The League Knows Best: How the Nanny State Has Invaded the NFL
The nanny state surrounds us. At every level of government politicians legislate and bureaucrats regulate in the name of our own good. The news media dole out tips and suggestions as if viewers and readers had no common sense. These days, we even have unelected officials trying to tell us what to eat. So, you’d hope that the one place we could escape the nanny state would be the sports world, right?
This nanny statism in sports isn’t new. In his Pictorial History of the University of Georgia, F. N. Boney, a former professor of mine, recounts how a tragic accident nearly led to the abolition of football in Georgia, thanks so some well-meaning legislators:
When a game against Virginia in Atlanta in 1897 ended in the death of a Georgia player, Von Gammon, a drive to abolish the sport developed. All over the nation football was causing many serious injuries and some deaths. A bill abolishing football sailed through the state legislature, but [professor and pioneering football coach Charles] Herty continued to champion the game, insisting that better facilities and equipment would eliminate excessive dangers, and Von Gammon’s mother defended Herty and football, the game her son “held so dear.” Governor William Y. Atkinson had graduated in law from the university in 1877 and had been a trustee in 1891. A sports enthusiast, he had witnessed the fatal game in Atlanta. After much thought, he refused to sign the bill, and football survived in Georgia.
Of course, there is much to be said about ensuring safety and technology has gone a long way toward making any game less dangerous. Unfortunately, it seems that throughout professional sports, especially in the NFL, the league offices are stepping in to make changes, but players and fans alike think that rule changes go too far.
Beyond the Nanny State, this is also the month when NFL players routinely don pink shoes to support fighting breast cancer. It’s a noble cause, and I have no issue with the NFL supporting it, but really: pink shoes?
I agree. It just looks ridiculous. What’s next? The corps de ballet at theaters across the country donning purple slippers for a month of performances to support fighting testicular cancer? Don’t get me wrong…I know how terrible a disease cancer is, having lost both my mother and a sister-in-law to it. But I think there are more meaningful and dignified (and,yes, manly) ways for football players to get the message out to support fighting breast cancer than this “pink branding” effort.
Its not hard to be against cancer. There’s actually nobody in favor of it last time I checked so the NFL gets no points for their self righteous indulgence. Spending a month wallowing in fake concern is nothing more than moral posing.
I don’t like the pink shoes, gloves, and towels, either. The league could do a lot more to fight breast cancer by soliciting donations and even donating part of its profits to the cause, but I don’t see how pink shoes do anything. And lord knows I love women (and breasts) enough to want a cure for breast cancer.
A pink ribbon on the back of the helmet would be fine, but this whole thing seems inconsistent. Everyone knows about the league’s uniform Nazis who inspect every player before each game to make sure their socks are pulled up, their shoes match, and their jerseys are stuffed in. After all, branding is everything…but pink shoes are OK for a full 25% of regular season games? Puhleeze. If I owned a team, and I had to go along with this, I’d create a pink alternate uniform for my players to wear in October just to have it done with.
I’m not gonna be too vocal in my criticism, though. The pink cleats are preferable to “green week,” which is now a yearly NFL event to spread liberal global warming propaganda.
But it *is* more than “moral posing”–it generates revenue for the league. A “portion” of the profit on pink crap purchased by fans goes to “research” (if it goes to Komen, it goes to Planned Parenthood, who doesn’t use it for cancer prevention…), but certainly not all.
Or maybe that’s “less than” moral posing. Depends on how you feel about exploiting fear and disease for some extra bucks.
When the next urge to buy a ‘pink ribbon’ occurs, ask the seller how much of your donation goes for breast cancer, as opposed to their donations to abortion groups.
These days, I avoid buying pink items whether they are officially associated with breast cancer or not. The color brings up an unpleasant association in my mind.
I detest all of this “awareness pimping” – especially when individuals don’t get to opt out. If somebody on the team doesn’t trust the specific organizations that are getting the money, they have to fall in line and participate anyhow. They don’t get to express their concerns in public.
