Tebow to the Jets, NFL Hammers the Saints

Tebow is now a Jet, barring any other snags.

 

As a 36-year dedicated fan of the Bronco's, I'm sorry to see him go, and I feel it was a very short-sighted decision. I think Manning is an injury waiting to happen and for the NFL bargain price of $1.1 mil, EFX should have waited a year to see what Manning could teach Tebow. The young man hasn't even had a single off-season to practice with starters yet.

As far as Spygate, it's pretty naive to think every team in the NFL hasn't and doesn't continue to do the same thing the Patriots were caught at.

And bounties have been part of the game since the toughest high school football players got to date the best-looking cheerleaders. Scratch that...it goes back to gladiators that won in the arena being awarded female slaves for the night. Scratch that...it goes back to Israelite men being allowed to keep the young women that "knew no man" as spoils of war.

In football, the primary (and in a sense only) method of defense is to hit other players as hard as possible to stop the advance of the football, to affect their performance physically and/or psychologically, and, if at all possible, to send them to the bench/medics so you can work on their 2nd or 3rd string players, who presumably aren't as good as the starters. This is what defensive players are paid for, whether we call it a salary or an incentive or a bounty.

I'm all in favor of greater safety gear than is currently in use, but this is a sport based on war and violence, not cards dice.

 

I respect your opinion. As far as spygate and bounties are concerned, I'm sure the league feels it has to slap some wrists to have the appearance of trying to enforce the rules. The Saints coach's punishment seems a bit severe to me, but the climate is very injury-sensitive today. The league's situation reminds me of those accident lawyers that almost never go to court, but nearly always settle out of court; even they occasionally have to go to trial just to keep the other guys from thinking it'll never happen. But the frequent references to the Pats or Saints as cheaters galls me because of its hypocrisy.

In defense, yes the ultimate goal is to stop scores and ensure good field position. The method, however, needs to be to hit as hard as possible whenever possible, because offensive players rarely just lay down and say, "Yeah, you got me," when a defensive player gets a hand on them. Not to mention the need to hit hard because of the size, speed, and strength of modern offensive players. Arguing over where the pay comes from seems like quibbling to me, like two kids arguing over two pieces of candy that came from the same jar.

I think every pass rusher is trying to bury the opposing quarterback on every rushing play and the rest is just a matter of motivation. Perhaps teams need to create more extensive contract incentives and find other rewards for aggressive play. Or perhaps it's the specific targets rather than the general position target that bothers people. Instead of, "You get $1k every time you knock down Farve," it should be, "You get $1k every time you knock down a quarterback." I dunno. "Taking a player out," so that he has to leave the game seems overly rough, but I don't know how else to play a game this violent.

 

Maybe you've convinced me.

I think players should play like professionals with some sense of sportsmanship. I just think the state of the game now is such that harder is always better, by most coach, player, and fan reckoning.

 

Though I am a democrat(conservative one that is), I was channelling my inner "Richard Nixon"; let me make this one thing perfectly clear!! :laugh: