Major League Football

[Mikie2times]

IMO the league was more enjoyable before Free Agency even started. Some hated the dynasties, but to me the chase to knock those teams off the pedestal was a hell of a lot more exciting then watching a league full of 9-7 teams playing parity ball. I liked the David vs. Goliath match ups each year, knowing exactly which players I hated most, and most importantly which players I could love because I knew they would remain Bills.

 

When Free Agency started many of these things I enjoyed about NFL football started to subside. The saving grace in all of it was knowing that every year no matter how bad your team was you had a chance to turn things around the next season. It was a strong selling point for the fans, and something that partially made up for no longer being able to identify players with teams, and knowing who was the hunter and the hunted.

 

Now following the new labor agreement it seems like many fans are not only losing those great pre free agency concepts, but all of the post free agency concepts as well. How else could you describe the situation when you have a team like Buffalo that has more cap room then just about any team in football, yet will most likely lose the best FA they have? People have come up with a thousand ways we could potentially sign Nate, but if it was really viable in the long run for us to spend that much on a player then why haven't we already signed him? Again we have just about more cap room then any team in football.

 

The contracts we will see over the next few years will be shocking. The days of us bringing in marquee players or even bringing back our own are over. Eventually agents won’t allow players to renegotiate for peanuts knowing that millions more can be had by waiting. To survive we will have to become the Oakland A's of the NFL, and still draw some of the best crowds in football. We will have to spend less and win the same. Small market teams and non giants face similar yet less catastrophic issues as Buffalo. The people that lose the most are the same people who made the NFL what it is today, the fans.

 

F-You for what you did to the game I love.

[Kelly the Dog]

What would you HONESTLY feel like if you were a player, the league was at its zenith popularity wise, the fat cat owners were making all that money instead of you, you were stuck on a losing team and weren't allowed to move, and baseball players were making ten times as much for playing 1/10th as hard.

[buffalomike]

What would you HONESTLY feel like if you were a player, the league was at its zenith popularity wise, the fat cat owners were making all that money instead of you, you were stuck on a losing team and weren't allowed to move, and baseball players were making ten times as much for playing 1/10th as hard.

 

I know it really isnt the crux of your point but baseball players play exactly 142 more games than the average football player does in a year. They also travel for the majority of the summer.

[Tortured Soul]

Aren't you 24 years old? You don't remember 2-14 season, or what it was like before there was hope year after year of a quick turn-around. You havent seen the Ralph with 30,000 people showing up for a game.

 

The Bills are unfortunately in a very small minority, and maybe even the only team that can't compete financially. You dn't change a whole system which 32 teams abide by for one or two struggling teams. That's just reality. I don't like it any more than you do.

 

IMO the league was more enjoyable before Free Agency even started. Some hated the dynasties, but to me the chase to knock those teams off the pedestal was a hell of a lot more exciting then watching a league full of 9-7 teams playing parity ball. I liked the David vs. Goliath match ups each year, knowing exactly which players I hated most, and most importantly which players I could love because I knew they would remain Bills.

 

When Free Agency started many of these things I enjoyed about NFL football started to subside. The saving grace in all of it was knowing that every year no matter how bad your team was you had a chance to turn things around the next season. It was a strong selling point for the fans, and something that partially made up for no longer being able to identify players with teams, and knowing who was the hunter and the hunted.

 

Now following the new labor agreement it seems like many fans are not only losing those great pre free agency concepts, but all of the post free agency concepts as well. How else could you describe the situation when you have a team like Buffalo that has more cap room then just about any team in football, yet will most likely lose the best FA they have? People have come up with a thousand ways we could potentially sign Nate, but if it was really viable in the long run for us to spend that much on a player then why haven't we already signed him? Again we have just about more cap room then any team in football.

 

The contracts we will see over the next few years will be shocking. The days of us bringing in marquee players or even bringing back our own are over. Eventually agents won’t allow players to renegotiate for peanuts knowing that millions more can be had by waiting. To survive we will have to become the Oakland A's of the NFL, and still draw some of the best crowds in football. We will have to spend less and win the same. Small market teams and non giants face similar yet less catastrophic issues as Buffalo. The people that lose the most are the same people who made the NFL what it is today, the fans.

