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On the post game thread the discussion moved into rules and tweaks and officiating, yes and calls in the GB/ SF game. Thought this was a interesting discussion and deserved a thread. So…..
Some years back the league made the decision to relax the rules to promote scoring. At that time the product was hard to “sell”, rating were meh and they wanted to appeal to a younger audience that did not want to sit through a 14-10 defensive struggle. Mostly directed to benefit the WR, protect the QB and limit what a DB can do
So fast forward to today. Every sports league has followed the same formula. MLB juiced the ball and let players juice to increase scoring, the NBA to relaxed rules to get away from the Pistons “bad boy” thug defense. I don’t think it was about the whiny fans as much as the NFL found out this formula of football was a cash cow
What unfortunately happened is the league and more so the competition committee overreacted to the PI debacle in the NOLA playoff game, or the “tuck rule” or back further the “Bert Emanuel Rule” on what was a catch in the Rams / Bucs playoff game. So they basically put themselves in a rock and a hard place. You can’t move the clock back to want it was, like it or not 20m+ people watch the product and networks pay billions and scoring is what the majority of fans want.
As to player safety, the league really does not care much, history tells us that. Sure some window dressing rules that are basically in place to appease any type of legal action and show that they are “trying” to make the game safer. So what fixes this? Honestly not sure. Full time officials won’t help, MLB & NBA proves that every year. Rule tweaks will continue to happen just because they will. As Jerry Jones said last year, the league likes controversy. It crates a new news cycle each week. It prints money.
Sorry for the long rant and appreciate everyone for “listening” to my TED Talk
Some years back the league made the decision to relax the rules to promote scoring. At that time the product was hard to “sell”, rating were meh and they wanted to appeal to a younger audience that did not want to sit through a 14-10 defensive struggle. Mostly directed to benefit the WR, protect the QB and limit what a DB can do
So fast forward to today. Every sports league has followed the same formula. MLB juiced the ball and let players juice to increase scoring, the NBA to relaxed rules to get away from the Pistons “bad boy” thug defense. I don’t think it was about the whiny fans as much as the NFL found out this formula of football was a cash cow
What unfortunately happened is the league and more so the competition committee overreacted to the PI debacle in the NOLA playoff game, or the “tuck rule” or back further the “Bert Emanuel Rule” on what was a catch in the Rams / Bucs playoff game. So they basically put themselves in a rock and a hard place. You can’t move the clock back to want it was, like it or not 20m+ people watch the product and networks pay billions and scoring is what the majority of fans want.
As to player safety, the league really does not care much, history tells us that. Sure some window dressing rules that are basically in place to appease any type of legal action and show that they are “trying” to make the game safer. So what fixes this? Honestly not sure. Full time officials won’t help, MLB & NBA proves that every year. Rule tweaks will continue to happen just because they will. As Jerry Jones said last year, the league likes controversy. It crates a new news cycle each week. It prints money.
Sorry for the long rant and appreciate everyone for “listening” to my TED Talk
