DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Starting to get sick of the NFL

Don't get me wrong guys, I'm a season ticket holder and have no regrets. I love heading down to the stadium with my wife to watch the Browns - it's a lot of fun.

But, I really am starting to lose interest in the NFL.

My reasons:

- Almost everywhere I look in the AFC, there is a reason to resent a team. We've got the Patriots who cheated to get to where they are, we've got the Jets that feature the loudmouth, classless jerk Braylon that openly talks bad about Cleveland, we've got the Baltimore Ravens that represent everything that is wrong with pro-sports - a team that is derived from the relocation of another franchise. We've got Pitts that features a twice accused rapist at quarterback, Michael Vick is quarterbacking Philly. And we have questionable officiating - no flag for a play that results in a 75,000 dollar fine. - Like what?

Then again there are some teams that I can respect - Indy, Green Bay, the Browns, Houston, and a few others.

Thanks for reading this rant, I'm just getting tired of it.

okay.. I enjoy it.

what if the Yankees were in the NFL ?

I know how you feel,....but my exasperation comes from the knowledge that the Browns are not going to ever be a competitive football team again before my time runs out, and I think that will truly break my son's heart.

I can agree with you for the most part - it is becoming less and less fun. most of the issues I have surround the players...in addition to the items you mentioned.

As if salaries as a whole aren't high enough, players/agents complain about them way too frequently. You signed the contract, live up to it or keep your issues with it in house and not make it public. I know that the NFL can cut you at any time, but that's the way things work. If you don't like it, you have 2 choices (a) get your agent to negotiate you a 100% guaranteed contract, good luck with that or (b) come to the real world where you're lucky to have a job and have to accept the salary they are paying you with limited guarantees.

It seems that half or more of the players are prima donnas or drama queens, or both. In general the world has turned into a "me first" world, but the NFL is ridiculous. And the drama queens like Favre, TO, and so on (and now Harrison - I got fined so I'm gonna quit) makes it more like the so called reality TV than a sport.

They're completely brainwashed about the CBA. The latest example was Damien Woody on Sirius last night - he said that he truly believed that the reason that the NFL started fining for the illegal hits is because they want to go to an 18 game season. I'd have loved to hear his logic, but of course he didn't talk about it. I'm sure DeMaurice planted that one. The more the NFLPA and players opens their mouths, the more I lean towards the owners on this one (most of them are smart enough to either keep their mouths shut or say the right things, players rarely do either).

We've already decided that we will only get season tickets (Seahawks) one more year, solely because the Browns and Steelers (my buddy's team) play in Seattle next year. I suspect that after that, the NFL will turn into MLB or NBA for me - something I just pay attention to. I'll always be a Browns fan (just like Indians and Cavs), but I'm wondering if I'll continue to bleed brown and orange...

I bet if the Browns were 4-1 a lot of that stuff would bother you a whole lot less.

I feel bad for the people who are 25 or younger ..(yes that demographic includes me) ... imagine all of the younger browns fans in this category (or possibly the reason for the lack thereof) ... they were only 10 years old when the team was moved ... and anyone that age or younger has "grown up" with what ... 2 playoff appearances since 1990? so if someone is going on 21 and just hitting the prime age to go to the stadium and be able to buy a beer ... they have had 2 playoff seasons in their lifetime? .. that could hurt the foundation of the fanbase someday

I mean I know if we win .. that will take care of a lot .. but I never wanted to be like Quittsburgh .. where the amount of little yellow hankies getting waved in the stands is related the to amount of victories that they have.

Muni I feel ya.... I think it stems from a number of factors.. when I was a kid I don't think pro athletes were any more "righteous" than they are now.. but the media wasn't nearly as intense.. there weren't half a dozen full time sports , sports only radio, blogs, and message boards to pound the crap out of every detail of somebodys life. You had the news and the news generally had just enough time to get you the scores and the highlights and there wasn't much time for anything else.... they didn't cover contract disputes or DUIs or spousal abuse cases.... unless it happened to the local team it didn't get covered.. it's not that it didn't happen, it's that very few people knew about it.. so as a kid (and I'm 44).. I guess I was fairly naive and I thought these guys really were good guys who meant it when they signed an autograph and waved to the camera... part of it is the media and part of it is that I'm a heck of a lot more cynical now than I was then...

