Yesterday, Boston shared an emotional follow-up to a tweet by North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, which had a large number of ignorant, selfish replies in the comments. Boston called out the stupidity and implored people to just wear the damn mask.
Boy the amount of Stupid under this tweet is amazing! People think b/c less people are dying, over 100k dead already. That we should open up NC as if they aren’t watching AZ, TX, and FL closing again. Just Wear The Damn Mask!!!! Why is that so hard to comprehend to save others?! https://t.co/ra5oL1lWRk
Here’s the thing. Wearing a mask is not an affront to your personal freedoms or your body’s ability to take in oxygen. Doctors and nurses have been wearing them all day at work for decades and can breathe perfectly fine. Also, countries that have embraced wearing masks have had far better results than the United States and some of them are already back to normal.
If you cannot be bothered to care about your fellow human beings, at least do it for the sports.
Panthers safety Tre Boston concerned about 2020 season: ‘This is not looking good.’
Everyone wants to see football return this fall like normal. The fact is we are living in an unprecedented situation due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and it’s threatening business as usual for every part of our way of life, including the NFL season.
Tre Boston sounds concerned that it might not happen. After getting off a call with the NFLPA, he tweeted that this is not looking good and encouraged people to wear their masks.
Right now, the biggest hurdle seems to be what to do about the preseason. It was reported a few days ago that the league wants to cancel half of the games, but as of yet the players union has not agreed. In fact, they are pushing for no preseason games at all.
According to Tom Pelissero at NFL Network, here’s one scenario being floated that would preclude the preseason altogether.
With the NFLPA still opposed to preseason games, one possible camp schedule the union has discussed:
3 days: medical/equipment 21 days: strength & conditioning 10 days: unpadded practice 14 days: practice (10 max/8 padded)
Every NFL team has at least one player whose play deserves more praise than it gets. Here’s every team’s most underrated player.
In the NFL, players are underrated for all kinds of reasons. Sometimes, they’re second banana to a superstar whose deeds take up all the oxygen. Other times, it may be that the player has to climb up the depth chart as a little-regarded contributor, and the media hasn’t caught up yet. It’s also possible that the player has an incandescent talent that’s hidden by an unfavorable scheme. And it could also be that the player has had one great season, and everyone’s waiting to see if it’s a fluke.
No matter the reasons, every player on this list has set an exceptional standard deserving of more recognition. Here are the most underrated players for every NFL team going into the 2020 season.
Arizona Cardinals: EDGE Chandler Jones
(Getty Images)
Do you know which NFL player has the most sacks since 2012? We’re kind of giving it away here, but yes, it is Chandler Jones with 96 since his rookie season. That puts him above Von Miller, J.J. Watt, Cameron Jordan, Justin Houston, Aaron Donald, and anyone else you’d care to mention. Jones also has 85 quarterback hits and 307 quarterback hurries in that time, but he’s rarely discussed when it’s time to talk about the league’s edge-rushers. This despite the fact that he led the league in sacks in 2017 with 17 and finished second to Shaquil Barrett with 19 last season. Perhaps it’s because he’s been doing his work of late with a Cardinals team that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2015, but no pass-rusher deserves more praise in line with his accomplishments than Jones.
Atlanta Falcons: DL Grady Jarrett
(Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports)
Lost in the specter of the Falcons’ 28-3 meltdown in Super Bowl LI was the fact that Jarrett, the Falcons’ fifth-round pick in 2015, was a borderline MVP candidate with three sacks and four quarterback hits before everything fell apart. Downgraded out of Clemson because he was allegedly too short, Jarrett has been a remarkable interior disruptor throughout his NFL career. Whether aligned at nose tackle or three-technique, Jarrett has totaled at least 43 quarterback hurries every season since 2016. The Falcons rewarded him with a four-year, $68 million contract in July, 2019, but Jarrett still doesn’t get the recognition he deserves.
Baltimore Ravens: OT Ronnie Stanley
(Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports)
Who’s the best left tackle in the NFL today? Were you to poll 100 experts, you’d get several different answers. But it’s hard to argue against Stanley, who allowed just one sack and 10 total pressures in 543 pass-blocking snaps last season, and helped the Ravens put together the NFL’s most dynamic rushing attack in his 489 run-blocking snaps. The 2019 season marked Stanley’s first All-Pro and Pro Bowl nods, and there should be more of that to come. Lamar Jackson is the talk of Baltimore’s offense, but it wouldn’t go the way it does without Stanley’s presence.
