Say What?

Posted: March 16th, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 142 Comments »

The Eagles had who in for a workout?

Surely my eyes deceive me. Tim Tebow?

Oh, Chip…you are really testing my faith.

Nothing came of it, to this point. Tebow worked out, as a QB, and then left without a contract. For now, breathe a big sigh of relief.

So why work out Tebow? The Eagles have 3 QBs on the roster and GJ Kinne as a fringe guy. How does Tebow the QB fit into that?

Boom. There you go.

If you deal Barkley, there is an opening on the roster for a QB.

I still have no interest in Tebow. I don’t think he is a consistently good passer and I don’t like the constant circus that seems to surround him.

While I don’t like Tebow, what does Kelly think?

This would make the notion of working Tebow out highly confusing. But there is a difference in building your team around Tebow and having him as the #3 QB. Maybe Kelly feels it would be worth it to have him on the roster in a limited role.

Kelly could turn around and cut Tebow if the Eagles were to find a QB they like in the draft, whether that is Marcus Mariota early or a developmental player late. I can’t imagine Tebow would get anything above the minimum and there wouldn’t be any bonus money. The minute you found a better option, you could cut him.

Of course all of this discussion is moot if the Eagles keep Barkley or if Tebow had a bad workout. Either one would be fine with me.

Just when you think a strange offseason can’t get any stranger…

I can only assume the Eagles will be signing Reno Mahe to help with RB depth and Sean Considine will be starting alongside Malcolm Jenkins.

Or maybe…just maybe…the ultimate fantasy will come true and Brian Urlacher will become an Eagle.

URLAKKERZ!!!!!

_


142 Comments on “Say What?”

  1. 1 Pennguino said at 7:57 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    If you are down to your third QB, it is already over. Chip could scheme him like Fox did in Denver.

  2. 2 Weapon Y said at 11:26 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    Agreed. I have zero confidence in Matt Barkley. At least if Tebow was the third QB, he could be used in other ways too like special teams and maybe RB or TE. We’d basically be consolidating Barkley’s job with Brad Smith’s and opening up another roster spot. We’d finally get to see a QB who can run the read option (albeit not much else). Big picture: we’re looking at a guy who would have to fight for a roster spot, not someone who would be a big contributor.

  3. 3 Pennguino said at 11:51 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    Roll in 3rd string QB, Emergency dressed QB, and a ST depth/starter. Not bad at all.

  4. 4 Mitchell said at 8:03 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    What kind of pick could you get for Barkley? A 6/7 maybe?

  5. 5 Greg Richards said at 8:07 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    Swap of picks in the 7th. Maybe move up of 5 or 6 spots.

  6. 6 Jernst said at 9:18 AM on March 18th, 2015:

    Haha … What a waste of a 4th round pick! And we traded up in the 4th to get him too. The thing that always bothered me about Barkley was that every single time someone stuck a mic in his face he complained and whined about not getting an opportunity to start or compete for a starting spot despite never doing anything on the field that would even remotely warrant such an opportunity. The kid looked like hot ass every time he played and acted like the coaching staff was giving him a raw deal by not benching Foles and handing him the starting job.

  7. 7 EagleNebula said at 8:07 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    Who would give anything for Barkley?

  8. 8 Dominik said at 8:16 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    All fans thought nobody would give up a meaningful draft pick for Bradford and as it turns out, at least two teams would.

    I don’t think we’ll see much (or anything) for Barkley, but he does have some kind of pedigree. He’s no Kinne.

  9. 9 EagleNebula said at 8:23 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    True, but Bradford was on top of his depth chart, Barkley is on the bottom. Then again, Bryce brown brought decent compensation in a trade so who knows.

  10. 10 Greg Richards said at 8:32 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    He wishes he was as good as Kinne.

  11. 11 Bert's Bells said at 8:08 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    Urlacher will beat you with his arm.

  12. 12 makarov123 said at 8:09 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    You think Eagles have entered The Twilight Zone? Just wait until Chip trades Bradford, Sanchez, and their 2015 2nd round pick for Ryan Mallet.

  13. 13 Dominik said at 8:13 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    It’s funny, Tebow would scare the hell out of me as a potential back-up, but somehow, I’d even like him as a 3rd QB. Maybe can play some ST (could be the first QB ever to play ST, but hey, what is normal with Chip?) and he could add a read option/power run element in the red zone or a goalline package.

