It's safer than it would be w/o those rules but it's not safer than say the 70s. How many times have we seen guys paralyzed or partially paralyzed over the last 20 years? Before Mike Utley in 1991 it was Daryl Stingley in the 70s but we have seen plenty of other ones since then.
The more I read about this the more I think 18 games won't be as good at 16. However, I'm not going to "stop watching football" if it goes to 18 games.
yeah, because of a freak injury or poor technique. Not because of the violence of it like Stingley's hit.
I like this article: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/jeff_pearlman/08/27/18game.letter/index.html?eref=sihp
It was a very violent hit, Dave Krieg stepped up in the pocket and he hit and knocked over a near 300 lb man in Scott Mersereau.
I know the play. Had Byrd had his head up like you're supposed to he likely would not have broken his neck. It was a freak accident made worse by poor technique.
Obviously it was an accident as he was planning on hitting the QB but that doesn't make it less violent. It was obviously a violent collision, this is silly to argue back and forth.
The point is there hasn't been a player to have a spinal injury off of a hit like Stingley's injury in 1978. And any player from any era would have broken their neck the way Byrd did because of the way he hit Mersereau (straight on with his head down)
I think the system is great now in the sense that every game is so important but at the same time who can say no to more football? Am I the only one who really enjoys preseason? I'm not really for seeing 4th and 3rd stringers but I love seeing backups and new rookies progress.
Overblown. When has a team in the NFL with a 9-7 record or less made a serious run at the title? In the playoffs, good teams win. Parody only exists in the regular season;
Adding two wild cards also will not make it more likely for an underperforming team to get in. It is most likely to be a division winner. I'm looking at you western divisions.
Under my idea...2009: AFC Texans at Colts Steelers at SD Jets at Cincy BAl At NE NFC SF at NO ATL at Minny GBat Dal Philly at AZ
