Mike Haynes: Pats of the Past

[Off The Grid]

Every rule change, or so-called " point of emphasis" from roughly 2003 to now favored the offense, with just a few exceptions.

Heh. I rarely pimp my own Site, but in this case, I can't resist!!

The league's been tweaking the rules in favor of Offense for a lot longer than 15 years, my friend. Hell...It's been doing so since years before there even was a league.

 

[Off The Grid]

Willie Brown anyone? Mike Haynes was the penultimate "smoove" corner....meaning he moved in a smooth effortless manner. Lot of great corners back in the day...but the game was so freakin' different. I miss it.

Ah, yes...I applaud many of the safety-oriented rules, some'f which greatly cramped the style of Night Train in particular...But I heartily agree with your sentiment.

And of course you're probably thinking of The Mel Blount "Instrument" Rule.

 

[Off The Grid]

Willie Brown anyone? Mike Haynes was the penultimate "smoove" corner....meaning he moved in a smooth effortless manner. Lot of great corners back in the day...but the game was so freakin' different. I miss it.

You got that right.

Hell, I miss the game we had just a few years ago,circa 2003, before Polian,Dungy and Manning helped destroy this great game.

Every rule change, or so-called " point of emphasis" from roughly 2003 to now favored the offense, with just a few exceptions. The fact that BB and TB et al adjusted to those changes better than anyone else doesnt change the fact that a lot of the changes sucked.

The Pats have brought me a lot of joy over the last 20 years, but I liked the NFL game better in 2003 than now.

I like that you distinguish between The Mel Blount "Instrument" Rule and other changes before 2004 on the one hand and Polian and Peytons's ****ification on the other hand, as I consider it an important point in time. Me, I've got mixed feelings.

On the one hand, FootBall's got to be a physical and violent sport.

As we trend away from that, we trend closer to destroying its appeal.

On the other hand, any rule change that emphasizes Skill over Clutching & Grabbing ~ given that Clutching & Grabbing is part of this sport ~ is supportable, because it's one thing to emphasize physicality, yet quite another to allow so much Clutching & Grabbing that we engender an atmosphere where the New Jersey Devils win the cup...so to speak.