The NFL is Deteriorating!

October 20. 2023

“If it doesn’t matter who wins or loses, then why do they keep score.” Vince Lombardi

The NFL is in the Sports Entertainment business. We watch to be entertained. The sport is very popular in the US, but I think the quality of the game has declined. Here’s why:

—Too many penalties and most are for boneheaded plays. The average number penalties per game in the NFL is 12. See chart above for the most common.

–players hold in every game, at least 4-6 times; players line up in the neutral zone; delay of game penalties are maddening, Taunting is just plain stupid.

-pass interference is called at least 3-4 times a game, same with off-sides. Running in to the kicker is dumb, same with ineligible receiver down field. Then, there’s too many players on the field.

–illegal shift penalties are called. Dumb. False start means a player moved before the ball was snapped!

There are 7 officials for each game. They watch the play carefully and enforce the rules. Penalties stop the game, and often erase a positive gain. At times, penalties are called on both teams or 2 on the same team. Sometimes the network will cut to a commercial while the officials sort things out. Maddening!

Players celebrate a score with an end zone dance, even if they are losing by 25 points.

Penalties are just sloppy plays. Period. Perhaps it is just bad coaching, or lack of discipline.

The dress code has also changed. Player’s name and number are covered by long hair. Shirt tails are out. Players are shown in action with pink mouth guards dangling from their face masks. QB’s have massive plastic note cards on their wrists. Coaches have huge, laminated play sheets which they use to hide their speech. Some coaches dress poorly.

The entertainment value is impacted by all these distractions. The quality of the entertainment is poor. Sloppy professional sport.

Finally, each year a number of NFL players get arrested on felony charges. Alvin Kamara is a good example. He should be in prison for aggravated battery. The league gave him a 3-game suspension.