Really enjoyed this! As a fan, I think I resorted to that "ugh" feeling when I heard that the hip-drop was banned, but I had no idea how rare it actually is. It's wild, because even though I didn't (and don't) have a very strong opinion on it, I feel like I still fell on one side of the fence without even realizing. I don't want to say it's the NFLPA at work, but I do think that the prevailing narrative among fans is one of disagreement, and that definitely suits their ends. Either way, I had no idea how complicated the whole thing really is, so thanks for shining a light on it!
Glad you enjoyed the piece! It’s definitely a more nuanced issue than people realize and that’s what I was trying to show here. when rule changes aren’t well implemented it’s fair to be skeptical of future changes, however we also shouldn’t stop that skepticism from evaluating each new change on its merits. The hip-drop looks like a slam dunk for me, and I think the negative discourse around it is mostly unhappiness from past changes bleeding over and doesn’t consider how many serious injuries could be avoided.
Totally agree — and think that's why your comparison to the start of the forward pass was so apt. People were literally saying the same things then that they are now — about a dilution of the essence of the game, and how it was going to make the sport soft — but none of that really took safety (and death, essentially) into consideration. It's amazing how short our memories can be, and how we can forget that certain rule changes have also moved the game forward tremendously (no pun intended). It's not apples to apples of course, but still, doing more to protect players is never really a bad thing, and football always finds a way to be entertaining!
Thanks again for a great read! Excited for the next one.
This is such a tough rule change. Stuff like this makes the league harder to watch for me because it just adds more power of referees to the game, and that’s just not fun.
I can’t write about baseball right now, but in my eyes it’s near perfect because an umpire can’t affect the game (most of the time) the way a referee can. Super Bowls and high stakes playoffs have been won because of referee calls rather than the actual playing of the actual game.
I think the ban is going to probably be net positive but the odds of this getting called in a really unfortunate context to decide a big game is 100%. From a fan perspective it's all about considering the less tangible benefit of your star's knees being less likely to explode with the tangible cost of annoying flags on our viewing experience.
As a Packers fan I love what AJ Hawk did for us on the field but his role on the Pat McAfee show as the "angry, old-school defender" is not nearly as endearing.
Really enjoyed this! As a fan, I think I resorted to that "ugh" feeling when I heard that the hip-drop was banned, but I had no idea how rare it actually is. It's wild, because even though I didn't (and don't) have a very strong opinion on it, I feel like I still fell on one side of the fence without even realizing. I don't want to say it's the NFLPA at work, but I do think that the prevailing narrative among fans is one of disagreement, and that definitely suits their ends. Either way, I had no idea how complicated the whole thing really is, so thanks for shining a light on it!
Glad you enjoyed the piece! It’s definitely a more nuanced issue than people realize and that’s what I was trying to show here. when rule changes aren’t well implemented it’s fair to be skeptical of future changes, however we also shouldn’t stop that skepticism from evaluating each new change on its merits. The hip-drop looks like a slam dunk for me, and I think the negative discourse around it is mostly unhappiness from past changes bleeding over and doesn’t consider how many serious injuries could be avoided.
Totally agree — and think that's why your comparison to the start of the forward pass was so apt. People were literally saying the same things then that they are now — about a dilution of the essence of the game, and how it was going to make the sport soft — but none of that really took safety (and death, essentially) into consideration. It's amazing how short our memories can be, and how we can forget that certain rule changes have also moved the game forward tremendously (no pun intended). It's not apples to apples of course, but still, doing more to protect players is never really a bad thing, and football always finds a way to be entertaining!
Thanks again for a great read! Excited for the next one.
This is such a tough rule change. Stuff like this makes the league harder to watch for me because it just adds more power of referees to the game, and that’s just not fun.
I can’t write about baseball right now, but in my eyes it’s near perfect because an umpire can’t affect the game (most of the time) the way a referee can. Super Bowls and high stakes playoffs have been won because of referee calls rather than the actual playing of the actual game.
I find it all utterly infuriating LOL
I think the ban is going to probably be net positive but the odds of this getting called in a really unfortunate context to decide a big game is 100%. From a fan perspective it's all about considering the less tangible benefit of your star's knees being less likely to explode with the tangible cost of annoying flags on our viewing experience.
Lol A.J. Hawk calling every tackle he made a hip-drop.
As a Packers fan I love what AJ Hawk did for us on the field but his role on the Pat McAfee show as the "angry, old-school defender" is not nearly as endearing.
yep, certainly one from the "jacked up" era.