[PFT] The NFL has a policy against alcohol on team planes or buses. The league has started an investigation regarding whether that rule was broken in Titans offensive coordinator Todd Downing's case.

I'd be surprised if a single team followed that policy.

Same, I refuse to believe that these guys ain't getting in at least one drink on the plane ride home, especially after big wins and stuff.

Yeah, my guess is it's a "we don't really enforce it until you make us" type of policy that's on the books solely to cover the league in the event situations like this one occur.

Yeah it's just a complete CYA policy for this exact reason. Drunk player or coach was intoxicated on company property and on company time - liability for the whole NFL...

It’s absolutely just a policy that allows them to be covered in case anything goes wrong

The Salt Lake City Magic Underwear do!

Well the Commanders probably do. But only because Snyder is too cheap to buy beer.

If I got the everloving shit kicked out of me earlier that day, I hurt all over, and I’m celebrating a win the boyz, you’re goddam right I’m having a beer or five.

Just this week or the week before we had Heinicke or Cousins on a plane and one of them had a Busch Lite can in their hand

Pretty sure Green Bay does

“Win or lose, we hit the booze.”

Patriots, unless it’s the Super Bowl. Belichick is on the plan no way he let’s drinking slide.

But not surprised if multiple teams followed that policy?

My brother used to work charters for a couple teams. He used to say they were always drinking. Sometimes getting rowdy but most times just chillin with some drinks. One HC always had a couple bottles of a certain wine waiting for him. No clue why this one instance is getting looked at.

Most players probably don't follow this policy.

Falcons Oline and AS got beers at the stadium after a win early this year.

Isn’t there literally a video of Taylor heniecke drinking a Busch light that was being posted everywhere?

Brady also talked about the players getting drinks for the plane ride back last week

Please leave us alone. I can’t take anymore investigations

So apparently it's one of the rules that nobody cares about until somebody does something really idiotic. Way to fuck it up Todd.

He had a trash can next to him filled with Busch light cans too lol

The NFL has the policy but clearly none of the players give a fuck lmaooo. Theres always been stories of people drinking on the plane

His aisle-mate for that flight was literally a trash can full of empties.

Not to excuse Downing but that video was out on Monday. I’m surprised it didn’t initiate some sort of investigation.

I was gonna say, is this a thread the NFL really wants to start tugging?

It's most likely a policy just to absolve the NFL of any responsibility in situations like with the Titans coach

Nothing worse than a beer snob

it'd be so stupid if that wasn't allowed

White QBs get an chain draped ironic exception duh.

It was water in a Busch light cozie

Someone report heinicke for those two Busch lites

It’s a rule that’s probably not enforced until someone fucks it up

Those were actually cups of water disguised as busch light cans and you can’t prove otherwise

I believe that was a public plane, not sure if it makes a difference though.

A bush light isn't really alcohol

What’s the problem with drinking water?

Lmfao that edit is killer

Can Busch Light really be considered alcohol?

Literally

Yea but now it hurts the NFL!

Excuse me sir, they're called Busch Lattes

Stop being a narc!!!

Art Donovan said once when he sacked Bobby Layne he said, "Bobby, you still stink of booze from last night!" TO which Maybe replied, "Last night hell! I had a couple at halftime!"

This isn’t Qatar, Roger!

You can tell it isn't Qatar by the fact that you're still allowed to film things.

Boycott

I’m sure this is a policy that only exists to prevent the NFL from negligence lawsuits.

This. Technically a rule but no one gives a shit.

This is exactly it. It’s so the NFL can say “yeah we told him not to” when something like this happen. They’ll get fined $10,000 to a charity of their choice. And then the Washington Commanders will get the same $10,000 fine for their video that went viral.

I played college ball. This rule kind of reminds me of our team rule of no alcohol on the bus post game. It was a rule that was never enforced. Everyone knew we were drinking on the bus after a game as long as it wasn’t too obvious it was cool. I feel like it could have been bad if somebody got caught or on an accident driving back home after we got back to the facility.

I did it in high school lmao

Yeah we did this during college rugby as well, just kept it low key

I played college Rugby, one time the coach told us we were assholes for not knowing how to handle ourselves while drunk after big victories. He then got absolutely blitzed, fell down a hill and lost his front teeth.

Can confirm - was the same for us.

Only Post-game?

Soooo the literal video evidence of Heinicke drinking the beer wasn’t enough for them?

I just saw a photo of Hinieke drinking a busch lite on the plane last week

Yeah but the commanders fly on Spirit or Frontier so technically not a team plane.

This is just a PR move; the policy obviously isn't enforced. The NFL is only doing this because an arrest occurred.

There is no fuckin way a single team has followed that rule 😂

Your telling me private jets full of 20 something year old millionaire professional athletes don’t have booze on them???

If they're found guilty, should ban them from playoffs and make the 2nd team in the AFCS go to the playoffs

You want the Jags to go to the playoffs? I don't think so.

IDK, I’m of the mind that the appropriate punishment is a permanent league suspension for the entire Browns franchise.

I know we're not at the end of the season yet, but why would you want the Jags in the playoffs?

Do you want playoffs or a chance to draft a qb?

