Bradshaw knocks NFL: "not a good product"

[letekro]

If that's true, then there has never been enough talent considering the fact that this country's population increases in size more than the NFL does, meaning that the pool of talent that the NFL has to choose from increases with every passing year.

That's some awfully flawed logic there. You've been living among Colts fans for too long. Only ten or so QB's enter the NFL each year, out of the millions of males that were born, let's say 22 or 23 years before each draft. What difference does it make if the class is made up of 18 million or 20 million, or 10 million or 50 million? The increase in odds is so negligible that it could be counterbalanced by any number of factors.

 

[pheenix11]

What no love for Brian Sipe and Lynn ****ey?

WTF!

 

[Mike the Brit]

So every team had an awesome qb and supporting cast of players 20 years ago? There will be good teams and bad teams each year, thats just how it is, maybe some of the bad teams have been worse than usual, but I still dont buy that. There are plenty of good teams this season including the Pats,Colts,Cowgirls,Packers,Steelers,Jags,Seahawks,Giants. If anything the talent is just as good or better than before. It goes with the evolution of any sport, teams from the 50's couldn't compete with the teams of today. I dont even think that the teams of the 80's and early 90's could really compete with the teams of today. There are exceptions of course, I think the 49ers of the 80's would easily handle the dolphins or jets, but could they actually compete with the Pats on a head to head level? something tells me they probably couldn't.

To repeat, I don't think it's so much the absence of talent as the absence of what you could call "well played games".

The Eagles played consistently well against the Patriots. I don't think that they are as good a team as the Patriots but they played up to the limits of their abilities and gave the Pats a real scare (the fact that they lost the game on interceptions doesn't alter that -- they weren't stupid throws).
What's disappointing is how rare that seems to be.

Here's another suggestion. Perhaps training camp is too short, given the amount of player mobility there is nowadays, for teams to really "gell".

 

[texpat]

With free agency, teams don't stay together as long. Player movement every year affects team consistancy IMO.

Salary cap causes teams to get rid of a player after 3-5 years and replace them with a untested player through the draft or free agent. More inconsistancy.

The best teams are those that are the most successful at selecting players to keep as well as those they draft and take as free agents.

 

[Double G]

Couldn't agree with him more; the NFL is just plain awful this year, aside from the four teams he mentions, lump all the rest into two other catagories; middle of the road and just plain brutal.

Imagine having to subject yourself to the Jets/Dolphins game; I'd rather eat glass...............

 

[Gopats!!!]

The reasons that I think football is not as good as it has been (to me)

1. Rule changes -- Especially the emphasis on pass interference. It has hurt the game.

2. Bad officiating -- Truly pathetic. There will alsways be human error, and things happen so fast I marvel at some of the correct calls that are made. However, too many times easy calls are screwed up. The NFL has to look at what can be done to improve the situation. I don't know if full time refs will help or not, but something needs to be done.

3. Bad Coaching -- Why on EARTH would someone hire Turner again??? If BB has taught us anything it is that coaching matters. You can rag on talent level all you want, but I believe the horrible coaches populating the NFL have as much if not a greater effect on the producton the field.


Personally I would like to see a Minor league set up, using NFL rules. It would help train coaches, refs, and players. Many talented players come into the NFL and don't have a clue how to play in an NFL game or have to learn a new position. In this minor league, they would learn a pro defense or offense and learn the position they will be playing in the NFL.

Unfortunately I think the owners/commish are too blind to even see a problem much less think of a solution.

 

[l8nite]

I've been saying this for years. There isn't enough talent and with the cap, there isn't the ability to keep more players on the roster to develop talent. You either have it out of college or you're gone. That makes it more difficult for players who have talent but lacked coaching.

Since the cap isn't going away, I'd like to see the NFL drop back to 28 teams.
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The cap is the only thing keeping football from being like MLB. Baseball championships are not won, they are purchased. As for the rules, I liked it far better when a defender was allowed to actually defend. Brush against a reciever and they get called for PI. Defender accidentally touches a face mask and he gets 15 yards, yet a running back can place his hands directly on a defenders facemask and never get called. They wanted to get higher scoring games and they got thier wish. JMHO....