NFL, Cowboys, and Football all feel "off" to me this season

[xwalker]

NFL / Cowboys / Football all feel "off" to me this season and I wonder if we'll look back at the 2017 season someday as being the year where things started going south in a big way. Random thoughts on this topic:

• The incredible unfairness of the NFL's prosecution (so to speak) of the Zeke Elliot suspension. I don't think Elliot is a choir boy, however, in this country we strongly believe that someone is "innocent until proven guilty" and I don't think anyone has any faith the NFL has any more insights on Zeke's innocence / guilt than the legal system did

• Unexciting football. The Salary Cap, Parity, whatever you want to call it -- there are really no great/dominant teams with the exception of <maybe> the Patriots. It's hard to hate other teams with a passion like yesteryear.

• Extreme emphasis on offensive football and passing in general. I think they've gone too far with it.

• Watering down of football -- NFL games on Thursday Night, Sunday, Sunday Night, and Monday Night might be one day to many for me. I could do without Thursday night football

• The anthem thing. I will refrain stating my opinion on this other than to say the whole thing, top to bottom, is a huge black-eye for the players, owners, and the NFL. Putting the actual act aside for a moment, the players and NFL front office, and NFL league office have handled it horribly

• NFL head injuries (concussions) changing the way football is viewed by kids and parents of kids. I see a trend where I live where parents (especially dads) no longer urge their boys to play football. Most of them, and as a father of a 12 year old I fall into this category, am <OK> if they just stick to soccer / basketball / etc. Striving to play in the NFL someday is no longer a wonderful thing when we are finding the 50-75% of NFL players retire with CTE

• Beyond kids not opting to play football, my limited view of my son and his friend group (all 12-13 years old) is NONE of them care about the NFL. They are all passionate about the NBA and generally speaking I think the NBA is doing a great job of tailoring their sport to today's youth. Basketball, like soccer, is an infinitely more approachable sport than football. Anybody can play basketball or soccer to a certain extent. My main point here is the general sadness that my son doesn't seem to care, despite my best efforts, about the NFL and I don't get to enjoy the experience with him. I end up watching NBA games with him, the NBA will never be anything but slightly interesting to me

• Removing violence (bit hits, tackling a QB low, etc) from the game IMHO is taking a slow toll on the game. Don't get me wrong, each of these things taken by itself, seems like a good decision. Having said that, the game almost seems to be trending to towards flag football.

Sorry for the rant. It's probably just me, however, the game seems to be losing some of it's luster for me. I am less excited about Sundays. I care MUCH LESS about watching football outside of the Cowboys playing than ever before. Just feels weird.

Anybody else feeling this way?

The Cowboys becoming a dominant team would solve all issues for the NFL.

 

[JDSmith]

I don't even watch anymore. I come here, but that's because reading the forum is - for me - like reading an ongoing crowdsourced novel with each person contributing a character (or more than one). I watch rugby almost exclusively, and have only watched one NFL game all year.

All of the reasons listed in the first post play a role for me. Additionally, I can't take the pace of the game anymore. All of the stoppages, all of the commercials, all of the 'look at me' moments during a game turn me off.

 

[Clove]

NFL got what they wanted, parity, with the exception of one team, New England. So now, no one's interested.

 

[Beast_from_East]

NFL got what they wanted, parity, with the exception of one team, New England. So now, no one's interested.

Good point

 

[bodi]

•Watering down of football -- NFL games on Thursday Night, Sunday, Sunday Night, and Monday Night might be one day to many for me. I could do without Thursday night football

cut out the THURS GAME

 

[JPostSam]

A league wide poor product does it for me from injuries to bad refs to bad football. I couldn't care less about that "other" stuff.

i think it started for me when the refereeing went down the toilet. the replacement refs and the "fail mary" showed the league front office cared more about its own incredible power than the integrity of the game.

then, they overruled dez's obvious catch against the packers for reasons no sane person can understand, and killed our best hopes for a super bowl appearance in 20 years.

then, they punished dallas and washington for treating an uncapped year like an uncapped year (meaning, not going along with the rest of the league's illegal collusion).

then, the ineptitude over the ray rice situation, deflategate, and now the zeke fiasco.

no, i don't miss seeing guys get smashed in the head. i saw guys suffer injuries on the field that left them in wheelchairs, and it didn't make me enjoy football one bit. i don't miss late hits or cheap shots on the knees of quarterbacks and offensive linemen, either.

