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Head injuries, spinal injuries and the ever encroaching nanny state could have drastic effects on the game moving forward but the results probably won't start to materialize for a few decades. There's still more cash generated by the game than can be counted or imagined and there's no shortage of kids playing but I do believe that will change at some point in the distant future.
I agree with the OP on some points but disagree on the salary cap issue. I don't believe a salary cap should exist in sports but the only drastic effects it has is on owners. The game itself is not set back. Baltimore lost some key players on the defensive side of the ball to free agency and retirement. It's not uncommon for teams to win the Super Bowl and regress the following season.
I think the argument the author makes is moronic. Football is dying because of the dimensions of the field?
Football is dying. But it has nothing to do with the dimensions of the field. And its a slow death, barely noticeable right now but it is noticeable.
The sport will eventually die (or cease to be the sport we once knew) because of head injuries. If Goodell sticks around long enough I think he'll outlaw tackling. I'm not trying to be funny.
But less and less young kids will play the sport. Parents are already wising up. So its going to have a massive influence on the NFL in 10-15 years.
Another thing that is killing the NFL is parity. It would have been interesting to see the Ravens defend their title. But because of NFL salary cap rules the Ravens couldn't keep their team together. They couldn't even come close to keeping their team together. Parity is probably the worst idea that the sports gods ever shat into civilization. "Hey, I have any idea, lets make the quality on the field worse all in the name of fairness!" No, lets not.
The day baseball gets a salary cap is the day I throw my Oakland A's cap in the trash. Screw parity, screw salary caps, screw socialism in sports.
Basically this. 20 years from now, it'll be called the National Flag Football League. Also, I don't know how much officiating will contribute to the demise of the NFL, but it's freaking terrible. Refs can screw teams over, and nothing happens to them. It'll just keep getting worse until something is done.
At some point in time I would not be shocked to see an attempt to ban tackling at the high school level and down in a place like New York City or San Francisco.
Why exactly do you think the quality has gone down because of the salary cap?
Teams can't keep their players. The Raven's lost eight starters last season not because they wanted to but because they were forced to because of the cap. They couldn't give the players their market value.
Because of the way the salary cap and wage structure is setup teams overpay for a few players on the team. The opportunity cost is that they cannot give competitive wages to other players on the team and thus lose them. So, you have Joe Flacco, a decent QB, getting a huge contract. You see the same with Jay Cutler. And the reason these QB's get such big contracts is that NFL teams have money to burn but only limited ways to spend it. So, in the case of Flacco, he just won the team a superbowl, and while he's not worth anywhere near his contract, the Raven's realized that its better to way overpay for him than to lose him and start with an even more unknown commodity.
In a true free market you would have wages more spread out and teams keeping their players. It's quite obvious that the NFL's salary cap prevents teams from being good for longer stretches at a time. The only team that has somewhat figured it out is New England but even they lose players at a shocking rate.
. It's quite obvious that the NFL's salary cap prevents teams from being good for longer stretches at a time. The only team that has somewhat figured it out is New England but even they lose players at a shocking rate.
The problem is many times GM's keep players based on emotions rather than economics.
The Patriots understand how the business side of things work and have figured it out.
Don't blame the 'system'. The system allows every team a fighting chance to go to the superbowl or at least deep into the playoffs..
This is unlike the MLB (because of no salary cap for starters) you will have 1/2 the league minimum not have a snowballs chance in hell to go deep into the playoffs or the World Series.
Football does have a big problem with head injuries, and injuries in general. However, to be putting the league and sport in it's grave seems awfully premature.
As for salary caps, I think they have generally been good for sports. Yes, there are better and worse organizations, and there are also ways for richer teams to get around the caps. However, leagues such as baseball which have not had them do place their smaller markets and a huge disadvantage, even if the organizations are great at drafting and developing talent.
I think the argument the author makes is moronic. Football is dying because of the dimensions of the field?