 

F-You for what you did to the game I love.

[Kelly the Dog]

I know it really isnt the crux of your point but baseball players play exactly 142 more games than the average football player does in a year. They also travel for the majority of the summer.

And they frolic around in the outfield in pajamas while football players run full speed 30-40 yards and try with all their might to literally knock the other guy's head off or knees out.

[BUFFALOTONE]

[eSJayDee]

I think that the 'new era' of FA has added a couple of thinmgs that enhance the general enjoyment of the NFL, but I'll admit, there were good things about "the good ole days" that I miss.

 

Namely, the last few weeks of the season, most teams are still in the hunt for the playoffs. This means more 'scoreboard watching' which of course enhancing your enjoyment (or else you wouldn't do it) and also enhancing the NFL's "presence".

 

The NFL has now become almost a year round activity although the season for most teams is still only 16 weeks long. Used to be, your season was over come January and you had virtually NOTHING going on, save a couple of days in April, until July; it was then still a couple of months b4 'real' stuff happened.

[Pyrite Gal]

I'm not sure whom you are made at or ranting against for screwing up the game because my sense is that the emergence of the the NFL as we know it today and the emergence of the growing partnership between the NFL and NFLPA occured simply because of the inevitable force of the free market.

 

Some may foolishly simply blame the players and its union, but actually the basic turn of events were:

 

1. The NFL originally developed with guys such as Papa Bear Halas, the Rooneys, and the other team owners gaining essentially a monopoly over the pro football product which allowed them to beat back competing capital resources such as the USFL and prior to that the NFL developers (robber barons) could not best down the AFL, but was smart enough to simply have them join the NFL when it could not beat them.

 

2. In the 80s the free market battle turned between the union and the league, but with the vehicle of the mid 80s lockout the NFL kicked the snot out of the NFLPA.

 

3. However, the key to this battle not turning into a situation like the route of the USFL, the players under the leadership of Gene Upshaw who employed some very smart lawyers proposed to simply terminate the NFLPA as a bargaining agent for the players.

 

This would have resulted in a total free market similar that which emerged in Major League Baseball and much like what the NFL did to deal with the AFL, they instead constructed a partnership with the NFLPA which is embodies in long and detailed CBA.

 

I can see why it is not crystal clear who you are ranting against, because the opponent to the old ways which you lament losing is simply the power of capitalism and the free market.

 

If anything, the NFL and NFLPA can be faulted doctrinarily for actually pursuing a fairly socialist method of sharing of the huge football cash cow between the owners and the players.

 

Actually, however, it ironically is the adoption of this socialist framework which restrains free market trading which allows the Bills to exist at all.

 

The CBA does disadvantage smaller market teams, but the alternative of a free market would completely eradicate smaller markets like Buffalo and large markets with a guaranteed revenue stream would be the norm if a free market were truly in place.

 

So I agree with you when you curse the inequities of the CBA it is inequitable to the smaller market teams and really unfair, However, as my father-in-law is fond of pointing out life is not fair.

 

If in fact the NFL operated in a free market framework, smaller markets which have historically been a part of the NFL and owners like Ralph and the Rooneys would likely long ago have been replaced with a bunch of Jerry Jones' and Dan Snyders and virtually every team would be in the Sunbelt or large urban centers like NYC.

 

You are correct to curse the CBA for its inquities, but Buffalo fans should alos praise it because WNY would simply be a speed bump as the team moved to a bigger market if the American sense of free markets really ruled the day.

[apuszczalowski]

IMO the league was more enjoyable before Free Agency even started. Some hated the dynasties, but to me the chase to knock those teams off the pedestal was a hell of a lot more exciting then watching a league full of 9-7 teams playing parity ball. I liked the David vs. Goliath match ups each year, knowing exactly which players I hated most, and most importantly which players I could love because I knew they would remain Bills.

