“Thirty years from now, I don’t think [the NFL] will be in existence”
If the National Football League continues its fundamental transformation of the game in the name of safety, Baltimore Ravens’ Bernard Pollard predicts the league will cease to exist in 30 years.
“Thirty years from now, I don’t think it will be in existence,” Pollard told CBSSports.com. “I could be wrong. It’s just my opinion, but I think with the direction things are going — where [NFL rules makers] want to lighten up, and they’re throwing flags and everything else — there’s going to come a point where fans are going to get fed up with it.” …
The strong safety said he sympathizes with the league’s attempts to ensure player safety and even fears that “one day there’s going to be a death that takes place on the field because of the direction we’re going.” But he believes that what the league expects is at odds with what the coaches want.
Blowback
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Too many lawyers – too many lawsuits – too much money to chase.
The NFL is dying.
jake-the-goose on January 29, 2013 at 9:19 AM
That’s ok. Neither will the United States of America.
Doughboy on January 29, 2013 at 9:19 AM
Pretty much. One could argue that pro sports in general will face this dilemma. And I am fine with that, the more I watch the more it is becoming like pro “wrestling”, where you have these showboating/bombastic personalities, advertisers, and sponsors sucking up all the airtime, oh and a _____ game to play, if there is room to squeeze it in.
Gatsu on January 29, 2013 at 9:22 AM
Robot football.
Shy Guy on January 29, 2013 at 9:24 AM
Very possible he is right now that we are a Nanny state . I think if the NFL mandated all games must be played outdoors on natural grass and seriously tested for HGH the game would slow down to human levels again . The players are juiced now and so are the conditions. It does not need to be that way for football to be entertaining . Bring the elements back into the game and the fans will still be there .
DeweyWins on January 29, 2013 at 9:26 AM
You’ll love the new and improved American Socialist Superstate.
harlekwin15 on January 29, 2013 at 9:27 AM
Interesting that while this is happening in the NFL the sport of MMA is growing and flourishing by leaps and bounds despite being every bit as violent and even more bloody than football. It’s well on its way to being bigger than pro boxing if it’s not there already.
tommyboy on January 29, 2013 at 9:35 AM
I think basketball and baseball will survive, but I’m not sure about hockey. Baseball and basketball don’t have quite the concussion issues that football does.
Ward Cleaver on January 29, 2013 at 9:37 AM
The totally O/T “Maps of the Day” in the spirit of Superbowl Week…
An Enclave Of Steelers Fans In Oregon? The Surprising Maps That Show How The Country Is Divided Over The NFL
Resist We Much on January 29, 2013 at 9:45 AM
Sure, part of this is a piece of Adam Carolla’s statement, “In 20 years we’ll all be chicks,” BUT to be fair it is also the result of economics.
Look you simply are not going to risk Tom Brady at $10-million-plus per year, like you would risk Tim Brady at $500,000 per year.
ESPN is fond of pointing out, that there are few “old, running quarterbacks”. In the NFL a running QB is a short-lived QB…and hence a low-paid one, because you cannot pay a QB exhorbitant amounts of cash and them have them injured 1/2 thru the contract-though you don’t pay them for the remainder.
JFKY on January 29, 2013 at 9:47 AM
I can see that happening. I suppose I am approaching this from the mindset that things will start to… come undone. Leagues will become smaller, more local. You may get national games, but they will be more of a one off sort of set up vs. following a season the way we do now.
I just see the whole pro league thing breaking up or breaking down. Where players make a bit of money, but go back to their real jobs after the game is over.
Gatsu on January 29, 2013 at 9:50 AM
Maybe that’s why players act like fools after a good play or a touchdown. Hit in the head too many times. It all makes sense to me now.
Paul-Cincy on January 29, 2013 at 9:53 AM
oh woest of woes
Jeddite on January 29, 2013 at 9:54 AM
They need some size restrictions in the NFL. Mean Joe Green, a Defensive lineman, played at a size that is similar than the QBs are today. The guys are too big and too fast. Other sports have weight divisions, maybe it would work in the NFL.
