By David Levy-Fan Experience Reporter-Football Reporters Online.com
With no talk about free agency, contract negotiations, or off season workouts, there is not much football talk going on. All people can do right now is discuss the draft in a few weeks and make their predictions. It reminds me of the book/movie "All Quiet On The Western Front".
Every football fan looks forward to going to the games. Not just to see their favorite team, but to be with friends and family. It is a time to relax, have fun, and have experiences that will turn into memories. I am sure a lot of people are reflecting on some now, hoping there will be a season this year. If not, they will reflect on seasons past and the fun they had. For many Jet s fans, the memories are all we have the past 40 years.
Many of us reflect on previous seasons. Games we attended with our father, brother, mother, sister, grandfather, uncle, or other family members who may not be with us anymore. It did not matter how bad the game was, one would always find something good to remember about the day. Even if it was a bad game, there was something about it that made it a positive experience. Many talk about how much they hated Shea Stadium and Giants Stadium. But they will always mention how much fun those times were in those bad situations.
If you are like me, you recall games you attended with someone who passed away. I always think about my dad when I think about the Jets. Every time I went to a game without him and sat in Section 226 Row 8, Seats 7 and 8 in Giants Stadium, I would think about him. Walking around the new stadium while filming, I would thin about him and wonder what he would think about the new structure built for the financially elite. Sometimes I would talk aloud to him, as if he was walking next to me.
A funny story my dad would always tell me was about the time he was headed to the AFL Championship game between the Jets and Oakland Raiders. He was speeding and was pulled over. He was sitting in a line of a dozen cars that were pulled over, dead last behind them all. He was running late and wanted to be there by kick off. He calls an officer over and explains he knows he was speeding and deserves the ticket. He then explains to the officer why he was speeding and shows him the tickets to the game. The officer tells him to hold on and be patient. Less than five minutes later, the officer returns with the ticket and tells my father to leave. He left before the other cars pulled over did.
He was the type that would have looked at the new stadium in amazement. Amazed at all the technology that was put into it and laugh when I would have to explain the reasons why. He was the type that just liked to watch the game, not much else. He would follow the changes in the game, but laugh and smile at the tech advances that are interwoven into it. He would have been 76 today. Still feels like yesterday. Every time the football season begins I think of all those games we went to. I know some others who feel the same as I do.
While filming in the parking lot at Giants Stadium in 2008, I came across Tommy Wilson. Such a dedicated Jets fan he owned the license plates "JETS" & "12 JETS". I later find out Jets owner Woody Johnson offered to buy the "JETS" plate from him. Always wearing his #12 Joe Namath jersey and always at the games, his personality and presence felt like my father's. I guess that is why his story touches me even more than others I met while filming.
Tommy was honored in 2002 by the NFL and Visa Pro Football Hall for Fans. He wrote the winning essay as to why he should be the fan to represent the Jets in the Hall of Fans. He held 10 season tickets for close to 40 years. His restaurants was named after the lot he tailgated in, Lot 12A. A true "Super" Fan in my book.
There is more I can say about Tommy but do not want to give away his entire story. I went back to get a follow up in September of 2009 and he pushed it to another game. When I emailed him about it in early November of 2009, his wife Mary Lou informed me he passed away in early October. I was deeply saddened to hear the news. He had purchased several PSL's too. Tommy lived and breathed the Jets, helped to pay for the new stadium, is in the Hall of Fans for the Jets, but yet was just another fan to the Jets organization.
I met up with his widow Mary Lou and her son Tommy Jr this past October. Mary Lou thought about giving up the seats after he passed but knew Tommy would not have wanted that. Last year was a hard season but this year was different. Once again, many people who used to tailgate with them at 13A were not there. Some did not get PSL’s, others did not have the right parking permits, while others feel it is not the same without Tommy. For the remainder of tailgating last year, it was very somber without Tommy. He was the nucleus that held that tailgate together. Tommy Jr. got a tattoo to remember his father, even though his father did not like tattoos.
Mary Lou and Tommy Jr. always reflect on their memories about Tommy. It makes them smile and feel good about being a Jet fan. Even with next season uncertain, they still reflect and always will. Tommy was one of those fans that made you feel good when he talked. I guess he holds a place in my heart because he reminded me of my own father. There is a strange connection to fans from a certain era in football. An era where it was about the game, not the politics.
Everyone knows the kind of fans I refer to. The ones where they smile when they talk about past seasons. When memories were about actions on the field, not battles in courts off the field. Older generations of fans seem to have this glow in their eyes. Where you do not mind listening to their stories. The kind where you can sit with a beer and listen for hours if you need a reason to smile.
Right now fans need a reason to smile. They need a reason to believe a season will happen this year. Many look forward to those home games, not just to tailgate, but to create memories with friends and family. 50% of ticket money was already due, PSL payment in several months. Do the Jets think the season will happen? But when a season looks like it may not happen, there is nothing to look forward to.
As it stands, all we can do is think ahead to a season that may or may not happen. We can reflect about the games we have all been to before. Many will talk about the past two seasons as they ended in trips to the AFC Championship game. Looking forward to a season where a Super Bowl could be in the Jets grasp for the first time n over 40 years. But all we can do is sit back and wait.
There may be no season. Then all we can do is reflect on the 2011 season that never was. How we all waited for players and owners to come to an agreement to end a lockout. Where the courts made the decision instead of the NFL. In 1987 at least there were some games played. Who knows what will happen this year. Ahh, the memories
(Eds. Note: I know exactly how David feels. I had the same relationship with my Dad regarding Football. I often wonder if he were still with us what he would think of the internet and what we were doing these days..B.C.)
Showing posts with label football NFL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label football NFL. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 06, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Some Things & Other Things the “not quite yet Spring time” in the NFL Edition
By Dr. Bill Chachkes Executive Editor-Football Reporters Online
I hear It’s “Always Sunny” in Philly, but that doesn’t keep Eagles Owner Jeff Lurie or Team President Joe Banner from lying right through their teeth when they talk about the costs associated with running the Linc. Raise your hand if you have ever been to the Linc….I have. It’s a nice place to watch a game, both in the seats and in the Pressbox. Can anyone really justify a 7digit “misc. expenses” tab for a stadium? I hope that doesn’t count food costs for the media. All Mr. Lurie could manage for us that day was Turkey or Ham sandwiches…Even though I’m not a fan of Pork product, I have no plans to shoot them from my helicopter like one politician suggests we do to immigrants. Lurie should produce movies about politicians who get elected and then go against the people who elected them, then he could see how he’s going against the fans of the team he owns. Most Philly fans Love Mike VICK, but that has to still be some that miss Donovan McNabb…
Do the NFL owners want to do the same thing to it’s players? If the owners really wanted to “come back to the table” and get a deal done with the players, they wouldn’t be waiting for the April 6th Court date before Judge Richardson. I like Mr. Goodell as a person, he’s always been nice to me, but he didn’t really think his letter to the players would be taken seriously when the owners for the most part prove time and time again how they can’t be trusted?
We are beginning to hear a lot of news from the “Camps” of players awaiting to be drafted next month about “who’s gonna kill it” at their pro day or how many NFL teams have invited me for a work out. What these guys have not realized yet is that the NFL that they are waiting to be selected into is going to be much different then they were hoping for. It’s going to have a rookie wage scale, and none of these guys will be “instant” millionaires like I have my “Instant Oatmeal” twice weekly….No, those days are gone. Hope you weren’t planning on paying off all your babies mommas with your signing bonus.
Football needs a “breath of fresh air”, and that just what the UFL’s Hartford Colonials did this week by hiring Jerry Glanville as their new Head Coach & GM. Not that Chris Palmer’s pressers were boring (he is a nice man too), But clearly as evidenced by the phone conference he gave to some of us media types yesterday he’s ready to ‘Shake it up” at “the Rent” this season. I look forward to being at a few of those post game press conferences…I’m even going to e-mail him my list of “dead” people he should leave tickets for…now that the statue of limitations has run out on The Doors’ Jim Morrison for the 1969 arrest in New Haven, Maybe he’ll be up for a Colonials game….but seriously, people are finally starting to take the UFL seriously(even though I did from day one, I was one of the people at the first UFL press conference…) and people should see it for what it is: competitive football. Maybe Coach Belichick could learn something about charismatic behavior from Coach Glanville….I heard he already got into a “Tweet-Fight” with Newsday’s Bob Glauber, with the Coach inviting him up to a game…Bob, if your reading this and you show up to the game and I’m there, I’d be glad to introduce you around…You’ll get to see that pro football goes beyond the NFL…
I’m so Tired of these” Rumor” football sites who just publish stories to get their traffic numbers up. Do you guys actually go out and hunt these stories down? Or do you come up with this “junk” while your in the “reading” room?
So Ohio State Head coach Jim Tressel wants to stand with his players and be suspended 5 games because “Maybe he didn’t do enough” to instill the right behavior in his players. I’m ok with his feelings, but these kids still should have sat out that bowl game….
Thanks to former Vikings DE and Retired Players Association President Carl Eller for joining us on the show last Thursday night. He was very pointed in his remarks about current players who take for granted what they have…
I heard about this great organization founded by a High School running back in Ohio who wants to help H.S. athletes who are severely injured while playing sports. Just google “rush for a cause” and find them on Facebook…
Finally, I’m headed down to our nation’s capital to speak to the sports management program students at Catholic University tomorrow. The Wed. & Thur. shows will be broadcast from The University (Wed. Night), and The Glory Days Sports grill in Broadlands, Va.(Thur. Night). Saturday we will be scouting and interviewing the athletes at the First BSN football combine of the season. Starting tonight, The Tuesday PFNYC show will be weekly again, until just after the draft…
This former soldier asks you to please pray for the people of Japan, and support our Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Airman, and Coast Guardsman who defend our religious and political freedoms every day.
