Doubtful, but has anyone done a study on rugby or austrailian rules football to find an injury correlation between those sports & the NFL? Does the canadian football league have as many injuries and what is thier rules set up?
It is like my thought process about a lot of other things in life. The plays and players need to adapt to the rules and do not change the rules for the what the NFL thinks the public wants.....and that is points, statistics, glitz and all out glamour. It is ridiculous. If coaches don't want their players getting hurt, don't go across the middle or don't run other plays that put the players out there. If the coaches don't want their quarterback being blasted, then leave one of your tight ends in to block instead of releasing on a pass route. No more crying, especially from the offensive players. Any solid football fan does not want to see 500-6oo yard offensive football games every other game. It actually sickens me to see so many teams getting 500-600 yds per game. I can't imagine being a defensive player these days and having to sit in there and be an NFL statistics puppet.
These offensive statistics are ridiculous IMO. I don't like the drop back and chuck it game nowadays. 30/40/50 point games dont' even raise an eyebrow anymore (it's the norm). I'd much rather watch a defensive smashmouth battle. Running backs getting 200+ yards of total offense, receivers getting 100+ yards at will, QB's throwing for 300/400 yards with 3 or 4 TD's a game like it's nothing, etc.... It's become a joke really.
It does. Guys like Lynn Swan are having there career statistics surpasses within 3 years by these new NFL recievers.
As a fan who's team had one of those "glitzy" 40 point offenses in 2011, I agree with you 100%. I loved the Charles Woodson/Clay Matthews championship defensive team of 2010 soooo much better.
See the hit Brandon Marshall put on Sean Lee monday night..? perfectly legal. He wasn't "ready" for it. It wasn't the shot he took last year from Golden Tate but, still rung Lee's bell. I think the newer rules have more to do with preventing law suits to the league than actual player safety. Might sound cynical but, that's what I think. The money overrides everything else. Today's athletes are much bigger, faster, & stronger than yesteryears. Ligaments, & tendons are going to sustain more damage, especially when there is a conscience effort to hit low. Unless of course you are hitting a QB, then it's illegal to hit em in the head, or below the knees (if in the pocket). Pretty small target. It's a lot more difficult to play defense today, than it used to be. The rules have slanted waaaaay in the favor of offensive play. Which is a big part of why we see such high scoring play today. Used to be, 300yds from a QB was note worthy. Not it's standard. 400yds passing used to be almost historic, now it's a good game from a QB. Many QB's have had 400yd games just this season. A couple 500yd games. Gonna be interesting to see how the game evolves further over the next decade or so.
I don't even think that is debatable. For sure this is what is going on. I have to wonder though guys, it seems many of you are the first to claim players are just bigger, better, faster, and stronger these days... yet are the same ones hung up on nostalgia of the players of yester year feeling sorry for their records. Can't really have it both ways.
It's not that because every player in the league is bigger and stronger. So their competition is just as big an fast. We're talking about how the rules are slanted to favor offense.
Oh I agree to an extent. It makes the average guys in the league today look better than they are... but I think it is far too often used as an excuse to take away from the current greats. A guy with Megatron's size and abilities has never existed before, regardless what era he plays in.
I hear you on guys like Megatron Tembry. Other guys who would be 500 yds a year receivers in eras past are now receiving almost double that based on the new, sissy, offensively biased rules. I think members of the NFL upper management believe the NFL should be a video game aimed at producing stats for fantasy league players and keeping the statistically driven U.S. population interested. To me, it just sucks.
There were always guys who are able to dominate the game, that's what makes them greats. But when an average bench warmer can put up numbers similar to the all time greats of days past there's something wrong. To me its the same as moving the left field fence in.
If they went back to leather helmets I bet most of the problems would go away. Consider that most players don't pack the helmet with enough padding and their heads rattle around and additionally many don't even wear their chin strap properly. Studies have shown that it's not typically the direct impact that causes a concusion but often times the head and neck jolting around within the helmet upon landing or hitting the ground. If they went back to leather helmets you simply couldn't do helmet to helmet on purpose without knowing the repercussion. If they wore leather helmets, they would tackle differently and the landing would be completely different than how we see today. Injury is supposed to happen as a result of accident not because of a rule change, and it's obvious this rule change has just shifted the injury from one part of the body to another. EDIT: To ellaborate, leather helmets would change the bahavior on both sides of the ball. The NFL is focusing too much on trying to use rules and "better" equipment to hinder injury but aren't focusing on behavior - and I don't mean "bad" behavior necessarily - just the manner in which the game is played.
Like so many things...... it's all about the money. The NFL has grown into a behemoth of a cash cow. The more they make, the more they want to make. The different avenues, streams, etc to rake in the coin are what drives the NFL. Practically every rule change, or move the NFL makes can be directly traced back to the money... whether it's to generate more, or protect whats coming in. The offensive slant the league has today has certainly changed the game. Some think better, some think worse. Either way, it's driving more fans to the game. Whether it be casual fans, or holding onto the old die hards. I'd say the league cares more about bringing new fans than retaining old ones. (they've already got your money ) New fans buy gear, buy the sunday ticket, tune in, tweet, fb about it, & buy more gear, & buy more game tickets. Fantasy football, twitter, facebook, & social media in general has opened the NFL up to unbelievable exposure compared to 20, 30, 40 yrs ago.....like everything really. Fantasy players desire offensive stats. It drives the game. Networks want offensive explosions, as it keeps viewers. Slanting the rules in favor of the offense greatly assists this. It's in the name of player safety but, I believe its about viewership, & the coin involved. Lifelong football fan here. Got hooked in the 70's been following faithfully ever since. I earned my fandom wings growing up in Virginia, in a Redskins family......as a Cowboys fan Holidays are fun...lol. I'll follow it even if they go to flag football one day.....although, Im so glad I got to see some of the previous generations of great football. I appreciate the players & game of today, while respect the game of yesteryear plenty. I've played, coached, & been a fan my whole life. Regardless of what happens in the future, I'll always be a football fan.
