(05-13-2017, 07:24 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Not to completely derail the thread from Kaepernick politics or anything, but...

Just out of curiosity, what part of Ohio did you grow up in, that made it acceptable to be a fan of both the Bengals and the Browns?  I mean, I am a Native Ohioan, and I seem to remember fanhood distinctions being pretty clear cut growing up.  Were you one of those guys that had both a Boomer Esiason jersey and a Bernie Kosar jersey, and would sport whichever one had the better game, on Monday mornings?  Or, did you play yourself off as a Bengal faithful, and meet secretly with your Browns buddies, on the down low?  C'mon man, Ohio born fans want to know.

(05-12-2017, 10:53 PM)PacMan Fever Wrote: Before you all go crazy, I'm just curious if Mc still has any trade value. The way this Offensive line looks, we may be better off with a fast backup QB in Kap if Andy was to go down.
Kap has been to a Super Bowl (actually won playoff games), has more experience, and could be a decent fit for the Bengals. Cincinnati has a reputation as the place where NFL castoffs can go for either one last hurrah, or to rejuvenate their careers. Kaepernick definitely fits the bill. Plus, it looks like no other team will touch him, so he'll probably come cheap.
In McCarron's case, he only has 1 year left on his deal and will for sure be moving on (I really can't see a situation where he resigns to backup Dalton). I'd say instead of trying to get a '18 draft pick for him......there has to be at least a handful of quality young OL players that are sitting on the bench behind All Pros in the league. Maked perfect sense for a "Win Now" approach.

So seriously, why not give Kap a shot??

(05-14-2017, 01:55 PM)Quantum Bengal Wrote: I agree with you, I think it'd be nice to trade McCarron and use Kap as a back up. I'll also say, I don't agree with his methods of sending a message...but he is a great backup.   I can appreciate anyone's freedom of speech, I just know to many soldiers that give a lot for my freedom to ever disrespect the anthem. Just my opinion, nothing more or less.  

That being said, I'd sign Kap immediately....even if we don't trade McCarron.

(05-14-2017, 09:15 AM)fredtoast Wrote: This is not true at all

Harbaughs system made him look better, but Kaepernick had a lot of skills and made a lot of great throws.  If it was all harbaugh then why couldn't he get the same production form every other QB?

(05-14-2017, 10:12 AM)SHRacerX Wrote: I grew up and still live in Centerville, OH.  I have ALWAYS been a Bengal's Fan, #1...over all other sports and teams.  Reds, Buckeyes, UC...I root for all of them but they are miles behind the Bengals.  

As a kid, I liked Bernie Kosar and Mike Pruitt.  I think it started when they beat the steelers in a game that I got to see on TV (not every game was close to being broadcasted in our area).  They rallied and beat the steelers, who I have always hated.  I found myself rooting for them more and more and I just kind of had the Browns as a secondary team.  

Then, I went off to college at BGSU.  I remember telling an incredibly obnoxious Browns fan on my floor (after he insulted my Bengal's T-shirt, as he was wearing a Brown's shirt) that I also rooted for the Browns, but they are my #2 to the Bengals, and I always rooted for the Bengals first.  He became enraged (I'm not kidding) and he yelled:  "Oh no!  No way!  You can't be both!  You are one or the other!" So, I instantly said:  "If you listened, I told you I always root for the Bengals #1, and the Browns are a distant 2nd....I just root for everything Ohio".

This only angered him more, and as the year wore on, any time he would see me he would chide me about my lack of hatred for the Browns.  He ended up flunking out (not a big surprise) at the mid-year point, but other guys that were Browns fans were constantly hating on the Bengals.  I wore a Bengals hat (backwards, and I had a LOT of hair back then) and they loved to take shots at Boomer, the Ickey Shuffle, etc.   