    Many of us don’t like QB runs, but with the 3rd QB? And Tebow can run the football, if there’s one thing he can do… but, he’s also a better thrower than your avarage WR (f.e. Brad Smith) who maybe runs some Wildcard stuff.

    Of course, it all depends on what Tebow wants (we’re talking $$$ here, too). But if he wants a chance to re-establish his career, Chip Kelly could be a coach he would like to play for. Plus, in his opinion, the starting QB is injury prone, which could make him the back-up QB eventually.

    Plus, if Chip really things Tebow is a better option than Barkley, then we will lose a game in which our 3rd stringer has to play anyway. If you lose with Tebow or Barkley, doesn’t matter in the end.

  14. 14 Iskar36 said at 8:22 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    Honestly, I think the circus he brings is a bigger negative than the limited positive he would provide as a 3rd string QB. Particularly with the injury concerns for Bradford and the limited ceiling for Sanchez, I’d much rather take a shot at a late round QB to potentially coach up than have Tebow and his distractions.

  15. 15 Dominik said at 8:27 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    There won’t be distractions. There wasn’t a circus when he was with the Patriots. Chip would take care of that part,

  16. 16 Iskar36 said at 8:52 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    While I certainly believe the Eagles will do a much better job at handling the circus than the Jets managed to, I think the Eagles are in a very different spot than the Patriots. The Patriots have a Hall of Fame Qb starting that the entire fan base is fully behind. The Eagles have a major uncertainty with Bradford. While I don’t think fans think Tebow is better than Bradford, if he gets injured or struggles, the Tebow distractions will grow. In addition, while Tebow wasn’t a huge distraction for the Patriots, I’d guess that even they didn’t like hearing about the 3rd string QB so regularly, and he didn’t even make it onto the final 53 man roster.

  17. 17 Pennguino said at 11:54 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    Bwhahaha…it would be so fun to troll Sanchez with Tebow. Let Tebow get two extra reps during practice and watch the media go nuts.

  18. 18 Brett Smith said at 9:28 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    Nothing funny about it. Tebow scares the hell out of me. Hopefully Chip was just trolling or doing someone a solid.

  19. 19 Anders said at 4:17 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    Ask Tony Romo about playing ST pretty sure he remembers that 😛

    Under Reid, we had Detmer has the holder

  20. 20 Dominik said at 8:21 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    Yeah, if you count holder you will find some QBs. But Tebow, I could see ST Tackler etc. That would be an innovation. 😉

  21. 21 Brett Smith said at 8:26 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    So Tebow as #3 QB what could it hurt?

    I mean Bradford would have to get injured. How likely is that?

    Then Sanchez would still be ahead of him on the depth chart. Sanchez would have to get hurt or throw a bunch of crazy interceptions before Tebow ever saw the field.

    In order for Tebow to play limited wildcat snaps he would have to be the #2 QB. In which case Sanchez could eat several hot dogs while holding the clip board. Then if Tebow got hurt or threw a bunch of crazy interceptions Sanchez could come in and puke on 3rd and long.

  22. 22 EagleNebula said at 8:35 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    Clearly Sanchez prefers the the chicken fingers…

  23. 23 Brett Smith said at 8:52 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    Ha. Yes you are right.

  24. 24 NinjaP said at 8:44 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    you want at least one of your qbs to be a prospect you are developing. That is why tebow makes no sense.

  25. 25 Brett Smith said at 8:53 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    Brilliant. If we sign Tebow we would have 2 suspect QBs with no chance of developing!

  26. 26 anon said at 9:01 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    possibly 3

  27. 27 Caveman_Bob said at 9:11 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    In the event of an injury to Bradford, there’s no reason to think a Sanchez and Tebow combination wouldn’t work well. #NYJ

  28. 28 Brett Smith said at 8:27 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    Barkley is available for an even number of hot dogs and buns.

  29. 29 A_T_G said at 9:38 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    That even number bit is just a gambit to drive up his price. Everyone knows that, since hotdogs are sold in 8 packs and buns in 10 packs, you would have to get 40 of each to meet that even number requirement. No one is paying that.

  30. 30 Kelce's Beard said at 9:49 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    hebrew nationals come 7 to a pack, even weirder.
    my easy work around (to avoid eating 56) is just munch on a roll during the ride home

  31. 31 NoDecaf said at 8:19 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    Tre Rosenhausesque!

  32. 32 KP said at 8:32 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    Classic shout out to the Eagles MB days. Love it!!

  33. 33 TommyLawlor said at 9:39 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    You got it.

  34. 34 GEAGLE said at 8:48 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    As we speak, Tim Tebow is at the “howl at the moon” night club partying like a rockstar. Dude is pounding Jäger bombs as if the first commandment is “thou shall pound jäger Bombs til you forget your name”
    ..
    Don’t follow him on Twitter, not sure he even has Twitter, but I wonder if his partying pics make their way to Twitter or if it’s only pics from Sunday mass

  35. 35 Dominik said at 8:26 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    That makes him a little more “normal”, in my book, to be honest with you.

  36. 36 FairOaks said at 8:53 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    Is there any chance this was just a favor to an agent? And maybe to check out Tebow’s supposedly new and improved throwing motion in case he does catch on somewhere?

  37. 37 Brett Smith said at 8:54 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    Chip called Howie in his office and said “Watch this” right before he called Tebow’s agent to set up the workout.

  38. 38 Greg Richards said at 8:55 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    That’s what I think. His agent is Tom Condon, also Sam Bradford’s agent. We just happen to have been reported to be talking extension terms with Bradford.

  39. 39 FairOaks said at 8:56 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    I see Tebow is (or was) with CAA, but I hadn’t seen that Condon was actually his agent, OK.

  40. 40 GEAGLE said at 8:53 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    If he left with no deal does he really Matter?

  41. 41 Brett Smith said at 8:56 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    SO what you are saying is “if/when” Tebow is sacked in mop up time does PFF even care?

  42. 42 EaglesFan1 said at 9:04 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    Tebow ALWAYS matters… At least according to ESPN

  43. 43 BobSmith77 said at 8:59 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    A quote from Dr Strangeglove comes to mind about giving Tebow a look at QB today:

    “Based on the findings of the report, my conclusion was that this idea was not a practical deterrent for reasons which at this moment must be all too obvious.”

  44. 44 BobSmith77 said at 9:04 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    Speaking of ‘Dr. Strangeglove’ maybe Kelly is worried & believes the Eagles are suffering from a ‘Heisman gap.’

    It is why he acquired Bradford this offseason and looked at Tebow today. Even if a rival NFC team acquires Mariota, the Eagles would still have a 200% ratio superiority in Heisman Award winners.

  45. 45 RTP210 said at 9:08 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    The hell do Considine and Mahe have to do with bringing in a ton of brand new players? I know it was a joke, but it was a really weak one.

  46. 46 Mitchell said at 9:32 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    You’re drunk, go home.

  47. 47 laeagle said at 9:32 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    I bet you hate it when children smile.

  48. 48 A_T_G said at 9:51 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    That is a very visceral reaction to a joke you didn’t find amusing. You are going to HATE the comments section.

  49. 49 ICDogg said at 9:54 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    Bad Jokes “Я” Us

  50. 50 RTP210 said at 9:55 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    Are all of you emotional little girls that get upset when people point out stupid jokes?

    Get some Midol.

  51. 51 Baloophi said at 9:57 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    “Get some Midol.”

    Now THAT’S a great joke!

  52. 52 RTP210 said at 9:58 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    Can we talk about how emotional you’re getting over the fact that I found a joke stupid? Can we discuss it? Can you explain to me why you’re getting so defensive? You read a guy’s blog, you don’t have to suck his dick too.

  53. 53 Baloophi said at 9:59 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    I’m simply pointing out your great Midol joke.

    You took the time to point out what you thought was a really weak joke, and then followed up with a Midol joke. I love it!

  54. 54 RTP210 said at 10:04 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    It’s extra funny because the joke was a reference to people acting like little girls because I thought a joke was stupid and… go figure… you’re acting like a little girl!

    At least my joke was actually relevant. Please point out the logic involved with translating what we’ve done this offseason to bringing back retreads from the Reid era. Dying to hear how us kicking Reid guys to the curb means we’d bring Considine and Mahe back.

    You’re dumb. Stop sucking his dick or at least take a breath to realize how pathetic you’re acting.

  55. 55 Ernie McCracken said at 10:21 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    Sounds like you might want to get up into some Midol your ownself

  56. 56 RTP210 said at 10:24 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    Care to explain yourself? I made a simple comment and you losers freaked out. You should stop getting so emotional about people you don’t even know.