You left out Favre, ESPN, Albert Haynesworth, roughing the passer rules where even grazing the helmet with your hand gets called as roughing, and the Cowboys.

I have been watching sports less and less every year. It has little to do with the Browns losing rather it is less about a sport and resembles a sporting reality show with the drama.

There is something about watching old highlights of Earl Campbell, Joe Montana, Lawrence Taylor, Bernie Kosar, the old stadiums, songs like Bernie Bernie, and the Oilers theme song that made football football.

The purple people eaters, orange crush, kardiac kids. When I played as a kid back in the 70s and 80s we wore arm pads, pads that fit over our hands and forearm, neck rolls, thigh pads, knee pads . . . I was like a gladiator, today they don't were knee pads or thigh pads, it is like spandex and all fancy crap. Some look like they are wearing shorts.

Blech. Give me the old timers. Give me Art Donovan.

that is my rant.

Art Donovan was funny.

I watch the Browns every week. After that, I might catch a half a game here and there. Saturdays - I root for the Buckeyes - although I've probably only seen 3 of their games in the last 2 years.

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I know it will eventually be our time, but I'm afraid I might become apathetic before it happens.

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I hear that, wondered about that more than once. As in, "what f they keep losing and losing and suddenly I find myself not caring as much? Or at all?"

More to the point of the thread, I find a lot of NFL games boring now, especially the regular season. The NFL is so damn structured, I've watched parts of some U.S. college games recently, and it's almost more entertaining than pro ball because of the varying levels of talent on the field.
You guys will laugh at this, but I also honestly believe there are more entertaining CFL games than the NFL.
Sports in general, really - I don't love them as much as I once did, probably for a lot of reasons.

These days, I rarely watch a regular season hockey game unless the Leafs are playing, maybe once or twice a season. I can watch some non-Browns NFL games but not nearly as often as I used to.

Guess here is as good as anywhere to make my first post on DT.


I hear ya RememberMuni. I'm finding myself more and more interested in College football as of late as well as the UFL, AFL and CFL. Mostly for the same reasons as you. I agree with everything you said about those teams. Adding a few more reasons....

Unfortunately living outside of the Ohio market I never get Browns games. You know what games I seem to find on in multiple states? It is either the Steelers games or the Patriots games, or both. It has become clear to me Goodell is marketing bandwagon jumping as the new "in" and attempting to build up the bandwagons of his friends teams further. Couple that with the biased officiating year in year out for those teams, letting cheating, steroid use and criminal behavior slide in their cases has taken ALOT of fun out of the NFL.

As has the sissification and attempts at mimicking the AFL. Arena League is fun to watch because of the shootouts, but that's what makes it different, a nice change of pace. NFL is fun when it's a mixture. Finesse teams that pass, teams that pound it out, teams that build based on their defense and knocking the snot outa players ect. I get this sense the NFL brass would love nothing more than for every team to be passing it 500 times per game, everyone in a shiny new dome.

The greed. Mainly the whole Sunday Ticket crap. They're making it so your options are either jump on the Stoolers or Pats bandwagon or you have to buy a Dish through a certain carrier and pay over $200 per year to watch your teams games. Lame and you KNOW they're making a killing. Also this bogus crap with the AFL and CFL being exclusive to the NFL Network.

I also agree with the criminals, thuggery and general on field retardation. Rapists, murderers, dog killers, gang members, drug abusers you name it the NFL sadly has it. I'm no prude but these are grown men making millions of dollars with little kids watching and paying attention. Accept responsibility, grow up and be men. Oh and enough celebrations or preening on the field over every little thing, it's stupid. Great, you scored a TD or made a play, give the ref the ball, get off the field and gear up for the next go around. Be a stinkin' professional.

I love the Browns, always will but I agree for sure, the NFL is losing it's appeal.

As far as this "pure football" thread goes this is the world we live in, and the NFL is not unique in this regard. You'll have that. But if and when the new CBA gets hammered out, it will still be far and away the best structured pro sport as far as competition goes. Love the game but am realistic enough to know that stuff happens. *shrug*

If Braylon hadn't of been a waste here, he wouldn't have got mentioned in the originating post of this thread. You wouldn't give 2 hoots about him if the Jets had drafted him. If we had beaten Pitt last week, this thread would not exist.

