American Football: Who would you take in the first round of the Draft?

[joycem10]

Shockey needs to get his head screwed on straight before he becomes another eric green.

I might be wrong on this but on the shareholders of Green Bay required by the coroporate by-laws to be residents of green bay, or maybe its season ticket holders. i dont remember.

As for the draft, Im looking forward to seeing whose career Cincy will ruin this year. If I was drafted by them Id go back to school for a year and reenter the draft. Although maybe Marvin Lewis will change that...

Also fun to guess who will be the 1st round QB busts. Im already betting on Boller and Grossman.

For you Brits out there, I understand how the premiership works, but how do you allocate new players in the league? Is it just a free for all?

I think the preimership would be an exceelent way to handle sports too stupid to implement a salary cap. Baseball comes to mind - and maybe hockey unless they straighten out the CBA in 2005.

 

[MrPresident]

For you Brits out there, I understand how the premiership works, but how do you allocate new players in the league? Is it just a free for all?

Most new players are brought up through the ranks. Clubs spend millions each year on their youth systems because one decent player can mean all those costs are recovered (Rooney for Everton being a good recent example). If a player doesn't make it through the youth system then they can go to a lower division club or even non-league and hope they can play their way back up again. Some players only get their starts late on in their playing career, Ian Wright being a good example here. He was playing for a non-league side until his middle 20s when Crystal Palace picked him up. He played well for them and move onto to Arsenal where he retired their highest goal scorer. Foreign players are usually brought but increasingly they are also scouted early and join the youth system. You don't need to go to College or anything like that to play professional football. And most of the decent young players are playing for, or at least signed up to, a top flight club at about 16-18.

 

[tcjsavannah]

That may be the biggest difference between soccer and football - and European sports in general - is club vs. school teams.

Youth sports in Europe are much better organized. Players can hook on with an organization and play for years and years through school, while most Americans are expected to play for their school. Only now are clubs taking shape - and they're only in women's sports mostly: soccer, volleyball, softball. The only exception is baseball, where there is still a strong network of youth organizations.

American football, you have pop warner (ages 6-13) but once you get into junior high school and high school, you're playing for your schools and nowhere else. And it's not year-round, like soccer is. There are strict rules as to how often and how hard students can practice.

 

[MrPresident]

And it's not year-round, like soccer is.

Soccer isn't all year round. It is between August and May, at least in Europe.

 

[tcjsavannah]

That's a 10-month season. It might as well be year-round.

American football is from September to January. Five months.

 

[joycem10]

yeah, but training camp starts in the last week of July.

 

[tcjsavannah]

So does the August-May soccer season include their training camp, or is that June and July?

I suppose with all the "voluntary" workouts these teams have for their players, the NFL season has become more year-round, but it's still not close. Same with college football. NCAA rules stipulate that spring practice can only be a certain number of days.

 

[MrPresident]

Every two years during June and July there is an international tournament. Otherwise it is just a rest period for the players.

 

[Hitro]

And don't forget that some countries (Germany for example) also have a winter break from Christmas to February.

 

[MrPresident]

Winter breaks are for wimps and Germans. You play until you drop and then you play some more.