Young people and Today's NFL (This is not a Dak Thread)

[Arkyvarminter]

Chill out, Grandpaw.

You miss the generation of players who would smoke cigarettes at halftime?

Those players were tough -- but they failed to monetize their worth -- that sort of means they were stupid as well. So many lived and died in desolation because they played a game that broke them physically and mentally but didn't provide much support after they left the league.

How many of those players died by suicide or other stuff that was akin to suicide?

Get a grip, man.

This makes no sense whatsoever...

 

[thunderpimp91]

If the players today are in so much better physical shape then how come injuries are more frequent?

Keep in mind that there have been extensive rule changes since the 70's for the express purpose of preventing injuries.

DT Jetrhro Pugh started for 12 consecutive seasons, missed 12 games and some of them were the last game of the season when they had already clinched top seed.

LB Lee Roy Jordan, 11 consecutive seasons, didn't miss a single game.

LB Chuck Howley, 11 seasons, missed 7 games.

LB Dave Edwards, 13 seasons, missed one game.

HOFer DT Bob Lilly......13 seasons, didn't miss a single game....not one.

DE George Andrie, ten seasons, missed one game.

These guys were six of the front seven of the Cowboys starting defense that won their first Super Bowl in 1971.

Do you know who their backups were? I don't. Depth was irrelevant but they were there.

Dave Edward's backup was D.D. Lewis. He started two games in his first three seasons. Then after Edwards retired, Lewis started for 9 seasons, missed two games.

These guys didn't have "programs" to keep them in the top physical shape, yet their durability cannot be matched by today's NFL player.

There has been rule changes but the game hasn't really changed that much. It is still football. What the teams of the 70's lacked in physical perfection, they made up for in mental toughness.

Guys are getting injured so often for a few reasons. The biggest probably being that we don't just ignore head/concussion injuries these days. Guys are often times held out against their will, where as in the 70s you were just considered soft. We also have an issue of these guys pushing the physical limits of their bodies. Being 280lbs of pure muscle is great....but you're also putting a ton of pressure on tendons and ligaments. Back in the 70s your typical OL were the height/weight of todays LBs. You also just have the nature of the game today vs years ago. The rules are meant to protect players but its a bit of a catch 22 as well....the rules have evolved to more spread formations more frequently which create fewer 'meet your man in the hole' collisions, and more outside the numbers/middle of the field full speed sprinting collisions.

 

[Pompey-Cowboy]

Any player from any era in any sport can only aspire to be the best at their time. Winners are winners period, trends and health care and science will always change but all anyone can achieve is to beat what is in front of them.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Young people

 

[McKDaddy]

but all anyone can achieve is to beat what is in front of them.

bingo

 

[McKDaddy]

Some of both. A lot of players from the past couldn't play today. But certainly a lot of them could play in any era.

Current generation put through the conditions of the past (both practice & game) and probably 3/4 would tap out within a month.

 

[Rockport]

And they get hurt-er with less contact

You have any stats to back that up?

 

[Point-of-the-Star]

They also were a lot small and a lot slower back then.

Yeah, Bob Hayes would love that statement. Concerning the Landry Cowboys Tony Dorsett had sprinters speed and Landry wanted smaller, quicker OL. Bob Lily never lifted weights for strength training yet dominated. Great players in the 60's and 70's would be great today especially if put on modern training schedules.

I will say that on the average the American male is getting stronger and larger because of higher protein based diets but I expect that trend to plateau or even reverse as diets become more carb and highly processed, non-nutritious, based diets.

 

[Ironicalicon]

It's fun to wonder how players who came and left a long time ago would fare in the NFL in the 2000s and onward, specifically. It's a different game now with how fitness and health science has evolved.

 

[DAL1180]

Chill out, Grandpaw.

You miss the generation of players who would smoke cigarettes at halftime?

Those players were tough -- but they failed to monetize their worth -- that sort of means they were stupid as well. So many lived and died in desolation because they played a game that broke them physically and mentally but didn't provide much support after they left the league.

How many of those players died by suicide or other stuff that was akin to suicide?

Get a grip, man.

