NFL: Player Safety Will Yield More Epic Offensive Performances in 2012

The 2011 NFL season consisted of three quarterbacks passing for more than 5,000 yards, huge tight ends creating more match-up problems than ever, and too many roughing the passer penalties called.

Rules changes have played a fairly significant part in changing the pro football landscape.

However, don't expect those adjustments to be the reason for minimal change in the spirit of the league's game play in 2012.

Defense winning championships seems to be a thing of the past. Having a solid running game will only get you so far in today's NFL, too.

It seems the formula for success today is less physicality, an efficient passing attack, and a bend-but-don't break defense. See: the 2011 New England Patriots.

Fans will argue that all the nitpick calls, pass-happy offenses, and scolding of "illegal hits" ruins the integrity of the game.

Even future Hall of Fame players such as Ed Reed are fed up with the current game losing some of its physical edge.

The reason why these complaints will not be legitimately addressed is because of a complex conflict of interests: safety of the players versus the entertainment value for spectators.

Rules are only a microcosm of the moral and natural dilemma that plagues the game right now.

The NFL is suffering—and prospering—from an evolution that parallels human nature.

There is a constant ambition to become bigger, faster, stronger and better. An unquenchable desire persists to push limits and make possible what was once inconceivable.

These elements drive innovation and progress the human race: a vain, ceaseless search with a MacGuffin sort of flavor.

In the NFL, it's no different. The players in the game are becoming, bigger, faster, stronger and better as all-around athletes than their predecessors with few exceptions.

Athletes have a better understanding of what to put in their bodies. They have a better grasp on how to work out properly and how to train.

Hydrating oneself during a football practice used to be considered a weakness. Seeing stars after being hit? Rub some dirt on your forehead and get back out there.

The NFL has pushed the limits of what was once considered possible because of the sheer athleticism of its players today.

Across the league, 250-pound grown men with no body fat are licking their chops to light someone up. And 300-plus pound men are more athletic than your small-town high school's star running back.

I mean, have you seen LaRon Landry lately? He plays safety in the National Football League!

Not to be neglected, the constant explosion in human innovation also applies to the mental aspect of football.

Elite quarterbacks who know how to prepare and read a defense can pick it apart, and it's easy to see why defensive players are fed up with rules to protect skill players.

As in basketball, great offense beats great defense any day. If a defender is draped all over a basketball stud and he still makes a shot, there's nothing the defender can do.

If an NFL defender suddenly can't defend to his full ability due to standards far stricter than what has been status quo for his entire career, it's difficult.

At the same time, the league has to adjust to the times and walk that fine line as best as it can.

While the invaluable information that research and studies have yielded now benefits players in rehabilitation, strategy, and lengthening their careers, other research unveils a serious red flag.

That would be concussion research. Many players have died prematurely as result of traumatic head injuries.

It is slightly disturbing that there have been alleged cover-ups of just how bad concussions can be.

It's also disturbing that it took until 2010 to hold legitimate dialogue with former players suffering from the aftermath of player deaths.

If more players wind up in the unfortunate situation of the late, great Junior Seau, questions will continue to persist about what more could be done now.

What will be called into question more intensely will be the inaction of previous NFL regimes especially if Seau's autopsy reveals head trauma. Seau was never listed as having a concussion on any injury report in his career.

While the NFL goes to strange PR lengths by associating with the U.S. military about the concussion issue, the research continues to show discouraging trends.

Something tells me these two entities won't be such an effective or even logical combination to figure out how to publicize, raise awareness, or give competent treatment to those in need.

Those in need are the retirees, and they have spoken emphatically about player safety in recent years.

The problem is, so many retirees of the NFL are past the point of helping. The damage has been done.

Unifying a legitimate agenda among retirees has also hindered its progress in the new collective bargaining agreement for player benefits.

I concede that bankruptcy problem for many former professional athletes is obvious, but can sometimes be the result of irresponsible spending in an unchecked, luxurious lifestyle.

Perhaps it's just a money grab. That's part of what the whole lack of agenda unification concept attempts to address.

Judging from the very strong reaction of suffering retirees, though, many of those individuals would likely take the extra benefits and put it toward research on traumatic head injuries.

Unfortunately, the bigger hits and the more impressive athletic specimens are a huge part of the NFL's lure to fans. When more laundry is on the field over questionable calls, negative fan reaction ensues.

The league was willing to put the players safety aside for a long time to continually meet the demand of a league growing in popularity, but now it can't afford to.

Now it's clear league has had a hand in creating this volatile, yet captivating and entertaining monster.

The unprecedented speed, force, and acceleration in football collisions is evident more than ever before and is alarming considering the nature of some former players' head injuries.

More attention is being paid to research on traumatic head injuries than ever before, but the NFL better err on the side of caution than the side of devastation on the field as well.

For those reasons rather than anything to do with the rule book, expect maximum shootouts, aerial assaults and entertainment in the 2012 NFL season.

If you don't like it, think of it this way: a huge public company that profits off of a violent sport as entertainment is perceptibly making an effort to seek out the life interests of its very vulnerable players.

That's a noble-sounding cause even a non-sports fan can be a fan of.