03-12-2021, 12:10 PM
(03-12-2021, 10:36 AM)jj22 Wrote: I think it's naïve to think players don't take teams reputations into consideration when deciding to sign with them in Free agency. Obviously some posters don't realize this. I didn't think it was a "hot take" at all. Actually quite cool. Freezing take actually for it being so known and obvious.
That reputation already exists. The stories have been out there for years. No one is coming across the story and now thinking "Man, the Bengals sound like an f'd organization, I'm not going there."
For one, the story is 20 years old. And either guys are aware of this stuff and don't care, or they were never coming here to begin with.
Also, just because he shared in this in public for the first time doesn't mean it hasn't been floating around in NFL circles for years. Players talk, coaches talk, agents talk.
I don't think people realize just how small the NFL is. There's only around 1,800 guys in the league. Throw in a few hundred coaches. Throw in a few hundred agents, scouts, front office personnel. It's like one big D1 High School. And lot of these guys overlap from team to team, and from generation to generation.
What does actually make it out to the media, that ends up in our ears, probably doesn't even scratch the surface of the stories that float around this league. I'm sure it's not that different from many schools, or officies, or companies, or industries. Word gets out in a hurry. There's a good chance this isn't the first time other people in the NFL were aware of this story.