  57. 57 A_T_G said at 2:27 AM on March 17th, 2015:

  58. 58 Mitchell said at 10:35 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    The next question is: why would a “little girl” need Midol? Unless you are assuming, of course, that little girls have menstrual cycles…… In any case once a “little girl” has said menstrual cycles, I don’t believe she is a little girl anymore. In summation: your joke isn’t “extra funny” because it makes absolutely no sense and furthermore, if you don’t like “weak jokes” this is not the site for you. Good day sir………. and before you type anything further……… I said good day.

  59. 59 GEAGLE said at 11:02 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    Did you just hit him with “The Fez” lol??? If so, well played…

  60. 60 RTP210 said at 11:08 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    I didn’t say my joke was “extra funny” I said the situation was “extra funny,” but you idiots have proven you have no reading comprehension so I’m not shocked that you struggled with this. All I said is that my joke was at least relevant. Nobody has been able to explain how the joke I commented on was even close to making sense. I like how nobody has commented on the fact that Tommy made a joke about bringing in Reid retreads despite Chip’s M.O. being kicking Reid guys off the team… but yeah… I’m the guy who is off base, lol.

    If you guys want to suck Tommy’s dick then go for it, but lets not pretend your stance actually makes sense beyond blindly defending him to a weird point where I feel like you guys actually think you know a guy just because you read his blog, lmao.

  61. 61 CrackSammich said at 11:17 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    Wow. You’re not even good at trolling.

  62. 62 RTP210 said at 11:21 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    Care to explain what about this is trolling? I’ve already explained how the joke makes zero sense. Nobody wants to acknowledge it because they can’t actually defend it. Instead they just jerk Tommy off and talk shit to me even though I’m right.

  63. 63 Richaud Jeaffreson said at 3:27 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    This J.O. has obviously never been on the EMB.

  64. 64 RTP210 said at 8:39 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    In summation, everyone knows it’s a bad joke and yet they try to jump down my throat for pointing it out. This makes sense to people.

    lol

  65. 65 JHOT 247 said at 3:15 AM on September 21st, 2015:

    how stupid is my eagles comment now? lol, chip kelly got rid of evan mathis todd herremens 2/5 of your O line, d jackson top 3 reciever in game, maclin top 10 reciever in game, mccoy top 3 rb if not thee best, boykin a great corner, foles a qb that was doing really good for a qb coming off 2 acl tears and 2 yrs not playing should i go on? it’s blowing up in his face he’s a fucking idiot (i couldn’t reply in the eagles section it was locked, that’s why it’s in a different discussion lol)

  66. 66 CrackSammich said at 9:20 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    Then go read a different blog. This one is clearly not for you.

  67. 67 BobSmith77 said at 9:09 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    Eagles are thinking ‘really long-term’ and trying to convert all of the potential Dugger family descendants in a couple of generations into Eagles’ fans by possibly signing Tebow?

  68. 68 NineseveN said at 9:13 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    Lol, Chip is just trolling you guys. I love it when he does this stuff to mess with the media. 🙂

  69. 69 A Roy said at 9:25 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    NFW says it all.

  70. 70 Donald Kalinowski said at 9:51 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    This story is sooooo boring. Chip you’re better than this.

  71. 71 EagleNebula said at 10:43 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    I have to admit, it was effective at getting everyone to talk about something other than mariota for an hour or so…

  72. 72 Baloophi said at 9:56 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    Jaelen Strong in for a visit…

    https://instagram.com/p/0TbGP0m3U1/

  73. 73 Insomniac said at 10:30 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    I hope it’s a private workout and not a..”hey i’m back home lets go visit the Eagles facility” thing.

  74. 74 Baloophi said at 10:33 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    Ha! Maybe he was there to protest the Tebow workout…

  75. 75 Insomniac said at 10:36 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    Who wouldn’t though!

  76. 76 Anders said at 4:14 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/04/05/breaking-down-the-rules-regarding-pre-draft-rookie-visits/

    Jaelen Strongs hometown is Philly, so he is one of the local kids that do not count against the Eagles 30 limit

  77. 77 Insomniac said at 7:41 PM on March 18th, 2015:

    There were no reports though.

  78. 78 Gary Barnes said at 9:58 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    Is Chip going to spin that Roseman picked Barkley too? Classic…

    If the Eagles sign Tebow as anything but a tackling dummy in TC, Chip should have his head examined…

  79. 79 GEAGLE said at 11:04 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    Tebow isn’t getting signed, lol get real.