I hear It’s “Always Sunny” in Philly, but that doesn’t keep Eagles Owner Jeff Lurie or Team President Joe Banner from lying right through their teeth when they talk about the costs associated with running the Linc. Raise your hand if you have ever been to the Linc….I have. It’s a nice place to watch a game, both in the seats and in the Pressbox. Can anyone really justify a 7digit “misc. expenses” tab for a stadium? I hope that doesn’t count food costs for the media. All Mr. Lurie could manage for us that day was Turkey or Ham sandwiches…Even though I’m not a fan of Pork product, I have no plans to shoot them from my helicopter like one politician suggests we do to immigrants. Lurie should produce movies about politicians who get elected and then go against the people who elected them, then he could see how he’s going against the fans of the team he owns. Most Philly fans Love Mike VICK, but that has to still be some that miss Donovan McNabb…
Do the NFL owners want to do the same thing to it’s players? If the owners really wanted to “come back to the table” and get a deal done with the players, they wouldn’t be waiting for the April 6th Court date before Judge Richardson. I like Mr. Goodell as a person, he’s always been nice to me, but he didn’t really think his letter to the players would be taken seriously when the owners for the most part prove time and time again how they can’t be trusted?
We are beginning to hear a lot of news from the “Camps” of players awaiting to be drafted next month about “who’s gonna kill it” at their pro day or how many NFL teams have invited me for a work out. What these guys have not realized yet is that the NFL that they are waiting to be selected into is going to be much different then they were hoping for. It’s going to have a rookie wage scale, and none of these guys will be “instant” millionaires like I have my “Instant Oatmeal” twice weekly….No, those days are gone. Hope you weren’t planning on paying off all your babies mommas with your signing bonus.
Football needs a “breath of fresh air”, and that just what the UFL’s Hartford Colonials did this week by hiring Jerry Glanville as their new Head Coach & GM. Not that Chris Palmer’s pressers were boring (he is a nice man too), But clearly as evidenced by the phone conference he gave to some of us media types yesterday he’s ready to ‘Shake it up” at “the Rent” this season. I look forward to being at a few of those post game press conferences…I’m even going to e-mail him my list of “dead” people he should leave tickets for…now that the statue of limitations has run out on The Doors’ Jim Morrison for the 1969 arrest in New Haven, Maybe he’ll be up for a Colonials game….but seriously, people are finally starting to take the UFL seriously(even though I did from day one, I was one of the people at the first UFL press conference…) and people should see it for what it is: competitive football. Maybe Coach Belichick could learn something about charismatic behavior from Coach Glanville….I heard he already got into a “Tweet-Fight” with Newsday’s Bob Glauber, with the Coach inviting him up to a game…Bob, if your reading this and you show up to the game and I’m there, I’d be glad to introduce you around…You’ll get to see that pro football goes beyond the NFL…
I’m so Tired of these” Rumor” football sites who just publish stories to get their traffic numbers up. Do you guys actually go out and hunt these stories down? Or do you come up with this “junk” while your in the “reading” room?
So Ohio State Head coach Jim Tressel wants to stand with his players and be suspended 5 games because “Maybe he didn’t do enough” to instill the right behavior in his players. I’m ok with his feelings, but these kids still should have sat out that bowl game….
Thanks to former Vikings DE and Retired Players Association President Carl Eller for joining us on the show last Thursday night. He was very pointed in his remarks about current players who take for granted what they have…
I heard about this great organization founded by a High School running back in Ohio who wants to help H.S. athletes who are severely injured while playing sports. Just google “rush for a cause” and find them on Facebook…
Finally, I’m headed down to our nation’s capital to speak to the sports management program students at Catholic University tomorrow. The Wed. & Thur. shows will be broadcast from The University (Wed. Night), and The Glory Days Sports grill in Broadlands, Va.(Thur. Night). Saturday we will be scouting and interviewing the athletes at the First BSN football combine of the season. Starting tonight, The Tuesday PFNYC show will be weekly again, until just after the draft…
This former soldier asks you to please pray for the people of Japan, and support our Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Airman, and Coast Guardsman who defend our religious and political freedoms every day.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Lockout Underscores Owners’ Lack of Respect for NFL Fans
By Jon Wagner-Sr. Writer-Football Reporters Online
The clock finally struck midnight on Friday night, and now, while talk of March Madness and Cinderellas are in full swing, the 2011 NFL season is in realistic jeopardy of turning into a pumpkin.
One week after the original March 4th deadline for ironing out a new Collective Bargaining Agreement was extended, NFL owners officially closed up shop and locked out their players, effectively shutting down the league (other then next month’s NFL draft) until further notice.
Sadly, it’s those who are most responsible for the insanely huge amounts of money that NFL owners and players are quibbling over – NFL fans – who will suffer the most unless the upcoming season is saved.
Duping their loyal fans, NFL owners have taken a page (and then some) from a 1989 film about another sport, the classic baseball movie, “Field of Dreams.”
Most of us know the story. Kevin Costner’s character Ray Kinsella hears the whispers… “If you build it, they will come.”
That’s exactly what NFL owners did with over-the-top, extravagant new stadiums.
Except, they went one step further, with the unfortunate notion that in the NFL, “If you build it, they will come… and when they do, you can try to shake every last dollar you can out of not only the fans who show up, but from the players the fans will pay exorbitant amounts to come see.”
And, that’s all while putting the financial burden of building those shiny new stadiums largely upon those same fans.
Yes, that is the sad state of affairs in today’s NFL for the average NFL fan.
Not only do fans, as taxpayers, shoulder much of the cost of new stadiums like Jerry Jones’ Cowboys Stadium (often dubbed the “Dallas Palace”), or the Giants’ and Jets’ New Meadowlands stadium (each having come with price tags in excess of $1.6 billion), but those same fans are asked to pay thousands of dollars in Personal Seat Licences just to have the right to buy tickets to watch games in them.
If that wasn’t enough, now loyal remaining season ticketholders who weren’t priced out (by PSL’s) of buying tickets to see their favorite teams play, can’t even do that, because of the unyielding collective ego and greed on the part of NFL owners.
That’s not to say that the NFL’s current labor issues are all one-sided. Every dispute has both opposing parties which are usually at least somewhat at fault.
However, it’s the players who really just want to give the fans what they want – to play football -- under the current CBA specifications that the owners agreed to themselves, years ago. That agreement was fine for NFL owners until that no longer became convenient in the face of the owners trying to squeeze every last dollar out of both the NFL Players’ Association and NFL fans.
The simple fact is, the owners can’t fully be trusted.
Only now, after the NFLPA has been forced to decertify and involve the threat of a possible court injunction, are NFL owners beginning to open their books to any extent at all (and even at that, they won’t be opened far enough to justify the extra $1 billion and greater portion of shared revenues along with an increase to an 18-game regular season schedule that NFL owners are seeking).
But, the reason for the mistrust of NFL owners goes beyond that, back to the stadium issue.
Under the guise of “parternership” to win public support, NFL owners have secured more than $4.4 billion in taxpayer money for 21 new or renovated stadiums (nearly two-thirds of the league’s stadiums) since 1995.
The reality is that of the $2 billion teams claim they are investing in stadiums, about $1 billion comes from NFL loans and PSL’s, two sources where the dollars come either exclusively, or at least mostly, from fans.
A particular case like the Chicago Bears’ Soldier Field renovation shows what the NFL’s “parternship” with the public for financing new NFL stadiums really means.
The Bears pledged to pay $200 million of Soldier Field’s $632 million renovation, but when all was said and done, thanks again, to partially fan-financed NFL loans and to fan-paid PSL’s, the final cost to Bears’ ownership for the renovation was less than $30 million.
It’s no different around the league. Over the next 30 years, taxpayers in NFL cities will pay more than $2 billion in interest payments on bonds that were used to raise public money for NFL stadiums.
And, thanks to a deal worked out with the U.S. government, while fans are helping to finance NFL stadium through paying their own taxes, NFL owners collect PSL money on a tax-exempt basis.
The bottom line is that the players just want to play. But, NFL owners want yet more money despite having already asked for billions from NFL fans to help finance new stadiums that ironically are supposed to be fan-friendly. Yet, despite all of the state-of-the-art amenities, how “fan-friendly” can it really be when those same fans are also being asked for thousands of additional dollars per seat in the form of PSL’s?
And, how much more can possibly be asked of NFL fans, who simply want their sport back in time for Week 1 of the regular season in September (or for that matter, in time for the upcoming NFL draft and training camps)?
Adding further insult to injury was the most recent Super Bowl, in February, with yet another irony. So desperate was Jones and the NFL to cram as many fans as possible into the new Cowboys Stadium as a result of further greed (to make more money) and ego on the part of Jones (to set the Super Bowl attendance record), that temporary seating wasn’t installed in time, thereby shutting out many fans who paid about $800 each per ticket (in additional to travel expenses to the Dallas area).
While the NFL more than rectified the situation financially, those fans missed seeing the game live and became the latest casualty of the NFL putting everything else about its game before the fans who support it.
Fans, as taxpayers and now as PSL buyers, have been conditioned to paying for stadiums for millionaires to play in and keep an exclusive NFL family owners in the business of remaining as billionaires, all while the average taxpayer and hardcore NFL fan can’t afford a seat in those very stadiums.
When you look at it that way, it’s amazing that it’s not the fans who haven’t decided to stop paying or to stop showing up, and haven’t locked out the owners and players.
Ultimately, we all love the game too much for that to happen.
But, after all the fans have given to the NFL, it’s time for the NFL and its owners to give something back.
For once, NFL owners (and even players) need to realize that they would have been nothing without their fans.
