As I got older, while still a Browns fan, Joe Namath was my favorite player. I'll never forget Super Bowl III, watching it with my Dad, brother and cousin as the AFL NY Jets knocked off the Baltimore Colts. The same Colts who buried my Browns in the NFL Championship Game one week earlier.
It was common for me to watch games from 1pm until 7pm every Sunday. Years later, Sunday night football started and it was football from 1pm until 11pm. Of course, in 1970, Monday Night Football began and I wouldn't miss it for anything. I loved NFL Football
Throughout the 60s through the 80s, players making a sack or defending a pass didn't go into a wild dance or some kind of other histrionics. When a guy like Walter Payton scored a touchdown, he just handed the ball back to the referee. Even the guys who started the touchdown celebrations were fun to watch like the Ickey Shuffle or the Fun Bunch. There wasn't an attempt to embarrass your opponent unlike today.
Were football players perfect in that time period? Certainly not. Namath was known for his partying as were guys like Paul Hornung and Dante Pastorini. But the one thing I don't recall is rampant gun use and violence.
Nowadays a guy has a sack and he celebrates like his team just won the Super Bowl even though his team was trailing by 3 touchdowns. Football highlights didn't focus on ego-maniac displays but on key plays of the game. You didn't have highlight shows with the hosts screaming "Jacked Up".
Since the late 90s, the NFL has been on a downward spiral. The quality of play has not been up to par with too many teams added which has diluted the talent pool. Players leaving college early to turn pro has not helped either as these guys are not mentally prepared for all aspects of being a pro football player.
Back in the 60s through the 80s, NFL owners were sportsmen first, businessmen second. Halas, Mara, Rooney and Wilson, to name a few, recognized the importance of all teams doing well for the benefit of the league. These owners respected the game and that's what they expected from their players. Now, it's all about making money. And in Jerry Jones' case, hitting on women young enough to be his granddaughter. When owners have no respect for the game, it makes sense that the players have no respect either.
The NFL is out of control. Players carrying guns, beating women, abusing drugs and being involved in homicides are what characterizes today NFL. Think about this: Major League Baseball this year has honored Derek Jeter. Jeter personified grace and class and was the face of the game. Two years ago, the NFL honored Ray Lewis. You tell me who would you want to be the face of your league: Jeter or Lewis?
The Ray Rice situation is the tip of the iceberg. The NFL is out of control. It is now being reported that law enforcement provided the NFL with the tape that showed Rice cold-cocking Janay Rice. If this is true, Commissioner Goodell has some explaining to do. If he was smart, he would immediately announce that the NFL was going to initiate a full blown public service campaign concerning domestic violence. There should be zero tolerance for such behavior. Anyone arrested of a violent crime should be suspended pending the outcome of the criminal investigation. Conviction of a violent crime should result in a lifetime suspension.
I'm not sure I can ever get back to being the type of NFL fan that I was 30 years ago. But in order to get me to care anymore, the NFL needs to clean up its act, both on and off the field. Somehow I don't see it happening
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