So, we giggle when it’s Heinicke on the plane doing it while wearing chains, but only lay down the hammer when a negative outcome results?

That's generally the NFL's way of doing things as well.

That's kinda how things work

Well yes people do, and yes people are hypocrites:

Yes, this is how rules work. Most rules don't exist to be constantly enforced and nitpicked to death over inconsequential things, but to be pointed at or used for things that actually matter.

In this situation, I agree with it. It’s one of those, don’t be fucking stupid and it won’t get enforced.

That is literally how every rule everywhere works, with different enforcement based on outcome

New here?

Yes? Why would we not? One is drinking responsibly and the other is drinking and then driving.

Not like they’re going to enforce the rule going forward. It’s 100% just about the NFL not being liable in court lol

That’s typically how things work isn’t it? It isn’t a problem until it is, and THEN shit gets done. Never before. Even a lot of our laws are like that.

Are you comparing a guy drinking a a beer while in a bus to a whole ass DUI?

It's clearly an ass covering rule.

NFL when players sexually assualt women: I sleep

*drinks alcohol and then gets a DUI while speeding. He wasn't just having a beer on a plane sadly.

Who knows what the investigation will or won't determine - he's an idiot in any case - but I don't think the timeline alone is all that conclusive on where the drinking happened.It's not that hard for the plane to land at 2:11am, buses arrive at the Titans' team facility from BNA , time for a few drinks there, and then get pulled over for speeding and busted for DUI in Williamson County at 3:49am.

Nashville news is saying he was pulled over at 2:30 AM.

Ehhh not quite. Old guy like that, probably takes him 10-15 drinks to get to where he can’t drive right. That takes longer that 1.5 hours.

Well, he had to have gotten drunk somewhere...

No alcohol. Only highly addictive painkillers allowed.

To be fair alcohol is also highly addictive.

Here’s a thought: punish drinking and driving instead of trying to pad laws with more laws that are unenforceable.

Its not a law, its an internal company policy from the nfl.

This isn’t a law lol

[удалено]

you tell taylor heinicke this now when he had a cooler of busch light on the plane

Who cares about alcohol on a plane full of adults

It’s still in your system when you land tho.

This is kind of hilarious. I can get toasted on a flight crammed in with people, but these adults are not supposed to drink on a private jet after the game? No Fun League

The rule is probably because they go straight from the jets/busses to their cars. If a player/coach gets loaded on a team trip and then immediately gets behind the wheel of their car and hits somebody, then the organization could be held liable. That exact situation basically happened with Andy Reid’s son (who was a Chiefs coach) right before the 2021 Super Bowl. He drove drunk from a Chief’s event and caused a young girl to suffer a life-changing injury.

This is their job though, most people can’t drink at their job lmao.

Love when policies are blatantly ridiculous so they're ignored by everyone until they want to use it as an excuse to punish someone.

Josh Gordon will get suspended for this.

I get why you'd not want to drink on your way too the game but... from the game?

I agree but imo I think the rule is a CYA thing for the NFL. Hence the seemingly not-so-strict enforcement. They just happened to possibly need it in this case.

Gotta be up there in the “most ignored rules in the NFL” power rankings

Wasn’t Heinicke just celebrated for getting blasted on the flight hom from the eagles game? Lol

Why would they care? 🙄

I imagine it's because soon after the plane lands, the players and coaches are in their cars for the drive home. NFL is probably trying to avoid incidents exactly like this one.

Iirc…isn’t the ban just on alcohol provided by the organizations/teams? Players can still byob.

Lmao Arthur and the FAlcons O-line literally had beers in the stadium immediately after the game and no one said shit (in fact, as a falcons fan we all thought it was super cool) and I'd be shocked if that wasnt against the rules. Who are they trying to kid here

Oh man, Downing is that friend that can't control themself so they ruin good things for everyone

[PFT] The NFL has a policy against one person eating all of the fully loaded nachos when the nachos were ordered to share. The league has started an investigation regarding whether that rule was broken in journeyman WR Kelvin Benjamin's case.

Lol, how recent is this rule?

It’s a rule that isn’t enforce but will cover the NFL ass for situations like this.

Why is this a rule?

It’s not alway a 7hr flight so they probably got it rid of it all together.

Yeah I don't think anybody is following that.

This seems like the dumbest fucking rule ever. Let these guys celebrate their win. Yeah Downings is a fucking idiot but that doesn’t mean the other people need to be treated like children.

Wade Boggs is rolling in his grave (rest in peace).

Wade Boggs is rolling in his grave

Wade Boggs is very much alive

Lol bro I just saw Taylor Heinicke smashing Busch Lattes

Washington QB was on plane with a trash can cooler full of Busch.

Maybe they should worry more about the horrid officiating than whether teams have some beers on the plane.

Todd Downing dat bottle am I right

Wtf kinda shit rule is that?? Buses maybe. But planes are a dimension to another world where rules do not exist

He was drunk on life

k

There are videos of players drinking on team planes all over the place. Funny how they are acting like it’s a rule all of a sudden.

