You are the Commissioner-What do you do?

In comment 13180182 Old Dirty Beckham said:

Quote:

In comment 13180177 Keith said: Quote: Make a Saturday night game if you want a game on it's own, but Thursday night games are terrible. You'd be a bad commissioner. They cant play games on Saturday because of College football. The Thursday night game makes the league a shit load of $.

The point of this thread is to provide examples of how to make the game better. Not making every decision based on money is pretty much rule #1. TNF is awful, absolutely awful. You can put a game on any day of the week and make money. If they continue with TNF it has to be off of a BYE week. Games played on less than 4 days rest is criminal. Because, the league is about safety an all...

would make no difference, so not sure what the 'nuff said means after that suggestion. MLB, NHL, etc. all have full time refs and still have quality issues.

They do need to change/fix the officiating. I really don't know if it was always this bad, only now with HD and replay and advanced scrutiny the light is just shining brighter on it now or if it is just getting worse.

But it needs to be fixed.

So #1 fix officiating, I read one guy on twitter say you want to fix officiating, have the refs come out and meet with the media after the game like the coaches and players have to do. Not sure that changes much, but at least let's people question them directly.

One thing that I might consider is "privatizing" football officiating. Get a group to bid on owning all officials from pop warner to high school to NCAA to arena/CFL to NFL. the referees answer to a governing body who brings referees up through the ranks, trains them the same way, evaluates them the same way, and assigns them the same way (not sure if some fashion of this happens now, but it's how hockey works and while hockey is still flawed it's better than the NFL).

Second: I adjust rosters to allow for more players to practice with the team and help curtail the endless flow of injuries. Maybe larger practice squads, maybe independent medical evals for using IR so teams can't "stash" players. Something like that so teams can be developing quality depth.

Officiating and injuries to me are the biggest detractors from the quality of the game right now.

Third: Adjust the CBA to go back to the old practice schedule. the league tells the players they will drop any plans for a 18-game season and even cut one pre-season game like the 4th meaningless game, but go back to the old school two-a-days and same number of padded practices which hopefully increases quality of on-field production.

The NFL problem is officiating, injuries, and overall play quality and my three-step plan addresses all three.

1. Bye bye thu night games, except thanksgiving.

2. Any PF or PI penalty would be reviewable.


3. Expand the rosters
4. Similar to baseball, have the reviews done by the home office

5. Eliminate illegal contact downfield. You can still have holding and PI, just not illegal contact.

6. Eliminate the defenseless receiver rule. A defender has to be able to defend and a lot of times that's separating the WR from the ball.

Yeah. Good luck with that.

I'm sure the owners would be thrilled.

Bottom line is that unless a serious dent is made in the league and ownership's revenue streams as a result of mass dissatisfaction with the product nothing will change right now.

Give it another 8-10 years and maybe we'll see significant changes. But as it stands, the product caters to the casual and fantasy football fan while trying to draw in new demographics - i.e. women. It's watered down, filled with useless graphics, stats and rankings, pass-happy, inconsistent - yet still makes a ton of money.

Go back old PAT, make thinner goal post
Eliminate automatic first downs except roughing calls..
Eliminate 2 minute warming and TOs to 2 per half..
Big ONE here, QB wants to throw ball away, ball is place where he throws it.... (Defensive lineman, get held, make a great pass rush and are rewarded by letting QB just throw the ball away once he gets outside tackles..

There is a few

that the quality of the league will continue to decrease unless they are willing to alter some of their monetizing methods. I don't actually think anything that will hurt their wallet will get passed, but it should.

Is this thread about making the game better or making more money? Any clown can stick a game on Wednesday night and reap the financial rewards.

about the money it is always about the money" George Young.
The NFL may be a not-for-profit but the owners are for profit.

is a no go for me... The networks have used replay to jam more commercials down our throat, and I can't put up with 4 hour games...

I don't even mind the over saturation with Monday and Thursday night games, but what I'd do is give the Thursday night team a bye going into their Thursday game, so they're not coming in on short rest (don't know if that's logistically possible, it's just a thought). The main thing I'd do is simplify the rule book. I think that's the main driver for this terrible product (hinders the flow of the game, contributes indirectly to increased commercial breaks and allows the refs to impact the outcome). I hate playing on Thursday or Monday night, but I won't complain about having another TV option on those nights.

