Posted on 02/02/2014 11:34:17 PM PST by Kaslin
While everyone was paying attention to the demise of the U.S. economy, the U.S. workforce, the checks and balances written into the U.S. Constitution, a terrible tragedy has ensued almost unnoticed.
Yes, while the rest of were working to “save” the country from galloping Big Government, the most perfect game in the history of the universe has brought itself to the brink of extinction.
The downfall of the National Football League is imminent
There are many signs and symptoms of the NFL’s impending doom there for the thinking person to see.
The NFL used to have the problem that there was more demand than there was supply of NFL games. But after a half-a-dozen years of expanding distribution, including game replays, games without commercials, games over the Internet and NFL on demand, there’s too much product out there.
And then there’s the almost forgotten fact that the average fan won’t spend the $500 it costs to go to a game.
But that’s not the worst of it.
Their leadership is clueless, too.
Take NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for example.
Here’s a man who wouldn’t be a bad commissioner if he didn’t want to be a commissioner so badly. But he does want to be commissioner so badly that he thinks that HE’s the game.
Goodell is the NFL’s answer to Barack Obama, a guy who thinks that just showing up and being a rock star is his job description.
Roger Goodell is certainly the worst commissioner the NFL has had in my lifetime. He might be the worst commissioner in all ofsports in my lifetime.
Under his lack of leadership, the play on the field is incompressible, with rules so complex and indefinable that the referees are having a tough time calling a clean game.
Rule changes, like those affecting the part of football that has to do with the foot—kickoffs and extra points—have been deemed practically superfluous, without a lot debate, thanks to Goodell.
You gotta get the product right on the field first and foremost, guys.
That’s what the game is about.
But these aren’t the worst things about the trend of the game.
The NFL has allowed politics to be interjected into the game repeatedly, running anti-2nd Amendment commercials on the one hand during the Super Bowl, and rejecting a commercial from a gun manufacturer—who by the way sells a perfectly legal product, guaranteed by the constitution.
But the sellout doesn’t stop there.
It gets worse.
As my friend Bill Rogan, sportscaster for KNUS AM710 Denver has noted: “Quarterbacks Kyle Orton, Curtis Painter, Michael Vick, Rex Grossman, Drew Stanton, Ryan Lindley, Colt McCoy, Tavares Jackson, Jordan Palmer, Shaun Hill, Scott Tolzien, Seneca Wallace, Josh Freeman, Christian Ponder, Matt Cassel, Sean Renfree, Dominique Davis, Derek Anderson, Jimmy Clausen, Luke McCown, Dan Orlovsky, Thad Lewis, Matt Moore, Pat Devlin, David Garrard, Matt Simms, Geno Smith, Mark Sanchez (injured reserve), Tyler Bray, Chase Daniel, Matt McGloin, Terrelle Pryor, Brad Sorensen, Charlie Whitehurst, Tyrod Taylor, Josh Johnson, Zac Robinson, Jason Campbell, Brian Hoyer, Alex Tanney, Brandon Weedon, Bruce Gradkowski, T.J. Yates, Matt Hasselbeck, Ricky Stanzi, Blaine Gabbert, Chad Henne and Rusty Smith were all on NFL rosters this past season. But Tim Tebow wasn't.”
“Well they say Tebow isn't an NFL quarterback. He can't throw. He can't read defenses. He can't play,” Rogan continued. “I'm glad I watched the video to confirm that this guy can't play. He can't complete a pass. He doesn't do anything to help his team win. What a loser. No wonder he wasn't on an NFL roster. All those guys listed above have proven themselves to be NFL greats with highlight reels hours long. Yep, watch the video. This guy can't play.”
He can play. But really he CAN’T play… because he’s Christian.
"And just as I feel compelled to call out the league when it comes to injustices like the dearth of minorities in offensive play-calling roles,” wrote Yahoo NFL writer Michael Silver last year, “the apparent blacklisting of a quarterback who went 7-4 as a starter in 2011 and won a memorable playoff game over the Pittsburgh Steelers doesn't seem kosher to me.”
That’s because it’s not kosher.
Imagine the NFL blacklisting someone who is outspoken about global warming, or anti-poverty programs or women’s and minority issues.
They wouldn’t dream of doing it.
You can rape and abuse a woman, be an accessory to murder, get nailed for doping and as long your play on the field is acceptable, the NFL has a place for you.
But being a Christian?
That’s where they draw the line.
Of course they’re in trouble.
When the game that helped America kill the color barrier has no more room at the stadium for Touchdown Jesus, the end is near.
(P.s. While I was editing this column a commercial for Scientology appeared during the Super Bowl. It’s a good thing the NFL has standards. I rest my case.)
I think you will see Tebow As a movie star in the future?????