And for once, they need to let their fans come first, and make sure that it’s not the fans who are the next to be locked out.
The clock finally struck midnight on Friday night, and now, while talk of March Madness and Cinderellas are in full swing, the 2011 NFL season is in realistic jeopardy of turning into a pumpkin.
One week after the original March 4th deadline for ironing out a new Collective Bargaining Agreement was extended, NFL owners officially closed up shop and locked out their players, effectively shutting down the league (other then next month’s NFL draft) until further notice.
Sadly, it’s those who are most responsible for the insanely huge amounts of money that NFL owners and players are quibbling over – NFL fans – who will suffer the most unless the upcoming season is saved.
Duping their loyal fans, NFL owners have taken a page (and then some) from a 1989 film about another sport, the classic baseball movie, “Field of Dreams.”
Most of us know the story. Kevin Costner’s character Ray Kinsella hears the whispers… “If you build it, they will come.”
That’s exactly what NFL owners did with over-the-top, extravagant new stadiums.
Except, they went one step further, with the unfortunate notion that in the NFL, “If you build it, they will come… and when they do, you can try to shake every last dollar you can out of not only the fans who show up, but from the players the fans will pay exorbitant amounts to come see.”
And, that’s all while putting the financial burden of building those shiny new stadiums largely upon those same fans.
Yes, that is the sad state of affairs in today’s NFL for the average NFL fan.
Not only do fans, as taxpayers, shoulder much of the cost of new stadiums like Jerry Jones’ Cowboys Stadium (often dubbed the “Dallas Palace”), or the Giants’ and Jets’ New Meadowlands stadium (each having come with price tags in excess of $1.6 billion), but those same fans are asked to pay thousands of dollars in Personal Seat Licences just to have the right to buy tickets to watch games in them.
If that wasn’t enough, now loyal remaining season ticketholders who weren’t priced out (by PSL’s) of buying tickets to see their favorite teams play, can’t even do that, because of the unyielding collective ego and greed on the part of NFL owners.
That’s not to say that the NFL’s current labor issues are all one-sided. Every dispute has both opposing parties which are usually at least somewhat at fault.
However, it’s the players who really just want to give the fans what they want – to play football -- under the current CBA specifications that the owners agreed to themselves, years ago. That agreement was fine for NFL owners until that no longer became convenient in the face of the owners trying to squeeze every last dollar out of both the NFL Players’ Association and NFL fans.
The simple fact is, the owners can’t fully be trusted.
Only now, after the NFLPA has been forced to decertify and involve the threat of a possible court injunction, are NFL owners beginning to open their books to any extent at all (and even at that, they won’t be opened far enough to justify the extra $1 billion and greater portion of shared revenues along with an increase to an 18-game regular season schedule that NFL owners are seeking).
But, the reason for the mistrust of NFL owners goes beyond that, back to the stadium issue.
Under the guise of “parternership” to win public support, NFL owners have secured more than $4.4 billion in taxpayer money for 21 new or renovated stadiums (nearly two-thirds of the league’s stadiums) since 1995.
The reality is that of the $2 billion teams claim they are investing in stadiums, about $1 billion comes from NFL loans and PSL’s, two sources where the dollars come either exclusively, or at least mostly, from fans.
A particular case like the Chicago Bears’ Soldier Field renovation shows what the NFL’s “parternship” with the public for financing new NFL stadiums really means.
The Bears pledged to pay $200 million of Soldier Field’s $632 million renovation, but when all was said and done, thanks again, to partially fan-financed NFL loans and to fan-paid PSL’s, the final cost to Bears’ ownership for the renovation was less than $30 million.
It’s no different around the league. Over the next 30 years, taxpayers in NFL cities will pay more than $2 billion in interest payments on bonds that were used to raise public money for NFL stadiums.
And, thanks to a deal worked out with the U.S. government, while fans are helping to finance NFL stadium through paying their own taxes, NFL owners collect PSL money on a tax-exempt basis.
The bottom line is that the players just want to play. But, NFL owners want yet more money despite having already asked for billions from NFL fans to help finance new stadiums that ironically are supposed to be fan-friendly. Yet, despite all of the state-of-the-art amenities, how “fan-friendly” can it really be when those same fans are also being asked for thousands of additional dollars per seat in the form of PSL’s?
And, how much more can possibly be asked of NFL fans, who simply want their sport back in time for Week 1 of the regular season in September (or for that matter, in time for the upcoming NFL draft and training camps)?
Adding further insult to injury was the most recent Super Bowl, in February, with yet another irony. So desperate was Jones and the NFL to cram as many fans as possible into the new Cowboys Stadium as a result of further greed (to make more money) and ego on the part of Jones (to set the Super Bowl attendance record), that temporary seating wasn’t installed in time, thereby shutting out many fans who paid about $800 each per ticket (in additional to travel expenses to the Dallas area).
While the NFL more than rectified the situation financially, those fans missed seeing the game live and became the latest casualty of the NFL putting everything else about its game before the fans who support it.
Fans, as taxpayers and now as PSL buyers, have been conditioned to paying for stadiums for millionaires to play in and keep an exclusive NFL family owners in the business of remaining as billionaires, all while the average taxpayer and hardcore NFL fan can’t afford a seat in those very stadiums.
When you look at it that way, it’s amazing that it’s not the fans who haven’t decided to stop paying or to stop showing up, and haven’t locked out the owners and players.
Ultimately, we all love the game too much for that to happen.
But, after all the fans have given to the NFL, it’s time for the NFL and its owners to give something back.
For once, NFL owners (and even players) need to realize that they would have been nothing without their fans.
And for once, they need to let their fans come first, and make sure that it’s not the fans who are the next to be locked out.
Which "NFL" Gang is Greedier? the Owners or the Players?
By David Levy-Fan Experience reporter-Football Reporters Online
When I set out to film this documentary(Gang Greed) in August of 2008, my goal to tell the fans side. To let the fans speak about what it means to be a Jets fan. How the new PSL's were going to affect their status as a season ticket holder. Were they going to invest in them or stop going to games altogether. Now, it seams, no one may be going to any games in 2011.
National Football League team owners locked out the league’s players Saturday, shutting down professional football for the first time in 24 years and plunging the nation’s most popular and prosperous sport into a time of uncertainty.
The owners acted after labor talks with the players’ union collapsed Friday afternoon and players decertified the NFL Players Association, moving the bitter dispute into the courts and ending an era of NFL labor peace that had lasted since players went on strike in 1987.
Decertifying the NFL Players Association enabled the players to file antitrust litigation against the owners, which they did late Friday, with superstar quarterbacks Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees among the 10 named plaintiffs. Lawyers for the players also announced that they are seeking an injunction to lift the lockout.
Some still wonder if all of this was worth the headache. Not just for the players and owners, but the fans as well. Both the Jets and Giants issued apologies to the fans for the lockout. The players feel they did what they could but were left with no other choice.
The team owners will complain they are losing money. I am sure they will have no issues paying their bills though. The income is a loss for their business, not them personally. Some younger players will feel the crunch if they are not playing. Many veteran players have investments and other business ventures that will help them get by. But in the end, they will all be on the losing end.
Does anyone really win when this happens? When the last lockout occurred in 1987, who won that battle? The players went on strike while the owners went out and hired "scabs" to play out the season. Will the team owners do the same thing this year? Probably not. They all want to get this rectified before training camp begins. The fans would like it done sooner.
For season ticket holders, they would like to know sooner than later. Many are pleased only 50% is due and not the whole bill. It gives some longer to get that money together. But knowing a season will happen is better knowing now rather than three weeks into a season. We are on the outside looking in, wondering if a sport many of us enjoy will even happen this year.
Last week Judge David S. Doty ruled that the NFL violated the collective bargaining agreement with its players by renegotiating $4.078 billion in television rights fees for team owners to tap during a lockout even if no games are played in 2011. Why should the owners be entitled to money if there is no season? Should the players get paid if they do not play?
Both sides have their issues. Many players feel the union walked away from a deal that sounded good and met their needs, despite the negative media attention towards the NFL and its owners. According to that statement the NFL released the latest proposal’s details included:
1. The NFL proposed that the two sides split the economic differences between them, increasing their proposed cap for 2011 "significantly" and accepting the NFLPA's proposed cap number for 2014, which was $161 million per team.
2. The NFL proposed an entry level compensation system that was based on the union's "rookie cap" instead of a wage scale that the clubs originally proposed. In this proposal, the players drafted from rounds 2-7 would be paid the same amount of money, or even more money, than they are paid now. The savings that would come from the first-round picks would be reallocated to help veteran players and benefits.
3. After a player is injured, the NFL would guarantee that they would pay up to $1 milllion of that player's salary for the contract year. This is the first time that the owners have offered a standard multi-year injury guarantee.
4. The following changes would be made immediately to promote player safety:
Reduce the off-season program by five weeks, reducing OTAs from 14 weeks to 10 and limiting on-field practice time and contact.
They would limit full-contact practices in the preseason and regular season
They would increase the number of off days for players
5. The NFL proposed that any change from a 16-game season to an 18-game season would only be made if the two sides agreed on the change. The 2011 and 2012 seasons would be 16-game seasons.
6. The NFL team owners would boost retirement benefits for more than 2,000 former players by nearly 60 percent by funding retirees benefits $82 million in 2011 and 2012.
7. The owners offered current players the opportunity to stay in their current medical plans for the rest of their lives.
8. The owners would allow third-party arbitrators in the NFL's drug and steroid programs.
9. The owners would improve the Mackey plan (designed for players suffering from dementia and other brain-related problems), disability plan and their degree completion bonus program.
10. The owners proposed a per-club cash minimum spend of 90 percent of the salary cap over three seasons.
Now that you know the particulars of the deal, do you still agree with the NFLPA's decision to decertify and go to court with the NFL?