 

When Free Agency started many of these things I enjoyed about NFL football started to subside. The saving grace in all of it was knowing that every year no matter how bad your team was you had a chance to turn things around the next season. It was a strong selling point for the fans, and something that partially made up for no longer being able to identify players with teams, and knowing who was the hunter and the hunted.

 

Now following the new labor agreement it seems like many fans are not only losing those great pre free agency concepts, but all of the post free agency concepts as well. How else could you describe the situation when you have a team like Buffalo that has more cap room then just about any team in football, yet will most likely lose the best FA they have? People have come up with a thousand ways we could potentially sign Nate, but if it was really viable in the long run for us to spend that much on a player then why haven't we already signed him? Again we have just about more cap room then any team in football.

 

The contracts we will see over the next few years will be shocking. The days of us bringing in marquee players or even bringing back our own are over. Eventually agents won’t allow players to renegotiate for peanuts knowing that millions more can be had by waiting. To survive we will have to become the Oakland A's of the NFL, and still draw some of the best crowds in football. We will have to spend less and win the same. Small market teams and non giants face similar yet less catastrophic issues as Buffalo. The people that lose the most are the same people who made the NFL what it is today, the fans.

 

F-You for what you did to the game I love.

 

Isn't this exactly what Ralph is speaking up about? The problem is that big market teams will dominate FA stealing players from smaller markets who may have the cap space, but not the revenue to cover it, therefore they become a glorified farm team.

[Pete]

Money is killing all sports! Man when I was growing up in Buffalo in the 70s I was the most passionate fan of baseball, the Sabres, and the Bills. I cant even begin to explain how much I loved all those 2-14 teams. The first baseball strike hurt me, but I came back with some lost passion. The second strike happened and I lost much love for baseball. I used to watch any game and love it! Then there was the NFL strike. I remember when 1:00 games would be over by 3:45. They now go on until 5:00 sometimes because all the commercials. I !@#$ing hate commercials! When I go to an NFL game and players are standing around doing nothing over and over due to commercials it pisses me off. It takes away from the enjoyment of watching football. !@#$ unions, !@#$ marketers, !@#$ advertisers, !@#$ the networks, !@#$ all greedy people..........you all contributed to the decline of some great sports.

 

What happened to the blogs? I wanted to cut and paste a Bill Hicks bit. I will sum it up in a paraphrase:

Is anyone in marketing here? Go home and kill yourself. You are the ruiner of all things good. Kill yourself. Kill yourself. Kill yourself. You are Satans little helper. Kill yourself.

[Mikie2times]

Aren't you 24 years old? You don't remember 2-14 season, or what it was like before there was hope year after year of a quick turn-around. You havent seen the Ralph with 30,000 people showing up for a game.

 

The Bills are unfortunately in a very small minority, and maybe even the only team that can't compete financially. You dn't change a whole system which 32 teams abide by for one or two struggling teams. That's just reality. I don't like it any more than you do.

Studying football has always been my only real hobby. I've been what you would call an NFL historian since I was old enough to research. I don't need to be in my 40's to recall a much different game, because the one I fell in love with is preserved in history, and was still very much alive in the early and even late 90's. If you want to talk about the history of this game shoot.

[Mikie2times]

What would you HONESTLY feel like if you were a player, the league was at its zenith popularity wise, the fat cat owners were making all that money instead of you, you were stuck on a losing team and weren't allowed to move, and baseball players were making ten times as much for playing 1/10th as hard.

I can empathize with the players, especially in comparison to other sports. At the same time the players would have no game to play if it weren't for the many brilliant minds and visions which are no longer being respected.

[Tortured Soul]

Studying football has always been my only real hobby. I've been what you would call an NFL historian since I was old enough to research. I don't need to be in my 40's to recall a much different game, because the one I fell in love with is preserved in history, and was still very much alive in the early and even late 90's. If you want to talk about the history of this game shoot.

I don't doubt your knowledge of the game, and I'm only 22 (and would love to talk about history), but I think you're talking about an emotional response. I don't think it can possibly be the same. I'm a Yankee fan, and I don't get the same reaction, the same memories from watching a 1961 World Series game as a 1996, even though I may know as much about both. I think the same thing applies to football. I can cite OJ's stats like I can cite Thurmal's, but I can't tell you what it was like to watch him.