Interesting how even the all-male, ultra-macho NFL is hyping breast cancer, despite the fact that prostate and colo-rectal cancers kill vastly more Americans every year. The result of the PC Left’s patented moral bullying: Breast cancer is “more important” because it’s associated with a Certified Victim Group.
Is there anyone in the country that isn’t aware of breast cancer?
There are a lot of people who aren’t aware that men also get and die from breast cancer.
Pink shoes don’t help there, either.
It’s strange how the NFL fails to mention that fact.
I have given up on the NFL forever. I’ve had it. The game is so micro-managed, and choreographed it puts me to sleep.
Three years ago I saw my first game of Australian Rules football. Now THIS
is a sport. No protective equipment except for a mouthguard and a cup.
Pass interference? These guys catch “passes” actually kicked to them with three opponents pummeling them with elbows to the head, ribs, you name it. And the manage to catch the ball. Roughing the kicker? It’s mandatory.
The game never stops–constant play action. No time outs. Game doesn’t even \
stop for the golf cart stretcher to haul someone off.
Any NFL player would be embarrassed to even step on the field and try to play
this game.
Bye-Bye Chicago Bears. Go Collinwood Magpies!
Mr. LeMans
How do you manage to watch Aussie Rules football from the US? (I assume you must be in Chicago.)
Three times as many men die of prostate cancer as women die of breast cancer. Who cares? Haha.
Another result is poor officiating. Back before “play review” an official had to make a call knowing that he’d better be sure of what he saw. That carries with it a certain psyche and mental preparation. Now, with so much going to “the booth”, officials can lean on a crutch that if they make a bad call, it’ll get reviewed and overturned or validated.
From my perspective, the whole booth review process seems to have been dreamed up by lawyers. If a coach doesn’t like a “verdict”, he can “appeal” and the play is reviewed by a panel of “judges”. It’s cumbersome and although I can see the advantage, hoping for a more “fair” game, I’m afraid that I just don’t welcome it to the NFL. The human dynamic is compromised, the credibility of officials will soon post stats as to who is the most overturned official in the league for flags thrown (If they haven’t already) and so on. When I played, I was taught that you may not like a call, but you adapt, recover from it and play on.
Again, I understand that games can be overturned by booth review. But to me, that’s not the game that I know and love and understand. I didn’t object (much) about the booth review when it first started, given the huge monetary factors involved with championship games but it’s gotten ridiculous.
Listening to the SNF guys when they collectively grouse about helmet-to-helmet hits is annoying as well. Al Michaels should know better; He played when the game was much more violent than it is now. Whenever a player suits up for a game, he knows “it’s gonna hurt” and that’s something they all accept. But having the traffic police out there writing tickets for unsafe lane changes and failure to use your signal is just BS.
The game has slowed down considerably and I have become intimately familiar with my “mute” button for when they go to a commercial during a booth review.
“When I played”…that is…in high school. Reading it again makes it sound like I’m claiming to be a pro. NO…..not even close. Spent most of my time looking out of my ear-hole. (They can hit pretty hard in high school, y’know)
As a former official, player and coach in another contact sport, I can attest to the fact that many times things occur with lightning speed. Add to that the fact that many times, bodies obscure a complete view of what occurred, and you the ref must make a split second decision based on what little you really do see of an incident. Imagine being 5’8″ or so and trying see over men who are often times 6+ feet tall and 250-400 lbs. It’s not as easy as it looks. The league is making things more difficult for officials as well. Officials are humans; what the NFL is doing is taking the human factor out of the game with their micro-management. They are trying to engineer the perfect contact sport and that is simply impossible.
This is all on Roger Goodell. We didn’t have this kind of crap with Paul Tagliabue or Pete Rozell. Goodell is a nanny-state prick and a meddler and he needs to just LEAVE FOOTBALL ALONE. The Commissioner’s job is to make the game the best it can be. Goodell seems intent on turning football into a men’s feelings encounter group. He needs to GO. I despise him with the burning white hot intensity of a thousand suns!