Yes, the negotiations have been messy and well-publicized but progress was made before the recent burning of bridges. After having half the month of March in extensions of negotiations, both sides were reportedly off by $185 million on how much owners should get up from each season for certain operating expense before splitting up the rest of the revenues with players. That’s a far less amount than the $1 billion difference that separated the two sides earlier in discussions.
A recent poll by ProFootballTalk.com asked fans to place blame on who is responsible for the lockout and 27,000 have said that the player’s are to blame, barely. Just over 38% say the players are to blame, while 24.8% blame the owners and 36.7% blame both.
Many say this is the billionaires vs the millionaires. Two sides who get paid well, fighting to be paid more. If you own a professional football team, one would think you already had enough. Some of that may go to team operations and other bills to be paid, but many know where the bottom line ends. Players put their bodies on the line and should see a little more compensation. Let's see Woody Johnson or the Mara or Tisch families out there to battle for that extra compensation. I think not.
So while the league and the union continue to bicker like a divorced couple fighting over bank accounts, the fans are the ones who are truly hurting from this dispute, like a child overhearing their parents argument.
When I set out to film this documentary(Gang Greed) in August of 2008, my goal to tell the fans side. To let the fans speak about what it means to be a Jets fan. How the new PSL's were going to affect their status as a season ticket holder. Were they going to invest in them or stop going to games altogether. Now, it seams, no one may be going to any games in 2011.
National Football League team owners locked out the league’s players Saturday, shutting down professional football for the first time in 24 years and plunging the nation’s most popular and prosperous sport into a time of uncertainty.
The owners acted after labor talks with the players’ union collapsed Friday afternoon and players decertified the NFL Players Association, moving the bitter dispute into the courts and ending an era of NFL labor peace that had lasted since players went on strike in 1987.
Decertifying the NFL Players Association enabled the players to file antitrust litigation against the owners, which they did late Friday, with superstar quarterbacks Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees among the 10 named plaintiffs. Lawyers for the players also announced that they are seeking an injunction to lift the lockout.
Some still wonder if all of this was worth the headache. Not just for the players and owners, but the fans as well. Both the Jets and Giants issued apologies to the fans for the lockout. The players feel they did what they could but were left with no other choice.
The team owners will complain they are losing money. I am sure they will have no issues paying their bills though. The income is a loss for their business, not them personally. Some younger players will feel the crunch if they are not playing. Many veteran players have investments and other business ventures that will help them get by. But in the end, they will all be on the losing end.
Does anyone really win when this happens? When the last lockout occurred in 1987, who won that battle? The players went on strike while the owners went out and hired "scabs" to play out the season. Will the team owners do the same thing this year? Probably not. They all want to get this rectified before training camp begins. The fans would like it done sooner.
For season ticket holders, they would like to know sooner than later. Many are pleased only 50% is due and not the whole bill. It gives some longer to get that money together. But knowing a season will happen is better knowing now rather than three weeks into a season. We are on the outside looking in, wondering if a sport many of us enjoy will even happen this year.
Last week Judge David S. Doty ruled that the NFL violated the collective bargaining agreement with its players by renegotiating $4.078 billion in television rights fees for team owners to tap during a lockout even if no games are played in 2011. Why should the owners be entitled to money if there is no season? Should the players get paid if they do not play?
Both sides have their issues. Many players feel the union walked away from a deal that sounded good and met their needs, despite the negative media attention towards the NFL and its owners. According to that statement the NFL released the latest proposal’s details included:
1. The NFL proposed that the two sides split the economic differences between them, increasing their proposed cap for 2011 "significantly" and accepting the NFLPA's proposed cap number for 2014, which was $161 million per team.
2. The NFL proposed an entry level compensation system that was based on the union's "rookie cap" instead of a wage scale that the clubs originally proposed. In this proposal, the players drafted from rounds 2-7 would be paid the same amount of money, or even more money, than they are paid now. The savings that would come from the first-round picks would be reallocated to help veteran players and benefits.
3. After a player is injured, the NFL would guarantee that they would pay up to $1 milllion of that player's salary for the contract year. This is the first time that the owners have offered a standard multi-year injury guarantee.
4. The following changes would be made immediately to promote player safety:
Reduce the off-season program by five weeks, reducing OTAs from 14 weeks to 10 and limiting on-field practice time and contact.
They would limit full-contact practices in the preseason and regular season
They would increase the number of off days for players
5. The NFL proposed that any change from a 16-game season to an 18-game season would only be made if the two sides agreed on the change. The 2011 and 2012 seasons would be 16-game seasons.
6. The NFL team owners would boost retirement benefits for more than 2,000 former players by nearly 60 percent by funding retirees benefits $82 million in 2011 and 2012.
7. The owners offered current players the opportunity to stay in their current medical plans for the rest of their lives.
8. The owners would allow third-party arbitrators in the NFL's drug and steroid programs.
9. The owners would improve the Mackey plan (designed for players suffering from dementia and other brain-related problems), disability plan and their degree completion bonus program.
10. The owners proposed a per-club cash minimum spend of 90 percent of the salary cap over three seasons.
Now that you know the particulars of the deal, do you still agree with the NFLPA's decision to decertify and go to court with the NFL?
Yes, the negotiations have been messy and well-publicized but progress was made before the recent burning of bridges. After having half the month of March in extensions of negotiations, both sides were reportedly off by $185 million on how much owners should get up from each season for certain operating expense before splitting up the rest of the revenues with players. That’s a far less amount than the $1 billion difference that separated the two sides earlier in discussions.
A recent poll by ProFootballTalk.com asked fans to place blame on who is responsible for the lockout and 27,000 have said that the player’s are to blame, barely. Just over 38% say the players are to blame, while 24.8% blame the owners and 36.7% blame both.
Many say this is the billionaires vs the millionaires. Two sides who get paid well, fighting to be paid more. If you own a professional football team, one would think you already had enough. Some of that may go to team operations and other bills to be paid, but many know where the bottom line ends. Players put their bodies on the line and should see a little more compensation. Let's see Woody Johnson or the Mara or Tisch families out there to battle for that extra compensation. I think not.
So while the league and the union continue to bicker like a divorced couple fighting over bank accounts, the fans are the ones who are truly hurting from this dispute, like a child overhearing their parents argument.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Some things & Other Things: the Locked Out edition
By Dr. Bill Chachkes-Executive Editor-Football Reporters Online
Everyone is pointing the finger at each other since this past Friday afternoon. The owners accusing the players of not bargaining in good faith, the players accusing the owners (and by extension the league) of wanting this to happen all along. The Players filed a class action suit (Brady Vs. the NFL) after voting to decertify. What drives me nuts here is the players never asked for anything then what they had asked for since 2009: for the owners to open the books. The feeble hearted attempt to do that at the 11th hour was just that. Feeble. Are you telling me the owners really don’t care about how much money they are leaving on the table? That the players really wanted to go the route of litigation as opposed to negotiation?
The league released a “summary “ of it’s proposal, amid other press releases coordinated by Team Owners, and in combat directed at the players. While they all were apologetic to a fault to the fans, not once did they offer to extend the deadline to keep talking, even though the owners claimed up until Friday that they were closer then they ever had been to a settlement. Remember they initiated this by “opting out” of the 2006 extension, because they felt they had given up too much.
The Players never got even the little things they asked for from the Owners Group..
The fact is that the Players never waivered on two serious issues: The extended 18 game schedule was a deal breaker for the players. While the owners and The NFL told us that the “fans want more meaningful” games, the owners never truly showed us they cared about the wear and tear on the players bodies. Did the NFL really take a survey of the fans asking them: do you want two more regular season games and two less pre-season ones? Where are the results of this research?
The second issue was player health and safety, for both current players and the “pre-1993” players. Five years of post career health insurance is just unacceptable in the modern age, while the NFL gets doctors to “lie” in Hearings that “Concussions caused by playing football” don’t lead to “Permanent Brain Injury,” or a lifetime of “headaches.” Just ask Brent Boyd, the former Vikings Offensive lineman who has been to capital hill to testify. He runs a great organization called Dignity After Football (DAF.Org), and if you aren’t totally swayed by what I say, talk to him for 10 minutes. I wonder if he’s had a good night’s sleep since he left the game in 1987.
I have a great deal of respect for Mr. John Mara, and I believe he and Bob Kraft were part of the moderate camp in this mess. Did you notice how he was at the front of the negotiating panel the last several days. That’s because I believe he really wanted to get something done. That’s why you didn’t see Richardson or Jones speak much recently, because no one really wants to hear what “they” were saying. These were the guys who wanted to “Break the players will” just a few weeks ago, that went on 60 Minutes and said a “Lockout wouldn’t be such a bad thing” Remember? I did…
They all talk about how they give to charity and help the less fortunate, but what did they just do to the working class and small businesses that depend on the NFL to earn it’s living. They have already priced out the working class with PSL’s and rising ticket prices, but wanted the players to “see the reality” that the economy was shrinking their profit margins, keeping them from building new stadiums. Why not rebuild the ones that are already in place? Why spend money that you don’t have, or expect local cities to come up with it? To me, the players take all the risks. They are the ones who could die or be paralyzed in a quick moment, or suffer permanent head or spine injuries like so many do, and don’t realize it until long after the fact.
True, no one forces these men to play the game. Many do it for the love of competition. Many do it because it is their only way to a better education and a better life. But if they are going to play, can’t they get the protection they deserve from severe life threatening injury? Can’t they have lifetime insurance? To me this is more important then how to split an extra few million.
Well, at least the draft isn’t cancelled….