i do hate the "color rush" jerseys, the third thanksgiving day game, and the proliferation of thursday night and (later in the season) saturday night games that water down the weekly event of NFL football.

i hate that we talk about fantasy football more than actual football, and judge players based on how many points their meaningless catches and yards bring us in leagues that we pretend mean something, rather then the blocks that spring the runner for a big gain or a hard-nosed 2-yard run for the first down on 4th-and-1 with the game on the line.

i hate that stephen a. smith and his wannabes are paid millions to stir the feces, and that john madden is off the air.

i hate that roku and netflix and amazon make it easy for me to watch what i want to watch when i want to watch it, pretty darn cheaply, but the nfl won't let me watch the only game i really care about each week, for a reasonable price.

it doesn't help, either, that bringing your family to a game costs waaaaaay too much. the tickets are too expensive, and then they gouge you for parking, they gouge you for food, and they gouge you for a beverage, on top of that. i only buy clothes and hats when they're on deep discounts because i'm not dropping $50 for a t-shirt branded with my team's name, or $100 for a jersey. and definitely not for my kids, as they'll outgrow it in a year, tops.

these are the things that the nfl is doing to hurt fans. and with so much else to watch these days -- Game of Thrones, UFC, movies on demand, whatever -- they have more competition than ever for eyeballs. they'd better wise up.

 

[gimmesix]

I thought back when free agency came into the picture that the NFL was going the way of baseball with favorite players you've invested fanhood into going from team to team. That thankfully hasn't happened to the extent that I thought it would, but I think free agency has affected the game. No longer are there dynasties (other than New England) for fans to love and hate. The powerhouse struggles between teams like Dallas and San Francisco just no longer exist as teams rise and fall quickly (other than New England).

Couple that with complicating the rules (what is a catch?), bad officiating and taking away some of the excitement to protect players better (there's a post about Witten's no-helmet catch and run, which would not be allowed today) and it's a watered-down product.

 

[CowboyRoy]

It could just be the team not coming close to expectations. You'd think we'd be used to it, but we never learn.

Suspensions and a secondary overhaul should have tampered expectations.

 

[perrykemp]

Anybody else miss kick returns?

 

[visionary]

Yes football has become less important to me but that has happened over the last 6-8 years, IMO the reasons are

The sheer ineptness of the Cowboys FO and the self centerdness of the joneses (they prioritize football and winning way way low). Let me know if Eagles fans are feeling this way this year? I bet not. It has to do with the team, FO, and coaching

The watering down with games pretty much daily

The CTE issue is HUGE and cannot be overstated

The players and kneeling have nothing to do with it unless you belong to a certain ethnic background then you think so

 

[Pessimist_cowboy]

The passing game just seems out of wack. Dez , Twill, and Butler are almost non existent. Just seems weird. Never any deep balls. I just miss having a precise passing game to go with a solid run game.

 

[JW82]

Suspensions and a secondary overhaul should have tampered expectations.

Overhauling an awful secondary is a good thing.

 

[Sarge]

Too many flags, blown calls, BS calls, no calls, phantom calls, what the hell is a catch anyways, what is a "football move", can you fit just one more commercial down our throats, reviews take too long and then they even screw those up, i understand and appreciate the pink thing but that ran its course years ago. The game seems politicized now and I have no patience for that. Not a fan of the London games, it just robs one team of a home game. I could go on but I don't feel like developing carpal tunnel.

 

[Established1971]

Its going on 40 years now where I continue to here people use the word "parity" as if it is something new and something unique to a certain point in time. The word "parity" had begun being used in the late 70's. A bunch of things occurred at one time, namely:
Games to play went from 14 to 16
Two wild card teams were added
The balanced schedule format was adopted
A slew of teams made it to the playoffs at 9-7 and two years on a row one of the teams in the NFC championship was only 9-7

People began using that word then. I remember it, I had to look it up, thought they were saying "parody." And for 39 years it has been a non stop cycle of "now that we have parity" "now that we have parity" "now that we have parity" "now that we have parity" "now that we have parity" "now that we have parity" "now that we have parity" "now that we have parity" "now that we have parity" "now that we have parity" "now that we have parity" ad infinitum

Please stop

 

[ThreeandOut]

The Cowboys becoming a dominant team would solve all issues for the NFL.

Unfortunately, the NFL is determined to not let that happen.

