Darius Butler

[Indianapolis-Colts-Fan]

You notice, this guy intercepts the ball, then he gracefully falls to the ground with a hammy pull. Gets up, jogs off the field. Now idk about you, but as far as I knew a hamstring injury is pretty painful, and I don't understand why he would jog off the field like that, showing almost no signs of pain. I find it interesting that this pick six could have ultimately changed the outcome of the game, with a momentum shift, while I'm sure is a reach, I just found it interesting. 

 

According to this: 

 

 

mr butler is an all star. 

[AZColt11]

I don't think you need to worry.  Pags said he had a significant injury. 

[Happy2BeHere]

When you pull your hammy it immediately tightens up just the same as a Charley Horse does...then after a minute or two it usually releases and enough to get by but not without pain.

[Indianapolis-Colts-Fan]

3 minutes ago, Happy2BeHere said:

When you pull your hammy it immediately tightens up just the same as a Charley Horse does...then after a minute or two it usually releases and enough to get by but not without pain.

 

 

[krunk]

Does anybody know where the Shaking My Head icon is. I need it right now!

[2006Coltsbestever]

I see your conspiracy theory thoughts LOL. I had a friend earlier tell me that he thought it was odd how we always seem to get penalties on big key plays that screws us since Deflategate happened and how the Patriots can all of the sudden win with a College level QB without their best weapon which is Gronk. I swear that is how he thinks.

[ÅÐØNϧ 1]

I did'nt find it graceful or interesting while i appreciate the effort I thought it sucked not getting a TD .

[Indianapolis-Colts-Fan]

3 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

I see your conspiracy theory thoughts LOL. I had a friend earlier tell me that he thought it was odd how we always seem to get penalties on big key plays that screws us since Deflategate happened and how the Patriots can all of the sudden win with a College level QB without their best weapon which is Gronk. I swear that is how he thinks.

 

The blanks need filling.

[buccolts]

Interesting.....

[lollygagger8]

6 hours ago, krunk said:

Does anybody know where the Shaking My Head icon is. I need it right now!

[John Waylon]

....

Woooooooooooow. I've already had enough internet for today....

*

[King Colt]

When any athletes legs show any sign of injury the smart ones stop. No legs=no job forever.

[21isSuperman]

The implication here being that Butler faked his injury?  Instead of scoring a pick 6, he would rather fake an injury?  I don't follow....

[Indianapolis-Colts-Fan]

2 hours ago, 21isSuperman said:

The implication here being that Butler faked his injury?  Instead of scoring a pick 6, he would rather fake an injury?  I don't follow....

 

If you knew more about the corporation established called the NFL it would make more sense. There is a lot of not so common info on the league you may not know. I have tried talking about these things on the board before but I get flamed for believing the most popular sport may not be so straight and narrow as everyone wants to believe. 

 

Kind of like our government. Funny similarities here. But bad news is never easy to believe. 

[21isSuperman]

1 hour ago, Indianapolis-Colts-Fan said:

 

If you knew more about the corporation established called the NFL it would make more sense. There is a lot of not so common info on the league you may not know. I have tried talking about these things on the board before but I get flamed for believing the most popular sport may not be so straight and narrow as everyone wants to believe. 

 

Kind of like our government. Funny similarities here. But bad news is never easy to believe. 

So....it's all a big conspiracy and some greater powers and paying the Colts to lose?

[BPindy]

2 hours ago, Indianapolis-Colts-Fan said:

 

If you knew more about the corporation established called the NFL it would make more sense. There is a lot of not so common info on the league you may not know. I have tried talking about these things on the board before but I get flamed for believing the most popular sport may not be so straight and narrow as everyone wants to believe. 

 

Kind of like our government. Funny similarities here. But bad news is never easy to believe. 

 

....so would Butler have been punished or something had he refused these corporate demands and scored a touchdown?

[indyagent17]

I tore a hamstring playing hockey at age 34 and let me tell you, your leg gives out and cant stand up.  You feel like your thigh is on fire and cramps up big time 

[Indianapolis-Colts-Fan]

1 hour ago, 21isSuperman said:

So....it's all a big conspiracy and some greater powers and paying the Colts to lose?