Jones,
Don’t sugarcoat it. Tell us how you really feel!
WHOA! I hesitate to ask you how you feel about the Designated Hitter Rule. And what do you have saved up for Barack Hussein Obama? Gotterdammerung to Black Sabbath accompaniment?
Two paws up!
Good lord this is a mess. Actual return yardage is up higher this season with the new kickoff rule than under the old. Also, there is clear data, no matter what some football players believe that Special Team plays involving kick offs had a large disproportion number of injuries versus regular plays.
Also, fining players, coaches, and owners for complaining about officiating is not unique to the NFL. If you want to complain about ridiculous fines, look into the insane amount they hit players and coaches each week for petty uniform violations (such as not having socks tucked in correctly or wearing an unauthorized item.
pink shoes. high school players wearing pimk socks, to support research for breast cancer. good cause.
prostrate cancer is a good cause too. just as many men die of prostrate cancer as women die from breast cancer. yet, the government spends many times more tax $$$ on breast cancer research, prevention and a cure than is spent on prostate cancer for men. i guess they will be wearing colors next week for prostate cancer? yeah, i’ll wait. ha!
wearing pink in a foosball game to support something that, by omission, could kill them and their male family members. maybe they should have gotten a good education in college so they could understand better what a mangina is.
it is also called butt kissing, and it appears to run rampant in this feminized society. what’s next, an apology for a good hit? no wait, that’s a penalty.
While this is a nice gesture, more women die of HEART DISEASE than breast cancer, but apparently that is not a trendy fact.
Right on! I’ve been saying that for over a year.
They’re turning it into the Gay Football League with all this petty crap. I mean what’s next?
The Green Bay Man-Packers vs The Baltimore Mavens?
The Oakland Panty-Raiders vs The Seattle Chickenhawks?
The Miami Doll-fans vs The Philadelphia Fairies?
Really Roger sweetie….
(Yes, that’s a little humor at Roger’s expense.)
While you celebrate the “physicality” of football, hundreds of ex-players suffer from permanent brain damage caused by repeated concussions. Ex-NFL greats, especially linemen, routinely die in their 50s, often after years of misery.
Many are driven to self-medication with booze or dope. Or to suicide. Ex-Bears safety Dave Duerson killed himself at the age of 41. (He shot himself in the heart, so his battered brain could be examined by doctors studying the effects of a football career.)
The gruesome deaths that marked football in the 1890s prompted rule changes – and even then, some pundits complained that the game was being watered down for sissies.
I like football. But I don’t like men being paid to wreck themselves under the pretence of “toughness”.
Dick Butkus wouldn’t even be allowed on the field these days. Goodell would consider him to be too mean and a bully.
Kid goes to school. Kid learns to play football, or he and his friends are huge fans and have many pickup games. There are some injuries. Kid eventually lands on an organized team. Kid does this through his teen years and in high school, learns to love the adulation and the benefits of working hard for immediate gain as well as learning how to lose gracefully. There are some injuries.
Kid gets picked up by a notable college on a sports scholarship. Plays offensive end for four years. There are some injuries.
Kid is now an adult, tries out for and gets called up by a pro team to play on the offensive line. Plays for four years at $1.2m a year. There are many injuries, all cared for and tended to by NFL medical staff, some of the best in the business (they are well-paid too. Imagine what obamacare will do to THAT).
Said player has blown all his cash, which is 1000% more than most people make in a lifetime. He has a little trouble with his vision and his motor skills aren’t so good. He remembers thinking more clearly in his younger years.
And well, he made choices. He was not forced into it. At some point he wanted to play more than he didn’t want to play. Your argument is therefore moot.
If a firefighter gets killed while fighting a fire, people say, “He died doing what he loved to do”. In other words, he made a choice knowing the risks. At what point during the kid’s football life was he unaware of the risks? I’m sure he had been told many times, repeatedly that it’s a rough sport and he could get seriously and permanently injured.
And you tell me he’s a VICTIM? Sorry, not buying it.