Most of those players player for love of the game and to win championships. The great majority of today's players only care about "the bag". Or being the "highest paid" at their position. For 3 days until the next guy signs.

 

[Nova]

I'm 38.

I have my old man moments also when I see youngsters talking about late 90s/early 00's NFL. Just talked about it in another thread, actually.

So I can sympathize.

With that said, we all would acknowledge that Prime Derrick Henry or Saquon would probably have 400 yard games if you teleported them back to the 60s.

So while human limits are largely the same, we all inherently understand the business and culture of football in America is now regularly maximizing athletic potential, while the X's and O's are also being refined over time.

But I'm also not going to pretend that Walter Payton wouldn't be successful in today's NFL. He may not be as successful, but he wouldn't be out of his depth.

I think the gap is in the averages. The average NFL player now is better than the average NFL player of the 80s and early 90s. 2000s? Maybe not.

 

[Vtwin]

Not really comparable.

Put one of the best teams of the 70's up against the best teams of today and it all depends on which version of the game they're playing.

Take the modern team back in time to play in the 70's circumstances and they get destroyed. Bring the 70's team forward to play under the current circumstances and they get destroyed.

It's also positionally dependent to a degree. No way does Brady have the career he did getting legally mauled like he would have in the 70's-80's. The shifty slot receivers like Edelman aren't going to be the same players when they are getting legally tuned up every time they go across the middle.

 

[ICP]

That's a colossally stupid argument. If guys like Emmitt, Rice, Ervin, Sanders, Dorsett, etc played today wouldn't they also have the advantages that the players today have and be quicker, stronger, and more athletic? Or are these young ones trying to say it's some kind of evolutionary crap?

 

[Nova]

That's a colossally stupid argument. If guys like Emmitt, Rice, Ervin, Sanders, Dorsett, etc played today wouldn't they also have the advantages that the players today have and be quicker, stronger, and more athletic? Or are these young ones trying to say it's some kind of evolutionary crap?

I think they're using the 'time machine' approach. Teleporting 1987 Jerry Rice to present day.

But WR is a bad case study because the WR position is easier now and athleticism for the position probably peaked some years back.

If Justin Jefferson can put up 1800 yards, then Rice easily could too.

 

[Flamma]

I was talking about the NFL with some young, mainly Cowboys fans, and they really think players today are far superior to those of the 60s, and 70's.

They are better, and by far. The money in today's game draws the best talent. Back then it was people that liked to play football. They had other jobs. I was a very good athlete, I think I could have started in the NFL back in the 60s and 70s. But no later.

IMO that was the best of times for the NFL as far as competition. These guys played to win, not for the money.

 

[DallasEast]

Any player from any era in any sport can only aspire to be the best at their time. Winners are winners period, trends and health care and science will always change but all anyone can achieve is to beat what is in front of them.

Well said.

 

[shabazz]

Every generation thinks the players who played, when they were first watching, are better than the players of every other generation.

Thats very true but in this case its not that the players were "better" its more that the mindset of the player has changed, really through no fault of their own

When you listen to stories of players from the 60s, 70s and 80s in every sport, they mention hiding injuries and playing through extreme pain because their jobs were literally on the line....they would be replaced, sometimes for good.

Today, guaranteed contracts and exponentially higher salaries, and a closer view on player safety allow players to fully recuperate from injuries and get 2nd and 3rd opinions and in some cases retire early because they are set for life.

The days of seeing an Emmitt Smith stay in a game with a dislocated shoulder may be more rare.

 

[Cowboys5217]

No player today is faster than Bob Hayes.

No player today is stronger than Larry Allen.

No player today is bigger than Kevin Gogan.

 

[McKDaddy]

No player today is faster than Bob Hayes.

No player today is stronger than Larry Allen.

No player today is bigger than Kevin Gogan.

I agree ... but on average .... they are bigger, faster & stronger. More importantly they have been preparing to play their entire lives.

 

[shabazz]

No player today is faster than Bob Hayes.

No player today is stronger than Larry Allen.

No player today is bigger than Kevin Gogan.

I actually believe that no player will ever have the raw strength Sir Larry Allen had.....the dude just isn't human.