Flange on January 29, 2013 at 10:03 AM
There you have it. The laws of physics are unforgiving and Force = mass times acceleration. As players get bigger and faster they are hitting each other with more and more force. And while a athelete can increase the size and strength of their muscles they can’t do the same with tendons and ligaments. Thus the increased force results in more concussions and, even more concerning, more joint injuries due to torn ligaments and tendons. While concussions are getting all the press, joint damage is really the scourge of retired NFL players. Hip and knee replacements are booming business and severe should pain is a fact of life for all too many. In fact, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to find out many of the suicides of retired pro football players are the result of living with constant joint pain rather than brain damage.
tommyboy on January 29, 2013 at 10:11 AM
I can’t stand the game right now because they can’t even decide on what a catch is. I cringe when I hear “football move.”
Nick_Angel on January 29, 2013 at 10:14 AM
I would agree, but I can remember(this was like, early 90′s mind you) when I was watching a Redskin’s game. They were getting blown out pretty bad, maybe like, 5mins left on the clock, 4th quarter, they had the ball and got a first down. The guy (can’t remember who) started dancing and jumping around like he just scored the winning point. I thought “dude, you just got a first down, did you forget you are still down by 20?!”
This has been going on long before the head injury stuff had any legs. Its just the mindset that is killing the sport, much like the US as a whole…
Gatsu on January 29, 2013 at 10:15 AM
I’m already there…
BigWyo on January 29, 2013 at 10:36 AM
That is how it used to be, at least in baseball. Fewer teams meant you had to play hard just to get a roster spot. After the season, you go back to the farm or the hardware store and wait for spring.
Hat Trick on January 29, 2013 at 10:38 AM
They should have never outlawed the end zone celebrations.
Now they celebrate being able to run off to the sideline without falling down….
BigWyo on January 29, 2013 at 10:40 AM
We need research on better helmets. What they wear now is little changed in twenty years. For starters make the whole thing soft, all padding, so that it has no use as a battering ram. Advertisers will hate it.
slickwillie2001 on January 29, 2013 at 10:46 AM
Football as well. I think that is a big problem with the leagues now-a-days, these guys are treated more like race horses than players, and the mentality and attitudes you see on the field show it.
Gatsu on January 29, 2013 at 10:55 AM
I don’t think it’s going to take 30 years.
I wonder if they made the field smaller if that would help? It seems counter intuitive, but maybe with less space to build up momentum the hits would be less damaging.
I don’t know, I’m just thinking out loud…
AScott on January 29, 2013 at 11:04 AM
They’ll be playing robots instead of people. Until they decide Robots have rights, and ban that too.
portlandon on January 29, 2013 at 11:20 AM
The NFL isn’t going anywhere…over my dead body…until I see my Jets in the Superbowl. This is non-negotiable.
JetBoy on January 29, 2013 at 11:24 AM
Better look at the history books for that one.
rhombus on January 29, 2013 at 11:36 AM
With all the time, emotion, ridicule, and perennial heartbreak…not to mention the small fortune I’ve dropped on merchandise…I need better than one Superbowl I wasn’t even alive to see.
JetBoy on January 29, 2013 at 11:47 AM
The only way the Jets will go to the Super Bowl in the next thiry years is if they buy tickets.
tommyboy on January 29, 2013 at 11:47 AM
The thing is that the game is loosing something and year after year it becomes increasingly evident.
One could cite NASCAR as a fine example of that, back in the 50′s-60′s-70′s all the cars were different, each one had its own personality and more importantly you could buy the (mostly) same cars they were using on the tracks. Now? Everyone drives the same car, the engines are topped off at a certain speed, and the corporate sponsors are the only real way to ID them from the pack.
The same thing is starting to happen to just about all pro sports. “Hit hard, but not any harder than the other guy”, lets review every play twice, oh and “Don’t touch Tom Brady!PERSONAL FOUL!”
The NFL is shaping up to an early UFC vs boxing. The NFL being boxing and the UFC being small regional leagues with just normal people who love the game playing it. That is where this is all going IMO.
Gatsu on January 29, 2013 at 12:00 PM