You are now going to see the real worth of various teams’ scouting departments. With no free agency period in sight (unless a court ruling forces the parties back to the table and the NFL resumes team operations), the NFL Draft will now be the defining moment for teams to fill their needs. Still, after the player is selected, beyond the initial phone call, no team can have contact with a drafted player until the CBA conflict is settled (at least not legally). Sucks if this was your year to get a QB…
While this doesn’t directly cost me financially, it does impact me in that I only have “half” a sport to report on, the college side of the game. If it doesn’t get settled by the summer, you are going to see a lot of angry fans, a lot of people financially hurt and even businesses ruined, and people asking the question that no one wants to hear: “why bother to watch the NFL anymore?” Is that what the owners truly want?
Why should we feel bad for someone who tells his team “your taking a pay cut of twenty five percent until this is settled, as several teams have done already.
Baseball never fully recovered from the strike of 1994, and Hockey didn’t recover from their strike & lost season several years back either. Can The NFL really survive this? All we can hope for is a quick resolution by the courts at this point.
Everyone is pointing the finger at each other since this past Friday afternoon. The owners accusing the players of not bargaining in good faith, the players accusing the owners (and by extension the league) of wanting this to happen all along. The Players filed a class action suit (Brady Vs. the NFL) after voting to decertify. What drives me nuts here is the players never asked for anything then what they had asked for since 2009: for the owners to open the books. The feeble hearted attempt to do that at the 11th hour was just that. Feeble. Are you telling me the owners really don’t care about how much money they are leaving on the table? That the players really wanted to go the route of litigation as opposed to negotiation?
The league released a “summary “ of it’s proposal, amid other press releases coordinated by Team Owners, and in combat directed at the players. While they all were apologetic to a fault to the fans, not once did they offer to extend the deadline to keep talking, even though the owners claimed up until Friday that they were closer then they ever had been to a settlement. Remember they initiated this by “opting out” of the 2006 extension, because they felt they had given up too much.
The Players never got even the little things they asked for from the Owners Group..
The fact is that the Players never waivered on two serious issues: The extended 18 game schedule was a deal breaker for the players. While the owners and The NFL told us that the “fans want more meaningful” games, the owners never truly showed us they cared about the wear and tear on the players bodies. Did the NFL really take a survey of the fans asking them: do you want two more regular season games and two less pre-season ones? Where are the results of this research?
The second issue was player health and safety, for both current players and the “pre-1993” players. Five years of post career health insurance is just unacceptable in the modern age, while the NFL gets doctors to “lie” in Hearings that “Concussions caused by playing football” don’t lead to “Permanent Brain Injury,” or a lifetime of “headaches.” Just ask Brent Boyd, the former Vikings Offensive lineman who has been to capital hill to testify. He runs a great organization called Dignity After Football (DAF.Org), and if you aren’t totally swayed by what I say, talk to him for 10 minutes. I wonder if he’s had a good night’s sleep since he left the game in 1987.
I have a great deal of respect for Mr. John Mara, and I believe he and Bob Kraft were part of the moderate camp in this mess. Did you notice how he was at the front of the negotiating panel the last several days. That’s because I believe he really wanted to get something done. That’s why you didn’t see Richardson or Jones speak much recently, because no one really wants to hear what “they” were saying. These were the guys who wanted to “Break the players will” just a few weeks ago, that went on 60 Minutes and said a “Lockout wouldn’t be such a bad thing” Remember? I did…
They all talk about how they give to charity and help the less fortunate, but what did they just do to the working class and small businesses that depend on the NFL to earn it’s living. They have already priced out the working class with PSL’s and rising ticket prices, but wanted the players to “see the reality” that the economy was shrinking their profit margins, keeping them from building new stadiums. Why not rebuild the ones that are already in place? Why spend money that you don’t have, or expect local cities to come up with it? To me, the players take all the risks. They are the ones who could die or be paralyzed in a quick moment, or suffer permanent head or spine injuries like so many do, and don’t realize it until long after the fact.
True, no one forces these men to play the game. Many do it for the love of competition. Many do it because it is their only way to a better education and a better life. But if they are going to play, can’t they get the protection they deserve from severe life threatening injury? Can’t they have lifetime insurance? To me this is more important then how to split an extra few million.
Well, at least the draft isn’t cancelled….
You are now going to see the real worth of various teams’ scouting departments. With no free agency period in sight (unless a court ruling forces the parties back to the table and the NFL resumes team operations), the NFL Draft will now be the defining moment for teams to fill their needs. Still, after the player is selected, beyond the initial phone call, no team can have contact with a drafted player until the CBA conflict is settled (at least not legally). Sucks if this was your year to get a QB…
While this doesn’t directly cost me financially, it does impact me in that I only have “half” a sport to report on, the college side of the game. If it doesn’t get settled by the summer, you are going to see a lot of angry fans, a lot of people financially hurt and even businesses ruined, and people asking the question that no one wants to hear: “why bother to watch the NFL anymore?” Is that what the owners truly want?
Why should we feel bad for someone who tells his team “your taking a pay cut of twenty five percent until this is settled, as several teams have done already.
Baseball never fully recovered from the strike of 1994, and Hockey didn’t recover from their strike & lost season several years back either. Can The NFL really survive this? All we can hope for is a quick resolution by the courts at this point.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
NFL Fans Should Pay For Their Tickets, Not Stadiums
By David Levy-Fan Experience Reporter-Football Reporters Online
The Georgia Dome in Atlanta remains a perfectly fine building for professional football. Still a teenager, it is nowhere near long in the tooth. Capacity is enough to accommodate nearly every Atlanta Falcons fan willing to buy tickets.
Arthur Blank, the team owner, craves a new stadium. That seems akin to trading in your car after it has logged only 20,000 miles, but he can well afford it. Blank, the former owner of the ubiquitous American home improvement store chain called The Home Depot, has a net worth of $1.2 billion, according to Forbes, and the franchise value has risen 52 per cent since he bought it in 2002 for $545 million.
But wait. Blank expects the quasi-public agency that operates the Dome and the proposed site of a new stadium to issue bonds that would pay some of the costs. That should be 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct, sticking it to taxpayers at the same time that funding for public schools in Georgia is being cut.
This sickness is spreading among NFL team owners. In Minnesota, the Vikings' Zygi Wilf has capitalized on the collapse of the Metrodome's inflatable roof amid a once-in-a-lifetime snowstorm and the fear of the franchise relocating to Los Angeles in his campaign for a replacement stadium. Of course, citizens would contribute to the project. Never mind that Blank might expect Wilf, worth $1.3bn, to pick up their lunch bill.
The shameless nonchalance of these folks who seem detached from reality has generated a shifting of the winds. We have already experienced it here in New York and New Jersey.
The public, which normally sides with management during labor disputes in American sports, is sympathetic toward the players in a stand-off with owners that has pushed the league to the brink of a lockout. In a poll conducted by Seton Hall University, 35 per cent who participated backed the players, compared to 22 per cent for their bosses. This, even though the same study found that most contend the players are overpaid.
Taxpayers are increasingly fed up with being forced to become stadium-erecting partners with Rolex-wearing, yacht-sailing jet-setters. Economists nowadays agree on little, but one belief they share is that public support of professional sports offers almost nothing financially in return.
The Giants and Jets grew tired of their shared arena and convinced the government to pitch in for a new-and-improved one. The old Giants Stadium was torn down despite carrying more than $100m in debt that must be paid off by the good people of New Jersey. Plus, the season ticket holders are also helping flip the bill on the new one with PSL's. Isn't that double dipping? The nerve!
Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner, stands complicit in this wasteful building boom. From his office comes a wink-nod promise of the ultimate in ego gratification for owners: host your own Super Bowl! Just throw up a stadium and you will get the big game. How you bankroll it, that's your business.
Which explains why the 2014 Super Bowl was awarded to New Meadowlands in a region where the average low temperature in February is -2°C. Which also explains why 22 of 32 teams have moved into fresh digs or had their existing ones totally made over in the last two decades.
In that time, teams have been blessed with more than $7bn in taxpayer subsidies for construction and renovation, according to the NFL Players' Association.
The players union reports that, on average, taxpayers put up 65 per cent of the financing for those projects. Owners found a way to avoid putting in any money for 10 of them; for nine others, their contribution amounted to less than 25 per cent.
Further driving public sentiment toward the players are reports on the sport's inherent physical risk, particularly for victims of post-concussive syndrome that has ravaged retirees. Fans are looking beyond the average salary of $1.9m and discovering other statistics:
$770,000, the median yearly pay. Three-and-a-half years, the average length of career. Eleven, the average number of players per team on injured reserve this past season.
While many of us might trade places with the players, the figures show that most of them accumulate more aches and pains than enough wealth to last them a lifetime.
For team owners, it is a different story. Admittance into the club all but guarantees going from rich to richer, experienced from the comfort of a stadium luxury suite.
Fine. That is the American way. But those who knock on government doors seeking handouts to finance mostly unnecessary arenas should instead heed the marketing message aimed at customers of Blank's old home improvement stores.
Do it yourself.
Follow me Twitter @LevysBakeryProd or at LevysBakeryProductions.com
The Georgia Dome in Atlanta remains a perfectly fine building for professional football. Still a teenager, it is nowhere near long in the tooth. Capacity is enough to accommodate nearly every Atlanta Falcons fan willing to buy tickets.
Arthur Blank, the team owner, craves a new stadium. That seems akin to trading in your car after it has logged only 20,000 miles, but he can well afford it. Blank, the former owner of the ubiquitous American home improvement store chain called The Home Depot, has a net worth of $1.2 billion, according to Forbes, and the franchise value has risen 52 per cent since he bought it in 2002 for $545 million.
