NFL 2010

[WayAbvPar]

I always side with players too. However, when millions of people can't find ANY work, having that asshole whine about being slave making more money every year than I will in 5 lifetimes is where my patience ends.

[ghost]

I agree.  That's why part of me would be content if they were to lock each other out and the whole league go down the shitter.  I've almost had it with pro sports and their excesses.  The NBA and NFL need to be careful about biting the hand that feeds them. 

[Rasix]

I hope the players get the health care coverage they need post career to deal with the myriad of health issues they have.  Their lack of education and ability to find employment after work is not something I care about.  You went to free college.  Even if you only lasted a few seasons, you now have enough money to go back and actually learn something useful.

I'm a little pissed at the owners for pushing the 18 game season stuff.  I don't think anyone wants it but them. 

[KallDrexx]

The defenseless player definition will be expanded to include the following (provided there's a season, HAH):

-A quarterback in the act of throwing;

-A receiver trying to catch a pass;

I wish this was a joke or I had gotten it off a joke site.  Alas..

Where did you read this?

[Ingmar]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=6223700

[caladein]

I think Peterson's statement was ill-advised and not at all grounded in fact, but that's not going to change the overall picture.  (As a baseball related aside, I'm reminded of Curt Flood in Ken Burns' Baseball and then, with the reserve clause, the slavery analogy isn't stretched a whole lot.)

Football players put their heads in a blender for nearly a decade for the enjoyment of fans and a chance to make huge profits for owners (and a few schools ).  A few of them get that chance to trade a few more years worth of brain injury, both cumulative and at times catastrophic, for a median salary of $770 000, with the minimum being under half of that.  Now, if you're an adult and you want to make that deal, that's fine.  But when the league has been pussy-footing around the downsides of that deal like they're R. J. fucking Reynolds for a while, it's going to take a lot of dumb comments to not make me want to see the league gets its ass kicked in court.

Edit: Spelling.  Also the two types of "defenseless player" that Rasix quoted aren't new.  From an article about a year ago:

A "defenseless player" will be defined as a QB in the act of passing, A WR in the act of making a catch, a kick or punt returner in the act of making a catch, a runner who is in the grass or whose forward progress has been stopped, a player on the ground at the end of the play, a QB after a change of possession, and a kicker or punter after the ball is kicked.

Here's next season's full list from the ESPN article:

• A quarterback in the act of throwing;
• A receiver trying to catch a pass;
• A runner already in the grasp of tacklers and having his forward progress stopped;
• A player fielding a punt or a kickoff;
• A kicker or punter during the kick;
• A quarterback at any time after change of possession;
• A receiver who receives a blind-side block;
• A player already on the ground.

The difference between that list last season and next season is "A receiver who receives a blind-side block", "a player on the ground" isn't just at the end of a play, and a kicker/punter is protected both during and after the kick.

[Paelos]

The defenseless player thing is focused on head and neck shots. If you hit a QB in the middle during a pass, it's fine.

My real concern is this change proposal:

Competition committee will propose moving kickoff to 35-yard line, and bringing touchback out to 25. No changes for touchbacks on any other plays, with ball coming out to 20.

Why even have kickoffs? Any pro kicker worth a damn can belt the ball into the end zone. That was the shit we had all day long in the 90s that led to zero returns.

[WayAbvPar]

I hope the players get the health care coverage they need post career to deal with the myriad of health issues they have.  Their lack of education and ability to find employment after work is not something I care about.  You went to free college.  Even if you only lasted a few seasons, you now have enough money to go back and actually learn something useful.

I'm a little pissed at the owners for pushing the 18 game season stuff.  I don't think anyone wants it but them. 

I definitely think there needs to be a safety net for the old and infirm. It is fucking criminal what has happened to some of the older players. Maybe cut it off for anyone who made over $10M during their career, since they SHOULD be financially set, and shouldn't be taking money away from people who need it just because their posse was too expensive.

[Chimpy]

I say let the NFL go down in flames. Then the history books will be book-ended with the first and last Superbowl trophies residing in Green Bay :D