For The Love Of The Game : A Statistic Comparison

What makes a player? What makes a team? What ultimately creates the perfect NFL franchise? What makes your favorite team, your favorite? What love of their game influences you to watch every game they play? 

Is it possible to use statistics to get an answer to such subjective questions?

I’ve never been a diehard football fan, but I’ve always had love for the game. Many men in my family have played and coached over my entire life, so my love was always nurtured. Yet I can never recall a defining point where I knew that I loved football.

Somehow, though, I just knew. . .

My high school life was spent in the Pacific Northwest with a love for the Seattle Seahawks, and later in life I became quite the Philadelphia Eagles fan.

Seeing as neither one of these teams is generally acclaimed as ‘the greatest’ NFL franchise, I wanted to analyze each team on different levels statistically, to illustrate why I am such a fan of them, of their games, and their franchises as a whole.

At first, my intention was to compare two players I loved, quarterbacks Matt Hasselbeck and Donavan McNabb, comparing their stats over the course of five years.

After reviewing and seeing that they were equally great players, I looked at the teams themselves. Great teams. I looked at the not-so-typical stats of the teams, such as salary info and commercial sponsorships, wondering what makes a franchise stand out.

I created a chart to pinpoint the things I compared between players and teams over a few years’ period.

So I decided to start with the heart of the teams, their coaches.

Andy Reid, coach for the Eagles and Mike Holmgren (retired for 2009 season), former coach for the Seahawks, both have been with their said teams for an equal amount of time (10 years each). Both have their share of playoff games under their belts, with each man leading his team to the Super Bowl at least once in the past decade.

In watching games, Reid and Holmgren both show great sportsmanship as well as leadership. Jim Mora, who is taking over the Seahawks starting with the 2009 season, was formerly the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons.

I looked at injuries with the teams as a whole. As the years progressed, the average per game injuries has slowly risen for both teams, roughly two-to-five per game.

This season, both starting QBs have injured ribs; hopefully they won’t be “under the weather” for too long. Most injuries over the years between the two teams were minor, and either did not prevent the player from finishing the game, or, only caused the player to missing the rest of that game and perhaps the next.

I looked at typical game information: wins, losses, and ties. Championships and winning streaks were considered, as well as their overall rank from year-to-year, and ultimately, their head-to-head win-loss record.

Financially, in 2008 Hasselbeck and McNabb received very similar salaries, with Matt a mere $452,800 ahead of Donovan ($6,754,200 in total compensation to $6,301,920).

Interestingly, the teams had similar overall payrolls, the Eagles paying out only $7,714,288 more than the ‘Hawks in 2008, for a total of $112,941,158 in salary.

Looking at the players individually, I compared sponsorship opportunities, and how they’re performing on the gridiron during the current season.

As you’ll see in my chart, I’ve compared both Hasselbeck and McNabb for several years in their field statistics. These two men are great players, and these are two great teams.

My question seemingly goes unanswered.

But then I realize, no matter what statistics you draw on paper, what analysis you come up with to find an answer, true greatness lies within all of us. The pride we have for the home team is what makes them amazing. 

Without fans, they are nothing but men in helmets, throwing a ball.

I treasure these two teams because I am a fan. To watch the games, to be in the stands and see thousands of other people along side of me cheering just as loud as I am, means we’re all there in support of the men, the team, and ultimately for the love of the game.

I’ve compiled a chart to show my research that does in fact show two great teams’ sports analysis. In my research I thought I could prove one team excelled over the other somehow, that one team was more profound for some reason.

That’s not quite how it turned out.

My answers were close; not decimals off, but variably close, in a mathematical sense. I learned in my analysis that my teams are worth watching play against each other, and watching them play every game of the season.

United we stand, divided we fall, I hear. Without our fans, who are we? In a game between the two I couldn’t even choose who to root for. My eyes would flutter back and forth under the burden of decision-making.

I could only watch with glee for the love of the game, not just one team.