The counter to your statement about poor football players with permanent injuries is that there are also a great many former pros who have become gainfully employed as professionals and enjoy life.
It’s about choices.
Ronald Reagan told this joke at a press conference: Knute Rockne was criticized by officials at Notre Dame for the potential for injury in football and thought the university should develop some other sports. “Like what?” asked Rockne. “How about field hockey?” someone suggested. Knute replied, “Nothing doing. I am not going to endorse a sport which puts a club in the hands of an Irishman!”
Welcome to the brave new world. Ironworkers used to go all the way up the World Trade Center with no harnesses. Harnesses are cumbersome, and a man with his wits about him is in no more danger than if he fell at 40 feet. Indeed, he’d at least not have to suffer. It was always understood that guys who fell were either extremely unlucky or drunk. Stuff happens. That’s why they were so well paid.
Now, for every guy erecting steel, three are erecting safety BS, all of which make his job far less safe. Safety netting makes it impossible to do anything at all, and noone likes harnesses, except OSHA idiots, and none of them ever climbed a column, yet. They are hired right out of college…you know…the same jokers who are blockading Wall Street. Everything looks dangerous to them. They learned to play baseball where noone ever wins, or loses. They just have to show up. I can’t tell you how clueless they are.
I think everyone should just mind their own damn business. Imagine all the government loafers who we could S-can, and how much money we would save. I’m glad the stupidity is now coming out in the open, for all to see. Those of us who’ve wasted our lives dealing with this crap welcome you to the fight.
Ronald Reagan still said it best. I’m tired of pulling the wagon, because it’s full of lazy losers who make nothing besides trouble. As a workhorse, I’m just about finished. I’ve made millions for the government, and have little to show for it. If those scum don’t get the hell out of the wagon, it’s gonna just stop. I have nothing left. When the welfare queen at the mini mart uses her food stamps to pile on the deli cold cuts, and I’m counting my pocket change to buy a loaf of bread, something’s very wrong.
The instant replay is one of those things … I understand the argument for it, and I like it, but ultimately, I think instant replays and things like instant replays send the wrong message about sports in general. It’s a philosophical objection: Sports aren’t that important. What is happening on the field is not important enough to review via technological means … as a people, we have a sense of proportion, that we’re watching a game, and we understand that the referees call it like they see it, and we all agree to live by the result, and we all understand that nothing of real significance ever happens during a football game.
Sure, we could agonize over every last inch and review every single play to make sure every call is correct, but it shows a lack of proportional understanding about the nature of sporting events, a lack of sense of the fun of the thing, and a wasteful use of our true talents and energies.
FWIW. I expect few would agree with me these days.
BTW, although I’m pretty conservative, I’m against most state lotteries for similar reasons … it sends the wrong message. But that’s another story.
I agree. I have enjoyed watching high school and college football where the players aren’t the best, but for me the games are just as much fun to watch as the professionals. Maybe because I could identify more with the players. Maybe that’s just me, but I think big money has ruined what should be amateur sports. For the pros, well they’re paid the big bucks to get injured but I feel bad for guys who wind up crippled because of the serious demands of the profession. I know it’s the free market and all that, and I certainly wouldn’t advocate some liberal fascist nanny-state coming in and regulating it and making it even worse. I agree about state sponsored gambling too, it sends the wrong message. I really feel that capitalism in order to work properly needs a population which has some passing acquaintance with morality.
Gawd, I hate the new kickoff and “review every scoring play” rules. They’re killing the game and slowing it to a crawl.
They need to change the helmets so the outside shell isn’t hard. That would solve most of the “spearing” problems.
Exactly, give a guy a helmet made of the same material as a bowling ball and he’ll hit things with it. Make it softer and he won’t. Same goes for pads in general.
One thing of significance to point out here, especially regarding the rule changes to prevent injuries, is that the NFL changed these rules partly because of pressure applied from mainstream media outlets like ESPN. ESPN beat the head injuries thing and concussions into the ground. Every story about a former player suffering post-concussion syndrome was emphasized. There was even some talk about getting Congress involved if the NFL didn’t take action. Make no mistake, just because ESPN does sports programming doesn’t mean it doesn’t carry every bit as much liberal bias as other media outlets. When they get a chance to report a story about management “endangering” workers they’re going to run with it. Just shut up and let them leave the game we all love alone.
By the way for those disgusted by the NFLSSR, try watching soccer, its like the opposite. Its run by an international organization (FIFA), the members of which are evil – comically so. Any attempts by FIFA that hint of posing toward righteousness are rendered immediately hilarious by the obvious personal and organizational moral failings of the soccer types. Soccer teams can mostly spend as much money as they want so there are some superteams competing in the same league with crap teams. When teams fail, they aren’t rewarded with draft picks, they get sent to the minors! Oh, hardly any commercials too.
I know, I know, euro weenies etc, etc etc. Trust me, watching meatheads kick a ball around is way better than watching meatheads pretending to care about cancer by putting on an unmanly pair of shoes.
When asked how women’s soccer could become more popular, the President of FIFA, Sepp Blatter, suggested that the players wear short shorts! That metrosexual who runs the NFL would ban any player or coach for life who said something so contrary to political correctness.
Stop your complaining or stop watching the NFL. I have stopped watching and I don’t miss it. The game has lost its style, its team oriented play and its local heroes. What you are missing is that the game is becoming a truly gladiator sport where only the strong, biggest, and most aggressive can survive.
The new rules are meant to slow down this transition to all-out thug warfare. Do you think these guys care if they spear another player into the hospital? Not a chance. And think of how many HS and college players see this and try to emulate it. I don’t think they throw the flag enough on spearing. For those of you pounding your chest about the spearing rule, think about it when the next player is sent to the hospital or ends up like Darryl Stingley. Like Brent above here. Wow. Complaining that (by inference) that the flag is thrown too much and I guess that spearing should not be penalized; that concussions are, I guess, part of the game. What a guy. I hear you about ESPN and MSM being liberal-both affirmative action supporters and the Congress getting involved is goofy-but downplaying the reality of concussions and neck injuries is not rational.
How many of today’s players stay with their teams for the majority of their careers??? With the exceptions of Manning, Brady and a few others there are almost complete team turnovers in five years. And yet fans pay exorbitant ticket prices to pay the salaries for someone who could care less about them or their city. Not to mention that inside of the next five years the game will be totally black.
Not much to add about how NFL and college football is almost laughable thanks to good old PC and nanny state ninnys. I’ve reclaimed my weekends thanks to ditching cable. Did it mostly out of principle for TWC jacking up my already sky-high rates. Plus, my kids need me more than the TV does.
In regards to banning crap because it’s risky, this Bill Whittle Afterburner is a must watch: http://www.pjtv.com/?cmd=mpg&mpid=56
Link seems to be misdirecting. You should watch all of Bill’s fine work, but the clip referenced above is called “Live Free or Die”.
Greetings:
Earlier this month, I watched the New York Jets-BAltimore Ravens game on NBC’s Sunday Night Football broadcast. During the playing of the National Anthem, I noticed that two of the Baltimore players were wearing some kind of head covering, one of which was shockingly pink. I left a complaint on the NFL’s website but have not received any response to date. I guess that the NFL is busy with other things.
Although I generally agree with the sentiments expressed the article itself is full of holes. First of all the video “the kickoff rule deprives fans of thrills like these” is of a punt which isn’t affected by the kickoff rule changed at all. Second, the three examples of owners and coaches complaining about the refs does not offer any proof that the refs were wrong. Despite at least twice stating “the officials are above reproach, even when they are wrong”. Third, even if the games are twelve minutes longer, that would not equal “12 more minutes of advertising revenue” unless all twelve minutes were in fact spent in commercial. Now maybe that last one was just for convenience since most of that time probably was actually used for commercials. But overall, this was a very sloppy article.
