Today's NFL

I’m going to go into old fart mode and talk about my wholehearted agreement with a column written this week by Rick Gosselin about the direction of the NFL. I’ve mentioned before how you can always follow the money to find the evil in anything. I bemoan the fact that the NFL is run completely with the goal of maximizing revenue, regardless of what it does to the spirit of the game. I realize that change is many times necessary in any business in order to grow, but it’s a real shame that the NFL execs want to turn the game into basketball on turf in order to get ratings and more and more TV money.

The breaking of Dan Marino’s record this year brought on some discussion of the differences in the game since 1984. Essentially the NFL has mandated that offenses don’t have to earn their way down the field; instead they are legislating teams down the field. Protect the QB’s (money-makers) and receivers, get more big plays, get more people tuning in. Reduce troubling injuries in order to get more women on board and protect the biggest revenue generators. But, don’t require coaches to figure out how to protect their players, just legislate it. Like Gosselin has said, want to protect your QB? How about blocking for him and keeping some people in to block? But the NFL doesn’t want that.

Similar to how I love pitching in baseball (thank God coming back), I value a hard-earned drive and players who are tough enough to make plays without the assistance of the rules. I like a 24-17 game in weather more than a 41-35 game under the A/C. NFL games should not be clean and tidy. We are losing the old game of football and seeing it replaced with a pinball game. I love the tradition of sports and hate seeing old records devalued. I just wonder where it will end?

S