The Red Jersey
by Paul
Daniel Bateman lines up at linebacker during practice. Bateman is a former Gulf War veteran and also a former D.C. Swat team member. The quarterback snaps the ball, and Danny charges across the line to decimate the quarterback. Coach Jimmy McGinty says, "Good hit. Danny, in practice we don't hit the guys in the red shirts." Danny counters, "I know, coach, but I see that red and I just wanna go after it, like a bull, you know?" Quarterback Shane Falco adds, "Red. Means stop."
The above seen from the movie The Replacements, illustrates a new trend in the National Football League. As quarterbacks are increasingly becoming valuable commodities in promotions and advertising, the league and its officials have consciously, or sub-consciously, enacted a "hands-off" precedent for defenders. More and more roughing the passer calls are littering the games. It leads to the question, where has real football gone? Never again will we see a quarterback helicoptering into the endzone in order to secure a superbowl ring. Why? Quarterbacks have become the images of the league. Stars like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, and Carson Palmer are too valuable to ticket sales to be sulking on the sidelines like Drew Bledsoe. The league protects its stars.
Contact and hitting are part of football. In order to end a play, in most instances, one body ends up on top of another body. We cannot blame defenders for running into quarterbacks after a hard charge when he still had the ball. As Newton would say, "that much weight ain't too easy to stop." (Don't quote me on that). As we saw in last season's playoffs with the instance of Kimo von Oelhoffen and Carson Palmer, the quarterback is in a vulnerable position. He should expect contact, and in most cases, he does. Officials are too quick to throw their flags in situations that most quarterbacks would consider just part of their job.
Quarterbacks should welcome contact. Ronnie "Sunshine" Bass encouraged his offensive linemen to let a defender through so he could prove a point upon flipping the defender over his back. Becky "the Icebox" O'Shea proved a similar point on Spike, the formidable defender of the Pee-Wee Cowboys.
A young quarterback like Andrew Walter of the Oakland Raiders would garner more respect if he let planned to flip Lofa Tatupu over his head, rather than succumbing to his incessant pressure as he did Monday night.
There are physical quarterbacks in the league. Michael Vick is criticized for taking too much contact. Brett Favre is not one to slide at the one yard line even if he team is down by 27. But alas, these players are a dying breed with only occasional newcomers like Vince Young and Tony Romo.
So while referees litter the field with their yellow flags, and coaches grimace with every knock a quarterback takes, tickets will be sold, American Express will be endorsed, and all will be right in the NFL front office. But there will still be something missing in the hearts of NFL fans like me across the country.
Daniel Bateman lines up at linebacker during practice. Bateman is a former Gulf War veteran and also a former D.C. Swat team member. The quarterback snaps the ball, and Danny charges across the line to decimate the quarterback. Coach Jimmy McGinty says, "Good hit. Danny, in practice we don't hit the guys in the red shirts." Danny counters, "I know, coach, but I see that red and I just wanna go after it, like a bull, you know?" Quarterback Shane Falco adds, "Red. Means stop."
The above seen from the movie The Replacements, illustrates a new trend in the National Football League. As quarterbacks are increasingly becoming valuable commodities in promotions and advertising, the league and its officials have consciously, or sub-consciously, enacted a "hands-off" precedent for defenders. More and more roughing the passer calls are littering the games. It leads to the question, where has real football gone? Never again will we see a quarterback helicoptering into the endzone in order to secure a superbowl ring. Why? Quarterbacks have become the images of the league. Stars like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, and Carson Palmer are too valuable to ticket sales to be sulking on the sidelines like Drew Bledsoe. The league protects its stars.
Contact and hitting are part of football. In order to end a play, in most instances, one body ends up on top of another body. We cannot blame defenders for running into quarterbacks after a hard charge when he still had the ball. As Newton would say, "that much weight ain't too easy to stop." (Don't quote me on that). As we saw in last season's playoffs with the instance of Kimo von Oelhoffen and Carson Palmer, the quarterback is in a vulnerable position. He should expect contact, and in most cases, he does. Officials are too quick to throw their flags in situations that most quarterbacks would consider just part of their job.
Quarterbacks should welcome contact. Ronnie "Sunshine" Bass encouraged his offensive linemen to let a defender through so he could prove a point upon flipping the defender over his back. Becky "the Icebox" O'Shea proved a similar point on Spike, the formidable defender of the Pee-Wee Cowboys.
A young quarterback like Andrew Walter of the Oakland Raiders would garner more respect if he let planned to flip Lofa Tatupu over his head, rather than succumbing to his incessant pressure as he did Monday night.
There are physical quarterbacks in the league. Michael Vick is criticized for taking too much contact. Brett Favre is not one to slide at the one yard line even if he team is down by 27. But alas, these players are a dying breed with only occasional newcomers like Vince Young and Tony Romo.
So while referees litter the field with their yellow flags, and coaches grimace with every knock a quarterback takes, tickets will be sold, American Express will be endorsed, and all will be right in the NFL front office. But there will still be something missing in the hearts of NFL fans like me across the country.
posted by sportzdudes at 10:05 PM
1 Comments:
I believe an apt example of the ridiculousness of the protecting of quarterbacks occured on Sunday when Mathias Kiwanuka could not tackle Vince Young after Young appeared to have thrown the ball. Young then ran for 19 yards and a first down.
Thanks.
Paul
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