 

its a little bit more complicated than that good sir. I have been a colts fan all my life. The last thing I want to believe is that these sort of things occur. 

 

 

Some of the things I have been noticing about the NFL over the last few years struck me as too strange to be coincidences. For example, two Harbaughs in the Superbowl after the Ravens beat Peyton Manning and Tom Brady both at home?

I came across this article and thought I would share for reaction: 

http://spaces.covers.com/blog/Maximu...or-Profit.html

First off, I'm going to begin this by stating that I don't have any intentions on changing anyone's mind about the NFL. Nor am I trying to start an argument about who is right and who is wrong.

I already know everyone's argument of "It takes too many people to rig a game", and the all time classic with no viable facts, "They make too much money, why would they jeopardize it?" Arguing about the nature of such things is like arguing about religion and politics. There is no point.

I'm just going to point out several observations I have made over the last few years about the NFL and state my case for why I think the NFL fixes their own games for profit. So if you are already on the defensive ready to discredit all of the evidence I am about display without actually bringing up facts that go against my arguments (like a normal discussion should be) then move on.

So if you have any documented facts, I would like to hear them. If you are the type of person who hates being lied to, was upset to find out as a kid that Santa wasn't real and that WWE is fake than please read on and I would love to hear your opinion.

OK, so if you are ready to take the Red Pill, let's see how deep the rabbit hole goes...

But one day, during the 2009 season, something happened that changed it all. Now I've had my share of bad beats up until then. Some of these bad beats were too good to be true i.e The Tuck Rule Game. Several coincidences happened that just seemed to good to be true. The New England Patriots post 9/11 run, the Saints erasing 40 years of negative football history post Katrina, the Manning Families dynasty, just to name a few.

Now if you believe in random coincidence that's fine, but when they happen on multiple occasions over and over and over than it's time to do a little research. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said "Shallow men believe in Luck, strong men believe in cause and effect".

So during a game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the San Diego Chargers the Steelers were favored by 3. Nearly 70 percent of the betting public was on Pittsburgh, with a reported $100 million in potential earnings. The score with less than a minute to go, 11-10 Pittsburgh and SD with the ball. After an errant lateral gets knocked away by Troy Polamalu, he scoops it and scores. The score is now 17-10, there is no time left, all teams head to the locker room, fans go to cash their tickets.

After several minutes of debate, the refs overturn the call, restoring a meaningless TD off the board making the final score 11-10, the Steelers win, the public loses. What I found to be most odd about it is the league's explanation of a "forward pass". The pass was ruled forward although it is obvious it was a backwards lateral. When I got home, I starting thinking that things were just to good to be true.

Sportscenter reported the money lost in Vegas and almost joked about it. They were literally laughing. So after this bad beat, I held around some serious thoughts about the legitimacy of pro football. 

An opportunity came up in my graduate school where I was to write my project on any topic I was to choose. So I chose researching the "Showbiz manipulations of the NFL". I picked up several books including Dan Moldea's "Interference: How Organized Crimes Influence Professional Football", Brian Touhy's "The Fix Is In" , Roger L. Martins "Fixing the Game". I checked out several TV Marketing books from the college library and also several TV Business books.

I utilized my rights under the Freedom of Information Act passed by President Lyndon Johnson in 1966 to access over 40 years of FBI files on the NFL although some information was redacted. Here's what I found:

1. Contrary to popular belief and to what he NFL wants you to think, there have been fixed games in league history. On page 308 of Dan Moldea's book "Interference" he lists over 70 NFL games that have been fixed and includes the names of the 2 referees involved in fixing those games. He also lists interviews with NFL HOF players most notably KC Chiefs QB Len Dawson. He, in detail with documented facts supported by FBI documents, has interviews with NFL players and known gambling associates to uncover massive game fixing in the league. He also notes, with evidence, throughout the book that no fewer than 26 NFL team owners have or have had continuous and developing relationships with the gambling world, most notably the Rooney, Bidwill, and Mara families all getting their starts as Bookmakers for established mid-west crime families and buying their NFL franchises with moneys earned from gambling. So that in and of itself is a hypocrisy number 1 on the NFL's "lilly white" reputation. 