The Bengals went on to go to the Super Bowl that year, and this is when I really started disliking the Browns.  The Browns fans in the dorm were rooting heavily for the 49ers, and would pound on our door when they scored, or something favorable happened for them.  When the Bengals lost in the final seconds, they erupted and acted as though they had been 49er fans their entire lives.  That made me hate the Browns.  The next year, all I wanted was to beat the Browns twice.  

Fast forward about twenty years and I am go to a local sports bar to cool off after an argument with my wife.  I was pretty upset, and just needed to get away for a few hours.  I have a Bengals T-shirt on (of course) and I walk in to the bar and find an absolute explosion of steeler fans all over the bar.  There are steeler jerseys at every seat in the bar, except the one closest to the entrance.  I almost walk out, but someone sees my jersey and yells "We Dey!".  I paused, then took the seat at the end of the bar.  My blood was already boiling and I started thinking I could probably bait one of these assbags in to taking a swing at me and then beating the crap out of him.  

I realize it is a Thursday night game, Browns vs. steelers.  The Browns were a gawd-awful team. They had Brady Quinn at QB and had maybe won three games that season.  

So, a little background, I always though Pig Ben looked like he had a vagina for a face so whenever I would see his ugly mug, I would yell "VAAAAA-GINA!"  The game is starting and they show his face on the sideline, so naturally, I yell "VAAAA-GINA!".  The steeler fan to my left turns to me and says "You callin' Big Ben a *****?".  I said, "Oh, no.  I just think his face LOOKS like a vagina...big difference".  Clearly puzzled by my answer, he dives back in to his nachos.

Then, he makes a poor throw early in the game that is incomplete and they have to punt.  I start in again:  "That a boy, vagiburger!....VAAAAA-GINA!"

I will state at this point that I am neither proud of my actions nor do I think there is something clever about how I yell vagina, but the bar had no kids in it and they had started in on me so I was in full-on asshole mode at this point.  

Some of the steeler fans would say things about Carson Palmer, Mike Brown, or whatever and some made points to tell me to STFU, but I persisted.  VAAAAA-GINA!   Every time he would make a bad play of anything.  The Browns were doing next to nothing on offense, which would lead to celebratory cheers such as "here we go, steelers, here we go!" and I would retort with "around the bowl and down the hole, here you go steelers!".  

Some of the steeler fans were getting really pissed at this point because the Browns were actually shutting down the steelers and I was a lone person cheering whenever they would sack Piggy.  A few went as far to come stand behind me and tell me I had better STFU or leave.  I would either ignore them or say something like my favorite Joe Dirt line:  "Go outside and practice falling down a few times, and I will be there in a few minutes".  They were getting so pissed, which was only accentuated by the fact that the Browns were actually in this game and then took the lead!

As loud as they were when they were ahead, I was louder when the Browns took the lead.  I started calling Piggy Pig Ben and would say things like "Here Piggy, Piggy" and the Browns would sack him and I would laugh hysterically.  I was really enjoying myself at this point.  No, I wasn't drunk.  I had two beers the entire game.  

The game starts to wind down and a few disgruntled steeler fans head to the door.  I antagonize with:  "What?  Where are you going?  There is still time left!  Bwahahahahaha!"  A few shouted back FUs from the door, or gave me the gesture that their team was still "number one".  I would just laugh.  

One by one, each turd at the bar walked by me as they sulked off in defeat.   I did my best to annoy the piss out of them further, but none were biting.  I was completely ready to fight, but that was even wearing off because I was having so much fun.

That night, I became a Browns fan again.  They are miles behind the Bengals, but I don't put any team ahead of Cleveland after Cincy.  I used to be a bigger Colts and Saints fan, but once they won the Super Bowl I kind of let them go.  I guess some of it is that underdog nature.  If the Browns started winning a lot and kicked the Bengal's ass, I am sure I would stop liking them.  

So, Sunset, there you have it....the details behind my odd fandom.  I hope it made you laugh, but it is 100% true.  