    ..
    Personally I don’t care to speculate over who was responsible for what pick now that we know for a fact who has absolute power… Starting this offseason we get to find out exactly what type of GM chip is, no need to speculate.

    At the very least, chip Kelly isn’t soending top pics on players who retire after their rookie season or a guy like Worlids who retired after his rookie contract expires

  80. 80 anon said at 12:31 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    i doubt there’s any way of knowing. How you let go of all that $$ is something i don’t understand. All LBs though.

  81. 81 Iskar36 said at 12:58 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    The Barkley pick always sounded like a Rosman pick to me. I’m sure Chip agreed with it, but Howie even said that Barkley was a guy they had liked the year before had he come out, and that was before Chip was even hired. So to me, Barkley was always a guy HR liked and he targeted getting him in the draft two years ago.

  82. 82 James Adair said at 7:48 PM on March 17th, 2015:

    Howie did pick Barkley and was crowing about it post draft on his radio show.

  83. 83 Ferris Wren said at 10:03 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    A tryout for Tebow is a poor use of time and resources. Chip and the other coaches involved absolutely must have higher priorities/much better things to do.

  84. 84 EagleNebula said at 10:36 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    You forgot **sarcastic

  85. 85 jpate said at 10:25 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    crazy shit for 49ers another LB chris boreland is retiring after one season

  86. 86 Insomniac said at 10:29 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    49ers are done for.

  87. 87 Flyineagle45 said at 10:27 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    I would try to get that 5th we gave up for Bradford with a Barkely trade.

  88. 88 Insomniac said at 10:29 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    4th*

  89. 89 Mitchell said at 10:36 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    That would be even better!

  90. 90 Andrew said at 10:35 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    My interpretation of this was Kelly just doing his due diligence. There’s been a few news stories recently of Tebow trying to make a comeback with new mechanics. I suppose Chip wanted to check and see if there was any significant progress.

    http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2015-03-08/tim-tebow-eyeing-return-to-nfl-veteran-combine-comeback-former-heisman-winner

  91. 91 Baloophi said at 10:37 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    OR, maybe he was hoping Tebow would kinda take his old college roommate Cooper back home with him…

  92. 92 Cafone said at 12:52 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    My take is that Chip wants to have a good relationship with University of Florida people in case it doesn’t work out here.

  93. 93 D3FB said at 2:59 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    That’s dumb. Because you know… Howie.

  94. 94 ICDogg said at 1:39 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    He brought in Tebow to take advantage of his Jesus connection

  95. 95 Anders said at 4:11 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    Remember, we had Terrell Pryor in last year. NFL teams take in dozens of failed high picks in every year.

  96. 96 anon said at 10:39 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    When linebacker Patrick Willis unexpectedly retired last week, some 49ers fans took solace in the presence of linebacker Chris Borland, who had a stellar rookie season. Now, Borland is retiring, too. Via ESPN’s Outside The Lines, Borland says he’s calling it quits after one season due to concerns over the long-term impact of head injuries.

  97. 97 Baloophi said at 10:49 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    And he doesn’t have to look far to see the impact of long-term head injuries…

  98. 98 GEAGLE said at 11:09 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    amazing…Baalke spent a top pic on a kid who retires after his rookie year… Did Boreland even get any concussion this year? I can’t remember him missing any time…
    ..
    Atleast chip drafting kids who love and love this game and we don’t hAve to worry about our draft pick retiring after his rookie season or retiring after his rookie contract like Worlids…. I thought Baalke did a poor enough job adding so many players who body breaking down, or who have missed time due to being criminal or scumbags.. Now he is losing young players to retirement…. Is the Ghost of Harbauvh going to haunt the Niners and Baalke for the rest of his time as GM of the Niners?

  99. 99 EagleNebula said at 11:35 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    I read somewhere that he only had 2 diagnosed concussions his entire life – both before college. However, it isn’t just about concussions. Concussions raise the likelihood for issues but there is concern that the effects of repeatedly banging into one another may be just as damaging. Sorry for the unscientific explanation, I forgot the exact terminology and am too lazy to look it up. The real problem is that, in general neurological problems are still not that well understood. And studies are still in their infancy when it comes to football & head trauma. So long story short, we have a long way to go before we fully understand what is happening.