Dawg has read comments on Tebow from those who have.
You only know what the writers tell you. how many of the above flat out “suck”
Quite a few. But none "suck" as badly as Tebow.
Tebow has had three chances - Denver, New York, New England. He had the opportunity to strut his stuff before one of the finest head coaches in the game - Bill Belichick. All the organizations agreed that Tebow is at best a third string QB. His mechanics are bad. His accuracy is suspect. He cannot read defenses. He has no head for the game. He has problems digesting playbooks and comprehending game plans. He is not an NFL quarterback. And all your arm-chair analyzing won't change that. ESPN magazine did an article on Tebow shortly after he was cut by the Jets and lay out all his defects in detail. Here's the Link to it, but methinks you'll just say they protest too much. You'll continue to ignore the evidence and cling to your fantasy that it was all because of his religious beliefs.
How many points did the defense put on the board?
Was it enough to win?
Difference is the 2nd string QBs have all been in the NFL for the required time that they get retirement. So it does not cost the Cowboys to have Orton as a back-up. The team that has Tebow at a certain tenure (I think five years), they are responsible for his retirement. No team wants to have that liability for a professional second string QB. In the NFL, you either make it in five years or you are down.
Nice revisionist history there. No the Denver D did not get them to the playoffs. They got to the playoffs because once Tebow entered the scene the Broncos time of possession dramatically flipped when they became a running team.
Defensive stats for the season:
Through the first five games of the season with Orton the D gave up:
22, 23, 17, 49 and 29 points. Following Tebow that began to change, but the D still had horrid games like giving up 49 to Detroit in a game where the Broncos turned the ball over three times on fumbles.. but the offense could not stay on the field in that game.
Two critical games down the stretch in which Denver’s “great” defense almost cost them were games against Oakland and Minnesota. Both games in which Tebow trailed badly in the 4th and orchestrated inexplicable come from behind wins.
For some reason Tebow simply thrived in the 4th quarter and led all NFL QBs that season in 4th quarter QB Rating.
Elway had lots of help in pushing out Tebow. Peyton Manning didn’t care who he crushed. How does it feel to be humbled by basically a rookie? Huh Huh
And if nobody wants you on their roster then doesn't that say someting about their expectations that you can win them games?
Taking nothing away from Russell Willson’s talent, but he is bi-racial. He will be just fine. I really love the guy.
The problems went deeper than that. From an ESPN magazine article on Tebow from May 2013:
Certainly not about a QB whose ability makes him a third-stringer, tops, and not just because of his well-chronicled throwing issues. More troubling for potential employers is that Tebow struggled badly with the mental side of the game, according to a league source. At age 7, he was diagnosed with dyslexia, a learning disability that affects how he reads and processes information, such as a playbook or game plan. Tebow won a Heisman Trophy and two BCS titles and graduated from Florida with a 3.7 GPA. But he scored a below-average (for QBs) 22 on his Wonderlic test. As a kinesthetic learner, Tebow absorbs information better through using flash cards and hands-on repetitive experience than the traditional method of memorizing diagrams, notes and Polaroids from a playbook. That doesn't mean Tebow isn't smart or that he couldn't develop into a brilliant, quick-thinking quarterback. It just hasn't happened yet.
When the Broncos defense was on the field, offensive coaches would often tell Tebow the first series of plays they wanted to run when the team got the ball back. Tebow would nod, and they'd separate. And then, invariably, a short while later he'd ask for the information again. Sometimes this ritual would repeat right up until Tebow had to duck into the huddle and call the play. As a result, despite starting only 11 games in 2011, Tebow was flagged for delay of game an NFL-high seven times. Worse still was the fact that, according to scouts, Tebow almost never audibled because he struggled to quickly and properly read defenses. And of all the deadly sins Tebow committed against quarterbacking, this was the worst: lacking the self-awareness to recognize and fix these shortcomings. Maybe the most shocking part of Tebowmania isn't that he has been cast out of the NFL after just three years but that he lasted as long as he did.
Tebow may well has worked hard on his mechanics. But according to this, that wasn't his major failing as a quarterback and Tebow has refused to recognize that.
But when he was given the opportunity he made the most of it. He proved that he had the talent to play quarterback at the pro level. Tebow has had his opportunity and he proved that he didn't.
And I would point out that nobody in the NFL was or is as devout a Christian as Kurt Warner, where following his Super Bowl win his first words in the interview were, "Well, first things first, I've got to thank my Lord and Savior up above — thank you, Jesus." His was open with his faith and never passed up a chance to show it. Yet he wasn't blackballed like people say Tebow was. I wonder why? Perhaps it was because he could play the game?
