Well, I think if you're in the bottom third of the first round or in the second round, taking someone with Winston's talent is excusable. Those teams aren't necessarily looking for franchise players at that point, but more of complementary players or solid starting types. But I certainly am not convinced that he should be taken by the Buccaneers, Titans, etc. at the top of the first.
and there's basically no chance Winston will be available for NE to draft. It's an interesting scenario, but there's basically a 0.00% chance it happens
I think NE's Aaron Hernandez experience may have them think twice about rolling the dice this year on another player with "character" issues.
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So an argument can be made that Carolina didn't really get a franchise player, so was it worth it? Newton has been serviceable but not great, and the team has not been good. It might have behooved the franchise to trade down and/or to take A.J. Green, Julio Jones, J.J. Watt, Andy Dalton, etc.
Peyton Manning had a sexual assualt proven against him while in college. He then in an autobiography insulted the woman he assualted and had to go to court again, years after college.
So there you go, a guy with the same character issues of Winston coming out of college doing just fine in the NFL. There is a long list of guys with character issues doing all right in the NFL, it isn't a pretty league to cheer for.
Not exactly.
Manning settled out of court for allegedly dropping trou and placing his butt on a female trainer's face. I can't even imagine in what situation that would take place, the logistics of it, etc. It sounds to me like some sort of prank that went awry.
Winston is an alleged rapist, stole stuff from a Publix, and has had other questionable behaviors.
So no, they don't really have the "same character issues."
There was a witness to the incident who has urged peyton to apologize and he hasn't. It being a 'prank' doesn't make it not sexual assault and he insulted her years into the league after "maturing" leading to another suit.
Winston is 'alleged' which isn't the same as being guilty. From all accounts was used to receiving free things from that Publix and a new employee turned him in and from all reports is a really intelligent guy who has 4.0 in an engineering degree, is loved by his teammates, and supposedly has a great work ethic. I'm not saying he is a great guy but Winston will be fine in the league if his talent can make it happen.
Saying "there's a witness who has urged Peyton to apologize and he hasn't" is tantamount to "this allegedly happened." Just because there's a Witness does not make it true.
I'm not saying Manning's incident wasn't a sexual assault, but there's a difference between an alleged butt on the face and an alleged penis in the vagina. It's pretty clear that something happened with Manning, because otherwise, he wouldn't have settled out of court. However, it's also clear that FSU and the Tallahassee police department have some shady dealings. Neither case is cut-and-dried.
Winston will be fine in the league if his talent can make it happen AND if his off-the-field troubles don't screw him up. I don't see why you remove that from the equation. The league has had such P.R. nightmares in the recent past (Ray Rice, Greg Hardy, Adrian Peterson, etc.) that off-the-field shenanigans could easily ruin a guy's career.
If I were an NFL general manager, I would not be risking the #1 pick on a guy like that.
I'm sorry, but I do not believe the NFL is in the same climate that it was when Roethlisberger went through his accusations and such. It wasn't *that* long ago, but the black eyes the NFL has received from the more recent issues suggest that they're ramping up punishments. Look at Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, Greg Hardy, etc. All of them have been hit with long suspensions, including a 10-game ban for Hardy in the most recent incident.
Ben Roethlisberger was not being accused of these things during the "zero tolerance" era in the NFL. He was suspended for, I think, four games when it happened about five years ago. The same type of thing happening here in 2015 would probably result in a season-long suspension.
"Character issues" only come up when it's shit that an NFL organization can't control. There are serious flaws that the teams can control (because they're practiced at them), and then there are flaws they can't (think Ryan Leaf). It's incredibly unfair and disgusting, but it's how it works.
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The 7-8-1 record this past season to win the division is not that impressive. They did go 12-4 in 2013, but every other season has been below .500.
They could have made a worse choice, but I think they could have made a better choice, too. If they had J.J. Watt and traded down to get someone like Andy Dalton, they might be in the same spot or in even better shape.
April 29th, 2015 at 12:48 PM ^
Where you at MGrowOld?
with the Kevin Love thing. Quick....bring up the Indians. They're not awful...
He doesn't want to jinx it
April 29th, 2015 at 12:50 PM ^
No, Draft Day got us Manziel. So that worked out well.
April 29th, 2015 at 12:52 PM ^
Link?
April 29th, 2015 at 12:53 PM ^
April 29th, 2015 at 12:54 PM ^
That was fast. I'm glad I didn't buy a Manziel jersey. I was so close to doing it. For Browns games, I still wear my Braylon Edwards jersey.
April 29th, 2015 at 12:54 PM ^
Well what can you do? No one could have seen a scion of oil tycoons with a huge additude and maturity issues to the point where his parents are publically saying they're worried about his anger and alcohol issues flaming out in the professional world.
April 29th, 2015 at 12:59 PM ^
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Inventive spelling baby!
April 29th, 2015 at 12:54 PM ^
Let us think about this for a second. Here is a list of players at the QB position that the Browns could have picked instead of Manziel.
Teddy Bridgewater
Derek Carr
Zach Mettenberger.
These are three starters that may have more potential than Manziel ever did. Teddy Bridgewater broke records in his first year. Manziel barely played.
April 29th, 2015 at 12:55 PM ^
I'm so sorry, Marcus.
April 29th, 2015 at 12:56 PM ^
Draft a nose tackle, and an offensive lineman, and call it a day. Have a team in place first. Or just keep making the same stupid fucking mistakes every single year!
I hate this team, and I hate that I'm a fan of this team. I want our owner to go to jail.
So I live outside of Cleveland right now and this made me belly laugh. Ah, I'm so glad I'm not a Browns fan.
April 29th, 2015 at 12:58 PM ^
Wow how many Qb's have the brown went through. I mean damn.
They also took Spergon Wynn over Tom Brady.
Every team in the NFL passed on Brady 5 times
April 29th, 2015 at 10:30 PM ^
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I have an old college buddy and fellow Michigan alum who lives in Cleveland and swears it's spelled Spurgand Win.
April 29th, 2015 at 12:56 PM ^
Sucks for Mariota though...
Manziel can now go sign with the Cowboys and backup Romo...and Mariota, poor guy.
April 29th, 2015 at 12:58 PM ^
Poor Damn Mariota
April 29th, 2015 at 12:59 PM ^
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Eerily similar to the Heath Shuler era in Washington or Leaf in San Diego. Maybe Brian Sipe and the Cardiac Kids can make a comeback.
but they are really saying ERROR.