8 Things Worse Than Bounties in the NFL

Admittedly, I like this slide show for a few reasons. First and foremost, as my friend Matt Birch said, it makes you think outside the box.

Football, when you really look at it, is such a twisted game of abuse and more abuse—as evidenced in the way players attack each other now, looking for the "perfect" hit or the SportsCenter highlight. There is more to looking good and losing than playing bad and winning. Maybe I am just the cynic in the room, but I have looked at the current state of my favorite game and for once, I am puzzled at the game I see.

In reality, I am puzzled by the business I see. The NFL promotes the team on the jersey, for the most part, more so than the name on the back, which in some regards is a good thing. But when you look at the current state of the NFL and the idea that bounties are placed on players and cash rewards are offered for eliminating players from a game or "taking them out" as it is called, then I have to say this is a savage game we watch and love so much.

But, after all, the savage instinct and the almighty "hit" is what we football fans live for.

The other reality is this is something that probably has been ongoing for decades, and we have just been blind to it or the nature of it has been veiled for some time.

And while players try to make that perfect hit, snap the perfect catch and make the game-saving tackle, there a few things that are on the periphery that could be considered just as wrong in this business as the actual talk of bounties or taking a player out of the game for money.

When you consider these things that are impeding the progression of the game and making it harder and more expensive to watch, enjoy or comprehend, then these things must be considered just as harmful to the game itself.

Owners Who Focus More on Profits Than Football

I know it is hard to believe, but some owners in sports just want to make money.

Shocker, I know.

When you look at the owners in the NFL, the solid franchises make money and revenue and use that to improve the well-being of the team. They put back in what they have received.

This past weekend, Daniel Snyder traded away what appeared to be the future of his franchise for one player. He has spent money in the past to acquire players with disregard for contracts and expense.

Someone like Robert Griffin III may turn out to be a tremendous player. But is he worth the three first-round picks and multiple other choices Snyder gave to St. Louis to move four spots in the draft?

Trading away picks, which Washington was famous for in the 1980s, is not going to help this team get better any time soon. It appears it is self-sabotage because he has money to burn.

Concussions

It is a topic that continually comes up in conversation: players leading with their helmets, trying to knock one another out and then wondering why they are being fined for a "dirty" hit.

The teams who have players suffering these concussions should be questioned as to whether winning is more important than the welfare of the athlete.

Colt McCoy is the prime example: He was hit by James Harrison in a late-season game and left the game only to be sent back in to play by the Cleveland coaching staff because it cannot be determined if he had suffered a concussion.

Both sides were wrong. Concussions, no matter how severe or minor, only lead to more concussions. While the league is working to crack down on "dirty" hits and the veteran's and player's associations are trying to help with new concussion guidelines, it would appear both sides are miles apart from agreeing.

Players' off-the-Field Issues

I know this one may sound odd, but I don't think of athletes as role models. Not that I subscribe to the theory of Charles Barkley. These men (and women) are given a gift of talent. They do not go through some training class about how to be good citizens.

Even the "common" man or woman does not go through that on a daily basis. And just because they are given million of dollars (which I do not agree with either), it does not mean they have some responsibility to teach our children right from wrong.

But, this is what I do think. The off-field issues with guns in night clubs, the reality television shows that portrays these people as divas, and the discussions of a football player's personal life because he did not pay child support are something we don't need to know about.

We come to see them play football, and while children look up to them, it is our responsibility to shield them from what is good and bad in this world.

They party just like us. They have family issues just like us. Just because they make more money than us does not mean those issues should be magnified.

Blacking out Games

Back in the day when there wasn't a huge television market like there is now and only 14 football games a season, this was not as big a deal.

Today, television revenue means everything.

In cities like Jacksonville, Tampa Bay, Miami and San Diego, blackouts are a real issue. Is it a coincidence that these four warm weather cities do not sell out by themselves? Jacksonville "sold" out every game the last two seasons because tickets were either corporate bought or were bought by the owner at $.43 on the dollar.

Owners who want their fans to see the games have a few dilemmas. Either put a really good product on the field, buy the tickets at a loss, which hurts revenue, or allow blackouts to happen, which does not let fans who cannot buy tickets in a weak economy, to see their home team.

Right now, Florida's legislators are working to end blackouts while all three NFL teams in the state have applied for a tax credit to ease the costs of losing money from the seats not being filled regularly.

Steroids

Maybe this has some connection with the harder hitting, the bigger bounty and the bigger picture.

Steroids have been a part of sports for decades. Good, bad or indifferent, they plague the professional level. HGH, PEDs and other high-end substances are making athletes in general bigger, stronger and faster. And with that comes the other effects like rage and mental defect.

It also means that down the line, side effects may in fact hurt the athlete after he walks away from the game. Lyle Alzado was a prime example of this.

While steroids is a "sports" problem, the fact the NFL is so universally accepted for its violence and its need to be a "me first" league, the players want to win at any cost.

And the league, with good measure, is testing these athletes to make sure there is a level playing field. Only problem is the better the drugs become, the harder it may become to detect it.

Spy Gate

Someone had enough with New England. Which "ill" is worse, the idea someone was taping hand signals and other team's practices to gain an edge or bounties on players by coaches to gain an advantage?

Both are pretty well-defined, and both are as illegal as the sun shines every day. Whatever the issue may be, "Spygate" may have proven just how far a team will go to win.

Both are a form of cheating. Roger Goodell found the Patriots in violation of league rules for filming the sideline hand signals of the New York Jets in 2007. He fined Bill Belichick $500,000 (the largest fine ever against a coach), the team $250,000 and took away a first-round draft pick.

According to Jeff Schultz, a sports blogger for the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, bounties are cheating on another level—a dirtier level. If a player feels extra motivation to take a cheap shot at the opposing quarterback because he’ll be rewarded for it—and that quarterback is then carted off the field—the offending team certainly has gained an illegal edge.

That pretty much sums it up.

Media Access

Not only should sports level the playing field on the field and in how the game is watched, it should also level the playing field through media access.

Newspaper and television media are the first to gain access in the football "world" by allowing the game to be covered "after the game."

Reporters and camera crews enter locker rooms and are granted interviews a lot easier than online press, which makes those jobs harder. The online access to sports scores, fantasy sports and blogging makes the medium just as important, if not more since more people can access this type of coverage more readily.

It is permissible for a reporter like Ines Sainz to gain access to the Jets' locker room for an interview, which at times was often viewed as something of a "joke" by some media heads, but a person working on a story for Internet consumption cannot be granted the same rights? Hmm.

If the NFL wants the whole package of media coverage, then level a playing field so all mediums are covered and have guidelines to make sure everyone follows the same policies.

DirectTV Contract

In the new world order of cable and satellite television, how fair is it to be limited to only a handful of games you can watch on a weekly basis?

While the idea of watching multiple games is truly a novelty and we would all love to have 16 televisions running at once, the cable companies and satellite sponsors should not have a direct say in what we watch and don't watch, especially if we are paying for these services.

If I am a Jaguars fan and when the team has the week off, I want to use my cable and satellite packages to determine the game I want to see without going to a sports bar. I want there to be a way I pick and choose (with the NFL Package or Football Package). This is just another way for media outfits to profit.

While the NFL reigns supreme, the cost should not. And anyone who predetermines what you can and cannot watch is preposterous.