NFL Referees are part-time employees of the NFL. They are not employees of any team nor do they get paid anywhere close to the sums of NBA refs. NFL refs make between $25K to $70K per season. They work for the league and do what the league tells them to do. They are not there for "the integrity of the game". Referees, unlike other sports, are bound by NFL mandated gag orders which prevent them from talking to the media. 

2. The NFL possesses an Anti-Trust Exemption to the law granted to it by President John F. Kennedy, which ultimately allows the NFL to classify itself as "entertainment" rather than sport, as well as incorporate itself as a single entity instead of the 32 separate "franchises" they would want you to believe. Contrary to the perception of the NFL being 32 separate franchises battling it out for gridiron supremacy. In a franchised environment, such as McDonalds (Business 101), each franchise is individually owned and operated and can participate in national promotions, have its own local promotions, or abstain from participating (hence the fine print in commercials saying "at participating locations".

This keeps the regionality of competition in tact without having to compete on a national level. MLB has this status, the NFL does not. Instead, since the NFL has this Anti-Trust exemption, it is able to package its teams in order to sell to national television companies, which today totals $6 Billion in revenue for the league. That is 75% of the leagues total annual revenue. In a 2004 lawsuit vs the NFL, the NFL attorney Gregg H. Levy argued that "the NFL is not a collection of 32 individual teams, but rather a single entity. And as long as the NFL teams are a unit, and they compete as a unit in the entertainment marketplace, then they should be deemed a single unit and not subject to any Anti-Trust laws."

There is only another "sports" organization that I can think of that follows this, the WWE. Levy also argued that the league markets its products and merchandise as a whole to promote the NFL as a whole. These arguments led all the way to lockout during the 2011 offseason. The league would still earn $5 Billion in revenue, even without a single game being played.

Professional sports is the only industry without ANY federal oversight. Therefore the league can do and go as they see fit, this is something the players were concerned about going into the lockout, the NFL players themselves sought help from US Congress asking for oversight of the NFL. And NFL players wanted an explanation as to why the NFL owners were granted an Anti-Trust exemption in the first place. They didn't get it.

The NFL proved in this lawsuit that they see themselves as a single unit in the "entertainment" industry and the unique league revenue sharing strategy is not common amongst professional sports leagues.

 

believe what you want. But question everything. 

 

 

3. Players are paid to play, not win. There is this notion that NFL players play for "the gory of the game" and all this other propaganda that the NFL wants you to absorb. But nothing could be further from the truth. Although there is a percentage of players who play for the love of the game, most play for the money and fame. So keeping this in mind, players earn their salary by playing, not winning. It makes no difference to a player, paycheck wise, if he wins or loses as he will still be richer than the average person. Not to mention the ridiculous amount of * that encompass the NFL as murderers, rapists, drug addicts, gamblers, womanizers, tramps, dog fighters, thugs and gangsters, ex cons, I could go on.

It only take a coach, and the referees to provide an outcome to the NFL's liking. Therefore, players play and get paid, and as long as they keep their mouth shut they will be rewarded if such privileged info were to cross their path. Most American men have played football on some level which brings about the notion "I played football and I've never been asked to fix a game, therefore there is no way an NFL game would be fixed".

But an FBI investigation revealed that several KC Chiefs games were taken off of Las Vegas sports book boards for "suspicion of game fixing" and several Las Vegas sports book directors revealed "games were indeed fixed".

NFL HOFer Paul Hornung and Alex Karas were suspended from the league for an entire season for gambling and participating in potential game fixing, only after the information was made public and scrutiny ensued, not because NFL commissioner Pete Rozell was actively "protecting the integrity of the game".

It took Packers HC Vince Lombardi to call in a favor to get them reinstated into the NFL. Thus NFL security was born. Just ask yourself...what billion dollar business would allow their profits to be at the hands of uneducated, black, youth? Not one single American business. Businesses ensure that a dollar is made and they don't entrust their livelihood in them. It's just not rational nor good business and no business in the history of business does this.

