This season is going to be very interesting. Without a good training camp, I wonder if more players will get hurt because they didn’t have enough conditioning. I also wonder if blocks will be missed and routes ran incorrectly because players haven’t had enough time to practice.

I don’t want the game to be soft, but I also don’t want it to be sloppy.

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I agree and think that this year will not be a good indicator of new safety rules correlation with injuries due to the lack of team work before the season starts.
Mike Mayock was on NFL channel yesterday and he feels just like I do: that it’s wrong to take so many practices away from coaches. Even Willie McGinest was on today and said that when he was with Parcells early on in his career Parcells would run 2 a days in pads both times and they would hate it but they would be more conditioned for the beating late in the year. I think 2 a days in pads probably is a bit too much but taking the padded practices allowed down to 14, with 11 of them having to occur week 1-11 sucks royally.
So there are two former players right there Goodell who probably WOULD think the league is going a bit soft.

He didn’t give it careful consideration in the off season. He didn’t open the season by informing players rules would be enforced more aggressively. He didn’t implement the ejection rule that’s been on the books for several years. He certainly didn’t make any effort to better educate officials about what is or isn’t proper tackling technique so they could flag (remember those?) players for improper hits at the time they occurred.

No, he went off half-c*cked on a week when there were several dramatic hits because he feared Congressional intervention and imposed idiotic fines that have ZERO impact on the game. He made no effort to have an intelligent discussion about tackling technique. Several of those fines were reduced on appeal, and fines don’t help anyone on the field of play anyway.

Not one study was conducted to determine whether the fining was reducing the incidence or severity of head injuries. Officials blatantly ignored one player punching another in the face with enough force to break his nose. The whole thing was a farce. And it’s a farce for sportswriters to claim any of that moved the NFL one hair’s breadth closer to a safer game.

Insist on proper tackling technique, train officials to do their jobs, flag players on the field when it counts.

Here is another one. Why is there no ban on a RB lowering his head to hit a defender.

Yeah, you’re a moron.

I hope your couch is comfy.

Sincerely,

Dave Duerson

- killed the flow of games, making them take much longer to be played (due to the excessive amount of flags being thrown).

- dramatically tilted the table against physical teams due to the excessive yardage associated with some of these calls (if you’re going to throw flags every play, they can’t be 10- or 15-yarders all the time).

I’m giving the NFL one more year. If it resembles any bit of its 2010 self this year, I’m out. NCAA was way more physical, penalty-free and fun to watch last year, and I have no doubt that it will be this year too.

This season is going to be very interesting. Without a good training camp, I wonder if more players will get hurt because they didn’t have enough conditioning. I also wonder if blocks will be missed and routes ran incorrectly because players haven’t had enough time to practice.

I don’t want the game to be soft, but I also don’t want it to be sloppy.

Moments later, Goodell was seen with Rodney Harrison…

Joining him for a spot of tea.

Yes, the NFL has gotten too soft. Crist, the pioneers of the game played without helmets. They played Offense and Defense. Broken finger? Taped it and played. Hell, some of these guys would go to their full time job after playing a three hour mind numbing game. These boys today, even with the increase in size and speed, would be mocked by the men who brought us this sport.

So yeah, too soft.

^ yea’ totally agree homie g dawg…
I think we should just let tha’ playaz’ play and not read books and be crippled when they’re 30…Brandon Merriweather was just playin’ tha’ game dawg’….ka-durrh!?

Once again, it just shows that some people will always hate cops, regardless of how good some may be.

hrrrrrmmmmppphhhh!

-A hard body hit/tackle can snap a player’s head back, or being tackled to the ground can cause a player’s head to strike the ground so hard to cause a concussion.

-Does the league start looking into limiting the size (i.e. weight) of players?

-There are better helmets being developed but getting players to switch can be a problem because of the endorsement deals teams/players have with the manufacturers and switching brands. Or, some players wear their college helmets as they are more ‘comfortable’.

-Helmets should be replaced after a few years, or after being damaged as their integrity is compromised. How many players do you see with beat-up helmets being worn as a badge of honor, or the TV folks admiring all the dents, scratches and gouges in them?

Also, Goodell being the only one who has the right to decide on player fines isn’t right. There should be some kind of committee to decide that instead of the almighty commissioner.

Leaning down the slippery slope of pussifying, although still a long way from soft.

It’s unreal to see what the disease does to people. You appear to be in a vegetative state, but your mind is still 100% aware of everything; you just can’t control your body (not even your face). I can’t say I blame the NFL for trying to prevent it from happening.

That’s Shakespeare for “That’s total B.S.!”.

Again I say, he is softening the style of play in order to foster a basis for the enhancement of the Schedule (aka; the 18 Game Season) to wring more milk from the Cash Cow.

“JUST LET THESE MEN PLAY GODDELL!!1!! STOP BEING SUCH A SISSY!1!!!1! THIS IS FOOTBALL NOT TEA TIME!!1!111!!! GO STEELERS SICKS RINGS BABY!”