Buffalo Bills: WR John Brown
(JAMIE GERMANO/ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE -Imagn Content Services, LLC)
The big news for the Bills this offseason was the trade that brought Stefon Diggs to the team, but Buffalo’s receiver corps was already pretty strong, and Brown was the primary reason in 2019. Despite the fact that he plied his trade in a new offense and took passes from erratic quarterback Josh Allen, the former Cardinal and Raven set a career high with 72 receptions and posted the second 1,000-yard season of his career. The addition of Diggs should give Brown more one-on-one opportunities to succeed — especially if Allen is able to get his GPS aligned.
Carolina Panthers: S Tre Boston
(Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports)
Few deep safeties have been as adept in pass coverage than Boston over the last five season, so it has been a mystery why the Panthers cut him in 2017, and why he was unable to find more than a series of one-year deals with different teams until Carolina re-assessed its approach and signed him to a three-year, $18 million deal in March. It’s still chump change for a guy who plays as well as Boston does — he’s totaled 16 interceptions to just eight touchdowns allowed in his career — but it’s a nice bounceback for a player whose desire to protest may have cost him a more lucrative deal.
Chicago Bears: WR Allen Robinson
(Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports)
If any current receiver would be justified in filing a grievance against the NFL for lack of quarterback support, it would be Robinson, who has moved from Blake Bortles as his primary QB in Jacksonville to Mitchell Trubisky in Chicago. Hardly ideal. Still, Robinson led the NFL in touchdown receptions with 14 in 2015, and last season, with Trubisky falling apart most of the time, he still caught 98 passes for 1,147 yards and seven touchdowns. 2020 marks the last year of Robinson’s current contract with the Bears, and he’ll undoubtedly make the best of Chicago’s Trubisky/Nick Foles quaterback situation, and perhaps wind up on a team with a functional quarterback after that.
Cincinnati Bengals: RB Joe Mixon
(Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports)
The hope in Cincinnati is that the offense will come around with Joe Burrow at quarterback, but the Bengals are already set at the running back position, where Mixon gained 1,137 yards and five touchdowns on 278 carries last season, adding 35 receptions for 287 yards and three more touchdowns for good measure. Only five backs broke more rushing tackles than Mixon’s 52, and he totaled 14 runs of 15 or more yards last season, tied for fourth in the league.
Cleveland Browns: RB Nick Chubb
(AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Tennessee’s Derrick Henry was the NFL’s rushing leader in 2019, but it could easily be argued that Chubb was the league’s most efficient rusher. Not only did he gain 5.0 yards per carry (1,494 yards and eight touchdowns on 298 carries), but he also led the league in rushed of 15 or more yards (20), only the Raiders’ Josh Jacobs broke more rushing tackles than Chubb’s 66, and only Henry averaged more yards after contact per carry than Chubb’s 3.77. He was a one-man wrecking crew in a broken offense in 2019 — perhaps new head coach Kevin Stefanski can change that, but there’s no doubting Chubb’s status as one of the league’s rising stars.
Here’s how we rank the top 10 safeties in the league going into 2020.
Safeties never seem to get the respect they deserve despite having one of the most difficult jobs in football. Maybe it’s the fact that you can’t even see them on the broadcast angle during most games, but the position has been largely undervalued. That said, teams that don’t have enough talent at this spot are generally going nowhere fast. Let’s show them some love.
Here’s how we rank the top 10 safeties in the league going into 2020.
10. Tre Boston
(Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
Boston admittedly wasn’t one of the league’s top safeties when he was drafted by the Panthers in 2014. He improved with time though, especially after he was released three years later and got signed by the Chargers. During his one season there and another with the Cardinals, Boston developed into an excellent free safety. His superb range and plus ball skills (three interceptions, 11 pass breakups in 2019) finally helped him cash in with a three-year, $18 million deal.
There are several guys who are currently on the roster that are underrated for one reason or another.
The Carolina Panthers lost a ton of talent this offseason. Some of the players who are no longer with the team will likely wind up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame some day. While it’s extremely tough to replace so many franchise legends, it does represent an opportunity for lesser-known players to step up and make a name for themselves.
There are several guys who are currently on the roster that are underrated for one reason or another.
Even the team’s starting quarterback is often overlooked. Teddy Bridgewater may have a reputation as a game manger, but he’s more capable than people are giving him credit for and it’s not fair to compare him with Cam Newton. Wide receiver Curtis Samuel is also criminally underrated due to the injuries and poor QB play he’s had to deal with. On defense, some folks seem to have forgotten how impactful defensive tackle Kawann Short can be after he missed most of 2019 with a shoulder injury.
