The Panthers are the Black Sheep of the NFL. And I Love it.
by ERL on Feb 9, 2010 12:06 PM EST
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In the age of the porcelain, golden-boy quarterback, the Carolina Panthers clearly choose to go against the grain. The league is slowly taking away the very essence of what draws so many to it--its physicality, and our team struggles to remain relevant in the eyes of the quarterback-obsessed national media. A recent comment by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell made me sick to my stomach. See what it was after the jump...
When asked about concussions, Goodell mentioned that the league will look at banning the 3-point stance. Yes, so everyone on the field will have to stand up....even the nose-tackle (the center being the only exception since he must hike the ball somehow), so that the collisions at the line of scrimmage will not be as violent. You have already taken away the beans...why not chop off the frank?
With the 5-yard rule, the obvious recent rule advantages given to a passing attack to promote higher scores and more yardage, it is puzzling to me what was so wrong with the NFL in the first place? I'm sorry but I can enjoy the hell out of a 13-10 game, even more so than a game like the Packers-Cardinals defenseless track meet in the wild-card round. If this type of game is so exciting to the average fan, maybe they should watch the Canadian league or the Arena league. There they can watch a tragically unathletic quarterback drop-back 65 times a game and throw a 5 yard slant and then the receiver can take a knee so no one hits him. To me this is not exciting.
Post-rant, this brings me to my beloved Carolina Panthers. I love John Fox. He is one of maybe three or four Head Coaches in the NFL that still honors the spirit of the original NFL. It was meant to be a physical, smash-mouth game, not this two-hand touch pick-6 festival that we have come to see of late.
I love the fact that our quarterback only throws 14 times in a cold-weather NFC Championship game.
I love the fact that we started the "wildcat" phenomena that would be credited to Miami 99 times if you polled 100 fans (and yes, I know that Henning is the connection there).
I love the fact that we are the only team to pick two running backs in the first round in two out of three years.
I really love the fact that we are the only team to have two 1,100 yard backs in the same season in well,...ever.
I adore the fact that we do not waste first round picks on quarterbacks who have a 40% moderate-success rate.
I love the fact that if the NFL bans the 3-point stance (which many offenses have already abandoned in favor of the "retreat when I say go," er, the shotgun-spread), John Fox will quit on the same day.
I love the fact that many people who watch the NFL haven't even noticed the death of the run-game.
Like one of my favorite players said "the NFL has gone soft." --the great Troy Polomalu. Any softer and I cannot bear to watch. I-N-T-E-G-R-I-T-Y.
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They are trying to make the regular season like the Pro Bowl!
No 3 point stance? That’s ridiculous!
I blog the Carolina Panthers at www.catscratchreader.com
Roger Goodell is a robot sent from the future to ruin football so curling can reign supreme
Thats the only answer I can come up with for why he peddles all this BS
Cat Scratch Reader's resident optimist.
rofl
okay i have cerebral palsy arthris and chronic fatigue as well i have a great life and loveing folks some days are better than other days i got a make-a-wish in 2001 and saw my favorite team the broncos it was the trip of a lifetime i wish everyone couild have gotten to enjoy that with me i know some of u hate the broncos and that okay but i bleed organ and bule for my mnr fans but i bleed orange and blue denver will rise again resident broncos fan for every blog resident broncos for stampede bule thanks shvd98z24
Agreed
It’s really getting out of control. They get paid 10 million dollars a year to put their bodies on the line and go all out. So many teams now play so soft its pathetic. I enjoy watching our running game more than any flashy passing game. To take the 3 point stance out of football would be the straw that broke the camel’s back. Thats just pathetic. Long Live the Carolina Panthers Smashmouth Running Game!!!!
by SouthernPanther on Feb 9, 2010 12:33 PM EST reply actions
ERL i agree with you 110%
this game is going to be 2 hand touch if this keeps going on. i understand what they are trying to protect players but that is too far. the contact is what makes this sport fun. you take that away and we have a bunch of grown men throwing the ball around in the back yard. C’mon man
+1 on the John fox smash mouth run game
GO Panthers!