[Pyrite Gal]

Isn't this exactly what Ralph is speaking up about? The problem is that big market teams will dominate FA stealing players from smaller markets who may have the cap space, but not the revenue to cover it, therefore they become a glorified farm team.

 

Unfortunately this may be the result of a free market system where capital holders are able to pay the market price they determine a player is worth as long as they live up to the contract they agreed to with an individual player within the confines of the contractual agreement in civil society.

 

The reason the NFL operation actually smacks of a more socialist perspective than an absolute free market perspective is that the NFL and the NFLPA have agreed to restrain trade (for example a person like a Maurice Clarett could not sell his services on the free market to the highest bidder because the NFL and NFLPA agreed to restrain the free market and bar individuals from agreeing to contracts until the class they entered with graduates. This agreement is unlike that in major sports such as baseball or hockey where athletes enter their market place as 16 year olds (the general age of consent where for economic purposes one is an adult) or basketball where things are tigtening but LeBron James skipped college altogether.

 

The irony here is that things are more fair when the free market are subverted to a significant degree. A small market team simply cannot compete in a free market so the question really is how socialist or communist do you want to be to keep the game like you loved it because in essence it can be curtailed but the free maket cannot be stopped. The NFL has simply been better at developing a more socialist framework than the other sports.

[DrDawkinstein]

having nothing to do with FA, but more to do with what the NFL has actually grown into. which is an international billion dollar industry, with its own economy.

 

its safe to say that the NFL, if your talking level of play and exposure, has become its own entity.

 

college football is now what the NFL used to be

high school football is now what college football used to be (if you dont believe it in buffalo, come on down to atlanta or florida or texas or ohio and check out the high school coverage)

pop warner is now what high school football used to be (their championship was just on espn a few days ago, theyre already building profiles on kids to watch them thru high school and college)

 

i think a lot of that has to do with the negatives we see in the NFL now...

[Mikie2times]

I don't doubt your knowledge of the game, and I'm only 22 (and would love to talk about history), but I think you're talking about an emotional response. I don't think it can possibly be the same. I'm a Yankee fan, and I don't get the same reaction, the same memories from watching a 1961 World Series game as a 1996, even though I may know as much about both. I think the same thing applies to football. I can cite OJ's stats like I can cite Thurmal's, but I can't tell you what it was like to watch him.

Back around 1990 I remember taping all the NFL Films shows, going to the hall with my dad and using the research facility, compiling book after book. Now we have access to full game historical tapes which is even better. It's not the same as living in the times, but it can be much more then statistics if you want it to be. I also think if you experienced the 90's you got a decent taste of the way the league was intended to be. The 90's resembled previous generations more then the 2000’s have resembled the 90's.

[Mikie2times]

having nothing to do with FA, but more to do with what the NFL has actually grown into. which is an international billion dollar industry, with its own economy.

 

its safe to say that the NFL, if your talking level of play and exposure, has become its own entity.

 

college football is now what the NFL used to be

high school football is now what college football used to be (if you dont believe it in buffalo, come on down to atlanta or florida or texas or ohio and check out the high school coverage)

pop warner is now what high school football used to be (their championship was just on espn a few days ago, theyre already building profiles on kids to watch them thru high school and college)

 

i think a lot of that has to do with the negatives we see in the NFL now...

Funny you mention college being what the NFL used to be. I wish I could be a fan of a college team like I'm a fan of the Bills. I enjoy watching the college game so much more. I just don't think being a true fan of a team is something we choose, more like the team chooses us.

[OCinBuffalo]

F-You for what you did to the game I love.

I agree with a lot of what's posted already - old vs. new, owners vs. players, etc. However, I have been thinking about a solution that may in fact bring about the best of old and new. I'm gonna start a new thread with my plan, lame as it may be, and see if it has legs.