The matchups stink and the presentation stinks but those aren't problems inherent in Thursday night football. Getting more games into prime time is probably one of the few good things the NFL has done. I really haven't seen a decline in the quality of play on Thursday night as opposed to a Sunday game. In other words the game may be bad because the teams stink, but they're not bad because the players are "tired".

a 9:30am game every week.

In comment 13180268 Ron from Ninerland said:

Quote:

The matchups stink and the presentation stinks but those aren't problems inherent in Thursday night football. Getting more games into prime time is probably one of the few good things the NFL has done. I really haven't seen a decline in the quality of play on Thursday night as opposed to a Sunday game. In other words the game may be bad because the teams stink, but they're not bad because the players are "tired".

There's too many to mention but the most glaring is player safety and how the league harps it, but has no problem trotting two teams out there on less than 4 days rest. Its such a big FU to the players.

doesn't give a shit about the product. As long as the money keeps pouring in, everything will stay.

In comment 13180268 Ron from Ninerland said:

Quote:

The matchups stink and the presentation stinks but those aren't problems inherent in Thursday night football. Getting more games into prime time is probably one of the few good things the NFL has done. I really haven't seen a decline in the quality of play on Thursday night as opposed to a Sunday game. In other words the game may be bad because the teams stink, but they're not bad because the players are "tired".

I agree with this. I happen to enjoy the Thursday night game. Breaks up the week nicely.

In comment 13180268 Ron from Ninerland said:

Quote:

The matchups stink and the presentation stinks but those aren't problems inherent in Thursday night football. Getting more games into prime time is probably one of the few good things the NFL has done. I really haven't seen a decline in the quality of play on Thursday night as opposed to a Sunday game. In other words the game may be bad because the teams stink, but they're not bad because the players are "tired".

My two issues:

1. Huge disadvantage to the road team.
2. Players don't have enough time to recover from the game 4 days prior.

games should be Thanksgiving and should be planned around a bye for the participating teams and possibly opening night when the team has 10 days rest after, not doing it on a short week.

Only have a Thursday game for teams coming off a bye.

Thursday night game for weeks 2-3 and 14-17.

most don't but some do and that's fine. I can make an argument for poor quality and bad matchups, but the point starts and ends with fairness to the players.

"Eliminate making a receiver defenseless" or "eliminate how to hit a qb etc" etc are not going to happen this day and age now..since research of CTE and players safety..and facing lawsuits. The nfl league is now fearful of being sued..hence more protective measures and rules. There will no longer be hard hitting football like in old days..and that was the attraction to the game..and drew audiences and fans..hard hits etc..it was then focus on highlite shows..

- More practice time. NFL is the only profession I can think of in which a person can play at the highest level without practice.

- Contacts should have more guaranteed cash being the players will practice more.

- 80 players in camp. To start off at 90 robs starters of the reps they need.

- Allow DB's a chance for more contact. With less contact the league increases the odds on safeties playing back and unloading more violent hits. Hits which can not only increase the likelihood of concussions yet usually result in a penalty due to a defenseless receiver. Keep the DB's on the receiver and we'll see better defense and more tackling with less flags IMO.

- A successful replay challenge should not forfeit the team's right to challenge another play. They cap replay opportunities like they're timeouts while we obviously can't cap poor officiating.

- Any player dumb enough to field a punt within his own 10 yard line should be fined. Can you read Harris? Line up at the 10 and if you take a step back, don't catch the ball. Amazing how dumb these guys are

- Eliminate the extra point. IKD, give 7 points for a TD or force everybody to make a play for that extra point. No need for a kicker to decide a game on an extra point. Field Goals remain as is.

- Your alternative uniform can't look like absolute shit.

- Jersey's should allow three numbers (think about the marketing on that one)

- Pre and post games should tailor their messaging to fans with an Average IQ.

- Sideline reporters should be eliminated all together

- Sunday Night Football should go back to the drawing board and replace the worst intro in Sports history

- CBS should stop false advertising by claiming every program is the best (best program, best new program, best and longest running program, best night, best . . . .)

- The Jets should move back to Shea which is now a parking lot.