agree
the injuries havent changed since the beginning of football hell they even got helmets with air in them and bulky pads now have that forgotten why people watch football it is the physicality take that away and you might as well start pasting flags to thier butts
I'm thrilled
That so many posters that I respect have similar feeling towards this important issue. The references to back-yard and flag football are spot-on. I would rather see a tailback take a hand-off and plow through the hole than see a receiver run a 5 yard stop route. Unfortunately many base-level “super bowl” fans tune in to watch the Mannings and Bradys throw a ball 50 times. I’m losing interest in many of the “other” games (non Panther) because they are too finesse. I don’t know, blame Mike Leach, hell.
This is one area I give credit to the NHL
When the fans reacted so strongly to the percieved ‘pussification’ of hockey they reacted by removing the ban on fighting.
Lets hope the fans voices are heard and Goodell stops this BS.
Cat Scratch Reader's resident optimist.
Love it.
It is a fine line with this kind of thing. Do you make your game more high-flying to appeal to the masses or do you keep the game’s integrity intact to ensure the die-hard fans stick around? Clearly Goodell has picked a side. Its the wrong side, Roger.
by ERL on Feb 9, 2010 2:25 PM EST up reply actions
This talk of banning the 3 point stance points to a bigger issue in my book
Since we are using the word (and i love it) “Pussification” here is my two cents.
America is getting soft and pussified, and it is starting to leak down to some of the things that make America great. Like Football.
Nowadays, you aren’t allowed to be a renegade anymore, you aren’t allowed to be tough and be better than anyone. You have to be “sensitive” to everyone, and you always have to make sure that you don’t publicly do anything to piss off any one of the little special interest groups throughout the nation who have invaded the modern media.
Our children aren’t even allowed to bring their own school supplies to school anymore… yeah. you heard it. At some schools on the first day of class, all students have to dump all their new pencil, pens, notebooks, etc. into a giant box where the teacher can hand them out as they feel necessary, and so that no child has more than any other child. God forbid that Timmy have a better Trapper Keeper than Johnny… we don’t want anyone to feel inferior. While we are at it… let’s ban dodgeball. Clearly this game is far to violent, and it puts way to much of a spotlight on who the fastest and most athletic kid in the class is. Oh wait? we did that? Okay, let’s really take it to the next level… our kids can’t hug each other or touch each other in any way… so when they play tag, we’ll come up with a “halo rule” for when someone else is it.
See where I am very bitterly going with this? Eventually, these same children, who have been trained in schools to believe that competition is bad, and that no one should have any more than anything else, will be in a position to be executives in the NFL. We will be lucky if we can even still identify the NFL by the time this happens. We will be lucky if competitive sports still exist by the time they grow up. Hell we will be lucky if ANY of them know how to fend for themselves without some sort of governing body holding their hands.
It makes me sick. absolutely sick.
by Tater596 on Feb 9, 2010 2:27 PM EST reply actions 2 recs
I actually think there is an organization that is trying to ban dodgeball, Tater. And a whole other list of “violent” playground games. Was a Real Sports episode from last year I think? The journalists on the story pretty much tore ‘em down too. Much to Bryant Gumbel’s chagrin, I might add.
by The Kackalack Kid on Feb 9, 2010 4:38 PM EST up reply actions
Out of all the ‘violent’ games that we played as children I never once knew a kid that would have rather sat on the side and not get hurt than to get in there and have fun. Back in middle school my friend, a tiny little asian boy of probably no more than 80 pounds, fell on the ground while playing flag football and broke BOTH of his arms. Once those things healed up he was back out there.. Kids are resilient, let them get knocked around.
It's a real issue
I know they were kicking it around in Guilford County, NC. It may have passed. It is still stupid… and just contibutes to this “pussification”
It used to be you fell down, scraped your knee, cried for a minute, and your parents told you you would be alright.
Now that happens, you cry forever, the parents get pissed off, sue the school, and suddenly kids cant be kids anymore.
Rec'd. Epic post. Let's make this bad boy green.