(05-14-2017, 03:29 PM)eoxyod Wrote: 1. People preach just wanting a football player but when someone disagrees with them they are suddenly very bad for the team. Kaep does a load for the community outside of football and despite constant criticism has remained professional

2. When you watch film of Kaepernick he was actually pretty good last year with WRs and TEs none of you could name. He tore apart defenses like Seattle and Atlanta. He just had an awful team around him doing absolutely nothing.

3. I'm the furthest thing from an SJW, but it always tickles me to see people always ask those protesting to do it over to the side, where no change could possibly be accomplished due to it not being public. Odd how this mostly happens with black people protesting. Hmm....

4. Teams are significantly less likely to win with a backup QB if the starter gets hurt long term. What I want in that situation is a high ceiling QB. This doesn't mean the QB will develop to be great, but the QB can bring a lot to the table to increase variables that can improve play. Kaep has a good arm, slightly below average accuracy, and the ability to RUN. Since a good QB like Dalton allows the margin of error from the rest of the team to increase, Kaep's ability to be versatile does a similar thing although the general margin of error is decreased.

I am very behind trading McCarron for whatever we can get him for and signing Kaep, because then we get the added benefit of compensation

(05-15-2017, 03:21 AM)Shady Wrote: Just for the record, I admire both Kaep and TIm Tebow as human beings. I'd be happy to trade McC and sign either of them if I thought they'd help us get a ring. I happen to believe that Kaep would be better able to do that than Tebow, if he did happen to still be in the NFL or interested in being in the NFL.

All that said, it's a moot point. We're sticking with McCarron, and I'm fine with that.

(05-14-2017, 10:12 AM)SHRacerX Wrote: I grew up and still live in Centerville, OH.  I have ALWAYS been a Bengal's Fan, #1...over all other sports and teams.  Reds, Buckeyes, UC...I root for all of them but they are miles behind the Bengals.  

As a kid, I liked Bernie Kosar and Mike Pruitt.  I think it started when they beat the steelers in a game that I got to see on TV (not every game was close to being broadcasted in our area).  They rallied and beat the steelers, who I have always hated.  I found myself rooting for them more and more and I just kind of had the Browns as a secondary team.  

Then, I went off to college at BGSU.  I remember telling an incredibly obnoxious Browns fan on my floor (after he insulted my Bengal's T-shirt, as he was wearing a Brown's shirt) that I also rooted for the Browns, but they are my #2 to the Bengals, and I always rooted for the Bengals first.  He became enraged (I'm not kidding) and he yelled:  "Oh no!  No way!  You can't be both!  You are one or the other!" So, I instantly said:  "If you listened, I told you I always root for the Bengals #1, and the Browns are a distant 2nd....I just root for everything Ohio".

This only angered him more, and as the year wore on, any time he would see me he would chide me about my lack of hatred for the Browns.  He ended up flunking out (not a big surprise) at the mid-year point, but other guys that were Browns fans were constantly hating on the Bengals.  I wore a Bengals hat (backwards, and I had a LOT of hair back then) and they loved to take shots at Boomer, the Ickey Shuffle, etc.   

The Bengals went on to go to the Super Bowl that year, and this is when I really started disliking the Browns.  The Browns fans in the dorm were rooting heavily for the 49ers, and would pound on our door when they scored, or something favorable happened for them.  When the Bengals lost in the final seconds, they erupted and acted as though they had been 49er fans their entire lives.  That made me hate the Browns.  The next year, all I wanted was to beat the Browns twice.  

Fast forward about twenty years and I am go to a local sports bar to cool off after an argument with my wife.  I was pretty upset, and just needed to get away for a few hours.  I have a Bengals T-shirt on (of course) and I walk in to the bar and find an absolute explosion of steeler fans all over the bar.  There are steeler jerseys at every seat in the bar, except the one closest to the entrance.  I almost walk out, but someone sees my jersey and yells "We Dey!".  I paused, then took the seat at the end of the bar.  My blood was already boiling and I started thinking I could probably bait one of these assbags in to taking a swing at me and then beating the crap out of him.  