A McDonald's burger flipper either does what he is told or he is gone, plain and simple. Burgers still get sold. America still gets fat.

4. NFL Security is a reactionary force design to cover up the NFL's problems. After the Hornung issue, the league instituted NFL security and hired former FBI agents and local law enforcement. Their job is to keep any and all stories under wraps and to clean up as many messes as they can. They DO NOT and I repeat, DO NOT do any actual proactive investigating. The NFL commissioner works for the NFL owners, therefore he is exempt from any investigating as well as the owners. Which is why you hear little of the NFL owners illegal gambling ties.

In Dan Moldea's book, it is clearly indicated by interviews with former members of NFL Security that they don't do any actual work until there is a tip. No tip, no work. In the FBI's files of investigations on the likes of Vick, Ray Caruth, etc. a common theme takes place in that, the FBI is investigating these players for other things and information pops up during the course of the investigation that could be detrimental to the NFL and then it is forwarded to NFL security. Then they being work, hence reactionary. Then ultimately they get bombarded with work that is useless and only provides good copy for which the league can say "we are protecting the integrity of the game", case in point, the recent "Bounties" on the Saints from 09-11. This is a nonsense story that is an attempt to steer you away from what is really going on and provide perception that the game is clean.

But yesterday I received a tweet from Damien Woody that said specifically "Bounties are common place in NFL, no big deal". NFL Security also fails to catch real criminals, see Sam Hurd, Jerome Simpson, etc. The NFL Security simply put, is a reactionary force engaged in monitoring player activity and providing damage control in the event of leaked information. 

5. Video taping other teams' plays is common practice in the NFL. In 2007 as we all know, SpyGate rocked the NFL world. The Patriots were caught red-handed video taping the Jets plays and signals. The NFL and NFL Security went into damage control by destroying the supposed "only tape" and quickly fired and destroyed the reputation of videographer Matt Walsh. Destroying the tape is a felony as it contributes to obstruction of justice laws as well as tampering with evidence. Another, lowly touted "SpyGate" occurrence popped up in 2010 when Josh McDaniels was caught filming 49ers practices and hand signals. A tip to NFL security led to an investigation of the Broncos and all members involved were eventually fired.

Why were there 2 instances? Once is an accident, two is a trend? I'm inclined to believe that this is common practice in the NFL. But where are the handcuffs on Goodell? They don't exist. Because it would only be illegal if game fixing was occurring in actual sports. Since the NFL argues that they are "entertainment" , than they are in charge of the outcome of their own games and can "produce" their television product how they see fit.

In 2007 a Jets season ticket holder sued the NFL for $185 million and the case reached the US Supreme Court. The court documents are available online at http://thefixisin.net/resources/prec...al+opinion.pdf. The Jets fan argued that, all Jets fans are entitled to refunds because they paid for a ticket to a legitimate sporting event. Had he been aware that the games were not real then we would not have gone.

The NFL's attorneys argued that the fan simply "purchased a ticket which gives him a contractual right to a seat in a stadium to watch an NFL game between the Patriots and Jets, and this right was honored." More, Senior Judge Robert E. Cowen agreed stating that a ticket to a game only provides you access to the stadium and nothing more. The fan entered the stadium, witnessed an NFL game, therefore he did not suffer any damages to legally protected right or interest. The fan's lawyer, Bruce Afran disagreed and argued that the NFL committed consumer fraud saying "This seems to suggest that no matter how much ticker holders pay, they can be frauded by NFL teams which puts the NFL on the same level as professional wrestling".

Afran is correct in his judgement based on the interpretation of game fixing laws. A team can't fix their own games for gambling purposes, nor can they fix an intellectual contest (a ruling based n the Quiz Show scandal of the 1950s) But judges ruled that fixing a game for entertainment purposes was completely LEGAL NFL Attorney Shephard Goldfein actually argued in court supporting this argument saying "fans would likely still buy tickets even if they knew teams were stealing signals" In other word, the NFL knows you will still pay to see football even if you knew it was fake because you love football.

Much like pro wrestling. The Supreme Court threw the case out in favor of the NFL which ultimately makes it legal to fix your own games for entertainment purposes. 