I agree wholeheartedly. The special interest groups today remind me exactly of a group of spoiled children. Exactly. Whenever they hear something that they do not want to hear, they fall on the ground and cry a river, using the State-Run media as outlets to censor every single thing that people say in America.
When is someone going to just stand up and shoot them the bird? When is someone going to go “I understand what you’re saying, but I couldn’t care less.” That’s what we truly need. We need a new generation of people that will throw off the shackles of political correctness and reclaim our American right to freedom of speech.
I’d love to see some of these same school administrators try to pull this kind of crap in Texas. Banning tag and stealing school supplies. HAH! The good ol boys down there would hang them out on crosses in front of the school by their pants with a duck taped dunce cap tied to their head. Our only saving grace with this stupid 3 point stance proposal is that Roger Goodell is surrounded by good owners who will laugh him right out of the meeting with talk like this if he’s not fired altogether. NFL commissioner my ass, more like Captain Planet: King of the girlymen.
"Once again the trousers of evil are yanked down by the mocking hands of justice!"-Revshawn
by Revshawn on Feb 9, 2010 5:31 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
The actual problem is that these people are trying to fix a real problem in this country – that of most Americans being arrogant jerks – but they’re going about it completely the wrong way. not surprising really. The people doing the fixing are also arrogant jerks, and you can’t cure a disease you yourself are inflicted with.
by SlayerGhaleon on Feb 9, 2010 8:15 PM EST up reply actions
Hey I'm a kid.
11 years old and probably one of my favourite things to do is play tackle football in a concrete walled back yard with a T-shirt and shorts on.(the walls aren’t as hard as you’d think)
One of South Africa's only Carolina Panthers and fans.
by chinchillas sword on Feb 9, 2010 3:18 PM EST reply actions
Also
I don’t like sheep. Black Panthers of the NFL sounds better IMO.
One of South Africa's only Carolina Panthers and fans.
by chinchillas sword on Feb 9, 2010 3:20 PM EST reply actions
I don’t know about that… you’re opening a whole other can of worms saying that LOL
Cat Scratch Reader's resident optimist.
lol
One of South Africa's only Carolina Panthers and fans.
by chinchillas sword on Feb 9, 2010 3:33 PM EST up reply actions
lmao
Yeah, I think the Black Panthers name is taken ;) Power to you all…
by boywonderncsu on Feb 11, 2010 8:52 AM EST up reply actions
Since we're talking about softness...
In the NRL (National Rugby League) in Australia there is a rule that only allows a team to make 5 substitutions during a game. A team can sub someone additional out for injury, but they’re not allowed to return to the game.
It was the Grand Final (equivalent of the Superbowl) in 2000 my team, the Sydney Roosters were up, but only by a couple of points. There were 15 minutes left and we’d used all our substitutions. Our captain Luke Ricketson had a mammoth gash open up on his head… it was epic. The trainers wanted him to leave the field on an injury substitution but he was determined on returning. He ran off the field as fast as he could leaving the team with one less man on the field. He took a staple gun from the TV crew and stapled his own head back together wrapping it with duct tape before running back out only 45 seconds later.
We won the game, took home the trophy and he said later “It was more important for me to drink a pint of beer in victory than losing a pint of blood on the field”
Now that’s friggin toughness.
Cat Scratch Reader's resident optimist.
F’in THIS man…. just that story alone makes me want to punch someone in the face….
In mother Russia no one can hear you scream.... or is that space?...now that I think about it, it's definitely space....
by mad_dog_maddux on Feb 9, 2010 3:41 PM EST up reply actions
holy hell
Now that is a genuine badass.
I’m all for protecting players once an injury has already occurred, like requiring genuine medical clearance after sustaining a concussion and all… but some of these rules they are trying to enact to prevent such things are absurd.
This “no 3 point stance” rule is the most absurd yet though.
holy crap
that is insane!!!! that is the most badass thing i’ve ever heard!
by SouthernPanther on Feb 9, 2010 3:51 PM EST up reply actions
Chuck Norris would be proud.
Wow.