I realize it is a Thursday night game, Browns vs. steelers.  The Browns were a gawd-awful team. They had Brady Quinn at QB and had maybe won three games that season.  

So, a little background, I always though Pig Ben looked like he had a vagina for a face so whenever I would see his ugly mug, I would yell "VAAAAA-GINA!"  The game is starting and they show his face on the sideline, so naturally, I yell "VAAAA-GINA!".  The steeler fan to my left turns to me and says "You callin' Big Ben a *****?".  I said, "Oh, no.  I just think his face LOOKS like a vagina...big difference".  Clearly puzzled by my answer, he dives back in to his nachos.

Then, he makes a poor throw early in the game that is incomplete and they have to punt.  I start in again:  "That a boy, vagiburger!....VAAAAA-GINA!"

I will state at this point that I am neither proud of my actions nor do I think there is something clever about how I yell vagina, but the bar had no kids in it and they had started in on me so I was in full-on asshole mode at this point.  

Some of the steeler fans would say things about Carson Palmer, Mike Brown, or whatever and some made points to tell me to STFU, but I persisted.  VAAAAA-GINA!   Every time he would make a bad play of anything.  The Browns were doing next to nothing on offense, which would lead to celebratory cheers such as "here we go, steelers, here we go!" and I would retort with "around the bowl and down the hole, here you go steelers!".  

Some of the steeler fans were getting really pissed at this point because the Browns were actually shutting down the steelers and I was a lone person cheering whenever they would sack Piggy.  A few went as far to come stand behind me and tell me I had better STFU or leave.  I would either ignore them or say something like my favorite Joe Dirt line:  "Go outside and practice falling down a few times, and I will be there in a few minutes".  They were getting so pissed, which was only accentuated by the fact that the Browns were actually in this game and then took the lead!

As loud as they were when they were ahead, I was louder when the Browns took the lead.  I started calling Piggy Pig Ben and would say things like "Here Piggy, Piggy" and the Browns would sack him and I would laugh hysterically.  I was really enjoying myself at this point.  No, I wasn't drunk.  I had two beers the entire game.  

The game starts to wind down and a few disgruntled steeler fans head to the door.  I antagonize with:  "What?  Where are you going?  There is still time left!  Bwahahahahaha!"  A few shouted back FUs from the door, or gave me the gesture that their team was still "number one".  I would just laugh.  

One by one, each turd at the bar walked by me as they sulked off in defeat.   I did my best to annoy the piss out of them further, but none were biting.  I was completely ready to fight, but that was even wearing off because I was having so much fun.

That night, I became a Browns fan again.  They are miles behind the Bengals, but I don't put any team ahead of Cleveland after Cincy.  I used to be a bigger Colts and Saints fan, but once they won the Super Bowl I kind of let them go.  I guess some of it is that underdog nature.  If the Browns started winning a lot and kicked the Bengal's ass, I am sure I would stop liking them.  

So, Sunset, there you have it....the details behind my odd fandom.  I hope it made you laugh, but it is 100% true.  

(05-14-2017, 09:42 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote:  Lebron, Wade and Carmelo supported the same cause without making an ass of themselves.

(05-15-2017, 10:42 AM)fredtoast Wrote: 1. And none of them had said a peep about anything until Kaepernick embarrassed then into it.

2. It is ridiculous to say people who have something to protest about should do it in some seecret place where no one will see them.  the whole point of a protest is to draw attention to an issue.

So Kaepernick was very successful on that level.  He shamed the big stars into making public statements.

3. Onre of my all time favorite sports figures is Mohammed Ali.  He was a great boxer, but I respect him more for taking a stand against the Viet Nam war when it looked like it would end his career.  Back then he faced the same type of criticism as Kaepernick.  "Just shut up an entertain us!  You are not allowed to have any personal convictions."

4. I seriously doubt that Kaepernick protest will go down in history the same as Ali's, but the fact remains that Ke was willing to harm his own career to stand up for what he believed in.  I can not believe so many people hate him  for that.