Let’s find out who Panthers fans think is the single most underrated player on the team right now. Vote in the poll below and let us know who you think it is on Facebook or Twitter.
These days, players need to be treated like professionals and like men, or it just won’t work.
Competing in the modern NFL is a complex task that requires a ton of moving parts to work towards a common goal. Plenty of promising teams crash and burn because they don’t have the right chemistry or leadership to carry them to the playoffs, let alone a championship game.
Coaching has always been a huge factor in how well teams do, especially young ones. Succeeding in this area is about much more than just knowing how to create a game-plan or using the talents on the roster in the right way. Personal relationships are also a critical element. In a previous era, some coaches could succeed with the old-school, bullying Bill Parcells method. These days, players need to be treated like professionals and like men, or it just won’t work.
Panthers coach Matt Rhule seems to have gotten off on the right foot in this particular area of his job. Here’s what free safety Tre Boston had to say about Rhule in his interview last week on Ian Rapoport’s podcast.
“I’m excited to see him more in person with the guys, because right now, I think he started with a nice lead because he has a nice momentum going in between how he’s treated us, how he’s respected us, how he respects our time. That means a lot to professionals and men, adults, as well. So, I think Rhule has set himself up for success with his men. We trust him. We believe in him. And when we get together, it’s all about building chemistry and knowing that we are the Carolina Panthers and we’re gonna do what it takes to win ballgames around here.”
Building that trust with his players has been an especially difficult challenge for Rhule this offseason, as he hasn’t even been able to meet most of them in person yet due to the pandemic. Boston’s comments are a good sign that he’s going about things the right way, though.
Speaking of Boston, he’ll have to take on a bigger leadership role this year himself. At 27 years old, he’s the oldest defensive back on the roster.
Former Panthers owner Jerry Richardson had a long, and at times disgraceful, history. The Panthers are right in removing his statue.
Jerry Richardson was a receiver out of Wofford who was selected in the 13th round of the 1958 NFL draft by the Baltimore Colts. He caught a touchdown pass from Johnny Unitas in the 1959 NFL championship game, and then became a very rich man due to his involvement in several food companies — Hardee’s, Spartan Foods, and Flagstar. In 1993, he became the first owner of the expansion Carolina Panthers, who played their first season in 1995. He held that position until 2017, when a number of scandals had him selling the team to David Tepper at the end of that season.
A December, 2017 report from L. Jon Wertheim and Viv Bernstein of Sports Illustrated revealed that Richardson had settled several complaints of inappropriate behavior. Per the report, Richardson would ask his female employees to turn around so that he could admire their backsides and make comments such as, “Show me how you wiggle to get those jeans up. I bet you had to lay down on your bed to fit into those jeans. Did you step into those jeans or did you have to jump into them?”
At least four employees settled financial agreements with Richardson in exchange for their vows of silence.
Dec 17, 2017; Charlotte, NC, USA; Panthers owner Jerry Richardson watches his team during the first quarter at Bank of America Stadium. (Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports)
Perceived from the outside as a champion of diversity because of his selection of Cam Newton with the first overall pick in the 2011 draft and the hire of head coach Ron Rivera the same year, Richardson was also capable of contemptible instances of behavior in this realm as well. After selecting Newton, Richardson famously asked the quarterback, “Did you get crazy after the draft and go out and get any tattoos or piercings? Do I have to check you for anything?” He also directed racial invective at one African-American scout.
In a recent appearance on the “Rapsheeet + Friends” podcast with Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, former and current Panthers safety Tre Boston told the story of his desire to protest as Colin Kaepernick and others were back in 2016. As Boston put it, he was discouraged from doing so by Richardson himself.
“In 2016, we saw a world that… even with peaceful protesting with Kap, we saw a world that didn’t understand, and was not willing to listen or hear what we were trying to say,” Boston said. “It was hard times. We were screaming back then, ‘Help.’ We need help. How can we help out our community so that we’re one? And it’s tough when you hear from the top down that the people who watch football come here to get away from that stuff, even though we had protesting going on the day of the game. So, to hear open-ended promises — them telling us to do nothing, we’ll get you in the community. Then, the next week comes around, the week after that comes around, and nothing’s been said to you. Nothing’s been brought up to put you in the community. They did what they wanted.”
