So, I've been reading a lot lately about how the NFL has become an organization of overpaid primadonnas who cannot take a hit, and how they need to put on the big boy pants and get out there and play a big boy game.  I have a bone to pick with this premise.

My first thought on this subject is that the NFL of today is alot like the Las Vegas of today.  As they exist, both entities are more for entertainment value and a family activity, rather than the classic view of it.  Which is to say that Vegas in the late seventies was run by mobsters, and if they caught you cheating, they'd take you in the back and beat the living shit out of you to get their "point" across.  The NFL of the seventies was very similar.  It was full of hard-boiled, tough-as-nails players that played as a reflection of how the NFL wanted to be portrayed. They (players, NFL, Vegas) were the baddest MoFo's on the block and they wanted everyone to know it.  Guys like Jack Tatum, Gene Upshaw, John Riggins, Larry Czonka and 'Night Train" Lane were tough SOBs and everyone knew it, and hey, that was great, and i still enjoy watching clips of forearm shivers and badass horsecollar tackles, but that was then. 

This is now.  The current state of the NFL, like tis that of a business.  That business is one of entertainment.  Business is good, and the main reason it is so is because of it's marquee players, which are mainly quarterbacks.  Rules have been put in place by the NFL to protect their most valuable commodities.  I, personally don't have a problem with protecting the quarterback, just like I have no problem with protecting the kicker.  They happen to be in a very vulnerable position and were I the NFL or at the very least, an owner, the last thing I want to see is my biggest investment getting completely mauled by soeone that makes the league minimum.  Sure, it happens, but if I could avoid it, I would.  Don't read me wrong here either, kids.  I played Defensive end and fullback in high school and played rugby in college for a nat'l championship team and still play rugby to this day.  I know how to hit, and I know how to take a hit, but most of all, I know how to sustain a business.  I can tell you right now if my employers knew i spent y weekends getting drunk and running into someone as hard as i could, they'd be worried too. 

Long story short, If you want to watch 70's era NFL-style play, watch you tube or rugby.  If you want sustained high level of play for years to come, quit calling QB's pussies for having the rules skewed to protect them.