Saxum Posted August 9, 2017 Posted August 9, 2017 In the last 10-15 years, partly in the name of player safety and partly in the name of giving more eye popping numbers, we've tightened the rules on what a defense can do. With instant first downs for tugging at 5 yards past the line of scrimmage, large penalties for hits on receivers when they go up to get the ball and flags for breathing on the QB wrong, passing has exploded. You can line up five wide receivers and pray that the 5th worst DB is a bit grabby. Meanwhile, pick plays are rarely called, even though it is definitely offensive PI. A big factor is some coaches teaching players to play to the limit and beyond with extensive evaluation of referee teams before team and afterwards. Forgot about good sportsmanship and bounties exist whether officially or not. Players make plays which put players out of game and sometimes career and NFLPA defends them. The NFLPA reduced amount of time to practice proper tackling and this adds to risk of players.
Over 29 years of fanhood Posted August 9, 2017 Posted August 9, 2017 More and more pro players are retiring in their 20s. 25,000 fewer high school kids played football last year versus the year before. Are we witnessing the end of the Golden Age of football? Will the better athletes now choose other sports? Will football become the refuge for the guys not good enough for baseball, basketball, soccer, MMA, x-sports, etc? Will our grandchildren be amazed how good the players of the 2000s were compared to the players who came later? Will the players of today be the best players to ever suit up to do battle on the gridiron? http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2726124-report-shows-continuing-drop-in-high-school-football-players?iid=ob_homepage_deskrecommended_pool Nah, they are just an innovative helmet away.
Saxum Posted August 9, 2017 Posted August 9, 2017 Which golden age? The winged-T? Option? Steel Curtain? Run and Shoot? Tampa 2? Spread? The game evolves. They have made rule changes to make the game safer but the intended consequence is an imbalance favoring the offense. The next shift that needs to happen is to change PI to a 15 yard penalty and not a spot foul, as well as an emphasis on offensive PI. This will help level the playing field. I think it was intentional by league to get more scoring.
Rico Posted August 9, 2017 Posted August 9, 2017 (edited) For me the Golden Age of football was 1989-1993. Everything else has been a mirage. Truth be told, I think the real golden age was from the '70's-90' before free agency, greed, advertisers and bull **** took over. Once the athletes became pampered prima donna's the luster of the real game wore off. Growing up in Buffalo, nothing felt as good as hitting the field in the blustery air of fall and knocking a few bodies around, whether it was a pickup game or a league game, football was just plain fun. I think the modern era took the fun out of the game. I think the Golden Age of the NFL started well before 1989, but I think it ended after the 1992 season. Started going to hell with full-blown free agency. Edited August 9, 2017 by Rico
Beast Posted August 9, 2017 Posted August 9, 2017 My kids two Boys will NOT be allowed to play football. As a parent and former player through college I would not be doing my job in keeping them safe if i allowed them to play. But my two and the 25,000 that didnt play last year will affect nothing. Football will still be used by alot of kids as an "out" and a solution to a better life Going to stop them from joing the military too, Major? How about driving?
BADOLBILZ Posted August 9, 2017 Posted August 9, 2017 Will the better athletes now choose other sports? Will football become the refuge for the guys not good enough for baseball, basketball, soccer, MMA, x-sports, etc? The highlighted has ALWAYS been the case........that is nothing new. HS and college football may suffer greatly because they don't pay players for the abuse. If they start PAYIN' they'll keep playin'. Higher education should be free and football should be paid for. But the truth is that these guys in the NFL are there because they got no place else to go. Nobody is paying much watch Tom Brady or Russ Wilson be mediocre minor league baseball players. .
hondo in seattle Posted August 10, 2017 Author Posted August 10, 2017 A lot of guys here - all fanatical football fans - say they won't let their kids play football. Even some NFL players are now saying the same. While I think the NFL will survive, it seems the talent will decrease as more and more good young athletes opt for other sports. While it's unlikely I'll be alive in another 50 years, if I was I think the NFL fans of the day would be envious that I got to see the likes of OJ, Jim Kelly, Jerry Rice, Tom Brady, etc.
\GoBillsInDallas/ Posted August 10, 2017 Posted August 10, 2017 The Romans watched gladiators murder each other for a few hundred years, surely football can have a longer duration then that, right? Do you like movies about gladiators?
BillsPride12 Posted August 10, 2017 Posted August 10, 2017 Unfortunately I think the golden age of alot of things are over
Meathead Posted August 10, 2017 Posted August 10, 2017 ten years ago i said football as we know it will be gone in fifty years that leaves us forty years left. and i dont think it will take that long i was furious at my mother when she didnt allow me to play football. now theres no way in hell i would let my kids play football. see mother does know best
hondo in seattle Posted August 10, 2017 Author Posted August 10, 2017 Unfortunately I think the golden age of alot of things are over Agreed. My personal golden age ended a while ago.
BillsPride12 Posted August 10, 2017 Posted August 10, 2017 Agreed. My personal golden age ended a while ago. Ugh it sucks, it really gets me depressed sometimes when I think about the way the world has changed in so many ways and the realization that certain things will never be the same again.
BuffaloRebound Posted August 10, 2017 Posted August 10, 2017 Too much money being made for NFL to go away. They'll figure something out whether it be better equipment or changing some rules. Everything is one-sided against football right now. I'm sure a test will be developed in near future for CTE in live patients and the actual cause of CTE will be honed in on. NFL has almost unlimited money to solve a problem that threatens its survival. Probably at a low point right now, but I'll bet on NFL figuring it out.
quinnearlysghost88 Posted August 10, 2017 Posted August 10, 2017 i was just having a discussion yesterday about how the NFL talent is in a huge lull right now. once this generation of QBs go away (brady/brees/rodgers/rivers/ben/flacco/manning), who is left? who's picking up the torch?