Good catch- the article erroneously states that a kickoff that lands in the endzone is a touchback; this is incorrect. A kickoff that goes through the endzone or out the side of the endzone is a touchback; a kick that lands in the endzone and stays there is live, and if recovered by the kicking team, a touchdown.
I stand corrected on the rule, and I’m going to fix that paragraph. Thanks for pointing it out. My apologies.
I quit watching pro football when the NFL let M*****l V**k back in the league. When they doubled down with a big contract this year I quit buying products advertised on their TV broadcasts. Next step, boycotting any local business that advertises on stations that carry the games. Certain things don’t come in my house.
“Unfortunately, it seems that throughout professional sports, especially in the NFL, the league offices are stepping in to make changes, but players and fans alike think that rule changes go too far.”
Considering the NFL athletes are nothing but (over) paid entertainers, their salaries seemed linked to their egos, my family and I stopped watching NFL a long time ago. Collegiate football is the only game going.
One quibble with the article. The helmet to helmet hits rule was not new. It has been on the books for years. The enforcement of the rule is what is new.
What ticks me off about the helmet to helmet hit rule is that its being enforced unfairly. Only defensive players are getting fined and crucified for it, but I’ve seen several replays where the hit would clearly have been legal except the offensive player ducked his head into the head of the defensive player. Who gets the flag and fine? The defensive player. Thats not right.
Thanks for pointing out that rule change. I appreciate you keeping me straight.
> Journalists and commentators began to notice that the rule was applied inconsistently, particularly where protecting quarterbacks was concerned. (That’s par for the course in the NFL, where quarterbacks seems to be in a higher class all their own.)
As Glenn Reynolds would say, heh. That depends on who the quarterback is. If it’s Tom Brady or Peyton Manning, a cross-eyed glance from a linebacker is enough for a 15-yard penalty and a fine. However, Ben Roethlisberger can be tackled with a tire iron and brass knuckles and the refs won’t even notice. In one game last year, one of the defending players actually punched Ben through his face mask and broke his nose. According to one newspaper account, Ben asked for a flag, and the ref just shrugged and said, “He was just playing football.”
Most other quarterbacks are probably somewhere in between these two extremes, coddled compared to other players, but not like the two aforementioned over-protected NFL franchise poster boys. When Peyton retires, they may replace him with Aaron Rodgers or Drew Brees.
I’ve just about given up on football. The pink shoes are the last straw.
America my beloved nation, where Christians called home.. but Satan and his sidekick American Government have evicted you from all public places, schools, even churches have become Godless. If Christianity is false what do you have to fear RIGHT! But REAL it is, Satan knows the power behind Christians, name of Jesus so slowly but surely they are getting into our freedoms.. While Americans WATCH TV, SPORTS, Dancing with Stars.. Lets pick up the HOLY BIBLE, and read the MESSAGE of a loving CREATOR.. only wants you to live holy, the bible says this world will turn on all christians, and his word.. We will be hated.. and we are. lets get on our knees and seek forgiveness open your heart to him, Jesus Christ…
Many, if not most, defensive players have abandoned tackling in favor of hitting. That right there is the problem. It makes for lousy football and more injuries. I blame “highlights” on ESPN and other sports networks. Everyone wants the big hit even if it makes for 90 yard runs when the running backs and modern day large receivers bounce off of crappy tackles. If television wasn’t so fond of the shiny bonnet, less injuries might follow, as well. Defensive players were supposed to be protected by what they now use as weapons. The game itself is fine, the players need to stop intentionally trying to kill each other or put other players in hospital.
I too am 1 of the disenfranchised of the NFL. Though long before these rules and their predecessors were put in place.
The NFL’s acronym is National Felon’s League and has been for some time.
These and other ‘nanny state rules’ are in place and ever-growing because the meatheads playing only wish to be seen on ESPN’s highlight reel. Frequenting strip joints, drink Cristal & ‘making it rain’. Possessing unlicensed guns. Cheating on their spouses, appearing on MTv’s ‘Cribs’ and like-minded idiot box programs flaunting their ridiculous cars and SUV’s with clown sized rims, tacky decorated homes and possessing not one book/children’s book throughout.