This has made complicated the presence of the statue of Richardson in front of the team’s home for games, Bank of America Stadium. A gift from the team’s minority owners on Richardson’s 80th birthday, the statue has stood less as a tribute to Richardson’s accomplishments, and more as hard proof of some very bad decisions on the part of the former owner. As those decisions have been made more and more public, the rationale for keeping the statue in place has been harder to excuse.
Except that new owner David Tepper was contractually obligated to keep the statue of Richardson, as Jonathan Jones of Sports Illustrated (now of CBS Sports) reported in 2018:
From the jump, it was made clear to all interested buyers this was non-negotiable. The statue—that two years ago those around Richardson claimed he didn’t even want—had become part of the deal. Although I was told during the process that the sale would be an auction to the highest bidder, Tepper reportedly had the lowest offer among the three finalists (though the billionaire was ready to cut a check any day and the other bidders were searching for financing). If you’re coming in with a lower bid and this statue is near and dear to the heart of the seller, is it worth rocking the boat?
The one exception to this obligation was in the name of public safety, which is the exception the team will use to remove the statue.
We were aware of the most recent conversation surrounding the Jerry Richardson statue and are concerned there may be attempts to take it down. We are moving the statue in the interest of public safety.
It was a mystery as to why Tre Boston, one of the NFL’s best safeties, couldn’t find a long-term contract. That mystery has been solved.
In today’s NFL, it is exceedingly difficult to field a great defense without a prominent free safety who can patrol the deep third of the field and take away all manner of vertical passing concepts. It’s why guys like Eddie Jackson, Kevin Byard, Devin Mccourty, Earl Thomas, and Anthony Harris make all kinds of money.
This is also why it’s highly curious that current Panthers safety Tre Boston was unable to find a long-term contract for his services from 2016 through 2018. Selected in the fourth round of the 2014 draft out of North Carolina, Boston quickly turned himself into one of the best deep safeties in the NFL for Carolina until the Panthers mysteriously waived him in May of 2017. There was a salary escalator that bumped Boston’s pay from $791,000 to $1.9 million for the 2017 season, and the Panthers saved $1.8 million in cap room by releasing him, but that’s a relative pittance for a player who had two sacks, two interceptions, 38 solo tackles, five tackles for loss, and just 12 receptions allowed on 27 targets for 178 yards, no touchdowns, and an opponent passer rating of 35.7 the year before.
Even more mysterious was the inability of the NFL to realize Boston’s value. The Chargers signed him to a one-year, $690,000 deal in 2017, and in that season, per Pro Football Focus, he allowed just three receptions on 12 targets for 19 yards, two touchdowns, five interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 39.6.
Then, the Chargers selected Florida State safety Derwin James with the 17th overall pick in the 2018 draft, and Boston was once again a free agent. He signed a one-year, $1.5 million deal with the Cardinals for the 2018 season, and once again excelled, allowing 18 receptions on 30 targets for 189 yards, two touchdowns, three interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 61.0 for one of the league’s worst-coached defenses.
The Cardinals weren’t interested in a reunion — instead, the Panthers, who had transferred ownership of the team from Jerry Richardson to David Tepper, game Boston a one-year, $2.125 million contract. Yet another “prove it” deal for a player who had consistently proved it for multiple teams and in multiple schemes. And in 2019 for his first NFL team, Boston allowed eight receptions on 16 targets for 125 yards, two touchdowns, three interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 76.3.
It wasn’t until the Panthers finally coughed up a three-year, $18 million contract last March that Boston got any level of professional security, though he’s still radically underpaid for both his position, and for the excellence with which he’s played it over the last half-decade. You can count the number of deep-third safeties with this kind of consistency on one hand and still have a few fingers left.
As I watched Boston play for all these teams, I kept wondering what I was missing (here, here, and here):
Somebody explain to me why no team has signed Tre Boston to a multi-year deal in the last few years. Explain it to me like I'm five.
How can a guy this good somehow miss out on the kind of contract he clearly deserves?
As it turns out, there may have been another reason for not only Boston’s release from the Panthers but also the inexplicably soft market he’s found over the last few years.
In 2016, as Colin Kaepernick was ramping up his own protests against police brutality, Boston and some of his then-Panthers teammates wanted to make their own thoughts public, but it was discouraged by then-owner Jerry Richardson, as Boston recently told Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network on the “RapSheet + Friends” podcast.