"Once again the trousers of evil are yanked down by the mocking hands of justice!"-Revshawn
wow
That guy is my new hero*
*old hero was the norwegian ship captain that ran into the water to kill a shark, with a knife, that was attacking one of his crew
by boywonderncsu on Feb 11, 2010 8:54 AM EST up reply actions
maybe we should start using nerf footballs
That way when someone falls on a fumble on their nuts, they aren’t in excruciating pain for 10 minutes. (take it from an ex-DE… this hurtle like a sonuvabeach)
I found it hilarious when Brady's former teamate Rodney Harrison
told him to take the skirt off. He misses one season with a blown out knee and we have to make a whole new set of rules. Its going to get to the point where you are not allowed to touch the QB….you will have to rip his skirt off to collect a sack. (that really doesn’t sound right).
My god we’re gonna all be singing kumbya as a country in the next few decades. We used to play ‘smear the queer’ and tackle each other with no real goal for hours on end as children. Now kids can’t even play tag without having to sit and talk about how being ‘it’ feels.
haha! i played that game all the time!
Come to think of it… it made me want to play FOOTBALL. But you could play smear the queer with an odd number of people.
and there were no rules, who ever had the ball had to run for his life or he was getting creamed. Didn’t make you want the ball any less.. Made you wanna grab that thing and go all Jstew.
We actually played a fun variant of it sometimes
It combined Smear the Queer with Hide n go Seek. Basically it actually turned out more like capture the flag. Each person would take turns hiding the football outside, then everyone who didn’t hide it would have to go looking for it. Once you found the football, you had to yell SMEAR! at which point, everyone stops looking and tries to tackle you and prevent you from getting the ball back to a pre-determined “base” including the guy who hid the football. Who basically would just stand and guard the base…. kind of like the “jailkeeper” in capture the flag. What makes this game better than capture the flag, is that no one is on your team… and you are guaranteed at least one major collision if the ball carrier makes it back to “base” with the goaltender waiting for him to tackle.
You can play football too
Just have an all time QB…..oh wait a minute that makes people feel inferior. Political correctness. >_>
The early bird catches the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
by Flowing Willow on Feb 10, 2010 2:31 AM EST up reply actions
no offense to anyone...
but liberals….
by carolinabrave89 on Feb 9, 2010 6:25 PM EST up reply actions
So when football players stop risking personal injury, what is their excuse going to be for why they get paid such ridiculous amounts?
You Sir, are a gentleman and a scholar
great point
by ERL on Feb 9, 2010 4:24 PM EST up reply actions
Best. Post. Ever.
And best responses too. Seems duplicitous for Goodell to be tough when it comes to disciplining players, and now soft as shite on this issue. Maybe he should pull up HIS skirt, and grab his balls. Just to check and see if they are still there. We should send him a copy of “Fight Club” courtesy of CSR to help him in this regard.
by The Kackalack Kid on Feb 9, 2010 4:35 PM EST reply actions
But more on track...
I agree with you wholeheartedly ERL. The reasons I love the panthers are too many.. But one of the main reasons is because they just do it old school and, to me, that’s a whole hell of a lot more fun to watch. I love watching smith make crazy catches but a solid run, breaking tackles and dragging fools, will always be WAY more entertaining to me. This was the reason I was going for the Jets in the playoffs, they most closely resembled our teams style of play.
Its a sad thing when something as iconic to America as football begins to lose its integetry for the sake of the quick buck.
This is why I love the Panthers...
I’ll use Stewie as an example… the run he does at 1:30 in this video
The stiffarm of Ronde Barber never gets too old to watch!
That’s got to be one of the greatest throw-downs in the history of the game.
This
I love the fact that we started the “wildcat” phenomena that would be credited to Miami 99 times if you polled 100 fans
I NEVER hear that mentioned around here and I was starting to wonder if anyone remembered the Atlanta game a few years ago where we pretty much won with NO QB… Now that was hilarious…
I've got to disagree with the line that this post is following
James, funny you should bring up rugby to make apoint about the pussification of football. I played rugby for 17 years and think that the rule changes that allow 5 substitutions have pussified rugby. They use to allow only 2. I once played the final 20 minutes of a match with a torn MCL because we had already used our 2 substitutions. My knee required surgery the next week and the doctor that performed it told me that the only thing that had been holding my leg together was my pants. My point is, don’t talk to me about pussification, I played contact sports because I loved the violence and I understand playing hurt.