I’m no uber-Christian but feel it’s disheartening retired NFL Qb Kurt Warner and a handful of other NFL players are looked at as strange with their beliefs, off-the-field charity work.
Whereas the ‘PacMan Jones’s, Lawrence Taylor’s, Shawne Merriman’s, Travis Henry’s, Terrell Owens, etc., are sadly the norm.
Did anyone read or see Michael Vick’s response to SI’s Peter King’s comment regarding the Eagles play?
The bigger names/faces of ANY pro sports organizations you’d expect an added layer of respect, intelligence and strong conduct. Rise above discourse or animosity. Not in the Felon’s League.
The unintelligible replies, responses and actions from Vick and many of the NFL players is pitiful and excruciating to see and hear.
I’d respect and watch the game if players had respect for the game and all its associated tentacles.
It’s why I follow Rugby, Australian football only nowadays. The Rugby World Cup playing out now is exciting as hell.
Mr. Queen if there’s a tear in your beer for the good ol’ days, ESPN Classic and Tivo has the games you yearn for. When players didn’t have bling-bling in both ears, Mr. T-like chains worn during the game. Players didn’t prance around like a ssholes following a 2 yard loss/sack or TD. Players weren’t wearing headphones the size of earmuffs listening to incoherent gibberish.
Forget boring old American football–it’s a sissy’s game. Bring on old fashioned hard-hitting Rugby. And how about Australian football, mate? It’s the absolute best! Non-stop action, no pads, no helmets, no pampering. And the players really earn every penny they make.
Tell that to James Harrison. I want to see his reaction.
These are just a few examples of the obvious fact that, in the eyes of the NFL, the officials are above reproach, even when they are wrong.
Despite what some people may think, the officials are human beings just like everyone else. They make mistakes and can’t possibly see everything that happens on the field. Sometimes, those mistakes can change the outcome of a game and careers are on the line. Instant replay and challenges give the opportunity to reverse some of the mistakes. The key is to keep the game moving and not interrupt the play to the extent possible.
The rules have made watching this year especially painful. The commercials are killing the game. If a challange is invloved, stay with the damm game and show us the replays. I understand its a business but is it possible to mandate how many commercials are going to be shown. I guess thats ridiculous but its kickoff-commercial-3 and out – commerical – punt – commercial – repeat. As for Goodell: Police the players, ensure they’re doing the right thing off the field. I don’t have an issue with that. He’s gone to far with the new rules. Half the helmit to helmit are shoulder to helmit shots. If we get a replay for that it will slow things down. The QB’s are being protected far to much, especially with all the hands to the face/helmit slap calls. They’re wearing helmits folks. The diving at the knees..no problem at all. It killed Carson Palmers career and my guy, Tom Brady, was out for the season. Unless the owners confront the league, it won’t change back. If this somehow costs a high profile owner a playoff or SB victory, then we could see some movement. I won’t hold my breath.
I knew the games seemed longer this season.
Judging from the posts on this topic and the article itself, I’m inclined to think that the NFL isn’t the problem, it’s the fans. The most blood thirsty fans here have probably never played football.
Football is a great game, in my opinion the greatest team sport ever invented, and it is rough enough without encouraging spearing which everybody knows causes injury. Heck for you macho fans out there who think the new rules are “sissifying” the game, let’s just give the players swords and really get some entertainment value by allowing them to hack each other up.
My son plays football, I want him to play hard, but I sure don’t want him to try to hurt anybody and I sure don’t want someone to try to hurt him!