Football is dying. But it has nothing to do with the dimensions of the field. And its a slow death, barely noticeable right now but it is noticeable.
The sport will eventually die (or cease to be the sport we once knew) because of head injuries. If Goodell sticks around long enough I think he'll outlaw tackling. I'm not trying to be funny.
But less and less young kids will play the sport. Parents are already wising up. So its going to have a massive influence on the NFL in 10-15 years.
Another thing that is killing the NFL is parity. It would have been interesting to see the Ravens defend their title. But because of NFL salary cap rules the Ravens couldn't keep their team together. They couldn't even come close to keeping their team together. Parity is probably the worst idea that the sports gods ever shat into civilization. "Hey, I have any idea, lets make the quality on the field worse all in the name of fairness!" No, lets not.
The day baseball gets a salary cap is the day I throw my Oakland A's cap in the trash. Screw parity, screw salary caps, screw socialism in sports.
The good players on the ravens did not vanish into thin air, they went to other teams. The league did not decrease in quality because the Ravens couldn't resign their players.
Teams don't overpay quarterbacks because they can't think of anything else to do with the money(gimme a break!). They do because quarterbacks are a huge part of the franchise and they might go 3 years without getting a opportunity to pick a good one, and then pick up one in the draft and then pick a bust and then its another 3 years for another one, rinse and repeat.
And about the NFL being of higher quality pre-94, that is completely made up with nothing objective to support it.
And you compare the NFL to MLB. On any objective measure, football is much more successful than baseball. And the popularity is increasing while the MLB's is leveling off. In the NFL, probably 70 percent of the league is still in it by week 10 or week 12. By mid June the playoffs in baseball are always between 12-14 teams.
I agree with you about the head injuries.
The good players on the ravens did not vanish into thin air, they went to other teams. The league did not decrease in quality because the Ravens couldn't resign their players.
Teams don't overpay quarterbacks because they can't think of anything else to do with the money(gimme a break!). [B
They do because quarterbacks are a huge part of the franchise[/b] and they might go 3 years without getting a opportunity to pick a good one, and then pick up one in the draft and then pick a bust and then its another 3 years for another one, rinse and repeat.
Exactly. In a league which is becoming increasingly dependent on having a passing game, the QB position is by far the most important position on the team.
The best example is the Colts of recent memory. In the last 10 years, they have lost more than 6 games once, missing the playoffs once, and that was 2011 when Manning was out injured.
It's an extreme example, but there are others. (Seattle, KC, etc) who have found a good or better QB and gone from a sub .500 team to a playoff team overnight.
Teams can't keep their players. The Raven's lost eight starters last season not because they wanted to but because they were forced to because of the cap. They couldn't give the players their market value.
Because of the way the salary cap and wage structure is setup teams overpay for a few players on the team. The opportunity cost is that they cannot give competitive wages to other players on the team and thus lose them. So, you have Joe Flacco, a decent QB, getting a huge contract. You see the same with Jay Cutler. And the reason these QB's get such big contracts is that NFL teams have money to burn but only limited ways to spend it. So, in the case of Flacco, he just won the team a superbowl, and while he's not worth anywhere near his contract, the Raven's realized that its better to way overpay for him than to lose him and start with an even more unknown commodity.
In a true free market you would have wages more spread out and teams keeping their players. It's quite obvious that the NFL's salary cap prevents teams from being good for longer stretches at a time. The only team that has somewhat figured it out is New England but even they lose players at a shocking rate.
The NFL pre-94 was of much much higher quality.
Overall the quality is exactly the same. It is the same exact players. They are just spread out more evenly throughout the league. You logic seems backwards. Why would a salary cap lead to larger contracts for average players? That makes no sense. With the salary cap you have to watch every dollar you spend. Without it you can give any player any contact. NFL teams don't have money to burn. They have a salary cap. And why would keeping a player because you don't want to go with an unknown commodity have anything to do with the salary cap?
I see some serious flaws in your arguments.
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