However, concussions are a completely different matter. I also played HS and college football. When I played, we were coached to try to always initiate contact with our helmets. We also thought that concussions were funny, although we didn’t call them concussions. I remember laughing at a HS teammate who “got his bell rung” when he tried to line up in the other team’s huddle. That player only left the game for a few plays until his eyes uncrossed. Now we’ve learned that concussions really aren’t that funny. All of us have read the accounts of former players who have serious mental and other health problems which are attributable to repeated concussions during their playing days.
I don’t know if eliminating the 3-point stance will reduce concussions in football. I do know that it wouldn’t pussify the sport if they did. It will still be a very violent, contact sport. I’m glad that they are considering ways to reduce concussions, including possible rules changes. I would rather they tweak the rules than continue to read about former players in their 40’s that are suffering from dementia due to a history of multiple concussions.
I was specifically talking about Rugby League… not Rugby Union. I know people feel union has been pussified, but league used to allow unlimited subs. Funny you tore your MCL… I too tore my MCL playing rugby.
Even with the 5 subs though I think most would agree that rugby is about as far from pussification as any professional sport.
I understand why Goodell is getting involved in this, the Kyle Turley story highlighted the dangers of concussion but eliminating the 3 pt stance isn’t a good way to do it. The problem is the teams themselves are responsible solely for the care of their players, and obviously they have alterior motives clearing a player to play.
It’s pretty simple: Have a doctor employed by the NFL at every game. That doctor should oversee the team trainers to ensure they’re actually looking out for a players’ long term interest and not putting a player back in who has concussion symptoms. MMA for example has a fight doctor who checks on cuts etc indepedent of the fighter’s corner just to be sure the athletes health is of paramount concern.
Cat Scratch Reader's resident optimist.
by James Dator on Feb 10, 2010 10:20 AM EST up reply actions
Yeah I think the concussion issue is being handled correctly right now
Players that suffer concussions are waiting much longer before going back on the field. There is more awareness of the issue. Just don’t see the need to change anymore rules.
Although a main difference in rugby and football
is in rugby, there’s no high tackles. They really make sure you wrap up. Football has more violent collisions IMO, rugby is still the tougher sport don’t get me wrong.
The early bird catches the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
by Flowing Willow on Feb 11, 2010 1:52 AM EST up reply actions
I would like to speak to this...
But I need to give some background first. I come from a family of health care professionals. Doctors, nurses, technicians, you name it. I went to medical school for a short period of time, and have been trained in first aid. I have served as an EMT, lifeguard, AND x-ray technician at some point in my life. Now, let me tell you the beef I have with this whole “concussion” argument….
Doctors, even with the profound amount of technology and education at hand today, still have very little hard data on what the causes of PCS (post-concussion syndrome; the ailment that these players in question have) actually are. Not to mention the extremely varied studies and results of ANY head injury to speak of. Basically, you’re talking about a situation where for every case of PCS, each patient displays a different symptom or set of symptoms, and in turn, each patient reacts to treatment in a different way. And I’m not just talking about athletes, but everyday normal people. So to say that the NFL, or anyone else, is “allowing” a culture of ignorance about the disorder is just completely baseless. The bottom line is that most doctors, if asked about it outside of their office hours, would tell you that the information on the topic of PCS is not empirical to say the least. Which is to say that the only way to prevent PCS is to prevent the concussions themselves.
