The 2016 Season is Upon Us - Some Observations

Cuts are in, Your Team is Set; Now What?

Ok everyone, do as I say..., BREATHE!  The cuts have been made, players have been released, other new players have been signed, dreams were realized and other dreams have been crushed.  So goes life in the NFL, for EVERY team.
Fans across the league love their team for all kinds of serious and not so serious reasons.  But along with that love comes some pretty intense loyalty to players who haven't really impacted the team or it's successes.  Chief among those players are rookies.  Rookies come to a team with all kinds of expectations.  Expectations go and come from all different directions; teams expect the players to compete and give all they have to make the team.  The rookies want to make an impression, make the team, make lots of money, and in some cases, make a name for themselves.  And what of the fans?  What do we want?  We want each kid that is drafted, especially those drafted higher, to come in and immediately win a starting job, set the league on fire and take the team to the Super Bowl and win it!  To that end we go to the team's website, the NFL's website, ESPN's website, a plethora of blogs, writer and newspaper sites and all kinds of other sources just to catch some smidgen of information on the players and how they are progressing.  If they have a chance to go to training camp, fans will be treated to all kinds of fan friendly experiences even if they don't want that.  But when you get a chance to see in person, what you have been excited about, you jump at that I guess. 

But back to my point; after a few weeks of reading every piece of information and watching every video and interview, we are treated to what some of us THINK is the definitive measure of how the new kids are doing; preseason games.  Most coaches only trot out their 1st round picks with the starters but the majority of the new guys play with the 2nd and 3rd string guys against other 2nd and 3rd stringers.  It is easy to excited when that guy makes that catch or this guy snaps off that 40 yard run.  How many tackles did that 2nd round Draft day "steal" get?  Wow, look at that perennial back up QB throw the ball!  All of it is exciting, yet also deceiving because we are not privy to all camp practices and no meetings after practices.  We only get to see the guys for a portion of 3 hours of a game 1 day a week.  And though this guy might look great for 10-12 plays, or in some cases, look bad, we don't sit in the coaches meetings and go over film study or even participate in those practices to get a full measure of these players.  Yet we all do it, we grow attached to a few guys, even when they have been on the team for a season or 2 and have yet to reach that potential we all want them to achieve once we see them don our team's colors. 
When cut down day comes and guys are let go our hearts are broken, we scratch our heads in disbelief and we cry out "Nooooo" because we really liked that sack he got against a undrafted Left Tackle who is trying out with his 4th team and is in during the 4th quarter of the 2nd preseason game and is protecting the blind side of that quarterback who is on the opposing team and was signed to be another arm so the starter isn't worn out by the time camp is over.
In other words, hold down your emotions folks, nothing you saw or read in preseason is real, reality will be here soon enough and right or wrong, the coaches and front offices of teams across the NFL will have to deal with the consequences of their choices.  Only a quarter of the 32 teams will be very successful in their team building but most will be back to the drawing board come January.  Here's to hoping your team is in that minority.

In Support of John Harbaugh's Call

In case you missed it, Baltimore Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh once again stirred some controversy.  This time he poked the bear and decried the Emperor butt naked when he said it is time to revisit the standard roster size limits for teams in the NFL.  Back in the 60's and 70's teams could only
carry 40 - 45 players on their rosters and that was probably enough.  The season lasted 14 games, players were not as big as they are now and the game, though violent and ferocious, was no where near as hard on players as it is now.  When the Washington Redskins were in their heyday and had the Hogs and Riggo crunching away rushing yards, the biggest member of that Offensive Line weighed in at a whopping 270lbs and was considered "huge".  Today, 270lbs won't get you on any Offensive line in the NFL and if you don't tip the scales at at least 300, you probably won't make it in a major college program either.  Guys like Tennessee Titans rookie Running Back Derrick Henry weighs in at 245-250 and guys who figure to stop him this year playing Middle Linebacker are in the 250-265 range and run just as fast as he does. 
Players are just getting bigger, faster, stronger, and are crashing into each other with greater force.  Injuries are more severe and in the case of the Ravens last season, the year can be lost when you lose 20+ players to season ending injuries.  The commissioner keeps talking about a longer season and many of us fans want that; but let's be real, 16 games plus 4 or 5 preseason games is just too much on a roster that is now just 53 guys and for some inexplicable reason, allows for just 46 of that number to be active on game day.  Teams bring 90 young men to camp each Summer and though the Players Union has won concessions to make camp practices less intense and save guys' bodies for the regular season, the fact is the body can only take so much damage before it can no longer play the game anymore.

There is really no reason each team can't carry 60 men each year, with 10 guys on the practice squad.  Preseason games should be done away with in favor of 3 structured scrimmages against other teams that are shown on television and locally attended.  There is not a single season ticket holder and PSL owner that enjoys having to pay full price for 2 preseason games that will only allow for "good" football for a fraction of a game.  Those games are always low attended and the games mean nothing to the reality of the regular season.
The bottom line is this; MONEY.  The NFL, which already earns more money every year than the Catholic Church, is always finding new ways to part us fans from our money.  You and I want to see quality football in the NFL and we want our team to be successful; the best way for that to happen across the board and for safety for all players is to increase the sizes of the team rosters, and stop the silliness of having a reduced roster.  It is 2016 NFL, wake up to that reality and keep giving us quality for our money.