Difference between Old NFL and New NFL

[DFWJC]

I used to love college basketball. But since they made it one and done and changed all the conferences I really don't follow it. I'll fill out a bracket for the Tourney but that's about it.

Everyone thinks the NFL is immune, but I already can't stand a lot of the changes.

College Hoops is nothing like it was...so true.
I was totally obsessed growing up in NC....a team was a TEAM.
Like you, I reduced to not following it so much anymore.
The ones done thing is too weird. I'm not laming anyone though, it's just how it is. And it sucks.

 

[DandyDon1722]

Marry the star - not the player.

It will never leave you.

 

[Hoofbite]

Players are no more or less loyal.

They just have a chance to actually move as opposed to the days when teams owned everything about them.

 

[Nightman]

College Hoops is nothing like it was...so true.
I was totally obsessed growing up in NC....a team was a TEAM.
Like you, I reduced to not following it so much anymore.
The ones done thing is too weird. I'm not laming anyone though, it's just how it is. And it sucks.

Terps fan here. Used to watch on a 9" B/W on UHF. The ACC battles were legendary.

Then I went to Georgetown right after the Big East exploded. Talk about some wars.

 

[brymatt94]

I think it varies from player to player and that's regardless of decade. Some are selfish, some are about the team and have a burning desire to play the game. This was true in the 70s and it's true now.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

The difference between the old NFL and the new NFL is that....we have unprecedented access to today's players.

The essential character of man has not change.

 

[DFWJC]

Terps fan here. Used to watch on a 9" B/W on UHF. The ACC battles were legendary.

Then I went to Georgetown right after the Big East exploded. Talk about some wars.

Just the mention of the name Len Bias gives me chills.
As for the old Big East--it was epic. ESPN had a special on it last year. All the great coaches, and players that knew each other because some of the schools were so close.
That 1982 Final Four probably had more talent than any other.
GTown
UNC
Houston
Louisville
Loaded.

 

[DogFace]

A good old days thread. Cute

 

[coach steele]

Old time players would show as much loyalty as modern day players if they had the opportunities that modern day players do. Free Agency changed everything. The salary cap changed everything. Now players promote themselves through Twitter. The older generation would have done the same during their time period as well.

 

[jazzcat22]

Old NFL would have done the same if they could have.

Oh, yes, how true this is.

In the 60's pre AFL / NFL merger, for a short time. AFL had a draft, NFL had a draft. The player went to the team who offered more $$$.
When was it, 1976 time frame and the WFL started, quite a few Miami players, as well as other teams, went there for BIG money. That was the downfall for the WFL, they paid out much more to the players, to get fans to watch, than they made. It wasn't planned out very well.
The USFL tried it again in the 80's, but was better planned, but still didn't work, as some players got paid a lot, others not so much.

Players once drafted by teams, were held to that team no matter what. Even after they retired, teams held the rights to that player. Teams after a player was retired for 5 to 10 years, would finally release them and their rights to sign them.

But if a player could leave for more $$$ or go to a winning team, they would in a heartbeat.

 

[Jarv]

I'm old school and hated when FA and caps were put in place. I can't even imagine guys like Bob Lilly leaving to Washington or a host of other all-time greats who spent their entire time with the team and with the players who played alongside of them. Now days the guy you hated last year is the guy you are pulling for this year. But it is what it is, just glad I grew up in a different time.

Dooms, couldn't have put it any better. 70's football (and music ) was the best. Rivalries meant something, teams hated each other Post season paychecks meant something too, nowadays it's just a small sliver of a paycheck. Ahh the good old days.

 

[Jammer]

I understand the money part of the game and I don't blame the players at all for getting what they can when they can. For me, it has reduced my enjoyment of the game. It's like the Cowboys' O-line. They're young and very talented, but I know in the back of mind it won't be long until it's time to pay them again and the Cowboys won't be able to pay them all. You could see the growth of the early 90's Cowboys. You knew every year they were getting better as a team and you didn't worry about a player leaving unless they were getting someone better. If a player left for free agency it wasn't because the Cowboys could not afford him. It was because the Cowboys decided they didn't want him at the cost the player wanted.

