Football is going to change.....and it is about time

A lot of words and TV segments are being dedicated to the NFL’s decision to regulate any hits that they deem unnecessary or ultraviolent. It came to a head this weekend with a rash of big hits and culminated in Steve Young openly arguing with Matt Millen and Trent Dilfer about how suspensions for violent hits to defenseless players are the right thing to do. And you know what….. I completely agree with him.

I know that many people will complain about how this will ruin football and they are taking away the players’ rights to play the game the way it should be. However, this situation has been a long time coming, and whether you like it or not, this may be the only way to truly save football as a big time sport. Football has become a different sport since around 2004 or so after the game moved away from being a grind it out, pound the run centric league into one that relies on the passing game more and more. Because of the money, fame, and opportunities that can be afforded to football players from high school all the way to the pros, football has taken a hold of the best athletes that America can offer. Combined with the new information we know about training and nutrition, football players are not just athletes anymore, they are machines. They have become noticeably bigger, faster, and stronger. There just was not a player as physically imposing as say Patrick Willis in the NFL in the 80’s and 90’s. However, because of this evolution, football has put itself in a position that they are going to be forced to anger their fans and players or else everything could come crashing down. It started with the babying of the QB’s (which did go excessively far, in my opinion) and will now continue with the suspensions for defensive players for dangerous hits. Right now, if you knock a defenseless receiver out, the most you are going to get is a little fine. But let’s be honest, for a linebacker making millions of dollars a year, what is $50,000 for a hit? Rodney Harrison said it best when he said that these players don’t care about the money, and if you want to send a message then take them off the field. To me that holds water, because Harrison used to LOVE to murder people coming across the middle. It sounds as if his time away from the game and showed him just how much damage can occur when your mission is to knock people out. Don’t even get me started on James Harrison, who claimed that Josh Cribbs wasn’t hurt when Harrison blasted him Helmet to Helmet, he was just asleep. Harrison said that a good hit should lead to someone being knocked out. News flash James, unconsciousness is not a normal thing for someone to go through. It happens when some jackass decides to layout someone so he can get some news coverage. But the problem isn’t just with guys like James Harrison, it goes deeper. Football has almost become a game of chess played by two geniuses, except that instead of stationary pieces, they have world-class athletes at their disposal.  Offenses have become so precise, defense coordinators pride themselves on disguising their coverages, and some players just don’t know how to properly control their bodies when making a hit.

In the last couple of years, we have learned so much about the affect of concussions on the human brain. Along with that, we can now see the affect of football on the human body as many retired NFL players have significant health problems later in life. I guess we all never realized that despite all the padding, running full steam into another person isn’t good for you! What the NFL is trying to do by proposing suspension for Helmet-to-Helmet hits is trying to prevent a death on the field. They know that if they don’t take action then that death is inevitable and will be the first nail in football’s coffin. I am on record with many of my friends by saying that I really don’t think football will be around in anything like its current form in 15-20 years. We know too much about the risks and long terms health issues involved with the sport. Football has become America’s sport because it is where our best athletes go to shine. But what happens if parents begin to push their kids into safer sports such as baseball, basketball, and even soccer. Because I have a feeling that is exactly what is going to happen over the next 15 years, and a death in the NFL or college will only speed up that timeline. Once football misses out on attracting the biggest and the best, people will start to turn away from it and slowly it will fade down the ladder of popular sports. I think the baseball and soccer would be the greatest beneficiaries of football’s demise but that is a topic for another time.

For all the people complaining that the league is overreacting to a bad weekend and making a snap judgment, I want them to take a closer look at what is really going on. Think about what would have happened if Todd Heap or Desean Jackson had died because of those hits on Sunday. Football has had more than its share of paraplegics and we have even had a players die from heat stroke, but as of yet no one has died on national television directly from football. I think it’s astonishing that it hasn’t happened yet and I really hope it never happens. However, people should really choose their words carefully when they criticize the NFL right now because their will be no taking back your words when someone finally tells you “I told you this would happen”.

GW

Watching your team get dominated

I got to experience something last night, that I never have in person. I got to see the Braves get absolutely dominated by Tim Lincecum to the point where I'm pretty sure everyone in the 9th inning just wanted to strike out and get the game over with.

It's a weird feeling to see your team absolutely hopeless, especially when they are in the playoffs!!!!!!! The Braves only had 4 players who will be starters for any team next year. Beyond that, you could argue that only two (McCann and Heyward) actually deserve to be starting.

When it comes down to it, I'm surprised that San Francisco CSI didn't have to use a rape kit for the braves locker room last night......

On a side note, the commercials that are constantly playing during the playoff games are terrible. Sure theses Foster's commercials were funny....in 1997 but now they are just too damn predictable. But by far the worst one is for the XL Chalupa at Taco Bell. Joe Girardi proved in the Directv ads that he can't act and that he seriously needs to get some braces that don't make him look like the nerdy best friend in an 80's movie. And if anyone can prove the Mariano Rivera has actually ever eaten a chalupa I will give them $20.

G