Will Steelers be disciplined for talking to Lemon

I don't understand how he could come to the conclusion that we were tying up the phone lines since that's not a thing that can happen since the early 90s or whatever.

If we were also talking to the agent, there would be a stronger case. Since calling the player and the agent are likely the two main ways teams would contact the player. I haven't heard about whether we were in contact with the agent at the time. I'd assume not since we were talking to the player.

This incident has also made me curious about what actually happens in these phone calls. I assumed it was mostly just for the photo op. Especially in the first round. I'd imagine that all teams have already talked to players they are interested in in some capacity (30 visit, all star game, pro day, combine, etc). And there aren't really any financial details that can be negotiated with 1st round picks since contracts are all basically determined by the pick they are selected with.

 

How the hell could they have been making calls to drive off the Eagles when the Cowboys were on the clock when the Steelers were talking to him?? Tell me how the Steelers were supposed to know the Cowboys were trading their pick, and if they did know then that should be looked into more than talking on the phone.

 

Likely his agent. Picked one spot earlier is probably worth a half million.

 

But what exactly would the Steelers be trying to prevent/interfere with? Even if we're on the phone with him, the Eagles can still draft him, right?

I don't get all the fuss. And I don't get the rule. Either you're permitted to call players while not on the clock or you aren't. How the hell is anyone supposed to know if some team is going to trade up to get him? And what would the purpose be if they did know the Eagles were coming for him?

 

I wish that ever one of these "reporters" would actually tell us what the league's definition of "interfering" is instead of just tweeting things we already know.

The rule specifically states you can talk to players before you're on the clock, but you can't interfere. That suggests that talking to them isn't interfering. But what is?

But not a single reporter has looked into this. IMO because reporters are all about access. They basically don't know anything about (i) rules, (ii) the CBA, (iii) the cap, etc. They have "sources" in front offices and with player agents. But IMO they seem to know less than bloggers in basements when it comes to how the topics listed above.

I think it's crazy that this story has been out for this long, with so much "reporting". And no one has answered the only question about this story that matters.

 

I'd also love to see inside the war rooms of all these teams.

It would be fascinating. IMO much more interesting than the combine or even that draft coverage we get (which is mostly just waiting).

But I bet they'd all argue that their processes are "trade secrets" and showing stuff like that would spoil next year's draft.

 

I guess it was too bright in that room for Lemon.

 

NO. Team talk to players all of the time before they are drafted.

Just because some guy on tiwtter is not aware of this fact...

 

My guess is that it means something different in the rules, but I guess we'll see.

If being on the phone with a player when you aren't on the clock counts as interference, I think the rule wouldn't say you could be on the phone with a player before you're on the clock unless you're interfering. Because just being on the phone would be interfering in that case. So you couldn't be on the the phone and not interfering.

Because if being on the phone with a player was interfering, I think it would just say you can't be on the phone with a player if you aren't on the clock.

Again...I think it's crazy that no "reporter" has even tried to answer the only question that matters for this story.

 

Probably one of those lines that feels like a win for one side of the negotiation but doesn't actually do anything in practice. Could easily put some concrete, enforceable definition around this one.

 

I am not on Twitter anymore. I found them to be character restrictive unless you pay them $ to post longer posts.

Teams call players all the time or thier agent before they are on the clock. To suggest they don't is foolhardy. And proving it is extremely difficult.

I request that you post the NFL rules on the draft, and highlight when teams can call players.

 

The Eagles made a trade to move up and draft Lemon. They weren't going to not draft him because the Steelers were on the phone with him.

It doesn't really matter what Howie Roseman says. He's full of it if he is saying they moved up to draft Lemon but wouldn't draft Lemon if they didn't talk to him on the freaking phone. It's nonsense.

That doesn't mean that the Steelers weren't wrong and they should just stick to waiting until they are on the clock to talk to players over the phone, or call the agent's phone to communicate.

 

I'd imagine that there is at least some loose definition or parameters set by the league.

And since talking to players before being on the clock is explicitly allowed in the rule, I'd imagine that the line is beyond talking to a player while not on the clock.

So if actual journalism existed, people would be asking (1) what is "interference" as it relates to this rule and (2) were the Steelers doing more than just talking to Lemon (e.g. were they also talking to his agent and other potential methods of communication at the same time to try to prevent another team from talking to him. Sadly, this total ineptitude re: journalism isn't only limited to sports.

 

See I dont know how this is a thing. If Im in the Steelers war room looking at the board and we are roughly 10 minutes from being on the clock with Dallas currently on the clock I'm analyzing the likelihood that Dallas with Lamb and Pickens aren't looking at Lemon and so we are calling Lemon to let him know we intend to draft him. I mean Jerry Jones would have to have had a complete lobotomy making him Matt Millen to think Lemon was in play.

Is the timeline correct? We're the Cowboys on the clock when the trade happened or was it done before then? Seems like the timing is every thing in this situation.