While the NFL continues to attempt to satisfy the public’s cry for a safer pro football game with a focus on limiting concussions and long term brain damage at all costs, the league continues to piss off and alienate defensive players and bless offensive players with all of the advantages.
NFL analyst Nate Burleson was a top receiver and lethal return man for three NFL teams in his 11-year career (2003-2013), had 457 catches for 5,630 yards and 39 TDs. Burleson would often be tasked with going over the middle for his team at a time when defenders were still able to decapitate receivers who dared test the heart of the defense.
I spoke with Burleson about these recent rules changes at CBS’ NFL Media Day recently.
Burleson, who’s now a rising star as a host of Good Morning Football on NFL Network and with CBS Sports on The NFL Today, had a lot to say on the subject. He went as far as to insist that if he played with these current rules, he would have been an all-time great. Possibly even The GOAT.
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The league has already complicated the art of pass defending by flooding defenders with new tackling rules and more restrictive pass interference rules. Now, in the aftermath of last year’s playoff debacle with the Rams and Saints, NFL rule setters have given officials widespread power to determine the outcome of plays, by enabling video review on pass interference calls.
NFL official: New pass interference replay rules could have 'big impact' on game https://t.co/mpYWmRbr1V
— Detroit Free Press (@freep) August 1, 2019
We all know that there isn’t a cornerback alive from Lester Hayes to Ronnie Lott to Deion Sanders, to Darelle Revis that didn’t tug, hold, grab and strong-arm receivers while exhibiting their all-time great cover skills. Being able to gain those advantages undetected was part of the beauty of being a masterful cover corner.
It seems the NFL wants to slowly eliminate any contact between the receiver and the defense, creating more video game numbers and moving us further away from the NFL as we once knew it.
