Boredom scares the daylights out of the NFL. The most popular sport in America dreads monotony, real or perceived. Lest the public embrace soccer after World Cup, NFL owners seemed especially concerned about the state of their game entering 1994, pro football’s 75th season. And the first person to call it the “Diamond Anniversary” is sentenced to care about the baseball strike.
To lure younger viewers, the NFL switched from CBS to the Fox Network, hired the former president of MTV to sell T-shirts for NFL Properties and, as usual, changed the rules.
For the first time in NFL history, a scoring change was made. The two-point conversion was adopted 25 years after it was rejected as part of the merger with the AFL. The idea is to downplay kickers. Too much like soccer. For every four touchdowns last season, there were three field goals. It was the closest ratio in history, a dangerous precedent, said owners, who promptly passed measures to take the foot out of football.
The league then took its show on the road to Mexico City, where a Cowboys-Oilers exhibition drew the largest crowd in NFL history, 112,000 new customers, who saw two field goals.
What happens in an off-season or a preseason usually provides scant insight into a regular season, even when changes are as numerous as this year. How can the public predict anything when comments like this permeate the preseason airwaves:
Atlanta coach June Jones: “Craig Heyward has shown real dedication.”
San Diego coach Bobby Ross: “I feel good about this team.”
Deion Sanders: “I’m not playing for the money.”
Dallas owner Jerry Jones: “I think Barry Switzer is exactly what the Dallas Cowboys needed at this time.”
When two-time Super Bowl champions can dismiss a coach like Jimmy Johnson and proclaim it will help them, anybody can say anything. The problem is sorting out all the changes and all their effects:
The cap: For the first time, a salary cap became as much a part of football lexicon as shoulder pads. “Blame it on the cap” became the instant battle cry of every NFL team. Every payroll was capped at $34.6 million, leaving no excuses but stupidity. The rich were no longer able to get richer. The poor were no longer safe in their poverty. Only the dumb were exposed.
Superstars got their money, although the pre-cap $17 million bonanza of Reggie White was history. The veteran players who worked their way up the salary ladder found their legs cut out from under them. No way were teams keeping $1 million specialists and journeymen when they could buy five eager $200,000 youngsters to cover kicks and fill in where needed. If quality of play erodes, what fan will notice?
If the cap and free agency spread talent around, won’t the result mean 28 relatively weaker teams? How many teams, for example, can afford an injury at quarterback? The Cowboys used to have Steve Beuerlein, then Bernie Kosar. Now they have Rodney Peete behind Troy Aikman.
The cap provides no relief from injury. If a player goes on injured reserve, his salary still counts against the cap.
The cap also provides no relief from player complaint. While veterans absorb pay cuts, they are questioning how their players association counted enough yes votes to ratify the new agreement. The union is pointing out that traditionally low-paying teams such as Cincinnati and Tampa Bay are forced to pay a salary basement, the flip side of the cap that is rarely mentioned.
Does that mean we can expect a Buccaneers-Bengals Super Bowl?
Fox: Speaking of quality, will anybody notice the absence of CBS? After 35 years, that network is out of football, although Pat Summerall and John Madden remain alive. The question is whether Fox can peak technically in time to match the expertise of CBS. Already its innovation of a permanent clock and scoreboard on the screen is meeting with controversy.
New coaches: The Eagles’ Rich Kotite is dean of the NFC East. Three of the five new coaches in the league work in the NFC East-Arizona’s Buddy Ryan, Washington’s Norv Turner and Dallas’ Switzer. The others are Atlanta’s Jones and the New York Jets’ Pete Carroll.
Upheaval in the NFC East indicates a changing power structure. Although the division has dominated the league with four straight Super Bowl champions, all that dominance increases expectations of owners.
New quarterbacks: Repeat after me: Warren Moon of the Vikings, Jeff George of the Falcons, Jim Harbaugh of the Colts, Erik Kramer of the Bears, Scott Mitchell of the Lions, Jim Everett of the Saints, Chris Miller of the Rams. Still sounds funny, doesn’t it.
Realignment: When will owners find a spot for 1995 newcomers Jacksonville and the Carolinas? How will they do it?
The radio helmet: Quarterbacks are on the receiving end of a direct line from play-calling coaches on the sideline. It’s supposed to result in fewer delay penalties and more touchdowns. Keep track.
Some things never change:
– Buffalo Bills-Five in a row? Who can beat them? The Bills are the first four-in-a-row championship game losers, but the New York Giants once lost five out of six.
– Emmitt Smith: The Best Football Player. Give him his due a year late.
