Over the last 5 or so years, we’ve seen the NFL change many of the rules of the NFL. The NDL today is nothing like the NFL I grew up watching in the early 2000s. Many of the calls that are made now would not have been made 5 years ago let alone 10 years ago.
The league insist that the reason for these rule changes are to protect the players, which I am all for, but at what point does the concept of the game get considered? Football is a rough sport, and a lot of the hits made in the game are violent; we all know this to be a fact. But the game is changing in a way that makes the current players not enjoy what they are doing. Too many rules can actually hurt.
When the CTE evidence was released by Dr.Bennet Ifeakandu Omalu in 2002, the evidence was shocking. We all knew that football caused lifetime injuries, but we didn’t know how it would affect players mentally until the evidence of CTE came out. The lawsuit between former players and the NFL became the biggest worry to the league. The former players accused the NFL for negligence and failure to notify players of the link between concussions and brain injuries. This case was made back in 2012 when players were just finding out about the impact of CTE.
#ClayMatthews got flagged for this hit. Thoughts?!? #GBvsWAS #NFL #Packers pic.twitter.com/Uo5LoZ0W3o
— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) September 23, 2018
Now it is 2018, and the league has watered down the league so much that players do not want to play. Defensive players can’t even have a clean hit on players without a flag hitting the turf. The refs have become part of the game and the game plan for many teams. If you ever see a hit on a player on the sideline, you will see his entire team yelling for a flag to be thrown. That is not what football is suppose to be.
I think at a certain point, when a player straps on a football helmet he is making a choice to play football. At almost every level, the understanding that football can cause long-term brain injuries is known. It is almost common knowledge at this point. So if you decide to play football it becomes your choice.
Clean! A clean hit in the NFL does exist I guess… DAMN! #Jaguars pic.twitter.com/yEt0gHj2ca
— Laurie Fitzpatrick (@LaurieFitzptrck) September 23, 2018
Almost every player in the NFL has to go through college to get to the NFL, so almost every player has the option to pursue other interest if the want to. If you are in high school and you are playing football, you have the option to get an academic scholarship and not play. The worst part is that if you are currently in the NFL, you can quit the NFL like any other other Job.
Current acceptable hits on the quarterback in the #NFL pic.twitter.com/tw5wuOz0Pf
— JCorrado (@ForzaCorrado) September 23, 2018
At some point, the decision to play football after knowing about CTE and the brain injuries becomes a choice. I am for the players and the game being safer than it was when I was a kid, but I think the NFL owners need to sit down with the players and ask them, what do they want? How do the players want to be officiated? Because until then, the league and the players will always have a problem with how the game is going.
In the words of Green Ba Packer linebacker Clay Mathews, “The NFL is getting Soft.”