Football Evolution …

Sports evolve.  Let me use professional football as an example.  Football started out as one team’s running game matched against the other team’s running game.  If you watch even a couple of NFL games on TV this season and do nothing else, you will see that is not the case in 2024.

When the game opened up into sort of a balance between running the ball and throwing the ball, the idealized QB of the time was big, tall, huge arm and strong enough to take hits in the pocket because he just stood in there and threw the ball at the last microsecond before being clobbered by a defensive lineman.  Yes, I know there were a few “different” QBs around in the time of that evolution like “little guy”, Eddie LeBaron and “scrambling” Fran Tarkenton and “freakishly athletic” Randall Cuningham; but the ideal was the statuesque QB who could throw a football through an engine block.

Such is not the case today and I think there may be more to the evolutionary pressures than just greater mobility among QBs.  I think there may be an activation of a “survival gene” in lots of people who have taken up the challenge of playing QB at various levels of football, and that “survival gene activation” is caused by the lack of effective play by offensive lines as a whole.  If a QB like Lamar Jackson had to try to play QB the way it was played in the 1970s and 1980s, he might not have survived to cash in on his long-term nine-figure contract extension.

Offensive line play is choreographed.  Virtually every play that is designed by the creative genius of an offensive coordinator starts with at least 5 and sometimes as many as 8 behemoths moving as if they were a single entity.  Choreography in football – – as with choreography on stage – – takes talent PLUS practice time and repetition.  Choreography on stage is difficult to master whether it is formal ballet or the Radio City Rockettes; those performances occur only after hours of rehearsal and repetition.  In the NFL, there is the added challenge of defensive players doing everything in their power to destroy the choreography; at least the Rockettes do not have to worry about someone blind-siding them as they go into their high-kick routine.

The NFL has offensive linemen who are certainly sufficiently big and strong and agile enough to effect the results sought by the play designers.  And yet, in passing situations, it is not uncommon for the QB to be swallowed up by defenders or for the QB to “run for his life”.  And for this situation, I put the blame on the players and not the coaches for this reason:

• In the last couple of CBA negotiations, one of the points sought by the players via their union was to limit the amount of time teams could require practices in the off-season, in Training Camp and during the season.
• Moreover, less practice time was permitted for players to be “in pads” and involved in “hitting”.
• Reduced practice time means fewer repetitions.
• Fewer repetitions mean less precision in the choreography.

In addition, the main feeder element for NFL offensive linemen – – college football – – has also had practice times limited by NCAA and Conference edicts.  And that means many physically talented linemen come to the NFL with an insufficient number of choreographic repetitions under their belt to make them “NFL-Ready”.  Vince Lombardi famously said:

“The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.”

I wonder how Coach Lombardi – – who cut his teeth coaching offensive linemen – – would assess the current state of play by those units?

Moving on …  Brett Favre has been under investigation for flim-flammery in dealings involving Federal money sent to Mississippi as aid to poor families.  He denies any criminal activities and says he has returned any monies he may have inadvertently received to the proper authorities.  The validity of all that remains up in the air; as of this morning, all of that is alleged.

Yesterday, Favre was testifying in front of the House Ways and Means Committee about a matter that is related to the alleged misallocation of those Federal funds.  Those details are not important here.

In the process of his testimony, Favre revealed that he has recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s.  And that has set up two divergent narratives related to that announcement:

• Narrative #1:  Studies have shown that concussions increase the likelihood of contracting Parkinson’s significantly.  Favre surely had more than a handful of concussions in his 20-year NFL career which involved 302 game appearances.  Football is a dangerous profession and more needs to be done to protect against concussions.
• Narrative #2:  No one should wish a debilitating condition like Parkinson’s on anyone else – – but the timing and the venue of this announcement is ever so convenient, and it deflects attention from the allegations.

I lean more toward “Narrative #1” but feel free to join the forces supporting “Narrative #2”; only time will provide an answer here.

Finally, I’ll close today with this bit of reflection by Brett Favre:

“I think my stubbornness, hardheadedness and stupidity is what has allowed me to play for 20 years.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………