I doubt any team actually follows that. But I bet they’ll be watching now and enforcing cuz there’s no way he drank enough to drink and drive in less than 2 hours

I bet this is one of those policies they know get ignored

Why are grown men not allowed to have beer after a game? I would expect this from Qatar Football league.

Wade Boggs would never allow that.

Mr. Beer Carrier

I feel like I have seen a dozen videos of guys drinking after a win on the team plane and a bunch of interviews on podcasts saying the same thing.

That is a stupid fucking policy.

No Fun League

What a dumb rule

Uhhh Taylor Heineke……….

Oh come on, we all know players get drunk on the plane. Taylor Heinicke was drinking after they beat the Eagles on the plane.

Nothing to see here folks. Move along. Btw they didn’t see heinekie 4 days ago. Ridiculous.

Seriously who the hell cares. What a frivolous use of the league's "authority".

Lol wut

Lol is nfl making things up

I get it rules are rules and if you are part of an organization you follow the rules. I don’t know but I assume this rule was created because someone got shit faced and it caused an issue in the media reflecting negatively on the reputation of the NFL. If this is the case, I don’t care for rules created this way. One person does something and a new rule is created for everyone versus just dealing with the offender. You see this in workplaces where new rules get created because of one person instead of dealing with the person. Just a pet peeve of mine.

Fucking NFL is a dumpster fire as a organization sometimes.

This seems like a policy that we've seen at least 31 other teams break. I don't think you can blame the Titans org here for the actions of one idiot, especially when that idiot had other options to not do what he did.

Serious question: wasn’t he arrested in Green Bay, how could he have been drinking on the plane which they didn’t fly back that night or bus to the hotel enough for it to matter. Seems like it’s more on him than a team thing

He was arrested in Williamson County, TN.

What? Players can’t drink on a plane ride back? No fun league.

But his refs missing all these calls is okay. Fuck Roger.

What a stupid fucking rule. I sincerely hope it is not followed by literally every team.

And the purpose of that rule is..?

Bro wasn’t Taylor Heinkie (don’t feel like looking up his last name) drinking a Busch light on the plane ride home the other day?😂😂

What about the Busch light Taylor Heinicke was drinking hahaha

Wait...you're telling me the team that broke COVID rules and screwed over other teams in the process....possibly broke rules again?

I guess it's better than complaining about a lateral, but still pretty sad.

SMH...what is it with people and alcohol? Sure glad I have never drank, nor do I smoke anything. Surely, this alcohol could have waited till he got back to his hotel.

Well this will be a fun can of worms to dive into.

Is this new? I remember josh Gordon got suspended for that. On one hand, he should have known. On the other hand, so should have the browns coaches.

More taking the piss on the policy than being a snitch

I mean that’s stupid, let ‘em drink and force em to uber

You would think Ruggs and Reid would have served as an example of what not to do.

This is not the NFL scandal anyone should be focusing on, including the NFL.

Seems like its one of those liability rules, as long as people aren't stupid and drive afterwards its not enforced.

Why would the NFL possibly care about this?

bc there players have killed 2+ people in the last year due to DUI?

What a dumb policy to begin with

This Bud’s NOT for you

They play a game and can’t have a beer on the plane? WTF?

What a selfish dipshit. Glad he got arrested before he killed someone

Maybe the NFL should just accept that most of them drink on the ride home and aren't going to stop. They should have Ubers/taxi's/shuttles waiting for people when they get back.

Only a problem once someone gets in trouble. “We’ll we had a rule we didn’t Inforce so”

0/32 teams follow the rule, when something happens to one team they try to make an example out of them.

Celebrating a win over Green Bay is kind of over the top. lol

ABSOLUTELY SICKENED THAT THIS MAN WOULD CONSUME ALCOHOL AFTER WORK IN A VEHICLE HE'S NOT OPERATING. THINK OF THE CHILDREN!

OK Tannehill, hand over your phone no questions asked.

Titans, you’ve ruined us having pyrotechnics on the field, don’t take away our alcohol on the plane /s

that seems draconian af tbh

The NFL has a policy regarding this… yeah that’s why they have a Lyft deal for free rides to get people home…

Dumb rule. Should only be punishable if they aren’t responsible……like the titans OC

Oh no he had alcohol on a bus or something, what an unforgivable offense

The NFL has a bunch of “policies” like sexual abuse against women I’m sure.

I find the implications of this being an investigation pretty amusing. Like if there wasn't alcohol on the team plane, that either means he was so wasted before the plane left that it carried over, or that he waited until they landed and got blitzed and then got in the car. I'm gonna go ahead and say there's not much to investigate here.

Probably a policy against players getting high too. Doesn't stop them.

I wonder what the legal differences would be between an actual team plane (Patriots) and a team that uses one of the major carriers. For example, the Bears fly United and not sure how the NFL can tell them what they can and can’t serve.

How about they investigate the monthly sexual assault someone in the league inevitably performs, who the hell cares if they drink.

Dumb fuckin rule

This seems like targeted enforcement

If there had not been that rule, he would not have been driving

Why is that even a policy???

Eli Manning had a guy that made sure he had a six pack of Bud on the bus after every game

Does PFT ever report about actual football and things that happen on the field? Florio just seems like such a self righteous douche.