Winning cures all baby.....losing begats whining such as this.

I feel the same way, I find it hard to sit & watch football anymore, listening to over paid loud mouth announcers talk about the same old crap over N over and still not making since the 3rd or 4th time around, watching multi-millionaries complane about being disrespected or treated wrong.

Then we have the dont touch the QB and I'm not even sure what to think about this hard hitting thing, yes we cant lead with your head, but common it happens they have one second to react, I reallly dont know what to think.

Really thier not the only profession with work related issues, it's just that the local steel plant dosent have them talked anout on ESPN for hours, weeks, months at a time, nobody really cares about the worker down the block who got up at 4:00 am every morning for 50+ years and went to work for 10-12 hours a day nobodyreally worries about his wear & tear on his body, think he dosent hurt getting out of bed in the morning....think his mind dosent hurt from worry about paying his morgage every month, sorry guys have no sympathy for NFL players, they know the risk and are willing to take that risk for millions, some people have no choice if they wanna feed & cloth thier children...

It will.

The league isn't going to shut down.

Message received, pal. But I love the wins when they happen. Browns fans need like a 53-step addiction plan for loving this team. I cheer for things like the coin toss, getting a first down, helmets all facing forward, EW didn't give up a home run that series, and I can't help it. I dig the Browns and am famished for success if some better players and a few less numbskulls get on board the Walrus Train to Destiny Land, I could enjoy it more with a lot less agonizing. But I celebrate whatever good we wrench out of any given Sunday. Even FGs!
When I get discouraged I remember The Hole in My Soul when there was no Browns football because of Modell. I don't love this group as much, but I try not to lov 'em less. And as a fan, for whatever it is worth, they need us more as they build again, maybe more than ever before.

There's plenty of us die-hard's around. But the waiting is tough.

Its pretty simple MuniLot..nothing stays the same forever..that includes the grand ole game of football.....30 years ago teams in the NCAA ran the veer,pro set,wishbone formations..now every other team runs their version of the spread out of the shotgun or pistol.
How many QB's were 6'5 240 LBs in 1977?....none.
How many 3rd down sub pacakges are their now?
Your a hoot..I betcha anything if the Browns were 5-1 instead of their standard 1-5,you'd be havin the time of your life.
Ask any Jets or Steelers fan if its horrible being 4-1?
In 10 years the game of football won't resemble what we see in 2010.
Its mid Oct and the Browns are out of the playoffs yet again..what else is new.
Its simple..you don't the current state of football..rake leaves or go biking.

It seems like the most exciting times are during the off-season, coaching and FO changes that give new hope, the draft, TC and even the pre-season because we can excuse bad play for just that reason. Then, somewhere around halftime of the first reg. season game that ole' familiar feeling starts sinking in.

I also wanted to add in as a side note that even the players today have far more talent than in years past because of the amount of training, conditioning, weightlifting, and overall strategy and coaching that we give to younger and younger players ....

Im curious to see what you guys think on this issue:

Do you think the best college team today .. whether you say its an undefeated, a conference champion ... even a one loss team like Alabama, Ohio State, Wisconsin ... do you think that one of those teams could not just beat but beat up on a "pro" team even from the 60's 70's 80's or early 90's?

Im just curious to see what you guys think.

I can't say it's losing its appeal to me really. I still spend most of the week between classes on the forums and reading up on the Browns, waiting for that Sunday culmination. But I too get frustrated.

I'm 21 now, far younger than most of you folks, family grew up in Boston but I moved to Cleveland around 5 y/o and caught interest in the NFL around the time the Browns were only a memory. But when those Browns came back, there was no question in my mind where my fandom was going to lie, so I jumped in and haven't looked back. I wouldn't have had it any other way.

I've never seen a winner, at least a true winner, so I can't really say what that feels like, but it's the determination and resolve to someday feel that which keeps me going. I know I have a little more time than some of you folks, god willing, but I know someday we'll have a winner. And when that happens, well, I can't think of any better feeling.

Head up guys!

