Lizzy Talbert/ The Johnsonian
The National Football League kicks off their 100th season this year. Before the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears start the season at Soldier Field, there was a lot to take in during an insane off-season.
One of the very closely watched stories of the off-season was that of the Cleveland Browns. The Browns traded for star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. from the New York Giants to enhance their offense. Beckham Jr. joins his LSU teammate, Jarvis Landry and Baker Mayfield in an attempt to revive the Browns football franchise and bring them into the playoff mix for the first time since 2002.
Speaking of the New York Giants, controversy is rising in their quarterback position. Eli Manning is coming off of a season where he threw for almost 5,000 yards, completed 21 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. These numbers do not seem bad, but considering that he has not been able to accumulate wins with those numbers, it has made the New York fans restless. The Giants drafted Daniel Jones out of Duke with the sixth overall pick, hoping that he could be the successor to Eli Manning when Manning’s time comes to an end.
Many Winthrop students show interest in NFL football teams, one of those students being junior Coby Bloomer.
“I see Jones competing with Eli Manning for the starting job,” Bloomer said. “I think that Eli will end up winning the starting job because the Giants are just too loyal to Eli.”
The number one overall pick in the same draft that produced Jones was Kyler Murray. Murray was expected by many to go play major league baseball for the Oakland Athletics, but decided football was his passion. Murray now has to work with a first time NFL head coach, Kliff Kingsbury, as they both have the challenge of riding the ship in Arizona that has been sinking for the past two years.
Staying out West, the Oakland Raiders were able to acquire Antonio Brown who left the Pittsburgh Steelers after months of drama. Brown was critical of Ben Roethlisberger after the Steelers’ quarterback called him out on a radio interview after a late game interception against the Denver Broncos in late November. Brown and Roethlisberger friendship was never the same, which caused Brown to want a trade from the Steelers.
When the trade was complete the drama did not stay in Pittsburgh, it instead stayed with Brown out west. Brown did not want to wear a helmet that was regulated as safe by the National Football League Players Association. When he found out he couldn’t wear it he threatened to quit football altogether. Thankfully, for the Raiders he found a helmet that he could wear for game days. His antics have continued up until the final days of the off-season where he got into a heated exchange with his general manager Mike Mayock.
Someone who left the game altogether was Andrew Luck. On Aug. 24, Luck shocked the Colts and the nation as he announced his retirement from football after a series of injuries. This now sets the Colts team that was primed for a deep run in the playoffs back, with Jacoby Brissett as the new starting quarterback.
Carolina Panthers’ quarterback Cam Newton is coming off of an injury himself in a make or break year. Newton, who is coming off of shoulder surgery, finds himself in a situation where he has to prove to the Panther Nation that he is still the go–to guy for the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers drafted quarterback Will Grier out of West Virginia to put pressure on their 30-year-old starting quarterback.
Tom Brady, who returns at age 42, finds himself back with the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl hunt. Brady and the Patriots return all their key players on both sides offensively and defensively from the Super Bowl winning team, except for Rob Gronkowski, who retired at the end of the 2018 season. Which team will overcome their off-season uncertainty and challenge for a Super Bowl ring is yet to be determined, but the 100th season of the NFL is sure to be as wild of a ride as the off-season was, if not more intense
