Ngataninch

Crockett is four inches taller than Upshaw, he might look thicker, but height is also a factor.

Offense sells. Defense wins.

He also called him American Express... in the same sentence...

Dos Equis-- The most interesting man on the field... "I don't always go for two, but when I do it is a jump play to Dos Equis" or "I don't always cower on the sideline, but when I do it's because I have to cover Dos Equis" or "I don't always steal draft picks from the Steelers, but when I do I steal Dos Equis"

Why, oh why, is the ball hitting Kamar Aiken in the back in his picture?!?! Is this the best picture we could find? I mean the ball is clearly behind his jersey... Any chance I can start a petition for a picture change?

I would pay (not much, but maybe $10-$20) to see an interview with Jim McNally. Forget Tom Brady. McNally has been suspended indefinitely by the Patriots; pay the man $50,000 for a tell all interview and I bet he spills more than we can imagine. He seems just like the type of blabber-mouth I would never want involved in my conspiracy. Put a spot light on him. Make him feel like a star. He's worked for the team for decades I doubt this is the first time he has cheated for them.

The original post said receivers are getting bigger and faster. My only point was that we've been picking up these tall fast wide receivers for years now, and tall and fast doesn't always pan out. Comparing Calvin Johnson to Jordy Nelson is odd. What about comparing Calvin Johnson to say... Randy Moss... Both great receivers, but Moss played almost 30 lbs lighter. Tommy Streeter also led his team in receptions and receiving yards with 46 receptions for 811 yards, while Miami's lead rusher put up over 1272 rushing yards--they definitely passed more but I don't know that I would say pass first. And, I would say that "Pro-style offense" you mentioned would be a plus for Streeter. Streeter was talented, he was projected by some to be a third round pick. He fell because he only played receiver one year at Miami not because he wasn't talented. Read some of this and see if they aren't at least a little similar: Darren Waller: http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/profiles/darren-waller?id=2552408 Tommy Streeter: http://www.nfl.com/combine/profiles/tommy-streeter?id=2533539 http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2012-05-13/sports/bal-ravens-rookie-wide-receiver-tommy-streeter-learning-from-ray-lewis-20120513_1_safety-christian-thompson-linebacker-ray-lewis-ed-reed I know Waller is a little bigger, but Streeter was a little faster... both were described as big and fast though.

Bigger and faster? I hope his trajectory is a bit different, but Waller is essentially Tommy Streeter plus 20 lbs. The Ravens spent sixth round picks on both, and their stats are pretty similar. Tommy Streeter--6'5" 4.37-40. Darren Waller 6'6" 4.46-40. (Tommy Streeter hasn't made a catch in the NFL in three seasons.)

For the most part I agree, except with the length of the suspension... I think the initial action dictates a four game suspension, but something more must be done about the lack of cooperation after the action. The situation comes across as a conspiracy to cover up wrong doing. The suspension should be four games for cheating, and twelve games for the cover up. The difference between this and PED's is that there is some definitive proof with PED's so there is less argument and rarely is there a cover-up. I can't recall a single player that adamantly denied using PED's and if they did it didn't matter, they failed the drug test, they were suspended. Tom Brady just attempted to cheat on his "drug test" (the Wells investigation) by refusing to "pee in the cup" (turn over his cell phone) in this case the NFL MUST assume the worse case scenario and MUST deliver a harsh, swift punishment.

Furthermore, there is no need to quantify the effect, we only need to qualify the action. He cheated to gain a competitive advantage--whether he actually gained an advantage is irrelevant.

I understand your point entirely, but I think it is essential to the NFL product to accept two very basic premises--football is a game and games have rules. The NFL consumer is buying sportsmanship and parity. Changing the air pressure in the football may not have a significant effect on actual play, but it is obviously cheating if it is done after an official inspection. If changing the pressure of the football is so insignificant than why pay off a "deflater" to do it? For these reasons your first point is irrelevant. This was an orchestrated conspiracy to modify game balls after official inspections that appears to have occurred for no less than the 4 games. On your second point, sponsors are motivated by profit. They call for suspensions, or not, to protect their public image and maximize their earning potential, typically this means reading the public perception and responding accordingly. In this case there is less public outcry because there are no advocacy groups that rally against the abuse of footballs. Abusing women and children are among the most universally offensive actions a person can take, but they more seem to affect the individual athlete's product rather than the NFL product--thus resulting in the termination of endorsement contracts. This incident on the other hand can serve to either tarnish Tom Brady's product or tarnish both Tom Brady's and the NFL's product. The general perception around 31/32 of the NFL is that this is a serious offense. The general perception seems to be (and I may me off on this one due to my limited exposure to national sports fans) that Goodell and Kraft are good friends. The general perception seems to be that the Patriots foster an environment that encourages skirting as close to the rules as possible, and occasionally breaking them when no one's looking. It is important to the NFL product image that this game at least appears fair, so it is important that Goodell punishes egregious, uncooperative, lying cheaters like #12 to satisfy the perception of the vast majority of the NFL--teams, owners, and fans alike. Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and Robert Kraft cheat to win. This is not an isolated incident. Brady did it. He lied about it. He refused to cooperate. He deserves to be punished for all three actions. The Patriots employ the people who did it. They denied Wells access to McNally after Wells obtained the text messages. Kraft deserves to be punished. Belichick may get punished too, but based on his initial reaction ("You'll have to ask Tom about that") I doubt he was involved.

It's a cop out to say Tom Brady should be suspended but not against the Steelers. Tom Brady should be suspended for the season--I don't care that it doesn't benefit the Ravens, and I don't care that it helps the Steelers. I read an article that said it would be hard to punish Brady more than Goodell (initially) punished Rice, but the author didn't seem to consider that what Brady did occurred on the field and directly affected game play, then He lied about it, then he refused to cooperate. In real life it is definitely much much worse to commit Rice's or Peterson's crimes, but between the white lines it is much much worse to commit Brady's.

It would be 86 catches and 14 drops, or 100 catches and 16 drops... But either way I'm with you 100%...

(a small part of me is grateful that he didn't find success elsewhere. Now he is always a Raven.)

Pretty sure un-drafted rookies' salaries are locked at about $1.5 million total over the course of three years... My understanding is that money is not a factor. He will get paid the same regardless of where he plays, the only question is where he wants to play.

I think the Ravens may have done Torrey a disservice by constantly having him run those deep routes and never really helping him develop as a route runner until last season. Torrey did exactly what was asked of him and he did it well, but it seems that the play calling made him one dimensional. I am nervous about Perriman, if he lives up to his potential it will be a first for a Ravens drafted receiver. I worry that his, and his coaches', reliance on his natural abilities might prevent him from developing better technique.

Our offensive line crashed and burned last year not our receivers. One player solves this problem. KO played tackle in 2012. He is probably an upgrade over Oher at the position. The offensive line has to get better with him playing.

Maybe our offensive line issue has already been addressed by signing Zuttah and not resigning Oher. Anyone that thinks we needed a receiver is looking at the wrong team. Flacco does not need receivers. The Ravens have a lot of nationally known players on offense-Flacco-Rice-Pitta-S. Smith-Daniels, they have none on defense. The defense was rag-tag last year, it might be fearsome this year.