New Orleans Football Game Analysis

Many players and coaching staffs have a mantra they use when facing adversity due to injury, “Next man up!”. It is hard to avoid hearing this motto from players and coaches, as it is a way of life in the sport for “casualties” of the game to occur. The parallels to war are endless in the football world. Many strategists look at the game with a war type approach. In 2012 the New Orleans Saints were handed severe punishments and penalties for what has been coined as “Bountygate”. The Saints were found guilty of offering “bounties” or cash bonuses for injuries inflicted to players on the opposing team. Unfortunately, this is not the only case of “smash for cash” activities in NFL history. Hall of Famer Reggie White said in a 1996 interview that

As true as that may be, I tend to think those holding this belief will be surprised at the actual numbers. There are some players in the NFL that make an egregious amount of money annually, on the other hand there are many players simply making a decent living. The NFLPA ( NFL Players Association) reported the average NFL player’s career lasts 3.2 years. According to Businessinsider.com the average NFL player salary is $1.9 million annually, ranking the NFL as the lowest average salary among the 4 major North American sports leagues, 2.5 times less than baseball’s average salary. The NFLPA has come up short in a few areas, another being the fact that all NFL contracts are non-guaranteed, meaning if a player were to sign with a team for x number of years and for x number of dollars, the team has the right to cut this player at any time during the length of the contract. A player can be released for any reason, including injury. When released, a player is no longer entitled to the compensation agreed upon in the contract. This is far behind other major sports, as Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association both virtually always guarantee contracts between player and organization. Based on the numbers, an average professional football player will earn roughly $6 million in their career, many making much less. After 3 years of NFL

As these trends rise and more data is examined it is no wonder the youth football turnout is decreasing in pockets on America. Many parents are beginning to prohibit their children from participating in this dangerous game. When speaking to David Remnich of the Washington Post, President Obama said if he had a son, “ I would not let my son play professional football.”, NBA superstar Lebron James told ESPN.com “ It’s a safety thing. As a parent, you protect your kids. I don’t think I am the only one not allowing his kids to play football.” It is not just outsiders to the sport refusing to allow their children to participate either, Hall of Fame Quarterback Terry Bradshaw told Jay Leno in 2012, “If I had a son today, I would not let him play football.” These sentiments are shared among many of the games past heroes including, Troy Aikman, Bart Scott, Antwaan Randle El, and Brett Favre to name a few.

As sports such as soccer, lacrosse, and basketball surge in popularity among our nation’s youth, it should come as no surprise to see the popularity of football decline. When we look back in history to the year of the very first Super Bowl it was 1966, The world was watching Jim Palmer face off against Sandy Koufax in the World Series, baseball was America’s game. I wonder