But wait. Blank expects the quasi-public agency that operates the Dome and the proposed site of a new stadium to issue bonds that would pay some of the costs. That should be 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct, sticking it to taxpayers at the same time that funding for public schools in Georgia is being cut.
This sickness is spreading among NFL team owners. In Minnesota, the Vikings' Zygi Wilf has capitalized on the collapse of the Metrodome's inflatable roof amid a once-in-a-lifetime snowstorm and the fear of the franchise relocating to Los Angeles in his campaign for a replacement stadium. Of course, citizens would contribute to the project. Never mind that Blank might expect Wilf, worth $1.3bn, to pick up their lunch bill.
The shameless nonchalance of these folks who seem detached from reality has generated a shifting of the winds. We have already experienced it here in New York and New Jersey.
The public, which normally sides with management during labor disputes in American sports, is sympathetic toward the players in a stand-off with owners that has pushed the league to the brink of a lockout. In a poll conducted by Seton Hall University, 35 per cent who participated backed the players, compared to 22 per cent for their bosses. This, even though the same study found that most contend the players are overpaid.
Taxpayers are increasingly fed up with being forced to become stadium-erecting partners with Rolex-wearing, yacht-sailing jet-setters. Economists nowadays agree on little, but one belief they share is that public support of professional sports offers almost nothing financially in return.
The Giants and Jets grew tired of their shared arena and convinced the government to pitch in for a new-and-improved one. The old Giants Stadium was torn down despite carrying more than $100m in debt that must be paid off by the good people of New Jersey. Plus, the season ticket holders are also helping flip the bill on the new one with PSL's. Isn't that double dipping? The nerve!
Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner, stands complicit in this wasteful building boom. From his office comes a wink-nod promise of the ultimate in ego gratification for owners: host your own Super Bowl! Just throw up a stadium and you will get the big game. How you bankroll it, that's your business.
Which explains why the 2014 Super Bowl was awarded to New Meadowlands in a region where the average low temperature in February is -2°C. Which also explains why 22 of 32 teams have moved into fresh digs or had their existing ones totally made over in the last two decades.
In that time, teams have been blessed with more than $7bn in taxpayer subsidies for construction and renovation, according to the NFL Players' Association.
The players union reports that, on average, taxpayers put up 65 per cent of the financing for those projects. Owners found a way to avoid putting in any money for 10 of them; for nine others, their contribution amounted to less than 25 per cent.
Further driving public sentiment toward the players are reports on the sport's inherent physical risk, particularly for victims of post-concussive syndrome that has ravaged retirees. Fans are looking beyond the average salary of $1.9m and discovering other statistics:
$770,000, the median yearly pay. Three-and-a-half years, the average length of career. Eleven, the average number of players per team on injured reserve this past season.
While many of us might trade places with the players, the figures show that most of them accumulate more aches and pains than enough wealth to last them a lifetime.
For team owners, it is a different story. Admittance into the club all but guarantees going from rich to richer, experienced from the comfort of a stadium luxury suite.
Fine. That is the American way. But those who knock on government doors seeking handouts to finance mostly unnecessary arenas should instead heed the marketing message aimed at customers of Blank's old home improvement stores.
Do it yourself.
Follow me Twitter @LevysBakeryProd or at LevysBakeryProductions.com
HOW REPLACING A LEGEND IS REALLY DIFFICULT (Part 2)
By Don Stokes-Senior Writer-Midwest Region-Football Reporters Online
Returning to the aforementioned Miami Dolphin dominance during the early part of the decade with 5 playoff seasons in a row and 3 straight Super Bowl appearances (1971- ’72 and ‘73). In the bright Oakland Coliseum sun the run finally concluded for the Fish. During the 1974 AFC Divisional round the two time defending champion Miami Dolphins lost a slugfest to the Oakland Raiders 28-26. When the Raiders QB Kenny Stabler fluttered an 8 yard pass to RB Clarence Davis in the end zone through the Miami “Sea of hands” with just 24 seconds remaining for the winning score, most football experts at the time stated the 1974 AFC Title game was just completed. The powerful Raiders had beaten the back to back Super Bowl Champions Dolphins surely they would easily beat their next opponent at home and go on to Super Bowl IX and become the NFL’s newest dynasty. Who was the “Silver and Black” opponent in that ‘74 AFC Championship game? The young and hungry Steelers of Pittsburgh, PA.
Pittsburgh did do one thing nearly better than any other team during that 1974 season. Their defense was proclaimed “The Steel Curtain” and played great football all season long. But they had a noticeable Achilles heel. For all of the teams who had made the NFL playoffs in 1974 everyone’s perceived strength was considered Pittsburgh’s biggest weakness. That was of course being the Quarterback position. The Steelers QB was in then his 5th year and still could not play with a level of consistency. Their now starting QB had actually lost his job to a 2nd year player early during that same season. Looking back if any one player had a right to have the preverbal “chip” on his shoulder during that time period it should be the Steelers Terry Bradshaw. Although because of his inconsistency at the position most of ills on the field was of his own accord. In telling Bradshaw’s account one must also mention another QB who just may have helped pushed Bradshaw to finally play up to his potential. The casual NFL fan born after 1970 may not recall the colorful name of one Jefferson Street Joe Gilliam, a lanky, rail thin man of color with a powerful arm. The tale of this duel began with Bradshaw joining an up and coming Steelers team in 1970.
Despite being the 1st pick of that year’s NFL draft the rocket armed University of Louisiana blond bomber Terry Bradshaw struggled the first 4 seasons of his career. Bradshaw still led Pittsburgh to 2 straight playoff appearances in 1972 and 1973 but his play at quarterback was continually erratic. By 1974 the Steelers knew were ready to seriously contend for an NFL Championship. But their 5 year quarterback unfortunately Bradshaw still was not. During the ’74 pre-season Steeler Head Coach Chuck Noll had enough of his gifted but frustrating passer. He also knew third year pro Joe Gilliam had the physical skills to compete against Bradshaw while the other vet on the roster (QB Terry Hanratty) did not. Joe beat out Bradshaw and won the starting job. Gilliam played well early. Beginning with the 1974 season opener, a 30-0 win against the Colts (257 yards) then a week 2 35-35 tie against the Broncos (348 yards) Joe Gilliam was the talk of the National Football League. But Gilliam’s success was short lived. An 8 for 31 passing performance for 106 yards during a week 3 (17-0) loss against the Raiders began the slide. Although the Steelers rebounded with wins against Houston, Kansas City and Cleveland Joe’s play was not impressive. Other factors (to be mentioned later in this piece) may have contributed to Joe Gilliam regression but he began to spiral out of control.
Coach Noll, who some later argued did not show the same patience with Jefferson Street Joe (4-1-1 in his starts)after 6 games as he did with the 4 seasons of unpredictable play with Bradshaw soon pulled the plug on the Joe Gilliam experiment. Terry was returned as the starter for the remainder of the season first beating the Raiders in the AFC Title game, then leading Pittsburgh to their 1st Super Bowl victory against Minnesota 16-6. Regarding the Jefferson Street Joe Gilliam story? It’s a sad one with a “What might have been” ending. Substance abuse dogged his brief career in Pittsburgh. After Gilliam received his 2nd Super Bowl ring Coach Noll, growing weary of his personal issues released him in 1975. His NFL career was over. With Gilliam athletic abilities and raw talent maybe Noll used him to push Terry to become a better quarterback in 1974.
By the 1975 season Terry Bradshaw had become a Pro bowl QB. After back to back championship seasons in 1974-’75 and 1978-’79 the Steelers impressive run had ended by 1980. The final total: 4 Super Bowls wins in 6 years. Terry Bradshaw by that time had become the 2 time Super Bowl MVP Hall Famer bound QB finishing his career at a still high level. Bradshaw most surely would have played a few more seasons if not for an elbow injury which hastened his retirement. Bradshaw played in but one game the entire 1983 season, the final one of the year. Terry started and threw the final two touchdown passes of his career during the Steelers 34-7 win against the Jets. A pop in his elbow after a 2nd quarter TD pass signaled the end of his playing career. With Bradshaw’s elbow being a season long problem it gave an opportunity for his back up 5th year pro Youngstown State’s Cliff Stoudt to show his skills. Stoudt played well enough to win 9 games and lead Pittsburgh to the AFC Central crown.
Terry Bradshaw’s 1978 NFL MVP (top) last winning Super Bowl season and Cliff Stoudt’s (bottom) 1983 best NFL season
Games Att Comp Pct% Yards TD INT Rating
16 368 207 56.3 2915 28 20 84.7
16 381 197 51.7 2553 12 21 60.6
As stated before Stoudt led the Steelers to a playoff berth in 1983 were they were soundly beaten by the eventual Super Bowl Champion LA Raiders in the AFC Divisional round 38-10. With both QB’s interceptions were a problem but in the case of Terry Bradshaw there was much more productivity than Stoudt via the TD passes. With any team success (especially in Steel Town) there is a harsh reality from fans when you follow a successful winner at the hot spot of QB, much is expected. In the case of Cliff Stoudt, after a 9-2 start struggled towards the end of the season losing 3 straight games. To right the ship a tender elbowed Bradshaw volunteered to play the regular season finale at Shea Stadium against the Jets. Sometimes great results by both the media and fans are expected and expected quickly. And, also sometimes for some players the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. Or in the case of Cliff Stoudt the green was money from another league: The United States Football League. The USFL Birmingham Stallions signed Stoudt to play for them in 1984. For 2 seasons he played quite well for Birmingham throwing for 60 TD passes. But the league itself was unstable. Unfortunately the USFL took the NFL on in court. And congrats to them, they won their lawsuit. What was the USFL winning judgment? One single lonely buck. The new league was done and for the most part so was Stoudt’s career. After stops with the Cardinals and Dolphins it ended in Dallas on their practice squad in 1991.
