| The NFL’s annual Canton kickoff is coming Benny Snell Jr. Jersey , with the league holding several days of events in and around a museum that will add eight more bronze busts — and that will rely on current members of the club to break out their yellow jackets and return to the cradle of pro football. But Hall of Famer Eric Dickeson apparently still has other plans.Last September, Dickerson sent a letter to Commissioner Roger Goodell, NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith, and Hall of Fame president David Baker demanding lifetime health insurance, an annual salary for Hall of Famers, and a share of league revenue.“Until our demands are met,” the letter explained, “the Hall of Famers will not attend the annual induction ceremony in Canton.”The effort quickly crumbled, fueled by dynamic from the fact that some Hall of Famers didn’t know their names were placed on the letter to Dickerson’s demand that the Hall of Famers should get $300,000 per year to backing away from that claim to taking issue with 31-year-old news reports that Dickerson had crossed the picket line in 1987.Now, the boycott may actually be on. Appearing Friday on WFNZ in Charlotte Zach Gentry Jersey , Dickerson said that some big-name Hall of Famers may skip this year’s induction festivities due to the fact that the NFL treats its former players “like an outcast.”“A lot of guys have talked about it, but you know we [may] try to start doing something about it,” Dickerson said. “One of the things we’re doing I mean is we’re possibly a lot of us not going to the Hall of Fame this year. Because I think it starts was guys like myself, guys with names. You know, the Joe Montanas, the Marcus Allens, the Richard Dents, the Lawrence Taylors. If you’ve got a guy who played [and] his name is John Thompson, you know, who is he? But you’ve got the guys with the names, and you have to have awareness. And I think that’s what it comes down to. No one is aware of how badly the players are treated and done. And I think when people think football Nick Bosa Jersey , they think automatically, ‘He’s a rich guy. He’s rich.�? And guys aren’t rich. Some of the guys are making real money, but in our era, the base salary was $40,000.”The NFL has shown no apparent inclination to give former players anything beyond the pensions and other benefits they negotiated for themselves while playing. As explained last year when the topic first emerged, every dollar that the league gives to the former players is one less dollar available to the current players. And as the current players try to get more from the league in current CBA discussions, it won’t get any easier for former players to get paid now for services rendered years, and in some cases decades, ago.That said, Hall of Famers showing up for a weekend of parades and rubber-chicken entrees has value to the NFL, and maybe the Hall of Famers should get something of value for adding to the overall experience. While a fair amount would surely be far less than the money Dickerson wants L.J. Collier Jersey , it’s better than nothing. FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Two things, among many, have been consistent for the Patriots the past decade: Tom Brady at quarterback and New England in the AFC championship game.Brady will try to lead his team to its seventh straight conference title game Saturday when it hosts the Tennessee Titans in the divisional round.It has been a challenging week off the field for the Patriots following reports of turmoil involving Brady, coach Bill Belichick and team owner Robert Kraft. But Brady says he’s never doubted his team’s ability to compartmentalize potential distractions.“I think we have a job to do and we know what our job is and that’s to go out and play football at a high level and play well,” he said. “Nothing really should get in the way of that.”Tennessee hasn’t been to a conference championship game since the 2002 season, but has been invigorated coming off its first playoff win in 14 years.The Titans enter as 13-point underdog, but linebacker Derrick Morgan said it’s a role they happily embrace .“Nobody respects us. Nobody really expects a lot from us. That’s fine,” he said. “We haven’t been a very successful team in the last 10 years. So it’s easy for people to overlook us. So we’ve got to take care of business and start winning games like this to get the respect that we desire.”To get it, they’ll have to stop a quarterback that has been nearly unbeatable in this round of the postseason.Brady is 11-2 in 13 divisional-round games since 2002 , passing for 3 Marquise Blair Jersey ,700 yards and 28 touchdowns.He also has a 6-1 career record against the Titans with 13 touchdowns and just one interception.Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota was mostly unflappable in leading his team back from an 18-point halftime deficit to beat Kansas City — the largest comeback on road in Super Bowl era.But since 2001, quarterbacks making their first or second career playoff start are 0-7 against New England.“When it comes down to it, it’s all about us,” Mariota said. “I think that’s kind of been the mindset through this entire season. Ups and downs come and go, you just want to try and make the most of this opportunity.”Some things to watch on Saturday:MOVING ON UP: It will be Bill Belichick’s 37th career playoff game as a head coach, breaking a tie with Tom Landry and Don Shula for the most in NFL history.HEISMAN BROTHERS: Mariota, the 2014 Heisman winner, and Derrick Henry, the 2015 Heisman winner, combined to turn in the best rushing performance in franchise history in the wild-card round. Henry ran for a career-high 156 yards, and Mariota added 46 yards. Henry will be starting his third straight game with DeMarco Murray already out (right knee).PRESSURE: The Titans ranked fifth in the league with 43 sacks during the season and added four more against the Chiefs last week. Three-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman Jurrell Casey had six from his interior spot D.K. Metcalf Jersey , while Morgan led the Titans with 7 sacks. Linebackers Brian Orakpo (seven) and Wesley Woodyard (five) give the Titans a variety of options to attack Brady, not counting backup linebacker Erik Walden (four).EXPERIENCE GAP: New England has 41 players with postseason experience, most of 2017 playoff teams. Fourteen Patriots players have played at least 10 playoff games. That’s more such players than 11 other playoff teams combined (13). Before the start of this postseason, the Titans had 18 players who had appeared in a playoff game.BELICHICK and LEBEAU: There aren’t too many current NFL coaches that have been around the game longer than Belichick and Titans defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau .LeBeau has an NFL-record 45 consecutive seasons as a coach, with Belichick at 43. Yet, with Belichick as head coach, he and LeBeau have faced off in the playoffs only once: the 2004 AFC championship game that New England won in Pittsburgh 41-27.The respect between the two is mutual.“Not very many coaches have the record coach Belichick’s gotten. In fact he’s probably closing in on the best ever,” LeBeau said.Said Belichick: “Coach LeBeau is as good as there is, as good a defensive coach as there is.”——AP Football Writer Teresa Walker in Nashville contributed to this report.—— |
