The NFL is set to dump the hip-drop deal with. The NFL Gamers Affiliation opposes the transfer.
On Thursday, league management shrugged on the union’s opposition, explaining that the gamers at all times resist modifications geared toward making the sport safer.
Certainly they do.
Peter King wrote an article for Sports activities Illustrated in November 2010 relating to the league’s response to the bang-bang-bang helmet-to-helmet hits that occurred on October 17: Steelers linebacker James Harrison on Browns receiver Mohamed Massaquoi, Patriots security Brandon Meriweather on Ravens tight finish Todd Heap, and Falcons cornerback Dunta Robinson on Eagles receiver DeSean Jackson. All of it unfolded in roughly 5-10 minutes of actual time.
The NFLPA didn’t just like the league’s choice to implement guidelines in opposition to hits to the top and neck space of defenseless gamers extra aggressively.
Stated union president Kevin Mawae, by way of King: “The skirts should be taken off within the NFL places of work.”
Steelers security Ryan Clark, who was the workforce’s union rep on the time, known as it a “unhappy day for the game.”
“The league has made James Harrison a villain for enjoying precisely the best way he performed to earn the Defensive Participant of the 12 months award [in 2008],” Clark mentioned, by way of King. “I feel what we’re seeing is a knee-jerk response to the results of the hits, not a considerate response to the truth of the hits.”
Historical past has painted a distinct image. The notoriously reactive NFL was attempting to be proactive on the subject of participant security, in defiance of the desires of the gamers.
It’s persevering with to today. The hip-drop deal with causes critical decrease leg accidents. The gamers apparently don’t care.
It’s one of many the explanation why I consider that, ultimately, somebody with some huge cash who can’t purchase a path to NFL possession will begin a brand new league that embraces the principles of days passed by. The gamers will join it. A sure share of the fan base will flock to it.
Proper or fallacious, the extra the NFL modifications, the extra possible somebody will determine to offer gamers who crave old-school brutality what they need. Sufficient viewers undoubtedly would embrace an old-school various for it to seek out the traction to make sufficient cash to outlive.
And possibly even to thrive.
window.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.init({
appId : '402627290431349',
xfbml : true, version : 'v2.9' }); };
(function(d, s, id){ var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));