Now this leads me to the next bit, which is….are NFL players suffering PCS in a ratio that is out of the norm for the rest of the population? Before you go changing rules and making wide sweeping declarations, I’d have to see some hard evidence that suggests that NFL players, due to the physicality of the game, are more likely to develop PCS than the average concussed individual. I’ve dealt with concussions quite a bit in the past, and sometimes people withstand an amazing amount of force with only slight difficulty. Of course, I’ve also been privy to someone actually dying from something as simple as slipping and banging their head on concrete and then falling asleep. But I have yet to see anything that says that these dementias are out of the normal percentages. Not to mention that the people who are speaking out about PCS, guys like Merrill Hoge, Steve Young, Troy Aikman, come from an era BEFORE the present rules changes, like the head-to-head contact rules and the advances in new equipment. Only when the guys who are playing NOW have had time to see what difference those changes have made will we be able to get a clear picture of how PCS has impacted the health of NFL players.
To me, the key is this: there is not a single player out on the field of play that does not know what the stakes are. Not one who doesn’t know that they are one play away from retirement from the game, and possibly changes in lifestyle to an extreme degree. This is why I revere athletes so much. Their dedication and bravery in the face of abject danger make them who they are: heroes. They perform what could only be described as super-human acts while on the field of play. Literally, they are willing to give their lives in return for the glory of being the greatest, and the adulation that we, as fans and supporters, will give them on a Sunday afternoon. I would be very averse to a knee-jerk reaction that would take away from this game the sense that these players are an inspiration, proof that humans are greater than the sum of their parts, especially considering the lack of hard information available on the topic. Are these players getting concussed is not the question. The question is: are they suffering more than the average person would under the same conditions?
by The Kackalack Kid on Feb 11, 2010 9:22 AM EST up reply actions 5 recs
Fantastic post Kackalack Kid
It’s nice to have someone in the CSR community to have intimate knowledge of PCS as I’m sure it will be a recurring issue over the next several years.
Cat Scratch Reader's resident optimist.
by James Dator on Feb 11, 2010 11:58 AM EST up reply actions
Dude!
Print that, and email it to every single team and league office!!! That is a seriously epic post!
The early bird catches the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
by Flowing Willow on Feb 11, 2010 2:11 PM EST up reply actions
I just hope the doctors can shed some light on PCS at some point. The problem with medicine (one of the many actually but I digress) is that doctors are far more likely to spend time developing drugs as opposed to treatments or therapies non-pharmacopially based. There’s just not as much money in treating patients as there is in developing medicine, not to mention the workload involved is phenomenal. You have to treat the patients almost constantly and still find time to record data to compare and contrast with your colleagues. It’s really tough to get a comprehensive study when you’re spending so much time with patients. This is the good that I hope comes from all this talk about PCS: that maybe doctors and athletic trainers can start having a dialogue about how to prevent PCS, given that, to date, it seems nonresponsive to any form of drug therapy.
by The Kackalack Kid on Feb 11, 2010 8:27 PM EST up reply actions
With this said though, all of us should and, I think, do understand the implications of head trauma. It’s very wise for the NFL and all of its employees and fans to become conscious of the dangers of repeated concussions, and take steps to prevent them within reason. I just hate it when the “worst-case scenario” becomes the benchmark for any kind of legislation or regulation. In sports or otherwise. There will always be situations that occur regardless of how you try to prevent them; the idea is to look at the TRENDS, not the aberrations. Don’t ruin this game by allowing the “perfect” situation to be the enemy of a good one. No system can be perfect.
by The Kackalack Kid on Feb 11, 2010 8:18 PM EST up reply actions
Nice!
Epic post is epic! Win is win! :D
"Once again the trousers of evil are yanked down by the mocking hands of justice!"-Revshawn
This is what I love about this blog. This is truly a center of deep thought!
"Once again the trousers of evil are yanked down by the mocking hands of justice!"-Revshawn
if you lose the three point stance and make the players stand up what about the ankle and knee injuries that would happen. if we keep going the players are going to be playing on their knees. besides in football you are not even taught to hit helmet to helmet on the line so changing the three point stance wont help because most of the concussions come from rb,db and receivers via trucking, taking a big hit after the catch, or even being the one deliverying the hit
Without the Pop in the trenches at the snap of the ball
It won’t be the same football we are used to. Hell, I could argue that with all the offensive lines that never use a 3-point stance by choice, it is already not the same. Boring ass spread.
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