19 angry billionaires have it made and don't even know it

I’m not sure “angry” describes all of the characters. The picture shows men confronting their own emotional and experiential pasts and those of their fellow jurors as they decide whether or not to send a youth to the electric chair for the murder of his father. Some are plagued while others are buoyed by their respective personalities in this stressful situation, but each one has to decide how to move forward. They smoke, they sweat, they swear, they sprawl, they stalk, and they get angry.

The late Ralph Wilson Jr., 92, long-time owner of the Buffalo Bills and one of the founders of the American Football League, served in the Navy during World War II. None of the present owners ever served in the military.

Sports Xchange:

19 of the NFL's 32 teams are owned by billionaires. Seattle Seahawks' owner Paul Allen tops the NFL list at $17.5 billion. Allen started Microsoft with Bill Gates, who remains the richest person in the world with a net worth of $75 billion. Miami Dolphin's owner Stephen Ross is second on the NFL list at $12 billion, followed by Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke ($7.7 billion). Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots sits at $4.9 billion.

The NFL is now looking into the Seattle Seahawks' situation on CB Richard Sherman’s partially torn MCL, and head coach Pete Carroll noting that he wasn’t on the Injury Report. Carroll said that Sherman had suffered a MCL injury in his knee during a game and played through it during the second half of the season. However, Sherman's injury was never disclosed on the league's official injury reports.

Sherman's injury situation marks the third time the Seahawks have violated NFL rules. The Seahawks violated offseason rules in 2016 and 2014. They were disciplined for excessive contact during OTAs in 2016 and impermissible contact in 2014. League owners are up in arms over the fact that the Seahawks were not punished.

Rich Hill, SBNation:

The issue with DeflateGate runs deeper than just the flaws in a system that allows NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to hear and rule on the appeal of a penalty he issued himself. It's more than Goodell.

It boils down to the pettiness of owners. Owners that have managed to stay out of the spotlight by deflecting the focus on Goodell. Owners that have hit the Patriots with a lasting penalty because they can't stand the fact that their teams aren't as successful on a consistent basis. Owners that have found a way to get the greatest player in the history of the sport suspended for four games over nothing at all.

The owners have made this about taking down New England owner Robert Kraft, with QB Tom Brady being merely collateral damage, and Patriots fans are forced to deal with the repercussions.

If Henry Fonda plays Roger Goodell in the movie, they will really have something to cry about.

And Lee J. Cobb plays Robert Kraft as the last one to "let it go."

Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy

Revenge is for suckers

Alec Nathan, Bleacherreport:

"When it happens to your son, it's a whole different context. Or your daughter or any one of your kids and I think any parent kind of understands that. They'd rather take the slings and arrows in the heart than have their kids take it. For what the league did to him (Tom Brady) and what Roger Goodell constantly lied about is beyond reprehensible as far as I'm concerned.

“He (Goodell) went on a witch hunt and went in way over his head and had to lie his way out in numerous ways, and the reality is that Tommy never got suspended for deflating footballs,” Tom Brady Sr. said. “He got suspended because the court said that he could, Roger Goodell could do anything he wanted to do to any player for any reason whatsoever. That’s what happened. The NFL admitted they had no evidence on him.” If the Patriots win Super Bowl LI, Brady and Goodell would inevitably cross paths during the handing off of the Lombardi Trophy. Steve believes that Roger shouldn’t even be on the same stage as his son. “ Somebody that has Roger Goodell’s ethics doesn’t belong on any stage that Tom Brady is on.”

Prior to Super Bowl 1, Green Bay Packers' Head Coach Vince Lombardi remarked that "you players should be proud of your profession." 50 years later, Tom Brady Sr. and New England Patriots' owner Bob Kraft want to incite the masses and upstage NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. The four game suspension levied against Patriots' star QB Tom Brady pales in comparison to the one year penalty that Packers' RB Paul Hornung received. Hornung, along with Detroit Lions defensive tackle Alex Karras, were banished by Commissioner Pete Rozelle on April 17, 1963 indefinitely for betting on NFL games and associating with undesirable persons.

Paul Hornung was the 1956 Heisman Trophy recipient from Notre Dame. He is the only winner from a team with a losing record. He was the first person to be inducted into the High School, College and Pro Football Hall of Fame. His 176 points in 1961 were an NFL record, and his 19 points in a NFL title game still stands. The suspensions lasted only one season, the fines were minor ($2,000 for each player) and the betting incidents now appear small. But the suspensions were crucial, representing the establishment of his authority and the backing of the owners. "I felt relieved," Pete Rozelle said. Forthright in admitting to his mistake, Hornung's image went relatively untarnished.

In 1990, the NFL instituted the Pete Rozelle Trophy to honor the Super Bowl MVP. NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle died at home on December 6, 1996 in Rancho Santa Fe, CA. Paul Hornung attended the funeral services.

In the final act of The Sting, Henry Gondorff(Paul Newman) tells Johnny Hooker(Robert Redford) that "You beat 'em, kid." Hooker's response was "You're right. It's not enough, but it's close." Tom Brady Sr. and Bob Kraft would be best served in watching this four star gem.


Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy