Top Ten Ways To Improve the NFL

As a die hard fan of professional football, Dustin McDaniel is concerned about the waning interest in the NFL.

523 reads

Editorial

May 13, 2008

Ways To Make the NFL Better

I have been a fan of pro football since, basically, the time I could walk. While other kids played with tinker toys or Lincoln logs, I was playing with my electronic NFL football game (you know the one where you could barely control the players or throw the ball, lol) or wearing something related to my beloved Dallas Cowboys. I would wake up on Sunday mornings fired up about the week's games. It was more than just a game, it was a passion.

However, let's flash forward to more recent times. As I get older, my passion for sports seems to have diminished in some ways. I don't know if it's due to the hectic nature of my current life or the behavior of today's athlete, but I find myself caring less and less.

At one time, I not only followed the NFL, but most other sports as well (that also included fake sports like wrestling and even the roller derby—stop laughing). After the last baseball strike, I quit watching altogether.

The NBA bores me silly except during playoff time, I don't get NASCAR, and the BCS in college football is an insult to my intelligence.

That leaves only two sports I still care about, golf and the NFL.

However, in the last few years, something strange has overtaken me concerning the NFL. I have started to find many of the games, uh, boring. Don't get me wrong, I still follow the NFL closely, but my enthusiasm is no longer as strong as it once was.

Is it me or is the game just not as fun these days? I think the game needs a bit of an overhaul and here is the way it can be fixed.

1) Widen the field—Today's athlete is bigger, faster and stronger than ever. I mean look at the speed that even the big guys play with today.

The field should be widen to match that of the CFL. If there was more room to run around, you would see more exciting plays, and the superior athlete would have the advantage.

That is why Michael Vick was so exciting to watch. However, can you think of another athlete in the NFL that is that exciting?

That is because the field is too small, and there is limited room for the receivers and running backs to go.

2) Eliminate the fair catch on punts—I know what you are thinking. Some players would get killed, but if you widen the field like I suggested, there will be fewer injuries than you think. Nothing is more exciting than a great punt return.

3) Change the overtime rule—I am sorry, but this is one area where college football rules over the NFL.

The NFL rule is not exciting and unfair. It is pathetic that you can win the game without the other team touching the ball. Kickers today are more than capable of making a 50-yard kick, so the offense doesn't have far to go. Let's allow each team at least one possession, or play to six points.

4) Limit substitutions—One of the problems with today's football is that everything is package oriented. Limit the amount of substitutions teams can have. It is becoming increasingly difficult to wear teams down these days due to all of the substitutions.

There are other ways to improve the experience for the fan as well. Here is how I see it.

5) Extend halftime—In the old days, halftime was fifteen minutes. Did any of you even realize that years ago halftime was reduced to twelve minutes. This is a problem because it is impossible to go to the restroom and get refreshments.

I realize it is only three minutes but every little bit helps and gives more time for highlights which I think we all enjoy.

It also would allow the league to show a few more commericials.

6) Get rid of the boring piped in music—It seems like every stadium plays the same songs.It takes away from the atmosphere.

One thing that is good about the colleges is the team bands. I realize that is harder in pro football, but Baltimore has one and so does Washington.

Why can't the whole league? How about more team colors in the stands, team chants, and live music. It helps.

7) Cut out commercials after the kickoff—I realize you have to air commercials, but let's distribute them better. Excessive commercials after a kickoff ruin the flow of the game.

8) Make the big game seem big—The problem in the NFL is the regular season doesn't seem to have a "bigness" to it anymore. Some of the announcing crews are terrible.

9) Put some emotion back into the game—I realize you don't show an opponent up, but was there anything wrong with the old fun bunch in Washington?

Was there anything wrong with the Icky Shuffle?

Was there anything wrong with the Rams' Bob 'N Weave?

These things fire fans up.

Instead we have gotten ridiculous about taking the personality out of the game. Where are the characters that were so fun to watch? These guys are not fun.

10) Pay players on ability not potential—It is beyond ridiculous that any rookie can potentially make more money than, say Peyton Manning or countless others. Limit rookie contracts to three or four years and cap the amount they can make.

If they produce on the field, then the sky is the limit, but for every Manning there is a Heath Shuler or others. It ruins the team's cap space and forces them to get rid of older veterans. This in turn makes the teams mediocre.

The NFL is the greatest sport in the world, let's keep it that way.