DriveFor1Outta5 Posted August 10, 2017 Posted August 10, 2017 A lot of guys here - all fanatical football fans - say they won't let their kids play football. Even some NFL players are now saying the same. While I think the NFL will survive, it seems the talent will decrease as more and more good young athletes opt for other sports. While it's unlikely I'll be alive in another 50 years, if I was I think the NFL fans of the day would be envious that I got to see the likes of OJ, Jim Kelly, Jerry Rice, Tom Brady, etc. Yes, but the demographic of OBD posters isn't the same demographic that constitutes pro football players. Their refusal to allow their kids to play football is unlikely to take anyone away from being a future NFL star. i was just having a discussion yesterday about how the NFL talent is in a huge lull right now. once this generation of QBs go away (brady/brees/rodgers/rivers/ben/flacco/manning), who is left? who's picking up the torch? The QB position is definitely where the biggest struggle will be. However, I don't think it has much to do with declining numbers of younger people playing football. It has more to do with the offenses ran in high school and college.
Dragonborn10 Posted August 10, 2017 Posted August 10, 2017 I think it was intentional by league to get more scoring. Yes I think you are correct and I should have worded that differently. I think they just overshot the mark and they need to readjust the competitive balance. i was just having a discussion yesterday about how the NFL talent is in a huge lull right now. once this generation of QBs go away (brady/brees/rodgers/rivers/ben/flacco/manning), who is left? who's picking up the torch? What do you think was being said in the late 90's when Kelly, Marino, and Elway were retiring?
hondo in seattle Posted August 10, 2017 Author Posted August 10, 2017 Yes I think you are correct and I should have worded that differently. I think they just overshot the mark and they need to readjust the competitive balance. What do you think was being said in the late 90's when Kelly, Marino, and Elway were retiring? Fair question. But I really think this might be different. The big three used to be football, baseball, basketball. And, for a while, I think football attracted most of the best athletes. But with the concussion issue I think more and more good young athletes are going to other sports. Especially with the rise in the interest in sports like soccer, MMA, etc. Sure the NFL will survive. They'll make safer helmets. They'll change some rules. And they'll expand into other countries. As a business, the NFL will do fine. But with fewer high schoolers playing football each year, we'll have less talent moving up to the college and professional levels. Maybe that'll be offset by more international athletes playing football. Or maybe, just maybe, the Golden Age of professional football is ending. And those of us alive right now are witnessing the peak of NFL history.
mannc Posted August 10, 2017 Posted August 10, 2017 i was just having a discussion yesterday about how the NFL talent is in a huge lull right now. once this generation of QBs go away (brady/brees/rodgers/rivers/ben/flacco/manning), who is left? who's picking up the torch? This is a nonsense argument. There are plenty of good young QBs in the pipeline, perhaps more than ever before: Wilson, Prescott, Winston, Luck, Mariota, Cousins, 3 picked in the top 12 this year, probably more than that next year...QB is the least of football's concerns. But with fewer high schoolers playing football each year, we'll have less talent moving up to the college and professional levels. Maybe that'll be offset by more international athletes playing football. Or maybe, just maybe, the Golden Age of professional football is ending. And those of us alive right now are witnessing the peak of NFL history. The NFL (and CFB) will continue to thrive so long as millions still want to watch it every week in the fall and winter, regardless if fewer kids play in HS. The contracts get bigger every year and I'm not aware that ratings have declined significantly. If the huge contracts are still there, top athletes will still play the sport, regardless of the risks, although a few blue chippers might opt for basketball or baseball, but that's always been the case.
iinii Posted August 10, 2017 Posted August 10, 2017 remember looking forward to heavyweight championship bouts? it was pretty excitingYou said it. I took a cheater box to work one night to watch Tyson/Holyfield and packed that little bar with a 15" screen. I only sold drinks in between rounds and everyone loved it. I can still see all those faces staring at that little television.
Big Blitz Posted August 10, 2017 Posted August 10, 2017 (edited) The kids who aren't playing likely had zero future in college football. This game is going nowhere. And that's good. It's the greatest game God ever created. I played in high school but not youth league. I've been a high school coach from 2002-2011. I stopped as my kids got older. Now my 8 year old is in his first year of tackle. I'm coaching his team. Kids at this age are barely hitting each other. Yes they're some strong physical ones but you match them up with their equals. I can say that 80 percent of the kids playing youth league are taking minimal shots to the head. They don't know what they're doing yet. Violent is not even close to how these 8 and 9 year old youth football age kids play. I've been around it for 5 plus years now. Only concern I have is that my 2 boys just get good coaches (which is why I wanted to coach their first years of tackle.) My oldest is now with the 12 and 13 year olds and he'll be playing middle school ball next fall. Both just love the game. And that's all I love to see. I remain far more concerned about knee or ankle or spinal injuries then head trauma. If they get to college and beyond its something to consider. Not in high school or youth league. To each their own and if you are concerned about safety then you do you. The most serious injury at my high school 2 years ago was a soccer player who got hit so hard to the ground he suffered a serious brain injury and was medivacked to the a local trauma center. The game is being coached differently. We're not telling the kids to make contact with their face mask anymore....we're teaching how to use the shoulder and get the head out of the way (eyes to thighs). We're hitting less (no reason "bull in the ring" i.e. the "here's your concussion drill" should ever be played. They get proper rest between practices and we limit real deal contact. There are other ways to train and prepare without hitting all 2 hours of practice. That doesn't mean the game is finished. No way. And boxing is not dead. It's corrupt as hell and the kids all gravitated to MMA. Which is far more brutal. Sent from my SM-G928V using Tapatalk Edited August 10, 2017 by Big Blitz
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