- The NHL should tell - oh (blank off)

- Game times on the East Coast should begin at 12 noon with the 2nd game at 3:45 with the night game beginning at 7:30

- Budweiser should change their name to "drinking shiat"

You can still call penalties on defenseless WR's that get hit in the head, but they call any hard hit on a WR that isn't ready to get hit. As long as there is no contact with the head, there shouldn't be a defenseless receiver rule, IMO.

that many people only watch because of fantasy football. The die hard fan will still watch them, but night games are no longer a novelty. When MNF was at its peak - most people only got to watch limited football outside of highlights. Now with Game pass, NFL channel, 24/7 sports breakdown shows - football is everywhere. So the novelty act is done.

TNF games should just be banned in general. The quality sucks. It doesnt help the teams playing in those games. Is your viewing pleasure that much more heightened watching a game between the Bengals and Dolphins? Yet their game is affected with guys with injuries or havent recovered from the prior weeks game.

I think SNF games should be gone as well. Keeping MNF is fine. But there are way too many night games. For me, no fantasy implications - no watching for me.

is the lack of identity teams have today. The 70s and 80s teams stuck around together and had more distinct personalities.

All the other stuff that has been said on this thread will help. But I am a fan of teams that draft well should get to keep their core players.

So, one thing I would consider is a reduced hit to the cap if you draft a player. Contract only counts X% towards the cap for a draft pick.

Encourage drafting and keeping core and glue players around.

it just looks cooler. In all seriousness, is there anyway this could be a small reason for the increase in injuries? Players are faster with barely any pads on and the direct contact to the body increases with more exposure (smaller shoulder pads/no leg pads).

In comment 13180308 Keith said:

Quote:

In comment 13180268 Ron from Ninerland said: My two issues: 1. Huge disadvantage to the road team. 2. Players don't have enough time to recover from the game 4 days prior.

Do statistics bear that out ? The Cowboys have thrived on that Thanksgiving game but I don't think the Lions have. Do home teams fare particularly better than home teams on a Sunday afternoon ?, A Sunday night ? A Monday night ?

While we're on the issue, Monday night football in particular seems to favor the home team. Among other things the home team might have some pre game of half time special planned to whip up the fans. I remember once the Giants played in Dallas for MNF on "Tom Landry" day and predictiably got their asses kicked.

In comment 13180404 hassan said:

Quote:

is the lack of identity teams have today. The 70s and 80s teams stuck around together and had more distinct personalities.

+1

I said it years ago. It's become like a video game. Every team is basically the same. It's just a change of uniform and that becomes boring. Fantasy might be actually holding this together. Imagine if fantasy wasn't around. Honestly, besides a few games, who cares until December?

the cap and free agency, more than even the rules changes, has watered down the league the most. Throw in the fantasy emphasis and the rule decipherings and we have a mess.

1) Full time officiating, with independent annual reviews. Part of the review process should be player, coach, and front office input (anonymously).

2) Move the touchback back to the 20.

3) Eliminate the ability to step out of bounds and field a kickoff in order to get the ball at the 40. In fact, kickoffs out of bounds shouldn't go to the 40 anyway. It is too harsh of a penalty. Maybe the 25 or 30, but not when the receiving team opts to field the bouncing kick with one foot out of bounds simply to exploit a loophole.

4) As many have said, PI needs to be adjusted. In general, contact by the DBs needs to be adjusted and more clearly defined. There are games where guys hand check for 20 yards with no call and other games where a DBs hand grazes a WRs jersey as incidental contact and there is a flag. One change would be an intermediate PI that is a 10 or 15 yard penalty instead of spot foul. That is what they tried to do with illegal contact and holding, but there is still a huge gap between those and PI. Offensive PI needs to be called more too.

5) Taunting calls can be eliminated. Most of them I find bogus.

6) I don't have a problem with most of the rules to protect QBs, as the most vulnerable players in most situations. but, I disagree with a couple. One, they are afforded too much cushion when "going out of bounds". If a QB is still in bounds, he should be fair game. Two, on INT/fumble returns, if a block is clean (the defensive player is in front of the QB, he should be allowed to block him). No other player can just give themselves up from being blocked legally.