As the mighty Steeler dynasty was ending by 1980, a new one began in the City by the Bay in San Francisco, CA by 1981. For many seasons before the San Francisco 49ers were called many different things. They were called also rans, bridesmaids all the like. But they were never crowned an NFL champion until the arrival of Bill Walsh. In the beginning no one would have believed this because the 49ers had fallen upon hard times. Everyone knows the story of Walsh coming from Paul Brown’s Cincinnati’s via Don Coryall’s Chargers and the 2-14 record during his 1st season as 49ers head coach in 1979. During that uneventful ’79 season new head coach Walsh was blessed with not just 1 but 2 young QB studs. The incumbent was the 2nd year starter Steve DeBerg, who started 15 of the 16 games in ’79 and threw for over 3600 yards and led the NFL in pass completions. The other quarterback was a rookie who started just one game that season, a week 14 loss against the NFC Champion Los Angeles Rams: A 3rd round pick from the University of Notre Dame, Joe Montana. By the 1980 NFL season both Steve DeBerg (9 starts) and Joe Montana (7 starts) were splitting time at QB with each having their ups and downs. Despite winning but 2 games as a starter in ’80 but still leading the NFL in completion percentage with 64.5% the decision made to keep Montana over DeBerg. After the 1980 season the 49ers traded Steve DeBerg (to the Denver Broncos….. remember DeBerg’s name but that’s another story for later) before the start of the 1981 season and named Joe Montana the full time starter at quarterback.
Some possible reasons: Although not blessed with great foot speed or a rocket throwing arm, what Montana did bring to the table was an ability to find the open man and quick feet to avoid the pressure of a pass rush. Something the somewhat stationary Steve De Berg did not have. Another possible reason was the West Coast offense system that Walsh implemented which calls for a more mobile and accurate type of passer. A bigger reason may have been Montana’s ability to coolly bring his team back from seemly insurmountable odds. One of the two games Montana won that 1980 season was a 38-35 win against the Saints with the 49ers trailing 35-7 at the half that may have helped open Walsh’s eyes about Montana’s leadership skills for his very young team. By 1981 the San Francisco 49ers rise to the top was the surprise of the National Football League with a 13-3 mark. Leading the young 49ers into the NFC Playoffs, Montana led San Francisco over the Giants in the 1st round. Now “Americas Team” the battle tested Dallas Cowboys awaited. With a historic Dwight Clark pass from Montana (“The Catch”) now in NFL lore the San Francisco 49ers moved on to Super Bowl XVI. Joe Montana was voted Super Bowl MVP as the 49ers beat Cincinnati 26-2I. A Super Bowl type layover hit the 49ers in 1982 crashing with a 3-6 strike shortened record.
But by 1984 the 49ers again were back on top of the football world by beating the Dan Marino led Dolphins in Super Bowl XIX 38-16. However by the ’86 campaign Joe Montana, after numerous injuries was feeling the effects of years of lingering back pain and his continued excellent play was at that point in question. With that in mind the 49ers made a steal of a deal that would allow them continued success far into the next decade. The victim of the theft: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs drafted their seemly new franchise QB with their 1st pick of the 1987 NFL draft: The University of Miami’s Vinnie Testaverde. Already on the Buccaneers roster at the end of the 1986 season was veteran QB Steve DeBerg (remember him?) and the extremely mobile but still raw University of Brigham Young QB Steve Young. Coach Walsh was so impressed with the athletically gifted Young he traded an 2nd and a 4th rounder for the USFL castoff. With the arrival of Steve Young by 1987 the 49ers had the QB necessary to remain a football dynasty for many more years to come. But Joe Montana by all means wasn’t finished just yet. Montana and the 49ers returned to the Super Bowl winning in back to back seasons in 1988 and 1989. By 1994 San Francisco with Steve Young finally entrenched under center as the starter won Super Bowl XXIX against the San Diego Chargers 49-26.
Here are the stats for Joe Montana’s (top) 1989 last Super Bowl winning NFL season and Steve Young’s (bottom) 1994 NFL Super Bowl winning season
Games Att Comp Pct% Yards TD INT Rating
13 386 271 70.2 3521 26 8 112.4
16 461 324 70.3 3969 35 10 112.8
Looking at both Hall of Famers stats in those Super Bowl winning seasons their numbers are eerily similar in productivity. Montana played just 13 games in 1989 and still averaged 270 passing yards per game. Young (who started slow because of a thumb injury) averaged 248 yards passing in 16 games in 1994. Their completion % is but .1 percentage point difference. And their passing rating is just .4 points apart. And both were voted the NFL MVP in their respective seasons. But as far as their careers were concerned they ended in very different ways. For Joe Montana a pre-season elbow tendon injury before the 1991 season caused him to miss all of 1991 and all but one game of the 1992 season. With Young’s growth and success on the field this effectively ended Joe’s time as a San Francisco 49er starting QB. Sensing the 49ers split in the locker room Joe requested a trade and found new life as a Kansas City Chief in 1993. Along with another reclamation project RB Marcus Allen, Montana led the surprising Chiefs to an AFC Title game appearance and for him another Pro Bowl. In 1994 the 38 year old Montana again led the Chiefs to another playoff berth. But just as in his very 1st NFL start Joe Montana’s NFL career ended with a loss this time in an AFC Wildcard game against the Dolphins 27-17.
While Montana was traded from Candlestick to Arrowhead in the spring of 1993 Steve Young’s career took off. Only the Dallas Cowboys ended their seasons in both the 1992 and 1993 NFC Championship games. By 1994 as Joe’s career was winding down, Steve Young’s was on the rise. He finally overcame the Cowboys for the NFC Title. A Super Bowl record 6 TD passes by the game’s MVP Young soon followed. He like his QB rival Joe Montana had now become both a 49er and NFL icon. The following years for Steve Young were successful statistically for him as he led the NFL in passing in 1996 and 1997. But not for the 49ers team in general, for they have not returned a Super Bowl since the 1994 season. With Young the injuries began to mount up as the years went by. Being an athletic running type of passer Young suffered numerous concussions through out his career. The final career ender for Steve occurred on a Monday Night Football game week 3 encounter against the Cardinals in 1999. Young was forced to retire with post-concussion syndrome. Just like Montana before him, the doors of Canton opened wide for Steve Young making the San Francisco 49ers one of the few teams in NFL history to have two Super Bowl winning QB’s in the Pro Football’s Hall Of Fame.
Coming soon Part 3: Troy Aikman, Aaron Rodgers and ……… The happy sack play in the desert.
Returning to the aforementioned Miami Dolphin dominance during the early part of the decade with 5 playoff seasons in a row and 3 straight Super Bowl appearances (1971- ’72 and ‘73). In the bright Oakland Coliseum sun the run finally concluded for the Fish. During the 1974 AFC Divisional round the two time defending champion Miami Dolphins lost a slugfest to the Oakland Raiders 28-26. When the Raiders QB Kenny Stabler fluttered an 8 yard pass to RB Clarence Davis in the end zone through the Miami “Sea of hands” with just 24 seconds remaining for the winning score, most football experts at the time stated the 1974 AFC Title game was just completed. The powerful Raiders had beaten the back to back Super Bowl Champions Dolphins surely they would easily beat their next opponent at home and go on to Super Bowl IX and become the NFL’s newest dynasty. Who was the “Silver and Black” opponent in that ‘74 AFC Championship game? The young and hungry Steelers of Pittsburgh, PA.
Pittsburgh did do one thing nearly better than any other team during that 1974 season. Their defense was proclaimed “The Steel Curtain” and played great football all season long. But they had a noticeable Achilles heel. For all of the teams who had made the NFL playoffs in 1974 everyone’s perceived strength was considered Pittsburgh’s biggest weakness. That was of course being the Quarterback position. The Steelers QB was in then his 5th year and still could not play with a level of consistency. Their now starting QB had actually lost his job to a 2nd year player early during that same season. Looking back if any one player had a right to have the preverbal “chip” on his shoulder during that time period it should be the Steelers Terry Bradshaw. Although because of his inconsistency at the position most of ills on the field was of his own accord. In telling Bradshaw’s account one must also mention another QB who just may have helped pushed Bradshaw to finally play up to his potential. The casual NFL fan born after 1970 may not recall the colorful name of one Jefferson Street Joe Gilliam, a lanky, rail thin man of color with a powerful arm. The tale of this duel began with Bradshaw joining an up and coming Steelers team in 1970.
Despite being the 1st pick of that year’s NFL draft the rocket armed University of Louisiana blond bomber Terry Bradshaw struggled the first 4 seasons of his career. Bradshaw still led Pittsburgh to 2 straight playoff appearances in 1972 and 1973 but his play at quarterback was continually erratic. By 1974 the Steelers knew were ready to seriously contend for an NFL Championship. But their 5 year quarterback unfortunately Bradshaw still was not. During the ’74 pre-season Steeler Head Coach Chuck Noll had enough of his gifted but frustrating passer. He also knew third year pro Joe Gilliam had the physical skills to compete against Bradshaw while the other vet on the roster (QB Terry Hanratty) did not. Joe beat out Bradshaw and won the starting job. Gilliam played well early. Beginning with the 1974 season opener, a 30-0 win against the Colts (257 yards) then a week 2 35-35 tie against the Broncos (348 yards) Joe Gilliam was the talk of the National Football League. But Gilliam’s success was short lived. An 8 for 31 passing performance for 106 yards during a week 3 (17-0) loss against the Raiders began the slide. Although the Steelers rebounded with wins against Houston, Kansas City and Cleveland Joe’s play was not impressive. Other factors (to be mentioned later in this piece) may have contributed to Joe Gilliam regression but he began to spiral out of control.
