What made it more gritty?
Gritty? Well, I kind of see how far the rules have now gone and wonder if those guys would have balked. Some of them are, of course, good measure, some just get to the point where if you breath on someone the wrong way you draw a flag.
In some ways you have to give the guys today more credit too as they have to be cognizant of all the rules all the time...makes some things difficult when they happen at the speeds that it happens in a game.