7) No TNF. The quality of games has declined enough. Having at least one game with teams in a short week every week makes it worse. I know, I have no interest any longer in TNF, MNF, or SNF if the Giants aren't playing. I'm not investing the time to stay up late for crappy games with crappier broadcasts. i also hate the color rush being tied to each TNF game. Most of those uniform combinations just make it very difficult to watch the game on TV.

8) I know the idea is to preserve the health of players. But, less practice time has greatly diminished the quality of the play. I think in some instances it also increases injuries, as players are not properly conditioned to the game.

9) Stricter concussion protocol. I would even consider some kind of mandatory retirement with some financial benefits after X concussions. I don't know what that magic number may be.

10) Illegal hands to the face/head should apply to all players. I don't like seeing RBs and WRs stiff arm to the facemask or helmet.

11) More challenges. The goal of replay should also be to get the call right, not to uphold the call on the field.

In comment 13180453 hassan said:

Quote:

the cap and free agency, more than even the rules changes, has watered down the league the most. Throw in the fantasy emphasis and the rule decipherings and we have a mess.

I agree yet look at the league. Outside of a few all the teams play basically a like. The only teams with really an identity are New England and Denver.

Then again, look at Dallas. OMG, a team which tries to run the ball. Look at them. They have an offensive line. They have no WR, a rookie QB and HB, no defensive ends, no depth at DT, so/so corners and a 2nd year player at safety. Yet they win b/c they have a strong OL and a QB which isn't making mistakes.

Meanwhile in NY. Have to draft skill positions. Need a WR (Beckham, I get it), need a CB/Apple, now need Shepard, bring back Cruz, have a few other WR. Draft Palmer, have Darkwa, check out Rainey, good thing we have Vereen. Let's give Jennings the ball. When does it end? They draft three offensive linemen after ignoring the position for years and they still have no right side or depth.

Can't wait for the draft next year. Let's get another DE or safety. Maybe a TE. Let's be like everybody else and play sloppy .500 and try to sneak in the playoffs with a ton of skill players.

To grant a team an advantage when resigning its own drafted players. Say, that player's future contracts count for 20% less against the cap than otherwise.

what Hassan said.

In comment 13180526 santacruzom said:

Quote:

To grant a team an advantage when resigning its own drafted players. Say, that player's future contracts count for 20% less against the cap than otherwise.

Respectfully, look at the cap numbers for teams next season. Almost everybody has a ton of cap space. It appears, so long as you don't go on a wild spending spree in the FA market, you should be able to resign your own players easily.

But other teams can try to hoist your players.

Should also be an incentive for players to stay.

Will help create teams with identity.

1) Extend the season by a week and add a second bye week for each team.
2) Expand the active roster
3) Eliminate Thursday night games (this would never happen though for money)
4) Let players use marijuana
5) Allow coaches to challenge penalties
6) Let players and celebrate and taunt more (I think this would help create more fiery rivalries)
7. Make the Super Bowl President's Weekend with the built-in day-off
8. Bring back Faith Hill and Waiting All Day for Sunday Night
9. Force ESPN to stop producing Monday Night Football like it's a cheesy pep rally.

2012. Be different. Minnesota Dallas others made decision to be different and it's working.
That's a part of it. We don't really need more specialty players on Giants we need a kick ass line and back more than anything and some lbs.

100 pct agree.

In comment 13180198 Metnut said:

Quote:

(1) move the Jags to London; (2) expand the playoffs to 14 teams; (3) monday night football doubleheaders every week, just like opening night (4) start calling defensive pass interference even more aggressively to open up the passing game around the league (will make up for poor QB play) (5) automatic ejection for roughing the qb (6) kickoff from the 40 and team gets to move the ball to the 30 for a touchback (7) monetize the red zone channel by adding commercials (8) double-down on enforcing recreational drug provisions of the CBA and taunting penalties (9) all sunday night and monday games are subject to flex with only 4 days notice required (10) expand the schedule to 17 games with the extra game being a neutral site located outside of the U.S.

You have league office potential written all over you!

In a vacuum there are a million things I would change, but realistically the first thing I would deal with is the how the rules of the game are enforced.

First, the league needs to hire full time referees. Few people would probably disagree with that.

But perhaps more importantly, I think the league should consider an effort to change the culture of how the game is officiated. I would encourage officials to err on the side of not throwing the flag. The game is too complex and too fast to define every infraction in a vacuum (i.e. what is a catch, what is PI), yet the officials are expected to be able to operationally define every penalty sometimes in a fraction of a second.