Editorial

523 views

comments (10) write a comment »

reply to comment by Jeremy
3 months ago

Excellent thoughts. The only one I really disagree with is the fair catch, just too risky there. I too hate the commercials after a kickoff or even the punt.
reply to comment by Joe
3 months ago

I think the fair catches and music ones are the only two I disagree with. The fair catch makes it so that if defenders are in your face when returning a punt then you can avoid being killed by the opposing player. The only player that doesn't really need the fair catch is Devin Hester because he just takes it no matter where defenders are and goes crazy on them. Widening the field would definitely excite more Bears fans such as myself. On the music issue, it would get quiet, and when you have a certain song that gets played in a certain situation, fans get accustomed to it and it begins to become tradition (like with the Bears before kickoffs until recently they would always play the same song and the fans would sing along because we all knew the words because it was always played before kickoffs) as well as the team fight songs. Crank That would be the only real song that should be banned, way to overplayed.
reply to comment by Raider D
3 months ago

I don't care if a company wants to get rich! THERE ARE WWWWWWWAAAAAAYYYYYYYY TOO MANY COMMERCIALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A could be 1 and a half hour game are usually 4 HOURS! O-U-T-R-A-G-I-O-U-S!
reply to comment by John
3 months ago

All legitimate gripes, but the league is only responsible for a few of those. The networks run the TV aspect and the individual venues handle the som of the other stuff

They are the ones giulty of the lame environments
reply to comment by Michael
3 months ago

great BCS point it's a joke and we all know that but maybe its because your beloved Cowboys haven't won a playoff game since 1996 and were once beat by Jake the Snake Plummer in a playoff game... Tony Romo and I are tied in playoff wins with 0.
reply to comment by Cody
3 months ago

You don't think that less substitutions wouldn't lead to more injuries?
reply to comment by Daniel
3 months ago

How about this one:

Force incompetent owners who've presided over the worst team in professional sports over the last few decades to SELL THE TEAM TO SOMEONE WHO CARES. And yet, Matt Millen gets another contract extension...
reply to comment by Amorous Aardvark
3 months ago

Good points, some possible..others snowballs chance in hell.

Players are bigger and faster, but the NFL likes it's legacy's. Likes the record books as they are, and widening the field throws all the old records of pretty much everything into an archive book.
Of course, that said, the games did use to be shorter at one point, and season was shorter as well way back when, so you never know.

All for the college rule on each team handling the ball in OT. Read somewhere that because the team winning the flip only won something like 40 or 45% of the time, the NFL considered it a non-issue. Easy enough to change it and more and more teams have been showing interest in voting that way.

Completely agree on the celebrating. They seem to have forgotten the whole point of this "business" is entertainment. It's a game. Very lucrative game, but a game, none the less.
What's sad is the NFL allows someone to stand across from you, cuss you out, insult your family, in full ear view of all of the players, but has the audacity to state "He spiked a ball, that's taunting."

Agree on the pay.
NFL should adopt a cap for rookies, with incentives for playing time, where after a full season contracts can be drawn up. Unfortunately, that makes sense, and the NFL owners don't want a strike, so instead they'll just keep raising ticket prices, while they smile all the way to the bank.

How about modifying the Challenge Rule? I'm glad they started it, but why limit a team to how many challenges per half? I mean, if you challenge a call twice, and it's been proven the ref's blew it, you get one more challenge. Why only one? obviously the ref's blew the calls. How many times has a bad call cost a team a game, or chance of winning a game that ultimately decided their season?

How about changing the rule regarding refs? The NFL, way back when, was worried that ref's would be subject to bribes, so they have the rule all NFL ref's have to be well established citizens in the community, are required to either be a business owner, or be in a reputable position that the person wouldn't risk his rep, and also must show to the NFL his bank account balance, (forget how much they insist you have as liquid cash) to prove you won't be tempted by bribes...
Good reasoning, WAY BACK WHEN, but now with zoom camera's, instant reply, etc...why does the NFL not get full time ref's like the basketball and baseball does?
NFL ref's are, for the most part, grandfathers. These are 50 and 60+ year old guys running to keep up with BIG FAST players. Many times they're out of position, just trying to avoid getting crunched, yet still required to make a call whether a player caught the ball, or was in bounds.
Too much money involved in the most profitable sport in the country to rely on part time, elderly ref's.
(that said, some are in great shape, but some have trouble running, and that shouldn't be.)
reply to comment by Jeremy
3 months ago

Nice read!
reply to comment by Dustin
3 months ago

Let me respond to some of your replies and thank you.

1) I agree the fair catch rule is a little bit far fetched, but the kick and punt return is the single most exciting play in football. How much excitement did Hester bring this past season? I really think widening the field could lead to more returns.

2)I think it is debatable whether or not substitution restrictions would increase injuries. Obviously the more plays you are in, the higher risk of injury but that is what is wrong with football. It is not football anymore. You pay guys millions of dollars to only be on the field a handful of plays a game. Where are the tough guys these days?

3)Michael- thanks for the Cowboys potshot, lol. I have been a Cowboys fan my entire life and you have to take the good with the bad. At least, we are starting to make the playoffs again. However, I don't see what the BCS has to do with our lack of playoff wins.

4)The thing with the commericals is they have killed the game. A good compelling game has a flow to it. It is kind of hard to have flow when you return a kick all the way to your opponents 30 yard line and then pause for a commerical. It sucks the emotion out.

5)Concerning celebrations, taunting and true emotion are two entirely different animals. We talk about football being the ultimate team game yet when Moss breaks a record, the Patriots get flagged for wanting to celebrate as a team for a major accomplishment? Say what? You won't allow Peyton Manning to wear different color shoes to pay tribute to Johnny Unitas?