“In 2016, we saw a world that… even with peaceful protesting with Kap, we saw a world that didn’t understand, and was not willing to listen or hear what we were trying to say,” Boston said. “It was hard times. We were screaming back then, ‘Help.’ We need help. How can we help out our community so that we’re one? And it’s tough when you hear from the top down that the people who watch football come here to get away from that stuff, even though we had protesting going on the day of the game. So, to hear open-ended promises — them telling us to do nothing, we’ll get you in the community. Then, the next week comes around, the week after that comes around, and nothing’s been said to you. Nothing’s been brought up to put you in the community. They did what they wanted.”
“You know, it’s not like that anymore. I’ve been assured, when I first came back, that it wasn’t like that anymore. I’ve had phone calls with owners and our coaches now, who have called me and told me how much they appreciate what I’m doing, and that they would love to help. Tepper calling me and telling me how much he appreciates that I was out there with the guys. It’s a 180 from what we used to be. When I was thinking about coming back, I wanted to know — did I have the stability in my job to be who I am as a man, as a black man, as a very intelligent University of North Carolina alum? They assured me that they believed in everything I believed in, I was allowed to be myself, and I was allowed to stand up for things that were right.”
Dec 17, 2017; Charlotte, NC, USA; Panthers owner Jerry Richardson watches his team during the first quarter at Bank of America Stadium. (Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports)
It’s great that Boston is now with a team, and with a team owner, who believes in the rights of his players to free expression — in fact, Tepper has been quite vocal about that.
“These are some of the most patriotic people and best people. These are great young men,” Tepper told CNBC’s Scott Wapner in 2018. “So to say that [they aren’t patriotic] makes me so aggravated and angry. It’s just wrong, it’s dead wrong.”
The Panthers didn’t just sign Boston to a multi-year deal under Tepper; they also signed safety Eric Reid, who experienced his own “soft market” after he knelt with Kaepernick when both men played for the 49ers.
Oct 28, 2018; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper with Chancellor Lee Adams, son of Rae Carruth and Saundra Adams before the game at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: (USA TODAY Sports)
It will take more owners like Tepper, and fewer like Richardson (whose time as the steward of the Panthers ended in disgrace), for the kind of paradigm shift that has long been overdue in the NFL. Tre Boston should have been paid far more than he was for a long time, and while he’s still underpaid for the quality of his work commensurate with the market, it’s good to see that he at least has the environment, and the rights, he should have been given all along.
Some teams have been slow to address the issues, but the Carolina Panthers have been ahead of the curve.
The NFL is inhabiting a different world than the one it was a few weeks ago. The protests stemming from George Floyd’s death have changed the way that practically every public-facing company does business. Commissioner Roger Goodell’s video address over the weekend admitting the league’s past mistakes and promising to do better was a sign of the times.
That’s a stark contrast from the way things used to be done. Perhaps nobody can speak to those changes better than safety Tre Boston, who played for the Panthers from 2014-2016 under a different owner and a different general manager.
Boston was a guest on Ian Rapoport’s podcast today and spoke about just how much things have changed with the franchise in regards to social justice. The conversation begins around the 17:40 mark. Listen.
Clearly this is an important issue for many players and isn’t going away.
Social unrest continues to grip many cities across the nation. It’s practically impossible to not feel affected by the news in some way and the Carolina Panthers are no exception. For the last week, many players have been expressing their thoughts on social media, urging reform.
Despite the risk that the pandemic poses, they’re also getting out and protesting IRL. Last night in Charlotte, five players participated in a “justice walk” demonstration. According to team reporter Bill Voth, the group included linebackers Shaq Thompson and Andre Smith, free safety Tre Boston and tight ends Chris Manhertz and Ian Thomas.
Shaq Thompson, Andre Smith, Tre Boston, Chris Manhertz and Ian Thomas all attended tonight’s peaceful “justice walk” in Dilworth/Myers Park pic.twitter.com/5KV7FWIsaR
When the walk got started, Thompson was among those leading the way, according to a report by the Charlotte Observer.
Here at Freedom Park with @lelindstrom where Panthers Shaq Thompson and Tre Boston are among the demonstrators. Thompson leading the way. pic.twitter.com/Me4odGaSrk
The protest eventually found its way out front Bank of America Stadium. Elaina Getzenberg later reported that police broke up the demonstration using pepper spray, rubber bullets and flash bangs.
Things have gone downhill quickly. Rubber bullets, flash bangs, at least one other person detained.
Other players are continuing to use Twitter as an outlet to share their feelings. Today, running back Mike Davis said he wants to help but admitted he doesn’t know how.