Colin never tried to stop anyone else from standing for the anthem.  He never did anything to interrupt the anthem or interfere on anyway with what anyone else was doing.  He made it very clear that he was NOT protesting against soldiers defending the country. 5. He did nothing to bother anyone EXCEPT THE PEOPLE WHO DISAGREE WITH HIS POSITION.

6. If he had been screaming during the anthem or blocking streets or something like that then I could understand why people would be mad at him.  But all he did was take part in a peaceful quiet protest.  Our country was founded by "protestors".  Mass public protests helped lead to womens' right to vote, the Civil rights Act, and the end of the Viet Nam war.  Protest is an important part of civil liberty.  We can't just make a rule that every athlete and entertainer has to give up their rights..

7. We can't elect a President who won because he said America was "broken" and then punish an athlete for saying the same thing.

(05-14-2017, 09:42 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: 1. You're lumping everyone in a basket, but I personally have never wanted a player who seems more interested in drawing attention to himself and his own personal causes than football. He could support his cause without making it all about himself and bringing massive media scrutiny on his team. Lebron, Wade and Carmelo supported the same cause without making an ass of themselves.
I'm not saying this about all, but there are quite a few people who talk like this
2. He was okay. In the games you point to, he threw for 183 yards and led his offense to 13 points against ATL. He threw for 215 against Seattle. He averaged 203 yards in the 11 games he started and finished, which would come out to 3253 yards for a full season. That's about right for him. He was always protected by a great defense and run game, but unlike Russell Wilson (who he was compared to early on), he's incapable of carrying the load with his arm. I think he'd make a fine backup or a stopgap starter if his mind is in it.
And his mind definitely does seem to be in it. If he had the production that he had like that against a good and a great defense, I don't know how you can justify not having him as your backup. Especially when his weapons here would be around 100x better
3. Eox you're better than pulling the race card. Race has zilch to do with why people are angry with Kaep. If Andy Dalton dropped to a knee during the Anthem, I'd be ticked at him too. It's not even "just" that he disrespected the anthem. It's everything lumped together. The piggy socks, the ignorance of wearing a Castro shirt during such a protest, admitting he didn't vote, not clearly defining what he wanted to see in order to end his protest, etc.
Race most definitely has a factor in it. It's not active in your face racism, it's institutionalized and subtle. That doesn't mean everyone thinks Kaep is a thug, or thinks about him being half black actively when he does this, but every time a black entertainer especially comes out with a cause, he's told to go back to entertaining or media makes it out to be as disingenuous as possible. I know you and a lot of people are going to disagree with me so I'll drop this topic but it does happen
4. If Kaep came with no luggage and was 100% okay with being a clear backup, I'd totally be with you. I just know that the media (and Kaep's attitude) will be coming with Kaep. Add that in with the attention we already get/will get for Pacman, Burfict and now Mixon and I definitely have say no thanks. It'd be a circus on par with the Tebow/Sanchez/Rex Ryan Jets. Plus I don't know if he wants to go to a team with a firmly entrenched starter. 

(05-15-2017, 01:21 PM)eoxyod Wrote: Honestly there's not much more of a media circus that would come than what we already have. I think overall media perception of Kaep is slightly getting better since people have been calling out that he had good film last year and he has done so much for the community. It won't add more to the fans who will hate us for dirty play, drafting a woman beater, or keeping Jones around. I really don't think it would be much of a distraction by training camp. That said, it's not going to happen so oh well. I'm basically having this argument just to argue haha

(05-13-2017, 12:48 AM)Shake n Blake Wrote: I'm good. Kaepernick's girlfriend has had a profound affect on his mentality and I think football just isn't that dude's primary focus anymore.

Even if I were able to put aside that ridiculous protest, the piggy socks, the Castro shirts etc etc, I just don't like where his mind is at for football.

Plus I think he wants starting caliber money + an opportunity to at least fight for a job.