBS will share the rights to broadcast Thursday Night Football next season. CBS will get five games, NBC will get five games, and NFL Network will exclusively broadcast 10 additional games (some of these will actually be late-season Saturday games). The upshot of this is that fans will be seeing a bit less of Phil Simms (always a good thing) and a lot more of Al Michaels and Chris Collinsworth, who will be calling NBC’s games.

The more remarkable thing about this new deal is that the NFL is somehow squeezing even more money out of these notoriously crappy Thursday night games. CBS reportedly paid $300 million to carry the games last season

Some events and attractions grant kids younger than a certain age free admission.


As Denver Broncos punter Britton Colquitt recently learned, the Super Bowl is not one of them.


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Colquitt was with the Broncos when they played the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII a couple of years ago. This time around, the veteran punter needed to add another person to his ticket list: his newborn daughter.



It's going to cost him.


Colquitt last week told Cameron Wolfe of the Denver Post that he had to spend nearly $2,000 on a ticket for someone who won't be using her own seat:

There's no age limit to tickets. It's $1,800 for our week-old daughter we just had. It's kind of crazy. You won't remember, but I'm paying for it. It's not about the money because with the tickets you end up kind of forfeiting your Super Bowl check. It's about the medal I guess and the memories and putting your name in history forever.

That's a steep price, given the situation. But considering this is one of the biggest games of Colquitt's career, he's willing to shell out the cash.
If Colquitt gets the chance to hold his daughter on the field in a confetti storm after the game, the ticket will have been well worth the cost.

--- Another NFL legend, Ken Stabler, found to have CTE in brain


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The New York Times is reporting that former Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler, who died rhis past July, had CTE.

His brain was donated to researchers to study for patterns of CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), the degenerative brain disease made famous in the movie "Concussion" that is connected with repeated head trauma. On a scale of 1 to 4, Stabler was found to have high Stage 3 CTE in the research done at Boston University.

Dr. Ann McKee, who is the chief of neuropathology at the V.A. Boston Healthcare System and a professor of neurology and pathology at Boston University School of Medicine, conducted the examination and determined that Stabler had “moderately severe disease.”

The list of former NFL players found to have CTE, discovered by Dr. Bennett Omalu (portrayed by actor Will Smith in the movie "Concussion"), is now well over 100. The list of athletes showing signs of the disease is a who's who of former NFL greats, including Junior Seau, Mike Webster, Frank Gifford and now Stabler.

“Pretty classic," Dr. McKee said. "It may be surprising since he was a quarterback, but certainly the lesions were widespread, and they were quite severe, affecting many regions of the brain.”

The lefthanded Stabler was known for his free-wheeling style in a 15-year career with the Raiders, earning the nickname "Snake." He won the MVP in 1974, went to four Pro Bowls and led the Raiders to a Super Bowl XI victory over the Minnesota Vikings in the 1977 season. He often scrambled around recklessly yet effectively to extend plays and author highlight-reel moments swashbuckling Raiders of the 1970s. Stabler's final year in the NFL was 1984 with the New Orleans Saints.

We're in an era now where quarterbacks are far better protected and insulated from extra damage than they were a generation ago, and it appears that Stabler's style and a long career made his susceptible to damage that we normally assume happens more often with other positions. Such is the scary unknown of the disease that suddenly seems more prevalent than not in former NFL greats after they die.

Remember when Peyton Manning paid New Jersey nearly $47,000 in taxes two years ago on his Super Bowl earnings of $46,000? Manning has nothing on the state taxes facing Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton for Super Bowl 50 in Santa Clara, Calif. Newton is looking at a tax bill more than twice as much, which will swallow up his entire Super Bowl paycheck, win or lose, thanks to California’s tops-in-the-nation tax rate of 13.3%.


Before we get into the numbers, let’s do a quick review of the jock tax rules applied to professional athletes (similar tax rules apply to anyone doing business across state lines, but they are rarely enforced). States tax a player based on their calendar-year income. They apply a duty day calculation which takes the ratio of duty days within the state over total duty days for the year. That ratio is then multiplied by the player’s salary to arrive at a state’s allocable income.

http://specials-images.forbesimg.com...1c62cd8a/x.jpg Cam Newton celebrates during the NFC Championship Game. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)



In 2014, Manning would have paid New Jersey a 51% rate on his $92,000 earned had the Denver Broncos won Super Bowl 48. Unfortunately for them and Manning’s legacy, they were blown out by a Seattle Seahawks team that knew the right plays to call all night. So Manning paid a whopping 102% tax to New Jersey on his $46,000 consolation prize.


Skip ahead two years and now Manning is back in the Super Bowl against the highly-talented and highly-compensated Cam Newton, who signed a five-year, $103.8 million contract extension in June. Newton has already earned $58,800 so far this year for week 17 of the 2015 season and $71,000 in playoff bonuses. Newton is due a $10 million signing bonus and $13 million in base salary for the 2016 season. Luckily, week 17 next season will occur on New Year’s Day 2017, thus shielding about $765,000 from California’s grasp.


If the Panthers win the Super Bowl, Newton will earn another $102,000 in playoff bonuses, but if they lose he will only net another $51,000. The Panthers will have about 206 total duty days during 2016, including the playoffs, preseason, regular season and organized team activities (OTAs), which Newton must attend or lose $500,000. Seven of those duty days will be in California for the Super Bowl and another four will be in the Golden State for road games against St. Louis Los Angeles and Oakland next season.


Win on Sunday, and Newton will pay California a total of $159,560 in taxes in 2016. Lose, and he will pay $159,200, based on an income reduction of $51,000.


To determine what Newton will pay California on his Super Bowl winnings alone, we will ignore the four 2016 season duty days and pretend they are being played elsewhere. In looking at the seven days Newton will spend in California this week for Super Bowl 50, he will pay the state $101,600 on $102,000 of income should the Panthers be victorious or $101,360 on $51,000 should they lose.


The result: Newton will pay California 99.6% of his Super Bowl earnings if the Panthers win. Losing means his effective tax rate will be a whopping 198.8%. Oh yeah, he will also pay the IRS 40.5% on his earnings.
It is a good bet that the more dabbing we see Cam Newton doing on Sunday, the better the Panthers’ chances are of winning Super Bowl 50. Either way, California’s tax man will be dabbing right along with him all the way to the bank.

LOL@Check Two dissing Cam Newton's clothes hahahahahahahahaha. I don't know why he wore those wack pants.

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lol @ the Panthers. Cam didn't want to break a nail to go after a fumble I guess.

Yea that was week as fuck. Didn't deserve it after that.

Congrats to Denver. Great defense.