Not necessarily, I think you missed the point of the thread. Are you also under the impression that ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, and CNN are driven by a desire for ratings that completely overshadows whatever political leanings they have?
The Broncos got gelded and Wilson gave God the glory.
Here is a pretty good and IMO a fair analysis of Tebow, his strengths and his weaknesses as a player.
The bottom line is that although he is a very nice guy and a team “leader” and has certainly has some talent, he just wasn’t all that good where and when it mattered, in his passing game. Pretty much everyone agreed that he needed time to develop his accuracy, timing and footwork which were below par for an NFL QB and which BTW he was given numerous times, but didn’t. But most of all a player who performs as poorly as Tebow did in practice scrimmages isn’t going to get a QB or even a back up QB spot.
Jon Kitna lasted a long time in the league as a spot starter, sometimes backup. Very outspoken Christian. Tebow has proved that he’s not an NFLqb. Most college stars aren’t. Most Heisman’s aren’t.
Wonderlic is a useless holdover from a bygone era. Newsflash... Dan Marino scored a 16, think his career turned out ok. Tebow scored the same rating as Brett Favre, a 22. Ben Rothlesberger didn’t do much better with a 25.
As for the ESPN report, I would take that with a huge grain of salt as this followed his release by the Broncos, and by most accounts Elway did as much as he could to throw Tebow under the bus as he courted Manning.
Tebow didn’t audible because they were running a Read Option system, and there’s not a lot of audibling in that system. QB either fakes the handoff, makes the handoff or throws to pre-determined routes.
And I’m guessing you didn’t watch many Denver games that season as most of the delay of games were squarely on Fox who often gave play calls late in the clock. Funny, when left to his own devices and running no huddle Tebow performed just fine.
I’m not saying he’s a great QB or will ever be, but Elway made a poor decision. Manning is simply not a great big game QB. He’s 11-12 in the post season with 7 of those 12 losses being 1 and done. Even during the Colts Super Bowl post season Manning threw 3 TDs to his 7 INTs. I’m still trying to figure out how he won the Super Bowl MVP as his performance was average; that game was won by the Colts running game and Sexy Rexy throwing a 4th quarter pick six that ended the Bears hopes.
The Broncos would have been better served keeping Tebow and working on his mechanics in the off season, and drafting a QB for the future if you were unsure. That year the Broncos did draft a QB, but as an ASU Sun Devil fan I can say with no reservation, Brock Osweiller is not an NFL QB.
Ironically, Russell Wilson was available in the Broncos draft slot, but Elway went with the prototypical QB. Have fun with that.
I am under the impression that NFL teams want to win football games, and are willing to put up with just about anything from the player who can win games for them. The point of the thread is that Tebow was blackballed solely because of his Christian beliefs. That is flat out ridiculous. Tebow is not if football because he can't play his position at the pro level and his disadvantages outweigh his benefits from a development standpoint. And NFL teams recognize that. No other reason.
It was said that this guy, with his "eggbeater" gait, didn't know how to run, could never win anything.
The problem is the cool players can’t police the jerks. It’s a function of the rules, the officiating and reviewable camera angles. If there’s only so many games and each of them are so important and tight that a bad penalty could swing it, no one can risk self policing the jerks, in my opinion. So it seems like it’s a league full of dillweed players that don’t have a problem with all the swishy self-congratulatory chest thumping after even marginally successful plays. All the NFL can do is have rules suitable for five year olds about taunting/excessive celebrations. Most fans at least seem to eat it up, as far as I can tell. I think it’s fruity as hell, makes it unwatchable.
MLB probably has a similar jerk wad %, but there’s a reason nobody is making a choke sign to a pitcher who just gave up a walk.
Freegards
A few observations:
Baseball did much more than the NFL to break the color barrier. Until the 1956 NFL title game between the Colts and Giants, the NFL took a decided back seat to baseball in the popular imagination and culture.
While the NFL did have a few more black players during the same time frame, Kenny Washington, the player who is generally regarded as breaking the color barrier in 1946, was signed by the Rams at least in part because by law the team could not lease the Los Angeles Coliseum if they were a segregated team. Washington was also a college teammate of Jackie Robinson’s at UCLA.
It can be argued that the All-America Football Conference, the rival pro league of the day, did more than the NFL in terms of breaking racial barriers in the post-war period.
Robinson’s signing by the Dodgers, however, was a much larger event.
And as for the extra point thing: if they want to introduce an element of doubt to extra points, they should do them like rugby conversions. The conversion is attempted on a backward line from where the ball was touched down to make the “try”. Every kicked extra point is made from between the hash marks and is thus very difficult to miss. But should a team score a touchdown on a corner route, for example, the conversion would be attempted from near the sideline and would be much more difficult. For that one play, the hashmarks could be disregarded.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.