 

[ilovejerry]

Players play because they can, not because they want to.

Players love themselves more than their team.

Nobody is loyal.

We can go on and on. In less than 15 years, only drones will play the game. If that's what everyone wants, more power to them.

Sure this type of day is exciting for a few, sad for a few, and good for a few. Overall though, it's very bad for the real game of football and TEAM!!!

Thats sports in general now its all big $$$. You cant blame the players they got screwed back in the day and thats in every sport baseball was the worst, Its all commerce these guys have a skill that takes years and ridiculous amount of dedication to craft, and there's owners who pay for it, because idiots like us want or choose to watch it. We are helping the slaves build the pyramids and paying good $ to watch.

 

[Doomsday101]

Dooms, couldn't have put it any better. 70's football (and music ) was the best. Rivalries meant something, teams hated each other Post season paychecks meant something too, nowadays it's just a small sliver of a paycheck. Ahh the good old days.

Yeah I miss those times in the NFL. I get the business aspect of it and I get the players wanting more control over their own careers but as a fan I liked it NFL prior to FA a lot more.

 

[Iago33]

Marry the star - not the player.

It will never leave you.

No stars in the picture under your name--both (picture and screen name) are just a player. Seems a bit ironic.

 

[DandyDon1722]

No stars in the picture under your name--both (picture and screen name) are just a player. Seems a bit ironic.

No, no stars. I think the presumption is made though.

It's perfectly normal to admire a player or have favorites or even consider him as an all time favorite, but the team will always supersede any one player which is the way is should be. Even back in Don's days players came and went. Namath a Ram, Unitas a Charger. It's the old saying...

It's the name of the front of the jersey, not the name on the back.

 

[Iago33]

No, no stars. I think the presumption is made though.

It's perfectly normal to admire a player or have favorites or even consider him as an all time favorite, but the team will always supersede any one player which is the way is should be. Even back in Don's days players came and went. Namath a Ram, Unitas a Charger. It's the old saying...

It's the name of the front of the jersey, not the name on the back.

I get what you're saying, but your means of identifying yourself here seemed ironic to me.

I would also argue it's not as simple as marrying the star, either. My grandfather hated how Jerry handled Tom Landry so much that he stopped rooting for the Cowboys even though he'd been a fan since the beginning of the franchise. An owner can hijack a franchise. Ask the Oilers or Browns fans how they feel about it.

 

[Doomsday101]

Marry the star - not the player.

It will never leave you.

Players helped make the Star what it is.

 

[ilovejerry]

Players helped make the Star what it is.

Players that were crapped on and traded and used , its the bidness bo.

 

[DandyDon1722]

I get what you're saying, but your means of identifying yourself here seemed ironic to me.

I would also argue it's not as simple as marrying the star, either. My grandfather hated how Jerry handled Tom Landry so much that he stopped rooting for the Cowboys even though he'd been a fan since the beginning of the franchise. An owner can hijack a franchise. Ask the Oilers or Browns fans how they feel about it.

Completely understand about the owners and I would've been devastated if that happened to my team but it didn't so I don't have a reference point only to say this. If I was a Browns fan I would've come back as a Browns fan. The Houston scenario is a bit different. That would've been hard for me because of the name, the colors, everything was taken away. I just don't know how I would've become a Texans fan. I think maybe I would've been a Titans fan, I'm just not sure.

As far as Jerry and Tom, I hated that also but it never for a second caused me to reconsider anything. In my travels and talks with Cowboy fans I think the Jerry/Tom thing affected older fans at the time much more than younger fans and Texas fans in particular. They simply could never let it go.

I cannot explain my love for the Cowboys other than to say that when I was six years old I asked my dad at Thanksgiving dinner who the team was with the star on their helmet and that was it. It was like meeting the woman you spend the rest of your life with. I lived in a small town outside of Buffalo, I cannot offer any logical reason but I became obsessed and it has never left me and I'm grateful that I have a passion for the team. So many people just exist, have a passion for something in life.