My biggest turn off is all the personal celebrations. Some look so idiotic that you have to wonder what the player is thinking. Celebrating a TD IMO is OK. High fiving, the chest bump, spiking the ball, and even a little dance. But these jack-a-holes that have to do a dance after every tackle is childish. I've seen guys tackle a runner , Ray Lewis comes to mind, five yards down field and get up and do a dance for the camera. The frigging guy just gained 5 yards!

The second thing is the bias amongst the announcers. A play by play guy should not choose sides. Too many bash the losing team, and at times even snicker while doing it, then turn around and practically gush over the more popular team. Too many ex-players is the problem. These guys over analyze every play, and inject their opinion about everything from play calls to an individual performance. Many were mediocre players, that act as if they were superstars. When calling a game, IMO an announcer should never bad mouth either team, or any player on the field. I remember watching an NFL pregame show in which Rod Woodson referred to the Browns as "the Pumkin heads"........classless. I've seen Sapp, Irvin, and others laughing at teams and players during pregame. That IMO is about as unprofessional as you can get. These shows only spotlight high profile players, unless they are fools like Ochocinco, or some other player that acts like a clown.

The last thing for me is the incompetence, or appearance of it in the officiating. I had Sunday ticket for years and watched hundreds of games, and noone will ever convince me that the officiating isn't different for different teams and players. I've seen DA slammed into the turf after throwing a ball, without even the annnouncers mentioning it, while players such as Brady are protected from the slighest touch.

The tuck rule, Rudd's helmet toss call, the field goal in last years Cincy game, calling a replay after the next play has been ran, Rothlisberger's no touchdown in the superbowl. The first down given to the Steelers last year that was 6 inches short and highly visible to everybody on TV. The Favre soap opera, T.O.'s childishness, I could go on, but I think everyone gets the jist.

Now guys like Harrison and Lewis saying they can't play with the "new" rules, even though they have been rules for years, but never called on certain "high profile" players. You can blow a guy up with a good driving tackle with your shoulders planted in the runner or receivers chest, wrapping your arms and planting them in the ground. That's the way we were all taught, and that's what you see hundreds of times on Friday night HS games. Good solid hits within the rules.

The college game is superior now a days, because it is still "pure football". As soon as money is injected into it, as far as the players are concerned, it will become the same.

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Do you think the best college team today .. whether you say its an undefeated, a conference champion ... even a one loss team like Alabama, Ohio State, Wisconsin ... do you think that one of those teams could not just beat but beat up on a "pro" team even from the 60's 70's 80's or early 90's?

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Probably not the early 90s, but I might give you the previous decades - considering the size and speed of the players between then and now.
I will say however that some old-school NFLers - such as Montana in his prime - could play in any era (it's somewhat sad that Montana is now old-school ).

Ok I can agree with that ... I always think about this because as much as the Steelers fans try to say when we won championships it was irrelevant .. I always kinda speculate that college teams today could probably whoop on the tin-foil curtain ...

That and I just think it would be AMAZING to watch not even a pure positional player .. but a straight up "Athlete" like a Haden, Pryor, Ngata (who played rugby in high school and college right?) be able to just go out use their superior size and speed and just demolish those old school players.

Not that I am trying to talk smack on the old players, but itll be the same way in 20 or 30 years. In our lifetime we could see someone run under a 4.20 40 .. could see a guy run a 4.4 or 4.5 while weighing 280 or 300 and be 6'8 or 6'10 ...

I once read a Book by Dan Moldea on illegal betting in the NFL and said it was an owners problem. I got a real problem with a player intentionally taking out two players with illegal hits and No penalty by the refs. Both were near midfield. So instead a fresh set of downs at the Steeler 35 yard line we have two players knocked out of the game and refs turning a blind eye. You fine a guy $75,00 for the grotesque hit and he is not ejected. he should have got a flag n the first and an ejection on the second.

Also this game has changed because in the day when a player did something that viscous he teammates stood by him and did not wimp out. i remember buddy Ryan( Robs daddy) telling Bear defenders to take out the raider QBs for the viscous season ending injury they inflicted on mcmahon. maybe we take out the steeler molester QB with a lat viscous hit...a joe jones plant job in the turf.

mangini said Nothing to the refs, to harrison, or his players. what a tool.