  100. 100 D3FB said at 2:58 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    Apparently he suffered one during training camp last year. But since he was only a third round pick he wasn’t guaranteed a roster spot, let alone the starting job, so he felt that he needed to push through it. He concealed it from the medical staff. He says it was then that he realized how scary this stuff really is and started to worry about the long term effects of CTE. Then when he got concussed by Russel Wilson late in the season it shook him up again.

  101. 101 EagleNebula said at 3:18 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    The number that go undiagnosed is frightening, as is the fact that players feel they need to hide injuries to make the team. I hadn’t seen that, but that experience would put a lot of fear in anyone. Concussions are pretty freaky to live through, I still remember the disorientation I had for the entire day after mine and it was over 15 years ago. I can’t imagine being in that state and trying continue to play football.

  102. 102 D3FB said at 4:49 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    In hindsight I feel fortunate to have never had my bell rung too bad. However I am glad that the level of understanding about the subject is increasing. My freshman year one of the seniors who was a reserve TE got a concussion the second or third week and I don’t think he was back until week 10, there was alot of the “why is he being such a pussy, it’s your senior year, suck it up and go”. And this was at the Division 3 level for essentially a spot player and special teams contributor. I do have to credit our training staff, and the cultural shift at large with helping to undo years of “rub some dirt on it” mentality that is pounded into you, when it comes to things like concussions.

  103. 103 Dominik said at 8:38 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    Don’t want to nitpick, but you don’t feel you have your roster spot safe as a 3rd rounder?? Generally, it’s a good attitude, but when was the last time a team cut a 3rd rounder before he could even begin his rookie season?

  104. 104 D3FB said at 10:08 PM on March 17th, 2015:

    Typically yes, and he wouldn’t have been cut but he could have been moved down the depth chart and given an IR redshirt that the 49ers love to use with midround rookies who have injury histories. In which case he would have come into this season with no NFL experience, and with Willis and Bowman who were both expected to be back this season. So you can certainly understand the pressure to stay on the field.

  105. 105 Jernst said at 8:31 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    This right here is the medical fact that the NFL doesn’t want to get out into the public discussion. They’re legislating away the big hits on defenseless players that are highly visible and leave a player laying motionless on the ground with T.Rex arms sticking straight up. Those hits look devastating, they make everyone gasp, but medically they don’t contribute significantly to CLE. With a big concussion the brain sustains a single massive trauma, but if given time to rest and heal no serious long term effects are typically seen.

    CLE is caused by the brain depositing fibrous tissue and tough proteins within the brain which ultimately leads to the brain malfunctioning. The brain does this to protect itself from repetitive, often times, minor trauma. A good analogy is playing the guitar. If you picked up a 6-string one time and played it ’till your fingers bled, and then let your fingers heal, they’d look about the same as before, but if you play a little bit every day eventually you’d develop large tough callouses on your finger tips. If you’re not familiar with playing guitars, think about weight lifting. If you went out and lifted weights intensely, essentially causing minor tears all throughout the muscles, you’d be sore for a couple days, your body would heal and you wouldn’t all of a sudden look like Dolf Lundgren. But, if you lift weights everyday and constantly cause those minor tears, your body will eventually adapt and start building more and denser muscle fibers which would change your appearance. CLE works in the same way.

    That’s why you rarely hear of WRs, the same guys that get blown up, and who the new rules protect, dealing with cognitive problems. Michael Irvin’s cognitive issues aside as they were clearly there regardless of football. However, offensive lineman, guys who rarely if ever end up laid out on the turf with a full blown concussion have some of the highest rates of cognitive issues and CLE. The reason being that they repetitively fire their skulls forward into collisions with other large men. There’s no overt symptoms at the time, but on each and every play their brain is slamming against the inside of the skull and its it these repetitive sub-concussive minor truamas that cause the brain to adapt and essentially develop calluses to protect itself. But, unlike the calluses on your finger tips they cause problems. The proteins deposited disrupt the neural transmission and cause altered thinking, cognitive problems, memory issues and headaches.

    The big problem for the NFL is there’s no way to legislate away repetitive minor truamas like this without changing the entire game to flag football. As long as football is a contact sport and LBers need to bang into RBs on a constant and consistent basis, as long as offensive lineman continue to fire out of their stance and run block, there will be CLE. And, there’s nothing that a helmet can do to protect you. Helmets protect the outside of the skull. Inside the brain is floating in water and when you decelerate quickly, ie run into someone full speed to tackle them or fire out and engage a DT to block him, your brain is going to slam into the inside of your skull.

