Trick Snaps

They say that you can make a career in the NFL out of long snapping.  Zak DeOssie, long snapper for the Giants, signed a contract extension in November for $3.3 million over the next three years, despite having 9 total tackles in four years as a linebacker.  If Washington State draft prospect Zach Enyeart is as good as this video suggests, then you can expect him to have a long, if inconspicuous, football career.

Loose Lips Sink Collective Bargaining Agreements

Yesterday, Roger Goodell sent a letter to each NFL athlete that outlined the owners' latest proposal for a new CBA and asked the players to put pressure on their NFLPA leaders to return to the bargaining table.  The apparent olive branch was not received with open arms.  In an interview with XX Sports Radio in San Diego, Chargers linebacker Nick Barnett called Goodell a "blatant liar."  Before I hit bed last night, up pops a Steve Smith message on my Twitter feed that says "Roger Goodell #lame."

And herein lies the problem for DeMaurice Smith and the union leaders.  To have a united front and a calculated PR approach, Goodell has to govern 32 elder businessmen who grew up in a world with rotary phones.  For Smith to do the same, he needs to rein in over 2,000 young males who could sound off every time they pick up their Blackberry.  The difficulties of this task were no more apparent than two months ago, when Antonio Cromartie blasted the union for not having a deal in place (probably because he'd just realized that he wouldn't get his normal paycheck for his nine illegitimate children).  It didn't help things when Matt Hasselbeck then publicly chided Cromartie.  The union could ill-afford to show divisions within house right before they approached the bargaining table.

You can argue whether Goodell's letter yesterday was a magnanimous peace offering or an underhanded PR ploy.  Nevertheless, the subsequent name-calling from the players won't help future negotiations.  The owners have enough bargaining chips as-is.

The Death of the Kickoff Return?

Few groups have a more understated impact on the NFL than the competition committee.  Every season it brings new rules to football that affect the game for years to come.  Who could forget Bill Polian, Colts GM and a long-time member of the committee, instituting a crackdown on illegal contact after the Patriots bullied his receivers in the 2003 AFC Championship?  Six years later, quarterbacks are putting up record-high numbers league-wide.

The committee made its annual proposals yesterday, which the owners will vote on next week.  It's in favor of expanding instant replay (I'm all for it) and cracking down on illegal hits (looong overdue).  Unfortunately, the committee won't propose a "Calvin Johnson" rule to clarify the definition of a catch, since apparently we need to challenge the referees with as much gray area as possible.

Fake Teams, Real Consequences

As the owners and players initiate a potentially long lockout, the threat of a shortened 2011 NFL season is more real than ever.  Yet there is a prevailing hope that as long as a new CBA is signed before September, both sides will avoid any serious losses.  Between estimating television contracts, advertising, ticket sales, and player salaries, I doubt that Roger Goodell and DeMaurice Smith have taken into account a work stoppage's impact on fantasy football.  However, given this booming industry's underrated contribution to the popularity of their game, maybe they should.

There is no arguing fantasy football's influence on the record-high NFL ratings of recent years.  An estimated 27 million people have a fantasy football team, including roughly 100 percent of my friends.  ESPN now has entire shows dedicated to fantasy news, and Sirius satellite radio added a new station last August that provides callers with 24/7 fantasy advice.  The number of fans who are tuning into games that don't involve their home team has been steadily rising, and 70% of fans have watched NFL games solely because of their fantasy team, according to a recent ESPN poll.

A Man Without A Country

 

If you gave me three guesses at which NFL player filed papers yesterday to come out of retirement, I would’ve guessed Brett Favre, Derrick Brooks, and Brett Favre again.  I was shocked to hear the news that Tiki Barber is returning to football after a four year hiatus.  However, I can’t help but think that yesterday’s move was just the latest low point in the tragic downfall of a great player.

The move is surprising because Barber had previously shown no desire to come back to football. Michael Strahan, like many former athletes, often admits that he misses the camaraderie and competition of the NFL.  Yet Barber, despite prematurely leaving a possible Hall of Fame career, contended that he never had regrets about his decision.

There is no precedent in football for an athlete retiring at the height of his career and then coming back after four years away from the game.  Deion Sanders joined the Ravens in 2004 after a three year retirement, but his prior stint in Washington showed that he had little left in the tank.  Compare that to Barber, whose 2,127 yards from scrimmage in his last season would have placed him second behind only Arian Foster in 2010.  And make no mistake about it, a team will definitely take a chance on the former Giant.  If Fred Taylor could still earn a roster spot after his steep decline of the past 3 seasons, Tiki will have no problem getting at least a training camp invite.  Personally, I’m predicting that the Redskins take the gamble.

What If...Steve Johnson Hadn't Dropped An Overtime Touchdown?

"That's the way the ball bounces."  You've probably heard this phrase before.  There are nearly 35,000 plays in an NFL season, and on any one of them, a bounce of an oblong ball could determine a drive, a game, or even a champion.  In this series, I'll take a look at some of the defining moments of the 2010 NFL season and how things might have ended if the ball bounced the other way.

It's Week 12, and the Steelers, in the midst of a tight division race with the Baltimore Ravens, travel to Buffalo to face a Bills team that has just won two games straight after starting the season 0-8.  After battling back from a 13-0 deficit, Buffalo sends the game to overtime with a last second field goal.  Five minutes into the sudden death period, the Bills snap the ball at the Steeler 40 yard line and breakout receiver Steve Johnson races past corner Ike Taylor and safety Ryan Clark towards the end zone.  Ryan Fitzpatrick throws a perfect deep ball for the apparent game-winning touchdown, except...

When More Is Less

As NFL owners and players near the 11th hour of negotiations for a new CBA, they will vehemently argue about revenue sharing, TV contracts, retired player benefits and a rookie wage scale.  And yet, Roger Goodell’s side believes they have a simple solution that will make everyone happier and, more importantly, richer: an 18 game schedule.

As the owners depict it, two more regular season games will inject $500 million of new revenue into the league, with little added cost.  What they fail to mention is that it’s of little added cost to them. While they simply have to print more tickets, the negative effects of an extra two games would fall on everyone around them, from the players to the fans who attend the games.

1) Long Term Player Health This season, more than any before it, showed us the long-term risks of a career in football.  Two weeks ago, a former Super Bowl champion texted his family to request that his brain be donated to science, loaded a gun, and shot himself in the chest.  We understand the unforgiving trauma inflicted from a high-speed blow to the head, but scientists are only now discovering that repetitive contact to the helmet over the course of a season can be just as damaging.  A recent Sports Illustrated feature investigated how continual close-range helmet collisions, the kind that happen between linemen on every play of a game, can gradually lower the brain efficiency of a player as the season progresses.  Adding another two games at the end of a season could exponentially damage a player’s brain, pushing some further towards the same fate as Dave Duerson.

The Biggest Losers

With an NFL lockout inevitable, it's clear that we the fans will have to suffer an offseason of uncertainty and perhaps even a shortened football season come this fall.  However, we will not be the biggest losers in the battle of billionaires versus millionaires that will be staged in the coming months.  That title has to go to the coaches.  While the owners and the NFLPA each tries to expand their share of the pie, coaching and front office employees will stand idly by as their livelihoods hang in the balance.

While we the customers are concerned about no football in the fall, some coaches and front office staff are already feeling the pain of a lockout before spring has even arrived.  There are reports of teams cutting employee hours due to the decreased workload they expect over a quiet offseason.  And while most head coaches will still receive their regular salary, many of their assistants will suffer a pay cut in a lockout.  Despite receiving less compensation, these coaches will still work full-time to scout players, review game tape, and prepare their strategies for a season that could start at any point.