11-16-2012, 06:10 PM
Ted King wrote:
I'm not as much of a fan of football as some of you guys but I do like watching it a pretty fair amount (I also enjoyed playing football on my high school football team). I like the combination of smart ever-evolving strategy and tactics and, especially at the pro level, combining that with the pure athleticism exhibited.
I'm curious about how you feel about the level of "brutality" in the game, though. The concussion thing a lot of people are concerned about now has gotten me to reflect more on the violence of the collisions those guys put their bodies through. When I do reflect on it, it does bother me. I like a good "wrap 'em up and try to strip the ball" tackle, but I don't like hearing people relish when one player "blows up" another player. That aspect of the game makes me feel at least a bit ambivalent about it. What are your thoughts on that?
That's where I am these days. It's been a long time since I have found anything to like about the "thug" approach to knocking an opposing player off his feet (you can't really call some of those hits "tackling"). I'd much rather see a defensive back make a great, skillful play—e.g., getting a hand in to knock away the ball at the exact right moment, as Revis often does—than see him deliver a really vicious hit. The NFL glorified that approach for far too long, with no concern for the cost in wrecked human beings.