    I wish the NFL would just be honest. Instead of pretending that they want to or even can make the game safer they should do what the Marines do, embrace the danger of the sport. Come out and say hell yes football is dangerous. It’s a sport that separates the men from the boys and could kill you. Only true badasses can and/or should play and there should be no misinterpretation of what you’re getting yourself into. The Marines adopted this marketing strategy years ago. And, while the army and navy spend their marketing campaigns trying to convince people that joining is a safe, fun and effective way to get a good education the marines have commercials of a guy fighting a lava monster with a sword and tell you straight out this is the real shit you’re getting into. And, the marines beat out the army and the navy many times over every year in total enlistments despite having the highest deployment rates, the most dangerous assignments, the lowest salaries, the least educational opportunities, as well as the highest death and injury rates.

  106. 106 EagleNebula said at 10:30 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    Thank you for going into detail.

  107. 107 anon said at 12:28 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    It is crazy that all the LBs are retiring at the same time. Is Navarro Bowman the only one left? I’d laugh if he retired once he finished rehab

  108. 108 Iskar36 said at 1:07 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    Honestly, as rough as it is to lose a promising young player, to me that is the much more minor aspect of the story. In the last week, we have seen three players (Borland, Worlids, and Locker) who would have earned decent money and are not even 30, turn that opportunity down to avoid further wearing down their bodies. That’s a surprising situation and if it is the beginning of a trend, a concerning one with regards to the NFL.

  109. 109 anon said at 1:26 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    patrick willis was about 30 too.

  110. 110 Greg Richards said at 7:06 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    It’s a concerning one but it didn’t sound like Worilds decision to retire had anything to do with concussion concerns.

  111. 111 Iskar36 said at 7:20 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    No, not directly, but you can certainly see it being a factor. When you make a decision that is going to have that big of an impact on the rest of your life, you are likely to consider a ton of factors. Health being such a relevant factor when it comes to football, you would imagine it played some role in helping him decide to retire to pursue his other interests.

  112. 112 BlindChow said at 11:19 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    You’re just projecting.

  113. 113 unhinged said at 5:43 PM on March 17th, 2015:

    The realities of chronic traumatic encephalopathy are a meteor headed for the center of a world called the NFL. By “realities” I mean the mounting evidence that it does NOT require multiple concussions or even one to develop this destructive disease, but the continuous normal football hits to a helmeted head are enough to bring it on. The growing awareness of the fact that football, as a career, will probably take years off of your life or seriously damage your brain will undoubtedly have a ripple effect throughout our culture. Just this morning I mentioned to a friend Borland’s abrupt announcement, and his response was “… my 11 year-old just had a concussion playing football. He’s finished until it becomes his decision.”
    Intellectually, I can be detached and recognize it will be for the better if NFL becomes less of a popular outlet for millions of Americans, but who am I kidding? I grew up exposed to sports and I was hooked from an early age on the NFL and that hasn’t diminished in light of all of the damning information out there. It will effect the attitudes of young parents, as it should, and that may thin the numbers of NFL aspirants, which may in turn reduce numbers of fanatical spectators, but it won’t save me, and I doubt it will open the minds of most fans who were conditioned from a young age to consume the violent spectacle that is pro football.

  114. 114 Sammy Bee's Knees said at 11:23 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    They built that stadium on top of some indian burial ground. Cursed forever.

  115. 115 Mac said at 12:03 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    Glen Coffee retired from the 49ers early as well. Promising RB.

  116. 116 shah8 said at 1:59 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    Just saw that.

    We have it better than 49’er folks, although they can be said to have gotten to the Super Bowl…

  117. 117 Media Mike said at 5:13 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    See. Nobody wants to play on a team with Kaepertrash on it.

  118. 118 JohnDoe610 said at 10:59 PM on March 16th, 2015:

    I don’t know what it says about me that I was more upset about the possibility of signing Tim Tebow than I was when we signed Mike Vick.

  119. 119 Jernst said at 7:59 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    I’m with you! At least Vick served his time, what time has Tebow served for his crimes against humanity!

