I was not an above average football player. I did love the game. I weighed in at the start of practice at a whopping 168 and at practice end was down to 155.
Needless to say, practice was work! I was a junior varsity special teamer. I knew where I was to be in order to be an effective special team member. I knew to wrap up, when I tackled someone. No push out of bounds allowed. This wasn’t flag football. I had a nose for the ball, so I was assigned a special slot on onside kicks. ( yes, we used them)
I watch professionals now and cringe. No one stays in their lanes, when rushing on defense. Setting the edge? No one pays for that. Sacks are king, so don’t bother setting the edge. Defense is boring and not practiced seriously.
Tackling involves at most a shoulder pad jolt at hip level or the push toward the sidelines as the receiver races out of bounds to avoid further contact. Why risk your longevity by taking a hit. Players are now all defenseless except for running backs, whose careers are 4-5 years. Not bad. They make 5 million or perhaps much more! What do you make in 5 years $500,000.00 or perhaps only $375,000.00? Yes, you do not risk injury! You are compensated for that as well as a short career in the NFL.
Offensive line play is all about pass protection. Sustained block is an anomaly. Holding occurs on almost every down! It is called when a zebra sees someone go flayling to the ground or the official sees a jersey pull. The victim meanwhile is busy throwing his make believe flag to draw everyone’s attention to the real or imagined infraction.
Quarterbacks are paid extreme salaries. They eat up an excessive amount of a team.’s socialistic salary cap. They are paid 10 million even if ineffective and they seldom play.
Team mates are not valued. QB’s are statuesque fragile divas, who reign as a king over their backfield. They wait to find someone to throw to, so the high paid receiver can race out of bounds to avoid further contact. Tackling quarterbacks too harshly, too high or low gets you penalized and likely fined too. This is flag football except with less violence.
Why do we watch? Conditioning? Gambling, a thrill. Perhaps it’s an attempt to retain our failing manhood!
The pro bowl is now a flag football contest. No one cares! The game is a fallen warrior in search of a dignified funeral!
Remember , markets take time to adjust! Owners are in search of aguarantee, certainty, so put someone your fanbase likes under center well into their forties!I am a Lion’s fan. We haven’t sniffed a superbowl. We are pretenders in my opinion this year. Time to look elsewhere for good football! Remember, the market is slow, but will eventually provide an alternative to this sad show.
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