The Kinder, Gentler NFL

In these tough times, people all over the world are reaching out to others for a connection, comfort, and care. Before my very eyes, even the NFL is becoming soft. Kinder. Gentler. More aware. More compassionate and thoughtful. Yep. You heard me right…Have you noticed? It’s not Larry Czonka’s world anymore. Or Dick Butkus’, or even Bill Romanowski’s.

I’ve never really been a fan of the ‘pass interference’ penalty. It’s football, after all, not ballet.

The designed purpose of the game is to interfere with the other team scoring more points, right? I’m still trying to wrap my head around that age-old penalty. And now, as you football fans know, over the past few years, the list of penalties has been growing.

You still can’t touch a guy when he’s trying to catch a pass. You can’t hit the quarterback in certain ways when he’s trying to throw the ball. Did you catch that ‘tripping’ penalty last weekend? Really? You can’t trip? In the NFL???? SOFT. For me, the kicker (no pun intended) is, stay away from the punter. Actually, just don’t even look at him when it’s punt time. You’ll get 5 to 15 for sure. Yes, kinder and gentler.

But it doesn’t stop there. Even ‘off the field’, it seems that the NFL teams are attempting to connect more with their fans on a personal level. During the month of October, we witnessed the AFL teams wearing their ‘throwback’ uniforms to celebrate 50 years in the NFL. Are they trying to keep their ‘older’ audience by reminding us what our teams used to look like ‘back in the day’, just in case we forgot?

Then, there was all of the pink. I was amazed. Pink shoes. Pink sweat bands. Pink socks.…not something you connect with the bad boys of football. Pink, in recognition of National Breast Cancer Awareness month. Unheard of. Really kind of nice when you think about it. Pink is the new black. I like it. Seems like they’re reaching out, maybe trying to relate to us, the fans.

The very next week, I witnessed the first penalty of the game (probably roughing the kicker!) being called in Spanish. WOW! The NFL was observing National Hispanic Heritage month. Have you ever heard of them observing anything like it? I’m telling you...something’s up. And it’s so cool. (Muy bueno)

Finally, the Patriots and the Buccaneers went to London to play a football game. What in the world? Football Save the Queen? They don’t even play American football in England. Did they return to the motherland for some sort of penance? The world just got smaller yet again. And I think I like it. Do you think that the NFL needs us? Do they need to appeal to us as humans in order to keep our loyalty? I think they might, and, again, I think I like it.

I am so excited to see where this is leading. I love football, and it’s great to see them connecting on our level. Maybe in 2010, we’ll be watching Sports Center, and there he is, Chris Berman, interviewing Tom Brady. ‘So, Tom, what are you hoping for during the next season?’, asks Chris. And reaching out to the fans and to the world, Tom’s answer is: ‘The Championship, of course, Chris. ….Oh, and world peace.’