    The sad thing is, Tebow, from everything I’ve read is a genuinely good guy. The kind of guy that shows up to the game hours before the rest of the team every week to bring disabled and sick children on to the field. But, my god, even inspite of that, he’s so unbelievably and unequivocally easy to hate. It’s impressive that he can be that good of a dude and remain so eminently hateable.

  120. 120 JohnDoe610 said at 9:12 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    Everything about Tebow seems calculated. Nothing he says or does feels like it’s genuine. That’s probably not fair, but it’s my perception.

  121. 121 Jernst said at 9:16 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    I get the same impression

  122. 122 James Adair said at 8:02 PM on March 17th, 2015:

    Perhaps you hate God more than dogs or maybe I have it backwards. Or maybe it is just those three letters that gets in your craw.

  123. 123 JohnDoe610 said at 8:55 PM on March 17th, 2015:

    No, because I love Dawk. I think it’s how fake Tebow is.

  124. 124 Cafone said at 12:49 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    If we need a 3rd string QB as a backup rather than a developmental prospect, why not pick up Dennis Dixon?

  125. 125 Jernst said at 7:41 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/quarterback/

    I’d literally take any one of the QBs on that list over Tebow.

  126. 126 ICDogg said at 1:30 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/ferrewi01.shtml

  127. 127 MagsDaffyDilly said at 4:01 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    Tuesday morning. March 17. top 0′ the mornin’ to ya.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W97M5i05xUo

  128. 128 Mark F said at 6:36 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    Camp body.

  129. 129 Anders said at 6:51 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    I honestly think Tebow could be a great h-back similar to James Casey if he was willing to position shift.

  130. 130 A_T_G said at 7:14 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    And, if he can block, using him as the guy that lines up between the punter and the line (whatever he is called) would really make teams respect the fake punt threat.

    I guess one doesn’t become a professional athlete unless one is self confident and believe in oneself when told otherwise, but I imagine one day Tebow is going to look back at this time and wish he had just accepted whatever role was offered.

  131. 131 Dominik said at 8:42 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    I think it’s called upback or personal protector. And yes, Tebow would be great at that.

    I think Chip would like your thinking, even though he didn’t sign Tebow (yet).

  132. 132 CrackSammich said at 9:21 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    I think I remember the Jets trying him on the punt team, and it didn’t end well.

  133. 133 GermanEagle said at 7:17 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    It’s truly crazy what a crazy Eagles offseason is doing to me! I just woke up from a dream where I put on my pads again for my old team the Munich Cowboys trying out as a slot WR after all these years at the age of 36.

    Thank you, Chip.

  134. 134 Dominik said at 8:42 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    You played for a team called Cowboys? Boooooooooooooooo!

  135. 135 Jernst said at 7:47 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    So if we sign Tebow (to play QB not H-Back), does that mean that we can just assume everything he says to the media is a lie. I can understand saying you wanted DeSean and McCoy back when you were trying to trade them, no reason to kill your ability to negotiate with other teams. Saying Foles was the starting QB for the next 1000 years when he clearly wasn’t sold on him was clearly a joke. But, promising me that my team would be Tebow-free for as long as you’re coach and then going out and signing him as a backup QB…that is a bridge to far, Chip!

  136. 136 Koy Detmer said at 7:50 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    Honestly I don’t understand the Reno Reference, After being around reno for all those years in philly when i was Mentoring I can say without a doubt..Reno was always a high motor guy that Never ran out of gas, He always had something left in the gas tank.

  137. 137 Sammy Bee's Knees said at 7:53 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    Great throwback novelty account.

  138. 138 Jernst said at 7:51 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    If we were going to take a one year flyer on a RB that can’t throw to be our 3rd QB, I would have rather picked up Terrell Pryor. Chiefs signed him to a one year $660,000 contract this offseason.

  139. 139 Jernst said at 7:53 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    Tim Tebow a QB with the leadership skills and intangibles of a Ray Lewis and the QBing and throwing skills of …. a Ray Lewis

  140. 140 eagleyankfan said at 8:06 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    are people upset about Tebow because Barkley is lighting it up? It’s just a 3rd string qb….

  141. 141 BreakinAnklez said at 8:43 AM on March 17th, 2015:

    Not enough Zzzz’s Tommy!!!

  142. 142 Raul Estrada said at 9:11 PM on March 17th, 2015:

    Tebow was working out with Tom Brady’s coach for developing into an actual NFL QB.

    I guess we know how much progress was made and how much he needs to get there.