NFL – Some End Of Year Thoughts
As I am dozing through the Washington/Seattle NFL game this afternoon a couple of things pop to mind. The first thought is,
Wow HD does make a difference. You can actually see the dust being kicked up as backs rush around the line of scrimmage. Before I bought my HD I really thought it was just hype but now I am blown away by how bad grass fields look! Strangely indoor fields look odd in a different sort of "too sharply focused" way.
My second thought involves the New Orleans Saints. I really am disheartened that the Saints did not make the playoffs but as a true Saints fan I am looking forward to next season. At the beginning of this season I wrote an opinion piece expressing the opinion that the NFL Commissioner was trying to transform the sport into a girls sewing circle. "Bounty Gate" indeed. The season for the Saints was dismantled by Roger Goodell before it ever started. I could not and still do not believe that other teams have not done the same thing for years. It's a contact sport with players being paid multi-millions and the commissioner actually thought that players would play differently based on the possible earning of a $1,500 bounty for injuring an opposing player?
Now that the season is over and the Saints are finished for the year I am focused on next season with questions. Will the Saints play better and/or get into the playoffs and the Superbowl with the return of Sean Payton? Payton has had an entire year to watch and dissect the play of every other team so I wonder if that will make him an unbeatable coach?
When Drew Brees signed his multi-year mega contract I was afraid he would lose his edge and I think I was right. I think this season was a disaster for Brees because deep down inside he feels guilty about taking all that money. At the beginning of the season I really believe he was thinking something like,
Oh my God! All that money, now I HAVE too play like a SuperBowl winning quarterback in every game.
I think Brees and his agent placed too much pressure on him by asking for and getting all that money!
Lastly, I wonder if Payton and Brees will be back next season like the dynamic duo, Batman and Robin? I certainly hope so. It has been a far from stellar season and all Saints fans deserve better. Paraphrasing "The Christmas Song",
It's been said many ways but Roger Goodell can just to go to hell.