There are some penalties that are black and white like a delay of game or a false start, and some like holding or PI that are gray. I would have the officials focus on getting every black and white call correct, and allowed to be more liberal in their judgment on the gray calls. Over time the result might be that come officials gain stricter reputations than others, not unlike an umpire with a strike zone in baseball.

This is an impossible game to officiate perfectly. I think some officials are incompetent, but I also think they are asked to do way too much by a strict set of standards.

This game needs less official involvement, not more. It's a greater sin when a phantom PI is called on DRC than when a PI is not called on Richard Sherman covering Julio Jones.

100 pct right.

Part of the problem with NFL officiating, to me, is the speed of the game has gone beyond the capabilities of the older men who comprise most of the officials. I think the NFL should create a sort of training program for younger guys, targeting smart former players who aren't making it in the league as players but want to stay in the game. These will be guys in their mid-late 20s who can still keep up with the players physically. They go through a ref school, and when they "graduate" they can start off as replay officials. They then become the pool of replacements from which new on-field officials are promoted. Over time, the bulk of the officials will ideally be in their 30s and 40s while they're still physically able to handle the speed of the game.

I would fire Blandino and replace him with someone who has experience with actually being on the field of play. I would either eliminate replay or I would make the process limited by time. I would find a way to reduce TV ad time; this would be done in partnership with the networks. I think these things alone would greatly improve the on field product.

That organization is just horridly bad. I don't know who their owner is but if its the same guy for more than 20 years he should be forced to sell the team. How can they be that bad year after year, especially with all the picks they ahve had lately lol.

In comment 13180701 trueblueinpw said:

Quote:

I would fire Blandino and replace him with someone who has experience with actually being on the field of play. I would either eliminate replay or I would make the process limited by time. I would find a way to reduce TV ad time; this would be done in partnership with the networks. I think these things alone would greatly improve the on field product.

Yeah, that guy is unbelievable. Thanks everyone for posting. Just trying to read all the posts now.

In comment 13180453 hassan said:

Quote:

the cap and free agency, more than even the rules changes, has watered down the league the most. Throw in the fantasy emphasis and the rule decipherings and we have a mess.

I really miss the pre-cap, pre-FA days.

That would improve some of the problems that today's NFL has evolved into.

Move the hash tags back out to their original wider spots.

Go back to allowing defensive contact beyond five yards until the ball is in the air.

In comment 13180616 hassan said:

Quote:

But other teams can try to hoist your players. Should also be an incentive for players to stay. Will help create teams with identity.

Would be great for teams to have an identity. The Giants appear to be trying to create the old San Diego Charges. Three receivers, few rushing yards and occasional defense.

Prime time games on there own aren't an issue. The NFL isnt driving viewers through a scarcity model and hasn't for 15 years. You being "excited" for a prime time game doesn't make you more likely to tune in, the math is far more calculated.

Look at the comp at those slots. The NFL isn't worried about viewership, they are focused on ad rates. Live TV viewership across the board is way down, but NFL revenue per game multichannel is crushing it.

NFL TV viewership was an anomaly and silver lining. The NFL planed very well for a decline in TV.

All of the things half of you hate are the reason the league will survive.

and two in Japan.

Also, take over the CFL and turn them into NFL teams too.

A 50+ league draft with the playoffs lasting longer than the NHL playoffs seems right.

From Summer till Spring it's the World Wide NFL.

Jim Fassel still won't land a job

Care about concussions. Turn the rules back 50 years, expand game day rosters to 66 players. Expand the league. Play all year long every day. Basically modern day gladiators.

That or take the money and run since the sport will eventually have to more resemble women's field hockey than football.

Quote:

Allow CB's to do their job and allow contact after 5 yards. Eliminate the stupid taunting penalties. Eliminate the stupid roughing the passer penalties like a blow to the head and hitting the QB low.

All really stupid suggestions.

In comment 13182252 Torrag said:

Quote:

Quote: Allow CB's to do their job and allow contact after 5 yards. Eliminate the stupid taunting penalties. Eliminate the stupid roughing the passer penalties like a blow to the head and hitting the QB low. All really stupid suggestions.

How so? Did you read the rest of those sentences?