I had occasion to listen to the show for the first time in a long time today. In the span of about two minutes, we were treated to the following takes:

1. The NFL scouting combine is traumatic;
2. It's wrong that prospective NFL players have to "surrender" their medical information; and
3. The draft is un-American.

I know the optics can be bad at the scouting combine (is there a reason why everyone isn't wearing a shirt?), but I doubt many players have been traumatized by it. Also, to his credit, Dan pushed back on Laurence vis a vis the "surrender" of medical information issue and pointed out that the draft physical has actually exposed some latent health problems and saved some lives. Finally, I actually think they're right about the draft and I think that treating college players as free agents could probably work so long as the salary cap remains in place.

I'm surprised they haven't tried to get rid of the name "Combine" and have called something like NFL Draft Symposium

except for their vaxx status, that needs to be known of course

if they don’t want to surrender their medical information, they should just build their own league

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

If the draft is slavery then there were a lot of black millionaires in the 1700's

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the world will always the world. your entire existence is defined by your response.

If they find being evaluated on their physical abilities, physical appearance, and physical health to be too traumatizing, there is nothing preventing them from pursuing a career that is not dependent on those things. A career as a professional football player, however, does rely rather heavily on them.

There is a commercial that says "There are over 400,000 NCAA student-athletes, and most of us will go pro in something other than sports." They can join their ranks and get one of those jobs. I don't think there are too many that will provide them the opportunity to earn generational wealth by the time they're 30, though.

The concept of drafting is very weird.

Bernstein seems smart enough to not run with the paste-eaters who comp it to slavery. Leery not so much, but Bernstein could find less ridiculous critiques.

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If you want to claim the combine is useless Im on board . What the fuck else do you need to see from these guys that 3 years of game tape doesnt tell you?

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

Let's ask Mike Mamula.

I'll kinda agree with that part. But I think it's like when you go to the doctor and they weigh you. It's a formal statistic paired with a timestamp. It makes sense they want to see where the kids are at when they are growing month to month and millions of dollars are at stake. I would find it useless if the owners intended to force the kids to enter the NFL without paying them.

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the world will always the world. your entire existence is defined by your response.

Eliminating the draft would probably go a long way toward killing tanking, although that's not really a huge problem in the NFL. It would also make for a more interesting off season. Do you devote your cap space to young guys or veterans?

It's a dumb argument. The logical implication of Bernstein's stupid thought is that athletes should submit CVs and cover letters to prospective employers. They should also connect with GMs on LinkedIn if they really wanna get a edge on the competition.

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Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

That’s kind of what they do, no? They put resumes on tape and then try to network with potential employers?

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The draft is Un-American. But if it's so awful, collectively bargain it. I'm pretty sure it has never been an issue in talks or strikes.

in reality, it couldn't be more "American". That's why we need to teach CRT in schools.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

in all seriousness though, the combine is a benefit to all but maybe 10-15 players.

It's better than having to do the same tests 32X and travel across the country for interviews...and, in theory, these guys are still in school.

I mean, pissing in a cup or getting a lock of your hair cut so that a company can run a battery of tests on your excretions in order to obtain a minimum wage job is unamerican, but, as a wise man once said c'est la vie.

Synergistic corporate partner Cubbies just built a sweat shop for underaged workers in the Dominican. That's unDominican but we don't hear a word.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

All the combine does is fake bad GM's into thinking "great athletes" are "great football players". What it is good for is a chance for the players to interview with the different teams, but all the "drills" are a waste of time. It makes for some "out-of-season football" television content for all the NFL draft maniacs out there.

On a "nobody really gives a shit" note, my son got credentials this year to attend the NFL Combine, and we are excited for him. I am hoping his insight will help my fantasy football team.

Face it Bernsie and Larry just sucked everyone into talking like the combine is a slave market. That was their goal.

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Elections have consequences.

It allows for every team to work from identical physical information, which is helpful. Colleges fib about this critical information.

and yes, I know it seems irrelevant but arm length does matter on a lineman and hand size does matter on a qb/wr. Little Danny jerks it to next gen stats but decries how they are obtained.

It isn't unamerican because there is choice to do, or not to do. People get drafted after skipping.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

This show is a very tough listen. They are smug, and like to let the audience know how they are serious journalists who have endless sources. The show has defintitely moved back into MSNBC type territory - they make left wing comments now almost every show and sometimes multiple times.

For the topic you mentioned, Lawrence also reminded the audience how tough he is on Roger Goodell and how he was confonted by his goons for asking tough questions. This is now the 4th or 5th time he has mentioned this in the last 2-3 months. Pretty obvious that he feels the need to feel important and tough to the listeners.

The show does need to be renamed to "Dan you're right". That's what every topic is.

I don't view the draft as un-American because I don't see teams as separate companies but rather 32 branch offices of one company, the NFL (even though the NFL doesn't own them). If IBM has a job opening in Dallas, the candidates know that's the requirement. If they don't like it, they can work for a different company. At least in the NFL there are ways to move after a few years.

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It's not un American. That's just Bernstein pushing his politics.

I think that’s a reasonable take, though if you don’t want the IBM job in Dallas you could presumably go be a software engineer at the other company in your preferred location.

Professional football doesn’t really give you that option.

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a little over 250 players are drafted each year
32 of them from last year did not go to the combine
several others attended but either didn't participate or had limited participation
about 80 invitees did not get drafted

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I don't know if that comp holds up. The NFL is basically the entire industry for professional football, whereas IBM is nowhere near the only computer software/hardware company.

It’s probably illegal now, but my first and second jobs (one a Fortune 100 corporation) after college (late 80s and early 90s) required passing a physical as a condition of employment. However, this occurred in a doctor’s office and not on a football field.

Self-identifying socialists and "socialists" will decry the NFL draft and then complain that free agency still isn't fair to LeBron because he can't sign for even more money.

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It’s true.

But marry that thought with a hard cap.

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But the NBA doesn't have a hard cap. Only the NHL does, and even they've been finding loopholes for years. Anyway, it's been a longtime sports-left talking point that the world is being unfair to LeBron. He's the one we need to look out for.

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On re-read my thought is paradoxical.

Hard cap at 200. Pay Lebron 199,999,500 and make him recruit vagrants to fill out a starting 5.

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