COMMENTARY : A few minor changes might enhance NFL
Posted on Friday, September 5, 2008
You might not call the NFL “America’s pastime,” but it’s certainly our sports king. And while the king is proudly and fully clothed for its 76 th season, the emperor is in need of a wardrobe adjustment. A new tie, a snappier shirt, a bettersuited coat: a few things to make the nation’s most popular game even more popular. Or, OK, better: RADIO INTERFERENCE No radio transmitters in helmets. Not on defense. Not on offense. No matter how many gadgets the techies create, this is still running, passing, blocking and tackling. Let’s get back to the roots. Players make a lot of money. Let them earn it. That’s why we also push for...
SIGN OFF, PLEASE No signaling from the sidelines. That’s right: Quarterbacks call their own plays and linebackers make their own defensive calls. Let’s put the responsibility right where it belongs, in the laps of the players making the big bucks on the field. END SUDDEN DEATH No more sudden death. You want overtime ? Make it exciting. Don’t put the stakes on the coin flip. Give us the college system. Put the ball on the 25 and let playmakers make big plays. Give both teams the same opportunity.
EXTRA POINTS Adjustable field goals. Any field goals between 45 and 49 yards count as four points. Those 50 and longer count as five points. This would have a dramatic impact on end-of-half strategies. And the risk-reward calculus for points vs. field position would be more balanced. Two other advantages: the best kickers would become weapons again and kickers would be big players in fantasy football, which, along with gambling, is one key reason for the league’s popularity. WE LOVE LOS ANGELES Put a team in Los Angeles already. The Raiders returned to Oakland from Los Angeles after 1994, leaving the nation’s No. 2 market without a team. The Los Angeles vacuum is former Commissioner Paul Tagliabue’s greatest failure — at least until the current labor agreement blows up. CELEBRATION JUST FINE Ditch the celebration fines. The initials NFL long have stood for “No Fun League,” and there’s no reason for it. Fans in the stands are paying big-time bucks to watch games that many days are less than thrilling. So a star’s antics ought to be considered getting your money’s worth.
MAKE IT 17 There’s no need for 16 games and four exhibitions. Shorten the preseason two games and add a 17 th regular-season game. This won’t be popular with owners, who lose a game, but we fix that with... SHARE THE WEALTH A new revenue-sharing plan. NFL teams currently share TV revenue, but it’s ancillary money that has put bigmarket clubs in one corner and smallermarket clubs in another under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement. Jerry Jones (Dallas ) and Daniel Snyder (Washington ) seemingly print their own money, but Ralph Wilson (Buffalo ) and Wayne Weaver (Jacksonville ) are barely keeping their heads above a rising tide. If the league is going to thrive — and stem the power the players’ union now has — pooling all revenue is a must. HARMONY OVERSEAS Fix the international situation. No more having just two to four teams play international games a year. All play or no play. Playing overseas takes a toll on players, coaches and staff. It’s hard to understand why the NFL, the king of parity, would let such an unbalance go unchecked. (The reason is money, of course. )
HONOR THE PAST Take care of the retirees. How about this: 20 percent of every bonus and every paycheck goes to an escrow fund for former players to help pay for medical and retirement benefits for them. Yes, these guys play because they want to. But at some point they’re going to have to go to work because they have to, and they ought to have the health to work — and to enjoy their life after football.
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