Why the NFL is Headed in the Wrong Direction

Ryan Marinelli — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 19:25:05 -0400

I'm an avid sports fan. I cannot fall asleep unless I catch the most recent SportsCenter or Jim Beam Sportsnight (because we all know that ESPN—or the
"Eastern Seaboard Programming Network" as my newspaper advisor once correctly put it—despises Chicago teams).

Sports are the one thing I truly stay on top of. And lately I've noticed a trend, specifically within the NFL.

The NFL is as popular as ever, but certain players and coaches are in the process of ruining it. We as fans are smarter than the ratings give us credit for, I hope. If the league doesn't clean up its image soon, people are going to stop watching, or at least I will.

The league is headed in a bad direction. The real role models of professional football are gone. Walter Payton, Dan Marino, John Elway: these guys exemplified football and sportsmanship the way they were meant to be. The so-called "athletes" of today's NFL can't hold a candle to those guys.

Blue-collar, well spoken, and responsible (responsibility being a characteristic most athletes today severely lack); the legends of NFL represented the true glory-days of football.

Most athletes today deserve the title of "money-hungry prima donna." Rookie contracts now are ridiculous. Let them work their way up the ladder. It's funny how most players who are willing to take pay-cuts are veterans who only want the best for their team (Randy Moss staying with the Patriots).

Some aren't even money-hungry. Some just like to break the law, just to get off with a suspension, or a fine. Players like Mike Vick, Adam "Pacman" Jones, and Tank Johnson are perfect examples.

Even coaches have gotten in on the fun. "Spygate" isn't looking like too good of a decision right now, is it Bill? I don't recall Jimmy Johnson or Mike Ditka being in a scandal quite like that. I don't see a difference between a player testing positive for steroids and a coach caught illegally videotaping. Each deserves the same punishment and—taking a page from Major League Baseball—an asterisk next to their achievements.

When I originally wrote this article, it was a rant in response to Donovan McNabb's comments during his interview on HBO. He was quoted as saying that black quarterbacks face greater scrutiny than their white counterparts.

What?!

Did he see, listen to, or read ANYTHING about Rex Grossman in the last two years? In a year where he led his team to the Super Bowl, Rex faced greater scrutiny than any quarterback that I have ever seen.

So why the need to bring up race? Because McNabb wasn't playing well and he was tired of hearing about it. The impression I formed of McNabb after that interview was one of a man making excuses and looking for a scapegoat to take concentration away from his poor performance.

McNabb is simply a decent quarterback who is expected to do great things (like win) and hasn't come through. Race has nothing to do with it. I don't understand how, in one of the more predominantly black sports, he can say that.

The dark days of the NFL are upon us, and they won't end until we, as fans, speak out, stop watching, and force the league to take action. The Cincinnati Bengals alone had nine players arrested within the past year (add Odell Thurman to that list). The Tennessee Titans and Chicago Bears each were forced to cut up-and-coming starters for legal problems.

And yet some people were surprised, even disappointed. I'm sorry, but it's the fans' support of rule-violators like "Pacman" that keep the circus that is the NFL going.

However, there could be a light at the end of the tunnel. The suspensions of Thurman and Vick (Vick's not currently suspended, however you think anyone will give him a job? I doubt it.) are little instances that Roger Goodell is taking the league a step in the right direction, but the recent reinstatement of "Pacman" Jones says otherwise.

True role-models like Peyton Manning, Adrian Peterson, and—I dare say it—the recently retired Brett Favre (who has spent more time listening to criticism than McNabb has on the disabled list) are the players who will lead the league out of the whole it has dug itself and return the NFL to its former glory.

The U.S. Government: Saving Our Lives One Syringe at a Time

Ryan Marinelli — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 10:04:56 -0400

The U.S. Government is in the process of saving the American people from yet another devastating development!

Football teams are using videotape to gain a strategic advantage! Athletes are using steroids! Wait…. That doesn’t affect our daily lives whatsoever? Well… it’s on the news all the time, isn’t it?

For the last half year all I’ve been able to see is Roger Clemens on trial and talks of his alleged affair. It must be of national importance. I mean, there can’t be any more pressing issues that need attention. I’m sure the government wouldn’t spend taxpayers’ money or time on something if it was, in fact, trivial.

Folks, I have underestimated the U.S. Government.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m tired of the circus that the sports world has been turned in to. I’m tired of the subpoenas, hearings, and undermining of the separate sports’ policies and procedures.

Are the commissioners of their respective sports too incompetent to implement simple drug testing procedures or investigations using their own officials? No. I’ll point to the most recent sport on the chopping block—Major League Baseball and its commissioner Bud Selig. He asked for the government’s help in cleaning up baseball.

See, now I don’t think that it’s Bud thinking he can’t control his sport, it’s more like he knew what was going on and isn’t willing to accept responsibility for years of substance abuse under his eye. With more and more former players like Jose Canseco coming out and saying that the officials of Major League baseball knew what was going on, the more apparent it becomes.

Now the government is becoming involved in “spygate”?

Are you serious?!

With the advancement in technology I’d be surprised if teams didn't have libraries of other teams’ tendencies and strategies….wait….they do? Oh, I see… well then it seems that videotaping would be irrelevant, wouldn’t it? Certainly not a matter of national security.

Let the separate sports deal with their problems. The whole process has become nothing but a joke.

Before the government got involved, sports were doing fine. A perfect example—the 1919 “Black Sox” scandal. Did the government get involved when 8 rogue White Sox players helped fix the 1919 World Series? No.

Baseball dealt with it itself, and had far better results than the government is getting now. The eight players were suspended for life. And that was it. There was no big show, no circus tents known as courtrooms. Just a problem dealt with swiftly and effectively.

There are real, everyday problems that need to be dealt with. Leave the GAMES to those who play. The government has more pressing issues.

You know that war in Iraq? The one with more and more soldiers not coming home? Last time I checked that took priority over steroids. Our country’s health care is a mess. And who knows where Bin Laden is…but I guarantee he isn’t shootin’ up in a stadium boiler room anytime soon.

Bleacher Report - Articles by Ryan Marinelli

Why the NFL is Headed in the Wrong Direction

The U.S. Government: Saving Our Lives One Syringe at a Time