Coach Noll, who some later argued did not show the same patience with Jefferson Street Joe (4-1-1 in his starts)after 6 games as he did with the 4 seasons of unpredictable play with Bradshaw soon pulled the plug on the Joe Gilliam experiment. Terry was returned as the starter for the remainder of the season first beating the Raiders in the AFC Title game, then leading Pittsburgh to their 1st Super Bowl victory against Minnesota 16-6. Regarding the Jefferson Street Joe Gilliam story? It’s a sad one with a “What might have been” ending. Substance abuse dogged his brief career in Pittsburgh. After Gilliam received his 2nd Super Bowl ring Coach Noll, growing weary of his personal issues released him in 1975. His NFL career was over. With Gilliam athletic abilities and raw talent maybe Noll used him to push Terry to become a better quarterback in 1974.
By the 1975 season Terry Bradshaw had become a Pro bowl QB. After back to back championship seasons in 1974-’75 and 1978-’79 the Steelers impressive run had ended by 1980. The final total: 4 Super Bowls wins in 6 years. Terry Bradshaw by that time had become the 2 time Super Bowl MVP Hall Famer bound QB finishing his career at a still high level. Bradshaw most surely would have played a few more seasons if not for an elbow injury which hastened his retirement. Bradshaw played in but one game the entire 1983 season, the final one of the year. Terry started and threw the final two touchdown passes of his career during the Steelers 34-7 win against the Jets. A pop in his elbow after a 2nd quarter TD pass signaled the end of his playing career. With Bradshaw’s elbow being a season long problem it gave an opportunity for his back up 5th year pro Youngstown State’s Cliff Stoudt to show his skills. Stoudt played well enough to win 9 games and lead Pittsburgh to the AFC Central crown.
Terry Bradshaw’s 1978 NFL MVP (top) last winning Super Bowl season and Cliff Stoudt’s (bottom) 1983 best NFL season
Games Att Comp Pct% Yards TD INT Rating
16 368 207 56.3 2915 28 20 84.7
16 381 197 51.7 2553 12 21 60.6
As stated before Stoudt led the Steelers to a playoff berth in 1983 were they were soundly beaten by the eventual Super Bowl Champion LA Raiders in the AFC Divisional round 38-10. With both QB’s interceptions were a problem but in the case of Terry Bradshaw there was much more productivity than Stoudt via the TD passes. With any team success (especially in Steel Town) there is a harsh reality from fans when you follow a successful winner at the hot spot of QB, much is expected. In the case of Cliff Stoudt, after a 9-2 start struggled towards the end of the season losing 3 straight games. To right the ship a tender elbowed Bradshaw volunteered to play the regular season finale at Shea Stadium against the Jets. Sometimes great results by both the media and fans are expected and expected quickly. And, also sometimes for some players the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. Or in the case of Cliff Stoudt the green was money from another league: The United States Football League. The USFL Birmingham Stallions signed Stoudt to play for them in 1984. For 2 seasons he played quite well for Birmingham throwing for 60 TD passes. But the league itself was unstable. Unfortunately the USFL took the NFL on in court. And congrats to them, they won their lawsuit. What was the USFL winning judgment? One single lonely buck. The new league was done and for the most part so was Stoudt’s career. After stops with the Cardinals and Dolphins it ended in Dallas on their practice squad in 1991.
As the mighty Steeler dynasty was ending by 1980, a new one began in the City by the Bay in San Francisco, CA by 1981. For many seasons before the San Francisco 49ers were called many different things. They were called also rans, bridesmaids all the like. But they were never crowned an NFL champion until the arrival of Bill Walsh. In the beginning no one would have believed this because the 49ers had fallen upon hard times. Everyone knows the story of Walsh coming from Paul Brown’s Cincinnati’s via Don Coryall’s Chargers and the 2-14 record during his 1st season as 49ers head coach in 1979. During that uneventful ’79 season new head coach Walsh was blessed with not just 1 but 2 young QB studs. The incumbent was the 2nd year starter Steve DeBerg, who started 15 of the 16 games in ’79 and threw for over 3600 yards and led the NFL in pass completions. The other quarterback was a rookie who started just one game that season, a week 14 loss against the NFC Champion Los Angeles Rams: A 3rd round pick from the University of Notre Dame, Joe Montana. By the 1980 NFL season both Steve DeBerg (9 starts) and Joe Montana (7 starts) were splitting time at QB with each having their ups and downs. Despite winning but 2 games as a starter in ’80 but still leading the NFL in completion percentage with 64.5% the decision made to keep Montana over DeBerg. After the 1980 season the 49ers traded Steve DeBerg (to the Denver Broncos….. remember DeBerg’s name but that’s another story for later) before the start of the 1981 season and named Joe Montana the full time starter at quarterback.
Some possible reasons: Although not blessed with great foot speed or a rocket throwing arm, what Montana did bring to the table was an ability to find the open man and quick feet to avoid the pressure of a pass rush. Something the somewhat stationary Steve De Berg did not have. Another possible reason was the West Coast offense system that Walsh implemented which calls for a more mobile and accurate type of passer. A bigger reason may have been Montana’s ability to coolly bring his team back from seemly insurmountable odds. One of the two games Montana won that 1980 season was a 38-35 win against the Saints with the 49ers trailing 35-7 at the half that may have helped open Walsh’s eyes about Montana’s leadership skills for his very young team. By 1981 the San Francisco 49ers rise to the top was the surprise of the National Football League with a 13-3 mark. Leading the young 49ers into the NFC Playoffs, Montana led San Francisco over the Giants in the 1st round. Now “Americas Team” the battle tested Dallas Cowboys awaited. With a historic Dwight Clark pass from Montana (“The Catch”) now in NFL lore the San Francisco 49ers moved on to Super Bowl XVI. Joe Montana was voted Super Bowl MVP as the 49ers beat Cincinnati 26-2I. A Super Bowl type layover hit the 49ers in 1982 crashing with a 3-6 strike shortened record.
But by 1984 the 49ers again were back on top of the football world by beating the Dan Marino led Dolphins in Super Bowl XIX 38-16. However by the ’86 campaign Joe Montana, after numerous injuries was feeling the effects of years of lingering back pain and his continued excellent play was at that point in question. With that in mind the 49ers made a steal of a deal that would allow them continued success far into the next decade. The victim of the theft: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs drafted their seemly new franchise QB with their 1st pick of the 1987 NFL draft: The University of Miami’s Vinnie Testaverde. Already on the Buccaneers roster at the end of the 1986 season was veteran QB Steve DeBerg (remember him?) and the extremely mobile but still raw University of Brigham Young QB Steve Young. Coach Walsh was so impressed with the athletically gifted Young he traded an 2nd and a 4th rounder for the USFL castoff. With the arrival of Steve Young by 1987 the 49ers had the QB necessary to remain a football dynasty for many more years to come. But Joe Montana by all means wasn’t finished just yet. Montana and the 49ers returned to the Super Bowl winning in back to back seasons in 1988 and 1989. By 1994 San Francisco with Steve Young finally entrenched under center as the starter won Super Bowl XXIX against the San Diego Chargers 49-26.
Here are the stats for Joe Montana’s (top) 1989 last Super Bowl winning NFL season and Steve Young’s (bottom) 1994 NFL Super Bowl winning season
Games Att Comp Pct% Yards TD INT Rating
13 386 271 70.2 3521 26 8 112.4
16 461 324 70.3 3969 35 10 112.8
Looking at both Hall of Famers stats in those Super Bowl winning seasons their numbers are eerily similar in productivity. Montana played just 13 games in 1989 and still averaged 270 passing yards per game. Young (who started slow because of a thumb injury) averaged 248 yards passing in 16 games in 1994. Their completion % is but .1 percentage point difference. And their passing rating is just .4 points apart. And both were voted the NFL MVP in their respective seasons. But as far as their careers were concerned they ended in very different ways. For Joe Montana a pre-season elbow tendon injury before the 1991 season caused him to miss all of 1991 and all but one game of the 1992 season. With Young’s growth and success on the field this effectively ended Joe’s time as a San Francisco 49er starting QB. Sensing the 49ers split in the locker room Joe requested a trade and found new life as a Kansas City Chief in 1993. Along with another reclamation project RB Marcus Allen, Montana led the surprising Chiefs to an AFC Title game appearance and for him another Pro Bowl. In 1994 the 38 year old Montana again led the Chiefs to another playoff berth. But just as in his very 1st NFL start Joe Montana’s NFL career ended with a loss this time in an AFC Wildcard game against the Dolphins 27-17.
While Montana was traded from Candlestick to Arrowhead in the spring of 1993 Steve Young’s career took off. Only the Dallas Cowboys ended their seasons in both the 1992 and 1993 NFC Championship games. By 1994 as Joe’s career was winding down, Steve Young’s was on the rise. He finally overcame the Cowboys for the NFC Title. A Super Bowl record 6 TD passes by the game’s MVP Young soon followed. He like his QB rival Joe Montana had now become both a 49er and NFL icon. The following years for Steve Young were successful statistically for him as he led the NFL in passing in 1996 and 1997. But not for the 49ers team in general, for they have not returned a Super Bowl since the 1994 season. With Young the injuries began to mount up as the years went by. Being an athletic running type of passer Young suffered numerous concussions through out his career. The final career ender for Steve occurred on a Monday Night Football game week 3 encounter against the Cardinals in 1999. Young was forced to retire with post-concussion syndrome. Just like Montana before him, the doors of Canton opened wide for Steve Young making the San Francisco 49ers one of the few teams in NFL history to have two Super Bowl winning QB’s in the Pro Football’s Hall Of Fame.
Coming soon Part 3: Troy Aikman, Aaron Rodgers and ……… The happy sack play in the desert.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)