Former Bills, Panthers and Colts executive Bill Polian has never been shy with his opinions.
And now that he’s a member of the media being paid to share them, he’s not shy about changing them either.
During a spot with ESPN’s “Mike and Mike” show when they were discussing the Atlanta Hawks’ tanking a game, Polian was asked about the propriety of sitting starters late in seasons.
“You’ve got to try and win every game,” Polian said, via Mike Chappell of the Indianapolis Star.
Of course, Polian dictated the opposite in 2009, when his Colts pulled starters and lost their last two games after locking up the top seed in the playoffs.
Polian called a perfect season “inconsequential” at the time, saying he wanted his team healthy entering the playoffs. But in the context of a basketball team doing the same thing, his ideas apparently changed.
“It’s a interesting conundrum because you can see both sides of it,” Polian said this week. “On the one hand, they want to set up the best playoff matchup, to go as far as they possibly can. On the other hand . . . at the prices that a professional sport charge these days, at the price that’s charged for luxury boxes and concessions and parking and all of that, it’s really a disservice to the fans, I think, to be in a situation where unless you are absolutely sure that you’d run the risk of injury by playing a player, that you sit him out.
“That’s been a problem for the NBA. It has not been, it never has been a problem in the NFL and that’s simply because job security is so difficult in the NFL. You’ve got to try and win every game.”
Polian has also flip-flopped recently on issues as inconsequential as whether Reggie Bush was good at football or not.
Frankly, it’s sad to see. Polian’s voice has always been one of the most respected in the NFL. But the more he uses it in exchange for money, the more he seems to devalue the words that flow forth.