The NFL now is big business and players make a lot of money. This happens because fans pay big bucks to watch. As a result, players are much bigger, stronger and faster than they were thirty years ago. Dick Butkis couldn’t even start in today’s NFL. The fans love these big hits, but this emphasis on big hits results in very sloppy tackling in most cases. The new rules are needed because of the physics involved. Quarterbacks are extremely vulnerable because they are upright looking down the field and have little chance knowing what is about to get them on the blind side. Without such rules none of them would last a 16 game season. Incidental Helmet to helmet contact is not good, but when a player purposely blindsides another player with his helmet, that’s just criminal because the intent is to injure not just stop. You can hit plenty hard shoulder to shoulder.
As far as officiating goes, most of the time the refs do suck because it’s a hard job and it’s almost impossible to view all the action at full speed. Reviews greatly reduce bad calls from ruining a game. The whole reason we have reviews now is because fans bitched about bad calls in the first place back in the day. So the game is twelve minutes longer, big deal. There is nothing worse than taking a loss because of a bad call.
Sick of commercials are you? They are reason you watch the games for free so get over it.
I don’t get the complaints about supporting breast cancer either. It does bring awareness and there truly is a much greater incidence of it these days. So a player where’s pink shoes for a few weeks, big deal. I don’t know that breast cancer is a liberal cause. My sister got it and she is very conservative.
If all the time, money and resources that go into football had been put into curing cancer, cancer would be cured by now.
The simple solution is vote with your feet. Support your local High School / College team, tell the NFL where to stick it.
Susan B. Komen foundation has spent over $2 million suing their own sub-organizations for using their logos. Orgs. that raise money for the Komen foundation. This shows that breast cancer isn’t the only thing they are concerned about. They are protecting the money flowing in and I wonder just how much goes directly to research. There’s got to be a LOT of money because just about every sports team and every corp. is involved with this. I don’t trust the altruism of people totally with the huge amounts of money. You could never get this kind of support for prostrate cancer, simply because men don’t have the “victimazation” attached to them like women.
From personal experience, I know many of the executives of these foundations are living large off donations.
All this pink everywhere is a huge turnoff. Sooner or later, people will start resenting all this hoopla.
It is interesting to read of the movement to taking hitting out of football, because hockey – a sport I have known for decades as both a fan and a player – is now experiencing many of the same problems. Hockey, a sport as violent as football, has experienced a rash of concussions over the last several years which has sidelined more than one elite player. Bruins forward Marc Savard is still out of the game and may be forced to retire by post-concussion syndrome. Sidney Crosby, the game’s best player, has not yet returned from a hit to the head. Moreover, three enforcers – i.e., players who specialize in fighting – died over the summer, one by suicide – calling into question the role of fighting in the game.
Paradoxically, better equipment may have led to more head injuries. Modern high-tech helmets have given players a false sense of security, and improved body armor-style elbow and shoulder pads have made these into weapons. Back in the days when players skated and played without helmets, career-ending concusions were very rare. There was one death, due to a boarding incident in the 1968, when the player in question wasn’t wearing a helmet but none since then. Old-time players say that there is less cameraderie in the game, and guys who don’t know one another are more likely injure one another in a game.
Ironically, specialist roles for fighters have shoved all of the burden of being an enforcer onto a small number of guys, who are heavily-stressed as a result.
There is an underlying question we as a society need to answer, not only concerning rough sports like football, hockey, MMA and auto racing, but about life generally: Are we willing to trade the freedom to live as we choose, for the promise of safety? Frankly, as a former hockey player, I woldn’t love the game as I do if it wasn’t for the danger posed by playing it. Risk isn’t the whole game, but remove enough of it, and the game becomes less compelling for players and fans. I imagine the same is true of football, auto racing, etc.
A death or permanent injury is tragic, but losing these sports to the nanny state would be as bad or worse. In the long run, all of us are dead; it isn’t always how we die that matters, but how we live. Should we take commonsense safety precautions? Sure, but don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. The right amount of risk is the spice of life.
Played 13 years; coached 7.
Football is the greatest game ever invented!
Here you learn to do your very best at each and every opportunity, even when tired, hurt, angry, etc.That character trait, translated into all your activities results in a productive and happy life. perhaps it can be acquired in other pursuits, but it alone justifies the risks inherent in football.