[Dwight Drane]

Mike, I think it's much more than the NFL itself as to why there is a real decline in passion all around. The Free Agency is just magnified because there is no loyalty between anyone today. It's a player's RIGHT to get his payday. It's every man for himself..Politics, Religion, Work...hell, the Mafia is a shadow since it was cool to turn whstleblower. Then you add in the internet and video games and ipods and all this instant entertainment.....in 1985 I used to get all amped up at 6:30 PM on Thursdays because Inside the NFL would be on in a half hour so I could see highlights and predictions. I used to cringe every time that flamer Bonichanti took the Dolphins even though I knew it was coming. Today, I can watch 3 games simultaneously on Direct TV, run stat tracker at CBS Sportsline of my 5 fantasy teams, call my friend in Detroit on the cellphone as their Lions are losing, and have the NFL Films soundtrack playing on my IPod. It is stimulus overload. The ritual and character of the game has been replaced with the all you can eat buffet.

 

I used to think it was me becoming older and more cynical, but now I realize that if $$$ comes calling, the NFL would trample me, Ralph would trample me, TKO and Willis would trample me, and the guy sitting next to me would trample me. Donahoe was a metaphor for this league....smoke'n'mirrors, and now the Bills fans need convincing to come back out, and I don't blame them. It's a long haul ahead.

[Pyrite Gal]

having nothing to do with FA, but more to do with what the NFL has actually grown into. which is an international billion dollar industry, with its own economy.

 

its safe to say that the NFL, if your talking level of play and exposure, has become its own entity.

 

college football is now what the NFL used to be

high school football is now what college football used to be (if you dont believe it in buffalo, come on down to atlanta or florida or texas or ohio and check out the high school coverage)

pop warner is now what high school football used to be (their championship was just on espn a few days ago, theyre already building profiles on kids to watch them thru high school and college)

 

i think a lot of that has to do with the negatives we see in the NFL now...

 

While money is NOT the driving force behind everything, it unfortunately is a significant force in just about everything, particularly in a capitalist economy.

 

It was probably not a coincidence that even in the biblical world which were driven by monarchies rather than capitalism that a figure such as Christ apparently amidst holy words that still inspire people apparently was deeply opposed to the money changers in his society and really spoke out against the acquisitiveness which seem a big part of our society and the NFL culture.

 

In terms of your specific complaint about the elevation of the level of competition which has percolated down to Pop Warner football and the media using these kids games like they were ESPN as a conduit for selling commericial time for loot money does seem to be at the root of whatever evil is being done here.

 

One of the big differences between Baseball, hockey, other major sports and the NFL is that while other pro leagues pay beaucoup bucks for contracts and to run their minor league systems, the NFL has managed to stumble into and create a massive subsidy for the incredibly rich owners as colleges run a massive and unequaled development and training program for the NFL which allows the teams to escape the massive costs of a minor leagues.

 

Certainly there is something in for these colleges as they also (particularly at the BCS level get a big chunk of change for selling tickets and TV rights for their leagues. However, to the extent that so-called student athletes are not allowed to make any profits for their work and the selling of their likenesses and free trade for them selling their services is restrained, this certainly runs counter to a free market approach.

 

Even worse, given that a lof of these football budgets are for state colleges where it is your and my tax dollars which go to save NFL owners from having to pay for a minor league this is a tremendous government subsidy by taxpayers to the incredibly wealthy team owners.

 

Oddly when college players finally succeed (as I think they will in a mostly free market) of getting some cut of this huge income stream in the form of a payment, folks will actually probably mostly or even exclusively fault the players for their greediness and blame pro athletes for setting a bad example imitated by college student-athletes (this phrase is a joke in real life for a large part) for destroying the game they love.

 

Just as in response to the post which began this thread, I think one can correctly call the athlete pot black and be correct. but if one is being honest the real blame is that these athletes are simply getting over in a system which has been in place for years and George Halas and friends ran a general monopoly in running.

 

While I think one can make the judgment one wants about the NFL players it misses a big part of the point to not also acknowledge that the exact same behavior began years ago with the team owners and any fault one chooses to assign to the players legitimately starts with finding the same fault even faster and bigger (up until the recent CBA when the players collective became the majority partner) with the NFL as an entity and the team owners (including Ralph) in particular.