Wednesday Morning QB (Week 12)
The National Football League is the biggest sporting entity in North America but it has gained a different nickname over the last few decades.
Many know the NFL as the “No Fun League” as they have made things so strict that often the most innocent things are punished.
All of this has only been highlighted even more in the last few years when players get fined for wanting to wear pink all season or for wearing flashy cleats during the game.
All of that while they should be paying attention to the issues of domestic abuse throughout the league.
At a certain point there is something to fining players for uniform violations as the league has sponsors who put up huge money to have their equipment on TV.
But when it is as simple as wearing a different colour sleeve or tape or even wearing cleats from the league sponsor with an interesting design that happens to not be the colour of their team that should be of no concern of the league.
Why does a league that makes billions of dollars every year thanks to players risking their health to play the game they love care about such small things when there are so many bigger issues in the league.
The league’s inability to let players have fun playing a game has snuck into the wider world of the NFL including analysts and fans.
That was expressed perfectly in the last few weeks with Cam Newton at the head of a crazy controversy.
Against the Tennessee Titans Newton ran in the endzone, as he has done a lot this year, and began dancing.
The Titans took offence to this and came up to the young quarterback to tell him what they thought of his dance moves.
Nothing except words were exchanged while Newton threw a couple more dance moves the way of the Titans and the game went on.
Then throughout the week stories surfaced of a woman from the crowd writing a letter addressed to Newton about how irresponsible he was for his display.
The letter said that he should know that he is a role model and dancing was setting a bad example in terms of sportsmanship.
She was not the only one who didn’t like what Newton did as there are analysts who believed that he was disrespecting the game.
He was rubbing it in the faces of the defence that he had scored and that wasn’t something that belonged in the game.
Even opposing players stated that they didn’t think it was respectful of the game or the opponents he was playing.
After starting the season on an amazing pace and essentially doing nothing to anger anyone except for winning people found a reason to hate Newton.
That reason is one of the dumbest reasons to hate a player in the history of the league.
Newton is the future of this league as he seems an almost lock for the MVP if he can continue this run with the Panthers.
He should also be the way that many players build their careers as he is simply having fun playing a game.
Too often sports becomes a serious job with stress ruling the day but in the end it is a game that people begin playing because they have fun.
It may be one of the more stressful jobs out there as week to week players can lose their jobs but in the end they are just playing a game.
That game becomes a lot more fun when you are winning and Newton is doing just that so nobody should be able to blame him if he shows he is having fun.
The arguments only get worse when the issue of race is brought into it as many see a difference in the way white and black players are treated.
Newton is labelled as disrespectful when he dances in the endzone while a player like Travis Kelce dances in the endzone and nobody says a thing.
It is odd and not something that reflects great on the fans and analysts of the NFL as double standards seem to be all too alive in the league.
Newton is having fun, and so is Kelce, and letting them have fun while playing a game that is supposed to be fun without hearing about how it is disrespectful is just another level of the “No Fun League.”
It is important to say that the NFL has done nothing about it leaving Newton to dance as much as he wants but if they crumble under pressure of fans they will be taking their “wholesome” image way too far in the midst of much bigger issues.
Fifth Quarter:
(Thoughts on Week 12 in the NFL)
Manziel’s Return?
It has bene an interesting year in Cleveland as the quarterback position as been in flux from training camp and a week after Manziel was taken from first string to third string starting quarterback Brian Hoyer was injured for the year leaving the Browns with a big decision
Gun Ban Lifted?
Recent terrorist attacks have focused on sporting events where large crowds gather and as the concerns over something like that happening at an NFL game the national fraternal order of police is asking the NFL to lift the gun ban at NFL stadiums for retired and off-duty police
Scary Week for Bailey
Stedman Bailey was serving a suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy but just before he was set to return to St. Louis tragedy struck as he was involved in a shooting and was shot in the head twice but he survived after surgery and is recovering in intensive care
Key Scores:
Chicago Bears 17 – 13 Green Bay Packers
– The Packers seemed to have turned things around when they beat Minnesota in Week 12 but on the night they retired Brett Favre’s number they fell back into their old ways with a struggling offence that lost to their long-time rival
Washington 20 – 14 New York Giants
– It was a battle for the lead in the worst division in the league as no team seems to want to win which was true again as the Giants led the division only to lose to Washington and lose their grip on the division lead
Denver Broncos 30 – 24 New England Patriots
– It was supposed to be a match-up of Brady-Manning for another year but instead Brock Osweiler took control of the Broncos for the second week in a row and led Denver to a big win that ended the Patriots’ winning streak leaving only one undefeated team left
Baltimore Ravens 33 – 27 Cleveland Browns
– The Browns have stayed in most of the games they have played this year but have failed to win most in a frustrating year which got only worse when the Ravens blocked a field goal and returned it for the winning touchdown
Next Week:
Green Bay Packers vs. Detroit Lions (Thursday December 3rd; 8:25 pm ET)
– The Packers need to figure something out as they have all of the talent to win games and the division but they need to start getting back to winning now as they take on the Lions who beat the Packers only three weeks ago
New York Jets vs. New York Giants (Sunday December 6th; 1:00 pm ET)
– The battle of New York in football form is an interesting game as the Giants are in the midst of a tough division fight that is full losing teams while the Jets are fighting for a wild card spot in their conference
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Cleveland Browns (Sunday December 6th; 1:00 pm ET)
– The Browns have a decision to make at quarterback after Brian Hoyer’s injury and the will need to recover from a heartbreaking loss in the final seconds of their Monday night game as they take on their in-state rivals
Denver Broncos vs. San Diego Chargers (Sunday December 6th; 4:05 pm ET)
– Brock Osweiler is changing the Broncos as he has won two in a row after replacing Peyton Manning and he will look for a third win against the Chargers who are just looking to get out of the basement of their division
The Sport Addiction 