6. TV Ratings are more important than fans in the stadium. NFL officials, according to FBI files are quoted as saying " the NFL will continue to profit, even with empty stadiums. NFL games can even be filmed in studios to make a profit". TV is the lifeblood of any sport. Get on TV and you will survive somehow. If you are not on TV you are dead. TV Networks pay huge sums of money to the NFL for the rights to broadcast these games. Estimates of TV revenue exceed $6 Billion. Television stations make this money back plus a profit by advertising dollars.

This is why ratings are so important. Ratings = $$ because advertisers pay big money to advertise on the program. Marketing 101 tells us that television networks pay for the rights to broadcast NFL games, the NFL sells these games to Big TV as we will call them. The NFL gets paid up front. Now Big TV is in a deep whole. Big TV goes out to advertisers and sells ad spots during the game and any other NFL themed programming. Big TV promises the advertiser that X number of people will tune into the game each week and that those people will in turn by their product. Some Big TV executives even boldly predict as to the conversion rate of the people watching the games. If, for whatever reason, the resulting TV rating isn't what Big TV promised to the advertiser, Big TV has to pay the advertiser a refund.

Knowing this, do you really think Big TV wants to pay refunds? And this is a win-win situation for the league. The league wants more exciting games, Big TV wants their viewers, everyone gets paid. In a 2010 article, ProFootballTalk.com tells of a situation in which ESPN executives were giving play directions to then Titans coach Jeff Fisher and directed on how to conduct the game. Now who is really in control? You can read that article here: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...-jack-del-rio/

[Superman]

Good heavens...

[NewColtsFan]

 

Is it too late for that poster to change his handle to.....

 

"Paranoid Conspiracy Theory Guy".............?

 

Good God,  that was painful to read!

 

[IinD]

I have zero problem with him going to the ground after an interception. Main thing is holding on to the ball.

 

We see a lot of players try to get up and run after a turnover and usually end up giving it right back while trying to be a hero. Minnesota did that a couple times the other night.

 

As long as you secure the ball after getting a turnover I'm good.

 

But if you've never LEGIT pulled a hammy, you have no clue what a weird pain it is. Feels like you literally ripped your muscle, not a cool feeling.

[crazycolt1]

1 hour ago, indyagent17 said:

I tore a hamstring playing hockey at age 34 and let me tell you, your leg gives out and cant stand up.  You feel like your thigh is on fire and cramps up big time 

I also tore a hamstring and it took at least 3 months before I could work without any problems. It was like a Charlie horse from the knee up every time I tried to push off with my leg. I know when I tore it I immediately went to my knees. I wasn't the worst pain I have ever felt but it was bad enough to take me off my feet.

[21isSuperman]

1 hour ago, Indianapolis-Colts-Fan said:

 

its a little bit more complicated than that good sir. I have been a colts fan all my life. The last thing I want to believe is that these sort of things occur.......

 

 

I don't think responding to the entirety of your post will do either of us any good.  Let's agree to disagree and move on

[Indianapolis-Colts-Fan]

7 minutes ago, 21isSuperman said:

 

 

I don't think responding to the entirety of your post will do either of us any good.  Let's agree to disagree and move on

 

If you read the entirety then agreed. 

[indyagent17]

12 hours ago, crazycolt1 said:

I also tore a hamstring and it took at least 3 months before I could work without any problems. It was like a Charlie horse from the knee up every time I tried to push off with my leg. I know when I tore it I immediately went to my knees. I wasn't the worst pain I have ever felt but it was bad enough to take me off my feet.

That was my last year of hockey. 20 years was enough. I played injury free all those years except for the occasional stitches from sticks and skates

[2006Coltsbestever]

Butler was probably doing the moonwalk in the locker room after the game LOL. I have never seen anyone pick off a pass with a sure TD than fall down so I can see why some may think the NFL is setup. I am not saying it is but that did look funny. The thing I have had a problem with is the bogus game changing penalties we have seem to get since Deflatgate that have just costed us in close games. It happened again against Denver with that PI last week. Hell everytime we have a great run a hold is called.