 

[ElGatoGrande]

The NFL product simply isn't as appealing as it used to be.
The NFL head office and officiating appendage is seen as tainted and unaccountable.
Many games and outcomes are marred with legitimate controversy and contempt.
Many players are seen as ungrateful/ disrespectful/ privileged.
More than half of the reporters/journalists and media outlets are unlikeable.
3.5hr games with 2hrs being commercials

One reason the NFL is having a hard time attracting young viewers: the youngsters see the NFL for what it is today, not for what it was decades ago. They don't have the NFL addiction to keep them watching like we do..... and this year a lot of it isn't recognizable to us.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Probably for the best. The NFL is suppose to be a pass time. The NFL whether they tried to or not ended up controlling our lives. It's not just a Sunday adventure anymore it's pretty much daily if you factor in fantasy sports and there are games on Sunday, Monday, Thursday and Saturday.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

Let me state that I am a cowboys fan. No matter what.

Them winning is all I care about. I don’t need close, good games. I like h 90s style blowouts, games decided early ;-)

There is something off this year,

1. Elliot in the news before the season.
2. Getting beat down by Denver.
3. Cringing at Garrett on sidelines.
4. Poor management, especially at end of games.

It has soured me a little.

But... no matter what,... Cowboys forever!

 

[Redball Express]

Does anybody know if fantasy football participation has gone down this year?

Oh my bro..

I'm going to guess it's down a fantasy of 20%..

 

[Reverend Conehead]

NFL / Cowboys / Football all feel "off" to me this season and I wonder if we'll look back at the 2017 season someday as being the year where things started going south in a big way. Random thoughts on this topic:

• The incredible unfairness of the NFL's prosecution (so to speak) of the Zeke Elliot suspension. I don't think Elliot is a choir boy, however, in this country we strongly believe that someone is "innocent until proven guilty" and I don't think anyone has any faith the NFL has any more insights on Zeke's innocence / guilt than the legal system did

• Unexciting football. The Salary Cap, Parity, whatever you want to call it -- there are really no great/dominant teams with the exception of <maybe> the Patriots. It's hard to hate other teams with a passion like yesteryear.

• Extreme emphasis on offensive football and passing in general. I think they've gone too far with it.

• Watering down of football -- NFL games on Thursday Night, Sunday, Sunday Night, and Monday Night might be one day to many for me. I could do without Thursday night football

• The anthem thing. I will refrain stating my opinion on this other than to say the whole thing, top to bottom, is a huge black-eye for the players, owners, and the NFL. Putting the actual act aside for a moment, the players and NFL front office, and NFL league office have handled it horribly

• NFL head injuries (concussions) changing the way football is viewed by kids and parents of kids. I see a trend where I live where parents (especially dads) no longer urge their boys to play football. Most of them, and as a father of a 12 year old I fall into this category, am <OK> if they just stick to soccer / basketball / etc. Striving to play in the NFL someday is no longer a wonderful thing when we are finding the 50-75% of NFL players retire with CTE

• Beyond kids not opting to play football, my limited view of my son and his friend group (all 12-13 years old) is NONE of them care about the NFL. They are all passionate about the NBA and generally speaking I think the NBA is doing a great job of tailoring their sport to today's youth. Basketball, like soccer, is an infinitely more approachable sport than football. Anybody can play basketball or soccer to a certain extent. My main point here is the general sadness that my son doesn't seem to care, despite my best efforts, about the NFL and I don't get to enjoy the experience with him. I end up watching NBA games with him, the NBA will never be anything but slightly interesting to me

• Removing violence (bit hits, tackling a QB low, etc) from the game IMHO is taking a slow toll on the game. Don't get me wrong, each of these things taken by itself, seems like a good decision. Having said that, the game almost seems to be trending to towards flag football.

Sorry for the rant. It's probably just me, however, the game seems to be losing some of it's luster for me. I am less excited about Sundays. I care MUCH LESS about watching football outside of the Cowboys playing than ever before. Just feels weird.

Anybody else feeling this way?

Yes. I'm canceling my NFL ticket. The Cowboys are very often on regular TV, and when they're not, I have a way to watch them after the fact via download. I used to watch non-Cowboy NFL games just to see how other teams were doing, but I don't give a crap anymore about any game that does not involve the Cowboys. I feel like the whole Zeke thing is a witch hunt, and the whole CTE thing from head injuries always makes me question if I should be watching this stuff.